Hi everyone, it's Brian Kilmead here. Are you tired of those uncomfortable dress shirts, especially when they bunch up under a sweater? If so, then you must check out Collars Co., makers of the dress collar polo. Listen up. These shirts are four-way stretch, buttery soft polos with firm dress collars on them, so they give you the dress shirt look, but extremely comfortable polo feel.
You can wear them with anything under a sweater, with a blazer, or by themselves as an elevated polo. They work for any occasion. These polos are perfect, whether it's in the office, on a golf course, or a night out. Collars Co. is exploding and have gone viral on social media thanks to the 1 million investment they received on Shark Tank from Mark Cuban and Peter Jones.
You don't have to worry about collars that flop down and spread out. They stay firm and sharp all day. It's an amazing array of sweaters, quarter zips, pants, and outerwear. If you're looking for the performance dress shirt or polo that looks great all day, check out collarsandco.com. Use promo code Brian for 15% off.
of any purchase of a hundred dollars or more, that's promo code BRIAN. From the Fox News Radio Studios in Midtown Manhattan, it's the fastest growing radio talk show. Brian Kilmead.
So glad you're there. It's the Brian Killmeat Show. We're back from Washington, D.C. for at least a couple of days. Then we go to Liberty State Park in New Jersey.
We'll be live there leading up to July 4th, our 250th birthday. Jonathan Turley standing by. I want him to break down all the decisions from the Supreme Court justices and Rob Blukojevich at the bottom of the air. We have a special coming out on Fox Nation on his remarkable, very unique career.
So I just got to remind you: we've got our own YouTube channel now. Everyone's talking about it. Go to youtube.com/slash at the Brian Killmeat Show. And you can always listen to us on the Fox News app if you're not in your family of affiliates or have to leave from your hometown.
So let's get to the big three before we get to Jonathan. Number three. I think that he's appropriately using strategic patience. The Iranians have demonstrated that they only respond to force. They like this kind of no-agreement zone that we're in right now.
I agree, and that is Colonel Mike Jernigan. Talks going nowhere. As Trump listens to all options in Iran, big story in the Wall Street Journal today is challenge. Keep energy prices down, but continue to show Iran who is in charge. Number 10.
What we are witnessing is an independent court, a court that continues to follow principle, not politics.
Now, that doesn't mean that you can't be upset with the outcome on things like birthright citizenship. Jonathan Turley, who I'd love to speak to in three minutes, Supreme Court, makes some big decisions. Both sides are celebrating and complaining. Number one. We got a light of fire under their asses because for far too long they've just collected paychecks from corporations and wealthy mega donors and haven't really done much.
So this movement has a lot of momentum for that reason because people are desperate for some change.
Well put it this way I don't want to defend Democrats, but the same not done much when you talk about the rescue plan, when you talk about how they jammed all these bills down our throats during the Biden years, that's not good enough for Hassan Piker, the radical podcaster who hates America.
Now are you paying attention?
Socialists, latest win, Colorado. As the gradual takeover of the Democratic Party continues, we have the results. But first, let's put that aside for just a moment. By the way, the President of the United States is going to do something historic. He's flying to North Dakota to open up officially the Teddy Roosevelt Museum, at which time he's going to take a train, just like they did in the 19th century, where Roosevelt did, and it's going to be pretty dramatic and symbolic.
Jonathan Turley, you join us now. Jonathan Mann, you've had a busy week. Ho ho. It is. They've been working me like a rented mule over at Fox.
But we need some incident analysis. And first off, on birthright citizenship, I know you've told me and you were kind enough to come on the air with this right before that The 14th Amendment is going to be upheld because you heard John Roberts come out and say: you know, times have changed, but the Constitution hasn't. And that just struck you as that's a death blow to birthright citizenship. But what about the justices and how they voted? 5-4, right?
Yeah, it was actually closer than many people thought it would be. Roberts was not a surprise. Barrett joined him, but it was still a one-vote margin. Notably, Justice Kavanaugh. Said that he does not believe that birthright citizenship is contained within the 14th Amendment.
He would still have struck down. President Trump's executive order on different grounds.
Now, the reason that's important is that Justice Thomas and his overstinging dissent. Said that he does not believe that this opinion will withstand the test of time. Many people sort of took that as: well, this is a one-vote margin case. And this could come back to a very different court, particularly if the Republicans continue to hold the White House.
Well why why do you think what was his line of thinking? that it's not going to stand the test of time.
Well, I think that there's two reasons. One is that Thomas had some very good Arguments against this interpretation. He said, look, this was an amendment designed to guarantee citizenship and full citizenship. For freed slaves, no one at the time would have imagined what we have today, which are where you have 10% of new births in this country coming from undocumented people, where you have billions of dollars that have been raised in so-called birth tourism.
Now, Roberts responded to that by saying, yeah, things have changed, but the Constitution hasn't. And that's a that's a you know, that's a completely valid point to make. There are good arguments on both sides. But I think that Thomas felt that the court really failed here. The thing I agree with Thomas on is that I believe the court got this wrong at the beginning.
And it has it sort of had path dependence. It's refused to reconsider the wrong turn that it made. But at the end of the day, the question now is settled. And the next question is, what are you going to do about it? Is Congress going to act?
Or are we going to finally have a national debate in the form of a constitutional amendment? Because Mean But times have changed. I mean we don't have slaves in this country.
So, when you said the court got it wrong, so are you saying birthright citizenship came up at a different time? And the court reaffirmed it, and that's what made this new decision predictable? I don't believe that the Fourteenth Amendment clearly embraces birthright citizenship. I think it's a close question, quite frankly. But some of the drafters of the Fourteenth Amendment said that it did not Include birthright citizenship, that's a question that we can have good faith disagreement on.
What I think is not A close question is how bad birthright citizenship is for this country. We are a ship of fools by embracing birthright citizenship. This is Jonathan Charlie talking. Yeah, there are no I mean that. I'm saying this is your opinion.
Yes. You know, we are one of the few countries, certainly major countries, that embrace birthright citizenship.
Some of the countries that used to embrace this practice got rid of it for good reason. It it it to me it's an unworkable You cannot have a rule that if someone just steps on this country for a matter of minutes and gives birth, they suddenly have a citizen. And Justice Alito, Justice Thomas really brought that up.
So I think that as a constitutional matter, it's very close. As a policy matter, I don't think it's that close. I think that we should have this national debate as to whether we want to join most of our allies in rejecting this. Ireland, the last country in Europe to end it, 2004. The UK ended birth nationality in 1981.
Australia ended it in 1986. New Zealand ended it in 2006.
So, and I could go through it.
So, for people who think Donald Trump doesn't like immigrants, that's how they simplify things. But did the Solicitor General not make a strong enough argument? It seems like this is very fertile to make a strong argument. You know, Associate General Sauer, I thought, did a magnificent job. He's proven to be an extraordinary Solicitor General.
It's just that he did not have the cards to play. with Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Barrett. And you know, they went their own way on this one. But what the justice has emphasized in your whole argument is we're not here as a legislature to debate the The rationale behind birthright citizenship, we have a narrow question of what the Constitution says and means.
Well, all right, but now the question is no longer the courts. What people won't understand is we never had this debate. This has been stuck in the courts. For decades, this is largely a creation of the Court in terms of the framing of this debate. It now belongs to us.
And we can make decisions.
Now, polls have indicated that people actually may support birthright citizenship, but we haven't had the debate. They're not familiar with the facts that you just laid out, Brian. Jonathan Charlie, by the way, has a fantastic book. It's now a New York Times bestseller, Rage in the Republic, The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution, which is so appropriate now as we come up to July 4th. Jonathan, I want to talk about probably the least thing and the least publicity, but I need help on.
The court ruled, they say, in favor of Trump and the Republicans when it comes to campaign finance. They said they're going to allow, and stop me, I don't take it personal, they're going to allow more collaboration and cooperation between the super PACs and the candidate and the And the party. Could you explain what the court rules and how it brings more money into politics? Yeah, that was a big win for the GOP. They have been trying to remove this barrier to allow more coordination into how money is spent between campaigns.
It's going to be enormously important in the midterms, which obviously are shaping up to be a battle royale. What the court ruled is consistent with the decision that Citizens United. Uh which is that money is speech. I happen to agree with that. I agreed with Citizens United.
that you know people spend money to amplify their views. And what this case means is that, yeah, and they also go to groups and packs. and organizations to amplify their views more so they can aggregate their money and use it in a strategic way. The court said, look, that's speech, and if you're restricting it, Uh it is a deprivation of the First Amendment.
Now the anomaly, Brian, is is is is interesting because there are the court has upheld limits on individual contribution. And that is increasingly becoming an anomaly. If these groups should be able to spend this money and raise huge amounts of money as speech, then why shouldn't Brian kill me? Why why shouldn't he be able to give what is known as his huge fortune to causes that he thinks are important. Yes, inherited fortune.
I come from royalty. Jonathan, thanks for that. Absolutely. Yes, me and Dan Goldman, and we both are going to be forced out of, I'm forced out of Fox like he's been forced out of Congress. But, Jonathan, this does bother me as a citizen.
It bothers me that George Horace's super PAC can put $100 million in and a Republican, the Cokes, can do the same thing. It it does bother me a little uh on the on the surface. And I think it would almost be better for everybody if there were limits and it would actually free politicians to. Not be subservient to the people that put them into office. Yeah, no, that's a valid argument.
But I think that if you if you're focusing on the language of the Constitution, there's nothing in there that justifies limiting money When that obviously has an effect on speech. Yeah, if you have more money, you can speak louder in this country. There's no question about that. And that includes using your own money to run. I mean, Dan Goldman, we just mentioned, you know, I think it was a stupid decision, but he announced that he was going to help fund his own campaign from this inherited fortune.
Well, not exactly a good argument when socialists are on the rise. But. Uh i i it is a fact.
Now, the way you can change that is you can change the constitution and you can bar corporations from spending at all in Uh in elections. But keep in mind, corporations come in so many different forms, from Sierra Club to Pro-Life. to unions. They're all collections of individuals who are aggregating their money. And yes, they also include people like Soros, who is using his ample fortune to push very far left candidates.
So, I know, by the way, in terms of trans men playing in women's sports, it's going to be up to the states. You can make your own decisions, which is bad news if you run state California, but great news if you run a state in Oklahoma.
So, the Supreme Court ruled on that. But overall, we saw a situation where there were conservative Supreme Court justices seemed to be ruling on each and every situation, too, much to the angst of President Trump, like Amy Coney Barrett. They went back and forth. But listen to how the left wing responded to the Supreme Court justices' opinions. Cut 28.
This Supreme Court could not have ruled any other way and held on to its legitimacy as the nine Supreme Members of the Judicial Branch. The 14th Amendment was put in place. I think in a way to save us from ourselves and our worst impulses, to save a country from people like Justice Kavanaugh. There are folks who are doubling down on the idea that this country must be a white republic. You have a bunch of people who fetishize history.
Maybe the issue isn't so much that the Constitution needs to change, but that the people interpreting the Constitution need to change. I just want to give people another side of the illogical argument on how the Supreme Court has ruled over the last few weeks.
Well, it's astonishing that the left can't take the W and instead turned it into a hate fest. And these comments are outrageous. I mean, the arguing that the Fourteenth Amendment is meant to block people like Justice Kavanaugh is precisely the unhinged type of rhetoric that led to an attempt on his life. And it's just, it's disgusting and people need to condemn it. What happened in this court was exactly what the framers anticipated.
The court acted independently, they followed. Principle. You know, I know that President Trump can be upset about some of these decisions. But it also delivered massive victories for him this term, expanding executive power in a way that is really going to be his true lasting legacy, including a case that shot A prior precedent called Humphrey's Executor.
Now, most people don't know what that is. But Humphrey's executor was a massive limit on the ability of the president to remove members of executive boards and commissions. That's a huge win.
So yes, Barrett, for example, voted against the President on a couple of these cases. She more often votes in favor of conservative values and the administration. You know, the President said But he wanted to pick independent principled Justices.
Well, he got them. Um I think that his three nominees Are some of the best ever put on the court? They may sound like hyperbole, but these three justices are brilliant. And yeah, I disagree with them at times. But the quality of the intellect of this court Is deeper because of President Trump.
And while he can be upset with the outcome, He should take some pride. And his impact on the court. I mean, I like the fact that he was getting every single thing he wanted, it would back up that thought that he is just an organ of the administration. And this is, I think, increasing their credibility with decisions like this. And I'm, you know, I'm not smart.
I'm not going to, I can't argue on an equal footing with these men and women. But, you know, I'm disappointed in some decisions, but I'm not saying I'm outthinking them. Jonathan Turley, thanks so much. Can't outthink you either. But I am smart enough to know Rage in the Republic is a great book, The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.
Thanks, Jonathan. Thank you, my friend. You got it. Back in a moment. From breaking news to big name guests, Brian brings you insight you won't hear anywhere else.
You're listening to the Brian Kill Meat Show. History isn't just in textbooks. It's the story of us, the United States. 2026 marks 250 years of America. And throughout the year, Bill Hammer takes listeners on a journey through the 250 most impactful moments in American history.
From the spark of revolution to the battles for freedom. The ideas, inventions, and decisions that changed the world. The 250 most impactful moments in American history podcasts. Listen and follow now at FoxNewsPodcasts.com. Yeah.
Radio that makes you think. This is the Brian Kill Me Show. Big tent means big tent. We have to have a big tent. We are a big tent party.
What makes our party a beautiful party is the fact that it's a big tent. We are a big tent. Party. I hate to tell you, but the socialists don't even want you in the tent. They have taken over your party.
In case you do not know, it is not a blue bubble. It is not the liberal New York City. And the voter turnout was so low that allowed these firebrand socialists, Islamic loving, anti-Israel, anti-Semitic candidates to win in New York. Yeah, you're right. But you know where else they won?
In New Jersey. You know where else they won? You know who they nominated in Maine? A communist socialist in Platinar, let alone more personal problems than anyone I've ever seen, to run for office. And then you have in Colorado, you have a 29-year-old, unproven radical beat a Congresswoman DeGuette.
Who's been in office since 97? Not that you should keep you in office, but was endorsed by Akeem Jeffries, and they still lost because the power in that party is with Bernie Sanders. And it's your pro. I'm saying it over and over again: when you let this guy in your party without making him become a member of your party. You opened up the door.
And when he almost won the nomination, and you put your hand on the scale to deny him that nomination with Biden and Hillary. He kept his powder dry, and now he's taking over your party like a tapeworm, and you can't pull him out. Rod Blugojevich is next. Cheers to America's 250th birthday. Get 20% off your first purchase at Foxnewswineshop.com with code FNRadio20.
20% discount excludes wine club offers and cannot be combined with any other promotion. Expires July 31st, 2026. Must be 21 or older to order. Please drink responsibly. Breaking news, unique opinions.
Hear it all on the Brian Kill Me Show. I think progressive politics, left populism, a politics that centers the needs of the working class can work in every district, in every state. That's why I kept saying over and over again, it's coming to a city near you. It is crazy. That is Hassan Piker, and he is having a moment.
And hopefully, it's brief, but I don't think it is. For Democrats, they better pray it is. But for socialists, they just think it's the beginning. And why? Because he's putting socialists in power.
You have the one in Philadelphia, got the other one in New Jersey, who was an aide to the blind shake and a character witness. Guy one is likely to win in November. And then you have the three and the seven local politicians that are going to be going up to Albany, New York. And then you have the three U.S. Congress women who beat Hakeem Jeffries in two and three of those races.
All about socialists, Islamists, anti-Israel, anti-APAC, anti-everything Jew who are being successful. And then everyone's telling me, don't worry about it. It's just New York. And then Colorado happens last night. You have a twenty nine year old upstart, only known for anti Israel behavior, and Hassan Piker.
Hassan Piker helped prop up. Uh just beat Congresswoman to get handily by about eight points, even though she was hi highly outspent. And you have another socialist who won a purple in a purple district and a district look listed by the Cook Report as one likely to flip Now it's not nearly as likely. Joining us now, a man who knows all about the reality of politics and the dangers of the left, Rob Blugojevich, former governor of Illinois. There's a brand new show coming out available on Fox Nation right now called Blago, his remarkable career: the highs, the lows, and there's the today's.
Uh governor, welcome back. Thanks, Brian. It's great to see you. You know, I spent 2,896 days sheltering and placed in prison for politics and not for crimes, and I read a lot of your books. Thank you.
Jackson, Teddy Roosevelt, Book of G. Washington, Washington and the Spies, Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Great books. God bless you. And congratulations on your scholarship.
Yeah, I just love our history. I don't pledge to be the most esteemed historian, and I'm just passionate about it, as you obviously are.
So, Rod, I want to talk about your series, but I also want you to put in perspective what's happening in the Democratic Party, and that is the rise of socialism. It's not a niche conversation anymore in the blue state. Look what happened in Colorado last night. I want you to hear from Milat Kiros, who won at 29 years old from Ethiopia, now an American, cut one. I think it's We won tonight because this has felt something so much bigger than this moment.
Then one moment. This is a movement. And we are just getting started. Big support from the DSA, 29 years old, won by about six points. In Colorado.
What's your takeaway from this trend? It is a trend.
Socialists have taken over the Democratic Party. That previous speaker in one of your clips, Hassan Piker is talking about the working class. You know, my mother and father were working people. My dad was a steel worker, factory worker. My mom worked for the public transit system, taking fares and passing on transfers.
I grew up in a five-room apartment.
Now it's a Democrat because the Democratic Party used to be for opportunity, a chance to get out of the working class, get ahead, go into the middle class, maybe go into the upper class, maybe get rich. That's the beauty of America. That's why people come here from all over the world. And these socialists have a very different view. I think it was Churchill who said socialism is the equal sharing of misery.
They're not about lifting people up. They're about bringing people down. And when they do that, history teaches us in all places where socialism has been that the working class goes further down. And so this is a misguided approach. It has taken over the Democratic Party.
It's for real. And it's driven by the new generation. Yet, Take heart. History teaches us. I'm gonna quote Churchill again.
He said something like: if you're young and not a socialist, you don't have a heart. But if you're older, four years old, and you're not a conservative, you don't have a brain. They're gonna grow up. They're going to learn about how the real world works. But in the meantime, they're a real direct threat to our democracy and they're a real direct threat to the basic nature of America, which is about freedom and a chance to get ahead and make life better for yourself and for your family.
So, what do they have in common, Rod? They have a huge education. This woman. This woman is an Ethiopian, as I might mention to you, born in Ethiopia, now a PhD candidate, Wits Hassan Piker. He's got four or five degrees.
Who is Mom Dhammi? Three or four degrees. These are not uneducated people. They're overeducated people and educated in a way that has learned to despise and look to unwind America. How does that happen?
It happens in the college campuses because these professors have decided that I don't want to malign professors. I had a lot of good ones when I went to college and a few at law school too. But, you know, let's face it, the professors live in the midst of theory. They're in the Wisconsin comfort security of a college campus. They have tenure, and they come up with all these ideas.
judge the doers of the world, the achievers of the world, and they have all kinds of regrets and resentments towards them, and they're the ones who are instilling in these young people these viewpoints, particularly anti-Americanism and anti-Sooket sub-Semitism, which is really now part of the Democratic Party. Um but let me just say one thing about that. And it's this. It's the best teacher in life isn't a college campus. It's the school of hard knocks.
And most people have common sense because most people live lives, their lives that way. And when these kids get out of college and live life a little bit and see that these policies are failures, let's hope, pray that they'll do what history has taught us. They'll become a lot more sensible. In the meantime, as I said, it's a very real problem. But I think it's an opportunity for the Republicans because now, Brian, it isn't the Republicans against Democrats in the midterm elections.
It's the Republicans versus the socialists and the Bolsheviks in the midterm elections. And I think the American people, if they have given a chance to understand what's going on, are going to reject socialism and Bolshevism because America is. Just the opposite of what those people espoused.
So in the U.S. Senate race, Hick and Looper stays. He won 56-44. But this progressive state rep, Manny Rutanelle, who is a avowed socialist, defeated Shannon Byrd, thought to be a centrist, and thought, according to the Cook Report, this was a seat that was supposed to flip. There's only 15 or 18 seats in play.
And Gabe Evans, a Republican, was supposed to be vulnerable. I'm not saying he's not. But now he's less because it's such a stark difference.
So, I'm just wondering the big picture where it's going.
So, I guess we'll see. What bothers me is: we're talking about the American dream. These, our founding fathers and our founders, our first generation, said, I want to be free to understand what I can do in life. I want to be a shopkeeper, I want to be a blacksmith, I want to be a farmer. I don't want to sit.
In a situation that I'm born into in England or anywhere in Europe, I want to start again. I want an opportunity. And now, 250 years later, they're trying to say America needs less opportunity. Working class, if you're successful, I want to take more of your money and give it to the air quotes working class. They're trying to message it in a very deceptive way because Republicans have actually got more of the working class.
Than ever before, they're trying to siphon that off.
Well, that's the beauty of the new Trump Republican Party. I call myself a Trumpocrat, Brian, for personal reasons because he's been so kind to me. But I'm Democrats. Yes, I was a Democratic governor. I was the first Democratic governor to endorse Obama back in 2008.
And frankly, I blame Obama for a lot of this socialist trend that's happened now. But No, the the Trump Party, this new Republican Party, is not that old corporate country club Republican Party that was indifferent to working people, didn't care about them. This Republican Party under Trump cares about working people. It's why he's changing things dramatically. We're having a massive political realignment.
And there's a real opportunity here for the Trump Republican Party to embrace disgruntled working people in America who still Believe in hard work, believe in God, love America, support the police, and see some of these crazy positions that these socialists and lunatics take as being ridiculous. They should be part of Trump's new Republican Party. And knowing Trump as little as I do, I think he's going to reach out to them and try to include them into a larger tent. Of this new political dynamic that exists today in America.
So, we have a special on Fox Nation. I love Fox Nation, they do an unbelievable job. First off, Rob, people got to know you. You're sitting governor and you end up going to jail. Why you had that Senate seat that was open and you were caught on tape saying, you know, I got this gem.
If I could just paraphrase, I got this seat. I want to see what it is going to take to fill this seat and who wants it more. And the assumption was that you were soliciting money to fill that seat. Is any that I said incorrect? Mm-hmm.
Everything you said was correct, except the last part, the assumption I was taking money. That's a big lie. The whole thing was a big lie. You know, here again, I'm going to quote Churchill. He said, you know, a lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to put its pants on.
You know, they came to my house with SWAT teams, 24 members. I was the sitting governor of the fifth largest state to arrest me. To do what the prosecutors Fitzgerald said, to stop a crime spree before it happened. There are FBI tapes, 98% of them, that are covered up to this day. The tapes, if they're released, will show they were stopping me from making a political deal that would advance health care for people, jobs through a public works bill, and a promise in writing not to raise taxes on the people of Illinois.
Play those tapes. It'll show who's lying. But they covered it up. This was the beginning of the weaponization of these corrupt prosecutors who abused their uncontrolled and unlimited power to undo elections and thwart the will of the people. What they did to me at the AAA level to a Democrat governor, they learned.
And a lot of the same people were involved to try to do the same thing to President Trump at the major league level. This is the greatest constitutional crisis in American history since the Civil War. And the combination of the threat of socialism and these authoritarian tyrants are probably the greatest threat. Are certainly the greatest threat to our freedom and security in America. No one's gonna come in and invade America and defeat us.
We can lose only from within. And people like this guy, Fitzgerald, and prosecutors, like the others who went after Trump, they ought to belong in F in jail for what they do. Criminalizing non-crimes was all politics when Obama started it. He went to the White House for eight years. I went to the big house for eight years.
And Brian, it's fair to say. Obama had a better eight years than me.
Okay, here's how it sounded: Cut 48. Six o'clock in the morning, the phone rings. The guy on the other line says, Hello, Governor Logojevich, is this Agent So-and-So from the FBI? I explained who I was. I explained that there were agents at his front door.
We had a warrant for his arrest. He had 24. Members of a SWAT team around thy house. Bunch of FBI agents. And at that point, the agents were led into the home.
And then they handcuffed me from behind. City governor, fifth largest state. He came out in handcuffs. They came to create this big shock and awe. of that.
What was that like? I mean, for one thing, you always visibly kept your cool. I never saw you rattled, but inside, what was that like? That was, it was, it was, you know, it was very challenging. I mean, obviously, it was gonna a game changer, right?
I mean, I knew for the moment they put me in the car with the handcuffs behind my back that You know, I was sitting you're not only going to be involved in a shitstorm. But then my days as governor were going to be numbered because of the dynamics and the politics of it. And I knew that this was going to be the most significant test in my life, you know? The prophet Isaiah talks about the fiery furnace of affliction. This was calamity that came on like a whirlwind.
That's right out of scripture, too. And so it was a really challenge. Personally, Brian, what are you made out of? Are you going to give into this? Because you know they're all lies.
And you know those people are corrupt. They're about to hijack the governor. And you have a responsibility and a duty as the governor to fight them.
So I was determined from the very beginning to never ever give in, to fight, knowing deep down, in spite of it all, after two trials. that because they had so much power. In the end I was a dead man. I knew it. But I felt I had to go down fighting.
And I did. And it was a long, hard journey. And no one even says I took a penny. It was all political talk, which they cherry picked. And to this day, are covering up all those tapes because it'll it covers up the lies and the frame up that they did.
It's the greatest frame up in American history. I want you to hear so obviously people know that Senator Barack Obama became President Obama, opening up that Senate seat.
So the sitting governor gets to put somebody into that seat.
So who would that be? Here is the sentence. Cut forty nine. I have to say, despite, you know, I've been generally pretty critical of him for the last hour or so, it did feel like a very long jail sentence for something that there was no violence, there was no physical injury. It was one of the harshest sentences ever given to a politician.
I mean, how many people did he murder to get 14 years? What's interesting is that this is the same judge that sentenced Nick Calabri, who was a mob figure who killed almost a dozen people. He got less time than Rob Lugojevich.
So, I mean, this part of the special that went there, but you did go to jail for eight years. You have no experience. You know, you didn't grow up in a criminal household. You weren't in and out of crime for petty, you're in out of prison for petty crimes. You never had anything like this before.
Can you give us an idea, a sentence aside? How did you personally adjust? Yeah, and by the way, I had a clean driving record on top of that. No criminal record, clean driving record. They did that, right?
Look, they did that 14 years. And again, I took nothing. There were no gold bars, no cash in my house, nothing. No one accused me of that. Political talk.
It's a political hit. They thought I would give in. And when I fought back, that's why. They did what they did and and Made it a 14-year sentence to bury me, bury the truth, and to punish me for having the temerity to fight back in what's supposed to be a free country that gives due process to people. How did I deal with it?
Faith, hope, and love. You know, it was a hard, hard experience. In that documentary, I think I talk about how what it was like that first night. You know, they put me in a higher prison where no governor's been. You know, for the first nearly three years, I was in prison with Grips and Bloods and gangster disciples.
Seeing a little cartel, drug dealers who look up to the drug lord L Chapel, like my daughters look up to Taylor Swift. There were murderers in there. I went from the 50,000 square foot governor's mansion to a six-foot by eight-foot prison cell. It's real prison like in the movies. No governor's been in a place like that.
900 something guys, 2% white collar, one governor, me. And uh No, it was faith, hope, and love. And one advantage that you get, and I'm not, I shouldn't call it an advantage, but you got so much time on your hands. And you're so alone. And you're caught up with disillusionment and fear, fear for my daughters, they were little girls back then, my wife, who's protecting them, fear that you'll never get out of this place.
I embraced the Bible and read the Bible every day for 2,896 days and far better understand the word of God. And that's what sustained me. The love for my little girls and my wife. the faith and the hope I had that the Bible gave me and the understanding. Not only from the Bible, from history books, reading biographies like your books.
You know, the difficulties that people go through, the calamities that others have had to go through, and how so many of them, great people in history, have been able to turn things around. And because of the calamity and the hardship they've gone through, they've actually been able to plant seeds that later on became catalysts for their comeback, where they ended up doing great things.
So I spent my time. Exercising, working out, reading. And hoping, praying, and waiting, and eventually determined never, ever to give in, if for no other reason. Because I love my girls. I could never possibly give in or give up.
I had to come home. My odyssey had to be long and hard. I understood that, but I had to get back home to them. And you did, and they stood by you, and President Trump got you out. God bless him.
Yep, the Republican president got the Democratic governor of Illinois out. Rod, I cannot wait to see this special Blago is available now on Fox Nation. It tells the true story, and he's on it. Rob Lukojevich, thanks so much, Governor. Thank you, Brian.
Appreciate it. All right. Back in a moment. Learning something new every day on The Brian Killmeat Show. The fastest three hours in radio.
You're with Brian Kilmead. How have you prepared your team for the knockouts? I think it's we are really excited and I think we are well prepared. We know very well that it's going to be a very tough game, it's a final all in. And I think we arrived in a very good condition.
Yes, we know that we need to perform and if we if we want to be close to win, we need to perform well again a team that is going to be really tough. They're not going to be flat. Of course, that's Coach Pacatino, coach of the USA men's soccer team, who have finished up 2-1 in the group first place.
So they get the wildcard team and an adjoining group, and that'll be Bosnia-Herzegovina. And the game's going to be 8 o'clock Eastern Time tonight. 6 o'clock starts the pregame show. I cannot tell you how many savvy, smart, unemotional people are just saying they have great hopes for this group, and they really believe that this is going to be a game they're going to win.
Next up would be Belgium Man. They're going to be thinking revenge for their 5-2 humiliation in Atlanta, and they're capable of winning that. And then I think you're looking at France and Argentina.
So if you get that far, all bets are off. I just watched Sweden get crushed by France. I'm telling you, they look like a high school team compared to it. I know the U.S. team is better than that.
I actually think the U.S. team is a lot better than Norway, too. Let's just make sure they live up to their ability and win tonight, don't you think? From high atop Fox News headquarters in New York City, always seeking solutions, never selling division. It's Brian Kilmead.
So glad you're there, everybody. It's the Brian Kilmeat Show coming your way. We're back at 40th and 6th in Midtown Manhattan from Washington, D.C., where I'll be going back Saturday night to be part of a great coverage of July 4th with the President of the United States. They say it's going to be the greatest fireworks show ever. Hope you'll be watching them, but hope you're watching now too because we stream.
We stay archived on YouTube, youtub.com at the Brian Kilmeat Show. Everybody's talking about it. And you, of course, can see us on Fox Nation. We're streaming right now, three fantastic cameras. We're going to be speaking to the founder of One Planet Group, a closely held private equity firm that owns a suite of online technology and media businesses, and author of the book, Crossing the Desert: The Power of Embracing Life's Difficult Journeys.
So it's going to be inspirational and I hopefully. And hopefully, informational for you. Payam Zamani will be with us. And standing by is also Harry Cole, editor-at-large of The Sun, because we know too it's World Cup game number four for the U.S. national team.
They play Bosnia tonight at 8 o'clock Eastern Time. You're going to be watching that on Fox.
So before we get to Harry, let's get to the big three. Number three. I think that he's appropriately using strategic patience. The Iranians have demonstrated that they only respond to force. They like this kind of no-agreement zone that we're in right now.
That is Colonel Mike Jerrigan on Evening Edit. Talks again going nowhere as Donald Trump listens to all options on Iran, including going all in again. His challenge? Keep energy prices down, which is where they're heading, but continue to show Iran who is in charge. Number two.
What we are witnessing is an independent court, a court that continues to follow principle, not politics.
Now, that doesn't mean that you can't be upset with the outcome on things like birthright citizenship. Jonathan Turley, putting in perspective earlier in this show, but also in life, Supreme Court makes some huge decisions and both sides are celebrating and both sides are complaining, but one side never stops complaining and it's not Republicans. Number one. We got a light of fire under their asses because for far too long they've just collected paychecks from corporations and wealthy mega donors and haven't really done much.
So this movement has a lot of momentum for that reason because people are desperate for some shit. Really? Hassan Piker, the guy anti-American, anti-Israel podcaster.
Now you're paying attention. It's not just about New York, socialists, latest winning Colorado, as the gradual takeover of the Democratic Party continues and we have the results. And let me just inform you too. Yeah. What happened last night?
What am I talking about? You probably don't know anything about Colorado politics if you don't live there.
Well, Democratic socialist Milad Kiros, 29 years old, backed by the DSA, of course, Justice Democrats Bernie Sanders and San Piker, defeated 15-term Congresswoman Diana DeGuette, major upset. He went by six points. Kiros, a former lawyer, PhD candidate from Ethiopia, ran on rejecting corporate PAC money, rejecting Israel. Of course. And now she bullies Medicare for all and of course taxing the rich, housing for free, all this stuff that is it cannot live in America where we're currently constructed.
And I plan on staying currently constructed that way. Hick and Looper survived, but you know who didn't? Another socialist, Manny Rutanelle won. Another socialist beat the Democrat got the Democratic nomination over a so-called moderate called Shannon Byrd.
Now Gabe Evans is in that seat in Colorado, and this was supposed to be a seat that Democrats were going to flip. I don't know. It's such a stark difference. In somewhat of a purple state at times. You really gonna flip to a socialist?
who I think should be unwelcome in a party. By the way, Hakeem Jeffries Endorse the other guy and endorse to get And it didn't matter. He endorsed two of the three people that won in New York. He got two of the losers. He lost to Mayor Mumdani, who has more power than he does.
He's supposed to be the next speaker. With me right now is Harry Cole, editor at Lord of the Sun. Harry, welcome.
So Hi, Brian. How you doing? I'm doing good. How do you view Uh first off, what's going on in American politics. You guys have socialism.
I mean, are you seeing is this getting play what's happening here with the rise of these socialists?
Well, listen, careful what you wish for, Brian, because powerful mayors such as Mandami, Sadiq Khan in London, Andy Bernal, the mayor of Manchester, he's about to become the British Prime Minister.
So it is a, you know, you can look at it as a sort of fringe politics on the outside, and then suddenly they're poised to take over your country. It could be a worrying development. They talk about working class. I'm going about for the working class, but how? By taking money from other people and telling them that life's not fair and we'll balance the playing field and we'll subsidize or give you housing?
I mean, why does that resonate in democracies? It's a story as a model time, right? You know, you have socialists who said they're going to be for the people, and then the only people they actually tax are the working people. You know, people who are more well-off, they move quickly from New York to Florida, from London to Switzerland, or London to Italy, or indeed, dare I say, London to America. And they're left with nothing.
They're left going bankrupt. They bankrupt their states, they bankrupt their cities, they bankrupt their towns. I mean, how many more times do we have to watch this process happen over and over again? It's a warning sign from Britain. Don't do this, guys.
So I want to talk about the World Cup because it's so much more than soccer. And just from your view, you talk to your countrymen. Not only are you guys still alive and showing you can play with anybody, although lose to anybody too, because that's where this tournament has gone. How is America coming off? Brian, I have to say, I have to admit to you, I am standing on the side of a pitch here in Atlanta, Georgia, about to watch England take on the Congo.
This is an amazing World Cup. It's so good for people to be able to see what America is really like.
So many people in Europe. You know, given this sort of ridiculous view of Trump's America as this evil place, everyone here is having a fantastic time. The long may continue. And I think that if we continue to win our games, if America continue to win their games, England versus America on the 10th of July in Los Angeles, what a better way to celebrate America two fifty than a grudge match. Yeah, I don't know.
Yeah, I don't know if it's gonna happen. The last time they played it was a tie in and Harry, I don't know if you remember, but it looked like the US outplayed you guys in Qatar. Uh maybe, maybe, maybe having a good run. You guys are having a great ride. This is a much better team.
We'll see what happens. I watched the Netherlands get upset. I watched Germany get upset. If anybody's thinking that America can't get upset, you're crazy. Even you guys against the Congo today.
Yeah, no, it's going to be. Look, no matches are given. We saw what happened with Germany, go out on penalties. There's been controversial decisions around the sort of the online, the AI referee, the VAR. But, you know, let's see what happens.
I really do hope both America and Britain will address because you guys deserve it. You put on a hell of a tournament. All of my countrymen who I've seen here, I've been living here for a while now, but all the visitors here are having a fantastic time. I just watched a crowd of English fans discover a waffle house for the first time here in Georgia. And I have to say, the looks on their faces was quite something.
Harry, you always got it. You understand what this country has to offer. You know what I like most about it? We're not trying. We're just, whether you like it or not, this is Dallas.
This is Los Angeles. This is Seattle. This is New York. There's no tour. You know, I'm not saying that only go to these places and stay with my guide.
And I'm going to put you in a gift shop to tell you to buy, I love New York stickers. It's whatever happens, happens, and it's just working.
So I'm not sure where everyone came from, but it's just working. Every other country, when they host a World Cup or the Olympics or a big sporting international sporting event, have to spend years building stadiums, building infrastructure. You guys are just kind of to be fair, if England were put up on a World Cup, we could probably do it with our Premier League stadiums. But it's amazing to see how quickly they've turned around baseball stadiums, football stadiums, into soccer stadiums. I'm here in, yeah, as I said, I'm here in Atlanta, Georgia, at the Mesocida Stadium.
It's a hell of a structure. And lots of minds are being blown right now. All right, I want you to hear what Colin Farrell said last night with James Corden on Fox. Cut 44. Because you were at the LA Stadium for the game when USA faced against Turkey.
How was it? How was that experience? Oh, I'd never been to the sofa. It was exquisite. I mean, the stadium was breathtaking, yeah.
And the atmosphere was amazing. And my son at one stage, Henry, we went together, he turned to me at one stage and he said, Dad, I can't believe we're at a World Cup match. And it wasn't that moment. You know, sometimes you. You have to stop and just just take a mental picture or realise what you're engaged with in the moment.
It was that and there was the two giant flags. Yeah. The two giant flags, the big statue, pomp and circumstance everywhere. And I just realised I've been watching World Cups since I was six.
Okay, go ahead. Do we lose that? No, I was going to say, Brian, it's just nice to see people that are proud of their country. Look at your strip, look at your stadiums, look at your airport sticked out in your flags. For too long, people in Britain and people in Europe have been told to be ashamed of their countries.
We're only really allowed to show it during international sporting events. What I love about America is that you wear your flag on your sleeve at all times, not just when you're picking the ball. I wanted to bring you to this story, uh and I know I want to get you to the game, but Paris Deputy Mayor Audrey Pulver blamed the United States greenhouse gas emissions for contributing to the deadly heat wave affecting France. Her comments came after American journalists and social media users mocked Paris for not having widespread air conditioning. In an Instagram post, Pulver wrote that U.S.
As the world's second largest greenhouse gas emitter bears a significant responsibility for global warming, she added that American cities being ninety percent air conditioned are not unrelated to the problem.
So this is a new one.
So, you guys can't, they can't build an air or put an air conditioner in a window over there because their grid can't handle it, and it's our fault. It's just gibberish, isn't it? More people die of heat stroke in heat waves during in Europe in a summer than die from dunk time in America. And they have the goal. A thousand people have died in France in the last four weeks from heat stroke.
If they had AC, some of those people would definitely, definitely be alive. And it's not just the infrastructure problem. It's the fact that it's legislator, Brian. It is illegal in certain places, in certain European countries, to put AC in. There's this sort of suicidal wokeness that suddenly this do-gooding that, you know, we're saving the planet is literally killing their people.
People have had enough of this. It is absurd. And for the socialist deputy mayor of Paris, I always say, watch out for those socialist mayors, they'll get you. It beggars belief. It really is.
I just have to get, we just have to sober up here. And number one, we're all waking out of the green mirage that everyone was forced to deal with. And nuclear energy, whatever you want, get renewables, whatever you do, but you can't destroy your economy in doing it. Harry Cole, thanks so much. Enter at large of the sun.
Enjoy the game, Harry. Hopefully, we talk again. And we both teams stay on the bottom. Enjoy weekend. You got it, sir.
We'll come back. 1-866-408-7669. I'll get your take on, I don't know, gluing up to 250. What are you going to be doing? Number two is when it comes to the World Cup, are you new to soccer?
Are you still out on this? We had a live show today on Fox and Friends. And I couldn't believe there were people I was talking to who were saying, I never watched soccer before, never thought I watched it, I changed my mind. But I also meet people that say, I can't get into it. I watch it, it's just so boring.
And that's fine. But just know this, soccer's changing his perception. Not because of what's on the field, I think it's a great product, but because of how the fans are reacting to us off the field. And what do you think about that? Because I watched Bill Maher and I'll play it again today.
And he just says: people are rediscovering America through the eyes of people visiting. And they're soccer fans. And here's the other thing: there's a procession among soccer fans, they get drunk and they beat each other up, and they cause fights and havoc. Uh they're drinking. But there's no violence.
I've been to now three World Cup games, one in Los Angeles and two in New York. There is absolutely zero hostility. There's nobody even getting mad that the lines are long. The information that's being given out by volunteers. I go to those stadiums.
I see the way the Knicks fans are treated, the Giant and Jet fans are treated. It's like, stand over here. Why are you parking here? We're going to give you a ticket. I'm going to tow you out of here.
It's a totally different. approach with this soccer. And FIFA deserves some credit for that, a lot. And sort of the people that are volunteering helping out because I think The world realizes that we're on stage right now and we want to put on a good show. Back in a moment.
Politics, current events, and news that affects you. Brian's got a lot more to say. Stay with Brian Kilmead. The talk show that's getting you talking. You're with Brian Kilmead.
Hey, we are back. Yesterday, they had hearings with these angel bombs trying to get people's through people's heads that sanctuary cities are dangerous.
So, and it is dangerous to people. And for those people who say, well, only 3% that people are picking up on Homeland Security are criminals, just not true. 70% have been charged, or about to be charged, or are being examined to be charged for some type of criminal activity. And you're here illegally, you already broke the law. Why aren't people more concerned about that?
Instead, they're trying to protect illegal immigrants and push back against what the Supreme Court has ruled. I want you to hear this exchange between Mike Lawler. And Jamie Raskin, who just lives to impeach, never has done anything productive. Listen to this. The same outrage you feel about Renee Good and Alex Pretty you should feel about Sheridan Gorman and Lincoln Riley and every angel family in this country.
I do feel that outrageously. You do not. Because if you did, do you feel like you're a bad person? Do you feel the outrage about Alexander? You should be ashamed of yourself.
You should be ashamed of yourself. You don't belong to this committee. You should get the hell out of it. You're a disgrace. You don't understand the committee.
You don't understand the consequences of the people. You're actually full of disgrace supporting sanctuary.
So all they want to do is talk about those activists that sadly lost their lives in a battle with ICE. A lot of it had to do with the sanctuary cities that prevented cops from helping out and ruining the perimeter on that. Instead of ever focusing on the thousands of people who lost loved ones due to the hands of illegal immigrants, because Joe Biden and others have opened up the back door. Dave, you're in Tallahassee. Hey, Dave.
Yeah. Hello. Have you ever mentioned in regards to the primaries, you've had incumbent Democrats that have been voted out by supposedly socialist Democrats, and the incumbent Democrats have been against the Save America Act, against illegal voting and voter fraud.
Now, are the Democrats that have been doing this, they are going to start thinking that maybe the chickens are coming home to roost? I don't think you're going to draw those lines. I really don't. What I would love to see President Trump do, Dave. I would like him to message saying, I'm not doing this for Republicans.
I just want the right person to win. I just want to make sure everybody's vote is not canceled out by an illegal immigrant. I want to make sure that we're not finding out that someone's putting their hands on the scale even more powerful than the politicians that are running. And you should message that way, but it really seems logical that this voter ID should pass. Chris in New York.
Hey, Chris. Good morning, Brian. Your comment that you made before about Socialist Democrats not wanting a big tent Democratic party is spot on. I experienced it myself going back twelve and a half, thirteen years ago. After a being a moderate fiscal conservative Democrat, I flipped a Road leaning uh local uh elected official position.
And as soon as I got in office, there was a bunch of militant progressives plotting against me behind my back in my county. that didn't even live in my district. And then when I tried getting back in office years later after being out full time, they they put the socialist candidate was had his campaign illegally funded. uh against me and uh I took the Working Families Party line through a writing campaign twice, but they initially endorsed me a couple of times, three times, and I received phone calls from The heads of the Working Families Party telling me they'd give me anything I needed, you know, whatever I needed. Chris, you're getting a little muffled, but I would say that Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer are now the most powerful Democrats and the least popular Democrats.
Their endorsement actually is repellent to the voters for Democratic voters, and the extremists are taking over. I'm telling you right now, what bothers me most, and I'm going to play this when we get back. Guys, they're supposed to be moderate. Jason Crow. Came out and said, well, the voters have spoken.
Everyone's got an opinion. It's good we have primaries in order for people to run. Excuse me. They don't want to be Democrats, they don't believe anything you believe. almost anything and they're running people like you out of your party Yeah.
So wake up. It's not Republicans that are your problem. It's because you don't have the courage, even though you're a military veteran, to stand up to the extremists. He's so busy, he'll make your head spin. It's Brian Killmead.
The Iranians have not hit ships in the last couple of weeks, and the oil is flowing in the Strait of Hormuz, in part because the president made very clear that if the Iranians hit ships, we were going to hit back.
So, you know, it's going to take sometimes the carrot and the stick here. But, Laura, I actually think that the United States is in a great position, however, the negotiation ultimately shakes out. If the negotiation is successful, which obviously we want it to be successful, you have an Iran that is permanently transformed, that's not funding regional terrorism and instability, that has permanently given up on any nuclear weapons ambition, and that, as a result, is welcomed back into the world economy. That's a great outcome for the American people. It's a great outcome for the whole region.
But the Vice President, I think, is painting with rose-colored glasses because ever since that MOU has been signed, the Iranians have said the exact opposite of what the Vice President has presented. Number one, that the Strait of Removes, they said, is going to be open. Yeah, it's open. But they say it's going to be under their management and they will pay fees. Hezbollah, well, they're going to continue to be funded, and he's demanding that it's Israel that leave Lebanon.
We had no such agreement. Israel certainly hasn't signed on to that. And then when it comes to their frozen funds, they expect them to be unfrozen and can sell immediately oil on the open market on market rates. The good news is, according to the Treasury Secretary, no one's buying it because they think they're going to end up sanctioned again.
So joining us now is a man that left Iran, got out of there, Payyam Zamani. He's founder of One Planet Group, a closely held private equity firm that owns a suite of online technology and media businesses, and author of the book, Crossing the Desert, The Power of Embracing Life's Difficult Journey. Payyam, welcome. Thanks so much for coming on. Thank you, Brian.
It's good to be here.
So, first off, tell everyone your story. Why'd you leave Iran? I was born in a Baha'i family, and Baha'is were heavily persecuted by the Iranian government and the revolution. Baha'i faith is one of the newest religions in the world. We believe in all the religions of the past, but we believe in what they call a progressive revelation, meaning that we think that God and religions represent different chapters of a book, and the chapters will continue to be written.
So we believe in Jesus Christ, we believe in Moses, but we also believe that there will always be a new prophet, the new spirit will come back. Right.
So they didn't like that.
So you said, I'm out. I escaped Iran through the border. I was smuggled to Pakistan, and I ultimately received asylum from the US. And I talk about this in my book, that when I went to the US Embassy in Islamabad, that's the first time I felt Dignity. That was the first time I felt that somebody cared for me.
They allowed me in. They gave me an interview and they ultimately accepted my story and gave me a refugee status. What do you was at? It was in 1988 that I came to the U.S. Why do you think he was your story?
Why do you think he was looked at as authentic and worthy of coming here? Did they tell you? Yeah, so this was during the Ronald Reagan era. And Ronald Reagan understood the plight of Baha'is in Iran very well. And he had very much an open door policy for Baha'is.
And so he stood up for the rights of Baha'is in Iran. And he allowed a lot of Baha'is to gain asylum in the U.S.
So how soon when you got here to America did you start feeling the benefits of free enterprise? I got a job within 20 days. At 17? At the age of 17, I got a job at a silk screen printing and a pizza place. I had two jobs.
And so immediately I felt the freedom, the fact that I could just openly talk about my faith and not be afraid of what the revolutionary guards would do to me. Right.
So why did you adjust so well? You know, when I arrived in the US, I landed in San Francisco, but I ended up living in Modesto, California, where there were no Iranians. And I think that helped the fact that I had to become an American. I had no choice. And I had to learn the language.
I did not speak English when I arrived.
So I think that. Often you see immigrants, they kind of like living together in close proximity in one neighborhood. Not not living like that I think was really helpful.
So uh did you go on to college? I had one year of high school left. I finished that. Then I went to Modesto Junior College. Then I went to UC Davis.
To UC Davis. And that's where Ken O'Brien went to school and was an outstanding quarterback for the Jets for years. That's right. But looking at now you jumped in and you became an entrepreneur. Yeah, you know, lots of things aligned that that happened.
I always talked about this, that I became an entrepreneur, but I took advantage of a foundation that was built over the last couple hundred years.
So it's not like I did it on my own. There was something available for me, and I was able to take advantage of that. How?
Well, you know, you think about the foundation that the U.S. represents. That foundation was built over a couple hundred years. And my brother and I, who came to the U.S. together, We were right at the beginning of something we did not even really truly appreciate, and that was the internet and the revolution that that caused.
So you built the first online car buying service in 1994 when few people were even online. And against all odds, we made great people. I did not have a Rolodex. I did not know people in this country. They got to know us because of what we were building.
And ultimately, those good people became good mentors. And I was able, with my brother, take the company public in 1999. Aaron Trevor Bowie, and you said everything was going good into what you also saw the risks in capitalism too. Yes, so some of us will remember those days that a lot of companies went public, but then many of those companies did not do very well and as a publicly traded entity.
Some did not deserve to do well, but some did not do well because bankers had done Less than honest things that caused those companies. 2008, the whole collapse. Yeah, well, 2001, April of 2001, that was the first collapse. The first year, when George W. Bush just took over the internet.
The first bubble burst.
So when I look at that and then what some of the banks at that point did to make these stock prices go up unnaturally, and then how that affected the companies and of course the shareholders, it really made me think that what about capitalism can potentially can evolve, you know? And this country has been a country that has continued to learn from its past.
So how could the way that we practice capitalism can evolve?
So we had the regulation come in. Were you in support of that? I was not. And the reason for that, I think, is because the regulations really made it very difficult for small companies to gain access to public markets. It was, in a sense, better for big companies.
So entrepreneurs and smaller companies They were put in the penalty box.
So that did not, I think, that really help foster entrepreneurship.
So how did you remake yourself? And where did you go from there?
So, you know, I did well from AutoWeb. It wasn't as well as I thought it would be. But I've had my failures also. I've started companies that did not survive. But I ultimately founded a company called BuyerLink that's still around today, and then OnePlanet Group that owns all the businesses that I operate.
But I've always been very much of an online marketing guy. Those are the technologies and platforms that I've built. And I rebuilt. And that's what you do well in America. It's always available.
Did you insert your moral code into that? I did. And, you know, I call it spiritual capitalism. But frankly, I use that term. Many companies in the U.S.
are really well run. I mean, look at Chick-fil-A. I think they have really a good code of conduct and they run a great business.
So we came up with our own. Codes, and we call those spiritual capitalism, which really at its core means that every human being is created noble, and we should not look at them just as a token of economic value. There is a much greater relationship between you and I than just this material relationship. Yeah, so and what do you want people to know about your story and take from your story? To be honest with you, you know, given that we're just a few days away from 4th of July and the 250th anniversary, it's a story of hope.
that this country represents. And that to me is the most valuable thing. We live in an era that extreme partisanship is really taking its toll on the country. And many Americans, unfortunately, don't truly realize the hope that this country represents to the rest of the world. And I hope they will get it.
If people don't believe you, Payam, maybe they should just look at the facts. How many people are trying to sneak out of here? Nobody, you want to leave, you can leave in a second. I don't think you could do that in China. You can't do that in Russia.
You can't do it in Iran. Certainly you risked your life in doing it.
So there's only people trying to get in here. And the big debate is now try to get in the right way. But as people that want to get in, if it's such a repellent, why is this happening? Yeah. I mean, talking about people wanting to get in, I tell you this, that as a kid growing up in Iran in the nineteen eighties when the long the eight year war was going on with Iraq, I have c hope in one country.
And that hope was not in Saudi Arabia, China or Russia, it was in the US. I believe that ultimately, the US will stand up for the good of humanity. Today is no different. That Who is the replacement for this country? And to me, that is a bit of a spiritual.
destiny that this country has, and we should embrace it, we should love it. That's a big deal when humanity puts its hold in us.
So what do you think here? You could almost have two views. You're an American. Yeah. At the same time, you know what it's like not to be.
And you tell a lot of people that you know aren't.
So what is the view on the outside of our country as opposed to some people that might be taking the country for granted? I think a lot of people outside the country, they don't get it how much Many people in the country, in the US, can In a sense, I don't want to use the word hate, but dislike their own system, their own country. They don't get that because they feel that.
Some of us are almost too spoiled. We have not seen the alternative. That's just, it's almost human nature, isn't it? You don't know what you have if you always had it. That's right.
I remember reading uh I'm reading about the War of 1812 and the British are threatening. And the older, they're in their 50s now. Those parents are saying, where's the spirit of 76? Where's that spirit that got the revolution?
So 30 years later, people worried that we're losing that sense of what it means to be an American, and we would not be ready for that war. And we'd have to rally in the middle of that war.
So sometimes you need a crisis. to push you to the point Where you understand what you have when it's being threatened. Trevor Burrus, Jr.: That's absolutely true.
Now, this doesn't mean that this country is perfect. Of course, it's not. But this country has always attempted to make itself better. And I think the right structure, the right foundation exists from the beginning for this country to continue to evolve. And most countries in the world.
How closely are you watching what's happening with Iran? Very closely. Why? Uh You know, I get emotional thinking about 92 million people suffering and the youth of Iran suffering for so many years. And frankly, I'm also really saddened.
That we are getting a better nuclear deal done, that has become our focus, rather than also worrying about. The tens of millions of people.
So you said the goalie from Iran, the starting goalie from Iran, is in jail. Why? Well, because in if you remember, in January of this year, about 40,000 Iranians were massacred by the government just because they were protesting on the streets. And the goalkeeper of the national team, he came out in support of the protesters.
Well, he hasn't been found since then.
Well, we know he's jailed. And he's not the only one. The Iranian government has executed over 120 of its athletes. And he's not the only one, by the way, who's in jail today. There are many of I think there are three of the national team members that are in jail.
So it is it really hits hard. Yeah, I want you to hear in terms of where we go now and what the agreement's going to look like. Here's what General Keene recommends we do, cut 40.
So my suggestion is we've got to roll up our sleeves and make sure who we're dealing to. The people are talking nice to us and they've given us an expectation that this is all going to work out. And at the same time, we have hardliners and true policymakers taking a completely different approach. I think it's less about the domestic audience as some would suggest, and it's more about who they really are.
So we're wondering where we go from here. I think the midterms have a lot to do with why the President took his foot off the gas. What do you think? Maybe. I I don't know, but what I can tell you is that trust can never be a clause in a contract.
You cannot trust this country to change. Can you ask a murderer in court that, okay, well sign the document that you will never kill again? That's. What we are asking this government to do, their ideology is what it is. And let's not forget, we killed the supreme leader's father, the previous supreme leader, this country and Israel.
They killed that person. Thinking that these guys don't want to take revenge, it's kind of naive. Right.
In fact, I saw one cover in the newspapers calling for the assassination of Trump yesterday. Yeah, I mean, people, they tell you who they are. And, you know, in the West, we should choose to listen. Right.
And is there a chance of getting weapons to the population? I mean, is there an easy way to do that? Or do you think we could pull that off? Wouldn't that be the key to this? I mean, I honestly don't know.
I think that Iranians deserve a better future for the country, for them. And they can represent, they can also be hope to the world. I mean, Iranians have suffered so much and they've been resilient, the people of Iran. How that will come about, I really don't know.
Well, congratulations on the book. Go out there and pick it up. Crossing the Desert, The Power of Embracing Life's Difficult Journeys. Parma, thanks so much. Parma Zamani, founder of the One Planet Group.
Appreciate seeing you. Thank you, Brian. Back in a moment. Newsmakers and Newsbreakers Hear it first on The Brian Killmead Show. Yeah.
Information you want, truth you demand. This is the Brian Kill Me Show. Keep your days, and tomorrow's time to do it. Mexican magnificence for defenders in trouble. It's going back.
It's World Cup. And it's ending in tears for Ecuador. And just like that, the curse is broken. That will be a fifth game and one loss for Mexico. And there you go.
Ecuador, who played so well to beat Germany in the last game to advance to the knockout round, got knocked out themselves in Mexico. And then you ought to watch their celebration. It is just amazing. 100,000 people in Azteca Stadium. Mexico doing a fantastic job, authoring a fantastic run, too.
And you see a lot of that.
So no more Netherlands, no more Germany, no more Ecuador. You almost had no more Brazil. They almost lost to Japan, who played exceedingly well. They have an unbelievable fitness is off the charts.
So Brazil survives.
So we'll see what happens to them next. I believe they play Norway, and the U.S. plays tonight. The U.S. plays tonight against Bosnia-Herzegovina, and it's going to be a game in which the U.S.
should win, move on. And then you play the winner of Belgium and Senegal. Senegal, really tough team, but Belgium better. Most likely Belgium. And after that, I think it's either France or Argentina.
But who cares? Get to That point, it'll be great. What I love is you're listening to me right now, and probably 80% of you never played soccer, but now everyone's glued in. And I'll give you an example: I never played hockey, but I didn't know anybody who was not zoned in when the USA team was playing for the gold medal against Canada. They were the hottest thing in the world.
And in the country, and brought out the 1980 team and everyone like that. But they have brought up this to me. They said that if you want to quantify what the 1980 Olympic team did as a bunch of amateurs playing pros in the right with the Soviet Union, that upset was tremendous. They say for the US, To win the World Cup. would be a bigger upset.
That's how unlikely it is. But keep in mind, we've got 12 players playing at the highest level, including a forward that is now in Balaka, Balacon, Balcon, who is now being recruited by Chelsea. Tottenham, Hot Spurs, and PSG. That's how good he has been for playing for America and how impressive he's been on the global states. Look, you could do it here, you could do it anywhere.
So keep in mind, too, I'm coming up on July 11th. I'm going to be going to Pensacola, Florida. It's a big, big, big military area. History, Liberty, and Laughs. I'm going to be bringing history to life in a patriotic, inspirational way right after the 4th of July.
Hope to see everybody out there, BrianKilmey.com for tickets. And then in the fall, I'm going to be in Clearwater, Florida, going to be in St. Louis, Missouri, going to be in Red Bank, New Jersey, as well as Westbury, Long Island, and Jacksonville.
So I want to meet you in person, VIP opportunities. We'll be talking about all that, maybe even soccer when we meet. From the Fox News Radio Studios in Midtown Manhattan, it's the fastest growing radio talk show. Brian Kilmead.
So glad you're there. It's a Brian Kilmeech show back in New York after a brief visit two days in Washington, D.C., going back there Saturday night for special 4th of July coverage. Carl Rove is standing by. Congressman Micah McCall is going to be with us, Chairman Emeritus of Foreign Affairs. He's going over to Ukraine soon.
By the way, if you have to check out what's happening in Russia, almost every major city is now in Ukraine's, within Ukraine's reach. And oil refineries have been hit so bad. Their energy manufacturing agencies have been busted up so bad. The lines go on for miles just to fill up their car. Fights are breaking out in Russia.
For those people who say they're immune, Russia is immune for the most part in major cities from this war, not anymore. Four years in, Russia is beginning to fall apart, but they still have a lot of rockets and they can make their own drones.
So before we get to Carl, let's get to the big three. Number three. I think that he's appropriately using strategic patience. The Iranians have demonstrated that they only respond to force. They like this kind of no-agreement zone that we're in right now.
I think so too. Talk's going nowhere as Trump listens to all options in Iran. His challenger, keep prices, his challenges to keep prices down, but continue to show Iran is not in charge. Number two. What we are witnessing is an independent court, a court that continues to follow principle, not politics.
Now, that doesn't mean that you can't be upset with the outcome on things like birthright citizenship. That is Jonathan Turley. Supreme Court makes some huge decisions, and both sides are celebrating, and one side's nonstop complaining. Number one. We got a lot of fire under their asses because for far too long they've just collected paychecks from corporations and wealthy mega donors and haven't really done much.
So this movement has a lot of momentum for that reason because people are desperate for some change.
That's Hassan Piker, really? He's over in Denver, but he is celebrating because the reviled podcaster is powerful and his socialists are winning.
Now are you paying attention, America and Democrats? Because the socialists are not just winning in the blue bubble of New York. Carl Rove has always been paying attention and joins us now. Carl, What do you take it away from the fact that Colorado had some uh had two socialists do extremely well yesterday, and Michael Bennett got knocked off by an attorney general who wanted to be the next governor, and he's pretty much an established, he calls himself a moderate. I never see him voting for anything conservative.
Your thoughts about what took place.
Well, first of all, I think you got to differentiate between the two results in Colorado. In the congressional races. One is in a district that is essentially the city of Denver, most of the city of Denver, which may surprise people, but it's a very liberal town. And the other one was in a very closely fought, competitive congressional district to the north and slightly east of Denver, the northeast part of. Of the Denver metro area, and then it heads up towards the Wyoming border.
One of them is to is shouldn't be a surprise. I mean, where the DSA has succeeded are in very liberal districts. I'm going to test your knowledge in New York. What percentage of the vote do you think Donald Trump got in the 7th, 10th, and 13th congressional districts, the three districts where DSA challengers won the nomination for Congress? The old New York City, right?
Oh yeah, seventh inch yeah. Oh, really? How about you're close with one of them? In the 7th district, it is 19.3%. In the 10th district, it is 14.1%.
And in the 13th district, it is 11.1.
Now, the country voted 49.8 for Trump, 48.3 for Harris, so a 1.5% differential between the two. In the 7th district, there was a 60-point difference. In the 10th, there was a 71-point difference. And in the 13th, there's a 77-point district. These are not representative of where the country is.
And we're going to see more Democratic socialist victories in these very far left-wing congressional districts like the district in Denver. But the interesting thing is going to be how are they going to fare in the general election in the 8th district, or are they going to go up against Gabe Evans, a thoughtful, Productive hardworking, moderately conservative. Republican in a district that was basically won by Donald Trump by two points. The DSA can win primaries in places like the 7th, 10th, 13th, and the 1st of Colorado. But I think it's going to be a real test of their polling power to see how well they do in the 8th District of Colorado and also in states like Maine and Michigan.
If they nominate Al Sahid in Michigan, I think the Republicans have an excellent chance to swipe a Democratic senatorial seat.
Okay, he said a few things. The one that won, the progressive state candidate, Manny Rutanelle, won that nomination to go against Gabe Evans. And the Cook report says that was likely to flip. That was one of the best chances that the Democrats had to flip that seat. I think it's less likely, but not zero lightly.
When Denver, this is Diane DeGette, who has been representing Denver since 1997, this district, but lost substantially because the DSA stepped up.
Now, I expect some moderates to step up. Like, I don't know if you saw Tom Swazi on our Fox and Friends on Thursday. He came out and said, look, I'm a capitalist and I don't hate Israel. And 17 or 14 others said the same thing. I thought Congressman Jason Rowe would say the same thing as a veteran.
Here's what he said: cut five. Mm. That's why we have primaries, right? That's why primary voters are able to decide. You know, are you taking a PAC money or not?
Like, I don't, for example, because I don't think it's the right thing to do. And then you have to figure out how do you support your entire population? How do you support your entire constituency? How do you create a safe space for one of the most diverse communities in the country? What's he even talking about?
Number one, he doesn't take AIPAC money.
Okay.
Now you just want to be anti-APAC. Maybe he doesn't take PAC money at all. I mean, if you're not going to take APAC money, you're either doing it because you don't want to take any PAC money at all, in which case I salute your honesty and your steadfastness, or because you don't want to take it from Jews, in which case, you know, you're scared of your lesson. It sounds like the latter. It sounds like the latter, or else you would have said, I don't take it.
It sure does. It sure does. So that was a moderate, Carl, and I thought be like someone who declares he's a moderate. But obviously, they're not showing the courage that you would think a veteran would have. Hakeem Jeffries will not call them out.
Chuck Schumer will not call them out. They're probably the two least popular Democrats these days. Their endorsement means nothing.
Well, again, I'm not certain I agree with that. Their endorsement means something. Think about it. What did Schumer do? He got the candidate he wanted in Alaska.
He got the candidate he wanted in Ohio. He got the candidate that he wanted in Texas. He got the candidate he wanted in Montana. He helped engineer a situation where the Democrats had the independent candidate they wanted in Nebraska. And what did the left do?
The left, you know. Basically, turned a seat that they could have flipped in Maine into one where the latest poll has Susan Collins up by three. He won the government. Remember, she never led a single poll six years ago and won by eight. There are a bunch of shy Susan voters in Maine, in my opinion.
But I mean, I love how these people are beating their chest. Oh, congratulations. You got your person nominated in a district where Donald Trump got 11% of the vote and the Democrats ran a mere 77 points ahead of the Republicans in the race for the presidency. Do you think you're going to be able to translate that to the rest of the country?
Well, let me ask something. If you have that guy, Christopher Rabb over in Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania, he's an avowed socialist radical. And then you have uh also you mentioned um Abdul Abdul Al Saeed. Yes, El Saeed, whatever it is. He's up likely to win that primary.
He's winning in almost all the primaries, but head to head with Mike Rogers is one or two points, depending on what poll you look at. How does that even close?
Well, two things. One is, first of all, he's going to go ahead because there's a three-way race. And second of all, he's ahead of he's close to Rogers today because Rogers is laying behind the log, building his resources, and all of the public attention is on the Democratic nominee.
So I think that's going to change after the primary. And he's going to be held to account in a general election for comments that his opponents either cannot or will not hold him to account for.
So Diane DeGette was endorsed by Yakeem Jeffries, and Chuck Schumer wanted the sitting governor of Maine.
So they were rebuked on both counts. Hakeem Jeffries' name was brought up in one of the victory parties, he was booed, and Chuck Schumer tried to walk in a parade and was heckled. I'm not used to seeing that for those two guys, are you? No, and it's a sign of how disruptive the Democratic Party is. And, you know, as an observer, I'm bemused.
As a Republican and a conservative, I'm thrilled. But, you know, the Democrats are going to have to confront their hard left. And, you know, the people who understand that the Democrats are not going to be the majority party or win in 2028 the White House if they keep going far left are the smart people in that party. I mean, again, I repeat. Do you really think that somebody who wins in a district where Donald Trump lost by 77 points?
And that's a district that is far left. Do you think that the person who wins that kind of district in a Democratic primary where less than a third of the votes, the primary vote total was less than a third of the total amount of votes cast in the presidential election? I mean, we're talking about a minority of a minority. You know, a slim majority of a minority winning in these congressional races in districts that are far left, and they're not going to elect a Republican. That's not what America, that's not how you win an election in America by nominating people who can only win in that kind of turf.
So, when you talk about the Supreme Court decision, the one on campaign finance, where it said Republicans wanted to make sure that there would be additional, can you stop me here if you understand it differently? They can communicate with the RNC, the candidate, and with super PACs. And maybe raise the amount of money that they can bring into a campaign. How does that affect a guy? How does it affect a campaign?
Well, first of all, I applaud it because it strengthens parties. Where Citizens United held that money is speech, which is right. At that point, there was only one kind of corporation in America that was allowed to participate openly in political campaigns: labor unions. You know, labor unions put a little bit of money in from their packs, the voluntary contributions of their members. Virtually, you know, the lion's share of the money they spent in political campaigns was taken out of their corporate treasuries.
Nobody volunteered to give that money to politics. They just took it out of the pockets of their members through mandatory dues and then turned around and spent it on politics. Citizens United said everybody can spend whatever they want to spend as long as they are not in coordination with the campaigns. This decision said that political parties, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, can coordinate with candidates and can spend more money on their behalves. It held that the limits on the political parties spending money was unconstitutional because, again, money is.
Speech.
Now this doesn't mean that the parties can take $10 million from a donor and spend it. The limits on how much you can contribute to a party still stand. It was the limit on how much you can spend on behalf of the candidates of your party that was lifted.
So how does that affect the super PACs?
Well, look, I helped found one of the early super PACs on the Republican side. Ed Gillespie and I in 2010 formed American Crossroads Senate Leadership Fund.
So, you know, I understand the importance of super PACs. I also understand their danger. You know, they are independent entities generally run by consultants for the consultants with little or no oversight.
So in the case of American Crossroads Senate Leadership Fund, we said we're going to have an independent board that's going to set compensation. Nobody who works for this super PAC can be paid under the table by any vendor. There has to be, you know, an annual audit, et cetera. That's not how most of these super PACs are run. And so while I think I understand their importance and believe that they have a role, I like it when the parties have a bigger role because the parties are elected.
In the case of the Republican Party, if the president is Republican, they generally pick who the chairman is, but otherwise it's selected by. The state chairman, national committee man, and committee woman from every one of the states and territories, 160 some odd people. And we can hold them accountable. And they have to be publicly audited. And we see their reports, and there are people looking over their shoulder.
So I'm more in favor of strengthening parties. I like the fact that in the 1940s and 50s and 60s and 70s, before we started passing these campaign spending limits, that parties were stronger. I think that both political parties were better when they were led by people who said, I've got authority, I've got resources, and I'm going to deploy them on behalf of candidates and causes that I believe will help us win. That's a lot different than we have today with the super PACs, where it basically is: I'm a consultant, let me get a fundraiser, we'll go out and raise a bunch of money, and I get to be in charge of spending it, and I get to be in charge of determining how much I get paid for that. I cannot tell you how many super PACs I've seen in which the amount of money the consultants are charging is simply irresponsible.
Carl, we only have two minutes left, but I'm watching this Civil War go on with the Democratic Party, and they want to put a nominee out there, likely AOC, for President, maybe more. Do you think Republicans are going to go through something similar in 2018? When Trump's gone? I don't think it will be. Yes, because every time you have somebody new, whether it's Eisenhower leaving, Jeff Ford leaving, Reagan leaving.
I mean, remember, Reagan was very popular in 1988, and yet his vice president, George H.W. Bush, had a primary season and had to win. And I think Reagan wisely waited until September of 1988 to endorse George H.W. Bush. I thought that was smart.
It was good for Bush, and it was good for Reagan. But yeah, I think we're going to have a battle in 28, and the president, I think, is going to make the mistake of thinking that it is better for his cause and his reputation and his role in history to pick who his nominee, who the party's nominee ought to be. But, Carl, that's so interesting. I forgot about that because Eisenhower didn't do much for Nixon, I remember. I wouldn't even remember.
I read. And then Reagan for Bush, I didn't recall. But you don't think it would be insulting for the president not to back his own vice president? Presidential elections are constantly one of two things. They are Change or more the same.
And Reagan was smart enough to understand that after an eight year run, which left him with popularity, his personal approval rating in 1988 was in the sixties, that still the country wanted some kind of a change. And it was one thing for him to run for re-election in 84 and say, You're going to get more of the same from me. But, you know, look, there's a reason why, in the history of the United States, only two vice presidents have succeeded the president under whom they served: Martin Van Buren and George H.W. Bush. It's difficult to do because the constant desire of the American people is change.
Yeah, it's interesting because I know Bill Clinton, I assume he would have endorsed Gore, but Gore wanted no part of him at the time. And Carl, unfortunately, have to leave it there. Just fascinating to talk to you about this. Interesting times, and I can't wait for that RNC midterm convention. Another time for Carl Rove and I to get together in Dallas.
That is tech stat. Yes. Thanks so much, Cole. Back in a moment. It's Brian Kilmade.
Uh From his mouth to your ears, it's Brian Kilmead.
Well, one of the things we're going to have to do is just continue to enforce the border, Laura. This was a very disappointing ruling from the Supreme Court. Of course, we respect it, but we also think that it was a major, major mistake. As Justices Alito and Thomas pointed out, you know, one of the things that might invite Laura is people to come here quite literally on a vacation, give birth, and then all of a sudden the child and their family have the full benefits of American citizenship. It's just a preposterous ruling, and the absurdity of that outcome suggests why the Supreme Court should have gone the other way.
So with the vice president responding to the fact that on a 5-4 vote, they decided to leave birthright citizenship in and not overrule it in the Supreme Court Justice decision.
Now, what the Vice President is saying is disappointing, but not unexpected. What I talked to the Secretary of Homeland Security about this morning, Mark Wayne Mullen, and we talked yesterday on the radio show, and it broke right while he was sitting next to me, is that there's ways to at least pair it back. We're talking about birth tourism, where Chinese and others come here to have a kid born here, you're eight and a half months pregnant, and that kid becomes a citizen. You use that to stay, or you use that later on to vote and to bring your whole family back. They're going to stop that, and they're going to especially crack down in the territories where it's most abused.
Can't we get Democrats to agree that birth tourism doesn't work for America? Why is that a problem? A talk show that's real. This is the Brian Killmeat Show. The Straits of Amuz is a seminal objective that Iran has achieved, to control over it.
I think it's up there with nuclear weapons. And I say that because it gives them deterrence. That gives them dominance and over-escalation. And that is an achievement that they have. I think at some point we'll likely, given what you just heard and what their actions speak, we will find ourselves at some point having to take control of it ourselves and open it up.
And that is General Jack Keen yesterday talking about where we're at right now with Iran. And evidently in Doha, they refused to talk directly. And we're going through intermediaries, at which time they keep reaffirming that they're going to be in control of the strait. Hezbollah is going to continue to be financed and they're going to keep a nuclear weapon. Really?
The MOU was terrible, but there's so much gray area there. If you're even playing good politics or diplomacy, you don't expose your hand unless you felt extremely confident you could. And I think it's a huge mistake on Iran's part who continues to underestimate the president. Wall Street Journal had a story yesterday. I know for a fact it took place where the president sat down with the With the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
As well as General Admiral Cooper, as well as the Secretary of War, and said, what would an all-out resumption full-board war look like? Because he's really thinking about doing it. Not because he's taking it off the table. Yeah, he's more concerned about the economy right now. But he knows exactly what's going on, and Iran continues their delay of game.
Another person who knows that well is my next guest. Congressman Micah McCall of Texas, the 10th District, who was chairman of foreign relations for years. Congressman, welcome back. I see on Zoom, I know you're getting set to go to Ukraine, but for Iran, this situation, what are you hearing is the very latest? Because you've been briefed.
The latest I got was yesterday we met with all the ambassadors from the GCC, that would be the Middle East, the Gulf Coast nations. And I have to tell you, Brian, the one message they wanted me to take away Was that they are all aligned together. They are all supportive of the present. and the United States in our policy. And I think that's very important.
That our allies, our partners in that region, that we're all sticking together against. Iran, I had the opportunity last night to be at the White House. For dinner, and I talked to the president about this very issue. Uh that it needs to stay strong. I, as usual, agree with Jack Keene on this one.
I'm not very sanguine about these negotiations. I think Iran's tactic is to delay. of the process up to the midterm elections. They have found a new power now, and that is they can close down the Straits of Hormuz. And so, you know, I think with that in mind.
I told the President, stay strong, because you're the first President to act on this in almost 50 years, and it was going to come to a head at some point, and we have to see this thing through. We do. But the President also wants to keep the straight open at the same time because I know you're not running for re-election, but a lot of your colleagues are. And especially if that Senate seat in Texas is up, and they'll be saying, hey, if gas is $450, the reality is you guys might not hold the House or the Senate.
So the President's got to weigh all of that. Do you think he's far away from November enough that if you want all back all in for the next two, three weeks, do enough damage to have Long-term success.
Well, I mean, there are several options here, right? I mean, the president's not going to telegraph a lot of those and he shouldn't. Uh, we could take over the Hornoz straits, as Jack Keene has said. Look, I'm all for negotiating, I'm all for trying to achieve a peace deal. Uh, but at the same time, as Reagan said, trust and verify, I don't Iran has not a great track record.
And as long as we're dealing with this regime, I think you're going to deal with someone who's not negotiating in good faith. Uh but but you know I I you know I you know The vice president was there last night. I know his view is a little different from the President's. He really. Uh, once peace, I we all want that, um, but we got to get the streets of hormones open.
in the short term at a minimum here because as you pointed out, You know, I just filled my car up with gas back in Austin. And you're astounded by how much more expensive it is. And so the voter out there is angry about that. They go to the grocery store. They're angry about the higher prices at the grocery store.
So we understand the political dynamics here as well, but so does Iran. And I think that's why they would want to extend this. As close to the midterm elections as possible.
So I just think, first, for your earlier point, I was just watching some of the Middle Eastern television. Through translation, and they were saying there's a bit of a schism between Saudi Arabia and Saudi Arabia as well as Another one of those nations. Who uh c uh cutter. who are saying we we might have a reapproachment conference and meeting with Iran as opposed to the UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait, who are standing strong with us. Have you noticed that schism?
Interestingly, the meeting I told you about we had yesterday with the ambassadors, the one nation not in attendance was. was Kevin. And or Qatar, and that that kind of speaks volumes. I I think uh they like to play both sides. Yeah, you do.
Kind of like ISI does in Pakistan.
So they kind of play both sides.
Now, Oman was there. They said, we want. You to know that Iran's trying to play us against each other, but that Oman stands with the president and with the United States. And we're all aligned in this. The one issue I brought up.
Brian, with the ambassador from Oman, is you guys got to start working on a pipeline through Oman into the Gulf.
So we're we're never dependent on the strengths of hormoose. Given Iran's capability to shut it down. Saudi Arabia has. I hear they're moving eight million barrels a day through uh th you know, through the I think it's the Red Sea. through the other direction, which they're worried about the Houthis cutting that off, but that'll be that's for another story.
But in the big picture, without giving away any intelligence, have you seen a military plan for taking over the strait, Congressman McCall, that made you feel as though we were ready to implement it and would be effective? Ep Of course, we have contingency plans for any and all operations, including the one you discussed. Uh I have a great confidence in uh And sitcom's capabilities. Uh I think they did a tremendous job. Uh in the original strike.
I would have preferred if they would have been able to go further and really finish. The job, but we had a a break for ceasefire negotiations. But in terms of our military, I have great confidence they can achieve that. Yes. He was the Vice President yesterday, Cut 33 with Laura.
The Iranians have not hit ships in the last couple of weeks, and the oil is flowing in the Strait of Hormuz, in part because the President made very clear that if the Iranians hit ships, we were going to hit back.
So, you know, it's going to take sometimes the carrot and the stick here. But Laura, I actually think that the United States is in a great position, however, the negotiation ultimately shakes out. If the negotiation is successful, which obviously we want it to be successful, you have an Iran that is permanently transformed, that's not funding regionals' terrorism and instability, that has permanently given up on any nuclear weapons ambition, and that as a result is welcomed back into the world economy. That's a great outcome for the American people. It's a great outcome for the whole region.
What is the likelihood of that Last statement. Yeah, if I can be honest with you, and I can't at this juncture in my crew may. I'm not as sanguine as the vice president about all that. I don't think. The straits are fully open.
I don't think they're giving up on the proxies. As long as this regime is in power, we're going to have problems with Iran. And so. Look, I I'm an eternal optimist. I applaud the Vice President for his optimism here, but I'm also eyes wide open on the situation.
Now, the trunk card, and this is an appropriate way to say it here. is President Trump. He provides the fear factor that gives us strength in the negotiations because they have no idea. What he's going to do. He's so unpredictable.
He is so bold and he's so strong. Uh that is what should be helping the Vice President. In his negotiations. And I know Talking to the president last night. Uh look if they don't play ball in this He's not shy about using force and he will.
Yeah, I think it's a joke when they say the president doesn't want to use force. Have they met him? Have you seen what he's done? Midnight Hammer, Solomania, now this.
So, Chairman, I want to talk about Ukraine. I'm seeing these things on this video. They're running out of gas and oil in Russia. Evidently, they've done such a good job, Ukraine, in engineering their own long-range missiles that there's almost no major city not within their range. What are you hearing about Ukraine's push four years into this war?
Well, here we are, four years going on five that we were told four days would be over. You know, I I think uh Russia Is the Emperor has no clothes? Here's a paper tigerite. I'm astounded at the the at the remarkable strength of Ukraine against Uh, what we thought was a superpower. You know, the innovation and technology that, quite frankly, We can learn things from how to counter Shahad drones.
All the ambassadors I talked to yesterday. Ukraine is helping them counter the shader on the Middle East. Uh, and they're actually winning this thing. I'm going to be well. Can't get into for operation security purposes on the trip, but I will be observing drone activities.
And the fact is, they are hitting Mary Opal to get that back. Also, Crimea. They have cut off the land bridge, the energy. It's an isolated island now. They are hitting Interior Russia and their oil and refinery.
Putin is feeling the hurt right now. My hope Is that Congress can get off its duff and passed strong sanctions against Putin. Not to punish him per se, although I don't mind doing that, but to get him to the negotiating table so that the President can negotiate a good deal. Um Tougher sanctions would lead us down that path. And that'll be part of my visit and the reason why I'm going there.
Do you think the President would sign it? You know, I think given the right people in his ear and the right arguments, that he would. At the end of the day, He wants to be known as a peacemaker. If he has the opportunity to broker a peace settlement between Ukraine and Russia, He knows that's part of his legacy. It makes his presidency stronger.
And I could think of no better way to do it than to put these tougher sanctions. You know, Putin, especially. The fact that it has been demonstrated by Ukraine that they can. When the same they have pushed Russia. Out, the tide has turned.
This is a time.
So I'm going to ask you about Texas for a second. I thought that Senator John Kuhn is one of the classiest people I've met. In or at Washington. I really would prefer he be the nominee. But it's Ken Paxson, and they're in a flat-footed tie with James Tallarico, who's talented, but his beliefs seem to be more suited for New York than Texas.
Why are they tied? And what do you think? And I know Ted Cruz had a hard time too. You know, he didn't waltz to reelection.
So, what do you think is going on? What is it going to take for Paxton to win in Texas?
Well, at first, I agree with your sentiments about John Korn. I was his deputy. Attorney General for four years. He and I have done a lot in Congress together. That's a big loss for the Congress.
I don't think the voters back home realize how effective he's been. He was very close to being majority leader of the Senate. Lost by one vote. I think the reason why it's so close is because, as I predicted, Patterson has so much baggage and it was exposed during the primary. And now we're going through a sort of damage control crisis.
that has now been presented to us. I do think, though, that Tell Rico, they call him Telefrico, by the way, in my state, that he has not been defined. And you know these things work in a generic pole. They seem to be even. I think once.
Tell Rico's defined with all the strange interpretations of You know, uh I don't know, his interpretation of God or gender. Uh stuff. I mean I I really think Texas, at the end of the day, is still a very right conservative state. And they're not going to elect uh somebody like this guy.
So just to give you an idea, I know you're a very patriotic guy. As many people in this country aren't only fifty-three percent declare themselves to be very pro-American in America. I want you to hear some of the past statements from Democrats, including Tylerico, Cut twelve. We're not going to make America great again. It was never that great.
The American flag is such a complicated symbol for most of us. And in many ways, like Jesus, like the cross, it's been co-opted and And in some ways, its true meaning has been betrayed. No, no, no. Not God bless America. God damn America that's in the Bible.
Honey, Father, do not live and die for this moment. I can't celebrate. Yeah, like force. Retired! We want some of this earth.
We'll tear this goddamn country up. I mean, that seems to be something that would resonate more than what we're seeing in Washington. I saw 10 states not show up to the state fair. You know, to the National Fair on the Fourth of July. All right, so as you leave the stage in DC, what do you think?
Well, via State Fair of Texas, we get a day out from school. It's one of my favorite days of the year, you know. Uh those statements actually make me sick to my stomach. Yeah, here's a picture of my dad. He was a bombineer on a B-17.
This is the the B seventeen at Barton and Nazis. One Defeated the most evil fortress of mankind. I'm the son of a D-Day veteran? What they handed down to this country. Should be respected and appreciated.
They handed down a better America to this country, to my generation. And patriotism ran in their bloodstream, in their veins. To hear these disgusting comments about this country. They're not patriots. You're traitors.
And it's that simple. And I don't have a lot of patience for that. It's American to question. It's American to debate. The issues?
It's not American. In fact, it's un-American to say disgraceful things about this country like that. I hear you. Congressman Mike McCall, thanks so much. I'll talk to you soon, and best of luck in Ukraine.
Yeah. Thanks, Brian. Thanks for having me. You got it. Back in a moment.
Where big stories meet bigger conversations. Stay informed and energized with the Brian Killmeat Show. A radio show like no other. It's Brian Killmead. Sponsored by Previgen.
Previgion made for your brain. The establishment is, it is determined to enrich itself. And that is why right now the establishment, the billionaires, the corporations, the people who have made all the money off of the system Susan Collins has built, they are spending an immense amount of money to protect themselves. They do not understand this place. They don't know Maine.
They don't know Mainers. They don't understand that we down here in the real world in the state of Maine, we care far more about each other than their profits. Really? Sam Susan Collins doesn't know Maine? That's ridiculous.
Graham Plattner, the horrible candidate, who should not even be on any ballot. He should be finding out why he's going on those dating websites and why he got that Nazi tattoo.
Meanwhile, polls not good for Mr. Plattner. Overall, Susan Collins, who Tormus O reports, is always trailing in the polls and always wins.
Now she's actually winning. 50 to 47. I know it's early and there's much more, but Platter was complaining he doesn't have enough money. They're pouring too much money in. It's making it too hard for him.
They don't understand Maynards. Nobody understands Maine better than Susan Collins, and no one gets under the President's skin more than Susan Collins because she goes, she's, I think, a moderate Republican. A lot of what the president does It is I think conservative, but sometimes he'll go to the middle. At certain moments, but it kind of drives him crazy when Collins and Murkowski and now Tillis and Cassidy go against him.
So he's gonna stay out of this race. But they're gonna try to say that she's MAGA, please. I mean Nobody buys that. And in Maine, they're too smart. They know what she's been doing.
Now we have a grand platinum to define her.