Transcript

1.11.25 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of the Washington Post for Saturday,
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January eleventh of twenty twenty five. And your readers are
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Jerry Daniel. I am alis Daina with reminder that RADIOI
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is a reading service for those blinded with other difficulties
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holding a reading printed material. And today we are reading
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the Washington Post, and I will give you the headlines
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on the front page of the paper. The first is
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Trump but comes first president to be sentenced no jail,
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probation or fine in New York case. He continues to
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condemn hush money proceedings. And this is Seanna Jacobs, Derek
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Hawkins and Mark Berman to the let And there's a
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big picture of Trump on a screen and it says
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Donald Trump an attorney. When we pulled that up a
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little higher, Attorney Todd Blanche appear virtually from Florida for
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the President elects sentencing in Manhattan on Friday. Trump was
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convicted last year on thirty four felony counts of falsifying
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business records related to payments to adult film actress Dormy Daniels.
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And that's the front page at the top to the
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right of that surrogates Fordge scouring agencies outside effort to
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shrink government takes hold before Trump's return. This is by
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Fate's Cidicule Jeff Stein and Elizabeth Dawskin. Below that article
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is in parting blow Biden goes after Russian oil, sweeping
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sanctions or bid to pressure Moscow and hurt its WAW effort.
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This is by Karen de Young. Below the picture of Trump,
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just to braggen the fold, Supreme Court appears poised to
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uphold TikTok ban or sale law. This is by n. E.
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Marrito Marin. To to the right of that Altadena at
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the Abyss, no one has a home. The scope of
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tragedy and loss from LA wildfires is slowly coming into focus.
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That's by Joshua part Load. In the last article official
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say conditions went beyond limits of firefighting by Scott Dance.
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But between the blow Biden blow for Russian oil and
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the official say conditions went beyond him is a picture
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of a panda in a tree limb, and it says
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dress for herself for showtime. Queen Bowl perches in a
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tree at the Smithsonian's National Zoo on January second. She
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and her male companioned Baoli, both of whom are three
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arrived from China on October fifteenth. They are scheduled to
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make their public debut January twenty fourth. How does the
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zoo prepare for the pandas for the onslaught of public
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adoration training entreats which equates to klin trees and munching
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on carrots. And there's the picture of a panda just
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settled in a tree limb, leaning and enjoying life All yours. Gary,
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You're a mute.
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Speaker 2: So I am. Trump and Hush Money Cakes will not
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face jail or provision. He was convicted last year in
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the New York criminal trial and thirty four counts of
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falsifying business records. The article is by the authors Shane
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and Jacobs, Dereck Hawkins, and Mark Berman. President like Donald Trump,
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received no penalty Friday for his conviction in his Hushmunny trial,
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an extraordinary moment and saw him become the first US
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president sentence for a crime. The sentencing hearing, held just
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ten days before Trump to be inaugurated for a second term,
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reflected the history and affirmed that Trump would be the
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first president to enter office as a fellow. Trump, sometimes
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scowling or looking away, appeared on a flat screen from Florida,
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as New York Supreme Court Justice jun Masham spoke about
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the difficulty of sentencing the incoming president. Never before as
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this Court been presented with such a unique and remarkable
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instead of circumstances. Trump, who was convicted on thirty four
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fellow accounts of falsifying business records last year, and furiously
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sought to cancel the sentencing appeal sentencing, appealing to the
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US Supreme Court and arguing that it would interfere with
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his presidential transition. His efforts were unsuccessful, and on Friday morning,
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Trump appeared virtually in the same Manhattan courthouse where he
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had stood trial. Merson, who oversolved the trial and had
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it down the sentence, gave Trump an unconditional discharge meeting
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the president elect will not FaceTime behind mars a fine
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or probation. Mershon had indicated in a ruling last week
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that this would be Trump's sentence because the presidency carries
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with it broad protections. Mershon said this sentence was the
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only one possible without encroaching on the highest office in
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the land. Rashaan emphasized that he believed the charges were
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serious and felt it was vital to respect the jury's verdict.
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To be clear, the protections afforded the Office of the
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President are not amitigating factor. Marshon said, they do not
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reduce the seriousness of the crime or justified as commission
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in any way. While Marchon spoke, Trump appeared fixated on
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him and scowled at the conclusion of his remarks. Before
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rapping up the hearing for Shaun wished Trump God's speed
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for his second term, and then abruptly left the courtroom.
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Trump spoke for about six minutes during the hearing, denouncing
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the case and stating that he was innocent of anyone
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doing He delivered discursive remarks that all some touched on wildfarms, wars, inflation,
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and his electoral victory before returning to the criticisms of
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the case. I just wanted to say, I think it's
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an embarrassment to New York, Trump said. At various moments
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during the hearing, Trump hunched forward towards the camera, shook
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his head, or looked away. Soon after the hearing, Trump
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posted on social media again condemning the case and vowing
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to appeal. He also claimed victory, lighting that the sentence
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he received proved quote, there is no case. There was
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never a case. Trump has long assailed the prosecution and
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officials involved in it, repeatedly attacking with Shawn and Manhattan
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District Attorney Alvian Brang his office prosecuted the case. Trump
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has called for Shaun corrupt in a radical partisan and
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dismissed the breetings as a rigged trial. Bragg was seated
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in the second mode of the courtroom gallery Friday and
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watched the sentencing unfold for shan At who were ringed
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the trial and Trump violated a gaggler in the case
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ten times and twice found the once in feature president
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in contempt of court. During the hearing of Friday, Joshua
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of Steinglass, one of the prosecutors, agreed that the underconstitutional
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unconditional discharge was the most sensible sentence given Trump's upcoming inauguration.
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Stenglass also offered an extended rebuke of Trump's rhetoric surrounding
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the case, which he described as the purposeful, purposeful assault
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on our judicial institutions and the rule of law. Trump
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was unrelentant in his unsubstantiated attacks against Mashawn prosecutors and
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some of their relatives, along with witnesses, jurors, and the
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justice system overall. Steinhrast said, quite simply, this defendant has
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caused enduring damage to public perception of the criminal justice
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system and has placed officers of the court in harm's way.
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Steinkhaandt said the sentencing brought measures of recipe and vexation
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for Trump. While in the conviction carried with the possibility
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of four years in prison, Trump instead walked free without
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any sanction. But Trump had still tried and failed to
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avoid being sentenced at all, with his lawyers arguing that
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the proceedings should be called off because it would disrupt
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the enormously burdensome and sensitive task of presidential transition. The
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efforts ran aground in the courts. Shawn issued a ruling
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last week upholding Trump's conviction and scheduling the sentencing for fighting.
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The New York Appeals Court judge this week then rejected
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Trump's request to delay his empancy, and the Supreme Court
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of the United States on Thursday declined a similar request.
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The sentencing after remarkable years long period of criminal jeopardy
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for Trump, who had been charged in four separate criminal
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cases in New York, Florida, Georgia, and DC, all while
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campaigning for another term as president. But this jubilation of
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legal jeopardy eventually faltered and faided. Last summer, the US
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District Judge Audion Canon, a Trump appointee in Florida, dismist
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the case there with the accused him of misshandling classified material.
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As Trump won the presidency in November, special councilor Jack
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Smith dropped the DC, choosing Trump over protecting the twenty
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twenty election in Georgia, and Trump still faces charges of
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conspirator to overturn his twenty twenty election loss, and appeals
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court last month disqualified the prosecutor leading the case, leaving
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its fate unclear. Alone. Among these cases, the Manhattan prosecution,
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which some legal analysts had questioned, calling it the leakest
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of the foreig diictments, actually went to trial and put
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Trump's faith before a jury. Trump stood accused of falsifying
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business records to conceal a husband in payment to Stormy Daniels,
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an adult film actress who had alleged for years with
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the two of them had had sex a decade before
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he first won the presidency. The case revolved around one
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hundred and thirty thousand dollars payment Daniels received in exchange
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fort Knott publicly sharing her account during the twenty sixteen
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presidential election. Prosecutors said it was the legal to classify
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the payments as legal fees, accusing Trump was managing an
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extension conspiracies influenced the twenty sixteen election. Michael Cohen, Trump's
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former tournament and ship and fixer, paid Daniels had been
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received monthly reimbursements so long as legal fees and documents
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maintained by Trump's business. During the trial, Cohen told Jorge
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he arranged Daniels's payment and Trump's direction. He was the
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only witness who said that Trump was directly involved. Trump
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has denied having sack with Daniels, and his defense attorneys
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said that the payments to Combe were properly classified and
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that he was repaid for legal services. They also took
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biting aim in Cohen, who previously pled guilty to line
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to Congress and other crimes, painting the prosecutor's key witnesses
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a fundamentally reliable one. Jurors in the case spent a
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little more than a day delivery before unanimously voting to
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convict Trump on all counts. Trump had faced potential prison
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time as a result of the commission, though given his
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age and a lack of criminal record, such as stiff
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penalty had seemed unlikely. He was originally sentenced to be sentenced.
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He was originally sent to be sentenced to live the
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eleventh That was pushed back multiple times but the Supreme Court.
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After the Supreme Court broadly rule that presidents have immunity
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for official acts. Trump's attorneys who argued that his conviction
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in New York should be thrown out given the Supreme
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Court's decision, in their filing to the Supreme Court this week,
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they predicted that appeals would lead to the dismissal of
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the Attorney General's of politically motivated prosecution that was flawed
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the district attorney's politically motivated prosecution that was flawed from
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the very beginning. The filing came from three lawyers. Trump
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said he plans to aim to top Justice Department roles
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in his incoming administration. Todd Blanche has picked for Deputy
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Attorney General Ammiel Beauvey. His selection for principal Associate Deputy
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Attorney General indeed John Sawyer, whom he wants to serve
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as Solicitor General and administration's top lawyer before the Supreme Court.
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During Friday's hearing, Beauve sat at loan at the table
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in the courtroom, and Blanche was seated next to Trump
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on the remote image. Blanch spoke before Trump did, saying
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he disagreed with steinle as his remarks and felt the
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CAAH had never been prosecuted. Former federal prosecutor Sheryl Baker,
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a professor at Florida Law School, said Marshawn had been
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a challenging position residing over the case because he had
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to balance the norms of criminal proceedings with trump unusual status.
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The judge noted his disapproval of Trump's conduct. Vader said
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he felt his hands were tied to part Trump for
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that behavior given the practicalities of the situation. Alice, back
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to you.
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Speaker 1: The next article is to the right of that article.
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On the incoming President, Dodge do OGE or DOGE is
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dispatching agents across the US government. Federal officials are already
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dealing with sarrogates from Elon Musk and vivid Ramaswami's non
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governmental body before Donald Trump is sworn in again. This
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is buffet Sidiqui, Jeff Stein, and Elizabeth Goskin. Elon Musk
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and Vivik ramas Swammy are sending representatives to agencies across
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the federal government for people familiar with the matter said
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to begin preliminary interviews that will shaped the tech executive's
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enormous ambitions to tame Washington's sprawling bureaucracy. In recent days,
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aids with the non governmental Department of Government Efficiency d
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Department o of G Government E Efficiency Dodge, tied to
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President elect Donald Trump's transition team, have spoken with staffers
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at more than a dozen federal agencies, said the people,
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who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were
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not authorized to speak with the media. The agencies include
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the Treasury Department, the IRS, and the Departments of Homeland Security,
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Veterans Affairs, and Health and Human Services, the people said.
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At the same time, Musk and Ramaswami have significantly they
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stepped up hiring for their new entity, with more than
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fifty staffers already working out of the offices of space X,
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Musk's rocket building company in downtown Washington. Two of the
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people said Doage aims to have a staff of close
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to one hundred people in place about Trump's inauguration on
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January twentieth. They said, while much about Dodge remains unclear,
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including who is paying the salaries of these staffers or
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exactly how GODS representatives work with the formal transition team.
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The agency outreach reflects intensifying efforts by Musk and Ramaswami
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to propose what they say will be drastic cuts to
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federal spending and regularly regulations. Even as the scale of
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their project grows, Musk and Ramaswami are encountering a slew
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of obstacles, including reluctance among congressional Republicans to approve deep
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budget cuts and a skeptical career civil service. Two government
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employees said remarks Musk and Ramaswami have made about the
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civil service have made them wary of the entire Doage effort.
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Longtime civil servants, some who have built their careers learning
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the intricacies of the federal bureaucracy, are an awkward fit
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with Silicon valleys, fast moving and disruptive culture. Many in
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Washington regard the tech entrepreneurs as arrogant or naive about
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the complexity of reigning in government. The US presidential transition
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process traditionally involves teams from the incoming administration working with
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existing agency staff and officials on the transfer of power,
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including regular briefings. This year's change over is far smoother
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than it was four years ago, when the process was
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complicated by Trump's refusal to recognize the results of the election,
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but the uncertain status of Doges relative to the rest
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of the Trumpet transition team has raised new questions about
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who precisely is speaking for the incoming administration. In a
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potential nod to the myriad challenges facing those, Musk has
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begun tampering certain promises in his bid to achieve sweeping
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reform by reinventing the federal bureaucracy, eliminating entire agencies, shrinking
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the federal workforce, and slashing historic sums from the federal budget.
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In an interview Wednesday night at CES, the tech trade
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show in Las Vegas, Musk said Gods may fall short
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of his initial aim to cut two trillion in federal spending.
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I think we'll try for two trillion. I think that's
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like the best case outcome, but I do think that
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you kind of have to have some overach I think
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if we try for two trillion. We've got a good
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shot at getting one trillion, Musk said. The idea of
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a commission to cut waste in regulation, long disgust among conservatives,
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was taken up by Musk and Trump during last year's
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presidential election. Musk put two hundred and seventy seven million
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dollars toward electing Trump and other Republicans in twenty twenty four,
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and Trump has made the billionaire one of his most
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powerful advisors. After the election, Trump named Musk and Ramasswami
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as Doge's co leaders, assigned to identify government waste that
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the White House Office of Management and Budget would try
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to cut for a project name as a joking reference
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to a mean based cryptocurrency. Dodge has taken up numerous
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steps since the election to build a very real Washington operation.
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Over the past several weeks, Dodge has been deluged by
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applications that have poured him through direct messages on x
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Musk's social media site, where the group put out a
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public call for super high IQ small government revolutionaries willing
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to work eighty plus hours per week on unglamorous cost cutting.
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That led to swarms of applicants who sought to bring
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their experience and credentials to the attention of Muscar Ramaswami.
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In a blog post, Vine Hiermath, co founder of the
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tech company Loom, described four intense and intoxicating weeks of
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Doge related work after he became involved. Although he ultimately
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decided not to relocate to Washington for a job with Dodge.
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Hiermath said he had been added to multiple groups on
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the encrypted messaging app Signal app Signal, where Doge is
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conducting much of its initial work. Hire Math did not
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respond to request for comments. The crowd saurced call outs
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were followed by postings from more specifi rolls. Just after Christmas,
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Dodge said it was looking for it HR and financial
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staffers for full time salary positions. This week, it put
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out a request for software engineers and information security engineers
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for full time roles, advising applicants to send over a
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few bullet points demonstrating exceptional ability along with their cell
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phone numbers on x. Some users have listed their IQ
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scores in replies to Musk and Dodge and said they
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included them in their applications. Key leadership roles have also
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fallen into place. Steve Davis, the boring company president who
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oversaw steep cost cutting at Twitter now X after Musk
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bought it, is helping to oversee the entire effort, and
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deputies have been recruited to focus on narrower aspects of
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its agenda, such as legislation and regulation. According to two
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people familiar with the matter, Emil Michael, a former Ubber executive,
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is one of the people overseeing the effort to cut regulations,
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according to one person familiar with the matter, also speaking
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of the condition of Ammninity to reflect matters not yet
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made public, Trump has a nursed the appointment of Katie Miller,
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press secretary and communication director for former Vice President Mike
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Pince to Dodge. Trump also said in December that Bill mcgimley,
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the former White House Cabinet secretary, whom he'd previously named
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as White House Council, would serve instead as Dodge Council.
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It remains unclear exactly how Dodge will drive change. The
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White House budget request applies to spending in physical twenty
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twenty six, which doesn't begin until October first. Spending for
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the rest of the current physical years being hashed out
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on Capitol Hill by congressional Republicans, who already have voted
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overwhelmingly to boost spending for the Defense Department and agency.
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Dodge has vowed to target numerous party officials. Meanwhile, a
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quietly weary of approving big spending cuts at the same time,
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they are working to extend the expiring provisions of Trump's
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twenty seventeen tax legislation, which would reduce revenue by trillions
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of dollars, and is not clear how much weight Musk's
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star power will carry on Capitol Hill, where federal spending
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is often prized for its benefits to hometown constituents. The
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limits of Musk's influence were revealed in late December when
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Congress revised a stop gap spending bill he criticized, but
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separate legislation to implement money of the specific provisions he lambasted.
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As Musk's emissaries begin to make contact with federal officials,
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critical questions remain unresolved about the group's authority and responsibilities.
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The two federal employees expressed confusion about what Dodge is
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designed to do, including whether it has Trump's full backing.
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Every administration has to establish a relationship with its career
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people because it's the career people who keep the government going,
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said Bill Hoagland, senior vice president at the Bipartisan Policies Center,
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a nonpartisan think take. I think this is an important foray,
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but given what they have stated, it will be difficult
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for some career individuals to be cooperative with the Dolge
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people who are not elected and are more advisors and
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political appointees. Gary yours.
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Speaker 2: The next article is headlined Biden Administration sanctions Russia's oil
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giants and tanker fleet. The White House, now unconcerned about
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the effect on gas prices and inflation, blacklisted two of
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Russia's biggest oil producers and nearly two hundred the articles
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by Karen Diong the Young the Biden administration delivered a
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party blow to Russia's economy on Friday, targeting two It's
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the largest oil companies and one hundred and eighty three
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oils tankers. There what a senior official called the most
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significant sanctions yet against the Russian energy sector, the largest
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source of revenue for the Kremlin's war machine. The sweeping
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new sanctions also include measures against the long list of
27:59
other entities involved in virtually all sectors of Russia's energy business,
28:04
along with what officials described as a narrowing of the
28:08
US Treasure Department license that has allowed Russia to be
28:12
paid in dollars for its energy exports. The sanctions amounted
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and the sanctions announcement followed the release in recent weeks
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of billions more dollars worth of US military assistance for Kiev,
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as President Joe Biden seeks to solidify his legacy and
28:29
defense of Ukraine and lay the groundwork for continued pressure
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on Moscow by president like Donald Trump. We're in no
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position to speak for that next team, said one of
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three senior administrators Administration officials who briefed reporters of the
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new sanctions. It's entirely up to them to determine whether, when,
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and on what terms they might lift any sanctions were
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put in place. The officials spoke on the condition of
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anonymity under set by the White House, but the officials
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noted that a number of Russian lawmakers have urged we're
29:07
not Russian Republican lawmakers have urged Biden to take strong
29:11
economic action against Russia, and that the sanctions are authorized
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under the laws they give Congress the power to object
29:18
to any move to lift them. Asked if the Trump
29:24
team have been consulted about the majors in advance, National
29:28
Security Council spokesman John Kirby declined Friday to speak for
29:33
the incoming team. We have at every step and on
29:38
every major issue, the keeping the transition team informed of
29:42
our decisions, what we're doing, and why we're doing it.
29:46
Trump has called for a quick Sevilmo war in Ukraine,
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saying Thursday at a news conference preci in his Palmbrea
29:53
Florida residents that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to talk
29:58
and we are setting it up. Other officials in his
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orbit and clearly Michael Wolves his choice for a national
30:05
security advisor and press for step up sanctions if necessary
30:10
to put additional pressure on Putin to accede to an
30:13
eventual peace deal favorable to Kiev. The new majors arguably
30:18
put Trump in a better position to force negotiations by
30:22
arguing that his hands are tied by sanctions already employment.
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The next president must change course, Wolves argued in November
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to the pre election article of The Economist, America can
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use economic leverage, refuses to talk. Washington can, as mister
30:39
Trump argued, provide more weapons to Ukraine with fewer restrictions
30:44
on their use. Face with his pressure, mister Putin will
30:48
probably take the opportunity to wind the conflict down. Cremins
30:52
spokesman Dmitry Peskov, speaking before the widely anticipated sanctions were announced,
30:58
said fighting that the Bio administration was trying to make
31:02
things difficult with the incoming Trump team. Of course, he said,
31:06
we are aware that the administration was trying to leave
31:09
the most difficult legacy possible in bilateral relations to Trump
31:13
and his associates, Mescro said, declining to comment directly on
31:19
the ports of the new majors. In this context, another
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package of sanctions is certainly possible. It's all orders well.
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Biden and European allies have imposed a flood of sanctions
31:32
against Moscow since Russia's February of twenty twenty two invasion
31:37
of Ukraine. Many experts considered his reluctance to go through Russian.
31:41
Speaker 3: Oil the weak link in the economic warfare against trut
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Biden has been hesitant to go after the Russian oil
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revenues because of fears arise in gasoline prices and inflation,
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said Edward Fishman, senior research scholar, at Columbia University's Center
31:58
on Global Energy Policy.
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Speaker 2: Determination to do so now after his election laws marks
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the paradigm shift in the US economic pressure campaign. Senior
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Administration official contributed the timing to newly eased domestic and
32:14
global economic factors that provide more flexibility for movement. Forecasters
32:20
expect a surplus of oil on global markets this year
32:24
because of increased production in the United States, Canada and elsewhere,
32:29
and inflation has come down significantly in recent months. So
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the movement was right. Change to the moment was right
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to change of strategy, the efficient said. Other actions being
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taken include new sanctions a nearly eighty entities and individuals
32:45
involved in production and export of liquefied natural gas, as
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well as in the metals and mining sectors. The sanctions
32:53
targeted in a number of Russian oil executives, energy ministry officials,
32:59
and forward members of the los Angem State Nuclear Energy Company.
33:05
The Biden administration official noted that the new measures followed
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imposition in November of harsh financial sanctions on Russian banks
33:13
with international connections, and that Russia's Central Bank has raised
33:19
interest rate above twenty percent, while inflation there has risen
33:23
to nearly ten percent. Taken together, we believe our actions
33:27
are leaving a solid foundation upon which the next administration
33:31
can build, said the official, who predicted that they would
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cost Russia upwards of billions of dollars per month in
33:39
the revenue that it needs to fund this domestic arms
33:41
production and the cost of buying weapons and components from
33:44
countries such as Oban and China. This new set of
33:48
sanctions were further forced to kreml them to make hard
33:51
decisions between sustaining and peign economy and the short line
33:55
and supporting the health and overall economy of Russian and
33:59
the second instance. The newly announced sanctions include designation by
34:05
the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets control of the
34:09
third and fourth largest Russian oil producers and exporters, gas
34:13
Chrome Neft and sturgutendfs Gas, both of which are involved
34:20
in exploration production and overseas sales, along with more than
34:24
two dozen other subsidiaries. What this does is, if for
34:29
all practical purpose, means that you cannot do business with
34:32
these energy majors if you are trading with dollars, the
34:36
second official sent. In addition, this official set by placing
34:41
sanctions on one hundred and eighty three shipping vessels, a
34:44
large part of Russia's shadow fleet. They're going to have
34:48
to find alternative ships to deliver oil to different markets.
34:53
Britain also announce the two Russian Oil Giant also sanctioned
34:58
the two Russian Oil Giant. The Foreign Office set in
35:01
the statement that these energy companies produced over one million
35:06
barrels of wall per day between them, worth roughly twenty
35:09
three billion dollars a year at current prices. Shares in
35:12
gas Prom Neft and Sturgeon Neff costs fell on the
35:17
Moscow Stock Exchange on Friday, following reports of the planned sanctions.
35:22
Gas Gasprom Nef had fallen two point five to three
35:27
percent and Sturgeon Guten Goss had declined by two point
35:31
two percent by late afternoon, according to the exchange website.
35:36
Russia's energy sector has been only partially affected by earlier sanctions,
35:42
under which the United States and European allies set a
35:45
maximum price of sixty dollars a barrel at which participating
35:49
countries could legally purchase Russian oil in a global system
35:53
based on dollar transactions. But Moscow's continued to find million
35:58
Western markets for exports to get around the price cap
36:01
and used as shadow ships under various flags that allegedly
36:05
use falsified documents and reported return off tracking systems during
36:10
ship the ship transfers at sea. The United States, written
36:15
in Europe, sanctioned more than one hundred and fifty ships
36:18
last year. The new sanctions go further than previous measures
36:22
to target Russian vessels evading the price cap, but still
36:26
apply to only minority of the tanker fleet. The Wall
36:32
United Services Institute, a British defense think tank, estimates that
36:37
up to one thousand largely aging vessels are in use,
36:42
often with shadowy ownership and documentation. The officials did not
36:46
specify the new narrowing changes in the US pressure License
36:50
that has exempted Russian energy products from sanctions as long
36:54
as the cap was not exceeded, a loophole that many
36:58
have argued previous sanctions weaker than they appear, but an
37:03
amanda to that license issued on fighting at the Treasury
37:06
Department appear to indicate that unless the Trump administration decides
37:10
to reverse it, the exemptions will expire. As of March twelve,
37:15
the primary current purchasers of Russian oil are China and India.
37:20
Although officials said that the new measures do not target
37:23
any particular buyers and they expect Moscow to continue to
37:27
find new ways to circumvent sanctions, the reality is that
37:31
all the countries that are purchasers of Russian oil have
37:35
clear alternatives in the marketplace. Today, the second official said,
37:39
has increased global supply keeps prices down and the cost
37:43
of doing business with Russia grows higher.
37:47
Speaker 1: Else no one has a home. What fire took from
37:56
one California neighborhood. The mind bending scale of residential ruin
38:02
from the Los Angeles fires is slowly coming into focus,
38:07
particularly in Altadena, a tight knit community where as many
38:13
as seven thousand structures burned. And there's a picture of
38:20
Maggie Martin weeping as she's hugged by her longtime friend
38:24
Shannon Hahn after finding a cherished family item at the
38:29
home she grew up in. The two are nearly in
38:34
absolute rubble, ashes, bricks down, screen pieces pipes lying around.
38:47
Absolutely tragic. This article is by Joshua Bartlow out of Altadena.
38:55
Morale Nazarian has been waking at night thinking about what
39:00
she could have saved, family passports, important files. The toddler
39:07
art of her two grown daughters. The fifty nine year
39:10
old travel agent evacuated her home in sweatpants and a
39:15
T shirt on the night of the fire, not in
39:18
a panic, but because she had every intention to return.
39:23
She loved it here in Altadena, below the dry hills,
39:27
on the outskirts of Los Angeles. And it was savvy
39:31
about fire. She was savvy about fire. It had always
39:36
stayed far enough away. Now its handiwork lay before her,
39:41
the family home and all it saw blackened, twisted and gone.
39:49
My husband's brother lost his house. We lost our house.
39:55
My husband's partner lost his house. No one has a home,
40:00
she said Thursday. And there's another picture here of Ojan
40:07
Dediturian and his wife Ariana de Durian looking for treasured
40:13
family belongings Thursday, and the remains of her childhood home,
40:18
which was destroyed in the Eton fire in Altadena. Her
40:22
parents moved to the house in nineteen ninety four. And again,
40:27
it's absolute rubble. It could be in the middle of
40:32
a Middle Eastern country at war. The man bending scale
40:38
of residential ruin from the multiple Los Angeles fires is
40:42
slowly coming into focus. Officials said Friday that about seven
40:47
thousand structures had been damaged or destroyed in the Altadena area,
40:51
a community of forty two thousand people. I would tell
40:56
you it looks like a war zone. I've never seen
40:58
anything like it, Katherine Barber, a Los Angeles County supervisor,
41:03
said at a Friday news conference on text chains. In
41:08
social media, neighborhood groups, Altadena residents have been commiserating about
41:14
their losses the historic homes and family businesses, parks and shops,
41:20
churches and mosques that had been taken from them. Fox's Restaurant,
41:27
which had stood for decades, the stage for the summer
41:30
concert series at Farnsworth Park, the McNally hous home of
41:36
the co founder of the Rand McNally map company, The
41:40
Money Museum, known as the Happiest place in the World,
41:44
Altadena Hardware, where residents shopped for more than eighty years.
41:51
I drove by it that night and saw it on fire,
41:54
and I couldn't believe it, said Jim Orlandini, who own
42:00
owns this store on Mariposa Street. The eaton Fire is
42:05
one of five active blazes across Los Angeles that have
42:09
consumed more than thirty five thousand acres and displaced more
42:14
than one hundred thousand people from their homes. The vice
42:18
chair of the Altadena Town Council, Nick Arnzen, estimated that
42:23
more than half of the community's businesses were lost in
42:26
the fire. He said Altadena has become such a popular
42:31
location for filming television shows and movies. The series Excuse me,
42:38
the series Shrinking is a recent example that it will
42:43
be hard to avoid the constant reminders of what's disappeared
42:48
over and Oval. Myself and other Altadenons are going to
42:53
feel the pain of that loss, he said. Arzen's own
42:58
home was destroyed, along with those of other members of
43:02
the town council. We're all going through the same tragedy,
43:06
he said. Residents passed checkpoints and police take Thursday to
43:12
reach where their homes once stood. On block after block.
43:16
They poured buckets of water on the embers of their belongings,
43:20
scrambled to deal with gas leaks, and salvage to what
43:23
they could. Assessing the wreckage mean he felt shocked and
43:27
bewildered that the blaze, known as the Eaton Fire could
43:31
penetrate so deeply into the suburbs. They questioned whether authorities
43:37
did enough to defend the area, as hydrants failed and
43:41
firefighters triarched other erupting the blaze. In the wealthy encloud
43:46
of Pacific Palisades, Ordolini spent Wednesday dosing flames with hoses
43:53
at the nearby homes of both of his sons. Their
43:57
hoses survived, while neighbors all around burned. Or Landini was
44:01
frustrated by the firefighters he saw who were left to
44:05
just watch the destruction. There were times we were at
44:09
a house and the houses are burning, and there's a
44:12
firetruck and a crew sitting there, and we're like, what
44:15
are you guys doing. They're like, we can't do anything.
44:20
We don't have any water. And there's a man trying
44:25
to put out a smoldering fire at his son in
44:28
law's house, destroyed by the Eaton fire, and you see
44:32
him pouring a bucket of water through a piece of concrete.
44:36
It looks like he's got a mask. Firefighters were still
44:41
battling blazes Thursday, but without hydrants, relying on the five
44:46
hundred gallons in their fire engines and the water tankers
44:49
driving around doing resupply. But the winds were calmer, allowing
44:54
firefighters to patrol for hotspots and dose blazes that flared
45:00
when the building at the Altadena golf Course erupted around
45:03
midday Thursday, at least six fire trucks and more than
45:07
twenty personnel showed up. We're going to do what we
45:10
can right now while it's calm, and try to go
45:13
and prevent other stuff like this, said Battalion Chief Scott Crosby,
45:19
a strike team leader from Los Angeles County Fire Department,
45:23
as he monitored the flames. When the winds are as
45:27
strong as they were Tuesday, he said, it makes firefighting
45:30
nearly impossible. There's nothing you can do. You just have
45:36
to follow the wind, let the wind do its thing,
45:39
and you just have to control it from behind and
45:42
get as much as you can, he said. But you
45:47
saw what the damage was, he added. John Greg Haynes
45:54
seventy five, a retired computer design engineer, lost his home
45:59
in the nineteen ninety one Oakland Hills firestorm. He moved
46:03
to Altadena, not realizing the fire risk. Over the thirty
46:08
years he's lived there, he can recall three or four
46:11
brush fires in the canyon that left ash scars but
46:15
little damage to the community. He photographed this fire, which
46:21
started behind his house at six fifteen pm in the
46:24
hills of Eton Canyon when it was still small. That
46:28
didn't last long this time because the winds were so intense,
46:33
it just spread like crazy, he said. Eleven people are
46:38
known to have died in the Los Angeles fires, officials
46:42
said six in the Altadena area. One of them was
46:47
Anthony Mitchell, sixty seven, a retired salesman and amputee who
46:52
used a wheelchair and lived with his sons. According to
46:55
his daughter, Hayjim White, they didn't make it out. White
47:01
Adouella in Warren, Arkansas, said Thursday, it's like a ton
47:07
of bricks just fell on me. The Eton fire started
47:11
in the hills among the popular hiking trails that attract
47:14
people to Altadena, then raced down a rocky gulch and
47:18
crossed a narrow stream before leaping into the neighborhood, according
47:22
to residents who watched its advance. The cause of the
47:27
fire remains under investigation. Chief Jeovity John F. O'Brien of
47:33
the Los Angeles County Fire Department said the proximity to
47:39
the hills, which proved so devastating, is a major draw
47:43
for Altadena and out of the Frase suburb, where you
47:47
might see a coyote or a black bear as easily
47:50
as a TV writer or movie star. People in Altadena
47:55
love the mountains and wildlife. It's the community. Very people
48:01
are very caring. They look out for each other, said
48:05
Cindy Ott, sixty seven, a teaching assistant at Pasadena Christian School,
48:11
standing outside the ruins of her hundred year old home.
48:18
The holidays season was a particular joy. Residents and tourist
48:22
alike came to watch the twinkling lights on Christmas Tree
48:25
Lane and to see the Balian Mansion, built upon an
48:29
ice cream fortune in its winter finery. Nazarian used to
48:35
throw a party at her house on East Mindocino Street
48:40
every Christmas for her daughter's school friends. She'd make hot chocolate,
48:45
put them in Santa hats with their names on them.
48:48
The whole group would walk to Balian Mansion and as
48:51
a joke, she'd make the kids sing. Everybody would take
48:56
pictures of them and think they were a real choal
48:58
with hot chocolate in their hands. It was a tradition,
49:03
a lot of memories, she said. While there are Mediterranean
49:09
styled mansions and stately tude homes behind gates and trimmed hedges,
49:14
here there are also more modest ranches in Bungalows. Nazarian
49:19
lived in a one story, three bedroom home with a pool,
49:23
a comfortable, cozy family home that Makids loved, she said.
49:29
Two weeks ago she started a remodel. As she stood
49:33
outside the burned building, she was texting trying to counsel
49:37
orders she'd made for the renovation. We're lost. We actually
49:42
don't know what to do, she said. It's been overwhelming.
49:46
One of her daughters, she said, has been quiring and
49:49
throwing up. We want to stay here, but we don't
49:52
know the path now. Nazarian's father ran a shoe repara
49:57
shop in Altadena for thirty three years. She attended John
50:02
Muir High School. Classmates had been reaching out to check
50:05
on her since the fire. Those enduring bonds are what
50:10
make the neighborhood special, she said. Her daughters, who both
50:14
got married last year and moved out, sifted through the
50:17
wreckage with their friends, some of the same kids she
50:21
led down the street in Santa Hats. They had come
50:25
to help her. Home was gone, but Azarian had left
50:31
was Alta Dina What a report Gary.
50:38
Speaker 2: Well Like companion piece as headlined why firefighters say the
50:43
Los Angeles blazers have been unstoppable and the Pacific Palisades
50:49
the monster fire quickly outmatched anything firefighters were ready to handle.
50:54
It's articles by Scott Dance, The fire in the hills
50:58
above the Pacific Palisades was a monster from the start,
51:01
spanning the size of one hundred and fifty football fields
51:05
within a half an hour at an area larger than Manhattan.
51:09
A day after that, it would take four days before
51:12
firefighters could establish even a short line of containment around
51:17
and yet well before the Palisades firing nighted on Tuesday
51:21
morning for operations had begun for aggressive firefighting based on
51:26
forecasts of dangerously fierce and dry in the winds across
51:30
southern California. The Los Angeles Fire Department that morning ready
51:34
more than a dozen extra engines, mostly in high risk
51:38
locations to the north in the San Fernando Valley, along
51:42
with the ninety eight they keeps it they're ready in
51:44
its stations. The blaze quickly outmatched anything they were ready
51:48
to handle. Los Angeles Fire Department took the rarest step
51:52
of recalling all of its off threety firefighters for service,
51:56
while also gathering crews. Some departments across southern California when
52:00
the hurricane force winding GUS prevented firefighting by air on
52:04
Tuesday and early Wednesday. Crews worked from the ground by
52:07
the hundreds, helping people escape and scrambling to protect whatever
52:11
property they could, but they could do nothing to stop
52:15
the flames. Some frightened and angry Angelinos have criticized the
52:20
firefighting response after reports that overtaxed fire hundrants ran dry
52:24
and home stood burning. Was seeing a few firefighters in sight,
52:29
where Karen Bass responded on Birth of the Wedge to
52:33
evaluate what may have gone wrong. Once the fire crisis
52:36
ends in California, Governor Avin lusom On Fighting called for
52:40
an independent investigation into the water storages, but it is
52:44
not clear how soon any failures become to light. Though
52:48
winds were easy on Friday, yesterday, danger was set and
52:51
a gust or forecast to pick up again early next week.
52:55
The consequences already stand with the costly series of blazers
53:00
in US history. Four days into the harrowing episode, neither
53:05
of the Palisades Fire nor the massive Even fire, which
53:09
together have killed at least eleven people, officials have said,
53:13
and distorted thousands of structures across thirty four thousand acres
53:17
was more than ten percent contained. City officials, fire officials,
53:22
and firefighting experts described this as a disaster that no
53:26
amount of additional firefighting or soares of water could have prevented.
53:31
The combination of a historic windstorm and a fast developing
53:35
drought during what is normally California's rainy season produced fire
53:40
weather so extreme it stroked what LA Fire Department fire
53:44
chief Kristin Caroly said as one of the most destructive
53:48
natural disasters in the history of Los Angeles. For some
53:53
fire officials, the situation was so extraordinarily that they dismissed
53:58
quickly any second, instead emphasizing the possibility of fighting so
54:03
many fires and says extreme conditions even in fire savvy
54:08
southern California. It demonstrated what climate Sciences is called a
54:13
compound disaster when the effects of human caused climate change,
54:17
including a record global heat and an increasing whip latch
54:21
between floods and drought, amplifying the convergence of otherwise ordinary
54:27
natural and man manufacturers to create an overwhelming crisis. At
54:33
a Wednesday news conference providing updates on the even fire,
54:38
one fire chief stress that little could have made any
54:41
difference to keep the disaster from becoming such a historical one.
54:45
Bobby Cleary said, we could have had much more one,
54:49
but those wind gusts, we were not stopping that fire.
54:53
Fire Chief Sad Augustine said Bobby clear we could have
55:00
had much more water. Thought with those wind gusts, we
55:03
were not going to stop that fire. When winds are
55:07
as strong as they weren't Tuesday and Wednesday, reaching one
55:10
hundred miles an hour on mountaintops and surpassing sixty miles
55:13
an hour along the coast. Firefighters are severely limited in
55:18
their tactics. Experts said they make it too dangerous and
55:22
all but impossible to establish any fire perimeter. They glow
55:26
fights as tall as two hundred feet as tall as
55:30
two hundred feet horizontally, and said balls of red hot
55:34
emperors flying at speeds they can carry them a mile
55:37
or two away where they start what or known as
55:40
spot fire. Instead of having a line of fire, you
55:44
have a fire that spreads everywhere all at once, said
55:48
or No Trovet, chair of the Department of Fire Protection
55:51
Engineering at the University of and Extreme Winds. It is
55:57
also insae for helicopters to fly the load of a ground,
56:00
said Joe Tannai and Wildfire Urban Interface Fire Programs coordinator
56:05
for the International Association of Firefighters. Even if firefighters can
56:10
attack by air, such strong winds make water drops ineffective
56:14
at extinguishing flames. He said. The lack of firefighting by
56:19
air was a critical deficiency that persisted from Tuesday night
56:22
through Wednesday. Early fire officials said in one event has
56:25
allowed other devastating California fires to spread in the past,
56:30
including a Wolsey fire which burned across the footprint just
56:33
west of the Palisades Fire in twenty eighteen. Without helicopters
56:39
this kind of a brush fire, we cannot stop it
56:42
on the ground, said Margaret Stewart, a Los Angeles Fire
56:46
Department spoke for him, perhaps demonstrating what a difference aircraft
56:51
can make. A fire that threatened the Hollywood Hills late
56:56
Wednesday was quickly contained and limited to forty three acres.
57:00
Palmer winds allowed aircraft to dust flames with water from
57:04
nearby reservoirs. This fire was rapidly and aggressively attacked Crowleys
57:09
had on Thursday morning. It was perhaps the first reprieve
57:13
from the conditions that had otherwise rendered firefighting efforts futile
57:17
and dramatica limited any progress crews could even hope to make.
57:22
As the Eaton fire burned through the Alatina community on Wednesday,
57:27
one team of exhausted firefighters spent twenty eight hours battling
57:31
fires at fifteen separate homes in Augustine. The Pasadena fire chief,
57:36
they didn't save any of them, he said, but they
57:39
prevented two or three blocks away from burning down. There
57:43
was an allegations shared on social media that the La
57:46
fire crews were less prepared to battle the boys because
57:49
of cutness. The city Fire Department's budget budget document show
57:54
seventeen point six million dollar reduction from the fire department,
57:57
putting its twenty four twenty five budget at about eight
58:01
hundred and twenty million. Fast is Misconcerns is confusion, saying
58:06
that the cuts did not include money that was being
58:08
allocated separately for souries and other fire department expenses. Any
58:13
reductions did not affect the response to the fire, she said,
58:18
and also that we are out of time, so wrap
58:21
it up.
58:23
Speaker 1: Indeed, we are out of time, and indeed, I hope
58:26
everybody is warm and comfortable. We did get snow, but
58:31
not like what was predicted, thank goodness. So stay home,
58:37
don't worry about being anywhere, and we will be back
58:40
next Thursday. Please stay tuned for continued programming on Radio
58:45
app