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at SimplySafe.com/slash/Spotify. Thirty seconds response time requires monitoring plan with outdoor protection starting at forty nine ninety nine a month. Visit SimplySafe.com/slash/licenses for alarm license information. Hi everyone, welcome to One Nation. I'm Brian Kilmeade.
You're gonna love this show tonight. We got Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick. He's gonna be here. He's fighting in a tough race.
So is the governor.
So are the senators. What happened to Red Texas? He's gonna bring us inside the numbers. Brett McGurk was there every step of the way for the foreign policy of the Middle East of four separate administrations. He focuses on what happened October 7th.
He brings to light what happened then and what's gonna happen in the future with Iran and Ryan's Priebus. Is nobody better to break down what's going to be taking place over the next 23 days because it is the most impactful monologue in America time right now. Yep, 23 days to the midterms. Drawing a contrast is a theme we came up with. Why?
Because I want to take a look at the headwinds President Trump faces, yet history, as well as currently. Generally, the second-term president's party doesn't do well in the second term. Just look at the last five; they won two full terms. Right, the president lost seats in four of those.
Now, I'm not recommending for every future president that they take a shellacking like they like I did last night. You know, I'm sure there are easier ways to learn these lessons. Yep, in 1998, Clinton was the only one to actually gain seats as he exited. And historically, there's always been issues for Trump right now. His challenge is the economy.
Approval is at 26 percent. Even though he's done other good things, it's not showing up in the polls right now. For Republicans, that's a daunting challenge. The war in Iran, as right as I think it is, is currently unpopular. And the president's approval ratings not that great.
And as upset as Americans are about temporary rising gas. Prices and groceries.
Well, that figures in. There's a difference this time around, for Trump, and for the Republicans. The opposition party is less popular. Yes, because there's a complete absence of ideas. Look at this.
Republicans more popular than Democrats, even though they're the party in power. And history says something different. One of the reasons. The bigger issue. There's no promising pitch.
I don't know what they're going to do. The American people are not stupid. They've seen the tried play, the tried and true playbook before from the Democrats. They want to prematurely, for example, end a war with our nation's number one enemy. It's time for the president to end this war.
First thing we should do after the election is end the Iranian war. Oh, really? Just end it right in the middle. Killed thousands of our people. Let's just end it.
They want to abandon our ally Israel. No doubt about it. I didn't want any more offensive weapons going to murder people in Palestine. And Netanyahu was a war criminal, but Senator Collins likes him. He's not a war criminal, and most people do like him, and that's why he's been in power with our number one ally.
And I will just say, Al Sayed wants to end all weapons. At least he said offensive weapons. They want to ban oil drilling and refining. They still want to go green. I don't think the Chevron's and the Exxon's of the world, or the Saudi Ramcos of the world, should continue to exist.
I don't think that corporations founded on the The harvesting of fossil fuels should continue to be in a world where they've both done tremendous amounts of damage, and then they prevent us from being able to achieve the world that that we need. A world with no oil and gas would not exist for any sane person. Yet he's in a flat-footed tie in Michigan. In Michigan, they also want free healthcare for all. I think Medicare for all is my top priority.
American people support our position that healthcare is a human right, not a privilege. Listen, it's Medicare for all is unaffordable. Hakeem Jeffries and Senator Schumer already said they can't do it. It's a dry hole that doesn't exist. That's called socialized medicine.
They want free childcare. It's not possible. They want to raise your taxes. That's possible.
So I think our coalition—not just Democrats, but progressives and anybody with a functioning heart—should be able to make cuts to health and education taboo. Take them off the table. I don't care where you get the revenue. I don't care what taxes you have to raise. Yeah, and he went on to say he's into raising the state tax, and he is now currently leading for the Senate race, James Tarico, in Texas.
Oh, did I mention they want to impeach Trump if they get in power? It's about setting a standard, and the Democrats can impeach to uphold constitutional values. Impeachment is not a taboo with us; it's not a fetish with us. We understand it's not a panacea. It is a tool in the toolbox.
We will not hesitate to use it if we need to use it. Oh, I know you have a tool in your toolbox, and we know you're going to use it. We have all we've heard this all before. We're the new ideas. Those ideas were rejected.
They're just keeping them low and going to bring them. Look at what happens when Democrats have control. Look at the cities that they run. Do you want more? Your hometown to look like Chicago, Los Angeles, New York?
How's that going? High taxes, homeless enclaves, unaffordable housing. Look at the states they control: Minnesota, California, New York again. People are leaving because of high taxes and the criminal first policies. Look what happened on Thursday night.
In New York, personally, I could do without being screamed at by anti-Western civilization protesters on the regular, but I digress. You want to make things more affordable? Gas prices lower. There's nothing in their platform that would end either of those things. Look, the control is up to you.
There's no denying President Trump and his party have challenges coming into November, but he's waiting on a trade war to end in, to conclude in Canada. Do you know that would be his 21st trade deal, and he's about to win a war against a nation we've been tangling with for 47 years. You just watch. But voters deserve the right to know what the replacement may be. I know what Trump's going to do.
I know what he's doing, but I got news for you. There's no new plan for the opposition party this time around. They're using their washed-up platform, America already rejected. Joining us now to talk about that because he fought against it for the longest time. Used to run the RNC, Fox News analyst, former chief of staff for President Trump, Ryan Spierings.
Ryan, 23 days left. I still don't know what the secret agenda is for Democrats.
So I'm going back to the one they've been running on.
Well, I think your your monologue is a it's a hundred percent correct. I mean, look, there are headwinds here, but the reality is, if I'm running a race, I don't care that if what the president's approval number is thirty-seven, forty-seven, twenty-seven, I don't care. What I care about is I want to make sure my opponent's approval number is worse than mine. When President Trump won in twenty sixteen, he was like at forty percent approval. The good news.
Was Hillary was at like 37, so you know if I had to write a book on predicting these things, the title of the book would be "Nothing Makes Sense" because nothing makes sense, Brian. And what you saw in the debate between El Sayed and Rogers, because I was afraid that maybe we weren't painting and explaining El Sayed well. I think he nailed it. You know, you want to do two things in this environment. Number one, you want to lead.
With that, you do understand and you get that people are worried about prices and gas and all the rest. But then the next thing you need to do is exactly what you laid out, but you have to do it over and over again. Is to say yes, but if El Saeed had his way and he shut down oil companies and we went to 100% EV cars and all the rest, this is the price of gas. This would be the price of eggs if we instituted price controls. And as Rogers said.
He opened it up perfectly. He said, "We can't afford Abdul." That—that is the theme. That's the right theme in that race. Yeah, I mean, if they were running as John Fetterman, you guys would have your hands full, you know, because he's a center-left guy. And that would be a much more interesting race.
This is a scary race because it's so close, and America could look so different. But you mentioned Michigan. Here's a little of I think the moment that said it all in that face-off in the senatorial debate, Rogers against El Saeed. And when they were talking, this is the one I like to see, when he was asked about Israel and who's the greatest danger. Watch.
Who do you think is a bigger threat to the United States, Israel or Iran? You have six. And again, Rick, I'm just going to say that that's a ridiculous hypothetical. I'll ask one last time: Israel or Iran? That's again a ridiculous question.
I think both of them have proven dangerous in their own way. One at risk of attacking us. One getting us into wars we have no business fighting. It's the easiest question you'll ever ever be asked in a debate in America. I thought, Reince.
Well, I mean, yeah, exactly.
Well, since they've actually killed our troops and they've shot at us and injured our our military men and women, yeah, I think that that's a pretty easy answer. Not to mention the fact that obviously that's not happening with Israel. Maybe maybe he can't figure it out, but it's a pretty easy answer for the United States.
So look, the next few weeks, Brian, this is hand to hand combat. You know, midterms are not a Are not as much cultural votes as they are votes from people in the know and people who care. And so what's happening in the trenches now is finding all those people, 80 million people that voted in the presidential, 54 million voted in the last midterm.
So what we need to do, and I draw a little map to make it easy for everybody, we what we're trying to do here is take all the presidential voters. All the presidential voters, 80 million. Find those people that don't vote in midterms and put them in the midterm bucket. That is where the money advantage of the Republican Party, the ground game, the mechanics come in. It's sort of boring stuff, but it is super important when trying to figure out whether you can move districts where there's only 5,000 votes in play per.
District basically, and you're going hand to hand, trying to just one absentee ballot and early vote at a time. Where would you deploy the president mostly in the next 23 days? I think he's doing the right thing. You know, midterms are about expanding the map, and what you want to do is try to contain the map. And so, right now, the president going to, I think, Texas and Ohio are, and and maybe even go down to Kansas, maybe Nebraska.
He went to Nebraska, but you in those states like Texas and Ohio, one of the main things here is that you need to nationalize those two states and say this is about control of the Senate. You know whether you like Paxton or not, whether you like Sherrod Brown or Husted or not. This is about control of the Senate.
So guess what, Republicans, get on board, get behind the Republican candidate because it's about control of the Senate.
So, containing the map, that's where President Trump does well. But you know what? This map, this is all. This is what Trump can do. I mean, he's the one that turned rural voters into Republicans, and he's the one that they actually care about.
So he's the one that can help that process more than any person in America. And he's got to eyeball the farmers and say, "Listen, I know diesel is hurting you, but the help is on the way." Right.
Well, that's right, and and and the same thing with some of these candidates running away from Iran. I mean, I think you got to just take it head on and say: number one, we don't want to have a nuclear weapon, want a million people killed. Number two, it's going to be short term. We could leave tomorrow, but we want to make sure that these guys are put down once and for all. And we will bring gas prices down.
We're producing more energy than ever before. Wage growth is up. Private sector investment is up. I mean, the indicators are great. It's just the One thing, which is an important thing, are these prices.
But this is going to be short-term pain, right? And when he lands the Canadian deal, you got to convince people. You got to convince people. Absolutely, hard work. Yeah, but you got to convince people, and they certainly have the money.
Money's not going to be an issue. One by one, hi, right? Thanks so much. It sounds like you want to get back in the game. For decades, Texas has been the state where people flee to escape the economic oppression and social collapse of Democrat-run California, New York, Illinois, and other failing blue states.
When the blues get in, everything becomes dirty. The streets are dirty. The doorknobs going into stores are dirty. The sidewalks are filthy, dirty. Everything becomes dirty and has a bad smell.
He's creating an image in Texas, a state President Trump won handily in 2024.
Now it's shaping up to be a major battleground for a Senate, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, all of it. A new poll shows James Talerico leading Ken Paxton 50 to 44, real clear, has it about two points. And with Tino voters could be a concern for Republicans, they got it 59 prefer Democrats to Republicans to control Congress. That's nationwide.
Now with the President making three trips. Of Texas in just four weeks, can Republicans hold on to the voters who help keep that and keep that state red? Joining us now, one of the best in the business in terms of communications and governing, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick. Lieutenant Governor, great to see you, man. Things have changed since we last talked.
Great to be with you, Brian. We used to just talk about the border and the need to clamp down, and now we're talking about how can Republicans hold on to the balance of power in the state. What's happening?
Well, first of all, the polling that that I trust in the state has Ken down by one, not by six in that poll that was flashed up, and that's kind of consistent right now. You know, Brian, this is the third existential existential threat to our country: the beginning of our country, the Civil War, and now, because. People have to understand. Every Fox viewer out there has to understand what's at stake. It's beyond Talerico or Abbott's opponent or my opponent or or any opponent in the country.
It's about what direction do you want to have for your life or for this country? If the socialists take over. They will pack the Supreme Court, which means we will have no rights at the Supreme Court. I don't care how red your state is. If the left takes over, they will take everything you have and everything you're going to have.
And the country will change overnight. It won't just be Talerico and Abbott and my opponent coming in. It will be the hundreds that they fill government up with, who are socialists, Marxists, communists, and that's what's at stake. And voters need to understand: if you've got some issues with the Republican Party, whatever state you live in or a candidate, you got to get over it, because we have to come together. As one to save this nation, that's what's on the line.
So you sealed the border in a way I don't even think you thought was possible, as quick as you possibly could, and so many of those those Southern Texas voters seem to want that, and they got it. Why don't you think they're in your corner, or at the very least, harder to win over in these midterms? Is there a sense that it was too aggressive in Texas?
Well, first of all, Brian, I just have to disagree a little bit. We always knew that we could close the border in days once Biden was out of office, and and look at what the President Trump has done. He closed the border without more people, without more money. He just Enforce the laws, and it's incredible, Brian. But it's been 15 months, and I don't think a person has crossed the border illegally.
It's insane.
So we always knew it could be done. In terms of the Hispanic vote, they will be with us. They will continue to be with us, and I'm I'm encouraged by all the polling I see on that. I will say this: that President Trump has said it all of his rallies, and I've been to all of them. I managed his campaign for three straight sessions when he ran.
We've worked a lot together, and when he says to people, "Pretend I'm on the ballot." Because I really am, he's telling the truth. Because if the left takes over, if they take Congress and both chambers, they will impeach him. They will try to convict him. They will try to put him in jail. They will turn him into a two-year president because they will stop his entire agenda.
And in Texas, Brian, give you this example: in '24, when he ran here, Ted Cruz was also on the ballot, and the president would ask me, "He said, 'Well, how's Ted doing?'" And I said, "You're going to outperform Ted because you outperform." Everyone.
So in that election, Ted Cruz won by a million votes. That's a lot. The president won by a million five.
So that means there were 500,000 Texas, Brian, that walked in and voted and pushed the button or or or turn the turn the wheel for President Trump, and then walked out. Right. And if those people come back, understanding that he really is on the ballot this time. In the existential threat to the nation and to the presidency and to everything we value, if those people will come back, we we win the midterms everywhere. And lieutenant governor, and we're going to do well in Texas.
And let's see about you. Let's talk about the governor's race. I cannot believe it's this close. You got one of the most successful governors, lieutenant governors, lieutenant governor duos in the country, and I even think Democrats would admit that. But yet, in in many of these polls, it's a flat-footed tie.
You are three. Points up. You have been even or up throughout, but it is close. Your sense, because you understand elections, used to cover them before you were in them.
So, why is that tight? Our poll shows us up more than that, by the way. The polls I trust show us up more than that. But the reason it's tight, Brian. First of all, it's a midterm.
Secondly, the Democrats are pouring money into Texas in an unprecedented way. James Talerico will have two hundred and fifty million dollars or more. Almost all of that. Coming from California, New York, and blue states, even the governor's race—you know, Pritzker, the governor of Illinois—just sent a million dollars to Abbott's opponent. Money is coming in from everywhere because the target, we're the target, and that's a part of it.
You know, when you can put up twenty or thirty million dollars of ads on television as Abbott's opponent has, it can make a difference in tightening the race. You know, this Senate race again between Paxton and Talarico—it will be over. Four hundred million dollars.
So that always tightens things up, but we will prevail in the end, and the people are going to respond. We are not in Texas, Brian. We are not in Texas going to let the socialists take over our state because it won't be those candidates. It will be the Democrat Socialist Party in Washington running the state of Texas and every other state. It's an existential threat.
People in the Republican Party need to understand what's at stake. And it's the future for themselves and for their families. All right, and that's and that's why the president keeps going back. He understands the importance, and you've always been there, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick. Best of luck in November.
Meanwhile, always a pleasure. Yeah, back at you.
Meanwhile, there's an affordability problem in the United States, but the American dream is still attainable. And you'll be shocked how many people are thriving in this economy. We're going to break down the keys to their success. Plus, I'm kicking off my brand new United States tour. It's happening this week, Friday night in Red Bank, New Jersey.
Tickets still available. I'm bringing history to life in a fun, entertaining way. And then the next night, I'll be starting around 7:30. Go to BrianKillme.com. Streaming on Fox Nation.
But I'd rather meet. You in person after New Jersey. Don't ask me how I'm going to do it. I'm going to go to Long Island, Westbury, New York. We're going to sell that place out, and I'll be talking about uniting the states as well.
Then catch me in Florida and Missouri. Brian Kilmeade. dot com. Meanwhile, straight ahead is so much more. Don't even try to leave.
Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same premium wireless for fifteen dollars a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities.
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Default terms at mintmobile.com. Say when you're in the polling booth and you're thinking about who you're going to vote for. Think about this. If there's a politician who's picking villains and pointing fingers, that's that probably means they don't have a solution. Because if that is solution, instead of blaming somebody, they would be working on the solution and not and not going after the wealthy.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos with a message for Washington: Stop pointing fingers and start finding solutions. And with Americans, millions of Americans struggling with the cost of groceries, housing, and everyday life, that message cannot be more relevant. The affordability crisis has been reignited, and it's talking about now the debate about socialism.
Some polls showing growing. Support for, I guess, more taxes, but is more government the answer, or should we be looking at Americans who are actually building wealth and trying to see if success leaves clues? My next guest have studied that, and they found you're going to you're going to be surprised about what they found out. They got a new book. It's called "The Everywhere Millionaire: Who Was Really Rich in America and How They Got There." They reveal that the American dream isn't just about Wall Street, Silicon Valley, or inherited fortunes.
Joining me now is authors. Economist Owen Zidar and Eric Zwick, guys, welcome. What did your background at the IRS teach you about wealth? I guess Eric, start with you. Thanks, Brian.
Thanks for having us. Yeah, so we started out in the basement of the Treasury Department with a simple question to figure out how much tax businesses pay to try and help the Treasury with scoring kind of boring tax proposals. But what we saw was a much more interesting story about income, wealth, and prosperity in the American economy. We saw all these private business owners at the top of the income and wealth distribution doing extraordinarily well, running on glamorous businesses in industries and locations all across the country. Oh, and when these people are saying, "I want socialism, I want security, I want guarantees," they miss the concept of the country, in my view.
What about your view? And when you go across America, it's amazing how much wealth there is. There are three million everywhere millionaires, which are people running ordinary, everyday businesses in every town in America, and they're not talked about because they're not tech titans or hedge fund folks. And we try to tell the story of many of them. It's folks like Dick Portillo who grew up in the housing projects in Chicago, and over decades of hard work.
Ended up selling a business for a billion dollars. Selling hot dogs. Selling hot dogs. Not many people think that's a billion-dollar industry. But if you do it right and you expand slowly and and correctly, you will.
I just look at other people who actually want to have a problem with that, and they don't feel as though the American dream is attainable. What did you find with that, Eric? Yeah.
So our view is that the American dream is far more attainable than a lot of folks. Have been led to believe, and you know there are so many paths to go from the bottom to the top, especially through this entrepreneurship route. We think you know people need to recognize that owning, not earning.
So looking forward towards a career where maybe they learn some skills initially, but then go to start a business or buy a business and grow it, such that they can build on that early experience. But owning the upside of that business, there are a lot of problems out there that you know entrepreneurs can solve. And they don't have to be inventing the next vaccine or something. They can be like making incremental improvements in existing products, and that's that's a huge part of what makes these folks successful. And Eric, you got inspired, and Owen, you got inspired by seeing this wealth.
I'm shocked at how many people are beginning being told to resent wealth. We saw a debate in Michigan where they said, "How many yachts you have?" He goes, "Yeah, I got two yachts." Now, how hard I worked to get those yachts as these two Senate candidates sparred. I want you to hear. Jeff Bezos, a guy who came from a middle-class background, and yeah, he's one of the richest men in the world, and he's kind of resents what's coming at him. Watch.
We live in an environment where you know some people have come to; they've been. Taught, I think, incorrectly, but they've been taught that, and this whole kind of oppressor oppressed framework, and that success is villainy. Success is not villainy. You know, you can you can be a billionaire if you start a hamburger stand. You have ten people and it works really well, and you open a second one, and you open a third one.
Now you're employing thirty people, and then you open, you know, ten more, and so on. Pretty soon you have a thousand hamburger. Restaurants, and you are a billionaire. This is a real story, by the way. It's with chicken tenders.
It's the raising cane. Right. It's a real story. And before we go, do you guys have another story to share about that philosophy, which I imagine you agree with? Yeah.
So Saad Khan, for example, he came to this country as a teenager. Owner of the Jaguars. He got my punchline, Brian. He started with five hundred bucks, worked at an auto parts company, figured out a better way to make a car bumper, and basically got Toyota as an early client, and ended up selling enough car bumpers to buy the Jacksonville Jaguars. And one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet as well.
Thanks so much, guys. A great story. I love what you're doing. You didn't go for the the high profile Elon Musk types. These the everyday Americans who have earned their million dollars.
They took risks and work hard every day. That used to be the American. It's showing the American dream is obtainable. Thanks so much. Thanks so much, Brian.
Thanks for having us, Brian. All right, check out my YouTube channel, YouTube.com/slash/atthebriankillme show. No move. The great Tommy Lehren is here with the media moments that matter most to her and me. Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile.
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Taxes and fees extra. See full terms at mintmobile.com. This is a Fox Weather Alert. I'm Marianne Rafferty. A powerful Category Three hurricane is bearing down on Mexico's Pacific Coast, with 125 mile per hour winds and torrential rain.
Right now, Hurricane Simon is tracking just south of the popular resort town of Puerto Vallarta. The storm is already bringing destructive winds, mudslides, flooding, also strong surf as it skirts the coast.
Some places could get up to 30 inches of rain before it's over. Simon is expected to make landfall later this week as a Category One. One or two hurricane. Meantime, the remnants of post-tropical storm Rachel are leaving a trail of destruction across the Southwest. Millions of people from California to Utah are seeing heavy rain, damaging winds, and flooding.
The storm has already caused severe damage across Southern California. Powerful waves have ripped apart boardwalks and damaged homes. Mud and rockslides have also blocked roads. I'm Marianne Rafferty. Now back to One Nation.
Media moments that matter. All right, time now for everyone's favorite segment. This week, I gave my VCR, my tape stock, as well as my cords to Tommy Lehren to tape everything she could and come up with three media moments that really matter. You know, she's fearless on Outkick. You know, she does her show on the weekend, the big weekend show for six hours, and you're first with you're with us to cap off your weekend.
Tommy, what'd you come up with?
Well, you always give me this interesting segment, but then it makes me. Have to watch The View, yes, and I don't like watching The View, Brian, especially when they say ridiculous things like this. All right, our friend Anna Navarro, she has a theory about this Russian plague, and she thinks that President Trump somehow is going to kill us all because he's inept at handling it.
Now you have to watch The View. Take a look at this. This is why I think it's so important that we have qualified people in government. Yes, and why I am so you know I just don't give a pass to Republican senators who voted to confirm RFK Jr. as Secretary of Health, knowing he was unqualified, including people like like Bill Cassidy, who's a doctor himself, the senator.
Because you know things like this are going to come up. There's going to be crisis. There's going to be health emergency. And you know when I think of RFK Jr. heading HHS, I just say, "Girl, kiss your ass goodbye." We're all gonna die.
That's according to them, because you know the last administration, Brian, they had such a handle on COVID and Fauci was the right man at the right time. Yes, but that really worked out well. They're worried about RFK though. Is she still a Republican?
Well, Brian. I mean, that's why they put her on there. If she's a Republican, then I'm a Democrat, Brian. All right, I understand, but she still times might call her that now. You also listen to podcasts.
I do. Joe Rogan might be the best, and he had a very cool guest on. He had the maybe the coolest because it's right in his name, LL Cool J, on with Joe Rogan, and he had maybe some advice for the younger generation, just everybody who exists on social media. Of course, we want everybody to be on the Brian Kilmeade YouTube channel. Yes, but LL Cool J had some advice and kind of a diagnosis of our internet culture with Joe Rogan.
Take a listen to this one. You know, sometimes you gotta have a script and it doesn't work on its feet. They'll say, "Oh, this isn't working." Once you put it on its feet, well, guess what? If you've been living on the internet, you've been dealing with a script the whole time. Then you get in real life and you're awkward.
You can't interact with people, etc. Because what you've learned in this script and what you've studied isn't working on its feet. Out of them, they want real life to work like the internet. Instant validation, but real life—you got to really get out there and hunt. You got to really get out there in the woods.
You know, like the internet will reward you for chopping down trees in the wrong forest. He's a multi-faceted guy. I'm so impressed with him. I listened to the whole podcast. He doesn't age, Brian, kind of like you.
We need a skincare routine from you and LL Cool. And also, this is a landmark. It's the first time I've been compared to LL Cool J with anything. But he was really impressive, guy. He's just trying to say, guys, get in reality.
You got to get to work. Stop making excuses, which is very much up your alley. It is. Don't just exist on social media. You got to exist in real life as well, and you got to learn how to hunt, according to LL Cool J.
But I'll tell you what perhaps shouldn't exist, and that's political ads during the football games. All right, online is upset. They don't want to see the political ads. They're over it. They just want to watch football.
But but then we see here's the thing: the politicians want eyeballs. Yes, all the eyeballs are watching football, and so therefore all the political ads go to football. Right. But also, I think the NFL tried to end racism, right?
So maybe they got themselves into it. I don't know. The jury is still out on that one. But I got to read some of these posts, right? Because people are so they're weighing in.
They're weighing in on the political advertisement. This is Todd. He said, "If we could do away with any and all political ads during college football Saturdays and NFL Sundays, that would be outstanding." Left, right, center. I don't care. Get them off my TV.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk, even though his name is Todd. And then our friend Jack. He said, "I'd pay extra if the NFL Sunday ticket would keep political ads off during the games." And another user writes, "They'd just be replaced by more gambling or pharma ads. Pick your poison." Brian Kilmeade, where do you stack up on that?
Well, how about this? You got to read the buzz. The greatest thing about TV. Is that they come with a remote that has a mute button, so you could just watch them and not hear them. Is that also?
Wonder on some level, are politicians turning each other people off if their ads keep pounding at you?
So that's something to think about. What about you, Brian? Do you do you mute it when you see the political ads? Not me. I'm kind of curious on this attitude.
You're into that, okay? I like it. All right, but I understand, and the politician should hear you, Tommy. Great job for six hours over the weekend. Thanks for ending it with us.
Always great to see you, Brian. That's how I like to end my Sunday night. All right, now listen. You can watch in the green room. We got more show to go.
This week is marking the anniversary of the horrific October 7th attacks. You know that. What we've learned now, and what more needs to be done. We're going to talk to hostage negotiator. Brett McGurk, who is there every step of the way?
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Then full price plan options available. Taxes and fees extra. See mintmobile.com. Three years after the October seventh Hamas terror attack, the wounds remain. But the anti-Israel protests marking the anniversary is nuts.
It's raising urgent questions about anti-Semitism and accountability. How far we still have to go to achieve peace and security, and what the heck happened to the Israeli support here and abroad? My next guest led the U.S. government's efforts to free 251 people captured by Hamas on that horrible day. His firsthand account of the high-stakes Middle Eastern diplomacy is detailed in a brand new book.
It is awesome. It's. Brink inside the race to free the October 7th hostages. And joining us now is Brett McGurk, the former former White House coordinator for Middle East and North Africa, who's worked for four separate presidents, Democrats and Republicans. Brett, thanks so much for joining us.
When did you realize that you had to write this down because you wanted to chronicle this for for the American people and people around the world? Brian, it's so great to be here, especially this week. You know, I was writing a book about Bush, Obama, Trump. My experience in those three presidencies. I came out of the Biden White House.
I told my publisher, I don't. What I just went through, it's just too soon. And they said, "Look, you got to put down at least a few chapters of what happened." And that's what I did, Brian. You know, you're an author. I just poured it down, and that became Brink, the book we have now.
And I'm glad I put it down because I was a firsthand. It's a firsthand account, and I bring readers inside the rooms. I was inside all the rooms. I'm in the White House Situation Room, Oval Office. I'm overseas with intelligence chiefs with Hamas on one floor, Israel on another.
I'm with Netanyahu, and I just try to bring the reader. With me through this crisis from before October 7th throughout, and then at the end where we finally got a hostage deal. And what's interesting, Brian, is you know we joined forces, the incoming Trump team and the outgoing Biden team. But that's the story of brink. I just I poured it down on the page as it happened, and the readers come along with me.
I think they'll learn something about what it was really like. And the keys for me was how it started and how it ended. You working with Steve Witkoff. And the Trump administration, or the Biden administration, how it started. You're close to building on the Abraham Accords, talking with Saudi Arabia, days away from maybe getting them to recognize Israel, and that is everything to do with what happened with Hamas, led by Iran, right?
Yeah, Brian. October 6th, I had the Saudis in my office at the White House. And we've been working on this deal for a year. And by the way, the Palestinian Authority was like a part of this deal. You know, it was really coming together in a way that would have benefited Israelis and Palestinians.
I shook hands with the Saudi ambassador about how we want to get this deal done by the end of the year and roll it out. And it was just hours after that that we started getting news of the attacks of October 7th. It is really tragic, and I think you know we we don't know exactly what Sinwar. He was the mastermind of October 7th, the leader of Hamas in Gaza. What his motivation?
Were, but that far more positive agenda in the Middle East, a more integrated, peaceful region. There is still a lot of folks who want to work in that direction. That was the direction before October seventh, and I am hopeful. I am hopeful we can get back on that. But it was just a horrific.
In every dimension, Brian, I describe it in Brink as the worst crisis I've ever worked on.
Now, I led the counter-ISIS campaign. I was in the Bush White House during the Iraq War. I've never seen anything like this. And the dimension of the hostages—the worst mass hostage event in modern history—and Hamas holding them in tunnels as as their cards and leverage with the Israelis—I tell that whole story and. And bring, and you do, and we get a lot of them out.
No one thought that was possible. Many thought the minute they were taken, that's the last time we'd see them.
So that success has a lot to do with you, Steve Whitkoff. Wanted you to stay on for a while, and you go, "No, I am done." But if I was to put Brett McGurk right now, Brett, we're in a standoff with Iran. You know the damage has been done. The good news is Nasrallah is dead. The good news is Hani is dead.
The good news is Sinwar is dead, and I believe the Ayatollah being dead. There's a change of leadership, a chance to. Go to the root of the problem, which is Iran. What would you do next?
Well, Ryan, when Sinwar launched this attack on October 7, he thought that a whole Iranian axis would come with him, and they did for a time. I don't think he anticipated what has happened since. Really, in the fall of 2024, these dominoes that went against him and the entire Iranian axis, as you just laid out, and I lay that out in the book. Look, I think we got to keep the pressure on the Iranians. I think economic pressure is really critical.
That blockade we have in place right now is putting unprecedented pressure on Iran. But I'm realistic. I've dealt with this problem for 20 years, and if you know in the book, I mean the reader is with me. I go to see the Iranians in a back channel, Brian, in January 2024, as Americans are under attack, and you just get a sense of how confident Iran was at that point. And look, the Iranian system is so revolutionary.
So ideological, they are going to they are going to do all they can to hold on. They'll use ruthless violence against their own people, as we saw earlier this year. And I think we got to stay patient and stay at it, and try to use the leverage you build. A lot of this book is about negotiation and leverage and incentives and power. The leverage you build with that blockade to try to get the best possible deal you can.
But let's hope at some point this regime in Iran. Comes apart because the Iranian people, the Iranian people, Brian, they're the most pro-West population I know in the region, probably second to Israel, and that would really change the face of the Middle East in the world. But I think it's a long way until we get to that point. Right, but we got it. We got to keep the pressure on.
So pick up rank. It just takes the politics out of it and tells you exactly what happened. Thanks so much, Bret McGurk. Quick note: pre-order my brand new book. It comes out United in the States.
The six crucial moments that forged the American miracle. It comes out Tuesday, and a special is coming up on Fox Nation. Been shooting it for eight months. You'll love it. In fact, here's a sneak peek.
Washington told us, guys, you find anything that floats, and you get it over here. We've got to get across the river. But that's when the most miraculous thing happened. A fog arose between the Americans and the British. It conceals the evacuation completely, and the amazing thing: the fog lifted as Washington reached the other shore.
So the British see in time that we just lost all these. Where did they go? And Washington safely gets away. George Washington is the last one to leave Brooklyn Heights. He could have been captured.
He could have been killed. The British have their ultimate prize. They have New York City. They occupy Long Island. Washington still has his troops, but they have to reorganize how they're going to fight.
How would you characterize the new American way of fighting from here on in? He now recognizes survival as his number one mission. That's where Washington's leadership comes in, because he was with his soldiers. He suffered with them. There's about 250 battles in the American War for Independence.
Washington is engaged in only 17 of those battles, and he won only six of those battles.
So it's not winning; it's winning at the right time and living to win at the right time. And that became the strategy: surviving. In the end, Americans would by by not losing; they were winning. Yes, and it would ultimately result in a victory. And I'm kicking off my brand new United States book tour this week in Red Bank, New Jersey.
The next night in Westbury, I'll drive to both places. I want to see in person. BrianKilme.com, streamed on Fox Nation. Also got a bunch of other stops that you can see on BrianKilme.com. Hope to see you there.
That is it for us tonight.
Now make sure you do two things: catch me on the radio from nine to noon, and then watch me on Fox and Friends in a little while. As always, my message is: stay within your Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same premium wireless for fifteen dollars a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities.
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