Tiffany Hobbs dives into the intersection of wildfire recovery and pet welfare with Chelsea Staley, Director of Lifesaving at Petco Love, discussing how to support pets impacted by the disaster. She also reflects on the emotional moment when the Pasadena Fire Chief broke down addressing wildfire victims in his community.
Later, Emmy winner, actress, and news anchor, Heather Brooker joins to chat about her role in the upcoming stage play Newsies at the El Portal Theatre. Tiffany wraps with a crossover with Michael Monks discussing what’s ahead on his show.
Later, Emmy winner, actress, and news anchor, Heather Brooker joins to chat about her role in the upcoming stage play Newsies at the El Portal Theatre. Tiffany wraps with a crossover with Michael Monks discussing what’s ahead on his show.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to KFI AM six on demand kf I.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
AM six forty live everywhere from the iHeartRadio APT Tiffany
Hobbs here with you until seven. We are talking about
how to support with the fires. It's they're still going
on and this is not over. Just because you can't
see the smoke or you can't see the flames mean
it does not mean that this thing has wrapped up.
(00:25):
It has certainly not, and there are concerns again next
week for another wind event. We are in a season
that is everlasting. It is ever green our fire season
here in southern California, and one of the groups most
impacted and not often discussed, not necessarily getting as much
(00:49):
publicity as others, and it's just because it's just so
overwhelming what's being dealt with. But that group happens to
deal with pet owners. A lot of people are still
hoping to reunite with their pets who have been lost
since the fires broke out in the Palisades and in Altadena,
(01:10):
in Pasadena and in other areas as well, and there
are lots of efforts underway to reunite people with their pets.
One such effort comes from pet Co Love the store.
Pet Co has a faction called pet Co Love, and
we'll be talking to Chelsea Staley, the director of Life
(01:32):
Saving in one moment. I want to tell you a
little bit about Chelsea Staley and why she is with
pet Co Love and why she's coming on tonight. Chelsea
Staley joined pet Co Love as the director of Life
Saving in May of twenty twenty.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
That tells you a lot about her, right then, right,
We're right.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
In the middle of a pandemic, and here's she is,
being selfless, being compassionate and joining pet Co Love as
director of Life Saving. Heavy she oversees Chelsea Staley the
Grants Team, which supports more than four thousand animal welfare
organizations nationwide. As an animal welfare professional, Chelsea has been
(02:12):
dedicated to saving lives since two thousand and eleven pet Lives.
Before joining pet Co Love, Chelsea served as the executive
director of the Kanawa Charleston Humane Association. This is a
passion for Chelsea. This is not fleeting. This is her livelihood.
Chelsea herself lives in San Antonio with her six dogs.
(02:36):
So this is a person who is dedicated in every
way to animals. Two saving animals to reuniting animals, and
what a time to have this position and to give
us a few minutes of her very busy schedule. Please
welcome Chelsea Staley to the show. Chelsea, thank you so
much for being on with me.
Speaker 4 (02:57):
Tiffany, thank you for having me. Grateful to be here.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
Oh, you're so welcome.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
I heard you on Tim Conway's show last week and
I immediately messaged his producer and I said, I need
her on my show. I really have to talk to her,
and bingo bango, the pieces connected and you were able
to come on, and again, thank you so much for
your time.
Speaker 4 (03:19):
Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
You're welcome. So director of life saving for pet Co Love.
Oh my goodness again. People know pet COO. They go
get their animals supplies, their pet supplies, you go get
your fish, whatever it is, right, But pet COO has
this subsidiary, this this other aspect called pet Co Love.
Can you tell us a bit about pet Co Love
(03:42):
and how you guys are stepping up during these fires?
Speaker 4 (03:46):
Absolutely. Pet Co Love is a five oh one c
three nonprofit, just like any other nonprofit charity that you
think of. The name Petco isn't our name because when
you check out with your pets live at a Petcoast
store and it asks you to donate at the register.
That money comes to Petco. Love and more than ninety
(04:06):
percent of the funds that we raise and are able
to give away to animal shelters come from.
Speaker 5 (04:11):
The actual people who shop at Petco.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (04:14):
So thank you, thank you for shopping at Petco.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Yep, you're welcome. I definitely donated, Definitely, I.
Speaker 4 (04:19):
Love that, Thank you so much. We give about twenty
five million dollars a year to animal shelters across the country,
of course, including those here in La and some of
the money that we give is in the form of
disaster grants. We do big adoption events and things like that.
But the fires are exactly why we're here to support
(04:39):
these these shelters in La City, La County and the
surrounding area.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
Got it So I follow three or four rescue groups
and pages on social media that have been created in
the wake of these fires to help animals in the
Polises and Altadena Pasadena reunite with their families. There are
so so many pets who are unaccounted for at this time.
There's not an exact number, and the number seems to
(05:07):
be pretty fluid, but I've seen anywhere from hundreds to
thousands of pets perhaps that could be out there missing
in this long list of missing pets. You know, the
emotions are right there at the top. I see the list,
I see these pets, I see the pictures, I see
the police for reunification, and it really it gets you
(05:27):
and makes you cry. And then on the other side
of that, you see the stories of reunification. You see
that this pet was found at the Pacadena Humane Society
or this shelter and was reunited with their family, and
it makes you cry. All of it is highly emotional.
And Chelsea, my question is to you, as the director
(05:48):
of life Saving, how are you just not an absolute wreck?
Speaker 3 (05:52):
This is such hard work.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
You know it's hard work, but I think it depends
on how you process the.
Speaker 5 (06:00):
Work and what you let it do to you.
Speaker 4 (06:02):
Right, So, while we see some heavy things, we also
have an opportunity to be, you know, a blessing to
people and to be able to help help people and
their pets. And pets are family and so people want
to cling tight to their pets. Pets can support people
(06:23):
and save people in a way that people can't do.
So it really is, you know, a privilege to be
able to serve pets and their people in that way.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Yeah, I'm a pet owner, I'm a pet mom. I
don't call myself an owner. I call myself a pet parent.
And you know, my my my dogs are my kids.
And I can't imagine what people are going through, whether
dog owner, cat owner, turtle owner. I've seen the horses
out there, you see the pigs, you see the other reptiles.
I've seen fish rescued from ponds. I've seen all sorts
(06:52):
of examples of people's dedication to our pets. It is
a serious, serious serio as part of who we are,
like you said, and they are family in every way.
There's a database that pet co Love actually has. Can
you tell us a bit about that database?
Speaker 5 (07:11):
I can.
Speaker 4 (07:11):
Yeah, we have a database called pet coo Love Lost
and it is an online lost found pet platform. It
integrates with the largest shelter software. So if there is
pet data in the shelter system here in La either
in La City, La County, passing a humane et cetera,
(07:34):
it pulls the data from those shelters into one place. Also,
you can post pictures of lost pets on Petco Love Lost.
It aggregates data from next door and from neighbors.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Oh wow, use this image.
Speaker 4 (07:46):
Yeah, it's really the virtual telephone pole. Oh wow.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (07:50):
You think of missing pet posters on a telephone pole
and it's like, we don't even have landlines anymore. Why
do we have a telephone pole?
Speaker 3 (07:57):
Right?
Speaker 4 (07:57):
Yes, So it's the one you know, digital aggregator.
Speaker 5 (08:01):
Of all of this data.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
And the thing is it is completely free to use.
So the shelter softwares only shelter employees and volunteers can
use us. You know, the general public can't. Okay, So
this is the one piece of technology that brings all
of the loss and down pet data together and then
it's free for the public to use as well.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
Got it?
Speaker 2 (08:22):
And I'm looking here and it says that nearly seventy
five thousand pets have been reunited with their families thanks
to pet Co Love Lost. Can you tell us do
you have any success stories from the fires thus far
about being able to reunite?
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Are you hopeful to have some?
Speaker 4 (08:42):
I do know that there was a cat opacity to
humane who had been in the fires, and they were
able to via image recognition technology, they were able to
find that cat family. The data that is coming in
we're monitoring constantly. But if I'm being honest, I have
been in the city shelters for today was five days,
(09:03):
and so I've not been monitoring the success stories on
Peco Love.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
You're on the ground, don't you apologize or explain. You
are on the ground doing the work. Boots to the
ground girl. So thank you for that. The fact that
you have a full time job and you monitor what's
going on on pet co Love Lost or pet Cole
Love as the director of life Saving but you still
are in La in the shelters, right there in front
(09:27):
of these pets, these animals.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
Says a lot about your character, Chelsea.
Speaker 4 (09:31):
Thank you so much. But you know, haven't The shelters
are busy any time of year, especially during an emergency
like yes, right, And the beauty of the technology is
if the shelter intake staff or too busy, if the
shelter outcome staff are too busy, the technology still works.
You know, the technology will send you an alert if
it finds a match for a pet that you have
(09:54):
lost or found, and so you don't have to rely
on the shelter's staff who are under overworked. You know,
you don't have to rely on the shelter staff to
have a moment to help you search. The technology does
that automatically.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
So when it comes to someone like me who is
seeing these sites, these websites, these social media pages, and
I want to help, I want to get out there,
boots on the ground and start looking for pets. But
I can't do that because the areas are blocked off.
It's not safe, it's even perhaps not my place to
do that. What are ways that people can help pets
(10:30):
affect it by the la fires usinge and pet co love.
Speaker 4 (10:35):
Using TechCo Love Loss, people can share Techo Love Loss
on their social pages, so we know that we're just
spreading the word. If someone is lost or found a pet,
we want to make sure we're asking them to post
that pet on TechCo Love Loss because that the software
will do the work for you. Other things that you
can do to support the shelters now is give a
(10:56):
monetary donation. Shelters are not like pet Co. They are
not retail and inventory experts, and so when physical donations,
you know, flood into the shelters, that almost creates a
disaster in itself that the shelter staff or then you
know spreads in between providing animal care and good customer
service and having to manage those physical donations with very
(11:19):
little storage. Another thing you can do is foster. We
are pushing for foster pet or foster families for primarily
dogs over thirty five pounds. Yes, if you're able to
open your home, yeah, if you're able to open your
home and heart to a pet and need, we highly
encourage that you visit one of the local shelters in person.
(11:41):
I'm personally working at the LA Animal Services East Valley
location and we have met the most wonderful people coming
into foster.
Speaker 5 (11:50):
You can also adopt. All adoptions es are waved through.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
The end of the month, so three ways adopt foster
and poster or uplafe information into that database for that
pet that's either lost or found.
Speaker 3 (12:05):
Absolutely great And.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
What's another way or the ways rather that people listening
can reach you should they want to follow you on
social media, donate online, follow your efforts.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
How can they find you?
Speaker 4 (12:18):
I'm Chelsea Staley. We also are at Petpolove and petpoloveloss
dot org.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Petcoloveloss dot org.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
She's Chelsea Staley, Director of life saving and you can
find them in those ways. Open your home, your heart,
your wallet, all of it. Help these animals. Help these
animals get back to their people, Help people get back
to their animals, get a new animal, do what you
can to support during this time. Chelsea Staley, thank you
so much for everything you are doing.
Speaker 5 (12:49):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 4 (12:50):
Tiffany, have a great night.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
You do the same.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
Kf I Am six forty Live everywhere from the iHeartRadio App.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty man, okay if.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
I AM six forty Live everywhere from the iHeartRadio App.
Tiffany hobbs here with you until seven, and then Michael
Monks comes aboard and the promo just took what I
was going to tell you, but I'll say it again.
Tomorrow nine am, Governor Gavin Newsom is hosting a town
hall for residents impacted by the fires across southern California.
Questions will be asked, things may be deflected, but either way,
(13:26):
you should tune in live at nine am, either on
the radio streaming at KFI AM six forty dot com,
the iHeart app, your car radio, your radio in your bathroom,
or your clock radio whatever, It may be all across
our iHeart stations. Our California stations will be carrying it
live nine am twomorrow, so catch that town hall at
(13:50):
six point thirty. We also have Heather Brooker coming on.
She's gonna talk to us about Newsy's, the Disney stage
play that will be held next week after being postponed
because of the fires. It'll be at the l Portal
Theater in North Hollywood, and Heather will tell us all
about that. I want to tell you some suple facts
(14:11):
quick facts about updates to the fire.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
So some statistics.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
As of six pm today, six pm today, and I
just checked this on the Watch Duty app, the Palisades
fire is forty nine percent contained. It's burned over twenty
three thousand acres twenty three thousand, seven hundred and thirteen
acres to be exact. The Eaten fire is seventy three
percent contained as of six pm today and it has
(14:38):
so far burned fourteen thousand, one hundred and seventeen acres.
A lot of personnel are on the scene at these
burn areas. Of course, they're at the press conferences, they'll
be at the town hall, they're at the community forums
and one in particular. LA Assistant Fire Chief Joe Everett
spoke to wildfire victims and evacuees last third in Westwood
(15:02):
at a community meeting.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
This is what he had to say.
Speaker 6 (15:05):
People who lost everything in the Palisades fire are angry
and frustrated. They lashed out at fire officials at last
night's community meeting held at Sinai Temple in Westwood. They
shouted questions, when can we get access? Why couldn't you
save our community? Why is my home gone? Assistant Fire
Chief Joe Everett, who is a third generation resident of
(15:26):
Pacific Palisades, apologized.
Speaker 3 (15:29):
It's extremely, extremely hard for me to look to you
in the eye knowing that quite honestly, I feel like
I've failed you.
Speaker 7 (15:38):
To some respect.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Moving on, let's get into business.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
So he was very emotional as you heard. If that's
an indicat this town hall, tomorrow could be a lot
more of the same, if not more. Uh six point thirty,
we have Heather Brooker coming on, so stay tuned for that.
KFI AM six forty Live everywhere from the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
KFI AM six forty Live Everywhere from the iHeartRadio app
tof Me Hobbs here with you until seven pm, and
then Michael Monks comes aboard, so make sure you stay
tuned for that.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
In a moment, we are going to have one of
my friends on. You know her.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
You listened to her voice for a while here over
the airwaves. Her name is Heather Brooker, and not only
was she a part of the news team, but she
also get this. Is an actress, a comedian, a host.
She's been on NBC, ABC, Netflix, She's been in movies, television.
(16:51):
She's an advocate. She is a two time Emmy winner,
She's a Webby winning podcaster, and she is a mom.
She's a mom of a teenager. And they are super close.
They're so close that they are appearing together in a
stage play off Broadway called Newsy's Heather Brookler Brookler Brooker,
(17:14):
thank you so much for being I'm so excited. I'm
tongue tied. Heather Brooker, thank you so much for being
on with me.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
I miss you. I'm so glad to talk to.
Speaker 5 (17:23):
You him, my sweet friend. It is such a pleasure
to be here. I have thoroughly enjoyed just watching you
continue to shine in this role, and I'm just so
honored to be a guest. Like, what a nice treat for.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Me, Heather, what a treat for all of us listening
for me. I've wanted for many months, since I've known you,
since I've gotten to know you, to just share your
talents with any and everyone, because I watch your social media,
I see you promoting things, and you are just a dynamo.
You are a not true threat. You're like a six
(18:02):
tuplet threat.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
There's they're just infinite numbers of threats that you have
because you're just so talented. And one of them you're
going to talk about is Newsy's which is finally back on.
Tell us what's going on with this play?
Speaker 5 (18:18):
Well, I am so thrilled to be a part of
this show. This is put on by Conundrum Theater Company
and it is a community theater company that's based in Burbank,
and their whole mission is to just build like a
collaborative and diverse community for performers. And it's for everybody
(18:39):
who has like a traditional day job, they can then
perform and do rehearsals at night and put up a show.
And you know, it's for people who still love performing
and love acting to be able to participate in theater.
And this show that they're putting on is Newsy Sow.
Some of you, some of the listeners may know Newsies
because it was a huge, huge Broadway hit when it
(19:01):
debuted in twenty twelve, and since then it's been put up,
you know, all over the world. And we are lucky
enough that we had been working on this for several
months now, and we were going to put it up
last weekend at the El Portal Theater in North Hollywood,
but it got moved back a couple of weeks because obviously,
(19:21):
you know, yes, our hearts are with everyone that's involved
in the fires, and you know, LA have just been
under a tremendous amount of heartbreak. I mean you had
to evacuate too, Yes, I had to evacuate my mom.
She was in Pasadena and in the evacuation area and
I had to evacuate her. And we just said, and
the flyers were getting a little close to us in
(19:42):
the Glendale area, and I was like, you know what,
let's just scoop everybody up and just go just to
be safe. And we are safe and everyone in our
family is safe, but our hearts are still with everybody
who is rebuilding and is still dealing with the devast station.
And so for this show, it just felt like we
needed to take a beat acknowledge what was happening in
(20:05):
our community. I mean community. Theater is nothing without the community. Yes,
and we were lucky enough that the Alportal Theater allowed
us to put it up next weekend. And listen when
I tell you this incredible cast is going to knock
your socks off. This like, this story is powerful in
(20:28):
and of itself, Like the Newsy story is very much
like a David and Goliath story. You know, it is
about it's not familiar. It's about the young child.
Speaker 7 (20:38):
Labor basically back at the sort of the nineteenth Street
of light Fare. It's very light fare, right right, you know,
the old comedy of child labor. But it's it's basically
about kids who you know, rise up against the billionaires,
you know, to be a voice for the voiceless.
Speaker 5 (20:56):
And say, hey, you're not paying us a fair wage,
you're not treating us. We're out here working so hard
for you. You know, where's our piece of the pie. And
they organize a strike and.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
You said this five or oh Yeah, it's.
Speaker 5 (21:11):
Happening right now. Yeah, very time, I feel a little familiar,
might feel a little bit like, wow, this is a
you can all relate to in twenty twenty five. Yes,
but it's very much a story of triumph. It's a
story of coming together, of community, and it is the
(21:32):
music in this show. For those who've heard Newsy Dream,
if you haven't, it's so powerful, it's so beautifully written.
And my hope and our hope is that anyone who
might be looking for an escape, you know, from everything
that's going on right now, even just for a moment,
(21:54):
something to take your mind off of everything that's going on,
something to make your heart feel a little bit lighter.
Because that is, even though it's dealing with a somewhat
furious subject, a very serious subject, New Ze's is a
lighthearted musical. It's fun. You're gonna want to sing along.
You're going to find that you're rooting for these kids.
(22:15):
And I really just want to encourage everybody to come
out to the show, come and join us, sing along
with us. And yes, my daughter and I are in
the show, Yes you are, We're done together. I'm so
like listen, she's a preteen and any preteen mom will
tell you there are moments where she's like, I want
(22:36):
nothing to do if you get away from me. And
then and then there are moments where he's like, oh
my gosh, Mom, I love you so much. My hope
is that through this experience that we're creating memories together.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
And how how proud are you having to share the
stage with your baby girl.
Speaker 5 (22:53):
I'm so proud, Like the cat can tell you. I'm like,
I'm I'm on the stage like over in the side,
just like being you know, like as as my little
you know, problem self. And I'm I'm also you know,
getting back to my roots in musical theater, like that's
where I fell in love with acting when I was
about my daughter's age, when I was about Channing's age.
(23:14):
And I love being on the stage. You know, I
may not be the best singer or the best dancer,
but I love entertaining and I love telling a story.
And ultimately, I think that's why I also love journalism.
And you know, it's not lost on me that I'm
playing a real life journalist in this show. I'm playing
(23:34):
a couple of different characters, and one of them is
a man named Dawn Sites and he is Joseph Pulitzer's
like managing editor during the time. So a lot of
these characters are based on real life people. Yeah, and
so it's it's kind of fun for me. It's really
fun to be like, oh my gosh, is this life
imitating art imitating life? Like what's happening here right?
Speaker 2 (23:55):
Let me ask you a question. Is you're amongst friends?
It's just you and I right now, Heather, because it's
you and me, you and I. Is your daughter any good?
Or is this just kind of nepotism or.
Speaker 5 (24:07):
Nepotism? I wish I have no power. They cast her
on her own. She earned this spot on her own,
had some power look at her, but she earned this
spot on her own. And I think she does a
really great job. Like she's one of the youngest cast members.
There's two eleven year olds in the whole show, and
she's one of them, and she holds her own with
these incredible, you know, dancers, and you know, I would
(24:30):
be remiss if I didn't really quickly just shout out
the incredible code directors we have, Eliza Berger, Talie Berger.
They are so supportive, so fantastic, and our music director
Johnny Pearl our choreographer Anthony kinneck Car and our stars
of the show, Sophia Gutierrez, alegra Greenwaltz, Brendan c listener
(24:52):
Jake Marshall and honestly, we have a cast of almost
forty people.
Speaker 3 (24:56):
Wow.
Speaker 5 (24:57):
Wow, I would be here all night if I named everybody,
but all know that I love them so much. I
know they're listening right now because I'm waking drive. I'm
gonna be on Tiffany's show.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
Hey, everybody say cast.
Speaker 5 (25:10):
Like literally, this is They're They're just such hard working
and talented people. So if you want to come out
and just find joy for a couple of hours, come,
let us pat dance for you, let us sing for you,
let us make you dance, let us think you smile.
You know, we definitely need it right now for sure.
And yeah, so I think does a.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
Good job, good for her, good for chatting?
Speaker 4 (25:35):
Right?
Speaker 5 (25:36):
Yeah, good question. I Uh. People can get tickets at
the l Portal Theaters website. You can also get tickets
on Conundrum theaterco dot com and I also have them
up on my Instagram. There's only on my Instagram at
the Heather Brooker So I note I'm very sad about
TikTok going away. I don't know. Maybe I'm the am
(25:57):
I alone here, but I'm.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Very it can it can go straight to the dark place.
I could care less.
Speaker 3 (26:03):
Now, But for you people like you who use it, yeah,
I understand. It's you know, it is what it is.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
There'll be something else, and it's you know, behind it,
always to correct.
Speaker 5 (26:13):
There's always gonna be something else coming up behind it.
But so yeah, this is gonna be a really good
show and a wonderful like theater company organization that truly
like supports the community and storytellers and actors in the community.
And I'm excited. I mean, listen, this is the first
time in a long time that I'm on stage singing.
You're gonna see me do a little bit of dancing,
(26:35):
and I'm hoping and praying that I don't like trip
over my own feat.
Speaker 3 (26:39):
How to make it better?
Speaker 5 (26:40):
How to make it good?
Speaker 4 (26:41):
Right?
Speaker 5 (26:42):
Maybe that little a little extra comedy there, why not,
you know, But we would love to see everybody come
out next weekend again. The dates are the twenty third,
the twenty fourth, We're off the twenty fifth, and then
we have two performances on January twenty sixth. You can
get tickets at the l Portal Theater website or at
Conundrumtheater dot com or on my instagram at the Heather
(27:05):
Brooker at.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
The Heather Brooker follow her on Instagram. Her instagram is
always fun and you'll see some behind the scenes photos
of the cast of Newsies and Heather and her daughter
in character in full costume, and it looks to be
a blast. I'm definitely gonna get out there, Heather. I
miss you. I thank you for giving us. I am
oh absolutely, I want.
Speaker 5 (27:26):
To give you the biggest hug.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
Oh my god, I can't wait. I can't wait.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
You're You're just the best, and I can't wait to
see you in your element, doing your thing and beaming
proudly while your girl does her thing too. So congratulations
on all fronts.
Speaker 5 (27:41):
Thank you. Well, I'm beaming now too. Thank you so much, tiff.
Speaker 3 (27:44):
Here, You're so welcome. Heather Brooker.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
You guys, make sure you check out Newsies at the
El Portal Theater in North Hollywood again. You can follow
Heather at The Heather Brooker on Instagram and there are
links there for tickets to Newsy's and just to keep
up with what Heather has been doing, because we miss
her here. All right, It's been great, Heather, Thanks so
much for being with us. All Right, when we come back,
(28:07):
we're going to talk to Michael Monks and I'll tell
you a little bit about the first day of Trump's
presidency and what we might see happen on day one Monday.
KFI AM six forty Live everywhere from the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
It's kf I Am six forty Live everywhere from the
iHeartRadio app. Tiffany Hobbs here with you. It's Saturdays with Tiffany.
We have Michael Monks in the studio and I'm going
to go to him in a little bit, but not
before I give you a few things that Trump President Trump,
soon to be second term President Trump is promising to
carry out on day one of his presidency, which is Monday.
(28:48):
Monday's going to present a very different scope for the
next four years. And what we've seen and here are
some things we can expect as far as im greation
is concerned. President Trump has continuously made immigration the centerpiece
of his campaign is now winning campaign, and he plans
(29:10):
to begin a mass deportation program. If you've been listening
to KFI. One of the consequences of this anticipated mass
deportation program is that migrant workers who are out there
in the fields tending to the crops that grow in
California have not been showing up for work because of
(29:32):
fear of deportation. That will have a direct effect on
the rest of us when we get to the grocery
store as well.
Speaker 3 (29:40):
So all of.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
These things could potentially be carried out even further come Monday.
He also is expecting to pardon the January sixth defendants.
We've heard a lot about that. More than fifteen hundred
and eighty defendants have been charged, and as of this time,
a little over twelve hundred of them have been convicted,
(30:03):
but there are many who could potentially be pardoned as
of Monday. Trump also is planning to end the war
in Ukraine day one. He is going to put an
end to the war. I wonder what that's going to
look like. And then he is planning to President Trump
(30:23):
on Monday, January twentieth, first day as of noon of
his presidency second term, is planning to implement tariffs. He
is planning to raise the tariffs on us, and that
is not going to be fun for anyone, especially people
who are looking to rebuild, because that will then also
(30:44):
trickle down to lumber prices. So, and those are just
four things of the many things that President Trump is
looking into doing day one, January twentieth. It's going to
be a different world. Different world entirely. Michael Monks, Hello.
Speaker 8 (31:00):
Hey, it looks like one of the first things President
Trump will do is come out our way. Yeah, looks
like he's going to pay a visit here soon. It's
not officially confirmed, but there are hints and reports that
President elect Trump is going to come out here and
check out what's been burning and how it looks, and
so we will all be watching with the Key and
I to see what he has to say about that.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
Yeah, and you know, there are it's already becoming a very.
Speaker 3 (31:25):
It's very politicized.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
As we've seen it has become increasingly politicized these fires.
And I don't know if the reception that President Trump
will receive should he come here, will be to his
liking or to the liking of others involved in these fires.
It could be another inflammatory situation.
Speaker 3 (31:46):
I don't know. We'll see.
Speaker 8 (31:48):
Well, you know, he should come, absolutely, the president should come.
It'll be interesting also because President Biden when he leaves office,
he's coming out this way too. I understand he's going
to be.
Speaker 3 (31:57):
Everyone just resting up. That's just it traffic.
Speaker 8 (32:01):
Just like the Obama's at the end of their administration,
that Biden's are going to go to the Santa Barbara
County and hang out there for a while, is what
I'm what I'm reading.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
Right, So, you know, so Southern California show needs to
hang out and just rest.
Speaker 3 (32:13):
He needs a rest, he needs to just rely. Some
have argued he's been resting for quite some time. He
might be resting right now.
Speaker 8 (32:19):
Yeah, but you know, think about it, January twentieth, a
new president being sworn in. We're not even a three
full weeks into this month, and what a year it's
been already from chaos.
Speaker 2 (32:30):
I mean, it absolutely has been just Betlaman chaos. Speaking
of your show, what do you have planned more of
that Betlan and chaos?
Speaker 1 (32:36):
Yeah, you know.
Speaker 8 (32:37):
Bill Maher was back for his new season last night
on HBO. I don't have him on the program, which
we did. Maybe we will reach out someday and get.
Speaker 1 (32:44):
Him all mine.
Speaker 8 (32:45):
But he did have Rick Caruso on Okay and So,
and he spent most of the show talking about the
fires in La. Bill Maher is a guy who lives
in LA and is an LA guy, So he talked
about in his opening, he talked about it in his
interview with Caruso, and he talked about it big time
and is closing scathing monologues. So we're gonna have some
clips from that. We're going to talk about that, and
we are also going to talk about the deal. You
(33:06):
had some animals conversation. Yeah, the shelters are not doing well.
So we're going to get a status update on the
animals because a lot more animals are being turned in. Yeah,
because of this thing was already a terrible situation in La.
It's overflowing and they need relief. They need people to
claim their animals.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
I've seen a lot of people actually surrender animals because
they have no home.
Speaker 8 (33:26):
Well, that's just one piece of LA's troubled government, that
the shelters are overcrowded. They solve this problem troubled. Oh well,
I'm a journalist and then you're not got to talk
to these people. But the city is broke, and we're
going to talk about that. I feel like I do
it every week. But they took some action this past
week when the council finally came back after counseling canceling
(33:49):
their meetings during the biggest part of the fires, and
they took some steps that they hope mitigates their financial disaster.
And that's all before they even calculate what they're going
to be spending to rebuild this.
Speaker 3 (33:58):
So, Mana, we got some problems. We're gonna sort it.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
Out, and Michael Monks is gonna sort it out when
he comes aboard just in a few minutes. Make sure
tomorrow at nine am you listen to the town hall,
the California town Hall on these fires ravaging southern California.
Governor Newsom will be taking questions from people in the
audience and what a town hall this is making out
to be streaming live on all iHeart platforms and the radio.
(34:24):
Of course, you can listen tomorrow at nine am live
right here on KFI AM six forty. I'll be back
next Saturday. Get out there see Heatherbrooker in Newsy's at
l Portal Theater and get out there to the Dream
Center twenty three oh one Bellevue Monday through Saturday, twelve
pm to seven pm to donate, Thank you guys so
(34:45):
very much. You can also donate KFIM six forty dot
com backslash donate I'll see you next Saturday.
Speaker 3 (34:51):
God willing be safe, take care, talk to you soon.
Speaker 1 (34:55):
Kfi AM six forty on demand
You're listening to KFI AM six on demand kf I.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
AM six forty live everywhere from the iHeartRadio APT Tiffany
Hobbs here with you until seven. We are talking about
how to support with the fires. It's they're still going
on and this is not over. Just because you can't
see the smoke or you can't see the flames mean
it does not mean that this thing has wrapped up.
(00:25):
It has certainly not, and there are concerns again next
week for another wind event. We are in a season
that is everlasting. It is ever green our fire season
here in southern California, and one of the groups most
impacted and not often discussed, not necessarily getting as much
(00:49):
publicity as others, and it's just because it's just so
overwhelming what's being dealt with. But that group happens to
deal with pet owners. A lot of people are still
hoping to reunite with their pets who have been lost
since the fires broke out in the Palisades and in Altadena,
(01:10):
in Pasadena and in other areas as well, and there
are lots of efforts underway to reunite people with their pets.
One such effort comes from pet Co Love the store.
Pet Co has a faction called pet Co Love, and
we'll be talking to Chelsea Staley, the director of Life
(01:32):
Saving in one moment. I want to tell you a
little bit about Chelsea Staley and why she is with
pet Co Love and why she's coming on tonight. Chelsea
Staley joined pet Co Love as the director of Life
Saving in May of twenty twenty.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
That tells you a lot about her, right then, right,
We're right.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
In the middle of a pandemic, and here's she is,
being selfless, being compassionate and joining pet Co Love as
director of Life Saving. Heavy she oversees Chelsea Staley the
Grants Team, which supports more than four thousand animal welfare
organizations nationwide. As an animal welfare professional, Chelsea has been
(02:12):
dedicated to saving lives since two thousand and eleven pet Lives.
Before joining pet Co Love, Chelsea served as the executive
director of the Kanawa Charleston Humane Association. This is a
passion for Chelsea. This is not fleeting. This is her livelihood.
Chelsea herself lives in San Antonio with her six dogs.
(02:36):
So this is a person who is dedicated in every
way to animals. Two saving animals to reuniting animals, and
what a time to have this position and to give
us a few minutes of her very busy schedule. Please
welcome Chelsea Staley to the show. Chelsea, thank you so
much for being on with me.
Speaker 4 (02:57):
Tiffany, thank you for having me. Grateful to be here.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
Oh, you're so welcome.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
I heard you on Tim Conway's show last week and
I immediately messaged his producer and I said, I need
her on my show. I really have to talk to her,
and bingo bango, the pieces connected and you were able
to come on, and again, thank you so much for
your time.
Speaker 4 (03:19):
Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
You're welcome. So director of life saving for pet Co Love.
Oh my goodness again. People know pet COO. They go
get their animals supplies, their pet supplies, you go get
your fish, whatever it is, right, But pet COO has
this subsidiary, this this other aspect called pet Co Love.
Can you tell us a bit about pet Co Love
(03:42):
and how you guys are stepping up during these fires?
Speaker 4 (03:46):
Absolutely. Pet Co Love is a five oh one c
three nonprofit, just like any other nonprofit charity that you
think of. The name Petco isn't our name because when
you check out with your pets live at a Petcoast
store and it asks you to donate at the register.
That money comes to Petco. Love and more than ninety
(04:06):
percent of the funds that we raise and are able
to give away to animal shelters come from.
Speaker 5 (04:11):
The actual people who shop at Petco.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (04:14):
So thank you, thank you for shopping at Petco.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Yep, you're welcome. I definitely donated, Definitely, I.
Speaker 4 (04:19):
Love that, Thank you so much. We give about twenty
five million dollars a year to animal shelters across the country,
of course, including those here in La and some of
the money that we give is in the form of
disaster grants. We do big adoption events and things like that.
But the fires are exactly why we're here to support
(04:39):
these these shelters in La City, La County and the
surrounding area.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
Got it So I follow three or four rescue groups
and pages on social media that have been created in
the wake of these fires to help animals in the
Polises and Altadena Pasadena reunite with their families. There are
so so many pets who are unaccounted for at this time.
There's not an exact number, and the number seems to
(05:07):
be pretty fluid, but I've seen anywhere from hundreds to
thousands of pets perhaps that could be out there missing
in this long list of missing pets. You know, the
emotions are right there at the top. I see the list,
I see these pets, I see the pictures, I see
the police for reunification, and it really it gets you
(05:27):
and makes you cry. And then on the other side
of that, you see the stories of reunification. You see
that this pet was found at the Pacadena Humane Society
or this shelter and was reunited with their family, and
it makes you cry. All of it is highly emotional.
And Chelsea, my question is to you, as the director
(05:48):
of life Saving, how are you just not an absolute wreck?
Speaker 3 (05:52):
This is such hard work.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
You know it's hard work, but I think it depends
on how you process the.
Speaker 5 (06:00):
Work and what you let it do to you.
Speaker 4 (06:02):
Right, So, while we see some heavy things, we also
have an opportunity to be, you know, a blessing to
people and to be able to help help people and
their pets. And pets are family and so people want
to cling tight to their pets. Pets can support people
(06:23):
and save people in a way that people can't do.
So it really is, you know, a privilege to be
able to serve pets and their people in that way.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Yeah, I'm a pet owner, I'm a pet mom. I
don't call myself an owner. I call myself a pet parent.
And you know, my my my dogs are my kids.
And I can't imagine what people are going through, whether
dog owner, cat owner, turtle owner. I've seen the horses
out there, you see the pigs, you see the other reptiles.
I've seen fish rescued from ponds. I've seen all sorts
(06:52):
of examples of people's dedication to our pets. It is
a serious, serious serio as part of who we are,
like you said, and they are family in every way.
There's a database that pet co Love actually has. Can
you tell us a bit about that database?
Speaker 5 (07:11):
I can.
Speaker 4 (07:11):
Yeah, we have a database called pet coo Love Lost
and it is an online lost found pet platform. It
integrates with the largest shelter software. So if there is
pet data in the shelter system here in La either
in La City, La County, passing a humane et cetera,
(07:34):
it pulls the data from those shelters into one place. Also,
you can post pictures of lost pets on Petco Love Lost.
It aggregates data from next door and from neighbors.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Oh wow, use this image.
Speaker 4 (07:46):
Yeah, it's really the virtual telephone pole. Oh wow.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (07:50):
You think of missing pet posters on a telephone pole
and it's like, we don't even have landlines anymore. Why
do we have a telephone pole?
Speaker 3 (07:57):
Right?
Speaker 4 (07:57):
Yes, So it's the one you know, digital aggregator.
Speaker 5 (08:01):
Of all of this data.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
And the thing is it is completely free to use.
So the shelter softwares only shelter employees and volunteers can
use us. You know, the general public can't. Okay, So
this is the one piece of technology that brings all
of the loss and down pet data together and then
it's free for the public to use as well.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
Got it?
Speaker 2 (08:22):
And I'm looking here and it says that nearly seventy
five thousand pets have been reunited with their families thanks
to pet Co Love Lost. Can you tell us do
you have any success stories from the fires thus far
about being able to reunite?
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Are you hopeful to have some?
Speaker 4 (08:42):
I do know that there was a cat opacity to
humane who had been in the fires, and they were
able to via image recognition technology, they were able to
find that cat family. The data that is coming in
we're monitoring constantly. But if I'm being honest, I have
been in the city shelters for today was five days,
(09:03):
and so I've not been monitoring the success stories on
Peco Love.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
You're on the ground, don't you apologize or explain. You
are on the ground doing the work. Boots to the
ground girl. So thank you for that. The fact that
you have a full time job and you monitor what's
going on on pet co Love Lost or pet Cole
Love as the director of life Saving but you still
are in La in the shelters, right there in front
(09:27):
of these pets, these animals.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
Says a lot about your character, Chelsea.
Speaker 4 (09:31):
Thank you so much. But you know, haven't The shelters
are busy any time of year, especially during an emergency
like yes, right, And the beauty of the technology is
if the shelter intake staff or too busy, if the
shelter outcome staff are too busy, the technology still works.
You know, the technology will send you an alert if
it finds a match for a pet that you have
(09:54):
lost or found, and so you don't have to rely
on the shelter's staff who are under overworked. You know,
you don't have to rely on the shelter staff to
have a moment to help you search. The technology does
that automatically.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
So when it comes to someone like me who is
seeing these sites, these websites, these social media pages, and
I want to help, I want to get out there,
boots on the ground and start looking for pets. But
I can't do that because the areas are blocked off.
It's not safe, it's even perhaps not my place to
do that. What are ways that people can help pets
(10:30):
affect it by the la fires usinge and pet co love.
Speaker 4 (10:35):
Using TechCo Love Loss, people can share Techo Love Loss
on their social pages, so we know that we're just
spreading the word. If someone is lost or found a pet,
we want to make sure we're asking them to post
that pet on TechCo Love Loss because that the software
will do the work for you. Other things that you
can do to support the shelters now is give a
(10:56):
monetary donation. Shelters are not like pet Co. They are
not retail and inventory experts, and so when physical donations,
you know, flood into the shelters, that almost creates a
disaster in itself that the shelter staff or then you
know spreads in between providing animal care and good customer
service and having to manage those physical donations with very
(11:19):
little storage. Another thing you can do is foster. We
are pushing for foster pet or foster families for primarily
dogs over thirty five pounds. Yes, if you're able to
open your home, yeah, if you're able to open your
home and heart to a pet and need, we highly
encourage that you visit one of the local shelters in person.
(11:41):
I'm personally working at the LA Animal Services East Valley
location and we have met the most wonderful people coming
into foster.
Speaker 5 (11:50):
You can also adopt. All adoptions es are waved through.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
The end of the month, so three ways adopt foster
and poster or uplafe information into that database for that
pet that's either lost or found.
Speaker 3 (12:05):
Absolutely great And.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
What's another way or the ways rather that people listening
can reach you should they want to follow you on
social media, donate online, follow your efforts.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
How can they find you?
Speaker 4 (12:18):
I'm Chelsea Staley. We also are at Petpolove and petpoloveloss
dot org.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Petcoloveloss dot org.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
She's Chelsea Staley, Director of life saving and you can
find them in those ways. Open your home, your heart,
your wallet, all of it. Help these animals. Help these
animals get back to their people, Help people get back
to their animals, get a new animal, do what you
can to support during this time. Chelsea Staley, thank you
so much for everything you are doing.
Speaker 5 (12:49):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 4 (12:50):
Tiffany, have a great night.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
You do the same.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
Kf I Am six forty Live everywhere from the iHeartRadio App.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty man, okay if.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
I AM six forty Live everywhere from the iHeartRadio App.
Tiffany hobbs here with you until seven, and then Michael
Monks comes aboard and the promo just took what I
was going to tell you, but I'll say it again.
Tomorrow nine am, Governor Gavin Newsom is hosting a town
hall for residents impacted by the fires across southern California.
Questions will be asked, things may be deflected, but either way,
(13:26):
you should tune in live at nine am, either on
the radio streaming at KFI AM six forty dot com,
the iHeart app, your car radio, your radio in your bathroom,
or your clock radio whatever, It may be all across
our iHeart stations. Our California stations will be carrying it
live nine am twomorrow, so catch that town hall at
(13:50):
six point thirty. We also have Heather Brooker coming on.
She's gonna talk to us about Newsy's, the Disney stage
play that will be held next week after being postponed
because of the fires. It'll be at the l Portal
Theater in North Hollywood, and Heather will tell us all
about that. I want to tell you some suple facts
(14:11):
quick facts about updates to the fire.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
So some statistics.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
As of six pm today, six pm today, and I
just checked this on the Watch Duty app, the Palisades
fire is forty nine percent contained. It's burned over twenty
three thousand acres twenty three thousand, seven hundred and thirteen
acres to be exact. The Eaten fire is seventy three
percent contained as of six pm today and it has
(14:38):
so far burned fourteen thousand, one hundred and seventeen acres.
A lot of personnel are on the scene at these
burn areas. Of course, they're at the press conferences, they'll
be at the town hall, they're at the community forums
and one in particular. LA Assistant Fire Chief Joe Everett
spoke to wildfire victims and evacuees last third in Westwood
(15:02):
at a community meeting.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
This is what he had to say.
Speaker 6 (15:05):
People who lost everything in the Palisades fire are angry
and frustrated. They lashed out at fire officials at last
night's community meeting held at Sinai Temple in Westwood. They
shouted questions, when can we get access? Why couldn't you
save our community? Why is my home gone? Assistant Fire
Chief Joe Everett, who is a third generation resident of
(15:26):
Pacific Palisades, apologized.
Speaker 3 (15:29):
It's extremely, extremely hard for me to look to you
in the eye knowing that quite honestly, I feel like
I've failed you.
Speaker 7 (15:38):
To some respect.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Moving on, let's get into business.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
So he was very emotional as you heard. If that's
an indicat this town hall, tomorrow could be a lot
more of the same, if not more. Uh six point thirty,
we have Heather Brooker coming on, so stay tuned for that.
KFI AM six forty Live everywhere from the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
KFI AM six forty Live Everywhere from the iHeartRadio app
tof Me Hobbs here with you until seven pm, and
then Michael Monks comes aboard, so make sure you stay
tuned for that.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
In a moment, we are going to have one of
my friends on. You know her.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
You listened to her voice for a while here over
the airwaves. Her name is Heather Brooker, and not only
was she a part of the news team, but she
also get this. Is an actress, a comedian, a host.
She's been on NBC, ABC, Netflix, She's been in movies, television.
(16:51):
She's an advocate. She is a two time Emmy winner,
She's a Webby winning podcaster, and she is a mom.
She's a mom of a teenager. And they are super close.
They're so close that they are appearing together in a
stage play off Broadway called Newsy's Heather Brookler Brookler Brooker,
(17:14):
thank you so much for being I'm so excited. I'm
tongue tied. Heather Brooker, thank you so much for being
on with me.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
I miss you. I'm so glad to talk to.
Speaker 5 (17:23):
You him, my sweet friend. It is such a pleasure
to be here. I have thoroughly enjoyed just watching you
continue to shine in this role, and I'm just so
honored to be a guest. Like, what a nice treat for.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Me, Heather, what a treat for all of us listening
for me. I've wanted for many months, since I've known you,
since I've gotten to know you, to just share your
talents with any and everyone, because I watch your social media,
I see you promoting things, and you are just a dynamo.
You are a not true threat. You're like a six
(18:02):
tuplet threat.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
There's they're just infinite numbers of threats that you have
because you're just so talented. And one of them you're
going to talk about is Newsy's which is finally back on.
Tell us what's going on with this play?
Speaker 5 (18:18):
Well, I am so thrilled to be a part of
this show. This is put on by Conundrum Theater Company
and it is a community theater company that's based in Burbank,
and their whole mission is to just build like a
collaborative and diverse community for performers. And it's for everybody
(18:39):
who has like a traditional day job, they can then
perform and do rehearsals at night and put up a show.
And you know, it's for people who still love performing
and love acting to be able to participate in theater.
And this show that they're putting on is Newsy Sow.
Some of you, some of the listeners may know Newsies
because it was a huge, huge Broadway hit when it
(19:01):
debuted in twenty twelve, and since then it's been put up,
you know, all over the world. And we are lucky
enough that we had been working on this for several
months now, and we were going to put it up
last weekend at the El Portal Theater in North Hollywood,
but it got moved back a couple of weeks because obviously,
(19:21):
you know, yes, our hearts are with everyone that's involved
in the fires, and you know, LA have just been
under a tremendous amount of heartbreak. I mean you had
to evacuate too, Yes, I had to evacuate my mom.
She was in Pasadena and in the evacuation area and
I had to evacuate her. And we just said, and
the flyers were getting a little close to us in
(19:42):
the Glendale area, and I was like, you know what,
let's just scoop everybody up and just go just to
be safe. And we are safe and everyone in our
family is safe, but our hearts are still with everybody
who is rebuilding and is still dealing with the devast station.
And so for this show, it just felt like we
needed to take a beat acknowledge what was happening in
(20:05):
our community. I mean community. Theater is nothing without the community. Yes,
and we were lucky enough that the Alportal Theater allowed
us to put it up next weekend. And listen when
I tell you this incredible cast is going to knock
your socks off. This like, this story is powerful in
(20:28):
and of itself, Like the Newsy story is very much
like a David and Goliath story. You know, it is
about it's not familiar. It's about the young child.
Speaker 7 (20:38):
Labor basically back at the sort of the nineteenth Street
of light Fare. It's very light fare, right right, you know,
the old comedy of child labor. But it's it's basically
about kids who you know, rise up against the billionaires,
you know, to be a voice for the voiceless.
Speaker 5 (20:56):
And say, hey, you're not paying us a fair wage,
you're not treating us. We're out here working so hard
for you. You know, where's our piece of the pie. And
they organize a strike and.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
You said this five or oh Yeah, it's.
Speaker 5 (21:11):
Happening right now. Yeah, very time, I feel a little familiar,
might feel a little bit like, wow, this is a
you can all relate to in twenty twenty five. Yes,
but it's very much a story of triumph. It's a
story of coming together, of community, and it is the
(21:32):
music in this show. For those who've heard Newsy Dream,
if you haven't, it's so powerful, it's so beautifully written.
And my hope and our hope is that anyone who
might be looking for an escape, you know, from everything
that's going on right now, even just for a moment,
(21:54):
something to take your mind off of everything that's going on,
something to make your heart feel a little bit lighter.
Because that is, even though it's dealing with a somewhat
furious subject, a very serious subject, New Ze's is a
lighthearted musical. It's fun. You're gonna want to sing along.
You're going to find that you're rooting for these kids.
(22:15):
And I really just want to encourage everybody to come
out to the show, come and join us, sing along
with us. And yes, my daughter and I are in
the show, Yes you are, We're done together. I'm so
like listen, she's a preteen and any preteen mom will
tell you there are moments where she's like, I want
(22:36):
nothing to do if you get away from me. And
then and then there are moments where he's like, oh
my gosh, Mom, I love you so much. My hope
is that through this experience that we're creating memories together.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
And how how proud are you having to share the
stage with your baby girl.
Speaker 5 (22:53):
I'm so proud, Like the cat can tell you. I'm like,
I'm I'm on the stage like over in the side,
just like being you know, like as as my little
you know, problem self. And I'm I'm also you know,
getting back to my roots in musical theater, like that's
where I fell in love with acting when I was
about my daughter's age, when I was about Channing's age.
(23:14):
And I love being on the stage. You know, I
may not be the best singer or the best dancer,
but I love entertaining and I love telling a story.
And ultimately, I think that's why I also love journalism.
And you know, it's not lost on me that I'm
playing a real life journalist in this show. I'm playing
(23:34):
a couple of different characters, and one of them is
a man named Dawn Sites and he is Joseph Pulitzer's
like managing editor during the time. So a lot of
these characters are based on real life people. Yeah, and
so it's it's kind of fun for me. It's really
fun to be like, oh my gosh, is this life
imitating art imitating life? Like what's happening here right?
Speaker 2 (23:55):
Let me ask you a question. Is you're amongst friends?
It's just you and I right now, Heather, because it's
you and me, you and I. Is your daughter any good?
Or is this just kind of nepotism or.
Speaker 5 (24:07):
Nepotism? I wish I have no power. They cast her
on her own. She earned this spot on her own,
had some power look at her, but she earned this
spot on her own. And I think she does a
really great job. Like she's one of the youngest cast members.
There's two eleven year olds in the whole show, and
she's one of them, and she holds her own with
these incredible, you know, dancers, and you know, I would
(24:30):
be remiss if I didn't really quickly just shout out
the incredible code directors we have, Eliza Berger, Talie Berger.
They are so supportive, so fantastic, and our music director
Johnny Pearl our choreographer Anthony kinneck Car and our stars
of the show, Sophia Gutierrez, alegra Greenwaltz, Brendan c listener
(24:52):
Jake Marshall and honestly, we have a cast of almost
forty people.
Speaker 3 (24:56):
Wow.
Speaker 5 (24:57):
Wow, I would be here all night if I named everybody,
but all know that I love them so much. I
know they're listening right now because I'm waking drive. I'm
gonna be on Tiffany's show.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
Hey, everybody say cast.
Speaker 5 (25:10):
Like literally, this is They're They're just such hard working
and talented people. So if you want to come out
and just find joy for a couple of hours, come,
let us pat dance for you, let us sing for you,
let us make you dance, let us think you smile.
You know, we definitely need it right now for sure.
And yeah, so I think does a.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
Good job, good for her, good for chatting?
Speaker 4 (25:35):
Right?
Speaker 5 (25:36):
Yeah, good question. I Uh. People can get tickets at
the l Portal Theaters website. You can also get tickets
on Conundrum theaterco dot com and I also have them
up on my Instagram. There's only on my Instagram at
the Heather Brooker So I note I'm very sad about
TikTok going away. I don't know. Maybe I'm the am
(25:57):
I alone here, but I'm.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Very it can it can go straight to the dark place.
I could care less.
Speaker 3 (26:03):
Now, But for you people like you who use it, yeah,
I understand. It's you know, it is what it is.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
There'll be something else, and it's you know, behind it,
always to correct.
Speaker 5 (26:13):
There's always gonna be something else coming up behind it.
But so yeah, this is gonna be a really good
show and a wonderful like theater company organization that truly
like supports the community and storytellers and actors in the community.
And I'm excited. I mean, listen, this is the first
time in a long time that I'm on stage singing.
You're gonna see me do a little bit of dancing,
(26:35):
and I'm hoping and praying that I don't like trip
over my own feat.
Speaker 3 (26:39):
How to make it better?
Speaker 5 (26:40):
How to make it good?
Speaker 4 (26:41):
Right?
Speaker 5 (26:42):
Maybe that little a little extra comedy there, why not,
you know, But we would love to see everybody come
out next weekend again. The dates are the twenty third,
the twenty fourth, We're off the twenty fifth, and then
we have two performances on January twenty sixth. You can
get tickets at the l Portal Theater website or at
Conundrumtheater dot com or on my instagram at the Heather
(27:05):
Brooker at.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
The Heather Brooker follow her on Instagram. Her instagram is
always fun and you'll see some behind the scenes photos
of the cast of Newsies and Heather and her daughter
in character in full costume, and it looks to be
a blast. I'm definitely gonna get out there, Heather. I
miss you. I thank you for giving us. I am
oh absolutely, I want.
Speaker 5 (27:26):
To give you the biggest hug.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
Oh my god, I can't wait. I can't wait.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
You're You're just the best, and I can't wait to
see you in your element, doing your thing and beaming
proudly while your girl does her thing too. So congratulations
on all fronts.
Speaker 5 (27:41):
Thank you. Well, I'm beaming now too. Thank you so much, tiff.
Speaker 3 (27:44):
Here, You're so welcome. Heather Brooker.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
You guys, make sure you check out Newsies at the
El Portal Theater in North Hollywood again. You can follow
Heather at The Heather Brooker on Instagram and there are
links there for tickets to Newsy's and just to keep
up with what Heather has been doing, because we miss
her here. All right, It's been great, Heather, Thanks so
much for being with us. All Right, when we come back,
(28:07):
we're going to talk to Michael Monks and I'll tell
you a little bit about the first day of Trump's
presidency and what we might see happen on day one Monday.
KFI AM six forty Live everywhere from the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
It's kf I Am six forty Live everywhere from the
iHeartRadio app. Tiffany Hobbs here with you. It's Saturdays with Tiffany.
We have Michael Monks in the studio and I'm going
to go to him in a little bit, but not
before I give you a few things that Trump President Trump,
soon to be second term President Trump is promising to
carry out on day one of his presidency, which is Monday.
(28:48):
Monday's going to present a very different scope for the
next four years. And what we've seen and here are
some things we can expect as far as im greation
is concerned. President Trump has continuously made immigration the centerpiece
of his campaign is now winning campaign, and he plans
(29:10):
to begin a mass deportation program. If you've been listening
to KFI. One of the consequences of this anticipated mass
deportation program is that migrant workers who are out there
in the fields tending to the crops that grow in
California have not been showing up for work because of
(29:32):
fear of deportation. That will have a direct effect on
the rest of us when we get to the grocery
store as well.
Speaker 3 (29:40):
So all of.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
These things could potentially be carried out even further come Monday.
He also is expecting to pardon the January sixth defendants.
We've heard a lot about that. More than fifteen hundred
and eighty defendants have been charged, and as of this time,
a little over twelve hundred of them have been convicted,
(30:03):
but there are many who could potentially be pardoned as
of Monday. Trump also is planning to end the war
in Ukraine day one. He is going to put an
end to the war. I wonder what that's going to
look like. And then he is planning to President Trump
(30:23):
on Monday, January twentieth, first day as of noon of
his presidency second term, is planning to implement tariffs. He
is planning to raise the tariffs on us, and that
is not going to be fun for anyone, especially people
who are looking to rebuild, because that will then also
(30:44):
trickle down to lumber prices. So, and those are just
four things of the many things that President Trump is
looking into doing day one, January twentieth. It's going to
be a different world. Different world entirely. Michael Monks, Hello.
Speaker 8 (31:00):
Hey, it looks like one of the first things President
Trump will do is come out our way. Yeah, looks
like he's going to pay a visit here soon. It's
not officially confirmed, but there are hints and reports that
President elect Trump is going to come out here and
check out what's been burning and how it looks, and
so we will all be watching with the Key and
I to see what he has to say about that.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
Yeah, and you know, there are it's already becoming a very.
Speaker 3 (31:25):
It's very politicized.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
As we've seen it has become increasingly politicized these fires.
And I don't know if the reception that President Trump
will receive should he come here, will be to his
liking or to the liking of others involved in these fires.
It could be another inflammatory situation.
Speaker 3 (31:46):
I don't know. We'll see.
Speaker 8 (31:48):
Well, you know, he should come, absolutely, the president should come.
It'll be interesting also because President Biden when he leaves office,
he's coming out this way too. I understand he's going
to be.
Speaker 3 (31:57):
Everyone just resting up. That's just it traffic.
Speaker 8 (32:01):
Just like the Obama's at the end of their administration,
that Biden's are going to go to the Santa Barbara
County and hang out there for a while, is what
I'm what I'm reading.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
Right, So, you know, so Southern California show needs to
hang out and just rest.
Speaker 3 (32:13):
He needs a rest, he needs to just rely. Some
have argued he's been resting for quite some time. He
might be resting right now.
Speaker 8 (32:19):
Yeah, but you know, think about it, January twentieth, a
new president being sworn in. We're not even a three
full weeks into this month, and what a year it's
been already from chaos.
Speaker 2 (32:30):
I mean, it absolutely has been just Betlaman chaos. Speaking
of your show, what do you have planned more of
that Betlan and chaos?
Speaker 1 (32:36):
Yeah, you know.
Speaker 8 (32:37):
Bill Maher was back for his new season last night
on HBO. I don't have him on the program, which
we did. Maybe we will reach out someday and get.
Speaker 1 (32:44):
Him all mine.
Speaker 8 (32:45):
But he did have Rick Caruso on Okay and So,
and he spent most of the show talking about the
fires in La. Bill Maher is a guy who lives
in LA and is an LA guy, So he talked
about in his opening, he talked about it in his
interview with Caruso, and he talked about it big time
and is closing scathing monologues. So we're gonna have some
clips from that. We're going to talk about that, and
we are also going to talk about the deal. You
(33:06):
had some animals conversation. Yeah, the shelters are not doing well.
So we're going to get a status update on the
animals because a lot more animals are being turned in. Yeah,
because of this thing was already a terrible situation in La.
It's overflowing and they need relief. They need people to
claim their animals.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
I've seen a lot of people actually surrender animals because
they have no home.
Speaker 8 (33:26):
Well, that's just one piece of LA's troubled government, that
the shelters are overcrowded. They solve this problem troubled. Oh well,
I'm a journalist and then you're not got to talk
to these people. But the city is broke, and we're
going to talk about that. I feel like I do
it every week. But they took some action this past
week when the council finally came back after counseling canceling
(33:49):
their meetings during the biggest part of the fires, and
they took some steps that they hope mitigates their financial disaster.
And that's all before they even calculate what they're going
to be spending to rebuild this.
Speaker 3 (33:58):
So, Mana, we got some problems. We're gonna sort it.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
Out, and Michael Monks is gonna sort it out when
he comes aboard just in a few minutes. Make sure
tomorrow at nine am you listen to the town hall,
the California town Hall on these fires ravaging southern California.
Governor Newsom will be taking questions from people in the
audience and what a town hall this is making out
to be streaming live on all iHeart platforms and the radio.
(34:24):
Of course, you can listen tomorrow at nine am live
right here on KFI AM six forty. I'll be back
next Saturday. Get out there see Heatherbrooker in Newsy's at
l Portal Theater and get out there to the Dream
Center twenty three oh one Bellevue Monday through Saturday, twelve
pm to seven pm to donate, Thank you guys so
(34:45):
very much. You can also donate KFIM six forty dot
com backslash donate I'll see you next Saturday.
Speaker 3 (34:51):
God willing be safe, take care, talk to you soon.
Speaker 1 (34:55):
Kfi AM six forty on demand
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