All right, thank you Scott Shannon, Thanks to all of you for being with us. Right down are toll free number it is eight hundred and ninety four to one. Sean, if you want to be a part of the program, let me start, because we're going to talk a little bit about the poor forest management in California and how preventable these wildfires are out there if only common sense measures were adopted. But that does not negate the human toll that has gone on out there. It is one
of the saddest things. And I've had this happen to friends of mine, and I'm sure most of you have too. If somebody works so hard their entire life, they have a dream, they want a house for themselves and their family. It is so built into the American psyche that that is a huge achievement in one's life to be able to get their own home, and it means so much to everybody and all the family memories that are in there, et cetera. And you're watching hundreds and hundreds and hundreds
of homes burned down. I don't want to forget the human component of all of this, and let the people of California that are living through this know that our thoughts, our prayers, our love are all sent to all of you. I'm sure it's not exactly heartwarming to hear that, Well, you'll be able to rebuild blah blah. It just it is. It will upturn turn up your life. It will just change things around. The entire trajectory of your life now
is in a whole different direction. There is so much that we're learning that to me is infuriating and just angers me. I saw Joe Biden out there with Gavin Newsom. Gavin Newsom probably as big as Booster in the entire country, and he's stuck with him to the end. And it's nice that Joe went out there. It's appropriate that he
went out there. Where was Joe when Hurricane Helene destroyed you know, parts of Georgia and especially the northwestern part and the mountain part of mountainous part of North Carolina. I mean, they still have not caught up with helping the people that desperately need help there. Where were they in East Palestine after that train wreck happened. They were nowhere to be found. Joe couldn't bother didn't take the time to go out and meet with the people there. And you know, as.
We look at.
Some of the background here, you know there is something called the science of forest management, and it is a science. And interestingly, you can go back and one person that predicted all of this. Let's go back to twenty eighteen and this is Donald Trump, the President, with Gavin Newsom talking about forest management.
Listen, cleaned out and protected.
We've got to take care of the floors, you know, the floors of the forest very important. You look at other countries where they do it differently, and it's a whole different story. I was with the president of Finland and he said, we have much different We're a forest nation. He called it a forest nation, and they spent a lot of time on raking and cleaning and doing things and they don't have any problem. And when it is,
it's a very small problem. So I know everybody's looking at that to that end and it's going to work out.
I mean, that was him in twenty eighteen, and just four months ago, Donald Trump spoke about the need for California to send more water. And this will become very relevant in a minute when I tell you what's actually going on out there to down downstate to prevent these fires. Now, I lived in California for five years. Sound was an area of a very affluent area of Santa Barbara. I went back there a couple of years after I had left, and the whole the whole community was burned to the ground.
This has been happening now for decades. And we know that they have these long droughts in California, and I had been out in California. Desalinization was a big topic of discussion because they needed fresh water.
Water was always a problem.
But this is Donald Trump talking about four months ago the need for California to send more water downstate to help prepare for firefighters. And I'll explain why this is relevant in a second.
You have so much water, and all those fields that are right now barren, The farmers would have all the water they needed, and you could revert water up into the hills where you have all the dead forests, where the forests are so brittle, because no places like California.
I go to Austria. The head of Ostria.
Tells me, you know, we have trees that are much more flammable than what you have in California. We never have forest farest because they may maintain their forests, and you have all that water that could be used to water what they call waterflow where the you know, where the land would be damp, and you'd stop many of these horrible fires that are costing billions and billions of dollars by the federal government, et cetera.
So one thing I'm going to do for California. Vote for me, California.
I'm going to give you safety, I'm going to give you a great border, and I'm going to give you more water than almost anybody has.
They don't because of environmental extremism. They it is difficult, if not impossible, and the state should be responsible for it.
They don't engage in controlled burns, you know, they don't clear out the dry brush, which should be done regularly, which is the kindling for fires such as what we're watching unfold in the Pacific Palisades and beyond a lot of a lot of the state rules protecting endangered species, you know, is is the rationale limiting the science of forestry from being practiced out there, and the limiting the amount of water that gets sent from northern California, which
makes absolutely positively no sense, you know, it is it is completely preventable if they put the time, energy, money, and resources into it.
We now see bay.
Just think of what Donald Trump just said that there, you know, scores of we're now finding out LA firefighters that are at their wits end because they're finding all of these broken fire hydrants that are preventing them from doing their jobs, which they want to do, and they're struggling to gain control of one of the worst wildfires
in LA's history. And I just wonder how many brand new fire hydrants could have been bought with the seventeen million dollars that the Democratic Mayor Karen Bass cut from the firefighting budget, because that's exactly what she did.
Just months go.
LA Fire Department had their budget cut by a staggering seventeen point six million dollars this financial year, according to records, and this drastic decrease in funding for the fire department was the second largest cut to come out of Los Angeles and Mayor Karen Bass's fiscal budget, according to city figures. And she initially even wanted to cut more money than that.
And by the way, if you're wondering where the mayor of Los Angeles is and all of this, well she's seven, four hundred miles away in Africa on a political trip as this, you know, Los Angeles is like in this apocalyptic healthscape. Right now, there are people posting on X from La saying resign while you're in Ghana. One person comedy anyway, she traveled with three other people to Ghana for the inauguration of the president there was elected last year. Hey, Karen, quote,
how's Ghana? Another person asking La. You ask, Yeah, it's burning to the effing ground. But it's better you're not here anyways, because you're useless. Others demanding that she resigned from her post. You're a disgrace or and embarrassment. I mean, there is no excuse. Why is she not on the first plane home? As soon as this became a problem.
Now the problem even gets worse than that. Now, if you're not going to practice you know, the science of forestry, and you're not going to have hydrants that have water in them, and you're not going to clear out the kindling and the brush because of environmental extremist agendas, and you're not going to have controlled burns again another huge mistake. Then you know this is entirely preventable and predictable what
is happening here. If you're going to put endangered species above the lives and the livelihoods and the homes of the people in your state, you know you have to ask why, why would you do that? And here's where it even gets worse than that, because I don't know if you've ever noticed. While Mayor Bass was busy cutting off the fire Department's budget to the bone, he somehow did manage to find hundreds of millions of dollars for
green energy conversion for the Port of Los Angeles. This ought to make everybody in the southland in LA pretty pissed off. But here's the headline from a website, the Port of Los Angeles website. Port of Los Angeles awarded four hundred and twelve million dollars and a grant from the US EPA for zero emissions transfer, zero missions transformation. Thank you EPA Administrator Michael Reagan for your support of
our vision a zero emissions future that Karen Bass. With this funding, the nation's busiest port will be able to continue to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve air quality. How's the air quality out there today? I don't think it's doing too well in LA today. Together, in partnership with the federal government, industry, labor, environmental justice groups, we are building a greener, healthier LA. Doesn't look like it to me.
The port and its private, sectored partners will match the EPA grant with an additional two hundred and thirty six million dollars, bringing the total new investment in zero missions programs at the Port of Los Angeles to six hundred and forty four million dollars, and provide fifty million dollars for community LEDs zero missions Grant program workforce development and
related engagement activities. Well, I mean, I don't see anything in there about the money to fix the broken fire hydrants and or any monies to hire the firefighters that she laid off. But according to the press release, in addition to the EPA grant, you know there were still gazillions left over in her budget for green energy conversion. In August, LA launched their first one percent electric full
size street sweeper in the US. The city itself installed nearly one hundred Level two chargers and twelve fast charges for electric vehicles throughout the city. And meanwhile, they're not taking care of the basic predictable safety needs of homeowners in California. I'm going to tell you what this is going to result in. It's going to result in more
of a mass exist. I mean, the U Haul Index came out and once again leading the way with the lowest net population gain and people leaving the state is California. Then you have South Carolina, Texas, Florida, Tennessee.
Once again.
You know, people are are just moving in droves. And the same thing with New York. Kathy Holk wants to run for a governor again. The one thing that would help New York financially have this big congestion tax in New York City. If you go in on the lower level of the fifty ninth Street Bridge from Queens into Manhattan, you know it's going to be fifteen dollars on the lower level because they'll force you onto First Avenue in
New York City. I know this may be a little technical, but you will automatically be charged even if you're not heading in that direction. I mean, that's how desperately they want money, and they don't care about the poor and the middle class and working men and women that are going to be paying the bills. They try to get to work every day. But this, this is now, this, this is what environmental environmental radicalism gets you. I'll never forget. I went out to the San Joaquin Valley. I cover
this for fox and that you add. You know all these you know, farms, massive farms that were bone dry, and there was all of this water that was available to them, and it was not made available to farmers because they wanted to protect what's called the delta smelt. Now, the delta smelt, if you look it up and look at a picture of it, it looks like a.
Little minnow fish.
It's not even like an exotic fish, and by the way, not even an endangered species. And they cared more about the delta smelt than they did about the farmers. And the farmers lost their entire livelihood because they chose a minnow fish that was not even on the endangered species list over the farmers, over the people that would benefit from the farming and the food that they would produce. I mean, this is absolute madness. And then they wonder, I wonder why people are leaving in Los Angeles and
New York and New Jersey and Illinois and droves. This is why people have had it. They're waking up. They're done, and you've destroyed your states. You know, law order, safety, security gone, massive taxes. You know, if you live in New York City, in New York State, fourteen percent state and city income acts. Same thing out in Los Angeles,
same thing in all of California. Illegal immigration, sanctuary state status, you know, put the burden on taxpayers just basically just picked their pockets to the point where they're not going to stay anymore and the quality of life has gone to hell. I mean, defund is mantle, no bail laws, sanctuary states, known terrorists, cartel members, gang members, murderers, rapists, they just allow them into the country unvetted. January twentieth
can't come fast enough. I actually can't believe what A friend of mine that lives out in the area and in California just sent me.
It is.
It reminds me of when I went to New Orleans post Katrina, and it was like I remember driving for miles and on either side everything was wiped out, Entire neighborhoods of being wiped out. Caitlyn Jenner just texted me and says, you have no idea how bad it is out here. She's gonna call in after the news at the bottom of the hour and we'll get an update from her. And our prayers are with the people of California today. This is really bad, driving.
The liberals nuts.
Sean Hannity is back on the radio right now, all right, twenty five till the top of the hour, eight hundred and ninety four one, Shawn or number if you want to be a part of the program as we now enter the new year, and it should be, by the way, an every day priority for everybody. You've got to protect yourself. You've got to protect your family. You know, we now have known terrors, murderers, cartel members in the country. We have a lot of violent people, very dangerous time for
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And this technology is amazing. We continue our coverage. I mean, it's pretty unbelievable that if you listen to the if you listen to the experts, a lot of what is happening with this wildfire in California could have been prevented. There's been decades of overgrowth in California forests. You know, if you look at the liability laws around controlled burns, they don't allow control burns. You can't remove brush. It's all related to environmental radicalism and extremism. I mean, the
state itself should be involved in these controlled burns. They should be involved in cleaning out the brush which is the kindling for these big fires and much of California. If a landowner undertakes you know, a controlled burn on their own property, they have to jump through a series of hoops proving that they have the expertise to set a controlled fire that will stay controlled. But this is something that state ought to be doing. And the sad
part is is now we're learning. Okay, well, the mayor of Los Angeles cut the LA fire Fighter's budget by a wopping what seventeen million dollars, and meanwhile they're spending six hundred and forty four million to make the Port of Los Angeles, converting that into you know, a green energy hub, six hundred and forty four million dollars, and
yet they're cutting back on firefighters. Then firefighters, you know, they're at their wits end fighting trying to fight this fire that they're willing to put their lives at risk, but they're finding all these broken fire hydrants. Donald Trump warned about it in twenty eighteen, said you better get the water from the north in northern California down to the south, because you're going to need it. And he turned out to be more than right. All the state
rules protecting quote endangered species. I mentioned the delta smelt that prevented farmers from being able to farm in the San Joaquin Valley. And this is all madness anyway. A friend of mine just sent me a video. I mean it went on for blocks and blocks and blocks of homes just burn to the ground. These are people's lives, you know, being upended in ways you can't even imagine,
you know, whenever there's a tragedy like this. Now, I'm glad to see Joe Biden went out there today, especially since he never showed up to East Palestine after that that train derailment, that disaster there. Never showed up after Hurricane Helene in North Carolina. And if it wasn't for neighbor helping neighbor and Samaritan's Purse and Operation Heilo, you know, those people and Elon Musk providing communications they would be
they'd be out of luck anyway. Caitlin Jenner is with US, lives in southern California, is very aware of the dangers of fires out there. This is something you talked about when you made your run for governor back in the day.
Boy, I certainly did. That was like number one on my list of things to do, because fighting fires has to be offensive and removing brush, like you said earlier, in the forest, taking fuel away. I live in Malibu, California. The wolveyfire came right through my house and I stayed with the house and it made it because there was no fuel close to the house. And we just need to do more of that, no more in preparation. What's happening here in Los Angeles actually today the winds are
so hard. Last night they were between eighty and ninety miles an hour at my house. I live on the mountain in Malibu.
And the way for those two people that don't know, they're called Santa Ana winds, and they come by periodically and the winds are fierce, and if it happens while in the middle of a fire like this, it is devastating because it literally moves the embers miles away in many cases and creates new fires.
Absolutely. And I live in a setting in a corridor, so I mean every time my house gets hit this afternoon, my roof blew off. Yeah, all the tar paper on my roof. The second time it's happened, lifted right up off my house and was thrown all the way down the mountain Riday at that repair. Fortunately, I'm at the north end of Malibu, the south end of Malibu, and you get down in the Pacific Palisades is just getting destroyed, and you're right, it's about preparation. And Karen Bass isn't
even in town. You mentioned that she's off in Africa someplace. But you know who's been on the phone, you know, all day long is Rick Caruso. Rick Cruso is the one that ran against Karen Bess and the people of California didn't put him in place. He's a very confident businessman, really great guy, and he has a mall near where the fire was and he goes running down there in the morning to make sure everything's going to be okay. And they had no water in the fire hydrants.
I mean, you can't even make it up. And then Gavin Newsom, God bless Gavin.
He had his emergency presser today thanking the mayor Karen Bass who's in Ghana, who's in Africa, for her leadership in all of this.
I mean, is this some kind of bad joke?
Yeah, it really is. And actually you said earlier you were talking about Biden being here and going to Monica to the firehouse and you know, doing all of that. He was. It was like in Santa Monica. You know, we went out to the desert to do that a couple of days ago, you know, some national monument out there. And he came back here and he's in town. I know because as you know, I'm a pilot, and they
had a TFR. It's a temporary flight restriction. Any place the president goes and he stays someplace, there's a TFR, a no fly zone over the area that he's at. It's quite common, and there was a TFR here the last couple of days because he was in town. So basically all he did today was, you know, go down the street to the local fire station and do a television appearance and then and then leave. That's the tight. God, I can't wait till the twentieth of January.
Yeah, by the way, he did reveal that his son Hunter and his wife may have lost their home during this fire. They got notification yesterday their home was probably burned to the ground. And by the way, the LA Only Fire chief now has an estimate that a thousand structures have been destroyed already, and they have zero percent of this fire under control as of you know, twenty minutes ago. They don't have any of it under control, and they don't have fire hydrants that work explain that.
I know. Well, I keep my plane up at Tamoora or Airport and that's the station where all of these firefighting helicopters. They're based there, and unfortunately they've been on the ground. Now, first I thought, are they on the ground because where the fire is is underneath this TFR. Yeah, for a flight restriction because Biden's there not letting helicopters
go in there. I don't know. I hope that the firefighters and the city of Los Angeles is smarter than that and not to do something like that.
And I'm well, they cut the firefighter budget by seventeen million dollars just a couple of months ago, and the fire hydrants don't work. So if you don't have firefighters and you don't have water, tell me how you're going to put out this firefight this massive fire.
Absolutely, Ben, I just want to know shown that that beautiful home in Florida. Do you have a guest house.
If you need one. I have a room if that's what you need done. Not a problem.
By the way, these fires have burned through five thousand, four hundred acres. Now, is there any that you actually can go to college and get a degree in forestry? You can go to college and you can be an expert, and there are known methods to prevent incidents like this from happening. That is what I find the most infuriating to me is something like this that is preventable. Then you got to look at the reasons, Well, why haven't they implemented the science of forestry, And then you look
at the Endangered Endangered Species Act. Then you look at that they don't want you to cut down a tree, they don't want controlled burns, they don't want you know, it's going to impact the environment. What's the air like out by you today?
Fortunately the wind is going out to sea, and so at my house, I'm fine, but the air quality in la is just it's horrible. The good thing is when you talk about the you can watch the smoke clouds going and all day this morning they were going straight out to sea, meaning the wind is pushing them very fast and the winds are very high. I have had noticed in the last hour or two the clouds are going the wind are going much much higher, meaning the winds are calming down and it's not pushing the smoke
out to sea quite as fast. So hopefully we're at the other end of the Santanas right now. But they say there's going to be some not as difficult, not as tough as we've had today through tomorrow, and then hopefully we get through it. But I was looking at the news out here and there was like funny homes on the beach all gone on Malibu on the beach on p twenty homes in a row all gone.
It's just unbelievable.
You think you have a place on the beach. You know you're going to be okay because the fires are up there in the map, but nope, Yeah, twenty homes gone right on pieces.
Let me let me ask you, you said during a previous fire you stayed. Now, had you taken measures to clear any brush near around your home on your own?
Oh? Absolutely, Sean, I'm a professional when it comes to this stuff.
I only all right.
So my question is did you have to get permits to do it or did you did you just say I'm clearing out my property. I'm not going to make it a fire hazard.
I'm not going to tell them I'm just clearing my property. But if you try to move in a dirt on your property, there's some flower and the guys tell me go around your property and look for this flower, and they gave me a picture of it. If you find any of them, pull them out. So when they come to look and say, oh I'm going to move this duit from here to there, there's no one of these flowers. You'll never get to move it because it's an endangered
flower or something. All kinds of restrictions like that.
So let me get this straight.
So, because you took proactive measures while other homes were lost near you, your home remained intact, and you stayed with your home even risk in your life. I mean, I have a video of some guy. I don't put it up on social media. I mean his house is surrounded by flames, and he's like, I'm not leaving my house, and he's out there with like a fire hose trying to fight back this fire, which I think is admirable. But I'm not so sure that any house.
Is worth it.
I would agree around it's not certainly not worse in your life. But I have a house that really when it was built, I was built, I was the second owner, was really built not to burn. There's metal doors, metal window frames. The only thing I had was wooden garage doores. But it's all about preparation. I have got some menu and give me seventy five foot of clearance, so there's no grass or brush or anything within seventy five feet of the house I live at on top of the hill.
I have my own water system, so I've got fire hoses. I've got my own generator that so when the electricity goes, because it will go off, you still have generators to run all the pumps and do everything. I got a gas pump that will pump out of the pool and take them just shoot the water all the way over the house. I'm so scared. I got no mixing. I used to raise cars I got no mixed suits, no mixed suits, no mixed flock.
You said, you sound like me. I'm like a crazy, you know, prepper when I can be. I was even crazy when I had a I had a big house. I mean I had generators galore. I had four thousand gallons of propane. Obviously, I'm a firearms enthusiast. I had emergency food and water and supplies and medical supplies.
I have it all. I'm crazy.
No, I don't have the food supplies, but I do have I think my house is not going to burn. It is. I will not let it burn.
And because you're and you're being proactive, I mean you're taking these necessary steps. Look for example, everything's changed in Florida after that building in Miami collapsed. I mean, every every single condo building in Florida has to be up to code. And you have to be hurricane prepared, and you need hurricane windows and doors and and I think it's just the right thing to do to prepare people for a worst case scenario.
But I you know, but here's the problem.
It doesn't matter how much homelessness doesn't matter, about quality of life doesn't matter, how much crime doesn't matter how many, how many.
Homes might burn to the ground.
In the end, it's California will remain a left wing radical haven. And I don't I don't see it ever becoming conservative again. Do you I live about twenty seconds?
Yeah, now they've been I don't know, Sean. I look at California now it's gotten a lot redder. Have you noticed?
I noticed, but not not read enough. I mean, I would bet every penny I have. Your next governor is going to be Kamala Harris, who, by the way, her home is under an evacuation order.
Please, John, You're just ruined my days.
I'm just I'm just telling.
You to my words.
All right, Caitlin Jenner, Our prayers, in all seriousness are with the people of California, regardless of the incompetence of government.
They're losing.
You know, their whole lives are being upended here and lives are in jeopardy. Where their prayers are with us. Thanks for checking in. We appreciate it. Eight hundred ninety four one, Shawn, our number