building a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions, this is abc 7 news. kristen: hello, thanks for joining. you are watching "getting answers." everyday we talk about issues important to the bay area and we get answers for you in real time. today at kgo radio, it begins a new format, a new era, focusing on sports betting. we will talk with former longtime host pat thurston about her fondest memories and her own future. today is world mental health day, how to fight stigma, how to get help and how to draw your own boundaries.

first, two bay area animal-rights activists were acquitted over the weekend and highly watched trial in utah. they have been charged with agricultural burglary and theft after taking two piglets from a major meat supplier that they accuse of animal cruelty. the acquittal came as a major surprise, even to the activists themselves. joining us today from utah, wayne and paul. lena and paul, thank you both for joining us today -- wayne and paul, thank you for joining us today. you two walked out of the utah courthouse to supporters cheering in a closely watched case. what was this battle ultimately about to you? >> this has been a 10 year journey for me, because i first became concerned about the condition of certain farms well

over 10 years ago. they had claimed they were participating in gestational practice and we had received whistleblower accounts showing that were not actually making the transition. we went back in january 2017 to check and see if they had stopped using the crates, and as the video you are showing now indicates, they had not. l it's been a very hard, four year in 2018 ever just feelingarged grateful and lucky to be free. in many ways, the odds were stacked against us in this trial. kristen: just to let our viewers know, we had this video that was supplied to us, we didn't show some of the worst of it in terms of the open wounds and things that are really difficult to look at. but when you went there and saw

some of these things, you also took two piglets, and that is ultimately what you were charged with. talk to us about taking lily and lindsay, the two piglets that you saw and took. >> they were in the most horrendous conditions you can imagine. as you said, we can even show this kind of stuff on regular television. but they were in dire need of help. they would not have survived much longer if we hadn't gotten them out of there. it was about helping them get to safety at that point, but overall, it was about transparency and about speech. they have dumpsters full of hundreds of piglets that are killed every day on the farm. we think this was about us showing the footage. i don't think we would've been prosecuted if the story had run in the new york times. kristen: you also have a lot of blame for the fbi for what you

consider cruelty during the investigation process. tell us why you say that. >> i've been an attorney now for 15 years. i been involved in many cases whether civil or criminal and i've never seen the government overreaching in the way they have in this case. two piglets who would have ended up in the dumpster, and the jury concluded the same from the evidence we were able to present at trial. it triggered a multistate alarm with fbi agent's involved. not only were all the agents involved in trying to -- they rated an animal rescue in colorado an effort to try to locate these piglets. and found them, they mutilated one of these piglets without anesthetic, without proper

veterinary care and left her wounded and bleeding with a piece chopped off her ear. they wanted to say you're going to have very powerful people coming after you if you support these people, they were trying to give two baby animals that were suffering from very serious disease and injuries. kristen: this is big business, but which retailers does smithfield supply to? >> one of the most disturbing case is that these ceos received documents from discovery in our case, fbi agents had been contacted by the ceo of costco and they were involved in the

decision-making. costco claims because they know consumers want this -- i would dare anyone to look at just station crates and say that is freedom. kristen: is smithfield being an outlier here or was this still industry practice? >> i would say the industry practices are fairly standard across the board. whether you looking at a product from whole foods, every time we go in these factory farms we see about the same thing. the outlier is chef feels power over our legal system and these kind of resources. kristen: wayne, you are a lawyer , you defended yourself, which is rather unusual. i've got to ask you, why did you take this risk, you could lose your license to practice. why do this? wayne: have come after my

license and tried to disbar me. to me, is just about the fact that we have to do something. my parents came to this country with $80 in their pocket and nothing to their name. it's because of the opportunities they had given to them that we survived and they've given me the life they had dreamed of. when you have some degree of privilege and you have resources , it's beholden to those of those who have those resources to try and help those who don't. to me, that includes animals. there are a few suffering more than a piglet or mother pig trapped in a cage on a factory farm. there is a lot of money at stake. those of us who have the legal acumen and the resources should try to do so. kristen: the practice of open rescue, i know you do have a lot of supporters. there are some who criticize the

practice and say what you're doing is still illegal. you could probably do a whole other show on that, but i want to know, how are lily and lizzie doing right now, where are they? >> they are doing great. they are living their best lives in a nice sanctuary and getting all the sunshine, mud and loves and hugs and snacks they could want. we want that for everybody, human or unhuman. kristen: what do you want consumers to know about the meat we eat? how do we make choices that align with our conscience? >> i think most people don't want to hurt animals. i just challenge consumers, citizens of the united states, to look for yourself and ask yourself about these conditions. overwhelmingly when people see these things they say you are

not consistent with my values. people don't like what they see. kristen: wayne and paul, thank you so much for talking with us today. coming up next, a new era for kgo radio, which ushered in a new format today. we will talk to longtim

kristen: it's a brand-new day for kgo radio, 810 under am dial . the owner officially launched its new format, sports betting, ending along era being the leader of news talk, that made it the number one radio station in the market for 31 years. >> i think it was a game changer

in terms of getting people to think outside the box and realize we are part of the community as well. kristen: pat thurston interviewing our reporter about his retirement recently. pat joins us live now to look back, look forward, and talk about the impact that kgo talk radio had on bay area listeners. pat, welcome to the show. pat: i'm so happy to be here, thank you so much for having me. i miss broadcasting. my last day was wednesday. kristen: i've always wanted to have you on the show but until now you were on the air so it was impossible. i am really thrilled we get to do this, i fondly remember being on your show years ago and for years, he had this great conversation with viewers and listeners every single day. it is a tough time for all of us, the format change

announcement last thursday came so suddenly. did you have more notice than we did? pat: not really. we received notice there was a mandatory meeting, all programming staff, then they divided it into the stations in the market. ours was the first one, which probably should have been a clue. and then when the time came, and everybody was talking about it, because it was very mysterious. but a lot of us felt like, no, this is just some dumb meeting and they're just going to talk about the budgets, they will probably cut back even more than they already have. so when we went in there, we weren't thinking this was the deathknell. we did think there might be some personnel changes, except everybody seemed to show up. then we were joined by our market manager, larry, who is wonderful, and our program director who is also wonderful. they looked like their dogs had

died, so we knew that it was something that was not good, that we were not going to be happy with. but we were still stunned. we were just gob smacked. very few people spoke in the meeting because we were just trying to pick our jaws up off the floor and figure out what the heck was going on with kgo. and what a loss. it's not just the loss of everyone who was on the air this time. it's the loss of a really great radio station. it's the loss of a major community asset. where the listeners participate, where we hear what they want to say, we focus on local issues when we can, when they are good, local issues that really are worthy of discussion. but we also bring them discussion about some of the national and international things that are going on, and the variety of people who join in on that conversation is

phenomenal. i think the bay area has lost something huge with the loss of kgo. kristen: i think we all feel it. the way you talk about engaging the viewers, that was kind of like social media before social media. pat: exactly. and better than social media, in part, because each person who was participating had all of the listeners full attention, as if they were a guest on the show because the kind of work, for the time that they were there. so it was an immediate involvement in the discussion. you didn't have to type anything out. you came on the air, you talked, and you went back and forth and engaged. i just think it is a wonderful format, that communities are desperately in need of. but unfortunately -- kristen: i think listeners agree because ever since a 1970's, kgo

radio was the leader for at least over 30 years. pat: and they had a vision. the vision really was that it was a community asset, that it had standards, and that this is what we were going to do. and the community responded. you think about kgo radio in its heyday, when i walked in the doors, it was my dream come true in radio. i walked in, and it was abuzz with activity. the newsroom was just moving constantly, everything in the newsroom is absolutely fantastic. there were talkshow hosts in the bullpen, working with the producers, booking guests, planning what they were going to do that day. there were salespeople running all over the place. there was complicity going on. it was just such an active, amazing thing to be a part of. they spent a ton of money in order to achieve that number one

position over 30 years. and gradually kept thinking that they could just cut back, cutback, cutback, and we would be able to maintain the same performance. they changed the format on us, which was ridiculous, that was 11 years ago. they changed the format and made us in all news station. casey ps already held that spot, and we were the talk radio station in the market. so it left a void and it did not file void. so that was miserable. and then they changed the format a couple of other times and they weren't sure what they wanted to do. they didn't seem to know what to do. at that time, they were trying to put money in, but they finally took us back to what made us what we were, a real news talk station. they stopped investing, so we had fewer live shows that were on the air. we were only on for a certain

amount of time during the day and then they had syndicated programming, and then on the weekend they went to infomercials. it we used to be 24/7, and it was all responsible to the bay area. the ratings weren't great, though we were building listenership and we had some great listeners. i guess they figured that prop 27 is going to pass and this online sports betting -- kristen: that's what i want to ask you about. it's all about sports betting and they even play some gambling related music. >> it's a foot race, touchdown.

kristen:? ? do you have some thoughts here a lot of us are wondering, is there that much to support sports betting? pat: i don't think there is. i think they are taking a huge gamble, and the gamble is on prop 27. that will open the doors to online betting and then it will be promoted. there is a lot of money that is in this format right now. mgm is behind it. i don't know the names of those companies that do sports betting and online betting, but they are involved in this. so is there a market for it? i don't think the bay area really needs another sports talk program. but this sports betting thing is something they are really gambling on. and they are gambling, again, on prop 26 and 27 passing. it seems like a bad bet to me because the support for those propositions is very, very low.

i don't think they are going to pass. kristen: on behalf of your listeners who love you so, we want to ask where to find you now, what is your next chapter? pat: i'm so sorry that i didn't turn off my phone because people are calling. maybe it is a job offer, i don't know. i'm not sure, but i'm not going away. i will call you first and you will be the first to know. i'm so sorry about that, that is totally my fault. i would scold any guest who did that on my show. kristen: well, i'm not going to be scolding you, it is a pleasure to have you on. pat, good luck, you are amazing, and we look forward to that next act whenever you tell us what that is. that is. life is busy. so, come to shell and get three things done at once. first, fill up with shell v-power nitro+ to help keep your engine running like new. nice! then save up with the fuel rewards program and never pay full price for gas again.

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to stay competitive. i discovered prevagen. i started taking it and after a period of time, my memory improved. it was a game-changer for me. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. kristen: today is world mental health a. it's an opportunity for us to embrace our sense of community and normalize discussions about

mental health. celebrities are using their platforms to lead the conversation. this tweet today from tennis superstar, venus williams. >> it is world mental health day, which means it is time to empower everyone to take care of their health, free from stigma. kristen: but how do we begin to erase the stigma? terry cole is answering that question with her book. she joins us like to talk about that and ways to improve our mental health. and we will be keeping up the 988 national crisis hotline number at the bottom are -- bottom of our screen throughout this interview. do you welcome an official day to mark and focus on mental health? >> yes, indeed i do, and i wish that it was more. it's kind of a week long and i wish it was more, but it is a step in the right direction. kristen: everyone talks about how great the need is right now.

does data confirm what we all feel, which is a lot of people are not doing so great right now? >> yes, the world health organization has put out a study saying the pandemic itself triggered about a 25% increase in the prevalence of anxiety and depression worldwide. literally all over the world. so yes, indeed what you are saying is accurate. kristen: so if we need to talk about it, we have to remove this stigma. what typical stigmas surround mental health, and how do we begin to change that? >> well, we start with the public stigma. this involves negative are basically discriminatory attitudes that others have about mental illness or mental wellness challenges. then you have the self stigma. what did you learn about it, your own internalized negative attitudes including shame.

it feels shameful. people with mental illness or mental wellness struggles have a lot of shame because the really is still this public stigma. then we have institutionalized stigmas which have to do with the government and organizations that are intentionally or unintentionally really marginalizing folks with mental wellness challenges. kristen: your book talks about the importance of setting boundaries as part of good mental health. how do we go about doing that? >> let's think of boundaries as your own personal rules of engagement. a sickly letting other people know what is ok with you and what is not ok with you, which means that you really have to know your own preferences, desires, limits, and deal breakers, and you have to have the ability to communicate them. because if we don't do that, if we don't have those skills, visualize it like a house without a door. no fence and no door, meaning

anyone or anything can come in or out, but your boundaries protect your own integrity integrity -- integrity and dignity. kristen: how do you communicate those boundaries you set for yourself to other people? terri: lovingly. you do it in a neutral tone. if you are a boundary boss, you're like a bully, which isn't accurate. it's about letting someone know what a limit is for you. your friend wants you to help them move all day on saturday, and you can help them between 2:00 and 4:00. i would love to help you, i am available between 2:00 and 4:00, which is lovingly setting a limit, which is a boundary, as opposed to resentfully cupping your friend move all day and holding it against them. kristen: i would like to ask you, if you see a loved one who

is struggling, how do you open up that conversation in a way that doesn't make them shrink away or feel like they are being threatened? terri: part of it is validating their emotions. like be there for them, just show up, check in on people. if they are telling you what they are going through, you can simply say, i'm sorry you are going through this. i'm here and i love you. it seems like it's hard, but i'm here to talk. just show up in a loving, nonjudgmental day. kristen: thank you so much for joining us today. terri: thanks for having me. kristen: get breaking news, weather, and more with our streaming tv app, available on apple tv, google

kristen: thanks for joining us tonight, breaking news as we come on the air. vladimir putin's revenge on ukraine. president biden talking with president zelenskyy. russia unleashing at least 84 missiles and 24 drones on ukraine. the deadly bombings targeting at least ten major cities. including the capital of kyiv. tonight, the video showing a massive explosion at a pedestrian bridge in kyiv. a person walking near the blast then running away. a missile coming down near a playground. tonight, putin saying he personally ordered the attacks following the bombing over the weekend of that key russian bridge. a strategic bridge linking russia to crimea. a bridge putin had personally visited when it opened. tonight, president biden speaking with president zelenskyy and what the u.s. is now saying.

britt clennett in ukraine.