Speaker 1: This is Gary and Shannon and you're listening to KFI
Speaker 1: AM six forty the Gary and Shannon Show on demand
Speaker 1: on the iHeartRadio app. Embracing Boredom. There was an article
Speaker 1: in Vox all about embracing boredom, something we don't do anymore, and.
Speaker 2: It's pretty good for us.
Speaker 1: It turns out we can use boredom to our advantage,
Speaker 1: and so we'll talk about that because sometimes you're on
Speaker 1: your phone and you're scrolling and you know you're wasting time,
Speaker 1: and it's so easy, and you realize that there is
Speaker 1: a little benefit or a lot of a benefit to
Speaker 1: just sitting in stillness, right. I mean, you don't have
Speaker 1: to be a Buddhist monk and wear the robes and
Speaker 1: shave your head and live in silence, but it is
Speaker 1: nice not to be inundated with stimulation all the time.
Speaker 2: It's good for you.
Speaker 1: We've talked about it before, So a trick on how
Speaker 1: to embrace boredom, whether you're standing in the checkout line
Speaker 1: or getting the car washed or what have you. Coming
Speaker 1: up later in the show, we're going to be talking
Speaker 1: about compatibility. There are questions that therapists would ask, and
Speaker 1: the love is blind pods to assess compatibility.
Speaker 2: If you haven't seen.
Speaker 1: Love is Blind, good for you. I, on the other hand,
Speaker 1: I'm fully entrenched in Love is Blind.
Speaker 2: I've watched all of the seasons.
Speaker 1: It's awful television, highly addictive, garbage television. It does nothing
Speaker 1: for your intellectual health.
Speaker 2: But here we are.
Speaker 1: Love is Blind is a show based on a group
Speaker 1: of men and a group of women, usually late twenties,
Speaker 1: early thirties, and they meet each other in these pods.
Speaker 1: They don't see each other. They have these long conversations.
Speaker 1: They are armed with questions for each other to get
Speaker 1: to know each other, and at the end they settle
Speaker 1: on one person. Usually they they're into two or three people,
Speaker 1: and then they whittle it down to one person, and
Speaker 1: then they propose to them at the end, And the
Speaker 1: first time that they see each other is after proposal
Speaker 1: has already been done, or it's at the time when
Speaker 1: they first see each other, as when they propose, and
Speaker 1: nobody pulls out of it, because then you look like
Speaker 1: an a hole, because then it's just that you don't
Speaker 1: like the way he looks or she looks, or what
Speaker 1: have you. But anyway, then they follow them to a
Speaker 1: resort where they live together for the first time, and
Speaker 1: then they follow them home where they live together the
Speaker 1: first time in real life. But there are questions that
Speaker 1: arise in the pods of is this somebody who I
Speaker 1: could live with forever? And what kind of questions would
Speaker 1: you think to ask if your son or daughter brought
Speaker 1: home someone and they were serious, what question would you
Speaker 1: say that they would have to get asked before they
Speaker 1: took the next step. Let us know using the talkback
Speaker 1: feature on the iHeartRadio app, because we will get to
Speaker 1: that coming up later this hour. Well, Trump's speech to
Speaker 1: Congress has all of the ingredients for a show. In fact,
Speaker 1: that is what he is telling us. That is going
Speaker 1: to be must see TV. The Trump says on the
Speaker 1: social the night will be big. He will tell it
Speaker 1: like it is. And like I said earlier, I mean,
Speaker 1: this isn't emboldened Trump. You're coming off the news that
Speaker 1: President Zelenski and Ukraine now regrets that Oval Office meeting
Speaker 1: with Trump. That's what he said, It did not go
Speaker 1: the way it was supposed to be. That he is ready,
Speaker 1: that Ukraine is ready to work fast end the war.
Speaker 1: Trump's going to see this as a major win and
Speaker 1: tonight will be his victory.
Speaker 2: Lap, Make no mistake about it.
Speaker 1: He is going to be emboldened and it's going to
Speaker 1: be interesting to what he says when it comes to
Speaker 1: the tariffs. Right when you look at China and Mexico
Speaker 1: and Canada and what we bring in.
Speaker 2: The Target CEO already.
Speaker 1: Saying that you're going to see fruits and vegetable prices
Speaker 1: go up because Target relies heavily on Mexico during the winter.
Speaker 1: So what kinds of things will we see and how quickly?
Speaker 1: And just don't put any credence into those things. When
Speaker 1: it comes to what a trade war would do to inflation?
Speaker 1: What's the endgame here? Is it just about the fentanyl?
Speaker 1: Will he address that? Those are all things that I'm
Speaker 1: interested to hear, and he will be speaking at six
Speaker 1: pm our time. You would call it a state of
Speaker 1: the Union. I mean, it's got all of the bells
Speaker 1: and the whistles. It's got the Chambers of Congress, it's
Speaker 1: got the Supreme Court Justices, you've got the secret person
Speaker 1: in the secret room. If the whole place is blown up,
Speaker 1: all of that, it's just not called state of the
Speaker 1: Union because of where it lands. But this is the
Speaker 1: first time that he's going to be addressing Congress since
Speaker 1: he took office, So it may be it may be
Speaker 1: at the least contentious. There is going to be some protesting.
Speaker 1: When it comes to Democrats, there is going to be
Speaker 1: some talking back. It is going to be a show,
Speaker 1: make no mistake about it. When it comes to what's
Speaker 1: going on locally at LA City Hall. Right now, I
Speaker 1: am watching people from the LA Fire Department, whether it's
Speaker 1: fire department union members or what have you, kind of
Speaker 1: make their way into city Hall chambers. This is the
Speaker 1: first time Kristin Crowley has appeared in public since she
Speaker 1: was fired two weeks ago by Karen Bass, the mayor.
Speaker 1: This is the fight over who did what or who
Speaker 1: didn't do what when it came to the fires. Michael
Speaker 1: Monks from KFI News is in the chambers right now.
Speaker 1: She's expected Kristin Crowley to make an appeal to the
Speaker 1: council to save her job or to get her job
Speaker 1: back as fire chief. And like I said, you could
Speaker 1: see the slew of people in LA Fire Department T
Speaker 1: shirts make their way inside. Michael Monks from KFI News
Speaker 1: is inside. He has been texting me. He says it
Speaker 1: is capacity crowd, hot is ticket in town, all the
Speaker 1: media is there, a lot of Union supporters there as well,
Speaker 1: but bass Is support are there as well. Public comment
Speaker 1: until eleven forty five, he says, and then maybe showtime.
Speaker 1: So right now, probably you're going to get a lot
Speaker 1: of comments on both sides from people with the fire
Speaker 1: department and people with the Bass camp, and then the
Speaker 1: council will ask questions or you'll hear from Kristin Crowley
Speaker 1: at eleven forty five, possibly both. Again, I'm not sure
Speaker 1: what the council can do in terms of giving her
Speaker 1: her job back. Karen Bass is not there, as Michael
Speaker 1: Monks reported to us early, She's been going about her
Speaker 1: day tweeting about the oscars and things like that kind
Speaker 1: of treating this is rather insignificant.
Speaker 2: As she moves forward, We're past that, We're.
Speaker 1: Moving on the way that she explained it was that
Speaker 1: Kristin Crowley was shown the door at the fire department
Speaker 1: because it was under Kristin Crowley's watch that a thousand
Speaker 1: firefighters were not at their post when the fire broke out,
Speaker 1: that they were in fact sent home. The fact that
Speaker 1: Kristin Crowley did not fill out the after action.
Speaker 2: Report post fires. This is all clerical and silly.
Speaker 1: The reason behind this is that Kristin Crowley came out
Speaker 1: and laid Karen Bass squarely under the bus, saying that
Speaker 1: City Hall and Karen Bass cut the fire department and
Speaker 1: that it showed when those fires made their ways through
Speaker 1: the Palisades and Alta Dina. All right, Coming up next,
Speaker 1: we will go live to get a reaction on Capitol
Speaker 1: Hill about the address, what lawmakers are expecting, and what
Speaker 1: those fireworks will be when we hear from the President
Speaker 1: tonight at six. Do you know the story about Ruby Frankie.
Speaker 1: This was the mom of six kids who pretty much
Speaker 1: filmed her kids growing up and put it on YouTube.
Speaker 1: There's this whole world that I was ignorant to families
Speaker 1: that document their kids' lives and they share it and
Speaker 1: just some of the intimate stuff as well about their
Speaker 1: kids' lives, things that you would never think to share
Speaker 1: maybe with your best friend or family or something like
Speaker 1: that about your kids, but putting it out there on
Speaker 1: YouTube for everyone to see. It is a whole industry,
Speaker 1: and these people are making thousands of dollars, tens of
Speaker 1: thousands of dollars a month by seemingly exploiting their kids
Speaker 1: for hits and likes and comments and fame, and she
Speaker 1: is kind of the poster child for how it can
Speaker 1: all go wrong. There is a new documentary it's called
Speaker 1: The Devil in the Family. I fell into it yesterday
Speaker 1: on Hulu, and I think my jaw was open for
Speaker 1: about eighty percent of the time I was watching this.
Speaker 1: It's just three parts, and the husband features prominently in
Speaker 1: the documentary, and the whole time, I'm just wondering, what's wrong.
Speaker 2: With this guy?
Speaker 1: He seems like such a good guy, normal smart. How
Speaker 1: would you just go along for this crazy train ride
Speaker 1: for as long as that he did. Anyway, we'll get
Speaker 1: into it in the whole industry coming up in true
Speaker 1: Crime Tuesday Crime, because yeah, this is a mom that
Speaker 1: is serving time because of what she did to her
Speaker 1: kids towards the end of seeking fame with her YouTube channel.
Speaker 1: America's two biggest lottery games are on the up and up.
Speaker 1: There was no grand prize winner in the Powerball drawing yesterday.
Speaker 1: That jackpot has been pushed up to two hundred and
Speaker 1: ninety five million dollars ahead of the next drawing on tomorrow.
Speaker 1: I believe ahead of that, there's another chance to get
Speaker 1: rich with mega millions. Tonight's drawing stands at two hundred
Speaker 1: and fifteen million dollars with a cash option just shy
Speaker 1: of one hundred and one million bucks.
Speaker 2: Here's something fun to look forward to.
Speaker 1: Possibly, John Stewart is inviting Elon Muks to be a
Speaker 1: guest on The Daily Show. Stuart criticized Musk's doze last week,
Speaker 1: and Elon posted on X he'd go on the show
Speaker 1: if the interview aired unedited, and then on the show yesterday,
Speaker 1: John and Stuart says that they would be delighted to
Speaker 1: have him. It can be fifteen minutes, an hour, two hours, whatever,
Speaker 1: so that would be fun to watch that conversation between
Speaker 1: the two. We are in the midst of swamp watch
Speaker 1: and a lot to do. We knew that when Trump
Speaker 1: swept back into office there would be no boring swamp watch,
Speaker 1: and there hasn't been, and my goodness. Usually a joint
Speaker 1: addressed to Congress by a president is a snooze event.
Speaker 1: It is something that we often think, oh, we should
Speaker 1: probably listen to this, we should probably hear it, but
Speaker 1: you don't really want to. It's not going to be
Speaker 1: entertaining with President Biden. It got uncomfortable, didn't it. It
Speaker 1: gets boring, It can get preachy at times, depending who
Speaker 1: the president is. It's the same kind of verbiage about
Speaker 1: moving America forward, and it's a pat on the back,
Speaker 1: and it's here's what I want to do. All these
Speaker 1: untenable goals. It's just the same, of the same and
Speaker 1: more of the same. But tonight, tonight may be some fireworks.
Speaker 1: President Trump calling it must see TV, saying it's going
Speaker 1: to be a big night. We've got the backdrop, a
Speaker 1: backdrop of a trade war. We've got Ukrainian President Zelenski
Speaker 1: coming out and saying he regrets what happened in the
Speaker 1: Oval Office, which is sure to be a win in
Speaker 1: Trump's mind. Kelly Meyer joins US Now Washington correspondent in
Speaker 1: DC for our News Nation. Kelly is the one who
Speaker 1: asks all the tough questions running around Capitol Hill all
Speaker 1: day long. And Kelly, what is the vibe today on
Speaker 1: Capitol Hill? Yeah?
Speaker 3: And right now we're actually over at the White House
Speaker 3: right now as President Trump is getting ready for his
Speaker 3: speech tonight, and this will be his big address to Congress,
Speaker 3: of his first address to Congress, of his second term.
Speaker 3: A White House special to tell us that it's expected
Speaker 3: to go about an hour, but they do tell us
Speaker 3: as well that he's going to address some of the accomplishments,
Speaker 3: they say, of his first month in office, talking Bucky economy,
Speaker 3: the border, and also foreign policy. So we can expect
Speaker 3: to hear more on the plan for peace as he's
Speaker 3: called it in Ukraine, as has been back and forth
Speaker 3: between President Trump and Ukrainian President Zlinsky, to say the
Speaker 3: least after that Oval Office blow up last Friday. We'll
Speaker 3: also be watching for this trade war that's kind of
Speaker 3: really been kicking off just in the last few hours here,
Speaker 3: as President Trump put those twenty five percent tariffs on
Speaker 3: Canada and Mexico. Then now we're seeing and as well
Speaker 3: as China, and then now we're seeing those countries firing
Speaker 3: back against Trump. So now this is kind of going
Speaker 3: back and forth, so we can't expect maybe more talk
Speaker 3: of that tonight too, but as always, we're kind of
Speaker 3: expecting the unexpected as well.
Speaker 2: About the trade wars.
Speaker 1: This is something that the President has not wavered on
Speaker 1: because he has said it has to do with fentanyl
Speaker 1: crossing the borders, at least when it comes to Mexico
Speaker 1: and Canada. Taken to the numbers, Mexico's much more the culprit.
Speaker 1: I believe there were maybe nineteen interactions involving fentanyl at
Speaker 1: the US Canadian border just last year, as opposed to
Speaker 1: something like ninety six hundred with Mexico.
Speaker 2: Is it just about the fentanyl?
Speaker 1: Will he lay out his end game for these tariffs
Speaker 1: now that we've been hit with retaliatory tariffs?
Speaker 2: Do you think?
Speaker 3: I mean, even he is threatening, just not too long
Speaker 3: ago on truth Social about putting more tariffs back on Canada.
Speaker 3: If they're hitting back with retaliatory tariffs, he's talking about
Speaker 3: the reciprocal tariffs that will go back on in the
Speaker 3: same amount. So he's still playing hardball with this. He's
Speaker 3: still threatening to come back with even more tariffs on
Speaker 3: these countries. We don't know exactly what kind of impact
Speaker 3: we're going to see here. I've talked to advisors here
Speaker 3: at the White House. They said that this is going
Speaker 3: to not hurt American pocketbooks. But there are Democrats on
Speaker 3: Capitol Hill kind of rallying ahead of this address tonight,
Speaker 3: saying it is going to be consumers that are going
Speaker 3: to be hit hard from these tariffs, so a lot
Speaker 3: up in the air, but a lot happening in the
Speaker 3: last few hours.
Speaker 1: So Elon Musk will be there tonight. We saw him
Speaker 1: at the Cabinet meeting last week. He seems to be
Speaker 1: a common fixture there. What administration officials saying this afternoon
Speaker 1: there will be a lot of surprises and a lot
Speaker 1: of made for TV moments. Any idea what those would entail,
Speaker 1: We don't know just yet.
Speaker 3: We are at the White House that we might check
Speaker 3: back and see if there's anything else they could share.
Speaker 3: A lot they're keeping under wraps. We know the theme,
Speaker 3: we know what they're going to hit on, we know
Speaker 3: some of the guests they're going to have there with
Speaker 3: the First Lady, about fifteen guests total, and traditionally presidents
Speaker 3: use that as a way to highlight parts of their agenda.
Speaker 3: But we don't know exactly what the surprises might be.
Speaker 3: But we do know if they've been pointing to this
Speaker 3: as more of a you know, made for TV production type.
Speaker 3: He has done reality TV. It is somewhat of the
Speaker 3: Trump Show. So they did say to Toomid and that
Speaker 3: they called it must see TV. At least Caroline Levett
Speaker 3: herself called it that to us.
Speaker 2: Have you heard anything in in terms of protests.
Speaker 1: I read that there are some Democrats that will have
Speaker 1: some sort of showing of resistance, I guess for lack
Speaker 1: of a better word.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And I think we can't expect that there's going
Speaker 3: to be some members that are just not going at all.
Speaker 3: We've heard more and more throughout the day that there's
Speaker 3: some members announcing that they're just not going to go.
Speaker 3: There's something, you know, they'll wear something specific or color
Speaker 3: and as a way of kind of protesting. We don't
Speaker 3: know if we'll see any actions you know, we've seen
Speaker 3: in the past, you know, Pelosi rip up the speech
Speaker 3: or do the kind of side alligator clap back. So
Speaker 3: there may be some moments, but it's definitely going to
Speaker 3: be something to watch to see exactly how they kind
Speaker 3: of push back against this. But we also know there's
Speaker 3: been things happening throughout the day outside the capital with
Speaker 3: Democrats speaking out with protests, so we can't expect it
Speaker 3: to be very lively for sure.
Speaker 1: All Right, Kelly Meyer, White House correspondent there with News Nation,
Speaker 1: Thanks so much. A lot going on there today and
Speaker 1: you will stay on top of it. Just like News
Speaker 1: Nation always so appreciate your time.
Speaker 3: Thank you, Thank you guys.
Speaker 1: All right, coming up, Well, we will stand top of
Speaker 1: what's going on there and KFI will take the address
Speaker 1: live tonight at six o'clock. And if they're advertising made
Speaker 1: for TV moments, I think that's what we're going to get.
Speaker 1: This is not a Pambondi special. I think there is
Speaker 1: something in these binders, but we will find out. Remember
Speaker 1: to let us know what is your compatibility question? There
Speaker 1: are therapists that work for the Love Is Blind franchise
Speaker 1: and say they've got a series of questions that they
Speaker 1: use for the kids and the pods to figure out
Speaker 1: if they're compatible with whoever's on the opposite side of
Speaker 1: the pod. What's your compatibility question? What do you think
Speaker 1: a couple should agree upon to go the distance? Let
Speaker 1: us know using that talkback feature on the iHeartRadio app
Speaker 1: and we will tackle that later this hour. Big day
Speaker 1: locally and nationally when it comes to politics. Right now,
Speaker 1: all the doings going on are at La City Hall,
Speaker 1: where ousted fire chief Kristin Crowley is expected to plead
Speaker 1: for her job back to the city council. KFI news
Speaker 1: as Michael Monks is in the chambers and says the
Speaker 1: action's about to start within about ten minutes in terms
Speaker 1: of that agenda item coming.
Speaker 2: Up, so we will take you there.
Speaker 1: Lives should s go down, for lack of a better term,
Speaker 1: We've got President Trump addressing a joint session of Congress
Speaker 1: tonight at six pm, where.
Speaker 2: He says it will be must see TV.
Speaker 1: Of course, the backdrop of a trade war, all this
Speaker 1: mess with Ukraine. The Ukrainian President coming out today and
Speaker 1: basically giving President Trump a win, saying he regrets what
Speaker 1: happened in the Oval Office and that he's willing to
Speaker 1: work with the United States for peace.
Speaker 2: Big news coming.
Speaker 1: Out of the NFL Eagles rewarding Saquon Barkley with a
Speaker 1: two year, forty one point two million dollar contract extension
Speaker 1: makes him the highest paid running back in NFL history.
Speaker 1: Running Backs have had a tough road d hoe in
Speaker 1: recent years in terms of getting paid of viewed as expungible.
Speaker 1: This makes Saquon the NFL's first twenty million plus per
Speaker 1: year running back. Huge deal, not just for Saquon Barkley,
Speaker 1: but what it means for other running backs. Not that
Speaker 1: he is not different, he is almost breaking Eric Dickerson's
Speaker 1: record for single season rushing yards this season alone, and
Speaker 1: just a great guy. I don't know him, but seemingly
Speaker 1: not a better guy. That could happen too. Dolly Parton's son,
Speaker 1: excuse me, she never had kids. Dolly Parton and her husband,
Speaker 1: they were together for sixty years.
Speaker 2: Carl Dean, eighty two years.
Speaker 1: Old, has died, and there are so many fun little
Speaker 1: things about their life together. That odd thing, I mean,
Speaker 1: I guess it's not odd, but they didn't have kids.
Speaker 1: In fact, that he kind of stayed out of the limelight.
Speaker 1: He went to one award show with her in sixty
Speaker 1: six and then said, you know what, I'm done with those.
Speaker 1: I love you, I'll support you, but I'm not dealing
Speaker 1: with that anymore. She was talking in recent interviews about
Speaker 1: how the two would always have pancakes or waffles on
Speaker 1: the weekend, that it was their breakfast ritual, that those
Speaker 1: were comfort foods, and that they would share Sunday brunch together,
Speaker 1: and she said that that he was always her safety,
Speaker 1: her security, her strength. He's been a good husband, We've
Speaker 1: had a good life, and that she would have all
Speaker 1: she was She always said she'd put it all aside
Speaker 1: if he needed her. She said, I would only retire
Speaker 1: if I was ill or if my husband was ill
Speaker 1: and he needed me. So together sixty years met at
Speaker 1: the Wishy Washy laundromat. I love that, and he said,
Speaker 1: upon meeting her, that's the one I'm going to marry.
Speaker 1: I love those stories boredom. There was an article in
Speaker 1: Vox about boredom because there was a guy who wrote
Speaker 1: a book about it. James Dackert is him Professor of
Speaker 1: Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Waterloo, and his book
Speaker 1: is called Out of My Skull, The Psychology of Boredom,
Speaker 1: and it was interesting to me because we are not
Speaker 1: bored anymore. You probably remember life before cell phones. Maybe
Speaker 1: it was a long summer day, you didn't have anything
Speaker 1: going on, you didn't have to go to school, and
Speaker 1: the boredom sets in.
Speaker 2: I'm bored.
Speaker 1: If you had parents that said i'll give you something
Speaker 1: to be bored about, good for you. But it's not
Speaker 1: a thing that we engage in anymore. We don't have to.
Speaker 1: We're constantly stimulated by our phones, and you can argue
Speaker 1: whether that's good or that's bad, but there's no shortage
Speaker 1: of things to fill our time, if we're standing in
Speaker 1: line at the check stand or waiting for the car
Speaker 1: to get washed or what have you. But James Dankert
Speaker 1: has written a book all about it and making the
Speaker 1: most out of boredom if it does strike you, and
Speaker 1: he's got these these ways of coping that I think
Speaker 1: could be helpful, probably for children, but now we're all
Speaker 1: children because we are so we have the ten and
Speaker 1: span of a gnat now because of the phones.
Speaker 2: It's not just the kids that are addicted.
Speaker 1: If we're being honest with ourselves, we're all addicted to
Speaker 1: being stimulated all the time. And so he says that
Speaker 1: when the feeling does arise is boredom, to use it
Speaker 1: as a reminder that what you're doing is not meaningful
Speaker 1: and seek out something that is. For instance, pop in
Speaker 1: a podcast while you're folding laundry. If you're dreading folding
Speaker 1: laundry because it's so bored, throw on a podcast. It
Speaker 1: makes it feel less like drudgery. Perhaps you go to
Speaker 1: YouTube you find a tutorial on making bread or something
Speaker 1: like that. On an afternoon where the sky is gray
Speaker 1: and you've got nothing planned, Hey look at making bread
Speaker 1: and maybe get into that.
Speaker 2: But I will caution you.
Speaker 1: Once you get into bread making, or in my situation,
Speaker 1: my husband got into bread making, it is a dangerous road.
Speaker 1: Dangerous road when you come home and you smell that
Speaker 1: fresh loaf of sourdough on the counter, something that you
Speaker 1: don't ever want to give up, and nor do your thighs.
Speaker 1: For circumstances, he writes, where you're unable to up and leave,
Speaker 1: like school or work, he says, try to make the
Speaker 1: experience more profound. Focus on why I am here and
Speaker 1: what's the deeper purpose so that the experience feels more meaningful.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, that's great advice.
Speaker 1: You're sitting there bored at work or school, and you're
Speaker 1: supposed to think about why am I here? What gives
Speaker 1: this meaning? That's awful advice. I mean, come on, start
Speaker 1: making up false narratives about people you work with in
Speaker 1: their lives. That's a fun time. You're sitting in a
Speaker 1: boring meeting to be like, I wonder what he's into
Speaker 1: at home? You know, is this a guy who walks
Speaker 1: around in his underwear? Is his wife tired of that?
Speaker 1: That gives you more entertainment than thinking about your meaning
Speaker 1: and your workplace. I say, if you're growing impatient on
Speaker 1: a long road trip, find challenges or ways to make
Speaker 1: the situation more stimulating, that car games exists for a reason,
Speaker 1: or make your own up. The author says, my brother
Speaker 1: and I growing up used to play this game called
Speaker 1: who would You ask for Help? In this room right now?
Speaker 1: If you had to pick one person to ask for help,
Speaker 1: who would it be? And why that's stupid? As well?
Speaker 1: Whether there's the fun in that find the most reliable
Speaker 1: person and identify them. Now you want to play the
Speaker 1: game called who would you not ask for help? And
Speaker 1: then talk about why they're awful and why they would
Speaker 1: not be the person that you that you look to.
Speaker 2: You know what, this is.
Speaker 1: An awful book. I mean, I'm sure there's some I'm
Speaker 1: sure there's some good things in here. They say that
Speaker 1: the solution to a soul crushingly boring job might be
Speaker 1: to find another one. Well, no, s but it's not
Speaker 1: always easy or realistic for many people. So he suggests
Speaker 1: reframing your current employment situation. You're not living to work,
Speaker 1: you're working to live. Now that I can get on
Speaker 1: board with. I think too infrequently you're thinking that your
Speaker 1: job should be everything and it should be perfect for you.
Speaker 1: And that's not what it's there for. It's just there
Speaker 1: for the money. You're just going there for the paycheck.
Speaker 1: If you're looking for fulfillment, look elsewhere. It's not at work.
Speaker 1: Probably except for my job. I feel totally fulfilled. I
Speaker 1: love it here. Coming up after Deborah's news at the
Speaker 1: top of the hour, Well, of course, Deborah will have
Speaker 1: all the news, and we will try to even give
Speaker 1: you more news when we talk about what's happening and
Speaker 1: everything everyone's talking about everywhere. We tackle it all every
Speaker 1: day here at twelve o'clock on the Gary and Shannon Show.
Speaker 1: If you missed any of the show, make sure you
Speaker 1: subscribe to the podcast on the iHeartRadio app. There at
Speaker 1: Gary and Shannon, we are awaiting two things. One of
Speaker 1: the things is happening right now at La City Hall,
Speaker 1: as ousted fire Chief Kristin Crowley is there inside the
Speaker 1: chambers expected to ask the city council for her job.
Speaker 1: This is, I want to say, unprecedented, at least in
Speaker 1: the twenty years that I've been reporting in La. This
Speaker 1: doesn't happen the mayor there.
Speaker 2: Oh, and this is now do we have this anywhere?
Speaker 4: Guys?
Speaker 1: She has just taken a seat behind the podium there
Speaker 1: inside the council chambers. Kristin Crawley has to appeal to
Speaker 1: the City Council to be reinstated with her job.
Speaker 2: We should have it up somewhere.
Speaker 1: Channel four has it if we can pull that up,
Speaker 1: guys getting around to the plaza there, Kristin Crowley is
Speaker 1: it's filled, by the way. The chambers is with LA
Speaker 1: Fire Department officials, union members. They put out the call
Speaker 1: this morning and people answered. It is standing room only
Speaker 1: inside the LA City Hall chambers right now as she
Speaker 1: appeals for her job back.
Speaker 5: We extended an invitation to Chief Crowley to speak to
Speaker 5: this hearing this morning to make the case, and so
Speaker 5: she has contented to join us this morning, and so
Speaker 5: we will hear from her first.
Speaker 6: Good morning everyone, Good morning, Council President. Are honored and
Speaker 6: very very honored City Council members, our community members that
Speaker 6: have taken the time to be here and to listen
Speaker 6: in and two are amazing and incredible LAFD firefighters who
Speaker 6: do the work every single day. Thank you so much
Speaker 6: for being here. Now.
Speaker 2: I stand.
Speaker 3: Or sit.
Speaker 6: Before you today not only as the former fire chief
Speaker 6: appealing to be reinstated, but as a leader who has
Speaker 6: always placed the safety, health and well being of our
Speaker 6: incredible and heroic firefighters first, while always balancing and prioritizing
Speaker 6: the needs of the community that we love to serve. Now,
Speaker 6: our firefighters, as you all know, are the absolute heart
Speaker 6: and soul of the LAFD. As public servants, we took
Speaker 6: an oath to place the needs of others before our
Speaker 6: own at great personal risk. We will do anything and
Speaker 6: everything that we can do to save lives and to
Speaker 6: protect property. It is our calling and it is our duty.
Speaker 6: Now adds the fire Chief, it was my duty and
Speaker 6: responsibility to ensure that our firefighters have everything they need
Speaker 6: to do their jobs and to make sure that they
Speaker 6: go home to their families the next day.
Speaker 2: Standing up.
Speaker 6: Doing the right thing, and advocating for our firefighters, their families,
Speaker 6: and for the communities that we serve are the reasons
Speaker 6: that I am here today. Over my twenty five year career,
Speaker 6: in all of the ranks that I have held, I
Speaker 6: have seen our fire department struggle from year to year
Speaker 6: with limited funding, staffing, and resources. We are past the
Speaker 6: point of sustaining our services without compromising public safety and
Speaker 6: the safety of our firefighters. For nearly three years as
Speaker 6: the fire chief, I have submitted realistic budget requests that
Speaker 6: were carefully crafted based on data, reports, analysis, and recommendations
Speaker 6: from outside independent agencies that show just how understaffed and
Speaker 6: under resource the LAFD is. Since twenty ten, there's been
Speaker 6: a fifty five percent increase in overall calls for fire
Speaker 6: and emergency services with fewer firefighters providing those life saving services.
Speaker 6: And yes, the LAFD is half the size we should
Speaker 6: be regarding the firefighter or paramedic positions. Lack of long
Speaker 6: term investments in the LAFD. Budget cuts have led to
Speaker 6: increased response times, lack of available fire engines, trucks and ambulances,
Speaker 6: deleted civilians, support staff and mechanics, identified gaps in fire
Speaker 6: and emergency services, infrastructure challenges, firefighter fatigue, firefighter mental health concerns,
Speaker 6: and injuries to our firefighters. We know that our firefighters
Speaker 6: are asked to do more with less every single day.
Speaker 6: When we fail to take care of our firefighters, we
Speaker 6: fail to take care of our communities. I do believe
Speaker 6: that there is a path forward, one that finds a
Speaker 6: way to keep our communities safe by investing in long
Speaker 6: term strategies to build out the LAFD the right way,
Speaker 6: through your leadership, every single person around this horseshoe, through
Speaker 6: your leadership, the support of our amazing communities that we
Speaker 6: love to serve, and the continued dedication and commitment sacrifice
Speaker 6: of our firefighters. I am certain, deep down in my
Speaker 6: heart that we can find a way to fund and
Speaker 6: support the LAFD now and into the future. Next, in
Speaker 6: regard to my appeal, now, I will set the record
Speaker 6: straight about the multiple false accusations that were made against me. First,
Speaker 6: I did not refuse to conduct an after action report,
Speaker 6: and let me be clear, this is a false accusation.
Speaker 6: During our discussions after an action after report, I should say,
Speaker 6: during our discussions about and after action report, I advised
Speaker 6: the fire commissioners about my opinion that was best in
Speaker 6: regard to how to use LAFD resources, I said that
Speaker 6: the LFD is not capable nor do we have the
Speaker 6: proper resources to adequately conduct an after action report for
Speaker 6: the Palisades fire. Due to the sheer, magnitude, scope and
Speaker 6: complexity of the incident, we are already understaffed, under resourced, underfunded,
Speaker 6: and based on my knowledge of the lafd's resources and capabilities,
Speaker 6: I recommended simply to collaborate with Governor Newsom's already selected
Speaker 6: and funded Agency Fire Safety Research Institute or FSRI, because
Speaker 6: they are already conducting in independent analysis of the windstorm
Speaker 6: and fire events in the Los Angeles and Ventura Counties.
Speaker 6: In contrast to the LAFD, FSRI has a capability to
Speaker 6: conduct a proper, thoroughly researched and analyzed after action report
Speaker 6: and wildfire analysis.
Speaker 1: And listening to Kristin Crowley, ousted fired chief here in
Speaker 1: La pleading for her job back at city Hall, you're
Speaker 1: listening to KFI kosd HD two Los Angeles or Inn County.
Speaker 6: This is what they are already being paid to do.
Speaker 6: Prior to me leaving the meeting, the fire commissioners agreed
Speaker 6: with my recommendation that FSRI is the best equipped to
Speaker 6: conduct the after action report. FSRI will also be publishing
Speaker 6: its findings and recommendations, like it did for the line
Speaker 6: of fire that occurred in early August twenty twenty three
Speaker 6: on the island of Maui. Now, my position has not changed,
Speaker 6: and I wholeheartedly support the need for a professional organization
Speaker 6: to conduct a full analysis of the Palisades fire. We
Speaker 6: owe that to the community. We owe that to the
Speaker 6: Fire Service, and that is the path forward. These steps
Speaker 6: are essential to improving response efforts, guiding recovery, and building
Speaker 6: a better and safer disaster resilience community for our future. Second,
Speaker 6: on the morning of the fire, I did not send
Speaker 6: home one thousand firefighters who could have hopped on fire
Speaker 6: engine and fought the Palisades fired, Nor did I leave
Speaker 6: forty available fire engines unstaffed. These are all false accusations.
Speaker 6: As well, the forty fire engines in question were already
Speaker 6: staffed and running nine one one calls with on duty
Speaker 6: personnel in their normal configuration when the Palisades fire broke out.
Speaker 6: Those fire engines were appropriately staffed and were used where
Speaker 6: they were needed. Additionally, at eight hundred hours on January seventh,
Speaker 6: twenty twenty five, the LAFD pre deployed twenty four engines,
Speaker 6: three battalion command teams, five brush patrols, two water tenders,
Speaker 6: additional air operations personnel, and additional dispatchers. These one hundred
Speaker 6: and twenty eight pre deployed and augmented personnel were strategically
Speaker 6: placed in wildfire prone areas across the entire city, near
Speaker 6: multiple freeways to ensure a rapid response. Our action were
Speaker 6: based on the recommendations of our subject matter experts, the
Speaker 6: lafd's emergency operations staff. As for the thousand firefighters who
Speaker 6: allegedly were sent home prior to the fires, we did
Speaker 6: not have enough apparatus to put them on because of
Speaker 6: the budget cuts and lack of investments in our fleet maintenance.
Speaker 6: Over one hundred of our fire engines, fire trucks and
Speaker 6: ambulances sat broken down in our maintenance yards, unable to
Speaker 6: be used to help during one of the worst wildfire
Speaker 6: events in our history. And third, it is also a
Speaker 6: false allegation that we failed to notify the Mayor's office
Speaker 6: about the upcoming weather event. I stand by our previous
Speaker 6: statements about this. The LAFD engaged in all of its
Speaker 6: standard communications, including emailing two separate media advisories, conducting multiple
Speaker 6: live and recorded media interviews about the predicted extreme weather
Speaker 6: and fire danger, and also notify in city officials about
Speaker 6: the upcoming war other events. The Emergency Management Department also
Speaker 6: plays a key role in notifying the Mayor's Office. In
Speaker 6: City officials and the Mayor's office itself also set out
Speaker 6: multiple media messages prior to the fire's warnings about the
Speaker 6: expected destructive and potential life threatening windstorm. It is never
Speaker 6: the wrong time to do the right thing and to
Speaker 6: speak the truth. And the truth is that the fire
Speaker 6: chief should not be prevented from or punished for speaking
Speaker 6: openly and honestly about the needs and capabilities of the LFD,
Speaker 6: or for doing their best to protect our firefighters and
Speaker 6: our communities. In closing, it has been an absolute honor
Speaker 6: of my life to serve and represent the incredible men
Speaker 6: and women of the LAFD as their fire chief. Our
Speaker 6: people do amazing things every single day and I am
Speaker 6: so grateful beyond words to have been in this position
Speaker 6: for nearly three years. We have much to be proud of,
Speaker 6: and we stand with and always will stand with the
Speaker 6: communities that we serve with integrity, compassion and courage. I
Speaker 6: urge you to vote to reinstate me as a fire chief.
Speaker 6: But no matter how the vote goes, the LAFD, your
Speaker 6: LAFD deserves to be properly funded, staffed, and resourced so
Speaker 6: that we can meet the ever growing needs of the community.
Speaker 6: We owe that to the LAFD, and we owe that
Speaker 6: to those we serve. Thank you.
Speaker 2: All right.
Speaker 1: That's Kristin Crowley, ousted fire chief there making her case
Speaker 1: to the city council to reinstate her as chief. We'll
Speaker 1: see if any of the council members ask questions of
Speaker 1: her or speak up here a couple of rows of
Speaker 1: firefighters applauding her comments there, all right.
Speaker 5: Mister city attorney.
Speaker 7: So to the extent and thank you for being here.
Speaker 2: The extent that.
Speaker 7: There is any additional discussion, I would just like to
Speaker 7: remind people in detail, because I know you were at
Speaker 7: the table at the time, that to please be cognizant
Speaker 7: of the attorney client privilege when it comes to answers
Speaker 7: or questions. That includes discussions that were held in closed session.
Speaker 7: That includes individual communications via email, text, or during conversations
Speaker 7: with the attorneys.
Speaker 5: So thank you, all right, Council Member Rodriguez, thank you, Thank.
Speaker 8: You Chief Crowley for being here. So, mister Harris Dawson,
Speaker 8: I have a question because there's also some additional information
Speaker 8: that I believe can corroborate some of what Chief Crowley
Speaker 8: has asserted in terms of her cooperation that could be
Speaker 8: validated by the CEO's office. Is it an opportunity for
Speaker 8: if Matt Zabo or Ben Seharer here to answer any questions,
Speaker 8: because what we're.
Speaker 1: Discussing is Monica Rodriguez, council member from the seventh District.
Speaker 8: Afford and honor the chief's appeal based on the cited
Speaker 8: reasons that we're disclosed by the mayor for her dismissal,
Speaker 8: and if we have facts to corroborate her position, I
Speaker 8: think that's that's warranted to be heard. And so my
Speaker 8: question is, would I be afforded the opportunity to ask
Speaker 8: mister Zabel to come forward on some of the assertions
Speaker 8: that were made that led to her dismissal so that
Speaker 8: we could correct the record.
Speaker 5: I will defer to the city attorney on that question,
Speaker 5: but I will point out I will disagree with councilor.
Speaker 5: Remember Rodriguez, the city attorney was very clear that the
Speaker 5: mayor can fire the chief for any reason or for
Speaker 5: no reason at all. So whether or not we establish
Speaker 5: that we agree with the assessment that the mayor made
Speaker 5: or we don't agree with the assessment, it doesn't call
Speaker 5: into question the mayor's authority to make the decision that
Speaker 5: she did.
Speaker 8: It's not questioning the mayor's authority. I'm not questioning the
Speaker 8: mayor's authority. I'm questioning what was cited as the reason.
Speaker 8: And if we're going to consider Chief Crowley's appeal, why
Speaker 8: wouldn't we consider the facts as we know them that
Speaker 8: could be corroborated by the CEO's office. And that's what
Speaker 8: I'm asking.
Speaker 1: So they're asking this one who can show the math
Speaker 1: of why Kristin Crowley was showing the.
Speaker 5: So again, it's fine to do that. I just want
Speaker 5: to be clear that even if you were to discredit
Speaker 5: every one of the reasons, it does not it does
Speaker 5: not in any way shade the mayor's authority in this regard.
Speaker 5: But we'll call the city administrative officer up to take
Speaker 5: the questions that you have, and we'll excuse Miss Crowley
Speaker 5: from the table at this time.
Speaker 1: Matt Zabo, by the way, used to be Viara Gosa's
Speaker 1: a DRED years ago.
Speaker 8: During our budget deliberations, your office recommended when we had
Speaker 8: requested investigating the fire department's request for the additional mechanics
Speaker 8: to repair the apparatus, when your office recommended against funding
Speaker 8: those positions. Was there anybody on your staff that went
Speaker 8: out to verify the number of apparatus that were out
Speaker 8: of commission at the time. I'm looking at a memo
Speaker 8: dated May eighth, twenty twenty four, that your office does
Speaker 8: not recommend the department's requests for the additional positions.
Speaker 4: I don't believe so, Matzebo, City Administrative Officer. The recommendation
Speaker 4: in the budget memo would have been related to the
Speaker 4: fact that the positions that were eliminated were vacant positions,
Speaker 4: and many of them had been vacant for some time.
Speaker 1: All Right, So we'll pull away from this because they're
Speaker 1: going to get into the weeds of line by line
Speaker 1: of why the city Council made the decisions that it
Speaker 1: made with the help of the mayor to go ahead
Speaker 1: with these cuts that Christen Crowley just testified before the
Speaker 1: City Council, if that's the right word, that really led
Speaker 1: to the department being understaffed and underfunded to take on
Speaker 1: fires of this size are really just everyday business for
Speaker 1: the fire department. Michael Monks from KFI News has been
Speaker 1: covering this story, joins us now and it seems like now, Michael,
Speaker 1: the city council members are asking the Controller's office for
Speaker 1: the city to kind of show the math behind the
Speaker 1: decision to get rid of Kristin Crowley, and because she's
Speaker 1: pushing back saying that she didn't make the decisions to
Speaker 1: keep those one thousand firefighters home, and that she gave
Speaker 1: the right reasons for more money to be sent to
Speaker 1: the fire department before the council.
Speaker 9: Absolutely, I mean, this is going to be an argument
Speaker 9: today about math in a lot of ways. The main
Speaker 9: math equation we've been talking about is she needs ten
Speaker 9: on a of fifteen council members. But there's also budget
Speaker 9: math to look at, because in the aftermath of these fires,
Speaker 9: we heard Chief Crowley say, we didn't get the funding
Speaker 9: that we need to be as prepared as we should
Speaker 9: be for a massive wildfire like the one that devastated
Speaker 9: the Palisades. We don't have the manpower, and when we
Speaker 9: do have manpower, we don't have the equipment. And so
Speaker 9: that's what they're going to be digging into. That's been
Speaker 9: her defense in many ways all along. Was the disaster
Speaker 9: unfolded the way it did not because I didn't send
Speaker 9: a text message to Mayor Bass about the forecast, but
Speaker 9: because we are not physically prepared to attack a fire
Speaker 9: of this nature in those conditions, because of decisions made
Speaker 9: outside of this department by city Hall.
Speaker 1: Now she's making it less about her and her performance
Speaker 1: and more about the fact that she came before these
Speaker 1: same people and to her point, laid out why they
Speaker 1: are basically compromising the safety of all of us in
Speaker 1: Los Angeles and themselves with being so underfunded that there
Speaker 1: was outside resources, outside agencies that came in even and
Speaker 1: made the case that the LA Fire Department is vastly underfunded.
Speaker 1: So I guess we're going to hear a lot more
Speaker 1: of what was already litigated before these same people.
Speaker 9: Certainly, you've got Matt Sabo, the city administrator there, who
Speaker 9: crafts the budget and presents it to council each year.
Speaker 9: I sat through a lot of budget meetings fast fiscal
Speaker 9: year leading up to this very budget that was approved,
Speaker 9: and there were certainly declarations of upset about the fire
Speaker 9: Department's budget, but every department was cut except for the
Speaker 9: Police department, Street Services, animal Services, public works. All of
Speaker 9: the departments took hits except for the police department. But
Speaker 9: the Fire department was very vocal and even then that
Speaker 9: they were not getting their fair share of what they need.
Speaker 9: So that is documented. This city is in a financial crisis.
Speaker 9: Just about as it is anyway. Their financial condition has
Speaker 9: only gotten worse this year. That guy that you just
Speaker 9: heard speaking, Matt Zabo, has his hands full with getting
Speaker 9: ready to enter another budget season in a year that's
Speaker 9: going to be far worse than it was last year,
Speaker 9: which was already bad.
Speaker 1: All right, Michael Monks. Michael, by the way, came to
Speaker 1: LA and said, I want to live at City Hall.
Speaker 1: I want to be the reporter that pays attention to
Speaker 1: everything that's going on.
Speaker 2: And he did. He basically lived at City.
Speaker 1: Hall for a very long time and is entrenched for
Speaker 1: days like today when we need to know what the
Speaker 1: hell is going on. Everybody has their own story and
Speaker 1: he's been able to dig through the details and tell
Speaker 1: us what's what. Appreciate your time Michael today and he
Speaker 1: will be monitoring things as they continue there in the
Speaker 1: chambers and City Hall. We'll bring you all the pertinent
Speaker 1: information that comes out of that. Again, it's going to
Speaker 1: get very granular when it comes to line by line
Speaker 1: budget items of who's telling the right story. We're probably
Speaker 1: going to find out in the end that yes, the
Speaker 1: LA Fire Department is underfunded, where's up money going and
Speaker 1: where did it go? Instead of the Fire Department. We
Speaker 1: don't have those answers at this point, but this may
Speaker 1: go the distance through the afternoon. Again, We'll stay on
Speaker 1: top of it, as will Michael Monks there from KFI
Speaker 1: News at La City Hall.
Speaker 2: You've been listening to The Gary and Shannon Show.
Speaker 9: You can always hear us live on KFI AM six
Speaker 9: forty nine am to one pm every Monday through Friday,
Speaker 9: and anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.