November 26, 2025 • 32 mins
Mark Thompson dusts off his legendary Simple Life 4: Til’ Death Do Us Part narrator voice to treat us with a snippet from the 2006 hit show! From the latest updates on the targeted attack injuring two National Guard members near the White House to reports of an unarmed Guardsman in an incident involving an alleged Afghan national. KFI reporter, Michael Monks joins to break down the Caterers Protest snarling traffic at LAX during the holiday rush and later returns to unpack Attorney General Rob Bonta’s lawsuit against the Trump Administration over restrictions on food-assistance eligibility.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's KFI Am sixty and you're listening to the Conway
Show on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Thompson here for Conway, Timmy Way next couple of days,
way through the weekend, back on Monday, is my understanding.
So Mark Thompson's sitting in. There's a lot going on,
and I don't need to tell you tragedy hitting the
Washington DC National Guard outposts. We'll talk a bit about
what's happening there. Welcome to our KFI kids. Those who
(00:34):
rotate in to take the floor, you know. When the
regulars are rotating out, there are others who rotate in.
Welcoming Mario on the board today, Yeah, Eileen Gonzales in
the newsroom today, and Lucy in traffic. Not to mention
(00:56):
Richie who is here pretty much all the time, but
he rotates into the producer role today. Yes, sir, you
take it all pretty pretty smoothly. I would say, you're
not at all intimidated by the producer role. No, you
produced before, Yeah, you produced for bigger talent than myself.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
I mean, this is kind of.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
A soft pedal for you.
Speaker 4 (01:19):
Not even I am a fan of yours ever since
I remember hearing your voice on the Simple Life as
a narrator.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Oh, that's right, the simple pry up there for me. Yeah,
I forgot about that. Yeah, well, Nicole is already busy
with the kids. Paris is still thinking about waking up. Yeah,
that was the extent of my narration on the Simple Life.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
That's hilarious. It's probably still the same. I will tell
you and remind you.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Eileen Gonzalez in the newsroom, please chime in with anything, obviously,
anything news related that has well, we do a lot
of news breaks here on KFI, but anything that we
need to know about I'm on it. Yeah, And likewise,
if you have any thoughts on anything I say, because
you're welcome here. There again, no moments that you're not
allowed to chime in. I do want to start with
(02:08):
what's happening in Washington. There is a suspect in custody.
The suspect was also shot with injuries, not life threatening
injuries as I understand it, but the two West Virginia
National Guard members shot did pass away.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
It's a brutal coda to what's happened so far.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
I mean, you know, this National Guard presence already very
controversial in Washington, seems to be marked on this Thanksgiving
Eve by this tragedy, and we don't know a lot
about it yet except for the location and the fact
that these two National guardsmen were fired.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Upon good afternoon on Johnson and New York.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
We're coming back on the air because of the breaking
news two members of the National Guard shot in Washington,
d C.
Speaker 5 (03:07):
Let's listen into authorities right now holding a press brief
thing there.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
Thank you for talking.
Speaker 6 (03:12):
I'm Muriel Bowser. I'm the Mayor of Washington, d C.
And I too want to send my thoughts and prayers
to the families of the guardsmen and to the guardsmen
who are in critical condition.
Speaker 5 (03:27):
In a local hospital.
Speaker 6 (03:29):
I am joined by memphs in leadership from the DC
National Guard, from the West Virginia National Guard, United States
Secret Service, Deputy may Apia Fire Chief Donnelley, and Metro's
general manager Randy Clark, and we join with the FBI
Director in ensuring that MPD investigates the US Attorney prosecutes
(03:55):
this case to the fullest extent of the law. I've
had the opportunity to breathe US Attorney General Pambondi, who
was speaking to the President when I called as well
as the United States Attorney Pierrot, who assured me that
this case will have for offices and complete attention.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
I'll say this that this is a I was mentioning
it kind of.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
It's like a weird inflection point in all of this.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
And the reason I say that is because, look, this
is an extremely controversial deployment of the National Guard. You know,
it was contested legally. It was contested locally in Washington,
but it was contested by the mayor you've just heard from.
That's who was speaking. In addition, there is a there's
a legal controversy around it. The National Guard in the
(04:47):
nation capital, the nation's capital.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
I should say.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
It triggered a court fight, right, and so there was
this policy debate, there's a court fight, and the debate
around the use of the military to combat you know,
an out of control crime problem, which is pretty much
what it was cast as, has been something that's insanely controversial.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
And so.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
These soldiers patrolling neighborhoods, train stations, other locations. They were
picking up trash, guarding sporting events. It was a weird
presence of the National Guard in Washington. And I should
just mention this having grown up in Washington. There are
more police officers of one sort or another in Washington
than any other city in America. You have the Washington
(05:38):
Metro Police, then you have the Park Police, then you
have the Embassy Police, then you have the Secret Service Police.
Then they're within those agencies sub police units. You go
(05:59):
to Washington and there are police cruisers everywhere, and they're
not you know, metro cops there in one of those
agencies I just mentioned, and there are probably others that
I didn't even think of. And the idea that you
would need to buttress them to support them in some
way with the National Guard was something that for a
(06:21):
lot of locals just seemed weird. Now that's said, I'm
sure there are a lot of locals that go, I'm
glad the National Guards here. You know, the crime rate
is too high or the even though it was at
an all time low for the you know, the last
you've heard all of these arguments before the last five
year period, I think it was.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
But beyond that, the murder rate.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Much much lower than in the passion and Washington, DC
used to have a reputation as like the murder capital
of the nation. They had to change the name of
the basketball team from the Bullets to the Wizards. That
was because so many people were being victimized by gun
violence in Washington. So anyway I get back to the
National Guard thing is I guess what I'm saying is
(07:03):
they weren't deploying the National Guard in many of these
areas that had been stricken by crime. You know, some
of these really deep inner city neighborhoods were not seeing
the National Guard presence. They were showing up, you know,
at as I say, it's sporting events, not far from
the White House, picking up trash. But last week there
was a federal judge who ordered an end to this deployment.
(07:25):
So this is a weird thing that's happening alongside that
federal judge's order. But the key thing about that order
was it was put on hold for twenty one days
to allow the Trump administration time to either remove the
troops or even appeal the legal decision. Right they had
the right to appeal it. So in this time we
(07:49):
have this horrible development and these two fatalities. It's a
really sad moment associated with this polished.
Speaker 7 (08:00):
Chaotic and tragic scene here as you can see more
law enforcement arriving. The scene seems to be congregated around
the Farragut West Metro station there at the end of
the block, just beyond that fire truck. We have seen
National Guard in recent months stage at these metro stations
as part of a larger public safety operation, and as
you can see, we see a number of National guardsmen
(08:21):
who have also arrived here. In fact, our bureau is
just a few blocks away. As we were running here
to this scene to cover the story, we were running
behind members of the National Guard who were sprinting here
on their cell phones trying to get a sense of
what was going on. We saw one apparent victim, someone
in National Guard fatigues being worked on by EMS and
(08:45):
other law enforcement. We saw at least one of them
at the entrance of the metro station, and then we
saw another of those loaded into an ambulance which sped
off here with a police escort. Obviously not much information
coming out of the scene. Law enforcement now say they
have it locked down but chaotic here. Another thing we
witness as we arrived is EMS sprinting to that Metro
(09:06):
station here. Now this scene has transitioned to be one
of an investigation. We've seen federal agents arrive, We've seen
tactical units with the Secret Service here as well as
DC fire, and of course those fellow National guardsmen who
are here now watching and looking on as this tragic
scene unfolds.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Yes, and now since that report, we know that those
two National guardsmen lost their lives in that shooting and
the shooter wounded being treated apparently with what are not.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
Life threatening injuries. So that's the latest on that.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
We'll continue to update it, but again it's wrapped in
this controversial policy to begin with, and that only makes
the whole situation uglier. It's KFI AM six forty. We're
live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. Mark Thompson sitting in
for Tim Conway Junior.
Speaker 8 (09:58):
You're listening to Tim kN Junior on demand from KFI
AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Mark Thompson sitting in for Tim Conway Junior. I hope
you're having a pleasant ramp up to Thanksgiving. If you're
headed out of town, traveling anywhere beyond your home, you
may run into some some choppy water. And Michael Monks
is here from KFI News to talk a little bit
about that.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
What's happening.
Speaker 4 (10:25):
Michael Mann, I tell you, if there is one thing
we in southern California don't need help with, it's making
our commute in absolute living hell. But inspite of that,
we got some help with it just yesterday, and not
just on any old road, but Century Boulevard near lax.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
I just couldn't I just couldn't believe this, because, as
you say, it's so awful anyway on a regular day,
you add to that Thanksgiving week and then all of
a sudden a labor dispute and protest, and you you
have a situation where you just I'm sure travelers are
melting down over this.
Speaker 5 (10:59):
Oh were they melting down.
Speaker 4 (11:01):
We saw cards being abandoned by folks who were getting
out of their vehicles and walking the rest of the
way to the airport because they could not get in.
What's happening at the airport is a union, a very
influential union in Los Angeles politics, Unite Here Local eleven.
They represent a lot of hospitality workers, people who work
in hotels and restaurants, also people who work at the airport,
(11:23):
including a union group that works for a company called
Flying Food, and they do a lot of catering for
the airline companies. You're actually in the flug Absolutely, these
folks have a lot of complaints, you know, as unions
tend to do. Among those complaints, they want a new contract.
They're concerned about work safety. They say they are working
with fire hazard conditions and those sorts of things.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
All those things.
Speaker 4 (11:46):
Absolutely, these maybe things that they should be bringing to
the bargaining table, and there could be ways to get
the company's attention.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
Why are they bringing it to Sentry Boulevards.
Speaker 4 (11:54):
They brought it to Century Boulevard into the attention of
people rushing to get the airport shut down the intersection
yesterday evening.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Now did they shut it down or did the cops
shut it down because.
Speaker 4 (12:06):
The union people shut it down and the police had
to show up to reopen it to get those union
folks out of the middle of the street. So LAX
is governed by Los Angeles World Airports Association. This is
known as LAWA, and that is an entity that in
itself is governed by the city, So it is a
(12:26):
governmental agency. What the union says it wanted to do
was get the attention of city officials and this union
battle that's taking place with Flying Food Incorporated, that they're
not coming to the bargaining table to talk about these employees' concerns.
So they got their attention all right, certainly got the
attention of commuters as well. This was disrupted for two hours.
(12:50):
When you think about what time frame do you give
yourself when you get to the air for a couple
hours cecually to play it station.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
You want to get to show you it cost people
the flights.
Speaker 4 (12:59):
It was costing people their flights, not just domestically, but
some of these folks that we heard from were flying
overseas and felt like they were not going to be
able to get to their flight on time because of
this airport disruption. So what do you think, Mark, do
you think this was an effective form of course tests?
Speaker 2 (13:15):
I always say this is this kind of thing. It
has the opposite effect, right, So, now you're angry at
the union, whatever it might be. In this case, it
represents all of these employees who work at the airport
in and around, and now you're angry at them. This
is like, screw them? Are you kidding me? You know,
it's why do we all have to pay the price.
That's why I asked you if they were actually in
the intersection around the sidewalk. You know, you can make
(13:37):
the point, you can picket alongside all of this. It
does make an impact. I do take note of hotel
workers that are picketing outside the hotel without blocking the
way to the hotel. I think it's just the wrong
way to proceed.
Speaker 4 (13:50):
It reminded me of June, when the protest here really
took off in earnest against federal immigration enforcement. Because there
may be folks living all around Los Angeles who have
at least some sympathy for the perspective that we don't
want these federal agents here. Not all of our listeners
share that perspective, but there are probably a lot who do.
(14:11):
But does that sympathy start to wane if you are
on your way to or from work after a long
day or before a long day, and you're driving along
the one O one freeway and suddenly its shut down.
Not just the immigration protests, the Palestine protest also did
this tactic as well. If you're shutting down freeways and
suddenly I'm the target and I have nothing to do
(14:32):
with your issue at all, do you expect my sympathy
for your objective to rise?
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Thank you?
Speaker 2 (14:37):
I mean boy, that just states it bluntly. I think
that's exactly right. It has the reverse effect. You've become
angry at those protesters, the blank protest.
Speaker 4 (14:47):
You're either joining the Israeli Army or signing up the
work for Ice. At that point you're so mad about
what these people have done. But this union is not stupid.
This is not a bad union. This is is the
union that has brought a lot of policy changes to
the City of Los Angeles.
Speaker 5 (15:04):
You see them at many city council meetings.
Speaker 4 (15:06):
They were behind this effort to raise the minimum wage
for hotel workers and airport concession workers all the way
up to thirty dollars by the time the Olympics arrived
in twenty twenty eight. And not only were they successful
in getting that policy ushered through the city council, they
were successful in beating down the corporations and the business
groups that tried to get a referendum on the ballot
(15:28):
to get it overturned. This is a strong, strong group.
This tactic, though, seems like an unwise choice.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Yeah, it's interesting that such a smart union that's done
so many smart things could be so not that smart
when it comes to protests.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
Seems like they should.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Maybe farm out how we got our point across part
of the union to some other people and those who
actually had all the negotiations are fine, But man, that
was it was awful and so mess Yeah. I don't
know if this is I guess it's not actionable. I
was always thinking, you know, you can you know, who
do you sue? You can't there's no one to sue.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
Well, it's probably some low level criminal offense to stand
and obstruct trap. Sure, you know, if anything, it's it's
worthy of a ticket. Nothing happened. That's kind of la
for you.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (16:15):
There are a lot of these types of disruptions that
take place for a litany of issues all the time
in this city, and I think the police are typically
thankful to just get it cleared ursuing any end, and.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
That's what they were sent in to do. So I'm
sure that you know from that standpoint, they check the box.
But you shouldn't be able to block traffic full stop
without paying some kind of price.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
Someone could get killed. Yeah, exactly, thank you.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
And you know, as tempers flare and there's an urgency
to get into the airport, you know somebody might have
just floored it and that would have been.
Speaker 4 (16:47):
The I mean, think about when you, just as a
regular guy, are at your most unreasonably angry. You're probably
behind the wheel of your car. You're yelling things that
you would never say in person.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
I used to get an road rage with my dad
in the car and he was and my dad is
just the opposite, like super mellow. You know what I mean, going,
What are you doing? What's going on? You understand I
can't believe.
Speaker 5 (17:11):
The vile things that come into my mouth when I'm driving.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
All right, stick around because I want to ask you
about what's happening with the food Assistant program in the California.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
There's a lawsuit underway and I want to talk about that. Next.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
Michael Monks from KFI News, we continue Tim Conway Junior show.
Mark Thompson's sitting in for Tim on KFI AM six
forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 8 (17:31):
You're listening to Tim Conway Junior on demand from KFI
AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
Mark Thompson's sitting in for Tim Conway Junior. Just want
to update that National Guardsman situation in Washington. Originally they
were telling us and it was reported widely that the
two National Guardsmen had lost their lives. Now they're saying
that's not necessarily the case. While they are in critical condition,
they may be fighting for their lives. The gunman, anyway,
(18:01):
who is accused of shooting these two National Guard members,
this is blocks from the White House, as most of
you probably know by now, he's a twenty nine year
old Afghan national, an illegal immigrant apparently that entered the
(18:22):
US after the withdrawal from Afghanistan overstate his visa. That
visas granted under that Operation Allies Welcome program, you know,
for a lot of people who were involved in the.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
Afghany American relationship during the war. Anyway, they're investigating more.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
They're looking at this as a possible active international terrorism
you know, I'm guessing it's a one off that's based
on nothing.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
It's just based on the fact that there are a
lot of one offs.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
But FBI officials confirming that the two West Virginia National
guardsmen remain in critical condition though, and we will continue
to update that situation. Talking to Michael Monks, you know,
it's wild just on the notion of California politics and
we're talking about Los Angeles and LA You get frustrated
(19:12):
living here because it's such a great place, and yet
you do see the oversteering in many ways of liberal
policies in California, just the same way you see the
oversteering of right wing policies in Washington right now. I mean,
you can just you know, it's pretty much take your
pick of the most extreme right wing policies, and they're
(19:32):
they're getting through on the strength of, you know, a
guy who was elected president. But all I'm trying to
see is when you come to la it's you see
the power of left wing policies and how they're not
really working out for it. Seems like neither one of
those extremes is a good fit when it comes to life.
Speaker 4 (19:51):
You know, yeah, certainly not universally popular. I mean President
Trump did win a second term after losing his first
bid at reelection, but polls show that his approval rating
is not great. It's certainly not where he would want
it to be, or might even say where it is.
He does like to build himself up very much, so,
you know, his position on immigration has seen his numbers
(20:12):
go down, and that is a pretty extreme position where
he was promising these mass deportations. He ended up being
the big polling loser of the government shutdown. According to
some pretty trusted polls that most people blamed President Trump
then Democrats.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
And I like that you mentioned the immigration thing and
that you mentioned the shutdown because I think when it
comes to policy, Trump really takes on water.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
Like you know, you can like Trump.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
He's a charismatic guy, and you can like him for
a number of reasons, strength of leadership, whatever it might be.
But the policies, when those are polled, they don't pull
in a very popular way because they're extreme.
Speaker 4 (20:48):
They're extreme in a lot of ways, and I think
for the most part, the American people are not extreme.
They may support when you have a choice between two extremists,
you've got to pick one, but it doesn't cumulatively represent
all of their values or perspectives and points of view.
And to build on what you're saying, take Los Angeles
for example. This is a place that is governed I
(21:09):
think beyond traditional Democrat policies, beyond traditional liberal policies, there
are some pretty leftist concerns that find their way ushered
through the halls of power, whether it be LA City
Hall or the LA County Board of Supervisors. And we
were talking at the break about these minimum wages because
(21:31):
they came up a bit with this Unite here union
and they've shop for thirty dollars an hour for these
airport workers. And I think a lot of people would
be sympathetic to folks needing to make more money because
of how expensive it is to live in LA but
also sympathetic to the businesses who are saying, wait a second,
we can't afford thirty dollars an hour for maide service
at our forty room hotel. You're killing us will close,
(21:54):
or other developers saying we're not going to bring a
hotel to the city at all. So you create these
problems based on your leading heart in support of one extreme.
What I suggested to you, I think is that an
adult in the room might suggest, well, what are we
doing here that's making it so expensive to live here
so that twenty dollars an hour isn't enough to afford
(22:17):
a home? And then are there some policies that we
could adjust to make it a little bit easier for
folks to get by while also not scaring off the
businesses that we need.
Speaker 5 (22:27):
For tax purposes.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
The problem is that the jigsaw policies that are all
put together in that puzzle are so complicated or at
least interlocking, that it's a little hard to disengage them.
For example, rent control right, the rent control that then
leads to well, a break for renters, but you pay
on the other end, and the inventory associated with new
(22:49):
housing begins to be affected. That is to say, there
is less and less because why do you want to
get to a rent control situation?
Speaker 4 (22:57):
If you're a landlord and if you own a rent
controlled building, why keep it if you know that your
own costs are going up because the LA City Council
has no control over the cost of materials and supplies necessarily,
If those costs are going up, but inflation stays at
a certain level that affects the amount you can raise
the rent of your tenants, then you're you're going to
(23:19):
be underwater at some point in that And did you
know I learned this during this debate from some apartment
builders and managers. Let's say there's a lot of land,
a plot of land, and there's four apartments on it,
but it's a good enough sized piece of land that
you the developer, would buy it and say I could
(23:39):
build a building with twenty four units on that slot. Well,
that sounds good to LA because we need more apartments.
So tear down the four family and put up the
twenty four units. Well, if those four units are rent controlled,
you don't just have to put four rent controlled units
in your new twenty four unit building. They all have
to be rent controlled.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
Wow. I mean, there you go. That state should bluntly.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
I mean, you're not incentivized in any way to make
the kind of development that you're talking about.
Speaker 4 (24:08):
If you're scaring off businesses, you're depleting your tax base.
And if you're depleting your tax base, there's not going
to be anywhere for people to work, no matter what
the minimum wage is, and that's just going to send
this city further. Both the city and the county are
an absolute financial distress. Neither government entity have addressed that
seriously yet. I predict that by next spring, when both
(24:29):
are really putting together their budgets, we will know how
serious they plan to be.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
I mean, we talk about this last time I spoke
with you, about the incredible water that the county's taken
on and that the city's taken on, and the services
are going to be cut back.
Speaker 3 (24:47):
I mean, it's pretty grim and what do you have
to show for it?
Speaker 4 (24:51):
That's really what the point of this particular conversation is,
is what do you have to show for it? In
Los Angeles and Los Angeles County for these policies and
for this spending.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
Yeah, for Mishandling fiscal policy, you pay a huge price,
and the residents of LA County and LA City pay
that same price.
Speaker 5 (25:08):
Are they become residents of Idaho?
Speaker 3 (25:10):
Right? That people move away?
Speaker 2 (25:12):
When we come back, I want to talk though about
then this food assistance program.
Speaker 4 (25:15):
Yeah, the City of California has filed it's forty eighth
lawsuit against the Trump and minister.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
Yeah, Rob Bonte has filed a lawsuit. We'll talk about
it next. Mark Thompson sitting in with Michael Monks just
for one more segment. I want to get Monks talking
about this SNAP program and food assistants in California.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
Tim will be back on Monday.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
I hope you are ramping up to a really cool
Thanksgiving holiday. We're all happy that you're here with us
on KFI. We are KFI Am six forty live everywhere
on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 8 (25:45):
You're listening to Tim Conway Junior on demand from KFI
AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
It is a California holiday. Mark Thompson sitting in for
Tim Conway Junior. Glad you could be here with Michael
Monks talk about LA We're talking about politics in general,
and I'll get back to that and a question about
food assistants coming to California and a lawsuit being launched
in California.
Speaker 5 (26:09):
But first I want to.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
Remind you that the KFI Pastathon is coming up Tuesday.
It's the fifteenth annual Chef Bruno's charity. Katerina's Club provides
more than twenty five thousand meals every week to kids
in need in southern California. And it just a remarkable
thing given that this was like a startup. You know,
you hear about these things that happened, like we had
(26:33):
an idea Steve Jobs and Steve Washniak and the garage
and it turns into Apple Computer. I mean, that's kind
of what Katerina's Club is. It was an idea. Chef
Bruno's mother, I think inspired it. And now this is
the fifteenth annual KOFI Pastathon, So your generosity makes it
all happen. We're having a live broadcast on Giving Tuesday.
(26:55):
Which is December second, This coming Tuesday, five am to
eight pm. All the show will be there live at
the Anaheim White House eight eight seven South Anaheim Boulevard.
You can help with a donation from wherever you are
KFIAM six forty dot com slash Pastathon. One hundred percent
of the donation goes to Katerina's Club and go to
(27:15):
any smart and final also and donate any amount of checkout.
Even in Arizona and Nevada and uh the Yamavah Resort
and Casino just off the two ten in Highland, you
can cash your winning ticket at the Kiosk. It'll ask
you if you want to donate some change to Katerina's clubs.
Say yes, and that goes to Katerina's Club. So all
these details are at KFIAM six forty dot com slash
(27:37):
pastathon and we'll see you Tuesday. Now on the eve
of Thanksgiving, Attorney General Bonta is suing the Trump administration
from California. Here he's launching a lawsuit, although he's not alone.
Their other I think attorneys general that are joining for
unlawfully restricting eligibility for food assistance program and Michael Monks fill.
Speaker 4 (27:58):
Me in right about other states being involved in this one.
There was a news conference held today Attorney General Rob
Bonta joined by some of his colleagues from these other
states twenty one states in total, plus the District of Columbia,
all these attorneys generals suing the Trump administration over Snap.
This is the forty eighth lawsuit filed by the State
of California against the Trump administration.
Speaker 5 (28:18):
What were ten months into this thing, so.
Speaker 3 (28:21):
They a long four years.
Speaker 5 (28:23):
Can you remember.
Speaker 4 (28:23):
Earlier this year the governor called that special session to
make sure that there was funding in the budget to
do legal battle with Trump, and they have certainly lived
up to that. So Rob Bonta today kind of enjoying
the announcement that it's the forty eighth lawsuit. In fact,
this isn't even the first one related to Snap food benefits.
It's the second one because they also sued to get
the Trump administration to release some of those funds that
(28:45):
were tied up in court before all of the money
ran out at the end of October, and we had
that delay in the Snap benefits.
Speaker 5 (28:51):
This one seems to be.
Speaker 4 (28:53):
A different an interpretation of a law that was adjusted
by the Big Beautiful Bill. That piece of legislation pushed
by the President and Republicans in Congress, made it so
that people who came to the United States as refugees
or seeking asylum status could no longer be eligible for
(29:14):
SNAP benefits. But Robanta says it's being interpreted by the
Trump administration incorrectly. Here's what he said earlier.
Speaker 9 (29:22):
Let's be clear about what the USDA did. Earlier this year,
Congress passed the so called Big Beautiful Bill, which eliminated
SNAP eligibility for individuals who entered the US as refugees
were granted asylum or humanitarian parole. But the law is
equally clear about what it didn't do. It didn't say
that these individuals remain permanently barred from food assistance. It
(29:44):
didn't prohibit them from becoming eligible when they adjust their
status and become lawful permanent residents.
Speaker 5 (29:49):
And it certainly didn't.
Speaker 9 (29:49):
Allow USDA to rewrite federal law to create new barriers
that Congress never enacted. Yet USDA's new guidance does exactly that.
Speaker 4 (29:59):
So what he's saying, there may be people in the
country who came here as refugees or classified as asylum
seekers who would not be eligible for SNAP except for
the fact that now they are lawful residents of the country.
And he is alleging that the USDA has interpreted the
language in the Big Beautiful Bill to say even those
folks cannot receive their food stamp benefits.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
So what is the timeline then on possibly resolving this
for a lot of people who use these benefits.
Speaker 5 (30:24):
It's going to be in court.
Speaker 4 (30:26):
It was fast for the previous SNAP lawsuit because the
stakes were so high. That was every food stamp recipient
across the country was facing the loss of their benefits.
This one may not impact as many people because we're
talking about refugees who have become lawful permanent residents. I mean,
it may be a big number on paper, but in
the grand scheme of the broader population, probably not so much.
(30:48):
But a lot of these lawsuits they've moved fast. They've
absolutely moved fast. And with twenty one states plus the
DC area involved as well, you might see some swifter action.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
I didn't realize that there are five and a half
million Californians every month who need this program.
Speaker 4 (31:03):
Oh, it's huge. Even here in Orange County has a
lot of SNAP benefits. It goes back to what we
were talking about a little bit ago. It's very expensive
to live here, and people who have relatively decent jobs
will get some cow fresh benefits to help them afford
to eat well.
Speaker 2 (31:20):
There is a huge scandalous aspect to the social services
provided to so many and the way in which a
lot of even big box stores or the walmarts of
the world, benefit enormously from their ability to hire people
at lower wages. And then they know that, you know,
it's picked up on the other side by the Feds
(31:41):
or by the state.
Speaker 4 (31:42):
It's sort of a loophole. What do you call that supplement?
Not supplement to subsidized. It's like a it's a subsidy.
That's one hundred percent what it is. Monks, you're a
great Thank you for being so good.
Speaker 5 (31:54):
Pleasure, Thanks for having me. Happy Thanksgiving to you.
Speaker 3 (31:56):
See my friend you're staying in or you're what are
you doing?
Speaker 5 (31:59):
Yeah, we'll hang out our lofton downtown LA. Maybe a
few friends are coming over.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
Both watch people throw fiery balls at each other down
below on the street.
Speaker 4 (32:07):
Or we might have you balls ourselves. Hello, we're feeling
feisty these days. All right, he's our Downtown Outpost.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
That's why I always like to ask him about whatever
craziness is happening in downtown LA. Good to see you,
Michael Monster, Happy Thanksgiving. We'll see you next week. It
is the Tim Conway Junior Show, Mark Thompson sitting in
k f I AM six forty Live everywhere on the
iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
Conway Show on demand on the iHeartRadio app. Now you
can always hear us live on kf I AM six
forty four to seven pm Monday through Friday, and anytime
on demand on the iHeartRadio app
It's KFI Am sixty and you're listening to the Conway
Show on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Thompson here for Conway, Timmy Way next couple of days,
way through the weekend, back on Monday, is my understanding.
So Mark Thompson's sitting in. There's a lot going on,
and I don't need to tell you tragedy hitting the
Washington DC National Guard outposts. We'll talk a bit about
what's happening there. Welcome to our KFI kids. Those who
(00:34):
rotate in to take the floor, you know. When the
regulars are rotating out, there are others who rotate in.
Welcoming Mario on the board today, Yeah, Eileen Gonzales in
the newsroom today, and Lucy in traffic. Not to mention
(00:56):
Richie who is here pretty much all the time, but
he rotates into the producer role today. Yes, sir, you
take it all pretty pretty smoothly. I would say, you're
not at all intimidated by the producer role. No, you
produced before, Yeah, you produced for bigger talent than myself.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
I mean, this is kind of.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
A soft pedal for you.
Speaker 4 (01:19):
Not even I am a fan of yours ever since
I remember hearing your voice on the Simple Life as
a narrator.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Oh, that's right, the simple pry up there for me. Yeah,
I forgot about that. Yeah, well, Nicole is already busy
with the kids. Paris is still thinking about waking up. Yeah,
that was the extent of my narration on the Simple Life.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
That's hilarious. It's probably still the same. I will tell
you and remind you.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Eileen Gonzalez in the newsroom, please chime in with anything, obviously,
anything news related that has well, we do a lot
of news breaks here on KFI, but anything that we
need to know about I'm on it. Yeah, And likewise,
if you have any thoughts on anything I say, because
you're welcome here. There again, no moments that you're not
allowed to chime in. I do want to start with
(02:08):
what's happening in Washington. There is a suspect in custody.
The suspect was also shot with injuries, not life threatening
injuries as I understand it, but the two West Virginia
National Guard members shot did pass away.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
It's a brutal coda to what's happened so far.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
I mean, you know, this National Guard presence already very
controversial in Washington, seems to be marked on this Thanksgiving
Eve by this tragedy, and we don't know a lot
about it yet except for the location and the fact
that these two National guardsmen were fired.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Upon good afternoon on Johnson and New York.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
We're coming back on the air because of the breaking
news two members of the National Guard shot in Washington,
d C.
Speaker 5 (03:07):
Let's listen into authorities right now holding a press brief
thing there.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
Thank you for talking.
Speaker 6 (03:12):
I'm Muriel Bowser. I'm the Mayor of Washington, d C.
And I too want to send my thoughts and prayers
to the families of the guardsmen and to the guardsmen
who are in critical condition.
Speaker 5 (03:27):
In a local hospital.
Speaker 6 (03:29):
I am joined by memphs in leadership from the DC
National Guard, from the West Virginia National Guard, United States
Secret Service, Deputy may Apia Fire Chief Donnelley, and Metro's
general manager Randy Clark, and we join with the FBI
Director in ensuring that MPD investigates the US Attorney prosecutes
(03:55):
this case to the fullest extent of the law. I've
had the opportunity to breathe US Attorney General Pambondi, who
was speaking to the President when I called as well
as the United States Attorney Pierrot, who assured me that
this case will have for offices and complete attention.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
I'll say this that this is a I was mentioning
it kind of.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
It's like a weird inflection point in all of this.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
And the reason I say that is because, look, this
is an extremely controversial deployment of the National Guard. You know,
it was contested legally. It was contested locally in Washington,
but it was contested by the mayor you've just heard from.
That's who was speaking. In addition, there is a there's
a legal controversy around it. The National Guard in the
(04:47):
nation capital, the nation's capital.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
I should say.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
It triggered a court fight, right, and so there was
this policy debate, there's a court fight, and the debate
around the use of the military to combat you know,
an out of control crime problem, which is pretty much
what it was cast as, has been something that's insanely controversial.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
And so.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
These soldiers patrolling neighborhoods, train stations, other locations. They were
picking up trash, guarding sporting events. It was a weird
presence of the National Guard in Washington. And I should
just mention this having grown up in Washington. There are
more police officers of one sort or another in Washington
than any other city in America. You have the Washington
(05:38):
Metro Police, then you have the Park Police, then you
have the Embassy Police, then you have the Secret Service Police.
Then they're within those agencies sub police units. You go
(05:59):
to Washington and there are police cruisers everywhere, and they're
not you know, metro cops there in one of those
agencies I just mentioned, and there are probably others that
I didn't even think of. And the idea that you
would need to buttress them to support them in some
way with the National Guard was something that for a
(06:21):
lot of locals just seemed weird. Now that's said, I'm
sure there are a lot of locals that go, I'm
glad the National Guards here. You know, the crime rate
is too high or the even though it was at
an all time low for the you know, the last
you've heard all of these arguments before the last five
year period, I think it was.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
But beyond that, the murder rate.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Much much lower than in the passion and Washington, DC
used to have a reputation as like the murder capital
of the nation. They had to change the name of
the basketball team from the Bullets to the Wizards. That
was because so many people were being victimized by gun
violence in Washington. So anyway I get back to the
National Guard thing is I guess what I'm saying is
(07:03):
they weren't deploying the National Guard in many of these
areas that had been stricken by crime. You know, some
of these really deep inner city neighborhoods were not seeing
the National Guard presence. They were showing up, you know,
at as I say, it's sporting events, not far from
the White House, picking up trash. But last week there
was a federal judge who ordered an end to this deployment.
(07:25):
So this is a weird thing that's happening alongside that
federal judge's order. But the key thing about that order
was it was put on hold for twenty one days
to allow the Trump administration time to either remove the
troops or even appeal the legal decision. Right they had
the right to appeal it. So in this time we
(07:49):
have this horrible development and these two fatalities. It's a
really sad moment associated with this polished.
Speaker 7 (08:00):
Chaotic and tragic scene here as you can see more
law enforcement arriving. The scene seems to be congregated around
the Farragut West Metro station there at the end of
the block, just beyond that fire truck. We have seen
National Guard in recent months stage at these metro stations
as part of a larger public safety operation, and as
you can see, we see a number of National guardsmen
(08:21):
who have also arrived here. In fact, our bureau is
just a few blocks away. As we were running here
to this scene to cover the story, we were running
behind members of the National Guard who were sprinting here
on their cell phones trying to get a sense of
what was going on. We saw one apparent victim, someone
in National Guard fatigues being worked on by EMS and
(08:45):
other law enforcement. We saw at least one of them
at the entrance of the metro station, and then we
saw another of those loaded into an ambulance which sped
off here with a police escort. Obviously not much information
coming out of the scene. Law enforcement now say they
have it locked down but chaotic here. Another thing we
witness as we arrived is EMS sprinting to that Metro
(09:06):
station here. Now this scene has transitioned to be one
of an investigation. We've seen federal agents arrive, We've seen
tactical units with the Secret Service here as well as
DC fire, and of course those fellow National guardsmen who
are here now watching and looking on as this tragic
scene unfolds.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Yes, and now since that report, we know that those
two National guardsmen lost their lives in that shooting and
the shooter wounded being treated apparently with what are not.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
Life threatening injuries. So that's the latest on that.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
We'll continue to update it, but again it's wrapped in
this controversial policy to begin with, and that only makes
the whole situation uglier. It's KFI AM six forty. We're
live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. Mark Thompson sitting in
for Tim Conway Junior.
Speaker 8 (09:58):
You're listening to Tim kN Junior on demand from KFI
AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Mark Thompson sitting in for Tim Conway Junior. I hope
you're having a pleasant ramp up to Thanksgiving. If you're
headed out of town, traveling anywhere beyond your home, you
may run into some some choppy water. And Michael Monks
is here from KFI News to talk a little bit
about that.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
What's happening.
Speaker 4 (10:25):
Michael Mann, I tell you, if there is one thing
we in southern California don't need help with, it's making
our commute in absolute living hell. But inspite of that,
we got some help with it just yesterday, and not
just on any old road, but Century Boulevard near lax.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
I just couldn't I just couldn't believe this, because, as
you say, it's so awful anyway on a regular day,
you add to that Thanksgiving week and then all of
a sudden a labor dispute and protest, and you you
have a situation where you just I'm sure travelers are
melting down over this.
Speaker 5 (10:59):
Oh were they melting down.
Speaker 4 (11:01):
We saw cards being abandoned by folks who were getting
out of their vehicles and walking the rest of the
way to the airport because they could not get in.
What's happening at the airport is a union, a very
influential union in Los Angeles politics, Unite Here Local eleven.
They represent a lot of hospitality workers, people who work
in hotels and restaurants, also people who work at the airport,
(11:23):
including a union group that works for a company called
Flying Food, and they do a lot of catering for
the airline companies. You're actually in the flug Absolutely, these
folks have a lot of complaints, you know, as unions
tend to do. Among those complaints, they want a new contract.
They're concerned about work safety. They say they are working
with fire hazard conditions and those sorts of things.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
All those things.
Speaker 4 (11:46):
Absolutely, these maybe things that they should be bringing to
the bargaining table, and there could be ways to get
the company's attention.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
Why are they bringing it to Sentry Boulevards.
Speaker 4 (11:54):
They brought it to Century Boulevard into the attention of
people rushing to get the airport shut down the intersection
yesterday evening.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Now did they shut it down or did the cops
shut it down because.
Speaker 4 (12:06):
The union people shut it down and the police had
to show up to reopen it to get those union
folks out of the middle of the street. So LAX
is governed by Los Angeles World Airports Association. This is
known as LAWA, and that is an entity that in
itself is governed by the city, So it is a
(12:26):
governmental agency. What the union says it wanted to do
was get the attention of city officials and this union
battle that's taking place with Flying Food Incorporated, that they're
not coming to the bargaining table to talk about these employees' concerns.
So they got their attention all right, certainly got the
attention of commuters as well. This was disrupted for two hours.
(12:50):
When you think about what time frame do you give
yourself when you get to the air for a couple
hours cecually to play it station.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
You want to get to show you it cost people
the flights.
Speaker 4 (12:59):
It was costing people their flights, not just domestically, but
some of these folks that we heard from were flying
overseas and felt like they were not going to be
able to get to their flight on time because of
this airport disruption. So what do you think, Mark, do
you think this was an effective form of course tests?
Speaker 2 (13:15):
I always say this is this kind of thing. It
has the opposite effect, right, So, now you're angry at
the union, whatever it might be. In this case, it
represents all of these employees who work at the airport
in and around, and now you're angry at them. This
is like, screw them? Are you kidding me? You know,
it's why do we all have to pay the price.
That's why I asked you if they were actually in
the intersection around the sidewalk. You know, you can make
(13:37):
the point, you can picket alongside all of this. It
does make an impact. I do take note of hotel
workers that are picketing outside the hotel without blocking the
way to the hotel. I think it's just the wrong
way to proceed.
Speaker 4 (13:50):
It reminded me of June, when the protest here really
took off in earnest against federal immigration enforcement. Because there
may be folks living all around Los Angeles who have
at least some sympathy for the perspective that we don't
want these federal agents here. Not all of our listeners
share that perspective, but there are probably a lot who do.
(14:11):
But does that sympathy start to wane if you are
on your way to or from work after a long
day or before a long day, and you're driving along
the one O one freeway and suddenly its shut down.
Not just the immigration protests, the Palestine protest also did
this tactic as well. If you're shutting down freeways and
suddenly I'm the target and I have nothing to do
(14:32):
with your issue at all, do you expect my sympathy
for your objective to rise?
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Thank you?
Speaker 2 (14:37):
I mean boy, that just states it bluntly. I think
that's exactly right. It has the reverse effect. You've become
angry at those protesters, the blank protest.
Speaker 4 (14:47):
You're either joining the Israeli Army or signing up the
work for Ice. At that point you're so mad about
what these people have done. But this union is not stupid.
This is not a bad union. This is is the
union that has brought a lot of policy changes to
the City of Los Angeles.
Speaker 5 (15:04):
You see them at many city council meetings.
Speaker 4 (15:06):
They were behind this effort to raise the minimum wage
for hotel workers and airport concession workers all the way
up to thirty dollars by the time the Olympics arrived
in twenty twenty eight. And not only were they successful
in getting that policy ushered through the city council, they
were successful in beating down the corporations and the business
groups that tried to get a referendum on the ballot
(15:28):
to get it overturned. This is a strong, strong group.
This tactic, though, seems like an unwise choice.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Yeah, it's interesting that such a smart union that's done
so many smart things could be so not that smart
when it comes to protests.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
Seems like they should.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Maybe farm out how we got our point across part
of the union to some other people and those who
actually had all the negotiations are fine, But man, that
was it was awful and so mess Yeah. I don't
know if this is I guess it's not actionable. I
was always thinking, you know, you can you know, who
do you sue? You can't there's no one to sue.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
Well, it's probably some low level criminal offense to stand
and obstruct trap. Sure, you know, if anything, it's it's
worthy of a ticket. Nothing happened. That's kind of la
for you.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (16:15):
There are a lot of these types of disruptions that
take place for a litany of issues all the time
in this city, and I think the police are typically
thankful to just get it cleared ursuing any end, and.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
That's what they were sent in to do. So I'm
sure that you know from that standpoint, they check the box.
But you shouldn't be able to block traffic full stop
without paying some kind of price.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
Someone could get killed. Yeah, exactly, thank you.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
And you know, as tempers flare and there's an urgency
to get into the airport, you know somebody might have
just floored it and that would have been.
Speaker 4 (16:47):
The I mean, think about when you, just as a
regular guy, are at your most unreasonably angry. You're probably
behind the wheel of your car. You're yelling things that
you would never say in person.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
I used to get an road rage with my dad
in the car and he was and my dad is
just the opposite, like super mellow. You know what I mean, going,
What are you doing? What's going on? You understand I
can't believe.
Speaker 5 (17:11):
The vile things that come into my mouth when I'm driving.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
All right, stick around because I want to ask you
about what's happening with the food Assistant program in the California.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
There's a lawsuit underway and I want to talk about that. Next.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
Michael Monks from KFI News, we continue Tim Conway Junior show.
Mark Thompson's sitting in for Tim on KFI AM six
forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 8 (17:31):
You're listening to Tim Conway Junior on demand from KFI
AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
Mark Thompson's sitting in for Tim Conway Junior. Just want
to update that National Guardsman situation in Washington. Originally they
were telling us and it was reported widely that the
two National Guardsmen had lost their lives. Now they're saying
that's not necessarily the case. While they are in critical condition,
they may be fighting for their lives. The gunman, anyway,
(18:01):
who is accused of shooting these two National Guard members,
this is blocks from the White House, as most of
you probably know by now, he's a twenty nine year
old Afghan national, an illegal immigrant apparently that entered the
(18:22):
US after the withdrawal from Afghanistan overstate his visa. That
visas granted under that Operation Allies Welcome program, you know,
for a lot of people who were involved in the.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
Afghany American relationship during the war. Anyway, they're investigating more.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
They're looking at this as a possible active international terrorism
you know, I'm guessing it's a one off that's based
on nothing.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
It's just based on the fact that there are a
lot of one offs.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
But FBI officials confirming that the two West Virginia National
guardsmen remain in critical condition though, and we will continue
to update that situation. Talking to Michael Monks, you know,
it's wild just on the notion of California politics and
we're talking about Los Angeles and LA You get frustrated
(19:12):
living here because it's such a great place, and yet
you do see the oversteering in many ways of liberal
policies in California, just the same way you see the
oversteering of right wing policies in Washington right now. I mean,
you can just you know, it's pretty much take your
pick of the most extreme right wing policies, and they're
(19:32):
they're getting through on the strength of, you know, a
guy who was elected president. But all I'm trying to
see is when you come to la it's you see
the power of left wing policies and how they're not
really working out for it. Seems like neither one of
those extremes is a good fit when it comes to life.
Speaker 4 (19:51):
You know, yeah, certainly not universally popular. I mean President
Trump did win a second term after losing his first
bid at reelection, but polls show that his approval rating
is not great. It's certainly not where he would want
it to be, or might even say where it is.
He does like to build himself up very much, so,
you know, his position on immigration has seen his numbers
(20:12):
go down, and that is a pretty extreme position where
he was promising these mass deportations. He ended up being
the big polling loser of the government shutdown. According to
some pretty trusted polls that most people blamed President Trump
then Democrats.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
And I like that you mentioned the immigration thing and
that you mentioned the shutdown because I think when it
comes to policy, Trump really takes on water.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
Like you know, you can like Trump.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
He's a charismatic guy, and you can like him for
a number of reasons, strength of leadership, whatever it might be.
But the policies, when those are polled, they don't pull
in a very popular way because they're extreme.
Speaker 4 (20:48):
They're extreme in a lot of ways, and I think
for the most part, the American people are not extreme.
They may support when you have a choice between two extremists,
you've got to pick one, but it doesn't cumulatively represent
all of their values or perspectives and points of view.
And to build on what you're saying, take Los Angeles
for example. This is a place that is governed I
(21:09):
think beyond traditional Democrat policies, beyond traditional liberal policies, there
are some pretty leftist concerns that find their way ushered
through the halls of power, whether it be LA City
Hall or the LA County Board of Supervisors. And we
were talking at the break about these minimum wages because
(21:31):
they came up a bit with this Unite here union
and they've shop for thirty dollars an hour for these
airport workers. And I think a lot of people would
be sympathetic to folks needing to make more money because
of how expensive it is to live in LA but
also sympathetic to the businesses who are saying, wait a second,
we can't afford thirty dollars an hour for maide service
at our forty room hotel. You're killing us will close,
(21:54):
or other developers saying we're not going to bring a
hotel to the city at all. So you create these
problems based on your leading heart in support of one extreme.
What I suggested to you, I think is that an
adult in the room might suggest, well, what are we
doing here that's making it so expensive to live here
so that twenty dollars an hour isn't enough to afford
(22:17):
a home? And then are there some policies that we
could adjust to make it a little bit easier for
folks to get by while also not scaring off the
businesses that we need.
Speaker 5 (22:27):
For tax purposes.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
The problem is that the jigsaw policies that are all
put together in that puzzle are so complicated or at
least interlocking, that it's a little hard to disengage them.
For example, rent control right, the rent control that then
leads to well, a break for renters, but you pay
on the other end, and the inventory associated with new
(22:49):
housing begins to be affected. That is to say, there
is less and less because why do you want to
get to a rent control situation?
Speaker 4 (22:57):
If you're a landlord and if you own a rent
controlled building, why keep it if you know that your
own costs are going up because the LA City Council
has no control over the cost of materials and supplies necessarily,
If those costs are going up, but inflation stays at
a certain level that affects the amount you can raise
the rent of your tenants, then you're you're going to
(23:19):
be underwater at some point in that And did you
know I learned this during this debate from some apartment
builders and managers. Let's say there's a lot of land,
a plot of land, and there's four apartments on it,
but it's a good enough sized piece of land that
you the developer, would buy it and say I could
(23:39):
build a building with twenty four units on that slot. Well,
that sounds good to LA because we need more apartments.
So tear down the four family and put up the
twenty four units. Well, if those four units are rent controlled,
you don't just have to put four rent controlled units
in your new twenty four unit building. They all have
to be rent controlled.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
Wow. I mean, there you go. That state should bluntly.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
I mean, you're not incentivized in any way to make
the kind of development that you're talking about.
Speaker 4 (24:08):
If you're scaring off businesses, you're depleting your tax base.
And if you're depleting your tax base, there's not going
to be anywhere for people to work, no matter what
the minimum wage is, and that's just going to send
this city further. Both the city and the county are
an absolute financial distress. Neither government entity have addressed that
seriously yet. I predict that by next spring, when both
(24:29):
are really putting together their budgets, we will know how
serious they plan to be.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
I mean, we talk about this last time I spoke
with you, about the incredible water that the county's taken
on and that the city's taken on, and the services
are going to be cut back.
Speaker 3 (24:47):
I mean, it's pretty grim and what do you have
to show for it?
Speaker 4 (24:51):
That's really what the point of this particular conversation is,
is what do you have to show for it? In
Los Angeles and Los Angeles County for these policies and
for this spending.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
Yeah, for Mishandling fiscal policy, you pay a huge price,
and the residents of LA County and LA City pay
that same price.
Speaker 5 (25:08):
Are they become residents of Idaho?
Speaker 3 (25:10):
Right? That people move away?
Speaker 2 (25:12):
When we come back, I want to talk though about
then this food assistance program.
Speaker 4 (25:15):
Yeah, the City of California has filed it's forty eighth
lawsuit against the Trump and minister.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
Yeah, Rob Bonte has filed a lawsuit. We'll talk about
it next. Mark Thompson sitting in with Michael Monks just
for one more segment. I want to get Monks talking
about this SNAP program and food assistants in California.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
Tim will be back on Monday.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
I hope you are ramping up to a really cool
Thanksgiving holiday. We're all happy that you're here with us
on KFI. We are KFI Am six forty live everywhere
on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 8 (25:45):
You're listening to Tim Conway Junior on demand from KFI
AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
It is a California holiday. Mark Thompson sitting in for
Tim Conway Junior. Glad you could be here with Michael
Monks talk about LA We're talking about politics in general,
and I'll get back to that and a question about
food assistants coming to California and a lawsuit being launched
in California.
Speaker 5 (26:09):
But first I want to.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
Remind you that the KFI Pastathon is coming up Tuesday.
It's the fifteenth annual Chef Bruno's charity. Katerina's Club provides
more than twenty five thousand meals every week to kids
in need in southern California. And it just a remarkable
thing given that this was like a startup. You know,
you hear about these things that happened, like we had
(26:33):
an idea Steve Jobs and Steve Washniak and the garage
and it turns into Apple Computer. I mean, that's kind
of what Katerina's Club is. It was an idea. Chef
Bruno's mother, I think inspired it. And now this is
the fifteenth annual KOFI Pastathon, So your generosity makes it
all happen. We're having a live broadcast on Giving Tuesday.
(26:55):
Which is December second, This coming Tuesday, five am to
eight pm. All the show will be there live at
the Anaheim White House eight eight seven South Anaheim Boulevard.
You can help with a donation from wherever you are
KFIAM six forty dot com slash Pastathon. One hundred percent
of the donation goes to Katerina's Club and go to
(27:15):
any smart and final also and donate any amount of checkout.
Even in Arizona and Nevada and uh the Yamavah Resort
and Casino just off the two ten in Highland, you
can cash your winning ticket at the Kiosk. It'll ask
you if you want to donate some change to Katerina's clubs.
Say yes, and that goes to Katerina's Club. So all
these details are at KFIAM six forty dot com slash
(27:37):
pastathon and we'll see you Tuesday. Now on the eve
of Thanksgiving, Attorney General Bonta is suing the Trump administration
from California. Here he's launching a lawsuit, although he's not alone.
Their other I think attorneys general that are joining for
unlawfully restricting eligibility for food assistance program and Michael Monks fill.
Speaker 4 (27:58):
Me in right about other states being involved in this one.
There was a news conference held today Attorney General Rob
Bonta joined by some of his colleagues from these other
states twenty one states in total, plus the District of Columbia,
all these attorneys generals suing the Trump administration over Snap.
This is the forty eighth lawsuit filed by the State
of California against the Trump administration.
Speaker 5 (28:18):
What were ten months into this thing, so.
Speaker 3 (28:21):
They a long four years.
Speaker 5 (28:23):
Can you remember.
Speaker 4 (28:23):
Earlier this year the governor called that special session to
make sure that there was funding in the budget to
do legal battle with Trump, and they have certainly lived
up to that. So Rob Bonta today kind of enjoying
the announcement that it's the forty eighth lawsuit. In fact,
this isn't even the first one related to Snap food benefits.
It's the second one because they also sued to get
the Trump administration to release some of those funds that
(28:45):
were tied up in court before all of the money
ran out at the end of October, and we had
that delay in the Snap benefits.
Speaker 5 (28:51):
This one seems to be.
Speaker 4 (28:53):
A different an interpretation of a law that was adjusted
by the Big Beautiful Bill. That piece of legislation pushed
by the President and Republicans in Congress, made it so
that people who came to the United States as refugees
or seeking asylum status could no longer be eligible for
(29:14):
SNAP benefits. But Robanta says it's being interpreted by the
Trump administration incorrectly. Here's what he said earlier.
Speaker 9 (29:22):
Let's be clear about what the USDA did. Earlier this year,
Congress passed the so called Big Beautiful Bill, which eliminated
SNAP eligibility for individuals who entered the US as refugees
were granted asylum or humanitarian parole. But the law is
equally clear about what it didn't do. It didn't say
that these individuals remain permanently barred from food assistance. It
(29:44):
didn't prohibit them from becoming eligible when they adjust their
status and become lawful permanent residents.
Speaker 5 (29:49):
And it certainly didn't.
Speaker 9 (29:49):
Allow USDA to rewrite federal law to create new barriers
that Congress never enacted. Yet USDA's new guidance does exactly that.
Speaker 4 (29:59):
So what he's saying, there may be people in the
country who came here as refugees or classified as asylum
seekers who would not be eligible for SNAP except for
the fact that now they are lawful residents of the country.
And he is alleging that the USDA has interpreted the
language in the Big Beautiful Bill to say even those
folks cannot receive their food stamp benefits.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
So what is the timeline then on possibly resolving this
for a lot of people who use these benefits.
Speaker 5 (30:24):
It's going to be in court.
Speaker 4 (30:26):
It was fast for the previous SNAP lawsuit because the
stakes were so high. That was every food stamp recipient
across the country was facing the loss of their benefits.
This one may not impact as many people because we're
talking about refugees who have become lawful permanent residents. I mean,
it may be a big number on paper, but in
the grand scheme of the broader population, probably not so much.
(30:48):
But a lot of these lawsuits they've moved fast. They've
absolutely moved fast. And with twenty one states plus the
DC area involved as well, you might see some swifter action.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
I didn't realize that there are five and a half
million Californians every month who need this program.
Speaker 4 (31:03):
Oh, it's huge. Even here in Orange County has a
lot of SNAP benefits. It goes back to what we
were talking about a little bit ago. It's very expensive
to live here, and people who have relatively decent jobs
will get some cow fresh benefits to help them afford
to eat well.
Speaker 2 (31:20):
There is a huge scandalous aspect to the social services
provided to so many and the way in which a
lot of even big box stores or the walmarts of
the world, benefit enormously from their ability to hire people
at lower wages. And then they know that, you know,
it's picked up on the other side by the Feds
(31:41):
or by the state.
Speaker 4 (31:42):
It's sort of a loophole. What do you call that supplement?
Not supplement to subsidized. It's like a it's a subsidy.
That's one hundred percent what it is. Monks, you're a
great Thank you for being so good.
Speaker 5 (31:54):
Pleasure, Thanks for having me. Happy Thanksgiving to you.
Speaker 3 (31:56):
See my friend you're staying in or you're what are
you doing?
Speaker 5 (31:59):
Yeah, we'll hang out our lofton downtown LA. Maybe a
few friends are coming over.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
Both watch people throw fiery balls at each other down
below on the street.
Speaker 4 (32:07):
Or we might have you balls ourselves. Hello, we're feeling
feisty these days. All right, he's our Downtown Outpost.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
That's why I always like to ask him about whatever
craziness is happening in downtown LA. Good to see you,
Michael Monster, Happy Thanksgiving. We'll see you next week. It
is the Tim Conway Junior Show, Mark Thompson sitting in
k f I AM six forty Live everywhere on the
iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
Conway Show on demand on the iHeartRadio app. Now you
can always hear us live on kf I AM six
forty four to seven pm Monday through Friday, and anytime
on demand on the iHeartRadio app
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