July 7, 2026 • 31 mins
The John Kobylt Show Hour 2 (07/07) - Sam Shane fills in for John. Katy Grimes comes on the show to talk about the LA raid that exposed more welfare fraud in California. More on more people living with their parents after college. An internet personality says Islam will take over New York City. What's the most livable city on the planet? NGOs and non-profits are a big cause of fraud. More on socialists rising in the Democratic Party.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
AM six forty. You're listening to the John Cobel podcast
on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Welcome back to KFI AM six forty. We are live
everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. I'm Sam Chane and for
John Cobalt, and we are looking forward to talking with
our next guest. Katie Grimes, is with the California Globe
and is joining us to talk more about an interesting
investigation that was conducted by the federal government. Katie, thanks
(00:35):
for joining us and how are you, Hi, Sham.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
I'm terrific.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
How are you well, I'm doing quite well. So I
just I'm going to read the headline here and then
I want you to fill in the details here of
what exactly happened. Here is the first graph in your
article in the California Globe. Federal agents conducted an undercover
raid in Los Angeles on Thursday, July third, targeting snap
food stamp benefits fraud in a skid row store. So
(01:02):
can you tell us more of the details of what
exactly they were doing and what they were looking for.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Well, as we know, the federal government is really cracking
down on all kinds of fraud, whether it's hospice or
health fraud. This is food stamp fraud. And so this
was a collaboration between the US Department of Agriculture Homeland
Security LAPD was in on it, and of course our
Assistant US Attorney Bill A. Saley for the Central District
(01:31):
down there in LA and they have been so the
undercover agents posed as fraudsters, and what was going on
is they were getting cash kickbacks. So people would turn
in their their quote food stamp snap cards get cash,
and then these guys would provide kickbacks and what not
(01:51):
to you know, to them and then other people who
would purchase them. What's interesting is one of our readers
left a comment on the articles day saying he's actually
been offered one of those food stamp snap cards and
declined it. But I thought that was interesting. So what
they were looking They nailed six different stores in this
(02:12):
particular raid, and then there were a total twenty seven
stores charged with engaging in these snap benefits fraud. And
what they allowed was, you know, prohibited items alcohol, beer, liquor,
hard seltzer, vaping devices, et cetera.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
I think what struck me though, is so.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Interesting in all of this is we've been following the
federal governments, you know, digging into the fraud and in
the meantime, discovered that one third of California's entire state
budget is made up of federal funding. And in that
California receives the most of any state in the country
in these SNAP benefits, and it's absolutely huge. Our SNAP
(02:57):
benefit program is twelve point five billion dollars.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Yeah, yeah, it's done.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
And of the forty million people we have in California,
five point five million of them are on these SNAP benefits.
Speaker 5 (03:10):
That's huge.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
That is huge. And I saw that number in your article,
and you know, the other number that really jumped off
the page for me, Katie, was that next line that
you wrote about eleven percent of the program's payments are
issued in air. Eleven percent. That's more than a billion
dollars gone.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Oh easily. Actually, what the federal government says is the
EBT skimming is actually like a three point six million
dollars per month issue. So this is huge. I am.
I am very very happy they're cracking down on this.
I suspect just because California is so huge and so
much of this money comes here, we're going to see
(03:46):
other cities. Obviously, La is kind of a hub, being
the biggest city in the state. But I think we're
going to see more of these raids, probably in Sacramento,
San Diego, and who knows where else.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Well, I'm with you on that, and you know, you
and I have actually talked about this in the past,
and I've said, in fact, I just mentioned it here
on the program today. I mean, I don't think Californias
have any clue the amount of corruption and fraud that's
been taking place in this state and for how many years,
I mean for a long long time. Let's talk a
little bit about the SNAP benefits and how they're cracking
(04:19):
down here on the fraud, because, if I'm not mistaken, Katie,
the SNAP program was not top of mind. It wasn't
on the top of the list in terms of fraud
and corruption. But it surfaced pretty rapidly when some of
the some of the directors of SNAP came out and
did a couple of interviews and said, you know what
we're finding, it's not good and is this a manifestation
(04:41):
of that.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
I do believe it is so, because I referred back
to a story we did in June when the US
Department of Health and Human Services for Children and Families
issued a federal report and it revealed that California received
eighty percent of the federal funding just for illegal immigrants.
So we know, if there's eighty percent of that money
coming to California, there's a bulk of fraud going on
(05:06):
in there too, and it's all tied together.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
What's the next step do you believe? I mean, this
is beyond a SNAP. I would imagine there are going
to be other programs. And then the other question I
have here is skid Row in Los Angeles seems to
be kind of the place to go. I mean, voter
fraud was a big topic there watch just three four
weeks ago, and now we're talking about snap fraud. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
I think, well, it's interesting just because with the voter
and election fraud issues. I mean, I've been hearing since
twenty ten that the bulk of California's election issues and
election fraud issues have been coming out of LA County,
So that certainly makes sense. I think it's kind of
almost like a no go zone in California of all
kinds of fraud and corruption.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Right right, I mean, what's your estimation, what's your feel
as you report on this story? How big could this get?
And how long do you think these investigations go on?
Are we talking about years?
Speaker 5 (06:00):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Uh, you know, I don't know. I don't know because
I don't know if we even understand the scope of
it yet. Remember when Elon Musk was running DOGE, he said,
just with their preliminary look into it, that over half
of the US budget is probably fraudulent and if we
could get rid of it, none of us will be
(06:23):
paying income taxes. So if fact gives anybody a perspective,
I imagine California's ground.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Zero for that, right right.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
And then there's a story I don't know if you
saw this one, and I just mentioned it here in
the program that's surfaced out of Minnesota, and we're now
understanding that apparently the Somali fraud ring is so big
that the Small Business Administration is expanding their investigation not
just in the Twin Cities, but through the entire state
of Minnesota. So that gives us an idea, And can
(06:51):
we expect that that's the case here in California?
Speaker 3 (06:54):
Yes, I would say yes, and yes. Plus, the Somali
fraud issue is not just a limited to Minnesota. We've
been reading that it's in other states as well, So
I think you know they for some reason, the somalis
latched onto it. I think we're going to find in
California we have our own set of groups that have
been doing this for a very, very long time. And
(07:16):
I really do blame a lot of it, Sam on
the dramatic increase, particularly in the last say fifteen years,
of nonprofits and NGOs. I mean that is where the blacks.
That's like a shadow government in California.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
I'm glad you brought that up. I have been hard.
I've been harping on this for I don't know how
long these NGOs have got to either go away or
get cleaned up. These are nothing but money slush funds.
I mean, yeah, it's just dirty money. Really, that's all
it is. And I don't understand the purpose of them.
I mean, what are they doing beyond moving money around?
Speaker 3 (07:52):
Well, it's interesting because it's funny you say that I
have been rapport. I used to report back in like,
oh wait, I would turn fraudulent nonprofits over to the
California Attorney General. That's back when Jerry Brown was Attorney
general and got nowhere. And so I mean we could
see it then and they were increasing and more were
(08:14):
popping up, and then we were finding nonprofits attached to
politicians and their families, and so this has been going
on a very long time, and it really has been
acting as not just a slush fund for you know,
politicians and connected people, but really kind of as a
shadow government with all the government money going into them.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Based on that story that you just told, we now
know why they have no motivation to clean it up
because they obviously can potentially benefit handsomely from these NGOs. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
Well we're seeing it with the governor and the first
partner who's been bring a lot of money and taking
a lot of income out of her own nonprofits. So yeah,
it's a way of life for a lot of them.
Speaker 6 (08:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
The way, I've yet to see what's going to come
from that investigation, and that is an interesting money and
of itself. Katie, great work. Once again, it's always great
to talk to you. Katie Grimes is with the California Globe.
If you want to read more on that particular story,
just go to California Globe dot com.
Speaker 6 (09:11):
You're listening to John Cobelt on demand from KFI AM
six forty.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Harry are on KFIAM six forty live everywhere on the
iHeartRadio app. My name is Sam Shane and for John
Cobol today, it's my pleasure to be here. We talked
a little bit earlier about whether or not the UC
system University of California schools would go back to standardized
testing for their admissions policies. They're being pushed by a
number of prominent media outlets, their editorial boards, New York Times,
(09:43):
Wall Street Journal and others. And there are many professors
who work in these colleges who say, too many of
the young people who are showing up at their four
year universities are not prepared, they're not ready, and they're
just not educated to the point where they need to
be to even compete in the classroom, much less graduate.
(10:06):
And so both the New York Times and the Wall
Street Journal op ed writer's columnists came out and said,
this was a terrible mistake you made more than six
years ago to get rid of standardized testing. It's time
for you to reverse that trend. A number of colleges,
by the way, have done that. Now you couple that
with the fact that you have a lot of kids
who are graduating from college, who are moving back in
with mom and dad, going back home for a while
(10:28):
as they try to get their careers started, who have
accumulated significant amount of debt with a degree that maybe
is useful or not. And when you talk about what
the trades are offering, that is why they are becoming
more and more popular. And we're begetting some interesting feedback
from a number of listeners on the topic, including this
guy that we are about to hear who's been listening
(10:50):
to the program on the iHeartRadio app talking about the
benefits of going to work in the trades.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Learning a trade.
Speaker 6 (10:59):
Coming out of high school or even college is definitely
where it's at.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
I can tell you that from experience as a union
heavy equipment operator. So he said, look, I benefited from this,
he said. He goes on to say it during that
whole clip that I have for three years made gross
two hundred and forty thousand dollars per year operating heavy equipment.
(11:28):
And he learned that in the trades. So it's been
interesting to hear what people have to say about that.
That's some of the more popular feedback that I've been
receiving today from folks listening on the iHeartRadio app. Avocados
apparently are not selling the way that avocado farmers would like,
at least they're not getting as much as they would like.
(11:48):
In fact, as a young guy who grew up in
farm country in the Midwest, farmers often will tell you
that they're not making as much money as they should
be getting for all of their produce that they grow.
But I want to get into a little bit about
what they're asking the Trump administration due regarding avocados in
the United States and Mexico in just a minute. Before
(12:09):
we do that, I want to get to this viral video.
This is a reflection in my estimation of how there
are portions of this country that are clearly being impacted culturally,
and how there are people who are trying to change
the culture in many locations in America, sometimes overtly, sometimes quietly.
(12:31):
This one obviously more overtly. It's a trouble video that
has gone viral by a streamer who broadcasts to more
than a million followers, and it's set off a bit
of a firestorm because you will hear him talk about
New York City Mayor Zorron mom Downie. He uses his
name and He goes on to declare that Islam will
(12:53):
take over New York City. Now, this guy, he's known
the internet personality as I'll get you his real name
in a minute, but Sneako, you'll he's yelling a la
akbar as he's standing in the middle of a group
of These are egypt soccer fans. In the background, they're
banging drums and blowing horns. You'll hear them. But here
(13:15):
here's the video of what he said, and I'll get
you more on who this guy is.
Speaker 7 (13:19):
This is the Islami Republic of New York.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Astatlam.
Speaker 6 (13:23):
You'll be in every household and so this Muslim welcome
tom on Donni's New York.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
You see this city.
Speaker 6 (13:32):
You see how it looks in Solo.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Your city looks just like this too. This is what
it's gonna be like in every city in America.
Speaker 8 (13:40):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
There are people out there like him who have no
interest in assimilating, cooperating. It's our way or the highway.
That's that's the belief system, sneak O. His real name
is Nicholas Ken deve Blantazi. He is described as a
provocateur been known to hang around with some anti Semitic
(14:03):
far right folks during his rise to social media startup now.
Before that, he was a big supporter for the political
far left. He supported presidential campaign of Senator Bernie Sanders
in twenty sixteen and then apparently converted to Islam in
twenty twenty three. One of the reasons I found that
(14:24):
clip so interesting is a book that I have been
reading which has been written by Peter Schweitzer. And I
don't know how familiar you are with him. He is
a best selling author for the New York Times for
this book and for a number of books. He works
in part for Breitbart. He is really, in my estimation,
(14:46):
one of the courageous writers out there in terms of
an investigative reporter who just recently released a book within
the last few months or so, how American elites and
foreign powers use immigration as a weapon. The Invisible coup
is what it's called. Throughout this book, Schweizer talks about
(15:06):
how foreign countries have for years tried to subvert the
culture of America through immigration, and this has been a
tactic that China has used, Mexico's used, Cuba, He's used
the former Soviet Union tried to use Russia has tried
to use. And the whole notion is is that you
can go in and you can undermine the strength of
(15:28):
a country without going to war. It's a very interesting concept.
It's very troubling. But when you hear a clip like
that which we just heard, makes sense, that makes sense, Okay,
to avocados. California farmers calling on the Trump administration to
adopt a tariff on Mexican avocados. They talked with a
(15:51):
farmer in Ventura County Inventure, I should say, California. A
guy named Andy Schieffer owns a farm there. Says it's
really difficult to operate so much volatility. He's been farming
for twenty years. He said. We started out last May.
I was twenty twenty five, and we were getting about
two dollars and thirty cents a pound for avocados. That's
what he told the California Post. Now those same avocados
(16:12):
are getting between seventy five cents and a dollar ten.
He said. It just fell off a cliff in the
latter part of the season. So now they're calling on
the Trump administration to put tarifs in place on avocados.
So that might be the latest and greatest in the
tariff war. We shall see.
Speaker 6 (16:31):
You're listening to John Cobels on demand from KFI AM
six forty.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Here we are at kf I AM six forty. We're
live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. My name is Sam Shane.
I'm in for John Cobble today. Good to be here.
What's the most livable city on the planet, the most
livable city in the entire world? Well, according to Economist
Intelligence Unit, that's EIU. They are a sister organization for
(16:59):
the Economist Mega. They have rated Copenhagen is the number
one spot on the annual list. They beat out Australia
or Austria's Vienna. Bienna had a three year run at
the top spot. Copenhagen now has won the top spot
for the second year in a row. They looked at
things like education, stability, health care, infrastructure and culture. They
(17:22):
ranked one hundred and seventy three cities and they say
Copenhagen I would take either of those right. Pretty cool.
So that's out there for your discussion tonight, if you
so choose. Governor Newsom is weighing in now on these
radical socialists who are rising to prominence in the Democrat Party.
He thinks it's a good thing. And we're going to
get into more of what he has said in his
(17:42):
most recent interview on the topic in a moment, but
we want to stay on that topic and roll for
you an audio clip from someone else before we get
to what Governor Newsim has to say. So there's a
pretty good chance I would assume you have not heard
of Gavin Baker. If you have, you know that he
is one of the most respected and investors in the world.
So he runs his own investment firm after a successful
(18:04):
career at Fidelity where he led the investment community into
Elon Musk's SpaceX ventures. So he saw that early on
and that was a good call in his part, right.
So during an appearance on the All In podcast, Gavin
Baker talked a little bit about the suspected corruption of
nngos in America. We just talked to Katie Grimes about that,
(18:26):
the NGOs in America, right and the suspected corruption. So
he talks about that topic. Also, the one person that
he believes is behind the rise of radical socialists in
the Democrat Party, and.
Speaker 4 (18:40):
I just think there's a whole class of people who
went to an elite school. They grew up in really
nice circumstances.
Speaker 5 (18:50):
And instead of going into industry, they went into this
kind of giant in geo nonprofit machine, and their outcomes
have been very different from people who did productive things
for the world.
Speaker 4 (19:06):
And I've said on the show many times Elon has
done more to decarbonize the planet than every activist combined.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Time Center.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
Yeah times.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
And I think these NGOs and the fact that the
government is increasingly outsourcing a lot of funding to them,
is a really big part of this problem. And then
you can give jobs six hundred thousand dollars a year,
jobs run in an NGO that does nothing productive to
(19:38):
your friends at allies, and it's really organized corruption happening
at a massive scale. And I hope that the mainstream
Democrats can find a compelling candidate because I think the
reason that the DSA is increasingly ascendant is not because
of their ideas. I think their ideas appealed to this
(20:00):
very narrow subset dowbardly mobile, rich white people who you know,
increasingly maybe live in you know, quasi genteel poverty because
they're not doing productive things and maybe well attention, but
they're not doing productive things and can find the compelling candidate,
because I think the reason they are ascendant is Soro
Mam Donnie. I think he is one of the most
(20:21):
talented politicians I've ever seen in my lifetime. But I
think he is a singularly talented politician and he is
the reason that the DSA is ascendant.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
He's right, I think I think that's spot on both
his assessment of Mam Donnie and Mam Donnie's skills. He
is extraordinarily talented as a politician. Whether you like his
positions or not, he's a good one, he really is.
And then he has assessment of nssays or I'm sorry, NGOs, NGOs,
(20:55):
what's the purpose, what's the function? They are not productive
like the private sector. And he made so many great
comparisons to people who have come out of the private
sector and been very, very productive as opposed to those
who are buried in some NGO And as Katie Grimes
and I were talking about from the California Globe just
a little bit ago here in the program, these NGOs, folks,
(21:18):
I'm telling you the money that's flowing through these things,
and where is it going? And are their kickbacks and
why and how I mean, Look, that is part of
the investigation right now, the federal investigation and Governor Newsom
and his wife and her NGOs and nonprofits and even
for profit organizations, and it's part of a tax investigation,
apparently according to some sources. So I thought was a
(21:43):
very astute clip from Gavin Baker. Now from Gavin Newsom,
our governor. He's just recently conducted an interview where he
talked about these socialists who have risen to prominence in
his party, and he says he rejects the idea that
socialists candidates are a threat to the party. So here's
(22:03):
what he said. This is a direct quote. This is
all familiar and it's very healthy. I don't think it's unhealthy.
So I completely reject this notion. And look, I'm for addition,
not subtraction. The Democrat Party needs to be in the
addition business if we're going to get back into the majority. Yeah,
we need to get our base out there. We got
(22:24):
to turn her out, We got to get turnout. I'm
not offended by this notion of a big ten. Okay,
well that makes sense, but are you adding or subtracting here?
I mean, when you bring in radical socialist candidates who
are saying, let's defund the police, let's close jails, let's
get rid of the border, who criticize the military, and
(22:48):
there are a number of these prominent radical socialists who
won in New York who are saying those very same things.
Are you adding or subtracting? Are you alienating or including
and inviting? I would argue you may be turning off
more people than you know with that type of messaging.
That's not inclusion. I think he's missing the read on
(23:09):
this one. I don't think he sees it, so I
want to continue with what he has to say on
the other side. In the next segment. We're going to
do that and roll out some more interesting audio on
the topic.
Speaker 6 (23:19):
You're listening to John Cobels on demand from KFI AM.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
Six forty KFI AM six forty Live everywhere on the
iHeartRadio app. I'm Sam Shane in for John Cobbolt. Its
pleasure to be here. I want to pick up on
some of the latest comments from Governor Newsom about socialists
rising to prominence in the Democrat Party and the big
tent that he talks about, and then I want to
(23:44):
roll out a clip for you from one of those
players who has just recently won in a primary election
for the Democrats in a race for Congress in Colorado.
So we're going to get into that and you can
see if these two actually work together or not so much.
As part of his recent interview, Governor Knwsen went on
to say, I think it's important though that big tent
(24:07):
is a big tent, because there's folks, you know, on
this side that don't want folks on that. I think
we'd be better off to look at things that bind
us together, the things that we have in common. And
I know that the purity tests are going to get
tougher and tougher in the next few years. But an
enthusiastic about the success and the energy and the vibrancy
(24:29):
that's happening at the grassroots in this country. I think
it's a healthy damn thing. He says. So, given what
he just said there in his most recent interview on
the rise of socialists, some of them radical socialists in
the Democrat Party, he thinks it's a good thing. And
he talks about the need to bind people together and
(24:49):
finding common ground in the big tent. Does that relate
to what you're about to hear from Malat Kiros, the
radical socialist Democrat who won the dem Democrat primary in
Colorado in the congressional race there that's in the Denver region.
She says in this interview that climate change will result
(25:09):
in more people immigrating to the US. This podcast interview
was posted by Breitbart News, and also Piro says that
she believes that big changes are in store for America.
Speaker 7 (25:22):
There's going to be a lot of immigration because of
people needing to flee parts of the world that are
no longer habitable because of climate change. What are we
doing to prepare for that world that's coming in when
we haven't even fixed all of the problems that we're
dealing with because of this patriarchical capitalist society.
Speaker 8 (25:41):
And so I do really believe that, you know, the
world moves in cycles. Right There are a lot of
theories right now about us embarking on this two hundred
and fiftieth anniversary of our nation's founding and what that
means for you know, our I think our responsibility to
reflect on what's worked well and what's not worked well,
(26:01):
and there are going to be some very systemic institutional
changes that I think are going to be necessary.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
I just don't find that to be inclusive. I'm sorry.
You know that this whole notion that climate change is
going to lead to more immigration in America, I think
would be rejected by a lot of folks, maybe even
some who have been inclined to vote Democrat for a
long long time. And we just played a clip from
someone who has voted Democrat but virtually every single race
of his life, and he's now saying, based on what
(26:28):
I'm seeing with these radical socialists who have been criticizing
members of the military, and he was a member of
the military, and the Republicans are pro military, I'm voting
Republican and I get that, and this could go that way.
These positions could actually turn off and not invite more
(26:49):
people to the big tempt that Governor Nusman was talking about.
From a listener who has been listening to the program
on the iHeartRadio, I'm talking a little bit about the
New York City mayor z around Mamdani.
Speaker 7 (26:59):
Madonie is a talented con man.
Speaker 3 (27:04):
He's not a politician. He's a con man.
Speaker 7 (27:07):
He gives you a spiel about free stuff that he
doesn't deliver. He's a con man. He has no skills
other than talking.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
He's a good talker, though, and that's what good politicians are.
They're very convincing, and he is one of those. But
there are a lot of young people in New York
City who are going to learn out over the course
of the next two to four years. A lot of
these promises of free this and free that, and free stuff,
and free bus rides and free healthcare and free childcare.
(27:38):
You got the picture. They're going to learn a tough lesson.
And I, you know, I have friends who live in Manhattan,
and I said to my friends, man, and you know,
I wish you well.
Speaker 5 (27:46):
I just do.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
This is an interesting story. It has to do with
gas powered appliances in California. A lot of regulators in
California really have it in for gas powered appliances. Southern
California air regulators can now move forward with new limits
on the sale of certain gas powered appliances, including water heaters.
This is reporting by cal Matters. By the way, despite
(28:10):
pushback from businesses and developers, the Ninth Circuit Court of
Appeals has now ruled two to one upholding restrictions on
commercial and industrial gas appliances for four Los Angeles counties.
The ruling directly affects roughly one point three million water
heaters and industrial boilers in La Orange, Riverside, and San
(28:31):
Bernardino counties. This is according to the Sierra Club. They
were a defendant in this lawsuit. South Coast Air Quality
Management District adopted these mandates in twenty twenty four to
reduce screenhouse gas emissions and pollution. So there is a
deputy press secretary with the Sierra Club who issued a statement.
(28:52):
It came up with some interesting numbers, and I am
not always clear as to how they arrive at some
of these numbers, but nevertheless they did in their statement
to the press. When fully implemented, the boiler rule will
avoid over twenty eight thousand early deaths, eight hundred cases
of asthma, three hundred thousand lost worker school days, yielding
(29:13):
more than ninety five billion dollars in health benefits by
restricting the sale, he says, of gas powered appliances. Isn't
that amazing that they can come up with with such
monstrous numbers. Opponents have argued the restrictions violate the federal
law by banning appliances protected by the Energy Policy and
(29:36):
Constructed Conservation Act. Okay, again, this was the Ninth Circuit
Court of Appeals that made the ruling. So you know
what's going to happen next. This is going to get appealed.
This is going to be fought out in the courts.
But the court held that air district had the power
to target pollution sources under the Clean Air Act. Not
an entirely surprising ruling from that court, but it's going
(29:59):
to definitely be appealed. Have you heard of are you
aware of the Bishnoi Gang. They're out of India. I
have been learning a lot more about them today because
federal agents cracked down on members of the Bishnoi gang
here in California, here in southern California, in northern California,
(30:23):
in the Bay Area, in Sacramento, in Canada, in Europe,
and other places across the United States. This is a
huge operation organized crime at a big, big level, and
there were so many places that were rated as part
of this. There were scores of people who were arrested, cocaine, heroin,
massive amounts that were covered, cash, firearms. At any rate,
(30:46):
I want to get into who this gang is, the
Bishnoi Gang, and if you can believe it or not.
It's being run by a guy who's in jail in India.
It's an amazing story. So we're going to get to
that coming up straight ahead. In the meantime, I'm saying
Shane for John Cobbel. This is KFI AM six forty
live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
You've been listening to the John Cobelt Show podcast, you
can always hear the show live on KFI AM six
forty from three to six pm every Monday through Friday,
and of course anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 6 (31:18):
KFI AM six more stimulating talk
AM six forty. You're listening to the John Cobel podcast
on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Welcome back to KFI AM six forty. We are live
everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. I'm Sam Chane and for
John Cobalt, and we are looking forward to talking with
our next guest. Katie Grimes, is with the California Globe
and is joining us to talk more about an interesting
investigation that was conducted by the federal government. Katie, thanks
(00:35):
for joining us and how are you, Hi, Sham.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
I'm terrific.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
How are you well, I'm doing quite well. So I
just I'm going to read the headline here and then
I want you to fill in the details here of
what exactly happened. Here is the first graph in your
article in the California Globe. Federal agents conducted an undercover
raid in Los Angeles on Thursday, July third, targeting snap
food stamp benefits fraud in a skid row store. So
(01:02):
can you tell us more of the details of what
exactly they were doing and what they were looking for.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Well, as we know, the federal government is really cracking
down on all kinds of fraud, whether it's hospice or
health fraud. This is food stamp fraud. And so this
was a collaboration between the US Department of Agriculture Homeland
Security LAPD was in on it, and of course our
Assistant US Attorney Bill A. Saley for the Central District
(01:31):
down there in LA and they have been so the
undercover agents posed as fraudsters, and what was going on
is they were getting cash kickbacks. So people would turn
in their their quote food stamp snap cards get cash,
and then these guys would provide kickbacks and what not
(01:51):
to you know, to them and then other people who
would purchase them. What's interesting is one of our readers
left a comment on the articles day saying he's actually
been offered one of those food stamp snap cards and
declined it. But I thought that was interesting. So what
they were looking They nailed six different stores in this
(02:12):
particular raid, and then there were a total twenty seven
stores charged with engaging in these snap benefits fraud. And
what they allowed was, you know, prohibited items alcohol, beer, liquor,
hard seltzer, vaping devices, et cetera.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
I think what struck me though, is so.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Interesting in all of this is we've been following the
federal governments, you know, digging into the fraud and in
the meantime, discovered that one third of California's entire state
budget is made up of federal funding. And in that
California receives the most of any state in the country
in these SNAP benefits, and it's absolutely huge. Our SNAP
(02:57):
benefit program is twelve point five billion dollars.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Yeah, yeah, it's done.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
And of the forty million people we have in California,
five point five million of them are on these SNAP benefits.
Speaker 5 (03:10):
That's huge.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
That is huge. And I saw that number in your article,
and you know, the other number that really jumped off
the page for me, Katie, was that next line that
you wrote about eleven percent of the program's payments are
issued in air. Eleven percent. That's more than a billion
dollars gone.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Oh easily. Actually, what the federal government says is the
EBT skimming is actually like a three point six million
dollars per month issue. So this is huge. I am.
I am very very happy they're cracking down on this.
I suspect just because California is so huge and so
much of this money comes here, we're going to see
(03:46):
other cities. Obviously, La is kind of a hub, being
the biggest city in the state. But I think we're
going to see more of these raids, probably in Sacramento,
San Diego, and who knows where else.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Well, I'm with you on that, and you know, you
and I have actually talked about this in the past,
and I've said, in fact, I just mentioned it here
on the program today. I mean, I don't think Californias
have any clue the amount of corruption and fraud that's
been taking place in this state and for how many years,
I mean for a long long time. Let's talk a
little bit about the SNAP benefits and how they're cracking
(04:19):
down here on the fraud, because, if I'm not mistaken, Katie,
the SNAP program was not top of mind. It wasn't
on the top of the list in terms of fraud
and corruption. But it surfaced pretty rapidly when some of
the some of the directors of SNAP came out and
did a couple of interviews and said, you know what
we're finding, it's not good and is this a manifestation
(04:41):
of that.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
I do believe it is so, because I referred back
to a story we did in June when the US
Department of Health and Human Services for Children and Families
issued a federal report and it revealed that California received
eighty percent of the federal funding just for illegal immigrants.
So we know, if there's eighty percent of that money
coming to California, there's a bulk of fraud going on
(05:06):
in there too, and it's all tied together.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
What's the next step do you believe? I mean, this
is beyond a SNAP. I would imagine there are going
to be other programs. And then the other question I
have here is skid Row in Los Angeles seems to
be kind of the place to go. I mean, voter
fraud was a big topic there watch just three four
weeks ago, and now we're talking about snap fraud. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
I think, well, it's interesting just because with the voter
and election fraud issues. I mean, I've been hearing since
twenty ten that the bulk of California's election issues and
election fraud issues have been coming out of LA County,
So that certainly makes sense. I think it's kind of
almost like a no go zone in California of all
kinds of fraud and corruption.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Right right, I mean, what's your estimation, what's your feel
as you report on this story? How big could this get?
And how long do you think these investigations go on?
Are we talking about years?
Speaker 5 (06:00):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Uh, you know, I don't know. I don't know because
I don't know if we even understand the scope of
it yet. Remember when Elon Musk was running DOGE, he said,
just with their preliminary look into it, that over half
of the US budget is probably fraudulent and if we
could get rid of it, none of us will be
(06:23):
paying income taxes. So if fact gives anybody a perspective,
I imagine California's ground.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Zero for that, right right.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
And then there's a story I don't know if you
saw this one, and I just mentioned it here in
the program that's surfaced out of Minnesota, and we're now
understanding that apparently the Somali fraud ring is so big
that the Small Business Administration is expanding their investigation not
just in the Twin Cities, but through the entire state
of Minnesota. So that gives us an idea, And can
(06:51):
we expect that that's the case here in California?
Speaker 3 (06:54):
Yes, I would say yes, and yes. Plus, the Somali
fraud issue is not just a limited to Minnesota. We've
been reading that it's in other states as well, So
I think you know they for some reason, the somalis
latched onto it. I think we're going to find in
California we have our own set of groups that have
been doing this for a very, very long time. And
(07:16):
I really do blame a lot of it, Sam on
the dramatic increase, particularly in the last say fifteen years,
of nonprofits and NGOs. I mean that is where the blacks.
That's like a shadow government in California.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
I'm glad you brought that up. I have been hard.
I've been harping on this for I don't know how
long these NGOs have got to either go away or
get cleaned up. These are nothing but money slush funds.
I mean, yeah, it's just dirty money. Really, that's all
it is. And I don't understand the purpose of them.
I mean, what are they doing beyond moving money around?
Speaker 3 (07:52):
Well, it's interesting because it's funny you say that I
have been rapport. I used to report back in like,
oh wait, I would turn fraudulent nonprofits over to the
California Attorney General. That's back when Jerry Brown was Attorney
general and got nowhere. And so I mean we could
see it then and they were increasing and more were
(08:14):
popping up, and then we were finding nonprofits attached to
politicians and their families, and so this has been going
on a very long time, and it really has been
acting as not just a slush fund for you know,
politicians and connected people, but really kind of as a
shadow government with all the government money going into them.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Based on that story that you just told, we now
know why they have no motivation to clean it up
because they obviously can potentially benefit handsomely from these NGOs. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
Well we're seeing it with the governor and the first
partner who's been bring a lot of money and taking
a lot of income out of her own nonprofits. So yeah,
it's a way of life for a lot of them.
Speaker 6 (08:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
The way, I've yet to see what's going to come
from that investigation, and that is an interesting money and
of itself. Katie, great work. Once again, it's always great
to talk to you. Katie Grimes is with the California Globe.
If you want to read more on that particular story,
just go to California Globe dot com.
Speaker 6 (09:11):
You're listening to John Cobelt on demand from KFI AM
six forty.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Harry are on KFIAM six forty live everywhere on the
iHeartRadio app. My name is Sam Shane and for John
Cobol today, it's my pleasure to be here. We talked
a little bit earlier about whether or not the UC
system University of California schools would go back to standardized
testing for their admissions policies. They're being pushed by a
number of prominent media outlets, their editorial boards, New York Times,
(09:43):
Wall Street Journal and others. And there are many professors
who work in these colleges who say, too many of
the young people who are showing up at their four
year universities are not prepared, they're not ready, and they're
just not educated to the point where they need to
be to even compete in the classroom, much less graduate.
(10:06):
And so both the New York Times and the Wall
Street Journal op ed writer's columnists came out and said,
this was a terrible mistake you made more than six
years ago to get rid of standardized testing. It's time
for you to reverse that trend. A number of colleges,
by the way, have done that. Now you couple that
with the fact that you have a lot of kids
who are graduating from college, who are moving back in
with mom and dad, going back home for a while
(10:28):
as they try to get their careers started, who have
accumulated significant amount of debt with a degree that maybe
is useful or not. And when you talk about what
the trades are offering, that is why they are becoming
more and more popular. And we're begetting some interesting feedback
from a number of listeners on the topic, including this
guy that we are about to hear who's been listening
(10:50):
to the program on the iHeartRadio app talking about the
benefits of going to work in the trades.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Learning a trade.
Speaker 6 (10:59):
Coming out of high school or even college is definitely
where it's at.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
I can tell you that from experience as a union
heavy equipment operator. So he said, look, I benefited from this,
he said. He goes on to say it during that
whole clip that I have for three years made gross
two hundred and forty thousand dollars per year operating heavy equipment.
(11:28):
And he learned that in the trades. So it's been
interesting to hear what people have to say about that.
That's some of the more popular feedback that I've been
receiving today from folks listening on the iHeartRadio app. Avocados
apparently are not selling the way that avocado farmers would like,
at least they're not getting as much as they would like.
(11:48):
In fact, as a young guy who grew up in
farm country in the Midwest, farmers often will tell you
that they're not making as much money as they should
be getting for all of their produce that they grow.
But I want to get into a little bit about
what they're asking the Trump administration due regarding avocados in
the United States and Mexico in just a minute. Before
(12:09):
we do that, I want to get to this viral video.
This is a reflection in my estimation of how there
are portions of this country that are clearly being impacted culturally,
and how there are people who are trying to change
the culture in many locations in America, sometimes overtly, sometimes quietly.
(12:31):
This one obviously more overtly. It's a trouble video that
has gone viral by a streamer who broadcasts to more
than a million followers, and it's set off a bit
of a firestorm because you will hear him talk about
New York City Mayor Zorron mom Downie. He uses his
name and He goes on to declare that Islam will
(12:53):
take over New York City. Now, this guy, he's known
the internet personality as I'll get you his real name
in a minute, but Sneako, you'll he's yelling a la
akbar as he's standing in the middle of a group
of These are egypt soccer fans. In the background, they're
banging drums and blowing horns. You'll hear them. But here
(13:15):
here's the video of what he said, and I'll get
you more on who this guy is.
Speaker 7 (13:19):
This is the Islami Republic of New York.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Astatlam.
Speaker 6 (13:23):
You'll be in every household and so this Muslim welcome
tom on Donni's New York.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
You see this city.
Speaker 6 (13:32):
You see how it looks in Solo.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Your city looks just like this too. This is what
it's gonna be like in every city in America.
Speaker 8 (13:40):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
There are people out there like him who have no
interest in assimilating, cooperating. It's our way or the highway.
That's that's the belief system, sneak O. His real name
is Nicholas Ken deve Blantazi. He is described as a
provocateur been known to hang around with some anti Semitic
(14:03):
far right folks during his rise to social media startup now.
Before that, he was a big supporter for the political
far left. He supported presidential campaign of Senator Bernie Sanders
in twenty sixteen and then apparently converted to Islam in
twenty twenty three. One of the reasons I found that
(14:24):
clip so interesting is a book that I have been
reading which has been written by Peter Schweitzer. And I
don't know how familiar you are with him. He is
a best selling author for the New York Times for
this book and for a number of books. He works
in part for Breitbart. He is really, in my estimation,
(14:46):
one of the courageous writers out there in terms of
an investigative reporter who just recently released a book within
the last few months or so, how American elites and
foreign powers use immigration as a weapon. The Invisible coup
is what it's called. Throughout this book, Schweizer talks about
(15:06):
how foreign countries have for years tried to subvert the
culture of America through immigration, and this has been a
tactic that China has used, Mexico's used, Cuba, He's used
the former Soviet Union tried to use Russia has tried
to use. And the whole notion is is that you
can go in and you can undermine the strength of
(15:28):
a country without going to war. It's a very interesting concept.
It's very troubling. But when you hear a clip like
that which we just heard, makes sense, that makes sense, Okay,
to avocados. California farmers calling on the Trump administration to
adopt a tariff on Mexican avocados. They talked with a
(15:51):
farmer in Ventura County Inventure, I should say, California. A
guy named Andy Schieffer owns a farm there. Says it's
really difficult to operate so much volatility. He's been farming
for twenty years. He said. We started out last May.
I was twenty twenty five, and we were getting about
two dollars and thirty cents a pound for avocados. That's
what he told the California Post. Now those same avocados
(16:12):
are getting between seventy five cents and a dollar ten.
He said. It just fell off a cliff in the
latter part of the season. So now they're calling on
the Trump administration to put tarifs in place on avocados.
So that might be the latest and greatest in the
tariff war. We shall see.
Speaker 6 (16:31):
You're listening to John Cobels on demand from KFI AM
six forty.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Here we are at kf I AM six forty. We're
live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. My name is Sam Shane.
I'm in for John Cobble today. Good to be here.
What's the most livable city on the planet, the most
livable city in the entire world? Well, according to Economist
Intelligence Unit, that's EIU. They are a sister organization for
(16:59):
the Economist Mega. They have rated Copenhagen is the number
one spot on the annual list. They beat out Australia
or Austria's Vienna. Bienna had a three year run at
the top spot. Copenhagen now has won the top spot
for the second year in a row. They looked at
things like education, stability, health care, infrastructure and culture. They
(17:22):
ranked one hundred and seventy three cities and they say
Copenhagen I would take either of those right. Pretty cool.
So that's out there for your discussion tonight, if you
so choose. Governor Newsom is weighing in now on these
radical socialists who are rising to prominence in the Democrat Party.
He thinks it's a good thing. And we're going to
get into more of what he has said in his
(17:42):
most recent interview on the topic in a moment, but
we want to stay on that topic and roll for
you an audio clip from someone else before we get
to what Governor Newsim has to say. So there's a
pretty good chance I would assume you have not heard
of Gavin Baker. If you have, you know that he
is one of the most respected and investors in the world.
So he runs his own investment firm after a successful
(18:04):
career at Fidelity where he led the investment community into
Elon Musk's SpaceX ventures. So he saw that early on
and that was a good call in his part, right.
So during an appearance on the All In podcast, Gavin
Baker talked a little bit about the suspected corruption of
nngos in America. We just talked to Katie Grimes about that,
(18:26):
the NGOs in America, right and the suspected corruption. So
he talks about that topic. Also, the one person that
he believes is behind the rise of radical socialists in
the Democrat Party, and.
Speaker 4 (18:40):
I just think there's a whole class of people who
went to an elite school. They grew up in really
nice circumstances.
Speaker 5 (18:50):
And instead of going into industry, they went into this
kind of giant in geo nonprofit machine, and their outcomes
have been very different from people who did productive things
for the world.
Speaker 4 (19:06):
And I've said on the show many times Elon has
done more to decarbonize the planet than every activist combined.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Time Center.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
Yeah times.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
And I think these NGOs and the fact that the
government is increasingly outsourcing a lot of funding to them,
is a really big part of this problem. And then
you can give jobs six hundred thousand dollars a year,
jobs run in an NGO that does nothing productive to
(19:38):
your friends at allies, and it's really organized corruption happening
at a massive scale. And I hope that the mainstream
Democrats can find a compelling candidate because I think the
reason that the DSA is increasingly ascendant is not because
of their ideas. I think their ideas appealed to this
(20:00):
very narrow subset dowbardly mobile, rich white people who you know,
increasingly maybe live in you know, quasi genteel poverty because
they're not doing productive things and maybe well attention, but
they're not doing productive things and can find the compelling candidate,
because I think the reason they are ascendant is Soro
Mam Donnie. I think he is one of the most
(20:21):
talented politicians I've ever seen in my lifetime. But I
think he is a singularly talented politician and he is
the reason that the DSA is ascendant.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
He's right, I think I think that's spot on both
his assessment of Mam Donnie and Mam Donnie's skills. He
is extraordinarily talented as a politician. Whether you like his
positions or not, he's a good one, he really is.
And then he has assessment of nssays or I'm sorry, NGOs, NGOs,
(20:55):
what's the purpose, what's the function? They are not productive
like the private sector. And he made so many great
comparisons to people who have come out of the private
sector and been very, very productive as opposed to those
who are buried in some NGO And as Katie Grimes
and I were talking about from the California Globe just
a little bit ago here in the program, these NGOs, folks,
(21:18):
I'm telling you the money that's flowing through these things,
and where is it going? And are their kickbacks and
why and how I mean, Look, that is part of
the investigation right now, the federal investigation and Governor Newsom
and his wife and her NGOs and nonprofits and even
for profit organizations, and it's part of a tax investigation,
apparently according to some sources. So I thought was a
(21:43):
very astute clip from Gavin Baker. Now from Gavin Newsom,
our governor. He's just recently conducted an interview where he
talked about these socialists who have risen to prominence in
his party, and he says he rejects the idea that
socialists candidates are a threat to the party. So here's
(22:03):
what he said. This is a direct quote. This is
all familiar and it's very healthy. I don't think it's unhealthy.
So I completely reject this notion. And look, I'm for addition,
not subtraction. The Democrat Party needs to be in the
addition business if we're going to get back into the majority. Yeah,
we need to get our base out there. We got
(22:24):
to turn her out, We got to get turnout. I'm
not offended by this notion of a big ten. Okay,
well that makes sense, but are you adding or subtracting here?
I mean, when you bring in radical socialist candidates who
are saying, let's defund the police, let's close jails, let's
get rid of the border, who criticize the military, and
(22:48):
there are a number of these prominent radical socialists who
won in New York who are saying those very same things.
Are you adding or subtracting? Are you alienating or including
and inviting? I would argue you may be turning off
more people than you know with that type of messaging.
That's not inclusion. I think he's missing the read on
(23:09):
this one. I don't think he sees it, so I
want to continue with what he has to say on
the other side. In the next segment. We're going to
do that and roll out some more interesting audio on
the topic.
Speaker 6 (23:19):
You're listening to John Cobels on demand from KFI AM.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
Six forty KFI AM six forty Live everywhere on the
iHeartRadio app. I'm Sam Shane in for John Cobbolt. Its
pleasure to be here. I want to pick up on
some of the latest comments from Governor Newsom about socialists
rising to prominence in the Democrat Party and the big
tent that he talks about, and then I want to
(23:44):
roll out a clip for you from one of those
players who has just recently won in a primary election
for the Democrats in a race for Congress in Colorado.
So we're going to get into that and you can
see if these two actually work together or not so much.
As part of his recent interview, Governor Knwsen went on
to say, I think it's important though that big tent
(24:07):
is a big tent, because there's folks, you know, on
this side that don't want folks on that. I think
we'd be better off to look at things that bind
us together, the things that we have in common. And
I know that the purity tests are going to get
tougher and tougher in the next few years. But an
enthusiastic about the success and the energy and the vibrancy
(24:29):
that's happening at the grassroots in this country. I think
it's a healthy damn thing. He says. So, given what
he just said there in his most recent interview on
the rise of socialists, some of them radical socialists in
the Democrat Party, he thinks it's a good thing. And
he talks about the need to bind people together and
(24:49):
finding common ground in the big tent. Does that relate
to what you're about to hear from Malat Kiros, the
radical socialist Democrat who won the dem Democrat primary in
Colorado in the congressional race there that's in the Denver region.
She says in this interview that climate change will result
(25:09):
in more people immigrating to the US. This podcast interview
was posted by Breitbart News, and also Piro says that
she believes that big changes are in store for America.
Speaker 7 (25:22):
There's going to be a lot of immigration because of
people needing to flee parts of the world that are
no longer habitable because of climate change. What are we
doing to prepare for that world that's coming in when
we haven't even fixed all of the problems that we're
dealing with because of this patriarchical capitalist society.
Speaker 8 (25:41):
And so I do really believe that, you know, the
world moves in cycles. Right There are a lot of
theories right now about us embarking on this two hundred
and fiftieth anniversary of our nation's founding and what that
means for you know, our I think our responsibility to
reflect on what's worked well and what's not worked well,
(26:01):
and there are going to be some very systemic institutional
changes that I think are going to be necessary.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
I just don't find that to be inclusive. I'm sorry.
You know that this whole notion that climate change is
going to lead to more immigration in America, I think
would be rejected by a lot of folks, maybe even
some who have been inclined to vote Democrat for a
long long time. And we just played a clip from
someone who has voted Democrat but virtually every single race
of his life, and he's now saying, based on what
(26:28):
I'm seeing with these radical socialists who have been criticizing
members of the military, and he was a member of
the military, and the Republicans are pro military, I'm voting
Republican and I get that, and this could go that way.
These positions could actually turn off and not invite more
(26:49):
people to the big tempt that Governor Nusman was talking about.
From a listener who has been listening to the program
on the iHeartRadio, I'm talking a little bit about the
New York City mayor z around Mamdani.
Speaker 7 (26:59):
Madonie is a talented con man.
Speaker 3 (27:04):
He's not a politician. He's a con man.
Speaker 7 (27:07):
He gives you a spiel about free stuff that he
doesn't deliver. He's a con man. He has no skills
other than talking.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
He's a good talker, though, and that's what good politicians are.
They're very convincing, and he is one of those. But
there are a lot of young people in New York
City who are going to learn out over the course
of the next two to four years. A lot of
these promises of free this and free that, and free stuff,
and free bus rides and free healthcare and free childcare.
(27:38):
You got the picture. They're going to learn a tough lesson.
And I, you know, I have friends who live in Manhattan,
and I said to my friends, man, and you know,
I wish you well.
Speaker 5 (27:46):
I just do.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
This is an interesting story. It has to do with
gas powered appliances in California. A lot of regulators in
California really have it in for gas powered appliances. Southern
California air regulators can now move forward with new limits
on the sale of certain gas powered appliances, including water heaters.
This is reporting by cal Matters. By the way, despite
(28:10):
pushback from businesses and developers, the Ninth Circuit Court of
Appeals has now ruled two to one upholding restrictions on
commercial and industrial gas appliances for four Los Angeles counties.
The ruling directly affects roughly one point three million water
heaters and industrial boilers in La Orange, Riverside, and San
(28:31):
Bernardino counties. This is according to the Sierra Club. They
were a defendant in this lawsuit. South Coast Air Quality
Management District adopted these mandates in twenty twenty four to
reduce screenhouse gas emissions and pollution. So there is a
deputy press secretary with the Sierra Club who issued a statement.
(28:52):
It came up with some interesting numbers, and I am
not always clear as to how they arrive at some
of these numbers, but nevertheless they did in their statement
to the press. When fully implemented, the boiler rule will
avoid over twenty eight thousand early deaths, eight hundred cases
of asthma, three hundred thousand lost worker school days, yielding
(29:13):
more than ninety five billion dollars in health benefits by
restricting the sale, he says, of gas powered appliances. Isn't
that amazing that they can come up with with such
monstrous numbers. Opponents have argued the restrictions violate the federal
law by banning appliances protected by the Energy Policy and
(29:36):
Constructed Conservation Act. Okay, again, this was the Ninth Circuit
Court of Appeals that made the ruling. So you know
what's going to happen next. This is going to get appealed.
This is going to be fought out in the courts.
But the court held that air district had the power
to target pollution sources under the Clean Air Act. Not
an entirely surprising ruling from that court, but it's going
(29:59):
to definitely be appealed. Have you heard of are you
aware of the Bishnoi Gang. They're out of India. I
have been learning a lot more about them today because
federal agents cracked down on members of the Bishnoi gang
here in California, here in southern California, in northern California,
(30:23):
in the Bay Area, in Sacramento, in Canada, in Europe,
and other places across the United States. This is a
huge operation organized crime at a big, big level, and
there were so many places that were rated as part
of this. There were scores of people who were arrested, cocaine, heroin,
massive amounts that were covered, cash, firearms. At any rate,
(30:46):
I want to get into who this gang is, the
Bishnoi Gang, and if you can believe it or not.
It's being run by a guy who's in jail in India.
It's an amazing story. So we're going to get to
that coming up straight ahead. In the meantime, I'm saying
Shane for John Cobbel. This is KFI AM six forty
live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
You've been listening to the John Cobelt Show podcast, you
can always hear the show live on KFI AM six
forty from three to six pm every Monday through Friday,
and of course anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 6 (31:18):
KFI AM six more stimulating talk
The John Kobylt Show News
Host
John Kobylt
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