The Issue Is Podcast: Xavier Becerra, Gloria Allred, John Phillips
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We take on discussions and debates with top newsmakers about the most controversial and interesting issues impacting the state, hosted by FOX 11's Elex Michaelson. For showtimes and more information, go to TheIssueIsShow.com.
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The Issue Is Podcast contains the audio from the broadcast and often includes extended interviews of the guests we have on the show. The podcast is available on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Audioboom.
Host Elex Michaelson also co-anchors FOX 11 News weeknights at 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. with Christine Devine.
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Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
JD Vance attacks Newsom and LA mayor while misnaming senator arrested by the FBI
JD Vance, the US vice-president, accused California governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass of encouraging violent immigration protests as he used an in Los Angeles to rebut criticism from state and local officials that the Trump administration fueled the unrest by sending in federal officers. The centerpiece of Vance's Friday visit was a 14-minute news conference, during which he delivered remarks and took questions from correspondents selected by the White House. Local reporters were barred from attending, according to Elex Michaelson, the host of Fox LA's local evening news report. 'It's disappointing' Michaelson wrote on X, that the vice-president 'did not allow local reporters inside his Los Angeles press event. At this inflection point in L.A. history, they only took questions from national reporters.' When a correspondent for the far-right Daily Wire, who was selected by the White House to be the official pool reporter traveling with Vance, asked about a series of Democrats who have been placed in handcuffs recently by federal officers, Vance attempted to joke about California senator Alex Padilla who was forcibly detained by the FBI in the same location last week. Vance, however, called him 'Jose Padilla', using the name of an American citizen who was accused of planning to detonate a radioactive dirty bomb on behalf of al-Qaida in 2002. 'I was hoping Jose Padilla would be here to ask a question,' Vance said. 'I guess he decided not to show up because there wasn't a theater. And that's all it is.' Katie Porter, a former Democratic member of congress who is running for governor of California, called Vance's remark: 'Despicable-something you'd expect from an internet troll.' A spokesperson for Padilla, Tess Oswald, noted in a social media post that Padilla and Vance were formerly colleagues in the Senate and said that Vance should know better. 'He should be more focused on demilitarizing our city than taking cheap shots,' Oswald said. The best public interest journalism relies on first-hand accounts from people in the know. If you have something to share on this subject you can contact us confidentially using the following methods. Secure Messaging in the Guardian app The Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories. Messages are end to end encrypted and concealed within the routine activity that every Guardian mobile app performs. This prevents an observer from knowing that you are communicating with us at all, let alone what is being said. If you don't already have the Guardian app, download it (iOS/Android) and go to the menu. Select 'Secure Messaging'. SecureDrop, instant messengers, email, telephone and post See our guide at for alternative methods and the pros and cons of each. Responding to the outrage, Taylor Van Kirk, a spokesperson for Vance, said of the vice-president: 'He must have mixed up two people who have broken the law.' Vance's visit to Los Angeles to tour a multi-agency federal joint operations center and a mobile command center came as demonstrations calmed down in the city and a curfew was lifted this week. That followed over a week of clashes between protesters and police and outbreaks of vandalism and looting that followed immigration raids across southern California. Trump's dispatching of his top emissary to Los Angeles at a time of turmoil surrounding the Israel-Iran war and the US's future role in it signals the political importance Trump places on his hard-line immigration policies. Vance echoed the president's harsh rhetoric toward California Democrats as he sought to blame them for the protests in the city. 'Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass, by treating the city as a sanctuary city, have basically said that this is open season on federal law enforcement,' Vance said after he toured federal immigration enforcement offices. 'What happened here was a tragedy,' he added. 'You had people who were doing the simple job of enforcing the law and they had rioters egged on by the governor and the mayor, making it harder for them to do their job. That is disgraceful. And it is why the president has responded so forcefully.' Newsom's spokesperson Izzy Gardon said in a statement: 'The vice-president's claim is categorically false. The governor has consistently condemned violence and has made his stance clear.' The friction in Los Angeles began on 6 June, when federal agents conducted a series of immigration sweeps in the region that have continued since. Amid the protests and over the objections of state and local officials, Trump ordered the deployment of roughly 4,000 national guard troops and 700 marines to the second-largest US city, home to 3.8 million people. Trump has said that without the military's involvement, Los Angeles 'would be a crime scene like we haven't seen in years'. A review of Vance's movements on Friday suggests that he had very little time to evaluate the situation in the city. His flight from Washington touched down at Los Angeles International airport at 1:35 pm local time. Vance's motorcade arrived at the federal building in Westwood that is being guarded by active-duty marines at 2pm. He started his news conference at 3:11pm. It is not clear exactly how much of the intervening 71 minutes Vance spent meeting marines, federal agents and local police officers, but he devoted at least part of that time doing an interview with the Fox News national correspondent Bill Melugin. At 3:30 pm, Vance departed the federal building for a Republican National Committee event. By 6:05pm, he was back on Air Force Two at LAX and ready for departure just four and a half hours after he had arrived.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Border Patrol says California, LA 'sanctuary' policies force public patrols
The Brief ICE raids and protests against them continue popping up across Southern California. Border Patrol has been in Los Angeles for about a week, working with ICE. Border Patrol says they'll be here "until the job is done." LOS ANGELES - While anti-ICE protests continue to pop up across Southern California, FOX 11 interviewed Border Patrol on Wednesday to discuss their current operations occurring across the Los Angeles area. "It is a little bit out of the ordinary to see Border Patrol here in Los Angeles," said Assistant Chief David Kim from Border Patrol's El Centro Sector. What we know Border Patrol has been working with ICE in the Los Angeles area for about a week, following President Donald Trump's order to expand deportation efforts. "We're here in Los Angeles, deep in the heart of sanctuary territory," said Kim. "It is a lot more difficult to make these arrests." On Tuesday, Kim said crowds of people followed Border Patrol agents to a parking lot in Pico Rivera. They had been apprehending non-U.S. citizens outside a Walmart. SUGGESTED: Video showing ICE takedown of US citizen in Pico Rivera parking lot sparks community outrage In video from the scene shared with FOX 11 by viewers, a struggle can be seen taking place between a Walmart employee and Border Patrol agents. A U.S. citizen was arrested as a result of the struggle. "The narrative right now is just a U.S. citizen was arrested for no reason," said Kim. "But, in fact, that subject punched two agents and is now in custody facing federal charges for assault." What they're saying According to Kim, the deportation efforts taking place at car washes, work places, and parking lots are amplified by sanctuary immigration policies in California and Los Angeles. Instead of having a handful of agents in local jails, Kim says they have to have more agents on the street carrying out immigration enforcement operations. RELATED: LA ICE protests have cost the city nearly $20 million: See the numbers "We don't have support from the state legislators here," said Kim. "That's forcing us to go out and do roving patrols." FOX 11 asked how they pick targets while carrying out "roving patrols". "Without giving away some of the tactics out there, the vast majority of these roving patrols would just be consensual encounters," said Kim. "We know where to look, and we know the indicators." The other side In recent weeks, some residents have expressed their concerns and fears associated with these apprehensions and deportations. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass says the raids are wrong. "When you raid Home Depots and work places, when you tear parents and children apart, and when you run armored caravans through our streets, you're not trying to keep anyone safe," said Mayor Bass. Kim pushed back against Bass' claims, saying that when he and his team were doing roving patrols in a Home Depot, they found an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, "who back in 2015 had sexual intercourse with a minor under 16." What's next Border Patrol says they'll be in the Los Angeles area helping ICE "until the job is done." "Immigrants, those that are here legally, have nothing to worry about," said Kim. "But, if you are here illegally, my recommendation is to self-deport. If we find you, you will get arrested." The Source Information in this story is from an interview with Assistant Chief David Kim from Border Patrol's El Centro Sector, comments from Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and previous FOX 11 reports.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
Unless the Trump family secretly built a U.S. factory, industry experts say the $500 made-in-America smartphone is a fantasy
Donald Trump's family business is putting the president's name behind something that few have dared to produce in years: a made-in-America smartphone. The Trump Organization, led by the president's eldest sons, said on Monday that it has licensed Donald Trump's name to a new wireless service and a gold-colored phone. The T1, as the device is called, is supposed to be available in August for $499, and is 'proudly designed and built in the United States,' the company said in a statement. But the patriotic pitch drew immediate skepticism, and not just over President Trump trying to cash in again while in office. Several tech industry insiders questioned whether selling a made-in-America phone is even possible within just a few months, considering most electronics manufacturing is done overseas because of expensive domestic labor, a shortage of skilled workers, and a lack of suppliers. 'As someone who's spent over a decade building a secure, privacy-first smartphone, focusing on manufacturing in the U.S., and I can say this with confidence: Producing a fully U.S.-made phone isn't something you spin up overnight,' said Todd Weaver, CEO of Purism, the only company currently producing a U.S.-made smartphone. 'If the Trump phone is promising a $499 price tag with domestic manufacturing, this announcement looks to be classic vaporware.' Purism's U.S.-made phone, the Liberty Phone, costs $650 to produce, according to Weaver, and retails for $2,000. The markup covers some of the additional administrative costs for security-conscious customers who want to verify the phone's supply chain, along with Purism's profit. The T1, in contrast, would retail for just a fraction of that price, raising questions about how such a U.S.-made device would be profitable. The Trump Organization didn't disclose which company will make the T1, or where it will be produced. It only gave some technical specifications, including that it will run on Google's Android operating system, come with a fingerprint sensor and facial recognition for unlocking, and have a 6.8-inch screen. The product page for the phone is also riddled with errors and omissions. It described the device as having a '5000mAh long life camera' (it should say 'battery,' an error that was subsequently fixed) and '12GB Ram storage' (RAM is generally referred to as memory, since any data stored in RAM is erased when the device is switched off), while neglecting to disclose an all-important piece of information: the kind of chips that will go into it. Wayne Lam, an analyst with TechInsights, said available information about the phone 'doesn't suggest it is a competitive phone design' compared with higher-end devices like Apple's iPhone. He called the specs for the T1 'underwhelming.' Manufacturing phones in the U.S., at least by major companies, is widely considered to be a lost cause. These days, their devices and components are almost entirely produced in Asia. Executives say U.S. manufacturing is too expensive in comparison, and that there aren't enough suppliers and skilled workers to get the job done. Even if a company wanted to try its luck, setting up manufacturing of a U.S.-made phone could take years—not just a few months. A business would need time to line up suppliers, recruit workers, and set up a production facility. Donald Trump's son Eric may have hinted at how the T1 will get around the problem. In an interview with podcaster Benny Johnson, on The Benny Show, he indicated that, initially, the phone may be made overseas. 'Eventually all the phones will be built in the United States of America,' Eric said. 'We need to bring manufacturing back.' Of course, President Trump has made reshoring U.S. manufacturing a priority with his 'Liberation Day' tariffs in April and attacks on Apple for manufacturing its iPhones in Asia. Any imported T1 phones, or components, would, theoretically, be subject to his import levies. In addition to the phone, Trump will also give his name to a wireless service, called Trump Mobile, that will cost $47.45 monthly and come with up to 20 GB of data. The price is a not-so-subtle reference to his two terms as president. The Trump Organization did not say who it's partnering with on the wireless service or device, but tucked away in the website's terms of use is a reference to the service being powered by Liberty Mobile Wireless, itself a 'virtual' carrier that uses other companies' networks. Wireless coverage will come from the nation's three biggest wireless providers, the Trump Organization said. Ross Rubin, an analyst with Reticle Research, said Trump Mobile's wireless service is more expensive than comparable carrier plans, like T-Mobile's Metro and Verizon's Total, along with discount provider Boost Mobile. Plus, he said, some of those carriers will give new customers a free phone when they sign up. Weaver, of Purism, brought up one complication when it comes to the Trump Organization claiming a product is made in the USA. The Federal Trade Commission has strict rules that spell out when companies can and can't market a product as being homegrown. 'Unless the Trump family secretly built out a secure, onshore or nearshore fab operation over years of work without anyone noticing, it's simply not possible to deliver what they're promising,' Weaver said. This story was originally featured on
