December 18, 2024 • 36 mins
Mark Thompson is sitting in for Tim Conway Jr today. And he kicks off the show with ABC’s Alex Stone, and they discuss California Governor Gavin Newsom’s state of emergency in response to the first severe case of bird flu, and what it means for those working with animals.Mark dives into the whirlwind of holiday activities, shares insights on Prop 36 taking effect, and analyzes the stock market’s dramatic 1,100-point drop. The hour wraps with Mark’s surprising foray into DIY home improvement and a look at how budget travel is evolving, including Southwest’s new seating approach and Frontier’s first-class offering.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's KFI AM six forty and you're listening to The
Conway Show on demand on the iHeartRadio app Ding.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Dong with the Conway Show. Tim's away for the holidays.
Mark Thompson sitting in today. So great to have everybody along.
We have the full Conway crew. Crowses here watching news
as it develops, and Bella on the board. Angel I
believe is trafficking and so life is good with Matt
in the producer's chair. And this first story out of
(00:31):
the shoot is a pretty important one. I mean, whenever
you have the governor declaring a state of emergency around something,
it's pretty serious stuff. In this case, it's the bird flu.
And don't take my word for it, take the word
of a real ABC News correspondent. Alex Stone joins us,
what's up, Alex, how are you? I'm well, it's always
(00:51):
great to talk to you. It's always great to talk
to you too. So you bring a smile to my face.
I love hearing you. Well, thank you very much, and
right back at you. So there is I guess this
bird flu, which we I guess we were kind of
hoping would be controlled. There's been all kinds of aggressive
action to try to control it. But the CDC is
(01:12):
saying now that there is this bird flu outbreak and
it's bad enough that what's happening here in California.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Yeah, so if we go back to August, at that time,
everybody was, you know, in the farming industry and in
the health industry, saying, this is an animal thing. It
was in cattle, it was in birds, and that was
about it. Well, since then it had jumped from animals
to humans, and all of these cases have been very mild,
(01:42):
mostly eye redness for most people, some cold symptoms. And
then today, which is not a huge surprise, but was
something that in the medical world they hoped it would
not do. It became severe in one person in Louisiana,
not in California, but in Louisiana. California has had the
most cases thirty four of the sixty one confirmed so far,
(02:02):
six hundred and forty five dairy herds in California are
infected eight hundred and sixty five nationwide, majority or in
California and in Louisiana. The person who has it is
now in critical condition, hospitalized and is over sixty five,
has underlying medical conditions, but it is serious and that
(02:24):
is something that it was that everybody was hoping it
would not do that. We don't know of any human
to human transmission. It appears it's only coming from animals
to humans right now. That could change, but today Governor
Gavin Newsom declared the state of emergency over it, and
mark it's kind of an administrative move so they can
move things around and do contracts and other things for
(02:47):
the response if.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
They need to do it. Yeah, an emergency, Yeah, yeah,
I mean it gets your attention. But I was going
to ask you from a practical standpoint what that actually
means what you just answered.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Yeah, I mean, it's not a panic all of a
sudden like something in Californi all of a sudden changed
and the Governor's office saying that the risk to the
public is low, that they don't think that to the
average California there's a lot of danger. You remember about
a week ago there were a number of animals that
died at an Arizona zoo outside of Phoenix in Maricopa County.
(03:16):
And those weren't all birds. We're talking like a mountain
lion that had it and died, and a white tiger
that got it and is recovering. Right now, there are
two house cats in California that have it or had it,
and the question is, well that spread to their owner.
So it's been a number of different animals, but most
of these in California and really nationally, it's been pretty
(03:40):
clear how people got it. Did they work in the
dairy industry, that they milk cows or are around the
machines milking the cows, or they're around wild birds or
around poultry, and that they got it that way. There's
one case that they don't know the answer to in
Alameda County. It is a child who got burned and
flu who was not drinking raw milk. Family members didn't
(04:03):
have it, had not been around cattle, had not been
around wild birds. As far as anybody knows, the theory
is that the child was around wild birds and maybe
the family didn't know it or was around wild bird droppings,
but that child got it and recovered and had a
mild illness. But other than that case, they've been able
to say, hey, look, you know this guy works a
(04:24):
dairy farm. This guy the one in Louisiana. He was
around sick and dead birds and backyard flocks. So they
know how he got it, had no real mystery there,
but still he's seriously ill.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
So just to review, there isn't really any evidence that
the virus can spread human to human and that.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Not yet and hopefully we don't get there. But as
of right now, no evidence it has gone human.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Detain And if you're working directly with animals, then you
should be particularly concerned with this, and probably I would
think those people are wearing PPE equipment even sort of
some kind of minimal mask or whatever. But apart from that,
the threat to us who are not working with animals
directly is minimal.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Yeah, it's very unlikely that you're going to get it
if you're not around animals as of now as it
stands it at this point, and even if you are
around animals, you're probably still highly unlikely to get it.
If you're around cows, that's maybe a different story at
this point, with six hundred and forty five herds in
(05:28):
California that have got it. That if you're in the
milk industry, yeah, well you know, at the farm level
of the milk industry, and don't drink raw milk. You
know it's been found in raw milk. If you drink it,
and it's got bird flu in it, which we know
multiple samples have that. Then, and raw milk is the
unpasteurized not what you're buying in the grocery store, but
(05:48):
the purposely unpasteurized milk, that that is a risk there.
Kind of interesting the genetic makeup of the virus that
the serious case in Louisiana as that it is the
version that is spreading among wild birds and poultry. There
have been a couple of human cases in Canada and
the Pacific Northwest, but it is a different version than
(06:11):
what is spreading in dairy cows in California. So it
is not the same one that out on farms is
spreading in California, but it is one that has been
seen in the Pacific Northwest in Canada, but now just
through migration of birds it is in Louisiana.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
But it's different than the other. That's fascinating, you know.
I think one of the things they're concerned about sort
of that might debtail a little bit with that is
the fact that there can be mutations of the virus,
and I guess they're worried about some sort of confluence
between flu and this virus. I'd read that and I
don't know if that you know how big a threat
that is, but you know, I'm always looking to scare myself,
(06:50):
so I really focused on that as a possibility. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
Well, you remember that with COVID where they were worried
about what if people got flu and COVID at the
same time, Right, what would it do? That potential seems
like it could definitely be there, but at this point
that there is no major risk. And now, granted, at
the beginning of COVID we said the same thing, but
it and this person in Louisiana who's got it has
(07:14):
these underlying conditions that we know so much about. But
you know what, most of us probably have underlying conditions,
whether we know it or not. But the situation in
California is mainly, at least in this state, confined.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
To dairy farms.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
And then all of these cases in this state have
been really really mild of the redness and some cold symptoms,
but mainly eye redness. So there's no reason to panic
at this point. But yeah, the governor declaring a state
of emergency that got everybody's attention to day, but the
governor's office saying this is administrative move things around open
up so they don't have to go to the legislature
(07:51):
for everything that if they need it to be ready.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
Now, good stuff, Alex. I I'll tell you something I've
never told you before. I'm always so impressed with you,
particularly because as a general assimnmer reporter and corresponding you
have to become an expert in so many different things.
I mean, you know, I understand, maybe not the capital
e a expert, but you have to know your stuff,
(08:14):
and you always do. Even listen to you on this story.
You talk about the genetic makeup of this.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
It's really annoying. If you live with me and I
come home and go, well, you know, let me tell
you what's actually going on right now? My wife's like,
stop talking.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Yes, Fortunately I only get you in small bursts. All right, Hey,
happy holidays man, Good to talk to you this, ye
see Alex Stone from ABC. Yeah, pretty good stuff essentially,
because he's saying the risk is right now minimal when
it comes to the bird flu quickly, I'll mention Prop
thirty six next. If you don't know what Prop thirty
six is, I'll fill you in. I think you'll like it.
(08:49):
It goes into effect and we will talk. Also, the
Dow took a big hit, we'll get to that later.
And budget airlines are revamping. I'll tell you how.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
You're listening to Tim Conway Junior on demand from KFI
AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
It just snuck up on me, the whole thing this year.
I don't know, before you know it, you're sixty, then
before you know it, you're sixty five, and then before
you know it, you're seventy five. Tell me it. Just
the all of life clicks by so quickly. I'm still
on the beginning of the ramp up to the holiday season.
(09:29):
I'm scrambling. Got a secret Santa thing I gotta do.
I've got one of those, I've got a number of
different gift exchanges, one of those drop ins that I've
got to scramble to, you know, bring something with me. So,
however you are planning for Christmas or Hanukkah or Kwanzer,
whatever your deal is, I hope it's going well. Stay
(09:52):
within the boundaries of the law, though. I don't want
anybody to go rogue and become a shoplifter or be
involved in any kind of even small scale robbery. And
why don't I want that? I mean a it's wrong.
But b because Prop thirty six, which I'm certain you're
(10:14):
familiar with, because it won with such a majority of
the vote that it would be astounding to me that
any voter in California wouldn't know what Prop thirty six is.
But it is changing things, especially for repeat offenders.
Speaker 5 (10:27):
We know that you could soon travel for a very
low price through Frontier.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Wait a minute, that's not what I want. I want
Prop thirty six.
Speaker 5 (10:36):
Prop thirty sixty, something that would bring back harsher penalties
for theft and certain drug crimes issues that have plagued
the Bay Area and the state in recent years. Now,
this is something that voters overwhelmingly approved last month by
nearly seventy percent. Prop thirty six reverses Prop forty seven,
which passed back in twenty fourteen, reducing some felonies to misdemeanors.
(10:59):
Reclassification meant crimes such as repeat shoplifting merchandise under nine
hundred and fifty dollars carried a much lighter sentence. Sacramento
County's share if Jim Cooper says, by the way, you know, one.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Of the things that always surprised me in this regard
because once this sort of seemed to take on sort
of an epidemic proportion. You saw all of the video
of people shoplifting in San Francisco and in in La.
To some degrees, it was more a kind of organized
mob theft that sort of thing. But the the viral
videos with people ripping stuff off from Walgreens and this
(11:32):
kind of sort of low grade theft, it really made
us focus on the fact that we've got this, you know,
nine hundred and fifty dollars limit essentially, so if the
whatever stolen doesn't meet that threshold and it's surpassed that threshold,
it's not one thousand dollars or whatever it is that
it really just gets classified in such a way that
(11:53):
shoplifters are not really punished. So I started looking around
at other states, other states that you know, you llociate
maybe being tougher on crime, like Texas, for example. I
just figure Texas really kicks him a when it comes
to people's shoplifting things. Well, I don't know what it
is now, but when I started looking at it just
a couple of years ago, it was two thousand dollars
(12:16):
was the threshold. In Texas. They had an even higher
threshold than we did, So it's odd. I mean I
always wonder, you know, here in California, I always think
of us as sort of being a bit more liberal
in terms of these things and too easy. You know,
I'm very tough on law and order stuff, so I
really think that there should be some tough penalties associated
(12:37):
with this. And to see that there are tougher penalties
here than there are in Texas was kind of astounding
to me. But anyway, back to Prop thirty six.
Speaker 5 (12:46):
Comono County share If Jim Cooper says, so far this
year they've arrested around one thousand people for retail theft,
and about eighty to ninety percent we're just given citations.
But now with Prop thirty six, he expects a big
change in the behavior of reoffending because it really.
Speaker 6 (13:03):
Changes the landscape. Because up until now, if you stayed
below nine point fifty, you got citation and didn't go
to jail. Now, if you have two conditions, that third
convision becomes a labbler, It can become a felony. It
really has some teeth into it.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Yeah, So if you're gonna get arrashed at a third time,
make it a good one. Is the point. Prop.
Speaker 5 (13:21):
Thirty six also creates a new treatment focused court process
for some drug possession crimes. In a statement, State Attorney
General Rob Bonta said, let us harness the strength of
our partnerships, the power of new legislation, and the collective
resolve of our community to create a safer and more
secure environment for everyone now. Business owners also say they
(13:43):
have great hope for Prop. Thirty six. That's because when
they've called for shoplifting, sometimes no one responds, because up
until today that crime was just a misdemeanor.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
Yeah, and this is a really good point. I mean,
you see this stuff going down in your store, you
call somebody, You can't anybody even show up because it's
just paperwork. It's going to be a slap on the
wrist of these guys. And I get it that Prop.
Forty seven was in response to mass incarceration, the feeling
(14:15):
that the prisons were becoming so filled with low grade
offenders that it was defeating the purpose. Not to mention
the expense, but we've lived with that now long enough
that it's just despicable to be in any kind of store,
to see things locked up the way they are, to
(14:36):
see people walk away with total impunity with whatever things
they grab that are not totally up nine hundred and
fifty dollars whatever. There's just a sense that there's a lawlessness,
and I personally am sick of it. I mean, I
just feel as though we want a we want a city,
and we want a state that others look up to
(15:00):
that can be the envy of the world, and on
some level we are the envy of the world. I mean,
look at the geography of the state, the topography of
the state, that the skiing, the surfing, the agriculture, I mean,
the fact that we are an economic engine of the world,
and that we can't clean up these heady theft and
(15:21):
drug crime issues because of legislation that was on the books.
I say, bravo Prop thirty six. I mean, you've got
to get some law and order back. So again, the governor,
as you know, is against this. He was out against
Prop thirty six early saying that Prop thirty seven save
(15:44):
so much money through reduced incarcerations that when I was
talking about that's what I was talking about. But the
reality is the people have spoken, you know, to get
seventy percent of the vote, I mean, Californians are overwhelmingly
behind Prop thirty six. So again some mister me become felonies.
And now the burglaries involving items that are valued at
(16:06):
less than nine hundred and fifty dollars are were classified
as misdemeanors, but that's not the case. Prop thirty six
will undo a lot of these penalty reductions and turn
misdemeanors into felonies, especially if someone is committing similar crimes
in their life in the past. So that's the situation
(16:26):
with Prop thirty six. The stock market took a tumble,
a big one. Live Updates and Politics of Washington. Is
that having an effect on the market as well.
Speaker 4 (16:39):
You're listening to Tim Conway Junior on demand from KFI
Am six forty.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
Mark Thompson here for Tim Conway Junior. That's one of
the things that happens during the holiday season is that
a lot of people go on vacation. So it's great
to be able to sit in hang out. Krozier is
here for this week, which is really cool because he's
in you know, he's on the A team. Feel very
lucky and we get a lot of people, you know,
it's sort of like they wait in the wings you know,
(17:07):
just like the understudies on a Broadway show. You know,
when the one of the stars goes down, they step up.
So steffush is out, Bella's there, yeah, yes, sir, ready
to go. Same is true with Matt. You know Belli
O's out, Matt steps up. We also have Angel on board.
(17:30):
It is a good show ahead with a lot going on,
not the least of which is the stock market, which
took a hit today. I mean it was pretty brutal.
Speaker 7 (17:40):
So the stocks went into free fall today. Not so
much because the Fed cut rates by another quarter point
that was widely expected. No, the catalyst here was Fed
Chief Jerome Powell signaling that there would be fewer rate
cuts going into twenty twenty five. Now, in part, today's
declines on the market were a sign of simply traders
taking their pieces off off the board.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
I thought that, by the way, when there is a
rate cut, there's typically a rise in the market. You know,
consumer borrowing gets cheaper, right, These are things that typically
help the market, so usually the market. I was surprised
that with the Fed making the cut that the market tumbled.
He's saying, no, but what's happening here is there are
(18:24):
a lot of investors just taking their profits for the year.
Speaker 7 (18:26):
Traders taking their pieces off the board until the dust settles,
So that's a natural thing. Also, there's a sense of
disappointment out there that if the FED cuts rates only
twice next year, as opposed to be expected four times,
that could be bad for business, and that sent a
chill through financial markets. Here's what FED Chief Jerome Powell
had to say.
Speaker 8 (18:46):
If the economy remains strong and inflation does not continue
to move sustainably toward two percent, we can dial back
policy restraint more slowly.
Speaker 7 (18:54):
And what he's saying there is basically, monetary policy could
be decelerated fewer rate cuts next year. That means borrowing
costs for businesses could remain a bit more elevated than
had been hoped, and that's bad for business. And that's
one key reason the market is throwing a hissy fit today.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
Kind of wild because you look at the Dow last week.
Look at the market last week. It was incredible. I mean,
it closed above forty five thousand for the first time
ever on December fourth. The total losses for the Dow
during the losing street total six percent. But I mean, really,
(19:38):
what you're looking at here is a complex set of
things going on in the market. I always feel as
though the market wants stability, and on some level, if
you look at things right now in American politics, there
is a bit of instability. There's talk of, for example,
of tariffs. These tariffs are taking a front and cent
(20:00):
seat with coming Trump economic policy. There's talk of a
trade war. I mean, the idea somehow that you're now
talking to our neighbors to the north Canada in a
way that would suggest there may be more of an
adversarial relationship there than there was in the past. These
(20:22):
are things that are arguably destabilizing, and investors like stability.
So you can say, well, it was just investors taking
some of their chess pieces off the table, all right.
I mean maybe I think that kind of cold slap
in the face when you lose a thousand points on
(20:43):
the Dow, that's a sign maybe of something else. Now.
The other thing that was going on today was the
government funding bill. There had been a government funding bill
that had passed. Mike Johnson, of course, the Republican House Speaker.
He le this effort as a bipartisan effort to keep
the government open. This is a again a continuing resolution
(21:06):
that will keep things going through March. And there was
a sense of relief, you know, celebration about that. But
then Elon Musk, who is clearly going to have an
oversize seat at the table in the new Trump administration,
he started with protests about this. He became quite vocal
(21:28):
saying that this should not work. This new package is
too filled with spending. And it was filled with spending.
I mean, this is how to get a package through.
In fact, you know, the phras in Washington is it's
a Christmas tree bill, which means there are all of
these ornaments on it, and those ornaments are giveaways. That's
(21:48):
how to get the bill passed. Now, I'm not saying
that's a good thing. I'm just saying that's the way
Washington has worked since the beginning. But with Musk making
a stink, Donald Trump came on board. So they've both
come out against this Republican backed government funding bill, and
(22:10):
Musk's crusade against spending may increase the odds of a
government shutdown. Now, Trump is saying he's opposed to the
continuing resolution put forward by Mike Johnson, and Trump told
a Fox New host he's totally a Fox News host,
he's totally against this bill. The quote is, Republicans want
(22:38):
to support our farmers, pay for disaster relief, and set
our country up for success in twenty twenty five. The
only way to do that is with a temporary funding
bill without Democrat giveaways combined to an increase in the
debt ceiling. It's a bad bill, that's JD Vance saying that.
So you've got this strong pushback by the leading political
(23:02):
figures in the GOP, and there is now questioned as
to how things will proceed. So look, shutting down the government,
which again we've been through before, not a good thing.
It doesn't help with faith in the economy, it doesn't
help with faith in the future. It actually can affect
(23:24):
our credit rating. Again, these have been gambits that have
been pursued by both parties, all right, But they really
felt they had passed this CR as it's called continuing
resolution at the last moment, at the eleventh hour, and
now to have this pushback leave them in a tough spot.
(23:48):
So Johnson was saying that he'd been texting overnight with
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswami, who are the co presidents apparently,
and he said they understand the situation, but we got
to get this done. Johnson said, by doing this, we
(24:09):
are clearing the decks for Trump to enact his agenda.
There's some truth to that. I mean, if you really
want to start clean past this, and there's plenty of
time and there's plenty of energy clearly to get a
Trump administration off on time and cleanly. But right now,
there's more than one hundred billion dollars in disaster relief
that's aimed to address the hurricanes, the tour through Florida
(24:31):
and North Carolina earlier this year. There's even some wildfire money.
So this is a to be continued situation. But I
wonder then, if from a thirty thousand foot view, if
you look at stocks in a free fall, I just
wonder to what extent there is an instability right now
(24:53):
around the American economy that concerns investors that and maybe
some profit taking, but it affects all of us because
most of us, one way or another, even if we
don't own a bunch of stock, we have our pensions
associated with the stock market, and as you know, our
futures are secured essentially by a lot of these investments,
so it's something to watch. The good dude news is
(25:16):
there's another market tomorrow. Yeah, opens tomorrow, and there's a
whole great future. It could drop another thousand points tomorrow.
Budget airlines are revamping, Frontier, Spirit and Southwest are all
shifting their business models. Talk about that.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
Next, you're listening to Tim Conway Junior on demand from
KFI Am six forty.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
I got a couple of emails, Crowser. It's always odd
when I get an email from cam'fi listener who's concerned
about my I guess we talked about the plumbing situation,
which is, you know, at my house is a complex
web of different things going out with the hot water
and the cold water, and the have hot water now
now I do. And guess who fixed it?
Speaker 6 (26:00):
Me?
Speaker 2 (26:00):
A guy who you know. I've been to Low's once
in my life. I've been to Home Depot maybe three times.
As you know, when I bought a bunch of things
at home Depot, I bought those dams that you set
up and then they expand when they get wet. They're
kind of like sandbags. I bought like five hundred dollars
of those, and American Express actually declined the charge because
(26:24):
they said, there's fraud on your card because this obviously
doesn't follow the kind of spending that you would normally
have since you don't go to Low's or home Depot.
This is how out of the handyman world that I am,
is my point. I'm a total idiot when it comes
to fixing things. But last night I rode in and
(26:50):
I fixed the hot water. Incredible. Yeah, thank you. Look
I'm not looking. Yeah, I'm not looking for a smattering
of applause or anything. I'm just saying that it's quite extraordinary.
Was a big reach for me.
Speaker 9 (27:01):
Did you actually turn on the water the hot water?
Was that the difference?
Speaker 2 (27:06):
How dare you? How dare you? Even though that was
the problem the first time we called the plumber once before,
Crozier's referring to the fact that we have a tankless
water heater and we have one of those recirculation pumps
and couldn't get any hot water in the house. And
the plumber comes out and he says, oh, you don't
have the you don't have a circulation bump on. Oh okay,
(27:30):
never mind. This time we had an actual plumber who
couldn't get the thing working, so I had to come
in and it's not the most intuitive setup and I
was able to do it. So I feel quite proud
of myself and I'm patting myself on the back, but
thank you. A couple of Kofi listeners actually dropped me
a line and said, how's the hot water your house?
(27:51):
Which is cool, so.
Speaker 9 (27:52):
You have to tell me because I'm sure it's probably
in the weeds. How you ended up getting it work done?
Speaker 2 (27:57):
How I ended up getting it going Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I needed to get the manual out and basically, you know,
program the system or make sure that the system wasn't
a certain state. When it happened, he had left it
not off, but not active, and so it was really
deceiving because you're getting the green light like everything's good,
(28:19):
but the reality is the timer which it's on is
not really active. It's completely confusing.
Speaker 9 (28:27):
It's not a water pressure setting.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
I don't think. So it's a Navyan system, which is
a really I think good system. Yes, but it's also
a bit complicated. But is the This is how bad
it was. That plumber is there and he's calling Navyan,
the company that makes the thing, and I heard the
(28:52):
average weight time. You know, he's on the whole thing,
and I overheard it the average weight time for your
call is thirty five minutes. Thinking, wow, this is really
not going to go well. So I said, hey, just
don't worry about it. We'll we'll work it out. And
we did. So that's the amazing thing.
Speaker 9 (29:10):
Would you have had to pay for that time if
he sat there waiting?
Speaker 2 (29:14):
Probably right, although he is the one who turned off
the system to begin with, so wouldn't it fall I mean,
maybe you could argue with him about it. I don't
know how much it would be, but I'd be so
happy to get the hot water that I don't know
if i'd argue over you know whatever, another fifty dollars
or something. But but man, when the expert doesn't know
(29:34):
what's going on, and he was a real plumber, you know,
with the truck, with the you know, with the number,
with the supplies, with the stuff, and he didn't know
what was going on. So these systems can be complicated
and each one is a little bit different, is the point.
But anyway, we we do have hot water, So yeah,
(29:56):
please contact the governor. The state of emergency at my
home has been relaxed There is big change coming in
the world of airlines and discount airlines. And one of
the things that's going to be happening is that a
lot of the stuff that you may or may not like,
(30:19):
like let's say, just showing up on Southwest, there's not
really as signed seating. They're a discount airline. They're considered
among these discount airlines. They're getting rid of that. There
will be a signed seating on Southwest right, extra legroom
for certain people who are frequent flyers. There are some
(30:41):
pretty substantial changes coming, not only for Southwest but Frontier Spirit.
These are the discount airlines that will have changes in
the new year.
Speaker 10 (30:49):
You're changing the business model though after fifty years, you
were now going to assigned seating, premium seating with more
leg room for up to a third of the cabin,
new boarding system them.
Speaker 7 (31:00):
Why change now.
Speaker 8 (31:02):
Well, I'm very excited about the set of strategic initiatives
that we have to transform the company.
Speaker 2 (31:07):
And he's the CEO.
Speaker 8 (31:08):
We've been building for two years, adding seatback power, adding
larger bands, expanding our Wi Fi performance. This is what
our customers want. Eighty percent of customers that fly Southwest
today want in a science seat. Eighty six percent of
customers that don't fly Southwest want an as science seat,
and when a customer defects from Southwest to another competitor.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
It's the number one reason. So it's the right thing
at the right time.
Speaker 10 (31:31):
But did it take Elliott management taking a stake and saying,
you guys aren't doing well enough in order for you
to make this change, Because the cinec out there will
look at this and say, well, you've had to have
known this for years. Why have you waited until now
to make these.
Speaker 8 (31:44):
S Yeah, yeah, thats the Elliott thing had nothing to
do with We've been working on this since last Paul.
We very rigorously study this. It's a big change. So
you don't do this lightly. So an extense focus on
surveying our customers.
Speaker 2 (31:58):
Yeah, I mean I buy that by that they see
he calls it defection. You see people going to other carriers,
and you know what other carriers are doing. Sure, now,
before you get too excited, roughly a third of Southwest
seats overall we'll have premium extra legroom setups. They're going
to offer at least three additional inches of leg room.
Everybody I know, calm down. Thirty four and thirty six
(32:21):
inches of pitch.
Speaker 9 (32:23):
So, but getting the seats of the assigned seats now,
is that going to be a fee, an extra fee.
Speaker 2 (32:30):
Well, there will be a list preferred tier passengers Michael
Krozer that'll require forty one way flights or seventy thousand
eleaite qualifying miles and those.
Speaker 9 (32:40):
Fire crap, which is, you know, the vast majority of
people don't have anything to do.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
Yeah, so the again that you'd be able to select
more in the way of leg room seats at the
time of booking if you're a frequent Southwest traveler. But
that's what they're trying to do. They're trying to build loyalty,
you know. So, so all.
Speaker 9 (33:01):
Seats are going to be assigned from now on.
Speaker 2 (33:03):
Yeah, all seats will be assigned. But the premium seating
options are the ones that would go.
Speaker 9 (33:09):
To costs extra but to have act But getting an
assigned seat that's not a premium, Is that going to
be extra?
Speaker 2 (33:15):
No, that should not be extra.
Speaker 9 (33:16):
It's going to be free.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
Yeah, it'll be included in your.
Speaker 9 (33:20):
Their argument was, you know, well, you know the other
airlines wanted it. You know, eighty people want an assigned seat,
but the other airlines also charge, you know, at least
with some of these budget ones.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
Yeah, the game there is they play with the kind
of seat you have, right, so it's you have a
premium economy or you have you know what I mean.
Speaker 9 (33:41):
They present these things like, hey, we're doing this great
thing for it, and then it turns out it's oh,
it's this, but yet then you got to do this.
Speaker 2 (33:46):
Well, this is important. I mean they're trying to make
money and premium seating options dealing with no, no, I'm
not I'm not I'm not shedding a tear for them.
I'm just saying that this is the kind of stuff.
This is where they make their money in premium seating options.
They're premium seat options in airlines are one of the
most significant sources of revenue if you're.
Speaker 9 (34:03):
Talking about like like the first class or the business class.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
Or premium economy. That's my point when people go, hey,
you know when you have to pay more to sit
on an aisle, they're doing all that stuff. That's where
they make their money. But the other that's where they
make them money more than anything. Yeah, here you go.
Speaker 9 (34:20):
The seats that are not upgraded are still crap. So
they're making this situation miserable and then offering, what if
you want a little more room?
Speaker 2 (34:33):
Yeah about your wallet? Yeah, I mean, they say that
they're upgrading the flights all the way, but it's unclear
if that, as you say, the regular seats will be
any better.
Speaker 9 (34:46):
All in favor of the budget airlines kind of hitting
that niche for people, because there are enough people that
definitely would love that. It just strikes me as just
crappy when it just ends up being the same thing,
and they and a lot of their models there, they're
they're putting it after the big budget airlines. They're basically
using their models.
Speaker 2 (35:06):
Right right right, that's I mean. And certainly now Southwest
is going to quack a lot like the other airlines
because there's a signed seating and we'll see. You know,
they don't charge for baggage. Right on Southwest you can
check your bags for free. Let's see how long's Yeah,
that's a big deal because that's another big source of
income for these other airlines. By the way, you know
(35:29):
the Go Wild Pass, you're familiar with that, The Go
Wild Pass. You don't know about that. I'll tell you
about that next hour. But yeah, the Go Wild Pass
is something that will also be instituted, and in the
new year you may want to avail yourself of it.
We'll get to that. Next. It is The Conway Show.
Ding Dong Tim is away, Mark Thompson sitting in on
(35:50):
KFI AM sixty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (35:54):
Conway Show on demand on the iHeartRadio app. Now you
can always hear us on k f I am six
forty four to seven pm Monday through Friday, and anytime
on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
It's KFI AM six forty and you're listening to The
Conway Show on demand on the iHeartRadio app Ding.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Dong with the Conway Show. Tim's away for the holidays.
Mark Thompson sitting in today. So great to have everybody along.
We have the full Conway crew. Crowses here watching news
as it develops, and Bella on the board. Angel I
believe is trafficking and so life is good with Matt
in the producer's chair. And this first story out of
(00:31):
the shoot is a pretty important one. I mean, whenever
you have the governor declaring a state of emergency around something,
it's pretty serious stuff. In this case, it's the bird flu.
And don't take my word for it, take the word
of a real ABC News correspondent. Alex Stone joins us,
what's up, Alex, how are you? I'm well, it's always
(00:51):
great to talk to you. It's always great to talk
to you too. So you bring a smile to my face.
I love hearing you. Well, thank you very much, and
right back at you. So there is I guess this
bird flu, which we I guess we were kind of
hoping would be controlled. There's been all kinds of aggressive
action to try to control it. But the CDC is
(01:12):
saying now that there is this bird flu outbreak and
it's bad enough that what's happening here in California.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Yeah, so if we go back to August, at that time,
everybody was, you know, in the farming industry and in
the health industry, saying, this is an animal thing. It
was in cattle, it was in birds, and that was
about it. Well, since then it had jumped from animals
to humans, and all of these cases have been very mild,
(01:42):
mostly eye redness for most people, some cold symptoms. And
then today, which is not a huge surprise, but was
something that in the medical world they hoped it would
not do. It became severe in one person in Louisiana,
not in California, but in Louisiana. California has had the
most cases thirty four of the sixty one confirmed so far,
(02:02):
six hundred and forty five dairy herds in California are
infected eight hundred and sixty five nationwide, majority or in
California and in Louisiana. The person who has it is
now in critical condition, hospitalized and is over sixty five,
has underlying medical conditions, but it is serious and that
(02:24):
is something that it was that everybody was hoping it
would not do that. We don't know of any human
to human transmission. It appears it's only coming from animals
to humans right now. That could change, but today Governor
Gavin Newsom declared the state of emergency over it, and
mark it's kind of an administrative move so they can
move things around and do contracts and other things for
(02:47):
the response if.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
They need to do it. Yeah, an emergency, Yeah, yeah,
I mean it gets your attention. But I was going
to ask you from a practical standpoint what that actually
means what you just answered.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Yeah, I mean, it's not a panic all of a
sudden like something in Californi all of a sudden changed
and the Governor's office saying that the risk to the
public is low, that they don't think that to the
average California there's a lot of danger. You remember about
a week ago there were a number of animals that
died at an Arizona zoo outside of Phoenix in Maricopa County.
(03:16):
And those weren't all birds. We're talking like a mountain
lion that had it and died, and a white tiger
that got it and is recovering. Right now, there are
two house cats in California that have it or had it,
and the question is, well that spread to their owner.
So it's been a number of different animals, but most
of these in California and really nationally, it's been pretty
(03:40):
clear how people got it. Did they work in the
dairy industry, that they milk cows or are around the
machines milking the cows, or they're around wild birds or
around poultry, and that they got it that way. There's
one case that they don't know the answer to in
Alameda County. It is a child who got burned and
flu who was not drinking raw milk. Family members didn't
(04:03):
have it, had not been around cattle, had not been
around wild birds. As far as anybody knows, the theory
is that the child was around wild birds and maybe
the family didn't know it or was around wild bird droppings,
but that child got it and recovered and had a
mild illness. But other than that case, they've been able
to say, hey, look, you know this guy works a
(04:24):
dairy farm. This guy the one in Louisiana. He was
around sick and dead birds and backyard flocks. So they
know how he got it, had no real mystery there,
but still he's seriously ill.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
So just to review, there isn't really any evidence that
the virus can spread human to human and that.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Not yet and hopefully we don't get there. But as
of right now, no evidence it has gone human.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Detain And if you're working directly with animals, then you
should be particularly concerned with this, and probably I would
think those people are wearing PPE equipment even sort of
some kind of minimal mask or whatever. But apart from that,
the threat to us who are not working with animals
directly is minimal.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Yeah, it's very unlikely that you're going to get it
if you're not around animals as of now as it
stands it at this point, and even if you are
around animals, you're probably still highly unlikely to get it.
If you're around cows, that's maybe a different story at
this point, with six hundred and forty five herds in
(05:28):
California that have got it. That if you're in the
milk industry, yeah, well you know, at the farm level
of the milk industry, and don't drink raw milk. You
know it's been found in raw milk. If you drink it,
and it's got bird flu in it, which we know
multiple samples have that. Then, and raw milk is the
unpasteurized not what you're buying in the grocery store, but
(05:48):
the purposely unpasteurized milk, that that is a risk there.
Kind of interesting the genetic makeup of the virus that
the serious case in Louisiana as that it is the
version that is spreading among wild birds and poultry. There
have been a couple of human cases in Canada and
the Pacific Northwest, but it is a different version than
(06:11):
what is spreading in dairy cows in California. So it
is not the same one that out on farms is
spreading in California, but it is one that has been
seen in the Pacific Northwest in Canada, but now just
through migration of birds it is in Louisiana.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
But it's different than the other. That's fascinating, you know.
I think one of the things they're concerned about sort
of that might debtail a little bit with that is
the fact that there can be mutations of the virus,
and I guess they're worried about some sort of confluence
between flu and this virus. I'd read that and I
don't know if that you know how big a threat
that is, but you know, I'm always looking to scare myself,
(06:50):
so I really focused on that as a possibility. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
Well, you remember that with COVID where they were worried
about what if people got flu and COVID at the
same time, Right, what would it do? That potential seems
like it could definitely be there, but at this point
that there is no major risk. And now, granted, at
the beginning of COVID we said the same thing, but
it and this person in Louisiana who's got it has
(07:14):
these underlying conditions that we know so much about. But
you know what, most of us probably have underlying conditions,
whether we know it or not. But the situation in
California is mainly, at least in this state, confined.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
To dairy farms.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
And then all of these cases in this state have
been really really mild of the redness and some cold symptoms,
but mainly eye redness. So there's no reason to panic
at this point. But yeah, the governor declaring a state
of emergency that got everybody's attention to day, but the
governor's office saying this is administrative move things around open
up so they don't have to go to the legislature
(07:51):
for everything that if they need it to be ready.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
Now, good stuff, Alex. I I'll tell you something I've
never told you before. I'm always so impressed with you,
particularly because as a general assimnmer reporter and corresponding you
have to become an expert in so many different things.
I mean, you know, I understand, maybe not the capital
e a expert, but you have to know your stuff,
(08:14):
and you always do. Even listen to you on this story.
You talk about the genetic makeup of this.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
It's really annoying. If you live with me and I
come home and go, well, you know, let me tell
you what's actually going on right now? My wife's like,
stop talking.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Yes, Fortunately I only get you in small bursts. All right, Hey,
happy holidays man, Good to talk to you this, ye
see Alex Stone from ABC. Yeah, pretty good stuff essentially,
because he's saying the risk is right now minimal when
it comes to the bird flu quickly, I'll mention Prop
thirty six next. If you don't know what Prop thirty
six is, I'll fill you in. I think you'll like it.
(08:49):
It goes into effect and we will talk. Also, the
Dow took a big hit, we'll get to that later.
And budget airlines are revamping. I'll tell you how.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
You're listening to Tim Conway Junior on demand from KFI
AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
It just snuck up on me, the whole thing this year.
I don't know, before you know it, you're sixty, then
before you know it, you're sixty five, and then before
you know it, you're seventy five. Tell me it. Just
the all of life clicks by so quickly. I'm still
on the beginning of the ramp up to the holiday season.
(09:29):
I'm scrambling. Got a secret Santa thing I gotta do.
I've got one of those, I've got a number of
different gift exchanges, one of those drop ins that I've
got to scramble to, you know, bring something with me. So,
however you are planning for Christmas or Hanukkah or Kwanzer,
whatever your deal is, I hope it's going well. Stay
(09:52):
within the boundaries of the law, though. I don't want
anybody to go rogue and become a shoplifter or be
involved in any kind of even small scale robbery. And
why don't I want that? I mean a it's wrong.
But b because Prop thirty six, which I'm certain you're
(10:14):
familiar with, because it won with such a majority of
the vote that it would be astounding to me that
any voter in California wouldn't know what Prop thirty six is.
But it is changing things, especially for repeat offenders.
Speaker 5 (10:27):
We know that you could soon travel for a very
low price through Frontier.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Wait a minute, that's not what I want. I want
Prop thirty six.
Speaker 5 (10:36):
Prop thirty sixty, something that would bring back harsher penalties
for theft and certain drug crimes issues that have plagued
the Bay Area and the state in recent years. Now,
this is something that voters overwhelmingly approved last month by
nearly seventy percent. Prop thirty six reverses Prop forty seven,
which passed back in twenty fourteen, reducing some felonies to misdemeanors.
(10:59):
Reclassification meant crimes such as repeat shoplifting merchandise under nine
hundred and fifty dollars carried a much lighter sentence. Sacramento
County's share if Jim Cooper says, by the way, you know, one.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Of the things that always surprised me in this regard
because once this sort of seemed to take on sort
of an epidemic proportion. You saw all of the video
of people shoplifting in San Francisco and in in La.
To some degrees, it was more a kind of organized
mob theft that sort of thing. But the the viral
videos with people ripping stuff off from Walgreens and this
(11:32):
kind of sort of low grade theft, it really made
us focus on the fact that we've got this, you know,
nine hundred and fifty dollars limit essentially, so if the
whatever stolen doesn't meet that threshold and it's surpassed that threshold,
it's not one thousand dollars or whatever it is that
it really just gets classified in such a way that
(11:53):
shoplifters are not really punished. So I started looking around
at other states, other states that you know, you llociate
maybe being tougher on crime, like Texas, for example. I
just figure Texas really kicks him a when it comes
to people's shoplifting things. Well, I don't know what it
is now, but when I started looking at it just
a couple of years ago, it was two thousand dollars
(12:16):
was the threshold. In Texas. They had an even higher
threshold than we did, So it's odd. I mean I
always wonder, you know, here in California, I always think
of us as sort of being a bit more liberal
in terms of these things and too easy. You know,
I'm very tough on law and order stuff, so I
really think that there should be some tough penalties associated
(12:37):
with this. And to see that there are tougher penalties
here than there are in Texas was kind of astounding
to me. But anyway, back to Prop thirty six.
Speaker 5 (12:46):
Comono County share If Jim Cooper says, so far this
year they've arrested around one thousand people for retail theft,
and about eighty to ninety percent we're just given citations.
But now with Prop thirty six, he expects a big
change in the behavior of reoffending because it really.
Speaker 6 (13:03):
Changes the landscape. Because up until now, if you stayed
below nine point fifty, you got citation and didn't go
to jail. Now, if you have two conditions, that third
convision becomes a labbler, It can become a felony. It
really has some teeth into it.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Yeah, So if you're gonna get arrashed at a third time,
make it a good one. Is the point. Prop.
Speaker 5 (13:21):
Thirty six also creates a new treatment focused court process
for some drug possession crimes. In a statement, State Attorney
General Rob Bonta said, let us harness the strength of
our partnerships, the power of new legislation, and the collective
resolve of our community to create a safer and more
secure environment for everyone now. Business owners also say they
(13:43):
have great hope for Prop. Thirty six. That's because when
they've called for shoplifting, sometimes no one responds, because up
until today that crime was just a misdemeanor.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
Yeah, and this is a really good point. I mean,
you see this stuff going down in your store, you
call somebody, You can't anybody even show up because it's
just paperwork. It's going to be a slap on the
wrist of these guys. And I get it that Prop.
Forty seven was in response to mass incarceration, the feeling
(14:15):
that the prisons were becoming so filled with low grade
offenders that it was defeating the purpose. Not to mention
the expense, but we've lived with that now long enough
that it's just despicable to be in any kind of store,
to see things locked up the way they are, to
(14:36):
see people walk away with total impunity with whatever things
they grab that are not totally up nine hundred and
fifty dollars whatever. There's just a sense that there's a lawlessness,
and I personally am sick of it. I mean, I
just feel as though we want a we want a city,
and we want a state that others look up to
(15:00):
that can be the envy of the world, and on
some level we are the envy of the world. I mean,
look at the geography of the state, the topography of
the state, that the skiing, the surfing, the agriculture, I mean,
the fact that we are an economic engine of the world,
and that we can't clean up these heady theft and
(15:21):
drug crime issues because of legislation that was on the books.
I say, bravo Prop thirty six. I mean, you've got
to get some law and order back. So again, the governor,
as you know, is against this. He was out against
Prop thirty six early saying that Prop thirty seven save
(15:44):
so much money through reduced incarcerations that when I was
talking about that's what I was talking about. But the
reality is the people have spoken, you know, to get
seventy percent of the vote, I mean, Californians are overwhelmingly
behind Prop thirty six. So again some mister me become felonies.
And now the burglaries involving items that are valued at
(16:06):
less than nine hundred and fifty dollars are were classified
as misdemeanors, but that's not the case. Prop thirty six
will undo a lot of these penalty reductions and turn
misdemeanors into felonies, especially if someone is committing similar crimes
in their life in the past. So that's the situation
(16:26):
with Prop thirty six. The stock market took a tumble,
a big one. Live Updates and Politics of Washington. Is
that having an effect on the market as well.
Speaker 4 (16:39):
You're listening to Tim Conway Junior on demand from KFI
Am six forty.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
Mark Thompson here for Tim Conway Junior. That's one of
the things that happens during the holiday season is that
a lot of people go on vacation. So it's great
to be able to sit in hang out. Krozier is
here for this week, which is really cool because he's
in you know, he's on the A team. Feel very
lucky and we get a lot of people, you know,
it's sort of like they wait in the wings you know,
(17:07):
just like the understudies on a Broadway show. You know,
when the one of the stars goes down, they step up.
So steffush is out, Bella's there, yeah, yes, sir, ready
to go. Same is true with Matt. You know Belli
O's out, Matt steps up. We also have Angel on board.
(17:30):
It is a good show ahead with a lot going on,
not the least of which is the stock market, which
took a hit today. I mean it was pretty brutal.
Speaker 7 (17:40):
So the stocks went into free fall today. Not so
much because the Fed cut rates by another quarter point
that was widely expected. No, the catalyst here was Fed
Chief Jerome Powell signaling that there would be fewer rate
cuts going into twenty twenty five. Now, in part, today's
declines on the market were a sign of simply traders
taking their pieces off off the board.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
I thought that, by the way, when there is a
rate cut, there's typically a rise in the market. You know,
consumer borrowing gets cheaper, right, These are things that typically
help the market, so usually the market. I was surprised
that with the Fed making the cut that the market tumbled.
He's saying, no, but what's happening here is there are
(18:24):
a lot of investors just taking their profits for the year.
Speaker 7 (18:26):
Traders taking their pieces off the board until the dust settles,
So that's a natural thing. Also, there's a sense of
disappointment out there that if the FED cuts rates only
twice next year, as opposed to be expected four times,
that could be bad for business, and that sent a
chill through financial markets. Here's what FED Chief Jerome Powell
had to say.
Speaker 8 (18:46):
If the economy remains strong and inflation does not continue
to move sustainably toward two percent, we can dial back
policy restraint more slowly.
Speaker 7 (18:54):
And what he's saying there is basically, monetary policy could
be decelerated fewer rate cuts next year. That means borrowing
costs for businesses could remain a bit more elevated than
had been hoped, and that's bad for business. And that's
one key reason the market is throwing a hissy fit today.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
Kind of wild because you look at the Dow last week.
Look at the market last week. It was incredible. I mean,
it closed above forty five thousand for the first time
ever on December fourth. The total losses for the Dow
during the losing street total six percent. But I mean, really,
(19:38):
what you're looking at here is a complex set of
things going on in the market. I always feel as
though the market wants stability, and on some level, if
you look at things right now in American politics, there
is a bit of instability. There's talk of, for example,
of tariffs. These tariffs are taking a front and cent
(20:00):
seat with coming Trump economic policy. There's talk of a
trade war. I mean, the idea somehow that you're now
talking to our neighbors to the north Canada in a
way that would suggest there may be more of an
adversarial relationship there than there was in the past. These
(20:22):
are things that are arguably destabilizing, and investors like stability.
So you can say, well, it was just investors taking
some of their chess pieces off the table, all right.
I mean maybe I think that kind of cold slap
in the face when you lose a thousand points on
(20:43):
the Dow, that's a sign maybe of something else. Now.
The other thing that was going on today was the
government funding bill. There had been a government funding bill
that had passed. Mike Johnson, of course, the Republican House Speaker.
He le this effort as a bipartisan effort to keep
the government open. This is a again a continuing resolution
(21:06):
that will keep things going through March. And there was
a sense of relief, you know, celebration about that. But
then Elon Musk, who is clearly going to have an
oversize seat at the table in the new Trump administration,
he started with protests about this. He became quite vocal
(21:28):
saying that this should not work. This new package is
too filled with spending. And it was filled with spending.
I mean, this is how to get a package through.
In fact, you know, the phras in Washington is it's
a Christmas tree bill, which means there are all of
these ornaments on it, and those ornaments are giveaways. That's
(21:48):
how to get the bill passed. Now, I'm not saying
that's a good thing. I'm just saying that's the way
Washington has worked since the beginning. But with Musk making
a stink, Donald Trump came on board. So they've both
come out against this Republican backed government funding bill, and
(22:10):
Musk's crusade against spending may increase the odds of a
government shutdown. Now, Trump is saying he's opposed to the
continuing resolution put forward by Mike Johnson, and Trump told
a Fox New host he's totally a Fox News host,
he's totally against this bill. The quote is, Republicans want
(22:38):
to support our farmers, pay for disaster relief, and set
our country up for success in twenty twenty five. The
only way to do that is with a temporary funding
bill without Democrat giveaways combined to an increase in the
debt ceiling. It's a bad bill, that's JD Vance saying that.
So you've got this strong pushback by the leading political
(23:02):
figures in the GOP, and there is now questioned as
to how things will proceed. So look, shutting down the government,
which again we've been through before, not a good thing.
It doesn't help with faith in the economy, it doesn't
help with faith in the future. It actually can affect
(23:24):
our credit rating. Again, these have been gambits that have
been pursued by both parties, all right, But they really
felt they had passed this CR as it's called continuing
resolution at the last moment, at the eleventh hour, and
now to have this pushback leave them in a tough spot.
(23:48):
So Johnson was saying that he'd been texting overnight with
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswami, who are the co presidents apparently,
and he said they understand the situation, but we got
to get this done. Johnson said, by doing this, we
(24:09):
are clearing the decks for Trump to enact his agenda.
There's some truth to that. I mean, if you really
want to start clean past this, and there's plenty of
time and there's plenty of energy clearly to get a
Trump administration off on time and cleanly. But right now,
there's more than one hundred billion dollars in disaster relief
that's aimed to address the hurricanes, the tour through Florida
(24:31):
and North Carolina earlier this year. There's even some wildfire money.
So this is a to be continued situation. But I
wonder then, if from a thirty thousand foot view, if
you look at stocks in a free fall, I just
wonder to what extent there is an instability right now
(24:53):
around the American economy that concerns investors that and maybe
some profit taking, but it affects all of us because
most of us, one way or another, even if we
don't own a bunch of stock, we have our pensions
associated with the stock market, and as you know, our
futures are secured essentially by a lot of these investments,
so it's something to watch. The good dude news is
(25:16):
there's another market tomorrow. Yeah, opens tomorrow, and there's a
whole great future. It could drop another thousand points tomorrow.
Budget airlines are revamping, Frontier, Spirit and Southwest are all
shifting their business models. Talk about that.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
Next, you're listening to Tim Conway Junior on demand from
KFI Am six forty.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
I got a couple of emails, Crowser. It's always odd
when I get an email from cam'fi listener who's concerned
about my I guess we talked about the plumbing situation,
which is, you know, at my house is a complex
web of different things going out with the hot water
and the cold water, and the have hot water now
now I do. And guess who fixed it?
Speaker 6 (26:00):
Me?
Speaker 2 (26:00):
A guy who you know. I've been to Low's once
in my life. I've been to Home Depot maybe three times.
As you know, when I bought a bunch of things
at home Depot, I bought those dams that you set
up and then they expand when they get wet. They're
kind of like sandbags. I bought like five hundred dollars
of those, and American Express actually declined the charge because
(26:24):
they said, there's fraud on your card because this obviously
doesn't follow the kind of spending that you would normally
have since you don't go to Low's or home Depot.
This is how out of the handyman world that I am,
is my point. I'm a total idiot when it comes
to fixing things. But last night I rode in and
(26:50):
I fixed the hot water. Incredible. Yeah, thank you. Look
I'm not looking. Yeah, I'm not looking for a smattering
of applause or anything. I'm just saying that it's quite extraordinary.
Was a big reach for me.
Speaker 9 (27:01):
Did you actually turn on the water the hot water?
Was that the difference?
Speaker 2 (27:06):
How dare you? How dare you? Even though that was
the problem the first time we called the plumber once before,
Crozier's referring to the fact that we have a tankless
water heater and we have one of those recirculation pumps
and couldn't get any hot water in the house. And
the plumber comes out and he says, oh, you don't
have the you don't have a circulation bump on. Oh okay,
(27:30):
never mind. This time we had an actual plumber who
couldn't get the thing working, so I had to come
in and it's not the most intuitive setup and I
was able to do it. So I feel quite proud
of myself and I'm patting myself on the back, but
thank you. A couple of Kofi listeners actually dropped me
a line and said, how's the hot water your house?
(27:51):
Which is cool, so.
Speaker 9 (27:52):
You have to tell me because I'm sure it's probably
in the weeds. How you ended up getting it work done?
Speaker 2 (27:57):
How I ended up getting it going Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I needed to get the manual out and basically, you know,
program the system or make sure that the system wasn't
a certain state. When it happened, he had left it
not off, but not active, and so it was really
deceiving because you're getting the green light like everything's good,
(28:19):
but the reality is the timer which it's on is
not really active. It's completely confusing.
Speaker 9 (28:27):
It's not a water pressure setting.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
I don't think. So it's a Navyan system, which is
a really I think good system. Yes, but it's also
a bit complicated. But is the This is how bad
it was. That plumber is there and he's calling Navyan,
the company that makes the thing, and I heard the
(28:52):
average weight time. You know, he's on the whole thing,
and I overheard it the average weight time for your
call is thirty five minutes. Thinking, wow, this is really
not going to go well. So I said, hey, just
don't worry about it. We'll we'll work it out. And
we did. So that's the amazing thing.
Speaker 9 (29:10):
Would you have had to pay for that time if
he sat there waiting?
Speaker 2 (29:14):
Probably right, although he is the one who turned off
the system to begin with, so wouldn't it fall I mean,
maybe you could argue with him about it. I don't
know how much it would be, but I'd be so
happy to get the hot water that I don't know
if i'd argue over you know whatever, another fifty dollars
or something. But but man, when the expert doesn't know
(29:34):
what's going on, and he was a real plumber, you know,
with the truck, with the you know, with the number,
with the supplies, with the stuff, and he didn't know
what was going on. So these systems can be complicated
and each one is a little bit different, is the point.
But anyway, we we do have hot water, So yeah,
(29:56):
please contact the governor. The state of emergency at my
home has been relaxed There is big change coming in
the world of airlines and discount airlines. And one of
the things that's going to be happening is that a
lot of the stuff that you may or may not like,
(30:19):
like let's say, just showing up on Southwest, there's not
really as signed seating. They're a discount airline. They're considered
among these discount airlines. They're getting rid of that. There
will be a signed seating on Southwest right, extra legroom
for certain people who are frequent flyers. There are some
(30:41):
pretty substantial changes coming, not only for Southwest but Frontier Spirit.
These are the discount airlines that will have changes in
the new year.
Speaker 10 (30:49):
You're changing the business model though after fifty years, you
were now going to assigned seating, premium seating with more
leg room for up to a third of the cabin,
new boarding system them.
Speaker 7 (31:00):
Why change now.
Speaker 8 (31:02):
Well, I'm very excited about the set of strategic initiatives
that we have to transform the company.
Speaker 2 (31:07):
And he's the CEO.
Speaker 8 (31:08):
We've been building for two years, adding seatback power, adding
larger bands, expanding our Wi Fi performance. This is what
our customers want. Eighty percent of customers that fly Southwest
today want in a science seat. Eighty six percent of
customers that don't fly Southwest want an as science seat,
and when a customer defects from Southwest to another competitor.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
It's the number one reason. So it's the right thing
at the right time.
Speaker 10 (31:31):
But did it take Elliott management taking a stake and saying,
you guys aren't doing well enough in order for you
to make this change, Because the cinec out there will
look at this and say, well, you've had to have
known this for years. Why have you waited until now
to make these.
Speaker 8 (31:44):
S Yeah, yeah, thats the Elliott thing had nothing to
do with We've been working on this since last Paul.
We very rigorously study this. It's a big change. So
you don't do this lightly. So an extense focus on
surveying our customers.
Speaker 2 (31:58):
Yeah, I mean I buy that by that they see
he calls it defection. You see people going to other carriers,
and you know what other carriers are doing. Sure, now,
before you get too excited, roughly a third of Southwest
seats overall we'll have premium extra legroom setups. They're going
to offer at least three additional inches of leg room.
Everybody I know, calm down. Thirty four and thirty six
(32:21):
inches of pitch.
Speaker 9 (32:23):
So, but getting the seats of the assigned seats now,
is that going to be a fee, an extra fee.
Speaker 2 (32:30):
Well, there will be a list preferred tier passengers Michael
Krozer that'll require forty one way flights or seventy thousand
eleaite qualifying miles and those.
Speaker 9 (32:40):
Fire crap, which is, you know, the vast majority of
people don't have anything to do.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
Yeah, so the again that you'd be able to select
more in the way of leg room seats at the
time of booking if you're a frequent Southwest traveler. But
that's what they're trying to do. They're trying to build loyalty,
you know. So, so all.
Speaker 9 (33:01):
Seats are going to be assigned from now on.
Speaker 2 (33:03):
Yeah, all seats will be assigned. But the premium seating
options are the ones that would go.
Speaker 9 (33:09):
To costs extra but to have act But getting an
assigned seat that's not a premium, Is that going to
be extra?
Speaker 2 (33:15):
No, that should not be extra.
Speaker 9 (33:16):
It's going to be free.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
Yeah, it'll be included in your.
Speaker 9 (33:20):
Their argument was, you know, well, you know the other
airlines wanted it. You know, eighty people want an assigned seat,
but the other airlines also charge, you know, at least
with some of these budget ones.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
Yeah, the game there is they play with the kind
of seat you have, right, so it's you have a
premium economy or you have you know what I mean.
Speaker 9 (33:41):
They present these things like, hey, we're doing this great
thing for it, and then it turns out it's oh,
it's this, but yet then you got to do this.
Speaker 2 (33:46):
Well, this is important. I mean they're trying to make
money and premium seating options dealing with no, no, I'm
not I'm not I'm not shedding a tear for them.
I'm just saying that this is the kind of stuff.
This is where they make their money in premium seating options.
They're premium seat options in airlines are one of the
most significant sources of revenue if you're.
Speaker 9 (34:03):
Talking about like like the first class or the business class.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
Or premium economy. That's my point when people go, hey,
you know when you have to pay more to sit
on an aisle, they're doing all that stuff. That's where
they make their money. But the other that's where they
make them money more than anything. Yeah, here you go.
Speaker 9 (34:20):
The seats that are not upgraded are still crap. So
they're making this situation miserable and then offering, what if
you want a little more room?
Speaker 2 (34:33):
Yeah about your wallet? Yeah, I mean, they say that
they're upgrading the flights all the way, but it's unclear
if that, as you say, the regular seats will be
any better.
Speaker 9 (34:46):
All in favor of the budget airlines kind of hitting
that niche for people, because there are enough people that
definitely would love that. It just strikes me as just
crappy when it just ends up being the same thing,
and they and a lot of their models there, they're
they're putting it after the big budget airlines. They're basically
using their models.
Speaker 2 (35:06):
Right right right, that's I mean. And certainly now Southwest
is going to quack a lot like the other airlines
because there's a signed seating and we'll see. You know,
they don't charge for baggage. Right on Southwest you can
check your bags for free. Let's see how long's Yeah,
that's a big deal because that's another big source of
income for these other airlines. By the way, you know
(35:29):
the Go Wild Pass, you're familiar with that, The Go
Wild Pass. You don't know about that. I'll tell you
about that next hour. But yeah, the Go Wild Pass
is something that will also be instituted, and in the
new year you may want to avail yourself of it.
We'll get to that. Next. It is The Conway Show.
Ding Dong Tim is away, Mark Thompson sitting in on
(35:50):
KFI AM sixty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (35:54):
Conway Show on demand on the iHeartRadio app. Now you
can always hear us on k f I am six
forty four to seven pm Monday through Friday, and anytime
on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
Tim Conway Jr. on Demand News
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