October 10, 2025 • 32 mins
Ceasefire in the Middle East as Hamas and Israel both agree to the first stage of a peace deal to end the two-year war. The U.S. is sending 200 troops not to fight but to oversee the peace deal. Trump is using the DOJ for vengeance against New York Attorney General Letitia James, who has just been indicted for mortgage fraud. One in six aspiring homeowners, mostly millennials, have given up attempting to buy a home due to house prices. More and more millennials continue to live with their parents due to the high cost of living.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
All right, Tomorrow on the program, you're gonna hear about
one super chef to the stars who's no longer cooking
it up in Waco. I don't know. Why do I
care about Waco? Well, you'll have to listen and find out.
That's tomorrow on the program. Looking forward to uh talking
to you then should be a grand old time. I'm
(00:27):
Chris Merrill. You can listen anytime on demand and the
iHeart radio app. We've finally got it after millennia. We've
got peace in the Middle East, thank God.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Who Yes, all right, so I'm happy.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
I am too.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Ridiculous. I hate seeing everything the way that it's gone.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
I got family over there.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
All right, Okay, which team are they on?
Speaker 3 (00:51):
I'm Israel High, you're Israel? Yes, all right, very good.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
I was talking with friends about this. Are you Jewish
or somebody just somebody else in your family is Jewish
or just not Jewish but living in Israel.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
I'm one hundred percent Red Sea pedestrian.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Oh okay, very good. Yeah. Uh. By the way, I've
never heard that used outside of a Monty Python film.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
I am a walking Monty Python. No, that was was
that not mel Brooks? No, it's my Python same.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
I mean I can quote that, but the FCC doesn't approve.
So yeah, uh where it was Life of Brian by
the way, Uh where we were see? Oh yeah, so
we've got a ceasefire. The question, of course, is how
long is it going to last? Will it hold? This
is the This is really the big question. CNN has
(01:40):
been kind of covering this is it's unfolded.
Speaker 4 (01:42):
There has just been an extraordinary atmosphere here in Austin Square.
You can probably hear the music behind.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Me, that's all I can hear. I realized just how
much of an old man I am whenever I hear
a news story and then I hear the music, I'm like,
turn that music down, turned into my grandmother. Oh it's
so loud. And I never understood how it is that
you can lose your hearing and be irritated by loud
music all at the same time, until I find myself
at the age I am the.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
Concert taking place here as people are really reveling in
a moment that they have been waiting for two years
now to arrive. And it is important to note that
for two years Israelis have come right here to Hostage Square,
to protest Saturday night after Saturday night in extraordinary numbers,
demanding that the Israeli governments reach the very kind of
deal that is about to become a reality. And to
(02:29):
your question of why it has taken so long, that
is indeed a question that I have heard from many
people here today who had hoped that this deal could
have been reached much sooner.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Nikki, out of curiosity with family that's there, have you
felt like this is dragged on longer than needed to.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
Oh, totally, I think it's terrible.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
No one, no, no, I agree, I agree. I felt
like there were opportunities before this to put an end
to it. I mean, we had a number of ceasefires
sort of along the way, and it seemed as though
during those ceasefires negotiations could have found resolution. But of
course they didn't. And that, by the way, is not
either one side to blame. But I definitely felt like
(03:10):
this didn't need to play out. An awful lot of
people lost their lives senselessly. I mean, from the very
beginning from October seventh, two years ago, we didn't have
to have that loss of life anyway.
Speaker 4 (03:21):
Yeah, quite clear from the vantage point here that President
Trump and his efforts to actually make this a reality
a worse than any the X facts or the kind
of pressure that they brought the bear the box in
the Israelis and then on the other side to have
the Turks, the Egyptians, and the country box in Tamas
on their side.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
I kind of want to hang out of the concert now.
It sounds like a banger, sounds like fun. I am
overjoyed for the people of Israel, the people of Gaza.
I am overjoyed. I've witnessed, as you have, all of
the different horrors that have transpired. I've witnessed both sides
pointing at each other and blaming the other side for
everything that's gone on, while not accepting any accountability for
(04:02):
their own actions. And I have found it very frustrating,
and even just saying that some of you who are
dedicated on one side or the other will be angry
with me for saying that. That's my advantage point sticking
to it. But here's what I think is really interesting.
We are sending troops under Sentcom to oversee the implementation,
(04:24):
so no US forces are going into Gaza, but we're
observing and monitoring, which we've done before in other scenarios.
We've also done observation of monitoring and scenarios that have
then subsequently escalated. I don't anticipate that to be the
case here, but I don't know. There are also others
that are going to be there, from Egypt, Cutter, Turkey,
(04:46):
and the United Arab Emirates. A joint control center is
being established in Israel, and it does include Israeli troop
withdrawals from parts of Gaza and the release of all
the hostages that have been held since the Hamas attacks
almost exactly two years ago, two years and three days.
So that's what we have going on. The US is
(05:08):
supposed to be there as part of a peacekeeping mission.
Here's my worry. I don't know how this is gonna
play out. What is to stop Hamas from regathering and
three years later deciding they're gonna do it all again
like they did two years ago. I mean, obviously their
infrastructure has been wrecked, but what's to say that they
(05:30):
don't feel like, okay, let's ramp up and go again.
What's to stop Israel from saying now that we have
our hostages back, we have all the control and Hamasa
has no leverage, and we are going to get in
there and start wiping them out. What's to stop them
from doing that other than signing onto the dotted line
and saying, okay, we're gonna stop fighting. Do you have
(05:52):
any doubt because I don't. Do you have any doubt
that this will not be the last time we've got
a battle in that region.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
This isn't the end.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
This is not the end. It's been going on for
thousands of years. No way is this the end. There
will be some diplomatic fights about this. There's gonna be
some international fights about this. There'll be some arguments at
the u WENT about this. That's going to continue on.
But inevitably there will be more bloodshed in that region
because that's what happens in that region. It's just what happens.
(06:27):
And I wish I had more faith in humanity that
we could say, you know what, that's it, we're done,
no more fighting. But I also understand human nature and
we do war. War is as old as humanity itself,
and that's not going to change. So the question is
how long is it going to last? And I hope,
I hope it's a good, fifty sixty one hundred, two
(06:49):
hundred years, that'd be fantastic, But hope doesn't really match
my expectations we consider to be a victory of this.
What would we how long, Nikki? How long? And Mark
you can get in here too. I didn't want to
drag you into anything that would put you on a
spot of having to compromise your your your newsmaker, your
(07:11):
news reporter credibility.
Speaker 5 (07:12):
Well, it's such a fraud situation that almost anything you
say is guaranteed to piss something.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Absolutely, Yeah, of course it is. But I mean, what
do we say, Look, if this cease fire, if we
have peace in that region for fifteen years, do we
say twenty years? Twenty years? Okay, twenty years we go?
We got we have peace in that region until twenty
forty five. We go, Hey, we did a pretty good
job there. That was a pretty good peace agreement that
that lasted for a long time. We would say, we'd
(07:38):
say that success. Do you think? Okay? All right? I
mean I'd love to be completely wrong on this. Nothing
would make me happier that it'd be completely wrong on this.
Speaker 5 (07:48):
Well, the thing is all we can do right now
is wait and see because the president who apparently is
brokering this deal just a short time ago, said that
he wanted to turn Gaza into a resort area.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
Right, Yes, yeah, I think he was. I think he
was too. But also there's there been other times that
I thought he was trolling and then he followed through
on it. There's been That's the one thing about Trump
that is really hard to read. There's times where you go, Okay,
he's trolling, he's just messing with people, and then there's
times that he's No, he's following through on that. I
just I don't know how to read that guy. I
(08:18):
don't think anybody does. So yeah, no, I'm with you. Like,
was he saying, let's build a let's build resort. It's
going to be a beautiful resort area.
Speaker 6 (08:25):
Was he saying that he wanted to build like Trump
Tower and a golf course they didn't he?
Speaker 3 (08:29):
Yes, yes, that's that's a troll.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Was that done strategically to try to get to put
pressure on Hamas to sign a deal because otherwise we're
gonna wipe it out and I'm going to have my
Trump Tower or was that well.
Speaker 5 (08:40):
He was talking about moving all the Palestinians completely out
of that right area, which which experts say fits the
definition of ethnic cleansing.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Yeah, but that's off the table now, right, right, That's okay.
Speaker 5 (08:53):
That's why I'm suggesting that about the most we can
hope for objectively at this point is cautious optimism because
we just don't know how things are gonna pan out.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
We can't possibly can't. And then what happens when there's
a different leader in Israel? What happens when we have
a different leader who maybe doesn't put the same pressure
on in Yahoo? Well, right, there's a lot of variables.
Speaker 5 (09:13):
Yeah, then in Yahoo factor is another major reason that
it's apparently dragged on this far because of him wanting
to stay in power.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Yes, because he's facing troubles of his own exactly. Yeah, yeah,
I agree. So anyway, Nicky, out with you. If this
last forty five years, we're gonna say, hey, that was
pretty good. Twenty I'm sorry, twenty years.
Speaker 6 (09:33):
I'd be happy with the piece for twenty years would
be great.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Yeah, I'm kind of with you all right. Now. We
thought he was trolling before when he said I'm going
to lock up all of my enemies. You messaged the
wrong guy, And now I'm gonna have to use the
full power of the DJ to come and get you.
And we thought, okay, is he trolling.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Nope, you're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Chris merrilf I AM six forty more stimulating talk and
you can listen to any time on the iHeartRadio app. Well,
I got to tell you, we heard that it was happening.
I thought it was just basic run of the mill harassment,
but evidently it was not. When it was when it
was revealed that sure enough, we are using the might
of the DOJ for vengeance. Vengeance is mine Saith the Trump.
Speaker 7 (10:20):
New York Attorney General Letitia James, who obviously brought the
charges and won against President Donald Trump, has just been
indicted by the Department of Justice. This was a case
that President Trump wanted to be brought. It's a mortgage
fraud case and it's also what led to the leaving
of the US Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia,
Eric Sebert, would not bring these charges. We heard it
(10:42):
he had reservations about bringing these charges.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Yeah, So one guy already quick because he's like, yeah,
there's no charges there. And Trump' saying you're out. I
told you find something, And.
Speaker 7 (10:53):
Instead he left that position, and President Trump hand picked
Lindsay Halligan to serve as the US attorney in that district.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
She would do it. I haven't seen her mark, Have
you seen her, Lindsay Lindsay Halligan. Yes, yeah. And she
another one who is like hot lawyers.
Speaker 5 (11:12):
Hot and inexperienced. Oh, she's never prosecuted a case. Oh,
this is gonna go overwhell Oh yes, yeah. I suggest
anybody who wants some historical perspective on this google the
Saturday Night massacre.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
That's exactly what I thought under Nixon. Yeah, only Nixon
didn't know the secret hotties. Yeah, he was devoid of
hotties Nixon. Yeah. It's uh, it's like President Trump is
following sort of the Fox News model. Just to make
sure they're hot. Doesn't matter if they have experience, just
make sure they're hot.
Speaker 7 (11:46):
We saw Lindsay Halligan bring the case against James Comy,
the former FBI director, to a grand jury. They also indicted.
Now she has brought the case earlier today to a
grand jury.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Oh, she's the same one on the Kobe case. Yeah.
And she was also a personal lawyer of Trump. Well,
of course she was. Oh man, she's never prosecuted a case,
and now she's going after to really high profile, very
successful prosecutors. Kombe was prosecutor before he was FBI chief, right,
(12:18):
I don't know Comby's pay ground, Nikki, Will you just
bring that for me real quick? Thank you.
Speaker 7 (12:24):
Berry Eastern District of Virginia against Letitia James. We don't
have all the details of how many counts or which
counts she might have been indicted on, but we have
learned that the grand jury did vote to indict Letitia
James as well.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
Again, yeah, but remember a grand jury will indict a
ham Sandwich.
Speaker 7 (12:43):
This is yet another time another person that President Trump
has spoken about, both publicly and privately.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Who believed should be.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
Brought to a court of law.
Speaker 7 (12:53):
Even though there were several attorneys who did not believe
this mortgage fraud case was strong enough. Halligan, who is
a Trump loyalists, ended up bringing the case herself, which is,
of course, as we know, part of the reason that
President Trump appointed her to this position. And the grand
jury did indict Leticia James earlier today.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
Okay, so she's been indicted because she committed the sin
of prosecuting Trump and winning. Uh okay, here it is. Yeah,
thank you. Nikki Komy was US attorney for Southern District
in New York. That's what I thought early two thousands. Yeah,
I thought he was a prosecutor. So now you've got
letician James New York Attorney General. You've got the former
(13:34):
head of the FBI who had been the USA of
Southern District, New York. And now you've got somebody with
no experience who's going to try to get them. And
it's not like they're going to be representing themselves because
they're not newbs. So ooh boy, how does this play out?
How does this play out if Trump doesn't get the win.
(13:56):
I asked this to a friend of mine and he says,
he said, I don't think it matters. It's all about
the imagery. And I thought that was a good point.
But I do think it matters in the margins. And
by that I mean there are a number of independents
who are watching this and they may be thinking, to
Mark's point, this feels like history repeating itself, Saturday Night
massacre during the Nixon regime. And I think there are
(14:17):
a number of people. You're always gonna have loyalists that
are gonna go Nope, she deserves that. She had it coming. Oh, Comy,
you know Komy tried to railroad Trump. Komy had it coming.
You're gonna have some Democrats they're gonna say, you know what,
this is what Kmy gets because if Kme hadn't made
that stunt before the twenty sixteen election, then Trump never
would have been elected president. And and it's all his
(14:38):
fault anyway. So you're even gonna have some Democrats on Komy.
I don't think you're gonna have a lot of Democrats
that are gonna be jumping on board the the Letitia
James indictment. Obviously, you're gonna have some some ardent Trump
supporters that will How does this play out in the margins?
If this plays out in the margins, and and this
is where forget Komy, Let's talk about Letisia James. If
(15:00):
they're able to secure a conviction for her for mortgage fraud,
then you go there it is. It was there. She
committed wrong, She said Trump committed wrong. She prosecuted him,
she tried to hold him accountable. Trump said, you know
what's good for the goose is good for the gander,
But if there isn't anything there, it's going to look
(15:23):
petty and vindictive, and it's going to hurt the MAGA brand.
Speaker 5 (15:27):
Well, vindictive is the key word there, and I've read
a number of experts saying that it could just be
dismissed as a vindictive or selective prosecution, especially after I
believe it's The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump's instruction
to the AG Pam BONDI to go after these people
he thought he was sending her a DM and it.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Was not right. That was out his truth social right,
I believe. So when he said you need to get
on this right now, go after them. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 5 (15:52):
So there's a non zero chance that this might neither
of these cases might even make it to trial.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
Well, now this are they both? This one's in virgin
I don't remember where the other one is. I'm gonna
say too, it may depend on who the judge is,
because if this had been in Florida and it was
under Eileen Cannon, she would have been like, oh no, no,
you know what, this is great, you have to do this.
This is definitely going to try and this is totally legit.
You know it all depends on who the judge is.
(16:18):
But I look the way it looks like. To me,
it looks vindictive, It looks petty, it looks it looks
like a temper tantrum. But there are a number of people. Look,
I saw them, I saw the flags that said twenty
twenty four, the revenge Tour. There are people that are like, yes,
this is it. We're owning the Libs. This has to happen.
(16:39):
But I don't think that I don't think that's that
that that hits home for the majority of Americans. It's
definitely gonna get hit home for a certain cohort, But
I I don't think that the people who swing elections
to the left or right and those purple states are
going to look at this favorably. It will make a
big difference if they get a conviction, but if it's
tossed out for being vindictive political prosecution, it's just not
(17:04):
going to play well. It's a big swing for the
Trump administration, and if it's a miss, it's going to
be a strikeout. One in six are quitting, One in
six are just FYI, I'm done talking politics and I
like it. One in six are quitting why.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
What's the rule? Am I supposed to hand you the
breaking news or can I talk about it? Go with it? Okay,
I just got the break news. Cindy McCain is recovering
in her Arizona home after a mild stroke. So I
was the wife of the former presidential candidate and longtime
Senator John McCain. So they expect her to make a
(17:46):
full recover. She's seventy one. So she put out a statement.
So she wants to thank her staff. She was in
Italy at the time, said got excellent treatment. My recovery
is progressing well thanks to the Roth Standing carell. Looking
forward to continuing my recuperation at home in Arizona with
my family. So there you go. Wow, all right, thoughts
some prayers? Are we still doing that? Can we still
(18:08):
do thoughts and prayers for somebody? That's yes, Okay, I'm
doing it. Can't hurt anything, all right, thoughts and prayers
Sendy McCain. I you know, I met John McCain a
few times, but I never had the pleasure of meeting
Sidney McCain. And by all accounts, they her She's a
lovely person. So I hate to see lovely people in
such a scenario. It's too bad. All right, onto this
(18:31):
and look if you miss if you miss any part
of the show tonight, you can always go back and
listen and on demand on the app. Right, just remember that. Okay.
So if I if I say something you think of stupid,
before you send an email to the boss saying fire him,
just go back, download it, listen, make sure I actually
said that stupid thing. I probably did, but just double
(18:52):
check your work, is all I'm saying before I get fired.
If I got fired for something I said, then I
take it. But I hate getting fired for things I
didn't even say. Just fyl One in six are giving up.
Forget it. I quit. We're done, totally done, absolutely over with.
(19:12):
They just quit, not their jobs. They decided they can't
even can't even think about trying to buy a home,
can't do it. It seems that the sticker shock is
freaking people out, and so one in six aspiring homeowners
have completely given up. They have abandoned their search. Over
(19:33):
the course of the last five years, one in six
have said, nah, I'm not even gonna try to buy
a home. They've just completely given up. Twenty eight percent
of them said that local home prices were the single
biggest factor in deciding whether to buy. That number is
exacerbated in Southern California. Price is the number one reason
in LA and Orange Counties as to why people give
(19:55):
up on buying a home. In fact, median home prices here,
as you know, nine hundred to a million. That is
triple the national median almost. And so when when the
nationwide rate is about one in six Americans to say
that they have quit the hunt, in Southern California, it's
it's over thirty percent. Millennials are absolutely the most likely
(20:17):
to give up nationwide. In Southern California. It's the millennials
that are squeezed the hardest. Not Gen Z, not the boomers, obviously,
not gen X. We're totally forgotten about. Everybody's like, oh
gen X are they still around?
Speaker 6 (20:29):
Genis are the best I know, but we're just completely forgotten.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
And so whenever they do these surveys, they're like, oh,
gen X, yeah, they're right in the middle. We are
the middle child of generations, aren't we?
Speaker 3 (20:39):
Yes, because we're rare and adorable.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
I love the spin you put on it all. That's fantastic,
that's good. Millennials are nationally, they're the most likely to
have quit looking at nationwide, So nearly it's a little
over one in five millennials nationwide have totally given up
the chase. Gen Z and Boomers a little over one
in ten, so a little over one and ten. They're
(21:06):
both at twelve percent, the Zoomers and the Boomers both
at the twelve percent that have given up. And gen
X is like, yeah, I guess we're just right here
in the middle. But here it's actually a little bit
worse for the millennials. And when you think about this,
the millennials are being hit hard because they are in
their buying years. The average age that somebody is a
(21:28):
first time home buyer now is thirty eight. Did you
know that? Mark? Have you owned a home? Are you?
I don't even know your personally? No, not here? Have
you owned one of the past.
Speaker 5 (21:38):
Well, when my mother died, I had her home, but
I wasn't going to live in Spokane, Washington, so I
sold it right away.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
Oh that's Spokan's beautiful. No, it isn't. Did you grow
up there?
Speaker 5 (21:48):
Part of the dispute here, But You can describe spoke
Spokane a lot of ways, but beautiful, beautiful is not
one of them.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
No, I've never been. I've always wanted to go, and
I always thought it was beautiful.
Speaker 5 (21:59):
That whole area Pacific Northwest is is nice in general. Spoken, yeah, spoken,
Oh not so much. Huh okay, oh okay.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
Well I stand corrected that image away for a reason.
Oh I get it, I get it. I like La,
but I'll never be able to afford a house here.
I know. That's the kicker. Millennials are the worst. Millennials.
Wages have not kept base with the region's runaway housing costs.
We've got boomerang kids into their thirties living with their
parents now in La County, San Diego County, Orange County, obviously,
(22:30):
all of southern California. So that's happening all over the place.
Millennials are being squeezed. So millennials are in the buying age.
They are in the age where you've got what expanding families.
I just remember, from a from a budgetary standpoint, as
you're trying to take care of the kids and you're
expanding your career, your career hasn't really taken off it
(22:52):
isn't paying you a bunch, but your kids are getting
to that age where everything starts to cost more money.
That was the tough part for us. The soccer moon,
let's call it the soccer mom mears right. I gotta
have a van to haul all three kids, and I
got to have a house to house all three kids,
and I got to have a yard in order to
get the kids, you know, someplace for the everything's for
the kids, and I gotta be in a neighborhood with
a decent school for the kids. Kids ruin everything, and
(23:13):
they wrote them even more here because it's too freaking expensive.
So then, yeah, millennials are being squeezed the hardest, so
they've just given up, totally given up on even buying.
They say that home ownership is still tied to the
California dream. Isn't that fun? Fun fact? I do not
(23:40):
care for the mamas and papas. Oh please don't say
that out loud. I'm gonna get call the boss's office.
But you can't say you don't like the mamas and papas.
Yes I can. Well, anybody with the real problem with
that is probably dead now, right kinda. I just all
felt too busy to me too. Noisy felt like a
(24:01):
felt like a pet band that skipped practice. Don't you
think it's a little little bit of a cheap shot
to punch down on Mama Cass. I didn't punch down
on Mama. You brought her up. I just said I
didn't like their music, all right, you're the one who
brought up the ham sandwich. I'll put this nice. No, no, no,
I didn't say. And that's about that.
Speaker 5 (24:17):
That is a myth. The ham sandwich thing is a myth.
But I know, but you're the one that's perpetuating it.
And I expect better from you.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
Mark someone whose credibility is his currency, I expect better
of you. You.
Speaker 5 (24:30):
You should look for a ham sandwich related suit. You're
going to be served with the suit, not the sandwich.
I made mention of it here a few moments ago.
And that is how few people can afford a home.
And so what they're doing is a boomerang. Let's call
it delayed adulting. And I gotta tell you, I know
(24:51):
somebody that's dealing with this right now.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
The what used to be a punchline and a holiday
in commercial is now a reality for way more people
than you thought that's next. I'm Chris Meryl.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
You're listening to KFI AM six on demand.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
Talking with Tony and Nikki off the air here about houses,
uh and the cost of you know, having a house
and owning a house of course in southern California. And Tony,
you've been in one for like a quarter century now, right,
pretty quick since two thousand you have, You've been in
the same hall. I got into radio January of two
thousands when I got hired my first radio gig ninety
(25:28):
seven for me yeah here, yeah, because well you and
I are pretty close to the same age, right, So yeah,
my first radio gig, I got hired as a studio engineer,
uh in two thousand or on basketball games and for
the for the local radio station in my tiny hometown.
And you know, just I've been slowly climbing the ladder
(25:49):
ever since then. And uh, there was one time I
was here at the station. Side note, was here at
the station, and I was doing a special project and
I just kind of paused for a moment, and the
program director at the time, for whom I have a
tremendous amount of respect and would not have a career
without her. She came in and she's like, what are
you thinking? And I said, I said, I'm just taking
it in. I said, I started in a farm town.
(26:11):
I mean we had a tiny radio station where you know,
we were lucky if we had a couple hundred people listening.
And now I'm doing work in Los Angeles. This is
it's it's kind of a lot for me to take in.
She goes, Okay, that's cool, let's move on. She always
kept it real. I loved here for that. I loved it.
She's like, that's cool, soak it in. Let's move on. So, yeah,
(26:35):
I've been you know, I've been climbing the ladder. You
you were already here, man, you made it. You were
living my dream working here. Get off on the weekends,
doesn't matter, KFI. Are you kidding? This is one of
the most legendary stations in the nation, and you've been
a part of it for a quarter century and it
just kind of stumbled into it here. Well then you
stumbled the right way.
Speaker 5 (26:55):
Man.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
It's incredible just to God bless you for it. So
we're talking about to buying houses, how they're too expensive,
and how we've got about thirty percent of Southern Californians
who wanted to buy a home have just completely given up.
The average age of a first time home buyer and
I was up to thirty eight years old, and that's nationwide.
That's the median first time buyer age, I said. Averages
median first time buyer ages thirty eight. One and a
(27:19):
half million more adults under the age of thirty five
now lived with their parents than a decade ago. Rents
have gone up about four percent a year, wages growing
annually about zero point six percent a year over the
course of the last decade. So if you were into
a home ten years ago, it was expensive. I mean
(27:43):
I was shopping for homes in twenty sixteen and the
prices were starting to climb back up. I mean when
I came here, it was twenty twelve. That was right
after we had that little mini recession in twenty eleven,
and I remember having the sticker shock. I was in
a decent place in San Diego and the house I
think Zillo was saying it was worth about I don't know,
five hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and I had just
(28:03):
sold a house that was about a third larger with
a massive yard that backed up into some woods, you
know in Kansas, though, So I just sold that house
for about two to eighty five. I come here and
I'm looking and and I'm renting a house that's worth
about double and I'm going, no way, is this worth
that much. I just looked on Zillow a couple of
weeks ago on it's like two point one. Now, had
(28:24):
I been able to get in on that and made
an offer to the landlord at the time, I would
have quadrupled my investment. But at the time I thought
it's too expensive. So if you were in ten years ago,
good for you. It has actually gotten to the point
where the cost of buying a home is so expensive that,
in order to cut costs, some people I'm gonna call
them kids, but that's only because they are biologically their children.
(28:46):
By all standards of age, they're not. They are living
with their parents. Fewer adults are living independently. It is
hurting long term labor mobility as well, and it may
actually deepen more of this stresses nationwide. Nikki, you got
into a place, are you? Are you? You got a
(29:08):
good mortgage? Are you in it? One of those lower
mortgage rates?
Speaker 6 (29:11):
I bought in twenty sixteen in La I got a
great deal on the mortgag place. See, I got a
condo in an amazing part of town close.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
To THEREW, but even then it was expensive, right, I mean,
I'm pained on that. I'm com pain on that almost
ten years and it's still bites. Yeah.
Speaker 6 (29:29):
I know I got a good deal and it's it's
increased in value, but it's just the hard part is
trying to hold onto it now.
Speaker 3 (29:37):
Man, oh man, my place is awesome to you're.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
Trying to hold on to it, But imagine if you
were trying to get into it right now.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
I'm blessed that I'm in it.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
No way to come close.
Speaker 3 (29:47):
No way I wouldn't.
Speaker 6 (29:48):
I wouldn't be able to afford the place I live
in now of what was up for sale now.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
And that's what's happening to so many people in Greater
Los Angeles area. It's about twenty percent of young adults
are now living with their parents, moving back home, and
most experts are saying this, it's not failure. It is survival,
and God bless you parents for doing this. I got.
In fact, I can hear him out there right now
(30:14):
because the show's coming from my home studio. I can
hear my son out there. He's twenty six. He's living
with me. By twenty six, I was I already had
a home, but that was a long time ago. Let
me tell you the secret. You guys want to know
the secret of this. This is a secret. Yes, a
lot of people, a lot of people don't know this.
But here is how you get into a place. Find
(30:35):
yourself an old lady desperate to have someone help raise
her kids if she owns a home, film marrier. Twenty
one years later, I've had like four or five homes.
It's been great, nice work. I'm moving in with Tony.
That's a good idea. He's got a lot of video games,
and unlike a conventional relationship, Tony might put out he
(30:59):
might yeah, I mean that was that was the trade off.
I mean, I've got I'm a homeowner, but I'm married,
so you know how that goes.
Speaker 6 (31:05):
I got a spare room with its own bathroom near
the beach.
Speaker 3 (31:08):
If you're on a room, there.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
You go, Mark, you could just do that. So many
choices all of a sudden, So yeah, she'll rent it
to you. Also, fun fact, my son can hear me
talking about my sexual escapades with his mother while he's
doing the dishes out in the kitchen. I can hear
him out there, so that's fine. Well, what's he gonna
do though, I'm gonna well, yeah, what's he gonna do?
Move out? Yeah? No, I'm gonna go have an awkward conversation.
(31:29):
M Hopefully he's got like earbuds in or something. We'll
find out. It could be a weird night, all right. Uh,
in just a few moments, forget about bad Bunny, there's
a new alternative to this year's Super Bowl. You'll find
out who it might be next. I'm Chris Merril kf
I AM six forty. We're live everywhere in the iHeartRadio
Speaker 1 (31:50):
App, KFI AM sixty on demand
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
All right, Tomorrow on the program, you're gonna hear about
one super chef to the stars who's no longer cooking
it up in Waco. I don't know. Why do I
care about Waco? Well, you'll have to listen and find out.
That's tomorrow on the program. Looking forward to uh talking
to you then should be a grand old time. I'm
(00:27):
Chris Merrill. You can listen anytime on demand and the
iHeart radio app. We've finally got it after millennia. We've
got peace in the Middle East, thank God.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Who Yes, all right, so I'm happy.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
I am too.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Ridiculous. I hate seeing everything the way that it's gone.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
I got family over there.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
All right, Okay, which team are they on?
Speaker 3 (00:51):
I'm Israel High, you're Israel? Yes, all right, very good.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
I was talking with friends about this. Are you Jewish
or somebody just somebody else in your family is Jewish
or just not Jewish but living in Israel.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
I'm one hundred percent Red Sea pedestrian.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Oh okay, very good. Yeah. Uh. By the way, I've
never heard that used outside of a Monty Python film.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
I am a walking Monty Python. No, that was was
that not mel Brooks? No, it's my Python same.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
I mean I can quote that, but the FCC doesn't approve.
So yeah, uh where it was Life of Brian by
the way, Uh where we were see? Oh yeah, so
we've got a ceasefire. The question, of course, is how
long is it going to last? Will it hold? This
is the This is really the big question. CNN has
(01:40):
been kind of covering this is it's unfolded.
Speaker 4 (01:42):
There has just been an extraordinary atmosphere here in Austin Square.
You can probably hear the music behind.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Me, that's all I can hear. I realized just how
much of an old man I am whenever I hear
a news story and then I hear the music, I'm like,
turn that music down, turned into my grandmother. Oh it's
so loud. And I never understood how it is that
you can lose your hearing and be irritated by loud
music all at the same time, until I find myself
at the age I am the.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
Concert taking place here as people are really reveling in
a moment that they have been waiting for two years
now to arrive. And it is important to note that
for two years Israelis have come right here to Hostage Square,
to protest Saturday night after Saturday night in extraordinary numbers,
demanding that the Israeli governments reach the very kind of
deal that is about to become a reality. And to
(02:29):
your question of why it has taken so long, that
is indeed a question that I have heard from many
people here today who had hoped that this deal could
have been reached much sooner.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Nikki, out of curiosity with family that's there, have you
felt like this is dragged on longer than needed to.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
Oh, totally, I think it's terrible.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
No one, no, no, I agree, I agree. I felt
like there were opportunities before this to put an end
to it. I mean, we had a number of ceasefires
sort of along the way, and it seemed as though
during those ceasefires negotiations could have found resolution. But of
course they didn't. And that, by the way, is not
either one side to blame. But I definitely felt like
(03:10):
this didn't need to play out. An awful lot of
people lost their lives senselessly. I mean, from the very
beginning from October seventh, two years ago, we didn't have
to have that loss of life anyway.
Speaker 4 (03:21):
Yeah, quite clear from the vantage point here that President
Trump and his efforts to actually make this a reality
a worse than any the X facts or the kind
of pressure that they brought the bear the box in
the Israelis and then on the other side to have
the Turks, the Egyptians, and the country box in Tamas
on their side.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
I kind of want to hang out of the concert now.
It sounds like a banger, sounds like fun. I am
overjoyed for the people of Israel, the people of Gaza.
I am overjoyed. I've witnessed, as you have, all of
the different horrors that have transpired. I've witnessed both sides
pointing at each other and blaming the other side for
everything that's gone on, while not accepting any accountability for
(04:02):
their own actions. And I have found it very frustrating,
and even just saying that some of you who are
dedicated on one side or the other will be angry
with me for saying that. That's my advantage point sticking
to it. But here's what I think is really interesting.
We are sending troops under Sentcom to oversee the implementation,
(04:24):
so no US forces are going into Gaza, but we're
observing and monitoring, which we've done before in other scenarios.
We've also done observation of monitoring and scenarios that have
then subsequently escalated. I don't anticipate that to be the
case here, but I don't know. There are also others
that are going to be there, from Egypt, Cutter, Turkey,
(04:46):
and the United Arab Emirates. A joint control center is
being established in Israel, and it does include Israeli troop
withdrawals from parts of Gaza and the release of all
the hostages that have been held since the Hamas attacks
almost exactly two years ago, two years and three days.
So that's what we have going on. The US is
(05:08):
supposed to be there as part of a peacekeeping mission.
Here's my worry. I don't know how this is gonna
play out. What is to stop Hamas from regathering and
three years later deciding they're gonna do it all again
like they did two years ago. I mean, obviously their
infrastructure has been wrecked, but what's to say that they
(05:30):
don't feel like, okay, let's ramp up and go again.
What's to stop Israel from saying now that we have
our hostages back, we have all the control and Hamasa
has no leverage, and we are going to get in
there and start wiping them out. What's to stop them
from doing that other than signing onto the dotted line
and saying, okay, we're gonna stop fighting. Do you have
(05:52):
any doubt because I don't. Do you have any doubt
that this will not be the last time we've got
a battle in that region.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
This isn't the end.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
This is not the end. It's been going on for
thousands of years. No way is this the end. There
will be some diplomatic fights about this. There's gonna be
some international fights about this. There'll be some arguments at
the u WENT about this. That's going to continue on.
But inevitably there will be more bloodshed in that region
because that's what happens in that region. It's just what happens.
(06:27):
And I wish I had more faith in humanity that
we could say, you know what, that's it, we're done,
no more fighting. But I also understand human nature and
we do war. War is as old as humanity itself,
and that's not going to change. So the question is
how long is it going to last? And I hope,
I hope it's a good, fifty sixty one hundred, two
(06:49):
hundred years, that'd be fantastic, But hope doesn't really match
my expectations we consider to be a victory of this.
What would we how long, Nikki? How long? And Mark
you can get in here too. I didn't want to
drag you into anything that would put you on a
spot of having to compromise your your your newsmaker, your
(07:11):
news reporter credibility.
Speaker 5 (07:12):
Well, it's such a fraud situation that almost anything you
say is guaranteed to piss something.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Absolutely, Yeah, of course it is. But I mean, what
do we say, Look, if this cease fire, if we
have peace in that region for fifteen years, do we
say twenty years? Twenty years? Okay, twenty years we go?
We got we have peace in that region until twenty
forty five. We go, Hey, we did a pretty good
job there. That was a pretty good peace agreement that
that lasted for a long time. We would say, we'd
(07:38):
say that success. Do you think? Okay? All right? I
mean I'd love to be completely wrong on this. Nothing
would make me happier that it'd be completely wrong on this.
Speaker 5 (07:48):
Well, the thing is all we can do right now
is wait and see because the president who apparently is
brokering this deal just a short time ago, said that
he wanted to turn Gaza into a resort area.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
Right, Yes, yeah, I think he was. I think he
was too. But also there's there been other times that
I thought he was trolling and then he followed through
on it. There's been That's the one thing about Trump
that is really hard to read. There's times where you go, Okay,
he's trolling, he's just messing with people, and then there's
times that he's No, he's following through on that. I
just I don't know how to read that guy. I
(08:18):
don't think anybody does. So yeah, no, I'm with you. Like,
was he saying, let's build a let's build resort. It's
going to be a beautiful resort area.
Speaker 6 (08:25):
Was he saying that he wanted to build like Trump
Tower and a golf course they didn't he?
Speaker 3 (08:29):
Yes, yes, that's that's a troll.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Was that done strategically to try to get to put
pressure on Hamas to sign a deal because otherwise we're
gonna wipe it out and I'm going to have my
Trump Tower or was that well.
Speaker 5 (08:40):
He was talking about moving all the Palestinians completely out
of that right area, which which experts say fits the
definition of ethnic cleansing.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Yeah, but that's off the table now, right, right, That's okay.
Speaker 5 (08:53):
That's why I'm suggesting that about the most we can
hope for objectively at this point is cautious optimism because
we just don't know how things are gonna pan out.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
We can't possibly can't. And then what happens when there's
a different leader in Israel? What happens when we have
a different leader who maybe doesn't put the same pressure
on in Yahoo? Well, right, there's a lot of variables.
Speaker 5 (09:13):
Yeah, then in Yahoo factor is another major reason that
it's apparently dragged on this far because of him wanting
to stay in power.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Yes, because he's facing troubles of his own exactly. Yeah, yeah,
I agree. So anyway, Nicky, out with you. If this
last forty five years, we're gonna say, hey, that was
pretty good. Twenty I'm sorry, twenty years.
Speaker 6 (09:33):
I'd be happy with the piece for twenty years would
be great.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Yeah, I'm kind of with you all right. Now. We
thought he was trolling before when he said I'm going
to lock up all of my enemies. You messaged the
wrong guy, And now I'm gonna have to use the
full power of the DJ to come and get you.
And we thought, okay, is he trolling.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Nope, you're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Chris merrilf I AM six forty more stimulating talk and
you can listen to any time on the iHeartRadio app. Well,
I got to tell you, we heard that it was happening.
I thought it was just basic run of the mill harassment,
but evidently it was not. When it was when it
was revealed that sure enough, we are using the might
of the DOJ for vengeance. Vengeance is mine Saith the Trump.
Speaker 7 (10:20):
New York Attorney General Letitia James, who obviously brought the
charges and won against President Donald Trump, has just been
indicted by the Department of Justice. This was a case
that President Trump wanted to be brought. It's a mortgage
fraud case and it's also what led to the leaving
of the US Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia,
Eric Sebert, would not bring these charges. We heard it
(10:42):
he had reservations about bringing these charges.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Yeah, So one guy already quick because he's like, yeah,
there's no charges there. And Trump' saying you're out. I
told you find something, And.
Speaker 7 (10:53):
Instead he left that position, and President Trump hand picked
Lindsay Halligan to serve as the US attorney in that district.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
She would do it. I haven't seen her mark, Have
you seen her, Lindsay Lindsay Halligan. Yes, yeah. And she
another one who is like hot lawyers.
Speaker 5 (11:12):
Hot and inexperienced. Oh, she's never prosecuted a case. Oh,
this is gonna go overwhell Oh yes, yeah. I suggest
anybody who wants some historical perspective on this google the
Saturday Night massacre.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
That's exactly what I thought under Nixon. Yeah, only Nixon
didn't know the secret hotties. Yeah, he was devoid of
hotties Nixon. Yeah. It's uh, it's like President Trump is
following sort of the Fox News model. Just to make
sure they're hot. Doesn't matter if they have experience, just
make sure they're hot.
Speaker 7 (11:46):
We saw Lindsay Halligan bring the case against James Comy,
the former FBI director, to a grand jury. They also indicted.
Now she has brought the case earlier today to a
grand jury.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Oh, she's the same one on the Kobe case. Yeah.
And she was also a personal lawyer of Trump. Well,
of course she was. Oh man, she's never prosecuted a case,
and now she's going after to really high profile, very
successful prosecutors. Kombe was prosecutor before he was FBI chief, right,
(12:18):
I don't know Comby's pay ground, Nikki, Will you just
bring that for me real quick? Thank you.
Speaker 7 (12:24):
Berry Eastern District of Virginia against Letitia James. We don't
have all the details of how many counts or which
counts she might have been indicted on, but we have
learned that the grand jury did vote to indict Letitia
James as well.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
Again, yeah, but remember a grand jury will indict a
ham Sandwich.
Speaker 7 (12:43):
This is yet another time another person that President Trump
has spoken about, both publicly and privately.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Who believed should be.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
Brought to a court of law.
Speaker 7 (12:53):
Even though there were several attorneys who did not believe
this mortgage fraud case was strong enough. Halligan, who is
a Trump loyalists, ended up bringing the case herself, which is,
of course, as we know, part of the reason that
President Trump appointed her to this position. And the grand
jury did indict Leticia James earlier today.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
Okay, so she's been indicted because she committed the sin
of prosecuting Trump and winning. Uh okay, here it is. Yeah,
thank you. Nikki Komy was US attorney for Southern District
in New York. That's what I thought early two thousands. Yeah,
I thought he was a prosecutor. So now you've got
letician James New York Attorney General. You've got the former
(13:34):
head of the FBI who had been the USA of
Southern District, New York. And now you've got somebody with
no experience who's going to try to get them. And
it's not like they're going to be representing themselves because
they're not newbs. So ooh boy, how does this play out?
How does this play out if Trump doesn't get the win.
(13:56):
I asked this to a friend of mine and he says,
he said, I don't think it matters. It's all about
the imagery. And I thought that was a good point.
But I do think it matters in the margins. And
by that I mean there are a number of independents
who are watching this and they may be thinking, to
Mark's point, this feels like history repeating itself, Saturday Night
massacre during the Nixon regime. And I think there are
(14:17):
a number of people. You're always gonna have loyalists that
are gonna go Nope, she deserves that. She had it coming. Oh, Comy,
you know Komy tried to railroad Trump. Komy had it coming.
You're gonna have some Democrats they're gonna say, you know what,
this is what Kmy gets because if Kme hadn't made
that stunt before the twenty sixteen election, then Trump never
would have been elected president. And and it's all his
(14:38):
fault anyway. So you're even gonna have some Democrats on Komy.
I don't think you're gonna have a lot of Democrats
that are gonna be jumping on board the the Letitia
James indictment. Obviously, you're gonna have some some ardent Trump
supporters that will How does this play out in the margins?
If this plays out in the margins, and and this
is where forget Komy, Let's talk about Letisia James. If
(15:00):
they're able to secure a conviction for her for mortgage fraud,
then you go there it is. It was there. She
committed wrong, She said Trump committed wrong. She prosecuted him,
she tried to hold him accountable. Trump said, you know
what's good for the goose is good for the gander,
But if there isn't anything there, it's going to look
(15:23):
petty and vindictive, and it's going to hurt the MAGA brand.
Speaker 5 (15:27):
Well, vindictive is the key word there, and I've read
a number of experts saying that it could just be
dismissed as a vindictive or selective prosecution, especially after I
believe it's The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump's instruction
to the AG Pam BONDI to go after these people
he thought he was sending her a DM and it.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Was not right. That was out his truth social right,
I believe. So when he said you need to get
on this right now, go after them. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 5 (15:52):
So there's a non zero chance that this might neither
of these cases might even make it to trial.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
Well, now this are they both? This one's in virgin
I don't remember where the other one is. I'm gonna
say too, it may depend on who the judge is,
because if this had been in Florida and it was
under Eileen Cannon, she would have been like, oh no, no,
you know what, this is great, you have to do this.
This is definitely going to try and this is totally legit.
You know it all depends on who the judge is.
(16:18):
But I look the way it looks like. To me,
it looks vindictive, It looks petty, it looks it looks
like a temper tantrum. But there are a number of people. Look,
I saw them, I saw the flags that said twenty
twenty four, the revenge Tour. There are people that are like, yes,
this is it. We're owning the Libs. This has to happen.
(16:39):
But I don't think that I don't think that's that
that that hits home for the majority of Americans. It's
definitely gonna get hit home for a certain cohort, But
I I don't think that the people who swing elections
to the left or right and those purple states are
going to look at this favorably. It will make a
big difference if they get a conviction, but if it's
tossed out for being vindictive political prosecution, it's just not
(17:04):
going to play well. It's a big swing for the
Trump administration, and if it's a miss, it's going to
be a strikeout. One in six are quitting, One in
six are just FYI, I'm done talking politics and I
like it. One in six are quitting why.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
What's the rule? Am I supposed to hand you the
breaking news or can I talk about it? Go with it? Okay,
I just got the break news. Cindy McCain is recovering
in her Arizona home after a mild stroke. So I
was the wife of the former presidential candidate and longtime
Senator John McCain. So they expect her to make a
(17:46):
full recover. She's seventy one. So she put out a statement.
So she wants to thank her staff. She was in
Italy at the time, said got excellent treatment. My recovery
is progressing well thanks to the Roth Standing carell. Looking
forward to continuing my recuperation at home in Arizona with
my family. So there you go. Wow, all right, thoughts
some prayers? Are we still doing that? Can we still
(18:08):
do thoughts and prayers for somebody? That's yes, Okay, I'm
doing it. Can't hurt anything, all right, thoughts and prayers
Sendy McCain. I you know, I met John McCain a
few times, but I never had the pleasure of meeting
Sidney McCain. And by all accounts, they her She's a
lovely person. So I hate to see lovely people in
such a scenario. It's too bad. All right, onto this
(18:31):
and look if you miss if you miss any part
of the show tonight, you can always go back and
listen and on demand on the app. Right, just remember that. Okay.
So if I if I say something you think of stupid,
before you send an email to the boss saying fire him,
just go back, download it, listen, make sure I actually
said that stupid thing. I probably did, but just double
(18:52):
check your work, is all I'm saying before I get fired.
If I got fired for something I said, then I
take it. But I hate getting fired for things I
didn't even say. Just fyl One in six are giving up.
Forget it. I quit. We're done, totally done, absolutely over with.
(19:12):
They just quit, not their jobs. They decided they can't
even can't even think about trying to buy a home,
can't do it. It seems that the sticker shock is
freaking people out, and so one in six aspiring homeowners
have completely given up. They have abandoned their search. Over
(19:33):
the course of the last five years, one in six
have said, nah, I'm not even gonna try to buy
a home. They've just completely given up. Twenty eight percent
of them said that local home prices were the single
biggest factor in deciding whether to buy. That number is
exacerbated in Southern California. Price is the number one reason
in LA and Orange Counties as to why people give
(19:55):
up on buying a home. In fact, median home prices here,
as you know, nine hundred to a million. That is
triple the national median almost. And so when when the
nationwide rate is about one in six Americans to say
that they have quit the hunt, in Southern California, it's
it's over thirty percent. Millennials are absolutely the most likely
(20:17):
to give up nationwide. In Southern California. It's the millennials
that are squeezed the hardest. Not Gen Z, not the boomers, obviously,
not gen X. We're totally forgotten about. Everybody's like, oh
gen X are they still around?
Speaker 6 (20:29):
Genis are the best I know, but we're just completely forgotten.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
And so whenever they do these surveys, they're like, oh,
gen X, yeah, they're right in the middle. We are
the middle child of generations, aren't we?
Speaker 3 (20:39):
Yes, because we're rare and adorable.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
I love the spin you put on it all. That's fantastic,
that's good. Millennials are nationally, they're the most likely to
have quit looking at nationwide, So nearly it's a little
over one in five millennials nationwide have totally given up
the chase. Gen Z and Boomers a little over one
in ten, so a little over one and ten. They're
(21:06):
both at twelve percent, the Zoomers and the Boomers both
at the twelve percent that have given up. And gen
X is like, yeah, I guess we're just right here
in the middle. But here it's actually a little bit
worse for the millennials. And when you think about this,
the millennials are being hit hard because they are in
their buying years. The average age that somebody is a
(21:28):
first time home buyer now is thirty eight. Did you
know that? Mark? Have you owned a home? Are you?
I don't even know your personally? No, not here? Have
you owned one of the past.
Speaker 5 (21:38):
Well, when my mother died, I had her home, but
I wasn't going to live in Spokane, Washington, so I
sold it right away.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
Oh that's Spokan's beautiful. No, it isn't. Did you grow
up there?
Speaker 5 (21:48):
Part of the dispute here, But You can describe spoke
Spokane a lot of ways, but beautiful, beautiful is not
one of them.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
No, I've never been. I've always wanted to go, and
I always thought it was beautiful.
Speaker 5 (21:59):
That whole area Pacific Northwest is is nice in general. Spoken, yeah, spoken,
Oh not so much. Huh okay, oh okay.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
Well I stand corrected that image away for a reason.
Oh I get it, I get it. I like La,
but I'll never be able to afford a house here.
I know. That's the kicker. Millennials are the worst. Millennials.
Wages have not kept base with the region's runaway housing costs.
We've got boomerang kids into their thirties living with their
parents now in La County, San Diego County, Orange County, obviously,
(22:30):
all of southern California. So that's happening all over the place.
Millennials are being squeezed. So millennials are in the buying age.
They are in the age where you've got what expanding families.
I just remember, from a from a budgetary standpoint, as
you're trying to take care of the kids and you're
expanding your career, your career hasn't really taken off it
(22:52):
isn't paying you a bunch, but your kids are getting
to that age where everything starts to cost more money.
That was the tough part for us. The soccer moon,
let's call it the soccer mom mears right. I gotta
have a van to haul all three kids, and I
got to have a house to house all three kids,
and I got to have a yard in order to
get the kids, you know, someplace for the everything's for
the kids, and I gotta be in a neighborhood with
a decent school for the kids. Kids ruin everything, and
(23:13):
they wrote them even more here because it's too freaking expensive.
So then, yeah, millennials are being squeezed the hardest, so
they've just given up, totally given up on even buying.
They say that home ownership is still tied to the
California dream. Isn't that fun? Fun fact? I do not
(23:40):
care for the mamas and papas. Oh please don't say
that out loud. I'm gonna get call the boss's office.
But you can't say you don't like the mamas and papas.
Yes I can. Well, anybody with the real problem with
that is probably dead now, right kinda. I just all
felt too busy to me too. Noisy felt like a
(24:01):
felt like a pet band that skipped practice. Don't you
think it's a little little bit of a cheap shot
to punch down on Mama Cass. I didn't punch down
on Mama. You brought her up. I just said I
didn't like their music, all right, you're the one who
brought up the ham sandwich. I'll put this nice. No, no, no,
I didn't say. And that's about that.
Speaker 5 (24:17):
That is a myth. The ham sandwich thing is a myth.
But I know, but you're the one that's perpetuating it.
And I expect better from you.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
Mark someone whose credibility is his currency, I expect better
of you. You.
Speaker 5 (24:30):
You should look for a ham sandwich related suit. You're
going to be served with the suit, not the sandwich.
I made mention of it here a few moments ago.
And that is how few people can afford a home.
And so what they're doing is a boomerang. Let's call
it delayed adulting. And I gotta tell you, I know
(24:51):
somebody that's dealing with this right now.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
The what used to be a punchline and a holiday
in commercial is now a reality for way more people
than you thought that's next. I'm Chris Meryl.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
You're listening to KFI AM six on demand.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
Talking with Tony and Nikki off the air here about houses,
uh and the cost of you know, having a house
and owning a house of course in southern California. And Tony,
you've been in one for like a quarter century now, right,
pretty quick since two thousand you have, You've been in
the same hall. I got into radio January of two
thousands when I got hired my first radio gig ninety
(25:28):
seven for me yeah here, yeah, because well you and
I are pretty close to the same age, right, So yeah,
my first radio gig, I got hired as a studio engineer,
uh in two thousand or on basketball games and for
the for the local radio station in my tiny hometown.
And you know, just I've been slowly climbing the ladder
(25:49):
ever since then. And uh, there was one time I
was here at the station. Side note, was here at
the station, and I was doing a special project and
I just kind of paused for a moment, and the
program director at the time, for whom I have a
tremendous amount of respect and would not have a career
without her. She came in and she's like, what are
you thinking? And I said, I said, I'm just taking
it in. I said, I started in a farm town.
(26:11):
I mean we had a tiny radio station where you know,
we were lucky if we had a couple hundred people listening.
And now I'm doing work in Los Angeles. This is
it's it's kind of a lot for me to take in.
She goes, Okay, that's cool, let's move on. She always
kept it real. I loved here for that. I loved it.
She's like, that's cool, soak it in. Let's move on. So, yeah,
(26:35):
I've been you know, I've been climbing the ladder. You
you were already here, man, you made it. You were
living my dream working here. Get off on the weekends,
doesn't matter, KFI. Are you kidding? This is one of
the most legendary stations in the nation, and you've been
a part of it for a quarter century and it
just kind of stumbled into it here. Well then you
stumbled the right way.
Speaker 5 (26:55):
Man.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
It's incredible just to God bless you for it. So
we're talking about to buying houses, how they're too expensive,
and how we've got about thirty percent of Southern Californians
who wanted to buy a home have just completely given up.
The average age of a first time home buyer and
I was up to thirty eight years old, and that's nationwide.
That's the median first time buyer age, I said. Averages
median first time buyer ages thirty eight. One and a
(27:19):
half million more adults under the age of thirty five
now lived with their parents than a decade ago. Rents
have gone up about four percent a year, wages growing
annually about zero point six percent a year over the
course of the last decade. So if you were into
a home ten years ago, it was expensive. I mean
(27:43):
I was shopping for homes in twenty sixteen and the
prices were starting to climb back up. I mean when
I came here, it was twenty twelve. That was right
after we had that little mini recession in twenty eleven,
and I remember having the sticker shock. I was in
a decent place in San Diego and the house I
think Zillo was saying it was worth about I don't know,
five hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and I had just
(28:03):
sold a house that was about a third larger with
a massive yard that backed up into some woods, you
know in Kansas, though, So I just sold that house
for about two to eighty five. I come here and
I'm looking and and I'm renting a house that's worth
about double and I'm going, no way, is this worth
that much. I just looked on Zillow a couple of
weeks ago on it's like two point one. Now, had
(28:24):
I been able to get in on that and made
an offer to the landlord at the time, I would
have quadrupled my investment. But at the time I thought
it's too expensive. So if you were in ten years ago,
good for you. It has actually gotten to the point
where the cost of buying a home is so expensive that,
in order to cut costs, some people I'm gonna call
them kids, but that's only because they are biologically their children.
(28:46):
By all standards of age, they're not. They are living
with their parents. Fewer adults are living independently. It is
hurting long term labor mobility as well, and it may
actually deepen more of this stresses nationwide. Nikki, you got
into a place, are you? Are you? You got a
(29:08):
good mortgage? Are you in it? One of those lower
mortgage rates?
Speaker 6 (29:11):
I bought in twenty sixteen in La I got a
great deal on the mortgag place. See, I got a
condo in an amazing part of town close.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
To THEREW, but even then it was expensive, right, I mean,
I'm pained on that. I'm com pain on that almost
ten years and it's still bites. Yeah.
Speaker 6 (29:29):
I know I got a good deal and it's it's
increased in value, but it's just the hard part is
trying to hold onto it now.
Speaker 3 (29:37):
Man, oh man, my place is awesome to you're.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
Trying to hold on to it, But imagine if you
were trying to get into it right now.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
I'm blessed that I'm in it.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
No way to come close.
Speaker 3 (29:47):
No way I wouldn't.
Speaker 6 (29:48):
I wouldn't be able to afford the place I live
in now of what was up for sale now.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
And that's what's happening to so many people in Greater
Los Angeles area. It's about twenty percent of young adults
are now living with their parents, moving back home, and
most experts are saying this, it's not failure. It is survival,
and God bless you parents for doing this. I got.
In fact, I can hear him out there right now
(30:14):
because the show's coming from my home studio. I can
hear my son out there. He's twenty six. He's living
with me. By twenty six, I was I already had
a home, but that was a long time ago. Let
me tell you the secret. You guys want to know
the secret of this. This is a secret. Yes, a
lot of people, a lot of people don't know this.
But here is how you get into a place. Find
(30:35):
yourself an old lady desperate to have someone help raise
her kids if she owns a home, film marrier. Twenty
one years later, I've had like four or five homes.
It's been great, nice work. I'm moving in with Tony.
That's a good idea. He's got a lot of video games,
and unlike a conventional relationship, Tony might put out he
(30:59):
might yeah, I mean that was that was the trade off.
I mean, I've got I'm a homeowner, but I'm married,
so you know how that goes.
Speaker 6 (31:05):
I got a spare room with its own bathroom near
the beach.
Speaker 3 (31:08):
If you're on a room, there.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
You go, Mark, you could just do that. So many
choices all of a sudden, So yeah, she'll rent it
to you. Also, fun fact, my son can hear me
talking about my sexual escapades with his mother while he's
doing the dishes out in the kitchen. I can hear
him out there, so that's fine. Well, what's he gonna
do though, I'm gonna well, yeah, what's he gonna do?
Move out? Yeah? No, I'm gonna go have an awkward conversation.
(31:29):
M Hopefully he's got like earbuds in or something. We'll
find out. It could be a weird night, all right. Uh,
in just a few moments, forget about bad Bunny, there's
a new alternative to this year's Super Bowl. You'll find
out who it might be next. I'm Chris Merril kf
I AM six forty. We're live everywhere in the iHeartRadio
Speaker 1 (31:50):
App, KFI AM sixty on demand
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
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
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!