Supreme Court upholds TikTok ban, bipartisan outrage ensues

From India. Top Fox News headquarters in New York City. Always seeking solutions, never sowing division. It's Brian Killmead. Hi, everyone.

So glad you're here. It's going to be a busy hour, a lot going on. Christine Noam, at this very moment, starts her hearings, and it's one after the other the cabinet secretary nominees. That's who really is, as expected, dominated this week. But there's other stories too.

Fred Baer is going to join us in a matter of moments, getting set for special reports starting at 6 p.m. tonight. But first, by the way, we have just a couple of days until we get a new president.

So we're at Friday. Here we are having a new president on Monday. And of course, this show will be Monday and Tuesday from Washington, D.C., right in the middle of the inauguration mania.

So let's get to the big three.

Now, with the stories you need to know, it's Brian's big three. Number three. This is a platform where many Americans are consuming their news. To take that away from them when it's not necessary, when we can find a solution to this, it's just unacceptable.

Well, the only solution would be to sell to American companies. You don't want China picking the news, do you? That is Corey Booker. TikTok off the respirator.

Somehow, Republicans and Democrats are rethinking the ban. This is not tough if you don't want China shaping the minds of our next generation of Americans. It should be sold or destroyed. Number two. Yeah, they're given a masterclass on how to testify before the Senate.

Donald Trump has done an exceptional job picking his cabinet. It'd be very difficult for the Democrats to make any case against voting against any of them. Yup, that is Jason Chavitz, Trump on Deck, as his team's auditions in front of the Committee of Centers and a Curious Nation. Why I believe so far the roster gets through as intact, while battles for Tulsi, Cash, and RFK loom, and more details take shape of Monday's inaugural. Number one.

All the parameters have been agreed to. We've ironed out these last bit of details that needed to be flattened out and fixed. We believe we're on a good path here to start implementation by the end of the weekend.

So all systems are go right now. Deal all but done. And as first, the first hostage is released as early as Sunday, maybe Monday, with a slow, steady stream for 42 straight days. They only begin phase two. And then over a thousand Palestinian prisoners are released in return, perhaps.

We will break it all down as the region awaits the Trump takeover. I should say 100 Palestinian prisoners. We'll see how it goes. It's supposedly, you know, for every female. Hostage released.

you get i think a hundred Palestinian prisoners, many of which are serving life sentences, which means more than likely they've murdered. 30 for a guy. This is crazy, right? And this is what drives a lot of people nuts, but it looks as though the Knesset has okayed it and looks like it's going to go forward. Brett Baer joins us now.

Hey, Brett, your thoughts about this deal. A lot of people have some mixed thoughts. Everybody wants the hostages out, but the Palestinians feel it's a victory. Yeah, good morning. I think they feel like they're getting a lot for this deal.

And there are some Israelis and some on Capitol Hill who think the Israelis are giving up too much and forced to do that by the U.S. I I do think that there's a tired uh there's there's a sense in Israel that uh they have to get it over with. They that it's it's taking too much of a toll. Obviously, the hostage families have been lobbying for this. But when you look back to twenty eleven, in that prisoner exchange, one of the people released was Sinwar, the head of Hamas, who eventually was killed, but he went on to lead Hamas to.

build up and do what they did on october seventh.

So we have so far 33 hostages over 42 days. Nine will come out right away. There's supposed to be at least three Americans coming out of there.

So the prisoners will be exchanged. The Americans are Keith Siegel, Sangai Deco Chen, and Eden Alexander.

So Nenyao spoke and thanked to Biden as well as Trump. It seems like it was a team effort. And I think John Kirby mentioned that yesterday. Anthony Blinken said this about Steve Witkoff, who represents Trump, cut three. And I both appreciate and applaud the very good work that Steve Witkoff did.

working closely with uh with us, with Brett McGurk. in helping to get this over the line. But I think sending being very clear with all concern. That the incoming administration supported, endorsed, and would carry forward its responsibilities under the agreement. That was an important thing to do.

So I guess we'll see. The phase two is going to be a little bit tougher, and it looks like Netanyahu is the margin. gets even thinner in his parliament. Yeah, and I think that's also a part of it, you know, the politics of Of where he stands. And, you know, and it could not have happened without.

Um Trump on the back end saying Uh all hell would or be held to pay if the hostages weren't released. I mean, that they ha put a deadline. I mean, it's the same deal that's been on the table for months.

So anybody who says that that that was not a big part of it Is wrong. I think, you know, listen, there is a hunger in the Middle East to get to normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia. And so getting from this to there is going to be what's interesting to watch.

So General Jack Keene joined me this morning, and he said, Phase one is not the controversial part. Phase two is cut eight. The tough part of this deal is in the second and third phases. What do I mean by that? On the 16th day of the 42-day ceasefire, negotiations are supposed to begin to end state of the war in Gaza.

Hamas, disarm and give up governance. Israel, leave Gaza completely. Permanent end to the war. Those are very, very difficult positions for both parties. And I suspect this deal will likely break down at that point.

I cannot see the Israelis leaving Gaza completely and letting Hamas still be implied as the governance and running Gaza. That just brings us right back to October 7th at some point.

So he always says you gotta have a presence in there, whether it's in the middle, whether it's in the Philadelphia Philadelphia corridor, which connects Gaza to Egypt, and those tunnels, those sophisticated tunnels were there. You're just wi you're setting yourself up for another attack. That's going to be interesting the next phase, with Trump in power. Yeah. And Israel's not going to allow Hamas to be what Hamas was.

And I don't think Trump is going to allow it either.

So that's what Mike Wells told me on special report the other night, is that they support Israel you know, completely. And if it rolls backwards, The U.S. under the Trump administration would have Israel's back. I don't think the Israelis. felt the same way.

in that level of support from the Biden administration.

So we have Joe Biden giving a slow, anything but an Irish goodbye, a slow goodbye. And he spoke again with a long interview yesterday. And I'm noticing that a lot of people are tuning him out or can't believe some of the stuff that he is saying. Number one, about this oligarchy thing and how fragile democracy is, okay? Here is what he said yesterday about Afghanistan, Cut 29.

When I ask you to end our nation's longest war, Arose the occasion. Evacuating Americans, allies, and our Afghan partners, accomplishing the largest airlift in military history. And ending the war with the same courage as defined American service in Afghanistan for over 20 years. I believe history will reflect It was the right thing to do, but I know. I know it was hard.

History's going to reflect it was the right thing to do. I mean, and it was the greatest airlift ever. And just because he shouts it, it's going to be true. I mean, you can't spin that like this. Yeah.

there's a number of those things. And I think that's the biggest whopper because As you know, a lot of people see that moment In that withdrawal, as empowering our enemies, specifically Russia. and uh going into Ukraine. as a result of what happened with the Afghanistan withdrawal.

So that's a going to be a big stain, and history will remember that. I also think the oligarch thing is really rich considering that he gave the Medal of Freedom to Yeah, yeah. Um You know, I mean it's it's just rich. Democrats raised more money from billionaires than um than Republicans did. And um I mean, it's it's fair to to issue the warning.

It's just you gotta look in the mirror. One place that President Biden could always be backed was late night television. And even they could not handle his final speech. Listen to this. President Biden last night delivered his farewell address to the nation.

He did it live from the Oval Office. The speech was 18 minutes long, which is also the amount of time it takes the President to pee. Joe Biden leaves office with the lowest approval rating of his presidency, 36%. The good news is he won't remember any of it. We need to enact an 18-year time limit.

Term limit. Time and term. No! No! I will not let you start to do that Trump thing where you misspeak, but then pretend it's what you meant.

An oligarchy is taking shape in America. Thank you, sir, for that stark warning. I gotta say, delivering it in your trademark low-power mode whisper ramble. robbed it of a certain essential urgency. There's a reason Paul Revere didn't go on his midnight ride saying, Le Berbis Aramas, the Berbis Aramas.

Anyway, you guys, you guys know. What happened to these guys? Oh, they switch. Come on. They hadn't done that for four years or the Obama years.

It's amazing. It's truly, truly amazing. Yeah, as he's walking out the door, you know, humbled at 36%. Uh yeah, they finally get the jokes.

So it is quite something. That's why Greg Gutfell is number one. Finally, Brad, what's it like? I mean, you've been through so many inaugurals. How's the city feel?

You got a President who's coming back who's they've already tried to kill him twice.

So the security is always high. The weather is always cold.

So give me a sense of what it's like in Washington right now.

Well, it's going to be snowing, I think, on Sunday and maybe into Monday. And it's going to be really cold. The security is really tight, and they're locking down streets.

So logistics is a little tough. But there is an excitement, even in Liberal DC, that You know, it's a new day. And I do think if you think back to 2017, how much this is going to be different. You know, the Russia investigation and how that sucked up all the oxygen for a year. Think about how much time was spent.

On that investigation. And, you know, it was hanging over the new president. Um people were afraid to go in. You know, it's a much different deal now, and they've been there before, and I think a lot of things are going to happen in the first hours. And Michelle Obama not going, is that going to change how you cover the whole thing?

Does it make it less worthwhile for us to cover it, do you think? And if Nancy Pelosi's not there either, are you questioning doing some counterprogramming and doing something different? No, I think we're we'll probably stay to the screen. You're still going to stay to it?

Okay, good.

So there, that's news.

So and you're going to have do you plan on hanging out with me at all or?

So where are you going to be? Do you know? I don't know. On air a lot. Saturday night will be at 9 o'clock.

Do you know where I am by any chance? I have no idea. Nobody cares. I don't know. Martha and I are on for like forever.

We're on from 11 to the ball. And so I have to get my Fox catheter ready. I don't know. We're going to be outside. It's going to be.

Oh, you're going to be outside. Yeah, I mean there'll be heaters, but there's um it's like an outdoor set. Yeah, I mean, we're going to be on the rooftop on Saturday night. I know that. And then I'll be able to do the One Nation there.

And then we got six to ten on Sunday and six to nine on Monday and then five to nine, the exact inverse of the Brett Baer hours. Yeah. Bull pass. As I'm getting to the set or something. You know what?

Well, I'll come on.

Okay, good.

I'll meet you at one of the Fridays. You have a Fridays in D.C. We'll meet there and have lunch. We'll get there.

Sounds good. Go get them, Brett. I look forward to it. A lot of coverage from Brett Baer and Martha McCallum, obviously. 1-866-408-7669.

Christy Noam being sworn in. I'll review the other nominees and some of the highlights from their testimony yesterday because they're coming so fast and furious. We can't cover them all. We can review them all, though. Don't move.

Politics, current events, and news that affects you. Brian's got a lot more to say. Stay with Brian Kilmead. This episode is brought to you by Shopify. Upgrade your business with Shopify, home of the number one checkout on the planet.

ShopPay boosts conversions up to 50%, meaning fewer carts going abandoned and more sales going cha-ching.

So if you're into growing your business, get a commerce platform that's ready to sell wherever your customers are. Visit Shopify.com to upgrade your selling today. A talk show that's real. This is the Brian Kill Me Show. And I'm not going to go through the laundry list of all of our accomplishments.

We know what they are. But I will tell you that everyone here has so much to be proud of. And our work is not done. And as you all know me, 'cause we have spent long hours, long days and months and years together, it is not my nature to go quietly into the night.

So don't worry about that. Ugh. I'm not worried about that, but I think the Democratic Party should be because you have been a failure as a vice president, a terrible candidate, and a terrible senator. And I don't really know about Attorney General and DA, but I can't imagine you excelling. But I will not miss that laugh, and I will not miss that lack of self-awareness.

David in Tennessee. Hey, David. Hey Brian, I just wanted to call. Yeah. Sometimes you think it's like stage the Democrats.

Because I wonder how they actually go home and believe what they're actually saying. It's like they just go home and pay that honestly say that. Does anybody actually believe in me? It's like they're playing to a script, knowing that nobody's going to believe them. It just doesn't make any sense how anybody could believe that stuff.

I know. With Joe Biden, I don't know who's writing his scripts, but they're detached from reality. And as you saw, it didn't take any courage. But you see, the late-night shows have already begun mocking him. After they really covered for him to get the job.

and to keep the job. Here's more from Biden. Listen to this, cut 28. I really am concerned. About uh How fragile democracy is.

I guess what I'm worried about is that. The thing that keeps it on track. are the guardrails. That's your There's a Supreme Court that's independent. But Not but accountable.

There is a Congress. That you speak your mind, but you're held accountable to basic standards. There's a presidency. That says you have real limited powers. I mean, you're the top dog, right?

I mean, I don't know. He's worried about the guardrails. That's how he ran on. The American people looked at everything you said: the January 6th trial, Donald Trump not going to inauguration, questioning the election. Whatever you think about that, America made their decision.

And how could you use your exit interview to say that? But uh he could I cannot wait until He's no longer relevant. In fact, this is the last time I'll be playing these clips, I'm sure. John in Pittsburgh. Hey, John.

Brian, hey, just thinking about the inauguration, obviously, it's a unique speech. It's very high level, sweeping. You would never criticize the Democrats in such a speech. But I can't help but think and you being a historian, I think you'll appreciate this. If Trump could turn to the audience at some point, halfway through the speech and say, now I want to address the young people in America, And then say, you have been told a terrible lie about your country, about the United States, that it's a terrible country.

And it's filled with evil, racist, bad people.

Well, let me tell you: being an American is an honor. And let me tell you the great things America has done for the world. You know, we give $450 billion to charity each year, Brian. England gives, I think, about eleven billion. And I hear you.

And I think, John, you're absolutely right. Especially we come up on year two hundred fifty. You know, I'm doing I'm starting that series, What Made America Great Again, and we're going to go through different points in our past. I don't know if you heard our show yesterday. But we're also talking about this new Revolution series that's going to be coming on PBS.

So I think that you're absolutely right. It would be great to people to understand that I always talk about the country being great, and it is. I've never said it was perfect, but we have to embrace our past and understand that we're the envy of the world for a reason. And people have to spend the next year and a half in social studies teachers, history teachers around the country, regrounding us in the pride in the country, patriotism. A radio show like no other.

It's Brian Killmead. President Biden, who last night stated, and I quote, an oligarchy is taking shape in America. I agree with him. to you.

So The three Oh. billionaire who You worsted. They all made the money themselves. That mister Musk came to the country as an immigrant. I understand that.

But what I'm asking you is, do you think that when so few people have so much wealth and so much economic and political power, that that is an oligarchic form of society?

Well, I I would note that the President Biden gave the Presidential Medal of Freedom to two people who I think would qualify for his oligarchs. And that was Scott Besant. He's been a guest on our show about 10 times, 15 times, and he's the Treasury Secretary nominee. And as Bernie Sanders tried to say, too few people have too much money, Scott Besant just said, look, They're self made multibillionaires. And what he was on to say is he did tell us on the air that he's concerned about income inequality.

Yeah, but I he doesn't nor do I resent the people that have gotten a lot of money. Because Elon Musk has gotten like four or five cutting-edge companies he formed out of nothing.

Some will pike PayPal, he's no longer involved with, but he took great risks there, comes over here, no connections from South Africa, goes to Canada, then gets in here.

Next, you know, he's putting rockets into space, satellites around the Earth. He's got tunnels to beat traffic, and he's got Teslas for the electric car, and he's got SpaceX. And I think that's just off the top of my head. I'm probably missing a couple of them. He's got a solar city.

Uh So it becomes really rich. Twitter obviously now attacks. He's very rich. I I what are you talking about paying your fair share? And I thought Scott's answer was just perfect.

You just gave the Medal of Freedom to the richest guy around who used his money for democratic liberal causes, anti American causes, and went into these, I guess, These other races and just focus on DAs. And the DAs that he nominated and supported would win in these cities, and they mostly would think criminal first. You want to talk about embarrassing? Listen to Senator Mazzie Hirono. Go back and forth with Doug Bergham, who wants to be the Interior Secretary.

Cut 15. Burning more fossil fuel is actually going to not result in the end of wars, but could very well exacerbate and cause wars. Were you aware of this testimony? Senator, no, I'm not aware of that specific testimony, but I do know that. Within fossil fuels, the concern has been about emissions.

And within emissions, we have the technology to do things like carbon capture to eliminate harmful emissions. The fact of the matter is that you have military leaders who acknowledge that climate change is a major issue. And for you to take the position that you're going to engage in active actions that will result in the burning of more fossil fuel, it's troubling.

Well, I'll put it this way, military leaders bring up Bring up climate change because climate might be changing, but what do we have to do with it is the key, human beings. And a lot of these climate generals don't get to be generals with a Democratic president unless you really bow to the knee of political correctness. I want to understand white rage, General Milley said. Really? And also, this whole climate change being the major issue.

They're trying to get electric tanks to the front lines in Ukraine. Do you believe that?

So that's a little bit back and forth that took place yesterday. Mazzi Arono did ask some real embarrassing questions, too. Here's a little more from Scott as he talks about the tax cuts. We've got to put them into place. Cut 12.

This is the single most important economic issue of the day. This is past fail. That if we do not fix these tax cuts. Tax cuts. If we do not renew and extend, then we will be facing an economic calamity and, as always, with financial instability that falls on the middle and working class people.

We will see a gigantic middle class tax increase. We will see the child tax credit halved. We will see the deductions halved.

So it will be what we call in economics. It has the potential for a sudden stop. As I said, traditionally, with these sudden stops, it falls on working Americans.

Now, look, that's not the most dynamic speaker in the world, but he's extremely conversant. He understands everything. He's going to be the next Treasury Secretary. Both sides of the aisle like him and respect him. And the first thing he says you got to do is renew the tax reform from 2018, or else you're going to be ratcheting up with all types of taxes that will just put the economy on its back.

That's important. The affordability crisis is important. Getting housing, more housing is important. Also, understanding that inflation is now going up again, as Joe Biden is leaving, is also important to point out.

Some of the sparring that went back and forth. You got Lee Zeldin was out there yesterday. You had. Of course, Scott Bessett, as I mentioned, Governor Bergham was out there, but in the end, they're all getting through. Am I worried about RFK?

A little bit? Am I worried about Am I am I worried about Tulsi? A little bit. Because you never know if people have access to Grime on the Republican side that she's a Republican or was a Democrat, and on the Democratic side, that she became a Republican. You just don't know.

So It's pretty clear that these guys and these women are going to get through. As but then I worry about the undersecretaries and things that are not sexy that you don't cover. But if they take forever to vote once they give their testimony, it just delays and hurts the whole country.

So on the inaugural, we're not going to have Nancy Pelosi there. I know. Why go? We're not going to We're not going to have Nancy Pelosi, and we're not going to have Michelle Obama, but you are going to get Kid Rock.

So, evidently, the report inside the Trump camp is that when Michelle Obama decided not to go, because essentially it's like Trump, they got a great laugh out of it. Here's Kid Rock about his performance, CUT 19. Better late than never. I mean, I feel like people are finding out, you know, really what type of man, you know, that Trump is. And he's a terrific guy.

You know, and they know what I and, you know, plenty of people have known for eight years. I mean, I endorsed him when he came down the elevator because I love the fact that he was not a politician. He was a businessman. And the business of America has sucked for so long. Like, we need someone in here making sensible decisions.

Like, it's become about let's dig on it. We can't get any good people to work for this country because all we're going to, like we've seen in these hearings, you know, with my friend Pete Hagseth and others, you know, where they just drill them and drill them. And like, you slept with so-and-so and you said this drunk at a bar. It's like, so what? We're not electing deacon of the church here.

I want somebody smart who can run this country, keep us safe, run it like a business. I do. And by the way, Kid Rock's a really good business person, too, even though he's got the presentation of a rock star, and he should, but he's growing his business, opening up leagues. He's a golfer, pickleball guy, owns things, writes things.

So he's 100% right.

So you go out there, you're a businessman.

Well, is it true you had a second marriage, then your wife said this, and you had a third marriage, and your wife said this, and one of your kids split off and did that. And wait a second. No, if it's something ethical about your business, go bring it up and defend it. And don't nominate yourself if you're gonna it's gonna expose your bad behavior. But the personal attacks over people's personal life and accusations about their fun side in their twenties and thirties, that's what people just say, why do I have to put myself through it?

Also, why do I put my family through it? Because it has nothing to do with them, but yet your kids are going to be talked to about how you testified, all to take a job that's probably a tenth of what you're making in the real world. What you do is you want to give back to the country, use that expertise to get speeches and build a great career. But I think it's gonna be fascinating to see this inauguration. Number one, got Kid Rockers up there, Carrie Underwood, first-class performers.

No offense to three doors down. But in these other groups that showed up, I think it's awesome they did it. But those aren't the big names. These guys are big names. And more are going to be coming too.

And Lee Greenwood's going to be there, and we know why.

So I think that's going to be great. Also, I like that Sam Altman's coming. I like that Elon Musk is coming. I like that Sergey Britt is coming and Mark Zuckerberg. Because I don't think that it's not so much they're kissing the ring, they're saying, I want to do business.

Also, they don't like the way business has been conducted, the way they were bullied even before Trump took power by Joe Biden during the pandemic, about the vaccines, about certain political points of view that they thought was dangerous.

So they say we're coming to the other side. In Zuckerberg's case, I think he had a personal transformation. I think he really looks up to Dana White and looks up to Joe Rogan. They are not political people, but they seem to love, they absolutely love Trump. And there's Zuckerberg wrestling around, really reveling in the success of the UFC, feeling what it takes to have that skill, trying to develop it himself of Jiu-Jitsu, and looks around and says, these are the guys I want to hang out with.

And who are they voting for? What do they stand for? They're not worried about pronouns. They're not worried about transgenders going into women's. Bathrooms.

They're saying, of course, it shouldn't happen. And that's why I think it's more than kissing the ring. You have to no one's out to destroy Facebook if they're not out to destroy you. And that's why TikTok's got to get banned. You look at Facebook, they've been exposed.

You look at Twitter, they've been exposed, they're in a process of being fixed. You have a problem with TikTok, you see the pro-China angle, you see all this anti-Semitic behavior, you see nothing pro-Taiwan. And then when we get in a trade war with China, you just know the number one news feed in the country for the next generation of Americans. We'll be our all-pro China and our Donald Trump is crazy and our America is on the decline. You just watch.

Josh Hawley is not as optimistic as me. Karate. I don't trust him at all, but what I do trust is the fact Donald Trump won this election. And, Jesse, you've got it right. These people, these corporate chieftains, can see that, you know what, this is where the American people are.

Donald Trump won the Electoral College, he won the popular vote, he's got majorities in both houses, and they're realizing that their woke far-left policies don't pay, that the American public, the American consumer, doesn't want it, and they respond to winning, and that's a good thing.

So we shouldn't trust them, but we should go on winning and make it clear that we've got the mandate from the American people. We need to deliver. And the message to corporate America is get with the program and start doing what the people want. Right.

So the Washington Post is losing editors. I get it. And editorial writers, I understand it. But they have to be balanced. LA Times, same thing.

They said, you know, you guys keep writing negative things about Trump. I need it balanced out. And if you can't, The editor and owner actually said. Stop writing about him.

So, don't tell me not to be optimistic about they're heading in the right direction because I am. When we come back, we'll be able to take your calls: 1-866-408-7669. We've got the opening statements and now, QA with Christian Omo. Also, play a little bit about the tip from the TikTok debate. To me, it is open and shut, but for some reason, they won't shut the door on this app.

Don't move. Miss a show? Have to tune out early? No problem. Download the podcast at BrianKilmeadShow.com every episode.

Exclusive interviews on demand. You're with Brian Kilmead. The more you listen, the more you'll know. It's Brian Kilmeade. If the US government bans TikTok, it's just more proof than goof.

About the American people at all. Like, they have no clue what's going on. They're detached from reality. The amount of people. Businesses, creators, and whatever you want to say, who earn a living through TikTok, they have no clue.

So, just to strip these people of their livelihoods overnight, because why? The only thing I can come up with, you're afraid China could use it for like disinformation, control the algorithm, show people what they see. Listen, again, i if people are too dumb to check where they're getting information that is important in the first place, like what, the US government doesn't do disinformation, it's not a med, it's not a nice there. There's fake sh everywhere you go. What are you talking about?

I mean, he's all over the place on that. They've had a year to sell it. No one's saying destroy it, sell it to an American company. And you don't go to your number one enemy and say, do me a favor, run the news feed for the next generation. I give them credit.

Whoever innovated, whatever algorithm this is, has worked, it's effective. Instagram's getting close, but they haven't been able to replicate it and be more attractive. But when they control the news feed and get all your personal information, and you can have direct ties to the Chinese government, let alone the Chinese company, who all have to share everything that they get with the country, there's nothing I said that's even in dispute. That's why you get rid of it. Corey Booker seems to have acquiesced, too.

He sounds like Dave Portnowika 23. I have real concerns with TikTok. whether it's proliferation of hate and anti-Semitism or some of the credible concerns that have been put forth about national security issues. That's not what's at issue right now. What's at issue right now is that the solution to this is not to end TikTok right now, but to make sure we're creating space for us to come together and save this platform.

Save platform how? By selling it to an American company. Frank McCourt's an American. Kevin O'Leary's a Canadian. Together, they're going to form an American company that has got the wherewithal, keep your algorithm, to buy it, save it, and keep it.

That's it. Mike Waltz was on with us yesterday on Fox and Friends, now to be the National Security Advisor, CUC 27. We will put measures in place to keep TikTok from going dark in the legislation, allows for an extension as long as a viable deal is on the table. And then, you know, essentially that buys President Trump time to keep TikTok going. It's been a great platform for him and his campaign to get his America first message out.

But at the same time, he wants to protect their data. You know, conservatives don't want the FBI, and they certainly don't want the Chinese communists getting their passwords, getting their data, and being able to overly influence the American people. And right now they can. Case closed.

So, what Joe Biden did yesterday was not enforce the looming TikTok ban ahead of Sunday's deadline, leaving the decision up to Trump, who reportedly is considering an executive order to save the app and delay the ban. Kevin O'Leary went and met with you, Mr. President. He told you that he's got the money. Just say that these are the guys I picked.

And you know Kevin O'Leary, and you also know Frank McCourt. They've met, they talked about it, this should not be an issue. Should be pretty clear.

So, nobody wants it. I know the business aspect of it. People do their businesses through there. I understand that. But you've had a year to sell it to an American company.

There should have been pressure put on them, but it wasn't clear that Donald Trump didn't make it clear that he's not going to get rid of it. I know they helped deliver the younger vote to President Trump, and he was able to do videos that did well there. A lot of people do well there. But what you have to do too is just to show you they haven't learned anything. Tic Tac's not the problem.

Our policy of letting these social media apps, which are news feeds playing a part of it, should say that you're not going to be able to thrive in America if you're an international company with doing the news. Wow. Trying to make money in America. It's got to be an American-owned company because of the information. Dave's right.

There are people that put out disinformation. There's somebody who can cut a tape right now in their basement and talk about how aliens are stealing their luggage. They could do that, but they don't have the credibility of a news feed that maybe a 16-year-old has only looked at TikTok to get his news or her news. It used to be that way with Snapchat, but it's an American company.

So now they're about to do this with another. App out there that's going to get set to launch if TikTok goes away. And it launched anyway. It's something with Red in the title. I don't want to give them more business, but they already have 1 million users.

Just because the deadline's looming for TikTok to go dark. If not sold to an American company, come up with a policy. Don't just kill successful apps. Come up with a policy. But the CEO of TikTok is invited to the inaugural.

Well One person not going, Michelle Obama, another one, Nancy Pelosi. We'll see where we're going. I think that the minute the president gets done with the inauguration, gets done with the balls on Sunday and Monday, it's going to be number one, the hundred executive orders, and number two, Los Angeles and the wildfires. They don't want to condition aid, but they have to be able to stop the political correctness that exasperates these natural disasters. You got to clean up the forest.

You got to take the water from the north. You got to be able to drill and tabletop emergency situations. You got to fully fund the fire department and emergency operations. You got to show that you're willing to rehearse and change your ways and take the great firemen and firewomen and give them the backup they need. It turns out there were 75 fire engines in for repair at the time of those fires.

These are the things when you see Trump walking in California with Gavin Newsom. Unlike this current president, he's going to turn around and say, all this stuff's got to get better for us for the money to come out. From the Fox News Radio Studios in Midtown Manhattan, it's the fastest-growing radio talk show. Brian? Kill mead.

Hi, everyone, from 48th and 6th in Midtown Manhattan, heard around the country, around the world. This is the Brian Kilmead Show. We have a lot of breaking news, but if you're looking for our mayor in New York City, keep looking. He is at Mar-a-Lago meeting with the president-elect, who this morning, we understand, had a call with President Xi of China, who was invited to the inaugural, and they said they're going to send a higher-up. to go represent China.

So China it's pretty clear President Trump is going to be taking on China in trade. He understands the threat. They understand they're basically doing military operations to invade Taiwan. We also know that they're creating havoc in the Middle East and they are supporting Russia, all against American interests. But President Trump says, hey, let's deal with this thing head on.

We don't know the context of the call, but we do know this. The Supreme Court has just upheld a federal law that would ban TikTok in the U.S., and it's going to be banned in two days unless it's sold by its China-based parent company. The unsigned fast-track decision means enforcement of the statute would likely go into effect Sunday, forcing the company to potentially stop U.S. operations. It's a free speech dispute, they say, that pits one of the world's largest social media apps against the security concerns of America and free speech for a China company.

Anything about free and speech and China don't mix. It was unclear whether Biden would now be prepared to take executive action delaying the enforcement of the ban. He signed a law last year that was passed by a large bipartisan majorities in Congress. You know that?

Well, since that time, Donald Trump has decided to sign up for it. He was kind of bitter against the American social media companies from banning him, and then says, you know what, let's extend it and try to solve this myselves.

So the Supreme Court said, no. This is legislation. No reason to stop it. No reason to pause it. Sell it.

And I'm not sure if they're just going to let it go dark, one hundred seventy million users. With me right now is Andrew Gruhl, chef founder of the popular Slapfish restaurant chain, and now the author of the Gruhl Family Cookbook, hosts a weekly cooking show. And if you've seen the tragedy of the natural disasters and wildfires in Los Angeles, even though it didn't affect him directly, he's helping directly by turning his restaurants and his parking lots into places to feed where people can sleep in their cars in the parking lot and be safe. Huntington Beach is not affected, but Andrew has taken action for the people in and around his area. Andrew, welcome back.

God, thanks for having me. First off, you're very active on social media. Yep. But you're not on TikTok. I am on TikTok.

I just don't use it. Yeah. But. This is 170 million users, more than Instagram, more than Facebook. Yeah.

I guess it's got to be a major story. Yeah, I mean, I just don't even know how their kids are going to be able to operate these days. Everything's about TikTok, you know. TikTok Trends, TikTok Dance, TikTok this. I got four kids, and they don't use TikTok, but they hear about TikTok.

Right.

Do you intentionally not use it? Even though it's got this evidently this great algorithm?

Well, it doesn't have a great algorithm, in my opinion. That's the thing. That's why I don't use it. Is that every single time, so I always pepper between all my cooking content and my commentary on like, you know, political commentary, cultural lifestyle, et cetera. All my cooking content gets pushed, but then all my commentary gets suppressed.

Did not know that. Yeah, so it's very interesting. And I've been hit one or two times strikes, right? Like COVID stuff.

So it's like once they started filtering me, they're just as bad as YouTube, Facebook, Meta, all that. I stopped using it.

Well, I think it's great, and that's fascinating to find out because we know with people being shadow banned with X, which was Twitter and Facebook. Yeah. But Mike Gallagher, former Marine, used to be on the intelligence committee, had the China Committee. He said every single intelligence community official That testified before his committee suggested, under its current ownership, TikTok is a threat to national security. And then I could point to a bunch of Democrats who say the same exact thing.

And then we have the other facts about it show that representatives of uh representatives of the Chinese government. oversee TikTok, and there's a rule in China that all algorithms, all intelligence, all IP has to be shared with the government upon request.

So anyone who says it's not shared with China, this Operation Texas that they have, is just not being transparent about it. But let's talk about the other thing that's taking place. And that is the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles. I've seen the pictures, we've seen the overhead shots, the drone shots. What's it like living it?

It's even worse. I mean, it's apocalyptic out there. I remember on the first night when the fires were raging and we actually were driving up to the Pasadena convention center. We were bringing a whole bunch of meals and supplies up there. It was me, my wife, my four kids.

We were all driving up and going into Pasadena. There was not a single car in sight. There were just ambulances passing us left and right. It was apocalyptic. We pulled up to the convention center and they had just evacuated all these nursing homes.

So it was just ambulances surrounding the convention center, people in gurneys getting rolled in, people kind of wandering around the outside trying to figure out what was going on. And it only got worse thereafter. I mean, it's nuts. It really is. But there's been no response, right?

Like, it's just people figuring it out on their own.

So, what did you do?

Well, we opened up our restaurant in our parking lot to anybody who had evacuated Los Angeles to come down, have a meal, figure out where they were going next. We would help try and coordinate the logistics. That turned into us also accepting donations to try and get up to places like the Dream Center, the Convention Center. Plus, we now have a full operation, so we've got contact with a lot of the front lines. And we put out two bins in front of the restaurant.

We're like, we'll do a small drive.

Okay, two bins turned into one Amazon truck. Two dream bins of just big boxes. We're like, we'll collect, you know, paper towels, supplies. That turned into a full Amazon truck, then two Amazon trucks, then three. We now, for the past week, we've had five full box trucks that have been donated to us that we've been driving supplies all the way up to Los Angeles.

We've done probably over 500 meals a day. We've had 300-plus volunteers working in the restaurant because what people are doing from all around the country, since my message kind of went viral, is that they've been shipping products five, $10 at a time. And then we've been opening all those packages and then repackaging them into boxes to get them to the right people.

So that in and of itself takes 50 volunteers in the front of our restaurant. And Andrew, you don't complain, you don't say anything, but it's coming out of your pocket a lot of this, right? I mean, yeah, yeah. I mean, we don't have a 501c3, right?

So we don't have a fund of money ready to provide relief for people.

However, people have been buying gift cards to the restaurants. We had a lot of product donated to us. Santa Carrada Beef, which is a phenomenal beef farm out in California, they drove from Bakersfield, which you know is like four hours into Huntington Beach. They drove 500 pounds of beef to donate to us, which we then cooked and we provided. We've been providing real meals to everybody, right?

We're doing real good food, not just bags of Fritos and ramen. Where's the government on this? Where's the city? Where's the state?

Well, that's the point. They're absolutely nowhere. You know, I always say, right, in the first phase of any disaster, the government is just going to be tripping over themselves. And that's why we as small business owners and family-run businesses have to step in and actually get help to the people who need it. All they've been doing is fighting.

I mean, if you look at it, every press conference, I got people looking to see where the fires are going, where can we go for relief, but instead, It's the fire chief fighting with the mayor, or it's Gavin Newsom making excuses about how we're out there spreading misinformation. No information, no help.

So, here is what Dean Kane said, who lived there forever, one of the few conservatives to speak out, went to Las Vegas for quality of life, cut 31. I've been screaming for that for years now. It's the reason I left California. I saw the writing on the wall, I knew it was coming.

So, there's no possible way I was going to stay and have to deal with this. And unfortunately, everybody is. But, you know, Gavin Newsome, he's a slimy politician. He's going to say whatever he wants to say. The reality is, you know, if you're an NFL football coach and you have your team, you get ready to go.

You say, We've got everything wonderful. You go into the Super Bowl and you lose 56, nothing. You lost. You're going to get fired.

So his performance here is terrible. He should be gone.

Well, I mean, the thing is, I've never seen anything like it. I've never seen a governor go in there and yeah, I'm going to get to the bottom of this. I've got to find out what's wrong. Excuse me? Find out which one.

You're the governor of a state. And it was explained to me by Governor Sununu and Governor Chris Christie is that, yeah, you can't be in every city, we get it. But you talk to those mayors and you tabletop things that could happen. If you're not prepared for an earthquake or a fire in California, you're in the wrong state.

Well, not only that, it's always about excuses, right? But this time it all comes up to the top. He has nobody else to blame for this. And right now, he's trying to kind of do this like reckoning, and he's trying to manipulate the reality of things by out. He's out there doing a slick talk with kind of green backgrounds that are fake.

You know, this isn't the time for politics right now. Just look at the way DeSantis handles hurricanes, going into the hurricane and coming out of the hurricane as an example of management. You're right. But we've got, let me use an example, right? I'm in Huntington Beach, California.

We've got the resources in Huntington Beach, California, a very conservative city. They're suing the state. They could be helping with the response up in Los Angeles. Nothing from the governor, nothing from any of the people in charge.

However, on day one, when we ran out of space in our parking lot and we had no trucks to drive the products up to Los Angeles, the chief of police came down. He took two public works trucks offline. He had his workers load them up from our restaurant and drive them up to the Dream Center in Los Angeles to distribute all the goods. That's how a city can work with leadership, but Newsom is nowhere to be found in that regard.

So, they say the fire department has approximately 3,500 firefighters responsible for the city of 4 million. That works out less than one firefighter per 1,000 residents. Other major cities have closer to two firefighters per fire for residents. That's an analysis of the 10 largest cities in the country. And then you have the police chief saying, I told you if you cut the budget, we're not going to be able to serve the people.

And they're saying that outright to the point where the mayor met with the fire chief, and the word was the fire chief was fired. And then they go, quickly, we can't fire him.

So they quickly say, No, that never happened. But you know that happened. And you also know that at least 75 trucks are not disabled. No mechanics to fix them. No money to repair them.

How much would 75 more fire trucks have helped?

Well, you got the fire trucks, you got the water issue, right? You've got the electricity. You've got just the overall management. You have all the fire officials who weeks ago were saying that there's going to be a massive catastrophe and people are going to lose their lives. I mean, the writing was on the wall, quite literally.

I remember three days before this came in, right? There was all this news about these dead. Deadly Santa Ana winds are coming. When you know, when there's a Santa Ana wind coming, there's going to be a fire. I said to my wife, this is going to be really bad.

These winds are supposed to be horrific. You know, hopefully, there's not a fire. I'm down in Orange County. I'm not a weatherman, right? I love to hang out with Janice Dean, but I'm no weatherman.

I knew there were going to be fires. Everybody knew, and yet Bass is out of town. She's nowhere to be found. The management of Los Angeles is completely inept. I call it kind of an ineptocracy of management.

And now they all want to kind of rewrite history. That's what's hilarious about it.

So all these press conferences have been devoted to rewriting history, to trying to their publicity, their PR, especially with the fire chief, as you just mentioned, as opposed to providing information about the resources that are available for the people who lost their homes, who lost absolutely everything, because none of that information is out there. Do you know what is out there? They spent $50 million over the last two weeks Trump-proofing California, Trump-proofing to get ready to fight back and preserve the rights of illegal immigrants, many of which are criminals. They say we don't disseminate between the two. What could you have done with $50 million?

You're taking half a million dollars out of your pocket of your business. Do you think $50 million would help instead of getting rich lawyers richer as they mind-meld into finding some way to outthink Donald Trump's attorneys? And when I hear any number that large, $50 million, I know for a fact 90% of it is going back. Into the California slush run, the cronies, right? It's going in some way, it's enriching the politicians in California.

That's a fact. Everybody knows that's the algorithm of how politics works in California. And that's interesting because if you tie that into this conversation about the direct relief coming from the feds or potentially coming from the feds, everyone's saying we shouldn't be giving money to California unless there's strict oversight on that money. I couldn't agree with that more. If you gave California $100 billion right now to try and Fix what's happened as a result of these fires.

I guarantee you $99 million or billion dollars, whatever the number is, is going to go into the pockets of the California politicians. I mean, not quite literally, however, for their pet projects or for fixing their previous problems. And $1 million or $1 billion, whatever the number is, is going to actually get to the people.

So, by the way, that voice you hear, and hopefully you're watching, Andrew Gruhl, chef founder of the Starfish Restaurants. He's also got a book out, author of the Gruhl Family Cookbook, because they cook together and now they all have passions. Another thing you could do, you find when the kids get older, there's less and less things you can do together.

So, especially things to watch together. And when you could do something that brings everyone together, it's important. It's underrealized.

So, among the people that have your school of thought is Maria Shriver.

So she's as Democrat as it gets. She forced Arnold Schwarzenegger to the left to govern the state after he won as a Republican. He says L.A. cannot go forward with the status quo. L.A.

is no longer what it was, it was different. It has to prioritize the safety of the citizens, police, fire schools, and the residents deserve better. Shriver's post was in response to a tweet highlighting how Los Angeles fire chief Kristen Crowley openly criticized the Democratic mayor. Crowley is saying LA cannot sustain itself. That's what she was coming off of.

But Crowley's also somebody who oversaw the huge increase in salaries for the fire department. These men and women put their lives online. That's fine. But if you have a financial budget, making $200,000 per firefighter while you can't afford to fix the fire truck, it's not in the best interest of the city. Yeah, well, that's emblematic of the way in which all California officials work on a city level and on a state level.

So she's probably just doing what everybody else does. And I'm not trying to give her credit at all, but I also think that the problem is deeper than decisions she might make in regards to the budget. It's about the function of public services, public workers in Los Angeles and their surrounding area. Their role is to provide a service, and it's not to make people feel warm and fuzzy and to play with the next kind of emotional issue, whether it's DEI, whether it's the homelessness crisis. I mean, think about how much money they lost on the homeless issue in California, which is a mental illness problem.

By the way, you guys spend $1.3 billion. On the homeless, and he wants to be, he was going to tackle the homeless situation. He's made it worse. He's made it worse. Nobody thinks it made it better.

No, nobody, well, just by virtue of the quantitative analysis, it hasn't gotten better. It's only gotten worse. And there are bills, you know, you look at SP 43, you look at bills in which you could have fixed things because it was a mental illness issue, where you could have gotten people into programs, into rehab programs, but then they didn't want anything to do with that because they're happy letting it lay out there on the streets. They really are. I don't understand it.

There just doesn't seem to be any upside to ignoring it. But now in New York, they're going to put billions into the mental health crisis. Half of them have machetes in their hand, sadly. And a few more minutes with Andrew Gruhl, bringing us inside the LA situation, everything he and his family are personally doing. Don't move.

Giving you everything you need to know. You're with Brian Kilmead. If you're interested in it, Brian's talking about it. You're with Brian Kilmead. Hey, we are back.

Andrew Kruhl is here. We were talking about the devastating fires, and he's with the Calico Fish House. You sold Slapfish Restaurant, that whole chain.

So now you're basically giving thousands of people immediate supplies and giving us an idea of what Los Angeles needs. You're doing Gutfeld tonight. What message do you have for people 3,000 miles away as they watch this?

Well, the message is actually one of hope because you know what? In this time of the city and the state just dropping the ball, people came together. I mean, as I mentioned to you, we had 300, 400 volunteers showing up to help us out over a five-day period. We've had hundreds and thousands of dollars in donations and goods being shipped in from Amazon and other places all across the country. You've got the Dream Center up in Los Angeles who's helping out hundreds of families.

You don't need government to help. People are coming together. And I'll tell you, you know, because this is political to some degree, even when I was looking out in our parking lot the other day, we had somebody dressed completely in MAGA gear. I mean, you know, the cliche head-to-toe MAGA gear.

Next to somebody wearing a resistance. Anti-Trump, pro-Kamala, packing boxes, laughing together, putting things on the back of the truck. This isn't about politics. People will always step up. People are inherently good, and we've seen that kind of exemplified in our restaurant over the past week.

I just worry about the insurance thing. And can people rebuild? And do you pay a mortgage on something that's now an empty lot? I don't know. I mean, there's going to be, you know, there's definitely kind of a financial rubric there that's going to need to break because what I'm also hearing is that people who are now have these GoFundMes where they're getting $100,000, $150,000 through GoFundMes, the insurance are now saying, well, we can't pay anything out because you already got money through the GoFundMe.

Are you kidding? Yep. I mean, I'm serious. Wow. I mean, that should have nothing to do with it.

Nothing. Nothing. Right.

Are you kidding? And the other thing is that Gavin Newsome is cracking down on people that are coming in saying, Do you want me to buy your lot? And people are saying, okay, yes. And they're saying, no, I'm making it illegal because you're taking it and peach people in a dire situation.

However, maybe I'm capable of making my own decision. You know, I don't know.

So Ted Cruz is sparring with him on that. Mike Johnson's saying, I want to condition aid to you changing policies on how you get water and what you spend money on. Is that wrong? That's not wrong at all. They actually need to condition it with even tighter shackles.

They need to oversee the money, right? The same way, if I took a loan from the bank to consolidate. They'll call you, yeah. And they might even say, we're going to personally pay the debt off first, and we want to know whether the money we gave you this loan for are going to the expenses of what you said. Great what you're doing, Andrew.

You and your family. Andrew Gruhl, thanks. Radio that makes you think. This is the Brian Kill Me Show. Very important.

and very responsible. to not only um fully inform the incoming administration of what we were doing. But also, yes, to involve them in The Uh this last part of the process that got us to the agreement. And the reason for that is virtually everything that now needs to be implemented under the agreement will be implemented under the Trump administration. And it was very important for the parties to know.

that the Trump administration stood behind the agreement that We negotiate. and that President Biden put forward. And he went on to say that Brad McKurk. And Steve Woodkoff worked well together to get it done. But the same deal was done that was outlined in May and that was put forth a few months later.

What's the difference?

Well, Off the top, a lot more Hamas fighters are dead, including Sinwar. But is that enough as the first phase of the deal is going to fully be implemented, I believe, as early as Monday? And we're going to end up with 30. Hostages being released. And a lot more prisoners being released from Israeli jails, many of which are serving life sentences for killing people.

Eli Lake is a columnist for the Free Press, contributing editor at commentary, host of the brand new podcast, Breaking History, which starts this month, January 22nd, which will air every Wednesday. Eli will break down news by breaking down history. Eli, welcome back. Your thoughts about phase one of the deal.

Well I am very concerned about it because First of all, I don't know that we should Hope that there will be anything more than a phase one. And so Israel will not be getting all of its hostages back. Um The other problem of it is that it's I call it the Gilad Chali problem and Israel. Traded more than a thousand hardened Palestinian terrorists for. Gilaj elite.

One of them was Yahwah Sinmar, who would go on to plot october seventh.

So it's kind of it's trading hostages for future hostage takers in a sense. And I'm worried that I think Donald Trump's intentions here are good. But I wouldn't celebrate this too much because this is only going to pause this kind of it's this is not going to solve the problem. if Hamas is able to reconstitute itself in Gaza.

Now it is severely weakened because Israel has been so lethal against its leadership. That is a good thing.

However, On the other hand, I'm just really skeptical right now about what this is going to look like and whether or not. There's going to be some new administration in Gaza. Um I mean, the one part of it that I'm less worried about than I would be if this was done. And Biden had a year left in his presidency, is that I think Donald Trump takes a very different view. Absolutely.

And that if there is a violation and Hamas does something again, I don't think he will go out of his way to try to restrain Israel.

So that I think is a good thing, but I'm concerned about it at this point. I don't think it's a very good deal. First phase, 33 hostages to be released. The first nine will be exchanged on Monday for 110 Palestinian prisoners. Then the second hostage release for Israeli releases begins the release, but it'll happen through the course of 42 days to get you to the second phase.

And listen to what General Keene said to me this morning. Uh about the second phase cut eight. The tough part of this deal is in the second and third phases. What do I mean by that? On the 16th day of the 42-day ceasefire, negotiations are supposed to begin to the end state of the war in Gaza.

Hamas, disarm and give up governance. Israel, leave Gaza completely. Permanent end to the war. Those are very, very difficult positions for both parties. And I suspect this deal will likely break down at that point.

I cannot see the Israelis leaving Gaza completely and letting Hamas still be implied as the governance and running Gaza. That just brings us right back to October 7th at some point.

Right.

Would you leave that corridor where they built those sophisticated tunnels? Would you not have a presence right in the middle of Gaza again? I mean, it'd be crazy to do that, right? I mean, at the same time, Israel does have capabilities to probably go back in, and it was more of a political question under Biden than it was a kind of tactical, military, logistical question. You know, Israel can do a lot of things.

Um And then there's a part of me that says. If there's a bigger kind of negotiation which is wider and larger than Gaza, which is that. Donald Trump will recognize that Now is the best opportunity to take out Iran's nukes. Then I think that would change the dynamics in Gaza as well. It would change the d dynamics in the region as the fall of Assad has, as the collapse of Hezbollah has, as and we've already seen the Houthis have announced that they're stopping their firing into Israel.

So there's a lot. I didn't see that announcement. That was an announcement? I think I saw that. I mean, don't hold me to it, but I think the Houthis have sort of are respecting ceasefire in some way.

I mean The the Israel has to obviously get its people back, and that's really difficult, but it also has to keep its eye on something bigger, which is Iran. Um and if it I think that now's the time To take out the big threat, which is the Iranian nuclear program. And if this is going along with what I think is a bad deal. is the price that Israel pays for American support, Uh In an operation to take out Iran's nuclear sites, well, then. Then, in the grand scheme of things, it's a good deal.

But I don't know any of that. That's all speculation at this point. I mean, I would imagine, based on what Trump has said and the fact that the Iran's been trying to kill him for four years, that. He would be open to that kind of thing in a way that the Biden administration, you know, frustratingly has not been. You know, I'd be.

I just want you to hear what General Keene said about that. Same thing, cut nine. What's on the menu coming between Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump is what to do about Iran. We have an opportunity here to finish Iran off once and for all. They are so vulnerable.

Hamas, Hezbollah decimated. They lost their strategic platform, Syria. They cannot protect their leaders with air defense systems properly. They cannot protect everything their value. Rockets and missiles, oil, and certainly their nuclear development program as well, which is a massive program spread around 12 different locations and facilities.

That is on the table for both of these administrations to make up their mind. Do they want to finish Iran off once and for all? I think the answer to that is definitely. And by the way, he's not a warmonger ever, but he just said flat out that they've been our nemesis for 40 years. How much more are we going to take?

This window is going to close soon. Can I ask you a question? I I'm curious your read on this. I think Trump supporters, I think MAGA Nation, I don't think that it's the majority is in the Tucker camp on this. I think the majority would be fine.

With Israel using its strength with American support to take out the nuclear program and other sites in Iran, what do you think? I do, I do too. I mean, I don't speak for Tucker. A lot of the stuff in foreign policies, he's a great guy, but I don't know where he was coming from. No, no, no, but I don't know where they're coming from.

I don't. Like when they were on the fence on who's at fault with Ukraine, it drove me nuts. I go, what are you talking about? That Zelensky was shutting down free speech and shutting down churches. That is totally not true.

So, I mean, this is another example of it. And if you look at the problem in that region, it is Iran, if you asked every other nation. Everybody. Who's the problem? Outside the Yemeni government or the Houthi rebels, which don't represent the Yemenis?

Who's the problem? It is Iran. And now they lost their access in Syria and they have no missile defense, yet they're accelerating the nuclear program. Why would we let them do that? Yeah, and this gets to something if I can make a kind of plug for my new podcast, but You are a great history guy.

You've written great books. Thank you. This is where I think people maybe misunderstand Trump. Trump is not like Senator Taft, he's not an isolationist, he's a Jacksonian. And if you are like Andrew Jackson, Andrew Jackson is somebody who, you know, I mean, he.

Helped us salvage our nation in the War of 1812. He's responsible for driving the Spanish out of Florida, so that Florida is a state because of his military prowess. Andrew Jackson was not against war. He was against half measures. And that is, I think, where Trump is.

Trump is somebody who, in his famous escalator speech when he announced his presidency in twenty fifteen, what did he say? He said, Why don't we win anymore? And that this is a way to this is an opportunity to win. And that's where I'm hoping. I mean, we don't know, but that's my hope at this point when it comes to Iran.

And if that's the case, then we're going to look at this deal in Gaza as a kind of really a minor blip in a much bigger drama having to do with Iran's Failed effort to try to dominate the region. and how October seventh was in that respect Um an incredible kind of overstretch. On their part. It's already been an overstretched. You know what I'm saying?

And they're trying to say that Iran wasn't behind it. They were surprised Omas did it. I find that hard to believe.

So you see that they once had armed guards in Hamas and Hezbollah, and they had a safe port in Syria.

Now they have lost Syria. Hezbollah is a shadow of itself, not over. And Hamas has lost 17,000 to 20,000 fighters.

So that's the people that are financing a lot of this, the Iranians. Even if they didn't know if they didn't know the date. They knew the training. They gave them the money. They gave them the training.

That's a ridiculous argument. I'm willing to believe that Sinoirs uh communication security was such That very few people knew about it. I mean, I could see it the other way too, but I'm saying, sure, you know, they didn't know exactly when. But I my sense is that given like some of the stuff that the Israelis have recently uncovered, The original plan was that for October seventh to be the sort of Southern sweep, and then Hezbollah would come in in a northern sweep, and you know, I think it was more coordinated, and then people got cold feed, and here we are. Yeah, here we are.

Lastly, as an international, you understand the danger of TikTok, I thought, and the access they had to the next generation of Americans. The Supreme Court has upheld the ban on TikTok that Congress passed, that Joe Biden delayed, and that Donald Trump suddenly switched and challenged. But now they have to sell to an American company or they got to disband. And obviously, it affects a lot of people who do legitimate businesses on TikTok. I do feel bad about that, but there's no question.

There's no question that it sacrifices American security. I agree with that. And here's one other thing. I would just note that YouTube. Even Twitter or now Axe.

If you go Instagram, these other social media companies have become TikTokicized, so to speak.

So the the great innovation that TikTok had as a kind of product was that it it would feed these videos and you could just kind of swipe up and you get the next one and everything like that. All these other platforms now have a very you know extr a very similar kind of interface where if you go on YouTube, you can just watch what they call shorts.

Well, that's the same as TikTok, right?

So in some ways, I would imagine that if TikTok ends up being disbanded at this point, It'll migrate over to these other platforms that are not owned by the Chinese Communists, and that'll be fine. I do. Eli, you wrote a column about the evolution of Marco Rubio. Here's Marco Rubio in the dev primary debates in 2016, because he's going to be the next Secretary of State with Chris Christie. Chris, your state got hit by a massive snowstorm two weeks ago.

You didn't even want to go back. They had to shame you into going back. And then you stayed there for 36 hours. And then he left and came back to campaign. Those are the facts.

Here's the bottom line. This notion that Barack Obama doesn't know what he's doing is just not true. He knows exactly what he's saying.

So that was maybe an initial strike, but then Rubio was accused of memorizing certain catchphrases and that and being Trump. Go ahead. I just want to say As a fellow newsman, you just have to sort of marvel because in that moment, it was like Rubio was the last. Stand of the old what we would now say is the old Republican Party, right? And then Chris Christie made a deal with Trump, and he was originally part of the transition.

And oh, how things have changed.

Now, Chris Christie is the guy who was like originally going to run against Trump in his campaign in 2024 didn't end up going anywhere. And it's Rubio who's going to be his Secretary of State.

So, I mean, what does that tell you? It's just, it's one of those things that just like. You know, these are politicians, and they and I think in the case of Marco Rubio, I think that he has a lot of admirable qualities. He's very charismatic. But on the other hand, you know, he abandoned his ideology, he abandoned his positions.

That he had coming up through the ranks in Florida and originally kind of in the Tea Party as a senator up until 2016, and he has in many ways become. in many ways, a mirror of this new Donald Trump American MAGA approach to conservatism. And I have to say, I've I think we've all evolved as You know, we've, I think, it's, I think some of his critique of neoliberalism and unfettered free trade is correct. And I wouldn't have said that eight years ago.

So I want to be humble about it, you know, as a columnist. But it is extraordinary to see the evolution of Marco Rubio. And he will be the next Secretary of State. And I think that I'm hopeful that there are a lot of good things that he can accomplish, although I'm worried that he He didn't rule out the idea that now is the time to negotiate. He said, well, you know, if we make it.

If if we enter in negotiations with Iran, we have to be clear-eyed about it.

Well, that's that's that doesn't Give me much, you know, that doesn't make me feel good, you know. I think that he and Mike Waltz will understand who the president is, but also have such respect from the president that they'll be able to understand where they're coming from, not to undermine him, but to give their point of view. And I think it's going to work. Because Walt and Rubio have the same fundamentals, but they also know that a lot of President Trump's instincts are correct. Thanks so much, Eli, and congratulations on the new podcast, which starts January 22nd.

It's called Breaking History. Awesome. I can't wait to listen to it. Eli, thank you. Thank you, Brian.

Back with your phone calls in just a moment. 20. Expanding your knowledge base. It's the Brian Kill Meet Show. Breaking news, unique opinions.

Hear it all on the Brian Kill Me Show. Hey, we are back. Let's go to Pat. Pat's over in Indiana. Hey, Pat.

Well hi, Gwyn. Thanks for taking my call. No problem. What's on your mind? But There is historical precedent for conditioning disaster aid.

I mean, if you remember at the start of the Clinton administration, there was a great flood in the Midwest. and whole towns were forced to move and relocate in order to get aid and insurance. I think the same thing should apply to Los Angeles. the age should be conditioned on creating conditions that the disaster doesn't happen again. Right.

And you so I by the way, you educated me. I did not know that. But number two is one of which should where do you build? Number two is how do you build? And number three is how do you protect?

Where's the water? Where are the fire? How much for what portion of the budget has to be given to fire protection? And you could say law enforcement, too.

So I would like something like that. Maybe they could work on it together. John W-O-K-V. Hey, John, over in St. Augustine.

Yeah. Hey Brian, how are you? Great. Which are your mind? Yeah, I wanted to point out This agreement that the Dems have put forward at the last minute has not been bilaterally accepted by either uh um Israel or even Hamas.

It's it's it's a uh it's a fake. You see, I think it's going through. I'm not really sure what you're talking about, maybe semantics. It's going through. We're going to see a prisoner swap, hosted for prisoner swap, as early as Sunday night, maybe Monday morning.

And we'll see how long it stays together. Quick note for everyone who's living near John at WOKV: I'll be at the Florida Theater with History Liberty Labs on stage. Go to BrianKillmee.com so I can meet you in person. From high atop Fox News headquarters in New York City, always seeking solutions, never sowing division. It's Brian Kilmicho.

Everyone, happy you're with us and been with us all week long. Brian Kilmicho, coming from New York, New York. And I tell you, I feel a little naked because my mayor is not here. Yes, Mayor Adams is not here with all his controversy. He is in Mar-a-Lago, Democrat meeting with the Republican president-to-be on Monday.

He's meeting on this day. And this is the meeting after Tom Holman. He met with Bruce Blakeman out of Long Island in Nassau County. Bruce, very powerful. If you don't know this Nassau County executive, which is the size of, which is more densely populated than most states.

So, but many states, I think, top 15.

So, There's something going on here.

Now, look, he could be worried about his legal. His legal past, right? He's looking at some indictments. Or he could just be saying, I got abandoned by my party. I do not plan on standing aside for my next year and a half and just being a Democrat who's pro-Sanctuary City, like the mayor of Chicago.

And the mayor of Philadelphia. I'm going to be different. And hopefully, this is not a half measure. Hopefully, he understands he's got to be all in. Senator James Langford, who's speaking right now to Christy Noam in her hearings, will be on with us in thirty four minutes.

Shannon Breem standing by.

So let's get to the big three.

Now with the stories you need to know, it's Brian's big three. Number three. This is a platform where many Americans are consuming their news. To take that away from them when it's not necessary, when we can find a solution to this, it's just unacceptable.

Why didn't you find a solution to it? Letting the Chinese pick the news feed, also not acceptable. Corey Booker, TikTok off the respirator? No. It looks as though the Supreme Court has upheld the congressional action that said they either about to sell or be taken down in America.

We'll talk about where we go from here with Shannon Bream. Number two. Yeah, they've given a masterclass on how to testify before the Senate. Donald Trump has done an exceptional job picking his cabinet. It'd be very difficult for the Democrats to make any case against voting against any of them.

Yup. And right now, Christy Noam doing exceedingly well as Homeland Security Secretary. Trump on deck as his team auditions in front of committee senators and a curious nation. Why I believe so far his roster goes through, although battles remain for Tulsi, Cash and RFK Jr. Number one.

All the parameters have been agreed to. We've ironed out these last bit of details that needed to be flattened out and fixed. We believe we're on a good path here to start implementation by the end of the weekend.

So all systems are go right now. That is Admiral Kirby, the spokesperson for the Biden administration for another couple of days, saying the phase one of the peace deal between Gaza and Israel is underway. And with that, let's bring in Shannon Bream. Shannon, so glad you're on, especially now you broke the news half an hour ago on our channel that the Supreme Court has rendered a decision. President Trump has asked, hey, let me have control of what happens to TikTok.

Can you delay the expiration of TikTok unless they're sold to American buyers, an American company? And the Supreme Court said, what? They said Congress passed this law. It is tailored to the aims of the law, which are protecting us against a foreign adversary and its ability to collect the information through this app. And they said, listen, the law stands on its own.

What happens from here? Even Justice Gorsuch and his concurrence says, like, I don't even know what's going to happen next. And listen, Foreign App for Series can use other apps. They can come up with other ways to try to get information from us. But the court agreed with one voi voice in this unsigned opinion.

Essentially, Congress did what it does and they did it properly, and we're standing out of the way, and the law goes into effect. Right.

I mean, there are full, partial bans of TikTok in Afghanistan, Armenia, Australia, Austria, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland. I can go on. Partial or full bans?

So, this is not an American company. They control the news feed. They control the algorithm. To me, it's a no-brainer, but not to Rand Paul. Listen.

I do believe that banning a social media app like TikTok is a violation of the First Amendment. I haven't had a chance to read the ruling yet, but very disappointed. 170 million Americans express themselves on TikTok on a daily basis, and it's just wrong for the government to ban it. Disappointing. I don't think the battle's over yet, though.

I'm hopeful that President Trump in coming in can have some mobility. That sounds like Biden left the door open, perhaps, for some executive action from President Trump.

So one of Rand Paul's main donors is also the predominant majority owner of the American version of TikTok, which is.

So do you think that has something to do with it?

Well, I will say during the arguments, there were a couple of things there that he said. TikTok has not been banned. What's been banned is this foreign ownership by ByteDance of TikTok. TikTok has long had warnings from Capitol Hill: you're going to have to divest at some point. The law got passed.

They had 270 days. They've made no indication that they were willing to move forward with the divestment. They're sort of playing a game of chicken and hoping that they would get maybe a reprieve from the current or the next president. TikTok doesn't have to go away. It has to divest from foreign adversary ownership.

We're two different things.

So the court said if we're talking about Byte Dance as the parent company to TikTok, they're a foreign entity. Foreign entities don't have First Amendment rights. By the way, yeah that's true, Shannon, and I d doesn't Rand Paul know that? He does. He's a smart guy.

But, you know. Listen, this was a big bipartisan measure passed by big majorities. It was signed almost a year ago by President Biden. There has been time for them to figure this out. I get the First Amendment argument, and that was a big section of the arguments last week before the Supreme Court was that.

That listen, you've got 178 million Americans. You've got 7 million businesses that run through TikTok. But at the end of the day, the court saw what they believe Congress intended: yes, TikTok can live. This is not about silencing anyone. None of what we're deciding here has to do with the content of speech on TikTok.

People can say whatever they want. We just can't have a foreign entity vacuuming up information from that app. And Congress passed a law to address that. And we're not going to get in the way of another branch that's done their job.

So they did some analysis. They said the Justice Department said in July that China could direct ByteDance, which owns it, and TikTok to manipulate videos, serve to Americans, to undermine trust in our democracy, exasperate social divisions, which we know they've done in the past, so is Russia. That's why the president put that into the landmark legislation, which was really driven from Congress.

So they said the Pointer Institute, MediaWise of the Pointer Institute, which worked with TikTok to create a series of videos on media literacy that will soon begin airing on users. As late as TikTok has been investing a lot in media literacy and fact-checking. Further analysis led the journal to identify 91 accounts that pushed videos from China, Nigeria, Iran, and Vietnam and were tied together in complex ways. Do you really think that on ByteDance-owned TikTok, you're going to see anything positive about Taiwan? And I'll give you a suggestion.

How about when Donald Trump starts his trade war with China, which is inevitable with the tariffs? How many positive stories about Trump do you think we're going to see on TikTok? How about zero? Yeah, and it's interesting that the President elect released this statement a little bit earlier today that he's just talked with President G, and they talked about all kinds of things, all of those things, and including TikTok. It's a tricky relationship.

There are ways that we have to cooperate with countries around the world and the global economies, but there are other ways that we've gotten numerous warnings from people all across the political spectrum that China is a threat and they will use things like TikTok to get any advantage they can. This kept coming up in the arguments last week. Not only what you're talking about, about encouraging output and information that is divisive and they sow discord and try to stir things up politically, but what they're collecting and what the Justice Department had argued was, listen, they take in information not only about you as a TikTok user, but your contacts. They can hold on to private messages, according to the Justice Department. And a number of the justices were worried about, okay, what if somebody ends up 10, 15, 20 years from now in the military, in a sensitive position, in a government position, and TikTok's like, oh yeah, we have these messages that could destroy you from 15, 20 years ago, and we're going to get you canceled and blow up your life, or we're going to blackmail you to do our bidding.

So there were real national security concerns that seemed to be where the Supreme Court landed that Congress has legitimate concerns here, and what they did to address them was done in a way that's not unconstitutional. Yeah, I understand it. And I also think that there are a lot of people that are just looking at this and say 170 million users, they're voters.

So I'm worried about losing them, and they're young. Here's what. Here's what Raja Christian Murthy said, and how he was the ranking member on that China committee headed by Mike Gallagher. And this echoes what Mike Gallagher has been saying. This divestment is not without precedent.

There was an app called Grinder, a popular LGBTQ app, that was acquired by a Chinese company. And when the U.S. government found that the CCP had access to sensitive data about LGBTQ members of the military and U.S. government officials, it required the divestment. It happened very quickly.

Why? Because the app is very Was very valuable, much like TikTok, and there was no disruption to users. That's what will happen with regard to this divestment as well.

So I don't really like using Grinder as an example, but I don't really have a choice. You don't like using Grindr either. Right.

Right.

Right.

But that is the example that he used. He said, you got to do it.

Now, here's the other precedent. There's another app that started, I think it's Red State or something like that, and that's starting. It's already got a million users. Those were people who anticipated TikTok being banned.

So what is the rule? Why are we going to go down this road again? Can Russia start an app, beget a popular algorithm, have a news feed, and suddenly we realize how bad the Ukrainians are? You know, and suddenly we realize how fantastic the Iranians are.

So there's got to be a rule in place so we don't get to this point. Yeah, and what the law says a foreign adversary.

So I'm sure that there is deep in the language of the law a definition of how you decide that and how you define that. But it's not just TikTok, it's going to be others. I mean, Justice Gorsuch said in his concurrence today, he said that. He said, I'm sure that there will be other things that foreign adversaries that want to collect information and cause trouble for us. They're going to create other applications.

They're going to do other things.

So this is going to be maybe a constant whack-a-mole situation. And the more popular it is, the more young people are going to want to be involved with it. There was talk during the arguments, too.

Well, do we just put a warning on TikTok? Hey, if you use this, your information should be collected. I think we all know teenagers, and when we were teenagers, we probably wouldn't care. If it's the most popular app, you're still going to keep using it.

So, even a warning doesn't seem like it would be sufficient, but it's going to be a lot of work for is it the Justice Department, who's going to enforce this? For right now, it sounds like President-elect Trump isn't going to tell DOJ to enforce this with regard to the TikTok. But as other apps continue to pop up and show up in the app stores, there's going to have to be some constant policing on this. Jeff Yass has $33 billion invested in TikTok and is a huge donor of Senator Rand Paul. The question has to be asked: does that have anything to do?

With his big support for this Chinese app, because he's normally a China hawk. She normally has But he's also a big First Amendment and free speech guy, very big on that, too.

So these are, you know, he's got a couple of interests that he's very vocal on that are all tied up in this particular situation. You know, and for a lot of people, they're asking the same question about President Trump with the CEO from TikTok's B at the inauguration and the conversations they have. Because, you know, President Trump's been sort of all over the place on TikTok. And, you know, what he said in filing with the Supreme Court, filing a brief, like, I'm not weighing in on the merits of this, but give me some time to try to solve this. There's this provision within the law that would allow him to delay the implementation of it if there is, quote, significant progress on a deal.

We know there have been some conversations, Kevin O'Leary and others. Is President Trump going to be able to argue that there's actually something happening there? Byte dance would have to acknowledge that they're open to a sale. And to my knowledge, they haven't done that. Right.

We heard the report unsubstantiated that they would be open to selling it to Elon Musk, but that kind of went by the boards and Kevin O'Leary dismissed it. Maybe there was a competitive streak in him.

So maybe you could explain this to me. What exactly. Did Joe Biden do yesterday to in order to punt this to Trump?

So, for example, before the Supreme Court ruling, he said instead of starting the I guess the banning. Biden decides not to enforce the looming TikTok ban.

So, what was in his purview and what isn't?

So essentially, for now, if the law goes into effect in the next few hours, days, It would there are enormous fines that happen for stores and for app opportunities that people would allow it to still be offered. It's going after the provider, the app store that would continue to list this.

So he essentially said we're not going to enforce it.

So no one at DOJ is over there firing up day one prosecutions for Apple if this is showing up on the app store, that kind of thing. But there is this provision, like I said, within the law that a president could invoke if they could show there was significant progress going on for a divestiture sale. My understanding is that the Biden team assessed that they couldn't legally make that argument, that that was actually happening right now.

So he stayed away from the 90-day clause. For the day or two this is happening on his block, he's just gonna not enforce it, like not till DOJ to go after this. I assume that President Trump's gonna do the same thing, say don't enforce for now. But that came up in the arguments too, because Okay, say President Trump says, okay, I'm not going to let the Justice Department come after you. Justice Sotemeyer asked, what's the statute of limitations on this law?

And the answer was five years, meaning President Trump can get done with his term if some of these companies go ahead and allow the app to be provided. They could be facing enormous trouble if the president who follows him, there's still a year left on that statute of limitations, says, oh, I am going to enforce the law.

So these companies know they are risking a ton of money if they continue to promote and offer the app in a way that violates the law. All right, Shannon, who's on your show this weekend? Incoming senator, well, I guess he's officially a senator now, Dave McCormick out of that Battleground State, Pennsylvania. Other side of the aisle, we'll have Congressman Jared Moscawitz with us. We're going to talk about TikTok, the Middle East deal, the very aggressive Trump agenda for the first 100 days.

We've got debt ceiling. We're running out of government, March 14th.

So there's a lot to discuss. All right, we'll do that and I'll see you in person because we'll be doing the radio show. Monday and Tuesday, hope to catch up to you. You're always so great. Can't wait.

What's coming up Saturday night, though? And Saturday night, yeah. Saturday night, we're going to be leading with Roger Wicker. We got James Woods. We have Jim Jordan.

And a lot of other exciting guests coming our way, including that. Nancy Fun. Yeah, Nancy Mason will be on the rooftop, which I hear is not as cold as it sounds in the winter. But can't wait for all the fun. It's definitely cold up there.

I'm going to tell you the cold, hard truth. All right. I'm going to be plenty of moisturizer. All right, thanks so much, Anna. We'll see you on Sunday.

Okay. Back in a moment. It's Brian Killmeid. The fastest three hours in radio. You're with Brian Kilmead.

President Trump, as you know, can be persuasive. Are you saying tonight that Greenland? Is not for sale. Greenland and the future of Greenland will be decided by the Greenlandic people. The Greenendic people don't want to be Danes, the Greenendic people don't want to be Americans, Greenendic people want to be.

Part of the Western Alliance as a Greenendic people and from that we want And have the goal to have more cooperation with our strong partners, as US is. You are our neighbour. Your security is our security. I have said that many times now, but it's really important to say that.

So that is the Prime Minister of Greenland on with Brett last night saying, I don't want to really be Danes and I don't really want to be Americans. I want to be Greenlanders.

So I didn't even know there was one. There's only 50,000 people there, but everybody agrees they got extreme resources, including a lot of rare earth, which we need for our electric materials, our batteries, and just about everything else that we do.

So especially if you want to go green, you need that. But the one thing Brett didn't ask is, what about territories? You know, Guam's a territory. How do you feel about that? You know, a commonwealth.

Look at what Puerto Rico is.

So it doesn't necessarily have to be statehood. And what's Denmark doing for you? We could do a better job.

So maybe there's some MEVA, the Danes have got two major companies and they're doing very well. But they're not near here. We're closer.

So I think it sets the groundwork for doing some type of deal, and I think maybe expanding our military base and getting some American companies in there. I'm not sure. I know they don't let these rare earth mining companies into places like Minnesota, which is maddening, but maybe they let them go into Greenland. Maybe it's time to mobilize them to go into Greenland as we consider their status and bring some money to those people, to our country, which would also lead to security. Senator James Langford's next.

You're listening to the Brian Kill Meet Show.

So glad you're here. The talk show that's getting you talking. You're with Brian Kilmead. The questions that I get from people, though, in Oklahoma. I want to be able to run past you because they want to be able to know the answer to these things.

So I'm just going to blitz through a whole bunch of them. Will you use the legal authority that DHS already has? to be able to close our border? Yes, Senator. I will work with President Trump to ensure that we're securing our border.

Thank you. Will you use your authority to stop facilitating faster processing of illegal aliens into our country with the CBP One app? Yes, Senator. We will eliminate the CBP One app, maintain some of the data that's in it that's critical to knowing who's in our country, but that app will no longer be in use.

So the Oklahomans that I talked to say: are we about to end the abuse of parole and end catch and release? Is that about to stop? Senator President Trump has been very clear that he will end catch and release.

So that is the rapid-fire question, the give and take that Senator James Langford was going through very respectfully. I mean, that's. If I was a Democrat or does the opposite party, I'd just go, I need to know your answer to this. That's what they should have done with Pete. We didn't get almost any questions and answers.

You know, China, we've started certain down the South China Sea. What do we do? What are our assets? The Philippines have been harassed consistently. We are treaty obligated to defend them.

What would you do? I mean, those are the types of questions where you find out what your nominee is about, not what was happening when you got out of war and you were out with this company and you went to a strip club or you didn't go there. Nobody cares. Uh this just in Governor DeWine has decided on who to replace J.D. Vance as the senator from Ohio.

It is Lieutenant Governor John Husted. It is not Vivek Ramaswamy.

So he stays on the Doge committee.

So we'll see how that goes. Husted, a Republican in Delaware, and he's been around for a while, has long planned to run for governor in 2026 to succeed DeWine. His assent to the Senate will likely scramble the field in that race. Everything's close. For people who look at Florida.

For people who look at Florida. And look at Ohio and say, Well, they're firmly Republicans. I don't. I think you have to have the right candidate consistently, and what DeWine had to do is put somebody in there they thought they could win an election. More than who he liked.

And maybe he doesn't think Vivek has the popularity. I'm not sure. Senator James Langford joins us now, fresh off the Senate floor. Senator, great to see you. Thanks so much for joining us.

He bet. Glad to be able to do it. And I literally walked out of committee not five minutes ago to be able to get over and talk with you. I was watching in the break. I said, this guy's not going to make it.

We just rolled those questions out five minutes ago. Senator, your thoughts on how Christy Noam is doing? Christine Noam has done extremely well. And I'm not just saying that as a partisan, and I've known her for years where we served together in the House. She's been calm, she's been fact-based.

She's been very focused, nonpartisan. Secretary of Homeland Security is not a partisan role, it's just a security role. And she's just come across that way very even-keeled on it and extremely competent. But it's a huge organization. We had Jay Johnson on who ran that department before.

He says not as big as the Pentagon, not as unwieldy as you think. The question is, that I thought was a good one: is how does it work?

So, Tom Holman knows the border backwards and forwards. He's the czar. He reports directly to the President. How does it work in the chain of command with the Homeland Security Secretary? Do you have a clear idea?

I do. I think I have a pretty good idea. I think Tom Holman will be focused in on the border policies. He'll work directly next to the President. He will work with Christy Noam.

Christy Noome and DHS, they not only do Secret Service, they do TSA, they do FEMA, they do border security. There's a lot there that they do. And so people often will look at DHS and say they just do border. They actually do a lot.

So to have Tom Holman focused in on that area and making sure the policies are right and we're chasing things down and then bringing things to Christy on that, I think will be extremely helpful. There's also a really, really solid, competent group of folks that the President has tapped to be able to lead CBP and ICE and others that will come in to be able to lead.

So it's a good team on that, but that allows her to be focused on all areas of the administration and the personnel areas and not have to just be focused on one.

So, Senator, you've become an expert on the board just because you helped write the legislation that was controversial, but it did have done a lot of good things, but didn't do enough to make President Trump happy, so he's waiting. Are you going to use some of the expertise that you acquired through pure hard work and jump into the fray here? Yeah, I've served on this committee for 10 years and it focused on border security and DHS areas for 10 years. I've been to the border a lot. The bill that I brought a year ago had two aspects of it.

One was fixing the loopholes that exist in the law, that quite frankly still exist in the law, that will still be a frustration to any DHS. The second half of it, though, was putting pressure on the administration, taking funding away from them until they actually implemented the authority they already had. Obviously, that part of the bill was not going to be needed. No one doubts President Trump is going to enforce the law, and that he's been very, very clear on it.

So half of that bill is not needed, but half of the bill is still needed. We've got to come up with some way to close these asylum loopholes because that will continue to be a nemesis of any administration.

So I walk up to the border and I say, yeah, I'm being threatened in my country. I get asylum to a degree where I eventually get a court date. They're so backed up it'll be a couple of years. We have to establish new rules that say you have to prove that you can't go anywhere else in your country. That's right.

And right now, I could just go up and say I'm being threatened, and that's good enough to get me a court date, right? Yeah, and the hardest part about this is that you only actually have to, what we think of, was cross the border. In Texas, the border is the middle of the river.

So by the time you get to the fence, you're already in the United States. You could literally stand on the south side of the fence and just say, I'm afraid in my country, and I want to get asylum. And they've got to open up the fence to be able to process you at that point. We've got to be able to fix those. Those are loopholes that exist out there that will be a challenge to every single administration because the courts will step in and say, no, you've got to be able to do this.

It's the law. And until we fix that law, that's going to constantly be a challenge.

Now, the administration coming in, the Trump administration, very focused on things like remain in Mexico and other aspects of it. But even when we did remain in Mexico, that really only applied to Spanish speakers that were crossing. If you've got a Tajik national, if you've got somebody from Kazakhstan that's coming in, the Mexicans are going to say, no, we're not going to take those. We're only going to take Spanish speakers. And we're stuck with them at that point because.

The courts are going to require us to have them. That's what I was trying to fix in that bill: to say we've got to fix the way we do asylum so that we can turn people around faster no matter where they're from. But that will still be there. But I also know the Trump administration team really well. They know that, and they're going to work with us on that to be able to get some of the legislative solutions so we never have another president like President Biden.

All right. So if I can move on to other big issues, and that's what's happening out in the West, where the fires have not subsided. The damage is unimaginable. How do you feel? Where do you stand on conditioning the aid to doing some changes to what they're spending on and what their focus is?

Yeah, the hard part about that is determining exactly what that is right now in the middle of the fires. I would say the first things first, the people of California need answers. That's what I hear a lot is not only pray for the people of California, let's find ways to be able to support them, but let's get them answers. They want to know how did the fire start? Was this again from electrical lines like previous wildfires?

Gavin Newsom said years ago that he's going to go to war against wildfires, but we've not seen any changes there. In fact, a lot of the reporting said he'd done 90,000 acres that they had done brush clearing on, and they went back and looked at it, and said it's actually only been 9,000 acres on that.

Well, that's a big deal on it. They've also, there are a lot of places where they can't clear brush because there's a kangaroo rat. In that area, and so they can't clear brush, and so then you get a wildfire, and people's homes are destroyed, and lives are lost because we're protecting the kangaroo rat. Maybe we need to ask some questions. What's more important?

People are kangaroo rats in some of these areas.

So, there's just some obvious things like where's the water? How come the fire adjuncts were empty on the day that they needed them? You know, those things I think are one of the top priorities. Whenever we do aid, we need to say, How do people get answers to those questions so that we can actually get decisions made?

So, how do you feel about that then? Since FEMA has enough money, you guys just gave FEMA money. How do you feel about saying you have to agree to redirect, I'll be oversimplified, redirect that water from the north to the south? You have to get a situation where if those reservoirs are in a certain level and the fire department is in a certain proportion of the budget, can you do those types of things or? Or do you feel as though that's a bridge too far?

Yeah, Brian, that that sounds really good, but the federal government's really terrible at actually being that specific and actually doing that for the states. And quite frankly, if we did that to California, then four years from now they would come back in and say, now we want to also tell Oklahoma what to do and how to be able to do things on it.

So there is a bridge on that. Quite frankly, the people of California have voted for the leaders in California, and they're suffering the consequences of those decisions. And until the people of California Actually, make a decision to say we're going to do some things different here. We're not going to have high gas prices. We're not going to have crazy wildfires and have people just honor kangaroo rats more than people.

We're not going to do that. Until that happens, there's not going to be a really easy change for there. But the thing we can force is truth and answers and facts to be able to get out. The Supreme Court ruled an hour ago that TikTok banned stays in play.

So as of Sunday, TikTok will be banned in America. Let's take a look at a deal with American owners. 170 million people are users of TikTok, many of which have businesses on TikTok. I understand the security risk. I am 100% for the ban.

I watched Senator Tom Cotton just tweeted out that. President Trump seems to have somewhat reconsidering his view. What about Senator James Langford?

Well, I would think that Brian Kilmead would step up as a potential future owner of TikTok and that you would write the check to be able to buy it. We need an American owner. We need at least a non-communist Chinese owner of a platform that actually delivers the news to Americans. I mean, that's the challenge that we have here. If someone were to say, hey, let's let the Chinese have a way to be able to deliver news information and their view of all things in the world to the vast majority of Americans.

We would all say, you've lost your mind. That's a terrible idea. But it grew up organically and quietly. And the way they were able to push it, and it was an effective tool, and a lot of people like being able to use it. But it doesn't take away from the simple fact the communist Chinese are using this to influence American opinions and to be able to access data.

And it became an issue when TikTok said, well, we're really not controlled by the Communist Chinese Party until they were being forced to be sold. And then the Communist Chinese Party stepped in and said, no, they can't be. And it was suddenly like, oh, wait, I thought you weren't controlled by the Communist Party until now. The Communist Party is given instructions of what happens on the sale or non-sale on that.

So they clearly are. And I understand a lot of people like watching cat videos or whatever else on TikTok. That's fine. A lot of people have their businesses connect to TikTok products and connect to people. That's fine on it.

But it's just a matter of not taking it out, but making sure that this is not somebody nefarious actually tracking all that data and information. Yeah, Rand Paul feels differently. Listen. I do believe that banning a social media app like TikTok is a violation of the First Amendment. I haven't had a chance to read the ruling yet, but very disappointed.

170 million Americans express themselves on TikTok on a daily basis, and it's just wrong for the government to ban it. Disappointing. I don't think the battle's over yet, though. I'm hopeful that President Trump in coming in can have some mobility. It sounds like Biden left the door open, perhaps, for some executive action from President Trump.

So, I have no idea. Maybe because one of his main donors is a majority owner of TikTok. I'm not sure. Jeff Yass, who also seems to have made his way to Mar-a-Lago. This to me is open and shut.

Every intelligence agency has said this is a security risk. China is our number one enemy. They've infiltrated into our infrastructure. They now infiltrate it into our treasury. And now they want to control the next generation of Americans.

At least we could stop the, we could block the layup, don't you think? We have, actually. Congress overwhelmingly voted House, Senate, Republican, Democrat, President signed it. It is the law of the land.

So to say that we're not going to actually implement this would be to say there is a law in America and I'm going to ignore it. We can't go that route.

Now, we've got to be able to pay attention to this, as you've mentioned before. And one of the things you even left out on that in the long list, and there's an even longer list on this, is the Chinese have hacked into our cell phone systems. In Washington, D.C., if you use a cell phone, the Chinese are listening to it. They've hacked into that system and they now control. Track every single cell phone call that's happening in Washington, D.C., and they're working their way around the country.

We've got to get them out of our telecom. That's an issue that's out there that we need to pay attention to. The Chinese are aggressive on this. Senator Langford, I do have news to share, but before I do that, how Did Our Homeland Security allows our infrastructure to be infiltrated like this? Where's our cybersecurity team?

I mean, whether it's the private sector or public sector, China seems to have had their way with it. Yep, that is and we have had hearings on that. We've had some classified briefings on that as well, and we are definitely pushing that. And that's one of the areas that actually Christy Noam even brought up today is this hack of the Chinese that they have done into our telecom systems that if you're on a cell phone and you're in the Washington, D.C. metro area, they're listening to your call and they're tracking it.

That's a major problem for every single person that uses a cell phone in Washington, D.C. to be able to know the Chinese are getting access to that data. All right, lastly, this just in. The inauguration, the swearing-in ceremony, is moving indoors due to extreme cold. It'll be held inside the Capitol.

I don't know what that means for the size of the crowd, but it looks like a lot of people coming down to see something will have to see it on screens. Is that a good move?

Well, you are actually breaking news while I'm listening to you on that one as well. As funny as it sounds, I just said to Christy Noam, I've been complaining to my wife how cold it's going to be on Monday while I'm celebrating President Trump's inauguration. But in South Dakota on Monday, it's supposed to be a high of one degrees that day. And so I'm a little surprised of the movement indoors, and I'll track it with you on that one as well. All right, great.

I'm not sure what that means for us, but we'll see. We'll be out in D.C. over the next four days.

So hopefully I'll catch up to you out there. By the way, if you're looking for somebody who wants to buy it, it is Frank McCorder, who's been our show multiple times, and Kevin O'Leary. They have formed a team. They got the money. They say, keep your algorithm.

We'll do it. We'll hold people's privacy.

So there is a buyer, at least one. You just got to be willing to sell it. Yeah, Microsoft has looked at buying it. Several folks have looked to be able to buy it. There's a lot of American companies interested in the product because a lot of Americans already use it.

So if the Chinese want to make a little bit of cash this weekend, there are some folks that are willing to buy a product. And just so you know, there's another app, Chinese app, that's springing up that already has a million users. I think it's Red State or something to that degree.

So why is that being allowed? Can we stop that before it becomes the next? The next TikTok? That has actually been my question as well. It's called Red Book on it.

And I would discourage folks from going onto it because it is even more. It even uses Mandarin all through it. And you think, okay, we have lost our mind on this as well. But if individuals want to be able to go online and be able to research the Communist Party, they're welcome to be able to do that. But it's not a good idea to allow mass influence peddling from the Chinese into the United States.

All right. Hopefully, you'll get some people confirmed and you'll have some and could continue to hold this hearing in a classy way because I have not seen any how many people you're dating on the side questions.

So it's kind of cool to see legitimate questions on both sides of the aisle. Senator Langford, thanks so much. You bet. Good to talk to you again, Brian. And I look forward to seeing your purchase of TikTok in the days ahead.

Absolutely. I'm looking forward to it. I just need one more investor. I just wanted to put all my money to the Chinese. I'm going to need one more co-CEO.

Thanks, Senator. Back in a moment. Newsmakers and newsbreakers. Here at first on the Brian Killmeat Show. He's so busy, he'll make your head spin.

It's Brian Killmade.

So a couple of things. We just went over to Senator Langford. He got the news. When we got the news, I relayed it to him. The inauguration ceremony is going to be moved inside.

I don't know what that means for all those people. With tickets, how many people can you possibly put in the capital? With tickets, and then other people are going to be coming down in nine-degree weather and just watching on flat screen.

So I don't know. He's older than Reagan was, and Reagan went indoors, and I think it's basically the same temperature. I hear it's going to be bitter and cold. If I'm Trump, I don't really blame you. Do you want to sit outside two hours?

A lot of people are older. I don't know. I just also know that if I made plans to witness history and be part of the biggest crowd in You know, in history, perhaps. I'd rather not see on a You know, on a flat screen, but that's the way it is. Also, the other big news, the other big news is.

That it looks like TikTok, that ban is going to go through unless it's sold to an American.

Meanwhile, Fox Sports has announced that Live Golf, linked to multi-year media rights with Fox Sports. That's great. Live Golf League competition is growing and it's good enough. The sad news is our good friend Greg Norman not involved. That bothers me.

By the way, good news for Conan O'Brien. He was awarded the Mark Twain Prize. And a brand new Pete, you're going to love this. Season one of A Thousand Blows set the world of illegal boxing in the 1880s. Victorian London.

You know, the bare knuckle boxing things? You know, John L. Sullivan came out of that era. That to me is going to be great. Boxing transfers great into the movies.

So that'd be great. By the way, BrianKilmey.com. I want to meet you at the Florida Theater February 15th. Also, March 22nd in St. Louis.

Go order tickets. Exclusively on ESPN Plus, UFC 311. Saturday. You're gonna get it! Winning lightweight champion.

And the number one pound-for-pound fighter, Ishlam Bahasha, defends his title in a rematch against Armand Surukya. And reigning Phantomway champion, Araf Dwalash William, defends his title against undefeated Umar Damagameda. UFC 311 Saturday at 10 p.m. Eastern. Buy it on espmplus.com slash ppv.

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.