Weatherman has a 'Good Morning' in Pittsburgh

It wasn't the chance to appear live on "Good Morning America" that brought 4-year-old twins Sammy and Taylor Vasalani to the Carnegie Science Center before dawn Wednesday.

It was the chance to play at the science center hours before anyone else gets there.

"All I had to do was ask them if they wanted to come early to the science center," said mom Susan Vasalani, of South Fayette, as the girls experimented with a light projector. "They love it here."

"Good Morning America" weatherman Tony Perkins filmed four live segments from the North Shore, the first time in several years the nationally televised ABC morning news show has filmed from Pittsburgh.

Sammy and Taylor -- sporting matching Steelers cheerleading outfits -- got to wave on live television and watch as a science center employee dumped liquid nitrogen on Perkins.

Employee Apryl Sparbanie explained to Perkins that the nitrogen interacted with moisture in the air to create fog -- which quickly enveloped the umbrella-toting weatherman.

"I think this is an amazing opportunity for national coverage of our great town and this great institution we have here," said Sparbanie, of Bellevue. "You can't ask for anything better."

Perkins also interacted with GRACE, a robot from Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute, giving the robot a chance to give the weather forecast for Pittsburgh, along with namesake cities-- minus the h -- in other parts of the country.

"When we're on a live remote, we want action, we want a place that's popular with people," Perkins said. "We want something that will show well and we want to talk about Pittsburgh."

The science center assembled about 50 people to serve as an audience for the segments. During each live spot, producer Gary Stein asked the crowd to look busy with some of the exhibits at the center, or to laugh or wave on cue.

"You're sort of like living props," he told the group.