Fetterman Blasts "Trash Bag" Graham Platner – Dems Sent Scrambling

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Number one. The basic deal that we cut was, we'll lift our blockade if you stop shooting at ships. But if you shoot at ships, we're going to knock the hell out of them, and it's that simple. The Vice President of the United States, here we go again. U.S. hits 150 sites in 48 hours as the MOU is history and never worth the two pages it was printed on, in my view. Meanwhile, Iran still won't give up the straight. Why an escalation is in the cards and affect oil prices in the short term, but in my view, worth it. Ambassador Dennis Ross, you were equally chagrined when the MOU was put out there. It was a way to get to the table, perhaps, in the best scenario, but now it seems to be gone, right? It seems to be gone. I mean, look, it's always a challenge. I'm saying that deliberately to negotiate with the Iranians because the Iranians have a certain DNA when it comes to negotiations, which is by time. Stretch it, always focus on their needs, never on supposedly what they're prepared to agree to in terms of giving things up. And the MOU, I will just say from a negotiator's perspective, I never quite said of this way to you. You said my chagrin was right. When I read it, I knew it was an Iranian paper. It would never have been drafted with every single point had within it a hook to what the Iranians wanted. And the sequence was... The truth is, we couldn't get anything on the nuclear issue until after they had commitments on the extent of sanctions relief. That had to be worked out in advance before they did anything on the nuclear issue. So the whole thing was structured to serve their interests. The great irony, and you've heard me say it before, one thing about the Iranians, they never know when to say when. They had a document that basically served their interests, but the one thing we got from it, was the straits were supposed to be open. The vice president, you know, I think was, wasn't giving you the full picture in the sound by you just had. It wasn't just a trade for we lifts a blockade. They let things go through in the strait. That would have been fine. But it was we lifts a blockade. We provide waivers for their sale of oil. We allow them to not only sell their oil, but to get dollars for it, to repatriate the dollars within their banking system. These were huge gives to them. And the one thing we were supposed to get was the opening the straits, and in the end, they didn't provide it. So that explains why we are where we are. So they had a great deal. They weren't smart enough to realize it because they desperately want the straight as much as they want nuclear weapons. But the other thing is, I think, Ambassador, is that we should just give up on talking to the foreign minister and speaker. The guy making the decisions is the IRGC commander, Ahmed Vahidi. So why are we even talking to anybody else? I know he's a terrible person. But if he's going to upend every decision that maybe the speaker and the foreign minister recognized

Would you recognize which is the best deal you could possibly have gotten they got at least for 60 days? Why are we even dealing with them to begin with? Well, because, A, that's who they presented. B, the Revolutionary Guard leader of Bahidi probably didn't want to be seen as negotiating. The irony is when you negotiate, in the end, even the Iranians have to make some concessions. Yeah. And he doesn't want to be the target of those who attack those who make concessions. It is interesting. You know, they have a hardline faction led by Jalili, a former negotiator. that were attacking in the procession, the funeral procession, attacking, possessing, and the president. In some cases, throwing things and getting. And they were criticized. But it showed you, there's a hardline faction. And in a sense, this. I'm sorry, you said they were throwing things at the president? Yeah. At the funeral. Yeah. Yeah. So the whole, think about you had six days, which built up. a kind of momentum of its own and reinforce the real principles, so the real hardliners, who believe that, you know, with ideology, you just hang tough, and eventually things will go your way, and it doesn't matter what the consequences are for the Iranian public. Peschstein is one of those who realizes, look, if you have a total collapse of the Iranian economy, the Islamic Republic may not survive. So he wanted these things to be worked out. He seemed to understand that as well. But in the end, your point is right. Who were the decision makers? And Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Abbas Araghchi were not the decision makers. Here's what the president said. He said a lot. Cut four. Well, he's going to be very free, very easy. And it's going to happen very fast. We have the Harmo Street, the boats have pulled out. I mean, there's a gusher of oil right now. We have a lot of oil. And no, anything just happens is going to happen very fast. We're not looking for a long term. But they are looking for a multi-day event. They've already hit 150 sites in two days. They've blown up. 21 of these ships, 21 of these smaller vessels, they're targeting their air defense systems and coastal and coastal infrastructure, well as missile, missile sites. and drone sites in the area. The one thing I would love to do militarily is take over the straight and run it and allow people to get the oil and get those tankers through there. But right now, we could blockade the blockade, but right now we're letting them threaten all these vessels. Yeah, look, Brian, everything we're hitting is fine except...

All those areas that were hitting, we hit before. And they had been able to begin to reconstitute their ability to operate from there and to fire on the ship. So it shows you, you can, it reminds me in a lot of ways. Too often I was saying, well, we hit 13,000 targets. That's like body counts. The question is not the numbers you're hitting. The question is, what is it that you're hitting that changes the character of their ability to threaten? If you can do that, and to be honest, I'm just not sure what it would take at this point. I do think if we could open up the straits, it takes away completely their leverage. And at that point, the president could legitimately then declare a victory. Now, the problem, and you and I had this discussion early on, and you actually, if you recall, you said, look, it's not so easy to do. They got lots of drones. They got a crude missile. You almost have to, you have to guarantee this almost 100%. Maybe you can guarantee it 90, 95%, but if you own a hundred million dollar ship and you're going to have to pay, you know, millions of dollars just for insurance. How willing are you to risk it if you don't have a really high degree of competence? So it's a, it is the one thing we could do that completely take away their leverage and more than that. It would demonstrate they haven't gained anything. Now, can we do that? When the president says it's going to happen fast, the problem with opening up the straits, the way we, you and I are discussing, it won't happen fast. So there's a, there's a tension here, I think, in objectives. So the ISW Institute of a Study of War says Iran is undeterred by the U.S. campaign, the military campaign that they run down. Over the past two days, the U.S. has launched a new round. They are determined to keep the straight open. They're attempting to pressure neighboring Gulf states into helping it secure control of the strait and failing to achieve this objective through diplomacy. So they want... They tell them, we're going to bomb you if you don't back us up in letting us manage the straight. Oman loves to play both sides. Maybe they don't have a choice because they don't have a military, but they're being pressured to join Iran's partnership, and we're telling them you better not. But that's an example. Same thing with the Saudis and with the Qataris. They also seem to not want any part of this fight now. I think the problem is it's a little bit like the equivalent of the ship owners. So you're the Saudis, you're the Emirates, even though the Emirates actually did do a lot of offensive strikes. But you're the Saudis, the Emirates, the countries, Kuwaitis, and so forth. And we can basically intercept 90% of what the Iranians will send. But they can get 10% through. So let's say they get 10% through and they hit... certain energy facilities that have highly specialized equipment that if you get it, you could basically put it out of commission for up to a year. So they look at it from that standpoint. We're not able to create a kind of hermetic seal that guarantees the complete defense of this. And they run that risk. Now, I'll tell you, having spoken to a number of them, I mean, even this week, none of them.

want sanctions to be lifted on the Iranians. Wow. Which is really interesting to me. None of them. And that tells you, if we could get the straits open and then the president declares success, the interesting thing about that is then you don't have to give the Iranians a thing. And then the intercontradictions, this collapsed economy, then the intercontradictions come back into play. And yes, this is a regime that will kill as many of it has to kill. We've seen that. But if they have all these intercontradictions, and even some of those the back of the regime or those in the beseech, and they're not getting water, they're not getting electricity, or their money is valueless, at a certain point, they begin to defect. So the best outcome is an outcome where we give them nothing economically, and you let the inter contradictions plan themselves. We can't. We can't by military force end this regime. We've seen that. But we can, if we have a strategy, and we're not giving them an economic lifeline, the chances of it coming down over time, maybe in a year or two, that goes up dramatically in my estimation. The other thing is the amount of leaders are dead between 20 and 50. I've been killed, the Ayatollah being the highest profile name. If that starts happening again to the ones that are survived, maybe they'll say to themselves, I have to do a deal or else my days are done. That could be. And by the way, if they lost their card, if they lost the lever of the strait, which they're determined. What you quoted from the ISW. Yeah, what you quoted from them is right. They are determined. I mean, think about it. The MLU basically was telling them you're going to get to manage this. And it wasn't good enough. It wasn't good enough. They wanted to say, no, we have control right now. And we're proving to everybody we have control. And so they brought this on themselves, but you're right, if you can take away the lever, and they know they can see what I was describing about how bad the economic situation is, then you increase the chance that you actually would get a deal. You know, I would say one other thing, Brian, when it comes to the nuclear issue, if you can't get a deal, we should have a position that if we see them beginning to extract anything and any of the sites. There's more than one site where we think the highly enriched uranium is. They need to know we'll hit that site. We will bomb as soon as we see any indication that they're doing anything. Right. And that's what's so different about any other administration. We would send inspectors in. We'd give more sanctions. But this administration says, no, no, we will hit it because nobody else has ever hit Iran. That's right. No, we took away, actually started with the Israelis, taking away their sense of impunity. One thing that would make it more credible is if we could get Democrats to say, look, the last thing we want to see is around with nuclear weapons. You'll be great. And if we see them extracting, we're prepared to bomb too. It would be nice. You know, I would like to see Marco Rubio deal with some of those former colleagues and sort of work out quietly. You don't have to broadcast it, but work out quietly. You know, they can still say we think there should be war powers. Yeah. They can still say we have questions about this. We didn't think the end game was right. We didn't see the strategy. But we agree. Iran shouldn't have, this regime should not have nuclear weapons. I want to get you to Rahm Emanuel. It's so disappointing. Because the people say, oh, he's a moderate. He's going to run, see if he has a lane. He thought it was necessary to essentially say, if I'm elected, Israel, you're not going to get weapons from us. You'll buy it like everybody else. We'll have a 23-state solution, not an Israeli solution. The special relationship is over. Cut 14.

The Prime Minister and his government have led Israel into a dead end. For too long, American policy towards Israel, operated under the assumption that the best thing Washington did do for Jerusalem is to blindly, to silently stand behind your government. Without conditions, without demands, without consequences, Even when we disagreed, Israel will be alone if its leaders choose to attempt to annex the West Bank. America cannot, and it will not be complicit or complicit in that endeavor. And the other stuff, I could give you the whole speech, but what are your thoughts about that? How does that resonate in Israel? I think the environment in Israel, having just come back from a month there, the environment in Israel is highly polarized between support for the prime minister and opposition to the prime minister. Close to 60% of the Israeli public do not want him to run for reelection. So in many ways, what Rahm Emanuel was saying was absolutely... striking accord with many Israelis, and with those who support the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, obviously it was not. One thing I'll just note about the speech that was interesting that didn't get attention that it should have. You know, he took account of all the Israeli fears and the justification the doubts they have, given the past. But he also, for the first time, he put the onus on the Arabs and the Palestinians too. Yes, he was putting the onus on the Israelis. One of the things that has the devil this process, and one of the reasons we didn't succeed, is because nothing was ever required of the Palestinians and the Arabs. He was doing that. I would like to see much more of that time in this country. Yeah. The anti-Israel feeling is just really disturbing, though. Dennis Ross, you're all over at William Davidson Distinguished Fellow, Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Thanks so much, Dennis. I'll talk to you soon. All right. Thank you. Back in a moment. It's Brian Kilmeade. Nearly home. Isn't home where we all want to be? Reba here for Realtor.com, the pro's number one most trusted app. If you're hearing me, I'm going to assume you're awake. And if you aren't... Because while you're snoozing, someone else might be finding your dream home. That's where Realtor.com comes in. With over 500,000 new real listings straight from the pros every month, that's a lot of chances to find the place you've been dreaming of. Whether you're searching for a two-story mid-century with a pool or a little extra space with a spa-inspired bathroom, Realtor.com can help you find it today. So quit hitting that snooze button. Realtor.com isn't sleeping on finding your dream home. And neither should you. Download the Realtor.com app today because you're nearly home. Make it real with Realtor.com. Pro's number one most trusted app based on August 2024 proprietary survey. Over 500,000 new listings every month based on average new for sale and rental listings. February 24 through January 2025. The more you listen, the more you'll know.

It's Brian Kilmeade. Yeah, so I would just, at the end of that interview, I wanted to give Dennis Ross more time, but Ronald Manuel went over to Israel and just basically ripped the country. I'm not even acknowledging October 7th and the reaction, pointing out that civilians have died, but it's never been the target. I thought a Jewish guy on the left might be pushing back against the anti-Semitism and the anti-Israel. attitude on the left. Instead, he goes to Israel and says, I'm out. I'm out. You know, if he wanted to say, I don't like Benjamin Netanyahu, but man, you give me a government that is X, Y, and Z, annexing the West Bank. I don't think, you know, there might be some talk about extreme conservatives annexing the West Bank, but I don't think Trump's for that either. I don't think Reagan was for that. Either Bush was for annexing the West Bank. But. what's going on in Gaza, that could have been your focus. Could have been the fact that Hamas has not lived up to its word. Maybe you could have brought that up a little bit, but instead, oh, I hear is anti-Israel stuff. And if Brahmanio's anti-Israel, there won't be one Democrat pro-Israel. Hi everyone, it's Brian Kilmeade here. Are you tired of those uncomfortable dress shirts, especially when they bunch up under a sweater? If so, then you must check out collars and go. Makers of the dress collar polo. Listen up. These shirts are four-way stretch, buttery soft polos with firm dress collars on them, so they give you the dress shirt look, but extremely comfortable polo feel. You can wear them with anything under a sweater, with a blazer, or by themselves as an elevated polo. They work for any occasion. These polos are perfect, whether it's in the office. on a golf course or a night out. Collars and Co is exploding and have gone viral on social media thanks to the $1 million investment they received on Shark Tank from Mark Cuban and Peter Jay Jones. You don't have to worry about collars that flop down and spread out. They stay firm and sharp all day. It's an amazing array of sweaters, quartersips, pants, and outerwear. If you're looking for the performance dress shirt or polo that looks great all day, check out collarsandco.com. Use promo code Brian for 15% off of any purchase of $100 or more. That's promo code Brian.

If you're interested in it, Brian's talking about it. You're with Brian Kilmeade. He'll be remembered. A guy that spent 10 years and tick the platform, that's the Predators Paradise. He defiled his marriage and sent sexual messages to women as a newlywed, you know, and all the things he said now. He, he... He gets to go away. He can go back online. He can go around doing all the kinds of things. But, yeah, the trash took itself out tonight. And now finally, people in Maine have a chance to really vote on someone that's not a total of piece of trash. And now... Senator John Fetterman last night doing instant analysis on the 8 o'clock show after finding out that Graham Platner took 12 minutes to say, I didn't do anything wrong, but I'm not going to run anymore because everyone took their funding away in support. Howie Kurt joins us, I'll Fox News, political analyst and hosts, and he also has his own podcast, Media Buzz, Meter podcast. Howard, welcome back. I think John Fetterman's right on the money, and he's about the only Democrat to say it that bluntly. No, the Democrats are furious with Graham Platner. But Brian, I largely blame the left-leaning mainstream media for creating the myth of Graham Platner. You know, he is the salt to the earth, oyster man. Well, that was BS. He only sells oysters to his mother. Yes, he was a combat veteran. He came back. He drinks too much. He has PTSD. But you could see, and I said this, and I wasn't along from the beginning that this guy had a boatload of baggage and more stuff was going to come out. People who should be most embarrassed are at the New York Times, which when one of his ex-girlfriends came out and talked about how he pulled her out of a car and twisted her arm and locked her in a room, they kind of raised questions about her credibility, Lindsay Feifield, because she was a Republican. So the whole believe-all women thing, apparently it doesn't matter if you're a Republican. Which is crazy. You know, Michelle Goldberg, I don't know if you know her, but she came out in the New York Times as a columnist. She says, she did a mea culpa. She said she fell. She goes, I have to blame myself. I can't leave myself out of the blame. She said she had the, she had been impressed by Graham Platner's political charisma and previous portrayed him as misunderstood. She acknowledged that she wrote the Graham Platner was nothing like the. The edge lord, edge lord character I encountered online. She now says the assessment was wrong. If anything, he seems to be significantly worse than he thought. So she did a mea culpa, but admitted in the New York Times in a column, she was very kind to him. She fell under his spell. It's magic, Brian. Well, good for Michelle Goldberg for doing the Mayaculpa. I think a lot of people need to do that, including the dummies in the Democratic Party. You thought this guy would be an ideal candidate. You know, the thinking was, well, he's a fighter and we need a fighter. And he defied his a aide's advice. Okay, if you're going to bow out, he finally bows out last night. Then you should, you know, for one thing, he never took any responsibility for ever made a single mistake. I regret, you know, the things that you say.

when you're under fire. And secondly, he just seemed angry. And the fact that when only when Politico talked to the latest accuser, Jenny Rasko, daughter of the former Maine governor, who's a Democrat and who agrees with Graham Platner on policy stuff, only then did this story explode. And even then, he took his time getting out of the race. So I want you to hear. So the question everyone asks is, did anyone do a background check of this guy? Did anyone do an opposition research on this guy who got maybe 72% of the vote still with all this stuff except for the latest revelation? People who made didn't care. They still wanted them. So listen to the give and take about the two people responsible for the background check who called him the hero of the moment. Cut 32. Did the vetting process turn up the tattoo that became so controversial? No. The Reddit posts, did that turn up in the vetting process? The firm sent us a thing, and it had some of the posts, but it didn't have all of them. And he just giggled through it. They promised to go through it. You know, he had all these liberals, Brian. Yeah. Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, who looked the other way. I mean, the Nazi tattoo, one of the ex-girlfriend said, yeah, we discussed it and he knew what it was. That was a giant neon red light about this guy's candidacy was going to be in trouble. And, of course, the reason we're spending so much time talking about it is if the Democrats don't remain, then I think Susan Collins' chances of getting reelected again are improved by this whole fiasco. then they can't. There's no way they can take control of the Senate. But yeah, a lot of people fell for the act, and I don't think he showed even a modicum of grace in pulling out of the race. Yeah, I mean, if you want to hear some of that, we took the whole thing. I don't even think CNN took the whole thing. Here's why he said, so all this stuff comes out, and we don't even, evidently there's another woman that's coming forward. I'm not sure if she's still going to do it. And then, of course, you have the revelations on the teen site that he only got off of a few weeks ago. Here's what he said, though, that he's getting out cut 31. Much like October, when the first attack started, much like the news that was created the week before the primary, there is a reason that this is happening now. I only have until July 13th until I am officially the nominee. This was the last week. to try to get me off of the ballot. And that's why this is occurring. It's not the false allegations, though, that have brought us to where we are. It's the fact that they are being used by the political establishment to put structural pressure on us. We live in a political system that is not built for normal people. It is a system that is built structurally to make sure that movements like ours cannot flourish, that if they begin to succeed, they can be crushed.

Do you think he even believes this? Do you think he believes this? No, boo-hoo, you know? Look, I guess he's trying to go out with a... blasts everybody else. It's the Democratic Party establishment. The Democrats were behind this guy until supporting him became untenable. And then Elizabeth Warren and the others saying, oh, yeah, you know, we got to run the other way. He continues to deny this book, you know, now that we have, these are people who were ex-girlfriends of his. There were texts. There were photos. The idea that he would say that none of this happened absolutely doesn't pass the smell test. So when you have another problematic candidate in my view, and that's Abdul El-Sayed, I mean, he called himself a doctor. He's not even a doctor. People say, well, what's a big deal? And then we have his radical views. Basically, we deserve 9-11. You know, he'd say he's not a socialist, but almost everything he stands for, a socialist. He also trumpets the positiveness about Sharia law. So, I mean, just take a listen to some of what he said. When pressed, are you even, and by the way, this is the leading Democratic. contender to be the Democratic nominee to go against Mike Rogers and try to keep that seat for Democrats. So it's an extremely impactful seat. Cut 30. Cut 39. You got attacked by your rivals for calling yourself a physician, not just a doctor, even though you don't have a valid state medical license in New York or Michigan, which apparently is what you need legally to call yourself a physician. Do you wish you'd just stuck to calling yourself a doctor, which you are? to avoid all of this controversy and attacks on your physician status? You know, at the end of the day, it's not about whether or not I'm a physician or a doctor. The question is, can you see a doctor? It's not about whether or not your kid gets a good at education. So I'm just not spending time. But people would say it's also about, did you tell the truth? Well, I would say that I was the health director for the city of Detroit. I've done more to provide more people health care or eliminate their medical debt than most doctors have done in their practice career. Is that an answer? Fake doctor? I don't care what the hell he calls himself, what troubles me with these socialists who have won in places like New York with the help of Zohar, Zohran Mamdani, and even in Colorado, is, I mean, they're kind of a fringe element, but they've said some really ugly things, including saying that Israel doesn't have a right to exist, saying defund the police, defund the prisons. You know, they try to dance around it now. And so they are getting so much publicity, as I understand, it's not. the whole Democratic Party, but certainly ruining the image of the Democratic Party, pushing the party to the left, especially the anti-Israel stuff. And, you know, in a low turnout primary, they're able to get more voters out. But, you know, it's also true, I think, that the Democrats, sadly, from my point of view, are becoming an anti-Israel party. This has kind of a litmus test. And, you know, Israel has its faults. And you were talking earlier about, you know, you can criticize the Dan Yahoo government. But it's our ally against. horrible terror states like Iran. So yeah, I want you to hear what he said about Israel. Do they have a right to exist? Cut 42.

The question about a right to exist, it's interesting because nobody's ever asked me whether or not I believe Palestine has a right to exist. Every single president who served has said that they believe in a two-state solution. Israel exists. The question is whether or not we want a politics where our money is sent over to Israel to do genocide and apartheid instead of investing in our own kids. You say it exists, but does it have a right to? I didn't say that. I just said the question of Israel's existence is not a question. I'm not going to play this gotcha game about whether or not it has a right to exist. It's a really simple answer. There's yes and there's no, it's not a gotcha game. And you know, a lot of them use this phrase from the river to the sea, which means we have a map in which the Israelis have a right to exist. No, I think the Palestinians need a territory too. And BB hasn't been very hot on that. But boy, you know, when somebody's trying to dance around the question and the question gets asked three times and you don't get a straight answer, I think a little light bulbs would go off. Now he's also the extreme right. There's the extreme right in the Republican Party that doesn't seem pro-Israel, very anti-Israel. What's going on here? That's troubling to me that it's not only limited to the Democratic Party. But you know, the idea that there are some on the extreme right who also looked the other way, for example, all of the scandalous allegations against Ken Paxton, who was impeached by his own party in Texas, but acquitted, had to settle federal charges. You know, you know, if you flip the, if you flip the Party ID, Brian. If Ken Paxton was a Democrat, the Republicans will be all over him. And if Graham Platner had been a Republican, the Democrats would have been all over him. So there's no shortage of hypocrisy in politics. But I think the ones with the real trouble now, since the GOP controls everything, including the White House, is. is these upcoming midterms. And they're, they look like they were sort of on a glide path. And now I think they're in real trouble in part because of exactly what we're talking about. And just on that for the record, I think John Cornyn is one of the classiest guys in Washington. You know, he's a very good guy, former judge, just wants to get things done. I think it really, really hurt the Republican that they thought he was a friend. I think it really was a gut punch to the Republican Party when president went for Paxon over him and Paxon ends up getting it. But then people have told me in Texas, he was going to get it anyway.

Well, everybody hates incumbents now. There are a lot of frustrated voters, particularly on the Democratic side who feel like all they get from Washington is hot air and promises that are never kept. So fairly or unfairly, some very good members are going down or have gone down because no matter how good a record they might have, depending on your political point of view, they seem like they're part of the establishment. Howie, do you think that it'll ever, from your experience in Washington, do you think that it would ever be a plus for someone to start cutting deals, let's say on immigration, on missile defense, the Golden Dome, for example? Do you ever see a time when we're kind of what during the Clinton era, maybe it was at necessity, both sides were kind of working together? It was in vogue. Do you see a time in which that comes back? I wish I could say yes, but everything is so polarized now, Brian. I mean, there was a bipartisan bill that easily passed from both parties to help people with housing. And then Donald Trump was going to sign it. And he says, I'm not going to sign this until you give me this other bill to Save America bill. So, you know, I think the American people, the bulk of them, people were not sort of hard core partisans of either the right or the left. We'd love to see some cooperation and get things done. I mean, the Republicans have the concern of saying. What are they going to run on for the last year and a half? How many bills have they delivered other than the Epstein Fowles and all the things that have been talked about, all those controversies? So I think they'll come a time. But it's not going to be for the next couple of years. Everything is, it's all about demonizing the other side. And, you know, a lot of this takes place online. Average voter is on, you know, X or Instagram or Snapchat all the time. But I'm not optimistic. It just seems like a swamp, as the president once called it. This podcast and media buzz meter, Howie Kurtz, always great to have you on. Appreciate it. Thank you, Brian. You got it. Listen, we'll take a short time out and take some calls. 1-8-666-6-9. You listen to the Brian Kilmeade. Don't move. Where big stories meet bigger conversations. Stay informed and energized with the Brian Kilmeade. This episode is brought to you by San Pellegrino Chau. A gift from Italy to your home. San Pellegrino Chau is a flavored sparkling water made with real fruit juice, finished with a pinch of Sicilian salt for a perfectly balanced taste. So which flavor will you choose? Peach, lime, blood orange, cherry, or maybe the all-new limoncello. Crafted in Italy with zero grams of added sugar, San Pellegrino Chow. Buy it now.

makes you think. This is the Brian Kilmeade. I have been urging the Trump administration in Pentagon. to invest more in our partnership so that our military can learn the lessons of this war in Ukraine and so that our country can benefit from their technologies to defend everything from civilian infrastructure like football stadiums and water systems to our military bases and embassies in the Middle East and in our home country. I'm hopeful that they'll make progress on that this year. It has strong bipartisan support. And by the way, he's talking about Ukraine, Senator Chris Coons, and they have done that. And no offense, Senator, that was a positive statement. But they are doing that already without your help. And along with our intelligence apparatus, has helped coach and execute Ukraine's push to blow up the refineries inside Russia. And it's flat out been a game changer with the amount of... drones and defensive drones and attack drones that they've been able to put together along with blowing up the Navy, which they blew up two other, they blew up another two ships yesterday. They have been hitting drone strikes. They took out, they've been hitting drone strikes regularly. We'll have a bunch of vessels over the last three days. They also, thanks to Volodymyr Zelensky, had a great line. He was asked about having talks with Vladimir Putin and Moscow. He says, I won't go to Moscow. It's too dangerous with all the Ukrainian drones flying around. It's true. They're actually blowing up things in the nation's capital. Why? Because they want to make them uncomfortable in places that want to ignore the fact that they're at war. And the Russians wanted the normal people to not think they're at war. Their economy is so anemic, instead of growing at 1.4%, which is terrible, it is now growing at 0.4%. 91 million business, excuse me, 91,000 businesses have gone bankrupt. Can't make their payments to banks. Now think about this. You got banks lending to businesses. If the businesses can't pay the banks back, then the banks can take their assets, but it never adds up. So that's going to compound itself and maybe put them into crisis. Yesterday, it became clear the president spoke to Vladimir Putin on Saturday because he likes speaking before the – he likes speaking to the president before the president speaks with Volodymyr Zelensky. And this time it didn't work. They spoke for 45 minutes. The Russian president didn't get off the phone happy. And when President Trump had a chance to see the Ukrainian president up close and personal, he was extremely nice. Cut 24.

Will you allow Europe to make Patriot interceptors in Europe? Are you comfortable with licensing that technology? About what? Patriot interceptors to be made in Europe. And you're talking with respect to Ukraine. Well, we're going to talk about that. Look, it's a defensive weapon, which I like, better than an offensive weapon. It's the best. So one of the things we're going to be talking about is we're going to give a license to you to make... Patriots, that's pretty cool, right? This way you can't complain that we're not giving them enough. They say, make them yourself. We haven't informed the company of that yet, but that'll work out all right. Sure, they'll be thrilled. But, you know, they'll be able to do it. You'll be able to figure that out. He said, when I had to say, Volodymyr Zelensky's done an amazing job. It's an extremely effective leader. So they're going to give license to make the Patriots. The way I understand it, it'll still take about a year to get it going. So in the short term, they need some batteries now. It'll work because everything else, they are moving on all cylinders. They are really punishing our enemy, and that is Russia. Listen to the Brian Kilmeade. Can't wait to see you in person. Saturday night in Pensacola, streamed on Fox Nation. Go to Brian Kilmeade.com and order tickets. Pensacola, Florida.

Need a laptop that's built to perform and designed to last all day? Select Windows 11 PCs starting at 49999 are now at Best Buy. Learn more at Best Buy.com. Best Buy. Imagine that. Maya Top Fox News headquarters in New York City. Always seeking solutions, never sewing division. It's Brian Kilmeade. Hi, one, welcome, 48th and 6 in Midtown Manhattan, where I'm in a structurally sound building, thankfully. This is the Brian Kilmeade. We've got a big hour coming your way. Jason Chavits is in studio. He's getting set to go. We also have this hour at Tom Carrico. He's director of missile defense project and a senior fellow. with the Defense and Security Department and Center for Strategic International Studies. And keep in mind, one of the hottest things right now is, can the Ukrainians build the Patriot missile with the licenses quickly and get them into theater? Word is, it will take about a year. We'll see what Tom has to say about that. But first, let's get to the big three. Number three. It was important to be there and to see the actual facts laid out, Bill, because there was so much stuff that, you know, amidst the noise and the internet chatter that was laid out that, you know, I had never heard and makes this case very cut and dry. I wouldn't need to see this, but now we can all see it. Charlie Kirk murder hearings are continuing. Anyone with a half a brain will see that all the conspiracy theories that don't lead to Tyler Robinson acting alone or flat out foolish. just delusional and damaging to him and his family, we're going to bring you the latest. Number two. The trash took itself out tonight. People in Maine have a chance to really vote on someone that's not a total of piece of trash. Adios trash bag. Senator John Fetterman weighing in on Graham Platner, he is gone. What are they going to do to replace him? Another anti-democratic move. We'll discuss it. After all, he got 72% of the vote in Maine despite all his problems and his tattoos. Number one. The basic deal that we cut was, we'll lift our blockade if you stop shooting at ships. But if you shoot at ships, we're going to knock the hell out of them, and it's that simple. It's not that simple. And the thing that the MOU is terrible and set us up for this collapse. Here we go again. U.S. hits 150 sites in Iran in 48 hours. As the MOU is history and never worth the two pages it was printed on, meanwhile, Iran still won't give up the straight, why an escalation is in the cards. and its effect on prices that you pay in the short term. Keep in mind, too, you could always get this on the YouTube channel, YouTube.com slash at the Brian Kilmeade. So Congress is being surprised that we're back at it again in Iran? No, we hit 90 sites last night. No, look, I think overwhelming force is the only language that they speak. I think he'd need to keep beating the living daylight out of them until the firing stops. And I think...

President Trump, I think we're going to find out long term that his mission, his time in Turkey is well spent because my guess is there was a lot of conversation about, hey, Europe, you've got to step up and do this. It shouldn't all be the United States. Right. So I haven't done nothing. When the president emerged, he said, I felt a lot of love in that room before he went in. He said, the only reason I'm here is at a friendship to Recep Tayyip Erdogan. So I didn't see what bridge the gap, but he said he also even had a good conversation with the president of France. Yeah. Excuse me, not France. Spain. Yeah. Who he was saying we should cut off all trade with. Yeah, no, I think the message to Spain was important. The meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky about, hey, Ukraine, Ukraine's hit in Russia like they've never hit them before. I love it. I think it's absolutely great. It's a necessity. And don't think that Greenland is off the table because I know that the president is keen on having some sort of working better relationship with Greenland because it's such a strategic... imperative for the United States. So talking about Ukraine, Trump spoke to both Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky by phone on Saturday. And in fact is, you know, Vladimir Putin likes to talk to the president right before he talks about Ukraine or talks to Volodymyr Zelensky so he get him all incensed and let him think that Volodymyr Zelensky is the criminal and that they're losing. Well, the thing is, it's he that is losing. They don't have lost a kilometer in the battlefield. And they've lost an average of 32,000 a month. And this is, they say for every six dead Russians is one dead Ukrainian. And they're aiming for civilians, not even aiming for soldiers. So the president came out and said he's been extremely effective as a leader, done an amazing job. Here's Victoria Coates, cut 28. No, this is critical, and this is 18 months of President Trump's approach to Ukraine, which is the mirror opposite of what Biden was doing. And bear in mind, President Volodymyr Zelensky was asking President Biden for this license for the PAC 3, the Patriot Interceptors, to be able to manufacture those in Ukraine. Now, I understand there are some sensitivities around this very elevated technology. We want to make sure this is an export okay, if you will, version of this that they can do. But this is the sort of thing, as you say, it allows Ukraine to defend itself rather than the American taxpayer being on the hook for as much as it takes, as long as it takes. President Trump is bold enough to take this step. And I think, you know, this could be decisive for Ukraine. And the other important point here is we get a cut of this, 20 or 25 percent of their production. We get. They replenish our stocks rather than we dilute our. So if Raytheon gives them the patent, they'll wish I think they will. will, they'll be able to sell them the parts and they'll put them together. Yeah, no, it's critical. I've seen these things. I've taken a tour of it. It's pretty amazing technology. We have other technologies as well, but this is important for the defense. But what I'm really excited about, which is hard to see because we don't always get video of it, is the offense that...

that the fight that Ukraine is taking to Russia because they're hitting him well inside Russia. They're hitting it to the point where Russia is having to cut off the idea that they can even export oil at this point. Right, blowing up the refineries. Yeah. I'm pretty sure that was U.S. intelligence and told them they aim for that. Don't even blame for the tankers. Aim for the refineries. And now they have a shortage inside their country and they can't even draft people. And that's the only way they make money in Russia. Right. So they're hitting them where it hurts. And I don't know at what point Vladimir Putin looks at that and says, all right, this is just too much. But, you know, he's ruthless. He is, and he's never really been lived up to his word or backed out of a conflict. Yeah. You know, he left Syria because he wanted to focus on Ukraine. Then Bashar al-Assad collapses, and that allowed Syria to have a leader that doesn't hate Israel. And we have just removed him from the terror watch list, even though the leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, was al-Qaeda. Yeah. That is a very interesting move. They have a great opportunity in Syria. I hope that there's some serious news coverage about all the... I went up into Jim Jordan and looked at the... I went to one camp where there were 90,000 Syrian refugees. I wonder what's happened to that camp at this point. And the other thing we need to look at in terms of what's going on in that world is how many... opportunities are there for the president to reconfigure the entire Middle East because he's doing that. But Ukraine's playing offense. And that drone technology is real. That is real. Now, let's talk about opening up the straight and how you go about doing it. Yesterday, he hit 90 separate sites. The president basically says, we're done with the MOU cut two. Why are you apparently unable to end the Iran war? So I think we're doing just the opposite. The Iran war has been a tremendous military success. And, you know, I can only answer the question by saying they're not going to have a nuclear weapon. We, uh... denuclearized Iran, and this happened, they will never have a nuclear weapon. But they do have picked action. It hasn't been touched, and there is buried uranium, and they do not want to release the strait. ISW says today Iran is trying to coerce their Arab neighbors, Gulf State neighbors, into backing up their push to control the strait. Yeah, I don't think that's going to be successful. I think President Trump is accomplishing Mission A, which was to make sure they do not have a nuclear weapon, nor can they develop one. This is a long-term project. This is not, hey, we're done, wipe our hands. Okay, we get to move away. I like the fact that we're not putting boots on the ground. I understand that. I think that's an imperative. But I think our presence there, even more limited, perhaps in the future, is got to be constant. But again, I hope the message to our NATO partners is,

step up, do what you're supposed to be doing, because they have been problematic to say the least. And that's a negotiation that the president, I'm sure, is ongoing. He's talking about it nicely because there was a lot of love in that room, as he mentioned, but there is a lot more that needs to be done. to get our NATO partners to step up. Yeah, so they blew up 21 vessels yesterday. They blew up missile and defense systems. They blew up the coastal, everything they could find on the coastal, coastal of the coast of the Hormuz, straight of Hormuz, and they blew up an air defense system. So they're hitting a bunch of sites. They know where they're going. I would like to see them start targeting some of the leadership. And maybe they'll realize I'm next. Maybe I should deal with come to the table. As Ambassador Dennis Ross brought up, he said, this is the bet the deal that MOU to me is so terrible. But it's the best deal Iran could ever have hoped for. They're being so stupid even for them by breaching it because they were able to bring in oil at full price. They're able to get, they're on track to unfreeze funds. How could that not be in their interest? Are they that stupid? I think they are that stupid. They are so solely focused. But I think this is largely a political document to try to get the world to understand why the United States is having to do what it is doing. Do you know me? The MOU? Yeah, because the MOU just shows that, hey, look, we're trying. We're trying to come up with it. But every time they breach it. You know, the United States looks like they're being the reasonable one at the table, which is true. And I think that's important to the Europeans and others. I know most Americans say, I don't give a crap, but if you want to turn over a lot of the responsibility, the Europeans, you've got to win the argument. It's what Margaret Thatcher said. First you win the argument, then you go out and get the votes. It's exactly that strategy. Do you think the president should have done that? made the argument stronger? Well, no, I think he's been making the argument. I don't think it's one thing you do in one hour and then the next hour. It's not, the president has shown restraint, but he's also showing a willingness to try to work with them and try to bring the, and that it's not about the Iranian people. It's about their leadership and the mullah, you know, and, you know, it's hard to tell who the leaders are because we decimated the first, I don't know, hundred of them. So who are these people? Yeah, you have to try to come up with a political document as well. Are you worried about a relationship with Saudi Arabia? They didn't show up at the G7. They evidently are trying to do a reconciliation overture over to Iran. I mean, I know they're not exactly Great Britain or Israel, but I was expecting a little bit more stay with it than they got. As soon as their guys got hit. He wanted to call it quits. Here's where I have great confidence. President Trump is very hands-on. He takes these relationships very personally, and these are personal discussions that he has with the leaders of each of these countries. I've had the unique and honorable opportunity to be in the Oval Office a few times where a world leader will call, and he'll answer the phone and talk to him right there in real time. And then...

get back to the conversation. He'll just have a four or five minute conversation. He's always accessible. My guess is he is talking to the senior leadership in Saudi Arabia. That is a personal relationship that has been built over years. And it is something that Donald Trump does better than any president we've probably ever had? So is it time to put Marco Rubio in charge these negotiations if there are even more talks over JD Vance? I don't know how to answer that because I'm a huge Marco Rubio fan. I would have him lead out on all of this. It's not to disparage the vice president or anything else. But I think Marco Rubio doing what he's doing is just pitch perfect. But it's Cuba. There's South America. There's Cuba. There's Venezuela. Right. But I mean, he does not have the Middle East. He does not have the Middle East. And he does not have Ukraine. I would be much more comfortable if he was the coach. and maybe put different teams in there. Don't you think it's got to be more than just two guys handling Ukraine, Gaza, and this? The president has to make that decision. I hope someday we're able to call Marco Rubio the president of the United States. Did you always think that? I was on team Marco Rubio a long time ago. I was traveling with Marco. I went with him to Nevada, South Carolina, New Hampshire. I mean, I was running. Oh, yeah, I traveled with him a lot. I was the warm-up act. And, you know, it didn't go well. He's even better now. Oh, he's so good. He's always good on his feet. He's always good. Look, I've known him since he was in the Senate. I've had countless number of dinners with him. He's just the real deal. It's funny, but he's competent. He knows, and he's just a proud American, and he knows his stuff. And he's able to articulate it. I hope someday he is a president of the United States. Maybe sooner than you think. Yeah. Jason Tapit's here for a few more minutes. Jason, what are you doing on TV today? So I'm on the Big Money show and then, yeah, I just did it. It was on VARI. Have time? Oh, yes. All right. Back in a moment. Big guests. Bold opinions. Better information. This is the Brian Kilmeade. Still waiting in life? Again? That's time you will never get back. Save time and money with Stamps.com. Over 4 million businesses have skipped the line with Stamps.com. Join them to save up to 90% off carrier rates from your computer or phone right now. Print postage for certified mail, registered mail, and packages in seconds. Then schedule a pickup right from your home or office. For a limited time, go to Stamps.com and use code podcast for a free welcome gift. Taxes and fees apply.

News, unique opinions. Here it all on the Brian Kilmeade. Hey, we're back. Just a few more minutes with Jason Chavis. Jason, Graham Platner implodes. Now 600 people are going to get together. Maynors are going to get together and pick somebody else. So why are they doing this? Is it because he's trailing Susan Collins already? Yes. These are supposedly the best stewards of democracy that Donald Trump's the threat to democracy. Look how they pick their presidential candidate. This guy goes out, Graham Platner, gets 72% of the vote. And now all of a sudden, even after the tattoos, other accusations of some really nefarious stuff, all of a sudden, days before the deadline, they decide to make a change. That doesn't smell right. I think they're going to handpick this person and they don't want to have a vote from the people. It's just unbelievable to me. But I do think that Susan Collins is going to prevail. She looks like the steady hand. But don't you think that it's going to be harder now because he was such a flawed candidate? Can they really pick someone more flawed than this guy? Well, there's very little time to actually do some due diligence because those ballots are going to go out before we know it in September or October. Like Democrats, they have to answer to the voters there in Maine. But I think Susan Collins, who's not a Trump person, is going to ultimately prevail. There's a reason why we call her Madam Chair and she has won so many elections. But here's the thing about what's happening to the Democrats. Now, win or lose, this guy says, well, he said there wasn't a DSA guy, but everything about him was a DSA guy. Plus Bernie Sanders had him. Congressman Debbie Dingell brought this up yesterday before the implosion of Graham Platner. Well, even though he should have left, he had waited to the end of the night. Cut 36. I don't think that the DSA is painting us into corners. I think everybody in this country, Republican and Democrats, think that Social Security is very critical for many people. Sure. My father's law was one of the authors in Social Security and was called a communist. Now, I don't agree with some of the things I've heard the candidates say in New York. I don't agree with everything either Haley or Abdul have said. They're both colleagues, they're both friends, and I'm neutral in this race. But we do have a big tent. And people now, I want to talk about Maine and Graham Platner, and I would not endorse them in May because I'm someone who has spent my life fighting for domestic violence and sexual violence and got a lot of grief from Democrats. So she says DSA is out of problem. She's talking herself in circles. Hey, in 60 seconds, she talked about everything in the world and somehow Social Security made it in there. And then we were talking about Maine. They were talking about the Michigan race.

Come on, Congresswoman, that is just jibber jabbing because you don't have a straight answer. This is the problem that all the Democrats are having from coast to coast. Oh, I'm going to be neutral in this race. Really? You're neutral? Michigan Senate race, you know, the selection there is going to swing things in one direction or another. I think the Democrats don't know what to do with the Bernie. When I first in Congress, Bernie Sanders was a joke. I mean, he was just like literally laughable. And now he's leading the Democratic Party. Chuck Schumer is like a political dead man walking. Mark Halpern thinks that Bernie Sanders is the odds-on person to be the next nominee for the Democrats. Do you believe that? 78 years old? He was, he gets the biggest audiences. He drives so much of the equation. But I'm telling you, the party leaders, look what they do with Graham Platner. I mean, I don't trust him. I don't trust him. All right, I trust you, Jason. Congressman Jason Chafetz, you'll see him all over the channel. And you'll see him here again, of course. And where do we get your podcast? Jason in the house, Jason in the house. And he was in the house as soon he's going to have to leave. Brian Kilmeade.

Fast as three hours in radio. You're with Brian Kilmeade. We have patriots, but we don't have that many. We need them for ourselves, too. Some, yeah, I mean some, but... I think they can produce them pretty quickly. Once we explain it, we'll bring the company here. They work with the company. They have a great ability to produce weapons. Pretty complex weapons. That is the president saluting Ukraine for their ability to innovate and now giving them licenses to go work with Raytheon in order to build their own Patriot missiles while giving 20% of their stock back to us that they construct. But how long will that actually take? What does that look like? Tom Carrico joins us now, missile defense from the Missile Defense Project, a senior fellow with the Defense and Security Department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Tom, how do you feel about this move by the president? Yeah, hey, Brian. Look, it's a good move. It's a good move in particular because I think, first of all, signals a different posture towards Ukraine, first and foremost, in terms of at least in principle, helping them out more than we have been. I think that we've seen from the president on a couple of different occasions. an indication, obviously being impressed with Ukraine's ability to push back and attack the Russians, including, by the way, deep into Russia, which is very effective and important in terms of imposing costs on them. In terms of the very specific question, you'll look, building up Patriot production facilities. is probably going to take time. As other folks have pointed out, it will immediately be a target for Russia, so they may have to put it underground or something like that, harden it in some manner. I mean, in normal circumstances, it would probably take a couple years to do that. Ukraine doesn't really have a couple years. It's also unclear are these PAC-2s, GMT missiles made by Raytheon, are these PAC-3s made by Lockheed? That's a little unclear. But I think at this point, the important thing is that change in posture. Yeah, the president said some nice things yesterday. He's done an amazing job. He's to be extremely effective. He took a call from Vladimir Putin, and he didn't budge to the point where evidently Vladimir Putin was kind of upset, which is good. Anytime Vladimir Putin's upset, I'm happy. So what they've done using drones, blowing up refineries, Tom Carrico, tell me as a military move with that, what do you think of it? Well, it's a good thing. It's imposing costs. It's affecting, you know, frankly, money is a sinuous war. And to be affecting Russia's energy market, their massive source of income for them, that's going to have an effect. Now, having said that, Russia is built to hunker down. Their industry is on a wartime footing. They've been building up all this stuff for the past couple of years like there's no tomorrow.

So, you know, it's not a silver bullet, but, you know, Volodymyr Zelensky was sitting with the president and the president asked him, you know, would you go visit Moscow? And Volodymyr Zelensky said, well, no, it's kind of dangerous. There's all these Ukrainian drones flying around. That's a good thing. That's also a good thing in terms of opposing costs, keeping the Russians, getting them to keep their head down, things like that. So how short are we on the THAAD missile system and the Patriot missiles, the different batteries? How bad is the situation? Why is it taking so long? Is it there one component in particular? Is it a money situation? It's a couple things. First and foremost, it's because we've shot a bunch of them in Operation Epic Fury and by a lot. I mean a lot in terms of catching all of the missiles of the Iranians, or at least many of the missiles that the Iranians have been shooting at U.S. bases at Israel, things like that. It is a very significant fraction of our overall inventory. And historically, these have taken a couple years. Frankly, it's always a big chunk of that time as getting them on contract. and the customer behavior in that sense. But you are correct. It is also about money. And unfortunately, the Pentagon has laid out this great plan for a munitions ramp, kind of announced it in January and February with what missiles they were pursuing both offensive and defensive as prioritized munitions. But here's the problem, Ryan. Almost none of that is on contract. And the reason is there's not the money from Congress. So the question of a supplemental to pay for the war, but also most importantly, to get all of these munitions that need to be ramp up, that needs to begin. That needs to pass. It needs to pass in this fiscal year, 2026. It probably won't at this point, based on the tea leaves. But it really needs to happen now. And you know what? Congress is going to go on recess in August. We're talking about weeks here. We've got a window of this month that they really need to act to get all this stuff going. Well, I understand we have $950 billion. We want $1.5 trillion. I got it. But this is not a 2025 or a 26 problem. This has been a problem really since 2021 that I've been starting here about missile defense. And we got all these customers that will want to pay. You are correct. It has been a problem. We've talked about on this show many times over the years. But, you know, you have to have the contracts. You have to have the money to buy. The line for Patriots is out the door and around the block. from the 18 different countries in the world that want it. Everybody wants more of it. And right now, the priority is going to be, it's a very practical matter, replenishing U.S. stocks. And yes, the 1.5 trillion, that's a request so far. That's not appropriate. That's fiscal year 27. That's hopefully coming, but it's not appropriate yet, so we can't count those chickens just yet either. But, you know,

Appropriations are for specific things. It's not just a big pot of money. They have to go request permission from Congress if they want to reprogram large sums of funds. Right. So, I mean, Democrats, would they be standing in the way on this? They would probably do that because they don't like the Iran War, but they would be, I'm wondering if they're going to say, where'd the money go from last year? Well, it went to good things. The 26 munitions money went to good things, but that's not what we're talking about here. More is needed to do all the replacement that we're talking about. I actually think the sense on Capitol Hill of the munitions problem is a bipartisan one. It's kind of hard to deny that the United States of America, Democrat or Republican, for our various... deterrence and defense goals, we need this stuff. We need the Tomahawks, we need the long-range strike, and we need the air and missile defenses. That's not really a polarizing issue. Unfortunately, there is some aspects of it that are polarizing, including for the 2027 funds, it's all in essentially the reconciliation pot. And so something's going to have to give, something's going to have to change. Probably, it probably happened in a lame duck for 2027. But in the near term, and this is where it does get a little bit prickly at the moment, because of the concern about the war, that's what's holding up, I think, the 2026 supplemental, and that's unfortunate. Holding up the 2026, wow, yeah, it's a shame because they do have to explain it. They've got to do it. And it's a shame because Democrats and Republicans all realize that Iran's a threat. And it always has been a threat. But this is the first administration, take them on militarily. Sure, sure. And so let's talk about, if we can, the drone situation. Where are we at with drone production? Yes, this is interesting. The Pentagon just announced a new kind of czar for drone production, not unlike there's this one person in charge of direct reporting to the Deputy Secretary of War, Steve Feinberg, for Golden Dome, for submarines, things like that. That's a very good, I would say, initiative in terms of defense acquisition reform. And so now they've announced. one person to be in charge of drones, not just. UAVs, not just aerial drones, but also undersea and surface drones, things like that. That's a good development. I'm hopeful that they will have the authority and be empowered to go out and just build a bunch of stuff. We've seen the importance of mass in all of these conflicts, and we've admired the problem for a long time. We have studied the problem. We intellectually understand the need for mass. Now we actually have to go do it. So I want you to hear what Senator Chris Coons said and recommended. Tell me if we're doing this already. Cut 27.

I have been urging the Trump administration and Pentagon to invest more in our partnership so that our military can learn the lessons of this war in Ukraine and so that our country can benefit from their technologies to defend everything from civilian infrastructure like football stadiums and water systems to our military bases and embassies in the Middle East and in our home country. I'm hopeful that they'll make progress on that this year. It has strong bipartisan support. So can you tell me about this cooperation? Yeah, look, I think it's a good thing. I will say the Pentagon actually released yesterday. The Joint Task Force 401 is in charge of basically countering drones, defending the football stadiums that he referenced there, that kind of stuff. They actually just released a 100-page book, very readable for the layman, about how to think about drone defense. I recommend taking a look at that. So look, I think the sense, the felt sense. that we have to look up, that the skies, we can't take air superiority for granted. That, I think, is also a widely and a bipartisan issue. And I'm hopeful that not only in terms of the acquisition moves, putting somebody in charge of building a bunch of drones and counter drones, but also just, frankly, this is adjacent. This isn't an issue directly adjacent to the Golden Dome for higher-end air and missile threats as well. Do you think they were going to see a cheaper Patriot Thad missile system, something that's a little bit more accessible? Possibly, the Army actually just held an industry day on desire for lower cost interceptors. I think you're not going to get away from the need for exquisite capability, and the reason is some of the threats are exquisite. And we can't just sort of wish away the problem of really sophisticated maneuvering ballistic or hypersonic threats. Countering those things, it's going to be challenging. We also want super high reliability and things like that. But no, I think there's a number of lines of effort in the different services to get after the somewhat less capable, cheaper solutions, and I think especially for the kind of drone threats and for the lower end, let's just say, cruise missile threats. You know, that's... Those are not as complex. Those are not as eye-watering rocket surgery to be able to contend with. So I think there's a lot of room for the lower-end, lower-cost interceptors for a lot of the threat spectrum. All right. Thanks. Tom, it's going to be an interesting time. Tom Carrico, appreciate you joining us.

I was pleasure. Director of immediate missile defense project. U.S. and the Brian Kilmeade, 1866, 408, 7669. I'll talk about a way forward to Maine. Also, talk about this Michigan race. Mike Rogers sitting, waiting for an opponent, Abdul El-Sayed might be that opponent. What he said in the past is stunning, staggering, but yet he's winning. Don't move. The headlines, the stories behind them, and the people who make them, only on the Brian Kilmeade. How can we help make stronger communities happen? Well, at J.P. Morgan Chase, we invest in what's working, in businesses that create more jobs, in hospitals, delivering care where it's needed the most, in workers building new buildings, bridges, and roads, connecting what we need to where we live. Make the greengrass go all around, all around, make the greengrass go all around. Make momentum happen. Learn more at JPMorganchase.com slash impact. talk show that's getting you talking. You're with Brian Kilmeade. This is about normalizing, putting government thugs on our streets against the Constitution itself. And maybe it's because I ran government agencies, but I can tell you that once a culture of impunity sets in, there is no reform. What do you tell you an agent who used a child as bait? I mean, can you imagine the PowerPoint slide that you'd have the design? No, don't take the kid. You cannot reform this. You cannot retrain this. The only logical path is to abolish ice. What a clown, right? But not unusual. Everybody on the left says that Abdul El-Sayed, Abdul El-Sayed. He's talking about abolishing ice. He's talking about doing a lot of radical things. He also says, talking about the positives of Sharia law. Can't believe people want to ban it. I mean, that's who you're electing. Then we turned out, he called him to Dr. Abdul El-Sayed because he worked for the health department. He's not even a doctor, but says, don't get gumbed up in having that. Listen to some of the other things he said. This is the Michigan guy who's likely to be the Democratic nominee to take on Mike Rogers. Cut 45. I think he should be impeached because he has done things that are wrong. I just like, I do not think he should be president of the United States. I think he, you know, he's done impeachable things. Obviously, as a future senator, I'm not a position to impeach. But when they make the case about the impeachable things, I have seen with my own eyes, I will vote accordingly. Yeah, there you go. So that's exactly what I think Democrats don't want to run on personally because they saw if you get in there, you're going to impeach. If you ever want to raise President Trump's approval rating, go ahead and do that. Because that's what happened last time. And then things went up. He got in a roll. And then we saw how it ended with the pandemic kind of blurred everything out. But I still remember it. More from Abdul El-Sayed, cut 47. Benjamin Netanyahu has been searching for 40 years to find a president dumb enough to go to war with Iran. And he finally found one in the form of Donald J. Trump. Yep, that is the common wisdom from the left. Here's more. Cut 46. I know what is like to be discriminated against because I would pray.

And I know that anti-Semitism and Islamophobia tend to go hand in hand. And the real issue when it comes to either of them is the scourge of white supremacy. And I think it's absolutely critical for us to differentiate between love, respect, and admiration for Judaism and the Jewish people and a continued policy that has us sending our money to a foreign government. We can walk and chew gum at the same time. Yes, we don't want to do have a foreign policy. Just some people are writing me, just give me an idea what's going on and what they think. How about this on what we could be doing with Iran? They say, number one, about the frozen funds. I would love to get the idea to President Trump, that if Iran damages a cargo ship in the straight and the repair costs would come directly out of Iran's frozen funds, maybe you couldn't mention it to him. Well, I don't think that's a bad or far off idea. I'm all for unfreezing the funds. as well as paying for our inconvenience and our weapons that we wasted blowing them up. I also think there's a lot of Americans who have been taken hostage in the past and never got paid for our inconvenience, especially those loved ones after an Iranian government official kills him in prison, which has happened before. How about I got more. That was from Donna. Steve says this. Might you suggest to the White House that we inform Iran that from this point forward? Every dollar we spent in the conflict in defense of this trade will be deducted from their seized assets. Perhaps the right move, move the needle as well, knowing that we're spending their money. I also like the fact that Scott Bessent has moved on freezing bank accounts that they keep in other Gulf nations. I think that is right on the money because they have the money. It's frozen. It can't be helped. It's not earning anything. It is frozen. It might be theirs, but they're costing us. So therefore, we should be paying ourselves back. I sense that we've taken some of the oil money from Venezuela. as well. I'm paying us back from that operation 20 times over. I would think here's the President of the United States. He has had it. And he said he got a call yesterday from the Iranians who got hit 90 times last night. Cut one. Yeah, very little left. And they want to make a deal so badly. They called a little while ago. They want to make a deal so badly. I just don't know if they're worthy of making the deal. I don't know that they're going to honor the deal. Of course they're not worthy to do the deal. They've got to be in a point where they have no choice but they do the deal. And as Dennis Ross told this, he's got such perspective and he spent the last three weeks in Israel. He said Iran's the verbiage in the MOU was basically all Iran's writing through translation. They've gotten everything they wanted, put enough nuance and gray area there that they could go to town with it and stay there saying within the spirit of the MOU. And they still blew it by going after cargo ships.

So it's even in their best interest to allow money to flow for oil for the first time in 20 years to be full freight and people paying and getting used to, well, maybe I can buy oil from Iran and it's not going to be pulled back. But now that is pulled back. They're no longer allowed to pay. So that means Iran, they can go back shutting off their transponders and going through the Gulf and hoping not to be detected and giving discount oil to China. You had it. For some reason, we agreed to it to elect you for 60 days, sell your oil and make billions of dollars. And it was more important for you to say, I'm in control of the straight. And it's more important for us to make sure you're never in control of the strait. It's almost equal to not having a nuclear weapon. We listen to the Brian Kilmeade. Hope to see in Pensacola, Florida on Fox Nation on stage. Brian Kilmeade.com to see you in person, Saturday night, history, liberty, and laughs. And also we've got some great dates in the fall with the brand new United in the States tour. Don't move.

Cheers to America's 250th birthday. Get 20% off your first purchase at Fox Newswineshop.com with code FN Radio 20. 20%. 20% discount excludes wine club offers and cannot be combined with any other promotion. Expires July 31st, 2026. Must be 21 order to order. Please drink responsibly. From the Fox News Radio Studios in Midtown Manhattan, it's the fastest growing radio talk show. Brian Kilmeade. All right. Hi, this is Brian Kilmeade, like the guy said. Doug Jay Jones coming up at the bottom of the hour, a sensible Democrat who's really concerned about the direction of the party that Graham Platner left behind. Also, we're one of the few sound structural buildings in New York City. One of few blocks away from us is swaying and the steel is bending. Usually not a good sign. I'm not an architect, but I'd rather not be in a building like that. Happy to be in a building like the one here at 48th and 6th. So before we get to Josh Holmes. one of the main cogs of the Ruthless Podcast. Let's get to the big three. Number three. It was important to be there and to see the actual facts laid out, Bill, because there was so much stuff that, you know, amidst the noise and the internet chatter that was laid out that, you know, I had never heard and makes this case very cut and dry to me. It's just crazy. How many conspiracy theories are out there about Charlie Kirk's death? And they're so horrific. They are really damaging to the case in the family. But Tyler Robinson, the case against him is so strong. It's hard to imagine one stronger. We'll tell you how the hearings are going and progressing. Number two. The trash took itself out tonight. People in Maine have a chance to really vote on someone that's not a total of piece of trash. Adios, trash bag. Senator John Fetterman on Graham Platner. He is gone while admitting no guilt from being one of the worst human beings on the planet. What does Maine do from here and what does it mean for Susan Collins' chances? Now while scrutiny should really go to what's happening in Michigan, where a radical is queued up to take on Mike Rogers. Number one. The basic deal that we cut was, we'll lift our blockade if you stop shooting at ships. But if you shoot at ships, we're going to knock the hell out of them, and it's that simple. Here we go again. U.S. hits 150 sites in Iran in the last 48 hours. The MOU is history, and it never really should have been written. It wasn't worth the paper. It was written on. We'll talk about the latest from that troubled region and what it means for the president's fortunes. JD Vance came out there, and that's the deal he's really being judged on. He's doing a great job on fraud, didn't do a great job of the MOU, said, I guess, really deceptive things about it before it came out. Josh Holmes joins us now, former chief of statute of Mitch McConnell, for Mitch McConnell, as well as president and founding partner of Cavalry, LLC, and co-host of the Ruthless Place, Ruthless Podcast. Josh, like the hat.

Hey, thanks, bud. It's great to be with you. How's your former boss, Mitch McConnell, doing? Well, I don't know a lot more than you do, Brian. I know the reports. I actually talked to a staffer of his who was with him yesterday and described him as in good spirits, but he's still hospitalized and he's still trying to work his way back. So, you know, other than that and what has been publicly reported, that's sort of the extent of my understanding. So you don't know if he had a heart attack or not, or do you think he did? They found him unconscious? I wish I knew. I have absolutely no idea. What I do know is when you're 84 years old, there's an awful lot that can go wrong on a day-to-day basis. I got parents in that same age demographic, and it's, you know, it's tough. It's tough for kids and loved ones, and people that are close to folks who are getting older in that stage of life. So, yeah, I've given them a pretty wide birth. I understand that they'll tell me at some point, and when they do, I'll wish them and pray for the best. Well, we'll find out too. And just from pure political point, less the personal point, unless it doesn't matter as much. But the Republicans can't afford to lose him, especially now, right? They're trying to get a supplemental in there to try to pay for what's left of this war and beyond and get the Golden Dome going. And they're not going to do it without his vote. Yeah, no, I mean, there's a lot of fall business to go on. I mean, the month of September in particular is going to be really treacherous territory on Capitol Hill, a bunch of funding things that need to get done. The military needs to get funded. Yeah, he's a critical piece to an awful lot of that. So wish him well and hope he gets back soon. So Graham Platner, who knew he was going so smooth. He had that primary nomination, ready to take on Susan Collins, trailing by four. Then another former girlfriend comes out and blows him up. Essentially says he raped her. He does not admit guilt. Admit guilt. Cut 30. I just want you to think about like what you would do as a regular person in a position where a much larger world, large forces were working against you personally to accuse you of the worst thing that a person could do and it was not remotely true. I learned about this through press inquiries with no time. to truly respond, no time for investigations before a corporate media system and the political establishment got to act as judge, jury, and executioner. Accusations are supposed to be the beginning of things, not the end. I think it's really important to understand why this is happening in the timeline, why this is happening right now. Maybe you could help me, Judge. Why is it happening right now?

Well, he's entirely right about that last point. Which is, I mean, first of all, a guy walks in with a Nazi tattoo. I think we can all sort of surmise that that's probably not a dude with top-notch character who you want representing you in the United States Senate. So that should have been a threshold issue. It wasn't for Democrats, obviously. But why the timing of all of this is coming out and why nobody really talked about all of these allegations that have been going on now for three, four months right up until now is because Democrats had one last play. They made the crucial mistake that they haven't made in years, and that's allowing their voters to choose their nominees. This is a practice that they are totally unaccustomed to doing. You look back at... 2016 with Hillary Clinton and superdelegates. You look at 2020 when they consolidated the field behind Joe Biden. You look at 24 when they didn't vote at all and they just appointed Kamala Harris. And they do this in Senate races across the country. And what happened was Democrats voted for Graham Platner. And when they did, the establishment Democratic Party doesn't like that. And they want to make sure that they have somebody that they deem more electable. So they're the ones that are pushing all of this out. I mean, the reason that stuff shows up in the New York Times. It's not because you've got some enterprising reporter who just happened upon information. It's because they're pitched it by the DSCC, by the DNC, by Chuck Schumer, by all the establishment Democrats that wanted to make a move here before it was too late. In a way, I think the New York Times game is soft landing because the guys had a terrible background. I mean, he's a terrible. He seems to be a terrible person, let alone a candidate. So if I think there wasn't a lot in his background, I think that he would have floated right through and they would have given it a shot. I mean, Chuck Schumer's losing his power, clearly. I mean, Haley Stevens is going to be his next challenge in Michigan against... Abdul Ella said, I'll seize. So he's going for Haley Stevens, who's losing. So I'm not sure how much power he has. So Graham Platner's out despite getting 72% of the vote. Now they're going to have a lawyer Jerga. They're going to have 500 people coming together and pick the next nominee. So do you think Susan Collins' chances are better or worse? Better fighting Graham Platner or worse with this new person? What do you think? Well, it's hard to have been better than they were an hour before he dropped out, right? Yeah, you had the entire Democratic Party abandoned him midstream. But I will say, look.

Everyone underestimates Susan Collins. She has driveways paved with the skulls of her political enemies for the last 30 years. This woman is a very good campaigner in large part because she is centrously located on the ideological spectrum that has been a perfect match for the state of Maine for a very long time. And she works. Really hard. I don't think that there is anybody that they can put up that doesn't look an awful lot like every other opponent that she has vanquished up to this point. The only different wildcard in this race at all was Graham Platner. She'd never faced somebody like that. And so there was a lot of open questions. And I continue to think she has the upper hand. They're going to throw everything that they've got at her. But they did in 2020 as well. I mean, they changed the whole voting system to a ranked choice voting system to defeat Susan Collins. And they couldn't get it done. So interesting. I did not know that. Let's switch over to Iran. The president of the United States is pretty fed up. Cut one. very little left and they want to make a deal so badly. They called a little while ago. They want to make a deal so badly. I just don't know if they're worthy of making the deal. I don't know that they're going to honor the deal. And the deal they're talking about was really hatched by the vice president. And there were so many holes in that deal. And I think it was just an awful 14-point plan. And yet it was great for Iran and they didn't seem to realize it. Josh, you've seen a lot of conflicts, Middle Eastern conflicts, you know, how difficult they can be. Yesterday we hit them 90 times, 150 in the last two days. Where do you think this is going? Yeah, well, they shouldn't let up. And look, the vice president is in an unenviable spot of having to negotiate the impossible because there is no negotiation with Iran. One or two things happen. You either have to pay them money not to be terrorists and then they just become terrorists. Again, you have to pay them more money. Or you have to negotiate this weird Rubik's cube of everybody else's defense posture in the region. Remember, the reason why they started firing back on ships was because of Lebanon and Israel. What does that have to do with Iran other than the fact that they fund terrorist proxies in Lebanon that attack Israel? It starts to unmask the whole thing. These are not good faith. actors. You're never going to come to a common sense solution. We're going to have to do what it takes to make sure that the straight is open. And if that is by 150 different locations every night until that happens, so be it.

I agree with you 100%. You cannot just go, okay, I'm going to teach you a lesson, hit you hard, and then let you up again. The main thing is the ISW road right about it today. They're still going to try to control the straight. That is as important to them, I think, is their nuclear program. And they're trying to convince the neighbors to go along with it. And they're not, thankfully, as of now, but they're concerned that we're not all in to watch their back or are going to leave. So this is, you know, I know when you work for Mitch McConnell, we're in the middle of Iraq. And that seemed like it was endless. And yet they turned around and they end up putting together. But Iran was always a thing too, Brian. I mean, it was always a thing. Everywhere in the region, Iran has always been the worst actor because of its proxy funding. And Hezbollah, Hamas, its intent to do away with the Western civilization, as they say, death to America, as they say. That has been a consistent threat for over 45 years. There is no state. in this world who has killed more Americans than the state of Iran than the Republic of Iran over the last 45 years. There can be no mistake about that. And so them just coming to their senses and treating their neighbors well and having a diplomatic solution with the United States seems extremely unlikely to me. And now they're making a clear death to America. They had the president's face on it with the target on it and everybody else and all our officials. And we don't know if that was related to the fact the president did not take the new Air Force one home. You took the old one back. I'm not really sure what went into that. The president said the people in England just wanted to see it. So I don't know about that. There are some reports that there are some of the more sophisticated defense. and refueling systems that haven't been installed yet in the new plane. I don't know if that's true or not. I'm happy that they're taking every single possible issue into context when they are transporting the President of the United States overseas, and that's where I leave it. So when we look at right now at the midterm elections, between the gerrymandering and the rise of the socialism, the Republicans are back in the game. Is that how you view it? Yeah, I do. I think that they start in a much better place than they did at the beginning of the cycle just because of the redistricting. It's more of like a plus nine, plus ten, which they needed. I think either way, you're going to have a majority in the House of Representatives that is a couple of seats one way or the other. But I do like where Republicans are right now. And I think, look, to the extent the Republicans can focus on what Democrats have handed them, which is the face of communism in every one of these primaries, I mean, Literally, you've never met anyone who acts like the candidates they're producing in election after election. This is not two different parties who have two different ways of getting at the problems we all acknowledge. There is one party here that by large likes America and another one that really doesn't. And you just have to ask them. That's not a branding exercise. Ask them. They don't like America. They say it. And I think if Republicans can stay on message on that and realize that Democrat candidates are either the Zohran Mamdani, Bernie Sanders, Graham Platner brand, or the Abigail Spanberger brand, which is to lie to you and then do the same thing as the Zohran Mamdani, Bernie Sanders crowd does when they get into office, you can have a pretty good campaign message going into the fall.

So just real quick on Cuba, we took another push to put pressure on them, and that is going after their doctors. They go overseas, charge the Cuban government gets the money. They'll go overseas and help out of the countries. They're very well-trained physicians. And now we're starting to go after the countries that are using Cuban doctors while stopping all energy from going in and out. There's something's going to break here. I'm wondering Josh Holmes, when do you think this is going to happen? And how do you see we land this plane? I think it probably already would have happened if Iran would have wrapped up. I mean, look, I don't think I'm breaking any news here when you say the Secretary of State has unique interest in Cuba. All right. I mean, this is this is someone who's talked about this. Obviously, his family fled the communist regime. It was part of his reason for getting into office in the first place. And it's also 90 miles off the southern tip of Florida. I mean, this is a place amongst any that you do not want hostile actors. I think we've ignored it for too long. But you also have to make sure that you've taken care of your knitting and all these other places. And there's a lot going on. I mean, you saw the NATO summit. Ukraine is still a big discussion that President Trump is having. If they can come to an accommodation with Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky and that, I mean, there's a lot going on here. And I... do think it would behoove the administration to focus at least their external messaging, even if they're walking and chewing gum on the domestic politics here a touch more because it seems like the foreign policy, at least for this summer, is kind of taken over the discussion. Yeah, absolutely. They couldn't really get out of their own way in the house, so they couldn't even generate anything there. Are you foresighting the housing bill? Yeah, I think so because it was in the president's state of the union. I don't know how you can go do a state of the union speech where you lay out an agenda that you want Congress to do. Then they get to work on it. They produce it and then not sign it. Look, I'm not like in love with a housing bill or think that changes politics or anything else. I mean, it doesn't matter to be one way or another if it's signed. But in terms of the relationships that the administration has with its allies in Congress, if you ask somebody to do something. and they go through the blood, sweat, and tears to produce it, you kind of have to sign it, or the next time you go to them, you might not get the answer, yes. Co-host of The Ruthless Podcast, not afraid to wear a hat on the air. He is Josh Holmes. Appreciate it, Josh. Thank you very much. Back at a moment. Real talk, real guests, real insight, where curiosity meets conversation. It's the Brian Kilmeade.

He's so busy, he'll make your headspin. It's Brian Kilmeade. Hey, we are back. Now we've got to make the big decision. The big decision, know what it is? Who are we rooting for here in America? Now that America's out of it, you got Norway, England, you got Morocco, France. What other matchups? We've got Argentina. They're going to have another tough game, too. And of course, we got England is still in it. England, Norway is going to be the game, I think, of this quarterfinals bracket. We definitely says, you know, Spain is playing Belgium. We've got to hope that Spain wins big. Not that I love Spain, but I just dislike Belgium in the classless way that they beat the U.S. and then did the Trump dance. I do not like dancing the end zone. win in overtime, you score, act like you've been there before. So this is going to be a heck of a final eight. Who are you rooting for? To me, I made my decision. Norway. I love what they do what their fans do. I love the way their team acts. I love Holland is unbelievable. My second pick would be England. just because I think those people need a break. Man, those, they're playing clutch. You go to Mexico City and you win there that's big. But you know who's prime minister called up in FIFA and said, don't move the start time of the game? Keir Starmer. I thought it was Trump that did that.

Information you want, truth you demand. This is the Brian Kilmeade. Bernie Sanders needs to apologize to the voters of Maine and to, you know, everyone that donated to that train wreck of a campaign. More than anyone he pushed P. Hustle into the election, and now, you know, he keeps pushing these communists. and these kind of awful anti-American people. So there's plenty of those people that have to humble themselves. You know, humble yourself and stop and stop pushing, you know, this kind of people in my party. That is a very angry Senator John Fetterman saying then no wonder Graham Platner blew up. He's been calling for him to step aside for months until this last woman came forward. Ex-girlfriend said basically he raped her. He was staying. And he got 72% of the vote, despite almost all of that stuff being out in the public. Doug Schoen joined us now, former Clinton advisor, former advisor to Bloomberg and longtime Democratic strategist. Doug, you glad Graham Platner's gone, and do you wonder how he got there to begin with? I couldn't be more pleased that he's gone. Brian, his candidacy was a fraud from the start. He had no qualification. a manufactured candidate of the Democratic Socialists who had so many liabilities that I cannot believe that he was ever taken seriously. I hope my party learns from what Senator John Fetterman said and what is obvious. We need a mainstream Democratic candidate. in Maine, not a replica of Graham Platner. But, you know, look, he was winning for a while, trailing by about four now. And then you have Abdul El-Sayed, we'll head to head with Mike Rogers. I know it's early. It's a one or two-point race. And Mike Rogers is going to have a tough time. He had a tough time against Alyssa Slotnik, almost won, but it was still a point or two. Why is it that they're not being trounced across the state? if their philosophy is so radical compared to what Democrats have been? Well, I think it's two things. First, in primaries, the far left tends to predominate. That's number one. Number two, I don't think the electorate fully understands the positions they've taken and the extreme nature of their candidacy. And I believe, as I think you might, many do, that Mike Rogers would have a much better chance against Abdul El-Sayed than he would against Haley Stevens. I rank Abdul El-Sayed a narrow favorite to win the primary, but candidly, the Republicans are hoping that Abdul El-Sayed wins the primary. He'll be tougher to beat. So I want you to hear you it said about how in Maine they're obsessed with stopping Susan Collins, cut 37.

It really doesn't matter. Democrats in Maine have been trying to unseat Susan Collins forever. She's superwoman, the Senate superwoman, 10,000 consecutive roll call votes, chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, the workers at Bath Iron Works, the workers at the Portsmouth submarine base in New Hampshire that live in Maine, they all want Susan Collins to remain chair of the Appropriations Committee. So they keep coming up with different kinds of kryptonite. You can't beat Susan Collins because... 10,000 consecutive votes, John. That's a record. And she's a very moderate, very common-sense senator. Maine's a common-sense place. So he may stay and he may leave. It really doesn't matter. Susan Collins is going to win. Graham Platner did leave an hour later from that interview. But I think that there's a better chance whoever emerges, except this guy, Troy Jackson, is another Bernie Sanders disciple. Yeah. Brian, he finished third. in the primary. Nerev Shah. For governor, right? For governor. And Nerov Shah finished second in that primary for governor is a mainstream moderate Democrat who has a record of public health and public service. And I just... Don't think there's any reason why we Democrats should commit Harry Carey and nominate somebody who isn't a mainstream Democrat, who may not even be a Democrat at all in terms of their ultimate philosophy, because these Democratic socialists are using the Democratic Party to advance a radical ideology that is... antithetical to everything I believe, we believe, and the American people believe. So what they're saying, Doug Schoen, is they're going for the workers. They want to, it's time to stop the oligarchs, stop the wealthy, and help the workers. So that's, if you look at who is supporting the DSA, at least in New York City, it's mostly rich white people. So, and they're getting single digits when it comes to the workers. Can you talk about the deceptiveness of going about for the workers? Yeah, this is just political rhetoric. Now, it's good political rhetoric. It appeals more to the wealthy and to young people who may well be frustrated economically that they haven't gotten great jobs out of college. But it's not working class people. And in New York, it is younger people, well-educated, and recent immigrants, those who've just moved to New York City, who form the core of the base of Zohran Mamdani and the Democratic Socialists. So I want to talk about Abdul El-Sayed. He's got some problems. Number one, is he a doctor? And is he a working class guy? Is he a rich guy? He doesn't have an answer to any of those questions. Does he miss the Ayatollah? He won't answer that question. Cut 40. Haley Stevens has also attacked you and Mike Rogers for being millionaires, who she says conveniently did not file their 2026 personal financial disclosures. You sought an extension through August 13th, I believe, which is after the primary.

Was this to avoid transparency with your voters? Why not released them before the election? No, just taxes get complicated. My wife and her family own property abroad, and so getting all those tax forms is a thing. And this is, by the way, the same extension that... She said you're a millionaire and you're hiding that. Well, if you take my assets and my wife's assets together, then I guess they add up to something like that. But my career has never been about trying to maximize on money. Otherwise, I would have just gone and been a surgeon. But, you know, my focus has always been on public service. And it's interesting to try and compare... apples to oranges here. If you file on your own, then of course your assets look like one thing, which Congressman Stevens does. If you file with a partner, your assets might look like something else. So never answer the question, and he's not a doctor, by the way, and he keeps calling himself a doctor. Yeah, I think he is a synthetic manufactured candidate. in the same way that Abdul El-Sayed is. And he, how can he accept Ryan support from the virulent anti-Semite Hasan Piker? I mean, he's campaigned with him. I think that's enough to disqualify him in and of itself. And he's the worst. And Hasan Piker really hates America, call for Rick Scott's death. doesn't think Israel should exist. And I was literally shocked by a couple of things. I looked at people that are going to run for president, and clearly Rahm Emanuel was one of them. He went out of his way to go to Israel to basically condemn Israel and say, your days of being an ally where you get defense, you get our defense weapons, you're just going to be one of 23 Middle Eastern countries that we have relationships with. So. Why would you think he's doing that strategically when he was supposed to be in the middle moderate lane and he's a smart, savvy guy? Why do you think it was necessary for him to go over there to Israel to condemn Israel? I think he is contemplating actively a race for president. He knows where opinion inside the Democratic Party is, which is regrettably anti-Israel. And I think, unfortunately and sadly, he is playing to that sentiment as a means of trying to inoculate himself from the attack that he's too pro-Israel. Do you think that it's possible to get the nomination and say I support Israel on the Democratic platform when we watch the candidates line up for a debate in 27? Not only are they going to disparage APEC, which is a lobby group for Israel, has everyone to have to disavow Israel? Well, I hope not, but I fear that that will happen. And again, my own view is you can take issue with the Prime Minister of Israel, as many do, but to go to Israel to denounce them. At the same time, when we're fighting a war against terror...

in the Middle East, vis-a-vis Iran, a war that has begun anew, apparently. I say with a lot of these Democrats who attack Benjamin Netanyahu, that therefore regime change in Jerusalem, but not in Tel Aviv. I'm sorry, and not in Tehran. I apologize. How can you be for regime change in a democratic state that is not a country that we have? a say over their democratic system and yet be against it in an autocracy where the supreme leader and the elites have chanted death to Israel, death to the United States, death to our president for years. I don't understand that. I couldn't do it. Here's a little of Rahm Emanuel speech. Cut 13. Your government has been complicit in the horrors now being inflicted on innocent families in the West Bank. That undermines your international legitimacy as a small nation at a time when you can least afford it. So he's lecturing them on what they're doing. He's talking about the West Bank, but he's also talking about other places. I don't think anyone's for annexing the West Bank except for extreme conservatives on the right in Israel. Why are you reaching for that? You know, I don't know. I mean, again, if he was just talking about Gaza, he would have at the very least a defensible argument that Israel may have overreached. But given what Hamas does and how they hide among civilian populations and hospitals and the unspeakable terror they committed on October 7th, I understand why the Israelis have done what they have. But again, how can you say that our longest, most stable, democratic ally in the Middle East is somehow one of 23 countries? I can understand you might want to limit yourself to defensive weapons. Again, I understand that. Not my position, but it's understandable. But to do what some Democrats have done vis-a-vis Israel. is very sad to me. It's not my position. And it's not what I think is right. It's upside down. It has a Democratic election in October. Let's wait and see what happens because there are candidates who are credible who offer a different worldview from the prime minister. Why intrude now? into Israeli politics. And you know, Doug Schoen, that everybody knows who's ever leading Israel, you don't deal with Hezbollah, you can't cut a deal with Hamas, you can't cut a deal with Islamic Jihad, and you can't cut a deal with Iran. So Syria finally probably is not an enemy, and the other Arab nations are closer than ever to being friends, certainly partners. So they don't attack anybody that doesn't attack them. Simple as that. Lastly, you have great... foreign policy knowledge and passion. So you see what's happening with Iran. They've been our enemy for 47 years. And now we basically can rip up the MOU and we have to reopen the straight. Here's General Jack Keene, cut 19.

They have been in control somewhat of the Straits of the Moose since March 2nd when they shut it down. So four months, they have, in their minds, been in control. And they're not going to give this up without a fight, in my view. And it will likely lead to an acceleration of military operations to bend them to our will. I think that is the path we're on. I think that the only thing we have to do now is forget about talking, open up the straight and hold it ourselves. What do you think? I completely agree with General Keene. I think he's right. I think the only thing the Iranians understand is power. I think President Trump has now understood that. And I say this not as a Democrat. I say this as an American. How can we not support? the efforts of the United States, whether you like the policy, don't like the policy, whatever, how can you not say, thank goodness, that we are fighting to eliminate the scourge of terror and nuclear weapons from a state that is committed to our death and destruction? I hear you. Doug Schoen, if I was to ask you for the top three candidates that you hope run for the nomination in 28, who would it be? I hope next time when we... do an interview of this type, which I greatly enjoy, that you'll give me a chance to think about it. Because right now as I sit here, I'd have a tough time giving you names that would fit that list. But I'll tell you this, I do hope Senator John Fetterman stays in the Democratic Party, if he can, and stays in the Senate, which is critical for my party. I just hope that you guys don't marry him. And then... I hope so, too. Yeah, and you know what? I think Republicans should leave Malone. I wouldn't even run anybody against him. I hope they do. Yeah. Doug Schoen, you always great. Thank you so much. And now you have homework. Thank you so much. Next time you on, you have homework. You have to be able to answer that next. I know, I get it. I'm going to do my homework. Go get him. Back in a moment. Both sides, all opinions. It's Brian Kilmeade. From his mouth to your ears, it's Brian Kilmeade. Sponsored by Previgin. Previgin, made for your brain. I've seen something like this before. You have to go back 16 years. Remember, it was that Republican Tea Party wave of 2010. I would argue the Democratic version of it is a new Tea Party, but it's on steroids. Why do I say that? Well, let's just start off with the fact approve of their own party in Congress. Republicans in July of 2010, it was 52%. A very low percentage, but at least it was north of 50%. Look at where we are now with Democrats in terms of them approving their own members of Congress. It's actually below 50%. like their party more than Republicans did during the Tea Party wave of 2010. Just 47% of Democrats now approve of their own party in Congress. As I said, it's a new Tea Party, but it's a Tea Party on steroids. And we're seeing the impact is having on some Democratic incumbents. Absolutely the case. And the incumbents are just running for the hills. Do you know anybody speaking forcefully?

Like, I don't know, Harry Reid used to speak out all the time, and Nancy Pelosi used to speak out all the time. I don't see Hakeem Jeffries doing anything except going after Trump, not going after the extreme left. Chuck Schumer only stepped forward after all this stuff on Graham Platner came out. He wasn't really campaigning hard, but back the governor of Maine, and now we're back in Haley Stevens in Michigan. I know those are somewhat traditional, but the reason why, this guy goes to a parade, Chuck Schumer, and gets booed. So I know leadership can be polarizing. I know Mitch McConnell for the longest time every time he ran for re-election was trailing in Kentucky and would eventually prevail. I think most likely when you're in leadership, sometimes when things don't get done, especially with the Republican president, you tend to get to blame, especially one as unorthodox as President Trump. So we'll see what happens, but that's Harry Enton over on CNN, looking at some of the poll numbers. And I just think, as Josh Holmes said earlier, It's going to be four or five seats either way, which means it's all winnable, it's all getable, which means I think you've got to be really smart on how you're deploying your heavy hitters, your most popular candidates, a lot of your money. The one thing that would be disastrous. If the Republicans lose the House, they'd say, okay, that's the long-term 250 years political trend. But if they lose the Senate, when no one even thought that was possible a few months ago, that means they'd have to lose Ohio. North Carolina, as well as not flip Georgia or Michigan, wow, or New Hampshire, where Sununu's name is really strong in New Hampshire and John Sununu is going to run. So that would be something and it would be so detrimental to presence. governing in getting things done because he couldn't get anybody confirmed, zero confirmed. Little bit of the Supreme Court justice. You know, then Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito will probably say, look, I probably should step aside now. But not if they don't have a Republican Senate. Where Democrats were stupid enough to blow up the filibuster, now you don't even need 60, so you put up whoever you want, they'll get confirmed.

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