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Good morning, Yes, that is correct, it is time for your morning wake up call, and I'm Michael Monks in for Amy King on this Monday morning, January twenty seventh, twenty twenty five. A bit of a change in the weather out there, and yes it is impacting lots of stuff. Some schools have closed, although some are reopening, so that's good news. But the roads not so good in some places. We'll have the full traffic report coming up today on
wake up Call. We got all your local headlines, of course, fire stuff, weather stuff, traffic stuff, and the price of eggs winter Ralphs yesterday, as I do every Sunday, downtown LA. Nine dollars for a dozen eggs. Is there really no end in sight to this high cost? We're gonna have a live report on what that situation is and how much longer we can expect to endure those high prices
for a dozen eggs. Also, how did the Nation of Columbia end up in the crosshairs of President Trump, a potential trade war erupted, and then it seemed to calm down all rather quickly. Yesterday it was head spinning. We'll have a live report on what went down, why it went down, what's going down right now, and what it all means. And there is no question that our president enjoys some camera time. He's already taken dozens of reporter questions in the White House on the road aboard Air
Force One. We'll be joined live by a White House correspondent who has covered every president since Bill Clinton. We'll talk about what's different in the briefing room now that Trump is back in DC. And then we have this forthcoming release of classified documents. It's related to the assassinations of JFK, RFK, AN MLK. So why what else do we need to know about all of those events. We'll talk about that coming up in this hour as well. And don't forget it's six oh five. We've got Handle
on the news, Bill, Handle, Nil, Savandra and me. We'll all be with you and hope you will join us as well. We'll start with some of the stories coming out of the KFI twenty four hour newsroom a winter storm warning issue through four o'clock this afternoon for the eastern San Gabriel Mountains. The National Weather Service is said to expect heavy snow up to fourteen inches in some areas, and more than an inch of snow has anticipated along Grapevine.
Other parts of the region have a winter weather advisory. There's also a flood advisory for Pacific Palisades, including the Palisades, Burned scar and the far western San Fernando Valley, although that expired just about an hour ago. We still have a flood watch for the Santa Clarita Valley, western San Gabriel Mountains, and Highway fourteen Corridor. It's forecasted until ten o'clock this morning. Frost advisory showing how different the weather
has gotten in recent hours. Tomorrow, in the early morning hours two to nine overnight, Calabasas A, Gore Hills, Central Ventura County Valleys, Lake Casitas, southeastern Ventura County Valleys, Ventura County Inland Coast, and the western San Fernando Valley beyond the lookout might see some frost in those overnight hours. And the Eton Fire almost fully contained today. Right now, it's at about ninety eight percent. That's the fire that
ravaged Altadena parts of Pasadena. Firefighters are still there. They are still putting out some hot spots and Pasadena City Schools have begun the second phase of its school reopening. Five more schools have opened again today, but the Santa Monica Malibu Schools has closed its schools in Malibu because
of dangerous road conditions and challenges with access. Malibu Canyon Road also expected to be closed between Payoma and Francisco Ranch Roads through five o'clock this afternoon due to concern about rock and mud slide. So that's the situation right now all across the region. Some challenges related to weather on the roads. The Trump administration is a week old today and the new president has been busy. Deportations are
happening across the country. DEI is finished at the federal level, and we're possibly close to a trade war, maybe not with Columbia. And another noticeable change in Washington, d C. Now that there's a new resident at the White House. President Trump's Engagement of the Press. Our John Decker has been a correspondent during the ten years of seventeen press secretaries and every president since Bill Clinton. He's here to talk about what has changed since Trump returned to Pennsylvania Avenue.
Good morning, John, sound like.
An old coajure, but it is true. I have some institutional knowledge, and I can tell you that it is a very different atmosphere at the White House now than what existed, certainly in the final few weeks, final few months of President Joe Biden. A lot more energy at the White House. It's only been one week since Donald Trump has been office, and as you know, he has
signed a slew of executive orders since taking office. And in addition to that, he's even taken a multi day trip to Asheville, North Carolina, and Los Angeles to inspect and view the two natural disasters that happen in those two disaster zones.
Yeah, he's hit the ground running, of course. And I suppose that it's typical that a new administration sweeps into office and there's buzz, there's optimism, there's some goodwill being extended to folks before things turn south, as they do for administrations throughout history. But what's different about this first week compared to the first weeks of other presidents that you've covered.
Well, you're right, you know, new presidents, new administrations do generally hit the ground running. You know, when George W. Bush came into office after Bill Clinton, he too signed plenty of executive voters to undo some of the things that Bill Clinton had put in place during his eight years in office. Similarly, when you have eight years later Obama replacing Bush, and he too signed executive actions undoing some of the things of the eight years of Bush
and so on. But it's different this time simply because of the fact that this is the second term of Donald Trump. It's the final term of Donald Trump can't run again, and he realizes his administration, his team realizes that there's a narrow window to get done what they wished to get done. That narrow window is really over the course of the next two years with the Republicans in control of all of the leavers of government, the White House, the House, and the Senate.
Let's talk a bit about what goes on in the briefing room at the White House. There are times where those press conferences become must SEETV. And I'm curious what's different in terms of the relationship between journalist and the White House since the keys of the White House changed hands last Monday.
Well, we haven't had a White House press briefing yet with Caroline Leavitt, the new White House Press Secretary. I think the reason for that has to do with the fact that Donald Trump, in his first week in office, wanted to be the faith the voice of everything that was happening in this first week in office. Hopefully we'll get the start of regular briefings at the White House.
When I walk into the briefing room every day, I see people I've never seen before in my life, and I don't know who these folks are in terms of which news organization that they may be with, if they're actually journalists, but they recognize that right now, unlike the past four years, this center of the universe is the White House because there's just so much news coming out of sixteen one hundred Pennsylvania Avenue every day.
So when we think about the President and his relationship with the media, it's sort of a double edged sword. He loves a camera, he loves to talk, but he also expresses a lot of disdain for the media. He's coined the phrase fake news, and it's become a part of our daily language here in this country. But really, how do we expect his relationship to be with journalists this time around. Are you getting any indication about that from these early days of the new administration.
Well, when he departed the White House on Friday for Ashville, North Carolina, left on the south lawn of the White House, departed on Marine one, he took some questions from the press corps. That was the norm with Donald Trump typically when he would leave to go on a trip outside of Washington, d C. Having a mini press conference. That's a good thing, you know, in the sense that he's taken questions from the press corps almost on a regular
basis for an extended period of time. So I think the press that has that opportunity to ask questions of President Trump appreciates that. Now you know, we're going to ask tough questions of Trump, like I speak for myself, like I asked of President Joe Biden. And we'll see what that relationship develops like over the course of the next few weeks with Donald Trump, as he takes more questions from the press corps than certainly what we saw during Joe Biden's four years in the White House.
You've covered a lot of presidents, as we mentioned, You've dealt with a lot of press secretaries. From your observation, what do you think fuels Trump's frankness and even when he's not necessarily speaking accurately, what fuels his frankness and willingness to talk to the press in spite of that weird relationship he has with journalists.
The first time I interviewed Donald Trump was a long
time ago, was back in nineteen ninety nine. So I've known him for many years and people ask me, well, what was he like in nineteen ninety nine, before it was even involved in politics, And it's essentially the same Donald Trump now that existed back in nineteen ninety nine, someone who does not edit his thoughts, that speaks frankly that you know, again, he may not like what he says or how he says it, but you're going to get an answer from Donald Trump to most questions that
are posed to him. And I think that that's one of the things that those who like Donald Trump like most about him, that he's not a typical politician. He doesn't factor in well, if I answer a question this way, it may have this impact, you know, in terms of my approval ratings. He just answers questions. Damn the consequences, and I think that's what makes him so unique.
White House Correspondent John Decker, thanks so much for spending some time with us. The administration is only a week old. I'm sure we will have much to talk about in the weeks and even years ahead. John, thanks so much.
Absolutely, thank you.
You're listening to Wake Up Call on demand from KFI AM six forty.
First of all, drive safely out there if you haven't left yet. Just know that the roads are a little weird in some spots and a little dangerous as well. And rain across the Southland has helped firefighters mop up the wildfires, but we're watching for the potential of toxic ash runoff and mud slides. La County, Cruz have spent much of the past week removing vegetation, shoring up slopes, and reinforcing roads in those devastated areas of the Palisades
and eaten fires. Israel has allowed Palestinians to return north of the Gaza Strip, an area heavily destroyed during the country's war with Hamas. Thousands of Palestinians have headed that way today. A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has been extended.
President Trump has pushed to have the Egypt and Jordan take in large numbers of Palestinian refugees from Gaza, but those nations have said no. Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One over the weekend, moving about a million and a half people away from Gaza might mean, quote, we just clean out that whole thing. Jordan's foreign minister says his country's opposition to what Trump floated is firm and unwavering.
Coming up at the top of the hour six oh five, handle on the news bill, handle Nil Sevadra and me and hopefully you too. We're going to move into some other stories that are coming out of the KFI twenty four hour newsroom. The CIA has reported it now believes the virus responsible for the COVID nineteen pandemic most likely originated from a lab. An assessment by the federal government
points to China. Even while acknowledging the CIA has low confidence in its own conclusion, they say the finding isn't the result of any new intelligence and the report was completed at the behest of the Biden administration and former CIA Director William Burns. It was declined classified him released over the weekend on the order of President Trump's pick to lead the agency, John Ratcliffe, who was sworn in last week as director. China's foreign minister has issued a
veiled warning to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Foreign Minister Wang Yee conveyed a message of behavi yourself and a phone call on Friday that was their first conversation since Rubio has been confirmed as Secretary of State. Wang used a phrase typical of Chinese teacher or boss, warning a student or employee to behave and be responsible for their actions.
The phrase, according to the AP, seemed aimed at Rubio's vocal criticism of China and its human rights record when he was a US senator, which prompted the Chinese government to put sanctions on him two times back in twenty twenty. We are going to talk about egg prices. Do we have our guest Robin? All right?
We do.
Indeed, a dozen eggs at Ralph's in downtown La put me back nine bucks yesterday. The presidential election saw the price of eggs and other groceries play an outsize role in shaping the debate around politics. But the guy who says he'd bring down grocery prices has won that election and returned to the White House for just one weekend, and it already seems like this may be a tall task for President Trump. The average price of a cart and of a dozen eggs has risen to four dollars
and fifteen cents nationally. That's up fifty cents from November to December, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the forecast for egg prices is looking bleak. Our Rory O'Neill joins US Now Live to talk about eggs. Good Monday morning to you, Rory.
Yeah, good morning, and stop bragging about your egg purchases, all right, rest of.
Look, I'm my guy who likes breakfast, and yeah, I mean it looks like we're high above the national average here in the downtown Los Angeles. But like, what's going on? Why are the prices so high right now? Well, it's the bird flu.
And look, as much as President Trump wants to bring prices, it's going to be tough to battle this bird flu. Just since October, about twenty six million egg laying hens have had to be destroyed in an effort to stop the spread of this avian flu. And of course it's just the old rule of supply and demand. If you could even find eggs with the demand that's out there, the supply is just coming up short and that's why prices are spiking. Yes, California paying the highest, as they
usually do, but the national average around four fifteen. It was two fifty one for a dozen Grade A large eggs a year before. And the estimates are the prices are going to keep on climbing. We might finally get some relief, not surprisingly after.
Easter after easter, how coincidental. But I'm noticing that the predictions about the state of egg prices they're kind of gloomy. I mean they're saying, look, we might be paying higher prices for the entire year. I mean, what's fueling those predictions.
Well, it's really been an inability to get on top of this avian flu. We had a really bad outbreak of this back in twenty fifteen, but that lasted just one year. Here we are now, this is year three of this avian flu outbreak. This variant of the virus
seems to be much more easily transmitted. You know, we've had stories of some egg farms losing their whole flocks repeatedly, and they get bailed out by the government, thankfully, but it takes a time in order for these hens to be replaced and get old enough to be laying eggs again. So it's a difficult cycle to work through, and it's turning out to be expensive for the rest of us either who would like to have eggs for breakfast or use eggs in so many other dishes.
That's sort of my next question because obviously it hits us hard as individuals if you're paying twice as much as you typically do for eggs, and you're buying eggs every week. It's a staple of our it. But what's the additional economic impact that we might see. Is there such a thing? I mean, is the price of eggs impacting the economy outside of individual's purchasing power? O.
Sure, now this goes into restaurants, grocery stores. How about this X factor, school lunch programs, something else that may not have factored in the price of eggs and the different ways it can impact the economy because it's one of those baseline ingredients in so many other products, and what we pay at retail typically, you know, like you said, you went into Ralphs to buy eggs, Oftentimes they actually
lose money if you're just buying the dozen eggs. They depend on you buying the bread for your toast, the orange juice, the butter, the bacon that goes along with it. So they'll lose a buck on the eggs, but maybe they'll earn four dollars on the other stuff you buy. So that's why wholesale egg prices when we see them so high. A dozen large Midwest eggs seven dollars twenty seven sense again a dozen wholesale, and that's a significant cost for the restaurant and baking industries.
Well, let me ask you this before we let you run and get on with your Monday. What's the plan? I mean, Donald Trump is somebody who does like to speak about ideas, whether they've been vetted or not. Does he have any ideas on what to do about the price of eggs?
Well, his main focus to try to bring down inflation has been to increase boost our energy production. The President's thought is, if we can bring down energy costs as a baseline, then that will lower the cost of everything else, So that if the cost of delivering those eggs comes down, then the overall cost will come down or the cost
of the fertilizer, for the feed, all those things. He thinks that the higher energy prices have been really responsible for all this inflation of the past three or four years. So that's his objective. But this bird flu is going to be tough to tackle.
That's our Rory O'Neill, thank you so much for chatting about eggs. Looking forward to talk to you again. Have a great day, Roy. Thanks Michael, you too.
You're listening to Wake Up Call on demand from KFI am six forty.
On Michael Monks filling in for Amy King this morning. Thank you for being with us. Hope you're driving safely if you haven't left the house yet, though be aware can be a little treacherous in some parts out there are Will Cole Schreiber will have a full report on where to go where not to go around the LA region coming up just ahead. But we're a week into this new presidential administration, President Trump back in office now
seven days. We've already gotten close to a trade war with an ally and it's not the country that you would expect, Canada, Mexico. Instead, it's Columbia, a country most of us probably don't realize plays a pretty big part in America's international economy. So here to talk about what's going on, what's not going on, Why it went down? ABC News White House Correspondent Karen Travers, Good Monday morning, to you, Karen.
To you too.
So this was something that transpired rather quickly, and it looked like it happened on social media more than anywhere else. I don't know what type of high level diplomatic cables were being passed around, but this all played out very publicly.
What happened, Yeah, there was a conversation going back and forth, but you know, you're right, it did play out a bit on social media over the weekend, and it was one of those diplomatic stats that played out very quickly, seemed to come out of nowhere, and then appears to be resolved lease based on statements from the White House
last night and from the Colombian side. And what happened was yesterday the Colombian president said he was not going to accept two military deportation flights that were already in routs to Colombia. Colombia, as you noted, is a strong ally of the United States, has a good relationship. It's been a very big ally of the United States in
the region. They've done these flights before on the regular basis, but this time the Colombia and president said he was drawing a line because they were coming in on military aircraft and he was concerned that people weren't being treated with dignity and respect, as he put it, pointing to a flight that went to Brazil where authority say people were denied access to water and bathrooms, and so the Colombian said, you know, we are not going to do
it under these circumstances. President Trump fired back and said that this is jeopardizing America's national security and economic security, and then threatened twenty five percent tariffs on all goods coming in from Colombia into the United States. It's a big deal because we import things like crude oil, coffee, bananas, flowers. Valentine's Day is coming up, so that's a big one.
And for the Colombians, we're their biggest trade partner thorty four percent of all trades Colombia, which Columbia is with the United States. So this wasn't just an idle threat to them. They really took this seriously. But by late last night, the White House said that there was an agreement reached the Colombians were going to take these flights coming in and that this sent a message that countries around the world need to understand that they have to
fully cooperate with the United States on this. And you know, all the things we're hearing from the administration is this is how they're doing business and this is how it's going to be.
Now, the president of Columbia kind of stood his ground. At first he threatened to put tariffs on the US as well, but then it looks like that kind of went away.
M hmm.
Yeah.
You know, it was that tit for tat in a trade war, as it would be where the Columbia said, all right, you're going to put a twenty five percent tariffy with a thread of a fifty percent hike in a week where we're going to do the same thing on US products. And you know, experts will say, like, nobody wants to get into these trade wars. This is not good for the consumers. Those cost get passed on to consumers who are buying these products, and that is
not great. But I think it's also an important thing to recognize here that this is the administration showing that this is how they're going to do business. And this is a tool that the president will turn to frequently in his tool when he wants a country to do what he wants. And you know we've seen this, as
you mentioned with Mexico, Canada, China. This threat of tariffs is a significant means for the Trump administration to try and get cooperation on other issues, whether it's economic or on this one immigration.
Well, that's certainly given us an indication of what to expect from Trump and his relationship with other nations, no doubt about that. But the situation with Colombia was particularly strange because you do know that these were military aircraft that were to drop off these deportees. It's not like Colombia is against having its people returned. I mean, they were accepting flights. What was unique about this.
Situation it is what you mentioned, the fact that it was on military aircraft. You know, there has been an agreement with Columbia to accept deportation flights. This has been happening on a regular basis. It's not like this was the first flight going in and all of a sudden they said no, no, no, we're not going to do this. This has been a consistent between the United States and Columbia.
But this because of the circumstances of how the flights were coming down, and again because of how the president of Columbia said he was concerned about the treatment of the people who were on the flights.
ABC News White House correspondent Karen Travers, we appreciate the report and hope to talk to you again soon.
Thank you, have a great day.
Thank you.
You're listening to Wake Up Call on Demand from KFI Am six forty.
I am Michael Monks filling in for Amy King this morning. One of President Trump's promises has been to release the classifying files related to the assassinations of President Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy right here in LA, and Reverend Martin Luther King Junior. Trump says it's in our national interests to know everything. So what might still be left to learn? ABC News correspondent Jim Ryan is with us Live to explain good Monday morning to you.
Jim.
It's left to discover about the Kennedy assassination. Probably not a lot. I mean, there are still several thousand pages that are out there. But Joe Biden, during his presidency released several thousand. Donald Trump during his first term did likewise. But even Trump back in twenty seventeen held back on the release of some of the stuff based on a
recommendation from the CIA and the FBI. Now President again and with Robert F. Kennedy Junior urging him on, He's decided to go ahead and release more documents.
Now, does that.
Mean that every single thing related to the Kennedy assassination will be turned loose? No, because some documents can't be released because they're under court seal even now, because they're owned by those documents are in some cases owned by private individuals who don't want them released, and they can set the rules. Then you also have grand jury testimony that's kept secret.
Who is this for? Who's asking for this?
Well? Trump is, I mean, he's long believed that something deeper went on, and certainly Robert F. Kennedy does as well. He thinks that somebody that the government was involved in the assassination of his uncle John F. Kennedy, of his father Robert F. Kennedy Senior, and of Martin Luther King Junior. So it's for them, but it's also you know, for
Trump and for Kennedy Junior. But it's also in the public interests to you know, the order of the Trump sign says that this is it's up to the public to see this stuff and to decide about its veracity.
So the public doesn't always react rationally to any piece of news. Can we expect? And I know you are a journalism professor as well, so I know you you've probably talked your students about the way that the audiences have changed over the years. But what can we expect, if you know, what can we expect from our fellow people in terms of their behavior about any new information? Could this be politicized in some manner? Well, yeah, I think it could be.
I mean, I think if the goal in releasing these documents my history is to quell the suspicions, to answer the questions, and to in some of the conspiracy theories, I don't think it's going to happen. In fact, I suspect that it's going on to feed into new conspiracies. Why was this all held on to for so long? What does this little document mean that we found in the files? I think it will. I suspect there will be books based primarily on what we see in the
next few months. What the practical terms of all this, Michael, Over the next fifteen days, the Attorney General and National Security Advisor's National Intelligence Director will come up with a plan on how to release the JFK documents related to his assassination here in Dallas. Within the next forty five days, those same two will have to come up with a plan for releasing the MLK and Robert F. Kennedy documents. So it's sort of a two phase process here.
Okay, So we've got a several days to wait for that, But we got four years of President Trump. What do we know about his relationship to similar classified material and whether we might have some answers to lingering questions on other issues.
Well, he's talked about Area fifty one too, and about how the documents related to that should be. Really, I think that's pretty much all been cleared out and put onto public display. Maybe not though, And so I think he sees in this an opportunity. People love to see things that they haven't seen before, maybe shouldn't have seen before,
but suddenly can. And whether it's the Kennedy assassination, about about the moon landing, about Area fifty one, I think Trump is inclined to release all of it.
ABC News correspondent Jim Ryan reporting live from Dallas this morning. Jim, always good to talk to you. Thanks for being with us today.
Thanks Michael, you've been listening to Wake Up Call with me Amy King. You can always hear Wake Up Call five to six am Monday through Friday on KFI AM six forty and anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
Yeah