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Speaker 1: We can agree to disagree, but our views are unapologetically right.
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Speaker 2: It's the John Phillips Show.
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Speaker 3: And we continue at 2.05 in the afternoon on the John Phillips Show.
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Speaker 4: Mr. Randy Wags in the San Fernando Valley.
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Speaker 5: Johnny, we're broadcasting live on the radio, 790 KABC in Southern California, 810 KSFO in the Bay Area. And we're also broadcasting on video every single day from noon to three at johnnydontlike.com. And something that we can do because we haven't sold the live show yet is we play a lot of older segments during that long news break from 5850 till 05 past the top of the hour. And I'm sitting here chuckling at some of the Shang stories that we did earlier this week. It was a good old time. So you want even more content, you get it at johnnydontlike.com. Until we sell this thing. Then you'll get ads.
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Speaker 3: Now, speaking of Shang, what do you say we do a Shang update right now?
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Speaker 4: Oh, you want a Shang update? I can give you a Shang update.
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Speaker 5: We have a brand new update in the corruption trial for one Shang-I-Tao, the former mayor of the city of Dumpy, who was recalled by her constituents for a massive spike in crime and a crooked Coliseum deal, among a lot of other things. Let me switch to today's lower thirds. The latest update in the Shang-Tao trial is that One of the people who was secretly recording all of these meetings between the Dongs and Mario Juarez wasn't Andy Dong. Turns out Mario Juarez's girlfriend was working for the Dongs, and she knew something doesn't smell right about any of this, so I better record all of these conversations when all of a sudden Mario goes missing.
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Speaker 6: That's right.
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Speaker 4: I like that.
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Speaker 7: That was amazing.
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Speaker 5: So for even more hidden tapes in the corrupt dealings between the Dong family, the Shangis, the Andres, and the Marios, here is our latest episode of, you know, I'm dumb calling this as the Shangtaos.
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Speaker 4: We're changing it now.
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Speaker 5: This segment every single day is just going to be called Dumb Mafia because that's what this is. It is the dumbest mafia movie you've never seen.
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Speaker 3: And given that tease that you just gave, or that setup, I guess I should say, it sounds like Mario Juarez's wife has more photos of the dongs on her phone than Conor McGregor.
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Speaker 5: To be clear, I think it's ex-girlfriend, not current wife. But let's see what's going on here.
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Speaker 4: Shanghai is back in court. There she is today.
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Speaker 5: Look at Shangi. Blazer in a dress, my girl. Trying to impress the jury, are we? Smiling for the camera.
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Speaker 8: Testimony in the federal.
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Speaker 4: Look, there's Dan Noyce.
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Speaker 3: This trial is like the last episode of Seinfeld for us.
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Speaker 4: It really is.
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Speaker 5: And it has enough characters in this trial that it feels like it too.
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Speaker 8: Corruption trial of the former Oakland mayor. An ex-girlfriend of the government's key witness testified about secret recordings capturing discussions about money and alleged city deals. NBC's Valena Jones was in court.
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Speaker 9: He said, yeah, but I need money. He said, I said, Andre, last time we talked, we said that you were going to, you were not going to get any more money from us until you deliver the deal.
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Speaker 5: So what he's talking about here, this is a, recorded call that Mario Juarez's girlfriend recorded between Mario Juarez and one of the dongs about how Andre was like, give me more money.
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Speaker 4: I need more money. And they're like, dude, you.
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Speaker 5: Haven't convinced your dumb girlfriend to buy any shipping containers yet. We don't have any money for you. Poor Shangy.
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Speaker 9: I'm not delivering a deal.
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Speaker 10: That's businessman Mario Juarez, a key government witness discussing Andre Jones with David Duong in.
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Speaker 11: A secret recording.
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Speaker 10: Today, Juarez's ex-girlfriend and mother of his child testified she secretly recorded evolutionary homes meetings in 2023.
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Speaker 5: To be clear, this is not Mario Juarez's wife. It's Mario Juarez's baby mama.
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Speaker 10: In 2024 and eventually turn them over to the FBI. Prosecutors say Cecilia Mendez's recordings help show a bribery scheme involving former Oakland Mayor Shane Tao, Jones, and businessmen David and Andy Duong. The government alleges the Duongs conspired with.
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Speaker 5: Oh look, there's all the people that are either working for the Duongs or literally being paid to hold up signs saying that The Dong family is being discriminated against.
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Speaker 3: Let's read some of these signs. We stand with David Dong and the Dong family.
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Speaker 4: Stand with David Dong. Stand for fairness. Mario scammed over 200 people. Yeah, that one's probably true.
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Speaker 5: But he states witness now because, don't forget, the Dongs tried to bump him off.
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Speaker 4: Unfair media coverage.
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Speaker 5: In very illegible writing, challenge Mario's credibility, question mark?
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Speaker 4: This family is so crooked.
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Speaker 10: Paying them to get city contracts for their companies, California Waste Solution and Evolutionary Homes.
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Speaker 11: Juarez has already pleaded guilty.
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Speaker 9: I know that we should have the city administrator assign to us Larry Gallegos to do this project, and we have not had him. How does he go to Mexico to collect? If he goes to Mexico, I'm going to kill him.
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Speaker 4: Laughter Don't forget, this is the star witness for the prosecution.
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Speaker 9: He won't come back alive.
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Speaker 10: Cecilia Mendez testified Juarez asked her to take meetings, but she secretly recorded instead.
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Speaker 5: She knew someday this is all going to be in a courtroom.
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Speaker 4: And she was right.
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Speaker 11: He received immunity for her testimony.
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Speaker 10: Defense attorneys challenged her motive, pointing out she never used the recordings to produce meeting notes.
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Speaker 9: Say not to the order. She's not going to order? Yes, until the county order first.
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Speaker 10: In another clip, David Duong says Tao wouldn't commit Oakland to buying their modular homes until the county committed first.
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Speaker 4: So she wanted to make sure that the heat was not on her.
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Speaker 3: She was willing to do it, but she wanted someone else to jump into the pool first.
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Speaker 5: It's like, yeah, who's going to jump in first? Who's the first person brave enough to leave the party? She's dumb, but she's not so dumb to be the first city to go for this obviously crooked contract with the shipping containers. She was probably sure if she just waited, Brian Acevedo would get San Leandro to do it first, too.
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Speaker 11: A position that sparked disagreement with Juarez.
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Speaker 8: Help them to clear that they have no trouble later. There's no liability, there's no trouble that we.
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Speaker 7: Created for them later.
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Speaker 9: It's not because I promised you, so yeah, I'm ready.
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Speaker 1: I will go to jail for this. You know that.
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Speaker 5: These people all know what they're doing is going to get them in jail, but they're dumb enough to go for it anyway.
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Speaker 4: And all record each other saying it. This is interesting, too.
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Speaker 5: This might be the first time we've ever heard David Dong, Daddy Dong, talking in these secretly recorded calls.
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Speaker 9: Consequences to not keeping your end of the bargain. But that's her decision.
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Speaker 10: On cross-examination, defense attorneys also highlighted Mendez's prior convictions, including grand theft.
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Speaker 5: So you're saying Wario Juarez's baby mama is a criminal, too?
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Speaker 4: I'm shocked.
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Speaker 3: Everyone involved in this story is a complete dirtbag.
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Speaker 10: In her continuing financial and personal ties to Juarez, she testified they remained in regular contact and spoke as recently as this morning. In Oakland, Felina Jones, NBC Bay Area News.
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Speaker 4: So there you go.
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Speaker 5: That is our latest update in the Shang Tao trial. As it turns out, Mario Juarez's baby mama... was taping all of the conversations going on between Juarez and the Dongs about apparently trying to kill somebody in Mexico over this shipping container deal.
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Speaker 3: So that's the latest on the Shanghai trial. And Randy, let's move on to yet another race on the California ballot. It's not just the race for L.A. mayor that has two bad options. The race for California insurance commissioner, also has two bad options. We know that the incumbent, Ricardo Lara, is termed out. He can't run for a third term. And now we're going to have a choice between a DSA Democrat and a standard partisan Democrat.
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Speaker 9: I'm very kind of sketched.
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Speaker 5: And the question is, Hey, are either of these two taking any money from the insurance companies, you know, like Ricardo Lara promised he would and then did?
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Speaker 4: Trailblazing is rarely comfortable, yo. For more, here is ABC 10 in Sacramento.
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Speaker 12: Both candidates running to become California's next insurance commissioner have promised not to accept campaign contributions from the insurance industry. but industry money.
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Speaker 4: What about getting paid?
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Speaker 3: Why is it that it's so taboo for the insurance commissioner candidates to not accept money from insurance companies, but it's perfectly fine for Rob Bonta to solicit campaign contributions from entities that he's investigating?
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Speaker 4: That is a very, very, very good question, Bobbethy.
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Speaker 12: Is still influencing this race. CBS 10's Becca Habegger shows us where that money is going. And also hear us from both candidates.
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Speaker 13: Civil rights attorney and former San Francisco supervisor Jane Kim and current state Senator Ben Allen, both Democrats, are running to become California's next insurance commissioner.
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Speaker 5: Did they both decide at the same time that the way that they look like they're the right person for the job is with glasses that make them look 20 years older?
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Speaker 4: Maybe.
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Speaker 2: My number one mandate is making insurance affordable, available, and fair.
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Speaker 14: We desperately need to get a handle on this crisis with regards to insurance availability and affordability.
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Speaker 13: This statewide elected position oversees and regulates the insurance industry here in California. And this year, according to the non-profit, non-partisan news organization CalMatters, a record amount of outside spending is pouring into this race. More than $ 6 million raised by political action committees, which operate separately from the official campaigns. These PACs have spent about $ 3. 2 million to support State Senator Ben Allen.
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Speaker 5: So don't you worry, he will definitely hold the insurance companies accountable.
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Speaker 3: Well, for me, the big issue in this race is that she wants you to buy your insurance from the state of California. She wants a new state agency to sell insurance. And he is going to be a continuation of Ricardo Lara. Now, Ricardo Lara has a million and one problems. One of the things he did not do was create a new state agency that will sell you your insurance. And I can tell you this, as someone who has struggled with the state of California on any number of fronts, I mean, think about dealing with the DMV. Think about trying to get any money that is owed to you from the state controller's office. Fill in the blank. If you had to apply for EDD during the COVID-19 shutdowns, you know what a nightmare it's like to deal with When you deal with the state of California, I do not want to buy my insurance through these people.
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Speaker 5: So instead, I guess the option is go with the guy who's going to continue Ricardo Lara's plan of giving the insurance companies everything they want to jack up your rates.
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Speaker 7: And I may be criticized and dragged through the mud for it and get my wig snatched as the gay guy say.
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Speaker 5: I love having my soundboard at the home studio. I have access to all the drops.
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Speaker 4: I may be criticized and dragged through the mud for it and get my wig snatched, as the gay guys say. Oh, Queenie.
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Speaker 13: And some of their funders include companies from the insurance industry. Those same groups have spent more than $ 1. 5 million to oppose his opponent, Jane Kim. Other companies that have donated to groups spending to support Allen include investor-owned utilities such as Southern California Edison and PG & E.
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Speaker 4: Oh, great.
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Speaker 5: We're also bought and paid for by the utilities, are we? No, you gotta go into this wide open. That's who he is.
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Speaker 13: I asked Allen about concerns of the industry influencing him if he wins.
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Speaker 4: I think you can look at my track record.
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Speaker 14: I've taken on.
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Speaker 5: Well, his track record is this is the daddy of the plastic bag ban.
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Speaker 4: His record in the legislature is beyond awful.
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Speaker 14: The utilities, I've taken on the insurers. I've taken on the oil industry and the petrochemical interests and all these various folks.
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Speaker 13: He highlights his experience in the legislature, writing and passing bills to make homes safer from wildfires and holding insurance companies accountable.
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Speaker 4: Hey, that's the name of our podcast.
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Speaker 3: Doesn't he represent the Pacific Palisades in the legislature?
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Speaker 5: Yes, he says he was inspired to run for this office not because he was termed out, but because he saw how many constituents were calling him because the insurance commissioner's office wouldn't call them back.
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Speaker 4: But they still can't get their money from the insurance companies and they still can't rebuild.
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Speaker 7: Yep.
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Speaker 13: He says this became deeply personal for him after watching people he represents in the Pacific Palisades lose their homes and battle insurance companies. Kim served most recently as California director for the Progressive Working Families Party. which has spent more than $ 600, 000 in supporting Kim through political action committees. Kim's campaign told CalMatters there's a strict firewall between her campaign and Working Families Party's independent expenditure decisions.
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Speaker 5: Yes, and people totally believe that there's no coordination going on between certain unions, certain parties, and certain candidates.
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Speaker 4: Never happens.
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Speaker 13: I asked each candidate what they would do to stabilize California's insurance marketplace if elected, especially the availability and affordability of homeowners insurance in the face of more frequent wildfires driving up costs. Both say they're focused on reducing risk.
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Speaker 14: So that the insurance industry that pays a lot of lip service to risk reduction work around the state is actually finally stepping up and rewarding and incentivizing that risk reduction work. And I've got a whole plan associated with that.
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Speaker 5: Sounds like the exact same thing that Ricardo Lara said he was going to do.
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Speaker 3: Okay, let's just say that he is sincere about his belief to do that. How could the insurance commissioner's office do that? Don't you need the governor to do that?
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Speaker 4: Good point.
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Speaker 9: I'm very kind of sketchy.
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Speaker 13: Says she wants to create a state-run public nonprofit to provide natural disaster insurance for all.
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Speaker 2: What we're proposing through a public nonprofit insurance program is that we actually use some of the premiums, and instead of driving it towards profits to shareholders and CEOs and buying private jets, We actually invest it back in fireproofing and floodproofing our communities to make us more resilient.
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Speaker 4: We know how this works.
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Speaker 5: Johnny, you remember when they legalized pot and they said, hey, all the money from the pot taxes is going to go towards like education and rehab and making sure that people don't get too addicted to this stuff. And the money went to a bunch of crooked nonprofits. And it went to some people who decided that what they wanted to do was get people to register to vote because that's what the pot tax is for.
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Speaker 4: Of course.
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Speaker 13: Allen calls Kim's plan unrealistic. She calls Allen's plan more of the same. Voters will decide on November 3rd. In Sacramento, Becca Habegger, ABC 10.
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Speaker 4: So there you go.
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Speaker 5: Your other race on the ballot with two awful, awful, awful candidates. But I can say this. Even though they are both uniquely awful, they're not going to be as bad as the last guy.
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Speaker 4: Hell no.
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Speaker 3: He's turned out, and he was so bad in that office, as a Democrat in California who is well-liked by the Democratic Party establishment and been elected twice statewide, before that in the leadership in the legislature, isn't even running for office because he knows he'd go through the meat grinder.
00:17:54
Speaker 4: I thought that was a bar in West Hollywood. Absolutely. Absolutely.
00:18:01
Speaker 3: It's the John Phillips Show. It's the John Phillips Show. If you'd like to email the show, you can do so at johnnydontlikeshow at gmail.com. That's johnnydontlikeshow at gmail.com. And if you want to watch us perform the show live, go to johnnydontlike.com, participate in the chat, and click that like button. Let's see how many likes we're up to on today's show.
00:18:24
Speaker 5: 415! I love it. If you haven't had a chance to do so, Stop by the website, say hi, make up your best nickname for Bobbethy Bonta, and hit the like button and hit subscribe. We're at 9,835 subscribers. I can taste it. We're going to get to 10,000 before you know it at johnnydontlike.com.
00:18:47
Speaker 3: And that's also where you can find the Accountability Podcast.
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Speaker 5: Our latest episode of the Accountability Podcast, Johnny and Robert Cahaley go over all of the things you need to know about in this Tuesday's midterms. So check it out when we sign off at 3. It's another bonus half hour of content just for you at johnnydontlike.com.
00:19:06
Speaker 4: And we're going to be in San Francisco tomorrow. We are. How exciting is this?
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Speaker 5: It's our first big live broadcast in the Bay Area at Johnny Foley's Irish Pub from noon to 3 in San Francisco's Union Square. You can get there by Muni and BART. You can get there by ferry and Waymo. You can even try driving. We're going to have a whole bunch of special guests. It is a packed show, and we're going to be there with our friend Susan Shelley from the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Association talking about Proposition 43, the local Taxpayer Protection Act. We want to make it harder to raise your taxes. Prop 43 does that, so spread the word, yeson43. com. We'll be spreading that message this Friday from noon to 3 at Johnny Foley's tomorrow.
00:19:51
Speaker 4: All right.
00:19:51
Speaker 3: It is our pleasure right now to welcome our next guest to the program. He is a candidate for governor here in the state of California. You can follow him on X at SteveHiltonX. Steve Hilton, welcome.
00:20:04
Speaker 1: Great to be with you both. How are you doing?
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Speaker 4: I'm good. I'm good. It seems like you're all over the place.
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Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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Speaker 4: I'm not going to ask you, but I bet you're tired.
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Speaker 9: You know what?
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Speaker 1: It's really interesting. I am in theory. I'm tired in theory, but not in practice. So it's like very little sleep, but somehow the energy is there because the people's energy is there. We're doing these events all over the state. Amazing crowds coming out. Something's happening. Just tonight, I'm in Fresno right now. We just did one of my favorite events that we do, the gas station takeovers. So we offered $ 3 gas today for a limited period only as a preview of what you'll get with me as governor. And the press conference we did, of course, focused on the mileage tax, which now we know Becerra is going to introduce. I will veto it. I think we can see after this blew up in that interview last night with Ashley Zavala, now we can see why he hasn't been out on the campaign trail because every time he opens his mouth, he just falls into a disaster.
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Speaker 4: We played.
00:21:09
Speaker 3: many excerpts of that interview that he did with Ashley Zavala. And if you played the drinking game, every time he said, I don't know, you would end up in the Betty Ford clinic before the end of this show. He didn't know what he was going to do about the insurance companies and the wildfires. He didn't know what he was going to do about the inmates on death row. He doesn't know what he's going to do about fill in the blank for a guy who doesn't spend his time traveling around the state, actively campaigning as candidates normally do, he's certainly not spending his time reading the newspapers because there's a whole lot he doesn't know.
00:21:47
Speaker 1: It's a desire. I've never actually seen anything like this. So, you know, most of my career has been in business. I've run restaurants, tech company here, consulting firm, you know, but I've been in and around politics, government, the media for a long time, one way or another in England and here in California, nearly 40 years. I'm just and across the world, I've helped out on campaigns across the world in nearly four decades. I've never seen such a pathetic candidate. I mean, honestly, ever. I've never seen anything like this where you've got someone running for this office who's just not even pretending to try. I mean, it's just unbelievable. And then you talk to journalists, you know, the Sacramento kind of reporters who are. saying it's not as if he's like you were just alluding to, John, it's not as if he's spending the time that he's not campaigning, preparing. I mean, you could say, well, look, you know, it's California. He expects that he's going to win with a big majority, doesn't have to campaign. That's how it always goes. So he's using that time to prepare his policies and his plans and interview people for cabinet positions and all that. appointments he's going to have with all the different. No, he's not doing any of that. And that's what journalists have mystified. What is he actually do all day? It's just unbelievable.
00:23:03
Speaker 3: Let's talk about a subject that's been generating a lot of attention this cycle, which is there are a number of races where there just aren't any good choices, including the race for mayor of Los Angeles, where two awful choices where I would just leave it blank if I left there. certainly for insurance commissioner, where we have one option who wants to create a state agency that will sell you your insurance, and another one who wants the status quo to continue what Ricardo Lara has been doing that hasn't been working. And I kind of feel like the insurance policy for all of these contests with bad choices is the governor's seat.
00:23:41
Speaker 7: Exactly.
00:23:41
Speaker 3: Because if you win for governor, then there's a check on all of these bad actors involved who will win all of these various offices at different levels of government in California.
00:23:54
Speaker 4: Do you see it that way, too?
00:23:55
Speaker 1: One hundred percent. It's actually one of the main arguments that I make, especially to people in Los Angeles, frankly, where we know we're going to have an absolute disaster as the next mayor. I mean, there's no question about that. And in fact, I made a video just specifically on that point in Fentanyl Alley. right next to MacArthur Park. By the way, isn't it outrageous that we have somewhere called Fenton? No city should have a Fenton alley.
00:24:19
Speaker 4: It's a joke.
00:24:20
Speaker 1: I mean, this is, and so I just said, look, I'm your only hope. I'm your last line of defense against the DSA, against the corruption and the chaos and the incompetence. And actually, it's not just about, I mean, it is very much about sending me to Sacramento so I can push back against the cost and the craziness that you get from there when it's 16 years of one party rule and they think they can get away with anything. Yes, it's true that I will stop the bad things happening, like the mileage tax, which I've said many times I'm gonna veto. It's actually that from the governor's office running this very large executive branch, and it's gonna be a lot smaller by the time I finish with it, you can actually do some positive things to substitute for the failure of the others. For example, I've got a very strong plan to clean up the homeless encampments, to end mass homelessness. By the end of my first year, by doing things that should have been done years ago, number one, enforcing the law, get people off the streets. Number two, get people off drugs, stop the funding to the nonprofits that hand out needles and crack pipes and free drugs every single day across California with this misguided policy of what they call harm reduction. And then thirdly, by creating homeless recovery centers, We laid out the plans for the first prototype outside San Diego on federal land, an unused military facility there, where we can take people away from the streets, away from the drugs and the crime, get them clean, get their lives back on track, whether that's mental health care or addiction recovery or whatever it may be, job training. And so that's a real concrete plan that the governor can get done with or without the local politicians or with or without the legislature, frankly. So it is absolutely right. that sending me to Sacramento will be a break on the BS, on the cost, on the ever-increasing taxes. I can really make it. Even, this is the simple way of putting it, even if you don't believe that I can deliver the specific promises that I've been making, like $ 3 gas, which we were just promoting here at this gas station, or your first 150 grand tax three.
00:26:30
Speaker 14: Oh, well, whatever.
00:26:31
Speaker 1: He can't do that. You know that I'll be there saying no to all the nonsense and that itself is worth having.
00:26:40
Speaker 3: Here's another thing that really worries me. I kind of feel the same way about you that I felt about Spencer Pratt, which is if you wanted to fix LA, your opportunity was in the primary where you had a candidate who was dynamic, who was good, who had all the energy, who had, who was well read, had ideas, thought through the problems and the people of LA decided to go in a different direction and And now we're going to end up with what we're going to end up with. I feel like if you're not successful on Tuesday, Becerra will quickly become the most unpopular governor in the history of California. He is going to be the statewide carrying bass. And what we're going to end up with is a DSA candidate beating him four years from now.
00:27:25
Speaker 1: Oh, interesting. Well, look, first of all, I think that we've still got a shot at winning this. I'm just be honest. I don't never want to kind of BS people. It's always been a long shot. We've always known that it's 20 years since the Republican won. The way I've always put it is how I feel about it today, which is it's going to be very difficult to win, but it's not impossible. And therefore it's worth going for. I still believe that you've got some of the polls that show a very big lead for Becerra. They are the polls with the kind of slightly unchanging models of turnout that expect a much lower Republican turnout. All the polls that are commissioned right now in this cycle that have a different assumption about turnout show a much closer lead, closer to 10 points than 20 points, but still a lead for Becerra, no question about that. But if you take a few more points off that, because these polls tend to understate Republican support, and then you add to that the fact that every single day, and this is anecdotal, but every single day, People say to me, look, I'm a lifelong Democrat, but I'm voting for you because we've got to have a change in California. I think it's still possible. It's not a big chance, but it's a chance. And we're going to go for it very strongly right up until the last minute. But if we make progress, John, if we actually do it, you know, like, well, who knows? It's a difficult year for Republicans. But I'm in this fight for the long term. And actually, it's not just my race. What you're seeing across the state, I'm hearing it from all my friends and colleagues running in the Assembly of Congressional and so on. that our campaign is lifting them all up. I'm running many points ahead of all the Republicans in those races. And I'm helping on Prop 39 on voter ID. I'm helping on the billionaire's tax because we're energizing Republican voters. And so to me, it's a question of making progress. I agree with you about Becerra. That's a great way of putting it, statewide Karabakhs. They're very similar. That's exactly right. They're these career politicians who've never done anything else who just kind of bureaucratic mindset, completely the puppets of the machine. And I think that's right. But I think actually funnily enough, I mean, I want to stop that happening and do all the things that we want to get done now. But if he wins, then we're going to keep fighting. And I think that, you know, I'm not giving up on California.
00:29:47
Speaker 10: No way.
00:29:47
Speaker 3: Last question before you go. There's a lot of people here who are listening, who have friends, family, neighbors, people they go to church with, they work with in their social network, who hate Donald Trump, but don't like the direction the state is going in. Give them an argument to give their friends and family members who are looking for a reason to try something different.
00:30:11
Speaker 1: So there are only two names on the ballot for governor, myself and Becerra. It's a very simple choice. With him, you get four more years of this. If you're happy with the way things are going in California, fine, go with him. But if you want things to change and if you want a bit of balance, I'm your only hope and I will deliver the changes. Now, I'm a very independent-minded person. You can see from the way I fought this campaign. I don't take orders from the White House. I won't take orders from Sacramento. It's the first time I've run for office. I'm an outsider. You talk to anyone I worked with in the UK government, they'll tell you I'm my own person. And so I'm not just going to be dictated to by the White House. But of course, it's useful, I think, to have someone as governor who actually has a good relationship with people in the administration so we can get things done. I'm a pragmatic problem solver with business experience, government reform experience, media experience to make the argument for change. And I got plans that everyone can get behind. They're not ideological. They're not divisive. It's not all these things that we can disagree about. It's $ 3 gas, your first 150 grand tax-free, $ 73 vehicle registration, and cleaning up the homeless encampments. These are all common sense things. that we've been doing it the same way for 16 years, one party rule. It is obviously time for something different.
00:31:33
Speaker 4: Just try it.
00:31:34
Speaker 1: You're still gonna have, if you're a Democrat, let's just speak directly, that it's very likely the Democrats will still control the state legislature with a two-thirds majority. Democrats are gonna run every big city, every big county. Democrats have the state Supreme Court with a six-one majority. Is it really so bad? to have one Republican in one position to actually offer some balance and a check against the cost and the craziness. That's, I think, a very reasonable argument. And let's just try it. You know, if you don't like it in four years, you can go back to one party rule.
00:32:11
Speaker 3: The website is Steve Hilton for Governor. You can follow him on X at Steve Hilton X. Steve Hilton, thanks so much for being here.
00:32:19
Speaker 1: Great to see you, John.
00:32:20
Speaker 4: Thank you. It's the John Phillips Show. Did you change again?
00:32:24
Speaker 5: Well, here's the thing. At 2 o'clock, an Amazon package got dropped off. My wife ordered me a bunch of Halloween shirts because we're going to be in San Francisco for Halloween, and I don't own anything. I don't have any costumes. I don't have any Halloween-themed shirts. So she sent me three to try on. I tried during the commercial breaks, and I like two of them a lot. So right now we have a flash poll. It's only going to go on for the next seven minutes. but I need you, the audience, to decide at johnnydontlike.com. Do I show up at our event at Johnny Foley's tomorrow in this Dia de los Muertos shirt or in this pumpkin shirt? I need you to vote pumpkins or Dia de los Muertos. I will end the poll at 258, and whatever the winner is is the shirt that I'm going to wear on Friday, and then the other shirt will be the shirt that I wear on Saturday. So if you want to see the skulls, vote for Dia de los Muertos. If you want to see pumpkins, vote for pumpkins. I'm happy with either one. I am very excited that I'm going to walk around San Francisco in one of these shirts.
00:33:29
Speaker 4: So please vote.
00:33:30
Speaker 5: It is currently literally 50-50, which in the event of a tie, I don't know what I do. I guess I wear them on top of each other. Vote in this poll. It's only open for the next six minutes, johnnydontlike.com. And I will wear whichever one you choose at our event at Johnny Foley's tomorrow in San Francisco's Union Square.
00:33:51
Speaker 3: Wait, isn't Dia de los Muertos a different holiday? Well, it's the day after Halloween, but it's close enough. I mean, our event's not on Halloween proper. It's on the day before Halloween. Someone in the chat wants you to go shirtless.
00:34:07
Speaker 5: We want people to attend this event, Johnny. We don't want people running out and screaming. Not doing that. Now, after a couple of drinks at Johnny Foley's, anything could happen, but I'm not guaranteeing anything.
00:34:24
Speaker 3: Well, you go shirtless, you could say it's Halloween themed. Just say that your nipples are the candy corns.
00:34:31
Speaker 5: She didn't get it here on time, but she also had a shirt that was coming to the house, but it's not going to make it before I have to leave the airport. It's just a t-shirt that says, This is my costume. Hand me my beer. I would have liked that as well. I've never done a city like San Francisco at Halloween. This is very exciting.
00:34:52
Speaker 3: All right, Randy, it's time to reopen the California Crime Blotter.
00:34:56
Speaker 4: Oh, yes, it is. Here we go. It's happened yet again. I see. Time for the California Crime Blotter. And this edition takes us to Ladera Heights.
00:35:11
Speaker 5: Where neighbors are sick of all the burglaries, especially when the jackass kids get arrested and get out right again. For more, here is NBCLA.
00:35:21
Speaker 15: Now to Ladera Heights, where neighbors there are both concerned and frustrated over a string of recent burglaries. One neighbor tells us some neighborhoods are being hit several times a week. NBC4' s Karma Dickerson joining us live now in Ladera Heights with the response from law enforcement and the community tonight. Karma.
00:35:39
Speaker 7: Yeah, so this is a pretty small community, so these burglaries are hitting pretty hard. For some context, there are about 7,000 households, if you include Ladera Heights, neighboring View Park and Windsor Hills. And according to NBC4 Investigates, there have been about 14 burglaries just in the last month in this area.
00:35:58
Speaker 4: That is a high number.
00:36:03
Speaker 7: So neighbors are demanding some action. In the middle of the day. Hopping fences.
00:36:10
Speaker 11: Ignoring alarms.
00:36:15
Speaker 7: Breaking glass. And disrupting surveillance cameras.
00:36:19
Speaker 4: Wait, I thought crime was down. Oh yeah, aren't you smart enough to read the statistics?
00:36:26
Speaker 6: All my jewelry, my watches, my glasses, all of my wife's bags, they took everything.
00:36:30
Speaker 4: Everything.
00:36:31
Speaker 6: They just wiped us out completely.
00:36:32
Speaker 7: The first time, yes, the first time it happened to this Ladera Heights homeowner, it was December.
00:36:38
Speaker 6: Suspects went to just about six buildings away from us and they did the same thing to another person. Fortunately, they caught them. However, they had to release two of the kids because.
00:36:47
Speaker 4: They were minors.
00:36:48
Speaker 7: And nine months later, another break-in.
00:36:51
Speaker 5: See, if you're a minor, we don't actually do anything to you. So they learned very quickly you can commit these crimes over and over again. In fact, the gangs recruit the kids to do all the stealing because they know we're not going to do anything to them.
00:37:07
Speaker 6: They didn't care. Because they knew they had about maybe 10 minutes to do whatever they have to do and to be gone.
00:37:11
Speaker 7: With the burglar still on the loose, this man didn't want to reveal his identity. But he felt it was important to share his story.
00:37:18
Speaker 1: Everyone's on edge.
00:37:19
Speaker 7: Because it's the story of a growing number of his neighbors. It's just been break-ins like week after week, sometimes multiple in the same week. Tucked in between Culver City, Englewood, and the city of L.A., the unincorporated community of Ladera Heights typically flies under the radar.
00:37:35
Speaker 5: Johnny, what have we always said about unincorporated parts of L.A.
00:37:38
Speaker 4: County? You are on your own.
00:37:42
Speaker 5: So that part of town, Ladera Heights near Culver City in Englewood, you want to know who the de facto mayor of Ladera Heights is?
00:37:51
Speaker 4: That would be Holly Mitchell. It's Holly Chili Willie Mitchell. Quite frankly, Chili Willie.
00:38:00
Speaker 7: But increasingly, neighbors tell us they're being targeted, and they've got the video to prove it.
00:38:05
Speaker 4: But I think I've probably had the most close encounter.
00:38:07
Speaker 7: Joshua Kissy is surrounded on all sides by neighbors who have been burglarized. Two weeks ago, he saw suspected burglars fleeing a neighbor's home with their arms full.
00:38:16
Speaker 4: They're like 18, 19 years old.
00:38:17
Speaker 14: You can tell their kids their stature, how they carry themselves, how they were speaking to me in that moment.
00:38:22
Speaker 7: Kissy has been one of the people leading the charge, rallying the community to be vigilant. Their calls for action led to a packed community meeting last week attended by L.A. County Supervisor Holly Mitchell and Sheriff Robert Luna.
00:38:34
Speaker 5: Oh, there's a crack dynamic duo that's going to get to the bottom of this.
00:38:38
Speaker 7: Mitchell says a big takeaway is everyone has a role in bringing down burglaries.
00:38:43
Speaker 10: And that will be as a result of law enforcement focus, the community stepping up their game in terms of hardening their own communities.
00:38:51
Speaker 4: That's right. We can't keep you safe. You have to harden your house.
00:38:56
Speaker 3: They are willing to do just about anything to avoid saying, we need to find the people who are doing this and we need to put them in jail.
00:39:04
Speaker 5: Well, Holly ain't going to do that. That's just not going to happen. All right, Johnny, the results of the poll are in. I'm going to hit end poll in 20 seconds. So if you've got to get your vote in, you can do so. But right now it looks like there is a slim majority and there will be no recounts. There will be no do-overs.
00:39:24
Speaker 4: I'm hitting end.
00:39:25
Speaker 5: People want to see the pumpkin shirt with 52% of the vote. so I will wear the pumpkin shirt.
00:39:31
Speaker 4: On Friday and Saturday.
00:39:32
Speaker 3: Are you going to wear it to the meeting before?
00:39:34
Speaker 15: Yes.
00:39:35
Speaker 5: Larry, you're going to see my pumpkin shirt. All right, we'll see you tomorrow in San Francisco.
Speaker 1: We can agree to disagree, but our views are unapologetically right.
00:00:08
Speaker 2: It's the John Phillips Show.
00:00:17
Speaker 3: And we continue at 2.05 in the afternoon on the John Phillips Show.
00:00:22
Speaker 4: Mr. Randy Wags in the San Fernando Valley.
00:00:24
Speaker 5: Johnny, we're broadcasting live on the radio, 790 KABC in Southern California, 810 KSFO in the Bay Area. And we're also broadcasting on video every single day from noon to three at johnnydontlike.com. And something that we can do because we haven't sold the live show yet is we play a lot of older segments during that long news break from 5850 till 05 past the top of the hour. And I'm sitting here chuckling at some of the Shang stories that we did earlier this week. It was a good old time. So you want even more content, you get it at johnnydontlike.com. Until we sell this thing. Then you'll get ads.
00:01:08
Speaker 3: Now, speaking of Shang, what do you say we do a Shang update right now?
00:01:12
Speaker 4: Oh, you want a Shang update? I can give you a Shang update.
00:01:17
Speaker 5: We have a brand new update in the corruption trial for one Shang-I-Tao, the former mayor of the city of Dumpy, who was recalled by her constituents for a massive spike in crime and a crooked Coliseum deal, among a lot of other things. Let me switch to today's lower thirds. The latest update in the Shang-Tao trial is that One of the people who was secretly recording all of these meetings between the Dongs and Mario Juarez wasn't Andy Dong. Turns out Mario Juarez's girlfriend was working for the Dongs, and she knew something doesn't smell right about any of this, so I better record all of these conversations when all of a sudden Mario goes missing.
00:02:12
Speaker 6: That's right.
00:02:13
Speaker 4: I like that.
00:02:14
Speaker 7: That was amazing.
00:02:15
Speaker 5: So for even more hidden tapes in the corrupt dealings between the Dong family, the Shangis, the Andres, and the Marios, here is our latest episode of, you know, I'm dumb calling this as the Shangtaos.
00:02:32
Speaker 4: We're changing it now.
00:02:33
Speaker 5: This segment every single day is just going to be called Dumb Mafia because that's what this is. It is the dumbest mafia movie you've never seen.
00:02:46
Speaker 3: And given that tease that you just gave, or that setup, I guess I should say, it sounds like Mario Juarez's wife has more photos of the dongs on her phone than Conor McGregor.
00:02:57
Speaker 5: To be clear, I think it's ex-girlfriend, not current wife. But let's see what's going on here.
00:03:03
Speaker 4: Shanghai is back in court. There she is today.
00:03:05
Speaker 5: Look at Shangi. Blazer in a dress, my girl. Trying to impress the jury, are we? Smiling for the camera.
00:03:16
Speaker 8: Testimony in the federal.
00:03:17
Speaker 4: Look, there's Dan Noyce.
00:03:25
Speaker 3: This trial is like the last episode of Seinfeld for us.
00:03:30
Speaker 4: It really is.
00:03:31
Speaker 5: And it has enough characters in this trial that it feels like it too.
00:03:36
Speaker 8: Corruption trial of the former Oakland mayor. An ex-girlfriend of the government's key witness testified about secret recordings capturing discussions about money and alleged city deals. NBC's Valena Jones was in court.
00:03:51
Speaker 9: He said, yeah, but I need money. He said, I said, Andre, last time we talked, we said that you were going to, you were not going to get any more money from us until you deliver the deal.
00:04:03
Speaker 5: So what he's talking about here, this is a, recorded call that Mario Juarez's girlfriend recorded between Mario Juarez and one of the dongs about how Andre was like, give me more money.
00:04:16
Speaker 4: I need more money. And they're like, dude, you.
00:04:19
Speaker 5: Haven't convinced your dumb girlfriend to buy any shipping containers yet. We don't have any money for you. Poor Shangy.
00:04:28
Speaker 9: I'm not delivering a deal.
00:04:29
Speaker 10: That's businessman Mario Juarez, a key government witness discussing Andre Jones with David Duong in.
00:04:35
Speaker 11: A secret recording.
00:04:37
Speaker 10: Today, Juarez's ex-girlfriend and mother of his child testified she secretly recorded evolutionary homes meetings in 2023.
00:04:46
Speaker 5: To be clear, this is not Mario Juarez's wife. It's Mario Juarez's baby mama.
00:04:56
Speaker 10: In 2024 and eventually turn them over to the FBI. Prosecutors say Cecilia Mendez's recordings help show a bribery scheme involving former Oakland Mayor Shane Tao, Jones, and businessmen David and Andy Duong. The government alleges the Duongs conspired with.
00:05:13
Speaker 5: Oh look, there's all the people that are either working for the Duongs or literally being paid to hold up signs saying that The Dong family is being discriminated against.
00:05:26
Speaker 3: Let's read some of these signs. We stand with David Dong and the Dong family.
00:05:33
Speaker 4: Stand with David Dong. Stand for fairness. Mario scammed over 200 people. Yeah, that one's probably true.
00:05:42
Speaker 5: But he states witness now because, don't forget, the Dongs tried to bump him off.
00:05:50
Speaker 4: Unfair media coverage.
00:05:54
Speaker 5: In very illegible writing, challenge Mario's credibility, question mark?
00:06:04
Speaker 4: This family is so crooked.
00:06:08
Speaker 10: Paying them to get city contracts for their companies, California Waste Solution and Evolutionary Homes.
00:06:14
Speaker 11: Juarez has already pleaded guilty.
00:06:16
Speaker 9: I know that we should have the city administrator assign to us Larry Gallegos to do this project, and we have not had him. How does he go to Mexico to collect? If he goes to Mexico, I'm going to kill him.
00:06:30
Speaker 4: Laughter Don't forget, this is the star witness for the prosecution.
00:06:43
Speaker 9: He won't come back alive.
00:06:50
Speaker 10: Cecilia Mendez testified Juarez asked her to take meetings, but she secretly recorded instead.
00:06:56
Speaker 5: She knew someday this is all going to be in a courtroom.
00:07:02
Speaker 4: And she was right.
00:07:03
Speaker 11: He received immunity for her testimony.
00:07:06
Speaker 10: Defense attorneys challenged her motive, pointing out she never used the recordings to produce meeting notes.
00:07:12
Speaker 9: Say not to the order. She's not going to order? Yes, until the county order first.
00:07:18
Speaker 10: In another clip, David Duong says Tao wouldn't commit Oakland to buying their modular homes until the county committed first.
00:07:30
Speaker 4: So she wanted to make sure that the heat was not on her.
00:07:33
Speaker 3: She was willing to do it, but she wanted someone else to jump into the pool first.
00:07:39
Speaker 5: It's like, yeah, who's going to jump in first? Who's the first person brave enough to leave the party? She's dumb, but she's not so dumb to be the first city to go for this obviously crooked contract with the shipping containers. She was probably sure if she just waited, Brian Acevedo would get San Leandro to do it first, too.
00:08:01
Speaker 11: A position that sparked disagreement with Juarez.
00:08:04
Speaker 8: Help them to clear that they have no trouble later. There's no liability, there's no trouble that we.
00:08:12
Speaker 7: Created for them later.
00:08:14
Speaker 9: It's not because I promised you, so yeah, I'm ready.
00:08:17
Speaker 1: I will go to jail for this. You know that.
00:08:22
Speaker 5: These people all know what they're doing is going to get them in jail, but they're dumb enough to go for it anyway.
00:08:29
Speaker 4: And all record each other saying it. This is interesting, too.
00:08:33
Speaker 5: This might be the first time we've ever heard David Dong, Daddy Dong, talking in these secretly recorded calls.
00:08:43
Speaker 9: Consequences to not keeping your end of the bargain. But that's her decision.
00:08:47
Speaker 10: On cross-examination, defense attorneys also highlighted Mendez's prior convictions, including grand theft.
00:08:57
Speaker 5: So you're saying Wario Juarez's baby mama is a criminal, too?
00:09:02
Speaker 4: I'm shocked.
00:09:03
Speaker 3: Everyone involved in this story is a complete dirtbag.
00:09:08
Speaker 10: In her continuing financial and personal ties to Juarez, she testified they remained in regular contact and spoke as recently as this morning. In Oakland, Felina Jones, NBC Bay Area News.
00:09:21
Speaker 4: So there you go.
00:09:22
Speaker 5: That is our latest update in the Shang Tao trial. As it turns out, Mario Juarez's baby mama... was taping all of the conversations going on between Juarez and the Dongs about apparently trying to kill somebody in Mexico over this shipping container deal.
00:09:44
Speaker 3: So that's the latest on the Shanghai trial. And Randy, let's move on to yet another race on the California ballot. It's not just the race for L.A. mayor that has two bad options. The race for California insurance commissioner, also has two bad options. We know that the incumbent, Ricardo Lara, is termed out. He can't run for a third term. And now we're going to have a choice between a DSA Democrat and a standard partisan Democrat.
00:10:13
Speaker 9: I'm very kind of sketched.
00:10:15
Speaker 5: And the question is, Hey, are either of these two taking any money from the insurance companies, you know, like Ricardo Lara promised he would and then did?
00:10:24
Speaker 4: Trailblazing is rarely comfortable, yo. For more, here is ABC 10 in Sacramento.
00:10:36
Speaker 12: Both candidates running to become California's next insurance commissioner have promised not to accept campaign contributions from the insurance industry. but industry money.
00:10:45
Speaker 4: What about getting paid?
00:10:48
Speaker 3: Why is it that it's so taboo for the insurance commissioner candidates to not accept money from insurance companies, but it's perfectly fine for Rob Bonta to solicit campaign contributions from entities that he's investigating?
00:11:05
Speaker 4: That is a very, very, very good question, Bobbethy.
00:11:09
Speaker 12: Is still influencing this race. CBS 10's Becca Habegger shows us where that money is going. And also hear us from both candidates.
00:11:17
Speaker 13: Civil rights attorney and former San Francisco supervisor Jane Kim and current state Senator Ben Allen, both Democrats, are running to become California's next insurance commissioner.
00:11:25
Speaker 5: Did they both decide at the same time that the way that they look like they're the right person for the job is with glasses that make them look 20 years older?
00:11:34
Speaker 4: Maybe.
00:11:35
Speaker 2: My number one mandate is making insurance affordable, available, and fair.
00:11:40
Speaker 14: We desperately need to get a handle on this crisis with regards to insurance availability and affordability.
00:11:45
Speaker 13: This statewide elected position oversees and regulates the insurance industry here in California. And this year, according to the non-profit, non-partisan news organization CalMatters, a record amount of outside spending is pouring into this race. More than $ 6 million raised by political action committees, which operate separately from the official campaigns. These PACs have spent about $ 3. 2 million to support State Senator Ben Allen.
00:12:09
Speaker 5: So don't you worry, he will definitely hold the insurance companies accountable.
00:12:13
Speaker 3: Well, for me, the big issue in this race is that she wants you to buy your insurance from the state of California. She wants a new state agency to sell insurance. And he is going to be a continuation of Ricardo Lara. Now, Ricardo Lara has a million and one problems. One of the things he did not do was create a new state agency that will sell you your insurance. And I can tell you this, as someone who has struggled with the state of California on any number of fronts, I mean, think about dealing with the DMV. Think about trying to get any money that is owed to you from the state controller's office. Fill in the blank. If you had to apply for EDD during the COVID-19 shutdowns, you know what a nightmare it's like to deal with When you deal with the state of California, I do not want to buy my insurance through these people.
00:13:08
Speaker 5: So instead, I guess the option is go with the guy who's going to continue Ricardo Lara's plan of giving the insurance companies everything they want to jack up your rates.
00:13:17
Speaker 7: And I may be criticized and dragged through the mud for it and get my wig snatched as the gay guy say.
00:13:27
Speaker 5: I love having my soundboard at the home studio. I have access to all the drops.
00:13:31
Speaker 4: I may be criticized and dragged through the mud for it and get my wig snatched, as the gay guys say. Oh, Queenie.
00:13:43
Speaker 13: And some of their funders include companies from the insurance industry. Those same groups have spent more than $ 1. 5 million to oppose his opponent, Jane Kim. Other companies that have donated to groups spending to support Allen include investor-owned utilities such as Southern California Edison and PG & E.
00:13:59
Speaker 4: Oh, great.
00:14:00
Speaker 5: We're also bought and paid for by the utilities, are we? No, you gotta go into this wide open. That's who he is.
00:14:08
Speaker 13: I asked Allen about concerns of the industry influencing him if he wins.
00:14:13
Speaker 4: I think you can look at my track record.
00:14:14
Speaker 14: I've taken on.
00:14:15
Speaker 5: Well, his track record is this is the daddy of the plastic bag ban.
00:14:20
Speaker 4: His record in the legislature is beyond awful.
00:14:25
Speaker 14: The utilities, I've taken on the insurers. I've taken on the oil industry and the petrochemical interests and all these various folks.
00:14:31
Speaker 13: He highlights his experience in the legislature, writing and passing bills to make homes safer from wildfires and holding insurance companies accountable.
00:14:38
Speaker 4: Hey, that's the name of our podcast.
00:14:41
Speaker 3: Doesn't he represent the Pacific Palisades in the legislature?
00:14:46
Speaker 5: Yes, he says he was inspired to run for this office not because he was termed out, but because he saw how many constituents were calling him because the insurance commissioner's office wouldn't call them back.
00:14:57
Speaker 4: But they still can't get their money from the insurance companies and they still can't rebuild.
00:15:02
Speaker 7: Yep.
00:15:03
Speaker 13: He says this became deeply personal for him after watching people he represents in the Pacific Palisades lose their homes and battle insurance companies. Kim served most recently as California director for the Progressive Working Families Party. which has spent more than $ 600, 000 in supporting Kim through political action committees. Kim's campaign told CalMatters there's a strict firewall between her campaign and Working Families Party's independent expenditure decisions.
00:15:28
Speaker 5: Yes, and people totally believe that there's no coordination going on between certain unions, certain parties, and certain candidates.
00:15:36
Speaker 4: Never happens.
00:15:37
Speaker 13: I asked each candidate what they would do to stabilize California's insurance marketplace if elected, especially the availability and affordability of homeowners insurance in the face of more frequent wildfires driving up costs. Both say they're focused on reducing risk.
00:15:52
Speaker 14: So that the insurance industry that pays a lot of lip service to risk reduction work around the state is actually finally stepping up and rewarding and incentivizing that risk reduction work. And I've got a whole plan associated with that.
00:16:03
Speaker 5: Sounds like the exact same thing that Ricardo Lara said he was going to do.
00:16:07
Speaker 3: Okay, let's just say that he is sincere about his belief to do that. How could the insurance commissioner's office do that? Don't you need the governor to do that?
00:16:17
Speaker 4: Good point.
00:16:18
Speaker 9: I'm very kind of sketchy.
00:16:20
Speaker 13: Says she wants to create a state-run public nonprofit to provide natural disaster insurance for all.
00:16:25
Speaker 2: What we're proposing through a public nonprofit insurance program is that we actually use some of the premiums, and instead of driving it towards profits to shareholders and CEOs and buying private jets, We actually invest it back in fireproofing and floodproofing our communities to make us more resilient.
00:16:39
Speaker 4: We know how this works.
00:16:40
Speaker 5: Johnny, you remember when they legalized pot and they said, hey, all the money from the pot taxes is going to go towards like education and rehab and making sure that people don't get too addicted to this stuff. And the money went to a bunch of crooked nonprofits. And it went to some people who decided that what they wanted to do was get people to register to vote because that's what the pot tax is for.
00:17:04
Speaker 4: Of course.
00:17:06
Speaker 13: Allen calls Kim's plan unrealistic. She calls Allen's plan more of the same. Voters will decide on November 3rd. In Sacramento, Becca Habegger, ABC 10.
00:17:16
Speaker 4: So there you go.
00:17:17
Speaker 5: Your other race on the ballot with two awful, awful, awful candidates. But I can say this. Even though they are both uniquely awful, they're not going to be as bad as the last guy.
00:17:31
Speaker 4: Hell no.
00:17:34
Speaker 3: He's turned out, and he was so bad in that office, as a Democrat in California who is well-liked by the Democratic Party establishment and been elected twice statewide, before that in the leadership in the legislature, isn't even running for office because he knows he'd go through the meat grinder.
00:17:54
Speaker 4: I thought that was a bar in West Hollywood. Absolutely. Absolutely.
00:18:01
Speaker 3: It's the John Phillips Show. It's the John Phillips Show. If you'd like to email the show, you can do so at johnnydontlikeshow at gmail.com. That's johnnydontlikeshow at gmail.com. And if you want to watch us perform the show live, go to johnnydontlike.com, participate in the chat, and click that like button. Let's see how many likes we're up to on today's show.
00:18:24
Speaker 5: 415! I love it. If you haven't had a chance to do so, Stop by the website, say hi, make up your best nickname for Bobbethy Bonta, and hit the like button and hit subscribe. We're at 9,835 subscribers. I can taste it. We're going to get to 10,000 before you know it at johnnydontlike.com.
00:18:47
Speaker 3: And that's also where you can find the Accountability Podcast.
00:18:50
Speaker 5: Our latest episode of the Accountability Podcast, Johnny and Robert Cahaley go over all of the things you need to know about in this Tuesday's midterms. So check it out when we sign off at 3. It's another bonus half hour of content just for you at johnnydontlike.com.
00:19:06
Speaker 4: And we're going to be in San Francisco tomorrow. We are. How exciting is this?
00:19:11
Speaker 5: It's our first big live broadcast in the Bay Area at Johnny Foley's Irish Pub from noon to 3 in San Francisco's Union Square. You can get there by Muni and BART. You can get there by ferry and Waymo. You can even try driving. We're going to have a whole bunch of special guests. It is a packed show, and we're going to be there with our friend Susan Shelley from the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Association talking about Proposition 43, the local Taxpayer Protection Act. We want to make it harder to raise your taxes. Prop 43 does that, so spread the word, yeson43. com. We'll be spreading that message this Friday from noon to 3 at Johnny Foley's tomorrow.
00:19:51
Speaker 4: All right.
00:19:51
Speaker 3: It is our pleasure right now to welcome our next guest to the program. He is a candidate for governor here in the state of California. You can follow him on X at SteveHiltonX. Steve Hilton, welcome.
00:20:04
Speaker 1: Great to be with you both. How are you doing?
00:20:07
Speaker 4: I'm good. I'm good. It seems like you're all over the place.
00:20:10
Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:20:11
Speaker 4: I'm not going to ask you, but I bet you're tired.
00:20:15
Speaker 9: You know what?
00:20:15
Speaker 1: It's really interesting. I am in theory. I'm tired in theory, but not in practice. So it's like very little sleep, but somehow the energy is there because the people's energy is there. We're doing these events all over the state. Amazing crowds coming out. Something's happening. Just tonight, I'm in Fresno right now. We just did one of my favorite events that we do, the gas station takeovers. So we offered $ 3 gas today for a limited period only as a preview of what you'll get with me as governor. And the press conference we did, of course, focused on the mileage tax, which now we know Becerra is going to introduce. I will veto it. I think we can see after this blew up in that interview last night with Ashley Zavala, now we can see why he hasn't been out on the campaign trail because every time he opens his mouth, he just falls into a disaster.
00:21:08
Speaker 4: We played.
00:21:09
Speaker 3: many excerpts of that interview that he did with Ashley Zavala. And if you played the drinking game, every time he said, I don't know, you would end up in the Betty Ford clinic before the end of this show. He didn't know what he was going to do about the insurance companies and the wildfires. He didn't know what he was going to do about the inmates on death row. He doesn't know what he's going to do about fill in the blank for a guy who doesn't spend his time traveling around the state, actively campaigning as candidates normally do, he's certainly not spending his time reading the newspapers because there's a whole lot he doesn't know.
00:21:47
Speaker 1: It's a desire. I've never actually seen anything like this. So, you know, most of my career has been in business. I've run restaurants, tech company here, consulting firm, you know, but I've been in and around politics, government, the media for a long time, one way or another in England and here in California, nearly 40 years. I'm just and across the world, I've helped out on campaigns across the world in nearly four decades. I've never seen such a pathetic candidate. I mean, honestly, ever. I've never seen anything like this where you've got someone running for this office who's just not even pretending to try. I mean, it's just unbelievable. And then you talk to journalists, you know, the Sacramento kind of reporters who are. saying it's not as if he's like you were just alluding to, John, it's not as if he's spending the time that he's not campaigning, preparing. I mean, you could say, well, look, you know, it's California. He expects that he's going to win with a big majority, doesn't have to campaign. That's how it always goes. So he's using that time to prepare his policies and his plans and interview people for cabinet positions and all that. appointments he's going to have with all the different. No, he's not doing any of that. And that's what journalists have mystified. What is he actually do all day? It's just unbelievable.
00:23:03
Speaker 3: Let's talk about a subject that's been generating a lot of attention this cycle, which is there are a number of races where there just aren't any good choices, including the race for mayor of Los Angeles, where two awful choices where I would just leave it blank if I left there. certainly for insurance commissioner, where we have one option who wants to create a state agency that will sell you your insurance, and another one who wants the status quo to continue what Ricardo Lara has been doing that hasn't been working. And I kind of feel like the insurance policy for all of these contests with bad choices is the governor's seat.
00:23:41
Speaker 7: Exactly.
00:23:41
Speaker 3: Because if you win for governor, then there's a check on all of these bad actors involved who will win all of these various offices at different levels of government in California.
00:23:54
Speaker 4: Do you see it that way, too?
00:23:55
Speaker 1: One hundred percent. It's actually one of the main arguments that I make, especially to people in Los Angeles, frankly, where we know we're going to have an absolute disaster as the next mayor. I mean, there's no question about that. And in fact, I made a video just specifically on that point in Fentanyl Alley. right next to MacArthur Park. By the way, isn't it outrageous that we have somewhere called Fenton? No city should have a Fenton alley.
00:24:19
Speaker 4: It's a joke.
00:24:20
Speaker 1: I mean, this is, and so I just said, look, I'm your only hope. I'm your last line of defense against the DSA, against the corruption and the chaos and the incompetence. And actually, it's not just about, I mean, it is very much about sending me to Sacramento so I can push back against the cost and the craziness that you get from there when it's 16 years of one party rule and they think they can get away with anything. Yes, it's true that I will stop the bad things happening, like the mileage tax, which I've said many times I'm gonna veto. It's actually that from the governor's office running this very large executive branch, and it's gonna be a lot smaller by the time I finish with it, you can actually do some positive things to substitute for the failure of the others. For example, I've got a very strong plan to clean up the homeless encampments, to end mass homelessness. By the end of my first year, by doing things that should have been done years ago, number one, enforcing the law, get people off the streets. Number two, get people off drugs, stop the funding to the nonprofits that hand out needles and crack pipes and free drugs every single day across California with this misguided policy of what they call harm reduction. And then thirdly, by creating homeless recovery centers, We laid out the plans for the first prototype outside San Diego on federal land, an unused military facility there, where we can take people away from the streets, away from the drugs and the crime, get them clean, get their lives back on track, whether that's mental health care or addiction recovery or whatever it may be, job training. And so that's a real concrete plan that the governor can get done with or without the local politicians or with or without the legislature, frankly. So it is absolutely right. that sending me to Sacramento will be a break on the BS, on the cost, on the ever-increasing taxes. I can really make it. Even, this is the simple way of putting it, even if you don't believe that I can deliver the specific promises that I've been making, like $ 3 gas, which we were just promoting here at this gas station, or your first 150 grand tax three.
00:26:30
Speaker 14: Oh, well, whatever.
00:26:31
Speaker 1: He can't do that. You know that I'll be there saying no to all the nonsense and that itself is worth having.
00:26:40
Speaker 3: Here's another thing that really worries me. I kind of feel the same way about you that I felt about Spencer Pratt, which is if you wanted to fix LA, your opportunity was in the primary where you had a candidate who was dynamic, who was good, who had all the energy, who had, who was well read, had ideas, thought through the problems and the people of LA decided to go in a different direction and And now we're going to end up with what we're going to end up with. I feel like if you're not successful on Tuesday, Becerra will quickly become the most unpopular governor in the history of California. He is going to be the statewide carrying bass. And what we're going to end up with is a DSA candidate beating him four years from now.
00:27:25
Speaker 1: Oh, interesting. Well, look, first of all, I think that we've still got a shot at winning this. I'm just be honest. I don't never want to kind of BS people. It's always been a long shot. We've always known that it's 20 years since the Republican won. The way I've always put it is how I feel about it today, which is it's going to be very difficult to win, but it's not impossible. And therefore it's worth going for. I still believe that you've got some of the polls that show a very big lead for Becerra. They are the polls with the kind of slightly unchanging models of turnout that expect a much lower Republican turnout. All the polls that are commissioned right now in this cycle that have a different assumption about turnout show a much closer lead, closer to 10 points than 20 points, but still a lead for Becerra, no question about that. But if you take a few more points off that, because these polls tend to understate Republican support, and then you add to that the fact that every single day, and this is anecdotal, but every single day, People say to me, look, I'm a lifelong Democrat, but I'm voting for you because we've got to have a change in California. I think it's still possible. It's not a big chance, but it's a chance. And we're going to go for it very strongly right up until the last minute. But if we make progress, John, if we actually do it, you know, like, well, who knows? It's a difficult year for Republicans. But I'm in this fight for the long term. And actually, it's not just my race. What you're seeing across the state, I'm hearing it from all my friends and colleagues running in the Assembly of Congressional and so on. that our campaign is lifting them all up. I'm running many points ahead of all the Republicans in those races. And I'm helping on Prop 39 on voter ID. I'm helping on the billionaire's tax because we're energizing Republican voters. And so to me, it's a question of making progress. I agree with you about Becerra. That's a great way of putting it, statewide Karabakhs. They're very similar. That's exactly right. They're these career politicians who've never done anything else who just kind of bureaucratic mindset, completely the puppets of the machine. And I think that's right. But I think actually funnily enough, I mean, I want to stop that happening and do all the things that we want to get done now. But if he wins, then we're going to keep fighting. And I think that, you know, I'm not giving up on California.
00:29:47
Speaker 10: No way.
00:29:47
Speaker 3: Last question before you go. There's a lot of people here who are listening, who have friends, family, neighbors, people they go to church with, they work with in their social network, who hate Donald Trump, but don't like the direction the state is going in. Give them an argument to give their friends and family members who are looking for a reason to try something different.
00:30:11
Speaker 1: So there are only two names on the ballot for governor, myself and Becerra. It's a very simple choice. With him, you get four more years of this. If you're happy with the way things are going in California, fine, go with him. But if you want things to change and if you want a bit of balance, I'm your only hope and I will deliver the changes. Now, I'm a very independent-minded person. You can see from the way I fought this campaign. I don't take orders from the White House. I won't take orders from Sacramento. It's the first time I've run for office. I'm an outsider. You talk to anyone I worked with in the UK government, they'll tell you I'm my own person. And so I'm not just going to be dictated to by the White House. But of course, it's useful, I think, to have someone as governor who actually has a good relationship with people in the administration so we can get things done. I'm a pragmatic problem solver with business experience, government reform experience, media experience to make the argument for change. And I got plans that everyone can get behind. They're not ideological. They're not divisive. It's not all these things that we can disagree about. It's $ 3 gas, your first 150 grand tax-free, $ 73 vehicle registration, and cleaning up the homeless encampments. These are all common sense things. that we've been doing it the same way for 16 years, one party rule. It is obviously time for something different.
00:31:33
Speaker 4: Just try it.
00:31:34
Speaker 1: You're still gonna have, if you're a Democrat, let's just speak directly, that it's very likely the Democrats will still control the state legislature with a two-thirds majority. Democrats are gonna run every big city, every big county. Democrats have the state Supreme Court with a six-one majority. Is it really so bad? to have one Republican in one position to actually offer some balance and a check against the cost and the craziness. That's, I think, a very reasonable argument. And let's just try it. You know, if you don't like it in four years, you can go back to one party rule.
00:32:11
Speaker 3: The website is Steve Hilton for Governor. You can follow him on X at Steve Hilton X. Steve Hilton, thanks so much for being here.
00:32:19
Speaker 1: Great to see you, John.
00:32:20
Speaker 4: Thank you. It's the John Phillips Show. Did you change again?
00:32:24
Speaker 5: Well, here's the thing. At 2 o'clock, an Amazon package got dropped off. My wife ordered me a bunch of Halloween shirts because we're going to be in San Francisco for Halloween, and I don't own anything. I don't have any costumes. I don't have any Halloween-themed shirts. So she sent me three to try on. I tried during the commercial breaks, and I like two of them a lot. So right now we have a flash poll. It's only going to go on for the next seven minutes. but I need you, the audience, to decide at johnnydontlike.com. Do I show up at our event at Johnny Foley's tomorrow in this Dia de los Muertos shirt or in this pumpkin shirt? I need you to vote pumpkins or Dia de los Muertos. I will end the poll at 258, and whatever the winner is is the shirt that I'm going to wear on Friday, and then the other shirt will be the shirt that I wear on Saturday. So if you want to see the skulls, vote for Dia de los Muertos. If you want to see pumpkins, vote for pumpkins. I'm happy with either one. I am very excited that I'm going to walk around San Francisco in one of these shirts.
00:33:29
Speaker 4: So please vote.
00:33:30
Speaker 5: It is currently literally 50-50, which in the event of a tie, I don't know what I do. I guess I wear them on top of each other. Vote in this poll. It's only open for the next six minutes, johnnydontlike.com. And I will wear whichever one you choose at our event at Johnny Foley's tomorrow in San Francisco's Union Square.
00:33:51
Speaker 3: Wait, isn't Dia de los Muertos a different holiday? Well, it's the day after Halloween, but it's close enough. I mean, our event's not on Halloween proper. It's on the day before Halloween. Someone in the chat wants you to go shirtless.
00:34:07
Speaker 5: We want people to attend this event, Johnny. We don't want people running out and screaming. Not doing that. Now, after a couple of drinks at Johnny Foley's, anything could happen, but I'm not guaranteeing anything.
00:34:24
Speaker 3: Well, you go shirtless, you could say it's Halloween themed. Just say that your nipples are the candy corns.
00:34:31
Speaker 5: She didn't get it here on time, but she also had a shirt that was coming to the house, but it's not going to make it before I have to leave the airport. It's just a t-shirt that says, This is my costume. Hand me my beer. I would have liked that as well. I've never done a city like San Francisco at Halloween. This is very exciting.
00:34:52
Speaker 3: All right, Randy, it's time to reopen the California Crime Blotter.
00:34:56
Speaker 4: Oh, yes, it is. Here we go. It's happened yet again. I see. Time for the California Crime Blotter. And this edition takes us to Ladera Heights.
00:35:11
Speaker 5: Where neighbors are sick of all the burglaries, especially when the jackass kids get arrested and get out right again. For more, here is NBCLA.
00:35:21
Speaker 15: Now to Ladera Heights, where neighbors there are both concerned and frustrated over a string of recent burglaries. One neighbor tells us some neighborhoods are being hit several times a week. NBC4' s Karma Dickerson joining us live now in Ladera Heights with the response from law enforcement and the community tonight. Karma.
00:35:39
Speaker 7: Yeah, so this is a pretty small community, so these burglaries are hitting pretty hard. For some context, there are about 7,000 households, if you include Ladera Heights, neighboring View Park and Windsor Hills. And according to NBC4 Investigates, there have been about 14 burglaries just in the last month in this area.
00:35:58
Speaker 4: That is a high number.
00:36:03
Speaker 7: So neighbors are demanding some action. In the middle of the day. Hopping fences.
00:36:10
Speaker 11: Ignoring alarms.
00:36:15
Speaker 7: Breaking glass. And disrupting surveillance cameras.
00:36:19
Speaker 4: Wait, I thought crime was down. Oh yeah, aren't you smart enough to read the statistics?
00:36:26
Speaker 6: All my jewelry, my watches, my glasses, all of my wife's bags, they took everything.
00:36:30
Speaker 4: Everything.
00:36:31
Speaker 6: They just wiped us out completely.
00:36:32
Speaker 7: The first time, yes, the first time it happened to this Ladera Heights homeowner, it was December.
00:36:38
Speaker 6: Suspects went to just about six buildings away from us and they did the same thing to another person. Fortunately, they caught them. However, they had to release two of the kids because.
00:36:47
Speaker 4: They were minors.
00:36:48
Speaker 7: And nine months later, another break-in.
00:36:51
Speaker 5: See, if you're a minor, we don't actually do anything to you. So they learned very quickly you can commit these crimes over and over again. In fact, the gangs recruit the kids to do all the stealing because they know we're not going to do anything to them.
00:37:07
Speaker 6: They didn't care. Because they knew they had about maybe 10 minutes to do whatever they have to do and to be gone.
00:37:11
Speaker 7: With the burglar still on the loose, this man didn't want to reveal his identity. But he felt it was important to share his story.
00:37:18
Speaker 1: Everyone's on edge.
00:37:19
Speaker 7: Because it's the story of a growing number of his neighbors. It's just been break-ins like week after week, sometimes multiple in the same week. Tucked in between Culver City, Englewood, and the city of L.A., the unincorporated community of Ladera Heights typically flies under the radar.
00:37:35
Speaker 5: Johnny, what have we always said about unincorporated parts of L.A.
00:37:38
Speaker 4: County? You are on your own.
00:37:42
Speaker 5: So that part of town, Ladera Heights near Culver City in Englewood, you want to know who the de facto mayor of Ladera Heights is?
00:37:51
Speaker 4: That would be Holly Mitchell. It's Holly Chili Willie Mitchell. Quite frankly, Chili Willie.
00:38:00
Speaker 7: But increasingly, neighbors tell us they're being targeted, and they've got the video to prove it.
00:38:05
Speaker 4: But I think I've probably had the most close encounter.
00:38:07
Speaker 7: Joshua Kissy is surrounded on all sides by neighbors who have been burglarized. Two weeks ago, he saw suspected burglars fleeing a neighbor's home with their arms full.
00:38:16
Speaker 4: They're like 18, 19 years old.
00:38:17
Speaker 14: You can tell their kids their stature, how they carry themselves, how they were speaking to me in that moment.
00:38:22
Speaker 7: Kissy has been one of the people leading the charge, rallying the community to be vigilant. Their calls for action led to a packed community meeting last week attended by L.A. County Supervisor Holly Mitchell and Sheriff Robert Luna.
00:38:34
Speaker 5: Oh, there's a crack dynamic duo that's going to get to the bottom of this.
00:38:38
Speaker 7: Mitchell says a big takeaway is everyone has a role in bringing down burglaries.
00:38:43
Speaker 10: And that will be as a result of law enforcement focus, the community stepping up their game in terms of hardening their own communities.
00:38:51
Speaker 4: That's right. We can't keep you safe. You have to harden your house.
00:38:56
Speaker 3: They are willing to do just about anything to avoid saying, we need to find the people who are doing this and we need to put them in jail.
00:39:04
Speaker 5: Well, Holly ain't going to do that. That's just not going to happen. All right, Johnny, the results of the poll are in. I'm going to hit end poll in 20 seconds. So if you've got to get your vote in, you can do so. But right now it looks like there is a slim majority and there will be no recounts. There will be no do-overs.
00:39:24
Speaker 4: I'm hitting end.
00:39:25
Speaker 5: People want to see the pumpkin shirt with 52% of the vote. so I will wear the pumpkin shirt.
00:39:31
Speaker 4: On Friday and Saturday.
00:39:32
Speaker 3: Are you going to wear it to the meeting before?
00:39:34
Speaker 15: Yes.
00:39:35
Speaker 5: Larry, you're going to see my pumpkin shirt. All right, we'll see you tomorrow in San Francisco.
