The fight between the federal government and LA/California extends beyond immigration: the Olympics and the redistricting of the US House of Representatives appear to be new fronts in the ongoing war; Downtown LA is getting a new (and massive) pickleball business; and a slithery surprise is found in a downtown LA parking garage.
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 (00:05):
KFI AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
This is Michael Monks Reports. I'm Michael Monks from KFI News.
We've got another hour together here on a warms summer
night in southern California. News on the Olympics front, we
talked about immigration last hour. There are This is a
(00:25):
multifront war between local government officials and activists and the
Trump administration. We know they're fighting over immigration, they'll be
fighting over the Olympics as well. President Trump announced a
new task force this week, and as he was doing so,
(00:45):
he was joined by LA twenty eight chairman Casey Wasserman.
LA twenty eight is the local organizing committee that will
be handling all of the logistics. They're the ones who've
been making the announcements about wish events will be held,
win and where. And Trump made reference to his friend
Casey Wasserman at this press conference in Washington, DC earlier
(01:05):
this week.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
Chairman of the twenty twenty eight Olympic Games, Casey Wasserman,
A friend of mine for a long time.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Casey. Thank you very much, Casey, great job.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
In me amazing. LA is a little bit different place
than it was when selected, but we're going to bring
it back stronger than ever. I spoke to Casey about that.
He said, nope, we're going to make it better than ever.
It's going to be something that's going to make it
even more important as a Olympic Games. It was an
interesting conversation we had as the fires were raging.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Is that right? So the President probably referencing the state
of Los Angeles the condition that it's in right now,
as he says, it's not the same place that it was.
These games were announced years ago, of course, during Trump's
first term, and now it looks like he's going to
get to be president as the games come to fruition.
He did mention during this press conference that win the
(01:59):
game games were one he didn't think he'd get to
be president because I guess in his mind he ideally
would have served back to back terms, right he lost
the twenty twenty election and would have been out of
office and by now. But because he lost the twenty
twenty election, was eligible to run again in twenty twenty four,
and is one he will be president in twenty twenty eight.
When the Olympics come to Los Angeles again, and here
(02:22):
is what he has to say about how safe he
expects these games to be.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
Will do anything necessary to keep the Olympics safe, including
using our national guard or military. Okay, now I'll use
I'll use I will use the national guard or military.
This is going to be so safe. And if we
have to, because obviously you have a mayor that is
not very competent. She can't get the permits for the people.
(02:49):
You know, the people are still waiting for the purpose.
Lee Zelden got them the federal permit, which is ten
times harder to get, and everybody can build on the
federal basis, and that's the hard one. But the mayor
bess she cannot, She refuses to or cannot get them permits.
They're waiting. And I was there right after the fires,
and I saw all these beautiful people.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Standing by their homes, ready to get in.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
And get to work, and they're waiting for their permits.
And they're still waiting for their state permits and city permits.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
It's a disgrace. It's a disgrace. So the President took
shots at Mayor Bass there. He also spoke about Governor Newsom,
and these are government organizations that are going to have
to get along for the Olympics to be a success.
Of course, the federal government was always going to play
a role. It's not just Los Angeles hosting the Olympic Games,
(03:40):
it is the United States. And so this task force
will be overseeing security and visas for these international visitors
who will be coming in the athletes themselves. But some
columnists at prominent media outlets in California, including the LA
Times in the San Francisco Chronicle, they're not happy with
(04:03):
what they're seeing about this. Gustavo Ariano, a columnist at
the LA Times, has written that this was an embarrassment
for Los Angeles, this press conference and the appearance of
Chairman of LA twenty eight CA Cy Wasserman being alongside
President Trump there. Ariano writes that Wasserman offered LA a
(04:24):
giant whoopee cushion. Here's what Ariano writes. With Wasserman at
his left side, Trump found to bring LA back stronger
than ever. On Trump's right was a rash of LA haters,
some of whom played a prominent role in Southern California
summer of deportations, including Vice President vance Secretary Nome. He says,
so what did Wasserman, a prominent Democratic donor who in
(04:48):
recent months has thrown some cash at Republican committees, do
in front of people who want to reign Holy hell
on his hometown. He praised Trump's support of the LA
Olympics as truly extraordinary and gifted him a set of
medals from the nineteen eighty four games hosted by Los Angeles.
Ariano goes on to write, if that wasn't groveling enough,
(05:08):
Wasserman was grinning after Trump joked about not using an
auto pin to sign the executive order creating the task Force,
a jab at President Biden. It was more bricks on
the foundation Wasserman has been laying since January, when he
met with Trump at Mara a Lago. So Ariano goes
on to write, Angelinos, do oustades really want to give
(05:36):
Trump and his goon squad more chances to make life
miserable for y'all? Seems like a call for the Olympics.
Maybe shouldn't happen here in Los Angeles. From the prominent
columnists Gustavo Ariano at the LA Times, columnist Joe Matthews,
who was syndicated, but had this printed in the San
(05:57):
Francisco Chronicles says the twenty twenty eight LA Olympic should
be canceled. The sub headline says hosting an Olympic Games
requires working with a lawless US regime and its rights
violating security apparatus as they openly wage war against California.
He writes, it's time right now for Greater Los Angeles
(06:19):
to halt all preparations to host the twenty twenty eight
Summer Olympics and let's turn over these games to a
world city better position to host them. He says, it's
no longer peace time in La. Quote this event is
now too dangerous for California. Hosting an Olympics Games requires
us to work together with a lawless US regime and
(06:41):
its rights violating security apparatus as it openly wages war
against our city and state. Events like the Olympics require
host cities to let federal agencies take the lead during
the games. For the twenty twenty eight Olympics, an agreement
which took effect last year puts the US Secret Service
in charge of security, with support from the FBI and
(07:02):
the Department of Homeland Security. So It's going to get
more awkward here in LA. This relationship between the Trump
administration and the nation's second largest city is not good.
And these are important issues, immigration and this forthcoming Olympic Games.
We also have the World Cup two. Yeah, so it's
(07:25):
going to be very busy here and there's gonna be
a lot of collaboration necessary. Meanwhile, UCLA has been fined
a billion dollars, are offered a settlement to pay a
billion dollars because the federal government says they violated the
civil rights of Jewish and Israeli students on campus during
last year's pro Palestine protests. They've already frozen millions of
(07:48):
dollars for that university related to medical and science research
over the same issue. A billion dollars, the UC system
says would cripple UCLA. So what are your thoughts about
this ongoing war between the federal government in southern California.
(08:10):
We'll play some of your comments ahead. All you have
to do is open up the iHeartRadio app, click on
that talkback button and send as a message. Keep it
under thirty thirty seconds so we can play it. There
is a growing war again the federal government and the
state of California over Congress and the seats how they're allocated.
(08:32):
President Trump has called on Texas to send him more
Republicans to the House of Representatives so the Republican Party
can hold onto power of that chamber in the twenty
twenty six midterm elections, and Governor Greg Abbott in that
state says, all right, let's do it. He's called a
special session of that state's legislature, and the Republicans there,
which run the show in Austin, are trying to redraw
(08:56):
the maps in the middle of the decade, when it's
typically only done after a new census is created. The
Democrats in Texas have fled the state to prevent a quorum,
meaning there aren't enough lawmakers present to do any business. Additionally,
(09:16):
right here in California, Governor Newsom says, two can play
that game. If Texas is going to redraw its maps
to send more Republicans to Washington, we are going to
redraw our maps to make sure we send more Democrats.
That's what we'll talk about next. As Michael Monks Reports continues.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
KFI AM six forty Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
This is Michael Monks Reports. I'm Michael Monks from KFI News,
keeping you company until nine o'clock tonight. I thinks so
much for being with us on a balmy southern California
Saturday night. You know, of all the things that are
happening in this wacky country of ours, the thing that
(09:58):
scares me the most, even just as a journalist who
watches this country fall apart rebuild itself every so many years,
it's this redistricting battle. This could get gory. It's a
rough looking situation with recap. President Donald Trump wants to
make sure Republicans keep control of the US House of
(10:22):
Representatives after the twenty twenty six midterms. It is typical
that the party of the president loses House seats. Doesn't
always happen, but it does typically happen. The Republican majority
is very small, so he called his friend, Governor Greg Abbott,
(10:45):
fellow Republican in Texas, and says, let's get some more
Republicans here, and instead of beating the Democrats and the
districts that they currently represent, they're going to redraw their
congressional districts and make those districts more favorable to Republicans
(11:05):
and get rid of the Democrats that way. This typically
only happens right after a census, so the maps have
already been drawn for this decade. The census happens on
the tens twenty twenty ten, twenty twenty will happen to
get in twenty thirty, So after twenty thirty is when
new maps will be redrawn. But Texas is going to
(11:28):
do it now and try to send five or six
more Republicans to beef up that majority. So Governor Newsom,
who is always up to fight President Trump one way
or another, is taking this on and says, if Texas
is going to send more Republicans to Washington, California will
send more Democrats. We will redraw our maps in the
(11:51):
middle of the decade. Newsom and former House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi appeared together just yesterday the Texas Democratic lawmakers. Those
Democratic lawmakers from Texas have fled the state in order
to prevent a quorum in Austin so that no action
(12:11):
at the state legislature can be taken. Governor Abbott has
called for their arrest the federal governments, as the FBI
is involved it's getting really spicy. Congressional maps in Texas
if redrawn, would obviously help Republicans, But now California wants
(12:38):
to help Democrats. Do you think it will stop there?
New York could try to help democrats. Florida could try
to help Republicans. Indiana could try to help Republicans. California
would actually need a special election this November to allow
(12:59):
this redistricting to take place. Newsom says, we're trying to
defend democracy as opposed to see it destroyed district by district.
Nancy Pelosi says the Texan lawmakers were right to walk
out of Austin. She called it self defense for our democracy.
(13:20):
She says Democrats will not let Trump pave over free
and fair elections in the country. If you spend any
time on social media, and goodness knows, I spend too
much time there, and kind of as a journalist, you
have to. You got to pay attention to what's going on,
and it's soul sucking. But I see Republicans, I see
Democrats showing different state maps indicating serious gerrymandering in favor
(13:49):
of one party or the other. And of course there
are egregious examples from both parties. This action by Texas
is the most overtly partisan. This response from California is
overtly partisan. Maybe you've heard of Congressman James Comer. He
(14:17):
leads the House Oversight Committee and gets headlines from now
and again, appears on Fox News and conservative media a
lot in his pursuit, you know, against the Biden family
last year, and he keeps busy. But he's from Kentucky.
I'm from Kentucky and the maps in Kentucky were redrawn
just before I moved out here to California, and they
(14:39):
look a lot different. Kentucky has six representatives in the
US House. Five of them are Republicans. Basically one Democrat
can win the Louisville area. There's one district that's around there.
The rest of them are much larger geographically. But James
Comer is from far western Kentucky. If you can't picture
what Kentucky is shaped like, picture of a chicken leg,
(15:01):
a fried chicken leg, and think of the bone there
that you hold on to at the end. As being
far western Kentucky, that is where Congressman Comer is from.
But his district was drawn in such a way to
encompass that bone with this tiny thin sliver that stretches
(15:22):
all the way to the state capitol of Frankfurt, where
he's apparently been living, so that he could keep representing
his district while living far away from it. He's not
the only one. There's districts like that all over the country.
It's ridiculous. It's jerrymandering stuff. But this fight between the
(15:45):
federal government in Texas and California and maybe Illinois, New
York and Florida and Indiana, that's scary, and it seems
to me like it it will only get worse because
I think parties should have to stand on their record
(16:08):
and stand on their ideas and argue their points to
us the public, the voters, on why we should support them.
It just seems so strange that both Democrats in some
states and Republicans and other states literally have to rig
the maps to find enough of the people that aren't
(16:30):
going to sway to the other side no matter what,
to keep their seats safe. It reduces competition, it reduces
the need to deliver. If I'm a Democrat or a
Republican in my seat is guaranteed to support me based
on my party affiliation, It doesn't matter what I do
(16:54):
in Washington. So this is a fight to protect Republicans
in Congress, and it's a fight to protect Democrats in Congress.
It doesn't sound like much of a fight to protect you.
(17:14):
And I hope we keep that in mind as we
watch this ridiculous stuff take place in Texas and in California,
because it's dangerous to democracy, and you've got to be
able to hold people accountable, and if they have these
very very safe seats, you just simply will not be
(17:34):
able to love to hear your thoughts on this, Open
up the iHeartRadio app, click on the talkback button, and
we'll play your responses. But up next, we're going to
come back to downtown Los Angeles. I told you at
the top of the seven o'clock hour that I was
in a very undesirable place last night, perhaps the most
undesirable place in California, the CVS at Seventh and Spring
(17:57):
Street in downtown LA on a Friday night. Downtown LA
is about to get a new attraction to replace the
Macy's that left, but I don't know if it's ready
for this type of thing yet. We'll talk about that next.
As Michael Monk's Reports continues.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
Come and get your love right here on KFI AM
six forty. This is Michael Monk's Reports. I'm Michael Monks
from KFI News. We got a little bit of time
left together. Rawl Cortes, our technical director always does a
great job picking the music. And this is it for you. Right,
you're done, Yes, sir, Yes, sir, that's it. Last day.
(18:37):
You're one of the good ones. We will miss you.
What about Nicky? You're training? By the way, you too, man, oh,
I appreciate that you don't have to say that just
because I said it to you. How's NICKI doing training
in there with you? I'm nervous for her. She scares me.
I can tell by the two let's say, thumbs up
she's giving me that we're gonna get along just fine.
(19:00):
All right. You know, I asked for your thoughts on
some of the stuff that we've talked about over the
course of the show. I'll play a couple now. As
far as the immigration enforcement and whether the arrests at
the home Depot stores are in violation of this court order.
Here is what Rick had to say.
Speaker 4 (19:22):
Random lacking a definite plan, purpose or pattern is the definition. Now,
I guarantee Trump has a plan, purpose and a pattern
for what he does. He ain't just going haphazardly and
around picking up people. He's targeting people with Well.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
The judges so far disagree. I mean they agreed with
the ACLU and the local governments who say these are random,
these are without probable cause. But we did hear some
clips from the Fox News interview involving the local border
chief here in La says no, we're following the law.
So we've not heard the last of this case. Literally,
it's on the docket for September and it's also possibly
headed to the Supreme Court. The thing is all over
(20:05):
the map, but you can bet there is some new
evidence to present to any judge that's hearing it based
on what happened this week at home depot in Westlake,
home depot in Van Nuys, home depot in San Bernardino.
Let's turn back to the redistricting thing and your feelings
on this craziness's taking place. He is what Jacob has
to say.
Speaker 5 (20:26):
That's true. These politicians are in it for themselves, and
the fact that everyone seems to think that they're in
it for your best interest, You're wrong. They're in it
for themselves. They're in it to look good. They're in
it to make their political career better. Meanwhile, you and
I and everyone else are suffering. But you know you
(20:46):
keep voting these people in. That's your bleep and fault.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
Jacob. Thanks for the comment, and thank you for censoring yourself.
It makes my job and Roll's job technical director job
a lot easier that we don't have to do that.
So you've got my vote should you ever decide to
run for Congress. Last night, I'm in my neighborhood downtown
Los Angeles and ordered some takeout for pickup and wanted
(21:13):
to hit a store. Needed to stop by CVS on
the way. These are the good things about living in
downtown Los Angeles. You can get a cool loft apartment,
maybe a rooftop. We've got a pool on the roof,
and we can walk to stores. We can walk to
great restaurants or cheap restaurants or expensive restaurants. There's always
(21:34):
an adventure to find a bar, a show, and it's
all within walking distance. I walked to Ralfs. It's great.
The downside of downtown Los Angeles is the vast criminality,
the lawlessness, the dirtiness, the homelessness, the craziness that takes
place there on a nightly basis, and boil boy, it
(21:54):
was just turned up to eleven last night as I
found myself at the CVS at Seventh and Spring Street,
just getting some odds and ends before I went over
to pick up some chicken. And it always inspires me
when I'm out in those moments where people are losing
their absolute mind or they're doing you know, hard drugs
(22:14):
on the sidewalk, like I gotta get out of here.
I got to live somewhere else, but I don't want
to give up, you know. But then but then you
wake up to this kind of news.
Speaker 6 (22:29):
Breaking. Over night, traffic stopped in downtown during a street
takeover in front of Crypto dot Com Arena. As you
can see dozens of people crowded all around, including some
standing on top of a balcony. All this is the
cars dangerously drifted in the street, people in the crowds
also setting off fireworks.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
There were reports were.
Speaker 6 (22:49):
Working to verify of a broken window and attempted looting
at a store at Crypto dot Com Arena in that area.
Eventually police arrived to disperse the crowd. Some paint was
left on nearby cars. We'll keep the update on this one.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
That report from KTLA about a street takeover right by
crypto dot com that is really like the one area
in downtown Los Angeles that you can usually count on
being relatively safe. A lot of tourists there, a lot
of events are taking place high security. But to see
this scene, I know you can only hear it on
the rodeo, but to see it, it's something. I mean,
these street takeovers are extraordinarily dangerous. People's lives are in
(23:27):
danger standing around in circles watching these cars spin around
at high rates of speed, amateur drivers behind the wheel.
All it would take is for one to lose control
and smash into a tight, dense crowd of folks, and
then you have tragedy. But they damaged other nearby cars
with paint. They attempted apparently to loot a store, and
I read that no arrests were made. So even when
(23:50):
you look at downtown Los Angeles as an optimist like
me chose to live there, and you see the Walk
of Bill, you see the great restaurants, you see the shops,
the grocery, the good neighbors. It's hard to stack those
good things up against these bad things. I know, street
(24:12):
takeovers happen all over the city, but downtown LA seems
to have so little enforcement. It makes me wonder about
folks who are making investments. I mean, in a way,
I made an investment. Look, I'm just a renter, right
but it's where I chose to invest my life here
in LA right now. And that's true for a lot
(24:34):
of us. What's going to be the return on that.
The Macy's in downtown La is gone. It was located
at a development called The Block there at Seventh and
Flower area, and it was the anchor for that development.
(24:56):
It's gone, it's empty, and now something is coming. The
Only Times reports it's at a sprawling social club centering
on racket sports like pickleball and this game I don't know.
Is it called paddle padel pad e l. It's a
blend of tennis and squash. This club called Maulers. It
(25:20):
is going to be in the old Macy's building, one
hundred thousand square feet, eighteen pickleball courts, four paddle courts,
It's gonna have five golf packages. Membership packages for the
Social Sports Club will start at ninety nine dollars per month.
(25:42):
Non members will be able to come in and play
for fees between fifteen and twenty five dollars an hour.
So when I saw this, I thought, one, great, the
empty Macy's is gonna get a tenant and we need that.
We need that. Two, there is a population base that
(26:03):
will love this Downtown. A lot of people live downtown,
have money. The apartments are nice, the condos are really nice.
People with money live downtown next to people who don't
have any money. It's a very diverse neighborhood. You know,
there's a new restaurant also in same place. Table m Oh, yeah,
(26:27):
you're right. So at least people are coming back to this. Yeah, yeah,
you know. That's what I'm saying. And the point is
there are people making investments, but for how long. I mean,
at some point you're losing calls. We already lost the Macy's.
There are several other businesses closing. Angel City Brewery is closing.
(26:50):
At some point, the investments are just gonna stop. You
won't get to businesses closing because they won't be opening.
So I wish this club success I'll check it out.
I've enjoyed pickleball the few times I've played it. I
will check this out and wish them great success. Because
there are ninety thousand estimated people who live in downtown
Los Angeles. A lot of them are professionals who you know,
(27:13):
they're not in Hollywood, they're not even creatives. They just
they work in regular white collar jobs in downtown LA.
They're gonna eat this up, but not if you scare
them away with the danger that is allowed to go
on every single day down there. At the top of
the show, I mentioned that CVS story, and I'll just
(27:33):
in this segment by reiterating reiterating what I said. Then.
The good thing about going to the CVS last night
was I saw the pumpkin spice flavored frosted flakes and
the pumpkin pie flavored frosted miniwheats, which means this hot
summer weather is going to be behind us soon enough.
(27:54):
I also bought a lottery ticket and one hundred bucks,
so it wasn't a bad day. It wasn't a bad
day at the CVS after all. I guess all right,
we're gonna finish up the show. Another weird story out
of downtown involving a python found in a dumpster boy.
When it rains, it pours in downtown La and it
is raining there all the time, even when it's dry.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
I don't want to spoil the John Cobelt Show, of course,
but no they did not. But maybe by the time
co Belt comes on at one o'clock in the afternoon
on Monday, the water will be back on, But it
doesn't look like it's gonna happen this weekend. For those
of you in Porter Ranch and Granada Hills. The LEDWP
and local city officials held a press conference this afternoon.
(28:39):
They said, we're making progress, but we're gonna need more time,
and it looks like the target is somewhere in the
middle of the night on Monday, maybe three am Monday,
but they need your help. Also, they're saying, if you're
seeing water back in your residence, don't use it because
every time you flush or every time you turn the
sink on, you're hurting the overall repair effort that was
(29:04):
per the mayor and city Councilman John Lee and the
general manager of LEDWP genis Kinonyez, who had a press
conference several hours ago, and you'll hear more in the
news reports here on KFI. Can you imagine walking down
to a dumpster in your residential building and finding a snake.
(29:30):
I know that snakes are like spiders. You know, they're
pretty universally loathed. There are certainly folks who love those things.
They'll hold spiders, they'll hold snakes. But I think you'll
find that a majority of folks would probably recoil at
least a little bit at the side of a snake
(29:50):
or a spider. What if it's a twenty foot python,
would you recoil it?
Speaker 4 (29:58):
That?
Speaker 2 (30:00):
Apparently this woman Teresa Sanchez, who talked to Katla, says
she pulled in her garage in downtown Los Angeles at
the Piero apartments near the one ten Freeway and saw
a twenty foot python in a plastic container dumped in
a trash bin in downtown LA. The snake appeared to
(30:22):
be sick, and so the woman, Teresa Sanchez, tried to
call animal control and the police, who said we can't
help with that. She was able to get a hold
of a guy named Joseph Hart from SOCl reptile hunter,
and he came and took the python and said it
would be rehabilitated if possible. No details on how that
(30:45):
snake got dropped in the trash bin. I don't know.
I'd probably not do well with that. I asked for
your reaction to the redistricting saga.
Speaker 7 (30:57):
This is an outcome of not having term moments. The
argument about Jerry Manderin is interesting. It seems like people
are angry because it's happening now, and they're less angry
that it's happened for the last eighty years. So that's
point one. Point two is that I think this is
an outcome of not having term limits, and these politicians
(31:20):
on both sides just do not want to let go
of their seats, and that's so unhealthy for I think
a lot of obvious reasons.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Bingo, that's exactly right. And this is it's often a
lame argument to say, well, both sides do it, both
sides do it. This is one of those both sides
do it things that I'm not going to roll my
eyes at. It's absolutely the case. You go state by
state and see which party has been in power for
a long time and gets the opportunity to redraw these maps,
(31:49):
and you find Democrats protecting Democrats and Republicans protecting Republicans,
and really not giving the other party the opportunity to
be competitive, and also not forcing yourselves to be better
at governing because you know you will never face serious competition.
It's a true threat to democracy. It's the antithesis of democracy.
(32:17):
And I don't know what the fix is, but I
think the immediate fix here is a cease fire. No Texas,
no California, no the rest of you, no mid decade
redistricting for the fun of it, for the politics of it.
(32:42):
I don't know if anyone will listen to that, though.
It's getting real gross in this country. The tribalism is
very difficult to deal with. By the way, we've got
another case of measles in Los Angeles County. Public health
officials confirmed the case of measles and a traveler who
went through la AX earlier this month. They warned that
(33:03):
people may have been exposed, with the risk of infection
higher for people who are not immunized against measles, and
we know that number is rising. According to health officials,
The patient arrived at LAX on August second on China
Airlines flight Double eight to the Tom Bradley International Terminal
B Gate one point fifty three. They want to let
anyone know if you were at Terminal B between roughly
(33:25):
nine thirty at night on August second and twelve thirty
five am the next day, so about a three hour window,
you may have been exposed, and passenger seated near the
traveler also may have been exposed and will be notified
by the respective local health department. And by the way,
even though that happened earlier this month, the last week,
(33:46):
it can be seven to twenty one days from exposure
that you could be at risk of developing that virus.
So if that applies to you, just verify your vaccination
status and monitor any symptoms. That's what the La County
Public Health Department is telling you to do. I thought
this story was relatively interesting. I mean, people steal all
(34:09):
the time in La so it's not unusual. But a
thirty eight year old man is now facing federal charges
for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of rare
and historical Chinese manuscripts from the UCLA Library System. Jeffrey
Ying lives in Fremont, in Alameda County. He's charged with
theft of major artwork. That is a felony that is
(34:32):
punishable by up to ten years in federal prison, and
when you get sentenced federally, you're going to serve eighty
five percent of that at least. He is now in
state custody and is expected to appear in a federal
courthouse in la in the coming days. According to the
affidavit that was filed in this case, Ying stole rare
books and manuscripts worth nearly two hundred and sixteen thousand
(34:55):
dollars from UCLA's library from December twenty twenty four to
July twenty five. He would rent the documents, bring them
to his home in the Bay Area for days at
a time, and then take back a dummy manuscript instead
of the authentic one, And what prosecutors say is that
(35:15):
he would typically then allegedly travel to and from China
within several days of the thefts. The affidavit says the
library officials noticed that several rare Chinese manuscripts were missing
from the UCLA East Asian Library, and an initial investigation
revealed the books were last viewed by a visitor who
(35:37):
identified himself as Alan Fujimori, but due to the rarity
and value of the books, they're not in regular circulation
in the library and must be reserved and checked out.
So they figured out who Alan Fujimori was, and now
mister Ying is charged. It makes me think of that
library policeman bookman from Seinfeld. These people should exist, and
(36:01):
he was traveling to and from China. I don't know
if it's connected to the Musles case tangled web indeed,
and we'll continue to sort through the tangled web that
is southern California right here at KI. I will be
with you all next week, of course, Monday through Friday,
bringing you the news and appearing on your favorite shows
talking about what's going on here. Quick housekeeping note, though
(36:22):
we do carry the Chargers games this season and occasionally
they play on Saturday, and that is true next Saturday,
so we're only going to be on at eight o'clock
at night instead of seven to nine. We'll have one
hour together next week at eight o'clock, and the Saturday
after that we will be off entirely as the Chargers
have a game right here on KFI. Again. Big things
to Royal Cortes for his help ever since we started
(36:44):
this show last November. Wish you all the best in
the world and we'll see if Nikki can you pick
up the slack. I'm gonna say I'm optimistic. She's a
strong lady. We shall see, and my thanks to Brigidia
Deagasino as well in the news room. She'll continue to
bring you the headlines throughout the rest of the evening
as Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell comes up next. I'm
(37:08):
Michael Monks from KFI News. Thanks for joining me for
another weekly edition of Michael Monks Reports right here on
KFI AM six
Speaker 1 (37:15):
Forty, KFI AM six forty on demand
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
KFI AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
This is Michael Monks Reports. I'm Michael Monks from KFI News.
We've got another hour together here on a warms summer
night in southern California. News on the Olympics front, we
talked about immigration last hour. There are This is a
(00:25):
multifront war between local government officials and activists and the
Trump administration. We know they're fighting over immigration, they'll be
fighting over the Olympics as well. President Trump announced a
new task force this week, and as he was doing so,
(00:45):
he was joined by LA twenty eight chairman Casey Wasserman.
LA twenty eight is the local organizing committee that will
be handling all of the logistics. They're the ones who've
been making the announcements about wish events will be held,
win and where. And Trump made reference to his friend
Casey Wasserman at this press conference in Washington, DC earlier
(01:05):
this week.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
Chairman of the twenty twenty eight Olympic Games, Casey Wasserman,
A friend of mine for a long time.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Casey. Thank you very much, Casey, great job.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
In me amazing. LA is a little bit different place
than it was when selected, but we're going to bring
it back stronger than ever. I spoke to Casey about that.
He said, nope, we're going to make it better than ever.
It's going to be something that's going to make it
even more important as a Olympic Games. It was an
interesting conversation we had as the fires were raging.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Is that right? So the President probably referencing the state
of Los Angeles the condition that it's in right now,
as he says, it's not the same place that it was.
These games were announced years ago, of course, during Trump's
first term, and now it looks like he's going to
get to be president as the games come to fruition.
He did mention during this press conference that win the
(01:59):
game games were one he didn't think he'd get to
be president because I guess in his mind he ideally
would have served back to back terms, right he lost
the twenty twenty election and would have been out of
office and by now. But because he lost the twenty
twenty election, was eligible to run again in twenty twenty four,
and is one he will be president in twenty twenty eight.
When the Olympics come to Los Angeles again, and here
(02:22):
is what he has to say about how safe he
expects these games to be.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
Will do anything necessary to keep the Olympics safe, including
using our national guard or military. Okay, now I'll use
I'll use I will use the national guard or military.
This is going to be so safe. And if we
have to, because obviously you have a mayor that is
not very competent. She can't get the permits for the people.
(02:49):
You know, the people are still waiting for the purpose.
Lee Zelden got them the federal permit, which is ten
times harder to get, and everybody can build on the
federal basis, and that's the hard one. But the mayor
bess she cannot, She refuses to or cannot get them permits.
They're waiting. And I was there right after the fires,
and I saw all these beautiful people.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Standing by their homes, ready to get in.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
And get to work, and they're waiting for their permits.
And they're still waiting for their state permits and city permits.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
It's a disgrace. It's a disgrace. So the President took
shots at Mayor Bass there. He also spoke about Governor Newsom,
and these are government organizations that are going to have
to get along for the Olympics to be a success.
Of course, the federal government was always going to play
a role. It's not just Los Angeles hosting the Olympic Games,
(03:40):
it is the United States. And so this task force
will be overseeing security and visas for these international visitors
who will be coming in the athletes themselves. But some
columnists at prominent media outlets in California, including the LA
Times in the San Francisco Chronicle, they're not happy with
(04:03):
what they're seeing about this. Gustavo Ariano, a columnist at
the LA Times, has written that this was an embarrassment
for Los Angeles, this press conference and the appearance of
Chairman of LA twenty eight CA Cy Wasserman being alongside
President Trump there. Ariano writes that Wasserman offered LA a
(04:24):
giant whoopee cushion. Here's what Ariano writes. With Wasserman at
his left side, Trump found to bring LA back stronger
than ever. On Trump's right was a rash of LA haters,
some of whom played a prominent role in Southern California
summer of deportations, including Vice President vance Secretary Nome. He says,
so what did Wasserman, a prominent Democratic donor who in
(04:48):
recent months has thrown some cash at Republican committees, do
in front of people who want to reign Holy hell
on his hometown. He praised Trump's support of the LA
Olympics as truly extraordinary and gifted him a set of
medals from the nineteen eighty four games hosted by Los Angeles.
Ariano goes on to write, if that wasn't groveling enough,
(05:08):
Wasserman was grinning after Trump joked about not using an
auto pin to sign the executive order creating the task Force,
a jab at President Biden. It was more bricks on
the foundation Wasserman has been laying since January, when he
met with Trump at Mara a Lago. So Ariano goes
on to write, Angelinos, do oustades really want to give
(05:36):
Trump and his goon squad more chances to make life
miserable for y'all? Seems like a call for the Olympics.
Maybe shouldn't happen here in Los Angeles. From the prominent
columnists Gustavo Ariano at the LA Times, columnist Joe Matthews,
who was syndicated, but had this printed in the San
(05:57):
Francisco Chronicles says the twenty twenty eight LA Olympic should
be canceled. The sub headline says hosting an Olympic Games
requires working with a lawless US regime and its rights
violating security apparatus as they openly wage war against California.
He writes, it's time right now for Greater Los Angeles
(06:19):
to halt all preparations to host the twenty twenty eight
Summer Olympics and let's turn over these games to a
world city better position to host them. He says, it's
no longer peace time in La. Quote this event is
now too dangerous for California. Hosting an Olympics Games requires
us to work together with a lawless US regime and
(06:41):
its rights violating security apparatus as it openly wages war
against our city and state. Events like the Olympics require
host cities to let federal agencies take the lead during
the games. For the twenty twenty eight Olympics, an agreement
which took effect last year puts the US Secret Service
in charge of security, with support from the FBI and
(07:02):
the Department of Homeland Security. So It's going to get
more awkward here in LA. This relationship between the Trump
administration and the nation's second largest city is not good.
And these are important issues, immigration and this forthcoming Olympic Games.
We also have the World Cup two. Yeah, so it's
(07:25):
going to be very busy here and there's gonna be
a lot of collaboration necessary. Meanwhile, UCLA has been fined
a billion dollars, are offered a settlement to pay a
billion dollars because the federal government says they violated the
civil rights of Jewish and Israeli students on campus during
last year's pro Palestine protests. They've already frozen millions of
(07:48):
dollars for that university related to medical and science research
over the same issue. A billion dollars, the UC system
says would cripple UCLA. So what are your thoughts about
this ongoing war between the federal government in southern California.
(08:10):
We'll play some of your comments ahead. All you have
to do is open up the iHeartRadio app, click on
that talkback button and send as a message. Keep it
under thirty thirty seconds so we can play it. There
is a growing war again the federal government and the
state of California over Congress and the seats how they're allocated.
(08:32):
President Trump has called on Texas to send him more
Republicans to the House of Representatives so the Republican Party
can hold onto power of that chamber in the twenty
twenty six midterm elections, and Governor Greg Abbott in that
state says, all right, let's do it. He's called a
special session of that state's legislature, and the Republicans there,
which run the show in Austin, are trying to redraw
(08:56):
the maps in the middle of the decade, when it's
typically only done after a new census is created. The
Democrats in Texas have fled the state to prevent a quorum,
meaning there aren't enough lawmakers present to do any business. Additionally,
(09:16):
right here in California, Governor Newsom says, two can play
that game. If Texas is going to redraw its maps
to send more Republicans to Washington, we are going to
redraw our maps to make sure we send more Democrats.
That's what we'll talk about next. As Michael Monks Reports continues.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
KFI AM six forty Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
This is Michael Monks Reports. I'm Michael Monks from KFI News,
keeping you company until nine o'clock tonight. I thinks so
much for being with us on a balmy southern California
Saturday night. You know, of all the things that are
happening in this wacky country of ours, the thing that
(09:58):
scares me the most, even just as a journalist who
watches this country fall apart rebuild itself every so many years,
it's this redistricting battle. This could get gory. It's a
rough looking situation with recap. President Donald Trump wants to
make sure Republicans keep control of the US House of
(10:22):
Representatives after the twenty twenty six midterms. It is typical
that the party of the president loses House seats. Doesn't
always happen, but it does typically happen. The Republican majority
is very small, so he called his friend, Governor Greg Abbott,
(10:45):
fellow Republican in Texas, and says, let's get some more
Republicans here, and instead of beating the Democrats and the
districts that they currently represent, they're going to redraw their
congressional districts and make those districts more favorable to Republicans
(11:05):
and get rid of the Democrats that way. This typically
only happens right after a census, so the maps have
already been drawn for this decade. The census happens on
the tens twenty twenty ten, twenty twenty will happen to
get in twenty thirty, So after twenty thirty is when
new maps will be redrawn. But Texas is going to
(11:28):
do it now and try to send five or six
more Republicans to beef up that majority. So Governor Newsom,
who is always up to fight President Trump one way
or another, is taking this on and says, if Texas
is going to send more Republicans to Washington, California will
send more Democrats. We will redraw our maps in the
(11:51):
middle of the decade. Newsom and former House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi appeared together just yesterday the Texas Democratic lawmakers. Those
Democratic lawmakers from Texas have fled the state in order
to prevent a quorum in Austin so that no action
(12:11):
at the state legislature can be taken. Governor Abbott has
called for their arrest the federal governments, as the FBI
is involved it's getting really spicy. Congressional maps in Texas
if redrawn, would obviously help Republicans, But now California wants
(12:38):
to help Democrats. Do you think it will stop there?
New York could try to help democrats. Florida could try
to help Republicans. Indiana could try to help Republicans. California
would actually need a special election this November to allow
(12:59):
this redistricting to take place. Newsom says, we're trying to
defend democracy as opposed to see it destroyed district by district.
Nancy Pelosi says the Texan lawmakers were right to walk
out of Austin. She called it self defense for our democracy.
(13:20):
She says Democrats will not let Trump pave over free
and fair elections in the country. If you spend any
time on social media, and goodness knows, I spend too
much time there, and kind of as a journalist, you
have to. You got to pay attention to what's going on,
and it's soul sucking. But I see Republicans, I see
Democrats showing different state maps indicating serious gerrymandering in favor
(13:49):
of one party or the other. And of course there
are egregious examples from both parties. This action by Texas
is the most overtly partisan. This response from California is
overtly partisan. Maybe you've heard of Congressman James Comer. He
(14:17):
leads the House Oversight Committee and gets headlines from now
and again, appears on Fox News and conservative media a
lot in his pursuit, you know, against the Biden family
last year, and he keeps busy. But he's from Kentucky.
I'm from Kentucky and the maps in Kentucky were redrawn
just before I moved out here to California, and they
(14:39):
look a lot different. Kentucky has six representatives in the
US House. Five of them are Republicans. Basically one Democrat
can win the Louisville area. There's one district that's around there.
The rest of them are much larger geographically. But James
Comer is from far western Kentucky. If you can't picture
what Kentucky is shaped like, picture of a chicken leg,
(15:01):
a fried chicken leg, and think of the bone there
that you hold on to at the end. As being
far western Kentucky, that is where Congressman Comer is from.
But his district was drawn in such a way to
encompass that bone with this tiny thin sliver that stretches
(15:22):
all the way to the state capitol of Frankfurt, where
he's apparently been living, so that he could keep representing
his district while living far away from it. He's not
the only one. There's districts like that all over the country.
It's ridiculous. It's jerrymandering stuff. But this fight between the
(15:45):
federal government in Texas and California and maybe Illinois, New
York and Florida and Indiana, that's scary, and it seems
to me like it it will only get worse because
I think parties should have to stand on their record
(16:08):
and stand on their ideas and argue their points to
us the public, the voters, on why we should support them.
It just seems so strange that both Democrats in some
states and Republicans and other states literally have to rig
the maps to find enough of the people that aren't
(16:30):
going to sway to the other side no matter what,
to keep their seats safe. It reduces competition, it reduces
the need to deliver. If I'm a Democrat or a
Republican in my seat is guaranteed to support me based
on my party affiliation, It doesn't matter what I do
(16:54):
in Washington. So this is a fight to protect Republicans
in Congress, and it's a fight to protect Democrats in Congress.
It doesn't sound like much of a fight to protect you.
(17:14):
And I hope we keep that in mind as we
watch this ridiculous stuff take place in Texas and in California,
because it's dangerous to democracy, and you've got to be
able to hold people accountable, and if they have these
very very safe seats, you just simply will not be
(17:34):
able to love to hear your thoughts on this, Open
up the iHeartRadio app, click on the talkback button, and
we'll play your responses. But up next, we're going to
come back to downtown Los Angeles. I told you at
the top of the seven o'clock hour that I was
in a very undesirable place last night, perhaps the most
undesirable place in California, the CVS at Seventh and Spring
(17:57):
Street in downtown LA on a Friday night. Downtown LA
is about to get a new attraction to replace the
Macy's that left, but I don't know if it's ready
for this type of thing yet. We'll talk about that next.
As Michael Monk's Reports continues.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
Come and get your love right here on KFI AM
six forty. This is Michael Monk's Reports. I'm Michael Monks
from KFI News. We got a little bit of time
left together. Rawl Cortes, our technical director always does a
great job picking the music. And this is it for you. Right,
you're done, Yes, sir, Yes, sir, that's it. Last day.
(18:37):
You're one of the good ones. We will miss you.
What about Nicky? You're training? By the way, you too, man, oh,
I appreciate that you don't have to say that just
because I said it to you. How's NICKI doing training
in there with you? I'm nervous for her. She scares me.
I can tell by the two let's say, thumbs up
she's giving me that we're gonna get along just fine.
(19:00):
All right. You know, I asked for your thoughts on
some of the stuff that we've talked about over the
course of the show. I'll play a couple now. As
far as the immigration enforcement and whether the arrests at
the home Depot stores are in violation of this court order.
Here is what Rick had to say.
Speaker 4 (19:22):
Random lacking a definite plan, purpose or pattern is the definition. Now,
I guarantee Trump has a plan, purpose and a pattern
for what he does. He ain't just going haphazardly and
around picking up people. He's targeting people with Well.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
The judges so far disagree. I mean they agreed with
the ACLU and the local governments who say these are random,
these are without probable cause. But we did hear some
clips from the Fox News interview involving the local border
chief here in La says no, we're following the law.
So we've not heard the last of this case. Literally,
it's on the docket for September and it's also possibly
headed to the Supreme Court. The thing is all over
(20:05):
the map, but you can bet there is some new
evidence to present to any judge that's hearing it based
on what happened this week at home depot in Westlake,
home depot in Van Nuys, home depot in San Bernardino.
Let's turn back to the redistricting thing and your feelings
on this craziness's taking place. He is what Jacob has
to say.
Speaker 5 (20:26):
That's true. These politicians are in it for themselves, and
the fact that everyone seems to think that they're in
it for your best interest, You're wrong. They're in it
for themselves. They're in it to look good. They're in
it to make their political career better. Meanwhile, you and
I and everyone else are suffering. But you know you
(20:46):
keep voting these people in. That's your bleep and fault.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
Jacob. Thanks for the comment, and thank you for censoring yourself.
It makes my job and Roll's job technical director job
a lot easier that we don't have to do that.
So you've got my vote should you ever decide to
run for Congress. Last night, I'm in my neighborhood downtown
Los Angeles and ordered some takeout for pickup and wanted
(21:13):
to hit a store. Needed to stop by CVS on
the way. These are the good things about living in
downtown Los Angeles. You can get a cool loft apartment,
maybe a rooftop. We've got a pool on the roof,
and we can walk to stores. We can walk to
great restaurants or cheap restaurants or expensive restaurants. There's always
(21:34):
an adventure to find a bar, a show, and it's
all within walking distance. I walked to Ralfs. It's great.
The downside of downtown Los Angeles is the vast criminality,
the lawlessness, the dirtiness, the homelessness, the craziness that takes
place there on a nightly basis, and boil boy, it
(21:54):
was just turned up to eleven last night as I
found myself at the CVS at Seventh and Spring Street,
just getting some odds and ends before I went over
to pick up some chicken. And it always inspires me
when I'm out in those moments where people are losing
their absolute mind or they're doing you know, hard drugs
(22:14):
on the sidewalk, like I gotta get out of here.
I got to live somewhere else, but I don't want
to give up, you know. But then but then you
wake up to this kind of news.
Speaker 6 (22:29):
Breaking. Over night, traffic stopped in downtown during a street
takeover in front of Crypto dot Com Arena. As you
can see dozens of people crowded all around, including some
standing on top of a balcony. All this is the
cars dangerously drifted in the street, people in the crowds
also setting off fireworks.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
There were reports were.
Speaker 6 (22:49):
Working to verify of a broken window and attempted looting
at a store at Crypto dot Com Arena in that area.
Eventually police arrived to disperse the crowd. Some paint was
left on nearby cars. We'll keep the update on this one.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
That report from KTLA about a street takeover right by
crypto dot com that is really like the one area
in downtown Los Angeles that you can usually count on
being relatively safe. A lot of tourists there, a lot
of events are taking place high security. But to see
this scene, I know you can only hear it on
the rodeo, but to see it, it's something. I mean,
these street takeovers are extraordinarily dangerous. People's lives are in
(23:27):
danger standing around in circles watching these cars spin around
at high rates of speed, amateur drivers behind the wheel.
All it would take is for one to lose control
and smash into a tight, dense crowd of folks, and
then you have tragedy. But they damaged other nearby cars
with paint. They attempted apparently to loot a store, and
I read that no arrests were made. So even when
(23:50):
you look at downtown Los Angeles as an optimist like
me chose to live there, and you see the Walk
of Bill, you see the great restaurants, you see the shops,
the grocery, the good neighbors. It's hard to stack those
good things up against these bad things. I know, street
(24:12):
takeovers happen all over the city, but downtown LA seems
to have so little enforcement. It makes me wonder about
folks who are making investments. I mean, in a way,
I made an investment. Look, I'm just a renter, right
but it's where I chose to invest my life here
in LA right now. And that's true for a lot
(24:34):
of us. What's going to be the return on that.
The Macy's in downtown La is gone. It was located
at a development called The Block there at Seventh and
Flower area, and it was the anchor for that development.
(24:56):
It's gone, it's empty, and now something is coming. The
Only Times reports it's at a sprawling social club centering
on racket sports like pickleball and this game I don't know.
Is it called paddle padel pad e l. It's a
blend of tennis and squash. This club called Maulers. It
(25:20):
is going to be in the old Macy's building, one
hundred thousand square feet, eighteen pickleball courts, four paddle courts,
It's gonna have five golf packages. Membership packages for the
Social Sports Club will start at ninety nine dollars per month.
(25:42):
Non members will be able to come in and play
for fees between fifteen and twenty five dollars an hour.
So when I saw this, I thought, one, great, the
empty Macy's is gonna get a tenant and we need that.
We need that. Two, there is a population base that
(26:03):
will love this Downtown. A lot of people live downtown,
have money. The apartments are nice, the condos are really nice.
People with money live downtown next to people who don't
have any money. It's a very diverse neighborhood. You know,
there's a new restaurant also in same place. Table m Oh, yeah,
(26:27):
you're right. So at least people are coming back to this. Yeah, yeah,
you know. That's what I'm saying. And the point is
there are people making investments, but for how long. I mean,
at some point you're losing calls. We already lost the Macy's.
There are several other businesses closing. Angel City Brewery is closing.
(26:50):
At some point, the investments are just gonna stop. You
won't get to businesses closing because they won't be opening.
So I wish this club success I'll check it out.
I've enjoyed pickleball the few times I've played it. I
will check this out and wish them great success. Because
there are ninety thousand estimated people who live in downtown
Los Angeles. A lot of them are professionals who you know,
(27:13):
they're not in Hollywood, they're not even creatives. They just
they work in regular white collar jobs in downtown LA.
They're gonna eat this up, but not if you scare
them away with the danger that is allowed to go
on every single day down there. At the top of
the show, I mentioned that CVS story, and I'll just
(27:33):
in this segment by reiterating reiterating what I said. Then.
The good thing about going to the CVS last night
was I saw the pumpkin spice flavored frosted flakes and
the pumpkin pie flavored frosted miniwheats, which means this hot
summer weather is going to be behind us soon enough.
(27:54):
I also bought a lottery ticket and one hundred bucks,
so it wasn't a bad day. It wasn't a bad
day at the CVS after all. I guess all right,
we're gonna finish up the show. Another weird story out
of downtown involving a python found in a dumpster boy.
When it rains, it pours in downtown La and it
is raining there all the time, even when it's dry.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
I don't want to spoil the John Cobelt Show, of course,
but no they did not. But maybe by the time
co Belt comes on at one o'clock in the afternoon
on Monday, the water will be back on, But it
doesn't look like it's gonna happen this weekend. For those
of you in Porter Ranch and Granada Hills. The LEDWP
and local city officials held a press conference this afternoon.
(28:39):
They said, we're making progress, but we're gonna need more time,
and it looks like the target is somewhere in the
middle of the night on Monday, maybe three am Monday,
but they need your help. Also, they're saying, if you're
seeing water back in your residence, don't use it because
every time you flush or every time you turn the
sink on, you're hurting the overall repair effort that was
(29:04):
per the mayor and city Councilman John Lee and the
general manager of LEDWP genis Kinonyez, who had a press
conference several hours ago, and you'll hear more in the
news reports here on KFI. Can you imagine walking down
to a dumpster in your residential building and finding a snake.
(29:30):
I know that snakes are like spiders. You know, they're
pretty universally loathed. There are certainly folks who love those things.
They'll hold spiders, they'll hold snakes. But I think you'll
find that a majority of folks would probably recoil at
least a little bit at the side of a snake
(29:50):
or a spider. What if it's a twenty foot python,
would you recoil it?
Speaker 4 (29:58):
That?
Speaker 2 (30:00):
Apparently this woman Teresa Sanchez, who talked to Katla, says
she pulled in her garage in downtown Los Angeles at
the Piero apartments near the one ten Freeway and saw
a twenty foot python in a plastic container dumped in
a trash bin in downtown LA. The snake appeared to
(30:22):
be sick, and so the woman, Teresa Sanchez, tried to
call animal control and the police, who said we can't
help with that. She was able to get a hold
of a guy named Joseph Hart from SOCl reptile hunter,
and he came and took the python and said it
would be rehabilitated if possible. No details on how that
(30:45):
snake got dropped in the trash bin. I don't know.
I'd probably not do well with that. I asked for
your reaction to the redistricting saga.
Speaker 7 (30:57):
This is an outcome of not having term moments. The
argument about Jerry Manderin is interesting. It seems like people
are angry because it's happening now, and they're less angry
that it's happened for the last eighty years. So that's
point one. Point two is that I think this is
an outcome of not having term limits, and these politicians
(31:20):
on both sides just do not want to let go
of their seats, and that's so unhealthy for I think
a lot of obvious reasons.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Bingo, that's exactly right. And this is it's often a
lame argument to say, well, both sides do it, both
sides do it. This is one of those both sides
do it things that I'm not going to roll my
eyes at. It's absolutely the case. You go state by
state and see which party has been in power for
a long time and gets the opportunity to redraw these maps,
(31:49):
and you find Democrats protecting Democrats and Republicans protecting Republicans,
and really not giving the other party the opportunity to
be competitive, and also not forcing yourselves to be better
at governing because you know you will never face serious competition.
It's a true threat to democracy. It's the antithesis of democracy.
(32:17):
And I don't know what the fix is, but I
think the immediate fix here is a cease fire. No Texas,
no California, no the rest of you, no mid decade
redistricting for the fun of it, for the politics of it.
(32:42):
I don't know if anyone will listen to that, though.
It's getting real gross in this country. The tribalism is
very difficult to deal with. By the way, we've got
another case of measles in Los Angeles County. Public health
officials confirmed the case of measles and a traveler who
went through la AX earlier this month. They warned that
(33:03):
people may have been exposed, with the risk of infection
higher for people who are not immunized against measles, and
we know that number is rising. According to health officials,
The patient arrived at LAX on August second on China
Airlines flight Double eight to the Tom Bradley International Terminal
B Gate one point fifty three. They want to let
anyone know if you were at Terminal B between roughly
(33:25):
nine thirty at night on August second and twelve thirty
five am the next day, so about a three hour window,
you may have been exposed, and passenger seated near the
traveler also may have been exposed and will be notified
by the respective local health department. And by the way,
even though that happened earlier this month, the last week,
(33:46):
it can be seven to twenty one days from exposure
that you could be at risk of developing that virus.
So if that applies to you, just verify your vaccination
status and monitor any symptoms. That's what the La County
Public Health Department is telling you to do. I thought
this story was relatively interesting. I mean, people steal all
(34:09):
the time in La so it's not unusual. But a
thirty eight year old man is now facing federal charges
for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of rare
and historical Chinese manuscripts from the UCLA Library System. Jeffrey
Ying lives in Fremont, in Alameda County. He's charged with
theft of major artwork. That is a felony that is
(34:32):
punishable by up to ten years in federal prison, and
when you get sentenced federally, you're going to serve eighty
five percent of that at least. He is now in
state custody and is expected to appear in a federal
courthouse in la in the coming days. According to the
affidavit that was filed in this case, Ying stole rare
books and manuscripts worth nearly two hundred and sixteen thousand
(34:55):
dollars from UCLA's library from December twenty twenty four to
July twenty five. He would rent the documents, bring them
to his home in the Bay Area for days at
a time, and then take back a dummy manuscript instead
of the authentic one, And what prosecutors say is that
(35:15):
he would typically then allegedly travel to and from China
within several days of the thefts. The affidavit says the
library officials noticed that several rare Chinese manuscripts were missing
from the UCLA East Asian Library, and an initial investigation
revealed the books were last viewed by a visitor who
(35:37):
identified himself as Alan Fujimori, but due to the rarity
and value of the books, they're not in regular circulation
in the library and must be reserved and checked out.
So they figured out who Alan Fujimori was, and now
mister Ying is charged. It makes me think of that
library policeman bookman from Seinfeld. These people should exist, and
(36:01):
he was traveling to and from China. I don't know
if it's connected to the Musles case tangled web indeed,
and we'll continue to sort through the tangled web that
is southern California right here at KI. I will be
with you all next week, of course, Monday through Friday,
bringing you the news and appearing on your favorite shows
talking about what's going on here. Quick housekeeping note, though
(36:22):
we do carry the Chargers games this season and occasionally
they play on Saturday, and that is true next Saturday,
so we're only going to be on at eight o'clock
at night instead of seven to nine. We'll have one
hour together next week at eight o'clock, and the Saturday
after that we will be off entirely as the Chargers
have a game right here on KFI. Again. Big things
to Royal Cortes for his help ever since we started
(36:44):
this show last November. Wish you all the best in
the world and we'll see if Nikki can you pick
up the slack. I'm gonna say I'm optimistic. She's a
strong lady. We shall see, and my thanks to Brigidia
Deagasino as well in the news room. She'll continue to
bring you the headlines throughout the rest of the evening
as Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell comes up next. I'm
(37:08):
Michael Monks from KFI News. Thanks for joining me for
another weekly edition of Michael Monks Reports right here on
KFI AM six
Speaker 1 (37:15):
Forty, KFI AM six forty on demand
Popular Podcasts
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
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.
Law & Order: Criminal Justice System - Season 1 & Season 2
Season Two Out Now! Law & Order: Criminal Justice System tells the real stories behind the landmark cases that have shaped how the most dangerous and influential criminals in America are prosecuted. In its second season, the series tackles the threat of terrorism in the United States. From the rise of extremist political groups in the 60s to domestic lone wolves in the modern day, we explore how organizations like the FBI and Joint Terrorism Take Force have evolved to fight back against a multitude of terrorist threats.