Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Can't.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
I am six forty.
Speaker 3 (00:02):
You're listening to the John Cobelt podcast on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 4 (00:06):
It is the John Cobelt Show. Mark Thompson's sitting in
for John on this fourth of July week. And there's
some big news today, a lot of it's legal, and
so I'll get right into it. We'll be talking a
lot about these legal cases. In fact, I'll mention that
the senior national correspondent over at A News Nation, Brian Enton,
(00:26):
first to break the news of that plea deal. He'll
join at two thirty five. But right now, the guy,
I mean, brilliant legal analyst for ABC News joins us
to discuss the Diddy trial and the verdict.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Welcome to Royal Oaks.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Hey, Royal, Hey, you're too kind, Mark, And I got
to say, I don't know if you had a rooting
interest to hear about Sean Jenny Comes, but he got
off pretty easily. I mean, as of yesterday, as you know,
we talked about how the jury was thrown at their hands.
We can't decide if he's a racketeer. So he's looking
at a second trial on that maybe, and he could
have gone away for life instead, not guilty across the
(01:04):
board except a couple of counts where he moved women
across state lines for prostitution purposes, and he's looking at
probably in the range of four years behind bars if that.
So this is a big relief for calls.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Yeah, so.
Speaker 4 (01:20):
I got let's do the verdict first, and then I
want to and the what will likely be the prison sentence.
And now I want to double back and look at this
case a little bit with you, because you just, you know,
you deconstruct things so well, and so the four years
that you're talking about, now you deduct time served from that,
and then you're kind of just I'm getting from you
that he may not even do that much time.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Yeah, so here's the arithmetic. Who's found guilty on the
two of these counts each carries ten years, so that's
twenty But the judge might say, well, you know, I'm
a hip hop fan, so I'm going to let you
which concurrently, so that's ten years. But what there, it's
ten or twenty years. A judge probably even if it's twenty,
would only give him about four. I mean, it's his
first offense kind of and there was some violence and
(02:05):
corision involved, but four is probably the ballpark. Now he's
gonna get time served. He's been behind bars nine and
a half months. Well, if he keeps his nose cleaned
behind bars, that's another maybe six months off. So basically
he could be out in the middle of twenty twenty eight.
And of course it could be better than that. This
judge could actually say, I think the verdict is over Boar,
(02:26):
I'm going to toss it. The Court of Appeals could
help him out, so it could get better for him.
But he's probably looking at a certain number of years
behind bars, not a big number.
Speaker 4 (02:37):
What I'm reading, Royal is that the FEDS may have
overplayed their hand and overcharged Sean Combs, and now you're
seeing essentially the outcome that might have been predicted if
you view that as true.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Exactly right, I mean when they went for the brass spring,
I mean racketeering, you know, this John Dotty kind of stuff,
The idea that the jury would say he's that kind
of person, some sort of mafia against it. It really wasn't.
In the cards. Sex trafficking. That's where some gallos snatched
off the street in Porto Prince Haiti and she's chained
to a brothel bed in Miami. That's what people think
(03:14):
of when they hear sex having not three girlfriends who
they were often on relationship. They professed their love for him.
He was a horrible creep at times beat him up.
So yeah, I think they overcharged, but they didn't want
to let him go completely, so they ended up looking
guilty on the two lesser counts.
Speaker 4 (03:31):
It's interesting because when we talk about the FEDS overcharging,
it was the FEDS, not the Trump administration FEDS. It
was the Biden administration Feds, wasn't it.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Yeah. Absolutely, And of course you know, nobody went after
him for all this drug stuff and arson and beating
up women from ten years ago, so the statutes of
limitations kicked in. All that was in the rearview mirror.
So all they had was this controversial Rico racketeering thing,
which says, well, you know, the heck with the if
we can demonstrate in the last decade that he and
(04:03):
one of the person got together and did two or
more bad things, whether it's arsenal, bribery or sex trafficking,
then mass racketeering and that gets you to prison twenty
years to life. But it was just you know, they
did off more than they could chew, and so somebody's
going to get their ass kicked in the Department of Justice.
Speaker 4 (04:20):
Well, this gets to my question to you, because you
kind of know where the bodies are buried in that area,
And tell me, is this sort of thing largely because
he's a celebrity, I mean, a luminary. Everybody knows when
it's going to be a high profile case. I would
imagine there's a big element of that. But then when
something like this happens, you overcharge, you can't actually bring
the conviction, then it works back against you. I would
(04:43):
imagine the blowback is pretty substantial.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Yeah, I think you're absolutely right there. I mean it's
a double edged sword, this celebrity justice thing. On the
one hand, a lot of folks skate or they never
get charged because they got the fancy lawyers with the
ridiculous rates. On the other hand, once they we are charged,
you know, sometimes people think, oh, well, you're a really
bad guy. He thinks he's better than the rest of us.
(05:06):
You know, you get different results. You know, Jay walks
on the criminal side, but he gets hit with thirty
three million dollars on the civil side for wrongful death.
So yeah, you never know how it's going to turn out.
It'll be fascinating see if the jury will talk to
the public and the press to tell us what was
in their heads. But it could have been a lot worse, just.
Speaker 4 (05:25):
A follow up on that civil thing, because he's already
paid out twenty million dollars on the civil side, hasn't he.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
Oh my goodness, it's even worse than that. Actually, Marky,
I think he paid twenty million to Cassie Ventura, the
girlfriend he beat up. Then he paid four hundred grand
to one of his employees who claimed that he sexually
assaulted her, and plus you know, a bunch of employment
related offenses. And I think there are like dozens of
other women lined up. They've already filed suits. And when
(05:55):
the publicity about this stuff hits, of course it draws
more people. And some times do you get people who
were just looking for pay day. Other times you get
people who have actual sincere cases. But yeah, he's going
to be writing checks for a long time. But you know,
from his perspective, the main thing is it probably will
be writing the checks from a mansion and not from
(06:16):
the sale, right.
Speaker 4 (06:17):
And when it comes to the appeals, Royal Oaks. What
are the realities there? I mean, will the government go
after any more of this or are they just going
to have to take the l more or less and
go home.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
So they have to take the loss in terms of
the not guilty verdicts. But the criminal defendant always has
a chance to appeal, and of course he'll go up
to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals a couple of arguments.
He'll say, you know this man act by transporting women,
that's for commercial prostitution rings. It's not for Sean Dede
Combs having founded a freak off, and that might work.
(06:53):
He also can argue there's no criminal intent on his part.
He just you know, boys want to have fun and
you have to show criminal intent for that statue to
be violated. So he's got some chances at the appellate level,
and who knows, that may lead to some wheeling and
dealing and the talk about a plea to having serve
a reduced period of time, and who knows, maybe he'll
(07:15):
be allowed to, you know, stay out pending appeal. Probably not,
but if he is, he'll wear an ankle monitor or
something like that.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
Some of the stuff that we learned through all this
is so salacious, you know, Royle. I mean the Kirk
Burrows guy who was the co founder of that label,
who said that he was forced to watch did he
engage in sex acts with interns and perspective artists, and
that he was threatened with violence. I mean it even
gets more graphic and intense than that. But I guess
(07:46):
what I'm getting at in against that backdrop, they have
this trial with those sorts of things and even worse,
and I'm wondering if you know, if that thing, if
it's prejudicial to a if those sorts of things are
project additional to a jury, and might they continue to
be even on appeal.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Yeah, absolutely, the appellate court might say that did he's
convictions go out because it was so inflammatory some of
the evidence that the jury convicted him, not because he
really deserved it, because you know, they just felt they
hated him. But you know, even apart from the really
salacious stuff, I think the essence of it was the
video was all seen a few dozen times back in
(08:26):
twenty sixteen, and beating a crap out of his girlfriend.
I mean that was smart for the prosecution to play
that as an endless loop because I think it got
the jury to hate him, but it wasn't enough to
get them to convict him on kind of an overcharge.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Yeah, that really is wild.
Speaker 4 (08:41):
I mean, it was so insanely prejudicial on one level.
I mean, or its presence impressed upon the jury something
as you say, this isn't the guy we like, but
the rest of the legal links in the chain just
weren't there.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
Apparently, Yeah, exactly right, as they say, some of the
he's going to have some explain him to do at
the US Attorney's office.
Speaker 4 (09:03):
In my last minute with you, let me ask you
about the Colberger situation in which these four Idaho students
were murdered in their sleep. He appears in court, a
deal is made. That deal is now done, right.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Yeah, and it's you know, it has to be formally
approved by the judge, but it's absolutely almost certain to
be approven. You know, a lot of people are scratching
their heads. Why wouldn't the prosecutors just to go to
trial get that death penalty ruling. That's that's what everybody
wanted him to get. Just because he has aspergers or
some sort of autism. Was that an excuse to basically
(09:38):
give him a life sentence. So a lot of people
aren't happy about that.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
So what is the reason? I mean, just give me
the inside of the prosecutor's office. There are they just
looking for the settlement. You know, we're all often told
that there's an incentive system essentially that prosecutors just want
to get that case settled. It goes into the win
column and then we move on. Why didn't they actually
take it to trial?
Speaker 1 (10:02):
I think the answer is what I mentioned. I think
they were worried that they'd work like crazy for a
year and then put up with thirty years of appeals
but not get the death penalty because of the guy's
weird mental state. I see, I should be the only explanation.
Speaker 4 (10:16):
Yeah, Royal, you're so generous with your time. Love talking
to you, Royal Oaks, the ABC News legal analyst, and
appreciate you breaking it all down for us, my friend,
Thank you, Thank you. Mark all right, good talking to you. Yeah,
I guess that's it. I mean, in the end, prosecutors
in the Colberger trial just they want to make that
deal for the reasons that Royal hints. Hat like, you know,
(10:38):
you just can never really predict what a jury is
going to do, and on the Diddy trial.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
It seems as though the.
Speaker 4 (10:47):
I think the analysts now Royal Oaks among them, and
everything I've read suggests that he was overcharged, and in
the overcharge you end up with a big ask of
a jury to sort of suggest that it was a
criminal syndicate. It was a criminal sex syndicate. That's what
Rico was all about, and that was just a bridge
(11:08):
too far for them. It's the John Covelt Show. Mark
Thompson sitting in for John on KFI AM six forty.
We're live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 5 (11:17):
You're listening to John coblt on demand from KFI AM
six forty.
Speaker 4 (11:24):
I know that none of us will forget where we
heard this news today. I know no one will forget
what they were doing when they heard this news today,
the news that Doctor Phil's television company has filed Chapter
(11:46):
eleven bankrupts.
Speaker 6 (11:48):
I did not know that.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
I know. That's why I'm here.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
You've got to hear it from a friend, because otherwise
it can be tough to take.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Not doctor Phil, Doctor Phil.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
I mean, if they can make him to Claire bankruptcy,
they can make any of us to Claire bankruptcy. People
there was a period when every major company in the
television space seemingly tried to get enter the streaming market,
right and Doctor Phil was looking to do that same thing,
(12:22):
new shows that would get consumers' attention, and Doctor Phil
launched this huge effort to get a piece of the pie.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
You know, there was Quibi, Remember Quiby.
Speaker 4 (12:39):
It was supposed to be the launch of Quibi was
part of the streaming thing, and everything was seven minutes
long or something like that.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
It was short.
Speaker 4 (12:47):
It was the idea is everybody has a short attention span,
so we're going to build a TV series, let's say,
and the TV series is a bunch of episodes. They're
all only seven minutes long. I mean, I may say
this to you now, and you how can anybody buy that?
This whole company was based. I think that's what Quibi
was around, that sort of understanding or philosophy. I mean,
(13:09):
Verizons tried to do it. They all want their own
streaming service. And Netflix has done so well that a
lot of these streaming services that do have big money
behind them potentially, and I mean big communications companies, the
Verizons of the world, the Comcasts of the world.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
It can look easy, but it's not.
Speaker 4 (13:32):
And so what happens is all this product gets out
there and not a lot of shows get watched. And
when a lot of shows aren't watched, companies don't make money. Also,
fewer and fewer people subscribing to cable, so channels on
cable less money, and then they spend much less money
on programs. And even the Walt Disney Company, they had
(13:58):
a very successful launch of Disney Plus their streaming service,
but they were making so many Star Wars and Marvel
programs that even fans of those franchises had trouble keeping
up with them. So you had other streamers like Paramount
Plus and HBO Max. That was Hbo then it was Max,
now it's HBO Max. And they're also learning that sort
(14:22):
of this endless spending on development and on series and
on franchises, it doesn't always yield profit. So it comes
then in that environment that Doctor Phil, like his mentor Oprah,
(14:42):
begins a television network. It's not as mainstream as own,
but it does have wide distribution. Well, it's over it
is over here, was the message from doctor Phil McGraw.
The streaming service provides clarity and solutions on the issues
(15:05):
and topics that matter most to Americans, from traditional family
content to new sports, music, true crime, and more. You'll
find it here. On the Doctor Film Network. Well, they
had programs hosted by Nancy Grace, remember her from CNN.
Mike Rowe, the Dirtiest Jobs Guy, he had a show,
(15:28):
Bear Grill, Steve Harvey, they all had shows on the
Doctor Film Network, fully distributed cable, satellite, free over the air,
broadcast media brand. I mean it looked as though there
was a lot of good pedigree and if you look
at Oprah, she obviously is an American icon and a cornerstone.
(15:49):
But here it is July twod they have staggered into bankruptcy,
filed for Chapter eleven in the Northern District of Texas.
They operate in the motion picture and video industry. They
have assets and liabilities both in the range of one
hundred million to five hundred million, and they don't indicate
(16:13):
in the filing any pre negotiated restructuring support agreement, like
you know, a debtor agreement. That's not in here. Doctor
Phil maybe the public face of the network, but he's
not the majority owner. The company's majority owner is called
Poteski Productions and Trinity Broadcasting Network of Texas. Poteski has
sixty six and a half percent and Trinity Broadcasting almost
(16:37):
thirty percent. So the bankruptcy filing lists almost fifty creditors
with DirecTV and Mountain Broadcasting corporations. So there's a lot here.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Now.
Speaker 4 (16:51):
Look, they may, you know from the ashes of bankruptcy
come back into health. It's obviously part of a restructuring
process for their debt. But it is news that is
official this July second, Doctor Phil's Network Chapter eleven bankruptcy.
I'm glad I could be the one to tell you
(17:12):
thank you. If you need a minute, I'll understand.
Speaker 6 (17:17):
Am I gonna go to for advice?
Speaker 2 (17:20):
Yeah? You're right.
Speaker 4 (17:22):
I mean this is when you need Doctor Phil, when
you're dealing with this kind of trauma about his bankruptcy
and his That's the irony, isn't it.
Speaker 6 (17:30):
Can't you go to Oprah and say, hey, can I
borrow some money?
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Sure you'd think where's Oprah when you need her?
Speaker 6 (17:35):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (17:36):
Right, Gail and she her on some road trip, some
special that they're going to run on CBS Mornings or
whatever they're calling that show.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Now.
Speaker 4 (17:46):
Anyway, that's the latest on Doctor Phil at least he's
got those ice rates. He can go out and ride
shotgun on those ice rates. He's got more time to
do that probably. Now it's a John Covelt show. Mark
Thompson sitting in on KFI AM six forty. We're live
everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 5 (18:02):
You're listening to John Cobels on demand from KFI A
six forty.
Speaker 4 (18:08):
You know, I vacation with John and it's a it's
a it's a dream. He's the perfect guy to vacation with.
Speaker 6 (18:14):
Yeah, I know. You guys have gone a couple of places.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Yeah, went to these exotic locales.
Speaker 4 (18:19):
He and the Deborah and myself and my lovely other
half went to Morocco.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
Yeah, pretty pretty cool.
Speaker 6 (18:28):
Yeah, so did John Just how did he survive on
the food in Morocco?
Speaker 1 (18:33):
Uh?
Speaker 4 (18:33):
I think he would. He didn't complain about the foods.
It must have been reasonably okay. Yeah, I wasn't really
paying attention, but you know, it's such an exotic place,
you kind of you know, Morocco is one of these
places that seems like it's a backdrop for a James
Bond movie. You're always you know, there's this Maybe it
just is the media through the years that has made
you feel like it's that kind of place. But I
(18:55):
guess what I'm getting that in the context of what
you were talking about, is that the restaurants and the.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Service it just very It's filled with.
Speaker 4 (19:07):
Ceremony, might be the word i'd use, And so you
don't really end up disliking anything. It's all just comes
in with such a show. You know, when they pour
you a cup of tea in Morocco and they do
that thing where they start it close to the cup
and then they lift it way up and it's like,
you know, it's a show, it's theater. And so I
(19:27):
think there's a lot of that accompanies the meal. And
so I never heard any pushback from him on that.
Speaker 6 (19:33):
Oh wow, he probably ate before he went out with you.
That's what he does. He secretly goes and gets food.
He tells me this all the time.
Speaker 4 (19:40):
Oh that's great. Yeah, that's great. I wanted to see
him work those bizaars there. You know they have the
marketplaces there. Yeah, and the marketplaces are pretty intense. I mean,
of course there's all the stuff, the nick knacks, and
they're you know, rugs and you know, the different and
then they have all these tea sets and you know,
(20:00):
silver and this and that and all the ornamental stuff,
but there is on your way to that stuff in Morocco,
you're walking past like you'll see a pig's head, just
like suspended on it. It was rough. I don't I'm
not gonna lie to you. It was rough. But Eric,
you would have just blown right through, no problem. You
(20:22):
would not have been affected. But could you.
Speaker 5 (20:24):
Imagine John in one of those bizarres trying to bargain
with one of the salesmen over like a spice or
something that's what I want, and John gets upset over
the price.
Speaker 4 (20:33):
Well they went and uh, it's a huge market there
in Morocco. In you know, Morocco's a big place. But where
we were, and we hit the major cities and each
one has its own kind of bizarre, but they're also
big that we never really were party to watching them.
I didn't know who would be the better negotiator. I
feel like Debra is a better negotiator than John.
Speaker 6 (20:56):
Yeah, actually, yes, yes, I probably am.
Speaker 4 (20:59):
She'll buy stuff that he doesn't want to buy, but
she'll get it at a better deal than John could
get it at.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
I think I don't know, but they're a trip. They're
really fun. And he is.
Speaker 4 (21:13):
Nothing moves his meter like nothing, you know, every little
thing agitates me, nothing agitates him. He's just it's incredible.
It's the perfect person to go on vacation with.
Speaker 6 (21:23):
Yeah, he is really I think he's very easy going.
But I thought you were too.
Speaker 4 (21:27):
I'm I'm good humored, you know what I mean, Like
I'm but irritating things get to me, like when stuff's
too hot, when something's really late, when something you know,
that stuff you know, when they said they were going
to do one thing and they don't.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
I mean, that stuff gets to me.
Speaker 4 (21:44):
And so when you're traveling and there are a lot
of links in the travel chain, not all of them
are going to link up just by definition of just
just by by virtue of the fact that they all
have to link together. We had a guide, We had
a guy to Morocco who is really great. But he
did about five minutes that was sort of at the
(22:05):
beginning of the trip, and he was with us for days,
like four days.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
He traveled around the country with us.
Speaker 4 (22:11):
And h e borderline anti Semitic.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
Some of the stuff he was saying.
Speaker 4 (22:16):
Yeah, and I thought, I'm that's not the thing that
agitated me. I thought it was more comical than I thought.
Is this a bit? Is this a put on?
Speaker 2 (22:25):
You know?
Speaker 4 (22:26):
But uh, but again, everybody, all of us in the party,
just dot let's just look past it.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
And again it was borderline. Wasn't in like super bad.
Speaker 4 (22:34):
It was just sort of he was talking about the
region and he and of course it's a Muslim country,
so I said, four times a day, he was leaving
the tour to go to prayer. They have those big sirens.
You've been there before, Deborah, right to Morocco. Yeah, yeah,
to one of these Muslim countries where they have the
siren goes off.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
It's like a you know, I.
Speaker 6 (22:56):
Says to Yeah, I was supposed to. We're not going
to talk about that.
Speaker 4 (23:01):
I say, okay, all right, sorry, I didn't mean to
have happened to Bana.
Speaker 6 (23:04):
That's okay, sensitive topic, Yes you have.
Speaker 4 (23:06):
Okay, anyway they go, he would go and do it
and then come back and be fine. I actually love
the guy. I thought he was delightful. If I could
have that tour guide for everything. He was thorough, he
was good humored, he was everything good, and everything worked perfectly.
But anyway, that was the John Colbelt vacation. I don't
know where he is this week, maybe you do, but
I'm I'm glad that I could be here. I saw
(23:28):
that the governor is now going to had signed in
the law officially the tax breaks for Hollywood.
Speaker 6 (23:37):
To try, and we need that because production is down
big time, Yeah, big time. So many people in the
entertainment business are out of work.
Speaker 4 (23:48):
Yeah, you know, it's one of these things that is
so stark and so bizarre because we are, you know,
in this town. We're the head of the spear in
creativity when it comes to motion picture film, I mean
even technology as it applies to entertainment. This is the
(24:10):
epicenter of it all and it was created, you know,
obviously from the primordial ooze of immigrants actually came here, right.
Those are all immigrants, those studio heads and everybody. They
were all, i think in general, fleeing fascism in Europe,
and they came to Hollywood and they began an industry.
(24:30):
But as you say, Deborah, it's done. I mean, it
would appear that if we don't quickly somehow supercharge these
tax incentives, the industry may go elsewhere. As it already has.
They'll go north of the border, it'll go to Atlanta,
It'll go to the to what used to be the
Eastern Bloc countries of Europe. It really is. Newsom said,
(24:52):
We've got to step up our game. It's true, and
I just hope that there's time. I mean, the one
thing we have here is studio space and infrastructre and
immense talent in this town. And I just hope that
with all of the tax breaks that Hollywood gets elsewhere,
and honestly, with all the AI that is replacing so
much of the creative workforce, I just hope we can
(25:16):
bring it back. So many industries rely on the entertainment
industry in Los Angeles. So but the program is now official,
so it will, hopefully, as we are saying, breathe life
into the signature industry of this town. It's a tax
cut of program up to seven hundred and fifty million
(25:40):
dollars to stimulate production that has slowed because of the pandemic,
because of the writers and actors strikes, and because of
the cutbacks in the studios and streamers in southern California.
The wildfires don't help. I mean, we're really swimming upstream
against an awful lot. So it's the John Cobelt Show
next hour. I wanted to men that Michael Monks will
(26:01):
be here. We'll talk about the LA City Council and
the approval of this crackdown on disaster tours of the Palisades,
and we'll get back into the Coleburger case. And Brian
Enton from News Nation will be here. He's the first
one to break the news of that Plea deal. He'll
join us in the two o'clock hour as well. Mark
(26:22):
Thompson here for John Cobelt. Like KFI AM six forty
live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 5 (26:28):
You're listening to John Cobelt on demand from KFI AM.
Speaker 4 (26:32):
Six forty John Cobelt Show. Mark Thompson sitting in. I'm
KFI AM six forty. We're live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Did you see that Nordstrom's closing in Santa Monica.
Speaker 6 (26:42):
Yeah, Yeah, that's sad.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
It is sad.
Speaker 4 (26:46):
They're restructuring their network, is what they say, to try
to better target customers who've moved to anybody Online shopping
is the answer we're looking for. Yeah, I mean like
that is really just taking it so hard. How do
you possibly keep up with the online universe when you're
(27:07):
trying to run a huge retailer like that.
Speaker 6 (27:10):
Well also, there, Mark, you have all the crime.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
Well that's what I was going to get to next. Yes,
that's exactly right.
Speaker 4 (27:16):
Devor's so right, because this I think may have informed
the decision, even accelerated the decision to close. The last
day of business is going to be August twenty sixth.
They were, they were open for fifteen years, and they're
saying safety is a concern. It's become an issue in
(27:36):
downtown Santa Monica. And that Third Street promenade, you know,
the Third Street Promenade used to be like really nothing,
I'm talking this is what you had to be here
in the eighties, maybe even late seventies.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
To know this.
Speaker 4 (27:52):
It was still stores and stuff, but there was nothing
like the promenade. And then they really upgraded it. And
the dream of the promenade was that it would be
sort of like Universal City Walk, but with businesses that
were less touristy and more catering to those who really
wanted to shop and enjoy the outdoor experience in a
(28:15):
beautiful city like Santa Monica. And they built the edifice
of that. You know, it looks good and the people
come who are both tourists and are also natives, and
shopping is done there. But it is a reasonable concern
(28:35):
that there is an element that has created a safety issue.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
And it's really hard.
Speaker 4 (28:42):
As a business in California already, and when you add
the safety issue to it, it sometimes just isn't worth
the trouble. And in a place like Nordstrom, they have
to worry about what the in store robberies. These you know,
groups of online marauders. I mean they cut me in
(29:05):
like a It's it's wild. It's a mob of lawlessness
that formulates itself online and then they move in. So anyway,
there's tremendous loss I'm saying with sort of in store walkout,
even if it's just one offs and the collection. So
this is a again an area, the promenade that was
(29:28):
the destination for shopping and dining, and now businesses have
taken some hits and this is a problem for Nordstrom.
And so when you add to that homelessness and the
general way in which Santa Monica hasn't gotten out of
that reputation that it has for street people, being dangerous
(29:52):
and showing up anywhere, you know, aggressive panhandling. But Nordstrom
started as a shoe store in Seattle. Now they have
three hundred and seventy Nordstrom and Nordstrom Rack locations, and
they say we'll be better to able to serve our
customers in this restructuring. But they are going to close.
(30:14):
Remember Macy's announced last year they're going to shut one
hundred and fifty stores down. Their flagship store in San
Francisco's Union Square is shutting down. Walmart shut the doors
of its West Covina store, and you see online retail,
I think claiming a lot of casualties like Nordstrom, the
(30:38):
price of doing business is just too high. And the
cost is also measured in the way in which foot
traffic is affected by.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
How unsafe people feel.
Speaker 4 (30:51):
It's weird because if you go to the Santa Monica Promenade,
the Third Street Promenade, it's still a great experience, but
it can also turn and Santa Monica itself can be overwhelming.
Even as they have upgraded so much, I want to
give them credit for having upgraded a lot of the
parking situation. There a lot of the stores that inhabit
(31:13):
that mall at the end of the Third Street prom
or they call it is a promenade place or whatever.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
I forget what exactly what it's called, but it's all
of these.
Speaker 4 (31:21):
I mean, just the vibe is really good, you know,
but it coexists with some of the problems and impediments
to businesses doing well that also occupied that promenade and
Santa Monica just generally so. Nordstrom is out at the
end of August. If you want to get a Nordstrom experience,
you've got to the end of August to do it.
(31:44):
When we come back in the next hour, the guy
who broke the news of the plea deal in the
Idaho murder trial. We'll talk to Brian Entton from News Nation.
Michael m Though next on the La City Council and
a major decision involving a crackdown. We'll get to it.
(32:06):
Next it's The John Cobalt Show. Mark Thompson sitting in
on KFI AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (32:13):
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.