March 7, 2025 • 36 mins
The John Kobylt Show Hour 2 (03/10) - Phil Shuman fills in for John. Jamie Paige from westsidecurrent.com joins the show to talk about the 2.3 billion audit for the un accounted funds used for the homeless crisis in LA. Alexis Christoforous ABC business correspondent joins the show to talk about the economy with Phil. KFI listeners talk back replies with Phil Shuman.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
If I am six forty, you're listening to the John
Cobel podcast on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
I'm Phil Schuman in for John Colbet with you till
four o'clock this afternoon. As I mentioned, love to hear
what you have to say. Click that microphone icon on
the iHeartRadio appar KFI and you can record a message
using the talk back feature.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
So talk back.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
In the olden days, sometimes we used to even take
phone calls, but right now we're going to ask for
those talkback messages. You heard that news report about the
Dodgers building two new baseball fields in Altadena under the
Dodgers Foundation la DF Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation. It's been
around for about thirty years, but I think about ten
(00:46):
or twenty years ago they sort of reinvigorated it.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
They do a phenomenal job.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
I've covered many programs and stories with them over the
years for Fox eleven, supporting young people in particular granting moneies,
donating moneys, building fields. So they're also all wrapped up
in the relief effort, the overall fire relief effort. You
can get more information on that if you just want
to go to the Dodgers' website. Check that out. Very
(01:12):
worthy cause to donate to. So back in the day,
it seems so long ago, but it really wasn't. December twelfth,
twenty twenty two. December twelfth, twenty twenty two, I was
in downtown Los Angeles at the Emergency Operations Center for
(01:33):
Mayor Karen Bass's first day on the job, signing a
state of emergency on homelessness. The quote, this is a
crisis that we know is going to be ongoing, and
it requires us to have It requires us to have
sustained focus and effort. A crisis that's going to be ongoing,
(01:54):
sustained focus and effort. That was said in twenty twenty two,
it was said in two thousand and two, it was
said in nineteen ninety two. My point is, we keep
saying the same things, we do increase. Under Mayor Bass,
we have seen a significantly increased focus and effort, at
least on clearing encampments under the Inside Safe program and
(02:18):
getting people off the streets into temporary shelters. The LA
County and LA City both function under the umbrella of
the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, which was created about
a generation ago. To administer funds in a more efficient
way and give oversight in a more comprehensive way than
(02:42):
the city of the county could do on their own,
and they're not doing a great job of that. The
Westside Current and others have reported on the much anticipated
audit of LASA that essentially says that billions of dollars
in spending are really unaccounted for. So let's bring in
Jamie Page from Westside Current dot com.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
Jamie, thanks for coming on with us.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
I know we've talked before about this issue and related issues.
Rather than me paraphrase the whole story, why don't you
explain to our listeners what the headline is and what
the significance is.
Speaker 4 (03:19):
HI feel good to be on here. I want to
highlight one important part of this of the audit, the
two point three billion dollars that they say is unaccounted for.
That's just a third of the money spent that they
could track. And a large part of our story was
basically like this audit showed that they couldn't follow the money,
(03:43):
that there weren't invoices that they could fool. Oftentimes there
were cash therese cash that was paid out, but no
receipts to to show where that the cash went to.
So so the two point three billion is just a
fraction of what we're talking about.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
So what we're talking about an audit that is a
result of a lawsuit that was conducted by an independent
firm under the direction of federal judge to examine various
city and county funded programs.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
And so it's not that the money wasn't spent.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Correctly, it's that we can't really account for how it
was spent and then correlate that to results.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Is that a fair summary?
Speaker 4 (04:29):
It is a fair summary, they were asked during this lawsuit.
It was part of the La Alliance for Human Rights lawsuit.
They were suing the city and the county for the
homelessness crisis. Specifically, they are representing a large group of people,
folks on skid Row who are unhoused, business owners in
the skid Row area who were unhoused, and then other
(04:51):
areas within the City of Los Angeles and the county
also joined in on the lawsuit. But they basically looked
at three things, the Insight Safe program, the road Map program,
and then the settlement program underneath the La Alliance Settlement
Agreement that the city.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
And by the way, this pre dates Mayor Bass. I
mean this lawsuit to be fair, it does. Yeah, so
what but as so when you heard this as someone
you've covered this issue, I mean both as from from
the west side current and then when you were when
you were on the inside working for a city council person.
(05:30):
The fact that money hasn't been accounted for and it's
difficult to track and statistics are hard to come by,
and we don't know how effective certain programs are.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
We've been singing this song forever.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
We have been, we have been, and it feels like
the residents are the ones who are singing it the
most right, Like we see that homelessness crisis continue to
grow every year as well as spending. I interviewed the
executive director yesterday from La Alliance and I asked him, like,
what's your takeaway, and he basically highlighted that year after
year we doubled down on programs. We you know, we
(06:04):
give more for water distribution, food, those things are necessary,
but but we're we don't see results of it. And
you and I and other private businesses, we asked for KPIs,
we asked for data, We look at what's wrong so
that we can fix it, KPI, Audie key performance indicators,
what's working and what's not, and audits like this are
(06:28):
done for those specific reasons to find what's.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Working for But I mean, I've talked, I've talked with
the mayor about this, I've talked with city council with
supervisors about this. I've talked with the head of LASSA
about this, and they all seem to agree that, yeah,
this is this is a problem. This is a problem
without taking any accountability for it. I mean, so we
(06:52):
have all this information now, a fractured infective system, poor oversight,
lack of coordination, financial mismanagement leave billions on the table,
vulnerable to phrased fraud, waste and abuse, inaccurate and inconsistent
data tracking, a complete absence of accountability. So that last
(07:13):
one seems like almost the most glaring. There is no accountability.
Speaker 4 (07:21):
Year after year we give lots of more money. We
started at sixty million, they're now at eight hundred and
seventy five million for their annual budget.
Speaker 5 (07:30):
Right, the question is.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
I think you and I as journalists, we keep asking
year after year why we're spending more money, Why is
nothing working? And it feels like the city county should
be doing the same thing.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
The city and county will say it is working because
they point to reductions and encampments that a number of.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
People housed in the past.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Lavish Adams Kellum the head of last they've acknowledged these
sort of structural defects and pledged to do better, but
it doesn't quite seem to happen.
Speaker 4 (08:04):
We should also point out, just to be factual, that
there was a deduction last year one percent, and they're
they're running victory laps with a one percent increase. But
if you look at the numbers as well too, there's
also an increase in deaths on our streets too, So
who you know that's never mentioned in the reports. And
(08:25):
to your point, the county supervisors talk about, oh, we
need an audit, we need to do this with LASA,
but nothing is ever done. Year after year they talk
about it. Meanwhile, seven people a day die on our streets.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
I know it'sbelievable, but this is what this And we're
talking with Jamie Page from Westside Current dot com about
the problems and that as there like in capital letters,
that an audit of homeless spending in the Los Angeles
Homeless Service Authority has has revealed. Are you able to
stay with us during the break because we're really just
(09:00):
getting started on this and it's an issue that so
many people are concerned with, and it affects so many people.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
I'd love to talk with you more about this. Sure,
all right. Thanks.
Speaker 6 (09:10):
You're listening to John Cobelt on demand from KFI AM
six forty.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
We've been talking with Jamie Page from Westside Current about
this audit ordered by a federal judge into the city
and County and lasa's homelessness spending and how billions of
dollars is essentially unaccounted for.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
So, Jamie, what I've been reading since this came out.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
I think it was yesterday or the day before, is
that officials from the city and the county and from
LASA are essentially agreeing with it, saying, yeah, this is
a problem, Yeah, we need to do it better, which.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
Is strange to me in terms of the reaction.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Instead of saying, you know what they're going to do,
they're just saying, yeah, you're right, this is a problem.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
But I don't have an answer for you that either,
but to say it's strange as well. I also asked
the executive director of LA Alliance yesterday with these answers,
what do you expect You're the ones who sued the city,
And he basically said that we can't allow for these
to be the answers anymore, that we have to hold
(10:22):
our elected officials accountable and say, well, that's not acceptable.
And I feel like as journalists we do we you know,
we asked these questions and we put that information, and
voters have a say in this.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
I just yes, in terms of electing a mayor, in
terms of electing city council people, in terms of electing supervisors,
they don't have a say. And who's going to run
LASSA at hundreds of thousands of dollars a year salary?
Speaker 4 (10:53):
It's a point the mayor, the person who heads it.
So there is some say.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
In that, I mean, so are we so give?
Speaker 4 (11:01):
Like?
Speaker 2 (11:01):
So give from you? You really have taken a deep
dive into this issue. So give us like a plane
spoken example of one of the problems that this audit
reveals when it comes to helping the homeless, like, for.
Speaker 4 (11:19):
Example, I'll give you that, yeah, go ahead, you.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Know what I'm saying, Like, for example, they can't track
enough shelter beds. They don't know whether someone who's been
paid has actually performed a service or what are we
talking about.
Speaker 4 (11:35):
Part of the settlement and part of this audit was
supposed to show that the city and the county were
meeting their agreements with the LA Alliance in the original settlement.
Those agreements were this amount of beds were supposed to
be provided by this year, and then the next year,
and then the next year. These beds for the homeless
(11:57):
weren't being provided the same with the There're supposed to
be a certain amount of mental health beds online by
a certain date. I don't have those specific dates, but
I do know that this is part of the settlement.
None of that was fulfilled. That's why this audit was
ordered by Judge Carter, because he was frustrated. I want
(12:17):
to say this too. I was in court the day
that the A and M, the professional auditors who come
in and do this for a living, they said to
the judge, the county isn't cooperating with us. We can't
even begin this audit because we can't get receipts from them.
The judge got frustrated, ordered the county to do this.
(12:39):
The County. Basically I'm paraphrasing, but it's in a story
I wrote said, we don't have to follow the rules
of what the court is saying.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
Oh so, yeah, where we heard that before?
Speaker 2 (12:52):
So I guess so as a concerned Angelino who of course,
and this this isn't just the City of Los Angeles
to the county. I mean other counties have don't have
the problem nearly on this scale. And we never hear
about this kind of issue in Orange County, rivers Heade County,
Ventura County, even in you know, New York.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
We don't hear about these these similar issues.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
It it just reinforces the message to the public is
that nobody's in charge.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Yet everybody's in charge.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
And now City council Woman Raman and Monica Rodriguez and
La County Supervisor Lindsay Horrvaff, they're now saying we want
to withdraw from LASA. We want to create brand new
bureaucracies within the city and within the county to administer
homeless money more effectively, which ironically, it was exactly the
(13:43):
reason that LASA was created in the first place thirty
years ago, to theoretically be more effective.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
So it's just a whole It's just a whole, big
uncertain future.
Speaker 4 (13:55):
And they've been seeing this for years too. This isn't
this isn't new information to them. They've ordered their own audits.
We've seen two other audits come out with not as
much information as this one, but enough to have acted
on it. The last one came out in November and
showed tens of millions of dollars spent on beds that
(14:15):
weren't being used.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
So gradually coming, I'm gradually coming to the reluctant conclusion
that this problem is too big to solve in our lifetime.
I hate to say that, because I know that a
lot of smart, hard work and compassionate, dedicated people have
devoted their careers to this.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
Yet here we are.
Speaker 7 (14:42):
I would say.
Speaker 4 (14:43):
Though, that the head attorney, Elizabeth Mitchell's for LA Alliance,
he said exactly not to say that you're wrong, but
the opposite, to say, this is actually a doable We
can get out of this. We just have to have
folk cooperation and accountability from all the parties who.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
Are involved, right, which has never happened. Yes, so it's
great for her to say that. It's like, yes, I
could bat a thousand if a picture through through it
fifty miles an hour down the middle of the plate,
like every time I was at bat, you know. And
this is what's frustrating to me, and we talked earlier
about this in terms of leadership, is that there's no
(15:24):
one person or entity, whether it's the mayor, whether it's
a supervisor, whether it's the head of LASA, whether it's
an academic, whether it's Governor Newsom, who of course has
his own, separate, parallel agenda. Nobody is leading the way
out of the wilderness saying follow me, I have the plan.
(15:44):
This is going to solve everything. Maybe that's unrealistic to expect.
That's why I say, it's just, I mean, it's too big,
it's too entrenched, there's too many special interests, there's too
many you know, hands in the pot, so to speak,
whatever your favorite expression is, and that we almost have
to like scrap the entire system, reinvent it and start
(16:06):
over at a huge cost in terms of time and
human lives.
Speaker 4 (16:13):
But it could be cost saving too. Well. You know,
the state itself had an audit and it was found
that twenty four billion dollars of money that was supposed
to be spent on homelessness also is on accounted for?
Speaker 3 (16:29):
I mean, do we need to have Elon come focus
on this.
Speaker 4 (16:34):
I'm not going to answer that, but.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
Is the problem yes, so cal Doge Junior.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
I mean, it's you know, it's it's obviously not a
laughing matter, and I don't mean to make light of it,
and I know you don't either. It's just it's so frustrating, right,
And if you're a homeowner, if you're a resident, if
you're a business owner, if you work on behalf of
homeless organizations, if you're on the streets and you're bruggling
and you need help, it's just it's it's so frustrating
(17:05):
and disappointing.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
And a year from now, I guarantee you, me and
you could have this.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
I'm going to be having this same discussion about how
there's a proposal to withdraw county funding and there's a
proposal to create a new city department. And the head
of Loss agrees that the quote siloed system, which is
one of her favorite explanations, makes it more difficult to
track money and accountability across various organizations. So we've just
(17:32):
let this problem get so big it's like one step forward,
two steps backwards.
Speaker 4 (17:40):
Yeah, And I mean, I hope this is a wake
up call for a lot of people that we really
have to pay attention as tax payers and voters, and
that time.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
We keep approving more money, we keep approving an increase
in the sales tax and increase in property tax. You know,
it's like we're we're doing our part, but is government
doing its part?
Speaker 3 (18:04):
No?
Speaker 4 (18:04):
And the county supervisor yesterday, Lindsay Horvez, actually said that
we see this audit, we see the misgivings, but now
that we have major a in place, we're going to
make sure this money is spent the right way.
Speaker 7 (18:15):
Oh sure, that was her reaction, and they are well intentioned,
But you know, a year from now, when we look
back at that, it's going to be all, well, here's
a list of.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
Ten excuses why that didn't happen. Jamie tell us about
Westside Current dot com, Valley Current dot Com and how
they contribute to and illustrate the importance of local journalism,
grassroots journalism.
Speaker 4 (18:43):
Thanks for asking. We're hyper local on the west Side.
We cover the West Side, so from Westchester up to
Malibu and Inland and to Brentwood, and we focus on
hyperlocal any kind of information that's important from our community.
But these kind of stories also we also do a
lot of watchdogs because they affect our community as well
as other communities as well too. So we really really
(19:06):
try to focus on stories that make a difference in our.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Meaningful uh and supported by by donor by donations, we are.
Speaker 4 (19:16):
We are donor supported, which is an incredibly difficult UH
business we want to keep alive. Yeah, this is a
model to keep alive these days. But we do have
some generous people and our and our readers who are
helping us keep the lights on. As you will, all
these stories take time. We pay reporters to do the
research as well to go to court, and so we
(19:38):
are donor supported and appreciate those who contribute to our journalism.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
Well, if you'd like to do that, would you just
direct people to Westside Current dot com.
Speaker 4 (19:48):
Westside Current dot com. We have a donate us button
on the right side and in all of our stories,
just this contribute to the west Side Current.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
All right, Jamie Page, thanks so much for giving us
all of this insight. I know you guys will stay
on it. I know as a reporter. I know how
difficult it is. This subject matter is very difficult to
report on because of the unwillingness of officials to share information,
which is sort of the point of the audit and
the point of these lawsuits. So thanks to you and
(20:20):
your colleagues for continuing to do what you do. I'm
Phil Schuman in for John co Belt. We are with
you until four o'clock.
Speaker 6 (20:28):
You're listening to John cobelts on demand from KFI AM
six forty.
Speaker 3 (20:34):
We are live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. I'm Phil Shuman.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
May recognize that name or maybe that voice from a
few years of covering the news on television here in
southern California on Channel four, on Channel eleven and now
here on KFI. Happy to have the opportunity to sit
in John Cobelt's chair. Believe me, it's not a responsibility
we take lightly. So the word for this segment is whiplash,
(21:00):
one of those words that those of us who write
news stories love to use in the context of the
whiplash created by President Trump's on again, off again tariffs
and uncertainly about the economy. If you have any money
invested in the stock market, you know, it was up
and down this week, a bit of a roller coaster,
another favorite term of newswriters. So to talk about this
(21:22):
where we're going with the tariffs is Alexis Christophoress, who's
an ABC News business correspondent.
Speaker 3 (21:30):
Alexis, thanks for coming on with us.
Speaker 8 (21:32):
Good to be with you, Phil.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
So, what is the latest.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
The tariffs were announced, then they were postponed.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
Where do things stand, Well, it looks.
Speaker 8 (21:43):
Like we have a reprieve here for about thirty days.
The President is not going to put tariffs on a
number of goods coming from Mexico and Canada as long
as they are in agreement with the US Mexico Canada deal,
which he's during his first administration. If you remember, there
are still some items that are going to be tariffed,
(22:05):
but the majority of items, including that produce that we've
been talking a lot about, avocados, tomatoes and things, those
are not going to be taxed until possibly April second,
when Trump is saying, look, if things haven't changed and
we're not happy with what Mexico and Canada are doing
with regards to the border and fentanyl crossing the border,
(22:25):
we're going to put these terriffs in place.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
So what does it mean today for me as a consumer,
whether I'm going to the supermarket, whether I'm shopping for
a car or for a washing machine.
Speaker 8 (22:39):
So it means that you're not going to see these
higher prices right now because the teriffs are on hold.
I mean, the automakers were the first to get the reprieve.
They actually went to the president in a letter. They
wrote a letter the big US automakers and said, please,
don't don't do these tariffs right now. We're not prepared
for this and it will really dent our industry. So
he gave them some more time time to sort of
(23:01):
get their ducks in a row and perhaps, you know,
shift their supply chains if at all possible. It's tough
to do though, because Canada, Mexico and the US are
so intertwined, especially when it comes to autos. But in
terms of consumers spending right now, or prices at the supermarket,
prices at the gas station, things should remain the way
they are for the next few weeks until we find
(23:23):
out whether or not the President has had another change
of heart and maybe kicks the can down the road
a little further.
Speaker 3 (23:29):
So, as someone who covers the economy.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
As a business correspondent, I assume that's you know, much
of what your focus is on. You know, this this
issue was such an issue during the election, the economy.
The economy, it's obviously a generic term that has so
many different implications. But I mean, what's the general feeling
going forward, like things are going to be cheaper or
(23:53):
more expensive down the road. I mean, if the tariffs
do come into effect, obviously it's going to be passed
on to the consumer. So how does that help the economy,
which is what President Trump seems to be tak us
so much credit for.
Speaker 8 (24:10):
Right Well, I mean his long term goal, what he's
saying is he wants manufacturing and jobs to come back
to the US. He wants many companies that go outside
the US for parts and labor to bring that back.
Speaker 3 (24:21):
Into the US.
Speaker 8 (24:22):
The issue is, look, that's not cheap, but it doesn't
happen overnight, and it could be a lag situation right
where it could be five even ten years down the road.
Speaker 4 (24:29):
So in the.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Short construct an auto plant lanel overnight exactly.
Speaker 8 (24:35):
So there's going to be and he has said this
that there's going to be pain in the short term
for that long term goal. I've talked to a number
of economists who say that if the tariffs are put
in place full force and that does create inflation, we
could see a big pullback in consumer spending. And also
businesses think about it. If you're a business, are you
really going to expand your business in an environment like that?
(24:57):
Will you hire more people? Are you going to lay
off people because demand for your service or your product
has gone down? So some economists maybe a little bit
too early to start talking about this, but they're saying
we could possibly see a recession later this year or
early next.
Speaker 2 (25:11):
So from the public's point of view, it just seems
like we hear that in the intro that term roller coaster.
I mean, if you're fortunate enough to have money invested
in the stock market, think most people are understand you
have to take a long term approach and you can't
react to day to day ups and downs. If you're
not fortunate enough to do that and you're worried about
just paying the rent or affording groceries, especially in southern
(25:33):
California with thousands of people have been displaced from the fires,
and you have the president and junior President Elon sort
of as disruptors. It just seems like it's creating a
very uncertain, sort of nervous feeling that we just really
were like teetering on the edge of a cliff here.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
We're not quite sure whether we're going to fall off
it or hang on.
Speaker 5 (25:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (25:58):
I think that's all a great discrept right there. And
I think the takeaway is what does that do to
the consumer's psyche? You know, I mean think about it.
If you if you were in the market to buy
a home or to buy a car, those are big purchases,
right if you are uncertain about the economy, even if
you have a job, maybe you're fearful, Am I going
to have a job in six months from now? What's
going to happen to prices? Are they going to be
(26:19):
going up? And while I'd be able to afford just
the everyday basics, so you might actually hold off on
making those bigger purchases. And if enough people decide not
to buy the washing machine or not to buy the
car or the home, that starts to really drag the
economy down. And that's the greater fear here, that that
you know, the economy would fall, would slow down so
(26:41):
much that we would tip into a recession.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
Okay, Well, on that happy note, I'm gonna I'm gonna
have to say thank you until the next time.
Speaker 3 (26:50):
I mean, there's just so much uncertain out there.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
Alexis Christophoress, ABC News Business Correspondent, Thanks so much for that,
for that reporting and for that update. I mean, it's
tough because President Trump says one thing today and then
tomorrow he'll back off it, so it's tough to know.
Speaker 8 (27:08):
I'll leave you with this one twitch thing. The job market.
Job market looks pretty solid. We got a jobs report
out today that look decent. We'll see if all those
federal job cuts, those federal worker job cuts in the
coming months have a negative impact.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
Yeah, it's got to got to figure that all those
people are going to be in the job market looking
for employment if those cuts remain, you know, go through
exactly exactly, well, they're not going to be They're not
going to be contacting ABC News, I'm sure, which had
just had another round of cuts. It's tough time in
the news business, but we appreciate you for what you do.
(27:41):
Alexis Christoph forres ABC News Business Correspondent. We'll check in
with you again, all right, I'm Phil Schuman with you
until four o'clock coming up at the top of the hour.
You worried Michael Monks a bit in our news segment
talking about high speed rail, something that I've covered a
lot of in my days at Fox eleven. It's just
outra just the way this situation that we're in right now.
(28:02):
We're going to get into that a little bit. If
you have something to say, click that microphone icon on
the iHeartRadio app the KF EIGHTM six forty. You can
record a comment and we'd love to play some of
those on the air.
Speaker 3 (28:15):
You know what I'm thinking. I'd like to hear what
you're thinking.
Speaker 6 (28:18):
Meantime, let's you're listening to John Cobels on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
I'm a big tech fan from the point of trying
to understand it. More tech supposed to help us, right,
supposed to make our lives easier. A lot of times
it makes our lives more complicated. I'm here in the
studio at KFI one, two, three, four, five, six, seven,
TV screens, five TV monitor, computer monitors, an iPad, all
(28:46):
kinds of microphones and keyboards, and if you had me
change the channel from Fox News to CNN.
Speaker 3 (28:52):
No idea how to do it, no idea how to
do it.
Speaker 2 (28:55):
That's just because there's certain remotes, there's certain systems here,
and whether that's true here, it's turn your house. It's like, hey,
I'm just trying to find the Lakers game. I don't
want to sign up for seventy four apps, right, I
just want to watch the Lakers game, or the Dodgers
game or a movie. So Rich does a really good
job of trying to keep tech like simple and figuring
out like what is actually useful and makes your life better.
Speaker 3 (29:19):
And thank you for that.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
All right on the KFI Am sixty on the iHeartRadio app,
I ask some of you to click on that microphone
and let me know what you think about the things
we've been talking about here.
Speaker 3 (29:32):
Let let's listen to one to one listener.
Speaker 9 (29:36):
Philimino economists, just an old man out of the Inland Empire,
sixty nine years old, been around. The only way we're
gonna get prices to come down, which people are saying
they want to happen instead of inflation, is to actually
have a recession where there's deflation. And that could happen
because the stock market as well. Over priced housing is overpriced,
and we still have fairly high inflation. So anyway, prices
(29:59):
are going to come down less we have a recession,
and then might happen.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
Interesting and who wants to live through that? Though, you
know it'd be better if things continue to boom. But
at the same time, yeah, you mentioned prices are I
mean housing prices alone here in south of California, even
if if we have a recession, I mean, are they
gonna come down significantly? Whether it's houses or or rental
units that it's gonna make like a huge impact in
(30:24):
people's lives. I mean, if you know, the three bedroom,
two baths charter ranch house and van Eyes, which now
costs a million dollars, maybe comes down to you know,
nine seventy five, does that mean my kids can afford
to buy it?
Speaker 3 (30:42):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
I don't think so. Way back when I think I
was actually an econ major in college. So these discussions
are very interesting to me. But like so often is
the case, it's a lot of it's just hypothetical because
we just really can't predict the future. All right, So
let's listen, let's listen to another talk back.
Speaker 10 (31:03):
Yeah, Hey, enjoying your show, and I'm gonna tune in
on the weekend and catch it too. So anyway, my
question is, is anybody following how all these all this
money is gonna get into the hands of the fire victims.
Is it gonna go to NGOs and are they gonna
gobble it up like they have then or I'm just
(31:25):
curious if you or somebody could do a little research
into that for your listeners.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
That is an excellent question. I know a lot of
it is being administrated by the California Community Foundation, uh,
and a lot of it is going to be tracked
through them, and.
Speaker 3 (31:46):
But yeah, that is that's a good point. I'm writing
it down.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
I know our friends like Jamie Page, who just talked
with Valley Current, uh, the La Times, which every day
does a phenomenal job, and I'll news organizations, that's that's
a story that we definitely have to keep an eye on.
I don't have the complete answer to that right now,
I just do I know that through through that incredible
fire Aid concert, the conduit for a lot of that
(32:11):
information for that a lot of those funds were was
the California Community Foundation. But thank you for that point,
for making that point, and that's something we all need
to keep an eye on.
Speaker 3 (32:21):
What else we have Elmer.
Speaker 8 (32:24):
Hey, As far as Hackman dying a week after his wife,
he had Alzheimer's, right, so it's possible he.
Speaker 4 (32:33):
Didn't really know what the heck was going on.
Speaker 8 (32:36):
All right, bye, love your show.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
Yeah, I mean that is possible. I know if you were,
if you weren't with us. Earlier this afternoon they had
an update from Santa Fe, New Mexico, with the sheriffs,
with the medical examiner, and what they basically determined is
that the wife died perhaps on February eleventh, and they say,
perhaps because that they're using like videos, cam surveillance from
(33:00):
the community, cell phone email communications, that she died of hantavirus,
which is a rare lung infection that you get from
the droppings of rodents. And then he died perhaps a
week later, based on when his pacemaker stopped transmitting data.
(33:24):
So you wonder was he in the house for a
week unable to do anything take care of himself at
the age of ninety five, apparently with you know, heart disease, dementia,
other issues.
Speaker 3 (33:39):
But then he was found like near the door.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
With his coat on so a very very bizarre story,
a sad story. He was ninety five, she was sixty five,
she had pills near her, Their dog was dead. But
if you as you heard us earlier, we talked with
a reporter who monitored that news conference live from Santa Fe.
(34:03):
There may not be a lot of additional information coming
out just because the two of them have died and
they were apparently very private. There's no video cameras on
the property or security cameras that might have documented something,
and so.
Speaker 3 (34:17):
This may be.
Speaker 2 (34:19):
You know, the latest, uh, the latest and the end
of the story. Do we have one more elmer, one
more go for it.
Speaker 5 (34:27):
I don't know why you think there is a solution
to a problem that can't be solved. Basically, the problem
isn't homelessness. It's the problem is drugs, and until you
arrest people for doing drugs on the street, you're gonna
have homeless problem forever. There's no there's just throwing throwing
money into the fire. So the solution is drugs, not
(34:52):
get more beds for a bunch of drug addicts.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
Well, I understand your point, although I do think it's
a little bit simplistic. Obviously, a huge percentage. I've heard
statistics that go anywhere from twenty five to fifty percent
of the homeless are suffering from drug and alcohol addiction.
So arresting them sounds like it might be an attractive
(35:19):
option to some.
Speaker 3 (35:20):
It gets them off the street. But then what do
you do with them?
Speaker 2 (35:23):
You bring them to county jail, you kick them loose,
send them to rehab. I mean that that is obviously
a huge part of the problem, but I think that's
a bit of an over simplistic situation, not to downplay
the fact that if there weren't people with drug and
alcohol abuse, we wouldn't have nearly as many homeless. But then,
(35:43):
you know what leads to the drug and alcohol abuse?
What about you know, financial circumstances. I mean, you know,
it's it's so complicated and yet so maddening and frustrating
that that's why I say it's a problem that it
may ultimately prove, sadly, may ultimately prove to be too
big to be to be solvable.
Speaker 3 (36:05):
All Right, I'm.
Speaker 2 (36:06):
Phil shimming with it till four o'clock after the top
of the hour. One of these subjects that just is maddening.
You want to talk about doge and you want to
talk about fraud, waste abuse, you want to talk about
cutting money from the budget. I mean this California high
Speed Rail. We've talked about it before, We're going to
keep talking about it. Michael Monks has been doing a
(36:27):
lot of carverage on it. He's going to join us.
And if you think you're like pulling your hair out
over the homelessness issue, this is another one that we're
going to get into again. That's after the top of
the hour, But first let's check in once again with
Deborah Mark, who's keeping an eye on things in the
KFI twenty four hour news.
Speaker 1 (36:44):
From Hey, you've been listening to the John Cobalt Show podcast.
You can always hear the show live on KFI Am
six forty from one to four pm every Monday through Friday,
and of course, anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
If I am six forty, you're listening to the John
Cobel podcast on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
I'm Phil Schuman in for John Colbet with you till
four o'clock this afternoon. As I mentioned, love to hear
what you have to say. Click that microphone icon on
the iHeartRadio appar KFI and you can record a message
using the talk back feature.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
So talk back.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
In the olden days, sometimes we used to even take
phone calls, but right now we're going to ask for
those talkback messages. You heard that news report about the
Dodgers building two new baseball fields in Altadena under the
Dodgers Foundation la DF Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation. It's been
around for about thirty years, but I think about ten
(00:46):
or twenty years ago they sort of reinvigorated it.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
They do a phenomenal job.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
I've covered many programs and stories with them over the
years for Fox eleven, supporting young people in particular granting moneies,
donating moneys, building fields. So they're also all wrapped up
in the relief effort, the overall fire relief effort. You
can get more information on that if you just want
to go to the Dodgers' website. Check that out. Very
(01:12):
worthy cause to donate to. So back in the day,
it seems so long ago, but it really wasn't. December twelfth,
twenty twenty two. December twelfth, twenty twenty two, I was
in downtown Los Angeles at the Emergency Operations Center for
(01:33):
Mayor Karen Bass's first day on the job, signing a
state of emergency on homelessness. The quote, this is a
crisis that we know is going to be ongoing, and
it requires us to have It requires us to have
sustained focus and effort. A crisis that's going to be ongoing,
(01:54):
sustained focus and effort. That was said in twenty twenty two,
it was said in two thousand and two, it was
said in nineteen ninety two. My point is, we keep
saying the same things, we do increase. Under Mayor Bass,
we have seen a significantly increased focus and effort, at
least on clearing encampments under the Inside Safe program and
(02:18):
getting people off the streets into temporary shelters. The LA
County and LA City both function under the umbrella of
the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, which was created about
a generation ago. To administer funds in a more efficient
way and give oversight in a more comprehensive way than
(02:42):
the city of the county could do on their own,
and they're not doing a great job of that. The
Westside Current and others have reported on the much anticipated
audit of LASA that essentially says that billions of dollars
in spending are really unaccounted for. So let's bring in
Jamie Page from Westside Current dot com.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
Jamie, thanks for coming on with us.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
I know we've talked before about this issue and related issues.
Rather than me paraphrase the whole story, why don't you
explain to our listeners what the headline is and what
the significance is.
Speaker 4 (03:19):
HI feel good to be on here. I want to
highlight one important part of this of the audit, the
two point three billion dollars that they say is unaccounted for.
That's just a third of the money spent that they
could track. And a large part of our story was
basically like this audit showed that they couldn't follow the money,
(03:43):
that there weren't invoices that they could fool. Oftentimes there
were cash therese cash that was paid out, but no
receipts to to show where that the cash went to.
So so the two point three billion is just a
fraction of what we're talking about.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
So what we're talking about an audit that is a
result of a lawsuit that was conducted by an independent
firm under the direction of federal judge to examine various
city and county funded programs.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
And so it's not that the money wasn't spent.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Correctly, it's that we can't really account for how it
was spent and then correlate that to results.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Is that a fair summary?
Speaker 4 (04:29):
It is a fair summary, they were asked during this lawsuit.
It was part of the La Alliance for Human Rights lawsuit.
They were suing the city and the county for the
homelessness crisis. Specifically, they are representing a large group of people,
folks on skid Row who are unhoused, business owners in
the skid Row area who were unhoused, and then other
(04:51):
areas within the City of Los Angeles and the county
also joined in on the lawsuit. But they basically looked
at three things, the Insight Safe program, the road Map program,
and then the settlement program underneath the La Alliance Settlement
Agreement that the city.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
And by the way, this pre dates Mayor Bass. I
mean this lawsuit to be fair, it does. Yeah, so
what but as so when you heard this as someone
you've covered this issue, I mean both as from from
the west side current and then when you were when
you were on the inside working for a city council person.
(05:30):
The fact that money hasn't been accounted for and it's
difficult to track and statistics are hard to come by,
and we don't know how effective certain programs are.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
We've been singing this song forever.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
We have been, we have been, and it feels like
the residents are the ones who are singing it the
most right, Like we see that homelessness crisis continue to
grow every year as well as spending. I interviewed the
executive director yesterday from La Alliance and I asked him, like,
what's your takeaway, and he basically highlighted that year after
year we doubled down on programs. We you know, we
(06:04):
give more for water distribution, food, those things are necessary,
but but we're we don't see results of it. And
you and I and other private businesses, we asked for KPIs,
we asked for data, We look at what's wrong so
that we can fix it, KPI, Audie key performance indicators,
what's working and what's not, and audits like this are
(06:28):
done for those specific reasons to find what's.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Working for But I mean, I've talked, I've talked with
the mayor about this, I've talked with city council with
supervisors about this. I've talked with the head of LASSA
about this, and they all seem to agree that, yeah,
this is this is a problem. This is a problem
without taking any accountability for it. I mean, so we
(06:52):
have all this information now, a fractured infective system, poor oversight,
lack of coordination, financial mismanagement leave billions on the table,
vulnerable to phrased fraud, waste and abuse, inaccurate and inconsistent
data tracking, a complete absence of accountability. So that last
(07:13):
one seems like almost the most glaring. There is no accountability.
Speaker 4 (07:21):
Year after year we give lots of more money. We
started at sixty million, they're now at eight hundred and
seventy five million for their annual budget.
Speaker 5 (07:30):
Right, the question is.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
I think you and I as journalists, we keep asking
year after year why we're spending more money, Why is
nothing working? And it feels like the city county should
be doing the same thing.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
The city and county will say it is working because
they point to reductions and encampments that a number of.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
People housed in the past.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Lavish Adams Kellum the head of last they've acknowledged these
sort of structural defects and pledged to do better, but
it doesn't quite seem to happen.
Speaker 4 (08:04):
We should also point out, just to be factual, that
there was a deduction last year one percent, and they're
they're running victory laps with a one percent increase. But
if you look at the numbers as well too, there's
also an increase in deaths on our streets too, So
who you know that's never mentioned in the reports. And
(08:25):
to your point, the county supervisors talk about, oh, we
need an audit, we need to do this with LASA,
but nothing is ever done. Year after year they talk
about it. Meanwhile, seven people a day die on our streets.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
I know it'sbelievable, but this is what this And we're
talking with Jamie Page from Westside Current dot com about
the problems and that as there like in capital letters,
that an audit of homeless spending in the Los Angeles
Homeless Service Authority has has revealed. Are you able to
stay with us during the break because we're really just
(09:00):
getting started on this and it's an issue that so
many people are concerned with, and it affects so many people.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
I'd love to talk with you more about this. Sure,
all right. Thanks.
Speaker 6 (09:10):
You're listening to John Cobelt on demand from KFI AM
six forty.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
We've been talking with Jamie Page from Westside Current about
this audit ordered by a federal judge into the city
and County and lasa's homelessness spending and how billions of
dollars is essentially unaccounted for.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
So, Jamie, what I've been reading since this came out.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
I think it was yesterday or the day before, is
that officials from the city and the county and from
LASA are essentially agreeing with it, saying, yeah, this is
a problem, Yeah, we need to do it better, which.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
Is strange to me in terms of the reaction.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Instead of saying, you know what they're going to do,
they're just saying, yeah, you're right, this is a problem.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
But I don't have an answer for you that either,
but to say it's strange as well. I also asked
the executive director of LA Alliance yesterday with these answers,
what do you expect You're the ones who sued the city,
And he basically said that we can't allow for these
to be the answers anymore, that we have to hold
(10:22):
our elected officials accountable and say, well, that's not acceptable.
And I feel like as journalists we do we you know,
we asked these questions and we put that information, and
voters have a say in this.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
I just yes, in terms of electing a mayor, in
terms of electing city council people, in terms of electing supervisors,
they don't have a say. And who's going to run
LASSA at hundreds of thousands of dollars a year salary?
Speaker 4 (10:53):
It's a point the mayor, the person who heads it.
So there is some say.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
In that, I mean, so are we so give?
Speaker 4 (11:01):
Like?
Speaker 2 (11:01):
So give from you? You really have taken a deep
dive into this issue. So give us like a plane
spoken example of one of the problems that this audit
reveals when it comes to helping the homeless, like, for.
Speaker 4 (11:19):
Example, I'll give you that, yeah, go ahead, you.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Know what I'm saying, Like, for example, they can't track
enough shelter beds. They don't know whether someone who's been
paid has actually performed a service or what are we
talking about.
Speaker 4 (11:35):
Part of the settlement and part of this audit was
supposed to show that the city and the county were
meeting their agreements with the LA Alliance in the original settlement.
Those agreements were this amount of beds were supposed to
be provided by this year, and then the next year,
and then the next year. These beds for the homeless
(11:57):
weren't being provided the same with the There're supposed to
be a certain amount of mental health beds online by
a certain date. I don't have those specific dates, but
I do know that this is part of the settlement.
None of that was fulfilled. That's why this audit was
ordered by Judge Carter, because he was frustrated. I want
(12:17):
to say this too. I was in court the day
that the A and M, the professional auditors who come
in and do this for a living, they said to
the judge, the county isn't cooperating with us. We can't
even begin this audit because we can't get receipts from them.
The judge got frustrated, ordered the county to do this.
(12:39):
The County. Basically I'm paraphrasing, but it's in a story
I wrote said, we don't have to follow the rules
of what the court is saying.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
Oh so, yeah, where we heard that before?
Speaker 2 (12:52):
So I guess so as a concerned Angelino who of course,
and this this isn't just the City of Los Angeles
to the county. I mean other counties have don't have
the problem nearly on this scale. And we never hear
about this kind of issue in Orange County, rivers Heade County,
Ventura County, even in you know, New York.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
We don't hear about these these similar issues.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
It it just reinforces the message to the public is
that nobody's in charge.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Yet everybody's in charge.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
And now City council Woman Raman and Monica Rodriguez and
La County Supervisor Lindsay Horrvaff, they're now saying we want
to withdraw from LASA. We want to create brand new
bureaucracies within the city and within the county to administer
homeless money more effectively, which ironically, it was exactly the
(13:43):
reason that LASA was created in the first place thirty
years ago, to theoretically be more effective.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
So it's just a whole It's just a whole, big
uncertain future.
Speaker 4 (13:55):
And they've been seeing this for years too. This isn't
this isn't new information to them. They've ordered their own audits.
We've seen two other audits come out with not as
much information as this one, but enough to have acted
on it. The last one came out in November and
showed tens of millions of dollars spent on beds that
(14:15):
weren't being used.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
So gradually coming, I'm gradually coming to the reluctant conclusion
that this problem is too big to solve in our lifetime.
I hate to say that, because I know that a
lot of smart, hard work and compassionate, dedicated people have
devoted their careers to this.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
Yet here we are.
Speaker 7 (14:42):
I would say.
Speaker 4 (14:43):
Though, that the head attorney, Elizabeth Mitchell's for LA Alliance,
he said exactly not to say that you're wrong, but
the opposite, to say, this is actually a doable We
can get out of this. We just have to have
folk cooperation and accountability from all the parties who.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
Are involved, right, which has never happened. Yes, so it's
great for her to say that. It's like, yes, I
could bat a thousand if a picture through through it
fifty miles an hour down the middle of the plate,
like every time I was at bat, you know. And
this is what's frustrating to me, and we talked earlier
about this in terms of leadership, is that there's no
(15:24):
one person or entity, whether it's the mayor, whether it's
a supervisor, whether it's the head of LASA, whether it's
an academic, whether it's Governor Newsom, who of course has
his own, separate, parallel agenda. Nobody is leading the way
out of the wilderness saying follow me, I have the plan.
(15:44):
This is going to solve everything. Maybe that's unrealistic to expect.
That's why I say, it's just, I mean, it's too big,
it's too entrenched, there's too many special interests, there's too
many you know, hands in the pot, so to speak,
whatever your favorite expression is, and that we almost have
to like scrap the entire system, reinvent it and start
(16:06):
over at a huge cost in terms of time and
human lives.
Speaker 4 (16:13):
But it could be cost saving too. Well. You know,
the state itself had an audit and it was found
that twenty four billion dollars of money that was supposed
to be spent on homelessness also is on accounted for?
Speaker 3 (16:29):
I mean, do we need to have Elon come focus
on this.
Speaker 4 (16:34):
I'm not going to answer that, but.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
Is the problem yes, so cal Doge Junior.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
I mean, it's you know, it's it's obviously not a
laughing matter, and I don't mean to make light of it,
and I know you don't either. It's just it's so frustrating, right,
And if you're a homeowner, if you're a resident, if
you're a business owner, if you work on behalf of
homeless organizations, if you're on the streets and you're bruggling
and you need help, it's just it's it's so frustrating
(17:05):
and disappointing.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
And a year from now, I guarantee you, me and
you could have this.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
I'm going to be having this same discussion about how
there's a proposal to withdraw county funding and there's a
proposal to create a new city department. And the head
of Loss agrees that the quote siloed system, which is
one of her favorite explanations, makes it more difficult to
track money and accountability across various organizations. So we've just
(17:32):
let this problem get so big it's like one step forward,
two steps backwards.
Speaker 4 (17:40):
Yeah, And I mean, I hope this is a wake
up call for a lot of people that we really
have to pay attention as tax payers and voters, and
that time.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
We keep approving more money, we keep approving an increase
in the sales tax and increase in property tax. You know,
it's like we're we're doing our part, but is government
doing its part?
Speaker 3 (18:04):
No?
Speaker 4 (18:04):
And the county supervisor yesterday, Lindsay Horvez, actually said that
we see this audit, we see the misgivings, but now
that we have major a in place, we're going to
make sure this money is spent the right way.
Speaker 7 (18:15):
Oh sure, that was her reaction, and they are well intentioned,
But you know, a year from now, when we look
back at that, it's going to be all, well, here's
a list of.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
Ten excuses why that didn't happen. Jamie tell us about
Westside Current dot com, Valley Current dot Com and how
they contribute to and illustrate the importance of local journalism,
grassroots journalism.
Speaker 4 (18:43):
Thanks for asking. We're hyper local on the west Side.
We cover the West Side, so from Westchester up to
Malibu and Inland and to Brentwood, and we focus on
hyperlocal any kind of information that's important from our community.
But these kind of stories also we also do a
lot of watchdogs because they affect our community as well
as other communities as well too. So we really really
(19:06):
try to focus on stories that make a difference in our.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Meaningful uh and supported by by donor by donations, we are.
Speaker 4 (19:16):
We are donor supported, which is an incredibly difficult UH
business we want to keep alive. Yeah, this is a
model to keep alive these days. But we do have
some generous people and our and our readers who are
helping us keep the lights on. As you will, all
these stories take time. We pay reporters to do the
research as well to go to court, and so we
(19:38):
are donor supported and appreciate those who contribute to our journalism.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
Well, if you'd like to do that, would you just
direct people to Westside Current dot com.
Speaker 4 (19:48):
Westside Current dot com. We have a donate us button
on the right side and in all of our stories,
just this contribute to the west Side Current.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
All right, Jamie Page, thanks so much for giving us
all of this insight. I know you guys will stay
on it. I know as a reporter. I know how
difficult it is. This subject matter is very difficult to
report on because of the unwillingness of officials to share information,
which is sort of the point of the audit and
the point of these lawsuits. So thanks to you and
(20:20):
your colleagues for continuing to do what you do. I'm
Phil Schuman in for John co Belt. We are with
you until four o'clock.
Speaker 6 (20:28):
You're listening to John cobelts on demand from KFI AM
six forty.
Speaker 3 (20:34):
We are live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. I'm Phil Shuman.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
May recognize that name or maybe that voice from a
few years of covering the news on television here in
southern California on Channel four, on Channel eleven and now
here on KFI. Happy to have the opportunity to sit
in John Cobelt's chair. Believe me, it's not a responsibility
we take lightly. So the word for this segment is whiplash,
(21:00):
one of those words that those of us who write
news stories love to use in the context of the
whiplash created by President Trump's on again, off again tariffs
and uncertainly about the economy. If you have any money
invested in the stock market, you know, it was up
and down this week, a bit of a roller coaster,
another favorite term of newswriters. So to talk about this
(21:22):
where we're going with the tariffs is Alexis Christophoress, who's
an ABC News business correspondent.
Speaker 3 (21:30):
Alexis, thanks for coming on with us.
Speaker 8 (21:32):
Good to be with you, Phil.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
So, what is the latest.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
The tariffs were announced, then they were postponed.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
Where do things stand, Well, it looks.
Speaker 8 (21:43):
Like we have a reprieve here for about thirty days.
The President is not going to put tariffs on a
number of goods coming from Mexico and Canada as long
as they are in agreement with the US Mexico Canada deal,
which he's during his first administration. If you remember, there
are still some items that are going to be tariffed,
(22:05):
but the majority of items, including that produce that we've
been talking a lot about, avocados, tomatoes and things, those
are not going to be taxed until possibly April second,
when Trump is saying, look, if things haven't changed and
we're not happy with what Mexico and Canada are doing
with regards to the border and fentanyl crossing the border,
(22:25):
we're going to put these terriffs in place.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
So what does it mean today for me as a consumer,
whether I'm going to the supermarket, whether I'm shopping for
a car or for a washing machine.
Speaker 8 (22:39):
So it means that you're not going to see these
higher prices right now because the teriffs are on hold.
I mean, the automakers were the first to get the reprieve.
They actually went to the president in a letter. They
wrote a letter the big US automakers and said, please,
don't don't do these tariffs right now. We're not prepared
for this and it will really dent our industry. So
he gave them some more time time to sort of
(23:01):
get their ducks in a row and perhaps, you know,
shift their supply chains if at all possible. It's tough
to do though, because Canada, Mexico and the US are
so intertwined, especially when it comes to autos. But in
terms of consumers spending right now, or prices at the supermarket,
prices at the gas station, things should remain the way
they are for the next few weeks until we find
(23:23):
out whether or not the President has had another change
of heart and maybe kicks the can down the road
a little further.
Speaker 3 (23:29):
So, as someone who covers the economy.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
As a business correspondent, I assume that's you know, much
of what your focus is on. You know, this this
issue was such an issue during the election, the economy.
The economy, it's obviously a generic term that has so
many different implications. But I mean, what's the general feeling
going forward, like things are going to be cheaper or
(23:53):
more expensive down the road. I mean, if the tariffs
do come into effect, obviously it's going to be passed
on to the consumer. So how does that help the economy,
which is what President Trump seems to be tak us
so much credit for.
Speaker 8 (24:10):
Right Well, I mean his long term goal, what he's
saying is he wants manufacturing and jobs to come back
to the US. He wants many companies that go outside
the US for parts and labor to bring that back.
Speaker 3 (24:21):
Into the US.
Speaker 8 (24:22):
The issue is, look, that's not cheap, but it doesn't
happen overnight, and it could be a lag situation right
where it could be five even ten years down the road.
Speaker 4 (24:29):
So in the.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Short construct an auto plant lanel overnight exactly.
Speaker 8 (24:35):
So there's going to be and he has said this
that there's going to be pain in the short term
for that long term goal. I've talked to a number
of economists who say that if the tariffs are put
in place full force and that does create inflation, we
could see a big pullback in consumer spending. And also
businesses think about it. If you're a business, are you
really going to expand your business in an environment like that?
(24:57):
Will you hire more people? Are you going to lay
off people because demand for your service or your product
has gone down? So some economists maybe a little bit
too early to start talking about this, but they're saying
we could possibly see a recession later this year or
early next.
Speaker 2 (25:11):
So from the public's point of view, it just seems
like we hear that in the intro that term roller coaster.
I mean, if you're fortunate enough to have money invested
in the stock market, think most people are understand you
have to take a long term approach and you can't
react to day to day ups and downs. If you're
not fortunate enough to do that and you're worried about
just paying the rent or affording groceries, especially in southern
(25:33):
California with thousands of people have been displaced from the fires,
and you have the president and junior President Elon sort
of as disruptors. It just seems like it's creating a
very uncertain, sort of nervous feeling that we just really
were like teetering on the edge of a cliff here.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
We're not quite sure whether we're going to fall off
it or hang on.
Speaker 5 (25:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (25:58):
I think that's all a great discrept right there. And
I think the takeaway is what does that do to
the consumer's psyche? You know, I mean think about it.
If you if you were in the market to buy
a home or to buy a car, those are big purchases,
right if you are uncertain about the economy, even if
you have a job, maybe you're fearful, Am I going
to have a job in six months from now? What's
going to happen to prices? Are they going to be
(26:19):
going up? And while I'd be able to afford just
the everyday basics, so you might actually hold off on
making those bigger purchases. And if enough people decide not
to buy the washing machine or not to buy the
car or the home, that starts to really drag the
economy down. And that's the greater fear here, that that
you know, the economy would fall, would slow down so
(26:41):
much that we would tip into a recession.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
Okay, Well, on that happy note, I'm gonna I'm gonna
have to say thank you until the next time.
Speaker 3 (26:50):
I mean, there's just so much uncertain out there.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
Alexis Christophoress, ABC News Business Correspondent, Thanks so much for that,
for that reporting and for that update. I mean, it's
tough because President Trump says one thing today and then
tomorrow he'll back off it, so it's tough to know.
Speaker 8 (27:08):
I'll leave you with this one twitch thing. The job market.
Job market looks pretty solid. We got a jobs report
out today that look decent. We'll see if all those
federal job cuts, those federal worker job cuts in the
coming months have a negative impact.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
Yeah, it's got to got to figure that all those
people are going to be in the job market looking
for employment if those cuts remain, you know, go through
exactly exactly, well, they're not going to be They're not
going to be contacting ABC News, I'm sure, which had
just had another round of cuts. It's tough time in
the news business, but we appreciate you for what you do.
(27:41):
Alexis Christoph forres ABC News Business Correspondent. We'll check in
with you again, all right, I'm Phil Schuman with you
until four o'clock coming up at the top of the hour.
You worried Michael Monks a bit in our news segment
talking about high speed rail, something that I've covered a
lot of in my days at Fox eleven. It's just
outra just the way this situation that we're in right now.
(28:02):
We're going to get into that a little bit. If
you have something to say, click that microphone icon on
the iHeartRadio app the KF EIGHTM six forty. You can
record a comment and we'd love to play some of
those on the air.
Speaker 3 (28:15):
You know what I'm thinking. I'd like to hear what
you're thinking.
Speaker 6 (28:18):
Meantime, let's you're listening to John Cobels on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
I'm a big tech fan from the point of trying
to understand it. More tech supposed to help us, right,
supposed to make our lives easier. A lot of times
it makes our lives more complicated. I'm here in the
studio at KFI one, two, three, four, five, six, seven,
TV screens, five TV monitor, computer monitors, an iPad, all
(28:46):
kinds of microphones and keyboards, and if you had me
change the channel from Fox News to CNN.
Speaker 3 (28:52):
No idea how to do it, no idea how to
do it.
Speaker 2 (28:55):
That's just because there's certain remotes, there's certain systems here,
and whether that's true here, it's turn your house. It's like, hey,
I'm just trying to find the Lakers game. I don't
want to sign up for seventy four apps, right, I
just want to watch the Lakers game, or the Dodgers
game or a movie. So Rich does a really good
job of trying to keep tech like simple and figuring
out like what is actually useful and makes your life better.
Speaker 3 (29:19):
And thank you for that.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
All right on the KFI Am sixty on the iHeartRadio app,
I ask some of you to click on that microphone
and let me know what you think about the things
we've been talking about here.
Speaker 3 (29:32):
Let let's listen to one to one listener.
Speaker 9 (29:36):
Philimino economists, just an old man out of the Inland Empire,
sixty nine years old, been around. The only way we're
gonna get prices to come down, which people are saying
they want to happen instead of inflation, is to actually
have a recession where there's deflation. And that could happen
because the stock market as well. Over priced housing is overpriced,
and we still have fairly high inflation. So anyway, prices
(29:59):
are going to come down less we have a recession,
and then might happen.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
Interesting and who wants to live through that? Though, you
know it'd be better if things continue to boom. But
at the same time, yeah, you mentioned prices are I
mean housing prices alone here in south of California, even
if if we have a recession, I mean, are they
gonna come down significantly? Whether it's houses or or rental
units that it's gonna make like a huge impact in
(30:24):
people's lives. I mean, if you know, the three bedroom,
two baths charter ranch house and van Eyes, which now
costs a million dollars, maybe comes down to you know,
nine seventy five, does that mean my kids can afford
to buy it?
Speaker 3 (30:42):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
I don't think so. Way back when I think I
was actually an econ major in college. So these discussions
are very interesting to me. But like so often is
the case, it's a lot of it's just hypothetical because
we just really can't predict the future. All right, So
let's listen, let's listen to another talk back.
Speaker 10 (31:03):
Yeah, Hey, enjoying your show, and I'm gonna tune in
on the weekend and catch it too. So anyway, my
question is, is anybody following how all these all this
money is gonna get into the hands of the fire victims.
Is it gonna go to NGOs and are they gonna
gobble it up like they have then or I'm just
(31:25):
curious if you or somebody could do a little research
into that for your listeners.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
That is an excellent question. I know a lot of
it is being administrated by the California Community Foundation, uh,
and a lot of it is going to be tracked
through them, and.
Speaker 3 (31:46):
But yeah, that is that's a good point. I'm writing
it down.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
I know our friends like Jamie Page, who just talked
with Valley Current, uh, the La Times, which every day
does a phenomenal job, and I'll news organizations, that's that's
a story that we definitely have to keep an eye on.
I don't have the complete answer to that right now,
I just do I know that through through that incredible
fire Aid concert, the conduit for a lot of that
(32:11):
information for that a lot of those funds were was
the California Community Foundation. But thank you for that point,
for making that point, and that's something we all need
to keep an eye on.
Speaker 3 (32:21):
What else we have Elmer.
Speaker 8 (32:24):
Hey, As far as Hackman dying a week after his wife,
he had Alzheimer's, right, so it's possible he.
Speaker 4 (32:33):
Didn't really know what the heck was going on.
Speaker 8 (32:36):
All right, bye, love your show.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
Yeah, I mean that is possible. I know if you were,
if you weren't with us. Earlier this afternoon they had
an update from Santa Fe, New Mexico, with the sheriffs,
with the medical examiner, and what they basically determined is
that the wife died perhaps on February eleventh, and they say,
perhaps because that they're using like videos, cam surveillance from
(33:00):
the community, cell phone email communications, that she died of hantavirus,
which is a rare lung infection that you get from
the droppings of rodents. And then he died perhaps a
week later, based on when his pacemaker stopped transmitting data.
(33:24):
So you wonder was he in the house for a
week unable to do anything take care of himself at
the age of ninety five, apparently with you know, heart disease, dementia,
other issues.
Speaker 3 (33:39):
But then he was found like near the door.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
With his coat on so a very very bizarre story,
a sad story. He was ninety five, she was sixty five,
she had pills near her, Their dog was dead. But
if you as you heard us earlier, we talked with
a reporter who monitored that news conference live from Santa Fe.
(34:03):
There may not be a lot of additional information coming
out just because the two of them have died and
they were apparently very private. There's no video cameras on
the property or security cameras that might have documented something,
and so.
Speaker 3 (34:17):
This may be.
Speaker 2 (34:19):
You know, the latest, uh, the latest and the end
of the story. Do we have one more elmer, one
more go for it.
Speaker 5 (34:27):
I don't know why you think there is a solution
to a problem that can't be solved. Basically, the problem
isn't homelessness. It's the problem is drugs, and until you
arrest people for doing drugs on the street, you're gonna
have homeless problem forever. There's no there's just throwing throwing
money into the fire. So the solution is drugs, not
(34:52):
get more beds for a bunch of drug addicts.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
Well, I understand your point, although I do think it's
a little bit simplistic. Obviously, a huge percentage. I've heard
statistics that go anywhere from twenty five to fifty percent
of the homeless are suffering from drug and alcohol addiction.
So arresting them sounds like it might be an attractive
(35:19):
option to some.
Speaker 3 (35:20):
It gets them off the street. But then what do
you do with them?
Speaker 2 (35:23):
You bring them to county jail, you kick them loose,
send them to rehab. I mean that that is obviously
a huge part of the problem, but I think that's
a bit of an over simplistic situation, not to downplay
the fact that if there weren't people with drug and
alcohol abuse, we wouldn't have nearly as many homeless. But then,
(35:43):
you know what leads to the drug and alcohol abuse?
What about you know, financial circumstances. I mean, you know,
it's it's so complicated and yet so maddening and frustrating
that that's why I say it's a problem that it
may ultimately prove, sadly, may ultimately prove to be too
big to be to be solvable.
Speaker 3 (36:05):
All Right, I'm.
Speaker 2 (36:06):
Phil shimming with it till four o'clock after the top
of the hour. One of these subjects that just is maddening.
You want to talk about doge and you want to
talk about fraud, waste abuse, you want to talk about
cutting money from the budget. I mean this California high
Speed Rail. We've talked about it before, We're going to
keep talking about it. Michael Monks has been doing a
(36:27):
lot of carverage on it. He's going to join us.
And if you think you're like pulling your hair out
over the homelessness issue, this is another one that we're
going to get into again. That's after the top of
the hour, But first let's check in once again with
Deborah Mark, who's keeping an eye on things in the
KFI twenty four hour news.
Speaker 1 (36:44):
From Hey, you've been listening to the John Cobalt Show podcast.
You can always hear the show live on KFI Am
six forty from one to four pm every Monday through Friday,
and of course, anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
The John Kobylt Show News
Host
John Kobylt
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.