Verdict with Ted Cruz - California Inferno-the Catastrophic Policy Decisions that are Making the Wildfires Much, Much Worse

00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.

00:00:02.560 Guaranteed human.

00:00:05.200 Welcome.

00:00:05.960 It is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you,

00:00:09.340 and Senator of the entire world, and certainly in the United States.

00:00:13.420 The focal point is the wildfires that are happening out in Los Angeles.

00:00:18.460 It is not just catastrophic.

00:00:21.880 It looks like a war zone, a nuclear disaster has gone off in the Palisades,

00:00:26.980 where all of these homes are just gone.

00:00:29.380 You see these houses on the beach, they are gone,

00:00:32.280 and our hearts go out to the people there,

00:00:34.600 but there also is a reality that much of this was caused by the politicians

00:00:40.720 that didn't do their basic job,

00:00:43.280 and that's why so many people are angry right now in California.

00:00:46.820 Well, we are in the midst of one of the worst disasters in our nation's history.

00:00:52.400 What is unfolding right now in Los Angeles is truly heartbreaking and horrific,

00:00:58.420 and you and I are recording this at 11 p.m. on Thursday.

00:01:03.140 As of now, more than 9,000 homes and structures have been damaged or destroyed

00:01:09.260 in the Palisades and Eaton fires.

00:01:12.820 Five people that we know of have died,

00:01:15.120 and officials are saying the death toll is likely to be higher,

00:01:19.100 and at least 130,000 residents are right now under evacuation orders.

00:01:26.720 And these fires have the potential to be the single costliest wildfire disaster

00:01:33.140 in American history, and they are raging as we speak.

00:01:36.980 It is a hell on earth.

00:01:41.360 And so let me start by saying what I know our listeners are doing,

00:01:46.120 what our family is doing, which is just lifting up the people of California in prayer,

00:01:50.240 lifting up those who are in harm's way,

00:01:52.940 lifting up those who are seeing their families endangered,

00:01:56.900 their homes potentially burned to the ground.

00:02:00.240 The utter horror of what is unfolding there is just stunning.

00:02:06.200 You know, Heidi is a native Californian,

00:02:08.340 and her entire extended family lives out in California,

00:02:12.580 and Heidi and I have both been reaching out to friends of ours who live there,

00:02:18.200 who are dealing with this, and it is horrific.

00:02:23.880 I'll say at the same time, as we're reaching out to friends of ours who are there,

00:02:28.400 they're number one, dealing with this tragedy, but number two, they're angry.

00:02:33.600 They are angry at specific policy decisions that played a real part in causing this disaster

00:02:43.740 and that undeniably made it worse.

00:02:48.080 And, you know, when a disaster is unfolding,

00:02:51.080 it is easy to take shots at the political leadership.

00:02:55.500 And I want to be, I'm hesitant to do so,

00:03:00.300 but in this instance, there were multiple decisions made by the state of California,

00:03:06.180 made by the mayor and the city government of Los Angeles,

00:03:09.420 multiple decisions that unquestionably played a significant role

00:03:14.140 in making this disaster much, much worse,

00:03:17.260 and that the elected officials were warned over and over and over again,

00:03:25.160 do not do this or people will die from more wildfires,

00:03:30.900 and they did anyway.

00:03:32.360 And I'll tell you, that anger,

00:03:35.200 the residents there are understandably frustrated.

00:03:38.740 They're frustrated with policies that are not prioritizing protecting their homes,

00:03:45.520 their families, keeping them safe,

00:03:47.200 and that's the most basic obligation of government,

00:03:50.900 is to protect you and keep you safe.

00:03:54.460 Well, let's talk about the facts,

00:03:56.040 because I do love that on this show,

00:03:58.200 I think we try to give people information,

00:04:00.840 and factual information that they can take

00:04:03.540 and have a real conversation about it with their family and their friends.

00:04:08.400 And there were multiple warning signs here.

00:04:10.640 A big warning sign came from the insurance companies.

00:04:16.060 They started pulling out.

00:04:17.580 Insurance companies knew that fires were likely in the Palisades.

00:04:22.480 This is coming from a local report.

00:04:24.640 There's a list of cancellations made by State Farm in California last summer.

00:04:29.460 1,626 policies they canceled in Pacific Palisades.

00:04:34.180 1,518 in Malibu.

00:04:37.640 665 in Bel Air.

00:04:39.800 Beverly Hills, 698.

00:04:42.520 And then the residents were worried and concerned

00:04:46.020 because they were getting these cancellations.

00:04:48.280 Now, there was two reasons why this happened.

00:04:50.840 There was regulation, over-regulation,

00:04:53.500 and the insurance companies were not allowed to raise their prices in California,

00:04:57.500 in these areas, for example.

00:04:58.720 And they knew they had to drop their customers

00:05:01.800 because they saw what was happening specifically in L.A. in these areas.

00:05:06.360 In 2021, if you were an unvaccinated firefighter, you were fired.

00:05:11.600 In 2023, the policy was if you're a white male,

00:05:15.280 we don't want you, as very clearly stated by the fire department.

00:05:19.580 And now they're saying in 2025,

00:05:21.920 not only do we not have enough firefighters,

00:05:23.960 but the insurance companies were also saying,

00:05:26.400 you guys have set yourself up for a disaster

00:05:29.240 which we knew could happen and has happened in the past.

00:05:33.800 Well, listen, California has historically been subject to wildfires,

00:05:39.300 and some of that is geographic and has to do with the basic geography.

00:05:45.120 That's been true in California for a long time.

00:05:47.900 But then there were policy decisions that have made this much worse.

00:05:51.400 So on the question of insurance companies,

00:05:53.740 here's a headline from the Los Angeles Times in April of 2024.

00:05:59.300 California exodus of home insurance companies continues.

00:06:03.820 And the L.A. Times reports,

00:06:05.340 two more insurers are pulling out of California's

00:06:07.520 troubled homeowner's insurance market,

00:06:09.980 straining a marketplace that has already seen the pullback

00:06:12.620 of several other companies

00:06:14.360 that have cited increased costs related to wildfire risks.

00:06:19.500 That problem and the two companies that are being reported,

00:06:24.960 Tokyo Marine America Insurance Company

00:06:27.240 and Trans-Pacific Insurance Company

00:06:28.980 submitted filings to the California Department of Insurance

00:06:32.060 saying that they will not renew 12,556 homeowners policies

00:06:37.080 with a premium value of $11.3 million starting July 1st.

00:06:41.620 Also not being renewed or 1,624 dwelling, fire, and liability policies

00:06:47.440 with a premium value of $1.7 million typically sold to owners of rental properties

00:06:52.800 as well as personal umbrella coverage.

00:06:57.760 So what are the policies that have exacerbated it?

00:07:01.280 And I really would put them into three different categories.

00:07:04.520 Number one, the management of public lands and forest management.

00:07:08.640 And we're going to talk about that quite a bit more.

00:07:11.620 Number two, water policies and California's insane policies on handling water

00:07:19.720 that sadly are making this crisis much, much worse.

00:07:23.260 And number three, policies directly impacting firefighters.

00:07:27.660 And in particular, the city of L.A.'s decision to slash the firefighter budget

00:07:34.180 despite being warned that that would significantly increase the risk

00:07:38.200 of real harm from a catastrophic fire.

00:07:42.840 And so let's break these down.

00:07:45.880 Let's break these down.

00:07:47.220 Let's talk about each of the three.

00:07:49.520 So first, let's start with public lands and the management of forests.

00:07:55.580 If you look at what is happening in California,

00:07:59.700 and there are federal policies that significantly limit

00:08:02.780 what happens on federal forest lands,

00:08:05.420 and then there are state policies in California that exacerbate this.

00:08:10.460 Here's one story for NBC News in October of 2020.

00:08:16.260 Headline, decades of mismanagement led to choked forests.

00:08:21.180 Now it's time to clear them out, fire experts say.

00:08:24.540 And it begins with a quote, forest management is a lot like gardening.

00:08:29.720 You have to keep the forest open and thin, said Mike Rogers,

00:08:34.320 a former Angeles National Forest supervisor.

00:08:37.980 This is an ongoing problem.

00:08:40.480 And I want to actually dive in a little bit to a story from the BBC,

00:08:47.400 again in October 2020.

00:08:50.580 The title is U.S. West Coast Fires.

00:08:53.980 Is Trump right to blame forest management?

00:08:56.680 And here's what the BBC, and the BBC consistently leans hard left.

00:09:03.440 And this is in October 2020.

00:09:06.500 It says President Trump has sought to highlight forest management

00:09:09.200 rather than climate change as the key factor explaining the wildfires

00:09:12.740 burning across California, Oregon, and Washington states.

00:09:15.320 When asked during a visit to California about the role of climate change,

00:09:19.380 Mr. Trump said, I think this is more of a forest management situation.

00:09:24.360 So, BBC says, who manages the forests?

00:09:28.500 First, most forests in California, Oregon, and Washington

00:09:32.020 isn't the responsibility of the state authorities.

00:09:34.020 In fact, their share of forest land is small.

00:09:37.280 In California state, the federal government owns nearly 58%

00:09:42.200 of the 33 million acres of forest, according to the state governor's office.

00:09:47.740 The state itself owns just 3%, with the rest owned by private individuals

00:09:52.160 or companies or Native American groups.

00:09:54.380 So let me start by saying, listen, the federal government,

00:09:58.280 the forests that the federal government controls,

00:10:00.760 you end up having much poorer forest management.

00:10:03.520 Then when you have forests in private hands,

00:10:09.040 they typically invest significantly more in cleaning out underbrush,

00:10:15.420 in limiting the risk actively.

00:10:18.960 As the expert I quoted there said, it's like gardening,

00:10:25.560 clearing out the deadwood, clearing out the underbrush that becomes like kiddling

00:10:30.100 and causes fires to spread more quickly.

00:10:35.600 So, for example, Scott Stevens, a leading authority on wildfires

00:10:40.440 at the University of California, has for some years questioned

00:10:43.860 forest management priorities in the state.

00:10:46.520 He's pointed to the large number of dead trees left standing due to drought

00:10:50.060 and disease as a serious fire risk that needs to be addressed.

00:10:53.820 Professor Stephan Doerr, a wildfires expert at Swansea University,

00:11:00.060 highlights the modern practice of total fire suppression

00:11:02.600 at the expense of allowing limited fires to burn and create fire breaks.

00:11:08.460 For centuries, this is a quote from this professor,

00:11:11.320 for centuries Native American peoples would burn parts of the forest. 0.98

00:11:14.800 That would thin out more flammable vegetation and make forests less dense.

00:11:18.820 But the emphasis has been on putting out any fires.

00:11:23.840 And with climate change, this has now created a tinderbox of vegetation.

00:11:27.640 And let me just say, for Democrat politicians,

00:11:30.720 their answer to any crisis is they just say,

00:11:32.820 climate change, climate change, climate change.

00:11:34.800 Well, that doesn't absolve the elected officials of the responsibility

00:11:38.660 to put policies in place that keep people safe.

00:11:42.260 And California consistently has put in place policies that make it the forest fires bigger,

00:11:55.000 make them spread more quickly, make them harder to stop.

00:11:59.360 And also federal law, and I will point out when I can tell you this week in the Senate,

00:12:06.080 Senate Republicans, we had an extended discussion this week among Senate Republicans

00:12:11.920 about responding to this by addressing the federal rules and laws governing federal forests,

00:12:20.600 which every time we try to change to address the problems,

00:12:28.200 you end up having congressional Democrats oppose those changes.

00:12:32.080 And I'm hopeful that this will be an impetus to say,

00:12:36.240 we need to move towards sensible policies that the kinds of policies that are implemented

00:12:42.600 on privately held land that reduce the risk of fires in the first place.

00:12:47.520 You look at that part, and then you go back to the local policies as well,

00:12:52.620 and you combine those two together.

00:12:54.440 And this was a perfect storm for a massive, catastrophic failure.

00:13:00.860 You look at what they decided to do,

00:13:04.440 and let's go back to one of the biggest stories that's come out of this,

00:13:08.880 and that is that the L.A. Fire Chief, Kristen Crowley,

00:13:12.120 warned the mayor, Karen Bass, last month,

00:13:15.840 that the $17 million that she cut from the department's budget,

00:13:20.460 quote, severely limited the department's capacity to prepare for,

00:13:24.960 train for, and respond to large-scale emergencies, including wildfires.

00:13:32.200 This is dated December the 17th, 2024.

00:13:36.120 Now, you put what you just said about all this vegetation,

00:13:40.280 and all of this debris and brush and everything that's kindling up in the hills,

00:13:46.300 and knowing that these Santa Ana winds come through,

00:13:48.800 and then you combine that with what was just said there locally,

00:13:52.240 this was a federal disaster and also a local disaster combined.

00:13:57.240 Well, that's right, and that's another major cause.

00:14:01.300 So the Democrat mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, who is a very liberal Democrat,

00:14:05.780 she slashed $17 million from the fire department's budget.

00:14:11.080 And in December of 2024,

00:14:15.500 the fire chief wrote a memo to the Board of Fire Commissioners,

00:14:19.620 and here's what the memo says.

00:14:23.380 Quote,

00:14:23.800 The Los Angeles City Fire Department is facing unprecedented operational challenges

00:14:28.420 due to the elimination of critical civilian positions

00:14:31.000 and a $7 million reduction in overtime variable staffing hours.

00:14:35.180 These budgetary reductions have adversely affected the department's ability

00:14:39.580 to maintain core operations such as technology and communications and infrastructure,

00:14:44.960 payroll processing, training, fire prevention, and community education.

00:14:49.560 In addition to these impacts,

00:14:51.180 the reduction in V-hours has severely limited the department's capacity to prepare for,

00:14:56.360 train for, and respond to large-scale emergencies,

00:14:59.520 including wildfires, earthquakes, hazardous material incidents, and large public events.

00:15:07.120 And it goes on to say the report provides in-depth analysis of these cascading impacts,

00:15:13.040 underscoring the critical need for resource restoration to ensure operational readiness,

00:15:19.840 firefighter safety, and the delivery of high-quality public service.

00:15:23.700 So, Mayor Karen Bass was warned.

00:15:27.080 She was warned publicly and explicitly,

00:15:29.680 and she slashed the budget anyway. 1.00

00:15:32.520 That is a deliberate decision,

00:15:34.680 and it's a decision that sadly is having catastrophic consequences.

00:15:40.100 You listened to also what was said by Rick Caruso.

00:15:44.620 Rick, there was an election there, a local mayor election,

00:15:47.700 and Barack Obama came in heavy.

00:15:51.620 Democrats came in heavy.

00:15:53.140 They made sure that Rick, who is, many have described him as extremely competent,

00:15:58.720 lost to Karen, I mean, to Mayor Karen as she's being called now,

00:16:04.680 who I think it's pretty clear now has proven just how utterly incompetent she is. 1.00

00:16:09.580 But Rick called in to the local Fox 11 there as the wildfires are raging on,

00:16:15.000 and this is what he said about what's happening.

00:16:18.280 My heart goes out, obviously, to the people at their homes,

00:16:21.480 and I'm watching the small businesses around us go up in flames.

00:16:26.760 You know, this is people's livelihoods.

00:16:29.000 So it's devastating.

00:16:31.220 But what is most concerning to me is our first responders and our firefighters

00:16:36.460 who are trying to battle this, there's no water in the Palisades.

00:16:40.680 There's no water coming out of the fire hydrants.

00:16:42.920 This is an absolute mismanagement by the city.

00:16:47.920 It's not the firefighters' fault, but it's by the city.

00:16:51.060 And I'm going to be very honest.

00:16:52.340 We've got a mayor that's out of the country,

00:16:54.380 and we've got a city that's burning,

00:16:56.740 and there's no resources to put out fires.

00:16:59.040 So if you look at your pictures,

00:17:01.160 you don't see the firefighters there because there's nothing they can do.

00:17:04.060 And it looks like we're in a third-world country here.

00:17:09.060 And we've got a lot of tough questions that we need to ask the mayor

00:17:13.740 and the city council and our representatives and the county representatives.

00:17:18.640 Why didn't you work to mitigate this?

00:17:21.060 What was your brush mitigation program?

00:17:24.580 I heard you earlier talking about it's been dry because it hasn't been rain.

00:17:28.340 That's not the biggest problem here.

00:17:30.860 The brush up in these hills that are controlled by the city and the county,

00:17:36.020 I would bet you that if they haven't been handled, mitigated, pruned, removed for probably 30 or 40 years,

00:17:45.820 this was a disaster waiting to happen.

00:17:50.040 And what's predictable is preventable.

00:17:53.460 And who's paying the price are all of these people in their homes and their businesses tonight.

00:17:58.600 One of the things I want to underscore is what Rick Caruso said there about brush mitigation.

00:18:03.520 That is a major step, and it is not being done in California.

00:18:09.560 And that is substantially increasing the risks, the magnitude, and nevertheless,

00:18:16.680 the elected officials refuse to prioritize mitigation and prevention strategies.

00:18:23.260 But on top of that, so why does the city slash $17 million from the fire department,

00:18:29.200 particularly when the mayor is warned this will limit our ability to fight wildfires?

00:18:34.260 Well, look, there is a growing problem with radical left-wing politicians 0.99

00:18:41.660 who prioritize their own political agenda over doing their damn job. 0.99

00:18:49.160 And we see it, look, we see it with George Soros district attorneys that release violent criminals 0.99

00:18:55.080 that don't want to prosecute murderers and rapists that come in and say,

00:18:59.100 we're not going to keep your family safe.

00:19:00.980 And we see it, so maybe, maybe Los Angeles had no choice.

00:19:05.820 They had to cut the fire department because they just had no money to spend on anything.

00:19:10.500 Well, you know what they were spending on?

00:19:12.660 They were spending thousands of dollars on things including a, quote,

00:19:18.560 midnight stroll transgender cafe and a, quote, gay men's chorus, a choir.

00:19:25.260 So they're spending money on that.

00:19:26.700 In 2024, the same year they slashed $17 million from the fire department,

00:19:31.980 Los Angeles spent $100,000 on the midnight stroll transgender cafe.

00:19:38.620 They also spent money on $14,000 for the gay men's chorus of Los Angeles

00:19:45.960 and $170,000 for, quote, social justice art worker investments.

00:19:55.760 So those are the priorities that the Democrat mayor has rather than hiring firefighters

00:20:03.600 to protect their citizens from the wildfires that are endangering their homes and their families.

00:20:10.720 It is, it's indefensible and, and it's not like this was a surprise.

00:20:17.200 She was repeatedly warned and she disregarded those warnings.

00:20:22.000 Canadian women are looking for more, more out of themselves, their businesses, 1.00

00:20:26.180 their elected leaders, and the world around them.

00:20:28.360 And that's why we're thrilled to introduce the Honest Talk podcast.

00:20:32.100 I'm Jennifer Stewart.

00:20:33.280 And I'm Catherine Clark.

00:20:34.500 And in this podcast, we interview Canada's most inspiring women.

00:20:37.880 entrepreneurs, artists, athletes, politicians, and newsmakers,

00:20:41.800 all at different stages of their journey.

00:20:44.000 So if you're looking to connect, then we hope you'll join us.

00:20:47.220 Listen to the Honest Talk podcast on iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

00:20:53.140 One of the local things that I saw that really, and it goes back to warnings that was,

00:20:57.620 that went viral, it said, and this was basically like an open letter there from the citizens,

00:21:02.100 it says they didn't, they didn't clear dead trees and brush.

00:21:05.700 They did no forest management.

00:21:08.100 They refused to do controlled burns.

00:21:10.280 They destroyed dams intentionally.

00:21:12.440 They refused to fill reservoirs.

00:21:14.700 They pushed water into the ocean.

00:21:16.620 They chose smelt fish over humans.

00:21:21.020 And then they went with DEI. 0.90

00:21:23.780 The gay fire chief prioritized a three-year plan,

00:21:26.940 which she described with much pride in interviews,

00:21:29.880 for diversity, equity, inclusion,

00:21:32.080 having the top three people in the fire department be gay.

00:21:35.700 Make no mistake, the fiery destruction of people's homes and lives in Malibu 0.97

00:21:40.020 is a direct result of politics.

00:21:42.820 And the politicians in charge in Los Angeles and California are all Democrats.

00:21:47.500 When you see that going viral among Democrats in California,

00:21:51.760 and them talking about it this way,

00:21:54.060 they seem to understand this is what costs them their homes,

00:21:58.920 their businesses is that they put ideology and DEI ahead of public safety,

00:22:06.220 and now the chickens are coming home to roost.

00:22:09.840 Look, that's absolutely right.

00:22:11.880 And let's focus a little more on L.A.'s policy.

00:22:16.900 So as you said, the top three officials in the L.A. Fire Department appointed by the mayor

00:22:23.220 are all lesbian women, and they're all named Kristen.

00:22:28.360 It is almost like a Saturday Night Live skit if Saturday Night Live was willing to make fun of such things.

00:22:34.460 But those are the top three officials.

00:22:36.600 They're highly compensated.

00:22:38.140 And let me draw a distinction, by the way.

00:22:41.020 Look, there are incredible heroes right now in the L.A. Fire Department who are risking their lives,

00:22:47.040 and there are firefighters who are doing extraordinary courageous things right now

00:22:52.900 to keep Californians safe, and we are grateful, we are praying for their safety right now.

00:22:58.360 But at the same time, it is only right to ask,

00:23:03.660 are there policies that are put in place by government that have made this worse?

00:23:08.800 Because we should be asking, what can we do to prevent this next time?

00:23:13.220 What can we do to minimize the risk next time?

00:23:15.600 What can we do to keep people safe the next time?

00:23:20.700 And I want to play in particular a clip from one of those appointed leaders of the California Fire Department

00:23:29.040 where she says straight up that the ability to rescue people from fires is not her priority.

00:23:40.620 But play the clip for us.

00:23:42.900 Yeah, this is part of that three-year plan that the fire chief laid out.

00:23:47.360 It was a three-year plan for diversity, equity, and inclusion.

00:23:50.380 So the second command of the Los Angeles Fire Department is the assistant chief, Kristen Larson.

00:23:56.100 And this is what she said about her role and her job and bringing more women on. 1.00

00:24:03.420 You want to see somebody that responds to your house, your emergency,

00:24:07.080 whether it's a medical call or a fire call, that looks like you.

00:24:10.140 It gives that person a little bit more ease,

00:24:12.560 knowing that somebody might understand their situation better.

00:24:15.480 Is she strong enough to do this?

00:24:17.080 Or you couldn't carry my husband out of a fire?

00:24:19.460 Which my response is, he got himself in the wrong place if I have to carry him out of a fire.

00:24:23.600 So I've got to say, that sentence, you couldn't carry my husband out of a fire.

00:24:32.500 My response is, he got himself in the wrong place if I have to carry him out of a fire.

00:24:38.300 That is a stunning abdication of basic responsibility.

00:24:44.020 She says, well, you want to see a firefighter who looks like you. 0.98

00:24:47.560 No, I want to see a big dude who can get my ass out of a burning building and save my family. 0.94

00:24:52.840 Like the idea, you know, she is admitting right there that they are hiring firefighters 0.69

00:25:00.160 who are unable to carry someone out of harm's way.

00:25:03.940 And it is, it's the same arrogant contempt, as I said, that we see from George Soros prosecutors

00:25:12.560 that are not doing their basic job because politics matters more to them

00:25:19.960 than doing the basic services of keeping people safe that Americans rightly expect from their government.

00:25:28.440 Well, and then you have another breakdown that's happening within this breakdown.

00:25:32.520 And I just want to highlight it because you go back to hiring.

00:25:35.660 Many of the same issues that we're talking about here with the fire department

00:25:38.700 have also affected the Los Angeles Police Department.

00:25:42.000 And Local Channel 5 in LA, KTLA, had this report.

00:25:47.940 Now, this is one of the reporters you're going to hear first.

00:25:50.760 Then talking to one of, I guess, her neighbors, and this woman is describing hundreds of thieves

00:25:58.800 that are ransacking homes, abandoned during the fires, with zero police presence to stop them.

00:26:07.180 And a lot of this, they now say, is going back to the same policies that we've seen,

00:26:11.040 allowing for massive looting of stores and stealing of things at Walgreens and CVS

00:26:16.520 that are under $1,000 because there are activists that have been put in charge at the DA's office

00:26:22.080 and in the police department, just like at the fire department.

00:26:25.260 And now what you're seeing is this.

00:26:27.660 It was wild.

00:26:29.780 We just started seeing all these cars pull up, doors open,

00:26:34.520 and groups of men running up our street going up to the doors of these houses.

00:26:38.220 And we weren't sure what was going on.

00:26:39.700 I'm thinking, are these people here to help my neighbors?

00:26:42.480 I hope so.

00:26:43.260 And I left, and then my husband talked to the police and said,

00:26:47.060 what are those guys doing?

00:26:48.040 These guys don't live here.

00:26:49.240 Get them out.

00:26:50.500 My next-door neighbor said, his quote,

00:26:53.920 there were like 100 people that came up on scooters

00:26:57.120 and were trying to get into any and all houses on the street.

00:27:00.620 And did you physically see police officers stopping them?

00:27:03.940 I didn't, but it's not to say that they weren't.

00:27:06.700 It was so incredibly chaotic,

00:27:08.220 and I was so worried about my big family

00:27:11.380 and getting them out of our old tinderbox of a house

00:27:15.100 that I was just focused on them first.

00:27:17.660 This is when you know you've lost society in your city.

00:27:20.440 I mean, when the Los Angeles woman is reporting that,

00:27:22.640 quote, hundreds of thieves are ransacking their homes

00:27:25.000 and getting out of dozens and dozens of cars

00:27:27.320 with no police presence to stop them,

00:27:29.760 and then you see that with the policies that we're now hearing about,

00:27:33.080 now you understand why so many people are so angry.

00:27:35.580 Look, when politicians put their own radical politics

00:27:41.320 ahead of doing their basic job,

00:27:44.440 these are the consequences.

00:27:46.860 And I will say, I want to play another clip,

00:27:51.500 a clip from Adam Carolla,

00:27:52.880 because you might say, well, maybe the policies

00:27:55.240 that the Democrat politicians have put in place in L.A.,

00:27:58.400 maybe they're not that bad.

00:28:00.720 Listen to this firsthand account that Adam Carolla describes.

00:28:05.580 Geez, I want to talk about my white privilege so badly.

00:28:10.880 I graduated North Hollywood High with a 1.7 GPA.

00:28:14.620 I could not find a job.

00:28:16.080 I walked to a fire station in North Hollywood.

00:28:18.600 I was 19.

00:28:19.520 I was living in the garage of my family home.

00:28:22.240 My mom was on welfare and food stamps.

00:28:24.160 And I said, can I get a job as a fireman? 0.64

00:28:26.780 And they said, no, because you're not black, Hispanic, or a woman. 0.93

00:28:31.200 We'll see you in about seven years. 0.98

00:28:33.440 And I went to a construction site and dug ditches and picked up garbage for the next seven years.

00:28:38.460 I got a letter in the mail sent to my father's house saying,

00:28:42.780 your time has come to do the written exam for the L.A. Fire Department.

00:28:47.320 I took it and I was standing in line.

00:28:49.840 And I had a young woman of color standing behind me in line. 1.00

00:28:52.500 And I said, just out of curiosity, when did you sign up to become a fireman?

00:28:56.880 Because I did it or a person seven years ago.

00:29:00.020 And she said, Wednesday, that is an example of my white privilege.

00:29:05.220 It's Wednesday.

00:29:07.700 This is him telling the story.

00:29:09.560 And again, this is all about that.

00:29:11.300 And that's his own story, his own direct experience.

00:29:13.820 So L.A. is openly, directly discriminating.

00:29:18.220 They're discriminating based on race.

00:29:19.720 They're discriminating based based on sex.

00:29:22.600 And and listen, I'll tell you what when I go.

00:29:25.680 So so, you know, I've visited a number of firehouses and thank firefighters.

00:29:29.480 In Texas and met with them, particularly in the wake of disasters to go go meet with them.

00:29:35.400 And I'll tell you, the firefighters you see in Texas are almost all big dudes that are like capable of carrying carrying bodies out of a fire,

00:29:45.960 rescuing people that that are really large and really strong.

00:29:51.480 And that apparently is not about what you just said.

00:29:54.980 They my dad said when when he was young and we had this conversation earlier days, police me said firemen had a fireman test.

00:30:02.900 If you couldn't carry someone down a stairwell who was in a wheelchair, you weren't qualified. 1.00

00:30:09.300 That was the standard back in the day.

00:30:11.040 It didn't matter if you're black or white or a man or woman.

00:30:12.940 You had to be able to do that because that was what they described as one of the worst case scenarios.

00:30:17.980 And by the way, I'll tell you a personal story.

00:30:21.840 So my mom, as you know, is 90 and she lives in a high rise here in Houston.

00:30:26.720 She's up on the 26th floor and and the power went out in her building.

00:30:32.460 And so they had to evacuate the building.

00:30:34.680 And and my mom has limited mobility. 0.59

00:30:38.360 She uses a walker.

00:30:39.560 So there there was no way she could go down the stairs.

00:30:44.000 That was impossible.

00:30:44.820 And so Houston firefighters carried my mother down 26 flights of stairs. 0.52

00:30:51.040 And and and I mean, it was and they were just doing their job.

00:30:53.220 And it wasn't because she was my mom.

00:30:54.920 They were helping all the residents down.

00:30:56.380 That was just what firefighters do.

00:30:58.800 And and I, you know, I actually sought out those firefighters and thank them because it really looked my mom was scared.

00:31:05.420 That's a that's a traumatic experience.

00:31:08.460 And, you know, firefighters, that's a core part of the job is being able to do that.

00:31:14.020 All right.

00:31:14.580 And I also think it's important for us to talk about the other aspect of this.

00:31:18.200 And that is about the water.

00:31:21.120 Gavin Newsom, he made this an issue.

00:31:24.060 He was obsessed with water and fish and and all of this kumbaya ism.

00:31:29.940 And he had press conferences about it.

00:31:31.800 And now that's coming back to haunt him as well.

00:31:33.960 Well, there's no doubt the water policies have have greatly exacerbated the problems with with wildfires and the ability to fight the wildfires.

00:31:45.180 And and listen, L.A. right now is is facing a drought.

00:31:49.560 And at the same time, California is dumping massive quantities of fresh water into the ocean.

00:31:56.640 They're wasting it.

00:31:58.600 Here's here's what Donald Trump said yesterday when he came.

00:32:01.560 He was he was he was in the Senate.

00:32:02.920 He met with with me and all the Republican senators.

00:32:05.980 We spent about two hours with him.

00:32:07.420 And what he said is he said he said that Gavin Newsom wanted to protect an essentially worthless fish called a smelt,

00:32:14.140 but didn't care about the people of California.

00:32:17.100 Now the ultimate price is being paid.

00:32:19.200 I will demand that this incompetent governor allow beautiful, clean, fresh water to flow into California. 0.99

00:32:25.460 He is to blame for this.

00:32:26.860 Now, let's lay out the facts that go behind this.

00:32:30.420 So California's main water hub is the Sacramento San Joaquin River Delta.

00:32:37.040 And among other things, the state of California has been refusing to provide sufficient water to California farmers.

00:32:44.140 And as I said, they're dumping it in the Pacific Ocean instead.

00:32:47.200 And and the reason they're doing so is because of because of a fish, a fish called the Delta smelt.

00:32:58.960 And so Trump, when he was president, wanted to divert supply to the farmers.

00:33:06.880 And in response, environmental groups argue that it would hurt the population of Delta smelt, small fish that were once crucial to California's ecosystem,

00:33:19.080 but has since been rendered effectively extinct.

00:33:21.720 So Trump first promised, and this is from the New York Post, Trump first promised to redirect California's northern runoff south to benefit farmers when he was running for president in 2016.

00:33:33.760 And he made good on the promise in 2020 with a federal memorandum that redirected millions of gallons of water he said was otherwise needlessly flushed into the ocean.

00:33:45.720 So that's what Trump did in 2020.

00:33:48.860 But what did Gavin Newsom do?

00:33:50.180 He sued the federal government to stop that water from from going to to California farmers.

00:33:57.920 Days later, Newsom's administration sued to block Trump's move, and he succeeded in limiting the amount of water that can be pumped from the Sacramento, San Joaquin Delta.

00:34:10.000 This is and now we're facing the enormous frustration of people in Los Angeles when they don't have sufficient water.

00:34:20.180 To fight these wildfires and yet Gavin Newsom continues to to to to fight for not directing water anywhere other than fixing these problems.

00:34:37.920 You listen to Governor Newsom and bragging about not only what you described, but bragging about tearing down dams to save fish because woke activists said you got to do it.

00:34:49.440 This is again the consequences of actions here is Gavin Newsom cheering on how brilliant his idea was when he did it.

00:34:59.440 The largest dam removal project in U.S. history and one of the most significant, if not the most significant water restoration project, bringing back salmon and steelhead into this basin.

00:35:13.900 This project could not have happened without extraordinary partnerships with tribal nations and, of course, our partners in the north and Oregon.

00:35:23.040 Just finished a celebration with the Secretary of the Interior and our tribal council and tribal leaders, and I couldn't be more proud as a Californian, and I couldn't be more proud as a father, because my kids and their great-great-grandkids will have the opportunity to see something that, well, has been here since time immemorial, and it's about damn time we got this time.

00:35:44.640 That's not you and me characterizing what he did.

00:35:48.900 That's in his own words, saying how incredibly proud he is of, quote, the largest dam removal project in U.S. history.

00:35:58.040 That's a policy decision he made.

00:36:01.240 Now, what are the consequences of this?

00:36:03.700 Give a listen to Gavin Newsom being asked about L.A. not having water in its fire hydrants.

00:36:09.940 Here was his answer during this crisis.

00:36:12.560 What is the situation with the water?

00:36:14.420 Obviously, in the Palisades, it ran out last night in the hydrants.

00:36:17.100 I was trying to find the firefighter in this block.

00:36:18.740 They left because there was no water in the hydrant here.

00:36:21.200 The local folks are trying to figure that out.

00:36:23.760 I mean, just when you have a system where it's not dissimilar to what we've seen in other extraordinarily large-scale fires, whether it be pipe electricity, or whether it just be the complete overwhelm of the system.

00:36:34.680 I mean, those hydrants are typical for two or three fires, maybe one fire.

00:36:38.300 You have something at this scale, but, again, that's going to be determined by the local.

00:36:41.460 Not my problem.

00:36:43.300 It's the local people.

00:36:44.420 And he literally, as he's saying this, threw his hands up in the air on national TV like, this is, I guess, below my pay grade?

00:36:51.440 You ask the local officials?

00:36:52.760 Not my problem as the governor.

00:36:53.940 So, local folks are going to figure that out.

00:36:57.780 Not my job.

00:36:59.380 Without taking any responsibility for his decisions, he's literally sued the federal government to block money going to Californians and bragged about how proud he is of the largest dam removal in U.S. history.

00:37:14.780 And, by the way, you know, he's also trying to put all the blame on local officials, and I agree the local officials had policies in place that had a significant consequence.

00:37:25.680 But I'll tell you also, so did Gavin Newsom.

00:37:32.180 You know, we talked a minute ago about firefighters and Karen Bass slashing the budget for the fire department. 1.00

00:37:41.160 Well, last year, Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have let Cal Fire, the statewide fire agency, retain seasonal firefighters to help with staffing shortages.

00:37:53.800 And his veto forced the layoff of thousands of seasonal firefighters.

00:37:59.760 This is from Kate Sanchez, who is a California assemblywoman, and who goes on to say his veto forced the layoff of thousands of seasonal firefighters who he never replaced despite his promises.

00:38:15.300 This is negligence of the highest orders.

00:38:18.100 And I want to read to you.

00:38:19.540 So this is September 22nd, 2024, so not very long, just a few months ago.

00:38:26.260 Office of the governor, quote, to the members of the California State Assembly, I am returning Assembly Bill 2538 without my signature.

00:38:34.840 The bill would, among other things, require the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, Cal Fire, to employ seasonal firefighters through the use of an employment list.

00:38:43.900 This bill would also require the Department of Human Resources to coordinate with the State Personnel Board and any other relevant state agency to take the necessary actions to allow Cal Fire to employ seasonal firefighters for longer than nine months in a consecutive 12-month period.

00:38:59.220 Increasing Cal Fire's capacity is an important objective.

00:39:02.080 And with the introduction of the 66-hour work week for firefighters, my administration will need to hire more than 2,000 new year-round firefighters.

00:39:10.360 Note that California Assemblywoman said he didn't do that.

00:39:14.300 Significantly increasing the Department's capacity in the off-season.

00:39:18.260 This bill is therefore unnecessary.

00:39:21.560 So he vetoes hiring more firefighters, just like the mayor of Los Angeles did.

00:39:34.860 And I want you to listen to this exchange.

00:39:38.120 This exchange, when Gavin Newsom is confronted by a woman asking for answers about his disastrous policies, give a listen to this exchange.

00:39:54.980 Governor, you got a second?

00:39:56.860 No.

00:39:57.920 Governor, Governor, I live here, Governor.

00:40:00.900 That was my daughter's school, Governor.

00:40:03.040 Please tell me what you're going to do.

00:40:04.380 I'm not going to hurt him, I promise.

00:40:05.540 I'm literally talking to the president right now to specifically answer the question of what we can do for you and your daughter.

00:40:12.700 Can I hear it?

00:40:13.640 Can I hear your call?

00:40:14.780 Because I don't believe it.

00:40:17.260 I'm sorry.

00:40:18.360 There's literally, I've tried five times, that's why I'm walking around to make the call.

00:40:21.880 Why is the president not taking your call?

00:40:24.320 Because it's not going through.

00:40:25.620 Why?

00:40:25.920 So I have to get self-service.

00:40:26.920 So let's get it.

00:40:27.800 Let's get it.

00:40:28.320 I want to be here when you call the president.

00:40:30.080 I appreciate it.

00:40:30.820 I'm doing that right now.

00:40:31.920 And it's to immediately get reimbursements, individual assistance, and to help young girl.

00:40:37.240 Devastating for me, I'm so sorry.

00:40:39.100 Especially for your daughter.

00:40:40.800 I have four kids losing the school.

00:40:43.120 Everyone who went to school there, they lost their homes.

00:40:46.580 They lost two homes because they were living in one building in another.

00:40:50.460 Governor, please tell me, tell me, what are you going to do with the president right now?

00:40:53.700 We're getting the resources to help rebuild.

00:40:56.800 Why was there no water in the hydrants, Governor?

00:41:00.080 That's all literally.

00:41:01.480 Is it going to be different next time?

00:41:03.300 It has to be.

00:41:04.520 It has to be.

00:41:05.220 Of course.

00:41:05.780 What are you going to do?

00:41:06.740 To fill the hydrants.

00:41:08.060 I would fill them up personally.

00:41:09.560 You know that.

00:41:10.260 I literally have to.

00:41:11.000 I would fill up the hydrants myself.

00:41:13.300 I understand.

00:41:14.280 But would you do that?

00:41:15.340 I would do whatever I can.

00:41:16.880 But you're not.

00:41:18.100 I see the, do you know there's water dripping over there, Governor?

00:41:21.440 There's water coming out there.

00:41:22.900 You can use it.

00:41:23.920 I appreciate it.

00:41:24.700 I'm going to make the call to address everything I can right now, including making sure people

00:41:29.960 are safe.

00:41:30.380 I'd like to make sure you do it.

00:41:31.200 Can I have an opportunity to at least tell people you're doing what you're saying you're

00:41:34.880 doing?

00:41:35.260 Thank you.

00:41:35.820 Could somebody have a contact?

00:41:37.720 Can I have your contact information right now?

00:41:40.640 Nothing like ducking into your SUV and then saying, oh, I got to take a phone call with

00:41:44.680 the president.

00:41:45.400 You move on, lady. 1.00

00:41:47.360 I hear what you're saying, but you move on.

00:41:49.400 One of the most shocking parts of that exchange, though, Senator, was the fact that both people

00:41:53.420 involved, the lady who lived there, her child's school was burned to the ground, and Gavin

00:41:58.820 Newsom are both admitting there will be a next time.

00:42:03.360 And if you know that this is a next time and you know that you deal with these fires, why

00:42:07.940 did you make all these decisions?

00:42:10.580 And it's over and over again, repeated decisions.

00:42:14.200 And he's accepting no responsibility.

00:42:18.060 He was warned about the consequences of those decisions, and yet he doesn't change them.

00:42:23.280 The mayor was warned, and she doesn't change them.

00:42:26.780 And look, his first reaction when the woman comes up is to lie to her.

00:42:30.260 Oh, I'm on the phone with the president right now, and I got to give the woman credit. 0.65

00:42:33.940 It's, you know, it's, you know, the old trick pretending to be on a phone call.

00:42:36.820 And she's like, great, can I listen?

00:42:37.860 And he's like, oh, well, I'm not actually on the phone, but I'm trying.

00:42:42.180 Like, it is a horrific natural disaster, a horrific crisis.

00:42:47.900 Although I say natural disaster, we're getting also multiple reports of some or all of these

00:42:54.480 fires having originated from arson.

00:42:57.440 We don't know the full details of that.

00:42:59.380 And so it may turn out that these fires are not entirely natural in their origin.

00:43:05.020 That we will find out more, hopefully, in the days ahead.

00:43:09.880 And but regardless, better forest management and mitigation could reduce the risks of these fires.

00:43:20.260 And yet the politicians in California refuse to do it.

00:43:26.440 Investing in firefighters putting the priority of doing their job and putting sufficient resources there

00:43:32.300 could make a real difference.

00:43:33.900 And yet the politicians actively refuse to do so.

00:43:37.920 Both the mayor and the governor.

00:43:40.660 And ensuring their sufficient water could make a real difference in fighting these forest fires.

00:43:48.000 And yet the elected politicians repeatedly refuse to do so and brag about how proud they are of these policies.

00:43:58.500 I hope I hope on the federal government that this this prompts a serious reconsideration of the policies of what are allowed on federal forest lands.

00:44:11.180 I know President Trump wants to see that happen.

00:44:13.180 And we will see whether our Democrat colleagues in Congress are willing to work to get that done.

00:44:19.900 Or if they will continue to double down on the same failed policies that are endangering people's lives and costing people's lives.

00:44:28.000 And I just want to close where we started.

00:44:29.700 Listen, we are praying for the people of California who are living through hell right now.

00:44:34.340 We are praying for the firefighters and police officers and first responders.

00:44:39.100 And by the way, just ordinary citizens and churches and charities who are coming together and helping each other.

00:44:45.260 And I will say, you know, in the wake of any disaster, you see people come together and help each other.

00:44:52.540 And that's an amazing, powerful thing.

00:44:55.060 But at the same time, we need to ask, are there policies that cause this disaster or made it worse?

00:45:03.480 And are there policy changes that can reduce the risk of another tragedy like this in the future?

00:45:10.660 And sadly, the answer to those questions is unquestionably yes.

00:45:15.620 And I think for that reason, a whole lot of people in California are understandably and justifiably furious right now.

00:45:23.500 No doubt about it.

00:45:24.640 Prayers for everyone affected.

00:45:26.120 We're going to keep you updated on this story.

00:45:28.060 We're going to keep following the facts so that you're armed with the facts.

00:45:31.660 So you know why this is happening, how this is happening, and everything else that we talked about on the show.

00:45:37.000 Don't forget, hit that subscribe or auto download button.

00:45:39.640 I'll keep you updated on the days in between.

00:45:41.740 We do the show Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

00:45:43.180 So download my podcast, the Ben Ferguson Podcast, for that as well.

00:45:46.980 And the center and I will see you back here on Saturday for our Week in Review.

00:45:51.860 This is an iHeart Podcast.

00:45:54.480 Guaranteed Human.

Verdict with Ted Cruz - January 10, 2025

California Inferno-the Catastrophic Policy Decisions that are Making the Wildfires Much, Much Worse

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript