The Brian Kilmeade Show

From Highway 2. Top Fox News headquarters in New York City. Always seeking solutions, never sowing division. It's Brian Kilmead. Hi, everyone.

So glad you're there. It's the Brian Killmead Show. We have a lot on the docket today, including what's going to be happening on Capitol Hill. We're going to get some economic numbers. The President of the United States is going to Texas to try to save Ken Paxon.

And believe it or not, there's a lot of border states that when they did their redistricting in Texas, they thought they were going to be Republican. They have to go down there, and the president's got to sell it. It's a shame. There should be other people out there saying the president's message and then letting people decide. But he's going down to raise money for Ken Paxon, who's now down to $2 million.

Brett Baer is standing by. Claire Morrell at the bottom of the hour, the tech exit author in ethics, the author of Author in Ethics and the Public Policy Center Fellow. We'll talk about that with Claire, about what happened with that meta-trial.

So let's get to the big three. Number three. They were offered quite a good deal last week. They chose to reject it. Unfortunately, Prime Minister Kearney rose to power on an anti-American, anti-Trump platform.

Treasury Secretary, talking about the Canadian deal. What really happened behind the scenes to collapse the trade deal with Canada? We find out and see what it means for your balance sheet and the midterms. Number two. A landmark settlement with Meta, the owner of Instagram and Facebook, that will send $18 billion to dozens of states.

Meta also agreed to stronger child safety measures, like a two-hour time limit for teens, notifications that will be muted during school hours, no more access to its platforms at night, and more user-friendly parental controls.

So Meta settles as social media continues to write billion-dollar checks to pay for its addictive practices and its effect on kids and a generation of kids who are now young adults. Question: Does anything really change from here? And will other platforms like TikTok be held accountable? Two, we discuss. Number one.

I strongly disagree with many of the things that a songpiper has said. I think it's incumbent upon. Abdul to make it very clear to people that he doesn't agree with things that Hassan Piker says. Really? Congresswoman Debbie Dingell of Michigan, pullout continues over Piker and the DSA gets AOC as Trump gets ready to take to the road for the last time to save his last two years.

Brett Baer joins us now, Chief Political Anchor of Fox News, anchor of Special Report. Also, his best-selling book still available, The Case for America: An Argument on Behalf of Our Nation, and host of Spy Nation on Fox Nation, as well as he's got a great show on socialisms out there right now. Brett, welcome back. Your thoughts, your thoughts, first off on this Canadian deal. When you start talking to people, how did we have a deal Friday afternoon and it all explode Friday night?

Yeah, good morning. I think the Canadians, the politics of the moment got to them. I think What what happened was that um internal Canadian politics Uh over road. What was a pretty good deal from the past negotiations that the US had with Canada? We were giving a lot on steel.

We were giving specifics that hadn't been given before. I think the President was in the mood to wrap it up. The trade. Um Representative Greer thought The US was bending over as far as bending towards Canada. Uh and the Canadians had some political pressure on the inside.

That's To Besson's point, Carney became prime minister based on an anti-Trump run, and I think they couldn't stomach it. He went to this thing that the President was going to threaten the French, and the President said that was never the case.

So I think they were looking for an excuse to get out of the deal. Here's Jameson Greer cut 29. They came to us and they wanted to negotiate a deal and we said, fine, we're happy to do that. And we offered them an even better deal to reduce their tariffs on steel, aluminum, autos, and lumber to the best in the world. And we believed we had a deal.

They went back to Ottawa. They came back the next day. They took issue with how some of it might be implemented. But ultimately, when what seemed like a political decision, they decided to reject this and go in favor of some of the rhetoric you're seeing now.

So some of the things that they're threatening now is to cut off electricity, Ontario cutting electricity to Maine. That's what Doug Ford is saying. Yeah. Yes. I mean, there's some crazy threats, and they've already kind of retaliated against about twenty eight billion dollars of U.

S. goods. And that'll have an effect. There's not This trade wars never work well for the the The specific products that are involved, and there'll be some pain. And you know, everybody, Canada, Iran, China.

They're operating in a bubble that they know this is going to be September here, October. And November is the midterm. And it looks like they are taking special aim at Maine, Michigan. Uh Maine, Michigan, and uh Ohio.

So they actually and Maine especially, this really damages Susan Collins. And it looks like the Canadian Prime Minister is sending a letter to almost every governor explaining his side of the story, the Canadian side of the story, and try to play politics in America from Canada. That to me is an unbelievable that is a burning your bridges move. Yeah, and you know, they need to be careful because it is, we are a massive economy, and Canada. does need the US.

Mexico is negotiating currently. And they're much more, it's under the radar, but much. better as far as the relationship and what the negotiation looks like.

So If you're starting to play with Senate seats, in Maine and Michigan and Ohio. In Ohio, that falls right into Sherrod Brown. I mean, it's what he talks about every day. It's going to be tough.

So, I want to talk about what else is going on. Speaking of Michigan, a lot of deleted tweets are being dug up now about Abdul El-Syed. You know, about him calling, you know, we already know about his football references, says it's racist. We also know that he's obsessed with the new Green Deal, and that was something now he's deleting because I think SAT ship has passed. And then the guy that he calls one of his really good friends who appeared as a last day trying to close out Haley Stevens and win the nomination, which he did, Hassan Piker, is now front and center because he basically said Jews are jeopardizing their own welfare by supporting Israel and America.

Here's what Abdul El-Syed said yesterday in Ann Arbor about Piker. Cut one. Hassan Piker is a streamer in California. You would think, if you turned on any media, that this whole campaign is about a streamer in California. That's not what this campaign has ever been about.

This campaign has always been about the ability to afford your groceries in Michigan. the ability to send their kid to a big school in Michigan. the ability to see a doctor in Michigan. Those are the questions I'm talking about.

So he's pretending as if he didn't play a major role in his success and their friendship. They work out together. They drink together. They hang out together. And he goes on his podcast as if he can disassociate himself.

Do you think it matters? Yeah, I do think it matters. I think Hassan Piker is a factor. And I do think that. Um Syed is, you know, trying to distance himself from him, but um.

Every time Piker speaks out, he says, She has a close relationship and he's working with him r like every week.

So, I mean, it doesn't really fly the whole distancing. And You know, to Debbie Dingell's point, There are a lot of Democrats who'd like to distance themselves from Hassan Piker, but it's a factor. It's You know, part of the split in the Democratic Party. Trevor Burrus, Jr.: So, one thing I think that you like about politics, you like the strategy like I do, the strategy, what goes into it. It's very much like sports.

So explain this strategy to me. And maybe I'm missing something. AOC, you would think if she's going to be a presidential candidate and not run for the New York Senator, would start spreading her wings and moderating, and she showed signs of that. But then yesterday it became clear that she has rejoined the DSA. Her membership stopped paying dues, I guess, in 2019.

She's back. How does that help you in 2028 to go... with this organization that's obviously at the very least polarizing.

Okay. I don't know. You know, maybe from the inside. try to take the more radical elements and Make them passionate towards you, and then Go after the rest of the party? I'm not sure, but.

Clearly, they think that the DSA numbers are going up. And you mentioned that special. The Unauthorized History of Socialism, Volume 3. It goes into the history of the DSA. Uh how it started the evolution over the years and what has been said from the very beginning.

And it's It's pretty interesting if you go back to the beginning and where it is now. Exponentially, more powerful politically.

So what is your uh Understanding of why John Radcliffe hopped on a plane and went to Russia, spent 72 hours on the ground, and then left. Here's what Victoria Coates thought, Cut 34. It was actually only on the ground, I think, for six hours, David. This was a really quick trip for John Ratcliffe. I think if you look at the reports out of the UK that they're doing a program to tell UK citizens to harbor 72 hours of water and tin food, I think that we have credible reports of a cyber attack on the UK.

I think that's what that is about. Wow. And I also hear reports that they say, and they've picked up rhetoric, that they're looking to rattle the cages of NATO members. We know about the IED that was found in Germany. We know they continue to probe and infiltrate into Moldova.

There's some nervousness with the Baltics as they tried to activate. And there's a lot of activity around Colingrad. What is Brett Baer here? Yeah, that's what I hear. I think that there was some kind of movement against the NATO ally.

We have decent intelligence or strong intelligence that it's. about to happen or was going to happen and that was a face to face, we know what you're doing. you know, the White House is gonna push back on that, but you would think that they would in that You know, once that door is opened, um By NATO charter, we we are an Article V country that would Respond. one one would think. And um you know, once that happens, it's a whole different ballgame.

You know, I think Russia is a dog up against the walls. And they're hurting from some of these attacks from Ukraine deep into Russia. And they may lash out like that dog would.

So here's the perspective in reading some of the Russian newspapers, but not in my native tongue, Russian. I read them in English. Um what they're saying is when they get attacked by Ukraine, they believe that that's from th it's all because of NATO's help. And they they're starting to view that as attacks of NATO on them, justifying a would-be retaliatory attack on the w in Europe or us. And they're really they were looking for a major surge in this winter to put maximum pain on Ukraine, and they wanted to give a brushback pitch to NATO that we're going to start hitting you if you don't back off.

Have you heard that? Yeah, I think that fits with You know, this whole messaging and what does that look like? Does Russia use a tactical nuke inside Ukraine? I there were reports that China and India were sending messages to Russia to not do that um So there's been a lot of reporting out there about warnings, and I think we're getting close to Russia doing something that You know, the world's going to have to react to it. And, Brad, lastly, I know we have this midterm.

RNC. First time ever, conference. We're going to see a big convention. Are you going number one and number two? Is this going to run, do you think, like a.

Convention in a presidential year? Doesn't sound like it's going to run like exactly like a convention, but it's going to have some hoopla. Yeah, we're going to have prime time coverage. Martha and I will be there. And the Vice President speaks on Wednesday, the President's the keynote on Thursday, but he's the President's going to be there both nights.

And I think they're going to try to gin it up. You know, the president has been saying that the election he's not on the ballot, but I think this is a 180. They're going to try to make this that he is on the ballot. And if you want to stop socialism, if you want to keep the border secure, if you want the continued efforts to get the economy to be cooking, you know, once you get over the Iran war, I think they're going to put a lot of money into defending President Trump and thereby defending some of these House seats. Yeah, we'll see what's happening.

I hear he's very frustrated with Ken Paxson. Really, not a lot of energy, certainly not a lot of money. And the President put a lot on the line to back him up. What are you hearing about Texas in that Senate race? I mean, depending on the poll, passion's down four, down five.

Um strong Democratic candidates in Texas before, but it's always been Charlie Brown and Lucy in the football. At the last minute, Republicans pull it out. This may be the biggest blue threat that Texas has seen, but they're going to spend a ton of money trying to resuscitate Paxton, and they didn't have to had the President chosen to just endorse John Corn, the sitting senator. No question. Ken Paxton, too, at the very least, you got to hustle.

That's one thing the President doesn't usually tolerate when you don't try. Brett Baer, can't wait for your show tonight at six. And check out your Fox Nation special. It's a Socialism Special Part 3, but check it out now on Fox Nation. Brett, thanks.

See ya. Back in a moment. Real talk, real guests, real insight. Where curiosity meets conversation is the Brian Killmeat Show. Did you know Fox News has a wine shop?

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Just got a couple of minutes, but then is there a lot to go over? I'm going to go over the tech side with Claire Morrell and what it really means. In this about five minutes, what it really means with this lawsuit being settled out of court for billions of dollars. You know, the families don't get the money. The states get the money and they'll put them to some programs that we hope are relevant to all this.

But the question is: is this like the tobacco suit when people said, all right, they unwound the fact that tobacco is addicting and that these tobacco companies going out of their way to addict you to this product and admit that it causes cancer and it changed everything. Is this that moment? 'Cause you had a a generation and a half grow up with social media and you see the depression, you see the communication, you see some of the belligerent behavior, the loneliness that's taken place, it got worse during the pandemic, and then you see on social media now that so many kids and teens are now going to be restricted. You see countries now having restrictions. And we'll talk about that in a moment.

I just want to mention a couple of things about Iran. It might not have made headlines because there's so much else going on, including that horrific mudslide. Over in Nepal, this looks like a horror show. But Iran and Oman will take part in a revenue sharing agreement as part of an interim deal to reopen the control of the Strait of Hermuz. That's a non-starter.

What are you even doing? Number one, Oman supposed to be an ally of ours, and you'd worked out a toll-sharing, revenue-sharing agreement with this outlaw nation, Iran. I mean, that is subversive. Remember, the president said if they keep this up, I'm going to bomb them. We should start looking at targets in Oman if this is going to be the case.

Certainly start freezing their funds if they're going to continue to try to. provide a a lifeline to Iran. Where I have seen video. There are lines for gas, and that country is basically a gas station. And the reason their lines are so long is because we have the blockade in place.

And guess who does most of their refining? UAE. Guess who has totally cut them off after they have bombed their gas fields and hit them more than any other Gulf State country? UAE. I mean, they're becoming the most dependable ally in the region.

They also split up from OPEC, too.

So they're paying the price inside. Iran and Oman, this is a non-starter. When Trump here says he's going to hit the roof, I want to see how many ships are actually getting through. We heard on Monday 27. We want about 100 a day.

So we're getting there. You listen to Brian Killman show. Did you know Fox News has a wine shop? Did you also know you can get ahead and start on your Christmas shopping? That's right.

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A radio show like no other. It's Brian Killmead.

Some parents are both the first and the last line of defense, but what this does is empowers parents. Parents have been fighting the technology. It's been as if, as a parent, this technology is on the other side of the V, and parents have been losing. Certainly, parents are the last line of defense, but parents have been outgunned. And what this is, is empowering parents finally that the technology is not working against us.

And that's the reflection on a ruling yesterday that has met a. Not a ruling, but all sides accept an out-of-court settlement before they went to a jury, before Mark Zuckerberg had to go testify again. Usually it's a disaster. Claire Morrell joins us now. The tech exit is an Amber Book.

She's on the Ethics and Policy Center. She's a fellow there. Claire, your thoughts about the impact of this decision to settle with Meta, which includes Facebook and Instagram? Yes, I think the biggest impact of this is actually that they have agreed to really robust age verification requirements. And so, this is something states have already been doing.

They've been passing laws to require age verification and parental consent for social media. And Meta has fought those laws at every turn. And now they're saying, oh, actually, we can do age verification. During the trial back in March, you know, Mark Zuckerberg said under oath, oh, you know, kids lie about their age to get on our platforms, and we have rules kind of like, what can we do to keep these underage minors off? And now they're saying, oh, we will.

We will have a robust age verification process. And so this will really ensure that the youngest kids in America are protected from Meta's platforms. Under 13-year-olds will not be allowed on. And it then additionally will mean that for minors under the age of 18, there are now certain safeguards the company has agreed to in this settlement agreement, like an overnight shutdown from midnight to At 6 a.m., a two-hour time limit across their platforms, disabling some of the most dangerous features like these cosmetic filters that have been causing so much of the mental health issues we're seeing in young girls, and disabling notifications during school hours and overnight.

So, those are some big changes to their industry. And I think we'll see how that impact plays out. But time will tell. This is just one platform. It's just meta.

So, this isn't across all social media platforms, but this is a big start. Right.

So, with $16.7 billion, it's going to be divided by states, not to families that are victims of their kids committing suicide or anything to that nature or who have psychological damage.

So, this money is going to go out, and you would hope that the money goes to addressing this cause. But are they obligated to use some, let's say, it's 47 states, so they're going to be getting 500 million or something like that? Are they obligated to do something with this money? Yeah. So the financial piece of it is actually in my book, it's probably like the least impactful.

Like this is not a lot of money because the state of New Mexico won its trial and they got nearly a billion dollars. And that was just for their state of New Mexico.

So the financial amount As you said, it's supposed to be paid out over 10 years, and it's to all these 47 states.

So that's actually kind of a small amount relatively per state, because to be honest, the 17 billion, that's about a month or two of Meta's profits. This is not a huge hit to their revenue. I think that the compromise made here by the attorneys general was they really wanted these design changes, this age verification framework in place, because that is going to have the bigger impact over the long term. And that might actually affect Meta's bottom line ad revenue from kids much more than the kind of payouts they have to make to states. As far as I know, there's not a ton of strings attached, though I think part of the settlement agreement is some of this money is going into these funds to help provide youth mental health counseling services in these states to fund a like national suicide crisis hotline.

So there is a little bit of line item delineated that some of these funds in the settlement must go to some of these support services. 63% of teens use Instagram, 31% use Facebook, but this is why it's got to spread. 92% use YouTube. And sixty eight percent use TikTok. I think TikTok's even higher.

So is there a I know don't you think there's an inherent obligation for these other platforms to weigh in? Or do you think they're just going to keep their heads down and plow through? A lot of them are writing checks before going to court. No, I think that's exactly right.

So, YouTube, Snapchat, and TikTok are also all named in this lawsuit. And so, I think that, in my mind, these negotiations are ongoing and that it's in their best interest. They have the incentive now, especially with Meta settling, to follow suit. And that's even part of this settlement agreement: if YouTube and TikTok and Snapchat also agree to these design requirements, including a one-hour time limit on each of their platforms per day for minors, then that will unlock an additional $5 billion from Meta.

So, Meta is saying we will give you more money if these other platforms also have to abide by these design requirements. And that's been part of the problem, right? The industry hasn't done this voluntarily because they're afraid if they put these safeguards in place and their competitors don't, they're going to lose users to those competitive platforms. Yeah, and we should.

So, we do kind of need an industry-wide solution. I think it's in their best interest to follow Meta or a federal standard that they all have to adhere to. the next TikTok comes in, and they're not going to say we're doing whatever we want.

So I hope Congress understands that.

So, looking at this social media in particular, so for example, if I have a product, I would love for you to continue to use that product, right? Whether it's my hot dog stand down the block or whether it's my television series that's on Netflix, I want to hook you in, Claire. That's within capitalism.

So But I can't do it. Diabolically. I don't want to give you a product that addicts you physically to that, whether it's alcohol or there's restrictions on alcohol. From what you could say, does social media go beyond just trying to get your eyeballs in order to sell more sponsorship? And make more revenue?

Were they doing something that they knew was damaging? to this generation and didn't care in your view. Yes, absolutely. I really think this is the big tobacco moment for big tech because, yes, you can try to make your product as appealing and competitive to users to attract them to it.

However, you cannot unfairly and deceptively market your product in a way that's harming consumers. And so that's what these lawsuits were alleging. They were using states' consumer protection statutes because we have to have protection in place for consumers. You can't just sell a product that is extremely addictive or harmful and not warn users about it.

So right now we have warnings on tobacco products so that you are making an informed decision as a consumer. And so that's really the crux of these lawsuits is that for years they were addicting youth to their platforms and knowingly harming them. They were doing surveys showing that this was negatively impacting teens' mental health. And they hid and concealed this from the public. And so that is really what makes this compelling case that they.

They were deceiving consumers and deceiving parents because they said, Hey, our products are safe for kids. Put just the time limits, parental controls in place, and they'll be fine. And that didn't bear out. In fact, Meta's internal research showed that parental controls being enabled had little to no impact on teens' compulsive use of their platform. And they didn't use the term addiction internally, but they knew they would use this term compulsive use.

They knew that these products were really addicting teens at such a level that it wasn't just appealing to use, that they actually couldn't stop using the product.

So, even if they wanted to.

So, I want you to hear Russell Coleman is the Kentucky Attorney General. He's getting $350 million. Here's what he says he's going to do with a Cut 18. That's not my call. It's the decision of our legislature.

And I was in middle school during the tobacco settlement. That is great precedent. I would also add opioids to that list of accomplishments. Of attorneys general in showing up and protecting our states. We're using opioid settlement money to save lives, to prevent harm.

Yeah, and here's what the meta legal chief, the chief legal officer said, cut 20. Our new time limit commitments, night mode features, and usage limits during school hours set the right path forward for our whole industry. As a parent, I'm proud both of the work META has done to protect kids historically and of this new groundbreaking agreement. I would feel much better about that if they did that before the court case. Exactly.

It's like they could have done this all along, but clearly they didn't until they were compelled to by litigation. And you were saying that we need a federal standard. This is a great step in the right direction. I don't think it eliminates the need for legislation because, as you were saying, this is just one platform and we want these standards across the industry. And so I do think it's an important step, but we still have more work to do in terms of making sure that all platforms are abiding by these types of safeguards.

And I would say I would hope the U.S. would really follow the example of Australia and the UK and actually raise the age of social media. I think 13 is still too young for developing brains to be exposed to the kinds of features that social media has. And this settlement does nothing to change the business model and its algorithms.

So, yes, there's time limits, they're disabling some of these features, but they're not changing the method of their business, which is collecting data on children and then targeting them with advertisements and algorithms that keep them hooked. And even a two-hour daily Time limit, that's enough time for a child to become addicted because, in that time, they're getting these constant bursts of dopamine in their brain. And so, I would love to see us move more that direction of actually just raising the age somewhere higher, like 16 or 18, the way we have higher age limits for alcohol and tobacco. Right.

So, for example, if you're love hockey, it's going to keep giving you hockey highlights. Oh, what's the problem with that? It's like watching ESPN, but with that comes other things. Just to give you an idea of what other countries are doing, in Denmark, the Danish government announced a plan to bar anyone under 15. Australia was the first, but they're having trouble keeping teenagers true.

A lot of them are just circumventing the process.

Some say you got to get them get the ni the ones that are going to be affected are the eight and nine-year-olds that never were on social media. Spain's prime ministers put it at 16. Indonesia, a ban in Indonesia on social media used by children under 16. Brazil, in March, social media users under 16 have been required to link their accounts to a legal guardian. Austria says in March that it also planned to ban social media use for children under fourteen.

In Turkey under fifteen Malaysia. They passed a measure barring children under 15 from all platforms. Over 8 million users in Malaysia went into effect in that country. And they also restricted the use of TikTok, which almost everyone should do anyway.

So it looks like we're almost late to the party, and it looks like we're just kind of waking up now, but a generation or two has passed. Would you also say, Claire, it's hard to crack down on kids that already had access since they were maybe 10 years old.

Now tell them at 13, give me that. You can't use that at this time. Uh let me put those parental controls on there. Yes, it's certainly harder, though. I tell parents, and I explain this in my book: it's never too late to reverse course.

Just like anyone can break a bad habit, you know, is that an excuse for an adult to give up smoking once they learn that tobacco is harmful? No, people quit. You can actually recover from these addictions. And so, yes, it is always easier. It's going to be easier to protect those who haven't been exposed, but it's really never too late to reverse course.

And I do think the U.S. has been a little late to the party. And, you know, parents are on the front lines. We're not helpless. We can do this.

We can keep our own kids off social media. But certainly, laws like those we're seeing internationally that raise the age, that's a huge support to help parents because now it's placing the burden on the companies to keep these underage kids off. Because, as you may know, in the U.S., to get on social media, you just enter your birth date and click a box. Like, there has not been any age verification or parental consent required to make a social media account. And so, it's actually difficult for parents even to kind of effectively police keeping their.

kids off social media, which is why this meta-settlement is really, I think, going to effectively help parents keep those under 13 year olds off entirely. And so I hope we're kind of going in the right direction. I'd love to see that age raised even higher, but it's not too late. I want parents to know that. And I think that you can still reverse course and take these things away.

And there is kind of a detox period, but their brains can actually recover. But you know what? Adults should set a good example too and not be on their phones all day. A lot of times they can. 100%.

Yeah. Claire Morrell wrote the book, The Tech Exit, Go Out and Pick It Up. And we'll see if these changes really make a difference. Claire, thanks so much. Thank you for having me.

You got it. 1866-408-7669. We have a lot to discuss today, including the fallout over Hassan Piker and the DSA, who just welcomed in Welcome Back AOC. Why is that okay? Diving deep into today's top stories, it's Brian Kilmead.

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We'll deliver it free right to your doorstep in time for the holiday season. Quantities are limited, so visit FoxNewsWineshop.com today. The more you listen, the more you'll know. It's Brian Kilmead. I would, everything's on the table, but I can't do it alone.

You know, I'm not the only province that ships electricity down to the U.S. We need a team Canada approach. And I'd be happy within the provinces to lead that approach. If this escalates and we can't get back to the table and he keeps coming after us, all options are on the table, in my opinion. That is Doug Ford considering cutting off electricity to places like Maine, which I don't even know why we're importing electricity from another country.

Makes absolutely no sense to me, but you can explain it to me someday. And he's saying, yeah, I might cut off Maine from their electric base. Really? And he says we can't get back to the table. It seems as though they're the ones who walked away from the table.

So I guess he's not at the table in defense of him. But listen to Mayor Olivia Chow when asked, would you support what Doug Ford is doing? And that is possibly taking electricity away. This is from the Mayor of Toronto, Cut 28. Doug Ford also told the Associated Press that if this fight gets worse, the way he put it is everything is on the table, including cutting off electricity from Ontario going into the United States.

Do you support that move? Uh well, whatever it takes. whatever it takes, upping the price of electricity, we have to get attention because this could not continue. Proactively cutting off electricity going into the United States. You would support that move.

As a measure to get the US to the negotiating table.

Well, I think whatever a premier needs to do. Think about that. I mean, if you're going to cut off electricity, what they're doing is they're trying to make big deals with China. Can you believe this? China was taking their people off the streets in China and putting them in prison, basically holding them hostage.

And now they're looking to set up Did trade deals with China. They want 50% of all their trade coming from China.

Now, it doesn't really help us. You know what they're also going to do? Destroy any type of car industry. They're telling us, oh, we want to be able to make automobiles. You import those cheap China cars.

Uh and you will not have a car industry. We pretty much said don't do it. They are going to do a deal. And China will do a deal, but they're going to be the most independable, non-dependable partner you could imagine. They also say we have almost no trade with India.

We're going to start with India. All right. Uh go ahead. You can go try that and see what happens. Your economy is heading into a recession.

Your unemployment is basically twice what ours is. You have absolutely no army. And you're taking the army of you and the economy of 350 million people who are just miles away and saying that'd be better off with China. Don't understand that logic. Here's Jameson Greer, cut twenty nine.

They came to us and they wanted to negotiate a deal and we said, fine, we're happy to do that. And we offered them an even better deal to reduce their tariffs on steel, aluminum, autos, and lumber to the best in the world. And we believed we had a deal. They went back to Ottawa. They came back the next day.

They took issue with how some of it might be implemented. But ultimately, when what seemed like a political decision, they decided to reject this and go in favor of some of the rhetoric you're seeing now.

Yeah, all right. Down we're doing this.

Now, I heard conflicting reports early on that we changed things at the last minute. I think Howard Lutnick and Jamison Greer aren't necessarily on the same page. Howard Luttnick was there for Liberation Day, which I don't think was well thought out. Canada's foreign minister said he flagged associated risks of trade with China. They are noticing, so if we're going to do trade with China, there's going to be a little of a problem.

They're going to undercut all our industries. They say even the Hawks against the U.S. Have to relent a bit because he said, We're talking about our economic survival here.

So, I hope both sides go back to the table because I think it directly affects the midterms. And I think the American people say, hey, we got enough enemies. Let's land the plane here, wait for the next administration in Canada. Did you know Fox News has a wine shop? Did you also know you can get ahead and start on your Christmas shopping?

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From the Fox News Radio Studios in Midtown Manhattan, it's the fastest-growing radio talk show. Brian Kilmead. All right, one from 48th and 6th in Midtown, Manhattan, heard around the country, around the world. The Brian Kilmicho coming your way. Bottom of the hour, we're going to talk to Hussain Abdur Mansoor, a fellow at the Jinsa Jerman Center, where he focuses on everything going on over in Iran, in the Arab politics, Gulf states, Islamic movements.

We'll get his take on that. And Ennis Cantor Freedom is in our studio, 10-year player in the NBA, 11-year player in the NBA, now pretty much an activist in the eye of the storm. Before we get to Ennis, let's get to the big three. Number three. They were offered quite a good deal.

Last week. They chose to reject it. Unfortunately, Prime Minister Kearney rose to power on an anti-American, anti-Trump platform. Oh, yeah. You could put on your head, says Ann, it's no problem.

What really happened behind the scenes to collapse the trade deal with Canada? We'll discuss it. Number 10. A landmark settlement with Meta, the owner of Instagram and Facebook, that will send $18 billion to dozens of states. Meta also agreed to stronger child safety measures, like a two-hour time limit for teens, notifications that will be muted during school hours, no more access to its platforms at night, and more user-friendly parental controls.

Yep, that is meta. Meta settles as social media continues to write billion-dollar checks. Are they finally going to get responsible? Will TikTok, will Snapchat, will all other entities besides Instagram and as well as Facebook go along with protecting teens? Number one.

I strongly disagree with many of the things that Hassan Piker said. I think it's incumbent upon Abdul to make it very clear to people that he doesn't agree with things that Hassan Piker says.

So that is Debbie Dingell, who doesn't like being called out in Michigan on a guy that's representing the Democratic Party who's running for the Senate. This guy seems to be a radical who will not distance himself from Hassan Piker, and that's a huge problem. Also, AOC making big news, rejoining. The Democratic Socialist of America, the DSA. Is that how you prepare to run for president?

Well, the other big story that's happening almost on a daily basis for the last few months has been what's going on in the WNBA, not by the cu quality of basketball, but by the quality of uh The lack of discipline when it comes to Caitlin Clark that morphed into Sophie Cunningham taking a stand about men and women's sports, trans men and women's sports, to Ennis Cantor Freedom sitting up and saying, yeah, you know what? Until you define what a woman is, I'm going to declare myself eligible for the WNBA draft. And as you know, after playing, you know the quality of player he is, he should be a first-round pick. They have turned around and said, hey, you're not allowed to declare for the NBA draft. We're saying no, and he's suing back.

Ennis, welcome back to the show. Thank you for having me. I mean, it started all here when you were with the Celtics, right? Exactly. And then you were the Knicks for a while.

And then back to Portland, then Celtics again. And now I just declare for the WNBA draft. Right.

And so far, we hear that they said no, you can't do it.

Well, it's fake news. Please don't believe those.

So we have not heard anything official from the WNBA itself.

So until we heard anything official, it's all fake news. They're in the corner. They're trying to put as much as rumors out there. Because legally they can't talk. Oh, no, they cannot.

The thing is, they don't have any kind of like rule against it. You know, maybe tomorrow they're going to come out and add the word biological next to the female and they're collective bargaining. Then I will drop everything. Right.

What happened in the game that you went to? Oh my gosh. In Chicago.

So I'm a fan of the game. I went there, right? Towards the end of the third quarter, they put Sophie Cunham. Yes. And it was actually the most watched game ever in WNBA history.

You're welcome, MWNBA. Anyway, so Sophie Cunningham, the last three-minute mark, she shot a three. I put my hands up in the air to celebrate it. Natasha Kalas saw that.

Next position she came back and said, She's not going to sleep with you. I was like, excuse me? I literally turned around to my manager. I'm like, they should really say that.

Next position, I was like, I'm not trying to sleep with her. I'm just here to protect woman and support my friend. And she started to bark at me. She started to yell at me. I simply got out, put my head in the air, and said, I'm here to protect women.

And I guess the shirt that I was wearing was really triggered her. It was the definition of what a woman is. And then they literally kicked me out. In the rulebook, I know the rules. I played 11 years in NBA.

You're not allowed to touch. The fans are not allowed to touch the players or you're not allowed to cross baseline or the sideline.

So I did not break any rules. She should be the one to get him thrown out or getting fine.

So you get thrown out immediately. Immediately. We got a warning. Right.

Meanwhile, you made a big deal, but you get tossed out. You don't know, did they ever tell you why? No.

So the rules are: they have to warn me first, and the second time they can throw me out.

So they were the rules, and so they did not give me any kind of reasons, no? Here is what the Chicago Sky owner, Michael Alter, said on you, Cup 38. He wasn't getting a warning because certain threats that don't get warnings. He was given a lot of leeway, as I said. He was sitting there and he was trash-talking her and all that.

So he was certainly given leeway, but it certainly wasn't. Can you pause for a second? Were you trash-talking her? Oh, no.

So the only thing you said. Oh, no, no, I did not trash off her at all. I mean, if there's any cues. Do you remember who she was?

So back in 2023, me and her got in a Twitter fight because she called America trash. And I was like, please ask your friend Brittany Griner. Oh, yeah, please ask your friend Brittany Griner if America is trash or not.

So me and her got on like a little Twitter fight back in 2023. And I didn't even know she was playing for Chicago Sky.

So I'm a huge fan of basketball.

So I was there to watch an amazing game and then she just started to just bark at me. The sad thing is, she was dropping a lot of F-bombs in front of all these kids. I think that was unacceptable. Yeah, here's more. It wasn't given a warning because certain threats that don't get warnings.

He was given a lot of leeway, as I said. He was sitting there and he was trash-talking her and all that.

So he was certainly given leeway, but at a certain point, you know. When somebody, I mean, to use an extreme example, when you shoot a gun at someone, you don't get a warning, don't do that again. It's, you know, your action doesn't. deserve a warning. You take action that becomes a threat.

You don't get a warning.

So This is the first time you're hearing this?

Well, second time actually.

So apparently, now standing out for women puts you in a s puts you on the same threat level as sho in an active shooter. Like what is he talking about? Who's this PR guy? You know? Um, I think I am talking to my legal team.

I think we will be taking actions against the Chicago Sky and the owner, Michael Alter, because I think what he said is unacceptable. And he's also banned you now. First, he said you weren't banned, now you're banned. I'm confused. Listen, I play for the Celtics.

I remember whenever we went to play against the 76ers, they were yelling at us, cussing at us. They were throwing things at us sometimes. I mean, we had a conversation with NBA Security. They're like, listen, avoid everything. Focus on your game.

So, like, I'm just confused that how can they put me in the same threat level as the active shooter? Right.

And you said you did take a step towards the baseline, but you never went past it. No, no, no. I know the rules, man. I mean, like, listen, I know where the baseline was standing, right? I did not cross over.

I literally simply got out, opened my hand very softly and said, I'm here to protect woman. That's it.

So here's what Stephen A. Smith said: cut 39. And I think, on one hand, Enos Cancer was very wrong. It was a classless thing for him to do, because it's not. The ladies that are playing don't have anything to do with this.

The league does. It's collective bargaining agreement may be the case. The liberal tilt that it has Might be a cause or a cause effect to some degree. I get all of that, but the actual ladies. that are involved.

They have nothing to do with this, and they don't deserve to be agitated. The way he clearly was willing to do in attendance at the game. Go ahead.

So, Stephen A. Simit, I love you. I respect you a lot, but you're wrong. The reason you're wrong is because the players started this whole thing. I remember back in May, Gabby Williams, one of the WNBA players, came out and said, I will welcome a transacted on my team or against my team.

And right after that, literally just today, uh Cameron Prink uh I don't even know her last name, Cameron. Um she plays for the uh Cameron Brink. Cameron Brink uh plays for the LA Sports. She came out and said Annes is a stupid piece of Blank, and he's wrong, and he's wrong, and he's wrong, then she will welcome a transacted in their team.

So I'm like, okay, fine. I'm just following the rules. Listen. Article 13, Section 1 says, If you identify as a woman, you're allowed to play.

So I am allowed to play, I shall be playing, and I will be. They're losing $50 million every year. I will literally help them. They should want me to play because think about all the ticket sales and those mundils that they're going to get. Every game will be packed.

So if they don't change the rules, I'm not going to back down. My name's already in the draft now. And 2027, they better draft me number one pick. Here is Cameron Brain, cut 40. Cut forty.

When it comes to the trans issues that I believe you're talking about, I think it's a non-issue and I think it's people trying to. Just come for the trans community, and I just don't stand for that. I think, but I don't even know what the f his name is. He's cancer, like, he's a super piece of f. And I think a lot of people think that and I think he's just trying to stay open.

So Yeah. I mean, first of all, watch your mouth. Right, you are an idol, and there are a lot of kids out there that love you and idolize you, and just be an idol first. And two, Cambrian uh. Prick, Brink?

Brink.

Okay, Cameron Brink will be the first person that I'm going to dunk on. You know.

So she asked for it and she's going to see what uh dunk on uh is going to uh you know, Yeah. I wanted to just give you an idea of what else is going on. Riley Gaines firmly backs you, cut 43. The threatening thing to the WNBA, and of course to the Chicago Sky owner, isn't the fact that he had a foot on the court, it's the fact that he was wearing a shirt that said the word woman and, more importantly, defined the word woman. That's what they think is offensive.

Not the fact that he stepped onto the court or maybe walked by some of the cameramen who were also on court side under the goal. That's not what was offensive to the league or to Chicago Sky owner. It was the fact that he knows what a woman is and the fact that he's claiming to be one. Of course, in Innis Cantor Freedom, very obviously a man. Yeah.

So, I want to give a huge shout out to Riley Gaines. I think she's been inspiring not only myself, but millions of people around, not only in America, but around the world. I think she was the one that inspired me to actually go out there and speak up.

So, having a support like that and knowing that she got my bag, it definitely gives me so much motivation.

So, what you would like to see is the WNBA do what the Olympics did. They go ahead and they have rules. They swab your cheek to make sure you're the gender you say you're fighting in or you're competing in. They do that, you're fine. All I want is one word.

Add biological next to the female in your collective barking, and if not. There won't be any record standing in WNBA. I will be breaking Will Chamberslin 100 points record and I will be the best player that ever played in a state. You're convinced you beat. Oh, yeah, of course.

I mean, I j I watched a game in Chicago against Indiana. I mean, the biggest. Female was 6'6, 200, I don't know, 200 pounds. I am almost 7' and 280 pounds. I mean, I don't.

Like the other thing is, I want all these players advocating for trans athletes to play in their league understand. We will be coming and we will be taking your jobs, taking your money, and taking everything you have built. At that point, why do we have two different leagues? NBA and WNBA. Let's just merge the leagues.

Yeah, right? Let's just have one league. They won't be losing 50 million a year. And you were saying that the G League, you're making like $50,000. And then in Europe, you're barely making money.

So you think a lot of players are going to come? I have already talked to two former NBA players, three G League players and two European players. Especially the G League player said, we're only making $45,000 a year. All we have to do is just identify as a woman and top W NBA player making $1.4 million. We're in.

We're female. All of us are females, you know?

So, yes, I am already talking to many actual athletes. And if they don't change the rules, they are ready to put their name on the draft as well. Wow. So do you think that will be announced soon? Oh, I mean, I hope so.

Or they might just do right before the draft. But I just really hope that. Kathy Engelberg just She's been doing a terrible job, but I just hope that she comes out and actually makes a smart move. Whoever's around her. That's the commissioner.

Yeah, whoever's around her, or the task force that she's been talking about, just not giving her the best advice. Have you met Sophie Cunningham? I've been texting her, but I did not meet her face to face. And what do you think about the stand she's taking? I think it is time for Yeah.

Us to start advocating for Sophie Cunningham to win the Women of the Year Award. I think what she's doing is amazing, inspiring not only people in America, but all around the world. She is an American hero and a patriot. And I even texted her and said, after one of the games, please don't let any of this outside noise distract you. You're a WNBA player.

Keep doing your thing. And everyone loves you. And would she text you back? Yes, she did. Can you tell me what you said?

She sh she just thanked me. I can't really go into details, but I think she is she has she has the kindest heart. And I think what she's standing for is, you know. The the thing that we one thing that we talked about, this is not a right or left issue, this is a common sense.

So I don't want people to think that, oh, she supports this or she doesn't support that. She's just supporting common sense. Yes. Here's Charles Barclay showing common sense. Cut forty five.

Under no circumstances do I think men should play against women. Zero. I'm disappointed in Adam Silver and Kathy. the commissioner, all the first of all, you can't let stupid stuff go out to the internet, which is one of the worst things that ever happened to the world. They should have come out two weeks ago before all this like because people are looking for attention now.

Exactly. You know, two weeks ago, when this whole thing went down, right, all they have to do is come out and say, this is what a woman is. But 15 women With the task force, got into this one room. And they were trying to figure out what a woman is. And then after the uh after the their meeting, they said, Well, we need weeks, maybe months to figure out what a woman is.

So do you have a statement that you want to read about your ban and them using that analogy? The Chicago owner using St. Lake Chief? My thing is, I just want to actually say this, so I don't. You want to read it?

You want to read it? I want to read it.

So, apparently, Michael Alter. Right.

Now standing out for women. puts you on the same threat level as active shooter. You got to be kidding me. I mean, whoever your PR guy is, please fire him. He's doing a terrible job.

Whoever you're getting consult from, they're just doing you dirty. Just either keep your mouth shut or just do the right thing. But I think what he's doing is just unbelievable. And people are just laughing at him. And he's turning this whole thing into a laughing stock.

We're not taking him really seriously. But if he doesn't come out and apologize, we will be taking illegal actions. Wow. And then you're going to legally to go also you want to get back into games, right? You want to And it's Canter Freedom.

Look forward to your next move. All right. Thank you. In the Eye of the Storm, once again. I actually think you belong in the NBA, too.

You're in fantastic shape. I'm out of good shape, man. I know. I'm in good shape.

So, oh, I just can't wait to make history. You know, the thing is. I think we are living in a time that when histo like years and years later, when historians look back in our time, they're going to be laughing a lot. I think so too. We just have to be on the right side of the history, man.

Back in a moment. Both sides, all opinions. It's Brian Killmeat. Did you know Fox News has a wine shop? Did you also know you can get ahead and start on your Christmas shopping?

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Quantities are limited, so visit FoxNewswineshop.com today. If you're interested in it, Brian's Talking About It. You're with Brian Kilmead. Yeah, when we come back, I want to go inside the Iranian deal. As I mentioned at the top for an earlier hour, it looks like Iran and Oman have cut a deal to toll the Straight of Formuzz.

Have they been paying attention at all? Did you see what's happening with people that are cooperating with Iran? Homan What are you doing?

So They were in talks to open up the corridor on the Oman side, and now they say they're going to charge tolls. Nobody's paying a toll. It's not going to happen. That's only going to get you bombed.

So I'm just amazed if anyone's paying attention over there. And if you saw some of the video, it's out. Iran is paying the price. I don't love that the people have to pay the price, but inside their country, they are not able to get gas. You have to see how long these lines are.

The people can get gas. Why? Part of it is: yeah, you got oil and you got gas, but it's got to be refined. And it's got to be refined by the UAE and other places. And we're starting to hit those countries financially.

UAE is out.

So they're going to push it over to Iraq.

Well, we have some leverage on Iraq, too.

So, Oman, you should wake up. We'll discuss all that and more with Hussein, Abakur, Mansoor in just a moment. Listen to the Brain Kill Me Show. Radio that makes you think. This is the Brian Kill Me Show.

These are all Iranian reports that we're dealing with, and their track record with the truth is not what I would call 100%.

So I think this is what Iran wants to have happen. But Oman has such a brighter future. I have an op-ed on Fox from about three to four weeks ago about how Oman is the second most improved country on the Heritage Index of Economic Freedom this year. They're doing great. They have a 2040 plan, they've got rule of law, they have foreign investment protections.

They have no, no reason to partner with a leper country like Iran whose economy is about to tank.

So I think they've been working with us on getting those 9 million barrels a day out of the Gulf that have been quietly coming out. And I think they'll continue. Continue to do so. That's the bright path for Oman, not a partnership with Iran. Of course, and I agree with you.

And I did not know those things about the freedom on the market, but that's why I don't understand. Number one, they're having talks. It's okay. But if they were having talks, that's Victoria Coast, by the way, former deputy national security advisor to Trump. But so prior to having talks, Yeah, I mean, I don't think the president is actually clued in if they're actually on our side because he said if they continue this, I'll bomb them.

He doesn't usually say that if someone's working for them. Jordan Gasn Hussain, Abaka, Abba Bakar Mansoor. A fellow at the Jinsa. Germander Center, where they focus on the intersection of Arab politics, Islamic movements and regional security. Hussein, welcome your thoughts about what Oman is really doing here.

How do you view them?

Well, it's good to be here. Thank you, Brian.

Well, Oman has been always the Gulf states closest to Iran. They've always positioned themselves as neutral party and the backdoor channel. But what's happening now, really, is more than just being a mediator, a neutral mediator with Iran. Oman is basically letting itself be co-opted by the Iranians, by the IRGC, in order to establish an exclusive Iran-Oman network that cuts the United States out, cuts the Saudis out, cuts the UE out, even the Qataris out, and legitimizes Iranian control over the strait. And of course, they're using euphemisms of revenue sharing.

It's basically toll collection.

So this is what the Omanis are doing. And this is why I think this is why the president is upset at them, because this is no longer mediation with the Iranians anymore. This is sitting exclusively with the Iranians. to help them get full control of this trade.

So, yeah, I mean, it says Iran and Oman did not mention fees during Tuesday's announcement, but both nations have publicly backed collecting money from ships. On Wednesday. Really? They know we're not going to accept that. I mean, come on.

This is the bewildering fact about Oman. Oman knows that the United States our main demand of Iran right now is to completely cease their attempt to control the strait and let it back open for international shipping. And of course, this is obviously also our demand from Oman.

So there are strategic dangers here. The United States doesn't want this agreement to happen at all, and they believe that the Omanis understand this fully.

So we'll see how they will behave. But the United States also can have exercise leverage on them in various ways. In what way can we put p uh pressure on them?

Well, diplomatic leverage, I think, with the Omanis is very important. They also are an important ally of the United States and depend a lot of things, threat of trade and commercial consequences for their behavior. But basically, the Omanis must understand that whatever they are going to gain by having this agreement with the Iranians is going to be deeply offset by their losses due to American pressure.

So Hussein, when you see those lines, I assume you've seen those lines for Iranians to get gas. I mean they've gone for miles. I mean, they so is that part of it because they can't refine it in UAE anymore?

Well, they can't refine. It's not just the UAE has been the source of a lot of goods, a lot of trade for the Iranians. We're talking about also basic food supplies, rice. And now, with the announcement of the UAE that they are cutting all of these commercial trades, basically what you have is a panic purchasing by Iranians that they are suspecting that these goods are not going to be available soon. You hear about a massive inflation of prices coupled with the depreciation of the currency.

You're really entering into panic conditions economically. People are basically trying to get rid of currency that might actually keep losing value drastically day after day and try to hoard as many goods as possible. This applies to gas, this applies to flour, this applies to rice and other basic foods. This actually shows how the economic pressure of President Trump, as well as, of course, the cooperation from our allies in the UE. can actually have indeed massive consequences for the Iranian regime.

Now whether the Iranian regime, whether the pain that the Iranian people are feeling is going to force the IRGZ to change its behavior, I think it remains to be seen. Do you believe the there's a movement underway, from what you know, to arm the Iranian population? I don't believe I haven't heard anything to that extent. I think, of course, there were plans before at the beginning of the war, but currently I don't think I haven't heard any of this. What I have heard, however, is that indeed seems to be a resurgence, gradual resurgence of protests in Iran.

You're talking about worker unions and other people who are starting to back again protesting the massive increase of prices, the depreciation of the currency. You're talking about a big part of the workforce has been laid off. I mean, a lot of their factories have been destroyed by Operation Epic Fury, especially we're talking about the military industries of the regime.

So you're talking about a large number of workers who have no work anymore, coupled with the fact whatever money that they had isn't today, it's worth less than half that it did worth before its value before the war, before Operation. And Epic Fury, coupled with the fact that the prices increased and there are potential that the goods are not going to be available. I believe if we keep actually this pressure up, these protests will have no option but to actually increase. Do you believe that China is their number one trading partner? From what you know, do you believe the U.

S. is willing to put pressure on China? I looked at that press conference yesterday, seemingly unrelated, but the more I thought about it, maybe it wasn't. About the massive hacking that took place, and the Attorney General finding out who was responsible and announced that China state actors were responsible. And I thought to myself, okay.

We don't want to blow up the big meeting in September. But we listed we're putting pressure on them to stop trading with Iran, and then we announced that we know about your hacking. And we stopped the guy and we made the arrest. We've done it. Do you think this is a s a superpower to superpower way of pressuring?

It could be. I mean, ultimately, as you said, the big meeting, the trade summit is coming up in September between President Trump and President Xi. And ultimately, there will be a lot on the table.

So, until then, the United States could accumulate the various points of pressure and cards in order to pressure the Chinese to cooperate in Iran. And to be frank, I do think that this is the best strategy for the U.S. at the moment. As you said, China is their biggest trade partner. They depend on China not just to buy their oil, but also to provide them, even the IRGC, to provide the IRGC with equipment and technical expertise.

We've learned that throughout the war, Chinese provided actually satellite parts to the IRGC to help them target U.S. bases.

So I think ultimately, the United States needs to confront China if we need really to get this war over and the Strait of Hormuz. Back open, I think we'll need to find a way to pressure the Chinese and to get them to cooperate on this. This is obviously not going to be easy. This is a near-peer competitor, as everyone knows, and ultimately they too have points of pressure. But I believe that if from now until September, the Trump administration is able to accumulate a portfolio of cards that we can play against the Chinese, we can get them to cooperate and to get Iran to relinquish control of the streets.

Hussein Abu Bakr Mansoor is with us. Hussein, right now, you see, we're not really talking directly to them. People are trying to get us talking again. I don't really know if there's anything to say. Who's got the advantage?

You're talking about the Iranians. Iranians or the US?

Well, the Right now, obviously, the Iranians played, they have only one card. Everybody knows what happened to them during this war. Their leadership is decapitated. A lot of their industries got destroyed. A lot of the capabilities got degraded.

Their navy got destroyed. They had only one card, and they've already played that card, which is the straight to Formus. That's the biggest thing that they have. Ultimately, the United States have a lot of options. The President has preferences.

He's the President of the United States. He has to worry about the United States economy, about the world economy, and of course about his promises not to overcommit the United States into prolonged and open-ended military actions in the Middle East. That puts self-chosen limitations on the United States. These limitations we impose on ourselves, especially because of our needs. But ultimately, we do have a lot of cards to play.

I believe the economic war against Iran is one of our strongest cards. That will depend on. I mean, already the UAE is starting to cooperate. I hope they continue to cooperate with this. As we've spoken, China ultimately is the most important component of this.

But I believe short of this, the United States also has a lot of other points of leverage. We can go back to military strikes anytime we want. But as the President has said, I think the economic policy, given also Iran's internal conditions, is one of the most promising options. What's the status of the Red Sea? Are the Houthis trying to block that?

The Houthis are definitely arising a threat that I think the United States will have to get involved in at some point soon.

So far, the Saudis are trying to manage it. There are indications that this is going to end up another Saudi war in Yemen against the Houthis.

Now, the Houthis are trying to achieve multiple things. First of all, of course, they are trying to aid their main patrons, the Iranians, but they also have been having a lot of domestic problems internally, just their failed governance, failed economy. And these problems have been, of course, compounded by the stress that the Iran war put on the Houthis.

So this is another attempt, which is kind of parallels what the IRGC is trying to do, another protection racket. forcing Saudi Arabia to try to succumb and pay them five billion dollars or whatever the amount in order to let their tankers pass. I mean, we saw them hitting a tanker, a Saudi tanker, early this week.

Now the Saudis are trying to pass most of their oil actually through up the north, through the Swiss Canal, instead of trying to go through Beb al Manda. But ultimately, the Saudis are not going to tolerate this. They are already planning various military actions through the Yemeni, the Saudi-supported Yemeni troops and Yemeni government. But I believe that the United States will have to provide, at least provide support for the Saudis in order to ensure that they can degrade the Houthis and they can deter them from trying to completely block Bebel Mandam in this way. And if the Houthis, if things don't go well for the Saudis, the United States will have to get involved.

That will be, you know, obviously the Saudis have pushed back on us a couple of times and stopped us from going offensive.

Well, I mean, that seems to be the point of leverage. Hey, you want us to help you out with the Houthis? Uh we're gonna go we're gonna go hit the Iranians.

So I mean, do you think that there's a give and take there or do you think there's a fracture between the countries? There is definitely a fraction, but there's a give and take.

So, the Saudis recently, as we have seen, have been trying to do all of these moves to find an alternative or diversify their own security guarantee from having the United States as their main security guarantor towards having relationships with Pakistan and Turkey. We all saw the Mecca pact that was signed not too long ago between the Pakistani Prime Minister Turkish President Erdogan and the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. But ultimately, it really seems remains very questionable how strategically relevant or operationally relevant this pact. They assembled the maritime coalition. Actually, the last time we spoke, we talked about this.

They have a maritime security coalition of 14 countries that came together to secure the Red Sea.

Well, the Houthis are. Just used a ballistic missile to bomb a Saudi tanker on Monday, and none of these countries are to be seen anywhere. Nobody's not worth the paper it's printed on. And why would it be? Turkey's got a relationship with Iran, so does Pakistan.

So, who are you making an alliance with? Doesn't make any sense. It does not make any sense. Ultimately, the Saudis will lead the United States again if things keep especially if things keep escalating with the Houthis like this.

So I believe then, as you've said correctly, this will be a point of privilege and it will be an opportunity for the United States to bring back our allies together, united, the way that they work, to bring Saudi policy aligned with the United States, aligned with the UAE. And ultimately, this alignment of the Gulf plus Israel plus the United States can put a unified pressure on the Iranian axis and can achieve much, much better results. Yeah, it's a complicated situation, but I get the sense it's coming to a head. And Hussein, I just going to stick with the one premise, and it's not earth-shattering. And it's not a surprise.

I do believe Iran wants to affect the election. And I think they're waiting for one time to try to inflict casualties on us in October. We'd have an immediate brisk response. And then I'll Help maybe tilt a very close midterm election. And that's what they would like to see: a diminished President Trump.

You've asked earlier about the advantages every side has. This is one card, I think, and one advantage that the Iranians have. I mean, they are very reckless. It doesn't cost them much to escalate against us or against any of our allies. There are reports, and they are completely logical, that they are planning some sort of an escalation just right in time to interfere in the midterm elections.

So likely they will be planning this. We'll see how the United States military in the region positioned. I mean, if there are already the reports out there, I'm sure U.S. intelligence, Israeli intelligence are already assessing this.

So I expect if it is that they are going if it's true that they are going to come up with something like this, I expect the United States to preempt the Iranians at this point. But it definitely is not beneath Iran has a long history of trying to do exactly that.

Well, it's a complicated situation, but you break it down wonderfully. Hussein, Abu Bakr, Mansoor, thanks so much. Thank you, Brian.

Back in a moment. In a world of noise, get the signal. Sharp, informative, and always on point. You're listening to Brian Kilmead. Breaking news, unique opinions.

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In New York City, always seeking solutions, never sowing division. It's Brian Kilmey.

So glad you're there. Brian Kilmey Show coming to you from Midtown Manhattan, heard around the country, around the world. Coming up at the bottom of the arrow, Ray Gerber is going to be with us, retired U.S. Marine Corps Colonel with 27 years of service across intelligence operations. We'll get the latest, especially on what's going on with John Radcliffe, CIA director, taking a plane, picked up.

Not sure if he wanted to be tracked, but he was. Right to Russia. He did not meet with Vladimir Putin, but did meet with Russian officials and left. Six hours on the ground. What was the message there?

Let's ask John Spencer, retired U.S. Army major and author of, John, you got a brand new book out. Right? It's your story. Tell us about it.

Absolutely.

So twenty times I almost died. It it covers everything from my own twenty five years in the military to what I do now, which is going and out of war zones from Ukraine, Azerbaijan, India, Gaza, you name it. And Each one of those near-death experiences taught me a lesson. And I want to talk about your career, but I also want to talk about with Todd right now, and that's what's happened with Iran. You saw.

You saw the new sanctions we put on from the Treasury Secretary. What do you like about it? What was lacking? Sure. I I like especially the possibility of second Order sanctions because that's really Iran's been the most sanctioned country in history, but it's found the ways around of it thanks to China and other countries.

So I love the idea of not just the former snapback sanctions coming back into effect, but those second order ones, because we want to squeeze them until they cry uncleans and come to actual terms and what we all need to do. Want to happen in Iran.

So they're getting about 500,000 barrels, I think, over to China, maybe on a daily basis. If we have a blockade in there, how are they getting it out? Yeah, I mean, it's a great question. I mean, there are other ways other than there is land. I mean, we have a very solid Which most people don't talk about.

We're actually letting humanitarian things in because we care about the Iranian people. But how are they getting gas out? It's a great question. I don't know. But there are land borders as well.

But they're definitely crying um and and Facing the repercussions of that. I know you know what the real is doing. I mean, the reason they had to kill 30 to 50 thousand of their people wasn't because they didn't like America. It was because their economy had collapsed. They ran out of water in Tehran.

That they were going to move the capital, absolutely.

So they were in bad shape before this conflict, and then I'm looking at the video of these long gas lines in an oil-producing country. What do you make of that? I mean, that's a clear sign that they can't hide. I mean, they do really good on the rhetoric of talking about how strong they are, and this is the kind of ridiculousness of Operation Epic Fury's damage to them and this blockade. And it can continue as long as the President wants it to, that is having real consequences in the country.

Does it tax the Navy? Our Navy? No, I mean, I think what we saw is a normal rotation that you would want to see. I don't think it. And what the U.S.

Navy says, so I'll let the Navy speak for themselves. They could do this for as long as it takes.

So If you look at secondary sanctions, it would be Turkey. India, Russia, China Qatar, right? I mean the Pakistan. These are the countries that are doing business with Iran.

So we have basically said if you continue, we're going to sanction you. The lot of those are our key allies, economic allies of India and superpower rival in China and Russia. The tensions are already high. I don't know what kind of leverage we have on them.

So, how far do you think we should go? Yeah, there's some of those people on the list that I think should be the first on the list, like Russia and China. And I think Russia is just announcing a conversation with Iran to do a new gas deal and actually talk about nuclear power plants. It's crazy. I just got back from India.

Of course, I think India is a rising nation. They dominated Pakistan last in the four-day war that not most people talk about. Each one of those would have to be very carefully done. This is the problem with people's thoughts about the Strait of Hormuz. It's already becoming less relevant.

So Iran played its nuclear economic card, as Secretary Rubio says, but each one of those countries on that list would have to be handled very specifically. And they've already been warned, so that's the time. And I think what the Treasury Secretary said: like, we're not going to do this immediately. We're giving the warning.

Some adjustments will be made. And I think they should start at the top of that list, China. Time's on whose side? Times is on our side. I mean, this is going back to the Russia Russia needs China needs Iran's gas.

We don't, but we're also still getting things in and out. I know you were just covering that. The Strait of Hormuz is open, despite the rhetoric. About twenty-seven ships got through on Monday. Yeah.

It's not enough, of course. We need about 100. They've already opened up more of the gas lines for oil to get out. Oman and Iran just made an announcement we're going to be tolling. Tuesday they say we're going to open it.

Wednesday, they say we're going to toll it. What do you think? It can't happen. Don't they know that? Especially Oman.

Doesn't Oman know better? How do you view them?

I'm not every nation will will act in its own interests.

So they're trying to act in their own interests. But how is it in their interest to take Iran's side? Yeah, if 'cause they'll get cheap gas from Iran, they'll get cheap Favor from them. They're making their bets on who's going to be the regional power. This is the great power competition that's happening.

The greatest loser in Iran situation is China, and they know that.

So China is trying to make deals with Oman and all the Gulf states as well. This is the great game. But it can't happen. The freedom of navigation is worth fighting for because if it happens in the Strait of Hormuz, who else will think the Strait of Malacca and others that, okay, now we can start making millions and millions of dollars off the global economy by tolling these International waters. We would never allow it.

We can't allow it. Yes, so we can't allow it.

So when you look at our options, what are our options to turn up the pressure? We played the economic card, it's enforcement now.

So you're a military historian as well as professor. What are our options now that we haven't taken and surprised you? Yeah. There is an uncertainty in war, so nobody could have predicted it. I made this whole list of things that we didn't do, like attacking.

Certain elements of their economic vitality. The regime wants to stay in power.

So once the economic pressure is put on and they don't cry, Uncle, then you always have the option to return back to military operations. And it's still a limited war, but there are so many things that we didn't do to put a squeeze on the regime's ideals about surviving the war, because they think that they have cards and they don't. And this is it isn't a A game per se, but it is a bit of chess, three-dimensional chess. During all this time, what are we doing? We're re-positioning forces.

adding defenses to our allies who were the ones that were vulnerable. Collecting intelligence. Are we doing that right now? I believe, I strongly believe that we are, and repositioning stockpiles.

So, we war tests all assumptions. I think you and I talked recently about the so-called low stockpile, but we're also gathering intelligence.

So, we're gathering our intelligence.

So, if the war was to restart, and I believe the administration says if it does restart, it will be nothing like it was before, which was still pretty amazing.

So do you think the IDF should play a role? Absolutely.

Israel, what Israel and the United States did together because of their intelligence. Penetration of the Iranian society of the IRGC, but also their capabilities. I mean, they fly F-35s right next to ours, and absolutely, and it's in their interest. Right.

So, let's talk about 20 times you almost died. First off, how did you get into the military? You write about that in your book. Yeah, I was 17, small town Indiana, single mom, raising three kids, working three jobs. It was the future for me because college wasn't going to be an option.

I believed what the recruiters were selling: college, adventure. Everything and I got all of that immediately shipped off at age of seventeen into the jungles of Panama, and that's where the one of the book stories start. You also talk about In command, the first time you start seeing battle in Iraq, you train, you get ready, you think you're ready, but there's something different from training and actually fighting. Can you talk about that moment? Sure.

I'm leading. Yeah, our goal in the military is to make training harder than combat. But there's some things you just can't replicate, like what we saw at Murphy Slaw, like something's going to go wrong.

So in some of these stories, like that one when I jumped into northern Iraq, a part of the Iraq invasion, and quickly thereafter, we're just. Was this the first Persian go for or the second? Second. The Iraqi freedom. I jumped as a parachute, which is his own adventure.

Didn't make the book because I had to make a decision on which ones are the stories to include in the book. But we're in a convoy attacking an Iraqi division, and we almost drive off of basically a cliff into a river that would have killed us all. And there was just a split second, somebody yelled, stop, and our tires are hovering over the edge of this cliff, and we would have, I would have gone over. And you think about that. I do think about that.

Uh One, I learned from every one of them. They shape who I am, my character, as I'm sitting here with you today, that I'll stand up for the truth. I'll do the right thing when nobody's looking. But I also understand that life's going to throw things at you that you're not ready for.

So when you started engaging in battle, that was one time you almost died. Yeah. Give us another. Another one, I mean In my second Iraq tour, so I went back in 2008, we saw a bomb on the side of the road. Too obvious.

We surrounded, I surrounded as a commander, and my soldier said, Sir, if we call this in, we'll be out here all day. The common sense thing seemed to be just to pull it off the side of the road.

Something inside me, you call it intuition, you call it a higher power, said, don't do that. And I didn't, and luckily I didn't, because underneath that bomb that we were standing next to were four larger bombs. It was a trap set by Al-Qaeda at the time for us to pull that, and we would have all been. I wouldn't be here with you today. How did you find that out that that would have happened?

So we did stop.

So I decided not to pull on it. Stopped, called in the explosive ordnance, the bomb team, basically. They sent their robot down and saw not only a trip wire if we would have walked near it, but also the wires leading to the other four bombs. One of them we were almost standing on top of. Right.

They got better and better at it as the war moved on. Absolutely.

The enemy is always. Trying to and figure out a way to get to you. See, one thing I think is solely underappreciated, not for you because you teach it, is we went in there, okay, we underestimated the decision that Paul Bremer made, maybe at the behest of someone to dismiss the Iraqi Army, was a mistake. They had nothing to do, they became a trained insurgency. Yeah, I was there for that.

Right.

So that was brutal. Yeah. But the Ramadi, which you guys did in Fallujah, you end up courting off the whole place, giving people IDs, and actually brought peace to these two places. And you made that decision. You don't train for that.

How do I fix this? We're in the middle of urban warfare, which you guys wanted to avoid at all costs, and it happened. Yeah. And that's what I have job security because we still avoid bypassing we should. We don't want to fight in cities amongst the civilian population, but the enemy wants us to because the advantage that they get.

As much as we see it in Gaza today, this is for the American military. We had to adapt. We figured out a way to get it done by surrounding the city, evacuating every single civilian because we could. We talk about Gaza, there's a reason that we can't because Egypt said, No, you're not going to let any civilians out of that war zone. But absolutely.

And that war you're talking about, the two thousand and four Second Battle of Fluja is the largest battle of the Iraq War, larger than the attack of Baghdad, which is six million. And there's a reason for that, and I hope we learn from that. Yes. And then you end up the surge is successful? And you bring peace to Iraq to the point where Barack Obama comes in and says, let's pull everybody out.

Yeah. And the Iraqi government's like, w we got this, we don't need you.

So that's an element of success, despite people questioning the the reasons for going. An element of success is when you go there and they tell you, we got this, we don't need you anymore. And it turns out they did. And because Al-Maliki actually lost the election and we said, well, Obama people said, we like him better. Let's leave him in power as opposed to Alawi.

Which probably would have dealt with better. Trevor Burrus, Jr.: Yeah, this is what General Petraeus said. I mean, the second we leave, the government instills all these sectarian violence and repercussions, throwing the vice president in jail, all this. That creates the tension that allows ISIS to form, which is because of their being viewed as not being part of the government. Aaron Powell, and all that is in your book, 20 Times Almost Done.

Some of that's in my book. Yeah. Major, right? John Spencer.

So, Major, let's bring up. You thought it would be important for you to see Gaza up close. When people keep saying genocide, they say it instinctively, they say it politically. What do you say? I say that's ridiculous.

So I just got back a couple weeks ago from my seventh trip into Gaza. I've been seven times since October 7 observing what the IDF are doing, the incredible measures that they've tried to implement, despite what Hamas was doing to protect civilians more than any nation in the history of war, based on my study of over a decade of every battle and every war involving urban warfare. I think it's crazy that that's still trending. To use the word genocide in a situation where the attacking military has done everything that anybody's ever thought about. They've vaccinated the population, fed the population, created water, power, everything.

That's not what you're doing. You're trying to. Wipe out a population. Of course, they had the right to kill Hamas. Killing the enemy is one of the goals of war and trying to get their hostages.

But that genocide lie is ridiculous that it continues. 400 miles of tunnels, some of which have not been discovered. More with John Spencer in just a moment. Don't move. It's Brian Killmade.

Okay. The fastest three hours in radio. You're with Brian Kilmead. So, Major John Spencer's our guest. His book is now out 20 Times I Almost Died.

Talks about his days in the military, why he joined, what he did, what he accomplished. And also, his analysis is just fantastic. Life lessons from the edge of survival. Is it heartened, Major, to know that recruiting's up in this country? Absolutely.

And I believe everybody should serve and to see those numbers spike because they see good leadership as a good news story that needs to be told every day.

So you sought out the military and you end up being a professor at a war college? Yes. So that is really buying in.

So it's not like you're from generations of a military family. No.

What sold you on the military? I mean, I believed everything that the recruiter was selling, which is its own craft, but the opportunity that the American dream is really you join the military, there's a path to you can achieve great things. And I'm an example of that. You can be a general. If you just work hard and do the things you're supposed to do, that's almost like the American dream is replicated, but you're also serving something greater than yourself.

You get the brotherhood that lasts a lifetime. It all sold me, and I got everything and more than I could ever dream of. Right.

And now you're in a situation where you can analyze the situation. And if things happen, you can go back to war if you had to.

So I just mentioned you just mentioned how many times you've been to Gaza. That is the hotspot. How do you envision the next step? Because Jared Kushner, the Board of Peace, they say we got to a point where Hamas says, okay, we're not in charge, but they have not put down their guns yet. The International Force hasn't been assembled yet.

Where are we at? Yeah, I mean, I think one is we're continually moving forward. Despite all that's going on in the world, I mean, Jared Kushner just went and had meetings to make sure that the ball keeps going, which is what we want to see, post-conflict resolutions. I mean, those that say that Hamas will never give up their arms are the same ones that said that Hamas would not give up the hostages. It will happen.

And what I saw on the ground is, of course, a lot of work to be done, like fields of rubble that needs to be cleared. But there's actually new schools going on with a de-radicalized, you know, non-hate-filled curriculum. It's that Board of Peace providing a new curriculum for the Palestinian kids. Absolutely.

And making sure that there's security around those schools, working with the tribes. I mean, there's almost an obesity problem, according to the food is getting in at levels it never got in even during Hamas's time. But it's going to take time. But I actually see a path and a vision of the Board of Peace that will lead to, if we stick with it, to the actual stability that everybody wants to see, even for the Gazan people. Is Hezbollah and Hamas being replenished?

No, absolutely not. Hamas is cut off 100%. And every day they're filling tunnels. They're collecting up the explosives that Hamas likes to go out to the fields and collect the explosives that haven't exploded. And same thing for Hezbollah, although they have an arsenal underground that is still yet to be dealt with, and that's what we want the Lebanese.

Japanese army to be doing, but Syria is actually doing their part. And they just stopped like trucks full of wire-guided drones coming from. Probably Russia, Iran. They just stopped though.

So nobody's getting a major resupply like they used to. Iran really lost a lot when they lost Assad, that brutal dictator who had to run for his life into Russia. Absolutely.

And everybody lost. It's such a benefit to the. The bad guys lost. The Russians lost. The Iranians lost.

Absolutely.

Hezbollah lost.

So Lebanon won, because Hezbollah used to go fight for Assad when he needed help. And he couldn't have that help because of what Israel had done, the Pager operation, all that to Hezbollah. Everybody lost, as much as Iran loses every day, like we've been talking about. And Major, isn't it true that if the Russians don't invade Ukraine, they would have their eye still on helping Assad stay in power, but they had to focus on a war that was way too hard, and Assad ends up almost, he had to be jettisoned out of there. That's right.

And he's supposedly living in Moscow at this time. Absolutely.

That's a great assessment of. Britain's great strategic blunder. Yes, which is still happening, sadly. 20 times I almost died. Life lessons from the edge of survival.

John Spencer, thanks so much. Thank you, Brian.

The talk show that's getting you talking. You're with Brian Kilmead. What I love about these sanctions, and make no mistake, while no Chinese institution was named within the sanctions, it is very much the center of gravity to Iran. It's their economic lifestyle.

So we've widened the net with this.

Now it's shipping. We're going after shipping companies, aviation technology, gold, and digital assets. And this is why it matters. And this is just a smart move by Scott Passent. When you shut down traditional banking, Iran moves to exchange houses.

You close those, they move to gold. When you shut down all those routes, that's when they start to move to crypto, to third-party front companies or third-party shipping, and then ultimately the shadow fleet. Economic warfare can be a little like whack-a-mole until you attack the entire financial ecosystem, and that's what they're doing. And that is Mike Cirelli, Navy CEO, a former Navy CEO, talking about what we're moving now economically, pressuring while keeping the military option there. There's actually more military assets in the area than there was February 27th when this conflict started.

Ray Gerber joins us now, retired U.S. Marine Colonel, 27 years of service of intelligence operations, information warfare. Ray, welcome. Thank you, Brian.

Good morning. Ray, where do you think this is heading? We know this morning, I guess, the big news: Iran and Oman are mentioning now, didn't mention on Tuesday, but on Wednesday they came out and said: if you want to use the straight, you got to. Yeah. So we never would agree to that.

It makes me feel like a step backwards. What do you think? I would agree that that's a step backwards. It's providing a mechanism that adds legitimacy to how Iran views the straight, and it's bringing in people or countries that are typically our partners like the Omanis that are enabling and giving that legitimacy.

So what do you think the next step should be? I think the next step, you know, to your point, we're going to have to apply pressure on the rest of the Gulf states and the Omanis to not. Render into these while we're concurrently applying the economic pressure that you were talking about prior to me joining the segment.

So, the economic pressure is really going to come from us because we have to pressure other countries. to India, Turkey. Um W with China, Russia. Qatar, those countries that are trading with Pakistan that are still trading. With them.

How do we dance that delicate dance in some cases? Because some of these guys are our allies.

Well, I think Mike actually noted that China is probably the center of gravity for all of it. You're going to have to explicitly go after the Chinese links that are facilitating Iran's progress here. And then, to your point about the other states, such as Russia, or more acutely, places like Pakistan, Qatar, et cetera, that should be done with precision and precision that comes with a message that says, we know what you're doing, we know who's doing it, we're going to go explicitly after them.

So, you've got both a macro and a micro approach that I think has to be taken by the administration. Here's Victoria Coates talking about negotiating with these allies, Cut 33.

Well, I think we'd have to at least work with them. How much you trust them is up to the individual negotiators. But yes, I mean Turkey is a NATO ally. Pakistan has been a historic ally. They're in a highly strategic location.

They're a nuclear power.

So for all those reasons, we need to talk to them.

Some people are like, oh, no, you can't possibly talk to the Turks. You can't talk to the Paks. I'm like, okay, then what am I going to do? Sit and look in the mirror and talk to myself? Right.

It's because they have a relationship with Iran.

So leverage has got to be done diplomatically, not necessarily in a uniform, right, right? Absolutely.

And I think that, to your point, those relationships cut both ways. Pressure applied through them actually gets back to Iran to seek a political settlement for where this will all end up.

So when you talk about what we could still be doing militarily, What's still on the table that kind of burns you on this ally who, through what, seven presidents? has been a problem. This time the newest enemy, Iran. Through seven has been a problem. What what did we leave on the table that frustrates you?

I think we From a military strategy perspective, we never actually led up to the point where we would take away significant portions of Iranian territory or what have you. Epic Fury did a brilliant job tactically executing strikes. The blockade has been very effective in setting the conditions for all this, but we haven't set the force posture to say if this continues, we might change the fundamental map. And I think without that pressure, without at least the threat of that, you've left something on the table. You're talking about ground troops.

Well, I think it's the, you know, status quo is not going to change anything, Brian.

So you have to have at least the option for the policymakers to hold up and say, this is a costly signal on the part of the United States, but we're willing to send it. Right.

It's very interesting because other people say that the ground troops would be: if you take Carg Island, you would need ground troops to hold it. They'd also become targets, but that would totally strangle them. Where would you stand on that if they called on your you know I think, to be clear, from a tactical and an operational perspective, it's not insignificant. It's far from a trivial action to take away some parts of these Iranian territories, either the disputed islands in the Straits of Hormuz, the Strait itself, or Karg Island. And that there would be a significant cost to pay, but you ask the question of what have we left on the table as an option to change the facts on the ground.

And so I think that's one of the debates that we have to have, because otherwise if we don't have it, it's been essentially ruled out.

So if we could jog over to the Ukrainian situation, it looks like John Radcliffe landed in Russia. Spend about six hours on the ground, a 72-hour trip. He's already back. Um I guess there could be multiple messages. We hear the message was: we hear you're thinking about going into a NATO nation, knock it off.

What do you think the Russians are up to that would get our CIA director's attention? Ironically, I spent most of the week working PACOM issues, but when I look at that, what I see is the Russians are very frustrated by their lack of progress in Ukraine. And one of the ways to break open essentially the stalemate that's going on inside Ukrainian territory is to sidestep it by going through NATO territory. And that would cause significant concern for us because it would invoke Article V. Hence, the reason why it's possible or even plausible, the CIA directors going to Russia to say, we know what you're thinking about.

It's probably not a good idea. And would he put how does he put teeth into that warning? I think the teeth are almost self-evident. We run back to the Russians where they're at in this conflict. If you think about the fact that we go and we say we're going to stand beside our NATO allies, even if there's tension there with some of them, we're going to stand beside them.

And you really haven't fared well just against the Ukrainians, going up against a modern coalition like NATO is going to actually cause Russia a strategic defeat.

So, what do you think? I know, I guess, to our advantage, it would be to you always put yourself in the enemy's shoes and think: what are their options? You watched their refineries are blowing up now. You saw that without a Navy, Ukraine is basically really hobbled. The Russian Navy.

Would uh What is Russia how does Russia save, face and stop and at the same time cease this war? That's a great question. I think it comes back to some of the intractable issues that we're seeing play out between Russia and Ukraine itself. Russia, if they kept some of the Ukrainian territory in order to protect the Russian population that they believe that they're conducting this action on, in part, that would help them save face if they sought a settlement. Right.

Uh but giving up the Donbass area areas they have not won should be a non-starter. I think that's a very tough negotiation for the Ukraine. They would see that they've now got leverage. And why would they accept the loss of some of what they rightly believe is Ukrainian sovereign territory? Ray, did you ever think war would change so much in real time as it has in that conflict?

I mean, look at how it's different.

Now we have not only do we have drones, we have AI autonomous drones that we program. We're not working a joystick anymore in the basement in Las Vegas. The the Ukrainians have moved this to a whole new level. The velocity of change specific to the Ukraine has been profound. And it comes across in different segments of the war.

But the portion you're talking about now is something that we're all studying because it's going to have impact. Anytime you get into a position where you go static, like they are in the Ukraine-Russia salient right now, you're going to find yourself in a position where you're going to get swarmed like that with anything that can see you is probably going to be able to kill you.

So now, for a long time, for a couple of first couple of years, Russia wasn't really affected. They could say, hey, the war is no big deal. I'm not drafting your sons and daughters. These are people from distant provinces. It's no issue.

Now they're really cutting to the point where they got to get some of the elite's family to join. If these North Koreans are not going to be there, maybe they will. And number two is you can honestly say these cities have been affected. And now when you have gas lines in Russia, you know these refineries. are really hurting their society and their quality of life.

They're being targeted. Yeah, you're absolutely spot on with that. And I think it speaks to the creativity that the Ukrainians have created by denying Russia a safe haven. As you pointed out, first couple of years, Russia was relatively unaffected domestically by this. That is no longer the case.

Deep into Russia, they're seeing significant economic impact. The refineries, their version of Amazon, et cetera. You've got to give credit to the Ukrainians that they haven't backed down. And in fact, they've actually accelerated how they're viewing this asymmetrically.

So this winter, their goal is to hit them with as many ballistic missiles as possible. And we do not have the Patriots in our stockpile to lend.

So that's the Russians want to make this a miserable winter for Ukraine. Here we are still in the summer. How would they best prepare? I think if you're the Ukrainians and you know that the Russians are going to use fires the way that you just described, then you start figuring out how you move things away from the easily targetable positions and you create a problem for Russian targeting. You're not going to be able to stop the missiles, but you can deny them a place where they hit you most effectively.

So someone has told me, maybe use the term hit the archer, not the arrow. They've been trying to block the arrow. Is there a way to hit the archer? There's also that. I mean, to your point, if you know right now that Russia is planning on launching ballistic missiles and you know and you can do the math, there's only a certain number of places, albeit a significant amount, to do that from, you can start to deny them safe haven with the same techniques they've been using to go after Russian economic targets.

That's another thing that I would be considering. It's also another policy lever that we've talked about, which is, does the United States give the Ukrainians more ability to use prompt striking munitions instead of the slower flying things that they've typically been using, i.e., deeper penetrating things like the ATACMs that come out of the high Mars? Interesting. Mike Pence had this idea. When I interviewed him on Monday 'cause he just got back from Ukraine, Yeah, we do not have the patriots that we want.

We probably need them. We have some we can give them, sell them. But South Koreans do. And the North Koreans have no problem giving them ballistic missiles as well as up to 50,000 soldiers. Do you think it could be in South Korea's interest?

And the right thing to do to maybe South Korea saying, here, I can help you here. I think absolutely, mostly because just like we talk about in the United States about reindustrialization, South Korea has significant industrial capacity you just described, and they've got the ability to vertically close the build of advanced things like the Patriots, them and the Japanese. We would want them to have that because it's additive capability for us and it allows us to essentially have export licenses on versions of the Patriots that go to our friends to counter what you just described. Folks that mean us and our friends' ill will. We now have the ability to defend them, not just from our own domestic lines, but also the ones from our partners.

Yeah, well, I have to say, Ray Gerber, thanks so much. It's a very interesting time. I feel like as much as these things. Are ongoing. I also think they're solvable.

I get the sense that this thing could come to hopefully they'll come to a close by the end of 26, both conflicts. It would definitely ease some world pressure and certainly world economy. Ray Gerber, thank you. You would hope the weariness, the war weariness that everyone's facing from this actually brings people to the negotiating table to find a durable settlement. Yes, Brian.

It was good to talk to you. Yeah, same here. And the other thing is, we don't have to convince NATO that they're going to have to spend on their own defense anymore. I think they can. That is absolutely true.

Certainly. Go get him, Ray. Thank you. Back in a moment. The headlines, the stories behind them, and the people who make them only on the Brian Kill Meat Show.

He's so busy, he'll make your head spin. It's Brian Killmead.

Sponsored by Previgen. Previgen made for your brain. Every kid that grows up in Massachusetts in the fourth grade in their geography book has a chapter entitled Our Friends, the Canadians. They are our trading partners. They are our friends.

And what Donald Trump is doing is jeopardizing the relationship which we have. And so many of my small businesses have relationships.

So many of them are going to be jeopardized. We have to do everything we can in the next nine weeks to defeat the Republicans in the House and Senate.

Okay, fine. Ed Markey, 80 years old, still doing the same thing, accomplishing nothing, just a liberal guy from Massachusetts, joined the club. But he's right. I would love to see a good deal done with Canada. One of the president's things the president did is going to reconfigure our trade relationships.

He made the USMCA was much better than NAFTA. Everybody agrees with that. They're about to modernize it. The way I understand it, Canada contacted our trade reps and said, let's do our deal. I know you just did EU.

I know you've worked out South Korea. I know you've done Japan. I know you're working with Mexico. Let's update the USMCA, but also let's do our deal. And they were on track six days ago.

To get this done, you heard the president said a good conversation on Thursday, and on Friday he predicted the deal is done.

Well, they reconfigured it in the afternoon. Might have played a role in that. But for everything to go south and then to say we're declaring war Really? How ironic. You're declaring war on America w a country of forty two million with almost no money, less than two percent spent on the military.

Less than two percent.

So now we're in a situation where they're trying to directly target Republicans. They're trying to put maximum pain on Maine. And Michigan. In Ohio.

So here you go. Uh they feel as though they have the advantage. And um We feel as though we're not going to do a bad deal. And the President's predetermined. I think he was going to release today, he was going to make it Lake America instead of Lake Ontario.

Personally, I'm not really into that. Doesn't really make much sense to me. Here's Scott Besson, Cut 26. They were offered quite a good deal last week. They chose to reject it.

Unfortunately, Prime Minister Kearney rose to power on an anti-American, anti-Trump platform. And he's making the most of it. He's not really paying the price for it. And president's having a war with Doug Ford. We get electricity.

Maine evidently gets electricity from. From Ontario. I have no idea why. Why are we getting like why are we getting power from Canada? I'm friend or foe, it doesn't matter.

But to do that, now they're going to put tariffs on the electricity or shut it off. Cut 27. I would. Everything's on the table, but I can't do it alone. You know, I'm not the only province that ships electricity down to the U.S.

We need a Team Canada approach. And I'd be happy within the provinces to lead lead that approach. If this escalates and we can't get back to the table and he keeps coming after us, all options are on the table in my opinion.

Well, number one, forget about any military alliance if you're going to break up trade. They said they won 50% of their trade now going with China. I mean, you believe this? What responsible leader would say, let's start dealing with China, including accepting Chinese cars? They say, Look, we're barely done with India.

We'll start upgrading our relationship with India. All right, good luck with that. We'll see what happens. The other thing that we're not getting much attention yesterday, but I think it's really important that we came forward with this because we didn't have to. China is in the middle of a major operation, a spy operation, hacking operation inside our country.

It was unwound and announced yesterday, even though it's at risk for maybe jeopardizing the deal in September when they come over here. Listen to the Attorney General, CUD 35. They were trying to infiltrate not only some of our key infrastructure like you just described, but hospital systems and health care centers. And this is something that's been happening for many years. And in this case, this was sponsored.

This is state-sponsored. And this is a major national security issue for the United States. And so the work that we did over the past several months bringing this to a stop is something that the FBI and our great prosecutors in California have worked very hard on. And they're going to reload and try to come at us again. And so this is a fight that we're going to continue to have to have.

But this is a great job done by the FBI and National Security Division here at Maine Justice and then the Southern District of California U.S. Attorney's Office.

So they made this announcement. And I think it's political risk. I would say it. I mean, they're the one doing it. We just announced it.

But We're going to pressure them in a run. We expose to the world that we know you're hacking. And then we found out what you're doing.

So, are you going to deny it? We have yet to see a formal response from China. But this is it very interesting shadow boxing diplomatically. But ultimately, both militaries are building to fight each other should something happen. Who was in the brain killing?

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