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Speaker 1: It is the News Blitz with Randy Wang on Talk

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Speaker 1: Radio seven ninety KABC. Let's get right into today's California

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Speaker 1: Report at Randywangradio dot substack dot com, and once again

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Speaker 1: we start with the incredible work and the amazing turnaround

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Speaker 1: of how this city can actually do something when they

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Speaker 1: get shamed into doing it. Matthew Seedorf of Fox eleven

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Speaker 1: is one of my favorite reporters right now. He is

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Speaker 1: getting a lot of tips, a lot of leads, and

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Speaker 1: he is showing where the city is failing the most,

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Speaker 1: and when it's on TV and you can see the

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Speaker 1: failures up close, the city has no excuse. They have

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Speaker 1: to do something about it. So on Monday, Seedorf does

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Speaker 1: this story about the woman living in the storm drain,

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Speaker 1: the sewer lady, and it is just the epitome of

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Speaker 1: la tragedy and how we don't really do anything to

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Speaker 1: help the people that are on our streets because neighbors

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Speaker 1: have been complaining about this for weeks and weeks and weeks.

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Speaker 1: City doesn't do anything. But as soon as Seedorf gets there,

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Speaker 1: what happens. Oh, the has met teams come out. They

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Speaker 1: have sealed off this storm drain, make sure that nobody

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Speaker 1: can get in there. By the way, the way that

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Speaker 1: this woman was able to get in there is somebody

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Speaker 1: stole the manhole cover. And how prevalent of a problem

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Speaker 1: is that in Los Angeles, I wonder. But even though

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Speaker 1: LAFD came out to help clear her out and the

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Speaker 1: sanitation department walled off the entire area as a has

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Speaker 1: met scene because of all the human waste in there,

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Speaker 1: nobody from the city came to offer this woman's services.

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Speaker 1: Nobody from the county came to offer this woman services.

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Speaker 1: So who exactly are we paying to do all these

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Speaker 1: outreach efforts and what are they doing when you have

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Speaker 1: a very obvious case of somebody who's in a crisis,

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Speaker 1: whether that be an addiction crisis or a mental health crisis.

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Speaker 1: Nobody's in their right mind that's living in a storm drain.

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Speaker 1: But no, the city doesn't do a damn thing. Now

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Speaker 1: it's all cleaned off. Now it's all walled off. We'll

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Speaker 1: see what happens now. But none of this would have

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Speaker 1: happened if it wasn't for Matthew Seedorf and Juan Nawla,

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Speaker 1: friend of the show, came on the show a few

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Speaker 1: days ago. The clean La with me. Guy, He's part

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Speaker 1: of the reason this stuff is getting exposed. He discovered

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Speaker 1: this because it was happening on the street he was

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Speaker 1: cleaning up, and he told Seedorf. Steedorf brought the camera

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Speaker 1: and even though the stench was unbearable, he brought light

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Speaker 1: to just how much of a failure Karen Bass's homeless

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Speaker 1: policy is and the county's homeless policy is. How are

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Speaker 1: we allowing this to happen? And it's not just the

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Speaker 1: women in the storm drain because a few other things

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Speaker 1: that were caught on camera, including the most la thing possible.

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Speaker 1: Seedorf got footage or Fox eleven got footage of a

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Speaker 1: street sweeper bobbing and weaving up and down this street

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Speaker 1: trying to drive around the RVs and the tents. And

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Speaker 1: if you've ever lived in the city of Los Angeles,

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Speaker 1: and I don't know, let's say the San Fernando Valley.

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Speaker 1: I used to live in Valley Village on a street

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Speaker 1: where we had signs that said after ten am on Wednesday,

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Speaker 1: it's street sweeper time, And like clockwork, people would come

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Speaker 1: to my house because my studio apartment was also a

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Speaker 1: podcast studio at the time, and I had all kinds

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Speaker 1: of people coming over to record their podcasts. I always

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Speaker 1: had to remind them, hey, hey, hey, hey hey, they're

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Speaker 1: going to ticket your car. It happens to everybody. Now,

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Speaker 1: I lived in that apartment for many years, and I

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Speaker 1: saw many people get these street sweeper tickets, but I

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Speaker 1: never saw a street sweeper. So guess what the exact

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Speaker 1: opposite happens in the homeless neighborhoods. The street sweeper is there,

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Speaker 1: but it can't clean any of the streets because of

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Speaker 1: the RVs, and nobody is getting ticketed. Also, what was

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Speaker 1: documented in this story is how you see all of

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Speaker 1: these utility poles getting hijacked and lines of power extension

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Speaker 1: cords literally going from the utility pole to people stealing

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Speaker 1: it inside their tents. And that's not something we can enforce.

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Speaker 1: They're tapping the fire hydrants and stealing the water. That's

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Speaker 1: not something that we can enforce. There's so little enforcement

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Speaker 1: going on on top of the fact that people in

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Speaker 1: the neighborhood are afraid to speak out about this because

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Speaker 1: you know what else is embedded in these encampments. It's gangs.

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Speaker 1: It's time to be upfront about that. We knew that

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Speaker 1: was going on with that big bust of the gangs

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Speaker 1: of MacArthur Park. This is how they operate. You know,

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Speaker 1: you've got all the people who are addicted to drugs

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Speaker 1: living in the encampment, but the people they're buying the

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Speaker 1: drugs from also have tents in the encampment, and that

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Speaker 1: is where they're operating because the city gets to turn

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Speaker 1: a blind eye. So it's a failure on every single level.

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Speaker 1: And I highly recommend if any story that's on the

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Speaker 1: California Report today, this is what this is for, because

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Speaker 1: we're trying to make sure as many people in the

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Speaker 1: city of La get their eyeballs on this story and

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Speaker 1: the failures of Karen Bass and inside Safe. Where's her

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Speaker 1: motel room? I mean, I think she needs a little

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Speaker 1: more than a motel room. But where's the city offering

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Speaker 1: this person services that's living in a sewer. It's not happening.

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Speaker 1: It's nonexistent. And the weirdest thing is, if you wanted

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Speaker 1: to show that these programs worked, wouldn't you start in

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Speaker 1: the most visible places? But no, we're not doing that.

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Speaker 1: So here is what the California Report is for. Go

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Speaker 1: to Randy Wangradio dot Substack dot com. Click on that

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Speaker 1: story that Matthew Seedorf did of the hazmat situation of

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Speaker 1: the woman living in a storm drain and then share it.

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Speaker 1: You can share that with your friends and family, whether

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Speaker 1: you have a text group or a WhatsApp group. You

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Speaker 1: can email it to people that you think should see it,

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Speaker 1: or post it on social media. Share it on social media.

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Speaker 1: I try to retweet as many things as I can

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Speaker 1: from Seedorf when he is breaking a story like this,

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Speaker 1: because the people who are so caught up in their

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Speaker 1: own lives, understandably or focused on national issues, need to

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Speaker 1: see the human suffering that is going on in our

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Speaker 1: streets every single day, and it's completely unacceptable. And anybody

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Speaker 1: in elected office right now who says this is the

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Speaker 1: best we can do, they need to be fired. I'm

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Speaker 1: not one hundred percent sure which district this is, if

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Speaker 1: this is Current Price or Marquis Harris Dawson, but they

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Speaker 1: got to go. Karen Bass has got to go. This

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Speaker 1: is unacceptable. So I have two pieces of this story

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Speaker 1: on the California Report because we have Seedorf's update, but

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Speaker 1: also earlier in the day, Christina Gonzalez went to talk

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Speaker 1: to this woman and she needs a lot of help,

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Speaker 1: and she's not getting it. Now, let's give you an

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Speaker 1: update on a different kind of sewer story this going

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Speaker 1: on in Huntington Beach. We told you about the neighborhood

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Speaker 1: in Huntington Beach that's now getting harassed by Orange County

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Speaker 1: saying that, hey, there's a sewer line under all your

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Speaker 1: homes and we have an easement on it, and so

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Speaker 1: people are being told they have to get rid of

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Speaker 1: the things in their backyard. Well, that one man in

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Speaker 1: this neighborhood says that the county is telling him he

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Speaker 1: has to get rid of part of his living room,

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Speaker 1: and that is there's got to be some kind of

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Speaker 1: medium here. I mean, how important it is that they

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Speaker 1: can access this sewer line that they haven't had to

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Speaker 1: bother anybody about it for sixty years.

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Speaker 2: Now.

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Speaker 1: This next story hits close to home because I am

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Speaker 1: a frequent traveler out of Lax, and I also used

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Speaker 1: to play in high school band and junior high band.

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Speaker 1: But a video has been going all around the internet

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Speaker 1: of an Lax baggage handler in Terminal four on American

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Speaker 1: who was seen on video taking his baggage cart, seeing

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Speaker 1: things like guitar cases and chucking them onto the tarmac.

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Speaker 1: No need to be gentle, no need to take care

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Speaker 1: of the obvious delicate things that are in those bags,

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Speaker 1: just completely disregarding what his job is. And I don't

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Speaker 1: know if he's completely checked out or what, but I've

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Speaker 1: seen all the bumps that are on my bags and

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Speaker 1: I'm not surprised. Luckily, i'd ever check anything that's too delicate.

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Speaker 1: We have checked wine a couple of times and it's

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Speaker 1: been okay, but you're always a little worried that it's

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Speaker 1: not going to be And look, I know these people

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Speaker 1: don't get paid a lot, but the people that lax

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Speaker 1: actually get paid a lot more than the nation's average

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Speaker 1: to do this job. And if you don't want to

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Speaker 1: do that job, if you don't want to take pride

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Speaker 1: in that job, because I'm sure it's a hard job.

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Speaker 1: I'm sure it's a difficult job. But if you're going

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Speaker 1: to treat people's baggage with that little respect, you should

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Speaker 1: not be in baggage handling. Go find something that makes

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Speaker 1: you happy. The worst thing you can do is continue

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Speaker 1: to punish yourself at a job that does not fulfill you.

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Speaker 1: There are many ways to feel fulfilled in life, and

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Speaker 1: there are even in this economy. There are things you

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Speaker 1: can do. There are things you can do to change

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Speaker 1: your life. And so don't pretend that you're stuck somewhere

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Speaker 1: that you don't want to be. You are there because

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Speaker 1: you choose to be there. So either figure out a

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Speaker 1: way to enjoy it. Like think about the fact that

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Speaker 1: so many people are cooped up in an office and

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Speaker 1: you get to be outside. Or think about the fact

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Speaker 1: that you're getting a lot of exercise while most people

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Speaker 1: are sitting at a desk and getting fat butt syndrome.

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Speaker 1: But look at the bright side and try to take

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Speaker 1: pride in what you do and be proud of what

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Speaker 1: you do. And if that you really can't do that,

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Speaker 1: you got to go find something else to do. Fall

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Speaker 1: else fails, take pitches to your feet on OnlyFans. And

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Speaker 1: you see these stories all the time anytime we get

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Speaker 1: into big gas price spikes, and that's what's going on

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Speaker 1: because of the war in Iran, and of course all

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Speaker 1: of the fear about the refinery closures in California and

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Speaker 1: the increased regulations from carb But you'll always see a

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Speaker 1: story in the local news and I have one here

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Speaker 1: from CBSLA where you have people who shop around for

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Speaker 1: the cheapest gas station, and okay, maybe you'll find a

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Speaker 1: station that's ten cents cheaper, twenty cents cheaper, But one,

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Speaker 1: how much gasoline did you burn up driving around trying

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Speaker 1: to find it? And two? And look, I understand if

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Speaker 1: people are really struggling, and this is such a regressive tax,

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Speaker 1: and everyone that gets hit the hardest. So the people

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Speaker 1: that cannot afford this to begin with are the people

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Speaker 1: that depend on on gasoline because they drive for a living.

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Speaker 1: I understand all that, but at the same time, your

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Speaker 1: time is valuable, and I think sometimes you just have

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Speaker 1: to weigh that. You know, I'm sure you could save

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Speaker 1: the ten cents by going to the Costco gas station

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Speaker 1: and waiting in line for thirty minutes before you can

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Speaker 1: even pump, But maybe that thirty minutes is worth the

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Speaker 1: extra five bucks you saved, I would think. So it's

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Speaker 1: just something to think about, is remember that your time

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Speaker 1: is very valuable and not to waste it, including on

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Speaker 1: things like driving around to save a nickel. Sometimes it's

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Speaker 1: not just worth it. But I do understand it's really tough.

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Speaker 1: People are struggling. I say, I understand. I used to

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Speaker 1: be like that. I used to understand what that was

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Speaker 1: like I have an electric car now, it's pretty great.

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Speaker 1: It has its issue We've talked about that, but if

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Speaker 1: you have a home where you can have a charger

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Speaker 1: at home and you can charge overnight, it works out

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Speaker 1: pretty well as a commuter vehicle. Now, we haven't had

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Speaker 1: any updates in the Palisades in a while, but I

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Speaker 1: do like this story where there is technology out there.

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Speaker 1: It is not cheap, but it is technology that can

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Speaker 1: really protect your home in the event of a wildfire.

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Speaker 1: It's this incredible home fire defense system that almost like

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Speaker 1: as soon as the flames are getting up to your property,

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Speaker 1: it almost covers everything in foam. It's incredible. It's like

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Speaker 1: something you would see out of a Marvel movie. It's

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Speaker 1: really great. The problem is it can cost tens of

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Speaker 1: thousands of dollars to one hundred thousand dollars, which depending

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Speaker 1: on how expensive your property is, that may be worth it.

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Speaker 1: A lot of people won't be able to afford that.

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Speaker 1: But the biggest issue is insurance isn't given anyone a

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Speaker 1: discount that gets this. And you know what the insurance

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Speaker 1: companies for how much they're on the hook for the

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Speaker 1: Palisades fire, what have you. They should really be figuring

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Speaker 1: out a way to invest in things like this, not

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Speaker 1: only to incentivize homeowners getting it, but yes, giving you

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Speaker 1: a huge break because well, you're not going to have

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Speaker 1: to use that insurance if this system works properly. And

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Speaker 1: in El Segundo, another situation where somebody tries to act

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Speaker 1: on their own because government is failing. This guy lives

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Speaker 1: near a dangerous intersection and was trying to repaint faded

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Speaker 1: lines that were not in the crosswalk and trying to

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Speaker 1: put up a stop sign. So he tried to buy

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Speaker 1: his own stop sign because the city wasn't doing anything,

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Speaker 1: and yeah, he got arrested for that. In Claremont, the

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Speaker 1: Claremont Police Department is really trying to be transparent with

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Speaker 1: their policing data and so now they have a crime

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Speaker 1: tracking tool, is a website that you can go on

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Speaker 1: to and they can show you where crimes are happening,

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Speaker 1: what the arrests are. And I think any more transparency

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Speaker 1: like that is a great thing. Now here's the complete

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Speaker 1: opposite of transparency and the complete epitome of failure of

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Speaker 1: government and confusion. This is a great story and another

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Speaker 1: one worth sharing because it's just if you've ever lived

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Speaker 1: in La. You understand this. NBCLA did an investigative piece.

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Speaker 1: Why are parking signs across La so complicated and confusing?

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Speaker 1: Why are there so many parking signs on top of

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Speaker 1: each other? It is such a mess, and it's almost

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Speaker 1: like they're encouraging you to get ticketed or towed. But

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Speaker 1: that story gave me a chuckle. Now, another piece that

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Speaker 1: NBCLA is working on is the situation going on with

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Speaker 1: the La City Council and the study they've been funding

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Speaker 1: for over five years to get LAPD to stop being

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Speaker 1: involved in traffic violations. They say they want to limit

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Speaker 1: something called pretextual stops where police see a broken tail

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Speaker 1: light and use that to pull you over because they

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Speaker 1: think you're a drug dealer. And they say those kind

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Speaker 1: of stops disproportionately affect people of color and it is

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Speaker 1: completely unnecessary. But of course it goes further than that.

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Speaker 1: This group doesn't want LAPED involved in any kind of

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Speaker 1: non moving traffic violation. So expired tags doesn't matter, broken

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Speaker 1: tail lights doesn't matter, Giant dice in the rear view

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Speaker 1: mirror so you can't see behind you, that doesn't matter.

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Speaker 1: And for as dangerous as our streets are shouldn't we

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Speaker 1: want to be making sure that everyone on the road

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Speaker 1: is driving as safely as possible. But I guess not.

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Speaker 1: And we've talked a lot about cities that don't work

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Speaker 1: Los Angeles. Here's some of the fun things that happen

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Speaker 1: in a city that does work. The city of Whittier,

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Speaker 1: which is a smaller city, which means it's not a

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Speaker 1: complete failure. They're actually being proactive about something that irritates everybody,

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Speaker 1: and that of course is pro and sidewalks. So they

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Speaker 1: actually have a group now of six robots. They're called daxpots.

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Speaker 1: And you know what the dax robots do. Well, one

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Speaker 1: you take a selfie in front of them, and they

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Speaker 1: have a QR code so you can go on their socials.

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Speaker 1: But more importantly, they roll up and down the sidewalks

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Speaker 1: of Whittier and they make sure that there's no cracks,

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Speaker 1: that there's no uprooted trees, and if there are, it's

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Speaker 1: flagged and someone puts that on the list for repair.

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Speaker 1: And because this is Whittier, not the city of Los Angeles,

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Speaker 1: that gets done in a timely fashion, not ten years later.

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Speaker 1: I would love to stay in southern California, but the

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Speaker 1: one thing that I want to do when I have

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Speaker 1: a chance to move again, which is not going to

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Speaker 1: be for a while because you know, interest rates. But

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Speaker 1: I want out of the city of La. The city

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Speaker 1: of La is a dumpster fire. And even though the

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Speaker 1: county has its own problems, there are cities in the

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Speaker 1: county that function, Wittier being one of them. In the

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Speaker 1: Bay Area, Oakland's interim police chief says he wants the

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Speaker 1: job permanently, so he needs to get evaluated. In Berkeley,

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Speaker 1: they're deciding whether to expand or scrap the flock camera system,

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Speaker 1: which we've seen what happen in Richmond. If you get

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Speaker 1: rid of these cameras, car thefts will explode. Everyone's freaking

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Speaker 1: out about gas prices in the Bay Area as well,

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Speaker 1: and Consumer Watchdog, the consumer protection organization. They're calling out

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Speaker 1: the Trump administration for the war in Iran, and they're

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Speaker 1: also calling out Gavin Newsom for not going after the

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Speaker 1: oil companies who they say are price gouging. Could everything

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Speaker 1: be true at once? Maybe it's also the refinery closures

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Speaker 1: and cap and trade and everything else. And I do

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Speaker 1: like this. You know, there's still a lot of talk

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Speaker 1: about the government shutdown. How that's affecting airports. Well, one

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Speaker 1: of the things that the airlines have decided to do

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Speaker 1: to get members of Congress to I don't know, come

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Speaker 1: to some kind of an agreement, is Delta is suspending

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Speaker 1: specialty services for Congress members. They get away in the

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Speaker 1: TSA line and the check in line like the rest

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Speaker 1: of us. Mind you. I just want everyone to remember

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Speaker 1: the story we covered a few weeks ago, with all

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Speaker 1: this nonsense going on where TSA members are not getting paid,

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Speaker 1: the ransit officers are getting paid at SFO because they

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Speaker 1: have a privatized contract, and maybe every airport needs to

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Speaker 1: do that because what we're doing right now is not

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Speaker 1: fair when we're in a plate for an uncertainty where

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Speaker 1: there's going to be shutdowns all the time, and this

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Speaker 1: story it infuriates me. It's the last one we'll do today.

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Speaker 1: There's a lot more stuff on the California Report and

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Speaker 1: you can check it out at Randywangradio dot substack dot com.

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Speaker 1: But the public defender in San Francisco who's been claiming

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Speaker 1: he's so overloaded with cases he can't take new cases,

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Speaker 1: which is a fun little loophole to get cases thrown out,

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Speaker 1: Well he's been held in contemptive court and charged on

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Speaker 1: twenty four different thousand dollars fines for refusing to do

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Speaker 1: his job. And these public defenders, the chief public defenders

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Speaker 1: that make hundreds of thousand dollars a year, if you

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Speaker 1: don't want to do your job, and you can't blame

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Speaker 1: the district attorney that is doing their job for bringing cases,

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Speaker 1: that's what we're supposed to do. They're supposed to charge

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Speaker 1: the criminals. You're supposed to defend them. You don't get

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Speaker 1: to let them get off by saying I don't have

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Speaker 1: time to represent them. There's a lot more in Today's

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Speaker 1: California Report. Check it out at Randywangradio dot substack dot com.

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Speaker 1: It's the News Blitz with Randy Wang on Talk Radio

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Speaker 1: seven ninety KABC. It's the News Blitz with Randy Wang

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Speaker 1: on KABC. If you don't get a chance to listen

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Speaker 1: to the five o'clock show every day, subscribe to the podcast.

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Speaker 1: Search for the KABC News Blitz wherever you get your podcasts,

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Speaker 1: Hit follow, hit subscribe, and every single five o'clock show

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Speaker 1: goes right to your phone. We'd appreciate it. It's the

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Speaker 1: new News Blitz with Randy Wang. On Talk Radio seven

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Speaker 1: ninety KABC. It is the News Blitz with Randy Wang

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Speaker 1: on Talk radio seven ninety KABC. Subscribe to my substack

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Speaker 1: at Randywangradio dot substack dot com and you too can

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Speaker 1: get the California Report in your email every single weekday.

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Speaker 1: Our next guest is the executive director of California Citizens

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Speaker 1: Against Lawsuit Abuse, Victor Gomez. Welcome to the News Blitz.

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Speaker 2: Hey, Rennie, how you doing.

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Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and introduce yourself. What exactly is Citizens

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Speaker 1: Against Law Abuse California.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, Well, first of all, pleasure to be with you

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Speaker 2: here this evening. Well, California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse is

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Speaker 2: a grassroots organizations, just a few of us that work

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Speaker 2: on combating frivolous lawsuits up and down the state. What

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Speaker 2: we do in many cases is we do legislative advocates.

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Speaker 2: We make sure that stories that we're hearing out there

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Speaker 2: in the community are told and that politicians up in

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Speaker 2: Sacramento or are listening to us, listening to the concerns,

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Speaker 2: especially those concerns of small and medium sized businesses. We

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Speaker 2: have a lot of them being hit with these for

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Speaker 2: List eighty A lawsuits where you know somebody will sue

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Speaker 2: you because your parking stall is faded and not the

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Speaker 2: right blue. Maybe a urinoal in your bathroom, in your

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Speaker 2: coffee shop is an inch too high or too low.

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Speaker 2: We're seeing a lot of that running rampant here in California, uh,

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Speaker 2: leading to about a third of all eighty A lawsuits

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Speaker 2: in the nation. We also, you know, focus on a

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Speaker 2: lot of efforts around legislation that could be problematic that

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Speaker 2: really just creates these frivolist type of lawsuit environments. And

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Speaker 2: then of course third party litigation funding, which I'm sure

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Speaker 2: we'll talk about, is also another, you know, really important

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Speaker 2: thing that we try to focus on. But again we're

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Speaker 2: trying to work really hard to keep companies here and

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Speaker 2: stop these companies from fleeing the state of California.

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Speaker 1: Well, and let's start with you know, Ada lawsuits which

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Speaker 1: have been rampant for years and years and years, and

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Speaker 1: part of the issue here is that Ada has something

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Speaker 1: called the private right of action where there may not

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Speaker 1: even be a victim. There may not be a disabled

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Speaker 1: person that wasn't able to reach the soap dispenser in

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Speaker 1: a bathroom, to use the most common example, but an

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Speaker 1: attorney can file a theoretical claim of somebody being a

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Speaker 1: victim of this even though they have nothing to do

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Speaker 1: with this, which has led to ADA trolls going into

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Speaker 1: businesses just looking for things to sue.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, no doubt about it. You know, in many cases

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Speaker 2: these what we call in these ADA lawsuits or drive

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Speaker 2: by lawsuits, right, and actually in many cases they don't

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Speaker 2: even need to drive by. They could actually just go

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Speaker 2: on Google Maps and take a look at the establishment

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Speaker 2: from the exterior. They don't even need to patronize your business.

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Speaker 2: But if they find out that you are not in

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Speaker 2: compliance with a law, they could sue you for each

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Speaker 2: and every infraction and in many cases leading these small

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Speaker 2: against small businesses out of business. These eightya lawsuits are

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Speaker 2: really impacting companies and against small retailers out in our

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Speaker 2: communities and really every town in California that are roughly

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Speaker 2: around fifty employees or less. So they know, hey, we

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Speaker 2: can't go after the corporations. They have lawyers, they know

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Speaker 2: exactly what they're doing. We're going to go after this

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Speaker 2: low hanging fruit as they call, and we're going to

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Speaker 2: sue you. And guess what if we knock you out

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Speaker 2: of business? Oh well, COVID was a perfect example of that.

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Speaker 2: During COVID, folks weren't going out, so these attorneys were

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Speaker 2: finally lawsuits left and right by just going to Google

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Speaker 2: Maps and saying, hey, look, this business looks to be

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Speaker 2: out of compliance. Here's a lawsuit. Figure it out. And unfortunately,

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Speaker 2: it really doesn't help anybody. Randy, it helps nobody because

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Speaker 2: the issue doesn't get fixed. A lot of these businesses

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Speaker 2: will settle, they'll just pay out what the lawyer wants,

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Speaker 2: and the ramp never gets fixed. We are big supporters

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Speaker 2: of accessibility for those that are disabled, but unfortunately these

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Speaker 2: trial attorneys don't want those things fixed because if they

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Speaker 2: get them fixed, they can't see you anymore. And unfortunately,

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Speaker 2: again it's having a huge impact on small business here

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Speaker 2: in California.

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Speaker 1: Now, the ADA, of course, is a federal law. But

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Speaker 1: what can legislatively be done in California to protect businesses

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Speaker 1: from things.

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Speaker 2: Like this, Well, you know, California has created this litigious

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Speaker 2: climate where you know, under the unwrapped they could file

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Speaker 2: a lawsuit like like essentially being liable for each and

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Speaker 2: every infraction under ADA law that's actually specific to California,

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Speaker 2: and so the trial attorney, the trial bar is certainly

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Speaker 2: one of the most active political, politically driven organizations here

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Speaker 2: in California. They give money to the state legislature, to

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Speaker 2: the governor, to the attorne in general, so they turn

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Speaker 2: a blind eye while we're working on opportunities to try

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Speaker 2: to fix that. Senator Yellow from up in the Sacramento

432
00:25:09,080 --> 00:25:12,840
Speaker 2: Sacramento area introduce SB eighty four, which we call the

433
00:25:13,440 --> 00:25:17,639
Speaker 2: Notice Secure Act. Essentially, before you could actually file a

434
00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:22,879
Speaker 2: lawsuit against any kind of retailer again, coffee shop, taco shop,

435
00:25:22,920 --> 00:25:25,320
Speaker 2: whatever it happens to be, you have to give them

436
00:25:25,359 --> 00:25:27,840
Speaker 2: a notice. They have one hundred and twenty days to

437
00:25:27,840 --> 00:25:30,440
Speaker 2: fix it, and if they don't fix it, then rightfully

438
00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:34,200
Speaker 2: so they get sued. But trial attorneys again are fighting

439
00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:38,680
Speaker 2: hard for that bill not to move forward because they know, hey,

440
00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:42,439
Speaker 2: if they fix these issues, it's one less opportunity we

441
00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:45,560
Speaker 2: have to sue. That's less money in our bank account,

442
00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:48,040
Speaker 2: less money we could put in the hands of politicians.

443
00:25:49,040 --> 00:25:52,399
Speaker 2: And unfortunately, you know, they're really not moving or not

444
00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:55,440
Speaker 2: putting a lot of emphasis on these bills. But SB

445
00:25:55,520 --> 00:25:58,800
Speaker 2: eighty four could really be a remedy for companies here

446
00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:01,680
Speaker 2: in California, and we really hope that there actually is

447
00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:04,040
Speaker 2: an advancement of that build down about two months to

448
00:26:04,080 --> 00:26:07,120
Speaker 2: advance it in. We're still seeing optimistic and hoping that

449
00:26:07,119 --> 00:26:08,919
Speaker 2: bill doesn't move forward.

450
00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:11,320
Speaker 1: Let me tell you about something we have going on

451
00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:15,320
Speaker 1: here locally, and this is recent, and it has shown

452
00:26:15,359 --> 00:26:18,639
Speaker 1: that just the fear of certain litigation can lead a

453
00:26:18,680 --> 00:26:22,600
Speaker 1: city to just completely stop doing basic services. So a

454
00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:26,719
Speaker 1: couple of years ago, the organized group Streets for All

455
00:26:26,920 --> 00:26:30,439
Speaker 1: got a measure on the ballot called Measure HLA and

456
00:26:30,520 --> 00:26:33,760
Speaker 1: it was passed, and it was an initiative that said,

457
00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:37,000
Speaker 1: anytime the street paves a road, they have to put

458
00:26:37,040 --> 00:26:39,160
Speaker 1: in bike lanes, and they have to put in road

459
00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:42,360
Speaker 1: diet measures and traffic calling measures. And what was in

460
00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:45,560
Speaker 1: that law is if the city paves a road and

461
00:26:45,640 --> 00:26:48,240
Speaker 1: they do not do that, thanks to a private right

462
00:26:48,280 --> 00:26:51,199
Speaker 1: of action, anybody can sue the city over it. And

463
00:26:51,240 --> 00:26:53,800
Speaker 1: you know what the result has been, Victor, since that

464
00:26:53,920 --> 00:26:57,240
Speaker 1: law was passed, the city just stopped paving roads.

465
00:26:59,160 --> 00:27:02,639
Speaker 2: Yeah, lawsuits. And we're seeing that not you know, not

466
00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:05,080
Speaker 2: only just in the LA area. I mean we're kind

467
00:27:05,080 --> 00:27:07,480
Speaker 2: of seeing that, you know, throughout the state. In many

468
00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:10,880
Speaker 2: cases where you know, folks are just you know, saying, hey,

469
00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:14,680
Speaker 2: where where are our dollars coming, where are they disappearing

470
00:27:14,760 --> 00:27:17,760
Speaker 2: to We're not getting any of these roads fixed. And

471
00:27:18,320 --> 00:27:23,280
Speaker 2: that's a perfect example of squandering those opportunities because folks

472
00:27:23,320 --> 00:27:26,239
Speaker 2: are really in local government in many cases, like you

473
00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:29,560
Speaker 2: just said, is really holding back from making those improvements

474
00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:32,560
Speaker 2: because of the fear of these lawsuits. And they know,

475
00:27:32,720 --> 00:27:35,600
Speaker 2: I mean local government when you go after taxpayer money

476
00:27:35,880 --> 00:27:39,199
Speaker 2: in many cases, you know a lot of folks, if

477
00:27:39,200 --> 00:27:41,480
Speaker 2: they're not getting hit personally, they just kind of turn

478
00:27:41,520 --> 00:27:44,640
Speaker 2: a blind eye. And unfortunately in many of these cases,

479
00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:47,399
Speaker 2: even in these eighty eight lawsuits that we were talking about,

480
00:27:47,640 --> 00:27:52,680
Speaker 2: it's actually local government, school districts, special districts, water districts

481
00:27:52,680 --> 00:27:55,840
Speaker 2: that are getting hit with these lawsuits. And really at

482
00:27:55,840 --> 00:27:57,480
Speaker 2: the end of the day, we end up paying for

483
00:27:57,560 --> 00:28:00,399
Speaker 2: it to higher taxes and what we also call a

484
00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:03,360
Speaker 2: tort tax right that we all pay every single year

485
00:28:03,400 --> 00:28:06,040
Speaker 2: when we pay our state taxes. A lot of that

486
00:28:06,119 --> 00:28:09,359
Speaker 2: again is disappearing into these lawsuits. Well.

487
00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:11,439
Speaker 1: And to that point, you look at a place like

488
00:28:11,480 --> 00:28:14,280
Speaker 1: the City of Los Angeles and their budget last year

489
00:28:14,320 --> 00:28:18,000
Speaker 1: when there was a huge budget deficit to a nearly

490
00:28:18,240 --> 00:28:21,400
Speaker 1: billion dollars. Part of the problem was they had budgeted

491
00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:25,200
Speaker 1: one hundred million dollars that year for liability, and they

492
00:28:25,240 --> 00:28:28,400
Speaker 1: paid out three hundred million dollars. And it's things that

493
00:28:28,600 --> 00:28:31,679
Speaker 1: like that that lead to cutting certain services to the bone,

494
00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:36,040
Speaker 1: like light repair, like sidewalk repair, which when you don't

495
00:28:36,080 --> 00:28:39,880
Speaker 1: have that basic infrastructure, leads to even more people getting hurt,

496
00:28:39,920 --> 00:28:42,480
Speaker 1: which leads to even more lawsuits and is a straight

497
00:28:42,560 --> 00:28:43,320
Speaker 1: up doom loop.

498
00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:47,160
Speaker 2: Yeah, and in many of these cases, these we don't

499
00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:50,520
Speaker 2: even know who's behind these lawsuits, right, I mean, they're

500
00:28:50,760 --> 00:28:55,320
Speaker 2: recently randy. I'm sure you've heard there's been cases where

501
00:28:55,480 --> 00:28:58,240
Speaker 2: folks are really gambling in the what I call the

502
00:28:58,320 --> 00:29:01,480
Speaker 2: litigation market, right where they say, Hey, instead of going

503
00:29:01,480 --> 00:29:04,920
Speaker 2: to Vegas, I'm going to do what we call this

504
00:29:05,040 --> 00:29:08,400
Speaker 2: third party litigation funding where somebody says, hey, I have

505
00:29:08,440 --> 00:29:11,360
Speaker 2: one hundred thousand dollars I want a good return on

506
00:29:11,400 --> 00:29:15,200
Speaker 2: my investment. Hey, this law firm is looking for funders

507
00:29:15,240 --> 00:29:18,240
Speaker 2: to fund a lawsuit against the city of la If

508
00:29:18,280 --> 00:29:20,760
Speaker 2: I give them one hundred grand, they're going to return

509
00:29:20,840 --> 00:29:25,680
Speaker 2: back four million dollars. And there's no there's no disclosures,

510
00:29:25,880 --> 00:29:28,040
Speaker 2: none of that. So we don't even know where a

511
00:29:28,040 --> 00:29:30,360
Speaker 2: lot of these lawsuits are coming from and actually, by

512
00:29:30,360 --> 00:29:32,760
Speaker 2: the way, a lot of that money is coming from

513
00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:34,960
Speaker 2: from China. A lot of that money is actually coming

514
00:29:35,000 --> 00:29:39,600
Speaker 2: from outside of the United States, driving more litigation here

515
00:29:39,680 --> 00:29:42,240
Speaker 2: in the United States. And as you just said, we

516
00:29:42,320 --> 00:29:44,840
Speaker 2: all end up paying the price by having you know

517
00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:47,960
Speaker 2: less or you know, you know, parts that should be

518
00:29:48,040 --> 00:29:50,320
Speaker 2: cleaned that are not being cleaned, roads that are not

519
00:29:50,360 --> 00:29:53,960
Speaker 2: being paid that should be paid, you know, public works

520
00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:56,680
Speaker 2: folks that are out there trimming trees doing what they

521
00:29:57,080 --> 00:29:59,880
Speaker 2: that what we expect them to do. Unfortunately they're not

522
00:30:00,080 --> 00:30:03,640
Speaker 2: doing it because they're spending against so much money on

523
00:30:03,720 --> 00:30:06,560
Speaker 2: paying out these these lawsuits, are these settlements.

524
00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:10,600
Speaker 1: We're speaking with Victor Gomez. He's the executive director of

525
00:30:10,840 --> 00:30:15,719
Speaker 1: Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse California. Now we're in the middle

526
00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:18,960
Speaker 1: of a primary for a governor's race, and one of

527
00:30:19,040 --> 00:30:21,800
Speaker 1: the things that all the candidates are talking about is

528
00:30:22,240 --> 00:30:25,520
Speaker 1: California's housing crisis. How we just haven't built enough housing.

529
00:30:25,560 --> 00:30:29,080
Speaker 1: The housing is too expensive. And something that seems to

530
00:30:29,120 --> 00:30:33,200
Speaker 1: have consensus from Democrats running from candidates running on the

531
00:30:33,200 --> 00:30:36,680
Speaker 1: Democrat side and the Republican side is that one of

532
00:30:36,720 --> 00:30:38,920
Speaker 1: the issues that we have when it comes to building

533
00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:43,080
Speaker 1: housing in California is we've kind of killed the ability

534
00:30:43,080 --> 00:30:45,360
Speaker 1: to build starter housing. And for a lot of people,

535
00:30:45,440 --> 00:30:49,120
Speaker 1: a starter house used to be condos. But we don't

536
00:30:49,160 --> 00:30:52,960
Speaker 1: really build condos the way we used to because of

537
00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:57,400
Speaker 1: the defect liability law, which means that after a developer

538
00:30:57,440 --> 00:31:01,120
Speaker 1: builds a condo in Hoa ten years years later, consume

539
00:31:01,160 --> 00:31:03,880
Speaker 1: them for anything wrong with the building, which has just

540
00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:05,640
Speaker 1: stopped the building of condosts.

541
00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:10,560
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's really had a huge impact on affordability, to

542
00:31:10,600 --> 00:31:15,480
Speaker 2: the affordable affordability crisis here in California obviously, is is far,

543
00:31:15,720 --> 00:31:17,880
Speaker 2: you know, far greater than in many other states here

544
00:31:17,920 --> 00:31:21,000
Speaker 2: in nation. Maybe not, you know, maybe compared to New

545
00:31:21,120 --> 00:31:24,120
Speaker 2: York and such, but in many and yes, a lot

546
00:31:24,120 --> 00:31:26,080
Speaker 2: of actually a lot of these are blue states where

547
00:31:26,080 --> 00:31:29,920
Speaker 2: you're seeing a lot of a lot of upfront costs. Right.

548
00:31:30,040 --> 00:31:33,520
Speaker 2: A sequel is a perfect example, right, the California Environmental

549
00:31:33,600 --> 00:31:37,000
Speaker 2: Quality Act that you need to put together, right, the

550
00:31:37,040 --> 00:31:39,160
Speaker 2: SEQUT document, and you need to put together when you're

551
00:31:39,160 --> 00:31:42,800
Speaker 2: building one of these either condominium complexes or these larger

552
00:31:42,840 --> 00:31:48,640
Speaker 2: subdivision or or apartment complexes, you know, they that actually

553
00:31:48,680 --> 00:31:53,440
Speaker 2: creates another opportunity for litigation and exposure. And again slows

554
00:31:53,480 --> 00:31:57,959
Speaker 2: down the process, adds costs to it, and the politicians

555
00:31:57,960 --> 00:32:03,120
Speaker 2: are really not doing anything to it advance those solutions

556
00:32:03,240 --> 00:32:07,360
Speaker 2: right to streamline the process for development. I'm sure you heard.

557
00:32:07,440 --> 00:32:13,000
Speaker 2: Recently Senator Wiener from San Francisco introduced SB nine eighty two,

558
00:32:13,560 --> 00:32:17,120
Speaker 2: which it says, essentially, if if you're in a in

559
00:32:17,160 --> 00:32:19,640
Speaker 2: a if you're in a community that was burned down

560
00:32:19,680 --> 00:32:22,680
Speaker 2: by a natural disaster, by a fire, you could actually

561
00:32:22,800 --> 00:32:26,600
Speaker 2: sue the oil companies. You could say, Hey, my house

562
00:32:26,680 --> 00:32:28,920
Speaker 2: burned down and I think it was climate change, and

563
00:32:28,960 --> 00:32:32,040
Speaker 2: now I'm going to sue Chevron and they're responsible for

564
00:32:32,120 --> 00:32:36,120
Speaker 2: my house being burned down. I mean, that is insane.

565
00:32:36,280 --> 00:32:39,480
Speaker 2: Here in California, the cost of housing is only going

566
00:32:39,560 --> 00:32:43,240
Speaker 2: to increase, the cost of everyday goods is going to increase,

567
00:32:43,440 --> 00:32:46,560
Speaker 2: the cost of insurance is going to increase, and it's

568
00:32:46,560 --> 00:32:49,560
Speaker 2: going to be even harder to qualify to purchase a

569
00:32:49,600 --> 00:32:52,480
Speaker 2: home when you have higher insurance rates. Right when you

570
00:32:52,560 --> 00:32:56,760
Speaker 2: have these you know, lawsuits being filed by these condominium

571
00:32:57,160 --> 00:33:00,360
Speaker 2: developers and builders, it just continues to add up. And

572
00:33:00,400 --> 00:33:04,400
Speaker 2: affordability again, they're trying to address affordability to an extent

573
00:33:04,520 --> 00:33:07,640
Speaker 2: and then it backfires. And they're left in this situation

574
00:33:07,760 --> 00:33:11,240
Speaker 2: where it's actually costing consumers a lot more money.

575
00:33:12,320 --> 00:33:16,680
Speaker 1: You mentioned SEQUA, Californian's environmental law, which allows anybody to

576
00:33:17,120 --> 00:33:20,600
Speaker 1: pretty much stop a project until they go through certain

577
00:33:20,680 --> 00:33:23,240
Speaker 1: kinds of reviews and you can sue over it. You

578
00:33:23,320 --> 00:33:26,080
Speaker 1: look at something like the California High Speed Rail, which

579
00:33:26,080 --> 00:33:28,240
Speaker 1: gets a lot of laughs anytimes it's brought up on

580
00:33:28,280 --> 00:33:31,440
Speaker 1: this radio station. But you look at that project and

581
00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:35,840
Speaker 1: what has happened since it started construction in twenty twelve,

582
00:33:35,840 --> 00:33:39,240
Speaker 1: which is a very long time ago, and most of

583
00:33:39,280 --> 00:33:42,200
Speaker 1: the holdups and most of the increases in the cost

584
00:33:42,600 --> 00:33:45,280
Speaker 1: have been the fact that it has been mired in litigation,

585
00:33:45,520 --> 00:33:49,760
Speaker 1: specifically over SEQUA, over and over and over again. And

586
00:33:49,800 --> 00:33:53,400
Speaker 1: there's just something so bizarre about something that the state

587
00:33:53,560 --> 00:33:56,800
Speaker 1: got passed in an effort to clean up the environment,

588
00:33:57,320 --> 00:33:59,800
Speaker 1: was sued over and over and over again thanks to

589
00:33:59,840 --> 00:34:03,200
Speaker 1: a state law claiming environmental damage.

590
00:34:04,600 --> 00:34:08,000
Speaker 2: Yeah, and look, the state understands that SEQUA is a problem.

591
00:34:08,239 --> 00:34:10,959
Speaker 2: I mean, look a look at what Governor Newsom did

592
00:34:11,920 --> 00:34:15,319
Speaker 2: with the fires in the Los Angeles area. Right He

593
00:34:16,160 --> 00:34:19,200
Speaker 2: right away said, hey, guys, I have a great idea.

594
00:34:19,640 --> 00:34:21,640
Speaker 2: I'm going to remove the red tape for all of

595
00:34:21,680 --> 00:34:25,440
Speaker 2: you fire victims, and I'm going to bypass the sequel

596
00:34:25,560 --> 00:34:28,400
Speaker 2: process for you. You do not need to prepare a

597
00:34:28,440 --> 00:34:33,279
Speaker 2: SEQUEA document to rebuild that entire area. Well, guess what,

598
00:34:33,600 --> 00:34:36,920
Speaker 2: why don't you apply that same logic to all housing?

599
00:34:37,440 --> 00:34:40,279
Speaker 2: Why don't you remove a sequel from all of this.

600
00:34:40,440 --> 00:34:42,759
Speaker 2: That way, you're not getting sued by labor unions, you're

601
00:34:42,800 --> 00:34:47,120
Speaker 2: not getting sued by you know, companies that are are

602
00:34:47,280 --> 00:34:49,640
Speaker 2: looking to slow down your project or kill your project.

603
00:34:49,920 --> 00:34:54,760
Speaker 2: In many cases, it's you know, organizations like environmental organizations

604
00:34:54,800 --> 00:34:57,719
Speaker 2: like the Sierra Club and the Autubne Society that are

605
00:34:57,719 --> 00:35:01,440
Speaker 2: actually filing these lawsuits and slowing down the process for

606
00:35:01,560 --> 00:35:03,960
Speaker 2: all of these projects. And they know that sequel is

607
00:35:04,000 --> 00:35:07,000
Speaker 2: a problem. They know it, Randy. You know why, because

608
00:35:07,080 --> 00:35:10,480
Speaker 2: they're rebuilding the state Capitol right now. Guess what law

609
00:35:10,560 --> 00:35:13,120
Speaker 2: didn't apply to them when they wanted to submit their

610
00:35:13,200 --> 00:35:15,640
Speaker 2: plans to rebuild the state Capitol? Sequel?

611
00:35:15,680 --> 00:35:17,880
Speaker 1: I'm gonna guess they knew it Hight off the bat.

612
00:35:18,200 --> 00:35:20,839
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, it's it's insane. I mean, they know it's

613
00:35:20,880 --> 00:35:24,920
Speaker 2: a problem. They sort of admit that it's a problem,

614
00:35:25,320 --> 00:35:28,080
Speaker 2: yet they do nothing to find a solution to fix

615
00:35:28,160 --> 00:35:29,160
Speaker 2: the problem.

616
00:35:29,680 --> 00:35:35,520
Speaker 1: Victor Gomez the executive director of Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse California.

617
00:35:35,600 --> 00:35:37,920
Speaker 1: You can check out their website and learn more about

618
00:35:37,960 --> 00:35:42,840
Speaker 1: them at Californiaca la dot org. Victor Gomez, thanks so

619
00:35:42,920 --> 00:35:44,520
Speaker 1: much for spending some time with us today.

620
00:35:45,800 --> 00:35:47,120
Speaker 2: Pleas for being with you. Thank you.

621
00:35:48,040 --> 00:35:51,839
Speaker 1: It's the News Blitz with Randy Wang on KABC. It's

622
00:35:51,880 --> 00:35:55,000
Speaker 1: the News Blitz with Randy Wang on KABC. There's a

623
00:35:55,040 --> 00:35:57,719
Speaker 1: bill working its way through the legislature that would be

624
00:35:57,920 --> 00:36:03,520
Speaker 1: giving the ultimate punishment to dealers, banning them from buying alcohol.

625
00:36:04,440 --> 00:36:08,560
Speaker 1: Love the idea and concept, but how do you enforce that.

626
00:36:09,239 --> 00:36:12,759
Speaker 1: It's the News Blitz with Randy Wang on KABC. It's

627
00:36:12,800 --> 00:36:17,959
Speaker 1: the News Blitz with Randy Wang on KABC. The other night,

628
00:36:18,239 --> 00:36:21,279
Speaker 1: we had something for dinner that we haven't done in

629
00:36:21,360 --> 00:36:25,080
Speaker 1: a while, and oh I missed it. So I went

630
00:36:25,120 --> 00:36:27,480
Speaker 1: to Lazy Acres in Los Phelis because I wanted to

631
00:36:27,520 --> 00:36:30,080
Speaker 1: stock up on some flat iron steaks and you know,

632
00:36:30,440 --> 00:36:31,920
Speaker 1: pick up on some of the other things that we

633
00:36:31,920 --> 00:36:34,840
Speaker 1: can get there. I honestly, I went there because my

634
00:36:34,920 --> 00:36:38,640
Speaker 1: wife really likes this Mama Fuku black truffle chili crisps,

635
00:36:38,640 --> 00:36:40,160
Speaker 1: and I'm like, well, I'm gonna get a whole bunch

636
00:36:40,160 --> 00:36:43,160
Speaker 1: of that. They only had one jar left. But as

637
00:36:43,200 --> 00:36:46,560
Speaker 1: it was browsing in the meat section, I saw duck

638
00:36:46,640 --> 00:36:49,560
Speaker 1: breast and I'm like, wow, we haven't done duck in

639
00:36:49,600 --> 00:36:51,799
Speaker 1: a long time. When we were on the diet, we

640
00:36:51,800 --> 00:36:54,080
Speaker 1: weren't only doing things like duck, because if you're gonna

641
00:36:54,080 --> 00:36:56,759
Speaker 1: do duck, you're gonna do potatoes, and we weren't doing potatoes.

642
00:36:57,040 --> 00:36:59,160
Speaker 1: But I was like, you know what, I think we've

643
00:36:59,160 --> 00:37:02,480
Speaker 1: earned a little duck our lives. So here's how my

644
00:37:02,560 --> 00:37:06,560
Speaker 1: wife does the duck. First off, you score the fat

645
00:37:06,719 --> 00:37:11,320
Speaker 1: the skin side, and then you on a cold cast

646
00:37:11,360 --> 00:37:15,240
Speaker 1: iron pan, put that duck in there, skin side down

647
00:37:15,719 --> 00:37:18,120
Speaker 1: and start it on a low heat. Creep it up

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00:37:18,120 --> 00:37:22,080
Speaker 1: to a medium heat. You are looking to render the fat.

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Speaker 1: Then once it starts to get that crispy, golden, beautiful

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Speaker 1: brown and you're on a higher heat, you flip it

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Speaker 1: to the other side. Give it a couple of minutes.

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Speaker 1: You're gonna get it. It's not like chicken, even though

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Speaker 1: it is poultry esque. It's more like steak. But let

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Speaker 1: me tell you, it's so great, especially when you serve

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Speaker 1: it with mashed potatoes, because you take all the duck

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Speaker 1: fat that was rendered and you pour that on the potatoes.

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Speaker 1: They don't call it liquid gold for nothing. And what

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Speaker 1: do you pair with your duck breast and your mashed

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Speaker 1: potatoes and your green beans, because you have to have

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Speaker 1: something green on the plate. Pino noir. We opened a

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Speaker 1: wratht Peano and it was a beautiful cherry explosion. It's

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Speaker 1: the News Blitz with Brandy Wang on KABC