March 27, 2025 • 35 mins
The John Kobylt Show Hour 1 (03/27) - CA's high-speed rail needs an additional $7 billion dollars by this summer. The LA Times released some of Mayor Karen Bass's texts from the fires.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Can't.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
I am six forty.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
You're listening to the John Cobel podcast on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Welcome.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
We are on every day from one to four o'clock,
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(00:27):
at any time you want. You could just have us
yelling in your ear all day, all night, all weekend.
We have a lot of good stuff last night, and
we'll get to this later in the hour. Last night,
La Times unleashed the Karen Bass texts.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Some of them, a few of them.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Do you remember The Times had issued a I don't
know if it's a Freedom of Information Act requests something
like that, because they are supposed to be government records,
and any press organization or any private person could request
to see certain government records, certain communications, and certainly texts
(01:14):
leading up well, texts starting with the fire, preparation and
the reaction of the fire are fair game. And Bass's
people said, oh, well, she had auto delete on. You know,
they disappear after thirty a sorry, no texts. Well, suddenly
they found some of the texts, some extraordinary technological miracle.
(01:38):
But they only released a little bit. And so we'll
do this about a half an hour. Do you think
that little bit put her in a good light or
a bad light or totally disconnected. We'll talk about that
after three thirty. Now, yesterday they had a hearing in
Sacramento on the disaster, this fiasco high speed rail. And
(02:07):
there is a woman with the California Legislative Analyst Office.
Her name is Helen Kerstein. And this is supposed to
be a non part is in office. They're supposed to
just simply explain the math. We either have the money
or we don't have the money. They don't recommend policy,
they don't criticize policy. They just say, hey, you want
(02:28):
to spend one hundred million dollars investigating the sex life
of three legged frogs. We'll tell you if the money
is there or not. Well, this is about as useful
as investigating the sex life of frogs.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
High speed rail.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
And she came to the legislature and said, there's a
seven billion dollar budget gap and we need the funds
by June or there's going to be further delays, which
is going to cost even more money. Joan, it's three
months from now. They have to find seven billion dollars. Now,
(03:04):
if you remember, the state is already got a seventy
six billion dollar budget deficit, and much of that Newsom
will not even admit to. So, when you're seventy six
billion dollars in the hole and you got Karen Bass
kicking at you for billions of dollars to bail her out,
where you're gonna find the money for this most embarrassing preer.
(03:24):
Do you know, in the history of the civilized world,
you go as far back as you want to the
Egyptian Pyramids, to ancient Greece, to Stonehenge, there has never
been a project more costly and more botched than this thing.
This is the biggest boondoggle in human history. In fact,
(03:49):
I'd say the Egyptians were far more successful. They actually
put up the pyramids. But you look look what they've
built in ancient Rome. Now there's high speed rail trains
all over the planet. Only here in California have they
spent seventeen years building nothing. And they spent seventeen billion
(04:12):
dollars in those seventeen years building nothing, and now here
comes Helen Kirstein saying, well they need another seven billion
or there's still going to be nothing, and if you
don't come up with it three months, it's going to
cost even more.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Well, this was maybe the match.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
I've thought this before, but maybe this time this is
the match that blows this thing up, because now you
have Democrats and Republicans screaming at her. Assemblyman Stephen Bennett
from Ventore, a Democrat, says we have no plan, We
have a good likelihood it's going to get worse, and
we have a short time to solve the problem. That's
not a good place for government to put itself into. Hey,
(04:59):
you guys are running the place. Here's another Democrat, Kattie
Petrie Hyphen Norris of Irvine. The timing of this project
review seems totally out of whack when we need to
be making decisions. The definition of insanity is doing the
same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome.
(05:19):
Whoa Kirstein from the Legislative anas Office said there is
no specific plan to meet that seven billion dollar gap.
We think there's some risk the gap could grow. This
isn't a way out in the future funding gap. This
is a pretty immediate funding gap. So high speed rail
(05:42):
is broke. They need seven billion dollars just to get
through the next three months. That tells you their accounts
are empty and there's no reserve to tap into. Here's
a Republican Tom Lackey, we had him on the show
recently from Palmdale. It's beyond disappointing how this project has
been managed. How can the governor and the super majority
(06:05):
Democrats good point continue to fund this project with so
many other critical priorities in the state going underfunded. Wait,
there's more. One Republican assembly Woman, Alexandra Messito said, I
was in middle school when this happened. We don't have
(06:26):
the time, we don't have the money. We just need
to pull the plug on this project. As the voters
passed it in two thousand and eight, it's never going
to happen. Let's review again for those of you who
may have been in middle school in two thousand and eight.
You weren't in middle school, were you?
Speaker 3 (06:43):
I can't remember.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
It was originally estimated to cost thirty three billion dollars.
San Francisco to La thirty three billion total is actually
supposed to be Sacramento to San Francisco to La to
Anaheim to San Diego. Never forget that it was supposed
to connect Sacramento to San Diego for thirty three billion
dollars and the project was supposed to be built five
(07:09):
years ago. Now the true cost, and this is according
to California Globe. Some estimates dating back to the Jerry
Brown years put that figure at about three hundred and
fifty billion dollars. Because right now they talk about one
(07:29):
hundred and twenty eight billion, one hundred and thirty five billion.
Well in Jerry Brown's days, and I guess this they
kept this estimate a secret, but it kind of makes
sense considering they spend seventeen billion dollars for nothing, or
here's what's fascinating. Newsom talked about this on his latest
podcast with The New York Times. Columnist ezraclined I mentioned
(07:52):
as reclined yesterday. He's a liberal democratic columnist now for
the New York Times, and he's lecturing Democrats saying, if
you guys want to win, how about being successful at
building something? And he picked on high speed rail.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
He's picked on a.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Lot of like Democratic projects, especially construction projects, because the
construction projects that should be in the Democrats wheelhouse considering
the ridiology. They want to they always want to, you know,
social investments, something that's good for all the people, that
benefits society. Mass transit, right, they're constantly worried about, you know,
quite a change of global warming.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
And mass transit.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Well, here you have the ultimate mass transit project, total botch,
total zero.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
And it looks like client putting Newsom on the defenses.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
He Newsom says, we did the railhead, we're starting to
lay track. This thing is starting to get very very real.
This is classic used car salesman.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
I'd rather pay less money for gas.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
Yeah about how many you take all the high speed
rail money, give it back to us? No, take it
off the gas tax?
Speaker 3 (09:06):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Oh oh, In fact, it was.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
There's a legislator who proposed that, and I think his
bill got shot down. It was it was it was
stop the high speed rail spending and take that money
to lower the gas tax.
Speaker 4 (09:19):
Do you know how many screwed up sidewalks are in
in my my neighborhood.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
What it was, it wasn't the money.
Speaker 4 (09:27):
Seriously, wasn't some of the money from the gas tax
going to go to fix the roads and side?
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Yeah? They totally lied. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
I was actually going to take a picture there were
so many and bring it in.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Show you should We'll put it up on the website.
Crazy now, we'll put it up on the website. And
that's that specifically, would be a Karen Bass failure. And
that's what's causing a lot of the lawsuits that we're
going bankrupt over because people trip over those sides.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
Yes, and I may be one of them one day.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
Well, you're not gonna have far to fall. But thanks John,
You're will uh.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Newsom says, at the end of the day, we've got
these constraints that are well established and existing constraints.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
Oh man, Eric, we do you get a chance? We
got to get this clip.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
We've got these constraints that are well established in existing constraints.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
What does that mean? I need an English translation.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
There's not a high speed rail system that doesn't have
some popularity and success. Most are wildly popular. Well, you
have to build them. There is no high speed rail
that's popular if it's not built. He's kind of missing
the point. He's still cheering. We already agreed to build it.
We already gave you the money. You didn't build anything,
(10:40):
ya moron, seventeen years, seventeen billion dollars. Well, you know,
when we build this thing, it's going to be really popular.
Oh man, people are going to be cheering.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Look.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Look the Bakersfield to Merced train it's rolling.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Yay everybody.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Let's go to her said better yet, let's then take
a trip back to Bakersfield day. Actually it's not even
bakers Filder said, it's Shafter to Madera. That's where the
train stations are going to be. It's an experience no
one has had in the United States, said Newsom. At
least we're out there daring.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
I got the constraints. Clip if you want it, Oh,
go ahead, play it.
Speaker 5 (11:22):
I mean the end of the day, we've got these
constraints that are well established already, these pre existing constraints.
There's not a high speed railing system that's not enjoyed
some popularity and success.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Most at least.
Speaker 5 (11:32):
Are wildly popular. It's an experience no one's had in
the United States of America. At least we're out there daring.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
We're out there daring, daring.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
What daring to not build it, daring to blow tens
of billions of dollars I not actually build it?
Speaker 2 (11:48):
What I'm not?
Speaker 1 (11:49):
Boy, he is the oilist, oiliest snake, isn't he classic
con man? You changed the subject. You start talking optimistic.
Oh at least we're daring. You know, well, there's not
a high speed rail system that isn't popular. Yeah, except
we never built ours. All right, we come back. Remember
(12:09):
after one thirty, we're gonna reveal some of the Karen
Bass texts as she was on the plane. Oh, actually
when she was still at the cocktail party in Ghana
and then went on the plane and then landed.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
What were the texts.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
And it's a very selective, but there's a lot of
other texts they didn't release. We'll tell you about it
coming up.
Speaker 6 (12:30):
You're listening to John Cobelt on demand from KFI Am
six forty.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Moist line eight seven seven moist eighty six. Maybe you've
got something to say on this high train high speed
train debacle eight seven seven moist eighty six. You usually
talk back feature on the iHeartRadio app. We just played
you a clip from Kevin Newson's podcast with Ezra Klein
who's this liberal Democratic writer is with the New York
(12:58):
Times now and he's written a book called Abundance with
another writer, Derek Thompson. And this is what's got Newsome
and other progressive is excited. And Ezra Klin is lecturing
these people. In fact, he's been on a tour here
in California, where he's originally from, lecturing politicians saying it's like,
(13:23):
you guys have failed at everything. You guys can't build anything.
If you want to get popular again, because the Democrats
are wildly unpopular and most of the states in this country,
you've got to do something that people can see, that
people can use. And there's a story in Politico that
(13:49):
says California's political dynamics are shaped by a deep frustration
over Democratic leaders inability to build enough housing, provide clean streets,
lower the cost of living in still a sense of safety,
a bit of drug addiction epidemic. Well, all you have
to do is enforce the law and make it illegal
(14:10):
to be a drug addict in the streets.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
That's not hard.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
Zach Rosen has put together some progressive group called Abundant SF.
There's nothing progressive about deep blue cities. The way they're governed.
For San Francisco and Blue Cities to succeed, they have
to grow. If the city isn't growing, it's dying. These again,
these are progressive saying this. They've looked around and realized
their way of governing has been a massive failure, and
(14:39):
that includes Los Angeles in La County. California has had
Democrats running state government entirely for over fifteen years now,
and now Gavin Newsom has found religion and what he
told has reclined. During their podcast, this is one of
(15:01):
the most important books democrats can read.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Wake Up.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
We're being judged here at a different level. And and
Klein says, we have run government badly and we can't
blame it on Republicans. And so suddenly there's been an awakening,
(15:24):
unawokening that they stink at their job. But it's been
in front of our face. And in other states what
they do when one of the parties screws up is
there giving a time out. They're told to go sit
on the bench for a few years, think it over
(15:46):
and come up with something better. But failure is not
punished here in California. I mean, I agree with that,
as we're client. He's right, because the Democrats run cities
very badly and they can't build a thing, and high
speed rail is the most glaring example.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
He's absolutely right. This is a good movement to start.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
It would be nice if both parties became competent, both
parties built things we need. But the Democrats has been
They've denied it for twenty years. They just called everybody
racist and blamed it on Trump. They're stupid, stupid little children.
They should have been given a time out by the voters.
(16:30):
They should have been saying, hey, go go sit over
there in the corner, put your duncecap on, and come
back with something. And they never were, so it happened
things got worse and worse and worse. Believe me, if
we elected a guy for governor who said, when I'm elected,
pulling the plug on high speed rail. They've had seventeen
(16:50):
years and the money we save goes to lowering the
gas tax. You start with just that. But but there's
like twelve Democrats running for office and a few Republicans.
I you you that you have to start with something
like that. That'll catch everybody's attention and it'll be the
right thing to do.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
And this stupid train.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
It's only gonna be baker Fieldmer said I in ten
or twenty years. It's stupid. So he lost the money.
We'll have to live with that. That's our consequences taxpayers
for voting for this stupid thing and for putting Gavin
Newsom in office.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
But he's actually trying to pull the routine.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
It's like, oh no, you know, it's just about to start.
It's about to get going here, it's about to get going.
We're gonna be laying down real soon.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
We're good. They should cut it.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
They should should be it should be a unanimous vote
in the Assembly and in the Senate. And if new
some veto is it, they should override his veto. That's
what they should do. That's that's what all of us
would do if we were in office right now. If
you had the equivalent in your house of something that
was seventeen billion dollars and you got nothing out of it,
(18:10):
you would cancel the project. You would stop making payments,
you'd fire the guys who were working for you. You'd say,
get out of here. You've cost us an enormous amount
of money. We have huge liabilities. We don't have anything
to show for it. Go home, you're fired, You're gone.
That's what's got to be done here. All right, we
(18:31):
come back another incompetent boob, Karen Bass. Oh, the texts,
the texts while she was drinking in Ghana, flying on
a military plane traveling twenty four hours landing in La.
What was she saying? What were they saying to her?
We have the story from the La Times.
Speaker 6 (18:51):
You're listening to John Cobels on demand from KFI A
six forty.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
So the baseball games you can't get them on b
l M TV.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
Yeah, I was having a little dyslexic moment.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
I heard that.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
Well then I thought, you know what, you know what happens?
Speaker 4 (19:09):
I mean, you know this that when you say something
sometimes you think you screw up, but.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
You really didn't. And so I wasn't sure.
Speaker 4 (19:16):
So then I made sure that the next time I
did say M L B. I don't know what I said.
Eric said, I said something.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
You said b L yeah l TV. Yeah, I.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
Don't need it.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
Well, you know, I didn't believe what I heard, and
neither did Eric. So just to you know, so we
can settle on this issues.
Speaker 3 (19:38):
With b L M t V. I know Okay, I
I know that it's MLB and I don't know. You
know what, I can't be responsible. This is live radio people,
we're not recorded.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
I don't know what's on b l M TV.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
Maybe housing suggestions, Yeah, live radio, a tour all their
mansions that they've purchased.
Speaker 3 (20:06):
All right, thanks guys, I love you, sure thing.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
Now on to Karen bassuh.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
About a few weeks ago, the La Times asked Karen
Bass for her texts to public records request, which the
mayor under the law is required to hand over to
the press and anybody else interested. All this, all these
communications are part of the public record, and so the
La Times said, well, give us your text messages. Since
(20:36):
you were in Africa, in Ghana at the time, and
you claim you were on top of it constantly, let's
let's judge.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
How about how if you were on top of it? Uh?
Speaker 1 (20:49):
She said, wow, oh you know they were deleted. I
had auto delete on my phone. Sorry about that. And
nobody believed her. Like nobody believed her. So all of
a sudden, they have released one hundred and twenty five
text messages, which is not a lot. For several days
(21:10):
of communicating between Bass and all of her aids and
various politicians and the fire chief and whatnot. But this
is very selective, so god knows what's on the messages
that weren't released. They claim that they first had said
there's no responsive records, no responsive records, that the auto
(21:35):
delete was set for every thirty days, but now BASSES
people are saying they could recover the messages using specialized technology,
maybe the undeleted button or and on Friday they provided
one hundred and twenty five messages, but additional messages. Don't
(21:58):
know the number were reading dactored are withheld based on
exemptions to the California Public Records Act. Like texts that
made her look really really bad. I guess those are exempted.
Se Leon read to you what they have.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
Starts with.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
Just before eleven am LA time, January seventh, that's seven
almost seven o'clock in Party City in Ghana, where Karen
Bass was all dressed up and ready to go. In fact,
they said she was wearing a red dress and matching shoes.
(22:36):
That's stylish, and because she usually doesn't look that stylish,
she looks kind of dowdy most of the time, so
she was all dressed up, probably very excited she's gonna
hang with other world leaders. And she got a text
from her deputy chief of Staff, Selene Cordero. Now this
woman's important because Selene Cordero was given the job of
(22:59):
overseeing the fire and police department. She was like standing
in as the deputy mayor for public safety because the
old deputy Mayor, Brian Williams.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
Was put on leave.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
He was being investigated for calling in bomb threats to
city Hall. Yes, that's right. The mayor's deputy to oversee
police and fire is on leave on this day, and
I think he's still on leave, still being investigated bomb
threats to city Hall.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
So this Celine Cordero.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
And I'm sure she was well qualified, wrote to Bass
on phone with Chief Crowley, Now Kristin Crowley, the fire chief.
She was in a group chat that included Bass and
two other aides. Deputy Mayor of Communication Zach Sidell, who's
like the silliest looking soy boy you will ever see.
(24:04):
Daniel Guss sent me a picture of him and he's
just a really happy guy. And Chief of Staff Carolyn
Webb Demasias. He's got a lot of names. And here's
the big message on phone with Chief Crowley. Now two
significant fires in the city. Now she will call you, Mayor.
(24:25):
Bass was seventy five hundred miles away for the inauguration
of the President of Ghana. She was going to depart
the city of Acra, the Ghanian capital, in just hours
after the Embassy cocktail party, and there are photos of
(24:45):
her wearing the red dress and matching shoes. Cordero warned
of potential evacuations and one hundred acres already affected in
the next twenty minutes. Well after that message was sent
and Bass read it, Bass went back into the cocktail party,
and there are photos of her leaning in and smiling
(25:08):
as she's talking with the former German president, Christian Wolf.
They have a photo posted on social media. There's no
sense of urgency. Didn't demand a taxi and say take
me to the airport. I'll go back in and have
another drink. The rest of the week's going to be bad.
(25:29):
Bass spent much of the party, according to The Times,
in a separate room making calls, shortly before posing for
another photo with a city staffer and a local DJ.
Right now homes are burning photo local DJ, German president.
(25:51):
She gets another urgent text from Cordero. Cordero sent it
to a wider group of AIDS. Pallisades fire is now
two hundred eight makers. An evacuation order would soon go
out between eight and eight thirty, which is between eleven
(26:13):
and eleven thirty am that morning. Bass crowded into official
vehicles and finally went to Kotoko International Airport. A military
jet is waiting Cordero. She was now in charge of
public safety. Her next text came at eight oh seven.
Cordero wrote to Bass, Crowley says Holmes will be soon lost,
(26:36):
but Gavin Newsom is coming to a command post. Woo,
and she and they're going to meet Crowley call me
Zach immediately, Bass wrote, referring to her AID mister happy. Now,
while Bass is getting a ride to the airport, residents
(26:59):
were abandoning cars in that traffic jam on palis Age Drive.
You remember that we had a woman on oh yeah,
who jumped out of the car while we were talking.
Speaker 4 (27:08):
I was having dinner with somebody last night and she
said one of her friends was one of those people
that literally got the kids and the dogs and whatever
and left the car.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
And hey, Eric, do we still have that clip? And
that woman I think her name was Kelly, who jumped
out of the car.
Speaker 2 (27:23):
She was jamped.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
Yes, tell me if you can find Yeah, give you
a minute, okay, because I want to play it. And
just remember that Bass is, uh, it's having a drink
at this moment. For the next four hours, the Gulf
String jet cruised above Western Africa and the Atlantic Ocean,
(27:45):
and Bass repeatedly reminded her staff that.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
I can make calls from the plane.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
I have phone access on the plane, she wrote, with
exclamation points. If you see a strange number, it's me
capital letters, exclamation point three. Oh one will show us
a military base. This is now an two hours after
the fire started. She I guess you know, people went
(28:13):
about trying to respond to the fire, and she wasn't.
Speaker 2 (28:16):
Nobody was. She wasn't getting any calls. Oh.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
Here here's the clip of this woman, Kelly, jumping out
of her car while she's talking to us on air.
Speaker 5 (28:25):
Governor, you got it?
Speaker 2 (28:27):
Oh not that one.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
Yeah, well, we'll play it when we get it.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
I thought you wanted the one confronting newsom no, no.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
No, Cordero addressed Bass in a group text. So the
celine Cordero is now running the city, asking for permission
to put together a meeting of the city's general managers. See,
that's the thing. So much time is wasted. Because Celine
Cordero is a deputy chief of staff, she doesn't have
(28:54):
the authority to call the general managers together for a meeting.
So she's got a contact that who's up on a
plane somewhere. Who's then got to give the permission. Meantime,
homes are burning. Cordero wrote, it'd be great to put
together a GM call and have you join stress urgency,
importance of all hands on deck.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
A half hour late.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
An hour and a half later, Bass appeared to be
on a zoom call with her staffers, and she's writing,
I am listening. Don't know why you can't tell me
hear me, she corrected, So she's on a zoom call,
but they can't hear her. More homes are burning, but no,
(29:40):
she was right on top of the fire every minute
of the way. Cordero responds, Oh, no, okay, no, we
can't hear you. Yeah, I don't know if zoom works
when you're on a plane. Meantime, back in Los Angeles,
Kristin Crowley, the fire chief, Gavin Newsom, and the council
(30:03):
President Marquise Harris Dawson had all gathered together.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
We'll get to that next. Boy.
Speaker 1 (30:10):
This is riveting, isn't it. This is I'm on the
edge meantime. How many people's homes have burned? Well, these
people are foxing around with their phones and zoom and
text messages.
Speaker 6 (30:23):
You're listening to John cobelts on demand from KFI Am sixty.
Speaker 1 (30:29):
Follow us at John Cobelt Radio on social media. John
Cobelt Radio. We've been going through some of the Karen
Bess text messages that the La Times got a hold of,
very selective messages. She was at the cocktail party when
she got word that the fire had started raging in
the Palisades. She continued at the cocktail party for a time,
(30:52):
and you had all these aids floundering around.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
Now.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
When we last left, it was clear that Bass had
trouble staying in touch because she was on the military
plane and she was trying to be on a zoom
call with her staffers, and she's writing, I am listening.
Don't know why you can't tell me hear me? She corrected,
(31:16):
Oh no, okay, we can't hear you. Cordero Selene Cordero,
the deputy chief of staff, responded. So that's when Newsom
and Marquise Harris Dawson, the fake acting mayor, assembled outside
for a hastily assembled news conference at will Rogers State Beach.
(31:37):
Because now now Harris Dawson, I guess he's in charge
and Selene Cordero's in charge, and they were holding news
conferences and having meetings. Now what I notice in this
story no text about hey.
Speaker 2 (31:54):
Does the fire department have enough wader?
Speaker 1 (31:57):
I don't hear anybody saying to Karen Bass, Hey, you
know two big reservoirs are bone dry. Hey we got
a thousand fire hydrants not working. Hey, we have one
hundred fire engines that are in the shop. Hey, we
don't have mechanics to fix the fire engines. And the
firefighters were sent home by the chief. Anyway, I don't
(32:18):
see any of that these text messages. Instead, it's Karen
Besk going hello, can you hear me?
Speaker 2 (32:25):
We can't hear you. Can you hear me now? On text?
Speaker 1 (32:31):
And then she started getting texts from all kinds of
odd ball characters, such as the new US editor Adam Schiff.
He wrote, and here's Captain obvious to the rescue. The
fires are just awful. Please let me know whatever I
can do to help, Right you grab a hose, Shift,
(32:54):
Why don't you fill up the reservoir?
Speaker 2 (32:58):
What can I do that do anything to help you?
Speaker 1 (33:01):
Boob an a half Oh, then the other fake senator Alex Padilla.
He reached out a few minutes later, Karen, I imagine
you're incredibly busy at the moment.
Speaker 2 (33:14):
Another genius Texan. Just want to check in.
Speaker 1 (33:19):
My staff is in touch with oh esk cal fire
and other emergency personnel.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
Good.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
Maybe they have some water to fill the reservoir with.
Maybe they can fix some of the fire engines. Maybe
they can call the firefighters back to work themselves. Let
us know how we can support to lay you guys.
Blew it already, there's nothing to support. She wrote back
to Alex Padia. Thank you, Alex. Actually I'm on a
(33:46):
plane rushing back from Africa. I should be in town
by noon. Thanks a million. I want to call you
in a day or so. I know we'll need support. Yeah,
well so balsads will be flattened. She wrote pretty much
the same thing to Adam Shift. Thanks so much. I'm
actually in the air headed home from Ghana. I think
I mentioned I intended the inauguration.
Speaker 5 (34:07):
I am.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
I am following it the fire while I make my
way home. But I know disaster aid.
Speaker 2 (34:12):
Will be needed.
Speaker 4 (34:15):
Well, okay, at least she's on top of things.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
What was needed was water, firefighters, fire engines. You needed
the DWP to turn off the electricity because their power
poles were going to collapse in a few hours and
set a huge fire north of the village. All over again,
(34:37):
that's what you needed. All right, we come back. Well,
by the way, I didn't read one line in there.
I assume that Bass released the text that made her
look okay. I didn't read one line in there that
should give anybody confidence that she had any idea what
was going on or what to do, and just a
(35:00):
bunch of these political boobs.
Speaker 2 (35:02):
Can I help?
Speaker 1 (35:03):
You must be very busy. Yeah, we're busy. We're gonna
talk to Alex Stone.
Speaker 2 (35:09):
Oh.
Speaker 1 (35:09):
This run of attack attacks on Tesla vehicles, there was
an arrest made in Las Vegas. Guys thirty six years old.
He was throwing molotov cocktails at Tesla's dope thirty six
years old. There's a success. It's always the losers who
do this stuff. Alex will beyond Next stepber Mark Live,
(35:31):
CAFI twenty four our newsroom. 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
Can't.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
I am six forty.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
You're listening to the John Cobel podcast on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Welcome.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
We are on every day from one to four o'clock,
and then after four o'clock the show never stops, goes
on forever. Because you could access the iHeartRadio app for
the podcast, John Cobelt's Show on demand podcast same as
the radio show, and you can listen to that anytime
you want, and you can listen to any other show
(00:27):
at any time you want. You could just have us
yelling in your ear all day, all night, all weekend.
We have a lot of good stuff last night, and
we'll get to this later in the hour. Last night,
La Times unleashed the Karen Bass texts.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Some of them, a few of them.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Do you remember The Times had issued a I don't
know if it's a Freedom of Information Act requests something
like that, because they are supposed to be government records,
and any press organization or any private person could request
to see certain government records, certain communications, and certainly texts
(01:14):
leading up well, texts starting with the fire, preparation and
the reaction of the fire are fair game. And Bass's
people said, oh, well, she had auto delete on. You know,
they disappear after thirty a sorry, no texts. Well, suddenly
they found some of the texts, some extraordinary technological miracle.
(01:38):
But they only released a little bit. And so we'll
do this about a half an hour. Do you think
that little bit put her in a good light or
a bad light or totally disconnected. We'll talk about that
after three thirty. Now, yesterday they had a hearing in
Sacramento on the disaster, this fiasco high speed rail. And
(02:07):
there is a woman with the California Legislative Analyst Office.
Her name is Helen Kerstein. And this is supposed to
be a non part is in office. They're supposed to
just simply explain the math. We either have the money
or we don't have the money. They don't recommend policy,
they don't criticize policy. They just say, hey, you want
(02:28):
to spend one hundred million dollars investigating the sex life
of three legged frogs. We'll tell you if the money
is there or not. Well, this is about as useful
as investigating the sex life of frogs.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
High speed rail.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
And she came to the legislature and said, there's a
seven billion dollar budget gap and we need the funds
by June or there's going to be further delays, which
is going to cost even more money. Joan, it's three
months from now. They have to find seven billion dollars. Now,
(03:04):
if you remember, the state is already got a seventy
six billion dollar budget deficit, and much of that Newsom
will not even admit to. So, when you're seventy six
billion dollars in the hole and you got Karen Bass
kicking at you for billions of dollars to bail her out,
where you're gonna find the money for this most embarrassing preer.
(03:24):
Do you know, in the history of the civilized world,
you go as far back as you want to the
Egyptian Pyramids, to ancient Greece, to Stonehenge, there has never
been a project more costly and more botched than this thing.
This is the biggest boondoggle in human history. In fact,
(03:49):
I'd say the Egyptians were far more successful. They actually
put up the pyramids. But you look look what they've
built in ancient Rome. Now there's high speed rail trains
all over the planet. Only here in California have they
spent seventeen years building nothing. And they spent seventeen billion
(04:12):
dollars in those seventeen years building nothing, and now here
comes Helen Kirstein saying, well they need another seven billion
or there's still going to be nothing, and if you
don't come up with it three months, it's going to
cost even more.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Well, this was maybe the match.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
I've thought this before, but maybe this time this is
the match that blows this thing up, because now you
have Democrats and Republicans screaming at her. Assemblyman Stephen Bennett
from Ventore, a Democrat, says we have no plan, We
have a good likelihood it's going to get worse, and
we have a short time to solve the problem. That's
not a good place for government to put itself into. Hey,
(04:59):
you guys are running the place. Here's another Democrat, Kattie
Petrie Hyphen Norris of Irvine. The timing of this project
review seems totally out of whack when we need to
be making decisions. The definition of insanity is doing the
same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome.
(05:19):
Whoa Kirstein from the Legislative anas Office said there is
no specific plan to meet that seven billion dollar gap.
We think there's some risk the gap could grow. This
isn't a way out in the future funding gap. This
is a pretty immediate funding gap. So high speed rail
(05:42):
is broke. They need seven billion dollars just to get
through the next three months. That tells you their accounts
are empty and there's no reserve to tap into. Here's
a Republican Tom Lackey, we had him on the show
recently from Palmdale. It's beyond disappointing how this project has
been managed. How can the governor and the super majority
(06:05):
Democrats good point continue to fund this project with so
many other critical priorities in the state going underfunded. Wait,
there's more. One Republican assembly Woman, Alexandra Messito said, I
was in middle school when this happened. We don't have
(06:26):
the time, we don't have the money. We just need
to pull the plug on this project. As the voters
passed it in two thousand and eight, it's never going
to happen. Let's review again for those of you who
may have been in middle school in two thousand and eight.
You weren't in middle school, were you?
Speaker 3 (06:43):
I can't remember.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
It was originally estimated to cost thirty three billion dollars.
San Francisco to La thirty three billion total is actually
supposed to be Sacramento to San Francisco to La to
Anaheim to San Diego. Never forget that it was supposed
to connect Sacramento to San Diego for thirty three billion
dollars and the project was supposed to be built five
(07:09):
years ago. Now the true cost, and this is according
to California Globe. Some estimates dating back to the Jerry
Brown years put that figure at about three hundred and
fifty billion dollars. Because right now they talk about one
(07:29):
hundred and twenty eight billion, one hundred and thirty five billion.
Well in Jerry Brown's days, and I guess this they
kept this estimate a secret, but it kind of makes
sense considering they spend seventeen billion dollars for nothing, or
here's what's fascinating. Newsom talked about this on his latest
podcast with The New York Times. Columnist ezraclined I mentioned
(07:52):
as reclined yesterday. He's a liberal democratic columnist now for
the New York Times, and he's lecturing Democrats saying, if
you guys want to win, how about being successful at
building something? And he picked on high speed rail.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
He's picked on a.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Lot of like Democratic projects, especially construction projects, because the
construction projects that should be in the Democrats wheelhouse considering
the ridiology. They want to they always want to, you know,
social investments, something that's good for all the people, that
benefits society. Mass transit, right, they're constantly worried about, you know,
quite a change of global warming.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
And mass transit.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Well, here you have the ultimate mass transit project, total botch,
total zero.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
And it looks like client putting Newsom on the defenses.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
He Newsom says, we did the railhead, we're starting to
lay track. This thing is starting to get very very real.
This is classic used car salesman.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
I'd rather pay less money for gas.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
Yeah about how many you take all the high speed
rail money, give it back to us? No, take it
off the gas tax?
Speaker 3 (09:06):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Oh oh, In fact, it was.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
There's a legislator who proposed that, and I think his
bill got shot down. It was it was it was
stop the high speed rail spending and take that money
to lower the gas tax.
Speaker 4 (09:19):
Do you know how many screwed up sidewalks are in
in my my neighborhood.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
What it was, it wasn't the money.
Speaker 4 (09:27):
Seriously, wasn't some of the money from the gas tax
going to go to fix the roads and side?
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Yeah? They totally lied. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
I was actually going to take a picture there were
so many and bring it in.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Show you should We'll put it up on the website.
Crazy now, we'll put it up on the website. And
that's that specifically, would be a Karen Bass failure. And
that's what's causing a lot of the lawsuits that we're
going bankrupt over because people trip over those sides.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
Yes, and I may be one of them one day.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
Well, you're not gonna have far to fall. But thanks John,
You're will uh.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Newsom says, at the end of the day, we've got
these constraints that are well established and existing constraints.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
Oh man, Eric, we do you get a chance? We
got to get this clip.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
We've got these constraints that are well established in existing constraints.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
What does that mean? I need an English translation.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
There's not a high speed rail system that doesn't have
some popularity and success. Most are wildly popular. Well, you
have to build them. There is no high speed rail
that's popular if it's not built. He's kind of missing
the point. He's still cheering. We already agreed to build it.
We already gave you the money. You didn't build anything,
(10:40):
ya moron, seventeen years, seventeen billion dollars. Well, you know,
when we build this thing, it's going to be really popular.
Oh man, people are going to be cheering.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Look.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Look the Bakersfield to Merced train it's rolling.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Yay everybody.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Let's go to her said better yet, let's then take
a trip back to Bakersfield day. Actually it's not even
bakers Filder said, it's Shafter to Madera. That's where the
train stations are going to be. It's an experience no
one has had in the United States, said Newsom. At
least we're out there daring.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
I got the constraints. Clip if you want it, Oh,
go ahead, play it.
Speaker 5 (11:22):
I mean the end of the day, we've got these
constraints that are well established already, these pre existing constraints.
There's not a high speed railing system that's not enjoyed
some popularity and success.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Most at least.
Speaker 5 (11:32):
Are wildly popular. It's an experience no one's had in
the United States of America. At least we're out there daring.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
We're out there daring, daring.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
What daring to not build it, daring to blow tens
of billions of dollars I not actually build it?
Speaker 2 (11:48):
What I'm not?
Speaker 1 (11:49):
Boy, he is the oilist, oiliest snake, isn't he classic
con man? You changed the subject. You start talking optimistic.
Oh at least we're daring. You know, well, there's not
a high speed rail system that isn't popular. Yeah, except
we never built ours. All right, we come back. Remember
(12:09):
after one thirty, we're gonna reveal some of the Karen
Bass texts as she was on the plane. Oh, actually
when she was still at the cocktail party in Ghana
and then went on the plane and then landed.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
What were the texts.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
And it's a very selective, but there's a lot of
other texts they didn't release. We'll tell you about it
coming up.
Speaker 6 (12:30):
You're listening to John Cobelt on demand from KFI Am
six forty.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Moist line eight seven seven moist eighty six. Maybe you've
got something to say on this high train high speed
train debacle eight seven seven moist eighty six. You usually
talk back feature on the iHeartRadio app. We just played
you a clip from Kevin Newson's podcast with Ezra Klein
who's this liberal Democratic writer is with the New York
(12:58):
Times now and he's written a book called Abundance with
another writer, Derek Thompson. And this is what's got Newsome
and other progressive is excited. And Ezra Klin is lecturing
these people. In fact, he's been on a tour here
in California, where he's originally from, lecturing politicians saying it's like,
(13:23):
you guys have failed at everything. You guys can't build anything.
If you want to get popular again, because the Democrats
are wildly unpopular and most of the states in this country,
you've got to do something that people can see, that
people can use. And there's a story in Politico that
(13:49):
says California's political dynamics are shaped by a deep frustration
over Democratic leaders inability to build enough housing, provide clean streets,
lower the cost of living in still a sense of safety,
a bit of drug addiction epidemic. Well, all you have
to do is enforce the law and make it illegal
(14:10):
to be a drug addict in the streets.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
That's not hard.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
Zach Rosen has put together some progressive group called Abundant SF.
There's nothing progressive about deep blue cities. The way they're governed.
For San Francisco and Blue Cities to succeed, they have
to grow. If the city isn't growing, it's dying. These again,
these are progressive saying this. They've looked around and realized
their way of governing has been a massive failure, and
(14:39):
that includes Los Angeles in La County. California has had
Democrats running state government entirely for over fifteen years now,
and now Gavin Newsom has found religion and what he
told has reclined. During their podcast, this is one of
(15:01):
the most important books democrats can read.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Wake Up.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
We're being judged here at a different level. And and
Klein says, we have run government badly and we can't
blame it on Republicans. And so suddenly there's been an awakening,
(15:24):
unawokening that they stink at their job. But it's been
in front of our face. And in other states what
they do when one of the parties screws up is
there giving a time out. They're told to go sit
on the bench for a few years, think it over
(15:46):
and come up with something better. But failure is not
punished here in California. I mean, I agree with that,
as we're client. He's right, because the Democrats run cities
very badly and they can't build a thing, and high
speed rail is the most glaring example.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
He's absolutely right. This is a good movement to start.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
It would be nice if both parties became competent, both
parties built things we need. But the Democrats has been
They've denied it for twenty years. They just called everybody
racist and blamed it on Trump. They're stupid, stupid little children.
They should have been given a time out by the voters.
(16:30):
They should have been saying, hey, go go sit over
there in the corner, put your duncecap on, and come
back with something. And they never were, so it happened
things got worse and worse and worse. Believe me, if
we elected a guy for governor who said, when I'm elected,
pulling the plug on high speed rail. They've had seventeen
(16:50):
years and the money we save goes to lowering the
gas tax. You start with just that. But but there's
like twelve Democrats running for office and a few Republicans.
I you you that you have to start with something
like that. That'll catch everybody's attention and it'll be the
right thing to do.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
And this stupid train.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
It's only gonna be baker Fieldmer said I in ten
or twenty years. It's stupid. So he lost the money.
We'll have to live with that. That's our consequences taxpayers
for voting for this stupid thing and for putting Gavin
Newsom in office.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
But he's actually trying to pull the routine.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
It's like, oh no, you know, it's just about to start.
It's about to get going here, it's about to get going.
We're gonna be laying down real soon.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
We're good. They should cut it.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
They should should be it should be a unanimous vote
in the Assembly and in the Senate. And if new
some veto is it, they should override his veto. That's
what they should do. That's that's what all of us
would do if we were in office right now. If
you had the equivalent in your house of something that
was seventeen billion dollars and you got nothing out of it,
(18:10):
you would cancel the project. You would stop making payments,
you'd fire the guys who were working for you. You'd say,
get out of here. You've cost us an enormous amount
of money. We have huge liabilities. We don't have anything
to show for it. Go home, you're fired, You're gone.
That's what's got to be done here. All right, we
(18:31):
come back another incompetent boob, Karen Bass. Oh, the texts,
the texts while she was drinking in Ghana, flying on
a military plane traveling twenty four hours landing in La.
What was she saying? What were they saying to her?
We have the story from the La Times.
Speaker 6 (18:51):
You're listening to John Cobels on demand from KFI A
six forty.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
So the baseball games you can't get them on b
l M TV.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
Yeah, I was having a little dyslexic moment.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
I heard that.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
Well then I thought, you know what, you know what happens?
Speaker 4 (19:09):
I mean, you know this that when you say something
sometimes you think you screw up, but.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
You really didn't. And so I wasn't sure.
Speaker 4 (19:16):
So then I made sure that the next time I
did say M L B. I don't know what I said.
Eric said, I said something.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
You said b L yeah l TV. Yeah, I.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
Don't need it.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
Well, you know, I didn't believe what I heard, and
neither did Eric. So just to you know, so we
can settle on this issues.
Speaker 3 (19:38):
With b L M t V. I know Okay, I
I know that it's MLB and I don't know. You
know what, I can't be responsible. This is live radio people,
we're not recorded.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
I don't know what's on b l M TV.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
Maybe housing suggestions, Yeah, live radio, a tour all their
mansions that they've purchased.
Speaker 3 (20:06):
All right, thanks guys, I love you, sure thing.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
Now on to Karen bassuh.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
About a few weeks ago, the La Times asked Karen
Bass for her texts to public records request, which the
mayor under the law is required to hand over to
the press and anybody else interested. All this, all these
communications are part of the public record, and so the
La Times said, well, give us your text messages. Since
(20:36):
you were in Africa, in Ghana at the time, and
you claim you were on top of it constantly, let's
let's judge.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
How about how if you were on top of it? Uh?
Speaker 1 (20:49):
She said, wow, oh you know they were deleted. I
had auto delete on my phone. Sorry about that. And
nobody believed her. Like nobody believed her. So all of
a sudden, they have released one hundred and twenty five
text messages, which is not a lot. For several days
(21:10):
of communicating between Bass and all of her aids and
various politicians and the fire chief and whatnot. But this
is very selective, so god knows what's on the messages
that weren't released. They claim that they first had said
there's no responsive records, no responsive records, that the auto
(21:35):
delete was set for every thirty days, but now BASSES
people are saying they could recover the messages using specialized technology,
maybe the undeleted button or and on Friday they provided
one hundred and twenty five messages, but additional messages. Don't
(21:58):
know the number were reading dactored are withheld based on
exemptions to the California Public Records Act. Like texts that
made her look really really bad. I guess those are exempted.
Se Leon read to you what they have.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
Starts with.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
Just before eleven am LA time, January seventh, that's seven
almost seven o'clock in Party City in Ghana, where Karen
Bass was all dressed up and ready to go. In fact,
they said she was wearing a red dress and matching shoes.
(22:36):
That's stylish, and because she usually doesn't look that stylish,
she looks kind of dowdy most of the time, so
she was all dressed up, probably very excited she's gonna
hang with other world leaders. And she got a text
from her deputy chief of Staff, Selene Cordero. Now this
woman's important because Selene Cordero was given the job of
(22:59):
overseeing the fire and police department. She was like standing
in as the deputy mayor for public safety because the
old deputy Mayor, Brian Williams.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
Was put on leave.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
He was being investigated for calling in bomb threats to
city Hall. Yes, that's right. The mayor's deputy to oversee
police and fire is on leave on this day, and
I think he's still on leave, still being investigated bomb
threats to city Hall.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
So this Celine Cordero.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
And I'm sure she was well qualified, wrote to Bass
on phone with Chief Crowley, Now Kristin Crowley, the fire chief.
She was in a group chat that included Bass and
two other aides. Deputy Mayor of Communication Zach Sidell, who's
like the silliest looking soy boy you will ever see.
(24:04):
Daniel Guss sent me a picture of him and he's
just a really happy guy. And Chief of Staff Carolyn
Webb Demasias. He's got a lot of names. And here's
the big message on phone with Chief Crowley. Now two
significant fires in the city. Now she will call you, Mayor.
(24:25):
Bass was seventy five hundred miles away for the inauguration
of the President of Ghana. She was going to depart
the city of Acra, the Ghanian capital, in just hours
after the Embassy cocktail party, and there are photos of
(24:45):
her wearing the red dress and matching shoes. Cordero warned
of potential evacuations and one hundred acres already affected in
the next twenty minutes. Well after that message was sent
and Bass read it, Bass went back into the cocktail party,
and there are photos of her leaning in and smiling
(25:08):
as she's talking with the former German president, Christian Wolf.
They have a photo posted on social media. There's no
sense of urgency. Didn't demand a taxi and say take
me to the airport. I'll go back in and have
another drink. The rest of the week's going to be bad.
(25:29):
Bass spent much of the party, according to The Times,
in a separate room making calls, shortly before posing for
another photo with a city staffer and a local DJ.
Right now homes are burning photo local DJ, German president.
(25:51):
She gets another urgent text from Cordero. Cordero sent it
to a wider group of AIDS. Pallisades fire is now
two hundred eight makers. An evacuation order would soon go
out between eight and eight thirty, which is between eleven
(26:13):
and eleven thirty am that morning. Bass crowded into official
vehicles and finally went to Kotoko International Airport. A military
jet is waiting Cordero. She was now in charge of
public safety. Her next text came at eight oh seven.
Cordero wrote to Bass, Crowley says Holmes will be soon lost,
(26:36):
but Gavin Newsom is coming to a command post. Woo,
and she and they're going to meet Crowley call me
Zach immediately, Bass wrote, referring to her AID mister happy. Now,
while Bass is getting a ride to the airport, residents
(26:59):
were abandoning cars in that traffic jam on palis Age Drive.
You remember that we had a woman on oh yeah,
who jumped out of the car while we were talking.
Speaker 4 (27:08):
I was having dinner with somebody last night and she
said one of her friends was one of those people
that literally got the kids and the dogs and whatever
and left the car.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
And hey, Eric, do we still have that clip? And
that woman I think her name was Kelly, who jumped
out of the car.
Speaker 2 (27:23):
She was jamped.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
Yes, tell me if you can find Yeah, give you
a minute, okay, because I want to play it. And
just remember that Bass is, uh, it's having a drink
at this moment. For the next four hours, the Gulf
String jet cruised above Western Africa and the Atlantic Ocean,
(27:45):
and Bass repeatedly reminded her staff that.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
I can make calls from the plane.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
I have phone access on the plane, she wrote, with
exclamation points. If you see a strange number, it's me
capital letters, exclamation point three. Oh one will show us
a military base. This is now an two hours after
the fire started. She I guess you know, people went
(28:13):
about trying to respond to the fire, and she wasn't.
Speaker 2 (28:16):
Nobody was. She wasn't getting any calls. Oh.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
Here here's the clip of this woman, Kelly, jumping out
of her car while she's talking to us on air.
Speaker 5 (28:25):
Governor, you got it?
Speaker 2 (28:27):
Oh not that one.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
Yeah, well, we'll play it when we get it.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
I thought you wanted the one confronting newsom no, no.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
No, Cordero addressed Bass in a group text. So the
celine Cordero is now running the city, asking for permission
to put together a meeting of the city's general managers. See,
that's the thing. So much time is wasted. Because Celine
Cordero is a deputy chief of staff, she doesn't have
(28:54):
the authority to call the general managers together for a meeting.
So she's got a contact that who's up on a
plane somewhere. Who's then got to give the permission. Meantime,
homes are burning. Cordero wrote, it'd be great to put
together a GM call and have you join stress urgency,
importance of all hands on deck.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
A half hour late.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
An hour and a half later, Bass appeared to be
on a zoom call with her staffers, and she's writing,
I am listening. Don't know why you can't tell me
hear me, she corrected, So she's on a zoom call,
but they can't hear her. More homes are burning, but no,
(29:40):
she was right on top of the fire every minute
of the way. Cordero responds, Oh, no, okay, no, we
can't hear you. Yeah, I don't know if zoom works
when you're on a plane. Meantime, back in Los Angeles,
Kristin Crowley, the fire chief, Gavin Newsom, and the council
(30:03):
President Marquise Harris Dawson had all gathered together.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
We'll get to that next. Boy.
Speaker 1 (30:10):
This is riveting, isn't it. This is I'm on the
edge meantime. How many people's homes have burned? Well, these
people are foxing around with their phones and zoom and
text messages.
Speaker 6 (30:23):
You're listening to John cobelts on demand from KFI Am sixty.
Speaker 1 (30:29):
Follow us at John Cobelt Radio on social media. John
Cobelt Radio. We've been going through some of the Karen
Bess text messages that the La Times got a hold of,
very selective messages. She was at the cocktail party when
she got word that the fire had started raging in
the Palisades. She continued at the cocktail party for a time,
(30:52):
and you had all these aids floundering around.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
Now.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
When we last left, it was clear that Bass had
trouble staying in touch because she was on the military
plane and she was trying to be on a zoom
call with her staffers, and she's writing, I am listening.
Don't know why you can't tell me hear me? She corrected,
(31:16):
Oh no, okay, we can't hear you. Cordero Selene Cordero,
the deputy chief of staff, responded. So that's when Newsom
and Marquise Harris Dawson, the fake acting mayor, assembled outside
for a hastily assembled news conference at will Rogers State Beach.
(31:37):
Because now now Harris Dawson, I guess he's in charge
and Selene Cordero's in charge, and they were holding news
conferences and having meetings. Now what I notice in this
story no text about hey.
Speaker 2 (31:54):
Does the fire department have enough wader?
Speaker 1 (31:57):
I don't hear anybody saying to Karen Bass, Hey, you
know two big reservoirs are bone dry. Hey we got
a thousand fire hydrants not working. Hey, we have one
hundred fire engines that are in the shop. Hey, we
don't have mechanics to fix the fire engines. And the
firefighters were sent home by the chief. Anyway, I don't
(32:18):
see any of that these text messages. Instead, it's Karen
Besk going hello, can you hear me?
Speaker 2 (32:25):
We can't hear you. Can you hear me now? On text?
Speaker 1 (32:31):
And then she started getting texts from all kinds of
odd ball characters, such as the new US editor Adam Schiff.
He wrote, and here's Captain obvious to the rescue. The
fires are just awful. Please let me know whatever I
can do to help, Right you grab a hose, Shift,
(32:54):
Why don't you fill up the reservoir?
Speaker 2 (32:58):
What can I do that do anything to help you?
Speaker 1 (33:01):
Boob an a half Oh, then the other fake senator Alex Padilla.
He reached out a few minutes later, Karen, I imagine
you're incredibly busy at the moment.
Speaker 2 (33:14):
Another genius Texan. Just want to check in.
Speaker 1 (33:19):
My staff is in touch with oh esk cal fire
and other emergency personnel.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
Good.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
Maybe they have some water to fill the reservoir with.
Maybe they can fix some of the fire engines. Maybe
they can call the firefighters back to work themselves. Let
us know how we can support to lay you guys.
Blew it already, there's nothing to support. She wrote back
to Alex Padia. Thank you, Alex. Actually I'm on a
(33:46):
plane rushing back from Africa. I should be in town
by noon. Thanks a million. I want to call you
in a day or so. I know we'll need support. Yeah,
well so balsads will be flattened. She wrote pretty much
the same thing to Adam Shift. Thanks so much. I'm
actually in the air headed home from Ghana. I think
I mentioned I intended the inauguration.
Speaker 5 (34:07):
I am.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
I am following it the fire while I make my
way home. But I know disaster aid.
Speaker 2 (34:12):
Will be needed.
Speaker 4 (34:15):
Well, okay, at least she's on top of things.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
What was needed was water, firefighters, fire engines. You needed
the DWP to turn off the electricity because their power
poles were going to collapse in a few hours and
set a huge fire north of the village. All over again,
(34:37):
that's what you needed. All right, we come back. Well,
by the way, I didn't read one line in there.
I assume that Bass released the text that made her
look okay. I didn't read one line in there that
should give anybody confidence that she had any idea what
was going on or what to do, and just a
(35:00):
bunch of these political boobs.
Speaker 2 (35:02):
Can I help?
Speaker 1 (35:03):
You must be very busy. Yeah, we're busy. We're gonna
talk to Alex Stone.
Speaker 2 (35:09):
Oh.
Speaker 1 (35:09):
This run of attack attacks on Tesla vehicles, there was
an arrest made in Las Vegas. Guys thirty six years old.
He was throwing molotov cocktails at Tesla's dope thirty six
years old. There's a success. It's always the losers who
do this stuff. Alex will beyond Next stepber Mark Live,
(35:31):
CAFI twenty four our newsroom. 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
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