(Dramatic music)
(sirens whining)
- [News Reporter] Hanging
over the cliff now.
- [Man] Can you move the camera please?
- [News Reporter] Definitely
an automatic weapon.
- [Narrator] From the beginning
breaking news has always
taken the top billing
on the KTLA Morning News,
and over the past six years,
we've had more than our
fair share of top stories.
(helicopter whirring)
- Truly a dramatic picture
of what could have happened.
Luckily, as far as we
know, there was no one
in this motor home that is
floating down the river now.
- [Narrator] The first major
story came in February of 1992.
When torrential rain storms
caused severe flooding
in Ventura county.
- [News Reporter] It was
falling at an inch an hour.
A tremendous amount of water pouring--
- It was very compelling television,
and we found out the next day
that people tuned in to us in droves.
That they discovered us as
a result of that disaster.
That disaster created, what I think,
is the KTLA Morning News, today.
(helicopter whirring)
- Carlos,
this is the Wilshire District
that we're talking about
not South-Central Los Angeles.
3rd and Vermont, and we have
seen a riot, basically--
- [Narrator] That was just the beginning.
Since then, we've reported on
everything from the LA riots
to family reunions.
- Told them
that he was walking around.
It got late, he kinda got lost.
He slept in the bushes,
and they just found him.
So some good news.
(helicopter whirring)
- [Narrator] But nothing
could've prepared us
for the events that would unfold
one clear and cool morning
in January of 1994.
(static buzzing)
(rumbling)
(glass crashing)
(sirens)
(helicopter whirring)
- At this point,
it looks like at least
four homes are on fire,
and again as I look throughout the valley,
I can see other homes,
that are completely ablaze.
- When the earthquake hit,
you know, when we were
coming upon something.
It was our first time,
and just kind of having
to be very business like,
professional, accurate,
but at the same time,
you're saying something.
You're thinking to yourself.
I don't believe what I'm seeing.
This is unbelievable.
(moaning)
You know, this is real life here,
and sometimes it was really
hard to detach emotionally
from what we were seeing.
- [Narrator] The Northridge
earthquake was a preview
of even more natural
disasters we would soon cover.
(fire crackling)
- It appeared
to be a two story barn standing there
at least 15, 20 minutes ago,
and that thing went up,
and there are embers all over the place,
and the fire department--
- [Narrator] A year later
we were tested again.
When a series of firestorms
raged through the south land.
- [News Reporter] So this
is the battle right here,
and they don't have much time--
Whoa whoa, look at that
electrical pole is on fire too.
That transformer could blow.
We've seen that happen a number of times.
(fire roaring)
It's a very dramatic battle,
here, the fire creeping up
around the other side now,
back around the other side.
It's surrounded on three sides by fire.
- There's one occasion,
I remember very clearly,
where we were waiting for
the fire to come to us
along with these firefighters.
And all of a sudden it was right there!
And it was flaming,
and it was close enough to feel the heat,
and it was very, very scary.
You're not quite sure what to do.
(shouting)
- This is a huge property here.
It's amazing that the entire
home is destroyed here.
The home is gone, but--
- And I would go through
people homes and think.
Now Gayle, what would happen
if everything you owned
wound up like this?
Could you handle it?
(cameras clicking)
- Mr. King, what happened?
- [Narrator] Of course, there
have been many other stories
that didn't involve mother nature,
but they, too,
(shouting)
we're equally compelling.
- Orenthal James Simpson,
not guilty of the crime of murder.
- [News Reporter] The
defendant having been acquitted
- [Narrator] So as we look
back upon the wide variety
of events that have changed
as Southern California.
It's easy to see how they
have also helped shape
the KTLA Morning News.
(jazzy music)
- Happy anniversary to ya.
Six years on the air,
that's just incredible.
Hope you've had a chance
to renegotiate your deals
from the original ones.
Six years, man, that's great,
and Mark's hair still
hasn't moved, terrific.
Six years on the air.
Hope you have, I don't know, seven more.
- [Narrator] Everyone
loves "Murphy Brown."
- What is you're favorite
television program?
- "Murphy Brown" on Channel 5.
- [Everyone] Not! (laughs)
- [Narrator] Well, almost everyone.
"Murphy Brown," weeknights at seven,
starting Monday on Channel 5.
(wind blowing)
