# Eric Early EXPOSES the CA Democrats' Secret Post-Primary Playbook

An episode of [The John Phillips Show](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/824357555), 26 Oct 2026, 37 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/a7b0bd27-d748-4fbe-ab3b-a6fa0049bcf6/0076a807-9574-43be-bae7-a8a2014f87a8/c8f13f21-da66-4140-be1f-b4ef01829795/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=48e64230-43b5-49cc-a7e6-a9cf0008ea47

California's crisis deepens as crime rates soar, homelessness spirals out of control, and the economy teeters on the brink of collapse. This episode of the John Phillips Show delves into the state's most pressing issues, from the gubernatorial election to the city of Oakland's proposed $30 minimum wage. Join John Phillips and his guest, Eric Early, as they tackle the tough topics and offer their insights on the state's future. The conversation starts with a discussion on the upcoming gubernatorial election, where John and Eric weigh in on the candidates and their chances. They also touch on the importance of voter turnout and the need for a strong Republican candidate to take on the incumbent. The conversation then shifts to the city of Oakland, where a proposed $30 minimum wage has sparked debate among business owners and residents. John and Eric discuss the potential impact on the local economy and the city's ability to afford such a drastic increase. Eric Early shares his expertise as an attorney and partner at Early Sullivan Wright Geiser & McRae, offering a unique perspective on the state's politics and the candidates vying for office. He also discusses the importance of holding elected officials accountable and the need for transparency in government. Meanwhile, John Phillips shares his thoughts on the state's crisis and the need for bold action to address the issues facing California. Don't miss this episode of the John Phillips Show as John and Eric tackle the tough topics and offer their insights on the state's future. Tune in to hear their discussion on the gubernatorial election, the proposed $30 minimum wage, and the state's most pressing issues. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:01] Speaker 1: Something's not right here. Crime is up all over the state.
[0:05] Speaker 2: The homelessness in the city is out of control.
[0:08] Speaker 1: The economy is sick.
[0:09] Speaker 3: Taxes are high.
[0:11] Speaker 1: Housing is expensive and businesses are leaving.
[0:13] Speaker 3: California needs fixing. And John Phillips is just the man
[0:18] Speaker 3: to lead the charge. It's the Fix California Hour with
[0:22] Speaker 3: John Phillips and Randy Wang.
[0:25] Speaker 1: And we continue at 105 in the afternoon on The
[0:28] Speaker 1: John Phillips Show. Mr. Randy Wings in Culver City.
[0:31] Speaker 4: Johnny, we're broadcasting live on the radio, 790k ABC in
[0:35] Speaker 4: Southern California, 810k SFO in the Bay Area, and we're
[0:39] Speaker 4: broadcasting live on video every single day at johnnydontlike.com.
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[0:51] Speaker 4: in that chat room. Tell us what you really think
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[0:58] Speaker 1: If you want to watch us live, as Randy just mentioned,
[1:00] Speaker 1: go to johnnydontlike.com, and that's where you can also find
[1:03] Speaker 1: the Accountability Podcast, which is us at the Tijuana River.
[1:07] Speaker 2: You can smell it right here.
[1:09] Speaker 4: And if I remember to, later on in the show,
[1:11] Speaker 4: we'll play you one of our favorite listeners, Tony, who's
[1:15] Speaker 4: an expert in AI, made a video of Johnny and
[1:18] Speaker 4: I going for a swim.
[1:20] Speaker 1: Oh, God. It is our pleasure to welcome our next
[1:27] Speaker 1: guest to the program. He is an attorney and partner
[1:31] Speaker 1: at Early Sullivan Wright Geiser & McRae, and you can
[1:35] Speaker 1: get him online at earlysullivan.com and follow him on X
[1:40] Speaker 1: at Eric Early X. Eric Early, welcome.
[1:44] Speaker 5: Great being with you again, John.
[1:46] Speaker 1: Well, thank you for being here. So let's start out
[1:50] Speaker 1: with The tweet that Steve Hilton put out earlier this
[1:53] Speaker 1: week that I agree with wholeheartedly about the L.A. mayor's
[1:57] Speaker 1: race and get your reaction to it. Here is what
[2:00] Speaker 1: Steve Hilton, Republican candidate for governor, had to say on X. Quote,
[2:05] Speaker 1: voting Karen Bass is morally unacceptable. She has been a
[2:09] Speaker 1: complete disaster. There must be accountability. You cannot reward her
[2:14] Speaker 1: with your vote. Yes, Nithya Brahman is a DSA extremist.
[2:18] Speaker 1: but she would be no worse than Bass. Do not
[2:21] Speaker 1: vote for either. Los Angeles, I am your only hope,
[2:24] Speaker 1: end quote. Your reaction?
[2:27] Speaker 5: Well, I had heard that from Steve, and I saw
[2:31] Speaker 5: your response to it, which you're agreeing with it, John,
[2:34] Speaker 5: and I'm going to respectfully disagree with both of you guys.
[2:39] Speaker 5: I agree with everything Hilton said about Bass. She is
[2:42] Speaker 5: a disaster. She's a nightmare. She's terrible. But I think
[2:47] Speaker 5: from what I've seen and heard from this other one,
[2:50] Speaker 5: she's even worse. And I just don't want a DSA
[2:53] Speaker 5: mayor in the city of Los Angeles. And so, yes,
[2:59] Speaker 5: Karen Bass does not deserve any rewards from anybody, frankly.
[3:03] Speaker 5: But between the devil you know and the devil you
[3:08] Speaker 5: don't know, I think we got to go with the
[3:10] Speaker 5: devil you know, and that's Karen Bass. She's completely incompetent.
[3:13] Speaker 5: But this other one with her, Her hatred of policing,
[3:18] Speaker 5: for example, her just frankly, you know, ridiculous positions, these
[3:25] Speaker 5: DSA positions. I think I think, unfortunately, conservatives, Republicans have
[3:31] Speaker 5: to bite the bullet and vote for Karen Bass just
[3:34] Speaker 5: to keep the other one out of office.
[3:37] Speaker 1: Here's where I disagree. I know that the DSA has
[3:40] Speaker 1: endorsed Nithya Raman and Nithya Raman counts herself as a
[3:43] Speaker 1: member of the DSA. But the DSA block on the
[3:47] Speaker 1: council has endorsed Karen Bass. That doesn't come without a cost.
[3:54] Speaker 1: Any aspect of Karen Bass's agenda that she wants to
[3:58] Speaker 1: have passed is going to have to go through that council,
[4:01] Speaker 1: which means she's going to need those votes to get
[4:04] Speaker 1: her agenda through. They have a power over her that
[4:11] Speaker 1: the DSA itself, the party itself, doesn't have over Nithya
[4:15] Speaker 1: Raman parties in California are relatively weak, not just the DSA,
[4:20] Speaker 1: but the Republican party, the democratic party, the candidates are
[4:23] Speaker 1: the ones with the power, the interest groups too. And
[4:26] Speaker 1: the democratic side, the union certainly have a lot of juice,
[4:29] Speaker 1: but there are others given the fact that Karen Bass
[4:33] Speaker 1: is going to need those DSA votes to do anything.
[4:36] Speaker 1: I feel like that's good. They're going to control her.
[4:40] Speaker 5: Well, that's probably the case. You know, John, it's so, uh,
[4:43] Speaker 5: strange having this kind of conversation because to, to even
[4:47] Speaker 5: stick up for Karen Bass makes me want to vomit.
[4:50] Speaker 5: So I, I'm not, I don't want to keep going
[4:53] Speaker 5: down this road.
[4:54] Speaker 1: They're just, they're both terrible.
[4:56] Speaker 6: Uh, you know, we needed Spencer Pratt very badly. Uh,
[5:00] Speaker 6: we know what happened or we think we know what
[5:02] Speaker 6: happened with his votes. They were just, you know, just
[5:05] Speaker 6: stolen or whatever. They came from homeless people who were
[5:09] Speaker 6: getting paid or whatever. But, um, I can't stick up
[5:13] Speaker 6: for Karen Bass. I'm not going to stick up for her.
[5:15] Speaker 6: The other one is just a nightmare. And unfortunately, L.A.
[5:19] Speaker 6: is screwed either way.
[5:21] Speaker 1: Let's talk about the governor's race, because there are similarities
[5:24] Speaker 1: in this race to your race when you ran for
[5:28] Speaker 1: the U.S. Senate here in California. And that is Democratic
[5:32] Speaker 1: consultants are telling Democratic candidates to compete in the primary,
[5:37] Speaker 1: try to get on the general election ballot with some Republicans,
[5:41] Speaker 1: and then just stop campaigning. Just regard the election as
[5:45] Speaker 1: being over, and you can go ahead and stop participating
[5:50] Speaker 1: in candidate forums, do the minimal in terms of debates.
[5:55] Speaker 1: You don't have to do many interviews. You don't have
[5:57] Speaker 1: to travel up and down the state campaigning. Just pretend
[6:00] Speaker 1: like there's no election happening at all. That's what Adam
[6:03] Speaker 1: Schiff did when he made it to the November ballot
[6:06] Speaker 1: in the U.S. Senate race, and that's what Javier Becerra
[6:09] Speaker 1: is doing this time around. And I believe that the
[6:12] Speaker 1: people who suffer most when that goes on are the voters,
[6:16] Speaker 1: because there is no honest conversation about what the future
[6:20] Speaker 1: of the state looks like.
[6:21] Speaker 5: 100 percent agree with that, John. The voters are getting
[6:24] Speaker 5: completely they don't these people don't care about the voters.
[6:28] Speaker 5: And you're right. This is what they do. I mean,
[6:30] Speaker 5: in my Senate race, Schiff thought the the easiest possible
[6:35] Speaker 5: candidate he could go against was Steve Garvey. who was
[6:38] Speaker 5: an opponent of mine. So Schiff in the primary put
[6:42] Speaker 5: up a fortune to pay for ads supporting Steve Garvey
[6:45] Speaker 5: to become the one who made it past the primary
[6:49] Speaker 5: along with Schiff. And then, you know, we saw what
[6:51] Speaker 5: happened there. Schiff ran away with that race. And now
[6:55] Speaker 5: you've got this Becerra and they don't, these con men
[7:00] Speaker 5: and con women who have been in charge of California
[7:03] Speaker 5: now for going on 20 years, I'm talking about everybody
[7:07] Speaker 5: from the King con man himself, Newsom, to his lapdog
[7:12] Speaker 5: con man, Rob Bonta, the AG, to this latest con man, Becerra.
[7:18] Speaker 5: They just don't care about Californians, California voters. They care
[7:24] Speaker 5: all about power and their ideology. And so, yeah, we're
[7:27] Speaker 5: witnessing this now. I mean, Hilton has been an incredible candidate.
[7:32] Speaker 5: The man has been everywhere. Everywhere you look, there's Steve Hilton.
[7:37] Speaker 5: He's done his best to break through the sort of
[7:40] Speaker 5: Republican echo chamber of voters to get to the other voters,
[7:44] Speaker 5: which every Republican must have to win. The guy has
[7:48] Speaker 5: worked his butt off. He's come up with solid, serious,
[7:52] Speaker 5: real proposals to address so many of the major problems
[7:56] Speaker 5: in California. And his opponent comes out with a platitude
[8:00] Speaker 5: here and there, Becerra, can't be found anywhere, doesn't have
[8:04] Speaker 5: a proposal for anything, doesn't even know what he's doing,
[8:07] Speaker 5: and yet you see the polls. And if you believe
[8:10] Speaker 5: the polls, he's going to run away with this election. And,
[8:13] Speaker 5: you know, by the way, John, I once ran against Becerra, too.
[8:16] Speaker 5: I'm probably the only one in the state that can
[8:18] Speaker 5: say I ran against Becerra, Bonta, and the lovely Katie Porter.
[8:23] Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, what do you think the secret sauce is
[8:27] Speaker 1: in terms of drawing them out of their basement so
[8:31] Speaker 1: they do have to answer questions? Because it seems like
[8:34] Speaker 1: Steve Hilton is working his keister off, traveling around the state,
[8:38] Speaker 1: doing every interview that he's invited to. I mean, the
[8:42] Speaker 1: guy shows up to the opening of an envelope. And
[8:45] Speaker 1: then you have Becerra, who every time Hilton goes on,
[8:48] Speaker 1: they go, well, we invited Becerra to come on, and
[8:50] Speaker 1: he said there was a scheduling conflict. It's a really
[8:54] Speaker 1: bad look. It doesn't appear to be hurting him in
[8:57] Speaker 1: the polls at all. And I believe that his attitude is,
[9:01] Speaker 1: unless and until it starts to hit him in the polls,
[9:04] Speaker 1: he's not going to change anything he's doing. He doesn't
[9:07] Speaker 1: care if it's a bad look to those who's paying attention.
[9:10] Speaker 1: And I don't know how you lure him out.
[9:12] Speaker 5: You're right. He does not care if it's a bad
[9:14] Speaker 5: look because, unfortunately, a huge percentage of our California electorate
[9:21] Speaker 5: they there's no bad look to them. They don't know
[9:23] Speaker 5: what the heck is going on.
[9:25] Speaker 7: All right.
[9:25] Speaker 5: They're not following this race. They don't know what the
[9:28] Speaker 5: major issues are. They know they got a Mexican guy
[9:30] Speaker 5: with a D by his name and they got, you know,
[9:33] Speaker 5: a guy who who who's got an R next to
[9:37] Speaker 5: his name, who was endorsed by Donald Trump. At most,
[9:40] Speaker 5: that's what they know. And I say at most because
[9:42] Speaker 5: a lot of them don't even know that. And that's
[9:45] Speaker 5: what the votes will come from. But as far as
[9:47] Speaker 5: smoking Becerra out, You need a combination of things. You
[9:51] Speaker 5: need a legacy media that actually cares about the people
[9:56] Speaker 5: of the state and wants to put forth the best
[9:58] Speaker 5: of each candidate. and give the people somebody they can
[10:02] Speaker 5: actually make a decision based on. The legacy media, for
[10:07] Speaker 5: the most part, has been in the tank for Becerra.
[10:09] Speaker 5: And another thing, frankly, we need, and I put this
[10:12] Speaker 5: totally on the shoulders of the Republican voters in the
[10:16] Speaker 5: state of California, we need more Republicans voting. There is
[10:20] Speaker 5: always a huge chunk of Republicans, even in these races,
[10:24] Speaker 5: that don't vote. And from what I'm seeing on X
[10:27] Speaker 5: and such by the people who follow these things closer,
[10:29] Speaker 5: there is a huge number of Republicans, over a million,
[10:33] Speaker 5: might be over 2 million, not sure the exact numbers,
[10:36] Speaker 5: that still haven't voted. And there are major concerns about
[10:39] Speaker 5: them not voting. And if they were, certainly Becerra would
[10:43] Speaker 5: see that perhaps there is a threat to the ultimate
[10:47] Speaker 5: numbers that he's expecting.
[10:50] Speaker 1: What do you do to get those people to fill
[10:52] Speaker 1: out their ballots and turn it in? Because it drives
[10:55] Speaker 1: me crazy. Whenever you see someone in the grocery store,
[11:00] Speaker 1: the airport, whatever. They're wearing the MAGA hat. There's certainly
[11:05] Speaker 1: someone who is willing to, I guess, put up with
[11:08] Speaker 1: the blowback of wearing that in a blue state. And
[11:11] Speaker 1: then you talk to them and you find out they
[11:13] Speaker 1: haven't filled out their ballot and voted yet. And I go,
[11:17] Speaker 1: I don't know what to do if you have a
[11:20] Speaker 1: majority of Republicans who are registered to vote in both L.A.
[11:24] Speaker 1: City and California statewide and they don't fill their ballots
[11:28] Speaker 1: out We can't blame that on the Democrats. That's on us.
[11:32] Speaker 5: Totally on us. What do you do? Listen, you would
[11:37] Speaker 5: think they would vote or most of them would vote
[11:39] Speaker 5: on their own, given the stakes and given how California
[11:43] Speaker 5: is crashing and burning, but they're simply not doing it.
[11:46] Speaker 5: And so I think you come back to really the
[11:49] Speaker 5: standard fallbacks. You need a Republican candidate for governor of
[11:53] Speaker 5: California that either has such a large name that a
[11:59] Speaker 5: name like a Schwarzenegger, I'm not saying necessarily a person
[12:03] Speaker 5: with the political positions of a Schwarzenegger, many of which
[12:07] Speaker 5: I disagree with, but a name like that would certainly
[12:13] Speaker 5: attract more attention from Republican voters. And frankly, You need
[12:18] Speaker 5: at least $ 100 million to run a campaign like this.
[12:21] Speaker 5: And the reason you need that kind of money is
[12:23] Speaker 5: because the media market in California is incredibly expensive. And
[12:29] Speaker 5: you need to be able to paper the airwaves with
[12:32] Speaker 5: the kind of commercials and social media that it will
[12:35] Speaker 5: take to cause these voters to come out and vote.
[12:39] Speaker 5: Steve doesn't have either of those things. He doesn't have
[12:42] Speaker 5: a huge amount of money and he doesn't, does not
[12:45] Speaker 5: nearly have the kind of name recognition I'm talking about.
[12:48] Speaker 5: And you know, that's where, that's where things stand right now.
[12:54] Speaker 1: Let's talk about Rob Bonta, the attorney general who wants
[12:57] Speaker 1: another four years. And then I asked this question to
[12:59] Speaker 1: Michael Gates, he's running against him and I'll ask it
[13:02] Speaker 1: to you as well. It's gotta be unbelievably frustrating running
[13:06] Speaker 1: against a guy who, who you know is, let's just say,
[13:10] Speaker 1: ethically challenged. And you know it is highly likely at
[13:14] Speaker 1: some point in the next four years he's going to
[13:17] Speaker 1: be indicted on something by the federal government. If he
[13:21] Speaker 1: gets indicted before the election, then it can do something
[13:25] Speaker 1: for you. If he gets indicted after the election, it
[13:28] Speaker 1: doesn't matter because then Becerra will be able to appoint
[13:33] Speaker 1: the replacement who will be just as bad, if not worse,
[13:36] Speaker 1: than Rob Bonta in which case nothing changes.
[13:39] Speaker 5: Listen, the legacy media appears to be completely ignoring that race.
[13:47] Speaker 5: It's like it's not even happening. You've got this corrupt
[13:51] Speaker 5: attorney general who got his butt kicked in the merger effort,
[13:56] Speaker 5: his effort to stop the merger. I mean, he got
[13:58] Speaker 5: his butt kicked. You'd think at least the legacy media
[14:01] Speaker 5: would be demanding, show us the attorney's fees, Rob Bonta,
[14:05] Speaker 5: that you're, you know, Your mess with that merger led
[14:11] Speaker 5: to show us how much California has paid outside lawyers,
[14:14] Speaker 5: hugely expensive lawyers, for you to go on that frolic.
[14:18] Speaker 5: You'd think they would do that. Likely several million dollars.
[14:21] Speaker 5: They won't do it. They gave him a slap on
[14:23] Speaker 5: the wrist. They move on to the new thing. And
[14:28] Speaker 5: they've ignored this guy Gates, frankly, completely. And and for
[14:33] Speaker 5: whatever reason, I the golden ticket didn't seem to be
[14:37] Speaker 5: working for Gates either. I don't know what happened there.
[14:39] Speaker 5: It seemed like there was some sort of, you know,
[14:41] Speaker 5: breakup between Hilton and, you know, and a couple others
[14:45] Speaker 5: and Gates on the other hand, because we were thinking
[14:48] Speaker 5: Gates would be everywhere Hilton was. And that stopped a
[14:51] Speaker 5: while back. I don't I don't know what became of that. But,
[14:55] Speaker 5: you know, it's just yes, it's incredibly frustrating. I don't
[14:59] Speaker 5: know Michael Gates anymore. but he must be incredibly frustrated.
[15:04] Speaker 5: The guy's, you know, apparently tried his best, and this guy,
[15:10] Speaker 5: this bot that looks like he's going to roll right
[15:12] Speaker 5: into office, and in that one, there were no debates.
[15:15] Speaker 5: Completely ignored. Where's the legacy media saying, the most important
[15:19] Speaker 5: or second most important elected official in this state, let's
[15:23] Speaker 5: have some debates. They didn't come out and do that either.
[15:27] Speaker 5: It's remarkable times, Frank.
[15:29] Speaker 1: It seems like if Bonta wins re-election and if for
[15:33] Speaker 1: some reason he avoids being indicted by the feds, he's
[15:37] Speaker 1: going to be one of these politicians that just sticks
[15:40] Speaker 1: around forever. He's going to run for governor. He's going
[15:43] Speaker 1: to run for secretary of state. He's going to run
[15:45] Speaker 1: for U S Senate. There's going to be some future
[15:48] Speaker 1: office and he's just going to be one of these guys.
[15:50] Speaker 1: We'll never be able to shake.
[15:53] Speaker 5: I think you're right. I think we won't shake him
[15:55] Speaker 5: until he does get indicted. And I like to think,
[15:59] Speaker 5: that those, that indictment of Rob Bonta will be coming
[16:04] Speaker 5: down at some point. As you said, if it comes down,
[16:06] Speaker 5: it'll be coming down after the election. He will have
[16:08] Speaker 5: been elected already. But, you know, his relationship with that
[16:11] Speaker 5: Dong family, you were playing some stuff about this Shang Tao, the,
[16:16] Speaker 5: you know, the former Oakland mayor and the Dong family. Andy, Andy,
[16:20] Speaker 5: Andy Dong and Rob Bonta are joined at the hip.
[16:23] Speaker 5: They have been joined at the hip. And Mia Bonta,
[16:25] Speaker 5: Rob Bonta's wife, they all come from the Oakland political cesspool.
[16:29] Speaker 5: They're best buddies. And hopefully there is a deep dive
[16:36] Speaker 5: going into Rob and Mia Bonta as we speak, and
[16:38] Speaker 5: hopefully that will turn to indictment. If he does not
[16:40] Speaker 5: get indicted, yes, he will get reelected now. He will
[16:44] Speaker 5: run for governor the next go-round, you know, or the
[16:47] Speaker 5: next time– You know, there's a you know, maybe he'll
[16:51] Speaker 5: wait for Becerra to be turned out, although that would
[16:53] Speaker 5: be hard to imagine. That's a long time. So who knows?
[16:56] Speaker 5: Maybe he'll run for U.S.
[16:57] Speaker 3: Senate.
[16:58] Speaker 5: You know, he'll come up with something. And he's got
[17:01] Speaker 5: huge supporters behind him, starting probably with Reed Hastings, the
[17:05] Speaker 5: guy who the billionaire who owns Netflix, who Rob Bonta,
[17:09] Speaker 5: you know, did his bidding when he when he on
[17:12] Speaker 5: behalf of the state of California sued sued Paramount to
[17:16] Speaker 5: try and break up the Paramount Warner business. you know, merger.
[17:21] Speaker 1: We have reported on so many of Rob Bonta's misdeeds
[17:26] Speaker 1: on this program, but we're limited as to what's in
[17:29] Speaker 1: the public domain. As someone who has run against him,
[17:32] Speaker 1: you've seen the oppo research file on Rob Bonta, and
[17:36] Speaker 1: you know a lot more than we do. As someone
[17:40] Speaker 1: who's sitting on more information than us, is the situation
[17:43] Speaker 1: even worse than what we've portrayed on the air?
[17:46] Speaker 5: I think it is. I don't hear everything that you
[17:50] Speaker 5: say about Bonta, John. I know that you've talked about
[17:54] Speaker 5: his connection with this fellow we were just talking about.
[17:58] Speaker 5: I know that you have in the past talked about
[18:02] Speaker 5: how Bonta caused lots of money to go to a
[18:08] Speaker 5: a nonprofit, so-called nonprofit, being run by his wife, Mia Bonta,
[18:12] Speaker 5: which caused her to profit to a huge degree, which
[18:17] Speaker 5: stinks to high heaven, that whole situation. There's, of course,
[18:21] Speaker 5: the fact that Bonta spent over half a million dollars
[18:25] Speaker 5: of his political donations on attorneys to protect him from
[18:29] Speaker 5: this Shengtao Dong situation in Oakland, which also stinks to
[18:34] Speaker 5: high heaven. if we had a political practices commission that
[18:39] Speaker 5: wasn't controlled by the con men in California, they would
[18:42] Speaker 5: have already found against Rob Bonta for his illegal use
[18:47] Speaker 5: of campaign donations to represent him for lawyers in that regard.
[18:53] Speaker 5: You know, when I was running against him, Bonta, at
[18:55] Speaker 5: the time, I got some calls from some women who
[18:58] Speaker 5: were plugged in with a college up in that area.
[19:02] Speaker 5: It was an old woman's college at the time. I
[19:04] Speaker 5: forgot the name of it. There was a huge endowment
[19:08] Speaker 5: that that college had, several million, could have been several
[19:12] Speaker 5: hundred million dollars. And I think it was Northeastern College.
[19:17] Speaker 5: It's called Northeastern, I believe, back east, that was talking
[19:19] Speaker 5: about buying up this women's college and or merging with
[19:26] Speaker 5: it in some fashion. I believe it happened. And that
[19:29] Speaker 5: The women who called me were incredibly concerned about what
[19:32] Speaker 5: was going to happen with those huge amount of dollars
[19:36] Speaker 5: in the endowment. And they were also concerned about losing
[19:40] Speaker 5: this women's college that had been around for many decades
[19:44] Speaker 5: and that was highly thought of by many people in
[19:47] Speaker 5: the community. And it was apparently robbed. Bonta in his
[19:51] Speaker 5: job as attorney general at that time, along with his wife,
[19:55] Speaker 5: at least according to the people I was speaking to,
[19:57] Speaker 5: that were involved in letting that merger or whatever it
[20:02] Speaker 5: was called, a sale or whatever, happen. And there were
[20:05] Speaker 5: huge questions at that time as to what was going
[20:08] Speaker 5: to happen to that endowment money.
[20:10] Speaker 1: All right. Eric Early, we're going to have to leave
[20:12] Speaker 1: it there. You can follow him on X at Eric
[20:15] Speaker 1: Early X and find him online at EarlySullivan.com. Eric Early,
[20:19] Speaker 1: thanks so much for stopping by.
[20:20] Speaker 5: Thanks again for having me, John.
[20:22] Speaker 1: It's the John Phillips Show. All right, Randy, it's now
[20:26] Speaker 1: time to open up the California Crime Blotter. It's happened
[20:31] Speaker 1: yet again. It's Wild, Wild West out here.
[20:33] Speaker 8: <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL>.
[20:37] Speaker 3: It's the California Crime Blotter with.
[20:40] Speaker 1: John and Randy. And Randy, this edition takes us to
[20:45] Speaker 1: San Jose.
[20:46] Speaker 4: Where a man just minding his own business got attacked
[20:50] Speaker 4: with a machete by his neighbor.
[20:53] Speaker 1: That's no good.
[20:56] Speaker 4: I guess I should feel lucky. that the biggest dispute
[20:59] Speaker 4: I have with my neighbor is that he wants me
[21:01] Speaker 4: to trim my hedges more than I'd like to. I
[21:05] Speaker 4: would like some privacy. Apparently, he does not want me
[21:08] Speaker 4: to have that. For more, here is NBC in the Bay.
[21:11] Speaker 8: We're going to begin in the South Bay tonight, where
[21:13] Speaker 8: South Bay police have arrested a man accused of attacking
[21:16] Speaker 8: his neighbor with a machete.
[21:19] Speaker 2: He then barricaded himself in his home, triggering a seven-hour-long standoff.
[21:23] Speaker 2: NBC Bay Area's Marianne Favreau is here with new details
[21:26] Speaker 2: after speaking to the alleged.
[21:27] Speaker 1: Could you imagine what would happen if Fred Mertz showed
[21:30] Speaker 1: up one day with a machete?
[21:31] Speaker 4: Mm-hmm. Marianne.
[21:36] Speaker 2: Well, Gia, this all started this morning around nine when
[21:39] Speaker 2: police received a report that a man had attacked another
[21:42] Speaker 2: man on Naples Drive near Story Road. The victim went
[21:45] Speaker 2: to the hospital and was later released. And he told
[21:48] Speaker 2: us he's had other run ins with the same neighbor
[21:51] Speaker 2: in the past.
[21:52] Speaker 1: Did he have a machete those times? Maybe that was
[21:56] Speaker 1: with Marcy Rhodes from Married with Children.
[22:00] Speaker 2: Alberto Cuevas says he was assaulted in this narrow alley
[22:03] Speaker 2: alongside his home as he went to take his garbage
[22:06] Speaker 2: out this morning. In Spanish, he told us, out of nowhere,
[22:11] Speaker 2: his neighbor appeared and attacked him with a machete. He said,
[22:15] Speaker 2: my wife looked at me. I was crouched down when
[22:18] Speaker 2: he struck me. He grabbed me from behind. I managed
[22:21] Speaker 2: to react a little, shifting to the side, so he
[22:24] Speaker 2: only caught me on the side. Otherwise, he might have
[22:27] Speaker 2: split my head open.
[22:29] Speaker 1: He may have filleted him. God, that's aggressive.
[22:34] Speaker 2: You feel afraid and frustrated because there's nothing you can do,
[22:38] Speaker 2: and then you're left bleeding. Alberto showed us his injuries
[22:42] Speaker 2: to his head.
[22:43] Speaker 1: Oh, boy, he got a haircut, too. He did.
[22:45] Speaker 2: And he says he was taken to the hospital, received
[22:49] Speaker 2: stitches and was released. He also says this is not
[22:52] Speaker 2: the first time he has had run ins with the
[22:54] Speaker 2: same neighbor after the attack.
[22:57] Speaker 4: The alleged. All right.
[22:57] Speaker 1: What was this over? Keep his cans out an extra day.
[23:02] Speaker 1: I don't know. Do you think that he gives away
[23:05] Speaker 1: raisins on Halloween? It's probably what it was.
[23:09] Speaker 2: Ran into his home and refused to come out. A
[23:12] Speaker 2: SWAT vehicle parked in the street outside the home as
[23:15] Speaker 2: officers stood ready with guns drawn. Several times police used
[23:24] Speaker 2: a loudspeaker to try to.
[23:25] Speaker 4: It's a wonder sometimes in a city like San Jose,
[23:28] Speaker 4: which is generally a safe city, but they are a
[23:30] Speaker 4: large population. If anytime you have any situation that is somewhat,
[23:36] Speaker 4: not to use the term exciting, but exciting, Like, let's
[23:39] Speaker 4: bring out all the stuff we can. We never get
[23:42] Speaker 4: to use the Humvee. Let's go.
[23:43] Speaker 2: It convinced the man to come out. A canine unit
[23:49] Speaker 2: was also called in, all while neighbors waited hours to
[23:53] Speaker 2: get back into their homes. This man asked that we
[23:56] Speaker 2: not show his face.
[23:58] Speaker 9: It's awful because just knowing that I live around here.
[24:04] Speaker 9: Something that shouldn't have happened, and it's causing disruptions to
[24:07] Speaker 9: people that have nothing to do with it.
[24:09] Speaker 4: Is he hiding his identity because he's worried the machete
[24:11] Speaker 4: guy is going to get out and come for him next?
[24:14] Speaker 1: I don't know. Poor guy. Lives in a neighborhood with
[24:16] Speaker 1: a psycho with a machete and a guy with a
[24:19] Speaker 1: bad haircut, and now he can't even go back into
[24:21] Speaker 1: his house.
[24:23] Speaker 2: More than seven hours later, police move toward the home,
[24:26] Speaker 2: and later, a man in handcuffs comes out, surrounded by officers.
[24:31] Speaker 2: Now the investigation begins into what turned Alberto's chore into
[24:35] Speaker 2: a nightmare.
[24:36] Speaker 4: Seven hours? I mean, he just had a machete. It's
[24:39] Speaker 4: not like he had a machine gun. It's not like
[24:41] Speaker 4: he had hostages. At what point do you throw in
[24:44] Speaker 4: the tear gas and call.
[24:45] Speaker 1: It a day? Yeah, where's Janet Reno when you need her? Although, maybe, maybe.
[24:52] Speaker 4: If you make it a seven-hour standoff, you get into
[24:54] Speaker 4: double-time territory.
[24:56] Speaker 1: Oh, yeah. Did he do it on a holiday?
[25:01] Speaker 2: Police have not yet released the name of the suspect
[25:04] Speaker 2: or the specific crimes that he was arrested for.
[25:07] Speaker 4: Well, we know what he was arrested for. Slash that
[25:10] Speaker 4: guy in the head with a sword.
[25:12] Speaker 1: Maybe it was Danny Trejo.
[25:14] Speaker 2: Marianne Favreau, NBC Bay Area News.
[25:17] Speaker 1: So there you go.
[25:19] Speaker 4: A machete attack in San Jose led to a seven-hour
[25:23] Speaker 4: police standoff.
[25:25] Speaker 1: Now let's move from San Jose to Oakland, where the
[25:27] Speaker 1: 911 system melted down yet again.
[25:31] Speaker 5: If the cashier is dummy.
[25:35] Speaker 1: We couldn't make this stuff up if we tried. I said,
[25:38] Speaker 1: hell no, baby boy. Let me get up on out
[25:40] Speaker 1: of here.
[25:42] Speaker 3: It's the California Crime Bloater.
[25:47] Speaker 4: Johnny, it's happened yet again. Oakland's 911 went down. This
[25:52] Speaker 4: time because someone was cutting some AT & T fiber cables,
[25:56] Speaker 4: and boy, am I glad I just switched to AT &
[25:59] Speaker 4: T fiber.
[26:01] Speaker 1: Well, it's not like Oakland is a violent place where
[26:04] Speaker 1: they need 911 or people are going to die.
[26:07] Speaker 4: I mean, what could you possibly need 911 for in
[26:11] Speaker 4: the city of Oakland?
[26:12] Speaker 10: It's a lot of crime now.
[26:13] Speaker 1: For more... Here is NBC in the Bay.
[26:16] Speaker 8: Got some good news and some very big questions tonight
[26:19] Speaker 8: in Oakland. The city says its 911 emergency services have
[26:23] Speaker 8: been restored after being down for more than 24 hours.
[26:26] Speaker 8: And police say they're looking for the people who cut
[26:29] Speaker 8: an AT & T fiber line, sparking the outage and
[26:32] Speaker 8: sparking the dispatch crisis.
[26:34] Speaker 4: Now, typically, the fiber cutting is like you think it's copper,
[26:39] Speaker 4: but it's not copper because fiber cable is that you
[26:42] Speaker 4: can't get any money for that.
[26:44] Speaker 1: So what's going on here? So you're being disruptive just
[26:47] Speaker 1: to be disruptive.
[26:48] Speaker 3: Yes.
[26:49] Speaker 8: But even as the system gets back online, there are
[26:52] Speaker 8: big questions tonight. Why was the 911 system so easy
[26:56] Speaker 8: to derail? And what if a major disaster had hit
[26:59] Speaker 8: during the outage? Senior investigator Candace Wynn went to Oakland.
[27:02] Speaker 1: Well, to be honest, if some emergency is going on
[27:07] Speaker 1: and the cops just tell you to fill out a
[27:08] Speaker 1: form online, does it really matter if you have a
[27:11] Speaker 1: working 911 system? Good point. And to the experts.
[27:15] Speaker 4: Although, if they cut the fiber, you can't even fill
[27:17] Speaker 4: out that form online. You got no internets.
[27:23] Speaker 1: For answers.
[27:26] Speaker 11: A lot of questions on social media Friday about Oakland's
[27:29] Speaker 11: disabled 911 system. Why is this so easy to access?
[27:33] Speaker 11: How will this be prevented in the future?
[27:35] Speaker 4: Also, that text says, who is being held accountable? And
[27:38] Speaker 4: that is the name of our podcast.
[27:40] Speaker 1: A new episode drops on Wednesday.
[27:42] Speaker 11: AT & T says someone cut these fiber and copper lines,
[27:46] Speaker 11: interrupting multiple critical city systems for more than 24 hours,
[27:50] Speaker 11: including 911, the non-emergency line, the fire department's 911 services,
[27:56] Speaker 11: and the police department dispatch center's internet and computer-aided dispatch
[28:00] Speaker 11: or CAD system. One of the first questions asked, why
[28:03] Speaker 11: don't these systems have a backup plan?
[28:06] Speaker 5: In regards to the 911 line, we do have some
[28:07] Speaker 5: fallback plans.
[28:09] Speaker 1: Well, that didn't work. Okay. If it's this easy for
[28:13] Speaker 1: two crackheads to do this to a major American city,
[28:16] Speaker 1: just imagine what could go wrong if the Russians decided
[28:19] Speaker 1: to cause some mischief.
[28:22] Speaker 5: And not to get into the details of it, but
[28:24] Speaker 5: unfortunately both of the initial fallback plans were compromised.
[28:28] Speaker 4: So the backup got broken and then the backup's backup
[28:31] Speaker 4: got broken. So I'm going to guess they cut the
[28:36] Speaker 4: copper and they cut the fiber. So the backup was
[28:38] Speaker 4: the internet and the backup backup was a landline and
[28:41] Speaker 4: they were all gone.
[28:43] Speaker 11: Police Chief James Spear offered a little insight during a
[28:46] Speaker 11: press conference Thursday, but the department declined our request for
[28:49] Speaker 11: an interview on Friday to ask additional questions. It cited
[28:53] Speaker 11: an active investigation. Now, growing questions. What were those failed
[28:57] Speaker 11: fallback plans? Should these lines have had more protection, especially
[29:01] Speaker 11: considering the chief's suggestion that the culprit may have wanted
[29:04] Speaker 11: to do more than just steal copper wiring?
[29:07] Speaker 4: At this point, I would say this is more of
[29:10] Speaker 4: a bad actor than a vandalism.
[29:13] Speaker 5: particularly just because there's more than one line.
[29:16] Speaker 1: And, uh, okay. That's a strange allegation.
[29:19] Speaker 4: Instead of saying what this obviously is because it happens
[29:22] Speaker 4: up and down the state of California and cities like
[29:25] Speaker 4: Oakland and Los Angeles every single day, meth head needs
[29:28] Speaker 4: money for meth. So they cut anything that looks like
[29:30] Speaker 4: copper wire. He's claiming that somebody intentionally disabled the nine
[29:34] Speaker 4: one one system.
[29:35] Speaker 1: Okay. So if that happened, they would be doing that
[29:38] Speaker 1: for a reason was there a bank heist? Was there
[29:42] Speaker 1: something that happened major that was connected to this?
[29:47] Speaker 4: No, just your typical crime ridden filled weekend in Oakland.
[29:52] Speaker 5: The amount of damage that was done.
[29:53] Speaker 11: During the outage, calls were routed to the sheriff's office,
[29:56] Speaker 11: and OPD said its officers would only respond to priority
[29:59] Speaker 11: one calls, meaning those involving active threats. We reached out
[30:03] Speaker 11: to disaster.
[30:04] Speaker 4: Wait, that's all they respond to anyway. If someone drives
[30:08] Speaker 4: a Kia through your front door, they don't show up
[30:11] Speaker 4: for eight hours.
[30:11] Speaker 1: Yeah.
[30:14] Speaker 11: Experts wondering, what if the big one had hit while
[30:17] Speaker 11: the system was down? They say it could look a
[30:20] Speaker 11: lot like Thursday, only worse.
[30:22] Speaker 7: We tell people not to expect to even be able
[30:26] Speaker 7: to make a phone call.
[30:27] Speaker 11: Mark Benthean with the Statewide California Earthquake Center and Angie
[30:31] Speaker 11: Lux with the Berkeley Seismology Lab say if a major
[30:34] Speaker 11: earthquake triggered severe damage, it's very likely communication systems will
[30:38] Speaker 11: be down for days, even weeks, similar to what happened
[30:41] Speaker 11: in Oakland, but on a larger scale.
[30:43] Speaker 1: Oh, no, we're screwed. With the current crowd in charge,
[30:48] Speaker 1: if there is a massive natural disaster, you are on
[30:51] Speaker 1: your own.
[30:53] Speaker 2: To be honest, it's terrible, but it's a good preparation
[30:58] Speaker 2: for the fact that this is something that could be
[30:59] Speaker 2: a reality following a major earthquake.
[31:01] Speaker 7: This is also emphasizing the importance of community preparedness. So
[31:06] Speaker 7: knowing your neighbors, knowing the resources in your community. Like
[31:11] Speaker 7: you're on your block, right?
[31:13] Speaker 1: Well, then I'm screwed. I don't know any of my neighbors,
[31:17] Speaker 1: and that's by design.
[31:22] Speaker 11: Candace Nguyen, NBC Bay Area News.
[31:24] Speaker 1: So there you go.
[31:25] Speaker 4: Oakland's 911 system, which has been making improvements, was down
[31:29] Speaker 4: for 24 hours because someone cut some cables.
[31:34] Speaker 1: Just another day in paradise. It's the John Phillips show.
[31:40] Speaker 1: The city of Oakland is one step closer to a
[31:43] Speaker 1: $ 30 an hour minimum wage.
[31:46] Speaker 4: Can the city of Oakland afford a $ 30 hour minimum wage?
[31:50] Speaker 1: I said, hell no, baby boy. Let me get up
[31:53] Speaker 1: on out of here. For more, here is ABC 7
[31:57] Speaker 1: in the Bay.
[31:58] Speaker 2: A fight over workers' pay is heating up in the
[32:00] Speaker 2: East Bay. Some fast food workers walked off the job
[32:03] Speaker 2: today accusing their employer of wage theft.
[32:06] Speaker 4: Except the ones at In-N-Out Burger because there is no
[32:09] Speaker 4: In-N-Out Burger left. And the ones at Taco Bell that
[32:15] Speaker 4: walked off the job, they're the ones that drive through
[32:19] Speaker 4: only because they can't trust walk-ins.
[32:24] Speaker 2: This is as Oakland moves a step closer to a
[32:27] Speaker 2: $ 30 minimum wage. ABC7 Eyewitness News anchor Cameron Bopp shows
[32:31] Speaker 2: us what's fueling both fights.
[32:35] Speaker 4: Okay, I got to appreciate the people who are marching
[32:38] Speaker 4: in front of a jack-in-the-box with sad jack-in-the-box face signs.
[32:47] Speaker 10: These fast food workers are fighting back. At this Alameda jack-in-the-box,
[32:54] Speaker 10: the workers allege late pay, bounce checks, and retaliation.
[32:57] Speaker 1: Wait, they're not even striking in Oakland, they're striking in Alameda? Well,
[33:04] Speaker 1: if they were on the Hagenberger and they were out
[33:07] Speaker 1: there with picket signs, what do you think the odds
[33:09] Speaker 1: are they'd get robbed? Hagenberger.
[33:11] Speaker 10: A lawsuit claims it's happening at other locations run by
[33:16] Speaker 10: the same franchisee, too.
[33:18] Speaker 7: We've had clients who, you know, are borrowing money to
[33:21] Speaker 7: cover groceries, borrowing from family, going on benefits they weren't
[33:25] Speaker 7: using before.
[33:26] Speaker 10: Can they afford to be missing paychecks?
[33:28] Speaker 1: No, they can't.
[33:29] Speaker 10: Neither Jack in the Box nor the franchisee responded to
[33:32] Speaker 10: our request for comment. But these workers earn California's fast
[33:35] Speaker 10: food minimum wage. In nearby Oakland, the fight is over
[33:39] Speaker 10: raising that wage floor.
[33:41] Speaker 4: Yeah, they're already making $ 20 an hour with the state.
[33:44] Speaker 1: And what do you know, Johnny? It's not enough. Of
[33:47] Speaker 1: course not. And if we actually give them $ 30, guess what?
[33:50] Speaker 1: It's not enough.
[33:52] Speaker 10: Oakland's minimum wage is $ 17.
[33:54] Speaker 4: 34.
[33:55] Speaker 10: San Jose's is $ 18.
[33:57] Speaker 5: 45.
[33:57] Speaker 10: San Francisco's $ 19. 61. All three adjust annually for inflation, but
[34:02] Speaker 10: Oakland organizers want $ 30 an hour. One job should be enough.
[34:07] Speaker 1: You shouldn't have to work two jobs, three jobs even,
[34:09] Speaker 1: to take care of your basic needs.
[34:12] Speaker 10: Misha Scott helped collect signatures for months, and Thursday that
[34:15] Speaker 10: effort reached a major milestone. An Oakland City Council committee
[34:19] Speaker 10: voted for nothing to schedule the proposal for a December
[34:22] Speaker 10: 1st vote. But getting to $ 30 an hour, that's still
[34:25] Speaker 10: up in the air. And these three documents spell out
[34:27] Speaker 10: what comes next. A city council can either approve the increase,
[34:31] Speaker 10: send it directly to voters, or order an economic impact
[34:33] Speaker 10: study first.
[34:34] Speaker 4: Gee, I wonder what the economic impacts are going to be, Johnny.
[34:41] Speaker 1: There's going to be no restaurants left in Oakland at all.
[34:46] Speaker 10: But what would a $ 30 minimum wage mean for businesses
[34:49] Speaker 10: and the prices we pay?
[34:50] Speaker 1: The price increases are quite moderate and quite small, actually,
[34:56] Speaker 1: in response to minimum wages.
[34:58] Speaker 10: For the Black Organizing Project, which helps collect signatures. We're
[35:01] Speaker 10: fighting not just for ourselves, but our family members, our neighbors,
[35:05] Speaker 10: our comrades.
[35:05] Speaker 7: To be able to.
[35:06] Speaker 1: Our comrades, huh? That's an interesting choice of words. I
[35:11] Speaker 1: think she was being very direct with that one. You think?
[35:15] Speaker 10: Stay in oakland if the measure becomes law the goal
[35:17] Speaker 10: is thirty dollars an hour for large employers by 2030
[35:21] Speaker 10: mid-sized businesses by 2035 and small businesses.
[35:24] Speaker 4: Yeah but guess what if you're the small business you're
[35:26] Speaker 4: the medium-sized business and all of a sudden walmart's paying
[35:29] Speaker 4: thirty dollars an hour now you have to compete.
[35:33] Speaker 1: And you know what's going to happen they're going to
[35:35] Speaker 1: drive all the small businesses out of business in oakland
[35:40] Speaker 1: And then you're going to get all these think pieces
[35:42] Speaker 1: about the food deserts and how there's no place to
[35:44] Speaker 1: find fresh food and how everyone's fat because the only
[35:48] Speaker 1: thing that's left is a bunch of fast food chains.
[35:51] Speaker 4: And the fast food chains have robots for employees now.
[35:57] Speaker 10: But when those raises begin, it could depend on whether
[35:59] Speaker 10: city council approves it next month or sends it to
[36:02] Speaker 10: voters in twenty twenty eight. In Oakland, Cameron Bopp, ABC7
[36:05] Speaker 10: Eyewitness News.
[36:06] Speaker 4: So next month, either outright the Oakland City Council is
[36:10] Speaker 4: going to approve moving to a $ 30 an hour minimum wage,
[36:13] Speaker 4: or the voters are going to have to deal with
[36:15] Speaker 4: that on yet another ballot. Johnny, remember when Barbara Lee
[36:19] Speaker 4: Speaks For Me was running for Senate and she was
[36:21] Speaker 4: campaigning on a $ 50 an hour minimum wage?
[36:24] Speaker 1: That's probably coming next. Oh boy.
[36:27] Speaker 4: We'll keep an eye on that one for you.

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