Speaker 1: This is Gary and Shannon and you're listening to KFI
Speaker 1: AM six forty the Gary and Shannon Show on demand
Speaker 1: on the iHeartRadio app. RAMS so impressive in that victory
Speaker 1: that meant so much, had just a kind of heaviness
Speaker 1: about it, an emotion about it because of everything that
Speaker 1: this community has been through and continues to brace for.
Speaker 1: It was a really remarkable ramp up to the start
Speaker 1: of the game, I thought, with a moment of silence
Speaker 1: and the way in which they made that stadium feel
Speaker 1: almost like Los Angeles it was. I found it powerful,
Speaker 1: I found it emotional, and then of course the Rams
Speaker 1: went on to victory. Meantime, here if you missed it,
Speaker 1: there's slightly better news in this next wind event. It
Speaker 1: was already not going to be quite as bad as
Speaker 1: last week, which was unprecedented, and really, you know, with
Speaker 1: eighty to one hundred mile an hour winds in this case,
Speaker 1: while we were expecting something that wasn't going to be
Speaker 1: quite as bad, now the National Weather Service is saying
Speaker 1: maybe it'll be even slightly less intense than originally forecast.
Speaker 1: Now that's not to say it won't be very intense,
Speaker 1: and it's not to say that This isn't a wind
Speaker 1: event around which there should be a lot of precaution
Speaker 1: and preparedness, But what they were saying and what they
Speaker 1: are saying shows signs that we might optimistically be able
Speaker 1: to avoid another huge conflagration of the sort that we
Speaker 1: saw in the Palisades and Altadena. By the way, in
Speaker 1: the Altadena fire, there are already lawsuits filed, four of them.
Speaker 1: They accused Southern California Edison of starting this eaton fire.
Speaker 1: Lawyers for homeowners in the Altadena area announcing these lawsuits
Speaker 1: just yesterday. They say their clients either had to evacuate
Speaker 1: their homes or lost their homes entirely in the Eaten fire.
Speaker 1: In each of the suits blames Son California Edison. They
Speaker 1: say the fire started under a Southern California Edison transmission tower,
Speaker 1: and while there hasn't been a final determination as to
Speaker 1: the cause for the fire, there does appear to be
Speaker 1: a sort of a constellation of evidence, and like the
Speaker 1: as it All Comes together video, I'm sure you've seen
Speaker 1: it viral video, there have been anecdotal accounts of what
Speaker 1: happened there, and the attorneys are saying, this is a quote,
Speaker 1: we believe that the Eaton fire was ignited because of
Speaker 1: see's failure to de energize its overhead wires which traverse
Speaker 1: Eaton Canyon. The three other suits that were filed yesterday,
Speaker 1: one represents a FedEx worker who lost their Altadena home,
Speaker 1: a second represents a homeowner who rented his property out
Speaker 1: in Altadena, and a third represents multiple homeowners who are
Speaker 1: essentially echoing the same claims that we've heard, in other words,
Speaker 1: that Southern California Edison is responsible for this. So the
Speaker 1: lawsuit is well, this collection of lawsuits, I think it's
Speaker 1: just the beginning, right. One of the attorneys representing several
Speaker 1: Altadena residents accused the company of not cutting power to
Speaker 1: transmission lines as wins whipped through the area. The quote is,
Speaker 1: during the life threatening fire conditions predicted by the National
Speaker 1: Weather Service, SEE did not de energize as power lines
Speaker 1: in the area where the fire started. And so you
Speaker 1: turn to the utility. What did they say? They say,
Speaker 1: they'll review the complaint when it's received. This is a quote.
Speaker 1: The cause of the fire continues to be under investigation.
Speaker 1: They say, our hearts remain with our communities. During the
Speaker 1: devastating fires in southern California, and we remain committed to
Speaker 1: supporting them through this difficult time. You know, one of
Speaker 1: the things that I hear, and there are a lot
Speaker 1: of viral videos and a lot of podcasters are going
Speaker 1: off about this as well, is you know, how come
Speaker 1: I think Corolla.
Speaker 2: Did something on this.
Speaker 1: Adam did a big thing about these fires, and how
Speaker 1: come the these utility lines aren't underground? And of course
Speaker 1: putting them underground would be terrific. I mean, putting them
Speaker 1: underground is definitely the safest move. What's the problem with that?
Speaker 1: What's the issue with putting the utility lines underground? Why
Speaker 1: wouldn't they do it? Because of money? It's incredibly expensive
Speaker 1: to put them underground. I mean, I don't know, it
Speaker 1: might be by a factor of ten. It's insanely expensive
Speaker 1: to put these transmission lines underground. And that's why they
Speaker 1: are not underground. It's that simple. And so you see
Speaker 1: through out California, in northern California where they've had any
Speaker 1: number of issues, through Sonoma County, the Paradise Fire, et cetera.
Speaker 1: They have shutdowns there that regularly leave people without power
Speaker 1: for thirty six forty eight hours. That's PG and e
Speaker 1: UP there and in southern California, we're going to have
Speaker 1: to implement strategies.
Speaker 2: And let me tell you something.
Speaker 1: These strategies are to they're coming, and they're going to
Speaker 1: involve AI and they're going to involve all kinds of
Speaker 1: new tech that will address an incoming meteorological scenario and narrative.
Speaker 2: As it meets the existing.
Speaker 1: Narrative and scenario with electric power being supplied to various
Speaker 1: areas that have these power lines above the ground.
Speaker 2: So prepare for that. It's coming.
Speaker 1: But of course, if these communities can pay, and many
Speaker 1: do you know, many communities will collect residents.
Speaker 2: This happened. I know because in.
Speaker 1: My area I was approached by a homeowner and they said, hey,
Speaker 1: we're getting everybody in the area to chip in, and
Speaker 1: we're all going to pay for the power lines to
Speaker 1: be buried and to be put underground. And if we
Speaker 1: all pay for it, we can get the city to
Speaker 1: do it. But it's not cheap, even with a lot
Speaker 1: of homeowner's pigeon in it's it's not cheap. So it's
Speaker 1: really very few communities that could band together and do that.
Speaker 2: And again, that.
Speaker 1: Takes care of one issue, but that's not the only
Speaker 1: way fires start. And so when it comes to how
Speaker 1: the fires start, I mean, look at what's happened to
Speaker 1: the Palisades in Malibu, decimated by fire, it's very likely
Speaker 1: that power lines had nothing to do with it. Well,
Speaker 1: there's a lot when it comes to these fires that
Speaker 1: has to do with their origins. I just told you
Speaker 1: about the lawsuit that's emerging in Altadena and the Southern
Speaker 1: California Edison retort. Even as they are involved in the
Speaker 1: back and forth with attorneys. There'll be more of that,
Speaker 1: I'm sure with Southern California Edison. And when you look
Speaker 1: at the Palisage fire, it's a bit more complicated. They
Speaker 1: have ATF there on the scene and those are really
Speaker 1: high end investigators. But there's a lot of investigative reporting,
Speaker 1: and there is a lot of surveillance video, there's satellite video, etc.
Speaker 1: That's all emerging in c C Woods is an investigative
Speaker 1: reporter at the Current Report and also editor in chief
Speaker 1: in Malibu Global Media, and she's joining us now with
Speaker 1: emerging evidence of arson in the Palisades fire. Good morning, Cec,
Speaker 1: how are you?
Speaker 3: Good morning? Thank you for having.
Speaker 1: Me, of course, So what have you found out and
Speaker 1: how is it all playing out in the way you
Speaker 1: see this Palisage fire and the genesis of it all.
Speaker 3: Well, right now, what I'm hearing and what I'm seeing
Speaker 3: is I don't know if you could necessarily call it
Speaker 3: arson definitively, because they are talking about the fact that
Speaker 3: there were fireworks, which are illegal, that were set off
Speaker 3: on New Year's Eve, and that that could be the
Speaker 3: fire could have started from embers that were smoldering underneath.
Speaker 3: And you and I talked about this yesterday. I don't
Speaker 3: necessarily think that that is plausible like in this scenario,
Speaker 3: but I'm not an expert. So there are eyewitness accounts
Speaker 3: of hikers that were running away from the fire. I
Speaker 3: did receive phone calls and dms from their parents actually,
Speaker 3: of these teenagers, and they are claiming that they were
Speaker 3: not involved. They saw flames and they started running and
Speaker 3: they were begging me not to post any content, and
Speaker 3: I hadn't, so I was, you know, I assured them, look,
Speaker 3: I'm not going to put them in harm's way, and
Speaker 3: just seeing I'm sure with all the satellite imagery that
Speaker 3: it will be able to be determined.
Speaker 2: More yeah, definitively, yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah, more more definitively yeah, but Arson, I don't know
Speaker 3: if I could really say this is on Arsen.
Speaker 1: Well, just let me just double back on this New
Speaker 1: Year's Eve thing, because I'm seeing that. And yeah, we
Speaker 1: talked a CECI on my my show on YouTube yesterday
Speaker 1: and we talked it at link of that, and I
Speaker 1: showed actually some of the satellite pictures. If people want
Speaker 1: to see it, you can find it there on YouTube
Speaker 1: at Mark Thompson Show. But I really want to go
Speaker 1: back to that idea that somehow there were New Year's
Speaker 1: Eve of fireworks and then somehow though smoldering embers re
Speaker 1: emerged days later. Is that that really seems like a
Speaker 1: stretch to me.
Speaker 3: A major stretch. You and I talked about that yesterday,
Speaker 3: and then when I posted about being on your show
Speaker 3: yesterday and people went back and watched the YouTube, they
Speaker 3: put a link to a Washington Post article where these
Speaker 3: scientists are saying they can smolder up to ten days
Speaker 3: and blah blah blah. And it still seems like a big,
Speaker 3: big stretch to me, especially with how dry everything is
Speaker 3: over there and we had no rain. We have no rain,
Speaker 3: and so so that definitely seems like a stretch to me. However,
Speaker 3: you know, we had the the arsen incident at Leo, Korea,
Speaker 3: which was the day after the Palisades fire started. Then
Speaker 3: I reported on an incident where there was a fire
Speaker 3: that started in Corral Canyon. Neighbors noticed what was going on.
Speaker 3: They called their local little engine that they they started
Speaker 3: it after Wolsey and oh no, it was before Wolsey
Speaker 3: twenty seven to one, and they have that right up
Speaker 3: there in the bowl in Corral and they got on
Speaker 3: it right away. They noticed the suspicious truck and they
Speaker 3: apprehended a young male who had firefighter gear that they
Speaker 3: are suspecting that it is stolen firefighter gear. He had lighters,
Speaker 3: so they ended up taking him down to the roadblock
Speaker 3: and lost station ended up taking him into custody. I
Speaker 3: don't know where that's at right now, but this morning
Speaker 3: to Penga emergencies, it's like a certain site for Topenga residents.
Speaker 3: They're saying now that they're scared that embers are going
Speaker 3: to flare up again. Makes a lot of sense because
Speaker 3: you know everything is still fresh.
Speaker 1: Well yeah, I mean these are that seems far more
Speaker 1: credible that you could have these embers. There's just so
Speaker 1: many of them as a result of Policaige fire is
Speaker 1: still ongoing.
Speaker 2: I mean, my god, yeah, but you are very tied in.
Speaker 1: One of the reasons I want to talk to you
Speaker 1: is you're very tied in with the Malibu officials, and
Speaker 1: I think you have very good sources. What are your
Speaker 1: sources telling you? I mean, are they they saying anything
Speaker 1: that I don't know if you I'm not asking you
Speaker 1: to quote anybody, but on background, are they giving you anything?
Speaker 3: Well, we talked about this yesterday as well. There are
Speaker 3: city officials that I talked to and support and confer
Speaker 3: with regularly, and we were discussing during the Palistates fire
Speaker 3: when it was just raging. I was talking with this
Speaker 3: one official and he told me that we were talking
Speaker 3: about Franklin fire, which was exactly a month almost to
Speaker 3: the day before, in December, December ninth, and he told
Speaker 3: me they are ninety nine point nine percent certain that
Speaker 3: the origin was from a human starting a fire. Now,
Speaker 3: whether that the arts in or not, we don't know.
Speaker 3: They found evidence of like a homeless what looked like
Speaker 3: potentially a homeless person was in that area, and so
Speaker 3: that we know was started by a human. So the
Speaker 3: very first details he was getting on the Palisase fire
Speaker 3: was like there it was potentially started a tiny little
Speaker 3: flare up in a backyard in Pacific Palisades, And I thought,
Speaker 3: that just doesn't sound right, you know what I mean.
Speaker 3: But now we're looking at the trail, so there's a
Speaker 3: couple of different versions of the story out there.
Speaker 2: But you know, I mean, it.
Speaker 1: Does appear that, just in our last minut or so,
Speaker 1: it does appear that the trail that you're talking about,
Speaker 1: that that Tamescal trail, is that it that Tomescal aage trail. Yes,
Speaker 1: that appears to be supported anyway by satellite imagery and
Speaker 1: by anecdotal evidence, and that really is the focus for
Speaker 1: investigators for the most part.
Speaker 2: Would that be fair to say?
Speaker 4: Oh?
Speaker 3: Absolutely, And I can't imagine that the FEDS are not
Speaker 3: you know, privy to that type of information. If we
Speaker 3: can get a hold of that satellite imagery, lord on,
Speaker 3: who only knows what they could get a hold of,
Speaker 3: you know what I mean. So I'm pretty sure they're
Speaker 3: zeroing in on that's their specialty, on what the actual
Speaker 3: true origin, you know, the ignition spot. Yeah, looking so
Speaker 3: I was surprised it was the way out there near
Speaker 3: that ridge because like I said, I was told.
Speaker 1: That it was you know, sure, it's hard to imagine,
Speaker 1: although maybe it's not given the velocity of the winds
Speaker 1: that it could start there and then spread the way
Speaker 1: it did.
Speaker 3: But well, I'm hoping that the winds. We have a
Speaker 3: lot of security issues in Malibu and I'm just praying
Speaker 3: that this doesn't flare up again because we have enough
Speaker 3: problems with arsenists and looters getting through barricades. We do
Speaker 3: not have the resources. You know, the Los Angeles County
Speaker 3: Sheriff's Apartment is severely understaffed, and the National Guard is
Speaker 3: presence only and they are not allowing security companies through
Speaker 3: the barricades that service these residents, and residents are really
Speaker 3: on edge right now because of it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the looting situation is real, and you know, and
Speaker 1: even yeah, the potential from ours.
Speaker 3: Yes, and they're they're directing up as firefighters and cal
Speaker 3: fire and they are getting through these barricades. That's why
Speaker 3: having the additional security is so important, because our resources
Speaker 3: are stretched so thin.
Speaker 1: Well, this is one of the things I'd like to
Speaker 1: see changed. I'd like to see a systemic changes that
Speaker 1: would allow people with appropriate certification to get through these
Speaker 1: barricades and to be allowed in to provide additional security
Speaker 1: against these things like looting and aditional arson. Thank you
Speaker 1: so much, CC Woods again at the current report, and
Speaker 1: the editor in chief at Malibu Global Media. Yeah, appreciate
Speaker 1: your good work, and we'll talk again again. The Polisades
Speaker 1: fire close to twenty four thousand acres, only seventeen percent containment,
Speaker 1: and eight people have lost their lives in all of that.
Speaker 1: And you hear how it's an ongoing situation. You could
Speaker 1: even hear in CC's voice, there's a sense of panic
Speaker 1: about what may happen. So this next wind event, which
Speaker 1: is coming late this afternoon and tomorrow, it will not
Speaker 1: be as bad as last week, And revised forecasts even
Speaker 1: show there might be a chance that it won't be
Speaker 1: as was suggested originally, as quite the intense event as
Speaker 1: the initial forecasts had predicted. But again these are all
Speaker 1: everything's preliminary. All forecasts change, variables change at the last second.
Speaker 2: But that's the very latest discussing.
Speaker 1: As you might imagine the fires their origins, this next
Speaker 1: wind event that will re emerge late this afternoon and
Speaker 1: into tonight. Even as we've talked about the fact that
Speaker 1: maybe it won't be quite as bad as originally feared.
Speaker 1: It still looks as though it will have a lot
Speaker 1: of complications for all of us, so do stay tuned
Speaker 1: to KFI.
Speaker 2: There'll be additional programming.
Speaker 1: We've really built out a lot of the support structure
Speaker 1: here at KFI to make sure that you get the
Speaker 1: very latest. Is anybody else addicted to this Watch Duty app?
Speaker 1: I mean, my god, Deborah, it's wild man.
Speaker 5: Yes, And I'm constantly getting notifications and as soon as
Speaker 5: I do, I'm checking it out.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: The watch Duty app was created by a guy in
Speaker 1: Sonoma County I think was a you know, had their
Speaker 1: own experiences, you know, Sonoma burnt so horribly very recently,
Speaker 1: and he created this app and it's staffed by volunteers.
Speaker 1: It's a nonprofit and I've never felt better about upgrading
Speaker 1: with the t twenty five dollars. It's twenty five dollars
Speaker 1: or the years I've paid twenty five dollars a month
Speaker 1: for this thing. It's so good. All of the latest
Speaker 1: advisories are there. In addition to that, you have overlays
Speaker 1: and layers that will show you wind velocities and directions
Speaker 1: and air quality. It's really super impressive.
Speaker 5: And it also shows you your evacuation zones.
Speaker 2: It's great, it's quite special.
Speaker 1: So anyway, we've built out a lot of support structure
Speaker 1: here at kfive, But in addition, all of us have
Speaker 1: sort of as individuals, built out our own area of
Speaker 1: information and support structure, just as we anticipate this next event.
Speaker 5: Well, you know, it's also cool. I don't know about
Speaker 5: your neighborhood, but I live up in the hills and
Speaker 5: it's pretty scary, and we have a group chat with neighbors.
Speaker 5: There's about forty of us and we call ourselves the
Speaker 5: Evacuation Squad, and so everybody is posting about the win
Speaker 5: and about the evacuation warnings and just everything, making sure
Speaker 5: everybody has watch duty. And it's really it's great because,
Speaker 5: I mean, one of the positive things that is coming
Speaker 5: out of this is just communities rallying. And also I'd
Speaker 5: like to say that I hope that when all of
Speaker 5: this is over that there is something special that we
Speaker 5: can all do for our firefighters and first responders. Man,
Speaker 5: those people are the true heroes.
Speaker 2: Couldn't agree more.
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, and there are a lot of
Speaker 1: charities associated with work that the firefighters and first responders
Speaker 1: are doing and there's no shortage of those charities, so
Speaker 1: definitely check them out. We did a thing on my
Speaker 1: YouTube show yesterday where we we ram down a bunch
Speaker 1: of them and I put hot links under the video
Speaker 1: to all of these things and you can click right through.
Speaker 1: It's the Mark Thompson Show on YouTube. If you can
Speaker 1: find yesterday's show, it's all right there. And they're also
Speaker 1: you know, animal rescuers, and there are.
Speaker 2: Those who are providing food.
Speaker 1: I mean, Jose Andreas is probably the highest profile example.
Speaker 1: But there's just such a great effort and as I
Speaker 1: was saying in the first hour, there is a community
Speaker 1: that you see the best of Southern California coming together.
Speaker 1: And I know it almost sounds so cliche to say,
Speaker 1: well it brings out the best in us to these
Speaker 1: kinds of challenges, but it really is true. In the heartbreak,
Speaker 1: there is so much in the way of uplifting stories
Speaker 1: and so many who are ready to make a difference.
Speaker 1: I saw a story yesterday about people who had lost
Speaker 1: their home and they were volunteering to help others who
Speaker 1: were also evacuees who or had lost their home in
Speaker 1: getting them food and in one of these areas that
Speaker 1: was providing one of these essentially pop ups that was
Speaker 1: providing food and shelter. So there is so much good
Speaker 1: out there. And as Deborah says, you know, the heroic
Speaker 1: work of these first responders and these firefighters, it's you know,
Speaker 1: incalculably critical and it's so very impressive.
Speaker 2: I know you're an animal lever like I am.
Speaker 5: I think it was Angel Martinez that sent me this
Speaker 5: story that I think it went viral, and it was
Speaker 5: a dog that wouldn't leave its burning house. I think
Speaker 5: it was in the Palisades. So you see this dog
Speaker 5: was you know, barking and scared but would not leave,
Speaker 5: and it was right next to a firefighter and the
Speaker 5: firefighter is you know, holding onto the dog, touching the dog,
Speaker 5: and an animal I think it was an animal trainer
Speaker 5: came and tried at first to rescue the dog, and
Speaker 5: the dog didn't want to go because it was so scared.
Speaker 5: But finally they got the dog into a car, and
Speaker 5: then that animal trainer slash rescuer, was able to track
Speaker 5: down the owners. But here's a firefighter that's hosing down
Speaker 5: a fire in the Palisades and is consoling this this
Speaker 5: poor dog.
Speaker 1: There are some images of the firefighters holding there's one
Speaker 1: image of a firefighter holding a deer.
Speaker 2: I saw that. Oh my god, it that just made
Speaker 2: me weep. I'm telling you.
Speaker 1: I've you know, I've cried more than I did as
Speaker 1: an eleven year old kid watching Born Free or one
Speaker 1: of those movies that you know, some tear jerker film.
Speaker 2: I'm telling you.
Speaker 1: I was saying before the moment of silence that all
Speaker 1: of the NFL games did. They all did a moment
Speaker 1: of silence, and as the announcer, the PA announcers saying,
Speaker 1: you know, please let's pause for a moment of silence
Speaker 1: for our friends in southern California who I'm choking up
Speaker 1: during that. I mean, it's it's very emotional, it's so powerful.
Speaker 1: We are all super charged that way. And look, one
Speaker 1: of the things that informs all of that is that
Speaker 1: many of us haven't slept for like six days, which
Speaker 1: will do it. I mean, I didn't sleep at all
Speaker 1: last night.
Speaker 5: Are you going to sleep tonight? You're not going to
Speaker 5: sleep tonight because we know that the wins are gonna
Speaker 5: they're supposed to pick up later today through the night. Yeah,
Speaker 5: I see, I've been up like everybody just on alert,
Speaker 5: on edge.
Speaker 1: The best we can do is offer you information, which
Speaker 1: will continue to do and just you know, speaking of
Speaker 1: the animal thing, we are going to get into that
Speaker 1: in the next hour with someone who has a global
Speaker 1: meaning complete sense of what's happening with the animal rescuers.
Speaker 1: There's a problem in La County and there's a problem
Speaker 1: in La City, and that is that many certified rescuers
Speaker 1: are not able to get past the evacuation zones to
Speaker 1: rescue animals that they know are there. They're hearing from
Speaker 1: owners we left our cat behind, we left our dog behind,
Speaker 1: and they're reaching out to these groups again certified rescuers.
Speaker 1: There has to be some kind of memorandum of understanding
Speaker 1: such that all of these various law enforcement officials who
Speaker 1: are doing such great work, you have to hold those
Speaker 1: lines otherwise you'll have looters in there. You know, you
Speaker 1: can't just let anybody in. But there has to be
Speaker 1: some kind of memorandum of understanding so that many of
Speaker 1: these animal rescuers can get through and actually help situations
Speaker 1: that are desperately.
Speaker 2: In need of help.
Speaker 1: So anyway, we're going to get into that next hour. Also,
Speaker 1: I'll mention the longtime mayor of Santa watching developments, of
Speaker 1: course around the fires and around the meteorological narratives, the
Speaker 1: weather forecast, which did show signs of improvement. We talked
Speaker 1: to Mike Wolford from the National Weather Service last hour
Speaker 1: and he was hopeful, and so I'm hopeful based on
Speaker 1: his hopefulness, but not necessarily is hopeful when it comes
Speaker 1: to getting Feds to step up and give us the
Speaker 1: billions of dollars in federal relief that we need. The
Speaker 1: lead congressional Republicans saying that they want to place conditions
Speaker 1: on the aid to California's wildfire victims. They're saying, look,
Speaker 1: you guys have problems out there, and until you fix
Speaker 1: those problems, we may not be sending you money from Washington.
Speaker 1: I well, Mike Johnson, who's from Louisiana, which is itself
Speaker 1: is rich because they got tons of money in Louisiana
Speaker 1: following Katrina, as they deserved to get I mean, as
Speaker 1: you needed to provide, and yet that money was misspent.
Speaker 1: There was a bunch of corruption, I mean, so it's
Speaker 1: rich that the congress person from Louisiana is making these
Speaker 1: statements about California.
Speaker 6: So speaking to reporters Monday, Republican Speaker of the House
Speaker 6: Mike Johnson saying he thinks there should be conditions on
Speaker 6: any federal aid money sent to victims of the catastrophic
Speaker 6: Los Angeles wildfires.
Speaker 2: Obviously there has been.
Speaker 6: Water resource mis management for his management mistakes, all sorts
Speaker 6: of problems, and it does come down to leadership. Johnson
Speaker 6: went on to say there had been discussions among Congressional
Speaker 6: Republicans about tying any money sent to California to raising
Speaker 6: the nation's debt limit. The Speaker also saying he believes
Speaker 6: both state and local LA leaders had been derelict in
Speaker 6: their duty. Johnson's proposal drawing both support and criticism Monday,
Speaker 6: I think it's appropriate. Bill Jackson is the chair of
Speaker 6: the San Francisco Republican Party. He says, well, he doesn't
Speaker 6: support tying federal aid to national issues like the debt ceiling.
Speaker 6: He does think it's appropriate to have the federal government
Speaker 6: require California to make certain changes in order to receive
Speaker 6: disaster relief money.
Speaker 4: We need to not write endless blank checks for large
Speaker 4: disasters when simultaneously state and local leaders are not making
Speaker 4: the preparations and not allowing not demanding that local governments
Speaker 4: do their part to mitigate these disasters as well.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, great, but just breaking news.
Speaker 1: Those checks are written to Oklahoma, Nebraska, Texas, Missouri, Florida,
Speaker 1: North Carolina, Georgia. They are written generally without any strings attached.
Speaker 1: How many times are they rebuilt in Florida from the
Speaker 1: hurricanes they've got hurricanes? You know, the ocean super cooked
Speaker 1: like it is, is serving up hurricanes to far to
Speaker 1: like a short order chef, and we're sending them relief
Speaker 1: money regularly, and that money does not have any strings attached.
Speaker 1: But now, in this highly partisan environment, Washington is playing
Speaker 1: a red blue game. Certainly Johnson is Look, both parties
Speaker 1: are not monoliths, right, Neither party is completely one note.
Speaker 1: So you have members of the Republican Party who seem as
Speaker 1: though they're trying to attack this situation more reasonably than
Speaker 1: those who are extreme partisans who just want to make
Speaker 1: Californian suffer. Similarly, they're Democrats to say, hey, we really
Speaker 1: want to look into reforms, and we want to look
Speaker 1: into responsible changes and strategies moving forward. And then you
Speaker 1: have those who say, you know, just give us the money.
Speaker 1: I mean, this is a massive, profound tragedy, desperately in
Speaker 1: need of resources from the federal government that include financial resources.
Speaker 1: And by the way, we contribute way more money than
Speaker 1: any of these other states from which these congressmen come,
Speaker 1: Louisiana among them. Dude, check, Louisiana gets money from California.
Speaker 1: I mentioned Louisiana because Mike Johnson. But there's an outrageous
Speaker 1: quality to this, given the fact that California, this robust
Speaker 1: financial engine for America, is having to beg these representatives
Speaker 1: from states that take from California for some of that
Speaker 1: money back for some of that return on investment.
Speaker 6: The notion of conditions on federal aid is not popular
Speaker 6: among money politicians that include some Republicans as well as
Speaker 6: a majority of Democrats, including Senator Adam Schiff.
Speaker 7: I am concerned about it, but I'm hoping that they
Speaker 7: will take the approach, frankly, that I've taken over my
Speaker 7: years in Congress, and that is, we've seen disasters in
Speaker 7: every part of the country of different kinds, earthquakes and
Speaker 7: floods and fire and hurricanes. I have never once asked
Speaker 7: or even considered is this a blue state or red.
Speaker 6: State of California. State Senator Scott Wiener believes, if enacted,
Speaker 6: Johnson's proposal could create a dangerous new precedent. Wiener says,
Speaker 6: despite the uncertainty, the state government will be there to
Speaker 6: support the LA area, but he acknowledges without federal help
Speaker 6: that could be more challenging.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the state government is not going to be enough.
Speaker 1: You are going to need the Fed. This is an unprecedented,
Speaker 1: I mean gargantuan financial hit to the state of California, but.
Speaker 6: We as a state are going to be there for LA,
Speaker 6: just like we were there for northern California and other
Speaker 6: areas during wildfires. Speaker Johnson says that while his personal
Speaker 6: view is that there should be conditions on any aid
Speaker 6: sent here to California, he wants to see what the
Speaker 6: consensus is among House Republicans before possibly moving forward.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean they're trying to attack this from a various
Speaker 1: political perspectives, but I don't know how to handicap this.
Speaker 2: In the end.
Speaker 1: We will discuss this more all this week because this
Speaker 1: is an unfolding situation that will require some buy in
Speaker 1: from Washington, and I think we will get some buy
Speaker 1: in from Washington. But there is a deplorable aspect of this,
Speaker 1: which is just sort of like, well, you know, it's
Speaker 1: a it's a blue state, let them burn. It really
Speaker 1: is a a time during which you don't want those
Speaker 1: questions asked. I mean, does that occur to you when
Speaker 1: these you see these areas of destruction in Tornado Alley
Speaker 1: and all those places I mentioned, you know in Oklahoma, Kansas,
Speaker 1: you don't go, well, you know, tough spot.
Speaker 2: But I mean, let's face it, they're a red state.
Speaker 1: I mean, if you're if you're a Democrat, never heard
Speaker 1: any any Demo or Democratic politicians say well, you know,
Speaker 1: maybe they really have to think about maybe you know,
Speaker 1: I don't know, changing.
Speaker 2: A lot of the.
Speaker 1: Construction restrictions there and regulations. I mean, I would suggest
Speaker 1: that after all of this, and we'll be talking about
Speaker 1: this this week, because this is what's being talked about
Speaker 1: and needs to be talked about the changes that we
Speaker 1: do need to make in building back. So I think
Speaker 1: that is a conversation that we're already having. We don't
Speaker 1: need to have our you know, our feet held to
Speaker 1: these big fires to learn that we need to change
Speaker 1: the way we build these homes and businesses. Construction materials
Speaker 1: need to change, but we don't need to make these
Speaker 1: changes at gunpoint. From Washington, i'd respectfully suggest that anyway,
Speaker 1: Mark Thompson sitting in for Gary and Shannon. When we
Speaker 1: come back, the longtime mayor of Santa Monica join, Phil Brock,
Speaker 1: will get a State of the State there, and Judy
Speaker 1: Mancuso as well, the founder CEO of Social Compassion in legislation.
Speaker 1: She will give us a sense of what's happening with
Speaker 1: animal rescue and the way in which the state and
Speaker 1: city can help in that.
Speaker 2: Regard as well.
Speaker 1: We're KFI AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 4: You've been listening to the Gary and Shannon Show, you
Speaker 4: can always hear us live on KFI AM six forty
Speaker 4: nine am to one pm every Monday through Friday, and
Speaker 4: anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.