Brian Kilmeade ShowJanuary 27, 20262h 2m

Can Tom Homan Fix the Minneapolis ICE Chaos?

Showing mention at 24:19 — highlighted below

Transcript

289 segments
0:02

From high atop, Fox News headquarters in New York City, always seeking solutions, never sewing division. It's Brian Kilmeade. So glad you're there. It's the Tuesday show. Brian Kilmeade coming your way. Ostra Nomani will be with us, the editor of investigations for Fox News Digital, broke a big story on what is going on, organized behind the scenes with what's happening in Minneapolis, how the Left Green Alliance is undermining America's freedom. She has got a great column there, original reporting. Lieutenant Colonel Alan West will be telling us what's happening in Texas. And so much more, as well as our military, as we seem to be moving on Armada in the president's word over to Iran. Is military action next? After all, a general, admiral from Sencom was just in Israel on Saturday, briefing them on basically what we might be up to and are they prepared to watch their back and ours? So before we get to Brett Baer and Colonel West and Oshran Amani, let's get to the big three. Number three. Let's be frank about this. It's unlikely that Russia will go along with this, as they're already saying they disagree with the land deal that's on the table is the one issue they believe is still unresolved. And that is General Jack Keene. Are we heading to peace in Ukraine and war in Iran? We're going to look at the prospects for both in these two very fluid situations. Number two. The two Chinese generals in question, the Wall Street Journal reported exclusively that President Xi Jinping removed General Zhang for allegedly sharing China's nuclear secrets with the U.S. and accepting bribes in exchange for promoting Li Shang Fu to defense minister. Now, yet the sharing of nuclear secrets, not many people believe it was in the Wall Street Journal. I'm not casting share to the Wall Street Journal. They think it's a line from China. But what are they up to? Bad timing. Angry West seems to be courting China as their government seems to be in disarray, as you just heard, after mass military firings. They've forgotten the predatory practices of this autocratic menace when it comes to economics and war. Yes, I'm talking to you, Germany, UK, Canada, and Finland. Number one. Mr. Holman is the point person for cooperating with state and local authorities and corresponding with them, again, to achieve this level of cooperation to subdue the chaos on the streets of Minneapolis. Yep, that is the press secretary. The fix is on the way. Tom Homan is in and Gregory Bovino is out and a true pro comes to town to calm the riots and scoop up the illegals the right way. This is a shutdown looms over THS funding. which is pure folly. And because most of the funding's already been done, if you actually shut the government down over DHS funding, you'll be denying things like FEMA and other things like airport funding. And you'll be destroying the military for not giving them funding.

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For no reason, pure politics. Brett Baer joins us now. Brett, first off, what about the change? We haven't seen much change outside Mike Waltz going to the U.N. We have not seen much change with this White House. But now, Kristi Noem, after a two-hour meeting along with Corey Lewandowski and the president in the White House, is no longer in charge in Minneapolis. And I don't think any of these, I think more than likely any of these city operations. What do you think? Yeah, good morning. I think it's a sign that while the White House is publicly saying that the president hasn't lost any trust in Secretary Kristi Noem, that she is potentially in trouble and that he has confidence in Tom Homan believes that he can kind of set the... the stage there in Minneapolis and Minnesota better, and that he will report directly to President Trump. I mean, he doesn't put that in the truth social post unless there is something amiss. And by all accounts, there is, you know, a lot of infighting in DHS between Kristi Noem and her ally, obviously, Corey Lewandowski, Rodney Scott. Border Patrol and Tom Homan with Noam. So that bad blood is kind of playing out here in the midst of... What I know the president probably realizes is something that they've got to clean up quick. Todd Lyons, too, was on the outs, and it looked like Rodney Scott was marginalized. Tom Homan's going to bring both those guys back in, and I think he's going to diminish the number of ICE and Border Patrol in the city. I'm very curious to see if the meetings with the mayor and governor will change the tone on all. on both those instead of continuing to say this is love and you have an obligation to shoot this and Anne Frank references. I wonder if we're going to see a change of tone. Well, I mean, just in the conversations that both sides reflected on yesterday between the president and Governor Walts and the president and the Minneapolis mayor, I think that both are saying that they're de-escalating. the rhetoric. And I think that, you know, that's probably a positive sign. Not only that, but then you start getting local and state police involved and local and state authorities allowing ICE to do their job with the protection that really arguably should have been a couple weeks already. Hey, listen, Kristi Noem and Tom Homing weren't talking. Tom Homan was not getting a call back for months. And. That's a problem. Especially if you're alienating Tom Homan, do you understand that you couldn't have anybody who is more in sync with the president and Tom Homan? And you do that in your own peril. You should understand basic office politics better than that. So here's Senator Ted Cruz on the need for change. Cut nine. What I think the administration could do better.

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is the tone with which they're describing this. That immediately when an incident like this happens, they come out guns blazing, that we took out a violent terrorist, hooray. And... The problem is, particularly for someone not paying attention, if you're being told this is a mom of three and there's no indication, you know, she's not waving an ISIS flag or doesn't have a suicide vest around her. Yeah. Escalating the rhetoric doesn't help and it actually loses credibility. So. That's not usual for the senator to take on the administration and their policies. And I think it's in wake of the change. It gives people freedom to act. I'm wondering, Brett, do you think this leads to a shutdown? What does your gut tell you? What do your sources say? Well, Democrats are heading that way because they see that this is a really political, valuable moment for them. They've seen polls turn their way. They've seen independence shift dramatically against some of these ICE operations. and believe that stirring this pot is a good thing. But as you talked about earlier, It's not really fruitful if that's what they're trying to do. If you're trying to deny ICE money, it is not this way because they've been funded largely, almost completely, through 2029. So you take that money and you then affect TSA and somebody that can't get someplace because of airport backup or FEMA and emergency funds in the wake of these snowstorms. You know, I think that is potentially dangerous politically. But right now, Democrats are, you know, sowing their oats. They feel like this is a valuable political moment. So I'm looking at some of the polls. And the president's got a reason to feel he's on the right side of this. When asked, are you for deporting all illegal criminals? The New York Times poll, 55% yes. Marquette polls, 64% said yes. CBS, 57% said yes in ABC 56. So it comes down to if these polls, I mean, it's very rare to get polls over 50% like this. So let's say they're true or they're trending true. It's all about the methods. And if Tom Homan offers the fresh start there, I think we could be on the right track. Because Tom Homan said, we got to go for the worst of the worst. And you'll put all the pressure on the people protecting illegal immigrants in sanctuary status, if that is indeed the case.

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Yeah, I think it's about painting the picture. It's about the tactics they use. It's about how they do it. Obviously, you're going to have these professional agitators and other protesters that are designed to kind of stir the pot in each one of these operations. But if you have local and state authorities helping separate that, maybe have protest areas that are away from the operation, all kinds of things that you can do. Number two is that you're right. When you talk specifically about criminals and getting them off the street, The polls are exponential. Guess what else is exponential? When you say for people who have been here illegally but have been paying taxes or have been part of the community before 2020, if you provide them some way, some pathway, maybe you do the dreamers, all of this stuff, it's starting to be a 70, 30, 80, 20 issue. And I don't know if the president's going to get there, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's a long ball in the game before the midterms. So, Brett, I'll tell you, the president has said on the air with us here that he is for finding a solution for people that have been there a couple of decades. Maybe it's a long-term work visa with a sponsorship. Maybe it's not rewarding with, you know, coming here illegally with citizenship. But maybe it's... getting them acclimated into the system where you can get insurance and you can get scale pay and things to that nature, no longer have to fear deportation. So that is something I hear you. And I think the president wants to do that. I think Stephen Miller, I think Kristi Noem and who's ever telling Kristi Noem what to do are the ones pushing against that. The zero-sum game I don't think is where the American people at. Thanks so much. Hey, Brett, look forward to you tonight. See special report tonight at 6 o'clock Eastern Time. To them. All right, coming up next, the story of the woke army, the left green alliance that is undermining America's freedom. I'm talking about those organized groups and protesters that are getting paid to create havoc in Minneapolis. where big stories meet bigger conversations. Stay informed and energized with the Brian Kilmeade. 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.

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If you're interested in it, Brian's talking about it. You're with Brian Kilmeade. So with me right now is Osir Nomani. She's a senior editor of investigations for Fox News Digital. And I'm just fascinated by her column and our follow-up from on Fox News Digital right now. The far-left network that helped put Alex Pretty in harm's way that made him a martyr. What's going on with these protests in Minneapolis? Are they upset at ICE or is this an organized resistance? They could be replicated in other states. Is it actually outside our borders? Osra, welcome to the show. Thanks so much, Brian. All right. So first off, when people look at these protests and they see the gas masks and they see the way they know how to assemble, the communication's definitely there. What did you find in your investigation? Well, Brian, thanks so much for having me on. I just want to just give folks some context. You know, for many years, I've been following the insurgency in faraway places like Pakistan and Afghanistan. And what I have been able to document now with this new report for Fox News Digital is this insurgency in the United States, Brian. What I was able to document is that the efforts that we see in Minneapolis by this. network called Ice Watch is a very coordinated and well-funded operation that is using the best of technologies in order to track, document, and harass federal agents as they're doing their jobs. And this was exhibited on the streets that morning of the fatal killing of the victim Saturday morning. So I want you to hear some of their communication that we were able to get with this undercover video. This is Cam Higby, and this is some of the coordination. Listen to them looking for license plate numbers on ICE and Border Patrol vehicles. Cut 29. The person that just asked for a plate check a minute ago that said 218. Yeah, it's a white, heavy truck, pickup truck. Thank you. If you can get documentation, video, or photos of that plate on that car, we can document. Thank you. So that is Kim Higbee's video. He was able to get a hold of that. Some of that dialogue is coordinated and funded. It is absolutely coordinated and funded, Brian. What has happened is that a network has emerged of these far left groups in Minneapolis and around the country that are aligned and self-identified as socialist, Marxist, and Leninist. Those are words that I think a lot of people think that we would have left far long ago at the end of the Cold War. But they literally say that they are waging a new Cold War. And some of the organizations that have been sending foot soldiers to Minneapolis include the Party for Socialism and Liberation, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

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the network that includes the Democratic Socialists of America that has just elected Zohran Mamdani. What's really important for folks to understand is that This is a network that has been funded and facilitated by an American-born billionaire by the name of Neville Roy Singham, who is living in Shanghai. And so my reporting continues to unravel his network of organizations. But I can absolutely tell you that that network kicked in as soon as the news reported the killing of this victim on Saturday morning. And Brian, what is really illustrative is that one of the first videos that we saw was from one of the propaganda wings of this network called Breakthrough News. So Breakthrough News splashed right away the video of the killing. on its ex account and blasted it. It's got millions of views now. And what was it doing? It was alerting the troops that this emergency had happened. And within hours, they had an emergency protest in New York City and around the country and sent more foot soldiers into the streets right outside the donut shop where the killing had happened. So was he part of this network, Alex Prattie? Well, right now, my reporting doesn't identify exactly what his role was, but this is what I did establish. So, Brian, on Saturday morning, I saw evidence of the signal chat in which members of this Ice Watch unit had alerted their members to go to the donut shop where Alex Pretty was then. killed a few minutes later. It was before his killing. And what they were doing is they were alerting their members that there were two federal agents at this glam donut shop that is really trending and well-liked there in the community. There on the street, they noted that there was a maroon Dodge Durango, just like the audio clip that you heard, and they sent out an alert for rapid responders to show up at that donut shop. And indeed, what we see in the video evidence is that flood of... protesters and demonstrators against the federal agents that were assembled there. How did they show up? These are the indicators of how they arrived there. Now, Alex Prattie, we don't know exactly how he arrived there, but he was part of that assembly that was there to face off against the federal agents. What about Ryan Good? Was she part of it?

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So her also operation in trying to block the cars fit right into the pattern of how these operatives handle themselves. She was trained. That's what they say. She was trained. Yeah. And absolutely, Brian, she was part of the ice watch units that were sent to the streets. Why is all of this important? I think people intuitively know that it's important to recognize what happens on the streets when you have this kind of organized network facing off against law enforcement officials. I just want to zoom out a little bit, which is... You only have 30 seconds. Sure. Military experts say that, you know, the pattern of this behavior is exactly like the insurgencies in Pakistan and Afghanistan. They use the local community. to organize an insurgency against the government. And it seems like the mayor and governor are perfectly, they're very comfortable with all this. In fact, they seem to have given the go sign to them intentionally or unintentionally by saying, grab your cameras and chronicle this for us. Not one word about, hey, I don't want to see the violence. Enough of the violence. Don't bite off an agent's finger like you did. Osra and Omani, look, check out her great column on Fox News Digital right now.

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makes you think. This is the Brian Kilmeade. I don't think either been a good or Alex Pready had any idea of the danger they were in. That's irresponsible. The behaviors of everybody from the top Democrats that have been telling people that these are Nazis that must be resisted at all costs, to the organizers, to all of the nonprofit groups involved in this, shame on all of them. I mean, they are the ones that got good and pretty killed by putting them in a situation of danger. Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi would never have done anything like that. They would take responsibility to keep people as safe as possible. The left has been seeking provocations and seeking violence, and sadly, that's what they got. Right, and he went on to Michael Schellenberger from the West Coast, and he is not a Republican or Democrat, kind of in between, to say this about the protesters, cut 19. The left doesn't care about the... immigrants who are here illegally. I know for a fact. I mean, I live in Berkeley. I work, you know, I actually speak Spanish. I work with undocumented immigrants. Talk to them all the time. I can tell you for a fact that these liberal white progressives, they have no relationship to any of the people. It's all completely ideological. It's like a video game for them. I mean, both of the people that were killed good and pretty were 37. An understandable desire to feel heroic, make your life feel like it has some purpose. But they had no idea what they were being forced into. They were out of control. I mean, to go, look, I support the Second Amendment, just like I support the First Amendment. He had a right to carry a gun. Yeah. But you got to ask, like, what was the thinking there? There's no, there's no sense of responsibility or awareness. Lieutenant Colonel Allen West joined us now, Dallas County Republican Party chair, and he's also the American Constitutional Rights Union Executive Director. Colonel, what are your thoughts about the president's not only changed with Tom Homan in charge, but what Michael Schellenberger said about the nature of the protests and how people put themselves in harm's way? Well, Brian, it's good to be with you, and hopefully you're safe and secure a warm up there. Michael Schoenberger is absolutely correct. We're not dealing with protests. We're dealing with an insurgency. We're dealing with insurrectionists. And again, I'm a big Second Amendment guy. I mean, and I carry very often. But I'm not going to carry in the process of obstructing, impeding, or interfering with law enforcement operations. But yet this is what people are being told to do. I'm not going to get out there in a vehicle and obstruct, impede, or interfere with the law enforcement operation, which is based upon the Constitution, which is making sure that people that are here illegally and on top of that committing crimes are not being able to be out and about on our streets. So I think it is a great thing that Tom Homan is going there, because Tom Homan has been with the Obama administration, he's been with the Trump administration, he's well regarded, well respected.

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And he's one of those cool heads that will, you know, say either you're abiding by the law or you're not. And you need to tell people to stop going out there and interfering. This is what happens in an insurgency. These people are told to go out there and do these things and they lose their lives, but then they are turned into some type of symbol or martyr. And it's a sad reality that we see happening in Minnesota. So Tom Homing goes in there. Do you get the sense that there needs to be a change at the top? I mean, people are saying Kristi Noem had demanded a two-hour meeting with the president about her being pushed out and having Tom Homan step in. They don't speak to each other. You know how to run a unit. You know how to run a company. You know how to run an organization. What do you do like that? What do you do in situations like this? Well, I think that without a doubt, you have seen a loss in trust and confidence and abilities of the Secretary of Homeland Security. She made some pretty bad statements, you know, coming out and saying that you don't, you know, carry a pistol or firearm to a protest. I think back in Virginia, not too long ago, you had thousands of people that were armed and they were protesting the Second Amendment curtailment there in Virginia. Nothing happened. So Americans do have that Second Amendment right, which is what Michael Schellenberger said. But you don't do that in confronting law enforcement and, again, in obstructing a law enforcement operation. So I think that, yes, Tom Homan being tasked to go out there, Mr. Bovino being told to come back and withdraw, it shows that there's a different person that's going to be in charge there. And I think that it's a person that's well respected. And he is a good messenger. And he is the right type of person to be out there because he has that experience. So now the big question is that Democrats feel as though they're on the offensive. And they want to say if you don't defund ICE, which is funded through 2029 virtually, we are going to not sign off on those appropriations bills that were passed through regular order through the House. And therefore the government will shut down. Here's Senator John Fetterman, who came out against what they're seeing with ICE, but says this about the potential shutdown, cut 33. I was one of the Democrats that led to push back about the government shut down last year. And for about 45 days that kept things shut down. If the Democrats vote to shut it down, now our entire military won't be paid again. I can't ever support that. I absolutely hope we can engage in a debate and make some of the kinds of common sense reforms on ice and make it more safe, more humane, and more effective and just focus exclusively on the criminals. I hope that's possible. But for me, I remain to be one Democrat at least that refuses to shut our government down. And now if this happens, our military won't be paid because the significant part of our government would shut down again. And we have a storm bearing down this weekend. FEMA would be out of money.

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Yeah, absolutely right. And so there's a difference going on the offense when you have the moral high ground, but going on the offense because you're stupid, that's what the Democrats are doing. They don't have a leg to stand on. What they're basically saying is that an agency that was created to enforce federal law. This is federal law. This is the Constitution as well. They want to abolish it. They want to defund it. So in other words, they're saying that they would rather have lawlessness. They once again want to continue to support. criminal illegal immigrants being in this country. And let's be very honest, Minnesota and in Minneapolis, they are not cooperating with ICE. There are two letters that the Attorney General Keith Ellison has sent out to sheriffs across the state of Minnesota threatening them, telling them that they cannot work with ICE because it's against Minneapolis law, which again, that's a violation of the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution, Article 6, Section 2. So this comes back to the rule of law, and we cannot allow this lawlessness to continue on. But I tell you, Tim Walz and Ellison and all these others, they're happy to have this continue to go on because we're not talking about the Somali fraud. And the president's starting, and that's what he wants to focus on and go after Elon Musk Omar, who can't explain why her and her husband are now made millions of dollars when she had virtually nothing. 30 million. 30 million. You go from $50,000 in your net worth, and this is reported on her financial disclosure. She goes from $50,000 to $30 million in four years. Hey, let me tell you something, Brian. You and me need to get on that scheme. We wouldn't do it, especially you. Let's talk about Iran. The president's put our military assets in the area on Saturday. He sent an admiral from SendCom in to meet with Israel to know what to expect. The word is, according to Axios, he has not made up his mind yet. But here's what's in the region. Cut 54. Here's Jennifer Griffin. Tonight, President Trump told Axios he thinks Iran is ready to make a deal as the U.S. surges assets to the region. The USS Abraham Lincoln Strike Group is now in the Sintcom area of operations in the Indian Ocean. It will still be a few more days before it is in a position to potentially target Iran. It's accompanied by three guided missile destroyers. So I don't think they're ready to make a deal. They've killed about 30,000 protesters in cold blood. The word from the Ayatollah was kill everybody to maintain power. He's hiding in a bunker. I know how angry Americans should be with Iran of what they've done since 1979. But what do you think is the prudent right thing to do now? I think the prudent right thing to do, if you're going to take some type of kinetic action, it would be to eliminate or degrade the capability of capacity of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Bosci forces, to isolate Iran economically. That means with their oil shipments and things of that nature, that ghost fleet that operates this the same as with Venezuela. We can intercept them. So I think you try to set the conditions for the resistance or...

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the protesters to be able to have success in toppling that regime themselves, not so much going in and trying to do it. But the message said is that President Trump is very serious. Just look at what happened with Nicholas Maduro. I don't think we're going to have a snatch and grab like that. Maybe the Israeli Mossade can do that, but we could definitely set the conditions. Here's General Keene, cut 55. A military strike by itself would probably not cause an immediate collapse of the regime, but it will certainly put them on the pathway to it because, as I indicated before, they've never been so weak. And yes, Iran has the means to retaliate, but they don't want to go to war with the United States. That guarantees them the loss of the regime, despite the bluster of their comments that they're making. So, yeah, I'm very curious to see what happens next because in Iran, that is not an enemy of America, I know it's not going to be a democracy like America, would free up so many possibilities for the Middle East. Well, the most important thing is you get rid of the number one state sponsor of Islamic terrorism and jihadism. And that will put a real, you know, a couple of torpedoes in the bow for, you know, Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, and all of them. And then we can focus until Qatar and Turkey after that. Lastly, Russians are now during trial at all talks, first time since 2022. Russians are demanding all of Donbos. They have about 80% of it right now. And in terms for security guarantees, the U.S. said, if you give up Donbos, I'm just bringing you what people are reporting. The president says, we will provide your security guarantee. And I know the UK and France and others have said we'll put military assets in there. Your thought about bringing this to a close and what that would look like. Yeah, there has to be consequences. If Vladimir Putin gets that demand, there has to be consequences and ramifications for that. And that means that we will put a security force on the ground. And, you know, that was one of the things when Ukraine decided to give up this nuclear weapons that we said we would provide security to them. So that's already on the table. So we're not creating anything new, but you cannot trust Vladimir Putin. He's an evil dictator. And so if there is some type of quid pro quo, then it has to come with, okay, then we're going to have people on the ground. And I don't think Vladimir Putin wants that. And he is desperate for recruits. In a country of 150 million, taking on a country of 46 million, he cannot staff his army that's losing on average 30,000 a month. Can you wrap your head around that, Colonel?

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No, no, I can't. I mean, you know, 20, I think it was 23,000. We lost one day at Antietam. But to lose something like that every month, that's just absolutely incredible. But then again, this is another important reason about isolating China from Russia because the North Koreans that are being set there to fight for Russia. That's another concern as well. Right. And China wants to deal with the U.K. France and we're so evil now, Canada. Do you think they might bring up the fact that if it wasn't for China supporting Russia, they wouldn't have the sustained campaign in Ukraine? Were they just so mad that Donald Trump is mean to them? Well, that's one of the things that, you know, you look at Mark Carney and you say, why are you going into an agreement with the number one geopolitical foe of Western civilization? And China has said that. And then one built one road strategy. So without a doubt, I think that there will be some back channel phone calls to some of these leaders, especially these NATO members, to say, you know, we don't need to continue to bolster China. Especially as Xi Jinping is obviously having some internal issues because he's starting to get rid of his all generals. Yeah. Hey, Colonel, so much going on. It's crazy times. And I know you guys in Dallas are dealing with ice and snow, right? Yeah, we've got about three to five inches of hard-packed ice and snow. And here in my neighborhood, it's like glass out there. So we're still hunkered down today. Schools are closed here in Dallas. We've had 160 traffic accidents over the past three days here in the Dallas area. Well, I'll tell you what, you have four-wheel drive car? Yes, I do. I have a Jeep bug gladiator. I'm happy to have it. There you go. That'll grip the road. Lieutenant Colonel Alan West, thanks so much. Thank you. God bless. You got it. 1-866408-7669. We come back. We'll expand on a lot of the things we just spoke about and so much more. Don't move. You listen to the Brian Kilmeade. Diving deep into today's top stories. It's Brian Kilmeade.

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Breaking news, unique opinions. Here it all on the Brian Kilmeade. Week after the arson attack on the governor's mansion, President Trump called to. He did. What did he say? You know, at first, I didn't know who was calling, and I just let the call of the voicemail. And when I realized just a couple minutes later, he wasn't in your contacts. He was not in my context. He is now, though. I listened to the voicemail. As I'm listening to voicemail, Max walked in the kitchen. I was there by myself just having a cup of coffee. He was early in the morning. And Max goes, was that? Was that the president? This is your son, yeah. Yeah, my son, Max, who's now 16. And I said, are you going to call him back? I said, of course, I'm going to call him back. He said, of course, I'm going to call him back. I didn't think he was going to answer that line. I assumed it was not really his number. And sure enough, he answered the phone. And the first thing he wanted to do is to tell me that his team was on it and providing. you know, whatever support we needed from law enforcement perspective, which I know to be true. I had talked to the FBI director, talked to the Attorney General in the days before, and I appreciate what they did. And then I frankly expected the conversation to end there just a couple minutes in, and he then went on to bring up a lot of other topics. So that is Governor Josh Shapiro who said he had a great conversation with the president. And Governor Josh Shapiro, he also went to bat for the president after he was shot in Butler, Pennsylvania, obviously. So Governor Josh Shapiro has a book out now and he clearly wants to run for president. I don't think there's any doubt about it. Unless the book bombs and he does terrible in these interviews, it's a trial for him. But he's running for election. He's got 60% approval in a battleground state like Pennsylvania. But I was kind of shocked to read Tim Alberta in a very friendly magazine, the Atlantic magazine. He writes this. He says there are lots of people the governor counts his allies, people who raise money for him, support his reelection that say all the right things publicly, but have serious beefs with him privately. Behind the scenes, Josh Shapiro evidently launched a multi-city book tour, but he said evidently he has claimed Josh Shapiro has been willing to push aside allies to get ahead. Quote, he always, he's always all about him, says one Pennsylvania Democrat, elected official, an elected official told Axios, says when you first meet him, you have all these high hopes, and you see the aspiration, you think you'll share it, but you kind of come away feeling either used or like a pawn. Another longtime Democrat lawmaker in Pennsylvania said, someone once said to me that everyone knows Josh would knife his own lifelong best friend in the back. If it got him one extra point, that is a widely held view in political circles in Pennsylvania. I know he doesn't get along with Josh Shapiro. I don't know, with John Fetterman rather. So I don't know what the party was there, maybe because he's more left than John Fetterman seems to be more central. But if Josh Shapiro wants to get that nomination.

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It would be good if you had your own party's respect because you're going to get attacked by 7, 8, 9, 10 people who also want to be president. So Josh Shapiro goes after, I don't think this is a problem, Kamala Harris, goes and exposes a lot of the private conversations that they had. They came out and basically asked him, are you an Israeli agent because he was Jewish? They came out and said in this report that came out in his, in Kamala Harris's book, actually in Josh Shapiro's book, They were concerned if they picked the Josh Shapiro's, they had so little money, their wife wouldn't be able to dress up nice and give the appearance of an attractive ticket. Do you believe that? Didn't have the money? Believe me, I know there's money in politics, but that would make them even more attractive. Middle class people, you check my bank account, who's been doing public service their whole life, work living on a $300,000 salary. Maybe can't get the highest, you know, the best dress. But didn't certain Michelle Obama make her bones by going out and telling people that she sports at Walmart and Kmart in places like Target? Hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here for MintMobil. Now, I was looking for fun ways to tell you that Mint's offer of unlimited premium wireless for $15 a month is back. So I thought it would be fun if we made $15 bills. But it turns out that's very illegal. So there goes my big idea for the commercial. Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. Upround payment of $45 for three months, $90 for six months, or $180 for $12 one plan required, $15 per month equivalent. Taxes and fees extra. Initial plan term only greater than 50 gigabytes, slow when network is busy. See terms. From the Fox News Radio Studios in Midtown Manhattan, it's the fastest growing radio talk show. Brian Kilmeade.

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Hi, one, so glad you there. It's the Brian Kilmeade. We have a lot going on today, 1-8666-408-7669. And we have a great roster of guests this hour. Peter Schweitzer, standing by, President, the Governor Accountability Institute, hosts of the Dr. Dr. Dr. Accountability Institute, host of the Dr. Dr. Dr. Accountability Institute, host, with Stuart Marnie. First, let's get to the big three. Number three. Let's be frank about this. It's unlikely that Russia will go along with this, as they're already saying they disagree with the land deal that's on the table is the one issue they believe is still unresolved. Not optimistic, General Keene. Are we heading to peace in Ukraine and war in Iran? We're going to look at the prospects for both in these two very fluid situations. Number two. The two Chinese generals in question, the Wall Street Journal reported exclusively that President Xi Jinping removed General Zhang for allegedly sharing China's nuclear secrets with the U.S. and accepting bribes in exchange for promoting Li Shang Fu to defense minister. Bad timing and angry West seems to be courting China as their governor via government seems in disarray after mass military firings in the Chinese Politburo. Have they forgotten the predatory practices, military and economic, of the autocratic menace? Yes, I'm talking to you, Germany, UK, Canada, and Finland. Number one. Mr. Tom Homan is the point person for cooperating with state and local authorities and corresponding with them, again, to achieve this level of cooperation, to subdue the chaos on the streets of Minneapolis. That is Karoline Leavitt. The fix is on the way. Tom Homan is in and Gregory Bovino is out, and the true pro comes to town to calm things down and scoop up the illegals the right way. This is a sudden shutdown looms over DHS funding. We'll keep up to date to that. So Peter Switzer, we've been noticing some of these. What is happening in Minneapolis. We see what's happening in New York City. We see the elections that are taking place across the country. We have Somali almost beat that terrible mayor fry in an election. And a socialist went out in Seattle. You see this as a big series of not random events, concerted events. In what respect? Yeah, Brian, look, we've been having a national conversation in this country for a decade at least about immigration as it relates to the economy, you know, violence on our streets, et cetera. What I really focus on in my research is the weaponization of immigration. So it's one thing that you have a debate over how many immigrants should be here, the state of illegal immigration. What I'm arguing is that these immigrants come in, some of them, and they form political networks with a cooperation of foreign powers, the Chinese government, the Mexican government. A lot of people are surprised by that one. The Muslim Brotherhood. These political networks are waging, in their words, not mine.

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civilizational warfare against the United States. So we need to come to grips with the reality that some of the chaos we're seeing in Minneapolis that we saw in Los Angeles last year. It is organized and it involves in some cases foreign officials that are stoking the flames and fueling this chaos. Well, a couple of things. It's amazing that they feel such a... a comfortability with Democrats. So instead of Democrats and Republicans realizing this is a threat, they seem to be very comfortable working through the Democratic Party. Why is that? Yeah, it's the Democratic Party realized in the 1990s under Bill Clinton that immigrants were a massive plus for the Democratic Party. A newly naturalized citizens vote 80 to 85 percent Democratic. That evens out over time, by the way. The next generation, it's closer to 50-50. But, of course, that's 20 years. You have a voting block that's voting 80 to 85 percent Democrat. And that led Democrats to embrace immigration. It also led them, Brian, whenever they are in power, the Clinton administration, the Obama administration, Biden administration, they completely gut the citizenship process. They get rid of criminal background checks. They get rid of competency requirements. they get rid of language requirements because they don't want to mint new voters. And I actually quote in the book emails from White House officials saying people are going to accuse us of running quote unquote voter mills because of what we're doing. So this is a marriage of convenience between Democrats who see the political benefit from this and these nefarious foreign actors that literally say they want to transform and radically change America to reflect more their views than ours. And Peter is that. Explain why we see Bill Clinton sounding like Donald Trump when it comes to immigration. Chuck Schumer and Harry Reid, the same thing. We could play these cuts back. These guys don't ever go anywhere. And then we go, what happened? Would change to make you change? Meanwhile, Republicans, maybe they were a little bit stricter when it comes to law and, you know, cracking down on the border. But they basically had a negotiating stance, I guess a negotiating apparatus with Democrats. But now it's there's so. different when it comes to this issue. What happened? Yeah, I think a couple of things happened, Brian. One is the sort of myth that we were going to have open relationships in North America, you know, through NAFTA. It was going to be a great economic success for the United States. It was not going to have political implications. It did not. And we started to realize that mass migration is actually not just sort of a random event. If I can, Brian, let me just read two brief notes to you from senior Mexican officials about how they view mass migration. the United States. The first ones from a December 2024 government report by one of Shine Bombs top age. She's the president of Mexico. Quote, we already know that the Mexican population in the United States reaches 39.9 million. We Mexicans are retaking our territory. Or this one from a powerful senator, Mexico, member of the Morena Party, the ruling party. He sits on the National Defense Committee, the most powerful committee in the Mexican Senate. Quote, Mexicans are in our territories, California.

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Nevada, Texas, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Wyoming. We're going to take back the territory that was stolen from us. Do they literally think that those are going to become Mexican states? I don't know. But what they have done is created a network in the United States, which includes government officials, senior Mexican government officials, Brian, who live in the United States. They don't live in Mexico. They're organizing violent protests. They're meddling in our elections. They have a network of 53 consulates across the United States. China has six. The UK has seven. They view this as an opportunity. to exert sovereignty in the United States. There are many Mexican Americans who don't agree with this. They embrace American values, but they're doing that despite the wishes of the Mexican government and despite their efforts. Peter Schweitzer with us right now. His book is now out, The Invisible Coup, how American elites and foreign powers use immigration as a weapon. Peter, is that play into some of the organizations we're seeing working against ICE and Border Patrol in Minneapolis? Absolutely. And there's a pattern here, Brian. In Minneapolis, there's a couple of groups. One's called Clues. The other one is called Mirac. These are groups very active in the anti-ice protests. Both of those organizations work closely with the Mexican consulate that is in the Twin Cities. In fact, Clues has the same address as the Mexican consulate. And this is not a one-off. The violent riots and protests we had in Los Angeles last year, you remember those. We know, because I quote them in the book, senior Mexican officials who live in California were fanning the flames. They were encouraging the protests, in some cases, organizing the violent protests, making radical statements about how Los Angeles was occupied territory. It actually belongs to Mexico. This is not just sort of language they're throwing out. They really do believe that they have a sovereign right to exert their authority north of the border. They've actually, Brian Gott. a situation now where there are members of the Mexican Senate and Mexican legislature who represent Mexicans living in the United States and they live in the United States, which is a massive intrusion into our sovereignty. So the violent protests are going to continue. Mexico wants this because they view it as a net plus for them politically and they do not want deportations because it seeps and saps away at their political power. So here's some of the communications among the protesters in Minneapolis, and most of which have a degree of violence, and certainly they're not just sitting there with postal board. Cut 30. I'm Kyle. I'm Antifa. I understand that the women who see this are really scared, that their husbands are going to go and not come back, and that's real. We can't end this without good men. In the streets, armed and ready to protect innocent people from being gunned down by these masked murderers, these fascist occupiers. I need boots on the ground and I need them prepared to do what needs to be done. Hey, so they're going to kill us anyway. So I think maybe we should just mob them. If you comply, they're going to shoot you. If you try to leave, they're going to shoot you. Mob them. Like, that.

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Like full American Revolution, like hiding in trees. I don't know. I don't know. People are nuts. Yeah, yeah, people are nuts. And this is an insurrection. And what they're basically saying, Brian, is that the federal government does not have the authority because these radicals say they don't want them to have the authority to enforce federal law. And the last time I remember this was in the 1950s and 1960s in Alabama and Mississippi. When you had segregationists saying federal government. does not have any authority here. It's a huge problem, but we also have to recognize that there is this foreign component to what's going on. There's an individual who lives in Ontario, California, named Alejandro Robles. You know, look at his Twitter X account. He's a senior official with the Morena Party. He serves in the Mexican legislature. Last year, he was going across the United States to, in his words, quote, organized the militancy. inside the United States. He met with organizations tied to Antifa. He spoke at the People's Forum in New York, which is a hotbed of Antifa activity. You have other Mexican government officials saying that we are part of the quote-unquote permanent resistance to Trump. So this is not just... you know, crazy Antifa people. There's a foreign component to this. The Chinese as well, you've got two organizations that are neck deep in the violence in Minneapolis. PLSL, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, FRSO, Freedom Road Socialist Organization. These are both groups who themselves have pledged allegiance to the CCP in China. They meet with them. They have ties with them. They are the ones that are also trying to provoke and instigate violence in Minneapolis. So there is a foreign component to this that we need to wake up to. Well, it's interesting because Donald Trump is really throwing a monkey range into this. He sealed the border pressuring Mexico on earth Venezuela, put Maduro in a Brooklyn prison. Now is going to start putting additional pressure on Cuba by shutting, telling Mexico, you better stop sending oil over there. So this is not going according to plan for them. Right? Donald Trump doesn't help you. That's right. What Trump is doing is enormously important. By sealing the border, he sent the first message, Venezuela, his war against the drug cartels. People don't realize that the drug cartels are meddling in American politics. So this is not just a function of these cartels are selling drugs. And people say, well, my kids don't take drugs. I'm not worried about it. They are actually political actors in the United States. And they are connected. There are individuals, I should say, who are connected to an organization called Progressive International that was created by Bernie Sanders. It's run by his former foreign policy advisor. You look at about 30% of the senior leadership in that group. I name them in the book, who are directly tied to the drug cartels. And what is that organization doing? That organization is pushing two things that the drug cartels want. Number one, they want open borders.

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Dirty little secret is they made more money off of human smuggling during the Biden administration than they did. for selling drugs. So they want open borders. Second thing, Brian, is they want an end to U.S. and allied military operations against the cartels in Latin America. Those are two positions that progressive international has been very, very firm on. So this is not just about the narrow confines of the drug business. This has massive political connotations. And I think what Trump is doing is very, very important and really key to the future of American civilization. and he's got his brand new book out and it's explosive as usual. And enlightening, the invisible coup, how American elites and foreign powers use immigration as a weapon. So, Peter, I'm reading this story on Sunday with the New York Post or Saturday. And they talked about the socialists going down for their meeting, the DSA meeting. And some of which are uncomfortable because in the room are all these pictures of China. And some of these people that are involved have links to China. Some of the socialist anonymous said, I'm not comfortable with this. This is not what I brought into. Others say basically get comfortable with it. And as the socialist grow, is China legally allowed to support a political power in America? Are they allowed to funnel money into the Democratic Socialists of America, DSA? Well, if you are an entity in the United States and you're taking money from a foreign government or a foreign power adversarial to the United States, you are required at a minimum to disclose that to the federal government under the federal laws. In other words, you fill out a form, you send it to the Department of Justice, and you say, we received these funds, we coordinated in this way with this foreign power. I don't think the Democratic Socialists of America are doing that. They should be doing that. And what you're talking about is... really important as far as what's happening to the left in America. The Democratic Socialists of America, one of their big leaders used to be decades ago, a guy named Michael Harrington. He was a Democratic Socialist. He hated the Soviet Union during the Cold War. He fought and resisted the Soviet Union. That used to be kind of the unique avenue of the Democratic Socialists of America as opposed to the Communist Party, USA, etc. What's happened is the Democratic Socialists have increasingly become more... tied to these radical foreign movements. So you find, for example, that DSA members would go down and meet with Maduro. Maduro would set up these conferences. DSA members would show up. You find DSA members involved with the Sao Paulo Forum, which is another one of these radical left-wing groups that is being funded by the drug cartels. I provide the evidence in the book. So the DSA has evolved radically, and it is pushing people like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Craig Zazar and others. further to the left because they are participating with groups like Progressive International that we just talked about. And it is pushing them in a radical direction. Why else are these members of Congress of all the issues in America that we have to deal with? Why are they concerning themselves with and introducing resolutions to stop U.S. military operations against the drug cartels in Latin America? It's just utterly bizarre. And you know what? You have a great job presenting it, but even a better job.

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writing it. It's an important book. You've got to pick it up, The Invisible Coup, how American elites and foreign powers use immigration as a weapon. Peter Schweitzer, congratulations. Thanks so much. Thanks, Brian. Appreciate it, and please stay warm up there. Impossible, but I appreciate the sentiment. Back at a moment, you listen to the Brian Kilmeade. It's Brian Kilmeade. is three hours in radio. You're with Brian Kilmeade. Ice. What they're doing is really the worst of the worst of humanity. And then we also have the best of the best of humanity for the way people are showing up for each other. It's been rough. I know out here. And I... You can kind of feel it when we got here, whatever, two days ago, the protest that were going on downtown. It was amazing to watch the turnout. peaceful protests and, you know, the unified voice that was here. Yeah, the problem is, Steph Curry, that wasn't a peaceful protest. I guess you didn't get your finger bitten off. That would have been a bigger deal. Maybe there were some people peaceful protests. I don't know, were they peaceful on Sunday and Monday night when they just tried to break into a hotel where they heard that ice agents were at, where they were peaceful and they continued to scream and cut off ice agents. Please stop saying it's peaceful. You might just say you support them. That's fine. And the other one is Portman. They're all these Hollywood people. They feel as though they should weigh in now. You would think they got burned enough during the pandemic, during all the political correctness or the Me Too movement that all blew up in their face. Now they're doing it again. Not surprising.

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you talking. You're with Brian Kilmeade. A military strike by itself would probably not cause an immediate collapse of the regime, but it will certainly put them on the pathway to it because, as I indicated before, they've never been so weak. And yes, Iran has the means to retaliate, but they don't want to go to war with the United States. That guarantees them the loss of the regime, despite the bluster of their comments that they're making. That is Governor Jackine. Keep in mind, they might have thought on some level that the Iranians could stay with us because they've had success as a terrorist unit with the explosive devices, what they were able to do in Iraq. But face to face, they've never squared off with us. And then they get their whole missile defense blown up or their generals assassinated, their nuclear program destroyed. There is no superpower coming to their aid except to buy their oil, China. And now they're staring us down again. The Ayatollah threatening to assassinate President Trump while he hides in a bunker while we send her a matter right into the Persian Gulf. What could they actually be thinking? Dr. Conta Ahmed joins us now, senior fellow independent women's forum, member of the Council on Foreign Relations, who knows the region as well as anyone in America. Dr. Ahmed, welcome back. Pleasure, Brian. Thank you. So we're in a tough spot. I mean, because we had civil unrest inside Iran. The president supports him, unlike President Obama in 2009. But so far we haven't done anything. And there's up to 30,000 they think dead protesters in Iran. And the Ayatollah gave word, stay in power by any means possible, do whatever you want in order to suppress these protests. And so far they've been suppressed. What would you like to see us do? So first of all, there's an extermination going on in Iran by the Iranian regime. Experts on genocide have indicated in a few weeks we've had two, this number of killings, twice the scale of the Bosnian genocide, which precipitated NATO de bomb to stop that genocide. So we have amassed enormous military force. We are going to strike IRGC assets, the security apparatus. I would fully expect that we're going to have economic warfare and even take out some of their oil refining capabilities. And our military is there in order to protect all of our allies from retaliation. And Israel is also locked and loaded. So I think we are going to see major intervention. We also know this level of violence means the regime knows it's dying. It's cut off all communications. And we are helping. trying to get that information out. But it does involve neighboring Iraq. We're going to rely tremendously on our assets in Erbil. And that brings us to the plight of the Kurdish people in Syria, which is being overshadowed by this impending Iranian event. Yeah, we just seem to have abandoned the Kurds again. The Syrian president just starts moving into the region. And the Kurds were told, fold yourself in or get out. And they've been getting out. And I guess. We think it's in our best interest to abandon the Kurds. It's maddening because without them, we're not able to break up the caliphate and rush ISIS out of Iraq and save Baghdad. Maddening, not only because you know the Kurdish fighters as well as I do, they're not only warriors that waged a war against ISIS. They lost between 11 and 15,000 soldiers. The United States lost less than 100, though that is a huge loss for our country too.

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And they also share our values, gender equality, democracy, empowerment. And so this is an utter betrayal. And my concern is... Special envoy Tom Barack has actually overridden a lot of the congressional intention, which was to keep the Syrian Democratic forces in northeast Syria as an integrated unit and protect the minorities, the Yazidis, the Kurds, and the Christians. So this is a national security disaster for the United States, and it damages the reputation of our administration and our country. And it has to be reversed. So this guy, Osra, is going to do it anyway? The Syrian leader, but if we told him to stop, you think he would have? I think we have capabilities to still sanction him. We actually get to Ahmed al-Sharaa through Turkey. This is giving Turkey too much free reign. It's actually handing Syria over to Turkey, which then will imperil Israel. Israel is extremely nervous about this. And we have a responsibility in that minority population, a Yazidi survivors of the original ISIS genocide. We can't be party to their eradication. They're now besieged. We have Senator Lindsey Graham passing now legislation called Save the Kurds Act. And I think there's going to be serious accountability. We do need to change our special envoy to Syria. And President Trump needs to be informed about the atrocities being perpetrated now because we have. Let the Kurds down. Yeah, Tom Barak is a good friend of the president. So just like Steve Witkoff from a different aspect in their lives, from back for their real estate investment days. So I'm sure he's not being kept in the dark. I just don't think the president really thought it through. It's a complicated region. It's not something you look at and go, I get it. I mean, you really have to look at all the different ethnic backgrounds, the loyalty aspect of it. And now we have the reemergence of ISIS. The new prime minister of Iraq, I guess, they say the ISIS is about 15,000, 10 to 15,000 now. So they've come all the way back. So I was there in October in northeast Syria and Iraq. And while I was in northeast Syria, 2,500 ISIS operatives were on the loose. Because of Ahmed al-Sharaa's actions, he's actually stormed. many of the detention centers and released deliberately ISIS prisoners. And at the moment, the ISIS wives and children that are in the Al-Haul camp are about to be breached and deliberately released. The United States is so concerned they're moving the Iraqi ISIS extremists to maximum security in Iraq, which tells you we don't have confidence in Ahmed al-Sharaa's ability to keep them contained. And he might be deliberately releasing them. Not to mention, he has ISIS...

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like troops in his ranks. This doesn't come back to the friendship of President Trump and President Baracka respect their relationship tremendously. This is about Recep Tayyip Erdogan manipulating the United States. Recep Tayyip Erdogan has genocidal eliminationist ideology towards the Kurds. And we have given two free array. NATO weapons are being used to facilitate the eradication of minorities in northeast Syria. The U.S. can't be a party to that. And where the Kurds going to go? Well, if this is not stopped, they're already, Yazidis are already trying to go back to Mount Sinja in Iraq, which was the place of their original devastation. And there are efforts now, Ahmed al-Sharaa is trying to seal off the border between Iraqi Kurdistan and northeast Syria. That's their last lifeline. President Tom Barak delivered a terrible message to the president of the Kurdish region, Nurtjavan Barzani, saying if they sent any military support just to protect the Kurdish people, that convoy would be bombed by Turkey. So this has become extremely volatile. I would say so. Back to Iran. We have a huge, huge shipments there. We have a huge military presence there. Obviously, we could take some action. But are you worried about them rallying around the flag if we take action? No, I think the desperation of the Iranian people is so appallingly high for them. The atrocities that are coming out are not only the number of dead, which some estimates now are saying 60,000, over 330,000 maimed, people deliberately shot in the face, eyes, genitals. There's absolutely no currency, no economy. It is on a tremendous level of internal collapse. The Iranian people have been burning their own mosques. They're so frustrated and furious with this Islamist regime. And many Iranians, even though I've described the population to be mostly Shia, tell me we don't subscribe to Islam anymore because of these 40-plus years of repression. So... No, I don't think this is going to be causing them to rally in a national manner. It is going to actually pivot Iran towards the West. If the United States offers a major intervention, it can't be cosmetic, Brian. It's got to be very substantial. Well, it can't be on the, you know, the American people won't, but we will not have it on the ground. So it's got to be something that unleashes the Iranian people on their own government. So it's got to be targeted against the IRGC, perhaps. And maybe the Israelis have the, the home addresses of the other generals that they haven't killed in the last, in the last 12-day war.

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So worth saying is I was in that 12-day war in Israel while Iran retaliated on Israel. That was an extraordinary accomplishment because there was so much security establishment cooperating with Israel to facilitate taking out some of those regime leaders. So there is a secular military and security apparatus in Iran that detests the regime as well. And my feeling is that is... probably going to be the first transitional force is a secular military structure that actually wants to shield their own people from these Ayatollahs. I'm even wondering if we're going to see dramatic images of the exit of the Ayatollah, maybe to Russia. An image like that, just like the image of Maduro, would absolutely bolster Iranian spirits. And I think the world needs to see that. Yeah, and just keep in mind, ISIS would celebrate that because they're Sunni, and they hate Iran. And Iran actually worked with us to kill off ISIS. It's a region, very complex, but you have it all figured out. Dr. Okina Ahmed, thanks so much. Brian, a privilege. All right. Back at a moment. We're going to do a simulcast with Stuart Varni, and then at the back end, we'll have a little time to take some of your calls. You're listening to the Brian Kilmeade. So glad you're here.

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the Brian Kilmeade joins Fox Businesses Farnie and company with Stuart Varney, live on your radio and on Fox Business. Here's Brian Kilmeade. Yeah, we're back a little while. Stuart Varney's going to tap in. We're going to do a Samocast and FBN. One of the things we're going to talk about is Gavin Newsom and how he's a frontrunner now for the Democratic nomination. He likes to weigh in, go to Davos and make some statements and bring out knee pads, which I think is a total... calamity and embarrassment, but he fills his up by going against Donald Trump, he can benefit. Well, the problem is, according to the Atlantic, when it comes to energy, when it comes to immigration, when it comes to housing, when it comes to homelessness, he grades horrifically. So let's listen to Stuart Barney. Here's Stewart. 10.51 Eastern, that means it's Brian Kilmeade time. All right, Brian, NYU professor and podcaster Scott Galloway says, California Governor Gavin Newsom is, quote, acting like a god. Watch this. Gavin Newsom is walking around. like he is the next president. And guess what? Everyone believes him. He has an entourage. He has some... I'm not exaggerating. It's like there's light shining on the guy. It's like... It's like God. He's like he's the chosen one. Okay, Brian. Chime in, please. What do you think of that? Well, I don't know where he goes with the rest of that statement, but I think it's interesting. He wants to... make his career on being against Trump. But does he understand for him to go to the next phase of his career? Trump's not going to be there, whether he likes it or not. So he's going to get known as somebody that would take on Trump or like to troll Trump. Good luck with that. What you're going to do is tell me your vision for 28. Tell me what you've done leading up when you're done in 26. What have you accomplished? I looked at Atlantic Magazine, and they did a whole feature on Gavin Newsom, and I thought it was going to be some glowing review. Instead, they talk about his horrific... record when it comes to energy. His terrible record when it comes to homelessness. His giving illegal immigrants insurance and how it almost bankrupted the entire state. how he took a country with a surplus and buried it in red ink. How he basically admitted that he attracted illegal immigrants and was slow to crack down on the border during the Biden years and led far too many people in, let alone what's happening with the lack of rebuild in Los Angeles. When they compare with the building permits issued in the non-catacalismic state of Florida, it's up a thousand percent over the number of permits that they have in California. This record is absolutely awful. Just because he looks like he should be cast as president means he shouldn't be president. And guy that takes him on is David Axelrod. He's like, can you do something, essentially, I'll paraphrase. Can you say something authentic? What do you stand for? I don't have an answer to that question. Do you? I just can't see him being the president of the United States of America.

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I just can't see it. Well, if you're going to run against him, Stuart, if you're a Democrat, why would you not just point all this out? How can you defend his record before he gets to the finals? He's got to get past the semifinals. Yeah, I don't see him making it. I want you to watch an American tennis star explain why she didn't take the bait from a liberal reporter at the Australian Open. Roll tape. I mean, like in my other press conference, the fact that I didn't want to answer a question that was obviously intended for just like a headline and clickbait. That was my right, and it had nothing to do with my political views or anything like that. So the fact that people assume that they know, like, my stance on certain important topics is just wrong, and it's not factual. But, yeah, it's tough, but I've learned to get used to it. Brian, I think what the reporter did was just dead wrong, right? We're the editor that went up and said, hey, I need something political to come out of the Australian Open. You know, that's a global event in Australia. And why do people assume, you know, that's just it. Stewart, you travel more than I do. But do you notice that all they have is CNN International and the BBC and others. They don't really carry Fox News in a lot of these outlets. They think the whole country is against Trump. They don't understand that he wins elections, right? Almost won the second one hit an all-time number. The one he lost, he had more votes than any Republican in history. So that's the one he lost, let alone the next two that he won. So they just have no sense of who could possibly like this guy. Number two is I'm a little torn because, you know, growing up, I remember. When, you know, when you see video of Jim Brown, Lou Alcindor, Will Chamberlain and others standing up, Muhammad Ali, standing up when political things happen against the Vietnam War, against the draft, or against civil rights in this country. I was used to athletes taking a stand. And then the Michael Jim Jordan era came along and they said, if you take a stand, you're going to alienate so don't. And people like that era. And then other times when things go run, they lean on athletes to say something substantial. So I'm a little torn. I don't want to be hypocritical. But if she likes Trump... Why not say it? If she does, you say, listen, I didn't vote for him, but I'm pro-American. But if she does like him, just say it. Look, I think she handled it well. There's a tough spot. Brian, I've got to go. See you next week. Kill me. Go ahead. All right. That's how I feel. But just getting back to that Gavin Newsom things.

1:12:37

I mean, just take a look at this Atlantic story. They say Gavin Newsom's report card. He spent billions of dollars offering Medicaid to undocumented immigrants. And under a court order, millions more on providing transgender surgeries for prisoners. Don't you think Republicans going to have a field day with that? On affordability. Democrats have turned affordability into a hot issue. Well, how does he do on an affordability? Building multi-family housing costs more than doubled during California, his reign in California for eight years. Hmm. 50% more? than Texas and Colorado. How's that going to do if Governor Jared Polis runs against you? Or if Jasmine Crockett runs against you, who knows? On homelessness, the state's high income prices have also driven a surge in homelessness, which has risen by more than 20% since Gavin Newsom took office. If I'm running against Gavin Newsom, you don't think I'm bringing that up? In the first 10 months of 2025, Florida issued permits three times as many new housing units than California did for every thousand residents. When it comes to energy, this idiot is phasing out gas-powered cars, destroying the gas industry, the gas-powered car industry, of course, and he's not ready with the infrastructure for electric cars while shutting down almost all fossil fuel refineries drilling off the coasts. When it comes to gas, he has the most expensive gas in the continental USA. The highest excise tax in the country, 61 cents a gallon imposed on sales tax, 10 cents a gallon on top of that and charged another 54 cents a gallon to cover the cost of complying with his environmental regulations. If I'm running against Gavin Newsom, I'm just going to read this article. I will destroy him on stage.

1:14:22

News headquarters in New York City. Always seeking solutions, never sewing to fission. It's Brian Kilmeade. It's the Brian Kilmeade. Come to you from New York, New York, and that's where we're going to get hit. It looks like by a thunderstorm, another snowstorm in five days, and just got through with one over the weekend, like most of America. I think New York's more built to handle it. I feel bad for places like Mississippi. I talked to the governor, Governor Tate today. They really have not used to handling it. Talk to Colonel Allen West about Dallas. There's 150 accidents because you're just not used to seeing it. And the ice is really put you in peril out there, especially if you don't have a four-wheel drive car. Joel Pollock is going to be with us, opinion editor at the brand new California Post. It's a derivative assist her publication of the New York Post. Finally, you'll have a publication that's fair and balanced out on the West Coast. Carl Roe is standing by right now, and he will weigh on all things politics, including the big change in Minneapolis when it comes to who's in charge of ice and Border Patrol. Let's get to the big three. Number three. Let's be frank about this. It's unlikely that Russia will go along with this, as they're already saying they disagree with the land deal that's on the table is the one issue they believe is still unresolved. That is General Jack Keene. Are we heading to peace in Ukraine and war in Iran? We'll discuss. Number two. The two Chinese generals in question, the Wall Street Journal reported exclusively that President Xi Jinping removed General Zhang for allegedly sharing China's nuclear secrets with the U.S. and accepting bribes in exchange for promoting Li Shang Fu to defense minister. Bad timing and angry West seems to be courting China as their government seems in disarray. Five military generals fired. Are you kidding me? Germany, UK, Canada and Finland. Have you forgotten about the predatory practices of China? Number one. Mr. Holman is the point person for cooperating with state and local authorities and corresponding with them, again, to achieve this level of cooperation to subdue the chaos on the streets of Minneapolis. Karoline Leavitt, the fix is on the way. Tom Homan is in. Gregory Bovino is out, and it looks like Kristi Noem's going to focus on emergency things. DHS is a huge sprawling organization, spent two hours with President Trump today. Tom Homan's in charge and we report directly to the president. Karl Rove, welcome back. This is a good move, isn't it? Terrific move.

1:16:57

It shows that the president understands what's happening out there and that his credibility and his administration are losing ground with American people and smart people. Apparently, including you, had an impact on him. And good for you. Tom Homan is terrific. He's a tough guy. But he also knows that you get more with honey than vinegar. And I'm very confident he's going to be able to calm the waters and get local and state governments to be cooperating with ice. Listen, I remember in your administration two fantastic people. I think Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Jerome Powell, did not get along. It's okay. Sometimes it makes you better. So, but Kristi Noem and Tom Homan not speaking, that's not tolerable, especially on something that matters so much like immigration, right? Yeah. And look, you'll notice the big difference between the two. We had an incident. Somebody was shot. Kristi Noem immediately went out, Secretary Noam went out and immediately opined about it. And Holman, who's a pro, said, let's find out all the facts. And I thought that was a very important moment where the president probably understood his interest and then the interest of the country are better served by a calm, steady presence in the form of Tom Homan. Here's what I worry about, Carl. I worry about Minneapolis saying with this organized protests, I worry about the funding, I worry about this coming from overseas, and I worry that people are getting the wrong lesson from this, that they're going to go, the way to do it is to attack ice, to infiltrate, stop them wherever they do. So this will be the template for New York City or wherever they decide to go next, that they might learn the wrong thing from this. I guess pressure on Tom Homan to execute in a more pragmatic way, perhaps. But do you worry about that? Well, I do. In fact, you know, let's look at it from an antiseptic point of view, just political observers. This would be a big mistake for the Democratic Party. Remember how badly they suffered from defund the police? They've got people today trying to wash that stain off. And if it is abolish ice. The American people, particularly if Tom Homan steps in and calms the waters and says, we're coming after the bad guys. You've got them in your jails and your prisons. Give them to us and we'll get them out of the country. The American people are going to stand with Tom Homan and against the abolish ice people. But you've got to calm the waters and you've got to change the tone. And you've got to do it in a different way. And that means a change in the leadership of the operation. So Howard Enton, who's hired us, the pollster at CNN, had some interesting stats. New York Times, Marquette, CBS, and ABC agree on one thing. Let's listen. Cut 14. Real uniformity here. That's what I really think you see. You see real uniformity deported all immigrants who are here illegally. 55% of the New York Times. Marquette 64%. CBS News, 57%. ABC News with a slightly different question, 56%. So what you're seeing essentially here is a very clear indication that a majority of Americans, in fact, when they're asked this blunt question, which I believe gets at the underlying feelings, do in fact want to deport all immigrants who are here illegally. There's no arguing with these different numbers because they're all essentially the same across four different pollsters. So if you walked into the president with that,

1:20:02

What would you tell him to do? Because right now in immigration, he's he's between 45 and 50 prior to this shooting. So you know that the American people are there with him. I guess it's more methods. Yeah, and priorities. I mean, if you look at the whole collection of polls on this, the American people are thinking that the administration has gone too far. And there really is, if you poke at it, yes, if you're blunt and say in or out, they say out. But if you say, what about people who've been here who got family and established routes and blah, blah, blah, there's a slightly different feeling. But look, you can't move from where we are until you have different leadership in charge that sets a different tone. The issue of immigration, the president's handling of it, went from being his biggest positive today, a net negative. And that's the problem. The execution matters a lot. And I have greater confidence in Tom Homan than the crowd that's been doing it for the last four or five months. So, you know, remember last time it was a revolving door in, out, chief of staff, move on, the OMB director, come be chief of staff. and Mick Mulvaney and everything like that. This has been the opposite. Outside Michael Walsh, who went over to the UN doing a great job, really no movement. At this point, I don't know what went on in that meeting for two hours. Would you consider removing the DHS secretary? Well, that's a tough call to make. I mean, there's got to be bigger issues than this one incident. But the fact that it was a two-hour-long meeting and she was accompanied by Corin Lewandowski, her special government employee who's serving as her de facto chief of staff suggests that the White House is unhappy. Let me correct you on one thing. You're absolutely right that there's been great stability at the top of this. But in terms of senatorial confirmed members, that's the cabinet, and the top White House staff like the chief of staff and so. forth. But what was interesting is we've seen the reports on movement inside the White House that this is among the largest percentage of people who have voluntarily left within the first year of any modern reason president. So. A lot of stability at the top. That's important. The fact that there has been so much movement below the top suggests that they're still, you know, and I take it as necessarily a good sign that the chief of staff and the senior leadership of the White House is saying, you know, let's get the best people in here and maybe this person isn't working out. Let's move them on to another task inside the government. Karl Rove, now with this whole DHS funding, Democrats have a bounce in their step and they say, we will not. fund the Department of Homeland Security, and we will not fund this government and give you your 60 votes you need. Could we be looking at another shutdown? You can read the political wins. I want you to hear what John Fetterman said, who also has a problem with the way ICE is acting. Here is cut 33.

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I was one of the Democrats that led to push back about the government shut down last year. And for about 45 days, they kept things shut down. If the Democrats vote to shut it down, now our entire military won't be paid again. I can't ever support that. Absolutely hope we can engage in a debate and make some of the kinds of common sense reforms on ice and make it more safe, more humane, and more effective and just focus exclusively on the criminals. I hope that's possible. But for me, I remain to be the one Democrat at least that refuses to shut our government down. And now if this happens, our military won't be paid because the significant part of our government would shut down again. So he's obviously the voice of reason, but I get the sense that there's not many other Democratic voices of reason. What do you think, Carl? If they shut the government down, it's going to be a big problem for them. I mean, nobody wins in a shutdown, particularly when the shutdown is provoked clearly by one side saying we're digging in our heels and we're shutting it all down. That is not going to be good for the Democrats, not in this election year. I think John Fetterman has got it absolutely right. He hopes there'll be a discussion about, you know, setting priorities and come to an agreement about some of the practices. And look, I think that's very likely to happen because, again, Tom Homan is a, you know, he's a tough guy. You know him. He's a strong actor. And he knows that to get things done, you have to bring people together, and you have to get 80% of what you want and give 20% to the other side and move forward together. And I have every confidence that if he's now in charge, that, and look, he's a trustworthy guy. You know it. The people on the Democrats who've dealt with him. I've talked to members of Congress who are Democrats who said, you know, Holman's word is good. So let him, let him. First do it in Minneapolis and then if need be bringing back to Washington to discuss this with people. But the Democrats will make a huge mistake, a huge mistake if they shut down the government. I hope so. You know that I worry about? They looked at the big picture. The only thing slowing down this economy in retrospect in the fall was that shutdown. And it really caused the us not to number one, we were blind. We didn't get any numbers. And then we saw how people suffered, you know, how many people were out of work, how much you don't spend leading up to the holidays, let alone what we saw with air traffic controllers and the ripple effects of it. Do you think on some level when those doors are closed and they're in that sealed room, they say, guys, the only thing to slow down the Trump economy right now would be a shutdown. And we might have the American public behind us. It would be diabolical, but it would be politically advantageous to hurt the economy because the president wants to ride that to midterm excellence. Yeah. Well, I'd say two things. One is it's not going to help them politically. You know, look, the Democrats have an edge in a generic ballot today. In the Nate Silver aggregate, it's about 3.3%. That doesn't mean that they take the Congress. They need to have about a five-point edge. If you look at some of these polls, The Republicans are better trusted on the economy and immigration congressional Republicans than congressional Democrats. And that is only going to get worse for the Democrats if they shut down the government by saying, you know, we have an inarticulated list of demands that we're not willing to discuss with anybody. We just want to shut down the government. So, no, I think it's dumb on the part of the Democrats that they do it. If they're smart, what they will do is say, okay, Tom, here's some things we would like to see if we can come to an agreement on.

1:26:33

come to an agreement and have voted out and say, you know what? There'll be a big difference between how Democrats and Republicans govern. And when we get in charge, here's what we're going to do differently. That's a lot smarter than shutting it down. So I want to talk about two leading Democrats for president, Governor Josh Shapiro and Governor Gavin Newsom. I was struck by, you know, Josh Shapiro doing the interviews for his book with a lot of successful candidates we'll do to see, you know, test the waters. At which time, of all places, the Atlantic, Tim Alberta talked about how he was surprised how unpopular Governor Josh Shapiro is with people in his own party. that he's all about Josh and he'll stab anybody in the back in order to get one point in his approval rating. This guy with 60% approval rating in Pennsylvania. And then you have him coming out against Kamala Harris, which I could thoroughly understand when he was asked during the vetting process. Are you, were you ever an agent for Israel? And they were worried that it's why they wouldn't have enough money to have his wife dress up and look good and make the ticket look attractive? I understand that. Did you know about this reputation that he has? And you don't usually get hit, you know, negative pieces on a would-be nominee, leading candidate nominee in the Atlantic against a Democrat. Well, what I take of it is that there are people out there who's scared to death of but Josh Shapiro's potential and they want to damage him earlier. Okay. And also, I know, we know that he's got, you know, sharp elbows. I mean, he stepped in, and rather than saying to the Democratic state chairman, you know, you did a great job, our team is great. He kicked him out and replaced him with his own guy. I mean, he is, he's a guy who is not afraid to, you know, sort of. rough things up and as a result has probably made some enemies in the state. Remember, this is a machine state. You have Allegheny County and you have the Philadelphia area and they have, you know, they have Democrat organizations there that are strong and powerful. The governors come and go, but they like to hold on to the power that they have in their respective regions. And here's Josh Shapiro, it's enormously popular and doesn't give a flip. Okay, interesting. You kind of take his side. And I know you have so many contacts on both sides of the aisle. One of the quotes is, there are a lot of people, the governor counts as allies, people who raise money for him, the right of rights, support his reelection campaign, say all the right things publicly, who have serious beefs with him privately. So you said no big deal about this. See, well, it's not a no, it's, we'll see how it plays that. Look. You and I've had this conversation before. We're looking at 2028, which is about three geological ages away. We've got to go through the Jurassic, the Paleozoic, the Mesozoic. I mean, there's a lot of time. And what was interesting to me is everybody's now starting to take shots at each other. I mean, Gavin Newsom's taking shots. Josh Shapiro's getting shot at. I mean, it's already begun in earnest, which says there's going to be a lot of people, and we'll see how they handle themselves over the course of the next three years, but how they handle themselves.

1:29:35

is it going to help determine where they are when the when the voting actually began. David Axelot on your buddy Gavin, your buddy David Axoron on Gavin Newsom. Haven't we seen enough self-puffery in our leaders? Why can't people just be as courageous as me is his attitude? He does not buy this Gavin Newsom act. I don't know what he's told you that you feel comfortable saying, but that's interesting, isn't it? Well, it says it all, doesn't it? I mean, look, I'm not a fan of Gavin Newsom. He's got great hair. Don't get me wrong. But I don't find him. And I get it that he's out there on the cutting edge of Democratic social media things. But look, at the end of the day. People are going to look and say, governor of what state again? California. And this is the same problem that J.B. Pritzker has. How many people say, God, one of the states that I think is really running its act well, doing everything good is California. Or you know what? It's between I'm going to move to California or Illinois. You know, Chicago or Los Angeles, which one is it? I mean, Ronald Reagan got elected president in part because California still was the golden state. Well run, lots of opportunity, a wonderful place to be. People are, for the first time since 1850, in the next census, California will lose seats in the U.S. House to Representatives. The first time since they entered the union in 1850. What does that say about that state? I know. People are fleeing from it. And this guy says, elect me president, because I'll do to America. My God, what I've done to California. Exactly. They've seen energy, homelessness, the budget deficit that he has, people moving out, and the $14 billion train to nowhere. Guilty bills, electric cars, no pickup trucks. I mean, there's so much to say about that guy, but he does have, admit it, good hair. He looks apart. He looks apart. No, he doesn't. He doesn't look apart. He has good hair. He's a good-looking California politician. Correcting the record. Good-looking American politician. Carl Rove, thanks so much. Always insightful and great to see you on Zoom. On bottom of the hour, we're very excited. The California Post launched on Monday. Joe Pollock, the opinion editor, is here with us at the bottom of the hour. But your calls next. Don't go anywhere. Brian Kilmeade will be right back.

1:32:00

He's so busy. He'll make your headspin. It's Brian Kilmeade. Hey, I took it really long on that last one with Colorado, but it was just so fascinating. I was shocked to see him say, instead of saying, yeah, Governor Josh Shapiro has a reputation, he's saying he's a hot candidate, and these are people that are jealous of him looking to take him down. I like the fact that he called that Kamala Harris. I mean, have you ever heard a worse interview for anything than Kamala Harris and Governor Josh Shapiro? I mean, we should have taken as a center from Arizona. I mean, he shouldn't have, obviously, I didn't even not know the scope of the fraud investigation in Minnesota, and she still picked Waltz.

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you want, truth you demand. This is the Brian Kilmeade. Hey, we are back. It's exciting news for us here at News Corp at Fox. And anyone who wants to see a successful paper spread to the West Coast where they could use some diversity of opinions. Joel Pollack is the opinion editor of the brand new California Post. New York Post, California style. It's really exciting. And they've officially launched Joe. Joel, congratulations. Talk to you on Fox and Friends yesterday. Is day two? Is it hard keeping the adrenaline going for day two? I know you were sky high on the day one. No, it's not hard to keep the adrenaline going. We're just pushing through. And as our editor-in-chief, Nick Pepps told us yesterday. You all thought that the hard work was getting it ready for day one, but actually the hard work is days two, three, four, five, and six. So you've got to keep it up and make sure it keeps going. And it's incredibly exciting. I mean, I think our day two story is the most exciting that we've done so far, which is the exclusive interview with President Donald Trump, where he signed an executive order in front of us in the Oval Office. taking over permitting authority in the Pacific Palisades and the Eaton fire areas, saying that state of California and the city and county of Los Angeles had moved way too slowly and he wants to help the residents by taking over the permit process. So that was incredibly exciting, a real groundbreaking executive order and it's going to cause a major... political storm here in California. I mean, they haven't done the job. And the president called it out. Remember when the fire hit, he looked at the mayor and said, these people want to get started. They want to get going. He goes, we will. There's a way to do it. And we got to be responsible for. He goes, no, start now. They want to start now. Here we are a year later. And by the way, Joel, you're talking about some of the richest, most powerful, some famous people in the world. And you're not asking Mr. and Mrs. Middle Class or working class who, you know, that might not have the political poll or the money. They have the money. They have the poll. They just can't get the paperwork through. They can't get the paperwork through and they can't get the insurance proceeds they need. And there are a thousand other problems that come up. You've got. complaints about the city encroaching on people's property as they decide to fix sidewalks or move new facilities into the neighborhood for power and water generation. And there's almost no consultation with residents. I've got a giant water facility or some kind of permitting facility going up on the LA Department of Water and Power Land near my house. And they did it without asking anyone's permission. No permits. The good news is,

1:35:50

I learned that you can actually build something in California. The bad news is you have to be the government to do it. And people who want to rebuild their homes have to pay tens of thousands of dollars in permit fees. The fees still haven't been waived by the city council. They're supposed to vote on it today. So maybe that'll change. But it's taken them more than a year to make things easier for residents. And as Trump said when he visited a year ago, you have to move fast in these rebuilding efforts. If you take your time, people start losing hope. People start giving up. And so he has stepped in. perhaps at the last minute for many and said i'm going to help you move this permit process along and the reaction that i'm seeing from people in the community thus far is incredibly positive and it's not so much the mechanism of how he's going to fix the permit process it's the fact that somebody is listening and that somebody's there to help and you can imagine that there's going to be some lawsuits, the city and the state and the county. They always try to stop Trump from doing whatever he wants to do. But the fact is he's showing that he's invested in the success of the rebuild after the fires. And I think that means a lot to people. So now they have new construction, has made housing notoriously expensive. They write in the Atlantic. Its medium home price is $1 million. And building multifamily or home costs more than twice as much as California in Texas and twice as much in Colorado. So if Gavin Newsom's going to run in his... record, things like you just mentioned, things like this are going to run any Democrat that wants to make sure they beat Gavin Newsom is going to point to these facts. They're hard for him to run away from. Well, Gavin Newsom is betting on two things. First of all, can you name another Democrat that has a good record? I mean, what other competitors are in the potential 2028 field that you can say have done anything with their states or whatever else they're running? I almost think the Democrats, if they care about someone's record, are going to have to look outside of politics and pull in a business person like a Mark Cuban or somebody who's done something. outside of politics because i don't think the democrats have a very deep bench when it comes to governors and legislators they're just not very good at doing things and that's a stark contrast to republicans but Gavin Newsom is making another bet the second part of the bet is that his primary voters in the democratic party don't care about doing things they're not going to judge a candidate based on records they're going to judge a candidate based on who stood up to those evil nasty trump mega republicans most energetically and so he's out there doing crazy stuff selling knee pads on his website and swearing and being profane and telling off-color jokes on social media the kind of things that he himself admits are unacceptable but

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That's what he's trying to do. It's a race to the bottom. against J.B. Pritzker and other governors and other candidates who are doing the same thing, trying to show how awful they can be. And I think that's the real record he wants to establish, a record of mean tweets. And he thinks that's going to put him over the top. So it may just be that we're two nations in a way that Republican voters care more about job performance and Democratic voters care more about the social media fight. And I think that's what he's banking on. Hey, you know, you got the governor's race, which is also intriguing. Rick Caruso, the guy that I had a chance to meet a couple of times. And I thought he'd run. He seems like a Republican as a Democrat. He was going to run. And he obviously has had a lot of success, but he's not going to run. So you got a, you know, you got the island of misfits running for governor. From Congressman Eric Swalwell to this other, just embarrassments right now. Outside, you know, you have a conservative running too. But basically it's all the Democrats. You have two. So here's a, so the California primary system is really weird. There are no party primaries. They have what they call a top two or jungle primary. All the candidates run together in one primary. And the top two vote recipients in the first round. go through to the general regardless of party. So there have been races where you have two Democrats in the general election and there's no Republican. And so you have to vote for a Democrat. There are two strong Republicans right now in the gubernatorial race and a whole bunch of strong Democrats or relatively strong Democrats. And what we're seeing in the polls right now is that the two strong Republicans, you've got Chad Bianco. who's the sheriff in Riverside County, and you've got Steve Hilton, who's a Fox News contributor and a policy wonk. They're running in the high, mid-to-high teens in the polls, neck-in-neck, one and two, depending on which poll. They switch places number one, number two. And then you've got all these Democrats who are at 10% or below, and that includes Eric Swalwell. It includes Katie Porter, former representative. Antonio Villarigosa, who ran eight years ago, used to be the mayor of L.A. You've got a lot of strong Democrats in the race. Maybe some of them get up into the low double digits. But what's happening right now is they're splitting the vote among all of these Democrats. And that's good because if you're a Republican, it's good. Because the only way a Republican can win is if both Republicans qualify for the general election. If you just have one strong Republican, and Republican voters need to understand how this is going to work. You might like, let's say, Steve Hilton, the best. But if he's the far and away... number one candidate. And the other Republican is number three or number four, Steve Hilton's going to get into the general election against a Democrat. And Democrats will vote for a slice of moldy cheese as long as it's got a D after its name over whoever the Republican is. So it doesn't help you as a Republican to be the best candidate in the primary. You've got to come into the general election with another Republican if you want to win. And I asked Steve Hilton what his strategy for that was. And he said it's very difficult because you can't manipulate these outcomes.

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That's how it has to be. You've got to have both Republicans in a number one, number two position. Otherwise, you're going to have a Democrat win the gubernatorial election. And you're right. They're not really offering anything different. In fact, many of them would be more radical than Gavin Newsom. So Joel Pollock's with us right now, the opinion editor for the California Post, brand new potent. It's like the New York Post only on the West Coast. And I want you to hear celebrities. Of course, you can't be in California, not have celebrities. President say he's going to bring Hollywood back. Natalie Portman weighing in on the controversy in Minneapolis with ICE. Cut 21. Ice, what they're doing is really the worst of the worst of humanity. And then we also have the best of the best of humanity for the way people are showing up for each other. So obviously celebrities weighing in. That's an example. How do you at the California Post, that's going to be your option every day on page six especially to put the celebrities in there. They're almost unanimous in supporting the protesters. Well, we do have some dissenting voices. We have an op-ed in the post today from Noah Tishby, who teamed up with Deborah Lipstadt. Now, Deborah Lipstadt was the anti-Semitism czar under Biden. Noah Tishby outspoken in Hollywood, not a knee-jerk left-winger, and they spoke out against anti-Semitism in their editorial. It's Holocaust Remembrance Day, so they did that. And they're speaking out against the left. So there are some people. in Hollywood who do have dissenting views on various issues. And we're going to draw attention to that as well. There are many people who have quietly conservative views who are very excited that the California Post is coming because they want that alternative perspective. But sometimes the Hollywood news is the news. Our first cover story was an investigative piece about the Safdi brothers and why they stopped working together. So we will have news and Hollywood that balance. But... The California Post is going to be an alternative voice. And I think that you'll start to see more celebrities come out with dissenting views as they realize there's a safe place for them to do it. Here's Adam Carolla, a conservative best friend is Jimmy Kimmel. He has no patience for this. Cut 20. Hollywood should sit this one out. You idiots were just wrong with COVID like 10 minutes ago. Remember for four years they're wrong with COVID? For four years, they were wrong with Russia, Russia, Russia Gate, Hunter Biden's laptop, Joe Biden's Sharp, man, that guy could do a Rubik's Cube blindfolded. Remember all that? That was all out of you, Hollywood. So maybe you guys are wrong about stuff on occasion. Your batting average is horrible. So why don't you just shut up and sit one out? I can't tell you how many people feel the same way. Yeah, and...

1:44:40

Adam Carolla has been one of those rare voices in the entertainment industry who has been willing to stand up and say the way things run doesn't work. And once you hear that, you might not be courageous enough to agree with it publicly, especially if you're in Hollywood, but you can't unhear that. You can't unhear someone saying there's a better way to do things that we should be doing. And that's what we hope to provide at the California Post, especially in the opinion section. Guys, this is not necessary. We don't have to pay this much. in taxes and high prices to live in California. Yes, we're willing to pay a little bit because the weather's so nice, the opportunities are great still, but we don't have to be price-gouged out of existence. That's just ridiculous. So we exist basically to say, hey, it's okay to have a different point of view than the one the party wants you to have because sometimes the party is telling you something ridiculous. I mean, you know, Take the transgender issue, for example. Gavin Newsom said before the 2024 election that nobody cared about it and Republicans were mean for opposing transgender kids. Republicans didn't oppose transgender kids. What Republicans were doing were saying, you've got to give parents the right to know if their kids are making that transition at school. And Gavin Newsom banned that. He passed a law still in effect. He banned this. Actually, it was overturned by the courts. I'm not sure if the state has appealed. It was overturned recently. But he banned parental notification. And he found out, to his perhaps surprise, that most Californians, even in Deep Blue California, want the parents to be able to know. I mean, people might be okay with the transgender thing, but they want the parents to know. You have to sign a permission slip for your kid to go to the museum with his class. Why wouldn't you want the parents to know about a gender transition at school? What Gavin Newsom is now doing is backtracking and trying to get on the right side of the transgender issue. And he's fumbling around a little bit, can't keep everybody happy. The LGBTQ plus activists are upset that he's backtracking. But at least now he's had some feedback that his previous position was crazy. And so that's what we exist to do. We really want to have a platform that says in a way that people will listen. And they can't write off. It's very hard to write off the post. The post is an institution. If it's a conservative blog or something like that, then they don't listen. They say, oh, it's just a bunch of conservatives who care about this. Nobody else does. But if you're seeing it in the post and you know that people are seeing it nationwide because the New York Post has a nationwide reach and the California Post builds into that, then you've got to pay attention. Absolutely, Joel. And lastly, the Dodgers welcomed you to the West Coast. That was nice. You know, I love that. And I grew up in Chicago. I'm a Cubs fan, a Bears fan as well. But I go to a Dodgers game every year. My son's obsessed with the Dodgers. And they won the World Series in very exciting fashion, of course, repeating as champions. And they are an L.A. institution. So they have them support us. It's incredible. Yeah, good time to be in sports. Rams are good. Dodgers are good. Angels are the Angels. You know, even the Chargers are good. 49ers have promise. So your sports section will have a lot of quality to report on. Joe Jerome Powell, congratulations. I look forward to talking to you early and often. Great to have a resource on the West Coast.

1:47:50

Thank you very much. And good, I have a place to stay now, right? I don't have to go to a hotel. I could just stay in your extra room on your estate. Is that okay? Exactly. Yeah, you can stay in my extra room in my empty house where lead contamination is currently being removed. Fantastic. But that is big news. The president signed an executive order to say he'll take over permitting. Thanks so much, Joe. California Post. Back in a moment. It's Brian Kilmeade. From his mouth to your ears, it's Brian Kilmeade. We have got children in Minnesota hiding in their houses afraid to go outside. Many of us grew up reading that story of Anne Frank. Somebody's going to write that children's story about Minnesota. And there's one person who can end this now. Is he the biggest idiot you ever met, Governor Tim Walz? Soon will be done with him, I hope. He actually brings up Anne Frank as a way to describe what a young child thinks about in Minneapolis, as if that young child is the target, only because people like him, leaders, or their family are saying some poisonous things like that. Because... Never been the target. Of course, he reaches back to the Holocaust. I don't know why everyone always reaches back to Hitler, the Holocaust, World War II, some type of reference that is just so lazy and inadequate. Of course, he got blowback from the Holocaust Museum. Say, are you kidding me? A woman hiding for the Nazis in the attic is the story that equates to Minneapolis and sub-zero weather with protesters trying to protect illegal immigrant criminals. Crazy. Here's what Britt Hume said about the situation of Minnesota and the fact that Tom Homan's in charge. Cut 25. The extravagant statements by these DHS officials, ICE officials, and the DHS secretary over the weekend didn't play well. And such polling as there is Brett suggests that people think ICE and DHS have gone too far and they're not winning the PR war in Minnesota. Right. And he went on to say this, cut 26. He's taken quite a different posture from DHS officials and from Kristi Noem in particular out there. He, you know, he did, after the first person was killed out there, he talked about how tragic he thought it was. And he's withholding judgment on this one waiting for the end of the investigation, which is what a great many people, including some, obviously, in DHS, according to Bill, think that the officials on the scene out there should have done as well, is to wait for this and for full investigation to be done on this to conclude. what exactly happened out there. Exactly. And that's why Tom Homan is the perfect guy to be in charge reporting right to the president. And he'll tell him exactly unvarnished what the good, what the bad is, how much damage has been done. And as much as inept as the mayor and governor is, Tom Homan's going to walk in there with a clean slate and said, this is what I'm looking for. What do you need? Back and forth. This is what we're going to do. Here's the new plan. Taking a thousand agents out by Friday. I'll take another thousand off in 10 days if you could do the following things. And this is our focus. Here are the 200 or 300 legal number group criminals I'm going to be targeting. Can you help me? Hope the answer is yes.