The Brian Kilmeade Show

We've all heard the radio ads about the IRS. They tell you to be afraid and they try to frighten you into calling. I'm here to tell you that tax relief advocates is different. If you owe money to the IRS, whether it's $5,000, $50,000, or $500,000, TRA has a solution to your tax problem. It doesn't matter if you're sitting in your car, at work, or with your kids, no matter where you are.

Visit TRA.com. Don't lose hope. TRA could reduce or even eliminate what you owe to the IRS. Their passion is taxes and helping individuals and businesses fix their IRS problems. They have over a thousand five-star Google reviews and an A-plus with the Better Business Bureau.

You don't need to be afraid of the IRS any longer. Generous tax relief programs are now available that can give you a fresh start.

So don't wait. Simply visit TRA.com. That's TRA.com or call 800-583-5675. Once again, that's 800-583-5555. Five six seven five.

Tax relief advocates: real solutions for real people. From hi. Top Fox News headquarters in New York City. Always seeking solutions, never sowing division. It's Brian.

All right. Hi, everybody.

So excited to be here leading up to Labor Day. We've got a big show. Checking with Arthur Lee, the creator and founder of Lifeback, doing a ride to celebrate how many saves they've had. I mean, thousands and thousands of saves. He's going to tell us about that.

Arthur Lee is going to be with us too, also a successful entrepreneur, a guy who believes in capitalism in a time in which we're questioning that as we come up on America 250, doing his celebration of America by going across the country.

Meanwhile, Lee Zeldin is going to be with us too, the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the EPA. But Lee is also a former congressman from Long Island. A battleground district knows what it's like to fight it out. Got to find out what he thinks about the midterms.

Although he's really shouldn't be talking about politics, maybe I'll trick him into it. Let's get to the big three. Number three. We'd like to formalize the commitment between Daquan and LSU, which is not taking place yet. He's enrolled in classes at LSU.

He's been practicing with the team, but he isn't formally on the roster yet, and we're hoping that happens today. Yes, that, of course, is Drew Rosenhaus. And his client, Daquan Quinn, is wondering if he is going to be able to play for his old coach, Lane Kiffen, at LSU from pros to college. The Lawless College Football World sees another precedent-setting move. Two players move from the NFL camp where they were cut and go back to college where they found out they have another year of eligibility.

The courts, not the conferences or the NCAA, will decide if those players will play tomorrow. Number Kim, despite those wishing that we don't succeed, almost on every line of operation, whether it's the economic noose around the regime, we control the straight-up forms. We can get all of that oil out. It's all indicators that the strategy is working. Yep, that is Major John Spencer.

Is a professor at a war college, Iran. Trump on a path to vindication against that terror regime. Why I think the key is finding their money while destroying their military. Number one. Democrats are down on their knees.

They're begging, please, please, please allow this election to be about Donald John Trump. Because if you could see this right now, Republicans are actually outperforming President Trump. Here we go. Let's see if they are. Actually, Harry Enton weighs in.

Midterm maneuvering. We are waiting as both sides format their game plan, and we start the post-Labor Day sprint in November with the Republicans having their mini convention. First time ever. I think it'll be the first of a, I think if it's a moneymaker and it's successful, I really believe we're going to see a lot of these mini conventions. I think it's an opportunity, an opportunity for any party to get together and you say, hey, what's your strategy over in the second district over in New York?

What's your strategy over in that redistrict area over in Florida? How do we handle it if we're losing some Hispanic votes? And I think it's an opportunity to get together and mind melt. And also get on the same page. I know the House has basically said, go home and campaign.

The best thing you could do is try to maintain the majority. And it will literally be decided, they say, by 18 seats, 18 seats.

So this is going to be really exciting. The question is: Kamala Harris has already been told by many of those battleground seats: don't show up. You didn't do well in any battleground area. I don't need you any red district. And in some areas, as you know, President Trump is not popular, where they're looking to defy and maybe.

outdo his numbers, it's probably better for the President not to show up. What he's got to do is sew up the areas that have always been in our in his column. I'm talking about Iowa, I'm talking about Texas, big time, and maybe take a dent out of take a dent Out of Georgia, if that's possible, to see if they can do that, because I have not heard much from Michael Collins.

Now, in terms of 28, people are talking about that too. I'm not really doing that. I'm focusing on the midterms. You heard a little bit of it in the tees, but I want you to hear Arienton. He's talking about Dems want Donald Trump to show up and campaign.

As they know. I have an opinion on this, but first I want you to hear what his stats tell him, cut nine. Democrats are down on their knees. They're begging, please, please, please allow this election to be about Donald John Trump. Because if you can see this right now, Republicans are actually outperforming President Trump.

Look at that. Choose Republicans for House. You get 41% of the electorate who say that. Approval of President Trump, he's only at 37%.

So right now, Democrats are actually underperforming where they should be, given where President Trump's popularity is. And Republicans are overperforming. Democrats are begging, please, President Trump, get involved in these midterm fights. We can do even better than we're doing right now. And of course, they are, in fact, leading right now in the generic congressional ballot by about six, seven, or eight points, depending on how you average the politics.

So think about what their Democrats are. They have a socialist conference in Chicago this weekend. And I bet you know guess who's going to be speaking there? Jumroll Please, Hassan Piker. I bet you a lot of these guys like RoConna and these other people will show up.

Big Tent, Big Tent. I think the Big Tent is a total lark. Really do. And I think a big tent, you know what a big tent would be? Moderate Democrats, so-called blue dog Democrats, along with the squad.

That's a big tent. And I'll give you, you know, the squad, I didn't think the squad ever came out and said, let's get rid of the border, get rid of the Senate, get rid of the presidency, also get rid of the Supreme Court, defund the War Department. Even the squad didn't say that.

So that's what gives Republicans hope. And they're meeting this weekend. I bet you it's going to be a big crowd. They're certainly going to get big media. Cut 11, more from Harry Enton on Democrats not celebrating too much.

Among all the other voters, the voters who say this is not in fact their vote is not in fact the message that they're trying to send about President Trump. Look at that. Republicans are leading by 19 points.

So Democrats absolutely want this midterm to be about Trump because the voters who say that their vote is about sending a message to Trump, Democrats are crushing. The voters who say it isn't, Republicans are actually the ones leading. Yeah, I totally, thoroughly believe that.

So, and when I was talking about Big Temp before, I really think there's a difference. I have no problem with the Freedom Caucus because they're extremely conservative. I have no problem with the Tea Party. And if I'm a Republican, you know, look, traditional conservatives had a party a problem with the Tea Party.

Now, the Tea Party had a problem with the so-called neocons. I don't even know what they were, but I guess those people that were for the Iraq war. You have podcasters who now say, hey, that El Saeed makes a lot of sense. He used to be Republicans. It's absolutely crazy.

And not for. Uh a guy like Mike Rogers. who Congressman Rogers Conservative, Republican. Very great demeanor, unbelievable background, military, FBI, the intelligence select committee in the House where he was chairman. But when Stephen A.

Smith, who's a Democrat, Looks at the Democratic Party, and I think Stephen A. Smith's like Charlemagne the God, a very logical, practical Democrat. Said this about the Big Ten. He went on Politico, cut 14. We should never want to hear anything about the Democratic Party being a big tent, and here's why.

Their tent, you're only welcomed in it. If you march lockstep with every single syllable that comes out of their mouth. Yeah. Uh I wouldn't I wouldn't put him in. You know, you listen to Ron Manuel, Josh Godheimer, they don't even think they're part of the party.

And then people like Keem Jeffries says we're a big ten. Stephen A. Smith goes on to talk about that, Cut 19. The real issue is with the Democratic Party not being able to come together as one because they're a house divided between the progressives and the moderates. And I'm saying to you, like I've been on the record talking about Joshua Piro.

Why do I bring up Joshua Piro? Not only has he done a damn good job in the state of Pennsylvania, it's against a Republican legislature. He has to go across the aisle. And operate. With the other party in order to get things done for the state of Pennsylvania.

That's what you want for the country. Nobody gets everything, but enough people will get enough for this country to be stabilized and in a much better place than it is in right now. I tell you, I do think that compromise at some point is going to be important. I mean, for example, I like the J.D. Vance one on The View.

I don't know why he did, but out of all the shows to go on The View, it's the most unreasonable. But they were almost blown away by the fact that he was taking their questions and was able very hard to insult him. That's a good quality that he has. And Stephen A. Smith is saying the same thing.

And Bill Maher says the same thing. They're both voting Democrat, but they said they asked Democrats to come on. They don't want to come on because he talks to Republicans. Bill Maher says, I can't get liberals like Barack Obama in my studio because I spend a lot of time being critical of the Democratic Party and having Republicans on. And their answer is pretty simple.

Why do you have Republicans on? Because when I ask them, they show up. Think about that. They just show up.

So, this is the biggest story. The reason why. There's two reasons. When the President made the the President made the very gutsy call on Iran. He knew it was going to put the midterms at risk, but he said the heck with it.

If you talk to him now, he says the same thing. I'm more concerned with getting this right in Iran because I know the next person is not going to than I am about the midterms. But when you do that, You say, okay, it's going to be even harder if gas prices go up because of this, and there's so much gas and oil coming out of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz because of this. I'm really going to have a hard time being successful in the midterms. But you're going to be a lot more successful if you have a Democratic Party that can't get their act together, that has absolutely no agenda except for hate Trump and has to fend off the rise of socialism who's taken over their party.

Much like, I really think, like a tapeworm, little by little, taking it all over. It's got the energy and it's got the money, and it's not going anywhere.

So we come back. Arthur Lee doing a great tribute to our country and to those lives saved from his life back. We're going to catch up to him on the road. I think he's in Nashville. Bottom of the air, we talk to Lee Zeldon, and we'll talk about the environment and what this whole data centers mean for the environment, the reality behind it.

Don't move. You're listening to the Brian Kilmeat Show. Politics, current events, and news that affects you. Brian's got a lot more to say. Stay with Brian Kilmead.

We've all heard the radio ads about the IRS. They tell you to be afraid and they try to frighten you into calling. I'm here to tell you that tax relief advocates is different. If you owe money to the IRS, whether it's $5,000, $50,000, or $500,000, TRA has a solution to your tax problem. It doesn't matter if you're sitting in your car, at work, or with your kids, no matter where you are, visit TRA.com.

Don't lose hope. TRA could reduce or even eliminate what you owe to the IRS. Their passion is taxes and helping individuals and businesses fix their IRS problems. They have over a thousand five-star Google reviews and an A-plus with the Better Business Bureau. You don't need to be afraid of the IRS any longer.

Generous tax relief programs are now available that can give you a fresh start.

So don't wait. Simply visit TRA.com. That's TRA.com or call 800-583-5675. Once again, that's 800-583-555. Tax Relief Advocates: Real Solutions for Real People.

A radio show like no other. It's Brian Killmead. Hey, welcome back, everyone. You know, you see him all over the channel, and he's been on our show multiple times. I've known him my whole life, virtually my whole life, really since probably, I think, sixth or seventh grade.

He is the founder. He's successful in multi-careers, but his latest incarnation is the founder of Life Vac. He invented it, and because of that, thousands of people are alive right now. They have a haul of saves. You've seen him on the channel.

Now he's got Ben Carson endorsing it too.

So Arthur Lee joins us now. He's riding his motorcycle across the country to celebrate America 250, obviously, and 10 years of saving lives with the Life Act, which, by the way, I don't understand why everyone doesn't have it. When you have a shower, you have a wedding. How could you not get it? You're going to get a call in a few years saying, hey, you know that Life VAC you got me just saved a life.

He'll be, so let's bring in Arthur Lee. Arthur, where are you now as you use your motorcycle to go, as you ride your motorcycle across the country?

Well, I think I'm in Mulberry, Arkansas at a 1950s diner, way off the beaten path in the middle of nowhere. Was talking with Mindy, the waitress. Her graduation class was 20 kids when she graduated high school. And, you know, Brian, I got to give you a lot of credit for restimulating my passion for history. I was a history minor, and I loved it.

And, you know, I got my first career and then life act just like you, 18-hour days. But reading your books restimulated my love of the country and, you know, understanding the sacrifice, you know, these guys, like, I'm riding a motorcycle, big deal. You know, it's tough. But, you know, Jackson would get on his horse and go to New Orleans from D.C., you know. And the Uber Eats generation doesn't realize the pain, the sacrifice, the effort that went into making our country, you know.

Yeah, is that what you wanted to do by going across country? Yeah, that's why you wanted to get out.

So, what is your path? I know you were in Nashville yesterday, was it, or the day before? Yeah, I did Lexington, Nashville, Memphis, Little Rock.

Well, I did Gettysburg and Valley Forge, Lexington, Nashville, Memphis, Little Rock. Today I'm headed to Oklahoma City. In our world, that would we that year, twenty twenty, we saved fifty two lives and it equates to about eighteen seventy six in our country's history. But I was excited to talk to you because I Oklahoma City tonight, tomorrow is Amarillo, Texas, and I'm going to talk about Sam Houston and the Alamo Avengers because so few people know what happened after the Alamo, you know? Yeah, I know and you were after the cannons uh that went went into the water because as Jim Fannin went to go help at the Alamo, he uh one of the cannons got loose and it they went flying into the uh into the um uh into the uh lake.

And they're trying to. I walked up that bank based on your story, and I could definitely see when they were panicking, all that stuff falling down. And yeah, it was a fun adventure. I look to go back someday, maybe, and find that candid.

So let's talk about the LIFE Act. You pioneered that you figured out a way when people are choking, the Heimlich's not going to work every time, but the LIFE Act does. You got FDA approval. All these medical journals are approved. You start telling people about it.

And now that was how many years ago? And what the result is, these are reported. And what are the reported saves from LIFE VAC?

Well, you know, I'm at I started our first save like 10 years, 2016, we saved four, 17, 2017, 6, 2018, 9, 2019, 26.

Now in my journey, I'm at 2020, 52. But we haven't even hit 100 lives in the first five, six years, you know. And I think it's just like America was perseverance. I mean, you know, we saved 52 lives. We saved 52 lives now in about a week.

Okay. And, you know, I think parallel in our country is that the pain, the sacrifice, the effort, I mean, you know, you work like a psycho too. And it's a parallel of effort and determination, you know.

So right now, we're coming up on 7,000 lives. And the real big one that's coming up, and it's I think we're about 40 away, is 4,000 kids, man. 4,000 kids will have saved, hopefully when I hit California. Which is amazing. And what you're trying to do, what I like about this is if you have to sell a membership or sell a car, that's tough, all right?

But that sales is a place in this world. You're trying to sell people on saving a life.

So when people get it's good to have a sale. It's a for-profit company. There's a capitalist society for now for now, I hope. It stays that way. Right.

But but you're trying to do s as people get it into schools, they get it into where you know they put it in their car as more and more police Police stations make it part of it, put it in every single police car around the country, every single school. People are going to have lives saved. And think about the relief they have when they're able to pull it out of the pub, pull it out of the plastic, and save somebody's life who's choking at any age. It could be a senior. Or could be a toddler.

Well, the other day, we yes, two days ago, we saved a five-month-old and a 92-year-old. But check it out, you know, based on the integrity of my father. I made it last forever. It doesn't expire every year, you know. That was a bit of a hurdle because people wanted it to expire that wanted money.

But today, I speak with the police officers in. In uh Clarksville, Tennessee, who has just saved the life, and it's on body cam. And, you know, they wanted to talk to me, and I want to talk to them to express my gratitude for it. You know, you said that, you know, this ridiculous move away from quote-unquote capitalism and this ridiculous theories of stupidity. You know, American people are good people.

They will work hard. They want to be left alone. You know, and if we go, if we forget our history, right, that government was a temporary job, leave the people alone. Freedom, man. I'm in freedom, man.

I'm in it. I'm in it. I got dirt on me. I meet people with dirt on them. You know, we are a good country, we work hard, and whether you work hard and succeed, that's the way it's supposed to be.

Maniacs and the the Uber Each generation has to research and see that the effort to have freedom and freedom works.

So I wanted to be in America. I wanted to feel the the pain of travel like these guys did and and the effort. You know, going from my garage with a sink plunger to say In 33 lives. Arthur, continue success. Stay safe.

Arthur Lee, Lifeback, LifeBack.com. Go get it today. We've all heard the radio ads about the IRS. They tell you to be afraid and they try to frighten you into calling. I'm here to tell you that tax relief advocates is different.

If you owe money to the IRS, whether it's $5,000, $50,000, or $500,000, TRA has a solution to your tax problem. It doesn't matter if you're sitting in your car, at work, or with your kids, no matter where you are, visit TRA.com. Don't lose hope. TRA could reduce or even eliminate what you owe to the IRS. Their passion is taxes and helping individuals and businesses fix their IRS problems.

They have over a thousand five-star Google reviews and an A-plus with the Better Business Bureau. You don't need to be afraid of the IRS any longer. Generous tax relief programs are now available that can give you a fresh start.

So don't wait. Simply visit TRA.com. That's TRA.com or call 800-583-5675. Once again, that's 800. 800-583-5675.

Tax Relief Advocates: Real Solutions for Real People. The more you have a lot of people who are in the world Listen, Memorial Know, it's Brian Kilmeade. I'm surprised as anyone. If you told me some of the issues that are going to affect the midterm elections, I would say, well, absolutely the economy. Job numbers were really good today, by the way, way over projection, but unemployment stays at very palatable 4.1%.

If you were to tell me about oil and gas, absolutely, the grocery prices, sure, the Iran war, it makes sense. I got it. You know, president's personal popularity. But if you told me that data centers was going to be one of these very big issues, the building of data centers, I'd say absolutely not. But the problem is, I guess as they're being built, people get the sense that their utility bills will go up because of that, and their water usage is also going to cause your water bill to go up and possibly take up farmland.

Then we hear about a buzz and a hum, and others say, well, they weren't consulted about this. And also, I believe that there's the Chinese working social media using their bots, what they've always done, they usually with elections, to try to push. Public opinion a certain way to allow them to catch up when it comes to AI. Because when it comes to storage, when it comes to phone use, when it comes to streaming, you all need data centers. But somehow the communication and the ball has been dropped.

But the environment seems to be one of the main areas that people are more focused on. It's not good for the environment. Is that in fact the case? Let's bring in the EPA Administrator, Lee Zeldon. Lee, were you surprised as I am?

That we are dealing with data centers as a major midterm election issue?

Well, I mean, over the course of the last few months, it's certainly been trending in that direction. But I would say, like, if we were asking this a couple of years back, no, it wasn't on the radar like this. And what's happened is I've traveled the country, and I mean, I've been in this position now 19 months. My first nine months, I went to all 50 states, and I saw a range of data centers from the good to bad, and a lot of groundbreaking and new technologies being implemented. And I kind of see this three concerns.

One, I just want to say, by the way, generally, I find that most Americans want us to win this AI race with China. But the primary three concerns that I see. One is that if there's movement of a bill, they want their bill to go down, not up. Totally reasonable. That's why President Trump has his ratepayer protection pledge, which a lot of hyperscalers and others have signed on to.

Two is there's a desire that when a data center is built, that it's a net giver onto the grid. None of that taker. And there's a lot of now behind the meter work where the data center is getting built and they're generating their own energy. Third is, as you referenced, water usage. And technology has come along so far that with these closed-loop data centers using 100% recyclable water, that the use of water has progressed in a way.

Now, I don't think it's the right answer to just have a moratorium across the board because these projects, as they get built in places like China, you can't just catch up a year or two, three years when we wake up. And now for a state that wants to do a moratorium, you need to understand that it's not like the project that's going to be billions of dollars in investment in your state is going to just sit there on the sidelines waiting for you to change your moratorium. They'll just go to another state and get built. And the last point that that I'd I'd reference is you just brought out so many people don't realize as they pick up their phone and they go on a social media account to say that we shouldn't have any data centers. too many people just don't even realize how much data centers impact the daily lives of Americans.

So all of these topics, there needs to be that conversation with the public, and the public's demanding it in a fair game. I want you to hear Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who I think has more data centers than anybody else. They pop up in places that nobody ever heard of before until they started the construction. And so they had not been working in collaboration with the state. They had not been working in collaboration with local governments.

And so they basically dug their own grave for the problem that's been caused for them. And that's why they got the backlash they deserve.

So Is that happening? These data centers are built without talking to the community? And do you recommend, if that is the case, that that change? Yeah, I've definitely seen a range on this. I'll give you one example.

I was in West Memphis, Arkansas, where there's this project, an agreement between the state of Arkansas, Entergy, that provides the energy of the area, and Google. And in that area, which what is multi-billion dollar investment and a whole lot of jobs, there's a whole lot of support, and there was extensive engagement. By the way, the project is an over $1 billion net benefit to the Entergy ratepayer.

So the engagement from an early stage is important, where you're going to the local community, you're showing respect, you're answering their questions, you're present.

Now, let's just say they went a totally different path. They're like, well, we're just going to steamroll the Entergy ratepayer. They're going to have to shoulder the burden of the costs. We're not going to talk to them. Then you have that other end of the extreme.

But what we shouldn't be doing is looking at the worst example or the most controversial. Commercial example in America, and painting it with one broad brush as if that's all data centers everywhere because it's not. Right, understood. Here's Hakeem Jeffries talking about making it political. Listen: The Republicans, it should come as no surprise, are pro-Republican.

data center without any restraints in their one big ugly bill. Every single House Republican But one or two voted to unleash data centers on the American people. in an unfettered fashion. Is that true? No, I mean, President Trump has been pushing his repair protection pledge very vocally with a lot of leadership to make sure that as these projects are built, that energy bills go down, not up.

You've had a lot of engagement with the administration, the National Energy Dominance Council. I've done it at EPA with those who are doing these projects. We meet with them directly about that behind-the-meter work, about the reuse of water. At the Trump EPA, a few months back, we released our Water Reuse Action Plan 2.0. We have obligations under the Clean Water Act.

We have obligations under the Clean Air Act. We engage in advancing cooperative federalism with states and local communities because we believe that they know their air, land, and water better than anyone sitting inside of an office inside of Washington, D.C.

So this has been an extensive focus. And unfortunately, what you're seeing and hearing out of congressional Democrats is this desire. To prey upon fears, to not engage in a substantive, productive conversation on the topic, but just do what a political consultant will say to try to sway public opinion to their side. But obviously, that's irresponsible. And that's the type of behavior that leads towards a base that you end up having to follow rather than you leading.

Like, if you want to step up, you want to be a member of Congress, you want to be a leader in the federal government, you're supposed to, in fact, lead. If you have no desire, don't raise your hand in the first place.

So I think it's a responsibility of us to continue to substantively engage. And we've certainly been doing that in a very big way here at the Trump EPA.

So I want you to hear one of these founders of an effort. Uh, to put uh, to put the data centers into space, Baji Baht. Listen, I think it's getting progressively more and more unpopular in the U.S. And it's critical that the U.S. continues to lead in this technology.

I think it's the defining technology of this next generation. To power it, we've got to look for alternatives. And I started this company called the Cowboy Space Corporation, originally called Aetherflux, about two years ago with the goal of building an energy company in space. The natural use for that energy in space is for powering artificial intelligence. And the interesting thing, and I think what may not be that obvious to a lot of the viewers, is that outer space is actually a very natural place to put this technology.

So, is it from what you know? I know you're not a scientist like this, but Is that possible? Has this been talked about?

Well, as we've learned from watching innovators like Elon Musk, you're seeing a lot of big focus, big dreams, a lot of research and investment into utilizing resources in space. As in my role as Administrator VPA, it's not something that our agency has been focused on. We've been focused on the data center build here inside the United States and our obligations under statute. But the fact that you have big dreamers, big thinkers, entrepreneurs looking at new ways to be able to do this, utilizing a resource like that, is something that I'm not surprised by. And I would imagine that we'll continue to learn of more advancements by people who are smarter than me on the extensive opportunities that they believe exist for data centers there I just don't think if you're not happy with the speed of the internet, if you're not happy with how your storage bill goes up for your phone, for your storage use, you can't do that and protest data centers because you can't have it both ways.

Also, the amount of tax money that comes into your community, you build it in the right way. You mentioned the closed loop, water usage. You do it the right way. There's permanent that's permanent tax dollars flowing into your community to build up your schools, build up your roads, your sewers and everything else. We've seen that, especially in Northern Virginia, right, Lee?

Yeah, absolutely. And if you kick it out of your area, don't expect them to come back. They're going to build their project. They're going to build it in an area that wants them. We've seen this for years.

I remember in Queens where Amazon wanted to build a project and have 25,000 good paying jobs and AOC and her friends were daring Amazon to build out of the state. And they said, okay, they went down to Virginia. But it's not like you could just change your mind once that decision is made and they build elsewhere.

So there's a lot of risk here as this discussion of moratorium is taking place because it's really long-term punishment. You're talking about billions of dollars, sometimes tens of billions of dollars, all of the job, all the jobs, decades of investment in a community, and with a whole lot of advanced technology to be able to satisfy your questions and asks and demands.

So we really need to To see a lot of progression, both with the engagement of those who want to build data centers as well as the people who may not realize that their phones and their lives, their social media, that so much of it relies on it.

So there's a gap there, there's daylight there that hopefully can be closed quickly. Yeah, I want you to hear Kimberly Strasso seems to get it. I think that there is some blame to go around that the AI companies probably stoked too many fears in the beginning.

Some of these AI heads were out there talking about how AI was going to take away people's jobs, etc. They've walked some of that back now, but they've also done a poor job of talking about the benefits. First of all, about what they provide. For instance, as Dan was saying, anything you like, you like that Zoom call that allows you to work remotely, that's because of a data center. You know, you like video gaming, you like using Instacart for your groceries, it's because of a data center.

Yeah. I mean, that's just it. But people are afraid to communicate that now. The President isn't. But you know, with John Eusted, they're beating him up as pro data center.

So you must be sitting there, Lee, on the sideline, going, wait a second. You guys can't do we can't move forward without them.

So hopefully some states understand. Don't take away farmland, don't use up water, don't jack up people's utility rates. Provide your power source. and communicate with the local communities. I got to ask you about something else.

There's a big uproar about the president deciding to drop tariffs and bring beef into this country because so far it's too expensive and there's not enough cattle. How much did the green mania play into the lack of cattle? uh in this country that's causing bee meat prices to go high.

Well, I mean, it's certainly a question that I'd want to defer to USDA, the Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, the trade representative, Jameson Greer, and the White House. We at EPA haven't been involved in the cattle aspect of it, although we have been involved in a whole lot of other dynamics related to helping farmers from establishing the right to repair this past February, the movement to get rid of the diesel exhaust fluid deratements, all of our work to help these communities and getting rid of a pesticide review backlog that we inherited and much more.

So we have been very focused on ag asks that come from the heartland of America, delivering win after win. I have to say, we haven't gotten involved in the cattle piece. I wouldn't have to do it. The whole methane glass and the flatulation, that's what's supposedly worrying away the... Ozone layer.

Oh, my God.

So people are encouraged not to have meat and not to have cows. Yeah, that's another one of AOC's specials on top of saying that the world was about 12 years away from ending as they were pushing the Green New Deal and scaring people to believe certain things that just were not true, signing on to what was not just a pessimistic view of predictions on sea level rise or global warming, but actually adopting positions that were more pessimistic than the most pessimistic science, making predictions that wouldn't come true.

So for us here at EPA, we believe in radical transparency, in promoting truth, and understanding that when you're talking about something like a debate over a changing climate, that science ranges from the optimistic to the pessimistic, and certainly not the predictions from an Al Gore, John Kerry, or AOC that just will not and have not come true. Yeah, and Lee, finally, let's say The Trump term's over. And a Democrat gets in, do you think the green fever has broken of where if you don't j if you getting rid of gas cars and the world's going to come to an end, Paris climate change, we have to reenter it. Do you think all that stuff people are sobering up to it to be responsible but not maniacal?

Well, for one, more people are realizing that you can protect the environment and grow the economy. You don't have to choose between one or the other. Also, we have been changing rules here post-Loperbright, a Supreme Court case in recent years, that now require an agency to follow the single best reading of federal statute. When we make decisions analyzing that single best reading of statute and it goes to the courts and the courts end up agreeing right through the Supreme Court, some administration can't come in the future and have a different single best reading of law.

So that's been important as well. Congress passed Congressional Review Acts getting rid of Biden EPA waivers to California that California used for the electric vehicle mandate. When they did that, it didn't just get rid of those mandates for now, it got rid of them permanently. When Congress took that action, now a new administration comes in, they can't do anything substantially similar.

So there's a whole Lot of examples like that that are durable and enduring, and we're just going to keep moving in that direction because we still have two and a half years left to go in this term. Absolutely. Lee Zeldon, of course, administrator of the U.S. of the EPA. Thanks so much, Lee.

Back in the morning. Bye, Brian. Newsmakers and newsbreakers, here at first on the Brian Kill Meet Show. We've all heard the radio ads about the IRS. They tell you to be afraid and they try to frighten you into calling.

I'm here to tell you that tax relief advocates is different. If you owe money to the IRS, whether it's $5,000, $50,000, or $500,000, TRA has a solution to your tax problem. It doesn't matter if you're sitting in your car, at work, or with your kids, no matter where you are. Visit TRA.com. Don't lose hope.

TRA could reduce or even eliminate what you owe to the IRS. Their passion is taxes and helping individuals and businesses fix their IRS problems. They have over a thousand five-star Google reviews and an A-plus with the Better Business Bureau. You don't need to be afraid of the IRS any longer. Generous tax relief programs are now available that can give you a fresh start.

So don't wait. Simply visit TRA.com. That's TRA.com or call 800-583-5675. Once again, that's 800-583-555. Tax Relief Advocates: Real Solutions for Real People.

Um If you're interested in it, Brian's talking about it. You're with Brian Kilmead. Hey, we are back. Just a quick announcement. United States comes out October 13th, the six crucial moments that forged the American miracle.

I think you're going to love it. Just Paul Moore celebrating of the 250 and the moments that could have made us instead it could have breaken us. Broken us, but it actually made the country what it is today and the hurdles we had to clear. I think you'll really like it. I know it's readable, understandable, and I got a Fox Nation special along with it.

That's also going to be dropping around the same time. We're just about done with it, been shooting it for the past two years.

So I think you guys are going to like it. If you want to pre-order it, you get a koozie now. If you go to my website, if you want to personalize, that's also an opportunity. It's going to go to my local bookstore. I show up there and I'm able to personalize it and get it out for Christmas or whatever the holiday you have, Columbus Day or something else.

Normally, I have November books. This is the first time.

So, some of the places. We'll be live on stage, Westbury, Long Island, Red Banks, New Jersey. as well as Jacksonville, Clearwater, Florida, Vero Beach. I'll be just signing books, but I can't wait to see you there in person. And of course, I'll also be in St.

Louis in November. BrianKillMe.com. We've all heard the radio ads about the IRS. They tell you to be afraid and they try to frighten you into calling. I'm here to tell you that tax relief advocates is different.

If you owe money to the IRS, whether it's $5,000, $50,000, or $500,000, TRA has a solution to your tax problem. It doesn't matter if you're sitting in your car, at work, or with your kids, no matter where you are, visit TRA.com. Don't lose hope. TRA could reduce or even eliminate what you owe to the IRS. Their passion is taxes and helping individuals and businesses fix their IRS problems.

They have over a thousand five-star Google reviews and an A-plus with the Better Business Bureau. You don't need to be afraid of the IRS any longer. Generous tax relief programs are now available that can give you a fresh start.

So don't wait. Simply visit TRA.com. That's TRA.com or call 800-583-5675. Once again, that's 800-583-5675. Tax Relief Advocates: Real Solutions for Real People.

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

So glad you're there. It's the Brian Kilmey Show coming your way as we get set for the after-Labor Day sprint for the midterms, which has so much impact, too. And I remember a time where. It used to be very predictable as how many seats do you lose? Do you lose both the Senate and the House?

I think they're bowled up for grabs. Anyone who says it's done, the die is cast, I think is flat out lying and guessing or hoping. And I just don't see it. When you talk about 19 seats in the House, please tell me you have the internal numbers that are going to reveal it. When you talk about what the direction of New Hampshire is going to be, my goodness, you know who's on the ballot in New Hampshire?

You have a socialist who was down by 40 points, now down by 9.

So, I don't know who John Sununu or Scott Brown is most likely going to be Sununu is going to be going against there.

So, so much has to be, still much has to be figured out, too. Also, I don't know where we're going to be at with the Iran war either. Bottom of the air, I'm going to talk to Dakota Meyer, U.S. Marina Medal of Honor recipient. And Mark Thiessen is with us right now, former speechwriter for Bush, Box News contributor, Washington Post columnist, a fellow at AEI.

Mark, welcome back. Good to be with you, Brian. I think we should look at the midterms. I know you have people, everyone around you is somehow involved in politics, and that's most people talk about. Do you think this game is yet to be played?

Do you believe the die is cast for either chamber? No, I don't think it's cast. And look, I just look at the 2022 midterms, right?

So remember on election night how we were all expecting a red wave in 2022. Biden was an absolute disaster. We had just gotten through the Afghan withdrawal, which is the worst foreign policy debacle in either of our lifetimes. His polling numbers had collapsed after that. We had the worst inflation in four decades, worst border crisis in American history, worst crime wave in the cities.

And he put in the best midterm performance of any president since John F. Kennedy, except for Bush right after 9-11, which was an anomaly, right? How did that happen? We put up a bunch of really bad candidates. We put up, you know, in Georgia and other places with Herschel Walker and Dan Baldock and Blake Masters, and we lost a bunch of winnable races.

And we did the same thing in the House. This time around, it's almost the reverse. You've got, you know, the Democrats. Have to win. They need four.

Plus four to flip the Senate, right?

So they have to, they can't lose any blue seats. And so in Michigan, which is an open blue seat, they put up El Saeed. who's a who's a radical Islamist, you know, hates football, thinks it's racist and homophobic in in Michigan. Terrible candidate. What's puts that that seat in play?

They have to flip Maine. Susan Collins is their best chance of a pickup in the Senate. What do they do? They come up with a guy with a Nazi tattoo who allegedly raped his girlfriend. And then they come up with his replacement as a guy who Susan Collins said, I'm not going to raise the fact that he's fathered children with his cousin.

Right? Yeah. So they're saying that. In fact, you want to hear that? Let's listen.

No, we don't have it. But I do want you to hear this. Um in terms of what's going on in Texas. The Republicans getting their own way there with Ken Paxson. Donald Trump is being pushed to spend money there, and I think he will.

Here's what Carl Robe said. The president got him into the general election. Without the president's endorsement, he would have lost. The president has $400 million as of July 31st sitting in MAGA Inc. and tens of millions of dollars sitting in other pockets that he controls, Super PACs.

And he's got to, if he wants to have Paxton win, he needs to come in. Time is running out. If the president wants to have Paxton win, he needs to be tossing a lot of money Paxton's way so that ads can be run that depict Callarico as the far left winger that he is. If not, Tallarico is going to run the message of my opponent is the most corrupt politician in Texas history all the way to the victory lane. Do you think it needs the Trump money?

Oh, absolutely.

So here's the other thing.

So here's the counter to what I was just saying to you. We're doing the same thing again in some of these races.

So, you know, Trump pressured Tillis, you know, came out again, attacked Tillis, and Tillis just said, screw this. I'm not running again. And now we're probably going to lose North Carolina as a result of that, right? In Texas, we had a safe incumbent in John Cornyn, who was the chairman of the senatorial committee for two cycles and could raise his own money, right? And instead, we cast him out and put in Paxton, who's, you know, a corrupt philanderer, who's, you know, just who's an extremely unattractive candidate, except for the hardcore base, and who is lazy and is not raising money and is not and spent Fourth of July weekend instead of campaigning across Texas, went to London on vacation with his mistress.

So, yeah, you know, that's put Texas in play. And now the problem we have is that we've got all these, you know, One of the problems we have going into this campaign is look at where the races are that are toss-ups. Alaska. Ohio. Iowa, North Carolina, Maine.

These are Republican seats. Many of them were safe red seats that are now in play. We've got to spend a lot of money, the Senatorial Committee, the Senate Leadership Fund, got to spend a lot of money to make sure that we hold on to those seats. And all of a sudden, Texas goes in and puts Texas in play that shouldn't be in play.

So, yes, I think if the president endorsed Paxton, and that's his prerogative as the head of the party, but he's got to help him over the finish line. Yeah, absolutely. And I think he will. And by the way, Paxton and Lawrence Jones always tells me this, unbelievably popular in Texas and never lost a statewide election.

So we'll see. He's got to push back on that. Listen, I'm a John Cornyn fan. I think he's one of the classiest people you're going to meet, type of person you want in Congress.

So I don't really know the problem. But here's the thing, Brian. I go by William F. Buckley's rule, which is that I support the most conservative candidate who's electable, right? And so you have a, and John Cornyn, I know that, first of all, John Corny has never lost a race in Texas either.

And I know that he's not as conservative as Paxton is, and some people in the base were unhappy with some things about him. He was the safest bet to hold on to that seat. No, no, I know. It's not worth talking about. It's just, you know, it was a mistake.

Stakes to push him out. Right. What they got to do, too, is shore up some of those redistricting seats that were going to go Trump's way if he held onto the Hispanic vote. And we'll see if he's going to. The most vulnerable one, the best chance to flip, I think, is Michigan with El Saeed there, which if you look at the real career average, he's up a point.

But the latest polls have Rodgers up. But listen to what he called Rodgers yesterday, cut 20. It's cut 20. Given the fact that Mike Rogers, who you agree is a beta, is my opponent, it probably shouldn't be very hard. They're coming at me on football.

I was the captain of a high school football team. I literally told I I was like, okay, you wanna you wanna you wanna football? And you know Oklahoma Drill is? I bought me and Mike Rogers doing Oklahoma drill right now. I'll show you how much I love football.

'Cause that's American masculinity. We're um we're headed in very much the wrong direction. And then there's like Eyeliner J.D. Vance.

So number one, that is him with Jesse and then the other ones were recently. But Rogers is beta, the military guy with an FBI background who was on the Senate Select Committee the House Select Committee on Intelligence. Number two is, really? You're the one who called football racist and you didn't like it.

So I'm pretty sure either you're not telling the truth or you weren't captain. Because most people get become captain when their teams vote for them. Did a bunch of racists vote you captain? Wally hates fireworks too? Yeah, well, let's tell me your, you know, first of all, tell me you peaked in high school without telling me you peaked in high school.

I was the captain of my high school football team. Yay! And also, by the way, he's projecting himself as an alpha. What the Americans really, really want is an alpha Islamic radical. That's what we need in America, in the Senate, an alpha Islamic radical.

I mean, give me a freaking break. And I'm sorry, he said that it's a racist and homophobic sport. Mike Rogers should put up ads, and we should not give any money to Paxton that would stop him from doing this. Put up ads in Michigan, every single Michigan State, University of Michigan football game, every Detroit Lions game, playing El Saeed's words to him to every football fan in Michigan. That's how you spend money.

You don't spend money on a candidate who, instead of fundraising over the weekend in Texas, Decided to go with his mistress to hang out in London. Of all places to spend the 250th anniversary of the 4th of July, In London? Are you serious? Yeah. By the way, JD Vince looks like that.

He doesn't wear an eyeliner. He's got eyebrows. You know, he's got what are you talking about? You're making fun of people's looks? All right, that's fine.

So let's talk about the latest in Iran. I know she wrote an editorial just saying let first, we'll start with Ukraine. Let Ukraine build their own patriots. But what the President's worried about, or what they've told him, is that if you let Israel, excuse me, Ukraine build their own patriots, they're worried about the intelligence behind those patriots getting into Russia. Yeah.

So how do you solve that problem?

So Jack Keene and I talked about this, and we've got an elegant solution. And the president actually just truthed out my column, so he seems to like it. It's very simple. You do three things. You license them to produce a less capable Patriot missile that Lockheed has developed called the Patriot Ace, which is basically 70% of the accuracy of the Patriot, the MSC, which is the one we build now at 50% of the cost.

You license the Ukrainians to build that. And you also license the Ukrainians to use the Patriot, the PAC-2 missile, which is the original Patriot missile that we produced in the 1990s, which is less capable. That way you don't have any of the risk of technology transfer of the really the special seeker that we have in the new missile and the rocket motor, which is what you don't want to get into enemy hands. And then the second thing you do, even if the Ukrainians are able to build those, you've still got an immediate need.

South Korea has its own version of the Patriot, Indigenous version of the Patriot that they are producing. They have tons and tons. of patriots. In a world where we have a patriot shortage, South Korea has more patriots than it could possibly need, and it's exporting them. They're giving them to the UAE to protect itself from Iranian missiles.

They're selling them. Trump should press the South Koreans to sell those missiles to Ukraine so that they can and ship them there immediately. They just did an emergency airlift to the UAE. Let's do an emergency airlift to Ukraine of the same Patriot battery so we can defend them. Because right now what Putin is doing, he's trying to, he's attacking all the energy infrastructure and the critical infrastructure because he wants to freeze the Ukrainian people to death when the winter arrives.

So we got to protect them now. The South Koreans can provide the Patriots to do that. And then we got to license them so by next year they have up and running the ability to produce their own Patriots. And then we don't have to give them to them. It lifts all of the needs, all the pressures on us.

And on top of that, we could actually ask the Ukrainians to backfill some of the European supply.

so that we don't have to give patriots to Europe and we have more for ourselves.

So it's a win-win-win solution for everybody. I hear you, and I'm firmly in support of that. And Mike Pence brought that up too, but you're a much better spokesperson for Donald Trump's eyes than Mike Pence right now. Major John Spence was on me last night as I filled in for Jesse, and I asked him, from the war college perspective, I mean, this guy's a war college guy. You've been in battles for 25 years.

How's this Operation Economic Fury going? Cut 30. Despite those wishing that we don't succeed, almost on every line of operation, whether it's the economic noose around the regime and its proxies, Hezbollah, its crown jewel proxy currently being destroyed by the southern Lebanon government and Israel asking for money. Iran can't do it. It's hyperinflation.

The real is worth nothing, like 2 million real, the $1.

So many indicators. We control the straighter formuz. We can get all of that oil out. The bypasses are starting to work. There's actually more getting out for a single day, and people want to criticize, but not on a weekly rate.

It's all indicators that the strategy is working. And I agree, the ship. Has sailed on the Memorandum of Understanding, and we're looking at capitulation, I believe, of the Islamic regime to save itself. Do you think he recapped where we're at right now effectively? John Spencer is awesome.

He's 100% right. We're winning. We're winning. Donald Trump is showing strategic patience, right? The biggest thing our enemies do is they just wait us out until we lose our will.

And that's not going to happen with Donald Trump. He is tightening the screws on them. You've got gas lines. You've got two kinds of lines, actually in Russia too, but that's a separate story. But in Iran, there are lines for gas miles long because people can't get gas.

And then when they do get gas, they're putting stuff in it to water it down that is causing cars to break down.

So the other side, the line going into the gas station is filled with cars waiting for gas. And then the line coming out is broken down cars along the side of the road because they put additives in it that are destroying the engines of the cars. It's a catastrophe for the Iran. They've got zero oil exports going out. Zero.

And we have control of the Strait of Hormuz right now. We've brought more than 1,000 ships through the Strait of Hormuz, according to Admiral Cooper. We've reached near pre-war levels of oil coming through the Strait. And also, there's oil coming through other ways because people are bypassing the Strait with pipelines and other. The Iranians can't win.

They cannot win. The only danger, the big risk that I'm worried about is that we stopped at the 20-yard line. They've still got ballistic missile capability and others. I think they're husbanding those things for a big attack on the eve of the midterms because they want to hurt Trump politically. They think that if they attack, kill some Americans, hit some ships, that they can cause the Democrats to win, which means that the Democrats will come in and cut off funds for the award.

And that's their play. And we just have to be on top of that and make sure it doesn't happen.

So do you believe that Iran is starting to act in a bellicose way towards Israel? Could be a precursor. Into an attack, at which time the gloves come off from Israel and the IDF. Do you think Iran would be foolish enough to do that? I think they actually would be smarter to not attack Israel, but to attack us and to attack the Gulf, because they know that Israel will absolutely pummel the hell out of them if they do it.

We probably will too, but right now there's a hesitancy in the administration to go back to major combat. There's no hesitancy in Jerusalem to do that. Would you like to see the assassination squads back in? I can tell you what I want to see happen. I think we need to go back and do about a week's worth of bombing.

And we can do it in a week and finish off the job of what we left unfinished when we paused to pursue this memorandum of understanding. Take out leadership, take out their economic targets. We've got the blockade going on the sea, take out their airports, take out all the bridges and roads going that allow them to have land trade.

So you add land and air to the naval blockade and take out the leadership and then arm the Iranian people and overthrow that regime. Donald Trump has an opportunity to rid the Middle East of the Iranian threat. And as soon as he does that, we can draw down our forces in the Middle East, focus on China, reload, rearm, and not worry about this problem. Make this problem go away forever. And he will be the greatest president in American history, foreign policy president in American history if he does that.

All right. I like that for your next column, by the way. You could just take the verbatims from this interview. Thanks so much. Mark Teetson, yeah, take him out of the Washington Post.

Go get him, Mark. It's Brian Killmade. Yeah. Radio that makes you think. This is the Brian Kill Me Show.

You know, we talked to, we were talking about Ukraine and nobody knows more about Ukraine than Mark Tessen outside the military. And Vladimir Putin, as usual, in the dictatorship, gets extremely high marks. He gets a 91% approval rating.

Well, it dropped down to 88 and then 73, and now it's at 64%. Think about that. People are afraid if they find out that you voted a disapproval of Admiral Putin, they'll kill you. And still, he's got 64% approval rating. Why?

He's lost over 1 million people off the battlefield, dead over 500,000. When you go to the front lines, your life expectancy is 30 minutes. He's so low on people to fight. He's now going to have another draft, which promises to plummet his approval rating even more. Wow, the Ukrainians are saying we're going to shut down commercial airspace next.

Wow. Breaking news, unique opinions. Hear it all on the Brian Kill Me Show. Hey, Dakota Meyer's in the studio. He dressed up for us.

I mean, he was wearing sweats. When he heard that we streamed this show, he quickly changed and put gel. You're using gel now? I am, I am. And thank you for letting me borrow this.

Yeah, it's a little loose on you because my upper body is a little bit more massive. U.S. Marine Medal of Honor recipient, special assistant over in the Pentagon. Dakota, great to see you. I was just talking to Mark Thiessen.

I would say he's as well-read in understanding of the military as anyone who writes in journalism today, but you're a military guy. A lot of people have heard about the stress of our troops, and they just got extended now in the Middle East to 2027. You're a guy that serves and went back.

So. What is the mindset of the men and women when they serve when they find they're going to be extended? Brian, what are we worried about? I mean, what do we worry about, right? Listen, we did 20 years of war.

I mean, it is a normal thing for deployments to get extended. Yeah. I mean, this is normal. And let me tell you this: like, what if you don't be worried? I mean, look, nobody loves it, right?

Like, nobody wants, and nobody's like, oh, this is great and cheering for this. But what I'll tell you is, is. Don't These are the best human beings. that our generation has to offer, that our country has to offer. I mean, these service members are proud to serve.

I mean, they volunteered to serve. The numbers through the roof.

Well, then I mean, listen, the numbers through the roof. The USS Abraham Lincoln, the reenlistment rate out there It was through the roof, right? I mean, and so, like, you're seeing the minority of this, you know, people complaining, but it's the onesies and twosies. I mean, I'm telling you right now, our men and women, they are ready to go do the nation's bidding at a moment's notice, and they are proud and honored to do it, and they are prepared to do it. Right.

Just and now we have the USS George Washington in the area and the blockade that's continuing as being more effective. Is it hard to have patience when you're deployed? Yeah, I mean, I look. Because you've got up. There were times we were not doing much, we were holding, and there were times when we did things like the surge and were moving.

Yeah, I mean, look, I'm not. I'm worried about the ones that don't get to go, right? Because they've been waiting to go have their opportunity to go and fight. And so, you know, I got messages this morning of. Of people doing work, and they're doing work, and they're proud to do it, and they're happy to do it, and they're honored to do it.

And look, I mean, look, I think that. I I think we're fine. I think we're fine. You know, I I hear I hear the concerns, and look, it's one thing, and I got a different perspective of it now because you know, when I'm 18, 19 years old, and you know, wanting to go, like, I'm just hungry to go. I would year did you sign up, 18.

So, I was 17 when I joined, right? And all of us were trying to go. Like, when the deployment was over, we're just trying to jump on the next deployment. We wanted to go, we wanted to continue to be over there, right? And so, I mean, I understand that, like, look, looking at it from now at 38 years old, I'm like, gosh, like, I hate, I hate that, it sucks.

But I got to tell you, like, they're proud to do it. Yeah. I want you to hear the Vice President yesterday when asked about the message to the Iranians, because the President said a couple of days ago, when are the Iranians going to step up? But the problem is they're not armed. That's why the Venezuelans didn't step up.

They're not armed. Cut 28. And our message to the Iranians is simple. It's been the same from the very beginning: you've got to stop shooting at commercial shipping. They've got to stop.

It's that simple. And to your point about negotiations, the President's been very clear. We're not talking to them. And we're not going to talk to them unless they stop shooting at commercial shipping. Can I just say I'm relieved we're not talking?

Because I really feel like they want to play a delay of game. Yeah. But the message to them is. Stop shooting, but they're not. They hit two S uh Saudi tankers, but it has not stopped us from escorting through our side of the street or the Oman side of the street.

Yeah, I mean, look, you know, the Iranians, I mean, they're proud people, but they also you've also got a you've also got a group that has nothing to lose now. Right. And so in leadership, right? I mean, they have nothing to lose in leadership. I mean, you don't know who's actually running the country right now.

I mean, it's one of those deals. And so, look, I think that we should. Look, I don't know that we should talk to them because I don't know that their words and I don't know that anything that they say actually means anything.

So, you know, I think we just got to show that we're going to do what we say we are. And I think that's where we're so fortunate right now, right? I feel like we are doing things with intentions, right? We are doing things intentionally instead of just doing it to. You know, just we're not letting anybody else tell us what to do, right?

We are deciding how this goes and how long it goes and all that.

So I think that we we're very fortunate on that side of it. Right. So Major John Spence was on with me yesterday. I filled in for Jesse on his show on Primetime. And here's what he was saying.

Here's what he was saying to us about the Iranian people rising up, Cut 32. They've lost tens of thousands in a matter of days, 48 hours, actually. It's really hard to do that question without them having arms. And we heard some kind of information, whether it was about the Kurdish or arms. They also have to have protective gear, communication gear.

It's very dangerous, messy business. I of course want to see Iranian people free and what that would do to the entire region, the growth and prosperity that would happen. But it's very dangerous to ask them to do that. You also want to start the information operation, which was actually happened in the past, that you don't want the Iranian army, which is separate of the IRGC. You want them to sit it out.

You want them to join the protesters and also of the Air Force. It's a really complex thing, but it's not impossible. Yeah, I mean look I I I I totally agree. I mean it's not it's not simple. Um it's not gonna be easy.

But but what I do believe is is that at some point You know, somebody's gonna have to get in there and start Bringing people together and figuring out who's going to actually stand up and do the on-the-ground piece, right? And hopefully, it's the Iranian people. I mean, we want the Iranian people to be free. You know what I mean? That's ultimately what we're doing: we're trying to get, you know, trying to give them the opportunity to take over their country, like we tried to do in Afghanistan, right?

And obviously, we see how that turned out. But I do believe that if the Iranian people want to step up, I think what their fear is, though, and I don't, again, I don't know, none of us are over there. We're all speaking on hypotheticals, so let's make sure that we put that into context. But What if they step up and how much time do they have in order for us to provide cover for them and to be able to provide the limited pieces that we are right now for them to be able to get this done? Because what you don't want to do is everybody to step up and show what they have and who's aligned together and they start doing this movement and then they say, you know, we back out.

And then all they did was just identify who was going to step up.

So do you know what you're describing? After the First Persian Gulf War, George H.W. Bush said, time for you guys to stand up and take your country back. But we didn't stop. We didn't have we allowed them to fly their planes and they had enough left.

They wiped out the Shia and they were still mad at us by the time you guys invaded. Yeah, 100%, right? And so I think that that is a coordinated effort that I'm sure, again, I don't know. None of us know. None of us, the only person that knows what's going on is obviously the President of the United States.

But what I'll tell you is, I hope that in some way, shape or form that we're trying to align those and bring these alignments together so that what you can do is. Is you have a coordinated front because that's what they're missing right now. I don't think there's what's missing is a desire to be free or an opportunity to be free or the will to be free of the Iranian people. But I think that what is missing is a plan and how do they coordinate and how do they consolidate in order to have a unified front. All right, now I'm going to aggravate you.

This is what bothers me most about this. And that is that we keep hearing, it's almost like if you read the New York Times and Washington Post, it's almost like they're rooting for us not to be successful there. And here's Hakeem Jeffries yesterday, cut 34. This reckless and costly war of choice in Iran. have been a failure.

And it's time for dramatic change.

So when you're deployed, and you heard a lot of that politics, too, when George W. Bush, what is that like? I mean, look, I don't know the last time I've heard Hakeem Jeffries say anything that was helpful or it was pro-American. Um I look I I I You know, look, for me, I think he just stands up there and he says what is going to appeal to his voters and he says what is going to be anti-American and he says what is against, you know, what is against this, right? Like, I don't know how that's helpful.

You know, when I look at verbiage like this, like, so what are you going to do? Like, what are you going to do this? That'll be in the Tehran Times today. 100%. And so, you know, I mean, like, I don't understand how that's helpful.

Like, even if you feel that way, I don't understand why we are giving this media aspect and this messaging aspect. You know, Iran is out messaging us because Iran is putting their own rhetoric out and their own information out through their media outlets. And guess what our media is doing? Our media is doing the exact same thing against the administration and President Trump. You know, what's interesting is I read Al Jazeera English every day in Arab news.

They are more positive about the U.S. than the New York Times and Washington Post. Yeah, I mean, and what I don't understand is. this rhetoric of, you know. We're not doing good or we're this or that.

You know, I haven't heard them say anything positive about what we're doing, right? And there's been more good done they've plagued seven presidents. 100%, right? And so, like, I haven't even heard them say anything to the to the extent of, and you can correct me if I'm wrong on this, but hey, look, we've seen that what we've done for the past seven presidents hasn't done any good. Um, so what hopefully this new strategy works, and history will tell.

Like, they haven't even left it out there to let history decide what ends up with this. They've already made the decision. They've already decided what this is going to be, and now they're just trying to get enough messaging and enough support. It's literally, um, they already have what they want to report and what they want to say, and they just keep finding stuff to support that. Does that make sense?

Yeah, it makes a lot of sense. I want to go to Ukraine if I can. And I wanted people talk about changing warfare changing in real time. Yeah. How is what's happening in Ukraine?

Using Satellites, Starlink, as well as the creation of this drone warfare. How has it changed things? From when that war started to where we're at today, I mean, they rolled in with tanks and got destroyed by javelins. And now, both sides are hitting each other with drones. Yeah, I mean, look, I mean, I, you know, I was only in Ukraine for a couple of days whenever we went in to go get Benjamin Hall, right?

And so you've been seeing it and you've been reading about it. Yeah, of course. And so, you know, look, I think that, but what I'll, yeah, I mean, it's definitely changing the battlefield and it's something that, you know, we're taking very serious and you see across the board. I mean, it's bringing in, but I think that like as much as the robotics aspect of it is changing the battlefields, what I'll tell you is, is the cheapness of this and what it does is for these capabilities, what it allows is that, you know, these underfunded, it's not a funding thing, right? Because anybody can get a drone.

Anybody, I mean, like, what it's doing is it's allowing access for these types of capabilities to get in the hands of people that don't have to have a lot of money. Like, they just have to have a wheel right now, right? And so, look, I mean, it's evolving the battlefield. It's shaping that. But we've seen this throughout the history of it, right?

You've seen it whenever the machine gun came out. You know, you've seen this whenever artillery came out. Whenever you've seen. You know, IEDs come out for my generation, right? I mean, look, all the evolving the battlefield has always something that we've always had to do.

You think there'll always be humans fighting humans? Yeah, 100%. 100%. Because even no matter what. Even and that's what I my biggest fear is I hope I hope that like our Our service members don't get to this concept that, hey, like, we're not going to still need our capabilities, our basic fundamental capabilities of camouflage, of concealment, of being able to fight and being able to shoot our weapon systems.

Because here's the deal, is like, there still has to be somebody willing to go. You're not going to be able to do the fighting behind a computer, because if that was the case, Ukraine and Russia would be over. It's still going to take the sheer will. It's still going to come down to the sheer will of the people who are going to go employ those capabilities and their belief in how much it is worth fighting for their cause. Absolutely.

More with Dakota Meyer in just a second. You'll listen to the Brian Kill Meetshop. Don't go anywhere. Try and Kill Mead will be right back. The fastest three hours in radio.

You're with Brian Kilmead. All right, Dakota Meyer is with us here. You know him, U.S. Marine Medal of Honor recipient. You just signed back up again, didn't you?

I did, I did, I did.

So we're deservised. What's your obligation now? I don't know how long I'm in, but I just finished actually finished jump school. I got my, so I'm airborne now. I went down to the Fort Benning jump school and actually graduated that, I think, last Monday.

Wow. You think last Monday. I think it was either last Monday or the Monday before. Right. But yeah, yeah.

So I did my final jump. I think it was Monday before. Yeah, not this week, it was the week before. But yeah, I jumped did my final jump down at Fort Benning, Georgia, at the school US Army School of Airborne, right? And what what made you want to go back?

I you know, I I just I see how incredible the generation is. I still had more to give, and I felt like that I owed it to, I can't just go around and tell people it's worth serving and not be doing it myself. And so, like, I think that for me, like, I felt like I had imposter syndrome by telling people, yeah, you should serve. You should sign up and serve. You had imposter syndrome after serving.

Yeah, I mean, I just, yeah, I did because I just didn't feel like I had the right to. I mean, it was nothing more than an opinion for me to tell people they should serve today, right? And so, like, you know, because they're like, oh, well, you don't know what it's like. It's different, blah, blah, blah. And it's like, well, I'll show you how much I believe it's still worth serving.

And so I had to do that. And so I signed back up and I went back to the basic reconnaissance course. I became a recon Marine and then graduated at 38 years old and then turned around and, you know, I'm going through the pipeline currently.

So we mentioned about different war. You said when you were in Iraq, Afghanistan, you didn't have to worry about anything coming up top, right? You'd sit there with your GPS.

Now, if I was to put you into Ukraine right now or put you into Iran or any battlefield, how is it different in this era? Yeah, I mean, look, one of the biggest surprises for me is understanding that really you got to go back to being better at the basics than we had to be, right? Like, you know, we started getting, I was on the front end of technology. Like, you know, in 2008, 2009, like we started getting technology and we were starting to be able to have GPSs. I mean, the first time I ever touched a GPS was whenever I stepped foot in Iraq.

I mean, give you that, right? And now all these kids grew up with GPSs and phones and being able to have all these devices, which is great. The technology is incredible. But what you're starting to see is now more people are armed. With these capabilities and these capabilities, I mean, you get on shit Amazon to be able to look back and to be able to have signals.

And if I have my phone on, I'm now a target.

Now you are a target. And I'm giving away the whole base. Or a whole base or your position or your team.

So really, you're having what I'm seeing is, you know, no longer can you just say, hey, I'm going to rely on a GPS. You're actually, your basic skills have to be better today. You say get a compass. You better go back to a compass because you can't be walking around with the GPS throwing a signal out. Right.

So, and in fact, didn't that happen in the Jordan in particular? They told the guys you cannot tell people, you cannot make phone calls. You're giving away our location and it's getting people in trouble.

So I'll take your phone if you don't do this. They never would have said that 10 years ago. They would have never said that 10 years ago because we weren't fighting an enemy. You know, look, first world countries have always had these types of capabilities for a while, right? But.

But what now you're seeing is when these capabilities become cheaper.

Now the terrorists have them.

Now the guy that just has an idea and hates this person has the capabilities to find a way to be able to have the access to this.

So, what are your thoughts? Coming up on 25 years since the 9-11 attacks. Where were you? How did it affect you? Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, it was, I'll never forget. I mean, I was sitting in, I was in my eighth grade classroom, Rudy Renfro, my art teacher, and I remember coming in. I mean, I still remember every aspect, every detail of it. Like, I remember the, you know, when they had the TVs, like, the big TVs they had on the carts that they would roll in, they would screw it into the wall so you could see, right? The strap over it, the black, you know, and that's what I'll never forget.

It got rolled in and it was like, hey, we're not having class today. I lived in Kentucky. I didn't even probably couldn't figure out where New York was on a map, and I probably didn't know anything about that the World Trade Center's. even existed before that day. Um But I gotta tell you, like, I mean, I still get cold chills over it, you know?

That was a moment that really defined. The rest of my life and why I'm sitting here today, you know, that moment. And I'll never forget, like, I didn't know what it meant, I didn't know what it. I didn't know anything about it. I mean I was in the eighth grade and and but I what I do remember is is I do remember that feeling of seeing The fear across our country.

You know, no matter whether they knew those people or they didn't, but they knew that Americans were hurting. Right. And what I will say is that while I don't ever wish for another 9-11, I would give anything for a 9-12. Understand, because we were all on the same page. 100%.

Right. And the thing is, too, our actions after that made sure that was the only attack because there were so many other attacks coming down the pipeline. We look forward to seeing you outnumbered. Dakota Meyer, U.S. Marine, active again and Medal of Honor recipient.

Great to see you, Dakota. Thank you, sir. Thank you. And thanks for wearing the chat. You know, just for you.

From high atop Fox News headquarters in New York City, always seeking solutions, never sowing division. It's Brian Killmead. Hi, everyone.

So glad you're there. The Brian Killmead show coming your way. Shannon Bream's going to be with us. John Carrico, a former CIA guy, was life change for him and for all of us after 9-11. He talks about Ramzi bin al-Sheib.

He talks about Khalid Sheikh Mohammed unwinding Al-Qaeda, finding out who was responsible, and going back in time to talk about what progress we've made in terms of intelligence. That's coming up shortly at 11:20. And we're following the Clancy trial in this respect. It looks like it's just one juror that doesn't is somehow upsetting people because they won't go along with the other 11.

So they're going back and reconvening at this hour. That could all change, and this could end up in a hung jury. But they're almost unanimous, and they're so close. But the judge has just ruled that the juror is following the law. And it's all about beyond a um It's all about Yeah.

Plausible it it it's just all about making sure there's no I there's no plausible way of Finding guilt or not guilty. They say he is following the law or she. I'm not sure if it's he or she. But 11 agree, one doesn't.

So let's get to the big three. Number three. We'd like to formalize the commitment between Daquan and LSU, which has not taken place yet. He's enrolled in classes at LSU. He's been practicing with the team, but he isn't formally on the roster yet, and we're hoping that happens today.

Yep, from pros to college. The Lawless College Football World sees another precedent-setting move as two players move from NFL camp where they were caught and want to go back to college and use their last year of eligibility. The SEC conference is suing. The NCAA is not happy. The Georgia DA is threatening to sue.

And these players, according to one judge, are eligible to play. Will LSU put them on the roster when they go to play Clemson tomorrow? We will see. Number two. Despite those wishing that we don't succeed, almost on every line of operation, whether it's the economic noose around the regime, we control the straighter formuge.

We can get all of that oil out. It's all indicators that the strategy is working. Major John Spencer, he is talking about what's happening with Iran. Donald Trump on a path to vindication against the terror regime, perhaps. Why I think the key to finding their money while destroying their military is the combination we have to deploy.

Number one. Democrats are down on their knees. They're begging, please, please, please allow this election to be about Donald John Trump. Because if you can see this right now, Republicans are actually outperforming President Trump. Yup, that is Howard Enton of CNN, midterms maneuvering.

We're waiting as both sides format their game plan and we start the post-Labor Day sprint to November. We're no longer people going to be telling us over and over again, hey, just wait. It's too early. It's too early. Nobody's going to say it's too early.

And of course, we have the first ever midterm convention. Republicans are going to do it in Dallas. And keep in mind, if you ever miss any segment of the show, we got our own YouTube channel now, youtube.com/slash at the Brian Kilmead Show. Speaking of her own show, she hosts Fox News Sunday. She's the anchor there, also Fox News' chief legal analyst and all over this trial.

Shannon, welcome back. It's good to see you, Brian. Happy Friday. Hey, first off, I know you we usually talk about federal cases in the Supreme Court. I get it.

But right now on the Clancy trial, do you think the judge did the right thing in not going to an alternate juror as the defense wants them to? Man, this judge is doing everything he can to try to hold this jury together, to not have to restart deliberations or to go backwards. He wants this thing to move forwards. But listen, he's given them so many of these charges to go back in the instructions to go back, and they seem deadlocked. I mean, I will be very surprised if this judge sends them into the weekend with this current split.

If they come back today and say, there's no way, it's not going to work. We can't come to a resolution. I'd be really surprised if he lets this go past the weekend.

So, is one of the options. Prosecution and defense get together on a compromise. I don't think so. I don't think the defense wants to compromise at all. They feel like they're going to win.

They really want to push. If we think, reading the tea leaves, that this juror is the one who's keeping them from a not guilty verdict, and we could be completely wrong about what this jury is actually up to. He doesn't want to miss trial. That means that his client is going to be tried all over again because it's almost 100% certainty prosecutors are going to go back through this. They've probably learned some lessons from this trial.

So that's the last thing the defense wants. I don't see him compromising.

So if the defense goes up and says, look, You know, I don't want to go back. You probably don't want to go back.

So, we do some type of manslaughter where you're subjected to life in a Uh sanitarium. I mean, it's exactly the type of thing they agree to because defense feels good about their chances. But then, how do you even get a jury that doesn't have an opinion on this case in Massachusetts? It's going to be impossible.

Well, exactly, because it's sort of like the Murdoch retrial that we know is happening in April of next year, where they've had to move. The venue was granted and that Alex Murdoch, you know, retrial of these murder charges. But everybody's like, well, I'm sorry, I don't know where you're going in South Carolina that people do not know that case. I think the same thing is true in Massachusetts for the Clancy case.

So, I mean, it's possible that they could try to, you know, come to some kind of agreement before the jury comes back. There's always a chance. But I think this defense attorney feels very good. He thinks that what he's seeing, that indications are, is that there is a possibility of pushing this jury to a full agreement unanimously on a not guilty verdict. But, you know, clock's ticking.

True.

So we'll see what's going to happen with this. And I just find it very interesting. Do you think this cuts on gender, where women are more likely to cut her a break? And you have men looking at this and saying, look at the brutal way in which she calculated and killed her three kids. Do you find that anecdotally that's the story?

I find that the women in my text group are outraged and think that she killed three children. They have children, most of the girls on my ladies on my text chain, and they don't want any reprieve for this woman. They think she needs to be held accountable and that she had enough awareness with planning and sending the husband out and the methodical way that she did things. At least my unofficial non-jury text chain is not happy with this woman. And I remember when Trey Gowdy and I were with you last Friday, he said his experience as a prosecutor is that women were way harder on other women when it came to juries.

So I don't know. This case has been so odd. And I do hope at some point we get a picture, a window into exactly what the jury has been doing and the conversations they've been having. I think it's going to be fascinating.

So I feel bad for you because here are you trying to do a show on Sunday, but you know, I know you love to attend the socialist conventions every year. And it's this year it's in Chicago.

So you got to make a choice. It's going to be a lot of fun, we know.

So, people are going to be flying into Chicago. I tell you what, a lot of media is going to go. This is no longer a niche organization. They're going to be there, and guess who the featured speaker is? Hassan Piker.

So ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the guy that could be the Kingmaker on the left. Yeah, and here's the thing: there's a lot of polling out now that shows when you look at who are the most popular political figures and who are the most unpopular, he's actually down at the bottom of the list. And I think that's because, listen, Republicans are going to say, all right, this guy is out there, you know, talking about our ally, Israel, and saying that he would choose Hamas a thousand times over Israel. He, you know, thinks the structure of this country is fundamentally wrong and needs to be changed. But then you've got Democrats out there who don't like him, at least the mainstream, because they're like, all right, dude, you're super popular with young people, with the Twitch, you know, the streaming and all of that kind of stuff.

But when it comes down to it, they think he's going to really hurt them in the general election. And he's telling Democrats, you got to embrace me. I am the energy of this party. You need to be out there defending me. And I think they probably are not excited.

There will be so much media coverage of the socialist convention this weekend. And my punch card for regular attendance is: I'm not going to make it this weekend. Probably not. Oh, okay. I'm going to call.

I've RSVP'd know. Yeah, I'll be there.

So I'll just, you don't have to call. I'll just tell them when I get there. You just keep me updated. Yeah, so some of the conferences that you're going to miss. Confronting Zionism Chicago's educators and families defending communities against ice.

Muslims, maybe we can get it on Zoom. The Muslim Left, New York City, and Zohram Amdani's victory. Trans Care in the Age of Health Fascism.

So it's a lot. I mean, if they're all scheduled at the same time, I just don't know which one I'll go to. Maybe I'll just sample all of them. Are you on one of the panels, Brian? Are you speaking?

Not yet, but I got to check my texts. A lot of times they realize I'm a late ad. They want people there. A couple of things. When it comes to the midterms, how do you think this midterm?

Convention is going to be in Dallas. It's not going to feel like a presidential year. What do you think it'll be like? I think it's interesting. I mean, the Republicans have really been trying to get together on messaging.

And frankly, they've struggled because the economy is tough, and people don't care that there are green shoots or that they can see anything promising. And listen, the administration's got to be happy about the Jobs report today. 162,000. Yeah, people are just struggling. I mean, and so I think that messaging is going to be really important, which I think is the whole point of trying to get motivation and getting people up and ready for the midterms because, you know, the base and getting people to turn out is what's critical here.

But now that you have this whole DSA thing, Republicans do have more of a messaging lane that's not just going to have to be about the one big beautiful bill or the economy. I think they're getting a lot of traction on things like common sense versus communism, the different slogans they're rolling out.

So I think you're going to hear a lot about DSA this, you know, during this midterm convention.

So, the other thing is, I think two guys on the left always seem to get a lot of attention and anger people on the left. It's Bill Moore. And Stephen A. Smith, and I'm sure they're not going to be happy with this. He was asked on Politico how he feels about the big tent approach that Democrats are taking, which he has won, Cut 17.

Tell them to sit their ass down and get with the program. It ain't happening. In other words, that's not going to win us general elections. That's not going to get it done for us. We're not going to be able to pull that off.

How is that going to sit up there and assist the American voters or the American people when it comes to actually running our country?

So he says, Are you crazy? And he's got that bit of an everyman attitude towards it. That is what Josh Kottheimer feels. That is what Van Jones, how Van Jones feels, and others. In your mind, Shannon Bream, this is very different from the Tea Party, right?

This is very different from the Freedom Caucus. Mm-hmm. Yeah, I agree because you're advocating for things that most people in your own party, or at least the umbrella that you're running under, don't want anything to do with. I mean, these are things that are calling out, you know, allies like, let's stop supporting or even selling defensive weapons to someone like Israel. Let's get rid of borders.

Let's get rid of jails. Let's get rid of police. Let's get rid of, you know, wiping out student loans for everybody. There's no debt. There's no accountability.

I mean, it's so far left that even, you know, most mainstream Democrats are saying, we want nothing to do with this and you're hurting us. But, you know, when I had, you know, the co-chair of DSA on, Megan Romer on Fox News Sunday, I asked her about, you know, is this the idea to upset the Democrat Party? And they'll openly say, listen, they don't align with us on everything, but it's the closest framework that we can use. We're using their primaries, their grassroots. We're using the Democrat Party to get our foot in the door.

But again, once you let them into the tent, they may be trying to. Blow you up from inside. All right. So I want you to lastly tap into sports and legal. Yesterday, a court case was won, an injunction allowing Daquan Wright to leave NFL training camps where he was about to be cut and go back to college, where he now realizes he has a fifth year and joining his coach.

Lane Kiffin in Louisiana.

Well, the Louisiana judge ruled that he can play. The FCC says we're going to sue. I want to make sure this is overturned. I don't want them playing in our conference. Here is what Daquan Wright had to say, cut 40.

What are you most looking forward to about Saturday? Just putting on a college uniform again and going out there to have fun and embracing my opportunity. It's not about Coach Kiffin, it's not about LSU, it's about treating these kids fairly. It's about the fair application. You're gonna apply the rules, apply them fairly to everyone.

So today, justice was served. And just as it was served to the SEC, it was served like a cold cup of gumbo, and that judge forced them to eat it. This was just round one.

Now, the SEC is bringing this to another judge over in Alabama, and they risk when he plays if he plays against Clemson, they risk when a judge says he's ineligible, that game could go from a W to an L. Yeah, I mean, there's risk everywhere in this. And to me, listen, college sports has turned professional in a lot of ways. I mean, kids are getting, you know, all kinds of endorsements and gear and NIL money and all kinds of things.

So the line has been blurred. A mess has been made. This Wild West has been created. Who's on your show Sunday? We've got Energy Secretary Chris Wright.

We're going to talk about the Venezuela oil deal. What's going on with that? Your gas prices on Labor Day weekend and these AI centers. How much are they going to impact your energy costs and why are they a plus or a minus? All right, so we're going to watch all that on Fox News Sunday.

And then at 10 o'clock at night, you'll take a nap. Then at 10 o'clock at night, you'll watch One Nation. That is the goal. And that is a successful Labor Day. I know the dance off is happening this weekend.

Sorry. I'm asking every weekend until it happens. Have you met me? You don't want me dancing, Shannon, but I will watch your show. A little running man, you got it in there.

Or the hustle. That's really where I peaked in sixth grade. Yeah. Thanks, Shannon. Back in a moment.

Yes, we had you on Zoom. A radio show like no other. It's Brian Kilmead. Hi, what I'm Brian Kilmead. Welcome back as we look at 9-11 25 years later.

As you know, I was on the air on Fox and Friends at that time, but the coverage was extensive from Air on Inn on radio and on TV. And joining us now, a man who lived it before, after, and of course, during John Kiriaku, former CIA officer, best-selling author, and whistleblower. 9-11 means something different to everyone. What about you as an intelligence officer? Oh, it was.

Well, first of all, thank you so much for having me, Brian. It's good to see you again. 9-11 was transformative. It was one of the worst days in the history of the country. It was one of the worst days in my life.

I remember having to evacuate the CIA after being repeatedly told that we all had to evacuate. Nobody would budge. And then the CIA police officers. Finally, came into the counterterrorism center and shouted: If everybody doesn't evacuate, you'll be arrested. And so we all evacuated and I remember driving on the George Washington Parkway to get to my house or my apartment, which is right near the Pentagon, and seeing the Pentagon burning.

And I remember shouting to myself, how could this possibly happen? But we all knew we had to snap into into gear and start fighting back. But you, as a CIA guy, I know John Scott was on the air, and I think within 45 minutes says this seems like something of bin Laden. You know, we had the interviews with Bin Laden. He declared war on us.

We remember about the coal bombing and finding him in Sudan and all these things and letting him getting getting out of getting kicked out of Saudi Arabia. We knew about his background. Remember his interview with John Miller. But did you think right away this had to be al-Qaeda, this had to be Bin Laden? 100%.

For me, it started on July the 6th. I was entertaining a group of Middle Eastern intelligence officers at the CIA. We did this literally every day. You bring them in, it's a group of four or five mid-level, senior-level foreign intelligence officers. You do a day of briefings, they get a photo op with the director, you exchange gifts, you take them to dinner, and then you do it with another group the next day.

So on July the 6th, 2001, I was entertaining this group from the Middle East, and I had scheduled a briefing for them with a junior. Counterterrorism analyst who was handling Al-Qaeda. But instead of the junior analyst walking into the room, Kofer Black walks into the room, the director of counterterrorism, along with the chief of operations for the ALEC station, the Osama bin Laden unit. And I jumped up and I said, Oh, gentlemen, I said, This is Kofer Black. Mr.

Black is the director of counterterrorism. Kofer sat down, looks these guys right in the eye, and he says, Something terrible is going to happen. And we also knew on the Daily Brief, President Bush was told Al-Qaeda determined to attack. America inside the U.S. Related?

100% related. And you know one of the things we've forgotten over the years is in the immediate aftermath of 9-11, Bin Laden issued a statement saying that al-Qaeda was planning another attack that would dwarf 9-11. And so we had to take this seriously. We had to drop everything else that we were doing around the world and destroy al-Qaeda.

So it's just really important for everyone to remember what led up to 9-11, what happened after 9-11 with a guy like John Kiriaku, whose career revolved around it leading up to and afterwards. And now we have this revelation that KSM can't be charged with anything he said and his confession because they say he was tortured. It was tortured out of him.

So that's how this story never goes away. More with John Kiriaku in just a moment. You're listening to a special edition of The Brian Killmeat Show or leading up to Labor Day. The more you listen. The more you'll know, it's Brian Kilmead.

Welcome back, everybody. Purely appreciate everyone listening in. Busy, busy week. We're closing it out pretty strong as we get closer and closer to celebrating, not celebrating, but marking 25 years since the 9-11 attacks. I think it's great that we never stopped reading out those names, even through the pandemic.

Never stopped. I want you to hear more from my interview with John Kiriaku, who was all about hunting down al-Qaeda and finding out what they were about and what led to these attacks. Here's more of that interview. Do you think that there was a the CIA as a whole And the White House as a whole, and the previous White House as a whole, wasn't taking them as serious, wouldn't think they were able to pull off something like this? For the most part, I can tell you that they were taking things seriously at the CIA, but I've said many times over the years that.

This was not just the greatest intelligence failure in American history. This was an American failure. And what I mean is the CIA was asleep at the switch. The State Department issued the visas. Whatever the TSA precursor organization was, it was several different organizations, failed at the X-ray machines.

Congress didn't appropriate enough money for counterterrorism. It was a failure at every turn. And it took this terrible, terrible event to kick people into gear. Which is weird because there was a lot of Al-Qaeda attacks. Remember the embassy bombings in 99?

And then, you know, coal. A coal was 2000, was still being investigated. But he was taking credit for all of it. That's right. He was taking credit for all of it.

And I'll go even further. When I first started at the CIA in January of 1990, I worked in a group that no longer exists called the Office of Leadership Analysis. And the Office of Leadership Analysis had an internal classified magazine because to get promoted, you had to get published. And if you were working on a country or an issue that just wasn't important enough to command attention at the White House, DOD, or state, you could publish in this internal magazine. And the guy that I sat next to was covering Saudi terrorism.

And he wrote an article in which he called Osama bin Laden the most dangerous man in the world. And I said, who is this guy, Osama bin Laden? I said, are you just overstating it just to make sure that you get a good place in the magazine? And he said, no. He said, nobody's paying attention to this guy, but this guy is going to cause us big problems.

And it took another eleven years, but he was right.

So when it comes when it comes time for us to attack back.

Some the conventional wisdom is That Bin Laden miscalculated. They never thought we would respond like this because basically Bill Clinton did almost nothing leading up to that, right? And we were hesitated on taking him out. And then when we had the opportunity to take him out, Bill Clinton said that. That the argument could not yet be made that he posed a clear and present danger to the United States, to American citizens, or American installations, which, of course, was ridiculous.

But he also argued that Executive Order 12333 prohibited him legally from taking action. And now, in retrospect, we see how ridiculous that was. If we had taken him out when we had the chance, twice, once in Sudan. And once in the Doha Airport Transit Lounge, When he was just sitting there waiting for a connecting flight to Kabul, there wouldn't have been a nine eleven. and the whole world would be a different place.

No doubt about it. Wait, this is the first time I'm hearing of that. I don't think I've even forgotten that. I don't think I've ever heard that. He was waiting in an airport?

Yeah, he was you with us. He left Sudan on a commercial airliner on his way to Kabul. The CIA got word that he was in Doha. We reported it to the White House. The White House went to the gutteries and said, grab him for us.

And the guttery said, okay, where's your warrant? And the Clinton administration said, We don't have a warrant. We've never charged him with a crime. They said, We just can't snatch some guy off the street. Just because you don't like his politics.

If you've charged him with a crime. And of course we could have by then. If you've charged him with a crime, we can grab him.

Well, we had no crime with which to charge him. And so the Qataris let him catch that flight, and he went on to Kabul, and the rest is history. See, I also heard that his plane landed in Iran. He never got off, but they did check the plane. He landed and he kept going.

And that's what people have assumed there's been some type of Iranian linkage. And also, they held on to his family for a while and his sons What's Iran's role in all this? Do you have any idea? I know she is SUNY, and that would lead one to believe there wouldn't be this great adherence. But the whole enemy of your enemy is mine?

The whole 9-11, post-9-11 era put the Iranians in a very difficult position because they hate us. But they also hated the Taliban and al-Qaeda. Remember, the Taliban, just before 9-11, had snatched 14 Iranian diplomats off the street and had executed them in violation of all kinds of international diplomatic conventions.

So the Iranians hated both sides. When we started bombing Afghanistan, Two of Bin Laden's sons Their wives and their children ran to Iran for safe haven. The Iranians didn't know what to do. They didn't want to anger us and risk us bombing them. And so what they did is they put them in houses, they locked them in there, and called it house arrest.

And the bin Laden sons ended up staying in Iran for years.

Now we went repeatedly to the Iranians through intermediaries and we told them, turn the bin Laden sons over to us. And the Iranians said, No, we're not getting in the middle of this. Unbelievable.

So when we the one other thing that we like to do. Um John, you you talked about time to get on the offensive then.

So when it's time to get on the offensive, we have to go to Pakistan because we know Al-Qaeda's got this population, this terrorist population. Uh in Afghanistan. At which time that you were able to get and basically you guys have wiped out you eventually would wipe out all al-Qaeda's top henchmen. Mohammed Atef, perhaps first, their version of the defense. Minister Zawahiri, the last.

Right after the transition in Afghanistan back to the Taliban. But in between, maybe the first big hit was Abu Zubaida. Can you bring us through that? Sure. It was March of 2002.

I was the chief of counterterrorism operations for the CIA in Pakistan. We were working very closely with Pakistan's intelligence service called the ISI, and we received word from a sister intelligence agency here in the United States that Abu Zubaydah was somewhere in Pakistan. We believed at the time that Abu Zubaydah was the number three in Al-Qaeda. That turned out to not be true. He wasn't the number three.

He was a bad guy. He acted as something of a logistician for Al-Qaeda. If you wanted to sneak into Afghanistan to make jihad against the Americans, Abu Zubaydah would get you in. If you were tired of jihad and you wanted to go home, he would get you out. He would get you a ticket, a fake passport, and get you out.

He founded the House of Martyrs, the Al-Qaeda safe house in Peshawar, Pakistan. He had founded and staffed the two Al-Qaeda training camps in southern Afghanistan.

So very bad guy. And uh in late March of of 2002 after hunting him relentlessly For six weeks, we finally found him in an al-Qaeda safe house in Faisalabad, Pakistan. We grabbed him. We rendered him to a secret prison. And he's still in American custody.

He's now at Guantanamo. He's been at Guantanamo since 2006. Yeah, did he talk? He did talk. Quite uh effusively, yes.

And was he helpful? Immensely helpful. Remember, Brian, that at the time 9-11 was still an open criminal investigation. And so normally the CIA has primacy overseas. In this case, the FBI had primacy because it was still an ongoing criminal investigation.

So when Abu Zubeda got to his first secret prison, Um The FBI took over in the form of FBI agent Ali Soufan, a naturalized American and a very highly skilled and well-trained interrogator. It took About six weeks for Abu Subaydah to recover from the gunshot wounds that he received during the capture. But then Ali began to interrogate him. And Ali used a very light touch. You treat him with respect, you offer him a cup of tea, you offer him an orange.

And over the course of weeks, Abu Zubaydah started to talk, and he told us several things that were immensely important and resulted in. our ability to save American lives. He told us first About the Al-Qaeda wiring diagram. We knew that bin Laden was number one, Zawahedi was number two, and then we didn't know what the organization looked like after that. We knew that it was compartmentalized, stovepiped, but we didn't really know how one cell could communicate with another cell or how any cell could communicate with bin Laden if it had to.

And so he explained all of that to us. And just as an example, Okay. I asked him a question. I'm I'm going to fictionalize it here because it's still classified. But I would say if you were going to do an operation in, let's say, Dusseldorf.

How would you do that? And Abu Zubaydah answered, well, there's this guy, Muhammad. in Dusseldorf and here's his cell phone number and Muhammad has a friend Abdallah And Abdullah has weapons, and here's Abdullah's email address. And Abdullah's cousin is Rashid, and Rashid can get explosives or timers.

So then we could go to the Germans and say, listen, you have a serious problem in Dusseldorf, and here's the information. And then they do the raid, and they break up the cell, and everybody's under arrest.

So that was the first thing he gave us. The second thing that Abu Zubaydah told Ali Sufan. Was that uh well let me back up we knew from the mid-1990s that there was a very bad very dangerous man out there who was using the nom de guerre um muchhtar M-U-K-H-T-A-R. He had tried to carry out something that became known as the Bojinka plot. It was a plan to hijack.

14 Boeing 747s from the Philippines and fly them into buildings all up and down the west coast of the United States. That plot was foiled accidentally when a cleaning lady stumbled on the written plans and called the police.

So we knew that this very bad guy was out there. We didn't know what his real name is. It was it was KSM. And we had never heard the name Khalid Sheikh Muhammad before. Abu Zubaydah actually laughed.

When when Ali Sufan asked him, do you know who Muqdad is? He said, Of course I know who Muqtad is. You don't know? No, we don't. His name is Khalid Sheikh Muhammad.

We had never heard the name before. But once we had the name and we could track down a past for him. We could target him, and then about 16 months after we caught Abu Zubaydah, we got KSM in a safe house in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. All right, hope you're enjoying this interview, and we come back with special focus on 9-11. Has our intelligence apparatus changed for the better?

It certainly doesn't look like it did before 9-11. What about now? We'll discuss it all with John Kiriaku. Don't go anywhere. Brian Killmead will be right back.

Information you want, truth you demand. This is the Brian Kill Me Show. Hi, everyone.

Welcome back. Special edition of Brian Kill Me Show. And of course, we're closing out a wild week leading up to the end of the summer, which is Labor Day. I thought it would be good with 25 years since the 9-11 attacks. I talked to John Kiriako, as you know.

He's a CIA guy who is all over 9-11 dismantling Al-Qaeda. And I don't think enough credit has been given to people like him to take down and stop the next attack and take down the terrorist attack and stop them forever. And think about the tatters which Al-Qaeda is in now.

Meanwhile, he wanted to talk about the 9-11 attacks, how it impacted the CIA, and what happened since. Let's listen. So John, looking back, there was no director of national intelligence. There was a sense that the FBI, CIA, the DIA, nobody was talking to each other.

So they created the DNI.

So what has changed about the CIA and our intelligence acquisition? and operations since 9-11, and is it and what part of that is for the better? I don't mean to take a pot shot, but the period when John Brennan was the director, I think was a setback for the CIA because Brennan was very focused on tech. And on personnel reorganization. The job of the CIA in its simplest form is to recruit spies to steal secrets.

Period. You can spend billions and billions of dollars on tech, but what you need at the end of the day is somebody inside the room with the terrorist where the plot is being hatched. To report back. That's how we break up these groups. That's how we kill the leadership and save American lives.

And so, with the advent of the DNI, the idea in the beginning, Brian, I think was a good one. But like Any bureaucracy, it just has continued to grow and grow and grow and grow. When the DNI, when the first DNI was named, it was John Negroponte, the former career ambassador. There were 14 employees in the office of the DNI.

Now it's something like 20,000 employees. The job of the DNI in the beginning was simply to coordinate budgets and policy. You don't need 20,000 people to coordinate a budget.

So I think that what has saved the CIA In the interim, is the fact that there have been Directors. who have focused on human intelligence And on recruiting spies to steal secrets and to infiltrate the groups that mean us harm.

So, yeah, and the DNI doesn't have a budget and things like that. But for the CIA, also, do you think George tenants? Stay was was a good one. You know, I'm of two minds actually on George Tennant. Um, on the one hand, George was really, really great for morale.

Everybody liked George. He, he. projected this air of confidence and toughness and strength. But then at the end of the day. You know, the buck has to stop somewhere for the CIA's intelligence failures.

And in the end, President Bush decided that there needed to be an adult in the room, and that George, as DCI director of central intelligence, a position that no longer exists, he couldn't do the job of being both CIA director. and the overall director of all the other intelligence services in government. And that's why we ended up with a DNI. Understood. As you look at the CIA today, I understand the CIA really feels as though.

They need to be left alone. That they're doing a great job, that they get it, they don't want to be oversaw, and for the most part, don't really answer to the DNI. Right. What do you know? But these people are all your friends, former colleagues.

So what do you think? One of the things that they're most worried about, Brian, is that whoever happens to be the DNI at any given time is going to start allowing station chiefs to be appointed from organizations not the CIA. You might end up with an FBI agent as the CIA station chief or an NSA translator as the CIA station chief. And if that happens, God forbid, there's going to be a mass resignation from the CIA. I think that the CIA really does need to be left alone.

I think that this outside interference from DNI, whether it's over the budget or over analytic strategy or HR or whatever, they need to back off and let the CIA do what its officers are trained to do. Because when they are left alone, provided with appropriate congressional oversight when they're left alone The country's a safer place.

So I just think, number one, you guys don't get an island ladies, don't get enough credit for taking Al-Qaeda apart. of putting that puzzle together and taking out generations of their leadership to the point where I think they totally underestimated America's reaction. And a lot couldn't wasn't raw eighty second airborne. A lot of it had just to be intelligence and stuff that you'll never get credit for. But overall, John, as I leave you here, are we safer today than we were twenty-five years ago.

Okay. I actually think we are safer. Al-Qaeda no longer exists. For all intents and purposes, ISIS no longer exists. Failed states like Somalia and Yemen are contained.

And, you know, we're always going to have sort of an existential issue with the likes of Russia or China or counter-proliferation. But yeah, I think we're safer today than we were 25 years ago. Thanks to guys like you. John Kiriaku, thanks so much. Appreciate your reflections 25 years later.

Thank you so much, Brian. All the best.