You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Oh yes, KFI AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. It's Tiffany Hobbs here with you. It's Saturdays with Tiffany. And if you are a USC fan and alum like myself, I hope Petro's Papadakus is listening one of my fellow schoolmates there, then you recognize this song.
Oh, it just puts me in a good.
Space, a really good space. It's almost patriotic. That's the USC fight song. Thank you Raoul for that sends a little shiver down my spine because I remember being an undergrad and hearing that song and what it signified. What it symbolized was so much school pride.
But a lot of people right.
Now are dealing with some complicated emotions surrounding USC and their tuition. We had to start the show with our song, and I will get into what's going on with USC's tuition in just a moment. Welcome to the show, everyone,
What a show we have. Not only will we be covering the local news, there's some big local stories, but we will talk to our resident legal correspondent who will be on with us at five point thirty Louise Shapiro about some major cases that are in the news, from updates on the Menindez brothers, to what's going on with that OC superior or judge judge oh goodness, what is his name, Judge Jeff Ferguson, And.
He's been in the news, and we'll give you.
Some updates as to why he has been, as well as covering what's going on with that Columbia student who may or may not be deported.
Mamood Khalil and.
Lou Shapiro will talk to us about that from a legal perspective. We always love when he comes on with his insight and his legal expertise. That's at five point thirty. At six o'clock, we're gonna take a deeper dive.
We're gonna look.
At why Los Angeles streets might be safe in some regards. But one of those regards is certainly certainly not as a driver, as a commuter, or even as a pedestrian for that matter, because of how many severe and fatal car crashes we experience every year. So we'll get into what's going on with safety on our streets. Some of the things that are compromising safety and what we have to look forward to as we get closer to these major events in the next few years where our streets
will certainly be crowded. Then at six point thirty we will have Marcus Coval. He's the founder of Liam's Life Foundation. And if you've been listening to KFI, Heather Brooker's been talking about Marcus and the Liams Life Foundation in her newscast.
Mark is running the LA Marathon tomorrow for his son, and he will tell us why, what led to this moment and what Liam's Life Foundation aims to get as he runs this marathon and going forward, and it has to do with blood alcohol content levels, sobriety and ebriation, driving while drunk, all of those things. And I'll let Marcus explain his story when he comes on at six thirty. And before we go any further, can we just take a moment to mourn the likely passing of EGLT number
three or number two or number one. We're not quite sure which eglit it is. But of the three eglts that we all have been watching and covering on the news on your social media through the Friends of Big Bear Valley live cam, unfortunately one of the Eglitz has been confirmed as having passed away. We don't know the cause. I feel like I'm giving an obituary for Elit. We don't know the cause. We don't know what's happening in the aftermath or what will happen now in the aftermath
of the passing of the eglet. There's lots of speculation about what mom and dad Jackie in Shadow may do. But what we do know is that the Friends of Big Bear Valley have confirmed, unfortunately that one of those little eglts has in fact passed away, leaving two. But as we just saw with an update, the two remaining eglets are doing well. They're thriving, They're strong, and they're thriving. People have been asking customary question, you know, yesterday, what
do you have plans for the weekend? Tiffany, what are you doing this weekend? And I'm like, what are you doing? What am I? What are I'm sitting in front of my camera or in front of my screen, and I'm watching Friends of Big Bear Valley and this live stream of these eglets.
That's all I care to do.
That's what I find myself doing in between anything else I have planned. I have been glued to the screen finding out what's going on with these cute little eglets, and they're very dedicated parents. I suggest you do the same. You can find a live stream on YouTube. You can find all these stories on the KFI website as well as we continue to update the progress of.
These little eglts.
It is riveting, it is interesting, and unfortunately it's taken a sad turn, but it's definitely something that we are lucky to see. We're lucky to see there are one hundred and ten feet up, I think, so the fact that we can see what's going on moment by moment is nothing short of a technological miracle. So check out Jackie's shadow and they're two remaining eglts and wish them well.
All right.
Something else I would love to wish well, but I don't know, would be the new USC students who are coming in. Those students who are expecting to start in August become freshmen at USC, my alma mater, and unfortunately, there's a huge discrepancy between when I started at USC in two thousand and one and what students are facing in twenty and twenty five and what they will continue
to face. As the trend goes on. And what that trend is is an increase in tuition, an increase intuition that is happening yearly.
And it's not a small increase.
No, We're talking ten thousand dollars over the last five years now amounting two almost ninety nine thousand dollars for tuition per year at USC. That mirrors the increase of last year. Again, this is a trend. It's going, it's going. They've raised tuition for the sixth year in a row, and again that estimated cost of attendance is just shy of one hundred thousand dollars. Under President Carol Folks Tenure. The increase has to do with rises and costs for
tuition fees, other necessities, how textbooks and meal plans. And I think when USC does really well, as they are with their basketball program, with their football program, things have to compensate and tuition goes up. Of course, USC has been approached for comment about this and they've said they have no comment.
Either pay or don't.
But if you're paying, expect to pay nearly one hundred thousand dollars per year for undergraduate education at USC. If you have children who are under eighteen. I have something else to warn you of. If you're planning to visit a hotel in California, you may not be able to take your kids because this hotel has just instituted a ban on all children or all guests under the age of eighteen. I'll tell you the name of the hotel, what they're planning on doing, and why they could find
themselves in hot water. On the other side of the break, It's Saturday with Tiffany from five to seven. Glad to be with you KFI AM six forty Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
KFI AM six forty Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Tiffy Hobbs here with you. It's Saturdays with Tiffany.
Until seven tonight, and we are with friend of the station, Friend of the show, Louse Shapiro. Wonderful attorney offers great insight into current cases, which we'll be getting into shortly, but before we do any of that, Welcome back to Saturdays with Tiffany. Lou Thanks for coming on with us.
Thank you, Always enjoyed being with you and love your energy.
Thank you louse.
Shapiro, Like I said, I you are friend of the show, and I'm hoping that we can have you on with regularity because I just love the opinions that you have and the facts that you inform us of. So again, thank you for being willing to come on. Can we get into some cases.
Shapiro, Let's jump right into it.
Let's do it.
So the very first case I want to discuss is what's going on with this judge, this Orange County Superior Court judge, Jeff Ferguson. He just completed a murder trial. And I say completed and with a bit of nuance. It's not as easy, not as cut and dry as that. But this case, a murder trial, ended in a mistrial after eight days of deliberation, in which the jury deadlocked eleven to one. Eleven said guilty, one said not guilty.
The charge Jeff Ferguson is being charged with, or was being accused of, shooting and killing his wife, Sheila Ferguson Cheryl Ferguson in twenty twenty three, after a dinner in which they enjoyed themselves drank heavily, went back to their home in Anaheim Hills and what Jeff Ferguson said happened is what is causing a lot of confusion, a lot of dissension, and what maybe led to this one holdout. Jeff Ferguson, this OC judge, said that he got home,
he was having an exchange with his wife. He had a gun and a holster on his ankle. He took the gun out of the holster and attempted to put it on a table. As he attempted to put the gun on the table, his shoulder gave out. This is what he's saying. His shoulder gave out, and as he tried to put the gun down, there was just this kerfuffle, this fumble, and it resulted in the gun going off and shooting his wife, Sheryl Ferguson, square center in the chest.
Now, I've never shot anyone. The night is still young.
Who knows traffic is bad, We'll see, But I do know if I were to injure anyone, the first thing that I'm doing is I'm attempting to render aid. And what's being said is that Jeff Ferguson did not render a to his dying wife in that moment. Yet, with all of the evidence pointing towards something that may have malice. As far as intent, he is now dealing with the mistrial.
This is it is.
Pausing effectively until the next steps. So if I may ask you, what do you think, lou, why do you think this deadlock eleven to one verdict actually happened?
All right? So it really comes down to intent versus accident. The defense was that Ferguson accidentally shot his wife when he put that gun on the table, like you set out. The prosecution painted a different picture and they really focused in on two facts that showed it was intentional versus accidental. One was the fact that he and his wife were in an argument already. So the fact that they're in a heated argument, words aren't being exchanged, there is somewhat
motive there to do something like that. And again, if somebody is under the influence of alcohol severely, then they're going to do things that they wouldn't normally do. But if they're angry, drunk, bad argument, bad things can happen from that. The other piece of evidence that they presented with the text that he sent to his staff after and his text was I just lost it. I just shot my wife. I won't be in tomorrow. I'm so sorry.
I think focusing on I just lost it was an admission of I can't believe what I just did intentionally, And I think that text, coupled with the argument that they were in, was too much for the majority of the chers to ignore, and therefore they went with the murder charge versus the manslaughter, which just calls for an accident.
Okay, that makes sense to me, and that is sensible. Do you think that perhaps the district attorney came in with an overcharge that a second degree murder charge may have been a bit too heavy handed. Maybe if they had gone in with a manslaughter charge or some lesser charge, we'd be looking at a different result right now with this case.
Yeah, had they just asked for a manslaughter then they almost certainly would have gotten a conviction, because the eleven to one for murder means that the other eleven that we're going for murder would have agreed to even a lesser charge. If they're agreeing to murder. It was that one holdout was like, I'm not willing to go to the murder, I'm willing to go to manslaughter. Then they would have had a unanimous verdict and look for someone
his age getting a manslaughter conviction. He's seventy two years old. Manslaughter with the gun. It's not a walk in the park, especially out of Orange County.
So that's a life sentence at that point.
For Yeah, that's right, at that point, it's very right. So, but that's not also how Orange County rules. It's a very conservati jurisdiction. When they prosecute, they like to go, they like to show the full effect of the law, and that's what they did in this case. And that's why they're going to be retrying him exactly.
And that's what I wanted to get to finally, for this to wrap up with this case before we go on to the next. But DA Todd Spitzer out there in Orange County, as you said, very conservative area, and they are heavy handed. They do invest in strategies that do push the furthest extent of the law and what they're able to do legally and judicially.
What do you think is next?
I know Todd Spitzer is saying they're retrying this case in a few weeks. What do you forecast as far as what's coming for Judge Fergus.
Yeah, so if you were, Judge Ferguson, You're going to want to try this case as many times as possible to avoid going in on a life sentence. So it's very tasking to go to trial. It's financially draining, emotionally draining and all that, but it sure beats being in a prison cell somewhere. So for Jeff Ferguson, this was a victory. He did not expect to walk out with
a not guilty in this case. So a hung jury for the defense is the best on these facts that probably one could walk away with, and he got that. So while it may not appear that way to the public that he had a victory from an legal perspective, given what he was facing and dealing with, he did well on this.
Thank you for that analysis.
You definitely it educated me more on what's going on because, like many in the country, I was wondering, how could this happen? Seemed very cut and dry, But like you said, there's a lot of nuance when it comes to these sorts of charges, and Judge Ferguson is benefiting right now anyway from those gray areas. Lou Can we keep you on to talk about the Menindez Brothers. In the next segment, what do you say yes, looking forward to it?
Awesome.
K I AM six forty Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. Tiffany Hobbs Here with You until seven pm. It's Saturdays with Tiffany and we're talking to attorney Lou Shapiro. We're going to get into the Menindez brother's case. When we come back.
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand KFI.
AM six forty Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Tiffany Hobbs Here with You.
Saturdays with Tiffany, and we're talking to our wonderful friend, our very smart friends, smarter than us, Lou Shapiro, attorney, and he's giving us an analysis on the current big legal cases in the news.
We just covered Judge Ferguson and now we're.
Getting into what's going on with the Menindez brothers. They seem to not go away, and you would think after thirty five years at this point, I think, Lou, that this story would start to wane. But with the popularity of the Netflix series, with the popularity of this resurgence and interest in the case of the Menindez brothers, there are a lot more possibilities on the table, and one of those possibilities about the future for Eric and Lyle
Menindez is a potential resentencing. However, our new DA Nathan Hakman is not a fan of the Menindez brothers, seemingly like George Gascone was. And Nathan Hawkman has said that he is not going to hear any cause for a reduction in sentence due to quote legitimate reasons. What does that mean, Lou What is what does Nathan Hakman have on the Mendez brothers.
Well, Nathan Hoffman is coming from the position that there's a new sheriff in town. He's not the a gascon. He's going to look at a case very carefully and early before showing any type of leniency. And in this situation, his review of the case, he says, shows that the Menendez brothers for years, lied, presented false evidence, did not
take accountability for their actions. And he says, unless than until they are willing to say and take ownership of what they did instead of trying to, let's say, justify or explain it. He says, if they're willing to do that, then we will reconsider our position and Hawkman knows that they're probably not going to do that because that would cut against everything that they have stood for up until now.
Do you think that, given the popularity of the net series and again this interest renewed interest in the case, that the Menendez brothers may be receiving preferential treatment when it comes to these additional looks at their cases. Is this weighing in their favor in any way?
So? I think a lot of people sitting in custody are hearing about this case, and there's resentment. They're asking their friends and family, why do the Menendez brothers get all these second looks at their case? What about my case? You know, everybody has a story, and the Menendez brothers had the fortune of their story being told over several types of documentaries and this one caught fire and the therefore it's helping them sort of get into that spotlight
and get several different looks at the case. So, in a sense, yes, they are getting preferential treatment. Is it amounting to anything though practically for them so far it has not. It has just been disappointment after disappointment. We'll see what Newsan does, and I'm sure we'll get to that momentarily.
Now d A Hawkman again is not presenting himself as a fan of the Menendez brothers as they seem to do. Seem to have quite a few fans that they're amassing. He talked about not meeting Da Hawkman, not meeting the criteria for resentencing. What would that criteria look like, what does that entail? How could the Menandez brothers in fact qualify for resentencing.
So he's saying that he's willing to consider resentencing if they are willing to take ownership of certain facts in the case that they haven't yet done. So, for example, he wants them to admit that this murder of their parents was thoroughly planned out, that where they bought the gun, why they left out of La County to get it, they how they why they bought the movie ticket that night. He wants all that to be like, this is what
we did, this is why did it. A big issue for Hawkman is the what's called lack of like imminency. And if you're going to argue self defense, then generally it's because someone is pointing a gun at you and you have to shoot first. That is traditionally self defense and Hawkman is saying that this is not that case, and the Menenda's brothers have been trying to paint the narrative as if that is the case, that it was
like they were facing imminent danger from their parents. Were they facing danger, He's saying, maybe, But was it imminent? Did they have to go get a gun and you know, do what they did. Maybe they could have gone to law enforcement instead. Do they have time to do that? If they had time to go out of La County and get a gun and get a movie ticket and plan alibis and all that, then they probably have time
to go to law enforcement in the alternative. And that's what he wants to hear from Menendo's brothers to consider, resentencing that.
He wants them to admit that they did it, and that they meant to do it in the first place. None of this oh we had cause or you know, we were kind of back and forth about it. He wants it to be very black and white. We did it, and we're taking full responsibility. Precisely, before I let you go, I'd love to talk just for maybe a minute and a half about what's going on with this Columbia student. His name is Mahmoud Khalil. He's facing deportation after being
arrested and accused of being a pro Palestine protester. The Trump administration is saying that he is a Hamas supporter and that anyone in this position, a protester on a college campus, is essentially public Enemy number one that we are not going to as an administration allow for this sort of protesting to go on.
What do you think is going to happen with this case.
Lou Okay, So we're hearing a lot of back and forth on this case, and there's there's something very important that's missing in the discussion that I think will turn on this and that is was it just speech or was it action as well? Yes, Khalil was just engaged in speeds as hateful and as offensive as it can be to other students. Free speech is generally protected in this country unless it is going to incite violence, right. That's really the only exception where the government can get
it can infringe on that. So a lot of people are rushing judgment on both sides, but those facts need to be fleshed out. What exactly was he doing on this campus? Did he take over the library? Did he not take over the library. Was he involved in that? Was he not involved in that? What was was it just speech? Was it more than that? And until that comes out, it's really hard for anyone to say this is what needs to be done. But of course we
know how social media is. There's always that rush to judgment on both sides, and I don't think that's ever going to change.
Well, Lou, I certainly enjoy your judgment, your analysis. Thank you for weighing in on what's going on with Judge Jeff Ferguson out of Orange County, the Menindez Brothers update, and that quick and very again insightful analysis of what's going on with Columbia student my mood Khalil.
I always enjoy you.
You are welcome back anytime, Lou Shapiro, friend of the station and friend of mine, and again I thank you for your time.
You got it. Always good to be with you. Tiffany, k I.
AM six forty Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand k if.
I AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. Tiffany Hobbs here with you Saturdays with Tiffany, and you just heard Lou Shapiro, attorney Lou Shapiro on to talk about some of the big news cases that we've been covered here at the station, and he gave his insight and analysis about what's going on with the Menindez brothers, what's going on with Judge Ferguson out of Orange County, what's going on with that Columbia student who's facing deportation,
Mahmood Khalil. So make sure you listen back to that on KFIAM six forty dot com under special features. It was a wonderful, wonderful conversation, and we always love to have Lou on something else that we're tracking. It's coming out of the KFI News Center and they again will continue sharing developments with us through the course of the night. President Trump has now launched what is being considered the biggest US military operation in the Middle East since he
took office. What happened, well, President Trump launched this military operation in Yemen against the Houthis, and what he is saying is that what he is seeing is that the Houthis are a bit too a bit too sympathetic in this situation with what's going on in the Middle East and that unless they stop, quote, hell will rain down upon you. That's what Trump is saying to the Houthi region. The Hoothi Political Bureau is calling these attacks a war crime.
A war crime. This took place early this morning, Saturday morning. Now Sunday there for them, but early Saturday morning, and we'll continue tracking those developments as the day goes on.
As well.
Trump has invoked an eighteenth century law to declare invasion by gangs and speed up deportations. And what that is is the Alien Enemies Act of seventeen ninety eight.
It's only been.
Used twice before, and this time he is invoking it to declare the target being trend Day Arragua, saying that it is a hostile force acting at the behest of Venezuela government. So we will continue tracking those developments again throughout the night and throughout the weekend. Let's get into
some good news. If you prefer kid free spaces, you want some quiet, you want a vacation without the kids in tow, or you just want to go somewhere where you're not necessarily seeing kids running around and in your space, you are in luck. There's a new luxury resort in San Diego County. Well, they're actually not new, but they've instituted a new policy. And this resort is called the
Alila Maria Beach Resort. It's in Incinitas, which is just north of San Diego, and as of February fourteenth, it transitioned to an adult's only resort.
It says guests who.
Are eighteen and over are the only ones welcomed. However, the decision to ban children essentially is being met with some legal issue shoes. The lawyers are fighting. You have one lawyer, Robert Pattillo, who's a civil rights attorney. He says it's fine you can discriminate against children because essentially
they're not a protected class. And then you have another lawyer, Chris Dolan, owner of Dolan Law Firm in San Francisco and LA, who says that any hotel that bans miners in California violates Civil Code fifty one, which is also known as the un ru Civil Rights Act, which provides blanket legal protections against discrimination in California businesses. He says hotels are a part of this business qualification in California specifically,
cannot discriminate against children without facing major legal repercussions. But for now, if you want to visit a hotel that is a luxury hotel, it's offering a train, quill, relaxing, explorative and peaceful stay by the beach. Hurry up and get down to that Alila Maria or Madria Beach resort in Encinitas.
It's pricey.
You're paying for the premium of having silence and no children. But until things change, they will be a premiere child free resort. Another California city in the news is a city that has topped the list once again amongst the
happiest cities in all of America. So this list came out of wallet hub and they again analyzed all the cities in America based on certain criteria, and those criteria for the largest cities in America involved emotional and physical well being, income and employment always a great talking point, and community and environment.
So let's look at the.
Top ten happiest cities in the US according to wallet Hub, and we'll just talk about the ones in California specifically. Raoul Can we have a drum roll for this as we talk about the top five cities for California specifically, and I'll tell you where La falls as well. Coming in at number ten, we have Huntington Beach. Huntington Beach. We love Huntington Beach. We have quite a few collaborations with Huntington Beach. Have that air show out there, beautiful
air show. Huntington Beach comes in at number ten. Number nine, drum roll. We have San Francisco. And a lot of people probably would go what San Francisco costa living alone, probably would take it off of any list when it comes to emotional wellbeing, right, But San Francisco made the list nine.
Number three, there's that drum roll.
Irvine, Irvine, California. A beloved city, beloved city, many people love it.
I enjoy Irvine.
I've visited Irvine many times for different events, and I always want to stay. I find myself wanting to, you know, investigate what property might look like out there, and I'm always quickly reminded that I can't afford that Irvine is beautiful. Coming in at number two, San Jose. As we're going from out there in the OC kind of up north now to San Jose. I don't have a lot of a lot of things to say about San Jose, but
I know driving through it. It's pretty, it's green, coming in at number one on this list of top ten happiest cities in the US, the California edition You'll Never Guess It Fremont, California.
Freemont, California and why.
Low separation and divorce rate, high life satisfaction rate, low depression rate, high average life expectancy, and a decent household income. So they top the list amongst those cities in California that are considered to be the happiest. Amongst this new story by wallet hub or this new survey by wallet hub, Where does LA fall? Number seventy seven? We are way down the list if you think about big cities. There are one hundred and eighty two of the largest cities
that were analyzed. LA falls just below that fifty percentile. We are number seventy seven, which I guess is kind of like a SA average. Many of us might grade it differently, And one of the reasons we might grade Los Angeles differently has to do with the safety of our streets. Is it a safe place to drive? Are there exorbitant amounts of collisions on our Los Angeles streets?
Should you be worried?
If you are driving, or if you're a pedestrian where there are cars. Well, in our next segment, Deeper Dives, we'll get into just how unsafe Los Angeles is and the components that make up that lack of safety. KFI AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio
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