The Big K Morning Show
Kidsburg With Kristine
It'll be great to see you next week. >>> Coming up in this half hour, right after the news at the bottom, we're going to talk to Christine Sorenson, anchor woman, Katie KTV, of course, Marty Griffin's wife. She visits every Wednesday, coming off of Big Night, the 51st annual Art Rooney Awards in which she received the Bill Burns Award. And we'll also talk about what's going on for the weekend. If you haven't discovered Kidsburg, they do a great job and it's definitely worth a look. Sometimes, you don't have to have kids, grandkids, sometimes there's some really cool stuff for adults too. A child was among at least nine people killed in the pager explosions, which wounded about 2,800 people in Lebanon. And we begin the details of that story with CBS's Ann Marie Green. >>> Sophisticated remote attack that blew up thousands of pagers used by Hezbollah militants killing at least nine, as the terror group threatens to retaliate against Israel. The Taiwanese company whose name is on the pagers says it did not make them. The old Apollo says they were made by a company in Budapest that has the right to use its brand name. There are still many questions about how this attack was executed. Here's CBS's Elizabeth Palmer. >>> The page is exploded wherever Hezbollah fighters happen to be in the street at store checkouts behind the wheel. In this bedroom, one blew a hole in the desk. Ambulances rushed the injured to hospitals. And emergency rooms filled with those injured by the tiny blasts powerful enough to shred faces and limbs. One high profile casualty was Iran's ambassador to Lebanon, who was slightly hurt. It took no time for Hezbollah's TV station to pin the blame. He held the Israeli enemy responsible, he says, for this criminal aggression. Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah had told his men months ago to get rid of their smartphones to foil Israeli tracking. But the low-tech pager alternative has proved deeply embarrassing. Seema Shine is ex-head of research at Mossad, Israel's foreign intelligence agency. >>> So what's the psychological effect of this? What are the Hezbollah commanders thinking tonight? >>> That they are not safe anywhere, and this is something very difficult. They are not safe anywhere, their communication is not safe. >>> Are they going to feel obliged to respond? >>> I think they will retaliate, yeah, no question. >>> Israel and Hezbollah have been trading fire across the border with Lebanon for months. We may just have seen the opening salvo in a much bigger war. Somebody is wondering how the pages were booby-trapped and of course how they were detonated. We may not get answers to that for some time. But Seema Shine told me that this was such a sophisticated piece of sabotage. The saboteurs got deep inside Hezbollah's equipment supply line that it must have been the work of a state. Elizabeth Palmer, CBS News, Tel Aviv. >>> And yesterday, Marty talked with Secret Service agent for four presidents, Ron Layton, who is a Pittsburgh guy about, how is this possible? >>> We're framing it as a pager, but it could be any device that's portable that I give you that either has a cellular or an RF trigger with an embedded explosive device. That's it. It could be a car, it could be a pager, it could be anything that's got a charge on it. >>> The pagers that blew up were apparently acquired by Hezbollah after the group's leader was told that they could track as you heard their cell phones warning, but how would they know that they were going to switch from the cell phones to what is more antiquated now these days? I mean, you don't see people with pagers around town anymore due to what you can utilize with your own cell phone. So there's a new twist with the exploding Hezbollah pagers made in Hungary by a company in a long history of the fighting between the two being Hezbollah and Israel. It's well documented and about 3.30, this was such a highly coordinated effort. It's stunning how this actually happened. And if we get more details, of course, we'll share them with you here on The Big K Morning Show. Shout to us anytime, just a click away. Instant access at kdkradio.com, appreciate your comments, feedback, ideas, reactions to them. We all read your emails and hopefully you get a response from one of us or more. If you don't, we know, we still see them. That's instant access at kdkradio.com. So former president Donald Trump back on the campaign trail, first public appearance in Michigan yesterday after an alleged assassination attempt at his golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida. And the campaign continues now one day shy of seven weeks. Your CBS is Jared Hill talking about protecting our candidates. Speaking of protection around Trump, his running made his calling for the former president's level of security to be elevated to be the same as the current president. But his campaign isn't slowing down with less than two months until election day. Thank you very much. Former president Donald Trump back on the campaign trail in Michigan, days after a second suspected assassination attempt at his golf club in West Palm Beach. This guy was all set. He was all set to do his number. The former president courted auto workers at a town hall pledging to put a 200% tariff on cars built in China and Mexico. You have countries stealing your business. We are winning this campaign. Yesterday, Vice President Kamala Harris hit the trail in Philadelphia, sitting down with the National Association of Black Journalists. The same group Trump appeared before back in July when he made controversial statements about her racial identity. Is she Indian or is she black? Harris said she spoke to Trump on the phone about Sunday's incident after he publicly blamed her and President Joe Biden. For incendiary rhetoric, he says led to the assassination attempts against him. I checked on to see if he was OK. And I told him what I have said publicly. There is no place for political violence in our country. Harris also criticized Trump's false claims that Haitian migrants are eating pets in Springfield, Ohio. The crying shame spewing lies that are grounded in tropes that are age old. Ohio's Republican governor has sent additional state troopers to schools in Springfield after the city received more than 30 bomb threats last week. He says the misinformation needs to stop. Today Harris is in DC speaking to an event for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus while former president Trump will hold a rally in Union Dale, New York. CBS is Jared Hill. We also found out that Donald Trump will be coming to IUP in Indiana University of Pennsylvania and has promised again to come back to Butler County. We don't have a date or location just yet. And he also said yesterday in Michigan, only consequential presidents get shot at. When I say something like that, you have countries saying this guy, but what can you do, you have to do, you have to do what you have to do, right, you have to, we have to be brave. Otherwise, we're not going to have a country left. And the campaign continues. Meanwhile, I got some good news. If you want to get your passport renewed today is the official day that you can start doing it online. So remember lining up trying to figure out when you could go renew your passport. Well, starting today, you can get a new one online. You've been testing it out for two months. So far, haven't had any major hiccups. There are a few exceptions. You have to be in the US to apply online. And if your passport has expired more than five years, then you need to renew it in person. Other than that, the processing to do it online is easy, but they're not suggesting that you will get it or can't expect it any faster. Aaron, you have a passport. I got to get mine renewed, but now I get a look and see if it's beyond the five years. I don't know where I'm going, but it's nice to have it just in case. It really is. I got lucky just because, you know, when you get married, you have to change everything. So I just got lucky in that way where mine's kind of fresh. All right. Now that said, do you have that new upgraded license because remember when they kick this thing in that they can't, they've moved the date because of COVID several times, but you're going to have to fly on an aircraft. You're going to either need a passport or the real ID, real ID. You don't have that. I do not. I just have my ID and passport. I'll carry them together. Interesting because I'm going to get one of those. It's on a list. See, I have a list right here. Checklist. Sometimes I'm going to do and you know, you learn things doing the show, obviously, and that reminds me, I got to get my passport renewed, so I will check on that. Meanwhile, you know, it is National Cheeseburger Day. What's with all these cheese? It was Big Mac Day not too long ago. I think McDonald's just made that one out, which, which is a reason. So do you like cheeseburgers? I do. And where is your favorite burger place? Currently my favorite cheeseburger is actually at Juniper Grill. In Mauriceville, their burger is insane. Have you had a smash burger? I haven't in a long time. I have at least once, but I don't even remember. I'm looking at David Ballerado. He's preparing emotionally and mentally for his next newscast. David, do you like cheeseburgers? No. You're not a cheeseburger. You're a vegan. You don't need any type of sandwich concoction. No. You're an anti-sandwitcher. That's new. I am about as pro-sandwich as they come. There's no, there's just, you know, and Ben Comino's used to work here. We're in the same boat. There's just something about the concept that just disgusts both of us. Disgusts? Yes. Wow. Wow. That's a big deal. Big statement. Sorry. I mean, I understand that people don't eat meat or whatever. You're the first person in my life I've ever met who's just a sandwich. Anti-sandwich. Anti-sandwich person. What do you eat? What's your thing? Go to. Both depends. Are you a health food person? It depends on what type of health food it is. It's got to taste good before I eat it or it's not very healthy, right? Anti-sandwitcher. Wow. Peanut butter sandwich? Oh, no. That's, that's especially gross if you ask me. Wow. Your man is off the chain for you, correct. I may have a cheeseburger just to spite you. Help yourself. Today. All right. From the PGA Fitzpatrick Home Improvement Traffic Center, Triple A in Traffic is powered by Bowser Genesis of Monroeville. Let's get the latest. Here's Brandon Rossai. Thanks, Larry. Once again, Parkway West continues to be the heaviest stuff right now. That is very, very heavy from the top of Green Tree Hill down into the Fort Pit Tunnel. Parkway East starting to wither away, but very, very slowly. You still have a lengthy backup beginning at the Wilkinsburg interchange down into the Squirrel Hill Tunnel. 28 South starting to look better, a little bit of some hesitation just past the 31st Street Bridge going into the city, Parkway North looks good and on Sawmill Run Boulevard. We stop like the lays here and there between Route 88 and the Liberty and the Liberty Tunnel, but those roadways are looking better. It's starting to clear up, which is good news. And finally, we do have an accident in Mount Levitt, and this is at the intersection of Washington Road in Mount Levitt and Boulevard. Our next report at 935, with Triple A traffic on the fives, I'm Brandon Rossai on the Voice of Pittsburgh, 100.1 FM and AM 1020, KDKA. Thank you, Brandon. Looks like this is the cloudiest day of the week. We have clouds and we actually ended up seeing some sunshine yesterday. It turned out to be a decent day and no rain, not much rain out now. And looking at the radar at the moment, I can tell you exactly where the showers are, but if you get rain, not anticipating more than maybe a tenth of an inch. And right now Cranberry from Cranberry North, Evan City, Connequinescent, Zilean Opal up to Prospect getting a little shower that's passing, pushing from the southeast to the northwest. That's unusual because usually everything comes from the northwest or west and moves east. 77 will be here high. And right now at Pittsburgh International, we are at 65 degrees. This weather update brought to you by UPMC. Heart disease kills one person every 33 seconds schedule your heart screening at UPMC today. And we've got Marty Griffin coming up 10 until two and we'll talk to Marty here in the next few minutes. But first every Wednesday at this time, Marty's wife, Christine Sorensen, Katie KTV anchor woman. And now Wardy, she has so many awards with this one. Pretty special last night, the 51st annual Art Rooney Awards and you received the Bill Burns Award. Congratulations. Thank you following your footsteps as a winner last year. It is a big honor. I mean, to get the nod from, you know, the Rooney's and this wonderful selection committee with the Catholic Youth Association and the great work that they do. And then to be, you know, grouped in with these other incredible people like Rich Fitzgerald and Diane Huff and, you know, the president of Duquesne University, basketball coach of Duquesne. I mean, it was truly an honor. So really fun night too. What a great event they do. It's a really nice space because you can kind of see the city and yeah, at Accra. Sure. That gorgeous kind of event room. Beautiful. All right. We'll ask Marty because he, he got to go too. I know how much he loves dinners. Yes. Yes. He posted a video and you got to check it out at Marty's social media because you see this beautiful award. It's lit. It has a light in it. Yeah. It plugs in. It runs over and there you are, Christine, on the couch, a little blanket on your lap and a bag of Doritos. Yes. You're very happy. Yes. I love my Doritos. That was my reward. All right. Let's talk about Kidsburg. Yes. Big weekend. This is the last summer weekend. It really is. And we've got a guide out right now to, it's our fall events guide and there are more than 70 different things to do all around our region this fall. And starting with RAD days and if people don't remember what this is, RAD stands for Regional Asset District and we all pay 1% sales and use tax that go to all these regional assets. Things like, you know, the Science Center and FIPs and our parks and those really help make our area what it is, all these amazing things that we have that a lot of other areas don't have. It's because of this funding that we help all help provide. And it's a thank you for getting that. They have RAD days, which is where they offer free events, free experiences and it goes through now through October 5th. So just a couple of things happening, like there's a cool free fishing in the evening event. There's the owl prowl hike. Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra has a free concert at Heinz Hall. You can check out Soldiers and Sailors Museum for free. Those are all coming up, but I just want to highlight a couple this weekend. So on Saturday at PPG Paints Arena, you can skate for free right where the penguin skate. On the ice they just put down, that's a cool open skate event. You do need to register for that one. And then also Saturday, the family podcasting at the SLB Radio Youth Media Center. This is actually where Kidsburg records our podcast and they're going to have a really cool experience where families can go and see how to make their own podcast. When you say they put the ice down, it's like, whoa, I know, wait a minute, yeah, preseason starts this weekend. It's crazy. Yeah. PPG Paints Arena just signed, it's no longer said the kid. It's said the mid is, you know, by the time the end of this two year contract extensions over, he'll be 40. Whoa. Is that for real? Yeah. Yeah. My gosh. I remember when he came here. What a thrill to be able to go out there on the PPG Paints Ice. Absolutely. Yeah. It's really cool. And then on Sunday, this is also part of Rad Day's, there's the River Trail Rec Day. This is at the Allegheny River Trail, the park pavilion. There's starting at 10 a.m. on Sunday. There's going to be so many fun recreational things that they're offering with free fitness classes for the whole family, rowing demonstrations, water rentals, in addition to those like creative play and running all run club there. And you can also bring your own bikes or scooters or roller blades and have some fun on the trails there. So that's going to be cool. And then the last thing I wanted to mention is the heyday festivals. This is definitely a sign of fall arriving. So this Saturday, it's at Hurtwood Acres and then the following Saturday on September 28th, it's at South Park, but it's the same festival. Basically, they've got all these really fun, giant inflatables with slides and bounce houses and that kind of thing. And then they've got hay rides, they'll be puppet shows, petting zoos, balloon artists, games, all kind of fun things for kids. And then of course, you can buy your own food as you want, but everything's free other than what you choose to buy in terms of food. I think a lot of people like me, I love this time of year with these October Fests and all the fall special events that are going on all around the region. Kidsburg.org is a great resource. You can check that out, whether you have kids, grandkids, or even see there are a lot of fun things that really adults can enjoy just as much. Absolutely. I mean, to be honest, a lot of these are not just for kids, but it is a great way to expose your kids to some new things. All right, coming up, we're going to talk to Marty in a minute. But first, I want to ask you, you were at the backyard brawl. Oh, how fun was that? What a game. And Sofia, you're sophomore in the Panther pit. Yes. They've been so loyal, these students, they really have. When the gates opened two hours before kickoff, you can see them literally streaming in. It was packed. I mean, they went all the way to the top of the stadium this time. It was so cool to see the kids so into it. And really the whole stadium, everyone was into it on both sides. It was really a fun, exciting game. Yeah. Panthers are playing again this Saturday at 3.30 and that's against Youngstown State. And then Sunday you have the Steelers home opener. I can't believe they turned the stadium around so quickly because I was just there last night and we went out and we saw the, you know, open field and you see the pit panthers, banners and everything. I'm like, how do they do that so quickly? And it's tough because 3.30 to get it ready for the next morning, they'd literally work all night. They must. I mean, all of that stuff. But how exciting to have the Steelers coming off to road games to start the season two and oh, yeah, that Sunday is going to be crazy. It is. It's going to be a summer like day weather wise, but no rain, no lightning to worry about. We can just wear your SPF and your bring it. All right. Coming up next coming up 10 until two, it's Marty Griffin and his wife, Christine in studio with us. What the hell is an anti-sandwich? He's anti-sandwich or they're like anti-sandwich protesters on the campus of Pitt today. That's, oh, that's spot on. Mom, man. I thought of the same thing. I'd never met anyone that was just totally anti-sandwich. So Christine had her little award level. Our parents are supposed to be coming in. Yeah. So we lost. She had a little award last night and. That's awesome. Christine mumbled to me that Michael Bartley was the best MC in town. He is great. He's fantastic. He's fantastic. Are we done with these for a while? Yes. Are we done with these uncomfortable? Well, no. Actually, the Emmys are this Saturday, but we're going to a wedding. The Louise Emmys, the mid Atlantic Emmys. Yeah. Yeah. Where are they? Do you know? I believe it's at the window right next to Katie Kade. Oh, so it's here? Yeah. Yes. In Pittsburg this year. I know. I know. I think. You're going to be conflicted. No, I'm not. I'm awarded out. What are you going to say? I literally lower my head and head through the crowd. You know, you're in line. I'm listening right now. God bless him. Anything you want to share? I'm lovely having them here. Hey, Rich Fitzgerald nailed it about this U.S. deal thing. You know why? They're cowards. They're political cowards. We're going to get into this. Fits called this. He called this a month ago when these idiots started fighting over U.S. deal because they're all trying to placate these union guys and they don't want to lose union votes. So what will happen is they'll screw the union guys and they'll go against their wishes and approve this deal once the election's over. You think? Please. No, I know. That's what will happen at the end of the day. And the truth of the matter is fine. Fine. Hey, hey. This pager thing. Oh man. What's the lesson we learned yesterday, children? Don't jack with Israel. They don't mess around, man. This is why I love Israel. I'm serious. This is why I love, in my respect, their fight, their courage and their wily, man, they've given up. How did they pull that off? Don't bless them. And I know people hate hearing this because they can't stand Jews, but that's your problem. I think they're an amazing people. This is brilliant. This is I spy stuff. This is stuff. But in a movie, you wouldn't believe it. Right. You'd say, now that that's just too unbelievable to even put in a movie. So Ron Layton is a true insider when we have been using him a lot lately because we can. He's going to lay out how this stuff happens. It took, by the way, this wouldn't. There was some nuance to it yesterday when I asked him, would Americans, agencies ever do this? And he said, not in the United States. How about that? You know what I'm saying? So for those that don't know, they were warned that their phones could be tracking devices of them, Hezbollah. So they gave up their phones and they got pagers. How did somehow Israeli intelligence, I mean, this is the, what, what sources are saying about my sources, somehow they got 3000 pagers and put explosives in them and then detonated them all at three o'clock, three thirty in the afternoon. Yeah, simultaneous. Hey, I got to read you and we're going to play this to it. This is one of the greatest, greatest, um, scanner calls that everyone out in the history of man beach, this is last night beach, beach, beach view, beach view, Elvarado Avenue verbatim, Larry. Callers said that he was smoking some weed and he felt guilty for it. And so he is sorry. He wants to turn himself in Larry. That was nice for you to do. Hey, oh my goodness. In Harrisburg, they, I guess they, the recreational thing might be getting some real tracking. They've been high there for a while. I put a question on X this morning. If you were voting today, who would you vote for Trump or Taylor Swift? We'll say they're going to have some humor in this man. Oh man. Here we go. Donald said only what? What do you say? Only what? Only.