James Gallagher on Prop 50 And the Swalwell Allegations

00:00:00
Speaker 1: And we continue at one oh five in the afternoon on the John Phillips Show. Mister Randy Wang is downstairs.

00:00:09
Speaker 2: John. I have the answer to the question that everyone has been asking. What would it sound like if Karen Bass, Katie Porter, and Stephen Klubeck all met on a street corner in Resita and witnessed somebody getting their roleck stolen?

00:00:22
Speaker 3: No, no, no, that would be quite an event. Eight hundred two two two five two two two is the telephone number one eight hundred two two two five two two two. It is our pleasure to welcome our next guest to the program. He is the assemblyman representing California's third district, which is much of rural northern California. He's also a candidate for Congress, running in the Doug LaMalfa seat. Doug LaMalfa was the longtime congressman from more Than California who passed away earlier this year, creating a vacancy. You can follow him on x at j Underscore Gallagher AD three. Assemblyman James Gallagher.

00:01:10
Speaker 4: Welcome, John, good to be back with you again.

00:01:15
Speaker 1: Well, thanks so much for stopping by. The big news obviously in California politics this week, is the meltdown that we've seen regarding former Congressman I can say former congressman because he resigned earlier today, and candidate for governor, Eric Swalwell, who has been accused of sexual assault, sexual misconduct, sexual harassment by a number of women. Earlier today, we heard very gruesome details from a woman here in the state of California who alleged a violent rape. She claims that Eric Swalwell drugged her, raped her, choked her. She almost thought she was going to die, and it caused her life to spiral out of control because the whole incident was so traumatic. She filed a police report after her press conference, and she is looking forward to the District Attorney in Los Angeles County filing charges against Swalwell. We know that other das in Alameda County and in New York City are obviously kicking around that same question, and they could be filing criminal charges against Eric Swalwell sometime soon. What is your reaction to everything that we've learned?

00:02:35
Speaker 4: I mean, completely disgusting, you know, and Eric Swalwell for a long time has been this arrogant person you know on National TV, loves the spotlight, loves to castigate, especially the President and you know Republicans, And meanwhile, all along it looks like there was a very ugly underbelly of Eric Eric Swalwell. Now, I will say, you know, everyone deserves, you know, their opportunity in court and defend against charges and allegations. But I think the bottom line here is that Eric Swalwell represents a culture of corruption in Washington, d C. You know, And and at best it appears that he's sort of admitting to indiscretions he says lapses of judgment. Hasn't really been very clear about what that is. But from these stories, what we're getting is a consistent pattern of predatory behavior. And I think one of the big things that's come out of it, John is, you know, here's a guy who thinks it's okay to hit on staff. You know, that thinks it's okay to sleep with people who work for you, right, and that is an abuse of power situation. It's a predatory practice that sends d ms and you know, nudes you know to people young women, you know, out of the blue. I mean, like that is completely disqualifying behavior, you know, And so like this kind of dance that Swalwell continues to do. Yes, he's resigned, that's great. You know, he's not running for a govern anymore. That's great. But sort of the continued statements out of uh Swalwell is, Oh, he just had lapses of judgment and they're just between him and his wife. No, this is disqualifying behavior that is unbecoming of anyone who seeks to serve. And in fact, you know, a question that should be asked of a politician seeking to have power. You know, you know, have you slept with someone that is your subordinate? And you know, I think that's gotten a lot more attention these days needs to be asked of others as well.

00:04:49
Speaker 1: Today we've heard from high ranking Democrat after high ranking Democrat in Washington, d C. Who all claimed that they knew nothing about this, that they had no clue that he was someone who was praying on staff, who was doing things sexually that he shouldn't be doing. We heard that from his best friend and roommate, Arizona Senator Reuben Diego. We heard that from the former Speaker of the House, Dancy Pelosi, who represents a district that is not far away geographically from Eric Swalwell. Who was very close to Eric Swalwell in the House, would put him on all the plumb committees. I want to read for you some tweets that came out regarding Eric Swalwell from Democratic operatives and people in the news media who covered Congress. Here is what Stephen Tavares, author of The East Bay Insiders, which is a publication in northern California that covers East Bay politics, here is what he posted on X quote I've covered Eric Swalwell since he was a member of the Dublin City Council shortly after being elected to Congress in twenty thirteen. His behavior towards women was known by all levels of our local government and the Alameda County Democratic Party end quote. Longtime Democratic Party campaign strategist Brie Gillis also took to X responding to the allegations against Swollwell by writing quote, anyone who has been in DC for five minutes knows this. It's actually wild. It took this long end quote. An independent journalist to shar Ali echoed that sentiment when he posted quote it's because they've all known for years. It's been an open secret. And I don't say that as a guest end quote. I would imagine when you were Assembly Republican leader, you knew what was going on in your caucus pretty well. If someone had a drinking problem, you were aware of it. If someone had a gambling problem, you were aware of it. Do you believe these people who are involved in leadership in the Democratic Party, who worked with this guy very closely, who lived with this guy, that they had no clue that any of this was going on.

00:07:00
Speaker 4: No, And you just laid it out like perfectly, and you know, no one should believe these you know, Democrats who have been very close, you know, to Eric Swalwell, including Speaker Pelosi and all these top level Democrats who worked around him for a long time, who are now of a sudden shocked, Oh my god, I can't believe that he did these kinds of things. And then you know, just the reports you've read this is you know, as I understand it, this has been a you know, well known thing about him, is that he was, you know, always going around with young girls, or that.

00:07:38
Speaker 5: There was a revolving door.

00:07:41
Speaker 4: You know that this was and it was also really highlighted by the brave women influencers who brought this forward. When you hear their stories about how when they first started looking into this they were getting hit with well, you know, that's just kind of how things are in DC.

00:07:56
Speaker 1: You know.

00:07:56
Speaker 4: Yeah, there's some congress members that just do that kind of thing. And he kind of just got to get used to it. That's ridiculous. And they and to their credit, they said, no, that's not acceptable. This needs to be exposed. We need to somehow get this out, you know, get it out from being a you know, a secret behind closed doors, get it out in the open so that someone can be exposed, especially someone who's trying to get even more power, you know, And that is the critical time when you have to do it. And so I mean, I just applaud uh, these influencers and the brave women who came forward who probably felt for a long time that they couldn't say anything because the power brokers in DC and the culture uh and Eric Swalwell would destroy them if they did. And that's that's what we need to break. We have to break that culture of saying that this is somehow acceptable behavior. And and you're starting to see that. I mean, uh, you know, Ana Pauline A. Luna, you know, Congresswoman who's called for the expulsion. She's saying, Hey, it's time to clean house, and I agree with her.

00:08:59
Speaker 6: M hm.

00:09:00
Speaker 1: Can you talk to us about the information flow and how things work within a caucus, because I would imagine that what happens is you have staffers who work for your office, or they work for a different office in the Assembly. That person turns out, many of those staffers go to work for someone else. They share a lot of the same personnel, they share a lot of the same staffers. So there is an information flow within that caucus where people in that caucus have a good idea what's going on in other offices in that caucus. And I would assume the same thing happens on the other side of the aisle, and you would be much more aware of what's going on on your side of the aisle than what's going on on the other side of the aisle. And if something jumps from one side of the aisle to the other, it has to be so ubiquitous in the city that everyone knows. If a Republican is going to figure out the dirty laundry of a Democrat who represents a different part of the state. For this particular incident, instance, there were Republicans. I mean, Kevin McCarthy came out and said, oh, yeah, we all knew, don't let your young staffers have anything to do with Matt Gates or with Eric Swallwell. And everyone knew that for his reputation to be so strong that it became ubiquitous and aware on the other side of the aisle, it just had to be something that everyone in town knew.

00:10:29
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, Kevin McCarthy was right. And this is another thing that got brought up in one of the reports, is Kevin the Speaker came out and said, this guy should not be trusted. I've gotten the briefing.

00:10:41
Speaker 7: You know.

00:10:42
Speaker 4: This was in regard to the Chinese spy. You know, I mean, this isn't the first time, right that this has come up. The guy literally slept with the Chinese by and became a national security threat, you know. And back then Speaker McCarthy said, this guy's not trustworthy. If you knew what I knew, you would not let him anywhere near these committees. And and as you said, was talking about, hey, this is not a guy that has any kind of integrity. And yeah, I mean I think you know, certainly within a caucus, you're probably closer to people that are in your caucus than you are of the other party's caucus. I don't know that means you know everything about that person, but you know, to your point, all the reports are that everybody knew that this guy had creepy predatory tendencies, right, and and the people in power who had power over him, you know, oversight over him, you know, essentially did nothing. And so now to say, oh, we're shocked, we're shocked, we're shocked, I mean, no one should believe that, and you know the the but again, I think the bigger problem here is there this has been a culture there. It has been a culture you know, of corruption and almost saying that, hey, these are just kind of you know, we'll be boys kind of uh tactics, you know, where it's okay to hit on people who are your subordinates. It's okay to you know, and in that situation, you're you're a young intern, you know, and a congressman is you know, hitting on you, you know, you know, snapchatting you all the time. Like imagine the kind of position that you're being put in, you know, in that situation, it should it should not be the case. And it's almost like, you know, Smallwell is saying, oh, those are his just I don't know if that's exactly what he means. He's saying, I had laps as a judgment and that just between me and my wife. Are you saying that that that kind of you know, behavior is okay? It is not okay? And you know the right thing to do is to break that culture of corruption and to you know, clean house. And I think that's kind of where things are heading. And I think it's it's it's too long in coming, but it's finally, you know, justice is at hand.

00:12:52
Speaker 1: Were speaking with Assemblyman James Gallagher, who is a candidate for Congress right now in northern California. You can follow him on x A Jay Underscore Gallagher a D three Assemblymen. We know that Eric Swallwell was pulling in the top three on the Democratic side in the race for governor. Him exiting the race is going to cause the deck to reshuffle the fan base that he had when you look at where his support came from in the polls was generally speaking, older, wider Bay Area partisan Democratic voters. What do you think this does His exit in the race does to the race for governor.

00:13:36
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think it'll be interesting to see. My guess is I think right now you have Matt Mahon sitting on a boatload of money, mostly from you know, tech, you know, executives, and a lot of money that's come in for him. He's going to start spending that boatload of money. And so could you see you know that demographic that you just described, Maybe he's going over to Matt Mayhon. I think everybody's been saying, oh, it's probably going to go to Porter and Tire. I think with you know, Mayhan actually starting to spend you know, this war chest that he has, it could very well go to him. And then you have jab Arbasara, who's kind of surging right now as well, and Vierra Gosa. So what I see is that very well this could split up amongst all those remaining candidates, and we could still very well have this situation where we got a top to Republican. You know, Hilton is story to surge, you know, so maybe that's not the case, but I don't think it's just you know, and plus Porter has so many problems, right, I mean, we've seen, you know, if we're talking about relationships with staff. She's certainly not very nice to hers from what we can see. If we're talking about someone who you know is you know, has a history of assaults domestic violence, you know, that's not something that I think people are going to be really appealing about. And then you got Tom Steyer, who's a total milk toast billionaire. He's got a lot of money to spend, but he's just not very likable. So I could see this, you know, this breaking up a lot amongst the Democrats and giving a great opportunity for Republicans top two or for the whatever Republican wins surges forward to have a really great momentum going into the generals.

00:15:21
Speaker 1: And of course you have some of those Democratic candidates pulling in single digits, people like Antonio Via Ragosia, Javier Bisera Bettigi, Tony Thurman, and one of those candidates could see a bump. So in theory, instead of everything being split between Porter and Steyer, you could have an even more fractured Democratic field.

00:15:44
Speaker 4: Right, That's what I'm that's sort of my prediction. We'll see if that's right or not.

00:15:50
Speaker 1: You are running for Congress in Northern California in a district that will not exist after this cycle. The Democrats, of course put Prop fifty on the ballot earlier this year that would create a heavily jerymandered congressional map that would certainly give them the advantage to pick up more seats. Here in the state of California, the area that you represent, which is heavily Republican, would certainly be impacted by this, where you'd be taking a district that is centered in your community and cutting it up into a bunch of different pieces and making it a marine county based congressional district where people where you live really don't have much of a say in terms of who will be representing them in Washington. Let's take that and put it in the context of what we're seeing right now with Swolwell, because I think that part of the problem is that he saw himself as bulletproof, and when you see yourself as bulletproof, you act in ways that you would otherwise not act. And by creating this heavily jerymandered Prop fifty map, what they're doing, whether they know it or not, is they are creating these super safe districts where behavior like that will be tolerated or certainly will be allowed to exist because these people will have zero fear of ever losing.

00:17:13
Speaker 4: I think that's a great analogy, and it goes back to the age Old adage. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. You know, when you can't be challenged, you know, when you're when you're made bulletproof, when everybody kind of glorifies you. You know, you people in that situation, and if they let it get to their head, you know, they use that power in ways that are completely corrupt. And you certainly saw that with him. And that's what was behind this whole what's truly behind Prop fifty and this gerrymander is for the Democrats to claim absolute power to draw districts so that even though the proportionate vote in California somewhere around sixty forty right Republicans Democrats, they're drawing maps so that we get seven percent of the congressional you know, districts, right. And more importantly, what it does is it rips away representation, the fundamental American value that you know, no taxation without representation, the idea that you, as a community, your communities of interest, would be able to elect someone of your choice to represent you to advocate for you. That's what Douglamalfa was.

00:18:24
Speaker 1: You know.

00:18:25
Speaker 4: Look, Doug Lamlfa was the greatest representative for northern California. Lived there, worked there, He went to every community. He represented, you know, their interests every day in Washington, d C. And they are trying to destroy that. They're trying to steal that from us. And that is why we're so fired up. And that's why this campaign is so important to me because I'm not going to let them do it. You know, We're going out there June second. If I can get fifty percent plus one on the vote, we went it out right, and then I'm going to go fight for in this new district, even though it's gerrymandered. You know, we're going to fight for it, and we're going to put the Democratic policies on trial. Uh And so you know, I've I feel good about that. I draw a lot of strengths from the people in my district. That's what it should be all about. And we're going to fight for it. And you know, look, you've talked about this before. I do have a proposal to split the state because I think we're there. You know, when when your leaders uh, you know, deprive you of even the ability to have a voice. I think we're at we're at a point of tyranny, that is, you know, beyond the red lit and we do have a process for you know, declaring our own statehood and getting it through through constitutional processes, and I think it's time to start talking about it.

00:19:38
Speaker 1: As simply been. James Gallagher candidate for Congress. You can get them online at elect James Gallagher dot com. Assemblyman Gallagher, thanks so much for stopping.

00:19:47
Speaker 4: By, No problem, Thank you.

00:19:49
Speaker 1: Joon eight hundred two two two five two two two is a telephone number. What eight hundred two two two five two two two. If you'd like to email the show, you can do at Johnny Don't Like show at gmail dot com. That's Johnny Don't Like Show at gmail dot com. And Randy. We've provided a lot of Eric Swalwell coverage over the last three shows. Or show. If you want to go back and listen to what you missed out on, or maybe listen to something for a second time. That's easy to do.

00:20:20
Speaker 2: Just search for the John Phillips Show wherever you get your podcasts. That could be the Apple podcast app, iHeart Spotify, search for the John Phillips Show. Hit subscribe you get download all the episodes. You can do a Google on the YouTube. You can get one of our apps, the free KABC app or the free KSFO app, even the KMJ now app because we're on that station Saturdays at noon and John, not only are we the number one source for all updates regarding the Eric Swalwell scandal, but we're also the number one source for all updates and anything close to associating with the Eric Swalwell scandal, which is why we are your number one source for Steven Klubeck drops.

00:20:54
Speaker 1: No, don't bust the trust. And right now it's time to open up the California crime blodder.

00:21:04
Speaker 5: It's happened yet again.

00:21:08
Speaker 2: Nice see, time for the California crime blodder.

00:21:13
Speaker 1: And this would involve a crazy intruder with a shovel. Specifically, it's the homeowner that used the shovel to attack the intruder. And for this story, we're going to need some Henry Lee.

00:21:25
Speaker 5: It's happened yet again.

00:21:27
Speaker 2: The crime reporter for k TVU is on the case of a crazy home invasion in Fairfield. Here is k TVU Fox two in the.

00:21:38
Speaker 8: Bay Information in a frightening incident caught on video in which a stranger demanded to be let inside of a home in Fairfield and then broke in. That man made his first quarter appearance today, and our crime reporter Henry Lee joined this look.

00:21:52
Speaker 2: Guy has the best job security in all of broadcast journalism.

00:21:56
Speaker 1: He is never going to be taken out with a budget cut.

00:22:00
Speaker 5: It's happened yet again.

00:22:02
Speaker 8: Joined this lit now from Solano County with more Henry.

00:22:07
Speaker 5: Well Claudie.

00:22:08
Speaker 9: We learned that the defendant actually lives behind the family that was targeted, but a motive still isn't known.

00:22:14
Speaker 5: But bottom line, a.

00:22:15
Speaker 9: Prosecutor said in court today that this suspect, a stranger to the family, has quote a lot of issues.

00:22:22
Speaker 2: Just wait, I guarantee what you think you're about to hear? You have no idea.

00:22:29
Speaker 9: According Nine year old Jason Nichols made his first court appearance Monday on charges he invaded a home in Fairfield and terrorized a family. He did not enter a plea and appeared calm, just like he was when he first showed up at the home near Burbank Drive on April seventh, as seen on viral videos posted online. The homeowner who had left the house minutes earlier, doesn't know him, and speaks to him through a ring camera.

00:22:52
Speaker 1: For what.

00:22:54
Speaker 10: I just want to make sure that thinks okay?

00:22:59
Speaker 1: What do you mean?

00:22:59
Speaker 2: That's not creepy at all? Total stranger? Can you open the door please?

00:23:09
Speaker 1: I just want to make sure that I thinks okay, what do you mean?

00:23:16
Speaker 4: I don't know.

00:23:16
Speaker 10: I just figured I checked on something. I don't know what you want, man, get out of my house?

00:23:23
Speaker 1: WHOA? That escalated quickly?

00:23:28
Speaker 2: What is going on?

00:23:31
Speaker 9: The interaction soon becomes even more concerning, talking.

00:23:36
Speaker 2: About now he's going after the daughter. What is happening?

00:23:40
Speaker 1: This guy has nothing but bad news?

00:23:43
Speaker 10: What's your daughter? Man?

00:23:44
Speaker 1: Talking about.

00:23:47
Speaker 10: Who's in there with you?

00:23:48
Speaker 1: Strangers?

00:23:48
Speaker 9: Wearing a black trench coat and at one point identifies himself as a fictional wizard and private investigator from an urban fantasy series.

00:23:56
Speaker 2: What okay, so he's on let's rewind the tape a little, there shall we?

00:24:04
Speaker 10: Who's in there with you?

00:24:05
Speaker 1: Strangers?

00:24:05
Speaker 9: Wearing a black trench coat and at one point identifies himself as a fictional wizard and private investigator from an urban fantasy series.

00:24:13
Speaker 10: My name is Harry Dresden. Motherfucker?

00:24:20
Speaker 1: That is quite an entrance.

00:24:23
Speaker 2: I don't know the reference, but I need to do some research.

00:24:27
Speaker 10: Open the door, this is my neighborhood.

00:24:30
Speaker 1: The resident, whoa. That would be beyond frightening if someone knocks on your door and this is the conversation that takes place.

00:24:41
Speaker 2: Well, and imagine you're the dad here, you're talking to him on the ring cam app but you're not home. You just left. So the wife and the kid are home, probably hiding in the closet with this guy banging on the door saying, let me in because I'm Harry Dresden. There's a lot of untreated mental illness in California, isn't there a lot?

00:25:05
Speaker 10: Open the door, this is my neighborhood.

00:25:08
Speaker 2: I also feel like he changed accent several times.

00:25:11
Speaker 9: I think so the resident repeatedly asks him to leave. The man again demand's entry with a threat.

00:25:19
Speaker 10: No wolf can inju.

00:25:23
Speaker 1: WHOA, Okay, so this guy belongs in a mental institution.

00:25:29
Speaker 10: Yes, no marwolf can inju? Do you understand me?

00:25:37
Speaker 5: And then this happens?

00:25:39
Speaker 2: Well, I wonder he didn't play anything when he was a ragin. But when you're making the criminal threats on camera, seems like there's an air tight case.

00:25:49
Speaker 1: Yeah, you kind of put your criminal defense attorney behind the eight ball there.

00:25:54
Speaker 2: Unless, of course, you know you want to qualify for mental health diversion, which we do all the time.

00:26:00
Speaker 1: I'm in California, and then this happens. WHOA just another totally normal day here in the insane asylum.

00:26:20
Speaker 2: So after asking nicely to open the door, making veiled threats about the daughter to open the door, saying that he's a fictional detective to open the door, he nows, just starts straight up trying to bang the door down like he's the big bad wolf he probably thinks he is.

00:26:47
Speaker 9: He continues yelling at the top of his lungs, and according to authorities, eventually ends up inside the home after breaking a gate and opening a sliding door.

00:26:56
Speaker 1: He was determined if anything else that I agree with you on.

00:27:01
Speaker 9: The homeowner's pregnant wife and five year old child are terrified and hide in the garage. The homeowner meanwhile rushed back home and confronted the suspect with a shovel. A suspect ended up grabbing a shovel from the resident and both ended up getting hit in the head with it.

00:27:15
Speaker 2: Fairfield Police they both got hit in the head with the shovel. WHOA, So there was a Looney Tune scene going on. This is one of the craziest stories I have ever heard.

00:27:28
Speaker 9: Fairfield police arrested Nichols at the scene. He lives behind the family's home, but a motive is not known.

00:27:34
Speaker 1: Shocking.

00:27:34
Speaker 2: So he's a neighbor.

00:27:37
Speaker 1: That makes it even scarier.

00:27:39
Speaker 2: Yep, looks like we're putting that house on the market.

00:27:44
Speaker 7: Shocking just that it happened right there. I mean, it's right across the street from us.

00:27:49
Speaker 9: Babby Newton says she's concerned, especially after police on Monday said Nichols is under investigation for leegedly annoying a child unrelated to the home invasion two days before that incident.

00:27:59
Speaker 2: Oh, this got to go.

00:28:01
Speaker 1: How could you not take someone on a fifty one fifty when they're doing that California.

00:28:08
Speaker 7: Very disturbing, very yes, because there's children all over the place, and it scared me because I was home at that time.

00:28:14
Speaker 1: Of the days.

00:28:16
Speaker 2: He could have been knocking on her door.

00:28:19
Speaker 1: He could have.

00:28:21
Speaker 10: Figure.

00:28:23
Speaker 9: So the man's attorney said today that her client has no players, that this is a one time, isolated incident.

00:28:30
Speaker 1: I don't think it is. I don't think so either. I think this is exactly who he is.

00:28:36
Speaker 2: I mean, what are we supposed to gauge if this was a one time accident he accidentally smoked?

00:28:42
Speaker 1: The pcp.

00:28:46
Speaker 9: DA says, this man clearly is a threat that Judge Greed's a bailed two hundred and fifty thousand dollars man still in custody on charges of burglary, assault, vandalism, and criminal threats live in Fairfield.

00:28:57
Speaker 5: Henry le katdu Fox two.

00:28:59
Speaker 2: Needs so that might be one of the wilder crime blodder stories we've had in a while.

00:29:06
Speaker 1: Meth is a hell of a drug house. Eight hundred two two two five two two two one eight hundred two two two five two two two. If you'd like to email the show, you can do so at Johnny don't like show at gmail dot com. That's Johnny, don't like show. It's gmail dot com. And right now it's time to open up the California crime blodder.

00:29:34
Speaker 5: It's happened yet again.

00:29:35
Speaker 2: This Wow, Wow, what's up here?

00:29:37
Speaker 10: Dun dundun dunk dundundundun dun reads the Califonia crime Blodder with John.

00:29:47
Speaker 1: And this one takes us to Sam Altman's house.

00:29:51
Speaker 2: So Sam Altman is the creator of open ai and one of the most prominent voices in the artificial intelligence movement. And I guess somebody thinks that AI is going to come for his job. So he decided the best way to deal with that is not figure out how to get into plumbing. It's to throw a Molotov cocktail at his house where his wife.

00:30:14
Speaker 1: And kid live. Not the greatest judgment.

00:30:18
Speaker 2: No.

00:30:19
Speaker 1: For more, here is NBC in the Bay back home.

00:30:22
Speaker 11: San Francisco police are investigating an arson attack at the home and business of one of the city's most polarizing figures. Officers arrested a man on suspicion of throwing a Molotov cocktail at the home of open Ai CEO Sam Altman and then making threats at his company's headquarters. As NBC Bay Ari As Christy Smith explains, it all started before dawn this morning on Russian Hill.

00:30:43
Speaker 12: Take a look. This is a picture that was circulated among SFPD officers this morning as they hunted for a young suspect accused of throwing a Molotov cocktail.

00:30:52
Speaker 2: Where do you even learn how to make one of those?

00:30:54
Speaker 1: The internet? You could learn to do how to do just about anything on the Internet.

00:31:00
Speaker 12: At the home of open Ai founder Sam Altman. It all happened before dawn this morning in one of the city's most exclusive neighborhoods. Hours later, Altman's Russian Hill neighbors started to wake up to reports of the overnight attack.

00:31:14
Speaker 10: Things.

00:31:14
Speaker 13: I opened up my phone in the morning and I saw, oh, somebody throw a Maltov cocktail at Sam Malton's residence in San Francisco.

00:31:21
Speaker 2: That guy had the most muted reaction ever to someone chucked a Molotov cocktail into his neighborhood.

00:31:27
Speaker 1: Well, imagine paying a fortune to live there, and this is something you have to put up with in your neighborhood, Isn't it also a little on the nose that it's Russian Hill and someone throws a Molotov cocktail. Good catch.

00:31:40
Speaker 10: Things.

00:31:40
Speaker 13: I opened up my phone in the morning and I saw, ohoh, somebody throw a Maltov cocktail at Sam Malton's residence in San Francisco.

00:31:48
Speaker 2: Yeah, someone throw a Molotov.

00:31:49
Speaker 1: I guess what are you gonna do? It's Tuesday.

00:31:54
Speaker 12: Gerald says he didn't hear anything unusual overnight, but was stunned as he heard details of the reported on such a high profile neighbor.

00:32:02
Speaker 1: I was surprised.

00:32:04
Speaker 13: You seem like a really friendly guy. I use all these eye products on regular basis, so I was just surprised.

00:32:11
Speaker 12: In a statement, police tell us they responded to the home just after four am, going on to say at the scene, officers learned that an unknown male subject through an incendiary destructive device, causing a fire to an exterior gate. The suspect then fled on foot. Firefighters say the fire had burned itself out even before they arrived. We found no visible.

00:32:32
Speaker 2: Okay, so he's not that good at making a Molotov cocktail.

00:32:35
Speaker 1: Thank god.

00:32:37
Speaker 12: We found no visible signs of damage. But Open Ai confirmed the target was their founder's home, writing early this morning, someone threw a molotov cocktail at Sam Altman's home and also made threats at our San Francisco headquarters.

00:32:51
Speaker 2: He freaked out, by the way, obviously he posts this whole thing on social media, like, here's a picture of my wife and my children. I'm a human being with a real life, with a real family. Please don't attack me.

00:33:05
Speaker 1: Well, this is part of the reason that when people reach a certain level of success, So many of them live behind guarded gates, so you don't have to worry about something like this.

00:33:16
Speaker 2: Well, Rihanna did that and then someone tried to shoot up her house through the gate. That's true, But if you live in the middle of a big city like San Francisco, you could end up like Sam Altman or like Nancy Pelosi's husband and who wants that.

00:33:32
Speaker 12: And also made threats at our San Francisco headquarters. Thankfully no one was hurt. In fact, it was that second scene at open AI's headquarters in the Mission Bay neighborhood where police say they spotted the suspect hours after the first attack and took him into custody in the Mission Bay neighborhood.

00:33:49
Speaker 2: So he doesn't get caught the first time. Decides I'm going to chuck another one of these things at the office and that's where they got him. Idiot, and Brooke Jenkins is going on all the way with this. She's charging him with attempted murder. Good, put that guy in prison for a long time. Well, this is California, we don't do that, of course not.

00:34:10
Speaker 6: Well, it's concerning obviously someone who was very upset. Now we don't know what that person's mental status.

00:34:16
Speaker 12: Was Michael Lennon Jerry is a law enforcement analyst and security expert, and says threat and private protection are increasingly common for high profile executives like the Very Public founder.

00:34:27
Speaker 6: Most prevalent CEOs will have a protection team. It is, you know, it's difficult to stop.

00:34:33
Speaker 2: So you know, if you're on the verge of inventing those robot security guards, you might want to deploy them right around Sam Altman's house.

00:34:40
Speaker 1: Well, if you're a big time CEO, you could be a target. I mean, look at what happened to that healthcare CEO who got taken out by Luigi Mangioni.

00:34:49
Speaker 6: It is, you know, it's difficult to stop someone who spontaneously throws them all top cocktail in a fraction of a second. But you know, once you realize that, then your company should go on a height and say of alert.

00:35:00
Speaker 12: In San Francisco, Christy Smith NBC Bay Arian News.

00:35:04
Speaker 11: Tonight, Sam Altman is also speaking out about the attack, posting this family photo on his blog and writing images have power.

00:35:12
Speaker 1: I hope.

00:35:12
Speaker 11: Normally we try to be pretty private, but in this case, I am sharing a photo in the hopes that it might dissuade the next person from throwing a Molotov cocktail at our house, no matter what they think about me. Altman goes on to suggest rising anxiety over artificial intelligence could be a motive for the attack. He then calls for everyone to de escalate the rhetoric and the ongoing debate over AI.

00:35:33
Speaker 2: I know there's a lot of people worried about what the next ten years are going to look like. But if someone's answer to that is to throw a Molotov cocktail at the owner of one of these companies' houses, they crazy. I think part of the problem was the reaction that luigim Angioni got, because when you look at that story that we did last week about the toilet paper factory in the Inland Empire, when the guy lit the factory on fire because he was upset that they weren't being paid enough, Apparently Luigi Mangioni was a motivating factor in doing what he did.

00:36:16
Speaker 1: He thought that he was going to become some cultural figure, some protagonist in this battle between labor and management, and that people would rush to his defense and he would become a cult like figure. It's really dangerous when someone does something really bad and really threatening. And instead of society looking at it that way, they look at them as if there's some kind of robin hood. When you do that, you give other people motivation to do the same thing. And trust me when I say, you don't want to live in a society that's like that. Luckily, I don't think anybody is out there idolizing the idiot nono who light all the toilet paper on fire, I hope. So let's go to David long Beach. Dave Hello, all right, let's go to Dino in San Francisco. Dino welcome.

00:37:14
Speaker 14: Yeah, John, I'd like to say something that's set me off. On your last interview, the gentleman made a comment that Kevin McCarthy is now on TV and on radio whatever the platform is, and stating that, oh, yeah, I knew. Everybody knew. How do you get a pass knowing that Swallow's doing what he's doing and you don't step up and say anything. That is absolutely wrong And everybody needs to get called on it. There needs to be a hearing, and everybody needs to be asked, what did you know and when did you know it? Those people that work in Washington for the media everybody. And I'm not a Swallwell fan. I want this guy to go down. But you don't get a pass by being able to get on TV and smile and say, oh yeah, I knew all about that, and nobody takes you on about it wrong.

00:38:07
Speaker 1: Now, I am not the world's biggest Kevin McCarthy fan, but I will say this, McCarthy's position on Swallwell all along has been the guy as a creep and the guy should be defeated at the ballot box. That is what you do when you think someone is of such low moral character that they don't belong in the United States Congress. The bigger problem, to my eye, is on the other side of the aisle, where they knew more details than the Republicans knew because they talked to many of these victims. These victims don't forget were Democratic staffers, and Democratic staffers typically don't air their dirty laundry and tell their secrets to the other side. They tell their secrets to the people that they feel comfortable around. They continue to put him on all the primo committees. They continue to make sure his campaigns were well financed, and they were even prepared to back him for Governor of California. That's the question I have. Thank you for the call, Sir