The Brian Kilmeade Show

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of any purchase of a hundred dollars or more, that's promo code BRIAN. 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. The Brian Kilming Show coming your way on a closing out a wild week.

We're really at war, a war with Iran, and it's ongoing. It's political and there are economic aspects to it. We'll get to all of it. Griff Jenkins covered a lot of war zone activity, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan. He'll be with us too.

Michael Duran is, Duran is standing by too, Hudson Institute Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East. Tremendous knowledge and contacts. Before we get to Michael, let's get to the big three. Number three.

Sounds like from people close to him, very close to him, who can speak to his thinking. The quote that I was given was: It was a combination of her many unfortunate leadership failures, from Minnesota to the ad campaign. Yup, that is Jackie Heinrich reporting about the change at Homeland Security. Senator Mark Wayne Mullen is in, and Christy Noam is out. He has another position.

President could not have been a better pick than Mark Wayne Mullen. I'll explain. Number two.

Well, look, it's certainly something that should have been anticipated. And what's one of the striking features so far is that Iran has launched far more missiles and far more drones at the Arab countries in the Gulf and in the region than it has even at Israel. That's something that should have been anticipated. It was anticipated. That's why it's called Missile Defense.

Widing the War. Anthony Blinken, a failed Secretary of State who doesn't realize it. Iran shoots at our Arab allies to turn them against us and Israel, but it's had the exact opposite effect. We'll talk about this own goal for Iran. Number one.

And I'd like to see him make sure there are no more missiles and drones coming out of Iran, and that's still happening.

So that's something that would remain number one in my priority list. Yeah, he thinks the former Rear Admiral and Deputy CENTCOM Commander Robert Harwood, who grew up for a lot of his formative years who were in Iran, he believes that that should have been stopped and could have been stopped right away, short and long-term missiles. Moving to the next phase, the U.S. and Israel are taking apart the IRGC leadership, missile production. And now, could the Kurds be joining on ground?

Yep, the Iranian Kurds, not to be confused with the Kurds in Turkey or the Kurds in Iraq or Syria. Michael Duran joins us now, Hudson Institute Senior Fellow. Michael, welcome. Great to be here. Michael, when people talk about the region and why now.

You have a real perspective of the region. How problematic, if you could put it simply, has Iran been to American interest and Middle East peace over the last forty-seven years? I Iran is the the center of all of our problems, especially over the last the last fifteen years. It it's in an alliance alliance, or you can call it an alignment. with China, Russia and North Korea to undermine the Western order globally.

And China has assigned to the Iranians the Middle East portfolio. And through its proxies, Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, the militias in Iraq, it is working to uh chip away at the American order all around the region. And they've uh been very effective in just waiting us out.

Now that we've undergo this operation, long speculated, no six other presidents said, no, I'm not going to do it. How do you think it's going so far six days in? Militarily, I think it's going fantastic. I mean, it couldn't go better. uh than it's been I mean these are mil it's a military it's a war Uh and so we've taken some losses.

Those are tragic, especially for the families. But in terms of what was anticipated, I think that this has just gone better than expected. The Israelis and the Americans are both saying that it's ahead of schedule. I have no reason to doubt them. The missile and drone launches are down dramatically.

We're down at 20% of what they were. That's an incredible achievement. And the regime has been decapitated and it's on the ropes. We still have a long distance to go, and they have a coherent strategy, the Iranians. It doesn't look like it.

They have a coherent strategy, so we have to break their back yet. But it's going very, very well.

So what do you think that strategy is? Because we could add in they've hit 13 other neighboring nations from Azerbaijan to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Jordan. They've hit just about every UAE, probably the most, in Kuwait. And now the story in the Washington Post today say that the Russians are helping them with American targets. To know exactly where the CIA is and our headquarters in for the Fifth Fleet and the Bahrain buildings and things to that nature.

Yeah, and I suspect that they're also getting targeting data from the Chinese as well. Historically, the Chinese provided targeting data to the Houthis, who strangely have sat this out so far. It's a mystery to me. The strategy, Brian, is to widen the war as much as possible, to create diplomatic pressure on Donald Trump. They want to have every country in the region calling up Donald Trump and saying, hey, it's time to shut down Netanyahu's war.

This is the propaganda of the Iranians, is that Netanyahu dragged the United States into this war. This is a war for Israel. It didn't need to happen. There was a deal to be had. And now look at all of the suffering that you're undergoing because of this.

And I think it's backfiring on them. That is the strategy. The absolute heart of the strategy is to force the Gulf Arabs to run through their international. Interceptors to run out of missile and drone interceptors. And they think that's the weakest link, and they have focused most directly on the United Arab Emirates.

Yeah, I mean, they definitely have expanded in a way. I think, well, we have missile defense there, but the one thing they have successfully hurt energy, and that was taking out Qatar's LNG plant, refinery. along with the strait of Hermuz being shut down. But if we can take out the missiles, the rockets, limited the drones, you might be able to open up that strait. But your reaction to that L and G plan?

Well, you're exactly right that part of the strategy of widening the war and increasing the pain on Donald Trump is to raise the price of oil. It's up some 20 percent. I didn't check it this morning. It's in the 80s now, $80 per barrel. It'll probably go to $100, especially if the Strait of Hormos remains effectively shut.

That's going to raise prices here, gas prices here at home. And part of their Iranian strategy also is to strengthen domestic American political voices saying that this is the wrong war and that it's not in the American interest.

So you point out in your column. That There's not one battle. That the Taliban won against the US And in 91, we went right through Iraq in the Persian Gulf War. And we left Saddam Hussein in power. And They believe by just surviving against us.

they can win because they'll just rebuild and come back. That's their objective. That is absolutely their objective. And the challenge we always have in the Middle East is that we are militarily superior. We get to these moments of significant contest Uh and We have difficulty translating the military achievements into a new lasting political order that looks after our interests for a long period of time.

You know, President Trump, I think, he calculated last June that by really showing the Iranians that we were willing to go to war, that we had the capabilities to take out all of their strategic capabilities, that they would then be softened up and come to the negotiating table. But of course, they didn't. For them, to go up against the United States and Israel and to survive is a badge of honor for them. And they wear it that way. And we know they're completely willing to mow down their own public, their own population.

So they really have to be roundly defeated, and we have to keep our boot on their neck. There's no other way to keep them down.

Well, you're going to love this that just posted five minutes ago on Trump's Truth Social account. There'll be no deal with Iran except unconditional surrender. After that, and the selection of a great and acceptable leader or leaders, we and many of us, our wonderful and very brave allies and partners, will work tirelessly to bring Iran back from the brink of destruction, making it economically bigger and better and stronger than ever before. Iran will have a great future, make Iran great again. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

So he's going for victory because people start thinking, Michael, that he's going to get bored. He's not going to like this. He wants to move on. He's going to worry about his polls. I w uh to be honest with you, Brian, I was concerned about that until I saw that posting just as I sat down.

It gave me a very good feeling because I think he is under much more pressure than he's letting on. Because this interceptor issue of forcing the Alliance to run through its interceptors is a serious one. Last October in October, I'm sorry, last June, we, the United States, ran through 25 percent of our Thad interceptors, of the all of the globally. And it takes five years to replace that 25 percent.

So the defense economics here is very skewed. The Iranians send relatively cheap missiles in large quantities that can overwhelm our defenses at our bases, at our allies. And we have to use very expensive systems to take them down. That's one of the reasons why we're having this war. We saw the Iranians were building up this massive arsenal.

It was an existential threat to Israel. It was a threat to all of our bases. And they were not going to back down without a significant contest.

So it's a real strategy they have. Donald Trump is under pressure, but it seems to me the signal he's sending is, no, I'm going to go the distance.

So Michael Durant, our guest.

So Michael, it's interesting. Is that when you look at the things that you just mentioned, from the history of the 47 years, why we had to act now, the nuclear program being rebuilt. When people say, what's the reason? I feel like saying pick one. There are so many for this, but if you don't just nail one, Then, well, there's no objectives, there's no mission, there's no focus.

No, no, there's plenty of reasons. But I was shocked because I think when things go south, that's when politicians become politicians. But when you have military veterans who get read in on a high security clearance on what Iran is up to and the insidious way in which they act in killing their own people. Then I expect them to act a little differently. And that's why I couldn't be more disappointed.

A guy like Senator Mark Kelly, a famous astronaut, fighter pilot, listen to this, Cut 23. And I'm thinking You could pick a random group of people off the street. Tonight here in Washington, D.C. Just a random group, and they could probably do a better job than our government is doing right now with this. Really?

I mean you watch the executive come on, don't you expect more from a from a fighter pilot? Yes, I do. But he's also a politician and that right now they they have their talking points. But anyone who's been watching international politics for the last twenty years Knows that Iran is a very significant threat to the American order in the Middle East, to American bases, to American lives, that it's working with the Chinese to undermine our position in the Middle East. There are those who are arguing that we can just pick up and leave the Middle East, but that means that we would hand the global energy markets over to the Chinese.

They would use the Middle East as the crossroads of three continents: Africa, Europe, and Asia, to put Europe in a vice. It's simply from a prudential perspective, we cannot pick up and leave the Middle East. We have to defend our allies. This is the position we have, and Iran is the biggest problem, and it's a growing problem. Despite the weird thing about Iran is it has these enormous vulnerabilities, but it has developed, you know, it's like a guy that's lifted weights with one arm, so it has a couple of really big muscles that it can use.

To hit you, and if you don't neutralize that arm, you're going to be in big trouble. But he has vulnerabilities everywhere, and we're seeing that right now. We've wiped out their missile defense, which was the S-300 system, which was the Chinese system, or the Russian system rather. And I don't think they could feel good about how ineffective it was on the 12-day war. And now they feel as though they have air superiority.

What about the role of the Israelis? The intelligence on the ground, as well as the execution, along with welcoming the opportunity to go after Hezbollah, they're going for the kill shot in Lebanon, aren't they? Absolutely. I think they're actually hanging back a little bit in Lebanon because they want to focus on the Iranian front right now. That's the key front.

But Hezbollah got into the war against them after the coalition took out Khamenei. And the Israelis want to deter them at this moment. But ultimately, they want to dismantle Hezbollah as well. And we should want them to do that. Hezbollah was the core of the Quds force, the Iranian external arm.

Anybody that Iran trained, whether it's the Houthis or the Iraqi militias, they would come to Lebanon to train with Hezbollah. And Nasrallah was a strategic brain of the Quds force. Yeah, dead, buried in his building.

So I contend that China's been the big loser over the last month. If you think about their influence in Venezuela, it has dwindled, if not non-existent, eventually. And now you see that their client state in the world. In Iran and the cheap oil they were getting from Iran. And I mean, they're being hindered now.

And if you look at even our aggression in Central and South America, And of course, it looks like Cuba's about to fall. How has China respond how has China been affected by all this? Oh, i look China, as you mentioned, it gets Iranian oil on about, let's say, 60 cents on the dollar. Iran sells all of its oil to China, and China gets it at a very steep discount.

So, although China is an energy-poor country, because of the discounted Iranian oil, it can behave like a major oil producer. It has refining capabilities, which it exports. Our endowment and natural resources should put us in a position of dominance over the Chinese, but we have allowed this situation to develop where they can behave as if they don't have that vulnerability. They also have developed with the Iranians a shadow banking network, which is one of the ways that they sell this sanctioned oil to China. But it also gives them the ability to set up an economic subsystem, a global economic subsystem.

That is resistant to American sanctions.

So taking this away from China will be a huge strategic blow to them. There's also the fact that the Houthis, I think you and I talked about this last time, that there are two entities in the world, Brian, that have anti-ship ballistic missiles, and that's China and the Houthis. That weapon has only one purpose, and that is to attack American aircraft carriers when they are maneuvering in confined spaces. The Chinese are using all of the data from the contest with Iran to improve their own systems for the struggle against the United States and Taiwan. Wow.

Michael, there's nobody better to talk to. Thanks so much, Michael. Duran, appreciate it. Back in a moment. It's Brian Kilmade.

This is Ainsley 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. Mm.

From his mouth to your ears, it's Brian Kilmead. Hey, welcome back. I went a little long with Michael Duran, but it was just such a great, he has such great information, intelligence, and contacts. Chris Jenkins is coming up next. I do want to talk about the economy a little.

We lost, didn't gain any, not that we didn't, not only did we not gain jobs, we lost 92,000 jobs. The unemployment went up to 4.4%. The market didn't like the war to begin with, only because of the straight-up Hormos is shot for now. But now it's not liking this either. Could be a rough day unless we get some positive news.

Well, you have other networks using this to say, well, Donald Trump is raising the price of gas, and Donald Trump lost jobs. A couple of things are going on here. There's a there's a somewhat of a rejiggering with AI. Got it. And number two is this is a necessary conflict.

Sooner or later, this was going to erupt. The President made sure it happened on his watch. He's going to address this problem.

So other presidents don't have to, so you don't have to deal with it. And if you don't think that what's left of this regime is evil, to get back to their nuclear program, back to their ballistic missile program, and create havoc, you're not paying attention. That's why Trump's going for complete victory. And that's what we've been asking for. No more half measures.

Brian Kilmeich. A talk show that's real. This is the Brian Kill Me Show. What is that off ramp? I think the president may simply declare victory.

He'll say. got rid of the the Ayatollah. Yeah. Diminished or degraded or destroyed their nuclear program. We did the same thing to the missile program.

We did the same thing to the Navy. And as to the regime, well, over to the Iranian people. Good luck to them. Hope they succeed. And if they don't, it's their fault.

If they do, we'll take the credit.

So that is Anthony Blinken, the worst strategy ever handling Iran. It was look the other way, let them sell oil, do the best we can to let them know we want to get a new JCPOA, take their arch enemy, Saudi Arabia, make them an outlaw nation, a pariah nation, and tell the Houthi rebels allied. with Iran, that you're no longer terrorist. And what did you get? Nothing but more terror activity to the point where when Trump takes over, he's got to bomb out their nuclear facilities because they were almost at a nuclear weapon.

Remember that. And Anthony Blinken is now doing interviews and taking bows as if his policy worked. Griff Jenkins, those all about war zones. Fox and Friends Weekend co-host, Griff. Welcome.

Thank you, Brian. And you know, the Blinken comments are really significant because when you talk about war zones, and I spent a lot of time 2003, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 2016 even in Iraq. People don't point out enough the differences of the Iraq war and what we're doing in Iran right now. Because people say, well, there's no ground invasion. That's true.

But when you talk about the end game, it's worth just noting that you had a Sunni-Shia debacle we walked into in Iraq. In the case of Iran, these protesters, the people that want to be free, are trying to be Persia again. And that's a different thing. And that's where the glimmer of hope lies in the president setting the conditions. But there are different ethnicity, but it isn't as bad.

The Shia-Sunni thing in Iraq. Iraq, we had the minority Sunni in charge, Saddam Bathus. And Shia said, Were you kidding me? How long are we going to be putting up with this?

So the thing blew up. And there's so many lessons to be learned by great people. Look at both Bush's and who they surround themselves with.

So Bush 41 goes into the Persian Gulf War, puts 500,000 people in Kuwait, and they take Kuwait back. And then they take uh go to Iraq and they say, well, our mandate Is only uh for knocking uh uh Iraq back. I'm going to leave the regime in power. They told the Shia to rise up.

Now, the president learned from this, and the Shia rose up, but they left Saddam Hussein with choppers and planes and air tech, and they all get wiped out. And Bush 41 is vilified and hated by the Shia to this day. It's why they weren't welcomed as liberators in 2003 when the invasion happened.

So what happened? Bush 43 comes in and goes, Saddam's out. Enough.

So Saddam's out and they go, well, now we've got to run the country.

Well, we don't want that.

So what do you learn from both those things? Trump goes to school on that. Venezuela leaves the apparatus in place, infrastructure in place.

Some people are upset by that. But little by little, hopefully, they'll get elections in six months and Del C. Rodriguez will probably lose. Here, he's saying, I don't want to deliver the mail. I don't want to pick up the garbage.

You know, I don't want to handle their energy, but this regime can't lead anymore.

So the president is doing this with outboots on the ground, using AI and firepower to systematically take them apart with the other fantastic Air Force, and that is Israel. Aaron Powell, a huge lesson to be learned. And not only that, you look at what is different now from then, and that is the Gulf states rallying into this. The UAE is taking more missiles, I read, than even Israel. And you have the Gulf states now buying in, if you will, and you have a shift in the attitudes because of what President Trump started in his first Administration under the Abraham Accords moving towards what the entire region wants the outcome to look like.

That's a very different, you know, George W. Bush got the coalition of the willing.

Well, you know what? Trump has manufactured or put together a coalition of Gulf states that want the region to change, and that's a lofty, high goal built upon a precedent he started in the first administration.

Now the worry is they run out of interceptors, that could be the plan, and all of a sudden these Arab states have a restless population not used to being vulnerable, and they start pressuring their government, who turned pressures Trump, to end this early. He just wrote down not doing anything early. But just to your point about other countries being in the line of fire. Going into today's action, the UAE has been targeted by drones and missiles 883 times. Kuwait 562, Qatar 162, Bahrain 129, Israel 113, Jordan 49, Cyprus 5, Oman 2, Saudi Arabia 2.

So they are really trying to make enemies of them all. UAE has responded. They're going to freeze. It looks like all the Iranian assets that were I guess staying under the wire, the ghost assets, because they have the worthless currency, so it's in dollars. They're freezing that.

I think the most significant interviews that have been on our air over the last few days have been your interviews with General Jack Keene. And he keeps saying to you, I can't tell you exactly what they're doing, but they're fighting back. And you step back and realize: so, why are they fighting? Other than the fact that they don't want to be fired upon because that's new for them, but also the fact that they're hitting hotels. You know, the Gulf States, Doha is a tourist destination.

Abu Dhabi, you have in Dubai, you have these commercial tourists. Tourist destinations now that they want to protect. And I think that's why they're leaning in. I would just say one last thing, and that is the phase two, as you talk about the concern that Iran wants to get the Gulf states to turn on Trump, and that's why he's targeting in large part these Gulf states. But when you look at phase two of what the U.S.

mission seems to be now, which is to they've knocked out their launchers, now they're going after the actual missile production facilities to stop it. If they can really keep that down so that Iran can keep hitting the Gulf states, we're probably going to see a little bit of a shift change in the next week to two weeks. Yeah, I would think so. I think people just got to be a little bit patient, but in this political process, when the economy and affordability matters, they are going, Democrats are not going to say, We're at war, keep your powder dry. They're going to use it and say, look at gas prices.

I thought he was going to bring gas prices down. Diesel prices went up, which means the trucks run on diesel, which means you would think playing this out, delivering to grocery stores might be more expensive, upping the price on travel and the supply chain. But Here's the good news. We provide the natural gas, we provide the oil, and we're able to up the ante and up the production.

However, it's not helping the Pacific, the East, the Far East, because those are the ones who use the Strait of Hormuz to get 20 percent of the world's oil out.

Somehow, Griff, we have to find a way to suppress the fire to allow people and ships to come through. And look, you can't overstate that higher gas prices as we approach the midterms isn't a real thing. It certainly is. And Democrats on affordability think that's their winning card to play. We're going to see them try and do that to the best of their ability.

But I think Carl Rove had a piece yesterday, pretty significant, saying that the Trump administration's got to do a better job here at home in laying out exactly the big picture. And the big picture, as you mentioned, bring in China. The fact that we've now cut off 20-plus percent of China's oil and we fold into that Venezuela, taking out the Venezuela oil, going to China. President Trump will go soon and meet with Xi Jinping in China. At how much his leverage position changed.

Yeah, some of the critics who are jumping up, I just think they have to sit this one out, especially Anthony Blinken. Remember, listen to Ruben Gallego, who fancies himself a presidential candidate. Cut 25. I think Iran is a national security threat, but is it the most important national security threat right now? Does it mean that we have to go to war without at this point any actual reason?

The President's not giving us a solid reason, and we don't know the actual exit plan.

So, you know, my concern about all this is that, again, we don't know how we're going to get out of this. And as someone actually had to live through a very bad experience with some bad decisions when I got sent to Iraq and saw many of my friends die, I don't want another generation of veterans to do that.

So this is why the position that we're taking right now. Maybe one of your friends were killed by the Iranians, who killed 603 directly and over thousands indirectly. They really fueled the insurgency after the initial Ba'athists trying to get back in. The insurgency was fueled by Iran, was financed, it was orchestrated, and a lot of times executed by the Iranians. That should bother you.

How could he really say they weren't the threat and there's no reason for it now? Pick one. How many man, in fact, they were making over 100 missiles a month leading up to this. They were rebuilding two of their nuclear sites, number one. And number three is we know in the region they were such a problem.

Saudi Arabia, according to the Washington Post, was urging President Trump to please act on this. Yeah. So, along with Israel, is going to act anyway. You put your finger on the most important point, Brian, that Senator Gallego and others have forgotten about, which is not only is Iran responsible for the deaths of Americans in Iraq, of which I got a first-person, up close and personal view of it, but also the fact that Iran has bathed in the blood of Americans for nearly 50 years. And so, you look at why now.

Why now? Because they've never been closer to getting the nuclear weapon. And don't think for a second, after spending half a century in focusing on death to America, that they're not going to use it. And it's just absurd that people like Gallego and other Democrats and critics say that, well, we are wholly opposed to Iran ever getting the nuclear weapon. They can't do it.

Just Trump can't do this. Trump doesn't get credit. It's absurd. And when he talks about no endgame, everybody remembers David Petraeus' famous words: tell me how this ends. But that was a very different operation than what we're seeing now.

Not a single American. Boot is on the ground outside of maybe some, you know, clandestine stuff that's getting intelligence that we don't know about and won't know about for good measure. But you have a very different question about how this ends. And the president has at least been, and Secretary Hegseth and Chairman Kane have been pretty clear about they are meeting their objectives. They're going to continue to do it, and they think it's going to take a few more weeks to get that done.

What that endgame looks like, we'll see. Do we get drawn in? That's an open question, but it's certainly a very different paradigm than Iraq. Jake Sullivan came out the day before, on October 5th or 6th, before the October 7th attack, and said the Middle East has never been calmer. And then we have the most tumultuous Middle East in all of our lifetimes.

And now we have a situation where almost every Gulf state that's been hit and one that haven't have one thing in common. They want to grow their economy, make alliances with us. They don't have a problem with Israel. They got to use it outside Turkey. They've got a huge problem now with Iran, and he's made sure of it.

Remember how Joe Biden handled it? Let's flash back to 2023. Is more reports come out that Iran is closer to a nuclear weapon? Cut 31. When we moved the US carrier fleet to the Eastern Mediterranean, we were sending more fighter jets there in that region, and made it clear.

Made it clear. to the Iranians. Be careful. Be careful. How did that work?

Not a single person in the Biden administration really ought to be speaking out because the disastrous withdrawal of Afghanistan showed that they literally couldn't shoot straight and carry out anything. But if GOES even setting aside Biden, you have to go back to the Obama policy and the Obama JCPOA with feckless weapons inspectors and pallets of cash were simply not useful. It only embolted them. But they didn't even get weapons inspectors onto the sites. They were cameras onto the sites and they were going to expire in 10 years.

And Menendez didn't vote for it. Schumer didn't vote for it. Ben Cardin didn't vote for it. This is Obama's plan. It couldn't pass the Senate or Trump couldn't have undone a treaty.

It was an agreement that wasn't ratified because nobody could ratify it. The deal was not good. And it wasn't a let's just say they tried.

Okay. If that's the deal you left with, you don't have a deal. And that was Trump's point. And almost no, and not one person could say, I wish we had it, because it would have expired two years ago. And Obama has spoken on the record that he does regret the fact that he didn't do more, particularly in the 2008, 2009 risk.

He has said he's regretted that in ever so diplomatic Obama terms. But what I wonder that we'll never...

Well, he does regret not doing anything in Syria. Yeah. Oh, yeah. He drew a red line. They stepped across it and he did nothing.

But you have to wonder if he does regret or feel in some ways that Iran used him. Used him to advance their goals. And throughout the Biden administration, they kept coasting without fear of being hit. And now it's a different day under President Trump. And, you know, whether or not they're able to fully take out the RGC and fully do regime change, one thing is for sure, they are a far cry from where they were under the Obama and Biden administration.

And by the way, if you listen to Gavin Newsom this week and listen to his Democrats, And you remember how Netanyahu was invited into the White House? Never meet with Obama. He came and made a speech to Congress. Obama never invited him over. If you listen to Gavin Newsom talk about Of our apartheid nation of Israel, they know this is their last time to clean up the neighborhood.

Because if it's not a Republican next, Then the Democrats might even break off alliances, I believe, with Israel. That's how bad I think it is.

So, this is their last time to do it. Final thought: who's coming on your show this weekend? We have a huge show. We're going to be covering the Iran war. I mean, we've now got, as you know, reporters across the region and drilling in.

And, you know, I think that one of the things that I will look to, and we're hoping to get someone from the White House, someone from the administration, is to the point of really laying out a little bit clear, not only to Democrat critics, we know where they stand, and we've never had a larger, louder crowd rooting against America's success there, I would argue, but also to those within the conservative MAGA movement that have been apprehensive about this, to get someone on the administration to lay out for us exactly why we need to be there and why it's good for America. Right. I think the answer is. There's a lot of reasons. It's not just one.

And that's where they think they made a mistake in Iraq by saying weapons of mass destruction? No, no. This guy had just shoved off every single UN sanction, had thrown off weapons inspectors, was killing his own people and threatening us. That's why, that's and by the way, weapons of mass destruction. How do we know?

Because he had them last time and lied about him. How do we know? Because the Israelis took out their nuclear program in the 80s.

So if we had more than weapons of mass destruction, that conflict wouldn't be as criticized as it is today. Thanks so much. Appreciate it, Griff. Have a good time. 6 to 10 on Saturday, 6 to 10 on Sunday.

Eight hours. God is it. And then One Nation Sunday at 10. That's right. Back in a moment.

Yeah. A radio show like no other. It's Brian Killmeade. President Trump has been working hard to make sure that he's delivering on what he promised the American people, and that's to make America safe again. We'll be working throughout the Western Hemisphere with all the countries to make sure that we're biting the snake off, cutting its head off with fighting the cartels before they ever reach the United States, stopping the drug flow, stopping the guns and ammunition from getting here and hurting our families and the homeland.

So a little bizarre to see Christine Ohm really get fired, moved over to another position, and then still give a speech. And everyone's watching the speech and she didn't acknowledge that she is fired. She said, we at Homeland Security, technically, I guess she finished out the job for two weeks, but there's a series of things that happened. Number one, people love the border were shut down. I actually think that's old Tom Holman.

And number two, When it comes to going after the illegal aliens, I love it. The worst first. We didn't get through the worst first, and I want people out if they got here legally. But the how matters. And what we saw is a lot of intentional or unintentional mistakes or noncaring the way things were implemented and made the legal immigrants seem sympathetic and focus more on the crazies Uh that uh shave their head and protest everything.

That's what we saw in Minneapolis. Listen, I think Minneapolis has the worst leaders in any city and state in the country. But you put that together with ham handed way in which you were doing things without any police backup, and Minneapolis became a symbol of empathy instead of one of victory for kicking out, I think, over one thousand two hundred illegal immigrants.

So I think that Senator Mark Wayne Mullen is going to be flat out phenomenal. Plus, he's on the Homeland Security Committee, serves in the House, and the guy's a workaholic. There's nothing he can't do. He's had that feeling his entire life. And you saw it on the wrestling mat, you saw it in the octagon, you see it in Congress.

He built up a plumbing business, and his dad's plumbing business and made it just a monster. And still has it going, I believe, as well as working a ranch with six kids. And he will be great. And I bet you he gets Democratic votes. From the Fox News Radio Studios in Midtown Manhattan, it's the fastest growing radio talk show.

Brian Killmead. Everyone from 48th and 6th in Midtown Manhattan, heard around the country, around the world. The Brian Killmee Show coming your direction. A lot going on. We're following the moving events with six reporters in various Middle Eastern cities, many of which are under attack.

Mark Thiessen's got to be with us in a matter of moments. And Senator Dave McCormick, the guy went to West Point, fought the First Persian Gulf War, was even in an operation to remove Noriega. And now he's a senator from Pennsylvania, so he's got a big background in that as well as finance. I mean, the economy is becoming a story now. It's becoming an important part of this story.

But I'm really encouraged by President Trump's Truth Social post that says he's going for victory. That's it. There will be no talks. That's music to Mark Thiessen's ears. In just a moment, we'll talk to him, but first the big three.

Number three.

It sounds like from people close to him, very close to him, who can speak to his thinking. The quote that I was given was: It was a combination of her many unfortunate leadership failures, from Minnesota to the ad campaign. Yeah, I hate to say it. Even though those are unnamed reports, not the official report, that's 100% right. Change at the top, Mark Boyne Mullen is in.

He's going to sail through confirmation. Christine Ohm is out, thankfully. President Trump, he made the right decision. Guess what, Democrats? You now have your scalp.

Fund DHS. Number two.

Well, look, it's certainly something that should have been anticipated. And what's one of the striking features so far is that Iran has launched far more missiles and far more drones at the Arab countries in the Gulf and in the region than it has even at Israel. That's something that should have been anticipated. It was anticipated, you idiot. It's called missile defense.

And does anyone know less about the Middle East? And is this resume more unattractive than Anthony Blinken of the Biden administration? Why in the war? Iran shoots at our Arab allies to try to turn them against us. And Israel, guess what?

It's the biggest owned goal in military war history.

Okay. Number one. I'd like to see them make sure there are no more missiles and drones coming out of Iran. And that's still happening.

So that's something that would remain number one in my priority list. That is Admiral Robert Harwood, who spent his youth in Iran, moving to the next phase. The U.S. and Israel forces are taking apart the IRGC leadership, missile production. And are the Kurds being pushed?

And are they looking to start a ground attack? Would that be a good move? I want to ask Mark Thiessen that, Mark, how do you feel about the Kurds getting involved? And there's a lot of different sects of Kurds.

Well, I think what President Trump is doing is he's trying, look, we're not sending ground forces into Iran. This is not Iraq.

So we need some ground forces on the ground to help us. The Kurds are an option. The other option is, quite frankly, the Iranian people rising up and taking back their country. And so, you know, I think we're talking to leaders on the ground there. We're talking to the Kurds.

And President Trump is going for it. You know, I was on special report last night, and I was, you know, Democrats say, well, how do you define victory? What's the plan for success? There's layers of success, right?

So layer one. is that we eliminate their ability to project force beyond their borders. No nukes, no ballistic missiles, no terror infrastructure to support Hamas and other groups like that. They're completely contained and no longer a threat. That's level one.

Level two is we collapse the regime and have somebody come in who is subservient to us, sort of like we have in Venezuela. That would be a success too. And the first one I think is 100% sure that we're going to get. That's pretty, I'm pretty confident we're going to get that. The third level is unconditional surrender by the Iranian regime and the Iranian people rise up and replace it with a government that is a democratic ally of the United States and Israel.

I think that's achievable. That's possible. And I think it looks like, based on what President Trump is doing, is he's going for that. That's you know, but even if we don't achieve that. If all we achieve is taking out their offensive capability to threaten the U.S.

and its allies around the world and neuter them as a military force, that's a success too.

So, we've already succeeded. It's a question of how great the success is going to be. And we're not going to stop now. We want to stop their ability to make ballistic missiles as well as nuclear missiles. And it would be great to give the people an opportunity to have some say in their government for long-term.

Look, that's what MBS recognized. These people need economic opportunity or else they're going to become terrorists. And he's done that.

So you're never going to have anything except a worthless currency and an oppressive society if these Ayatollahs stay in charge. I thought Dave Ignatius, who we all know, I think he really has put his time in in the Middle East, he sees Titanic change happening. I thought his analysis was something I want you to comment on in Cut 20. A lot of people that I talk to who know Iran very well. I think this is a really bad idea.

That the problem is, as good as the Kurds are as fighters. as devoted as they are to their cause. This has the danger of splintering Iran. It would, for Persian, and the Persian. uh nationalists in Tehran, it's a reason to rally around the regime.

and and President Trump's offer to provide air cover for the Kurds I'm just not sure that's strong enough. There's a big IRGC force on the border to protect that. that border and to keep them out. They don't have tanks, they don't have heavy weapons.

So that's something that I wish President Trump had thought a little more carefully about.

So The one thing that tactically that I will like about them coming out Because if the IRG has to come out and fight, we know where they are. And right now, they're doing a great job of not showing where they are. Yeah, it'll smoke them out and we can take them out. I mean, just every so every time Iran fires a missile at Israel. We most of the time, we are successful in intercepting the missile.

But it also lets us know where the missile launcher is and we take it out.

So it's the same thing with if the Kurds were to come in and the IRGC were to come out to fight them. Then that allows us to take out the IRGC.

So I just don't see a downside to it. I mean, we obviously don't want to, you know, we're not suggesting that the Kurds come in and occupy Iran and run the government, but we need ground forces. We need when if you're not going to be what President Trump is doing is he's pioneering something new and different, okay? He's inherited a situation like much like Ronald Reagan in after the, after when he came into office in 1980, after the Vietnam War, when there was no appetite for America to send ground forces around the world. And so he had to pioneer a new way to project power and push back on the Soviet Union.

So he came up with the Reagan Doctrine, which is which we're going to support freedom fighters around the world, in Central America, in Africa, in the Middle East, to push back on the Soviet Union. And Trump has now come in after Iraq and Afghanistan with a country where there's no appetite to send ground forces anywhere and we shouldn't be. And he's coming up with a new way to project force and project power without the use of ground forces. And what he's doing is he's using decapitation strikes. paired with support for the people on the ground to take back their country.

And we got to find ways to do it that don't involve ground forces. Everyone who's sort of questioning all this is like, well, what's your solution? I I mean What I find maddening. Is if Joe Biden did this, Mark? I'm telling you, you might not believe me.

I hope you would. I'd be complimenting him. If he put two aircraft carriers off the shore, if he got Gulf states, the go-ahead, which by the way, we did silently. Saudi Arabia pushing us to act. We all know that.

They didn't want to say it publicly. And then you got Israel buy-in. And then you have this flawless coordination over the course of six days. You know what I would say? You're addressing a problem that has dominated my teens, my 20s, my 30s, my 40s.

I mean, through my time at Fox, it's coming up on 30 years. This is a run's always a problem. And it was getting worse. And they are they are their end game is death, and that's what they were cheering. And you had seven countries looking to destroy Israel, and you had an indifferent president that probably would have let it happen.

But now you have a window of opportunity. This president ran through it. And now people like, do you hear Hakeem Jeffries? Hakeem Jeffrey says it's going to end in defeat. I mean, this is anti-American stuff.

This isn't a war gone bad. This is a long-simmering conflict being addressed.

So first of all, I know for a fact that both you and I praised Barack Obama when he killed Othama Bin Laden. Absolutely. Absolutely. When the president gets one of her bad guys, It, you know, every American, regardless of party, should be praising him, right? And this operation.

is being carried out flawlessly. I mean, it is it is stunning. Execution of U.S. power and strength against one of the most evil regimes in the world that has killed, you know. thousands upon thousands of Americans and maimed and wounded thousands upon thousands of Americans under Republican presidents, under Democratic presidents.

It doesn't matter. I people forget this. Iran was behind the bombings of our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. They Al Qaeda didn't know how to take down buildings back then. They were trained by Iranian agents on how to blow up those buildings and they were and the U.S.

District Court for the District of Columbia found Iran liable for the attacks. I mean, almost any terrorists uh th that we've had, they right now, the successor of Osama bin Laden and Ayman Zawahiri is living in Tehran. That's his sanctuary. He's not hiding in a cave somewhere in Afghanistan. He's not hiding in a safe house in Pakistan somewhere.

He's in Tehran. There's a cell of al-Qaeda operatives that have been operating since 9-11 through Iran. This is our enemy. We should all be cheering. I am actually, I think this is going to be a successful operation, so I think the public will come around.

But the fact that so many political leaders and that the polls, where's the rally around the country effect? How partisan has our country become that Democrats are not willing to rally around the president when he's doing something we should all support? It's so depressing. But here's what's different. And in order to have the surprise attack.

And not to deal with some of the headwinds. The President decided not to market this. He decided not to do build a wall for three months. You know, like everyone by the end of it was build the wall. They mouthed the words.

George W. Bush told everyone about Iraq before it happened, told everyone about inspectors, watched all the buildup happen.

So we were ready for it. And a lot of people supported 70 votes in the Senate. But this president's got a different idea. It's not going to be a long sustained war. This is a long-term market.

I'm going to explain it when we do it. And if I explain it too rurally, I'll blow the surprise. And the Ayatollah will be alive right now.

So this is a little bit, Mark, has to do with the fact that the President didn't brace us for it. And people don't love foreign policy like you and I do, and don't read this first every day.

So I blame Hakeem Jeopardy, you blame Donald Trump, that's fine. That's so funny. I know you did. You're right. Of course, you're right.

I mean, but this is, I think he started to prepare us in the week before getting closer. But you're right. I mean, and it's the same thing with Venezuela. But look, Venezuela is now quite popular because it's successful. And I think this is going to be popular because it's going to be successful.

And so I think you're absolutely right. It's part of this new strategy. Look, we need to give this guy a lot of forbearance because he's trying to do something new. Because look, the alternative to what Donald Trump is doing is isolationism, right? We're not going to send boots on the ground everywhere around the world.

So we have two choices. We can retreat from the world. Or we can find a new way to project US force and US military power around the world. And what he's doing is he's starting with sanctions, with tariffs. With other forms of coercion to get regimes to do what we want them to do.

And when they refuse, then he decapitates them. And that's exactly the right approach. He's finding a way to For America to be the leader of the free world in an era when Americans have lost their appetite for boots on the ground. And I think what he's doing is amazing. I have an idea that might be in your column next.

You ready for this?

Okay. So there's a way the way he deals with the most countries is the way He deals with it. What you just said is 100% accurate.

However, he has a different approach with Russia and China because he looks at them as in many ways peers. Let's say we're stronger militarily, economically, whatever you want to say, but they're close.

So what he does with them. is more of a nuance fight. He doesn't say, I'm going to neutralize China by going after Venezuela, Cuba, where it's a listening outpost, and Iran, but he does it. I'm going to go against China by flipping these countries and winning over these countries' leaders, new ones or new ones or current ones, in Argentina, in Bolivia, in El Salvador, in Central and South America, to push out China. And when Russia wants an influence in the Middle East, well, Syria is gone.

And now Iran's going to be gone, who's supplying the Shaheed drones and is definitely an ally in the region.

So he knows. The downside of calling out another major nuclear power is a major nuclear war. But what if I subtly worked around you. dug out a moat around you and by the time you look up You're neutralized. And I think that's what he's doing.

Is that the subject of a Mark Thiessen column? It could be. Yes.

So it's so it's it's a speak softly and carry a big stick like Teddy Roosevelt.

So here's the interesting thing now that we're that this is so Iran is a very clarifying moment when it comes to Russia and Ukraine.

So Zelensky Has offered is now sending Ukrainian drone operators there's no country in the world that has more experience with uh with fighting Shaheed drones and neutralizing them than Ukraine.

So he is sending a battalion to help the U.S. and Israel and the Arab countries knock down these Shaheed drones. We just learned from the Washington Post this morning that Russia is providing targeting information to Iran to strike U.S. forces in the region.

So Ukraine is defending U.S. forces. Russia is helping to strike U.S. forces. I think when this dust settles in Iran, I think Vladimir Putin has to pay a very big price for that decision.

And I think we need to thank the Ukrainians for what they're doing. And Mark, that's so great that you tied that together, because the picture in the Washington Post story shows a hole in a building. And that hole in the building is where our headquarters were for our Fifth Fleet, where the offices were. And guess what? The CIA office got hit in Saudi Arabia.

And I'm thinking to myself, how the hell did they know that? How they know that is Russia or China, that'll probably come out soon, is telling them all our location.

So that is a great point. And that's why I've always been a fan of Zelensky. I don't love the way he plays everything, but I understand it. But there's been, I've been briefed multiple times that the Ukraine-Russia war has been a war college that the superpowers are studying. And we have learned a lot.

And again, we're benefiting us in this war right now, what we've learned. Mark Thieson we should get our own show. Right? I agree. We should do it, man.

Yeah, it depends how it pays. And we need open music, and we're going to need a location. You already have your own show. What are you talking about? All right, forgot about that.

Mark Thiessen, thanks so much. Back in a moment. Both sides, all opinions. It's Brian Killmead. Uh The more you listen, the more you'll know.

It's Brian Killmead. I remember thinking, watching Pete Hegseck going. How childish is this language he's using and this sort of bro-centric, tough guy? We sunk their battleship. It was pathetic, but also.

Embarrassing. The Ayatollah's son, this guy, is said to be even more of a hardliner than his dad. I hate to say Ayatollah so. The Trump administration's propaganda machine is in full, full sway right now. No one who Baron Trump has ever been in a classroom with is likely to have joined the military.

So do you believe the widespread criticism? We're at war with our forty seven year nemesis. And they're like, I don't like the language of Secretary of War, Pete Hagseth, and Baron hasn't signed up for the military? That's your focus, you idiots? I mean, please tell me the audience out there doesn't say, well.

We're being well served by the extreme left. And I'm sorry he's not Zbigniew Brzezinski. Who did such a wonderful job, I believe, as Secretary of State for Jimmy Carter to allow a hostage to be taken, not anticipate the fall of the Shah, taking him in for his cancer therapy and creating this terrorist state under your watch. The Brzezinski family, I think. Should not be talking about the Iran problem because it all happened when your dad was in power.

Maybe he didn't have the German accent. And the inte w the Ivy League back uh the Ivy League, uh I guess. W Wordsmith way uh uh eloquence? But by the way, he socks exactly like Rumsfeld, which America liked. If you're interested in it, Brian's talking about it.

You're with Brian Kilmead. What's left? But they're tough. and they want to fight. And they're calling, they're saying, How do we make a deal?

I said, You're being a little bit late. And we want to fight now more than they do. We've had uh 47 years, depending on the way you count it. But forty-seven years of horror with this group.

So, and that group is the Iranians. And the foreign minister, after the president said, hey, they're calling and they want to talk. I don't want to talk now. They came out, and as usual, duplicitous. I've said this, cut five.

Your supreme leader We are not asking for a ceasefire, and we don't see any reason why we should negotiate with the US. But then we negotiated with them twice. Yeah. Well, when you open up negotiations and say I have 460 kilograms worth of enriched uranium at 60% that can make 11 bombs, and I'm not changing that. I can't believe we even had another round of those negotiations, knowing they wouldn't even talk about not funding their proxies.

They would not even talk about ending their nuclear program. They not even entertain getting rid of their ballistic missile program, because we were building about one hundred a month, thanks to the Chinese.

So it's a complicated situation, one that Senator Dave McCormick is dealing with, but he's very familiar with dealing with stuff like this. I mean, he's a graduate of West Point. He's on the 82nd Airborne in the first Persian Gulf War. He was also on the operation to go out and get Noriega.

So you have a guy who is dealing with this on a regular basis. He used to have a real simple life, just trying to keep his hedge fund, Bridgewater, the best in the world. And he decided to give it all up, go to Pennsylvania and become senator there. Senator McCormick, welcome back. Oh, okay.

We're going to get him in about 10 minutes. We're going to have him here, so he's going to be with us.

So going back and forth like this, what are you to believe? I go back to Michael Doran's column, which Duran's column, which I think is right on the money. He says that the Iranis are trying to do what Saddam Hussein did. after the First Persian Gulf War. He lost his entire army.

Most of them surrendered humiliating fashion. He blew up his own oil wells. And then he had to take aim and kill his own people in order to stay in power. And he did, and he did. He put up with the invasion of five hundred thousand troops.

But he survived. They believe if they could have Their government, the IRGC, the bulk of the survive. They can win. They can outweigh Trump and the next time they'll have a nuclear weapon and they'll be like North Korea. Where it's really no go zone for now, unless we find something to do.

Using the other superpowers, but that's not really going to happen. Is that winning? They look at Hamas. Hamas has been decimated. They're on their last legs, but they're still there.

Hezbollah the same way, and they go back. To the Taliban, did not win one battle against the U.S., not one against the U.S. and combined forces, ever. But by surviving They ended up still there.

Now the question is. Are you okay with the scenario in which This corrupt Brutal regimes stay in power, but they can't build ballistic missiles and they cannot build nuclear weapons. That's an outcome that's much more beneficial than the one we had right now. The Red Crescent says 797 people have died in Iran. They sent a wave of drones.

And to Tel Aviv, all right. But do you know that the amount of ballistic missiles and drones is down 90% from the first day of the fighting? Do you know that they are now aiming for our Gulf allies, not even aiming for us right now? Not that they can get a hold of us anyway, although they killed six, and that's a tragedy. They've hit 13 countries.

And here's what they did in terms of numbers: 863 missiles or drones into UAE, Kuwait 562, Qatar 162, including their natural gas field, 129 into Bahrain, Israel 113, Jordan 49, Cyprus 5, Oman, 2, Saudi Arabia, 2, and now they also hit Turkey with one.

So they are aggravating and they're threatening. They're totally. Motivating. These Gulf states not to quit. but to possibly enter the fight.

To me it's one of the biggest own goals you will see on the war front.

So, these are some of the things that are happening right now.

So, Admiral Robert Harwood. When I was talking to him today, Rear Admiral, he was a deputy commander at CENCOM. He's disappointed. He thinks that That we should be further along in terms of wiping out the missiles and drones. And therefore, the Strait of Hormuz would open and we'd be able to target more of the IRGC and the Bashij, which is like their Gestapo cut 10.

And I'd like to see them make sure there are no more missiles and drones coming out of Iran. And that's still happening.

So that's something that would remain number one in my priority list. If we can make sure they can't project power, then we have all the time in the world to go in and take out their production facilities, focus on the IRGC, focus on the nuclear power. They've been focused on this problem for decades. We know the capacity. What's the wildcard is how much they grew their drone inventory and how well they've hidden them.

But that's got to be top of the list using your ISR to look for that, hunt it, and to just persistently and consistently strike it, disabling that capability. But I think even though he's the rear admiral who spent 36 years in the military. I think that the way they're buried underground and the launchers are elusive. A lot of times we've got to wait through satellites for them to launch, then we destroy the launchers. I don't know.

In five days, is it possible to take out 2,500 medium-range missiles and short-range missiles and 1,500? I'm just estimating this is what they've been saying. 1,500 long-range missiles and thousands of drones, many of which are underground. Even the propaganda video shows them down. I'm not sure that's even possible, but he believes it is.

And he says, I'm a CINCOM. We could have been doing it.

So we'll see. We're on to the next phase. And the next phase, I think we'll be targeting that. And with just days in.

So we're going to take a timeout for Senator Dave McCormick, but I do want you to hear Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg. Because he appreciates that what Donald Trump has done so far. And you know, he was focused on Ukraine. Cut seven. One of the things that people don't talk about And I haven't heard talked about But the rule to engagement.

that are always set in a military operation. And this president And as great Secretary of War, and you look at Brad Cooper down at CENTCOM, they've been given free reign. That comes from the very top, from the Commander-in-Chief. And he's let him attack this problem, attack Iran, exactly as they're supposed to be done. It's something I really never saw when I was growing up, and somebody would give you that opportunity to do it.

Yeah, rules of engagement are huge, and that's what Barack Obama limited him so much, got a lot of people killed.

So did Joe Biden, but not this guy, not this president. Back him up. Where big stories meet bigger conversations. Stay informed and energized with the Brian Kilmeet Show. Radio that makes you think.

This is the Brian Killmead Show. Welcome back, everyone. It's the Brian Killmead Show. We have the dynamic that's happening in Homeland Security. Christy Noam out, and Senator Mark Wayne Mullen nominated.

I think he's going to coast right through. I guess I think he's going to get more than just Senator Fetterman votes. But hopefully, they do that soon. They put it on the glide path. Also, the other big story is Iran, the unfolding events.

Also, not good economic news for the country. We lost about 90,000 jobs instead of gains. The market's down about 500 points, and the straight of Hermuz is shut down for now. But the president has doubled down, saying he's going for total victory. Amanda knows all about that.

West Point Grad fought in the Persian Gulf War, was on a series of operations with the 82nd Airborne, including the operation to go get Noriega. And now he's the senator on Foreign Relations Committee, as well as energy, by the way, and banking committees. Senator Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania joins us now. Senator, not a great day economically, but the president's still very focused. Are you?

Yeah, I am very focused, Brian. Thanks for having me. Yeah, listen, whenever you have uncertainty, markets hate uncertainty, so they respond to uncertainty. And what we're in the middle of here is a situation where we're deploying our military. It's absolutely within the constitutional right of the president to do that, to solve a really critical destabilizing problem for decades, which is a terrorist financing regime in Iran that's brought instability to the world and has been a terrible source of killing Americans.

When that situation stabilizes, and it will, the markets will respond appropriately. But right now, we have to stay the course, destroy Iran's missile capability, missile launching capability, its Navy, its manufacturing capability, and also have confidence that there's no nuclear weapon possible in Iran's future. That will be a very stabilizing thing. It'll be great for markets, great for energy. It'll be great for all those factors.

Now we're just in a period of a little bit of uncertainty. Right. And the President said I tasked his Energy Department to come up with different creative ways to keep the price down. And one of the things they did is allow India to purchase Russian oil and refine it in their country temporarily. Are you okay with that?

Yeah, listen, there's going to be a number of adjustments we need to make in the near term. I think the key point here is thank God we embraced energy dominance and are unlocking the potential in places like Pennsylvania and around the United States. We are now a net energy exporter. And Pennsylvania and America's natural gas and its energy is going to fuel the world. And you've got 30 percent of oil reserves in the world in two countries, Venezuela and Iran.

Venezuela is going to be moving towards a much more favorable relationship with America and the West. The same will be true with Iran as we get through these military operations. And that's going to be a hugely stabilizing force for energy markets.

So we're going to have to make some near-term adjustments, but we are on the right path. Do you think with today's technology, We can do this thing without ground troops. And I know the Kurds have basically been solicited to go in and fight for their freedom, the Iranian Kurds, with the cooperation of the Iraqi Kurds. How do you feel about that? Listen, first of all, we absolutely have the capacity to achieve the military objectives that the President's laid out, as I said, mostly around the missile launch, manufacturing capability.

They're support providing 57,000 drones to Russia from Iran.

So we absolutely have the capacity. When you say no boots in the ground, I'm very confident there's no full-scale invasion kind of plan in our future. We may selectively use special operations for very targeted missions. I don't think that's the case now, but I'm not entirely sure. But yes, we can accomplish the military objectives.

And in terms of the Kurds, there are going to be a number of different vectors by which we help accelerate regime change or a dramatic change in the current regime, which is much more favorable to the United States. Putting a lot of forces in terms of political forces into the mix is going to be part of that. President was very clear. This is the moment for the Iranian people to set the course for their own future. And we want to help them, but this is in their hands.

Senator Dave McCormick, you know, as a military guy, you got to give people weapons because they're just going to get mowed down again. By a desperate regime, desperate to hold on to power.

So, what do you say to people that are unarmed? How can you tell them to get to the streets? Yeah. Well, first of all, I think there's going to be all sorts of different ways. There's already ways that we've been supporting the Iranian people with satellite capability and the ability to get access to the Internet.

I would be in favor of ensuring that the various groups that want to precipitate regime change have the support of the United States and other allies in the region. But what we're doing is systematically taking away the regime's capability, not only to harm its allies, but to harm its own people. And the President's made clear, lay down your arms and you will be saved. And if you don't, you will be killed. And so I think there's growing pressure.

My understanding is the police forces, the military forces increasingly aren't showing up for duty. I think we're going to be hitting a tipping point here in the coming weeks. And that'll be the moment of opportunity for the Iranian people. I want you to hear what Anthony Blinken has offered you some free advice. He did such a wonderful job as Secretary of State.

I'm sure. Get a pen handy, Senator, okay? I don't want to have to repeat this. Cut 28. What is that off-ramp?

I think the the President may simply declare victory. He'll say got rid of uh the uh the ayatollah. We diminished or degraded or destroyed their nuclear program. We did the same thing to the missile program. We did the same thing to the Navy.

And as to the regime, well, over to the Iranian people. Good luck to them. Hope they succeed. And if they don't, it's their fault. If they do, we'll take the the credit.

Your thoughts about ending it that way.

Well, it is a If we were to end in a situation where all those military capabilities were gone, eliminated, we had full confidence there was no Iranian nuclear program in the future. And what was left behind in terms of the regime was not a regime that we would necessarily choose, but some combination of forces came together. It would still be radically better than it was before this intervention. And let's not forget the regime that existed had just recently killed 32,000 people who were demonstrating in the street.

So there is no scenario where the world and the people of Iran aren't better off under what follows. I'm optimistic that what will follow will be dramatically better in a regime that's much more pro-Western and much more openly committed to not pursuing nuclear weapons and lays a path for the Iranian people. But what that exactly is going to look like remains to be seen. It could be a brand new regime and complete regime change. Be some variation of the current regime with a much more enlightened leadership.

We don't know yet. But what we do know is it's going to be radically better than before the president took action. You know, the whole thing is, when it comes to military, I always forget that you're a Democrat or Republican because you served in the military. And I used to do the same thing with people like Mark Kelly. I go, oh, fighter pilot, astronaut.

You know, when it comes to war, he's going to use his expertise here. But listen to this, Cut 23. And I'm thinking You could pick a random group of people off the street. Tonight here in Washington, D.C. Just a random group, and they could probably do a better job than our government is doing right now with this.

I mean, Senator, are you kidding me? No, it's honestly, it's disgraceful, and it's political theater. And certainly at a time when our young men and women are putting their lives on the line, we sadly lost six already. But I will tell you, and I would not say this if I didn't truly believe it, Brian. I sat through a recent classified briefing with the Secretary of State, Rubio, Secretary of Defense, Chairman of Joint Chiefs, Kane, and CIA Director John Radcliffe, and they gave a blow-by-blow description of what had occurred, what the future goals and plans were, where the things were in Bethlehem.

And I sat there, this was a guy who I was part of the biggest military build-up in history in Saudi Arabia, invaded into Iraq for the first Gulf War, which was wildly successful. And I listened to this and I said, thank God we have a military with that sort of precision, capability, competence. It's radically better than the military I was part of 35 years ago. Unbelievable competence in executing this mission. We should just take our hats off to the, even if you disagree with this decision, the starting point needs to be: this has been masterfully, masterfully executed, and we should take our hats off to the men and women in uniform.

And if people don't say that, it drives me absolutely crazy. I expect that from the squad. They know nothing. But when you have a fighter pilot who's very intelligent, to be an astronaut, you Got to be whip smart. Like you.

If you came out and you said, Listen, Brian, I got a briefing from Joe Biden. It's terrible. I go, I know it's terrible. You're not looking for political gain. You're doing it as a West Point guy.

And, Senator, what do you see? We have a minute left. What do you see as your role in this? Like, what role can you play besides a Republican from Pennsylvania?

Well, listen, I try to be someone who's just forthright about this and stand up and talk about what I'm seeing. And I also talk about what I know American people are worried about. I was scarred by 20 years of war in Iraq. I was scarred by the losses. That decision was catastrophic.

So the American people don't want entanglement. We are not on a path to a long-term troops on the ground and then foreign entanglement. And I need to be someone who I think can help explain that to the American people and say why this is in the American people's best interest. Right. And I think Trump doesn't want that either.

So it's going to be a fascinating time. Senator Dave McCormick, thanks so much. Thank you for having me. All right. That's it for now.

RyanKillmee.com. Find out where I'm going to be. From high atop Fox News Headquarters in New York City. Always seeking solutions, never sowing division. It's Brian.

Hi, Kidd. We're 48 to 6 in Midtown Manhattan, heard around the country, around the world.

Well, finally, the mayor has plowed our streets and we can get around. I'd also like to thank the rain and march. That's basically all we have going for us. We had a mayor that thought it would be a good idea just to let the snow stay there until it freezes, until they were basically like icebergs that we used to have in Alaska. But thanks to global warming, we no longer have more on that later.

Tommy Larin will be in at the bottom of the hour. Shannon Bream is here now, and she's very excited to not only see me in person. But also her book is out Tuesday, Nothing is Impossible with God, Eleven Heroes, One God, Endless Lessons in Overcoming. Also, we found out from a certain Democratic nominee In Texas, that God's binary. Do you mention that in your book, Shannon?

We do not address a deep theological debate. There's not a debate about that in my book. Really? No, there is not. Should I read it anyway?

I think you should because it's going to be encouraging. By the way, whenever you guys start the show and it says fastest growing radio show, like it's been that for a while. Like, is it going to take off into space at some point? Like, how much can you grow?

Well, because you come over the slogan. I mean, listen, it's fastest growing show, but that's what that means. That's exponential. You can't put it into words.

Okay, I like that. It's not measurable. It's not quantifiable. Compound growth. Yeah, a lot of people would look for the specific ratings.

We ballpark it.

Well, I like it, but we know it's an explosion of goodness, news, and information. I mean, we're on in New York, WABC, so that's an explosion. This is big time, right? You are big time. Right.

Well, that's what I was trying to get across, but it doesn't seem to land with Shannon Bream. You're continuing to grow.

So, what are you going to be doing this Sunday? Do you know who you guys are?

Okay, so this and a yes, we have. Senator Mark Warner, part of the Gang of Eight, and we have Senator John Kennedy. They see this conflict very differently. And of course, you saw the questioning of Secretary Noam. By Senator Kennedy.

I don't ever want to be on the receiving end of his questioning.

So, like, when I get nominated for the Supreme Court, I have to hope he's sick that day for my confirmation hearing. But I think that was kind of the beginning of the end.

Well, you're not going to spend $220 million selling the Shannon Bream story. That you know of. Yeah, I don't think so. Without telling me. Not on taxpayers' time.

I'm not going to do it. Especially. Wait, wait, does that mean you're going to be the president who nominates me for the Supreme Court? There's been talk. I mean, there's been 2028's right around the corner.

All here the bus. Really? Let's be honest. Fast is growing. You know, it is interesting with this conflict when Iran.

You hear a lot about Marco Rubio. You see, obviously, Mike Waltz had that big duel on duel in New York City and the United Nations. You see, you know, today we had the energy guys out. We had Secretary. Um, right, on studio, and we just saw Doug Bergam.

You don't see much of the vice president. Have you noticed that? Um, maybe just in the last week or so, but I feel like he has been front and center on a lot of stuff, and he's been deputized also to go out and sort of do the affordability message and that kind of thing. He's always in the situation room. I mean, he's in the middle of all this stuff.

So, do you think that maybe it's because he's not sold on this?

Well, it's possible. Listen, he's had comments that in the past wouldn't align with where we are right now. Although the president would say there's not a conflict in what he campaigned on. This is going to be precision. It's going to be limited in duration.

This is not going to be a forever war. But we know the Middle East is really tough on that front. Yeah. So we have a situation where the Democrats are really playing politics in a way I find disturbing. Like Senator Mark Warner, who you've got to interview on Sunday, has been getting the highest level briefings for 25 years.

Every one of those briefings has Iran in it. And some they have a nuclear weapon a week away, and we see these previous presidents. One wants to negotiate, the other wants to give the farm away. Bill Clinton saw it as a threat. Barack Obama saw it as a threat.

Senator Mark Warner sees no rush. And Mark Kelly sees no rough. And there's nobody more partisan than Chris Murphy, who you've had on, Cut twenty four. I think it's regrettable that it doesn't look like the President is going to ask for authorization for this war, but we could decide to stop funding it.

So, you know, my concern about all this is that, again, we don't know how we're going to get out of this. And as someone actually had to live through a very bad experience with some bad decisions when I got sent to Iraq and saw many of my friends die, I don't want another generation of veterans to do that.

If you listen to the president, he never wants to put a timeline on anything, doesn't want to take anything off the table. Either that or they'd say, I thought the president doesn't want to put a timeline. Why are you eliminating your tie your own hands?

So I understand if you fought in Iraq, you could have a little PTSD. I get it. But when you say Iran's not a primary threat, I think that is totally insincere. And why now? It's just that there's more than one reason.

When they say President hasn't given us a reason, he's given you more than one reason. Yeah, and that whole imminent Debate. That's the thing in Washington. And we had this with Senator Tim Kain on with us last weekend, too. And it's like: when do you draw the line between imminent and not?

We know Iran has active. You know, assassination attempts and plans for President Trump. I mean, that's an ongoing threat. There's a court trial in New York City, right? Exactly, with this Pakistani guy.

So, I mean, that's, we know, legit. Their proxies are continuing to go after us and our allies all the time. Just look at October 7th, if you need something with Hamas. I mean, completely funded and directed, I would argue, by Iran. There were dozens of Americans who were killed or captured as part of that.

And there are ongoing things involving Hezbollah, the Houthis. I mean, this is, I don't know how you draw the line of imminent, not imminent.

So, before we get to Nothing Is Possible, Nothing is Impossible. It's not Nothing Is Possible with that sense. That's not going to be the sequel. No, no, no. There will not be one by that time.

Yeah, one that takes a counter. Nothing's possible with Kill Me. Yes.

That's going to be the next one. I want to get you to your take on Christy Noam, who didn't seem to acknowledge that she was fired before her speech. It's an interesting way to approach it. Jackie reported that this way: Cut 34, Jackie Heinrich. I've been asking officials here about what went into the president's thinking because sometimes.

We see these rumors that he's unhappy with an official in his cabinet and then stands by them. But it sounds like from people close to him, very close to him, who can speak to his thinking. The quote that I was given was, it was a combination of her many unfortunate leadership failures from Minnesota to the ad campaign to the allegations of an affair. That'll about do it. And I'm not surprised that she didn't take this on with the speech because what are you going to do?

You're going to say, like, I'm totally embarrassed. I got fired. I mean, I think you have to have the stiff upper lip. And probably that's what President Trump respects in putting her to this new position, envoy of the Shield of America. When I first heard it, I'm like, this feels like a superhero thing.

Like, is there a costume or uniform that goes with that? She's good at costumes. Everybody who is in the shield of America, I feel like there has to be some type of uniform for them. I think she's trying to make the best of it, but it was a death by a thousand cuts that the president was very unhappy over the last few months with some of these things and the way they played out. You can never ignore the tragedy of Minnesota.

I think that that was just so difficult for Americans to swallow. And it feels like it turned the president's numbers on something where he was doing great. The immigration and the border. I mean, that seemed like his top issue. And now he's underwater on that.

And now, Mark Waymond, you think he'll float through? And do you think he'll get an expedited hearing? The senators who oppose that are going to have to explain why you would want to leave DHS without a secretary at a time like this. I think that that's going to be a real heavy lift for them. And you already have Fetterman out there.

And I think potentially he could get some other Democrats. You know, when you're coming from within the Senate, your colleagues know you. It's a little bit, you know, more of a friendly vote usually. Yeah, then they like you. Obi Key.

Except for the brawl he had with Sanders. Yeah, well, and listen, he's an undefeated MMA fighter.

So choose your vote accordingly. Right. So tell me why you think nothing is impossible with God. You do this through 11 stories, right? Yeah, I do.

And they're all through the Bible. And listen, we're all walking through tough things, or you will, or you have. We all have challenges, and nothing's new under the sun.

So whether it is a physical trial for you, a financial one, you've lost someone you love, whatever it is, all of these folks in the Bible have walked through those things. And it's not that God just lifted them out and changed their circumstances. He said, no, I'm going to show you a way through this.

So they're all overcomers. And I've just kind of collected these stories over the years, feeling like hopefully they would encourage people.

So When people ever see that book, I think when bad things happen to good people, you always hear that all the time.

So I talked to Dennis Prager. You're going to hear the interview next week.

So, Dennis Prager is this legendary figure, fantastic radio voice, and great deep thinker. As religious as you are and Ainsley are, you're agnostic compared to him. I mean, he's like a scholar. He's solid, yes, he is.

So I said, What happened? And he said, I slipped and fell in the bathroom. And I knew, and I've not been able to move since. And I said, So, do you think that was script? Is that cosmo?

And he goes, No. He goes, It was one of those things where I was dumb. It was a slick floor. I didn't go on to use a rug, and I was rushing, and I slipped.

So he said. That was my fault.

So, how do you feel about that when bad things happen to good people? Did you believe there's a randomness to this world, or do you believe that everything's a script? I do think because we have free will, that things are going to happen. And it's not like God is unaware of them, he knows, but we make choices, and there are results and consequences of those choices.

So, I think that he can work through everything that happens to us, and he's never going to be surprised by anything that happens to us. But I think that's the toughest question that people of faith and people who are questioning faith or interested that they struggle with is like, why do bad things like this happen? There's no easy explanation for it. It's one of life's toughest questions. Did you answer that question in your book?

I do talk about people that go through really difficult things, including sharing parts of my own story, but certainly these folks in the Bible who would have never chosen these things. But Joseph's story to me is the best one about this. If you remember anything about him, his brothers hated him because he was his dad's favorite. He had the coat of many colors. He was sold into slavery.

His brothers stepped back from deciding to kill him, but sold him off into slavery. He goes through all. These years in Egypt ends up thrown in jail for something he didn't do. I mean, so many twists and turns where he could have said, All right, God, I give up on you. You're my life is terrible.

But what ends up happening is when there's famine in the land, his brothers and that family come to him and they desperately need food. They don't recognize him, but he's a leader now in Egypt. And he eventually is able to save that family, which is the genesis of the Hebrew people, the Israelites. And he has that verse in Genesis that so many people are going to be familiar with when he says, What you meant for evil, God meant for good.

So his life was full of things he didn't deserve that were unjust and unfair, but it was working towards a greater good. Is that the play? Joseph and the technical. I think there might be some creative license taken with that play. But that's the story.

Yours isn't a musical. Not currently, but we're shopping it around. I'm working on a deal right now, and you know I'm going to sing all the lead parts. Right. Because I have a book coming out in the fall, and I am making it music.

Will there be singing and dancing? Yes, I will be able to do it. What is it in the fall? What's your next book? It's Uniting the States.

Well, I feel there's a lot of musical notes. Yeah, there's a lot to sing about. There is, and I will work with you on the score. Yeah, we just got to come up with it. If we can get something that was, we should sing about Shay's Rebellion.

I'm not sure if that is. There's a lot of. I'm going to plug that into AI. Yeah. And I'm going to say, really jazz this thing up.

And then we'll crank out a song for you. All right. So, where do we get the book, but not yet? I mean, I think it's a good idea. You can pre-order it now.

It'll show up on Tuesday anywhere that you like to get books, Amazon, Foxbooks.com, anywhere you want to go.

Okay. You get it to be able to do that. But I'm going to give you. I'm going to be there by Tuesday, right? It shows up on Tuesday.

Apparently, it's magic how it works. I don't know if a drone's coming to your house to drop it off. I don't know. It's going to be safe. It's going to be safe.

It's not a drone that will drop anything but a book. Because I have an anti-missile system.

So you shoot down my drone. I do. Yeah. And a lot of times they get mad at me at Amazon. Yeah.

They don't know the difference.

Well, they're like, don't, you're like, don't be bringing that book over here. Yeah, well, I got a Patriot battery for Christmas. Did you also get that on Amazon? Where did you get that?

Well, I don't ask my wife what she gets herself. Did the drone takedown missile system get delivered by a drone? Yes, that would be that's a big, that's a deep question. I know. Ponder that during your commercial.

I will. I wish Socrates was here. Too bad.

Well, he took Socrates? He killed himself, right? I don't remember. Was it him? Was it Plato?

Didn't you? Wait, wait. No, Plato took everything that Socrates said and made it his writing.

Socrates wouldn't write anything down. He took hemlock. Which, by the way, I did not know hemlock was poisonous. Stay away from that. You can't get that on Amazon.

You better not be. And not get that on Amazon. Nothing is impossible with God. Thanks, Brian. Back in a moment.

Learn.

Something new every day on the Brian Kill Meat Show. Uh Breaking news, unique opinions. Hear it all on the Brian Kill Me Show. We're going to try to earn everybody's vote today. I want people to understand, I'm not, when I go into this position, yes, I'm a Republican, yes, I'm conservative.

But Department of Homeland Security is to keep everybody. Regardless if you support me, if you don't support me, regardless of what your thoughts are, I'm here to enforce the policies that Congress passed. And right now, I'm part of it. But once I make that transition, my focus is to keep the homeland secure. And Todd Lyons now I think is reinvigorated.

He's the acting director of ICE. And now, Tom Holman, I know for a fact, is reinvigorated. They've already spoken, and I hope he gets control of the cities. And Tom Holman's tough on the border wants to get into the prisons. He's going to negotiate with these cities.

If you're a criminal, you're already in jail. We'll take him off your hands and get him out of the country. That's what he wants to do, as well as get the worst first. And if it means communicating with these left-wing mayors prior to a big operation, go ahead and do it. But Tom Holman will do it and say, yeah, I'm the same guy you used to work with with Barack Obama.

I'm the same guy that worked for Bill Clinton and you. Yeah, and I'm with Trump now and he's doing what I want and gave me totally corp blanche.

So just know what I say goes.

So I'm not just cowboying it and the president's not going to reign me in. He knows who I am and dragged him out of retirement to take the job.

So I think he's going to be really good and I'm convinced he's going to be organized and relentless and approachable.

So the problem is Christy Noam as governor of a state was successful, but This is a job I think that she kind of lost her way. Dasha Burns of Politico, who was also on with Trump, was on with Brett Baer last night, said this about how this all went down, Cut 41. Beyond that, that answer, that was kind of the straw that broke the camel's back. But the pressure had been building. She did not have a lot of allies in the West Wing.

There was a ton of frustration with her, with her aide, Corey Lewandowski. And this feels like an opportunity for a lot of people around the President to have a reset on the immigration conversation that had been kind of going awry. And a lot of people did point the finger at Secretary Noam for that.

So I'm getting a lot of incoming from Republican sources right now that feel the President made a good call here. Yeah, and I think Democrats are going to welcome it. This is what I believe. You know, in politics, you want to get a win.

Now, the president's not going to accept judicial warrants for all actions against 9 million illegals. Not going to happen. He's not going to tell these guys and these women to take their masks off, not as long as there's doxing and there's so much anti-ICE behavior out there. But in terms of Random patrols?

So I would tell him home and goes, I don't do that. That's not me. Not going to go around to Home Depot and say, show me your paperwork. That's not what Tom Holman does. Just can't do it.

Maybe you want him to, but he's not.

So I'll give you that. Oh, b body cameras? They've been delivered. They're already there. Oh, Chris, do you need Christy No Mount?

He's she's gone.

So you could honestly be a Keem Jefferson and say, look what we did. But instead you're still not funding D H S It's crazy. You can't take the win if you don't call the game.

So you go ahead and you fund it, don't worry about it. No one's going to remember it, but you could say, you know, I got Christine Noam out of there. And you could brag and do your stump speech or run for reelection, whatever you want to do. But they're not taking it. And I just think it's utter stupidity because they're going to get blamed for this.

If there's a terror attack at the border, the TSA lines or through around the airport, People are going to go, this is there's no reason for them to be holding out like this. What I would do too, if I'm a Republican, you guys don't like the ice training. We'll extend it two weeks. We'll extend it two weeks. So you could turn around to your constituents and say, I got them to extend the ICE training before the agents get out there, out of the academy?

So I could say I got the body cameras and I got Christian fired.

Now there's other reasons why she got fired. It's not because Akeem Jeffreys and Chuck Schumer wanted it, but you could claim it. All these politicians claim everything, whether they're responsible or not. As the presidents and secretaries of state, whatever. But I don't I don't understand why they're not taking the off ramp.

And they can just get back to not debating funding the government, actually fund the government. Because the people that are not getting paid make $80,000 a year, maybe $110,000.

So you waive after taxes $60,000 a year you take back? And now you also complain that the cost of living is going up? And now you're gonna deny people paychecks? Please tell me what planet you're on. All right, we come back.

We got a special guest with us, Tommy Laren. She's going to be in the studio. And then we'll finish up with your calls: 1-866-408-7669. Don't move, Brian Killmeech. The fastest three hours in radio.

You're with Brian Kilmead. So I'm with Tommy Lahren here, and we did something really special. Tommy, should we tell everybody? We should. Right.

I guess everyone's done this except me.

Now I do it all the time. All you need to do is touch phones to get someone's contacts, intentionally.

So now I feel old, and I feel like you have, we have switched generations because you taught me how to do that. But I made you. You taught me how to share contacts just by bumping phones. See, I've never done that, but I'm also, I'm always a little paranoid. I don't know who's going to share and who's going to steal the stuff off your phone.

I've watched a lot of Homeland.

So, but you know what? For you, Brian, I will give it a try. We just did it. But only for you, then. Thank you.

Nobody else gets any ideas around here.

So you're worried that people are just going to touch your phone. Without you knowing and get your contact now. Contact.

So you're taking everything off EGS? Yes, exactly.

Now we need to put parental controls on it. All right, before we go any further, this weekend, six hours on TV. We're going to hope for six.

Sometimes it's eight. We're going to hope for six.

Oh, you're going for six? Is it eight or six? Oh, you mean?

Well, sometimes we do four hours because the weekends are hot.

So sometimes breaking news occurs and then the big weekend crew is just there to clean up. Yeah, because I'm going to be live Sunday at 10.

So I'll see you there. I'll see you in the lobby of the kitchen, in the gym, whatever you want. There we go.

So that'll be great. Do you have, know who you have on now? Do you have any gas lined up? We had a lot of gas, but I can't share them with you yet. Would you think it's 80% Iran?

Oh, we'll see. You know, I think there's a lot of other things going on, too. But we got Joey Jones, too, who's got a lot of expertise in that, so we're going to be covering that heavy. But every once in a while, I try to slip in some fun stuff like Punch the Monkey. See, he's the war expert.

I'm the Punch the Monkey expert. We know our roles. But I would say in life. Have you ever felt like Punch the Monkey, where nobody wants to play with you and somebody gives you a bunch of people? And people want to give you invisible friends and things to that nature?

For people to know, Punch the Monkey was totally abandoned at birth. Abandoned at birth and had no friends when he went with other monkeys, and they gave him a stuffed monkey. And Punch the Monkey's become. A global figure. Replaced that, what was it, a hippopotamus?

What was the other? That Mu Dang thing? Remember that?

Well, you got to keep up with the lovable internet creatures. But yes, Punch the Monkey has replaced Harambe, the monkey, the gorilla that was murdered. Yes, it made Jimmy Kimmel cry. Yes.

Made me cry too, to be honest. And when I watched Punch the Monkey be rejected by the other monkeys, I cry. What were you growing up? Did you have that? Were you bullied as a kid?

Were you uncomfortable? We're just going to jump right into it. No, but I can't say, I just see you as the popular one. No, I was not the popular one. Also, Only Child also grew up in the sticks.

So I spent a lot of time communicating with animals and inanimate objects. Really? Yes.

Wow. And also, it makes you and your parents tight. Yes.

Am I correct? Very, very tight. Every day. Right. And do they love that you're on T V and able to see what you're doing on a regular basis?

They're my biggest fans, right? Right. Outside of you, of course. I'm second biggest. I will take a back seat to them.

So, the other big story before we get into Iran is Christy Noam's exit. Your thoughts about why she's not there. Personally, I think this is. It's all self-inflicted. I don't think she executed her job well.

I think most of the border success is Tom Holman. And. And what happened in Minnesota, I blame for predominantly the governor and the mayor and the attorney general. I got it. But having said that, I don't think it was handled well.

It wasn't. And speaking of my childhood, born and raised in South Dakota, that was she's our former governor, right? I was her first congressional intern when she came into the House.

So oh yeah, no, I know I know Christy well.

So people have this idea that people in South Dakota love Christy Noam. That's probably not the case for most of the population of South Dakota. You know, if they asked our opinion, if we got a vote in this, I think that you'd be surprised by our answers. But no, and I think that she made it about herself. She made it about herself.

She made it about the vanity. And, you know, I'm getting ripped apart online because I'm bringing up, you know, the outfits and the makeup and the hair extensions. And people go, Well, Tommy, you have outfits and hair extensions and makeup. True, but Brian, I'm on TV. I'm not running DHS.

You know, it's a little different, right?

So I think she made it about herself. And I just really don't think you can get past spending $220 million on a vanity ad that was shot, by the way, in my hometown of Rapid City, South Dakota, by Mount Rushmore. And it was all about Christy. It was about Christy. And before she got this job, when she was still governor, she was doing ads for, you know, for.

Teeth whitening and You name it. This is what she does.

So, am I surprised that this happened? No. I think she didn't realize how hot the microscope on her was going to be, but here we are.

So I want to I want the people at home to hear the exchange from a Republican. I think if this exchange happened with a Jamie Raskin or some partisan hack, it wouldn't have mattered. But Senator Kennedy has so much respect from the President, and I think the country. This is the exchange, Cut 36. You have spent.

$220 million running television advertisements that feature you prominently. Sir, the President tasked me with getting the message out to the country and to other countries. Ask you to run these advertisements, is that right? We had that conversation, yes, before I was put in this position and sworn in and confirmed, and since then as well.

So he got further and we got back to the president. Reuters asked the president, did you okay this? And he said no. I mean, it's tough to bounce back from that. I also don't know how you spend $220 million.

That's like the budget of a feature film. I just, I don't understand how you spend that much money. And I don't understand how featuring yourself on horseback by Mount Rushmore is getting the message across about deportations and a secure border. That never really made sense to me. It seemed more like a wannabe fragrance ad.

So it bothered me when it came out. And then the scrutiny on it, you know, yeah, you can't say the president okayed this. The president ran on, you know, cutting waste, fraud, and abuse.

So you can't go then and say, oh, yeah, he okayed this. I spent all this money to feature me on horseback and the president was good with it. You can't do that. And you can't do it in front of Congress and you can't do it in front of a Republican either when you're being questioned.

So Senator Marquay Mohen a good choice? You know, I think that the verge is out on that. Here's my hope. I think Tom Holman is the true professional, as you already mentioned.

So, I think as long as he is running the operations and he is guiding everything, and everybody else is maybe a figurehead, or everybody else is maybe in an advisory role, I think we're good to go. Let Tom Holman lead because that man knows how to work with the opposition. He's done it before. He knows how to lead Border Patrol, ICE. He knows how to not only secure the border, but he knows what it's like to be ICE and work in inner-city environments, something that maybe the Border Patrol agents that were brought in in Minneapolis didn't know how to do, didn't have the training to do.

Let Tom Holman do his job, he knows how to do it. They already spoke. They spoke yesterday, Tom Holman and Senator Mark Wayne Mullen. And he said, Then I asked Senator Mullen about it, and he said he's a great man. And he's going to be front and center.

Todd Lyons is going to be front and center, actually running ice instead of being a lackey or the director.

So I'm optimistic that we might have a Rubio-like confirmation process. We get 70, 80 votes in the Senate. And one of the reasons, Senator Peter Walch, Democrat from Liberal Vermont, cut 39. Yeah, he'll be confirmed. The question is whether there'll be bipartisan support for him.

Mark Wayne Mullen is competent and he's honest.

So those are two good things that Christy Noam did not have. This is going to give us an opportunity to have a real discussion about what's going on with the Department of Homeland Security.

So I was just saying before you got here, Tommy, and I don't know how close you follow my career. You don't have to tell me now. But I was just saying that this is the perfect off-ramp.

So Democrats could actually say, we won. They got the body cameras, no more roving patrols. They wanted Christy Noam out. Christy Noam's out. They could say, look, we got what we wanted.

Let's. Fund DHS, but they're not doing it. Does that surprise you? No, because it's not what they want. They want to abolish ICE, and they want to keep as many illegal aliens in this country as possible.

Some of them are afraid of it. A lot of them aren't. A lot of them are very forthright, that they don't want anybody to go. You know, sometimes they cry, like, well, it's supposed to just be the worst of the worst. Democrats don't consider anybody to be worst of the worst.

They consider Kilmar Brego Garcia to be an upstanding citizen.

So I think their goal is to keep anybody and everybody that shouldn't be here here. And if they're looking for an off-ramp, maybe because DHS needs to be funded, I can get that. But there's a lot of them who are true believers in abolish ICE.

Well, we just see this story that just broke down while we were talking on Media. Team Gnome fires back at the White House, suggests Trump lied about the ag campaign. Oh, I don't think that's a good that's not a good strategy, Team Gnome. That's not who you want to go up against, Team Gnome.

Well, especially if you want to keep a job. She technically has a job, the supreme ruler of the Western Hemisphere or something like that. Yeah, I mean, yeah, Christy Noam thanks Trump in her first statement, but it doesn't seem to be the statement she's got now. This is, that's not good. I mean, if this is this resonance, if this is true.

She went on to say, as allies are pushing a counter narrative in the wake of her firing, according to Daily Caller, Regan Reese, Noam has grievances with the Trump White House. One administration official informed Reese that Noam told Trump and his White House that she was not getting the support she needed at the end of 2025. And Trump agreed and stepped in to help, which led to a temporary improvement. But things got turned for the worse after federal agents shot and killed two Americans in Minneapolis. Yeah, that's part of the story.

Again, I don't see the strategy on behalf of Team Noam here going up against the Trump administration. I don't think it's a wise move for them, especially if you want to do something in politics.

Some people are saying she's going to go back to South Dakota and run for something. Please, no. Please don't put that on us. My poor state of South Dakota, just leave us alone.

So, just real quick, you saw her up close. Is it not smart? Is it lazy? Is it self-centered? What are you doing?

No, here's exactly what it is. And she did this in South Dakota. And I feel like I'm an expert on this topic because I'm one of the few people you probably know from South Dakota.

Okay, so Christy Noam in the early days maybe was about the state, and she really was about the ranchers and the farmers and all these things. And then the camera lights turned on. That was right around 2020 when South Dakota was getting a lot of credit for not shutting down. Newsflash, South Dakota was never going to shut down, right? It wasn't Christy Noam that led that charge.

In fact, reports, some reports indicate the opposite. But she got a lot of camera time because of that, and it really went to her head. And then she wanted to be a celebrity. And then that's when South Dakota went way by the wayside. And then I think she was looking.

At potentially being a running mate for Trump, then her head got even bigger. And then she gets this role, and her head gets even bigger. And it's always been about her, but it was like that in South Dakota, too. And it's about propping up her lackeys, her friends, her associates. That's what it's always been about.

And I give her credit for running an incredibly difficult department because it is. But at the end of the day, when this mission is that important, when immigration is what this president ran on, you cannot be a sideshow. That's it. And now she wants that the show could be coming to a close. You have to go too outnumbered.

I do. And they're not going to let me talk about Christy No Bummer.

So I'm glad that you're going to be able to do that. Is that true? We got other things to cover. But maybe, you know, if we get a chance, Brian, maybe I'll just sneak it in there. I'm glad to be your therapist.

Listen, when we come back, I'll go from St. Petersburg to Portland to Oklahoma City to Jupiter, Florida. We'll have a lot of calls. And Dayton, Ohio, when the Brian Kill Me Show comes back. Thank you, Tommy Laron.

Thanks, Brian. Both sides, all opinions. It's Brian Kill Me. The talk show that's getting you talking. You're with Brian Kilmead.

Sponsored by Previgen. Previgen made for your brain. Do you have a Zoolander problem? No, I do. Jesus.

Yes, Zoolander. Are you just ridiculously good looking, as Brode said? No, seriously, what do you do about that? You don't do anything about it because if you're going to do something about it, then you're bullsh people. You know what?

I am who I am. And it's fine. You don't have to like me. Or maybe you like a slick person. I don't know.

Whatever. It's okay. The reason why I brought it up because you talked about being authentic. And I think it sometimes works against you. Yeah, it's just who I am.

Oh my goodness. That was the worst conversation ever. Number one, it's a killer question. And he should think about it. Is he a good look guy?

Sure. But you don't like slick? Slick is a negative term. Slick Willie was put out there as a negative term. Slick is someone who gambles and bets and is slippery.

That is a terrible nickname. You don't like people that are slick? And people don't think you're authentic? What does that have to do with good-looking people who aren't authentic? I mean, what does that mean?

So I don't think he's prepared for anything. You know, he even, even when he comes out and says something that I don't agree with, like is Israel an apartheid state? Obviously, I don't think so. But he doesn't even say, like, it is. Here's the say, I'm not going to raise the billionaire's tax is wrong.

But you hear behind the scenes, I understand the people, they don't make enough money, they feel as though they're already paying into the system and they feel as though no, just say it. He never says it. And we no longer tolerate hedging because of President Trump. Not everything blunt. There's nuanced answers to people.

That's different. But the hedging, not being candid with people, that stuff we don't tolerate anymore. Those days are done. I listen, JD Vance is pretty direct. Marco Rubio is pretty direct.

So The days of Kamala Harris and those type of politicians are not going to work anymore. John McCain was a little ahead of his time. He answered every question, including things to his nature of about the economy. I'm not great on the economy. That's not a great statement, but it was honest.

But I think we're at that point now.

Well you just have to say it. Are you for trans men and women sports? No or yes? Rob Emmanuel actually said, I'm not for that. There's only two genders.

Well, I understand how people feel about no, no, no. Just answer the question.

So How about a question? About how would you handle Iran? How big a problem would you deal with Iran? What did you like about the way Joe Biden dealt with Iran? Why did six presidents deal with Iran, but yet they gained power and prestige and their terror never stopped?

What hasn't worked to this time? How would you handle it differently? Instead of Donald Trump does terrible things, don't you agree? And Katie Courix exposed herself. And Dan Rather exposed himself.

Are you amazed how many people Scott Pelley exposed himself? How many people have basically been exposed to I'm a journalist, I'm a journalist, I'm a journalist, I'm here to report the news. But then when it comes out and they get into the podcast world, they totally see their point of view. They're as biased as the women on the view.

So, and that's what you get with Katie Cork. I mean, think about this: Katie Cork on the Today Show. Is somebody that's successful? Then she goes, I'm going to be great. I'm going to go out on my own and get my own talk show.

bombs. And then she says I'm going to go to CBS. And I'm going to get prime time. I'm going to be the news anchor on CBS. That bombs.

And then she get to deal with Yahoo. That dissipates. And then she disappears. Why? Because it's the Today Show that's successful, it's not the Anchors.

And she doesn't realize that. And I hope maybe it, I mean, she makes a ton of money.

So she's had a great career, but on her own. That's the type of thing. She's exposed by just another liberal personality obsessed with Hollywood and herself. And I remember when she buttonholed Bush 41 and hit him with all these incredibly very aggressive questions when it came to Iran-Contra and things to that nature. And you think she's just pursuing the story.

No, she's pursuing the Democratic story. Real quick, I haven't covered this yet. But the President of the United States has got a big victory in Venezuela. It's on the right track. I think with Iran, it's on the right track.

Next is going to be Cuba. Why? He's denied them energy. And he's beginning to shut them down. Push Mexico, cut off the oil.

Venezuela, you're not going to deliver any oil. Canada has sat this one out. Here's President Trump on what other Titanic move. Even if you don't appreciate in America what's happening in foreign policy, many on the right, I do. Cut 46.

Congratulations as well to co-owners. Jorge and Jose Jose Mas. Marks. Who came from Cuba? Right?

Came from originally from Coolidge? Huh? Your parents came? And you're going to go back, aren't you? It's going to be s and you won't need my approval.

You just fly back in when I can just see that. It's going to be a great day, right? We're going to celebrate that separately. We I just want to wait a couple of weeks. I wanted to wait a couple of weeks, but we'll be together again soon, I suspect, celebrating what's going on in Cuba.

They want to make a deal so badly, you have no idea. Yes, and then we're going to find out the magic to them raising great baseball players that escaped on rafts and come to our country and help the Yankees win World Series and do fantastic things with the Marlins, the brothers.

So the President of the United States 100% on Cuba. And if you talk about historic impact, you could say not in his time, maybe not in his lifetime, but sooner or later, you're going to look at his foreign policy. If he could continue with Venezuela, Latin America, as well as what's happening in Iran and Cuba, and you're going to say, my goodness, at the same time, pushing back on the spread of our evil rivals, and they are. China and Russia. Don't forget, go to BrianKilme.com, find out how to see me on stage.

May 30th, Reno, Nevada, and then July 11th in Evansville, Indiana. History, Liberty, and Laughs is going to turn into Uniting the States tour.