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October 2, 2023 40 mins
Amy King hosts your Monday Wake Up Call. National correspondent for ABC News Steven Portnoy starts the show discussing McCarthy avoiding a shutdown and whether his speakership is in jeopardy. Amy talks with ABC News Radio Correspondent Jim Ryan about WATER, water everywhere; but is it safe? ABC News Radio Correspondent in London Tom Rivers speaks on over 100,000 Armenians flee disputed region. The show closes with the Executive Director of the Innocence Center Michael Semanchik talking about how his organization helped to free Gerardo Cabanillas after being wrongly accused and jailed for 28 years.
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Episode Transcript

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(00:00):
You're listening to kf I AM sixforty wake Up Call with me Amy King
on demand on the iHeart Radio fK five and kost HD two Los Angeles
and Orange County. A good ball, your host, Aby King. October

(00:37):
ball is here. Dodgers start playingagain on October seventh, all the way
to the World Series. Baby.This is your wake up call for Monday,
October two. Good morning, I'mAmy King. Thanks so much for
waking up. Did you feel thefall chill in the air this morning?
Maybe I haven't. You probably haven'tbeen outside yet, but when you do.

(00:59):
I felt this little chill and Iwas like, oh, yeah,
fall is here. Of course.Then I got a forecast coming up for
you. It's gonna be like onehundred degrees this weekend. But that's a
whole other thing. A sure sign. Holidays are right around the corner.
I got my Amazon Christmas catalog,Amazon's Holiday Dash, all the hot toys
the kids gotta have, Foolish LittleMermaid, stuffed animals, Spiety and his

(01:23):
amazing friends, lots of cool stuff. Hey, we had a fabulous day
at the Pacific Air Show yesterday.I'm gonna be telling you more about that
coming up. But in the meantime, I do encourage you to check out
my Instagram at Amy K King tosee who I ran into. And here's
a hint. I feel the needthe need for speed. It was a

(01:47):
really fun little encounter. I willtell you about that in a minute.
Here's what's head on the wake upcall say after In the Hollywood studios are
scheduled to sit down for negotiations forthe first time since actors walked out in
mid July. AI A big stickingpoint. California Governor Newsom has vetoed a
bill that would have paid unemployment benefitsto striking workers. He rejected the bill's

(02:07):
Saturday. He said California's unemployment TrustFund is already near twenty billion dollars in
debt and now is not the timeto increase that. The lights are on
at the US government. Lawmakers passeda continuing resolution Saturday to keep the government
running through mid November. The bigquestion now is whether Kevin McCarthy can survive

(02:28):
as speaker after that vote. We'regonna be talking with ABC's Stephen Portnoy about
this in just a couple of minutes. Don't away. At six oh five.
It's handled on the news. Thegovernor has appointed a replacement for Diane
Feinstein. Einstein just passed away onThursday night. Let's start with some of
those stories coming out of the KFItwenty four hour newsroom. At least twelve

(02:49):
cities in La County have filed alawsuit to stop the new zero bail policy.
Representatives from the cities noted in theirfiling late Friday that the new policies
a threat to public safety. Iszero bail for most non violent offenders started
yesterday with the blessing of the county'spresiding judge and the Board of Supervisors,
but cities like Whittier, Downey,and Industry joined Glendora, Palmdale, and
Arcadia along with others to put astop to the new policy. It's not

(03:13):
clear why the city's waited until thelast minute, but it's expected more cities
will join the lawsuit. Steve Gregorycaf I News. At least four people,
including an LAPD officer, have beenhurt during a protest in Boil Heights
over proposed rent increases for city housing. The Los Angeles Tennant Unit Union says
LAPD officers rushed from behind protesters yesterdayoutside Boyle Heights City Hall. No arrests

(03:38):
were made. The union said itis planning its next march for early November.
Governor Newsom is named a replacement forSenator Dianne Feinstein, who died last
week. Appointing Democratic strategists Lafonza Butlerto fill Diane Feinstein's seat fulfills Governor Gavin
Newsom's promise, and he would appointa black woman. Many thought it was
going to be Congresswoman Barbara Lee untilNewsom said he would not have point anyone

(04:00):
currently running to fill the seat asto not disrupt the primary process. ABC's
Alex Stone says Lee is running forthe seat next year. Butler will be
the only black woman in the Senate. She'll be the first openly LGBTQ senator
to represent California. Opening statements aresaid to begin in New York in the
fraud case against former President Trump.The civil trial against the former president begins,

(04:24):
with the judge already having declared lastweek that there is enough evidence that
Donald Trump committed fraud by lying aboutthe value of his assets and inflated his
net worth by as much as twopoint two billion dollars. ABC's Sonia Rincon
says the trial will determine penalties.She says Trump good face finds up to
two hundred and fifty million dollars andcould lose control of some of his properties

(04:46):
in New York. The Nobel Prizefor Medicine has been announced in Sweden.
The Nobel Assembly at Carolinsky Institute thathas today decided to award the twenty twenty
three Nobel Prize in physiolog your Medicine. Jointly Secretary of the Nobel Assembly,
Thomas Pearlman says the award goes totwo scientists for discoveries that allowed for the

(05:09):
development of MR and A vaccines againstCOVID nineteen. Katalin Kariko is a professor
at Sagan's University in Hungary and anadjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
Drew Weissman did his research with Kurikoat the University of Pennsylvania. Nobel announcements
are going to continue this week withthe Physics Prize tomorrow, Chemistry Wednesday,

(05:29):
Literature on Thursday, and the NobelPeace Prize, the big daddy of them
all, will be announced on Friday. Let's say good morning now to ABC's
Stephen Portnoy. Stephen, on Fridaywhen we talked, it looked like a
shutdown was imminent, but at thevery end of our talk you said anything
could happen, and it did.I'm so glad you remember that. I

(05:49):
was gonna say it if you didn'tlisten, I was right. No,
listen. What happened over the weekendwas Speaker McCarthy knew that the only way
to avoid a government shutdown was tohave by partisanship. He put on the
floor of bill that actually surprised Democratsand for a while they were suspicious of
it and said they needed to spendthe time reviewing all seventy one pages because

(06:10):
it was done without coordinating with Democrats, and he put it on the floor.
It was a clean continuing resolution thatdid not include money for Ukraine,
but did provide an additional sixteen billiondollars for disaster relief, and after Democrats
initially aired their suspicions and even objections, they said, you know what,
We'll take this deal. And itwas sent to the Senate with three hundred
and thirty five members of the Housevoting in favor and eighty eight members of

(06:32):
the Senate voted to the Senate ofthe President's desk, and he signed it
with leus than an hour ago,so no government shutdown. Government agencies are
funded through mid November. The questionnow is what are the ramifications for Kevin
McCarthy's Speaker of the House for essentially, I won't say striking a deal with
Democrats because again Democrats were caught offguard here. But he worked with Democrats

(06:54):
to get this done. And infact, more Democrats than Republicans in the
House voted to send this bill tothe Senate. Most Republicans voted for it,
but ninety voted against it. Andamong the ninety or some of the
loudest critics in the Republican conference,Matt Gates. Yeah, right, So
Matt, Matt Gates is today,as early as today, going to go
to the floor of the House andput up a motion to vacate the speakership.

(07:15):
It could trigger a vote within fortyeight hours. It could happen as
early as today. That vote thefirst of what will likely be a few
votes. McCarthy yesterday said, ora Saturday said, bring it. He
is of the mind that first ofall, he enjoys the support of about
two hundred of the two hundred andtwenty one House Republicans. At best,

(07:35):
Gates has maybe maybe about twenty Republicanswho are willing now to vote to oust
McCarthy as speaker. We'll see howit all shakes out. But the bigger
question is what are the Democrats goingto do? Because the House of Representatives
currently as four hundred and thirty threemembers, the House chooses its speaker,
the House decides whether it oust thespeaker. A lot has been made about

(07:55):
Matt Gates, but Matt Gates can'tdo it alone. He can only do
it if the Democrats side with him. So the question is, will the
Democrats join up with Matt Gates todevolve the House into chaos or will the
Democrats to reject Gates's motion? Orwill Democrats sit on their hands, avoid
the vote, or simply vote present, which adjusts the math in the House

(08:18):
of Representatives, leaving it entirely upto Republicans. And if they do that,
well, then there's no doubt thatMcCarthy's position is safe, okay,
because if they vote present, andyou've got the two hundreds who support and
the twenty against, then that's allthat counts. That's exactly right. Then
the vote would be two hundred andtwenty. Let's just say okay. Or

(08:39):
they could say, you know,he did us a solid by keeping the
government open, let's continue down thispath, or on a motion to table
or a motion that would raise aquestion of consideration. There a whole bunch
of different parliamentary tactics that can beused here. But the point is Democrats
have a couple of options to derailgates effort. If they want to propagate

(09:01):
it, they simply have to votealong with him okay. And then Gates
said, oh, I'm gonna Icould do this every day. Yes,
it sounds like a big waste ofeverybody's time. Well, and that's why
it's not likely to succeed in theend. But but his perspective is well.
Over time, as more Republicans wakeup to what it is that McCarthy's
done to undermine our our principles andviolate his promises and all these things,

(09:22):
well, then the numbers could grow. But there's also a move to maybe
talk about ousting Gates from the House. He's got a pending Ethics Committee investigation.
That's true. You know, Ijust love our talks because it's just
never a dull moment. Thank youso much, Stephen, and I'm glad
that you were right on from you. Bet all right, take care,

(09:43):
all right, good bye, allright, let's get back to some of
the stories coming out of the KFItwenty four hour newsroom. Negotiators for actors
and the major studios are expected backat the bargaining table. Sag AFTER and
the AMPTP have not held official talkssince the actor's strike began in July.
The union's demands include general wage increases, protections against the use of actor images

(10:05):
through artificial intelligence big sticking point there, higher compensation for successful streaming programs,
and better health and retirement benefits.Members of the Writers Guild of America are
set to start voting on whether toapprove their new contract with the studios.
The tentative deal was announced just overa week ago, following five straight days
of negotiations. It would officially endthe strike that started in May. Retail

(10:28):
workers at Ontario International Airport have walked. They're gone. They've gone on strike
following months of negotiations with the HudsonGroup. The union says previous contracts expired
three years ago and negotiations stalled outin January. Workers say they're tired of
working full time and not making alivable wage. A bill from an assemblywoman

(10:48):
in Fullerton to prevent certain people fromowning a gun has been signed into law.
The bill from Assemblywoman Sharing Quark Silva, closes a loophole that allowed criminal
defendants who suffer from mental illness toown or possess guns. The law prevents
people in pre trial mental health diversionprograms for a felony or specified misdemeanor charge
from owning a firearm until they successfullycomplete diversion. A completed diversion program can

(11:11):
prevent criminal convictions allowing a person toget a gun anyway, but the new
law signed last week allows prosecutors topetition the court to prohibit gun possession if
the person poses a threat to themselvesor others. In Fullerton, Corbin Carson
kf I News, a former employeeof the Eli County DA's office, is
suing the county. Brett Sereno claimshe was driven out of the office by

(11:33):
intolerable conditions after the election of DAGeorge Gascon. Serreno now works in it
for the county Fire Department. Atleast nine people in northern Mexico have been
killed when the roof of a churchcollapsed during mass. About fifty people were
hurt. Yesterday, rescuers were stillsearching through the rebel. Late last night,
dogs were being used to look forpossible survivors. The cold and flu

(11:56):
season is right around the corner.At Nutritionist doctor Michael Gargo says boosting your
immune system will help you get readyfor it, but a good balanced diet
you want to stay hydrated, sleepand rest. I don't know why some
people brag I only need three hoursof sleep. Stress management easy for me
to say, hard to do.Garko says getting enough sleep and managing chronic

(12:20):
stress not only helps your body recover, but also strengthens the immune system.
He says you might want to alsoconsider vitamin supplements. Okay, have you
bought the new iPhone fifteen? Idon't have it yet. But they're getting
a lot of complaints that these littleguys are overheating, and they're saying that
they're overheating when they're charging. They'reoverheating sometimes, like when you're playing an

(12:46):
intensive thing like you're doing gaming.Certain apps and Apple hadn't made an official
comment, but now looks like it'sresponding and saying we're going to work on
that, and it may have todo with the new operating system, the
iOS seventeen. I believe it is. So they said that they're addressing it,
and if it does have to dowith the operating system, then they'll

(13:07):
send out a fix soon. Ithink I'm gonna hold off on buying the
fifteen for a little bit until theyfix it. Governor Newsom has appointed Democratic
strategist and adviser to Kamala Harris's presidentialcampaign, Lafonza Butler, to fill Diane
Feinstein's Senate seat. Feinstein just diedlast week at the age of ninety.
With the appointment, Newsom made goodon a promise to appoint a black woman

(13:30):
to fill the seat. Bus driversin Santa Clarita could soon be going on
strike that could interrupt bus service inthe area, including for many high schools.
Because the buses contract with the schools, LA County has eliminated cash bail
for most crimes, most people arrestedfor non violent or non serious events is
will be cited and released in thefield, or booked and then ordered to

(13:52):
appear in court at a later date. People considered a danger to the public
or a flight risk will have theircases reviewed by I had judge at six
oh five. It's handling the news. You're gonna want to stick around for
Bill talking about this. One ofthe nineteen people, including former President Trump,
charged with allegedly trying to overturn theelection results in Georgia has cut a
deal. Bill's going to talk aboutwhat that could mean for Trump. Right

(14:16):
now, let's say good morning toABC's Jim Ryan. Jim, I've never
heard of this before and it kindof caught my eyes, so I wanted
to have you explained it to us. We've got saltwater from the Gulf of
Mexico flowing upstream. Yes, allright, so tell us what that is
and what it means. Well,the Mississippi River, of course, is
freshwater. The headwaters are way upin Minnesota. It actually step across the

(14:41):
Mississippi River where it begins. It'slife. By the time it makes it
down to the Gulf of Mexico,it's wide and it's raging, and you
know, you can read a lotabout it from Mark Twain. But right
now, because of a drought,the mouth of the Mississippi River. There's
such low pressure there from lack ofrain that the salt water from the Gulf

(15:03):
of Mexico is making its way upinto the Mississippi River. So it's gradually
creeping up. They're pushing against whatnormally would be pretty strong pressure. It's
not strong pressure, and so you'vegot what amounts to a saltwater wedge on
the bottom of the river moving graduallycreeping up in towards some populated areas,
communities like Burus, Louisiana, Placamun'sParish, eventually perhaps New Orleans if there

(15:26):
isn't a sustained solid rainfall in thenext few weeks. Okay, so what
is the what's the effect of that? Though? Well, so much of
the somebody of the communities there alongthe Super River draw their drinking water from
the Mississippi, so it's brought in, it's cleaned, it's chlorinated, it's
sound out into people's homes and businesses, and everything's great. Dealing with salt

(15:50):
water, there's a different animal,you know. The saltwater causes problems,
causes damage to the water treatment facilityequipment, not to mention in people's homes
if they if it actually makes itout into your home. It causes issues
there and you can't drink it anyway, you could shower with it. But
in the long term there are somemajor, you know, effects from this,

(16:11):
not only New Orleans, but inthose communities down south toward the Gulf,
toward the mouth of the Mississippi.Is it mainly small communities that you
said it could hit New Orleans,but otherwise as it mainly small licens,
small communities. Burausts is when I'vebeen to Bureausts before us down and it's
kind of a fishing community, fairlyclosed to the Gulf of to the mouth

(16:33):
of the Mississippi. But the localpaper has published a calendar essentially showing that
on October thirteenth, it could bein bell Chase. This saltwater could have
reached that far north in the Mississippi, which isn't too far from New Orleans,
then Saint Bernard Parish, then eventuallyNew Orleans and Algiers, which is
on the east bank of the MississippiRiver. So they're looking at this and

(16:57):
really hoping to get the heavy rainfallto wash away this salt water, and
the short term solution is kind ofinteresting. They're gonna put a fresh water
on barges up north, the upriver on the Mississippi. So they're going
to go on the water and bringingwater down exactly to bring it in by

(17:18):
barge that'll be put into the watertreatment facilities to kind of keep the salt
water from getting in there. Soyeah, I think it's interesting they're they're
using the source of the problem inMississippi to kind of solve the problem at
least in the short term. Andthen are they bringing in like drinking water
and stuff and bottled water. Yes, they're urging people not to go out
and start panic buying and buying upall the bottled water in the stores,

(17:41):
which means they are will you oil. Probably it's going to look something like
that before a hurricane comes and everybodybuys up all the bottled water and canned
food. You know. Kind it'sso weird, Like in New York where
they had eight inches of rain ina day, You're like, if you
would have just shifted that down southa little bit and a little bit,
Yeah, whatever, Could this happenin other areas of the country too,
Well? It could. I mean, the Mississippi is such an iconic I

(18:03):
mean, it's it runs all theway the north south from Mississippi from Minnesota
down to the Gulf of Mexico.I think this one. And then there
are are the rivers. I'm surethat this could cause some problems too.
The Arkansas River, which flows intothe Mississippi, may have these issues the
Missouri there, But I suspect thatthis is the most dramatic because this empties

(18:26):
right out into the Gulf, thegulf Ish saltwater. It's pushing against the
fresh water in the Mississippi, andfor right now it's winning that little tug
of war. Okay, with thesaltwater flowing up. I mean, are
they seeing like sharks in the Mississippiand stufford you get that anyway along the
Mississippi coast there in mississ state ofMisissippi, they have nerth sharks there occasionally
Louisiana coast to Louisiana says, seesome of that. The Mississippi River.

(18:49):
You know, there was a dramaticearthquake that happened one hundred years ago or
so, and the river actually flowthe opposite direction for its time, So
you know, it's susceptible to twoweird things that happen in the environment.
Okay, well, we're going tohope for some rain for Mississippi or for
the Mississippi River and along that sothey don't have to barge the water down.

(19:12):
That's bizarre, but hey, moderntechnology, if we can do it,
let's do it modern like barges.All right, Thanks so much,
Jim Ran, appreciate you explaining thatto us. See you. All right,
let's get back to some of thestories coming out of the KFI twenty
four our newsroom. Employees at KaiserPermanente could go on strike this week now
that the labor contract for seventy fivethousand unionized healthcare workers has expired. Ninety

(19:36):
eight percent of union members who votedvoted a couple of weeks ago to approve
a three day strike if an agreementwasn't reached before the expiration. A spokesperson
for Kaiser says progress has been madeat the bargaining table and is urging workers
to reject all calls for a strike. We're gonna have to wait and see
on that one. Governor Newsom hasveto to bill that would have let striking
workers collect unemployment benefits. His Vitomessage to California has paid over three hundred

(20:02):
and sixty two million dollars in intereston a federal loan used to provide benefits
during the pandemic, and he sayshe has a deep appreciation and respect for
workers, but now is not thetime to increase costs or incur as sizable
debt. The three year pandemic pausein federal student loan payments has expired.
That means twenty eight million people willnow have to start making those payments again.

(20:26):
Average federal student loan borrower owes morethan thirty seven thousand dollars in debt
payments, averaging between two hundred andthree hundred dollars a month. ABC's Elizabeth
Schulzy says a lot of borrowers hadhoped President Biden's loan forgiveness plan was successful
in court. The Biden administration saysit is still exploring options for debt forgiveness

(20:48):
through a different law called the HigherEducation Act. A craving for tacos is
paid off big for a couple nearSacramento. They had just returned from an
overseas trip when they stopped at theirfavorite taco truck and Patterson Tim Dine says
he usually runs over and gets alottery scratch it from across the street when
he gets the taco, So hedid that too. That scratcher was worth

(21:08):
a million dollars, and that's justyou know, that's just a pittance compared
to Powerball. There was no winneron Saturday nights, so the Powerball jack
bodies up again over a billion dollars. The estimated jackpot is worth one point
zero four billion dollars. Four tonight'sprize I would tie it as the fourth

(21:30):
largest powerball prize. Sag After andthe Hollywood Studios are scheduled to set down
four negotiations for the first time sinceactors walked out in mid July. AI
and streaming continue to be big stickingpoints. Former President Trump is expected to
be in New York City today forhis civil fraud trial. New York Attorney
General Letitia James has accused Trump andhis family of fraud for inflating his net

(21:55):
worth, which James said gave Trumpbetter terms than he deserved from lenders and
insurers. A full length film aboutBeyonce's Renaissance World tour is in the works.
Reports say the singer is teaming upwith AMC to release the documentary December
first. Taylor Swift's Era's concert tourhits theaters later this month. I think
on October thirteenth. It sold twentysix million dollars in pre sale tickets on

(22:18):
the first day they were available.At six oh five, it's handle on
the news. Zero bail goes intoeffect in La County. Actually it was
effective yesterday at least a dozen citiesor pushing back and suing to get the
new policy blocked. At five fifty, We're going to be talking with the
executive director of the Innocent Center whohelped free that man in southern California who

(22:42):
was wrongly accused and convicted and spenttwenty eight years in prison for a crime
he didn't commit. His sentence wasjust overturned and he has been exonerated and
is now a freeman. Let's getback to some of the stories coming out
the KFI twenty four hour newsroom.President Biden has signed a bill to keep

(23:03):
the government running, which gives Congressanother forty five days to agree on a
spending plan. Quite frankly, I'msick and tired. I'm sick and tired
of the brinksmanship and so an Americanpeople. The temporary bill does not include
the steep spending cuts that some conservativeswanted. It also cut out more than
four billion dollars Democrats wanted for Ukraine. Republican Congressman Matt Gates has threatened to

(23:29):
remove Kevin McCarthy as speaker for workingwith Democrats on the temporary spending bill and
not reigning and spending. I amrelentless and I will continue to pursue this
objective. McCarthy says he'll survive.Bring it on, let's get over with
it, and let's start governing.Gates says he will use a procedural tool
called a motion to vacate to tryto strip McCarthy out of his office as

(23:52):
soon as this week. Two menfrom Riverside have been arrested for allegedly distracting
an elderly woman outsider home in HuntingtonBeach while one of them stole fifty thousand
dollars from her purse. The seventynine year old was approached two weeks ago
when she got home from the bank. Police say that type of crime is
known as bank jugging, where thievespay attention to bank customers who withdraw cash

(24:15):
and then follow them home to robthem. At least twelve cities in La
County have joined together to sue thecounty over its new zero bail policy.
The group of cities filed a lastminute complaint on Friday. Beginning yesterday or
most nonviolent offenders are going to begiven a citation by police on the spot
and then just released. County officialssay the new policy equalizes an unbalanced bail

(24:41):
system. Critics say the new programis a threat to public safety. Some
people who got Apple's iPhone fifteen Proand Pro macs have complained the new devices
get too hot, both while usingand charging the devices. Some users say
they believe the issue could be triggeredby certain apps running in the background,
such as Instagram or Uber. AppleTech support has referred customers to an old

(25:06):
support article on how to handle aniPhone that feels too hot or too cold.
The notice says overheating could occur whenusing intensive apps, charging, or
setting up a new device for thefirst time. Time to check in now
with ABC News correspondent Tom Rivers,Good morning Tom. This one has kind

(25:26):
of flown under the radar. Armenianrefugees are fleeing their homes by the thousands.
Can you tell us why they're goingand what's happening over there? Good
morning Abby, Yeah, well,don't you know what you think? Back
this has been a sore spot goingback about thirty years, but it really
really ramped up just over a weekago in Azerbaijan in essence, fired volleys

(25:51):
of artillery shells in and basically aftertwenty four forty eight hours, the Armenians,
the ethnic Armenian said enos enough andthey're packing their bags. Total population
ethnic Armenians about one hundred and twentythousand, and by the latest count,
over one hundred and five thousand havenow split down a mountainous road to Armenia

(26:11):
proper. So yes, it's it'skind of game over. And these people
have left their homes, small businesses, livestock fill in the blank, packing
whatever they have on their backs orin cars or in busses, and that's
it, saying that they can't carryon any longer there and Azerbaijan will in
essence take over within the next dayor two at city Hall. And these

(26:37):
are this isn't like a military stronghold. It's just an area where people are
living Is that correct? Yeah,exactly. I mean you look at Azerbaijan.
Armenians are a different background, Christianbackground, and basically, why why
have they left? Why didn't theyhang around and say, well, we'll
make some compromises. They're fearing reprisals, they're fearing as well, losing their

(27:00):
freedom to use their language, topractice their religion, et cetera, et
cetera. So again, by thelatest count, eighty five to ninety percent
have already left the UN after somethinglike thirty years. But they're back monitoring,
kind of twiddling their thumbs, watchingthis exodus, this outflow of humanity,
and not a whole lot they cando. Is the US helping at

(27:23):
all? Not really, just ifyou will, rhetorical support for the ethnic
Armenians. But but that's it,And the Armenians are calling it ethnic cleansing.
They are, they're using that language. In fact, the leader in
Armenia itself who's using that particular phrase, and you know others have been saying

(27:45):
today, you know, what canthe UN do? What can the US
do? At this stage? Allyou can do is maybe put some financial
aid in the way of the pocketsof the ethnic Armenians that have now left
that are going to have to startover and create a new life in Armenia
itself. But it doesn't look likethey're going to get the support to like
say, oh hey, you guyscan come back. It's like you're out,

(28:07):
You're gone, see you right,Yeah, when no one is egging
for a fight as it is,over, game over, the horses bolted.
That's just crazy if you think ofthat, like if that happened here,
Yeah, exactly, you know here, we're gonna move you out.
We're gonna start bombing you. We'regonna clear out Huntington Beach. You know.
I'm taking over your host, host, Amy, goodbye, have a
nice life in Phone, Nebraska whereveryou Yeah, exactly. All right,

(28:30):
Tom Rivers, thank you so much. Appreciate your time today. Take care.
It's really disturbing. Hey, flippingover to a happier things. Nick,
Paulo Chini and I went out andabout to the Pacific Air Show yesterday.
Good morning Nick, Good morning Amy. Yeah. So this was fun.
I haven't been to an air showin a long time. I've been
wanting to go to the Pacific AirShow because it's just so great. And

(28:52):
then Kafi is involved with it andwe've had so many great stories about it,
and I tell you it did notdisappoint yesterday that was amazing. That
show was rocking so and it's obviouslyit's over now, but just kind of
put it on your radar, putin the back of your mind for next
year, like it's it's worth thetrip. And we saw F fifteens,

(29:14):
F thirty five's for a Hornet,FA eighteens, the Canadian Snowbirds, the
Air Force Thunderbirds of course, andthen I know you got to kick out
of the cow fire see one thirty. Oh my gosh to see one thirty.
And you have to check it outon Instagram either Nick poly'keiny this week
I with Nike, Amy k Kingor even Ka five AM six forty,

(29:37):
all of those have it. Itwas wild and they were showing exactly how
they respond as a fire and rescuevehicle and so they can bring up to
three one thousand cubic I don't knowsquare feet of water something in that effect.
In it's a lot of water,and we saw a lot of water
that was being poured over Huntington Beach. That was amazing. Also, we
saw the paratroopers when we were forshowing up to the evenge oh yeah,

(30:02):
and like exactly yeah. And thenthe thing that was the best is you
saw a couple of friends, rightI did. Okay, So you guys.
So we're sitting there and they havethe little uh they're the Gators.
They're like a hopped up golf cartand these two guys on the back of
it, and I go, jeez, that looks a lot like Maverick and
Iceman. And I was like,holy cow, it's Maverick and Iceman and

(30:25):
these guys. I know they're actors, let's be straight, but these guys
were like dead ringers for Tom Cruiseand Valkan. It was well and it
was you know them thirty years agowhen when Top Gun first came out,
and so I ran up to him. I'm like, hey, I mean
and they you know, they wavedand pointed, and then they did they
stopped and took pictures with people alittle bit later, and so we ran

(30:48):
over there. So you gotta gocheck out my Instagram. I'm totally fan
girl these guys. But it's atEmmy Kiking And did you put it up
in yours? Tunic? Did Ihave a different It been us so yeah,
so that's over there also Nick polyO'Kenny or This Weekend with Nick.
Yeah, so check it out.So that was really just a fun treat
and like smart of the air ofthe air show to do that, I

(31:08):
think it was fun for everybody.So there was fun on the ground,
there was fun in the air,and it was just a spectacular show.
Even of a FedEx seven fifty sevendid a fly by and that's a huge
plane flying right. Yeah, itwas so cool. So and you know
they have they have it goes onfor like a mile along the coast,

(31:30):
so there's tons of areas that youcan just go and watch it, and
then there's the actual air show areawhere you can hear you can hear the
music and the announcers and really getthe play by play of what's going on.
But either way, it's just afabulous way to spend the day.
It was so great, So highlyrecommend that for next year. Right now,
let's say good morning to the executivedirector of the Innocent Center, Michael

(31:52):
Samancheck. Good morning, Michael,good morning, and thank you for having
me. Oh, thank you formaking the time to come on this.
This came out last week and Iwas like, we got to get these
guys on because this is this isa story that made me incredibly happy and
incredibly sad at the same time,and that was that Gerardo Cabanius is now

(32:13):
a freeman. He was wrongly convictedand served twenty eight years in prison.
How how'd you get him out?Well, mister Cabanius was wrongfully convicted.
He had twenty eight years ago.He was brought in by a detective and
falsely confessed to the crime, andthat false confession was then used to convince

(32:37):
the victims that to make a badeyewitness identification. And so about two and
a half years ago, three yearsago, we were lucky enough to get
some DNA testing going and the DNAtesting, the test results came back and
excluded him from from being involved inthe crimes he was convicted of, and

(32:57):
we worked with the Los Angeles JustDistrict Attorney's Conviction Integrity Unit to reverse the
conviction and we got about okay.And had mister kevani AS's case been on
your radar because you said two anda half years ago you got some DNA
evidence, But had you been tryingto figure out things for him before that
time or is that kind of whenhe came to your attention. We started

(33:21):
working on his case five or sixyears ago. It takes a lot of
time, energy, and resources toreverse the conviction in the United States.
It's just on average, I thinkit takes roughly about sixteen years for a
person to get their conviction reversed inthe US. And that's so that's just
as we really just believe in finalityin the US, and it makes it

(33:44):
all the more difficult to reverse theseconvictions even when they're is okay, So
take us back a little bit,because I want to talk about mister kevany
As. He was eighteen when hewas arrested, and it was a pretty
heinous crime. Yeah, So therewas the he was just a child.
There were there were two men thatwere committing crimes in January of nineteen ninety

(34:07):
six. They were they would goand find people sitting in cars in a
park and they would they would robthem. Sometimes they would sectually assault women
if they were in their cars.And that's what happened in two instances in
nineteen ninety five. And and sothe victims had reported their crimes to police

(34:30):
and a few days after one ofthe crimes happened. Mister Kabaneus was standing
on a corner wearing red pants.One of the one of the witnesses had
described perfect for wearing red pants,and that's how he initially got picked up.
And then they got him in thereand he didn't have a lawyer with
him, and they said confess,and he did. Why did he confess?

(34:52):
Yeah? So he was made alot of promises by this detective that
was known for eliciting false confessions,and he he was always going to get
home, and he was told,hey, why don't you just just just
confessed to this one little robbery andthen and then you'll be gone and you'll
you'll be home on probation. Andso he is in there for hours,

(35:15):
seven hours, and eventually just decides, like as an eighteen year old katie
trust law enforcement says, final,well, I'll say I did this so
I can go home, and sayshe does it. They bring in another
detective and then they start recording andit's at that point he finds out that
it's not just a robbery, it'sactually all of these crimes where he's you
know, kid napped a woman andsexually assaulted or in a house, all

(35:39):
stuff that he didn't he had noknowledge of, but he had confessed because
he thought he was going home.Okay, and in nineteen ninety six,
we didn't have the availability of theDNA evidence, so there was no way
to disassociate him from the crime basically, and he had confessed, So why
wouldn't they can right? Yeah,right, I mean, we had DNA

(36:00):
testing, but it required a lotof genetic material in order to develop a
profile. And so, yeah,we have this confession, and who wouldn't
believe a confession because at the timewe didn't really have all of the data
that we have. Now we knowthat about twelve percent of the thirty three
hundred roleful convictions in the United Stateshave involved a false confession. And yeah,

(36:22):
that DNA wasn't quite good enough atthe time to get a full profile
from the evidence that existed. Okay, So Michael, you must get people
saying every day I didn't do it, I didn't do it, I didn't
do it, and they did.What convinced you that this guy was telling
the truth? Well, like allof our cases, you have to go
and do an investigation and make anassessment as to whether or not it deserves

(36:49):
limited resources to try to get somebodyout, and in this one, it
had all the hallmarks of a falseconfession. So as we already mentioned his
age, the fact that none ofit was recorded, the fact that this
detective had done this in other casesand there was we had evidence to suggest
that he had been involved in alistening false confessions and others. The fact
that none of the confession really addedup and made sense. Yeah, and

(37:14):
then we knew that there was thisDNA that we could go out and test.
And so once the results came backand it confirmed what we thought that
in fact he was he had falselyconfessed, it became a whole lot easier,
and it was just a matter offitting it together and figuring out what
had happened, and that that parthappened by working with the Los Angeles District
Attorney's office. That's got to beso like exciting for you when you go,

(37:37):
we've got one who really and we'vegot a chance at getting him out,
Like doesn't kind of makes all thework worthwhile. Absolutely, Yeah,
when you was you know, there'sbeen a couple of days where you know
that stick out of my mind.When the DNA results come back and you
get chilled, and at the sametime, it's it's also like, you
know, it's kind of like itreally you have to put your foot in

(37:59):
the gas because you at the absolutelyknow at that point the person's innocent and
they're sitting there like you might havehad an inkling for a while, but
then you've get that confirmation and it'slike, wow, we've really got to
get working fast here. And thenthe day, the moment that you walk
up her person out of prison isreally just one of the best days of
my life and certainly of their's.Yeah, and so what's next for mister

(38:22):
Keviny is, you know, likea lot of people that spend almost three
decades in prison, he's got tolearn to live back on the outside again.
And prison is a is a challengingplace. It's emotionally and mentally draining,
and you live a different life inprison. So he's gonna, hopefully,

(38:45):
you know, slowly but surely,figure out how best to live his
life on the outside and and catchup a family that he hasn't really been
able to see When he went toprison. His daughter was eight months old
and she's almost thirty, and sospending time with his daughter and his loved
ones that he hasn't really had achance to see for the last three decades.

(39:05):
Yeah, well, certainly give givehim our best. And you know,
I'm all for bad guys serving timefor the bad things that they do,
but every once in a while,when you get someone like this,
it's so like it's just gratifying tohear that you're you're able to get them
out. So thanks, thanks forthe work that you do. Michael Semanchik
with the Innocent Center, we appreciateyour time this morning. Yeah, thank

(39:27):
you again for having me and goto the Innocent Center dot org and support
our work. We take donations andwe'd love to have everyone insight. You
got it. Thank you so much, Michael. Than what a story.
Isn't that amazing? And gosh,I can't even imagine like relearning the world
on the outside after all this time. I mean, and I know that
cell phones get into jails and thatkind of stuff, but just everything that's

(39:51):
going on now that wasn't around thirtyyears ago. We lead local live from
your KFI twenty four hour newsroom.I'm Amy King. This has been your
wake up call and if you missedany wake Up Call. You can listen
anytime on the iHeartRadio app. You'vebeen listening to Wake Up Call with me
Amy King. You can always hearWake Up Call five to six am Monday

(40:12):
through Friday on kf I Am sixforty, and anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app

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