WEBVTT - Midterm Candidates Dumping Debates 0:00:00.700 --> 0:00:04.680 You're listening to KFI AM 640 Wake Up Call with me, 0:00:04.860 --> 0:00:10.379 Amy King, on demand on the iHeartRadio app. Good morning. 0:00:11.440 --> 0:00:13.800 It is 5 o'clock straight up. This is your wake 0:00:13.860 --> 0:00:20.060 up call for Tuesday, September 29th. We're live everywhere on 0:00:20.100 --> 0:00:24.070 the iHeartRadio app. My name's Amy King. Happy to have 0:00:24.110 --> 0:00:27.610 you starting your day with us. And it wouldn't be 0:00:27.650 --> 0:00:31.320 starting your day if you didn't have your cup of coffee. 0:00:32.040 --> 0:00:36.560 Today's National Coffee Day. Isn't every day National Coffee Day? 0:00:36.659 --> 0:00:38.930 I mean, come on, let's be real. It is in 0:00:38.990 --> 0:00:41.470 my life. It's like my favorite thing. I have my 0:00:41.510 --> 0:00:46.330 little automatic coffee pot. So as soon as my alarm 0:00:46.370 --> 0:00:49.160 goes off, it kicks on the coffee pot and I 0:00:49.300 --> 0:00:51.900 smell that. Helps me get out of bed every day. 0:00:52.860 --> 0:00:54.140 I hope they don't make me stop coffee. 0:00:56.050 --> 0:00:57.480 Why would they make you stop coffee? 0:00:57.490 --> 0:00:57.910 I don't know. 0:00:58.030 --> 0:01:00.300 At some point, somebody's going to tell me, that caffeine's 0:01:00.360 --> 0:01:04.300 not good for you. And you almost dropped your coffee. 0:01:04.360 --> 0:01:06.760 I didn't spill it. 0:01:07.000 --> 0:01:09.220 But I didn't hit the board. And that's the important part. 0:01:09.240 --> 0:01:09.539 Phew. 0:01:09.560 --> 0:01:10.259 Okay, Michael Monks. 0:01:11.700 --> 0:01:14.920 Michael Monks spilled and got everything all sticky on the board. 0:01:14.959 --> 0:01:16.560 The engineers hate when that happens. 0:01:16.780 --> 0:01:17.840 Oh, yeah. 0:01:18.520 --> 0:01:21.940 Well, it does kind of wreck things. I think we're good. 0:01:22.319 --> 0:01:23.320 I got the mouse a little bit. 0:01:23.400 --> 0:01:24.120 I'm wiping it off. 0:01:24.720 --> 0:01:25.179 Thank goodness. 0:01:25.200 --> 0:01:25.300 Phew. 0:01:25.840 --> 0:01:27.080 Thank goodness there's paper towels. 0:01:27.180 --> 0:01:27.500 Okay. 0:01:28.640 --> 0:01:32.550 Let's get started, shall we? As my editor, Carla, just said, 0:01:32.709 --> 0:01:34.850 we got a long list of stuff going on today. 0:01:35.830 --> 0:01:38.550 Let's get right to it, shall we? Here's what's ahead 0:01:38.610 --> 0:01:42.210 on Wake Up Call. Hurricane Polo has churned up big 0:01:42.290 --> 0:01:45.750 waves and continues to pound the Southern California coast. Flood 0:01:45.810 --> 0:01:48.420 and high surf advisories are in effect until this evening 0:01:48.460 --> 0:01:52.980 in L.A. County until tomorrow afternoon in Orange County. South-facing 0:01:53.020 --> 0:01:56.760 beaches could see 4 to 7-foot waves, which raises the 0:01:56.800 --> 0:02:01.390 risk of flooding and coastal erosion. The FBI has offered 0:02:01.430 --> 0:02:05.110 a $ 1 million reward for a 10 most wanted fugitive 0:02:05.710 --> 0:02:11.310 linked to killings and drug trafficking. Satyajit Singh, also known 0:02:11.330 --> 0:02:14.850 as Goldie Brar, is accused of leading a criminal group 0:02:14.889 --> 0:02:17.730 in Southern California, in other areas of the U.S. and 0:02:17.810 --> 0:02:22.910 in Canada. He's facing federal racketeering, extortion, and drug charges 0:02:22.990 --> 0:02:26.110 in L.A. The FBI says Singh should be considered armed 0:02:26.169 --> 0:02:30.910 and dangerous. President Trump hosting an AI summit in D.C. today, 0:02:30.970 --> 0:02:34.150 along with Speaker Mike Johnson. The event at the White 0:02:34.190 --> 0:02:39.900 House will have metas Mark Zuckerberg and the heads of Anthropic, OpenAI, NVIDIA, 0:02:39.980 --> 0:02:43.000 and others. Johnson says the meeting's an effort to strike 0:02:43.040 --> 0:02:48.000 a balance between innovation and oversight and insists that over-regulation 0:02:48.020 --> 0:02:51.739 would would lead to China winning the AI race. The 0:02:51.780 --> 0:02:55.760 five terror suspects arrested for allegedly plotting an attack on 0:02:55.800 --> 0:02:59.120 an airbase in the UK that the U.S. uses to strike, 0:02:59.810 --> 0:03:03.609 to stage strikes on Iran has been released. All five 0:03:03.650 --> 0:03:06.870 of them are out on bail. Former special agent in 0:03:06.950 --> 0:03:10.130 charge at the FBI, ABC's Rich Frankel, is going to 0:03:10.169 --> 0:03:13.830 tell us what they're believed to have been doing and 0:03:14.110 --> 0:03:16.620 why they're already out of jail and whether they're actually 0:03:16.680 --> 0:03:21.300 facing any charges. The midterm elections are just five weeks away, 0:03:21.500 --> 0:03:24.210 and there are a lot of candidates who aren't giving 0:03:24.250 --> 0:03:26.670 voters a chance to get to know them and their opponents. 0:03:26.750 --> 0:03:29.369 ABC's Diana Paulson is going to tell us why they're 0:03:29.410 --> 0:03:32.369 shying away from the spotlight. And a lot of kids 0:03:32.389 --> 0:03:35.250 are having a lot of trouble dealing with life and 0:03:35.530 --> 0:03:37.270 looking for the worst way out. We're going to be 0:03:37.310 --> 0:03:40.580 joined by the president of the Children's Hospital Association a 0:03:40.600 --> 0:03:42.820 little bit later to find out why so many kids 0:03:42.860 --> 0:03:45.680 are attempting suicide and what we can do about it. 0:03:46.660 --> 0:03:48.360 Let's get started with some of the stories coming out 0:03:48.400 --> 0:03:51.320 of the KFI 24-hour newsroom. The National Weather Service says 0:03:51.410 --> 0:03:55.770 summer-like heat will persist through the Inland Empire this week 0:03:55.830 --> 0:03:59.850 with temperatures pushing into the triple digits. The agency says 0:03:59.890 --> 0:04:03.790 the Riverside metropolitan area and neighboring places will enjoy a 0:04:03.850 --> 0:04:06.820 seasonal respite until Thursday. But after that, there's going to 0:04:06.840 --> 0:04:10.300 be another round of sizzling heat that lasts through the weekend. 0:04:11.010 --> 0:04:14.100 The weather service's high temperatures for next weekend will range 0:04:14.160 --> 0:04:16.940 from a few degrees above average for the lower deserts 0:04:16.980 --> 0:04:20.320 to as much as 12 to 18 degrees above average 0:04:20.380 --> 0:04:24.350 for the valleys. The Pacific Ocean is pretty active right 0:04:24.390 --> 0:04:27.450 now as a coastal flood advisory remains in effect from L.A. 0:04:27.490 --> 0:04:28.270 to San Diego. 0:04:28.310 --> 0:04:29.500 The advisory is because of. 0:04:29.630 --> 0:04:32.849 By astronomical tides, we have this arrival of this Kelvin 0:04:32.890 --> 0:04:36.570 wave in addition to the storm activity out over the Pacific. 0:04:36.650 --> 0:04:39.750 That's Hurricane Polo and Tropical Storm O'Dallas. But meteorologist Rick 0:04:39.770 --> 0:04:42.599 Dickert says, along with Hurricane Marie a couple of weeks ago... The. 0:04:42.540 --> 0:04:45.640 Moisture stream is moving just to our south and to 0:04:45.720 --> 0:04:48.180 our east, so we're not going to see any significant rain. 0:04:48.260 --> 0:04:50.539 And there's another tropical storm coming up from Mexico that 0:04:50.580 --> 0:04:51.839 could affect us by the weekend. 0:04:51.920 --> 0:04:54.180 That will be named Hurricane Simon. 0:04:54.260 --> 0:04:56.020 All of this part of that strong El Nino, which 0:04:56.060 --> 0:04:59.340 could ravage the region for months. Jason Athenson, KFI News. 0:04:59.779 --> 0:05:04.230 GKN Aerospace in Garden Grove has announced plans to resume operations, 0:05:04.730 --> 0:05:08.270 but some local activists are saying not so fast. An 0:05:08.430 --> 0:05:11.530 overheating tank at the plant in May forced thousands of 0:05:11.570 --> 0:05:14.510 people out of their homes for days. Former Cypress City 0:05:14.550 --> 0:05:19.280 Councilwoman Dr. Frances Marquez says GKN needs to be held accountable. 0:05:19.320 --> 0:05:21.220 We want to see any health reports. 0:05:21.279 --> 0:05:23.200 We want all elected officials. 0:05:22.839 --> 0:05:25.979 At the local, state, and federal level to come in 0:05:26.320 --> 0:05:27.300 and reassure us. 0:05:28.860 --> 0:05:32.500 GKN says it's planning a phased-in resumption in the weeks 0:05:32.560 --> 0:05:35.320 ahead and is working with experts to make sure safety 0:05:35.480 --> 0:05:38.420 is a top priority. Governor Newsom has signed a bill 0:05:38.440 --> 0:05:43.320 that bans people from reselling tee times at public golf courses. Yes, 0:05:43.440 --> 0:05:45.260 we need to have a law for this. The bill 0:05:45.300 --> 0:05:48.240 makes it illegal for third-party brokers to advertise, sell, or 0:05:48.279 --> 0:05:52.140 transfer tee time reservations at publicly owned golf courses without 0:05:52.200 --> 0:05:55.420 the written consent of the course operator. For several years, 0:05:55.520 --> 0:05:58.560 brokers have been snapping up tee times and selling them 0:05:58.600 --> 0:06:01.659 for a big profit. The state has more than 200 0:06:01.660 --> 0:06:05.140 city-owned golf courses. Thank you, Will. Let's say good morning 0:06:05.190 --> 0:06:08.570 now to a former special agent in charge at the FBI, 0:06:08.650 --> 0:06:12.610 ABC's Rich Frankel. Rich, we had five men arrested for 0:06:12.650 --> 0:06:15.510 a possible terrorist attack, and they've already been released. 0:06:17.710 --> 0:06:22.870 Yeah, they've been released, but they are on very strict 0:06:22.950 --> 0:06:29.219 bail provisions. restrictions. And it's different in the UK than 0:06:29.260 --> 0:06:31.740 it is here. You know, they actually haven't been charged 0:06:31.779 --> 0:06:35.100 yet over there, but they have been released on bail. And, 0:06:35.900 --> 0:06:37.510 you know, they're not allowed to use their phones. I 0:06:37.550 --> 0:06:40.089 think their phones are being monitored. They can't go to 0:06:40.130 --> 0:06:45.050 certain locations, et cetera. So they're keeping a close tab 0:06:45.110 --> 0:06:51.130 on them. But that UK investigation continues to see if 0:06:51.190 --> 0:06:56.130 there are connections between these five individuals and any terrorist 0:06:56.170 --> 0:07:00.710 organization or nation state that is targeting the Air Force Base. 0:07:00.870 --> 0:07:03.810 OK, so, Rich, let's back up a little bit, because 0:07:03.850 --> 0:07:09.360 this happened over the weekend. What exactly happened that they 0:07:09.820 --> 0:07:11.260 what led up to their arrests? 0:07:13.050 --> 0:07:16.550 Yeah, so there are two separate prongs to this that 0:07:17.650 --> 0:07:20.800 were happening, I think, at the same time. One is 0:07:20.890 --> 0:07:24.280 that in the middle of the night, a farmer near 0:07:24.480 --> 0:07:28.420 a RAF, which is Royal Air Force Base in the U.K., 0:07:29.100 --> 0:07:34.640 observed several vehicles, five individuals in those vehicles. get out. 0:07:35.160 --> 0:07:37.620 They had hoodies on. They may have had masks. They 0:07:37.660 --> 0:07:43.619 seemed to be just acting suspicious, according to the witness, 0:07:43.900 --> 0:07:48.020 and the witness called local law enforcement. Local law enforcement came, 0:07:48.620 --> 0:07:51.900 and based upon what they saw or observed, they actually 0:07:52.000 --> 0:07:56.090 cordoned off the area and for about 400 meters, evacuated homes, 0:07:56.530 --> 0:08:00.650 brought in the bomb techs, the explosives techs, and an 0:08:00.690 --> 0:08:04.750 investigation ensued. That investigation actually is still going on, and 0:08:04.770 --> 0:08:07.210 that area is still cordoned off the West, I saw. 0:08:07.830 --> 0:08:10.890 While that happened, they took five individuals back to London 0:08:11.050 --> 0:08:14.850 and started the questioning of them. And again, in the UK, 0:08:14.970 --> 0:08:18.370 you can hold these people for up to 14 days 0:08:18.470 --> 0:08:22.310 on terrorism charges. Based upon what they've found so far, 0:08:22.350 --> 0:08:25.250 they decided not to hold them, but to let them 0:08:25.330 --> 0:08:28.710 out on bail. And then while that's all going on, 0:08:28.930 --> 0:08:32.430 we had heard from President Trump that these five individuals 0:08:32.500 --> 0:08:37.840 were potentially being observed, surveilled by both U.S. and U.K. 0:08:37.980 --> 0:08:38.680 Agents. 0:08:42.190 --> 0:08:46.490 You know, assets. And if that's the case, then that 0:08:46.510 --> 0:08:49.450 means they were part of an ongoing investigation. So you 0:08:49.470 --> 0:08:53.709 had two different things happening on these five individuals. It 0:08:54.050 --> 0:09:01.179 appears one very active individual. investigation, and then one proactive 0:09:01.420 --> 0:09:05.079 long-term investigation. And somehow they collided at the same time. 0:09:05.160 --> 0:09:11.070 And that's why we're seeing this happening, that we know 0:09:11.110 --> 0:09:15.450 that these people are under investigation, but they have been released. Okay. 0:09:15.550 --> 0:09:18.670 And so then my question for you, Rich, is, and 0:09:18.690 --> 0:09:21.130 this is asking you to speculate, of course, but if 0:09:21.170 --> 0:09:25.810 they are arrested on suspected crimes, Terrorism charges like they 0:09:25.830 --> 0:09:29.230 were going to, according to investigators, they were going to 0:09:29.330 --> 0:09:33.590 attack an air base and they could be held for 0:09:33.590 --> 0:09:34.750 14 days. Why would they let him out? 0:09:36.990 --> 0:09:39.709 They may not have enough to hold them at this 0:09:39.790 --> 0:09:45.939 point in. And what I'm suspecting, and again, I have 0:09:46.020 --> 0:09:51.010 no definitive information on this, but they may not have 0:09:51.010 --> 0:09:55.809 found explosives in those vehicles or even traces of explosives 0:09:55.809 --> 0:09:58.740 to this point. And so because it's not– there was 0:09:58.790 --> 0:10:04.360 not anything active, they couldn't hold them. Maybe these five 0:10:04.400 --> 0:10:10.660 individuals were out on a dry run, testing to see 0:10:10.700 --> 0:10:13.200 if they could do what they wanted to do. You know, 0:10:13.220 --> 0:10:15.320 we used to have these cases back when I was 0:10:15.360 --> 0:10:20.670 in the FBI where you get called out on potential 0:10:20.730 --> 0:10:24.630 threats after 9-11. And this could be something similar where 0:10:25.410 --> 0:10:28.470 they were called out to it. They don't have enough information. 0:10:28.910 --> 0:10:30.890 And to be honest, this could be a criminal activity. 0:10:30.929 --> 0:10:35.620 Maybe they were human traffickers. Maybe they're drug dealers. Maybe 0:10:35.640 --> 0:10:39.740 they're just five guys who were out looking for something 0:10:39.800 --> 0:10:45.440 to buy, and it's completely innocent. I doubt that last one, 0:10:45.520 --> 0:10:49.339 but it could be any of the others. And so therefore, 0:10:50.580 --> 0:10:52.830 they don't know what they have, but they kind of 0:10:52.850 --> 0:10:54.910 know they have something. So they're going to continue on 0:10:54.950 --> 0:10:58.330 that investigative phase. And the other thing that has happened 0:10:58.429 --> 0:11:01.910 in these cases, sometimes there's a balancing act. You have 0:11:01.950 --> 0:11:06.980 a long-term investigation case. of terrorists. And then you find 0:11:07.100 --> 0:11:11.380 out that they're doing something that could lead to immediate harm. 0:11:11.400 --> 0:11:13.870 So you have to balance, should we take it down 0:11:14.350 --> 0:11:17.790 or should we continue a covert investigation? That could have 0:11:17.830 --> 0:11:20.750 happened here where they had the covert investigation, which is 0:11:20.790 --> 0:11:23.670 what President Trump was talking about. But because they were 0:11:23.710 --> 0:11:26.550 close to the Air Force base, they were in the vehicles, 0:11:26.880 --> 0:11:29.699 they were acting suspicious. Law enforcement said, you know what, 0:11:29.740 --> 0:11:31.040 we can't take a chance and we're going to have 0:11:31.059 --> 0:11:32.000 to take it down right now. 0:11:32.020 --> 0:11:35.530 All right. Okay. Former special agent in charge of the 0:11:35.670 --> 0:11:38.929 FBI in New York, Rich Frankel. Thank you so much 0:11:39.030 --> 0:11:41.610 for the information and your insights into this. We'll keep 0:11:41.650 --> 0:11:42.290 watching this one. 0:11:42.309 --> 0:11:44.339 Thank you. 0:11:44.510 --> 0:11:44.800 All right. 0:11:45.179 --> 0:11:46.500 Let's get back to some of the stories coming out 0:11:46.540 --> 0:11:49.839 of the KFI 24-hour newsroom. Iran's currency has fallen to 0:11:49.880 --> 0:11:53.900 a new record low as the war continues. Traders in 0:11:53.940 --> 0:11:58.690 Tehran are exchanging more than 2.5 million rials to the U.S. 0:11:58.730 --> 0:11:59.030 Dollar. 0:11:59.780 --> 0:12:01.990 The decline comes less than a month after the rial 0:12:02.000 --> 0:12:06.110 hit its previous record of $ 2. 2 million. The currency has 0:12:06.130 --> 0:12:09.230 been falling since the war started in February. Iran's top 0:12:09.270 --> 0:12:13.250 diplomat says indirect negotiations with the U.S. have become more serious. 0:12:13.830 --> 0:12:18.080 Iran's Revolutionary Guard spokesman has called on Americans to take 0:12:18.140 --> 0:12:21.880 to the streets to protest the war. President Trump has 0:12:21.900 --> 0:12:24.900 denied a report claiming the U.S. is weighing sanctions relief 0:12:24.980 --> 0:12:28.290 in return for an Iran nuclear deal. On True Social, 0:12:28.870 --> 0:12:33.130 Trump called the Axios report untrue. He also said he's 0:12:33.190 --> 0:12:36.370 offering nothing and went on to say that Axios should 0:12:36.429 --> 0:12:41.150 withdraw the fake story immediately. The woman in Massachusetts charged 0:12:41.170 --> 0:12:43.470 with killing her three young children is due back in 0:12:43.510 --> 0:12:47.000 court today. The case against Lindsay Clancy ended in a 0:12:47.030 --> 0:12:50.180 mistrial earlier this month. The big question is whether prosecutors 0:12:50.220 --> 0:12:53.500 are going to retry the case. Plymouth County D.A. Tim 0:12:53.559 --> 0:12:55.060 Cruz so far hasn't said. 0:12:56.000 --> 0:12:58.730 The noise in this case may be louder than it 0:12:58.830 --> 0:13:02.050 is for other prosecutions in our county, but we have 0:13:02.110 --> 0:13:05.530 treated it the same as any other case. Children were murdered, 0:13:05.550 --> 0:13:08.130 and it's our job to seek justice. 0:13:08.760 --> 0:13:11.580 Clancy doesn't deny killing her children in 2023, but her 0:13:11.620 --> 0:13:15.479 lawyers say she was suffering from postpartum psychosis. The defense 0:13:15.540 --> 0:13:18.770 wants the charges dismissed, arguing another trial would violate her 0:13:18.809 --> 0:13:19.810 double jeopardy rights. 0:13:20.940 --> 0:13:21.240 The U.S. 0:13:21.260 --> 0:13:24.179 Has now banned nearly a billion dollars worth of Canadian imports, 0:13:24.240 --> 0:13:27.719 including alcohol, dairy products, motorcycles. ABC's Jim Ryan says the 0:13:27.760 --> 0:13:29.740 ban went into effect this morning. 0:13:29.920 --> 0:13:32.660 At the heart of the dispute with Canada, says President Trump, 0:13:32.740 --> 0:13:35.540 is that... They have been one of the worst countries 0:13:35.600 --> 0:13:38.599 in the entire world. And so, at 12.01 this morning, 0:13:38.660 --> 0:13:41.420 the U.S. imposed a ban on the importation of Canadian 0:13:41.490 --> 0:13:45.469 whey protein, molasses, non-alcoholic beer, and some alcohol. 0:13:46.460 --> 0:13:49.730 It amounts to barely a ripple in the $ 880 billion 0:13:49.809 --> 0:13:52.490 worth of two-way annual trade between the two countries, but 0:13:52.510 --> 0:13:55.699 it marks another escalation in the trade war between the U.S. 0:13:55.740 --> 0:14:00.290 and Canada. NVIDIA has unveiled a new security platform designed 0:14:00.360 --> 0:14:03.040 to prevent AI agents from going rogue. 0:14:03.260 --> 0:14:07.099 The chipmaker unveiled its Open Agent Safety Platform amid an 0:14:07.179 --> 0:14:11.860 intensifying debate about AI safety. NVIDIA's platform has two elements. 0:14:12.240 --> 0:14:14.840 The main part is Open Shell, which is a sealed 0:14:14.940 --> 0:14:19.010 workspace or sandbox where AI agents can operate, with a 0:14:19.070 --> 0:14:22.640 rulebook for them to follow. There's an additional security layer 0:14:22.710 --> 0:14:26.390 called Sentry that operates at the hardware level. Debra Mark, 0:14:26.630 --> 0:14:27.590 KFI News. 0:14:31.350 --> 0:14:35.359 Yeah, you know that song. The actor known for playing 0:14:35.420 --> 0:14:39.040 Principal Belding on the show Saved by the Bell has died. 0:14:39.620 --> 0:14:44.360 Dennis Haskins first played the character in the 1988-89 Disney 0:14:44.400 --> 0:14:48.060 Channel comedy Good Morning Miss Bliss. He was the only 0:14:48.120 --> 0:14:50.120 adult actor to stay with the show when it was 0:14:50.180 --> 0:14:52.840 reworked by NBC and called Saved by the Bell. It 0:14:52.880 --> 0:14:56.760 ran from 89 through 93. Haskins also had roles on 0:14:56.820 --> 0:14:59.970 Archie Bunker's Place, Simon and Simon, The Dukes of Hazzard, 0:14:59.990 --> 0:15:03.010 and more recently, The West Wing, Mad Men, and How 0:15:03.070 --> 0:15:06.280 I Met Your Mother. Dennis Haskins was 75. The L.A. 0:15:06.290 --> 0:15:09.630 County Sheriff's Department investigating a pair of deadly shootings by 0:15:09.670 --> 0:15:11.980 deputies in the past couple of days. A woman was 0:15:12.020 --> 0:15:14.520 fatally shot during a domestic violence call at a home 0:15:14.680 --> 0:15:18.130 in Cudahy early yesterday. And on Sunday afternoon, a man 0:15:18.170 --> 0:15:20.510 was fatally shot by deputies who entered a home in 0:15:20.550 --> 0:15:23.930 Bellflower where a woman in her 80s was found dead. 0:15:24.550 --> 0:15:26.360 Police are looking for your help in finding the driver 0:15:26.390 --> 0:15:29.760 of a black sedan with tinted windows and chrome trim 0:15:29.820 --> 0:15:32.300 who hit and killed a pedestrian in Long Beach. Long 0:15:32.340 --> 0:15:35.600 Beach police say the man was struck around 7.25 p.m. 0:15:35.680 --> 0:15:40.210 September 13th while walking eastbound across Pacific Avenue outside a 0:15:40.230 --> 0:15:42.310 marked sidewalk just north of PCH. 0:15:43.530 --> 0:15:43.670 L.A. 0:15:43.690 --> 0:15:47.630 County has confirmed 69 rabid bats this year, prompting health 0:15:47.680 --> 0:15:51.360 officials to urge residents to take precautions. As peak bat 0:15:51.400 --> 0:15:54.560 season continues, the majority of the bats have been found 0:15:54.740 --> 0:15:57.940 in the Santa Clarita Valley. Let's take a good morning 0:15:57.960 --> 0:16:02.920 now to ABC's midterm election reporter, Diana Paulson. So, Diana, 0:16:02.990 --> 0:16:05.810 Election Day just five weeks away. And we got a 0:16:05.850 --> 0:16:09.270 lot of candidates out there who aren't really being vetted 0:16:09.590 --> 0:16:12.140 publicly because they're not debating. What's going on? 0:16:13.830 --> 0:16:16.690 Yeah, so I've been looking, poring over the numbers of 0:16:16.710 --> 0:16:19.990 the last three election cycles and have noticed a disturbing trend, 0:16:20.130 --> 0:16:22.290 which is candidates not. 0:16:22.170 --> 0:16:23.330 Wanting to participate in debates. 0:16:23.430 --> 0:16:28.229 This year, of the 36 governor's races, 21 will have 0:16:28.530 --> 0:16:33.250 zero debates between the two major party candidates. For Senate races, 0:16:33.250 --> 0:16:37.490 21 out of 35, zero debate. So the majority of 0:16:37.550 --> 0:16:39.770 candidates for governor and senator will never have to get 0:16:39.950 --> 0:16:44.090 on stage and actually debate their opponent. They'll never have 0:16:44.130 --> 0:16:46.290 to answer those tough questions. They'll never have to go 0:16:46.350 --> 0:16:49.530 face to face with this person that they're trying to 0:16:49.570 --> 0:16:52.950 beat in the election. And it's something that we've seen 0:16:53.090 --> 0:16:55.830 increase year over year for the last three election cycles. 0:16:56.530 --> 0:17:02.920 Okay, so Diana, do we have any reasons why they're 0:17:02.960 --> 0:17:04.939 doing it? I mean, they obviously think they don't need to, 0:17:05.000 --> 0:17:07.859 or they're scared to do it, or they don't think 0:17:07.880 --> 0:17:09.530 it's a good look, or why? 0:17:11.130 --> 0:17:14.090 So there's a couple of different reasons that we've identified. 0:17:14.990 --> 0:17:17.690 The first is, I think people are still a little 0:17:17.730 --> 0:17:21.379 scared after 2024. Obviously, we saw the most influential political 0:17:21.410 --> 0:17:26.060 debate in American history that knocked out a sitting president 0:17:26.160 --> 0:17:27.980 out of his election. So I think I think that 0:17:28.000 --> 0:17:29.620 there's a lot of sense of fear of just how 0:17:29.700 --> 0:17:33.350 bad a bad debate performance can go. We also saw 0:17:33.510 --> 0:17:38.090 from the other side of that election in 2024, President 0:17:38.130 --> 0:17:40.830 Trump declined to do any of his primary debates against 0:17:40.869 --> 0:17:43.850 Republican challengers, saying he was just so far ahead that 0:17:43.869 --> 0:17:45.949 there was no point in debating these other guys. So 0:17:45.970 --> 0:17:47.630 I think that that gave them a little bit more 0:17:47.670 --> 0:17:50.780 permission to, especially if they're the big lead, choose not 0:17:50.800 --> 0:17:54.500 to debate. We've also seen candidates say that they don't 0:17:54.540 --> 0:17:57.900 like the moderators, blame media bias. And we've also heard 0:17:57.940 --> 0:18:00.240 them say, like, there's no point in having a debate. 0:18:01.119 --> 0:18:03.290 You know, people know the difference in policy. They know 0:18:03.330 --> 0:18:05.070 who I am as a candidate. They don't need to 0:18:05.109 --> 0:18:07.109 see me get on stage. So what we end up 0:18:07.190 --> 0:18:10.250 losing is those sort of impromptu moments where we see 0:18:10.290 --> 0:18:14.010 how people react under pressure. We see how candidates react 0:18:14.130 --> 0:18:16.070 in situations they can't fully control. 0:18:16.090 --> 0:18:17.850 And we lose that ability. 0:18:17.550 --> 0:18:21.150 To have that head-to-head comparison of our two candidates. 0:18:21.410 --> 0:18:23.389 Yeah, and I think that the reality of it is 0:18:23.590 --> 0:18:25.750 you're saying that the candidates say, oh, they know who 0:18:25.830 --> 0:18:27.970 I am. But the reality is we don't. I mean, 0:18:28.070 --> 0:18:31.830 I think voters don't know because, well, one, they don't 0:18:31.869 --> 0:18:34.890 pay that close of attention a lot of times. And 0:18:35.070 --> 0:18:38.650 then if you take these opportunities away, it just kind 0:18:38.670 --> 0:18:43.790 of exacerbates that. It's happening here in the city of L.A. 0:18:44.290 --> 0:18:48.030 where Mayor Bass has agreed to one debate that's happening 0:18:48.070 --> 0:18:51.859 next month, but her challenger, Nithya Raman, wants six. Or 0:18:51.880 --> 0:18:54.140 has agreed to them. But Mayor Bass is like, no, 0:18:54.280 --> 0:18:55.060 I just want to do the one. 0:18:56.950 --> 0:18:59.090 Yeah, we're seeing that trend in a lot of places. 0:18:59.210 --> 0:19:01.210 And the number I have is just how many will 0:19:01.230 --> 0:19:03.750 have zero debates. But if I included the number where, 0:19:03.770 --> 0:19:06.910 you know, candidates have proposed way more and they only 0:19:06.970 --> 0:19:09.250 had one, that would be nearly every race, right? We're 0:19:09.270 --> 0:19:12.780 seeing the number, total number of debates decline as well. 0:19:13.710 --> 0:19:16.230 You guys in California will be the outlier. You will 0:19:16.280 --> 0:19:19.580 get to have a governor's debate. It'll be tomorrow. But 0:19:19.640 --> 0:19:22.320 a lot of states across the country will have zero. 0:19:22.420 --> 0:19:26.160 And there's several states where once this sort of tradition 0:19:26.220 --> 0:19:31.540 gets started, It just keeps going right in in Arizona. 0:19:31.560 --> 0:19:33.800 Katie Hobbs didn't debate in her first race. She's not 0:19:33.820 --> 0:19:36.340 going to do it this one in Tennessee. Marsha Blackburn, 0:19:36.380 --> 0:19:40.440 I don't think, has ever debated her opponent for for her. 0:19:40.330 --> 0:19:41.210 Senate race there. 0:19:41.390 --> 0:19:44.490 And I think it sort of entrenches once you don't 0:19:44.590 --> 0:19:46.649 do it, you can kind of keep not doing it. 0:19:46.750 --> 0:19:49.870 And it also, you know, like, for instance, in Texas, 0:19:50.430 --> 0:19:54.379 Attorney General Ken Paxton never debated for being Attorney General 0:19:54.740 --> 0:19:57.500 any of the three times he ran. So now, you know, 0:19:57.680 --> 0:19:59.580 do you choose to debate for the first time in 0:19:59.600 --> 0:20:01.860 your political career in the toughest race of your life, 0:20:02.520 --> 0:20:05.879 When you have like no public debate experience, probably not. 0:20:06.000 --> 0:20:08.240 And so as bad as it is maybe for voters 0:20:08.300 --> 0:20:10.800 in Texas, maybe that is a decision that makes sense 0:20:10.820 --> 0:20:13.510 for Ken Paxton not to throw himself into this entirely 0:20:13.650 --> 0:20:16.810 unknown thing, you know, a month out from the toughest 0:20:16.830 --> 0:20:17.430 election he'll. 0:20:17.350 --> 0:20:18.190 Ever be in. Yeah. 0:20:18.410 --> 0:20:20.790 Well, on a personal note, I think that they should 0:20:20.810 --> 0:20:23.770 be required. I'm surprised that they're not. So we got 0:20:23.790 --> 0:20:28.160 the governor of California debate tomorrow. That's Becerra and Hilton. 0:20:28.300 --> 0:20:29.939 And then the other one that I think is going 0:20:29.960 --> 0:20:32.850 to make a big splash is the one in Michigan 0:20:33.450 --> 0:20:37.660 between the Senate debate between Abdul El-Sayed and Mike Rogers. 0:20:39.320 --> 0:20:43.580 Yeah, so for all the politics nerds out there, next Thursday, 0:20:43.619 --> 0:20:45.040 it's going to be crazy. We're going to have the 0:20:45.080 --> 0:20:48.250 Michigan debate. We're going to have the Georgia debate, you know, 0:20:48.450 --> 0:20:51.770 matchup of all time. Yeah, so the Michigan debate, this 0:20:51.850 --> 0:20:54.110 is another scenario where they maybe wanted a couple more 0:20:54.130 --> 0:20:56.370 than they got. There was supposed to be a third 0:20:56.390 --> 0:20:56.810 debate a. 0:20:56.790 --> 0:20:59.310 Couple weeks ago. Abdul Al-Sayed showed up. 0:20:59.330 --> 0:21:03.070 He did this whole empty podium thing where he referenced 0:21:03.090 --> 0:21:05.270 the empty podium that Mike Rogers was supposed to be at. 0:21:05.290 --> 0:21:05.930 It was a whole thing. 0:21:06.950 --> 0:21:10.560 But this will be the first time we get these 0:21:10.640 --> 0:21:14.500 two candidates on the same stage. There were several primary 0:21:14.540 --> 0:21:17.439 debates for Democrats, but Mike Rogers didn't do one for 0:21:17.869 --> 0:21:21.010 for his Republican primary. He did participate in the debate 0:21:21.070 --> 0:21:23.090 two years ago with Senator Slotkin, which was. 0:21:23.010 --> 0:21:24.110 A really big moment for. 0:21:24.710 --> 0:21:28.630 And it'll be a chance for them to really define 0:21:28.670 --> 0:21:32.359 themselves because so much of this race has been defined 0:21:32.380 --> 0:21:35.159 by this spending, like the amount of advertising spending in 0:21:35.180 --> 0:21:37.260 this race has been crazy. And so getting to see 0:21:37.280 --> 0:21:40.179 candidates actually define themselves in their own terms instead of 0:21:40.240 --> 0:21:42.580 having these narratives written for them is, I think, going 0:21:42.600 --> 0:21:45.460 to be really powerful. It also comes really late in 0:21:45.480 --> 0:21:48.460 the season. Early votes or mail-in ballots have already been 0:21:48.500 --> 0:21:51.080 sent out in Michigan and early voting starts really soon. 0:21:51.600 --> 0:21:54.740 So that's another downside of having debates this close to 0:21:54.760 --> 0:21:57.560 the election day. I get that a lot of voters 0:21:57.600 --> 0:21:59.870 make up their mind in October. But with our early 0:21:59.900 --> 0:22:02.470