Speaker 1: You're listening to wake Up Call on demand from KFI
Speaker 1: AM six forty.
Speaker 2: And then I traveled to the seven levels of the
Speaker 2: candy Cane Forest, past the sea of Swirly twirly gum drops,
Speaker 2: and then I walked through the Lincoln.
Speaker 1: Tunnel KFI and KOST HD two Los Angeles, Orange County, Okay.
Speaker 2: People book Sata's coming in, say, oh my god, Santa's here.
Speaker 1: I know him, I know him, Sasina And it's time
Speaker 1: for your morning wake up call. And good morning. It
Speaker 1: is Christmas Eve. This is your wake up call for
Speaker 1: Wednesday morning, December twenty four, twenty twenty four. I am
Speaker 1: Michael Monks from KFI News, filling in for our good
Speaker 1: friend Amy King, who was somewhere sleeping dreams of sugar
Speaker 1: plums dancing in her head, awaiting Santa's visit to her
Speaker 1: home tomorrow. It's five o'clock in the morning here in
Speaker 1: southern California, but it is a great, big world. There
Speaker 1: are twenty four different time zones, and that can only
Speaker 1: mean one thing. It's Christmas somewhere. In fact, it's Christmas
Speaker 1: in a lot of places, and that means Santa Claus
Speaker 1: like me, like some of you is already at work
Speaker 1: on this holiday, so we're in good company today if
Speaker 1: you are on your way to work as if it's
Speaker 1: just another Tuesday. I think I might have said Wednesday
Speaker 1: a moment ago. It's only Tuesday. I'm getting ahead of myself.
Speaker 1: It's Tuesday, December twenty fourth. Don't get too excited. You're
Speaker 1: in good company. We're working this week, so is Santa,
Speaker 1: and it is Christmas in the far reaches of the globe.
Speaker 1: I've been watching the nor AD Santa tracker all morning
Speaker 1: long as we prepare for today's morning newscast, and right now,
Speaker 1: according to nor Ad, the big Man himself is already
Speaker 1: well in flight. He's had a morning and he is
Speaker 1: approaching in the next thirty seconds a place called comsul
Speaker 1: Mulsk on a more Russia. For you to say, indeed,
Speaker 1: it is not so easy. I suppose that's our good
Speaker 1: friend will Cole Schreiber, who's also a well behaved elf,
Speaker 1: waiting for his gifts. And he'll keep an eye on
Speaker 1: the traffic in the skies and on the ground for
Speaker 1: us today. I'll let you know if Santa's got in
Speaker 1: any traffic headaches up there. So far, according to Norrad
Speaker 1: Santa has already delivered more than seven hundred and eighteen
Speaker 1: million presents to good boys and girls all around the world.
Speaker 1: And if you check out the Norrad Santa tracker at
Speaker 1: Nord Santa that's n R A D Santa all one
Speaker 1: word dot org. They've got a really nice interactive globe
Speaker 1: and you can see an image of Santa over Russia
Speaker 1: right now, and you can scroll around and get an
Speaker 1: estimated time on when Santa might be visiting your home
Speaker 1: in La Orange County, Riverside County, San Bernardino County. I'm
Speaker 1: trying to think back to Christmas Eves of your as
Speaker 1: a child, how exciting a day like this would be,
Speaker 1: How difficult it would be to go to sleep, The
Speaker 1: magic of waking up in the morning and seeing all
Speaker 1: those toys that Santa brought me. There's nothing like that feeling.
Speaker 1: The thought now of a stranger coming in your home
Speaker 1: while you're sleeping and doing anything is not as exciting
Speaker 1: as it used to be. But back then, man, that
Speaker 1: was great. And I'm not a parent myself, but those
Speaker 1: of you who are parents, especially if this is the
Speaker 1: first time you're doing it big, how exciting that must
Speaker 1: be to set that up in collaboration with Santa, of course,
Speaker 1: for the child to come downstairs and see that display.
Speaker 1: You really never have magic like that in your life. Again,
Speaker 1: it's so special, it's so innocent. Will, How is it
Speaker 1: looking up there for Santa right now? Is it pretty
Speaker 1: clear in the clouds? Oh, there's some clouds, but you
Speaker 1: know Santa has Rudolf. He didn't care about clouds, you know,
Speaker 1: he just clows on through. Well, it's a little foggy
Speaker 1: in southern California today, so hopefully Reindeer's nose is on
Speaker 1: fog status so that it's not shining too brightly and
Speaker 1: hurting the oncoming traffic. We'll keep checking in with Will
Speaker 1: throughout the morning, and we'll check in with Santa still
Speaker 1: in Russia as of this moment. Now he's moved on
Speaker 1: to Nevelsk on Sokkolin Island. We're learning a lot about
Speaker 1: the world today, and he'll be headed towards San Vicente,
Speaker 1: Saipan and the Northern Mariana Islands in the next seven minutes.
Speaker 1: So if you're listening over there, get ready. He's on
Speaker 1: his way. Last chance to make a wish more than
Speaker 1: seven hundred and thirty eight million gifts delivered by Santa
Speaker 1: as of five six am Pacific time. So we are
Speaker 1: monitoring some news for you as always this morning, and
Speaker 1: I can tell you there are some people who are
Speaker 1: not in the air and apparently it's America Airlines. American
Speaker 1: Airlines has called for a ground stuf for all flights
Speaker 1: because of what they're calling a technical issue. Flights nationwide
Speaker 1: have been disrupted by this thing. I've just checked in
Speaker 1: with one of our editors, Carla Marquez, to see if
Speaker 1: this has been stopped yet, and the latest we have
Speaker 1: from the AP is that the FAA has halted all
Speaker 1: American Airlines flights in the US after the airline reported
Speaker 1: technical issues system wide. So you can imagine folks at
Speaker 1: the airport planning to hop on an American Airlines flight
Speaker 1: and then head out to see loved ones, people they
Speaker 1: care about or to head away on a Christmas holiday
Speaker 1: have just had some plans dashed for now. We're going
Speaker 1: to monitor that all morning long. If you have a
Speaker 1: flight this morning on American, If you know someone who
Speaker 1: has a flight on American, best to check in with
Speaker 1: them and make sure that they've seen this alert elsewhere
Speaker 1: around the regions. Starbucks strikes have continued right here into
Speaker 1: Christmas Eve. They're expected to expand today locally, with another
Speaker 1: store impacted, this time in Cypri Park. Apparently, workers say
Speaker 1: they want better wages, they want improved collective bargaining, they
Speaker 1: want resolutions to legal disputes. The company, Starbucks says the
Speaker 1: strike has been no big deal, business as usual at
Speaker 1: most locations in this busy holiday rush. The Southern California
Speaker 1: burn band that was supposed to expire at around midnight hasn't.
Speaker 1: It's been extended again because of a forecast of high
Speaker 1: air pollutions, So no Christmas Eves stocking stuffing above the
Speaker 1: lit fireplace, do not burn wood inside or outside. The
Speaker 1: South Coast Air Quality Management District says the ban will
Speaker 1: expire tonight at eleven fifty nine, but we'll see about that.
Speaker 1: And a grass fire currently burning now near the Escondido
Speaker 1: Canyon Road off ramp of the northbound excuse me, the
Speaker 1: northbound Antelope Valley fourteen Freeway and Agua Dulce. That's according
Speaker 1: to the California Highway patrol I did just get another
Speaker 1: alert about American our friends at KTLA or saying flights
Speaker 1: are zo. We're checking in on that this might have
Speaker 1: just been a very short hiccup in an otherwise busy
Speaker 1: holiday travel season. Coming up at the top of the hour,
Speaker 1: six oh five, We've got Handle on the news without
Speaker 1: Bill Handle. Wayne Resnick is in for Bill today. I'll
Speaker 1: be here to keep him company, and of course you
Speaker 1: can keep us company. We'd love your company on this
Speaker 1: Christmas Eve. If you're at work, or if you're sitting
Speaker 1: at home enjoying a little time away, good for you.
Speaker 1: Spend some time with us this morning before it gets
Speaker 1: so crazy over the next several hours the next thirty
Speaker 1: six forty eight hours. Coming up today on the show,
Speaker 1: a former congressman who was nominated by President elect Trump
Speaker 1: to be the Attorney General has apparently spent several years
Speaker 1: paying for sex, including with a minor, using drugs, and more.
Speaker 1: A House Ethics Committee report has blasted Matt Gates. ABC
Speaker 1: News National correspondent Steven Portnoy will be with us to
Speaker 1: talk about that. The accused killer of the United Healthcare
Speaker 1: CEO has presented the beginning of a defense. His attorney
Speaker 1: has said the police and the Mayor of New York
Speaker 1: are using Luigi Manjoni as political fodder. Man Joni appeared
Speaker 1: in state court yesterday. Peter harr Lambus's ABC News investigative reporter.
Speaker 1: He was in the courtroom. He'll be here to talk
Speaker 1: about how crazy all that was, including the number of
Speaker 1: fans fans of Luigi Manjoni who showed up to support him,
Speaker 1: even though his family apparently did not. And we've heard
Speaker 1: a lot about drones lately. What are those mystery sightings
Speaker 1: around the country, But maybe those aren't the ones we
Speaker 1: should be worried about. You ever seen a professional drone show?
Speaker 1: They're pretty cool. But a boy in Florida was at
Speaker 1: one and he ended up in the hospital. And he's
Speaker 1: not the only one to have been injured at at
Speaker 1: a drone show. ABC News correspondent Jim Ryan will join
Speaker 1: us for that. It is Christmas Eve here in southern Calia,
Speaker 1: five ten in the am. And if you're not finished
Speaker 1: shopping for Christmas, boy, are you in trouble. You've only
Speaker 1: got a few hours left. Some stores, of course, will
Speaker 1: be closing early. I live in downtown LA in the
Speaker 1: fashion district, and it was hopping all day yesterday, well
Speaker 1: into the evening. When the stores down there start to close,
Speaker 1: a mad scramble for last minute gifts. But if you
Speaker 1: are somebody who is not quite finished and you're not
Speaker 1: really sure, like you don't have a plan on what
Speaker 1: you're gonna do. People seem to really like gift cards.
Speaker 1: That's just a little pro tip. Let them decide what
Speaker 1: they want. The thought that counts right, and the little
Speaker 1: bit of thought you can put into buying a gift
Speaker 1: card will go a long way for folks. We are
Speaker 1: looking at some of the popular gift cards online. According
Speaker 1: to a report in USA Today, the ten most popular
Speaker 1: gift cards, number ten Google Play, number nine is eBay.
Speaker 1: I don't think I would have guessed that number eight
Speaker 1: is just a basic American Express gift card. Number seven
Speaker 1: is Disney, number six Starbucks. If you buy that one today,
Speaker 1: make sure you keep an eye on which stores are open.
Speaker 1: And then number five Walmart. You can always find something
Speaker 1: at Walmart. Four Sophora, of course, three is Target, two
Speaker 1: is Amazon, and number one is Visa. So that's an
Speaker 1: opportunity to basically give cash on a card. I think
Speaker 1: I'm getting another update on the American Airlines, saying okay,
Speaker 1: just in from our partners at twenty four to seven News.
Speaker 1: A groundstop of American Airlines flights has been lifted. The
Speaker 1: airline had grounded all flights in the US this morning
Speaker 1: due to an unspecified technical issue. The ground stop lasted
Speaker 1: for about an hour. It came as travelers started to
Speaker 1: make their way to their holiday destinations this Christmas Eve.
Speaker 1: So right now, that was a short lived story. Hopeful
Speaker 1: it does not impact people's travel too much. There might
Speaker 1: be a bit of a ripple effect on some of
Speaker 1: the scheduled flights, but right now American Airlines back to
Speaker 1: planning to join Santa Claus himself in the sky. One
Speaker 1: thing you're probably gonna want to keep in mind if
Speaker 1: you're going out and shopping for any last minute gifts,
Speaker 1: pay for them, don't steal them. I don't know if
Speaker 1: you saw this social media video that was going wild
Speaker 1: all day yesterday, still making the rounds a day out
Speaker 1: of Seal Beach. They've got a campaign called don't steal
Speaker 1: in Seal. They say it's a third crime. And we
Speaker 1: saw video from earlier this month where three women were
Speaker 1: taken into custody after going from store to store to
Speaker 1: store and just tossing stuff in bags and then finding
Speaker 1: out that what they had committed was a felony, and
Speaker 1: they were a bit surprise that because of the changes
Speaker 1: in the laws related to Prop. Thirty six. So we'll
Speaker 1: talk a bit about that coming up as well. The
Speaker 1: first human case of H five bird flu has been
Speaker 1: detected in La County. It's an adult who was exposed
Speaker 1: to livestock at work. That livestock turned out to have
Speaker 1: been infected. The patient has been treated with anti virals
Speaker 1: and is recovering at home. The special prosecutor in the
Speaker 1: case against Alec Baldwin has withdrawn the appeal of the
Speaker 1: dismissal of the involuntary manslaughter case against the actors stemming
Speaker 1: from the twenty twenty one fatal shooting of cinematographer Helena
Speaker 1: Hutchins on the set of the film Rust. A judge
Speaker 1: in New Mexico had dismissed that case in July, saying
Speaker 1: prosecutors had failed to turn over evidence to defense attorneys.
Speaker 1: It's Christmas Eve, and of course there will be celebrations
Speaker 1: here in La La Archbishop Jose Gomez will celebrate an
Speaker 1: English language Christmas Eve Mass at the Cathedral of Our
Speaker 1: Lady of the Angels tonight at ten o'clock. It will
Speaker 1: feature Christmas care barrels with the Cathedral's choir at nine
Speaker 1: point thirty. An English language family Mass with the Cathedral's
Speaker 1: children's choir will be celebrated this afternoon at four o'clock.
Speaker 1: A Spanish language mass at seven o'clock Tonight. Organizers are
Speaker 1: billing Los Angeles' first and largest free multicultural holiday celebration,
Speaker 1: we be held from three to six today at the
Speaker 1: Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. It will feature twenty eight music, dance
Speaker 1: and vocal ensembles that are set to perform at the
Speaker 1: Los Angeles County Holiday Celebration. Coming up at the top
Speaker 1: of the hour, six oh five. We've got Handle on
Speaker 1: the news without Bill Handle. He is on his holiday
Speaker 1: break as well, but our friend Wayne Resnick is sitting
Speaker 1: in for Bill today. I'll be happily joining him and
Speaker 1: hope you will join us as well. We've got more
Speaker 1: news now for you. The House Ethics Committee has released
Speaker 1: its report on former Florida Congressman Matt Gates over dozens
Speaker 1: of pages and citing accompanying documents such as text messages,
Speaker 1: financial statements, and canceled checks. The report blasts the former
Speaker 1: Republican congressman, saying there's substantial evidence that he paid women
Speaker 1: for sex and violated Florida's statutory rape law by having
Speaker 1: sex with the seventeen year old. The report also accuses
Speaker 1: Gates of violating house rules, granting special favors to associates,
Speaker 1: and using illegal drugs. Gates has denied all these allegations.
Speaker 1: ABC News National correspondent Steven Portnoy joins us Now, Good morning, Stephen,
Speaker 1: and Merry Christmas Eve.
Speaker 3: Merry Christmas Eve.
Speaker 1: To you, this seems like a lot of evidence of wrongdoing.
Speaker 1: Is any of it criminal? Well, it depends.
Speaker 3: I mean it could be. That's certainly what they say
Speaker 3: in the report that Matt Gates. This is the allegation
Speaker 3: that he violated Florida's law against statutory rape by having
Speaker 3: sex with this then seventeen year old who testified and
Speaker 3: explained that she had just finished her junior year of
Speaker 3: high school when she was at a party with Matt
Speaker 3: Gates where illegal drugs are being used and there was
Speaker 3: a sexual encounter between the girl and Matt Gates, and
Speaker 3: he then paid her four hundred dollars, which she said
Speaker 3: she understood to be payment for sex.
Speaker 1: Now, but the former congressman says, look, I had some
Speaker 1: wild days. Sure, I drank a little too much. I
Speaker 1: smoked a little too much. I womanize, I think is
Speaker 1: a word that he used. But what is he saying
Speaker 1: about the specifics of these allegations. Oh, it's a flat denial.
Speaker 3: He says that he never had relations with someone who
Speaker 3: was that young, and so look, it's essentially he said,
Speaker 3: she said. But the committee says that there's substantial evidence
Speaker 3: that what she said is true, and not just she,
Speaker 3: but her but others. Look, there are canceled checks and
Speaker 3: electronic transactions and bank statements that would back up the
Speaker 3: argument that Matt Gates gave various women up to one
Speaker 3: hundred thousand dollars and that it was part of a
Speaker 3: pattern that he had of paying these women for sex. Now, again,
Speaker 3: Gates denies it, says that these are just examples of
Speaker 3: his generosity towards ex girlfriends. But the members of the
Speaker 3: House Ethics Committee simply didn't buy it, and they said
Speaker 3: that it essentially brought his favor upon the House. Remember,
Speaker 3: these are all actions that Matt Gates allegedly undertook while
Speaker 3: he was a sitting member of Congress. The illegal drug
Speaker 3: use was a particular problem for his former colleagues.
Speaker 1: Now you note, former colleagues, Matt Gates has resigned from Congress,
Speaker 1: originally because he was nominated by President elect Trump to
Speaker 1: serve as Attorney General. He had already won re election
Speaker 1: to serve another term in the Congress that starts in January.
Speaker 1: Doesn't look like he has any plans to take that seat,
Speaker 1: instead possibly moving into our line of work in the media.
Speaker 1: I'm wondering, though, Stephen, is the attention being drawn to
Speaker 1: Matt Gates's allegations of wrongdoing. Is that creating any more
Speaker 1: perceived need of more vetting for the cabinet picks presented
Speaker 1: President elect Trump.
Speaker 3: Well, that's one way to look at it. I mean,
Speaker 3: the idea here is that there's a reason why the
Speaker 3: House Ethics Committee voted a few weeks ago not to
Speaker 3: release this report and then changed its mind. Why would
Speaker 3: they do that after Matt Gates not only no longer
Speaker 3: serves in the body.
Speaker 1: At least that's the thinking.
Speaker 3: And you raise the prospect of him coming to take
Speaker 3: the oath next week.
Speaker 1: We don't know whether he will. He suggested he might.
Speaker 1: We'll see.
Speaker 3: But the point is, you know, this argument of it,
Speaker 3: whether it moots the investigation because he's resigned. It seems
Speaker 3: as though a couple of Republicans changed their minds about
Speaker 3: it because they spend all this time digging into it.
Speaker 3: They say, Matt Gates is going to stand firm in
Speaker 3: his denial. Let the public see the work product here.
Speaker 3: And that was ultimately the decision that majority, the majority
Speaker 3: of the Ethics Panel made, despite the misgivings of the chairman,
Speaker 3: Michael Guest, who issued a statement yesterday to say that
Speaker 3: this could pose catastrophic consequences that was his word, in
Speaker 3: the future by setting not a new president because it's
Speaker 3: not that, but simply violing what he sees.
Speaker 1: As a norm.
Speaker 3: It's the first time since two thousand and six, which
Speaker 3: I believe it was the Matt sorry, the Mark Foley
Speaker 3: matter there that involved allegations, that's right, you remember, and
Speaker 3: so that was the last time that a former member
Speaker 3: of Congress was the subject of a House Ethics Committee report.
Speaker 3: This is now the most recent example.
Speaker 1: Stephen Portnoy of ABC News, we appreciate the time you
Speaker 1: gave us this morning. Merry Christmas to you, Andy, You
Speaker 1: thank you. And it is five twenty six in the
Speaker 1: am here in La right now, Santa Claus flying towards Cooktown, Australia,
Speaker 1: and according to Norad Santa Tracker, he has just arrived
Speaker 1: eight hundred and fifty five million plus gifts delivered already.
Speaker 1: A few women in Seal Beach were given the arres
Speaker 1: the gift of arrests earlier this month. The Seal Beach
Speaker 1: Police Department today touted the success of its social media
Speaker 1: campaign attempting to produce retail theft in the city. The
Speaker 1: campaign follows the release of a video of two of
Speaker 1: the three women arrested on suspicion of stealing approximately one thousand,
Speaker 1: six hundred and thirty five dollars worth of merchandise at
Speaker 1: Alta Beauty back on December fourth, and there was a
Speaker 1: video released. They're in the backseat of a police cruiser
Speaker 1: and the two women are talking to each other about
Speaker 1: the fact that they're going to be facing a felony
Speaker 1: now because of the change is brought in by Proposition
Speaker 1: thirty six, which was overwhelmingly approved by voters here in
Speaker 1: California back in November. You hear one of the women
Speaker 1: say it's a felony and the other one says b
Speaker 1: word new laws. Stealing is a felony and then she
Speaker 1: goes on to say, and this is Orange County b word.
Speaker 1: They don't play Seal Beach. Police said messages in the
Speaker 1: video are They added messages to the video saying Prop
Speaker 1: thirty six is in full effect. Don't Steal in Seal.
Speaker 1: These three women were also linked to an earlier theft
Speaker 1: at a nearby Cole's store. They were seen on surveillance footage.
Speaker 1: All three suspects booked into Orange County Jail on suspicion
Speaker 1: of grand theft, conspiracy to commit a crime, and resisting arrest,
Speaker 1: and according to a statement from the police, they say
Speaker 1: the video part of the departments Don't Steal in Seal
Speaker 1: social media campaign has garnered significant public attention and serves
Speaker 1: as an educational tool on the updated theft related laws
Speaker 1: in California. I can tell you I saw this video
Speaker 1: on X last night. Seal Beach was trending on X
Speaker 1: because it was getting so much attention all over the country.
Speaker 1: People in California, who have been frustrated by a seemingly
Speaker 1: lax approach to thievery seem to be celebrating the changes,
Speaker 1: and that celebration expanded across the country. California Highway Patrol
Speaker 1: officers are headed out for their annual Christmas Time Maximum
Speaker 1: Enforcement period. It starts at six o'clock tonight. Officers will
Speaker 1: be looking to catch people speeding, driving under the influence,
Speaker 1: or violating other laws. The maximum enforcement period will run
Speaker 1: through Wednesday night. Be safe out there. La Metro is
Speaker 1: offering free rides on all of its buses and trains
Speaker 1: for Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. The free rides
Speaker 1: for Christmas Eve start this morning. They run through three
Speaker 1: o'clock tomorrow morning. There will also be extended service on
Speaker 1: all rail lines, which will operate until two o'clock in
Speaker 1: the morning tomorrow. A similar schedule will be in place
Speaker 1: on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Some rail
Speaker 1: lines will also operate for twenty four hours on both days.
Speaker 1: Former President Clinton is in the hospital in Washington, d C.
Speaker 1: He was admitted yesterday because of a fever. He's said
Speaker 1: to be under observation. A spokesperson says the former president
Speaker 1: was in good spirits and grateful for the care he's receiving.
Speaker 1: The seventy eight year old has been promoting his new book, Citizen,
Speaker 1: which was released last month. Coming up at six oh five,
Speaker 1: We've got handle on the news. Wayne Resnick is in
Speaker 1: for Bill Handel. Wayne and I will be together for that,
Speaker 1: and we hope that you will join us for well
Speaker 1: for that as well. Coming up a little later in
Speaker 1: this hour. Drone shows they're fun, right, but one recently
Speaker 1: sent a child to the hospital a drone show. So
Speaker 1: what's going on with drones in this country. We're seeing
Speaker 1: some mystery ones and now we're being attacked. We'll get
Speaker 1: an update on what happened in Florida and what's being
Speaker 1: said about drone shows in general and potential safety risk
Speaker 1: for just attending them. Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, has
Speaker 1: welcomed Christmas without its usual festive lights at Major Square.
Speaker 1: The area outside the Nativity Church has been quiet. That
Speaker 1: church was built on the site where Jesus is believed
Speaker 1: to have been born, but the war and violence between
Speaker 1: Israel and Hamas has cast a somber shadow on the holiday,
Speaker 1: then relies heavily on Christmas tourism. The economy in the
Speaker 1: West Bank was already reeling because of restrictions placed on
Speaker 1: laborers preventing them from entering Israel during the war. I
Speaker 1: wonder if you look at reviews when you're shopping for products,
Speaker 1: maybe when you were doing some Christmas shopping this month online,
Speaker 1: while researchers and watchdog groups see the emergence of generative
Speaker 1: artificial intelligence tools that allow people to efficiently produce detailed
Speaker 1: and novel online reviews has put merchants, service providers, and
Speaker 1: consumers in what they see as uncharted territory. Phony reviews
Speaker 1: of long play a lot of consumer websites like Amazon
Speaker 1: and Yelp, but AI infuse text generation tools enable fraudsters
Speaker 1: to produce reviews faster and in greater volume. The deceptive
Speaker 1: practice is illegal in the US and becomes a bigger
Speaker 1: problem for consumers during the holiday shopping season. They say,
Speaker 1: when many people rely on these reviews to buy gifts,
Speaker 1: nothing is sacred. Meanwhile, Luigi Mangoni has pleaded not guilty
Speaker 1: to state murder and terror charges in the fatal shooting
Speaker 1: of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. His attorney has protested
Speaker 1: his treatment, saying in court that her client is being
Speaker 1: used as quote political fodder by police and the Mayor
Speaker 1: of New York and while Mangoni appeared to not have
Speaker 1: family in the courtroom, he certainly had a lot of
Speaker 1: fans inside and out. We're joined now by Peter Harralambus
Speaker 1: from ABC News. He's an investigative reporter. He was in
Speaker 1: the courtroom in New York. Peter, thanks for taking some
Speaker 1: time with us.
Speaker 4: Again, absolutely my pleasure. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1: What was it like in the courtroom outside of observing
Speaker 1: that Luigi Mangoni is and his attorney apparently coordinated outfits.
Speaker 4: Yeah, Beyond the coordinated outfits, it was remarkable to see
Speaker 4: Mangoni himself brought into court. He was shackled at the wrists,
Speaker 4: at the waist, at the angled despite wearing this you
Speaker 4: civilian clothing, he was certainly under heavy guard. He was
Speaker 4: walked in and out a phalanx of police officers who
Speaker 4: kind of hovered over him the entire time, and he
Speaker 4: only said two words, not guilty when asked how he
Speaker 4: was going to plead. What was also interesting was to
Speaker 4: see the amount of public support. There were about thirty
Speaker 4: members of the public, many of whom were there in
Speaker 4: support of Mantioti. Interestingly enough, the majority of whom were
Speaker 4: young women. Outside of court, there were protesters chanting and
Speaker 4: holding signs saying free Luigi and things like eat the rich.
Speaker 4: So all of these things really showing that groundswallowing of
Speaker 4: public support.
Speaker 1: Well, we know there are a lot of people from
Speaker 1: the public who are mounting a defense of Luigi Manjoni,
Speaker 1: but what is this actual defense. What are we hearing
Speaker 1: about his treatment?
Speaker 4: That's a great question, And I don't think we have
Speaker 4: a clear entery from Luigi's attorneys, because we've heard from
Speaker 4: the federal from his federal hearing last week that one
Speaker 4: of their defenses that having two separate cases is unconstitutional. Yesterday,
Speaker 4: Manfioni's attorney really focused on how the case is being politicized.
Speaker 4: But none of this really speaks to the other question,
Speaker 4: the bigger question, arguably of how do you go against
Speaker 4: all of this evidence that prosecutors say they have, forensic
Speaker 4: evidence like shell casings and fingerprints tied back to mangioni
Speaker 4: writings that authorities have described as a concession in which
Speaker 4: he allegedly lays out the crime, and of course all
Speaker 4: of this being caught on video. Some of this is
Speaker 4: basically a silver bullet of evidence. And we still haven't
Speaker 4: seen a clear move of how they're going to work
Speaker 4: against all of this evidence.
Speaker 1: Peter, I know you've got to run. What should we
Speaker 1: expect next? In this case, tons and.
Speaker 4: Tons of evidence about two terroribytes of evidence are going
Speaker 4: to be handed over to Mangoni's defense attorney over the
Speaker 4: next month. I assume at that point we might get
Speaker 4: a better sense of what this defense is going to be.
Speaker 4: His next time in court will be in Federal Court
Speaker 4: in mid January.
Speaker 1: Peter Harralambo's is ABC News investigative reporter. He was in
Speaker 1: the courtroom in New York where Luigi Mangoni appeared yesterday. Peter,
Speaker 1: Happy holidays to you, Thanks for the time, Thanks so much.
Speaker 4: I'm Marchers and.
Speaker 1: It is now five forty one here in Los Angeles.
Speaker 1: You're listening to Wake Up Call on AM six forty
Speaker 1: KFI and live everywhere on the iHeart radio app. We
Speaker 1: are tracking Santa. He has made his way to Tasmania,
Speaker 1: so he's circling the Australian continent right now. He is
Speaker 1: expected to land in Adelaide, Australia in the next minute,
Speaker 1: after last being seen in Hobart. We are now at
Speaker 1: nine hundred and forty one million plus gifts delivered by
Speaker 1: the Big Man himself. I want to give you a
Speaker 1: brief history on the Panama Canal, and here's why President
Speaker 1: elect Donald Trump has decried rising shipping fees that the
Speaker 1: Nation of Panama has imposed to use the Panama Canal.
Speaker 1: Trump has threatened this week to have the US take
Speaker 1: back control of the waterway linking in the Atlantic and
Speaker 1: Pacific Oceans once he becomes president next month, and if
Speaker 1: things don't change, that's what he says, the US might
Speaker 1: find some way to reclaim that canal. The US helped
Speaker 1: engineer Panama's independence from Colombia to build that canal. It
Speaker 1: opened back in nineteen fourteen, but then the US seated
Speaker 1: control to Panama back in nineteen ninety nine. The treaties
Speaker 1: that cemented the handover, they don't have any language about
Speaker 1: the US having a pathway to taking it back, but
Speaker 1: Trump has said the US can do so if it's
Speaker 1: not treated fairly. Panama says it will always own the canal.
Speaker 1: So in the past few weeks, we've gotten a pretty
Speaker 1: good look at President elect Trump's Christmas wish list. It
Speaker 1: looks like the Panama Canal has landed on there and Greenland.
Speaker 1: He's back on Greenland. He tweeted out yesterday that he
Speaker 1: is interested in exploring US ownership of that territory that
Speaker 1: is not ours, But we'll see how that works out.
Speaker 1: California Central Coast being hammered by flooding in high surf.
Speaker 1: A man died after he was trapped beneath the brie
Speaker 1: on a beach ear collapsed and Santa Cruz sending three
Speaker 1: people into the ocean. They were recovered. Some cities have
Speaker 1: ordered beachfront homes and hotels to evacuate, so when you
Speaker 1: hear orders about the water, it's best to heed them.
Speaker 1: Just play on the side of caution because the videos
Speaker 1: are pretty startling. It's very curious to see, but it's
Speaker 1: much more comfortable and much safer to just watch these
Speaker 1: things when they're happening on video rather than seeing them
Speaker 1: up close in person. Maybe you can talk to one
Speaker 1: of those high rise people down there and they can
Speaker 1: let you go up to their balcony and check that out.
Speaker 1: Santa Claus has made it to Adelaide, breaking news. Adelaide
Speaker 1: Australia has now finished. He's on his way to Alice
Speaker 1: Springs and now over nine hundred and fifty four million
Speaker 1: presents delivered, according to the nor ADS Santa Tracker. The
Speaker 1: owner of In and Out has criticized the City of
Speaker 1: Oakland nearly a year after closing a restaurant in the city.
Speaker 1: It was the first time in seventy five years the
Speaker 1: chain permanently closed a location. Owner Lindsay Snyder said during
Speaker 1: an interview with the video network Prager You that despite
Speaker 1: the location being profitable, the decision to close was made
Speaker 1: because there were constant car burglaries, fights, and theft at
Speaker 1: the location. Snyder says the area was extremely dangerous and
Speaker 1: it was alarming how slow police were to respond. Meanwhile,
Speaker 1: lawmakers in Oakland are set to discuss possible ways to
Speaker 1: honor late Baseball Hall of Famer Ricky Henderson, a longtime
Speaker 1: member of the Oakland A's, died last week at the
Speaker 1: age of sixty five. Oakland City council Member Rebecca Kaplan
Speaker 1: is set on social media that she'd like to see
Speaker 1: the city name a street after Henderson. A Union Pacific
Speaker 1: freight train has derailed in Carson. It happened south of
Speaker 1: Delamo Boulevard yesterday afternoon. A rail infrastructure was damaged, cutting
Speaker 1: off access to the ports of La and Long Beach
Speaker 1: along the Alameda Corridor. Officials say there were no injuries
Speaker 1: and no hazardous materials spilled. We're just inn as away
Speaker 1: from Handle on the news this morning. It's coming up
Speaker 1: at the top of the hour. Bill Handle is on
Speaker 1: his holiday break, but Wayne Resnick is here to fill
Speaker 1: in for Bill. I'll be there alongside them. Hope you
Speaker 1: will join us as well. The ill fated drone show
Speaker 1: that sent a seven year old to a hospital in
Speaker 1: Orlando wasn't the first time that technical difficulties were experienced
Speaker 1: at one of these shows. Similar mishaps small drones dropping
Speaker 1: from the sky in mass have happened in the past
Speaker 1: two years in China, Australia, and in Las Vegas and
Speaker 1: many communities. Drones have replaced fireworks as the favored aerial
Speaker 1: celebration because they're quieter and they don't dump clouds of
Speaker 1: sulfur smelling smoke into the sky, but there is apparently
Speaker 1: still a risk. We've got ABC News correspondent Jim Ryan
Speaker 1: with us again this morning, two days in a row. Jim,
Speaker 1: thanks so much for being with us.
Speaker 5: Hey, Michael, Yeah, I don't know how you can get
Speaker 5: around that risk. Really. If you want to attend drone
Speaker 5: shows and they are cool, I've seen a few of
Speaker 5: them anyway, and not a lot, but they are extremely
Speaker 5: interesting there. They're cool to watch. But yeah, as we've
Speaker 5: seen in cases, and it is rare that something like
Speaker 5: this goes wrong that the people are hurt. Sometimes the
Speaker 5: drones may malfunction, but they're designed. They're supposed to be
Speaker 5: designed Michael, that if they lose GPS tracking or something
Speaker 5: goes crazy, they're supposed to fly back to the point
Speaker 5: from which they took off, the staging area that the
Speaker 5: drone company has set up. But in the case of
Speaker 5: the Orlando show on the twenty first, they started crashing
Speaker 5: into each other and then falling out of the sky.
Speaker 5: And that's when we had this little boy who got hurt.
Speaker 5: Xander Lumps and seven years old. There's recovering after open
Speaker 5: heart surgery. His mother said that the drone hit him
Speaker 5: with such force in the chest that he faced serious
Speaker 5: injury and had to have surgery because of that. The
Speaker 5: family now was raised like eighteen thousand dollars with the
Speaker 5: GoFundMe account to support the paying for the surgery.
Speaker 1: So this wasn't just a bump on the head situation.
Speaker 1: This is quite serious.
Speaker 5: It was and there have been some serious injuries in
Speaker 5: the past. A woman who was hit at that Fourth
Speaker 5: of July show in Las Vegas in twenty eighteen suffered
Speaker 5: eye injuries. A child in Great Britain lost an eye
Speaker 5: because of a drone that may not have been a
Speaker 5: drone show, but just someone using a drone. So there
Speaker 5: are some potential little dangers said, you know, both to
Speaker 5: drone shows and to just personal use of drones.
Speaker 1: I know that drones have been on our minds lately
Speaker 1: because of the mysterious sightings in the sky and the
Speaker 1: lack of appropriate answers from local, federal, state leaders about
Speaker 1: what they are. This is not necessarily related to that
Speaker 1: unless we delve into conspiracy theory territory, I mean, but
Speaker 1: people are focused on drones right now. Has this type
Speaker 1: of injury and the sightings of them off the coast,
Speaker 1: has that impacted the conversations we have in general about
Speaker 1: these things?
Speaker 5: Well, I think so, and I think people generally keep
Speaker 5: them separated though the mishaps of drone shows. But then
Speaker 5: these mysterious sightings of drones over the northeast, the New Jersey,
Speaker 5: New York, over to Ohio even so, yeah, but but yeah,
Speaker 5: there are plenty of conspiracy theories about this, and I
Speaker 5: think there's still mystery that surrounds these things, you know,
Speaker 5: because they fly around controlled by some unknown person or
Speaker 5: unknown entity. We don't understand exactly what makes them more
Speaker 5: and coordinate with each other if you're not in the business.
Speaker 5: But also there is this there's a company in Israel
Speaker 5: that produces what's called the drome, the drone dome, which
Speaker 5: is protection on radio protection around each drone, because that's
Speaker 5: to combat what other people have that that is a
Speaker 5: drone scramblers. It looks like a rifle almost, but it
Speaker 5: doesn't file a fire button a bullet. Rather, it fires
Speaker 5: a pulse that that shuts down the GPS system within
Speaker 5: each drone and therefore it gets lost or falls and crashes.
Speaker 5: So yeah, there are conspiracy theories about this too, Michael.
Speaker 1: So you mentioned a little bit about why some communities
Speaker 1: and organizations are turning to drones over fireworks, and there
Speaker 1: are a lot of reasons to support that. I mean,
Speaker 1: we hear every fourth of July. It scares animals, it
Speaker 1: triggers veterans and older adults. And then even if you're
Speaker 1: just a healthy person that wants to see the fireworks,
Speaker 1: sometimes the smoke just gets in the way and you
Speaker 1: can't see some of them. So these these are nice alternatives.
Speaker 1: Are we having conversations in communities now about is this
Speaker 1: a danger?
Speaker 5: Well, it's as dangerous I suppose as fireworks. You remember
Speaker 5: that incident that happened I think it was in California
Speaker 5: earlier this year at a stadium where fireworks display went
Speaker 5: off and something happened and a child was hit by
Speaker 5: a fireworks you a little rocket, So I mean there
Speaker 5: are dangerous associated with that too. Our drone shows cheaper
Speaker 5: than fireworks displays. No, they're a little bit more. You know,
Speaker 5: they cost cost one hundred thousand dollars for a typical
Speaker 5: drone show. In North America, the average cost of a
Speaker 5: drone show is about fifty thousand dollars. The average cost
Speaker 5: of the drones that are used about two hundred and
Speaker 5: eighteen dollars per drone. So now we're talking about a
Speaker 5: pretty high expense. But there are benefits too, no smoke,
Speaker 5: loud explosions, they're over and they're over. It's not as
Speaker 5: though you have a danger in handling fireworks afterwards. So yeah, there.
Speaker 5: I think some cities and towns are going in that direction.
Speaker 1: I've seen one in Cincinnati, a drones show that was
Speaker 1: just awe inspiring, breathtaking. It was really very beautiful. Jim
Speaker 1: Ryan from ABC News, thanks again for joining us this morning,
Speaker 1: and happy holidays.
Speaker 5: To you and yours same to you, Michael.
Speaker 1: And that was Jim Ryan from ABC News. We are
Speaker 1: tracking Santa Claus on the Norrad Santa dot org website
Speaker 1: and he just finished up Australia. He was last seen
Speaker 1: in Sarrong, West Popla and now is heading for Forgive
Speaker 1: me for this, but it looks like the bell Daub Babel,
Speaker 1: daub Palau. This might be twelve cities in a row
Speaker 1: that I've just been unable to pronounce. But it is
Speaker 1: Christmas and some exotic places in this world, and it's
Speaker 1: almost Christmas here as well. As we approach five point
Speaker 1: fifty seven here in the Southland, we talked a bit
Speaker 1: about the surf and some of the dangerous water conditions
Speaker 1: hammering the California coast. We've got some additional problems here
Speaker 1: in southern California and the Los Angeles County Department of
Speaker 1: Public Health has put out a warning about nine area
Speaker 1: beaches that have high bacteria levels. So another reason to
Speaker 1: kind of avoid the water this holiday season. Some of
Speaker 1: these affected beaches include the Malibu Lagoon at Surf Rider Beach,
Speaker 1: the Pico Kenter, storm drain at Santa Monica Beach, Torrance Beach,
Speaker 1: at Malaga Cove, Walnut Creek, Paradise Cove, Marie Canyons, storm
Speaker 1: drain at Puerco Beach, Castle Rock, storm drain at Tobanga
Speaker 1: County Beach, Inner Cabrio Beach in San Pedro, Mother's Beach,
Speaker 1: and Marina del Rey, and the Santa Monica Pier one
Speaker 1: hundred yards up and down the coast from that pier.
Speaker 1: According to the County Health Department, those beaches had bacterial
Speaker 1: levels exceeding health standards when last tested. Meanwhile, an earlier
Speaker 1: warning had been lifted for Tbanga Canyon Beach and Malibu
Speaker 1: or recent samples produced to water quality levels within the
Speaker 1: state standard. So always check the website now this time
Speaker 1: of year when those bacteria levels can get high and
Speaker 1: folks can discourage you from going down there. But again,
Speaker 1: if you are curious about any of that high surf
Speaker 1: or any of the dangerous waves, don't be too curious.
Speaker 1: We saw what happened in Santa Cruz. We saw the
Speaker 1: peer collapse with a few people on it. We've seen
Speaker 1: someone buried in debris there and died, so heed the
Speaker 1: warnings appropriately and take the caution. The nessa sary caution
Speaker 1: whenever you think about going down there. It is a
Speaker 1: pretty nice day though, and you will be tempted to
Speaker 1: go check some stuff out. Though we do have some
Speaker 1: rain Southland weather from KFI and other round of fog
Speaker 1: with low clouds. We can expect some rain in the
Speaker 1: afternoon and the evening. Things will clear up apparently for
Speaker 1: Christmas morning. We're happy about that highs in the low
Speaker 1: sixties in Metro La. We've got highs around sixty in
Speaker 1: the Valley's fifties in the Antelope Valley mid to upper sixties,
Speaker 1: and the Inland Empire. Current temperature is fifty one in
Speaker 1: San Clemente, forty nine in Malibu, fifty one in Lake Forest,
Speaker 1: and fifty in Palmdale. As always, we lead local and
Speaker 1: live from the KFI twenty four hour newsroom for producer
Speaker 1: Michelle Cube today filling in for Ann our technical producer
Speaker 1: Stephen Kno and traffic specialist Will Coleschreiber. I'm Michael Monks,
Speaker 1: and this has been your wake up Call, and if
Speaker 1: you missed any of the wake Up Call and it
Speaker 1: was a fun show today, you can listen at any
Speaker 1: time on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 4: Way you've been listening to wake Up Call with me
Speaker 4: Amy King, you can always hear wake Up Call five
Speaker 4: to six am Monday through Friday on kf I Am
Speaker 4: six forty and anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.