What happens when the rich finally leave?

Added: 2026-06-01

[00:00:02]Tax [music] the rich sounds easy until they start to leave. But how on earth can they balance the budget when all of those tax dollars have gone to other states?

[00:00:11]>> Let's go to Washington state, not Washington DC, where businesses and high netw worth individuals are fleeing among them a [music] manufacturer Delta Cam Shaft, which is leaving the state after nearly 50 years with its owner citing rising crime, rising taxes, and a worsening political climate. It's pretty grim, but the mayor of Seattle seems to think it's a big fat joke.

[00:00:34]>> I think the claims that millionaires are going to leave our state are like super overblown. And if you know the ones that leave, like bye. Um, so [laughter] >> John, that particular individual has barely held a real job in her life, has built nothing, built no wealth. And that's her attitude to those who are doing all the heavy lifting in in in her state.

[00:01:03]>> Yeah. And that attitude is surprisingly common. We see it in New York where Zoran Mandani did that crazy video where he's standing in front of Ken Griffin's uh apartment building Griffin like he wants someone to uh to assassinate him or something. I mean, these attitudes are just outrageous. We need to study [clears throat] basics economics in Indianapolis. Same attitude of uh they're just as happy seemingly to drive out businesses and drive out and of course the reaction to that is that people are leaving those cities and they're moving to cities where there's a good business climate and where they can be safer.

[00:01:42]>> Yeah, of course they are.

[00:01:43]>> And we saw the same attitude from the New York uh governor Kathy Hokll. But then when it actually happened, when people did start fleeing, she's uh done a 180. She's asking for them to come back and to contribute to the state. And I think we're going to hear similar regret from the likes of Lauren Vandani and Katie Wilson. But let's stick with Katie Wilson, the mayor of Seattle.

[00:02:06]>> Let's hear her argue against CCTV, saying it puts the immigrant community at risk. And let's hear her say this while we see clear footage of Ahmed Abdullah Osman who beat a frail 77year-old man in Seattle and was caught thanks to CCTV.

[00:02:25]>> This is legislation that will expand CCTV cameras that could potentially be taken control of by the Trump administration. And this is legislation that was opposed by immigrants rights groups, by civil liberties groups, and by the member of color caucus in the legislature. and I'll quote from their letter, "This technology and technology similar to it has recently been in the news for its failure to be meaningfully and consistently secured, leading to breaches that could result in sensitive data being shared by ICE and putting our immigrant and refugee communities at risk."

[00:02:58]>> John, these socialist mayors are a menace.

[00:03:01]>> This makes me so mad. Why is she so concerned about the immigrant population being put at risk? A mayor should protect all the people in her community.

[00:03:09]She shouldn't single out the immigrant community and protect them more than citizens. That is completely wrong.

[00:03:15]>> Not just as far as economics goes. They are economic vandals, but they're dangerous ideologues when it comes to law and order.

[00:03:24]>> Exactly.

[00:03:25]>> Well, this is a great example where Katie Wilson doesn't want to install cameras that will prevent violent crimes and also help to solve violent crimes because they might make illegal immigrants nervous. and she starts talking about the Trump administration as if that's got something to do with it. Her priorities are insane. But Rita, you do have to wonder why do people vote for politicians [music] like this? I mean, she didn't make a secret of her views when she ran for mayor of Seattle.

[00:03:53]I would say that to a great extent, citizens in some of these blue cities are getting what they voted for.

[00:04:00][laughter] >> Absolutely. And they keep voting for more. John Hinderka, thank you so much for your time tonight.

[00:04:07]>> [music] >> The Spencer Pratt campaign to be mayor of LA got another boost when supporters put together this latest ad.

[00:04:15]>> Spencer Pratt. Woohoo.

[00:04:24]Darth Vader.

[00:04:25]>> You didn't finish burning the city to the ground in your first turn. Make sure you finish the job in your second.

[00:04:30]>> The only thing that can stop us is someone telling the truth. As long as they don't have any hope, the city's ours. [snorts] >> Nobody's ever done this before. No one's ever spoken truth to power in LA.

[00:05:02]If one man's brave enough to think things can change, everyone will realize things can change.

[00:05:07]>> You need to stop him.

[00:05:12]>> Joining me now is Emmy award-winning journalist and host of Stella News, Stella Esco. Stella >> Spencer Pratt. Is he still an outsider?

[00:05:22]He seems to be closing the gap very quickly with the incumbent Karen Bass.

[00:05:26]But I guess she's got all the institutional support behind her.

[00:05:31]>> But Spencer Pratt seems to have Hollywood behind him and these ads are very polished.

[00:05:37]>> You're right, Rita. Thank you for having me on. I got to tell you, you know, she's got the money. She's got the establishment money, but the brilliance behind Spencer Pratt's campaign is something Los Angeles has not seen. I grew up in Los Angeles. I lived there since I was 9 years old. Los Angeles is unrecognizable.

[00:05:57]Skid Row where they have homeless people living in used to be. It was called Skid Row because it's a row. It's 50 blocks now. The homeless industrial complex. I [music] mean, Bill Rita billions of dollars have been spent to make the homelessness go away and it's only gotten worse. So the feeling in Los Angeles is yeah he's an outsider meaning he's not establishment [music] but he was born and raised in Los Angeles and there is hope because he is talking about the issues that matter to Angelinos the most and Rita his home burned in the Palisades his mother's home [music] burned down and you know what it he's got the best story and the best story always wins he's got a personal stake his home burned down his mother's home burned down he was part of that whole fire and He suffered the consequences and saw all of the government mistakes that led to it. The water reservoirs being dry, the fire engines being improperly repaired, so there weren't enough fire engines to respond. Just basic common sense things.

[00:07:01]And then the government saying, "Oh yeah, it was like a an emergency and there were high winds." No, this was completely normal to be expected in Los Angeles that this would happen. And you just have to be prepared for fire.

[00:07:14]That's what one of the things government should do is protect people from disasters that can be expected like a fire. It's common sense. So, I hope Spencer Pratt wins. And it does seem like he's got friends in Hollywood. I don't think he's making all of these ads himself. I think he's got some supporters who are making uh making some ads for him. I'm not sure about this particular one. Let's see what they say.

[00:07:38]>> Burned down under Karen Bassa's [music] watch. The American dream in America.

[00:07:43]They say an American dream is when you own a home. That American dream was taken away from him, his young family, his wife, and many other Angelinos. And so he's running on this incredible platform. And the ads, the ads are just on fire. I love it.

[00:08:00]>> Spencer Pratt, >> very Hollywood, too, right? To have ads like that >> does seem to have real insight into how the media operates. He's forced CBS to publish their unedited 27minute interview with him after he accused them of turning the interview into a hit piece for Karen Bass's PR team. Pratt held the interview with CBS at his Scorch Pacific Palisades lot, which was then edited into a biased 5minute package. CBS has now published the full version unedited, resulting in Pratt posting on X, a new era of responsible journalism. Thank you to CBS for posting our full interview so the voters can hear from their next mayor. Stella, he gets the media seems to get messaging better than many politicians.

[00:08:47]>> Listen, he basically put CBS on notice.

[00:08:50]Also, he said, "Hey CBS, if you don't release the full version of this interview, I will not give you one interview." And I think that also scared them. But I have to tell you, I worked for CBS. I worked for mainstream media for many years. I worked in Los Angeles.

[00:09:06]I worked in those newsrooms. And there is a lot of bias. And Spencer Pratt is coming out and he's saying, "I'm not playing these games with you guys."

[00:09:13]Okay? Enough of this establishment. This is a nonpartisan race, meaning it's not Democrat. It's not Republican. It's not independent. It's for Angelenos. I'm an Angelino. I live in Los Angeles. I'm a former TV writer producer. I love the entertainment industry. And I don't love the homeless people on the streets. And I don't love what's happening in politics. So, I really hope Spencer Pratt wins. I think that would be absolutely amazing to have somebody who, you know, who's really passionate and seems to be coming from the heart and seems to have sensible values instead of other politicians who are just supporting the the homeless industrial complex and the NOS's just seem to be siphoning money. Angelenos are sick and tired of the same old uh problems that we're facing. I mean, listen, >> we He's running on a campaign of making LA safer for moms and children. Moms don't even feel safe to take their strollers, their babies in their strollers to parks because there's druggies, there's homeless people all over the place. And California is an expensive place [music] to live when you live in Los >> and it's such a beautiful place. It's such a shame and it's just basic basic uh policing is needed >> and all of your money is going to taxes and then they're taxing you to death and then taking that money again for the homelessness that the homelessness just continues to get worse. It's like enough is enough. [music] >> And calling the problem homelessness is mislabeling it. And that mislabeling is really a problem because of course that pulls on your heartstrings and you think, "Oh, let's get these people homes and places to live and what if I was homeless?" But the truth is it's a drug problem. It's a mental health problem.

[00:10:52]It's not a problem of lack of homes.

[00:10:54]It's a problem of mental illness and drug use. These people don't even want to live in a home. And for us to tolerate that, it just is um a great shame because Los Angeles is so beautiful and [music] yet we're running it down. But there's still, you know, people who sleep at the [music] church Kitty Corner for me. Every night there's people homeless people staying there.

[00:11:16]And there's one homeless guy who parks on a certain park bench. He's always there with his shopping cart full of carefully folded blankets. He's got his whole life in that shopping cart, which I'm sure uh Vans or wherever he took the shopping cart from is not too pleased that they've lost a shopping cart. And he sits on that park bench. And the consequence is that's one sidewalk in the park that I don't walk down cuz I just don't feel quite safe walking by this homeless person. Who knows if he's on drugs? Who knows how he will respond?

[00:11:45]But I just avoid it. And that's a shame because it's a beautiful, beautiful park. And I think a lot of Angelinos feel the same. we'd like to have basic common sense and we'd like to have the homeless people or the people who are drug addicts. Like, let's solve that problem. It just seems that the more that government officials like Karen Bass try to talk us into solving that problem, they're just siphoning money into waste, fraud, and abuse, and it's making the problem even worse. Anyway, that's my rant. What do you think? What do you do? You see a solution to what they're calling the homeless problem in Los Angeles? Do you see a solution to people who are mentally ill or on drugs who prefer that kind of lifestyle? And let me know in the comments. Understand that. But when you look at the demographics, it's those moms that tend to overwhelmingly support Democrats and leftist uh policy positions, leftist politicians, empathy, misguided.

[00:12:39]>> How do they come to terms with that? And how do they come to terms to see seeing Los Angeles slowly destroyed and yet they keep backing the same party, the same politics?

[00:12:50]>> That is a good question.

[00:12:51]>> I think it it comes from hearing from somebody that says, "Look, my main goal and my main mission is to make your life better." And he is resonating with Democrats. He is resonating with Rep.

[00:13:05]He's resonating with every single angel Angel Angelino because for the first time ever, you have a candidate that you can't ignore. There's billboards all over the place that are all over social media and a lot of, you know, the younger families like like his age, they live online and they're seeing it and they're like, "Yeah, that is my reality. Yeah, that is. Yeah. When I pull up to a grocery store and I have homeless people and I'm afraid to get out of my car or I have to lock my doors because I don't know what's going to happen or there was a murder there just down the street and I live in a very nice neighborhood. It's not he's resonating >> and an expensive neighborhood.

[00:13:42]>> He is now California. But I just want to ask you about the rise of these socialists in America. The they call themselves Democrat socialists but they're socialists. I would call them communists. You got Zoran Mandani in New York, Katie Wilson in Seattle. You've got AOC in Congress.

[00:14:00]>> How powerful is this movement within the Democrats.

[00:14:05]>> Okay. So, you hit it. You nailed it.

[00:14:07]They're DSA, Democrat Socialist of America. And I'm so happy you're covering it because a lot of people don't even know who they are in America.

[00:14:13]Even Spencer Pratt when he's talking about >> Yeah. they're calling them Democrats, but they're really socialist.

[00:14:18]>> DSA, you know, Nithia Ramen, the other woman who's running, she is a DSA member. So when he goes out there and he's talking to people, they're like, "What's what's DSA?" [music] U they're Islam Marxists. That's what they are.

[00:14:28]That's what they are. They want to destroy America and they are left of left. When you bring up AOC, AOC is not even shockingly she is not even DSA.

[00:14:38]That I I'm telling you, Rita, like when people say that, I'm like, "No, no, she actually voted for Israel, for the Iron Dome. DSA wants a complete destruction, a a complete revolution [music] in the United States of America. Islam Marxist.

[00:14:54]Look what look what's happening in Mandami's NYC. Uh you know these protests, Hezbollah, Hamas, literally happening as we speak right now in Jewish neighborhoods. And by the way, Mandami marched with these people up until the day he became a mayor. And up until right nowused, he hasn't said anything about what is happening in these neighborhoods. And neither has the first lady of NYC, who by the way, you know, cheered on October 7 and casually throws around the n-word.

[00:15:27]>> Well, yes. Uh some of the posts she was liking were just absolutely shocking.

[00:15:33]Yeah, you that household is something else. Now back to California and the mayor of Arcadia, Eileen Wang, uh has been charged with acting as an illegal foreign agent for China starting in late 2020. Wang, that's right. Yaning's son worked together to operate a website called US News Center that reported to be a new source for the local Chinese American community. The Justice Department said in a plea agreement that Wang and Sun received and executed directives from the People's Republic of China government officials to post proc content on the website and sometimes sought approval from PRC government officials to circulate other proc content. Stella, no surprises that she's a Democrat may.

[00:16:23]>> That's not surprises. The big question that Americans have is how many more of her are there out there? Let me make this clear to a lot of people who people who are watching this. So, she was behind a website that just seemed like, you know, your average community website and meanwhile they were pushing Chinese propaganda and this was her the other person involved was her fiance at the time. But I have to tell you that is not the biggest issue in California.

[00:16:51]Chinese people have bought out neighborhoods during COVID when we were all on lockdown. They were buying homes at like $200,000 asking price in cash. Okay. So now we have all these neighborhoods and these are conversations that are being had in California that are like >> where can you buy a house in Los Angeles for 200,000? That that doesn't make sense.

[00:17:14]>> What is happening here? Like okay, not only that, they're buying out land.

[00:17:20]Okay, this is been investigated as we know right now at least 19 purchases near military bases. Why do they need why why do they need land near military bases that actually have nuclear arsenal? So, Washington has been put on notice and I think they really need to take a closer look at what is happening because now we have a mayor in Los Angeles, I'm sorry, near Los Angeles who was a spy for China. We want to know how many more are there and why are they buying out our land?

[00:17:55]>> Good questions, >> Stellis Escabido. I'm sure we'll be talking about this issue again soon.

[00:18:00]Thank >> Well, thank you, Rita, for that fantastic coverage and making us all smile. I'll see you on the next