February 1, 2026 • 40 mins
Hour 1: Protests return to the streets of downtown L.A. and Southern California; LA Mayor Bass is fired up over the arrest of journalist Don Lemon as a new poll shows her support waning; Another local leader has ramped up attacks online of Bass; and a time capsule uncovered at LA’s Central Library is found to have an even older time capsule inside.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
This is Michael Monks Reports on Michael Monks from KFI
News with you for the next couple of hours. Just
a reminder, we are now on from eight to ten
every Saturday night, bumped from seven to nine so that
the Crest Report with Tim Conway can air in the
five o'clock hour. So that's pushed Tiffany back an hour
and I am now on at eight o'clock. So glad
(00:25):
you've stuck around to listen to us. My goodness, what
a great stretch of days we have had in southern California.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Downtown La tied the all time record high temperature for
January thirtieth on Friday of eighty five degrees. Nineteen ninety
two was the last time it was at hot in La.
On January thirtieth, Lax the Airport hit eighty three degrees
and Santa Maria northern Santa Barbara County hit eighty degrees
on Friday, and this weekend some areas could be closer
(00:53):
to ninety.
Speaker 4 (00:54):
It was hotter than I expected it to be.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
It's still January, and while I know winter here is
different than where I'm from, I do like the sixties,
you know, like give us a break from what we
get in the summer. But I have to say this
has been great. I was sitting on the rooftop in
my apartment building downtown earlier this morning, called my family
back home in Kentucky on a video call and was
(01:17):
happily showing them the sun beating down on the mountains
and the city buildings and kind of bragging because where
they are in northern Kentucky and the Cincinnati area today
it was zero and all that snow that fell across
the eastern half of the US is still on the
ground because it has been so cold, so there hasn't
(01:37):
been anything to melt that snow and ice, and everybody
there is just miserable. Schools have been canceled, sporting events
have been canceled. It's very difficult to get around. And
you know, in spite of all of the problems that
you have when you live or work in Los Angeles,
you pay a lot for your rent, you pay a
(01:58):
lot for your gas, you pay a lot for everything.
You can't leave your home without one hundred dollars being
yanked out of your pocket. And sometimes you're even stepping
in human excrement while you're going somewhere, but boy, there's
nowhere else where you can just look up at the
sky nearly every single day and say how about this weather?
Speaker 4 (02:17):
Though, I guess it makes it all a little bit
worth it.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
And downtown LA was hopping yesterday and today because immigration
protests have returned to Los Angeles, and I was down
there all day yesterday with the National Shutdown protest. This
was a movement that started by student groups in Minneapolis
following the deaths of two protesters there, and there were
(02:42):
a lot of people marching calling for justice for them,
as well as a man who was shot by an
off duty federal agent in Northridge. Here locally, this crowd
was young and it was massive. I got down there
around eleven thirty outside City Hall on Spring Street, the
block between City Hall and Gloria Molina Park, and there
were about a couple hundred people there right at twelve,
(03:02):
but the event was supposed to start at one, and
by the time one o'clock struck on the clock, easily
a thousand people were there, and by the middle of
the afternoon there were thousands, two maybe three thousand people.
The street completely blocked completely full of people. And it
was one of the more interesting protests that I've attended
related to ICE because it wasn't it wasn't violent at all.
(03:25):
This was very much contained that block. This particular protest
will get into what happened later in the day in
just a moment, but this particular protest was just kind
of people standing around. There were some speakers, no one
could hear them. It was just people milling about and
holding up signs, and there were little bursts of chants
here and there. But it was also extraordinarily young. The
(03:46):
purpose of the national shutdown, as the organizers advertised, it
was no work, no school, and no buying from large corporations.
And so the question was would kids actually walk out
of their high schools and come down to this event?
Speaker 4 (03:59):
And the answer was clearly yes. There were a ton
of people.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
And then as the day war on and I came
on a you know, John Cobelt show, Tim Conway's show
and talked about how this event really didn't have any
real serious incidents involving the police, except for the fact
that the protest took over the block. Later in the night,
it got harry again because you have the agitators come out,
(04:23):
and I was watching some streaming videos of that, and
you did hear people, you know, flapd and like that
doesn't have anything to do with immigration. There's just the
people who are anti police who show up for this
sort of thing, start throwing things at the police, and
several people ended up arrested. There was some property destroyed
outside one of the detention facilities. The question that I
have as I listened to chants about Ice out of
LA or the later protest where you saw folks around
(04:47):
the Federal Detention center on Temple Street, what do you expect?
There is something important about standing for what you believe
in and making your message clear, regardless of your political
idiot ology. You've been represented by protests in recent years.
But is Ice gonna get this message and say, okay,
(05:07):
are bad, It's we're done, that's enough, We're going home now.
If anything, if you know this president, they love the
show strength, They love to show their strength. He is
somebody who believes very strongly in strength and displays of strength.
So it could end up having the opposite effect.
Speaker 5 (05:44):
No faith, students walking out of class, some businesses closing
in solidarity organizers urging Americans to skip school work and
shopping as part of nationwide ice out protests from Minneapolis
to Los Angeles to San Francisco, Raleigh, and New York City.
All this is tensions sore over the killings in Minneapolis.
(06:07):
The Justice Department now opening a federal civil rights investigation
into the fatal shootings of Alex Preddy by Department of
Homeland Security officers.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
And today more protests in and around southern California, but
federal authorities have said there would be swift action against
anybody who breaks the law. As these demonstrations continued across
southern California, and that was, you know, just twelve or
so hours after protesters were arrested for throwing objects at
federal agents in downtown yesterday, and the American federal government
(06:39):
officials have requested more federal officers to protect federal property
in the city. President Trump has vowed that authorities will
not tolerate violence or vandalism directed at federal or a
federal personnel or buildings. So, like I said, you can
chant ice out of LA all you want, but this
is a president who is not key on being embarrassed publicly,
(07:02):
somebody who believes very strongly in displays of strength. Eight
people arrested Friday in that clash at Downtown Metropolitan Detention Center,
one for assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer.
Two officers suffered minor injuries, but more protests did continue
today back at City Hall in Los Angeles, as well
(07:23):
as in Compton, El Segundo, Culver City, Torrance, Baldwin Park,
and across Orange County elsewhere in LA. This week, very
very sad news from the entertainment industry. You probably remember
this very famous scene.
Speaker 6 (07:40):
Did you lock up?
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Yeah?
Speaker 7 (07:45):
Did you close the garage?
Speaker 4 (07:49):
That's it? I forgot to close the garage.
Speaker 6 (07:51):
That's it. No, that's not it.
Speaker 7 (08:02):
What else can we be for?
Speaker 8 (08:03):
Kenny Kevin Oharah an Emmy winning actress, charming audiences for decades,
generations falling in love with her characters. She was the perfect,
imperfect mother. I'm pretty sure parents are supposed to put
their children before themselves.
Speaker 6 (08:21):
Oh really, No.
Speaker 9 (08:22):
If airplane safety videos have taught me anything, David, it's
said a mother puts her own mask on.
Speaker 8 (08:26):
First born and raised in Canada, she rose to fame
there as part of the Second City Toronto comedy group.
Perhaps her most famous role as the mother who forgot
her son.
Speaker 4 (08:36):
I'm Home Alone.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Actress Catherine O'Hara died at seventy one and was still
very much working. She was on that Apple Plus show
the Studio, and of course had a great run on
Shit's Creek in recent years, for which she won an
Emmy Award. And if you are a fan of the
Christopher Guest movies like Best in Show and Waiting for
(08:59):
Guffman and you've loved Catherine O'Hara for a long time,
it was a very big surprise to learn that she
had passed seventy one years old and still, it seemed,
had so many more roles to play. Very very sad
loss for fans of her work. I mentioned that there
were protests in downtown LA yesterday and today. At yesterday's protests,
(09:20):
there were signs that were not about immigration enforcement, but
were still targeted at the federal government. They were related
to former CNN commentator Don Lemon, who was arrested here
in Los Angeles for something that he did allegedly in Minneapolis,
and that has drawn reaction from the mayor of Los Angeles.
We'll get into what happened to Don Lemon this week
(09:42):
up next More on that mayor's race. Here in Los Angeles,
there seems to be a candidate who has not jumped
into the race, but is a high profile local politician
and raising the stakes online with some very direct attacks
on Mayor Bass. In our next hour, we'll also get
into the local official who was apologize for his relationship
(10:03):
with Gilaine Maxwell, the ex partner of Jeffrey Epstein. Emails
discovered in the latest release of the Epstein files. That's
coming up as Michael Monks Reports continues here on KFI
Am six forty will continue.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
You're listening to KFI Am six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
This is Michael Monks Reports on Michael Monks from KFI
News with you till ten o'clock tonight.
Speaker 6 (10:28):
I'm dealing with a different kind of ice, the natural
ice that has encased Nashville for the past week. I
have not had electricity. It finally came on today And
the thing I missed when my electricity was gone, I
had to monitor my cell phone us I couldn't listen
to KFI twenty four seven. Now I feel I'm back
with all of my.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Friends and that you are, Lisa Kay, thank you so
much for listening. You know one thing that I've learned
about working at KFI is how many people listen all
over the country through the iHeartRadio app. And Lisa okay,
I appreciate that message from Nashville. Hope it drives up
over there soon. Like I said, I talked to my
mama earlier. She sounds a bit like you, both in
concern about the ice and that Southern accent. So thank
(11:11):
you for tuning in. Yeah, we were talking last last
segment about how beautiful the weather has been latest unseasonably warm,
but also talking about ice and anti ice sentiment growing
here in Los Angeles, and there were protests in downtown LA.
I attended the one yesterday afternoon to report for KFI,
and I noticed that there were also some signs that
had nothing to do with federal immigration enforcement. Instead they
(11:32):
said things like free Don Lemon. You know Don Lemon.
He was on CNN for a long time. He's been
criticized a lot by the President and other conservative figures
in media. Well, he was arrested here in Los Angeles,
actually in Beverly Hills, in connection with the protest that
he covered at a church in Minnesota. But his behavior
(11:55):
at that protest inside a church in Minneapolis has drawn
a lot of scrutiny, particularly from the Department of Justice,
that says he violated federal law, and not just as
a journalist, that he was doing more than just observing
the protesters who went in, that he was an active participant,
and he has been charged federally. And he was here
to cover the Grammy Awards which are tomorrow here in
(12:17):
La of course, and was taken into custody and now
faces actual federal charges.
Speaker 7 (12:28):
Sources telling ABC News Lemon was arrested at a Beverly
Hills hotel where he was covering the Grammy Awards. Lemon
making his first court appearance in Los Angeles. The indictment
just unsealed, alleging Lemon and others went into the church
and occupied space, physically obstructing those inside. The judge ordering
Lemon be released. Authorities also arresting independent journalists and NAACP
(12:50):
Vice president Georgia Ford. She captured video showing massed agents
peering through her front window, the journalist live streaming as
she was taken into custody.
Speaker 10 (12:59):
When you can just be arrested for being a member
of the press, and we've.
Speaker 4 (13:05):
Seen all these violations, all right, you guys, I got
to go there.
Speaker 7 (13:07):
Knocking Fort was released from custody, Attorney General Pam Bondi
saying the arrests happened at her direction, calling this in
a social media post a quote coordinated attack at that church.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
The FBI says Lemen was arrested shortly after midnight yesterday
on an out of state warrant. He's facing two federal charges,
conspiracy and interfering with the First Amendment rights of worshippers.
According to the indictment filed against Lemen and seven others
in a Minnesota federal court, a group of agitators entered
the church in a coordinated takeover style attack and engaged
(13:43):
in acts of oppression, intimidation, threats, interference, and physical obstruction.
Don Lemon made his initial federal court appearance in downtown
LA yesterday afternoon while the other immigration protests were going on,
and lawyers for the government sought a one hundred thousand
dollars bond and asked to restrict his travel to Minneapolis
(14:03):
and New York, where he lives, and a magistrate judge
denied both of those requests and granted Lemen's release without bond.
He was not asked to enter a plea. A future
court date in the case will take place in Minnesota.
But when Don Lemmon came out of the courtroom, this
is what he said, sources telling ABC Newslemon, excuse.
Speaker 4 (14:23):
Me, let me get the Lemons sound ready.
Speaker 11 (14:25):
I've spent my entire career covering the news. I will
not stop now. There is no more important time than
right now, this very moment for a free and independent
media that shines a light on the truth and holds
those in power accountable. Again, I will not stop now.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
I will not stop ever.
Speaker 11 (14:46):
The DOJ sent a team of federal agents to arrest
me in the middle of the night for something that
I've been doing for the last thirty years, and that
is covering the news. The First Amendment of the Constitution
for two work for me and for countless of other journalists,
and I will not be silenced. I look forward to
(15:08):
my day in court.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
That's Don Lemmon saying he's protected by the First Amendment.
But what's interesting is that the charges are coming for
violating the First Amendment. His violation of the First Amendment
right to worship. So what to see how that goes.
We know that La Mayor Bass has some strong feelings
about the arrest of Don Lemon.
Speaker 10 (15:27):
After leaving the court proceedings. I am very glad that
our renowned, esteemed reporter, Don Lemmon will be released on
his own recognissance, because he should not have been in
court anyway. How far is this going to go? We're
one hundred and fifty five days away from celebrating the
(15:48):
two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of our democracy that has
been under attack every day since this administration took over.
I am not a lawyer, but I I will tell
you to listen to this court proceedings. That made no
sense at all what they described as his crime. From
(16:09):
my perspective, a lay person's perspective, was the work of
a reporter. If I were the administration, if I were
the other side, I would be embarrassed by that court
proceeding that actually wanted to limit his movements so he
could not go anywhere except for Minnesota to New York.
(16:32):
A journalist who travels the country.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
That was La Mayor Bass, who says she was in
the courtroom as Don Lemon faced these charges, and you
heard the passion and her voice there. What I've noticed
in covering Mayor Bass particularly in the context. In the
context of campaigning, she is most passionate. She appears strongest
when she is speaking out against the Trump administration and
(16:56):
the federal government more generally. Obviously, she took a big
political hit when the Palisades burned last January, and she
was in Ghana as that fire broke out, and she
has faced the political consequences of that. But then when
last summer rolled around and immigration enforcement actions really ramped
(17:17):
up in southern California, she finally had a spotlight where
she could portray herself as strong and fighting for what
she might call Los Angeles values, which is that this
is a welcoming place for illegal immigrants and that they
contribute to the community. And so the city has taken
legal action against the federal government and has won some
(17:38):
legal cases, as has the state as it relates to
immigration enforcement. But she loves to have a foil in
Trump because she gets to sound like she just did
in that clip. She sounds very poised and angry and
even powerful. She sounds like somebody who's ready to fight.
(18:00):
But there's a new poll out and it is bad
news for La Mayor Karen Bass, especially as she faces
re election and that primary is coming up in June,
and there is still a week for another candidate to
get in the race, and it looks like there might
be somebody at least flirting with jumping in the race.
So we're going to talk about this terrible, terrible poll
(18:22):
for La Mayor Karen Bass, as well as that potentially
looming candidate that's coming up in our next segment.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
You're listening to KFI Am six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
This is Michael Monks Reports on Michael Monks from KFI
News with you till ten o'clock tonight. The Orange County
Fire Authority firefighters have come to the rescue of an
old cat who got stuck inside a hole in its
family's fireplace and Seal beach. How about that. The family
first called Orange County Animal Care on Friday yesterday about
this pet. It's believed to be between nine and eleven
(18:58):
years old. The the animal care agency asked for help
from the Fire Authority. Engine forty four firefighters showed up
and according to this report from City News Service, Franny
the cat was new to the family and crawled into
a hole under the fireplace about the size of a
brick and after several attempts, firefighters were able to pull
(19:20):
that cat out of the hole and she is now
settling into her new home. Always like some good news
about cats being rescued by firefighters. We also just got
word that public health officials in LA have confirmed the
second measles case in La County this year. It's only
the thirty first day of this new year. This patient
(19:41):
arrived on Viva Aerobus flight five one eight. This is
an international flight the Tom Bradley International Airport Terminal B,
Gate two zero one A at LAX on Monday. This
person may have exposed others to the measles virus a
Terminal B between Monday at ten five p to one
(20:01):
am on Tuesday. This patient may also have exposed people
to the measles virus on Friday at Duncan Donuts two
to zero two zero Ventura Boulevard in Woodland Hills from
three o'clock in the afternoon to four forty five pm
that same day. Passenger seated near this infected traveler will
be notified by their respective local health departments in collaboration
(20:22):
with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and those
folks should monitor themselves for measles symptoms through February sixteenth,
People may be at risk of developing measles for seven
to twenty one days after being exposed. Meanwhile, we have
a mayor's race in Los Angeles this year, and Mayor
Karen bass is running for reelection. She has dodged one
(20:45):
serious candidate in Rick Caruso, the developer of projects like
the Grove, who has decided he would not seek a
rematch against the mayor, is not running for mayor, is
not running for governor, is sitting out this election year.
So it looks like the strongest candidates so far as
former LA's Schools Superintendent Austin Butner, who is going through
a tragedy right now after his young daughter was found
(21:07):
dead on the side of a road. We are still
waiting to find out more details about what caused her death,
but there has not been much from him on the
campaign trail since that happened a couple of weeks ago.
And we also know that Mayor bass Face's opposition from
former reality star and now Palisades Fire activist Spencer Pratt,
and it looks like the mayor may have an uphill climb.
(21:30):
There was a poll that was taken last fall but
was released earlier this month, and it gauges the way
people feel about the mayor and whether they will vote
for her this time. In politics, there's something called a
favorability rating. You often hear political pundits on national news
talk about the president and they're over under their favorability rating.
(21:57):
Do you feel favorably about this person or unfavorably? The
numbers for Karen Bass, the mayor of Los Angeles not good.
Total unfavorable sixty two percent, while just thirty four percent
say they have a favorable opinion of Mayor Karen Bass.
But these people who were surveyed in this poll were
(22:17):
asked about the June primary, and by more than two
to one, voters say they would support someone else. Forty
percent say they would definitely vote for someone else, while
twenty four percent said they would probably vote for someone else.
(22:40):
Mayor Bass has the support of about twenty seven percent
in that poll, with sixteen percent only saying they would
probably vote to re elect Karen Bass. Eleven percent only
say they would definitely vote If that is where you
are less than five months of way from the primary election.
Speaker 4 (23:01):
That is tough.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
Only eleven percent of respondents saying they would definitely vote
to re elect Karen Bass as mayor of Los Angeles.
So will Mayor Bass be able to put a message
together for the city that is a winning one. Former
(23:24):
Superintendent Butner is putting together a very professional campaign. Spencer
Pratt is getting a lot of attention as a bit
of a conservative darling because of his anger over the
Palisades fire. Or will there be somebody else to enter
the race? County Supervisor Lindsay Horvath has really been taking
it to Mayor Pass on social media. Recently, the mayor
(23:48):
had put out a statement about Measure Ula, which you
probably know better as the mansion tax, which was approved
by voters back in twenty twenty two. This adds an
additional tax on real estate sales at five million dollars
and a higher tax above ten million dollars. And the
goal of Measure ULA was to create a fund to
(24:12):
support homelessness prevention and to build affordable housing. But in
our next hour, we're going to get into what went
down at city Hall as they try to reform Measure
Ula because the mansion tax is blown up in their
face as predicted by many, it's prevented the development of
new housing all across the city. We're going to get
(24:32):
into that. And the biggest supporter of Measure ULA at
City Hall was standing before the rest of the city
council saying, I think we made a mistake, guys, and
here's an idea on how we can fix it. This
thing is raised a billion dollars, of course, but it's
also scared off a ton of building in a city
that desperately needs housing. But the mayor put out a
statement after the city Council failed to make adjustments and
(24:56):
basically saying, you know, she supports Measure ULA, but she
wanted to to have Palisades fire victims exempted from it,
and also goes on to say that because of this
homelessness component of Measure ULA, She says the county recently
diverted Measure A homelessness funding approved by voters to stand
up a bureaucratic homelessness department, all while county department staff
(25:19):
have stated that homelessness will increase. Supervisor Horvath put out
a copy of this statement from Mayor Bas saying, stop
with the misinformation.
Speaker 4 (25:29):
Mayor Bas.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
Loss of the LA Homeless Services Authority failed multiple audits,
We pulled our money because they can't account for anything.
The county is fixing the problems you've ignored. In a
second post on social media, Supervisor Horvath says she is
calling for the California Office of Emergency Services to fully
(25:55):
investigate the true cause of the Palisades fire. She says
the cities diluted after action report has lost all credibility.
Supervisor Horvath says given that Los Angeles' own fire chief,
Hi May Moore publicly acknowledged that the city's after action
(26:17):
report was watered down, it is even more critical to
conduct further analysis to address unanswered questions. She says the
lead author of the city's report declined to sign off
on the final version given how altered the report was.
She says one early draft described how some crews waited
more than an hour for assignments during the fire response.
(26:39):
She says that was removed. Language asserting that CRUs and
commanders violated National Firefighters Safety guidelines deleted. Original drafts stated
that the decision not to staff up and pre deploy
all available crews ahead of the extreme fire weather did
not align with the LFA Excuse Me LAFD policy and
the final version stated that the deployment event that the
(27:03):
deployment went above and beyond the standard. So she says,
with information currently available to the public, it is reasonable
to conclude that had the Lockman fire, that fire that
started days before the Palisades fire, had it been properly extinguished,
our constituents would not have experienced unimaginable devastation. So there
(27:23):
is Supervisor Lindsay Horvath taking direct aim at Mayor Bass
over homelessness and also piling on on the mayor's handling
of the Palisades fire. The city said it would do
an after action report. It did, but we learned through
investigative reporting by the La Times that it was altered
(27:43):
seven or eight times before it made its public debut.
Those alterations included some work from the Mayor's office. The
language changes were meant to make the department's response look
a little better. There is only a week or so left.
I think it's next week the filing deadline for anybody
(28:05):
who is thinking about jumping into the mayor's race in
Los Angeles. The other option for somebody like Supervisor Horvath
is to be the mayor of La County. There is
a new position approved by voters, and just about thirteen
(28:25):
months ago, November twenty four, voters in La County decided
to adopt Measure G, which is going to add more supervisors.
There are five supervisors currently, there will be nine on
the ballot in twenty thirty two. But there will also
be a county elected executive in twenty twenty eight, and
(28:47):
I think a lot of politicians are going to come
out of the woodwork for that plum job. That will
be one of the most powerful positions in the entire
state of California. The mayor of La County ten million constituents.
So will Supervisor Hohrvac bide her time, seek another term
on the Board of Supervisors and then run for county mayor.
But she did recently move from West Hollywood into the
(29:09):
City proper Los Angeles. Keep an eye out for next
week to see if she jumps in the race. Up next,
crime is down in Los Angeles, according to the Police
Department's annual report, and the La Central Library opened up
its cornerstone to find a time capsule that was placed
there one hundred years ago, and inside they found another
(29:31):
time capsule from years earlier.
Speaker 4 (29:34):
That's next on Michael Monks Reports.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
You're listening to KFI Am six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
This is Michael Monks Reports on Michael Monks from KFI
News with these old ten o'clock tonight. Thanks so much
for being with us on this beautiful Saturday night in
southern California. There was some positive news from the LAPD
this week, as Chief Jim McDonnell reported the city's twenty
twenty five homicide rate was the lowest since the nineteen fifties.
(30:03):
He says the homicide rate last year stood at five
point nine per one hundred thousand residents. That is the
lowest rate per capita since nineteen fifty nine, and that
was a nineteen percent decrease from just the year before.
Here's part of what Chief McDonnell had to say.
Speaker 9 (30:24):
The data in this year's report shows that homicides in
Los Angeles are down both in total, both in total
number and as a percentage compared to last year. In
twenty twenty five, there were two hundred and thirty homicides,
a reduction of nineteen percent from the year before, when
city experienced two hundred and eighty four homicides. This is
(30:47):
the lowest number of homicides since nineteen sixty six. A
reduction in homicides means fewer families experiencing that devastating loss
and fewer communities living with the lasting trauma that violence creates.
This decline did not happen by chance. It reflects the
focused and deliberative work by the men and women of
(31:08):
the LAPD, including targeted violence reduction strategies, intelligence led policing,
and CompStat driven deployment. It also reflects partnerships with community
organizations and other public safety agencies working toward the same goal,
since public safety is a shared responsibility.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
The report from the LAPD shows the effort to reduce
gun violence led to a sustained increase in the recovery
of guns. They say last year the LAPD seized eight thousand,
six hundred and fifty firearms, and so, as you heard
the Chief Fair say, it contributed directly to the reductions
in shootings and homicides, very very significant decrease. Other areas
(31:54):
where there were reductions, fatal traffic collisions were down six percent.
There were two hundred ninety fatal traffic crashes last year.
Speaker 4 (32:06):
The Chief says.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
Burglary and organized retail theft remained top priorities for the department,
and he says investigators dismantled prolific burglary and retail theft crews,
conducted operations at high theft locations, and built strong partnerships
with retailers, lost prevention teams and business associations. He says
these coordinated efforts led to a significant amount of arrest,
(32:28):
felony filings, and noticeable declines in property crime across the city.
We should note that of those two hundred and thirty
fatal shootings or homicides, sixty one of them were related
to homeless people. That actually was up twenty percent among
(32:52):
that population, and one hundred others were gang related. That
was a drop of four percent in that sector. But
this announcement comes at a time where Chief McDonald and
the LAPD are saying they don't have enough officers. They
(33:14):
just went to the city building at the end of
last year and said, we're hiring more officers than you've
given us permission to do, and the city council was like, well,
we don't. We don't have money for that, and so
they asked the city administrator to go find the money
for it, so that the police department could continue its
hiring spree, and apparently the city administrator was able to
(33:38):
move some money around, digg into the couch cushions a
little deeper and found some and so the police department
was able to move forward with their next couple of
recruit classes. But you hear from this chief and this
police department very frequently saying we don't have enough officers.
They'd like to have ten thousand officers. They'll have somewhere
around eighty six hundred this year. But in spite of
(34:01):
that low number of officers, the data shows it's working.
It seems to beg a question, doesn't it. The police
department is the most expensive department by far, but even
with its lower man power, they're putting up some pretty
(34:23):
good numbers. I know that if you live in a
neighborhood like Encino, where last year and the year before
there were burglary sprees going on and criticism of the
response time from the LAPDA, you could see some value
in adding police officers in my neighborhood. I'd like to
(34:46):
see more officers walking around on the streets like the
neighbors like me like I do, to see what we
have to deal with and to help us feel safer.
So yeah, I mean, more police could be necessary, but
they are expensive and the city doesn't have a lot
of money right now, and it seems that the police
(35:09):
department is doing a fine job with the staff that
it has. Over at the library this week, a very
very interesting story. These folks, you know, they know everything
that happens in the city. They're the keeper of all
the documents. They have all of the history and it's
a great library, that Central Library.
Speaker 4 (35:28):
I just love it.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
But it's the one hundredth anniversary of that building opening,
and back in nineteen twenty five, when the cornerstone of
the building was placed, the people who worked at the
library had the good sense to put a time capsule
in that cornerstone so that it could be opened by
future generations. The weird thing was library officials said during
(35:54):
the celebration this week, Yeah, we had we had known
about this time capsule because it's in the middle of
the meetings the library board meeting from one hundred years ago.
We even know what's supposed to be in this time
capsule because the meetings were very detailed. Unfortunately, they didn't
give us any information on how to get to the
time capsule. If you know anything about historic preservation, these
(36:15):
folks aren't going to just knock the cornerstone out. They
started to drill tiny little holes in it just to
get a peek, and realized they were going to have
to go another way through the men's room in the
men's excuse me, the men's room in the central jail. Ah,
look at me getting confused in the men's room of
(36:36):
the downtown Central Library. And they did. They managed to
get in. They cut in the back of the urinals
and pulled out this time capsule, and there were photographs
of old library buildings. There was a staff list in
the library this year. Made a point to note that
(36:57):
this staff list celebrated everybody who worked at the library,
from the city librarian in nineteen twenty five all the
way down to the people listed as janitors. So the
people who worked at the library one hundred years ago
were very proud to work at the library. And there
were newspaper clippings and photographs and scrap books in those
sorts of things. But I thought it was so interesting
(37:20):
that that that was like ghosts talking to you. All
those people are dead. Everybody who had anything to do
with that time capsule one hundred years ago, are dead
but communicated with us directly for a moment, very very interesting.
But also inside that time capsule was another time capsule.
Speaker 12 (37:40):
One of the most vague or kind of wild card
items on our inventory list of what was in our
capsule was all of the contents of the cornerstone of
the Normal School building that was on this.
Speaker 13 (37:52):
Site before the library was built. The Normal School opened
here in eighteen eighty two and later would become UCLA
and moved to Westwood. We started had a time capsule
within the our time capsule. One of the most unique pieces,
certainly from the eighteen eighty one Normal School capsule, is
this which refers to itself as a relic from the
catafalque obsequious of President Garfield. And we have a little
(38:15):
bit of helpful context from our nineteen twenty five librarians
who've included a couple of typewritten notes on blank catalog cards.
This one says the year eighteen eighty one was also
the year of the assassination of President Garfield. The bit
of black cloth and the dried moss are mementos from
the funeral. The badge was one worn by the members
(38:37):
of a local engine company in the memorial services. The
population of Los Angeles in eighteen eighty one was only
eleven one hundred eighty three, so the city was a
dramatically different place than it was already by the nineteen twenties.
Speaker 2 (38:50):
There were mementos from President Garfield's funeral in this box
because some firefighters from LA were part of the ceremony.
It's just a little reminder that the past is not
so far away. And I thought it was just very
very cool to be communicated to buy people who are
(39:13):
long gone. You know, you put a time caps on
the ground because you want people in the future to
open it up and remember and think about you and
and this place back then. And I just really really
like that story this week. But we'll get back into
some heavy news as we start our second hour. There
(39:34):
is a local official who's taken a prominent role in
the LA twenty eight Olympics who issued an apology today
for his relationship with Glaine Maxwell, the partner and alleged
procureur for Jeffrey Epstein. We'll get into that next as
Michael Monks reports continues right here on KFI AM sixty.
Speaker 1 (39:57):
KFI AM six forty on demand
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
This is Michael Monks Reports on Michael Monks from KFI
News with you for the next couple of hours. Just
a reminder, we are now on from eight to ten
every Saturday night, bumped from seven to nine so that
the Crest Report with Tim Conway can air in the
five o'clock hour. So that's pushed Tiffany back an hour
and I am now on at eight o'clock. So glad
(00:25):
you've stuck around to listen to us. My goodness, what
a great stretch of days we have had in southern California.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Downtown La tied the all time record high temperature for
January thirtieth on Friday of eighty five degrees. Nineteen ninety
two was the last time it was at hot in La.
On January thirtieth, Lax the Airport hit eighty three degrees
and Santa Maria northern Santa Barbara County hit eighty degrees
on Friday, and this weekend some areas could be closer
(00:53):
to ninety.
Speaker 4 (00:54):
It was hotter than I expected it to be.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
It's still January, and while I know winter here is
different than where I'm from, I do like the sixties,
you know, like give us a break from what we
get in the summer. But I have to say this
has been great. I was sitting on the rooftop in
my apartment building downtown earlier this morning, called my family
back home in Kentucky on a video call and was
(01:17):
happily showing them the sun beating down on the mountains
and the city buildings and kind of bragging because where
they are in northern Kentucky and the Cincinnati area today
it was zero and all that snow that fell across
the eastern half of the US is still on the
ground because it has been so cold, so there hasn't
(01:37):
been anything to melt that snow and ice, and everybody
there is just miserable. Schools have been canceled, sporting events
have been canceled. It's very difficult to get around. And
you know, in spite of all of the problems that
you have when you live or work in Los Angeles,
you pay a lot for your rent, you pay a
(01:58):
lot for your gas, you pay a lot for everything.
You can't leave your home without one hundred dollars being
yanked out of your pocket. And sometimes you're even stepping
in human excrement while you're going somewhere, but boy, there's
nowhere else where you can just look up at the
sky nearly every single day and say how about this weather?
Speaker 4 (02:17):
Though, I guess it makes it all a little bit
worth it.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
And downtown LA was hopping yesterday and today because immigration
protests have returned to Los Angeles, and I was down
there all day yesterday with the National Shutdown protest. This
was a movement that started by student groups in Minneapolis
following the deaths of two protesters there, and there were
(02:42):
a lot of people marching calling for justice for them,
as well as a man who was shot by an
off duty federal agent in Northridge. Here locally, this crowd
was young and it was massive. I got down there
around eleven thirty outside City Hall on Spring Street, the
block between City Hall and Gloria Molina Park, and there
were about a couple hundred people there right at twelve,
(03:02):
but the event was supposed to start at one, and
by the time one o'clock struck on the clock, easily
a thousand people were there, and by the middle of
the afternoon there were thousands, two maybe three thousand people.
The street completely blocked completely full of people. And it
was one of the more interesting protests that I've attended
related to ICE because it wasn't it wasn't violent at all.
(03:25):
This was very much contained that block. This particular protest
will get into what happened later in the day in
just a moment, but this particular protest was just kind
of people standing around. There were some speakers, no one
could hear them. It was just people milling about and
holding up signs, and there were little bursts of chants
here and there. But it was also extraordinarily young. The
(03:46):
purpose of the national shutdown, as the organizers advertised, it
was no work, no school, and no buying from large corporations.
And so the question was would kids actually walk out
of their high schools and come down to this event?
Speaker 4 (03:59):
And the answer was clearly yes. There were a ton
of people.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
And then as the day war on and I came
on a you know, John Cobelt show, Tim Conway's show
and talked about how this event really didn't have any
real serious incidents involving the police, except for the fact
that the protest took over the block. Later in the night,
it got harry again because you have the agitators come out,
(04:23):
and I was watching some streaming videos of that, and
you did hear people, you know, flapd and like that
doesn't have anything to do with immigration. There's just the
people who are anti police who show up for this
sort of thing, start throwing things at the police, and
several people ended up arrested. There was some property destroyed
outside one of the detention facilities. The question that I
have as I listened to chants about Ice out of
LA or the later protest where you saw folks around
(04:47):
the Federal Detention center on Temple Street, what do you expect?
There is something important about standing for what you believe
in and making your message clear, regardless of your political
idiot ology. You've been represented by protests in recent years.
But is Ice gonna get this message and say, okay,
(05:07):
are bad, It's we're done, that's enough, We're going home now.
If anything, if you know this president, they love the
show strength, They love to show their strength. He is
somebody who believes very strongly in strength and displays of strength.
So it could end up having the opposite effect.
Speaker 5 (05:44):
No faith, students walking out of class, some businesses closing
in solidarity organizers urging Americans to skip school work and
shopping as part of nationwide ice out protests from Minneapolis
to Los Angeles to San Francisco, Raleigh, and New York City.
All this is tensions sore over the killings in Minneapolis.
(06:07):
The Justice Department now opening a federal civil rights investigation
into the fatal shootings of Alex Preddy by Department of
Homeland Security officers.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
And today more protests in and around southern California, but
federal authorities have said there would be swift action against
anybody who breaks the law. As these demonstrations continued across
southern California, and that was, you know, just twelve or
so hours after protesters were arrested for throwing objects at
federal agents in downtown yesterday, and the American federal government
(06:39):
officials have requested more federal officers to protect federal property
in the city. President Trump has vowed that authorities will
not tolerate violence or vandalism directed at federal or a
federal personnel or buildings. So, like I said, you can
chant ice out of LA all you want, but this
is a president who is not key on being embarrassed publicly,
(07:02):
somebody who believes very strongly in displays of strength. Eight
people arrested Friday in that clash at Downtown Metropolitan Detention Center,
one for assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer.
Two officers suffered minor injuries, but more protests did continue
today back at City Hall in Los Angeles, as well
(07:23):
as in Compton, El Segundo, Culver City, Torrance, Baldwin Park,
and across Orange County elsewhere in LA. This week, very
very sad news from the entertainment industry. You probably remember
this very famous scene.
Speaker 6 (07:40):
Did you lock up?
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Yeah?
Speaker 7 (07:45):
Did you close the garage?
Speaker 4 (07:49):
That's it? I forgot to close the garage.
Speaker 6 (07:51):
That's it. No, that's not it.
Speaker 7 (08:02):
What else can we be for?
Speaker 8 (08:03):
Kenny Kevin Oharah an Emmy winning actress, charming audiences for decades,
generations falling in love with her characters. She was the perfect,
imperfect mother. I'm pretty sure parents are supposed to put
their children before themselves.
Speaker 6 (08:21):
Oh really, No.
Speaker 9 (08:22):
If airplane safety videos have taught me anything, David, it's
said a mother puts her own mask on.
Speaker 8 (08:26):
First born and raised in Canada, she rose to fame
there as part of the Second City Toronto comedy group.
Perhaps her most famous role as the mother who forgot
her son.
Speaker 4 (08:36):
I'm Home Alone.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Actress Catherine O'Hara died at seventy one and was still
very much working. She was on that Apple Plus show
the Studio, and of course had a great run on
Shit's Creek in recent years, for which she won an
Emmy Award. And if you are a fan of the
Christopher Guest movies like Best in Show and Waiting for
(08:59):
Guffman and you've loved Catherine O'Hara for a long time,
it was a very big surprise to learn that she
had passed seventy one years old and still, it seemed,
had so many more roles to play. Very very sad
loss for fans of her work. I mentioned that there
were protests in downtown LA yesterday and today. At yesterday's protests,
(09:20):
there were signs that were not about immigration enforcement, but
were still targeted at the federal government. They were related
to former CNN commentator Don Lemon, who was arrested here
in Los Angeles for something that he did allegedly in Minneapolis,
and that has drawn reaction from the mayor of Los Angeles.
We'll get into what happened to Don Lemon this week
(09:42):
up next More on that mayor's race. Here in Los Angeles,
there seems to be a candidate who has not jumped
into the race, but is a high profile local politician
and raising the stakes online with some very direct attacks
on Mayor Bass. In our next hour, we'll also get
into the local official who was apologize for his relationship
(10:03):
with Gilaine Maxwell, the ex partner of Jeffrey Epstein. Emails
discovered in the latest release of the Epstein files. That's
coming up as Michael Monks Reports continues here on KFI
Am six forty will continue.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
You're listening to KFI Am six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
This is Michael Monks Reports on Michael Monks from KFI
News with you till ten o'clock tonight.
Speaker 6 (10:28):
I'm dealing with a different kind of ice, the natural
ice that has encased Nashville for the past week. I
have not had electricity. It finally came on today And
the thing I missed when my electricity was gone, I
had to monitor my cell phone us I couldn't listen
to KFI twenty four seven. Now I feel I'm back
with all of my.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Friends and that you are, Lisa Kay, thank you so
much for listening. You know one thing that I've learned
about working at KFI is how many people listen all
over the country through the iHeartRadio app. And Lisa okay,
I appreciate that message from Nashville. Hope it drives up
over there soon. Like I said, I talked to my
mama earlier. She sounds a bit like you, both in
concern about the ice and that Southern accent. So thank
(11:11):
you for tuning in. Yeah, we were talking last last
segment about how beautiful the weather has been latest unseasonably warm,
but also talking about ice and anti ice sentiment growing
here in Los Angeles, and there were protests in downtown LA.
I attended the one yesterday afternoon to report for KFI,
and I noticed that there were also some signs that
had nothing to do with federal immigration enforcement. Instead they
(11:32):
said things like free Don Lemon. You know Don Lemon.
He was on CNN for a long time. He's been
criticized a lot by the President and other conservative figures
in media. Well, he was arrested here in Los Angeles,
actually in Beverly Hills, in connection with the protest that
he covered at a church in Minnesota. But his behavior
(11:55):
at that protest inside a church in Minneapolis has drawn
a lot of scrutiny, particularly from the Department of Justice,
that says he violated federal law, and not just as
a journalist, that he was doing more than just observing
the protesters who went in, that he was an active participant,
and he has been charged federally. And he was here
to cover the Grammy Awards which are tomorrow here in
(12:17):
La of course, and was taken into custody and now
faces actual federal charges.
Speaker 7 (12:28):
Sources telling ABC News Lemon was arrested at a Beverly
Hills hotel where he was covering the Grammy Awards. Lemon
making his first court appearance in Los Angeles. The indictment
just unsealed, alleging Lemon and others went into the church
and occupied space, physically obstructing those inside. The judge ordering
Lemon be released. Authorities also arresting independent journalists and NAACP
(12:50):
Vice president Georgia Ford. She captured video showing massed agents
peering through her front window, the journalist live streaming as
she was taken into custody.
Speaker 10 (12:59):
When you can just be arrested for being a member
of the press, and we've.
Speaker 4 (13:05):
Seen all these violations, all right, you guys, I got
to go there.
Speaker 7 (13:07):
Knocking Fort was released from custody, Attorney General Pam Bondi
saying the arrests happened at her direction, calling this in
a social media post a quote coordinated attack at that church.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
The FBI says Lemen was arrested shortly after midnight yesterday
on an out of state warrant. He's facing two federal charges,
conspiracy and interfering with the First Amendment rights of worshippers.
According to the indictment filed against Lemen and seven others
in a Minnesota federal court, a group of agitators entered
the church in a coordinated takeover style attack and engaged
(13:43):
in acts of oppression, intimidation, threats, interference, and physical obstruction.
Don Lemon made his initial federal court appearance in downtown
LA yesterday afternoon while the other immigration protests were going on,
and lawyers for the government sought a one hundred thousand
dollars bond and asked to restrict his travel to Minneapolis
(14:03):
and New York, where he lives, and a magistrate judge
denied both of those requests and granted Lemen's release without bond.
He was not asked to enter a plea. A future
court date in the case will take place in Minnesota.
But when Don Lemmon came out of the courtroom, this
is what he said, sources telling ABC Newslemon, excuse.
Speaker 4 (14:23):
Me, let me get the Lemons sound ready.
Speaker 11 (14:25):
I've spent my entire career covering the news. I will
not stop now. There is no more important time than
right now, this very moment for a free and independent
media that shines a light on the truth and holds
those in power accountable. Again, I will not stop now.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
I will not stop ever.
Speaker 11 (14:46):
The DOJ sent a team of federal agents to arrest
me in the middle of the night for something that
I've been doing for the last thirty years, and that
is covering the news. The First Amendment of the Constitution
for two work for me and for countless of other journalists,
and I will not be silenced. I look forward to
(15:08):
my day in court.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
That's Don Lemmon saying he's protected by the First Amendment.
But what's interesting is that the charges are coming for
violating the First Amendment. His violation of the First Amendment
right to worship. So what to see how that goes.
We know that La Mayor Bass has some strong feelings
about the arrest of Don Lemon.
Speaker 10 (15:27):
After leaving the court proceedings. I am very glad that
our renowned, esteemed reporter, Don Lemmon will be released on
his own recognissance, because he should not have been in
court anyway. How far is this going to go? We're
one hundred and fifty five days away from celebrating the
(15:48):
two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of our democracy that has
been under attack every day since this administration took over.
I am not a lawyer, but I I will tell
you to listen to this court proceedings. That made no
sense at all what they described as his crime. From
(16:09):
my perspective, a lay person's perspective, was the work of
a reporter. If I were the administration, if I were
the other side, I would be embarrassed by that court
proceeding that actually wanted to limit his movements so he
could not go anywhere except for Minnesota to New York.
(16:32):
A journalist who travels the country.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
That was La Mayor Bass, who says she was in
the courtroom as Don Lemon faced these charges, and you
heard the passion and her voice there. What I've noticed
in covering Mayor Bass particularly in the context. In the
context of campaigning, she is most passionate. She appears strongest
when she is speaking out against the Trump administration and
(16:56):
the federal government more generally. Obviously, she took a big
political hit when the Palisades burned last January, and she
was in Ghana as that fire broke out, and she
has faced the political consequences of that. But then when
last summer rolled around and immigration enforcement actions really ramped
(17:17):
up in southern California, she finally had a spotlight where
she could portray herself as strong and fighting for what
she might call Los Angeles values, which is that this
is a welcoming place for illegal immigrants and that they
contribute to the community. And so the city has taken
legal action against the federal government and has won some
(17:38):
legal cases, as has the state as it relates to
immigration enforcement. But she loves to have a foil in
Trump because she gets to sound like she just did
in that clip. She sounds very poised and angry and
even powerful. She sounds like somebody who's ready to fight.
(18:00):
But there's a new poll out and it is bad
news for La Mayor Karen Bass, especially as she faces
re election and that primary is coming up in June,
and there is still a week for another candidate to
get in the race, and it looks like there might
be somebody at least flirting with jumping in the race.
So we're going to talk about this terrible, terrible poll
(18:22):
for La Mayor Karen Bass, as well as that potentially
looming candidate that's coming up in our next segment.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
You're listening to KFI Am six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
This is Michael Monks Reports on Michael Monks from KFI
News with you till ten o'clock tonight. The Orange County
Fire Authority firefighters have come to the rescue of an
old cat who got stuck inside a hole in its
family's fireplace and Seal beach. How about that. The family
first called Orange County Animal Care on Friday yesterday about
this pet. It's believed to be between nine and eleven
(18:58):
years old. The the animal care agency asked for help
from the Fire Authority. Engine forty four firefighters showed up
and according to this report from City News Service, Franny
the cat was new to the family and crawled into
a hole under the fireplace about the size of a
brick and after several attempts, firefighters were able to pull
(19:20):
that cat out of the hole and she is now
settling into her new home. Always like some good news
about cats being rescued by firefighters. We also just got
word that public health officials in LA have confirmed the
second measles case in La County this year. It's only
the thirty first day of this new year. This patient
(19:41):
arrived on Viva Aerobus flight five one eight. This is
an international flight the Tom Bradley International Airport Terminal B,
Gate two zero one A at LAX on Monday. This
person may have exposed others to the measles virus a
Terminal B between Monday at ten five p to one
(20:01):
am on Tuesday. This patient may also have exposed people
to the measles virus on Friday at Duncan Donuts two
to zero two zero Ventura Boulevard in Woodland Hills from
three o'clock in the afternoon to four forty five pm
that same day. Passenger seated near this infected traveler will
be notified by their respective local health departments in collaboration
(20:22):
with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and those
folks should monitor themselves for measles symptoms through February sixteenth,
People may be at risk of developing measles for seven
to twenty one days after being exposed. Meanwhile, we have
a mayor's race in Los Angeles this year, and Mayor
Karen bass is running for reelection. She has dodged one
(20:45):
serious candidate in Rick Caruso, the developer of projects like
the Grove, who has decided he would not seek a
rematch against the mayor, is not running for mayor, is
not running for governor, is sitting out this election year.
So it looks like the strongest candidates so far as
former LA's Schools Superintendent Austin Butner, who is going through
a tragedy right now after his young daughter was found
(21:07):
dead on the side of a road. We are still
waiting to find out more details about what caused her death,
but there has not been much from him on the
campaign trail since that happened a couple of weeks ago.
And we also know that Mayor bass Face's opposition from
former reality star and now Palisades Fire activist Spencer Pratt,
and it looks like the mayor may have an uphill climb.
(21:30):
There was a poll that was taken last fall but
was released earlier this month, and it gauges the way
people feel about the mayor and whether they will vote
for her this time. In politics, there's something called a
favorability rating. You often hear political pundits on national news
talk about the president and they're over under their favorability rating.
(21:57):
Do you feel favorably about this person or unfavorably? The
numbers for Karen Bass, the mayor of Los Angeles not good.
Total unfavorable sixty two percent, while just thirty four percent
say they have a favorable opinion of Mayor Karen Bass.
But these people who were surveyed in this poll were
(22:17):
asked about the June primary, and by more than two
to one, voters say they would support someone else. Forty
percent say they would definitely vote for someone else, while
twenty four percent said they would probably vote for someone else.
(22:40):
Mayor Bass has the support of about twenty seven percent
in that poll, with sixteen percent only saying they would
probably vote to re elect Karen Bass. Eleven percent only
say they would definitely vote If that is where you
are less than five months of way from the primary election.
Speaker 4 (23:01):
That is tough.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
Only eleven percent of respondents saying they would definitely vote
to re elect Karen Bass as mayor of Los Angeles.
So will Mayor Bass be able to put a message
together for the city that is a winning one. Former
(23:24):
Superintendent Butner is putting together a very professional campaign. Spencer
Pratt is getting a lot of attention as a bit
of a conservative darling because of his anger over the
Palisades fire. Or will there be somebody else to enter
the race? County Supervisor Lindsay Horvath has really been taking
it to Mayor Pass on social media. Recently, the mayor
(23:48):
had put out a statement about Measure Ula, which you
probably know better as the mansion tax, which was approved
by voters back in twenty twenty two. This adds an
additional tax on real estate sales at five million dollars
and a higher tax above ten million dollars. And the
goal of Measure ULA was to create a fund to
(24:12):
support homelessness prevention and to build affordable housing. But in
our next hour, we're going to get into what went
down at city Hall as they try to reform Measure
Ula because the mansion tax is blown up in their
face as predicted by many, it's prevented the development of
new housing all across the city. We're going to get
(24:32):
into that. And the biggest supporter of Measure ULA at
City Hall was standing before the rest of the city
council saying, I think we made a mistake, guys, and
here's an idea on how we can fix it. This
thing is raised a billion dollars, of course, but it's
also scared off a ton of building in a city
that desperately needs housing. But the mayor put out a
statement after the city Council failed to make adjustments and
(24:56):
basically saying, you know, she supports Measure ULA, but she
wanted to to have Palisades fire victims exempted from it,
and also goes on to say that because of this
homelessness component of Measure ULA, She says the county recently
diverted Measure A homelessness funding approved by voters to stand
up a bureaucratic homelessness department, all while county department staff
(25:19):
have stated that homelessness will increase. Supervisor Horvath put out
a copy of this statement from Mayor Bas saying, stop
with the misinformation.
Speaker 4 (25:29):
Mayor Bas.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
Loss of the LA Homeless Services Authority failed multiple audits,
We pulled our money because they can't account for anything.
The county is fixing the problems you've ignored. In a
second post on social media, Supervisor Horvath says she is
calling for the California Office of Emergency Services to fully
(25:55):
investigate the true cause of the Palisades fire. She says
the cities diluted after action report has lost all credibility.
Supervisor Horvath says given that Los Angeles' own fire chief,
Hi May Moore publicly acknowledged that the city's after action
(26:17):
report was watered down, it is even more critical to
conduct further analysis to address unanswered questions. She says the
lead author of the city's report declined to sign off
on the final version given how altered the report was.
She says one early draft described how some crews waited
more than an hour for assignments during the fire response.
(26:39):
She says that was removed. Language asserting that CRUs and
commanders violated National Firefighters Safety guidelines deleted. Original drafts stated
that the decision not to staff up and pre deploy
all available crews ahead of the extreme fire weather did
not align with the LFA Excuse Me LAFD policy and
the final version stated that the deployment event that the
(27:03):
deployment went above and beyond the standard. So she says,
with information currently available to the public, it is reasonable
to conclude that had the Lockman fire, that fire that
started days before the Palisades fire, had it been properly extinguished,
our constituents would not have experienced unimaginable devastation. So there
(27:23):
is Supervisor Lindsay Horvath taking direct aim at Mayor Bass
over homelessness and also piling on on the mayor's handling
of the Palisades fire. The city said it would do
an after action report. It did, but we learned through
investigative reporting by the La Times that it was altered
(27:43):
seven or eight times before it made its public debut.
Those alterations included some work from the Mayor's office. The
language changes were meant to make the department's response look
a little better. There is only a week or so left.
I think it's next week the filing deadline for anybody
(28:05):
who is thinking about jumping into the mayor's race in
Los Angeles. The other option for somebody like Supervisor Horvath
is to be the mayor of La County. There is
a new position approved by voters, and just about thirteen
(28:25):
months ago, November twenty four, voters in La County decided
to adopt Measure G, which is going to add more supervisors.
There are five supervisors currently, there will be nine on
the ballot in twenty thirty two. But there will also
be a county elected executive in twenty twenty eight, and
(28:47):
I think a lot of politicians are going to come
out of the woodwork for that plum job. That will
be one of the most powerful positions in the entire
state of California. The mayor of La County ten million constituents.
So will Supervisor Hohrvac bide her time, seek another term
on the Board of Supervisors and then run for county mayor.
But she did recently move from West Hollywood into the
(29:09):
City proper Los Angeles. Keep an eye out for next
week to see if she jumps in the race. Up next,
crime is down in Los Angeles, according to the Police
Department's annual report, and the La Central Library opened up
its cornerstone to find a time capsule that was placed
there one hundred years ago, and inside they found another
(29:31):
time capsule from years earlier.
Speaker 4 (29:34):
That's next on Michael Monks Reports.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
You're listening to KFI Am six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
This is Michael Monks Reports on Michael Monks from KFI
News with these old ten o'clock tonight. Thanks so much
for being with us on this beautiful Saturday night in
southern California. There was some positive news from the LAPD
this week, as Chief Jim McDonnell reported the city's twenty
twenty five homicide rate was the lowest since the nineteen fifties.
(30:03):
He says the homicide rate last year stood at five
point nine per one hundred thousand residents. That is the
lowest rate per capita since nineteen fifty nine, and that
was a nineteen percent decrease from just the year before.
Here's part of what Chief McDonnell had to say.
Speaker 9 (30:24):
The data in this year's report shows that homicides in
Los Angeles are down both in total, both in total
number and as a percentage compared to last year. In
twenty twenty five, there were two hundred and thirty homicides,
a reduction of nineteen percent from the year before, when
city experienced two hundred and eighty four homicides. This is
(30:47):
the lowest number of homicides since nineteen sixty six. A
reduction in homicides means fewer families experiencing that devastating loss
and fewer communities living with the lasting trauma that violence creates.
This decline did not happen by chance. It reflects the
focused and deliberative work by the men and women of
(31:08):
the LAPD, including targeted violence reduction strategies, intelligence led policing,
and CompStat driven deployment. It also reflects partnerships with community
organizations and other public safety agencies working toward the same goal,
since public safety is a shared responsibility.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
The report from the LAPD shows the effort to reduce
gun violence led to a sustained increase in the recovery
of guns. They say last year the LAPD seized eight thousand,
six hundred and fifty firearms, and so, as you heard
the Chief Fair say, it contributed directly to the reductions
in shootings and homicides, very very significant decrease. Other areas
(31:54):
where there were reductions, fatal traffic collisions were down six percent.
There were two hundred ninety fatal traffic crashes last year.
Speaker 4 (32:06):
The Chief says.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
Burglary and organized retail theft remained top priorities for the department,
and he says investigators dismantled prolific burglary and retail theft crews,
conducted operations at high theft locations, and built strong partnerships
with retailers, lost prevention teams and business associations. He says
these coordinated efforts led to a significant amount of arrest,
(32:28):
felony filings, and noticeable declines in property crime across the city.
We should note that of those two hundred and thirty
fatal shootings or homicides, sixty one of them were related
to homeless people. That actually was up twenty percent among
(32:52):
that population, and one hundred others were gang related. That
was a drop of four percent in that sector. But
this announcement comes at a time where Chief McDonald and
the LAPD are saying they don't have enough officers. They
(33:14):
just went to the city building at the end of
last year and said, we're hiring more officers than you've
given us permission to do, and the city council was like, well,
we don't. We don't have money for that, and so
they asked the city administrator to go find the money
for it, so that the police department could continue its
hiring spree, and apparently the city administrator was able to
(33:38):
move some money around, digg into the couch cushions a
little deeper and found some and so the police department
was able to move forward with their next couple of
recruit classes. But you hear from this chief and this
police department very frequently saying we don't have enough officers.
They'd like to have ten thousand officers. They'll have somewhere
around eighty six hundred this year. But in spite of
(34:01):
that low number of officers, the data shows it's working.
It seems to beg a question, doesn't it. The police
department is the most expensive department by far, but even
with its lower man power, they're putting up some pretty
(34:23):
good numbers. I know that if you live in a
neighborhood like Encino, where last year and the year before
there were burglary sprees going on and criticism of the
response time from the LAPDA, you could see some value
in adding police officers in my neighborhood. I'd like to
(34:46):
see more officers walking around on the streets like the
neighbors like me like I do, to see what we
have to deal with and to help us feel safer.
So yeah, I mean, more police could be necessary, but
they are expensive and the city doesn't have a lot
of money right now, and it seems that the police
(35:09):
department is doing a fine job with the staff that
it has. Over at the library this week, a very
very interesting story. These folks, you know, they know everything
that happens in the city. They're the keeper of all
the documents. They have all of the history and it's
a great library, that Central Library.
Speaker 4 (35:28):
I just love it.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
But it's the one hundredth anniversary of that building opening,
and back in nineteen twenty five, when the cornerstone of
the building was placed, the people who worked at the
library had the good sense to put a time capsule
in that cornerstone so that it could be opened by
future generations. The weird thing was library officials said during
(35:54):
the celebration this week, Yeah, we had we had known
about this time capsule because it's in the middle of
the meetings the library board meeting from one hundred years ago.
We even know what's supposed to be in this time
capsule because the meetings were very detailed. Unfortunately, they didn't
give us any information on how to get to the
time capsule. If you know anything about historic preservation, these
(36:15):
folks aren't going to just knock the cornerstone out. They
started to drill tiny little holes in it just to
get a peek, and realized they were going to have
to go another way through the men's room in the
men's excuse me, the men's room in the central jail. Ah,
look at me getting confused in the men's room of
(36:36):
the downtown Central Library. And they did. They managed to
get in. They cut in the back of the urinals
and pulled out this time capsule, and there were photographs
of old library buildings. There was a staff list in
the library this year. Made a point to note that
(36:57):
this staff list celebrated everybody who worked at the library,
from the city librarian in nineteen twenty five all the
way down to the people listed as janitors. So the
people who worked at the library one hundred years ago
were very proud to work at the library. And there
were newspaper clippings and photographs and scrap books in those
sorts of things. But I thought it was so interesting
(37:20):
that that that was like ghosts talking to you. All
those people are dead. Everybody who had anything to do
with that time capsule one hundred years ago, are dead
but communicated with us directly for a moment, very very interesting.
But also inside that time capsule was another time capsule.
Speaker 12 (37:40):
One of the most vague or kind of wild card
items on our inventory list of what was in our
capsule was all of the contents of the cornerstone of
the Normal School building that was on this.
Speaker 13 (37:52):
Site before the library was built. The Normal School opened
here in eighteen eighty two and later would become UCLA
and moved to Westwood. We started had a time capsule
within the our time capsule. One of the most unique pieces,
certainly from the eighteen eighty one Normal School capsule, is
this which refers to itself as a relic from the
catafalque obsequious of President Garfield. And we have a little
(38:15):
bit of helpful context from our nineteen twenty five librarians
who've included a couple of typewritten notes on blank catalog cards.
This one says the year eighteen eighty one was also
the year of the assassination of President Garfield. The bit
of black cloth and the dried moss are mementos from
the funeral. The badge was one worn by the members
(38:37):
of a local engine company in the memorial services. The
population of Los Angeles in eighteen eighty one was only
eleven one hundred eighty three, so the city was a
dramatically different place than it was already by the nineteen twenties.
Speaker 2 (38:50):
There were mementos from President Garfield's funeral in this box
because some firefighters from LA were part of the ceremony.
It's just a little reminder that the past is not
so far away. And I thought it was just very
very cool to be communicated to buy people who are
(39:13):
long gone. You know, you put a time caps on
the ground because you want people in the future to
open it up and remember and think about you and
and this place back then. And I just really really
like that story this week. But we'll get back into
some heavy news as we start our second hour. There
(39:34):
is a local official who's taken a prominent role in
the LA twenty eight Olympics who issued an apology today
for his relationship with Glaine Maxwell, the partner and alleged
procureur for Jeffrey Epstein. We'll get into that next as
Michael Monks reports continues right here on KFI AM sixty.
Speaker 1 (39:57):
KFI AM six forty on demand
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Betrayal Season 5
Saskia Inwood woke up one morning, knowing her life would never be the same. The night before, she learned the unimaginable – that the husband she knew in the light of day was a different person after dark. This season unpacks Saskia’s discovery of her husband’s secret life and her fight to bring him to justice. Along the way, we expose a crime that is just coming to light. This is also a story about the myth of the “perfect victim:” who gets believed, who gets doubted, and why. We follow Saskia as she works to reclaim her body, her voice, and her life. If you would like to reach out to the Betrayal Team, email us at betrayalpod@gmail.com. Follow us on Instagram @betrayalpod and @glasspodcasts. Please join our Substack for additional exclusive content, curated book recommendations, and community discussions. Sign up FREE by clicking this link Beyond Betrayal Substack. Join our community dedicated to truth, resilience, and healing. Your voice matters! Be a part of our Betrayal journey on Substack.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com