The Brian Kilmeade Show

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Brian Kilmeade. All right, from 48th and Sixth in Midtown Manhattan. Heard around the country, around the world, the Brian Kilmeade show. We love our visits with Outkicks own Craig Carden at the bottom of the hour. Jaguars with a big win last night.

Major League Baseball possibly going on strike. He also knows what's going on. The impact also of Tuesday's elections is big. He's got to remind you go to the YouTube channel that we got. Everybody's talking about at YouTube.com/slash/atthebriankilmeade.

Joe make a ton of news on there, and you get highlights from this show.

So before we get to Ben Jealous, former NAACP CEO. Let's get to the big three. Number three. Arm the citizens in Iran. There's thousands of them who, not to stand in front of machine guns with nothing in the hands, but groups that want to take this regime on.

So weaken the regime that they're vulnerable to that. Let's give those people a chance. Iran sends signals; it's ready to talk nukes. But is return to full-scale war the best option? We'll discuss.

Number two, this revolt against data centers are just the initial tremors. We have to crack down on. On these big data center companies that are taking advantage, we're holding the world's largest, most powerful AI companies accountable. Idiots! The market crater is Dems making clear AI will be targeted and data centers will be stopped.

Did they realize their 401ks, pension plans, their storage fees on their phones will crater too? Number one.

So it's going to be a new era if Democrats bring forward anything remotely reasonable, he'll work with them. And if the Democrats just simply want to have a circus, that won't work with President Trump.

Well, the Republicans try to figure out what happened in '26 and what it means for '28 as Dems are poised to take power. And what's going to happen to the lame duck session might be the most interesting. I watched David Axelrod last night. He said after the first midterm elections in Obama's first term, they had. The most productive lame duck session that almost Elvis all is eight years.

Why? Because both sides say no politics. What can we get done? No one's going to pay a political price for this.

So my hope is that they try to do the same thing that Trump tries to do the same thing too. Because both sides agree on a lot, but at the end they wouldn't pass anything. Like for example, cutting the interest rate down on student loans. What could be negative about that? The Democrats wouldn't sign on to it.

They just didn't want anything positive leading into the election. Let's go to Ben Jealous now, a good friend and former NAACP and Double ACP CEO, and joins us now. Hey, Ben. Hey, Brian. Hey, Ben.

So, was everyone still trying to process what happened on Tuesday? From your perspective, what was the biggest surprise? I mean, I think the biggest surprise for a lot of folks is what's been happening down south. I can't say it was that much of a surprise for me. I wrote a report in 2014 called "True South: Unleashing the Vote in the Black Belt" 50 years after Freedom Summer, and it was to remind people that we have been building.

It's getting folks to participate, getting folks to register. And what you saw was people turn out in incredible numbers down south.

So black folks turn out in incredible numbers. You know, Mississippi's always been the blackest state in the country. It's about 36 percent black. But I think we've also gotten to a place, quite frankly, where even like white Mississippians are willing to vote for somebody who's black, if if they're honest, if they're and they're honestly concerned about the same things. And that this election was primarily a vote about the kitchen table.

Everything is too expensive, wages are too low, housing costs too much. You know, and folks want to try something different, and that's reasonable. Do you? Do you? Number one, you're right.

I actually don't think being anybody cares, black or white. For example, Byron Donalds in Florida. I don't think the first thing that comes to mind is you could do it when you talk to him. If I was to sit down and interview with him, maybe you made history. But I think mostly it's what they stand for, don't you think?

At this point, yeah, no, no, no, no, no. And it's you know, it's funny. I used to live in Trump Country in Maryland, and you know, there was a country club, and I never went to. And there was the YMCA that was the country club for the rest of us. And you'd see lots of people in their MAGA movement shirts with black grandkids.

Yeah, right. And it was yeah. You have to understand, my parents' marriage was against the law in Maryland, and my parents had to leave because the sheriff could come into their bedroom, right?

So, and I'm not that old, and so next year will be the 60th anniversary of the case that made that legal.

So it's reasonable for people, you know, to say, "Oh, we're south of the Mason-Dixon, and things are the way that they always have been." No, the South has moved on in a whole lot of ways. You really saw that in this election. But you know, what hasn't changed in this country is, at the end of the day, what's most important. You know, is the cost of food, whether a kid goes to high high school and can support a family by the time that they're twenty five. I mean, we're dealing with really basic issues, really basic issues, and we've got to come together across party lines.

Certainly, cross race lines because we're all worried about the same thing when we get home at night. And here's what I would talk to Harold about, who's your good friend Harold Ford. Harold, I understand if you want to change, but like when Newt Gingrich came into power. I knew exactly what he was going to talk. Contract with America.

I knew exactly who was going to do.

So did you. And then when he got in, they tried to do as much as they could. I I don't know how Democrats going to attack all these issues. The only thing I know is that they want. They're very angry at billionaires, and they want to tax them more.

Medicare for all. We all know the math doesn't work.

So what did you hear when you talk behind closed doors and politics isn't playing? What did you hear? Democrats have in mind to do housing, to do healthcare, to make it affordable, to do things where it makes it easy to buy a house. You know, the frankly, folks are going to have to come together and just decide to do the things that are easy to do first. I mean, you take something like Medicare for all.

You know, a prerequisite to that is. The federal government using its buying power, whether it's states, whether it's the federal government for all of us, with the prescription drug companies, so we get the same price they pay in France, we get the same price they pay in Mexico.

Somehow we invest in all the research and we pay the highest prices. But did you see he attacked that with Trump RX to the point where Mark Cuban said, "This is really good. I think we could do this together." So prices are coming down there. You know the the yes the reality is though we've got to go way further. You know we've got to go just way further.

I mean there was good news about like you know the GLP ones great, but diabetes drugs all that we've just got to go further.

Okay, you know and the reality is you know we have to deal with the ethics. I mean we've got gone into this poly market world. We have Congress people. Playing the stock market, you have Congress people investing from the floor. Nobody thinks that that's fair, right?

I think there's broad agreement amongst the people in this country. Let's just clean it up. Stock, you shouldn't be able to take money from a foreign government while you're working at the White House. Absolutely not. No, I hear you.

So the ethics things, I get it. That'll be a that'll be no not skin, but black and white issue. That's like you know, go ahead, do it. You know, if people are acting unethically, like we saw, you know, if the if the facts are true about Alina Haba getting like fifty million dollars to get help get a pardon, and Trump was even was duped on that. I mean, stuff like that is ridiculous.

But having said that, in the big picture, to bring prices down, my fear is it's going to be spending. And when we go to spend more, we're already Up forty trillion in debt. When I like the private sector being incentivized to build affordable housing, like some of those programs where you know if you go build affordable housing, you know, you there is all types of incentive to do that. And we have too many regulations. It's true, and it makes it too expensive.

That's absolutely true. And we've got to really look at you know, frankly, the regulations that keep people's jobs from being portable across state lines. Like you can be a barber in Maryland, but then you You know, you move to Pennsylvania because maybe the price of housing is better, and now you got to start all over again. You know, so so we've got to just deal with those very basic issues. We've got to put first things first.

It's you know, on the issue, you know, of just costs. We've got to deal with these tariffs. I mean, it's just there. They put a tax on the on the American people. That's just too much.

And we've got to, to frankly, the Democratic Party has to decide that it's working for the American people, you know, not for the extreme left and not for a Goldman Sachs. Here's an example of something like the tariffs.

Okay, I don't, you know, all those boards Liberation Day got it. I thought that was over the top and not well thought out.

However, some of those tariffs are bringing manufacturing back. We had ten straight months of manufacturing growth. The Silverado is now being built here. They ripped it out of Mexico. The Reason why he's taking on Canada is because he feels as though there's an imbalance there, even with the USMCA.

But those months in between, while they're negotiating, are painful months, and I think cost the Republican seats. Yeah, you know the the reality is. Look, I mean, you know, the if you look around the world right now, and you look at cars. Right, cars have always been one of the biggest things that we've manufactured and we've exported, and we are losing the global car market because we are we are addicted to the internal combustion engine, and the rest of the world is moving to electric vehicles. Like I'm, I'm right with you.

We've got to rebuild American manufacturing, but we also have to rebuild it to claim the future, not just to hold on to the past. And my big concern when I look at Detroit. Is that Detroit's not going to really be able to sell cars off this continent very soon? If you look at what's happened to the rest of, so it's like, yes, we absolutely have to be focused on rebuilding American manufacturing. Yes, we need to make sure that the trade, you know, is fair.

We also need to make sure that we're setting up American companies to seize the world. I'm talking to you in my F-150 Lightning. We don't make them anymore. What you know is happy about that, China. But but you know what else has happened with the F-150?

They put it out there. No one's buying it. Because I did a whole feature on a lot of rhetoric. I mean, it was. I mean, I I got to tell you, it was during the Biden years.

I did a whole feature on it. I sat down with the CEO Farley, Jim Farley, and we did a whole feature on it. They show me it's self driving. It's great. It's electric.

There was no market for it. The people didn't respond. I mean, you know, I I remember what the demand was, what the waiting was, were what it was like to you know drive into a strip mall out in the rural parts of Maryland and have everybody excited about it. And the reality is, you know, right now I'm getting 75.

Well, I'm getting what used to be 70 miles to the gallon. I calculate that it's equivalent to 110 miles to the gallon because the price of gas has gone up so high. And so the reality is, we spend so much time bashing something new because it's easy to do that, right? It's easy to say, oh well. I want the battery range to be 500.

I do too, but you know what? In the meantime, I really don't drive 500 miles. But Ben, you know, most of the the diesel is trucks, and they have not made a good electric truck that takes up it takes up almost all the cargo space. That's 100, and we should absolutely have like you know, instead of like let's get to Mars, like let's get any electric truck. I think we do both.

Yeah, they would do both. I think we learn a lot from going to Mars. Actually, we're trying to. But Ben, I want you to hear Tim Pool. He talked about young people and why they voted left.

Cut for it. There's absolutely a very anti-Israel sentiment among many of the younger generation, right and left. On the on the young right, they say we don't want to fund wars, we don't want to be involved in the Middle East. It's a waste of our time. And on the left, they just plumb do not like Israel.

So this was a major factor, I think, that played in in this election. As you can see, with some of the biggest podcasts in the world.

So that was he was talking about the young vote, and it did go left. What do you think about what he said? You know, I think that we have to be able to distinguish Benjamin Netanyahu from the country of Israel, and I think that what he's done, dragging us into this war and us kind of willingly running after it, is a mess. And young people are worried, and they absolutely should be. I don't see how we, frankly, reverse the tremendous debt that this country's in, being addicted to very expensive wars that we could have avoided in the first place.

What about the anti-Israel? You think there's? You don't think there's anti-Semitism on the left and some portions of the right? There is. There is.

Like, I will never deny that anti-Semitism has been a problem in this country. It never will. I spent a lot of time, frankly, fighting fighting against it. I also don't think that that opposing. Benjamin Netanyahu's war is anything other than than opposing Benjamin Netanyahu's war.

I wish you. I hope you're right, but I think the general, when I looked at his foreign policy, that might be the next prime minister. It looks exactly the same. Yeah.

Well, and it's you know, President Trump has said that he wants to you know end the subsidy of Israel. It seems like there's a lot of stuff going on. My thing is. I just don't want us in dumb wars. You know, we got to spend our money on our people.

We got to spend our money on rebuilding our infrastructure. You know, it's expensive to bring manufacturing back. We need to invest in that. We do not need to invest in blowing up other people's countries when there is another way. I know you got to get your you got to get your kid to the to school, so I don't want to hold you up too much.

But I did want you to weigh in just real quick. The the for you, Akeem Jeffries being the first speaker means. You know, it is. It is. I mean, he is a child of of parents who were active in the civil rights movement.

He's a grandchild of grandparents who moved up in the Great Migration. For all of us who, frankly, share that experience of you know descending from people who were massively excluded in this country while massively contributing to building it, it is a great moment. My, but the thing that I'm that I most hope. Is that he stays rooted in Brooklyn and he doesn't worry about Wall Street as much as he worries about Main Street. We've got to stay focused on rebuilding this country for the folks like his constituents.

If he does that, he'll be a great speaker. Ben Jealous, always great to talk to you. Thanks so much. All right, thank you. Yeah, one eight six six four zero eight seven six six nine.

I'll get some calls in a moment, but. Ben's a great guy. He just picture Harold Ford. His points of view—absolutely Democrat, but he's absolutely a reasonable guy that thinks America first.

So, always appreciate talking to him. In terms of the biggest stories, like Texas, the biggest stories about who's gonna who looks best coming out of 28, the biggest stories like what could get done in the lame duck session when both sides theoretically can put politics aside and just get stuff done. We'll talk about that when we come back. Both sides, all opinions. It's Brian Kilmeade.

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That's promo code Brian. From his mouth to your ears, it's Brian Kilmeade. We are going to turn Texas around. Texas will be red again, and we're going to turn this country around. As tragic as the election results were, and unfortunately, everyone was pissed off at high prices, things are about to get much worse because the policies of the radicals they elected—they don't want gas prices at four, five, six dollars.

They want them at ten, twelve, fifteen dollars. They want to ban the gasoline engine.

So that's the policies that were elected, and Ted Cruz knows it. He said, "You know that for now it's blue, Texas. It's got to be red, and he thinks he can bring it back." What he's responding to is the loss of over a thousand points, five percent of the value, on the on on. The SPF, the stock exchange, as well as Nasdaq, are crushed because people are pushing back against AI and data centers. But they don't realize it.

This is the biggest own goal ever. You want to push back against AI? That's fueling your pension. Six out of every ten people have a four hundred one k or something called a four hundred forty five, four hundred fifty seven, or pension. That's and they invest in the surest things possible, which has been the magnificent seven and the and the big tech stocks.

So if you're going to destroy data centers. Please don't complain when we fall behind the A R race to China and Norway and Sweden or whoever wants to move forward. I I hear Indonesia and other these other countries are going forward and they're building data centers. You got to do it responsibly. Make sure they're recycling water.

Make sure there's no harm there. Make sure you're not using quality farmland. But you want to be able to hire pipefitters and plumbers and electricians, don't you? They want to get jobs. They're flooding into Memphis right now, but mostly data centers are in three separate states.

When the market saw. What every Democrat saying now in power? They immediately start selling off those stocks.

Now they bounce back 404 points right now on Nasdaq. One of the reasons: the job numbers phenomenal. Nothing to do with the election, obviously. Expected 65,000 and unemployment to go to 4.2. How about 165,000 unemployment drops to 4.1?

This is when you look at the 3.4 percent growth on the GDP. The only thing's missing right now is just oil and gas and diesel. Going down. That's the big thing. Here's you, you at yesterday on Democrats cut seven.

We stand at the beginning of a new era of negotiation. I think President Trump has made that his life's work. The Trump Organization, President Trump, have done projects in 18 countries all across the United States.

So it's going to be a new era. If Democrats bring forward anything remotely reasonable, he'll work with them. But he has priorities, and it takes two to get to a deal.

So he's going to ask for A, B, and C, and if Democrats Democrats ask for D E N F. It'll work, and if the Democrats just simply want to have a circus, that won't work with President Trump. Yeah, I do think Trump will do a deal. He has no problem with that. I mean, but it's just got to be reasonable.

And one thing I like to do is get these executive orders that worked, the new and the new laws when it comes to immigration, the bolstering the border and things like that. We got to make sure all those rules stay in place in terms for giving up, you know, Dreamers, people who've been here, brought there as kids, and there's a few other things. Those are deals we can live with. Hi everyone, it's Brian Kilmeade here. You tired of those uncomfortable dress shirts, especially when they bunch up under a sweater?

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A talk show that's real. This is the Brian Kilmeade Show.

Well, Craig Carton continues to come back every single week. I'm not saying I'm disappointed. I look forward to it. Me too. Yeah, and you know you don't even that you just walk in.

Yeah, I mean, like you, you just know. I figure when you start paying me, I'll knock. Right. Yeah, that's true. But somebody is paying you.

Outkick is paying you. Yes, they are. You're the host of the Craig Carton show. Yeah, you're basically coming in two jobs full time. Yes, I am.

Yeah, I got the radio job in New York on WFAN from two to six. I'm at Outkick all morning. I'm on Fox. Business every Monday. I'm on Fox Weather every Thursday.

Fox Weather, okay. I'm on your show every Friday, and I'm hoping one day you or Lawrence take a vacation day so I get to host the Foxes. Would be perfect. Would you know? Do you know other stuff?

Like, do you know? Yeah.

Okay. I'm going to give you a scenario. Oh, here we go. Craig, yes, just came in. The jobs numbers exceeded expectations.

Yes, they did.

So instead of sixty five thousand, they're one hundred sixty five thousand. The audience, yeah, unemployment's only four point one percent. Yeah, the economy is thriving. For all the nonsense of a forty-eight hours ago, America's in a very good place, and we should be grateful for the decisions that are coming out of Washington. I think that's good.

Bang! There you go. I think that's it. And now something else. Last night's Thursday night football game.

Do you have any idea what happened? There was a football game last night. That doesn't matter. Last guy, not a news guy. Jaguars might be.

They're a good team. One of the top five teams. Yeah, we were just talking off the air. You know, Liam Cohen, who did not have a good introductory press conference a couple years ago. No one knew who he was, right?

And he he tried to say Duval, which is the county down in Florida that the Jaguars play in. They are a legitimate team. They're a problem, right? A problem. Here's the thing: they're building a brand new stadium, and they decided not to go to the Orange Bowl.

Or go to any someplace else to play, so they're rebuilding the stadium while they're in it. In London or in Jacksonville, Jacksonville. Are they going to stay there? Yeah, and so yeah, they're going to stay there. Like actually doing a great job rebuilding the city.

Yeah, Shad Khan is doing. Is what he's really doing. He built the Four Seasons himself.

So they built the stadium.

So they're only like a half capacity. They could be selling like seventy thousand tickets. This is the team. I didn't even know that. You know, we used to mock them because they play a couple home games in London.

I know. Every. They were like the London team, but you've got a good quarterback now, a mature quarterback, and Trevor Lawrence, a damn good coach, and Liam Cohen, a good defense. All of a sudden, your Travis Hunter starting to ball out the way they hoped when they drafted him on top of the draft. Get this—they're good.

Patient with the quarterback, right? Yeah, yeah. Hey, New York, right? I love this. Like a guy will be a number one pick.

The problem is he can't throw. Excuse me. Right. You've been trying him out for like six months. You had him naked, touching.

I know that he couldn't throw that ball. I actually felt bad for the kid in Baltimore. He went. He played college football at UConn. All right.

He has an interesting spelling of his last name, which I'm not going to get into on the show. You go look it up. It's not pronounced the way it's spelled, thankfully, because I would not want to be the play-by-play guy. I think it's pronounced Finiano, but it's spelled F-A-G-N-A-N-O. I want no part of that, obviously.

And the kid can't throw a spiral. Right, so Derrick Henry took as many snaps yesterday at quarterback as Fanya direct snaps, yeah, direct snaps to Derrick Henry.

So now all of a sudden, running backs are back in. People are talking about them.

So, do you think that he's going to get traded because Harbaugh loves him? He loves Harbaugh. Yeah.

So the Giants, I think, are looking for a running back.

So Jonathan Taylor's the best of Valba running back. Seems to want to be. I don't think the Giants have the trade capital to get him. Too many draft came up. Too many picks already.

They don't have a fourth round. A fifth round or sixth round pick next year, and you're not going to give up multiple first round picks, right? I wouldn't think so.

Now Taylor's the best guy out there. It'll be interesting if he plays for the Colts this weekend, because why would you risk injury to a guy that you might trade? If the Giants could get Derrick Henry, which I think is easier to get than Taylor. I might not talk badly about your franchise, really. Yeah, why not?

Because I was saying, you you love being the antagonist. It's fun, right? Everyone's so sensitive these days. Right, like the NFC East is not a good division, sure. And now it's yours to lose, right?

And I would tell you this. You're playing against the Eagles this weekend, all right? The Eagles announced that Joe Milton is going to be their starting quarterback because Tanner McKee was not very good the last three weeks. This is a must-win game for the Giants. Absolutely, cannot lose this game.

You talk about a crestfallen, especially because I think Harbaugh's been working through. Unlike you know, guys, you take off. I think they had their days off, but then he's like right back to work. Yeah, guys, you got to get focused. I'd be shocked if they came out flat like everybody does after the bye week.

Yeah, I give JJ McCarthy credit. He made Point of saying he was not going to take the time off and go to the Bahamas like a lot of guys do. Of course, he's at the facility and he needs to be. He's played five quarters of football this year and played great against the Texans, but you haven't beaten Philly in Philly in over a decade. Right.

So, not only take care of business, I think you need to embarrass them. I think you need to rub their noses. It would be something. It'd be great because also Saquon is a quality individual. It's not his fault.

Not his fault, right? The Giants are like, listen, I'll pay you this, but he got more bad guy for good guy. Is he bad guy? Yeah.

How do you know? Hooray, because I got for them, and he's not good. Hooray!

Now when he connects. It goes, but he's a lousy golfer. Do you think this is like is he athletic enough to make an adjustment? Because golf's not about being an athlete. That's why guys like you and I can play.

Oh, I'm terrible. Yeah, are you better? I'm really bad, and I wish I was even semi-natural. I mean, I'll get on a roll and then I'll take six months off. This is gonna anger your audience, but I say it, and I'm you know anyone's ever played with me will confirm it.

I don't like playing golf, but but I'm a four handicap. How did you do? It's the grace of God. You just I'm just I take lessons. Played golf.

You do you take? I've never taken a lesson in my life. Don't say that. Yeah, lessons. People get so mad.

I've probably taken thirty lessons. Yeah, I'm sure you have. And I'm sure. Look, I'm sure you're shooting ninety-five. It's great.

Hey, I have a couple transfusions. Call today. I don't know why I'm good at it. I don't want to be good at it. I don't practice it, and it bothers people to the core.

I've never heard that scenario. Yeah, you're good in your. I can't stand it, right? Yeah, it sounds like you can. Yeah.

So someone says, "Hey, Craig, I want, I need you to, I want golf." You, I try to find excuses. Yard work, yard work. With I like to build outside. I have chickens. I've got a garden.

I like to, you know, put things together with wood and use my hands. I'm a power tool guy. Yeah.

Well, like I chop wood. Why would you do that? Because I, I love it. I have a wood burning stove. Every Saturday and Sunday, I'm outside chopping wood.

I act it. I saw it. I do the whole thing.

So let me just let me describe the life that I think you have. You come home, yes, at night. You're probably home at like eight o'clock. Eight o'clock, yep. And how many games you have to watch?

Whatever's on TV, because it's your job. My job, right? That's right. And then what time are you up? I'm up at four thirty, quarter to five.

Okay, and what time you got to be here? I walk in the door here no later than seven o'clock.

So you are home for like three hours, and you come inside seven o'clock, and then you go to your other job at three. Ah, two, two, two, six. Then, like, finally, Dad's home, right? But he wants to go chop wood alone.

Well, no, you could come with me if you want, right? But you're not going to be talking. My only son that chops wood with me is now at Villanova, getting his masters in finance. My 15 year old is bougie. He wants no part of an axe.

He don't want to get his hands dirty. Really? Yeah.

He likes the fire part. He doesn't like how you get the wood for the fire.

So, no.

So interesting is golf would be the time where you can actually bond with your family, like talking, you know, talking between holes. Sure. You go, no, I'd rather chop wood alone. I'd rather chop wood alone because it's a one man thing. Unless it's a saw, two man saw, yeah, chopping down trees.

We do have that too. You have that too. Yeah, I do. Yeah, I have right now. I would say along my driveway.

Is that like a Valentine's Day thing? You and your wife? You'll grab, she'll grab one side. You'll grab the other. No, no, no, no, no.

My wife wants no part of it. She thinks she just likes that. If I'm chopping wood, I'm not getting in trouble. But she's always concerned about. Yeah, like if he's outside in the driveway chopping wood, he can't be doing something stupid.

And she's not wrong, but she's fully expect. Thing the honey, I got hurt. We need to go to the hospital. Text and it's happening. Comes will she will she drive?

Yeah, yeah, and yell at me the whole way.

Okay, so I know you love the the business started broadcasting. I do.

So this thing, whole thing with Aikman and Buck. Yeah.

So first off, fundamentally, do you know what the problem is? Is it that Buck got his It's too full.

So Buck got a huge hundred-plus million-dollar deal, and was told not to mention it to his twenty-five-year partner, and they also have the same agency.

So if you've been together, like. You always, I'm sure, you want what's best for Ainsley and Lawrence on Fox and Friends. You, you root for that. We have no idea what. No, but you root for them.

Like you want them to get contracts that are happy with them. I imagine they want the same for you.

Now you don't negotiate together. No, you don't have the same agents. I imagine, but you, you're happy for them if they do well. I think this came down to ego. Trakman notoriously is apparently hard to work with and kind of a taskmaster to a lot of his producers.

And they've gone through a lot of them. There, Aikman is, yeah, and I think Aikman felt like when we left Fox and went to ESPN, I although Aikman got his deal done first, Joe was in the know on it, and I guess the reverse was not true.

So egos get involved, and all of a sudden, now twenty five years goes out the window.

So I did. I asked this one question, Terry Bradshaw, because he's on his book tour. Yeah, and here's here's what he said about it because he knows both guys. Yeah, forty seven. I've heard.

That they were going to go into ESPN together and get a new deal together. Joe evidently got his before Troy, and that seems to be the rift. It's about money. I find that hard to believe because Troy Aikman, Troy Aikman is, is not like that. He's not like that.

And my my understanding right now is things are okay.

Well, they're working together. They're professionals. Obviously, there was tension. They almost came to blows, supposedly. But that that wasn't even close.

No, he would kill him, right? But you know, I also think it's funny how guys complain. Like, we shouldn't cry for either guy. They made a lot of money. Not that I count the other people's bank accounts, but it's public.

But yeah, it's not like we. They make a million dollars a game. Like it's crazy. That's what I get a show. There you go.

I have to do three shows. That's right. And to me, it's like which guy's more important to the broadcast, and I think it's the play-by-play guy. Yeah.

When Madden, whoever Madden worked with, Madden was more important. Yes, but he's a rare commodity in that regard. Aiken almost sounds like Madden a little bit. I mean, I don't think so, right? Look, there's only two guys in the history of sports broadcasting that, if they were at the game in football, where you knew it was special, and it was Howard Cosell when you and I grew up, and it was John Madden.

No, there's no question.

So a couple of things.

Now, if Aikman does go, and they feel they can put anybody with Joe Buck, which I think is a mistake, but let's say he does go, yep. Where does he go? Because you got Amazon, you have Fox. You're not going to go back to Fox. They already have Tom Brady, right?

So CBS looks like they're going to CBS to get replace Romo. CBS is JJ Watt working with just got a contract, and he has a contract. He's pretty good. Greg Olson's really good. He might be the odd man out here, but if you're Troy Aikman.

And look, Treisman's really good at it, obviously, and has a great reputation being an analyst. I go to Netflix, I go to Amazon, and I give them a chance to upgrade what they got. Oh yeah, yeah, I'm sure, and it would be an upgrade. Who does that? Kirk Herb Street, yeah.

Who's a college guy? Does really good in college. And I'm sick and tired of that golden retriever. His and it's enough. Like we all love dogs.

Stop forcing your dog down our throat, please. I'm begging you. Yeah.

Um. Yeah.

So Eggman, like, let's not cry for Troy Eggman. Troy Eggman's going to be just fine. He's also a very wealthy man. No, I, I do only think about him. You do.

I don't keep you up at night, right? Matter of fact, Brian's next book is What Happened. Which is weird because people say don't have a title like a question, but I'm breaking, I'm breaking them all.

So we're going to be more back with other multimillionaires who might need a job. Just a moment, great, illuminating, intriguing, inculcating. I know some of these words. It's Brian Kilmeade. Hi everyone, it's Brian Kilmeade here.

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It's Brian Kilmeade, a dude who. You know, I work with at CNN. I know Abdul. His positions on Israel and foreign policy are insane. They're not reasonable reactions to anything.

Look, some Democrats are going to say that we should condition military aid. That Israel's gone too far in Gaza and in the West Bank and in Lebanon. We're going to put some conditions on you. I think that's a defensible position if you're a Democrat. That's not Abdul's position.

So I just I really was hyped, Van Jones. I know him a little bit, but Craig Carton, our guest, he's getting set to host his Outkick show. But I just wanted here's a guy just saying, look, I know about the election, and I know everybody's in power. The moderates, the the Republicans, the candidates that acted like Republicans in red states won because they think they're going to act like Republicans in the House, in the Senate. I don't think so, but Van Jones calling out Abdul's foreign policy, and he wants to be in the foreign policy committee, right?

So does does that worry you at all? Yeah, of course. If you're anti-Israel and you're going to be in the room where decisions are made about Israel and other your foreign policies, how could that not concern you? Like we we allow anti-Semitism to run rampant without being checked, but if it was any other group, whether it's a minority group based on race, religion, whatever it is, there'd be an uprising. But when it comes to the Jewish community, it seems like it's always open season on on Israel and on American Jews as well.

Right, which is he doesn't see it that way. But let's see what he if he moderates. You know, I always wonder is if these guys and women who are the mayors now in Los. Los Angeles, New York City, Rhode Island, Washington D.C. All socialists.

Yes. When they actually open up the city checkbook and they put these policies, well, we can't afford to go build housing. We can't afford to freeze the rent. Can't afford to give away free buses. My hope is, Craig, do they make the adjustment to the reality?

Well, I think a lot of politicians. It's more about you know their own careers than it is about the people they're supposed to be representing.

So you say things. Get into office, and then you do things to stay in office. I think Kathy Hochul is a great example of that, where she changes her opinion as the wind blows, not because it's good for her constituents, but it's good for her career.

Now, we've also, I think, learned a valuable lesson that if you're a very good public speaker, you can win an election anywhere in this country. If you know how to present, if you present well, if you're articulate, if you can handle tough questions and rewrap those questions, that means you're competent. If you can handle tough questions, yeah. But there's, look, take Abdul Al-Sa'id. He's not incompetent.

He's smart man.

Now, I don't agree with the majority of his stances on things, but I'm not going to say he's stupid. Right? He's smart. I want you to hear. He was on the View.

Yeah, that must have gone well. They loved him. Cut thirteen. Cut thirteen. Listen this.

Senator, senator, senator, senator, senator. This was one. This this election history was made on so many levels. But I think you're going to go down as one of the biggest parts of that history. You know, politics is has been ugly for a long time.

But in in my view, I have never seen it as ugly as it was when it came to you. I'd have voted for you too. I'd have been so honored to earn your vote. I mean, she she used to vote for Trump too, didn't she? Whoopi Goldberg used to like, used to love Trump.

They all used to love Trump. Listen, I think guys like that are dangerous. I think there's a wolf in sheep's clothing happening a lot. And I would rather guy or gal who gets into office care about me as a taxpayer first.

So one nation comes up Sunday at ten o'clock. You've been on. I'm going to play this on the media clip. There's a Sky reporter that goes up to him the day of the election, and he asks some questions. He goes, "Where are you from?" England.

He goes, "I don't have to answer your question because yeah, I don't have to answer your question because you don't vote for me." He's like, "No, yeah, we carry." He's trying to explain it, so he puts both his hands on the reporter's shoulder, gets an inch from his face, and starts not yelling, but just like trying to intimidate him. What does Craig Carton do? First off, get your hands off me. Number one, and you push back.

Now, if you and I want to have an intelligent conversation, you are not going to put your hands on me or anywhere near me. And I am not sure if that report did that. Taking yourself the story, if you do that, yeah. But listen, get your hands off me. Like that's you learn that in kindergarten.

Keep your hands to yourself. Right. But there. But he, I guess, to some people, is an intimidating figure. Maybe it's the Wolverine kind of facial hair.

Right. I don't know. It's. Just you know, like it's our bread and butter here, right? Politics is like sports.

I was talking about. We pick sides. We root for certain teams, but it's also very ugly, right? Right. And on both sides, like if the first reaction to you winning the all the midterms was impeach, get ready for a fight, you know, belt to ass.

I saw that one also. Like then you're just as bad as the people you're against, Craig. But you're all good, Craig Cardin, host of the Craig Cardin Show. Hi everyone, it's Brian Kilmeade here. Are you tired of those uncomfortable dress shirts, especially when they bunch up under a sweater?

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

So glad you're there. I'm here at 48th and Six in Midtown Manhattan, or around the country, around the world. Excited to go to Clearwater. Going to be heading there Saturday night. It's going to be an early start, six o'clock show.

The United States tour off my new book, Six Crucial Moments That Forged the American Miracle.

Now five in the country. Hopefully, after this weekend, it'll be higher. Even though five is awesome, and then on Sunday I'll be in Jacksonville. WOKV listeners, I hope you all. Meet me there, BrianKillme.com for tickets.

You can still have some VIP, although the VIP is huge for Jacksonville already.

So hope to see everyone down there in person, and then I'll be in Dallas next weekend. But you can see it all on BrianKillme.com.

So let's get to the big three. Number three. Arm the citizens in Iran. There's thousands of them who, not to stand in front of machine guns with nothing in the hands, but groups that want to take this regime on.

So weaken the regime that they're vulnerable to that. Let's give those people a chance. I hear you, General Keen. Iran sends signals it's ready to talk nukes, but it's returned to a full scale war. Is that the best option?

We'll discuss. Number two, this revolt against data centers are just the initial tremors. You have to crack. Down on these big data center companies that are taking advantage. We're holding the world's largest, most powerful AI companies accountable.

Yep, there is the governor. The market cratered as Dems make it clear AI will be targeted and data centers will be stopped. But do they realize how they're how they're hurting their own 401ks, their own pension plans, their own storage fees on their own phones? Number one.

So it's going to be a new era. If Democrats bring forward anything remotely reasonable, he'll work with them. And if the Democrats just simply want to have a circus, that won't work with President. And we know that too, you. And that is true.

The Republicans try to figure out what just happened in 26 and what it means for 28, as Dems are poised to take power. Mark Penn is the CEO and chairman of Stagwell Inc. Worked for the many Democratic campaigns, especially Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, and. Mark, welcome back. Thank you, Mark.

Can you make sense of what happened, and can you put in perspective about the devastating losses for Republicans and wins for Democrats? What struck me is the margin of victory and where they won. To think that Texas would go as blue as it did, and same thing with the South Carolina Senate seat and some congressional seats, and then we talk about Kansas. What makes this what for you was the tell all?

Well, first of all, this was a national trend, not a local trend. And what is it we know about about the country and what the voters were feeling? Sixty percent of the voters felt that it's a bad economy. Fifty percent said that they believe their economy, personal economy, was getting worse, and about sixty percent thought the economy was shrinking.

Now the truth is, the economy has record growth. You saw today, you know, I think it was 150 thousand jobs. But the public mood was that the economy was terrible. That that that this administration was supposed to fix the economy. Inflation and tariffs were they felt eating away at them, and you saw a really good offense.

By the by, the Democrats who went after affordability spent about a billion dollars with a with a with a message, and that message brought back Hispanics. It brought back some of the young men. It brought back black voters. A lot of the voters that in in twenty four the the Trump campaign had taken, the Democrats took them back, and the Republicans. What were they doing?

No legislative agenda. They were playing defense and turnout. While while I think the Democrats were playing offense, so here's a here's an idea. Also, the young vote. How do you explain the youth vote, where the president I think was won it by 24, and he lost by 20, where his party lost by 20 this cycle, again.

People think that voters are owned by one party or another.

Okay, by the time we all get to our sixties, okay, we have a history of voting, and but we're in our twenties today. Mostly, we're independents. We're not sure which party we want to affiliate with, and and we'll take we'll we'll take our mood. And I think that. I think social media too was a big, you know, disruptor.

I think the the fact that the, you know, that that you had you know people on both the right and the left, you know, with endless podcasts being commu—I think they got a lot of communications. I think they felt their economic future was not enhanced by what they saw going on. And consequently, they they shifted. And again, I'll go back to those people with the lowest history: new Latino voters, because it's really surged. Young people who've only voted in a couple of elections.

Those are the people who do swing back and forth. We learn that there is a swing electorate in America. Democrats don't own them either. How do you explain Texas, especially Governor Abbott, so effective? I thought so popular.

I mean, what he's done economically, he can't be touched.

So, and some some have said Carl Rove was on with me yesterday. He says, "Well, that's the top of the ticket. Top of the ticket was Senator Ken Paxton's terrible, and that cost me election." I don't know if if I agree with that. Do you? Well, Carl is an expert in Texas, so I have trouble.

This beauty, what Carl says about Texas. I don't. I'll go back to my point. There's a national wave. It basically was a ten point wave.

Now, when you do the math of swing voters, it only takes five percent to swing from one to the other. Five percent swinging one for the other. There's a ten percent move that wiped out everybody but Florida, where they previously had thirteen point margins, so they held on to two. To two or three, and look, Texas was some combination of bad candidates, and Tellerico was a good candidate compared to Better O'Rourke. I mean, I really didn't know him until his like election night interview, and then he he obviously is a talent, and I think you have to give him some credit.

And and like I said, you know, the history here of elections is that America is ping ponging back and forth. Until you know, look. President Reagan got into the 70s. President Clinton got into the 70s in approval, and since then, presidents have been around 50 or 40, somewhere in that range, and we've had a very grumpy electorate.

So, Mark Penn, our guest, Mark, I want you to hear. I think you could agree with Jared Moskowitz on this. Cut 12. We have to deliver results. We have to deliver restoration.

We cannot just deliver revenge. The American people are giving us an opportunity with major margins in the House and the Senate to do something for them. To put our heads down, put in the work, and bring down costs for the American people. And that's the thing. I understand you want to run on affordability.

It might be the right word. I haven't seen a plan to make things more affordable, except for make sure billionaires pay more. Yeah, well, look, the problem was that that the Republicans in power didn't do anything either. They should have suspended the gas tax, maybe do some some student loan, you know, reform if you wanted to hold on to young people. I think they did a lot of work that they didn't get credit for on prescription drugs.

Because it's sort of you know it was hard I think for for that to to to break through, I think interest rates needed to needed to come down, you know I think the Republicans could have focused on a package of stuff, and I agree the Democrats have given you nothing but slogans. And nobody's actually come up with okay. Here's our you know here's how we reduce housing, transportation, right, and education expenses, and then food will follow from that. Nobody's actually given anything that I would say is a coherent or even incoherent policy agenda.

So, Mark, I was listening to. Axelrod last night, and he said one of the most productive times he had was after the two two thousand eight shellacking. His that was Obama's term. They did all types of deals with Republicans because they knew they were coming into power. There was stuff that they can get in, and politics didn't matter as much.

Could you tell me the potential of the lame duck session?

Well, and what about how did Clinton handle permitting reform going to be passed like instantly, right?

So this permitting reform was sitting there, and Schumer just held it up because he didn't want to want the country to to actually see any progress.

So you know, I I think you'll see this permitting reform at least go through. I think mostly Republicans will be figuring out how to get as many judges as possible. And if Trump is negotiating with the Iranians, he's certainly sure is going to try to negotiate with Democrats. But I absolutely, I think something can be done because they also talked about cutting the the interest rate on student loans. That should have been universal.

Who would have been against that? But they didn't want to give him a loan. Evidently, there could be a lot get done. I think they just need to be organized in doing it. And I think they also talked about a possible another.

I don't know. That's a rescission package, but they also talked about another, another type of mini, big, beautiful bill that they could try to pass on simple majorities. But with Murkowski and Collins and Cassidy and Tillis, I don't think you can guarantee any Republican votes. Do you? Remember, he could lose to her.

He can still lose three Republican votes, get the vice president there. Look, I don't really understand why the Republicans had the majorities and they did more or less nothing beyond the big beautiful bill. I don't understand. There's a mystery to me, right? And now they're going to kind of move on things.

Maybe you know it would have been good to move on things before the election, but anything that I think the voters have spoken. Hey. We we didn't have inflation, and what the voters said is, in reality, some of us who have been around remember the inflations from the seventies and eighties, and and how corrosive that was. And these voters had no experience with inflation, no experience with the fact that prices don't go down; we just have to catch up. And and consequently, they didn't feel that they were addressed.

And the sooner they feel the political system addresses their needs. In a non-socialist, pro-growth way. Then you know, I think that'll do a lot to calm the electorate down, which is a good thing for the country.

So let's talk about the economy now. It looks a little bit better today. Yesterday was a bloodbath. Why? Because there's a sense that AI is under attack by the by the Democrats and data centers too.

And all of a sudden, they realize without data centers and if AI is going to be starved, that was fueling the economy. The Magnificent Seven and everything else is fueling the economy. Here's Charles Payne, yesterday, our economic expert, Cut 27. October six, October end of October, October thirty, of five trillion dollars wiped out of these AI stocks.

So there was already anxiety going into the election. Wall Street has sort of priced in a Democratic victory. They hadn't priced in the significance to how big the victory would be.

So now you have these governors who are on record who ran against data centers, and we've got this period between now and when they're sworn in. And it's a dark cloud. None of them have said ban, but they've all said moratoriums. They all said enough to to make Wall Street jittery and concerned about how long and when this might be over. It's the confusion, is the anxiety, is the uncertainty factor.

So he's right. He says you know basically AI combined has three trillion dollars worth of debt because of the promise it has. And if you want to create those companies. Where's that money going? Who's paying back that money?

Well, it's important that that not become a 2009, but really be the opposite, right? And and become, you know, what we had in the late 90s, right?

So what we had in the late 90s was a period of unprecedented economic growth, and we're already at three and a half. We're already at very high growth levels. And that growth is the only way we're going to deal with the deficit. It's the only way people are going to have an economic future that that is substantially better and improved than it is today. And if the left, you know, look, the left threw a monkey wrench into energy for about a decade here.

If they throw a monkey wrench into into AI, then then the future of our country will be diminished because that is the way out. Of the mess we're in, and I'm not worried about one day of you know the market's going up or down. Yeah, AI is something that's going to be here, you know, integrated into life for at least the next decade, and how that plays out is going to be critical to the to the future and well being of the country. And Charles boiled it down to three states. I mean, Virginia, Texas, and I believe it might be Louisiana or Tennessee.

I have the most data data centers. And it's really up to these these governors to push, you know, greenlight them. Of course, demand everything, reuse the water, make sure there's no harm, make sure it's the right land. Having said that, there's a whole bunch of jobs, union jobs, pipefitters, electricians, and plumbers. They're waiting to do these jobs.

So I just think that people are just knee jerk. Data centers got to go. Data centers got to go. In Memphis, yet a bunch of blue collar people show up at a hearing and say, "No, no, we got to build this," and they listened.

So I'm just hoping this is going to be a state issue. You could urge things from the White House, but this is going to be a state issue. This would be the biggest own goal I can remember, Mark.

Well, look, Elon Musk is going to put them in space. That may be the ultimate, and and I think he's right. By the way, you know he's been right so far when he says these things. It takes it always takes longer than you expect, but you're right. These are big job creators.

Right, they're big investment and job creators, and so typically states will want them. And it's the latest kind of left wing Bernie Sanders talking point to to kind of stop AI and stop the data centers. And you don't want this to become into a become a kind of luddite like momentum here. The the the fears were that it was going to take jobs away, but the reality is you see today is that this new economy is actually creating more jobs than ever, and and so if we if we stop it and if we don't get in, you know if these if these governors look at the politics here, look it will take leadership. The average person doesn't know what a data center is, what are the pluses and minuses, what's being negotiated.

You know, and so is that going to be influenced by social media, or is it going to be influenced by leadership at the highest levels? Probably in the presidential race is really going to be where this is discussed. I hear you, and Mark, what do you think about the tactic the vice president used, kind of blaming the war and and kind of trumping the president? I think as you heard me in the beginning, the the economic message here. I don't think if there that it would have turned maybe a point difference, you know.

You know, if there had been no conflict with Iran versus the fact that people were sour about the inflationary effect of the economy, angry that nothing was being done about it, and in in their view before that, and I don't think, and and you could just go look at the numbers. They didn't really. You know, so it wasn't related, you know, to that.

So I, I'm not quite so clear why he put that out, but that was. I don't buy that. Yeah, can you imagine if Gore did that to Clinton or Biden did that to Obama? Leading the second, you'd be—I would be shocked if Kamala Harris did that to Biden. I'd be shocked.

I was stunned that JD Vance did that.

So that's just me. We had a few conflicts between Gore and Clinton, and let me tell you, it didn't work to Gore's advantage. I know. Thanks so much, Mark Penn. Thank you.

Back in a moment. It's Brian Kilmeade. Hi everyone, it's Brian Kilmeade here. Are you tired of those uncomfortable dress shirts, especially when they bunch up under a sweater? If so, then you must check out Collars and Co.

Makers of the dress collar polo. Listen up; these shirts are four-way stretch, buttery soft polos with firm dress collars on them, so they give you the dress shirt look but extremely comfortable polo feel. You can wear them with anything under a sweater, with a blazer, or by themselves as an elevated polo. They work for any occasion. These polos are perfect.

Whether it's in the office, on a golf course, or a night out, collars and co is exploding and have gone viral on social media thanks to the one million investment they received on Shark Tank from Mark Cuban and Peter Jones. You don't have to worry about collars that flop down and spread out; they stay firm and sharp all day. It's an amazing array of sweaters, quarter zips, pants, and outerwear. If you're looking for the performance dress shirt or polo that looks great all day, check out. Hollersincode dot com.

Use promo code Brian for fifteen percent off of any purchase of a hundred dollars or more. That's promo code Brian. The more you listen, the more you'll know. It's Brian Kilmeade. Hey, we are back.

So, when we come back, I'm going to get the perspective on what's going with Iran. Visiting professor of international relations at NYU, Iranian American scholar, he was also at Columbia too, and former political prisoner in Iran, released in 2015, part of the Iran nuclear deal. He's also the author of the Iran Crisis Notebook on Substack. And I'm talking about Keon, Keon Tajbakhsh, and he's going to be joining us. He's been on with us before.

I want to talk about. I'll give bring you up to date on exactly all the moving parts between the two countries as we move a third aircraft carrier into the region. Reported last night, they're getting a little panicked is around because they've been starved of almost all oil in and out, and it looks like we're about to attack. I mean, on one hand, they talk tough, on the other hand, they're about to get slammed again. Is that the right move?

What does the professor think? We'll find out. You're listening to the Brian Kilmeade Show.

So glad you're here. Don't forget, One Nation coming up Sunday at ten o'clock. Amongst my guest, Mark Halpern, Lydia Mo. O'Neill will be with us too, and we're going to have other special guests. Don't miss a minute.

If you're interested in it, Brian's talking about it. You're with Brian Kilmeade. What is finishing it? We don't make a deal with these guys because what do we know? The Israeli government, the U.S.

government, know one thing about that. They'll never comply with it. They'll cheat. We all know that. The American people know that.

I don't see what the deal is all about. If we know that, what do they want out of it? They want money.

So they can recover and rebuild. If we give them the money to recover and rebuild, what happens? They return to the predator that they've always been. That's a strategic loss. The deal is a pathway to a strategic loss.

We got to get a strategic win here. Keep the economic squeeze on, blockade, and Secretary Breslin what he's doing, isolating the country, and let's go put these guys on a path to collapse using major military operations. And that's a little bit what General Keen said. I'll play a little bit more of my interview with him on Fox and Friends. Iran has sent the United States now a nuclear proposal via Qatar to be discussed only after Washington meets Tehran's seven demands.

The seven demands are a non-starter, almost all of them. Professor Keon Tajbakhsh. Tajbosh joins us now, visiting professor of international relations over at NYU. Also was at Columbia for a while, Iranian American scholar and former political prisoner released in 2015 from Iran. Professor, welcome back.

Thank you, Brian.

So, what are your thoughts about what the next best step is, and how effective do you think this blockade has been?

Well, I think.

Well, first of all, I think we have to assess. Any kind of U.S. policy towards Iran in the light of the midterm results—I mean, I don't know whether you know—you've obviously talked about this on your show, but I think the reality is that President Trump has to recalibrate on two particular issues. One is how he communicates the importance and significance of this Iranian campaign. To the American people going forward, whether indeed that that's what he wants to do, and second, he needs to recalibrate on the means and the methods that have been used so far to prosecute this war.

Now, I I I raise these two, Brian, to say that I think that. The midterms are showing us, or showing the administration, that they need to do a better job on both those things. In other words, the American people have seemed to respond to not, I think, the necessity of the war, but I think that the the midterms reflect, in large part, not entirely. I mean, a lot of people were. Dissatisfied with the war, but I believe that most Americans that voted against the Republicans and said that it was about the war was about the poor communication about the significance and importance to the American vital interest.

To go forward for this war, I think the president. I mean, I from from the very first day, I was surprised that the administration did not go out to the American people, to Congress, to make a stronger case that this is in the national security interest of the United States to maintain a stable free flow of oil in the Persian Gulf. It has been that way for forty years. It's been. That way, since nineteen eighty, the Carter Doctrine explained that, and every president has followed.

So, I think that the you know going forward, I think the issue of the deal now is going to be overshadowed by the ability of this administration to do that that first thing. The second issue the American people, I think, have given a verdict on is that. It's not that they're, I think, unhappy necessarily with the decision to launch the war, but they are unhappy with the way it has dragged on. And so the president has to go back, I think, a bit to the drawing board and figure out what kind of poor advice he was given from the Department of War or his military advisers that it didn't go as well as planned.

So I think that any talk of a deal going. Forward has to now be seen and you know designed in the light of these. But professor, you agree that Iran is a national security threat to the U.S., right? Yes, I yes I do. And do you agree that if the President Trump just ignored it, did his 2025 bombing, and that was it, just ignored it?

Do you believe it would have Iran would have been a problem for the next president in 2028 and 2032?

Well, yes, it would have been if they hadn't deal if they hadn't dealt with the issue of the proxies and the ballistic missiles. I mean, if you remember going back to the beginning of this war, President Trump actually was quite clear.

So was the team that went to Oman that there are three issues of vital interest to the United States: enrichment. Missiles and proxies. Um. In my analysis, is that when he sent Kushner and Whitcomb to Oman, he President Trump wanted to hear only one thing. Are the Iranians willing to discuss seriously all these three issues?

And when he heard back from his emissaries that they were not serious, this was this is being reported. Then he said that we have no choice but to then go forward with kinetic action.

So I think that you know, you just you just said it. You just said it better than anybody. You said it better than even their State Department.

Well, I think that's my point, Brian. I know. I was, I was shocked. I, I was on your show. I was on other shows saying, "Look, I mean, it wasn't this.

What this wasn't something I made up. Actually, President Trump, in his executive order." When he reinstated maximum pressure against Iran, it's in the very first paragraph that these are the three issues. And I have written on my substack. Readers can go back and see that what I wrote in, I think, in March after the beginning of the war, that the roots of this war go back. To the fact that I mean, there are a number of layers which go many years back, but the immediate proximate cause was that October seventh changed the rules of the game of geopolitics in the Middle East.

That is to say, however charitable we want to be to President Obama's JCPOA, okay, and let's be let's be maximum charitable. The the the fact remains that after October seventh, the costs and the shortcomings of the JCPOA were exposed. Yes, because. It because it showed that just focusing on the nuclear issue was not enough to deter Iran's proxies and their ballistic missiles, and that they would turn the region upside down. And we never did, and we could never have a shot at expanding the Abraham Accords.

Obviously, the Gulf states were more than willing. Even in retrospect, we see now more than willing to jump on, and Saudis were probably a month away prior to October seventh from doing the same thing. Setting up trade relations, military to military relations, on down. But the thing is, politically, he thought if I tell people no ballistic missiles, if I tell people, you know, and zero enrichment and no ballistic missiles, then it looks like okay, that's too much, like too much, too far to go. But now we have to find a way to eliminate the ability to do ballistic missiles, get to zero enrichment, or just entomb their entire nuclear program, while maybe taking out with.

The IDF's help another layer of the Iranian regime. Look, Brian. I think that there is something added to that that the midterms has have actually actually. It's an opportunity for the president. I think for many months, this administration has been seeking a way to share, to burden share, containing the the Islamic Republic of Iran with local partners, particularly the Arab states, who, by the way, have like over six.

Of our most advanced aircraft, they have F-35s and F-15s and all this sort of stuff, and I think that the president is sensitive to the fact that the American people are well. That you know, they say we're tired of forever wars. I mean, the reality is that the the forever war was actually it was announced by Iran against the United States. Yes. But but the reality is that I think that I think the midterms have shown, and I think that this dragging on of this of this war has shown that I think President Trump probably has a sense that the American people are not going to give him the amount of resources and the amount of leeway to go so big in the Middle East, and also because.

The United States feels that with these very rich partners in the region, there's no particular reason why the United States needs to do this all alone. Yes, and I think that you know.

Well, you know, the IDF wants to get in, Professor. You know, the IDF says you know they got the intelligence, they want to get in. But I don't think we'd go to a serious conflict without them at this point. Do you? Oh yes.

Oh yes. No, I mean, look, the IDF. I'm I'm not referring To the idea. Oh, you went to Gulf states. To the Arab.

I'm. I'm referring to the Arab partners because, because after. Let's say there is a new a new wave of kinetic strikes or a new kind of military operation. The way that, and if it is successful, then it's only sustainable if there is a regional architecture in which local partners are able to pick up the slack and continue a a regional containment architecture. Against the Islamic Republic of Iran, that even cannot be relied on.

I mean, Israel cannot be relied on to continue a long-term containment strategy against. It's it's going to be Iran's neighbors, and those are close friends of the United States. And I think that I think the the president will have to, in addition to any kind of kinetic strikes, will have to work harder at building up a local. You know, a local set of partners to maintain this. By the way, I mean, I would bring in another country here, which are which is rarely talked about, and that is India.

Oh, because India has a is a big friend. It's a big army. It's a big it's a big country, and we need. And the United States currently probably needs a balance against the so called Mecca arrangement of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan. Who I don't think are necessarily have the best interest of the United States at heart, but but I think you know bringing in a new actor like India, you know, to be able to share burden in the area, I I think is going to be on the it's going to have to be on the agenda.

Okay, so Professor, I want you to hear what Dan Hoffman of the CIA said about why we can't leave. Cut thirty seven. But if we were to leave, then Iran would exercise great dominance in what they consider to be their own self-designated sphere of influence. That's the last thing we want. We also still want to achieve our objectives: to deny Iran a nuclear program and deal with their ballistic missile inventory and support the proxy terrorists.

All the reasons why President Trump launched the war in the first place.

So I expect the Congress to pressure the Trump administration with their power of the. But I think it's really important for us to have that debate and ensure that we protect U.S. national security interests going forward. And I comment on that, and also from your people that you know on the ground today in Iran, what is it like? Basically, the population is hunkering down.

I mean, that's. As simple as I can say, the majority of the people.

So remember my my kind of land, you know, my kind of mapping of the Iranian population. Fifteen to twenty percent of the population support this regime. Thirty percent are politically passive, and in the middle are maybe sixty percent, seventy percent of the population that oppose this regime would like to live under a different, a freer regime, a pro-Western, pro. U.S. regime, but only a minority of those are willing to go out into the street and protest or express their voice.

There is no. There are no institutional channels for opposition inside Iran. There are no opposition newspapers. There's no access to TV. There are no political parties.

There are no ability to to gather or even create any civil society organizations to put forward an alternative concept of what Iranian foreign policy should be. And so, most of those people who oppose the regime. Feel powerless. They don't have any guns. They don't have any organization.

They don't have any leaders, and they're just hunkering down, trying to get by. Yeah, and we'll see because now, if the oil is really held out, and there's very little smuggling going on, except for missile parts and some precious metals, I'm wondering how long the regime can go without saying they're not feeling it, where it might actually hurt their war machine. Yeah, well, Brian, listen. One thing that is very clear is that the Islamic Republic of Iran, the regime, has built an alternative infrastructure, a whole set of shadow financial networks that are. Expert at both bypassing sanctions and being able to fund imports and so forth.

One thing that many people don't realize is that actually, since a year ago, Bitcoin mining in Iran has shot up. According to one estimate, almost five percent of all Bitcoin mining in the world is now taking place in Iran, and that's. I'm not an expert at Bitcoin, but that's telling me that they are spending a lot of resources using oil that they cannot export, right? To give. A cheap energy to Bitcoin mining data centers, so that they can use that money to pay China and Russia and other places for imports they need and military that they need.

So, listen, I wouldn't underestimate the ability of the regime to have a lot of what's it called rabbits in their sleeve. They've been, they are designed to bypass sanctions, and it's like a cat and mouse. Game and I don't know. I mean, so far they haven't, you know, plugged all the holes. I mean, we're being told by the Treasury that they are, but evidently not enough.

Professor Tajbasha, thanks so much. Interesting times. There's no, there's no greater priority right now for the president than to solve this.

So, need your perspective. Stay close to your phone and your Zoom. Right, appreciate it. Thank you. Back in a moment.

From breaking news to big name guests, Brian brings you insight you won't hear anywhere else. You're listening to the Brian Kilmeade Show, radio that makes you think. This is the Brian Kilmeade Show.

Intra-party debate isn't a sign of weakness; it's how a healthy party learns and becomes more competitive. But let's debate like people who intend to govern together, because that is exactly, exactly. What we are going to do? It's amazing. He's very unpopular with his own caucus, but no one's running against him right now.

All seven new Democrats, and there could be two more—Mississippi and Alaska. I really think Alaska is going to go Dan Sullivan's way. All new guys say, and women, no, I'm not going to vote for him. But nobody else. There's no alternative.

They're already starting to hedge. El Sayed came out and said, "Well, I just want to tell you who I'm for: Chris Van Hollen, who would be a nightmare." For the country, just a polarizing guy, way to the left. You remember him having his margarita over in El Salvador with the with the accused criminal that was here illegally.

So it's interesting because on the other side, John Thune plans on running for minority leader again. And on the House side, Jim Jordan looks at Jim Jordan and Steve Scalise will battle it out to see who be the the minority leader over in the House side.

So we'll see the ranking member, whatever they call it, but and then we'll see if that could ever get on the majority in the next cycle. That you'll have a better chance taking the majority in the House and the Senate. Brian Kilmeade show. From the Fox News Radio studios in Midtown Manhattan, it's the fastest-growing radio talk show. Brian Kilmeade.

Hi, everyone!

So glad you're there. The Brian Kilmeade Show coming your way this hour. We're going to be joined by Shannon Bream, anchor of Fox News Sunday, and five in the hour, Tommy Lehren, co-host of the Big Weekend Show, and then of course we got One Nation coming up Sunday at ten o'clock, which where the whole nation stops and they just watch Fox, just like they do in the morning on the big net on the big channel on the Fox Network Channel when Shannon Bream's on.

Meanwhile, don't forget the YouTube channel, YouTube.com/slash/atthebriankilmeadeShow, and before we get the Shannon. Let's get to the big three. Number three. Arm the citizens in Iran. There's thousands of them who, not to stand in front of machine guns with nothing in the hands, but groups that want to take this regime on.

So weaken the regime that they're vulnerable to that. Let's give those people a chance. That is right, General Keen, with me on Fox and Friends two hours ago. Iran sent signals; he's ready to talk nukes, but its return is but but return to full-scale war is that the best option? We'll discuss number two.

This revolt against U.S. Centers are just the initial tremors. We have to crack down on these big data center companies that are taking advantage. We're holding the world's largest, most powerful AI companies accountable. That is Governor Hochul and others.

The market craters. As Dems make you clear, AI will be targeted, and data centers will be stopped. But do they realize their 401ks, their pension plans, their phone charges, their storage charges are all going to go up because of some hoax? Number one.

So it's going to be a new era if Democrats bring forward anything remotely reasonable, he'll work with them. And if the Democrats just simply want to have a circus, that won't work with President Trump.

I'm pretty sure he's right. The Republicans try to figure out what happened in 26 and what it means for 28, as Dems are poised to take power. But what kind of power will they show—a boner of retribution and investigations, or affordability? The problem is, I've not heard a plan the Democrats have on a. Affordability, they just had the issue.

Shannon Bream checks in right now. Shannon, first off, good to see you. Second, so now can you put in perspective what happened on Tuesday? We starting to understand a little bit. Yeah, I think that Republicans are shell shocked.

I think for them, it's worse than their nightmare scenario, and for Democrats, it's better than their best case scenario they could have imagined for Tuesday night.

So, the parties have a lot to think about now, and I think all of that soul searching and autopsy, whatever's going to happen with Republicans, it started with the JD Vance ex post, I think, and I think you're going to see it trickle into these congressional leadership races that happen next week. I mean, they've got to. Articulate, you know, these members of Congress what they're going to do to lead the party out of this wilderness.

So Jim Jordan against Steve Scalise in the House, and right now John Thune is unopposed in the Senate. For now, the last we've heard, and you know, I heard from a lot of members that even if they lost the Senate, they've really appreciated his leadership. Think that he is threaded the needle the best he could with President Trump, and they did what they could. But you know, there was the very conservative wing that was like, "Where's the Save Act? Where's all this other stuff?

Why didn't you get it done?" It'll be interesting to see if they have enough votes, though, to actually do something like unseating Thune as now the leadership of the minority. I don't know that there's enough of a coalition to do. But we'll see. Yeah, I don't see it either. I think he's really well liked by his colleagues, and you know, just like John Cornyn was too.

But I know the president's disappointed in him not getting more stuff done in the Senate. But I'm not sure how much that matters when the Senate votes, just senators vote. But Shannon, I think the lame duck session could be extremely intriguing because there's because this is the only time people say that well politics can actually go aside. Everyone's talking about restructuring. What's next?

And there's some things that both sides. Agree on terms of regulation, terms of cutting interest rates on student loans, that they just put on hold because they don't want to give either side a victory. I think there's really got to be a strategy. I heard David Axelrod last night. He said President Obama was so productive after the shellacking that he sat down with Republicans, got stuff done in 2010.

Yeah, and I think that that reckoning is going to have to come. It was one of the first things President Trump said on election night. I can work with people, and there are big things, like you said. Those issues, yes, may be short term, but longer term, I don't know if anybody ever gets it done. But comprehensive immigration reform—I mean, the president has shown you can control the border, and Democrats, including folks like James Tarico, now senator elect, have said he did a better job on the border than Biden did, and we have things that we can give the president credit for.

So, can they? Work together on those kinds of things. What about the insolvency of Social Security? I mean, the trustees tell us that thing is going to die within a matter of years. Where can they actually start to work together?

Because there's some big work to get done. I know, and there might be. I'm not sure if you could do that.

Social Security reform in the in that window there. I want you with Senator. Yeah, yeah, not lame duck, but eventually. Again, the president might sign off on some of this stuff. I mean, he already he does deals nonstop.

Whether it's twenty twenty trade deals he's got, he's trying to land the plane in Ukraine and. On here's Senator Ted Cruz on what he's going to do now because obviously he's running for president, but obviously jarred that it seems as though Texas went blue. Cut three. We are going to turn Texas around. Texas will be red again, and we are going to turn this country around.

As tragic as the election results were, and unfortunately, everyone who was pissed off at high prices. Things are about to get much worse because the policies of the radicals they elected—they don't want gas prices at four, five, six dollars. They want them at ten, twelve, fifteen dollars. They want to ban the gasoline engine.

And and there's certain things that he's going to make a stand on. But I mean, that was probably the biggest surprise—the South Carolina seat and the way Texas did not pan out. Yeah, and early in the night in Texas, I got some intel from some folks on the inside there, and they said it's going to be worse than anybody thinks. It's going to be, it's going to be every statewide office going to be the governor. Like it's all going down, which obviously played out to be true.

I think sometimes people forget that Senator Cruz was the last man standing with President Trump back in 2016. It got down to the two of them, and the president obviously they've had their big differences and their clashes over the years. But I think you're going to See people like Ted Cruz, like Ron DeSantis, more of those folks who were, you know, have difficult relationships with President Trump. I feel like they're actually the conservative voices out there. You're going to see a lot more of them the next 18 months.

I have a feeling. Yeah, here's Ron DeSantis with Sage Steel. Yes, a cut one. If we're getting blown out in Texas, you know how does a Republican have any chance at winning the Electoral College? And so that's just the reality that I think everyone needs to face.

You know, my view is you run for office to do something, not to be somebody. The only way that I would run for any office is if you can actually deliver big results.

So I mean, that's really why you go in. It can't be about your ego. I get sense of Rubio's the same way. I'll run if I, you know, if there's an opening. But if not, I don't live to be president.

I got that sense from Ron DeSantis yesterday too. I did too, and it's a very, very difficult job. I often wonder why does anybody even want that job. It's something I asked President Trump before he ran the first time. Like, you know, it is going to be a battle, and it's a bruising for you and your family.

Like, you really do have to have some kind of higher call to do it for your country, for your faith, or whatever it is, because it is just a bruising situation to be in. But if you talk about the ability to get big things done, as Governor DeSantis said, there, if you don't have majorities in the House. Senate as a Republican president, it is going to be really difficult.

So, twenty-eight is going to be big on so many different fronts. It's not just the congressional stuff, but it's the fact that both parties are going to have a wide-open race for the White House. Which I don't know for you, for me, I think that's the most fun when you know both of these parties are kind of wide open in the race. It's going to feel like I think child's play compared to what we just went through when we get to twenty-eight. Because there's going to be so much infighting before they get to yeah partisan fighting.

So. What happens also is the socialist popped up with winners in Rhode Island, in Washington D.C., of course in Seattle last cycle, and now you have Nithya Ramen, who is now one is now mayor elect and beat Karen Bass, who was just an ineffective governor. But now you have a socialist in that spot. You talk to the original socialist to win a major city, Zohran Mamdani. That's going to be a feature on Fox News Sunday.

Here's a little from that interview. For example, on Hassan Piker, Hassan Piker, who you are friendly with, he seemed to support the people. Who were coming after you at the vigil? He said, "Zoran Momdani is definitely very fearful of negative press coverage." He said that's pressure that he's responding to with material support to organizations like the JCRC, Jewish Community Relations Council.

So, listen, he said things like Hamas is better than Israel. The U.S. deserved 9/11. This city, New York City, deserved 9/11. He also said the Middle East would be more stable if Iran had a nuclear weapon.

Where do you break with him on any of that? I would say those are all things that I disagree with, and I've made very clear about my own opinions. And I think that it's important to both be able to be confident in your opinions and be able to have a conversation with those that you disagree with, those that you agree with. Because if you just surround yourself with people who echo everything that you say and think, you're going to just end up at home looking at a mirror.

So, how do you feel you handle that answer? Yeah, we continue to press in on that because I said, listen, having a conversation with someone is different than being on the campaign trail with them. They're fundraising for you. They're out there making the case that they're aligned with you. And many, many Democrats have had that conversation and that experience with Hassan Piker.

Your mayor, as you know, can be very charming, but when you press him on being a Democratic socialist, as I did with Megan Romer over the summer, okay, borders, SCOTUS, jails—we're getting rid of all that stuff. I mean, he really pulls back on.

So, is he a democratic socialist in the sense that they want him to be? Because he's taking a lot of heat from the left, who says, "Well, now that you're the mayor, why haven't you gotten rid of the NYPD? Why haven't you done this and the other?" And I talked to him about, "You didn't arrest Bibi Netanyahu. You don't have a thirty dollars minimum wage." I mean, there are a lot of things you can say in campaigning. Republicans and Democrats do it, but I think he's finding that governing this city is a much different situation in reality.

Shannon, that's that's my hope. They'll realize the math doesn't add up. That you can't be an ideologue. When I look at the mayor's job, that's the least. That's the least ideological position.

Like the smaller the office, the less you have to be political. And that's just it. I mean, for for a while, I forgot Rudy Giuliani was a Republican. All I knew was he was law enforcement, pro law enforcement. I remember he was against Bush for a while.

You know, he was more of a McCain guy.

So there used to be. We forget. There used to not be this Republican Democrat. You know, and sometimes he would switch positions. But now it's all Democrat.

What was your impression of them? Shannon Bream's impression of him at the when the start and the end. I think that he laughs a lot when you do uncomfortable questions. Like you, I don't know if you could tell in the audio there, but you'll see it on camera when I brought up Hassan Piker before even started the question. He starts laughing.

So I think a lot of people don't think Hassan Piker and what he said is funny. I think that's a little bit of a deflection. Like, oh, this is such a silly issue. Why are you even asking about it?

So there's laughter throughout. But he is a charming guy. I asked about his relationship with President Trump. I mean, they text, they call. Where can they work?

Together, and he's somebody who's so young. When you look at him running the city, it seems like such a gigantic job. But he said, you know, he goes all day, all night. Not all your mayors have done that in recent years. This is a guy who doesn't take a lot of naps and do different things.

He's he's about the business, but he realizes that a lot of what he promised is probably not going to happen in reality. Right. I mean, if you if you want to be mayor again. And be successful. How can you diminish cops?

How can you say let crime go up? Let's not back them up. Let's not have another academy. Right now, there is no academy. There's nobody in the academy right now.

He shelved a class, and he's allowing people to retire, and he's kind of pushing them because he's stopping overtime.

So that's not going to work out well for him when those numbers go up. That's my hope. They realize when you pressed Romer on all those things in the summer. Martha hit her again, and she still has no answer. I don't think those numbers right.

I'm not about the numbers. Yeah, and the thing is, you know, I talked to him about all this he's taking on the NYPD that they're still using cameras in different parts of town, that they're using DNA in a way that they said they were going to back off doing. That he hasn't disbanded that strategic group that is about terrorism and about anti-riot groups, and you know, I think he's just realizing the the reality of New York City is you can't completely decimate the cops. He's done some things, I think, to appease the left, but you can't completely. Scale back and disempower the cops, and expect that the city doesn't turn into Mad Max.

So, so you know about Dynthia Raman, who the DSA.

So she wins, and by by the by all accounts, no one knows who she is, or she doesn't have a long trail of accomplishments. But she wants to get rid of the police chief, and I want you to hear. What Rick Caruso is most concerned about, and that's the defund the police movement that was behind her candidacy. Cut nineteen. The bigger issue than decreasing the force is increasing the force.

We are at an all-time twenty-year low, about seven thousand officers at LAPD, and when you have seven thousand officers at LAPD in the city of Los Angeles, on average, you only have about two hundred to two hundred and fifty officers on duty. On the streets, so the bigger question is: We need to increase the force. We need to get back to a force that's about ten thousand men and women that are serving LAPD. I don't blame the union for being concerned. I don't blame the men and women of LAPD for being concerned because of her prior statements.

And I hope she's changing her opinion on this.

So we have to let it play out and and see what she does. Because you got the Olympics, you got the Super Bowl. And you got this homeless situation, which giving them needles and and giving them micro homes has not really worked. And Karen Bass apparently was not progressive enough for Los Angeles. That they're going down this path now.

I mean, it's just you look around at these big cities, and they're going to be laboratories. We're going to see how this stuff works in a lot of these big cities, and we already have enough data on some of these cities to see how it's not working. But this is what people voted for, and they're going to pay for it, whether it's through their tax dollars, what happens to their neighborhoods, whatever. We'll see. Listen, if there is some experiment in socialism that is going to lead to utopia, okay, let's.

It would be the first time ever socialism that has actually worked that way. But this is what voters said they wanted, and you got to think how much of this is just I hate President Trump. I'm mad that he won in 24, and so I'm very excited to go out and vote, and I did it because when you look at some of the things where people voted on policy about cutting taxes or allowing states to make decisions about trans athletes and girl sports, I mean, some of those policy measures actually went in a more conservative way. But when you were just looking at the ticket, DNR, it very much felt like a rebuke of Republicans and primarily of the president.

So Shannon, who else is on Sunday? Got Todd Blanche with us, the Attorney General. On, I want to talk to him about a number of things. First of all, all these warnings to lawyer up for Republicans and members of the Trump administration. Also, that Alaska Senate battle.

There's still a big legal fight going on over that, and the fact that they've been investigating the Supreme Court Dobbs leak is high on my bingo list. All right, I know it is because you started that with Alito. We'll see if the Supreme Court Justice will retire quickly, Clarence Thomas, or Justice Alito. Any indication they are? I talked to Justice Alito yesterday.

He said, "Absolutely not. I have committed to staying through this term." I mean, that's the same vibe we're getting from Justice Thomas. I haven't talked to him since the election, but they both say they're sticking around. Yeah, and who knows what you could do with Tillis, what you're going to do with Cassidy, what you would do with Merkowski, what you do with Collins, because they're all angry and going out.

So they might not even vote for a Supreme Court justice if they were to retire. Thanks so much, Anna. We look forward to seeing you Sunday night. Absolutely, Sunday night, One Nation. Thanks so much.

Yeah, Sunday night, One Nation. We got Mark Halpin is going to be joining us. That'll be great. We're also going to break it down with Lydia Moynihan is going to do the media. We got this great documentarian.

You heard him on the radio show who talked about the Ring of Fire and how the ever since that horrific day, October seventh, how the Israelis have done an incredible job just diminishing their foes, Hezbollah, Hamas, and yes, Iran as well as Assad in Syria. He's now in Russia. We'll talk about that and all that more Sunday at ten o'clock Eastern. Time when we come back. Your calls, and then Tommy Lehrer at the bottom of the hour.

Learning something new every day on the Brian Kilmeade Show. Breaking news, unique opinions. Hear it all on the Brian Kilmeade Show. Hey, we are back.

One eight six six four zero eight seven six six nine. I'm going to have to wait. I've had to cut this block really short. Here's a quick reminder: Saturday, I'm going to be in Clearwater, Florida, with the history, with the my new history book out. This called "Uniting the States: Six Crucial Moments That Forged the American Revolution," which is available now.

And if you want it signed, you go to BrianKillme. dot com. It goes to my local bookstore here in New York, and I'll be able to get it out to you. But I'm going to be on stage talking about all six stories as well as my past books in sports. Books on station Clearwater on Sunday in Jacksonville.

Going to have an early start on Saturday at six, and Jacksonville is going to start at seven. This way, the Jags played already, so you can know there's no college football games. You can just focus on our country, patriotic, inspirational, motivational.

So, hopefully, I'll see everybody there. Sponsored by Fox Nation. Back with Tommy Lahren just a moment. Don't move. The fastest three hours in radio.

You're with Brian Kilmeade. I think we need new blood in our in our party and our politics. Do you think Flash Bud should be in leadership? Perhaps not Chuck Schumer. I absolutely think that we need a better balance.

Would you vote for Senator Schumer to be leader? No, I will not. I've already said that. I told Senator Schumer that I'm you know going to support somebody else. I am tremendously grateful for Chuck Schumer's leadership.

I think it. It's time for new leadership. I still very much believe that it's time for generational change on both sides of the aisle. I'm not going to say who I'm not for. I'm going to say who I am for.

I am for Chris Van Hollen. If he decides he wants to be Senate Majority Leader, I think he'd be amazing at the job.

Well, there you go. A bunch of new Democrats about to go into the Senate in January, saying I'm not going for Schumer, but nobody else is running against him. I am really surprised at this because I remember you know Cornyn and Thune fighting it out, and I remember that Congressman. From a congressman from Ohio going going against Nancy Pelosi, I thought there'd be some type of movement, but as of now, Schumer's the guy.

Now, what does that do if Schumer's the majority leader? And then AOC wants to run against him. I mean, does does that make her not run for Senate?

So that just eliminates that right off. Tommy Lehren's here, co-host of the Big Weekend Show on five to eight Saturday, five to eight on Sunday. She also hosts of OutKicks. Tommy Lehren is fearless and a Fox News contributor. Tommy, so first off, great to see you.

I know you're getting set to to join outnumbered at the top of the hour, right?

So what did your what are your thoughts about about Schumer? Is he still secure? I'm not sure how it's going to shake out. I think the fact that they have such large numbers that they're very excited about it, but I think there should be a lot of Democrats who perhaps shouldn't be so excited about it, right? Because it's going to be the infighting in the Democrat Party that everyone accused the right of having all the infighting, and there is some, you know, to some extent.

But all of these people, like Chuck Schumer, who really went out there to advocate for Abdul Sayed and some of these other far left candidates, it's going to come back to bite them. Because they're not going to put the establishment in charge, and even if the establishment retains control, every day it's going to be a headache for them. Hakeem Jeffries, Chuck Schumer—it's going to be a daily headache for them. And I think that that's going to be the most interesting thing in the next two years: is to see how the Democrat Party regulates itself because they don't have a Nancy Pelosi anymore who did it very well. The whole dynamic shift—it's going to be a free for all.

Yeah, she cuts side deals with the squad, right? And now there is going to be the block, and we'll see what happens. But here is the thing: he's got such margins, he can he does have a lot of play. With Johnson, had no margins, couldn't lose anybody. Literally, he's down to two seats right now.

So, you know, Hakeem Jeffries can go. Yeah, let them hold the press conference. I don't really need their votes. Don't you think? Yeah, but I do think that the energy in the Democrat Party right now is that far left, socialist, communist, free Palestine wing.

It's not even a wing anymore. That is the energy of the Democrat Party. Is it the majority of Americans? No, but it's where the energy is. It's where the fundraising is.

It's where people are getting excited.

So it's going to be very hard for them to walk that line. Fast forward, Tommy, to six months from now. There's a series of votes. Let's say in the spring, summer. And now we're going to have a chance to see Annie Andrews ran like a conservative, moderate conservative.

You see, you see Hamilton in Kansas. It's like, oh no, I'm I'm for working with Trump. Trump does some good things, but moderate to conservative. And then Talerico, oh, he did a great job at the border. He's a builder.

I want to work with him. Are these guys going to act like moderates, like a cinema and a mansion do at times? Do you think that they're going to be like Blue Dog Democrats from the '90s or '80s? No way, no shot. Because you think they lied.

Of course they lied, and it's not at their core. You don't go from I can name my favorite drag queen at the drop of a hat to, but I'm actually more moderate. That's Annie Andrews.

Well, that's Tellerico. Oh, Tellerico. But they're all the same to me. They're all the Spanbergers. They're all the Mikey Cherels.

There is no such thing as a moderate Democrat anymore. Because even if they have some moderate tendencies in their heart, They're going to be, I guess. They're going to have this pull from this far left, where they're where they feel most at home. The DEI, the woke, the LGBTQ, the temporary protected status for the Haitians—they're already messaging about that. That's where their heart is.

Their heart isn't affordability. It never was. They never can't. That's why they lost in twenty twenty four because they didn't care about affordability. They cared about drag queens and trans and LGBTQ and DEI.

That's all they know how to do. They don't know how to do affordability.

So you know, the thing is, you could say it and say.

Okay, you nailed it. That's the issue, but I haven't seen any ideas except for billionaires make too much, and we need to get more money in the pockets of the working class. I don't know. Like, there is no plan. I mean, the day of Contract for America, when Newt Gingrich said, "If you hire us in the House, I'm going to tell you exactly what we're going to do." So now there's going to be pressure on them to do something.

Now, yesterday was interesting because they came out against data centers and AI, and guess what happened? The market lost a thousand points, five percent of its worth. Most of their average American, sixty percent, have a four hundred one k or something called a four hundred fifty seven or a pension. Six out of ten. Right, I understand only certain amount go in the stock market.

I'm talking about rich people. I'm talking about people that are in unions, perhaps.

So they're going to keep attacking literally the golden goose, the magnificent seven. You keep doing that. I mean, this is the biggest own goal in history. If we do that, yeah. Do you think they see that?

I think that they're in some places they're going to be forced to move away from that, especially in Texas, because Texas—that's the data center boom. That was what was promised, and I think maybe one of the reasons Abbott lost, maybe because. Of his advocacy for certain data centers and people didn't like that, but the Democrats they need to make money, so they understand that they're going to have to make money. And if they don't understand that, then it's even worse than we thought. But I think there's going to be some major softening on that issue.

Again, it was just to get elected. They saw that rule Americans hated data centers and they seized on it. Do I really think that these Democrats that got elected on anti AI, anti data centers? Do I really think that they're that anti all those things? No, I.

Think that they just saw an opening to look at rural voters and say we see you, but they're going to betray all these things. What they care about is DEI and LGBTQ. That's what they are. That's where they feel most comfortable, and those are the issues that they will advance. You know what's interesting is because when the and I want you to hear from the governor elect, governor elect.

How do you say it? I'm going to know this step back, but Hinojosa. Whatever. I think yes, I believe that. And was it funny?

We don't even know how to say because we heard almost nothing about her. Yes, and I thought Governor Abbott was a shoe, and I couldn't believe it was close, and let alone it wasn't close in the end. Cut twenty-five. We have always been a pro-business state in Texas, but what changes now with me as governor is it has to be a partnership that benefits Texans. And right now, what has happened is data centers have moved into mostly rural communities, and there are no rules and laws to protect Texans, and Texans are being taken advantage of.

So the difference is, we will have laws to protect. Texans, and we need to stop what we are doing with data centers until we have those protections.

So I'm not against that. I'm you. I want to reuse water. I'm all for that. I want to make sure there's no huge hum overwhelming a community.

Absolutely.

So every community work it out.

So just so you know, there's a whole bunch of plumbers and pipefitters and electricians who would love to put that together. And then I also think that you can't complain about your phone charges and your storage fees while still saying I don't want a data center. You can't have it both ways. Yeah, I think that the problem in messaging. Ahead of the election on AI and data centers, first of all, like let's change the name of it.

I don't think that made people feel any better about it. I think that people in rural communities, and I can say this as someone who comes from one, they are tired of these new ideas being pushed on their communities as the guinea pigs for it. Like, hey, build this hyperscale data center. We'll use it for a few years. We'll probably move away from it because technology will advance, and you'll be stuck with this giant building that's in your farmland and in your Community and they feel like they've been stuck with this before, with the solar panels, with the wind farms, and so they see this coming.

Of like, yeah, they told us that these wind farms were going to be great for us too, and then we're left looking at the graveyard of wind farms.

So it's not that they are against the idea of data centers; they're against being told absolutely you have to shoulder them. Right, and Virginia, Texas, and one other state—I forgot what it was. Georgia is huge. Georgia. Those are the ones that got put in there, but no one.

Yonkin did a ton of stuff, but if. If they're abusing, like everybody else, don't build a mall without telling people in your town, and that town should decide, not the governor, not the president. I'm fine with that. But if you do what Bernie Sanders is saying, this is going to be a trail to nowhere. Cut twenty six.

The American people are deeply concerned about the impact that AI and robotics are going to have in their lives.

So what we need to do: stand up to big tech oligarchs and say we need a moratorium on the construction of data centers. What the American people want, in my view, we need a pause on advanced AI development and a ban on superintelligence, where we could actually lose control of that technology with cataclysmic impacts. Yeah, ban. That's it's so far the other direction. Most people that are against data centers in their backyard don't believe in bans either.

They just are saying, "Hey, yeah." Consult me, and I want to hear the full plan of what you're going to do with these things, how long they're going to be and used for, the jobs that are will actually be long term jobs, not just short term. People just want to feel involved in the decision, but they don't want to ban on everything, a moratorium on everything. And most people are are understanding enough to know that that's not the way either.

So I know people are going to do this nonstop for the next two years. But when you look at candidates in 28, if I said Tom. It is the winter of twenty. Was it twenty-seven? Say the fall of twenty-seven.

We start getting them on the debate stage. I think. We start getting closer to the nomination. Who, who, Republicans do you expect to be lining up there? Give me five.

Well, they're already lining up, so we already know.

So tell me who you.

Well, you are going to see Vance. I am sure you are going to see Ted Cruz. Those are the two right now, along with Governor Ron DeSantis. You think so? And perhaps Rubio.

I don't know. He's playing coy with it, but we'll see how things shake out in the next six months. But for me, there is at least as it stands now, there is one choice, and that's somebody who. Was actually governed. Not with words, but with true policy-focused wins for the people of their state, and that's Governor Ron DeSantis.

And I was eviscerated for saying this back in twenty twenty two, twenty three, twenty four. Like, oh, you you can't possibly. It has to be Trump, and maybe for the time it was Trump, right? But if you look at who's actually able to manage their state, and I'm in Tennessee, it's red. But Florida's a big state, and that state red.

And when I saw in twenty Twenty-two Governor Ron DeSantis win Miami Dade. By double digits. That's when I said, "This guy," and he didn't win. By the way, on telling Hispanics that they weren't going to be their families weren't going to be deported. That's not how he won their vote.

He won their vote by saying, "We are a free state. We foster the economy and business here and freedom." And his message has stayed true to that all the way. Look at the property tax initiative that he got passed in Florida. I give all of Florida's electoral victories on Tuesday to Governor Ron DeSantis because people did not want to change course in Florida where they. Wanted to change course in Iowa and Kansas and maybe even Mississippi for God's sake.

And for those people who think that well the problem is Trump and he don't get along, that's wrong. I talked to him the other night at Hannity and Ainsley's wedding, and he's like, no, the only person I get along with at the White House is actually the president. Typical president, they fight it out, but he gets over it. Tommy, a hundred percent agree with you right now. If the vote was today, that that would be my vote for the nomination.

Tommy, go get go on outnumbered, and if you would dedicate the show to me, I appreciate it. Always do. You don't have to do it verbally.

Okay. Put it in Cairo.

Okay. Definitely in the bottom. In my lower third. If you don't mind, back in a moment. Where big stories meet bigger conversations.

Stay informed and energized with the Brian Kilmeade Show. The talk show that's getting you talking. You're with Brian Kilmeade this morning. The S&P was up, the Dow Jones Industrial was up, and all of a sudden, when the bottom fell out of these AI stocks, everything was down. There was no place to hide at all, and I think that's the danger here, Brett.

And if it and if it lingers too long. And if they and if the rhetoric becomes reality to the to to the extreme, it won't just be read on the screen. We will be talking about economic recession early next year.

So we pay an average of like three trillion dollars in debt and interest every year, and there's about three trillion dollars worth of debt on all these AI companies with the promise of it paying off because of the unknown and the hope and the and the risk. If you go and kill the AI companies, you bring them in front of Congress, you hit them with restraints, and you try to kill the crypto world, you are literally hamstringing our economy. You might say, "Well, I blame Trump." No, I don't think so.

Now with those type of margins in the House and Senate, my hope is that there are people who are business people among the Democrats who say, "What are we doing, guys? What are we doing?" We just lost a thousand points. We can't kill AI. We we're competing and we're we're also thriving off AI. We're going to get credit for making things affordable if we make things affordable.

Blaming Trump, who's leaving leaving the platform, leaving the White House, is not going to work. That's my hope. Because yesterday was such a disaster, but it was a huge, I thought, a huge wake-up call in the big picture.

So I look forward to getting some stuff done. What I like to see is Republicans actually organize and just say, "What can we get done in the lame duck session?" And also, you go to the Democrats and say, "Look, I need this stuff done. You need this stuff done. You know it. It's just going to do nothing but help the economy." Right?

Number one, opening up January. In a shutdown with the government unfunded and the Pentagon unfunded, is not going to be good for Democrats because even though Trump's in charge, they're going to say, "Well, well, I put you in charge, and now you're not funding the government. You're sending air traffic controllers home without pay again." So that's where I think there a lot can get done during that. But in terms of data centers, the All In podcast is really one stop shopping. And I want you to hear what they were saying because Nvidia and all these other stocks they were taking a beating yesterday.

Here's Jason Calcanis with Jesse Waters last night from the All In podcast, which is also co-hosted by David Sachs. Cut twenty nine. I did buy the dip at these prices. Nvidia, Uber, Tesla, SpaceX, Google, Amazon—these are incredible purchases. Not financial advice, but if you're going to talk to your financial manager, get acquainted with the concept of price to earnings.

When these things go down, they are money printing machines. They make the best products and services in the world—not just in the United States, in the world. These are the greatest companies ever created in the history of mankind, and they're getting. Demolished because, as you correctly pointed out, you nailed it in your intro. There, if you're anti data centers, these companies are going to move those data centers other places.

They'll go to India, literally. They'll go to India. They'll go to developing countries. They'll go to Europe, and it's their plumbers, their pipefitters, their electricians that'll benefit. Here's more.

Cut thirty. This is the opportunity for the disenfranchised young people in our country who can't find jobs and who are wondering, "Hey, what do I do with this incredibly overpriced degree?" You know what? If you're part of Generation Tool Belt, you're making a hundred, two hundred people working on data centers are making three or four hundred thousand dollars with the overtime, Jesse. Wow! This is the greatest thing to ever happen in American history.

This is a huge net positive, and I think what you're seeing from the stock market today is they're nervous about this data center issue because people want to stop it. And now, when people talk about water and brown water coming out of your faucet, I'm not saying that every data data set has been built correctly with the community in mind. But Jason Kalkanis brought this up yesterday too. Cut thirty one. There are some pretty dumb people on the far left of that party who don't understand economics, and that the creators in the world—the Elon Musks of the world, the Mark Zuckerbergs of the world, the Jensens of the world—they're the ones who actually create the jobs and who pay the taxes.

Even though there's this fake news, they don't pay taxes. This is where wealth comes from: is the people who create companies. I think they want to extract max value. What's max value in this case? I think they're going to look for additional taxes to be paid by corporations, and they.

Do want some valid assurances? Nobody wants a data center that's polluting, obviously, or using too much water. But a lot of the narrative is fake news. It is a data center hoax. They use recycled water.

They have a closed loop system. They're golf courses use more water than data centers.

So a lot of it's fake news.

So. I heard not all of them have closed loop systems. Maybe the ones in the beginning, but whole cities are being built.

So you heard what he was saying. I mean, this is the one thing that's underappreciated. I would never be a good. Plumber, pipefitter, construction guy. Not that I'm not willing, but I have just no skills.

I don't take to it. I have to read every word of every direction to the simplest thing. Whether I was putting together a crib or a bicycle, I'm pathetic. And it's not that I don't try. I don't have that gene, but a lot of you do.

And if you do, my goodness, one hundred, two hundred, three hundred thousand dollars? You got to be kidding me! And they say, well, it's short term. You're right. And guess what?

Another data center has got to be built, like the pipeline.

Sometimes you got to move with the pipeline.

So, okay, Louisiana is building right now.

South Dakota just got green lighted. Memphis just got green lighted.

So, I just, I just hope people sober up and stop with the rhetoric and start governing. That's what I hope. See you on One Nation Sunday night at ten. Put the power of over 100 meteorologists and the worldwide resources of Fox in your hands with the Fox Weather Podcast. Precise, personal, powerful.

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