NIAGARA FALLS: GMA, the show within the show

By Rick Forgione<br><a href="mailto:forgioner@gnnewspaper.com">E-mail Rick</a>

In case you missed it, here are some of the highlights from ABC’s Good Morning America Whistle-Stop Tour show broadcast from Niagara Falls State Park on Tuesday:

• Anchors Diane Sawyer and Robin Roberts opened the show riding on a retrofitted Amtrak train heading west through Town of Niagara and into Niagara Falls. A video package on the stock market’s dramatic drop topped the morning news. Afterward, Sawyer pointed out the Upstate New York area has lost 85,000 jobs since 2000.

“In Western New York, the economic concerns here aren’t so much about stock dividends and annual bonuses,” Roberts said. “It’s about how am I going to make my home payment, what about my car payment, what about my weekly grocery bills?”

• GMA Weather Anchor Sam Champion presented the morning weather report stationed on Hurricane Deck beneath the falls near the Cave of the Winds. He pointed out 75,000 gallons of water goes over the falls per second and down on the deck, winds top 65 mph the same as a Category 1 hurricane. Champion also noted that Niagara Falls State Park is the oldest state park in the country.

Later in the show, Champion detailed the numerous daredevils who have attempted to go over the Falls, including Annie Taylor and Steve Trotter. The package included a visit to The Daredevil Museum in Niagara Falls and an updated interview with Trotter, now a bartender in Florida.

“Niagara Falls is the most dangerous stunt any man can ever do,” Trotter told GMA.

• The main package of the show’s first hour was taped Monday evening and detailed the economic differences between the American and Canadian sides of Niagara Falls. It opened with Roberts and news anchor Christopher Cuomo walking down desolate north Main Street and commenting on boarded up and closed businesses.

“It’s just totally fallen into disuse,” Cuomo commented.

In a voiceover, Sawyer pointed out the average household income in Niagara Falls was $27,000. The scene then shifted to the bright, bustling area of Clifton Hill in Niagara Falls, Ont.

“Can you imagine, turning the corner, looking across the water and seeing this,” Sawyer said. “Is it Las Vegas? Is it Oz? Nope, welcome to Canada. Same river, same falls, same mist, but the average household income in Canada is almost doubled.”

Returning to this side of the border, she made a pit stop at Niagara University’s Dwyer Arena and interviewed parents and teenagers about the lack of job opportunities.

• The next segment was meant to be Cuomo talking about hydropower while being tethered in a harness near the brink of the falls at Prospect Point, but his microphone was having technical difficulties and his audio was not heard. A few other spots throughout the show featured audio difficulties, prompting Sawyer and Roberts to joke about the falls’ mist and majestic power.

n Later from Prospect Point, Champion reported on the natural beauty of the falls and local attractions. A previously recorded package highlighting the Maid of the Mist, Cave of the Winds and wineries was aired.

• Ending the show, the crew participated in the wedding of Ohio couple Tom O’Donnell and Annette Keck, who had planned on getting married in the Falls and were chosen by GMA to have the ceremony on the show.

“They wanted the day to be spectacular and eternal, like the falls themselves,” Sawyer said.