
WarRoom Battleground EP 683: It’s Not A Natural Disaster. It’s Political FAILURE ...
Loading summary
Steve Bannon
This is the primal scream of a dying regime. Pray for our enemies because we're going amid the evil on these people. You're just not going to free shot all these networks lying about the people. The people have had a belly full of it. I know you don't like hearing that. I know you try to do everything in the world to stop that, but you're not going to stop it. It's going to happen.
Natalie Winters
And where do people like that go to share the big lie? MAGA MEDIA I wish in my soul, I wish that any of these people had a conscience.
Steve Bannon
Ask yourself, what is my task and what is my purpose? If that answer is to save my country, this country will be saved.
Natalie Winters
War ROOM here's your host, Stephen K. Band. Yeah, Willie, this was a really surprising and candid interview. This is outgoing acting ICE director PJ Lechleitner who sat down with me and told me about some of the frustrations. He thinks that the current administration could have been more transparent and forthcoming on the immigration issue and frankly that Biden may have taken action too late to solve the border crisis. This is someone who's been with DHS since its inception. He's a 30 year career in law enforcement, served Republicans and Democrats. I think, I think some of his remarks here are really enlightening. Take a listen. We saw millions of immigrants come across the border. And I know you're not focused on the border, but you know, you're focused on the ramifications.
Steve Bannon
We'll relate to it.
Savannah Hernandez
Sure.
Natalie Winters
A lot of that came down. Those numbers drastically fell, especially starting in June when the new executive action went into place. Do you think that Biden should have taken that action earlier? Yes, absolutely. Yes, he should have. The administration should have taken that action earlier. And I think the career people in DHS would have liked that. And all of us in dhs, quite frankly, I don't know if anybody in DHS wouldn't have wanted that earlier. You know, maybe there's some counselors here or there that don't like this kind of stuff, but law enforcement is always going to be on that side where we want, you know, some tighter controls because we, for a while there, you remember it was 10,000 plus. Biden had an exit interview this week where he was asked about his regrets and he did not mention the border. Does that surprise you? No, it doesn't surprise me. But it's unfortunate because I think we could have done more because you have an ICE director saying now publicly to you, Julia, what we've heard privately from them for Several years. You're in the war room. It's nine January, Thursday in the year of our Lord 2020. So many bombshells in that cold open. But most importantly, see what I clipped that last part, those few seconds. Well, we've heard this quietly, but this is the first time it's been said out loud. Well, first of all, msnbc, you evidently have not been watching the War Room well enough. But more importantly, I think that's what you call a cover up. Starts with msnbc, but it runs all the way to the top. The top being 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Whoever may be running the show there, and by the way, mayorkas, you're included in that too. We're gonna focus a little bit on the fires. We have some guests and people who are actually out in California right now in Los Angeles. But I played that clip. You know, we focused a lot on immigration in today's morning show because there is such a strong parallel with the fires. Right. This idea of resources being under resourced, like I said yesterday, how long have we always asked ourselves, is it a result of intentionality trying to destroy this country or is it a result of incompetence? And that operative word there, or I guess suggests that they're mutually exclusive. But I think you're seeing on full display right now in California that it's intentional incompetence. Just like it was on the southern border, just like it has been in Ukraine, just like it has been in the Middle east, just like it has been with the trade deals and the endless forever wars that have plagued this country for decades. Right? What you are seeing now, it's not merely a natural disaster. It is a complete and utter political failure completely at the hands of Democrats. Right? Because it's quite funny. There's never any shortage of resources. And I know you probably thought I was going to say to send overseas to Ukraine or Israel or Taiwan or whatever country that's not the United States of America, but there's never any shortage of resources to what, fill your children and grandchildren's classrooms full of creepy grooming, pedophilic transgender promoting books like Genderqueer? Right. There always seems to be enough money in the budget to do that.
Savannah Hernandez
Sure.
Natalie Winters
There's enough money in the budget to what, give illegal aliens transgender surgeries, including the ones in prison? Right. There's never a question of resources when it comes to their woke fetishes. And I probably use that word intentionally. Oh. But sorry, I guess I'm a little high maintenance if I want my fire hydrants to actually have water or. I think that firemen should be able to fight fires, not with designer handbags like they're doing right now in California. I'm sure you guys have seen the videos. Firemen, I don't know where the hoses are. Maybe they shipped them all over to Ukraine. That's not just a joke. They were literally doing that less than a year ago. They're dumping barrels of water. Sorry, not barrels, handbags of water to try to put out fires. I think they call that third world. Speaking of water, I want to play two clips from MSNBC admitting that basically none of the fire hydrants are working. And this lovely, shall we say, Dei Hire who gets paid, I think $750,000 a year to make sure that water is indeed running and working in the Los Angeles area. Somehow she's still not out of a job. Let's roll these two clips. We saw an apartment building engulfed in flames. I saw the fire engine pull up this afternoon. A fire captain have one of his.
Jeremy Kaufman
Firef attach a hose to a hydrant.
Natalie Winters
And that hose didn't fill up. Alex and I asked the captain, out of every 10 hydrants you attached to today on average, how many are you getting full water from? He says little to none. And it was at that point that.
Jeremy Kaufman
Really the whole crew stopped, looked up.
Natalie Winters
At this apartment building and they realized there was nothing they could do. We ran out of water and the first thing about 4:45pm yesterday. We ran out of water in the second tank about 8:30pm and the third tank about 3am this morning. Little to none. Let that sink in. I don't know personally, that's about the amount of confidence that I have in Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass in the slate of true intellectuals outrunning this whole operation so wonderfully in California. Little to none, I guess, is also the amount of confidence or belief that I have that Joe Biden actually won the 2020 election. I think they've now declared a state of emergency. Funnily enough, the FEMA director, the one who did a really good job or the fill in. Sorry, I was confusing the Secret Service there because they've done also done such a wonderful job of keeping this country safe. The FEMA director, the one who oversaw the botched North Carolina flood response, by the way, I think they're already getting ready to kick out some North Carolinians from hotels there. Don't think Ukraine's getting the same treatment, but she is, I think, arriving into Los Angeles today. Last time I checked, it's Thursday. I get it, it's not Ukraine, it's not a foreign country. So if you can't grift off of it, Right. If Hillary Clinton couldn't have made a quick buck off of Benghazi, why are you going to get off your ass and do anything? I guess that mindset sort of affects all of the D.C. ruling class, but the Biden regime has been a perpetual since day one. Day one. What is it? Democracy dies in darkness? According to the Washington Post. Yeah, when they were inaugurated in darkness. The Biden regime has a four year, unconditional continued state of emergency, not just here at home, but abroad. In every corner of this earth, from Ukraine to the Middle east to Afghanistan now to California, to East Palestine to the southern border, to the northern border, to every border. And yes, newly donned. What? Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, George Soros. Borders matter. We're going to make sure you know that come January 20th. You guys want to talk about domestic extremism? What is it? Crazy cultists that mag are you guys are literally burning down Los Angeles in the name of climate change. So I'd start with investigating those people for domestic extremism extremism before coming after Maga. By the way, Karen Bass, I say she's LA's equivalent of Lori Lightfoot and I don't know if she's better or worse, which shows you how far things have fallen. But just last month, LA's fire chief actually warned Karen Bass that the 17/million dollars that were cut from her department's budget, quote, severely limited. And we have the picture, we can put it up on screen. The department's capacity to prepare for, train for and respond to large scale emergenc including wildfires. And let me be very clear, for those of you who know, I actually born and raised in Santa Monica, my house is, I believe, still under mandatory evacuation order. I know victimhood culture isn't something that we embrace here in the war room, but for once I get to criticize and politicize. I know what, you're not allowed to politicize this issue. Well, guess what? You guys politicized it when you made it so the fire hydrants didn't have water so you could pat yourselves on the back and say that you guys were climate change defenders. When you elect Marxists who have no respect and only complete and utter disdain for humanity and human life. And you see that epitomized in the ideology that undergirds the climate change cult, this is what you get because they don't care. And actually they don't care so much, they won't even go out of their way to lie to you in the face. They just won't even answer your damn questions. Let's roll. The wonderful Karen Bass dodging in a way I've never seen any politic before. We'll see if we can get through it because it's about three minutes long. We'll see how much we can take, but let's roll it. Do you owe citizens an apology for being absent while their homes were burning?
Savannah Hernandez
Do you regret cutting the fire department.
Natalie Winters
Budget by millions of dollars? Madam Bear, have you nothing to say today? Have you absolutely nothing to say to the citizens today? Elon Musk says that you're utterly incompetent. Are you considering your position, Madam Mayor, have you absolutely nothing to say to the citizens today who are dealing with this disaster? No apology for them. Do you think you should have been visiting Ghana while this was unfolding back home? I mean, at this rate, she should have just gone back to Ghana. I could only take so much of that. But I just want to give us a little background on Karen Bass, because I use that word Marxist very intentionally. Right. You can tell a lot about someone by who they choose to eulogize so publicly. And in the case of Karen Bass, well, she very infamously and notoriously delivered a eulogy for one of the top members of the Communist Party of the United States for decades. Not Too long ago, O'Neill Cannon was this person's name. And Karen Bass actually described them as her personal mentor in 2017. Right. Usually these people, the Jamie Raskins of the world, they get to say, oh, well, I was a red diaper baby. This was decades ago. No, no, not Karen Bass. And she really liked this self avowed communist because of the long standing commitment to serving and uplifting others and for a century of fighting to make the world a better place. Well, I guess in the communist version of, quote, better place, I guess the hellish fire escape that is Los Angeles is probably fitting. I guess you're sticking it to the rich, right? Good luck taxing them. Don't think you can collect property taxes like that. Right. And in a statement in 2016, after you guessed it, Fidel Castro's death, Bass suggested that, quote, it was a great loss to the people of Cuba. She actually went to go see Fidel Castro speak in Cuba, quote, several times, and even said he was, quote, charismatic. But remember, MSNBC tells you that we're the rapists and the insurrectionists, but Fidel Castro is charismatic. I mean, honestly, that makes more sense than the fire response we've seen going on in Los Angeles. I guess it also makes sense that Karen Bass has admitted that communists are, quote, a huge influence on her. She actually would travel to Cuba as part of the Venceremos Brigade, a Marxist group that started started by the Castro regime to subvert American interests, weaken democracies, and spread communism around the. She was described as the leader of that group by a communist newspaper. And a U.S. sheriff who infiltrated the group testified that to be part of it, you had to be confirmed as a Marxist Leninist. And they were trained in, quote, terrorist tactics and guerrilla warfare. And by the way, Karen, quite a fitting name. You can't even say that this was decades ago because you apparently still have an addiction to hanging out with communists and Marxists because just in 2023, you were caught canoodling and meeting secretly with one of the the Chinese People's association for Friendship and Foreign Contact, one of the foremost Chinese Communist Party foreign influence groups that tries to target Western politicians to advance the policies that are preferred by Beijing. Maybe you and Hunter Biden could get into business together. So you know what, Karen Bass. And we'll lump Gavin Newsom in here too. I think I have a New Year's resolution for you. Do you know what that is? It's to resign. And it's to preserve your documents and hire a good lawyer. I know they say most people don't follow through on their New Year's resolutions, but come January 20th, I think you're going to. Right? When I describe fire hydrants that don't work or corrupt politicians and bogus botched elections, you would think I'm talking about Cuba. Apparently, Karen Bass is fetish to turn America into Cuba. That's her slogan. Make America Cuba. Right. I'm not on rav, so I think I can cuss, but they turned your country, they turned California into a shithole, and it was all by design, and they're laughing about it, right? So don't lecture us. Right? These are the what? The intellectual geniuses, the logistical geniuses, the complex systems, whatever HR term euphemism they want to use. The geniuses that are now telling us that we don't have the capacity or the intellectual capability to come up with the formation of mass deportations. You guys don't even know how to get damn water in your fire hydrants. So spare us the lectures on telling us that we won't be able to carry out mass deportations. Or better yet, shut up when you tell us that we aren't Allowed to hire what, quote, loyalists. Right. President Trump is so radical for hiring a bunch of loyalists. Well, at least they're loyal to this country and they're not a bunch of DEI affirmative action hired bureaucrats who suck at their jobs. But apparently, if you read Pride magazine, they don't. The the new LGBTQ Female Fire chief Chick. Let's read this headline. Los Angeles's first LGBTQ Plus. Important to get the plus in there. Fire Chief is proving Lesbians get it done. That's an actual headline. I'm not kidding. We can put it up if we have it. If we don't, you'll have to believe me. I know. It's so wild. Like I say, meta can't even fact check me because they don't have their fact checkers anymore. I've been wanting to get to that story, but we've been stuck dealing with all these fires. Right, but here's the point, and we're going to get to our first guest momentarily. You cannot defeat fires with dei, with wokeness, with progressivism. You can't build cities off of wokeness and DEI and progressivism. It's not just about the fires itself and the burn, the immense, innumerable, unquantifiable amount of acres and homes and structures and families that have been displaced. It's also about what this symbolically represents that is being burned down. A complete and utter failure of a Democratic super majority, both politically, culturally, spiritually. The beautiful state of California in Los Angeles, all so those people could pat themselves on the back and say, look, we're a multicultural society. We're woke. Yeah, we're not racist Republicans. We didn't vote for Trump. We're the good ones. Like I said, my house is under mandatory evacuation order, so I'm allowed to say this, but I hope it was worth it. I truly hope it was worth being able to make your pronouns on your driver's license, zim and zur, whatever it may be, that day of the week. So when you had to flee the fires that were started in Appeasing, trying to appease the climate change cult, at least your driver's license has Z0 on it. You might have to abandon your car and it's going to get engulfed in massive apocalyptic flames. But hey, at least you could be non binary and you can get an abortion post birth and your kid can become trans at six months. I won't call you homeless because I guess I have to call you unhoused, right? That's the appropriate term, as I was taught growing up in Los Angeles. Wild times. Absolutely wild times. And almost sinister times, too. I'm honored to bring back Jeremy Kaufman, I think one of War Room's favorite guests. You, of course, are of fame. The FBI, I think, came to your house. You shouted them down. You mean you need to go do that to LAFD or Karen Bass. But there's something really interesting going on with the insurance claims, especially in the Palisades, the numbers in terms of houses that they recently canceled, the premiums. I wanted to bring you on to sort of walk the audience through what exactly is going on in terms of financial insurance aspect of this whole story that's not. At least not getting a lot of coverage right now. Jeremy, hit us with it. Thank you so much for joining us.
Jeremy Kaufman
Thank you for having me on. Yeah. Well, so there's a common theme of everything you're talking about, which is the left likes to deny reality and then get mad when reality occurs. And so we see this. There's a lot of focus on the DEI stuff. And. And yes, if you pretend everyone is the same in their firefighting ability and don't optimize for who's the best firefighter and who knows the most about fires, you're going to get bad outcomes. But there's also been a denial of reality on the market side of this, on how insurance is priced and who can buy it. And so California has a law that says you can only use historical data to price your insurance, so you can't use future projections. So what the insurance companies did is they, of course, are monitoring the situation. They're the ones who have to pay out all this money. They saw the Palisades as a very risky area and it was too expensive or they were not legally allowed to charge the price for the danger. And so what they did is they just dropped a bunch of their customers. Right. Because insurance isn't charity. They have to make money. They have to make money, too. It's a business of pooling risk. And so if they can't charge the price that they need to charge for the risk of that area, they're going to drop you. So there were thousands of homeowners in the Palisades who were simply dropped by their insurers because California made it illegal to even charge the market price for that insurance.
Natalie Winters
And just walk us through the timing. I know there's been a lot of kind of chatter on social media that it was very recently that a lot of these homes were dropped. What do you sort of make of that? We say there's no conspiracies no coincidences here in the war room. But what do you think sort of led to those decisions?
Jeremy Kaufman
Well, I mean, what I think is whoever, whoever at Allstate predicted that these fires are going to happen is who should be put in charge of the California Fire Department. Right. Like these insurers saw that this was going to happen and they like, you know, I can get the sort of feeling that, hey, if they knew this was going to happen, like they should have done something about it, you know, that there's something, there's something sort of like wrong that they're doing as well. But you can't expect these places to be charities. Right. And if they're not allowed to charge the market clearing price, then like, what else can they do then, you know, then drop you. I do think, you know, I haven't gone through everything that they were saying, like it would be nice, you know, if the insurance companies had been, you know, shouting more about this and agitating against the environmental agencies and the leftists who prevented good forest management. But it is pretty clear that the insurance companies correctly predicted that there was an increased risk of fire in these areas.
Natalie Winters
And just walk us through. I know a lot of people are focusing on sort of the DEI aspect of it. Obviously all these hires that they found, as Steve always says, they look like they're from the Star wars bar. And that's maybe mean to Star wars, but just from your sort of perspective, the sort of impetus for all of this, do you think that we're right to be. I know we're not allowed to politicize it, but do you think that the DEI incompetence, the environmentalism. I sort of said it's this convergence of everything that is wrong with modern day progressivism on full display and full ablaze right now. But from your perspective, what do you think is sort of the push, the compounding factors that have produced this truly, I mean, fire of epic proportions?
Jeremy Kaufman
Yeah, it's impressive how many different areas the left can deny reality in simultaneously. And this is just another area. Right. They want to believe in terms of forest management that you can just keep everything alive and that we should have no fires at all whatsoever. And of course this produces buildup of, of brush and essentially all of this stored risk. And then what happens is the market correctly perceives that risk. And so again, the left tries to sort of legislate reality away. And they say, well, you're not allowed to charge that much money for the insurance. And so they deny reality along. Who should be a firefighter they deny reality on forest management. They deny reality on how we manage the insurance market itself. And then what you're going to see happen next is the politicians, the leftist politicians in California are gonna attack. They're gonna attack the insurance companies and the media is not gonna tell them the truth, Right? And so they're gonna say the people are gonna have to pay. They're gonna call for bailouts and they're gonna call for more regulations and more rules. And there will be no admittance of any kind of failure here on any axis that they denied reality. They will just deny reality further and attempt to regulate reality further.
Natalie Winters
Jeremy, if people want to follow you, as always, thank you for coming on the show. Where can they go to do that and stay up to date with all your analysis?
Jeremy Kaufman
Yeah, I'm about to hit 200,000 followers on X and I give you takes there that you might not see in other places. So you can follow me@x.com. jeremy Kaufman.
Natalie Winters
Jeremy, thank you so much for coming on. We'll have you back.
Jeremy Kaufman
Thank you.
Natalie Winters
Warren. Posse. Of course, you gotta be make, gotta make sure you're checking out rebels, rogues and outlaws. It's a great coffee table book, of course. War room governmentgangsters. Sacredhumanhealth.com, the best grass fed beef liver, very good for glowing skin, might I humbly add. Sacredhumanhealth.com and I just want to lay down a marker now because what was the word of the day when everything that we saw transpire in North Carolina with the floods and just the absolutely atrocious, horrific response there? Misinformation. Right. Start the clock. Start the clock on actual victim blaming, where they will start blaming Californians. Americans writ large say, oh, you're spreading misinformation. If you're criticizing our response to this fire. Well, let's just get the record straight. Your response has absolutely sucked, full stop. You don't have water and firemen are using handbags to try to put out tens of thousands of acres worth of fires. That's not misinformation. It's the truth. We here in the war room, unlike Facebook, are still in the business of fact checking because the facts have always been on our side. Just on that topic, the State Department is launching a new counter disinformation agency. It's called the counter foreign information manipulation Interference Hub. It's a mission center energizing a network of U.S. interagency, international and private sector partners that decisively exposes and counters disinformation and propaganda. Their mission is to direct, lead, synchronize, integrate and coordinate efforts of the federal government to recognize, understand, expose and counter foreign state and non state propaganda and disinformation efforts aimed at undermining or influencing the policies, security or stability of the United States, its allies and partner nations. So that's going to be a Trojan horse for some more censorship. I think I just found a new agency that needs to be shut down. But humble suggestion to Joe Biden, the Deep State if you want to focus on the threats that are plaguing this country, maybe start with getting water in the fire hydrants. Call me radical, call me an extremist. I think it's the truth. We'll be right back.
Steve Bannon
It's obvious the Unthinkable continues. Most Americans know something is very, very wrong. The people in charge keep telling you that everything's fine and to stop noticing. But you know better. That's why self reliant folks are investing in emergency food storage and you should too. My patrons by the nation's largest emergency preparedness company are the ones you can trust. Go to my patronsupply.com and secure their best selling 3 month emergency food kits. Each contains tasty breakfasts, lunches and dinners averaging over 2000 calories per day. My Patriot Supply also sells solar generators, gravity powered water filters, off grid room heaters for when the power goes out. They also sell heirloom seeds and survival gear. Order by 3pm and your items shipped that same day and arrive quickly on your doorstep in unmarked boxes. Go to my patriotsupply.com today hope is not a plan. My Patriot Supply is a plan. Time is running out to prepare for what's coming. My patriotsupply.com go there today. Action. Action. Action. Are you tired of progressive corporations that continue to further alienate conservative Americans, all the while eroding the future of the American dream? Companies like Starbucks Strong army customers to support abortion or PayPal canceling accounts over political views, Maybelline making a mockery of women by supporting transgender models and Bud Light forcing gender ideology on you when all you want is to enjoy a cold beer. But thanks to Public Square, you don't have to fund companies like this any longer. Public Square connects you to tens of thousands of businesses that share your value for life, family, freedom. Whether you're looking to buy coffee, find a new athletic brand that knows what a woman is, shop for clean skin care, or just find a restaurant in your community that won't lecture you about your political views, publicsquare.com is your resource. It's free to join. Plus you get discounts to many of the high quality businesses on the platform. Start spending your hard earned money on companies that don't hate you. Let me repeat that. Start spending your money on companies that hate you. Join me and millions of patriotic Americans who love truth, our country and our constitution@publicsquared.com Download the app now or visit the site at publicsquared.com that's publicsquared.com Take action today. Action. Action, Action. You ever think how can I work this hard and still be in debt? The piles of overdue bills, the threatening phone calls and never having money to do anything. It's just stop. You're trapped in debt. Done With Debt is the way out. They developed aggressive new strategies to end your debt permanently. Done With Debt stands between you and harassing bill collectors. They tirelessly negotiate with your creditors to lower or even forgive what you owe. And they do it all without bankruptcy or new additional loans. As one client raved, quote, our phone call saved us a fortune. I wish we did this long ago. End quote. Bottom line Done With Debt has unique strategies to get you out of debt faster and put more money in your pocket every month. But you need to hurry because some debt solutions are time sensitive and you don't want to miss out. Visit donewithdebt.com talk with one of their debt relief strategists for free. Let me repeat that. Go to donewithdb.com and talk to one of their debt relief strategists for free. You have nothing to lose except your debt. Go to donewithdebt.com that is done with debt.com do it today. Action. Action. Action.
Savannah Hernandez
So I want to reach down and.
Jeremy Kaufman
Bring you up and that's kind of.
Savannah Hernandez
Something that stuck with me to this day.
Steve Bannon
Part of that work means speaking up for those who can't. Over the last few years, LAFD has dealt with a fair share of controversy and Larson not afraid to sound the alarm.
Natalie Winters
I chose to speak out pretty much.
Savannah Hernandez
By myself about the issues of sexism and racism within my department and the need for change. I don't think there's any question that.
Natalie Winters
Our department is the best at fighting fires. We do it better than anybody in.
Savannah Hernandez
The world, but when it comes to.
Natalie Winters
The personnel side, we have some issues.
Savannah Hernandez
And they're not insurmountable, but they need.
Natalie Winters
To be addressed and fixed to the.
Savannah Hernandez
Best of everybody's ability.
Natalie Winters
Yeah, I'm sure. When what torrential fires are pouring down on the city of Los Angeles? Did you try telling them, oh well we're not sexist or racist. Did that help? I don't think so. I don't think so. But thank you for rooting out what systemic racism from Los Angeles Fire Department. It really has gotten us so far. So far. So far that I get to sit here and host a show while my house is under a mandatory evacuation order. But hey, at least my fire department's not racist. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. We are now joined by the intrepid and wonderful investigative reporter, not very beloved by MSNBC for her wonderful gotcha interviews. I love watching them. Savannah Hernandez, who actually is in Santa Monica right now. Before we get into some of the on the ground interviews that you've been conducting, I think the audience is really curious what people there think is causing these fires. It seems like more are springing up every night. We were talking in the break, and you told me that you were originally supposed to be going to San Diego to do some work reporting on the homelessness crisis, but then you had to go up north because of now these wildfires, which I think is a true testament to just the woeful mismanagement of the great state of California. But give the audience sort of a synopsis of what you've been doing, your sort of overarching interviews with the locals, what. What. What they think is going on.
Savannah Hernandez
Absolutely, Natalie. Well, like you said, I was originally in San Diego. I did not fly here for the fires. But because it's California, you can really pick and choose, right? You want to focus on the homeless crisis, the drug addiction crisis, now these historically destructive wildfires. Now, when I was in San Diego, actually, I had a local who took me to a homeless encampment because the fire chief over there said it was a hotspot for fires and that we should go investigate it again. As soon as we got there, we saw the beginnings of an unattended fire. We ended up having to call the fire department. Natalie. So there is absolutely a lot of truth to the homeless being able to set fires, obviously throughout the entire state of California and these oftentimes turning into these very huge and destructive fires. So that's what was happening in San Diego. And then we made our way up to Altadena, Pasadena area, to take a peek at the fire there. Let's not forget that that was one of three yesterday. You know, we're at like four or five separate fires that popped up. We've had tens of thousands of acres burned. It's been absolutely devastating. But in the Altadena area, I was speaking to residents, one of which who was actually, you know, in his home as the Eaton fire was surrounding it. He stated his electricity was turned off yesterday afternoon and then the fire really started and made its way to them in the evening. He was wondering, how did this start if all of our electricity was down? Many of the residents stating, yeah, we've been getting information from outside sources because we don't even know what's going on due to the fact that we don't have electricity. So I spoke to this resident. He was saying that he watched the fires rage for an hour and a half before finally evacuating his home. Not one firefighter showed up. There was no helicopters, of course, due to those strong winds. But many of the residents asking, where were the firefighters? We were warned two days ago about these strong winds. We were warned, but there was no preparation. And that's something that I heard from so many residents. Another resident as well, Natalie. This was absolutely insane because again, this resident, Albert, he's telling me fires were raging. We didn't see any firefighters. We ended up evacuating last night. Fast forward to Yesterday morning around 7am I'm speaking to another resident who said that the firemen had barely gotten there that morning. At 5am she had left to go buy her own fire hoses because at this point the residents of California have resorted to turning on sprinklers and essentially trying to save their own homes with their own water because this is the situation that they've been left in with basically zero health. She went to go get her own fire hoses. The police had cut off the road and would not let her through to go and bring those fire hoses to her home so that she could continue hosing down the area around her home to try to make sure that fires didn't come back. Because keep in mind, a lot of these other areas that are affected still smoldering. The strong winds come in, reignite things. So the entire situation is so poorly mismanaged. The communication is horrible. The firefighters are stretched thin. I spoke to a firefighter yesterday who of course stated, yeah, basically all these blue hydrants that you're seeing, we have not been able to pull water out of them. We don't have the ability or the manpower, quite frankly, to put out these fires. As of now, we still have 0% containment on the Pacific Palisades fire, the Eaton fire. We have five reported dead. You have 350,000 who are without electricity. I mean, these are really third world conditions. Natalie.
Natalie Winters
It's obviously still so raw, but in your interviews with people, did you get a sense that there was sort of an anger or a frustration or at the very least, confusion with California Los Angeles leadership? Like, what is sort of the. The vibe on the ground there in terms of who people feel is responsible for this utter tragedy?
Savannah Hernandez
Oh, absolutely. I mean, it's really half and half right, because we are in California. So a lot of the liberals are like, oh, it's just. Just the natural wildfires. This happens every time. They really haven't gotten to that next natural progression of, okay, how did our leadership get us to this point? But you do have the other half of Californians who really do understand that it was the lack of fire prevention. It's the fact that water reservoirs have not been built in California, a new one, since, what, the 1980s. You know, you had Mayor Karen Bass, that was in Africa, of all places. Why? Nobody knows, but she's in Africa. Meanwhile, her entire city is undergoing evacuation orders, and we're seeing these historic fires. So there are Californians that see the issue that are definitely asking again those questions. If we knew strong winds were coming in, if we know that this happens every single year, why was nothing done to prevent this from happening? And again, too, you know, the fire insurance aspect. Many residents talking to me as well about how their insurance was canceled, and this one resident, her mom lived In a Zone 6 area, or Code 6, it might have been called. So they canceled her fire insurance because they basically articulated, yeah, the insurance companies know that California leadership is not going to do anything to prevent buyers. So the insurance companies then don't want to insure them because they know that based on the location that they're at, that basically everything's going to burn.
Natalie Winters
And just another word that you use, I think that certainly piqued my interest. I'm sure the audience agrees the sort of intentional. Right. The arson. Right. I saw a video last night, I believe was Dr. Andrew Huberman, who posted it just to fire people intentionally setting a fire on Pico Boulevard in Santa Monica. He said he called in the cops, they came, they put it out. But like I said, last night, another fire sort of sprung up in the Hollywood Hills area. What do people there think is causing it? Do they think it's naturally derived, or is there potentially an arson component to this? Looks like we might have some technical difficulties if we want to try to reboot Savannah. It's all good because now, look, you can call me conspiratorial. We've only been what crowned the number one spreader of misinformation by the New York Times. I'll take it. But here's the thing. What was it yesterday I told you about that Washington Post article? So 1996 warning. I think the headline sounded like something straight out of my mouth. It was that illegal aliens are responsible for an ever increasing number of wildfires in California. And they said if nothing was done about this, well, there would be a catastrophe. Now look, it's obviously too early to tell what exactly caused this fire, but you certainly can't sit there and say that the countless fires. And don't worry, I'm going to get into the data that have been caused by illegal aliens have not drained the resources, of course exacerbated, or you could say aided and abetted by Karen Bass decision to chop block their funding. And by the way, what was it? The couple tens of millions of dollars that she took off their docket? Where do you think that money ended up? Really? Only two options, right? It's either Karen Bass's pockets or connected lobbyists and friends or the case of Joe Biden. We learned it's probably the family members. I do think Hunter Biden's Malibu mansion did actually burn down. Apologies for that. But here's the thing. They probably used it for illegal aliens to begin with, right? I'm hearing reports that all the America or the Californians, the Los Angeles residents who don't have homes anymore and are needing to spend the night in shelters, the shelters are full of illegal aliens. And by the way, like I said, the Government Accountability Office, I believe it was back in 2011, they had done some analysis and I'll read the headline. This is from Reuters. Okay, this isn't the Gateway Pundit. This isn't war Room. This is from 2011. GAO study links Arizona wildfires to illegal immigrants. Quote, found that of 77 human caused borderland wildfires that were investigated by Federal officials from 2006 to 2010, 30 identified illegal border crossers as a suspected source of ignition. I'm just saying, when you jam through what, 15 million illegal aliens, which if this study shows, at least in Arizona, are responsible for nearly half of the wildfires going on there, you're going to drain your resources, not just of your fire department, but of your entire country, of your entire state. And California spends $21.8 billion annually. And that's at least what they report on immigration. And don't even get me started on legal immigration and the whole H1B, H2B visa issue. That's what I really want to be talking about. But Gavin Newsom is making that quite difficult. Like I said yesterday, I stand by it. Maybe he needs to be lobbying and groveling for a preemptive pardon, too, I think. We are again rejoined by Savannah. Yes, we are. There we go. Savannah, if you want to pick up where you left off, just sort of, of what the sort of pulse on the ground is when it comes to what is causing these fires. Dare I use the a word, arson. But it just, it seems weird. I mean, it's a reductive and simplistic way to put it, but it just seems like these fires keep popping up.
Savannah Hernandez
No, you're absolutely right. This started off with the Pacific Palisades fire on what, Tuesday morning. And then we saw the Altadena fire pop up. We saw the Hearst fire pop up. And then last night we saw the Sunset fire pop up. And residents on the ground very much saying, we don't believe that are electrical wires up there. This very much seems like this fire was potentially set. And then on the ground level in the city, you're already seeing the homeless lighting these fires all over the place. So truly, Natalie, it does seem like the California government will try to protect the environment for everything but human beings from the homeless crisis and the homeless being allowed to light these fires to again, the lack of, of fire prevention with forests or even forest management, the fact that the water reservoirs have not been built since a new one, since the 1980s, that fire hydrants have run out of water. I mean, this is just a perfect, I guess, equation to have the worst fires that we're seeing and what we're currently experiencing. But again, regarding the arson, I very much think that was in play. And the most sinister part about these fires, too, is that the. We never get answers, right. We never get answers on how they started. And it always kind of seems like that gets brushed under the rug and then comes in climate change. And that's the new talking point.
Natalie Winters
No, I mean, Karen Bass spent what, three minutes being silent when she was asked about, do you like going to Ghana? You want to go back? I think we'll only know if this fire or who started this fire, if it is probably a straight white Trump voting, you know, January six, participating mail. Otherwise there'll be no interest. I'm just curious if you have been able to do any reporting or see or talk to people in terms of the shelters or temporary housing being set up for people who have been displaced. I know there were some reports that a lot of these areas are already overcrowded because of illegal aliens. But what is sort of the movement, the logistical operation side of the sheltering look like out there?
Savannah Hernandez
That isn't something I've been able to investigate, but it's absolutely at the forefront because like you said, we are hearing those reports and we've even seen it. I was just in San Diego outside of an entire hotel that has been utilized for illegal immigrants over the last year. And you're seeing pallets of water there, you're seeing buses there, you're seeing again, individual hotel rooms allocated and of course, millions and even billions of dollars allocated to sheltering these illegal immigrants. So regarding the shelter right now, that's something I'm going to go investigate. But these hot already have been filled by illegal. So this kind of reminds me of New York, right, where if you're a tourist and you want to even rent a hotel for the night, it's going to be either extremely expensive because they're all filled up, or you're not going to be able to because illegal immigrants have taken precedent. So that is still an issue here in California. And I guarantee that is also, you know, playing a part in this.
Natalie Winters
Savannah, if people want to follow you, stay up to date with everything you're working on, maybe you can tease a little bit of the work you're going to be doing down in San Diego. Go where can people go to do that and stay up to date with everything you're doing?
Savannah Hernandez
Absolutely. Go follow me on X at sav. Underscore says underscore. And go follow the frontlines Twitter account as well because we have multiple reporters who will be on the ground investigating this, talking to residents, trying to figure out what's going on in California.
Natalie Winters
Thank you, Savannah. Please stay safe. I love Santa Monica. It's my hometown. I wish we could offer you a better a better welcome right now. But thank you for doing the hard work that not a lot of reporters are interested in doing. We appreciate it. Thank you for joining us on the War Room.
Savannah Hernandez
Thanks, Natalie.
Natalie Winters
Of course, Warren Posse. As you know, times are turbulent. I feel like Pavlov's dog. Anytime I hear that, I think of Steve saying that about Birchgold. So you probably know where I'm going. You got to be checking out birchgold.com bannon or texting Bannon to 989-898 while you still can get the latest installment of the end of the Dollar empire. Maybe read that while you're drinking. What a cup of your Warpath dot coffee. This is the medium roast, not the dark roast that Steve likes, but it's cool Packaging. You know what, it looks sort of looks like a fire, maybe. Bad timing to promote that one, but it's warpath coffee. And lastly, nationalpulse.com war room. You guys know I got my start over there working under Raheem at the national poll, so you can subscribe nationalpulse.com war room. Now, I want to flag for you guys, too. Just some other relevant reporting because the Biden regime is not going quietly into the good night, if you catch my drift there. They're doing everything, everything that they can do to sabotage President Donald J. Trump's what should be third, I guess, legally speaking, second term, particularly on the front of immigration. Not only for starters, there's a new group that sprung up. It's called Civil Service Strong, which is basically the manpower, the sort of actual actionable material activist group of a coalition called Democracy Forward, which is sort of the new hotbed of Resistance 2.0. People like Norm Eisen and his group, the State Democracy Defenders, are all involved in this ACLU splc, but they are advising, actively advising federal employees on how to whistleblow, how to file complaints, how to sue, all those sort of lawfare tactics. Right? Law Fair is not going away. They're just rebranding. Like I said, it's called Civil Service Strong. So they're certainly getting all their resources, to use the word that we started the show with together. Funny how Gavin Newsom's what, $25 million fund to bail out criminal illegal aliens from deportation. That's about the amount of money they stripped from lafd. I wonder if that's where that money went. But there's no issue of lack of resources there, right? So explain to me, Karen Bass, how you're cutting the LAFD budget while you're setting up a secret slush fund to avoid deporting criminal illegal aliens. Some other exclusive reporting. You know, we're not just into rants here on the War Room. Hey, I gotta, gotta keep up with Steve. It's a tough. It's a tough job. I always call this job a fool's. A fool's errand. Anyone who wants to be Steve Bannon's co host because it's a very hard job. But the Office of Refugee Resettlement has put forth policy changes. Get ready for this one. That will now make it so unaccompanied minors entering the United States will be asked for their pronouns and can now identify as non binary. Now, this wasn't something that was, you know, done in an EO or really publicized to The American people. It was buried in like a 20, 30,000 page document that I read on the Federal Register talking about guideline and policy reviews that they're conducting sort of via the administrative state route, like I said, as opposed to via Congress or anything like that, that. But in the entire document about how they want to streamline the unaccompanied minor's admissions process, which I would say it shouldn't be admissions, it should be rejection, deportation. That's the issue that they wanted to focus on. They thought illegal alien children were being oppressed because they couldn't put their pronouns as they them or identify as non binary. Let that, let that sink in. And then of course, speaking of natural disasters, you have the Biden regime actively working to prevent the implementation of a rule that would allow border patrol to turn away migrants that pose a public health security risk to the United States of America. And now this rule is supposed to go in effect in 2021, but every single year they have worked to block the implementation of it and now they're trying to extend it through 2021. They're also trying to revise the H2B visa process. This is going to go into effect on January 17, so there are less barriers to citizenship and rework all of the H1B stuff so they can jam through even more foreign workers to take your jobs, to take your livelihoods so they can treat you like roadkill and make you train your replacements or make you watch your damn house house get burned down so a bunch of oligarchic climate change hacks, fetishists, deranged cultists can feel good about themselves. Well, I guess here in the war room, it's gonna say we fight fire with fire. But I think there's only one way to fight fire nowadays and that's with President Donald J. Trump. As always, thank you for joining me for this hour. I will see you guys tomorrow. Until then, have a good one. And prayers to everyone in California.
Steve Bannon
I want to warn you of a huge change that could be coming to our money in our bank accounts. First, think back to 9 11, shortly after the government pushed through the Patriot Act. This gave the government power to spy on innocent Americans by monitoring our phone and email and tracking our movement across the Internet. Internet. Now Jim Rickards, editor of the Independent financial newsletter Strategic Intelligence and New York Times best selling author, is warning about a coming event that could elevate this governmental surveillance to a terrifying new level. In fact, some of the guests I've had on the war room believe that the government will soon expand their powers to track our every move. If we say the wrong things on social media, donate to the wrong causes, buy firearms, or even vote maga, the government may be able to shut us out of our bank accounts. I can't say for sure if this will happen, but it's an interesting and dire warning. Fortunately, Jim Rickards, an American patriot and friend of mine, has made it his mission to educate us on what he believes is coming and how to protect yourself from the possibility of programmable money. Watch Jim's warning video now. Now before it's censored like I've been in the past. Go to rickardswarroom.com that's rickardswarroom.com now to see the video.
Natalie Winters
That's why we created Sacred Human really trying to fill this gap of quality supplements and of course the beef liver being our flagship products.
Jeremy Kaufman
For those who don't know, beef liver.
Natalie Winters
Is loaded with highly bioavailable ingredients such as vitamin A, B12, zinc, CoQ 1010, etc. And because it is 100% grass fed and natural, your body is able to absorb these nutrients far better than taking any other synthetic multivitamin or any other synthetic vitamin in general.
Jeremy Kaufman
So we have some other amazing products.
Natalie Winters
But if you'd like to check us out, you can go to sacredhumanhealth.com and cheers to your health.
Steve Bannon
700,000Americans every year. Yes, heart disease is the number one curiosity killer every year, year in and year out. Heart disease builds over time. Hypertension, high blood pressure, bad cholesterol, diabetes, all of it affects our heart. A healthy heart is key to being energetic. As we get older, it is never too early to take care of your heart. You see, heart disease sneaks up on us. You can start in your 30s and when this happens, you're at serious works by the time you turn 60. If you want to take care of your heart and those you care about, please go to war room health.com that's war room health.com all one word war room health.com use the code war room at checkout to save 67% of your first shipment. That's code war room at checkout to save sixty seven percent and do it again. War room health all one word war room health.Com go there today. You need if you're going to be part of the posse, you need a strong heart. You need a lion's heart heart. How we're going to do that is with salty. Go there, do it today, check it out.
WarRoom Battleground EP 683: It’s Not A Natural Disaster. It’s Political FAILURE
Release Date: January 9, 2025
Hosts: Stephen K. Bannon and Natalie Winters
Podcast: Bannon`s War Room by WarRoom.org
Description: WAR ROOM: Pandemic is the first and most comprehensive program to bring the most up-to-date information on the news of the day. Stephen K. Bannon brings medical experts, politicians, business leaders, and those on the front lines for a comprehensive look at the latest news from all sectors, providing insider insights.
The episode opens with Steve Bannon delivering a vehement critique of the existing political establishment. He characterizes the current situation as a "primal scream of a dying regime," emphasizing the erosion of trust in mainstream media and governmental institutions.
"This is the primal scream of a dying regime...the people have had a belly full of it."
[00:03] Steve Bannon
Bannon underscores the sentiment that mainstream networks are disconnecting from the populace, fostering widespread distrust and unrest.
Natalie Winters introduces the segment by discussing an interview with PJ Lechleitner, the outgoing acting ICE director. Lechleitner voices frustrations about the administration's handling of immigration, suggesting that President Biden delayed necessary actions to address the border crisis effectively.
"The administration should have taken that action earlier. And I think the career people in DHS would have liked that."
[01:33] Natalie Winters
The discussion highlights a significant drop in immigrant crossings following executive actions in June, pointing to the impact of delayed policies.
The conversation pivots to the devastating wildfires in California, particularly in Los Angeles. Natalie Winters draws parallels between the mismanagement of immigration and the current disaster response, attributing both to intentional political incompetence by Democratic leaders.
"What you are seeing now, it's not merely a natural disaster. It is a complete and utter political failure completely at the hands of Democrats."
[04:56] Natalie Winters
Wildfires are critiqued not just as environmental issues but as indicators of systemic political failures, including inadequate resource allocation and poor leadership.
The hosts launch a scathing critique against Democratic officials like Karen Bass and Gavin Newsom, accusing them of prioritizing progressive agendas over effective governance. They argue that policies like Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) hinder operational efficiency, especially in critical services like firefighting.
"You cannot defeat fires with DEI, with wokeness, with progressivism."
[22:50] Natalie Winters
Bass is particularly targeted for her associations with communist figures and perceived incompetence in managing fire department budgets, leading to under-resourced firefighting efforts.
Jeremy Kaufman, a regular guest on the War Room, delves into the financial ramifications of the wildfires, specifically focusing on insurance practices in California.
"California has a law that says you can only use historical data to price your insurance, so you can't use future projections. So what they did is they just dropped a bunch of their customers."
[20:46] Jeremy Kaufman
Kaufman explains that insurance companies are withdrawing coverage from high-risk areas like the Pacific Palisades because they cannot adjust premiums to reflect the increasing risk, exacerbated by inadequate forest management and natural disaster preparedness.
Savannah Hernandez, an investigative reporter, provides firsthand accounts from residents affected by the wildfires. Her interviews reveal a populace frustrated with the lack of timely and effective response from firefighting authorities.
"I spoke to a firefighter yesterday who... they have not been able to pull water out of [fire hydrants]. We don't have the ability or the manpower, quite frankly, to put out these fires."
[36:49] Savannah Hernandez
Residents express anger towards leadership, blaming systemic failures for the severity of the fires. Hernandez also touches on the role of homelessness and illegal immigration in exacerbating the disaster, suggesting that unattended encampments are sources of arson.
"We're seeing these historic fires because... the fire hydrants have run out of water."
[37:11] Savannah Hernandez
The episode emphasizes that the wildfires are not just environmental catastrophes but are emblematic of broader policy failures. Natalie Winters and Bannon argue that neglecting infrastructure, inadequate emergency preparedness, and misguided political priorities have culminated in the current crisis.
"The stunning parallel with immigration is the lack of resources being allocated where they are desperately needed."
[19:26] Natalie Winters
They assert that Democratic leadership's focus on progressive social policies has led to the depletion of funds and resources necessary for effective disaster response.
In the concluding segments, the hosts reiterate their stance that the current political direction under Democratic leadership is leading to national instability and crises. They advocate for a return to conservative governance as the solution to these multifaceted challenges.
"Hope is not a plan. My Patriot Supply is a plan."
[27:01] Steve Bannon
Bannon warns of potential future governmental overreach and encourages listeners to prepare for possible economic instability, positioning themselves as a resource for emergency preparedness.
EP 683 of WarRoom Battleground meticulously dissects the intertwined crises of immigration and wildfires in California, presenting them as symptoms of deep-seated political incompetence. Through passionate discussion and insightful guest contributions, the hosts argue that these disasters are not natural but orchestrated or exacerbated by deliberate policy failures. The episode calls for a radical shift in leadership and policy direction to restore order and efficacy in governance.
Notable Quotes with Timestamps:
"This is the primal scream of a dying regime...the people have had a belly full of it."
[00:03] Steve Bannon
"The administration should have taken that action earlier. And I think the career people in DHS would have liked that."
[01:33] Natalie Winters
"What you are seeing now, it's not merely a natural disaster. It is a complete and utter political failure completely at the hands of Democrats."
[04:56] Natalie Winters
"You cannot defeat fires with DEI, with wokeness, with progressivism."
[22:50] Natalie Winters
"California has a law that says you can only use historical data to price your insurance, so you can't use future projections. So what they did is they just dropped a bunch of their customers."
[20:46] Jeremy Kaufman
"I spoke to a firefighter yesterday who... they have not been able to pull water out of [fire hydrants]. We don't have the ability or the manpower, quite frankly, to put out these fires."
[36:49] Savannah Hernandez
"Hope is not a plan. My Patriot Supply is a plan."
[27:01] Steve Bannon
Key Takeaways:
For Listeners Interested in Further Exploration:
This summary encapsulates the critical discussions and viewpoints presented in WarRoom Battleground EP 683. It aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the episode's content for those who have not listened to it.