works.

And there are so many in L.A. who are out on the street.

Like I said, I saw thousands of people.

And what's peculiar – and I don't know that this – like everyday Californians know this.

But like there is – they've been out there for so long and there's actually such a system.

They've got like makeshift informal governments down there.

Really? They've got – There are people I ran into out there who are like, I am the mayor of Skid Row.

And they're not down with any of that stuff.

So he didn't win anything.

No, but Bonta was so anxious that he was in tears, needed the settlement because he knew that his lawsuit was creating political grief for him.

The folks in California are like, you're nuts.

You're suing Paramount and Warner Brothers.

Just century old industries like these are part of our culture.

They're part of our economy.

I mean, that's 65,000 jobs that we potentially almost lost in California because Paramount was on the verge of leaving.

how were you able to make as a city attorney in huntington beach how were you able to make that city so safe and so great every time i go down there i feel like i'm in hawaii i feel like i'm in a different world

As you campaign and talk to people, what are they telling you? What do they want you to do? Turn his mic on.

Yeah.

So my thank you for that.

So, you know, my audiences have been sort of across the spectrum.

I've had Democrats, independents and Republicans.

A lot of them say, you know, I want you to hold people accountable.

I want you to fight the corruption and send them to jail.

this.

What's going on? Make people understand why you need to be in the AG office.

Yeah, so thank you for having me.

It's an honor to be with you again.

My wife wanted me to tell you that she says hi.

Please say hi back.

So it's good to be here.

No, look, California's in crisis.

When are you sending it in? Is that so they can use it fraudulently? Or are they going to actually take my vote?

Mm.

Um, actually, if you look at the history in California on that question, i.e. whether California is headed in the right direction or the wrong direction, that number is normally about 40, 40 f- you know, in the low 40s, 40%, uh, believe that California's headed in the wrong direction.

But now in this cycle in 2026 after the LA fires, um, after all of the corruption and the waste, fraud, and abuse that we're hearing about, after people realizing that w- now we rank sixth, um, highest in crime in the nation according to FBI data on violent crime, and second highest in crime according to a recent 2026 consumer affairs survey, people are waking up to the issues, and so I think that's why the number is as high as it is at 65%.

For folks who don't know, that is very, very high.

Um, that is not, uh, you know...

We think of 65%, probably in other contexts it's maybe not that high.

In, in a...

Mm.

I mean, this is what? Like almost a year you've been running now?

Yeah, since January.

So things are going pretty well.

Um, I'm not afraid to say and share some inside baseball that about 15 weeks ago, um, internal polling was showing that we were about eight points behind Rob Bonta, and Rob Bonta's our attorney general right now, the incumbent.

I'm running against him.

Um, and then about six, seven weeks ago, the polling was that I was trailing by five points, and then about a week and a half ago, we got updated polling that shows we're trailing by about three points.

So what that suggests, what that signifies is that we have a lot of momentum.

Right.

Uh, give us, uh, your, uh, assessment here of, uh, the culmination of this deal, uh, despite all of the, the challenges here led by the, the current attorney general.

Well, it's interesting.

Um, obviously Paramount and Warner Brothers are really, really important to California.

Over a hundred years old, they're part of our culture, our history.

Uh, they are-- they represent California, and they represent thousands, tens of thousands of jobs.

And, um, I'm grateful that they are staying.

Uh, if Rob Bonta and his lawsuit had his way, uh, he probably would have driven them out of the state of California, costing California sixty thousand jobs.

Tell us, uh, about, uh, some of the other cases, uh, under the current, uh, attorney general that, that you would have probably never have filed and, and what you would, uh, tackle, uh, when you take office.

Talk to us about how you plan to engage local law enforcement throughout California.

Yeah, and this is a great question because a lot of people think the attorney general really is a do nothing position or is the counselor for the governor.

And that's not true in California.

The attorney general has purview over all of the sheriff's department.

So there's 58 counties with 58 sheriffs purview over all of the sheriff's departments and also the district attorney's offices, 58 district attorneys.

So there's all of the DAs and their prosecutors, all of the sheriffs and their deputies.

And then my office, the California department of justice has 1200 attorneys plus investigators and support staff.

How will you treat those lawsuits if you win? Will you dismiss them all? Will they be subject to itemized review? And we've talked about your relationship with your local partners, but how would you see the relationship being different between the state of California and the federal government if you weren't suing them all the time?

Do you think they would've gone?

I do.

They actually had things in motion.

Why? Because they have to answer to their shareholders.

They have to answer to their stakeholders, and they can't have California beating them up all of the, the time and costing them money.

That would've cost, studies show, that would've cost 60,000 California jobs.

60,000 jobs if Paramount would've left and other businesses that supported Paramount would've shut down.

It, it, it, it, explain, like, what is it you're gonna be doing differently and how they might see it in their everyday life of th- of their own or the city.

And that's that's your job, right? Yeah, yeah,

yeah, yeah.

So Bianco, Chad Bianco is a great man, a great sheriff for Riverside, was a great candidate for governor of California.

And I think he has a bright future in politics personally.

I think people really fell in love with him.

I think the nature of the primary was just such that just so competitive, so many candidates that it was just it was a tough race, a tough environment to try to win.

And so I give him all the credit for his fight.

it's happening right in front of us.

Because now you're A, you'll get fired.

Right.

Right.

So the cost of doing business in California is sky high.

As you know, just the fuel prices are.

You know, diesel is at an all-time high per gallon.

And our gas prices in California are $2 more than the national average, right? So in California, businesses are already asked to shoulder more cost just to do the same kind of business they could do in other states.

What is your role?

How do we get the middle people to Michael Gates' side?

Yeah, so to me, I'm just out there on the campaign trail talking about everyday issues, which is what 80 percent of Californians are interested in.

I'm talking about reducing crime, fighting the corruption, fighting for constitutional rights, protecting the First Amendment, protecting your Second Amendment.

So all the gun owners out there.

You've got to know help is on the way.

On day one, I'm going to issue a notification to my sheriffs, all 58 of them across the state of California, that if they are not issuing concealed carry weapons permits within 90 days, they're in violation of the Second Amendment.

So I'm very, very pro-Second Amendment, very, very pro-gun ownership.

Michael Gates, before we let you go, what would you like to tell all of California listening now? You've got 30 days to go.

A high-speed rail, what would you do?

Yeah, so high-speed rail is an illegal endeavor.

It's an illegal enterprise, even though it was supported by Prop 1A.

The program does not abide by the terms, the express terms of Prop 1A, which was passed by the voters.

And because it doesn't abide by the express terms of Prop 1A, it's an illegal program.

It's not being funded properly.

There is a shell game happening with Sacramento to try to rescue the bullet train.

until noon?

And it's because of guys like you.

Yeah, well, you know, it's not an easy lift.

I mean, I was the city attorney here for over 10 years, and we fought crime.

Huntington Beach is one of the safest cities in the entire state of California out of nearly 500 cities, and it's because we rolled up our sleeves and did the hard work.

And my goal was to make everyday life of everyday Californians who lived in Huntington Beach the best ever.

And we've got 200,000 residents here and 15 million visitors a year.

Huntington Beach is frigging awesome.

So maybe I'll hang in Burbank.

Give us your reaction to the news this week that looks like this deal is now done.

Yeah, so it's a little surprising in some ways, not surprising in others.

And when I say not surprising in others, just look at the details.

So basically what Rob Bonta is claiming as a victory for getting Paramount to settle, if you look at the details of what Paramount agreed to, they're actually elements of their growth plan.

Like quite literally, they say they're going to invest X amount of dollars into the industry.

They're not going to relocate.

They're going to promise to put 30 motion pictures a year or within a certain timeframe.

Maybe you can again highlight your expertise versus his expertise, especially when it comes to a situation like this.

Give us your reaction, first of all, to this latest news and this ongoing drama that you've been following as we have here for months.

Well, you know, we'll see.

I think there's been some anticipation of settlement maybe for a number of weeks now.

And Rob Bonta, the attorney general, has called talks off and then they've reengaged and talks off and then reengaged.

So we'll see.

I mean, we know that this is really a political lawsuit that Rob Bonta filed against Paramount and Warner brothers in large part because he wants to punish Paramount.

Rob Bonta owes his allegiance to Netflix.

is.

Was that why you decided to run for attorney general?

Yeah, first, thank you for your support.

Thank you for having me on.

Yeah, you know, I think the thing that propels me the most about being about this race and jumping into this race is that I'm a patriot like you.

I'm an American.

I love this country.

I love this state.

How do you win in a blue state? What's the path?

Your thoughts.

yeah so I mean many call California, a criminal enterprise and then others call the robot and his wife, the most corrupt family in California.

And for those who point to Newsom for every woe or issue that we have in California that we have complaints about, it really isn't Newsom.

I'm not saying he deserves any kind of defense.

But if you actually look at what's going on, whether it's election integrity issues, where investigations are not allowed to proceed into election integrity, or whether it's the corruption, the waste, fraud, and abuse to the tune of nearly $425 billion, that's $22,000 a taxpayer, that has amassed over the same amount of time Monta has been in office, by the way, or you look at the high crime now california is the second most dangerous state in the country if you look at the 2026 consumer affairs report no matter what the issues are that people are complaining about other than gas prices odds are rob bont is responsible for these issues it's not newsome it's rob bonta and i believe that when newsome put bonta in office by appointment in 2021 that newsom knew what he was doing he knew that bonta as a just a pure politician not a real lawyer he did go to law school but he spent 10 years in the legislature like you mentioned he's been acting as a politician newsom knew that bonta was the perfect guy to run cover for corruption throughout california and to run interference on truth and justice including criminal justice which is why he's stopping invest investigations into election integrity.

He's suing the pants off of Paramount and Warner Brothers, which is not a antitrust violation.

I actually did antitrust on behalf of the city of Huntington Beach when I was city attorney.

If we have a man in the most powerful position in the state, below governor, who is being blackmailed on the regular, we need to know about it.

Your thoughts?

Yeah, so I mean many call California a criminal enterprise and then others call Rob Bonta and his wife the most corrupt family in California.

And for those who point to Newsom for every woe or issue that we have in California that we have complaints about, it really isn't Newsom.

I'm not saying he deserves any kind of defense, but if you actually look at what's going on, whether it's election integrity issues, where investigations are not allowed to proceed into election integrity, or whether it's the corruption, the waste, fraud, and abuse to the tune of nearly $425 billion, that's $22,000 a taxpayer, that has amassed over the same amount of time Monta has been in office, by the way, Or you look at the high crime, now California is the second most dangerous state in the country if you look at the 2026 Consumer Affairs Report.

No matter what the issues are that people are complaining about, other than gas prices, odds are Rob Bonta is responsible for these issues.

It's not Newsom, it's Rob Bonta.

And I believe that when Newsom put Bonta in office by appointment in 2021, that Newsom knew what he was doing.

If we have a man in the most powerful position in the state, below governor, who is being blackmailed on the regular, we need to know about it.

Give us an update on your view of how this is proceeding here, or in this case, not proceeding with this antitrust lawsuit still to be decided.

Yeah, so, you know, I said from the very beginning when Attorney General Rob Bonta sued Paramount and Warner Brothers to stop the mergers that this was a scam lawsuit.

It's politically motivated.

Just so people know, this merger is perfectly licit.

It has been scrutinized by the federal government.

It's been scrutinized by the European Union, by other countries around the world who may have an interest in the outcome.

And they have all said that this is good for business, that there's nothing that would be violative of any law, and that they support it and approve it.

What happened last week? And is there still a chance for some kind of a settlement before this goes to court?

... to hold people accountable?

Yeah, so like you said, I was the city attorney of Huntington Beach from 2014 to 2025, then I went to Washington, DC to work with the Department of Justice.

Before all of that, I was in private practice defending our law enforcement.

I was, uh, when the Orange County Sheriff's Department was sued, when the deputies were sued for doing their job, I was taking their cases to trial and defending them, so I've got a, a long history with defending police as well.

But when it comes to Huntington Beach, just so the audience knows too, Huntington Beach is the 23rd largest city in the state of California out of 482.

So it's a very, very large city.

Uh, it's got 200,000 residents and 15 million visitors a year.

What do you guys think?

And, um, let me ask you this, uh, regarding this, uh, big merger deal now and this, uh, lawsuit, uh, give us your thoughts about, uh, what's happening, and, uh, if you were attorney general, how would you handle the situation?

Yeah, so this lawsuit is nothing more than a scam, frankly.

I'm not afraid to say it, um, in part because the 12 attorneys general, like you mentioned, who lined up to sue the Paramount, uh, Warner Brothers, uh, merger, basically it's very, very partisan.

They're all Democrat attorney gen- attorneys general.

They are making this a political endeavor.

It is a scam.

Um, it is not legitimate.

While we have the mom- uh, this moment, and, and you shared, uh, your expertise in the antitrust, uh, specialty, uh, could you, uh, contrast, uh, your legal expertise, uh, versus, uh, Bonta's expertise, uh, especially in the courtroom?

Thank you.

Yeah.

So we're, the bottom line is we're lawless in California.

There's just literally no law and order.

Our leaders in Sacramento, both Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta, will look For any way to do anything they want, including recently, as you noted, thumbing their nose at federal law.

Like well-established federal laws that have been on the books for decades, decades and decades, whether it's immigration law, whether it's the way in which, uh, healthcare is funded for citizens only.

No matter what it is, they're thumbing their nose at federal law, and this is what I've been campaigning on.

Uh, if people wanna get in touch with you and get involved with you, how do they do that?

automatic support thereafter but in terms of of real issues are you going to have a chance to debate the hard issues the legitimate issues with mr bonta

so we've uh we've demanded a debate and we're waiting to see um some media outlets are interested in having a debate as well you're right he is a career process um a career politician excuse me he is a career politician he spent 10 years in the legislature so while he was you know having nice dinners with lobbyists as a legislator as a As an advocate for policy, I was in the courtroom.

I was in and out of the courtroom for years trying cases.

I've tried many multimillion-dollar cases myself, as you noted in the intro.

I was a successful prosecutor, criminal prosecutor in Huntington Beach.

Huntington Beach is one of the safest cities in the entire state of California under my leadership.

No excuses and no exceptions.

lot

So once you get in there, what do you do about the high speed rail?

Well, right now it looks like from some of the audits that we're hearing about or the results of the audits that actually it violates Prop 1A.

I mean, there's restrictions on the funding specifically that was embedded in Prop 1A that was passed by the voters.

And now it looks like they're doing some funny business with the money in Sacramento.

No surprise there, right? Right.

But it looks like the funding actually violates the terms of Prop 1A.

So when I am in office... we are going to come out with a legal opinion basically saying that this funding scheme for the bullet train actually is illegal.

that's great all right uh how did you meet nick shirley uh how do you have friends with that cat