WEBVTT - The $4 Billion Failure: Julie Watts Exposes CA High-Speed Rail 0:00:01.320 --> 0:00:02.840 Something's not right here. 0:00:03.760 --> 0:00:07.200 Crime is up all over the state, and the city 0:00:07.400 --> 0:00:08.320 is out of control. 0:00:08.480 --> 0:00:11.360 The economy is sick, axes are high. 0:00:11.119 --> 0:00:14.040 Housing is expensive, and businesses are leaving, leaving. 0:00:13.800 --> 0:00:18.599 California and Meland's fixing and John Phillips is just the 0:00:18.680 --> 0:00:22.200 man to leave the charge. It's the Fix California Hour 0:00:22.440 --> 0:00:24.480 with John Phillips and Randy. 0:00:24.200 --> 0:00:28.080 Wag and we continue at one oh five in the 0:00:28.160 --> 0:00:31.760 afternoon on The John Phillips Show, Mister Randy Weggs in 0:00:31.800 --> 0:00:32.520 Culver City. 0:00:32.760 --> 0:00:34.720 John, there's a little bit of a debate going on 0:00:34.800 --> 0:00:36.960 in the chat room right now at Johnny don't like 0:00:37.040 --> 0:00:39.240 dot com. Some of our listeners think we should do 0:00:39.280 --> 0:00:42.199 a podcast from the Tijuanna River, and some of our 0:00:42.240 --> 0:00:44.960 listeners think we should do a live broadcast from the 0:00:45.000 --> 0:00:49.519 Tijuana River. I don't think anyone's showing up if we 0:00:49.560 --> 0:00:52.760 do that. I know we're popular, but we're not that popular. 0:00:53.280 --> 0:00:59.600 What everyone wants to go for a swim? Bring your 0:00:59.600 --> 0:01:05.120 penis en eight hundred two two two five two two two. 0:01:05.200 --> 0:01:08.040 Is the telephone number one eight hundred two two two 0:01:08.040 --> 0:01:11.360 five two two two. It is our pleasure to welcome 0:01:11.400 --> 0:01:14.800 our next guest to the program. She is a correspondent 0:01:14.840 --> 0:01:18.080 for CBS News in California. You can follow her on 0:01:18.160 --> 0:01:21.840 exit Juliet Watts TV. Julie Watts Welcome. 0:01:22.200 --> 0:01:24.360 Hello, gentlemen, thanks for having me, well. 0:01:24.200 --> 0:01:27.560 Thanks for coming back, and you have yet another report 0:01:27.640 --> 0:01:30.640 that went all over the place. Of course, we spoke 0:01:30.680 --> 0:01:34.000 to you about your last one about diaper gate, and 0:01:34.200 --> 0:01:37.240 now you have one about the high speed rail explaining 0:01:37.400 --> 0:01:41.200 just exactly why the state of California isn't getting the 0:01:41.200 --> 0:01:42.920 federal dollars they were expecting. 0:01:44.400 --> 0:01:46.840 Uh yeah, well, we found that they didn't buy the 0:01:46.880 --> 0:01:50.120 trains they were. They promised the Feds they would buy 0:01:50.160 --> 0:01:53.360 the trains by a certain date. They didn't, and up 0:01:53.360 --> 0:01:56.800 administration pulled the funding, and so they sued and they 0:01:56.800 --> 0:01:59.120 said they promised the court they would buy the trains 0:01:59.160 --> 0:02:02.880 by another date. They didn't, And fast forward two years, 0:02:02.920 --> 0:02:06.160 they still have not purchased the trains. It is literally 0:02:06.160 --> 0:02:09.720 listed as TBD on the high speed Rail website. And 0:02:09.760 --> 0:02:13.079 the issue there is that the trains take four years 0:02:13.120 --> 0:02:16.000 to build, and initially they were supposed to four years 0:02:16.040 --> 0:02:16.280 to test. 0:02:16.280 --> 0:02:17.680 Now they've shortened that to two years. 0:02:18.520 --> 0:02:21.080 But either way, we still don't have the trains, and 0:02:21.120 --> 0:02:23.880 so the longer you wait, the farther it pushes out 0:02:23.960 --> 0:02:25.239 the ultimate deadline. 0:02:25.880 --> 0:02:28.840 You know, sometimes the law could land somewhere in a 0:02:28.880 --> 0:02:32.880 great area. But if you're dealing with contract law, and 0:02:32.919 --> 0:02:36.240 the contract says you get the money if you buy 0:02:36.280 --> 0:02:38.840 the train by a certain date, and you don't buy 0:02:38.880 --> 0:02:41.680 the train by a certain date, why in the world 0:02:41.720 --> 0:02:44.200 did the State of California even take this to court 0:02:44.240 --> 0:02:46.680 in the first place. Shouldn't their lawyers have told them 0:02:47.040 --> 0:02:48.480 this is a losing argument. 0:02:49.320 --> 0:02:50.680 So you know, it's interesting. 0:02:51.000 --> 0:02:53.720 And I will say when I asked ag Bonta about 0:02:53.840 --> 0:02:56.160 why he dropped the suit, he made it very clear 0:02:56.280 --> 0:02:58.480 that there are some cases that the Training General files 0:02:58.520 --> 0:03:01.160 on his own and some that the Trade General files 0:03:01.240 --> 0:03:03.520 on behalf of one of the state agencies that he's 0:03:03.560 --> 0:03:07.560 required to work for, right and so this was the latter. 0:03:07.600 --> 0:03:09.080 He said, Listen, we dropped the suit, and I think 0:03:09.080 --> 0:03:11.639 it was the right thing to do. I think when 0:03:11.639 --> 0:03:14.640 they filed the suit initially the argument was, listen, we 0:03:14.680 --> 0:03:16.799 may have missed the first deadline to buy these trains, 0:03:16.880 --> 0:03:20.000 but if we buy them this year, we can still 0:03:20.040 --> 0:03:22.280 meet the final deadline. And that's really what matters, not 0:03:22.320 --> 0:03:24.320 the day we buy the trains, but will the project 0:03:24.360 --> 0:03:27.840 be done at the appropriate time. So they argued, listen, 0:03:27.840 --> 0:03:29.640 we will till the judge, we will buy them by 0:03:29.639 --> 0:03:31.120 the end of this year, which still keeps us on 0:03:31.160 --> 0:03:33.720 track to finish by twenty thirty three. And then when 0:03:33.760 --> 0:03:36.120 they missed that deadline, they sort of that was their 0:03:36.160 --> 0:03:39.440 primary argument. They couldn't continue, so they had to quietly 0:03:39.600 --> 0:03:42.720 drop the lawsuit. Le SA's what sources inside the administration 0:03:42.800 --> 0:03:43.080 tell me. 0:03:43.960 --> 0:03:46.800 It reminds me of the purchase of the Oakland Alameda 0:03:46.840 --> 0:03:50.480 County Coliseum, where the group that was buying the building 0:03:51.240 --> 0:03:54.760 missed all of their deadlines and they go, oh, don't worry, 0:03:54.800 --> 0:03:58.240 we're gonna get it by the final deadline, so everything 0:03:58.360 --> 0:04:01.320 is on track and stop pushing back on us. And 0:04:01.360 --> 0:04:03.280 of course the group didn't have the money and the 0:04:03.280 --> 0:04:07.120 whole deal fell apart. We wouldn't make the final deadline. 0:04:07.160 --> 0:04:10.320 I've seen no metric at all that says that we're 0:04:10.400 --> 0:04:14.280 going to do anything on time regarding this train. Did 0:04:14.320 --> 0:04:17.520 they provide any proof at all that indicated that they 0:04:17.560 --> 0:04:18.960 would meet that final date. 0:04:20.000 --> 0:04:21.839 Well, you know, right now, we still don't have a 0:04:21.880 --> 0:04:24.039 lot of responses. I mean, they still haven't explained to 0:04:24.080 --> 0:04:27.440 us why we didn't buy the trains. We've asked the 0:04:27.480 --> 0:04:30.920 news and administration and high speed Rail today my producer Tyler, 0:04:30.920 --> 0:04:33.400 who you see walking around behind me back here, I 0:04:33.440 --> 0:04:35.920 was trying to move the board so that you were 0:04:36.000 --> 0:04:39.200 in private back there. We were at the Capital today 0:04:39.200 --> 0:04:43.960 talking to basically all the transportation chairs and vice chairs, 0:04:44.320 --> 0:04:46.719 asking you know, hey, can you at least find out 0:04:46.760 --> 0:04:49.920 why we've not purchased the trains? And so I'm hoping 0:04:49.960 --> 0:04:53.039 to get that information for you know, California taxpayers. Frankly, 0:04:53.880 --> 0:04:56.120 here's the exact reason why we haven't purchased them. I 0:04:56.120 --> 0:04:58.840 think they'll argue that they could still meet the twenty 0:04:58.880 --> 0:05:02.400 thirty three deadline for of course the shortened version of 0:05:02.440 --> 0:05:03.680 the high speed rail project. 0:05:04.200 --> 0:05:06.120 But you know, at the end of the. 0:05:06.160 --> 0:05:08.719 Day, for me, it was important that we were able 0:05:08.760 --> 0:05:11.440 to sort of show this to California taxpayers and say, listen, 0:05:11.560 --> 0:05:13.920 let's not pretend that we are moving in a direction 0:05:13.960 --> 0:05:16.560 that we're not. Here's actually what happened. We still don't 0:05:16.600 --> 0:05:18.239 have these trains. And here's why that matters. 0:05:19.200 --> 0:05:22.880 When you speak to the members of the various transportation committees, 0:05:22.920 --> 0:05:25.040 the Committee and the Senate, the Committee and the Assembly. 0:05:25.560 --> 0:05:29.520 How much frustration do you see from those members about 0:05:29.560 --> 0:05:34.400 the pacing or I guess the all of the delays 0:05:34.400 --> 0:05:37.760 associated with this train, because we spoke with Barbara Stone, 0:05:37.800 --> 0:05:40.520 the political scientist, earlier this week and I asked her 0:05:40.560 --> 0:05:43.919 about that, and she said, the union still want the train. 0:05:44.360 --> 0:05:46.440 So as long as the union still want the train, 0:05:46.520 --> 0:05:49.240 the train is not going anywhere, at least with the 0:05:49.279 --> 0:05:53.240 current makeup of the legislature. So while they're frustrated, they're 0:05:53.279 --> 0:05:57.080 going to keep on supporting it until the Unions turn 0:05:57.160 --> 0:05:58.440 south on it for some reason. 0:05:59.320 --> 0:06:01.800 You know. It's it depends on the party right. 0:06:02.000 --> 0:06:05.880 So basically, all the Republicans that we speak to say, 0:06:06.040 --> 0:06:09.920 let's just cut bait and move on. The Democrats say, 0:06:10.000 --> 0:06:12.000 you know, we need to get this done. This is 0:06:12.000 --> 0:06:15.320 really important for California. So I think there is definitely 0:06:15.400 --> 0:06:19.560 frustration among you know, lawmakers from both parties. 0:06:20.080 --> 0:06:21.680 It's interesting. I spoke with. 0:06:23.440 --> 0:06:26.000 One of the Assembly member today who represents a district 0:06:26.000 --> 0:06:29.000 where this you know, shorter version of the train will 0:06:29.040 --> 0:06:31.680 actually go, and they are all of these half built 0:06:32.240 --> 0:06:34.360 you know, overpasses there, and I said, wouldn't you want 0:06:34.400 --> 0:06:36.280 to at least just finish this portion that goes through 0:06:36.279 --> 0:06:38.000 your district, and he said, no, I'd rather take it 0:06:38.000 --> 0:06:40.400 down and spend the money somewhere else. So, you know, 0:06:40.440 --> 0:06:42.480 to a person, the republic lawmakers makers we talk too 0:06:42.480 --> 0:06:44.239 are very frustrated and they want to see this money 0:06:44.240 --> 0:06:47.200 somewhere else. And to a person, the Democratic lawmakers we 0:06:47.200 --> 0:06:49.120 talk to say, yeah, we are frustrated. There needs to 0:06:49.120 --> 0:06:52.000 be more accountability, but we are committed at least to this. 0:06:52.200 --> 0:06:55.400 You know first portion of high speed rail, Well, you. 0:06:55.440 --> 0:06:57.919 Drive through the Central Valley where the portions of it 0:06:57.960 --> 0:06:59.719 have been built, and it's just kind of an eye 0:06:59.760 --> 0:07:03.919 sore because it's this big thing that is attached to nothing. 0:07:04.360 --> 0:07:06.440 It's not like anyone can buy a ticket on a 0:07:06.480 --> 0:07:09.080 train and use it. It's just there. 0:07:11.320 --> 0:07:13.800 Yeah, you know, I honestly have only seen it in pictures. 0:07:13.800 --> 0:07:15.880 I haven't actually driven through the Central Valley to see 0:07:15.920 --> 0:07:17.880 these portions of it. But you know, I think for 0:07:17.920 --> 0:07:19.600 folks who live in the Central Valley, it's just a 0:07:19.600 --> 0:07:21.720 constant reminder of this thing that's supposed to be coming 0:07:21.720 --> 0:07:23.920 to Fruition that frankly isn't. 0:07:24.720 --> 0:07:27.680 Yeah, it's the weirdest thing. It's like having in my 0:07:27.720 --> 0:07:29.840 old neighborhood when I was a child, there was a 0:07:29.880 --> 0:07:32.320 house that was being built and they ran out of 0:07:32.360 --> 0:07:35.520 money and the house was like half built, and then 0:07:35.560 --> 0:07:37.920 they just walked away from it. And then we had 0:07:37.920 --> 0:07:40.280 this house, half built house that was just in the 0:07:40.320 --> 0:07:44.000 neighborhood for like decades until someone came in and decided 0:07:44.200 --> 0:07:46.040 they were going to finish the project. It was the 0:07:46.040 --> 0:07:49.080 weirdest thing ever. But that's the feeling that you get 0:07:49.120 --> 0:07:51.080 when you drive by this thing where you see this 0:07:51.520 --> 0:07:53.400 I'm not even going to say half built, maybe one 0:07:53.440 --> 0:07:56.200 percent built project and it's just there. 0:07:57.480 --> 0:08:00.160 Yeah, And you know, one of the we're in the 0:08:00.200 --> 0:08:03.040 process of editing the sort of video television version of 0:08:03.080 --> 0:08:03.480 this story. 0:08:03.520 --> 0:08:04.920 We published it first. 0:08:05.520 --> 0:08:09.960 And in it you can see Governor Newsom and the 0:08:10.040 --> 0:08:12.880 high speed Rail CEO, among others, hammering nails into a track. 0:08:13.480 --> 0:08:15.440 And you know what we reveal is that was actually 0:08:15.440 --> 0:08:17.520 just a prop that wasn't it's not really a track. 0:08:17.640 --> 0:08:19.800 It's still there or still you know, will ever be used. 0:08:19.800 --> 0:08:22.280 It certainly wasn't a high speed rail track. And we 0:08:22.360 --> 0:08:25.360 spoke to the Inspector in General of high speed Rail. Right, 0:08:25.440 --> 0:08:27.360 this is the watchdog, the guy who's supposed to be 0:08:28.080 --> 0:08:31.840 making sure the high speed Rail eventually gets this project 0:08:31.840 --> 0:08:34.839 done right, And he is working on a bill right 0:08:34.880 --> 0:08:37.760 now that we here may actually die on Monday in 0:08:37.800 --> 0:08:41.240 the Appropriations Committee that would give him the resources and 0:08:41.240 --> 0:08:43.880 the staffing he needs to actually hold high speed Rail accountable. 0:08:44.280 --> 0:08:46.320 So I think, you know, I have all that to say. 0:08:46.400 --> 0:08:48.840 I think it's really important that we that we do 0:08:48.920 --> 0:08:51.280 keep eyes on this project. It starts to kind of 0:08:51.280 --> 0:08:53.240 become white noise. Oh high speed Rail. I'm talking about 0:08:53.240 --> 0:08:54.680 it forever and it's never going to come to fudition. 0:08:55.120 --> 0:08:55.960 But I think that it. 0:08:55.880 --> 0:09:00.040 Really does shine a light on other issues within the 0:09:00.120 --> 0:09:04.920 legislator legislature that this project really highlights. 0:09:06.200 --> 0:09:09.440 Do you think the expectation was that Kamala Harris would 0:09:09.440 --> 0:09:11.960 win the election or Joe Biden would win the election, 0:09:12.480 --> 0:09:15.440 and we'd be given some kind of waiver of Okay, 0:09:15.480 --> 0:09:18.040 well you're not going to meet this deadline by this date, 0:09:18.120 --> 0:09:20.040 but we'll give you a waiver and we'll extend it, 0:09:20.160 --> 0:09:21.520 and the money is still going to come in. 0:09:21.880 --> 0:09:22.120 Yeah. 0:09:22.160 --> 0:09:24.720 Actually, I spoke with the chair of the Senate Transportation 0:09:24.760 --> 0:09:26.640 Committee today and he said exactly that, in fact, he 0:09:26.679 --> 0:09:29.920 didn't think that the Trump administration should have pulled the 0:09:29.920 --> 0:09:33.000 funding even though we didn't purchase the trains. He said, listen, 0:09:33.040 --> 0:09:35.480 you know under previous administrations they would just extend it. 0:09:35.840 --> 0:09:39.439 Nothing ever happens exactly on the schedule. But what's important 0:09:39.559 --> 0:09:41.040 is do we hit that end goal? 0:09:41.120 --> 0:09:42.319 And I did push back. 0:09:42.120 --> 0:09:44.880 Several times saying, okay, but if you're giving money to 0:09:44.920 --> 0:09:47.560 an agency that is not meeting its major milestones, do 0:09:47.600 --> 0:09:50.520 you continue to give that agency money. I didn't really 0:09:50.520 --> 0:09:52.480 get a straight answer there, but you know, I think 0:09:52.520 --> 0:09:56.000 that's a really important question. And the answer is absolutely. 0:09:56.120 --> 0:09:59.160 We're a different administration. I believe that is sort of 0:09:59.200 --> 0:10:01.280 the standard. Yeah, they just give you extensions. 0:10:02.440 --> 0:10:06.199 We know that the High speed Rail Authority is an 0:10:06.200 --> 0:10:09.280 authority that does not like to talk to the press. 0:10:09.600 --> 0:10:12.480 You have to really push them to get information out 0:10:12.480 --> 0:10:15.679 of them. In many cases, not just with issues related 0:10:15.679 --> 0:10:18.680 to this, but I mean so many issues since that 0:10:18.880 --> 0:10:22.600 agency came to be. Of all of the agencies and 0:10:22.640 --> 0:10:25.480 departments within the state of California, is this the hardest 0:10:25.480 --> 0:10:26.840 one to get information out of? 0:10:27.200 --> 0:10:31.200 Oh? Not even close, not even close. Here's some deal. 0:10:31.240 --> 0:10:32.280 We have an inspector general. 0:10:32.360 --> 0:10:35.720 There is there is a guy an agency right that 0:10:35.880 --> 0:10:39.719 their whole job is to investigate high speed rail, So 0:10:39.760 --> 0:10:41.880 it's actually much easier to get information because you have 0:10:42.000 --> 0:10:44.920 somebody whose job it is to investigate them. It's hard 0:10:44.920 --> 0:10:47.480 to get information out of the State Auditor's office at 0:10:47.480 --> 0:10:49.959 this point under the previous auditor as much easier Now 0:10:50.000 --> 0:10:51.960 it's I can't get an interview to save my life 0:10:52.880 --> 0:10:56.360 HHS Health and Human Services impossible to get to get 0:10:56.400 --> 0:11:00.520 information out of CDC are the corrections to Derartman. I 0:11:00.679 --> 0:11:03.959 had tried for years to get interviews with folks inside 0:11:04.000 --> 0:11:07.880 that agency. So no, this is really just state agencies 0:11:07.880 --> 0:11:10.320 in general in California are very difficult to get information 0:11:10.360 --> 0:11:10.599 out of it. 0:11:11.160 --> 0:11:13.440 And it's so weird because you look at just the 0:11:13.480 --> 0:11:16.880 political climate that we exist in today, where we have 0:11:16.960 --> 0:11:19.640 a governor who is now termed out, so it's not 0:11:19.720 --> 0:11:22.600 like he's going to run for governor again, and he 0:11:22.640 --> 0:11:25.080 can pretty much do whatever he wants. Is a lame duck. 0:11:25.160 --> 0:11:27.680 If he wants to talk to the press or direct 0:11:27.760 --> 0:11:30.920 his agencies to speak to the press, he can do 0:11:31.000 --> 0:11:33.800 that at any time he wants to do it. I mean, 0:11:33.800 --> 0:11:36.080 he's running for president, and certainly I think that's the 0:11:36.120 --> 0:11:41.160 focus of what he's thinking about right now. But we 0:11:41.240 --> 0:11:43.880 have a candidate who is the leading candidate to replace 0:11:43.960 --> 0:11:48.280 him as Governor, Javier Bessera, who's operating his campaign kind 0:11:48.320 --> 0:11:50.880 of that way where I don't think he's had a 0:11:50.880 --> 0:11:55.960 press avail since early June, right after the election, and 0:11:56.040 --> 0:11:59.400 he had a big event yesterday in Sacramento and he 0:11:59.520 --> 0:12:02.920 refused to stick around and take questions, And you go, Okay, 0:12:03.040 --> 0:12:04.719 if this is the way it is now with a 0:12:04.760 --> 0:12:07.720 guy who has nothing to lose, imagine what it's going 0:12:07.800 --> 0:12:09.440 to be like in the future for a guy who's 0:12:09.480 --> 0:12:10.880 running his campaign this way. 0:12:11.440 --> 0:12:13.559 It's funny you say that because I was literally standing 0:12:13.720 --> 0:12:17.360 in the Assembly hallway today chatting with other reporters about 0:12:17.400 --> 0:12:20.360 just that. I've shared the video that one of our 0:12:20.400 --> 0:12:23.840 colleagues here in Sacramento shot of Bessara. So that's the 0:12:23.880 --> 0:12:25.520 interview that you're talking about, where she was sort of, 0:12:25.559 --> 0:12:27.720 you know, chasing him back to his car, asking if 0:12:27.720 --> 0:12:29.080 he was going to do the debate, and it got 0:12:29.120 --> 0:12:30.120 a lot of criticism. 0:12:30.480 --> 0:12:32.360 I got criticism for sharing it on Twitter. 0:12:33.040 --> 0:12:36.360 You know, oh that was a you know, a gorilla tactic. 0:12:36.920 --> 0:12:39.360 And what I explained to folks on Twitter, and I 0:12:39.360 --> 0:12:42.600 think it's important is if these lawmakers avoid the media. 0:12:42.640 --> 0:12:45.079 You can't just pull the press conference, say you were scripted, 0:12:45.320 --> 0:12:48.080 you know, whatever your scripted speech is, and then not 0:12:48.200 --> 0:12:52.640 answer questions. We're in a world right now where I 0:12:52.679 --> 0:12:54.760 think at least the Sack Press Corp Is getting more 0:12:54.760 --> 0:12:58.000 comfortable with tracking folks down to get answers right. And so, 0:12:58.840 --> 0:13:00.960 but we were sitting there today saying, gosh, if this 0:13:01.040 --> 0:13:02.920 is going to be them, it's already hard enough to 0:13:02.920 --> 0:13:04.679 talk to our for us to get an interview with 0:13:04.720 --> 0:13:06.720 our current governor, it's going to be very difficult if 0:13:06.760 --> 0:13:10.160 faber Vissia is the next governor and doesn't want to 0:13:10.200 --> 0:13:13.280 sit down and chat with us. But here's the deal 0:13:13.280 --> 0:13:16.079 about politicians is at some point you know where they're 0:13:16.080 --> 0:13:18.360 going to be right, and so we the media have 0:13:18.440 --> 0:13:20.440 the credentials to be in the room with them, and 0:13:20.480 --> 0:13:21.360 if we really want to ask the. 0:13:21.400 --> 0:13:22.040 Question, we will. 0:13:22.760 --> 0:13:25.920 And can you also give a background to how this works, 0:13:25.960 --> 0:13:29.920 where before a reporter chases down a politician or chases 0:13:29.960 --> 0:13:34.000 down a public official, there are usually many requests in 0:13:34.160 --> 0:13:38.280 private for an interview, for comment, for some kind of 0:13:38.360 --> 0:13:42.199 access to them, and it's only after many doors are 0:13:42.240 --> 0:13:44.600 slammed that something like that happens. 0:13:45.920 --> 0:13:49.520 Absolutely and we call them, you know, unscheduled interviews. But 0:13:49.800 --> 0:13:51.760 every reporter worth their salt, and there may be some 0:13:51.880 --> 0:13:54.080 out there that just want the clickbait and the chases 0:13:54.120 --> 0:13:55.959 and so, but every reporter that I know in the 0:13:56.000 --> 0:14:02.400 press corps, you send several emails, you make phone calls requesting, hey, 0:14:02.400 --> 0:14:04.400 can we please sit down with you? And frankly, we 0:14:04.440 --> 0:14:07.360 all would much prefer to sit down with nice lighting 0:14:07.679 --> 0:14:10.360 and good cameras and ask the question and have a conversation. 0:14:11.200 --> 0:14:12.880 But it's the follow up questions that I think you 0:14:13.000 --> 0:14:15.480 see when I do interviews with people in the past 0:14:15.480 --> 0:14:17.360 that they don't like the follow up questions, and so 0:14:17.760 --> 0:14:20.080 that is what they're avoiding. And so at some point 0:14:20.080 --> 0:14:22.720 you have to say, listen, I'm not doing this for me. 0:14:22.760 --> 0:14:24.280 I'm not doing this to do a story. I'm doing 0:14:24.360 --> 0:14:26.440 this for the public because the public has a right 0:14:26.520 --> 0:14:28.360 to know the answers to these questions. And generally, when 0:14:28.360 --> 0:14:30.240 I'm asking questions, I'm asking questions that I think the 0:14:30.240 --> 0:14:34.120 public wants to know. And so yes, then we do 0:14:34.320 --> 0:14:36.800 what it's called the unscheduled interview, and we'll ask the 0:14:36.880 --> 0:14:37.880 question that we're trying. 0:14:37.640 --> 0:14:39.240 To get an answer to, and a lot of times. 0:14:39.640 --> 0:14:43.120 I think after a few of those, the politicians' staff 0:14:43.480 --> 0:14:45.400 starts to get wise and says, okay, okay, we'll give 0:14:45.440 --> 0:14:47.600 them the interview because they look better sitting down than 0:14:47.680 --> 0:14:48.680 running away from the reporter. 0:14:49.480 --> 0:14:50.840 I don't know if you saw it, but there was 0:14:50.840 --> 0:14:53.400 a piece in the California Post that was written by 0:14:53.480 --> 0:14:58.200 John Fleischman about the Besara strategy for this election. And 0:14:58.400 --> 0:15:01.840 essentially what Fleischmann said is when you look at voter 0:15:01.960 --> 0:15:06.520 registration in California, Democrats outnumber Republicans by about two to one, 0:15:07.160 --> 0:15:10.680 and the final results in the primary mirrored the final 0:15:10.720 --> 0:15:14.680 results from the last gubernatorial election, where Democrats had little 0:15:14.680 --> 0:15:18.760 over sixty percent Republicans a little under forty percent. And 0:15:18.840 --> 0:15:22.520 I think the expectation is that that's where this election 0:15:22.640 --> 0:15:24.680 is going to go, or that's the most likely place 0:15:24.720 --> 0:15:27.880 for this election to go. And the strategy for Bessera 0:15:28.240 --> 0:15:31.760 is he can get knocked for not talking to the press, 0:15:32.200 --> 0:15:35.880 and he'll take a certain certain hit for that, but 0:15:36.280 --> 0:15:39.560 that hit is extremely minimal compared to the hit he 0:15:39.560 --> 0:15:42.840 would take if he were to have a flub or 0:15:42.880 --> 0:15:46.760 have some kind of embarrassing moment that attracts negative attention. 0:15:47.280 --> 0:15:50.200 So the attitude is to do as little press as possible, 0:15:50.600 --> 0:15:53.800 have as few public events as possible, and just pretend 0:15:53.880 --> 0:15:55.440 like the election is not happening. 0:15:56.680 --> 0:15:59.720 I mean, I obviously I can't confirm that because I 0:15:59.720 --> 0:16:02.480 have not actually spoken with his staff about why he's 0:16:02.880 --> 0:16:03.880 avoiding the public. 0:16:03.920 --> 0:16:04.680 But I will say this. 0:16:05.000 --> 0:16:09.640 I spoke with somebody, a political consultant who I respect 0:16:09.680 --> 0:16:13.880 and believe, recently, who said, listen, based on the pulling 0:16:13.920 --> 0:16:17.360 and based on the data that they have, but Sarah 0:16:17.400 --> 0:16:21.280 could drop out and Steve Hilton still wouldn't win. I mean, 0:16:21.320 --> 0:16:23.960 they really believe that this is a done deal, that 0:16:24.120 --> 0:16:26.840 be Sarah's going to be the next governor, and the 0:16:26.880 --> 0:16:29.320 hope for Hilton is to just bring you know, Republicans 0:16:29.360 --> 0:16:32.600 out to the polls to vote in you know, their 0:16:32.640 --> 0:16:34.640 way on ballot measures. 0:16:35.080 --> 0:16:37.000 Yeah, and I'll tell you. You go back to that 0:16:37.120 --> 0:16:41.240 Senate race between Adam Schiff and Steve Garvey, and essentially 0:16:41.480 --> 0:16:44.120 Schiff had kind of a similar strategy. He didn't do 0:16:44.160 --> 0:16:46.240 a lot of media, he didn't have a lot of events, 0:16:46.560 --> 0:16:49.280 and he just expected to ride the wave of the 0:16:49.480 --> 0:16:52.800 registration advantage to victory and it worked out that way 0:16:52.840 --> 0:16:55.680 for him. The difference between the two is that Steve 0:16:55.720 --> 0:16:58.320 Garvey kind of did the same thing. I remember in 0:16:58.360 --> 0:17:00.000 the middle of the campaign he went on this law 0:17:00.240 --> 0:17:03.480 trip to Israel, and I go, dude, don't you have 0:17:03.600 --> 0:17:07.120 business here? But he decided to go on the trip. Anyway, 0:17:07.840 --> 0:17:11.159 Steve Hilton is a lot more active of a candidate 0:17:11.280 --> 0:17:14.919 than Steve Garvey was or Brian Dolly was when he 0:17:15.000 --> 0:17:18.720 ran against Gavin Newsom the last time around. And it'll 0:17:18.760 --> 0:17:22.879 be interesting to see how Steve Hilton plays his cand 0:17:22.920 --> 0:17:26.320 of cards to try to draw Javier Bessera out of 0:17:26.359 --> 0:17:30.600 the basement and into a public forum or public forums 0:17:30.960 --> 0:17:33.639 where he does answer questions about what the future of 0:17:33.640 --> 0:17:36.320 the state looks like should he be elected governor. 0:17:37.400 --> 0:17:39.679 You know, it's interesting and to me that was the 0:17:39.680 --> 0:17:42.840 most interesting part of our CBS California debate, when you know, 0:17:43.000 --> 0:17:44.560 they just happened to be standing next to each other 0:17:44.600 --> 0:17:46.280 on the stage. That wasn't pre planned. It was just, 0:17:46.400 --> 0:17:47.720 you know, we picked the names out of a hat. 0:17:48.440 --> 0:17:51.680 But the two of them debating each other was very interesting. 0:17:51.920 --> 0:17:53.840 And I will say the thing with Steve Hilton that 0:17:53.880 --> 0:17:55.960 I've thought was interesting from the beginning is that he 0:17:56.080 --> 0:18:00.480 was considered a sort of moderate, almost progressive when he 0:18:00.600 --> 0:18:02.560 was in politics in the UK, and people a lot 0:18:02.600 --> 0:18:05.920 of folks still don't even know that he was very 0:18:06.280 --> 0:18:08.800 high up in politics in the UK. 0:18:08.960 --> 0:18:09.120 Right. 0:18:09.160 --> 0:18:11.320 He he had a lot to do with which he 0:18:11.359 --> 0:18:14.480 will say was a mistake, but Brexit, but he was 0:18:14.520 --> 0:18:17.919 considered progressive. And so now, yes he is a Republican, 0:18:18.560 --> 0:18:22.520 but he could appeal to moderate Democrats. And you know, 0:18:22.640 --> 0:18:24.840 the question that I asked all the candidates that got 0:18:25.040 --> 0:18:26.680 you know, a lot of heat with the Katie Borter 0:18:26.760 --> 0:18:30.120 interview was Trump got six million votes. And I will 0:18:30.119 --> 0:18:33.400 say Hilton's camp told me early on, we only need 0:18:33.440 --> 0:18:37.160 five million in change in order to win and become governor. 0:18:37.280 --> 0:18:39.200 And so I think their strategy is if we can 0:18:39.240 --> 0:18:43.119 bring out six million people to vote for Hilton, then 0:18:43.240 --> 0:18:46.880 he could win. I don't know that that's possible, that's 0:18:46.920 --> 0:18:49.000 not my area of expertise, but I think that that's 0:18:49.040 --> 0:18:51.119 the plan. And then meanwhile, on the other side, you 0:18:51.119 --> 0:18:54.119 have folks saying that Jabber Bessara could just sleep for 0:18:54.119 --> 0:18:55.440 the rest of the campaign and still win. 0:18:56.119 --> 0:18:56.359 Well. 0:18:56.400 --> 0:18:58.760 One of the questions it hasn't been asked to Besserah 0:18:58.840 --> 0:19:01.600 because he hasn't made self available to the public which 0:19:01.640 --> 0:19:04.520 I think is an important one. Why hasn't he been 0:19:04.560 --> 0:19:08.520 to Boyle Heights since they've experienced that public health disaster, 0:19:09.080 --> 0:19:12.240 that environmental disaster that is not just in one of 0:19:12.280 --> 0:19:16.080 the biggest population centers of the state, but an area 0:19:16.080 --> 0:19:19.040