Biden's FBI says COVID caused by lab leak PLUS: Nikki Haley on running against Donald Trump

From high atop Fox News headquarters in New York City, always seeking solutions, never sowing division. It's Brian Kilmead. Hello, welcome to the latest moment to the Brian Kilmead Show. Thanks so much for listening and watching. Yesterday was in Potavidra at the Metro Diner.

WOKV listeners know how great it is to be out there. I left 82 degrees, and of course, a two-hour delay. Not JetBlue's fault, it is JFK's fault. The airport's not big enough. I'm not sure why we're still wrestling with airfare.

Air travel. Rich Lowry at the bottom of the hour, and that's one of my first things for Nikki Haley. The governor/slash ambassador, great to see you. To see you. Thanks for having me.

If you become president, will you solve the air travel travel problem? Why do we have why is it always keep your fingers crossed now when you fly around? It's amazing. Because they protect all of these airlines, they protect the airports, and they never watch out for the consumer. And at some point, you have to have them say what's in the best interest of the consumer, not what's in the best interest of the company.

It's got to be dealt with. And no one has done it because it's so big. But that goes back into corporate welfare and all those other things. Like, you can't keep protecting big companies and big industry. You've got to start really thinking about what the taxpayers do.

I would love to see that. Put it this way: I'd love to see a transportation secretary that actually rolled his sleeves up and said, Let me solve this problem. I have a degree from Oxford. I'm pretty good at figuring things out, even though I'm not a transportation expert. But you have an overall lack of hustle.

So, congratulations. It was the first time we've spoken. I think we did on television, satellite, on radio, though.

So, over the last three weeks, what's your big takeaway now that you made the announcement official? The biggest takeaway, I think, is that people are ready to move on. They're ready to do they're ready to have options. They're ready to go forward. They want to leave the drama and the status quo of the past and they want to move forward.

And they really want to focus on things that matter. They you know I have said we have to have term limits in D.C. They agree. I've said we have to have mental competency tests for people over the age of 75. They agree.

I have said that as president, I will stop all this foreign aid and stop giving money to countries that hate us. They agree. And they want to really focus on things. You know, Brian, 50% of Americans don't think their kids are going to have it as good as they had. Think how sad that is.

We can't be okay with that.

So also, the last five polls show that President Trump's on top, second pretty consistent is DeSantis. Then you and Tim Scott are neck and neck.

So how is President Trump's numbers, why are his numbers so high? Still under 50%, but. But he's got he's he's leading in all the polls.

Well, the last I checked, there was only a couple of us in the race.

So I don't pay attention to anybody that's not in because I knew I was running. I got in. I was ready. And I'm not waiting on anything or anybody.

So we're there. But I think, look, there's a respect for what President Trump did. People know that he was the right president at the right time. He broke the things that needed to be broken, and he fixed them. The issue is people now want more options than just Trump and Biden.

And they don't think you have to be 80 years old to be in D.C. And I think they want to see us move forward, and that's what we're trying to do. And just by the numbers, Emerson poll, which tends to lean left, whatever that means, but they did all Republicans. They found Trump with a 30-point lead over DeSantis. The Yahoo News YouGov poll has an eight-point lead.

Him over DeSantis with you a solid third. And the GOP, the poll for trying to see the company here. Another poll has him up by 15.

So, him going to Palestine put President Trump back in the news again. You know, look, why wasn't Biden there? One thing I know from being a governor and having a school shooting and a church shooting and hurricanes and all those things, you have to be with your people immediately. You stop everything and you go be with your people and you take your cabinet directors with you so that you're immediately taking care of those people. I don't understand when you have an issue on the border and they won't go.

You have an issue in East Palestine and they don't go. That literally is the goal of a leader: you are there to protect your people, to take care of them, to make sure that every need they have is there. He's missed that on every front, from Afghanistan to the border to East Palestine, all of those things. Yet he'll sit there and brag about some economy numbers that don't exist.

So, what bothers me most is two things. Number one, if you want to be president, that's what you want to do. You want to help people. Yes. Number two, if it's not, unless it's about your Here you go.

Number two is if it's a minority community and that train spills off in that area and they blow it up because they said that was the best option, and now they're saying with independent studies there's now a chemical in the air and they're seeing all these physical problems, the respiration problems that they have. I think he has a totally different stance, in my opinion. You know, we had a train derailment in South Carolina, and I will tell you, you don't know the effects of those chemicals until later. It's in the air, it's in the water, it's in the ground, all of that. And these families need to know someone has their back.

And he's not doing anything. He's talking about other things. And I'm telling you, you just continue to look at what Biden's doing. He's living in a fantasy world. He continues to...

be the reason I say you have to have mental competency tests for anyone over the age of 75. These issues are too important and our crises are too big to not have somebody at the top of their game.

So yesterday, he was talking healthcare in Virginia Beach. Here's a little of it, cut twenty-four. There's an awful lot of really good Republicans. But the migra Republicans are a different breed of cat. No, they're not bad or good.

It isn't very they're very different. It's kind of like, in my view, sort of two Republican parties. Where do you stand? And would you subscribe to there a two Republican parties? No, it's insulting.

I mean, Republicans are patriotic. Republicans want economic freedom. Republicans want safety. Republicans want to be able to know that their kids will live a better life than them. That's not, to sit there and try and divide us is wrong.

Republicans have solutions that help everyone, not just a select few. And Biden knows that. And he continues to try and do this to criticize a certain segment of the Republican Party. A president doesn't criticize their people. A president communicates solutions and gets them there.

He's never done that. Even when he wants to win re-election, because we do know that President Obama did that pretty effectively to Mitt Romney, made him seem to be an out-of-touch white guy that just wants to destroy companies and lives. I think Americans are smarter than that. And I think we'll see that in 2024. They're done with all of this drama and they're done with the weakness that America is showing right now.

They want something different. When you watch the State of the Union address, which President O'Biden. And supporters say it was a big win for him. I don't feel that way because what happened is the place erupted when he said Republicans want to take your Medicare and your Social Security away. Which was not true.

But they reacted, and people started yelling, that's not true. And they said, okay, we negotiated right here. Here's what he described yesterday. Because do you want to take the Medicare and Social Security away? No.

But do you think entitlements need to be reformed? Absolutely. And what we should do is make sure the people who have it and who were promised it get it. But that new generation coming in, we've got to change the rules for them because they know they're not going to get it anyway. Right.

And a couple of things. I know it's politically toxic. But when you came up with Social Security, we were living, we're now living 15 years longer. You have to raise the age. If you say raise the age, people say, well, you just lost all your seniors.

Maybe you got to get the job to do it or maybe set up a blue ribbon council to do it. But don't we have to raise the age? We have to look at entitlement reform. The biggest thing you want to do is you don't want to take away what's been promised to people. That is, I do.

Especially money they put in. I dealt with pension reform in South Carolina. We had the same problem. What we did is we made sure everybody who was promised got, but the new Group coming in, we change the rules for them, and that's where you look at what that cutoff is. And it can be done, and there's not just one thing you do, there's multiple things you do.

But, yes, I mean, to say you're not going to touch entitlement reform is not being visionary, it's not really looking to the troubles that we're going to have in the future if we don't deal with it. We'll run out in 2028. Right. And I love to see someone's answer to that. Cut 26.

I said, okay, you know, everybody who says we're not going to cut Medicare or Social Security when I asked them to join us and reject the cuts in Medicare, wasn't it something? They all stood up. Y'all stood up. They're all on camera. Got all their pictures.

Like I said. I believe in conversion. Maybe they found, as my grandfather said, maybe they found religion. on Social Security and Medicare. And of course, he's leaning on where Rick Scott came out and said we should take a look at all these things and sunset them because they need to be reevaluated.

But Washington never cuts a program. That's his point. He's demeaning and he's lying. He knows they did this in the midterms when they sat there and said, you know, all Republicans want to ban abortion across the board. They're doing this now by saying all Republicans want to go and take your Social Security away.

That's not true. And we watched Obama do it. We watched Biden do it. They think if they say it enough. That it will make it true and that people will believe it.

Republicans have to push back. Republicans have been too nice, too nice. Go back, push back, put him in his corner, show where he's lying, show where he's wrong, show what he's done, and fight him on it. And I think that Republicans have to step up. The people are begging for us to fight back.

So I know we're talking with Governor/slash Ambassador Nikki Haley. I know you always parry it to Biden. Whatever it is, I'm running against Joe Biden. But is that going to be possible as more and more declare? Vivek Ramaswamy is the latest.

Tim Scott looks like he could be next. Mike Pompeo, I would say in the spring, I'd be hard to. I don't know anybody doing the Tom Cotton thing and saying, my kids are too young, I can't do it.

So for the most part, as they do it, how much longer can you hold out and hold your fire against other Republicans? It's not about holding fire. It's about being productive. Americans are tired. They want to know someone's going to work for them, not sit there and fight other Republicans in the field.

There will be others that get in. Most are my friends. But this is about the future of America. This isn't about how many people are going to be on that stage. It's about who's going to have the solutions that fix things.

I could spend all my time trying to make differences with other Republicans. What good does that do our party? What good does that do our country? But there are differences. You do believe there are differences.

Of course there'll be differences. But most of us will agree on a lot of the same things. It's going to come down to solutions, results are record. I've been a two-term governor. I took a failed double-digit unemployment state and made it an economic powerhouse.

I was at the UN. I didn't deal with one country. I dealt with 192 and took the kick-me sign off of our back. Everything I've ever done, I have proven results, and I've worked and I've shown what I'm capable of. That is what I'm going to run on.

That's what I'm going to talk about. And you have an editorial in the New York Post. It says you'll cut billions in foreign aid that we send our enemies. It's interesting.

So you understand what our aid does and why it gives us influence in return. Where are you looking to cut?

So, first of all, $46 billion in foreign aid given last year. And you are giving money to countries that say death to America. And we've got to stop. You can't buy friends. Quit giving money to countries that hate us.

This is money going to Iraq. We know how close they are with the terrorists.

Soleimani was there. Why are we giving them money? You're giving money to Pakistan. We were giving $2 billion in military aid. They were harboring terrorists that were trying to kill our soldiers.

Trump was cut that. Trump was good to put it back, and I support him in that. Biden is rolling it back in. Zimbabwe, they are the most anti-American African country out there, and we're giving them money. Cuba, we named them a state terrorist sponsor, and we're giving them money.

China, we're going to give them a money. We are giving money to China on the environment. Stop giving money to countries that hate us and start focusing on our friends and our allies instead. A few more minutes with Ambassador Nikki Haley, running for president now on the GOP side. First, Uh first debate is August.

Will the governor/slash ambassador sign the pledge to support the nominee, whether it's her or somebody else? We'll get that answer when we come back on the Brian Kilmeat Show. Newsmakers and newsbreakers, hear it first on the Brian Kilmeat Show. From the Fox News Podcasts Network. I'm Ben Dominich, Fox News contributor and editor of the Transom.com daily newsletter, and I'm inviting you to join a conversation every week.

It's the Ben Dominich Podcast. Subscribe and listen now by going to FoxNewsPodcasts.com. He's so busy, he'll make your head spin. It's Brian Kill Mead.

So are you prepared to block the former president? He signed it in 2016. He did. Everybody signed it in 2016. But this is about the here and the now.

He didn't commit to it. I think they're all going to sign it. I really do. I think the voters are very intent on winning, and they do not want to see a debate stage of people saying, I'm not going to support this guy. I'm not going to support this guy.

What they need to say is, I'm going to do everything I can to defeat Joe Biden. And that means supporting the nominee of the Republican Party. Ron McDaniel on CNN saying that no one gets on the debate stage unless they sign to unite around the eventual winner. Governor Nikki Haley is a declared candidate right now. Governor, would you sign that?

Absolutely. Any of our people. Are you for this? You know, look, I have no problem. Any of our people will be better than Biden every day of the week.

So we need to remember what the overall good is. The overall good is to make sure that we no longer have a Democrat in power. I'll say it again. We have lost the last seven out of eight popular votes for president. That means Republicans are doing something wrong.

We need to be the party of addition. We need to be bringing people into the party. We need to be talking about our solutions, lifting up everyone. And that means focusing on saying, yes, we're going to rally around solutions. And whoever the voice is that has those solutions, that's who we're going to be for.

And I think we have to stay focused on that. It looks like President Trump was, when asked, said, depends who the nominee is. Do you think it might be to his advantage not to debate? I don't know. I don't worry about his politics or how he's going to handle it.

He beats to his own drum. I'm going to tell you that we always have to keep the country first in mind and then the party. And I think in order to do that, you can look at what Biden's doing and saying everything the Democrats have done has been so extreme, so leftist. Our kids are suffering. Our families are suffering.

And the international stage, we look incredibly weak.

Something's got to give, and we have to do whatever it takes to change that.

So what is your plan now? Because you've been doing this now three weeks.

So where are you heading next? And then I guess one of the hallmarks will be the August debate, wherever it is. You know, we had a few thousand people at our announcement in South Carolina. How did you feel about that? I was so happy.

I mean, you know, when you've been a governor and people really appreciate what you did for a state and the results that we brought, they all came in. They showed the love. I'm still incredibly popular in South Carolina, and I appreciated that. Then we went to New Hampshire and Iowa, standing room onlys, overflow rooms. People were the most.

Momentum is good. Our phones are ringing. The money is coming in. Go to nikkihaley.com if you want to join. And, you know, everything is strong.

So, you know, we head to DC today. I've got CPAC on Friday. I've got Club for Growth on Saturday. And then we're going to be headed back to New Hampshire, Iowa, and South Carolina. And we're going to continue to fundraise all over the country.

How's your staffing? Because I know that's key, this talent behind the scenes, too, that people are vying for. I have such an A team, and this isn't something I just cobbled together. I have worked with these people for years. We have our eye focused on getting the American people back on track, and we're ready.

I wouldn't have jumped in if I wasn't ready. And, you know, if there's anything you know about me, if I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it right or I'm not going to do it. And we're going to run a race that makes the American people proud. And we're going to run a race that brings back a strong and proud America again and do it in a way that we're going to get rid of this socialism. We're going to stop this defeatism that's taking over our country.

And we're going to do right by our kids. You know, what was referred to last night? Of that Chinese select committee on China, that we have 13 Republicans and 11 Democrats. It's kind of heartening to see both sides see this as a problem. 76 percent of Republicans see China as an enemy, 60 percent of Democrats.

It's pretty close. How would you approach the China situation? Because people who know business and commerce say decoupling is not possible in the near term. You have to focus on the national security threats. I don't care if we buy t-shirts and light bulbs from China any more than I care if they buy our agricultural products.

But when it comes to national security, we shouldn't be dependent on our medicines. Look at when we had COVID. They told you to get a mask, China made it. They told you to get COVID tests. China made it.

We can't do that. We need to focus, number one, on letting China know we're onto them. They need to be held accountable for COVID. They need to know that we know the fentanyl that's coming across the southern border is coming directly from them, and we're going to hold it. Stop buying these thousands, letting them buy thousands of acres of land.

You just had 350,000 acres near Grand Forks Air Force Base. We know that's where our most sensitive technology is. And tell every university, you either take China money or you take U.S. money. You don't get both, and you put a stop to it.

And when you do that and start holding them accountable, For intellectual property, you tell them what we expect of them instead of us being reactionary to them. They might be getting into the Ukraine situation with 100 attack drones. If they do that, what changes? What would Nikki Haley do? Our job is to prevent them from getting it.

It was very telling. There was a UN vote that would condemn Russia for their move into Ukraine. China abstained. They're still trying to figure this out. That is why we need to stay strong when it comes to Ukraine.

We can't budge. We shouldn't send them blank checks. We shouldn't send them troops. But the equipment, the ammunition that they need, we need to be partnering with our allies and give them what they need to win. It is absolutely, this is a war on freedom, and it's one we have to win.

I personally 100% agree with you, hence my lapel pin. Governor, thanks so much for coming by. I hope that we do this early and often. Thanks. Go to nikkihaley.com.

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

So, as you note, Brett, the FBI has for quite some time now assessed the That the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan. Let me step back for a second. You know, the FBI has Folks, agents, professionals, analysts, virologists, microbiologists, et cetera, who focus specifically on the dangers of biological threats.

So, here you're talking about a potential leak from a Chinese government-controlled lab that killed millions of Americans, and that's precisely what that capability. Uh, was designed for. Wow, wait a second. Let's disable Christopher Wray's account. He's spraying, he's spreading conspiracy theories.

Oh, I'm sorry. It's 2023, it's not 2020 anymore. That's exactly what would have happened when Tom Cotton did it. Everyone just said, Wow, what a we watch. I could play, we played this over the last two days, these montages of people putting Tom Cotton down.

He was 100% right. The Department of Energy now says more than likely it came from a Wuhan lab. Jon Stewart, a lefty, if there ever was a lefty, of course it came from the Wuhan lab. He says he was vilified as if he was alt-right. And that was Christopher yesterday reiterating on camera, which the FBI already concluded, that this virus came from a Wuhan lab.

So why? Not only are you wrong. Why are you going out of your way to vilify people that want to go against what your conclusion is? Like Anthony Fauci, two days ago, double and triple down. This came, didn't come from a lab.

It more than likely was a natural occurrence, even though we can't identify any of the animals or species that it came from. Rich Lowry, editor of National Review, author of The Case Against Nationalism. First off, Rich, on this in particular, why are people dug in for this not coming from a lab? Yeah, it's just bizarre. Why wouldn't you just have an open mind, right, and acknowledge probably not never going to know definitively, but it's at least a possibility.

And they wouldn't do it in 2020, and there's still people who won't do it now. And I thought it was just amazing. You had the Department of Energy, this U.S. government agency, believing that there's some significant probability that this came from a lab, and Beijing engaged in one of the most hideous cover-ups of all time and lied about it. And you have Stephen Colbert and the guy who does the Daily Show now and others mocking the Department of Energy, the U.S.

government agency, not mocking the CCP, not calling out their lies, but mocking people. The Daily Show guy was still making the case that people who believe in the lab leak are idiots.

So they can't stop. I think Trump had a big element to do it. If Trump thought something might be true, the opposite must absolutely be the case. They believed people who thought this were stoking. tensions with China or had racist intentions or were conspiracy theorists And this was a time when this is still the case, but they were all obsessed with disinformation and how it was distorting everything, so they thought this was disinformation, but it was just terrible.

There have been so many media failures, major ones, over the last five years, it's hard to know exactly where this stacks up, but it's high. I'll tell you what, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on the origins tracing of SARS COVID-19, China has been open and transparent and shared information and data on COVID-19 with the international community in a timely manner. By politicizing the issue, the U.S. will not succeed in discrediting China. Instead, it will only hurt the U.S.'s own credibility.

Now, that's as delusional as Anthony Fauci. Yeah, and they they've said it came from Fort Dietrich in in Maryland, right?

So uh Um th this is uh it was great, I thought that Ray came out, you know, because there there was a lot of chatter. Oh, this is just the Department of Energy people not focusing on the fact that the FBI came to this conclusion prior to the Department of Energy. And he actually, you know, in that clip, he went much further than Tom Cotton did initially when he got slammed in twenty twenty, because Cotton didn't mention anything about a bioweapon, and he had Chris Ray mentioning that, you know, in the same breath. Good point. This has been, you know, the media should report the information.

Instead, as you know, don't even tell you, it wants to control the information. And this was Exhibit A. And when they can't, they just changed the subject.

So China warns Elon Musk after he talked about the COVID leak's origins. Basically, if you want to sell Teslas, I'll paraphrase, in China, you won't get involved in this, and you'll walk this back.

Now, Musk is bold as he can be. The number one richest man in the world. Again, he emerges number one. I would love to see him come back and say, we're just pulling Teslas out. I'll give up the billion.

Uh oh, the billions of dollars that we could be generating there because it's not in our interest to be there anymore and then see what happens. Yes. I mean, this is unfortunately, this is the the one area where his fearlessness has some cracks, dealing with China. But China's reaction to Musk, right, is that the reaction of a regime that has nothing to hide, that's all about transparency and the truth and facts? Obviously not.

And there's been a focus on this origins debate on and off, but for me, it's just been astonishing it hasn't been more of an intense focus. I mean, this should be one of the major mysteries and questions of our time that everyone should want to get to the bottom of, but that hasn't been the case. You know, what's so interesting is if there's fighting with your family and you walk into one room and they say one thing, and you walk into the other room and they say something totally different, you think to yourself, okay, the reality is you guys need to talk it out and not condemn each other. Fauci want to know part of it. Dr.

Burks wanted to know part of it. Every network wanted to know part of. You listen. Go get vaccinated. You listen, wear a mask.

You listen, wear two masks. I told you, Dr. Burks told me on camera, consider wearing goggles because the virus can go through the eyes. You better not go to walking on the beach. If you're going to play sports in high school, wear a mask outdoors.

Wait a second. Masks don't work. Outdoors, you're totally safe. Natural immunity, not as effective. Natural immunity is now more effective, according to the other study.

Myrochonditis is not something you get from the virus. That's something you're susceptible to. It's a coincidence.

Now we found out you have a 33% chance, more higher chance of getting it after you get the vaccine. All along the way, People were dug in and being right. And when you challenged them, they took an affront for it. Yeah.

Now, you still see these people in the New York City area who are wearing masks and goggles outside and clearly believe that they're following the science, right? When it's totally the opposite. And just the COVID debate, it just reminds me a lot of things the last 15 years. One lesson I've learned is pay attention to the dissenters. Pay attention to the people who you think are crazy maybe or out there because they might have a point.

And this is the reason we have a free and robust debate in this country, because no one is a total vessel, has 110% control of the truth. And you should debate it out. And what we've seen repeatedly is an attempt to shut down the debate. No, you can't say that on social media that there might be a problem with the vaccine. You can't say the masks might not work.

And they attempted to control this debate. And it's one thing to control it when you're right. They try to control it when on a lot of the stuff they were wrong. I want to bring you to 2024. show that former President Trump receiving a boost after his great move by going to Palestine, Palestine, Ohio.

One survey shows him over 50% support in a crowded GOP field. A solid second is DeSantis. Nikki Haley and Tim Scott are in single digits, but higher single digits. Yahoo News is one that has great tie on you,Gov, Emerson. At the very least, I don't care if any of these polls are right or wrong.

You know a trend. How do you explain the endurance of President Trump? You know, I don't entirely know. I was talking to some people about this yesterday. I think the East Palestine thing was very shrewd.

I don't know why other people did it. And it was pretty sincere, by the way. That's him. Yeah, I don't know why other people didn't go and do it do it first. I think he's been a little less in the in the news, which which helps helps them a little bit.

But he's just even in his worst moments, and he's ha had some last several months, he never dropped that much. He was behind DeSantis in head to heads, but he's still comfortably ahead in multi-candidate tests. And what's notable about that Yahoo poll yesterday, it's a head to head and has Trump ahead of DeSantis.

So we got to see how they run. We got to see how it really shakes out. But any hope that Trump will just fade away and that you can be a non-Trump candidate and just sort of duck and cover and bide your time and wait for him to go away and not engage and not make the case against him, that hope should be shattered.

Someone's going to have to go as the Texans said in the Texas Revolution about that, Cannon, come and take it.

Someone's going to have to come and take it from him, and that's a daunting prospect.

So, I want you to hear. I was able to talk to Ron DeSantis on Monday. We had her on Tuesday, and I asked him about Trump. Here's what he said. I read the whole thing, not one disparaging word about President Trump.

Are you guys speaking now? Do you plan on speaking to him? He seems to be taking some shots at you. No, I mean, look, I I mean it's silly season. I mean you know how how some of this stuff goes and obviously he he does his thing and it's just that's kind of kind of who he is.

But what I wanted to do was just give an honest appraisal of kind of how we got to this point, the failures of the DC Republican establishment. and how Donald Trump was speaking to things that some of the old guard refused to address. And that's just a fact And, you know, he can say, you know, what he wants about me. I'll always give him credit for the things that he did that were positive. And I'm appreciative of a lot of the things that he did.

Doesn't mean I agree agree with everything that he's doing lately or whatever. But ultimately, it's about delivering for the people you represent and delivering for the country. You know a lot of politicians. You've seen a lot of finesse. How do you think Governor DeSantis handled it, and what is the best way to handle Donald Trump?

On finesse, it's an A-plus. And that's not an off-the-cuff answer, right? That's someone who's thought about very specifically and carefully about what he's going to say in response to that question. And I think it's the appropriate response for him now. I don't think there's any alternative for him now.

He's out there trying to build his brand, his message. If he gets in a mudfight with Trump, Trump might win, but even if Trump doesn't win, it's going to distract him for what he wants to do, including this legislative session that starts next week in Florida. It's very important where he wants to put more points on the board.

So it's fine for now. It's just once he's in, that answer is no longer sufficient. And how he responds and how he can deal with the Trump buzzsaw is one of the big question marks around his potential candidacy.

So when it comes to Joe Biden, it looks like he's in. He sounded like he was campaigning. Yesterday, here's a little of what he said: cut 24. There's an awful lot of really good Republicans, but the migrant Republicans are a different breed of cat. No, they're not bad or good.

They're just very they're very different. It's kind of like, in my view, sort of two Republican parties. So he's going to look to do the same thing he did in the midterms. He thinks that worked. Your thoughts about President Biden, the candidate, and President Biden's tactic.

Well, I think, you know, he's he's lost uh a step or two or three. I don't think he should run. I think it's it's gonna be Potentially bad for the Democrats if something happens to him before January 2025. It's potentially bad for the country if he's reelected and something happens to him.

So I think it's a bad idea in general, but Democrats don't have a lot of alternatives. And this is a guy who's wanted to be sitting in that round office his entire adult life.

So you're not getting him out of there easily. And the message worked, I hate to say, in the midterms. And he has a potential to run it against Trump himself.

So they want Trump. They wanted Trump in 2016. It was a bad bet for them. They were totally wrong. Maybe that'll be the case this time around.

But they feel as though Biden got him in 20 and prevailed or at least blunted the Republican gains in 2022 and he can do it in 24. And it's certainly not a crazy bet. I don't know whether it's correct. Very interesting because there's two election. You talk to a Democrat and they say, look at everything Joe Biden has done.

You talk to a Republican and they say, look at everything Joe Biden has done. They're convinced that he's done nothing good for the country. The Democrats go, my goodness, he's better than Obama. How could that be both perceptions be right?

Well, I mean, this is what makes the world go around. You know, you could have asked this in the 1790s, right, between the Federalist and the Republicans.

So he got a lot done, unfortunately. I think he punched above his weight legislatively the first two years. It was all bad, right?

So I think that's kind of how you square the circle. They're like, look, you did all this. And then the Conservatives are like, yeah, none of it worked and all of it's in the wrong direction.

So we'll see. The country doesn't want, in the abstract, doesn't want a Trump-Biden race. But if you're betting, man, there's certainly better than 50% chance that that's what it's going to get. And we're going to find out. When the debates start in August, DeSantis will probably be in the spring.

Tim Scott, probably any week now. Pompeo and Pence right after that. And then it's going to be interesting to see if the Christine Noams get in there, the Governor Juncking gets in there too, and then how it all plays. And then how Donald Trump does. Does Donald Trump have another tool in his toolkit to bring to the table besides?

2020 was stolen, and I'm allowed to have lunch with white supremacists once in a while. And look at my record in 2016. He had a great record to run on, but what he did in between that losing that election hurt him more than anything he did when he was president. Do you agree? Yep, I do.

include just a huge dose of modesty here. No one knows how this is going to play out. And it's just extremely rare that in this juncture of a presidential race, what you're talking about, what you think is going to happen, what's the conventional wisdom proves out.

So uh So we've got to see. It's fascinating. I've hated this kind of interim period where nothing much is happening. It's just Trump and, of course, Nikki got in. I want to see this race.

If nothing else, as an observer, I think it's going to be completely fascinating. And she was just in studio. Let me just tell you that if you're going to go on issues, she knows every issue she goes deep. You might not agree, but she's not going to be flummox like our current vice president or like people that just get in because they've been governors. They don't understand the international scene.

She's ready to go.

So I laugh at anybody that tries to sleep on her personally. I don't know how you feel. Maybe we'll read it in a column in the National Review. Rich, always great to talk to you. Awesome.

Thanks so much, Brian. All right, 1866-408-7669. I'll come back with your calls. We have a lot to discuss. Brian, Kilmichio.

Politics, current events, and news that affects you. Brian's got a lot more to say. Stay with Brian Kilmead. From his mouth to your ears, it's Brian Kilmead.

Well, what I know is he's been very concerned throughout this process about what the people of East Palestine are going through. I think also a visit to that level can sometimes have a lot of disruptive effects, so it would need to be thought of carefully. But I'm certainly glad that I went. Three and a half weeks later, Pete Buttijudge goes at seven in the morning. He still can't handle any press.

He showed up in a costume and he left.

Now he's talking about the president and he's saying, well, if he goes down there, it's going to be a problem, big footprint. Was it a problem when you went to the brush fires in California? Was it a problem when you go to every hurricane one week later, a few days later? The only time it's a problem with presidents if there's a volatile situation, still smoldering fire, still problem with an earthquake, still dangerous, or if the rescue crews are still in the middle of a rescue operation. But for a president not to go to Ohio in a contaminated City, seemingly, that certainly is under stress when it's nothing to do with him.

He did nothing wrong. His administration is not culpable. All they have to do is try to fix it. That's all. And the EPA director, to his credit, has been down there every day, he's sending up a permanent center there to answer people's questions.

And even though he has not had all the answers, even though his tests when it comes to air quality are different than the independent tests. I'm going to hold true to what I was saying. You're a smart person. You want to give back when you're in government. You don't do it to be rich.

You you live for a situation like this where you can do what you can to help. That's what the EPA director is doing. I have not seen it from transportation in any incident. Supply chain, Southwest, all airlines grounded. Uh the problem uh the issues now with this train derailment Balloons?

Believe it or not, that transportation. Hey, coming up before you know it. One Nation Saturday night, 8 o'clock, and repeat at 11 o'clock Eastern Time on Fox News Channel. Great roster of guests are lining up already. Don't miss it.

Keep it here. Brian Kilmead Radio Show. From the Fox News Radio Studios in Midtown Manhattan, it's the fastest growing radio talk show. Brian. In Kill Mead.

Hello, welcome to the latest moments of the Brighton Kill Meat Show.

So glad you're here. We're at 48th and 6 in Midtown Manhattan, heard around the country, around the world, back from Pono Vidra, Florida. Thanks for everyone for coming out. I was able to do the show there with our great affiliate, WOKB. But we're back and ready to go here in the Big Apple.

Bottom of the hour, Senator Tim Scott's going to be with us in a matter of weeks, I believe, until the ranking member of the banking committee, the senator from South Carolina, declares. And standing by, John Castamatides, chairman and CEO of Christides Foods, the Red Apple Media Group, and author of a brand new book, It's Excellent. I'm already halfway through. How far do you want to go? Lessons from a common sense billionaire who's kind enough to carry our show on 77WABC, a radio station he owns, and there'll probably be more.

So let's get to the big three.

Now with the stories you need to know, it's Brian's big three. Number three. Which one can you take seriously long enough to not feel ashamed to vote for them? Does Kamala and her laughing pass your laugh test? Is people to judge anything more than just the younger but no less incompetent version of Joe Biden?

I think when you look at the Democrats, this is how we got Joe Biden. Five GOP presidential polls have Trump on top by 20, with DeSantis in a solid second. As for Joe Biden, sounds much like a candidate, although he has yet to confirm he's coming for another four years. Number two. What I think they argue that is missing.

Is cost to other persons in terms of fairness, for example, people who've paid their loans, and that a half a trillion dollars is being diverted to one group of favored persons over others. That is, of course, Justice Neil Gorsuch looking at the cost of forgiving student loans. We're talking very Billions of dollars, $500 billion. Is this the time to forgive loans? Keep in mind, they have not made one payment since the pandemic began.

We'll discuss what the Supreme Court will decide. Number The FBI has for quite some time now assessed that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan. That is Christopher Ray. Yesterday, Brett Baer. Believe it yet?

The FBI says a lab leak caused COVID-19 to spread around the world and killed millions.

Okay, every damn, please look back at the reality staring you back in the face before you admit you were wrong. Apologize for your words and deeds. That's why the House is taking up the threat, which is China today. And joining us now, John Castamatidis, who wrote his success story, How Far Do You Want to Go? Lessons from a Common Sense Billionaire.

John, congratulations on the book. How hard was it to write your story, or did you enjoy it? I I I enjoyed it. Uh and people asked me, Why did you write the book? I said, Well, I don't have any grandchildren and uh someday I hope to have the grandchildren and I want to know who's pay and and if they want to know who's paying their tuition, they'll find out through the book.

Understood. Tell us your story. I mean, you came over, you grew up anything but in the lap of luxury. What was life like for young John Castamatitis trying to make his way in New York?

Well, we grew up on the poor side of town. I came uh to America when I was six months old, even though my two grandfathers came in nineteen thirteen.

So they came a long time ago and we lived on 135th Street by City College in in in Harlem, uh or uh part of Harlem there uh in that area. And uh uh my father worked as a busboy and and he never made more than a hundred dollars a week and and uh he We ate chicken every day and we uh uh and it was rough. And watching television a and you and you see what the other side lives like, you wanna Move up. And it gives you the incentive to work hard and and uh it can only happen in America, Brian. And that's the that's the reason I wrote the book, The Greatest Country in the World.

People are breaking down barriers to come to the United States of America because there's opportunities. Nobody's breaking down barriers to go to Cuba or Venezuela right now or Russia. They're but they're breaking down barriers to come to America. And people have to know that. And and and and the biggest problem I have right now My my father, my grandfather's, his his uncles.

came to America, they went through Ellis Island. And Ellis Island, you you made sure nobody had any diseases, made sure everybody pledged allegiance to our flag. They were they came here to work hard. And right now, I would say I am pro immigration. But we have to know who's coming and going.

What say you, Brian?

Well, yesterday, John, I was at Punta Vedra. I did one of my, we did one of those diner shoots. I was able to do the radio show, too, from Florida. And as I went to JetBlue, and they told me my light was two hours late, I should have had you as a pilot. I had no idea you had that aviation background.

They turned around and says, Brian, I know who you are. Just turn around. I said, why? See all those people lined up? And there was probably 50.

This happens every day. I go, where are they from? He goes, they would just bust in. They're all getting on free flights to various places in the country to sponsor families. I mean, think about the 4 million people that came here illegally over the last two years.

And nobody has anything against immigrants. We love them. We're the only country growing in population. Japan, China, Russia are wilting. And we're getting them, but this is not the way to do it.

A hundred percent right, Brian. I am pro-immigration. You are pro-immigration. But we have to know who's coming and going. We can't let terrorists in.

We can't let drug dealers in. We can't get people to come in without an examination that they have diseases and have their kids go to our kids' schools that have diseases. I mean, all we want is checks and balances and it's a smart thing to do, Brian. Yeah, so I'm reading your book and I you know, you are uh a self made success story and you just worked and and you just decided you got a job in a supermarket making a dollar a day. A dollar an hour.

Was it a dollar an hour or a dollar a day? No, I was making ninety cents an hour And the cashier was making a dollar an hour and I was very upset about that. But you immediately took to the business. I guess your mom said to your uncle, hire them, and they didn't know what you're gonna do with it. You were doing everything.

And you began to learn the business, correct? You learned the business, and I was going to NYU at the time, and I ended up loving the business. And my my cousin Tony, but he wasn't really my cousin, but I go I I'm an only child, so I made him my cousin. Uh sold me one of his other stores he was partners with an uncle in. For ten thousand dollars.

Because he was arguing with his uncle every day. Every day he would argue with his uncle. He didn't want to do it anymore. I never had an argument with his uncle. We did well in the store, and uh but I was eight credit short or six credit shorts at NYU, so I never never graduated uh you know, college.

And my mother, uh she said she says, uh my mother cried, my my father yelled and he says, We sent you to the university. To to become a Hamali. You know what a Hamali was? It was a Greek Turkish word. that's met the guy that carries crates on his back.

And uh but I I learned because Brooklyn Tech, a good great high school in in New York, gave me a good education, gave me a good uh leadership roles, And guess what? We had one store, then we had two stores. By the age of. Four years by nineteen you know, yeah, twenty-three, twenty-four. I had ten stores.

making a million dollars a year, and a million dollars a year was a lot of money. in those days.

So as smart as you are, what I think I get from this is that you just outwork people, you like people, you made the supermarket instead of a cold, drafty place, a place where you got to know everybody's name. You had a cat that would walk around the place they would know. When you weren't there, they'd say, where's John? And then you'd show the people they cared. And the neighborhood supermarket became a place to go.

Yeah, there wasn't. That's where the cat was. But whoever goes to a supermarket today and thinks to themselves, I feel at home. And you created that. And the reason why you explained your uncle's argued is because you weren't making money yet.

And when you walked in there, you didn't have the money, but you said, pay it off out of the business. And you started making money. And then the arguing never took place because you were making money and having success. That wipes away a lot of the sniping. But then instead of saying, oh, my goodness, I came from poverty.

I'm going to hold on to this. Can't wait to, you know, I'm going to hoard it, put in a savings account. You said, no, I'm going to grow it. Where did the audacity to grow rather than hoard? come from.

I don't know. I think my mother or my father wanted to sell memories, you know. And we kept reinvesting the money, reinvesting the money. I had 10 stores by the age of 23, 24. Then I started buying real estate.

In 1977, the world was coming to an end in New York City. The real estate market was diving crazy. You could buy it for nothing.

So I took the excess cash flow from the supermarket business. bought real estate a couple million dollars, three million, four or five million dollars. And guess what? When I woke up one day When the market recovered, that was how I made my first hundred million. Right, everyone remembers their first $100 million.

But you made an investment, it was bold. And so, John, the thing is, I'm just saying I think the average instinct for someone who grew up with little would be, I can't believe how much I have. I'm a millionaire. Let me hold it and do something conservative. But you had where that confidence comes to say, I'm going to take a risk.

Who was behind you saying take that risk? Or is that just guts? Or is that just an instinct?

Well, it certainly wasn't my mother. It certainly wasn't my father. I mean, uh they they weren't made like that. And uh uh I don't know. I think I just did it.

I mean, uh it was uh Uh I I didn't I didn't have much expenses. I never spent a lot of money on my own for my own self. You know, I went out to dinner, I had a car, I had an apartment. But other than that, I didn't go out and to to do uh dumb things and buy, you know, forty million dollar yachts or forty million dollar planes or anything like that. I just worked hard.

I wanted to grow the business. And then We went into the uh corporate jet companies. And we bought my I bought my first uh jet from Roy Disney. Um, my my pilot at the time, Jim Jacobs, We grew that company up to forty eight airplanes and that ended up becoming Netrex. Really?

And you did note that how expensive it was to travel. And that was kind of bothering you a little bit, right? Man, between fuel and repairs and fees. And that's why we set up Atlantic City was opening up at that time. We went down to Atlantic City, me and Jim Jacobs, and we said to them, you need you're bringing in the customers within ninety mile radius or one hundred mile radius for to lose money in your casinos.

How about we give you an airplane where you can bring them in from a five hundred mile radius? And that's how we grew it from one airplane to forty eight airplanes because of Atlantic City, all our customers, all the casinos, they wanted to bring in more customers into Atlantic City and they would bring them in for dinner. Fascinating. John Casamati is our guest. How far do you want to go?

Lessons from a common sense billionaire.

So, John, one thing that happens is as an only child, your parents would do everything. You point out that you had trouble in school. You drive your car back. It'd take you forever to find a spot. You found out your mom would stop, went out, and got herselves a job, and the exact money that she made would go to you getting into a parking garage.

When you found that out, you said, Enough of this, I'll park on the street. How gratifying was it to you remember to have the ability to pay your mom's and your dad's rent on their place? Brian, I had tears in my eyes. You know, a mother loves a child so much. She she wanted to to pay for my garage spot.

On 135th Street. It was $48 a month rent. But she had to work two weeks. two weeks to earn forty eight dollars. I wouldn't allow that.

I wouldn't allow that. I made her quit after I saw her first paycheck because, you know, it's got to be love of your parents. And that's what every family and I think we're missing that right now. Kids have to love their parents more. Parents love their children.

And you know the one thing I did uh Uh Brian, I never sent my kids away for college. I don't want to send them to Tim Buck too. When they went to when they went to school, they went to to NYU, uh, Stern School in New York City and they'd love to c come home and I would love to give my kids a hug every day instead of sending them to Timbuktu. And lastly, when you said when you got into West Point and you got into the Air Force Academy, your parents said, no, you're not going to do that. And they really convinced you not to do it.

You end up ROTC for a while and you realize the military thing wasn't for you. Vietnam was raging. The last thing is, parents listening right now, you had very little, never felt like you wanted, but in very little, be had a hunger. Do you worry your kids won't have that same hunger because you have earned so much? That's one of my sad points that you try to give your kids in in this generation, I think we try to give our kids Yeah.

and they don't have the hunger uh to to go out and make it themselves. And uh uh that's the big biggest teaching uh thing that we have to do to these kids. And uh uh my son works seven days a week and he's a workaholic. He's a workaholic, but uh uh that's what America uh has to teach our kids. And the latest statistics, uh, Brian, is that only twenty percent or twenty three percent or twenty five percent of the American homes right now is tr traditional America home.

Mother and father. And and mother and father and and remember when we were growing up we watched Leave It the Beaver. Or, you know, and we're we're losing that. And We got to make sure America stays the way we grew up And just love our kids and make sure our kids and grandkids have the future the way we had a future when we were growing up.

Well, I know for a fact you've created that family attitude with your family. Even though you've earned so much, they still have that hunger. John Casamatiz, congratulations on your book. There's so much to learn in it. How far do you want to go?

Lessons from a common sense billionaire.

Let me remind anybody, you can buy the book, and you can buy the book any place on Amazon or Barnes and Nobles. And a friend of mine said to me, he says to me, will I make a billion dollars if I read the book? I said, I certify you're going to make a billion dollars when you read the book. And you know what he said to me? If I buy two books, would I buy make $2 billion?

And that's a good answer. The answer is yes. John, thanks so much. Appreciate it. Thank you.

You got it. Back in a moment with your calls. Brian Kilmey Show, Bottom of the Hour Center. Tim Scott, big hour.

So glad you're here. A talk show that's real. This is the Brian Kill Me Show.

The last people I would trust with my health. is big Pharma and big government, because neither one of those strike me as caring entities. And both sides have seen the profit they've made. There was only one thing that could work, and that's the vaccine, right? And so ultimately, because of that, billions of dollars was made.

Woody Harrelson speaking his mind about the vaccine, the mandates, kind of flying against the liberal school of thought. Take it no matter what. Which I always said, even though the Trump administration, through Operation Warp Speed, which is a huge success story. If Trump won reelection and said, you know, guys, here's a vaccine. If there were any problems with the vaccine, they would say Trump is killing people.

He rushed it. It was way too fast. He didn't go through the process. He didn't do the checks and balances. He's paid off to Big Farm.

He sold his soul. All that stuff would happen. And every actor, liberal thought leader, Al Frankadon down, would have been, I'm not taking that vaccine. Remember. Kamala Harris said that.

Would you take the vaccine?

Well, I'd have to have it checked out. My doctor, and Governor Cuomo at the time, now disgraced. I have to check it out. I wouldn't trust it coming from Trump.

Well, it actually came from Trump, and President Biden mandated it, shoved it down everyone's throat, and fully divided the country. Wow. Giving the teachers' unions the right to shut everybody out in the two weeks, the 15 days to slow the spread ended up being two and a half years. Not going to forget it. A radio show like no other.

It's Brian Killmeade. I said, okay, no, I kind of. Everybody who says we're not going to cut Medicare or Social Security When I asked them to join us and reject the cuts and Medicare, wasn't it something? They all stood up. Y'all stood up.

And they're all on camera. Got all their pictures. Like I said, I believe in conversion. Maybe they found, as my grandfather said, maybe they found religion. I'm Social Security and Medicare.

So that was President Biden in Virginia Beach, Virginia, sounding a lot like a guy ready for his reelection campaign. But again, going back on the State of the Union, saying that he converted Republicans to keep their hands off Medicare and Social Security. To me, that seems totally inaccurate. But many people think Republicans were wrong to actually sound off live in that room. I don't, because anyone watching the 33 million that watched know for a fact when President Biden comes out and says Republicans want to cut your Social Security and Medicare, they remember back to the the State of the Union address, there was actually an uproar about it.

Senator Tim Scott was there, joins us now, ranking member of the Banking Committee, member of the Foreign Relations and Small Business Committee. Senator, I just want to get your reaction to the President's takeaway from his State of the Union.

Well Ryan. He said too little and too much time, number one. Number two, certainly Republicans have no desire to negatively impact Social Security. He continues to create a mythology out of whole cloth. And he does that for one purpose.

It's for his reelection aims. His goal of being reelected means he will distort the truth, fabricate facts in order to help him look good in front of the public.

So, your takeaway, are you looking to cut Medicare and Social Security, knowing that Medicare, I think Social Security goes bankrupt in 2030? Absolutely not, Brian. The one thing that we as a party we're we're c Absolutely committed to doing is making sure that Social Security is there for the ages. We have to make sure that we secure Social Security. Right now we're spending over a trillion dollars for Social Security.

We're spending around $850 billion on Medicare plus, and it's going up every year.

So we have to make sure that we keep those two organizations.

solve it without any question.

So I know you're in a listening tour phase. Where have you been over the last week or so? And what have you been hearing when as you consider not only being an impactful senator, hoping to get back to majority in two years, but maybe running for President?

Well, one of the things I've heard on the Faith in America tour is that people have an appetite, and frankly, they're starving for hope, that there is. Clear indications that people want an optimistic purpose-driven, yet rooted in conservatism, message that will resonates with them. I've heard that from Texans to South Carolinians and certainly in Iowa as well.

So, in other words, do you find that people are receptive to the idea of you running? Brian, it's been exciting, to be honest with you. People certainly are receptive to the message. And to me, the mission is far more important than the position. The more I focus on the American story that we all have a shared investment in, the better off we are.

The truth has been for me, I love having the chance to travel across this country and see how committed people are to who we are as Americans. The radical left literally want to change the very DNA of what it means to be an American. We are that firewall. We are the defenders of faith. We are the thing that stands in the way of socialism in America.

A united Republican Party. closes the path to socialism.

So as you know, the President, everybody knows we're Republicans, as tradition would have it, Iowa caucus first, then New Hampshire second. For Democrats, they're picking South Carolina first. How do you feel about that? That's your state. Do you think it should be first?

Well, I'm glad that we are the first in the South because I believe that Iowa has the type of diversity of thought that informs the entire nation. There is something very important about the tradition of Iowa going first. It's one of the reasons why we as South Carolinians have embraced that. Here's what we're seeing from the radical left, though. They want to make everything about race and identity politics.

Moving South Carolina up is to the advantage of Joe Biden because of the high level of black voter participation in South Carolina. That is another reinforcement that identity politics is the way of the future for the radical left. In America, the rest of our country, we believe that we're going to judge people by the content of their character, not the color of their skin. And so we can have confidence that our friends in Iowa will do their jobs and give us strong indications on who the nominee should be. Unlike the left, the radical left, we believe that all of America matters.

I have to tell you, the polls are out, and I know that's part of your evaluation. Can I win? You know, you don't need fame. You don't need recognition. You don't need respect.

You have all of it. Anyone who spends any time, especially in your home state or the capital, knows that. Very few people are respected on both sides of the aisle like you are, in my humble opinion. But there are four new polls that show that former President Trump receiving a huge boost of Republican support. He hit over 50% in one of these polls.

Yahoo, youGov poll, he's got an eight-point lead over DeSantis, who's solidly second in just about all of them. Emerson Poll, the former president's got a 30-point lead. He's somebody that you work well with. What's Tim Scott's reaction to that as he thinks about whether he runs or not?

Well Brian, listen, I I think we can all Thank the good Lord that from 2017 through 2020, we had majorities in the House, the Senate, and President Trump and the White House. We literally saw the greatest economy when we were all working together. We saw the lowest unemployment rates for African Americans, Hispanics, for Asians. The lowest since World War II for women, and the general population, 3.5% unemployment, a 50-year low. One of the things that we produce when we are in leadership are strong, powerful results.

So I am never going to bemoan our former president being a part of the process because he's earned the right to be so. And listen, you're not going to get me to say anything negative about any of our candidates. any single Republican who decides to run for president Based on the ones that I know today, it will be better than every single Democrat who decides to run for president. But you know how it goes. There's not been one primary season where Republicans don't look at each other and Democrats don't look at each other and find fault.

So when you go up there, how would a Tim Scott presidency be different from a Donald Trump presidency?

Well, I think I think the the better question is What do the American people need for us to see the next American sunrise? For us to see the next American sunrise, we should start talking about the journey that we've had as a nation, how far we've gone in so little time. And then we should ask ourselves the question: how do we restore hope and faith and confidence in the future? One of the ways that we do that from a policy standpoint is to extend and make permanent the personal side of the tax code. Because of a small Concept called reconciliation.

We were not able to make the permanent side of the tax code permanent, the personal side of the tax code permanent. We have to do that so that we make sure that people don't have an increase in their taxes when the tax cuts expire in just about two years. Another thing that we have to do is make sure that we are the party of parents. And in the first days of any new administration, I would hope that the Republican Party, the GOP, the Great Opportunity Party, would take the time to have a conversation about giving parents choice.

So, their kids have a better chance. We cannot allow for the continued indoctrination as opposed to the education. Of our future leaders. Yeah, what's unbelievable is charter schools having the ability to go to private schools, Catholic schools. If you give them the money, it helps minority groups traditionally more than anybody else.

But yet it is the inner cities that get pushed back because they don't, because the teachers' unions side with Democrats and they do not want to see kids have a choice, families have a choice. Senator Ivan, which is crazy, right? I mean, it's just insane. Why would you get into politics and hurt kids? Exactly.

And one of the things that we're seeing today is that we're seeing public education too often side with adults over kids. We're seeing big labor bosses dictate whether kids are trapped in failing schools or trapped out of schools during the COVID. We have to make sure that we spend more time focusing on the future of our children. than the resources Of the big labor union. Senator Tim Scott, our guest.

So, Senator, one of your passions, too, is stopping fentanyl from flooding through the border, and it is. It's gotten so much worse, and there's no real plan on this administration to attack it. The Attorney General Garland right now is on Capitol Hill, and Senator Graham, your fellow senator in South Carolina, asked him this. How would you describe the fentanyl problem in America? It's a horrible epidemic, but it's an epidemic that's been unleashed on purpose by the Sinaloa and the new generation of Jalisco cartels.

Let's just stop and absorb that for a moment. It's a horrible epidemic. It kills more people than car wrecks and gun violence combined. And the question is, what are we going to do about it? I think we have more than enough ability now to attack this problem.

Well, would you agree with me? Whatever we have is not working. I agree with that because of the number of deaths that you pointed out. Just keep an open mind that what we got on the books is not working. I mean, what's he saying?

We have enough tools? And then he admits we're not doing enough. Here's what we know. this administration has not taken seriously securing the southern border. If you do not take seriously securing the southern border, you're not taking the fentanyl crisis seriously enough.

You have a problem created in Chinese labs, Then Using Mexican cartels to bring it to our southern border to lead to thousands upon thousands of American lives lost. we need to shut it down in the Chinese labs. stop the Mexican cartels and save American lives. Unless he has a strategy to do both in China and in Mexico, we are not serious about this problem. The best way to do that is to do what we can do as a nation.

Close. our southern border. Just three weeks ago, Brian, three weeks ago. My good friend Alan Schow. who used to be the business dean at College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina.

lost his twenty seven year old son. to fit and all. First time he was passed away. We have a responsibility to the more than 100,000 American families. Who have seen their loved ones lost to the crisis of overdoses, over 70,000 specifically linked.

to fentanyl. We have a responsibility to close our southern border. Last thing, I just want to get Senator Tim Scott to comment on Ukraine. There's so many Republicans who say, I want, let's just get out of there. It's not our problem.

I don't like this government. I don't feel that way. Either does former President Trump. Listen. I think the United States should negotiate peace between these two countries, and I don't think they should be sending very much.

They should be negotiating peace. And the other thing is uh Europe has to do much more because Europe is Doing probably just a small fraction of what we're doing. Not probably, they're doing a very small fraction of what we're doing. We're going to be in there, I believe, for $107 billion, and Europe is in there for a tiny fraction of that amount. And obviously, It's bad for everybody, but it affects Europe more than it affects our country.

Do you think it's a time for peace, Senator Scott? Listen, I certainly know that it is not time for China to broker a peace deal between the Russians and the Ukrainians. You cannot have any confidence in China's ability to do so. Number one, number two, I certainly would love to see an end to the Ukrainian invasion. by uh a homicidal leader Putin.

But here's what we know. Yeah.

We have to understand America's national vital interest. Before we enter, And how we get out of any conflict anywhere on earth. That is one of the failures of this. leadership from President Biden. His dereliction and duty is that he followed the Germans, he followed the Europeans into this conflict without establishing first clear objectives.

We should be leading the world, not following others. And once we understand our national vital interests, which would include degrading the Russian military.

so as to reduce the threat to our NATO allies because all for one and one for all. If we understand that, I think the American people would appreciate clarity and consistency From the President of the United States. What's your objective? Before you went in, what would you say if it was a year ago? Yeah, if it was a year ago and I was in a position to have that conversation, I would say degrading the Russian military is a primary objective.

So as to reduce the threat on our NATO partners in Europe, because hitting any soil. of our NATO partners. requires a response from us. Therefore, degrading their military, as we have seen happen, is a very good thing for the homeland As well as for our NATO partners. You would consider Ukraine an ally that could be supplied?

I'm sorry? You don't think Ukraine's an ally that should be uh that should be supported?

Well, I certainly think that they are an ally that should be supported. The question we should always start with, however, is what are our national vital interests? And our national vital interest does include our alliances and our allies around the world. The question we should ask ourselves is how do we engage in conflict in the most effective way possible and not see a single American soldier put in harm's way The current trajectory of providing the resources necessary that does not include manpower and degrading the Russian military is a very strong position for us to be in. The question is: do we do that with an open checkbook?

I think the answer is no. But if we don't understand our interest in the region, then we don't understand when the end comes is here. We are not there yet from my perspective, but we do need to make sure that we are having a full engagement from our NATO partners that they are putting as much skin in the game as we are. Absolutely. You have to have public pressure.

Senator Tim Scott, thanks so much. Best of luck with your decision and your tour. Ranking Member of the Bank Committee, he very well might be a presidential candidate shortly. Senator, thank you. Appreciate it.

God bless. Have a good day. Back in a moment. Both sides, all opinions, it's Brian Killmead. The more you listen, the more you'll know.

It's Brian Kilmead. Oh yeah, I was telling you about that script.

So the movie goes like this. The biggest drug cartels in the world get together and buy up all the media and all the politicians and force all the people in the world to stay locked in their homes and people can only come out if they take the cartel's drugs and keep taking them over and over. I threw the script away. I mean, who was gonna believe that crazy idea? Being forced to do drugs?

Wow. So I heard about that monologue, and it's the belief, I guess, Shawmain, the God, I guess, was on talking about this on another show. They think he had lived the whole thing. They don't think they probably ever would have greenlighted it. But he's 100% right.

That just shows you he, like Bill Maher, thought the COVID restrictions, I think. were totally ridiculous. What are you talking about, making me take something? That is not okay with me. Fundamentally, that, along with the revelations that we now know, the FBI feels the same way as the Department of Energy.

It came from a lab, knowing that everyone told us that it was It was folly.

Now we find out studies show masks didn't work and natural immunity better than any vaccine. They told us all that was untrue. And they never admitted when they're wrong. And when you have actors and liberal activists and talk show hosts saying that. We're getting closer to closer to demanding.

Honesty and integrity. There's nothing wrong with being wrong. But admit you don't know absolutes. And then, if I do something wrong, I will tell you. Andy Baccy is still saying he was right, still to this day.

Brian kill me, Joe BrianKillme.com, order any of my books. I can sign them, endorse them, and get them out to you for all these holidays you have coming out. From high atop Fox News headquarters in New York City, always seeking solutions, never sowing division. It's Brian Kelmead. Right, I do have a positive outlook.

Well, outlook can always have it from 48th and 6th in Midtown, Manhattan, heard around the country, around the world, standing by, discussing one of the hottest issues in America that means the most to the most, and that is education. As the former Secretary of Education and author of Hostages No More: The Fight for Education, Freedom, and the Future of the American Child, Betsy DeVos will be joining us. And then we'll be able to take a lot of your calls this hour. And I'm going to be going on an outnumber next hour.

So you'll get to see me on television, see if I look as good then as I did on Fox and Friends.

So let's get to the big three.

Now, with the stories you need to know, it's Brian's big three, sponsored by Crunch Fitness. Interested in owning your own business in a growing $30 billion industry? Check out CrunchFitness at Crunch.com. Number three. Which one can you take seriously long enough to not feel ashamed to vote for them?

Does Kamala and her laughing pass your laugh test? Is people to judge anything more than just the younger but no less incompetent version of Joe Biden? I think when you look at the Democrats, that's how we got Joe Biden. And Kelly and Conway weigh in. Five GOP polls have Trump up significantly.

DeSantis's solid second. What does it mean for the overall primary process? We'll talk about that. Number two. What I think they argue that is missing.

Is cost to other persons in terms of fairness, for example, people who've paid their loans, and that a half a trillion dollars is being diverted to one group of favored persons over others. Right, this is what we're going to be talking to the Secretary of Education about the folly of massive student loan forgiveness and the massive debt piled on those without their input seems to be hitting a brick wall at the Supreme Court as the left melts down and Randy Weingarten loses her mind. Number one. The FBI has for quite some time now assessed. that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan.

Really? Christopher Wray, now you tell us, believe it or not, the FBI says a lab leak caused COVID-19.

Okay, every Dem, please look at the reality, staring you in the face when you look in the mirror. Before you admit you were wrong, you have to also guarantee that you'll apologize for your words and deeds. Why the House is taking up the threat, which is China. And most people agree on that. And then, guess who you have the pandemic, China?

Joining us now is Betsy DeVos. Madam Secretary, welcome back. Thanks, Brian. Great to be with you.

Well, first off, on the revelation with COVID, the lockdowns that took place, do you seethe when you think about what they were told what we were told and what actually happened and what happened to people that wanted to speak up? Yeah, absolutely. And the ones that bore the most brunt of it, frankly, are the kids who were locked out of school for months on end and who have lost months, if not years, of learning. And now we hear Randy Weingarten and all of her cronies coming back around and saying it was It was a you know, they wanted kids back in school. It was everybody else's fault.

What's the truth? The truth is they kept locking kids out. They kept playing for political payoffs. They kept playing for Congress to feed them one hundred ninety billion dollars plus in additional funding through the COVID relief packages. And the kids are the ones that bear the brunt of it.

So we have a situation where if we forgive all students' loans, it's going to be $500 billion on the economy. Already, for two and a half years, three years, no one's made a single payment. And when it goes up to the Supreme Court, judging by some of the arguments, I don't think that this is going to be deemed constitutional. What do you think should happen? What do you think will happen?

Absolutely. I think President Biden's executive order is clearly illegal. We heard many questions that surrounded all of that. But the underlying line of question that wasn't really addressed in an overt way, but was there subliminally the entire time is Congress this is Congress's role. Congress has the power of the purse.

And we have right now a President who thinks he can just wave a wand and blow away billions and billions of dollars, hundreds of billions of dollars in student loan debt just because he knows it was a policy that was going to have political payoff for him. I want you to hear what Randy Weingarten said. She was just out of control yesterday, embarrassing. Cut 18. I see it as a moral issue.

I mean, the Republicans are making it, these states are making it a political issue. Like, when all of a sudden did college not become something we wanted kids to do? But it's been a huge spark. It's been a huge escalation of costs for college. College costs a lot more today, Andrea, than when you went or when I went.

Absolutely. And so consequently, what this relief is, it's not cancellation totally. It's relief as we go into the lifting of the student debt moratorium.

So they say $20,000 maximum for people to get Pell Grants, which means you're economically disadvantaged for the most part.

So $20,000 worth of relief. But as Gorsuch brings up and others have brought up, well, if you're an 18 years old, you might choose to go to college.

Okay, there's your loan. And if you're 18 years old, you might want to start a landscaping company. Do you have to go take out a loan? Why does the student get his money or her money back? And why does the landscaper CEO not get his money back?

There's an inequity there. Yes, absolutely. And like I said, this was politics wrapped in policy. And I believe the court is ultimately going to decide that this is patently illegal. This is not an executive branch role.

The four living former Republican secretaries of education and myself all looked carefully at the laws they have referenced, the HEROES Act and the CARES Act, and we all agree and we all had different roles in the implementation of those acts. There is no authority for the Secretary of Education, the executive branch, the president to cancel student loans and masks. Have you, we're talking with Secretary of Education, former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. Have you looked at the cost of colleges? Have you ever had these conversations with these universities' presidents and how the cost is now $70,000 to $80,000 in private universities?

How that happened? Yeah, I know. It is overwhelming. And everybody can agree that the cost of education is a real issue. And the whole nationalization of student loans is an issue.

These are issues we were drawing attention to during the Trump administration, and we had actual solutions for, but there was no appetite in Congress to actually address them meaningfully. I believe now, with this whole attempt to wipe out billions of dollars of student loans, this is going to become a really top-level, important issue to address. Look, colleges have no incentive to keep their costs in line because they're continuing to get the flow of money out of you know from the U.S. Treasury for on behalf of individual students. But there is no cap, there's no governor on what they can charge.

And if you look at what they've been doing in terms of increasing cost overall cost to students, it's adding all kinds of administrative personnel. For example, at the University of Michigan, there are more DEI employees than there are history professors. And you look at how the costs of administration and all of these individuals who have nothing to do with direct instruction and all of the amenities, whether it's the lazy rivers or the climbing walls, the costs just continue to escalate, and there is no incentive. There's no governor on colleges and universities to keep their costs in line. And we also are seeing this.

We're seeing the disappearance of standardized tests kind of got ushered through during the pandemic. People, they say the major colleges are looking to diversify their student body, which means I'm not going to give it to the person with the highest scores. I'm going to get rid of those tests entirely and kind of make the choice. I'm out of Asians. I'm out of whites.

I need more women. I need more gay women. I need more heterosexual men. That's how they're going to start grading admissions.

Well, and yes, the notion of merit going by the wayside is spells big trouble for our country long term. There is every reason to take merit into consideration and to ensure that individuals who have the talents and the capabilities have the opportunity to learn and do great things. It will help everyone, and the focus should be on ensuring that we are aspiring to the best, not numbing and dumbing down to the least. That would be something to look at. When you seek CRT, when did you first come across it?

What grades do you think it comes in? How effective do you think is Governor DeSantis in taking this on? I think it's coming in in the earliest of grades, and it is not just in major urban areas, it is in small towns across the country. And that, in addition to the hypersexualization with young children, And so that's why we see parents paying attention in a way and raising their voices in a way they haven't before, because all of this was exposed in a way that we had not anticipated because of the pandemic. If there was a silver lining to the pandemic, it is that parents had the front row seat to see what was actually happening in their children's classrooms and in their schools, and they aren't going to take it anymore.

I know you know President Trump very well, and I know at the end after january sixth, you said, I'm done. Knowing that he's winning in the polls right now as he tries to get the nomination and get the Presidency back, where do you stand in terms of your support?

Well, I know that Republicans have to win in 2024 because the future prognosis for our country is really bleak if we don't. And we're going to continue to support great conservative candidates that will stand for the values and the principles our nation was founded on. And I'm looking forward to continuing to do that as well. All right. Secretary Betsy DeVos, thanks so much.

Thanks so much, Brian. Okay, listen, when we come back, I'll take your calls: 1-866-408-7669. You also write me. Go to BrianKilmey.com, click on comments, and I'll be able to get to it then. You listen to Brian Kilmey Show.

Don't move. Expanding your knowledge base, it's the Brian Kill Me Show. Radio that makes you think. This is the Brian Kill Me Show.

There's a Taiwanese election in 2024. It's not going to be good, I think, from the view of Xi Jinping. And then our own election, which we tend to be sometimes fractious during an election, I think he may perceive weakness. If we think of deterrence as capability times will. Our capabilities are not where they should be and capacity.

And their perception, which I don't think is right, but the party's perception of our will, I think, makes it a dangerous period.

So that is H.R. McMaster brought in for the Select Committee on China, bipartisan, primetime address. I love that they did it. I think we can get on the same page of it. It's got to be comprehensive decoupling from not allowing them to buy land to getting rid of TikTok, period.

I mean, 383,000 acres of land, a lot of farmland, land around our military bases. getting them out of our boarding schools and charter schools. We're really allowing that and no longer allowing donations from or minimal donations of like one thousand dollars tops from other nations and so at our colleges.

So, we don't have to circumvent our integrity in order to get hundreds of millions of dollars like you at the University of Pennsylvania. Richard lives in Nashville, Tennessee. Hey, Richard. Hey, how are you? Good, what's on your mind?

I want to talk about the student loan thing. It's really got me annoyed because I have two kids. I'm a blue collar worker. I work fifty five, sixty hours a week. And this inflation and the rent prices and everything that's going on right now has hit me so hard that I can hardly make my bills.

And instead of turning around and sending an olive branch out to people like me, that's busting my butt. the government's going to turn around and say, well, we're just going to pay off people's student loans. I know.

So in other words, if you don't have a college diploma, we're not helping you. Nope, you're paying it. That is that's ridiculous. I just don't understand. This is a big slap in the face.

And I don't know. I don't know what you're doing.

Well, I mean, listen, you've signed a student loan. You want to get you get the best education possible, parent, and you have parent loans, and you have student loans, and it's a lot of money. And one of the things you do is cut the interest rate. Instead of saying, here, I'll eat $20,000. everybody, and after the cost of $500 billion, what you do is you go up to these banks and say, listen, why are you giving an 18-year-old kid a 7% loan for $200,000 when the prime rate was like two at the time?

So, you go ahead and cut some interest out of it if you have to, but don't diminish the principal because then we all owe it. Plus, on top of that, it's not going to make you feel better. But Richard, they haven't paid a dime for two years. It's all been on hold.

So if people are saying, what about students like Randy Weingart, who's screaming about it?

Well, what about the fact that for two years you haven't paid anything? That's that to me is a big break. By the way, it also costs money. Al listening online in Clearwater. Hey, Al.

Hi, how you doing, Brian? Good. What are you doing, Brian? Listen, I listen to you guys when I'm in my office all the time and others, and it's just hard to keep up with the topics. But I was touching on what the previous caller was on.

I was listening to you speak with Betsy. Um I think it's like everybody seems to be exploiting everybody, taking advantage of everybody, raising their rates, their fees, their services, whatever. But the colleges and universities, and I'm sure not all, but many, seem to be run like our government with like-minded people. that they go in and they expand, they increase salaries, and I think they maybe possibly exploit the loan environment, knowing that these people are some want to get a good education, will go through the loan process, pay the rates and fees, which I think they should, they obligate themselves like we all do in our lives to various financial situations, and we repay it. And I think you're obligated to do that.

But, like you've been saying, I've listened to you say that for quite some time now. lower the rates, make things more affordable, reasonable. I think our government should have more not necessarily pass through expenses. I mean, there's administration and operational costs involved in anything. but they need to grab something for that.

But it's just going back to another topic too of loan environment. I think our government's learned how to capitalize on us as the citizens again in another way. like the idol loans. of the pandemic era. People had grabbed onto those things to try and sustain their work, their business, whatever.

And everybody thinks, oh, it's cheap, it's three and three-quarter percent. Yeah, financed like a mortgage over thirty years. Right. Look at the interest you pay on that. Everyone who owns a home, most people don't even recognize it.

All you gotta do is simple math. Take the total of payments and subtract your principal borrowed. That's how much they're gonna make on you. And if that doesn't put people in shock, back when I mortgage brokered years ago, rates were coming down into the 14, 12 percent range. And people thought it was wonderful and I'm like I'm not the best math student in the world, but I was a good, strong one and I thought it's simple.

It's ridiculous. But I think the government says sometimes it's default to that too, taking advantage of us and our needs, you know, and our desires. Absolutely. And plus, you want to do anything for your kids. If they get into a great school that's going to change the trajectory of their life and you can't afford it, and they say, What, I can give you a loan, you'll do it.

And then it'll turn around and go, What? I have to pay that much every single month? And then you have the pandemic on top of that that destroyed so many lives and put on hold so many careers. I got this email from Joseph. Joseph says, What about those colleges that have very large endowments?

Why don't they use some of that to pay off the loans of their students? What happens to the money that stays in the endowment fund? Who is being paid out on those funds? Views might like to we might like to know. Absolutely.

You know, there's very few of the Ivy League education with the endowments that big. Dennis, TRC, in Indiana. Hey, Dennis. Hey, Brian Killmead, the man, the myth, and the legend. How are you today, sir?

Good. What's on your mind? I'm trying to complain against you, brother.

Okay. You want to raise up this retirement age? I do. I think you need to. I mean, it's a good sounding thing to start out with, but one is to kill the Republicans.

But the other is, maybe we ought to look at a tier system. If you have a very physical job your whole life, your body can't go much longer than a certain point in life, Brian. I mean, if you're in an office or something like that, I mean, that's different. What do you think? That's a good point.

If there are positions and you can't, I guess, aspire to a position less physical, more mental, more cerebral, I understand that in those rare cases, maybe there should be a category for that, but I know there's 62 or 65 when you can retire. I just know how much longer we're living, Dennis.

So if the average person is, let's say, living to 75, 77, you're paying out for 12 years. When they put together the model for Social Security, we're living a lot, we're dying a lot younger.

So let's put incentive to stay healthy and let's let more people pay into Social Security, let's say. Maybe raise the threshold a little bit. But most of all, you get the money back that you put in, absolutely. But let's get a formula that's going to be sustainable. Breaking news, unique opinions.

Hear it all on the Brian Kill Me Show. Look, I paid all my student debts. I would say to them that the time right now is different, and what we're trying to do is lift everyone.

So, as we're trying to create new pathways to opportunities for a career, look what's happening with the CHIPS bill. We're creating pathways and opportunities for some kids. Here, there's other kids we're creating opportunities for. Let's try to find ways that we lift all boats. That is a little normal, as opposed to how she really acted when she was screaming at the foot, at the steps of the Supreme Court, screaming that everyone gets to bail out except students.

And it's not her matter. That's apples and oranges. And she is totally out of control. She has done, I agree with Mike Pompeov. She's done as much damage to American youth as anybody in this country.

She's also standing in the way of school choice, which is inexcusable, especially if you want to help minority kids. William was on WTRC in South Bend. Hey, William. Hey, Brian. Brian, thanks for taking my call.

First of all, let me, and I've spoken to you several times, and there's no doubt about it. I am a complete conservative without a doubt. But when I look at what my wife and I have done, we've worked all of our sons' lives. One of them is still a senior right now at a local university here, a private university in Indiana. The other one graduated two years ago from a private university in Indiana, both of them being over $65,000 a year.

We worked our tail off. Our sons worked their tail off academically in order to be accepted into these schools. And I'm looking at it, I'm going, okay, everything that I pay for right now, all the taxes that we pay, we don't get any breaks. Because of the fact that we're not We're not black, we're not Hispanic, we're not whatever, and all we do is pay and pay and pay. And now, when they're saying something about giving a break on it, I'm going, you know what.

Maybe it's finally time that we're going to be able to receive something. And I know the fact is that this, it makes it matter. I'm still paying for it in taxes, but the endowments that these schools have are absolutely I mean, it's outrageous. But I do think it's out. This is what I think.

I think we all agree that the interest rates are way too high.

Now, 7% doesn't seem as outrageous as it did a year ago when everything was 2% for what? The last 10 years? You know, 15 years with the the 10 years anyway, the interest rates have been so low.

So they're taking example, which I think are predatory loans going after parents and students who want to get there. But there are places you go, like these small colleges in Pennsylvania, they're great colleges. They don't have big endowments. They've got 2,000 people on campus. Go to the University of Pennsylvania, there's 25,000 students, 50,000.

People that graduate there for the most part earn something like $1.7 million. They will put a lot of money back into their school.

So those kids get into the school, back into school.

So they get back into Princeton. The endowments grow. But there's a lot of schools that just live off their tuition, that do some fundraising, you know, middle-class schools. They don't have the endowment to lean on. And I just think that to go ahead and circumvent the committee process, don't bring it up to the House, don't bring up legislation to the Senate, don't ask people to vote on it, work on it, don't ask people to amend it, but do something you know you can't do that Nancy Pelosi said wasn't possible and just say, by the power vested in my big pen, I'm going to forgive student loans and it's going to cost the American people $500 billion.

And by the way, I'm going to freeze payments for two and a half years. If I open it, let's say I'm 28 years old, I'm tired of being a waiter and a bartender, I'm going to go take out a loan and be an owner for the first time in a restaurant. I get slammed by the pandemic for the last two years. I have no business left. I got loans that I owe.

Why does that person not get their loan forgiven? And why does. The student get their loan forgiven.

So there's a way to do it. And that's really what the Supreme Court justices were saying yesterday. Why'd you throw this at me? Why do I have to make the decision? Why didn't you put it through Congress?

Can you guys agree and work on anything productive and not political? Dean listed on WABC. Hey, Dean. You just stole my thunder. That's exactly what I was going to say.

There's no reason for the president to be even involved in this except for being on his bully puppet telling the Congress that he'd like this to be done. All the decisions should be coming from Congress on spending money. The president has nothing to do with this except to be talking about it. He cannot make that decision on his own. The people should go to Congress, tell them what they want.

It will die in Congress, in the House of Representatives, where it's supposed to die. It's ridiculous what he's trying to do. It's just absurd. Listen, I agree with you. You know it.

You just said it, but I'm going to give you the other side. Listen to an unhinged UFT president, Randy Weingarten, Cut 17. Is what really pisses me off. During the pandemic, we understood that small business. were hurting.

And we help them! And who didn't go to the Supreme Court to challenge it? They We're hurting, and we helped them, and it didn't go to the Supreme Court to challenge it. All of a sudden, what it's about are students They challenge it. corporations challenge it.

loan lenders challenge it. That is not right. That is not fair, and that is what we are fighting as well when we say cancel soda debt. She convince you? No, no.

Uh, money from this PPP thing. I own my own business, I gave it back. I didn't take it, it's disgusting. And we are responsible for this. By we, I mean the people of the United States.

You don't take that stuff. Government handouts are drug dealers, that's what they're doing to us. They want to take control of the small businesses. And when the small businesses are taking control of them, they won because they got everything else. They got the media, they got the Hollywood, they got social media, they got everything.

All the colleges.

Now they want the small businesses. What are they going to do? They're going to give the small businesses money, and us jerks are going to take it. And then what's going to happen? They're going to be dictating to us, which they already do through regulations like crazy.

We are now going to be taking over everything by the government, and then it's over. Then, hello, China, and you better learn how to speak Chinese. I would say this, Dean. Just keep in mind, I think Marco Rubio came up with the PPP thing, and it is yours. And it was not your fault or anybody's fault.

It was 15 days to slow the spread, turned into two years.

So, the people that were to blame is very simple: it is China. Not the people, the government of China. They are the ones to blame for this. They're the ones who should have paid all our PPP loans. But once we shut down for 15 days, the bureaucracy took over and wouldn't let Trump reopen the way he wanted to.

This UFT president was the one who kept schools locked inside it with teachers and did the stupid things six feet apart, which never was based on science. And the people that charted our course that way, who we counted on because they were the smartest kids in the class, they all let us down. and then refused to admit they were wrong. Thank you, Dean. Always great to talk to you.

Ben, listening in Michigan. Hey, Ben. Yeah, hey, Brian, listen. Tell you right now, I'm 71, collect Social Security. And number one, people, it is not an entitlement.

I paid into it for 40-some years, and believe me, I'll never get back all that I put into it. Number two, Brian, probably one of the biggest reasons Social Security is the way it is right now is because of the 40, 50 years when the U.S. government started borrowing from it, promising to pay it back, never did pay it back.

So I say this: let's take stake from some of these failed social programs or some of these wastewater programs that they're putting pouring billions of dollars into. Take that money and throw that back into Social Security and keep the promises that you made years ago saying that we want to pay the money back to Social Security. That's what I say. Let me ask you this: you're 71? Yes.

Could you have do you think 67 is too old? I mean, is that waiting too long? You know what, Brian? I took it early. I took it at 62.

Okay. Yeah, because I said, my wife told me, hey, you know, you better take the money and run. And I said, yeah, I'll do it, baby. And I don't regret that decision. 67, you know what?

It's hard to say. Like I said, I took it at 62. All I'm just saying is this, Brian, is like I said, they borrowed from it years and years and years. They supposedly borrowed. No, they didn't borrow.

They stole from Social Security Fund and just never paid it back. Left IOUs. Yeah, IOUs. And, you know, okay, where are the IOUs? It's time to pay up.

You know, the chickens have come home to roost, U.S. government.

So, like I said, take from these failed programs that they're spending money on and start putting it back into Social Security. That's one way to help solve the problem. I hear you. Thanks so much. Here's a little more from some of the arguments that took place yesterday.

Here's Justice Gorsuch talking about fairness, Cut 21. What I think they argue that is missing. Is cost to other persons in terms of fairness, for example, people who've paid their loans, people who don't have planned their lives around not seeking loans, and people who are not eligible for loans in the first place, and that a half a trillion dollars is being diverted to one group of favored persons over others. I think that's the nature of their argument, in addition to, as you point out, the cost to the FIC. I didn't see anything in the memorandum that dealt with those kinds of questions.

And if there is something, I'd be appreciative if you could point me to it. There you go. Dennis, listen in Salisbury, Vermont. Hey, Dennis. Brian Brian, um, regarding the s student loan forgiveness, How is paying this generation's debt?

fair to future generations of student loan borrowers. Who are not going to be offered this? Or are they going to continually be offered the student loan debt forgiveness? And it kind of ties in with slavery reparations. How is Giving money to this generation of descendants of African American slaves.

going to help future generations of descendants of African American slaves if the money gets squandered.

Well, a couple of things. I don't think reparations for things that happened 200 years ago when you can't even prove bloodlines. What if you're two-thirds black, one-third white? What if you're two-thirds black, white, one-third white? What if half of your family is slave owners, the other one was slaves, and you're going back generations impossible to detect, nor do we have the money to do it, nor does it benefit anyone to be looked at as a victim and be paid off for something we had nothing to do with.

On the student loan situation, what they're trying to say is after the pandemic, people were hopelessly caught in debt. But now, after being suspended all the payments for two years, that is enough. It's not like we didn't address the students. I think you agree with that. Orange Park, Florida, is where we find Tara.

Hey, Tara. Hello. I married a naval aviator. He got out. He went to medical school.

We went to medical school at age 36. Um he's 60 now. I'm 55. We're still paying those student loans. You can defer your student loan until you can Start to pay for it.

We also consolidated our loans down to 2.3. There are plenty of programs for people. I also have a senior program. I was in the military, but I remember I moved out to California and I had to cut my budget down. And I was paying every month.

And I said, listen, I need off. They go, how long? I think I got 12 months.

So by the time I got back, my payments were greater. But I needed that break. And you can go up to a bank and ask. Exactly. And everything's a business.

I also have a senior in college right now, and she had to be tutored because the schools did not help us, and we moved all around with our three children. The oldest is 30, the youngest is 22. I had to have her tutored since kindergarten, and she has struggled her whole, she has been determined her whole life. It makes you stronger when you have to deal with the situations and the obstacles. You scale them and you're stronger for it.

Listen, back with more to know, and then outnumbered at the top of the hour. Brian Kilmicho. If you're interested in it, Brian's talking about it. You're with Brian Kilmead. I'm top of the out.

I'm going to be on Outnumbered, but I first want to share with you some other things that, for example, Uh Many of us, including you and me, need to know more. More To know. All right, this one, just follow me on this. Tom Brady, I'm not sure this is tongue-in-cheek. Is standing uh uh is chasing a stand-up career?

After delaying a year, his sports gig on Fox for $300 million plus dollars, Tom Brady has drawn up a game plan for a new career in stand-up. According to sources, quote, Tom was driven quarterback, but he needs work before tossing his idea. This tossing idea is too late. It's a comic, he's strictly a water boy at a one-insider. The Tampa Bucks Eagle inflated when Jane Fonda, Lily Tom Lenorito Moreno, gushed over him in the recent comedy Flick 80 for Brady.

He does a great impersonation of former teammate Rob Gronkowski, his over-the-top Boston accent, but the overall scattering report is not promising. One of his less than funny fumbles that landed with a thud was when one Hollywood comedy writer wrote for him, What did the linebackers say to the fight attendant? Put me in coach. Other words is he wants a year off to try to get things back together with Giselle. That's the other thing I heard.

He may not have the Peyton Manning. Probably money bone. But yeah, Babe Manning, the things that make it funny, he's not doing stand-ups. No. He's funny in things funny.

He's naturally funny, yes.

Next. Jesus Revolution performs miracles at the box office. The faith-based Lionsgate film was forecasted to earn about $6 to $7 million in ticket sales, but walked away from the weekend box office in third place with $15 million. That's $6,272 per theater. Despite critical reviews, the movie was awarded an A-plus cinema score and a 99% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Pretty cool, right?

Next, Chris Rock is going to get his revenge. He's going to have a chance to talk about the slap from Will Smith. He said he would do it at his time. How about Saturday night at 10 o'clock on Netflix? The name of the special is going to be Selective Outrage.

Rock will reportedly speak out about the Will Smith situation. The committee is waiting to spill his humorous guts on it. Will Smith practices Selective Outrage. Rock told a 2,300-strong crowd on Friday, February 17th in Baltimore: People who are in the know know that blank had nothing to do with me. Rock threw three more stones.

He's significantly bigger than me. We will never see me on camera with my shirt off. Will played Muhammad Ali. I played Pookie in 1991's New Jack City. Look, that's a joke.

According to Deadline Report, Rox previously joked at London's theater, quote, he played Ali. I couldn't even play Foyd Mayweather.

So he's making fun of it and he'll talk about it. But I believe it's Netflix's first live event. Is that correct? Yeah, as far as I know, I can't remember them actually putting on something that's live at the moment. Seinfeld's going to be on it.

Kareem Abdul Jabbar, I know. I had no idea either. He's got a whole big roster of guests. A reason to watch on Saturday. Right after you watch One Nation at 8.

Next. King Charles, get this, is going to evict Harry and Megan from Frogmore Cottage. By the way, he complains about that in his book. He says it's terrible. The author of Spare, he says Harry's book contained a myriad of sensational allegations, including that Prince William violently shoved him to the floor.

Oh, too bad. Brothers fighting. That never happened before. Quote, the eviction surely spells the end of Harry and Megan's time in the UK. They have not been offered an alternative home in the Royals, but they're giving it to Prince Andrew.

This guy, isn't this guy disgraced? Yeah, wasn't he on Epstein's plane? Wasn't that his best friend? Yeah, he's been disgraced, but they also say, too, that it's a massive downgrade for Andrew being moved to this cottage. Wow, it must be, it'd suck living for free on a cottage.

Next, Vanessa Bryant settles with the LA County for $28,850,000 over the misuse of photos from the helicopter crash that killed his daughter, her daughter, and husband Kobe.

So she gets a lot of money. Will not substitute the pain of actually cycling around those pictures. As you know, Gianna and Kobe died right before the pandemic started. You might remember January 26th of 2020 when it crashed in foggy conditions in Los Angeles. They were going to his daughter's basketball game.

Next, Tennessee Titans are dropping off. You see this picture? They drop off recently released players' belongings on his doorstep in garbage bags. How heartless. Shout out to the Titans dropping off my stuff to yesterday, said the player, Taylon Lewin.

After he got cut to great cap space, they even let me keep the shoulder pads. Lewin said the team dropped off the belongings in garbage bags. That is classless. And as I mentioned on television, I will definitely never play for the Titans. I have my, I definitely am taking a moral stand.

I expect, though, if that day comes, I want something a little bit thicker than a garbage or better than a garbage bag. Absolutely. Knapsack. Perfect. Listen, happiest city in America for the third consecutive year.

A place I'll never go. Fremont, California. Number two, San Jose, then Madison, Wisconsin, then Overlook Park, Kansas. Then San Francisco rounds out the top five. What about Massapequa and Long Island?

I mean, why wasn't that in there? It's outrageous. I'm happy. Starting February 27th, Fox News Podcasts presents the True Crime Minute, the latest updates on solved and unsolved murders, America's most wanted killers, missing persons, and celebrity crime trials. I'm Laura Engel.

Join me starting February 27th as we keep you updated on the top true crime stories of the day. With new updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, hosted by Fox News correspondent Laura Engel. Subscribe and listen now at FoxNewsPodcasts.com or wherever you get your podcasts. The True Crime Minute every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Get the latest updates on your smart speaker or favorite podcast player.

Listen to the show at free on Fox News Podcast Plus, on Apple Podcast, Amazon Music with your Prime membership, or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Hmm.