As promised, Trump slaps Canada & Mexico with tariffs - Mexico quick to back off

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Thanks for being with us today, and we have so much to discuss in this new Trump era. Christopher Caldwell will be with us, senior fellow at the Conservative Think Tank, Claremont Institute, to talk about how unprecedented these first 10 days have been. Also, we're going to have Mary O'Grady standing by. She writes for the Americas, a weekly column on politics, economics, and business in Latin America and Canada. I just don't know of anyone in America that writes consistently with more knowledge about Central and South America than Mary.

We're fortunate to have her. But first, let's get to the big three. Number three. He's in trouble because of Questions like that Snowden question, in addition to things like lack of experience, the sort of mysterious trip to Syria to see Assad, there's a lot of open questions around her right now. Confirmation slowdown for Trump team and the 47th president has had just about enough of it.

Only a fraction of his team is in place because of a dem slowdown. It is intentional. By the way, it hurts our country. If this is their plan to win back the American people, I say it's an epic fail. Number two.

In the threat assessment we have right now across the world, to lose that many agents and then take a year to a year and a half to try to replace them. is incredibly dangerous for our national security and for what? Because they did their jobs. In a way, taking over the government as he was elected to do. Trump guts the State Department.

And FBI, analyzing every penny of government spending through the Treasury, and yes, realigning trade through tariffs. Keep it up. Keep up with him if you can. Number one. We had a very busy weekend.

We got the six hostages out of Venezuela, as you probably know. And they're very safe right now. They're home with their families. Nobody thought that was going to happen. That is true.

Comprehensive. That's what Donald Trump is doing, cracking down illegal immigration in every way. On the border, through our cities, and Central and South America countries, being forced to take back their citizens, in many cases, their criminals. And there's a massive border enforcement.

So far, people crossing the border illegally is down 92%. Mary O'Grady joins us now from the Wall Street Journal. Mary, welcome back. Good morning, Brian. Finally, some attention.

But in Central and South America, what a breath of fresh air, don't you think?

Well, you might say that. I think some of the things that the President is doing are good, and some of them are rather worrying. And let's start with Venezuela since you raised it. You know, there's a problem with this negotiation of liberating these six hostages. As you know, Russia and Venezuela and Iran have this practice of taking Americans hostages and then negotiating.

And I think the opposition in Venezuela, which had won the presidential election in July, was hoping. was exactly was hoping that the President would refuse to recognize this President, this tyrant, Maduro. And there's a President Trump increased the bounty on his head to twenty five million dollars. But what happened over the weekend when This negotiation was carried out was that Maduro used it as a propaganda tool. And he's now going around saying that the president, that the United States has recognized him.

He met with a U.S. advisor. I mean, we wouldn't have met with most of the Tyree. We wouldn't have met with Pol Pot to discuss some negotiation.

So this is a little bit worrying. And I really hope that the President will reaffirm his support for the opposition, for Maria Corina Machado, who's in hiding right now, and the more than 1,000 people who are political prisoners in Venezuela. Great point. And I think this: not only did he get the hostages back, but they say they're taking their citizens back and their criminals back. That's a huge gain.

You could still do both. Get the hostages, send them back, and say, by the way, your election was a sham.

Well, again, I mean, what did they do with all of that trafficking? And, of course, that wasn't President Trump's fault. That was Joe Biden's. But Venezuela was using migration as a weapon. I mean, they basically unleashed all these people.

They helped the Trende Aragua, the gang, to go into the United States. And there's a lot of worry that they will take them back and then send them back one at a time back to the United States.

So we're going to have to be on the lookout for that. It's going to be a lot harder to get in this time. The other thing. Yeah, that's true. The other thing is Panama.

In the big picture, Marco Rubio understands the region. I think you agree with that.

Now he's Secretary of State. He goes down to Panama, and I don't think the plan was ever to take back the canal, but to get China's influence out of the region, I think it's part of a bigger China strategy.

So far, it looks like they're doing that. They said they're not going to renew the contracts on both, but they did sign up for the Belt and Road program.

Well, okay, let's separate these things out because the Panama Canal itself is an autonomous independent body. There was never any Belt and Road initiative in the Canal Zone, never. They're building a bridge over the canal, and that is a contract between the Panamanian government and China. But they're inside the canal. It's completely autonomous.

99% of the people who work in the canal are Panamanians. When President Trump said that the Chinese soldiers were operating the canal, remember on Christmas Day? That was a complete flat-out lie. I'm sorry, I don't like to say that about my president, but there are no Chinese soldiers in the canal zone. The problem in Panama, and I think this is going to stop now thanks to efforts of our government, is that they were really getting too close for a lot of people's comfort with China in Panama in general.

And by the way, it's important to note that when you hear people testifying They often say, well, Panama is getting close to the Chinese. And then they start giving examples of Peru and Ecuador and other places. Panama itself did not borrow money for that bridge from China like it was done in Peru and was done all over Africa. You know, the Chinese loans kind of got these countries beholden to Beijing. But in this case, Panama raised the money independently from Western banks, and all the contract workers, the construction workers for that bridge, or 99% of them, were Panamanians.

And that's because the unions are so strong in Panama that they wouldn't allow them to import a bunch of Chinese workers.

So there's a distinction there. I do think two things that could be more probably accomplished or on the way to being accomplished. One is that Panama should be backing off its relationship with China because Panamanian government projects are too close to the canal. And secondly, I think it's important that more of the Initiatives and projects that are taken on are done with U.S. companies.

And the only way to do that is to create systems that are more transparent. I mean, Panama, the government, not the Canal Authority, because the Canal Authority has been very transparent. They've been good stewards. Mike Pence was there in 2017 and congratulated them. They built a third set of locks at a cost of over $5 billion.

They paid for it themselves. That was finished in 2016. Panama Canal Authority has done an excellent job, but Panama has had a problem with corruption. And that's one reason why U.S. investors and U.S.

companies don't get a lot of contracts in Panama, not because Not because they don't want to go there, but because in order to compete, you often have to pay bribes. And we have the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, so U.S. companies can't pay the bribes, so they don't end up there. And that's something that I think, with more attention and more pressure, can be fixed. And that's really important.

Here's what Marco Rubio said. He said, I met with the Panamanian President and Foreign Minister to make clear that the United States cannot and will not allow the Chinese Communist Party to continue with their effective growing control over the Panama Canal area. We also discuss efforts to end the hemisphere's mass migration crisis and ensure fair competition for U.S. firms. And it brings us to the Darien Gap.

Do you think Panama could do more to stop What's coming through there? No. And I wrote about this many times over the last four years. The Panamanians were begging for help. They were not facilitators of this flow.

I'll tell you who was the facilitator Petro, because in Colombia, because if you look at a map, you'll see that what the migrants did was they came right up in the north of Colombia to a place called the Gulf of Uruguay. And in that gulf, it is an automatic. Defense against migrants going north from South America. But you have to get across that gulf. The the there were trafficking groups right there on the edge of the Gulf who were bringing people in large numbers.

I mean, I saw these huge boats with huge motors coming across the the Gulf of Orba. It's a big body of water. The governor of that province, it's called the department in Colombia. That governor was on video saying, Yes, we're helping people, we're facilitating this, we're being humanitarian, and they were helping bring the people across.

So, as soon as you get across there, you're still in Colombia. And then they would bring them in motor carts to the trailhead, and they would organize them. There were camps there, they would sleep overnight, they would give them food, and in the morning they would start out on the trek through the Darien.

So, then when they came out the other side, the Panamanians told me, Look, we have to stop this, but we cannot send them back. It would be death to send them back through that rugged jungle.

So, they were begging the U.S. to help, begging. And when Donald Trump came in, the Panamanian president, the current Panamanian president, immediately started working with Donald Trump. And they started flying people back to Colombia, to India, to Ecuador. Of course, the Venezuelans wouldn't take them back, but they were working to try to.

I mean, this migration crisis has been very disruptive for countries like Panama. And I would add also Mexico. I mean, Mexico, I have friends in Wades who say they're. Their city is totally destroyed from all of these migrants coming through. But why didn't they enforce their border?

They had 20,000 Marines during the Trump years. They didn't enforce their border. That's up to them. It doesn't matter who the American president is. Do you mean on the south of Mexico?

The southern border of Mexico.

Okay, well, let me say this. I have not been down to Tapachula, but I would say that it's not there. I've been there in the past. I haven't been there during the migration crisis. And it's a very rugged border.

I mean, the Patend jungle is there. There are many ways to get through. The problem I saw, and I think President Trump is dealing with this, is the U.S. border was a magnet. People just were so intent on because they thought this was an opportunity.

If they got to the border, all they had to do was go up to a border guard and say, I claim asylum, and they would be waved through.

So that created enormous incentive. I mean, human beings, you know how the human spirit is, Brian. You know, we hunger for better lives. And they were, I mean, a lot of them, yes, they were criminals, but there were a lot of good people. They knew all they had to do was get to the border, and Biden would waive them in.

So once you close that border, you're going to change the incentives of the enormous risk. But let's talk about the fentanyl. Let's talk about the fentanyl then. Do you believe that you believe that we could do a you believe that we're going to be able to really curtail that seriously from what you've seen so far? I don't.

I don't. I'm sorry. And I wrote about this a little bit in my column today. But I have believed for a very long time That this is a demand problem, not a supply problem. Starting with the fact, and I've talked to drug experts in Mexico.

Fentanyl is a very small, really tiny part of a piece of fentanyl can kill you, right?

So they don't need large shipments of this stuff. To do damage. That's the first thing. But the second thing is, fentanyl does not jump into your nose or your mouth. Most of the tragic victims, and my heart goes out to families who have lost people, but most of those people were taking either cocaine, heroin, or illicit prescription drugs that were made in pill mills and so forth.

So, you know, it's not something that's coming here and killing somebody who's just sitting in their house minding their own business. It's coming and killing somebody who's using these drugs.

So if we get rid of fentanyl, we still have cocaine, heroin, and Percocet or whatever it is, fake Percocet.

So this is a demand problem. And I think the best solution to. you know, or the best progress we can make on this. Is to educate our children more and educate people that this is there's a real to a degree. I mean, obviously, don't do this will kill you, but you do cocaine more than likely unless you have a pre predetermined heart condition, you're not dying unless you're an addict.

Fendel kills you, and you could be doing something where you have ADD and you think you're going to have, because I'm riddling, and they put it into riddling and things that you can get illicitly over the counter.

So I think that there's a - if you just start. Don't you how do you feel about declaring the These cartels, terror networks, and if they did, like we do Al-Qaeda, do you think we should be free to hit those cartels in Mexico?

Well I hasn't President Trump already done that? I think he has, or he's said. Oh, he has declared it, but does that free us to do that? And what would the Mexican government's reaction be?

Well, let me let me say that I don't think. I don't think um When it comes to Mexico, I mean, I don't understand why he's doing this to Canada. Canada has a rule of law, they have strong institutions. Fentanyl is killing their people, also. I mean, so this isn't like they're dumping this on us and not doing anything about it.

That's sort of a crazy claim, in my opinion. In Mexico, you have a problem because you have a country that 40 years ago was a one-party state, and it's been in this process of evolving and trying to build institutions. That has not been going well since the last president did so much damage, institutional damage. But the big problem. the Mexicans face is that they have weak institutions And all the money that US consumers, let's face it, these drugs are expensive, okay?

And what happens when they buy them on the street? And where does that money go? It's cash, it goes into the pockets of drug traffickers. They make billions and billions of dollars Every year, from U.S. drug users.

And where does that money go? It goes into the pockets of the cartels. They use it to bribe people, to buy weapons, and to buy technology and surveillance and so forth.

So, in many ways, the Mexican law enforcement has been overwhelmed by these very strong cartels. They would like help in fighting the cartels. I mean, how many thousands of Mexicans have died fighting this drug war because the Americans are consumers of drugs? That sounds like Hillary Clinton. But I think Americans would you just said it's Americans' problem because they want drugs?

You think America wants drugs more than Canadians or Mexicans? I'm talking no, well, we have a worse problem, but I'm talking about the economics. I'm not talking um this is not a p political uh comment. This is an economic reality. People buy drugs, the money goes on the business.

I don't think there's more. I think because we have more people, that's the only reason why I might have more drug users. I don't think America's a born wanting drugs more than another country. But, Mary, I'm going to have to end it there. We're going to take a short time out.

Brian Kilmeat show. Expanding your knowledge base. It's the Brian Kilmead Show. Hi, everyone. I'm Brian Kilmead.

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This is the Brian Kill Me Show. Hey, we are back, and I got to tell you, it's amazing what has taken place over the last few days. First off, let's take a look at the FBI. You got eight senior FBI officials who are a part of the FBI directors, Chris Ray's brain trust. They've been told just to resign or you're going to get fired.

40 prosecutors are going to be fired as well. They went after Donald Trump. You might say this is revenge. Not really. He's got to be able to work in a government that's not going to turn on him like they did last time.

When it comes to U.S. aid, that's a group that like to do their own thing and thumb their nose at inquiries. And guess what? He said to USAID, We need to take a look at your books. Musk said, took a look and said, There's so much unsavory activity going on here.

He called it a vipersnest. He sat down at length with the president and he said, You know what? The. We're going to end this. He talked to Senator Jeremy Earns and said, Look how bad this is.

Look at all these horrible programs we're financing. They tried to point this out in the first time with the USAID. And this guy, Mark Moyer, who urged Voorhees to reform his ways. was told, forget it. You're gonna get fired.

So they asked the Inspector General to go in and try to straighten out the letter in the first term. Inspector General found nothing. That was corrupt. A radio show like no other. It's Brian Killmead.

I would be absolutely for if that's the path we go down, removing USAID as a separate department and having it fall under one of the other parts of the United States Department of State because of its failure. I just went over the numbers twice with you in the amount of aid that actually makes it into the hands. I mean, you could almost say this is a little bit hyperbole, but there's probably more dollars that go towards state dinners around the DC Beltway than what actually goes into rice and beans abroad. That's the state of what's going on with USAID. And Samantha Powers said no less herself.

And right. And U.S.AID is they've tried to run their own arrogant operation. And the more people looked at it, the more they said this is not even in the U.S. interest. Why are they not answering to the State Department, which has its own corruption issues?

Why are they not answering to the federal government, whoever that might be? And people just dealt with it, but this administration isn't. And they fired the head of the U.S. aid for not opening up his books, and they're going to folding them in and freezing the program as of now. Joining us now is Christopher Caldwell, Senior Fellow at the Conservative Think Tank, Claremont Institute, and joined us.

Chris, great to hear from you. Thanks for getting on board with us. Tell me the significance first on this U.S. aid program, trying to get DEI out of it and start working in American interest.

Well, I think that the controversy right now is mostly over the confrontation with between Elon Musk and the upper levels of that program. And I think that how they're going to get CEI out of that is something that we'll probably see in the coming days. But I've been more interested in the in in in what strikes me as a larger uh uh development, which is the uh You know, the Trump's early move against affirmative action, which really strikes me as one of the the as probably the major policy move of this century so far. Right, and I understand what you're talking about. Just to finish this up, here's Brian Mest, when pressed what the problem is with these programs, CUT 24.

If you want to take a look at the State Department, where DEI has been a priority over, let's say, diplomacy in many accounts, I can give you hundreds of examples of where they were authorizing. Sure, let's list them off. Half a million dollars to expand atheism in Nepal, $50,000 to do, let's see, a transgender opera in Colombia, $47,000 to do an LGBTQ trans comic book in Peru, $20,000 a pop to do drag shows in Ecuador. Shall I continue with more examples of where the DEI is? It certainly seems like there could be a review of things.

Foreign aid, as you know, is less than 1% of the entire federal budget.

So that the whole waste is going to be called under scrutiny. But the DEI, which you're talking about, and what your column really talked about, too, is putting in perspective where it came from. And we were in a situation where we had segregation in America, despicable. We all know about it. The compromise that happened at the turn of the 20th century really hurt America.

And it was LBJ that wanted to take us out of it. What did he do? And why doesn't it apply for what we're doing today?

Well, you know, it you started out with the Civil Rights Act, which was which basically Created a whole bunch of crimes around civil around segregation. and gave the government a lot of very, very powerful tools step in and punish the people who set up segregated businesses or segregated school systems. But it also opened these companies and institutions up to lawsuits from ordinary people. And it w it it and it became so powerful that it was tempting for other people, not just not just blacks fighting segregation. Say, hey, I want to use these tools to change these institutions.

So it worked for women who wanted to be executives. It worked for Hispanic activists who wanted bilingual education. Eventually, it worked for immigrants and transgender people.

So it wound up. getting into every corner of life. And as we can see now, it also got into our diplomacy. It is. And now it got to the point where meritocracy was virtually gone.

It was give me a minority. And if you're a white person when it comes to colleges or getting a job, especially with Les Administration as it builds up, you're really being discriminated against. It totally reversed everything. Yes, you know, I think the meritocracy is an interesting thing. Meritocracy must be the principle when you're hiring for government.

And yet, very early on in the history of civil rights, basically with the With the Griggs versus Duke Power Company case in 1971, the Supreme Court put up. huge obstacles To to meritocratic hiring. It basically said you could not have a, let's say, a neutral civil service test unless you showed a very, very specific purpose.

So there were big obstacles to meritocracy. But I you know, I think that that that meritocracy has to be the principle for government. In the wider public, when people are just hiring, I think that that that Civil rights is the the bigger problem has been what it's done to to freedom of association. In what way?

Well, I mean, you know, if some Italian guy in a neighborhood in the Bronx wants to start a restaurant, um uh in which he's serving, you know, in which he's All the waiters are guys from the neighborhood. Can he do that? You know, it's an open question. That's a hypothetical case, but it's actually come up in a couple of. Supreme Court cases.

It's an open question whether you can do that. And that's not a question of meritocracy, that's a question of. You know how you want to run your own business. The case, the classic case actually was. was women waitresses and hooters.

Does Hooters have to hire have to hire men? That was the actual case that was. took it to the absurdist length. Understood.

So do you like this trend? Do I do I think that's a good question? Oh, I think it's very necessary. I think that you had a lot of. You had a lot of regulation and you had a lot of judicial decrees had had really had accreted on top of civil rights and really complicated what was meant to be a very simple action.

And you had reached the point where no one really knew who you could hire or what you could say. And eventually, when the civil when the the Supreme Court started talking about things like hostile environment. Affirmative action and diversity started having a real Chilling effect on free speech.

So yes, something like this was necessary. Trump has done it in a blunter way than most people anticipated that even he would. You know, it's interesting, you know, when you see what Trump's doing, they say, well, now he just wants to make the government white again. Really? And he wants people like heterosexual.

He's got. Eric Rinnell going down as a special envoy to get hostages out. He's got Scott Bessett as his Treasury Secretary, and he's openly gay.

So is Rick Rinnell. Cash Patel, I'm pretty sure, isn't from England originally, I think from Pakistan. Garden's heritage and root from Garden City, Long Island, but his family's got a great immigrant story. He just wants the best people. He doesn't care if it turns out most are white or most are gay or most are women.

It doesn't matter. Linda McMahon had education. Is that because he needed a woman on the cabinet? Nobody thinks that. Therefore, no one doubts Lyndon McMahon's credentials or Cash Padel's credentials.

Those are his picks, not because he wants to check a box. It's almost a relief. Yeah, and I think that, that's why this became possible now in a way that it wasn't in, say, nineteen seventy five, when people were already complaining about diversity requirements. Basically, it's now quite evident that the prerogatives, the extra prerogatives you give governments to run people's businesses were not really necessary. There was no emergency that made it necessary to get the government into people's companies and into government.

So here's what Senator Eric Schmidt said yesterday, former AG from Missouri, now Senator Gut 25. DEI is poison. It's hurt recruiting, it's hurt hiring, it's hurt retention. The hours spent on these struggle sessions during training is hours you don't spend on safety. And that's just a fact, and it's evidenced by the fact that a thousand people.

uh sued the air traffic control um for not being hired. Because of their race. It's evidenced by the fact that you have also people who were fired from air traffic controls and pilots for not taking the COVID shot. And then, you know, the government then, of course, makes it a priority to hire 87,000 IRS agents to roam across the country and harass Americans.

So this has become, Kristen, an obsession. And I think we're shrugging that off. But just to get a perspective on you, because you're a professor who knows history, Chris. Not a professor, but I do my best.

Okay, the think tank. But just in thinking about this, we're coming out of this thing. People should understand. Especially if you grew up in the Northeast and especially if you're, you know, in your twenties or thirties now. In my lifetime, there were people that could not drink out of a water fountain, could not use a bathroom, could not stay in a hotel.

If you're at Syracuse University and your name is Jim Brown and you're a running back and maybe the best in the country, you go down south, you couldn't stay in a hotel with your white friends.

So things had to be done to jar the system. As abhorrent as it sounds, for some people, that's how they've lived.

So, you wanted to jar the system.

So, let's just give people the best intentions possible. How do you do it?

Well, you make it a requirement. You got to start putting minorities on your roster, in your company, because you're not breaking the cycle that the Civil War should have broken for you.

So, I understand the frustration of 1930s and 1940s America. And in the 50s, we weren't breaking it as we desegregated to fight a war. And then we went back to segregation after World War II down south.

So, I understand the frustration back then, right? Yes, well, yes, but you got to remember that when you talk about the real segregation, you are talking about a handful of states. And that the regime that the regime to fix this problem came in equally everywhere.

So you mentioned the Northeast. I mean, the Northeast certainly had its problems. But it didn't have segregation. And so it was actually a kind of a hard sell in the Northeast to say, look, we can tell you who you hire, we can tell you where your kids go to school. And the classic case would have been of busing in Boston in 1975.

where you it was already apparent then that there was a little bit more regulation than people thought was warranted in the country outside of the South. Although I grant your point about the Deep South. True.

So and it just oh, they overcompensated and then people started making a ton of money off it. And then you do things like you walk across campus and you see a minority who might have the perfect SAT scores and might have been the top of their class, but you look at them at Harvard and you go, well, the only reason they got in Is because they're a minority, because of affirmative action and things of that nature, and it creates resentment. We saw that with these celebrities making up resumes so their kids get onto these elite schools that they're athletes and they weren't. And a lot of people looked at those celebrities anyway and said, what is she or he doing on campus? It has to be because their parents are famous.

But now, when you were an actual someone who got a had great grades, like Jody Foster, you were looked at differently because of the standard that they built into the system. Yes, I think you try not to have uncharitable thoughts. But yes, people did. There was a lot of doublethink involved. On the one hand, people said affirmative action is absolutely necessary.

And on the other hand, they said it has absolutely nothing to do with the qualifications of the people who Benefit from it.

So it became a kind of a hard logical thing to be hard to keep it together logically.

So Chris, if we do this for four years, we got the system at DEI, we get rid of these courses, is America getting these courses a requirement of these colleges and government agencies and maybe private companies? Are we a better country?

Well, I think that certain things about DEI were getting quite coercive, and they were unrelated to any underlying problem of discrimination. But as for the courses, I think that the Trump administration has in many ways been quite careful to avoid trampling on freedom of speech. They have said, if you want to teach a course like this in a college, of course you can do it. You just can't impose it on, you know, you can't make it a requirement that people hire according to certain principles. Love it.

Thanks so much. Christopher Caldwell, appreciate it. Senior Fellow at Claremont Institute. Appreciate it. All right, and we come back.

We'll take your calls for the first time. I know you have a there's so much going on. I know you have a lot to say. 1866-408-7669. Brian Kilmead Show.

Coming to you on a need-to-know basis, because Mandy, you need to know. It's Brian Kilmead. The more you listen, the more you'll know. It's Brian Killmead. I am announcing Canada will be responding to the U.S.

trade action. with 25% tariffs against $155 billion worth of American goods. This will include immediate tariffs on $30 billion worth of goods as of Tuesday.

So that was Justin Trudeau, the lame duck prime minister. He'll be out by March, the first week in March.

So he's in response in retaliation for. Tariffs that are going on tonight, tomorrow, I should say, at some point, at 25% on Canada, 25% on Mexico. For Canada, it excludes energy. That's a 10% tariff. The Chinese imports will have a 10% tariff, too.

Truth on Truth Social, President Trump said this: I've implemented 25% of what I just said. This was done through the International Emergency Economic Powers Act because of the major threat of illegal aliens and deadly drugs killing our citizens, including fentanyl. We need to protect Americans, and it's my duty to ensure the safety of all.

Now, that's a 1977 act. In terms of an emergency, you can take emergency actions on trade. Fentanyl is the reason. My sense is he wants to reconfigure the trade relationship entirely. And to do that, he's got to jaw the system, can't do it gradually.

Among the people upset by is the Wall Street Journal. The headline says it all: the dumbest trade war fallout begins. Donald Trump came back after that headline with the Wall Street Journal. It says: anybody that's against tariffs, including the fake news. Wall Street Journal and hedge funds is only against them because these people or entities are controlled by China or other foreign domestic companies.

Anybody that loves and believes in the United States is in favor of tariffs. That's what he was saying among the people that are upset. Is Christian Freeland, the former Canadian Prime Minister, cut eleven. This action is utter madness. It is a betrayal of America's closest friend, of your ally, your neighbor, your best partner in the whole world.

It is an act of economic warfare.

Well, here's what happened. In 2018, when we put our first raft of tariffs in, Trump implemented a tariffs ranging from 7.5% to 25%, over $360 billion worth of Chinese imports. They were so effective, Joe Biden left them. The U.S.-China trade deficit has now decreased from $420 billion to $270 billion, but Trump had to leave.

Now, when it comes to other tariffs, They'd have come down. For example, on Mexico, the annual trade deficit with Mexico under the first Trump regime was $89 billion. High. Under Biden, went up to $135.7 billion. Steel and aluminum, imports from Mexico, crushed the U.S.'s once thriving steel and aluminum industries, with imports in steel conduit from Mexico surging 577 percent.

Why would you accept that if you're Trump and you want to be manufacturing? My sense is. That his hope is that we start building stuff here. And instead of saying make it here, He's going to make everybody make it here because it no longer makes economic sense to go elsewhere. And if we start making stuff here, Middle class gets built up.

Think about it. I think it's part of a bigger plan, but Trump, he knows he's got four years to do it. From high atop Fox News headquarters in New York City, always seeking solutions, never sowing division. It's Brian Kilmead. Hi, thanks so much for listening, everybody.

Hope you had a great weekend. If you're trying to keep up with the news, don't blame yourself if you're unable to keep up or a story slips by you. Because I've never seen a volume Of information and consequential moves that are going on right now. And, you know, we're not talking about. Uh I Some type of weapon of mass destruction or a natural phenomenon or a hurricane or a Or um or a tidal wave.

You're just talking about issues. The number one country in the world, America, revamping its image in real time, changing a lot of built in policies in real time. And behind it is one of the most Uh One of the most interesting figures in American history around the world, the most famous, Donald Trump, and the one working with him is Elon Musk, the most successful person in the world. Ricky Cobb's going to be on with us talking about the biggest trade in NBA history that took place over the weekend between the Mavericks and Lakers. And so much more.

And we'll preview the Super Bowl on Fox. And Del Bigtree will be with us. You heard him last week or two weeks ago. He's a spokesperson for the Make America Healthy Again movement, the Maha movement, and he was helping the communications directive for RFK when he was running for president.

So let's get to the big three. Number three. I think she's in trouble because of Questions like that Snowden question, in addition to things like lack of experience, the sort of mysterious trip to Syria to see Assad, there's a lot of open questions around her right now. Confirmation slowdown for the Trump team and the 47th president has had just about enough of all of it.

So many are through the committee, can't get a big vote, some can't get a hearing, others are moving on with their lives. Is there a plan right now to do anything except for to slow down Trump? Because it's hurting the country. Number two. In the threat assessment we have right now across the world.

To lose that many agents and then take a year to a year and a half to try to replace them is incredibly dangerous for our national security and for what? Because they did their jobs. In a way, taking over the government as he was elected to do. Trump guts the State Department, firing the upper end of the FBI, analyzing every penny that's being spent and sent out of the U.S. government, tariffs going on some allies and some adversaries.

Keep it up, Mr. President. Number one. We had a very busy weekend. We got the six hostages out of Venezuela, as you probably know.

And they're very safe right now. They're home with their families. Nobody thought that was going to happen. There you go. Comprehensive.

That's what Donald Trump is doing when he cracks down on illegal immigration. He does it at the border from Central and South America, where they're coming from, tries to stem that. Then he wants to force Venezuela to take back their people. And they are setting up gitmos for the countries that don't, and telling getting on Panama to get China out of our hemisphere once and for all. It is a comprehensive plan, and it's pretty impressive to do it all at once.

Whereas Marco Rubio is in Panama. What's going on there?

Well, the rates are too high. 70% of all commerce that flows through there are American. And you got two Chinese companies running both ends of the canal. They said that's it. They go, okay, fine.

We'll end that. And also do something about the Darien Pass. That's where a lot of the illegal immigrants are coming up. They used to be a formidable way to stop illegal immigration.

Now they're forging a pathway through there.

So between Venezuela taking them back. Between Panama saying, okay, we'll not renew. The contracts with China.

Now it's off to El Salvador and for Marco Rubio to make sure they take their people back. I think it's important that the president's not ignoring Central and South America. Cut five. The message is that America, the Latin America, is back on the agenda of the American interests. I think Marco Julio said it clearly that he that our backyard, which has been forgotten for the last 30 years since Ronald Reagan, when he was fighting the Sandinistas, that we are going to be engaging with the Americans once again.

That is exactly what this hemisphere wants. As chairman of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee within the House Foreign Affairs Committee, I can tell you that Americans, that Latin Americans adore the Americans, and they want to do business with American companies, with the American government, a lot more than with Chinese or with Russians.

So it's good news for Latin America. I hope so, and I hope it continues. And now we've got to get them out of Brazil and out of Colombia and let everybody know the Monroe Doctrine is back and will be enforced. Defense Secretary Pete Hagseth to visit Fort Bliss, part of that all-hands-on-deck strategy. That is right near the southern border.

There's a military that is on the border and knows they've been deputized to do some work there. They say traffic. Yeah, it's not a good idea. Ninety two. He'll visit Joint Task Force North, which is headquartered at Fort Bliss.

The organization is part of the U.S. Northern Command. Both have been providing support for the border mission.

So we'll see what happens now. We'll also see what happens. Look at this. In Arizona, they got a Democratic governor.

So you don't know what's really happening, but you know it's an issue. The mayor there came out and said this. I'm the mayor of Yuma, Arizona. Trump is already transforming our border. He tells Newsweek, Yuma was on the front lines of the federal issues.

The effective provisions securing the border were removed on the first day of the Biden administration. Within months, I proclaimed another local state of emergency. I had meetings with DHS officials, including Mayorkas. No change. I was simply told the border was secure.

We had a peak of 1,500 migrants across the border illegally in one day, and there's still no effective response. Three and a half years into the Biden administration, there was finally a new policy shift. Had a minor impact, too little, too late.

Now it's down to total border crossings, 714. Remember, in that area. 1,288 was the average on January 17th. It is going down markedly, and I think it's great. And I think people understand, we don't want criminals in our midst.

They took seven illegals during the Philadelphia car wash raid. They were here illegally. Many linked to the Venezuelan gang. How about this? In Aurora, they're pulling out more Trendiaragua, TDA gang members out.

Remember the Aurora situation, the takeover of the apartment complexes? They said that wasn't happening. It's happening. Maybe it won't happen again. I love this.

Senator Mark Kelly doesn't. Why? Because as much as we look at him as an astronaut and a fighter pilot and as a patriot, it might all be true, but he's just a partisan, cut three. It seems to be more about intimidation of a big population of people. It's going down the road of mass deportation, which he said he would do, which would rip communities apart.

These are really bad ideas. Sending trying to send Folks back to Colombia, which we do routinely, but sending them on military airplanes, which, by the way, costs a lot more money than putting them on a chartered airline flight, which we've done for decades. It's all about scaring and intimidating people. Yes. Senator Kelly, fifty eight percent of the country is for mass deportation, number one.

Number two is we're at the point with doing criminals. And when you have these criminals, you could chain them to the seats or whatever, but to make them safe, you want them on military aircraft. Also, symbolism. Everything he said is right, but he has a different interpretation of what the meaning is. We want to stop the next family from coming through, the next gangster from getting through, sneaking through, the next fentanyl operator, the next cartel group from coming out.

Why? Because if we could stop them from coming, that's the beginning of an all-hands-on-deck strategy, let alone get them when they do come. What if we just said people at home in Venezuela and who knows where? Say, it's not worth it. They're kicking people out.

Man, I saw that military plane land at the Air Force Base. I saw the flap go down and I saw the people hauled out in chains. That's a message. It is intimidation. It saves us money on the next plane that comes through.

And what he wanted was? quick action. And quick is military. When you have slow action, you got to go back to Congress, get a charter plane, move them out again, make sure they're available. How many can you fit on?

Instead, throw them all on. We'll worry about it later. Talk a little sports when we get back with Outkicks Ricky Cobb. Bottom of the hour, we're going to talk about RFK Jr. We could get a vote out of committee tomorrow.

It all comes down to Dr. Bill Cassidy, now Senator Bill Cassidy. They had a conversation over the weekend. How did it go? We'll talk to Del Bigtre about that.

So, Brian Kilmeicho, so glad you're here. Diving deep into today's top stories, it's Brian Kilmead. If you're interested in it, Brian's Talking About It. You're with Brian Kilmead. Hey, we are back and let's talk a little bit of sports.

We had the biggest trade maybe in NBA history. Luka Doncic, who's 25 years old and one of the top three players in the league. Hurt right now was traded by the Dallas Mavericks for Anthony Davis and Max Christie in a 2029 first-round draft pick. And two other players involved, Utah was involved. But the big story is this guy in the prime of his career in line for a max contract that brought the Dallas Mavericks to the finals was deemed expendable.

Why? I guess he didn't play defense, never got himself in that good a shape. I never thought fitness was an issue. He does get hurt. But man, what could possibly be the reason why, at the very least, they didn't put Luca up and let all.

20-plus teams bid on him, you probably would have got a better deal. Although Anthony Davis at 31 years old, who does get hurt, but is a fantastic player. You got getting some return, but he's probably got three or four years at the top of his game where you got to think Lukas got 10. Ricky Cobb joins us now, host of the Ricky Cobb Show on Outkick, Monday through Friday at 11 o'clock. Hey, Ricky, your thoughts about this trade?

Good morning, Brian. Like everybody else, Scratchin' my head. I've had what we've had now maybe about 36 hours to process it, but it's never a good sign for your team when the immediate reaction to the trade is people can't figure out if somebody has hacked Sham Shirania's account because they can't believe that this trade possibly happened. It's an unbelievable trade for the Los Angeles Lakers and unbelievable for all the wrong reasons if you're a Dallas Mavericks fan.

Well, I mean, there's no doubt about it. When Davis is healthy, he pulled his abdominals. He's dominant, don't you think? That's a top five player in the league. Yeah, I mean, look, Luca is easily a top-five property in the league.

And How you could move him without contacting, letting the league know, as you said, Brian, if you have a commodity like that and you're going to make a decision that you are going to divert from a path of building around this guy for the next decade, a guy who took you to a Western Conference championship last year. First team NBA All-Star multiple times over, as you said, just about to turn 26, heading into the prime of his career. To not consider what other teams might offer you seems to be malpractice. I guess people are upset. Luka is also very popular locally.

How long did we know about that? He didn't like to get fit. I mean, he wasn't exactly ripped. He didn't have LeBron's maybe work ethic off the court, but I never thought of him as lazy on the court. No, I think that's overblown.

All of the memes that you see about he's fat and all of that stuff. Look, I mean, he may not be ripped like some of the guys that you see in the league, but I would think, you know, if his physical condition were a problem, I think we would see it manifested in his performance. And when the guy's on the court, there's nobody else quite like him.

So I think that's completely overblown.

So, do you think this shows Mark Cuban is not calling the shots? Listen, Mark Cuban, we've got reasons, Brian, to wonder if Mark Cuban's lost his mind anyway.

So maybe his political opinions have bled over into his basketball decisions. I really don't understand it, Brian, to tell you the truth. I'm like everybody else. I'm sitting here trying to put the pieces together, trying to squint at this and see an angle from which it makes some sense for Dallas, but I really can't do it. What about not telling LeBron James it was going to happen?

He's basically made them draft his son, who's clearly not ready for the NBA. I don't even think he's an outstanding college player, and he doesn't want to play away games in the G League, which is crazy.

So one minute he's making them draft a sun. The next minute they have this Titanic trade and they don't inform him. What do you th what do you read into that? It's interesting. You know, LeBron just turned 40 years old at the end of last year.

Does he have the ability to play in the league at an elite level for another three or four years? If he does, he's going to be in uncharted waters. We've never seen a guy 40 years old play at this level. Before now, anyway.

Now, look, it's great for the Lakers' long-term outlook to get Lucas. Luca, they're going to lock him up and they're going to build around him. In the short term, if you're LeBron and you're trying to win a championship, look, I don't think that they were strong contenders with AD. I don't think that they're strong contenders with Luca. They may actually be a little worse with Luca because they're going to need to get a big now to replace AD if they want to challenge for championships.

So I don't know. Does this mean LeBron is going to maybe stick around a little longer than he was planning to?

Now that he's got a guy like Luca, they can add a piece or two and. Who knows? But in the short term, I don't think that this is going to be doing LeBron any favors if he's trying to win a championship in the next couple of years. Right. Let's see him get healthy.

They're both not ready to play right now. We'll see what happens. All right.

So let's talk about this: the Chiefs and rematch with the Eagles. This is the last play. Kansas City tied at 29, cut 54. Rutger from 35, dead center. And they can call it a three-peat.

We know that has been trademarked by Pat Riley. You can call it a. Whatever you want. Three chief. Achieve Pete.

Whatever it is. They're about to head to New Orleans. to explore the opportunity. to reach A level that's never been seen before, Tony, in the history of the NFL.

So they're looking to make history. Ricky, will they? Look, it is a coin flip, Brian. I'm going to pick the Eagles to win this game. I've got the Eagles in a close one.

You could just as easily tell me that you like the Kansas City Chiefs, and how could I possibly push back against that? You're talking about a team that lost two games. One of the games that they lost was the last week of the season. They weren't competing. They've really only lost once this year.

Have they looked vulnerable at times? Yes. But this is the time of the year. Obviously, three championships. This is their fifth Super Bowl appearance in the last six years.

January and February is Kansas City Chiefs' time.

So I certainly expect that they'll show up.

So, Boomer Seisson was home me Saturday night, and here's what he told me about how the league has changed from taking a knee to now doing the Trump dance. I'm certainly more optimistic. There's no question about that. You see that flag that sits over my shoulder in this shot. My uncle was on the USS Nevada during Pearl Harbor.

My father spent 16 growing months. In Europe during World War II, I was raised a patriot. I've always believed in our flag. I've always believed in our country, the sanctity of our country. I'm so happy to see that players around the league are coming around.

I do believe that they believe in a meritocracy. Your thoughts about where the league is at now from taking a knee to now. Proud of the national anthem. Look, I think it's a breath of fresh air that we're having in this country right now, and we're certainly seeing it reflected in professional sports. It's cool again.

You know, you can look around a little bit and exhale and realize that it's cool again to love America, that there's nothing wrong with that, that we can be proud of our country again. We don't have to spend all of our time grousing and complaining about injustices and perceived injustices. Look, we all want to live in the best society possible, but I think all of us have had a little too much of the era of complaints about America superseding what we love about this country. All right, you follow Ricky Cobb on Outkick. He airs every day, he airs every day live at 11 o'clock.

You can also follow him at Super70 Sports. Thanks for joining us, Ricky. Appreciate it. My pleasure. Let the hype begin for the Fox Super Bowl on Sunday in New Orleans.

It's going to be great. Nobody thinks it's a blowout that I know of, and no one should. Radio that makes you think. This is the Brian Kill Me Show. I've been following it, and I talked to my colleagues on both sides, and I've said this on the record.

It's like, you know, it's been challenging for sure. Absolutely. It's certainly not a slam dunk for the nomination. And that is Senator Fetterman saying that JFK is not a slam dunk. He did meet with him.

He does meet with everyone, one of the few Democrats that do. Joining us now is our guest from last week, Del Bigtree, spokesperson for the Make America Healthy Again movement. They all packed the place to see RFK's hearing. It was over the course of two days. And now we're going to find out a vote tomorrow, I understand, to see if he can get out of committee.

It could go down to Senator Bill Cassidy, a doctor, who had some questions that I believe he was going to talk to RFK over the weekend. Dal, welcome back. It's great to be here, Brian. Thanks for having me. What did you think of the hearings?

What's your takeaway from it?

Well, I thought the hearings were indicative of where this country is at. You just saw a real divide almost along party lines. What was amazing about it was that everyone agreed that we have the sickest nation of children in the industrialized world, that we're spending three to four times the amount on health care as other nations that are comparable, that our regulatory agencies are not working right, that Medicare and Medicaid are a mess and not working right. And yet, then you would watch Democrats say, but are you going to stick to the status quo and keep doing things the way they've been going? And it just was.

Almost surreal to watch that if we're agreed that we're this sick and this many things aren't working, don't we want to try something new? It was literally watching the definition of insanity. Of course, there's a lot of support from the Republican side, which also is ironic given that Robert Kennedy Jr. has a history as being a Democrat, a leading environmentalist. and is now finding favor with the Republican Party and not the Democratic Party he grew up in.

But for those of us that were there, as you said, packed in the halls, all of the Maha moms that arrived that want to see the food supply cleaned up, don't want to see their children poisoned anymore, don't want to see their kids this sick any longer, I think we all felt really great about Robert Kennedy's, you know, how he handled himself and his answers. He was excellent. You didn't get one Democrat. I don't think anybody looks like they're going to vote for him.

Well, Corey Booker and he, don't they have a history? Didn't it seem for a while that Corey Booker might vote for him?

Well, again, Corey Booker came out, said he agreed that we really got to get the chemicals out of our food, that our children are being poisoned, that they're sick. I mean, it's amazing, you know. I mean, I hope that Corey Booker, you know, stays with that thought because, you know, this panel, these panels that keep nominating people, we're just, you know, over and over again watching ourselves slide more and more into these horrible records, both overspending and achieving nothing except a drop in health.

So you would hope that this would be a nonpartisan issue. As Bonnie Hari, one of the big Maha moms, said, you know, poison, you know, shouldn't be partisan. And I think that that's what we're looking at right now. Yeah, she was on me Saturday night on One Nation. I want you to hear the exchange that people are focused on because if you just vote on party lines, 13, 12, Republicans get them out, they go to the floor, and we just don't know about Collins, we don't know about Murkowski, and we don't know about McConnell, but then the vice president would get her over the top like they did with Eggseth.

But tell me what you take from this exchange.

So let me ask once more. If the data is brought to you, And these studies that have been out there for quite some time, and they've been peer-reviewed. and it shows that these two vaccines are not associated with autism. Will you ask, no, I need even more? Or will you say, no, just I see this, it stood the test of time, and I unequivocally and without Qualification, say that this does not cause autism.

Not only will I do that, but I will apologize for any statements that misled people otherwise.

So we talked about this in the studies that you really feel fall short. The studies need to be studied to find out what the conclusions are and who paid for them, right? When were they done? But Senator Kennedy, by saying any questions about the vaccine, was not going to get through.

Well, this is what you're dealing with, right, when you're sitting in Robert Kenney's position. Everyone will admit that we have problems with chemicals in our food. We're admitting that autism is on this incredible increase If you look at some of the studies, one in 10,000, as Robert Kennedy Jr. put it in his generation, now we're in one in 36. And when you look at these studies, in many ways, they do fall short.

And let's be clear: Robert Kennedy Jr. and people like him, like myself. Is not saying that vaccines are causing autism, but what we're saying is there is some toxic exposure that is creating this increase. It cannot be defined or explained through genetics. Genetics don't change.

We didn't go from one in 10,000 in two generations or so to one in 36. There has to be an environmental impact. And so, what I would say is, even if there were studies that were thorough, saying vaccine, you know, some of these vaccines like MMR and hepatitis B, which is what Senator Cassidy was referring to, even if there were solid studies, how do we know it's not some other chemical mixing with the vaccines? Maybe it's the chemicals in our food. Maybe it's something you ate that day to take vaccines completely off the table, which is what they're asking Mr.

Kennedy to do while you're trying to investigate what is causing this incredible rise in autoimmune disease.

Now, 60% of America has an autoimmune disease or a neurological disease. Disorder.

Something's terribly wrong. And when you're being asked to do science but leave one of the major, you know, changes in toxic impact off the table, it just doesn't make sense. I think America is at the point where Want to see the studies done? Let's cross-reference all of it. As I said to you the last time I was on, let's look at the plastics, let's look at the forever capital.

And here's what. Let's look at fluoride in the water, but also vaccines have to be in there. There's aluminum, there's polysorbit 80, there's viruses and bacteria, there's all sorts of things. We don't know what this toxic soup is doing, and we can't figure it out if we leave certain possible culprits out of the investigation.

So, a person not going to vote was somebody, Maggie Hassan, who got very emotional because she sadly has a child with cerebral palsy, cut 40. I'm not going to vote for Mr. Kennedy, as is true with every confirmation vote I take. I work really hard to make sure I begin the process with an open mind. In Mr.

Kennedy's case, I was certainly skeptical because of his vaccine denialism, among other things.

So That's the same thing you just said. You know, on the other on the other hand, Windsy Graham. Uh seems to be all in. I think he's going to go for it. Cut thirty-four.

I am now okay supporting RFK Jr. because I think during the course of the hearing he's committed to a Republican pro-life agenda, President Trump's pro-life agenda, Mexico City policy dealing with chemical abortions.

So I will take him at his word. I'm comfortable with what he said on the pro-life issue. He has been radically pro-choice as a person, but I do believe that as Secretary he will implement a pro-life agenda that will be pushed by President Trump.

So I will be a yes, but I'll also watch every move he makes.

So, I mean, let's see let's see what happens. Did you talk to him over the weekend? I did not. I'm leaving him. I know that mister Kennedy has a lot of people in his ear, and he's got great guidance around him.

So I don't think he needs any more cooks in the kitchen than he already has. I guess the conversation you have with Cassidy offline will be it. I think that he had some really good moments. I thought when he said, you know, why I did it, I pray every day that I'd be in a position to be able to help a wide group of people like this. And he says, now I have that position.

Why else would he do it? But I was stunned to see his family, which has been so tolerant of her Teddy Kennedy's ridiculous behavior, William Kennedy Smith's ridiculous behavior, they had to come out against RFK. Instead of keeping their mouth shut and saying, I disagree, to see Caroline Kennedy come out like that, did it surprise you? I think it's always surprising when any family members attack Another family member. I don't see how anyone on any side of this conversation, whether you're a Republican or Democrat, can look at, I think you think about your own family and say, we may have disagreements in family, but you never go publicly out to just attack someone in your family.

But it's been happening all through the campaign. We do know that there's a lot of great work the Kennedy family does, but a lot of it is interacting with the pharmaceutical industry. There's a lot of support for all the great initiatives out there from the pharmaceutical industry. I don't know what kind of pressure is being brought on the rest of his family, but he did have his close family around him inside the hearing. And I know that there's many in his family that support him.

And like anyone else, I mean, the Kennedy, it's a big family. If you go to Hyanasport, it seems like it's either a Kennedy or a Shriver everywhere you look.

So it's a huge family. They have always had the ability to. of debate the issues, and this is an important one for everybody. Yeah, I guess we're going to find out. And then would you join him or you stay on the outside, Dale?

I'm going to stay on the outside. I'm really working on, you know, sort of making sure that Maha Action, which is our C4, that we're going to keep pushing for better legislation, more transparency. I've also, as a nonprofit, been suing the government, bringing FOIA requests, putting pressure on the government to bring transparency to many of these things, the studies and the science that's going on inside. Just because Mr. Kennedy, God willing, ends up being HHS secretary, doesn't mean I'm not going to bring FOIA requests to him and sue him if we have to.

I think the pressure has to still be there. We can't sit back. The Maha movement is not about one person, Robert Kennedy Jr. The movement is about all the people that are now paying attention to this process. This is a government of, for, and by the people.

I think we're finally engaged. I've said, I think I said last time, if you stop someone on the street and ask them who's the current HHS secretary, no one could answer that. But if you ask them who's the next HHS secretary, They'd say Robert Kennedy Jr. That means America is awake. We're paying attention.

We're supposed to be involved in this system. I'm going to make sure we stay involved and keep this movement growing. Del Bigtree, thanks so much, spokesperson for the Make America Healthy Again movement. Thanks so much, Del. I hope he gets through.

I think it'll be an exciting time. I do too. We all need prayers right now. Hopefully everyone, you know, Get to the right answers. Thank you so much, Brian.

Appreciate it. Keep in mind, Senator Cassie is the one who voted to impeach Trump the second time. He. Is not on good terms with the White House. He is up for reelection.

I do think he's a good man of conscience. There's certain things, just like Mitch McConnell, that they just can't get on board with the Trump administration in. I understand maybe talk to Senator Kennedy along with RFK. Senator Kennedy is all bored, too. You listen to the Brian Kilmeet show.

The first 100 days continuing confirmation coverage on the Brian Killmead Show. Breaking news, unique opinions. Hear it all on the Brian Kill Me Show. In this instance, I actually am looking at the tariff opportun as an opportunity if. He moves.

So there is federal forest land all over our nation that is in disrepair. It's burning, right? If he puts, for example, on Canada's lumber coming in, we import a lot of our lumber in the United States, not because we need to, but because of the policy around our forests. If he moves and allows us to harvest selectively and sustainably some of that timber, we won't see a spike in prices for lumber, which is going to impact housing and building, right?

So it can work.

So that is Jamie Herrera of Butler, who's a former congressman from Washington State. A Republican and say, look, if you put a tariff on the lumber from Canada, we don't really need their lumber. We got plenty. We just, all these regulations around our foresting, forestry, we can't do anything with it.

So you release the regulations, let us do the lumber. That's American jobs. We're open to that. That's creativity. Same thing when it comes to farmers.

What are we shipping out? What can we grow ourselves?

So we have this breaking news. It looks like there's a one-month delay on the tariffs to Mexico. Claudia Scheinbaum, the president of Mexico, said they just got off the phone with President Trump. They made great progress and they agreed to have talks for the next month.

So that should ease the markets, which opened up pretty negative. And now we'll see if something could happen with Canada. I don't think anybody's even talking to China. They almost expected it to come through, as do I.

So Charles Payne was also with Mark Levin over the weekend. He's got a great knowledge of the macroeconomy and could see down the road where we're heading, Cut 15. Tariffs are deflationary. If you make a product from overseas costs more, maybe we'll buy an American version of it. Maybe we'll build an American factory that makes it.

So it's just all of this belies history. It's amazing to me. And it gets back to, again, folks worried about a large corporation, a multinational, not making a certain amount of money. Listen, we love free trade as a country. We love free trade.

President Trump loves free trade. But it's time to have fair and smart trade. It's time to bring as many businesses back as we can. But I got to tell you right now, every period of major economic prosperity that was shared by the masses had three things in common: tariffs, harsh immigration, tough immigration policies, and evolving technology. And we want to preserve all three right now.

Yeah, we'll see what happens. I think people have to understand it's not going to be the first wave that you see in any of these policies. Would you first hear about cutting or adding or growing? Hold on tight and see where it goes. We've been through this tariff war again.

There's a huge deficit. It's $157 billion last year under Biden. When Trump left, it was half that.

So, he's like, what's going on? I had the USMCA in places not being enforced.

So, he got their attention. He's also had it with the border. He believes Mexico could do a better job on their southern border. The fentanyl that's coming out of the cartels, he believes they should crack down. He said the cartels are running the country.

That insulted the government. But I'll tell you what: if we know they're making fentanyl and we know what's coming across the border, and we know that it isn't just for addicts that people would be susceptible anyway, this is one shot, you're dead. One and done. I mean, who says we can't take a shot like it is Al-Qaeda in Mexico at some of these cartels? That's where this goal could be heading.

So what else is Trump doing? At least eight senior FBI officials who are part of the FBI Director Chris Ray's Braintrust have been told to retire or resign. Forty prosecutors also told the same thing. They have also told to compile a list of people who did the January 6th investigations. They're all eligible to retire, perhaps, or be fired.

I don't think that is a good move because if you know anything about the military and law enforcement, You know, they tell you to back off protesters, you got to back off. They tell you to go after protesters responsibly, you got to go in. We looked at LAPD over the weekend. The LAPD was told to back off the one on one freeway. It doesn't mean they're bad cops.

So if the FBI says I got you got a grade mar-a-lago. You can't call it a career and just say, I quit. You could protest. But I don't think that Trump should fire you for that. You want to get that the upper class, the upper crust out of the FBI?

You want to get new management in there? Sure. I just don't think one thousand five hundred people is something you should fire. I just don't think that, that would be something that benefits you. In fact, I know Chris Christie, people think that he's always critical of Trump.

I think he's been very fair lately. Here's what he said yesterday, cut twenty. And let me tell you, they're all civil service protected, George. None of them are political appointees.

So, what's going to happen for these folks? Who don't go voluntarily is they're going to file grievances and lawsuits, and they're ultimately going to win them. And the last piece I'd say is this. Understand how long it takes to get a new FBI agent on board. If you fire hundreds If not thousands, it'd be thousands on this list of FBI agents, it takes 12 to 18 months to get them on board.

By the time you go through the interviewing process, the vetting process, then they go to Quantico for their training, and then become onboarded as a brand new FBI agent. In the threat assessment we have right now across the world, to lose that many agents and then take a year to a year and a half to try to replace them is incredibly dangerous for our national security and for what? Because they did their jobs. Well, that's true, but not the upper guard. The one to put out the mission to take them down, that's a problem.

But the ones that actually followed orders, I don't think you can hold them accountable. Just talk to them. Find out where they stand. Find out if they're politically motivated or just want justice. I think that's going to take some time.

So don't forget to join me on February 15th in Jacksonville, BrianKillMe.com. History, Liberty, and Laughs. From the Fox News Radio Studios in Midtown Manhattan, it's the fastest-growing radio talk show. Brian Kilmead. Hi, everyone.

So glad you're here. It's Brian Kill Meet Show coming your way. Hope you had a great weekend. I know if you paid attention to the news, you were definitely stressed and overwhelmed because Trump's going on so many different levels, not just from him, but from his people. And I never thought Doge was going to be this active, but they absolutely are.

And I thought Doge was going to study things, bring it up, put the public pressure and social media pressure for change, let Trump go back to Congress and see what he could do through his cabinet. I did not realize that Doge would be as busy as they are. First off, lacing together 2.3 million federal employees and giving them an offer they hopefully won't refuse, and that's to leave. And then he went into the Treasury Department. Scott Besson gets a job, Treasury Secretary.

He says, Can I go in there and look around? Because I just got to find out what money's going out and what money's going in, what is being okayed and what's being rejected. It turns out almost nothing is being rejected. It is all going out, some of them to terror regimes. And now he's got inside.

And people are going crazy because, well, who is Elon Musk? We haven't elected him.

Well, he's a czar. He's in there getting paid absolutely no money. It's not benefiting him. He's actually trying to benefit the country. And until further notice, I have no reason to believe any differently.

He's trying to revamp U.S. Digital and make it more cutting edge. He's trying to lean out the automatic payments that come out from Medicare, from Social Security, from Medicaid, and say, hey, listen, is there a more efficient way to do it? If you want to go in and cut the budget and you want to cut taxes, you have to cut spending. And instead of just saying, I want to cut waste, which by definition everyone should want to cut, He's actually pointing out the waste and telling them to cut it, including USA aid, which goes to foreign government, but it's also arrogant.

They do their own thing. They fund a lot of ridiculous programs that are embarrassing. They're just pro-equity programs, like parades for binary citizens in Peru. enough with that. And that's what the President has said.

So let's bring in Michael Goodwin of the New York Post. Michael, it's incredible what's taken place. We're only about ten days into this regime. Right. It's amazing, Brian.

You know, and on the US aid money, that group, Um It always amazes me when you think of the examples that you cited of where the money's going. It's all borrowed money, right? The United States is running up a huge deficit every year and the debt is growing, and it didn't seem to matter. I mean, this was business as usual on steroids. They just keep doing these things because it's their view of how the world should be, what role America should play, without any regard to taxpayers.

and the long term implications of keep borrowing money to give away. I mean, who in the who in the history of the world has ever borrowed money to give it away? Right. So you have this story at USAID, which provides aid to these different countries and perhaps worthy causes around the world. But Elon Musk went into it, and he says it's a viper's nest.

Federal agencies with global footprint say Trump has agreed to shut it down. After Musk sits down with Trump, he said, we got to curtail it. Trump said, forget it, shut it down. The senior congressional source told Fox News that more than 50 senior USAID staff members were placed on administrative leave and subjected to a gag order, meaning they're not allowed to communicate with anyone outside the agency. Musk said during a late-night discussion with Vivek and Joni Ernst, senator, and his XSpaces platform, he went over U.S.AID's issues in detail with Trump, and he checked with him a few times.

He says he wants just to end it. And that's it. He says there are probably some arguments to be made that there's some important work they're doing, but by the fact of the matter, it's been overshadowed by these bad actors. And it turns out during his first term, This guy named Mark Moyer tried to step up and rein them in. And basically, this guy, John Fawhees, tried to get Moyer fired, and he eventually did get fired.

And when they got the Inspector Generals in, they said it was a sham investigation.

So, this is you're going right into the deep state for the jugular. Absolutely. And look, I think that In these cases, there will no doubt be some overshooting, right? That you'll throw some babies out with the bathwater in some of these cases. But I think if the alternative is you get bogged down over every penny and you can never get anything done, there's always some constituent somewhere in the bowels of the bureaucracy who will say, Oh, no, no, not that one.

Over there, look over there. And I think that there's no time for that. Elon Musk is not going to spend four years hunting $1.50. You've got to go after the big things, and the best way in this case, it does seem to be to wipe out the whole thing. And if there's something really important in there, shouldn't the State Department be doing it directly?

Shouldn't it be something that the secretaries have really agreed on? The Secretary of the Agency is Marco Rubio in this case. I mean, this idea that the growth of the bureaucracy has been so enormous. It's become a power center. All of these are like power centers unto themselves.

And the president, you get a Joe Biden who's asleep at the switch. He just lets it all go. And then, of course, if there's something that he wants, they're happy to do it for him. But basically, he just looks the other way. It's on automatic pilot.

Each year it probably spends 6 or 8 or 10 percent more than the previous year. Nobody's really watching the store. I want you to see, though, here's the pushback you were discussing. Atul Gawande, former head of the global health at USAID, says that Trump should have been more careful. Listen.

A shutdown of work that is predominantly disaster assistance. It is global health. It's demining countries around the world, including Cambodia and Vietnam, so that agriculture can be resumed by farmers. Critical work affects millions. And the effort to shut it down, activities are already closed.

People are being harmed as we speak. And the destruction of this agency leaves America without the largest civilian operational capacity for action abroad. You don't need to pause it. And there's no such thing as a pause of an airplane in flight. That's his thought.

That's the pushback. Yeah, that's a globalist view. right? That that America is only a bank for the rest of the world. And that we you know are are all the do-gooders in Washington from the from the elite schools will go out and armed with taxpayer cash and government authority, will distri distribute money and set up social programs around the world.

That may be a perfectly fine model at a in another era when we're not Spending trillions of dollars, we don't have. I mean, it The explosion of the deficit and the debt, Brian, is reason alone to end a lot of things that in a better era, in a better economic situation, would be defensible. But you cannot go through it in the way that he's suggesting with a fine-tooth comb and just pick out certain things. It's too big. There's too much going on.

It's an emergency. It's a financial emergency. I just have to.

Well, this is one of the causes of inflation.

So, yeah, by the way, this is in. Mexico says it's reached a deal to delay the Trump tariffs for a month. They have also been putting 10,000 of their Marines on their southern border against immigration. But the DEI push has also been persuasive. The firing of eight senior FBI officials and more to come, the firing of 40 prosecutors.

What he's doing is making sure he doesn't lose control of his own government like he did last time. It turned on him. But when asked about DEI, it's amazing the outrage from the Sunday shows. Nobody's more egregious than Margaret Brennan. She pushes Brian Mass.

He goes, give me some examples. Listen to this, Cut 24. If you want to take a look at the State Department, where DEI has been a priority over, let's say, diplomacy in many accounts, I can give you hundreds of examples of where they were authorizing. Sure, let's list them off. Half a million dollars to expand atheism in Nepal, $50,000 to do, let's see, a transgender opera in Colombia, $47,000 to do an LGBTQ trans comic book in Peru, $20,000 a pop to do drag shows in Ecuador.

Shall I continue with more examples of where you're going to be able to do that? It certainly seems like there could be a reason.

So she was, I didn't think you could name one. Yeah. Yeah, look uh I I I mean that The media has become the defender. of of all big government, right? The media believes And this is something, Brian, that y you and I both learned in our beginning of journalism.

The media is there to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted. And when you boil that down, what that means is you go after the big the powerful people in society and you call on government to help everybody. And that's what the media has become, that every program is sacrosanct because it's helping somebody. I mean, that is not the role of the United States government funded by taxpayers. It is not the wet nurse to the world.

It cannot be. And the whole thing, Uncle Sam or Uncle Sapp, right? The idea that the United States has allowed itself to give away money everywhere, to that we're always the bank of last resort for every need in the world. And it's funded and it's instigated by a lot of these do-gooders, many of whom mean well, but they are not in touch with the taxpayers who are actually paying these things. They don't understand how the economy works and how it doesn't work.

And all of this borrowed money is directly relates to inflation because you're spending more money, ergo, you're creating more demand. And you're if there isn't enough supply, up go the prices.

Well, the United States has got to stop Living beyond its means. I think that's one of the things that Donald Trump is going to tackle. And Elon Musk and these guys, this seems to me to be the low-hanging fruit. Yeah, I mean, I guess we're going to see what happens because the president's also pressuring multiple areas on immigration. He's trying to scoop up the criminals in America, having success.

He's shutting down the border. It's down 92%. He's putting pressure on Panama to back up and start policing the Darien Gap. And he's putting pressure on Panama to get China out of the canal while telling Venezuela, take all your people back. They said yes, and give us your hostages that are American, and they said yes, too.

Now, I talked to the Wall Street Journal columnist who specializes in this area, Mary O'Grady, and she says, Well, the problem is you just legitimize Maduro. And I'm thinking, just for now, Get our guys back, get them back, and then the pressure goes on. Yeah, look, I think regime change is overrated in countries where there's no real functioning democracy. I mean, look look how much effort Biden put into getting rid of Maduro. In the end, he was begging him for oil.

To try to keep the price down. It only works when there's a functioning democracy. There isn't one in Venezuela, unfortunately. And so I don't think you can halt everything else just waiting for regime change. If you can make a deal for Venezuela, A, to release the hostages, which they did, and to take back all the gangbangers and everybody, all the illegals in this country who came here under Biden, I think that's a pretty good deal.

And I think that's what Trump is looking for.

Some place to take them back, take them all back, because they can't stay here. They can't stay in America. Where are you going to put them?

Some are going to go to Gitmo. If we can get them to go back to their home country, so much the better. I look for the president to have a meeting with Trudeau today.

Some point they're supposed to have a phone call. We already know it's reversed or put on hold what's happening in Mexico. And now let's see what happens with Canada. All right, Michael, exciting times. It's hard to keep up with, but it's fun.

It's a fun challenge. Michael, I look forward to it. Thank you. My pleasure, Brian. Thank you.

All right.

So listen, we come back. I'll be able to take some of your calls. 1-866-408-7669. If you want to write me, do it. Go to briankilmead.com.

Just click on comments there. And then bottom of the arrow, Cody Campbell joins us, former football player for Texas Tech and Indianapolis Colts, co-chief executive officer at the co-founder for the Double Eagle Energy Holdings, Distinguished Fellow at the America's First Policy Institute. We're going to talk about energy, Texas, and now that we have an Interior Secretary, what could be happening on public lands? Brian Kilmeadio, don't move. Taking America back.

Canada's been very abusive of the United States for many years. One ally at a time. It is an act of economic warfare.

The trade imbalance and our trade deficit has gone up 200 plus percent. With Brian Kilmead. The talk show that's getting you talking. You're with Brian Kilmead. We don't know exactly what the motivation is.

They have ousted a long-term Treasury employee who has specialized in just supervising this program, and they've gotten rid of him because he stands in the way of their total and lawless control over the financial machinery of the government. We've never seen anything like that. Before.

So that's a very dangerous thing, and we want to know exactly. What is Elon Musk's role? Um Is he a member of the administration? Is he a private contractor? Is he there as a government contractor?

What function is he serving? Jamie, we're asking: what are you pretending to be a bigger idiot than you are? You know exactly what he's doing. He is the head of government efficiency. He's what amounts to a czar.

He asked for that position for Trump before he was elected. He got it once he was. He set up this agency. He brought all his people in from his various organizations: human resources from Tesla, for the boring company, the one that builds the tunnels in Las Vegas and hopefully Los Angeles, bringing some of those guys in to temporarily come in and examine what the government is spending money on and how to lean it out and make it more efficient like a private company. Because with 36 trillion In debt and growing, and nobody put more on than the enfeebled Joe Biden.

What are you pretending like you don't understand what's going on? He's doing it. He told you he's doing it. Then he hopped on his Twitter account, his ex account, and went live last night and talked about it. He was taking questions from the masses with Joni Ernst and Vivek Ramaswamy.

You could have hopped on and asked him yourself. Incredible. Here's Speaker Johnson on the progress they're making. Cut twenty-nine. We're going to get everybody together.

We have to do the reconciliation process, which you know is the way to get around the 60-vote threshold in the Senate. That's where a lot of the big changes are going to be made. And the House Republicans are working right now to negotiate what that looks like. We don't want to blow a hole in the deficit by extending the Trump-era tax cuts, for example, but we're definitely going to get that extended.

So we've got to find those savings. But all these pieces are going to be a part of that. You know, the tariffs are going to bring in revenue. We're going to have massive savings by making government more efficient and effective. And that's exactly what we and President Trump promised the American people.

So it's a great development.

So if you have the mass retirements and lean out government to be an organization that's accountable, you get the best people that stick around. And if you go in and look at Treasury and find out where the money is going, you know you're going to be able to cut. You know there's some money going where it shouldn't go. No one ever rejects anything at Treasury. That's changing with DOES.

U.S.AID is being cut. It's being leaned out. The organization's being folded in.

So, my hope is that someone like Speaker Johnson can sit down with Chip Roy and Tom Massey, because he's only got two or three seat cushion, and say, Look, I know in the short term, we're going to be cutting here, and in the short term, we're not going to be cutting as much as you want. But look at what else is going on in the whole government. See how many different plates are in the air, and be part of the solution. Don't just sit there with you sitting on your hands. He's so busy, he'll make your head spin.

It's Brian Kilmead. We're going to be paying football players and basketball players back to 2016. What's going to be left of the college sports that we know? I think it may go away. I think that we were fortunate to grow up at a time where college sports was on par with professional sports, and I don't think we're ever going to see that moment again.

I think it becomes professional sports now, and it's going to be basketball. It's going to be football. The future of the smaller sports is what I'm concerned about, and the impact that Title IX had, because they never matched it with football. There was no women's football on the college campuses.

So, why do you try to match scholarships offered when you can't find a way to keep football out of that equation?

So, that's so interesting. Daryl Johnson, outstanding player at Syracuse, went on to win three Super Bowls with the Cowboys, now broadcast a vice president of the UFL, talking about the future of college football, which obviously everyone's concerned about. Even if you're a fan, you got to be concerned. Concerned about the health of any. I don't care if your team won the national championship.

How much is it going to take to get your 18-year-old, that 18-year-old high school star to go to your school? And then, is it going to be whose donors are richer, are the most successful team? We are desperate for some rules. You know who else is desperate for some rules? College programs.

Cody Campbell is a former player himself at Texas Tech, Indianapolis Cults, co-chief of the executive officer and co-founder of Double Eagle Energy Holdings, distinguished fellow at the Americas First Policy and a board member of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, and is a member of the Board of Regents at Texas Tech. Cody, are you as concerned as Darryl Johnson is and my audience is and I am? I definitely am concerned about it because I think that and thanks for having me on. But this is an important issue that and I'm glad it's getting some attention. Because we have an intercollegiate athletic system in this country that really is.

a great American institution, and it's benefited us tremendously now for one hundred and twenty years. And It provides opportunity to over 500,000 young people who otherwise might not have access to education and to the social mobility. um that they have through sports. And you know, for For our country, only a small percentage of these kids end up going to play professional sports, the rest of them go into the workplace. And playing college sports develops leadership and work ethic and competitive spirit that benefits the entire country.

And from my perspective, sports are the greatest uh manifestation of pure meritocracy that we have And you know, sports like football celebrate masculinity. And I think these are all very important things. Um, just to the American ethos, and so we need to make sure that we keep them, not to mention the fact that. You know, we have because of our college sports system, we have the greatest Olympic development system in the world. Our female athletes dominate sports globally because they're developed in college.

Well, but Cody, think about this. We know that Texas Tech is going to sell out, and we know that Alabama and all these people sell out. The revenue is going to be great. And you say, why do the players not get money? I get it.

But you know, we have great athletes playing volleyball with nobody in the stands. Women's soccer, there's only about 15 teams that draw.

So that's not going to be a revenue-producing sport.

So the revenue that's coming in from the TV contracts, yeah, there should be a distribution mechanism. But there has to be, I think, a system. There's a salary cap. In the NFL, in the NBA, there's a luxury tax in Major League Baseball. What could be the system that could work for college?

Yes, I there's absolutely a solution that would be kind of a middle path that would work. There's no doubt. We can treat the athletes to bring in the value fairly, and we can preserve the other sports. That can happen. But as it stands right now, because of all these lawsuits that keep coming down, state law changes, We are proceeding toward a system where there's going to be sort of a monopoly and a small group of I have schools that play football and basketball and make money.

And then the rest of the schools are going to be left out, and they're going to have to cancel their programs because the business model that's developed in higher education. is that football and men's basketball pay for everything else. And without that money, the other sports don't exist. And so we have to find that middle path solution that can make it work. And honestly, the only way that we can do that at this point With all the court decisions that have come down, ruling that the NCAA has been acting.

In violation of antitrust law, and they've lost something like 19 lawsuits in a row. They have essentially no ability to enforce any rules.

So the only way that we can solve this problem is if Congress and the Trump administration act and pass some new legislation that comes up with a solution that will work.

So a couple of things people are talking about. Number one, if you sign up for a school, you got to stay at least two years. Number two is when you go to have a salary cap on how much money you could possibly make and separate that money from the NIL money.

So, let's say you have a guy who's the boss, who Brian Bosworth, bigger than the game. At the time, Bo Jackson was already huge in college.

So, maybe they want to go out on the outside and do something like that. But within the structure, maybe they sign up with one group.

So, Nike and all these guys sign up one group, and there's a system of payouts.

So, they got to check in and act ethically along the way. And an offensive lineman starting in Nebraska, there's a certain amount of money they're going to make. if they play a certain amount of staffs. I mean, it's just going to take some time. I believe d do you believe there's going to be buy in from schools, even the elite schools, to get some type of parameters?

Well, I think the challenge here is that there are a lot of special interests at work and individual agendas. The media is making a lot of money off of college sports. You know, the administrators, the coaches, they're all making a lot of money. They're going to try to influence to make the system. be one that continues to serve their interests.

And so there we have some challenges. There for sure. But I think the biggest one from a legal standpoint is that no professional sports organization. League Has ever solved this problem without using collective bargaining. And I think that most people would agree that.

A players' union of college athletes is not a great Plan. And so we have to dig in and find something and do something that's never been done before. And so it's a very complicated problem to solve, not to mention Title IX and everything else that's involved. And my concern is, again, legally, the only pathway to do this is through Congress. And Congress has a lot of other things they're working on right now.

And so are they really going to spend the time and focus and effort to dig in and craft a complicated piece of legislation that's going to not just kick the can down the road, but actually solve the problem and sustain the system for another hundred years.

So you think it should be Congress. And of course, people look at Senator Tommy Tubberville, 40 years a football coach, as somebody to build off. Joe Manchin played for with Nick Sabin. He is now left, but maybe there's an outside blue ribbon committee that could come together. And do you think Congress is the right place to go?

Well, I the original system was essentially created by Teddy Roosevelt in nineteen oh five. And back then, there was a big movement to outlaw the game of football because forty nine people had died playing it in the prior five years.

So, the president of Harvard and others were pushing for football to be outlawed. Teddy Roosevelt saw what we saw today: that these sports are very important to the character of our country, and they're just uniquely American, and so they're worth saving. And so, what I think needs to happen is that President Trump and his administration. Need to provide leadership on this. And they have a mandate right now.

They have a lot of ability to get things done. And I think that if they provide some leadership on this subject, then Congress will follow along and do the things that need to be done. But it is complicated enough that it's going to be difficult for any one single member of Congress to go out and pull something together that's going to address all the issues because there are just so many different things at play. You think something will happen in the offseason? Is there any talks about getting something off the ground?

Yeah, there are. There have been a lot of hearings scheduled. Ted Cruz is actually the one that's kind of been leading the charge. His his Commerce Committee is is holding hearings, and they're talking about a lot of things. A lot of legislation has been proposed, but what I've seen does not address It does not give us a a Full-scale, comprehensive solution, which is what we need.

We don't need Congress coming back every session and trying to change things and adapt it. We need to set up a new governance structure. But the key thing for me, I think is that it needs to be inclusive because you think there are 134 FBS programs. All of those programs, their institutions depend on the exposure they get from college athletics. And the communities that they're in depend on the economic impact and the social impact that they get from being involved in these college sports.

And so we can't have something that leaves people out. And I'm concerned, I know that that's what some people are pushing for. And if nothing is done, that's where it's going to end up. The players are going to unionize. you're going to have some super league formed, you're going to still have all these antitrust lawsuits, you're going to have Title Non lawsuits, it's just going to continue to degrade.

And as Daryl Johnson said, you're going to end up destroying the system, which has done so much for so many people, including myself. And it would be a great loss for the country if that were to happen. Cody Campbell, thanks so much. Hopefully, we'll get something done. We'll look for Ted Cruz to step up.

Yep, thank you very much. Appreciate the time. You got it.

So, top of the air, I'm going to be going on outnumbered, but I just do want to go over the nominations, confirmations. Right now, Trump cabinet picks awaiting final confirmation, and it's sinful that he can't get a staff to run the country. A Pam Bondi already went through her hearings, waiting. Doug Collins, waiting, could be okay sometime today. Brooke Rollins, Secretary of Agriculture, can't get a vote.

Elise Stefanic can't get a vote, can't get a vote even though she did her hearing. Russ vote, same thing. Chris Wright, Secretary of Energy. Russ Vote, OMB director, can't get a vote. It's ridiculous.

Hearings are underway. RFK Jr., we could get a committee vote tomorrow. Tulsi Gabbard, maybe this week. Kelly Loeffler, nobody standing in her way. Just give her a vote.

Can't get one as the administration of Small Business Association. You don't think we need somebody in charge there? Of course we do. Howard Luttner, Commerce Secretary, with all this tariff warfare. You don't think we need a Commerce Secretary to help us?

Of course we do. But we can't get one because Democrats think it's to their advantage to slow him down. I think that Senator Thune should have kept everybody in and worked two straight weekends, awaiting hearings. Laurie Chavez Deremer, a labor secretary. Jamison Greer, United States Trade Representative, Linda McMahon, Education Secretary, they're not going to have any problem getting through.

But they can't get a hearing. That's what's bad about this, and I think it's just terrible. Confirmations. Here's Julie Pace on who's going to have some trouble. Cut thirty two.

I think she's in trouble because of Questions like that Snowden question, you know, a fairly straightforward question that is shared bipartisan. You know, bipartisan views are that Snowden has been a traitor.

Now, she did have another moment on Snowden when she said she wouldn't seek a pardon from President Trump, and that seemed to assuage Susan Collins, who posed that question there. But that inability to answer that specific question seems like one that's going to hang over her head. In addition to things like lack of experience, the sort of mysterious trip to Syria to see Assad, there's a lot of open questions around her right now. And they're talking about Tulsi Gabbard. The one question was Snowden.

He broke the law, but she wouldn't say he's a traitor. She looked at his greater good for exposing the country. I look him as a flat-out traitor. He hurt the country sincerely. I think he should have gone the whistleblower way and then looked for protections.

He would have got it. That's my view. And maybe it's not your view, but that would have been the answer that Tulsi Gabbard would have given that would have helped her get nomination. I hope she gets through it because I think she's just phenomenal. You gotta, if you have a chance to know her and talk to her, you know what I'm talking about.

As well as he spends most of her time when she's not busy. She's serving the country in the National Guard.

So we'll see where that goes. Here is Senator Fedeman on why he thinks it's necessary to meet with other nominees. Cut 37.

Well, and again, that's part of the own process too. I think I believe I'm the only Democrat or maybe one of the only few that have actually met with all of them. And again, I've approached all of them with, again, that open mind to have a conversation. And I don't trust and certainly not many of the things that were written or said about me weren't true.

So I assume the same might be them is too.

So he'll be open to it. He's voted for some of the nominees. I think that's important to point out.

So I think that Tulsi Gabbard's going to have problems. RFK is going to have problems. Doesn't mean they're both not going to get through. I also would like to see The votes happened this week because you need somebody in place or the director of national intelligence. Don't you think?

You know what also happened over the weekend? ISIS, Somalia, took a shot. Always under surveillance. AFRICOM is there. Always looking out.

It took a shot. Do you think it would have been great for the DNI to be in on that? Of course. How hard would it have been to stick around, have the debate and have the vote, but instead they want to do cloak filibuster, then they do cloture, then they have an overall vote. All this takes days, takes lunch.

Senator Thune, do not let them off the hook this week. Make them vote everybody through. This is about a third of the pace of Obama. What makes anybody think that Trump doesn't deserve a staff? Even if you want to vote him down.

He deserves a staff, don't you think? We come back. I'm going to find out this more now. Won't forget to join me on outnumbered. Brian Kilmicho.

A fast as three hours in radio. Yeah. Brian Kilmead. Hi, everyone. Thanks so much.

Before we close out, let me find out. I know I want you to join me at the top of the hour. On um Outnumbered. I'll be the guy in the middle. But before we go, I just realized there's more to know.

More. To know.

So, this stud named Brandon Jacobs, fantastic running back for the Giants in his years, weighed in on whether. Tom Brady is better than Patrick Mahomes. Being that Patrick Mahomes will do something if he wins on Sunday that Brady didn't. Listen. Three P, does that make them better than the Tom Brady Patriots?

I can't say that, because Tom had a bunch of role players around him that he made a do it do.

So just think about that. I'm not going to give them that over the Patriots because the Patriots, they don't have the type of guys that they have on their team. Great talk. Tom didn't have that. you know, complicated do to do what you know, with Where do you at?

So we say Patrick Mahomes had more weapons, no doubt about it. Jacob says he wants the Eagles.

Next. Millennials are expected to lead Super Bowl viewership, accounting for 31% of the audience. Gen Z close behind, 27%. 51% of the viewers will stream via the apps or virtual multi-channel video programming, VMVPDs. And nearly 50% of viewers will use mobile devices during the game, with Gen Z driving second-screen engagement.

As for the impact of the Kansas City Chiefs tight end, Travis Kelsey's girlfriend named how do you pronounce it? Taylor Swift, cheering the sands, thanks in large part to the singers' presence. Female audiences are up 3.5%. That is pretty amazing. Female consumption of football content has risen by 22% year over year.

Next, CBS agrees to hand over the 60-Minutes Harris interview. Transcripts, I think you have to. There's a new chairman in charge of the FCC, and he says you better hand him over. I think it's in Ask name as Carr, Brendan Carr. CBS will do that.

Trump sued CBS for $10 million. For editing and making Kamal Harris look good, he turned down a 60-minute interview. Remember, they were the paragon of excellence, not anymore.

Next, NBC News anchor Chuck Todd has left the building. He says, There's never a perfect time to leave a place that's been a professional home for so long, but I'm pretty excited about a few new projects that are on the cusp coming from pie in the sky to near reality. He hosted the Meet the Press from 2014 to 2023. He has been political director since 2007. No one will ever replace Tim Russert.

Next, Chuck. What was that? Hello, Chuck. Thank you. Scientists pour cold water on popular ice baths health claims, analyzing that 11 studies with 3,000-plus participants at the University of South Australia found that while cold water immersion may offer some health benefits, these effects are highly time-dependent.

And context-specific, their results are published in Journal Plus One, PLS One. I'm glad about this because I never did it. I just never wanted to, but I was convinced it was gonna make me healthier, but I never would.

Next, move over, ladies. It turns out men are the real hopeless romantics when it comes to curling up with a steamy page turner. In a plot twist worthy of a romance novel itself, a recent thrift book survey reveals that men are outreading women in the romance department, with 63% of male readers profoundly waving their own romance flag compared to 60% of women. Let me tell you something. This is totally wrong.

I don't know any guy reading a romance novel. I wouldn't, I'm glad you're reading if you are a man, but it's usually not that. There's no way. Readers, so um. Gen Z pictures Sendaya and Timothy Chalamay, while Baby Boomers envision Hallie Barry and Brad Pitt as the romantic leads.

Most people have me in the romantic leads. I did not appear in the study. I asked out. Please join me on OutNumber. Don't forget BrianKillme.com.

See me on stage in St. Louis and Jacksonville. Fox News Audio presents the Fox Nation Investigates Podcast: a look into the Menendez Brothers with victims or villains. Then, Judge Jeanine Piero and a panel of experts break down their new fight for freedom with monsters or misunderstood and follow three incredible cases where world-renowned forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Botten helps change the course of the investigation with the Botten files.

Listen and follow at FoxtrueCrime.com or wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Listen to the show ad-free on Fox News Podcast Plus, on Apple Podcast, Amazon Music with your Prime membership, or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Mm.