November 3, 2025 • 28 mins
The John Kobylt Show Hour 1 (11/03) - John discusses Mayor Karen Bass' appearance on CNN's "The Story Is" hosted by Elex Michaelson and the continued frustrations on the lack of accountability solutions and future prevention as a result of January's Lachman Fire. Plus, KFI's and The John Kobylt Shows' technical director, Eric Sklar, calls live from Dodger Stadium to talk about the Dodgers' 2025 World Series Championship Parade.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Can't f I am six forty. You're listening to the
John Cobelt Podcast on the iHeartRadio app. We are on
every day from one until four o'clock, and then after
four o'clock you get the podcast same as the radio
show John Cobelt Show on demand. Again, that's on the
iHeart app. So whatever you missed, you can listen. Then
I believe we are going to have the Eric Sclaron,
(00:22):
our technical director. He's at Dodger Stadium. He skipped our
show today to go to Dodger Stadium. I don't know
about that and cheer for the dog. Yeah, yeah, you
showed up. I showed up exactly.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
I watched the Dodgers, you know, win the World Series.
But I'm here.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
I see his back up here, Mario. He's wearing a
Dodger cap and a Dodger shirt, but he didn't go
to the game.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
We all have our priorities, John.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Yeah. Yeah, we are second place in Eric Sklar's world.
But I think he's going to come on the show
next segment. Yeah, because the celebration and is still going
on at Dodger Stadium. Yeah. And I spent all of
Friday and Saturday night watching the games. That was that maybe,
(01:09):
outside of my personal bias the Mets winning in nineteen
eighty six over the Red Sox, that may be the
most exciting world series I've ever seen in my life.
From that was exciting. The last two nights were incredible.
Now I'm going to be on TV tonight on CNN.
(01:30):
Alex Michaelson, the former Fox eleven anchor and host, is
now on CNN and he's got his own show from
nine to eleven every night called The Story Is. And
tonight I'm going to be on his panel and the
nine o'clock hour along with attorney Lisa Bloom. Yes, we're
gonna be on together again. So tonight nine o'clock watched
(01:54):
CNN and I'll be on with Lisa Bloom Alex Michaelson.
The Story Is and we we'ld be repeating that endlessly
throughout the show. Now, Alex just debuted the show last Monday,
and he had quite a heavy hitting line up for
the first week. I guess it's gonna fall off a
(02:14):
bit tonight. Karen Bass was on Friday Night, and of course,
ate last week, the news came out that LA firefighters
On January two, the day after the new Year's Day fire,
also known as the Lockman Fire. They told their battalion chief,
(02:39):
we should stay here. This is a bad hot spot.
The rocks are hot, the tree stumps are hot. There's smoke, smoldering.
This fire is not completely put out here. And they
claim that the battalion chief, Mario Garcia, said, now roll
(03:01):
up the hoses, everybody go home. There's no need for
further investigation. Now we know. We know now that this
was directly connected to the Lockman Fire, which is what
the FEDS had said. What the FEDS didn't find out
was this particular detail. The La Times got a hold
(03:26):
of text messages from these firefighters who described the conversations
and the feelings they had. But you always got to
obey the commanding officer, right, So they left the smoldering
mess behind, hot rocks, hot stumps and smoke, and that
(03:50):
turned into the fire. Once the eighty mile an hour
winds started blown absolutely inexcusable, unbelievable, unfat them had they
stayed on the case, and stayed on the case for
the whole week. This was in the midst of extreme fire,
extreme wind mornings. We all know what happened, but the
(04:13):
battalion chief says go home, and they all go home.
I guess nobody told anybody, and there was never another
crew sent up there when the winds were going to
get really bad on the seventh. Kristin Crowley know about this, Turnbass, anybody,
this is astonishing, It is hard to believe. And then
(04:37):
everybody at the end of it blamed Oh yeah, once
in a lifetime wins climate change, and nobody could have
forecast this. No, they all they had to do was
stay and keep cooling down that hotspot. That's all they
had to do, and had something started, they would have
(04:57):
been right there. So Karen Bass goes on Alex Michaelson Show.
The story is on CNN on Friday night, and listen
to this exchange cut number one.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
Why did the firefighters leave even though they said in
text messages we should stay.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
Right Well, I found it extremely troubling and I believe
and called for an investigation today. You know, the after
action report that was released a couple of weeks ago
was an after action report on the January seventh fire.
This is the January first one, and so we absolutely
have to understand that. I do know in reading the
article and speaking to some of the firefighters that many
(05:38):
of them thought the fire was out, but clearly not
enough was done.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Clearly many of them thought. You had a few here
who said it wasn't out. And she answers like a
customer service agent, debor and I talk about this customer
service agent hate that, Yeah, isn't it? Yeah? Is it
an infuriating yes. So they're trained to first of all,
(06:03):
empathize with.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
You, right, I'm so sorry you're feeling that way, right.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
And they'll restate the problem for you, and then they'll
waste your time not coming up with a solution to
the problem.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
The three those scripts, I just want to scream my
head off.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
So she was customer service just like politics, there's a formula,
and you say it's extremely troubling. Oh, I'm very concerned.
This raises a lot of questions. I want to get
to the bottom of this. We have to do an
independent investigation, we have to have an after action report.
But what's left un said is why didn't you know
(06:46):
about this? Why didn't Kristin Crowley know about this? Why
didn't somebody overrule the battalion chief? Did the firefighters tell
anyone else? What do firefighters or police officers do when
they have a commanding officer who clearly is screwing up?
Is there any way around that? Does anyone have a
(07:07):
mind of their own to do the right thing? She
left town two days later. She didn't hold a meeting.
I'd have been really worried with those forecasts. It's like, Wow,
we just had a fire in the Palisades?
Speaker 5 (07:26):
Right?
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Was this written down somewhere that these firefighters thought, it's
still too hot, we shouldn't go. But the story goes dead.
The Dodgers play Friday Night Saturday Night, and everybody's going
crazy about the Dodgers, which they should, but suddenly the
story is buried. Let's play Alex asking Karen Bass about
(07:52):
when she found out about the text messages gott Number two.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
When did you find out about these text messages?
Speaker 6 (07:58):
I found out about the text messages in the La Times.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
So you had no warning about that at all?
Speaker 6 (08:04):
Warning?
Speaker 3 (08:04):
No?
Speaker 6 (08:05):
When did did not? When did?
Speaker 3 (08:07):
Were you informed about the fire on January first?
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Yes?
Speaker 4 (08:10):
I knew about the fire on January first, and from
what I knew and what I was told, the fire
was completely put out. It was a relatively small fire,
and so I just think that it is critically important
that we have to look at all of these things,
which is also why we have changed leadership. And so
I am glad that I appointed.
Speaker 6 (08:29):
A new fire chief.
Speaker 4 (08:30):
He has to go through the confirmation process in a
couple of weeks.
Speaker 6 (08:33):
But we're going to get to the bottom.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
Of this, all right. So this is part This is
how you answer is oh, let's move forward, change in leadership.
We've got somebody who's coming on. Seriously, why didn't well,
why didn't Mario Garcia listen to his five fires? I've
heard people say, well, he was trying to save money.
(08:55):
You only get so much money to spend out overtime,
and that would be too much money. Because remember Karen
Bass funded the fire department. It was only half funded
for a city this size half funded. Let me come back.
We'll continue with more clips from Alex Michaelson talking to
Karen Bass and or so can get get a report
(09:16):
from Eric Skarr maybe from Dodger Stadium where the celebration
is still going on? Right, Yeah, I don't know. They're
in commercial break on.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
TV YEH channel five, has it?
Speaker 1 (09:26):
I think it's ending, all right, it's wrapping up.
Speaker 7 (09:30):
You're listening to John Cobelt on demand from KFI AM
six forty.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Eric Skarr a wall playing hooky supposed to be uh
not fair running the control control room here for us
And it's dad. You're at the Dodgers celebration. What's going on?
Speaker 5 (09:50):
Listen? Hey, it's not every year the Dodgers go back
to back. First time in twenty five years for a
Major League Baseball team to go back to back in
a World Series. Uh, you know, I had to play hooky.
I'm sorry, it's it's it's kind of a kind of
my duty. And I'm the biggest sports so I fig.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
What was it? What was What was it like if
we lost watching it on television here where you were
in person? Tell us it was it.
Speaker 5 (10:20):
Was an unreal experience. Like I was telling some other
people that I was with who came to the celebration
that this will be the only time you come to
Dodger Stadium where you have no stress, you know the outcome,
and you're just here for a party. I mean, there
were random people buying me drinks at the bar.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
It was.
Speaker 5 (10:41):
It was just one big party at Dodger Stadium. Aguel
Rojas spoke to the crowd t K Hernandez spoke to
the crowd. Blake Snell spoke to the crowd. Show Hail
Sahni spoke English to the crowd. Huh yeah he I mean, listen,
he does it out of respect to his fans in Japan.
They want to hear what he has to say. Not
(11:04):
in broken English, but he spoke to the He spoke
to the crowd today in English. Playing Kershaw had a speech.
It was his last time at Dodger Stadium as a player.
It was it was just an unreal experience. One thing
I'll never forget.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
I can tell your voice is hoarse. You've been screaming
your head off of.
Speaker 5 (11:25):
Well. I was at a bar for Game seven and
that game lasted longer than expected. It went to the
eleventh inning, and it was I've just honestly been partying
ever since. I mean, it's the first back to back
championship since ninety eight, ninety nine, two thousand with the Yankees.
It's it's a party at Dodger Stadium.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
I've never seen a series like this one this well,
I mean ridiculous.
Speaker 5 (11:51):
Game seven at us on the edge of our seeds.
It was unreal. I mean, I thought, I thought the
eighteen inning game was going to be all the suspense
we needed for the series. But the fact that it
went seven games, it's all you could ask for as
a baseball fan.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
Yep, six, six and seven were thrillers, both ended with
double blaze.
Speaker 5 (12:15):
Yeah, I know, it's a regular season award. Mason Wynn
got the award for Gold Glove from the Saint Louis Cardinals.
But realistically, realistically, we all know Lucy Betts is the
best shortstop in baseball.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
Well, you can go debate that. I'm sure you're gonna
be party partying the rest of the day. Yes, yes,
all right, Well thanks for calling in and enjoying it
from a Mets fan, It's been almost forty years for me,
so really take it in. You never know exactly.
Speaker 5 (12:51):
Listen, I was in high school when Kobe Bryant and
the Lakers went back to back in two thousand and
nine twenty ten. Yeah, and I didn't have a driver's
license at the time. My parents wouldn't let me ditch school.
They wouldn't drive me to the parade. It wasn't happening.
I wasn't missing Clayton kersh I'll go back to back.
I wasn't missing.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
All right, Well we'll live through the day with that.
You see you tomorrow, have a good time.
Speaker 5 (13:16):
Yes, I'll see it. I'll see you guys tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
All right. That's Eric's Clark, our technical director usually runs
the control board here good reason. Yes, actually he left,
he left behind some somewhere.
Speaker 5 (13:29):
He did.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
We appreciate you. Even called me this morning, what to
get permission?
Speaker 2 (13:34):
No, no, he called me to make sure that you
did a video. Oh okay, he really he takes the
show to hard.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Oh I know, I know. He takes it very seriously.
That's why I was teasing him.
Speaker 6 (13:47):
We're just we're just jealous. There were here.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Yeah, when we come back, we'll get to the Karen
Bass clips on Alex Michaelson's show, and again I'll be
on with Alex tonight on CNN nine o'clock. The story is,
so you watch that.
Speaker 7 (14:03):
You're listening to John Cobel's on demand from KFI Am sixty.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
We are on every day one until four o'clock. After
four o'clock, John Cobelts show on demand on the iHeart app.
All right, back to Karen Bass. We had our little
Dodgers break there. Bass was on Alex Michaelson's new show
on CNN. The story is and late Friday, this was
(14:31):
one of these Friday Friday afternoon dumps. Or actually it
was Thursday night, was it? Yeah, anyway, Friday. I think
Bass was demanding an investigation, and then she went on
with Alex Friday night. So the Lockman fire was the
originally Ursday fire. In the Palisades January second, there were
firefighters who said, we've got a bad hot spot here.
(14:52):
It wasn't put out. We've got hot rocks, hot stumps,
tree stumps, we've got we've got some smoke here, smoldering.
We should stay here. But the battalion chief said, no,
we go home. But we should stay. But we should
go home. He says, name is Mario Garcia, says, roll
(15:16):
up your hoses. So they're obedient. They rolled up their hoses.
They went home, and five days later, literally all hell burkeleos.
Somebody flung open the gates of Hell. I was in
the Palisades over the weekend. We did a hike nearby. Yeah,
it's is minded numbingly depressing and desolate and hopeless looking.
(15:42):
As ever, it isn't hopeless, but it just looks that way.
So always remember when when Karen bass is offended by
let's say Trump's illegal alien raids, she goes crazy. She
starts screaming, she's really agitated, really emotional. Alex Michaelson grit
(16:09):
calm and she offers the canned customer service answers. That's
extremely troubling. We're gonna have to have an after action report.
You know, she didn't know about it until it was
in the La Times article, but she spoke to the firefighters,
so I guess they did confirm the story. Here's Alex
(16:30):
asking Karen Bass, well, why weren't any firefighters pre deployed
to the Palisades? Got three?
Speaker 3 (16:37):
You got rid of Kristen or demoted Kristin Crowley, who
was the chief of the LAFD at the time of
the Palisades fire because of her performance according to you.
So essentially, why were no firefighters pre deployed to the Palisades.
Speaker 4 (16:53):
Well, that was a key issue, a key factor that
led to the change that took place. Now do you
bear any responsibility for the Well, yeah, I mean, at
the end of the day, we all know I am
the mayor and the buck stops with me. However, if
I find something that is deficient and a leader in
a department, then it is my responsibility to make that change.
Speaker 6 (17:13):
And so I.
Speaker 4 (17:13):
Made the change. We had a interim fire chief then,
and what I did was I conducted a national search.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
Here we go.
Speaker 4 (17:20):
We took our time, and I believe we came up
with a leader who was going to lead the department
and transform what needs to be changed within the department.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
This is Jamie Moore. He you appointed Jamie war Well, good,
now we know how to say his name. They don't
know either though. We had to Jamie moorees and two
hi meemores. So what are you going with? himI?
Speaker 6 (17:43):
Was I'd say, Jimie?
Speaker 1 (17:44):
All right, let's go with Himie. The thing is when
Alex asked Bash, why were they deployed? Do you bear
any responsibility? Well, I'm the mayor of the buck stops
with me. Now let's move on. Well, well, hold on,
hold on, time out. If you were what you left,
(18:04):
shouldn't you have had a meeting with It's fine to
throw blatant Kristin Crowley. She certainly deserves a lot of it,
and she should have been fired. But if you're the
mayor and the buck stops with you people dares politicians
say this like the wall that ends it? Okay, conversation, Yeah,
buck stops with the haha. You don't have to pay
(18:24):
any penalty here. You don't have to explain further in
detail why you didn't think it was necessary to stay
in LA and make sure that that crews were pre deployed.
You know, Rick Caruso talks about this all the time.
He always harps on the word leadership, which kind of
(18:45):
sounds maybe vague to some people, a little fuzzy. What
his leadership was that mean? Well, it's about saying, Kristin Crowley,
come to my office and all the other heads of
the relevant departments. We got a big windstorm, big fire danger. Come.
We have hotspots from the fire and the palisades. Still
you think did the firefighters tell anybody are we going
(19:09):
to pre deploy a crew? She didn't pre deploy the crew.
She could have told Kristen Crowley, I want the cruise
near that fire, because I remember hearing people, you know,
defenders going well, nobody would have known, Yeah, they would
have known you have a fire in a spot like that.
I have read many many firefighters and former fire officials
(19:32):
say yeah, a hotspot. I like, that is most dangerous
when you get Santana wins eighty boles an hour. So
they didn't know. She should have known, and she should
have convened a meeting with the other leaders and said, okay,
do we have that covered? What else we did the
Hollywood Hills covered? Do we need bell air cup whatever
(19:53):
it is, send the crews out in advance up there.
But she funded it. She defunded the fire department, and
everybody was on a tight budget, and everybody was afraid
to ask for overtime to keep people an extra shift,
to keep a crew up there for the week. They
(20:14):
didn't do that because then they run out of money
and they get spanked. It's just horrible way to run
a fire department. Our reb bull and what's really galling,
and none of this ever comes up, is we have
thousands and thousands of fires started every year by homeless
people that the fire department tends to every day. I
(20:39):
think it's like I forgot it was like fourteen a
day something like that. There's thousands over the course of
the year, and we pay for all that, and then
there's no money left for the big one. There's no
money left to pre deploy because that would be overtime.
How much overtime we've blown on homeless fires? Bumfire because
(21:01):
Bass won't clear the homeless off the streets. This is
so crazy. I don't know why everybody doesn't see this.
It's clear. It's as clear as the fire birding on
January seventh. The money and the resources, the personnel is
spent on putting out thousands of bumfires a year, thousands
(21:26):
of them, and then when the big one comes that
affects the taxpayers, and we got a pretty tight budget.
I don't know, overtime, extra shift, ah keeping a crew
up there another few days. It can't be more insane.
I don't know what else to say. If people don't
see the insanity and the craziness and vote differently and
(21:49):
demand differently, then this is going to happen, and you're
pretty much going to get what you deserve. Alex asks
Bass about why infrared cameras weren't used got four.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
Spencer Pratt, who's online a lot talking about this, has
pointed out the fact that there were no infrared cameras
that were used to see potentially this thing small brow.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
Is that a mistake.
Speaker 4 (22:09):
All of that has to be looked at. That is
certainly a tool that could have been used, and it's
my understanding if that tool had been used, they might
have been able to see that. But that's why now
there has to be the after action at the Lachman
at the Luckman fire.
Speaker 6 (22:23):
And you know that it was.
Speaker 4 (22:25):
After the ATF's report and the arrests of the arsonists
that a lot of attention focused on the Lackman fire.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
Yeah, after she abandons the city, after she doesn't convene
a pre Santa Ana wind meeting among the leadership. Then
later on she gets to say, it's like, well, you know,
that's a good question. We didn't after action report. That's right.
(22:53):
How was your answer general after action report? We have
after action reports. It tells you that you're responsible, basically
because all this could have been taken care of. You
and Kristen Crowley play cut five. Independent investigation Maybe.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
So Austin Butner, who is now running from mayor against you,
says we need to do an independent investigation, that the
la FD should not be investigating itself.
Speaker 6 (23:17):
Well, that is happening as well.
Speaker 4 (23:19):
There is an independent investigation that the governor has ordered,
and we don't anticipate that full report to come out
for a few months. Of course, there might be parts
of it that comes out, so we have to do both.
Speaker 6 (23:30):
We have to do all of the above.
Speaker 4 (23:31):
But the bottom line is is that there needs to
be significant change.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
Oh God, I'm going to jump out the window. That's amazing.
An independent investigation into what you had. The firefighters say, hey,
we've got a hot spot here, and the battalion chief
ignored it and nobody followed up. There's your investigation. What
else are they going to find? They don't want to
spend any money because she defunded the place, and nobody
(23:58):
talks to each other and tough luck. One more quick
clip Alex asking Karen Bass, could this have been prevented?
Speaker 3 (24:08):
You know, there's a lot of people that are angry
when they hear about these text messages, when they hear
about the fact that there is nobody angry deployed, when
they hear about the infrared. They feel like this fire
could have been prevented, and they feel like the city,
if the city would have done more, their home wouldn't
have burned, and patrol people wouldn't have died.
Speaker 4 (24:26):
To those people absolutely understand that people would feel that way.
We will get to the bottom of it. Change is
underway and this will never happen again in our city.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
I absolutely understand customer service Rep. One oh one, top Lie,
I understand your concern this will never happen again. Well,
the department's still going to be underfunded. You're still going
to be blowing much of your money chasing bumfires by
the thousands. So what's gonna change.
Speaker 6 (24:57):
You can learn from our mistakes.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
The fire happened. Yeah, do the firefighters get to ignore
the battalion chief? Are you going to stay in town
or are you going to next time there's the sand
in the wings, You're going to hold a big meeting
with the fire chief and everybody else.
Speaker 7 (25:12):
You're listening to John Cobels on demand from KFI A
six forty.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
We have Steve Hilton coming on after Debra's news. Steve
Hilton is running for governor in California as a Republican,
and at the moment, he is the top candidate in
the polls. Ever since missus potato Head freaked out on
that CBS Sacramento reporter during a softball interview, and ever
(25:44):
since more video came out about her temper, tantrums with staff.
She took a hit in the polls because many of
these people are crazy but you don't see it. But
when you see someone overtly crazy on video or on
on television, it's like, wow, that's a bundle of problems there.
(26:05):
So missus potato head in some polls that fall in
a second place, but behind Steve Hilton. Now we'll talk
to Steve, because you know, this kind of plays into
I feel like I'm living in a cult and I'm
one of the few people not part of the cult.
(26:27):
I can't believe how obedient everyone is in saluting Gavin
Newsom for this prop fifty nonsense. It's really worse than
I thought, because the state is a terrible mess and
we need a drastic change. Steve Hilton you may know
(26:50):
of him. He's a former Fox News host. He does
have a lot of experience in politics. He used to
be a work with the Prime Minister David Cameron in
Great Britain, and we talked with him briefly one day.
He was on his way to get on a plane
at the airport and I wanted to talk to him
(27:10):
a little longer than that. So he's on now right
after two o'clock Steve Hilton running for governor and currently
number one in the race, ahead of Chad Bianco, who's
the other major Republican who's running. But he hosted The
Next Revolution on Fox News for six years, and he
was the head of strategy for Prime Minister David Cameron.
(27:33):
He's also written a book called Cali Failure, Reversing the
Ruin of America's worst run State. I cannot believe with
the ruins we're in that people don't want a big
change in the state. I was just today thinking about,
you know how we have, God, there's so many things. Well,
we've got the worst homeless situation, right. We had crime
(27:57):
that's been crazy, especially the quality of life crimes because
they decriminalized theft, theft, among other things. We've got the
highest taxes in the state, highest gas tax, high sales tax,
highest income tax, highest electricity prices, highest gas prices, highest
poverty rate, highest inflation rate, I'm highest unemployment rate, and
(28:23):
I'm thinking, God, this would normally sink a guy. Instead
News them is bobbed up to the top of the
presidential polls on the Democratic side, and I'm thinking, what's
wrong with everyone here? We're going to talk to Steve Hilton,
who's going to be on with us in minutes. Hey,
you've been listening to The John Cobalt Show podcast. You
(28:44):
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 f I am six forty. You're listening to the
John Cobelt Podcast on the iHeartRadio app. We are on
every day from one until four o'clock, and then after
four o'clock you get the podcast same as the radio
show John Cobelt Show on demand. Again, that's on the
iHeart app. So whatever you missed, you can listen. Then
I believe we are going to have the Eric Sclaron,
(00:22):
our technical director. He's at Dodger Stadium. He skipped our
show today to go to Dodger Stadium. I don't know
about that and cheer for the dog. Yeah, yeah, you
showed up. I showed up exactly.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
I watched the Dodgers, you know, win the World Series.
But I'm here.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
I see his back up here, Mario. He's wearing a
Dodger cap and a Dodger shirt, but he didn't go
to the game.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
We all have our priorities, John.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Yeah. Yeah, we are second place in Eric Sklar's world.
But I think he's going to come on the show
next segment. Yeah, because the celebration and is still going
on at Dodger Stadium. Yeah. And I spent all of
Friday and Saturday night watching the games. That was that maybe,
(01:09):
outside of my personal bias the Mets winning in nineteen
eighty six over the Red Sox, that may be the
most exciting world series I've ever seen in my life.
From that was exciting. The last two nights were incredible.
Now I'm going to be on TV tonight on CNN.
(01:30):
Alex Michaelson, the former Fox eleven anchor and host, is
now on CNN and he's got his own show from
nine to eleven every night called The Story Is. And
tonight I'm going to be on his panel and the
nine o'clock hour along with attorney Lisa Bloom. Yes, we're
gonna be on together again. So tonight nine o'clock watched
(01:54):
CNN and I'll be on with Lisa Bloom Alex Michaelson.
The Story Is and we we'ld be repeating that endlessly
throughout the show. Now, Alex just debuted the show last Monday,
and he had quite a heavy hitting line up for
the first week. I guess it's gonna fall off a
(02:14):
bit tonight. Karen Bass was on Friday Night, and of course,
ate last week, the news came out that LA firefighters
On January two, the day after the new Year's Day fire,
also known as the Lockman Fire. They told their battalion chief,
(02:39):
we should stay here. This is a bad hot spot.
The rocks are hot, the tree stumps are hot. There's smoke, smoldering.
This fire is not completely put out here. And they
claim that the battalion chief, Mario Garcia, said, now roll
(03:01):
up the hoses, everybody go home. There's no need for
further investigation. Now we know. We know now that this
was directly connected to the Lockman Fire, which is what
the FEDS had said. What the FEDS didn't find out
was this particular detail. The La Times got a hold
(03:26):
of text messages from these firefighters who described the conversations
and the feelings they had. But you always got to
obey the commanding officer, right, So they left the smoldering
mess behind, hot rocks, hot stumps and smoke, and that
(03:50):
turned into the fire. Once the eighty mile an hour
winds started blown absolutely inexcusable, unbelievable, unfat them had they
stayed on the case, and stayed on the case for
the whole week. This was in the midst of extreme fire,
extreme wind mornings. We all know what happened, but the
(04:13):
battalion chief says go home, and they all go home.
I guess nobody told anybody, and there was never another
crew sent up there when the winds were going to
get really bad on the seventh. Kristin Crowley know about this, Turnbass, anybody,
this is astonishing, It is hard to believe. And then
(04:37):
everybody at the end of it blamed Oh yeah, once
in a lifetime wins climate change, and nobody could have
forecast this. No, they all they had to do was
stay and keep cooling down that hotspot. That's all they
had to do, and had something started, they would have
(04:57):
been right there. So Karen Bass goes on Alex Michaelson Show.
The story is on CNN on Friday night, and listen
to this exchange cut number one.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
Why did the firefighters leave even though they said in
text messages we should stay.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
Right Well, I found it extremely troubling and I believe
and called for an investigation today. You know, the after
action report that was released a couple of weeks ago
was an after action report on the January seventh fire.
This is the January first one, and so we absolutely
have to understand that. I do know in reading the
article and speaking to some of the firefighters that many
(05:38):
of them thought the fire was out, but clearly not
enough was done.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Clearly many of them thought. You had a few here
who said it wasn't out. And she answers like a
customer service agent, debor and I talk about this customer
service agent hate that, Yeah, isn't it? Yeah? Is it
an infuriating yes. So they're trained to first of all,
(06:03):
empathize with.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
You, right, I'm so sorry you're feeling that way, right.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
And they'll restate the problem for you, and then they'll
waste your time not coming up with a solution to
the problem.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
The three those scripts, I just want to scream my
head off.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
So she was customer service just like politics, there's a formula,
and you say it's extremely troubling. Oh, I'm very concerned.
This raises a lot of questions. I want to get
to the bottom of this. We have to do an
independent investigation, we have to have an after action report.
But what's left un said is why didn't you know
(06:46):
about this? Why didn't Kristin Crowley know about this? Why
didn't somebody overrule the battalion chief? Did the firefighters tell
anyone else? What do firefighters or police officers do when
they have a commanding officer who clearly is screwing up?
Is there any way around that? Does anyone have a
(07:07):
mind of their own to do the right thing? She
left town two days later. She didn't hold a meeting.
I'd have been really worried with those forecasts. It's like, Wow,
we just had a fire in the Palisades?
Speaker 5 (07:26):
Right?
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Was this written down somewhere that these firefighters thought, it's
still too hot, we shouldn't go. But the story goes dead.
The Dodgers play Friday Night Saturday Night, and everybody's going
crazy about the Dodgers, which they should, but suddenly the
story is buried. Let's play Alex asking Karen Bass about
(07:52):
when she found out about the text messages gott Number two.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
When did you find out about these text messages?
Speaker 6 (07:58):
I found out about the text messages in the La Times.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
So you had no warning about that at all?
Speaker 6 (08:04):
Warning?
Speaker 3 (08:04):
No?
Speaker 6 (08:05):
When did did not? When did?
Speaker 3 (08:07):
Were you informed about the fire on January first?
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Yes?
Speaker 4 (08:10):
I knew about the fire on January first, and from
what I knew and what I was told, the fire
was completely put out. It was a relatively small fire,
and so I just think that it is critically important
that we have to look at all of these things,
which is also why we have changed leadership. And so
I am glad that I appointed.
Speaker 6 (08:29):
A new fire chief.
Speaker 4 (08:30):
He has to go through the confirmation process in a
couple of weeks.
Speaker 6 (08:33):
But we're going to get to the bottom.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
Of this, all right. So this is part This is
how you answer is oh, let's move forward, change in leadership.
We've got somebody who's coming on. Seriously, why didn't well,
why didn't Mario Garcia listen to his five fires? I've
heard people say, well, he was trying to save money.
(08:55):
You only get so much money to spend out overtime,
and that would be too much money. Because remember Karen
Bass funded the fire department. It was only half funded
for a city this size half funded. Let me come back.
We'll continue with more clips from Alex Michaelson talking to
Karen Bass and or so can get get a report
(09:16):
from Eric Skarr maybe from Dodger Stadium where the celebration
is still going on? Right, Yeah, I don't know. They're
in commercial break on.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
TV YEH channel five, has it?
Speaker 1 (09:26):
I think it's ending, all right, it's wrapping up.
Speaker 7 (09:30):
You're listening to John Cobelt on demand from KFI AM
six forty.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Eric Skarr a wall playing hooky supposed to be uh
not fair running the control control room here for us
And it's dad. You're at the Dodgers celebration. What's going on?
Speaker 5 (09:50):
Listen? Hey, it's not every year the Dodgers go back
to back. First time in twenty five years for a
Major League Baseball team to go back to back in
a World Series. Uh, you know, I had to play hooky.
I'm sorry, it's it's it's kind of a kind of
my duty. And I'm the biggest sports so I fig.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
What was it? What was What was it like if
we lost watching it on television here where you were
in person? Tell us it was it.
Speaker 5 (10:20):
Was an unreal experience. Like I was telling some other
people that I was with who came to the celebration
that this will be the only time you come to
Dodger Stadium where you have no stress, you know the outcome,
and you're just here for a party. I mean, there
were random people buying me drinks at the bar.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
It was.
Speaker 5 (10:41):
It was just one big party at Dodger Stadium. Aguel
Rojas spoke to the crowd t K Hernandez spoke to
the crowd. Blake Snell spoke to the crowd. Show Hail
Sahni spoke English to the crowd. Huh yeah he I mean, listen,
he does it out of respect to his fans in Japan.
They want to hear what he has to say. Not
(11:04):
in broken English, but he spoke to the He spoke
to the crowd today in English. Playing Kershaw had a speech.
It was his last time at Dodger Stadium as a player.
It was it was just an unreal experience. One thing
I'll never forget.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
I can tell your voice is hoarse. You've been screaming
your head off of.
Speaker 5 (11:25):
Well. I was at a bar for Game seven and
that game lasted longer than expected. It went to the
eleventh inning, and it was I've just honestly been partying
ever since. I mean, it's the first back to back
championship since ninety eight, ninety nine, two thousand with the Yankees.
It's it's a party at Dodger Stadium.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
I've never seen a series like this one this well,
I mean ridiculous.
Speaker 5 (11:51):
Game seven at us on the edge of our seeds.
It was unreal. I mean, I thought, I thought the
eighteen inning game was going to be all the suspense
we needed for the series. But the fact that it
went seven games, it's all you could ask for as
a baseball fan.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
Yep, six, six and seven were thrillers, both ended with
double blaze.
Speaker 5 (12:15):
Yeah, I know, it's a regular season award. Mason Wynn
got the award for Gold Glove from the Saint Louis Cardinals.
But realistically, realistically, we all know Lucy Betts is the
best shortstop in baseball.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
Well, you can go debate that. I'm sure you're gonna
be party partying the rest of the day. Yes, yes,
all right, Well thanks for calling in and enjoying it
from a Mets fan, It's been almost forty years for me,
so really take it in. You never know exactly.
Speaker 5 (12:51):
Listen, I was in high school when Kobe Bryant and
the Lakers went back to back in two thousand and
nine twenty ten. Yeah, and I didn't have a driver's
license at the time. My parents wouldn't let me ditch school.
They wouldn't drive me to the parade. It wasn't happening.
I wasn't missing Clayton kersh I'll go back to back.
I wasn't missing.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
All right, Well we'll live through the day with that.
You see you tomorrow, have a good time.
Speaker 5 (13:16):
Yes, I'll see it. I'll see you guys tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
All right. That's Eric's Clark, our technical director usually runs
the control board here good reason. Yes, actually he left,
he left behind some somewhere.
Speaker 5 (13:29):
He did.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
We appreciate you. Even called me this morning, what to
get permission?
Speaker 2 (13:34):
No, no, he called me to make sure that you
did a video. Oh okay, he really he takes the
show to hard.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Oh I know, I know. He takes it very seriously.
That's why I was teasing him.
Speaker 6 (13:47):
We're just we're just jealous. There were here.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Yeah, when we come back, we'll get to the Karen
Bass clips on Alex Michaelson's show, and again I'll be
on with Alex tonight on CNN nine o'clock. The story is,
so you watch that.
Speaker 7 (14:03):
You're listening to John Cobel's on demand from KFI Am sixty.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
We are on every day one until four o'clock. After
four o'clock, John Cobelts show on demand on the iHeart app.
All right, back to Karen Bass. We had our little
Dodgers break there. Bass was on Alex Michaelson's new show
on CNN. The story is and late Friday, this was
(14:31):
one of these Friday Friday afternoon dumps. Or actually it
was Thursday night, was it? Yeah, anyway, Friday. I think
Bass was demanding an investigation, and then she went on
with Alex Friday night. So the Lockman fire was the
originally Ursday fire. In the Palisades January second, there were
firefighters who said, we've got a bad hot spot here.
(14:52):
It wasn't put out. We've got hot rocks, hot stumps,
tree stumps, we've got we've got some smoke here, smoldering.
We should stay here. But the battalion chief said, no,
we go home. But we should stay. But we should
go home. He says, name is Mario Garcia, says, roll
(15:16):
up your hoses. So they're obedient. They rolled up their hoses.
They went home, and five days later, literally all hell burkeleos.
Somebody flung open the gates of Hell. I was in
the Palisades over the weekend. We did a hike nearby. Yeah,
it's is minded numbingly depressing and desolate and hopeless looking.
(15:42):
As ever, it isn't hopeless, but it just looks that way.
So always remember when when Karen bass is offended by
let's say Trump's illegal alien raids, she goes crazy. She
starts screaming, she's really agitated, really emotional. Alex Michaelson grit
(16:09):
calm and she offers the canned customer service answers. That's
extremely troubling. We're gonna have to have an after action report.
You know, she didn't know about it until it was
in the La Times article, but she spoke to the firefighters,
so I guess they did confirm the story. Here's Alex
(16:30):
asking Karen Bass, well, why weren't any firefighters pre deployed
to the Palisades? Got three?
Speaker 3 (16:37):
You got rid of Kristen or demoted Kristin Crowley, who
was the chief of the LAFD at the time of
the Palisades fire because of her performance according to you.
So essentially, why were no firefighters pre deployed to the Palisades.
Speaker 4 (16:53):
Well, that was a key issue, a key factor that
led to the change that took place. Now do you
bear any responsibility for the Well, yeah, I mean, at
the end of the day, we all know I am
the mayor and the buck stops with me. However, if
I find something that is deficient and a leader in
a department, then it is my responsibility to make that change.
Speaker 6 (17:13):
And so I.
Speaker 4 (17:13):
Made the change. We had a interim fire chief then,
and what I did was I conducted a national search.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
Here we go.
Speaker 4 (17:20):
We took our time, and I believe we came up
with a leader who was going to lead the department
and transform what needs to be changed within the department.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
This is Jamie Moore. He you appointed Jamie war Well, good,
now we know how to say his name. They don't
know either though. We had to Jamie moorees and two
hi meemores. So what are you going with? himI?
Speaker 6 (17:43):
Was I'd say, Jimie?
Speaker 1 (17:44):
All right, let's go with Himie. The thing is when
Alex asked Bash, why were they deployed? Do you bear
any responsibility? Well, I'm the mayor of the buck stops
with me. Now let's move on. Well, well, hold on,
hold on, time out. If you were what you left,
(18:04):
shouldn't you have had a meeting with It's fine to
throw blatant Kristin Crowley. She certainly deserves a lot of it,
and she should have been fired. But if you're the
mayor and the buck stops with you people dares politicians
say this like the wall that ends it? Okay, conversation, Yeah,
buck stops with the haha. You don't have to pay
(18:24):
any penalty here. You don't have to explain further in
detail why you didn't think it was necessary to stay
in LA and make sure that that crews were pre deployed.
You know, Rick Caruso talks about this all the time.
He always harps on the word leadership, which kind of
(18:45):
sounds maybe vague to some people, a little fuzzy. What
his leadership was that mean? Well, it's about saying, Kristin Crowley,
come to my office and all the other heads of
the relevant departments. We got a big windstorm, big fire danger. Come.
We have hotspots from the fire and the palisades. Still
you think did the firefighters tell anybody are we going
(19:09):
to pre deploy a crew? She didn't pre deploy the crew.
She could have told Kristen Crowley, I want the cruise
near that fire, because I remember hearing people, you know,
defenders going well, nobody would have known, Yeah, they would
have known you have a fire in a spot like that.
I have read many many firefighters and former fire officials
(19:32):
say yeah, a hotspot. I like, that is most dangerous
when you get Santana wins eighty boles an hour. So
they didn't know. She should have known, and she should
have convened a meeting with the other leaders and said, okay,
do we have that covered? What else we did the
Hollywood Hills covered? Do we need bell air cup whatever
(19:53):
it is, send the crews out in advance up there.
But she funded it. She defunded the fire department, and
everybody was on a tight budget, and everybody was afraid
to ask for overtime to keep people an extra shift,
to keep a crew up there for the week. They
(20:14):
didn't do that because then they run out of money
and they get spanked. It's just horrible way to run
a fire department. Our reb bull and what's really galling,
and none of this ever comes up, is we have
thousands and thousands of fires started every year by homeless
people that the fire department tends to every day. I
(20:39):
think it's like I forgot it was like fourteen a
day something like that. There's thousands over the course of
the year, and we pay for all that, and then
there's no money left for the big one. There's no
money left to pre deploy because that would be overtime.
How much overtime we've blown on homeless fires? Bumfire because
(21:01):
Bass won't clear the homeless off the streets. This is
so crazy. I don't know why everybody doesn't see this.
It's clear. It's as clear as the fire birding on
January seventh. The money and the resources, the personnel is
spent on putting out thousands of bumfires a year, thousands
(21:26):
of them, and then when the big one comes that
affects the taxpayers, and we got a pretty tight budget.
I don't know, overtime, extra shift, ah keeping a crew
up there another few days. It can't be more insane.
I don't know what else to say. If people don't
see the insanity and the craziness and vote differently and
(21:49):
demand differently, then this is going to happen, and you're
pretty much going to get what you deserve. Alex asks
Bass about why infrared cameras weren't used got four.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
Spencer Pratt, who's online a lot talking about this, has
pointed out the fact that there were no infrared cameras
that were used to see potentially this thing small brow.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
Is that a mistake.
Speaker 4 (22:09):
All of that has to be looked at. That is
certainly a tool that could have been used, and it's
my understanding if that tool had been used, they might
have been able to see that. But that's why now
there has to be the after action at the Lachman
at the Luckman fire.
Speaker 6 (22:23):
And you know that it was.
Speaker 4 (22:25):
After the ATF's report and the arrests of the arsonists
that a lot of attention focused on the Lackman fire.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
Yeah, after she abandons the city, after she doesn't convene
a pre Santa Ana wind meeting among the leadership. Then
later on she gets to say, it's like, well, you know,
that's a good question. We didn't after action report. That's right.
(22:53):
How was your answer general after action report? We have
after action reports. It tells you that you're responsible, basically
because all this could have been taken care of. You
and Kristen Crowley play cut five. Independent investigation Maybe.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
So Austin Butner, who is now running from mayor against you,
says we need to do an independent investigation, that the
la FD should not be investigating itself.
Speaker 6 (23:17):
Well, that is happening as well.
Speaker 4 (23:19):
There is an independent investigation that the governor has ordered,
and we don't anticipate that full report to come out
for a few months. Of course, there might be parts
of it that comes out, so we have to do both.
Speaker 6 (23:30):
We have to do all of the above.
Speaker 4 (23:31):
But the bottom line is is that there needs to
be significant change.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
Oh God, I'm going to jump out the window. That's amazing.
An independent investigation into what you had. The firefighters say, hey,
we've got a hot spot here, and the battalion chief
ignored it and nobody followed up. There's your investigation. What
else are they going to find? They don't want to
spend any money because she defunded the place, and nobody
(23:58):
talks to each other and tough luck. One more quick
clip Alex asking Karen Bass, could this have been prevented?
Speaker 3 (24:08):
You know, there's a lot of people that are angry
when they hear about these text messages, when they hear
about the fact that there is nobody angry deployed, when
they hear about the infrared. They feel like this fire
could have been prevented, and they feel like the city,
if the city would have done more, their home wouldn't
have burned, and patrol people wouldn't have died.
Speaker 4 (24:26):
To those people absolutely understand that people would feel that way.
We will get to the bottom of it. Change is
underway and this will never happen again in our city.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
I absolutely understand customer service Rep. One oh one, top Lie,
I understand your concern this will never happen again. Well,
the department's still going to be underfunded. You're still going
to be blowing much of your money chasing bumfires by
the thousands. So what's gonna change.
Speaker 6 (24:57):
You can learn from our mistakes.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
The fire happened. Yeah, do the firefighters get to ignore
the battalion chief? Are you going to stay in town
or are you going to next time there's the sand
in the wings, You're going to hold a big meeting
with the fire chief and everybody else.
Speaker 7 (25:12):
You're listening to John Cobels on demand from KFI A
six forty.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
We have Steve Hilton coming on after Debra's news. Steve
Hilton is running for governor in California as a Republican,
and at the moment, he is the top candidate in
the polls. Ever since missus potato Head freaked out on
that CBS Sacramento reporter during a softball interview, and ever
(25:44):
since more video came out about her temper, tantrums with staff.
She took a hit in the polls because many of
these people are crazy but you don't see it. But
when you see someone overtly crazy on video or on
on television, it's like, wow, that's a bundle of problems there.
(26:05):
So missus potato head in some polls that fall in
a second place, but behind Steve Hilton. Now we'll talk
to Steve, because you know, this kind of plays into
I feel like I'm living in a cult and I'm
one of the few people not part of the cult.
(26:27):
I can't believe how obedient everyone is in saluting Gavin
Newsom for this prop fifty nonsense. It's really worse than
I thought, because the state is a terrible mess and
we need a drastic change. Steve Hilton you may know
(26:50):
of him. He's a former Fox News host. He does
have a lot of experience in politics. He used to
be a work with the Prime Minister David Cameron in
Great Britain, and we talked with him briefly one day.
He was on his way to get on a plane
at the airport and I wanted to talk to him
(27:10):
a little longer than that. So he's on now right
after two o'clock Steve Hilton running for governor and currently
number one in the race, ahead of Chad Bianco, who's
the other major Republican who's running. But he hosted The
Next Revolution on Fox News for six years, and he
was the head of strategy for Prime Minister David Cameron.
(27:33):
He's also written a book called Cali Failure, Reversing the
Ruin of America's worst run State. I cannot believe with
the ruins we're in that people don't want a big
change in the state. I was just today thinking about,
you know how we have, God, there's so many things. Well,
we've got the worst homeless situation, right. We had crime
(27:57):
that's been crazy, especially the quality of life crimes because
they decriminalized theft, theft, among other things. We've got the
highest taxes in the state, highest gas tax, high sales tax,
highest income tax, highest electricity prices, highest gas prices, highest
poverty rate, highest inflation rate, I'm highest unemployment rate, and
(28:23):
I'm thinking, God, this would normally sink a guy. Instead
News them is bobbed up to the top of the
presidential polls on the Democratic side, and I'm thinking, what's
wrong with everyone here? We're going to talk to Steve Hilton,
who's going to be on with us in minutes. Hey,
you've been listening to The John Cobalt Show podcast. You
(28:44):
can always hear the show live on KFI Am six
forty from one to four pm every Monday through Friday,
and of course, anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
The John Kobylt Show News
Host
John Kobylt
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