WEBVTT - NBC4 Chopper Tragedy (09/16) 0:00:00.670 --> 0:00:04.260 KFI AM 640, you're listening to the John Kobelt Podcast 0:00:04.320 --> 0:00:05.500 on the iHeartRadio app. 0:00:08.539 --> 0:00:11.500 Thanks for being here today on KFI AM 640. We 0:00:11.539 --> 0:00:15.010 are live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. My name is 0:00:15.040 --> 0:00:17.790 Sam Shane. I'm in today for John Kobelt, who's taking 0:00:17.829 --> 0:00:20.090 a little time off. It is my pleasure to be 0:00:20.150 --> 0:00:23.910 here on what is a very sad day for the 0:00:23.950 --> 0:00:27.550 media family, for a lot of folks in the Los 0:00:27.610 --> 0:00:32.130 Angeles area. With what happened to an NBC4 news helicopter, 0:00:32.690 --> 0:00:35.510 two members of the NBC4 news team on board have perished. 0:00:35.530 --> 0:00:39.530 They have died. The NTSB is in Los Angeles investigating 0:00:39.550 --> 0:00:42.970 the crash. And we're going to begin right away. We 0:00:43.010 --> 0:00:46.180 are joined on the live line by Conan Nolan, who 0:00:46.340 --> 0:00:49.240 is with NBC4, has been there for many, many years. 0:00:49.940 --> 0:00:53.120 I'm sure you're aware of Conan and his work. Conan, 0:00:53.140 --> 0:00:56.110 thank you for joining us, first of all. Our sympathies 0:00:56.170 --> 0:00:59.470 and our condolences to you and the entire NBC4 News team. 0:01:00.330 --> 0:01:02.130 This has to be a very difficult day for you. 0:01:03.590 --> 0:01:07.090 It certainly is. Never, you know, I've been at this. 0:01:07.970 --> 0:01:10.819 Thank you for that, for one thing. And, yeah, I 0:01:11.040 --> 0:01:13.660 just recently celebrated my 40th year here at NBC in 0:01:13.680 --> 0:01:17.900 Los Angeles and never had a day like yesterday. 0:01:19.520 --> 0:01:23.120 So what do you know about what happened? Is it 0:01:23.220 --> 0:01:28.240 any clearer to you now than it was when it happened? No. 0:01:28.640 --> 0:01:33.550 NTSB has suggested that– has come out and said that 0:01:34.310 --> 0:01:36.770 we weren't on the air with that helicopter. That is 0:01:36.830 --> 0:01:39.690 not on the linear broadcast, but we were streaming it 0:01:39.870 --> 0:01:41.670 on the website. And so we have the last 30 seconds, 0:01:41.670 --> 0:01:50.230 40 seconds. The camera is on the bus accident, which 0:01:50.390 --> 0:01:55.500 itself claimed three lives. And then you start to hear 0:01:55.960 --> 0:02:00.120 what appears to be the engine winding down and the 0:02:00.200 --> 0:02:05.450 rotators riding down. The cockpit, there's an alarm that goes 0:02:05.610 --> 0:02:10.230 off when the rotation of the blades are not sufficient 0:02:10.270 --> 0:02:13.709 to keep the airship essentially stable. 0:02:14.150 --> 0:02:14.870 Uh, in the air. 0:02:15.190 --> 0:02:17.950 And, uh, and the NTSB has said that is the 0:02:18.010 --> 0:02:20.400 critical piece of evidence they're trying to get. And we 0:02:20.440 --> 0:02:23.079 have a, we have, we have the copy that they're 0:02:23.100 --> 0:02:27.799 looking for, um, uh, a recorded copy. The, we just 0:02:27.820 --> 0:02:32.720 spoke with a former NTSB aviation, uh, investigator who works 0:02:32.740 --> 0:02:37.840 at USC, um, at their aviation accident school. And he 0:02:37.880 --> 0:02:41.359 said clearly, the alarm went off. You could hear the 0:02:41.400 --> 0:02:46.880 rotators starting to wind down. The pilot, George, he utters something. 0:02:47.900 --> 0:02:50.899 I know that Eliana, you can hear her say, uh-oh. 0:02:52.100 --> 0:02:58.809 And How that happened, it appears as well that the– 0:02:59.540 --> 0:03:04.320 according to the investigators, that the nose of the aircraft 0:03:04.400 --> 0:03:06.520 started to go down. That may be consistent with the 0:03:06.560 --> 0:03:10.390 pilot trying to seek some wind velocity to give him 0:03:10.770 --> 0:03:14.489 an attempt at an autorotate where you don't need the engine, 0:03:14.550 --> 0:03:22.410 but the propellers or the blades can– can retard sort 0:03:22.430 --> 0:03:28.040 of the descent to give it the chance for a 0:03:28.090 --> 0:03:34.179 softer landing. That obviously wasn't achieved. So we don't know 0:03:34.220 --> 0:03:36.420 what happened. We will find out in about 30 days 0:03:36.520 --> 0:03:41.560 on a preliminary report. Fundamental to the investigation is this videotape. 0:03:42.040 --> 0:03:46.920 And then although it burned, it was a fireball, they 0:03:46.940 --> 0:03:53.450 couldn't even recover the tail number. But the engine itself, 0:03:54.090 --> 0:03:56.370 I think they're pretty confident they'll be able to figure 0:03:56.410 --> 0:03:59.630 out if there was some impediment that got in the 0:03:59.670 --> 0:04:03.710 way of the fuel line that starved it of the 0:04:03.750 --> 0:04:07.560 fuel that needed to stay airborne or what happened. But 0:04:07.910 --> 0:04:11.250 it was a catastrophic failure. And in just a few moments, 0:04:12.070 --> 0:04:18.600 and it took the lives of our colleagues, and it 0:04:18.620 --> 0:04:21.760 was quite devastating. We very much are interested to know 0:04:22.060 --> 0:04:22.560 what happened. 0:04:23.220 --> 0:04:25.840 I can only imagine what it was like inside the 0:04:25.940 --> 0:04:29.920 NBC4 newsroom. I know that other news stations had their 0:04:29.940 --> 0:04:34.760 helicopters above that crash. Can you kind of take us 0:04:35.080 --> 0:04:36.990 to what it was like, take us through what it 0:04:37.029 --> 0:04:38.670 was like to be in the newsroom? When did you 0:04:38.710 --> 0:04:41.130 realize that there was something that went very, very wrong? 0:04:43.250 --> 0:04:46.880 Well, we had heard that there had been an explosion 0:04:48.920 --> 0:04:53.860 from our crews on the ground covering the Metro bus crash. 0:04:54.710 --> 0:04:59.909 And they saw an explosion. And then we immediately looked 0:05:00.050 --> 0:05:05.440 up and to the bank of monitors where we monitor 0:05:05.520 --> 0:05:14.220 our competitors, ABC, CBS, Fox, all the other stations. And 0:05:14.420 --> 0:05:18.010 they had an airship up on the Metro bus crash, 0:05:18.050 --> 0:05:25.270 but we didn't have ours up. And immediately, and from 0:05:25.290 --> 0:05:30.130 what I understand, reporters in the field knew it was 0:05:30.150 --> 0:05:32.290 an air crash, and they just went to each other saying, 0:05:32.330 --> 0:05:33.169 was it yours, was it. 0:05:33.150 --> 0:05:34.000 Yours, was it yours? 0:05:34.810 --> 0:05:41.620 And we didn't know it was ours. We saw the 0:05:41.700 --> 0:05:45.339 other stations had, because it was a short distance away 0:05:45.380 --> 0:05:51.320 from the Metro bus crash, they could immediately were able 0:05:51.350 --> 0:05:54.130 to put that image on their air and we could 0:05:54.250 --> 0:05:58.050 see that there was an airship that was down and 0:05:58.510 --> 0:06:03.170 engulfed in flames. We could see the rotors. And then 0:06:03.210 --> 0:06:05.710 we looked for, then we tried to get a hold of, 0:06:09.650 --> 0:06:12.089 we tried to get a hold of Eliana and George 0:06:12.270 --> 0:06:17.849 and couldn't. And so that's when this deep, deep, horrific 0:06:17.900 --> 0:06:20.050 feeling started to engulf the nation. 0:06:20.690 --> 0:06:23.310 I've got about a minute, excuse me, about a minute left, Conan. 0:06:24.070 --> 0:06:27.820 These two individuals, Eliana and George, do you have any 0:06:29.320 --> 0:06:31.580 memories that stand out? What can you tell us about them? 0:06:32.790 --> 0:06:35.530 You know, I didn't know George, the pilot, 70 years old. 0:06:36.029 --> 0:06:38.730 From what I'm told, he was a local guy, Burbank 0:06:38.790 --> 0:06:43.330 High School, loved to fly, highly regarded. Eliana Marano, I 0:06:43.390 --> 0:06:48.290 did know her. She's also a local girl, early 30s, 0:06:48.380 --> 0:06:53.300 just engaged to get married, graduated from Chapman University, went 0:06:53.360 --> 0:06:56.620 back frequently to talk to students there. She loved what 0:06:56.660 --> 0:07:00.790 she did. There is a risk in anything in terms 0:07:00.810 --> 0:07:04.320 of aviation. There's love in labor, and she loved what 0:07:04.660 --> 0:07:05.500 she did. She was also. 0:07:09.970 --> 0:07:13.510 For us, we are a dual duopoly. There's an English 0:07:13.550 --> 0:07:17.190 language station and Telemundo 52. She was completely bilingual and 0:07:18.030 --> 0:07:20.170 she was a joy to work with. And the loss 0:07:20.210 --> 0:07:23.430 is sort of staggering. So we're still trying to process that. 0:07:24.150 --> 0:07:26.540 And we're not, as you well know, we're not in 0:07:26.560 --> 0:07:28.980 the business of emoting. That's not our job. But I 0:07:29.010 --> 0:07:31.400 think the public can understand just how heartbreaking this is, 0:07:31.440 --> 0:07:34.680 not just for us. But somebody else died on a pedestrian, 0:07:34.700 --> 0:07:37.120 died in that crash on the ground, not to mention 0:07:37.160 --> 0:07:39.860 three others in the bus crash. So all in all, 0:07:39.900 --> 0:07:43.240 it was six Angolinos lost their lives yesterday. It was 0:07:43.260 --> 0:07:43.940 a really bad day. 0:07:44.860 --> 0:07:46.760 Conan, I want to thank you so much for taking 0:07:46.800 --> 0:07:49.480 the time and giving us your insight. And again, our 0:07:49.520 --> 0:07:52.620 sympathies and our thoughts are with you. Thank you very much. 0:07:53.840 --> 0:07:54.980 I appreciate that. Thank you. 0:07:55.620 --> 0:08:06.710 Conan Nolan from NBC4. We're going to move forward and 0:08:06.730 --> 0:08:09.010 pick up on some of the newest and latest information. 0:08:09.650 --> 0:08:12.200 We are joined now by Will Kohlsheiber. He is a 0:08:12.260 --> 0:08:17.480 Los Angeles Hub iHeartMedia Total Traffic and Weather Network reporter. 0:08:18.040 --> 0:08:20.440 And Will, I know that you as a traffic reporter 0:08:20.460 --> 0:08:23.200 have spent some time in a helicopter. I have as well. 0:08:23.790 --> 0:08:25.950 Back in the day when I was doing television news 0:08:25.990 --> 0:08:27.310 for many, many years, I would go up in a 0:08:27.310 --> 0:08:29.370 helicopter and I would go up in a helicopter You know, 0:08:29.390 --> 0:08:32.790 I've told people about this before. The views sometimes can 0:08:32.830 --> 0:08:35.690 be absolutely spectacular. But, you know, in those helicopters, you 0:08:35.770 --> 0:08:39.700 bounce around a lot. And I never felt altogether comfortable 0:08:40.540 --> 0:08:43.640 in a helicopter, period. But it can be really a. 0:08:45.640 --> 0:08:49.429 Frightful experience. But tell us a little bit about your experiences. Well, 0:08:49.450 --> 0:08:52.330 you know, good afternoon, by the way, Sam. Thank you 0:08:52.350 --> 0:08:57.670 so much. You realize how small you are when you're 0:08:57.710 --> 0:09:01.730 up in a helicopter. You're really small, especially over a 0:09:02.270 --> 0:09:05.209 large thing like a big brush fire or something like 0:09:05.230 --> 0:09:09.220 that when you're incredibly high up. You just feel like 0:09:09.250 --> 0:09:11.920 a little speck, a little fly getting bounced around. You're 0:09:11.960 --> 0:09:12.800 absolutely correct. 0:09:12.840 --> 0:09:17.130 You're kind of at the whims of Mother Nature. I, 0:09:17.630 --> 0:09:21.790 before I was at KFI, I was several years ago, 0:09:21.890 --> 0:09:27.820 spent several years in this helicopter, the exact helicopter that crashed, 0:09:27.840 --> 0:09:31.400 doing exactly what she was doing, running the camera and 0:09:31.460 --> 0:09:35.900 reporting over things. And, you know, this is just one 0:09:35.920 --> 0:09:38.939 of those things that's in the back of your mind. Mind, 0:09:38.980 --> 0:09:42.900 if you're in that backseat, that can happen. Sometimes you 0:09:42.920 --> 0:09:45.500 let your mind wander a little bit and you think 0:09:45.660 --> 0:09:50.750 all the scenarios that could happen. And unfortunately for Eliana 0:09:50.760 --> 0:09:53.090 and George yesterday, that's exactly what happened. 0:09:53.790 --> 0:09:57.250 So, Will, you were in that exact helicopter, you said. 0:09:57.550 --> 0:09:59.970 Did you ever experience any problems in that helicopter? 0:10:01.900 --> 0:10:05.530 Nothing like that. No, certainly not. You know, there'd be 0:10:07.490 --> 0:10:11.490 mostly weather-related types of things. We'd end up in situations 0:10:11.550 --> 0:10:14.540 where I'd I would think privately to myself, boy, I 0:10:14.620 --> 0:10:20.500 really wish we weren't here today, but nothing. And usually 0:10:20.520 --> 0:10:23.150 having to do with the weather, but that was not 0:10:23.170 --> 0:10:27.090 the case this time. You know, the first thing I'd 0:10:27.190 --> 0:10:31.150 heard about this situation yesterday was that just awful tape 0:10:31.750 --> 0:10:36.710 that was online showing, you know, the last few seconds and, 0:10:36.730 --> 0:10:41.429 you know, the thing, the thing that, that keeps really 0:10:41.830 --> 0:10:45.110 banging around in my head is just how, how quickly 0:10:45.490 --> 0:10:48.410 everything went wrong. It was, you know, everything was fine. 0:10:48.450 --> 0:10:51.689 They were in a hover and then 30 seconds later, 0:10:51.890 --> 0:10:52.530 it was all over. 0:10:53.530 --> 0:10:54.850 Right. Right. Right. 0:10:54.950 --> 0:10:56.970 I was struck by that as well. It seems to 0:10:57.010 --> 0:10:59.250 me like there was some, it seems, I mean, just 0:10:59.320 --> 0:11:01.980 from watching that, well, like there may have been some 0:11:02.000 --> 0:11:04.260 sort of a mechanical failure of some sort. We don't 0:11:04.280 --> 0:11:06.940 really know. NTSB I know is in town and they're investigating. 0:11:08.010 --> 0:11:10.770 Oh, a hundred percent. Uh, I mean, based on what 0:11:10.830 --> 0:11:14.500 I saw and heard, you know, you hear the alarm horn, uh, 0:11:15.000 --> 0:11:16.200 the beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. 0:11:16.260 --> 0:11:18.339 And, uh, you know, you hear the. 0:11:18.360 --> 0:11:21.490 Engine first, it goes up really high, seems to, and 0:11:21.500 --> 0:11:25.510 then it goes down really low. And, and you hear 0:11:25.530 --> 0:11:34.199 Eliana as, as Conan mentioned, uh, shout something like, are 0:11:34.240 --> 0:11:35.740 you able to pull up? Are you able to pull up? 0:11:35.800 --> 0:11:40.119 And he's obviously not. And it doesn't. 0:11:40.059 --> 0:11:41.939 Seem– I mean, they weren't moving. 0:11:41.980 --> 0:11:44.990 They were in a dead hover. So it's not like 0:11:45.790 --> 0:11:50.230 he was doing something or the aircraft was not necessarily 0:11:50.290 --> 0:11:56.150 moving anywhere. So it sounded like something– catastrophically went wrong 0:11:56.190 --> 0:11:59.209 in the engine as far as possibly the fuel or 0:11:59.610 --> 0:12:01.429 the systems that govern the fuel. 0:12:01.910 --> 0:12:02.189 Yeah. 0:12:02.770 --> 0:12:05.430 You know, I once upon a time, I was speaking 0:12:05.470 --> 0:12:09.790 with a pilot, a helicopter pilot about that job. And 0:12:09.890 --> 0:12:12.000 he said to me that there was an old adage 0:12:12.030 --> 0:12:15.160 among helicopter pilots that you have, there's a number that 0:12:15.240 --> 0:12:19.080 every helicopter pilot has his or her number. And when 0:12:19.100 --> 0:12:20.819 you hit that number that you don't want to hit 0:12:20.880 --> 0:12:23.980 that number. In other words, You know every time you 0:12:24.000 --> 0:12:27.960 go up in one of those airships, that could be it. 0:12:28.520 --> 0:12:31.459 I don't know if pilots deal with that or if 0:12:31.500 --> 0:12:33.180 you dealt with that when you were flying. 0:12:33.200 --> 0:12:37.260 Well, you know, it is always something kind of in 0:12:37.300 --> 0:12:40.380 the back of your mind sometimes. When you're over a 0:12:40.429 --> 0:12:42.920 story for a long time, you might let your mind 0:12:42.980 --> 0:12:47.959 wander scenarios, what could go wrong. But honestly, for so 0:12:48.000 --> 0:12:53.020 many of the guys, it is a job. And many, many, 0:12:53.100 --> 0:12:56.980 many pilots will go their entire career without any incident 0:12:57.040 --> 0:13:03.980 whatsoever or at least nothing major. And aircraft literally, as 0:13:04.100 --> 0:13:09.550 their lifetimes go on, they're basically– replaced several times over 0:13:09.650 --> 0:13:16.550 as far as parts. This aircraft does not have anywhere 0:13:16.590 --> 0:13:18.490 close to the same engine it had when it was 0:13:19.170 --> 0:13:24.489 originally made. Everything gets replaced. And so this is just 0:13:24.550 --> 0:13:29.000 a situation where something really went wrong and Hopefully this investor, 0:13:29.840 --> 0:13:31.740 it's hard to imagine that they'll be able to make 0:13:31.820 --> 0:13:36.120 sense of what was left after that fire, but they're professionals. 0:13:36.160 --> 0:13:38.200 They know how to do that, and hopefully they will. 0:13:39.179 --> 0:13:41.960 All right, well, thank you very much. Really appreciate you 0:13:41.980 --> 0:13:45.620 taking the time and the insight telling us about your experiences. Yep, 0:13:45.760 --> 0:13:48.360 really appreciate it. He was in the very same helicopter 0:13:48.420 --> 0:13:50.980 once upon a time earlier in his career. He's with 0:13:51.000 --> 0:13:55.340 the Los Angeles Hub iHeartMedia Total Traffic and Weather Network 0:13:55.420 --> 0:13:58.950 as a reporter, and we appreciate his time. Um, there's 0:13:58.970 --> 0:14:00.820 a lot I want to get to here coming up 0:14:00.890 --> 0:14:02.700 on the, uh, the other side of the break, other 0:14:02.750 --> 0:14:05.700 news out there, a number one TMZ with a very 0:14:05.740 --> 0:14:10.300 interesting report out there indicating that very likely Paramount has 0:14:10.340 --> 0:14:12.820 made a decision that they are going to leave California. 0:14:12.860 --> 0:14:14.740 So I want to get into some of that reporting 0:14:15.240 --> 0:14:18.240 that's out there. There isn't a ton, but what they 0:14:18.280 --> 0:14:21.960 do have, I want to dive into. And also a 0:14:21.980 --> 0:14:25.370 big announcement out of, uh, The federal government in Washington, D.C., 0:14:25.390 --> 0:14:28.570 some big arrests in Southern California in the Los Angeles 0:14:28.630 --> 0:14:32.170 region having to do with the homeless crisis and with 0:14:32.250 --> 0:14:37.229 LASA and with allegations of fraud and corruption, potentially money laundering, 0:14:37.630 --> 0:14:41.130 some very serious allegations, how this is all tied together potentially. 0:14:41.650 --> 0:14:45.000 Mayor Karen Bass could be part of this, has not 0:14:45.060 --> 0:14:47.460 been named, but nevertheless, we're going to draw all this, 0:14:47.500 --> 0:14:50.000 tie all of this together for you straight ahead. 0:14:51.500 --> 0:14:56.980 Listening to John Kobelt on demand from KFI AM 640. 0:14:56.980 --> 0:14:59.440 My name is Sam Shane. I'm in for John Kobelt. 0:14:59.460 --> 0:15:01.590 Good to be here. Always great to work with John's crew. 0:15:01.620 --> 0:15:05.000 They're a fantastic group and a lot to get into. 0:15:05.020 --> 0:15:06.970 We're going to turn the page and get into some 0:15:07.010 --> 0:15:08.610 other news of the day. I want to get into, 0:15:08.650 --> 0:15:10.050 I don't know if you've seen this report. There's a 0:15:10.110 --> 0:15:14.290 report out of TMZ at this hour that they've made 0:15:14.330 --> 0:15:16.729 a decision at Paramount that they're going to leave and 0:15:16.750 --> 0:15:20.190 they've notified the mayor's office. They've notified the attorney general's office. 0:15:20.890 --> 0:15:22.790 So I want to get into some of that, how 0:15:22.850 --> 0:15:26.470 that stands right now and where any type of negotiation 0:15:26.630 --> 0:15:28.980 might be underway. Maybe there might be a settlement in 0:15:29.000 --> 0:15:32.420 the works, maybe not. So many details. I already got 0:15:32.440 --> 0:15:35.360 some reaction on that, by the way, from someone listening 0:15:35.420 --> 0:15:37.400 on the iHeartRadio app to the program. So we'll roll 0:15:37.420 --> 0:15:40.200 that out for you momentarily. But before we do that, 0:15:41.140 --> 0:15:43.010 I want to get out into this news coming out 0:15:43.030 --> 0:15:48.229 of Washington, D.C., which has a direct impact on Los Angeles. U.S. 0:15:48.250 --> 0:15:50.750 Department of Justice has announced now the arrest of two 0:15:50.810 --> 0:15:56.530 people employed at the Los Angeles area homeless nonprofits on 0:15:56.670 --> 0:16:00.400 federal charges alleging misuse of millions of taxpayer dollars. A 0:16:00.510 --> 0:16:05.580 third defendant remains a fugitive. So one of the defendants 0:16:06.280 --> 0:16:09.680 is the co-founder of a Culver City-based nonprofit allegedly misappropriated 0:16:09.700 --> 0:16:14.800 more than $ 7. 5 million and used the money for commercial 0:16:14.880 --> 0:16:17.490 real estate and to finance the construction of a nightclub 0:16:17.500 --> 0:16:22.540 in and a bingo hall, according to the Department of Justice. Another, 0:16:22.640 --> 0:16:26.160 the fugitive, has been accused of being fraudulently awarded more 0:16:26.180 --> 0:16:29.230 than a million dollars in grant money from an L.A. 0:16:29.270 --> 0:16:33.970 County-funded nonprofit. And then this third person, identified by federal 0:16:34.030 --> 0:16:38.070 officials as an employee of a nonprofit health and human 0:16:38.130 --> 0:16:42.860 services organization, who has been arrested on a 21-count indictment, 0:16:43.740 --> 0:16:45.220 charges that. 0:16:46.970 --> 0:16:51.650 She was taking more than $ 180, 000 in bribes from a 0:16:51.850 --> 0:16:56.320 fourth person who's being charged separately and has already agreed 0:16:56.680 --> 0:17:00.900 to a plea deal. So obviously there is one who's 0:17:00.920 --> 0:17:04.740 been charged who sounds like they are cooperating. This has 0:17:04.780 --> 0:17:07.800 to go to nonprofits. This has to go to NGOs. 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:10.119 I want to talk about that in a moment and 0:17:10.140 --> 0:17:12.950 why that system absolutely needs to get cleaned up. It's dirty. 0:17:13.890 --> 0:17:15.730 And we'll get into that in a moment. But we're 0:17:15.750 --> 0:17:18.090 going to spell this all out for you with an 0:17:18.170 --> 0:17:23.170 audio clip. And we rewind just a couple of days now. 0:17:23.690 --> 0:17:23.830 L.A. 0:17:23.869 --> 0:17:27.369 Mayor Karen Bass just suddenly stepped down from LAFSA. This 0:17:27.410 --> 0:17:30.440 was a few days ago. You may recall this story. Okay, LAFSA, 0:17:30.460 --> 0:17:32.520 they're the ones that oversee the whole homeless program in 0:17:32.540 --> 0:17:36.659 the city of Los Angeles. Well, today, the Secretary of HUD, 0:17:37.300 --> 0:17:42.800 Scott Turner, revealed $ 75 million of fraud, he says, was 0:17:42.900 --> 0:17:45.060 laundered through LAFSA. 0:17:45.760 --> 0:17:51.930 These fraudsters received over $ 130 million. More than $ 75 million 0:17:51.970 --> 0:17:56.280 of those were funneled through the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, 0:17:56.400 --> 0:18:00.330 also known as LASA. That is nearly the same amount 0:18:00.369 --> 0:18:03.590 Lassa received from HUD every year until the Trump administration 0:18:03.609 --> 0:18:08.310 put an end to the California corruption. Lassa has continually 0:18:08.350 --> 0:18:12.380 funded a homeless industrial complex on the backs of American 0:18:12.440 --> 0:18:17.780 taxpayers while fraud has continually run rampant. No wonder their 0:18:17.859 --> 0:18:21.720 track record at Lhasa is a failing record. While homelessness 0:18:21.760 --> 0:18:26.350 funding tripled in LA over the past decade, homelessness has doubled. 0:18:26.930 --> 0:18:30.710 And when you dig deeper, we found out why. Lhasa, 0:18:30.750 --> 0:18:34.169 the largest recipient of homeless funding in the nation, is 0:18:34.290 --> 0:18:38.689 riddled with fraud, waste, and abuse. And those days of 0:18:38.770 --> 0:18:43.270 blank checks are indeed over. Today, those who broke the 0:18:43.310 --> 0:18:47.080 law are facing the ultimate consequence, law and order. 0:18:47.520 --> 0:18:50.760 This may just be the beginning, folks. The feds clearly 0:18:50.900 --> 0:18:54.300 are focused on Lhasa. And here you have, just a 0:18:54.340 --> 0:18:57.140 few days ago, the mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, 0:18:57.280 --> 0:19:00.989 stepping aside. Earlier this week, she, by the way, was 0:19:01.050 --> 0:19:04.689 invited earlier this week to testify before a subcommittee in 0:19:04.750 --> 0:19:09.560 Congress on this very topic, on homelessness. on the millions 0:19:09.580 --> 0:19:13.740 and millions of dollars that have just somehow mysteriously disappeared, 0:19:14.240 --> 0:19:18.149 how the crisis keeps getting worse, not better. And her 0:19:18.190 --> 0:19:20.489 attorney sent a letter to Congress and said, no, she 0:19:20.530 --> 0:19:23.470 won't be there for that. They've also asked for documentation. 0:19:23.510 --> 0:19:27.590 They say that they will cooperate. Here, Karen Bass's office 0:19:27.650 --> 0:19:31.300 has indicated that they will cooperate. But this is very problematic. 0:19:32.100 --> 0:19:34.740 They're going to focus in more on this, and they're 0:19:34.760 --> 0:19:37.860 going to get locked in on this And there could 0:19:37.880 --> 0:19:40.640 be more to come. And it has to do with 0:19:40.680 --> 0:19:44.230 the nonprofits. It has to do with the NGOs and 0:19:44.270 --> 0:19:48.390 a system which is filled with corruption. And there's money 0:19:48.410 --> 0:19:52.390 that's being funneled into enslavement. around these NGOs and nonprofits 0:19:53.990 --> 0:19:57.660 for reasons that we don't really know. Like the spouse 0:19:57.920 --> 0:20:01.260 of a politician who all of a sudden receives $ 25, 000 0:20:00.940 --> 0:20:04.480 or their friend who runs the NGO or the nonprofit 0:20:04.720 --> 0:20:07.080 who's the CEO who all of a sudden is making 0:20:07.140 --> 0:20:09.780 a six-figure salary. But the money's not getting to the 0:20:09.820 --> 0:20:13.500 people who really need it. And this is a system 0:20:13.560 --> 0:20:20.179 which needs attention soon to be cleaned up. TMZ, I 0:20:20.200 --> 0:20:22.320 want to get into this reporting. This has to do 0:20:22.340 --> 0:20:28.000 with Paramount. Headline. L.A. and state officials say the studio 0:20:28.100 --> 0:20:32.060 is leaving California. This is according to TMZ. Internal discussions 0:20:32.100 --> 0:20:34.440 in the Los Angeles mayor's office and the California attorney 0:20:34.480 --> 0:20:38.239 general's office. They've been told Paramount would announce that they 0:20:38.290 --> 0:20:41.409 are leaving California. But there is a twist, according to 0:20:41.470 --> 0:20:46.750 sources who tells that to TMZ. TMZ reports, we're told 0:20:47.310 --> 0:20:49.870 the mayor and the AG were told the announcement would 0:20:49.890 --> 0:20:53.670 come yesterday, but did not happen. We do not know 0:20:53.770 --> 0:20:58.580 if circumstances changed. or if there was a delay. As 0:20:58.600 --> 0:21:02.060 you probably are aware, TMZ reports the California Attorney General 0:21:03.220 --> 0:21:07.290 and others within 11 other state attorneys general have filed 0:21:07.310 --> 0:21:11.310 this antitrust lawsuit, of course, against Paramount trying to block 0:21:11.330 --> 0:21:14.210 the Warner Brothers merger. And then you have David Ellison. 0:21:14.250 --> 0:21:16.649 He's the CEO of Paramount. He has threatened to move 0:21:16.690 --> 0:21:21.699 the studio to Texas or Tennessee, maybe even Georgia, if 0:21:21.920 --> 0:21:25.420 the California Attorney Attorney General Rob Bonta does not back 0:21:25.520 --> 0:21:29.040 off and settle. Ellison has threatened to leave California if 0:21:29.100 --> 0:21:32.080 a settlement was not reached by October 1st. We're talking 0:21:32.140 --> 0:21:36.639 weeks now. TMZ reports, based on conversations in both the 0:21:36.700 --> 0:21:40.200 mayor's and attorney general's offices, it sounds like no deal 0:21:40.400 --> 0:21:47.290 is possible. If Paramount pulls the trigger, TMZ writes, it'll 0:21:47.310 --> 0:21:50.090 be a devastating one-two punch for Hollywood. I don't know 0:21:50.130 --> 0:21:53.320 if you've heard this story, but American Idol... That's been 0:21:53.340 --> 0:21:58.020 announced today, leaving Hollywood for Atlanta. Other productions have also 0:21:58.060 --> 0:22:01.699 left Hollywood over the past few years. TMZ reached out 0:22:01.720 --> 0:22:05.609 to Paramount, and they offered no comment. Stay tuned to 0:22:05.640 --> 0:22:08.850 that one. I've got some reaction from a listener on 0:22:08.869 --> 0:22:11.070 that that I want to get to on the other 0:22:11.090 --> 0:22:13.270 side who's been listening on the iHeartRadio app, which, by 0:22:13.290 --> 0:22:14.750 the way, if you want to weigh in and you're 0:22:14.770 --> 0:22:16.930 listening on the iHeartRadio app, all you have to do 0:22:17.710 --> 0:22:20.190 is tap on the red microphone button. You can record 0:22:20.210 --> 0:22:22.840 your message there. And we'll be playing those throughout the 0:22:22.880 --> 0:22:25.820 program today. My name is Sam Shane. I'm in for 0:22:25.859 --> 0:22:27.900 John Kobold. It is good to be here today. When 0:22:27.920 --> 0:22:31.400 we come back, apparently there's some new reporting out there 0:22:31.720 --> 0:22:34.280 in a new interview. Governor Wilson has come out and 0:22:34.320 --> 0:22:38.359 said that he regrets closing public schools during COVID. So 0:22:38.380 --> 0:22:40.500 we'll tell you the source of that information coming up 0:22:40.540 --> 0:22:41.260 on the other side. 0:22:42.320 --> 0:22:48.640 You're listening to John Kobold on demand from KFI AM 640. 0:22:48.940 --> 0:22:52.820 Got an interesting clip. from this interview between CNN's Jake 0:22:52.840 --> 0:22:55.880 Tapper and Governor Newsom. They were fly fishing in Montana. 0:22:55.900 --> 0:22:57.860 Apparently this was done about a month ago, by the way. 0:22:59.020 --> 0:23:02.160 But there's a clip out there, apparently, where Governor Newsom 0:23:02.200 --> 0:23:05.439 says that he regrets shutting down public schools during COVID. 0:23:05.920 --> 0:23:07.340 So I want to get to that in just a second. 0:23:07.359 --> 0:23:09.480 We're getting some reaction coming in from people who have 0:23:09.500 --> 0:23:12.350 been listening to the program on the iHeartRadio app and 0:23:12.380 --> 0:23:13.909 have left us a couple of messages. And I want 0:23:13.950 --> 0:23:15.710 to get to those. It has to do with the 0:23:15.810 --> 0:23:19.270 story that I just reported from TMZ that Paramount has 0:23:19.369 --> 0:23:22.800 made the decision to leave No comment officially from Paramount, 0:23:22.820 --> 0:23:25.940 but apparently there are some sources that tell TMZ from 0:23:26.170 --> 0:23:29.190 inside L.A. Mayor Karen Bass' office and from the Attorney 0:23:29.250 --> 0:23:31.629 General's office that that is indeed the case, that they 0:23:31.650 --> 0:23:36.510 were given that notification as recently as yesterday. So some 0:23:36.530 --> 0:23:38.790 of the reaction that's coming in here, here's just one. 0:23:40.040 --> 0:23:44.260 Well, if that's true that Paramount's leaving, well, that's only 0:23:44.320 --> 0:23:48.379 great news. California deserves it. They are not business friendly. 0:23:49.580 --> 0:23:52.480 And good luck to them. And whoever wants to work 0:23:52.500 --> 0:23:54.220 for them, maybe they're going to be leaving with them. 0:23:55.700 --> 0:24:04.090 California has done it again. And for what? Have a 0:24:04.109 --> 0:24:04.750 nice day, you guys. 0:24:05.650 --> 0:24:09.230 So that's not just a Hollywood story, right? I mean, 0:24:09.270 --> 0:24:12.210 this is a story that has crossed industries, not just 0:24:12.250 --> 0:24:15.320 the entertainment industry. Boy, if you just take a look 0:24:15.380 --> 0:24:17.040 at all of the businesses that have up and left 0:24:17.080 --> 0:24:20.680 from Tesla to Charles Schwab, and the different categories. They've 0:24:20.720 --> 0:24:24.500 moved their headquarters out. And the erosion continues. There's no 0:24:24.540 --> 0:24:26.619 question about it. Got some more reaction to that story 0:24:26.640 --> 0:24:28.540 from another listener listening on the iHeartRadio app. 0:24:29.280 --> 0:24:31.320 Okay, Sam, first of all, I don't blame Paramount for 0:24:31.880 --> 0:24:35.100 leaving because Bonta and Newsom are sticking their beaks where 0:24:35.119 --> 0:24:37.880 it doesn't belong. So they just gave up a lot 0:24:37.920 --> 0:24:40.240 of jobs and a lot of tax money in California 0:24:40.260 --> 0:24:44.040