Matt Gaetz drops out of AG nomination, will not serve in next Congress

From Hyatt. Tom Fox News headquarters in New York City. Always seeking solutions, never sowing division. It's Brian Kilmead. To the latest moments of the Brian Kill Me Show.

So glad you're here. Man, it's been a crazy week, but a good week. I mean, not a lot of controversy, but just a lot of news. Mark Thiessen standing by, John O'Hurley, actor, author, comedian, good friend of the show, game show host, I should add, and also hosting the. He's also ho I didn't know he's gonna be in studio.

Wow. He's also hosting the National Dog Show on NBC, and he does have a very good voiceover.

So if when it is time to do my life story, if you could book him. It would be a wonderful surprise. That's okay. Let's get to the big three.

Now, with the stories you need to know, it's Brian's big three. Number three. In my mind, this is an experimental missile. I doubt they have any arsenal of it because it is experimental. And he's trying to use this as much leverage as he can to change the behavior of the United States and also Zelensky.

And he's talking about Vladimir Putin, that, of course, General Jack Keene, raising the stakes in the grinding, grueling war with Ukraine. The next days might be the most crucial in the conflict. We'll break it down. Number two. Would the Massachusetts State Police assist in mass deportations?

No, absolutely not. I think that the key here is that, you know, every tool in the toolbox has got to be used to protect our citizens, to protect our residents. Yep. It is showdown before the Trump takeover. Migrant crime raging, and Dems turn a blind eye.

Tone deaf. How many more lives have to be lost or altered before Tom Omen and Donald Trump take over? Number one. When Gates resigned, he announced he did not intend to serve in the next Congress. Gates cannot revoke his resignation for this Congress, but because he was elected two weeks ago, he could serve next year.

So odd. Congressman Gates, shown the door as Trump trades up and names Pam Bondi as his AG nominee. Mark Thiessen, Washington Post, fellow of the American Enterprise Institute, host of the podcast, What the Hell is Going On? joins us. Mark, I heard you with Brett.

And I know you were trying to be subtle, but it just came clear. Matt Gates was not the right pick. Others were. I think I feel relieved because I want the president to be successful. I think everyone should, that he's out.

Do you? 100%. Look, this is a mistake, but it was a quickly recovered mistake. I think the Gates nomination lasted eight days.

So this was not protracted. This is not going to cause a problem for his transition. As you say, he traded up. Pam Bondi is a great choice for Attorney General, someone who is an accomplished lawyer, who has served as a state attorney general, who's a prosecutor, and who's loyal to Trump and is going to clean up the Justice Department.

So I think we've come out of it. We started this week in a bad place, and we've come out of it in a great place. How do you think Pete Hagsett's doing from what he's dealing with? The guy that not many people are really familiar with, if people don't know, Harvard, he went to Princeton undergrad, Harvard Masters, served in the National Guard for 18 years, rose to major, has served in two theaters, two separate tours of duty, also with the National Guard, has done things domestically, and wrote two books very critical of the culture in the Pentagon. Your thoughts about what Pete's facing?

Well, first of all, I love Pete and I wish him all the best. And look, he's not, he will not be the youngest Secretary of Defense. He's 44, and Don Rumseld was 43 when he first became Secretary of Defense.

So, you know, I think what we need is some youthful vigor at the Pentagon. And he's going to go through the confirmation process and he's going to get some questions. And all of this is why we have a confirmation process. He's going to have some tough questions. He's going to have to explain himself and convince the Senate that he's the right man to lead the Pentagon.

RFK Jr. is going to have to convince the Senate that he is qualified to run the HHS. Tulsi Gabbard is going to have to convince them as well that she's qualified to be qualified for those posts. Those are the nominees that are going to have some scrutiny. I think the rest of his cabinet is going to sail through.

I think that he's made, if you just look at the breadth of the choices he's made, from Elise Stefanik and Marco Rubio to Doug Bergham, not just being Interior Secretary. But being like a running a national energy council, like being a super energy czar for the administration, I'm very excited about the Trump cabinet. What about Doge? What's your sense? Because you know how government works, and you also know how talented Vivek and Elon Musk are.

Yeah.

So, first of all, I think that the Elon Musk-Donald Trump partnership is the greatest partnership between an American president and an inventor since George Washington and Benjamin Franklin. I mean, this is, you know, they're going to just like they revolution, they led the American Revolution, they're going to revolutionize American government. I think it's fantastic. I think it's getting bipartisan support. Chris Coons came out in support of the Doge.

You know, if they can save us trillions of dollars in spending through by taking an outsider's fresh look at how government functions, that is terrific.

Now, the problem you got to keep in mind is that most governments, this is not going to solve our problems. You know, we should be spending the taxpayers' money efficiently because every dollar that goes into the federal treasury, a waitress, a factory worker, a mechanic, a plumber worked really hard to make that money and send it to Washington.

So we have a responsibility to spend every tax dollar responsibly and make sure that we're getting the most out of it and that's being spent. On priorities. But the discretionary spending is a tiny fraction of the federal budget. You're not going to solve the debt problem by taking, even if you, even if this is the most efficient project ever, it's not going to work. It's sort of like the conservative equivalent of taxing the rich.

There are not enough rich people to pay for everything that the left wants to do, right? There's not enough discretionary spending to solve the fiscal crisis that our country's in.

So the only way you ever do that is to take on entitlement spending, to reform Social Security, reform Medicare, and all those other things, which Trump has kind of said he doesn't want to do. Both candidates campaigned on not touching those.

So you're not going to solve the debt problem by this, but it's worth doing because we shouldn't be wasting trillions of dollars. It just shouldn't be happening. And so if they can get $2 trillion in savings out of this thing, or maybe more, that would be a great service for America.

Well, I'll put it this way: they better run it all past Marjorie Taylor Greene because I don't want Elon Musk and Vivek not running it past the chairman of this new Doesche she's named there, so there'll be an interesting triple threesome. But But Mark, I think the focus is going to be this. For example, Social Security. I'm not cutting Social Security, but I'll cut the number of people working in the Social Security department. And I'll do it by bringing up the software to the 21st century, bringing the computers, find a way to consolidate.

So I'm not going into discretionary spending. I'm looking at the apparatus supporting the non-discretionary spending. That's what I thought one of the approaches was. Yeah, I think, and that's all good. Although you probably don't want to cut the number of people working on Social Security, because the second someone doesn't get their Social Security check, they're going to blame you for having cut the size of the Social Security administration.

But again, I mean, I think one of the things Trump has proposed is no taxes on Social Security income, which is kind of counter to the idea of putting Social Security on a more stable fiscal footing.

Now, maybe you can do that, take those taxes out of the general revenue, but it's all eventually money's fungible. It's all one pot. Remember from Al Gore, there is no lockbox, it's all one pot of money.

So, you know, I would love to see him take on Social Security reform in some way over the course of administration. One of the advantages of never having to run again is you can do things that don't touch anybody's current Social Security spending and people who are going to retire soon but could put it on a fiscally stable path. for uh for uh for future generations to mark teason our guest Mark, uh The use uh the use of these what they're calling A experimental intermediate-range ballistic missile by Vladimir Putin, who quickly went on television and said it flies at 2.5 miles per second. The world's current air defense systems and the missile defense system developed by Americans in Europe do not intercept missiles like this. It's a warning and shows how upset he is about the release of restrictions on ATACMs and I think it's Storm Chasers or whatever.

I forgot the name of the type of long-range rockets, the British ones. How about that? Yeah, yeah.

So, your thoughts about what he did.

So, first of all, I'm glad that Biden finally lifted the restrictions on Ukraine using these missiles because what the Russians have been doing is that they are firing missiles from Russian territory at Ukrainian cities, blowing up schools, blowing up hospitals, and they've been doing it with impunity because the Ukrainians have not been allowed to retaliate against them. And so, you know, if you're going to fire missiles from Russian, if you don't want Russian territory to be hit, don't fire missiles from Russian territory at Ukraine. It's not a one-way street.

So I just wish Biden had done this two years ago and he had given them the attack on two years ago. Biden, everything is too late. If we had given the Ukrainians everything that we're giving them now and lifted all the restrictions, this war would have ended two years ago and with a Ukrainian victory when the Russians were on their heels.

So Biden's incompetence has led to this protracted struggle. At the same time, Vladimir Putin is sort of flexing his nuclear muscles. He is not going to use a nuclear weapon. And I'll tell you why. I can give you a number of reasons, but number one, he is afraid of Donald Trump.

He is not going to escalate this and do it before Donald Trump.

Now that Trump has made it maybe before Trump had been elected, but he understands Donald Trump told him in that phone call that he denies ever happened. Don't escalate. And if he starts escalating, if he tried to use a nuclear weapon, he would incur the wrath of Donald Trump, and he doesn't want to do that. That's one of the reasons why, if you look at the history, he invaded Georgia under my old boss, George W. Bush.

He invaded Crimea under Obama. He did nothing under Trump, and then he invaded again under Biden. What pattern do you see here? He doesn't escalate under Donald Trump's presidency.

So I think the chances are near zero that he's going to use a nuclear weapon once Trump has been elected. We both believe that he has a bigger picture in mind. Even though he has performed terribly militarily and paid an awful price of $700,000 removed from the battlefield, he has to beg Iran and North Korea for weapons and artillery, and now men, they still have a mission, and that is to take back the areas that once belonged. To them and rattle the cages of the West. This is what General Keen, who believes that, that they don't want to stop there.

They threatened Poland yesterday, too, by the way. He said this, and I did not, and I missed it. It was about what was written in a German paper. This, CUP 33. Then German intelligence actually publicized recently, and I suspect our intelligence agencies feel much the same.

The reality is they said that Russia fully intends, after Ukraine is finished with, to expand into Europe. And all the European nations know that, and certainly I think our country knows that. We're in a pre-war era. There's already two wars in our geographical key areas, the Middle East and Europe, and President Xi is threatening war, obviously, in the Indo-Pacific region.

So he they're admitting the expansions n i is on his things to do list. And that that is written to, I think, alert the West. This is no joke. Do you think it's as significant as General Keene? I do.

I mean, look, Vladimir Putin, if you want to know what Vladimir Putin's plans are, just read the 6,886-word essay he wrote, which is on the Kremlin website. You can go see it now and see what his plans are. He's laid it all out about why Ukraine and Russia, the Ukrainians and the Russians are one people, and how he, with the dissolution of the Soviet Empire, was a disaster. I mean, he's laid it out. One of the lessons we've learned from history is take the words of your enemies seriously.

Osama bin Laden issued a fatwa in 1996 saying declaring war on America, and we ignored it, and 9-11 happened. You can go back even further, and Adolf Hitler wrote Mein Kampf. Where he laid out his plans to eradicate the Jews and then restore the German, create a thousand-year Reich, and then we ignored it and we had the Holocaust. I mean, we need to take the words of our enemies seriously. And we need to, when our enemies tell us they're going to do something, and by the way, Xi Jinping has written that he plans to take back Taiwan.

Every one of our enemies has told us this.

So, you know, listen, when your enemies tell you their plans, take them seriously. I just hope I hope Trump goes in there and understands, hears all voices. Nobody likes war, but it wasn't our choice. And the people we're fighting are going to keep fighting whether we support Ukraine or not. And that's the thing.

So he inherited the rise of ISIS in the first year of when he came into Presid in his Presidency. He he he believes it would have never happened if he had been President, but he inherited it and he and he took the gloves off our military and destroyed them in a matter of months.

So the question is so now he's inherited a war in Ukraine that would have never happened if he was president, and he needs to end it in a way that is sust that has is a sustainable peace. And I just think understanding it's not about Ukraine, it is about Ukraine directly, but indirectly, it's about a dominance of Eastern Europe. It's going to be more expensive to help NATO and to work with NATO if they're able to have success in Ukraine. And we're going to be spread out through the Pacific, too, because Channel will say, I know exactly the formula to take Taiwan. And wait the Americans out.

They lose interest. Yep. No, and look, here's the thing we got to figure out: okay, is whether Donald Trump, whether the war in Ukraine continues or the or or Donald Trump succeeds in having a peace accord, we're going to have to find a way to arm Ukraine long term because even if there's a peace accord, they're going to have to be able to have a strong military to deter Russia from starting up again.

So we've got to find a mechanism to do that without the taxpayers subsidizing it. And there's ways to do that. They have $26 trillion in natural resources, titanium, iron ore, natural gas that can be exploited. That can be used to fund the war. There's $300 billion in Russian assets that have been seized by Europe.

Why don't we take those assets, give it to the Ukrainians, and let them buy weapons from America so we get the $300 billion. It revitalizes our defense industry. The Russians pay for the Ukrainian weapons, and Ukraine gets the weapons it needs to deter or defeat Russia. There's lots of ways to do this. And by the way, American tax.

Have invested. $150 billion in securing Ukraine. They've got $26 trillion in resources. Do we want those to go to Russia and China, or do we want them for America? I think I know the answer.

I love your rhetorical answers when I know the answer. And I ask these questions because I know you know the answer. Right, Mark. I'm almost worthy to co-host a podcast with you, but not quite there yet. Mark Thiessen, thanks so much.

Have a fantastic weekend. Take care. All right. And he's also relieved that Matt Gates is no longer in the mix. Back with your calls in a moment.

John O'Hurley, the legendary actor, soon. And of course, I'm so glad you're there. Don't move. Diving deep into today's top stories. It's Brian Kilmead from the Fox News Podcasts Network.

I'm Ben Dominich, Fox News contributor and editor of the Transom.com daily newsletter, and I'm inviting you to join a conversation every week. It's the Ben Dominich Podcast. Subscribe and listen now by going to FoxnewsPodcasts.com. A radio show like no other. It's Brian Killmead.

Pam Bondi is exactly what I was saying in the last segment that we should all fear because she's competent. We may not agree with her ideologically, but she actually knows how to do this job.

So if anyone on the Democratic side or anyone who cared about liberty or justice was thinking, well, maybe Matt Gates will screw this up and that'll give us some time. No, Pam Bondi knows what she's doing. Mm-hmm. That was a that's a compliment. And that's just it.

She's a conservative prosecutor, aggressive one, and that is Jason Johnson on MSNBC. I guess that's what they're still calling it, MSNBC. Because did you read yesterday, they're going to be selling it off And maybe changing the name or putting it into a different form on the company. Man, I personally don't get it. Because MSNBC, whatever you want, I thought it makes money.

I thought you'd keep it on cable, but you got it streaming. You know, so I don't know how you don't think that would be a profit engine. I also heard that Rachel Maddow was forced to take a pay cut. I mean, she should take a pay cut. She works one day a week for $25 million.

But she's the only one there who gets ratings.

So I just thought that was crazy. But this is what's great. Which what Trump wants to do. I think is get people that are going to be disruptive, but that are competent and experienced.

So you might not like what they're going to do, but you can't doubt that they can do it. That's why it's so effective For when Tulsi Gabbard's able to go up there and sell her story, tell her personal background, let them try to land a blow on her in order at the committee hearings and nomination sessions. Good luck with that. Because I think she's gonna be great. They're gonna ask her about Syria and Russia.

And she's going to have a chance to fire back about what it was like being on the no-fly list, why how hurtful it was, but she doesn't complain about being hurt, how hurtful it was that people say she was a Russian asset like Hillary Clinton. And that's why being head of the Department of National Intelligence would work. I think that Christy Noam and others just have to describe how their skills apply to the job. I thought Matt Gates was unsellable. I think if the president likes him so much, he should put him in the White House.

And the guy is very loyal to him and knows Congress.

So that might be a voice he wants around him. You don't have to go through the nomination process. The more you listen, the more you'll know. It's Brian Killmead. We are back, and one of our favorite all-time guests is in the studio, John O'Hurley, actor, author, comedian, game show host.

Did I leave anything out, John? No. Is there anything else you can do? Excerpt, magician? Except to say that of all the press that I'm doing this week, this was the show I looked forward to because I enjoy spending so much time with you.

Now, I am going to see Stuart Varney later, so I will say another way to say pretty much the same thing to him. But I enjoy my time with you so much. I'm excited. I didn't know it was 20-plus years, the National Dog Show on NBC, Thanksgiving Day. It'll be on from 12 to 2.

I did not know you were doing it that many years. I don't like that. We hold an audience between. On any given year, between 25 and 30 million people. Isn't that great?

And did you go in as an expert in dogs or just passion? Do you dislike dogs? Would you like to hear the dog? What did your dog resume look like? This is the first year that we had the dog show.

They brought the old English sheepdog up to the judge, this elegantly gowned woman. And if you don't know what an old English sheepdog is, it's 80 pounds of hair and two pounds of actual dog.

So she walks around to the back of the dog. She starts picking through all of the hair on the back of the dog. And I turned to David Fry, my co-host, the most knowledgeable man of the world on dogs. He's been on our show. And I said, David, can you explain what she's doing?

He says, John, she's putting her hands on the dog to make sure that the shoulders and the hips align with the written specification of what the perfect old English sheepdog should be. He said, because you can hide a really bad dog with a really good haircut. And I said, you're telling me I went to Junior Prom. She walks around to the front of the dog and starts picking through the hair on the dog's head. And I said, David, David, what is she doing now?

He says, John, she's trying to find the eyes to make sure that they gauge the attentiveness of the dog. And I said, Really? I said, well, if she picks through all of that hair and she finds only one eye, she's got the wrong end of the dog.

So this is on air. Yes, this was my first year of the dog. And he loved it, right?

Well, it turned out, you know, it turned out in USA. Because he has a sense of humor.

Well, you know, in the USA today, on Monday, they always have notable comments from the sports commentators, and that was right up at the top. The wrong end of the dog. Oh, Hurley.

Well, that is fantastic.

So you look forward to it. Oh, every year. You know why? But you have to repair, though, right?

Well, when we started off back in 2002, there were 165 breeds that were registered with the AKC.

Now there are 213. We have 205 of them at this show. It's a record number that we've ever had.

So it's a lot. You've got to know a lot of new things. Things. Every year there are spring and new breeds. We have a brand new breed this year.

The Lancashire Healer, which is a little looks like a corgi, and it is, in fact, a A herding dog. It kind of nips at the tiny herding dog. I wouldn't say tiny, but small, but smaller. It's amazing how much herding we needed at one point. Like everything, like you have the border collie, also a herding dog.

They told me the Great Pyrenees was hurting dogs. I have them. The Great Pyrenees, the Newfoundland, also a herding dog.

Well, you remember. Men just didn't want to do it.

Well, if you think about it, dogs really weren't pets 4,000 years ago. We used them to stay alive. We used them for.

Now, I mean, here's another one: ratting. Remember those Halcyon days of ratting? Not yet. What is rat, do you actually kill rats with dogs?

Well, all of the terriers were ratters. Yeah, they were all meant to get the vermin. That's why their heads are always that kind of little shape, and they go right down the hole and they pull out the and that's why the dogs also have that stubby little tail. You pull them out by the tail. These are things this is fascinating.

I mean, I'm being serious because I'm a big dog family.

Well, dogs have a breed. The breeds have a form and a function, and that's what. the show is all about. It's keeping the rich history of breeding alive so that these dogs can continue to do what they were bred to do. And it's it's just fascinating to see that some I mean, you're right, when you talk about an Australian shepherd, you can whistle or snap a finger and that dog will hear that a quarter of a mile away and respond to it with the in the herd.

And it's fascinating to watch. Yeah, my brother's really into this. Can see any dog and tell you exactly where it is. But now I'm obsessed with if I see a dog and I don't know what it is, I go up to I have to know. I saw Australian.

What is the Australian Shepherd shaggy? I saw a shaggy shepherd. It was bigger at the shoulder than the typical German shepherd. No, that was bred into something. Oh, you really?

Yeah, it was bred into something. Yeah, there are much. The Australian Shepherds are.

Well, the show has no cheaters. It has to be, you know, we're selling the pedigrees. We're going for the pedigrees. And like you. Right.

You're a predigree. Not really. I'm Irish and Italian.

So I would not be in your show. Oh. Right. I've it's a mix that seems to work. I know a lot of successful people that are Irish and Italian, but we're going to do a study on it at the end.

So you are also very much into the news. John O'Harley. Into what? Into the news. Oh, exactly.

You keep up there with me. Every time I talk to you, I saw you at Brett Bears. Yes. Brett Bears, a great thing that he does for. For General Hospital and the Children's Hospital.

The Children's Hospital right in Washington D. His child, I'll tell you. They've done wonderful things with Brett's son. Right, absolutely. And everybody else.

So, where do you live now? I live in L.A. In Lollaville. Who was the response in L.A. to the election?

Because Trump seemed to have gained in 49 of 50 states, including in cities. Of course, not the majority. If you looked at the progressive Um Color change in the state of California during the election, you will see it turning more and more rosé. To use a wine analogy for California. And I find that to be a very telling thing.

That I think that there is a certain intolerance now of the way that things are being handled out there. That state is way too expensive, and it's just a mess. Gascon ousted with 30%. Isn't that a great sign? Remember the whole cops are bad to fund the police?

Well, the criminals deserve to be free. That's got him 30% of the vote in Los Angeles. Doesn't that give you hope?

Well, it does. And also the fact that they're waiting for the The signing in of the new uh The DA two overlooked the Menendez case. What's your thought about that? I don't know. My daughter came out there.

This is taking over college campuses. Yeah.

Because they watched the movie and with the reenactments and they there I'm getting all these questions from my college daughters. Yeah, I don't know. I it it I I I it would when I first heard about it years and years ago, I I had trouble buying into the mol molestation. And um And that being used as a reason to remove the heads of your parents. I think at one point you fire enough bullets, you say, Well, I'm not as mad as I was when I started this.

Exactly.

So I don't know. I mean, they did an atrocious thing to their parents.

So I don't know. I don't know. It's got to be friendly center in Los Angeles, surely.

So we watched. A lot of people go to endorse Kamala Harris, who's the California's finest. And she's out there. We watched Beyoncé. We watch.

Willie Nelson, uh Bruce Springsteen. Uh The stallion? Uh what was uh um for what was the stallion's first name? Megan the stallion.

Sorry. Courti B she struggled a little bit. Yep, she was out there, yeah.

Well, she she fortunately she had her smartphone. Right. After like five minutes. It did. And it it it proved a thing that I've always said.

I'm a celebrity doesn't mean that my opinions deserve to be celebrated. I am just another bozo on the bus. And that's all we are out there. We do happen to do one thing well, but it doesn't transfer into the fact that we are any smarter than anybody else. But George Clooney ousted a president.

Can you believe it? George Clooney.

So we can't say celebrities don't have power, John O'Hara. They they do. And but I also it backfired on him. It's backfired. He has openly said that I am staying out of politics for the foreseeable future.

I apologize. I'm sorry, not accepting.

So I want you to hear what Joe Rogan said, who used to be in California, moved over to Texas, wanted to pay a little bit less taxes, although he went to Austin, which is a fine city, but it's very liberal. But he's not a Republican, and he's not a conservative. I'm listening to these people say, Joe, we need a Joe Rogan for our side. He was on your side. He was voting for Bernie Sanders.

He's not for Republicans or Democrats, for common sense. But listen to what he said has happened since he came out to endorse President Trump. Do you know how many artists? that have reached out to me that are like Hippies, man, like artists, like musicians, comedians. That Thanked me for endorsing Trump because they can't do it.

They said they want to, but they don't want to be attacked. They can't say it. They think the country is going in the wrong direction. They think that this control of social media by the government, which we would have had pretty much. Pretty much fully, if it wasn't for Elon buying Twitter.

This is a dangerous precedent to set, whether it's a right-wing government or a left-wing government. It d it doesn't surprise you? No, it doesn't not at all. Not at all. There there is a you know, we had a quiet um group of people called um Friends of Abe years ago, which was the conservative element in the- I spoke to them.

You did. They asked me to speak to them. And Gary Sinise and Kelsey Grammer, myself, and Tommy Dreesen, a few other people, John Boyd as well. That was all part of the beginnings of that group. And there were 2,000 members of that group.

I just think about you think of Hollywood as a unilateral political thought, that everybody's like a lemming to the sea.

Well, not so. Not so, not at all. But it's a very quiet response. And I'll tell you, the reason I believe is that. The Um Liberal mentality moves towards the organiz towards groups.

They form groups. You look at BLM, you look at uh uh uh Planned Parenthood, you look at PETA, you look at all of these that are essentially liberal groups. And that's what they move towards, and the power of the group will then have the. Um Usually be a little less mature than the individuals in it. But if you look at conservatives, you can't poll them because you can't find them.

And I don't know who else is. who else is conservative? Because we don't talk about it. We just go about our lives and feel that we are personally responsible for our success or our failure. And that's what it is.

So you can't really find us to poll us. And that's why they always underpoll the conservative uh This always blew me away because I have a lot of actor friends and also did stand-up for a while. It is pure. Meritocracy. I mean, look, John, you probably you might be you might have a friend that recommends you and you might get a part, but if you can't perform, if you don't know those lines, under pressure, if you don't get ratings, if you don't get viewers, you don't get box office, after a while, if you don't, if you're not a good team player, if you don't put the work in, you're not going to get hired.

Yeah.

They subscribe to a lot of Elements and beliefs that show I'm going to share my money with other people. We're not going to be a meritocracy. We don't really like that capitalism. It's not really fair. It is I am privileged for the opportunity to fail, I guess.

So It'll go, it's almost counterintuitive. I look at actors when they make it, they make it. But you know how little money you guys have when you start? You're sharing small apartments together. You can't afford to live in Los Angeles.

And how, and you remember how you try to get an agent, they won't return you a call. You're going to outwork them. That is a fundamental composite American dream. I'm going to pursue my dream. And when you finally get there, you know how hard you worked.

You should be the last one that wants to give up 60% of your paycheck.

Well, interesting. Layer that with the cushion of a union. We have act the actors' union and things like that, and people have grown up as professional actors, but they always have the protection of the union. that provide the minimum payments, to provide all of the benefits and stuff.

So it it becomes as you move on, it becomes less and less of a um of a a solo adventure and it becomes that you can move along with the cushion of the of the union. Does the union provide money when you can't get work? Mm-hmm. Oh, I didn't know that. Yeah, they do have a fund that you can uh that that.

Do you tap into? I have I haven't had to tap into that. No, but I'm saying you've known people that tap into and say So have you lost money? Have you lost jobs because you didn't vote for the money? The answer to your question very simply.

I had two very large, I would say sizable endorsement contracts that I lost because within two weeks of filming the CEO of each of the companies, and they will remain nameless, found out that I was a conservative, and they canceled the contract. Does that does that anger you? Oh, terribly. Terribly, because it, you know, it's it's it's it's difficult enough to get to a point in your career when you finally can command some attention and to have that wiped free because of um Because of your simple political beliefs. And and I don't I mean, I don't eschew anybody else their their their beliefs at all.

I I don't care, frankly. Right. Yeah, I don't care. Would I mean, if you feel differently than I do, then good. But I've lost many friendships over it.

I've lost, uh, um And certainly work. And again, and then there is the other side of it, too, is that you'll never know the jobs you've lost. They don't say, hey, by the way, John, you're not getting that job.

So John is pumped up today because he is announcing the National Dog Show. He's going to be hosting again on NBC, Thanksgiving Day, which is right around the corner, 12 to 2, wherever you get NBC on your cable dial. Not available on UHF. Is that true? More with John R.

Hurley in just a moment. Brian, Kilmicho. Educating, entertaining, enlightening. You're with Brian Kilmead. If you're interested in it, Brian's Talking About It, you're with Brian Kilmead.

Elaine, you're out of control. You need help. I know what you're going through. I too once fell under the spell of opium. It was 1979.

I was traveling the Yangtze in search of a Mongolian horsehair vest. When I got to the market after sundown, all of the clothing traders had gone. But a different sort of trader still lurked about. Just a tasty set. That was all they took.

Mr. Peterman, I I don't know what's going on here. I am not addicted to anything. Oh, Elaine, the tall road of denial is a long and dangerous one. The price?

Yes, so And by the way, you have till five o'clock to clear out your desk. You'll fire it. John O'Hurley on Seinfeld. John is here. The National Dog Show is coming up on NBC on Thanksgiving Day from 12 to 2, and it's our chance to talk about also comedian, author, actor, game show host, he'll do it all spokesperson, too.

Mm-hmm. Right? I do. Did Seinfeld Did it hurt you getting Seinfeld? Did they know you were conservative before you got Seinfeld?

No. And he wouldn't have cared anyway, right? And, you know, back then, I don't politics never entered into Hollywood. I never heard. And I never even realized that Hollywood was liberal-leaning.

I never knew. Never knew. It really wasn't until it wasn't until Obama that I really got the I got the message. Why? It was just it was just apparent that everything was going to be leaning that way.

I thought the apology to President Obama when he went overseas and apologized for America, I go, I never heard that before. We used to be accused of being walking around with too much of a swagger like we were the best country ever. And his wife saying how ashamed she was of America. I've heard that. John, you feel optimistic, though, going into this Thanksgiving season.

A sense of optimism that I have never felt at any other time of my adult life. I truly mean that. I feel the same way.

So many people have said that to me. Why do you think it is?

Well, because I have never stayed in an Obama. I never stayed in a Hillary. I never stayed in a Biden. But I've stayed in a Trump, and it was always the best place in town. Right.

And I get the sense he's not going to be a great Republican or Democrat. I mean, he's going to be a great leader. He does what he completes what he says he's going to do. And I can't find that anywhere in the political landscape. And he starts with the border.

Yes, shut it up. He starts with the border, and then we get rid of the criminals and we go from there. John O'Hurley, thanks so much. Check out the video. Great to be with you.

National Dog Show on NBC. He's got to tell Stuart Varney that he likes him too almost as much as me. Will he say that verbatim? Stay tuned to find out. From the Fox News Radio Studios in Midtown Manhattan, it's the fastest-growing radio talk show.

Brian. In Kill Mead.

So glad you're here. I'm here at 48th and 6th in Middown Manhattan. We're going to light the tree right in at Fox Boulevard, Fox Square. Tonight is going to be exciting. Starts the holiday season.

There's a sense of optimism in the air, too, for the country. I'm not, do you realize how little we say Republican or Democrat? It is left, right, okay, got it. And Trump is war to the right, got it, understood. But you know, so many times you don't even think about his policies as right or left, you think right and wrong, whether it's supporting the police or whether it's lining up enforcing our border, getting illegal immigrant criminals off the streets.

There should be nothing Republican about anything I say. We're expanding our military-industrial base, have peace through strength, but build up our troops again, start recruiting people for the military again, unleash the smartest people you can find in order to hone down and slim down our government and get it more efficient. There's nothing Republican that I said. Then he grabs a Kennedy to, with his fantastic food and nutritional knowledge, as well as his environmental ability, to go revamp HHS. Not going to be easy.

But do you hear me mention Republican or Democrat? Let's get to the big three.

Sure.

Now, with the stories you need to know, it's Brian's big three. Number three. In my mind, this is an experimental missile. I doubt they have any arsenal of it because it is experimental. And he's trying to use this as much leverage as he can to change the behavior of the United States and also Zelensky.

That is General Keene with me today on Fox and Friends. Vladimir Putin raises the stakes in a grinding, gruly war with Ukraine. The next days might be the most crucial in the conflict. We'll break it down. Number two.

Would the Massachusetts State Police assist in mass deportations? No, absolutely not. I think that the key here is that every tool in the toolbox has got to be used to protect our citizens, to protect our residents. That is, uh, of course, Maura Healy. The obscene governor from Massachusetts, who doesn't see the danger in any of the illegal immigrant activity in their state, even though they picked up two child molester illegal immigrants yesterday.

Showdown before the Trump takeover, migrant crime raging, and Dems turn a blind eye. How many more lives have to be lost or altered before Tom Holman and Donald Trump take over in January? Number When Gates resigned, he announced he did not intend to serve in the next Congress. Gates cannot revoke his resignation for this Congress, but because he was elected two weeks ago, he could serve next year.

Chad Pergram, Matt Gates, shown the door as Trump trades up and names Pam Bondi as his Attorney General nominee. I think it's great on all counts. I bet you Gates goes in somehow, gets a slot in the White House. By the way, if you ever want to get the podcast, BrianKillmeatShow.com, wherever you get podcasts, we knock down the three-hour live show into a podcast that people seem to love. Andrew Gruhl joins us now, chef and founder of the popular.

Oh, at 10:30, I apologize. But he's coming up in 20 minutes. He's the founder of Slapfish Restaurant and now the author of the Gruel Family Cookbook and hosts a weekly cooking show. By the way, every time I have somebody with a cookbook on, that's the only time I get tax from my relatives to make sure I bring the book home. I guess they don't want to pay.

So that's the big three we're talking about today. I am so glad that Matt Gates is out. He wasn't right for the position. He was hated more by Republicans than Democrats. I thought he was disqualified the day he blew Kevin McCarthy up.

He never tried a case before and should not be Attorney General. And the president just realized you're not going anywhere, so we're going to make the change.

So they immediately had somebody else lined up who is extremely competent, more experienced, and also will have the president's back. Let's not kid ourselves. You have to have the President's back if you're in there, because they're going to be coming for you, especially if your name is Trump. He didn't have the votes to begin with.

Now, here is Ross Dudat, who was on he's from the New York Times. He was on with Brett last night. That's when this change was announced, and that's when we found out. Who the new A G nominee would be, Cut Ten. There's nothing incredibly abnormal in American history about having a loyalist as your Attorney General.

I think the idea that the Attorney General's office exists in some kind of pristine independence from the Presidency has always been something of an illusion. Right. And the wingman of Eric Holder. Those were his words exactly. She's going to be tough to debunk.

So that puts pressure. I guess they're going to try to pressure Christy Noam and Pete Hagseth and try to pressure Tulsi Gabbard. I just don't think they're going to get anywhere. I think they're all competent and have the answers. They're also all good on camera.

And that's what it is: the testimony of the nominations on camera, and they'll study.

So, when to be head of the Department of Defense, you've got to learn different stuff. It's what I believe, but also what should you know? They're going to ask yourself: Do you know how big the Navy is? Do you know how big the Army is? Do you know how big the Air Force is?

What about the Space Force? Where do you see it? What's the image? What about the budgeting? Where can you shave?

Where can you change? What needs to be done? You wrote in your book: be ready for every excerpt in your book. The also scary thing with Pete that would just intimidate me from doing this, ever running for office, perhaps, is. I'm on three hours live every day and three hours on radio.

Pete's on eight hours minimum a week live. Eight hours on the number one network. And then he does a lot of live stuff and he's all over the channel filling in. They're going to look through all of it and try to find something that they find abhorrent or unacceptable. And he's got to be ready to defend it.

And I know that J.D. Vance, I don't think, did a good job telling everyone what was on those podcasts when he was just an author and a businessman. And of course team with Ron Howard on the movie. And a lot of stuff came up, and they said, Well, can you defend this? And he basically didn't.

So where do you go from here?

Well, they're talking about filling out the Treasury Secretary today. I hope we get an answer as early as today, because you've got to get these people in place early and start the process. Uh Ted Cruz. Also, brought up something else that's new about this administration. They have a Bitcoin czar, a cyber czar.

As a a um Cybercurrencies are. I don't know what they're actually going to call it. They're going to pick someone for it that understands it and will be a resource. And because of that, Bitcoin is going through the roof. All brands.

I'm not one to explain it. But Senator Ted Cruz talks about how the 78-year-old president has no problem with 30-year-olds, no problem with 50-year-old geniuses like Elon Musk, and no problem with new sensitive currency. He's all ears. Cut 14. I am one of the leading defenders of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency in the United States Senate.

I myself am a Bitcoin investor. Not only that, I'm a Bitcoin miner. I own three miners that are hashing right now. They're out in West Texas. And it is an incredible thing.

Look, The single biggest threat to Bitcoin and cryptocurrency generally is the federal government. And in particular, the federal government, radical leftists in government that hate Bitcoin and hate cryptocurrency. Elizabeth Warren hates Bitcoin. And a point I make frequently is that Elizabeth Warren hates Bitcoin. for the same reason that communist China hates Bitcoin, because they cannot control it because it is decentralized.

Yeah, I know. I don't know enough to debate it. I don't even know some of the things that Ted Cruz was reflecting on. But if you want to know why young people voted for Trump, is that he was able to go to Silicon Valley, meet with them, not pretend he was an expert, and say, I see their upside here. And one of the reasons they see he got 20% of the Silicon Valley vote, and they say that AI is different from the typical social media companies.

I think a little bit more open, a little bit more conservative, but he's open to it. And he's going to say if it's going to grow the economy and it's not going to cannibalize the dollar, he'll be open to it.

So I think it's. I think it's pretty encouraging. The other thing that's finally over, and that is the Senate race. Dave McCormick, one of the most qualified people to run for office since I've been around, number one, you know, top of his class, near the top of his class at West Point. He was a wrestler at that college, made a self-made self-made multi-millionaire, of course, served in the military, served in war.

And then served as he served as in the Treasury Department when all things went crazy.

So he was able to see the economy collapse and the dangers there.

So I cannot wait to see. He's going to be an impact guy. You know how Michael Waltz was an impact person for Demp for all networks at all times because he was involved in things. Green Beret, who also knew the business of Washington, who also had a business himself.

So, Michael Waltz was everywhere.

So, Lindsey Graham is everywhere. Dave McCormick is going to be everywhere. But for Casey to hold on so long, it highlights how much Pennsylvania has got to be reformed. And then we saw that election worker say this is against the election law, but I don't care. And that is, it needs two signatures to work.

And she says, I'm going to break the law, but it doesn't matter. She might go to jail. But it highlights how Pennsylvania and Michigan need and Arizona need massive reform. We are still counting votes in California right now. Do you believe this?

Here's Dave McCormick, Cut 15. I think enough is enough. I mean, we have had election after election which have been called into dispute.

So we need legislation in Pennsylvania to ensure that some of this ridiculous things can't happen. We need to enforce the law. In this case, the law was very clear.

So I agree with you. This can't go on, and we need to step back and look what happened in this election and make sure it doesn't happen again. The other thing we need is voter ID. Because we're never going to have confidence in our election until you need voter ID and that's something That I'm going to fight for day one in the Senate. I think we should have national voter ID.

I know President Trump has advocated that, and I'll certainly advocate it in the Senate. Absolutely. Voter ID, absolutely. We have it in about thirty states. Almost every state with its voter ID, Republicans won.

I have no idea why Democrats would push back against voter ID. It's an insult to minorities. They think blacks don't have IDs. Are you kidding me? You can't function on this planet, certainly in this country, without an ID.

You don't need a license. You don't need a house. You don't need a car to get an ID. You want to make it easier? You walk to the post office, give the post office that option.

Everybody knows where your post office is. You go in there and fill out a form. And you know what? If you're a minority working class, if you don't have much money, you don't have a house or you only have an apartment, who knows? You live in a shelter?

The last thing you want, at least the one thing you have that makes you equal, is a vote, the same vote. Why would you want your vote nullified by somebody voting illegal? That should be the mindset. Lastly, before I take a break and then take your calls about immigration, it is rapidly becoming number one and there is no number two in terms of the criminals that are here, the caravans that are coming, and the pushback in unity. And unity by Democratic mayors and governors of the hope that Donald Trump has to put together a massive ICE unit to extravagate the illegal criminals amongst us.

And there are evidently to some level 1.4 million. It's not to rid us from farm workers and landscapers. It's not to get rid of the dreamers. That might never happen. That's going to be a separate negotiation, believe me.

Nobody wants to destroy the agriculture. Industry at all, and I hear the numbers are extremely high of illegals because they can't get Americans to work. We'll debate it. Here's Britain. This is to show you what the president's up against.

I wanted to hear Mayor Brandon Johnson, who we had inner city. Urban dwellers show up at a conference to demand the rid the end of Sanctuary City status that's allowing these Venezuelan gangs to run wild. Here's Mayor Brandon Johnson. This guy is the worst. Cut 16.

We're not going to cooperate. We're not going to ask our police force to serve as ICE agents. Come on, man. We're not going to do that. We are working hard to restore confidence.

with community and policing. Why would we put police officers in a position where the community can't trust them? We're not cooperating with that madness. We're going to do everything in our power to protect people in this city. Everything.

So, if you say, I want to protect people who are in the city, and I want to make sure if they are victims of a crime or they have a problem with a brutal landlord that won't put the heat on, and you don't want to make sure they get deported when they come forward and ask for help. Why if you want to say that, say that, and then you end it with but if there's a criminal here and ICE wants him, I'm giving it to him. Anything we can to get the Venezuelan gangs off the streets, out of the airports, out of the shelters. But they don't add that. They're just saying no.

Listen to the governor of Massachusetts and listen to what she says at the end. This is last week. Would the Massachusetts State Police assist in mass deportations? No, absolutely not. I think that the key here is that every tool in the toolbox has got to be used to protect our citizens, to protect our residents, and protect our states, and certainly to hold the line on democracy and the rule of law.

So In Massachusetts. What they found this week Is absolutely abhorrent. They won't cooperate. Mayors of Boston Won't cooperate.

Well, ICE on Wednesday announced the arrest of two illegal immigrants charged with forcibly raping children in Massachusetts, and the arrest of a third individual who was convicted of raping a child in Brazil before fleeing to the US and going into hiding after being caught and released in the US border in twenty twenty two. She's okay with that? I'm going to be proud to protect my people. By the residents, let alone the citizens. That's what Healy wants to do, and you guys elected her to Massachusetts.

And in Boston, as uh the mayor of Boston is the same thing, and the situation is even worse there. Here's Chad Wolfe. You know what? I'm going to hold Chad Wolfe because Chad Wolfe was the former acting director of the HH Border Patrol. And he knows he was asked to go to other countries to help them crack down on their own border, to stop them from coming to our border.

He knows the perception of America then And now, and why that matters. By the way, while we speak, a caravan of 1,500 is coming towards our border again. hoping to get in before Trump takes over. Don't move. Diving deep into today's top stories, it's Brian Kilmead.

Radio that makes you think this is the Brian Kill Me Show. From a policy perspective, I do not agree with banning ingredients universally because I think that's what got us into this problem in the first place. The more the government has control and manipulates what we're eating based on the regulatory framework and the bludgeon that they use, I think the worse our food system is going to be. The less they're involved in our food system, and the more we have the agency to make the decisions ourselves, the better it's going to be. But what is the key element there?

And that's education. And I know that RFK has talked about this extensively, and there's amazing accounts all across social media that are also talking about this. And we've obviously seen a proliferation of these accounts who are showing you how to cook better, showing you what seed oils do to your food, showing you what they do to your body, et cetera, myself being one of them. The education element is the most important. And that is key because the education does not need to come down from the federal government.

When the government picks winners and losers, we all get sick. Andrew Gruhl, coming up shortly, chef founder of the popular star slapfish restaurant chains. Got a brand new book out, and he's going to be with us shortly. He's just fresh off an appearance on Gutfeld, and he thrived along with surviving. And we'll talk a little bit about Los Angeles.

We see a whole bunch of calls up there. I'll try to get to them, but I do want to talk a little bit about what's happening with this whole Ukraine, and it's getting really intense. What bothers me most about what's going on is, as far as Mike Waltz told me on Monday, who's the incoming National Security Advisor, they're not being briefed. on what's happening. I'm not saying they have to take their Ideas, but they should brief them on what their approach is.

So when they take over, they'll say, well, in November, this happened and this was the approach. And in December, this happened and this was the approach. They got to start briefing regularly if their goal. Jake Sullivan's so arrogant, he was part of the whole Russia hoax. I have no respect for him.

And the most ineffective Secretary of State. that we've ever witnessed is currently in power. But They do have to brief about what their approach is, what their objective is, what their interaction has been. I mean, right now, they're trying to build up the Lebanese government, excuse me, the Lebanese army, in order to take over Fer Hezbollah, who Israel is going over. How does that play into a peace deal?

I don't know. You gotta, if you don't know, if I don't know. is okay. But if Michael Waltz and Trump don't know, that's a problem. Trump has just started getting high-level briefings.

So and his people are doing it too. But it would be helpful to think some coordination between the two. Personally, the vice president is checked out, goes to Hawaii. You have plenty of time to go out away for holidays. You're the Vice President of the United States for another month, and then you're probably not going to have to do anything the rest of your life with the money and speeches you'll make.

Just show up. And for the President of the United States to refuse to talk to the press for the rest of the time, says he'll talk one more time. Really, you just went to the G20. You don't feel obligated to hold a press conference. Perfect reason of why he should not be president anymore.

However, what's up to the Democratic Party? Will it be its legacy? And it's a mess. Breaking news, unique opinions. Hear it all on the Brian Kill Me Show.

As Americans prepare for Thanksgiving, there's one more thing to be thankful for. much needed relief at the grocery store and the gas pump. For the second year in a row, the average cost of a Thanksgiving meal is falling, and many grocery chains are offering deals for the holiday. According to the American Farm Bureau, the average price of the typical Thanksgiving dinner fell 5%, with turkey prices down 6%.

So, everything's so much better. Just listen to KJP, the press secretary for a president, doesn't want to talk to the press, and basically stopped doing the job in a vice president in Hawaii. Can this country run without a president? We are finding out. Andrew Gruel is with us now, chef and founder of the popular slapfish restaurant chain, and now the author of the Gruel Family Cookbook, hosts a weekly show.

You just saw him on Gutfell last night. The weekly show is called American Gravy. You can follow him at Chef Gruhl. Angie, Andrew, great to see you again. Thanks for having me.

I appreciate it.

So, do you feel, are the prices coming down like KJP so smoothly relayed to us? Not on the wholesale side. No, I mean, you know, when prices come down five cents, they go up 10 cents. I mean, it all balances out. We have not seen the massive drop that everybody keeps talking about.

When you talked about inflation, when did you start feeling it? What year?

Well, we felt it in 2020, right, coming out of the pandemic, right? Part of that was obviously supply chain issues, supply-demand plays, but then you really felt it immediately thereafter 2021, skyrocketing 202. But you also need to understand, especially when it comes to wholesale and processing, and this all gets into the food system, is that once a lot of the processors and the manufacturers get a taste of that higher dollar, it's going to be really hard to get them to bring it back down, even a little bit.

So, everybody is going to keep it up. The other thing people should realize, too, is that when everything goes up 9%, you know, inflation hits 9% and prices go up 20%. If the next month inflation goes up only 2%, it doesn't mean it went down from the 9% the previous month.

So, it's just going up slower. Exactly.

And it's so funny when I hear these clips and they're like, well, you know, prices are going down. It's like, look, you go from dead to a little less dead. You're dead.

So the one thing that I've understand, but you understand the real economy better than I would. If you can get energy prices down. That gets gas and oil down, which means the trucks that deliver to you are a little bit less.

So that means when the delivery is less, the expenses will be less.

So everyone keeps passing their costs forward until it ends up with the customer. But can you all immediately feel it if we get energy prices down? You'll start to feel it because everybody across the board will start lowering their prices, right? Because transportation is something that touches every single product.

Now, when we start talking like seafood or meats, there's always going to be that ebb and flow in the market.

So like maybe the lobster guards aren't bringing their prices down, but the meat guys are.

So it balances out. Once again, transportation is just applicable to every single product, especially the paper products, because everybody's doing to-go these days. Even coming out of the pandemic, that's become such a habit. And all that stuff comes in from China, all those paper goods.

So when that's coming in, you're getting double transportation. You're getting the freight liners, and then you're getting internal domestic transportation, gas, fuel, et cetera. Would you um go to buy a restaurant? You have interest rates. A lot of people aren't buying these buildings cash and they have an interest rate.

Are they fixed those interest rates or are they riding with the economy? They're riding with the economy, right? And even if they're not riding with the economy directly on that one indicator, be it interest or some other index, it's just the cost of everything rides along the economy from tenant improvement allowances, I was just saying, from the purchase itself and just working in other fees, plus the fact that access to small businesses, access to capital, is still not out there, right? Like banks aren't loaning money. Maybe you get a payday loan or you get a merchant cash advance.

That's about it. What would change that? What would loosen up The money for smaller banks.

Well, I can tell you right now, anecdotally, even after Trump won the election, I started talking to more banks, right? Because we're always looking at deals and we're always trying to figure things out. And people are a lot more optimistic now.

So now people are saying, Oh, I might take a little cash off the sidelines, be it private investors, funds, smaller funds, or banks for that matter. It was hilarious. Like going into the election, everyone's like, Well, we gotta wait, we gotta see, we gotta, you know, we're gonna figure this out.

Now it's like, okay, we're gonna release a little bit of that cash. It's not that the cash wasn't there, it was just sitting on the sidelines waiting. You tweeted this out. We just ran payroll. The payroll taxes were $2,000 higher than calculated.

We called the payroll company. They explained, in summary, that California has a budget shortfall, and the federal government wants money back that it lent California for UI. What's that? Unemployment insurance. Oh, for unemployment insurance that it lost.

They are making up for it by having business owners pay it. Keep in mind that it was around 10% of our total payroll. When people say, why isn't California business friendly? remember this. I didn't know they'd be able to do stuff like that.

Neither did I. I'm thinking to myself, is this even constitutional? But apparently, it is. Apparently, we were all co-signers on the loan that the state of California took from the federal government. And this goes back to like 2020, 2021.

And this is when I started talking about things: that when the employees had no opportunity to get unemployment, when Newsom shut down outdoor dining, that's when we started a fund. We ended up raising $700,000 for employees because the state had no unemployment funds because they misappropriated upwards of $50 billion. They took a loan out from the federal government, and that loan came due. They defaulted on the loan, and now we're all stuck holding the bag. How important this is, by the way, that just makes me say that, especially in your business, the margins you have always told me are so small on everything.

Everything matters. That's why the accounting and staying on top of things, because people act like, well, this place is packed. You must be doing well.

Well, what are you selling? How quick are the tables turning over? And how much cushion can you actually play with?

So you do that, and then you get hit with this. It throws off everything, doesn't it?

Well, yeah, think about $2,000 a week, 52 weeks. That's about six figures in profit at the end of the year. And that's really good for a restaurant.

So if you just took an extra $2,000 hit, that's your profit for the week or for two weeks. If you're a good restaurant, I always say now, a successful restaurant breaks even. When you talk about eating healthy, This is the big focus. We watch what RFK is doing. We watch what uh Kelly and Casey Means have been talking about.

We see what Dr. McCarry just put a book on it. And we just talk about what we eat. We think we're eating gooder, or eat a little bit less. Obviously, you're ready for a marathon, you personally.

which goes counterintuitive to the usually chefs are a little overweight. Am I correct? Nobody trusts a skinny chef, right? That's a cliche.

Well, um I I trust you. Uh but do you find that there's a thirst for for healthy eating? That's affordable? Yeah, that's affordable. That's the key right there.

And that's constantly the pushback.

Well, it costs more, right? And everybody wants to eat healthy. And I always say that, right? You know, this is where we don't need the government involved in our menu every single day, day in and day out. People universally want to eat better and they want to be able to eat local and they want to eat fresher foods.

They want to know where their food's coming from. It's just difficult for them. There's too many roadblocks there.

So, yeah, on a basic level, people want to eat healthier. I want you to hear what Casey means working with RFK. She probably will play a role. She's going to go a little dark for now. I get the sense that she might be joining him on HSS.

I'm not sure, or the brother is. Cut 42. And Trump has asked RFK to do three simple things. He's asked to get the corruption out of the U.S. health agencies, produce uncompromised evidence-based research for our health guidelines, and reverse the trends of the chronic disease in two years for children and adults so that we can show up for our 250th anniversary of America stronger than ever.

That sounds pretty good to me. Goal, number one, have a goal, have a deadline, have an objective. And he believes he can do it. You know what, Andrew, which struck me much about this conversation: number one, the interest everybody has in it. Number two is we like to say that people are overweight in America, well, we're on our devices too much, watch too many video games, we're not active.

Yeah.

That's one theory. And then I'm watching this exercise boom. I noticed everyone belongs to a gym, and I'm going, what's the disconnect? Could it be that we think we're eating right and going by the rules? And it turns out the processed food is preventing us from burning the fat and keeping ourselves healthy when we've been told if we eat this, it is healthy?

Could it be the maybe intentional or unintentional misinformation? That is 100% what it is. Because, I mean, look, it's not like people weren't sitting and reading and being stagnant with their time, you know, 25, 50 years ago. You're right. It's exactly that.

It's the food, the breakdown of the food. Casey and Callie Means have done an amazing job raising awareness, especially when it comes to ending chronic disease. And now that they've actually put some deadlines out there, I think that we can follow along and make sure that this comes into effect. But it's about the education, right? And what we're eating.

There was a study done that I just read about yesterday. It was a Harvard doctor who took kids and he fed them oatmeal, and then he fed the other kids eggs or omelets, right? And then he put them in a room. It was like, press this button when you're hungry afterwards. The kids who ate the oatmeal, their insulin levels were all.

All over the place. They were running around there as if they were getting chased by a dragon. I mean, you know, their adrenaline was spiked because of the oatmeal. But you would think, from what we've been told, a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast is good. Turns out it was horrible.

The kids who ate the eggs were satiated longer, and it was much better for their bodies. And I was in fact, I can't tell you how many diets say if you could start your day with raw oats and oatmeal, that is perfect. Just make sure to try not to put sugar on it. Yeah.

And you're saying that's not the case. Yeah, exactly. I mean, have a couple eggs, you know, a little bit of that protein, it goes a much longer way, and that goes against everything we've been told for decades. Tell me about your family cookbook. It's called the Gruel Family Cookbook.

So we did a cookbook: seed oil-free, all-healthy foods, easy recipes. And it's really about getting kids in the kitchen.

So there's a cultural piece, and then there's kind of the scientific and culinary piece. But the cultural piece is just families need to spend more time together in the kitchen, eating together, around the table, etc. And then, from a culinary perspective, just getting kids to touch their food and understand it. I've got four kids. My kids eat absolutely everything.

Why? Because when they prepare it themselves, they'll eat it. It's fascinating. If I say eat this piece of fish, they'll never do it. If I say make yourself a piece of fish with me alongside, and I tell them about it, they want to eat the fish.

It's all intellectual at that young age. But this isn't just for kids and families. Even if you're a single college kid and you want to learn some recipes, it's a great gateway into the kitchen. This is for anybody.

So you want people to do this together. Yep. I want everybody to do it together. And look, I might be cannibalizing myself here. And tell us.

Because you want people to eat out. Yeah, exactly. But at the end of the day, I just want people to be healthier. And, you know, the restaurant has to be the mechanism by which I do a lot of that. But if you can do it more in your own home kitchen, understand where your food's coming from.

What is the problem with seed oil?

Well, the thing is, is that I'll say strictly, I'm not a nutritionist, right? And I can give you some data and science, et cetera, but strictly from a culinary perspective, it's disgusting. People use way too much of it because it's so cheap, right? That's the subsidy piece of it. It's incredibly bitter.

It breaks down. It makes your food taste acrid. I stopped using seed oils strictly for culinary reasons probably 10 years, five, ten years ago, and then commercially three years ago. When you use real fats, whole fats, proper types of fats, you use a lot less of it because the flavor goes a much longer way and it's easier to cook with, actually.

So, what do you use? Like, when you say, what do you use instead of seed oil? Like, butter, beef tallow, pork lard, extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil, which is a good oil with a high smoke point. I'll actually render a lot of my own fats when I cook at home. And then I'll just slowly clarify it and I'll put it in the refrigerator and I'll cook with that bacon fat.

All of these different, these real animal fats plus extra virgin olive oil. And now there's actually companies out there that are coming up with really, really good kind of non-seed oil oils. You got like Zero Acre Farms doing a fermented sugar cane, which is very low on that little oic acid scale, which is why the seed oils are bad because they lead to inflammation throughout the body. And, you know, I think people are, there's, there's a, my point in telling you that is there's a market, right? American innovation.

When they see there's demand, they figure out a way to make it happen.

So when you eat at home, And you have to get these other alternatives to seed oil, are you spending more? No, because I'm using a lot less of it, you see?

So it's a net zero, if not a net savings. Is that if I'm buying beef tallow, right, versus a bottle of olive oil, I'm using two times the amount or not olive oil, but a seed oil, canola or vegetable oil, using two times the amount of the seed oil than I would if I'm using the tallow because it's richer and it's a much higher quality oil. Or fat. When you go out to eat, this is what I get from my daughters, especially: the college athletes. I don't like going out to eat because I like to eat clean.

Yep. So What does that mean? How do you define clean? And where do we find a restaurant that would actually not sacrificing our nutritional value when we go out?

Well, when you go out to eat, you've got to start to ask a lot of questions. Unfortunately, the restaurant supply chain and distribution chain is still very broken.

So we're getting these seed oils jammed down our throat. It's the only accessible options when it comes to cooking fat. I mean, all my restaurants, we don't use any seed oils, but I have to go out of my way to get that. It's a lot of work. It's a lot of extra time.

But obviously, I'm very devoted to doing so.

So ask a lot of questions. Ask for things to be cooked in butter. Ask what it's being fried in. Just avoid the fried foods because that's all seed oils. And then just ask where the ingredients are coming from.

If they know and they can tell you exactly the source of products in that chain of custody, then most likely they're paying attention to everything else in the restaurant. When we come back, Andrew, I like to talk about what's happening in Los Angeles because you just got rid of Gascon with a 30% approval rate. You got 30% of the vote, which is staggeringly low, because he does not want to enforce crime. And also, L.A. Council just went.

Reaffirm 13-0 count that we will not cooperate with ICE when it comes to legal immigrants. Yet your border is wide open and you have people encamped on the streets and your shelters overrun. While the vets often get kicked to the curb, you listen to the Brian Kill Me Show. Andrew Gruhl's got a brand new book out. It's called The Gruhl Family Cookbook.

More on that in just a moment. Don't move. Politics, current events, and news that affects you. Brian's got a lot more to say. Stay with Brian Kilmead.

The fastest three hours in radio. You're with Brian Kilmead. If we know anything about the person who just won the election, we know that their bark is their bark and their bark matches their bite. Given the re-election of Donald Trump and the consistent hate speech towards undocumented people and mixed-status families, I can't think of a more pressing issue. We have been a pro immigrant city for a number of years.

We know that there is a target on our back from this President elect. And what we are doing here is we are hardening Our defenses. We are codifying our good policies on protecting immigrants.

So that is the LA City Council earlier this week voting to stay a sanctuary city. But they're already a sanctuary state, so it's all symbolic to say we're hardening the target, going to make not gonna cooperate with ICE. We're gonna let our border run wild, and we're gonna let them know just because Donald Trump is president, it doesn't mean that we can't let illegal immigrant criminals rape and kill. I'm not talking about people that want to work the fields. That's gonna be way down the line.

He's talking about criminals. And yet the LAPD, as well, he's a spokesperson, as well as the city council, does not want to cooperate. Andrew Gruhl, our guest. Andrew, that must not surprise you, that rhetoric from L.A. City Council.

No, no, no. Everything they do is performative. Where you're located. Yeah, everything they do is performative. It doesn't surprise me in the least bit.

And then they'll spin it like who's going to pick your food? And that's not happening in L.A., right? The people who are in L.A., you've got workers who have been there for 10 years. Perhaps some of them are undocumented or they're going through their paperwork. And then you have people who have newly arrived and are just wreaking havoc and taking advantage of the fact that Los Angeles is completely lawless.

Those people need to go. How bad is it compared to 2016, 2018 when you walk around there? It's horrible. I mean, it is absolutely. I used to live in L.A., like L.A.

proper when I first moved out to Los Angeles from New Jersey. And I could walk around. I could walk through Skid Row. I could walk from one side of the city of Los Angeles all the way to the other. And it was fine.

It is awful. I would not walk around. We don't ever go there anymore. I won't take the kids there. And this is universal.

Everybody says this. Santa Monica? Oh, God, Santa Monica is an absolute disaster. We almost opened a restaurant in Santa Monica, and one day I was driving up to check it out, and there was some guy just, you know, having a bowel movement in the middle of the street. And I turned to my wife, I go, not happening.

We turned around, went home. Turns out the whole project ended up going bankrupt two months later, anyway. Third Street Promenade used to be when I lived out there, that was where I brought everybody that wanted to see it. I'd go, Let's go to Third Street Promenade, then we'll pick a restaurant. And then people talked about a little bit further down where Arnold Schwarzenegger had a restaurant on Main Street.

That whole area. That whole area, Venice Beach, is a mess. It's all disgusting. I mean, destitute, gutter snipe. There's you know, kind of street dwellers everywhere.

It's just truly feels as if it's out of some dystopian nightmare.

So you're staying though, but you're eventually going to come out the East Coast? You're thinking more Florida, you said.

Well, you know, Florida, Jersey. Like, ultimately I wanna I mean we're licensing our concepts out here, so ultimately I'd love to open a restaurant in Jersey, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina. I mean some of those states where it's a little bit less onerous from a business uh regulation perspective. But you also want to raise your family. Yeah, exactly.

Restaurants are so consuming. I'm sure you know that. Yeah, I know. Do you check the numbers every day when you get up? Oh, my gosh, every single day.

I was just, I mean, you know, we're on West Coast time, East Coast time, and still, I was on with my wife this morning. It was like 6:30 in the morning. She's making sure everything got taken care of with payroll. Oh, it's good. She's in the game, too.

Oh, yeah. We both run it. And the kids do. Oh, that's great. Andrew Gruel, pick up his book, The Gruel Family Cookbook.

It gets you cooking together. And check out his weekly cooking show, American Gravy. Thanks so much, Andrew. Thanks for having me. From high atop Fox News headquarters in New York City, always seeking solutions, never sowing division.

It's Brian Kilmead. Thanks for being here, everyone. It's the Brian Killmeat Show coming to you from 48th and 6th. We're going to have a big box tree lighting tonight. It's going to be great at 5 o'clock.

Hope you guys can tune in. I've never been to one, but it's going to be interesting. I guess they're going to do the five from there and they're going to come talk to us. A bad day to forget your coat. I have not needed a coat yet in the winter and I'm proud of that.

I hate wearing coats. And I didn't think it's a big deal anyway. I don't really I'm not walking much, just walk to the train and I I walk from the car on the way in. By now, it's about 30 degrees, and we're going to be outside.

So, Mike Pompeo in about 15 minutes. Tim Matheson is coming up at the bottom of the hour. His book is fantastic. What he's done with his seven decades in Hollywood, going being tight with Lucille Ball, doing Animal House as one of the stars, also with Jackie Gleason. And Bob Hope and being in the Marines in the Vietnam era, growing up in a divorce situation, you're going to love.

And the minute, if you Google him right now, you'll say, oh, yeah, I know that guy. He's been in everything. Yeah, absolutely. Everything from Leave It to Beaver to in those very early days. And Mike Pompeo, he's not going to be part of the Trump 2, but he is going to be a vital part as a Fox News contributor.

And of course, I think he's eventually going to be in this administration.

So let's get to the big three.

Now, with the stories you need to know, it's Brian's big three. Number three. In my mind, this is an experimental missile. I doubt they have any arsenal of it because it is experimental. And he's trying to use this as much leverage as he can to change the behavior of the United States and also Zelensky.

That, of course, is General Jack Keen. Putin raises stakes in a grinding, grueling war with Ukraine. The next two days, the next days might be the most crucial in the conflict. I'll break it down. Number two.

Would the Massachusetts State Police assist in mass deportations? No, absolutely not. I think that the key here is that, you know, every tool in the toolbox has got to be used to protect our citizens, to protect our residents. That, of course, is Governor Mora Healy, an embarrassment. Showdown before the Trump takeover.

Migrant crime raging, and Dems turn a blind eye, saying they're going to protect their residents. Really? Tom Homan and Donald Trump are going to confront them. My hope is they would start moving in that direction before they took over January 20th. Number When Gates resigned, he announced he did not intend to serve in the next Congress.

Gates cannot revoke his resignation for this Congress, but because he was elected two weeks ago, he could serve next year.

That is Chad Pergram. Matt Gates is shown the door as Trump trades up and names Pam Bondi as his attorney general. And that's where we'll begin. Let's talk about Donald Trump because this just ended. Judge Murchant has delayed the Trump hush money sentencing.

Indefinitely, as lawyers seek up until December 2nd to go officially and ask to have the whole verdict thrown out. Remember, until you're sentenced, you're not a felon.

So we are trying to follow up on that, but essentially they punted. There is no sentencing. What are you going to do? You're going to on this ridiculous case, which the more you look at it, the more popular Trump gets. Total lawfare.

Proof positive, and now you're going to sentence a president after the American people saw your stupid trial? here in New York and saw the sham, which is our court system, which gets me worried for Danny Penny fighting for his freedom after taking down Jordan Neely in the subway, a would be attacker, assailant, assaulter with a huge rap sheet.

So now he's just going to say indefinitely he's going to wait on sentencing. They're not in the clear yet. My hope is they just toss this thing out. And people, for Democrats' sake, I hope they forget about it.

So yesterday, Somewhere just after our show, we found out that Matt Gaetz is out. Why? There's a lot of theories, one of which is they don't have the votes. And Matt Gaetz realized it after meeting with individual senators and J.D. Vance.

You're not going to move, I don't think, Mitch McConnell. You're not going to move Kramer. You're not going to move Susan Collins, and you're not going to move Murkowski. And more and more people say, I know you've been nothing but a disruptor in the House. And I'm not really a fan of yours in the Senate.

So why would I put you in a more powerful position, especially when you. did everything possible. Selfishly overthrew Kevin McCarthy.

So all that came together, and he's loyal to President Trump. I'll give him that. I know he's bright, that's fine. But Pam Bondi is extremely strong, and this is an extremely good move. Here is Brett Tolman, who weighed in last night on the big switch, cut five.

I think this is one in which Donald Trump, who can blame him for wanting someone in that position that isn't going to use subterfuge and false allegations and secret meetings to try to launch a campaign against a sitting president. And Matt Gates had proven that he was very loyal, had similar policy views. And I think he would have been that type of an attorney general. But it's not surprising to me that the president, probably going into it, understood that was going to be a tough confirmation. And look, to me, it looks like a pretty good chess move.

You put Gates up, and the world freaks out. He withdraws. And what do you have? You have Pam Bondi sitting there. And who's going to come at her for not being?

capable of serving in this role. 20 years as a prosecutor, a long history of tracking down human traffickers, a long history of cracking down on fentanyl poisoning.

So she did a lot of that work with Kellyanne Conway as she got out of her position and replaced and, you know, because she was term limited out in Florida, the third biggest state in the country.

So I think she's going to, she's no longer an issue. Marco Rubio is not an issue. I mean, he's got multiple people that got to get confirmed, but I don't see Kevin. Are you going to tell me Sean Duffy is going to be an issue? Absolutely not.

He's got disruptors, but he doesn't have people that are over their heads.

So they're going to go after Tulsi Gabbard. That's fine. I think she's going to be more than prepared.

Well, one thing is Linda McMahon, who we'll talk about today on One Nation with Tyrus, because Tyrus knew her from the WWE. She's an unbelievably competent woman who ran a huge organization, multiple live shows, and did a great job at the Small Business Association with the government last time, with Trump for all four years. And then she helped with this whole streamlining process to vet who would be the next cabinet secretaries and key advisors.

So she was named Education Secretary.

Now, a lot of people are saying, wait, I thought you were going to get rid of the Department of Education, which is worth billions of dollars. They're not quite ready to do that. How they dismantle it is key. Senator Mike Rounds, of all people, not exactly a firebrand, said this is an opportunity to cut costs, cut twelve. We have actually introduced the legislation that we've been working on for over a year, which is to eliminate the Federal Department of Education, send the vast majority of the decision making back to the states and the tribes, and also though recognizing that there are a number of programs that the Department of Education has that a lot of people feel are very important, such as special education and so forth.

But what we've tried to do is to work through all of those different titles and so forth, identify where they were before 1979 when that cabinet position was created, and put them back where they had been in the first place. I know. I mean, it would save money, but this is what I worry about.

So we hear all about things in maybe Austin, Texas and Los Angeles, California about their school system, which makes their history and social studies departments just live off sixteen nineteen project. Were they stopped teaching grammar? Were they where they You know, you have to go to a private school to get that fundamental education where there's. You know, lack of funding or lack of discipline or their teacher's salaries are low. And I'm thinking to myself, yeah, that's a problem.

And if I'm in Los Angeles, I would look to go to a private school or look to go to a different city. But what if you can't? What if you're working class, you're doing two jobs, you send your kids to school and the subpar education? At least there'd be some overriding authority in some of these blue states to say that's a problem. Or the curriculum is just way left-wing.

They talk about the pronouns. I want you to put your pronouns on top of the paper. I want you to go to put girls if you feel like you're a furry, or are you going to go to all this stuff, putting girls who feel like men in men's bathrooms and vice versa? All this real left-wing stuff. If you don't have a central body.

To maybe put pressure and have funding that would re that would rely on you complying to a certain degree. I don't know if you have it.

So when we come back, I want to talk about what's happening in the world, talk about this new Trump two term, talk about what's happening in Ukraine yesterday with Mike Pompeo, bottom of the hour. We talk about Hollywood Tim Matheson and we review his remarkable career. You're listening to the Brian Kill Me Show. Don't move. Coming to you on a need-to-know basis, because Mandy, you need to know.

It's Brian Kilmead. The talk show that's getting you talking. You're with Brian Kilmead. Putin is really a master of psychological warfare, and in the Soviet Union and Russian playbooks, it always has been a major part of their conducting you know, kinetic warfare. And he's he's really quite good at it.

I mean, look at it. He he's forced the Biden administration never to give the Ukrainians what they wanted when they wanted it. And it protracted the war.

So Putin keeps coming.

So that is General Jackin on the move by Vladimir Putin yesterday in response to, they say, the use of attack'ems into Russia as well as the. As well as the UK long-distance missiles, they put an experimental intermediate-range ballistic missile that they say moves too fast for missile defense. Joining us now, man that was raised in West Point, CIA Director, former Secretary of State and Congressman Mike Pompeo, welcome back. Good morning, Brian. Your thoughts about Vladimir Putin's press conference yesterday after the use of that weapon.

Yeah.

Two things. He is messaging President Trump. He's not messaging President Biden. That's history. uh he's already figured out he can he can roll that guy.

And so, but whether it was the missile strike itself or the press conference yesterday and the announcement about their. their new doctrine, the way they're thinking about using nuclear weapons or might use them, I think is clearly demarcating the boundaries of how it is that he's going to deal with President Trump. And it's uh to General Keene's point. it's a bit psychological, but it is also about positioning and gaining leverage. for what will eventually be a conversation about how this all gets resolved.

And the fact that this has now gone on for coming on three years. And the United States' central feature has been to talk about the things we wouldn't do. But we won't do X, we don't do Y, we're not going to let deep grains do. The has created enormous risk for the United States and, of course, enormous devastation inside of Ukraine. Knowing that we don't have a lot of ATAC'ems and didn't give them that many, can that change anyone's thinking in this war?

Can it get the Russians to rethink their advancement at any point? Brian, there's no single tool in the ATAC would be that. That's going to change the the Yeah. What will ultimately change it is a leader who says these are the things that matter to the West, to Europe, to the United States of America. These are the things we're going to protect.

We're going to allow. All of us, whether that's economic sanctions or the Ukrainian capabilities on the ground, we're going to allow those to actually impose real costs on Vladimir Putin. Absent that, you lose the very deterrence that President Biden lost. This is the model that broke Brian. in the Biden years.

They they they broke the Trump model for deterrence in the the risk that created here in the United States is really, really enormous. As a direct result of that. And so, no, the ACAC itself is not a solution, but a model which does impose costs. And Vladimir Putin is the one that will bring him ultimately to conclude he can't press this conflict any longer.

So a former. Commander in Ukraine came out and said, World War three has already started. Have you noticed a North Korean army is now fighting with Russia? They're using Iranian weapons and North Korean weapons. This is the beginning of World War III.

Do you see it that way? Oh, you know, I suppose that's semantic a bit whether it's where we're three or not. It is the case, though, Brian. His point. was that you now have this axis of actors that is working closely together.

Under the Biden administration, they've allowed the Russians, the Chinese, the Iranians, the North Koreans, Venezuela, the Cubans, All to begin to build out team anti-America and press their case around the world. It's why for a long time I've been saying that this fight in Europe that's taking place isn't disconnected from the challenge that the Chinese Communist Party presents to the West. They are working together. You see it in the drones, the equipment, the hardware, the fact that the Chinese are buying cheap crude oil from the Russians, supporting the Russian economy. Those are the manifestations of this, but the ideological alignment between them is far greater today than it was four years ago, and that presents a lot of risk.

What's it going to so we have to get the weapons there? We pledged another one hundred seventy three million dollars. But the word is, according to Zelensky, we've actually delivered only about ten percent of what we said is coming his direction. Do you have an idea in talking to your contacts what the problem is on speed of delivery? I the the problem is the Biden administration didn't want to deliver them.

The problem is they wanted to talk a good game, but not actually Execute and implement, you know, to brand that someone who was a practitioner, who actually had to make it happen, it wasn't about writing op-eds or telling stories or holding press conferences, actually deliver. They have a failed. And they've done that not only in Europe, we've seen that in the Middle East as well, where fraction of what the Israelis had asked for, we provided. Um this causes your friends not to trust you, Brian. And if you want to put More risk on the United States, and you want to lose deterrence.

That's precisely how it happened. And they just failed to execute against what they promised they would do. That's really bad for the United States. They threatened Poland yesterday. And that's obviously a NATO nation with now spending over 3% of their GDP on Defense.

What how serious you do you take that threat? No, you need to take everything Vladimir Putin says seriously, but he is also prone to bluster. I think he's definitely posturing for the conversations. By the way, conversations that may well happen in the next 60 days, even before President Trump is sworn in, he is posturing for that negotiating table. He is trying to lay out.

A model which can convince the Trump administration, 2.0, the second Trump administration. That the cost of continuing is too great. And my hope is that the response from the Trump administration will be much as we did: to say, no, here are the things that matter to us, here's the things that matter to America. Shouldn't forget, not only is it a NATO nation, but there are American soldiers that are still. stationed on a rotational basis in Poland.

Putin knows that. It's the reason he spoke about that nation in particular. Uh and The United States has to respond in a way that meaningfully convinces Putin that the game is over, America can't be ruled any longer, and that we're going to stand with our friends and we're going to punish our adversaries.

So when you look at what Israel's doing now, he's shipped to the Middle East. They say that they're trying to build up the Lebanese army and give them some room to grow to try to help them rid their society of Hezbollah. Is that even possible, though? I never thought it was possible to take down them to the point they are right now. They're finding new Russian weapons there, freshly delivered, by the way, in these tunnels.

But is that a good strategy, build up the Lebanese army?

Okay. It's probably the best strategy available, Brian. I will say the LAF, the Lebanese Armed Forces, someone that I we worked alongside, tried to figure out how to build them. In the face of Hezbollah, they were deeply outgunned, literally outgunned. to the extent these really are confident that they have taken down enough Of Hezbollah, not just the leadership, but the whole C-suite, business development, product line people, RD, they've taken that all down and have the missile reduction at the level they say, 80%, 85% of the missiles gone.

It is perhaps time that the Lebanese armed forces and the political institutions in Lebanon can begin to be rebuilt. I hope that's true. We should be very careful about providing any munitions to anyone there when we don't fully have control of where they're going to end up. Congressman, I was, Mr. Secretary, I was surprised that Trump says he is not going to put you in this Trump two.

Were you? Uh you know, I I always thought he'd pick a whole new team. Presidents get to choose how to move about that. And Bern, as you know, if I'm called upon to serve, I will. Uh but That the time wasn't right, and I'm hopeful that he will build out a really good team, and it looks like it's beginning to round into shape.

Anyone concern you? Uh I was, I must say, I'm not a big Matt Gates fan. The fact that he's withdrawn himself, I think, is net net good for. President Trump and the team that he is building. He struck me as someone who didn't understand how to execute a conservative vision for America.

But you do, Congressman and Mr. Secretary Mike Pompeo. Thanks so much. I'll talk to you again soon. Have a great weekend.

You got it. Back in a moment. He's so busy, he'll make your head spin. It's Brian Kilmead. Hey, welcome back, everybody.

It's the Brian Kilmeat Show.

So glad you're here. It's a bit of a crazy week, and we close out the week. A little differently, Tim Matheson, an actor almost everybody has seen in some movie that you think is the best, is a two-time prime-time Emmy Award-nominated actor, director, and author of a brand new book. It is excellent, called Damn Glad to Meet You, My Seven Decades in the Hollywood Trenches. And he gets stories everything from Jackie Gleason to Lucille Ball to John Belushi.

He is best known for the Animal House, West Wing, Magnum Force, Fletch, Virgin River. You can go on and on and on. But he put it all in perspective. I'll tell you: if you're an actor, there's no way you can't. Read this.

You have to read it. And if you are interested in the story behind the story, Tim brings you there. Tim Matheson, welcome to the Brian Killmeat Show. You can try it. Howdy, it's good to be back.

How's things going? It's going great. I mean, what a great job you did on this book. What an incredible career. But I'll tell you, the way it started, anything but easy.

Mean that the family have a divorce situation, your dad goes one way, you're both uh and your mom goes the other, they have one thing in common, they're both drinking too much and they both need money, and you and it's just you and your sister trying to make it work. That's a tough way to start, Tim. You know, I think, yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think I was hiding out at the movies and that seemed like a safe place for me. And that's when I first said, I want to be in there.

I just it seemed like, wow, it it ever it always has a happy ending. At least in those days, it did, you know. And so that's where my escape was. And that's, you know, and I've nev I've always felt my home was on a set. Once I started acting and, you know, performing and going to a movie set or T V set, I've always felt at home there and surrounded by people who take care of you and want you to do your best.

You know, it's always been great. I mean, you know, there's hard times. We know show business is a full, full contact sport, but it's. I'm still doing it, you know, and I'm still thrilled to be doing the thing that I've always loved.

So, Tim, do you think you would have had the success if you didn't have it so tough when you were younger? Do you think you needed that to develop that thick skin, that grit? Yes. Yes, I think and I, you know, I learned also that you know from my friends who play sports and you know Kurt Russell, who was a semi-pro ball player, and from Lucille Ball when, you know, I got to work with somebody who came up through vaudeville, which did three to five shows a day. It's tough.

It's tough. You best Really prepare and like an athlete, some days you're gonna hit a home run and a double, and then some days you're gonna strike out three times. And you just suck it up and go on with the next day, you know, and and. And it's discipline. And I think that's what made the difference for me.

So I didn't get, you know, lost in drugs or alcohol or that kind of thing when things weren't going well. But you talk about different things happening. Everyone's got their own timeline, but your mom's having trouble making ends meet. Your dad's not a factor. And he calls up, I think she said she called up her sister, and you go up to San Bernardino, and you just get out of the mix.

You were hanging out with the wrong crowd. It was a tough situation. And you were bored, but you thought that was so valuable. Why? You know, it was the most normal part of my childhood.

I mean, my aunt was sort of like. the Donna Reed show or or my three cents I mean not my three cents but but uh Leave it to Beaver. I mean she was she cooked three meals a day. My uncle and and and cousin came home for lunch from work and she cooked them lunch and And it was just, it was the most stable part of my upbringing. And I saw what that was like, and it allowed me to.

to just sort of you know, let go of all the anger I had about my my parents breaking up and and Of be more normal and just you know do the hijinks that kids did, and and that's where I sort of fell in love with acting. There, there was a show we did this class I was in the sixth grade, they did like a mock today show skit every Friday or something, and so you played different parts in that. I was like, you know, the kid from the farm or the guest or something, or do the weather program, you know, and and the audience, the kids liked it, and I got laughs.

So, I said, you know, I want to be an actor when I get back to Hollywood. And you did it and you had success and you started making auditions. You're living in a small apartment. Your mom was working literally sleeping four hours a night, working two jobs back to back, no car, taking two buses. At the same time, you started nailing your auditions, getting jobs.

What was it like to be able to have the money to maybe help your family? Oh, that was a treat. I mean, it was. It was a, you know, it was nice. I mean, I sort of was thrust into the father role, you know, the.

The role my dad sort of ran away from. And so I could help my mom. And I always work at two full-time jobs. To take care of us and dig out of a hole she'd gotten herself into while we were. Uh set up to my aunt and uncle's house in San Bernardino and and Um you know, and finally when I was 16, I was making enough money from like cartoon voice works like Johnny Quest.

I actually bought a house for then twenty twenty nine five, which you couldn't even buy a car today. But I was going to live there by myself, and then I just said, nah, I got my mom and sister. I felt like such a rat if I didn't invite them to come and stay with me.

So we all moved back together again. And it was a treat. It was great to do that. You had talent and you knew how to work and you were a grinder. I couldn't believe your relationship.

You impressed Jackie Gleason. At one point, you guys are on a set and he looks at you and says, We're the only two who know what's going on here. And Jackie Gleason was bigger than life. I remember that. And what was that like?

He was oh, I mean, Jackie was my favorite. I mean, 'cause I loved the honeymooners. I grew up on that in the fifties and um and also the Jackie Gleason Show, which was like from Miami. And then I'd also seen him do, you know, the hustler, the dramatic show, you know, the dramatic movie with Paul Newman. And so this guy could do anything.

And I felt like I was about 12 feet tall when he said that to me. He says, kid, we're the only ones who know what we're doing here. Let's get this scene done and get out of here. And so that's Sincere Lucio Ball also impressed with you. You're in the Marines, and they want you at the Ed Sullivan Theater.

And you're like, Now I'm not going to say anything because y you're the Marine. You felt like if if you single yourself out and act like you're important, you'll never live it down, I guess. But the next thing you know, Lucille Ball calls Bob Hope. Bob Hope makes a call and gets you out of Camp Pendleton. They send a car and they get you to to the Alex Sullivan Show in New York.

Yeah, and it was so funny because he called he called the Commandant of the Marine Corps. I mean, only Bob Hope could do something like that because he was constantly touring in Vietnam with the USO shows and bringing celebrities over to entertain the troops through all their hardships. And God bless him. And he'd done that since World War II. Um so And as they picked me up, I was, you know, I was in my My civvies.

And at Camp Endleton, and I had a $1 in my pocket.

So when I got to New York, Even back then, a dollar ain't going to buy you much. And I remember going having to go down a chuck full of nuts. To get a breakfast because I couldn't afford to get paid for breakfast at the Plaza Hotel where they put us up.

So. That's fa unbelievable. And then you were able to do some skits and get out there, but you made your name in there on Leave It the Beaver on My Three Sons. You were there. You weren't a main star, but you're learning and acting with the best people in the business.

So can I bring you through some points in your career and have you reflect on it? You bet. Yeah, yeah.

Tim Mathson, our guest. Here's Animal House. You're Eric Stratton, CUD 47. Hi. Eric Stratton, Rush Chairman.

Damn glad to meet you. Eric Stratton, Rush Chairman. Damn glad to meet you. Eric Stratton, Rush Chairman. Damn glad to meet you.

Hi, that was Eric Stratton, Rush Chairman. He was damn glad to meet you. And that's the name of your book. Did you di is that in the script? Yes, yes.

You know, it was most everything was written. The guys were so good. We improvised a couple of things here and there. Mostly, Belushi was the only one they turned loose and let them improvise. Um we or we would do a couple of A couple of improvs, but it was such a unique script written by young people.

For a young audience. And it was the first in a series of movies. It sort of changed the course of comedy in American movies. With John Landis and Ivan Reibin, who later went on to do Ghostbusters, Stripes, and Meatballs.

So these people were all there at the same time and we had a hunch maybe this is going to work because of Belushi, you know, he was such a big star from Saturday Night Live, which had just started a year before.

So we kind of thought maybe this could work, but nobody had it. Idea that it was going to be as big a success as it was. I mean, it's classic. Everybody I know from different generations continues to talk about it. Here's more of you, Tim.

Here you are defending Delta House, Cut 48. Quite a parliamentary procedure. Don't screw around. They're serious this time. Take it easy.

I'm in pre-law, man. Thought you pre-med. What's the difference? Ladies and gentlemen, I'll be brief. The issue here is not whether we broke a few rules or Took a few liberties with our female party guests.

We did.

Well, you can't hold a whole fraternity responsible for the behavior of a few sick. Perverted individuals? Or if you do, then shouldn't we blame the whole fraternity system? And if the whole fraternity system is guilty, I put it to you, Greg. Isn't this an indictment of our entire American society?

You can do what you want to us, but we're not going to sit here and listen to you, bad mouth, the United States of America. Wonderful case. That is awesome. How did you keep from laughing?

Okay. Yeah.

That was the trick on that show. I mean, it's those, the dialogue was so wonderful. I mean, even the worst one was when I used the excuse. I'd seen in the paper that a kiln explosion had killed a young co-ed named Fawn Leibowitz, and he used that as an excuse to get dates. For his friends and himself, and use that as a way to get into a young girl's pants.

You know, I mean, it was so bad, but so joyous to play that kind of scene. And I mean, that was lampoon. That was a lampoon humor.

So it was just a treat.

So do people play this back to you when you see them? Is this something that they see when they see Tim Athens and they think of this? Oh, yeah. I mean, it was sort of a rite of passage. I can't tell you how many people come up to me and said, Oh, my dad, when I was nine, my dad sat me down and told me we wanted to watch this movie together.

And it was like a rite of passage. He says, Go tell your mother. And it was amazing. And it's usually from nine to 12 is when the kids saw it for the first time. And I said, That's perfect.

I just want you to hear, I want the audience to hear this: Cut 49. I just liner on sh Well, what the hell is it supposed to do, you moron? War's over, man. Wormer dropped a big one. What?

Over? You say over? Nothing is over until we decide it is. Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!

Sherman, you're getting it he's rolling. And it ain't over now. Cause when the going gets tough A coughs get going! Who's with me? Let's go!

Come on! I'm not gonna take this! Moomer, he's a dead man! I'm alive! Dead!

Nehemiah! Dead! Ludo's right! Psychotic? But absolutely right.

So you were laughing through that. Oh yeah. Do you remember? Do you remember that he improvised that or is that in the script? That was in the script, but Belushi.

Just, he brought such life and freshness to everything. He never did the same way twice from take to take. And you know, he was going back and forth between New York and Eugene, Oregon, where we shot that movie. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, he'd be in Eugene, and then he'd be on a plane Wednesday night and back in New York on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and then there for Saturday Night Live. And they'd finish at 1 a.m.

on Sunday morning and then party until 5 a.m. And then they'd put him on a plane, let him get some sleep, and come back to Eugene.

So but he was he was Wonderful. We we didn't know whether we'd get a snob or kind of a jerk who thought he was a big deal because he was in a hit TV show, but he couldn't have been more gracious and acceptance and accepting of meme as my first comedy.

So he was very supportive of me and and What I was doing, and he was great. I'd just like to turn, if I can, to the West Wing, real quick. Our audience is still knee-deep in politics. This is you, as Vice President Jim Hoynes, Cut 51. We got to talk politics.

I'd like to. Glad we, uh... Had that little talk on Air Force Two. I think from time to time. We need you to stop shopping for priests and captains.

Excuse me? We're days after an election. We gotta govern. It's too early. Triple Horn alone can tie us in knots.

Well, good for Triple Horn. I've got an obligation to myself here. You've got a constitutional obligation that comes first. Last time I checked, my constitutional obligation was to have a pulse. We need these two years.

It's our last chance to govern, John. Mr. Vice President, there are going to be lots of ways. No zealot, like a convert, Josh. What's that supposed to mean?

It means you'd have been great at Leo's job. I mean, what a great show. The rapid dialogue. How is that from the actor perspective? Is that.

Did it flow? I mean, do you you can't memorize Can you? Can you memorize it? You have to memorize it because Aaron wouldn't let you change a word or punctuation. I mean.

It it it was one of those things that I prepped for weeks before I'd go on a sh and do it. I 'cause I wasn't in every episode. I was just, you know, like in every third episode or so. And and and um it that was part of the thing that to get that pace You had to know that cold so that you could just Bounce off each other. And especially, they'd shoot those long walk-and-talks, and two people in a two-shot.

without cuts. And so you had to play it fast as it was written because there were no cuts. And it was sort of like an old John Ford movie. You had two good actors in a scene, rapid fire, back and forth, blah, blah, blah, blah. And, you know, it it it sort of compared to Animal House, it was the best script that I'd ever worked on other than Animal House.

I mean, it was just it was, it was just, it gave you everything and you just went with the material. And Tim, audience loves Clint Eastwood, the country loves Clint Eastwood. What was it like working with? He was a treasure. I learned more from him in a day than acting schools for years.

I mean, he was so real and so honest and so simple. And his crew loved him. And he wasn't directing Magnum Force, the picture I worked on, but he was directing it. I mean, a guy named Ted Post was the director, but Clint was always running the show. But he liked things simple, honest, and natural.

He didn't like to rehearse too much. because he thought It it gets too manicured and too Studied, you know, and he liked it. If there were mistakes, he liked it. It was like real life. And he reminded me of what Henry Fonda once said to me about acting.

He says, I walk in the room, I hit my mark, I look him in the eye, and I tell him the truth. And that's what Clint did. And it made acting a lot simpler and more honest for me, you know. And which made him a great director. Tim Athens, we're just scratching the surface on you.

A fantastic career. I hope you're proud of it. And you should be very proud of this book. I'm glad to meet you. My seven decades in Hollywood.

Tim, thank you. Thank you, Brian. I'm proud to be on your show. Thank you. All right.

Back in a moment. It's Brian Kilmeade. Sponsored by Previgent. Previgent is the most recommended memory support brand by pharmacists. We went from war to Cronkite.

Mm-hmm. Basically to this guy, Joe Rogan, who believes in dragons. He b I checked it. He believes in dragons. He believes in dragons.

Did you triple size that? Yes, I did. And he also thinks that they dragons, like I guess like dinosaur type type of animals, roamed the earth when people did.

So that is ridiculous. Do we have Joe Rogan's response? But essentially, Joe Rogan came out and laughed out loud at this whole thing that the view was still talking about him. And what people should understand with the. With the view, and I know people hate watch or just view it to laugh, kind of laugh at them.

Very few people really take them seriously. But they don't take time to find out what the show's about or just Google to find out what he's about. He's not a conservative podcaster. He just is a guy that a lot of men listen, sure. He loves the UFC, mixed martial artists.

And he went from, I'm going to go with the best person who can help the country the most. And he never tried to be Walter Cronkite. Yeah, unbelievable. Hey, listen to Watch One Nation Saturday night at 9 o'clock. Brian Kilmeech show.

It's going to be One Nation on Fox News from Hokan to Tyrus. Kudlow on Fox Business is now on the go for podcast fans. Get key interviews with the biggest business newsmakers of the day. The Kudlow podcast will be available on the go after the show every weekday at Foxbusiness Podcasts.com or wherever you download your favorite podcasts. Listen to the show at free on Fox News Podcast Plus, on Apple Podcast, Amazon Music with your Prime membership, or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Mm.