October 12, 2025 • 37 mins
Helicopter crashes in Huntington Beach; Actress Diane Keaton dies; LA Mayor Bass and developer Rick Caruso rekindle their "frenemy" status in a public forum; and is a dead bird outside the KFI studios a good sign or a bad one?
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
I AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
This is Michael Monks Reports. I'm Michael Monks from KFI News.
I'll be with you till nine o'clock tonight on this
Saturday evening in southern California. And what a dramatic scene
it was earlier this afternoon in Huntington Beach. A helicopter
crash today right near Beachfront Hotels there in Huntington Beach.
(00:32):
Two people hurt on board, three people hurt on the ground.
We don't know a whole lot of details about what
caused this crash, the extent of the injuries of those
on board. There was a press conference in Huntington Beach
about an hour ago, a little over an hour ago,
and even then we did not learn a whole lot.
Here's a little bit of what those folks said.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Migels are transported to local hospitals in unknown condition. Currently,
NTSP is in they'll be conducting the investigation, and that's
all we have right now. As more information becomes available,
it'll get released.
Speaker 4 (01:06):
So we're hoping to have some more information to release
for you guys. This helicopter was part of the cars
and copters event that is scheduled to go on tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
We also want to.
Speaker 4 (01:17):
Say that the five people that were transported to the hospital,
they are in an unknown condition right now, but as
far as we know, there has been no further changes
in those conditions, which want to clarify any information out
there that.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Would say to the otherwise.
Speaker 5 (01:32):
But when you say changes and conditions, was everybody's stable condition,
aren't you what was.
Speaker 6 (01:39):
The condition out there.
Speaker 4 (01:40):
When they were transported to the hospital. They were transported
in the condition that they were in and that condition
has not worsened as far as we know, and that
nothing has been confirmed beyond that. We've seen some information
otherwise and we just want to make sure that that's
cleared out God as we been.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
So that was the remark. Little technical difficulties in here,
but I think are we brought casting?
Speaker 7 (02:00):
Can you hear me?
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Am? I?
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Okay, all right, thank you, Oliver, appreciate that. Okay, So
a couple more buttons to push today. But you heard
the update there from a little over an hour ago
out of Huntington Beach, where we didn't learn many more details.
Basically what we saw with our own eyes that a
helicopter crash near hotels there in Huntington Beach. This was
(02:22):
part of a show that's going on this weekend, cars
and copters on the coast. They say this event is
going to continue. But quite a scene today if you
have been able to see any of the videos, and
there are a lot out there, there were a lot
of people at the beach today that saw this transpire.
You see a helicopter appear to be approaching a landing
(02:43):
and a parking lot area and hovering what looked to
be dangerously close to one of those hotels, and then
all of a sudden it goes up but not too far,
and then starts spinning uncontrollably and then rapidly comes down.
(03:04):
Now it looks like this could have been a different
set of circumstances, more tragic circumstances, except for the fact
that this helicopter ended up crashing into some palm trees
and became wedged between those trees and a hotel, and
so it looks like everybody has survived. We heard some
(03:26):
remarks there at the press conference unknown condition, but the
condition has not worsened since those folks were transported two
on board the helicopter and three on the ground. What
could have been a really terrible situation appears not to
be as bad as it could have been, but we
will continue to monitor. If there are any more updates
out of Huntington Beach, we will bring those to you.
(03:49):
There is, unfortunately an update related to another crash that
took place involving a helicopter near Sacramento. One of the
three crew members on board eight medical helicopter that crashed
onto a Sacramento freeway during rush hour on Monday has died.
That was announced just this afternoon.
Speaker 8 (04:11):
In a statement. Reach Air Medical Services says Susie Smith,
a nurse who was on board the Reach helicopter that
crashed on Monday night, has died from her injuries. Reach
calls Smith a pillar of the EMS community and says
she saved countless lives in the medical chopper. She had
a fifty year career as a nurse in twenty one
years with REACH. Smith was trapped under the chopper on
(04:32):
the freeway. Good Samaritans lifted the helicopter to help firefighters freer.
Two other crew members were critically injured in the crash.
Alex Stone eb sinews so.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
A tragic update involving that helicopter that crashed in Sacramento
on a freeway there on Monday night. More tragedy in
Los Angeles as a legendary actress has died. Today we
are learning details about the death of actress dying Anne Keaton.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Ladi Da Latti Da.
Speaker 9 (05:03):
For many film lovers, Diane Keaton will always be Annie Hall,
the awkward tie wearing girlfriend in Woody Allen's Oscar winning
film Like. Keaton played a wide range of characters in
her decades long career, like Michael Corleoni's wife in the
Godfather films.
Speaker 8 (05:16):
Nichols True.
Speaker 7 (05:19):
I ask me about my business came?
Speaker 10 (05:21):
Is it true?
Speaker 9 (05:22):
Rollas a socialite turned radical in nineteen eighty one's Reds
earned her a second Best Actress nod her third game
for the nineteen ninety six drama Marvin's Room opposite Meryl Streep.
Speaker 7 (05:31):
I can't believe you never told me this.
Speaker 5 (05:34):
If I couldn't tell people I had a Carney boyfriend,
I couldn't tell Carney boyfriend Dan that you should have
told me.
Speaker 7 (05:41):
They are never that Cluss.
Speaker 9 (05:42):
Keaton's more lighthearted films included The First Wives, Club, Baby Boom,
Father of the Bride, and Something's Gotta Give, which earned
her her final Oscar nod.
Speaker 7 (05:51):
I Really like you, I really like you. Yeah, but
I love you like you.
Speaker 9 (05:56):
Keaton made eight films with Woody Allen. In twenty eighteen,
she publicly defended the director against allegations of sexual impropriety,
writing on Twitter, Woodie Allen is my friend and I
continue to believe in him.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Andrea Dresdale ABC News Diane Keaton dead at seventy nine.
What we have learned is that the Los Angeles City
Fire Department has confirmed that they responded to Keaton's house
this morning just after eight o'clock and transported her to
a local hospital. People dot Com reports that the woman
transported from that house was, in fact Keaton. No details
(06:29):
about what transpired that prompted a call to nine to
one one and that sent emergency responders to Diane Keaton's
house here in Los Angeles, but it is now confirmed
that actress Diane Keaton has died at the age of
seventy nine. Helicopter crashes, actresses dying. I gotta say there's
also right outside the studio building, there's a dead bird
(06:52):
that I just saw on. I don't know if that's
sort of an omen for the type of night we're
having here in Los Angeles. I know that there are
omens involving birds that are pleasant, omens involving birds that
are unpleasant. If you know how I'm supposed to feel
right now about seeing a dead bird in front of
the iHeart Studios building here in Burbank, open up the
(07:14):
iHeartRadio app, click on the talkback button and let me know.
Because I'm not sure how we're supposed to feel about that.
I'm proceeding with the show as if nothing else that
is going to happen. But if you know what that means,
I would certainly appreciate the help some good news out
of Los Angeles, or at least involving Los Angeles. It
(07:34):
is a completely new life for the UCLA Bruins football team.
They started off so rough this season, getting blown out,
opening up the season zero to four, losing to teams that,
even in a bad year, teams that UCLA should not
lose to. But they've now won two in a row
after upsetting Penn State last week. The Bruins were on
(07:56):
the road in East Lancing and just whipped Michigan State
thirty eight to thirteen. Folks online are saying UCLA may
now be the most exciting team in America. All they
had to do was fire their head coach a couple
of weeks ago. It looks like Tim Skipper has since
taken over. He says he's happy to see this good
(08:18):
game for the Bruins, second straight win after dropping those
first four. So they send Michigan State to a three
and three and zero to three record in the Big Ten.
Thirty eight to thirteen was that final score in East Lansing. Meanwhile,
another Michigan school taking to the field against in Los
(08:39):
Angeles School USC hosting the Wolverines right now, and the
Trojans are up twenty one to seven over fifteenth ranked Michigan.
The twenty first ranked USC Trojans leading twenty one to
seven with eleven thirty eight left to play in the
fourth quarter. I went to a festival just this afternoon
and was on the B Line metro train. I saw
some Michigan They are on the train headed to the stadium.
(09:04):
Hope they enjoy their time in Los Angeles. Otherwise, looks
like they'll be going back with the loss. LA Schools
roughing up the Michigan schools. Today, we have a couple
of hours to spend together in a lot of news
to get to. Outside of the helicopter crash in Huntington
Beach and the death of actress Diane Keaton here in
Los Angeles and a surgeing, resurgent UCLA football team, We've
(09:25):
got some weather coming in that looks to be kind
of strange for us for this time of year, and
a lot of rain could be involved. We're going to
go into the details of what the National Weather Service
is saying right now about what to expect Monday through Wednesday.
It looks like just about every part of southern California
is going to get at least a little bit wet,
(09:46):
and certainly wetter than we would expect to be. We're
also going to go over the arrest of this suspect
in the Pacific Palisades Fire. The most interesting thing to
me about this is that this guy isn't necessarily accused
of directly starting the Palisades Fire as we know it.
He started in another fire that quietly burned underground for
(10:09):
almost a week until those Santa Ana wins blew through
and brought it back above ground and turned it into
that powerful, devastating and deadly Palisades fire. We'll talk about
what the Los Angeles Fire Department has to say about
why that of initial fire was not completely put out.
(10:30):
And meanwhile, a replay of the twenty twenty two mayoral
race here in Los Angeles Mayor Karen Vass and her
vanquished foe, Rick Caruso, the developer who may face her
again in the next mayor's race. They are trading some
heated barbs over the response to the Palisades fire. Both
of them appeared at an event hosted by Bloomberg this week.
(10:52):
I'll play for you what each of them said. And
by the way, there is another potential mayoral candidate just
learned today, a familiar name, a guy with some resources,
may have hinted that he is jumping into the race
for Los Angeles mayor when that election starts, probably in
(11:13):
earnest next year. You'll see some campaigning for that twenty
twenty six office early next year. We're getting into all
that this hour, and then we have another big hour
on the other side of that. As Michael Monks Reports continues.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
This is Michael Monks Reports on Michael Monks from KFI
News with You till nine o'clock tonight. I mentioned before
we went to break that there's a dead bird right
outside the studio doors downstairs, and it's made me a
little bit uncomfortable because I think that that's an omen
for something, right. But aren't there omens involving birds that
are like good and some that are bad. I'm not
(11:56):
sure how a dead bird plays into that. I've asked
you to help me out, if you know, open up
the iHeartRadio app, click on the talk back button, talk
me off the ledge here.
Speaker 7 (12:04):
I'm a little bit nervous. Let's hear from Wilton, who's
called in.
Speaker 6 (12:08):
If the bird is l ain't on his back, push
it off the ledge, push it out the way, put
it in a bag, or go bury it. He ain't
in the stomach. Do the same thing, donly the bird man,
Go bear the bird. You probably had better look, don't
it just sit on the ledge like that, sit outside
the window.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
That's not a flower.
Speaker 7 (12:29):
Go bury it or something.
Speaker 6 (12:30):
Do something you made, because if you don't, I guarantee
you you're gonna pay for it.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
I'm gonna pay for it if I don't bury this
dead bird. Wilton's so excited he actually called in twice.
Speaker 7 (12:44):
I'm just saying.
Speaker 6 (12:45):
Something's definitely gonna happen if you don't get rid of
the bird. Oh my god, have you just sitting there
in the bird sit outside the window dead? That is
not a good thing. I mean, something's already wrong. What
go bury the bird?
Speaker 5 (12:57):
Man?
Speaker 6 (12:58):
Get a bird? He probably came there you to bury it.
Why do your job? Oh, you'd be seeing dave birds everywhere.
Speaker 8 (13:06):
Oh.
Speaker 7 (13:06):
I don't like that, Wilton. You have not helped the situation.
I don't know. I'm I'm not going to bury the bird.
I'm not going to move the bird.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
I will trust some Burbank wildlife to show up in
the night and take care of that. But it's like
right at the foot of the front door, so you
have to step around it as you exit. I'm hoping
that by the time the show is over and I
leave for the night, that bird is gone.
Speaker 7 (13:39):
It was on its side.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
It was not there when I came in at five o'clock,
but it was there when I stepped outside for a
moment and came back up at about six forty five, Okay, well,
that's gonna be in my head for the rest of
the show. But we've got other things to worry about
here in Los Angeles, including some interesting weatherheading our way.
The National Weather Services it will be a winter type
(14:05):
storm in the fall, bringing up to two inches of rain.
The rain event is expected to last between Monday and Wednesday.
The main impacts are expected Monday night through Tuesday afternoon.
Highs in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties could be nearly
twenty degrees cooler by this time next week.
Speaker 7 (14:20):
Daniel Martindale KFI News.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Okay, so, the National Weather Service held a news conference today,
a virtual one with the press, and talked a bit
about what this storm means for us, what it could mean.
Looks like they're still trying to pinpoint exactly what this
forecast looks like, but it looks like it's gonna be wet.
Even in Metro LA. A twelve percent chance of a
(14:44):
thunderstorm is what it looks like Monday night into Tuesday night.
Those chances are higher the farther up the coast. You
go thirty percent chance in Santa Barbara, thirty three percent
chance in San Luis Obispo. So even in the Metro
La area, there's not a zero percent chance that we'll
(15:06):
see some thunderstorms on Monday. And also these these rain
totals appear to be significant for such a short period
of time. They're saying that the peak timing of the
rain is Monday night at around ten o'clock to Tuesday
night around the same time, So there's a twenty four
hour window late Monday night the late Tuesday night, and
(15:29):
Metro Los Angeles, the city itself could see over half
an inch of rain. Same for Long Beach. But they're
saying one point three nine inches at the Hurst burn Scar,
one point six to eight inches at the Mountain Fire Scar,
more than an inch an ox Nard, nearly an inch
(15:51):
and a half at the Palisades Burnscar. And those are
important to note because that land can become destabilized and
we could deal with some mud slides, especially if all
of that rain is coming in just a twenty four
hour period. As you get into Ventura and Santa Barbara counties,
the rain totals are a little bit more about an
(16:15):
inch one point seven inches in Santa Barbara, one point
nine inches in Ohi, one point nine inches in San Luis, Obispo.
So we're looking to see a lot of rain late
Monday night in Tuesday. It's not always easy translating the
Weather Service forecast directly, but what they are saying is
(16:40):
starting late tonight into Sunday, the winds will shift to
the northeast, with gust of twenty to forty miles per
hour likely in the Santa Ana wind prone spots of
entire in La County. So the areas where the Santa
Ana winds typically blow, you'll see some gusty windy between
(17:00):
twenty and forty miles per hour. So at the time
right now, the National Weather Service office in Los Angeles
says to expect any advisory level northeast winds to remain
very localized and no wind advisories will be issued. That
wind will increase on Monday and Tuesday in the area
(17:21):
in association with the upper low dropping down across the state.
Widespread wind advisories are likely across the mountains and interior sections,
especially Monday night and Tuesday. Now, when they talk about
the rain, they're saying all systems are go. That's their words,
(17:43):
National Weather Service, All systems are go for a rather
potent early season storm for the area Monday night through
Tuesday night. Rain will begin across San Luis Obispo late
Monday afternoon and evening and then spread south and east
Monday night into Tuesday. So they are saying no major
(18:06):
changes to thinking about rainfall totals, with San Luis Obispo
and Santa Barbara Counties getting widespread one and a half
to four inch totals, Inventura and La Counties getting widespread
three quarters of an inch to three inch totals. They
say the highest amounts will occur across the foothills due
(18:27):
to good ori a graphic lift. Gotta love that orphic lift.
So we're gonna get wet starting early next week Monday
night into Tuesday night. Be prepared for that, especially in
those burned scar areas. They specifically named them on their
precipitation forecast map, the Mountain fire, the Hues Fire, the
(18:48):
Post fire, the Palisades fire. We know when heavy rain
comes in those areas, but the ground can be destabilized
and mudslides can occur. We've got much more ahead on
Michael Monk's reports speaking of the Palisades fire and arrest
made this week the most shocking part of this revelation
(19:11):
wasn't really that someone was arrested all these months later.
It's the fact that the Palisades Fire was born out
of a fire started nearly a week earlier, one that
firefighters in La responded to and one that was not
completely out, and one that was brought back to life
(19:32):
in the biggest way by Santa Ana Wins. We'll talk
about that next as we continue here on Michael Monk's Reports.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
You're listening to KFI Am six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
This is Michael Monks Reports. Michael Monks from KFI News
with you till nine o'clock tonight. There's a dead bird
outside the studio. Not happy about it. I'm not sure
what kind of OMEN that means. I've learned that we've
had a bit of a rough day here. It's and
technically challenging. I think if you were listening to the
fore Corp Board earlier this afternoon, Neil was on his
(20:06):
way in and had to turn around because traffic was
so bad and had to do the show from the
home studio. We've had a series of technical challenges and
now there's this dead bird outside and I've asked you
if is that a bad OMEN? Or is that a
good omen? And we heard from Wilton in the previous segment.
He makes it sound like it's my fault and my
responsibility and if I don't take care of this dead
(20:28):
bird and bury it, pay tribute to it, I'm going
to see more dead birds.
Speaker 7 (20:33):
Let's hear from Daniel. Now Wilton's been drinking.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Don't listen to him.
Speaker 7 (20:38):
That's ridiculous.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
What has he got a crystal ball? He could predict
the future?
Speaker 11 (20:45):
You know what, I don't think it has anything to
do with you, and not an omen. Birds perch themselves
and sometimes they die. I wouldn't worry about it too much.
Just do your show, confident I can get on with
your life.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
All right, all right, I appreciate that, Michael.
Speaker 10 (21:08):
I got to tell you something though I saw it,
I don't know. And a dead raccoon on the freeway
where I too was stuck trying to get here in
traffic at the same time as Neil, right here by
our office.
Speaker 7 (21:20):
So maybe there's something in the area, have you Halloween?
Speaker 2 (21:23):
A dead snake, a dead raccoon, and a dead bird
now all in the Burbank, the Greater Burbank area.
Speaker 10 (21:30):
Yeah, within just a few blocks.
Speaker 7 (21:32):
Right near the iHeart studios are making news right now.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
I don't know, man, I don't have a good feeling
about it. That's the problems. Like I was feeling pretty good.
Things have been going well. But it wasn't here when
I came in at five. It was here when I
ran downstairs for a moment, came back in, I saw
a dead bird right in front of the door.
Speaker 7 (21:55):
Not happy about that at all. Let's hear from Steve.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
Hey months the dead birds probably a gift from a
local stray cat.
Speaker 7 (22:02):
It's not a bad thing. It just means that there's
a dead bird there. Just pick up your feet. It's
not going to hurt you.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
Peace, Okay. But you sent that before we knew that.
There was also a dead snake and a dead raccoon,
as reported by Brigrinia de Castino. So now the animals
are dropping like flies all around us. Technical challenges this
or that. Let's just get on with the show. We'll
(22:33):
get through this together. The biggest news of the week
came earlier when federal prosecutors announced the arrest of a
man they say started the Palisades fire. Let's hear from
Acting US Attorney Bill A.
Speaker 7 (22:47):
Sale.
Speaker 12 (22:50):
Last New year's eve, Rindernecked returned to Pacific Palisades after
working the evening shift as an uber.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
Driver to two of his passengers.
Speaker 12 (23:01):
Told law enforcement that he appeared agitated and angry. That night,
after dropping off a passenger in Pacific Palisades, rinderneck parked
his car and tried and failed to contact a former friend.
He exited the car, walked up a nearby trail, took
iPhone videos at a nearby hilltop, and listened to a
(23:22):
rap song whose music video including objects being lit on fire.
The defendant had listened to this song and watched its
music video repeatedly in the days leading up to the
Lochman fire. Twelve minutes into the new year, environmental sensing
platforms indicated that a fire had started. It took the
(23:43):
defendant several tries to contact nine to one one to
report the fire. He fled the scene in his car,
but turned around after passing fire engines driving in the
opposite direction to fight there to fight the fire. While
the Lochman fire burned, the defense walked up the same
trail from earlier that night to watch the fire and firefighters,
(24:06):
using his iPhone to take short videos of the scene.
Although firefighters suppressed the blaze, the fire continued to smolder
and burn underground within the root structure of the dense vegetation.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
So that's a pretty dramatic announcement. They've got somebody that
they think did this. Jonathan Rinderneck. He lived in the Palisades.
Apparently he's twenty nine years old. He has since relocated
to Florida, where his family is located. He did appear
in court the next day was ordered to stay in
jail without bond. He'll be back in court next week.
(24:43):
But a federal agent testified at that courthouse in Florida
that this guy has had some run ins with law enforcement,
recently threatening to burn down his sister's house, and his
father had also called police out of concern that his
son was armed. So this is a guy who's got
(25:04):
an interesting history and certainly one worth exploring. These are
just allegations, of course, at this point, but the biggest
revelation was he didn't necessarily start the Palisades fire directly.
Prosecutors in announcing this arrest very clearly stated that Jonathan
(25:27):
Rinderneck started a fire on January first. Palisades fire started
January seventh and what apparently happened is rinder necked allegedly
and deliberately started the fire that became known as the
Lachman Fire in the Palisades area. It burned about eight acres.
(25:49):
The La City Fire Department responded to this fire and
suppressed it, but the fire was not never fully out.
It was deep underground, apparently still smoldering, and when those
Santa Ana winds blew in several days later, it unearthed.
(26:12):
Those flames gave them so much power that it rose up.
Speaker 7 (26:19):
As the Palisades Fire.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
So the biggest question out of that press conference announcing
this arrest really wasn't who's this guy? Why did he
do it? Those are important questions. We're gonna learn more
about him as the justice system moves forward with his case.
But why was there a fire burning underground near the Palisades,
(26:47):
Because by the first we already knew some pretty dangerous
winds were popping up in the forecast. LA Fire Department
Interim Fire Chief run And Wava issued a statement. He
says holdover fires can be nearly impossible to detect with
(27:08):
infrared imaging, as smoldering often occurs deep below the surface,
especially in chaparral terrain, where dense root systems conceal residual heat.
Under extreme winds, low humidity, and prolonged drought, these fires
(27:28):
can reignite despite full suppression and containment efforts. The January
seven fire was not a rekindle or due to failed suppression,
but the reactivation of an undetectable holdover fire under extraordinary
wind conditions. So it appears the position of the fire
(27:51):
department is we did what we could on the Lochman fire,
and despite what you might think, there was no way
to know that that fire was still burning so deeply underground.
They're saying that it was undetectable, especially given the wind conditions.
(28:13):
LA Fire Department spokesperson Eric Scott has also added to
this statement, saying holdover fires are deep rooted, smoldering fires
that can remain undetectable for days or weeks, particularly in
chaparl with extensive woody root systems. So they're referencing the
challenges of the terrain, the challenges of the wind that's
(28:34):
coming in they're unable to detect it. Eric Scott says
on January seventh, an unprecedented wind event far exceeding typical
Santa Ana conditions contributed to the rapid spread and reactivation
of a holdover fire, even after aggressive, fully executed suppression efforts.
This fire highlights the unpredictable nature of holdover fires, despite
(28:58):
the department's thorough and timely response. A lot of questions
about that situation. We've got a guy in custody, and
now we know the Palisades fire was born out of
an earlier fire. The city also released its after action review.
Originally they were to release this earlier, but the federal
(29:21):
government had asked them to hold on while they were investigating.
And I think we're now able to put it together
that they were investigating a potential criminal case. They now
have presented a charge against twenty nine year old Jonathan Brinderneck,
and the same day that arrest was made, the city
has released its after action report, basically saying, you know,
there were some successes. We'd prevented a lot more houses
from being taken than were but we can do better.
(29:45):
Up next, Mayor Bass and her old political foe Rick
Caruso trading heated words at an event here in Los
Angeles this week.
Speaker 7 (29:54):
We'll hear from both of them next.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
You're listening to KFI Am six forty on Man.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
This is Michael Monks reports on Michael Monks from KFI
News with you until nine o'clock. I'll tell you who
won't be calling each other anytime soon, or maybe I
don't know. It's been a strange, whiplash kind of turn
of events involving the relationship between LA mayor Bass and
developer Rick Caruso. Those two ran against each other for
mayor back in twenty twenty two. They may run against
(30:23):
each other again in twenty twenty six. Both of them
appeared at an event this week sponsored by the media
outlet Bloomberg. But on the day that federal prosecutors announced
that there was an arrest in the Palisades fire, Rick
Caruso put out a statement. He says, this is a
(30:45):
tragic day for Los Angeles, and my heart goes out
to all the families who experienced so much devastation. As
the US attorney said, evil people will do evil things.
This was an evil act and the individual identified must
be held acount funnable for his reckless and malicious actions
to the fullest extent of the law. What makes today
(31:06):
even harder is that everything we feared about this disaster
being preventable turned out to be one hundred percent true.
This was a failure of government on an epic level,
starting with Mayor Bass. Her and the city's incompetence, mismanagement,
and failure to plan, prepare, and pre deployed directly led
(31:26):
to people dying, thousands of lives being upended and put
on full display the consequences of ineffective and incapable leadership.
Mayor Bass was on stage at this event. First, here's
a bit of what was said.
Speaker 13 (31:43):
He released a statement today after the arrest, saying it
shows the disaster was preventable and in his words, calling
it a failure of government on an epic level, starting
with Mayor Bass. He'll be with us on this stage tomorrow.
How do you respond to.
Speaker 5 (31:57):
That, Well, what he characterized me sounded like Trump. But
I just was saddened by it, honestly, because I think
that that response was beneath him. And we actually was
in my office a couple of weeks ago. We're working
on something. We're working on a couple of things together.
But I think that he is sad and bitter, and
(32:19):
and I think that it is really sad to exploit
you guys laughing about that. I feel like it's exploiting tragedy,
it's exploiting grief, and this is when the city needs
to stand together.
Speaker 8 (32:35):
Why would you, Why would you do that?
Speaker 5 (32:38):
So he's better than that, And I was just disappointed.
Speaker 13 (32:41):
And Sadden, you had mentioned he was in your office
a couple of weeks ago.
Speaker 5 (32:46):
Weeks ago, we're working on something together. We were you
know what we're working on. We're working on it. And
it was actually something that he raised, something that I
wanted to do, and he proposed a particular solution and
I'm really excited about it. That's you you know, Ula
United La. The transfer tax.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
Okay, we'll get back to that, the ULA tax, because
it's been, like I said, it's been a bit of
a whiplash between these two as far as their relationship goes.
But I mean Mayor Bass called Crusoe bitter, said that
his comments were beneath him. Racruso was on stage at
that event the next day.
Speaker 14 (33:23):
Some people think I'm attacking Karen Bess. I'm not attacking
Karen Bass. I'm saying, what's the facts are. The fire
could have been prevented, which I knew from the beginning.
The fire that had started a week before was not
properly put out. They didn't call in aircraft. Can you
imagine the failures in addition to the reservoir being empty.
So I thought it was so interesting yesterday for the
mayor to say he was angry and sad, and that's
(33:45):
why he put out that statement. You know how many
hundreds of thousands of people are angry and said they
lost their jobs, lost their homes, eleven people died. I
think what we need to do now is read that
report and have a solution for every one of those problems.
Speaker 7 (34:00):
Let's not be reactive.
Speaker 14 (34:01):
Let's be proactive, and let's make sure that nobody else
ever has to go through a situation like that. If
there's an earthquake, there's a flood, there's a fire.
Speaker 2 (34:09):
Okay, so you've heard from both of them trading barbs
a bit. You heard the mayor reference Ula and that
both she and Rick Caruso were working together on something
related to it. Just as a reminder. Three years ago,
November twenty two, voters in LA approved Measure ULA that
assesses a four percent tax on property sales of more
(34:30):
than five million dollars and a five and a half
percent tax on sales of more than ten million dollars.
All of that money is earmarked for affordable housing and
homelessness prevention initiatives. It's raised about eight hundred and thirty
million dollars since it was adopted. It's commonly referred to
as the mansion tax. Now, the mayor, after this Bloomberg event,
(34:53):
announced that she is calling for an exemption for victims
of Palisades fire. She says that this will help ex
spedite recovery efforts. Obviously a lot of high priced properties
were destroyed there in the Palisades, so she puts out
this announcement, and Rick Caruso says, today's announcement on ULA
is incredibly important for our city. Thank you, Mayor Bass
(35:13):
for your support on this issue. We've been working together
for a while and this executive order is real progress.
We don't always agree, but that will never stop me
from partnering to rebuild our communities. Now it's up to
the city Council to act. ULA is holding back hundreds
and maybe thousands of projects that could revitalize our city.
This is not a regional issue. Its economic impact is
(35:35):
city wide. So what's the status of their relationship.
Speaker 7 (35:41):
Do you think.
Speaker 2 (35:44):
Hot and cold? We know Mayor bass is running for reelection.
Rick Caruso was not ruled it out. He may also
run for governies. Appears to be looking at both opportunities.
But there may be another candidate for mayor, a name
that he may remember. Austin Buttner. He was the superintendent
for three years at LAUSD. He was a deputy mayor
(36:07):
at one time. He's an investment banker. He has a
Twitter account and at one point today this X account,
I should say, the banner image, the picture that's above
one's profile picture changed to Austin for LA Mayor, and
(36:28):
then the bile was updated to say this account is
being used for campaign purposes by Austin Buttner for LA
Mayor twenty twenty six. But then they were taken away
pretty quickly. The image went away, the text went away.
The La Times reached out to Buttener, he did not respond.
They also note the paper does that new Austin for
(36:49):
LA accounts have appeared on Instagram and blue Sky, displaying
the same campaign text and logos. Those messages were also
quickly removed and converted to generic accounts for Buner. It's
that time of year should be a good race next
(37:09):
year for mayor. We got another hour ahead, and as
you know all too well, the Palisades spire was not
the only one. Back in January, the Eton Fire destroyed
a good chunk of Altadena, parts of Pasadena Sierra Madre.
Victims of that fire spoke out this week calling on
so Cal Edison to do better with its offer for
(37:33):
families to settle with that utility, which they blame for
that massive fire. We'll hear from them in our next
hour as Michael Monk's reports continues.
Speaker 1 (37:44):
KFI AM six forty on demand
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
I AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
This is Michael Monks Reports. I'm Michael Monks from KFI News.
I'll be with you till nine o'clock tonight on this
Saturday evening in southern California. And what a dramatic scene
it was earlier this afternoon in Huntington Beach. A helicopter
crash today right near Beachfront Hotels there in Huntington Beach.
(00:32):
Two people hurt on board, three people hurt on the ground.
We don't know a whole lot of details about what
caused this crash, the extent of the injuries of those
on board. There was a press conference in Huntington Beach
about an hour ago, a little over an hour ago,
and even then we did not learn a whole lot.
Here's a little bit of what those folks said.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Migels are transported to local hospitals in unknown condition. Currently,
NTSP is in they'll be conducting the investigation, and that's
all we have right now. As more information becomes available,
it'll get released.
Speaker 4 (01:06):
So we're hoping to have some more information to release
for you guys. This helicopter was part of the cars
and copters event that is scheduled to go on tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
We also want to.
Speaker 4 (01:17):
Say that the five people that were transported to the hospital,
they are in an unknown condition right now, but as
far as we know, there has been no further changes
in those conditions, which want to clarify any information out
there that.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Would say to the otherwise.
Speaker 5 (01:32):
But when you say changes and conditions, was everybody's stable condition,
aren't you what was.
Speaker 6 (01:39):
The condition out there.
Speaker 4 (01:40):
When they were transported to the hospital. They were transported
in the condition that they were in and that condition
has not worsened as far as we know, and that
nothing has been confirmed beyond that. We've seen some information
otherwise and we just want to make sure that that's
cleared out God as we been.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
So that was the remark. Little technical difficulties in here,
but I think are we brought casting?
Speaker 7 (02:00):
Can you hear me?
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Am? I?
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Okay, all right, thank you, Oliver, appreciate that. Okay, So
a couple more buttons to push today. But you heard
the update there from a little over an hour ago
out of Huntington Beach, where we didn't learn many more details.
Basically what we saw with our own eyes that a
helicopter crash near hotels there in Huntington Beach. This was
(02:22):
part of a show that's going on this weekend, cars
and copters on the coast. They say this event is
going to continue. But quite a scene today if you
have been able to see any of the videos, and
there are a lot out there, there were a lot
of people at the beach today that saw this transpire.
You see a helicopter appear to be approaching a landing
(02:43):
and a parking lot area and hovering what looked to
be dangerously close to one of those hotels, and then
all of a sudden it goes up but not too far,
and then starts spinning uncontrollably and then rapidly comes down.
(03:04):
Now it looks like this could have been a different
set of circumstances, more tragic circumstances, except for the fact
that this helicopter ended up crashing into some palm trees
and became wedged between those trees and a hotel, and
so it looks like everybody has survived. We heard some
(03:26):
remarks there at the press conference unknown condition, but the
condition has not worsened since those folks were transported two
on board the helicopter and three on the ground. What
could have been a really terrible situation appears not to
be as bad as it could have been, but we
will continue to monitor. If there are any more updates
out of Huntington Beach, we will bring those to you.
(03:49):
There is, unfortunately an update related to another crash that
took place involving a helicopter near Sacramento. One of the
three crew members on board eight medical helicopter that crashed
onto a Sacramento freeway during rush hour on Monday has died.
That was announced just this afternoon.
Speaker 8 (04:11):
In a statement. Reach Air Medical Services says Susie Smith,
a nurse who was on board the Reach helicopter that
crashed on Monday night, has died from her injuries. Reach
calls Smith a pillar of the EMS community and says
she saved countless lives in the medical chopper. She had
a fifty year career as a nurse in twenty one
years with REACH. Smith was trapped under the chopper on
(04:32):
the freeway. Good Samaritans lifted the helicopter to help firefighters freer.
Two other crew members were critically injured in the crash.
Alex Stone eb sinews so.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
A tragic update involving that helicopter that crashed in Sacramento
on a freeway there on Monday night. More tragedy in
Los Angeles as a legendary actress has died. Today we
are learning details about the death of actress dying Anne Keaton.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Ladi Da Latti Da.
Speaker 9 (05:03):
For many film lovers, Diane Keaton will always be Annie Hall,
the awkward tie wearing girlfriend in Woody Allen's Oscar winning
film Like. Keaton played a wide range of characters in
her decades long career, like Michael Corleoni's wife in the
Godfather films.
Speaker 8 (05:16):
Nichols True.
Speaker 7 (05:19):
I ask me about my business came?
Speaker 10 (05:21):
Is it true?
Speaker 9 (05:22):
Rollas a socialite turned radical in nineteen eighty one's Reds
earned her a second Best Actress nod her third game
for the nineteen ninety six drama Marvin's Room opposite Meryl Streep.
Speaker 7 (05:31):
I can't believe you never told me this.
Speaker 5 (05:34):
If I couldn't tell people I had a Carney boyfriend,
I couldn't tell Carney boyfriend Dan that you should have
told me.
Speaker 7 (05:41):
They are never that Cluss.
Speaker 9 (05:42):
Keaton's more lighthearted films included The First Wives, Club, Baby Boom,
Father of the Bride, and Something's Gotta Give, which earned
her her final Oscar nod.
Speaker 7 (05:51):
I Really like you, I really like you. Yeah, but
I love you like you.
Speaker 9 (05:56):
Keaton made eight films with Woody Allen. In twenty eighteen,
she publicly defended the director against allegations of sexual impropriety,
writing on Twitter, Woodie Allen is my friend and I
continue to believe in him.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Andrea Dresdale ABC News Diane Keaton dead at seventy nine.
What we have learned is that the Los Angeles City
Fire Department has confirmed that they responded to Keaton's house
this morning just after eight o'clock and transported her to
a local hospital. People dot Com reports that the woman
transported from that house was, in fact Keaton. No details
(06:29):
about what transpired that prompted a call to nine to
one one and that sent emergency responders to Diane Keaton's
house here in Los Angeles, but it is now confirmed
that actress Diane Keaton has died at the age of
seventy nine. Helicopter crashes, actresses dying. I gotta say there's
also right outside the studio building, there's a dead bird
(06:52):
that I just saw on. I don't know if that's
sort of an omen for the type of night we're
having here in Los Angeles. I know that there are
omens involving birds that are pleasant, omens involving birds that
are unpleasant. If you know how I'm supposed to feel
right now about seeing a dead bird in front of
the iHeart Studios building here in Burbank, open up the
(07:14):
iHeartRadio app, click on the talkback button and let me know.
Because I'm not sure how we're supposed to feel about that.
I'm proceeding with the show as if nothing else that
is going to happen. But if you know what that means,
I would certainly appreciate the help some good news out
of Los Angeles, or at least involving Los Angeles. It
(07:34):
is a completely new life for the UCLA Bruins football team.
They started off so rough this season, getting blown out,
opening up the season zero to four, losing to teams that,
even in a bad year, teams that UCLA should not
lose to. But they've now won two in a row
after upsetting Penn State last week. The Bruins were on
(07:56):
the road in East Lancing and just whipped Michigan State
thirty eight to thirteen. Folks online are saying UCLA may
now be the most exciting team in America. All they
had to do was fire their head coach a couple
of weeks ago. It looks like Tim Skipper has since
taken over. He says he's happy to see this good
(08:18):
game for the Bruins, second straight win after dropping those
first four. So they send Michigan State to a three
and three and zero to three record in the Big Ten.
Thirty eight to thirteen was that final score in East Lansing. Meanwhile,
another Michigan school taking to the field against in Los
(08:39):
Angeles School USC hosting the Wolverines right now, and the
Trojans are up twenty one to seven over fifteenth ranked Michigan.
The twenty first ranked USC Trojans leading twenty one to
seven with eleven thirty eight left to play in the
fourth quarter. I went to a festival just this afternoon
and was on the B Line metro train. I saw
some Michigan They are on the train headed to the stadium.
(09:04):
Hope they enjoy their time in Los Angeles. Otherwise, looks
like they'll be going back with the loss. LA Schools
roughing up the Michigan schools. Today, we have a couple
of hours to spend together in a lot of news
to get to. Outside of the helicopter crash in Huntington
Beach and the death of actress Diane Keaton here in
Los Angeles and a surgeing, resurgent UCLA football team, We've
(09:25):
got some weather coming in that looks to be kind
of strange for us for this time of year, and
a lot of rain could be involved. We're going to
go into the details of what the National Weather Service
is saying right now about what to expect Monday through Wednesday.
It looks like just about every part of southern California
is going to get at least a little bit wet,
(09:46):
and certainly wetter than we would expect to be. We're
also going to go over the arrest of this suspect
in the Pacific Palisades Fire. The most interesting thing to
me about this is that this guy isn't necessarily accused
of directly starting the Palisades Fire as we know it.
He started in another fire that quietly burned underground for
(10:09):
almost a week until those Santa Ana wins blew through
and brought it back above ground and turned it into
that powerful, devastating and deadly Palisades fire. We'll talk about
what the Los Angeles Fire Department has to say about
why that of initial fire was not completely put out.
(10:30):
And meanwhile, a replay of the twenty twenty two mayoral
race here in Los Angeles Mayor Karen Vass and her
vanquished foe, Rick Caruso, the developer who may face her
again in the next mayor's race. They are trading some
heated barbs over the response to the Palisades fire. Both
of them appeared at an event hosted by Bloomberg this week.
(10:52):
I'll play for you what each of them said. And
by the way, there is another potential mayoral candidate just
learned today, a familiar name, a guy with some resources,
may have hinted that he is jumping into the race
for Los Angeles mayor when that election starts, probably in
(11:13):
earnest next year. You'll see some campaigning for that twenty
twenty six office early next year. We're getting into all
that this hour, and then we have another big hour
on the other side of that. As Michael Monks Reports continues.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
This is Michael Monks Reports on Michael Monks from KFI
News with You till nine o'clock tonight. I mentioned before
we went to break that there's a dead bird right
outside the studio doors downstairs, and it's made me a
little bit uncomfortable because I think that that's an omen
for something, right. But aren't there omens involving birds that
are like good and some that are bad. I'm not
(11:56):
sure how a dead bird plays into that. I've asked
you to help me out, if you know, open up
the iHeartRadio app, click on the talk back button, talk
me off the ledge here.
Speaker 7 (12:04):
I'm a little bit nervous. Let's hear from Wilton, who's
called in.
Speaker 6 (12:08):
If the bird is l ain't on his back, push
it off the ledge, push it out the way, put
it in a bag, or go bury it. He ain't
in the stomach. Do the same thing, donly the bird man,
Go bear the bird. You probably had better look, don't
it just sit on the ledge like that, sit outside
the window.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
That's not a flower.
Speaker 7 (12:29):
Go bury it or something.
Speaker 6 (12:30):
Do something you made, because if you don't, I guarantee
you you're gonna pay for it.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
I'm gonna pay for it if I don't bury this
dead bird. Wilton's so excited he actually called in twice.
Speaker 7 (12:44):
I'm just saying.
Speaker 6 (12:45):
Something's definitely gonna happen if you don't get rid of
the bird. Oh my god, have you just sitting there
in the bird sit outside the window dead? That is
not a good thing. I mean, something's already wrong. What
go bury the bird?
Speaker 5 (12:57):
Man?
Speaker 6 (12:58):
Get a bird? He probably came there you to bury it.
Why do your job? Oh, you'd be seeing dave birds everywhere.
Speaker 8 (13:06):
Oh.
Speaker 7 (13:06):
I don't like that, Wilton. You have not helped the situation.
I don't know. I'm I'm not going to bury the bird.
I'm not going to move the bird.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
I will trust some Burbank wildlife to show up in
the night and take care of that. But it's like
right at the foot of the front door, so you
have to step around it as you exit. I'm hoping
that by the time the show is over and I
leave for the night, that bird is gone.
Speaker 7 (13:39):
It was on its side.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
It was not there when I came in at five o'clock,
but it was there when I stepped outside for a
moment and came back up at about six forty five, Okay, well,
that's gonna be in my head for the rest of
the show. But we've got other things to worry about
here in Los Angeles, including some interesting weatherheading our way.
The National Weather Services it will be a winter type
(14:05):
storm in the fall, bringing up to two inches of rain.
The rain event is expected to last between Monday and Wednesday.
The main impacts are expected Monday night through Tuesday afternoon.
Highs in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties could be nearly
twenty degrees cooler by this time next week.
Speaker 7 (14:20):
Daniel Martindale KFI News.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Okay, so, the National Weather Service held a news conference today,
a virtual one with the press, and talked a bit
about what this storm means for us, what it could mean.
Looks like they're still trying to pinpoint exactly what this
forecast looks like, but it looks like it's gonna be wet.
Even in Metro LA. A twelve percent chance of a
(14:44):
thunderstorm is what it looks like Monday night into Tuesday night.
Those chances are higher the farther up the coast. You
go thirty percent chance in Santa Barbara, thirty three percent
chance in San Luis Obispo. So even in the Metro
La area, there's not a zero percent chance that we'll
(15:06):
see some thunderstorms on Monday. And also these these rain
totals appear to be significant for such a short period
of time. They're saying that the peak timing of the
rain is Monday night at around ten o'clock to Tuesday
night around the same time, So there's a twenty four
hour window late Monday night the late Tuesday night, and
(15:29):
Metro Los Angeles, the city itself could see over half
an inch of rain. Same for Long Beach. But they're
saying one point three nine inches at the Hurst burn Scar,
one point six to eight inches at the Mountain Fire Scar,
more than an inch an ox Nard, nearly an inch
(15:51):
and a half at the Palisades Burnscar. And those are
important to note because that land can become destabilized and
we could deal with some mud slides, especially if all
of that rain is coming in just a twenty four
hour period. As you get into Ventura and Santa Barbara counties,
the rain totals are a little bit more about an
(16:15):
inch one point seven inches in Santa Barbara, one point
nine inches in Ohi, one point nine inches in San Luis, Obispo.
So we're looking to see a lot of rain late
Monday night in Tuesday. It's not always easy translating the
Weather Service forecast directly, but what they are saying is
(16:40):
starting late tonight into Sunday, the winds will shift to
the northeast, with gust of twenty to forty miles per
hour likely in the Santa Ana wind prone spots of
entire in La County. So the areas where the Santa
Ana winds typically blow, you'll see some gusty windy between
(17:00):
twenty and forty miles per hour. So at the time
right now, the National Weather Service office in Los Angeles
says to expect any advisory level northeast winds to remain
very localized and no wind advisories will be issued. That
wind will increase on Monday and Tuesday in the area
(17:21):
in association with the upper low dropping down across the state.
Widespread wind advisories are likely across the mountains and interior sections,
especially Monday night and Tuesday. Now, when they talk about
the rain, they're saying all systems are go. That's their words,
(17:43):
National Weather Service, All systems are go for a rather
potent early season storm for the area Monday night through
Tuesday night. Rain will begin across San Luis Obispo late
Monday afternoon and evening and then spread south and east
Monday night into Tuesday. So they are saying no major
(18:06):
changes to thinking about rainfall totals, with San Luis Obispo
and Santa Barbara Counties getting widespread one and a half
to four inch totals, Inventura and La Counties getting widespread
three quarters of an inch to three inch totals. They
say the highest amounts will occur across the foothills due
(18:27):
to good ori a graphic lift. Gotta love that orphic lift.
So we're gonna get wet starting early next week Monday
night into Tuesday night. Be prepared for that, especially in
those burned scar areas. They specifically named them on their
precipitation forecast map, the Mountain fire, the Hues Fire, the
(18:48):
Post fire, the Palisades fire. We know when heavy rain
comes in those areas, but the ground can be destabilized
and mudslides can occur. We've got much more ahead on
Michael Monk's reports speaking of the Palisades fire and arrest
made this week the most shocking part of this revelation
(19:11):
wasn't really that someone was arrested all these months later.
It's the fact that the Palisades Fire was born out
of a fire started nearly a week earlier, one that
firefighters in La responded to and one that was not
completely out, and one that was brought back to life
(19:32):
in the biggest way by Santa Ana Wins. We'll talk
about that next as we continue here on Michael Monk's Reports.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
You're listening to KFI Am six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
This is Michael Monks Reports. Michael Monks from KFI News
with you till nine o'clock tonight. There's a dead bird
outside the studio. Not happy about it. I'm not sure
what kind of OMEN that means. I've learned that we've
had a bit of a rough day here. It's and
technically challenging. I think if you were listening to the
fore Corp Board earlier this afternoon, Neil was on his
(20:06):
way in and had to turn around because traffic was
so bad and had to do the show from the
home studio. We've had a series of technical challenges and
now there's this dead bird outside and I've asked you
if is that a bad OMEN? Or is that a
good omen? And we heard from Wilton in the previous segment.
He makes it sound like it's my fault and my
responsibility and if I don't take care of this dead
(20:28):
bird and bury it, pay tribute to it, I'm going
to see more dead birds.
Speaker 7 (20:33):
Let's hear from Daniel. Now Wilton's been drinking.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Don't listen to him.
Speaker 7 (20:38):
That's ridiculous.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
What has he got a crystal ball? He could predict
the future?
Speaker 11 (20:45):
You know what, I don't think it has anything to
do with you, and not an omen. Birds perch themselves
and sometimes they die. I wouldn't worry about it too much.
Just do your show, confident I can get on with
your life.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
All right, all right, I appreciate that, Michael.
Speaker 10 (21:08):
I got to tell you something though I saw it,
I don't know. And a dead raccoon on the freeway
where I too was stuck trying to get here in
traffic at the same time as Neil, right here by
our office.
Speaker 7 (21:20):
So maybe there's something in the area, have you Halloween?
Speaker 2 (21:23):
A dead snake, a dead raccoon, and a dead bird
now all in the Burbank, the Greater Burbank area.
Speaker 10 (21:30):
Yeah, within just a few blocks.
Speaker 7 (21:32):
Right near the iHeart studios are making news right now.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
I don't know, man, I don't have a good feeling
about it. That's the problems. Like I was feeling pretty good.
Things have been going well. But it wasn't here when
I came in at five. It was here when I
ran downstairs for a moment, came back in, I saw
a dead bird right in front of the door.
Speaker 7 (21:55):
Not happy about that at all. Let's hear from Steve.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
Hey months the dead birds probably a gift from a
local stray cat.
Speaker 7 (22:02):
It's not a bad thing. It just means that there's
a dead bird there. Just pick up your feet. It's
not going to hurt you.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
Peace, Okay. But you sent that before we knew that.
There was also a dead snake and a dead raccoon,
as reported by Brigrinia de Castino. So now the animals
are dropping like flies all around us. Technical challenges this
or that. Let's just get on with the show. We'll
(22:33):
get through this together. The biggest news of the week
came earlier when federal prosecutors announced the arrest of a
man they say started the Palisades fire. Let's hear from
Acting US Attorney Bill A.
Speaker 7 (22:47):
Sale.
Speaker 12 (22:50):
Last New year's eve, Rindernecked returned to Pacific Palisades after
working the evening shift as an uber.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
Driver to two of his passengers.
Speaker 12 (23:01):
Told law enforcement that he appeared agitated and angry. That night,
after dropping off a passenger in Pacific Palisades, rinderneck parked
his car and tried and failed to contact a former friend.
He exited the car, walked up a nearby trail, took
iPhone videos at a nearby hilltop, and listened to a
(23:22):
rap song whose music video including objects being lit on fire.
The defendant had listened to this song and watched its
music video repeatedly in the days leading up to the
Lochman fire. Twelve minutes into the new year, environmental sensing
platforms indicated that a fire had started. It took the
(23:43):
defendant several tries to contact nine to one one to
report the fire. He fled the scene in his car,
but turned around after passing fire engines driving in the
opposite direction to fight there to fight the fire. While
the Lochman fire burned, the defense walked up the same
trail from earlier that night to watch the fire and firefighters,
(24:06):
using his iPhone to take short videos of the scene.
Although firefighters suppressed the blaze, the fire continued to smolder
and burn underground within the root structure of the dense vegetation.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
So that's a pretty dramatic announcement. They've got somebody that
they think did this. Jonathan Rinderneck. He lived in the Palisades.
Apparently he's twenty nine years old. He has since relocated
to Florida, where his family is located. He did appear
in court the next day was ordered to stay in
jail without bond. He'll be back in court next week.
(24:43):
But a federal agent testified at that courthouse in Florida
that this guy has had some run ins with law enforcement,
recently threatening to burn down his sister's house, and his
father had also called police out of concern that his
son was armed. So this is a guy who's got
(25:04):
an interesting history and certainly one worth exploring. These are
just allegations, of course, at this point, but the biggest
revelation was he didn't necessarily start the Palisades fire directly.
Prosecutors in announcing this arrest very clearly stated that Jonathan
(25:27):
Rinderneck started a fire on January first. Palisades fire started
January seventh and what apparently happened is rinder necked allegedly
and deliberately started the fire that became known as the
Lachman Fire in the Palisades area. It burned about eight acres.
(25:49):
The La City Fire Department responded to this fire and
suppressed it, but the fire was not never fully out.
It was deep underground, apparently still smoldering, and when those
Santa Ana winds blew in several days later, it unearthed.
(26:12):
Those flames gave them so much power that it rose up.
Speaker 7 (26:19):
As the Palisades Fire.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
So the biggest question out of that press conference announcing
this arrest really wasn't who's this guy? Why did he
do it? Those are important questions. We're gonna learn more
about him as the justice system moves forward with his case.
But why was there a fire burning underground near the Palisades,
(26:47):
Because by the first we already knew some pretty dangerous
winds were popping up in the forecast. LA Fire Department
Interim Fire Chief run And Wava issued a statement. He
says holdover fires can be nearly impossible to detect with
(27:08):
infrared imaging, as smoldering often occurs deep below the surface,
especially in chaparral terrain, where dense root systems conceal residual heat.
Under extreme winds, low humidity, and prolonged drought, these fires
(27:28):
can reignite despite full suppression and containment efforts. The January
seven fire was not a rekindle or due to failed suppression,
but the reactivation of an undetectable holdover fire under extraordinary
wind conditions. So it appears the position of the fire
(27:51):
department is we did what we could on the Lochman fire,
and despite what you might think, there was no way
to know that that fire was still burning so deeply underground.
They're saying that it was undetectable, especially given the wind conditions.
(28:13):
LA Fire Department spokesperson Eric Scott has also added to
this statement, saying holdover fires are deep rooted, smoldering fires
that can remain undetectable for days or weeks, particularly in
chaparl with extensive woody root systems. So they're referencing the
challenges of the terrain, the challenges of the wind that's
(28:34):
coming in they're unable to detect it. Eric Scott says
on January seventh, an unprecedented wind event far exceeding typical
Santa Ana conditions contributed to the rapid spread and reactivation
of a holdover fire, even after aggressive, fully executed suppression efforts.
This fire highlights the unpredictable nature of holdover fires, despite
(28:58):
the department's thorough and timely response. A lot of questions
about that situation. We've got a guy in custody, and
now we know the Palisades fire was born out of
an earlier fire. The city also released its after action review.
Originally they were to release this earlier, but the federal
(29:21):
government had asked them to hold on while they were investigating.
And I think we're now able to put it together
that they were investigating a potential criminal case. They now
have presented a charge against twenty nine year old Jonathan Brinderneck,
and the same day that arrest was made, the city
has released its after action report, basically saying, you know,
there were some successes. We'd prevented a lot more houses
from being taken than were but we can do better.
(29:45):
Up next, Mayor Bass and her old political foe Rick
Caruso trading heated words at an event here in Los
Angeles this week.
Speaker 7 (29:54):
We'll hear from both of them next.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
You're listening to KFI Am six forty on Man.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
This is Michael Monks reports on Michael Monks from KFI
News with you until nine o'clock. I'll tell you who
won't be calling each other anytime soon, or maybe I
don't know. It's been a strange, whiplash kind of turn
of events involving the relationship between LA mayor Bass and
developer Rick Caruso. Those two ran against each other for
mayor back in twenty twenty two. They may run against
(30:23):
each other again in twenty twenty six. Both of them
appeared at an event this week sponsored by the media
outlet Bloomberg. But on the day that federal prosecutors announced
that there was an arrest in the Palisades fire, Rick
Caruso put out a statement. He says, this is a
(30:45):
tragic day for Los Angeles, and my heart goes out
to all the families who experienced so much devastation. As
the US attorney said, evil people will do evil things.
This was an evil act and the individual identified must
be held acount funnable for his reckless and malicious actions
to the fullest extent of the law. What makes today
(31:06):
even harder is that everything we feared about this disaster
being preventable turned out to be one hundred percent true.
This was a failure of government on an epic level,
starting with Mayor Bass. Her and the city's incompetence, mismanagement,
and failure to plan, prepare, and pre deployed directly led
(31:26):
to people dying, thousands of lives being upended and put
on full display the consequences of ineffective and incapable leadership.
Mayor Bass was on stage at this event. First, here's
a bit of what was said.
Speaker 13 (31:43):
He released a statement today after the arrest, saying it
shows the disaster was preventable and in his words, calling
it a failure of government on an epic level, starting
with Mayor Bass. He'll be with us on this stage tomorrow.
How do you respond to.
Speaker 5 (31:57):
That, Well, what he characterized me sounded like Trump. But
I just was saddened by it, honestly, because I think
that that response was beneath him. And we actually was
in my office a couple of weeks ago. We're working
on something. We're working on a couple of things together.
But I think that he is sad and bitter, and
(32:19):
and I think that it is really sad to exploit
you guys laughing about that. I feel like it's exploiting tragedy,
it's exploiting grief, and this is when the city needs
to stand together.
Speaker 8 (32:35):
Why would you, Why would you do that?
Speaker 5 (32:38):
So he's better than that, And I was just disappointed.
Speaker 13 (32:41):
And Sadden, you had mentioned he was in your office
a couple of weeks ago.
Speaker 5 (32:46):
Weeks ago, we're working on something together. We were you
know what we're working on. We're working on it. And
it was actually something that he raised, something that I
wanted to do, and he proposed a particular solution and
I'm really excited about it. That's you you know, Ula
United La. The transfer tax.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
Okay, we'll get back to that, the ULA tax, because
it's been, like I said, it's been a bit of
a whiplash between these two as far as their relationship goes.
But I mean Mayor Bass called Crusoe bitter, said that
his comments were beneath him. Racruso was on stage at
that event the next day.
Speaker 14 (33:23):
Some people think I'm attacking Karen Bess. I'm not attacking
Karen Bass. I'm saying, what's the facts are. The fire
could have been prevented, which I knew from the beginning.
The fire that had started a week before was not
properly put out. They didn't call in aircraft. Can you
imagine the failures in addition to the reservoir being empty.
So I thought it was so interesting yesterday for the
mayor to say he was angry and sad, and that's
(33:45):
why he put out that statement. You know how many
hundreds of thousands of people are angry and said they
lost their jobs, lost their homes, eleven people died. I
think what we need to do now is read that
report and have a solution for every one of those problems.
Speaker 7 (34:00):
Let's not be reactive.
Speaker 14 (34:01):
Let's be proactive, and let's make sure that nobody else
ever has to go through a situation like that. If
there's an earthquake, there's a flood, there's a fire.
Speaker 2 (34:09):
Okay, so you've heard from both of them trading barbs
a bit. You heard the mayor reference Ula and that
both she and Rick Caruso were working together on something
related to it. Just as a reminder. Three years ago,
November twenty two, voters in LA approved Measure ULA that
assesses a four percent tax on property sales of more
(34:30):
than five million dollars and a five and a half
percent tax on sales of more than ten million dollars.
All of that money is earmarked for affordable housing and
homelessness prevention initiatives. It's raised about eight hundred and thirty
million dollars since it was adopted. It's commonly referred to
as the mansion tax. Now, the mayor, after this Bloomberg event,
(34:53):
announced that she is calling for an exemption for victims
of Palisades fire. She says that this will help ex
spedite recovery efforts. Obviously a lot of high priced properties
were destroyed there in the Palisades, so she puts out
this announcement, and Rick Caruso says, today's announcement on ULA
is incredibly important for our city. Thank you, Mayor Bass
(35:13):
for your support on this issue. We've been working together
for a while and this executive order is real progress.
We don't always agree, but that will never stop me
from partnering to rebuild our communities. Now it's up to
the city Council to act. ULA is holding back hundreds
and maybe thousands of projects that could revitalize our city.
This is not a regional issue. Its economic impact is
(35:35):
city wide. So what's the status of their relationship.
Speaker 7 (35:41):
Do you think.
Speaker 2 (35:44):
Hot and cold? We know Mayor bass is running for reelection.
Rick Caruso was not ruled it out. He may also
run for governies. Appears to be looking at both opportunities.
But there may be another candidate for mayor, a name
that he may remember. Austin Buttner. He was the superintendent
for three years at LAUSD. He was a deputy mayor
(36:07):
at one time. He's an investment banker. He has a
Twitter account and at one point today this X account,
I should say, the banner image, the picture that's above
one's profile picture changed to Austin for LA Mayor, and
(36:28):
then the bile was updated to say this account is
being used for campaign purposes by Austin Buttner for LA
Mayor twenty twenty six. But then they were taken away
pretty quickly. The image went away, the text went away.
The La Times reached out to Buttener, he did not respond.
They also note the paper does that new Austin for
(36:49):
LA accounts have appeared on Instagram and blue Sky, displaying
the same campaign text and logos. Those messages were also
quickly removed and converted to generic accounts for Buner. It's
that time of year should be a good race next
(37:09):
year for mayor. We got another hour ahead, and as
you know all too well, the Palisades spire was not
the only one. Back in January, the Eton Fire destroyed
a good chunk of Altadena, parts of Pasadena Sierra Madre.
Victims of that fire spoke out this week calling on
so Cal Edison to do better with its offer for
(37:33):
families to settle with that utility, which they blame for
that massive fire. We'll hear from them in our next
hour as Michael Monk's reports continues.
Speaker 1 (37:44):
KFI AM six forty on demand
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