For people who don't know who Rick

Caruso is, he's a great developer. You

walk into one of Caruso's places and

it's safe, it's clean, you want to bring

your kids.

>> Ideology did not save the Palisades.

Competency would have.

Running this city is running a business

for the benefit of the residents. You

got to make good business decisions. It

was predictable, Bill. What's

predictable is preventable.

>> Rick Caruso now has a golden road in the

governor's race if he wants it.

>> What's happened to LA over the last

decade is just tragic. It's sad to

watch. Ladies and gentlemen, please

welcome Rick Caruso.

[Music]

What's this about?

>> Great to see you, brother. Thank you for

coming. Thank you very much. All right.

Make my rounds.

Thank you. Good to see you. Good seeing

you.

Hello, everybody.

All right.

Rick, um

we're 9 months out from the tragic

fires. So much has happened. So much has

happened. Karen Bass

so incompetent, such a disgraziata.

Disgraziata.

>> Disgraziata. Disgraziata. My my Italian

brother in here. But when you when you

look at it in all seriousness,

you know, you had some properties there

and you've always been an innovator.

Everybody knows The Grove. I spent so

much time there with my beautiful

daughter, Lotus, and and my my beautiful

wife, um Jade. Just

what a gift you've given so many times

over to this amazing city and then you

watch this horrible incompetence.

And yet you innovated and you

had these incredible this incredible

insight that when the fires were coming,

you would get water

in trucks

and bring it to the Pacific Palisades

and then you found this unique group of

innovators called firefighters and you

also brought some of them.

What did you see

in this incredible moment of clarity

that when the fires were coming that

Karen Bass didn't see? Well, the first

thing that I did is I stayed in town. Um

which

I I I think when

>> abandon the city. I think when you want

to be a leader, you should probably be

present. But uh

>> Good start. That's a good rule. Listen,

we learned a lot when we were building

our resort up in Montecito in Miramar.

Uh we had fires there that were

threatening the construction site. We

were just under construction.

And I had a very smart guy still doing

the team, name is Banyan,

and he's the one that said,

"We can bring in private firefighters.

We can bring in our own water trucks. We

can bring in retardant."

And listen, here's another rule that's

really important when you're in the

commercial side of the business.

You want the firefighters

that are working for the city or the

county

first and foremost to protect the homes.

And we know that they should be doing

that, so we want to have resources to

protect our buildings so the resources

aren't taken away from the residential

areas. That's just I think being a good

citizen.

So fast forward to Palisades, we know

we're in a fire zone.

We built it with all non-combustible

materials. We designed it so there was

no open vents that an ember can get

into. About 90% of the homes in the

Palisades and Altadena burned from the

inside out. Mhm.

So these wind warnings came and I'm sure

you all saw them to the point that I

didn't even believe that they could be

true. Catastrophic,

life-threatening winds.

And our team rallied. We had our

firefighters,

our water, our retardant stationed there

2 days before the fire.

And we were ready to go. And I'm really

proud of my team because they not only

saved the village, but we saved the

whole block

of properties. And we were actually on

the 7th loaning equipment to LA Fire

Department who was running short of

equipment. And we were actually loaning

water cuz we were bringing in our water

tanks when the water hydrants failed to

work.

>> Rick, it's been 8 months, I guess, since

these fires. Um how much of it is being

rebuilt now?

Not enough. I was out there last night.

Um it's slower than it should be. And

what is slowing it down?

What's slowing it down is an enormous

amount of red tape. I mean, the previous

speaker's talking about red tape in the

state of California. We have red tape in

the city of Los Angeles and the county

that's ridiculous. But let me just give

you an example.

Since COVID,

we have still not, we being the city,

has still not called back workers to

city hall. So plan checkers in LA city

are working from home.

You just lost 7,000 homes.

You would think the first thing the

mayor would do is say, "You 10 plan

checkers are now out in the Palisades in

a construction trailer where the people

need you." They're still working out of

a home. Why do the people Why? I I want

to know why.

>> Yeah, why?

>> That makes me angry. You'll have to call

1-800 Karen Bass. I don't know the

answer. What's What's your I've I've

tried to call that number a number of

times. What is What is your sense of the

incentives there? What is driving that?

Is it a union thing? Is it a you're

going to get unelected because this

voting block wants to work from home?

What is the incentive there?

>> Incompetence. What is no sense. I I

think this is what it is.

I I think there's a level of

incompetence

that's combined with literally a

stagnation.

And there's no urgency to do anything.

So there's no decision-making.

And all of us have been in situations in

business or whatnot where you meet

somebody that is just not well equipped.

And so what happens when you're not well

equipped to make decisions in either

easy situations or complex situations,

you sort of freeze up. So the kids were

on the class?

Yeah. I'll throw out a theory and get

your reaction to it, which is California

is a one-party state and Karen Bass

doesn't really need to serve the people

because historically we haven't really

had competitive elections. What's

important is that she satisfies this

political machine that keeps her in

office. She wasn't a particularly

distinguished candidate or anything like

that. She's just been around the block

for a long time. Yeah.

And frankly, we had the best candidate

to ever challenge Karen Bass, which was

you, who was a successful businessman.

Unbelievable. And and the proof of that

is that I love this crowd, by the way.

This crowd is intelligent.

>> Yeah, yes, they are.

>> Yeah, and the and the proof of that was

was in the fires cuz I think it's pretty

obvious that the Palisades wouldn't have

burned to the ground if you had been the

mayor because you would have made sure

that there was water in the fire

hydrants.

>> Wait, David, what's amazing to me is and

we're waiting for this action

after action report, which is

incredible. We don't even have it yet.

But I am I was convinced 9 months ago,

I'm more convinced today that fire was

completely preventable.

And if you think I'm wrong and it wasn't

completely preventable, the damage could

have been significantly mitigated.

>> Mhm. The fire department was never

pre-deployed.

Where the fire started is the same exact

place that there was a fire 7 days

before. I think what we're going to see

is the fire department did not

put that original fire out. It smoldered

and reignited.

When it reignited, the winds were not

here yet. The smoke was going straight

up.

We had the largest reservoir not filled

with water.

I mean, I got the call at night, the

family was together, your daughter's

home is burning down and the

firefighters, their hoses have stopped.

There is no more water in the fire

hydrants. And I said, "How can that be?

We're the second largest city in the

country."

Impossible. But listen, I think all of

it is fixable.

So I'm an optimist.

And with the right kind of leadership,

and I'm not saying it's me. I'm just

saying in general in this state, in this

city, in this country, with the right

kind of leadership

that is competent, eager, and willing to

make decisions

because they want to do what's best for

the people they serve and not worrying

about getting reelected,

great things can happen. And that's my

hope for the

>> Why is this happening around the nation?

When you look at Portland, Seattle,

Chicago, New York, these cities around

this country, we're seeing similar kind

of systems of decay They're blue.

>> degradation But is it What did you say?

>> No, he said they're blue.

But I I I want to like is that is that

really what's going on or is there is a

social thing that's going on or a

societal thing that's going on that's

causing people to say, "Let's let these

cities kind of decay. Let's stop doing

our jobs. Let's keep kind of ballooning

the the budgets but not delivering any

results." What is it that's going on? I

have a little bit different take. I have

a different take that I think there's

been a

a sense of apathy. I think people have

not gotten engaged. Not enough people

vote and get involved and we don't hold

our elected officials accountable. Uh

people now that run for office believe

they have an office for life and I think

that's very dangerous. That was never

the intent of our founding fathers. It

was to serve and then go back to your

private life.

>> That's right. And and now what we have

is people just they cycle through it.

And what we need to do is get more

people active. I don't care what your

political persuasion is, get out and

vote. And but what we have seen,

particularly, are extremes

that are very motivated to vote and

they're moving these uh elected

officials that are ideal logs into

positions and this ideology which may be

well-intended has not had good results.

>> Have the people of Los Angeles seen

enough do you think to have the common

sense

to put competent leadership in?

I hope so.

>> enough? We're going to find out in about

a year. What do the politicians mean

when I mean I think I've heard Karen

Bass say this and I think I've heard

Gavin Newsom say this that they see

that what happened in the Palisades is

an opportunity to reimagine. What are

they imagining there?

And how is that different than just

letting people rebuild their homes?

I I I can't I can't speak I can't speak

for that. I can't speak for that. I

can't speak for that. I can't speak for

that. I can't speak for that. I can't

speak for that. I can't speak for that.

I can't speak for that. I can't speak

for that. I can't speak for that. I

can't speak for that. I can't speak for

that. I can't speak for that. I can't

speak

I don't think so. I I think there's

probably fringe people

who would like to see zoning changes. I

don't believe that there should be

zoning changes

on the backs of people who have lost

their homes and their businesses. If you

want to do that, you want to have that

discussion, do it in an orderly fashion,

but do everything you can to get people

back into their communities, back in

their homes.

And I this city and government has got

to have this culture that we've got your

back.

We're here for you and we don't have

that. And you're not going to get people

to reinvest in their own homes and their

own community unless they think the

city's going to be there with them. How

how much of the ineptitude of Los

Angeles

is derived from the ineptitude of the

state of California?

Well, I think it's part and parcel, you

know, to be honest, but

I also believe that

>> So is is Gavin Newsom helpful? Has he

done stuff to help like when you when

all the people in LA who are still

you know, dispossessed and out of a home

called him, is he able to apply pressure

to the city of California or is it just

city of LA rather or is it just chaos? I

don't think it's chaos. I think actually

Gavin has done some good things

waving sequa, waving the coastal

commission. Those are really smart

things that he's done. I'd like to see

him do more What would what would you

want him to do?

What he could do is he could demand

changes very quickly

and if not, he could exert

independent California authority to make

changes.

These communities, Altadena and Malibu

and Palisades, they need completely new

infrastructure. They need all the power

lines underground. They need new water

systems. All of that has to be done.

He's got the power to really make that

happen and frankly, we've got to figure

out a way to get the federal government

to help financially. And I think

name-calling

probably is not a good way to build a

relationship to get billions of dollars

into the state of California. So I'd

like to see that stop. Where can you be

more effective

as mayor or governor of California?

I think they're very different. Um

but I think either one of them. I really

do.

I think I think either one of them.

But I think they have different they

obviously have different authorities and

different powers,

but I think either one can be very

effective.

>> You you'd be great. You'd be great in

either one and um it'd be it'd be great

to to see

Thank you. I appreciate that. It'd be

great it'd be great to get a to get an

outsider so you know, into politics. The

thing I I I worry about is in

California, you've got ballot harvesting

is legal and checking someone's voter ID

is illegal.

And I just wonder if the combination of

those two things makes it impossible for

someone outside the political machine to

get elected. What do what do you think?

Well, you know, it may David, but I may

I may give that a try. So we'll see.

We'll see if it works.

It didn't go the way I you wanted to

last time.

Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. I got I got

to follow up on this one. You're I know

the people who have been having some of

these conversations with you. There's

one camp that's pushing you to governor

and the other camp is pushing you to

mayor.

How do you make that decision? When are

you going to make that decision? We've

got 8 minutes and 53 seconds left here.

Can we get it done now?

>> get it done in 8 minutes?

All right, let's start. Mayor clap.

Who wants him to go for mayor? And now

governor. Governor.

Wow. Wow.

Wow.

>> You I just want to let you know right

now,

you have the full support of the All In

platform for whichever one you choose.

The level of confidence you and I have

developed a bit of a friendship. We talk

on text and I every time I go to one of

your facilities and we talk about the

detail, the detail that you have at the

Grove, Pacific Palisades, this

incredible Montecito property that I got

to stay at recently.

That attention to detail

is what

Where did this attention to detail,

the understanding of customers and

consumers in your private sector life,

where did it come from?

I love what I do and if if you go to the

root of what we do as a company and you

ask anybody in the company, what is your

business?

Everybody in our company is going to say

to bring joy and enrich people's lives.

It sounds corny,

but if you do that, it gives you a

platform in business that gives you

permission to do things that your

competitors are not allowing themselves

to do.

It gives you permission to build a place

called the Grove which you and I talk

about and you get to run a trolley

through the middle of it.

>> Is it really that simple like you're

building a business and you're like I'm

just going to enrich the lives of my

customers and make them happy and your

competitors literally don't do that?

Well, my competitors building an indoor

mall with no trees or light and an

escalator and So you're just shaking

your head like how is this how how is

this even possible? Well, don't you want

to be in a place that feels good, makes

you happy? You see trees, you have

water, you have flowers, there's nice

music. Nobody's It feels like the

perfect platform

or or stadium

So that's where that platform gives you

this incredible power and authority to

go do things. I mean,

you look at the Rosewood Miramar, our

resort, we have a full train running

through it. Everybody's stayed away from

that property and when I announced we're

going to build a five-star hotel,

everybody said you're crazy, you got a

train running through it. We made the

train an amenity. Right.

>> We built a bar next to it with a bell

that gets rung when the train comes by

and people celebrate it. Yeah. So that's

enriching lives. I I just love watching

people

enjoy their life and that's what fuels

my public service and it's what I really

enjoyed

when I worked for three mayors, when I

worked for Tom Bradley and Dick Riordan

and Jim Hahn.

You can actually make changes in public

service

that makes people's lives better.

How great is that?

>> That's great. People don't know this

widely, but tomorrow is the 175th

anniversary of the state of California.

Governor Newsom, it's a great state and

an amazing place.

Governor Newsom is giving his state of

the state tomorrow morning. If you were

in that seat, what would you say at the

state of the state tomorrow? What's your

read on the state of the state of

California?

I think the state of California should

lead the nation in everything that we

do. I think the state of California

should have

the best housing, it should have the

best school system, the lowest crime

rate. We should not have homeless living

on the streets. We should have

opportunities for people to grow a

business, raise their family, feel good

about life, be enriched.

And we should be in the top of every

category that you want to measure

quality of life.

If if you say we're the fourth largest

economy in the world,

which our elected officials say very

often,

then act like it and the people of

California should be benefiting from

being the fourth largest economy in the

world.

>> How would you deal with homeless? You

got these encampments. We're driving

around here downtown LA. It had such a

renaissance for a short period of time.

It feels like it's devolved again. It

has. And it just seems to me that it

just should be zero tolerance for

camping on the street. Yet here we are

again with encampments everywhere. What

would be your approach?

Well, my approach was simple when I ran

is you can't allow encampments on the

street, but you've got to give

people who are on the streets an

opportunity to have

a productive life. So give them the

services they need, build the housing

that they need.

We are spending in the city of Los

Angeles

$900,000

per person that they're removing from

the streets.

$900,000.

>> Per year? Yeah. Oh my god.

>> There's billions and billions of dollars

wasted. Redirect that to organizations

that have incredible track records of

being successful in Los Angeles, of

housing people, giving them the services

for mental health and drug addiction.

And the first thing you do is you do not

allow the sale of drugs on the street.

Right now we do.

I mean, this that's a crime. It's

illegal. Don't allow it. It is a crime.

Yeah. I I mean, if you look at fentanyl,

it is just a different category of drug.

We've seen the president who you don't

agree with everything on, but he's

taking a pretty hardline stance to the

point at which he's activating the

military. Pretty controversial. What's

your take on that? I think we should

actually have secure borders and shut

down the drugs 100%.

Absolutely.

>> So in full agreement with the president.

>> Yeah. I I don't know how you can say I

want to have a livable society, a

quality of life, allow people to build a

business, raise a family, and then at

the same time you allow drug dealing to

go on the streets. You just can't do it.

We have an area out here called the

Sepulveda Basin. I got a call from a

resident yesterday

and this poor resident that lives out in

Encino was talking about the amount of

encampments

in Sepulveda Basin. And what they have

done now the homeless he's telling me is

they've made these booby traps

and connected homemade bombs to them. Oh

my god.

>> the police or the fire department try to

go in there

this one firefighter was severely

injured, lost an ear because it hit a

tripwire.

And he had called the mayor. The mayor

said, "Well, it's very complicated to

try to figure out how to get in there to

clean it up." It's not complicated. You

go in there and clean it up. Period.

Full stop. Period. Full stop. We just

got to do that.

So,

one of the complications here is

the Democrats don't seem to want to

clean up the cities.

The president has checkmated them by

saying, "If you don't clean it up, I'll

clean it up." Seems like a midterm

driven approach. What's your take on the

National Guard being sent into these

cities? Because if Karen Bass won't

clean it up, if J.B. Pritzker won't

clean it up, is there an argument for

the president to send the National Guard

in? It seems like overreach in one way,

but we're sitting here talking about

absolute incompetence and a refusal to

deal with this issue. The people who are

affected by it are like, "Yes, send the

National Guard in if that's what it

takes." What's your take?

Well, my take on it is sending in the

National Guard in Washington D.C. is a

very different situation

than sending the National Guard into

L.A. or Chicago.

Cuz Washington D.C. is a federal

territory.

So, that's different.

What I think should be done

is we should hold our elected officials

accountable

to have a police department that's fully

engaged and given the authority to

enforce the laws.

And we're not doing that. You're not

backing They're not backing up the cops.

They're not backing up the cops. The

cops are not allowed to clean up the

streets. The cops are not allowed to

hold people accountable for selling drug

on the streets. There's a whole bunch of

protocols in the city of Los Angeles

that do not allow the cops to do their

job.

The any kind of federal

interference, I think, should be the

very, very last resort. So, I don't

support that. I don't support it, but I

do support a fully engaged leadership

system that require that the laws be

enforced and give police

the opportunity and not only that,

demand that they enforce the law. Ladies

and gentlemen, the next governor and/or

mayor

of California, Los Angeles,

Rick Caruso.

>> Thank you very

That was fantastic. Great. Thank you

very much.

That was great.

>> very much.

I got You got it, brother. Appreciate

you, brother.