0:00

You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand, KFI.

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AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. This

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is Michael Monks Reports on Michael Monks from KFI News.

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We've got another hour together on this Saturday night here

0:14

in southern California. Hope you stayed dry today during all

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that rain. It seemed to be at least a little.

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More than what we expected bad.

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It got bad enough at the coast that Pacific Coast

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Highway had to be closed in both directions between Tepenga

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Canyon Boulevard and Carbon Beach Terrace because of debris blocking

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the road. It's just another reminder of how much work

0:35

is still ahead of us after the wildfires in January.

0:38

US Senator Adam Schiff says he knows the road ahead

0:41

is tough. He's got some legislation in Washington to help

0:44

incentivize rebuilding with more fire resistant materials. He was back

0:49

home in Burbank this week. You might have seen him

0:51

on Real Time with Bill Maher last night, but he's

0:54

also visited us right here at the KFI studios in Burbank.

0:57

Senator Shift, thanks for coming out to KFI right to

1:00

be with you. You know, I was looking at this new Fox poll that came out, and regardless of what

1:04

you think about Fox News, their polling is pretty well respected,

1:07

and it doesn't look good for President Trump. Frankly, forty

1:10

four percent overall approval rating underwater. On foreign policy, only

1:14

forty percent approof, fifty four percent disapproved, economy thirty eight

1:17

percent approved, fifty six disapproved taxes, way underwater, tariffs, way underwater, inflation,

1:24

way underwater. But border security that's his highest mark, fifty

1:28

five percent approval rating immigration right about even. So I'm

1:33

wondering why this issue of this man Kilmar Abrigo Garcia

1:38

seems to be so prominent in democratic politics and messaging

1:43

right now.

1:44

Well, I think what people need to understand about Abrigo

1:47

Garcia in that case is they grabbed this guy, they

1:51

put on a plane to this maximum security prison El Salvador.

1:54

He never gets a hearing, he never gets to say, hey,

1:57

there's actually a court order prohibiting my removal. And if

2:01

the administration can do that, if it can ignore court orders,

2:04

if it can grab someone, call them a gang member

2:06

and send them to prison outside the country, it can

2:09

do that with anyone. So I think that's why this

2:12

case has gotten so much attention, and it deserves that attention.

2:16

But we still have to also focus on what is

2:19

kind of central to most working families, which is they're

2:22

working harder than ever, they're trying to get by. The

2:24

President promised to reduce prices and he hasn't. His tariffs

2:28

are wrecking the economy. They're driving up the cost of

2:32

inflation and everything else. It's why you see in those

2:35

polling numbers that there's such discontent with the president. There

2:38

is a guy who ran on lowering egg prices and

2:40

they're through the roof.

2:42

So we have to be able to do both.

2:43

Though.

2:43

We have to be able to warn the American people, Hey,

2:46

if this administration gets its way, it's going to be

2:48

able to just ignore the courts, tell the Supreme Court

2:52

to go pound sand grab anyone they want, and lock

2:55

them up. That's not a democracy. But at the same time,

3:00

we have to continue to speak to the issue that

3:03

really people decided the last election on, and that was

3:05

they were unhappy with the cost of living. Trump was

3:09

promising to do something about it. The Democratic Party came

3:12

to be perceived as the party of the status quo,

3:14

which is death politically. But now Donald Trump is responsible

3:19

for the wrecking of the economy and for prices continuing

3:23

to go up, and we can't lose sight of that either.

3:25

I think that one of the key issues in the last presidential election was also immigration. Certainly the economy, as

3:31

you point out, but also immigration, and again his actions

3:34

on that, regardless of what you think of the legality

3:37

of them, they've gotten a majority approval from the American people.

3:40

How are you seeing this message work politically, because obviously

3:45

Democrats have to position themselves as an alternative to what's

3:49

in the White House right now. And so I guess,

3:51

just to reframe my question from before, the issue that

3:54

seems to be seized right now by Democrats like yourself

3:56

and others who are going to El Salvador, is this

4:00

individual prisoner. Do you see that resonating with the American

4:03

people as much as their concerns about the overall economy.

4:06

Well, I think the top concern for people is the economy,

4:10

and we have to make the case not just that

4:13

Donald Trump is doing a terrible job. The pulling shows

4:16

that the American people get that, but we also have

4:19

to make the case of how we would do things differently,

4:22

how we would help working families, how we would answer

4:25

the question, if you're working hard in America, can you still earn a good living for yourself and your family?

4:29

So that needs to be a central preoccupation of the

4:33

Democratic Party. But I think the case that we're talking

4:37

about is really not a border security case. The reason

4:41

why this is in the news as much as it is,

4:43

and why Democrats care about it and a lot of

4:45

Republicans care about it too, is it goes to lawlessness.

4:48

It goes to the president's sort of dictatorial ambitions, and

4:54

that's quite separate from whether we maintain a strong border. Look,

4:57

I think we made a mistake. Democrats made a mistake

5:00

in not laying out our plans for a safe and

5:02

secure border. When you're not talking about an issue, sometimes

5:06

people think, well, they don't care about that issue, or

5:08

they don't have an answer to that issue. We should

5:10

have been talking about that issue. I still think the

5:13

dominant issue far and away is the economy has been

5:16

the economy will be the economy. Whether you were a

5:19

government that was left right or center. Around the world,

5:21

you got thrown out in the last election, if you

5:24

became associated with the status quo. But I think that

5:27

there are other important issues going on too at the

5:30

same time, which you can't ignore. I think the environment

5:34

is a big issue people care about. I think social

5:38

security is a big issue people care about. And Elon

5:42

Musk shutting down so security offices. We need to be

5:45

talking about that too. We need to be fighting for

5:48

seniors who are reliant on that for their retirement security.

5:51

So we need to be able to focus on a number of challenges. But I think at the end of

5:56

the day, what is going to make or break both

5:59

parties is how they answered the economic questions.

6:02

Senator Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has had a strange start

6:06

to his tenure in office as a cabinet official, and

6:10

I think you're calling for an investigation of some sort

6:13

into his use of the Signal app in the way

6:15

that some people who shouldn't have had access to some

6:18

pretty important information had access to that information. Share with

6:22

us what you're looking for there well, as.

6:25

I think we all suspected when the first Signal Chat

6:28

came to light, that is the Defense Secretary talking with

6:32

more than a dozen other high ranking government officials using

6:36

a commercial app, something that is a complete no no,

6:40

from a national security point of view, could really jeopardize

6:44

the life of those pilots that were doing those bombing runs.

6:47

They included, of course, a reporter, an editor of Atlantic

6:50

and that chat group. But what we surmised at the

6:53

time was because of the cavalier use of this commercial

6:56

app and people using it on their personal phones as

6:59

well as their government phones, this couldn't have been the

7:02

first time. There was just too much comfort level. Nobody

7:05

even raised this. The head of the Intelligence Comunity, Telsea Gabbard,

7:08

never made a peep, Hey, we shouldn't be talking about

7:10

military strike plans on a commercial app. The director of

7:14

the CIA, Ratcliffe, never mentioned to peep, So we certainly

7:18

assumed this wasn't the first time. Now we have confirmation, no,

7:21

this wasn't the first time. In fact, Hegseth was talking

7:23

about these same plans with his brother and his wife

7:28

and his lawyer's personal lawyer. And so the scandal grows

7:34

that denials are proven more false every day, and there's

7:38

just general chaos at the top of the Pentagon, not just because of this, but because Hegseth doesn't know what

7:43

he's doing. And this is what happens when you pluck

7:47

someone off of Fox News. That's how Donald Trump finds

7:51

people for high positions who might be good sitting in

7:54

front of a camera, but is a terrible manager of people.

7:58

Never should have been given that response, and as a result,

8:02

the country is less safe. I mean, this is this

8:04

is the Pentagon. It's not something you want to mess

8:08

around with. It can be life or death, and Heke

8:12

Xeth is proving every day he's just not up to

8:15

the job.

8:16

We'll continue with Senator Shift next. Sanctuary cities like La

8:20

got a win in federal court. We'll get his reaction

8:23

to that. California's economy now ranks fourth in the world,

8:27

So what will it take for more of us to

8:30

I don't know, feel it and his push at the

8:32

federal level to help Hollywood stay competitive.

8:35

You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.

8:40

KFI AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.

8:44

This is Michael Monks reports on Michael Monks from KFI News.

8:47

Senator Adam Schiff, the Democrat from right here in California,

8:50

has returned home for some work in conversations. He was

8:53

on Real Time with Bill Maher last night. He also

8:55

stopped by the KFI studios right here in Burbank, and

8:59

we continue with the Senator. Now, sanctuary cities like Los

9:02

Angeles got a win in federal court, but we also

9:05

know the President has turned on the judiciary in a

9:07

pretty harsh way. Do you expect that his threat withhold

9:12

funding from sanctuary cities like LA is something that is

9:15

going to be settled now through the courts or is

9:18

this still a looming threat for cities like LA.

9:22

I think it's still alluming threat, both because the litigation

9:25

will continue in other ways that look for other ways

9:28

to try to punish not just sanctuary cities, but really

9:31

punish states that didn't vote for the president. You know,

9:35

his orientation during his first administration was to punish the

9:38

blue states. So for example, his tax proposal capped state

9:43

local taxes, sault taxes that really hurt California and hurt

9:46

New York and hurt other blue states. It hurt Democrats

9:49

in those states, it hurt Republicans in those states. And

9:52

I think we're seeing something very similar. He's going after

9:56

national monuments in California, He's going after other universities in

10:01

California and elsewhere too. But predominantly in the Blue states,

10:05

So this is all political retribution, and again getting back

10:09

to why people voted for him, it was to reduce

10:12

the cost of living, not to take punitive action, not

10:15

to engage in the sort of pettiness visa the sanctuary cities.

10:19

They'll probably try to ignore the Court of venues they

10:22

don't like, and we'll have to appeal and try to

10:25

enforce the court orders. But I think it's part of

10:28

a broader retribution campaign against his perceived political enemies.

10:33

The economy situation is strange because it's so uncertain right now.

10:37

We don't know which direction things are headed. It can

10:39

change day to day, even from the White House, on

10:41

what the message is or what the strategy is, if

10:43

there is one. But we did get news this week

10:46

that California's economy has grown so large it is now

10:49

the fourth largest in the world.

10:51

It's past Japan.

10:53

It often feels like we don't see physically what that

10:57

means in California because of the widespread homelessness, the decay

11:01

of the urban centers. I'm wondering as a senator, does

11:07

that concern you and what is your plan to work

11:11

towards improving the overall image of California in spite of

11:15

its economic prowess.

11:17

Well, first of all, I think this report that we

11:19

have now become the fourth largest economy, so after the

11:23

United States, China, and Germany. If we were our own nation,

11:26

we'd be number four. We just overtook Japan. That's pretty amazing,

11:30

and it really goes to the talent of the people

11:33

of California and their industry, their entrepreneurship. They're a hard

11:37

working character. So for all of the bad mouthing of

11:40

the state of California, we are an economic behemoth and

11:42

that continues. At the same time, we have a major

11:47

housing and homelessness problem, and it gets back to the

11:49

same root cause, and that is that we're not building

11:52

housing fast enough in California, and we haven't been for years,

11:55

and as a result, a lot of young people can't

11:58

afford a house, a lot of not so young people can't afford to house. People's rents are going up beyond

12:03

their capacity to pay, and ultimately people are ending up

12:06

on the street. And you can have the best programs

12:09

in the world and it's been a fortune on them to move people off the street and into housing. But

12:14

if you're not building new housing and bringing down the

12:16

cost of housing. There's simply going to be new people

12:19

taking their place on the street. So what I'm doing

12:22

is everything possible to accelerate the construction of new housing

12:25

in California bring those costs down. So I'm working on

12:28

supporting a low income housing tax credit expansion that will

12:32

help put pencil for developers to build more housing. I

12:35

want to work on legislation to incentivize local government to

12:39

get to yes faster on housing. I've worked on legislation

12:44

to try to expand the use of federal lands and

12:47

facilities for housing. Have a whole package will be introducing

12:51

of housing related measures within the next month. But at

12:54

the end of the day, what it all comes down to is creating both the incentives and a sense of

13:00

urgency about housing the number one problem in the state

13:03

of California. So that's my priority. My first bill was

13:08

on housing. I introduced a bi parisan bill to provide

13:11

a tax credit for people to harden their homes against fire.

13:16

But I also think in that respect, what we're trying

13:19

to do in the Palisades and an Altadena with these

13:23

two horrible fires, is demonstrate that in a democratic city

13:28

in a democratic state, we can still get things done

13:31

quickly and with a sense of urgency. And I'm very

13:34

glad to see that the cleanup is moving very rapidly,

13:39

much faster than people expected. We need to make sure

13:42

that when that's done, that the rebuilding also takes place

13:45

much faster than expected. I think this is a test case,

13:48

and we then will better pass the test.

13:50

I know you got to go, but before you do,

13:53

there's been some comparisons of LA to Detroit for the

13:58

possibility of losing its signature in an industry the way

14:00

Detroit lost a lot of auto manufacturing. LA's facing serious

14:05

hardships with its Hollywood industry. And I think I saw

14:08

somewhere before that you once had aspirations of maybe being

14:11

a screenwriter or working in the industry. Although your career

14:14

has taken a different direction, it must hold some sort

14:18

of place in your heart, not just as a Californian,

14:20

but as an individual.

14:22

Are you concerned about the state of Hollywood.

14:24

I am very concerned about it, and have been for years because we have seen for years now production leaving California,

14:31

leaving it to go to other states, leaving it to

14:33

go to Canada, to Britain to Australia, to New Zealand,

14:37

and a lot of these other places are offering very

14:40

strong tax incentives to woo the industry away, and it's

14:44

working and if we don't respond, then we're going to

14:48

continue to lose this industry. Now, California has strengthened film

14:53

tax credits, and we need to do more along those

14:56

lines to keep production within this state. But we also

15:00

are at a competitive disadvantage to other countries, and we're

15:04

losing a lot of the motion picture as opposed to TV,

15:07

losing a lot of motion picture industry to Britain in particular.

15:12

And in order toddress that, we need a federal tax

15:16

credit as well, and that's legislation that I'm currently working

15:20

on so that we can retain this amazing industry, which

15:23

I love. I'm an avid moviegoer. I still like doing

15:27

it the old fashioned way and going to the theater and being surrounded by other people and having that experience.

15:34

And yes, early in my career, I was an attorney

15:37

in la and it's kind of a rule of the

15:39

bar that if you're a lawyer, you have to write screenplays.

15:43

If you're a lawyer or a waiter, you have to

15:45

write screenplays.

15:46

Well, you might have some new stories to write after your experience in Washington at some point. So we appreciate

15:51

you coming back home to Burbank and popping in KFI

15:53

and chatting.

15:54

With a senator.

15:55

Thank you. Great to be with you.

15:56

The senator mentioned he's going to bat for Hollywood and

16:00

really movie making across America as it faces more competition

16:03

from around the world. But local officials and state officials

16:06

are also pushing legislation to help save the film industry.

16:10

Some folks have warned LA could be like Detroit, a

16:14

major city losing its signature industry. Detroit lost a lot

16:18

of the auto world. Could LA lose Hollywood for good?

16:23

Or Heather Brooker is with us next to give us an update on some state bills that made progress this week.

16:29

You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.

16:33

I AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.

16:36

I'm Michael Monks. This is Michael Monks Reports. Will be

16:39

with you till nine o'clock tonight. You just heard from

16:41

Senator Adam Schiff. He says he's looking at pursuing some

16:46

sort of federal legislation that would aid movie making in

16:51

this country, specifically in California's We face increase competition all

16:55

around the world, but man, California is feeling it everywhere.

16:58

Competition from other dates, competition from other countries, I don't know,

17:02

competition from other planets. At this point, the city is

17:05

trying to do something, the state is trying to do something,

17:08

and now possibly Washington as well.

17:10

As folks say.

17:12

They don't want La to be the next Detroit and

17:15

the way that city lost its signature industry autos, could

17:19

La possibly lose its signature industry. Hollywood kfis, Heather Brooker

17:25

is with us.

17:25

Now.

17:26

There are steps steps in Sacramento being taken and some

17:31

progress made.

17:32

Yeah, so these two bills as to be six. There's

17:36

two different bills.

17:37

There's two different bills. They're sister bills, are like companion bills.

17:40

These two bills just passed a major hurdle this week,

17:42

one of them being they went through these both of

17:45

them went through these committees, one in the Assembly, one

17:48

in the Senate. They were basically committees that said, this

17:51

is an initial review, we want to take a look

17:53

see if we want to support this, and then they

17:55

pushed it forward. One of the main reasons why you

17:59

know a lot of people think it I pushed forward is because more than one hundred thousand supporters sent letters

18:05

to lawmakers saying we want this film and tax credit

18:09

to go forward.

18:10

So that's what the bills related to. It's it's expand

18:12

and we've heard Governor Newsom come out and say we need to double our tax incentives are basically tax credits

18:17

that people producers can get for making their film here.

18:20

And that's what the other states are doing.

18:22

I mean states that you wouldn't think are our movie

18:24

making meccas have become such because they are basically giving

18:28

handouts to these producers to come in and make their

18:31

films there because it's cheaper.

18:33

To do so that's absolutely right. So right now, though

18:35

California has not updated its film and tax credits film

18:39

and TV tax credit since two thousand and nine, we

18:43

are way behind every other state that's giving out these

18:46

massive tax credits. Right now, we have three hundred and

18:49

thirty million dollars, which seems like a lot, but when

18:52

you compare other states that have four hundred, five hundred,

18:55

six hundred thousand, and Georgia, which has no cap whatsoever,

18:59

on the amount that people can get back with that

19:03

tax credit. We are sort of we're not even in

19:07

play anymore. So this bill, these bills that are being

19:10

pushed forward are away for us to be like, we're

19:12

still here, We're California, this is our industry.

19:15

We're going to push this up.

19:16

They want to push this up to seven hundred and fifty million dollars in tax credits. And the most significant

19:22

thing that they're doing is they're expanding the types of

19:25

productions that can apply for these tax credits. We're talking

19:28

about a series that are right now, the current law

19:33

says only series over forty minutes and length can apply

19:36

for the tax credits.

19:38

No half hour shows, no half hour shows.

19:40

Yeah, this would lower it to twenty minutes, so anything

19:43

over twenty.

19:44

Minutes could apply.

19:46

Animated series, animated films, different types of productions. They're trying

19:51

to The word that's being thrown around is modernize the

19:55

California tax credit program, because right now it's still stuck

19:58

back in twenty nineteen, before we had YouTube series, before

20:02

we had TikTok series, before we had short form verticals.

20:06

So many more projects are leaving California going to other

20:09

places that are offering them money back on their investment.

20:13

And I spoke with Rebecca Ryan.

20:14

She is the executive director, the Western executive director for

20:18

the DGA. She's been leading the charge here. She's also

20:21

with Keep California Rolling. Also there a big part of this,

20:25

you know, effort, and she says that what this is, essentially,

20:29

it's a jobs bill. The goal of these bills is

20:33

to create more jobs in California, good paying film and TV.

20:36

Show I think that's a point that gets debated because

20:40

are certainly highlighted by proponents. Because when we talk about

20:43

tax credits, you know, the average person, I think tax

20:45

credits for Tom Cruise, tax credits for George Clooney, give

20:49

me a breaker, you kidding. It was the same sentiment during the actors strike and a writer's strike, like, oh,

20:54

come on, how much more money these people need. They're working class people who who work in this business. But

21:00

also there are other businesses that only exist because they

21:05

support the Hollywood industries.

21:07

There are a lot of jobs at stake here.

21:10

But by the way, and I forgot to mention this, she's not just kfi's Heather Brooker. She is the star

21:14

of NBC's The Office as well, that's right, right.

21:17

That's right.

21:18

So you've got some experience. You might have missed that,

21:20

but nig you literally missed it. Unfortunately. You got cast

21:24

on the Office two times and walk on rolls with lines. Yes, yes,

21:29

many many moons ago, many years ago. I had two rolls,

21:32

two parts on the Office. My first scene with Steve

21:35

Correll and Amy Ryan got cut. I got cut out

21:39

of it because they notoriously shot more than they could

21:42

actually use on the Office, and my scene, unfortunately, was

21:46

one of the ones that was cut. But they felt so bad about it they brought me back the next

21:49

season for another part is when Jim and Pam had

21:51

their baby, and I was over the moon because I

21:54

got to be on set with like everybody, everybody.

21:57

And then I got so.

22:01

You've been on the Office twice, but you've not been on the Office at all.

22:04

Basically, well, I'm on it now only because the Superfan

22:07

cuts are on Peacock. So if people want to tune

22:10

in and they watch the Peacock version of the Superfan cuts,

22:14

they've put back in a lot of those original scenes

22:17

that were cut for time. You know, if a network was like, we only have twenty minutes because we've sold

22:22

so many ads or whatever. Well, now they've all been

22:24

put back in because on the streamers they've got more

22:27

time to play with.

22:28

I bring this up not to reopen old wounds from

22:31

their acting career for that, but but you're in the business in a way. I mean, you're in the news

22:35

business now here the broadcasting business as well, but you're

22:37

acting adjacent still, and you know, people who are in it,

22:41

give us the lay of the land. What is it

22:43

like out there for somebody in Hollywood? Not the Tom Cruises,

22:47

not the George Coney's the person who's going out to auditions trying to get that walk on roll on a sitcom.

22:52

I'll tell you it's bleak. It is really bleak.

22:55

And you know I say that, I'm in a lot of groups for directors, writers, actors. It's not just the actors,

23:02

you know. And that's a great point. A lot of people just see the celebrities, They see the famous people,

23:07

and they think, why do they need more money? And

23:09

the people make that connection, why does you know this

23:11

person need to seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars. That's

23:14

not how it works. Everybody from craft services to the

23:20

gaffers to your union guys to your wardrobe and hair

23:25

and makeup people, directors and big studio films and independent films.

23:31

Independent films right now are struggling because for so long

23:36

all that was being made was these massive, big budget

23:39

studio films, and the smaller projects couldn't you know, get funding,

23:44

couldn't get enough money back in the tax credit, and

23:46

they were overlooked in the tax credit. And now they're like,

23:50

we don't have work, we don't have jobs. We can't

23:52

find anybody to make our movie. So they're going to

23:55

other states. And they're not just going there to make

23:57

their movie, they're moving there, so they're going where the

24:01

work is. So we're losing people who are good at

24:04

their craft and good at their jobs, not because they

24:07

want to leave the state, but because they have to

24:09

have money to live.

24:10

And you have to have a lot of money to live in California, especially in Los Angeles. It just seems

24:16

like everything that's gone wrong for Hollywood, or everything that

24:18

could go wrong, has gone wrong. From the pandemic and

24:21

then the dual strikes and now this I mean not

24:24

just the disruption by the streaming, but also the business

24:27

as a whole, seeing so much internal competition.

24:30

It's been a lot of hits consecutively over the last

24:32

five years, and Hollywood California, in the state of California,

24:36

needs to do something to stay competitive or they will

24:39

lose one of their most famous and deeply rooted industries.

24:44

Heather Brooker from KFI and TV's The Office, Thanks for

24:48

coming in.

24:49

Thank you.

24:49

Up next, the gay dating and hookup app Grinder has

24:53

a date in court with a Catholic monsignor right here

24:58

in La County. He was pretty high up in the U Conference of Catholic Bishops working under Archbishop Jose Gomez.

25:04

We'll talk about that case. That's next.

25:06

You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.

25:11

Kf I AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.

25:15

This is Michael Monks reports on Michael Monks from KFI News,

25:18

wrapping up another Saturday Night with you. Amber Day in

25:22

Rome has world leaders and Catholic faithful have said goodbye

25:26

to Pope Francis. His funeral highlighted the Pontiff's concerns for

25:30

people and his wish to be remembered as a simple pastor.

25:45

I was so so happy to be there, you know. Yeah,

25:47

and to see so many people, you know, to set

25:50

up Britta our faith. It is really amazing to be

25:53

part of so many people who have come to say

25:56

bye bye to the a Daddy.

25:58

The Poor's his occasion. Absolutely fabulous that I'm here and

26:06

one I can remember forever, neighbor and I have goose bumps.

26:09

We also got to see different world leaders and their

26:12

you know, cars and their motorcade. So it's an interesting

26:15

I've never been to Rome before, so I don't know what the city's like without this going on. So that's

26:21

in a way, it's not the trip we planned, but

26:24

it's a very I don't know, I just we keep

26:26

saying kind of once in a lifetime opportunity.

26:29

He's had an amazing run in the past twelve years, and

26:33

that's a sad day for Catholics everywhere.

26:35

Among the people in Rome to honor Pope Francis at

26:39

his funeral was twenty four year old Noah Leah Agramant.

26:42

She's from California.

26:43

I originally came for the canonization of Cataloutis, which I

26:46

imagine a lot of people did, which is why there's a lot of young people here. But it was still

26:50

an amazing experience. I came with my mom. She's very Catholic.

26:54

I'm very Catholic too, but it's jubileear you know. That

26:57

doesn't happen too often, So it felt really emotional and

26:59

very special to be able.

27:01

To be there.

27:01

ABC's Terry Moran says the funeral was attended by a

27:05

lot of powerful people.

27:07

Leaders came from around the world paying their last respects

27:09

to the pope, including President Donald Trump and First Lady

27:12

Milania Trump, former President Joe Biden and former First Lady

27:16

Jill Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenski, and Prince William Paul. Barrows

27:21

carried Francis's coffin out of Saint Peter's Basilica and into

27:24

the square where the funeral mass was held. His casket

27:27

was placed under the balcony where he first appeared his

27:30

pope twelve years ago. The Gospel laid out on top

27:33

of his coffin, But.

27:34

Despite the presence of presidents and royals at his funeral,

27:38

Pope Francis was taken from Saint Peter's Square and he

27:41

was then greeted by prisoners and migrants at his final

27:45

resting place across the city, the Vatican estimates. Some two

27:48

hundred and fifty thousand people attended the funeral mass, with

27:52

one hundred and fifty thousand more lining the motorcade route.

27:56

And now the work to replace Pope Francis begins. Father

27:59

Gan Sames Martin explains what the College of Cardinals is

28:02

looking for at the upcoming conclave.

28:04

The cardinals pray and make the decision under the guidance

28:07

of the Holy Spirit. What they're looking for is a

28:09

person who's holy, person who's a good evangelizer, who can

28:12

proclaim the Gospel, and someone who's a good administrator too,

28:15

which are hard traits to find in one person.

28:18

What they want is someone who, like Francis, can effectively

28:21

proclaim the Gospel. That's the most important thing. Someone who can,

28:25

you know, talk about the love of Jesus Christ and

28:28

you know Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will

28:30

come again. I mean, I think people tend to focus

28:32

on the issues and forget that. They want a man

28:35

who can proclaim the Gospel, who can embody Jesus as

28:39

much as he can. He is, as we say, the

28:41

vicar of Christ. I mean, the you know, in a sense,

28:43

the substitute for Christ on earth.

28:45

You're in La There was a mass on Monday and

28:47

another yesterday at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels,

28:51

both led by Archbishop who's a Gomez, to remember the Pope.

29:16

He has been powerful and emotional to see so many

29:20

people in Rome coming out to pray and pay respects

29:25

to the Holy Father. And it is moving to be here.

29:30

We told of you as we remember his legacy at

29:34

his many gifts to the church. And I've been reflecting

29:37

this week about how poor Francis will often return to

29:40

these words in his preaching and teaching. For him, God's

29:46

ancient question was alive, see what a God's words to

29:51

burn in our hearts and arouse our conscience. But France

29:55

is additional Chorge that this apostolic and missionary, always going

29:59

for to seek and save the lost, he wanted a

30:04

choice that proclaims with joy the truth of Christ's love

30:07

and salvation in our time. He said, the church must

30:14

returned to the simple message of salvation that the apostles

30:18

called the coigna. And he offered us a beautiful summary

30:23

this message to carry to our neighbors. But Francis said,

30:30

Jesus Christ loves you. He gave his side to save you.

30:46

And another Catholic story from here. In La County Superior

30:49

Court Judge arm Intenzarian has decided this week Monsignor Jeffrey

30:54

Burrill will have to take his dispute against the gay

30:57

dating and hookup app Grinder to arbitration rather than to

31:01

a jury. Grinder attorneys had argued Beryll knew he had

31:06

agreed to arbitration when he signed up to have an

31:08

account on the app. The monsignor swore in a declaration

31:12

he didn't know about the arbitration agreement, but that didn't matter.

31:15

Here's what happened.

31:16

Back in twenty twenty one, Burrill had been using Grinder

31:19

while working as General Secretary of the US Conference of Bishops.

31:23

The president of WISH at the time was LA Archbishop Gomes.

31:27

A Catholic media site called The Pillar reported on Burrill's

31:31

use of Grinder, and he stepped down from his role

31:34

with the Conference of Bishops. The monsignor says he may

31:37

have started using Grinder as early as twenty twelve. He

31:41

claims his Grinder data was purchased by the Catholic Laity

31:45

and Clergy for Renewal That's a conservative Catholic foundation, which

31:49

then gave the data to the pillar. Burrill says Grinder

31:53

violated his privacy in disclosing his data. He says the

31:56

media report derailed his plans to become a bishop, to

32:00

return to work at a parish in Wisconsin, but has

32:02

been dealing with this ongoing court case right here in

32:06

La County, and it has been a pleasure spending another

32:10

Saturday night with you here in La County on Michael

32:13

Monks Reports. I'm Michael Monks from KFI News. You can

32:16

catch me all next week bringing you the news right

32:19

here on KFI. We've got lots more to come on

32:22

LA's financial condition and how it's getting worse. There will

32:25

be plenty more hearings and we're gonna learn where the

32:28

city council members stand on this proposal from Mayor bass.

32:32

I expect to hear a lot more pushback than what

32:35

we've heard last year. And things were bad last year,

32:37

they are worse now. So please stay with us all

32:40

week long for coverage of that. My thanks to our

32:43

producer Matthew Toffler, our board operator Raoul Cortes, and our

32:47

news anchor, of course, Brigitta Dagostino. We'll be back again

32:50

next Saturday night for another edition of Michael Monks Reports.

32:54

I hope you enjoyed the rest of your weekend. Revisionist

32:57

History with Malcolm Gladwell is up next right here on

33:00

kf I AM six forty, k f