August 1, 2025 • 43 mins
Alex Stone, Starbucks is reporting that sales were down in the last quarter as it tries to redevelop itself. Starbucks' CEO says the chain will be closing all mobile-order only stores to focus on the coffee house vibe again where they want customers to hangout and work on computers and have meetings.// Michael Monks, Illegal cannabis shop in Los Angeles County fiasco explained and 5 murders.// Elex Michaelson, discusses politics surrounding Los Angeles and Mayor Bass on the homeless issue. // Elex Michaelson continued ....
#Starbucks #Changes #Coffee #DunkinDonuts #Cannabis #LosAngelesCounty #California #Homeless #Olympics #MayorBass
#Starbucks #Changes #Coffee #DunkinDonuts #Cannabis #LosAngelesCounty #California #Homeless #Olympics #MayorBass
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
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 (00:08):
There's the Conway Show. Mark Thompson is sitting in for Tim.
I don't know where Tim is. I don't want to
know where he is. I don't want to be a
subpoena at a later date to have to talk about
information he was given as to where he is. I'm
you know, you know he goes to Oregon a lot.
He goes the track a lot.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
You're on her.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
I wasn't told exactly where he is going this time,
but I'm delighted to be here. Always cool to be
at KFI. Richie's in the role of Sharon Bellio for
this performance only, and Steff Fusche is rocking the board. Yeah,
Angel is in her spot.
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Is she not or not? Is she? I believe she's air.
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I am loving it, loving it feels official. And in
the part of Michael Krozer today again for this performance only,
Heather Brooker everybody.
Speaker 4 (00:55):
And it's yes, happy to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Heather's got a side hustle that we will get into
a little bit later. And it's not only fans. It
is a legit not yet. We will discuss it later.
Right now, we have a much to do this hour
later Alex Michaelson joins. Michael Monks joins us.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
A big.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Bust with all kinds of nastiness associated with it in
a cannabis shop in La County. So we'll get that
with Michael Monks. But first we put the big name
up top from the world of hard news, Alex Stone.
Speaker 5 (01:32):
I want to hear about the side hustle. What is it? Ah, Yes,
that's the thing. It's a tee Santa Anita or del mar.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
It feels trackish. I agree, it feels trackish. Some kind
of form of gambling is likely a part of this. Yeah,
I don't know. What are you up to Alex Stone
this weekend? Do you can we get a little insight
into the world of a hard nosed reporter.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
I don't know. I think we might be going to
the beach tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Nice.
Speaker 4 (02:00):
I don't know next week.
Speaker 5 (02:01):
I gotta work, so I got to get it all
in this weekend. Yeah, that's the That's the way it
is in news. It never changes, right, The shift can
move and you follow the news.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (02:11):
Yeah, so you have fun while you.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Can, I'm told and this is remarkable that Starbucks is
in a way, I don't want to overstate it, you
can kind of put it in the right perspective, but
it's sort of in a bit of a scramble because
the business model they had and kind of the brand
they had has begun to change. It's changed through the years,
but now they're really getting some stiff competition and sales
(02:35):
were down a bit, I guess in the last quarter.
Speaker 4 (02:37):
Yeah, they're in hot water, did it?
Speaker 3 (02:40):
So?
Speaker 5 (02:41):
Yeah, this is turning into a fight Starbucks and Duncan
and fast food places like McDonald's, Taco Bell, Wendy's. This
is kind of the battle of the beverages. And some
of it comes because Starbucks is having trouble right now,
and these other companies are saying, well, now is the
time that they see this as a big money maker.
But Starbucks have been so offering of late that again
(03:01):
the reporting that that sales were down in the last
quarter and a number of things that they're trying to
do to bounce that back. But the other chains are
now putting a ton of money in advertising new drinks
and bringing in celebrities to do it. Sab Brenda Carpenter
offering up over at Duncan if.
Speaker 6 (03:17):
They could know what you're really craving. A strawberry day dream.
Speaker 4 (03:23):
Refresher yow wow wow. And the music is.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
She positive it's a little parny.
Speaker 4 (03:30):
I don't think that's by chance.
Speaker 5 (03:32):
So, uh, Starbucks, they've got the blended strawberry Macha fra
piado or matchup rapiata, the frappuccino that they're going to do.
McDonald says that they're testing a new lineup that's going
to come out in a few weeks of strawberry watermelon refresher,
a toast of vanilla drink, creamy vanilla cold brew. Taco
(03:53):
Bell they're making up their own word with refrescas where
they say at Taco Bell they want to reach five
billion dollars in beverage sales by twenty thirty.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
Wow, that's like really a declaration of war.
Speaker 5 (04:05):
Yeah, they're focusing in on a Wendy's. They've got some
new ones too. We talked to Sarah Senator. She's a
senior restaurant analyst at Bank of America. She says, this
is where it's at for the younger crowd right now.
Speaker 7 (04:15):
What you're seeing is that these younger consumers, you know,
millennials more than gen X, gen Z's more than millennials,
really do like that customization. So even companies for whom
you know, beverages may historically not have been their core
offering do want to participate in that, she says.
Speaker 5 (04:31):
The younger crowd, they want to feel like they're getting
an elevated experience. A black coffee is out. We're old
if we're drinking black coffee. They want caffeine because studies
show they're staying away from alcohol more and they want
to customize it. And the stores like it and see
it as just you know, it's chang ching ching because
it comes often during outside of regular meal times, so
(04:52):
it brings people in and they buy what is a
pretty cheap thing to make that they can charge. I mean,
we all know going to Starbucks charge a fair amount
of money for.
Speaker 7 (04:59):
You might have a very heavy breakfast business, or might
be doing really well at lunch, but then you have
this kind of lull in the afternoon. And that's really
what these beverages also address, which is how do you
get your assets to be used and how do you
get customers coming in throughout the day. And that's where
beverages really play an important role as well.
Speaker 5 (05:18):
So you got this battle going on, and then with
Starbucks' CEO says, all right, they got to go back.
Remember when they went kind of all mobile and don't
hang out in the stores, and they had been having
problems with homeless people coming in and that all of
us wanted to use our app. But they're saying that
they want to go back to the old coffee house
vibe with the music playing, stick around, work on your laptop,
(05:39):
chat with a friend, have a meeting. They brought back
the bar of all the accoutrements of oat milk, and
now they're going to do the non dairy milks that'll
be free and cinnamon and all that that went away
during the pandemic and for the first time that the
CEO is bringing back along with the handwritten notes on
the cups, trying to make it more of an experience.
Or they're planning on introducing protein foam drinks at Starbucks
(06:02):
because they think that that'll be enticing. And the CEO says,
they want to make the foundation about coffee, but make
it back to the experience.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
We need to do is be great at our core items.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
And then figure out how we innovate off the core.
Speaker 5 (06:14):
Because if it's just to go, you know, some people
are saying it's too expensive, or they can get it elsewhere,
they don't need to do it, or they can make
it at home. That they say, it's about that that experience.
They are closing Starbucks all of their mobile order only
stores because they had become all about that. If you
didn't have a drive through, they closed you. If you
were only a dine in store, and it was all
about the mobile. Now they want to go the other way.
(06:36):
That they say, what differentiates themselves and where they're going
to make the money is people hanging out and you know,
enjoying a Starbucks, which the previous CEO it'ds at everybody out,
we're going mobile only and come in and pick up
your drink and get out. And now Starbucks is going
back to.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Yeah, I mean that was working out for them for
a while. Sid a pandemic. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And you
know they have a mobile app that allows you to
kind of order ahead. You'd pick it up on your
way to work or whatever it might be. But it
is interesting and this is super relevant I think because
I believe things that relate to the culture and business
(07:10):
are fascinating and this is something that changed the culture
and of course was insanely successful as a business. And
now to hear that, you know, this changed culture has
to find a new way. I mean Starbucks, they were
the leaders in this space and now they are having
to adjust.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
I think that's fascinating, you know.
Speaker 5 (07:32):
And then the brand's image changes and they can all
of a sudden look older to a younger crowd, and
how do they stay young? And when you have a
younger I mean we know this in advertising, the you know,
broadcast advertising, that advertisers and companies they want a younger
audience because that's who you can kind of meld and
get into your brand and then they stay with your
brand throughout. It's harder to change the habits of somebody
(07:55):
who's older because they know the brands that they like,
They know what they like, so they want to try
to attract the younger audience that they got to figure
it out. Their numbers have not been great, and you've
got all these other companies that are saying, hey, big
money maker, here here's what we can do and jump
into it. And they think by kind of going old
school and making it that coffee house experience, or even
(08:16):
changing the name. It's not just gonna be Starbucks, gonna
be I believe Starbucks Coffee Company and all of their
logos to have that sound of kind of you know,
the Seattle coffee producer beans. Yeah, that that sort of
feeling that they want to try to bring it back.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
When you have Taco Bell, Duncan McDonald's all circling like
predators around a wounded gazelle, and they see Starbucks, this
dominant brand, bleeding out. This is a sea change in
this world of coffee.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
And as you say, I.
Speaker 4 (08:48):
Don't know they're bleeding out there, but they're definitely they're
hurting right now.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Let me tell the narrative the way I want to tell.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
You're gonna have Starbucks sewering you're real fast.
Speaker 5 (08:56):
No, they're not doing that badly, but they want to
see their numbers going up.
Speaker 3 (08:59):
They had a down quarter, is what you said.
Speaker 5 (09:01):
Well, they've had a few of them. Yeah, they've been
hurting it here for a little while. And that's why
the new CEO. I mean everything from the writing the
names on the cups to trying to figure out a faster,
more personal way to do everything that, But there.
Speaker 4 (09:12):
Is something about the mobile ordering too that's so great.
Speaker 5 (09:15):
We're, like, you say, going to work and you know
it's gonna be there and waiting for you, and you leave,
you don't want to hang out in there.
Speaker 4 (09:20):
So they got to do that as well. There's that
customer base as well.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
And you know, the last thing on the hanging out,
because it used to be, of course, as you say,
where you know, you'd see people hanging out with their
laptops working on the next great screenplay, whatever it might be.
And the vibe inside many Starbucks began to change, began
to sort of have this kind of laminated floor kind
of feel where it wasn't homie, it was sort of
(09:44):
just to it more felt like some kind of cafeteria almost,
you know.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
And in other words, that kind of environment.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
The metal chairs, thank yeah, thank you, And so they
have to they're gonna have to tweak that.
Speaker 5 (09:58):
I think all new furniture it's going to be the cozy,
big leather chairs and couches again and the colors that
they want. So they're gonna try to bring it back,
but it's gonna take a lot of money and a
lot of time to do it.
Speaker 4 (10:09):
To all the Starbucks that are around, but they're they're.
Speaker 5 (10:12):
Battling to get you to come in and spend your money.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
My love could be one again. I could swing back
over to Starbucks.
Speaker 4 (10:19):
You know, I'm all bad news.
Speaker 5 (10:21):
I did say though, even though everybody complains about the
prices based on labor and tariffs with bringing in beans
and coffee and everything that they the CEO says at Starbucks,
the prices may go up next year. He doesn't want it,
but they may go up.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
That's it in the coffee wars. Hey, thanks Alex Stone.
See you at the beach this weekend.
Speaker 4 (10:38):
Yeah, you got it.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
Thanks Martin. Okay, my friend, when we come back.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Michael Monks on the illegal cannabis shop in La County.
What a mess, five people murdered. We'll get the story
from Monks next.
Speaker 8 (10:52):
You're listening to Tim Conway Junior on demand from KFI
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Here's the latest.
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(11:27):
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That's coming up after seven o'clock Monday morning on the
next bill Handle show.
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I love it when Handle uses production elements like that,
you know, put your little work into the into the ts.
It is the Tim Countway Junior Show on KFI Am
six forty. We're live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app Mark
Thompson here and now in Common and I got my
hair freshly dyed for the show.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
Yeah, I want to look it looks great, looks thank you,
so good, thank you.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
It's not as though I fished for that compliment. It
was very It was right there. I know you guys
were all waiting to unleash it. So, yeah, looks good now,
I instead of I was going for maybe a little
younger look, you know, And now I just looked like
an old guy with really dark hair.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
So it's a It didn't.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
I don't know if it quite worked, but nonetheless, it's
very nice to be here and kind of show it
off to my pals.
Speaker 15 (18:25):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
There is some news of a serious and bizarre nature.
So we brought in our serious and bizarre nature reporter,
and that is Michael Monks. That's his beat, the serious
and bizarre nature of life. But truly, this is perplexing.
This is a weird one. Michael Monks, what's going on?
Speaker 1 (18:46):
I mean really serious and bizarre describes any day in
Los Angeles County at this point, because it's always something,
as they say, and this was certainly something that involves drugs,
it involves tragedy, and it could involve two men going
away to prison for the rest of their lives. There
are a couple of warehouses involved in this story, and
one of them had an explosion in twenty twenty three
(19:09):
in Irwindale and four workers inside that warehouse died a
little more than a year later, another warehouse in Almonte
also saw a serious fire and a fifth worker died
in that one. So investigators are starting to look around
and checking out whether these things are somehow connected. They
were apparently extracting honey oil at one of these warehouses,
(19:32):
and so you know, the alarms are going off. We're
looking into this thing. About one hundred and fifty law
enforcement agents served search warrants earlier this week at nine
different places in La County, including a large scale lab
in Laverne next to the San Gabriel Mountains. And this
is where they discovered what La County District Attorney Nathan
Hoffman is called the largest illegal cannabis bust in the
(19:57):
county's history. And think about all the illegal drug activity
has happened in this county's going all the way back
to the beginning of time. This is the biggest for
illegal cannabis. And they found it by accident. Well, they
found it by deliberately investigating these explosions and these debts.
So yes, this was not exactly I think what they
had looked for. Now they called this operation Sugar Diamond,
(20:21):
and Sugar Diamond might sound like, I don't know, a
strip club off the highway in the suburban Omaha area,
but this is actually the name of the extract related
to this particular cannabis wish. Nathan Hawkman said, today is
highly potent. Look, cannabis is legal in California. You can
buy it for recreational use, you can buy it for
(20:41):
medicinal use. We could walk right out of the studio
right now and grab some medibals, grab some joints whatever,
we need it because it is allowed that But yeah,
I do too. You just got your hair freshly cut.
We can go up burn one later. But there's still
a market out there for this really good illegal off apparently.
So they've arrested two guys, Ted Chin and Han Kwon Joe.
(21:07):
One of them lives in Temple City, the other lives
in Rosemeade. They've been charged with murder because Nathan Hakman
says that the deaths of those five individuals between the
two warehouses is directly related not just to the operation
of this business, but to the negligence and the greed
of these two guys, particularly after the first explosion, where
(21:30):
they kept going anyway.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
So they essentially had the elements of the kind of
accident you're talking about that would produce the danger, the
ongoing danger and threat to human life, and they persisted
in it because and that's the greed.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
Park exactly Okay, that's exactly right. And the greed might
also be related to the price. I don't know how
much this stuff should go for, but Nathan Hawkman told
us how much it was going for. Can you picture
a mason jar? You know what a mason jar is okay,
everybody picture a mason jar. They put the cannabis in
one of these. Ten grand. Wow, ten grand. Now that's
(22:09):
better stuff than you were buying on campus. Yeah, sure,
no when you were getting a sack of shake.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
This reminds me of breaking Bad, you know, when he
created in his lab because of his you know, chemistry prowess,
the kind of special myth that was like, you know,
better meth than the In any case, this is the world.
It's a dark world of illegal cannabis because they're not
bound by any kind of state laws and REGs, and
(22:35):
they are able to concoct this that you're talking about,
and they do it in a lot of ways that
would otherwise be deemed illegal.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
And this is also different than maybe the run of
the mill illegal cannabis shops that you might drive past
unwittingly all over the county. I mean, people do set
up unlicensed cannabis shops. They try to shut them down.
It competes with the legal businesses that have to go
through all of the loopholes, have to make sure that
all that marijuana is a completely regulated and safe to consume.
(23:02):
This isn't that this is large scale manufacturing of really
highly potent illegal cannabis that ultimately, according to prosecutors, led
to the deaths of five individuals. There are four other
people who have also been charged in this. They face
a conspiracy to manufacture a controlled substance and additional charges
(23:23):
kind of related to that, but they don't face any
murder charges. They face, you know, around seven years in prison.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
So the people who are murdered, obviously they have I
mean again I'm using the words that prostucutor murdered and
they died in these various accidents. They are people with families,
they were workers there. I mean, they're the connective tissue
I'm sure goes well beyond the actual you know, place
that they were working.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
There's no question about it. I Mean, that's the tragedy here,
especially when it takes what are we almost two years
away from the first explosion that happened in Irwindale. If
you're somebody related to the four people that died in
that initial blast and you're unaware of the nature of
the work that was going on there and then you
find out, I mean, it just reopens what was probably
(24:10):
already a very deep wound.
Speaker 3 (24:11):
Wow, what a story. Thank you, Michael monks, my pleasure.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
Hair looks good. I hope it doesn't get too hot
in here. And it starts Juliani ing down your face.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
Yeah, well it's you know, it's not that kind of color.
But what does happen is the color it then I
think it's a little on the dark side. What happens
is it kind of over the course of the weeks,
like in another I would say six days, it'll take
on a normal hue. Okay, but it is good. Then
you have your prime forty eight with hair. But everybody's
got your Prime forty I don't care what your hair is.
(24:40):
Prime forty eight is the perfect length for you, the
perfect look for you. You only have forty eight hours of that.
And then after that it's a little too long. It's
not quite right, it's shaggy, the color fades, et cetera.
Sound tough life, Yeah, it really is, Thanks monks, very great.
I've got to Conway News, I mean news about something
that Tim Conway Junior is doing. I'll fill you in
(25:02):
on that next and Alex Michaelson joins us from Fox eleven.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
Next we'll talk a little politics when we come back.
Speaker 8 (25:09):
You're listening to Tim Conway Junior on demand from KFI
AM six forty live everywhere.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
On the iHeartRadio app Mark Thompson here for Tim Conway Junior.
By the way, Tim is someone who you've decided you
want to cruise with, and I don't see why you wouldn't.
It's a great cruise. They're going to go on this
Alaska cruise in July of next year. It really does
look special. Anyway, Tim's going to have a zoom meeting
(25:36):
it is Wednesday at seven at night, right after the show,
to talk about the cruise. It's open to anyone interested
in going on the cruise, so you don't even have
to be someone who's signed up for the cruise or
paid for the cruise or down payment for the cruise.
If you're interested in going, jump on the zoom call.
(25:58):
All the zoom details can be accessed through Conwaycruise dot Com.
There'll be a zoom link there Conwaycruise dot Com. On
to Fox eleven's Alexmichaelson and Alex your world of politics
is one that is like a fire hose of breaking news.
Speaker 3 (26:21):
It's a remarkable thing. Welcome to KFI, sir, Yeah ding
dong with you as tim would.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
Say, indeed, indeed, Well the ding in the dong here
is I'll try to get to as much as I can.
I mean, I suppose in a quite eventful week, this
week has been capped by the President having gotten rid
of someone who essentially provided what is normally a revision.
(26:49):
This is very common for them to revise labor reports,
that is to say, employment reports from employment numbers.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
They'll do it commonly.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
After a couple of months, there'll be some additional data
that comes in and they'll these revisions. But in this case,
President Trump said that this uh Erica macintarfer is and
that wish you had his name, rigged the data to
make Republicans and me look bad. So he fired the commissioner.
And it's super unorthodox, but this is Trump's way. I
(27:19):
wonder if you could kind of put it in some
context for us.
Speaker 21 (27:24):
Well, it reminds me. Do you remember during COVID when
President Trump said we should stop testing because if you
aren't testing, then you won't get as many positive results.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
I had the same thought. It's so wild you say that.
I have the same thought.
Speaker 21 (27:37):
Yeah. So it's like if you pretend like the data
doesn't exist and like then maybe it doesn't exist. You know,
it's like an alternate universe of you know, well, if
we don't show anybody the bad numbers, then they didn't happen,
even if the bad number is really there. I mean,
this is kind of like third world country stuff, right,
(27:57):
this idea. If you don't give us the data that
we want, or even if you have to forge the
data we want, you're out. It's it's a scary precedent
and it flies in the face of the way that
this system is kind of built on, which is, you know,
these are just the numbers. And you know, he's.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
A master, you know, Alex of messaging. I think he's
a generational political thing from this gand point all time. Yeah,
you can say, I mean and reasonably that you know,
oftentimes the message doesn't conform to facts or whatever you
want to say. But boy, he gets the message out
there and he says over and over again and people
start repeating it. And so I'm not surprised in a
way that you know, he wants the message to be
(28:38):
what he wants it to be, which is everything's coming
along great, right.
Speaker 21 (28:43):
And that is kind of his superpower politically, is he
picks pretty simple, easy to understand messages. He repeats them
over and over and over and over again, regardless of
potentially what's going on, and you know, people understand them
and believe him. And he also has a really good
(29:04):
feel for the most part of where his base is
on most issues. And some of that I think is
his instinctive understanding of obsessively looking at TV ratings every day.
And now I don't know if he looks at social
media numbers, but I think he. And also the way
that he gives speeches with his crowd. He tries out materials,
(29:24):
he has an instinctive feel of what works and what
doesn't work, and has an understanding of where his people
are at, and then he tailors a message very effectively
towards that consumer.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
And just to fill in the detail, of course, the
numbers had to be revised down.
Speaker 3 (29:39):
The labor numbers.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
These are employment numbers, and so there were seventy three
thousand jobs and July that were at it, but that
was less than economists expected, less than reported. And so
again these are significantly revised numbers, revised down. And so
you know what happened was Trump made the firing. So
again he'll in there someone who begins to look at
(30:03):
the data of the way he does, and then he's
going to manage that message. And it's interesting. It's an
administration in which everybody sort of has that memo. You know,
I feel like Telsea Gabbard got that memo when she
was saying with her Iran intelligence that they didn't have
nukes or they weren't close to nukes, and all of
a sudden she was back going, oh, you know what,
I'm sorry, I must have.
Speaker 3 (30:22):
Missed a little paperwork here.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
It looks like they were just a couple of weeks
away from developing a nuclear weapon.
Speaker 21 (30:28):
Well, and you notice a huge difference between the first
Trump term and the second Trump term in terms of
the fact that the administration is stacked so much more
with loyalists that are true believers in Trump and MAGA
compared to the first time around. But he may not
have expected to win and had a lot more traditional
Republicans who frankly didn't like him and didn't like what
he was doing. That first time around. The leaks were
(30:52):
non stop, the New York Times to CNN. You remember,
every morning you'd wake up there'd be some bombshell story
that would lead from somebody inside the minute stration. You
hardly ever see that now, in part because the media
has changed, but largely in part because it's much more
disciplined operation within the White House. And most of the
people working in the White House really love Donald Trump, Yeah,
(31:13):
really loyal to him. They don't want to do that
sort of thing. They're believers in the plane. They're not
trying to sabotage it. And so that that's been a
huge part of the way they've done hiring, and it's
worked out for him in terms of message discipline.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
I want to get to California and a lot of
what's going on here Before that, though, I want to
ask you just to update me on this nuclear sub movement.
So the President moved nuclear subs near Russia because of
what he said was a foolish remark. And again I
don't know what this. The remark hasn't been released publicly,
has it, Alex. This is a remark on the part
(31:48):
of the Russians in some way that angered Trump.
Speaker 21 (31:52):
To the honest, I have been so busy in my
other space. I don't know.
Speaker 3 (31:56):
Yeah, I don't want to get that.
Speaker 21 (31:58):
I'm not familiar.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
Yeah, I don't think I don't think it's been released.
So I mean, this is I always worry about that,
you know, moving nuclear subs and all this stuff. Can
you know it's all fun until somebody, you know, pokes
an eye out type thing.
Speaker 21 (32:12):
Yeah, you don't want to mess with that. There's no
margin of error when you're talking about that sort of thing.
Speaker 2 (32:16):
Hey, I want to Can you stay through the break
at all because I want to get to California and
there's a lot going on here and I know that's
really your world in such a big way. Sure, Okay,
that'd be terrific. Alex Michaelson from Fox eleven. The issue is,
this is political show across California. You can see it
on stations, as I say, from north all the way
to the southern border. More with Alex.
Speaker 8 (32:35):
As we continue, you're listening to Tim conwaytun you're on
demand from KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
We're talking to Alex Michaelson from Fox eleven. His political
beat well established and he has his show The issue is,
which you can find on television stations across California. And
just because we're talking about California, I saw that Mayor
Bass made some statement about La not cleaning up the
homeless problem, specially for the Olympics. You know, there's all
(33:05):
the talk of them essentially sweeping our homeless issue, almost
literally sweeping it off the streets. I wonder if you
can speak to that and the plans for the Olympics
moving forward.
Speaker 3 (33:17):
Right.
Speaker 21 (33:17):
She was asked specifically yesterday if this idea of this
homeless sweep in Van Eyes, one of the biggest homeless
encampments of all, was in relation to the Olympics. She says,
it has nothing to do with that. But look, there's
gonna be a lot of pressure, and it's not just
the Olympics. Think about La Next year, we have the
World Cup. In twenty twenty seven, we have the Super Bowl,
(33:40):
and in twenty twenty eight we've got the Olympics. So
this is going to be a busy time. And of
course we may have the World Series again in the fall.
It's hope that the Dodgers get there. So the world
that's going to be focused on Los Angeles with huge
amount of tourism and a lot of pressure. And you know,
we've seen at other events around the world when the
Olympics come into town, somehow homeless people, somehow get put
(34:04):
somewhere else very quickly and very efficiently. Will that happen here?
Who knows, But you know there's a lot of pressure
on her, not only for the Olympics, but you know,
twenty twenty six, she's up for reelection. Sure, and this
was the main issue when she ran. Obviously, we've talked
(34:27):
so much about the fires and the ice raids this
year because they've been such huge stories. But if both
of those sort of start to receive a little bit,
it may end up being homelessness, is what the next
race is about once again.
Speaker 2 (34:40):
Yeah, and just and I'll get to the fires in
a second, but just to follow up on that, most
cities and areas, communities and countries that host the Olympics,
just to use the Olympics as the example, as you say,
it's way more than the Olympics, they do clean up
their major cities in preparation for people's arrival. I mean,
it's just a fact. I mean there is a tremendous
(35:01):
dedication of a workforce and capital to cleaning up the area.
So the idea that we have to clean up and
you know that these things that are both unsightly and
dangerous should go away is consistent with what other countries
and cities do when they host the Olympics.
Speaker 21 (35:19):
Right, and then there's also been a plan for so
many years to LA to finish Lax construction finally to
do other freeway construction, other things that they have sort
of a hard deadline of get it done before twenty
twenty eight with the Olympics being here, and maybe, like
we see in politics, having a deadline actually makes stuff
(35:39):
finally happen when for so many years we've seen so
much stalling.
Speaker 2 (35:44):
That's a great point. I mean, this may supercharge of
that whole thing. So what about the eat and fire
and the questions of that are beginning to surround that
community and whether or not that fire could have been avoided.
Speaker 3 (35:55):
Give me a moment on that, Alex Michaelson, Well.
Speaker 21 (35:59):
There's big question about whether Southern California Edison is responsible
for the fire. The more and more time more evidence
we see, the more and more it looks like it was.
There was essentially an offer made, a sort of settlement
offer to a lot of folks that live in that
community to take a lump sum of money which would
essentially absolve Southern California Edison for more litigation down the road,
(36:22):
and they're trying to give people the option of whether
to take that. A lot of people that live there
they were not going to be bought off and they
think that they're trying to get away with this. So
that's going to be a big, big question. And then
another big question also is what started the Pala States fire.
And both of those answers could mean potentially billions of
(36:44):
dollars in liability.
Speaker 2 (36:47):
What are you talking about in the issue is world
these days? I mean, like what's coming up this week
and give me a sense of where the focus of
journalism is as far as California is concerned.
Speaker 21 (36:59):
Well, obviously it's a huge week this week because the
governor's race was the big question was woul Kamala Harris
get in the race or not. Now we know that
she's not in the race, so now we're looking at
it in a different way. The person who's ahead and
fundraising in that race is the guy that a lot
of people haven't heard of. His name is Stephen Klubec.
He's a billionaire businessman. He's a Democrat who really is
(37:19):
frustrated with the Democratic Party after being a big donor
to the Democratic Party. For years. Got a sort of
similar ideas to Rick Caruso, who isn't in the race
right now, and he's a very interesting figure, and so
we talked to him his first appearance on the show
this week. A lot of controversial things that he says.
And we also talked to the chair of the Democratic
(37:39):
National Committee, Ken Martin, who is in town to support
this California push the potentially redistrict the congressional seats next year,
because Texas is pushing to get more Republican seats, Democrats
in California pushing to get more Democratic seats here. It's
going to most likely be a mass to fight for
(38:01):
the special election likely coming on November fourth, that could
cost the state two hundred million dollars and could determine
who controls the House next year. And so that's a
big story to look out for in the next couple months,
and it's something we're going to dig into this week.
Speaker 2 (38:15):
Yeah, I mean, the Texas redistricting is wild because it's
always it's always been and has been a severely gerrymandered state.
I mean, it's incredibly jerrymandered already, and so this additional
redistricting really does seem to sort of set the game
on another path, and Democrats are saying, we got to
do something to answer this, otherwise they'll just steamroll us
(38:39):
into the House of Representative Dominance that the president wants
right now. So it's an intriguing back and forth.
Speaker 3 (38:47):
I think.
Speaker 21 (38:49):
Yeah, in California passed something in twenty ten, a Citizen's
Redistricting Committee. This is a big Arnold Schwarzenager idea, so
that our districts would not be jerrymander they would not
have politicians drawing them. And California has among some of
the most competitive seats in the country because of that.
And so what this would do this special election would
(39:10):
be to temporarily get rid of the citizens Districting Committee
until at least twenty thirty and have the Democrats draw
the districts that benefit Democrats. And so you have less
competitive seats, and you have a bunch of Republicans that
will essentially be drawn out of office. And you know,
it's a pretty naked power grab by the Democrats, who
(39:30):
say it's a fair response to what is a pretty
naked power grab by Republicans. The big losers in this
whole thing, of course, are voters, because we are better
off when we have competitive districts and we have members
of Congress that are actually answerable to constituents in close elections,
so they actually have to talk to people and engage
(39:51):
with them. And unfortunately this whole thing seems really bad
for our democracy as a whole.
Speaker 2 (39:58):
That's just a great way to wrap up, because that's
exactly right. It's just crazy. I mean, it's absolutely crazy.
It no longer is representative the people's voice. It's just
cleverly redistricting things. It's almost diabolical, and you end up
with the government that in no way reflects the people's voice.
All right, So review for everybody where they can see
the issue is and when they can see it.
Speaker 21 (40:20):
It's on tonight on Fox eleven at ten thirty. You
can also see at YouTube dot com slash el it's Michaelson.
In podcast form you search for the Issue Is or
the Issue Is show dot com. Also on TV where
the Fox Local app so there they got a lot
of options.
Speaker 2 (40:35):
Yes, and if you go by Fox eleven you're a
guest there or something on their morning show whatever. Do
look for the Mark Thompson statue, which is still in
the lobby all these years later to memorialize my hard
work at Fox eleven. We were number one. I'm telling
you it was a different times. It was all my dancing.
(40:55):
I take all the credit. Alex. You know I'm crazy
about you. Thank you for coming back today. Appreciate it.
Speaker 21 (41:02):
Thank you Mark, I appreciate Big.
Speaker 3 (41:04):
Dong my friend. Yeah, good talking to you. Yeah. You
know that.
Speaker 2 (41:11):
The French dip place that was closing Coals, French Dip Calls. Yeah, okay,
so they announce they're going out of business, right, and
it's been around for one hundred and seventeen years and
they said we're going out of business in I think
they said August. So you know you had like a
(41:32):
month ago. Well, apparently you can't get a table at
Coals now, you can't get a spot at Calls.
Speaker 3 (41:38):
It is packed. There is a line outside the door
down the block. Of course it is.
Speaker 2 (41:44):
Yes, so many customers have shown up at Coals, at
this one hundred and seventeen year old eatery that they
are going to stay open a little bit longer now.
They say they've made a deal with the landlord to
remain open through mid September.
Speaker 3 (42:00):
Nice.
Speaker 2 (42:01):
There is nothing to do, yeah, nothing boost business like
telling you.
Speaker 9 (42:08):
Exactly going out of business sale, that'll get throwing.
Speaker 3 (42:12):
So many people are there and I wanted to go
there so bad. Now you have more time.
Speaker 9 (42:16):
I've never been, so I'm actually kind of glad that
they're going to stay open. Maybe I'll actually have a
chance down there.
Speaker 2 (42:20):
You know, they will make you wait right now. Apparently
the line stretches all the way down Sixth Street, and uh,
I saw.
Speaker 4 (42:28):
The video it does.
Speaker 9 (42:29):
It's wrapped around the block.
Speaker 3 (42:30):
Oh my gosh, it's great, it's really great. Uh. Anyway,
you have more time now mid September is what they're
saying for ultimate closure.
Speaker 9 (42:38):
That's one thing that's great about LA is we really
show up to support. You know, people get passionate about
their local businesses and and things like that, and they
really show up to support things like that.
Speaker 3 (42:47):
Yeah, I mean that, well, I think that's true.
Speaker 2 (42:49):
I mean, obviously this is an institution, but sadly the
downtown area is really having a tough time, you know,
supporting businesses.
Speaker 3 (42:56):
So uh, this is maybe a sign.
Speaker 2 (42:59):
It looks like they are committed to closing, but it's
a sign that, as you say, the community has come
out in a pretty big way to support them at
least here at the end. All right, it's the Conway Show,
Mark Thompson sitting in. We are KFIAM six forty Live
everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 8 (43:15):
Conway Show on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 5 (43:18):
Now you can always hear us live on KFI AM
six forty four to seven pm Monday through Friday, and
anytime on demand on the iHeart Radio app.
It's KFI AM sixty and you're listening to the Conway
Show on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
There's the Conway Show. Mark Thompson is sitting in for Tim.
I don't know where Tim is. I don't want to
know where he is. I don't want to be a
subpoena at a later date to have to talk about
information he was given as to where he is. I'm
you know, you know he goes to Oregon a lot.
He goes the track a lot.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
You're on her.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
I wasn't told exactly where he is going this time,
but I'm delighted to be here. Always cool to be
at KFI. Richie's in the role of Sharon Bellio for
this performance only, and Steff Fusche is rocking the board. Yeah,
Angel is in her spot.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Is she not or not? Is she? I believe she's air.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
I am loving it, loving it feels official. And in
the part of Michael Krozer today again for this performance only,
Heather Brooker everybody.
Speaker 4 (00:55):
And it's yes, happy to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Heather's got a side hustle that we will get into
a little bit later. And it's not only fans. It
is a legit not yet. We will discuss it later.
Right now, we have a much to do this hour
later Alex Michaelson joins. Michael Monks joins us.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
A big.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Bust with all kinds of nastiness associated with it in
a cannabis shop in La County. So we'll get that
with Michael Monks. But first we put the big name
up top from the world of hard news, Alex Stone.
Speaker 5 (01:32):
I want to hear about the side hustle. What is it? Ah, Yes,
that's the thing. It's a tee Santa Anita or del mar.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
It feels trackish. I agree, it feels trackish. Some kind
of form of gambling is likely a part of this. Yeah,
I don't know. What are you up to Alex Stone
this weekend? Do you can we get a little insight
into the world of a hard nosed reporter.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
I don't know. I think we might be going to
the beach tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Nice.
Speaker 4 (02:00):
I don't know next week.
Speaker 5 (02:01):
I gotta work, so I got to get it all
in this weekend. Yeah, that's the That's the way it
is in news. It never changes, right, The shift can
move and you follow the news.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (02:11):
Yeah, so you have fun while you.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Can, I'm told and this is remarkable that Starbucks is
in a way, I don't want to overstate it, you
can kind of put it in the right perspective, but
it's sort of in a bit of a scramble because
the business model they had and kind of the brand
they had has begun to change. It's changed through the years,
but now they're really getting some stiff competition and sales
(02:35):
were down a bit, I guess in the last quarter.
Speaker 4 (02:37):
Yeah, they're in hot water, did it?
Speaker 3 (02:40):
So?
Speaker 5 (02:41):
Yeah, this is turning into a fight Starbucks and Duncan
and fast food places like McDonald's, Taco Bell, Wendy's. This
is kind of the battle of the beverages. And some
of it comes because Starbucks is having trouble right now,
and these other companies are saying, well, now is the
time that they see this as a big money maker.
But Starbucks have been so offering of late that again
(03:01):
the reporting that that sales were down in the last
quarter and a number of things that they're trying to
do to bounce that back. But the other chains are
now putting a ton of money in advertising new drinks
and bringing in celebrities to do it. Sab Brenda Carpenter
offering up over at Duncan if.
Speaker 6 (03:17):
They could know what you're really craving. A strawberry day dream.
Speaker 4 (03:23):
Refresher yow wow wow. And the music is.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
She positive it's a little parny.
Speaker 4 (03:30):
I don't think that's by chance.
Speaker 5 (03:32):
So, uh, Starbucks, they've got the blended strawberry Macha fra
piado or matchup rapiata, the frappuccino that they're going to do.
McDonald says that they're testing a new lineup that's going
to come out in a few weeks of strawberry watermelon refresher,
a toast of vanilla drink, creamy vanilla cold brew. Taco
(03:53):
Bell they're making up their own word with refrescas where
they say at Taco Bell they want to reach five
billion dollars in beverage sales by twenty thirty.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
Wow, that's like really a declaration of war.
Speaker 5 (04:05):
Yeah, they're focusing in on a Wendy's. They've got some
new ones too. We talked to Sarah Senator. She's a
senior restaurant analyst at Bank of America. She says, this
is where it's at for the younger crowd right now.
Speaker 7 (04:15):
What you're seeing is that these younger consumers, you know,
millennials more than gen X, gen Z's more than millennials,
really do like that customization. So even companies for whom
you know, beverages may historically not have been their core
offering do want to participate in that, she says.
Speaker 5 (04:31):
The younger crowd, they want to feel like they're getting
an elevated experience. A black coffee is out. We're old
if we're drinking black coffee. They want caffeine because studies
show they're staying away from alcohol more and they want
to customize it. And the stores like it and see
it as just you know, it's chang ching ching because
it comes often during outside of regular meal times, so
(04:52):
it brings people in and they buy what is a
pretty cheap thing to make that they can charge. I mean,
we all know going to Starbucks charge a fair amount
of money for.
Speaker 7 (04:59):
You might have a very heavy breakfast business, or might
be doing really well at lunch, but then you have
this kind of lull in the afternoon. And that's really
what these beverages also address, which is how do you
get your assets to be used and how do you
get customers coming in throughout the day. And that's where
beverages really play an important role as well.
Speaker 5 (05:18):
So you got this battle going on, and then with
Starbucks' CEO says, all right, they got to go back.
Remember when they went kind of all mobile and don't
hang out in the stores, and they had been having
problems with homeless people coming in and that all of
us wanted to use our app. But they're saying that
they want to go back to the old coffee house
vibe with the music playing, stick around, work on your laptop,
(05:39):
chat with a friend, have a meeting. They brought back
the bar of all the accoutrements of oat milk, and
now they're going to do the non dairy milks that'll
be free and cinnamon and all that that went away
during the pandemic and for the first time that the
CEO is bringing back along with the handwritten notes on
the cups, trying to make it more of an experience.
Or they're planning on introducing protein foam drinks at Starbucks
(06:02):
because they think that that'll be enticing. And the CEO says,
they want to make the foundation about coffee, but make
it back to the experience.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
We need to do is be great at our core items.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
And then figure out how we innovate off the core.
Speaker 5 (06:14):
Because if it's just to go, you know, some people
are saying it's too expensive, or they can get it elsewhere,
they don't need to do it, or they can make
it at home. That they say, it's about that that experience.
They are closing Starbucks all of their mobile order only
stores because they had become all about that. If you
didn't have a drive through, they closed you. If you
were only a dine in store, and it was all
about the mobile. Now they want to go the other way.
(06:36):
That they say, what differentiates themselves and where they're going
to make the money is people hanging out and you know,
enjoying a Starbucks, which the previous CEO it'ds at everybody out,
we're going mobile only and come in and pick up
your drink and get out. And now Starbucks is going
back to.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Yeah, I mean that was working out for them for
a while. Sid a pandemic. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And you
know they have a mobile app that allows you to
kind of order ahead. You'd pick it up on your
way to work or whatever it might be. But it
is interesting and this is super relevant I think because
I believe things that relate to the culture and business
(07:10):
are fascinating and this is something that changed the culture
and of course was insanely successful as a business. And
now to hear that, you know, this changed culture has
to find a new way. I mean Starbucks, they were
the leaders in this space and now they are having
to adjust.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
I think that's fascinating, you know.
Speaker 5 (07:32):
And then the brand's image changes and they can all
of a sudden look older to a younger crowd, and
how do they stay young? And when you have a
younger I mean we know this in advertising, the you know,
broadcast advertising, that advertisers and companies they want a younger
audience because that's who you can kind of meld and
get into your brand and then they stay with your
brand throughout. It's harder to change the habits of somebody
(07:55):
who's older because they know the brands that they like,
They know what they like, so they want to try
to attract the younger audience that they got to figure
it out. Their numbers have not been great, and you've
got all these other companies that are saying, hey, big
money maker, here here's what we can do and jump
into it. And they think by kind of going old
school and making it that coffee house experience, or even
(08:16):
changing the name. It's not just gonna be Starbucks, gonna
be I believe Starbucks Coffee Company and all of their
logos to have that sound of kind of you know,
the Seattle coffee producer beans. Yeah, that that sort of
feeling that they want to try to bring it back.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
When you have Taco Bell, Duncan McDonald's all circling like
predators around a wounded gazelle, and they see Starbucks, this
dominant brand, bleeding out. This is a sea change in
this world of coffee.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
And as you say, I.
Speaker 4 (08:48):
Don't know they're bleeding out there, but they're definitely they're
hurting right now.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Let me tell the narrative the way I want to tell.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
You're gonna have Starbucks sewering you're real fast.
Speaker 5 (08:56):
No, they're not doing that badly, but they want to
see their numbers going up.
Speaker 3 (08:59):
They had a down quarter, is what you said.
Speaker 5 (09:01):
Well, they've had a few of them. Yeah, they've been
hurting it here for a little while. And that's why
the new CEO. I mean everything from the writing the
names on the cups to trying to figure out a faster,
more personal way to do everything that, But there.
Speaker 4 (09:12):
Is something about the mobile ordering too that's so great.
Speaker 5 (09:15):
We're, like, you say, going to work and you know
it's gonna be there and waiting for you, and you leave,
you don't want to hang out in there.
Speaker 4 (09:20):
So they got to do that as well. There's that
customer base as well.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
And you know, the last thing on the hanging out,
because it used to be, of course, as you say,
where you know, you'd see people hanging out with their
laptops working on the next great screenplay, whatever it might be.
And the vibe inside many Starbucks began to change, began
to sort of have this kind of laminated floor kind
of feel where it wasn't homie, it was sort of
(09:44):
just to it more felt like some kind of cafeteria almost,
you know.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
And in other words, that kind of environment.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
The metal chairs, thank yeah, thank you, And so they
have to they're gonna have to tweak that.
Speaker 5 (09:58):
I think all new furniture it's going to be the cozy,
big leather chairs and couches again and the colors that
they want. So they're gonna try to bring it back,
but it's gonna take a lot of money and a
lot of time to do it.
Speaker 4 (10:09):
To all the Starbucks that are around, but they're they're.
Speaker 5 (10:12):
Battling to get you to come in and spend your money.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
My love could be one again. I could swing back
over to Starbucks.
Speaker 4 (10:19):
You know, I'm all bad news.
Speaker 5 (10:21):
I did say though, even though everybody complains about the
prices based on labor and tariffs with bringing in beans
and coffee and everything that they the CEO says at Starbucks,
the prices may go up next year. He doesn't want it,
but they may go up.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
That's it in the coffee wars. Hey, thanks Alex Stone.
See you at the beach this weekend.
Speaker 4 (10:38):
Yeah, you got it.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
Thanks Martin. Okay, my friend, when we come back.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Michael Monks on the illegal cannabis shop in La County.
What a mess, five people murdered. We'll get the story
from Monks next.
Speaker 8 (10:52):
You're listening to Tim Conway Junior on demand from KFI
AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Thompson for Conway KFI AM six forty. We're live everywhere
on the iHeartRadio app. Now to the KFI twenty four
hour Newsroom and Heather Brooker.
Speaker 4 (11:06):
Here's the latest.
Speaker 9 (11:07):
A federal judge in San Francisco has temporarily blocked the
deportations of people from Central America, Asia, Honduras, and Nicaragua
who have temporary protected status. The Department of Homeland Security
ended the protected status for Nepal in June and for
Nicaragua and Honduras in July. President Trump's Mideast envoy has
(11:27):
visited a food distribution site in Gaza operated by an
Israeli backed American contractor. International experts warned this week that
a worst case scenario of a famine is playing out
in Gaza. South end weather from Camp Fine, it's going
to be sunny and warm for the rest of the day.
Heiser going to be in the mid seventies to low
eighties in Metro La and OC. All right, now, we're
(11:49):
going to go to the one oh one in Calabasas.
Speaker 10 (11:53):
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Delays out of Hollywood from Santa Monica Boulevard all the
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Sarah Spain for Iheartwomen's.
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The World Swimming Championships conclude this weekend and on Saturday.
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Speaker 1 (14:08):
Today, Mark is in a perpetual state of stressdom perpetual.
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I want you to stop and consider how you contribute
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Maybe something you need to get professional help with. It'd
be like couples counseling. You and I could go together. No,
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Speaker 4 (14:24):
Later with Moe Kelly.
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We have to hold handshare our feelings.
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Okay, we have two must hear interviews. First, Aliya Katab
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Speaker 20 (17:22):
On the next Handle show QR codes have become a
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Beware before you scan.
Speaker 20 (17:35):
That's coming up after seven o'clock Monday morning on the
next bill Handle show.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
I love it when Handle uses production elements like that,
you know, put your little work into the into the ts.
It is the Tim Countway Junior Show on KFI Am
six forty. We're live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app Mark
Thompson here and now in Common and I got my
hair freshly dyed for the show.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
Yeah, I want to look it looks great, looks thank you,
so good, thank you.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
It's not as though I fished for that compliment. It
was very It was right there. I know you guys
were all waiting to unleash it. So, yeah, looks good now,
I instead of I was going for maybe a little
younger look, you know, And now I just looked like
an old guy with really dark hair.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
So it's a It didn't.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
I don't know if it quite worked, but nonetheless, it's
very nice to be here and kind of show it
off to my pals.
Speaker 15 (18:25):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
There is some news of a serious and bizarre nature.
So we brought in our serious and bizarre nature reporter,
and that is Michael Monks. That's his beat, the serious
and bizarre nature of life. But truly, this is perplexing.
This is a weird one. Michael Monks, what's going on?
Speaker 1 (18:46):
I mean really serious and bizarre describes any day in
Los Angeles County at this point, because it's always something,
as they say, and this was certainly something that involves drugs,
it involves tragedy, and it could involve two men going
away to prison for the rest of their lives. There
are a couple of warehouses involved in this story, and
one of them had an explosion in twenty twenty three
(19:09):
in Irwindale and four workers inside that warehouse died a
little more than a year later, another warehouse in Almonte
also saw a serious fire and a fifth worker died
in that one. So investigators are starting to look around
and checking out whether these things are somehow connected. They
were apparently extracting honey oil at one of these warehouses,
(19:32):
and so you know, the alarms are going off. We're
looking into this thing. About one hundred and fifty law
enforcement agents served search warrants earlier this week at nine
different places in La County, including a large scale lab
in Laverne next to the San Gabriel Mountains. And this
is where they discovered what La County District Attorney Nathan
Hoffman is called the largest illegal cannabis bust in the
(19:57):
county's history. And think about all the illegal drug activity
has happened in this county's going all the way back
to the beginning of time. This is the biggest for
illegal cannabis. And they found it by accident. Well, they
found it by deliberately investigating these explosions and these debts.
So yes, this was not exactly I think what they
had looked for. Now they called this operation Sugar Diamond,
(20:21):
and Sugar Diamond might sound like, I don't know, a
strip club off the highway in the suburban Omaha area,
but this is actually the name of the extract related
to this particular cannabis wish. Nathan Hawkman said, today is
highly potent. Look, cannabis is legal in California. You can
buy it for recreational use, you can buy it for
(20:41):
medicinal use. We could walk right out of the studio
right now and grab some medibals, grab some joints whatever,
we need it because it is allowed that But yeah,
I do too. You just got your hair freshly cut.
We can go up burn one later. But there's still
a market out there for this really good illegal off apparently.
So they've arrested two guys, Ted Chin and Han Kwon Joe.
(21:07):
One of them lives in Temple City, the other lives
in Rosemeade. They've been charged with murder because Nathan Hakman
says that the deaths of those five individuals between the
two warehouses is directly related not just to the operation
of this business, but to the negligence and the greed
of these two guys, particularly after the first explosion, where
(21:30):
they kept going anyway.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
So they essentially had the elements of the kind of
accident you're talking about that would produce the danger, the
ongoing danger and threat to human life, and they persisted
in it because and that's the greed.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
Park exactly Okay, that's exactly right. And the greed might
also be related to the price. I don't know how
much this stuff should go for, but Nathan Hawkman told
us how much it was going for. Can you picture
a mason jar? You know what a mason jar is okay,
everybody picture a mason jar. They put the cannabis in
one of these. Ten grand. Wow, ten grand. Now that's
(22:09):
better stuff than you were buying on campus. Yeah, sure,
no when you were getting a sack of shake.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
This reminds me of breaking Bad, you know, when he
created in his lab because of his you know, chemistry prowess,
the kind of special myth that was like, you know,
better meth than the In any case, this is the world.
It's a dark world of illegal cannabis because they're not
bound by any kind of state laws and REGs, and
(22:35):
they are able to concoct this that you're talking about,
and they do it in a lot of ways that
would otherwise be deemed illegal.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
And this is also different than maybe the run of
the mill illegal cannabis shops that you might drive past
unwittingly all over the county. I mean, people do set
up unlicensed cannabis shops. They try to shut them down.
It competes with the legal businesses that have to go
through all of the loopholes, have to make sure that
all that marijuana is a completely regulated and safe to consume.
(23:02):
This isn't that this is large scale manufacturing of really
highly potent illegal cannabis that ultimately, according to prosecutors, led
to the deaths of five individuals. There are four other
people who have also been charged in this. They face
a conspiracy to manufacture a controlled substance and additional charges
(23:23):
kind of related to that, but they don't face any
murder charges. They face, you know, around seven years in prison.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
So the people who are murdered, obviously they have I
mean again I'm using the words that prostucutor murdered and
they died in these various accidents. They are people with families,
they were workers there. I mean, they're the connective tissue
I'm sure goes well beyond the actual you know, place
that they were working.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
There's no question about it. I Mean, that's the tragedy here,
especially when it takes what are we almost two years
away from the first explosion that happened in Irwindale. If
you're somebody related to the four people that died in
that initial blast and you're unaware of the nature of
the work that was going on there and then you
find out, I mean, it just reopens what was probably
(24:10):
already a very deep wound.
Speaker 3 (24:11):
Wow, what a story. Thank you, Michael monks, my pleasure.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
Hair looks good. I hope it doesn't get too hot
in here. And it starts Juliani ing down your face.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
Yeah, well it's you know, it's not that kind of color.
But what does happen is the color it then I
think it's a little on the dark side. What happens
is it kind of over the course of the weeks,
like in another I would say six days, it'll take
on a normal hue. Okay, but it is good. Then
you have your prime forty eight with hair. But everybody's
got your Prime forty I don't care what your hair is.
(24:40):
Prime forty eight is the perfect length for you, the
perfect look for you. You only have forty eight hours of that.
And then after that it's a little too long. It's
not quite right, it's shaggy, the color fades, et cetera.
Sound tough life, Yeah, it really is, Thanks monks, very great.
I've got to Conway News, I mean news about something
that Tim Conway Junior is doing. I'll fill you in
(25:02):
on that next and Alex Michaelson joins us from Fox eleven.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
Next we'll talk a little politics when we come back.
Speaker 8 (25:09):
You're listening to Tim Conway Junior on demand from KFI
AM six forty live everywhere.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
On the iHeartRadio app Mark Thompson here for Tim Conway Junior.
By the way, Tim is someone who you've decided you
want to cruise with, and I don't see why you wouldn't.
It's a great cruise. They're going to go on this
Alaska cruise in July of next year. It really does
look special. Anyway, Tim's going to have a zoom meeting
(25:36):
it is Wednesday at seven at night, right after the show,
to talk about the cruise. It's open to anyone interested
in going on the cruise, so you don't even have
to be someone who's signed up for the cruise or
paid for the cruise or down payment for the cruise.
If you're interested in going, jump on the zoom call.
(25:58):
All the zoom details can be accessed through Conwaycruise dot Com.
There'll be a zoom link there Conwaycruise dot Com. On
to Fox eleven's Alexmichaelson and Alex your world of politics
is one that is like a fire hose of breaking news.
Speaker 3 (26:21):
It's a remarkable thing. Welcome to KFI, sir, Yeah ding
dong with you as tim would.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
Say, indeed, indeed, Well the ding in the dong here
is I'll try to get to as much as I can.
I mean, I suppose in a quite eventful week, this
week has been capped by the President having gotten rid
of someone who essentially provided what is normally a revision.
(26:49):
This is very common for them to revise labor reports,
that is to say, employment reports from employment numbers.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
They'll do it commonly.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
After a couple of months, there'll be some additional data
that comes in and they'll these revisions. But in this case,
President Trump said that this uh Erica macintarfer is and
that wish you had his name, rigged the data to
make Republicans and me look bad. So he fired the commissioner.
And it's super unorthodox, but this is Trump's way. I
(27:19):
wonder if you could kind of put it in some
context for us.
Speaker 21 (27:24):
Well, it reminds me. Do you remember during COVID when
President Trump said we should stop testing because if you
aren't testing, then you won't get as many positive results.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
I had the same thought. It's so wild you say that.
I have the same thought.
Speaker 21 (27:37):
Yeah. So it's like if you pretend like the data
doesn't exist and like then maybe it doesn't exist. You know,
it's like an alternate universe of you know, well, if
we don't show anybody the bad numbers, then they didn't happen,
even if the bad number is really there. I mean,
this is kind of like third world country stuff, right,
(27:57):
this idea. If you don't give us the data that
we want, or even if you have to forge the
data we want, you're out. It's it's a scary precedent
and it flies in the face of the way that
this system is kind of built on, which is, you know,
these are just the numbers. And you know, he's.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
A master, you know, Alex of messaging. I think he's
a generational political thing from this gand point all time. Yeah,
you can say, I mean and reasonably that you know,
oftentimes the message doesn't conform to facts or whatever you
want to say. But boy, he gets the message out
there and he says over and over again and people
start repeating it. And so I'm not surprised in a
way that you know, he wants the message to be
(28:38):
what he wants it to be, which is everything's coming
along great, right.
Speaker 21 (28:43):
And that is kind of his superpower politically, is he
picks pretty simple, easy to understand messages. He repeats them
over and over and over and over again, regardless of
potentially what's going on, and you know, people understand them
and believe him. And he also has a really good
(29:04):
feel for the most part of where his base is
on most issues. And some of that I think is
his instinctive understanding of obsessively looking at TV ratings every day.
And now I don't know if he looks at social
media numbers, but I think he. And also the way
that he gives speeches with his crowd. He tries out materials,
(29:24):
he has an instinctive feel of what works and what
doesn't work, and has an understanding of where his people
are at, and then he tailors a message very effectively
towards that consumer.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
And just to fill in the detail, of course, the
numbers had to be revised down.
Speaker 3 (29:39):
The labor numbers.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
These are employment numbers, and so there were seventy three
thousand jobs and July that were at it, but that
was less than economists expected, less than reported. And so
again these are significantly revised numbers, revised down. And so
you know what happened was Trump made the firing. So
again he'll in there someone who begins to look at
(30:03):
the data of the way he does, and then he's
going to manage that message. And it's interesting. It's an
administration in which everybody sort of has that memo. You know,
I feel like Telsea Gabbard got that memo when she
was saying with her Iran intelligence that they didn't have
nukes or they weren't close to nukes, and all of
a sudden she was back going, oh, you know what,
I'm sorry, I must have.
Speaker 3 (30:22):
Missed a little paperwork here.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
It looks like they were just a couple of weeks
away from developing a nuclear weapon.
Speaker 21 (30:28):
Well, and you notice a huge difference between the first
Trump term and the second Trump term in terms of
the fact that the administration is stacked so much more
with loyalists that are true believers in Trump and MAGA
compared to the first time around. But he may not
have expected to win and had a lot more traditional
Republicans who frankly didn't like him and didn't like what
he was doing. That first time around. The leaks were
(30:52):
non stop, the New York Times to CNN. You remember,
every morning you'd wake up there'd be some bombshell story
that would lead from somebody inside the minute stration. You
hardly ever see that now, in part because the media
has changed, but largely in part because it's much more
disciplined operation within the White House. And most of the
people working in the White House really love Donald Trump, Yeah,
(31:13):
really loyal to him. They don't want to do that
sort of thing. They're believers in the plane. They're not
trying to sabotage it. And so that that's been a
huge part of the way they've done hiring, and it's
worked out for him in terms of message discipline.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
I want to get to California and a lot of
what's going on here Before that, though, I want to
ask you just to update me on this nuclear sub movement.
So the President moved nuclear subs near Russia because of
what he said was a foolish remark. And again I
don't know what this. The remark hasn't been released publicly,
has it, Alex. This is a remark on the part
(31:48):
of the Russians in some way that angered Trump.
Speaker 21 (31:52):
To the honest, I have been so busy in my
other space. I don't know.
Speaker 3 (31:56):
Yeah, I don't want to get that.
Speaker 21 (31:58):
I'm not familiar.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
Yeah, I don't think I don't think it's been released.
So I mean, this is I always worry about that,
you know, moving nuclear subs and all this stuff. Can
you know it's all fun until somebody, you know, pokes
an eye out type thing.
Speaker 21 (32:12):
Yeah, you don't want to mess with that. There's no
margin of error when you're talking about that sort of thing.
Speaker 2 (32:16):
Hey, I want to Can you stay through the break
at all because I want to get to California and
there's a lot going on here and I know that's
really your world in such a big way. Sure, Okay,
that'd be terrific. Alex Michaelson from Fox eleven. The issue is,
this is political show across California. You can see it
on stations, as I say, from north all the way
to the southern border. More with Alex.
Speaker 8 (32:35):
As we continue, you're listening to Tim conwaytun you're on
demand from KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
We're talking to Alex Michaelson from Fox eleven. His political
beat well established and he has his show The issue is,
which you can find on television stations across California. And
just because we're talking about California, I saw that Mayor
Bass made some statement about La not cleaning up the
homeless problem, specially for the Olympics. You know, there's all
(33:05):
the talk of them essentially sweeping our homeless issue, almost
literally sweeping it off the streets. I wonder if you
can speak to that and the plans for the Olympics
moving forward.
Speaker 3 (33:17):
Right.
Speaker 21 (33:17):
She was asked specifically yesterday if this idea of this
homeless sweep in Van Eyes, one of the biggest homeless
encampments of all, was in relation to the Olympics. She says,
it has nothing to do with that. But look, there's
gonna be a lot of pressure, and it's not just
the Olympics. Think about La Next year, we have the
World Cup. In twenty twenty seven, we have the Super Bowl,
(33:40):
and in twenty twenty eight we've got the Olympics. So
this is going to be a busy time. And of
course we may have the World Series again in the fall.
It's hope that the Dodgers get there. So the world
that's going to be focused on Los Angeles with huge
amount of tourism and a lot of pressure. And you know,
we've seen at other events around the world when the
Olympics come into town, somehow homeless people, somehow get put
(34:04):
somewhere else very quickly and very efficiently. Will that happen here?
Who knows, But you know there's a lot of pressure
on her, not only for the Olympics, but you know,
twenty twenty six, she's up for reelection. Sure, and this
was the main issue when she ran. Obviously, we've talked
(34:27):
so much about the fires and the ice raids this
year because they've been such huge stories. But if both
of those sort of start to receive a little bit,
it may end up being homelessness, is what the next
race is about once again.
Speaker 2 (34:40):
Yeah, and just and I'll get to the fires in
a second, but just to follow up on that, most
cities and areas, communities and countries that host the Olympics,
just to use the Olympics as the example, as you say,
it's way more than the Olympics, they do clean up
their major cities in preparation for people's arrival. I mean,
it's just a fact. I mean there is a tremendous
(35:01):
dedication of a workforce and capital to cleaning up the area.
So the idea that we have to clean up and
you know that these things that are both unsightly and
dangerous should go away is consistent with what other countries
and cities do when they host the Olympics.
Speaker 21 (35:19):
Right, and then there's also been a plan for so
many years to LA to finish Lax construction finally to
do other freeway construction, other things that they have sort
of a hard deadline of get it done before twenty
twenty eight with the Olympics being here, and maybe, like
we see in politics, having a deadline actually makes stuff
(35:39):
finally happen when for so many years we've seen so
much stalling.
Speaker 2 (35:44):
That's a great point. I mean, this may supercharge of
that whole thing. So what about the eat and fire
and the questions of that are beginning to surround that
community and whether or not that fire could have been avoided.
Speaker 3 (35:55):
Give me a moment on that, Alex Michaelson, Well.
Speaker 21 (35:59):
There's big question about whether Southern California Edison is responsible
for the fire. The more and more time more evidence
we see, the more and more it looks like it was.
There was essentially an offer made, a sort of settlement
offer to a lot of folks that live in that
community to take a lump sum of money which would
essentially absolve Southern California Edison for more litigation down the road,
(36:22):
and they're trying to give people the option of whether
to take that. A lot of people that live there
they were not going to be bought off and they
think that they're trying to get away with this. So
that's going to be a big, big question. And then
another big question also is what started the Pala States fire.
And both of those answers could mean potentially billions of
(36:44):
dollars in liability.
Speaker 2 (36:47):
What are you talking about in the issue is world
these days? I mean, like what's coming up this week
and give me a sense of where the focus of
journalism is as far as California is concerned.
Speaker 21 (36:59):
Well, obviously it's a huge week this week because the
governor's race was the big question was woul Kamala Harris
get in the race or not. Now we know that
she's not in the race, so now we're looking at
it in a different way. The person who's ahead and
fundraising in that race is the guy that a lot
of people haven't heard of. His name is Stephen Klubec.
He's a billionaire businessman. He's a Democrat who really is
(37:19):
frustrated with the Democratic Party after being a big donor
to the Democratic Party. For years. Got a sort of
similar ideas to Rick Caruso, who isn't in the race
right now, and he's a very interesting figure, and so
we talked to him his first appearance on the show
this week. A lot of controversial things that he says.
And we also talked to the chair of the Democratic
(37:39):
National Committee, Ken Martin, who is in town to support
this California push the potentially redistrict the congressional seats next year,
because Texas is pushing to get more Republican seats, Democrats
in California pushing to get more Democratic seats here. It's
going to most likely be a mass to fight for
(38:01):
the special election likely coming on November fourth, that could
cost the state two hundred million dollars and could determine
who controls the House next year. And so that's a
big story to look out for in the next couple months,
and it's something we're going to dig into this week.
Speaker 2 (38:15):
Yeah, I mean, the Texas redistricting is wild because it's
always it's always been and has been a severely gerrymandered state.
I mean, it's incredibly jerrymandered already, and so this additional
redistricting really does seem to sort of set the game
on another path, and Democrats are saying, we got to
do something to answer this, otherwise they'll just steamroll us
(38:39):
into the House of Representative Dominance that the president wants
right now. So it's an intriguing back and forth.
Speaker 3 (38:47):
I think.
Speaker 21 (38:49):
Yeah, in California passed something in twenty ten, a Citizen's
Redistricting Committee. This is a big Arnold Schwarzenager idea, so
that our districts would not be jerrymander they would not
have politicians drawing them. And California has among some of
the most competitive seats in the country because of that.
And so what this would do this special election would
(39:10):
be to temporarily get rid of the citizens Districting Committee
until at least twenty thirty and have the Democrats draw
the districts that benefit Democrats. And so you have less
competitive seats, and you have a bunch of Republicans that
will essentially be drawn out of office. And you know,
it's a pretty naked power grab by the Democrats, who
(39:30):
say it's a fair response to what is a pretty
naked power grab by Republicans. The big losers in this
whole thing, of course, are voters, because we are better
off when we have competitive districts and we have members
of Congress that are actually answerable to constituents in close elections,
so they actually have to talk to people and engage
(39:51):
with them. And unfortunately this whole thing seems really bad
for our democracy as a whole.
Speaker 2 (39:58):
That's just a great way to wrap up, because that's
exactly right. It's just crazy. I mean, it's absolutely crazy.
It no longer is representative the people's voice. It's just
cleverly redistricting things. It's almost diabolical, and you end up
with the government that in no way reflects the people's voice.
All right, So review for everybody where they can see
the issue is and when they can see it.
Speaker 21 (40:20):
It's on tonight on Fox eleven at ten thirty. You
can also see at YouTube dot com slash el it's Michaelson.
In podcast form you search for the Issue Is or
the Issue Is show dot com. Also on TV where
the Fox Local app so there they got a lot
of options.
Speaker 2 (40:35):
Yes, and if you go by Fox eleven you're a
guest there or something on their morning show whatever. Do
look for the Mark Thompson statue, which is still in
the lobby all these years later to memorialize my hard
work at Fox eleven. We were number one. I'm telling
you it was a different times. It was all my dancing.
(40:55):
I take all the credit. Alex. You know I'm crazy
about you. Thank you for coming back today. Appreciate it.
Speaker 21 (41:02):
Thank you Mark, I appreciate Big.
Speaker 3 (41:04):
Dong my friend. Yeah, good talking to you. Yeah. You
know that.
Speaker 2 (41:11):
The French dip place that was closing Coals, French Dip Calls. Yeah, okay,
so they announce they're going out of business, right, and
it's been around for one hundred and seventeen years and
they said we're going out of business in I think
they said August. So you know you had like a
(41:32):
month ago. Well, apparently you can't get a table at
Coals now, you can't get a spot at Calls.
Speaker 3 (41:38):
It is packed. There is a line outside the door
down the block. Of course it is.
Speaker 2 (41:44):
Yes, so many customers have shown up at Coals, at
this one hundred and seventeen year old eatery that they
are going to stay open a little bit longer now.
They say they've made a deal with the landlord to
remain open through mid September.
Speaker 3 (42:00):
Nice.
Speaker 2 (42:01):
There is nothing to do, yeah, nothing boost business like
telling you.
Speaker 9 (42:08):
Exactly going out of business sale, that'll get throwing.
Speaker 3 (42:12):
So many people are there and I wanted to go
there so bad. Now you have more time.
Speaker 9 (42:16):
I've never been, so I'm actually kind of glad that
they're going to stay open. Maybe I'll actually have a
chance down there.
Speaker 2 (42:20):
You know, they will make you wait right now. Apparently
the line stretches all the way down Sixth Street, and uh,
I saw.
Speaker 4 (42:28):
The video it does.
Speaker 9 (42:29):
It's wrapped around the block.
Speaker 3 (42:30):
Oh my gosh, it's great, it's really great. Uh. Anyway,
you have more time now mid September is what they're
saying for ultimate closure.
Speaker 9 (42:38):
That's one thing that's great about LA is we really
show up to support. You know, people get passionate about
their local businesses and and things like that, and they
really show up to support things like that.
Speaker 3 (42:47):
Yeah, I mean that, well, I think that's true.
Speaker 2 (42:49):
I mean, obviously this is an institution, but sadly the
downtown area is really having a tough time, you know,
supporting businesses.
Speaker 3 (42:56):
So uh, this is maybe a sign.
Speaker 2 (42:59):
It looks like they are committed to closing, but it's
a sign that, as you say, the community has come
out in a pretty big way to support them at
least here at the end. All right, it's the Conway Show,
Mark Thompson sitting in. We are KFIAM six forty Live
everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 8 (43:15):
Conway Show on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 5 (43:18):
Now you can always hear us live on KFI AM
six forty four to seven pm Monday through Friday, and
anytime on demand on the iHeart Radio app.
Tim Conway Jr. on Demand News
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