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WABC Morning Team Court Controversy
March 6, 2006 at 7:26 AM (PT)
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ABC Talk WABC/NEW YORK morning hosts CURTIS SLIWA and RON KUBY often find themselves at odds on the air when discussing issues of the day, as conservative Guardian Angels founder SLIWA and liberal attorney KUBY tend to view current events very differently. Today, the acrimony between the two will rise to a new level, as KUBY testifies on behalf of the defense at the JOHN A. ("Junior") GOTTI trial. GOTTI is facing charges of plotting a 1992 hit on SLIWA.
"It will be the equivalent of having your priest or rabbi, your lawyer or your wife, testifying against you," said SLIWA to the NEW YORK DAILY NEWS. KUBY has defended many alleged mob members in the course of his legal career, while SLIWA relishes bashing them on the show.
Producer FRANK MORANO told the DAILY NEWS that the hosts don't socialize outside of the studio, but spend five hours a day with each other - developing an odd but intense bond. "They spend more time talking with each other than most couples do," he said. "This certainly opens the door to a potentially volatile line of discussion."
GOTTI is accused of targeting SLIWA to silence the host's on-air rants against the mobster's father. But the GOTTI's lawyer, CHARLES CARNESI, said the case is built on the testimony of mob killers who made up lies to avoid life in prison.
SLIWA was shot and critically wounded in the back of a cab in the early morning hours of JUNE 19, 1992. The cab was supposed to take him to work at WABC. Instead, SLIWA had to climb out of the window of the moving cab to save himself. Shot in the back and both legs, he underwent two operations, and spent three weeks in BELLVUE HOSPITAL. When he returned to the air, he accused associates of JUNIOR GOTTI with being responsible for the attack.

