SCHOOL SHOOTING IN GA / HUNTER BIDEN LAST-MINUTE PLEA / HEAT WARNINGS AND WILFIRES

The panel discussed the school shooting in Georgia where a 14-year-old boy has been charged with four felony murders. The student journos talk about their approach to covering school shootings and the fear they have on their own campuses. Up next, Hunter Biden entered a guilty plea just as jury selection began in his tax evasion trial in Los Angeles. The panelists weigh-in on the newsworthiness of the story and if it’s really worth covering. Finally, the panel digs in on the massive heatwave smothering Southern California and all the dangers it poses, including wildfires. This week’s panel includes Kaia Mann from Los Angeles Valley College, Nico Sapphire from California Lutheran University, and Asher Russ from Vanguard University.  

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, it's Steve Gregory. Thank you for joining us for
this episode of Studio six forty on demand. This week's
panel on Studio six forty.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
Hello, I'm Kaya Mann from Los Angeles Valley College.

Speaker 3 (00:11):
I'm Nico Sapphire from California Lutheran University.

Speaker 4 (00:14):
And I'm asher Us from Vanguard University.

Speaker 1 (00:18):
The only program in Southern California that breaks down the
stories of today through the voices of tomorrow's journalists. The
students come from campuses large and small, public and private.
This is Studio six forty. I'm Steve Gregory. Thanks for

(00:41):
joining us. Our top story.

Speaker 5 (00:43):
Fourteen year old suspect Cold Gray and his father, Colin
made their first court appearances in winder in Georgia. Now,
Cold Gray is charged with four counts of felony murder.
Investigators say he killed four people and injured nine others
at his high school using an AR style rifle. He
will be tried as an adult, and authorities alleged Colin

(01:07):
Gray provided with the AR style rifle used in Wednesday's
mass shooting. He is charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter,
two counts of second degree murder, and eight counts of
cruelty to children. I just want to hear part of
what was said in that short appearance first appearance of

(01:27):
the alleged shooter, Colt Gray in Georgia.

Speaker 6 (01:30):
My name's Curry Mingledore. If I'm assigned to preside over
this morning's proceedings, mister Gray, I do need to inquire
as to whether you're able to read and write the
English language. All right, I want to inform you of
the charges that you currently face. In essence, you are
charged with four counts of felony murder. I correctly told

(01:54):
you the maximum penalty for the crimes for which you
are charged. That's correct except for the fact that you
are under eighteen years old. So I wanted to inform
you and make it clear to you that the penalty
for the crimes for which you are charged does not

(02:14):
include death.

Speaker 1 (02:16):
Kay, a man from Los Angeles Valley College, Welcome back
to the show. A horrific event, indeed, and it seems
like that we're having school shootings way too often here
in the United States. So let's talk about this as
a school journalist. First of all, your reaction as a student,
what is your reaction to a story like this? And
as not only an editor at your paper at your school,

(02:39):
but as a student journalist, what goes through your mind?
How do you want to cover this and what do
you see in front of you?

Speaker 2 (02:47):
I think, first and foremost, you have to prioritize safety.
So if I was in a situation where my school
was going through a shooting, I think the smartest decision
would be to follow the school, proceed in lockdown, lock
the doors at the blinds, and use social media to
get the news out and tell people who are coming

(03:07):
to school to that what is happening. People who may
be walking around campus, get in a car, go home,
get in a safe spot.

Speaker 1 (03:15):
But as an editor of the paper there at the school,
and you know, I hate to even suggest that something
like this could ever happen on your campus, But when
you see it happening, even if it's across the country
in this case Georgia, are you thinking about what if?
And what if? As a journalist and having covering event

(03:36):
like this, are you thinking what if? As an editor,
I think.

Speaker 2 (03:40):
I'm always thinking what if, in any any situation, in
any new situation, what if it did happen to us?
I think I think that even past just being an
editor just as a normal student, you go to school
every day thinking what if. That's how I've always lived
my life. It's always been a possibility, but certainly as
an editor you have to think of of how you

(04:00):
would cover it, how you would go about it, both
during the event and retroactively.

Speaker 1 (04:05):
Asher Russ coming back from Vanguard University, Welcome back. Same
question to you as you're looking at this, because I
know that your focus in your particular school is social media,
which plays a pretty vital role in communicating with the
public and the students. As an editor on the social
media feeds that you do, are you know, same question
to you as kaya, what are you thinking and are

(04:27):
you always looking at that what if? In your situation.

Speaker 7 (04:31):
It's hard to kind of balance between thinking what if
and looking at the real possibility that something like this
might happen Heaven forbid, but also looking at it as
like not wanting to live in fear and not wanting
to live my life controlled by this because at the
end of the day, the people that do these atrocities,
that's what they want in large part, is to make
us all live in fear. And so when I'm looking

(04:53):
at how it would cover I think that a lot
of it is just covering it in a sense in
order to keep people safe as much which is possible
if this were something that would happen, listening to authorities,
listening to the school and what the policy is, because
I don't want to be in charge of causing misinformation,
causing panic that leads to more damage.

Speaker 1 (05:12):
But how do you avoid that if you were still
assigned to cover that. From a social media's perspective, what
would you want to do based on what you know now?
What would you want to do to avoid any misinformation?

Speaker 7 (05:26):
I think that for the people that are working under me,
or even myself, I would just make sure that all
of the information they're going to put out is one
hundred percent accurate and just being extra sure about it.
And we always are, but just even more so in
that sense when people's lives are in stake, just to
make sure that we're not going to cause any more harm.

Speaker 1 (05:47):
Nico Sapphire, cal Lutheran, welcome back to the show as well.
So on Astor's point, how do you ensure that the
information coming out in an active shooters area like this,
how do you ensure that the information is accurate?

Speaker 3 (06:04):
Well? I think you know, inform and report on what
you can on what you know. I think a big part,
you know, trying to talk to the police if you can.
I think in this specific situation too, you know what
I was wondering, like, I feel like there were ways
to prevent it, right, And I think that's something that
you can talk about. You know, there were threats that

(06:26):
were being made already, so I wonder, you know why
the school for example, like didn't go on lockdown after
there were threats and only after the shooting started writing
things like that. So talking about that there could have
been ways to prevent it, right, I think is something
as a reporter I would want to talk about. And
then Ashery also said, you know about about fear and
not wanting to live in fear. Well, way to do

(06:48):
that is to ban these assault rifles. For one, you know,
nobody nobody needs access to those. But also in this situation,
I also wonder, like how the gun didn't go unnoticed
in the school, and so I wonder if there were
things here, And this is something like I would want
to you know, kind of the angle that I would
want to focus on, probably like what slipped through the clack?
Sorry slipped through the cracks, right was the communication was

(07:10):
it off between the police and the school and things
like that?

Speaker 1 (07:13):
So yeah, yeah, and you know you touch on something
there about the banning of the assault rifles and banning
of the access. You know, here's the thing. Where does
the journalism line start and where does the political line stop?
Because when you're talking about banning assault rifles, were you

(07:34):
talking about that as an opinion or something that you
think should be covered both?

Speaker 3 (07:39):
Okay, yeah, I mean yeah, absolutely. I think you know
what's going on is there there's a political party, right,
A lot of times it's the Republicans who and they're
blocking a lot of these gun laws because they think
the other side, the Democrats, they just want to take
away the guns, which is not the case, right, And
a lot of times they blame it on the mental health,
which yes, and there should be more awareness, but it's
it is you look at other countries who are not

(07:59):
half these problems, and sure they have other mental health problems,
but because they're not having you can't get the access
to these assault rifles, they're not having all these mass
shootings that we are. And so sure, you know it
can be because some people can disagree with that, but
it is that's a fact too, Like the statistics can
back that up. There are less shootings, and also there
was the nineteen ninety four to two thousand and four

(08:21):
assault weapons ban. When that expired, the shootings drastically it increased.
So there's a lot to back that up.

Speaker 1 (08:29):
Okay, so we're going to stop right there. When we
come back, we'll continue the conversation. Welcome back to to
Studio six forty. I'm Steve Gregory. Thank you for joining us.
Before the break, we were discussing the school shooting that
happened in Georgia this week. A fourteen year old boy
and his father are both now charged with the murders

(08:52):
and the injury of students and faculty there, Nico, you
were talking a lot about the political aspect of this
with respect to assault rifles and assault rifle bans and
the history of that. The interesting thing about that is

(09:12):
statistics can show one thing, but people can show statistics
on the other side of that too. So when you
were talking about statistics back that up. What source was
that this was?

Speaker 4 (09:24):
Leave?

Speaker 3 (09:24):
CNN reported some of that, and then.

Speaker 1 (09:28):
CNN was quoting, But what were they quoting as the source?

Speaker 4 (09:32):
I didn't catch that.

Speaker 1 (09:33):
Yeah, because the interesting thing is it's like when you
look back at the crime stats now, and I don't
want to go too far on an offering pair, but
the FBI was reporting recently that crime is down across
the country, but come to find out that not all
the law enforcement agencies in the United States report to
the FBI. So you have a great many law enforcement

(09:53):
agencies in the country that do not report their crime
stats to the FBI. So when the FBI puts out
a report that crimes across the country, it's missing about
a third of the United States. So the numbers they
can show that, but it's not a true portrayal of
what's going on. So that's why I'm asking the source
material for the gun band because that is a big issue,

(10:13):
especially in California and some rural parts of California. Some
counties in California cherish the Second Amendment. But statistically, I
can tell you also from law enforcement stats and the
California Department of Justice that most of the shootings that
occur are by people who do not have firearms weapons.

(10:34):
They're the ones that legally own firearms are usually the
ones of the safest with respect to weapons. Anybody else
have an opinion on this?

Speaker 7 (10:42):
Yeah, I was going to say something that I also
find interesting is I don't have the exact statistic on this,
but I know I've read this before that most shootings
and mass shootings happen in places where guns are banned anyway,
for example, schools, concerts, places like that where you're not
allowed to have a gun. That's where most mass shootings happened.
So there has to be something. There has to be
something said about the people that are going to do

(11:05):
these atrocities aren't going to listen to the rules anyway.

Speaker 3 (11:07):
But how do they get access to them? Then, in
the first place, if the shootings are still happening.

Speaker 7 (11:12):
Because it's not that they're illegal like in the area,
but like you can't have a gun in a school
zone is what I'm saying, you.

Speaker 1 (11:18):
Can't have it. Well, and in this particular case, it
was the father that got the rifle. Right now, the rifle,
that particular rifle and style is legal, So in here's
the thing. And then again we don't need to go
too far down the gun control route because that's a
different show for a different day. But I will tell
you that you know a handgun can do just as

(11:40):
much damage as a rifle, an assault rifle, you know,
it has the ability to do a severe damage. But
a gun is a gun.

Speaker 2 (11:49):
You know.

Speaker 1 (11:49):
A weapon is a weapon, and it's going to kill
and it's going to injure. So and you look at Chicago.
Chicago's had a ban on weapons for how many years now,
They've had their own ordinances there locally and county wide,
and they have one of the highest murder rates in
the country. So, kaya, let's take it right back. Let's
get back to the student journalism perspective of this. With

(12:12):
all of what's been said, where do you start to
cover this thing? Where do you start to peel back
the layers.

Speaker 2 (12:18):
I mean, certainly there are natural stories that arise from it,
including gun control and banning weapons. I think focusing on
gun safety and what perhaps the father did wrong in
this situation could be another vote you go down how
to have guns in the house in a safe way,
especially if you have kids. I think there are ways

(12:43):
that you look, you observe, you talk to eyewitnesses, you
talk to law enforcement, you talk to the victims, and
see what went wrong in this situation and how it
could be prevented in the future.

Speaker 3 (12:55):
Yeah, because I also had found out. You know, this kid,
he was on the police's radar for quite a while already,
you know, two years ago or a year ago, and
things came out that he was making threats al ready
to other schools to shoot up other schools, and he
denied it. And then you know, the father was saying
he didn't have the access to guns, and the police
it said that there wasn't enough evidence then to arrest him.

(13:17):
But then and then you know, he buys the gun
for him, right, there's a holiday gift. But also my
question is, you know, why didn't why wasn't he continuously
tracked still even though he didn't get arrested.

Speaker 1 (13:27):
No red flag laws there rights thing that that was
the thing everyone's been making a big deal about. There's
no red flag laws. And you all know red flag laws,
you know, so that was a big issue because there
was no probable cause and no legal reason, yeah to
track him. But when you talk about you know, a

(13:47):
parent's responsibility this and you remember the last case this
came up in and it was the Crumblings in Michigan,
and that both parents were convicted of basically being an
accomplice to their sons undoing. And I just wonder how
this is going to map out for parents in the future.

(14:08):
If you had a situation, and I believe it was
Sandy Hook Elementary School, I think the grandmother there knowingly
had the weapon and gave the weapon to the kid
because he thought it was gonna or she thought it
was going to be helpful or lift his spirits, or
whatever the case was. And I think that when you
look at this as a journalist, and I remember covering
school shooting, well, I covered Columbine in Colorado. That was

(14:31):
my last story that I covered before I got to California.
You remember Columbine, that was pretty much the first shooting
to put school shootings on the map. But I was
too young back then and didn't I wasn't able to
dig deep like I could now. That's why I ask you,
as a student journalist, would what is it you would

(14:52):
want to cover on this story? And I think you
were touching on that how to safely own a weapon
and what a parent's responsibility is. But we're going to
take a break. When we come back, Nico, you said
something that I really want to go back to. A
component of this that gets a little bit of coverage,
and it seems like every time one of these tragedies happens,
it's on the front of everyone's mind, but then it
seems to fade away. And that's mental health. So let's

(15:13):
talk about that. Welcome back to Studio six forty. I'm
Steve Gregory. Thank you for joining us. We were talking
about the shooting in Georgia this week that left four
dead and multiple people injured at a school. A horrific story.
It brings the story back around again about access to guns,
parental responsibility, mental health, and that was the thing that

(15:37):
seems to always come up when these things happened, but
we never hear much about what should be done. So, Nico,
you brought it up initially a couple segments ago. So
where should a student journalist in this particular case, Where
would you guys need to go or want to go
with that mental health piece?

Speaker 3 (15:55):
Oh, I mean definitely, you know, speak to mental health professionals.
You look at cases like this and it seems that
the profile of the shooters are a lot of the
times very similar. It's a young boy, usually a teenager,
you know, and they do have meant some mental issues.
And you know they're stocking up on weapons for some reason,
you know, somehow they can get access to these, and

(16:19):
a lot of times messy home life. It seemed like,
I know, in this case, the parents they were like
getting a divorce and I think that's when the dad
given the gun or something like that. I don't know
if the timeframe is correct there. But and a lot
of the times too, like which is crazy to me,
the parents they don't have a clue that their kid
is kind of messed up and making these threats to

(16:39):
shoot up a school.

Speaker 1 (16:41):
So well, there's always this thing of parenting about the
balance between being a kid's best friend or a kid's
good friend and a parent. Sure, and there's and that's
what happened in the case of Dylan Cleebold and Harris
in the Columbine shooting. The parents were completely oblivious because
they didn't they didn't want to be those they want
to be those parents that you know, stepped on their

(17:03):
kids's rights and give them the kids their privacy. They're teenagers,
after all, they need their space and the whole nine yards.
So they were oblivious to the red flags and the
warning signs. And then you look back at it, and
you're like, there were all kinds of warning signs. Yeah, so, Asher,
where do you see yourself looking at this story from

(17:25):
a mental health perspective.

Speaker 7 (17:27):
From a mental health perspective, I know that in California,
at least all public school students have access to mental
health services. I don't know whether that's the case across
all of America.

Speaker 1 (17:38):
And the policia. You know that there was at least
one media report that suggested this kid had asked for
mental health mental health treatment.

Speaker 4 (17:45):
I heard that.

Speaker 1 (17:45):
Yeah, yeah, that was reported day before yesterday.

Speaker 7 (17:48):
Yeah, so I know that's the thing in California. And
if that's not a thing everywhere, I think that there
should be at least some part of it in every
high school in America. Because these things are happening, These
things are real, and if we have any way to
prevent it or help it, I think that providing these
resources for students is just at the smallest service that
we can offer.

Speaker 1 (18:08):
But how But when should a kid go to get
the help? Should the kid, should it be incumbent upon
the kid to go get the help, or should someone
be able to intervene and force them to get the help.

Speaker 4 (18:20):
That's hard.

Speaker 7 (18:21):
I feel like there should definitely be an option for students.
Like you said, this student reached out and wanted some
But if there are concerns about students, I don't think
it would be wrong for the school that the student
is enrolled in to say, hey, just talk to one
of our counselors for a few hours, like once a
week or something.

Speaker 3 (18:39):
Yeah, And I think that was kind of, you know,
an issue, because I don't know if the new schools
that he went to they knew that previously the police
were looking into him, because then you know, of course,
then you have the school force them to like go
to some counselor or something.

Speaker 1 (18:52):
The FBI had notified the Sheriff's department, and the Sheriff's
department went out made contact and then they said that
there was no probable cause to taking you for their action.
So at that point there's really no legal basis to
warn a school because there has been no laws broken.

Speaker 3 (19:07):
Rob but wasn't he was still making threats anyways.

Speaker 1 (19:09):
Well, but at the time they said he had made
a threat online, and now the prosecutor did say both
of them, the father son appeared in court on Friday morning,
so they the prosecutor said there were other charges pending,
so it'll be interesting to see if any other charges

(19:30):
come up, like on you know, online threats or anything
like that. But but the sheriff's department said that there
was nothing there to give them probable cause to do it.
So kaya did want to ask you really quickly, and
then I want to wrap this topic up. But you're
an editor. Now, you're running the show. This happens in

(19:51):
your jurisdiction, not necessarily on your campus. Tell me, and
you've got a team of reporters, what are the stories
You're going.

Speaker 2 (19:57):
To have them look at the story, the news story first,
just what happened on the day itself, talking to those victims,
talking to those eyewitnesses. Then I think there is room
for gun reform stories. I think there's room for mental
health stories. I think in a situation like this, it

(20:19):
can go multiple ways. But I also know that there
is a level of fatigue that comes with something like this,
just because of the sheer amount of shootings that are
and have been happening. It can be hard, both as
a consumer and a journalist to keep what seems like
writing the same story over and over again.

Speaker 1 (20:37):
Excellent, Okay, so we'll wrap that topic up. We'll move
on to a new topic. But first Asher, tell us
a little bit about yourself, the school you go to,
and a little bit of what you've been up to.

Speaker 4 (20:47):
Yeah, so I'm Asher Us.

Speaker 7 (20:49):
I go to Vanguard University, which is in Orange County
coast to Mesa, and I'm involved in as much on
campus as I possibly can be. I'm actually a resident
assistant this year, and I'm also the intern for the
social media for my Department of History and Political Science.

Speaker 1 (21:05):
So you're an r A now, yes, Oh, well that
must be fun.

Speaker 4 (21:09):
It's a time sixty freshman boys.

Speaker 1 (21:14):
Nico Sapphire, welcome back again. Tell us. I know you're
very busy and you're very active in the media, so
tell us all about yourself.

Speaker 4 (21:21):
That's right.

Speaker 3 (21:21):
Yes, Well, I just graduated in May from Kowlou and
I got my degree in calm and you know, I
was specializing in PR and AD there for a while,
and then I got really involved in the production classes
and in the radio program so I started with my
own podcast, Sapphire Sessions in school and then so I'm
still doing that, and then I also started a radio

(21:42):
show with a buddy of mine. Also for the campus
station that's Nico and Anthony Live, and so we still
get to do that. We just did another show last week,
so that's awesome because we still can use the studio
in there and you know, do some shows for sure.

Speaker 1 (21:53):
At some point, you know you're going to get kicked out, right, Well,
you're gonna have to have a backup plan.

Speaker 3 (21:57):
I've been there, I mean, I'm a podcast. Yeah, yeah,
we'll have to, I mean so far, yeah, we kind
of we got an in because we have a buddy
of ours who is one of the professors, so he
less getting there.

Speaker 1 (22:06):
Good for you.

Speaker 3 (22:07):
So yeah, so just continue that and then see where
that takes me. So it's been a lot of fun.

Speaker 1 (22:10):
Excellent, good to have you. Kaya man, you're the boss,
the new boss this year at your paper. Tell us
about it.

Speaker 2 (22:17):
It's definitely a double edged sword. I am having a
lot of fun making the decisions being the boss, but
also a lot of the response.

Speaker 1 (22:25):
Are being as I think I am.

Speaker 2 (22:27):
But you know, we're still we're still pretty new, and
so we'll see talk to talk to my editors below me.

Speaker 1 (22:33):
Well, so what else you got going on? What's the goal?

Speaker 2 (22:35):
Well, we're we're planning on printing our first newspaper in
a few days when we go back. And that's mainly,
mainly the main thing going on, trying to figure out
how to manage a team of writers and photographers and
tell the news on the campus.

Speaker 1 (22:51):
Excellent. Well, it's good to have you all here. When
we come back, we'll move on to our next topic.
This is Studio six forty. I'm Steve Gregory. Welcome back
our next story.

Speaker 8 (22:59):
President his son walking into a Los Angeles courthouse just
as jury selection in his latest trial was set to begin.
His lawyer soon informing the judge the plans had changed
and Hunter would admit his guilt to all nine counts,
including tax evasion, filing a false return, and failing to
pay his taxes on time. The judge asking if Biden

(23:20):
understood his rights and the charges. Biden answering yes.

Speaker 9 (23:24):
Hunter decided to enter his plea to protect those he
loves from unnecessary hurt and cruel humiliation.

Speaker 8 (23:34):
In a statement, Hunter Biden saying, like millions of Americans,
I failed to file and pay my taxes on time.

Speaker 3 (23:41):
For that, I am responsible.

Speaker 8 (23:42):
Today's guilty plea, which includes no deal with the government,
reached after hours of legal wrangling and a last minute
effort by Hunter Biden's lawyers to maintain his innocence while
admitting the strength of the government's case through a so
called Alford plea. The government balked that proposal Special Council
Leo Why, saying that it is not in the public interest,

(24:04):
it's contrary to the rule of law, and we think
it's an injustice. The police now sparing the Biden family
another public spectacle. As Hunter Biden's past drug abuse was
on full display when he was convicted on gun charges
in June. The current tax case carried a risk of
not only additional prison time, but an airing of even

(24:25):
more salacious details, as prosecutors were prepared to call a
dozen witnesses trying to prove he spent millions on an
extravagant lifestyle, illegally writing off payments to women and luxury
car purchases as business expenses. The President has said he
would not pardon Hunter.

Speaker 10 (24:42):
I said by the jury decision, and I will do that.

Speaker 1 (24:45):
And I will not partner him.

Speaker 8 (24:47):
When asked today if he had reconsidered, the White House
Press Secretary said the answer was no.

Speaker 1 (24:52):
Ash sure, is this even a news story?

Speaker 4 (24:55):
I think so. I mean, I think that.

Speaker 7 (24:59):
Just by and is still the sitting president of the
United States, and so his family is important in the
American eye. I think that when Obama was president, when
Trump was president, their kids were obviously in different stages
of life.

Speaker 4 (25:11):
But they were of newsworthy.

Speaker 7 (25:13):
They were newsworthy, and so now Hunter Biden, I would say,
he's still newsworthy. It's what happens behind the scenes. I
think is important to tell the American people. I think
it's important that we bring it up, even though if
he was just a random person, it probably wouldn't beyond
the news. I think that we have to accept his
elevated status as the son of the president.

Speaker 1 (25:34):
And do you think that when President Biden said I
won't pardon him, do you think that was for political
reasons because the election is still coming up, or do
you think that he would stick by his word on that.

Speaker 7 (25:46):
It's hard because on one end, I see it as
a political move and on the other hand, I see
it as a dad still trying to parent his son.
Because there is a sense of discipline, right. You can't
just get your kids out of trouble if you have
the power to, and so I see it as like, oh,
we don't want to president that I'll not even discipline
his own kids. But the other end of it, I

(26:07):
see a dad that just wants to make sure his
kids are disciplined and still doing the best they can.

Speaker 1 (26:13):
Nico, what would be your approach? What would be the
one story you would want to extract from this?

Speaker 6 (26:18):
Oh?

Speaker 3 (26:19):
Yeah, you know, I think I would focus on a
bit of what you touched on, asure the difference of how,
if you know, how somebody else, just somebody random would
have been treated if they weren't Abiden, right, And a
lot of news outlets and other you know, sources have
been saying that he was treated more harshly because he
was a Biden, right, And as far as the pardoning goes,

(26:41):
because I had seen some of the latest that he
could have gotten, like a maximum maximum penalty. I think
it was like seventeen years prison. So I don't know,
I think Biden should right if he's facing that, because
I don't think again, you know, I think he was
treated a bit more harshly just because he was Biden's son.

Speaker 1 (26:56):
Well, now, if you're looking at this from inequality stand point,
when people go after Trump, do you think it's too
harsh when they go after Trump.

Speaker 3 (27:05):
Well, after Trump himself, he's done a lot of well,
I mean, if you've got to look at all the stuff.

Speaker 1 (27:09):
That he broke the law and Hunter broke the law.
So yeah, you think, but when people talk about going
after Trump, they think that they're saving democracy. When they're
going after Hunter, they think it's too harsh.

Speaker 4 (27:22):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (27:23):
I mean, also, I think him being Biden's son, you know,
I don't know if it has in certain cases as
much relevance to like what Joe Biden is doing just
because he's a son, right with Trump as a whole
different stories. He is a whole different beast and all
the things that he's done, and he's trying to run
the country again, so they think that's a different You
can't really compare the two.

Speaker 1 (27:44):
Got okay, So kaya let's talk about whether or not
the children of presidents and vice presidents is that fair game.

Speaker 2 (27:56):
I think it depends on the situation. You know, if
it's something like Tim Wilson, that was a story a
while ago about him emotional at the DNC, that's not
a story that's for clich Well.

Speaker 1 (28:11):
I was just exactly glad you said that. Yeah, it
turned out to be a viral video.

Speaker 2 (28:15):
Exactly, but you know, this is an actual story that
that may have ramifications on the bad administration and even
the Kama's running going forward prafts.

Speaker 1 (28:27):
And don't you suppose that you know, there's so many
critical eyes on every aspect of this. So when you
look at this, and again you as an editor, if
you're signing this story out, where's the story for you?
What is it you want? Where? What is it you
want your audience to know about this story?

Speaker 2 (28:45):
Well, the thing is, I'm aware that I'm a student
journalist and that I'm a part of a campus newspaper,
and that no one's really going to the Valley Star
for breaking national news. They're going to New York Times,
Wall Street Journal. So I think our goal is going
big big. Our goal is always to centralize it around
our students and our college actually, And so I would

(29:05):
go out or send people out to walk around the
campus and ask students what they think, if they know
what's happening, if they care, if they think we'll have
have effects.

Speaker 1 (29:15):
As sure. One of the things that came up, are
you familiar with the Alfred plea? The three of you
know what the Alfred plea is okay, So the Alfred
plea is something and it's called something different in other states,
but in essence, it's I will do the time that
I will not admit the guilt. Yeah, that's it called
an Alfred plea. You heard in the audio package when

(29:37):
the defense attorney or when the reporter had suggested that
the defense wanted to offer up an Alfred plea and
the prosecution's like, no, we're not doing that. You're gonna
admit to your crimes and you're going to do your time.
And that's basically what it is. And that's a long
way around of asking you then, if you heard about

(29:58):
the Alfred plea in that situation, what do you think
that says that maybe he wants to do the time,
but he doesn't want to admit his guilt.

Speaker 7 (30:09):
That's it's such an interesting concept because at one end
it's like he's taking ownership for it, but the other
end of it, he's not taking punishment. He's taking the
punishment but not the ownership. Yeah, I don't know. I
think it's interesting. I've never heard of that before, and
I think it's kind of a weird that that would
even be an option.

Speaker 1 (30:26):
Okay, so we're going to take a break. You can
research that when we come back, we'll talk more. Welcome
back to the studio six forty. I'm Steve Gregory. Thank
you for joining us. We've been talking about the Hunter
Biden plea deal this week that happened in downtown Los
Angeles in federal court. Before the break, I had brought
up the comment that Hunter Biden's attorney had made to

(30:48):
prosecutors about taking what they call the Alfred plea, which
in essence is I'll do the time, I'll take the punishment,
but I don't want to admit any guilt. And that
seemed to be a new concept of the three of you.
I had a chance overbreak maybe to look it up
a little bit, so I want to re ask the
question because Asher I kind of dumped it on you.

(31:09):
But now to a kaya the Alfred plea, and the
other thing that came up in the audio package that
I thought was interesting too, is that when the attorney
spoke outside of court and said that a hunter has
decided to do this, I'm paraphrasing that he did what
millions of Americans have done in not fail filing their

(31:31):
income tax. I thought that was interesting how he sort
of deflected the like I just did what everyone else does.
You know, I thought that was an interesting move. Do you, again,
looking through the lens of a student journalist or editor,
whichever one you want to choose, do you think comments
like that or are good to look at or dig

(31:54):
deeper on? It's like, do you feel like that angle
of whether Hunter Biden is remorseful?

Speaker 2 (32:00):
I think comes like that show the kind of mindset
that he was and is in, and it is that
kind of wealthy mindset where everyone else is doing it,
I can do it, and you know it's true, a
lot of a lot of upper echelon people, top one
percent do get away with a lot of messy taxes
and things.

Speaker 1 (32:22):
So is it worth your attention?

Speaker 9 (32:24):
You know?

Speaker 2 (32:24):
I think the story we were talking a little bit
about the newsworthy aspect of the story and if it
is newsworthy, and I think while there is an audience,
and with an audience, news follows, I also think that
it has become less newsworthy and that people don't care
quite as much because, namely because of Biden dropping out
of the race.

Speaker 1 (32:44):
Well, it's interesting, I guess I hadn't even thought of
it that way, you won't be.

Speaker 2 (32:47):
In office in a few months.

Speaker 1 (32:48):
So I mean, so he's a lame He's a lame duck. Sun, Yeah,
say that, I guess for lack of a better better
look at it. So, Nico, you know that's not really
thought of that. That's a really interesting point. So do
you think the Hunter Biden things played out?

Speaker 3 (33:06):
Yeah, and I think it's you know, I know there's
a lot of new information coming out now, but I
don't see it as relevant to everything else that's really
going on. And I think later, you know, going back
to the pardoning too, I think it won't matter as much,
you know, depending on what Biden does. Also, because it's
not like he's gonna run again for presidents, so if

(33:27):
he wanted to, like, he could pardon him, you know.
So yeah, I don't see it.

Speaker 1 (33:31):
But don't you think that would also damage the Democratic
Party in general?

Speaker 4 (33:36):
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (33:37):
I'm not sure.

Speaker 2 (33:38):
I don't think it would be a good idea for
him to think. So No, I think.

Speaker 3 (33:43):
Even if he's facing.

Speaker 1 (33:44):
What was it, he's facing, Yeah, a lot of time.

Speaker 3 (33:47):
But because if you have a chance, you can go
to prison for that long, like I would think as
his father as.

Speaker 2 (33:54):
The president, though, you have to think of the fact
that you aren't just a father, you in any ways
could be considered father of the country.

Speaker 3 (34:01):
So but he won't be.

Speaker 2 (34:02):
Basically he won't be, but he's still It could be
a party, it could be a stand on his record
as president and could affect yeah, the Democratic Party going forward.

Speaker 3 (34:12):
Well, I know, like Trump and he always talks about too,
pardoning all of the like the January sixth people. I mean,
that's a big it's worth much worse, you know, because
they actually yeah, so it's it's different.

Speaker 4 (34:22):
They were the insurrectionists.

Speaker 7 (34:23):
What I think too, though, is that pretty much everything
the president does sets a precedent. And I think that
if Joe Biden were to partner Hunter Biden, it would
set a precedent that the sons of presidents can do
whatever they want to get away with it. And then
where does that end. The cousin the second cousins twice
removes the presidents can do whatever they want and get

(34:43):
away with it. So I think that it was a
smart move, not even thinking from a partisan standpoint, but
from a setting a precedent for the country and the
future standpoint. What does it mean to be a president
and relate to your children or your family members that
may commit a crime.

Speaker 1 (34:59):
And let's look back at it that this is not
the first time the child of a president has done
something wrong, even the brother of a president. And believe
it on this is way before all three of you.
But Jimmy Carter, his brother, Billy Carter, was kind of
a big well, for lack of a better terms, Georgia.

(35:21):
But they had a thing called Billy Beer because he
was just a beer guzzling guy that was always getting
in trouble and he made a lot of news back then.
And this is long before social media, but he was
always in the news because he was this guzzling beer
all the time and he was just a good old
boy sitting around drinking beer. And his brother's up in
the White House. So and then I'm trying to think

(35:42):
back again. You know, Obama's daughters were way out of
the limelight. They pretty much kept it themselves. Clinton's daughter
nothing there. I don't. I think people picked on her,
but just just because they picked on her, But she
didn't do anything wrong that I remember. I'm trying to
remember any of you historians that way, didn't you remember

(36:03):
any president's kids screw up, I don't think so. But
then let's not forget Biden had already been convicted on
a gun charge too. A Hunter had already been convicted
on a gun and drugs. So he's got the problem
or he has the biggest problems I think of all.
But you know, that's the sad part about anybody being
in that high of an office. And I think to

(36:24):
Kaya's point, then you were kind of going a little
bit there too. Ashure is that I don't know, it's
also not only looked at as the president and his son,
but as a wealthy individual getting by with yet something else.
And I think there's that is also a precedent. When
you talked about setting precedent, I think it also has
to do with a one percenter. So I mean, let's

(36:45):
make no mistake about it. The Bidens are very wealthy. Yeah,
I think that that has a lot a big role
to playing that as well. So okay, we're gonna have
to pause right there to take a break. But first
I want to tell everyone about Studio six forty and
about how you can participate if you're a student out
there that's enrolled in any college or university in person
classes only, or if there's a hybrid of in person

(37:06):
classes and online classes, that's fine, but we need you
to be involved with the school's paper, radio station, television station,
or their digital properties like a podcast or something else
along those lines. All you have to do is go
to kfi AM six forty dot com slash studio and
read through all of the criteria. There's a place at
the bottom where you can click and it'll give you

(37:27):
sort of a step by step on how to submit
materials to be considered as a panelist for Studio six forty.
Exactly what these three are doing right now. So pass
this along to anybody. You might be the parents of
a college student, you might be the grandparents of a
college student, or an uncle or an aunt, or a
relative or just a friend. Either way, get everyone over
to KFIAM six forty dot com slash studio to learn

(37:48):
more about how you can be a panelist on kfi's
newest show, Studio six forty. Welcome back. This is I'm
Steve Gregory. Thank you for joining us.

Speaker 10 (38:02):
Our next story, dangerous triple digit heat squeezing a tight
grip on Southern California.

Speaker 1 (38:07):
Is getting hotter and hotter every day.

Speaker 10 (38:11):
Cessive heat warnings issued across the south Land. Temperatures this
weekend in some areas around one hundred and ten hot,
crazy hot kids lining up for ice cream between soccer
games at Balboa Park.

Speaker 2 (38:24):
I just like it. I do like the heat.

Speaker 10 (38:26):
Others enjoying the heat or trying to stay cool.

Speaker 1 (38:30):
A beautiful day out at the beach.

Speaker 10 (38:31):
But in some places they're warning people not to swim.

Speaker 1 (38:35):
It's a wonderful day to be at the beach with
my daughter as well.

Speaker 11 (38:38):
Warning is there, but it's also giving us a choice too,
because I don't think anyone's enforcing it.

Speaker 10 (38:43):
LA County Public Health posting yellow warning signs at nine
beaches along the coast measuring high levels of bacteria where
some try beating the heat. Cooling centers now set up
throughout La County. Heat advisories and warnings continuing through the weekend.

Speaker 1 (38:58):
So asher the store here.

Speaker 7 (39:01):
I think that there's a lot of different angles you
could go for. I think one of them is kind
of the obvious of raising awareness how to stay safe,
how to stay cool, symptoms of heat stroke, things like that.
I think that that's something that is covered a lot,
but it is also something that's really important, because you
can't tell people enough how important it is to stay
away from the heat as best as possible and not

(39:23):
to you know, run seven miles when it's one hundred
degrees outside.

Speaker 1 (39:27):
Do you really have to tell people something that seems
like common sense?

Speaker 4 (39:31):
I think so.

Speaker 7 (39:32):
I mean I've been to like many parks the beach
where people are walking dogs when it's ninety five degrees outside,
people are going on runs.

Speaker 4 (39:39):
I'm like, how are you doing this?

Speaker 7 (39:41):
I was driving with my dad not too long ago,
and we saw a person running and then they just
kind of collapsed on the road for a second, got
back up and just like kept running. And I was like,
it was like probably one hundred degrees on that.

Speaker 1 (39:52):
You didn't stop and record it so you could post.

Speaker 4 (39:54):
It not I did not know.

Speaker 7 (39:57):
It was super random. I was like, you're out there
running when it's one hundred degrees outside. I don't even
know what you would want to expect. So I just
think something like that, as much as we can get
that out, it's just super important to just remind people
the dangers of heat stroke and heat exhaustion, like what
those symptoms look like.

Speaker 1 (40:14):
Yeah, so Nico, same thing. I mean, heat is a
big deal here, and it's gotten worse over the years, right,
So where's the story.

Speaker 3 (40:21):
Yeah, So for this I had to do some deep
diving because I didn't remember anything from science class. But here,
you know, we we were having like this desert like
heat that you normally wouldn't see here, and it has
been the past few years, right, And a big part
of that is because of global warming, Right, that's the
big thing. And you know, so I had to look

(40:42):
into this a bit. But when all the pollutions and
their traps so long and their surface makes the heat
build up and then leads to the global warming, and
that's what's leading to like this extreme weather, not just
when it's really hot, but also you know extreme on
the other side too, and hurricanes and stuff like that,
but and the wildfires as well, right, and droughts and
things like that. So there's a lot of I think
as far as covering stories related to this, I think

(41:06):
I would want to focus on like informing people of
the consequences that global warming can have and climate change
that could have on our planet and kind of go
that route a little bit.

Speaker 1 (41:15):
So, but wouldn't you want to dig a little because
when you say global warming or climate change. I think everyone,
I think everyone has their own definition of it, you
know what I mean. I think when you say climate
change to some people, they're either and there's there are
climate change deniers, global warming deniers, what have you. But

(41:36):
how do you inform people about because that's a pretty broad,
yeah approach, Yeah, what would you? Is there something specific
that you would want to focus on?

Speaker 3 (41:46):
I think, I mean, you know, and it's it's certainly
gotten to your point too, which is really interesting, like
political and there are people that are denying that it's
an issue, right, I know, it's you know, to kind
of I guess low it or or you know, make
it more relaiable to what we can do. I know
I found things like about reducing your carbon footprint and

(42:09):
you know, conserving water or getting like energy saving appliances
like things like that that we could do. But I
think I think it is a bigger there's a bigger
picture to it and why we're really having this extreme
weather and I think it is dangerous for some politicians
a lot of times on the right from for example,
that are denying climate change and it's like not an issue,
which obviously it is, and you know, he had other

(42:32):
research that I had done. He withdrew from this Paris
Climate Agreement. That's where world leaders and they can you know,
they agree to help prevent the global temperatures rising, and
you know and cutting greenhouse gas emissions, right, and so
reducing emissions is another big part of this. And you
know he eliminated clear air protections, right, stuff like that.

(42:54):
So that's a lot that goes into that. But yeah,
it's definitely I do see it as more of a
bigger picture here.

Speaker 1 (43:01):
Okay, so Kaya. Even one of the things you talked
about as being an editor with your school paper now
is localizing. And you know, the piece we just heard
was from a local television station going out and about
and sort of surveying what people are doing and how
it's affecting people. But you know, people on campus, students

(43:23):
on campus, teachers on campus, staff on campus, they're all
impacted by heat like this too. Where's the localization for you?

Speaker 2 (43:30):
For me, it's looking at the administration seeing what they're
doing to keep their faculty and students safe. We've talked
a lot about student athletes because they're out running in
triple degree weather, practicing for hours on end and what
is the campus doing to keep them safe? What procedures

(43:52):
do they have in place? So you know, if that's
a practicing inside. I think our football team has been
doing that the past couple of days, or changing what
they're wearing, having ice, having Mister's medical staff on, you know,
looking out for heatstroke.

Speaker 12 (44:06):
You know.

Speaker 1 (44:07):
Another thing too is finding out the with the regularity
in which they service their HVAC systems.

Speaker 2 (44:14):
I just talked to I had a meeting with the
president of my school and talked about their their HVAC
systems and if every classroom had air conditioning. Luckily we do,
but yeah, it's do.

Speaker 1 (44:26):
But who controls the thermostat. That's the hero, That's who's
good when he controls the thermostat. Do you get to
control it?

Speaker 3 (44:33):
I think the thermostats every room has its own.

Speaker 2 (44:35):
I don't think we can control.

Speaker 3 (44:38):
Would was going going early and make it lower? Maybe
not allowed, but before the professor would do that.

Speaker 1 (44:44):
You have all your own hvacs, but they keep it
at eighty three, you know, just to save money.

Speaker 3 (44:51):
Luckily, we're pretty.

Speaker 2 (44:52):
Cool in the newsroom, so that's okay.

Speaker 4 (44:53):
That's good.

Speaker 1 (44:58):
Welcome back to Studio six forty m Steve, Why, thank
you for joining us. We've been talking about the heat
wave that has completely covered southern California, and in the
last segment, the panel was listening to an audio package
of the local reporters talking to some people around the
southern California area about what they've been doing. And one

(45:19):
of the interesting things that came up in that audio package,
if you recall that, was the people tend to flock
to the beach when it's hot, right, they want to
get that relief, or they want to get their tan,
whatever the case is. It tends to be cooler at
the beaches. But then lo and behold, they show up
and there's a sign that says beach closed, or I
mean the water. Don't go in the water because La

(45:40):
County Health has said it's got all kinds of bacteria
and chemicals in it. What is the government's role when
it comes to things like this massive heat waves or weather.
What is the government's role in protecting its public? Open question?

Speaker 7 (45:55):
I mean, I think, first and foremost, the preamble of
the Constitution says that it's the the government to provide
for the common defense, and I think a lot of
people think about that as like from other countries defending
them from foreign attacks. But the common defense is defending
the people from whatever comes their way, including weather and climate.
That's the reason that the military goes to help hurricanes

(46:17):
and after tornadoes. Same thing with heat. It may be
a little less drastic and there's less like carnage, but
I think it's still in essence the same thing. So
I think that it is the role of the government
to step in and like they talked about, like the
cooling centers and ways for people that don't have access
to stay cool during this time and stay healthy. I

(46:39):
think that it is their role to provide those I
know there are some areas, but yeah, with the beaches,
that is an unfortunate timing.

Speaker 1 (46:48):
Yeah, can you and I remember seeing that because I
was looking at that. It was a TV audio package
that we heard, but it was a TV package and
so there was visuals to it, and you could see
some people were acts in the water and couldn't care
less about the signs because it was about it was
about them cooling down. But then and those are usually
the people who turn around and sue the county because

(47:10):
the beaches were closed. But it just it's interesting to
me because these cooling centers, and I don't know. I
gotta be honest with you, I've never been to a
cooling center. I've been to shelters before of different kinds,
but I've never been to a cooling center. So I'm
just curious where the government role is. I mean, you know,
after that's an excellent point, you know, and thank you

(47:30):
for that reference. But how far should the government go?
What about I know there's issues with low income housing
and air conditioning, and there are in the city of
Los Angeles is cracking down hardcore on landlords and home
owner apartment complex owners about having working air conditioning in

(47:51):
all of the units. So I know that that is
a big issue. But you, as student journalists, where is
that story for you? Where do you go and where
do you dig?

Speaker 2 (48:00):
I think there's possibly a personal story in there where
you can look at one account of one person who
lives in low income housing who maybe doesn't have access
to air conditioning, where they go, how they stay cool,
how the government is or is not helping them, and
they're just their general story.

Speaker 1 (48:17):
Yeah, any other thoughts are great.

Speaker 4 (48:19):
Yeah, I agree with that.

Speaker 1 (48:23):
I agree on that. No, let's talk a little bit
about the other impact that the heat has. And you know,
as we look at as we look at the temperatures
that continue to climb, I mean, we're in triple digits.
But there's one other byproduct of this severe blustery heat.

Speaker 11 (48:42):
Twenty five million Americans on alert for dangerous heat as
California tonight already battles a wildfire there, the Coral Fire
east of San Francisco, racing across more than twenty square miles.
Cruise battling the flames and the temperatures Mola Lengi on
the fire lines force.

Speaker 1 (48:57):
A new threat for the West.

Speaker 5 (48:59):
Scorching heat.

Speaker 1 (49:00):
Four hundred and seventy.

Speaker 12 (49:01):
Five firefighters already battling California's first major wildfire of the year,
the dry grass quickly going up near the town of Tracy,
the Corral Fire, incinerating more than twenty square miles east
of San Francisco in the last forty eight hours.

Speaker 11 (49:17):
The winds were fearce thirty to forty mile an hour
sustained winds and sixty mile an hour guys.

Speaker 2 (49:22):
People were saying they couldn't even stand up in those
high winds.

Speaker 12 (49:26):
Two firefighters sustaining burns when the erratic winds changed direction,
expected to be okay. Travis Curtis's parents, evacuating his flames,
closed in on his childhood home, now destroyed by the fire.

Speaker 9 (49:39):
They left with the clothes on their back, and so
I came home to nothing.

Speaker 1 (49:43):
Came home to nothing.

Speaker 12 (49:45):
Authorities warning that fire season is now a year round event.

Speaker 1 (49:49):
Open question. Have any of you ever experienced wildfire in
any way personally?

Speaker 2 (49:57):
Yes, I live around Woodley, which is always seemingly on fire,
actually not a wildfire, but just a few days ago
there was a fire in front of my school, the
contents of a garbage truck. Common fire, and they had
to dump it, and the fire fighters came, and we
of course ran out with.

Speaker 1 (50:17):
Cameras and of course, of course.

Speaker 2 (50:20):
Hand and went and investigated in it. And it is
a testament to how hot it iss. It was just
a pressure cooker in there, which which caused the fire.
And then a matter of fact, same day I was
driving home saw the smoke another fire.

Speaker 1 (50:36):
And brush fires are a big deal, not just wildfires.
We think of the large scale forest fires, but brush
fires are a bigger problem, as big of a problem
in La County, Orange County as.

Speaker 2 (50:48):
They are, and it only adds to the pollution, Yeah, exactly,
which only makes it worse.

Speaker 1 (50:53):
Yeah, So Astra your Orange County. Yeah, so do you
have a lot of I know there's a lot of
fire activity in Orange County. Have you ever experienced anything
like an evacuation or anything like that?

Speaker 7 (51:05):
There is I haven't personally. One of my good friends
that I met in college, her family actually is from
like Reading, California, and their house burnt down in the
car fire, which happened a few years back, and so
I've heard her stories a lot about how that has
affected her, and so it's been interesting to get that
perspective because I didn't grow up near mountains that had

(51:26):
caught on fire, so it just wasn't something that was
even a little bit in my mind. But just hearing
how they lost everything in the fire. They weren't even
at home at the time, so they just had people
that were watching their house grab like one thing from
each kid and then just take it and that's all
they had left. So it kind of been interesting just
to get to know her and hear that story. But yeah,
it is a force, the forest fires are.

Speaker 3 (51:49):
Yeah, it wasn't not that long ago. It was researching
because a bunch of people in my area and in
high school, a lot of my friends. I think it
was at the time of the Woolsey fire, right yeah,
and you know, and we're all in the valley and
we all had to evacuate. I mean, it wasn't super
close to where we were, but they were just kind of,
you know, as precautioned to clear up the streets and stuff.

(52:10):
So that was huge. That was like my main experience
with that. And then we stayed on my grandparents for
roo almost like a week or something like that.

Speaker 1 (52:16):
So yeah, I'll tell you something, it's deadly, it's scary,
and it's one of the scariest things I've ever covered.
So with that, we'll take a break. When we come back,
we'll wrap things up. Welcome back to Studio six forty.
I'm Steve Gregory. Thank you for joining us. We've been
talking about the excessive heat that's been going on in
southern California, and before the break, we were just touching

(52:38):
on the impacts of high temperatures in and around southern California.
Not only does it bring drought and you know, dehydration,
but it also brings wildfires. And we were just kind
of getting into the wildfire story. I asked, you were
telling a sorry about someone you know from reading that
had gone through that. And I've covered probably know two

(52:58):
or three hundred fires in my career, but that's one
thing you don't mess around with, is wildfire. And I've
seen it absolutely decimate towns, the Paradise, the town of
Paradise that no longer exists because of the fires from
a few years ago. But it also brings up something else.
I covered the fires on the island of Maui last summer,

(53:20):
and one of the things that is, and to this day,
the official cause of the fire has not been released
by the federal government, but it's pretty much a foregone
fact that the utility there, Hawaiian Electric, or so they
call it, Hiko, had some very rotten wooden power poles
and the high winds eventually snapped those poles like twigs,

(53:45):
and those charged power lines landed on dry grass, dry brush.
Here in California, Southern California, Edison, Pacific Gas and Electric
down in San Diego, they've all had to pay out
millions and billions of dollars in settlements as that is
a setup now as we look at through the eyes
of student journalists. Where do you see the story there

(54:07):
when you talk about the role that utilities, government and
the people play and keeping themselves safe.

Speaker 3 (54:13):
Yeah, And it was funny that you brought that up,
because that's what I was thinking too, in a different angle,
because that's I've heard that that the power lines, that
these are what are causing a lot of these wildfires,
and so I wonder, you know, is it are they
getting corroded and things like that? Right? Like how exactly
the power lines?

Speaker 7 (54:30):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (54:30):
You know what happens is the power lines, and that's
why you're not supposed touch them, because they're energized. Yeah.
So you've got you know, tens of thousands of volts
running through these power lines, and when electricity hits and
sparks in dry brush, it's just like it's just like
friction with rubbing a stick in the old scouting days.
But that's what happens. Those charged power lines hit dry

(54:51):
brush and it ignites.

Speaker 3 (54:52):
Yeah. So then how can like, what could these companies
like Edison do to help prevent that from causing?

Speaker 1 (54:59):
Uh, that's what they're supposed to be. That's one of
the reasons why they don't they get in trouble so
much is because they don't spend the money and the
resources to do defensible space around their power lines. And
on top of that, they're not doing regular inspections of
their power grid or the infrastructure. And that was the
case in on the island of Maui where Hawaiian Electric
wasn't doing a good enough job because there's a lot

(55:20):
of foliage over there, a lot of greenery, a lot
of brush, and when you have gale force winds on
top of really frail power polls, that's not a good recipe.

Speaker 3 (55:31):
Yeah, because I think near me we have the power lines.
I think they're underground. I think yeah, And I.

Speaker 1 (55:37):
Know that's something they've been trying to do, but it's
a very very costly process. So are you which power company?

Speaker 3 (55:45):
I think it's Edison.

Speaker 1 (55:47):
Yeah, I don't know if they're doing that. I know
it's a very costly expense, and I know they've been
exploring it, and then some lawmakers have been trying to
pass legislation to force them to do that, but that
comes with a whole set of new challenges by burying
power lines underground, so that could get that's you know,
it's kind of somes and downs too, But by and large,

(56:10):
the power grade in California, the power grade itself is
very is pretty weak anytime. And that have you ever
seen any of you ever experienced a transformer exploding? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (56:21):
Yeah, I just a few months ago. I think I
heard a big bang.

Speaker 1 (56:25):
Oh yeah, you feel like you're being intact, like you
know the bomb run is coming. And yeah, I've seen
a few times. But that that's another thing, that heat
will sometimes overload transformers and those will explode, and the
sparks from those will land on grass.

Speaker 2 (56:42):
And I think that brings up to the idea of
you know, when we have these moments and we have
you know, I think there's a lot of blackouts where
I was. Where I lived, there was blackouts and brownouts
brings up the topic of like service journalism, and then
you go back to how do you help the people
that are affected by that?

Speaker 3 (57:01):
Yeah, they don't have access to to trying to find
out what's going on.

Speaker 1 (57:05):
Well, and not only that, when you shut off someone's power,
when you're forced to shut off power, you know, sometimes
it's for hours at a time. Yeah, And do you
prepare them right? And what if you're on a medical
device that requires power and it doesn't have a backup
battery or generator or whatever the case is. That's why
I think there's a lot there. There's a lot of

(57:25):
it's very rich in stories. Yeah, when you talk about
a utilities role or the government's role in keeping people safe,
and when you think about it, there's something wrong with
when you pay your power bill every month. I don't
know that you're each doing power bills yet, but when
you pay your power bill every month and then like, oh,
by the way, we're going to have to shut off

(57:47):
your power here for a couple of weeks because or
for a couple hours because it's just getting too hot outside,
You're thinking to yourself, why, why why are we this
far that we have to do that. But there's an
I'm glad you brought that up service journalism. That's a
really good way looking at it, because we do have
a role and a responsibility to keep people informed about this.

(58:08):
And when power companies, utilities, or even government officials come
out and try to downplay it, that's when I get
really peeled because you know that they're trying to avoid
a lawsuits or avoid culpability. But any more thoughts on fire.

Speaker 4 (58:25):
I would say, with that or more heat.

Speaker 7 (58:27):
Electricity as well is a concern I have with like
medical devices as well. Blackouts brownouts is when the push
I know California is pushing and a lot of other
places are too, towards electric vehicles and predominantly electric vehicles.

Speaker 4 (58:41):
My concern is.

Speaker 7 (58:43):
What are we going to do when everybody can only
charge their car?

Speaker 3 (58:46):
That's so true?

Speaker 7 (58:47):
Or I saw I know. I think it's the city
of South Pasadena. All of their police vehicles are electric teslas. Now,
which my question is if there is a blackout, then
are there no cop cars.

Speaker 1 (58:58):
It happened last summer the governor. The governor said that
we're going to have to do brownouts and blackouts, rolling
brown outs, blackouts, including because it was only essential power
only and he considered car charging is non essential and
so how contradictory is that when you've got legislation that's

(59:19):
pushing you toward going electric, but we don't have an
infrastructure that can handle it, especially with our heat.

Speaker 7 (59:24):
Yeah, that's my main concern. Well, especially even with electric vehicles,
like batteries aren't made to be in such heat, so
electric vehicles don't last as long in Arizona. But even
here in California with the heat we have, like electric
vehicles aren't as good here as they would be, say,
in North Dakota. So it's interesting that we have such
a push when it doesn't really work here and we

(59:46):
can't support it.

Speaker 4 (59:47):
So that's kind of always the question.

Speaker 1 (59:48):
I Yeah, well we're gonna have to leave it there.
We're out of time. A great discussion today. I appreciate
you being here very much, Kiaman from La Valley College,
Nico Sapphire, cal Lutheran, Asher Russ Vanguard University, and we
thank you all for being here.

Speaker 4 (01:00:01):
Thanks, thank you.

Speaker 1 (01:00:04):
Studio six forties a production of the KFI News Department
for iHeartMedia, Los Angeles. The show's executive producers are Steve
Gregory and Jacob Gonzalez. The line producer is Richie Quintero.
The opinions expressed on this program are those of the
guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of KAFI,
iHeartMedia or its affiliates.