Speaker 1: You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2: KFI AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3: This is Michael Monks Reports.
Speaker 2: I'm Michael Monks from KFI News with you till nine
Speaker 2: o'clock tonight. I'm so glad that winter is back in
Speaker 2: southern California after the horror of a brief visit of
Speaker 2: summer this week. Not a fan, not a fan of that.
Speaker 2: I like a full winter because it's so mild and wonderful.
Speaker 2: Today was great. Love me some clouds like a cool breeze.
Speaker 2: Had a great nat with the window open, needed it.
Speaker 2: It was another busy news week, very tired, and we
Speaker 2: got another busy news week ahead. Tuesday morning. La City
Speaker 2: Hall ousted fire chief Kristin Crowley is going to plead
Speaker 2: for mercy and her job back. It's been eight days
Speaker 2: since Mayor Bas fired the veteran firefighter, saying Crowley had
Speaker 2: not been well enough prepared to defend the Palisades against
Speaker 2: the wildfire in January and that she did not informed
Speaker 2: the mayor well enough about just how serious the threat was.
Speaker 2: So these two have been kind of at it quietly
Speaker 2: for a while, and since this public spat between Bass
Speaker 2: and Crowley emerged shortly after the palisades were destroyed. Questions
Speaker 2: have been raised about who knew what when, with a
Speaker 2: lot of emphasis on the fact that just about all
Speaker 2: of us knew there was a serious threat of fires
Speaker 2: before Mayor Bass left for Ghana, where she was asked
Speaker 2: to go to represent the US as that country's new
Speaker 2: president was to be inaugurated.
Speaker 3: She is since said that trip was a mistake.
Speaker 2: We all know the mayor was halfway across the world
Speaker 2: when the warnings became a reality and a crisis was
Speaker 2: unfolding across La County. The timeline of warnings, what information
Speaker 2: was shared when the fire department, excuse me, with the
Speaker 2: fire department, by weather officials, and then in turn with
Speaker 2: the mayor and other city leaders. That is likely going
Speaker 2: to play a significant role in Tuesday's appeal hearing at
Speaker 2: La City Hall. So we're going to do a run
Speaker 2: through of that tonight. But before we go back to
Speaker 2: the beginning of the warnings, which by the way, started
Speaker 2: all the way back on December thirtieth, I want to
Speaker 2: go to La City Hall now well City Hall on
Speaker 2: January seventh, that's the day the fire in the Palisades
Speaker 2: broke out, there was a city council meeting that day
Speaker 2: was a Tuesday, after all, and this is what happened.
Speaker 2: At the end of the meeting, where council members usually
Speaker 2: just make some general announcements about what's going on in
Speaker 2: their districts. You will hear council President Markquise Harris Dawson
Speaker 2: call on council Member Tracy Park, who represents the West
Speaker 2: Side and the Palisades. All right, with a cleared desk,
Speaker 2: Are there any announcements members, any announcements?
Speaker 3: Council Member Park.
Speaker 4: Quick announcements on the developments on the Pacific Palisades fire.
Speaker 4: This is growing very rapidly. It is now at over
Speaker 4: two hundred acres. It is threatening homes and infrastructure and lives.
Speaker 4: Voluntary evacuations are currently underway. We expect mandatory evacuation orders.
Speaker 2: To be following shortly.
Speaker 4: So my message to residents in the area is to
Speaker 4: pack your bags, be ready to go. This is an emergency.
Speaker 4: So thank you very much for that into all of
Speaker 4: our partners at the Fire Department and the EOC for
Speaker 4: springing into action.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 3: So there you go.
Speaker 2: On the day of the fires, that was the highest
Speaker 2: sense of urgency. We heard at la City Hall there
Speaker 2: was a fire. It was growing, it was spreading, it
Speaker 2: was threatening. This is also important because Harris Dawson, as
Speaker 2: council President, was acting mayor of the city that day.
Speaker 2: Remember Mayor Bass is in Ghana. Council president is acting mayor.
Speaker 2: He has come forward to say he called on Mayor
Speaker 2: Bass to get rid of Crowley weeks before she finally
Speaker 2: did it. He wasn't happy with what the chief had
Speaker 2: to say about the fire department's budget. He also stood
Speaker 2: behind Bass during the press conference a week ago where
Speaker 2: the mayor dismissed Crowley, and he wasn't alone. Three other
Speaker 2: council members were there too, and that is also important.
Speaker 3: We're going to get into that now.
Speaker 2: It's not surprising that Harris Dawson is backing the mayor here.
Speaker 2: He followed her as leader of the Community Coalition more
Speaker 2: than twenty years ago. When Bass was first elected to
Speaker 2: the State Assembly. She had previously led that organization, so
Speaker 2: they go way back. But he is facing criticism too
Speaker 2: because as council president, he gets to schedule when Crowley's
Speaker 2: appeal takes place, and his first attempt was not well received.
Speaker 2: When he took over as President of the council. Harris
Speaker 2: Dawson responded to some requests from the community that we
Speaker 2: need to have some council meetings in van Nis at
Speaker 2: the City Hall and van Nis and yesterday Friday was
Speaker 2: the second time they did that this year. But since
Speaker 2: they were there, President Harris Dawson figured why not have
Speaker 2: this high profile fire chief appeal hearing there too, but
Speaker 2: not immediately after the council meeting, which usually ends around
Speaker 2: one maybe two o'clock at the latest, but at five
Speaker 2: o'clock in the afternoon on a Friday in the valley.
Speaker 2: Think about traffic conditions, Think about people's availability. Think about
Speaker 2: the council members themselves. They represent all of la Would
Speaker 2: they hang out in van Nis for a few hours?
Speaker 2: Would they be able to go home or to their offices?
Speaker 2: Five o'clock on a Friday was the original announcement. So
Speaker 2: some council members spoke against that decision. Firefighters certainly spoke
Speaker 2: against it, and members of the community spoke against that decision.
Speaker 2: So just as quickly as that meeting for yesterday was announced,
Speaker 2: it was canceled and it has been rescheduled for the
Speaker 2: regular city Council meeting that takes place on Tuesday morning
Speaker 2: at ten o'clock in downtown La at La City Hall. Now,
Speaker 2: there are three important things at play on Tuesday as
Speaker 2: I see it, And what do I know? I don't know,
Speaker 2: but this is what I see. Three things that are important.
Speaker 2: We've got the timeline of the warnings and the fire itself.
Speaker 2: So what was the Weather Service saying? What do they
Speaker 2: tell the fire department and other emergency responders? And what
Speaker 2: was explaining to the Mayor's office and other city leaders.
Speaker 2: That's what The second important thing is the response itself.
Speaker 2: We saw the palisades burned down, and again this isn't
Speaker 2: erasure of the Eton fire. We're talking specifically about the
Speaker 2: one in La City limits because of what's happening on Tuesday.
Speaker 2: What about those thousand firefighters? Should they have been sent home?
Speaker 2: Was there something more the fire department could have done?
Speaker 2: The response is going to be important. And lastly, the
Speaker 2: third item the math, the math of the whole thing.
Speaker 2: There is a certain equation at play. Former Chief Crowley
Speaker 2: will need ten of fifteen council members to say yes,
Speaker 2: you can have your job back. So those three items
Speaker 2: are what I see is the most important aspects of
Speaker 2: the conversation that's going to take place Tuesday morning, maybe
Speaker 2: afternoon at La City Hall, and that is what we're
Speaker 2: going to dive into.
Speaker 3: Next.
Speaker 2: I'll explain a little more about those three things.
Speaker 1: You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2: KFI AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2: This is Michael Monks Reports. I'm Michael Monks from KFI News.
Speaker 2: We are with you till nine o'clock tonight. I will
Speaker 2: be live at La City Hall on Tuesday right here
Speaker 2: on KFI, covering the appeal by ex fire chief Kristen
Speaker 2: Crowley to the La City Council as she asks for
Speaker 2: her jomp back after being fired by Mayor mass eight
Speaker 2: days ago.
Speaker 3: Tune in. We will have this whole thing covered for you.
Speaker 2: That day before we took a break, I said, I
Speaker 2: anticipate three things to be of the most importance at
Speaker 2: Crowley's appeal on Tuesday. The timeline of the warnings in
Speaker 2: the fire, the response to the fire, and the math.
Speaker 2: I want to start this segment by talking about the timeline.
Speaker 2: What did the government know, what did they know from
Speaker 2: the Weather Service, and what did the Fire Department know
Speaker 2: what does city leadership know? Bass says she didn't know
Speaker 2: how serious it was going to get. She says Crowley
Speaker 2: failed to tell her. Kay, if I has obtained the
Speaker 2: full details from the National Weather Service forecast office leading
Speaker 2: up to the fires, and so I want to do
Speaker 2: a quick recap and explain how it may or may
Speaker 2: not be as relevant to the facts, but it will
Speaker 2: certainly be an important part of the conversation on Tuesday.
Speaker 3: We're going to go back to Monday, December thirtieth.
Speaker 2: That was really the first major tickle that we had
Speaker 2: in the back of our throats that something bad was happening.
Speaker 2: It was one o'clock in the afternoon. The National Weather
Speaker 2: Service did their fire call. They sent their summary notes
Speaker 2: to regional fire departments and emergency responders with a note
Speaker 2: that basically says, this growing potential for very warm and
Speaker 2: gusty Santa Ana winds with a moderate threat for red
Speaker 2: flag warnings for Tuesday, January seventh through January tenth. So
Speaker 2: that was on December thirtieth that we get the first
Speaker 2: inclination that we've got conditions that may be right for fires,
Speaker 2: but that isn't necessarily significant in this region on its
Speaker 2: face all by itself. We have these things around here.
Speaker 2: On Wednesday the first, they update their notes at the
Speaker 2: Weather Service and inform their partners at the fire departments
Speaker 2: and the emergent z responders moderate to high risk of
Speaker 2: red flag warnings over La in Ventura Counties from Monday night,
Speaker 2: January sixth through Friday, January tenth.
Speaker 3: So they talk about how high.
Speaker 2: The winds could get at this point and what the
Speaker 2: chances are of those wins reaching certain speeds. That's on Wednesday,
Speaker 2: January first, that's sab seven days before the fire breaks out.
Speaker 2: The next day they basically reiterate their point. Thursday, January second,
Speaker 2: they send their notes out to the fire departments, the
Speaker 2: emergency responders moderate to high risk of red flag warnings
Speaker 2: over La in Ventura Counties, again concerning we want to
Speaker 2: be aware of those things, but not unusual. On Friday
Speaker 2: the third, the White House announces that La Mayor Bass
Speaker 2: is going to represent the country in Ghana, where that
Speaker 2: country is set to inaugurate a new president. On the
Speaker 2: same day, the National Weather Service issues fire weather watches
Speaker 2: for much of La in Ventura Counties.
Speaker 3: Again not unusual.
Speaker 2: We're not screaming, We're not running for the hills, but
Speaker 2: it's something we want to pay attention to. By that
Speaker 2: afternoon on Friday, they've updated the fire departments, they've updated
Speaker 2: the emergency responders. During their one o'clock fire call, Damaging
Speaker 2: north to northeast winds. An extended period of red flag
Speaker 2: conditions are likely over portions of southwest California next Tuesday
Speaker 2: through Friday, they say. On Friday, January the third, they
Speaker 2: emphasize the heavy winds that we might have and those
Speaker 2: sorts of things. They also note that areas that do
Speaker 2: not typically see strong winds will be more vulnerable with
Speaker 2: this event due to strong and potentially long duration of
Speaker 2: upper level winds support. That's National Weather Service type language,
Speaker 2: but basically, if you don't usually get these big wins,
Speaker 2: you're going to feel some of them during this week.
Speaker 3: That's what they are projecting.
Speaker 2: On Saturday, January fourth, Mayor Bass leaves La for Ghana
Speaker 2: in the National Weather Service that afternoon updates their fire
Speaker 2: summary to say damaging north to northeast winds, an extended
Speaker 2: period of red flag conditions likely over portions of southwest
Speaker 2: California next Tuesday through Friday. Fire weather watches and effect
Speaker 2: for much of La and Ventura Counties. So really, what
Speaker 2: was there to tell Mayor Bass before she left that
Speaker 2: would have had her stay here and drive a fire
Speaker 2: truck to the Palisades and put it out. That's going
Speaker 2: to be an important piece of this conversation. What was known,
Speaker 2: what needed to be known, what more could have been known?
Speaker 2: These are concerning messages, right. We want to pay attention
Speaker 2: to these forecasts, but are they any different than what
Speaker 2: we might have any other time of year. On Sunday,
Speaker 2: January fifth, Bass arrives in Ghana, and on that day,
Speaker 2: red flag warnings are issued for much of La in
Speaker 2: Ventura Counties, with fire weather watches still in effect Thursday
Speaker 2: night into Friday. On their one o'clock afternoon fire call,
Speaker 2: the National Weather Service notes widespread damaging north to northeast
Speaker 2: winds and long duration of red flag conditions likely over
Speaker 2: many portions of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties between Tuesday
Speaker 2: and Friday. They emphasized some of the wins that we
Speaker 2: might see in various parts of the region. Monday is
Speaker 2: when things really got serious, when it was clearly something different.
Speaker 2: If you had only been paying a little bit of
Speaker 2: periphery attention. Monday was the wake up call that these
Speaker 2: conditions look serious enough, because that is the day. At
Speaker 2: three twenty four in the afternoon, the National Weather Service
Speaker 2: upgraded the forecast to a particularly dangerous situation. They abbreviated PDS,
Speaker 2: and it's a long title, but it is a very
Speaker 2: rare issuance and obviously significant, particularly dangerous situation. Red flag
Speaker 2: warning for portions of La and Ventura Counties, Life threatening,
Speaker 2: destructive widespread windstorm Tuesday afternoon through early Wednesday afternoon with
Speaker 2: dangerous PDS. Red Flag Warning conditions for portions of La
Speaker 2: and eastern Ventura Counties. That was just before three thirty
Speaker 2: afternoon on Monday, and the LA City Emergency Alerts. This
Speaker 2: is important. The City of Los Angeles their emergency Alerts
Speaker 2: sent out the note about this situation by sharing a
Speaker 2: link to the Fire Department detailing this stuff, and Mayor
Speaker 2: Bass herself her social media also shares her first statement
Speaker 2: about the conditions. Half an hour after that. Okay, so
Speaker 2: the PDS is issued just before three point thirty on
Speaker 2: Monday afternoon. LA City Emergency alert shares that information by
Speaker 2: linking to the Fire department. At seven o'clock in the evening,
Speaker 2: Mayor Bass shares her first statement about it all about
Speaker 2: a half hour after that, albeit from Ghana, So it
Speaker 2: wasn't until Monday, the day before the fires hit, that
Speaker 2: we knew we were in a particularly dangerous situation, an
Speaker 2: official term by the National Weather Service. And then, of
Speaker 2: course we get to January seventh. By this point, the
Speaker 2: fact that Bass is in Ghana is really irrelevant. The
Speaker 2: argument that we've been hearing is whether she should have
Speaker 2: gone did she have enough information? Did this city? Did
Speaker 2: Marquis Harris Dawson, the council president, did the fire department?
Speaker 3: Did we?
Speaker 2: As for the response component of the appeal, Crowley will
Speaker 2: have to defend her decision about the one thousand firefighters
Speaker 2: who were reportedly sent home rather than being dispatched to
Speaker 2: the Palisades. Firefighters say, look, we had nowhere to put
Speaker 2: these guys and gals. Budget cuts have limited the number
Speaker 2: of trucks and equipment there would have been nowhere to
Speaker 2: put these firefighters.
Speaker 3: Will that argument hold?
Speaker 2: That's what we're gonna have to see, because that's been
Speaker 2: hit pretty hard to along with Crowley's statements about the
Speaker 2: budget itself, which is directly related to this, and whether
Speaker 2: she should have said what she said when she said
Speaker 2: it to the media, and then there's the math. Crowley
Speaker 2: needs ten city council members to vote in her favor
Speaker 2: to reinstate her four members. We're at the press conference
Speaker 2: with Mayor Bass announcing the firing, and a fifth has
Speaker 2: since come forward to say he believes the mayors within
Speaker 2: a right to fire department head, so she can't lose
Speaker 2: anybody else. I'll be watching for city Councilmen Tracy Park
Speaker 2: who represents the Palisades, and Councilmen Monica Rodriguez, who maybe
Speaker 2: Rowley's potentially biggest allies on Tuesday, and I will be
Speaker 2: at city Hall. We will have live coverage right here
Speaker 2: on KFI from the scene of this appeal. Hope you'll
Speaker 2: tune in for that. And up next, if you're supportive
Speaker 2: of President Trump and you're against Governor Newsom and you
Speaker 2: think all illegal immigrants should be deported, and you're a
Speaker 2: California voter, you are any significant minority in the state
Speaker 2: of California, we are gonna have details on this exhaustive
Speaker 2: state wide poll.
Speaker 1: Next, you're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2: KFI AM six forty. We are live everywhere on the
Speaker 2: iHeartRadio App. This is Michael Monks Reports. I am Michael
Speaker 2: Monks from KFI News with you till nine o'clock tonight.
Speaker 3: Thanks for joining us.
Speaker 2: If you want to join our conversation, whether it's about
Speaker 2: what we expect to see on Tuesday or anything you
Speaker 2: anything else you hear over the next hour and a half,
Speaker 2: hit us up, open up that iHeartRadio app. Click on
Speaker 2: the talk back button. We'll play some of your messages
Speaker 2: throughout the duration of this show. How popular is President Trump? Well,
Speaker 2: if you look at the rolling average the poll of
Speaker 2: polls basically on five point thirty eight, which analyzes polsters
Speaker 2: and combines polls along with their own algorithms to figure
Speaker 2: out a broad sense of where the country is. Donald
Speaker 2: Trump currently stands with a forty six and a half
Speaker 2: percent favorable rating as of today, with forty eight point
Speaker 2: three percent of the responsive public against him. Responsive meaning
Speaker 2: responded to these polls that have been combined. And yes,
Speaker 2: that has dropped. That has dropped in recent days. So
Speaker 2: he is trending in the wrong direction. Maybe after yesterday.
Speaker 2: I don't know how quickly they've got some polls in
Speaker 2: after what happened in the Oval office. I know that
Speaker 2: was a polarizing display. Depending on which side of the
Speaker 2: aisle you are on, you probably saw something you liked
Speaker 2: or something you didn't like. It looks like Californians in
Speaker 2: general don't like that and don't like President Trump in general.
Speaker 2: There is a new statewide poll that has come out
Speaker 2: from the Public Policy Institute of Californians, their pPIC Statewide Survey,
Speaker 2: and they've got a lot of information that really shows
Speaker 2: California is still not in lockstep with much of the
Speaker 2: country as it relates to what led to President Trump
Speaker 2: being elected in the first place. So we just said
Speaker 2: that President Trump himself nationally has a favorable rating and
Speaker 2: approval rating, if you will, of about forty six and
Speaker 2: a half percent. That is how many people respond favorably
Speaker 2: to the question do Americans have a favorable or unfavorable
Speaker 2: opinion of Donald Trump?
Speaker 3: Forty six and a half. Here in California, it's a
Speaker 3: little bit lower.
Speaker 2: According to this survey, thirty percent of Californians the job
Speaker 2: performance so far of President Trump, and that is about
Speaker 2: the same has supported his job performance in twenty seventeen
Speaker 2: after he took office for the first time, so not
Speaker 2: much has changed in that respect, what I thought was
Speaker 2: pretty interesting from this poll, this statewide survey was what
Speaker 2: Californians deemed to be the top problem facing the United States,
Speaker 2: Because leading up to the twenty twenty four election between
Speaker 2: President Trump and former Vice President Kamala Harris, the economy
Speaker 2: seemed to dominate. People concerned about inflation, the cost of groceries,
Speaker 2: their economic prospects, looking bad jobs, and also immigration.
Speaker 3: Those were key issues.
Speaker 2: And when you look at the top three in this
Speaker 2: survey of what Californians say are the most important problems
Speaker 2: in the United States right now, both of those are
Speaker 2: in the top three, They're just not number one. Nineteen
Speaker 2: percent say the economy unemployment in jobs is a top issue,
Speaker 2: and fifteen percent say immigration is a top issue. But
Speaker 2: thirty one percent, which is the top in this poll,
Speaker 2: say political extremism threats to democracy the top problem facing
Speaker 2: this country right now, although half of California's do say
Speaker 2: the cost of living and inflation, housing costs, the availability
Speaker 2: of housing, and also the environment are important issues for
Speaker 2: the governor and the legislature to be working on this year.
Speaker 2: And we should also note that a majority of the
Speaker 2: respondents to the Public Policy Institute of California's statewide survey
Speaker 2: do say the state is moving in the right excuse me,
Speaker 2: in the wrong direction. Seven in ten expect that California
Speaker 2: will be facing some financial problems over the next twelve months.
Speaker 2: When we think about the state budget in California, lots
Speaker 2: of conversations about that.
Speaker 3: Right, what are the priorities?
Speaker 2: Republican lawmakers have criticized the Democrat majority for focusing on
Speaker 2: trump proofing California the directive of Governor Newsom while the
Speaker 2: state is facing significant budget problems anyway. Four and ten
Speaker 2: of California just think the state budget situation is a
Speaker 2: big problem, so they name health and human services and
Speaker 2: public education as their priorities for state spending. Fifty one
Speaker 2: percent of adults and fifty percent of likely voters prefer
Speaker 2: to pay lower state taxes and have fewer state services,
Speaker 2: and the pPIC reports after reading a brief descript of
Speaker 2: the budget, fifty eight percent of adults and fifty seven
Speaker 2: percent of likely voters favor the budget plan. Seven to
Speaker 2: ten favor spending two point seven billion dollars of the
Speaker 2: ten billion dollars in proposition four state bond funds for
Speaker 2: water and wildfire projects and fifty two percent of adults
Speaker 2: and likely voters think that it is a bad idea
Speaker 2: to use state reserve funds to balance the budget. When
Speaker 2: we look at how Californians respond to this poll and
Speaker 2: respond to the jaw performance of presidents, it's really not surprising.
Speaker 2: This is obviously a Democratic stronghold as a state, but
Speaker 2: Trump is particularly unpopular. I noted moments ago that at
Speaker 2: both in twenty seventeen and here in twenty twenty five,
Speaker 2: is approval rating in California is at thirty percent. Both
Speaker 2: times thirty percent approval at the start of both of
Speaker 2: his terms in office. When Joe Biden started his term
Speaker 2: in office at this time in twenty twenty one, he
Speaker 2: had a seventy percent approval rating in California. So did
Speaker 2: Obama when he started in two thousand and nine. It
Speaker 2: dropped a little bit. In twenty thirteen, for his second term,
Speaker 2: Barack Obama had a sixty five percent approval rating. But
Speaker 2: let's go back to George W. Bush. He wasn't very
Speaker 2: popular among Democrats, especially at the start of his second term.
Speaker 2: But in two thousand and five, at the start of
Speaker 2: his second term, George W. Bush had a forty six
Speaker 2: percent approval rating among California voters. That should show how
Speaker 2: unpopular Donald Trump is statewide, that he's even that much
Speaker 2: farther behind.
Speaker 3: George W. Bush.
Speaker 2: So what does that mean as the state legislature shapes
Speaker 2: its priorities? Does that suggest that Republican lawmakers will have
Speaker 2: a harder time getting some of their issues placed in
Speaker 2: the budget, reining in some of the issues they're concerned
Speaker 2: about because Democrats see that statewide, cumulatively, the Trump brand
Speaker 2: is not very popular. You, as a listener may be thinking,
Speaker 2: I like Trump, I don't like what nwsmance is doing.
Speaker 3: This survey says.
Speaker 2: You'ren't quite a minority. The other thing that I found
Speaker 2: pretty interesting and maybe even sad out of this survey
Speaker 2: is also not surprising. But think about those key campaign
Speaker 2: issues from twenty twenty four, economics right, the price of eggs,
Speaker 2: concerns about where the economy is headed. Maybe last year,
Speaker 2: if you asked a random pool of twenty people, even
Speaker 2: between Democrats and Republicans, how many people would you think
Speaker 2: would say the economy's good. Things are good, We're moving
Speaker 2: in the right direction. And what would be the political
Speaker 2: makeup of those folks? While President Biden is in office,
Speaker 2: and now that President Trump is in office, and you
Speaker 2: asked that question to the same group, what is the reply?
Speaker 2: Is it the same math but different people? Probably because
Speaker 2: that's what this survey suggests. Folks who were optimistic about
Speaker 2: the economy last year are not optimistic about it this year.
Speaker 2: Folks who were pessimistic last year are optimistic this year.
Speaker 2: Has anything changed other than the president? Are eggs cheaper?
Speaker 2: Is your rent cheaper? Are we all just floating in
Speaker 2: the political wins waiting for our guy to get back
Speaker 2: into office? I find that very boring. Just as a journalist,
Speaker 2: I wish we all paid a little more attention to
Speaker 2: the issues that impact us directly and how those issues
Speaker 2: become the issues that they are. And part of that
Speaker 2: is on us as journalists to be better at explaining
Speaker 2: those things without looking like you're running cover for one
Speaker 2: politician or another.
Speaker 3: It's difficult.
Speaker 2: This is a weird environment we live in where a
Speaker 2: tweet can go viral with all the wrong information. You've
Speaker 2: already seen it, and you believe it, and you never
Speaker 2: stop believing it. The tough environment we live in, and
Speaker 2: that's how you get stats like that, That's how you
Speaker 2: base your entire personality around an elected official.
Speaker 3: Boring.
Speaker 2: Let me know what you think about those results. Pull
Speaker 2: out the iHeartRadio app, click on the talkback button. We'll
Speaker 2: play some of your messages also if you'd like to
Speaker 2: weigh in on what you expect to see on two
Speaker 2: Tuesday at LA City Hall when ex fire chief Kristen
Speaker 2: Crowley goes before the La City Council and asks them
Speaker 2: to give them to give her her job back after
Speaker 2: she was fired last week by Mayor Karen Bass. Up next,
Speaker 2: you heard me talk last week about the Convention Center
Speaker 2: in downtown LA and how it's an important part of
Speaker 2: the twenty twenty eight Olympics and how they thought they
Speaker 2: were going to spend a lot of money to make
Speaker 2: it better before the Olympics before saying no, we can't,
Speaker 2: we can't afford it. Well, some workers say you better
Speaker 2: find a way to afford it because the jobs that
Speaker 2: would be a part of it are important to us.
Speaker 2: And also La Metro looking to make the subways safer.
Speaker 2: They're expanding some of their security efforts. We'll talk about
Speaker 2: that next week.
Speaker 1: You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2: KFI AM six forty Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2: I'm Michael Monks from KFI News and this is Michael
Speaker 2: Monks Reports.
Speaker 3: We're with you till nine o'clock to night.
Speaker 2: Last week we talked a lot about about the downtown
Speaker 2: Los Angeles Convention Center and how it's going to play
Speaker 2: a pretty significant role. It's hosting multiple events for the
Speaker 2: twenty twenty eight Olympics. But the city had the idea
Speaker 2: that maybe we could make it better before the Olympics
Speaker 2: show up. This has been a problem in downtown for
Speaker 2: a long time. Downtown civic boosters have said, look, this
Speaker 2: convention center is just no longer competitive. We're losing out
Speaker 2: to mid size cities in the middle of the country,
Speaker 2: and we're Los Angeles and we are not getting the
Speaker 2: types of conventions that we need to have here. And
Speaker 2: so the city launched this exploration. Can we spend about
Speaker 2: a billion dollars get this project going now and have
Speaker 2: it finished in time for the twenty twenty eight Olympics.
Speaker 2: Because if we start this thing and we find that
Speaker 2: the Convention Center is under construction in twenty twenty eight
Speaker 2: when the games are supposed to take place, we will
Speaker 2: have to find different venues it will make us look bad.
Speaker 2: So they were up against a very tight timeline. This
Speaker 2: city administrator was very optimistic that this was a project
Speaker 2: that could be accomplished with some borrowing and they would
Speaker 2: make the money back in a variety of ways over
Speaker 2: the next thirty years. Basically, but then the fires happened
Speaker 2: and the city has already spent fifty four million dollars
Speaker 2: as part of this analysis and basically the recommendation now
Speaker 2: from the city administrator's offices, let's pause this. We don't
Speaker 2: think that we can do this in time without disrupting
Speaker 2: the Olympics. Well, some folks are upset about it, not
Speaker 2: just the downtown boosters who pushed for it and hope
Speaker 2: that it was going to come to attract more conventions,
Speaker 2: maybe create some more jobs, have some significant economic impact
Speaker 2: on downtown in the Greater Metro area. The union workers,
Speaker 2: they are not happy about the pause in this project
Speaker 2: LAOC Building Trades. They say they represent forty eight local
Speaker 2: unions with one hundred and sixty thousand members. They want
Speaker 2: this back on. This was a one point four billion
Speaker 2: dollar proposed project, and the union say this would have
Speaker 2: created more than seven thousand union jobs that would have
Speaker 2: been created under a labor agreement, and without the project
Speaker 2: moving forward, those jobs are not coming downtown, so they
Speaker 2: want to see this go back on. They say that
Speaker 2: they would be able not only to help build the
Speaker 2: convention center, the renovation, but also fire recovery that was
Speaker 2: one of the main issues here. The city said, look,
Speaker 2: we don't think we can meet the timeline. It's not
Speaker 2: just the staggering costs and the risk. It's the fact
Speaker 2: that so many city workers, like engineers, their focus has
Speaker 2: been shifted. We have a significant part of the city
Speaker 2: to rebuild, and that's not really negotiable.
Speaker 3: The trades people say, do it all.
Speaker 2: They put out a press release and they say the
Speaker 2: expansion made progress in the past few months with the
Speaker 2: la City Council approving pre design work, and that it
Speaker 2: would set the center nicely to hold the events for
Speaker 2: the twenty twenty eight Olympics, where it was so host judo,
Speaker 2: table tennis, taekwondo, wrestling and fencing. We're expecting another update
Speaker 2: on this situation this month, but the trades union people
Speaker 2: are going to be showing up to continue to push
Speaker 2: that this project move forward. There have been some estimates,
Speaker 2: and these are always a little Murky right. These are
Speaker 2: numbers that come out and they're hard to quantify, but
Speaker 2: they say the project would add one hundred and sixty
Speaker 2: five million dollars in visitors spending every year and would
Speaker 2: create more than two thousand jobs on an ongoing basis
Speaker 2: of not just the seven thousand jobs that would work
Speaker 2: in the con instruction area around it, but two thousand
Speaker 2: jobs on an ongoing basis. We heard from all the
Speaker 2: chamber types. We heard from hotel owners and small business
Speaker 2: owners that this was something that was needed, would increase
Speaker 2: foot traffic in downtown LA in area that needs it.
Speaker 2: But now that project is on palls, the workers are unhappy.
Speaker 2: It is not a final decision yet and this is
Speaker 2: an issue that we will continue to monitor and update
Speaker 2: as news on the progress or lack thereof of the
Speaker 2: Downtown Los Angeles Convention Center moves forward or does not
Speaker 2: move forward.
Speaker 3: Speaking of Downtown.
Speaker 2: LA, at Union Station and Metro headquarters, this week, the
Speaker 2: Metro Board of Directors, which is made up of county supervisors,
Speaker 2: at least city council people, and other elected officials around
Speaker 2: the area, they've decided to expand their security system that
Speaker 2: allows for the detection of weapons keep in mind, speaking
Speaker 2: of the Olympics, this is supposed to be the no
Speaker 2: car Olympics in Laws Angeles. Obviously we're known for our traffic.
Speaker 2: But city leaders, county leaders, they want the visitors coming
Speaker 2: in for the Olympics to take the trains, to take
Speaker 2: the buses, and they know that's going to take a
Speaker 2: lot of infrastructure to make that happen, because you can't
Speaker 2: even get Angelino's on those things right now, right because
Speaker 2: it doesn't always feel safe, even if it is, even
Speaker 2: if the stats say now there weren't there weren't any crimes,
Speaker 2: this month still feels a little weird, right Well, they're expanding
Speaker 2: this weapons detection. Metro began the pilot program last August
Speaker 2: at Union Station and at the APU Citrus College station
Speaker 2: to test the effectiveness of this screening system. One of
Speaker 2: them had passengers walk through a set of sensors and
Speaker 2: another used closed circuit video feeds to detect people carrying weapons.
Speaker 2: And Janis Hahn, who is a county supervisor and the
Speaker 2: current chair of the Metro board, she said neither system
Speaker 2: detected any passengers carrying weapons during five months of testing,
Speaker 2: but that both systems detected police officers and security officers
Speaker 2: service weapons with one accuracy. And the guy who runs
Speaker 2: Metro's security and law enforcement side, Robert Gummer, he's told
Speaker 2: the board security officers witnessed some people leaving the Metro
Speaker 2: stations when they saw or were told that the weapons
Speaker 2: screening systems were in use. So he is saying that
Speaker 2: that suggests that basically putting up a sign that we're
Speaker 2: looking for your weapons is enough to deter people from
Speaker 2: getting on. So now this pilot program is going to
Speaker 2: expand to other high traffic transit stations for one year,
Speaker 2: so they're going to test this for one year more.
Speaker 2: And Han issued a statement after the board voted. She says,
Speaker 2: you can't bring a weapon to a concert or a
Speaker 2: Dodger game, and you shouldn't be able to bring a
Speaker 2: weapon on Metro. The weapons detection technology we are already
Speaker 2: testing at some Metro stations works and is showing promise
Speaker 2: and deterring people from even attempting to bring guns and
Speaker 2: knives onto Metro. Writer's safety needs to be our priority,
Speaker 2: and it is time to put this technology in more stations.
Speaker 3: There you go.
Speaker 2: In our next hour, we are going to turn our
Speaker 2: attention to Hollywood. It won't be an entertainment show in
Speaker 2: the sense of an Oscar's reviews, so to speak. But
Speaker 2: whether you like it or not, I haven't seen any movies, Heather.
Speaker 2: I don't know anything about what's going on. I was
Speaker 2: telling our producer Matthew Toffler, like, I can't really do
Speaker 2: an Oscar segment because I haven't made it to the
Speaker 2: theater in.
Speaker 3: A long time. You've been a little busy.
Speaker 2: Well, I'll tell you. If it were the Emmys, I'd
Speaker 2: be all over. I love television. I'm much more of
Speaker 2: a TV guy because I can stream it. I don't
Speaker 2: believe the house. It's it's perfect for me, but it's
Speaker 2: neither here, aren't there? Regardless, Hollywood is important to Los
Speaker 2: Angeles in a lot of ways. Hollywood is what people
Speaker 2: think of outside of this area when you say Los Angeles,
Speaker 2: and it is struggling, even though Sunday is going to
Speaker 2: be a big night for Hollywood, the biggest night. In fact,
Speaker 2: every year, Hollywood's not doing well here, fewer jobs, fewer productions,
Speaker 2: and now local officials and state officials want to do
Speaker 2: something about it, and that thing is to throw money
Speaker 2: at Hollywood.
Speaker 3: Will it work?
Speaker 2: We're going to dive into that in our next hour
Speaker 2: here on Michael Monks Reports on KFI AM sixty
Speaker 1: KFI AM six forty on demand