Speaker 1: You're listening to KFI Am six forty wake Up Call
Speaker 1: with me Amy King on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2: You heard that right.
Speaker 3: It's five o'clock on the dot here in Los Angeles, California,
Speaker 3: and it is time for your wake up call. I
Speaker 3: am Michael Monks from KFI News here filling in for
Speaker 3: Amy King one more time.
Speaker 2: She'll be back tomorrow.
Speaker 3: And you know, I have to say, this is one
Speaker 3: of those days where it's not always easy to crawl
Speaker 3: out of bed. It's a beautiful morning quiet, but you
Speaker 3: know what, you got to suck it up. I enjoy
Speaker 3: filling in for Amy King, but I'm really glad she
Speaker 3: has this shift. I love that for her. This is
Speaker 3: a good shift for Amy King. Happy to fill in
Speaker 3: whenever they need me, But my goodness, it's early. And
Speaker 3: I know our good buddy Will Coleschreiver, who is here
Speaker 3: with us this morning doing the traffic. He's going to
Speaker 3: have all the details from the roads in just a moment.
Speaker 3: He feels the same way. But he's stuck here on
Speaker 3: this shift every single morning, getting up, crawling in and
Speaker 3: getting it done for you. And I know, if you're
Speaker 3: listening right now, this is your shift too, And we're
Speaker 3: so glad that you spend these early, early moments of
Speaker 3: the day with us because we get to tell you
Speaker 3: what's going on before everybody else. So we either make
Speaker 3: your day or ruin it one way or the other.
Speaker 3: So far, I think we're off to a pretty good start.
Speaker 3: Here's what's a head on your wake up call. Border
Speaker 3: enforcement ramped up along with deportation. So what is next
Speaker 3: as President Trump executes his vision for immigration in the
Speaker 3: US and what might it mean for sanctuary cities like
Speaker 3: Los Angeles.
Speaker 2: We'll have a live report on that.
Speaker 3: The President has also been kept busy with executive orders.
Speaker 3: He's not quite finished with them yet. Reports indicate he's
Speaker 3: interested in creating an iron Dome for America, like the
Speaker 3: system designed to protect Israel from a tax. We'll have
Speaker 3: a live report on that as well. And it is
Speaker 3: officially tax season. Are you ready? You see what I
Speaker 3: mean about making your day or ruining your day? It
Speaker 3: is tax season. You've got to get your paperwork ready.
Speaker 3: Maybe you've got a refund coming this year. That's exciting,
Speaker 3: But there are mistakes people make every year when that
Speaker 3: direct deposit hits from the federal government. Joel Larsgard from
Speaker 3: How to Money is with us today to explain some
Speaker 3: of those mistakes and let you know how you can
Speaker 3: avoid them. Don't forget. As always at the top of
Speaker 3: this six o'clock hour bill handle is in and we
Speaker 3: start with handle on the news bill handle Nil Sevagra
Speaker 3: and me Michael Monks with you this morning. For that,
Speaker 3: we'll start the morning with some stories that are coming
Speaker 3: out of the KFI twenty four hour newsroom. Those whose
Speaker 3: homes have been damaged or destroyed by the wildfires in
Speaker 3: La County can now formally opt in for the US
Speaker 3: Army Corps of Engineers to clear debris from the property
Speaker 3: free of charge. The first phase is the removal of
Speaker 3: hazardous materials by the Environmental Protection Agency, and once that's finished,
Speaker 3: the Army Corps will move in and remove debris. Residents
Speaker 3: also have the option to hire their own contractors to
Speaker 3: do that work too, if they like. There are a
Speaker 3: couple of important fire related items on the agenda of
Speaker 3: this morning's meeting of the La County Board of Supervisors.
Speaker 3: There is a proposal to create a fire recovery fund
Speaker 3: with an initial thirty two million dollars to provide direct
Speaker 3: cash to fire victims. The proposal involves federal money from
Speaker 3: the American Rescue Plan to county departments would be tasked
Speaker 3: with reporting on the proposal by next week, with an
Speaker 3: implementation update including details on a process for people to
Speaker 3: apply for relief funds, and the supervisors will also consider
Speaker 3: a motion calling for an independent review of emergency notification
Speaker 3: systems used during the fires to alert people to evacuation orders.
Speaker 3: There were complaints after erroneous alerts were sent all over
Speaker 3: the county, and there were also some delays. The LA
Speaker 3: Times reported residents in the Altadena area west of Lake
Speaker 3: Avenue did not receive any emergency evacuation orders until roughly
Speaker 3: nine hours after the Eton fire erupted, despite the fact
Speaker 3: that flames were already burning uncontrollably nearby. All seventeen people
Speaker 3: who are known to have died in that fire lived
Speaker 3: west of Lake Avenue. And there are also plans at
Speaker 3: this morning supervisors meeting to honor individuals and organizations for
Speaker 3: their work during the fire and in the aftermath, and.
Speaker 2: We will have all of that covered for you.
Speaker 3: President Trump has seen his initial cabinet picks basically sail
Speaker 3: through Senate approval, except for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who
Speaker 3: required a tie breaking vote from Vice President JD. Vance
Speaker 3: after three Republicans opposed that nomination. But it's still early
Speaker 3: and there are still more nominees to face approval, including
Speaker 3: some of the more controversial selections. Rfk Junior as Health
Speaker 3: and Human Services Secretary, Cash Patel at the FBI, and
Speaker 3: Tulsey Gafferd as the Director of National Intelligence. So what
Speaker 3: can we expect from these fourthcoming hearings? Here to break
Speaker 3: it down is White House correspondent John Decker, who joins
Speaker 3: us Live Good Tuesday morning to you, John.
Speaker 4: Great to be with you. That's a great introduction because
Speaker 4: the confirmation hearings that will take place this week will
Speaker 4: likely be more contentions than what we've seen in the past.
Speaker 4: You know, just some of the nominees that Donald Trump
Speaker 4: has put forward have, as you put it, sailed through
Speaker 4: Marc Rubio ninety nine to zero. In addition to that,
Speaker 4: Donald Trump's choice for Transportation Secretary also getting confirmation from
Speaker 4: the Senate unanimously. That will not be the case with
Speaker 4: the three people that you mentioned, Cash Mittel for FBI,
Speaker 4: Robert F. Kennedy Junior for the Department of Health, and
Speaker 4: Human Services, and Tulca Gabbert as the Director of National Intelligence.
Speaker 4: I think all those three. Gabbert likely has the most
Speaker 4: difficulty in terms of winning Senate approval. But I think
Speaker 4: that a lot of Senators are ultimately waiting to see
Speaker 4: how each of these nominees perform in their confirmation hearings
Speaker 4: before saying publicly how they're going to vote on their nominations.
Speaker 3: So some of these nominations from the president have gotten
Speaker 3: support from Democrats. You noted Marco Rubio and his unanimous praise.
Speaker 3: But the irony I suppose for this week is a
Speaker 3: couple of these nominees have Democratic bona fides in some respect.
Speaker 3: I mean RFK Junior obviously a Kennedy Tauci Gabbard served
Speaker 3: in Congress as a Democrat, ran for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Speaker 3: What do you anticipate is the hold up? Let's start
Speaker 3: with RFK Junior.
Speaker 4: Well, for RFK Junior, it's the position that he's taken
Speaker 4: previously on the issue of vaccines and vaccinations that's the
Speaker 4: hold up for him, as well as positions that he's
Speaker 4: taken on the issue of abortion. At some points in
Speaker 4: his life. He's been very much pro choice that is
Speaker 4: not the position of the Republican Party. So he's got
Speaker 4: to explain his current position and why in some cases
Speaker 4: he's deviated from the positions that he's taken in the past.
Speaker 4: As for Tulsea Gabbert, guest, she was a member of
Speaker 4: Congress as a Democrat, but that's not giving her a pass.
Speaker 4: Her big issue is positions that she took as a
Speaker 4: US congresswoman from Hawaii, as well as a meeting that
Speaker 4: she had while she was a congresswoman with the leader
Speaker 4: of Syria, Basher A l Assade. And so she'll need
Speaker 4: to get through that aspect of her past and explain
Speaker 4: that particular meeting in order to win Senate confirmation.
Speaker 3: Do either of them face any challenges from Republican members
Speaker 3: of the Senate.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's the problem, you know. So as you know,
Speaker 4: as we saw with the President Trump's choice to leave
Speaker 4: the Defense Department Pete Hegseath, Republicans can afford to lose
Speaker 4: three of their her own members, and that's what we
Speaker 4: saw with Pete Hegseth. But it was jd Vance, the
Speaker 4: Vice President, who broke the tie. As it relates to
Speaker 4: Telsea Gabbert, I think that she will not get unanimous
Speaker 4: support from the Republican Party. And I think that some
Speaker 4: of the same people that had issues with Pete Hegseth
Speaker 4: will also have issues with her, and there may be
Speaker 4: some other ones as well, simply because although as you
Speaker 4: put it, she may have that experience as a Democrat
Speaker 4: that doesn't work well with the Republican Party, that past
Speaker 4: experience that she's had.
Speaker 3: Well, let's talk about cash Patel. He seems like a
Speaker 3: contentious choice at the FBI's He's someone who will also
Speaker 3: face some questions from fellow Republicans.
Speaker 4: From Republicans, know, I think that Republicans like Cash Battel,
Speaker 4: that they like the fact that he's out of the
Speaker 4: box and it'll shake things up at the FBI. It's
Speaker 4: Democrats that have the most issues with Cash Battel. But again,
Speaker 4: we'll see how he performs in the Q and a
Speaker 4: portion of this upcoming confirmation hearing. It can't get too contentious,
Speaker 4: you know, we've seen that. You know, there's some pushback
Speaker 4: that some nominees have had when they're pushed in a
Speaker 4: certain direction. Pam Bondi, who was confirmed as the next
Speaker 4: Attorney General, had a little pushback, but she performed quite
Speaker 4: well and got bipartisan support. I don't think Cash Battel
Speaker 4: is going to get that bipartisan support. And as you know,
Speaker 4: there's a Republican majority in the US sen at fifty
Speaker 4: three forty seven. If I was a betting man, I
Speaker 4: would bet that's how that ultimate vote is going to
Speaker 4: go for Cash Bettel to be the next FBI director.
Speaker 3: We're talking with White House correspondent John Decker here on
Speaker 3: kfi's wake Up Call. I've made an observation. I'm obviously
Speaker 3: not the only one to make this observation, but I'm curious,
Speaker 3: since you're on the ground there, what your thoughts might be.
Speaker 3: This is obviously President Trump's second term, separated by a
Speaker 3: term of President Joe Biden. It seems like in President
Speaker 3: Trump's first term, even though he ran as an outsider,
Speaker 3: there was an effort to put government type people in
Speaker 3: government roles. Is there something different taking place with some
Speaker 3: of these appointments that the President is pursuing. Even if
Speaker 3: they are folks from inside the government, they do seem
Speaker 3: to cater to a certain wing of political ideology. Is
Speaker 3: it different this time around? Does it look like some
Speaker 3: sort of I don't know, some celebration of a certain
Speaker 3: type of ideology.
Speaker 4: Oh absolutely. I mean, just two of the people that
Speaker 4: we've been talking about are examples of that. Robert F.
Speaker 4: Kennedy Junior. I think that the issues with him are
Speaker 4: the ones that we mentioned, plus what kind of experience
Speaker 4: he's had, if any, in terms of managing such a
Speaker 4: large bureaucracy like the Department of Health and Human Services,
Speaker 4: And the same thing could be said for Tulca Gabbert.
Speaker 4: Her lack of experience is something that Democrats will point out.
Speaker 4: But yeah, it's different in terms of the types of
Speaker 4: people that Trump is putting forward. I think the most
Speaker 4: controversial nominee that he had in his first term was
Speaker 4: Betsy Devas, who ended up being confirmed to be the
Speaker 4: next Department of Education secretary, but only because Mike Pence
Speaker 4: broke a fifty to fifty tie in the US Senate.
Speaker 4: But she was the most controversial in the sense that
Speaker 4: she did not have the necessary experienced Democrats said, and
Speaker 4: that was the reason for their opposition to her.
Speaker 3: White House Correspondent John Decker, always a pleasure to have
Speaker 3: your insight shared with our audience here at KFI.
Speaker 2: John, Thanks so.
Speaker 4: Much, absolutely thanks for having me bye Bye.
Speaker 2: Bye Bye. The Grammys are Sunday.
Speaker 3: They're right here in La at Crypto dot Com Arena,
Speaker 3: and the plan is for music's biggest awards show to
Speaker 3: focus attention on the wildfire relief efforts. Recording Academy CEO
Speaker 3: Harvey Mason Junior has said his team spoke to state officials,
Speaker 3: local officials, fire departments, and others before deciding to go
Speaker 3: ahead and continue with the show. Although there has been
Speaker 3: an abridged pre Grammy week event schedule, he says the
Speaker 3: Recording Academy has received almost three thousand requests from its
Speaker 3: members and others in the music community for help following
Speaker 3: these wildfires. So we'll watch that on Sunday and see
Speaker 3: what the music industry does for the folks right here
Speaker 3: in Los Angeles when we come back. Deportations, border enforcement
Speaker 3: both already up in the early days of President Trump's administration.
Speaker 3: What might that mean for a sanctuary city by the
Speaker 3: name of Los Angeles. Final evacuation orders from the Palisades
Speaker 3: fire have been lifted. Fire officials said residents will no
Speaker 3: longer need escorts into the area, but they must obtain
Speaker 3: an access pass by checking in with law enforcement in
Speaker 3: Santa Monica. The death toll has increased to twelve with
Speaker 3: the death of an unidentified victim at a hospital. The
Speaker 3: Santa Monica Malibu Unified School Districts four schools in Malibu
Speaker 3: that were closed yesterday because of dangerous road conditions and
Speaker 3: other challenges with access.
Speaker 2: They'll be reopened today.
Speaker 3: US public health officials have been told to stop working
Speaker 3: with the World Health Organization effective immediately. The decision is
Speaker 3: focused on the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Speaker 3: a CDC officials and a memo to senior leaders at
Speaker 3: the agency on Sunday night telling them that all agency
Speaker 3: staff who work with the WHO must immediately stop their
Speaker 3: collaborations and await further guidance. The AP says it's viewed
Speaker 3: the memo, and experts have told the AP the sudden
Speaker 3: stoppage is a surprise, and we'll set back work on
Speaker 3: investigating and trying to stop outbreaks of Marburg virus and
Speaker 3: impos in Africa. President Trump has said Microsoft is among
Speaker 3: the US companies looking to take control of TikTok to
Speaker 3: help keep the video app operating in the US and
Speaker 3: avoid a ban here. Trump says other companies were also
Speaker 3: interested in purchasing TikTok, but didn't provide a list. One
Speaker 3: of his first acts in office, Trump extended the deadline
Speaker 3: for TikTok to find new ownership that satisfies the government
Speaker 3: seventy five days. That extension was so that takes it
Speaker 3: to early April. It was supposed to be gone on
Speaker 3: January nineteenth, and it was for a short few hours.
Speaker 3: Microsoft has not yet confirmed this report. Coming up at
Speaker 3: six oh five. We've got Bill handle handle on the news.
Speaker 3: Bill will be here, Nil Savadra, I'll be here as well.
Speaker 3: Hope you can join us. I want to check in
Speaker 3: and see if we've got Rory on the line. Do
Speaker 3: we do indeed, elm or so. Deportations in the US
Speaker 3: are well underway. Arrest enforcement at the border also up.
Speaker 3: President Trump has made a legal immigration and his plans
Speaker 3: to stop at a cornerstone of his campaign and now
Speaker 3: his administration, but there are hurdles at home and abroad.
Speaker 3: Some countries, including close allies, have expressed concern about the methods,
Speaker 3: while inside our borders, some governments, like here in LA,
Speaker 3: have vowed not to participate in deportations. National correspondent Rory
Speaker 3: O'Neil is back with us again this morning to talk
Speaker 3: all about it. Rory, Good Tuesday morning to you.
Speaker 5: Hey, good morning, Michael.
Speaker 3: How has the president's immigration enforcement efforts played out in
Speaker 3: these early days of his administration.
Speaker 5: Well, they're certainly trying to take a high profile approach,
Speaker 5: inviting media to come along on some raids in places
Speaker 5: like Boston and Chicago. Doctor Phil went along with some
Speaker 5: of the raids to find some of these people getting arrested.
Speaker 5: And we're talking about people who are in the country
Speaker 5: illegally and the vast majority of whom have also committed
Speaker 5: some sort of a violent crime. They're the first ones
Speaker 5: who are on this list for deportation, and sometimes other
Speaker 5: people who are associated with them in the same apartment
Speaker 5: or something. They're also getting caught up in these suites.
Speaker 5: You know, during the Biden administration, about three hundred people
Speaker 5: would be swept up in a regular raid by ICE agents.
Speaker 5: Now we're at around twelve one hundred people yesterday, so
Speaker 5: four times the number, and they want that number to
Speaker 5: increase tenfold in the next few months.
Speaker 3: The argument has been made that not all of the
Speaker 3: people who immigrated here illegally are criminals. Aside from that
Speaker 3: initial crime that is committed by crossing illegally. Do we
Speaker 3: expect once they've rounded up all the folks that they
Speaker 3: have accused or charged with crimes, that they will move
Speaker 3: into regular illegal immigrants.
Speaker 5: Right, so rather than so focus beyond people who've committed
Speaker 5: further crimes. Yes, obviously that's the low hanging fruit, I
Speaker 5: guess you could say. But the goal is to get
Speaker 5: ten to twelve million people removed from the country in
Speaker 5: the next few years. And look, they may develop some
Speaker 5: sort of a broader, comprehensive immigration reform package now that
Speaker 5: both the Republicans controlled both chambers. We thought we got
Speaker 5: a bit closer with a deal late last year, but
Speaker 5: that never really materialized. But do you who address the
Speaker 5: dreamer situation where juveniles are brought in with their parents illegally,
Speaker 5: but they grew up here, went to elementary school and
Speaker 5: junior high and high school all in the US and
Speaker 5: don't really know someone from their home country. Is there
Speaker 5: a path for citizenship for them or even their parents
Speaker 5: if they've been working productively in the country for years,
Speaker 5: if not decades, do you somehow create a pathway to
Speaker 5: citizenship that may include a fine or something you don't
Speaker 5: want to encourage cut in the line, but at the
Speaker 5: same time they had been productive members of society in
Speaker 5: some cases for decades.
Speaker 3: That is a relevant question to places like LA because
Speaker 3: we are a destination for a lot of immigrants, regardless
Speaker 3: of their legal status. And I'm curious, so what can
Speaker 3: we expect for places like Los Angeles that have declared
Speaker 3: themselves sanctuary cities in all of this enforcement effort.
Speaker 5: Well, right, And what we're hearing is that the local
Speaker 5: governments of sanctuary cities say, well, we're not going to
Speaker 5: help ice agents or the FBI to hinder or interfere.
Speaker 5: They're just not going to help. Seems to be the
Speaker 5: dividing line here, and this is also upsetting the president
Speaker 5: and some allies in some parts of his administration. You know,
Speaker 5: this is where you might start to see some of
Speaker 5: the tentacles of the federal government to extend outward across
Speaker 5: the country, say perhaps attaching it to relief money for
Speaker 5: wildfires in LA. And do you somehow say, you know,
Speaker 5: we need greater cooperation with customs and border protection in
Speaker 5: order to get some of the relief money that's been
Speaker 5: promised to help in fire recovery.
Speaker 3: What have we learned about the international community and Trump's
Speaker 3: deportation plans based on that tussle on Sunday with Colombia.
Speaker 5: Well, right, Columbia was upset, saying, hey, look, how dare
Speaker 5: you treat our people that way? They're not necessarily criminals,
Speaker 5: And then there were threats of tariffs back and forth,
Speaker 5: and within a few hours Columbia was apologizing and sending
Speaker 5: the presidential plane to pick up Colombian citizens who are
Speaker 5: actually in the US illegally. Many of the had been
Speaker 5: convicted of committing crime. So that really was a big,
Speaker 5: big blink by the Colombian leadership to back down. So
Speaker 5: we'll see if anyone really tests Donald Trump on this,
Speaker 5: do they let them follow through with the threats of tariffs?
Speaker 5: And you know, if they had, we'd be paying a
Speaker 5: lot more for that morning cup of coffee with all
Speaker 5: the Colombian coffee exports, and then what would we be
Speaker 5: exporting to Columbia that they would also slap tariffs on.
Speaker 5: So we'll see if one of the country's out there
Speaker 5: bites or is it the whole EU. It's going to
Speaker 5: be fascinating to see if anyone really follows through on
Speaker 5: these threats that Donald Trump has been making.
Speaker 2: May we live in interesting times.
Speaker 3: National correspondent Rory O'Neil, thank you so much for spending
Speaker 3: some more time.
Speaker 2: With us today. We appreciate it always.
Speaker 4: Yeah, just not every weekend.
Speaker 2: That's all I want.
Speaker 6: Okay, Thanks Michael.
Speaker 2: Let's see you soon here.
Speaker 3: In La Mayor Karen Bass is expected to join in
Speaker 3: a community meeting this morning with Pacific Palisades residents and
Speaker 3: groups who have lost their homes, jobs, businesses. Group called
Speaker 3: La Voice, which describes itself as a multi racial, multi
Speaker 3: faith community organization, has organized the meeting. Rabbi Ken Chasin
Speaker 3: of the Leo Beck Temple will MC and Pastor John
Speaker 3: Shaver of the Community United Methodist Church of Pacific Palisades,
Speaker 3: which was destroyed in the fire, is also set to
Speaker 3: attend along with others. Police in La say a man
Speaker 3: on a skateboard shot and killed another man in South La.
Speaker 3: It happened last night on South Fortuna Street. Witnesses told
Speaker 3: police a man on a skateboard was riding by the
Speaker 3: victim when he opened fire and shot several times. The
Speaker 3: victim was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead. The
Speaker 3: suspect rode away from the scene. Satellite images of an
Speaker 3: undeveloped lot in Lincoln Heights have gotten a lot of
Speaker 3: attention online.
Speaker 7: The word help is spelled out in large letters about
Speaker 7: a dozen times. LAPD, FBI, and the Spanish words for trafficking, federal,
Speaker 7: and terrorism can also be seen. The LAPED says it
Speaker 7: responded to a call about unknown trouble in the area
Speaker 7: on Sunday morning and did not find anything to ferry
Speaker 7: us going on. The LAPD also says the satellite images
Speaker 7: were taken in twenty twenty three, but a news helicopter
Speaker 7: flew over the area on Monday afternoon and found the
Speaker 7: words are still there. The land is owned by the
Speaker 7: Union Pacific Railroad. Union Pacific says a man has been
Speaker 7: trespassing on the company's property and other commercial lots to
Speaker 7: create misleading messages.
Speaker 2: I'm Daniel Martindell.
Speaker 3: When wake Up Call continues here on KFI AM six
Speaker 3: forty and live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. What would
Speaker 3: the Iron Dome look like in America? President Trump seems
Speaker 3: to want to know. It's the system used to protect
Speaker 3: Israel from attacks. A live report is just ahead. President
Speaker 3: Trump has been busy with executive orders since he took office.
Speaker 3: Any plans for more as presidents do COVID vaccine, mandates,
Speaker 3: military people, trans people in the armed forces, an iron
Speaker 3: dome for America. All right, let's talk to ABC News
Speaker 3: White House correspondent Karen Travers, who joins US Law. Now, Karen,
Speaker 3: I guess you're keeping pretty busy these days.
Speaker 8: Oh yes, I got a lot going on here these days.
Speaker 8: It's kind of like, where do you want to start?
Speaker 3: I'm kidding, well, I mean, the President has been active
Speaker 3: with these executive orders, and we expect that to continue
Speaker 3: for now.
Speaker 8: Yeah, you know, and I think so. But I think
Speaker 8: it's also important to note, and you know, you and
Speaker 8: I have talked about this, of like, there are limits
Speaker 8: to what you can do with executive action, and at
Speaker 8: some point you will hit that limit. You can do
Speaker 8: a lot of things right away. There's been this flurry
Speaker 8: of activity and they want to send a message. A
Speaker 8: lot of it is reversing what the previous administration had done,
Speaker 8: even reversing what they had reversed. So it's kind of
Speaker 8: we're back to where we were with the Trump administration
Speaker 8: round one. But you do need Congress to take action.
Speaker 8: You need Congress to approve funding for a lot of
Speaker 8: the major priorities of like immigration, border security, tax policy,
Speaker 8: energy production. So that's going to come next, but that
Speaker 8: gets complicated because of the slim majorities in the House
Speaker 8: and Senate. So I think for this president, he wants
Speaker 8: to try to do as much he can make a
Speaker 8: big show with this executive action. But a lot of
Speaker 8: these executive action actions are really you know, directing agencies
Speaker 8: to review things, directing secretaries and department heads to come
Speaker 8: back to him in thirty days with the reports on things.
Speaker 8: So it is important to like dig deep into some
Speaker 8: of this and see what actually ends up developing out
Speaker 8: of it. For example, the Iron Dome for America. It's
Speaker 8: not clear from this executive order how that would be developed,
Speaker 8: on what timeline it could be developed, or what it
Speaker 8: would even cost, but the expectation is it would certainly
Speaker 8: cost a lot of money to build a missile defensystem
Speaker 8: over the entire country, similar to what Israel has. They're
Speaker 8: a lot smaller, of course, and their defense you know,
Speaker 8: their defense needs are very different than what the United
Speaker 8: States has.
Speaker 3: ABC News has obtained a fact sheet about some of
Speaker 3: these executive orders.
Speaker 2: What can you tell us about that?
Speaker 8: Yeah, yeah, So this, for first of all, on the
Speaker 8: Iron Dome situation. You know, it's directing the implementation of
Speaker 8: a next general missile defense shield against ballistic, hypersonic, advanced
Speaker 8: cruise missiles and other next generation aerial attacks. The experts
Speaker 8: we talked to last year, though, said when he first
Speaker 8: started talking about this, and they said the same yesterday.
Speaker 8: So it just isn't clear how much this makes sense
Speaker 8: given that we have Canada and Mexico as allies and
Speaker 8: our neighbors and oceans on either side of us, and
Speaker 8: there are issues and concerns about cybersecurity threats and space threats,
Speaker 8: things like that. So we'll see if Congress actually does
Speaker 8: anything with this. But the President couldn't just create this.
Speaker 8: You need Congress to fund it.
Speaker 3: Karen Travers of ABC News before we let you run,
Speaker 3: we've talked about the fact that some of these executive
Speaker 3: orders will require some sort of congressional involvement, especially when
Speaker 3: it comes to finances. But there is also another branch
Speaker 3: of government, and that is the judicial branch. We've already
Speaker 3: seen Trump's order related to birthrights citizenship facing a legal challenge,
Speaker 3: and I'm wondering do we expect any of these others
Speaker 3: in the immediate future. To be legal vulnerable.
Speaker 8: Yeah, I think absolutely, and perhaps some of the DEI
Speaker 8: ones could be challenged, you know, just depending on if
Speaker 8: people get put on paid leave or laid off because
Speaker 8: of it. There are a lot of unions in DC
Speaker 8: related to federal workers, so you know, we're waiting to
Speaker 8: see how this plays out. But the birthright citizenship one,
Speaker 8: of course, was the one that was challenged very quickly
Speaker 8: at numerous with numerous lawsuits.
Speaker 3: ABC News White House Correspondent Karen Travers, thanks so much
Speaker 3: for spending another morning with us.
Speaker 2: We always appreciate you.
Speaker 6: Have a great day.
Speaker 8: Thanks.
Speaker 3: It is five point forty now here in Los Angeles.
Speaker 3: I'm Michael Monks filling in for Amy King on kfi's
Speaker 3: wake up Call. The LA County Board of Supervisors meets today.
Speaker 3: They got a motion calling for an independent review of
Speaker 3: those emergency notification systems that are used during the fires
Speaker 3: and other crises to let us know if we need
Speaker 3: to run for our lives. Apparently, as you may remember,
Speaker 3: there were some problems with that. They're also going to
Speaker 3: talk about the creation of a thirty two point two
Speaker 3: million dollar five fire recovery fund that would use some
Speaker 3: federal money to provide immediate cash assistance to residents. Will
Speaker 3: keep an eye on that meeting for you this morning
Speaker 3: and report all day long on it. The La City
Speaker 3: Council also has a meeting on the agenda this morning
Speaker 3: and they are going to be looking at a proposal
Speaker 3: to transfer two hundred and nineteen million dollars from ladwp's
Speaker 3: Power Revenue Fund to the city's reserve fund. Keep in
Speaker 3: mind the city is facing significant financial challenges and perhaps
Speaker 3: that's a polite way of saying La is broke. The
Speaker 3: council will also consider a proposal to provide funding for
Speaker 3: fire preparedness initiatives and services in Council District I, which
Speaker 3: includes Chinatown and MacArthur Park, Westlake and La Metro has
Speaker 3: announced an interactive town hall for people to weigh in
Speaker 3: on its budget plan, So starting at six o'clock tonight,
Speaker 3: people can call in or submit comments online to share
Speaker 3: priorities for the twenty twenty five twenty six fiscal year budget,
Speaker 3: and that includes any remarks you might have on public safety,
Speaker 3: improved services, or enhancements to the transit experience. Metro officials
Speaker 3: have said public input is critical to ensuring the budget
Speaker 3: quote reflects the needs of writers. Last year's budget was
Speaker 3: nine billion dollars. Coming up at six oh five, we've
Speaker 3: got the Bill Handel Show, starting with Handel on the news,
Speaker 3: Bill Handel, Nil Savedra and Me I'm with you. But
Speaker 3: before that, at five point fifty, tax season has arrived.
Speaker 3: I'm wondering are you ready? Are you just waiting for
Speaker 3: it to work itself out? In that refund check to
Speaker 3: hit your direct deposit. Joel Larsgard, host of How to Money,
Speaker 3: is with us to explain some common mistakes people make
Speaker 3: about their filings and their refunds. We'll have that for
Speaker 3: you coming up at five fifty. Some more news coming
Speaker 3: out of the KFI twenty four hour newsroom. Hundreds of
Speaker 3: thousands of Palestinians have returned to northern Gaza for the
Speaker 3: first time since the early weeks of the fifteen month
Speaker 3: long war between Israel and hamas a ceasefire has entered
Speaker 3: its second week. Palestinians who have been sheltering in squalid
Speaker 3: tent camps and former schools have said they're eager to
Speaker 3: return to their homes, even if those homes are likely destroyed.
Speaker 3: How are you feeling about the US economy right now?
Speaker 3: It likely depends on your political party affiliation.
Speaker 5: In a survey conducted during the presidential transition, Gallup measured
Speaker 5: a change in economic attitudes based largely on party politics.
Speaker 5: Gallup measured a thirty point drop and economic confidence among Democrats,
Speaker 5: and about the same percentage of Republicans grew more optimistic.
Speaker 5: The confidence score is up sixteen points among independents. A
Speaker 5: similar partisan swing was measured during the last presidential transition
Speaker 5: four years ago.
Speaker 2: I'm Rory O'Neil, and.
Speaker 3: It doesn't matter which party you're a member of. We
Speaker 3: all know the freeways around LA will just drive you bonkers,
Speaker 3: even on an early Tuesday morning. And here's what we're
Speaker 3: following in the KFI twenty four hour newsroom. Governor Gavin
Speaker 3: Newsom has signed an executive order meant to speed up
Speaker 3: the building of homes lost to the wildfires here. During
Speaker 3: his visit to the area last week, President Trump called
Speaker 3: on La Mayor Karen Bass to allow residents to start
Speaker 3: cleaning out the debris themselves. And now Bass is pushing back.
Speaker 5: What is so difficult for people is to understand that
Speaker 5: right now, especially if their place was destroyed, it's really toxic.
Speaker 2: It's dangerous for them to be there.
Speaker 3: In a post on x, Governor Newsom says he wants
Speaker 3: to make it clear that red tape will not delay
Speaker 3: rebuilding efforts. His executive order reiterates that permitting requirements under
Speaker 3: the California Coastal Act remains suspended. It also allows people
Speaker 3: who have been affected by the fires to stay longer
Speaker 3: in hotels and short term rentals. The California Department of
Speaker 3: Water Resources has refuted a claim made by President Trump
Speaker 3: Any Truth Social post.
Speaker 7: On Monday night, Trump claimed the United States military went
Speaker 7: into California and under emergency powers, turned on the water
Speaker 7: flowing down from the Pacific Northwest. The Department of Water
Speaker 7: Resources responded with an ex post saying the military he
Speaker 7: did not enter California. It also says the water pumps
Speaker 7: being turned back on our federal water pumps that were
Speaker 7: temporarily offline due to maintenance for three days. The DWR
Speaker 7: ends that state water supplies in southern California remained plentiful.
Speaker 7: State Senate pro tem Mike McGuire responded as well, saying
Speaker 7: water from the Pacific Northwest has not flown to the
Speaker 7: Central Valley and the military has not invaded the Delta.
Speaker 2: I'm Daniel Martindale.
Speaker 3: Two LAPD officers have been injured during a pursuit and
Speaker 3: a suspect was taken into custody near Vermont Square in
Speaker 3: South la The officers were going after a speeding vehicle
Speaker 3: just after midnight when the suspect crashed into one of
Speaker 3: the officers patrol cars. He then left his vehicle and
Speaker 3: ran away from the scene. After a short chase, officers
Speaker 3: caught the guy. Both officers were taken to a hospital
Speaker 3: with minor injuries. The suspect also suffered minor injuries. And
Speaker 3: we're just minutes away now from the Bill Handle Show,
Speaker 3: starting with Handle on the news this morning at six
Speaker 3: oh five. Bill Handle, Nil Sevadra and I will be
Speaker 3: there and we do hope you will join us as well.
Speaker 3: The IRS has opened up tax season and is actively
Speaker 3: accepting tax returns. But if you get an annual refund
Speaker 3: because you've paid too much in taxes during the previous year,
Speaker 3: what do you do with the windfall? Seems like a
Speaker 3: lot of folks don't use extra cash like that to
Speaker 3: pay down debt like their credit cards. More Americans are
Speaker 3: only paying the minimum on that debt. How to Money
Speaker 3: host Joel Larsguard is with us now to talk about it.
Speaker 3: Good Tuesday morning to you, Joel, Thanks for being with us.
Speaker 6: Name she Michael, glad to be here.
Speaker 3: Well, let's talk about these alleged mistakes people make with
Speaker 3: their tax returns.
Speaker 2: What's the big one?
Speaker 6: Sure? Yeah, I mean the thing is, I well, first off,
Speaker 6: I don't love tax refunds, and there are some people
Speaker 6: who will say that it is a tax free gift
Speaker 6: to the government. The fact that, you know, I think
Speaker 6: people love it. People love getting that three thousand bucks,
Speaker 6: thirty five hundred bucks, whatever it is back when they
Speaker 6: file their taxes in February, March or April. But the
Speaker 6: truth is that is an interest free loan to the government,
Speaker 6: and so I would rather see people keep more of
Speaker 6: that money in their pockets throughout the year. Although I
Speaker 6: do get the kind of forced method of savings behind
Speaker 6: getting that tax refund and paying a little bit too
Speaker 6: much throughout the year. And if that's the case, if
Speaker 6: you are going the force method of savings route, then
Speaker 6: this is an awesome opportunity to yes accelerate debt pay down.
Speaker 6: There are new stats out about people who keep credit
Speaker 6: card debt around for longer and they're paying the bare
Speaker 6: minimum on the credit card debt that they have, right
Speaker 6: that minimum payment that the credit card allows them credit
Speaker 6: card company allows them to make every month. That's a
Speaker 6: real problem. It's going to keep you in debt for
Speaker 6: a whole lot longer. You're going to pay a whole
Speaker 6: lot more in interest. So the tax refund is the
Speaker 6: perfect time to jump start one of those bigger goals
Speaker 6: like getting rid of credit card debt.
Speaker 3: Okay, So are there steps people should be taken, excuse
Speaker 3: me taking during the year, either to limit their tax
Speaker 3: liability or to prepare for what might be a large
Speaker 3: refund and how to use it.
Speaker 6: Yeah, so you can, especially based on last year, you
Speaker 6: can see, well did I get a big tax refund
Speaker 6: last year? And if so, maybe I should be changing
Speaker 6: my withholding And there are calculators on the IRS website
Speaker 6: that can kind of help you hone in and figure
Speaker 6: out what your tax withholding status should be. And so
Speaker 6: I would recommend people people look into that. And again
Speaker 6: I do get the force method of savings behind it.
Speaker 6: Maybe you say, listen, I'm not great if I have
Speaker 6: that extra money in hitting my bank account every single month.
Speaker 6: I'm the kind of person who's going to spend it
Speaker 6: on avocado toast and lattes. Then maybe the forced method
Speaker 6: of savings is what's best for you. And then just
Speaker 6: have a plan for what to do with it, whether
Speaker 6: that is to shore up your emergency fund, or it
Speaker 6: is to pay down some sort of debt, or it
Speaker 6: is to say, listen, I'm gonna try to max out
Speaker 6: my roth IRA this year, and bam, if I get
Speaker 6: a four thousand dollars refund, that gets me, you know,
Speaker 6: two thirds of the way there. But I do want
Speaker 6: people ahead of filing taxes. I think tax season literally
Speaker 6: just started yesterday, and I'm sure most people are not
Speaker 6: that on it that they're already done, but maybe they are.
Speaker 6: But yeah, when you file your taxes and you see
Speaker 6: how much that refund is going to be, make a
Speaker 6: plan for it so you don't fritter it away. Because
Speaker 6: some people think of that I think as oh, free money,
Speaker 6: let me blow it on a vacation or something like that.
Speaker 6: But I think it's the perfect opportunity to achieve some
Speaker 6: of those financial goals that you have and do it
Speaker 6: in shorter order.
Speaker 3: You talked a moment ago about people more people apparently
Speaker 3: making only the minimum payments on their credit cards, and
Speaker 3: I suppose that's better than missing payments, but as you noted,
Speaker 3: it does lead to more interest costs and longer amount
Speaker 3: of time that you're spending money on paying down that debt.
Speaker 3: But what is the situation? What is the economic landscape
Speaker 3: out there that's leading people to do this? Is it
Speaker 3: just people wanting to keep cash in their pockets?
Speaker 6: I mean, I think potentially for some people, I do
Speaker 6: hear from somehow to money listeners and they still say, well,
Speaker 6: I'm just not going to pick up my credit card
Speaker 6: debt because I want to keep some cash in sav
Speaker 6: and I think at a certain point that makes sense.
Speaker 6: There's something called what I think is like a bare
Speaker 6: minimum emergency fund, which is essentially roughly twenty five hundred bucks,
Speaker 6: and you don't want to go below that even to
Speaker 6: pay off credit card debt. So make sure you're not
Speaker 6: going down to zero and saving, because what's going to
Speaker 6: happen then is you're just going to go into more
Speaker 6: credit card debts when the next thing pops up in
Speaker 6: your life, when the next emergency arises, So you don't
Speaker 6: want to go that low. But beyond that, the credit
Speaker 6: card debt is essentially one of the worst things you
Speaker 6: can have in your life, and you need to treat
Speaker 6: it as such. And I think it's really crucial to
Speaker 6: come up with a plan to pay down that debt.
Speaker 6: There's a website called undebt dot it you dbt dot it,
Speaker 6: and it can help you come up with a plan
Speaker 6: to pay off that credit card debt, whether you want
Speaker 6: to go with like the debt snowball approach the debt
Speaker 6: avalanche approach, but especially as rates on credit cards have
Speaker 6: gone up fairly significantly over the past four or five years,
Speaker 6: that debt looks even worse. And when we're talking about
Speaker 6: paying just the minimum payment, if you run the numbers,
Speaker 6: like the minimum payment on like a ten thousand dollars
Speaker 6: credit card balance means you're going to pay tens of
Speaker 6: thousands of dollars in interest and you're not going to
Speaker 6: pay that debt off probably for like two decades. So
Speaker 6: when you think about it like that, when you put
Speaker 6: it in that in that terms, it's almost like indentured
Speaker 6: servitude to the credit card companies, and it fields like
Speaker 6: that debt is never going to go away, because it isn't.
Speaker 6: If you're paying the minimums, it's going to be there
Speaker 6: for way too long.
Speaker 3: Joel, I've got about a minute left. I want to
Speaker 3: ask about what happened to the stock market yesterday. It
Speaker 3: was happening during wake up calls. We were watching this,
Speaker 3: and it's I'm not a financial guy, certainly not a
Speaker 3: market watcher, give the numbers as they tell me to
Speaker 3: do here, but what happened with this Chinese AI company
Speaker 3: and the plummeting of some American stocks.
Speaker 6: So to me, this is fascinating, and in many ways
Speaker 6: it's actually good news. It's what seems like bad news
Speaker 6: on the surface could actually be really good news. And
Speaker 6: it's essentially and we don't know exactly how how much
Speaker 6: this AI company in China cost to just to get started,
Speaker 6: but it certainly seems like the Chinese have created an
Speaker 6: incredible AI model for very little money. And so initially
Speaker 6: this might look bad for companies like Nvidia, who sell
Speaker 6: incredibly expensive chips, but this is also the way technology goes.
Speaker 6: That's something that's insanely expensive that sucks a ton of
Speaker 6: energy is actually getting far more efficient. And so think
Speaker 6: about the companies who are stocking up on Nvidia ships
Speaker 6: and investing so much money into artificial intelligence. Well, they're
Speaker 6: going to have to spend a lot less money moving
Speaker 6: forward for potentially better artificial intelligence, and this is going
Speaker 6: to reduce the cost for consumers, it's going to reduce
Speaker 6: energy usage, and so I just think this is just
Speaker 6: another step in kind of the progression of artificial intelligence,
Speaker 6: and it kind of shocked the stock market a little
Speaker 6: bit yesterday.
Speaker 3: Joel lars Guard is the founder and co host of
Speaker 3: How to Money. You can follow him at howto money
Speaker 3: dot com or listen on Sundays twelve to two. Is
Speaker 3: that right, Joel, that's right right here on KFI AM
Speaker 3: six forty. Joel, Thanks for getting up early and chatting
Speaker 3: with us this morning.
Speaker 6: Happy to thanks for having me.
Speaker 2: You got it.
Speaker 3: And update is coming to Google Maps to reflect new
Speaker 3: names being given to geographic landmarks by President Trump.
Speaker 5: The Gulf of Mexico will be changed to Gulf of America,
Speaker 5: and Alaska's De Nali will be renamed Mount McKinley. The
Speaker 5: name changes were announced by President Trump during his inaugural address.
Speaker 5: In posts on x Google says it will follow the
Speaker 5: government's lead by changing the names on its Maps app.
Speaker 5: Also on ex Google said they have a long standing
Speaker 5: practice of applying name changes when they've been updated in
Speaker 5: official government sources.
Speaker 2: I'm Rory O'Neil.
Speaker 3: This is KFI and KOSTHD two, Los Angeles, Orange County, Southland.
Speaker 3: Weather from KFI, rain in some spots, frost and others,
Speaker 3: partly cloudy elsewhere. We got a little bit of everything today.
Speaker 3: Partly cloudy in Metro LA and the valleys with highs
Speaker 3: around sixty, cooler, maybe a little rain this afternoon at
Speaker 3: the beaches and Inland Oc. Weve got highs in the
Speaker 3: upper fifties there, frost this morning in the Antelope Valley.
Speaker 3: In the Antalope Valley, colder, highs in the upper forties
Speaker 3: to the mid fifties there, windy with rain possible in
Speaker 3: the Ie. Highs in the fifties and sixties. Right now
Speaker 3: forty three in Buena Park, forty four in Bellflower, forty
Speaker 3: three in Seal Beach, and forty two in Rosemead. We
Speaker 3: lead local live from the KFI twenty four hour newsroom
Speaker 3: thanks to our producer and our technical producer today is
Speaker 3: Elmer and we've got will Cole Schreiber with traffic. This
Speaker 3: has been your wake up call. If you missed any
Speaker 3: of this hour, you can listen anytime on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3: I'm Michael Monks in for Amy King, who is back tomorrow.
Speaker 1: You've been listening to Wake Up Call with me Amy King.
Speaker 1: You can always hear Wakeup Call five to six am
Speaker 1: Monday through Friday on KFI AM six forty and anytime
Speaker 1: on demand on the iHeartRadio app.