Kevin de Leon survived a city hall scandal, now he's fighting for his political life

Countdown 2024 from KNX News

You're with Countdown 2024 ... where election day is 54 short--or depending how you view it, LONG days away. On today's show we're leaning into the old saying "all politics is local," with a full half hour discussion with embattled LA City Councilmember Kevin De Leon whose in a fight for his political life.

But first let's take a spin around the political world to bring you the latest from the campaign trail:

The first post-presidential debate polling is out from Reuters/Ipsos ... and while it's just one poll ... it could be the start of Vice President Kamala Harris opening up some breathing room against former president Donald Trump. Reuters shows Harris up by five points, 47 to 42-percent .... in that same poll respondents have Harris overwhelmingly beating Trump in Tuesday's debate.

Speaking of debates ... Trump today, posting on his Truth Social, declared himself the winner of his first debate with Harris ... and emphatically stated there will be NO more debates.

On the heels of Taylor Swift's endorsement of Kamala Harris for president ... Donald Trump and JD Vance, who were asked about it throughout the day yesterday ... went out of their way to tell everyone that they really didn't care about Swift's choice, and downplayed the impact that an endorsement from the world's biggest music star could have in the campaign.

Along the same lines ... Gallup has new analysis out today showing young American women between the ages of 18 - and- 29 consider themselves more liberal today than in previous generations ... particularly on issues like abortion and the environment.

The city of Springfield, Ohio has been the focus of a lot of unwanted attention ... after the city was thrust into the middle of a presidential debate by Donald Trump, over his insistence that Haitian immigrants were eating dogs and cats there ... a totally unsubstantiated rumor.

Today multiple city, county and school buildings around Springfield were closed after a bomb threat was called in. And Haitian families in the town have reported multiple instances of vandalism and harassment ... even going so far as to keep their kids home from school because of safety concerns.

It was almost two years ago ... in October of 2022 ... that a secretly recorded conversation between three members of the Los Angeles City Council and a prominent union leader went public ... touching off a scandal that reverberates to this day.

The conversation was often tinged with casual racism ... and the subject-matter was how to manipulate the city council redistricting process to best serve the incumbent members to the disadvantage of Black residents.

Only one councilmember who was in that room remains: that's Kevin de Leon, who is currently running for reelection in the 14th Council District ... he joins us live on Countdown.