President Donald Trump visited Los Angeles to assess the destruction caused by the Palisades Fire. During his visit, he criticized California’s leadership, especially Governor Gavin Newsom, for mishandling wildfire management and water policies. Trump also questioned FEMA's efficiency in disaster response and suggested an overhaul of the federal relief system. His trip highlighted ongoing tensions between state and federal authorities amidst the crisis.
#TrumpInLA #PalisadesFire #CaliforniaWildfires #WildfireDamage #FederalAid #RecoveryEfforts #FireManagement #WaterPolicies #DisasterResponse #GovNewsom
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NewsTranscript
00:00:00Sound of jet engine.
00:00:24Oh, fuck me!
00:00:26Hello everybody, so we just left North Carolina a little while ago.
00:00:54We have that in very good shape.
00:00:57We have the congressman in charge and Michael Watley, and we're going to do a lot of work.
00:01:02We have the Army Corps of Engineers working as they are here.
00:01:07And I think you're going to see some very big progress.
00:01:09They left them high and dry, and now we're going to be taking a little tour with some
00:01:16of the people from the area.
00:01:18I appreciate the governor coming out and meeting me, Kevin, very much, and we'll be
00:01:26talking a little bit.
00:01:27We want to get it fixed.
00:01:28We want to get the problem fixed, and there'll be some ways, but it's like you got hit by
00:01:35a bomb, right?
00:01:36Yeah.
00:01:37Like you got hit by a bomb.
00:01:38Would you like to say something?
00:01:40Most importantly, thank you for being here.
00:01:42It means a great deal to all of us, not just the folks in Palisades, the folks in Altadena
00:01:48that were devastated.
00:01:49We're going to need your support.
00:01:51We're going to need your help.
00:01:53You were there for us during COVID.
00:01:55I don't forget that, and I have all the expectations that we'll be able to work together to get
00:02:01this speedy recovery.
00:02:02We will.
00:02:03We got to get it done.
00:02:05Tremendous numbers of lives have been affected.
00:02:07A lot of real estate's been affected.
00:02:09Nobody's ever probably seen anything like this.
00:02:13You can almost say since the Second World War, when you think of it.
00:02:16I mean, nothing like this has happened, and we're going to get it fixed, so we'll get
00:02:20it permanently fixed so it can't happen again, and again, we'll be talking a little bit later
00:02:26and we'll get it worked out, okay?
00:02:27I appreciate it, Mr. President.
00:02:32Mr. President, both of you have disagreed a lot over the past week over what has happened
00:02:38in this state.
00:02:39How do you plan to put your differences aside?
00:02:40We got to get it finished.
00:02:41We're looking to get something completed, and the way you get it completed is to work
00:02:46together.
00:02:47It's the governor of the state, and we're going to get it completed.
00:02:49They're going to need a lot of federal help, unless you don't need any, which you do.
00:02:53We're going to need a lot of federal help.
00:02:55So we're going to take care of things, okay?
00:02:58We're going to work through it.
00:03:02I have all the confidence the world will work that out.
00:03:06Thank you both.
00:03:08I guess some of you are coming with us and some of you not.
00:03:11Thank you very much.
00:03:13I'll see you.
00:04:35Thank you very much.
00:04:44Well, thank you very much, everybody. This is an honor to be with you.
00:04:49Unfortunately, it's a very sad period. But what makes you feel good is I met so many of the
00:04:55homeowners and every one of them, a lot of them, and every one of them said to me they want to
00:05:00rebuild. I said, Will you go elsewhere? No, no, no, no. It wasn't even like a question.
00:05:06They love the area. They love the people. It's like a family. It's incredible. Actually,
00:05:12when you see some things like that, we just left North Carolina and we had
00:05:17just a similar type of disaster. It was water instead of fire. But boy, that water did damage
00:05:23like I've never seen before. And then you come here and you see this.
00:05:28But the people are so amazing. And your fire department was so beautiful.
00:05:33Every one of us in perfect physical shape. I said, What do you guys do? They have very
00:05:37high standards, I could tell you. And we took pictures with all of them. But very nicely,
00:05:43they gave us a little helmet. And I said, Are you really you wear this? Is this real?
00:05:50And they said, Yeah, I said, It's awfully heavy. You have to be very strong to wear that.
00:05:54But that's the original, right? So it's pretty good. But I just want to thank everybody. We're
00:06:00going to be with you. Your governor met us at the plane and we had a good talk. Very,
00:06:06very positive talk. We have to work together to get this really worked out. I don't think you can
00:06:12realize how how rough it is, how devastating it is until you see it. I didn't realize. I mean,
00:06:19I saw a lot of bad things on television, but the extent of it, the size of it, we flew over it
00:06:26in a helicopter. We flew to a few of the areas and it is devastation. It's incredible. It's
00:06:32really an incineration. Even some of the chimneys came down. Okay, when you have the chimneys come
00:06:39down, you know, that's pretty hot stuff. And a lot of them were down. That was a bad sign, too.
00:06:45But I just want to commiserate and we're going to celebrate. We'll be back to celebrate one day
00:06:53soon. I hope soon the federal government standing behind you 100 percent. The First Lady and I are
00:07:00in California to express a great love for the people of California. We we've had I've had great
00:07:09support always in California. We did very well recently, as you know,
00:07:13relatively speaking, at least I can say. And it's been it's been amazing. I have property
00:07:19in California, not too far away, actually, right up the road in Palos Verdes, a big property.
00:07:25And I've always loved it. I've always loved being here. But we have to grieve for the 28 Californians
00:07:31who have tragically perished. And sadly, you're going to be finding more. And that's going to be
00:07:38very sad because I know people are missing. And when you look at that kind of incineration,
00:07:45you know it's going to happen. You're going to find some more. But with all that we've
00:07:51gone through, I watched your firefighters and they were really fighting at a big disadvantage.
00:07:56I got to know a lot of them just now. And they're incredible people. They were so happy.
00:08:02They were saying, congratulations, sir. You know, they're thinking about country,
00:08:06maybe even before this location that they all love. But I'm pleased to be joined by
00:08:12many of the great California leaders, both Democrat and Republican.
00:08:19And it's an honor to meet some of you I didn't know, but I know every one of you by name.
00:08:24L.A. County Supervisor Catherine Barger. Thank you, Catherine, very much. Mayor Karen Bass.
00:08:31Thank you, Karen. It's nice to meet you. Representatives Jay Obernolte. Where's Jay?
00:08:39Jay. Hi, Jay. It's been a tough period, Jay, right? Vince Fong. Kevin Kiley. Vince.
00:08:46Vince and Kevin. Hi. Hi, Vince. A man I know very well. I know him too well, actually.
00:08:57And I say that actually with love because he's a great he's actually been a great
00:09:01congressman for a long time and he's a great leader and he loves the area as much as anybody.
00:09:07Daryl. So, Daryl Issa. Young Kim. Congratulations on an excellent career. I appreciate it.
00:09:18Another one I know pretty well is, to put it mildly, is Tom McClintock.
00:09:23And he's been with us for a long time. We have some interesting things going on in Washington.
00:09:29And it's an honor that you have that you guys are here. Thank you, Daryl, very much, Tom.
00:09:33Thank you. George Whitesides.
00:09:38Good, George. It's a great name, too, by the way. Brad Sherman. Oh, I know Brad well. I know Brad,
00:09:45but that's all right. We're on the same side of this one. I know that. We'll work together,
00:09:49Brad, very well. A lot of respect. And Presidential Envoy Rick Grinnell,
00:09:55who's done a fantastic job for me over the years. He was ambassador to Germany.
00:10:02And he was fantastic. So, two and a half weeks ago, over 100-mile-an-hour winds transformed the
00:10:08Palisades Fire and other areas, too, into absolute infernos of death and destruction. And
00:10:16this is already the most expensive natural disaster, they say, in American history. That's
00:10:24pretty amazing. The numbers are going to be staggering. Most importantly,
00:10:28we have to get it built, and we have to hopefully find as few people as possible. We have
00:10:34already too many. Too many. Twenty-eight, at least, they say. We're going to work very hard
00:10:42with the mayor, the governor, the supervisor, and everybody, and get the resources behind you.
00:10:49We have some amazing people, and we have some amazing fighters for things like this. I also
00:10:56had the concept of getting some of the best developers in the country. I've had so many
00:11:01calls from developers, and they want to come in. They don't want anything. They just want to come
00:11:06in and help, and they really know how to get things done and get things built. I would ask
00:11:11that the local officials — because we're going to waive — just about essentially waive all
00:11:17federal permits. We're going to have you go very quickly, because a federal permit can take 10
00:11:22years. We're not going to do that. We're not going to — we don't want to take 10 days. I would.
00:11:34So we're declaring this a national emergency. By doing that, I can give you immediate — like,
00:11:38immediate permits. I'd ask that the local permitting process be the same.
00:11:45Some of the people were saying they're going to have to — they're going to be forced to wait
00:11:4818 months for their permits, and I don't think you're going to do that. I can't imagine that. So
00:11:54they are literally in a position right now they'd like to start tonight. And they'll
00:11:58clean their site. They'll do everything. They just want to start.
00:12:02And they were very concerned with the 18 months, so I'm sure you can get it down to,
00:12:08I would say, not even 18 days. They are ready, Mayor. They are ready to start.
00:12:13They're ready.
00:12:14I met so many of them. The fire took place. It's nice and cool there now, and they want to start
00:12:21taking the debris. They want to take the debris. They want to do everything. They'll get rid of
00:12:25everything. They're going to do it by their own hand. And you're going to see some amazing things
00:12:31happen. So we're waiving the federal permits. Either waive them or give them to you so rapidly,
00:12:36it's not going to — it's going to be essentially the same thing. But we're going to try and just
00:12:39waive them. And we'll rely on the local. But the local, I hope, is going to do the same exact
00:12:45thing. They're literally ready to start right away, tonight. So if you could do almost the
00:12:51same thing or the same thing would be great. For a building permit, you're going to have to,
00:12:55you know, check things out a little bit. A lot of them — every single one of them said they're
00:12:59going to rebuild. I didn't have one person say they're selling or they're leaving or
00:13:04they're disgusted. They love their community. And it's incredible. We even had one from
00:13:10your neck of the woods, right? Do you want to stand up? It was so nice the way you —
00:13:15they — she greeted —
00:13:16— she greeted my wife in a very different — in a very different language, right?
00:13:25And it was very nice to see. And you're staying and you're going to rebuild and everything else?
00:13:30Everybody. Everybody. So it's really great. So I'm signing an executive order to
00:13:36open up the pumps and valves in the north. We want to get that water pouring down here as
00:13:41quickly as possible and let hundreds of millions of gallons of water flow down into Southern
00:13:46California. And that'll be a big benefit to you. If — look, if you don't want it,
00:13:52you're going to tell me. But just — I can't imagine it. I tell you, who does like it is
00:13:57the fire department. When I said that, they were very happy with that. They didn't mind hearing
00:14:01that. But we have a lot of water that is available, and I hope you can work that out among
00:14:09yourselves. But I think this will show that we — we have to have that water. We have to have
00:14:14that water. You're talking about unlimited water coming up from the Pacific Northwest,
00:14:20even coming up from parts of Canada. And it pours down naturally. It has for a million years — for
00:14:27a million years, it pours down. You'll never run out. You'll never have shortages. And you'll —
00:14:32you won't have things like this. And when you do, you'll have a lot of water to put it out.
00:14:38So I'm going to ask that you figure that out. But I am — I really strongly recommended this
00:14:46seven years ago, and I think I'm going to just do it. If you have big problems,
00:14:52you're going to let me know, but I just can't even imagine it. But we're also surging federal
00:14:58resources and assistance to the state. And California must adopt the common-sense policies
00:15:05to prevent fires. And we all know that. You know, we were talking — seven or eight years ago,
00:15:10I was talking to people from Austria, people from Finland, people that live in forests.
00:15:18One of the gentlemen, the top — one of the top great leaders of Austria said,
00:15:23we don't have forest fires. We have trees that are actually far more flammable
00:15:28than they have in California. But they literally rake their forest. They take down — if a tree
00:15:34comes down, they take it down. They say, you have 18 months. After that, it's like a matchstick.
00:15:39And I know, environmentally, some environmental groups like the trees to just melt into the
00:15:43ground. But when they do melt into the ground, they become an inferno. So I think you're going
00:15:48to have to change your ways in terms of that. You have 30 years of leaves, and those leaves
00:15:54are dry as a bone, and they burn. You know, interestingly, because I was at Paradise — who
00:15:59is the general — right? Long time ago, I was at Paradise. What a beautiful Paradise it was.
00:16:05And how is it doing, by the way? Are they rebuilding? Right? Remember when
00:16:12he said, you were up here, President. I went there. I never saw anything like it. But you
00:16:15know what amazed me? I'll never forget it. The trees were okay because the trees are loaded
00:16:22with water. They sucked that water out of the ground. And this was an inferno, just like — I
00:16:27would say no different than this. And it was also the wind that caused a lot of problems. I mean,
00:16:32you had tremendous winds that there's not a lot you're going to do with. It was
00:16:36up to 100-mile-an-hour winds. It's unheard of. But when I was in Paradise, I noticed that
00:16:41the trees, they were dark on the bottom, but they were absolutely living, and they lived
00:16:46because they're soaking wet. But the trees that were on the ground, within 12 to 18 months — they
00:16:53say 18 months at a maximum, you have to cut them up, take them away because they're matchsticks.
00:16:58But we saw that. You saw that with me. I commented at the time. I said, look at this. The
00:17:02house is burned down, and the tree is standing. And it's — other than being a little different
00:17:06color on the bottom. And it went through an inferno. It's amazing. It's soaking wet.
00:17:11So I think they have to do it. It's called management of the floor. And when the gentlemen
00:17:18from Austria and also Finland and other countries, they said, we manage the forest floor very,
00:17:24very carefully, and we don't have forest fires here. They just don't have them.
00:17:28So I'm sure you're going to do the same thing.
00:17:31So there can be no Golden Age without the Golden State. It's a great state. It's a fantastic place.
00:17:39And we're going to have a — we're going to have a big celebration soon. We're going to come back,
00:17:45and we'll come back as much as you need. And we're going to turn it around, and we're going to
00:17:50open the coffers. You know, America wants this to be taken care of. This was a horrible thing
00:17:57to watch. And the way it just kept going and going, and then they'd find another area. It was
00:18:01like — it was like a genius on the other side. The fire was a genius the way it kept moving,
00:18:08but we're not going to stand for it. I just met with the Olympic people,
00:18:13and they're all set to do a real job. So we have the Olympics, and I got them. You know,
00:18:19it was very interesting. I made the deal with the Olympics. I was called by your former mayor,
00:18:25and he said, Would you call the Olympics? Because I must tell you, the Democrats, as you know,
00:18:29were not calling. They wouldn't do it. I don't know. It was a bad experience somehow.
00:18:34And I did, and I got along great with the Olympic Committee, and we got the Olympics.
00:18:39And then we got you the World Cup. That one I focused on with Gianni. Gianni was great,
00:18:45the head of it. And so you have that coming. And then we have the 250 years coming up,
00:18:51which is going to be a great celebration. But I'll never forget when I got the Olympics and
00:18:56then I got the — well, I was president when I got them. And I said, Oh, boy, it's too bad.
00:19:01I won't be president. Who knew this was going to happen, right? I said, I won't be president
00:19:07because it would have been the four years. And in fact, I'd be retired by four days right now,
00:19:12I guess, right? So anyway, so I got them, and at least I'll be able to celebrate the Olympics,
00:19:17the World Cup. And the 250 years is going to be a very big deal. So we have the three biggest
00:19:23there are, and it was an honor to get. If you have any questions, please let me know. And if
00:19:30you have a statement to make, I'd love to have politically, if you'd like to make a statement.
00:19:34Brad, go ahead. Mr. President, thank you for coming to the 32nd Congressional District and
00:19:41making — most people don't have adequate insurance because they couldn't get it.
00:19:49One company dropped 1,600 policies just in the last six months.
00:19:53We've got 16 times as much property damage here as from Hawaii. And I'm hoping that we get at
00:20:01least 16 times the federal appropriation for the CDBG program that helps people rebuild.
00:20:10And I know you've talked about policies of California that you're not a fan of,
00:20:17but I've been in Congress for 28 years. I really disagree with Louisiana on their abortion policy.
00:20:24I disagree with them on their campaign finance policy. I disagree with North Dakota
00:20:29on their gun policy. And I would never turn to somebody from Louisiana and say,
00:20:36you keep living on your cousin's couch, because we're not going to help you rebuild
00:20:42until Louisiana agrees with me on a woman's right to choose. So I'm hoping that we can
00:20:47get these funds and that we don't punish individuals for the policies of their state.
00:20:54You can disagree with them, and I think you've got some ideas. I look forward to us listening.
00:21:00Also on tariffs, I often agree with you on tariffs, but how about no tariffs on building
00:21:06materials for the next three years? We'll take a look at that, actually.
00:21:10Mr. President.
00:21:11Mayor, please.
00:21:12Yes. First of all, let me just take the opportunity to officially welcome you to Los Angeles.
00:21:17Really appreciate you coming, and especially you come just a few days after your inauguration. So
00:21:23I want you to know that your presence here is very much appreciated. Let me also say that I know you
00:21:28had an opportunity to see the devastation. You've seen the extreme loss, the grief that people are
00:21:34going through here. And we are 100 percent committed to getting this neighborhood rebuilt
00:21:41again. You mentioned a couple of things in terms of us expediting. So I signed executive directives
00:21:48right away so that we could cut the red tape, we could get people back building as fast as possible,
00:21:55and we're going to continue doing that.
00:21:57The one thing is they are saying they will not be allowed to start for 18 months.
00:22:02No, that will not be the case.
00:22:03Okay, I just hope you're right.
00:22:05You can hold me to it.
00:22:06Four groups said that.
00:22:07No.
00:22:08That would be it. They should be able to do it. They should be able to start tonight.
00:22:11That will not be the case. You know, first, we have to take care to make sure that there's not
00:22:16getting rid of the hazardous waste, cleaning things up so that people can start right away.
00:22:21And just like you said, if somebody had their house was destroyed and they're going to rebuild
00:22:26essentially the same, maybe a little bit longer, a little bit higher,
00:22:30they really shouldn't have to go through much of a process. So I want you to know that we are
00:22:33expediting that. We absolutely need your help. We need the federal help.
00:22:38You've got it. I told you, you will have no permit problem. There will be zero delay.
00:22:43And as far as I'm concerned, you already have the permits.
00:22:46And the resources.
00:22:47I am more worried because I met I met at least eight groups of of homeowners and,
00:22:56you know, much more worried about the fact that they said it's 18 months exactly.
00:23:01And they were devastated. They want to start now. They want to start removing things.
00:23:04They're not allowed to do it now. And you mentioned hazardous waste.
00:23:08Well, the hazardous waste. What's hazardous waste? I mean, you're going to have to define that.
00:23:13We're going to go through a whole series of questions on determining what's hazard.
00:23:18Nope. Nope. I just think you have to allow the people to go on their site and start the process
00:23:23tonight. And we will. OK, good. You can come back and check. Mr. President. Yes.
00:23:28I'm Congress member Judy Chu, and I represent the areas of Altadena and Pasadena.
00:23:35That's the Eaton fire. And there is a world of hurt there. I know that you've gone to the
00:23:41Palisades and you've seen the devastation, but it's apocalyptic in Altadena. And thank goodness
00:23:48I have a partner with Supervisor Catherine Barger in working to help people get back to normal and
00:23:57to rebuild. But right now they have nothing. And there have been 9,500 structures burned.
00:24:04Most of the deaths have occurred in our area at the Eaton fire, and thousands of people are
00:24:11without homes. And these are working people. These are working class people. They are people like
00:24:17Dr. Jackie Jacobs, who was an educator all her life and then finally became the first
00:24:23black administrator of her educational institution, Pasadena City College, and then retired, now
00:24:3188 years old, and then her home of 30 years burned in Altadena. She has nothing. She left
00:24:40with only the clothes on her back. She has nothing. And so they need this help. And I just want to
00:24:47make sure that you remember the people in Altadena and Pasadena, and that you can come there and see
00:24:57how terrible the devastation has been there so that they can get the help that they need.
00:25:02Just remember one thing, and I like the way you express yourself beautifully, actually,
00:25:08but I've only been here three days, and I'll do a great job. But we had another president,
00:25:17and this took place during the life of another president, not me.
00:25:23But I'm going to be the president that's going to help you fix it,
00:25:25because he would not have been able to help you fix it, okay?
00:25:29So we'll take care of it. We'll take care of it, and we'll work closely.
00:25:35Yeah, we'll work closely. And I know your community was really devastated,
00:25:39incredibly. So we understand that. Thank you very much.
00:25:42Mr. President, I'm just going to follow up.
00:25:43Yes, please, go ahead.
00:25:45And I also represent Altadena. And what I tell people is people of Altadena are the exact people
00:25:51you talked to when you were running. You've got individuals from every walk of life. And it is
00:25:59actually at one time was the only place African Americans could purchase homes. It was redlined.
00:26:06And so you've got a lot of generational wealth there. And one of the commitments I've made,
00:26:10and we've had meetings with some of your people in HUD that you've got there now,
00:26:15to work with them and work with your administration to see how we can
00:26:18help. And I've been pleasantly surprised. I know on HUD, we've got
00:26:25some asks that we are going to be working with you on. But more importantly, I just really want
00:26:32to emphasize what Congresswoman Chu said, and that is that these are individuals who are feeling
00:26:38forgotten. And what I tell them is, and when we invited you out here, I told,
00:26:44when I went to the AME church, this president was talking to you when he was running.
00:26:50You understand the difficulty in making ends meet. You understand the high cost of living.
00:26:56And now their biggest fear is that that's going to impact their ability to rebuild.
00:26:59And I have made them this commitment, because this is my last term,
00:27:03that for the next four years, you talk about 18 months, I've told our county staff that if you're
00:27:11going to get in the way, then get another job. Because we are an all hands on deck.
00:27:19And quite frankly, if the bureaucracy can't get out of the way, we'll just roll over it.
00:27:23And we've said that, and we've made it clear. The governor's waived CEQA, which I feel should
00:27:30be completely reformed, if not eliminated. And if it's being eliminated for this...
00:27:38How are they doing with CEQA?
00:27:40How are they doing?
00:27:41How is it? What's been the attitude of the people running that whole situation?
00:27:45It adds sometimes years on to an application.
00:27:48Can't do it.
00:27:50And the governor's...
00:27:51And Coastal Commission also.
00:27:52He waived that.
00:27:53We're going to have to override the Coastal Commission, because I've dealt with the Coastal
00:27:57Commission for a long time, and they are considered the most difficult in the entire country.
00:28:03And we cannot have them play their games and wait 10 years to give somebody a permit.
00:28:08In fact, I'm going to override the Coastal Commission.
00:28:10I'm not going to let them get away with it, their antics.
00:28:19Thank you. Thank you.
00:28:21Mr. President, I just want to thank you for your leadership on California water policy.
00:28:26You made it a priority from day one.
00:28:28For those of us in the Central Valley and Northern California,
00:28:30we have catastrophic wildfires as well.
00:28:33California is a wildfire prone area.
00:28:35Ensuring reliable, stable water supplies is critical.
00:28:38And so your leadership, your executive order, moving more water, maximizing flows
00:28:43throughout the state of California, building more water storage, more conveyance, coordinating...
00:28:47It would have a great impact.
00:28:49I know your area very well.
00:28:50It would have an unbelievable impact on your area.
00:28:53Absolutely.
00:28:53We just want to thank you for making it a priority.
00:28:56You know, even beyond the fire stuff, the farms, I drive up.
00:29:00I was driving up with congressmen a few years ago because they were complaining they had no water.
00:29:06And I was driving up.
00:29:07And you'll see all of this incredible land, but it's absolutely bone dry.
00:29:12And then you'll see little green patches.
00:29:14And the green patches are so beautiful.
00:29:16You know, they have that land.
00:29:17They say it's as good as Iowa farmland, but it has no water.
00:29:22And it's artificial has no water.
00:29:23They send the water out into the Pacific Ocean.
00:29:26And when we let that water come through your valleys and down to Los Angeles, you're going
00:29:31to have a different place.
00:29:32It's going to be a whole different place.
00:29:34And you guys have to get together and say, gee, we want it.
00:29:37It's the craziest thing I've ever seen.
00:29:39So at least you said that.
00:29:41And I appreciate it.
00:29:42Because your farmers will be able to, instead of having one acre out of 100, which is all
00:29:47they have, they'll be able to have 100 acres out of 100.
00:29:50And it's among the best.
00:29:52They say it's the best farmland just about in the country.
00:29:55As good as any place there is.
00:29:56So but you can't it's so good without water.
00:29:59So that's beyond the fire stuff.
00:30:00But today we're talking about fire.
00:30:04But it's good for everything.
00:30:05So I hope you can lead a group.
00:30:07And Darrell, if you can lead a group, I know how you feel.
00:30:11And, you know, support what I'm doing, because what I'm doing, I guess, is controversial.
00:30:16I don't know what's I don't know what's controversial about sending millions of sending
00:30:22millions and millions of gallons of beautiful fresh water from the Pacific Northwest and
00:30:27further up than even that into an area that's bone dry.
00:30:31We have to you know, I have a house in Beverly Hills and you get notices every once in a
00:30:37while they want you to go down to 38 gallons per person or something per house per person.
00:30:43I say, you mean you can only have, you know, 38 gallons sounds like a lot.
00:30:48It's not a lot.
00:30:49And they want to do that every once in a while.
00:30:51And you just think it's ridiculous when you have you have like just about as much water
00:30:55as anybody in the country.
00:30:56And we shouldn't be in a position where you have tumbleweed that's dry as a bone.
00:31:02That even tumbleweed can be nice and green and rich and loaded up with water, and it's
00:31:06not going to burn.
00:31:07You don't even have to remove it.
00:31:08It's not going to burn, but it's just dry.
00:31:11So I hope you can all get together and say, I'm so happy with the water that's going to
00:31:15be flowing down because I just don't see anything.
00:31:18They talk about the Delta smelt, which is a fish that's this big.
00:31:22But it is it is really not doesn't have to be protected because it's in other areas.
00:31:27It's in numerous other areas.
00:31:28So it doesn't have to be protected.
00:31:31The people of California have to be protected.
00:31:40Mr. President, Mr. President, could I just speak for a moment?
00:31:43Kevin Kiley, California.
00:31:44First of all, you're absolutely right about the Coastal Commission.
00:31:47I've introduced legislation to rein them in.
00:31:49We've been talking with Rick about this.
00:31:50They're out of control.
00:31:52Absolutely out of control.
00:31:53It's insane the things they've been getting away with.
00:31:54I think they thrive on it, actually.
00:31:57So ridiculous.
00:31:58That's right.
00:31:58They even tried to stop SpaceX from launching rockets.
00:32:03But you mentioned your predecessor and how he didn't fix the situation, which is absolutely
00:32:07right.
00:32:08Not only that, during the Calder fire, which was a few years ago, which was in my district,
00:32:12600 people lost their homes in a town called Grizzly Flat.
00:32:15He came and he promised that he would help them out.
00:32:17But he broke that promise many times.
00:32:20He never delivered them the individual assistance they were asking for.
00:32:23So this has underscored for me the importance of helping the victims, making sure in this
00:32:28situation, in every fire, we get money to the victims and we make sure that nothing
00:32:32stands in the way of that.
00:32:33But I just want to thank you for your focus on bringing sanity to California, water and
00:32:39fire policy.
00:32:40There is no place that needs a revolution in common sense quite like California.
00:32:43You have so much water.
00:32:47Use it and be happy about it.
00:32:49Mr. President, Mr. President, my name is Joel Pollack and I am a journalist with Breitbart
00:32:55News, but I happen to live in the Pacific Palisades, as do other colleagues.
00:33:02One colleague, John Kahn, wrote the song Fighter, which you played at your campaign rallies.
00:33:07He lost his house and the studio he wrote that song in.
00:33:10We were lucky because I was able to fight the fire on my fence.
00:33:14But when I got to my house, there was no water in the pipes.
00:33:19So I got inside and I picked up the flower vases because I give my wife flowers every
00:33:24week and there was water there and we started with that.
00:33:27Then I found my son's bucket of baseballs and I dumped the baseballs on the ground and
00:33:32I used the bucket.
00:33:34But there was still no water except for the water in the gutter coming from the burnt
00:33:38homes uphill.
00:33:40So I went to and fro to my gutter and my fence with my bucket.
00:33:45Two guys showed up in a truck, two neighbors.
00:33:48We found two more buckets, bucket after bucket after bucket.
00:33:53Many of my neighbors, including some here, tried to fight the fires.
00:33:56They couldn't.
00:33:57We were lucky our house was saved.
00:34:00But we should not have to rely on buckets to put out a fire.
00:34:04That's right.
00:34:05You can't stop an 80 mile per hour wind or 100 mile per hour wind.
00:34:09But there were many things that went wrong here that are basic and small.
00:34:14We did not have traffic police to guide the evacuation.
00:34:17So there was gridlock on Sunset.
00:34:19They've removed the vehicles now.
00:34:21But there were dozens of vehicles that were abandoned by drivers who fled for their lives
00:34:25because there were no traffic cops available.
00:34:29The fire department wasn't pre-deployed even though there was an extreme wind event coming.
00:34:33And many of my neighbors lost their fire insurance in the days before the blaze.
00:34:40So I asked my neighbors what would they want to know if I could ask the president a question.
00:34:46And the number one thing was insurance.
00:34:48Can you work with the insurance companies to get people back to where they were before
00:34:54they lost the coverage because of California's regulations?
00:34:57And can you make California change its rules so that when we build a fire,
00:35:04we can get fire insurance and we don't have to worry?
00:35:07And there's one other point I want to make.
00:35:08I really appreciate my congressman advocating for money.
00:35:11We need the money from the federal government.
00:35:13But I also understand Americans who are tired of spending money on California and disasters happen.
00:35:21And the California government passes $50 million to oppose your policy.
00:35:25So they have $50 million for that, but not for moving people into rental homes
00:35:30or helping people relocate or rebuild.
00:35:33I would like to ask you to follow the 9-11 commission precedent and appoint a special
00:35:38master to watch the money to make sure that every federal dollar that gets spent here
00:35:44is spent on fire relief and rebuilding and not on everything else.
00:35:53Good idea.
00:35:56Here's a good one right over here.
00:35:57I don't know if you do.
00:35:58We all like he's very busy ambassador to Germany.
00:36:02He was fantastic.
00:36:04Angela Merkel's happiest day ever in her history, and she had a long history,
00:36:09was the day I removed him from there and put him in charge of
00:36:13a very high level of intelligence and intelligent people.
00:36:16But they were not intelligent enough to fool him.
00:36:19But Rick Grinnell has been fantastic, and he lives here.
00:36:23And I don't know if you want to either think about it or recommend some people
00:36:26or get together and recommend some people as a group, which is fine.
00:36:30But Rick would be somebody that I would certainly consider.
00:36:33And Breitbart is fantastic, by the way.
00:36:36Congratulations on that.
00:36:38And I was so impressed with the firefighters I met before.
00:36:42And they said that, you know, I asked them how many of the pumps,
00:36:47how many of the hydrants were working?
00:36:49And it was, you know, a large percentage of them were not working at all.
00:36:53They had no water.
00:36:54And the ones that did have water didn't have a lot of pressure.
00:36:57And one of the things that was missing,
00:36:59many of you have sprinklers in over your living room, in your bathroom, in your kitchen.
00:37:04I mean, if those sprinklers worked with some pressure,
00:37:08you would have had a lot of you would have had a much different outcome.
00:37:11So we're going to work on that.
00:37:13I think in terms of that, Rick Grinnell would be good.
00:37:16Or Rick, you'll head up a group of people that would recommend a few people to me,
00:37:20maybe a commission, set up a commission.
00:37:22I like it because we're talking about a lot of money.
00:37:25The other one is Kelly Loeffler is now the head of small business.
00:37:29And small business is big business.
00:37:32It's one of the it's actually one of the biggest banks in the world.
00:37:35We call it the Small Business Administration.
00:37:38And she's a cabinet member, full cabinet member.
00:37:41She's fantastic.
00:37:43Her husband is the head of the New York Stock Exchange.
00:37:45So they know something about money and other exchanges, actually fantastic people.
00:37:50And she wants to come here almost immediately after she gets approved.
00:37:54She wants to come here and open up small business to the area because you can have
00:38:00they have a lot of a lot of money.
00:38:02I always say the small business is actually very big business when you add it all up.
00:38:07And she's going to come here.
00:38:08And it's a very important thing.
00:38:09I want to thank also the first lady, because she wanted to come here.
00:38:15She wanted to be here.
00:38:16She has so many friends.
00:38:17And she also wanted to see North Carolina, because there was another disaster that was
00:38:22so bad, so different, but so bad.
00:38:24And she just wanted to go there.
00:38:27We said we're going to stop at one and then we're going to the other.
00:38:31In many respects, it was a depressing day, but in many respects, it was a beautiful day
00:38:35because the spirit is so incredible.
00:38:38North Carolina and here.
00:38:40Very, very similar situation.
00:38:43Different, so different and yet so similar, actually.
00:38:47And so I just thought it was very nice.
00:38:49You wanted to be here.
00:38:50And we appreciate it.
00:38:51We appreciate it.
00:39:23Is that local?
00:39:27You got it.
00:39:27You got it.
00:39:29I don't want to be the only one to give you permits like in one day.
00:39:33And then I find out that the cities, the towns and the state is not going to give you permits
00:39:38because and, you know, the problem with permits, it only takes one.
00:39:42You might need seven different permits.
00:39:43You shouldn't have any at this point.
00:39:45You should just let them build.
00:39:46But and, you know, you're only as good as the weakest one.
00:39:49So if you have one that's going to hold you up, but the others are going to give it to
00:39:53you in 24 hours, it's not going to help you very much.
00:39:56So they have to work on that.
00:40:03It's what everybody said.
00:40:05Well, and let me just tell you that we are going to do everything we can slashing regulations,
00:40:11expediting everything so that people can begin the process right away.
00:40:15You know, we have the disaster recovery center on Pico in Westwood.
00:40:19We have building and safety there.
00:40:20People are already contacting the local agencies.
00:40:24We're bringing our our city departments together so that people don't get caught in the loop
00:40:29of going from one room to the next.
00:40:31We want them all to be in the same room so that you can get busy rebuilding ASAP.
00:40:40Absolutely.
00:40:42Yes.
00:40:43Yes.
00:40:44And we will clear the lots.
00:40:46Absolutely.
00:40:46In the city and in the county.
00:40:48We are working together.
00:40:50Both levels of government are working in unity.
00:41:01Yes.
00:41:10Six months is no good.
00:41:12And the number one thing that we are going to do immediately, and you will see this happen,
00:41:16is to clear out the debris.
00:41:19And, you know, we're concerned right now over the weekend because of the potential rain.
00:41:23But we are going to move as fast as we can.
00:41:27But we want you to be safe and we want you to be back in your homes immediately.
00:41:32But the people are willing to clean out their own debris.
00:41:34It doesn't cost a lot.
00:41:36You should let them do it.
00:41:37Because by the time you hire contractors, it's going to be two years.
00:41:41If a family...
00:41:42The people are willing to get a dumpster and do it themselves and clean it out.
00:41:48And they can...
00:41:49There's not that much left.
00:41:50It's all incinerated.
00:41:51That's right.
00:41:52And, you know, it's just going to take a long time if you do...
00:41:55You can do some of it.
00:41:56But a lot of these people...
00:41:57I know that guy right there that's talking.
00:41:59I know my people.
00:42:00You'll be on that thing tonight, throwing the stuff away and your site will be...
00:42:04It'll look perfect within 24 hours.
00:42:06And that's what he wants to do.
00:42:07He doesn't want to wait around for seven months till the city hires some demolition contract.
00:42:12That's going to charge him $25,000 to do his lot.
00:42:16I think you have to...
00:42:18You have emergency powers just like I do.
00:42:20And I'm exercising my emergency powers.
00:42:23You have to exercise them also.
00:42:25I did exercise them.
00:42:26Because I looked.
00:42:27I mean, you have a very powerful emergency power and you can do everything within 24 hours.
00:42:32Yes.
00:42:33And if individuals want to clear out their property, they can.
00:42:38Yes, but you know that you will be able to go back soon.
00:42:44Mr. President.
00:42:45We think within a week.
00:42:49That's a long time, a week.
00:42:50I'll be honest.
00:42:51To me, everyone's standing in front of their house.
00:42:54They want to go to work and they're not allowed to do it.
00:42:56And the most important thing is for people to be safe.
00:43:00They're safe.
00:43:00They're safe.
00:43:01You know what?
00:43:01They're not safe.
00:43:02They're not safe now.
00:43:04They're going to be much safer.
00:43:05A week.
00:43:06A week is actually a long time.
00:43:08The way I look at it, I watched hundreds of people standing in front of their lots and
00:43:13they're not allowed to go in.
00:43:15It's all burned.
00:43:16It's gone.
00:43:17It's done.
00:43:18Nothing's going to happen to it.
00:43:19It's not going to burn anymore.
00:43:20There's nothing to burn.
00:43:20There's almost nothing to burn.
00:43:23And they want to go in there.
00:43:24The people are all over the place.
00:43:26They're standing.
00:43:26And I say, Warren, you're going in.
00:43:28We're trying to get a permit and the permit is going to take them.
00:43:31Everybody said 18 months.
00:43:33You said 18 months.
00:43:34And that was last night on that.
00:43:38Right.
00:43:46Mr. President, we're going to be together next week.
00:43:49And during the interim, many of us are involved in and Tom McClintock, who you know, has been
00:43:55an expert on this for years.
00:43:57Right.
00:43:57We are going to be putting conditions in place to make sure that we're going to be able to
00:44:03be putting conditions on the money to do two things require that it be done timely and
00:44:09affordable.
00:44:10And then secondly, that we protect those who will come afterwards.
00:44:15As we speak, there are 6000 acres burning in my district on the Mexican border.
00:44:20There will be more fires until we include in any disaster relief items which will prevent
00:44:28it or at least mitigate it from happening again.
00:44:31So you're going to see us proposing both of those like like water, little things like
00:44:38water, you know, the party of common sense.
00:44:40See, we're the bread with a party of common sense.
00:44:42You're not in all fairness.
00:44:44Yes, sir.
00:44:45We like water to put out fires.
00:44:46It's really quite efficient.
00:44:48All right.
00:44:49Thank you, Mr. President.
00:44:50Mr. President, I'm Jay Obernolte.
00:44:53My district is just a bit east of here.
00:44:56And you were talking about the need to better manage our forests and our wildlands to prevent
00:45:01this from happening again.
00:45:02And you were so right about that.
00:45:05Just last year, a couple months ago in October, they put out a fire.
00:45:09The line fire in my district was over twice as big as the Palisades fire.
00:45:14And they put it out less than a mile from my house in an area where we had done thinning.
00:45:20And they stopped the fire, Mr. President, on a fire break that we had built a couple
00:45:24of years ago.
00:45:25We have an area just on the other side of my community that hasn't been thinned in decades
00:45:30because it's being held up by a lawsuit from an environmental group that says we're going
00:45:35to reduce habitat.
00:45:37Mr. President, we need to, in addition to getting resources and boots on the ground
00:45:41to do this treatment, we need to reform our legal system to prevent these lawsuits from
00:45:46tying up these projects for years and years and years.
00:45:50And not to say that the merit shouldn't be heard, but we need to hear them and we need
00:45:53to move on, resolve them.
00:45:54Is this a state group, state or federal group?
00:45:57This is a local group, actually, Mr. President, but they have help from the state.
00:46:00They use the environment to make themselves feel good and they're destroying our country.
00:46:05And you've got to at some point, you've got to put your foot down.
00:46:08I know exactly what you're talking.
00:46:09You have local and state groups and your federal groups, too.
00:46:13And you got to fight them the right way because you'll you'll never even if the mayor gives,
00:46:19you're going to have a local group come in and sue.
00:46:21You're not allowed to go on your property.
00:46:23They're going to talk about asbestos and every other thing.
00:46:26They want to go on their property and they want to clean out their property.
00:46:30And you cannot let anything get in their way.
00:46:32And you'll have this place built up quickly.
00:46:34Beautiful.
00:46:35It'll be more beautiful than before.
00:46:37And I would do one other thing.
00:46:38I'd give them a 10 percent, 15 percent bonus on their house because they went through hell
00:46:44and they should be allowed to build a little bit.
00:46:46Give them a little bit lot line bonus.
00:46:47Give them a bonus on size, maybe a little bonus on height.
00:46:51They went through hell.
00:46:53You know, some of them had houses where they were restricted.
00:46:56They have to have an eight foot ceiling.
00:46:58You let them have a 10 foot ceiling.
00:47:00Let them build a nice house, a nicer house than they had before.
00:47:03But I would give them a 10 or 15 percent bonus on on their plans.
00:47:09And I think it would be a would be very well received
00:47:12because they'll be able to build a little bit nicer house.
00:47:15Do you like that idea, by the way?
00:47:17Yeah, they do.
00:47:19They deserve it because you know what?
00:47:22It's not the.
00:47:26Fire.
00:47:26It's not their fault.
00:47:27It's not the homeowner's fault.
00:47:29And I think they should they should be entitled to a bonus on their house.
00:47:33OK, Mr. Mr.
00:47:37Some good news from Paradise.
00:47:39We stood together there six years ago, along with the governor.
00:47:41That was that 34 home.
00:47:44Thirty four hundred homes have been rebuilt out of the 18000 lost.
00:47:48And there's 400 more in the wings.
00:47:50And so FEMA was very helpful.
00:47:52Now, my colleague who has Altadena here, probably a very similar situation.
00:47:56Clearing the lots are probably going to have to clear about a foot worth of soil
00:48:00underneath those foundations to get the toxicity out.
00:48:03So they'll need a lot of help.
00:48:04Those are working class folks in Altadena.
00:48:06And we did a good job with you.
00:48:08FEMA was extremely helpful.
00:48:09That was the old days when FEMA was good.
00:48:11FEMA is no good anymore.
00:48:13That was when we ran it.
00:48:14FEMA was very good.
00:48:15But now FEMA is not good.
00:48:16We've got to get them on track.
00:48:17But on the water, thanks so much for your strong efforts on that right now.
00:48:23Lake Chasse, which is in my district, is dumping more water than what is coming in.
00:48:27So is Folsom Lake.
00:48:29And those are federal projects that should be building up because we're latter January,
00:48:33latter January here.
00:48:35And there's not you can't count on the rain and the snow coming.
00:48:39Every year.
00:48:40And so if we don't fill those projects, then my colleague in San Joaquin Valley
00:48:44isn't going to get his water for his farmers.
00:48:46Well, it might be all right up in the north.
00:48:48They aren't going to get it.
00:48:49And then the water needs to go through aqueduct for Southern Cal to refill.
00:48:52Maybe the Santa Ynez Reservoir that was empty during this.
00:48:55You know, you don't even need reservoirs with the water coming down.
00:48:58You don't need the reservoir.
00:48:59You have so much water.
00:49:00You don't need it.
00:49:00You only have reservoirs because you're trying to hold water.
00:49:04But you have natural water coming down along the coast.
00:49:09It's for a million years.
00:49:10It's been coming.
00:49:11You know that, right?
00:49:11Yeah.
00:49:12In addition to that, you have a lot of half pipe.
00:49:14In other words, you have the half pipe that's built and it hasn't been used.
00:49:18You see, it's bone dry.
00:49:20No water has been in that half pipe for years and years.
00:49:24It was closed up years ago.
00:49:26At the reservoir.
00:49:27It's already there.
00:49:28Yeah, you got the reservoir above Santa Salisades been full.
00:49:33They wouldn't have run out of water in a few hours.
00:49:35It would have gone for at least a few days with 40, 40 acre feet out of 600,000.
00:49:40That reservoir has been empty for a long time.
00:49:42Yeah, it shouldn't have been empty.
00:49:44Okay.
00:49:44Any other questions?
00:49:45Yeah, please.
00:49:46Mr. President, my name is Tracy Park.
00:49:48I represent the people of the Pacific Palisades on the L.A. City Council.
00:49:54I wanted to thank you for your loyal support to our military,
00:49:58our police officers, and especially our firefighters.
00:50:13My top priority going forward is to get these men and women home as soon as possible
00:50:18and open up the pathway to begin their rebuilding process.
00:50:23It was the Army Corps of Engineers who announced last night that it would be 18 months.
00:50:29I am fully committed to doing my part on the ground with our state agencies and our
00:50:34city and our county partners to speed this up.
00:50:37Good.
00:50:37I just ask for your ongoing partnership with FEMA and the EPA and our other federal agencies
00:50:44to make sure that we have a commitment across all layers of government to get these people back home.
00:50:50Thank you, sir.
00:50:51I do.
00:50:52I do.
00:50:53Thank you very much.
00:50:54It's well said.
00:50:55I do have to say FEMA is a big disappointment.
00:50:58We had it working well.
00:50:59We had great people.
00:51:00But FEMA is not good anymore.
00:51:01What FEMA did in North Carolina.
00:51:03They still haven't even gone to certain areas.
00:51:05They don't know what they're doing.
00:51:06And I say you don't need FEMA.
00:51:10You need a good state government.
00:51:12And when you have a problem in Los Angeles or when you have a problem even in the state
00:51:16of California, you have your own essentially FEMA.
00:51:19You fix it yourself.
00:51:20You don't have somebody coming in from a state where they have no idea like Florida.
00:51:24They come in from hurricanes.
00:51:26They have people staying in Alaska.
00:51:28And now they see, oh, this is very nice.
00:51:30But by the time they get familiar with it, they don't know anything.
00:51:33The FEMA is a very expensive, in my opinion, mostly failed situation.
00:51:39We had great people.
00:51:40We did some great jobs.
00:51:41But each state should take care of their problem and get money from the federal government.
00:51:46It would be so much better, so much more efficient.
00:51:48So we're looking at that because we have had and you're going to have problems with FEMA,
00:51:53too.
00:51:53You've already had problems with FEMA.
00:51:55FEMA doesn't even show up.
00:51:57It takes weeks before they even show up.
00:52:00And what happens is the state then relies on FEMA and nobody does it.
00:52:04I think FEMA doesn't show up.
00:52:06So it's not a good situation.
00:52:08So we'll make some recommendations on that.
00:52:10But you have to push like hell to get the permits because I'm just hearing things that
00:52:15I don't like to hear.
00:52:16I think you're not going to get your permits as fast as people are saying.
00:52:20We have to get them.
00:52:21And, Mayor, if I can help you at all in that regard, you'll let me know.
00:52:24But you're going to have all your federal permits.
00:52:25That's going to be the easy part.
00:52:27Which, by the way, is by far the hardest part.
00:52:31You know who controls your water is Department of Commerce.
00:52:33And I already have that approval.
00:52:35And that's usually a very long process.
00:52:38But that's the hard part was the federal.
00:52:41But we already have that done.
00:52:43So anything I can do, please let me know.
00:52:45Please go ahead.
00:52:46You lost all your schools.
00:53:05You lost four.
00:53:06You lost your four schools.
00:53:16That's what they did all day.
00:53:29Were they completely burned down the schools?
00:53:32Wow.
00:53:33All of them.
00:53:33All of them.
00:53:44No, you can't.
00:53:44No, that's right.
00:53:46So that's a scenario where we would love your help and support.
00:53:50But what can I do to have some, you know, local council that could use those federal
00:53:56dollars and completely rebuild those areas?
00:53:59Well, I'm going to ask Rick to set, I think, right for this table.
00:54:03You might put a couple of the fire guys back there on that I just met.
00:54:07Okay?
00:54:08Because they're really good.
00:54:08But get a group and figure out how we can do the processing faster.
00:54:14Mr. President, if I can just defend FEMA a little bit.
00:54:18Yeah.
00:54:20They brought thousands of people in.
00:54:23I don't know how they're doing in other states.
00:54:25They're doing a good job for us here.
00:54:27They've got a huge center that's open from 9 in the morning till 8 at night.
00:54:32But also, when you have a disaster this size, you need to be able to deploy thousands of
00:54:37people, which they've been able to do.
00:54:39Now, California, if we did it on our own, maybe we'd have thousands of people.
00:54:43You do.
00:54:44But if Rhode Island has a Palisades disaster, are they then supposed to keep thousands?
00:54:49How many people do you have in California?
00:54:5136?
00:54:51How many?
00:54:52What's how many million?
00:54:53How many million people do you have?
00:54:55You have 40 million people.
00:54:57You're not going to get a few thousand people.
00:54:59The problem with FEMA is they come from all over the country.
00:55:02They end up in arguments with your people from California because they want to do it
00:55:06a totally different way.
00:55:08And I can live either way.
00:55:10But you haven't gotten very much done with FEMA because and all you have to do is look
00:55:14at North Carolina.
00:55:15It's one of the great disasters of all time.
00:55:17And Mr. President, you can't have Rhode Island maintain a staff of thousands and thousands
00:55:22of people waiting to see if they have a disaster.
00:55:25You know who came in and fixed North Carolina or the process?
00:55:29Other states, people from all over the country came.
00:55:31And you have the same thing.
00:55:32You have a lot of people from all over the country.
00:55:35Getting the people is not a problem.
00:55:37Getting the organization is a big problem.
00:55:39FEMA is incompetently run and it costs about three times more than it should cost.
00:55:43I'm hoping we can spend money on schools instead of giving money to bureaucracy.
00:55:48It takes you so much longer.
00:55:52Mr. President, I thank you so much for helping our people.
00:55:56FEMA has a standard, Brad, and I'm a builder.
00:55:59I built I was a very good builder.
00:56:01FEMA has a standard that's so slow.
00:56:05They want permit on permit on permit, and then they want permits on top of that.
00:56:10If you use FEMA, you'll be here for a long time.
00:56:13What I'm saying is get the city, get the state to give you immediate 24 hour permits.
00:56:20These people are going to build their own homes.
00:56:22They're going to get them built fast.
00:56:23How many of the people?
00:56:24Could I ask you one question?
00:56:26How many of the people?
00:56:28What are people going to do for financing?
00:56:29What are people going to do?
00:56:30How many people can build a home?
00:56:32A percentage was like where they don't have to go out and get funds.
00:56:38Some people are just not going to be able to rebuild their home because they have a
00:56:41beautiful home, but they don't have cash, right?
00:56:44So what are what are people looking to do in that case?
00:56:46You're going to have a big percentage.
00:56:48I would assume, Brad, like that.
00:56:50What are they going to do?
00:56:51Go ahead.
00:56:53Mr. President, without your help, they're only going to get $43,000 from the federal
00:56:57government, even if they have a half a million dollars.
00:57:00You know, you did something, Brad, with every insurance company in the country left California.
00:57:06That's why you have no insurance, because you made it so impossible.
00:57:09People that think like you made it so impossible.
00:57:12And me, every insurance company.
00:57:16I don't know.
00:57:16I don't know.
00:57:17I'll tell you this.
00:57:19I've never seen a state where almost nobody has insurance.
00:57:22And I said, what happened?
00:57:23And they said like six months ago, they all left.
00:57:26And two years ago, they had different, you know, quadrants.
00:57:30But they left.
00:57:31And you have very little insurance here.
00:57:32I mean, I've never seen anything like it.
00:57:34We had a lot of insurance companies pull out, but I have insurance companies actually have
00:57:39been warning you now.
00:57:40I'm not a big fan of insurance companies, OK?
00:57:42They have their big drawbacks, too.
00:57:44But the insurance company I've been reading, I read the papers very well.
00:57:48And, you know, they've been warning California for a long time.
00:57:51They've also been saying we want water.
00:57:53You don't have water.
00:57:54You know, you're supposed to get fire insurance.
00:57:57And the insurance company goes, you don't have any water in your fire hydrants.
00:58:01So it's a tough situation.
00:58:03I'm not a big fan of insurance companies.
00:58:05I get that.
00:58:06But they're pulling out of Florida.
00:58:08You lost your insurance company six months ago because the state wouldn't give them what
00:58:13they had to have.
00:58:14And Mr. President, I remember that.
00:58:16Please go ahead.
00:58:18I'm Ed Ring from the California Policy Center.
00:58:24And in the matter of prevention of fires, in the matter of the cost of rebuilding, both
00:58:31of which affect insurance rates, I think one, to support something one of the other participants
00:58:36said, a reform you might consider, and it could be an act of Congress, is that the losers
00:58:44in environmentalist lawsuits pays the legal fees.
00:58:48And I think that would be a big step in the right direction.
00:58:51The losers of a lawsuit should pay all the fees.
00:58:56Oh, you mean loser pays.
00:58:57I love that.
00:58:58Well, if you did loser pays, you could cut your courts in about one — you could cut
00:59:04them down about 90 percent.
00:59:06Loser pays.
00:59:06You know what would also benefit?
00:59:08Medical.
00:59:09If you had loser pays for medical, your medical costs would go down by 50 percent.
00:59:14That's an interesting thing.
00:59:16You know, I bring that up.
00:59:17But you know the only problem?
00:59:18The strongest lobby in the world, you know what it is?
00:59:21The lawyer lobby.
00:59:23So when you go back to your local congressman — hello, congressman — how about —
00:59:28I'm not a lawyer.
00:59:28How about going against the lawyers for a little while?
00:59:31No, loser pays, you know, very good.
00:59:33In Europe, they use it.
00:59:34In certain parts of Europe.
00:59:35And they have very little litigations, right?
00:59:38Yes, please.
00:59:40Mr. President, I represent the 27th Congressional District, which is on the north side of the
00:59:45North San Fernando Valley through Santa Clarita and Lancaster and Palmdale.
00:59:49I just wanted to tell you a story of heroism.
00:59:51Yesterday, we had another big fire.
00:59:53We had several big fires across.
00:59:56And this fire was moving fast.
00:59:58It was moving 1,000 feet per minute.
01:00:01But what these heroes did, the firefighters and the sheriffs and the law enforcement officials,
01:00:08they mobilized 4,000 people within about six hours.
01:00:11They mobilized 20 air attack aircraft and helicopters.
01:00:15And they saved the city of Castaic.
01:00:18And so I just wanted to ask you to join us in recognizing those amazing heroes.
01:00:21I love that.
01:00:22I think the thing that we all, and I'm very encouraged by your words, we're all here to
01:00:29help the folks here, right?
01:00:31That's right.
01:00:32And your words about building quickly, building well, but building quickly is what I think
01:00:38we are all here to do.
01:00:40And I think if we can take that spirit out of today, it is really important that you
01:00:45and your wife are here.
01:00:47It is really important that you and your wife are here.
01:00:51If we can take that spirit, we're going to help these people as quickly as possible,
01:00:55get them back on their feet and recreate these amazing communities that we have here.
01:00:59And you'll take the word spirit, such a great word, such an important word.
01:01:02You'll take their guts away.
01:01:03You'll take their spirit away if you don't give them the permits.
01:01:05You're going to take their guts.
01:01:07They're going to say, oh, all of a sudden they'll start looking for houses and your
01:01:12whole thing is going to blow up on you.
01:01:13These people want to get going.
01:01:15This place can go quickly.
01:01:16But you don't want to take their spirit away.
01:01:18And that will take their spirit away.
01:01:20So you're 100 percent right.
01:01:21Yes, sir.
01:01:33All right.
01:01:37That's right.
01:01:55Oh, you like you notice that.
01:01:57Oh, look at this guy.
01:01:57He studies that.
01:01:58No Bank of America.
01:02:00They're not nice.
01:02:01Sounds very nice.
01:02:02The Bank of America, they're not nice.
01:02:11Well, we're starting to do.
01:02:12We're doing numbers on banks.
01:02:14Yeah, we're doing.
01:02:15Is that Leonard Boxer next to you?
01:02:18Huh?
01:02:18We have Leonard.
01:02:19We have.
01:02:20Oh, there's Skip.
01:02:21I have them all here, huh?
01:02:23Look at Skip.
01:02:23I haven't seen you in a long time.
01:02:25He used to be a very good golfer.
01:02:26You're still a good golfer.
01:02:29And he's a good guy, too.
01:02:30Hi, Skip.
01:02:32You got them all, huh?
01:02:33Got Leonard, Skip.
01:02:37Go ahead, please.
01:02:40Mr. President, I just wanted to say Paradise is coming back
01:02:43because of the help that you gave us.
01:02:44And we really want to thank you for that.
01:02:46And that's why we're here.
01:02:48Also, is because we want to help our we did a good job with Paradise.
01:02:51And what a fire that was.
01:02:54It was a terrible.
01:02:54We've had many, many people were found.
01:02:57And only the the certain type of German shepherd could even find it.
01:03:02Right.
01:03:03You could you could not tell the dog would go right up.
01:03:06There's the body.
01:03:08And the incineration was so horrible.
01:03:11So horrible.
01:03:12And when we see what we see, the same devastation.
01:03:14So Paradise is going good, right?
01:03:16It's going good.
01:03:16We're coming back because of the help.
01:03:18And we want to help our brothers and sisters here in L.A. to come back, too.
01:03:23And I know that's what you're going to do.
01:03:24And so we really appreciate that.
01:03:26But from Paradise to the Palisades, the problem is fuel.
01:03:30It's the fuel, the vegetation, the dry grasses, the the chaparral.
01:03:35It's there's a tremendous amount of it.
01:03:37And we're going to remove it.
01:03:38You got to remove it and you got to remove it.
01:03:40And you got to do the other things that we've said 10 times.
01:03:43I mean, you got to remove it.
01:03:44You just can't have it.
01:03:45I see it even now.
01:03:47I saw the fire.
01:03:47We flew over it and you got a lot of dry stuff.
01:03:50It's bone dry.
01:03:52And the environmental, you know, I predicted this seven years ago.
01:03:55I said, do it.
01:03:56Get it done.
01:03:57And nobody, everybody laughed.
01:03:59They thought it was, I said, forest management.
01:04:01They thought it was such a funny term.
01:04:03Ha ha ha.
01:04:03That's so funny.
01:04:05Now it's not funny anymore.
01:04:06You know, we were right.
01:04:08It's number one cause of these fires.
01:04:10Number one cause.
01:04:10You wouldn't have any fires.
01:04:12Right.
01:04:13And if we just remove those environmental regulations, NEPA,
01:04:16CEQA at the state level, they get in the way of us doing those projects.
01:04:20It's all a con job.
01:04:21You know that, right?
01:04:23Berry Creek, the town of Berry Creek in my district.
01:04:26CEQA stopped them from doing a fuel reduction project.
01:04:29They said 18 months.
01:04:30That's where 18 months comes from because at least 18 months on a CEQA review,
01:04:35that community is no longer here today because of the North complex fire.
01:04:38We didn't build that project.
01:04:40We need to make sure that never happens again.
01:04:42We have to stop those things from happening.
01:04:44So we don't have, it will happen here unless you're very strong as a group of people and
01:04:50demand that you have the right to go onto your property and start the process immediately
01:04:54like tomorrow.
01:04:56How many people did I see on your street where they're standing in front of their lot?
01:05:00The house is, there's really not much demolition.
01:05:03It's incinerated, right?
01:05:05So it's not like a lot of stuff.
01:05:07It's not like you have three stories worth of concrete.
01:05:09It's all incinerated.
01:05:11And all of the people were standing there and they weren't allowed to even go onto their lot.
01:05:16You got to let them do.
01:05:18If you, if you can do that, you're going to see this thing go like wildfire.
01:05:21And if you don't, you're going to have, you're going to have those lots for years because
01:05:24people are going to leave.
01:05:25They're going to, as much as you love your location and your place, and you're in the
01:05:29real estate business, as much as you love your location and your, your site, your house,
01:05:34housing sites, uh, they're going to leave.
01:05:37They're going to leave.
01:05:38They're going to find other things.
01:05:39They're not going to put up with it.
01:05:40They have spirit now, but in a year from now, they won't have spirit if you don't let them
01:05:45go.
01:05:45So just harness it.
01:05:47Well, I think, look, I'm going to give you everything you want.
01:05:50I'm going to give you more than any president would have ever given you.
01:05:53If most presidents wouldn't be here, number one, they certainly wouldn't be here after
01:05:57three days.
01:05:58They would not be here.
01:05:59I can tell you that.
01:06:01And we're going to override all of permitting.
01:06:08The only thing you have to do is get your state people, which should be very easy because
01:06:12that's literally so easy to do.
01:06:14And I know the mayor and I know she's working very hard, but she's got very powerful emergency.
01:06:19Uh, it's called an emergency petition and you can, uh, you can petition very quickly.
01:06:25And I just hope you can give them because it's very rare that the federal government
01:06:29would be ahead of the state government because the federal government, the federal permits
01:06:33are much tougher, but you essentially already have your permits.
01:06:37You can just go and go wild, uh, Brad, as soon as you can get those permits, whatever
01:06:42you can do.
01:06:42If you can put that genius of yours to work on getting a permit, you'll be doing much
01:06:46better than some of the other things you've said.
01:06:49Okay.
01:06:50And, but we do appreciate you.
01:06:52So mayor, could I just leave you with that?
01:06:54Uh, it's a big permitting deal.
01:06:57We're going to be back and we're going to, I'm going to put a Rick in charge of just
01:07:01representing me for a period of time until we figure out exactly, uh, who we want to
01:07:06do it, whether we want to commission or an individual, you know, if you have a good individual,
01:07:10if you have a really good individual and they are rare, but if you have a really good
01:07:15individual, it's always better than a commission because the commission gets bogged down a
01:07:20little bit there.
01:07:20All right.
01:07:21So it's, uh, if you had the right individual and, uh, I know we do, we have a lot of great
01:07:27individuals in this community, but it's an honor to be with you.
01:07:30It was an honor to be with your firemen before and your policemen.
01:07:33We met some great people and these are people that are leaders and they're, uh, they're
01:07:38just fantastic.
01:07:39It's a fantastic group of people and they were very brave.
01:07:42I want to tell you, your fire people are so well thought of.
01:07:46Uh, you had big fires and it was hard to put them out, but boy, were they brave.
01:07:50They were really fighting against a tough thing and everybody in the country knows it.
01:07:56Everybody in the country knows it and it was an honor to be with you.
01:08:01So I'll be back and we'll work very hard and I hope you guys can start doing your cleanup
01:08:08starting like tomorrow at around 12 o'clock.
01:08:10Okay.
01:08:11Thank you all very much.
01:08:12Thank you very much.
01:08:14Thanks.