WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.600 --> 00:00:02.919 This is Gary and Shannon and you're listening to KFI 2 00:00:03.080 --> 00:00:05.839 AM six forty, the Gary and Shannon Show on demand 3 00:00:05.919 --> 00:00:07.200 on the iHeartRadio app. 4 00:00:07.440 --> 00:00:09.400 We want to jump right into this. We are in 5 00:00:09.439 --> 00:00:14.880 the midst of the recovery phase after our twin fire 6 00:00:14.960 --> 00:00:18.839 disasters from January seventh, the Eating fires in Palisades, the 7 00:00:18.879 --> 00:00:22.120 Eating fire, I should say in Altadena and then the 8 00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:25.480 Palisades Fire over in Pacific Palisades. And last week we 9 00:00:25.519 --> 00:00:29.839 went through a few recent fires that have happened, devastating 10 00:00:29.879 --> 00:00:33.159 fires and talked about the recovery and the rebuild process 11 00:00:33.320 --> 00:00:35.560 and the lessons that we have learned from places like 12 00:00:35.799 --> 00:00:39.200 Maui or up in Paradise, or even the Tubs fire 13 00:00:39.240 --> 00:00:42.359 that devastated the Santa Rosa area as well as Lake 14 00:00:42.479 --> 00:00:46.799 County and Napa County. And we wanted to talk with 15 00:00:47.200 --> 00:00:50.719 Jennifer Gray Thompson, who was the CEO of After the Fire, 16 00:00:51.240 --> 00:00:55.399 which helps people recover, get back on their feet, of 17 00:00:55.840 --> 00:01:01.280 find a positive future in what was a devastating situation 18 00:01:01.439 --> 00:01:03.960 for everybody. And Jennifer joins us now and I want 19 00:01:03.960 --> 00:01:06.400 to appreciate Jennifer, thanks for taking time for us today. 20 00:01:07.400 --> 00:01:09.920 Thank you for having me I'm born. 21 00:01:09.640 --> 00:01:13.560 And raised Petaluma, so a lot of the stories about 22 00:01:13.599 --> 00:01:17.079 the Tubs fire hit home. We all knew people who 23 00:01:17.120 --> 00:01:20.560 were involved with it, who lost homes in the Tubs fire, 24 00:01:20.920 --> 00:01:23.640 and then obviously to see it here in the Palisades 25 00:01:23.680 --> 00:01:27.799 and over in Alzadena, more stories, similar stories of people 26 00:01:27.879 --> 00:01:33.239 just losing everything so quickly. Where did what's your experience 27 00:01:33.439 --> 00:01:36.200 with the Tubs fire? And where did after the fire 28 00:01:36.239 --> 00:01:36.760 come from? 29 00:01:37.799 --> 00:01:38.040 Well? 30 00:01:38.079 --> 00:01:40.400 After the fire was actually born at the same time 31 00:01:40.519 --> 00:01:43.680 as the Tubs Fire, but as another organization called Rebuild 32 00:01:43.760 --> 00:01:46.599 North Day Foundation, we thought we were going to be 33 00:01:46.680 --> 00:01:49.719 the one big disaster, like how could this ever happen again? 34 00:01:50.120 --> 00:01:53.840 Across four counties. We actually lost eighty nine hundred structures 35 00:01:53.840 --> 00:01:56.760 in several fires, all in the same night that started. 36 00:01:57.159 --> 00:01:59.200 So I live in Tsinama Valley. I love that you're 37 00:01:59.200 --> 00:02:04.239 a pedolumble. That's wonderful. So it was such such a 38 00:02:04.319 --> 00:02:07.200 devastating experience. And I worked for the County of Sonoma 39 00:02:07.239 --> 00:02:10.439 at the time, and so when this organization was started, 40 00:02:10.800 --> 00:02:13.639 they needed somebody who had like high social capital and 41 00:02:13.759 --> 00:02:17.719 understood government to sort of take the lead and figure 42 00:02:17.719 --> 00:02:19.479 out how are we going to get our you know 43 00:02:19.639 --> 00:02:21.800 how are we going to make it through this incredibly 44 00:02:21.919 --> 00:02:25.039 daunting process where you know, if you saw it, it felt 45 00:02:25.080 --> 00:02:27.639 like the apocalypse had had come upon us and we're 46 00:02:27.680 --> 00:02:30.080 going to live in an ash tray forever. We just 47 00:02:30.120 --> 00:02:32.439 didn't know, and I had nobody to call that first 48 00:02:32.520 --> 00:02:35.080 year as we were all learning our way through this. 49 00:02:35.159 --> 00:02:38.879 It's you know, rebuild and you know, recovery from disasters 50 00:02:38.919 --> 00:02:41.719 and absolute group projects. So my job is really like 51 00:02:41.759 --> 00:02:45.560 the group project coordinator. What happened then is we did 52 00:02:45.560 --> 00:02:47.759 a lot of good work in the first year, we learned, 53 00:02:47.800 --> 00:02:50.479 we made a lot of mistakes, and then in the 54 00:02:51.120 --> 00:02:54.319 thirteen months later the campfire and the Losey fire happened. 55 00:02:54.639 --> 00:02:58.280 So just out of a sense of human decency, we 56 00:02:58.360 --> 00:03:01.159 started helping them saying, hey, we don't know a lot, 57 00:03:01.199 --> 00:03:03.719 but we get we're thirteen months ahead. Maybe you can 58 00:03:03.759 --> 00:03:06.439 avoid our mistakes and maybe we can hand you some 59 00:03:06.520 --> 00:03:09.560 adaptable systems, and also a community that's sort of been 60 00:03:09.599 --> 00:03:13.560 walking through this since then in twenty twenty, we've just 61 00:03:13.639 --> 00:03:17.000 continue to pay it forward to every mag Fire community 62 00:03:17.120 --> 00:03:20.520 that has ever been affected, except for the Thomas fire, 63 00:03:20.520 --> 00:03:23.560 because that came right after us, and we have found 64 00:03:23.599 --> 00:03:26.400 that we were able to build this massive community of 65 00:03:26.439 --> 00:03:31.120 survivors and subject matter expertise who show up, and we 66 00:03:31.360 --> 00:03:34.639 designed the delegation so that we can actually serve the 67 00:03:34.680 --> 00:03:37.120 community in front of us. We're very respectful of that. 68 00:03:37.479 --> 00:03:39.759 And then our real job is to really support the 69 00:03:39.840 --> 00:03:43.800 local leadership, so it's all locally designed and led. 70 00:03:44.719 --> 00:03:50.159 We've seen since these fires a huge number of groups, organizations, 71 00:03:50.360 --> 00:03:54.080 foundations crop up in order to help. I mean, we 72 00:03:54.120 --> 00:03:57.080 had the fire aid concerts that raised one hundred million dollars. 73 00:03:57.159 --> 00:04:01.439 You had Rick Caruso and his group of private companies 74 00:04:01.479 --> 00:04:04.919 come together in order to help rebuild. Then obviously you've 75 00:04:04.919 --> 00:04:07.960 got all of the government agencies that are involved. How 76 00:04:07.960 --> 00:04:12.000 do you make sure that all of those good meaning 77 00:04:12.080 --> 00:04:15.080 people are going the right direction and that there's no 78 00:04:15.199 --> 00:04:18.040 conflict between what they between the private and the public 79 00:04:18.279 --> 00:04:19.160 partnerships there. 80 00:04:19.800 --> 00:04:21.240 Well, the's first thing you do is you have to 81 00:04:21.360 --> 00:04:23.879 organize the community. And that means so these fires we 82 00:04:23.920 --> 00:04:27.720 call them sisters, not twins. They affect very different communities, 83 00:04:27.759 --> 00:04:29.680 but what each of them has in common is a 84 00:04:29.680 --> 00:04:34.600 deep commitment to the people there, the place and to rebuilding. 85 00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:38.360 We find that the more community organizing you have, the 86 00:04:38.399 --> 00:04:40.439 more likely you are to come back in a way 87 00:04:40.480 --> 00:04:43.079 that's very much survivor informed and the way that the 88 00:04:43.079 --> 00:04:46.839 community wants it to go. The community can drive this process, 89 00:04:47.279 --> 00:04:51.759 but that also requires a relationship between the fire survivors, 90 00:04:52.079 --> 00:04:56.519 the funders, and the public sector. Organizing the community into 91 00:04:56.720 --> 00:04:59.839 a system we call block captains or zone captains, which 92 00:04:59.879 --> 00:05:02.839 is really like a representative way to do it is 93 00:05:02.879 --> 00:05:05.279 really the number one way that you can sort of 94 00:05:05.360 --> 00:05:08.480 drive the process. It certainly has worked here and in Paradise. 95 00:05:09.079 --> 00:05:12.600 In the case of I'm not really sure what the 96 00:05:12.600 --> 00:05:14.879 groups are doing, but I can tell you that we 97 00:05:14.959 --> 00:05:19.079 are working with Department of Angels, the organization stood up 98 00:05:19.079 --> 00:05:22.439 by Evan Spiegel of Snapchat and the California Community Foundation. 99 00:05:22.839 --> 00:05:26.079 They had a lot of conversations with many people, including us, 100 00:05:26.600 --> 00:05:30.920 and from that they have designed a community organizing an 101 00:05:31.040 --> 00:05:34.120 an organization that will help the community not only organize, 102 00:05:34.120 --> 00:05:36.399 but support them for the long term for all of 103 00:05:36.439 --> 00:05:40.399 the resources that they will need to maintain that cohesion. 104 00:05:40.879 --> 00:05:43.079 We really like it. We haven't seen it before and 105 00:05:43.360 --> 00:05:47.279 so supported, so we are working with them. The biggest 106 00:05:47.279 --> 00:05:49.879 thing is just to ask. It's okay to ask questions, 107 00:05:49.959 --> 00:05:53.480 but people need to also give, you know, give it 108 00:05:53.519 --> 00:05:55.199 a minute. One of the things I'm seeing in LA 109 00:05:55.279 --> 00:05:58.800 that I'm a little concerned about is there seems to 110 00:05:58.839 --> 00:06:02.439 be like a why are we already done, especially from 111 00:06:02.519 --> 00:06:05.399 some of the media, And I'm saying, like this just happened, 112 00:06:05.399 --> 00:06:07.720 Like you guys are doing a good job. You know, 113 00:06:07.759 --> 00:06:09.560 it is moving the way it needs to. It's going 114 00:06:09.600 --> 00:06:13.199 to be very imperfect. These people have never done this before, 115 00:06:13.680 --> 00:06:15.839 and our job is to connect them with people who 116 00:06:15.920 --> 00:06:18.600 have done it so that they can have all of 117 00:06:18.680 --> 00:06:22.399 the best information possible. But like Colonel Swinson has done this, 118 00:06:22.879 --> 00:06:24.879 he just did this on Maui. For all of the 119 00:06:24.920 --> 00:06:28.439 debris removal, they are ahead of schedule. I think there's 120 00:06:28.439 --> 00:06:30.519 a lot of intentionality, but they're you know, there have 121 00:06:30.600 --> 00:06:33.240 been missteps, so I'm not coding over that, but that 122 00:06:33.360 --> 00:06:38.560 has to be somewhat expected. But really empowering the community 123 00:06:38.639 --> 00:06:40.759 is a number one way through. I can also tell 124 00:06:40.800 --> 00:06:42.920 you that the big funders have reached out to us 125 00:06:42.959 --> 00:06:47.439 a lot, and they have been incredibly intentional about really 126 00:06:47.480 --> 00:06:50.759 wanting to hear from the community. So I feel very positive. 127 00:06:50.759 --> 00:06:53.360 If you look at the list yesterday released by fire Aid, 128 00:06:53.720 --> 00:06:57.000 they they are supporting a variety of organizations that runs 129 00:06:57.079 --> 00:07:00.480 deep into both of these communities. We are one of those. 130 00:07:02.360 --> 00:07:03.839 Let me ask you. 131 00:07:03.839 --> 00:07:07.120 You mentioned that you have experience in at least county 132 00:07:07.199 --> 00:07:12.720 level government. I'm curious, do you have the ability or 133 00:07:13.360 --> 00:07:18.519 do you have the ears of the politicians the bureaucrats 134 00:07:18.600 --> 00:07:20.560 who would need to get rid of some of the 135 00:07:20.600 --> 00:07:22.120 red tape in order to rebuild. 136 00:07:22.160 --> 00:07:24.120 Can you help advise them on how to do that? 137 00:07:25.120 --> 00:07:27.800 Well, you know, they're getting lots of advice from other 138 00:07:27.959 --> 00:07:31.160 county leads to people have really good experience in Sinoma 139 00:07:31.240 --> 00:07:33.720 County and Butte County and the County of Maui. We 140 00:07:33.759 --> 00:07:36.759 actually just brought the managing director from the County of Maui, 141 00:07:36.839 --> 00:07:39.959 Josiah Nishida, to La a couple of weeks ago. We're 142 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:44.360 definitely in conversation with the supervisors, and I know that 143 00:07:44.480 --> 00:07:48.319 the Blue Ribbon Committee that Supervisor Horvos put together actually 144 00:07:48.399 --> 00:07:52.439 has really talented people on it. So I am offering 145 00:07:52.639 --> 00:07:55.600 advice for sure, and we are here for them, but 146 00:07:55.800 --> 00:07:58.680 I'm also giving them just a moment because I'm watching 147 00:07:58.720 --> 00:08:01.199 what they're doing and I know that have good advisors, 148 00:08:01.480 --> 00:08:04.040 So I do have that experience. What we what we 149 00:08:04.120 --> 00:08:08.040 expect absolutely is for all of these jurisdictions to hire 150 00:08:08.519 --> 00:08:12.160 a third party contractor that will expedite all the permitting. 151 00:08:12.759 --> 00:08:16.279 Are firms out there that are extremely experienced. There's often 152 00:08:16.279 --> 00:08:20.720 a misunderstanding when stuff gets delayed. When it gets delayed, 153 00:08:20.720 --> 00:08:23.399 there are a number of reasons. Sometimes it is the 154 00:08:24.120 --> 00:08:26.439 you know, it is the jurisdiction, and sometimes it is 155 00:08:26.519 --> 00:08:28.959 the homeowner who wants to rebuild back in a way 156 00:08:29.000 --> 00:08:33.279 that requires extra permitting, adding a pool, doubling the size 157 00:08:33.360 --> 00:08:35.559 of their home. All of these things are fine. They 158 00:08:35.600 --> 00:08:38.080 have the right to do that, but it does trigger 159 00:08:38.159 --> 00:08:41.840 a longer process. So it's very complicated. There are many 160 00:08:41.840 --> 00:08:44.840 many steps to it, and it can be it can 161 00:08:45.000 --> 00:08:49.200 feel at very opaque at times. That's one of the 162 00:08:49.240 --> 00:08:51.360 reasons why we exist, so that we can sort of 163 00:08:51.360 --> 00:08:54.480 break that down with them as they go. Let communities 164 00:08:54.519 --> 00:08:57.240 know what's around the corner. We expect you to be 165 00:08:57.320 --> 00:09:00.679 cleaned up in under a year completely, it might even 166 00:09:00.720 --> 00:09:03.759 be eight to ten months. We do not expect a 167 00:09:03.799 --> 00:09:07.279 two year process. And we know that they are standing 168 00:09:07.320 --> 00:09:10.000 at those contractors and engaging with them now. 169 00:09:10.919 --> 00:09:12.720 It is a little bit weird that you have to 170 00:09:12.759 --> 00:09:16.480 have a group like after the fire, dealing with wildfires 171 00:09:16.480 --> 00:09:19.879 across the western United States. But I'm glad it's there. Jennifer, 172 00:09:19.919 --> 00:09:21.559 thanks for your time today, appreciate it. 173 00:09:22.200 --> 00:09:23.080 Thank you for having me. 174 00:09:23.120 --> 00:09:25.279 You bet, Jennifer grey Thompson there again, Founder and chief 175 00:09:25.320 --> 00:09:28.559 executive officer After the Fire USA. In fact, that's their website. 176 00:09:28.600 --> 00:09:33.080 Go to AFTERTHFIREUSA dot org and find out information about 177 00:09:33.080 --> 00:09:35.240 all the programs that they have coming up. 178 00:09:35.320 --> 00:09:35.840 Next hour. 179 00:09:35.879 --> 00:09:39.320 By the way, right at ten thirty, LAPD chief Jim 180 00:09:39.399 --> 00:09:41.279 McDonald is going to join us. So the plan is 181 00:09:41.320 --> 00:09:43.679 that we're going to have these regular chats with the 182 00:09:43.759 --> 00:09:46.639 chief of the LAPD. Big fan of Jim McDonald, but 183 00:09:46.639 --> 00:09:48.159 we're going to ask him about some of the stuff 184 00:09:48.159 --> 00:09:51.759 that's going on, some of the headlines, including the whole 185 00:09:51.879 --> 00:09:55.320 LAPD stance when it comes to the potential for federal 186 00:09:55.320 --> 00:09:58.759 immigration rates here in LA That comes up at ten thirty. 187 00:09:59.000 --> 00:10:04.799 So President Trump has suggested that Ukraine was in fact 188 00:10:04.840 --> 00:10:10.000 responsible for the invasion by Russia, which makes very little sense. 189 00:10:10.360 --> 00:10:12.120 Here was what he was talking about yesterday. 190 00:10:12.159 --> 00:10:15.360 Well, we have Marshal Law, essentially Marshal Law in Ukraine. 191 00:10:16.600 --> 00:10:18.919 Where the leader in Ukraine, I mean, I hate to 192 00:10:18.960 --> 00:10:21.600 say it, but he's down at four percent approval rating. 193 00:10:21.960 --> 00:10:23.480 He's not down at four percent. I don't even know 194 00:10:23.480 --> 00:10:26.240 where they're I don't know where he got that number from. 195 00:10:26.720 --> 00:10:29.200 There are polls in Ukraine that show him close to 196 00:10:29.240 --> 00:10:30.000 fifty percent. 197 00:10:30.120 --> 00:10:30.919 That's not great. 198 00:10:31.120 --> 00:10:33.679 In fact, it's right about what President Trump is right now, 199 00:10:33.720 --> 00:10:34.799 but not four percent. 200 00:10:34.879 --> 00:10:37.000 But today I heard, oh, we weren't invited. Well, you've 201 00:10:37.000 --> 00:10:39.080 been there for three years. You should have ended it 202 00:10:39.360 --> 00:10:41.320 three years. You should have never started it. You could 203 00:10:41.320 --> 00:10:43.519 have made a deal. I could have made a deal 204 00:10:43.600 --> 00:10:46.840 for Ukraine that would have given him almost all of 205 00:10:46.879 --> 00:10:50.320 the land everything, almost all of the land, and no 206 00:10:50.399 --> 00:10:52.320 people would have been killed, and no city would have 207 00:10:52.320 --> 00:10:54.960 been demolished, and not one dome would have been knocked down. 208 00:10:55.559 --> 00:10:57.399 This was President's Lenski. 209 00:10:57.720 --> 00:10:58.840 No tot nozai. 210 00:10:59.159 --> 00:10:59.879 President Trump. 211 00:11:03.320 --> 00:11:06.399 Okay, well he's speaking Ukrainian, I will translate. He says. 212 00:11:06.799 --> 00:11:10.039 Unfortunately, President Trump, who we spread, who we respect a 213 00:11:10.080 --> 00:11:12.639 lot as a leader of the nation that we really respect, 214 00:11:12.720 --> 00:11:16.480 the American nation, who supported us all the time. Unfortunately 215 00:11:16.679 --> 00:11:22.799 Trump lives in this disinformation space. ABC's Patrick Reval is 216 00:11:22.840 --> 00:11:23.240 in Key. 217 00:11:23.399 --> 00:11:27.240 The comments from President Trump have really sparked outrage and 218 00:11:27.399 --> 00:11:31.159 fury here in Ukraine. This claimed that it was Ukraine 219 00:11:31.200 --> 00:11:33.639 and not Russia that began this war, and that Ukraine 220 00:11:33.679 --> 00:11:36.600 was to blame for this unprovoked invasion that has caused 221 00:11:36.720 --> 00:11:40.000 so much enormous destruction and suffering. Here we also heard 222 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:44.240 President Trump seeming to attack the legitimacy of the Ukrainian 223 00:11:44.240 --> 00:11:47.879 president Volodimia Zelenski, saying that he only has four percent 224 00:11:47.919 --> 00:11:51.080 approval rating. Now, in reality, most respective polls in this 225 00:11:51.159 --> 00:11:54.519 country show that he has more like fifty percent approval. 226 00:11:55.120 --> 00:11:58.279 All right, So they go back and forth and then 227 00:11:58.440 --> 00:12:03.399 Trump takes to truth social and just blasts Zelensky. 228 00:12:03.440 --> 00:12:07.279 This was his post earlier this morning. Think of it. 229 00:12:07.320 --> 00:12:10.720 A modestly successful comedian. Vladimir Zelensky talked to the United 230 00:12:10.759 --> 00:12:13.200 States of America and to spending three hundred and fifty 231 00:12:13.279 --> 00:12:15.679 billion dollars to go into a war that couldn't be 232 00:12:15.799 --> 00:12:18.240 one that never had to start, but a war that 233 00:12:18.320 --> 00:12:20.759 he without the US and Trump will never be able 234 00:12:20.799 --> 00:12:24.279 to settle. The United States has spent two hundred billion 235 00:12:24.320 --> 00:12:26.799 dollars more than Europe, and Europe's money is guaranteed, while 236 00:12:26.799 --> 00:12:29.159 the United States will get nothing back. Why didn't Sleepy 237 00:12:29.240 --> 00:12:32.799 Joe Biden demand equalization and that this war is far 238 00:12:32.840 --> 00:12:34.840 more important to Europe than it is to us. We 239 00:12:34.919 --> 00:12:39.440 have a big, beautiful ocean as separation. He goes on 240 00:12:39.559 --> 00:12:43.480 to say he refused. He Zelenski refuses to have elections, 241 00:12:43.600 --> 00:12:45.919 is very low in Ukrainian polls, and the only thing 242 00:12:45.960 --> 00:12:48.480 he was good at was playing Biden like a fiddle, 243 00:12:49.000 --> 00:12:53.559 a dictator without elections. Zelensky better move fast or he 244 00:12:53.639 --> 00:12:59.360 is not going to have a country. It is being 245 00:12:59.399 --> 00:13:05.039 received well well in the Kremlin. Moscow's foreign policy administrators 246 00:13:05.039 --> 00:13:07.519 have said the first and so far apparently the only 247 00:13:07.559 --> 00:13:09.879 Western leader who was publicly and loudly said that one 248 00:13:09.879 --> 00:13:13.080 of the root causes of the Ukrainian situation was the 249 00:13:13.200 --> 00:13:18.279 brazen path of the previous administration to draw Ukraine into NATO. 250 00:13:20.039 --> 00:13:22.559 Sergei Lavrov, the foreign minister in Russia, said, this is 251 00:13:22.600 --> 00:13:24.600 already a signal that he understands our position. 252 00:13:25.200 --> 00:13:28.240 This does not look good at all. The idea that 253 00:13:28.320 --> 00:13:28.879 you would. 254 00:13:28.720 --> 00:13:35.159 Blame Ukraine for a Russian invasion is ludicrous, It's absolutely crazy. 255 00:13:35.840 --> 00:13:38.919 Is it still part of the negotiation process where he's 256 00:13:39.200 --> 00:13:43.840 trying to sidle up to Vladimir Putin so that he 257 00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:47.759 can grant some more concessions to Ukraine. I don't get 258 00:13:47.759 --> 00:13:50.720 it at this point. It's one thing to suggest that 259 00:13:50.759 --> 00:13:55.639 you've got an a team of public officials in Marco 260 00:13:55.720 --> 00:13:59.720 Rubio and Mike Walls and Stephen Witkoff in Saudi Arabia 261 00:13:59.840 --> 00:14:03.240 new negotiate with Russia, and then to just absolutely take 262 00:14:03.240 --> 00:14:07.120 a steaming turd on Zelensky and Ukraine. Doesn't that part 263 00:14:07.120 --> 00:14:10.080 of it doesn't make sense to me at all. We 264 00:14:10.120 --> 00:14:12.759 are in the midst now the recovery phase of our 265 00:14:13.000 --> 00:14:15.919 fire disasters. From January seventh, we talked with Jennifer Gray, 266 00:14:15.960 --> 00:14:20.440 the CEO of After the Fire USA, about how recovery 267 00:14:20.519 --> 00:14:23.600 begins and about how these different organizations come together, and 268 00:14:23.679 --> 00:14:25.879 you could check out again more information about After the 269 00:14:25.919 --> 00:14:32.279 Fire After THEFIREUSA dot org. The Trump administration is canceled 270 00:14:32.279 --> 00:14:36.919 all government news subscriptions deemed non mission critical. This is 271 00:14:36.919 --> 00:14:40.879 a memo that came out was posted in the Washington Post. 272 00:14:40.879 --> 00:14:44.919 A total of six news organizations were singled out. The Economist, 273 00:14:45.000 --> 00:14:49.320 The New York Times, Politico, Bloomberg News, the AP, and Reuters. 274 00:14:50.120 --> 00:14:53.200 All subscriptions end. The mandate is a global one. 275 00:14:53.200 --> 00:14:56.600 It's given one hundreds of US embassies and consulates overseas. 276 00:14:57.480 --> 00:15:03.960 This also makes no since a new poll conducted by 277 00:15:04.000 --> 00:15:10.320 Emerson College College commissioned by KTLA found that those people 278 00:15:10.559 --> 00:15:16.480 in California. Of those surveyed, fifty four percent said the 279 00:15:16.600 --> 00:15:19.879 high speed rail project is a good use of state 280 00:15:19.960 --> 00:15:24.840 funds fifty four percent. If you are one of those 281 00:15:24.879 --> 00:15:28.480 people who believes that the high speed rail is a 282 00:15:28.519 --> 00:15:31.039 good use of state money, I would love to hear 283 00:15:31.159 --> 00:15:34.080 your justification for that. I would love to know why 284 00:15:34.799 --> 00:15:38.480 people believe that that is still a good idea going forward. 285 00:15:38.519 --> 00:15:40.120 You can always leave us a talk back, You can 286 00:15:40.159 --> 00:15:48.320 send an email, whatever it is. April twentieth. April twentieth, 287 00:15:48.399 --> 00:15:49.240 nineteen ninety nine. 288 00:15:49.360 --> 00:15:51.679 The reaction of so many people today was oh no, 289 00:15:51.799 --> 00:15:55.879 not again. Another high school, Columbine High in Littleton, Colorado, 290 00:15:55.919 --> 00:15:57.360 this time on the edge of Denver. 291 00:15:57.679 --> 00:15:58.720 It has been a horror. 292 00:15:58.879 --> 00:16:01.759 The gunman fell, those students who rushed the school and 293 00:16:01.840 --> 00:16:04.399 open fire for reasons we do not know yet, for 294 00:16:04.519 --> 00:16:05.600 reasons we may never know. 295 00:16:05.720 --> 00:16:08.039 I mean, it was just April of this year that 296 00:16:08.080 --> 00:16:13.480 they held a twenty fifth anniversary commemoration of the shooting 297 00:16:13.559 --> 00:16:16.840 itself for all the survivors and family members there in Littleton, Colorado. 298 00:16:16.840 --> 00:16:21.080 Brings back the trauma. It's heartbreaking to see this happen 299 00:16:21.240 --> 00:16:26.039 again and again and again and sort of having you know, frankly, 300 00:16:26.159 --> 00:16:29.600 I have very little hope that things will change. 301 00:16:30.120 --> 00:16:32.919 That was one of the survivors who was actually injured 302 00:16:33.039 --> 00:16:37.240 in the shooting. Back in nineteen ninety nine, I mentioned this. 303 00:16:37.519 --> 00:16:39.600 I was a reporter in Seattle at the time, and 304 00:16:39.639 --> 00:16:42.279 while this was going on, I mean, while there were 305 00:16:42.360 --> 00:16:46.279 still shots being fired, our news director up in Seattle 306 00:16:46.360 --> 00:16:48.320 had booked me a ticket to fly to Denver and 307 00:16:48.399 --> 00:16:50.759 I was going to cover the story. And this is 308 00:16:50.799 --> 00:16:56.080 before we knew anything about the extent of the devastation 309 00:16:56.279 --> 00:17:00.799 inside that high school. I got to Little in Colorado 310 00:17:01.039 --> 00:17:03.120 about two in the morning or three in the morning 311 00:17:03.519 --> 00:17:06.440 and set up with all of the other media members 312 00:17:06.440 --> 00:17:10.039 in Clement Park, which is just I think it's sort 313 00:17:10.039 --> 00:17:14.519 of in the same large block area of the high 314 00:17:14.519 --> 00:17:18.839 school itself, but it's a good quarter mile away from 315 00:17:19.319 --> 00:17:22.279 the fence line of the school. But I set up 316 00:17:22.319 --> 00:17:25.920 in that parking lot basically spent three days there and 317 00:17:27.359 --> 00:17:28.759 got all of the news as. 318 00:17:28.680 --> 00:17:30.880 Everybody else did. That there were. 319 00:17:31.000 --> 00:17:33.960 Twelve students who were killed, There was one teacher who 320 00:17:34.079 --> 00:17:38.839 was killed, a couple dozen people injured, and it was 321 00:17:39.839 --> 00:17:43.799 by far the most difficult story that I'd ever covered. 322 00:17:43.960 --> 00:17:47.599 I was that not only was sort of the media 323 00:17:47.640 --> 00:17:51.759 staging area, it became an area for that was basically 324 00:17:51.839 --> 00:17:53.680 as close as you could get to the school. So 325 00:17:53.720 --> 00:17:56.319 that meant that friends and family members would show up 326 00:17:56.359 --> 00:17:59.519 at all hours a day and night to just get 327 00:17:59.599 --> 00:18:04.599 as close as they possibly could. And it was also 328 00:18:05.000 --> 00:18:08.480 sort of a secondary parking lot for the kids who 329 00:18:08.480 --> 00:18:10.880 didn't want to pay for the permits to the school, 330 00:18:11.240 --> 00:18:13.839 whatever it were forty buy or whatever it was, they 331 00:18:13.880 --> 00:18:19.480 would park at this sort of auxiliary public park parking lot. 332 00:18:20.680 --> 00:18:24.839 And when you get twenty four hours after the shooting, 333 00:18:25.759 --> 00:18:28.680 forty eight hours after the shooting, you realized that some 334 00:18:28.720 --> 00:18:33.400 of those cars in that parking lot hadn't moved. And 335 00:18:33.480 --> 00:18:37.039 when we got there on the third day, the third morning, 336 00:18:38.160 --> 00:18:40.160 some of them had been taped off with yellow tape 337 00:18:40.160 --> 00:18:42.759 because they belonged to some of the kids who were 338 00:18:42.839 --> 00:18:48.599 killed in the school. One of those who was injured 339 00:18:49.240 --> 00:18:58.599 was Anne Marie hack Alter. She was paralyzed in the 340 00:18:58.640 --> 00:19:06.240 shooting and she was eating lunch with friends when the 341 00:19:06.279 --> 00:19:10.440 two shooters came in to Columbine. She was seventeen She 342 00:19:10.519 --> 00:19:12.880 was shot twice, once in the chest, once in the back, 343 00:19:12.960 --> 00:19:17.519 paralyzed from the waist down. Her brother, Nathan was a 344 00:19:17.559 --> 00:19:20.839 freshman at Columbine at the time. He was actually trapped 345 00:19:20.880 --> 00:19:23.200 in the school until the SWAT team came and got 346 00:19:23.240 --> 00:19:31.319 him out. Six months after the shooting, her mom, Anne 347 00:19:31.359 --> 00:19:35.759 Marie's mom, walked into a pond shop, asked to see 348 00:19:35.759 --> 00:19:39.039 a gun, loaded it, and shot herself there. She'd been 349 00:19:39.079 --> 00:19:43.319 struggling with depression mental issues even before the shooting, and 350 00:19:43.359 --> 00:19:47.240 obviously this was a massive impact on her and her family. 351 00:19:48.559 --> 00:19:51.400 Now Anne Marie dealt with the loss of her mother, 352 00:19:53.359 --> 00:19:57.519 talked about rebuilding her life emotionally, physically, said she became 353 00:19:57.559 --> 00:20:01.319 fiercely independent. She learned to maneuver in a wheelchair, to drive, 354 00:20:01.400 --> 00:20:09.799 and live by herself. The Townshend family, the family of 355 00:20:09.880 --> 00:20:12.319 Lauren Townsend, who was killed in the shooting, became really 356 00:20:12.359 --> 00:20:13.799 great friends with Anne Marie hawk. 357 00:20:13.640 --> 00:20:15.640 Calter and. 358 00:20:17.359 --> 00:20:21.559 Helped her steer through this life of rebuilding. After the 359 00:20:21.599 --> 00:20:26.359 Columbine shooting, and when Sue Kleebold, the mother of one 360 00:20:26.400 --> 00:20:30.839 of the shooters, released a memoir, it was Anne Marie 361 00:20:30.839 --> 00:20:35.200 hawk Calter wrote a note addressed to Sue Kleebold on Facebook, 362 00:20:35.240 --> 00:20:39.119 saying she felt no ill will. She said, it's been 363 00:20:39.119 --> 00:20:42.720 a rough road for me, but bitterness is like swallowing 364 00:20:42.720 --> 00:20:45.599 a poison pill and expecting the other person to die. 365 00:20:45.720 --> 00:20:49.160 It only harms yourself. I have forgiven you and only 366 00:20:49.200 --> 00:20:54.559 wish you the best well. Amrie Hawk Calter dealt with 367 00:20:54.720 --> 00:21:00.839 chronic pain, the lingering effects of the shooting, pressure sores 368 00:21:00.920 --> 00:21:04.279 from being in a wheelchair for as long as she had. 369 00:21:05.200 --> 00:21:09.079 She was found dead just Sunday at her home in Westminster, Colorado, 370 00:21:09.119 --> 00:21:12.799 and she died at the age of forty three. Police 371 00:21:12.799 --> 00:21:15.720 said that they were called to check on her after 372 00:21:15.799 --> 00:21:18.279 they asked somebody was asked for a welfare check. The 373 00:21:18.319 --> 00:21:22.119 Adams County Coroner said it was transferred to the Jefferson 374 00:21:22.160 --> 00:21:24.799 County Corner given that her death was likely related to 375 00:21:24.839 --> 00:21:29.799 complications of paraplegia associated with the Columbine shooting. In The 376 00:21:29.880 --> 00:21:34.319 Jefferson County Corner's office has not completed its autopsy report, 377 00:21:34.440 --> 00:21:39.880 but twenty five years after the Columbine shooting, they're saying 378 00:21:39.880 --> 00:21:42.160 that this forty three year old woman apparently died from 379 00:21:42.240 --> 00:21:46.799 complications from the injuries that she suffered that day. You 380 00:21:46.839 --> 00:21:49.400 can always leave us a talk back message when you're 381 00:21:49.440 --> 00:21:51.960 listening on the app. Just hit that little microphone button, 382 00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:52.759 send us a message. 383 00:21:52.799 --> 00:21:56.440 Hey, Gary and Shannon Frank the process over here. I 384 00:21:56.599 --> 00:21:58.359 just wondered if you'd give my daughter a shout out 385 00:21:58.400 --> 00:22:02.279 to Melissa Navarro if you get out in South Dakota. 386 00:22:02.880 --> 00:22:09.160 Just gave birth to my first my first granddaughter. Yes, yes, 387 00:22:09.319 --> 00:22:13.279 Camilla Maurice Sofigo. He wanted a congratulator and wanted to 388 00:22:13.279 --> 00:22:16.000 see if you can send her a shout out and congratulator. 389 00:22:16.160 --> 00:22:18.880 Thank you, guys, you just did. We don't need to 390 00:22:19.400 --> 00:22:21.400 you did all the work. Good job, Grandpa. 391 00:22:21.680 --> 00:22:25.240 I didn't hear Trump blame Ukraine. I heard him saying 392 00:22:25.279 --> 00:22:27.599 that it could have been avoided had they had discussions 393 00:22:27.680 --> 00:22:30.839 prior to the war breaking out, and then he could 394 00:22:30.839 --> 00:22:31.359 have helped with that. 395 00:22:32.000 --> 00:22:33.559 And you know, I know you're not going. 396 00:22:33.480 --> 00:22:35.440 To put this on the air, but to be honest 397 00:22:35.440 --> 00:22:38.440 with you, everything he said is pretty much true, with 398 00:22:38.519 --> 00:22:41.400 the exception of the four percent approval rating. So len's 399 00:22:41.440 --> 00:22:44.519 he's a con man, just saying have. 400 00:22:44.480 --> 00:22:44.880 A good day. 401 00:22:44.960 --> 00:22:47.240