Hour 1 - John Kobylt Guest Hosts

Summary

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The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

Hour 1 – John Kobylt Guest Hosts

Date: December 29, 2025
Host: John Kobylt (filling in for Clay Travis and Buck Sexton)
Podcast: iHeartPodcasts

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Episode Overview

Guest host John Kobylt, a longtime Los Angeles radio personality, offers an insider’s perspective on California’s decline under Democratic leadership, focusing on Governor Gavin Newsom—regarded as the Democratic frontrunner for the 2028 presidential race. Kobylt details the state’s challenges, from homelessness to rampant crime and destructive wildfires, arguing that the dire conditions in California are a direct result of progressive policies and political one-party rule. He issues a clear warning to a national audience: “Don’t go near this one,” urging skepticism toward Newsom’s political ambitions.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. California’s Image vs. Reality (03:18–07:00)

• John Kobylt recounts his childhood dream of moving to California, inspired by televised football games and sunny parades, only to find the state in crisis decades later.
• He describes a stark contrast between the “magical” California of his youth and its current state of decline.
  • “When I was a kid, I grew up in New Jersey...I'd see sunshine...I thought, wow, this is magical, this is wonderful...When I grow up, I want to go live in California...And then about 10 years ago, everything started going to hell. And it was gradual.” — John Kobylt (06:35)

2. The Homelessness Crisis (07:00–13:00)

• Homelessness is described as the central, day-to-day concern for ordinary Californians, transcending politics.
• Kobylt alleges most homeless people are either addicted to drugs, mentally ill, or both, referencing a UCLA study: “Three quarters of the homeless, they estimated, were mentally ill and three quarters were drug addicts. Well, that’s 150% of the homeless. So it's, it, that's what's going on.” — John Kobylt (09:37)
• He criticizes the “housing first” policy, arguing that billions are spent on ineffective solutions that don’t address addiction or mental illness: “You’re just taking the crazy person or the drug addicted person and you’re putting them inside. And then they wander out during the day to buy their drugs and to act crazy.” (10:45-11:10)

3. Progressive Policy & One-Party Rule (13:00–14:30)

• California’s government makeup is described as “a progressive nightmare”:
  • “We’ve had a Democratic governor now ever since Arnold Schwarzenegger. So it's about 15, 16 years.”
  • City, county, and legislative bodies are uniformly Democratic; the Republican opposition is described as “completely feeble, impotent.”
• COVID-19 lockdowns are cited as an example of harsh governance.
  • “During COVID we were literally locked down. We had the worst Covid shutdown rules in the whole country.” (14:00–14:15)

4. Media Coverage and Information Vacuum (12:00–13:00, 14:30–15:08)

• Kobylt claims national and local media deliberately avoid in-depth coverage of California’s problems, especially those linked to Democratic leadership:
  • “They run protection for everybody in the legislature for Newsom, for Karen Bass by simply not covering it. It’s fascinating. It’s not that they’re biased with all their coverage. There is no coverage. It just doesn’t exist.” — John Kobylt (14:40)

5. Gavin Newsom’s Character: The Palisades Fire Example (18:49–25:30)

• Kobylt plays an extended clip from the Palisades fire aftermath, featuring a confrontation between Gov. Newsom (and his staff) and Rachel Darvish, a distraught resident whose home and daughter’s school were destroyed.

• Key Exchange:

  • Rachel Darvish: “Governor, you got a second? ...that was my daughter’s school. Governor, please tell me what you’re going to do.” (21:07)
  • Gavin Newsom’s Staff/Newsom: “Literally talking to the president right now to specifically answer the question of what we can do for you and your daughter.” (21:17)

• Kobylt dissects the encounter:

  • Newsom claims to be on the phone with President Biden, then says he’s been “trying to call five times,” then blames lack of cell service—shifting stories within minutes.
  • Quote: “When she first ran up to him, he said, I’m literally talking to Joe Biden right now. Well, he wasn’t literally talking to him. He made that up. And then he said, well, I’ve been trying to call five times. And then it’s like, well, I can’t get a cell signal here.” — John Kobylt (22:53)
  • Kobylt uses this as an example of what he calls Newsom’s dishonest, “shape shifter” character.

6. Fire Policy Failures and Environmentalism (25:30–32:30)

• Kobylt details the “milk vetch plant” debacle:

  • Firefighters were removed from state land to avoid damaging an endangered plant, preventing suppression of burning remnants and indirectly contributing to the larger Palisades fire.
  • “6,000 plus homes burned for the sake of the milk vetch plant...the Parks employees are telling the LA Fire Department basically get off the land. The fire department wanted to bring in a bulldozer to cut a fire break. And they wanted to put out all the smoldering. They said no, you can’t do that.” — John Kobylt (28:45)
  • He links these actions directly to Newsom’s administration and policies.

• He expands the discussion to systemic, statewide failures: “There’s tremendously damaging information, and it’s coming from a civil lawsuit filed by thousands of Pacific Palisades residents...now we’re finding out what the real story is.” (31:30)

7. Living Through the Collapse—A Personal Story (32:30–35:00)

• Kobylt describes his harrowing experience during the blackout caused by the fire.
  • His family stayed home amidst no power, no water, and the threat of looting:
    • “My wife wanted to stay because she knew the looters would come and steal all our stuff...Seven homes in our neighborhood got looted because it was completely dark...We had to hire a guy, an ex-Marine, who stood in front of the house with a loaded gun.”
    • “It was a total breakdown of civilization. And I felt like I’d never felt in my life...There was nothing. It was every man for himself.” — John Kobylt (33:45)

8. The Daily Costs and Rackets of Living in California (39:51–42:50)

• Kobylt lists categories where California is “the worst or the highest or the most,” highlighting high gas prices ($4.29/gal average, compared to $2.23 in Oklahoma), costly living, and the disproportionate impact on the lower and middle classes.
  • He blames heavy taxation on a “climate change obsession” and hints at systemic corruption:
    • “There’s several big rackets in this state, again along the lines of the Somalian racket in Minnesota. It’s billions and billions of dollars.”

9. Preview: Investigative Journalism on Newsom

• Kobylt announces an upcoming interview with Katie Grimes (CaliforniaGlobe.com), an independent journalist frequently critical of Newsom and Sacramento politics.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On California’s decline:

  • “Let me start with the homelessness, because the homelessness has infected and overrun the city of Los Angeles, the city of Santa Monica, which used to be a jewel...And it’s a policy from the top on down...” — John Kobylt (08:55)

• On Newsom’s interaction with a fire victim:

  • “I’m literally talking to Joe Biden right now.” — Gavin Newsom (per staff, 21:17)
  • “He isn’t on the phone. You didn’t try to call five times because you don’t have cell service...He was just making it up on the fly. This is what he does.” — John Kobylt (25:00)

• On the collapse of public order:

  • “It was a total breakdown of civilization. And I felt like I’d never felt in my life...There was nothing. It was every man for himself. You had to find a guy who owned a gun and hire him to stand in front of your house.” — John Kobylt (34:05)

• On the media’s role:

  • “They run protection...There is no coverage. It just doesn’t exist.” — John Kobylt (14:40)

• On Newsom’s record:

  • “If you haven’t researched much about him or really delved into him, I’m trying to give you the first warning. Don’t go near this one.” — John Kobylt (18:56)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 03:18 — John Kobylt introduction, background, and California nostalgia
• 09:00–11:30 — Deep dive into the homelessness crisis and “Housing First”
• 13:00 — Analysis of California’s one-party rule and lack of governmental accountability
• 14:30 — On local and national media avoiding negative coverage of California
• 18:49–22:53 — Play and breakdown of the Newsom/Palisades Fire resident exchange
• 25:30–32:30 — Detailed explanation of fire policy failures and the milk vetch plant saga
• 32:30–35:00 — Personal account: living through blackout, looting, and public safety collapse
• 39:51–41:50 — Examples of California’s high costs, gas taxes, and “climate change” expenses
• 42:50–End — Preview of interview with investigative journalist Katie Grimes

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Tone & Style

John Kobylt’s delivery is candid, direct, and often incredulous. He blends personal anecdotes, policy critique, and a sense of urgency to warn listeners nationwide about the leadership and culture of governance in California, culminating in a pointed critique of Gavin Newsom’s fitness for higher office.

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Summary

This episode provides a detailed, on-the-ground account of California’s ongoing social and political crises, as seen through the eyes of a radio veteran living through the consequences. It serves as both a warning about Governor Gavin Newsom’s suitability for national office and a broader lament for the decline of the state, tracing systemic issues back to progressive policymaking, lack of governmental accountability, and media neglect. The show promises further investigation with guest journalist Katie Grimes in the next hour.

Transcript

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[John Cobalt]

Welcome. How are you? To the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. I'm Josh Cobalt filling in for Clay and Buck today and I want to thank them for giving me the opportunity. I'm normally on KFI in Los Angeles every afternoon doing a radio show and have been out here for a long time and it's really a lot of fun to be able to be on Clay and Bucks Network today. And what I wanted to talk about, and we got a lot of material here, is since Gavin Newsom has become undisputably the top Democratic candidate for the 2028 race, he is, he is a piece of work. Then there's a lot of detail that you probably haven't heard about because I don't think the national media has covered him very much. And when you've probably seen all the video and all the news stories, especially on Fox News, about what a disaster California is, and when you see that kind of coverage, I always wonder. I'm sure you do. It's like, all right, are they taking things out of context? Are they cherry picking? Is this one isolated block or town? Is it really like this in much of the state? And the answer is yes. What you're seeing on television, the way California is covered, it is that bad. If, especially if you're in the big cities, it cannot be overstated just how difficult life is in places like Los Angeles and Santa Monica and in San Francisco. It is a mess. It's a mess coming from Gavin Newsom's policies. It is a mess coming from local policies, city councils and mayors. It is, it is a progressive nightmare out here. And I want to tell you, just a brief rundown because whenever you utter an opinion these days, people want to dismiss it, saying, oh, well, you're Just blank. And they give you a label. Oh, you're just conservative or you're just Republican or you're just some kind of hater. And then I always think it's like, no, no, this is real life here in California. This is what normal people who are not overly political talk about all day. This is the only thing non political, nonpartisan, ordinary people talk about. Because life can be really difficult and frustrating. And so when I was a kid, I grew up in New Jersey, in Saddlebrook, New Jersey. And you know, you know, the winters in the Northeast, they're long, they're cold. Sun sets at 4:30 in the afternoon. I'm 8 years old. And the ray of hope when you're in the middle of winter, let's say in December, is I turn on the television and I would see late afternoon football games from the West Coast. I'd see games from Los Angeles games, San Diego Chargers, the Oakland Raiders. And I see sunshine, right, because it was three hours earlier. Sunshine, people in, in, in, in short sleeves, beautiful women in the stands. And I'm thinking, wow, this. And this is an eight. I thought, wow, this is magical. This is wonderful. And you know, then there was the Rose Parade every year. So it buried in my head, it's like, when I grow up, I want to go live in California. That was the dream because it was so wonderful. And eventually, fast forward maybe about 20 years. My wife and I got to move to Los Angeles. I got a job offer from KFI back in the 90s. And I thought, well, this is exactly where I wanted to be. And we drove around our first three weeks here before I went on the air. And we went everywhere from the Mexican border through San Diego and San Francisco. San Francisco, at the time, I almost dropped dead because of its beauty. I thought, this is the most gorgeous city I've ever seen in my life. Louisiana was fun and exciting. The beaches, the weather. And you know, eventually, well, we made a home. We made a home here and raised three kids. And then about 10 years ago, everything started going to hell. And, and it was gradual. You know, it's. First you don't. You shrug it off saying, well, all right, they'll take care of it. It's a bad policy, bad idea. Let me start with the homelessness, because the homelessness has infected and overrun the city of Los Angeles, the city of Santa Monica, which used to be a jewel. San Francisco, of course, Sacramento. And it's a policy from the top on down, where most of the homeless are not people, quote down on their luck, who Lost their job a couple of weeks ago and can't make a rent payment. Most of them are drug addicts, just crazed drug addicts. The rest of them are mental patients. It's as if they opened a mental institution and let everybody run free. Now the drug addiction can make you mentally ill. The mentally ill people, you know, turn to drugs so it mixes together. I saw a UCLA study where three quarters of the homeless they estimated were mentally ill and three quarters were drug addicts. Well, that's 150% of the homeless. So it's, it, that's what's going on. And you can't fix most of them, at least not by, I don't know, opening up a retail store, clinic on the street. All these people need intensive treatment. They need to be in beds, they need to be locked up, they need long term therapy, they need to be on medications. And instead, the official policy of Gavin Newsom is housing first. And it's the same thing with Karen Bass, the mayor of Los Angeles. Housing first. Which means nothing is done for their addictions, nothing is done for their mental illness. They have thrown billions of dollars to build apartments and all kinds of shelters, except all you're doing is you're taking the crazy person or the drug addicted person and you're putting them inside. And then they wander out during the day to buy their drugs and to act crazy. And let me tell you, these people are terrifying. I, my wife and I have been chased by people with, with, with sticks, running down the street screaming. We have been chased in our car. We have witnessed people just, you'll be walking down the street, just going to the drugstore, the grocery store, and somebody will drop their pants and defecate right in front of you. These are not anomalies. You go to Hollywood, you go to Venice, you go to places that used to be the, the tourism capitals of America. And it's, it's mind boggling what's allowed. And everybody calls and everybody complains. And they have a new policy. No matter who you call, they don't respond. They don't answer the phone, they don't answer the email, they'll, they don't answer the door. They don't care because I don't know, I think so many people have checked out that they know they're all going to get reelected. It is the strangest phenomenon. I noticed things change, starting to change. Like I said about 10 years ago, I also noticed how things changed with, with people responding to issues and taking action. And it was about the time the Smartphone came out. And I actually think people are so absorbed by their smartphones and so absorbed by being on the Internet and scrolling social media and scrolling texting that they have kind of lost connection with their neighborhood and their town and they're just letting things happen. They've given up on, on forcing a Gavin Newsom or Karen Bass to do anything about it. Oh, and by the way, on the housing first, it's extremely expensive. It takes an extremely long time and there's very little housing that's built. Most of the homeless money is stolen. And I'll explain that to you coming up in a few minutes. It is it and there's, there's, there's one party rule. We've had a Democratic governor now ever since Arnold Schwarzenegger. So it's about 15, 16 years. We've got super majorities in the assembly, super majorities in the state legislature. We have city council that's entirely Democratic. We've got a mayor that's entirely Democratic. And that's all we've had as mayor for 25 years in LA. And so they same thing with the Board of Supervisors that runs LA County. It's five to nothing Democratic women. And there is no Republican Party here. There's, there's nothing, there's no resistance. There's a handful of legislators in the Assembly. There's a hand and I it's Republican out here. Republicans out here are completely inept, completely feeble, impotent. There might be one or two guys. And so we're locked down. And during COVID we were literally locked down. We had the worst Covid shutdown rules in the whole country. And so it is what you're seeing in the national news and Gavin Newsom is behind it all. And I told a friend of mine the other day, old friend who normally votes Democratic, I said, look, I'm not telling you to vote for Republican. I'm just saying you got to find another Democrat. You do not want Gavin Newsom. You do not want him running the country. You've got to live here every day to understand just what a disaster that would be. I will play you when we come back a clip of Gavin Newsom so you could get a little window into his character and see how quickly he will lie. And he will change his lie two or three times in the middle of a conversation. He'll say anything to get out of a conversation, to gain the upper hand, to make a point. And it's actually fascinating. It has to do with the famous Palisades fire. Also later on in the show gonna have Katie grimes on california globe.com. katie has this, this, this website and it's filled the breach because you may have wondered as I was telling you about the decay of California. Well, where's the media covering this? Well, on a local basis, they don't scattered stories here and there if something egregious happens, but they don't cover it. They run protection for everybody in the legislature for Newsom, for Karen Bass by simply not covering it. It's fascinating. It's not that they're biased with all their coverage. There is no coverage. It just doesn't exist. And so a lot of people don't know the depth of what's going on and how, how, how, how much money has been stolen. You, you think Tim Watts in Minnesota is a story and we're going to get to that later as well. Gavin Newsom absolutely dwarfs him. So we'll, we'll talk about all that coming up. Again, I wanted to thank Clay and Buck for letting me fill in today. I'm John Cobell from KFI in Los Angeles on the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton show.

[Buck Sexton]

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[John Cobalt]

This is where mindset comes in.

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Someone will be eliminated.

[John Cobalt]

Pressure is coming down.

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Trainer Games on Prime Video January 8th. Watch the trailer on trainergames.com Season 2.

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[Public Investing Sponsor]

Show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On public you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year. You can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like EFTs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member finra SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors LLC SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not investment recommendation or advice. Complete Disclosures available at public.comDisclosures welcome back.

[John Cobalt]

To the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. I'm John Cobalt from Campy in Los Angeles filling in today and to take you through the next few Hours. And since I'm here in Los Angeles and have been out here for. For over 30 years, I thought I'd try to help you understand the Gavin Newsom phenomenon, since in many polls, most polls, he's the leading Democratic candidate to be president. And you see him, and he's always dressed in a beautiful shiny suit, and he's got great hair, and he's got a strong chin and can seem very affable. But the state is a disaster here. And I just. If you haven't researched much about him or really delved into him, I'm trying to give you the first warning. Don't go near this one. No matter what party you are. No Democrat, Republican, Independent, whatever. Do not put this guy in charge of the country. And I want to show you his character here. This is a clip from the. From the Palisades fire. I think everybody knows about that. And there was a woman, and let me get her name here. It's Rachel Darvish. She's driving around looking at the devastation in her old neighborhood where her old house used to be. And just. And she was with a. A Sky News reporter. Like, Rachel is giving the Sky News reporter a tour of the neighborhood. And just by chance, they happened on the block where Gavin Newsom was, you know, with some of his staff members, and Newsom was literally walking across the street. And Rachel Darvish jumped out of the car and ran up to Newsom, and Newsom was really startled. Rachel wanted to know what he was going to do about the fire and making sure it doesn't happen again because Rachel's daughter's school had burned to the ground. And listen to the excuse that Newsom gives as to why he can't talk to her right now and then listen how he changes his story. Like, cut one.

[Rachel Darvish]

Governor, you got a second? Governor. Governor, I live here. Governor, that was my daughter's school. Governor, please tell me what you're going to do. I'm not going to hurt him. I promise.

[Gavin Newsom Staff/Representative]

Literally talking to the president right now to specifically answer the question of what we can do for you and your daughter.

[Rachel Darvish]

Can I hear it? Can I hear your call? Because I don't believe it.

[Gavin Newsom Staff/Representative]

I'm sorry. There's.

[John Cobalt]

Literally.

[Gavin Newsom Staff/Representative]

I've tried five times. That's why I'm walking around to make.

[Rachel Darvish]

Why is the president not taking your call?

[Gavin Newsom Staff/Representative]

Because it's not going through. Why have to get cell service?

[John Cobalt]

Let's get it.

[Rachel Darvish]

Let's get it. I want to be here when you call the president.

[Gavin Newsom Staff/Representative]

I appreciate it. I'm doing that. Right now and to immediately get reimbursements, individual assistance, and to help you. I'm devastated for you. I'm so sorry. Especially for your daughter. I have four kids losing everyone who.

[Rachel Darvish]

Went to school there, they lost their homes. They lost two homes because they were living in one building, another. Governor, please tell me, tell me, what are you going to do with the president right now?

[Gavin Newsom Staff/Representative]

We're getting the resources to help rebuild.

[Rachel Darvish]

Why was there no guy water in the hydrants?

[Gavin Newsom Staff/Representative]

It's all literally.

[Rachel Darvish]

Is it going to be different next time?

[Gavin Newsom Staff/Representative]

It has to be.

[Public Investing Sponsor]

Has to be.

[John Cobalt]

Of course.

[Rachel Darvish]

What are you gonna do? The hydrants, I would fill them up personally.

[Podcast Announcer]

You know that.

[Gavin Newsom Staff/Representative]

I literally.

[Rachel Darvish]

I would fill up the hydrants myself. But would you do that?

[Gavin Newsom Staff/Representative]

I would do whatever I can.

[Rachel Darvish]

But you're not. I see the. Do you know there's water dripping over there? Governor, there's water coming out there. You can use it.

[Gavin Newsom Staff/Representative]

I appreciate it. I'm gonna make the call to address everything I can right now, including making.

[Rachel Darvish]

Sure people make sure. Can I have an opportunity to at least tell people you're doing what you're saying you're doing? Could somebody have a contact. Can I have your contact information right now?

[John Cobalt]

Now, when she first ran up to him, he said, I'm literally talking to Joe Biden right now. Well, he wasn't literally talking to him. He made that up. And then he said, well, I've been trying to call five times. And then it's like, well, I. I can't get a cell signal here. So when we come back, we'll talk more about. He's a shape shifter. And you heard a great example of that there. This is John Cobalt filling in on the play Travis and Buck Sexton Show. Welcome back. Hi there to the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. I'm John Cobalt, your guest host for the day from KFI in Los Angeles. Have a daily radio show in the afternoon, and we've been talking about Gavin Newsome, Governor of California, because I've lived out here for over 30 years, and I explained earlier on that I came here having seen California through a television screen, thinking it was paradise. And I got here and it actually was. And then over the last 10 years, everything has just gone to hell. The place has rotted out. It's not an exaggeration what you hear. It's. It's. It's. It's accurate. It's. It's. If anything, it's underplayed. And at the. At the top of the food chain is Gavin Newsom. The governor. And he's been governor for a long time now. He can't weasel out and say it was somebody else's problem. He's been the governor for seven years. Next year is his last. Eight years before that he was Lieutenant Governor. Eight years before that he was the mayor of San Francisco. And his character is non existent. And I played a clip in the last segment to demonstrate it. And I'm going to go over like step by step here. This woman, Rachel Dervish, runs up to him. She's a distraught, very upset mother in the Palisades. This is right in the midst of fire week. Her, her home is burned down, her kid, her daughter's school is burned down. And, and there's this reporter from Sky News in London following her around as she goes through the neighborhood. They're driving in a car by coincidence, Gavin Newsom is on the block crossing the street. She jumps out. Sky News follows her and gets this conversation that we played and she says, governor, can you do something? And his first line, I'm literally talking to Joe Biden right now. And he used the word literally. And she immediately picked up that he was lying and said, well, let me talk to him. Oh, he wasn't literally talking to anybody. He was holding a disconnected phone. There was no Joe Biden on the other end. By the way, what are the odds that if he actually got through to Joe Biden, Biden would have been awake to answer it. So he's not talking to Biden and then he changed the story. Well, I've tried to call five times. Five times. Oh, I thought you were literally talking and then. Well, I'm trying to get cell service. So you're not, you didn't, you weren't literally talking to him. He isn't on the phone. You didn't try to call five times because you don't have cell service. You can just look at the phone. You're not going to keep dialing and dialing if you've got the no cell service icon at the top of the phone. In fact, you'd be getting in a car and driving downhill where there is cell service. He was just making it up on the fly. This is what he does. I'll give you another example. Also connected to the fire at various times. When he spoke of the fire, he lied and said it was climate change. Well then we discovered it was an arsonist that set the original fire. Oh, well then he lied and said he had pre deployed fire trucks, 110 of them throughout the mountain range across Los Angeles. He didn't deploy any. That would be zero. He gives specific numbers. Like I talked, I called five times, Joe Biden. I put out 110 fire trucks. There were zero fire trucks. It wasn't climate change, it was a crazy arsonist. None of the fires start out here in California because of climate change. Zero. They start primarily because, because of lightning, arson, or this is a big category that has sparked the worst fires. Power lines fall down, electrical equipment starts sparking because the major power companies out here, PGE and Southern California Edison don't maintain their wires, their, their poles, their transformers. Some of this stuff is a hundred years old. So it falls apart, it falls over in the wind and it starts huge blazes. It's always electric companies. And if it's not that, it's arsonists. And if it's not that, it's lightning strikes dry lightning in the summer out here. It's like a desert phenomenon. Dry air comes in from the desert and sparks the lightning. That's what starts vast majority of the fires. But, and there was a third light, okay, he said it was climate change. Then he said it, he pre deployed fire trucks and then he said, well, he really had nothing to do with it because it wasn't on state land. Well, weeks later we found out it did start on state land. It started on state land on the night of January 1st. This was called the Lockman fire. This is a week before the big Palisades fire. And the LA Fire Department showed up and put it out on New Year's Day morning. And then within hours, Newsom's Parks department set down representatives to stop the fire department from mopping up. When a fire department mops up, they have to tamp down all the hot spots. There were hot rocks, there were hot tree stumps, there was smoldering smoke coming out of the ground. You know, the root system is still very hot. And these employees from the state Parks Department, and there's video and photos of this, basically chased the LA Fire Department off the state land. And you're probably saying now why would they do that? They did it because they didn't want the firefighters stomping on the milk vetch plant. The milk vetch plant, Seriously, There's a Latin name for it, the astrologous plant. And there are now text messages, memos where the fire, the Parks employees are telling the LA Fire Department basically get off the land. The fire department wanted to bring in a bulldozer to cut a fire break. And they wanted to put out all the smoldering. They Said, no, you can't do that. You will tear up the milk veg plant. It's an endangered plant. Why am I explaining all this? Because six days later, in that exact spot, the winds started blowing on January 7, whipped up the smoldering fire and turned it into the big one, turned it into the huge blaze that we all watched or experienced for a week. And it was because his state employees were following state policy not to destroy the milk veg plant. And they actually kicked out the Los Angeles Fire Department. And then he went around saying, well, the state had nothing to do with it. The state was the cause of the huge Palisades fire. His policies under his administration. And the new tactic now, as all these bombshells come out, is everybody runs in highs. Nobody even bothers to deny things anymore. Nobody contests the story anymore. They just shut down. And the media out here in California at least, and the national media, too, is so compliant because he's. He's the great hope they don't question anything. Again, very similar to the Tim Walsh situation. They knew that story was going on with the fraud. For seven years, there were employees reporting it. There were occasionally scattered news stories, but nobody followed up. And so for seven years, all the money could be looted in Minnesota under Tim Waltz's nose. Here is the same thing. There's tremendously damaging information, and it's coming from a civil lawsuit filed by thousands of Pacific Palisades residents. And their attorneys are now subpoenaing records, getting testimony, and now we're finding out what the real story is. The palisades burned down. 6,000 plus homes burned for the sake of the milk vetch plant. Because the first fire was you could put out easily. And this is what's astonishing about what's going on and how badly it's covered in the news media. And believe me, a lot of people, when they see Gavin Newsom primping and preening around, they get physically ill. It's like, who are you kidding? And this is just story I told you was just about that disaster in the Palisades. Oh, by the way, just as a personal thing, I live about three miles from the fire. And that week we had no power, we had no water, and I wanted to go to a hotel with my wife. And we have a bunch of pets. But my wife wanted to stay because she knew the looters would come and steal all our stuff. And at first I thought that was an overreaction. It turned out she was right. Seven homes in our neighborhood got looted because it was completely dark. There was no electricity whatsoever. And we had baseball bats all over the house. And my wife is walking around, pacing around the baseball bat, and so was I, in case a bad guy got in and seven homes were looted. We put up a lot of flashlights all over the place to make it look like we were home. And we had to hire a guy. We had to hire an ex Marine who stood in front of the house with a loaded gun. He showed us his loaded pistol and he said, I see him, I shoot him, I kill him. That's what we resorted to. We had to hire somebody's electrician in the neighborhood who used to be Marine and he had a gun. And I remember after I left the guy in front of the house to go to the hardware store to get flashlights, I thought, wow, total breakdown of government. There's no fire, there's no police, there's no electricity, there's no water, there's no nothing. It was, it was a total breakdown of civilization. And I felt like I'd never felt in my life, right? I mean, we all grow up. It's like, well, somebody's going to take care of us, right? The police will show up, the fire department will show up, the government will take care of things. You know, the mommy and daddy, they'll come. No, there was nothing. It was every man for himself. You had to find a guy who owned a gun and hire him to stand in front of your house. And my son said, well, what if he shoots and kills somebody? It's like, I don't want to know. I don't want to be shot and killed. That's up to him to make his, make his own judgment. And this is, this is what we were reduced to. And that sounds like a once in a lifetime, outrageous story, but there's many versions of this going on every day throughout the state and la. Just a complete collapse in ordinary government. Tell you more about this when we come back in the next hour. We're going to have Katie Grimes on from California Globe and she's got a long term kind of global perception of what Gavin Newsom's been to the state because she covers him every day. And you're listening. I'm John Cobalt from KFI Radio in la. And you're listening to the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton show.

[Buck Sexton]

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[John Cobalt]

This is where mindset comes in.

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[John Cobalt]

Pressure is coming down.

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Max support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On public, you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like EFTs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA SIP Advisory Services by Public Advisors llc. SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not investment recommendation or advice. Complete Disclosures available at public.comdisclosures the fire.

[John Cobalt]

Story, the Palisades fire story and just the incessant incompetence. And on top of the on top of the lying that Gavin Newsom does as governor of the state, there's just the practical day to day living. And I just off the top of my head during a commercial break wrote down, I'm not going to read them all here, but I wrote down like a dozen categories where California is the worst or the highest or the most and all the categories are bad categories. And that's just off the top of my head. I'll give you one example which we talk about all the time. We have the highest gas taxes in the state by far. The AAA has a state by state fuel price. It's a ranking and it tells you the cheapest all the way to the most expensive. You know how much California gas goes for average is 429 a gallon. Many places it's $5 a gallon. In other states I'm looking here In Oklahoma it's 223. The average. Colorado is 238. Texas is 240. And you might say, well you know that's a left wing Democratic state. What do you expect? Except it's way more than the other left wing Democratic states. That's the thing. We stand by ourselves. I mean we're at 429. New York's only 304. Where's Massachusetts go? Massachusetts is 296. Massachusetts in the, is in the twos. New Jersey, I used to live there. That's a very high tax state. That's 284. So this is, I'm talking the daily grind of just trying to exist here. And this absolutely crushes the lower and middle class in this state. So it's, it's not just is lying, it's just like, why would you do this? And you know what all the taxes are for? It's the climate change obsession, which is a another big racket. There's several big rackets in this state, again along the lines of the Somalian racket in in Minnesota, it's billions and billions of dollars. And later on I'll tell you about all the different rackets that go on here. And we're going to talk to Katie grimes next from CaliforniaGlobe.com and she'll give you her assessment of Gavin Newsom as a a national political figure and a possible president. I'm really happy to be here. John Cobelt from KFI in Los Angeles here on the Play Travis and Buck Sexton Show.

[Commercial Announcer]

Did you know Microsoft has officially ended Support for Windows 10? Upgrade to Windows 11 with an LG Gram laptop voted PCMag's Reader's Choice top laptop brand for 2024. 5. Thin and ultra lightweight, the LG Gram keeps you productive anywhere and Windows 11 gives you access to free security updates and ongoing feature upgrades. Visit LGUSA.com iHeart for great seasonal savings on LG Gram laptops with Windows 11. PCMag reader's choice used with permission. All rights reserved.

[Trainer Games Promoter]

Ten athletes will face the toughest job interview in fitness that will push past physical and mental breaking points. You are the fittest of the fit. Only one of you will leave here with an IFIT contract worth $250,000.

[John Cobalt]

This is where mindset comes in.

[Trainer Games Promoter]

Someone will be eliminated.

[John Cobalt]

Pressure is coming down.

[Trainer Games Promoter (Alternate)]

Trainer Games on Prime Video January 8th. Watch the trailer on trainergames.com Season 2.

[Podcast Announcer]

Of Unrivaled Basketball is here and the talent is unreal. Paige Beckers, Nafiza Collier, Kelsey Plumb, Brianna Stewart and more are back to redefine the game. Unrivaled basketball Season 2, sponsored by Samsung Galaxy, tips off January 5 on TNT, TruTV and HBO.

[Public Investing Sponsor]

Max support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On public, you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index. With AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year. You can literally, literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks generated assets are like EFTs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA SIP Advisory Services by Public Advisors, llc. SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures [e-mail] Disclosures A new year.

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