Republican strategist Scott Jennings clashed with CNN host Abby Phillip Monday night over whether disaster relief aid for wildfires in California should be made “conditional,” requiring policy changes.
The area around Los Angeles has been impacted by multiple wildfires that rapidly spread through Pasadena and other localities, destroying thousands of buildings and leaving at least 24 people dead, prompting criticism of Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California from President-elect Donald Trump over the state’s forest management policies. Phillip noted that House Speaker Mike Johnson favored introducing certain conditions for California to receive federal aid to rebuild.
“I said it the night that this started, I said on your show, there ought to be conditions on aid because obviously —” Jennings said, before Phillip interrupted to ask, “So the next time Florida or Louisiana is dealing with a hurricane, you want that aid to be conditional upon Washington dictating policy decisions in those states?”
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“I want it to be conditional on knowing whether or not the state of California, in this case, is going to enact local policy decisions on forest management, on water resources management,” Jennings said. “So it doesn’t happen again.”
Trump previously clashed with California officials over forest management during his first term in office after multiple wildfires in the state, accusing the state of failing to engage in “proper Forest Management.”
“Okay, if the Democratic-controlled House decided, ‘You know what, in Florida, they really should not be building those houses on the water, climate change is happening. That aid that we give you is going to be conditional upon you preventing the building of anything along — in all those areas that are prone to hurricanes,’ you would be okay with that?” Phillip asked, with Jennings responding, “If you could pass that through the United States Congress, more power to you.”
Defense attorney Arthur Aidala then cut in as Phillip was asking a follow-up question.
“Hold on, hold on, hold on. I’m the lawyer here. We have rules like that all the time,” Aidala informed Phillip. “You have to build around Coney Island in Brooklyn. If you’re going to build something, it’s got to be built in a certain way so you’re going to get the money.”
“Thank you. So, Arthur is pointing out that is very much something that Congress could do. Would you be okay with that?” Phillip asked Jennings, who responded, “I am not for a blank check to a state that has clearly failed and doesn’t know how to manage fires.”
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