The Brian Kilmeade Show

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From the Fox News Radio Studios in Midtown Manhattan. It's the fastest-growing radio talk show. Brian Gilmead. All right, we're on. Hi, everybody.

Welcome to the Brian Killmeat Show. Thanks so much for listening and thanks for watching on Fox and Friends as we come up here and make it a radio show. This hour from 48th and 6th in Midtown, Manhattan, we're going to bring you Rich Lowry from National Review, put in perspective the special election last night and so much more, as well as the president's big roundtable cabinet meeting yesterday, his ninth. He's only been doing the job for 10 months. Congressman David Kustoff is going to be with us in 15 minutes.

Why? It's especially good because he's in the sixth district in Tennessee. Last night was a special election for the seventh district in Tennessee, which was a Republican win. But the fact that it was single digits, I think, is a problem. What about you?

1866-408-7669. Let's get to the big three. Number three. The decisions have to be made. In the case of Russia by Putin alone, I think we've made some progress.

We've gotten closer, but we're still not there. We're still not close enough. But that could change. I hope it changes. He's the best in the business.

Five hours later and no peace deal. You have a five-hour meeting. Vladimir Putin in Ukraine is not talking about a ceasefire. No doubt about it. That door is not closed yet.

That's what I like about it. Why I think we have to turn up the heat to make Vladimir Putin play ball. Number two. Democrats picked their own candidate. They had three state representatives running.

They picked the liberal wing nut. That's the problem Democrats face in primaries all over the country in 2026, that they may nominate the left-wing nut who can't win the general. Wow, that is Brad Todd on CNN. Special election win for the GOP in Tennessee, but far from the result it should have been. It should have been double digits.

Both sides should take away, what both sides should take away from this as we get set for the big midterm elections where Democrats have favored to take back the House. Number one. This president is dead serious about making certain if poison that is coming in and killing us. He's conducting a comprehensive campaign. The ships, the airplanes, and the rest of it, the president has a lot of options.

Maduro is much aware of what those options are. That is the best in the business, General Jack Keene, an Institute for the Study of War. Maduro is the leader of Venezuela, but he's illegitimate. He's lost election after election. He plans on outlasting Trump's patience.

Why think that does not work, and the price this administration will pay? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I'm not going to be too long because I don't want to take too much time away from the congressman. But just to get through on Venezuela, there's a report out today that Maduro just wants to outlast, right?

So he's got a Cuban secret service. His version of secret service is all Cubans. Why Cubans? Because they know if Venezuela falls, Cuba will be next.

Now, I know we've been trying to get Cuba to stop being communist since the 60s, but the Castros are all dead. The place is the utter definition of failure, but it's being propped up by China, Russia, Venezuela, and their natural resources. But now he says if I just keep sleeping in a different bed every night, if I don't use a cell phone, if I bulk up my private security, I can stay. And if I stay, I'll have stared down the President of the United States. The problem is, have you met the President?

He doesn't quit easy. Even his critics know that.

So he's tightened his personal security. To reduce the risk of betrayal, Maduro has also expanded the role of his bodyguards, his personal security, and attached more Cuban counterintelligence officers to Venezuela's military to make sure they're not turning on him. In public, Maduro has sought to downplay Washington's threats by conveying a nonchalant and relaxed appearance. He's also a dummy. You know, he was a former bus driver that was just an aide to Chavez.

He was able to consolidate power, take over, and he basically he goes on television and makes a joke of himself every day. But the problem is he's got the army, he's got the guns, and he'll do anything to get rid of his opponents, including kill him, torture him, or jail him.

So that keeps him in power. Marco Rubio knows that you cannot trust or do a deal with this guy. Cut one.

Well, look, at the end of the day, with Maduro and his problem basically is that this is a guy, if you wanted to make a deal with him, I don't know how you do. He's broken every deal he's ever made.

Now, that doesn't mean you shouldn't try. If you can work out a way that you can bring stability to the hemisphere, you can make Venezuela help be a country that isn't. The base for Iranian influence against and activities against the United States. You could have a Venezuela that didn't traffic in drugs and didn't send people to our country, like Trendaragua gang members and the like. That would be great.

The problem is, Maduro has made five deals with different parties over the last 10 years and has broken every single one of them.

So, listen to this. I did not know this. I thought President Biden did a deal with Maduro that will bring Chevron back, let you pump some oil if you have free and fair elections. Why would he do that? Because he didn't want to pump oil here.

He felt as though the green technology of the Bernie Sanders people helped give him the nomination and ultimately got him into office. And if he continued to increase oil production, Then he would be giving up uh you know turning his back on the green New Deal, the future Green New Deal that he was putting together, and about all these environmentalists, the Al Gore types.

So, what does he do? He drains our strategic Oil reserve. They were supposed to be for an emergency, a war, or a boycott of OPEC. He drains that and then goes makes deals with outlaw regimes. Like Maduro.

So I'm thinking, okay, that's the deal. I don't like the deal. But it's actually worse than that. Listen to this, cut two. The Biden administration made a deal with Maduro.

No one talks about this. He made a deal with Maduro. Here was the deal. Maduro asked that his nephews, convicted drug traffickers, be released from U.S. prisons.

He asked that his chief money launderer, his moneyman, his bagman, be released from U.S. custody before he stood trial. In exchange, he promised to hold free and fair elections. He got the nephews back, the drug dealers. He got the bagman back, and he never did the free and they succored Joe Biden.

They're not going to sucker Donald Trump. Of course, but not as millionaires.

Now look. Trump doesn't know Venezuela inside and out, but it was explained to him in great detail by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. And John Bolton knew that you could really solve a lot of problems in our hemisphere if you could fix Venezuela and just let the people, let the party that got voted in by the people represent the people. That's why the key is going to be who's going to flip the army. Who's going to get the military to be loyal to them?

Again, I'll be quick on this, but just on the special election yesterday, I think it's important to point out that Martin, that. Matt Van Epps won with 96,988 votes, 53.9% of the vote, we believe. It might have changed just slightly. Afton Bain, 81,044 votes, 45% of the vote.

Now, it's a substantial win, except for the fact that Greene and Trump won by 20 plus. And this is thought to be very red.

Now, what people have told me, and I've witnessed this, is that Nashville is not red. Nashville is very liberal. And the problem for Democrats That would have really given Republicans an issue is if they ran a somewhat moderate candidate. Even someone who pretended to be a Abigail Spanberger. Who is somewhat moderate and very moderate compared to this woman?

This woman doesn't like cops, protests against ICE, thinks men can have babies, doesn't like country music, condemns everything that Broadway and Nashville stands for.

So, my goodness, she couldn't have been worse.

However, she is Uh photogenic. Camera friendly, Good Ernif uh I wouldn't say good Ernafeet because she could not outrun some of her comments in the past. But she's foreborn at burning down police stations.

So she was a, to me, Her issues were terrible. But she still got within nine points, which means Republicans got to learn from this. And they have to know that this is why they're favored to lose the House in the midterms, and it's not going to be in a walk in the park to keep the Senate. That's why Trump has got to get out personally starting in the new year. You'll listen to the Brian Kilmeet show.

Congressman from Tennessee, Congressman David Kustoff is next, Rich Lowry, and then your calls. Don't move. Politics, current events, and news that affects you. Brian's got a lot more to say. Stay with Brian Kilmead.

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FirstNet, built with ATT. Learn more on FirstNet.com/slash public safety first. Uh From his mouth to your ears, it's Brian Kilmead. In every election that's been on the ballot this year in 2025, Democrats have overperformed in red districts, in blue districts, and in purple districts, all throughout this country. In fact, last November's elections were the most historic off-off-year elections for the Democratic Party in our party's history.

And we are overperforming at an average pace of about 16 percentage points. And you're seeing that in this district tonight, it's a plus 22 percent district. The Republicans have spent over $4 million trying to win a district they should have won-handedly. Yeah, but they outspent the Republicans because I guess he thought it was okay to do that.

Meanwhile, Ken Martin had to take out lines of credit in order to get his win in New Jersey and Virginia just a month ago. And then he spent more money here. He's in charge of the DNC, which is very fractured. They got this huge socialist wing. You just saw this candidate, big-time socialist.

You saw what happened in New York City, you saw what almost happened with the socialists against a traditional, more traditional, but a terrible. Candidate as mayor of Minneapolis to Epps. Um Excuse me, fry. And then you have the one that won in Seattle. They have a fractured party, but they did everything he said is correct.

They did do better than anyone thought. Maybe Congressman David Kustoff was not surprised. He's in the 8th District over in Tennessee and joins us now. Congressman, what is your takeaway from the result last night? Brian, good morning.

A win's a win. We like winning. And if the Democrats are okay with moral victories, then let them have moral victories. I will say, with all that money that they pumped into the Tennessee seventh congressional district yesterday and through this campaign, That's less money. that they'll have for other elections.

And I don't know if you're the chairman of the DNC or the DCC or whoever is raising money for these elections, how do you keep going back to your donors? uh uh uh with moral victories and and uh claim any type of success. I think what I would encourage The DNC to continue to run these far left progressive candidates in these Ruby Red districts And they can claim every moral victory they want. They won't be successful. I think that these special elections, we've seen these in Off years, whether Trump is president or Biden is president or whoever's president.

And uh Generally the the Party in power doesn't get the same percentage as they do in a regularly scheduled November election. Uh I'm happy that the Democrats are um are Proclaiming victory when they lose by nine points. But the fact of the matter is that. At the end of the day, Matt Van Eps is going to be called Congressman. Right.

I know it's off year, and the party not in power usually are not as motivated. But the fact that Trump and Greene won by over 20 points and you win by 9 against a candidate that doesn't like Nashville. I mean, literally, she said she doesn't like Nashville in a state she has committed clear she doesn't like cops, protests against ICE on camera, was for burning down police stations, thinks men can have babies. This was the worst candidate in terms of issues that they could have put forward, and she still got within nine. If I made you an analyst, not a congressman, would you say that Republicans should there's a takeaway here?

Well, I think there are a number of takeaways. One is I will note that when they rank these districts like mine is what they call an R plus twenty one or plus twenty two. I believe the seventh congressional district technically is an R plus ten or R plus eleven. And he won by he won by nine points. I will also point out That you accurately described her profile.

That is everything that she said in the past, but when she campaigned. This election, she didn't campaign that way. She tried to campaign more towards the center, and that's smart. I mean, she can't erase her history of what she's done on social media, and we saw the Word salad of interviews when she was confronted with some of those past comments about burning down police stations and. What not and and She couldn't answer, but she didn't she didn't campaign that way.

I will say I I think the the the bigger issue for Republicans is is there is a specific type of Trump voter. And they turn out when Trump is on the ballot in 2016, in 2020, and 2024. We've always got our issues, but we won't have Trump. After last year's election. And so to me, Republicans, we've got to start thinking about that for.

2026 and 2028, that's what's going to be different. Congressman, I will give you that, but I think that Trump. And I don't think he's shy about this. I think starting in the new year, he's got to pretend like he's on the ballot. And I think it's a great idea that you guys had of having your own mini convention.

Maybe in the summer again, to gain momentum and tell people what's at stake because the Democrats only want to gum up the gears in your last two years. And it'll kind of, when you guys are in the minority, you're going to have massive retirements on top of that.

So Trump can make it appear like he's on the ballot because his legacy really is. Do you expect him to be out there? I expect President Trump to campaign as fiercely as he as he always does in the midterm elections. And realize we don't want to be in the minority. As a majority maker, we have done some really good things in the first eleven months of the year.

I think the One Bit Beautiful bill, we're going to start seeing the benefits of that next year, and that does address issues like Affordability. Donald Trump doesn't want to be in us to be in the minority because if we're in the minority, if we're in the minority in the House, non-stop lawsuits, you know, lawsuits, oversight hearings, impeachment. And it'll completely d detract from his final two years as president.

So, Donald Trump is going to be absolutely committed for all the right reasons to making sure that we keep our majority in the House and in the Senate and gain to those majorities. Congressman cussed off our gas tees with Tennessee's 8th District.

So, Congressman. Where do you stand on the subsidies in Obamacare?

Now, on its face, of course, you wouldn't be for it. But there's a lot of good people, many people who voted for President Trump are not going to be able to afford their health care payments.

So what's a legitimate how could Republicans keep to their values, but yet not leave a lot of people out to dry?

Well, look, it's complicated, and we know that they really got. Increased big time during the Biden years, during COVID, and there are people who are receiving those at income levels who shouldn't be receiving it. I guess my issue is. That we're so close to the deadline. We're weeks away, and people are opening up their printing notices, and they've gone up, and they've gone up.

significantly some I don't think there's we need to address the issue. We need to find a solution and something that two hundred eighteen members of the House can be happy with and sixty members of the of the Senate. And it should be something obviously We've got about three more weeks of voting, and people need answers, they need solutions. frankly, this government shutdown that the Democrats forced on us meant that for forty three days where we didn't vote, that was not helpful, whether that was part of their plan Who knows? But we've got an obligation to all of our constituents: Republicans, Democrats, Independents.

We've got to find So are you working across the aisle anywhere, or is that you leaving that to leadership? No, I do we're look, we're all part of it, and we all weigh in With what we think is viable. I mean, you've got. You've got the issue that I just mentioned, Brian. You've also got the government's fiscal problem, which is significant.

Whatever we come up with, we collectively, it's not going to make everybody. Happy. But if we can, if we can find a short-term solution. to work on a longer term problem, which frankly, Congress and different Presidents have been working on for a long time. Uh There's not going to be a magic answer, but let's do something in the short term to try to give some people some relief.

All right.

So, you would really want to see them do something that the president does. I think there's also a large faction of your conservative community that don't want to do anything because Obamacare failed, why bail him out? But they don't understand this. You're putting people in the line of fire. If there's something, you can work on a bipartisan plan together because no partisan plan, no matter how brilliant.

Is ever going to go last an election?

So, you guys, after this is done, should probably work on something together, don't you think? it needs to be a together solution, but but It also has to be led by the White House. I mean, we've seen when the President gets engaged, and he's engaged a lot. I mean, as you know, he is talking to Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House, multiple times per day and talking to All of us. He's going to have to be involved and he's going to have to lend his leadership.

Yeah, I think he will, though. But if it's just the Trump deal, some people just will zone out on it. Hopefully, it's maybe working with some people on the other side. Congressman David Kustoff, thanks so much. Rich Lowry, next.

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Mm-hmm. A talk show that's real. This is the Brian Kill Mead Show. My message is simple on this. You commit fraud in Minnesota, you're going to prison.

I don't care what color you are, what religion you are. Anyone who wants to help us in that, we welcome that. But sitting on the sidelines and throwing out accusations, and let's be very clear, demonizing an entire population and lying to people about the safety and security of this state. Is beneath that.

Well, really, Governor Waltz, you pretty much watched all this happen, and race has everything to do with it. In fact, part of the story is that anytime someone wanted to crack down on the Somali community, many of which were into all types of creative ways to steal taxpayer dollars from worthy programs, were from the Somali community. And any time you wanted to crack down, you'd be labeled a racist. And these threats are on the record. Whistleblowers have come forward.

And what did you do, Governor? You went after the whistleblowers. What are the numbers? 78 of the 86 indicted for this graft, which we'll get into, were Somalis. 59 convicted, almost all of them were Somalis.

So, this is from a Somali community, from a corrupt society. Who come over to this country and just find a way to built the system. I'm talking about food programs. I'm talking about special needs programs in schools. This is epic.

For all the wrong reasons. Rich Lowry joins us now. That's the subject of his column, editor of National Review. Cod the head title says it all. Ungrateful Elon Omar and the Somali scammers are the immigration we don't want.

Which is exactly basically what the President has said. Rich, welcome back. Is Governor Waltz in trouble? I think he he's going to have a real tough race this year. He should be in trouble.

This is a a scandal, obviously. And race, as you point out, played a huge role in it because these organizations, when Minnesota officials began to suspect, well, wait a minute, why do we have all of a sudden all of this surge in feeding stations or this surge in autistic Somali children? They wanted to look into it, but the organization was like, well, no, you can't do that because we're going to blow you up. We're going to sue you for racial discrimination. We're going to go to the press.

They're going to be terrible headlines. And the post-game investigations have determined, yeah, this played a role in how Minnesota handled it. How bad is this? It is really bad. You're talking about billions of dollars from the pandemic, from food programs, where people are going into what you're talking about, these autistic situation autistic situation.

There's money aside for autistic children.

Well, the Somalis apply for it. The kids are normal. And the parents get kickbacks by putting their kids into it. And the program gets the money and keeps the money. And they don't have to use it on the kids because the kids aren't autistic.

Yeah, and then then you buy your Porsche, right? And that's how it works.

So so this is it's galling any time anyone bilks the government, obviously, and native born Americans do it all the time. But to have people who came here from the goodness of our heart, right, take advantage of our society in this way is really short. And there are very few Somalis who've spoken out about it or spoken out against it.

So I want you to hear Marion Rarick, she's a Minnesota rap. A Republican, listen, Cut 37. In Minnesota, we have a brand new committee to the chagrin of most of the Democrats. It is the Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Committee, and we got to work right away. I was assigned on January 4th, and by the 16th of January, I was already speaking to the whistleblowers.

I've had multiple meetings with them, and if you read their X page, which I'm sure you have, as 37 million people already have, they have a lot to say, and what I can tell you is what Walls has been saying is that they aren't real, that they don't work for DHS. And if it was real, then the BCA, which is the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, or the U.S. Attorney, would be doing something about it, which I thought was an interesting shift away from that. The reality is, they are real. They do work for DHS, and I have met with them.

And now they're beginning to be rounded up and arrested. They took money from food banks, from employment benefits, from business loans, and I mentioned special needs programs. This is extensive, and evidently everyone knew about it. But there's so many Rich Lowry that they are a voting block, and they feel as though if you crack down on them, you're not going to be able to win these city elections, right? Yeah, that was part of the fear as well.

You don't want to alienate the Somali community by nailing Somalis who are cheating the government. It's totally perverse.

Now, the prosecutors out there have been heroes. They really have run this down. There have been multiple dozens of indictments since I think it started. The first one, first wave was in September 2023, so good on them. But this never should have happened, obviously.

So here's the President of the United States. He didn't mince words the first term, but this is really direct. Cut 39. And now I'm understanding, and you're going to look at that sc I hear they ripped off Somalians. ripped off that state for Billions of dollars.

Billions. Every year. Billions of dollars. And they contribute nothing. The welfare is like 88%.

They contribute nothing. I don't want them in our country, I'll be honest with you.

Somebody would say, oh, that's not politically correct. I don't care. I don't want them in our country. Their country is no good for a reason. Their country spanks.

He goes on, cut 40. You go one way or the other. And We're going to go the wrong way if we keep taking in garbage into our country. Ilan Omar is garbage. She's garbage.

Her friends are garbage. These aren't people that work. These are people that say, let's go, come on, let's make this place great. These are people that do nothing but complain. They complain and from where they came from they got nothing.

That is like the conversation at most dinner tables. You're not usually getting it from the oval. Are you okay with it? Uh No, I I it pays too too broad a brush with me. It's it's one thing to to call Elon Omar anything you want.

She is an in great. She never says, Oh, I love America, but she's gonna form that. Yeah, and may engage in immigration fraud possibly and marrying her brother. That's still disputed, but she hasn't definitively rebutted it.

So that's fine. I just wouldn't condemn all these people. But look, I would be much choosier about who we're bringing, and I'd be wary of bringing people from third world countries. I'd put an emphasis on skills, education, English proficiency, and to the extent you can determine it, love for this country. You don't want people to come here, not assimilate, and have us be filled with a sense of grievance.

And that's certainly sh true of Ilan Omar. It's true of a lot of Somalis. But there would be much less of a problem assimilating these people if we had fewer of them. You know, if there are 10,000 Somalis in Minnesota, it'd be one thing, but there are 80,000. And it's an ethnic enclave that's sort of self-perpetuating.

So that's a very bad phenomenon. And Rich, you know, color doesn't matter. It's just the country where they're from. I mean, they're problematic. All those stands, some of those countries just pump out terrorists, and they started pouring through our border with the last.

administration and they're pretty much white guys. And they're a problem.

So, I mean, the president doesn't even think like that, so therefore, he's not aware that how people could perceive that. But having said all that, This is what's really disturbing. The money that they're stealing from social programs. Is going back to Somalia.

Okay, that bothers me. And number two, it's going to al-Shabaab, a terror group, an al-Qaeda affiliate. That's what's being investigated now by Treasury. Yeah, so they're very powerful there, obviously, and they skim money. I think the main motive of this, though, was to get rich from these Somalis and buy nice cars and all the rest of it.

But in terms of race, does anyone complain about Indian immigrants into America? Maybe some at the margins, but they're incredibly successful. Nigerian immigrants, also incredibly successful because of high levels of education. I believe the Nigerian immigrants, because I do was doing a story on Cubans and their most successful immigrant enclave to come here since the pilgrims, and right behind them is Nigerians. Yeah, yeah, and I believe it's because that diaspora was initially seeded by doctors and nurses, very high-educated people, and they can succeed almost instantly.

And that's what you want. Nothing against people who come from Guatemala with no high school education, but they're going to have a really hard time here.

So why wouldn't you have people that can instantly succeed when we can choose whoever we want, right? Massive amounts of people want to come here. We can choose and select, and we just haven't done that in the way we should for decades now.

So this guy, Ahmed Samatur, he's a college professor, Somali heritage. He said the Somali culture, and many refugees who were from there, were raised in a culture where stealing from the government is expected. That is a expert.

So they're doing here, only with a richer government, what they were doing there. That's the problem. Yeah, there's a big fallacy where we tend to think that everyone around the world has Western attitudes.

So in the West, if you have access to government funds and you funnel it to a relative, that's bad. We all feel that's unethical. But there are other societies around the world where it's unethical not to give that money to your relatives.

So there is a culture clash here. And again, you just want people who can fit in right away and don't bring cultural predilections that run counter to really important cultural attitudes in this country. All right, so I want to bring you to, because you have such foreign policy knowledge, before you go, I want to bring you to Venezuela. And here's what Marco Rubio had to say about where this whole thing is heading. Cut for.

The Venezuelan regime is a source of instability in the entire region. Over 8 million Venezuelans have flooded into neighboring countries as a result of the regime's activities within their own country, including into the United States. They also happen to be the foothold of Iran. That's not spoken about enough. Iran, its IRGC, and even Hezbollah has a presence in South America, and one of their anchor presence, especially for the Iranians, is inside of Venezuela.

So we just finished talking about Iran and the hostility it has towards the United States. Where they have planted their flag in our hemisphere is on Venezuelan territory with the full and open cooperation of that regime.

So When you talk about why Venezuela matters, he knows it down pat how what this means.

Now, this guy Maduro wants to survive. He's moving every night, not using his cell phone, not sleeping in the same bed, bulked up his private security with Cubans, and he feels as though he can outlast Trump. Trump has to find a way to push this guy out. He's the illegitimate leader. This is not regime change.

So, what are his options?

Well, I think continue to try to scare him out of there is the ideal option, and that would be obviously easiest. But I'm not sure he's going to get scared out of there because one, you're either going to go to Russia. I'm talking about a cultural clash, you're a guy from Venezuela, you want to spend the rest of your life in Russia. And then often the fate of these dictators who leave is not good. You end up in jail or you end up dead.

So I think it's unlikely that he's going to go voluntarily. And then the question is whether Trump is going to take the next step and hit Venezuelan targets on the ground there. I kind of think he is, although I'm not sure he's decided yet himself. Yeah, and the other thing with Vladimir Putin, five-hour meeting yesterday, said that he's open to some of the other points, but not the major points. Called out Europe and says, you're trying to blow up our relationship with the U.S.

and basically says, I don't want a war with you, but we're ready to fight you today if we have to.

Now, this guy has said the same thing in 2024. He's always threatening. He can't handle one Western state. He's going to handle 27. Yeah, that's bluster.

My guess is that this doesn't work out and it falls apart again, but we'll see. Do you project that Trump will up the ante by saying with no agreement? We're going to give them tomahawks are going to be delivered. More patriots are going to come. That's what I hope because as we've talked about all year, I think that's the predicate for actually getting Russia to be serious about peace negotiations.

If they think there's a real cost on the battleground and they might suffer some reverses or at least suffer more hits on their territory, but I'm not sure that I think it's just a jump ball where Trump goes. All right, Rich Lowry. We'll get more in the Astral Review. I appreciate it. Awesome.

Thanks, Brian. You got it, 1-866-408-7669.

So we come back. Your first chance to talk today.

So I want to get your opinion about what's going on. Also, the affordability situation. What you take away from the closer than comfortable for Republicans, Matt Van Epp's victory last night? You'll listen to the Brand Kill Meet Show. Where big stories meet bigger conversations.

Stay informed and energized with the Brian Kilmead Show. This is Ainslie Earhart. Thank you for joining me for the 52-episode podcast series, The Life of Jesus. A listening experience that will provide hope, comfort, and understanding of the greatest story ever told. Listen and follow now at FoxNewsPodcasts.com or wherever you listen to podcasts.

A radio show like no other. It's Brian Killmead. It gives me no pleasure to say what I'm about to say because I worked with Pete Kykseth for seven or eight years. At Fox News. This is an act of a war crime, ordering survivors who the law requires.

Be rescued instead to be murdered. There's absolutely no legal basis for it. Everybody along the line who did it, from the Secretary of Defense to the Admiral to the people who actually pulled the trigger, should be prosecuted for a war crime for killing these two people.

Okay, that's Andrew Napolitano, Judge. We used to do a show together. I couldn't disagree more.

Now, you might go through the Geneva Conventions and say, aha, if someone's on the battlefield and they're wounded, save them. Would we have saved Salamani? Absolutely not. Let me see, did Barack Obama admit a war crime? Amnesty International said in 2013 he did, when on 28 separate strikes in northwest city of Zeristan, they said that they had to hit potential targets and people as many as six times.

You know what? In 2011, in going after terrorists, he killed 40 civilians at a tribal gathering. The guy bombed a wedding. In 2012, he killed 18, including a woman and children, because there was a terrorist amongst them. Human Rights Watch in 2013 said Barack Obama in Yemen looked at six separate strikes and flagged two as double taps for indiscriminate with follow-ups and targeted apparent rescuers.

So when they came to rescue the wounded, Obama wiped them out. You know what? That's what you do with terrorists. It's not my fault terrorists have families, because they're trying to kill our families. And number two is you're blowing up narco ships with illegal drugs going to the Caribbean, they're going to end up on our shores.

You target them. That means that by the power vested in me, I only got one shot. Really? One shot.

So, if someone's wounded, I hit him wounded once, and I go to finish them, I committed a war crime. Nobody cares about this. This is a total MSNBC distraction. This is the Russia hoax, the Epstein files, all that crap again. This is not the story.

The Secretary of War is not in trouble. He didn't commit a war crime. That means we have to arrest Rumsfeld, sadly, who passed away. We got to go rep Gates. You're going to tell me that you missed a terror target in Iraq.

And then we went back and finished the job if the guy who staggered out of a car after we hit it. We finished the job, war crime. We should have taken him into custody and got him to our burn unit. That's not the way anything works. I am not insulted by any of this.

And, you know, Peace said, I didn't order the second strike, but the Admiral should not be in trouble either. This is Senator Mark Kelly. Any type of cachet he got from his tremendous, tremendous, you know, his strikes. They said he had 34. missions into Iraq and Afghanistan, okay.

You go into and go into the space, okay. As a senator, you've been awful and you're pure doing pure politics now. You see an opportunity to be anti Trump and get that Democratic nomination for President. You just don't have any personality, and you are just a political, you are just on pure politics. Unlike Senator John McCain, who spent his years in wearing uniform, As a prisoner of war, didn't wear it around his neck, but he would go against his party when he thought his party was wrong.

He certainly, I don't have to explain it to Donald Trump. James in Florida. Hey, James. How's it going? Hey, what's on your mind?

Pertaining to the election, I'm glad the Republican won, but what scares me is eighty thousand plus people voted for communism. What say you? And I'll hang up and listen to your response. I know. James, I hear you, but I hear that Nashville is extremely left.

I've heard that over and over again. You know, I heard that when you. A lot of people, if you're not extremely rich now, you can't get anything near Nashville. You've got to move out to the suburbs, and that's really where most Republicans get their support.

So that's an area, but it's true. How did she get 80,000 votes? I mean, the woman doesn't even like the city she's there to represent. It was almost, she's almost comically inept. But she, and also, she couldn't explain herself.

And I think she's at that thing just like Mandami. She is anti-cop. She is for burning police stations. She does think men can have babies. She is for transgender surgery.

So. You might want them to walk it back. You want Mondami to go walk it back and even play the political game. But they lose their voting base if they do. Maybe they'll lose most of the 80,000 if they come back and go, yeah, man, of course I don't feel that way.

I really wish I never posted that. You know, you did delete it.

So that's a problem. If you go do things logical that shows a moderation and a reasonableness and a practical way of thinking, you lose the extremist, which is your base. From high atop Fox News headquarters in New York City, always seeking solutions, never sowing division. It's Brian Kilmead. Hi, everyone.

So glad you're there. Brian Killmead from 48th and 6th in Midtown Manhattan, around the country, around the world. Happy to be with you, especially we have another election day to go over. A lot happening on the global front and the domestic front. And of course, I always love talking politics.

And we're going to still continue this unbelievable scandal over in Minnesota, judged by that incompetent Governor Waltz. And he is right in the middle of it. And I can't wait to expand on that. Trey Yinks is standing by. If you talk about what's happening in the Middle East, you want to know what's happening in Ukraine.

This guy's seen it up close and personal. And then Dr. Mark Siegel will be with us. We're talking about getting these subsidies for Obamacare in. I know it's a political hot potato for Republicans, but if they sit on the sidelines now and let everyone's rates go up and act indifferent, they'll pay a political price.

We'll talk about that along with his new book.

So before we get to Trey, let's get to the big three. Number three. The decisions have to be made in the case of Russia by Putin alone. I think we've made some progress. We've gotten closer, but we're still not there.

We're still not close enough. But that could change. I hope it changes. Five hours later, a no-peace deal with Vladimir Putin. Not surprising to me.

Ukraine says the door is still not closed. I guess that is good. They're doing everything possible. Why do I think we have to turn up the heat for Vladimir Putin to truly play ball? Number two.

Democrats picked their own candidate. They had three state representatives running. They picked the liberal wing nut. That's the problem Democrats face in primaries all over the country in 2026, that they may nominate left-wing nut who can't win the agenda. Yep, that is a Republican operative talking on CNN.

Special election win for the GOP in Tennessee, but far from the route it should have been, where it's a district that Donald Trump won by 24 points. Why both sides have a lot to work on after this election? I'll go over the details and we'll talk about the affordability agenda. Number one. This president is dead serious about making certain if poison that is coming in and killing us, he's conducting a comprehensive campaign.

The ships, the airplanes, and the rest of it, the president has a lot of options. Maduro is much aware of what those options are. And Maduro plans an outlasting Trump. He says he's going to push Trump's patience. Why think that does not work and the price the administration will pay if he stays?

And joining us now is Trey Yingst. Hey, Trey, Fox News' chief foreign correspondent. He is now taking a break, I guess, from Tel Aviv. And Jerusalem to come home. You know, he's the author of Black Saturday, a great Christmas gift, by the way, an unfiltered account of the October 7th attack on Israel and the war on Gaza.

Trey, welcome back. Thanks, Brian. All right.

First off, are you surprised after five hours? Number one, what is your takeaway from what we the readouts or what we're hearing about the five hour meeting between Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, The American delegation captured by Vladimir Putin himself, as well as his negotiators. What's your takeaway? Look, it's been an interesting 72 hours. This is shuttle diplomacy at the highest level.

We saw over the weekend on Sunday in Florida a Ukrainian delegation in the United States led by President Zelensky's national security advisor, Rustom Omarov. And he was meeting directly with President Trump's special envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff. This is an indication they're getting into the small details of this broader American proposed peace plan that could end the war between Russia and Ukraine. Almost immediately, you saw Kushner and Witkoff fly to Moscow to meet with Russian President Putin To get the Russian take on where things stand in these negotiations. The issue here is that as part of this broader plan that started out at 28 points and it's now been, according to reports, whittled down to 19 points.

It would require the Ukrainians to give up nearly the entirety of the eastern Donbass region that they've been fighting over for the past three and a half years. And it's going to be a tough pill to swallow for the Ukrainian people who have spent all of this time under fire each and every day amid Russian attacks that continue as we speak. I mean, they're losing 7,000 a month. And they say they're winning? I'm talking about the real.

Yeah, that's the real sort of thing that's hard to comprehend here, I think, for the. Broader global audience, there are thousands of soldiers being killed and wounded each month in eastern Ukraine. It's been described by some analysts as a meat grinder for the Russians, who are basically just sending these soldiers to the front line, knowing that they'll be killed by Ukrainian artillery. And oftentimes, there are months that go by, and the Russians are only gaining a few hundred feet of territory. And it gives you a sense of sort of how pointless this ground invasion really is.

So the after I guess prior to the meeting, Vladimir Putin was asked a question. I guess they had an investors' meeting before that. Who'd want to invest in Russia? But he says: if Europe suddenly wants to wage a war with us and starts it, we are ready to fight right away. He's upset that the Europeans blew up the 28-point deal and are very critical of it and feel it's too pro-Russian.

And he's threatening Europe. But he's always threatening Europe. He was doing that from day one. You better not arm Ukrainians. You better not give them High Mars.

You better not give them tanks. We're re finding out that you you can walk right through a lot of his threats. Yeah, absolutely. You and I talked about this a lot throughout the course of the war while we were reporting on the ground in Ukraine. And it became a situation like the boy who cried wolf.

The Russians would say if the Americans provide the javelin, anti-tank missiles, they're going to respond with significant action against Washington that could also threaten Europe. They said the same thing whenever they gave artillery units for the East and the air defense systems and these medium-range to long-range missiles. The reality on the ground is that the Russians often make these broad threats, but they rarely follow through on the threats because they understand that Europe is actually quite unified right now as it relates to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, understanding that it's now on their doorstep. And also they are strengthening NATO alliances, understanding that the Russians have actually launched drones that have entered NATO airspace and had to be shot down.

So when we look at the scandal that Zelensky's lost to Yermok, who is the chief negotiator and has been with him every step of the way, his key nego he was his confidant when he was running for election. Do you think that Zelensky has been hurt severely by this? I know we're not in day-to-day Ukrainian politics. How how damaged is he? It's a very difficult situation for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Andrei Yermak, his former chief of staff, you could describe him as, was with him every single minute of the day. When we traveled with President Zelensky last year to the Eastern front lines on a night train that was classified until we returned safely to Kyiv, Yermak was there. When we would go to meet with President Zelensky at the Presidential Palace in Kiev, Yermak was there. When I was in Ukraine in September of this year, I hosted a few panels. Yermak was on one of those panels.

He was the person that people looked to. Basically, give a sense of what the presidential office was going through and what the country needed from allies across the region and across the world. Not having him there is certainly a disadvantage for Zelensky, but Zelensky also understands he has to distance himself from any sort of corruption scandals because this is something that the Ukrainians take a lot of heed for. It is a country that is based often on corruption. But Trey, Yermak knows how hard a slog it is.

For the president to get aid to Ukraine. He knows how political it has been. If you're not cared about the outcome of this. War. Why would he put one dollar at risk, knowing that Americans who are critical of this mission say, well, Ukraine is riddled with corruption, don't throw money into that pit.

And others are saying they're fighting for freedom and they're d their democracy. You have to support it as imperfect as they are. How could he be part of the problem? I mean, how could he be More people misread him, right? But he doesn't take just like 1 million.

This is like tens of millions of dollars, they're saying. You make a great point. And look, it's a systematic issue in Ukraine. And it was an issue before the full-scale invasion in February of 2022. But it's remarkable how many top officials Zelensky has had to let go, even in recent months.

And we're talking about minister-level people who were directly involved in corruption, knowing that ultimately it would come out because there is accountability demanded when it comes to foreign funding amid a war like this.

So it's hard to wrap your mind around how this corruption scandal could take place without. Top leadership understanding how bad it was, or at least having some idea that it was going on. All right.

Let's talk over where the the gig you just left, and that is of seeing how long this ceasefire is going to last and after the hostages have been released. I couldn't believe in reading about the extensive A warehouse has been converted to almost a headquarters for Gaza. for the rebuild, for making sure phase one turns into phase two. What could you tell me about the strength of Hamas and how strong the ceasefire is holding?

So, the ceasefire is definitely holding quite strong. And when we look at President Trump's 20-point peace plan, it's being implemented step by step. Right now, we're in between phase one and phase two of the agreement. There are still the bodies of two hostages that have to be released by Hamas to complete phase one. And the planning is already underway for phase two that will include an international stabilization force going into Gaza and ultimately a technocratic government ruling parts of the Gaza Strip that are demilitarized from Hamas control.

Right now, just under 50% of Gaza is still controlled by Hamas completely. What's changed is part of the Trump administration peace plan ushered in what is called the CMCC. And this is, as you described, this warehouse that was converted to an American base in southern Israel. And just a few weeks ago, I visited this warehouse, and it was quite impressive inside to see U.S. Central Command operating on the ground in Israel.

When you walk in, it looks like they've taken astroturf from a football field and laid it on the ground of this warehouse. And you look up and you see these massive screens. Screens and they have maps on them, real-time live stream video, and also a variety of notification lines so that the Americans are able to lead not only the aid distribution now inside Gaza, but also the coordination of possible ceasefire violations to ensure that they don't unravel and destroy President Trump's peace plan. And so the coordination is really at the highest level, but it's not just the Americans. Of course, you have an Israeli presence there, but you also have dozens of other countries that have representatives there on the ground.

And we could see them in this warehouse. You look at the patches on their arms from Belgium to France to Italy to other countries that are involved in this process.

So systematically, the peace plan is moving forward. There will be challenges ahead. It will not just unfold as the president wants it to. But given the fact that he was able to take these high-level negotiators, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, to Egypt before this. Ultimately, he got underway, described what he wanted to see and what the peace plan needed to look like, and then work backwards.

He's actually able to create a scenario where there are some ceasefire violations, but across the board, this ceasefire is holding. Yeah, to get to the next phase, you need an international force to take over. I heard Indonesia right away said, count me in. But number one, what have you heard about putting that force together? I heard about the training in Jordan of the Palestinians, Palestinians who would be a part of it.

Can you tell us, shed any light on that? Yes, absolutely. There are conversations about which countries will be involved in any sort of international stabilization force. And as you mentioned, Indonesia raised their hand saying they would be willing. The Israelis were open to that.

They were not open to Turkey being involved because they're concerned about Turkish influence in the region. One interesting thing that we saw when we visited this American base in southern Israel. is that they already have diagrams that are built out. About a Palestinian police force training program. And so they understand that if you demilitarize an area, you can't just leave it without a police force.

You can't leave it without any sort of guidelines to a civil society if you want to usher in a new stable period that is de-radicalized and ultimately won't pose a threat to neighboring Israel. And so it appears that as part of this plan, they are going to teach moderate Palestinians in Gaza how to police their own people with the oversight of the Americans to ensure that they don't support Hamas or put any sort of small arms weapons that they may be given into the hands of a terrorist organization. And obviously, phase two, the international force and also Hamas to lay down their weapons, decommission their weapons. Uh I mean, that's that's a huge haul. It's huge.

And that is really one of the roadblocks ahead. The reality is, Hamas is still a terrorist organization, and they are unwilling to go peacefully. And so there is a possibility that the war resumes, that Israel's ground invasion pushes forward inside Gaza. The Trump administration is going to do what they can to try and encourage Hamas and the leadership that does remain inside Gaza to actually encourage the fighters and the terrorists to lay down their weapons, understanding that there is basically a binary choice here. You can either choose to lay down your weapons or the war will resume.

And Israel has said they will basically forcefully remove Hamas from power. Only they won't have to worry about hostages. This time it'll be all in. Number two is: can you rebuild a part of Gaza that Hamas is not in? As Jared Kushner talked about, it's possible.

Yeah, and there are reports actually that there are pockets of southern Gaza that are under Israeli control, that they're already starting to clear rubble and unexploded ordinances with an understanding that you still have 2 million Palestinian civilians in Gaza, and they're going to need a place to live in the future of the enclave that has been proposed as part of this peace plan. And so this is going to take decades to do to get this rubble out of Gaza and to remove all of the unexploded bombs and things like this. And so they're already starting to work on this to build areas that would have new housing and give people an opportunity to say, hey, I'm committed to a de-radicalized Gaza, a moderate approach to the Palestinian state, and I'd be willing to ultimately move into this area that would still be under Palestinian control, but not under Hamas control. And lastly, on the West Bank, what's the state of things now? I understand the Israelis are targets when they go through there and there's disputes on who's going to control what.

The president's made it clear. He says, I do not want to hear about you going to annex the West Bank. I know there's people on the extreme right that say, yes, we are. That will not fly with this administration. Absolutely.

President Trump's been very clear he is not supportive of West Bank annexation because. He wants the peace plan to hold. And there could be no peace plan between the Israelis and Palestinians if the Israelis are chipping away at Palestinian territory.

So it's a very smart move from President Trump to basically draw a red line for the Israelis to say there will be no further expansion as this deal is moving forward.

Now, the question is, does that change in the future? The reality is the Israelis are still operating in pockets of the West Bank that are under the Palestinian Authority control, but that the Palestinian Authority has actually lost control over in practice. Hamas runs certain areas of the West Bank, whether it be Jenin or Tolkaram or even parts of Nabilis. And the Israelis have gone in and they've actually captured and killed terrorists that are on their wanted list. And for the first time in years, the Israelis and the Central Command of Israel, you could call it.

Is saying that they have caught everyone on their list. There's no outstanding terrorists that they're looking for. And a lot of this has to do with a man named Avi Bluth, who is the commander of the Central Forces in Israel. And he has made a concerted effort to do two things: one, to go after these wanted men in the West Bank from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, but two, actually call out some of the settler violence that is taking place in the West Bank that has destabilized the internal Israeli political situation. All right, Trey Yanks, thanks so much.

Do an incredible job overseas. It's nice to see you home, even though you're just one bureau away. Fox News is finest. Trey, thanks so much. Thanks, Covid.

All right, 1866-408-7669. We'll come back and take your calls. Bottom of the hour, Dr. Mark Siegel, and his best-selling book, but we also need his expertise when it comes to some type of compromise that would work for not only Republicans and Democrats, but for doctors. Don't move.

It's Brian Kilmade. The more you listen, the more you'll know. It's Brian Killmead. I should not be scared to be walking the street to go to my 9:30 a.m. class.

These people are disgusting and they should not be able to be walking around the street freely targeting girls and doing this. I'm honestly still in shock, but I'm more enraged that things like this are able to happen in this city, and we really need to do something about it, because this is unacceptable. No doubt about it. And that is an NYU student who you could see her on video just walking to class on the street and just some lunatic with 18 priors, just literally a lunatic. The guy's out of his freaking mind, should not be out of prison, and just throws her to the ground.

And who knows how bad it can get? That is somebody that spoke up, took action, was on 42nd Street and Port Authority bus terminal. It's right where the A, C, and the E trains are in New York City. You probably have been here at some point, but that's where this all took place. And it's just sickening.

And I love that this student stood up and spoke out, and she won on social media. She doesn't want to be a victim, but all she was doing was walking. It shows you how dangerous things could actually get. And I just appreciate that she's speaking out.

Now, this is the problem. I know crime happens. I know crime is the history of man. But why increase the odds by letting all these people out and not making them stay in jail? And it was a George Soros plot from 15 years ago.

He started financing these DAs, these permissive DAs, started pushing back and trying to amplify any type of thing, controversial cop situation would make them the enemy. We know that's happened. And then these DAs get over, get money flooding in to normal elections that don't get much attention. And they all have one thing in common. They are way to the left.

They believe criminal first. And they believe that these people who have psychological issues and proclivity towards violence need to be treated, not jailed. You see the results of this? This is George Soros. This is not a conspiracy theory.

These are the checks. That's what they have to unwind quickly with this administration. If you're interested in it, Brian's talking about it. You're with Brian Kilmead. Hey, we are back.

Hi, everybody. We're talking about the off-year election and the special election. The off-year election was a disaster. For Republicans, it's not so much that they lost, but how they lost. Killed in New Jersey, wiped out in Virginia, including one attorney general candidate that said the most horrific things possible in a text message.

I mean, really. And then you watch a Socialist win here in New York City, where a traditional Democrat just got routed and Republicans were nonexistent.

So then you have the special election, which is in a district that we've been going over this. Donald Trump won by over 20, and Mark Green, who had the seat, won by over 20. But this Afton Bain won. Excuse me, won the nomination, and she's way to the left, said the most horrific things about ICE, cops, transgender surgery, just an ideal candidate. But the Republicans barely won.

And one of the reasons, I think nine points instead of 20, one of the reasons why that deficit was cut in half, I believe, is the affordability. And one thing people are counting on is that the Republicans who are, even there, even when Donald Trump goes on. International trips, it's all about the economy. It's all about bringing industry back with the tariffs, or all about bringing jobs back here and revenue into our coffers. It's not getting to the people.

And one way you could show that you care about the X's and O's and people who live for paycheck to paycheck is. Healthcare. And right now, because of the failure of Obamacare, most people's premiums have doubled, if not tripled. And a lot of the supplemental money that came from the pandemic have evaporated legislatively. And they're saying, Republicans, show that you care about people and put it back.

But if you want to be fiscally responsible, why would you prop up Obamacare again? What are the alternatives? What can you do? And what about what would work for the medical profession? People spend their lives up until 30 years old learning how to be a doctor, all different types of surgeons.

They spend a lot of money to take out loans, and all of a sudden it turns out they're barely getting paid, so they don't even stay in the business, nor do they want to give up their lives to do it.

So, how do we make it work to keep us the best healthcare in the world at the same time, give people access to it? Joining us now is Dr. Mark Siegel. Over at NYU, you see him all over the channel. He's Fox News, a senior medical analyst.

He's also author of The Miracles Among Us: How God Grace Plays a Role in Healing. And he talks about what he has seen up close and personal in his best-selling book.

So, Dr. Siegel, you know, now that the election's over, there's going to be a sprint to January 30th, and everyone's talking about Obamacare and renewing subsidies for Obamacare. Where does the medical community stand on this? The medical community is having a lot of problems with this. And by the way, I was on your show One Nation over the weekend.

We were talking about this, and the president must have been watching because right after we discussed it, he tweeted out praising my new book.

So thank you for that, Brian.

Okay. And because we understand it in the medical profession, because doctors have become cogs in the wheel, because administrators are running the healthcare system now, because doctors can't work with Obamacare and make any money off of it. They can't. The worst part of it isn't even the income issue, that the insurance companies have farmed the system and that Obamacare is itself a scam where insurance companies get money that they get it through premiums, but the premiums are fairly low. But then these subsidies are extremely high, billions and billions and billions of dollars.

But then the biggest problem of all is that if you're a patient. You may have your colonoscopy covered, but if I find something, I don't, it falls into the deductible to actually repair the problem.

So doctors end up with increasing liabilities. Patients end up with services and cares they can't get. Preventive services are fine, but interventional services at a time of increasing technological advances, personalized healthcare, AI, none of this is covered under these crummy Obamacare policies. And that's why private doctors and private practice run away from it. Medical centers figure out a way to work with it to some extent.

A lot of the medical centers don't take the Obamacare policies either. But if they do, you're not seeing your doctor, you're seeing an administrator or. A medical secretary communicating with you.

So, what happened? Because the way I understand it, Aetna, Cigna. US healthcare, all these major companies were supposed to be competing against each other for the patients, and it was supposed to drive the prices down. Why did they all almost all of them have bailed out? They said they were losing too much money.

Why did they sign on to begin with? I remember them on, you know, coming to the White House and they're celebrating this. In reality, what went wrong?

Well, what went wrong is it wasn't sustainable because they're all about profit. And then there's the middlemen, and then they have to work out deals with the pharmaceutical companies. Again, Trump is going after that as well, trying to get drug prices down. The insurance companies only care about the bottom line. And as patients get older, and as they get sicker, and as we get more ways of treating them, it gets more and more expensive.

So the big dogs want to stay with employer-based insurance, which is 160 million people cover it under that. And that's where the bells and whistles come in. That's where the premiums are a lot higher. And your employer is paying those, or at least paying half of those, and that's a reason to keep you employed. That system has worked for a really long time.

Obamacare is for smaller corporations, companies that don't have to cover it under the law. And so they push you out to the private marketplace, and you end up with a really crummy policy that you can afford but doesn't give you care. Right. And also has huge deductible, so you're paying out of your pocket, so you're not going to buy it. By the way, the biggest euphemism here, the biggest bait and switch, and it's been true since 2009, is that the Democrats use the word health care when they really mean health insurance.

Health insurance does not automatically give you health care. Health care is what I give you. Health insurance is what an insurer gives you. They are not the same thing. And well, the Supreme Court said you can't have a mandate.

You can't force people to buy a policy. I know people in my family that were forced to pay a $1,000 fine for refusing to get Obamacare. That went away. But that was the way to get healthy people into Obamacare to kind of push back against the unhealthy people. But the healthy people, whatever reason you might think it's irresponsible, you're trying to get but you're not worried about health care.

You're in your twenties, you don't worry about it. You're not really a burden on the system.

So if without them getting it, they're not.

So that's leaving just the sick, and I think that hurts the healthcare companies, right? And that's a really important point. That was part of the scam, too. Let's get healthy young people into this system to buy a product they don't need that doesn't deliver care for anyone, but pads the pockets of the insurance companies. That was the original insurance company scam.

That's why the big dogs have pulled out. That's what Obama had in mind. But this was never, this was always a politization. It was never about providing care to people. Because why should a young person be forced to buy a policy for care that they don't need, and even if they did need, couldn't get?

And again, there's one thing that we haven't covered yet, Brian, which is the issue of price transparency. Of course, it wasn't market-based because you never knew what anything cost. And that's what Trump has been trying to say here, which is we want to know what we're paying for. We want to know what the price of something is. If an echocardiogram is costing $600 here and $900 uptown, maybe people would come here for it.

That's the free market working. But if you don't know what the prices are and there's no price transparency, then there's no free market. But I hear that even though the president did that, you have to do it. Hospitals are ignoring that.

Well, hospitals are ignoring that because they don't want you to know what the price is either. Hospitals have figured out a way to game the system also. Big medical centers have created a structure where everything is based on administration and secretaries delivering information, and doctors are just trying to survive. your your basic doctor Is not doing well right now. That's another thing.

That's why there's a doctor shortage. That's why there's a nurse practitioner shortage. The system is not working. It's not working because of how expensive it is and because it's insurance heavy. It's not doctor patient heavy.

Brian, back in the 90s, if you wanted to see your doctor, you came with a checkbook. You paid to see the doctor, and then the doctor's staff would put in for reimbursement for you for an insurance company. Once Hillary Care came in, all of that changed. The doctors became victims of the system when they're actually the ones that are providing the care. Great point.

And also, how much sacrifice do you have to do to go to medical school? You're not really practicing until you're thirty, right? If you start at twenty two, between all the schooling, the residency that you guys go through, if you don't have rich parents, you're writing you're taking out loans for yourself. People should know, they think the doctors are raking it in. You guys are not getting paid enough.

Well, internists are not making much at all. They're making maybe $1,000 or $200,000 maximum, and they're working their heads off many, many hours. But hooray for Ken Langone starting a system where he used philanthropists to get free medical tuition here at NYU Langone Health. It's being copied around the country now. Hopkins just went tuition-free.

Einstein went tuition-free. That takes the burden off of the... off of the trainee, off of the medical student. But it is also not a long-term solution. The long-term solution, I really believe Trump's onto something here.

We need more of a free market solution where you put money away in a savings account to use later on. Maybe you start at the beginning of life. Maybe we expand that. We need more free market solutions. His idea is very simple.

And I'm not saying he's worked the bugs out yet. But if you want to give a government subsidy to somebody, give it to the patient, not to the insurance company. Yeah, I just don't know if they could do it that quick in three weeks to set up. They're not going to. They're going to have to extend these subsidies, which is horrible.

I want to make a really important point about that, Brian. Those subsidies were intended for a pandemic. I mean, how come we're extending hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies, which were intended for a pandemic that we don't even have now? We were scrambling during the pandemic. There was a huge shill of money coming in.

A lot of it was wasted. How can we be extending subsidies for a broken system that was intended for a pandemic? Right. So your book is now out. It's a bestseller.

It's called The Miracles Among Us: How God's Grace Plays a Role in Healing. What's some of the feedback you got when you weren't on television and radio? What are people saying to you? What are they writing to you? They love it.

And you've helped me to get the message out in a big way. They love it because I think I hit a nerve that the public wants doctors to understand that they're a soul, that they're a living soul, that they're a precious human being, and that you're more comfortable and confident in a doctor who believes in God and believes in a spiritual existence. We're not just body parts, we're not going to a car mechanic. You want a physician who has great skill, has the hands of God, but understands that maybe things are going to occur even better than is expected. Hold out hope.

Have courage. Use prayer. These are major tools. And I expected resistance to that, Brian, but I didn't get it. The stories of this book are resonating with people.

Everybody has a miracle. Have you gotten any uh pushback from other doctors? No, because even not at all, because 75% of doctors believe in medical miracles, even if they haven't participated in one. And when they've participated in one, like Robert Redfield's son, Bobby Redfield is a transplant surgeon, and he thought he didn't even believe at all. But when his brother was saved from this huge coma after head trauma and went out to play golf.

Bobby Ritfield said, now I'm a believer. Doctors who participate in miracles become believers. I haven't received any negative feedback from the medical community because I believe in science as well as faith. I know. Sometimes people think you have to make a choice.

Uh and this book proves you don't. Dr. Mark Siegel, congratulations on the book, The Miracle is Among Us. We look forward to you coming back, continuing to talk about it, especially during the holiday season. These are the stories people need to hear.

Great to be on with you, Brian. You got it. When we come back, I see you all around the country, from Louisville to New Jersey to New York. I will take your calls on the Brian Kilme show. Don't move.

Don't go anywhere. Brian Kilme will be right back. Radio that makes you think, this is the Brian Kill Me Show. Trump did win it by 22, but Marsha Blackburn in the midterm in 2018 when Trump was unpopular, only won the district by half a point.

So Matt Van Effen is going to win it by nine tonight. The lesson to take away from this is Democrats picked their own candidate. They had three state representatives running, they picked the liberal wing nut. The person who said she hated country music, she hated Nashville. She was uncomfortable with prayer.

She wanted to bully state troopers. That's the problem Democrats face in primaries all over the country in 2026, that they may nominate a left-wing nut who can't win the general. Right. I mean, I would hope that the day that that one person can win the general is the way our country is really going to be in jeopardy. But Brad Scott, who's a Republican strategist on CNN, said, I just can't believe how bad this candidate was on her policies.

Not that she can speak well, comfortable in front of the camera, that's fine. But it's what she said is the issue and what she stands for, which is nuts. And she's afraid to alienate.

So people thought, why not just walk back and apologize what you said about country music? Why not just say what you said about ICE? You got too caught up in the George Floyd moment, whatever it was. But instead, you can't do that because, in doing that, you lose your base of support because a lot of people support you just for that reason. Not necessarily the DNC.

Who do love that? They understand the practicality and the stupidity of those statements and beliefs. Sandra, listen on WABC in New Jersey. Hey, Sandra. Good morning, Brian.

Brian, I was thinking about Ilwa Ilhan Omar. You know, Trump has nothing nice to say about her. And she said something that I want you to hear. She said America wasn't the big-hearted country that saved her from the brutal war and a bleak refugee camp. It wasn't meritocracy that helped her attend college or vaulted her into Congress.

But she did say this is the country that failed to live up to its founding ideals, the place that has disappointed her and so many immigrants, refugees, and minorities like her. You know, Brian, she lives, she started out living in, I think, Arlington, Virginia, and then she moved to to Minneapolis, but she made a lot of money, like thirty million dollars. She has a great job in Congress. She's an ingrate. And her si and you see is da her daughter, uh the crazy activist, uh who got arrested in Columbia and she raised an ungrateful daughter.

And we still don't know exactly what she told immigration officials to get here. All types of discrepancies there. Not able to understand really what she does. But as long as she s is in that community, mostly representing Somalis, she's going to continue to get She's going to continue to get support. The crazy thing is, people who come here from war-torn countries traditionally, whether it's Italy, Ireland, whether it's Europe, whether it's Israelis, excuse me, Jewish Jews from Germany after World War II, they're usually so grateful.

Bottom of the ladder and grateful. She's rocketing up the ladder and says America's not living up to its ideals. Uh it's just sickening. Kimmy over in Virginia. Hey, Kimmy.

Hey, you know what we haven't been talking about is COVID. The Democrats own that, and we have not been using that as a talking point. Why the affordability crisis is here in the first place with the premiums, with all the inflation, shots in the military talking about unlawful orders, immigration, they had to open the borders because of COVID, and everybody came welcoming through all of this as a result of COVID. And we need to remind people, especially this time of the year, that's where it started. And frog march Fauci out because he has just been too quiet for too long.

There's no accountability.

Well, I mean, he's trying to disappear, no doubt about it. He understands that standing up, even if you're on the left for him, is a fool's errand because the way he acted as the official, the damage he's done, and the denial afterwards is really problematic for me. And number two is if the president is successful, and can undo all the auto pen pardons. He's going to be in the crosshairs of this administration, legally, legally. Nothing physical, just legally.

But I think there's a whole lot going on. The President's got to make it clear that these are the things I'm doing economically for you. The first blow landed yesterday and in a good way, and that is that gas across the country under three dollars for the first time in four point five years.

So, the other thing is, the tariff revenue that's coming in eventually is going to start paying down the debt, give us getting into a surplus situation. I do hope that we can cut some deals to bring those tariffs down. That's the point of it: to use leverage to cut better deals. That happened in Europe, it happened in South Korea. We're working that way in China, got their attention.

And I hope in Mexico and Canada, I'm not sure what's going to work out there. They say they might be better off going with China. Good luck with that.

So we'll see. All right, listen to the Brian Killmee Show. Don't forget, coming up on February 14th, I'm going to be in Fort Myers, Florida. Get your tickets now, BrianKillmee.com. Streamed on Fox Nation, History, Liberty, and Last.

We're going to add some elements to the show. Also, don't forget One Nation Sundays always at 10 p.m. Eastern Time. You listen to the Brian Killmeat Show, don't move. Yeah.

From the Fox News Radio Studios in Midtown Manhattan, it's the fastest growing radio talk show. Brian Kilmead. Hi, everyone.

Welcome to the latest moments of the Brian Kilmey Show. Kind of exciting. You know, we're just weeks away from having a communist mayor, it's going to be great. Can't wait. Doctor, we have a lot going on today, including throughout the show.

We'll be able to take some of your phone calls, but also give you an update on the unwinding of Governor Walls. This guy cannot get another four years. We know he's a bizarre candidate that never should have been the number two.

Now we find out about a scandal that's just abusing the social services system and a fear of being labeled racist might have stopped them from reporting it.

Well, now the story's out and they can't stop it, and I can't wait to expose it. But sadly, it might go way back to Somalia. It's within the Somali community. Almost everyone from Somalia, first immigrants, either here in a green card, here illegally, or here as a resident. Money going back to Somalia, they're investigating whether it's going to al-Shabaab and into Europe.

Amazing.

So, before we use the call, Rove, later, Lydia Moynihan of the New York Post, let's get to the big three. Number 3. The decisions have to be made in the case of Russia by Putin alone. I think we've made some progress. We've gotten closer, but we're still not there.

We're still not close enough. But that could change. I hope it changes. Well, maybe it changes. After a five-hour meeting with Vladimir Putin, he came out and said, I don't like the deal.

Ukraine did not close the door, and Russia did not close the door. Why I think we have to turn up the heat before Putin opens up his door and plays ball. Number two. Democrats picked their own candidate. They had three state representatives running.

They picked the liberal wing nut. That's the problem Democrats face in primaries all over the country in 2026. They may nominate left-wing nut who can't win the general. And that's a Republican pundit, but he's right. Special election win for the GOP in Tennessee, but far from the route it should have been.

But Karl Rove thinks both sides should learn from this. Number one. This president is dead serious about making certain the poison that is coming in and killing us, he's conducting a comprehensive campaign, the ships, the airplanes, and the rest of it. The president has a lot of options. Maduro is much aware of what those options are.

Yes, that is General Jack Keen. Maduro of Venezuela plans on outlasting Trump's patience. Why I think that does not work, but the price the administration will pay if he stays. Uh he has his Cuban security guard personnel, doesn't even trust his own people. And he also is moving every single night.

He doesn't use his cell phone. He thinks he's going to be targeted and killed. Carl Rove joins us now, former Deputy Chief of Staff, Senior Advisor to President George W. Bush, Fox News contributor. Carl, what is your takeaway from yesterday's special election, which was, I think, a nine-point win for the Republican?

Well, yes, nine point win, so good. The poll had shown it as closest to the Emerson poll, which turned out to be inaccurate. The earlier poll showed it to be about ten points, and that's where it sort of ended up, nine point victory. But That ain't good because President Trump carried the district by twenty two points and Congressman Mark Greene, who resigned, was re-elected last fall by 21.

So there's a 12 to 13 point shift among the Republican vote. And it's in every one of the counties. I mean, there are 13 counties in the district. One of them, Davidson, which is the city of Nashville, is liberal. And the part of Nashville that's in this district is overwhelmingly liberal and or black or both.

But all 13 counties move to the Democrats, move towards the Democratic side.

Now, granted, the Republicans won all but one of them. They won 12 of 13, but they won them by slimmer margins.

Now, What does that mean?

Well, what it means is, you know, some people say, well, the Democrats were more, you know, the Democrats were more energized.

Well, yeah, they are. but they're going to continue to be more energized. Um, and well, the question is, how do the Republicans get energized? Uh, some people say, Well, you know, we're going to solve that problem by having a better get-out-the-vote operation.

Well, I bet you the Republican get-out-the-vote operation was far above in terms of resources and attention than we're going to have in the average race next fall. And remember, there are 35 House Republicans who won. by less than the swing that we saw in this district. That is to say, they won by less than 12 to 13 points.

So we better wake up and realize that this is going to continue in the fall. She was not a good candidate. I mean, the Democrat was not a good candidate. The Republican was. Matt Van Epps, everybody says, was attractive, energetic, hard worker, well-respected, saying the right thing.

And she was saying the wrong thing. But it's it's going to be a problem in the fall if we don't take some good lessons out of this.

So Ken Martin, who decided to pour money into this, meanwhile, I think they were basically out of money. Word is they had to do a line of credit to finance the New Jersey and Virginia races last month. But here's Ken Martin yesterday, cut sixteen. In every election that's been on the ballot this year in 2025, Democrats have overperformed in red districts, in blue districts, and in purple districts, all throughout this country. In fact, last November's elections were the most historic off-off-year elections for the Democratic Party in our party's history.

And we are overperforming at an average pace of about 16 percent a year. Is he right?

Well, no, he's not right. I mean, he is right in that the Democrats have been overperforming. They've been doing better than expected.

Now, part of that is that we have Virginia and New Jersey as the biggest off-year elections. And typically what happens is, with one exception in the recent history of Virginia, whoever wins the White House loses the Virginia governor's race. And similarly, New Jersey is a Democratic state, blue state. And so you're expected to win. Yes, the Democrats are doing better than we want them to do, and they're feeling their oaths and it's helping them.

And we're seeing it reflected in, for example, the fundraising for the Democratic Congressional and Senatorial campaign committees. They're up. Starting in the summer, they began to muscle up. And that's because Democrats are feeling more bullish about next year's midterm election. Here's what Chris Christie, who's been a big critic of President Trump, is that he says it has to happen for Republicans to have success in the midterms.

Look, I think he's got a very tough choice to make. He's got to get out there himself. He's got to get out there, not sitting behind the desk in the Oval Office. He's got to get back out into the country. and make the argument.

He is always best when people see him. Out there up close. That's better for him. They feel the excitement. And, you know, they went on to say that, too, he gets an idea of what people think by the applause lines, by people's reaction when he brings up policies.

And he hasn't been able to do that because he's running the country. Is he right?

Well, I have mixed opinions about this. Look, I understand, you know, yes, the president has the biggest megaphone. And so when you put him out there in campaign rallies around the country, he's going to dominate the media coverage. But on the other hand, he's also the president. And you've got a quandary you're in.

The Democrats want the election to be about Trump. Great. The president should not want it to be about Trump. He should make it about things that Republicans are out there saying and doing that show that they're in tune with what America needs and that they are contrasting in a very strong fashion with what the Democrats have been advocating. And so I'm on the mind.

You want the president out there as president in a midterm election. You want him out there less as a candidate or a candidate advocate. Yes, he can do the town hall meeting, teletelephone hall meeting, but to put him on the road is a very dangerous and risky thing because it makes it all about the president. That's exactly what the Democrats want. And if the election is like any midterm election except the midterm election in 98 and 2002, that is to say the White House party loses seats, the president is going to get the blame for it.

And it could accelerate his lame duck status for the last couple of years of his term.

So most of the parties, but the policies are coming. Yeah. From The White House, where the last administration, the new Green Deal and all that stuff, that was coming from Congress. Most of the policies are coming from the White House, right?

So maybe he's the best to talk about. I slightly disagree. Last time around, the policies were coming from Biden and they weren't working. When he said Bidenomics is working, nobody felt that. But yes, you want the president out there talking about things that Americans think will make a better impact in their lives, will improve their community, improve their family, improve their own personal prosperity.

But I think that's more powerful coming as a president than a partisan. And look, it's a different, difficult balancing act. And I grant that, but I'm thinking back 2002, we put the president out there a lot on behalf of Republican candidates because he was very popular and he was able to talk about things that people were caring about. We did not do that in 2026. Yes, we put him out there to raise money for candidates.

I mean, in 2006, we did not put him out there to be the voice of the campaign. We wanted individual members to be able to say, I'm running for Congress because I care deeply about X. And I'm going to convince you that it's worthy to vote for me because there's a deep difference on the issue of X between me and my Democratic opponent. And we nearly pulled it off. It was only the emergence of a scandal in September.

Rah Emanuel was chairman of the Democratic House Campaign Committee, and he knew for over a year that there was a Republican congressman who was making inappropriate sexual advances to young interns, male interns, and he popped it out in September of 2026. All the polls showed we were coming back, that we had a chance to hold on to the House, and that just took the bottom out of us in the middle of September. You know, it the reason we were in reasonably good shape was members were out there making it about them and their agenda and supporting things that were important to the country, and the President was being the President.

So real quick on the economy, I think that they feel as though with the Big Beautiful Bill kicking in with the tax, there are going to be record returns for individuals and the no taxes on tips and the tax breaks for seniors when it comes to Social Security. There's going to be and with gas coming down to $3 and they're already adjusting some of the tariffs in Central and South America for further grocery items, mostly fruit, they feel as though the people are going to start feeling positively about the economy. Are they being overly optimistic or right on the money?

Well, we'll see. You left out that one of the most important retreats on the trade tariff issue, coffee. There's not enough coffee being grown in Hawaii to satisfy our needs.

So the reduction of the tariff there going to have an impact on everybody's morning. But The key thing is, yes, that's what they're betting on, is that people are going to feel better.

So the point is, don't overemphasize it. Don't underpromise and over-deliver. One of the key mistakes that Biden made was to say Bidenomics is working when people didn't feel it was. And then when it began, when inflation began to moderate in late 2024 and excuse me, 2023 and into 2024, people were beyond believing anything that the administration said.

So the tone, I think the Secretary of the Treasury has been really good in his tone to say, we're on the right course. We know it's going to be difficult to get to where we need to go, but we're doing the right thing and it's going to make a difference in people's lives. And emphasize what they're doing and say, we're working on making this come to pass so it affects your life, your family, your job, your community, rather than saying, oh, everything's great. We got it handled. People just don't believe that, obviously.

That's why the president's numbers are so low on the economy. And why, you know, until people begin to believe that it's having an effect, don't overemphasize the strength of it. Say it's going to work. We're going to stay at it. Every day we're going to be doing things to make your life better.

And we'll get through this together. Don't say it's all handled. Don't worry about it.

So, Ukraine and Russia, I just want to get your opinion. Yuri Yashkov, the Putin foreign policy advisor, in the meeting yesterday after five hours said this, cut 21.

So far a compromise hasn't been found.

Some of the American proposals seem more or less acceptable, but they need to be discussed.

Some of the wording that was proposed to us doesn't Suit us.

So the work will continue. And Vladimir Putin said, you know, I didn't like Europe. He says the Europeans are trying to screw up the deal. We know that the Ukrainians are working really hard with us to come up with something, knocked it down to 19 points.

So do you think Putin's playing games with us, or do you think there's a part that do you think he feels pressure to come to the table? What's your gut tell you?

Well, my gut tells me that he thinks that he can pull this off. Think about what he said two days ago. We're ready to have war with Europe. Talk about a thug, talk about a bully. He's trying to say, give me everything I want.

Or, I'm going to threaten you to do to you what I've been doing to Ukraine. And the only thing that a bully understands is being popped in the nose.

So we ought to say, in my opinion, We've given you a good arrangement. It's acceptable to Ukrainians. It ought to be acceptable to you. And if it's not, we're going to hold you responsible, Putin. And we're going to make it possible for the Ukrainians to do even more.

You want to keep this thing going? Great. We, the Europeans and the United States together, will make certain that Ukraine has what it takes in the way of armaments, munitions, and supplies to get done the job. No doubt about it. I think, say, Tomahawks and more patriots are coming.

That would be great. Vladimir Putin says a compromise is unlikely. And he also says he came out and said, if Europe suddenly wants to wage a war with us and starts it, we're ready to fight. I have news for you. He said something similar in 24.

Nothing happened. Number two is that he can't handle one country. He's going to handle 27. Yeah. Well, and look, look what's happening.

The Germans just passed a budget with an historic commitment to their national defense. And they're not alone. Poland will shortly have the second largest army in Europe after Ukraine. And you look at what's happening in Great Britain and Belgium and in the Netherlands and France. And about the Spaniards are about the only ones that are out of this.

The rest of Europe says we face a grave threat from the East, from Russia, and we have to be ready. And that means that we need to start taking care of our own national defense rather than simply relying upon NATO. Yes, they want NATO, but they also understand they need to meet their obligations as well. I know, but wouldn't it be interesting if they just stopped buying wouldn't it be better if they just stopped buying all oil and gas from Russia? They have not done that yet.

How maddening is that, Karl Rove?

Well, it is, but they are working on it. And part of that is our problem, too, because remember, the Biden administration crimped our ability to move forward and fast on creating facilities to take American natural gas and send it to Europe. And what the irony is, is that we can do that in a competitive fashion with Russia that simply puts the gas in a pipeline and sends it to Europe.

So we've got to play some catch-up. Right now, the people who are sort of benefiting from this are the people in the Middle East, like Qatar and other countries that have significant gas reserves and are selling them to the Europeans. But the U.S. can do so as well. And we will be competitive in price.

Yep, and put pressure on India to knock it off and say, we'll be your new supplier. Carl Rove, thanks so much. All the best. Thanks. You got it.

Next is your phone calls. Then we'd have Lydia Moynihan join us. Also, Hall of Fame. Is it time for Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens to get in? We're discussing it.

It's Brian Kilmeade. Breaking news, unique opinions. Hear it all on the Brian Kill Me Show. there's another dynamic at play here, and that is you could allow someone into our country who has no history of radicalization. Perhaps they even have worked with you in the past, but they are susceptible to radicalization once they enter the United States because they don't assimilate well, because they fall victim to some of this online propaganda and efforts to radicalize people.

And two or three years later, you find that they have radicalized. That is a threat. That is a real threat. It is a threat for everyone. We have homegrown people, people in the United States born here that have been radicalized.

So that is talking about the shooting in DC, and you have a guy that came here, worked for the CIA, got extremely unhappy, got depressed. Everybody thought he was dangerous, but no one actually called the cops on this guy, even though he was a father of five who had no interest in his family.

Next thing you know, we caught him on surveillance, looking at the right block in order to target the right. Would he thaw with a right? National Guardsman. Uh killed one and the other is fighting for his life.

So Here you have a situation that needs to be further investigated, but you have a guy that got amnesty to come into our country and was given asylum officially in April. He didn't like it. Not happy with the country. Opens up and becomes a, I hope is not, but maybe a double murderer. And he was uh had his hearing yesterday.

Yeah, we'll talk more about that, but that's why people want to talk about Pete Hakeseth doing a double tap on a boat on survivors that may or may not have happened off the coast of Venezuela. They don't want to talk about this, do they? Brian Killmancho. The fastest three hours in radio. You're with Brian Kilmead.

The votes are still coming in, but we overperformed in places we needed to, and we lost less in places we needed to.

So I think it's a testament to the strength of the momentum of our campaign and what we built. The deck was stacked against us, especially in the deep red south, and we've narrowed the margin. And for me, that is a celebration worth having.

Okay, you can have that celebration, but you did lose by nine points. Afton Bain on CNN talking about that she did get closer. Yes, she did not lose by 20, but she's one of the most left-wing candidates you could draw up. And the Republican Matt Van Epps is a dream candidate. He's got a military background, special operations, went to West Point, successful in business, endorsed by President Trump.

But yet, there's an alarming, you know, Republicans should learn from this. You know, the fact that it was more of a struggle and you had to spend that much money and the Democrats saw an opening, I think, is a warning sign for the midterms. But what does Lydia Moynihan think? New York Post financial correspondent, host of N. NY Next, a podcast providing indispensable reporting on people, places, and policies shaping New York.

Lydia, welcome. I'm so glad to be here with you. I know. And New York, you know, sometimes in New York, it's really New York is a national story, 90% of the time, especially when it comes to finance.

Well, and yeah, and now when it comes to Mum Dani, I kind of feel like the city is going to be a bellwether for many of the other elections that we're seeing in the country. And it's interesting, even last night, the candidate they ran in Tennessee was more in the vein of Mum Dani, where she wanted to. Defund the police and had fantasized about police stations burning down. And it's interesting to see. He doesn't like country music.

And that. And that. You know, it really comes down to country music. But hey, actually, country music typically has a lot of more conservative values.

So it's not just a genre. It also, I think, speaks to the sort of values of the South as well.

So what do you think that Republicans should take from this? If anything, what do you think they should learn from this? That they won by nine, not 20? Or some people say that's fine. You know, Paul Robes was just on.

He said, that's not a big deal. It's still a victory. And so that's certainly encouraging. But I think this is a good wake-up call for Republicans because this is a very deep red state. They should be winning by the kind of margins that Trump won by.

And I think. People get very complacent in those districts and they think, oh, you know, these are just Republican voters. We can just rely on them. But Republicans are typically low propensity voters. And what's interesting is the Republican sort of coalition has been realigned.

Now we're seeing more working class people become Republicans voting for Republicans. Those are lower propensity voters.

So Republicans need to make sure that they really get those folks to turn out and vote. And they need to figure out how to get people to turn out and vote when Trump isn't on the ballot, right? He campaigns like hell. He gets people to turn out. He reaches them, uses the kind of messaging that they want to hear.

And he works really hard. He's doing a bazillion rallies a day when he's running for office. Right. And I think he's got to handle it like he's running for office starting in January. He really does.

He's got to pick his spots. I know. But he's proven he could take the Oval Office anywhere. I mean, wherever he is, that's where the game is.

So he doesn't need to be in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Mar-a-Lago, obviously, you had the delegation there this weekend for hours talking. about Ukraine and Russia peace.

So, Lydia, from the financial perspective, when people say you have to talk about affordability. The Democrats' way of talking about affordability is raising taxes and making things free. And but the name, the affordability is resonating. What if you're a Republican strategist or you're a politician that wants to be successful, you have a year? Yep.

How do you make things more affordable? And what does that mean to you? Yeah, well, Trump said the word affordability is a scam. It is funny because it feels like a word that a political consultant would have come up with, and yet people evidently are really resonating with that word. But the bottom line is, it is about the economics and the economic messaging.

And A lot of people are stage one thinkers, as Thomas Woll put. They just heard, they hear the word free and they think, oh, great, my life is gonna be better. But the reality is those policies, obviously, socialist policies don't lead to life improving. Republican policies do. And there was an interesting report last night that In Republican states, gas prices are far lower than Democratic states.

So that's a great messaging issue, right? We can make gas prices cheaper. Highlight those facts because Republican policies lead to more affordability. They lead to more supply, which of course brings cost down.

So I think it's just a matter of saying, look, we can point to the fact that our policies work and just hitting that again and again. If the president's handling this, he's frustrated because he sees most of the stuff he's doing is for the economy, and he's got low ratings right now in the economy. But the most fixable area, I think, are his ratings on the economy. Especially when the beautiful big beautiful bill kicks in. But the President, remember during the pandemic, I think one of his weaknesses was he was trying to will the virus away.

He's like, don't worry about it, get back to work, let's open up the schools. And people say, well, I'm not sure you should do that.

Next thing you know, Mike Pence took over. The same thing, he's trying to will the economy away. Here's what he said: Cut 41. There's this fake narrative that the Democrats talk about, affordability. They just say the word.

It doesn't mean anything to anybody. You just say it. Affordability. I inherited the worst inflation in history. There was no affordability.

Nobody could afford any of that. The word affordability is a conjob. by the Democrats.

So Is there a risk, Lydia, do you think of the present if people who live paycheck to paycheck are finding it harder? Uh to to get everything on their list when they go grocery shopping. Is there a list of sounding detached? Yeah, I don't think that denying people's reality is ever a smart political strategy. I think people do feel, I mean, you look at consumer sentiment, people aren't happy with the economics.

So I think the reality is you should acknowledge that people are feeling that way because you're not going to talk them out of their feelings. And then talk about how your policies actually have made life more affordable. And there are things you can point to, again, like gas prices, and say, this is what we've done so far. I know it still feels like you're being pinched. I know it still feels like relieving paycheck to paycheck.

Here's what we've accomplished, and here's what our policies will continue to accomplish. How do you feel about the Trump dollars for kids born? They're getting $1,000. And then you have the Dell, Michael Dell, come in and say, We're going to give every kid $250.

So they've got to be able to access it when they're 18, but make them feel a part of the economy. Make them feel maybe incentivize parents to have more kids. Yeah. Do you think this is good? Financial sense?

I wish I had a Trump account. Yes. Look, I actually think it's a really clever and new idea. To teach people financial literacy. And again, you're not just handing out a check for $250 to everyone.

You're kind of teaching them the value of compounded interest, of investing, of putting money aside. And so I think this is going to give people a stake in the game. And I think there has been this alarming sentiment, especially among young people who feel disenfranchised, that socialism is the answer.

Well, clearly, you're not going to have a free market in socialism that has these kinds of returns. And so I think giving people a stake in the stock market is key, because that's been another attack against Trump, you know, is people say, sure, the stock market is going up, but. That's only for the rich. Only the rich people have an interest in the stock market.

Well, if you give everyone an interest in the stock market, They're going to pay attention to that and they're going to see that as a positive sign for their own economic well-being. You know, it's so interesting is that we had their the deputy. Treasury Secretary on on Fox and Friends today. And They are now having a conference and they're trying to give pushback. Don't use the word capitalism, it's evidently not a great buzzword, but economic freedom might be a better line to use.

But they want to start selling it. And these are some of the things that emerge from that. They want to give people a sense they're part of the economy. They want to try to give people some financial literacy because we learn almost nothing in school. When people have a stake in the system, they say they don't want to bring down the system.

This is my piece of the American dream. They'll say, That's my thousand dollars, and now I got 250. My sense is that Trump knows other rich people that are saying to themselves, I want to find a way to give. And I think with some of those people that come to his dinners, they might want to be a part of it because now we know the figure of six billion dollars can get another two fifty in there.

Next thing you know, you have a generation growing up where they feel as though they're building something. Exactly. And I think pe I mean it it's it's Tragic for this generation that they followed this narrative of go to college. They ended up taking out a lot of debt and they feel in this position where they can't have the American dream, where they can't ever pay off the debt, where they can't get a house. And so, I think the idea that you're working towards something, and if you continue to work hard and to do the right things, that you will have this promise of having that kind of cash where you can make a down payment on the home.

I think that could be truly transformative. And something's got to give because, again, you look an overwhelming number of young people at this point are sort of lured in by socialism. And so, I think you do need to make some sort of dramatic change to sell people on the free market. Yeah, I think so, because we just thought it was assumed that people would understand our economic system. But now you have a generation growing up that says, you know what, it's just not fair.

I wouldn't mind free buses. I wouldn't mind to raise taxes on rich people. I wouldn't mind my rent being frozen. But you can't play that out to see the ripple effects of that. That's how this guy won.

Mandami won. Right. No, and I think to your point, financial literacy isn't just learning, you know, oh, this is the NASDAQ, this is what equity is, it's learning economics and what the end result is of these policies. That's hopefully a big part of the financial literacy, that when you make everything free, Actually, it doesn't work out because people don't have an interest in the system. You can't make buses just free.

That means the people paying the taxes are going to leave, right?

So hopefully, there's an element of literacy that's taught as people are getting these accounts. And I think that's something Trump's obviously working to sort of transform the education system. I think that could be a key thing that's added as well. Get rid of the critical race theory and add in some economics. All right.

So Lydia Moynihan here. Your latest article is about, well, one of your latest is former speaker Nancy Pelosi Stock Trades have launched a multi-million dollar company.

So we know this.

Now she's more open to limiting trading among lawmakers now that she's leaving. She was questioned about this on 60 Minutes, I think, 10 years ago, and she was offended by Scott, it wasn't Scott Pelly, it was Steve Croft, of going to a press conference and going through, what have you discovered? Yeah, it's always easy to try and pull the ladder up when you're on the way out. I'm a little skeptical. I know there's now another push where it seems like maybe this legislation could pass.

At the end of the day, Congress is, pardon, so rarely incentivized to actually legislate themselves and to diminish their own power.

So I'm skeptical it's going to pass. But let's see. You know, maybe she can get it done in her final few months here in Congress. Who do you see as Pelosi has made a ton of money? What have you discovered?

Well, it is funny, too. And when she's asked about it, suddenly she becomes the biggest advocate for the free market. You know, a few years ago during COVID, when it was revealed that she's made millions, she's basically said, oh, it's the free market. It's a great thing.

So I'd love to hear some more messaging about why the free market is good from the Democrats. We don't. But the problem with Pelosi in particular is that it's not just that she's making money from stock trades. Of course, I do need to note she always says it's her husband. But she's making money.

Making money from the companies that she is in charge of regulating, essentially.

So, for example, when the CHIPS Act came out, she'd already bought NVIDIA, right?

So, she has access to understand what kind of legislation is gonna be coming down the pike. And how she can benefit from that. She sold a lot of her big tech stocks right before the DOJ announced a lawsuit against Google.

So clearly, she has a lot of insight as former speaker. As to what's happening in DC and what the implications of those policies will be on these companies, and we see she's making those strategic trades before that kind of knowledge is apparent to the rest of the public. I mean, the president's for the most part, I remember George W. Bush put all his stuff into a trust. He had no idea where my investments are.

That's not going to be up to me. Trump's a little different. He says, I'm not involved with my company, but he has his son's doing things. Could his son have picked up the phone and said, hey, dad, what's going on with Saudi Arabia? Are we going to be doing an investment here?

I'm not sure. But I also know that they were very frustrated the first time because Don, in particular, was in charge of international deals. And they basically said to him, ethics-wise, don't do any.

So he said, What am I going to do? I think now they're pushing the envelope. One distinction that I would make is. The frustration that a lot of Americans have is the people who go into Congress with no money and leave super rich. I think Donald Trump's a little different.

He was already a billionaire. Yeah. And he's still rich. He lost money the first term. He lost money the first term.

So I think that feels a little icky to me as people who go into public service Sort of with the intent, it would seem, to make money.

So, just lastly, before I let you go, let's go back to your life at the New York Post, which is glorious and glamorous. Oh, I've never heard. I've heard a newspaper described as glamorous, but I wouldn't be here. I hear it's a wild newsroom you guys have. We'll not take it.

You gotta come visit. I've never really been in my 10th floor. Yes, 10th floor. Yeah. Well, my past worked there.

It will not. I know this because you because you can't get through here. Fox, yes, and Vox has a really great cafeteria, and we're all so jealous because we don't get access to it. Really? Yeah, you get these great salads for like Dollars?

But you know so many people, you can't throw somebody's name around. That's true. What you want with Jesse?

Well, maybe I'll name drop you next time. Right, I think it gets a lot of fun. Brian said I could get a salad. I'll be quick. I won't cause any trouble.

But with Montami coming into office now, I think every day is going to be newsworthy. My hope is he's going to realize a lot of things he's saying don't make financial sense. He's not going to have the money to do anything if he implies this. And at one point, he's going to have to step back and realize how the financial sector fuels everything else he wants to do from what you have picked up. Is he have does he have the ability or willingness to understand a lot of his policies will not fly in this country?

I I can't prognosticate on his uh sort of inner workings, but it it is Noteworthy, after he met with Trump, there's been a couple of posts about how he actually wants to deregulate small business. That's one thing he's begun talking a bit about on social media. I would like to see more of that, you know. Hope springs. Hopefully, once he gets in there and kind of sees how the world works, maybe he'll change his tune.

And it's been funny as well. He's coming to. Criticism because you know he wants everything to be free, and then he's been posting all these videos asking people for money because he, of course, needs money to continue to. Lastly, do you see on this Venezuela thing the same type of distraction as the Russia hoax, the Epstein files, when they're talking about double-hitting a racing boat full of drugs? I've just been shocked at its wall-to-wall coverage.

I mean, you would think this is Watergate. It's gotten. Unending attention. And I think it was kind of upsetting to see just. The media just leaped on this Washington Post report.

There were so many questions.

Now, the New York Times has essentially debunked it. But I think it kind of feels like selective outrage because. When Obama or Biden drone strikes We're talking American citizens, civilians. There were weddings that got thrown. There were horrible things that happened.

It didn't get any attention in the media. You know, John Kirby go out there and say, Oh, we're learning from our mistakes. And people were like, Okay, that sounds great, let's move on.

So it is just complete selective outrage that that was not a problem, but now Drone striking drug bows is. Lydia Moynihan, thanks so much. I couldn't agree more. Real talk, real guests, real insight, where curiosity meets conversation. It's the Brian Kilmeat Show.

The talk show that's getting you talking. You're with Brian Kilmead. Sponsored by Previgen. Previgen made for your brain. Hey, uh we are back and by the way um There's just so there's so much going on today, but I do look for the president to do a massive push.

When it comes to affordability, but doing it on his own programs. The other thing that came out that I just put up with Lydia is they got to talk about financial competency and do it in a subtle way, sell economic freedom, as opposed to this socialism world is unfair, and socialism is the only way to level the playing field. And I look for that to be a big push from the president, which is not going to be hard for him because he lives within the finance world. He doesn't live for the Wall Street world, but the investment world, the understanding how to grow money. This is right up his alley.

If he was to be a professor, this stuff that he would have been teaching, along with bold moves and big purchases, those things to that nature.

So I think that's important. What I talked about before, on a side note, totally different, is in baseball, they are now looking at. possibly finding a way To forgetting about the steroids and looking at the accomplishments of both Barry Bonds. And Roger Clemens, Bonds 14-time All-Star All-Time Home Run Leader, seven times, Sai Younger Water and Roger Clemens. They got a group put together to see if in this, I think it's going to be their last year of eligibility if they get in.

So, write to me at BrianKillmee.com. Do you think that Ferguson Jenkins, Jim Catt, Tony Perez should go ahead and do it?