Rick Caruso on California’s Collapse: Broken Leadership, LA Wildfire Failures & the Fix

Summary

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All-In Podcast Episode Summary

Episode Title: Rick Caruso on California’s Collapse: Broken Leadership, LA Wildfire Failures & the Fix
Date: September 30, 2025
Featured Guest: Rick Caruso (developer, civic leader, former LA mayoral candidate)
Hosts/Panelists: Chamath Palihapitiya, Jason Calacanis, David Sacks, David Friedberg

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on Rick Caruso's critical perspective regarding California’s and Los Angeles’s leadership, focusing extensively on the recent destructive LA wildfires and the systemic failures that exacerbated the disaster. Through a candid conversation, Caruso outlines what he sees as preventable failures by city leadership, the red tape slowing rebuilding, the deeper roots of civic dysfunction, and prescribes a vision for renewal—whether as mayor or governor. The panel probes Caruso’s experience, ideas for governance, and perspective on homelessness, emergency response, drug policy, and California’s future.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Wildfires: Response, Prevention, and Leadership Failures

• Proactive Action vs. City Inaction
  • Caruso details how his team proactively prepared for fires, contrasting this with City of LA’s lack of preparedness.
  • “Ideology did not save the Palisades. Competency would have. Running this city is running a business for the benefit of the residents.” — Rick Caruso [00:08]
• On Staying in the City
  • Caruso stayed present during the fires, believing leadership requires being on-site.
  • “When you want to be a leader, you should probably be present.” — Rick Caruso [02:21]
• Technical and Logistical Shortcomings
  • Caruso’s properties were built with fire-resistant materials and private resources (water trucks, firefighters) to defend them.
  • Notably, his team ended up lending water and equipment to the LA Fire Department as city infrastructure failed. [03:46]
  • “We were actually loaning water because we were bringing in our water tanks when the water hydrants failed to work.” — Rick Caruso [04:09]
• Disaster Was Preventable
  • Caruso insists the disaster was predictable and preventable. An earlier, smaller fire was not fully extinguished and reignited.
  • “That fire was completely preventable. And if you think I’m wrong ... the damage could have been significantly mitigated.” — Rick Caruso [07:24]
  • Failure to pre-deploy fire resources is called a major oversight.

2. Rebuilding Bottlenecks: Red Tape and Unresponsive City Government

• Remote Work and Delayed Permitting
  • Caruso claims post-COVID city bureaucracy, with plan checkers still working from home, is stalling efforts to rebuild.
  • “You would think the first thing the mayor would do is say, ‘You 10 plan checkers are now out in the Palisades in a construction trailer where the people need you.’ They’re still working out of a home.” — Rick Caruso [04:54]
• Lack of Accountability
  • Caruso attributes inaction to a mix of incompetence, stagnation, and lack of urgency at the municipal level.
  • “There’s a level of incompetence that’s combined with literally a stagnation. And there’s no urgency to do anything.” — Rick Caruso [05:40]

3. Exploring Systemic Blue-State Urban Decline

• Why Are Major Cities Failing?
  • The panel questions whether one-party dominance leads to political complacency.
  • Caruso sees apathy and a lack of civic engagement as enabling entrenched, underperforming leadership.
  • “Not enough people vote and get involved and we don’t hold our elected officials accountable ... What we need to do is get more people active. I don’t care what your political persuasion is, get out and vote.” — Rick Caruso [09:09]

4. Housing, Zoning, and “Reimagining” Los Angeles

• Urban Planning Concerns
  • Caruso pushes back against using disasters as an excuse for opportunistic rezoning or forced low-income housing conversions.
  • “I don’t believe that there should be zoning changes on the backs of people who have lost their homes and their businesses. ... Do everything you can to get people back into their communities.” — Rick Caruso [10:43]
• State-Level Support and Critique
  • Gives Gavin Newsom partial credit (waiving state hurdles for rebuilding), but calls for stronger, faster intervention.

5. Prospects of Leadership: Mayor or Governor?

• The panel prods Caruso on whether he will run for governor or mayor; he remains coy but says he may "give it a try."
• “I think either one can be very effective.” — Rick Caruso [12:49]
• Discussion acknowledges structural political challenges (ballot harvesting, voter ID) to outsider candidacies.
• Panel expresses unanimous support for a Caruso candidacy. [14:13]

6. Caruso’s Business Ethos and Applicability to Public Service

• Caruso traces his success to obsessive customer focus and place-making—aiming not just for profit, but for “enriching lives.”
• “Everybody in our company is going to say, to bring joy and enrich people's lives. ... If you do that, it gives you a platform in business that gives you permission to do things that your competitors are not allowing themselves to do.” — Rick Caruso [15:06]
• He describes transformative details at The Grove and Miramar Resort, flipping perceived liabilities (like a train running through the property) into celebrated amenities.

7. Vision for California: Quality of Life, Housing, and Education

• Caruso critiques California's missed potential and calls for a positive reassertion of leadership:
• “California should lead the nation in everything that we do ... If you say we’re the fourth largest economy in the world, which our elected officials say very often, then act like it.” — Rick Caruso [17:27]

8. Homelessness: Hard Lines and Smarter Spending

• Caruso’s approach: Zero tolerance for street encampments with real investment in housing and services, targeting wasteful spending.
• LA is spending nearly $900,000 per person moved off the streets, which he calls “billions ... wasted.” [18:33]
• “Redirect that to organizations that have incredible track records ... of housing people, giving them the services for mental health and drug addiction.” — Rick Caruso [19:05]
• Immediate crackdown on street drug sales, describing current enforcement as shamefully lax.

9. Drugs, Border Security, and Law Enforcement

• Supports a hardline approach to drugs and secure borders, explicitly endorses federal crackdowns and Biden’s military activation.
• “I think we should actually have secure borders and shut down the drugs 100%. Absolutely.” — Rick Caruso [19:43]
• Cites dangerous conditions for first responders, including homemade booby traps in homeless encampments.

10. Federal Intervention vs. Police Empowerment

• Argues national guard deployment should be “last resort” (except in federal enclaves like DC). Instead, wants full empowerment of local law enforcement.
• “There’s a whole bunch of protocols in the city of Los Angeles that do not allow the cops to do their job.” — Rick Caruso [22:02]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Leadership During Crisis
  “Ideology did not save the Palisades. Competency would have.” — Rick Caruso [00:08]
• On Preventability of Disaster
  “What’s predictable is preventable.” — Rick Caruso [00:08]
• On Bureaucratic Paralysis
  “You have to call 1-800-KAREN BASS. I don’t know the answer.” — Rick Caruso [05:19]
• On Political Apathy and Entrenchment
  “People now that run for office believe they have an office for life. And I think that’s very dangerous.” — Rick Caruso [09:09]
• On Business vs. Civic Impact
  “How great is that? You can actually make changes in public service that makes people’s lives better.” — Rick Caruso [16:57]
• On California’s Future
  “The state of California should lead the nation in everything that we do ... act like [the 4th largest economy].” — Rick Caruso [17:27]
• On Wasteful Homeless Spending
  “We are spending in the city of Los Angeles $900,000 per person that [we’re] moving from the streets. ... There’s billions and billions of dollars wasted.” — Rick Caruso [18:33]
• On Law Enforcement Needs
  “There’s a whole bunch of protocols in the city of Los Angeles that do not allow the cops to do their job. ... Demand that they enforce the law.” — Rick Caruso [22:02]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• LA Wildfires Response and Private Action — [02:11] - [04:21]
• Red Tape and City Bureaucratic Failure — [04:28] - [06:11]
• Systemic Political Issues in Blue Cities — [08:35] - [10:05]
• Urban Planning and “Reimagining” Fears — [10:34] - [11:21]
• Gavin Newsom, State’s Role, and Needed Reforms — [11:29] - [12:44]
• Panel Pushes Caruso to Run for Office — [12:49] - [14:13]
• Caruso’s Business Philosophy as Public Policy — [15:06] - [16:57]
• Vision for California — State of the State — [17:27] - [18:21]
• Homelessness: Policy and Fiscal Critique — [18:33] - [20:09]
• Law Enforcement vs. Federal Intervention — [21:32] - [22:39]

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Tone and Takeaways

The conversation is sharp, sometimes sardonic, with a hopeful undercurrent tied to Caruso’s belief in executive competence and optimistic leadership. Recurrent themes include frustration with political inertia, the dangers of complacent one-party rule, and Caruso’s willingness to “give it a try” in upcoming mayoral or gubernatorial contests. For listeners, the episode offers a window into LA (and California’s) policy challenges, the limits of ideology, and the power of experience-driven leadership.

Transcript

[Rick Caruso]

For people who don't know who Rick caruso is, he's a great developer.

[David]

You walk into one of caruso's places.

[Rick Caruso]

And it's safe, it's clean.

[Moderator or Panelist]

You want to bring your kids.

[Rick Caruso]

Ideology did not save the palisades. Competency would have. Running this city is running a business for the benefit of the residents. You've got to make good business decisions. It was predictable, bill. What's predictable is preventable. Rick caruso now has a golden road in the governor's race if he wants it. What's happened to l. A. Over the last decade is just tragic. It's sad to watch.

[Interviewer or Host]

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Rick caruso. Great to see you, brother. Thank you for coming.

[Rick Caruso]

Thank you very much. All right, make my rounds. Thank you. Good to see you. Good seeing you. Hello, everybody.

[Interviewer or Host]

All right, Rick. We're nine months out from the tragic fires.

[Panelist or Interviewer]

So much has happened.

[Interviewer or Host]

So much has happened. Karen bass, so incompetent. Such a desgraziad.

[Rick Caruso]

My italian brethren here.

[Interviewer or Host]

But when you look at it in all seriousness, you had some properties there, and you've always been an innovator. Everybody knows the grove. I spent so much time there with my beautiful daughter lotus and my beautiful wife jade. Just what a gift you've given so many times over to this amazing city. And then you watch this horrible incompetence, and yet you innovated, and you had this incredible insight that when the fires were coming, you would get water in trucks and bring it to the pacific palisades. And then you found this unique group of innovators called firefighters, and you also brought some of them. What did you see in this incredible moment of clarity that when the fires were coming that Karen bass didn't see?

[Rick Caruso]

Well, the first thing I did is I stayed in town, which I think.

[Interviewer or Host]

You didn't abandon the city.

[Rick Caruso]

I think when you want to be a leader, you should probably be present. But good start. That's a good rule. Listen, we learned a lot when we were building our resort up in montecito, in miramar. We had fires there that were threatening the construction site. We were just under construction. And I had a very smart guy still on the team, name is banion. And he's the one that said we can bring in private firefighters. We can bring in our own water trucks. We can bring in retardant. And listen, here's another rule that's really important. When you're in the commercial side of the business. You want the firefighters that are working for the city or the county first and foremost to protect the homes and we know that they should be doing that. So we want to have resources to protect our building so the resources aren't taken away from the residential areas. That's just I think being a good citizen. So fast forward to Palisades. We know we're in a fire zone. We built it with all non combustible materials. We designed it so there was no open vents that an ember can get into. About 90% of the homes in the Palisades and Altadena burned from the inside out. So these wind warnings came and I'm sure you all saw them to the point that I didn't even believe that they could be true. Catastrophic life threatening winds. And our team rallied. We had our firefighters, our water, our retardants stationed there two days before the fire and we were ready to go. And I'm really proud of my team because they not only saved the village, but we saved the whole block of properties. And we were actually on the seventh loaning equipment to LA Fire Department who was running short of equipment. And we were actually loaning water because we were bringing in our water tanks when the water hydrants failed to work.

[Panelist or Interviewer]

Rick, it's been eight months, I guess since these fires. How much of it is being rebuilt now?

[Rick Caruso]

Not enough. I was out there last night. It's slower than it should be.

[Panelist or Interviewer]

And what is slowing it down, slowing.

[Rick Caruso]

It down is an enormous amount of red tape. I mean the previous speakers talking about red tape in the state of California. We have red tape in the city of Los Angeles and the county. That's ridiculous. But let me just give you an example. Since COVID we have still not. We being the city has still not called back workers to city Hall. So plan checkers in LA City are working from home. You just lost 7,000 homes. You would think the first thing the mayor would do is say you 10 plan checkers are now out in the Palisades in a construction trailer where the people need you. They're still working out of a home.

[Moderator or Panelist]

Why did the people. I want to know why.

[Interviewer or Host]

Yeah, why?

[Moderator or Panelist]

That makes me angry.

[Rick Caruso]

You'll have to call 1-800-KAREN BASS. I don't know the answer.

[Moderator or Panelist]

What's your. I've tried to call that number a number of times. What is your sense of the incentives there? What is driving that? Is it a union thing? Is it you're going to get unelected because this voting bloc wants to work from home? What is the incentive?

[Interviewer or Host]

Incompetence?

[Moderator or Panelist]

Because it makes no sense.

[Rick Caruso]

Okay, I think this is what it Is I think there's a level of incompetence that's combined with literally a stagnation. And there's no urgency to do anything. So there's no decision making. And all of us have been in situations in business or whatnot where you meet somebody that is just not well equipped. And so what happens when you're not well equipped to make decisions in either easy situations or complex situations, you sort of freeze up.

[Moderator or Panelist]

So the kids run the class.

[Rick Caruso]

Yeah.

[David]

I'll throw out a theory and get your reaction to it, which is California is a one party state and Karen Bass doesn't really need to serve the people because historically we haven't really had competitive elections. What's important is that she satisfies this political machine that keeps her in office. She wasn't a particularly distinguished candidate or anything like that. She'd just been around the block for a long time. And frankly, we had the best candidate to ever challenge Karen Bass, which was you, a successful businessman.

[Interviewer or Host]

Unbelievable.

[David]

And the proof of that is that.

[Rick Caruso]

I love this crowd, by the way.

[Interviewer or Host]

This crowd is intelligent.

[Rick Caruso]

Yeah. Yes, they are. Yeah.

[David]

And the proof of that was in the fires because I think it's pretty obvious that the Palisades wouldn't have burned to the ground if you had been the mayor because you would have made sure that there was water in the fire hydrants.

[Rick Caruso]

David, what's amazing to me is, and we're waiting for this action after action report, which is incredible, we don't even have it yet. But I am. I was convinced nine months ago. I'm more convinced today that fire was completely preventable. And if you think I'm wrong and it wasn't completely preventable, the damage could have been significantly mitigated. The fire department was never pre deployed. Where the fire started is the same exact place that there was a fire seven days before. I think what we're going to see is the fire department did not put that original fire out. It smoldered and reignited when it reignited. The winds were not here yet. The smoke was going straight up. We had the largest reservoir not filled with water. I mean, I got the call at night. The family was together. Your daughter's home is burning down, and the firefighters, their hoses have stopped. There is no more water in the fire hydrants. And I said, how can that be? We're the second largest city in the country. Impossible. But listen, I think all of it is fixable. So I'm an optimist and with the right kind of leadership, and I'm not saying it's me. I'm just saying in general, in this state, in this city and this country, with the right kind of leadership that is competent, eager and willing to make decisions because they want to do what's best for the people they serve and not worrying about getting reelected, great things can happen. And that's my hope for the.

[Moderator or Panelist]

Why is this happening around the nation? When you look at Portland, Seattle, Chicago, New York, these cities around this country, we're seeing similar kind of systems of decay. They're blue degradation.

[Rick Caruso]

That's why.

[Moderator or Panelist]

But is it.

[Rick Caruso]

No, but what did you say?

[Moderator or Panelist]

No, he said they're blue. But I want to. Like, is that, is that really what's going on? Or there is a social thing that's going on or a societal thing that's going on that's causing people to say, let's let these cities kind of decay. Let's stop doing our jobs. Let's keep kind of ballooning the budgets but not delivering any results. What is it that's going on?

[Rick Caruso]

I have a little bit different take. I have a different take that I think there's been a sense of apathy. I think people have not gotten engaged. Not enough people vote and get involved and we don't hold our elected officials accountable. People now that run for office believe they have an office for life. And I think that's very dangerous. That was never the intent of our founding fathers. It was to serve and then go back to your private life.

[Interviewer or Host]

That's right.

[Rick Caruso]

And now what we have is people just. They cycle through it. And what we need to do is get more people active. I don't care what your political persuasion is, get out and vote. But what we have seen particularly are extremes that are very motivated to vote. And they're moving these elected officials that are ideologues into positions. And this ideology, which may be well intended, has not had good results.

[Interviewer or Host]

Have the people of Los Angeles seen enough, do you think, to have the common sense to put competent leadership in? I hope they've seen enough.

[Rick Caruso]

We're gonna find out in about a year.

[David]

What do the politicians mean when. I mean, I think I've heard Karen Bass say this, I think I've heard Gavin Newsom say this, that they see that what happened in the Palisades as an opportunity to reimagine. What are they imagining.

[Rick Caruso]

And how is.

[David]

That different than just letting people rebuild their homes?

[Rick Caruso]

I can't speak for that. I mean, I think they're talking about.

[David]

Turning large parts of the Palisades into low income housing or something like that. Is there. I mean, should people be worried about this?

[Rick Caruso]

I don't think so. I think there's probably fringe people who would like to see zoning changes. I don't believe that there should be zoning changes on the backs of people who have lost their homes and their businesses. If you want to do that, you want to have that discussion, do it in an orderly fashion, but do everything you can to get people back into their communities, back into their homes. And this city and government has got to have this culture that we've got your back. We're here for you, and we don't have that. And you're not going to get people to reinvest in their own homes and their own community unless they think the city's going to be there with them.

[Panelist or Interviewer]

How much of the ineptitude of Los Angeles is derived from the ineptitude of the state of California?

[Rick Caruso]

Well, I think it's part and parcel, to be honest, but I also believe that. Meaning.

[Panelist or Interviewer]

So is Gavin Newsom helpful? Has he done stuff to help? Like when all the people in LA who are still, you know, dispossessed and out of a home called him, is he able to apply pressure to the city of California, or is it just city of LA, rather? Or is it just chaos?

[Rick Caruso]

I don't think it's chaos. I think actually Gavin has done some good things. Waiving ceqa, waiving the Coastal Commission. Those are really smart things that he's done. I'd like to see him do more, for sure.

[Panelist or Interviewer]

What would you want him to do?

[Rick Caruso]

What he could do is he could demand changes very quickly, and if not, he could exert independent California Authority to make changes. These communities, Altadena and Malibu and Palisades, they need completely new infrastructure. They need all the power lines underground. They need new water systems. All of that has to be done. He's got the power to really make that happen. And frankly, we've got to figure out a way to get the federal government to help financially. And I think name calling probably is not a good way to build a relationship, to get billions of dollars into the state of California. So I'd like to see that stop.

[Interviewer or Host]

Where can you be more effective as mayor or governor of California?

[Rick Caruso]

I think they're very different, but I think either one of them, I really do. I think either one. I mean, I think they have different. They obviously have different authorities and different powers, but I think either one can be very effective.

[David]

You'd be great. You'd be great in either one, and it'd be Great.

[Rick Caruso]

You really would be great at either one. Thank you. I appreciate it.

[David]

It'd be great to get an outsider, someone you know, into politics. The thing I worry about is in California, you've got ballot harvesting is legal and checking someone's voter ID is illegal. And I just wonder if the combination of those two things makes it impossible for someone outside the political machine to get elected. What do you think?

[Rick Caruso]

Well, you know, it may, David, but I may give that a try. So we'll see. We'll see if it works. Rick, let me go the way it wanted to last time.

[Moderator or Panelist]

Let me ask you a question.

[Interviewer or Host]

Hold on. I got a follow up on this one. I know the people who have been having some of these conversations with you. There's one camp that's pushing you to governor, and the other camp is pushing you to mayor. How do you make that decision? When are you going to make that decision? We've got 8 minutes and 53 seconds left here. Can we get it done now?

[Rick Caruso]

Can I get it done in eight minutes?

[Moderator or Panelist]

All right, let's start. Mayor Clapp. Governor.

[Interviewer or Host]

I want him to go for mayor.

[Moderator or Panelist]

And now Governor.

[Interviewer or Host]

Governor.

[Rick Caruso]

Wow. Whoa, whoa.

[Interviewer or Host]

I just want to let you know right now you have the full support of the all in platform for whichever one you choose. I appreciate that, the level of confidence you and I have developed a bit of a friendship. We talk on text and I every time I go to one of your facilities and we talk about the detail, the detail that you have at the Grove, Pacific Palisades, this incredible Montecito property that I got to stay at recently, that attention to detail is what he's.

[Rick Caruso]

Angling for free nights.

[Moderator or Panelist]

This is not.

[Rick Caruso]

What about.

[Interviewer or Host]

Where did that. Where did this attention to detail, the understanding of customers and consumers in your private sector life. Where did it come from?

[Rick Caruso]

I love what I do. And if you go to the root of what we do as a company and you ask anybody in the company what is your business, everybody in our company is going to say, to bring joy and enrich people's lives. It sounds corny, but if you do that, it gives you a platform in business that gives you permission to do things that your competitors are not allowing themselves to do. It gives you permission to build a place called the Grove, which you and I talk about, and you get to run a trolley through the middle of it.

[Panelist or Interviewer]

Is it really that simple? Like, you're building a business and you're like, I'm just going to enrich the lives of my customers and make them happy competitors literally don't do that.

[Rick Caruso]

My competitor's building an indoor mall with no trees or light and an escalator.

[Interviewer or Host]

And so you're just shaking your head.

[Panelist or Interviewer]

Like, how is this even possible?

[Rick Caruso]

Well, don't you want to be in a place that feels good, makes you happy. You see trees, you have water, you have flowers, there's nice music. Nobody's. It's like the perfect platform for a.

[Interviewer or Host]

Venue or a stadium.

[Rick Caruso]

So that's where that platform gives you this incredible power and authority to go do things. I mean, you look at the Rosewood Miramar, our resort, we have a full train running through it. Everybody stayed away from that property. And when I announced we're going to build a five star hotel, everybody said, you're crazy. You got a train running through it. We made the train an amenity. We built a bar next to it with a bell that gets rung when the train comes by and people celebrate it. So that's enriching lives. I just love watching people enjoy their life and that's what fuels my public service. And it's what I really enjoyed when I worked for three mayors, when I worked for Tom Bradley and Dick Reardon and Jim Hahn. You can actually make changes in public service that makes people's lives better. How great is that?

[Moderator or Panelist]

It's great. People don't know this widely, but Tomorrow is the 175th anniversary of the state of California. Governor Newsom, it's a great state. It is a great state. It's an amazing place. Governor Newsom is giving his state of the state tomorrow morning. If you were in that seat, what would you say at the state of the state tomorrow? What's your read on the state of the state of California?

[Rick Caruso]

I think the state of California should lead the nation in everything that we do. I think the state of California should have the best housing, it should have the best school system below its crime rate. We should not have homeless living on the streets. We should have opportunities for people to grow a business, raise their family, feel good about life, be enriched. And we should be in the top of every category that you want to measure quality of life. If you say we're the fourth largest economy in the world, which our elected officials say very often, then act like it, and the people of California should be benefiting from being the fourth largest economy in the world.

[Interviewer or Host]

How would you deal with homeless? You got these encampments. We're driving around here. Downtown la, it had such a renaissance for a short period of time. It feels like it's devolved again.

[Rick Caruso]

It has.

[Interviewer or Host]

And it just Seems to me that there just should be zero tolerance for camping on the street. Yet here we are again with encampments everywhere. What would be your approach?

[Rick Caruso]

Well, my approach was simple when I ran, is you can't allow encampments on the street, but you've got to give people who are on the streets an opportunity to have a productive life. So give them the services they need, build the housing that they need. We are spending in the city of Los Angeles $900,000 per person that moving from the streets. $900,000 per year? Yeah.

[Panelist or Interviewer]

Oh, my God.

[Rick Caruso]

There's billions and billions of dollars wasted. Redirect that to organizations that have incredible track records of being successful in Los Angeles, of housing people, giving them the services for mental health and drug addiction. And the first thing you do is you do not allow the sale of drugs on the street. Right now we do. I mean, that's a crime. It's illegal. Don't allow it.

[Moderator or Panelist]

It is a crime.

[Rick Caruso]

Yeah.

[Interviewer or Host]

I mean, if you look at fentanyl, it is just a different category of drug. We've seen the president, who you don't agree with everything on, but he's taking a pretty hard line stance to the point at which he's activating the military. Pretty controversial. What's your take on that?

[Rick Caruso]

I think we should actually have secure borders and shut down the drugs 100%. Absolutely.

[Interviewer or Host]

So in full agreement with the president?

[Rick Caruso]

Yeah. I don't know how you can say I want to have a livable society, a quality of life, allow people to build a business, raise a family, and then at the same time, you allow drug dealing to go on the streets. You just can't do it. We have an area out here called the Sepulveda Basin. I got a call from a resident yesterday, and this poor resident that lives out in Encino is talking about the amount of encampments in Sepulveda Basin. And what they have done now, the homeless, he's telling me, is they've made these booby traps and connected homemade bombs to them.

[Panelist or Interviewer]

Oh, my God.

[Rick Caruso]

So when the police of the fire department tried to go in there, this one firefighter was severely injured, lost an ear because it hit a trip wire. And he had called the mayor. The mayor said, well, it's very complicated to try to figure out how to get in there to clean it up. It's not complicated. You go in there and clean it up.

[Interviewer or Host]

Period, full stop.

[Rick Caruso]

Period, full stop. We just gotta do that.

[Interviewer or Host]

So one of the complications here is the Democrats don't seem to want to clean up These cities, the President has checkmated them by saying, if you don't clean it up, I'll clean it up. Seems like a midterm driven approach. What's your take on the National Guard being sent into these cities? Because if Karen Bass won't clean it up, if JB Pritzker won't clean it up, is there an argument for the President to send the National Guard in? It seems like overreach in one way, but we're sitting here talking about absolute incompetence and a refusal to deal with this issue. The people who are affected by it are like, yes, send the National Guard in if that's what it takes. What's your take?

[Rick Caruso]

Well, my take on it is sending in the national guard in Washington D.C. is a very different situation than sending the national guard into LA or Chicago, because Washington D.C. is a federal territory. So that's different. What I think should be done is we should hold our elected officials accountable to have a police department that's fully engaged and given the authority to enforce the laws. And we're not doing that.

[Interviewer or Host]

They're not backing up the cops.

[Rick Caruso]

They're not backing up the cops. The cops are not allowed to clean up the streets. The cops are not allowed to hold people accountable for selling drug on the streets. There's a whole bunch of protocols in the city of Los Angeles that do not allow the cops to do their job. Any kind of federal interference, I think should be the very, very last resort. So I don't support that. I don't support it. But I do support a fully engaged leadership system that require that the laws be enforced and give police the opportunity and not only that, demand that they enforce the law.

[Interviewer or Host]

Ladies and gentlemen, the next governor and or mayor of California, Los Angeles, Rick Verusto.

[Rick Caruso]

Thank you, Rick.

[Moderator or Panelist]

That was fantastic.

[Rick Caruso]

Thank you very much.

[David]

That was great.

[Rick Caruso]

Thank you, David. Thank you.

[Interviewer or Host]

I got it.

[Rick Caruso]

You the best.

[Interviewer or Host]

Appreciate you, brother.