The Megyn Kelly Show - Berlin Islamic Terror Suspect Killed, Troy Jackson’s Abortion Shift, Trump Does WHCD: AM Update 7/27

Episode Date: July 27, 2026

A known Islamist accused of killing one person and injuring 29 others near Berlin’s Pride celebration in a terror attack is shot dead by police after a nearly 24-hour manhunt. Maine Democrats replace Graham Platner with former State Senate President Troy Jackson, whose shifting abortion record is already becoming a major issue in his race against Republican Senator Susan Collins. Paper dolls featuring interchangeable genitalia are reportedly headed to Minnesota educators and clinicians working with children as young as four. President Trump returns for a do-over White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, roasting the press and members of his own administration after an assassination attempt forced the original event to be postponed.     Supersure Insurance: Upgrade your business insurance to a year-round SuperAgency at https://Supersure.com/Megyn   Birch Gold: Text MK to 989898 and get your free info kit on gold Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Megan Kelly. It's Monday, July 27, 26, and this is your AM update. We will not allow our way of life and our way of living together to be taken from us. A known Islamist accused of carrying out a deadly attack near Berlin's pride celebration, despite already being on authorities' radar. Mainers just can't trust Troy Jackson on a borship. He earned a 100% rating from Maine right to life. Maine Democrats replacing Graham Platner with longtime party insider Troy Jackson, as the new nominee's own abortion record threatens to complicate this campaign against incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins. Paper dolls with interchangeable genitalia,

reportedly coming this fall to Minnesota educators and clinicians working with very young children. And President Trump returning for a do-over White House correspondence dinner after an armed attack forced the original event to be called off. All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM update. When you sign your insurance policy for some brokers, that's the finish line. Handshake, commission, done. Then you may not hear from them again until it's time for renewal. But your business runs all year, and so do the gaps and the risk,

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near Berlin's pride celebration shot and killed by police Sunday evening, ending a nearly 24-hour manhunt across the German capital. 21-year-old Abdul Balut, a German-born citizen of Lebanese descent, accused of using a rental van and machete, to kill one person and injure 29 others in Berlin's Tiergarten Park. The attack unfolding shortly before 10 p.m. Saturday as the city's Pride Parade and Festival,

known as Christopher Street Day, was wrapping up near the historic Brandenburg Gate. Authorities emphasizing the attack did not occur inside the festival, along the parade route, or at its closing party. taking place several hundred yards away on a path through the sprawling park. Police say the white van plowed through a group believed to include both Pride Parade attendees and other people visiting the park before smashing into a tree. Some of the victims also suffering wounds from what investigators describe as a, quote, bladed weapon, raising questions about whether Ballute carried out the attack alone or had

help from others who fled after the van crashed. Witness Eric Mueller describing to Sky News the fear and controlled. confusion spreading through the nearby crowds as conflicting accounts raced across the festival grounds. We go to the main station, directly to the main station, and then we saw a big crowd of people come towards us, and at first we didn't know what they happened. We thought maybe the main stage is closed. We saw many faces, sad faces, crying faces. So all those people crying, running away. I was shocked, so we hear everything. We hear, yeah, there are two cars, there are three persons, they're a knife with a man,

and we hear so many information, and we don't know what is right, what is wrong. So it was a really, really crazy time. Berlin mayor, Kai Weggner, addressing the city amid early suspicions of an Islamist terror attack. We will not allow our way of life and our way of living together to be taken. for us. Roiders reporting more than 2,200 officers were deployed across Berlin to protect the pride festivities, a BBC journalist describing the response at the scene. So this is a massive police response. They have shut down basically the entire park area where this happened in central Berlin known as the Tiergarten. This is a huge park, similar to Central Park in New York or Hyde Park

in London. It's just right outside the medieval walls of the old Berlin, the former hunting grounds of the Kaiser. This is a very large area right near the Brandenburg gate for people who know Berlin. So, you know, this is a very intense police response. Nobody is getting in or out at the moment. The Manhunt ending around 6 p.m. Sunday evening,

authorities locating Ballute, in a community garden area in western Berlin. Police say Balut charged towards officers carrying a bladed weapon, prompting them to open fire. Emergency crews attempting to revive him before declaring him dead at the scene. The German-born citizen of Lebanese descent, previously traveling to Lebanon in 2025 while allegedly attempting to reach Syria and join ISIS.

Prosecutors say Balut made contact with people he believed were members of the terror organization, before Lebanese authorities arrested him and a military court sentenced him to three months behind bars. German authorities arresting him again after his return to Berlin in November 2025, eventually charging him with preparing a serious act of subversive violence and distributing ISIS propaganda online.

Balut convicted in a juvenile court in May, given a suspended sentence of one year and ten months after a court concluded he appeared to have distanced himself from the terror group, according to the Associated Press. CBS News reporting police searched his Berlin apartment on July 3rd over a possible weapons violation, leaving after finding only a toy gun and closing the case. The attack renewing scrutiny of Germany's ability to contain known extremists

following a string of deadly vehicle attacks across the country. International terrorism expert Rafael Basang, speaking to German outlet DW News, saying, attacks are part of a familiar pattern. I mean, this is about the eighth or ninth attack of this kind in Europe, also more broadly. Unfortunately, this kind of kind of improvised method of vehicle ramics is something that has well been a successful strategy ever since the attack in Nice many, many years ago and also 10 years ago, I mean, 2013 and 2016 then in Berlin.

I don't want to sound cynically, but thank goodness this was only a sort of normal car and not like a large lorry as we had 10 years ago. And the Islamic State early on always ask its followers to take any measure possible, improvised attacks, knives, anything they can get their own hands on. Despite members of the gay community apparently being targeted in an Islamic terror attack, organizers warning yesterday against using the violence to fuel a broader backlash against Muslims or immigrants. We do not want this deed to be instrumentalized for political ends.

We don't want any groups to be placed under suspicion for this. People are trying to divide our society and set some people against others. As a CSD in Berlin, we will not allow this. Maine Democrats officially selecting former State Senate President Troy Jackson as their new candidate to challenge Republican incumbent Senator Susan Collins in November. Jackson winning the Senate nomination by a vote of 566 to 5 Saturday at a hastily organized party convention. The longtime state lawmaker and fifth generation logger replacing Graham Platner, who withdrew

from the race after facing multiple sexual assault allegations, allegations he denies. Jackson now trying to win over the grassroots activists who had rallied behind Platner's Lightning Rod campaign. This is the absolute honor of my life to accept the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate. There is a place in this campaign for all of you. There is work for you in this movement. And I will spend every day now through November earning not trust.

Because today we turn the page. Today this becomes a general election campaign. And today we win the work of defeating soon. and Collins in November. The main Democrat Party expected to submit Jackson's nomination to Secretary of State Shenna Bellows when her office opens today. Jackson will then formally be running in one of the country's most closely watched Senate contests, with Democrats viewing Collins' seat as critical to their chances of regaining

the majority. In his Saturday acceptance speech, Jackson outlining his platform. I am running to pass Medicare for all to take on corporate price gouging, and build housing that folks in the state can actually afford. And I'm running to protect Social Security and Medicare. They are not going to touch that. And give every worker the freedom to organize a union without intimidation or retaliation.

And I will fight to restore abortion rights nationwide. I'm going to stand shoulder to shoulder with our LGBTQ manners. and stand up to Donald Trump and ICE when they attack our workers, terrorize our neighbors, and threaten the freedoms, generations of us fought to secure. Jackson now campaigning on a conventional progressive platform, despite facing years of criticism from the left over positions he held earlier in his political career. CNN uncovering candidate questionnaires from 2004 and 2010, showing Jackson once took a sweeping anti-abortion position.

Jackson reportedly responding to a 2010 survey at the time he was 42 years old, that abortion should never be legal, declining to select exceptions involving rape, incest, fetal disability, or to protect the mother's health. The questionnaire also recording Jackson's support for requiring women seeking abortions to receive information about the procedure's risks, available alternatives, fetal development, and fetal pain, along with viewing a fetal monitor or ultrasound before proceeding. Jackson's position shifting substantially over the following decade, eventually supporting the creation of a federal right to abortion and earning perfect ratings from Planned Parenthood beginning in 2017 when he was 49. By the time he was Maine Senate president in 2023 at age 55, Jackson was co-sponsoring one of the most extreme abortion laws in the country,

allowing the procedure after fetal viability whenever a physician determines it necessary. questions about the sincerity and timing of his evolution surfacing earlier this year during Jackson's unsuccessful campaign for the Democrat nomination for governor. A profile published as recently as 2022 in local outlet Maine Public, reporting that Jackson had come fully around on same-sex marriage, but pointing out he, quote, admits to struggling with abortion. 314 Action Fund, a Democrat PAC, supporting his then-primary opponent, later using that admission to attack Troy Jackson.

Mainers just can't trust Troy Jackson on abortion. He earned a 100% rating from Maine right to life, voted for legislation that could ban abortions. Jackson said abortions should be illegal, even when the life of the mother is at risk. He even stuck to his pro-life position after Roe v. Wade was overturned. Troy Jackson, check the record, extremely wrong for Maine.

Jackson denouncing the ad as false at the time, pointing to what he called his, quote, sterling abortion rights record over the previous decade. CNN noting Jackson's positions during his first decade in office, however, were substantially more restrictive than even Senator Collins' stated views. The long-term Republican senator identifying as an abortion rights supporter, backing bipartisan efforts to codify Roe, and calling the decision overturning it, quote, ill-considered.

The election now just 99 days away, a University of New Hampshire poll last week finding Jackson with a slight lead at 49% compared to Senator Collins's 46. Coming up, dolls with removable, interchangeable genitalia, reportedly coming to Minnesota professionals working with children as young as four. And President Trump roasting the press and members of his own cabinet during his first uninterrupted appearance, as president at the White House Correspondence dinner. We would not be celebrating America 250 if it weren't for a strong foundation set by the framers. Hamilton built America's financial foundation on the principle of sound, stable money,

a principle later embodied by the gold standard. But we abandoned that discipline in 1971, and we have since seen inflation erode the dollar's value. What is the foundation of your savings? Is it gold or something that can be shaken, disrupted, devalued. Birch Gold Group has been helping Americans solidify their savings with gold for the past 15 years, and they will help you, if you want them to, convert an existing IRA or 401K in whole or in part,

into a tax-sheltered IRA in gold if you would like to diversify your portfolio a bit. Learn how gold fits into your portfolio by texting my initials, MK, to the number 9-8-9-8-98. You're going to get a free, no-obligation info kit. guys have an A-plus rating with the Better Business Bureau and countless five-star reviews. Consider having Birch Gold help you build your foundation with gold as a part of it. Text MK to the number 9898989. So-called transgender paper dolls featuring interchangeable genitalia expected to become available to some Minnesota educators and clinicians this fall, including professionals working with children as young as four.

The New York Post first reporting the My Genentee. DOLs were designed using six years of research, including, quote, trans and gender diverse children and their parents to interact with the dolls and, quote, talk about gender and bodies in groups. They are set to be made available in some Minnesota classrooms this fall for children ages four to 10 years old, according to the post. The dolls reportedly feature gender neutral names like Sam, Rory, Avery, and Parker, along with removable, internal and external genitalia, and more than 100 interchangeable outfits, hairstyles, and accessories. The company promising to, quote, make gender fun, while marketing the dolls to

mental health providers, pediatricians, school counselors, and educators on its website. The project reportedly originating inside the University of Minnesota Medical Schools Institute for Sexual and Gender Health. Two medical school professors, later turning the research project into a commercial venture, including Associate Professor Diane Berg, a licensed psychologist and co-founder of the My Gender Dolls. Berg, defending the project in a now-deleted article published by the University of Minnesota Foundation's Discovery Magazine, quote, it's really important to address the belief, I'm not a real boy because I don't have these private parts, versus I am a real boy, whatever my anatomy looks like. The post reporting the university's medical school receives $15 million a year,

from the state to expand its research capacity, while its Institute for Sexual and Gender Health reportedly operates with a roughly $1.4 million research budget. It remains unclear whether parents will be notified or allowed to keep their children from participating when the dolls are used in schools. Democrat Governor of Minnesota Tim Walz has yet to comment on the program, but there's little doubt he's likely in favor given he was the one to declare Minnesota a refuge for so-called trans kids from other states seeking gender surgery over their parents' objections. President Trump appearing at the White House Correspondents Association dinner on Friday night after skipping the event throughout both of his terms until this year.

The gathering serving as a scaled-down replacement for the April dinner, which was postponed after an armed man charged toward the venue opening fire before being taken into custody. 31-year-old Cole Thomas Allen is charged with attempting to assassinate the president of the United States, among other charges, and faces up to life in prison if convicted. He is pleaded not guilty. Mr. Trump spending roughly an hour at the lectern Friday, repeatedly acknowledging the muted response from a ballroom dominated by reporters and media executives, deeply hostile to him. The president on several occasions referencing the security breach that derailed the original dinner, including a joke about members of the press refusing bulletproof vests because they would rather die than look 20 pounds heavier. Mr. Trump also working rapper turned ally Nikki Minaj into his retelling of the panic that followed the gunfire. But after hearing the gunshots, many people yelled, get down, get down, which caused Nikki Minaj to start twerking. Do you believe? Get down. She's the only one that really understood what that meant. It's quite an evening. But tonight we come back together

and answer that heinous attack with unwavering resolve and every one of us here this evening to show that in America, we do not yield to political violence. We can't do that. Can't do it. Mr. Trump also taking aim at members of his own administration. I hope that everyone finally got to enjoy their entire very delicious beef tenderloins, very special beef. And I want you all to know that Bobby Kennedy is right here, personally ran over the cow in his car. And he cut it up and he brought it here for you to eat tonight. So it's very fresh.

And Bobby also suggested an appetizer featuring his favorite cut of male raccoon roadkill. But we drew the line at that, Cheryl. We said, no, we're not going to do that. We're not doing that. We love Bobby. I'll tell you, this is a piece of work. You think it's, it is fun, but he is a very different kind of a person. I will tell you.

The president closing by saying he plans to return next year, unless that is, the press spends the coming months being, quote, really, really nasty. More on this later today on the MK show. And that'll do it for your AM update. I'm Megan Kelly. Join me back here for the Megan Kelly show. Live on SiriusXM's The Megan Kelly Channel, 11 at noon east, on YouTube.com slash Megan Kelly, and on all podcast platforms.