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Political Shakeup in LA, California Death Row Decision & Foster Child Murder · The Breakfast Club

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: A major political shakeup in Los Angeles. Voters have made
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: their choice, but the city's next mayor is already facing
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: some serious challenges. Plus, California's governor is making a historic
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: move that could change the fate of hundreds of people
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: on death row. And a heartbreaking case out of Philadelphia.
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: A 10-year-old girl is found murdered, and what we're learning
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  Speaker 1: about the home where she lived is raising even more questions.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: It's Monday, November 9th. From the Black Effect Podcast Network,
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: I'm Mimi Brown. This is Front Page, and here are
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: the day's biggest stories. Stay with me. We're starting in
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: Los Angeles, where voters have decided it's time for a
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: change at City Hall. City Councilwoman Nithya Raman has defeated
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: Mayor Karen Bass, ending Bass's time in office after just
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: one term. And this wasn't the race that came down
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  Speaker 1: to a handful of votes. Rahman received nearly 53% of
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  Speaker 1: the vote, compared to 47% for Bass. That makes Rahman
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  Speaker 1: the first challenger in more than 20 years to defeat
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  Speaker 1: a sitting Los Angeles mayor. Now, this election was largely
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  Speaker 1: about the issues people deal with every single day. Homelessness,
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: the high cost of housing, and public safety. Voters wanted
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  Speaker 1: answers about what the city was doing to make life
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  Speaker 1: more affordable and neighborhoods safer. Bath has conceded the race
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  Speaker 1: and says she'll work to make sure there's a smooth transition.
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  Speaker 1: And Rahman says she's ready to get to work. Now,
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  Speaker 1: winning the election is one thing, but running the city
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  Speaker 1: is another. And Rahman is already facing some major challenges.
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  Speaker 1: Not one of her fellow city council members endorsed her campaign.
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  Speaker 1: She's about to lead a city government where some of
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: the people she'll need to work with didn't support her
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: becoming mayor. And there's another issue. Rahman has called for
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  Speaker 1: Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonald to be fired. But
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: the mayor can't simply fire the police chief on her own.
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  Speaker 1: That decision involves the city's police commission. And the police
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  Speaker 1: union is already warning that officers could leave the department
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  Speaker 1: under Rahman's leadership. So while Rahman convinced voters she was
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  Speaker 1: the right person for the job, she'll now have to
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  Speaker 1: convince people inside City Hall and the police department individually.
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  Speaker 1: that they can work together. And for the people of
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  Speaker 1: Los Angeles, the bigger question is whether that cooperation will
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: lead to progress on homelessness, housing, and public safety. And
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  Speaker 1: we're staying in California, where Governor Gavin Newsom is making
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  Speaker 1: another major move. This time, it involves every person currently
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: sitting on the state's death row. Newsom is moving to
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  Speaker 1: eliminate death row sentences of all 548 people facing execution
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  Speaker 1: in California. Now, let me explain what that means, because
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  Speaker 1: there is an important difference here. These inmates would not
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: be released from prison. Their convictions would still stand and
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: they would still continue serving their sentences. What would change
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  Speaker 1: is that they would no longer be executed. Newsom says
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  Speaker 1: there are several reasons behind this decision. First, he says
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  Speaker 1: the death penalty has a history of racial discrimination. That
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  Speaker 1: means concerns about whether race has played a role in
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  Speaker 1: who gets sentenced to death. He also points to the cost.
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  Speaker 1: California has spent billions of taxpayer dollars maintaining its death
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  Speaker 1: penalty system. And then there's the possibility of executing someone
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  Speaker 1: who turned out to be innocent. Now, California hasn't actually
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: executed anyone in more than 20 years. But the state
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: still has the largest death row population in the country.
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  Speaker 1: And if Newsom succeeds in commuting all 548 sentences, it
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  Speaker 1: would be the largest mass death penalty clemency action in
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  Speaker 1: American history. Again, this is not about letting hundreds of
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  Speaker 1: people out of prison. It's about whether the state continued
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  Speaker 1: to have the power to execute them. And it's a
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  Speaker 1: decision that's likely to reignite the debate over the death penalty,
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  Speaker 1: justice and public safety. And now to a heartbreaking story
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  Speaker 1: out of Philadelphia. A 10-year-old girl who was reported missing
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  Speaker 1: has been found murdered, and the woman who was supposed
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: to be caring for her is now charged with her killing.
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  Speaker 1: Her name was Malacia Ford. She was just 10 years
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  Speaker 1: old and living in foster care. Investigators say Malacia was
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  Speaker 1: last seen alive on October 22nd. Four days later, a
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  Speaker 1: surveillance video reportedly captured her body being removed from her
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  Speaker 1: foster home in the middle of the night. Police eventually
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  Speaker 1: found her body in the trunk of a car in
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  Speaker 1: New Jersey. And now her foster mother, 36-year-old Caprice Williams,
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  Speaker 1: is facing murder and several other charges. Philadelphia prosecutors held
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  Speaker 1: a press conference explaining how investigators were able to piece
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  Speaker 1: together what happened. And as investigators continue looking into Malasia's death,
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  Speaker 1: there are growing questions about the conditions inside the home
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  Speaker 1: where she was living. A community activist says he saw
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  Speaker 1: pictures and video from inside that house, and he's speaking
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  Speaker 1: out about what he says he saw. Now, the medical
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: examiner says Malaysia died from blunt force trauma. In plain terms,
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  Speaker 1: that means she suffered a fatal injury caused by a
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: powerful impact or blow. And investigators say there were also
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  Speaker 1: signs that she had been physically abused. Authorities have not
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  Speaker 1: said what led to her killing or whether anyone else
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  Speaker 1: could face charges. But this raises another serious question. How
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  Speaker 1: does a child placed in foster care, a system that's
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  Speaker 1: supposed to protect children, end up losing her life in
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  Speaker 1: the very same home where she was supposed to be safe?
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  Speaker 1: As the investigation continues, there are questions about what warning
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  Speaker 1: signs may have been missed and whether more could have
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  Speaker 1: been done to protect Malaysia. That's your front page. I'm
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: Mimi Brown. This podcast was brought to you by the
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: Black Effect Podcast Network.