Israel/Hamas ceasefire hostage deal PLUS: More confirmation fireworks

From high atop Fox News headquarters in New York City, always seeking solutions, never sowing division. It's Brian Killmee. Thanks for being here, everybody. It's the Brian Killmee Show, getting closer and closer to inauguration, five days and counting. It couldn't come quick enough, in my view.

What about you? We watched the longest and the anti-Irish goodbye from the Irish Joe Biden. You know, the Irish goodbye, it's known when you just leave. You don't tell anyone you're going anywhere. All this guy does is keep telling us he's going, getting our hopes up.

Monday, here's my foreign policy review, pure fiction. And today he's going to muddle through his recap of his four years and his 50-year political career, which I am so done with. And I think you feel the same way. This hour, we're going to be joined by James Comer, all the president's money, investigating the secret foreign schemes that made the Biden family rich. And we're standing by as Kurt Volker, former U.S.

Ambassador to NATO. But first let's get to the big three.

Now, with the stories you need to know, it's Brian's big three. Number three. On the agreement, it's right on the brink. It's closer than it's ever been before, but. Right now, as we sit here, we await final word from Ramas.

Here you go. First phase of the hostage deal expected any minute. If Gaza as the Trump effect is already in full stride, we have the latest. Number two. Are you happy with how the response is going past and president?

Well, I mean, you know, everything could be better. There is no question about that. This is a natural disaster of unprecedented proportions. And nobody could be less prepared. Wake up call.

LA overwhelmed with sweeping destruction and disruption. They yearn for real leadership. Are they beginning to realize political correctness and the environmental extremists that they put in office made everything so much worse? Number one. That air Every general who serves should not go directly into the defense industry for 10 years.

You're not willing to make that same pledge? I'm not a general senator. Trump team fighting for their jobs through nomination hearings, which start en masse today. We look at the desperate Democrat fireworks, which fell flat in the latest on the inauguration just five days away. But first, let's go to Ambassador Kurt Volcker.

Ambassador, great, I'm so glad. Thanks so much for joining us. Hey, Brian, it's great to be with you. Thanks for having me. I thought it was great that Zelensky called up and said, listen, if I could send some firefighters your way in Los Angeles, let's do it.

He has been talking to Trump pretty consistently. And it seems like both sides are more than ready to. Excuse me. It seems like the Ukrainian side and possibly the Russians are ready to talk. What do you hear?

Well, definitely the Ukrainians are. I think they have welcomed the Donald Trump getting elected. They're looking forward to him coming to office. They know they need to have a peace. He's had several conversations with Trump over the last year, including meeting in New York in September and then phone call after his election.

So I think they're in good alignment. Putin, he's in a very different situation. He has really damaged the Russian economy, he's really damaged the Russian military, and yet he still maintains his goal of eliminating Ukraine as an independent state and folding it into the Russian Empire. And we have to demonstrate strength. We have to demonstrate that he's never going to succeed at that.

to get him to come to the negotiating table as well. I hear you. And we talked to General Kellogg about that, and I want to talk about Gaza too. But when we talk about Ukraine, even if they've stopped fighting, how do you keep Russia from just reloading? Do you put international troops on the border on whatever wherever the fighting lines are?

Yeah, so you're absolutely right, Brian. They will reload. Any ceasefire is going to be used by Russia to pause, to rearm, to reequip, to try to undermine Ukraine through other means than conventional military, and they will attack again someday.

So we need to use that time. Ukraine needs to use that time to build up a much stronger deterrent capability. It's one of the failures of the Biden administration's approach generally, is deterrence was lost. Uh our adversaries used to be afraid to attack.

Now they're not. That's why we see Iran launch its proxies. That's why we see Russia attack. That's why we see China raising its threats against Taiwan. We have to reestablish a position of deterrence.

That's going to take some European troops, doesn't have to be American, but European NATO country troops on the ground in Russia as a signal, training and equipping, maybe helping with air defense. going to help Ukraine rebuild its economy, so it's in a much stronger economic position. And I believe that we still need to keep working to get them into the EU and NATO, because NATO is the only thing that Putin respects. Right. And he says that that is his.

I don't think Trump wants to do that. But I do think that Trump is going to be frustrated when he doesn't come to the table. And that'll change, I think, his perspective once and for all on Putin, unless it is more desperate than even we think, and he has no choice. Even though he's he's uh he's uh somewhat on the uh offensive now. Yes.

No, Putin sees this not as a contest against Ukraine. He doesn't think Ukraine exists. He thinks it rightfully belongs to Russia. He sees this as a contest against the West and against America. And so he wants To get what he wants, which is taking that area and getting it recognized.

And when he realizes he can't do it, he's not going to give up. He's just going to try to plan better, prepare more, wait for another day. And that's what we have to understand. There's no solution here as long as Putin's in power. There is deterrence.

There's an uneasy stopping of the aggression so that everybody else can get on with their lives. Do you believe that there's more Vlad people that feel like Vladimir Putin, or is he a one-man Stalin-like figure there? Or has he got a whole bunch of disciples that also think they can reform the Soviet Union?

Well, what's interesting is that he has collapsed the Russian system really into one man rule. There isn't anybody else that exercises any authority in Russia right now. And I think a lot of people in that situation are watching what's happening. And they're saying, look, we've got this outrageous inflation in Russia. We've got interest rates at 21%.

We've got a labor shortage. We've lost hundreds of thousands of soldiers. There's people walking around without limbs who have come back from the war.

So they know that this is a problem. And I think that the Russian people and the Russian elite would love to have a break. But Putin, he wants to go down in history as the great rebuilder of the Russian Empire.

So as long as he's in power, we're going to have to deal with his visions.

So let's talk about Gaza and how close this deal is. They say it's not dissimilar from the one in July that Netanyahu walked away from for the most part. But the big difference is there's Sinoar's dead, and a lot of his disciples, his disciples, are dead, right? Yep.

Well, the other big difference is that President Trump is coming to office. And Hamas knows that. President Trump has threatened them directly. Iran knows that, and they fully expect to be held accountable for things that the Hezbollah or Hamas or the Houthis do. And so there's a lot more pressure on those actors to try to find a settlement as quickly as they can.

And President Trump has made it clear that the idea here, most important thing, gets the hostages out. There are American citizens. Still being held hostage, they have to be released. Or if not, as President Trump said, there's going to be hell to pay. And I think they know that, and I think that's why we're starting to see the ice break.

Here's what Michael Walt said last night: who's going to be the national security advisor, cut 25. That looks like every single remaining member of Hamas dies. This means there are real consequences starting January 20th to holding Americans the way they do and the way they have been doing. And by the way, they will have been there longer than in 1979 when Iran held our hostages back then. And I don't want to forecast anything beyond that, but we've delivered that message.

And the question was: what does all hell break loose seem like? And that is letting Net Yahoo go loose, right? Just letting him off to, you know, let him do what he has to do. That's exactly right. Netanyahu never felt that the Biden administration had his back.

He always felt that they were helping, but also urging restraint, telling him things that he shouldn't do, pushing him into premature ceasefire talks rather than destroying Hamas.

So he never felt that they had his back.

So he felt he had to do things more on his own.

Now with President Trump coming in, he knows he's going to have an ally in the White House. He can act with more confidence and he can act with more deliberateness. when they try to bring peace back throughout the whole Middle East region.

So Trump persuaded, according to the Israeli newspaper, An Israeli newspaper, they say that Trump persuaded Netanyahu to accept his proposal. It was first presented to him in May.

So there isn't any need to begin to rant and rave about it, how it was Hamas that prevented a deal from being first, or it was Israel's fault for letting it go. Get it done. And then let's see what happens. My problem is with all the all the murder they're they're letting out thirty three murderers. They're letting out over a thousand prisoners, the Palestinian prisoners.

Are are you restaffing Hamas is my worry, and I'm sure it's very much Israel's worry. Yeah, no, Hamas is not fully gone and it will never be fully gone. But just like with Ukraine, if we can get a stop to the active phase of this war, these terrorist attacks against Israel and Israel having to defend itself, and we can buy time, then we need to use that time to weaken Hamas and to make Israel stronger over time. And this is doable, and it's been done before. It's just that we've lost this deterrence, we've lost this stronger position over the terrorists.

That we had for many, many years. We need to get that back now. Ambassador Voca, last question. when you want to get the Terrents back, it's got to show not necessarily a fight. But you have to show a willingness to fight.

And do you think increasing the Pentagon budget to five percent, what Roger Wicker wants to do as Chairman of Armed Services will show that? Will that when we start I mean, we could start showing off our new approach using the tech the tech Titans, helping the Pentagon streamline and bulk up. Yes. I think that is a great idea. I think it needs to be done.

I think the target of that level of spending is obviously China because they are preparing. They're spending a lot. They need to see that we have the resolve. Deterrence ultimately rests on two things, capability and will. And we have neither sufficient capability nor in the past four years have we demonstrated sufficient will.

We need to do both. Demonstrating the will to act, that may require taking on a couple of tough issues and showing we can do this. That's what will reestablish deterrence. All right, Ambassador. Hopefully, we start talking instead of fighting soon.

Ambassador Kurt Volcker, thank you. Thank you, Brian. You got it. 1866-408-7669. Congressman James Comer next on the long goodbye of Joe Biden and the legacy he leaves behind.

People point to his thirty six percent approval rating. But Truman had a low approval rating, too. Gradually, as people realized the decisions he made, it went up. Will Joe Biden have the same fate? I'll pretend like I don't know the answer to keep you on the edge of your seat.

Back in a moment. Diving deep into today's top stories, it's Brian Kilmead. Fox News Audio presents the Fox Nation Investigates Podcast: The Menendez Brothers. Monsters or Misunderstood? We have evolved to understanding that this type of stuff would happen.

Judge Jeanine Piro and a panel of experts break down the Menendez Brothers' new fight for freedom, and their defense attorney explains why he's optimistic he can clear their names. Are these convicted killers monsters or just misunderstood? Listen and follow at FoxtrueCrime.com or wherever you get your favorite podcasts. From his mouth to your ears, it's Brian Kilmead. Should we take it to believe that you believe that the two women on this committee who have served honorably and with distinction made our military less effective and less capable?

When I'm talking about that issue, It's not about the capabilities of men and women, it's about standards. You're quite sure. That every general who serves should not go directly into the defense industry for 10 years. Are you not willing to make that same pledge? I'm not a general senator.

So that's just, I mean, they were just trying to get him to pledge. If somebody was caught drinking, if somebody was done this, if someone's done that, then you promise to resign. And if you take a job after you leave in the defense business, well, that's going against your word. He was so smart, Pete, in not getting pitching himself into something that he probably has no interest in joining a defense company after he left. I'm probably sure he doesn't.

Who knows? In four years from now, who knows what he wants to do? Probably stay in Congress for all you know. But that's what the whole thing was about. And I don't think it was successful.

Although, if you listen to some of the other networks, you would think that he was the worst nominee ever, cut for it. He is manifestly unqualified for virtually any high-ranking government position. And he demonstrated that frequently today. Hagseth was well prepared, and it was clear Democrats recognized that, given that there was some clearly concerned that he wouldn't be able to handle more than one round of questioning. What makes you so awesome?

Republican senators on the Armed Services Committee did their very best to help out Trump's pick for defense secretary. They did everything but walk over and hug him, the Republicans.

Well, they liked him. Have you ever heard of that? I mean, if you look at, for example, General Austin coming off a a career Raytheon and four star general. They say, Okay, well You know, there's supposed to be a certain amount of time in which you go back. And he said, no, no, we'll waive that.

We need him. What is Secretary of Defense Austin done? Has he built up the Navy, the Army, the Marines, the Air Force? I don't think he's done anything. Has he formed deterrence in the South China Sea?

Has he put together a force, a surrogate force in Europe to keep Russia in check? What about the Middle East? It also happened on his watch, October 7th.

So you got a four-star general and General Mattis. He never clicked with President Trump.

So they had totally different visions. In fact, if you read McMaster's book, Working Against Him. That's not going to happen now. Senator Roger Wicker, veteran chairman of the Armed Forces, the Armed Forces Committee, said this about Pete Hayseth, Cut 7. Today's Department of Defense is no longer prepared for great power competition.

It is not a national defense institution ready to achieve and sustain technological supremacy. across the range of operations. Admittedly, this nomination is unconventional. The nominee is un conventional Just like that New York Developer who rode down the escalator in 2015 to announce his Kennedy. candidacy for president.

That may be what makes Mr. Hegseth an excellent choice. to improve this unacceptable status quo. That I just described. Right.

So Senator Wicker opened to it, understood it, had the meetings, and he did it. And you'd have other people just went after him personally. I just think that's a dry hole, thankfully, in 2025 America. And I think, yeah, oh, people watching right now who are watching Bill Clinton in the 90s said, well, he's having problems with his marriage. He's having discipline problems with an intern.

And they said to him, stay on the job, and he got another four years. They felt as though Republicans came off too sanctimonious, and they thought, well, he's better than Bob Dole. We're going to keep him around. Plus, the economy is going well. Senator Mark Wayne Mullen sat there and listened to especially Senator Tim Kaine, who ran with Hillary Clinton and his friends with Bill Clinton, sitting there with his hair standing straight up, just going after him personally, asking about his marriage and when this kid was born and when that kid was born.

Cut 10. The senator for Virginia starts bringing up the fact that what if you showed up drunk to your job? How many senators have showed up drunk to vote at night? Have any of you guys asked them to step down and resign for their job? And don't tell me you haven't seen it because I know you have.

And then, how many senators do you know have got a divorce before cheating on their wives? Did you ask them to step down? No. But it's for show. You guys, make sure you make a big show and point out.

The hypocrisy because a man's made a mistake. And you want to sit there and say that he's not qualified?

So this guy's a superstar. He's been on our show a lot. And of course, we have two great affiliates, three great affiliates over in Oklahoma, amongst them, KRMMG. And Mark Way Mullen's an impact guy, and he's got the president's ear. And the president, he also tells the president, when I can't sell you.

And I'm sure he told em Matt Gates is bad guy. He, you know, he, you might like him. but nobody else does. And that's part of the reasons it is Pam Bandi today. Pambony is going to be going today.

I think she's going to have a smooth run. The word is they're going to keep bringing up twenty twenty. Did Donald Trump lose the election? What about some of your attempts to put some of his complaints in court? No problem though.

Doug Bergham is going on Thursday. That'll be interesting. Lee's Eldon. We'll be asked about You know, as EPA administrator, he's going to be asked about his view. on uh on uh corn used as a form of energy.

So we'll find out about that. Scott Turner, Secretary of Housing and Human Development and Urban Development. We'll see how that goes. Scott Bessett, Secretary of the Treasury. Yes, there'll be times where you get direct questions.

But these guys are floating through. My hope is get the vote in. And then also, I'm going to stay on it. I want those ambassadors in place. I want everybody in place, the undersecretaries, the deputy secretaries, you need to step up quickly.

A talk show that's real. This is the Brian Kill Me Show. We will not support conditions to disaster assistance. We can have a lengthy debate and discussion and use the committee process to have discussions about the steps that California has taken to protect itself, whether that's doubling the fire professionals in California to a record number of resources, billions of dollars, to clearing brush in a preventative way. Right, but he says you shouldn't condition aid.

What Speaker Johnson was going to say is you got to put more money into the fire department they're talking about. You have to stop with the $50 million Trump-proofing the state. And why don't you focus on fire prevention and make sure your mayor doesn't leave to go to Ghana and is at a cocktail party while literally your whole city burns. Just idiots, environmental. missions that hurt the country is and hurt the state.

It's going to eventually hurt the country because we're all going to pay for it. And I feel very bad for these people, but they keep not all of them, but they keep electing posers like the governor, And this mayor who has no business being mayor. She she wants to travel. As a congresswoman, she was constantly on the road to the point where when she was running against Rick Caruso, it's a one party state. Democrat.

I said, listen, if I get the job, I'm not traveling anywhere.

Well, she lied. She was in Ghana, nobody wants her in Ghana. She wants to go there, and guess who paid for it? California taxpayers. Joining us now, Congressman James Comer.

He wrote a great book. It's called All the President's Money, Investigating the Secret Foreign Schemes That Made the Biden Family Rich. And I'm going to get to that Congressman shortly, Chairman, I should say. But can I ask you first about conditioning aid where you stand? Yeah, I mean, it's going to have to be conditioned.

We can't just keep Spending money on a problem that we know isn't going to get better until we restore some competence with the fire departments as well as some forestry management with the forest in California. I mean, I grew up on a farm. I grew up in the foothills of Appalachia. A big part of my farm in operation is what's called Appalachian hardwood timber. I sell trees every year, just like I sell cattle or corn or soybeans.

And you have to manage the forest. I mean, that's just common sense That people that are in the business understand, but when you've got a bunch of government, liberal, left-wing doofuses. that say oh you can't You can't get the brush up, you can't thin the timber out, you can't do any of that. Uh they don't know what you're talking about and they they They get what they what they sowed what they reap here with incompetence, and you lose lives and you lose property. And we cannot continue to give them a blank check.

Chairman, you know, in North Carolina, neighboring to South Carolina, obviously, they're saying don't forget about us. Instead, they get noticed, they get kicked out of their temporary housing, even though it's the dead of winter and their houses aren't ready.

So we've moved on from there, and that was a very rare event for the mountains to get hit like that, like it did with Helene. But in this event in particular, I've never seen this. I've never seen a governor say, Yeah, I got to get to the bottom of this. Yeah, I don't know why the reservoirs are full, I mean empty. I don't know why the electricity was out, I mean on.

You know, I'm going to get answers. I'm an independent commission. Have you ever seen that in a leadership seminar you might have gone to? When in trouble, don't take ownership, pretend as if you're really governor of Greenland? No, and that's the problem with the Democrat Party today.

They can't have an honest conversation because they're afraid that they're going to offend some of the left-wing crazies in their party, which, by the way, the left-wing crazies have taken over the party. Every city in America can't do anything about crime because they're afraid that they'll step on somebody's toes in the criminal justice conversation. And it's just the same way with first responders. When you do the DEI hires and when you worry about the Green New Deal environmental initiatives and protecting invasive species of fish instead of filling up your reservoirs, then you're going to get this. And Newsom is a victim of his own policies.

He is. And the thing is, it's been explained to me is from Governor Sununu and Governor Chris Christie, I think two excellent governors. They said, yeah, you can't control every city, absolutely. But what you could do is you tabletop different scenarios.

So you have a plan ahead of time. And if that plan doesn't work, you've all got a stake in it. And then you understand where the fallback is and where the ball's been dropped. But you have Governor Newsom going, yeah, I don't know anything. And we never tabletopped anything.

And a 71-year-old mayor who was in Ghana and there are pictures of her at a cocktail party at the very moment the Palisades was literally burning up.

So, and then she uses a military plane more money to get back.

So, lastly, let's pivot over to your book. And it's an important one. Joe Biden takes forever to leave. He's got his farewell address today. He's getting away with bad approval ratings, terrible record, but he's getting away with his overseas business dealings.

Do you remember when Joe Biden denied any type of complicity in his son's works? Mr. Vice President, how many times have you ever spoken to your son about his overseas business dealings? I have never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealings. I have never discussed with my son or my brother or anyone else anything having to do with their businesses, period.

And what I will do is the same thing we did in our administration. There will be an absolute wall between personal and private and the government. Do you stand by your statement that you did not discuss any of your son's overseas business dealing with the government? I stand by that statement. Was he lying?

He was lying. When he said he would have an absolute wall between his personal life and his son's business interest, which is funny, he says business, there is no business other than influence peddling. What we learned in the investigation, they shared the same bookkeeper. In fact, Joe Biden never paid for bookkeeping. I pay thousands of dollars a year.

For bookkeeping and for my financial disclosure forms that are required, he never paid anything for it. It was the same guy that Hunter used. And, you know, Hunter was paying the guy.

So that's a benefit that he was getting from these overseas. Scams and schemes. We also traced $240,000 that went from the influence peddling straight into Joe Biden's personal checking account. The book is a forensic audit. Of what took place.

It lists the names of the people who were wiring the money, and the thing in the book highlights every single person. That sent the Bidens money were people in trouble. They were needing pardons. They were needing prosecutors off their back. They were needing government contracts.

They were all in trouble. And the majority of the people. It sent Hunter money. uh either work in prison Would go on to prison, are on the run from being hauled into court, or currently in court now trying to stay out of prison. I mean, they're all scoundrels.

There was never a business. And Joe Biden just lied continuously to the American people about his knowledge, involvement, and participation. in the family schemes.

So obviously he denies it. But what you did I think was brilliant is instead of trying to get people, you went to the bank records and then got the people. And I think they were surprised by that. And the banks were compliant for the most part, weren't they? They were.

we had one hundred percent success with the private banks. uh six different banks turned over every financial Statement, all the bank records that we needed. You know, a lot of people say, go for the taxes, go for the taxes. I was a director of a bank for over a decade. I'm the fourth generation director of this bank.

People cheat on their taxes. If you want to know about someone's finances, don't worry about their taxes. Get their bank statements because bank records don't lie. And you could see the money coming in and out. You could see where it came from.

And the banks did their job. That's why they wanted us to have these bank statements. They flagged all this. They said there's money laundering taking place. There's potential bribery taking place.

Hunter says this account is a. Is an investment fund, but there are no investments in it. All it's doing is laundering money.

So the bank's Taught all this, they did everything right, but yet when they catch it, they would turn it into the treasury. Treasury wasn't even sharing this information with the Department of Justice. They weren't sharing it with the IRS. And that's why you have these suspicious activity reports, which were the bank violations, so these different agencies can communicate every instance with respect to the Bidens. There were investigations taking place, but there was a direct involvement from the deep state to prevent them from going after any Biden family member.

So Johnny Yellen obviously was blocking for the family. She was? She, to her credit, let us go in. And uh, you know, I don't think I don't think she realized the extent Of information that was in those suspicious activity reports. But you know, you go back.

Look, a lot of this happened under the Trump administration, during the Obama administration and Trump administration. that people didn't catch this. I mean, you you but you know, at the end of the day, And this is the problem Trump's going to have to deal with. It's not necessarily the cabinet secretaries. That are running the show.

It's the bureaucrats. It's the ones you don't know, the ones that are behind the scenes, that have been in these. FBIs and DOJs and Treasuries for decades. And they are they are Bureaucrats at the highest level, they're protected by the civil service system, or in other words, they're protected by merit or tenure, whatever you want to call it, and they are running the show. And they're the ones that were heavy-handed in all the cover-ups.

The investigation revealed the FBI, the DOJ, the IRS, and the Securities and Exchange Commission all had active investigations of various Biden family members, and they were all told to stand down. Here is Hunter Biden when asked about parisma. I don't think I made a mistake in taking the spot on the board. I think I made a mistake in terms of underestimating. The way in which it would be used against me.

I'm being as honest with you as I possibly can. All I know is that not one investigative body, not one serious journalist has ever accused, has ever come to the conclusion that I did anything wrong or that my father did anything wrong. Serious journalist, serious to anybody. Yeah. That was him during his book tour.

That was in twenty twenty. Mm-hmm. Yeah, look, I mean, no one would think it's ethical. It would never pass the smell test or.

Someone who everyone knew had an addiction problem. Everyone knew had no experience in energy. Everyone knew was dealing with a country that had a terrible reputation like Ukraine. To get a salary that was in excess of anything Exxon or Chevron or any major energy company paid their. Paid their directors and to get that while their father is sitting vice president of the United States in charge of foreign aid for that country.

I mean, there's no Serious journalist in America that would say that's okay. Trevor Burrus, Jr.: But this is what you're against. You're in the minority at this point. Leslie Stahl sits down with Trump. And she is under the impression, this is 60 minutes, as she would say.

She's under the impression. Of course, the laptop's not real.

Well, Leon Panetta said it's not real. 51 Intel agents said it's not real. Listen to her. I think it's one of the biggest scandals I've ever seen, and you don't cover it. Because you want to talk about it.

Well, because it can't be verified. You want to talk about insignificant things. I'm telling you. Of course it can be verified. Excuse me.

They found a laptop. Leslie. It can't be verified. I mean, of course all you have to do is ask Joe Biden. Is this your email?

All you had to do was say, Is this your son's email? And all Panetta had to do was say, Hey, Joe, I'm about to put my reputation on the line. I'm going to sign off that this is Russian disinformation. Just let me know. Are these your text messages?

I believe your voice is on the voicemail. Is this you? Yeah. I mean, that's probably the biggest lie that's ever been told. And I would argue that's the biggest instance of election interference.

When those 51 intelligence officials were putting the word out, not just in that letter they signed, but also to the Facebook, to Twitter, to Leslie Thaw, to all the journalists, that this is Russian disinformation. When we later learn that many of them knew, in fact, It was not Russian disinformation. The FBI had possession of that laptop. Mutt. Before that came out.

And it just, again, I'm meeting with you. Christopher Rays, Christopher Rays, FBI. Christopher Reyes, FBI. I'm meeting with Cash Patel tomorrow. We're going to talk about this because.

I want to see people held accountable in the FBI. You cannot. do what they did on this laptop. And not be held accountable. But thus far, no one has been held accountable.

Christopher Ray's left, that's not enough. It's the bureaucrats. It's the deep state bureaucrats that have to go.

So lastly, in the book, James, before I'm already over, but in the book, Chairman, what did you put in the book that didn't come out in testimony that you finally got a chance to air it all out?

Well, one thing that did come out in testimony that I don't think anybody picked up was Tony Bobolinski. Was yeah, the one Straight guy that was affiliated with the Bidens. And he really thought they were going to have a legitimate investment. Deal. with China.

And what he realized was it wasn't an investment deal with China. It was just China. In his words, bribing the Bidens. just so they can, you know, have have influence over the Bible. It's a thank you payment was was w one of the things that Devin Archer called it.

And and Bobolinski called it a a bribe. There was no investment deal with China. The money from China was from the country of China, the Chinese Communist Party.

So There's our biggest adversary in the world. Even Christopher Wray on 60 Minutes in his last interview said the biggest threat to America is China.

Well, why did they cover up? That the Bidens took $8 million from China and, according to the Irish Whistlebores, never paid a penny of taxes on it. Chairman James Comer, thanks so much. And pick up his book, All the President's Money: Investigating the Secret Foreign Schemes That Made the Biden Family Rich. Thanks, Congressman.

Thank you, Brian. Back in a moment. Coming to you on a need-to-know basis, because Mandy, you need to know, it's Brian Kilmead. A radio show like no other. It's Brian Killmead.

This work is still very much in progress, and so it's critically important. that to the extent you can find Anything that gives you an ability to be patient in this extremely Dangerous and unprecedented crisis that you do.

So, this is the vice president ad libbing, which should be the easiest thing she's ever done. Express empathy, And clarity. When all her neighbors and people that she knows lost everything that they have.

Well, firefighters work hard to save Brentwood, where she lives, reportedly, in California. And they could still lose it, by the way. It is any human being. You watch these men and women. Hey, this is the story with the soup kitchen.

This is the story with clothes. Female executives talking about what everybody needs. But she could talk about her own house that they had two people break into And they're not going to be charged. Talk about the looters. Should be instinctive.

She could sit there. Nobody blames her for what's happening. She wasn't attorney general. She wasn't DA. She wasn't in California.

She could go out there and start showing what she'd be like as a governor. Hey, let me be vice president for a few more weeks. Let me tell you what I could do. Let me call Joe Biden right now. Let me take charge of what's happening.

This is my house. This is my neighbor. I'm going to go visit. Adam Sandler's house. I'm going to go see James Woods' house.

And you know what? Million cameras would follow up, and she'd bring attention to it. Then she could go down to Los Angeles, where people are literally trying to get a second set of clothes. This is why you get into politics, to help people. Yeah, you want to be powerful, got it.

You might like planes and buses and trains and caravans and the free offices. I got it. But fundamentally, if you're any good, These are the moments that you stand up and speak out and help people. But you can't do it. She is done.

Gavin Newsom is done. If anybody has any criteria for qualities in a leader, Karen Bass, done. Pictures of her in Ghana, while Los Angeles burns, while you're the mayor, and your firefight chief already blames you for the lack of funding, done. From the Fox News Radio Studios in Midtown Manhattan, it's the fastest-growing radio talk show. Brian Kill mead.

From New York City, where we have a state-of-the-scenity address, and turns out we finally have a governor in the mid-we have a crime problem. No kidding. Jake Steinfeld, he's going to call us from the Pacific Palisades that have just burned up, and he's one of the thousands that lost everything. He's got some wherewithal, he's got a battle plan to go back, he's going to bring us inside the effort to put out those fires once and for all, find out what went wrong leading up to it, and fix it from here on in. Bhatyangar Sargon is standing by, journalist and author of Second Class: How the Elites Portrayed America's Working Men and Women, and you'll also hear all over the free press.

And before we get to Bhatia on the myriad of Um news that's happening right now, let's get to the big three.

Now, with the stories you need to know, it's Brian's big three. Number three. On the agreement, it's right on the brink. It's closer than it's ever been before, but. Right now, as we sit here, we await final word from Hamas.

Yep.

First phase of the hostage deal expected any minute in Gaza as the Trump effect is already in full stride. We have the latest. Number two. Are you happy with how the response is going past and present?

Well, I mean, you know, everything could be better. There is no question about that. This is a natural disaster of unprecedented proportions. Wake up call, LA overwhelmed with sweeping destruction and disruption. They yearn for real leadership.

Are they beginning to realize political correctness and the environmental extremists that they put in office exasperated these epic fires? Number one. Quite sure. That air Every general who serves should not go directly into the defense industry for 10 years. Are you not willing to make that same pledge?

I'm not a general senator. One is done. And I see Pete Hekseth getting through.

So does almost every Republican, including Senator Joni Ernst, the key one. Trump team fighting for their jobs now through the nomination hearings, which begin now with Pam Bondi a little bit later. Marco Rubio. We look at the desperate Democrat fireworks yesterday. They went after him personally.

Very little. Like when they were talking about women in combat, no problem with that. You know, when you talk about what you wrote in your book, great. But when you sit there the whole time and say, you know, were you cheating on your wife? Are you this is what these anonymous sources said about what you did in business?

Um I thought you could bring it up. But when Senator Mark Kelly, a guy with a rich military background and astronaut, spent the whole time doing that. I was a little stunned by it, but I was Bhatya Ungar Sargon joins us now. Bhatya, exciting time inauguration, five days away. Your thoughts about the Secretary of Defense nominee yesterday?

Thank you so much for having me, Brian. It's so wonderful to be here with you. I agree with you. I think he acquitted himself with a lot of grace given what was being thrown at him. I do wish he would have simply committed to the 10-year rule that he set out for the generals and said, sure, I'm going to be head of DOD, really important job.

I too will commit for 10 years not to join the private sector. I think that was sort of an easy layup because the GOP is a populist party now, and that's what the people want to see. But aside from that, I really thought that he acquitted himself with a lot of dignity. And of course, as a religious person, it's so nice to see somebody bringing into the public sphere their faith. And their belief that they've been given grace by God.

So I watched the whole thing and I have to say I really enjoyed it.

So one thing I think he's going to change is he's going to think from the war fighter up. I think that the first thing he does is, who are these 1,200 in Syria? And why did we told 900 were there? You know, what is the st what are the rules of engagement if I need these men and women to fight? I think he's going to be looking at all that.

And another thing I think he's going to do is help recruiting. And this is also his philosophy, which I think is a welcome relief. Cut five. Current administration politics. should play no part in military matters.

We are not Republicans. We are not Democrats. We are American warriors. Our standards will be high. and they will be equal.

Not equitable. That's a very different word. We need to make sure every warrior is fully qualified on their assigned weapon system, every pilot's fully qualified and current. on the aircraft they are flying. And every general or flag officer is selected for leadership or promotion.

Surely. Based on performance, readiness and merit.

So what is he up against as he tries to implement those things, do you think, Bhatia?

Well, first of all, I could not agree with you more, Brian. I mean, I think just looking at this guy, right, you couldn't help but feel watching his responses to you know, he's a great looking guy. He has this amazing career behind him. He went to the Ivy League, but he also served with honor, a man's man, you know, like obviously he's going to succeed in the recruitment department because he just brings exactly that image that I think has been missing for a long time, which is, you know, dignity of men, which is something that our culture has really not allowed to be spoken and celebrated for a very long time. There's been this sort of war on men, a backlash against masculinity.

And you just look at how proudly he wears that father of seven, you know.

So I think that that's going to really help with recruitment, both of men and women, right? Because there's something about that sort of bringing dignity back to the armed forces that he really embodies like with every fiber of his being, it feels like.

So, Bhatti, let's fast forward. And the other nominees, Pam Bondi talking now. If I looked at Dick Durbin, his comments is basically all about 2020 and that Donald Trump fired sessions and fired Barr. Are you just going to do whatever Trump says? That'll be the Democrats' theme.

But I don't think he's going to lose any Republicans. Therefore, she's going to sail through. Do you see anyone not sailing through?

Okay. I agree with you about Pam. I think she's going to sail through. There's a lot of support for her. I think Marco Rubio will get a lot of support from Democrats.

He's a very popular guy, and he represents a sort of really nice balance between left-wing foreign policy, right-wing foreign policy. He's been great on Ukraine, but also understands the reason that people feel that there's been a lot, maybe even too much funding there. And he's also, of course, so supportive of Israel. And he has a lot of experience in foreign policy.

So I think he's going to sail right through. You know, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., I think, might have a little bit more of a hard time because there are obviously people on the far right who are not going to feel comfortable about him. He's very, you know, pro-choice. He's a Democrat.

He's a liberal. And then I'm really hoping that Tulsi Gabbard makes it through. I think she's incredible, such a strong voice. Again, a war fighter, somebody who understands this country, loves this country. But I could see her having difficulty, again, on both sides.

All right. When it comes to what's happening out in California, California and the Blaze. Obviously, things are just indigenous to the area, but does anybody that you know think they're being led effectively with their mayor and their governor? I mean, what we're seeing now is stunning incompetence that's still taking place and a mutiny. You have a fire department head saying, I told you not to cut my budget.

And then, when asked about her plan to fight fires in these Santa Anita winds, she's like, Well, I'm confident in the people that put the plan together.

So, I've never seen such distancing. From leadership in my life, let alone Gavin Newsom saying, I got to get to the bottom of this, as if you're not the governor of the state. Right. I think there is such a disconnect between the rank and file firefighters, the unbelievable commitment and work that they have done, putting their lives on the line to save lives, which they have saved so many lives. I mean, the death tool, thank God, you look at the destruction, you think it would be 20 times higher.

And by the grace of God and the hard work of these men and women, it really, really are doing their jobs amazingly. And then there's just a total disconnect between that and the support they're getting from their leadership and the vision and the planning and just the absolute absence of any kind of leadership, any kind of, you know, the buck stops here, accountability. I mean, Karen Bass being at a cocktail party in Ghana when this was going on. You know, it's just very, very disappointing. And honestly, I don't see how either Karen Bass or Gavin Newsom makes it out of this with their political careers intact.

I think it's over for both of them. I hope so. Michael Schellenberger said, and by the way, it's a one-party town. You had a chance to get a businessman, a Rick Caruso, and you. She chose a failed congresswoman who loves communist Castro and loved Maduro over Cesar Chavez.

That was her track record. That still was good enough for her to run the city. Here's Michael Schellenberger, who grew up in the area, cut 20. There's a hundred fire engines that are in the shop for repair at this moment that should have been repaired and should have been stationed around LA. They've been demoralized.

Funding has been cut. They have twice as many calls per day from the fire department, half of them to put out fires by the homeless, and their staffing is down by a third. They were demoralized before this crisis. These are the people that we should be raising up and celebrating. They've just been demoralized by the terrible governance and lack of leadership.

Can you blame him? You know, I think that's a good idea. I think I see things a little differently than Michael. I'm really not sure that, you know, this was an act of God. This is a once-in-a-generation thing that was destined to happen given the geology of the Pacific Palisades and Santa Monica and the combination of the Santa Ana winds and the dryness of the season and the wetness and the lushness of the growth during the wet season last year.

You know, I honestly don't, I can't say if they had done this, they would have done better. If they had done this, they would have done better. The water pressure problem seems to come from the fact that all of the water was going in one direction rather than an absence of access to water. But again, they are so incompetent in so many other ways, right? The homelessness, the crime, the lack of affordable housing, the just total lack of distrust that I think this has come to symbolize all of that incompetence.

Even if I look at these firefighters and I am amazed at the job they're doing.

So let's talk about the Gaza deal. It looks imminent. It looks very similar to the July deal that the IDF and the Israelis didn't really like. But they said it looks like the Hamas fighters are going to get out in about 30, in the first phase, about 30 hostages will get out. And the presence of the IDF will remain in Gaza for now.

Your thoughts about what we know? I just feel absolutely euphoric at the thought of these girls coming home. And I know that Israelis are cut up about this. I know that they're very divided about it. I've heard from people saying, you know, October 7th happened because of the Gilad-Shalit deal.

This is a terrible deal. They shouldn't take it. I just think when barbarians come and they take your women and they rape your women, you have to humiliate their soldiers and then you have to get your women back. And now is the time. I don't think Steve Witcoff is going to allow Israel to get screwed in this deal.

I don't think Donald Trump is going to allow Israel to get screwed in any deal. And so I feel very, very excited at the thought of these girls coming home.

So when we look at the details of it, it looks like the commanders held a strategic meeting on the regional situation, at which time both sides discussed a variety of scenarios. Both talk about getting these hostages out, women and children. First, Next, the second stage, the remaining hostages and Israeli soldiers held captive by Hamas would be released, and then they get more criminals that are some of which, 30 of which are murderers, out. Israel would agree to allow hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians who have fled the Israeli bombardment in the south back to their homes. They said they killed about 17,000 Hamas fighters.

Sinwar's brother is now heading up the organization. There's no word yet if they have a voting system, but it looks like he is willing to accept this and then get more humanitarian aid in. And they're going to move off the Philadelphia corridor, which is between Gaza and Egypt. But their victories that Israel has had have been so substantial. Killing Sinwar and Nasarella, not many people forecast either one of those things.

Yeah, I agree with you, Brian. I think they really successfully neutralized the threat both from Hamas and from Chitzpollah.

So they can now go back to what they should have been doing in the first place, which is paying very close attention to that border between Gaza and Israel, which they had sort of taken their eye off because they thought the real threat was coming from the north. October seventh happened due to a very pedestrian failure of watching the border. And so I really, you know, it's horrible to see these thousand Palestinian terrorists released from prisons. But that doesn't mean Israel is not going to be able to protect its citizens. Hamas' rockets are not very able to harm Israelis.

And it's horrible that they have to run into those safety shelters. But Hamas does not actually pose a very great risk anymore.

Now that Israel understands what it is capable of, I think they will be able to protect their people. Yeah, I mean, that's my hope. And let's just say the other thing in Doha, the reports that I'm getting from people, that they say Steve Witkoff is the reason. He's been the catalyst of the whole thing, and Trump coming in is the reason. And the Prime Minister seems to really respect Trump and vice versa.

And he knows there's not going to be any slow weapons deliveries from Trump. I think that's totally. Totally right. This would never have happened under Biden. One Arab official said that Trump got more done in one conversation through Witkoff than Biden got done in two years.

And I think that's 100% accurate. Here's what I would like Steve Witkoff to say to the Qataris, who he has a lot of, a very good relationship with due to his business interests there. They control Al Jazeera. I want him. To say to them, here's what we want.

You like having an American airbase in Doha. We want a two-hour documentary played in Arabic. On Al Jazeera, which has been the number one promoter of propaganda, of pro-Hamas propaganda, I want a two-hour documentary in Arabic about the atrocities Hamas did to the Israelis and the atrocities they did to their own people over the last two years. Stealing the aid, shooting people trying to feed their families, putting bombs in kindergartens. You show that on Al Jazeera Arabic to the entire Arab world.

Because you know what, Brian?

Something people aren't talking about is how unpopular Hamas is right now in Gaza. The Gazan people have never before hated Hamas to the degree that they do now. There is a real opportunity for regime change there. All right. Thanks so much.

Bhati, we covered the world. Not many people could do that. You could handle all of it. I love to listen to you on the free press, too. Thank you, Brian.

God bless. Thank you so much for having me. You got Bati Younger Sargon. Back in a moment. Learning something new every day on The Brian Kill Me Show.

The more you listen, the more you'll know. It's Brian Kilmead. Hey, welcome back, everyone. I got a couple of minutes here. I didn't tell you this, we didn't go over this, but.

Great news. They passed through the House, which they're going to pass through the Senate, I am sure. A law that says, if uh verified, and I hope it's going to be confirmed and passed, that you have to be uh. Women have to play in women's sports, and no trans men are allowed in women's sports. To me, this is a great game, a great day for women, for girls, and especially for Riley Gaines, who had it happen to her at the University of Pennsylvania, signed out to be a dentist to make that her life calling.

When that passed the House, it didn't mean there weren't people that wanted to mischaracterize what this would actually do. Drum roll, please. Guess who had a good time with this? AOC, Cut 33. Republicans, who have voted against consistently against the Violence Against Women Act, now want to pretend today.

that they care about women. And why? To open up gender and, yes, genital examinations into little girls in this country in the so-called name of attacking trans girls. Trans girls our girls. They shouldn't play with girls in sports.

Sorry. And if you ever have kids and it's a girl, you better hope some trans uh girl some trans man is not playing soccer against her because he'll run over her. Go up for a headball with her. Play volleyball with her. How does that go?

Do you need to see the video? And mischaracterizing what's going to happen is wrong. Here's Jennifer say. Who tells you exactly about what the reality is? Cut 35, who's worked for Riley Gaines?

This is fear-mongering. AOC has not gotten the memo that nobody cares anymore. If you call us a bigot, we just ignore you. And I can't believe that Seth Moulton, who came out after the election and said he didn't want his daughters getting run over on the playing field, he did not vote in support of this bill. I guess he didn't like being called the name.

So, some people, it still does work on. But I want to say this: these lies. allowing men to compete in women's sports did not start with legislation, and they will not end with legislation either. We need to change the culture. The only way we get this to stop is we change the culture.

When And all you do, you don't drop your pants, you have a swab in your cheek. That's it. And that's what has to happen to give your young daughter Older woman, a chance at a playing sports with a level playing field. It's not biased, it's not bigoted, it's just right. If you're interested in it, Brian's talking about it.

You're with Brian Killmead. Are you happy with how the response is going past and present?

Well, I mean, you know, everything could be better. There is no question about that. And again, I think we have all seen. This is a natural disaster of unprecedented proportions. To hear the firefighters say.

That they have never experienced this in this career to hear the CAL FIRE Represent Chief say that they would have needed 26,000 engines in order to address this fire. And there's not 26,000 engines in the state of California. Right, no one's saying it could have stopped it, but could he have contained it? Could there have been a better plan of action? And should you have gone to Ghana?

Those are some of the follow-up questions the mayor has not been successful in answering, especially as pictures emerge of her at a cocktail party after declaring a state of emergency and taking the 20-hour flight to an African country she had no reason to go to. Unless you just wanted to spend taxpayer money, Jake Steinfeld joins us now, good friend of mine, great friend of the show. He, of course, is a self-made success story, and he lived in Pacific Palisades for decades. He's chairman of the National Foundation for Governor Fitness. He started La Cross League, started a fitness network.

He was the first personal trainer in the history of the country. Many of his first clients were celebrities. And he lost everything in these fires and is rebuilding like the thousands of others and wants to update us on the process. And we want to check in on him. Jake, welcome back to the show.

Right, how you doing, buddy? I'm great. How uh you told me last week that you lost everything almost right away. What about now? How are things going now?

Well, listen, first of all, you know, as we talked about, and I was able to be on the show. Live on Fox and Friends, and the amount of support. And the love that came from that show is amazing. You know, we've been together for a long time, man. You know, I've been coming on your show.

Fox and Friends since uh 2000. We have a great history. I will tell you, it is a very different world here. It's a very different world for my family. But, you know, as I said on Fox and Friends, this is not a pity party for me.

This is one of these moments in life, and life is about moments where, you know. Yes, you're right. If you can close your eyes for a second, everybody listening, if you're driving, don't close your eyes, but visualize for one second, in a flash, losing everything. And look, fortunately, we are healthy. We're here.

No lives were lost. Uh yes, the home went down. And everything in it, Ryan. And you have some vintage cars, by the way.

Well, yes, but you know what, though? But that's that stuff. That's this stuff. And you know me as a dad. We have four kids.

The stuff that means the most, those memories, the memorabilia of my daughter and sons, their little pictures. you know of their drawings They're little pictures of when they're little handprints, as everybody knows. You know, I frame all that stuff. I have all that stuff in my gym. You know, all of it is gone.

And to see, you know, that little clip that you played about our our mayor here and our governor here disgusts me. It you know, being in the middle of it, Yeah we all have Have sat in front of our televisions watching Fox and Friends, listening to you, watching news, seeing catastrophes. This isn't the first time. And it won't be the last time. But I got mad enough because I'm part of it now.

and challenged enough Where we gotta do something, right? And what resonated when you and I, just two days ago, I think it might, you know, these days just. I don't even know what day. I don't, we're in a hotel. I truly have no.

I have it. This is my second shirt. I don't know if you can see me. I can see you. I have two shirts.

A couple pairs of underwear, a couple pairs of jeans now, and we're going to be fine that way. I have to tell you, in a crazy way. And I'm not a greatly religious man. But, you know, having nothing. No clothes.

It it it it literally I feel lighter, man, and and and I'm energized, and I feel electricity coming through my hands almost like a rebirth, Brian. And and to wear You made a mention. On the air. Uh at the end of our show. You know, after I talked about Uh you know, as I know, you have a great relationship.

with the incoming president. And everybody there, and he listens to the show, and probably listens to your radio show, too. And, you know, I made a. A comment about You know. Having the president Come out here.

You know, this is not about politics. This is not about red or blue. It's about the red, white, and blue. And Two fellas from the neighborhood taking a walk through the palisades. Just to see.

People are, you know, I read a lot about celebrities, they lost their big mansions. You know what? Forget about all that. There's a lot of people, man, who live in the Palisades. Who are from homes that were passed from generation to generation, who have nothing, people who have reached out to me, who walk up to me.

And Jake. anything you could tell me to provide some hope. And anything you could do. You know, I was the honorary mayor. You know, I was selected, not elected, in 2013.

We had some really fun things that we did, but people really, right now, Brian, are desperate for hopes and stuff. And I think that you want the president to come out there. I really want the President to come out. I will meet him. He and I will walk the neighborhood.

No politics. This is not about red or blue. This is about the red, white, and blue. I know the president believes that, and I'm excited. and invigorated and energized about this new administration, Coming in.

knowing that they're going to take charge, knowing that they're going to make change, and people are going to be able to see it firsthand. And granted, I understand there's an inauguration coming up, and we're still going to be here. But I really want to make this.

Well, the President says he's going to come out.

So but Newsom wants him out right away. But he's got an inauguration coming up and the previous President made some commitments. But you're not getting any leadership at all. And I'm just wondering, you, in my opinion, You've been, I don't know what you were like in high school and college, but from what I know, you've always been a leader. Always been open, not arrogant, but always been a leader.

And you worked for Arnold Schwarzenegger, and you guys came up and bodybuilding together. You didn't want to do the performance enhancers, and you went a different direction. But you've been friends your whole life. You've seen him as governor. He's urged you to run before.

Is this something where you could use your leadership ability, your knowledge of the region, your bipartisan nature to maybe try to launch in bright blue California? This is something that I'm really considering now. I never thought I'd say the words. You know, uh but since the show. Forty eight hours ago Because of the power of Fox and Friends and the power of everything that you guys do and stand for, and what I stand for.

It's something that I'm really considering. We're putting we're looking to put together Uh an exploratory committee. And in essence, do it the way that this incoming president has done it in his second term. Get the right people. Look, I know what I can do, Bright.

I know what I can do. You know, as an entrepreneur, If you believe that you could do everything, you end up becoming a legend in your own shower, as I say. And what already, people from across the country, and I'm not kidding you. From North Carolina, South Carolina, New York, Florida, Colorado, right here in LA, San Francisco. Are calling me to say we would love to do a fundraiser for you.

This is important. It's time. And sometimes it takes something like this to move someone to say and make a decision that obviously, look, you know, I've done a lot of things in my career, a lot of things in my life. I've succeeded, I've failed. But one thing I have learned is if you surround yourself with great, smart people.

Change can happen. And we need it desperately.

So you have a guy named Rick Caruso, and he runs. I don't know anything about him. I just know his bio and what he's done. He ran. And the people of Los Angeles said, No, I want the inexperienced congresswoman who loves to visit communist countries with no charisma, 71 years old, Karen Bess.

And they put her in office. And the first thing she did is give huge raises to all the unions, starts bolting up the homeless to 1.6 billion and cuts the Uh and gives the fire department 65% of that, cuts it immediately. And as well as putting in people in places just because they happen to be politically correct or a DEI category. Where do you stand wi with these type of issues? Here's where I stand.

First and foremost, Rick is a friend and a really great guy, and will make a great mayor. That's my feeling first and foremost. We need him here. He's an incredible businessman, really sweet guy. Sweet, sweet feet.

He used to work water and power, right? Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah. But the thing is, is that now We need Bipartisan leadership. And this is where I come from, man. Yeah, as you know, Brian, I've stood next to 48 governors over the course of 13 years, putting fitness centers in elementary and middle schools across this great country of ours.

I'm not a guy, I, you know, if you step into a position like this, there's a lot of people going to like you, a lot of people not going to like you.

Something that I have to deal with. I'm not, that's nothing. Look, I. But it's time to make a change. And the firefighters I've been speaking to.

I mean, standing next to me, the police officer I've been speaking to, they were there. They're there. They didn't have the tools, man. Yes. Catastrophe happens.

You know, acts of God happen. But if you're prepared, we live in the the greatest country. in the world in a time when technology. Is at its finest. and not to have the ability to be prepared Is really the name of the game.

And the way I understand it, it's the tabletop exercises that take somebody out of Sacramento and makes them understand what every city needs in times of earthquakes, hurricanes, and wildfires. And sometimes your plans will not be effective enough, but you can't do it for lack of hustle. This was a lack of preparation. This is not what happens if you get multiple wildfires. The answer would be: can't handle it.

And if that's your answer, that's not good enough. But instead, we're putting $50 million to Trump-proof California to get together the elite lawyers in order to sue to make sure illegal aliens aren't tossed out of your state. These are some of the idiotic things that have been happening in this country, which I think the people are fed up with. And that's really the name of the game. And once again, I'm I am at ground zero and I use that word.

in a way because if you come to the Palisades it looks like a war zone. And I'm going to say this again. This is not the first catastrophe, and it won't be the last, especially here in California. The richest state in the country. Right?

I thought, what are we? The sixth largest economy in the world, California, Bright. Right now, these are things where, in a very short amount of time, very smart people have reached out to me, no different than the Elon Musks of the world and people like that who are surrounding. Uh Donald Trump now. Who are able to do what they know how to do.

And that's what we have to do. And that's what, if we continue to move forward, I'm looking at those kinds of people and those kinds of things because we can't have this happen again.

So let's take a look at what's happening right now.

So you have tens of thousands of people without jobs, middle income, lower income, upper income. Not without jobs, I should say, without homes. Without homes.

So now you are telling me that you go out to rent a house and they're jacking up the prices because there's so many suitors. And that's where leadership comes in. Can I give you a story? Can I give you a story? Firsthand, me, right?

We it this this this thing happens. But I take a ride up, right? We have to sneak up. To see our home, right? Which is not there, which is devastating.

After thirty years, And then immediately you have to go into a zone of insurance. We have to go into a zone of, and look, and these are things too. I'm blessed. My wife, Tracy, we have very good insurance with a company called Pure. They're incredible.

The people there so far have been outstanding.

Okay. But a lot of people don't. Do you know that of January 1st, a lot of companies dropped a lot of my neighbors? Yes. A lot of people in California?

Okay, but wait, wait, wait, there's more. And this is a tumultuous moment when everything is taken from you. Right? Like I said, a lot of people have had this in the past with Katrina and earthquakes and fires. It's going to happen again.

Let's stop the machine and talk about this because we have to change starting now. Not like you hear this governor talk and this mayor talk about, look, yes, but let's talk about the future. Fuck the future, man. I mean, the bottom line is we have to talk about now. And that's what we have to do.

We really have to talk about it now. We went to look. For a house. Because I mean. I Bri, I'm sixty-six years old.

I think the last time I rented, I was 18 years old, 19 years old in Studio City.

So we're we're looking at houses. And by the way, It's not just us walking in, the week prior. To us walking into some of these houses? They were going for $10,000 a month.

Now, I'm giving you numbers that look, I've been blessed. I've done well in my life. I'm not going to hide that, right? Yeah. Same house now?

40,000 a month. Sixty thousand a month. And there are 70 people running through. I'm blessed again to know we have four children that are not little kids anymore.

So they're out and about. My daughter lives in London. I have three boys in New York. You've met them all. You know them.

You know, Morgan, Nick, Zach, and Luke. And so we don't have little kids. Right? Our we had a yellow lab that passed away, very, you know, very traumatic for our family. It's been tough for us to have a pet again.

So it's me and Tracy.

So we feel when we walk into some of these houses looking to lease There are families in there. We feel like we better not take this from somebody else.

So that's what everyone's dealing with now. Yeah, we're up against the break. But, Jake, this is so this, the gouging's got to stop. That's where good leadership could come in, mayors and governors. But I got to ask you a final thought.

So, when would you make it since the iron's hot right now, when would you make a decision? Or you're too into, or right now, there's just too many balls in the air? There's too many balls in the air, but I will say I'm going to continue to come on your show and on Fox and Friends. And I really want to ask you. To help me because I know the relationship that you have with this administration and with the incoming president.

And look, you don't. Our good friend Doug Bergham, and you've been great too. Doug has been a great friend of mine and will be the, hopefully, the Secretary of the Interior, is just an incredibly good. Yeah, we're up against the break, Jake.

So you're going to think about it for now. But we're going to make things happen. We're talking about it quick. And look, as always, stick to the fight when you're hardest hit. It's when things seem worse that you must not quit.

Jake Seinfeld, looking to rebuild his life like so many others in California, while maybe running the state. Jake, thanks so much. Keep fighting. Back in a moment. It's Brian Kilmeid.

Radio that makes you think. This is the Brian Kill Me Show. Hamas realizes, I think, what the whole world is seeing in the Trump effect, and that. He means it when he says there will be all hell to pay. There is no other option but to let our people and let those hostages go, period.

And I think we have made that message very clear. Steve Witkoff has been right there alongside and made, delivered that message in no uncertain terms. There's no celebrations until we see those hostages walking across the tarmac. But I do as well share a very, very cautious optimism. And you can't describe this in any other way but the Trump effect.

So, the phase one will have about thirty hostages, mostly women and children. Cubelie, they held children. I can't believe they did it at all, killed over a thousand. But that was Mike Walsh, National Security Advisor, in five days, talking about the Witkoff effect. He's the Middle East envoy that Trump put out there, working with Brett McGurk, who's been constantly.

Kind of the envoy in the region, kind of working this out.

So the deal fundamentally was struck in July, but since then they've managed to really do additional damage to Hamas, including killing Sinwar, the mastermind of the whole operation. His brother's now in charge, and maybe some images we're going to see soon: Israelis free. Sadly, we're going to see Palestinian prisoners free, too. From high atop Fox News headquarters in New York City. Always seeking solutions, never sowing division.

It's Brian Killmead. All right, from 48th and 6th in Midtown Manhattan, heard around the country, around the world. This is the Brian Killmeat Show. It's getting exciting. Got five days until the new administration takes over.

This hour, Dennis Ross will be with us. Maybe we're going to find out the hostage deal where phase one's going to be done in Gaza and some innocent Israelis will get their lives back and families reunited.

Well, we'll get some answers. I hear we're extremely close. We'll keep you up to date on that right now. Multiple hearings going on. You got Pam Bondi out there, Marco Rubio out there.

More lined up, ready to go after Pete Hickseth yesterday, which reminds me: let's get to the big three.

Now, with the stories you need to know, it's Brian's big three. Number three. On the agreement, it's right on the brink. It's closer than it's ever been before, but. Right now, as we sit here, we await final word from Amas.

We do. Mohamed Sinwar, his brother, younger brother, has got the deal. First phase of the hostage deal expected any minute. In Gaza, the Trump effect is already in full stride. They made it happen because of the threat that's coming up January 20th.

I'll give you the latest. Number two. Are you happy with how the response is going, past and present?

Well, I mean, you know, everything could be better. There is no question about that. This is a natural disaster of unprecedented proportions. And you were not ready. Wake up call.

LA overwhelmed with sweeping destruction and disruption years and they yearn for leadership. Are they beginning to realize political correctness and the environmental extremists that they put in office exasperated these epic fires? Number Right, sure. That air Every general who serves should not go directly into the defense industry for 10 years. Are you not willing to make that same pledge?

I'm not a general senator. One One is done. And I see Peter Hagsith getting right through on a party line vote, at the very least. Trump team fighting for their jobs through nomination hearings, which start in mass and starting right now. We look at the desperate Democrat fireworks, which fell flat yesterday with the personal attacks.

And the latest on the inauguration, days away. Rich Lowry joins us now, editor of the National Review. Rich, welcome back. Hey, how's it going?

So far, I'm watching Marco Rubio online. I'm watching Pam Bondi in the breaks. Today is unwinding, pretty busy.

So far, without fireworks. With Pam Bondi, the emphasis is on did Donald Trump lose the 2020 election and would you stand up to him from Democrats? And with Marco Rubio, what are you going to do when Donald Trump disagrees with what you've already stated was your foreign policy, which is different than his?

So, how do you see it coming out? Does this anything stand out with you? I don't think they'll get any traction with any of that. Rubio will be the darling of these high-profile nominees. He'll get Democratic votes.

He already had some Democrats come out for him. And the standard is: are any of these attacks going to move any Republican votes against these nominees? And that was the standard for Pete yesterday, and he passed it by flying colors. There's nothing that was going to move any Republicans. In fact, to the extent any of them lack sympathy for Pete, they probably had more after seeing the hysterical attacks.

On him, and did he create any negative news cycles that were going to drive days' worth of coverage? And he didn't. And it was really brilliant because it's kind of a deposition. I don't know whether you've ever had the misfortune to have this go through a deposition. Yeah, but the lawyers tell you: don't argue.

Don't talk more than you have to. Just answer the questions and yes or no if you have to and just move on. And that's what he did. He didn't accept the premises of some of these yes, no, no questions.

Sometimes he just didn't say anything. He just sat there stone-faced, and it was a great split screen because he's a great looking guy. And then you have Gillibrand, whoever waving their hands in desperation with these shrill attacks.

So he looked like the calm, cool, collected adult, and they looked like they were out of control. Here's Roger Wicker, chairman of Armed Services, talking about what Hag Seth brings. Cut seven. Today's Department of Defense is no longer prepared for great power competition. It is not a national defense institution ready to achieve and sustain technological supremacy.

across the range of operations. Admittedly, this nomination is unconventional. The nominee is un conventional Just like that New York Developer. Who rode down the escalator in 2015 to announce his candidacy for president? That may be what makes Mr.

Hegseth an excellent choice. to improve this unacceptable status quo. That I just described. And that's what traditional Republicans weren't willing to accept in 2016. And maybe a lot of our listeners, they said, you know, I'm not buying this Trump thing.

I'm glad he won, but I'm not buying it.

Now it seems like the veterans like Roger Wicker, senior guys there, are like, I'm open to it. Yeah, I think e everyone realizes the Pentagon needs a shake up. And with with Trump, obviously the first time around, he he did what a conventional opinion thought was smart, right? He went with these these generals that had great bipartisan reputations and and a lot of them were just disasters and just a really poor fit. for Trump, so that's why he wanted Hexeth.

And to his credit, Pete turned this thing around, you know, almost single-handedly four or five weeks ago, whatever it was. And he's going to be there. I think there is, you know, this is a massive administrative and managerial challenge, but the second layer of folks there is very impressive.

So you hope he'll have a lot of help running the building and then catalyze the place and bring in fresh thinking and, as everyone's focused on, motivate a new generation of young men and women to sign up for the military in the first place. Yeah, all right. Rich, I got to tell you, I got to bring you out to California.

Sooner or later, President Trump's going to go out there. He says he would. He just doesn't know when. But we're seeing the worst leadership possible, and it's not getting any better. We have a governor that did the most interesting thing.

He acted like he wasn't governor. Yeah, I'm really shocked at this. I better get some answers. You know, I'm going to do an independent investigation. The reservoirs were dry.

I mean, they were full. Electricity was out. I mean, it was on. And let me sit down and talk. And Donald Trump is trying to politicize this thing.

Here's the worst mayor in the country, Karen Bass, CUD 15. Are you happy with how the response is going past and present?

Well, I mean, you know, everything could be better. There is no question about that. Again, I think we have all seen this is a natural disaster of unprecedented proportions. To hear the firefighters say. That they have never experienced this in this career to hear the CAL FIRE represent chief say that if they would have needed 26,000 injuries.

That's true. She came out and said that she's told you if you cut the budget, she predicts dire circumstances, there'll be ramifications. She turned on the mayor already. Word is you fired her, and then they realized you couldn't fire her, so she unfired her. We got to get confirmation on that.

But this thing is falling apart before her eyes. Yeah, so look, if Ron DeSantis had been mayor of Los Angeles or Governor of California, when that weather warning came down for catastrophic Santana winds and this elevated fire risk, he would have had the spreadsheet out, right? He would have had every department head there. He would have been intimately involved in where the assets were being pre-positioned, do we have enough water tankers if it's the worst case? All of that.

And none of that happened, right? She was out of the country. Maybe it doesn't matter much because she's a non-entity, but that's pretty damning too. It doesn't matter whether you're there or not. And it's been excuse making and finger pointing.

So I think progressivism the last four or five months has had a disastrous stretch. The worst in memory. They lose to Trump. They realize the legacy media is not as powerful as it used to be. They lose Meta, which they effectively had control of.

And then you have this blue state debacle that's highlighting the incompetence and the screwy priorities they had all along. If you think that the planet's getting warmer such that everything's going to burn. Down, you know what you need? You need fire breaks, you need a really robust shrub clearing program, you need a lot of water, you know, you need controlled burns. And they did some of that, maybe at the margins, but not with any sense of urgency.

So it's been a catastrophe. And you feel so sorry for the people there on the ground that's suffering through this. I know they got to get money and they got to find a place to live, and they got to decide: is it going to be a modular home? Am I going to have to get into a bidding war to lease a house? Am I going to get a mobile home?

Countless schools have burned down.

Now, kids got to go over an hour to go to a school to restrain a teacher, many of which two years ago were out of school because of the pandemic. It's incredible.

So, Kamala Harris has another chance to step up. As a vice president, nobody blames her for the lack of preparation for Los Angeles or for the mayor being in ghano or for the governor being out of touch. She could come in there, roll up her sleeve, and say, These are my friends, this is where I live. I'm under threat, my house is almost broken into, and just act instinctively. Instead, we get this: Cut 17.

This work is still very much in progress, and so it's critically important. that to the extent you can find Anything that gives you an ability to be patient in this extremely Dangerous and unprecedented crisis that you do.

So that's it. My recommendation is be patient. All over the place. That's her message. Yeah, we don't need patience, we need urgency.

And they needed urgency at the beginning of this. situation. No doubt about it.

Now, on the conditioning of aid. That's what the Speaker is talking about, saying we can't keep doing this. Fires are fires, but the way you've acted, the lack of preparation, we can't just write blank checks for it. Here's Congressman Pete Aguilar on this, CUD 18. We will not support conditions to disaster assistance.

We can have a lengthy debate and discussion and use the committee process to have discussions about the steps that California has taken to protect itself, whether that's doubling The fire professionals in California to a record number of resources, billions of dollars, to clearing brush in a preventative way. Your thoughts about conditioning aid. Is that a bridge too far in a catastrophe like this? I don't know. I haven't quite planted my feet on this one, Brian.

I'm not sure what I think. In theory, yes. It would be great if we could force California to have more rational policies in this respect. I just worry about the precedent. You know, when Democrats have unified control of Washington again, and it will happen sometime.

Are they going to do that to Florida?

So that would be my worry.

So we are getting closer and closer to a hostage deal, and it looks like the first phase, 30 hostages out. There's going to be hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including over 30 murderers, are going to be getting out. That's what puts Sinoir back out into the mainstream. And we got October 7th. Here's Anthony Blinken on how close this is.

Cut 21. On the agreement, Fred, as I said, it's right on the brink. It's closer than it's ever been before, but Right now, as we sit here, we await Final word from Lamas. on its acceptance. And until we get that word, will remain on the brink.

That could come any time. It could come in the hours ahead. It could come in the days ahead.

So right now, Hamas leadership, Mohamed Sinwar, I don't know if it has a council left, whatever he's doing, they're thinking about entertaining it and doing it. It could start right away. Steve Witkoff is making things happen. I talked to a friend of mine over in Doha, and it looks like Witkoff's making a major impact, but the deal is similar to the one in July. Your thoughts?

Well, I'd be more open. I'm not the guy in the seat who has to make these decisions, but I'd be more open to it now than at any other time because they've made just so much progress in the fight against Hamas and Hezbollah and the rest of these bastards. And to the extent these hostages are still alive, you want them back. And these deals are always so hard to swallow because the ratio is so out of whack. But that's just a function of Israel as a society, putting more value on human life and even on undead bodies if it comes back to that.

They want them back.

So I've just thought there'd be a deal because the Trump hell to pay is hanging over this whole situation, and I think it's an extra motivation to Mas. Hamas, I'm sure if it is a deal, it won't be an ideal deal. Maybe we won't love it, but getting those people back is really important to Israeli society. Yeah, and we'll see because it looks like the IDF will still have a presence there. They just moved to a certain location.

Rich Lowry, pick up National Review. It's an exciting time. Are you going to the inaugural? You know, I become jaded about inaugurals. They're too crowded and cold, so I'll be watching on TV.

I'll be watching your coverage, Brian. That's all I can ask. That's even more important than going in person. You'll be the one wearing the coat, and I'll be in front of a fire at home. But I'll experience history, and you can only imagine how it feels.

I'll experience it by proxy through you. You got it, Rich Larry. No charge. Back in a moment. You're with Brian Kilmead.

The fastest three hours in radio. You're with Brian Kilmead. Honestly, to them, it is about the minority group that just loves to push these transgender issues that's going on in this country. And they just listen to them. They allow them to take over their party.

And that is why they lost so royally in the election and why we're now able to go in and have the House majority and the Senate majority in order to pass these bills. And so to them, I say, listen to the people. Even Democrats do not want this. Most people do not want this. And they are afraid to just stand up and do the right thing.

And they're allowing, again, these fringe small groups to take over and set the rules for everyone. And that is Paul Scanlon, who works for the Riley Gaines Center. She's one of the working there because she's experienced it firsthand to be a female playing against a trans man. I have nothing. You want to go change your gender, go do it.

You just can't compete with girls at any age in sports. And that's what the House bill did. And it's going to go home. Hopefully, pass the Senate rapidly.

Some people, Democrats, just the oddest defense of trans athletes in sports is just insane. Listen to this exchange. Nancy, as much as we can, I don't know if you bleeped it out, Eric. Nancy Mace and Jasmine Crockett sparring. Cut 36.

You're making women feel unsafe in this country. And you're making the opportunity for women and girls to be raped, to be sexually abused in this country, even greater than they've ever. Ever Ben.

So don't come over here with your attitude and talk to me about rights when you're trying to take my rights as a woman, a rape survivor, away. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back. I don't even know how we got there because I tried to make it clear how many civil rights, it doesn't just boil down to one conversation, but I can see that somebody's campaign coffers really are struggling right now.

So she's gonna keep saying trans, trans, trans, so that people will feel threatened. And child, listen, I want y'all to be a child. I have no child. Do not call me a child. I have no child.

I won't. Don't even shout out. I am a grown up. Which of those females in here? I'm reframing my time.

You will not do that. You got to say, and this is off of: you know, you should be a girl to play in girls' sports or a woman to play in a woman's sport and not a trans man. That's how crazy that.

So, real quick, I want you to hear AOC's ridiculous argument, too. Cut 30, let's go cut. Mm-hmm. Republicans, who have voted against consistently against the Violence Against Women Act, now want to pretend today. that they care about women.

And why? to open up gender and, yes, genital examinations into little girls in this country in the so called name of attacking trans girls. Trans girls Our growth. Nah, they're not. And if you want to consider them girls, fine.

Let them play against your daughter if you had one. And maybe you will. And maybe when you see a six foot College soccer player who decides to be a woman. Play center back, center hip back against your Female d your daughter? Born a daughter.

And G. Johnson Coffin, they go try to play against each other. Maybe you'll feel differently. That's all it is.

So you want to say that Republicans want to check the genitalia on girls? That's why they passed this bill? It's the dumbest thing ever. And what about the gutless Seth Moulton? A Marine who decides that he got too much blowback when he said, I don't want my daughter playing against a trans athlete, and decides to vote against this bill for whatever reason.

You gotta be kidding. If they want to protest you at Tufts College, Tough. Show your throw your how strong-minded you are. What's right is right, what's liberal is liberal, but this is right and wrong. I thought.

We come back the latest on the ongoing negotiations in Gaza. The president said they'll be held to pay if they're not released by January 20th.

Well, it looks like things are in motion, could get released any moment. Dennis Ross says, familiar with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, as anyone in America joins us next. Don't move. Brian, kill me, Choe. The talk show that's getting you talking.

You're with Brian Kilmead. The big question is: who takes care of Gaza after Israel does some of its repositioning of forces? We have heard that Egypt may be willing to step in a little bit. We see Saudi Arabia very active. They're doing a lot of talking with Syria, another issue.

But there are players in the Middle East who really, really want this settled. And that's where we stand right now. We'll give you the latest because in Gaza, by all reports from people in Doha to our guy, Trey Yinks, on the ground in Jerusalem, it looks like they're closer and closer to a major hostage deal. Dennis Ross, William Davids Distinguished Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, one of the most experienced people in the region in all the challenges in America. Ambassador, welcome back.

Always good to be with you, Brian.

So it's a July deal that really has just updated why do you think Israel is more willing to do it now? Uh would say the Trump effect. I don't think that Prime Minister Netanyahu wants to say no to him. Uh I think he's he's always had the sort of way how sustainable his coalition is if he does this deal. Ministers Ben Gavir and Smotric are threatening to leave.

I think Ben Gevir actually will. I'm not sure if Smoatrich would, in which case BB's coalition survives, he will use he Bibi will use the Trump position with uh Smo Truths to say, look, we We can't go against him. He will be supporting us on things that are so fundamental to us. Those are more fundamental than ultimately what's going on in Gaza right now. Truth be told, and you put it very well, Brian.

this is really not materially different than what was available in July.

So there's BB is more willing to accept it than he was then. But to be to be fair, Hamas is more willing to affect it. Here, I wouldn't say Trump is having an effect on them, but Trump is having an effect. on Qatar. On Egypt.

probably also Turkey, all of whom would like to show him that they get things done for him in a way that Uh he will like. I think they all want to put themselves on his right side. I think that's what's the difference right now. Would you also say, Dennis, that Sinoir is dead. A lot of the higher-ups are dead.

In that interim, they've lost even more people, up to 17,000, but they have shown an ability to replenish. But we don't know about the quality of communication. But they also have lost major financing to a degree from Iran and any type of backing from Hezbollah, who seems at the very moment to be decapitated. Things have really changed for Hamas for the worse. I would say, look, you this is completely correct.

What I was saying before, I'm not suggesting that since that time, the reality for Hamas hasn't gotten dramatically worse. The truth is it's gotten dramatically worse for Iran. The so-called ring of fire that Sulaiman wanted to create around Israel as a way to make Israel unlivable doesn't exist right now. Iran is dramatically weaker. The proof of how weak Hezbollah has become in Lebanon, you have a president who got elected after two years.

you have a prime minister who was elected who was the person More anti-Hamas and one person, I'm sorry, more anti-Hizbullah and Hezbollah wanted. He was the last one they wanted to see as Prime Minister. This couldn't have happened if they were in their previous position. Hamas understands it's alone.

So that also makes it more susceptible to the pressure. from Qatar. and Egypt and Turkey. Understood. The Israelis say that it looks like people they're going to be let out have to be 50 and older women or children.

So the last ones to go out will probably be the Israeli soldiers. It looks like Trump persuaded Netanyahu to accept the proposal, according to the Israeli newspaper that was presented back in May, because he wants this thing done by the time he takes office. And I think there's more trust between them. And he knows if Netanyahu is to take action, he doesn't have to worry about being rebuked by Marco Rubio when he gets confirmed or by the current president, correct? I think that's absolutely right.

I think there's like leverage is always positive and negative. The positive comes from, okay, I respond to someone because I know I can trust them and there's things I can gain from it. The negative is I don't want to cross them. I don't want to sit face the consequences because there's other things I may need from them.

So I think what you have is you have both sides of that coin. You know, my impression is that uh Steve Wickoff, who is the who will be the Middle East negotiator for for President Trump. He went from Qatar to Jerusalem, or from Doha to Jerusalem. Saw Bibi Saturday night, and my impression is that he was very clear and, I would say, blunt. uh in terms of the reports I've heard about why VB really needed to accept this.

And I think that's what we're seeing again. Yeah, it's hard to it's hard to say anything that the uh on the Israeli side other than the Trump effect because as you said, this was this is basically the deal that was presented by the Israelis to the administration in May. It is a deal that Biden then embraced. And then got the Security Council to endorse it. And then we found in July, Hamas was, Hamas didn't respond at all for about five weeks.

And when they did respond, then B V did some clarifications. And then Hamas used the clarifications. including as it related to the Philadelphia quarter, as an excuse. To then say no.

So the truth is. Bibi wasn't really saying yes at that point, but Hamasen had an initial reason. uh to say no.

Now what then changed was the dramatic Yeah, the the You the decimation of Hezbollah. that the colour the the decapitation of Hezbollah. it is impossible to exaggerate the impact of the killing of Nasrallah. Which doesn't come until the fall, but I was just back from Israel and I. went to the base in the north where much of the captured equipment is.

And I have to tell you, Brian, it's absolutely stunning, the scope of it, the extent of it. I saw like dozens of Jeeps and trucks that had missiles mounted on the back that were completely intact. And I asked, how is all this weaponry? How do you get all of it completely intact? It's very clear that after the killing of Nasrallah, a lot of the Hezbollah fighters just chose to melt away.

Wow. The morale fundamentally changed. And so You know, you think of the impact it then has on Hamas. Sinlar's gone. Nasrallah, who was the crown jewel What the Iranians like to call the axis of resistance, I actually call it the axis of misery.

But the their axis of resistance, the crown jewel was as well, not Hamas. His bullet. And the guy who was central to that practically, but also symbolically, even psychologically, was nozzrello. He's there for thirty years. Everyone who was around him was there for thirty years.

They are all gone. And that's why, when his decapitation of his bullet had a huge effect. Even on their capability to fight the fact that Israel completely disrupted. other command control. control their communication system so as well as Couldn't trust anything that was being, no, no Hezbollah fighter could trust anything that he was.

receiving You know, they have weakened Hezbollah to the point that honestly is almost unimaginable, and nobody predicted. And you know everything in this area, and you write books about it. You pride yourself on being apolitical, working for Democrats and Republicans. But to see Joe Biden take a bow for this and say that Assad's been overthrown, Hezbollah is down, Hamas is weakened, and Iran's never been more vulnerable, knowing that Netanyahu had to force every single one of those things and is solely responsible for it, although it's our equipment in many cases. Uh Yeah, I can fail.

what I look, I think Biden deserves a lot of credit for having stood by Israel, for being the only President who's ever gone to Israel in the middle of a war, for providing all sorts of emergency solutions. I give him a lot of credit for all of that and he deserves it. For this The only ones who changed the military realities in the Middle East were the Israelis. Uh That's just a fact. Uh Uh the truth is Israel has changed the balance of power in the region.

Now the question becomes very important. This is their huge tactical gains now. Can you turn them into strategic gains? There's a landscape right now for the Trump administration and President Trump with the leverage he has. And you know one thing about leverage in in uh policy and politics.

It's not an asset that lasts forever. You know, you can build I know, but it also tends to diminish if you don't use it.

So It's important. I will tell you there are two Critical strategic objectives that need to be achieved in twenty twenty five. One is, Israel needs to be out of Gaza because otherwise it will have an insurgency there, and it won't gain more militarily, but it will lose. And the Saudis. won't even think about doing the normalization deal so long as Israel is in Gaza.

So number one is Israel gets out of Gaza provided all the hostages are released. That's the fundamental requirement. and that opens up the possibility of the Saudi normalization deal. But the other is twenty twenty five is a pivotal year for having to deal with the Iranian nuclear program. They are a threshold state, threshold nuclear weapon state.

They have accumulated at least 11 bombs worth of. In fact, I want you Anthony, you know what? Dennis, let me hold this. I want you to hear what Blinken said yesterday about this, Cut twenty three. Great.

Iran's now at a point where it can produce fissile material for a nuclear weapon in a matter of a week or two.

Now, it doesn't have the weapon itself. That's another part of the equation, but it's obviously in a much more dangerous place than it was when we had it boxed in with the nuclear agreement.

So I think as Iran is looking at this, and as the incoming administration is looking at this, Um we'll have to see if there's actually an opportunity on the nuclear side to get Uh another deal.

Well, your thoughts about that, knowing that Iran's Israel is never going to let them make a weapon. And we shouldn't either, by the way. That should be. Yes. I would love to hear President Trump say they will not get a nuclear weapon when I'm president.

because that will underpin the Israeli threat. Look, I think there the Iranians will talk. They're already signaling. They will talk to the Trump administration directly. They did not talk to the Biden administration directly for four years.

They only talk through others. They will talk directly to the Trump administration.

Now, that's the good news and bad news because they'll be quite happy to talk forever, even as their program. proceed.

So it's very important for President Trump To use the Israeli threat, which will be quite real because Israel has dramatically weakened Iran's ability to defend itself. They destroyed their strategic air and missile defense. and they destroyed ninety percent of their ballistic missile producing capability.

So the threat is quite r real from Israel. We should be prepared to use that. I think that gives you a chance to produce a deal. But the Iranians need to know if there is no deal, they lose their entire nuclear infrastructure. And they've spent half a trillion dollars developing it.

That's the equation that needs to be set up. And then the Abraham Accords come rolling in, and Israel could possibly have normal relations, although we're all worried about what Syria is going to become while celebrating the end of Assad, because it means Iran no longer has influence and that hopefully Russia is going to have to pack up and leave. Your thoughts about what Syria is in the last minute we have? Yeah. I think it's on the one hand, there's a strategic change for sure, and you just put your finger on a huge loss for Iran because they no longer have the land bridge to Uzbollah.

That means, again, Hezbollah can't be easily rebuilt. The Russians, I think, can also be forced out. The key thing here is. does the new leadership of Syria Is their ideology an Islamist? ideology.

It has certainly has been in the past. or are can they be changed because the needs of rebuilding Syria and putting it back together are so huge. That if they want to sustain themselves in power, they know they have to be able to do that. Can we use that to, in effect, change who they are? To this point, Uh Ahmed Al Sharo.

By the way, he's related to the former Foreign Minister of Syria, Farouk Al-Shara. guy I used to deal with all the time. Uh Is he he is saying all the right things?

Now we have to see if the words match the action. Just to see if it's a Sunni country in the region, that's a switch. It doesn't have to be an aggressor. That'll be a switch. Ambassador, fascinating time.

Thanks so much for your expertise. Dennis Ross, thank you. Breaking news, unique opinions. Hear it all on the Brian Kill Me Show. Hey, welcome back, everyone.

Just finishing up this hour. Just a reminder, coming up on February 15th. I will have a chance to go on stage in Jacksonville, History, Liberty, and Laps, and it's the Return to Sanity tour.

So if you love history and you love the country, you'll have an inspirational, patriotic, fun time. BrianKillme.com at the Florida Theater. But now let's find out if there's more to know. More. To know.

So, Patrick Mahomes says his wife Brittany, absolute rock star during her third childbirth. I guess she got all tens praising her for doing great. Listen. It's been cool. I mean, I'm just supporting, you know, Brittany crushed it.

It's been cool to welcome another baby girl in our family and see how my other kids react to her and having baby sissy and stuff like that.

So it's been a lot of fun. And it was cool that football was on TV when I was in the hospital, so I got to watch a little bit. And so Brittany was kind enough to let us watch football as she was getting ready to give birth to our second daughter. It was cool that we got the bye, just because you can kind of really focus in on just being at the hospital, meaning the moment. And it's a special moment that I know a lot of dads and moms have experienced, and you don't forget about that stuff.

So I was glad I was able to be there and support in the best way I can.

So it's unbelievable how things break his way. Even his kid is born during a bye week. Golden Ray Mahomes is born to the world. Patrick also stands by what he says as the couple announced their pregnancy. Golden will be their last, at least for now.

Quote: We'll see down the line. I'll keep you up to date on how that develops. Drew Pearson, as we move on, tells TMZ, he's a cowboy legend, if he were running the Cowboys, Deion Sanders would be the Cowboys' number one choice since McCarthy got fired. I think he should be the number one choice for the Dallas Cowboys. And if they don't work it out with him, then try to find somebody else.

But I think Dion knows the culture of the Dallas Cowboys. He knows what it takes to win. As a Dallas Cowboy, he's won as a Dallas Cowboy. And I think, Mike, that's one of the things we miss most in that locker room. We have nobody on that team that's had any kind of playoff success, Super Bowl success.

You need somebody in that locker room to tell these players what it takes, not just to be a good football player to play each and every Sunday, but how to be a professional. We'll see if he just started Colorado a couple of years ago. Is he going to move on again?

Next, Michael Lewis, the man accused of stalking Caitlin Clark, appeared in court on Tuesday, immediately made waves exclaiming he was guilty as charged. He's 55-year-old. He's from Texas. Orange jumpsuit, escorted into the courtroom, and he sat down and said out loud, guilty as charged. The judge then informed you his statement was not necessary.

Quote, you have a right to remain silent. I expect you to do so. This is just telling you what the charges are. Lewis, however, continued with his unusual behavior, urging the judge to throw me the bookie. Eventually, Lewis was assigned a public defender.

These psychos got to be put away because they are freaking dangerous.

Next. Meta plans to lay off 5% of its workforce, says the CEO Mark Zuckerberg, made a memo to managers who is reported to have been Business Insider. The strategy is to raise the bar on performance, management, and move out low performance. That, according to the memo, affecting employers, about 3,600 are going to be notified next week. Also announced, Zuckerberg is going to be having a cocktail party leading up to the inauguration or right after the inauguration.

He also will be sitting next to Sam Altman. Elon Musk, who he was going to fight a little while ago in an octagon. As well as a whole bunch of important people, Peter Thiel, all these tech executives want to be front and center for President Trump's inauguration. But Zuckerberg is leading out as they move to AI. And finally, CBS's Hollywood Squares scored a special Sunday time slot on January 19th following the AFC divisional playoffs.

This comes after the Series premiere date shifted a week from January 9th through January 16th. Show will move to Wednesday starting January 29th. Is Paul Lynn still the center square? That's the last time I saw Hollywood Squares. It's amazing.

We don't have any original ideas anymore. They're still doing deal and no deal. They brought back password. It's crazy. Can anyone come up with a new idea?

Brian Kill Me Cho. Fox News Audio presents the Fox Nation Investigates podcast. The Botten Files. A person's final story can be told through their bodies in an autopsy. World-renowned forensic pathologist Dr.

Michael Botten covers three incredible cases where he helped change the course of the investigation.

Sometimes it takes more than one look to put the pieces together. Listen and follow at FoxtrueCrime.com or wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Listen to the show ad-free on Fox News Podcast Plus, on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music with your Prime membership, or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Mm-hmm.