The Megyn Kelly Show - Britney Spears Arrested, and Kristi Noem Fired, with Emily Jashinsky, Plus Pastor in Don Lemon Confrontation Speaks Out | Ep. 1266

Episode Date: March 5, 2026

Megyn Kelly is joined by Emily Jashinsky, host of After Party, to discuss the breaking news that Britney Spears was arrested for DUI, the concerning behavior from her for years, the downside of massive fame at a young age, the shocking truth about Britney Spears' parents’ treatment of her, the tragic story of so many child stars, Kristi Noem being pressed about an affair in front of Congress, reporting Trump is not happy about the hundreds of millions she spent on an ad campaign featuring herself, James Talarico’s radical beliefs, his absurd past wild comments about Jesus, whiteness, six genders, and the patriarchy, new reporting that the war in Iran could go through September, the American public's appetite for another lengthy foreign war, and more. Then Pastor Jonathan Parnell and his lawyer Renee Carlson join to discuss his experience being confronted by Don Lemon during the church service in Minnesota, how the church disruption by the agitators harmed his congregation, what happens next in the lawsuits, and more.   Subscribe now to Emily's "After Party": Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/after-party-with-emily-jashinsky/id1821493726 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0szVa30NjGYsyIzzBoBCtJ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AfterPartyEmily?sub_confirmation=1   Parnell & Carlson- https://truenorthlegal.org/   Herald Group: Learn more at https://GuardYourCard.com Dose: Support your liver and daily energy with Dose for Your Liver—get 35% off your first month at https://dosedaily.co/MK or use code MK at checkout. SimpliSafe: Visit https://simplisafe.com/MEGYN to claim 50% off any new system! DailyLook: https://dailylook.com to take your style quiz and use code MEGYN for 50% off your first order.     Follow The Megyn Kelly Show on all social platforms: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/MegynKelly Twitter: http://Twitter.com/MegynKellyShow Instagram: http://Instagram.com/MegynKellyShow Facebook: http://Facebook.com/MegynKellyShow  Find out more information at:https://www.devilmaycaremedia.com/megynkellyshow Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to The Megan Kelly Show, live on SiriusXM Channel 111 every weekday at New East. Hey, everyone, I'm Megan Kelly. Welcome to The Megan Kelly Show. We have a lot to get to today, so we're going to dive right in. In just a bit, the pastor whose service was interrupted by Don Lemon and the agitators in Minnesota will join me live. I'm really looking forward to talking to him and getting his take on Don's ridiculous defenses. Also, Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate in Texas, James Tala Rico, may be worse than Jasmine Crockett. I've got to be honest. I haven't been paying that much attention to that race. I mean, I knew Jasmine Crockett was up against the guy who was on Colbert, and that whole kerfuffle happened around that appearance. That's about as much as, you know, I knew about it. What a nightmare. They should have gone with Crockett. Like, I thought they dodged a bullet because she's so weird and controversial.

and like odd, the fake version of her anyway. The version that got elected seems actually kind of normal. This guy, he's like, he's insane. And clearly the Republicans were holding back all their APO research on him until after he got the nomination to the point now where, like Tim Miller, who's a never-trumper, like one of the lead now Democrat haters of Trump, is out there saying, maybe we should, like, start nominating people who didn't make a lot of social media posts during peak woke.

So the Democrats are already worried about this seat. But, of course, there's drama on the Republican side, too, which we will get to. Plus, Homeland Security Secretary Christy Noem in the hot seat on Capitol Hill, asked point blank if she's had sexual relations with Corey Lewandowski. That's so uncomfortable. I'm so uncomfortable. Her husband's sitting right behind her. It's just like, tell me what? when it's over. We've got thoughts because now the president is reportedly very unhappy with an

answer that she gave the other day that we weighed in on and we will tell you what's happening there. And then overnight, this just broke about an hour ago, pop icon Britney Spears arrested for a DUI in California. We will dig into the details of that. Here to help me do all of this is MK Media's own Emily Jishinsky. She hosts After Party Live now at 9 p.m. Eastern on YouTube. on Mondays and Wednesdays as well as the Megan Kelly wrap-up show right here on the Megan Kelly channel, Series XM 111. Our sponsor, the Electronic Payments Coalition, says Washington politicians are always getting in your wallet, and now they're messing with your credit card.

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E.J., welcome back. Great to see you. Good to see you, Megan. I know it's bizarre, but I am going to start with the Brittany news only because it just broke. And let's face it, we need a break from Iran. That's just such a downer. Are you saying these stories are not related? On the record, the Britney arrest. I mean, time will tell.

Maybe she was really upset with what she saw in Iran. So she hit the bar. She was listening to you and Glenn yesterday, and she was like, I can't take it anymore. Yeah. I mean, I got that feedback from a lot of our listeners. They also hit the bottle after listening to this whole thing. I have to say, like, I think the nation really cares about her. I really do.

I think she's more than just a singer pop icon. She's got 42 million followers on Instagram because we watched her grow up. So we all feel like we know her. I think a lot of us feel invested in like her wellness care because we saw the conservatorship that her dad had control of for so long. and she didn't have her freedom, and she was micromanaged by, you know, Hollywood management companies and her dad, and, like, doesn't seem to have gotten the benefit of all of her hard work. Her wealth seemed to have evaporated into the hands of other people. And she started when she was 15 or 16. So we watched that girl with, oops, I did it again, turn into this, and I say this lovingly, hot mess,

who now we see on Instagram with these bizarre dancing videos. We're going to show you one. I've been noticing it. myself lately, it pops up in your feet and you can see kind of the deterioration with her. Like sometimes she just does dancing where you're like, okay, she's dancing. And sometimes you're like, oh, wow, no, something's going wrong there. Deb, do we have one that we're going to show? Let's watch it. She's basically in her underwear or a bikini. She's got the very heavy eyeliner on.

She almost looked like she was doing like maybe a gun motion underneath the chin. I'm not sure. It's like the finger to the bottom of the chin move. And this is what she does all the time, Emily. She just posts inappropriate videos of herself with weird dancing. It's not even like great Britney Spears dancing that she's capable of. It's like weird herky jerky movements from somebody who looks drug adult to me. She definitely looks like she's on drugs.

And nobody steps in, you know, like we went from conservatorship, which was too much to like apparently no help at all, which is evident. And now that this news breaks that she's been arrested for DUI in California, her manager, I guess it is. Cade Hudson releases the following statement. This was an unfortunate incident that is completely inexcusable. This is a statement obtained by the New York Post's page six. Brittany is going to take the right steps and comply with the law. And hopefully this can be the first step in long, overdue change that needs to occur in Brittany's life. Hopefully she can get the help and support she needs during this difficult time. Unusually good statement for a talent manager. So what do you make of her arrest now for DUI, or DUI, which is slightly less severe than DWI. Well, I was going to say exactly

the same thing about that statement. It sort of presents this glass half full perspective on what just happened, because as you were pointing out, the conservatorship was, you know, to hear Britney Spears put it at this very moving hearing when the conservatorship was on the table, she spoke in court about how, because of the conservatorship, she had been drugged against her will for many, many, many years. And so when I'm reading between the lines of that statement, I'm thinking, did she, you know, with all of the drugs that she had been given, including lithium, while she was under the conservatorship for many, many years, go from having this cocktail that was given to her under that legal control to not getting at all the right off ramp, medically, the right

off ramp from many years spent on all of those different drugs, because I agree with you, Megan, And she's clearly on something in all of these videos that are posted regularly on her account. They're so uncomfortable. They're so sad. Everybody knows that something's wrong. People genuinely just want this woman to be happy. She is a mother. We all watched her become a mother.

We've watched her as a daughter. We've watched her as a sister. Her sister is also, the little sister is also very famous. So it's just, I mean, to me, I agree. There's clearly in the video is a substance abuse problem that is then being confirmed by the fact that she just got DUI. So I hope that that's what the problem, I hope that her, her manager here, whoever gave the statement is correct, that maybe this is the right step to her getting the medications sorted out. She, this via TMZ just now, they write, Britney Spears was crying while being booked

in jail for alleged driving under the influence. sources tell TMZ that Britney was very emotional while being processed at the Ventura County Sheriff's Office Wednesday night, were told she did not act out of the ordinary, aside from crying a lot. She's 44. She was arrested in Ventura County, California. She was handcuffed by the California Highway Patrol around 9.30 p.m. last night, and she was booked by the Sheriff's Department around 3 a.m., released from jail this morning at 6 a.m. Can't believe she's 44. That's like, that's so shocking, right? Like, she's kind of almost forever 16 in my mind. and she's been through a lot, a lot. I mean, the number one thing she's been through is she became a megastar in her teens, which is the absolute last thing you should want for your child.

Absolute last. It never ends well. You know, look at Justin Bieber right now. It's like massive fame, massive fame at any age is warping, is, I think, men. mentally damaging to somebody. It's why so many mega-megasars turn out very weird, like Michael Jackson. But massive fame at the tender age of a teenager, like a Bieber or Spears, is almost guaranteed to seriously F you up. And so, like, we saw her with the meltdowns with the bald head and the umbrella. Then she married Kevin Federline, and that was a disaster.

She heard the romance with Justin Timberlake, and then it came out that he strong-armed her. into getting an abortion that she didn't want, which causes lifelong damage for a woman. I mean, you just don't overcome that. You don't want an abortion. You get one anyway. Even if you want an abortion, you get one it can cause lifelong damage, as you get older and you realize what you've done, you've killed your own child. And then just the height of the fame, the control of the managers, the father, and so on. Here's Kevin Federline. Just this past October, he wrote a tellaw book, and he went on with Pierce Morgan. Listen here. I understand that this hurts and the truth hurts and all of that.

And that is not what I want. I'm not trying to hurt anybody. I'm trying to put a perspective on it and show people that help is needed now because time is running out. And when you say time is running out, what do you mean? It's exactly what it sounds like. I don't want my kids waking up, having to deal. with the unimaginable. Their mother might die.

Yes. Yeah, he's the father of her two sons. I think we all have that fear, right? I mean, you can't look at her in those videos and not have that fear. And you mentioned Michael Jackson. I think that's a fear people had with Michael Jackson and other celebrities, too,

who unfortunately their lives ended too soon where you see this playing out in real time. It's obvious. So no surprise that he said that, your point about the mega fame is so important. I mean, she's somebody who was in the, literally in the Mickey Mouse Club. And that's my, this is like smack my generation. I remember buying, oops, I did it again when I was pretty young. And she was put forward in the press as this all-American girl, she ended up really having the worst of both worlds of this like last gasp of celebrity

monoculture where there were true mega, mega, mega celebrities. Now, there are still very famous people for Gen Z, you know, like Billy Elish, but everybody knows who Billy Eilish is. But there's so much more siloed culture that she was really like one of the last big, big, big, monoculture celebrities, who was this multi, multi-million dollar business, der I say like multi-billion dollar business that was around her, the tabloid culture, like you mentioned, the age of Perez Hilton blogging, where he was, you know, scribbling on the pictures. So she's right at that period, and now she's in this period of social media, where she ostensibly has control over her accounts, which is not something that ever happened in the 90s or the early aughts. Everything was funneled through a team, and it is

for many celebrities still, but clearly not on her Instagram. So she's splitting these two eras in a way that I think is heart-wrenching because she was sold as this all-American girl who was living the dream from Louisiana, so talented, gets plucked out of small town Louisiana, just a normal typical American family thrust into mega stardom, very sexualized, and now we're seeing it all up close. That's a very good point. I mean, we didn't really even talk about that, that she didn't just rise to fame like a Bieber where that would have been damaging enough. But young women like Brittany, I mean, she was a girl. She was 15 or 16, very hypersexualized. I mean, look at the video for that, oops, I did.

it again. The baby one more time one? All midriff. Yeah, where she's in the school girl. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. Yes.

Filling like the weird fantasies of God knows how many men staring at this actual like 15 or 16 year old girl. And let's face it, her parents were fine with it. I realize Brittany was probably fine with it too, but she's the minor. That's why you have parents. Kids make dumbass decisions all the time. You know, I was thinking about it this winter as we heard these terrible decisions about kids dying because during the terrible snowstorms, they tied their sleds up to like a friend's Jeep or a friend's ATV and died. And teenagers do dumb things all the time. They don't have a good feel for what's existential.

That's why they have parents, you know, who are supposed to step in and watch out for them. And I'm sorry, but Brittany Spears's parents, the mother seemed to be enjoying the daughter's fame and fortune. And the father times a thousand. He was like he couldn't keep his hands off of her fortune or her life, except to actually parent her, except to actually make sure she didn't have that gaping hole inside of her that made her think wealth and celebrity was going to make her feel whole, right? That was something he seemed to have missed all the way up to when she had the performance,

the residency in Las Vegas. And he seemed to be putting her out there every night, addled and unwell. but like sticking the, you know, adrenaline in the horse at the race track. Like, get out there and fucking run while the checks were cashing. And now, now you see her alone. That's the one thing you noticed in all these videos, Emily. She's always alone.

She looks like no one's tended to her. You know, she kind of looks like a ragamuffin, as my mom would call me on the days I didn't brush my hair. And it's sad. You know, you want somebody to step in. I almost feel like the DUI could be good because, as the manager put it, like, maybe, maybe now with the public humiliation that she's clearly going to suffer because she knows. I mean, this is the lead on CNN. It was the lead on our show today.

You know, if I got a DUI, it would make the news because I'm a public figure, but it wouldn't be the lead on a bunch of news channels. I mean, that's unique to Brittany. And it might, it's a bad thing for her short term, but it might be a good thing for her long time. You know what's interesting. I just thought of this. Justin Timberlake is fighting Sag Harbor right now. So to prevent releases from his own DUI from coming out a couple of years ago. That's almost like a tragic. And he's another child star. Yes.

And again, I think Gen Z doesn't understand exactly how that couple affected popular culture, how like massive, massive the fact that those two were a couple was for both of their like hashtag brands, which wasn't really a thing at the time. But that was so, so significant. And the sexualization of Britney Spears was happening really in tandem. with that. They were both in the Mickey Mouse Club, and as they grew up, it reminds me so much of what you've covered with the information we've learned behind the scenes of Nickelodeon about Amanda Bynes and Drake Bell. The things that were happening behind the scenes in the 90s and early aughts was just utterly disgusting. It was abusive. We should say that it's abusive. With Britney Spears, we can see it happening within the last decade. Your point about her dad, who is basically treating her as, this is a strong word, a slave making her draw. hugging her, making her go perform, and then taking the money for himself. And this is all within like the last decade.

So it would be, in retrospect, crazy for us to expect Britney Spears to get out of that conservatorship and just be fine. I haven't seen this woman lucid in probably 20 years. Seriously. And when she was lucid, you see how sweet she was. The fact that she was crying at the police station just cut so deep. I know. It makes me want to swoop in there and help her personally. Like I think she should come live with my family.

and me for like six months. I feel like we could really help her. I love that. I feel like she needs like strong positive influences in her life and something other than drugs to fill her up and stupid, provocative Instagram videos and clicks or likes to fill her up. You mentioned the Nickelodeon thing. So yes, what Nickelodeon has done to a generation of child stars is absolutely disgusting and filthy.

And we've covered it a lot on the shows you point out. But her sister, Jamie Lynn, is one of the stars who went over there, only to be mistreated, in my view, by the guy who was running it, who wound up never admitting to any molestation or never being explicitly accused of molestation, but definitely mistreating, you know, cast member after cast member, subjecting them to inappropriate behaviors on the set, including Demi, not Demi Lovato. Ariana Grande. Yeah, Ariana Grande. I mean, the biggest star in the country, really, right now, who was on his set and he had her, like, squeezing, I don't know, some sort of a fruit all over herself while she was upside down all over, like, her, you know, top. I mean, he was absolutely filthy in the choices he made for these kids. And these parents kept turning their kids over to him thinking, oh, you're going to be a star, going to be star. And one of those parents was Britney Spears mom who put Jamie Lynn over on the set. And this is from actually the documentary. from which we got a lot of this information called Quiet on the Set, the dark side of kids TV.

Here, let's watch it. There are these goo pops and my character can't get it open. It's not coming out. And it ends up squirting onto Jamie's face. So the prop. A person comes on to set with a syringe. We all, like, stood behind the camera to watch. it lands on her face.

So first it was Dan roaring, laughing, and then everyone kind of giggling. We heard the boys saying, it's a shot. And I had no idea what that meant. Once I saw it again as an adult was when that memory came back. I was like, oh, oh, oh, oh.

Wasn't funny. It still isn't funny to me, to be honest. It's just like, that's a kid. That was Alexa Nicholas, the star of Zoe 101. She was on our show. And there she is from the documentary talking about what was done to Brittany's little sister, Jamie Lynn, with the so-called, you know, you know what shot on her face. For the listening audience, when you see Jamie Lynn in this clip,

she looks like 13, maybe. I mean, she looks extremely young. And she's describing what this guy, Dan Schneider, had done to her, who ran Nickelodeon. I mean, he was the big show creator for all the big stars, including Jamie Lynn Spears, including Amanda Bines, including Ariana Grande. And this is what, I'm sorry, like, I'm sorry to be so harsh on the Spears parents, but they deserve it. Like, that's, this is what happens when you shove your kids into an overly sexualized environment, too soon, too young, with too.

little supervision and love. And it's money all around. I mean, I think what we've seen with them is they were clearly blinded by the wealth and the fame. And it's money from Nickelodeon's perspective. And it's so disgusting the fact that you would be getting money from that. But that stuff doesn't go out on air unless the person at the top, like a Dan Schneider, thinks it's good. And that's insane. I mean, the fact that that could have ever aired on children's television, you look at it and you just think even, even back then, we weren't that different as Americans back then. Parents must have been watching that and thinking to themselves, what the hell is this? Yes.

I watched those shows. This is my demographic. I don't remember this stuff. But for parents, you'd be like, who would use a tween for this so-called, you know-what shot? Who would do that? And by the way, my team just sent me, you know, Jamie Lynn Spears did indeed start at Nickelode when she was 13. years old. So that she may have been 13 in that clip. I wasn't far off. Didn't she get pregnant when she was 16 or 17? She she was a teen mother. Yes. Yes. She was 16. And here's this. Look at this.

My teen pulled this from Brittany's book. Speaking of her parents, she started drinking with her mom. This is Brittany now, not Jamie Lynn. Brittany started drinking with her mom at age 14, age 14, with her mother. Spears writes that starting in the eighth grade, she would take trips with her mother, Lynn Spears, to Biloxi, Mississippi, to drink dafferies, quote, I loved that I was able to drink with my mom every now and then. She writes, who adds that she and her mother were happy drinkers, while her father, quote, grew more depressed and shut down when he drank. The two would take Brittany's younger sister, Jamie Lynn, to the beach and drink white Russians, which Brittany writes, she thought tasted like ice cream. This is sick. This is abusive behavior by the mother.

Quote, no matter how much I dieted and exercised, my father was always telling me I was fat. Punishing gym routines left her feeling out of my mind, she wrote. Her diet was monitored along with every other detail of her life while she went through the motions of her Las Vegas residency. Now this is recent history, the Las Vegas residency. Quote, my body was strong enough to carry two children and agile enough to execute every choreograph move perfectly on stage. And now here I was having every calorie recorded so people could continue to get rich off of my body. That's how you wind up like that, Emily. Notwithstanding worldwide fame and adoration and money so voluminous, you don't quite know what to do with it. Yeah, your own father isn't tracking

your calories like that unless he's trying to make money off of you. That's, it's so, so disgusting. It does recall the stories of the Jackson father, Michael Jackson's father, and we see it time and again. I mean, I'm sure there are people who get into show business and they're aware of these stories of like what happened with Britney Spears and Michael Jackson before they go down this road. By the way, it goes back to Judy Garland. It's not just purely modern. But people are aware of it and they think they can withstand it. It's not going to happen to them. But the pressures of fame and money are difficult for the strongest people.

And so to be able to withstand those pressures is borderline impossible. I would argue without faith. But Britney Spears, people may remember, was also actively marketed as somebody who was a person of faith, and that was clearly done by her team and her parents. And I don't know how serious they ever were about that, clearly, because they got sucked so easily into this world.

For both of their children, while they were watching it happen with their older daughter, they then put their younger daughter into it, obviously because they were so blinded by money. Yeah, they wanted the dough. And not just like, you know, Mickey Mouse Club, Okay, so it started off G-rated enough, but it was very soon thereafter R-rated. And both parents seemed fine.

What mother is having white Russians with her 14-year-old daughter and the younger sister, she says? I don't know at what age they were then. And then comes the abortion incident with Justin Timberlake that she wrote as follows. Abortion was something I never could have imagined choosing for myself, but given the circumstances, that is what we did. The two decided to handle the abortion at home in the bathroom. Spears took little pills to end the pregnancy. The pain she writes was unbelievable, saying it was one of the most agonizing things I have ever experienced. Spears recalls that while she was lying on the floor in the bathroom, Timberlake came to join her and thinking music would help started strumming his guitar while she cried. This is just, if something massive doesn't happen, she's going to be. to be dead. She's not going to make it to age 50. I think we can all see that. That seems clearly to be what Kevin Federline was trying to say. And he has a stake in it because his kids are her children.

That's their mom. She had her kids young, but no kid. A young kid or a kid in their 20s or 30s doesn't want to see their mom die thanks to drug or alcohol use. And everyone can see this is the road she's on. And you know, every time we get another one of these particularly wacky, videos or more news about Brittany struggles, it's another round of gotchas about the conservatorship saying, everybody told you getting rid of this conservatorship was wrong. She was clearly crazy. And it's like, the conservatorship was probably the precipitating factor for a lot of this, that she was being drugged against her will, treated like a slave to get money for her dad via Vegas residencies. So I don't really want to hear that this time around either, because that clearly was not a good

option for Britney Spears either. Obviously, she needs treatment. Obviously, she's not getting it. And obviously, nobody around her is doing the right thing. I mean, maybe Kevin Federline is, but obviously she needs some type of jarring moment. Thank God she survived this one. And it might be what helps her get, you know, treated. And thank God she didn't kill anybody else while getting behind the wheel intoxicated. I mean, it's really such a crazy thing to do. Justin Timberlake, too. I mean, that picture of him having been arrested at that in the Hamptons a couple summers ago, they have all the money in the world. I mean, you or I would call an Uber.

At a minimum, you know, in their positions, you call a driver, you know, of a black car that you get, right? Like, that's the next level up from an Uber. They can easily afford that. They can have that person drive them around all night. They can drink to their heart's content. Like, to not do that and then get behind the car. Like, look, it's not the 80s anymore. You know, in the 80s, I haven't grown up then.

I can say people did drink and drive. It was done far more frequently because there was no Uber and it was, I mean, sadly, more acceptable until Madd really came out with its organization really stigmatizing it and getting the word out. Today, the kids, they don't drink and drive. They all call ubers. Like, they understand the dangers of this. She's from a different era. And so is Justin Timberlake. And just the irresponsibility of putting everybody else's life in danger after you've had drinks and you know you're not capable of driving is shocking. It's shocking. And it's just how grossly irresponsible it is. So in any event, I pray for her. I don't think this is her fault. Like I obviously getting behind the wheel is her fault. But like the net, net condition of Brittany's life was created by people who

were supposed to love her. And I really hope someone, maybe it's Fetterline, maybe it's her sons who are now 19 and 20. They currently live in Hawaii with their dad, Kevin, can step in. And, and, and help her in any event. I did not expect to spend half an hour on that, but it's like more of a cultural commentary, Emily. You know, it's more than just about Brittany. We care about her, but like, I just don't want her to be another Matthew Perry. I'm so sick of coming on the air and talking about stars we love who are dead things to drugs. And you can just clearly see she's on that train. And it's always for treating fame. It's always for treating fame. And they're always taking the drugs to, as sedatives, typically, downers that just help you get through.

and it's the exact paradoxical effect people think fame comes with, which is, you know, you never have any problems again. Well, it ends up creating a huge baggage on people's everyday lives. So it's so— It just causes more. Okay, let's keep going because while we're on this subject of women having a difficult time, I guess we'll do Christy Gnome next. So Christy Gnome goes on— Perfect. Before the Senate committee.

and they're overseeing her role as DHS secretary. And obviously she was going to have a hard time, given everything that happened in Minneapolis. These Democrats are wanting to emerge with her jugular. But what's been surprising is so do a few Republicans. And it shows you that she's not well loved and perhaps not secure in her position right now, that you had more than one Republican coming for her.

But the clip that made headlines everywhere was not a Republican. It was a Democrat who, I have to say, this was so uncomfortable, who asked her about the rumors that she's, I mean, listen, it's been printed up in the Daily Mail. We've discussed it on this show. It is an open secret in Washington that she's, despite the fact, married, she denies it for the record, but it is an open secret that she is having a long-term affair with Corey Lewandowski. Also married. He's also married. Oh, I didn't know that. Okay. He's also married. But to bring it up at the DHS oversight, and the way the woman did it was to say, you're sleeping with a subordinate and we have a right to ask, which was almost too clever. But I felt so uncomfortable. I want to get your take on it. Here was the moment. SOT 24. So, Secretary Nome, at any time during your tenure as Director of Department of Homeland Security, have you had sexual relations with Corey Lewandowski?

Mr. Chairman, I am shocked that we're going down and peddling tabloid garbage in this committee today. Reclaiming my... And, ma'am, one thing that I would tell you is that he is a special government employee who works for the White House. There are thousands of them in the federal government. So you should be able to answer the question. What we do at the Department of Homeland Security... And without any hesitation... Every single day is to protect this country.

If someone is asking if you or any federal official is sleeping with their subordinate, that should be the easiest... You should be wanting to answer that question. Because it is not about your sex life. It is about your judgment. That kind of garbage has been refuted for years. So that I can hear my self. I'm sure she would have done this had Christy known been a Democrat too.

For sure. She would have been super worried about office protocol and not having the female boss sleep with any subordinates. By the way, Corey Lewandowski, I mean, to refer to him as a subordinate, is like such a joke. He's probably the reason she got the role, right? Like, he, he is an operative. He is a player within the Trump administration. He's extremely well connected. And there is, it's absurd to refer to him as like this powerless, the male equivalent of an enginu, this do-eyed little deer who's been taking an advantage of my face. Right?

It's ridiculous. I don't know what's going on in their marriages. And I kind of feel like it's none of my business. But okay, I guess arguably it is given that they both work for the government. In any event, what did you make of this? The woman's name who did this is Sydney Kamajer Dove. She's a Democrat from California. Where last I checked, they're pretty relaxed about shit like that, Emily, but if you are a Republican, not relaxed. Well, I mean, who was just in the news the last week, the Clintons, where Democrats are saying, none of our business, none of our business. So, no, nobody has the moral high ground here. I will say, I think it's a fair question because Lewandowski's status as a special government

employee means he's getting paid by the government. He's known Trump longer than Nome has. He knows Trump better than Nome does. So it's ridiculous to put him as Corey Lewandwinsky in this situation. But it's also just like... I can't believe that her... I just got it. That's very funny.

Her husband's sitting behind her. Her husband was sitting behind her and the hearing is horrible. and they need to have a better answer than just punting on it. Clearly, everyone is aware of what's happening. The husband's aware of it. Lewandowski and Noam are, like, he's been seen coming in and out of her residences. Oh, they take business trips together where she sits on his lap. I mean, like literally every Republican in Washington will tell you about this.

Like when they talk to me about it, they don't say like, keep it on the download. They're like, it's amazing how brazen they are. Yeah, they do it in front of it. They'll be like holding hands and stuff. Like, everybody's seen it. So they just need to have an answer. I need to figure it out because he is a special government employee that is working for the administration that she's a – she's a cabinet official. So I do think it's fair game, even if the Dem and the situation doesn't exactly have the moral high ground.

I know. Like, I look forward to her cross-examinations of the, you know, of Gavin Newsom. Let's say he becomes president. I'd love to know what happens in that marriage, not to mention the previous one, which he's admitted he cheated on Kimberly Gelfoyle. Okay. John Kennedy, who we love. He's hilarious. He's like one of the most entertaining, funny senators we have from Louisiana. He's a Republican. He got up in her grill. We played this at the other day, but now something's happened as a result of it involving Trump. Let's place that 25. You have spent $220 million running television advertisements that feature you prominently. Sir, the president tasked me with getting the message out to the country and to other countries

where we were seeing the invasion come from, with putting commercials out that told them that if they were in this country illegally, that they needed to leave, or we would detain them and remove them, and they'd not get the chance to come back to America the right way. That has been extremely effective. Ask you to run these advertisements, is that right? We had that conversation. The president approved ahead of time, you spending. $220 million running TV ads across the country in which you are featured prominently.

Yes, sir. We went through the legal processes. Did it correct? Did the president know you were going to do this? Yes. He did. Yes. That's the part that's come back to haunt her.

I vouched for her the other day on part of this. I was told less than a year ago by someone close to the secretary that, one of the reasons she was going out herself to like Seacot and on some of these ice raids was because Trump wanted her to. And he did want to do advertisements showing this kind of thing because he thought it would be a deterrent to people who want to come here illegally and that it would also be an incentive to existing illegals in the country to get the hell out before we find you or you could wind up at Seacot. Now, that's as much as I could vouch for.

And I did say I didn't know whether he knew, like, about the cost of the advertising or anything like that. And apparently he didn't because the reports are, according to Punch Bowl News, Trump has quietly asked Hill Republicans if he should fire Christy Noem. The latest sign of her tenuous standing writes Punch Bull inside the West Wing, according to multiple Republicans who have spoken with the president. Republicans told Punch Bull News, they are divided on whether removing Noem now would be a good thing, considering the ongoing DHS shutdown. There's a shutdown right now because the Democrats aren't funding it and citing caution over a potentially difficult Senate confirmation fight likely

for any successor. Man, that's true. Can you imagine how that would go? We wouldn't have a DHS chief if she got forced out. They would not confirm anybody who didn't sound like an open borders lover. So it's kind of Christie Nome or bust and maybe Trump's mad enough that he's. going to go with bust, but he is angry because the reports are that he did not approve a $220 million expenditure, allegedly that she gave to somebody she's connected to, which she denied. She seemed to be suggesting it was bid out. Your thoughts? Well, yeah, it's significant that we saw Senate Republicans grilling Christy Nome on this because it means it telegraphs that exactly what Punchball reported. It's been the sort of spidey sense, everybody's picking up

on the White House being unhappy with her. And one of the things that I've heard, interestingly enough, from people in this world is that the Noem-Hulman division actually is really very real, that Holman wanted to focus on worst first. Nome wanted to do worst, yes, but also people who just don't belong in the country that you're picking up throughout these processes.

And that is seen as a significant reason to keep Christy Noem in the position. But clearly Trump is unhappy with the reason she's in the position, her public relations ability. And that's where the, I'm sorry, National Review just reported today, he's considering Mark Wayne Mullen reportedly as a potential replacement for Nome, someone who could maybe get Senate confirmed because he's from the Senate.

But I agree with you, Megan. I don't think there's a shot in hell anyone else gets Senate confirmed for that position. You end up with an interim, which is what Trump had for, I believe he had that, for part of his first term. It's not ideal, especially when this is one of your priorities. and it looks like you're taking an L on one of your priorities, too, during a midterm cycle. It looks like you gave Dems a scalp, basically. That's right. It's too close to the whole Minneapolis problem to get rid of her.

I mean, I guess he'd get confirmed because Republicans control the Senate right now, and so you really only need the 51 votes. But does Susan Collins? I don't see Republicans. I mean, that's a tough vote for Susan Collins. I know. Yeah, that's true. Murkowski, you've got some weaker choices in there.

here's what Kennedy said after all this broke. He said, after the hearing, the president of the United States called me, and I'm not going to speak for him, you folks know him. You can ask him yourselves. But put it this way, his recollection and her recollection are different. And he goes on to say, I don't have any inside information, gentlemen. Well, actually, I do. But if you're asking me, my opinion of Mark Wayne Mullen, he's very able and capable guy.

I mean, I'm not going to say anything bad about him. He'll whip my ass. So he's clearly making, you know, making it known that the president disputed what she said and is unhappy. And I can see why. I mean, because if Trump didn't authorize $220 million on the ad campaign, he definitely doesn't want that. That's a political liability she's putting on him. The job of his emissaries is to put the political liabilities on themselves, even if Trump is guilty, which it sounds like he's not here, right? It's like, you're supposed to take the bullet.

You're the lesser known person. You're, you know, like, it's important that they keep Trump clean because he's responsible for endorsing candidates to the midterms. It's like, who cares if Christy Nome gets dirtied up a little in order to take one for the team. But here it looks like it actually, she is the one who deserves to be a little dinged up. Here is an example of what the ads went for. I'm Christine Nome, the United States Secretary of Homeland Security. Thank you, President Donald J. Trump, for securing our border. and putting America first.

Let me deliver a message from President Trump to the world. If you are considering entering America illegally, don't even think about it. Let me be clear. If you come to our country and you break our laws, we will hunt you down. Criminals are not welcome in the United States. For too long, weak leadership has left our borders wide open. Okay. Floodging our communities with...

They're very well done. They're high end, but it could be they potentially... cost her the job. Okay. So that's enough about her. Let's keep going. Jasmine Crockett, finally admitting that she lost and she didn't concede it on election night. She said that people had been disenfranchised, but then she came out after the fact and said, okay, you know, I admit this guy James Tala Rico won. And this guy seems like a bigger problem for the Dems than Jasmine Crockett. Jasmine Crockett's weird statements are kind of like her fake street accent and her like, this person's a hoe and like calling Governor Abbott, Governor Hot Wheels,

like stuff like that that's just kind of like ridiculously obnoxious in your face shit. But it's not over the top weird woke shit like this guy James Tala Rico like here in Sop 13. I want us all to be aware of is that that modern science obviously recognizes that there are many more than two biological effects. In fact, there are six, which honestly, many, six. Modern science. Would you know? Surprise me, too, because I, you know,

am not well-versed in this issue area. I'm not a scientist. I'm a politician, a lot worse than a scientist. I mean, let me play one more while I've got your attention. Here's on the trans athletes in girls' sports issue, SOT 16. This is from October of 21. Before my constituents elected me to this body,

I taught middle school. and my students are the reason I'm here to make public policy that improves their lives. But instead, we're doing this, endangering the lives of some of our most vulnerable children to solve a problem that doesn't exist. When she laid out this bill in front of the Public Education Committee, Representative Watson summed up the justification for this legislation in one sentence. She said, if one girl loses a game, this bill is worth it. I guess we just have a different moral yardstick.

Because I say if one trans child dies to protect someone's damn trophy, this bill is grotesque. How are they going to die because they can't run on the girls' track team, Jim? I mean, this guy, he's peak woke, Emily. We're going to be on this subject for why. because we've got about 25 sound bites we found in two minutes of him sounding as woke as they come on every single one of the left's favorite issues. Yeah, the woke king of Texas apparently. His Twitter is a mess. He was posting about how excited he was to get an Anthony Fauci like action figure for Christmas one year. Oh, yep, there it is. Incredible work. Oh, my God. Wait. Wait, I'm disconnecting for a second. I'll be right back. Hold on. Okay. I don't have. I don't have Anthony Fauci, but I do have Kamala Harris. I have one of these.

Why did you have that so easily in reach? Because we had her on election night, and I threw her off the desk, but she lived. So I've kept her now. But he has one of these of Anthony Fauci for real. And then he posts is actually excited about him. Yes. It's not, it's not just like peak woke behavior. It's like cringe millennial progressivism.

And it's going to be a huge problem. for him, who, by the way, I think has otherwise tried very hard to run a campaign that is focused on saying the divide isn't left versus right. It's top versus bottom, which is a good line. I don't think that's a bad line. Like, it's a good branding exercise. But now he... I don't think any gay man should be talking about top versus bottom. Is he gay, though? I don't know. Is he gay? No, I don't know. I don't know if he's gay. But he seems gay. He's given gay. I'm just going to say. Yeah, I just going to say. Yeah, I just. I don't know. I genuinely don't know. That's, that is interesting. But he is... He's single. Oh. He's, I don't know. How old is he?

Do we know? How old is he? He's 36 and single? Okay, well, that doesn't mean you're gay, but he gives off some gay vibes. Didn't Steve? Oh, no, Steve voted Crockett. Okay. Yes. He did his patriotic duty. Yeah, he did. He voted Crockett. He did his patriotic duty. Oh, he said he's trying to help us for the content. Hilarious. But actually, like, with Tala Rico, he's running this campaign against elites. And it turns out he has every elite position on cultural issues ever. He says that trans women have abortion rights. He says that God is non-binary. He is fully in favor of the, like you were just playing the clip on boys playing in girls' sports. He's just down the line. These are seen by voters as elite culture war issues. They're seen as top versus bottom. They're seen as elites forcing these silly ideas like the word Latinx,

down your throat. And so now his economic message is going to have to grapple with his insane cultural message like that the border should be treated as our front porch with a welcome mat on it. It's our front porch. Right. Leave the door open. And then there's this one about Jesus Sot 12. For me, prophetic voices like Jesus have helped me reckon with my own whiteness, my own masculinity, my own certainty, my own ego. It's a never-ending process and it's a painful. process. It's painful to reckon with his whiteness, Emily, which Jesus helped him, I guess, come to term with, in terms of Jesus helped him with his masculinity? Well, like, the absence of it? How? How? I want to hear more. He's also using the Gospels to justify abortion. He was referred to

in a headline as a theologian recently, because he is actually in seminary, obviously very progressive seminary. And to most Christians, this is going to hit them as insane and inauthentic. So, They thought that Tala Rico being able to, I mean, he went on Joe Rogan, and Rogan said, you should run for president because he was really taken by the message. And there are some... Joe, Joe. There are some normal people who hear A. Dem speaking in the language of Christianity, and they're like, oh, I can see how this makes you different than a betto, or this makes you different

from a totally secular person. But I actually think what's not going to happen is it makes him look inauthentic, because it makes him look like he's not actually speaking for most evangelicals. or most Protestants in Texas, it's going to make him look weird. And it is weird. It's weird stuff. He tweeted out after the Ahmaud Arbery case

that he was the latest American killed by the virus of racism. The virus kills our black neighbors if they're jogging, playing music, sitting in a church selling CDs or carrying a bag of skittles. White skin gives me and every white American immunity from the virus. But we spread it wherever we go.

Through our words, our actions, and our systems. don't have to be showing symptoms like a white hood or a Confederate flag to be contagious. Oh my God. Okay, then he finishes it up with. The only cure is diagnosing the virus within ourselves and taking dramatic action to contain the spread. The first small step is proclaiming loudly and unequivocally that hashtag Black Lives Matter. I think that's when Tim Miller tweeted out. Could we please find somebody who wasn't tweeting nonstop during peak woke? I feel your pain, Tim Miller. I understand why you're saying that, and your instincts are spot on. All right, we're going to take a quick break. More with Emily. Right after this, don't go away.

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Very special. He happens to be the grandson of JFK. His name is Jack Schlossberg, and he is the son of Caroline Kennedy. She, of course, is the daughter of John F. Kennedy, our one-time president who was assassinated, and boy, oh boy, those jeans water down quickly, quickly. Welcome back to the Megan Kelly Show.

Emily Jashinsky is with me. She's the host of AfterPersonski. with Emily Jashinsky, go and subscribe now on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts, afterpartyemily.com. It always sounds so promising. Yeah, after party Emily. Promising is one way to put it. Well, it is probably.

And you do deliver, just not that way. Not like Jack Schlaschilder. This guy, I, like, I want to laugh, but I'm actually deeply disturbed by him, speaking of the mentally ill. He's way worse off than Brittany. I mean, he's like, I think this guy is actually mentally ill. I mean, this is my strong opinion is that he needs psychiatric intervention ASAP. And psychiatric problems do run in the Kennedy family.

He's very clear from his social media not well. And his cousin, Kick Kennedy, who is JFK, sorry, RFK Jr's daughter, has said, I really hope he gets the help he needs. Like, she can see he's sick. His own mother, Caroline Kennedy, did not want him running, which is why we're talking about him. He is running for office. We talked about it on an AM update the other day. He's running for Jerry Nadler's soon-to-be vacated seat, who's 78 and giving up the seat, and he actually thinks he deserves it.

He's done nothing. He had a one-month stint at vogue. That's it. That will conclude. He had one-month stint someplace else doing something else doing something. something equally dumb. And that is all of his professional experience, notwithstanding the fact that he went to Harvard and Yale. That's classic Kennedy liberal elite bullshit, where their name gets them into all these amazing institutions and then they do nothing with it. So all he's been

doing on social media is trolling people, including RFK, Jay, whose voice, which is a disability that RFKJ suffers from with his vocal cords, he's decided it's totally fair game. to mock. Listen. Hey, everybody, I I'm trying to figure out of the right present to get Donald Trump for the inauguration. So I found a really rare animal

and killed it and I'm going to give it to him. So now, notwithstanding that, now I'm just going to show one more. Repeatedly doing a Nazi salute. This is after the whole Elon alleged Nazi salute nonsense. But he just thought it would be a laugh riot to do them over and over and over again on his social media to film himself doing Nazi salutes.

And here's that. Yo, yeah, check this out. Yo, check this out. There's one. Yo, check this out. Another. Keeps going. Okay, he makes some sort of like a disabled person's like throat and facial and mouth gesture,

which appears, again, to be a reference to Elon. and Elon too is he's got Asperger's. He's on the spectrum. And Jack Schlossberg seems to think it's hilarious to make fun of people's disabilities and also to smear them as Nazis when they're not. So now he's running for this seat and the whitewashing of all of that shit, which he's since deleted, but we still have copies of a lot of it, has begun. Maureen Dowd humiliated herself with a whitewash column in the New York Times. I'm embarrassed for her. She, the poison pen had none to spare when it came to a Kennedy heir, and she completely glossed over the social media history like it was a nothing, like it was like an errant tweet here or there,

instead of vicious, deranged, repeated posts for years. And then he meanders over to CNN, and here's how that went. SOT 30. I heard you say that you're an outsider in this race. Yeah. To people who are on the outside, they hear you. you say you're an outsider and they're like, come on. I know. I know. It's ironic coming out of my mouth with Kennedy legacy and what I represent. It might be hard to believe, but it's absolutely true. Because there's a local insider political machine here that is running the playbook from the 90s. I'm just watching what the other side is doing, thinking we need our own version of this. And so it's by design. I'm sorry, Emily, but this is deeply disturbing. This is like,

The media enablers trying to foster this unwell person into a U.S. house seat, ignoring the rantings of a madman. He's been in other interviews now claiming, oh, I was just trying to generate attention to me, you know, because it's hard to get attention. Okay, you were trying to generate attention when you, you tweeted out that you have a Maha energy ball that you'd like to suggest to people. One part, fresh coconut meat, two ounces of Jew blood, Ashkenazi, not Sephardic. Four cups, forgive me, of male jizz, baked at 300 degrees until totally dry like your wife. This was addressed, again, to his cousin, RFKJ, allegedly in response to RFKJ suggesting some Jews got spared the COVID virus, depending on whether they were Ashkenazi or whatever. But this is who this guy is. And he's got a shot. He's got a shot because all the others running in this race are a bunch of no names.

So your thoughts on how this is going to go? I mean, he definitely has a shot. His financial disclosures just popped. He's got a shot. He's got money. He's got support. Although as a supporter, Megan, of independent media and political independence, I was glad to see an outsider like him get a shot on CNN.

That was pretty remarkable. Very kind of Dana Bash to give this upstart, nobody, a shot at a CNN segment. She's just insiduous. She looked like a schoolgirl. It's insane to whitewash his social media history because he was making it central to his persona. So to see him all cleaned up, it clearly tells you that they are not interested in running this guy on the social media that he probably wanted to run on. I don't know if people have seen his van dispatches. They are insane. They're on his YouTube channel. At least they used to be on his YouTube channel. He would just like sit in a van and talk into a webcam. Truly bizarre stuff. I agree. He's obviously not well. But the media trying to whitewash that I think is fascinating, fascinating. He's honestly just a shit lip. Like it's excused by language, but that's what he is.

He doesn't have interesting politics. He has the politics of a mentally ill millennial. And listen, that's very common. Instead he's like New York. That's New York, D.C. He's a dime a dozen. Yeah, no kidding. But I mean, like with absolutely no work history, like we're going to, we're just because

his name is Schlossberg and he's, I mean, Caroline doesn't seem all that together either, to be perfectly honest. But it's like they're trying to make him into JFK Jr., which he is no JFK Jr. J. J. F.K. Jr. was hot. Sorry, Schlossberg. You're not. Not even close. And no matter how many times you want to take off your shirt and try to parade around like you are, you're much better-looking cousin. You're not. And he can't be reinvented. And JFK Jr. While he struggled to pass the bar wasn't an abject moron like this guy is. So I just think, like,

I realize that Congress is not to be respected. I don't have any respect for virtually any of There are a couple who I like, but I can't think of anyone off the top of my head, but I know there's a couple. Jerry Nadler, of course. That was a respected. Oh, yeah. I liked MTG. I came to like her too late in the process, you know, like she and I got to know each other just before she pieced out of there. It's probably no accident.

Anyway, we have to have some standards. There has to be like, we have to screen the mentally ill. And this guy clearly is. So in any event, we'll see how that goes. New York, what are you doing? This is my home state. I live in Connecticut now, but like I grew up in New York and this is. too far for us, people. There are plenty of other Democrats, and now there's got some

protege he's recommending, whose name I don't even know. That's how, like, everybody's a no name, but you got to go with that guy over this lunatic. That's my own take on it. I won't be voting in any Democratic primaries. All right, I want to keep going. Let's talk about Iran, because there's been a lot of news. Discerbingly, there's a report now. It's come out from a couple of different places. Politico is the origin of it, saying that, um, Oh, wait, now here is, yeah, Politico, U.S. Central Command, that's the group overseeing, our military operation overseeing the Middle East war, is now saying internally that this war against Iran is likely to last through September. According to info obtained by Politico, it's costing us a billion dollars a day. So this would easily be over a hundred billion, if that's true.

I've seen this a couple different places reporting what Politico reported. I haven't actually seen the original political report. But September, like, first the president said, you know, I could do it in four or five days, but I might need four weeks. Then he said maybe four to five weeks. And then we had, I think it was Pete, suggest maybe eight weeks. Definitely an administration official said could be looking at eight weeks now. And the president saying I'm not, I don't have the yips about doing boots on the ground.

and now we have leaked potentially to Politico through September. We're going to be over there, which is, I mean, by last, I checked two months before November when we have the midterms. And let me just play you something from Harry Enton on the midterms. I mean, I think most people are kind of assuming we're going to be losing the House over on Team Red. But the Senate was thought to be not really in competition because just the way the map lays out this year. But take a listen to this and sought 23. Okay, talk to me about that. If it helps the Democratic chances, what does that do to the overall odds in the U.S. Senate? Yeah, overall odds of the U.S. Senate. This is just a segment which is just great news for Democrats.

And what are we talking about here? I mean, this is, I think, the biggest change that we have seen in the national picture, which was all along we thought that the Democrats would win back the House of Representatives. That was the most likely possibility. But at this point, look at this. Look at the change in odds from a year ago, the chance of winning the Senate. Republicans had an 81% chance a year ago. Look at this. It is falling through the floor, falling through the floor. Now it's just a 56% chance. Democrats' chances way up to a 44% chance. There is a real fight on their hands Republicans have not just for the House, which are likely to lose, but for the Senate as well.

Oh, my God. Your thoughts on where we are right now. I mean, nothing but respect for Harry Enton's perpetual shamwow energy. It's giving sham wow guy. It always is excellent stuff, Harry. But it listed, like, independents are not on board. First of all, before this war started, the economy was a really tough sell for the administration among independence. Now, the war has been clearly, when we look at polling, a very tough sell among independents.

So now they have double. I mean, that's why Trump was on his affordability tour. We saw that it's still happening. But that's why as the new year came about, it was we're going to get the president focused like a laser on the economy, on cost of living. And now, on top of that, he has to defend this war. There's been clearly pretty mixed messaging. They've struggled with messaging this week. You have six dead Americans.

If you have a war that goes through September, that number inevitably ticks up. It's going to touch communities around the country. It's already touched Iowa. It's already touched Minnesota. It's touched people all over the country who have lost their young men and women. And that's in the local news. That's hitting people. Independence are seeing it.

So it's going to be, I mean, I don't even want to talk about this in a political sense because it's a moral and substantive policy question. But the politics of it, Trump has seen Harry Anton's pointed this out too. His support among Republicans is like record levels. It's very high. It's actually still lower than it was before, which means in a midterm cycle, voter enthusiasm, the thing you need to get people off their couches to vote in the first place, that's a problem for him. So those are two places that you can't afford to be losing anything among independence and among, you know, hardcore people who need to be convinced to get off their couch and support Republicans and be excited about a Susan Collins, be excited about, you know, Republican in Nebraska. Those are going to be tough. So I think the Senate actually is in play now that we're at war. I mean, that's a nightmare. That's a true nightmare if the Democrats control the Senate. I mean, depending on how many seats,

they could potentially get. Now you could have impeachments in the House that would lead to actual convictions over there on the Senate side. I doubt it. But if they have control, they can thwart every single piece of the president's agenda.

Not to mention, then they're better set up for, because they're not supposed to win this time, the Senate. The map is much better for them in 28. And so they'll be better set up to get way more seats in that election and possibly win the presidency. and then we have full Democratic control with potentially a filibuster-proof majority. I mean, like, that could happen.

So, like, all that's catastrophic thinking. We're not there yet. But, like, this should not last until September. This can end this week. You know, there's a lot of pressure on President Trump, by the way, that we did confirm that was in Politico. So it's not just random accounts retweeting. Here it is.

U.S. Central Command, meanwhile, is asking the Pentagon to send more military intelligence officers to its HQ in Tampa, Florida, to support operations against Iran. for at least 100 days, but likely through September, according to a notification obtained by Politico, it's the first known call for additional intelligence personnel for the Iran war by the admin and assigned the Pentagon is already allocating funding for operations that may stretch long beyond what President Donald Trump initially said would be a four-week timeline for the conflict. Okay, so there we go. September, we can't have this thing go on. I don't even think it should last another four weeks, never mind several months until the, the,

the month before the midterms. And the problem is, Emily, the longer it goes on, the more sins the Iranians have committed against us and our allies that then need to be answered for, the more it spreads. You know, now you already have a bunch of these Arab countries in the Gulf saying, like, we may get involved in this shit because we're taking incoming and, like, this is bullshit. We're not going to just sit here and be hit by the Iranians.

So, like, the war is potentially spreading, and by September could spread even more. Like, this thing needs to wrap up. President Trump can declare victory. I got rid of the Ayatollah, a bunch of the bad guys. I damaged their missile facilities. I did more damage to what was left of the nuclear program. I gave you a running shot. I talked to the Kurds in Iraq who have some camaraderie with the Kurds in Iran.

They're going to come across. This is like Iraq all over again, by the way. This is exactly the shit we did back then. But okay, but now I'm out. Now it's like I gave you a running start, but I don't have to run the race for you. Well, this is what's frightening me right now, is that they're learning the Colin Powell. you break it, you buy it, Maxim, in real time, because people forget in the lead-up to the Iraq war, George W. Bush was campaigning, literally he was campaigning against nation-building before 9-11 happened.

You've played clips on the show in the last few days. It's been so helpful, but just hearing the debate has been so helpful. But having Dick Cheney talk about the timetable for Iraq before the invasion. It's insane. And you always, I mean, you can say, as Pete Heggseth has said, to his credit, that he's a reformed neocon. Trump has campaigned against nation building of forever wars and dumb wars. And then when you're in the situation, you end up realizing you break it, you buy it. If you leave, you then become responsible for what steps into the power vacuum. If it's an ISIS-like thing or whatever. I mean, you're constantly hearing this is not Iraq, this is not Afghanistan, from defenders of the war, from people in the administration. But the fear is that

it's going to turn into it because inevitably, when you topple the head of a regime, that still has some support in the country. It's certainly not 100% of the Iranian people. Many of the Iranian people are so glad the Ayatoll is gone, but there's still some support. The IRGC still exists. There's so plenty of weapons in the country. That means that you have a huge problem on your hands

that you now own because you're the one who took him out. And that's what I think is right now raising red flags for a lot of people when they're hearing timetable shifting already. No, no. We sunk the Navy. We control the airspace. that's great. We did a lot. Of course, our boys and gals in uniform got in there and did a stellar job, and that's great. Let's declare the W and get out and let President Trump spend the next eight months,

or however many it is till November, focused like a laser, as they promised, on the economy, just town to town because gas prices, oil prices are going up, gas prices are going up. All of that is going to cost Republicans at the polls. Like people, the one thing they wanted was the economy to ease up for their their pocketbook to be a little bit easier. This is not going to help that. And while Republicans support the war, like you point out, not all of them, the independents are over, I haven't seen one poll that has anything better than independence, 72% against this.

All of the Democrat Party is against it. And over 70% of independents in every poll I've seen oppose the war. Like, you can't win elections with those numbers, whether you think it's righteous, or not, you cannot win elections with those numbers. You do need independence unless you have a Republican Party that is incredibly enthusiastic and every last man is going to run from his couch to go make sure they pull a lever. And as you point out, that's not how the GOP is feeling right now. So this has got to wrap up. And by the way, for Israel supporters, it's got to wrap up for Israel, too. All the negative behavior and attitudes towards Israel grew throughout the whole Gaza conflict.

then Trump settled that and things were kind of settling down. Israel was off the front pages. That was very good. That was better for Israel. And now they're right back in the center of it, you know, again, which only leads to more negative feelings because the administration has been telling us they're the reason we got into this. You know, it's like they have to understand at least from a PR perspective how bad this is, Emily. Yeah, I mean, and the problem is blaming voters for their cooling sentiments towards Israel and blaming TikTok and blaming. claiming everyone without grappling and saying, okay, well, maybe voters, maybe we should trust that they're not all bigoted and they're not all anti-Semitic and they're not all dumb and make better arguments. And that's really been, I think, a huge part of the problem here. It's a problem with the administration selling this war. You've seen them freak out about inconsistent messaging.

I think their inconsistent messaging speaks to a muddled strategy to begin with. But the problem selling this from now until November is Democrats now have clip shows. can play constantly of different things being said, well, we are at war losing Americans in the Middle East again because the messaging was a disaster. And that's, I mean, I don't see actually any sign of them having better messaging about this going forward. They're still not telling us clearly whether or not it's a war. Mark Wayne Mullen just yesterday referred to it as a war. Reporter said you referred it to it as a war. And he said, oh, that's a misspoke. It's such a mess right now. He's going to be running DHS soon, so we don't have to worry about him,

speaking as a senator. All right, let's keep going because I want to get through what happened on the Minnesota fraud hearing with you before you have to go as the pastor from the Don Lemon Church is coming on. I hate to refer to it that way from City's Church in St. Paul. You know what I'm saying? Okay. There was a fraud hearing about what's happening with, yes, the Somalis in Minnesota yesterday. And Tim Walls showed up, as he should, because this is his state.

he's done virtually nothing to stop this nonsense. And my favorite, Brandon Gill, pressed him because they were upset about, they feel that the administration in Minneapolis has, Minnesota has cracked down on whistleblowers who tried to come forward over and over about what they saw. They saw the fraud coming. And they tried to jump up and down and say, yo, yo, Democrats and Republicans, these Somalis are committing a bunch of fraud on us. We should stop giving them the money for their fake autism and child care centers.

And it's all over the news at the time with the people saying, that's racist. You can't, apparently you're not allowed to say that anybody from Somalia has committed a crime or you're racist. But what if they have? But you can't because it's racist. But what if they did? So here's Brandon Gill cross-examining him on that, SOT 27. Do you think whistleblowers should be retaliated against? Absolutely not.

They have strong protections in Minnesota. That's not what we're hearing from whistleblowers. Faye Bernstein, who, again, has stated that she is a Democrat. She's only ever voted Democrat. That doesn't matter whether she was subjected to, quote, a smear campaign for trying to make leadership aware of illegal contracting practices. Why do you think that happened? I can't speak to that, Congressman, because we don't do it. According to another report, quote, there's just a continuous effort to stifle you, to shut you up, and it's impossible to overcome.

Your administration's response to whistleblowers has also been described as, quote, nearly unbearable retaliation. We've heard claims that, quote, they've been denied vacations, promotions, and that it's hurt people's careers to speak out against fraud. Do you think that that had something to do with the prevalence of fraud in your administration? I can't speak to it, but it doesn't happen. Are you going to take responsibility for this? I certainly, I supervise 40,000 employees. State agencies have their own. You supervise a lot of employees, and as you have said, the buck stops with you, and your administration has treated whistleblowers like absolute dirt, and that's a big reason why we've seen so.

much of our hard-earned tax dollars defrauded. Brandon Gill for the win. He's my favorite. And he's leaning into the Clark Kent thing with like the one curl. Right? I approve. I'm into it. His questioning of Tim Walls is also just like, this is logic.

This was happening out in the open for how many years the tune of like so many millions of dollars. And there's, you know, the Minnesota Reformer, which is one of these like lefty websites that purports to cover local news. There's a guy named Casey Magin who's been writing about this. He's Somali. His job was like looking into fraud formally in the Minnesota government. And he's been writing about this for a while saying that it was specifically in some part due to racism being weaponized to prevent people from looking into this. This is on the record going back multiple years from people on the left. So for Tim Walts to sit there and say, I can't speak to that because we don't do that is it's a good line politically. It's like putting up his shield with that line just not refusing to engage basically, just saying, I don't know. We don't do it.

He's a cross from Clark Kent. Yeah, he's intimidated. He's like, oh, this guy actually, yeah. It's a disaster for Tim Walz. And it should be a lesson for Democrats to not let these weaponized charges of racism block them from good governance. But I don't think anyone believes that it actually is. And it's so ridiculous.

84 of the 94 who have been indicted so far are Somali. I mean, give me a break. Like, that's who's committing the crimes. Sorry that the community has decided to take our. our benevolence and our generosity here in America and completely exploit it to the tune of criminal fraud. But they should be made to pay the ones who have done that. And if it's 90% Somali, so be it. Doesn't make us racists for charging them for crimes that they've allegedly committed. Here was an awkward moment when Representative Pat Fallon, Republican from Texas, decided to talk about

how he got chosen as Kamala's VP running mate. Watch this. It's not 26. It's been widely reported that in 2008, when Barack Obama was choosing his vice presidential candidate, he had three criteria. He wanted to make sure he picked somebody that wasn't as smart as him and had less talent and charisma and couldn't possibly outshine him. So he picked Joe Biden. And then Joe Biden in 2020 used the exact same criteria. He wanted to make sure he picked somebody who wasn't as smart as him, had less talent and charisma, and wouldn't outshine him.

And he picked Kamala her. And then in 2024, governor, I think it's very evident why Kamala Harris picked you. The talent pool, Mr. Chairman, the talent pool in just shallow, brother, we have hit the shore and I yield back. Oh, I got to give it to Tim Walz for laughing at that. That was well done. That's what he should do. It's the only thing you can do. This is so cringy, right?

It's so cringy. It's terrible. I can't imagine. I mean, is obvious the truth. Yes, it is. It is. And that's why he had to step out of his campaign. I mean, when it all came to light, this all could have come to light while he was running for vice president.

But it's actually disadvantaged sometimes to Democrats that the media is so sympathetic to them because it didn't come out then. And sometimes that ends up coming back to bite you in the butt because people aren't given scrutiny until it's too late. And that's what happened with Tim Walls. It's so true. The Republicans are in a great position because J.D. Vance, like everybody would. would be outshined by Trump. There isn't a soul on earth that wouldn't be outshined by Trump. Just he's has such a big, fun personality. But J.D. Vance is so solid in his own right that they're not suffering from that same dynamic. Like when he steps out on his own, or it could be Rubio,

either one, when they step out on their own out of the shadow of dad, they're going to thrive because they actually are incredibly charismatic, funny, warm, charming, smart, competent, all the things. It's not exactly how it went on Team Blue. Okay, E.J. We will see you in how half an hour on the MK after show and then at after party with Emily on YouTube and podcast season. All right. We are back with the pastor who Don Lemon badgered recently in Minnesota leading to criminal charges against Don LeMond. This will be my first chance speaking to the pastor. I can't wait to hear what he has to say. Home security can feel overwhelming, but simply safe makes it simple. Many people are choosing it for the peace of mind it provides with over a million homes already protected. With no long-term contracts and an anti-f theft guarantee,

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Just fill out their style quiz and receive up to 12 hand-selected items delivered right to your home. Buy what you love, send back the rest. You will get free shipping both ways. head to Dailylook.com to take your style quiz and use the code Megan for 50% off your first order. That's Dailylook.com for 50% off and make sure you use my promo code Megan so they know we sent you. Hey everyone. It's me, Megan Kelly. I've got some exciting news. I now have my very own channel on Sirius XM. It's called the Megan Kelly channel and it is where you will hear the truth unfiltered with no agenda and no apologies. Along with the Megan Kelly show, you're going to hear from people like,

Mark Halperin, Link Lauren, Maureen Callahan, Emily Dershinsky, Jesse Kelly, Real Clear Politics, and many more. It's bold, no BS news. Only on Megan Kelly Channel, SiriusXM 11, and on the Sirius XM app. I want to let you know, this just broke from the Wall Street Journal. President Trump is preparing to fire Homeland Security Secretary Christy Noam. The article also suggests he could still change his mind, but following up on our last segment, just bringing you that news, per the Wall Street Journal.

he is preparing to fire her. We'll see whether or not it actually happens, and we will bring you the latest right here. In the meantime, big news out of Minnesota last week. Remember that big anti-ice protest at City's Church in St. Paul? We're using that term protest very generously. The one Don Lemon thought it was a good idea to live stream for the world to see. Well, President Trump's DOJ last week announcing 30 more individuals have been charged. with violating the Face Act and the Klan Act. That means a total of 39 people have now been charged over that January 18th protest riot harassment event.

A list that includes Don LaMond himself. Here's a reminder of just how aggressive the agitators were that day and how terrifying it must have been to the 300 or so parishioners, including young children who were there just to worship that day. Renega! Renegra! We're dead! We're down! Don't shoot!

Don't shoot! Don't shoot! Where are you? Where are you? Where are your people? Why are you not at Whipple every day fighting for the humanity, standing for our people? Where are you? You drink the coffee.

You got your jewelry. You have your nice clothes. But what do you do? What do you do to stand for your Somali and Latino communities? I'm not going to comment. That's just so shameful. As you can see in this video, City's church's lead pastor, Jonathan Parnell,

made it clear to Lemon and his fellow protesters that they needed to get out unless they wanted to worship with him here. Our church had gathered for worship, which we do every Sunday, and we were interrupted by this group of protesters. We asked them to leave and they, obviously have not lived.

What do you think of this? I mean, this is unacceptable. It's shameful. It's shameful to interrupt a public gathering of Christians in worship. But there were folks who are... I have to take care of my flock. Listen, we live in... There's a constitution in the First Amendment

to freedom of speech and freedom to assemble and protest. We're here to worship Jesus, because that's the hope of these cities. That's the hope of the world. Christ. I want to be very respectful. Please don't push me, though. We're here. We're here to worship Jesus. That's why we're here. That's why we're here. That's what we're about. Don't you think Jesus would be understanding and love these folks? We're about spreading the love of Jesus. But did you try to talk to them as a Christian? No one is willing to talk. Okay. I have to take care

of my church and my family. So I asked this you actually would also leave this building. You don't want us to chronicle whatever. Unless you're here to worship. I'm always worship. I'm a Christian. Oh my gosh, it's so infuriating. Don wouldn't leave the church for another seven minutes, including taking the time to tell viewers of the live stream to quote, like and subscribe to his YouTube channel, unbelievable. Joining me now with more about what happened is Pastor Jonathan Parnell himself. This is his first interview since Don Lemon was charged in the case in January.

Pastor Parnell is joined by Renee Carlson, an attorney and general counsel at True North Legal, the nonprofit law firm representing City's Church. Welcome so much to you both to the show. It's a pleasure to have you. Pastor, I so admire you and the way you handled yourself in that awful, unprecedented moment. You had grace. You had the smarts not to overly engage. Even legally, you knew what to say. Leave. Please leave. And really set him up in a way, I'm sure it wasn't intentional, but for these criminal charges, because there it is on camera, you telling him to get out. And he refused.

But you, I'm sure, had a very different experience of the moment than thinking through all those things. Can you walk us through how it was for you? You're up there. You're preaching. And the next thing you know what? Yeah. Thank you, Megan. You know, the first thing I want to say before I get into that is I just want to state a fact. And this fact is the most important fact in the universe. It's the thing that I always most need to remember all the time is the simple fact. that Jesus Christ is a real person. He is as real in this moment as we are here having this conversation. He's been raised from the dead. He is seated on his heavenly throne,

and one day he's coming back. That's my worldview. I'd say my worldview is simply that Jesus is real, and that changes everything. It's true whether we believe it or not, but I believe it. Our church believes it. And so on Sunday, January 18,

when we were gathering for worship, we were gathering to worship the real person, Jesus Christ. This is not, we're not playing games. We're not walking through a dry liturgical order, but we were gathering to have a dialogue with Jesus where we hear him speak, and then we respond to him in praise and adoration and Thanksgiving and worship.

And so on that Sunday, at the highest point of our liturgy, just as I was about to read from the Gospel of John, chapter 13, we've been preaching through the Gospel of John, John, and we're in the section that's called the Fairwill Discourse, which is the longest Thursday night in the history of the world when Jesus is teaching his disciples and his final moments with them. And in chapter 13, Jesus teaches us to love one another as he has loved us. And so just as I was about to read these verses, a woman begins approaching me on the far right side of our church building. She's followed by a few other folks, and then she calls out, interrupts me, and says something to the effect.

of bringing judgment. And then as soon as she says something, almost like a flash mob, people got up and our sanctuary, converged in the center of our sanctuary and were chanting. We're shouting, have their fists raised. And immediately, people in the back of our building began to flee. Folks were leaving rapidly. And then right away, they began to chant, hands up, don't shoot. And then other folks had taken cover. Some other folks were trying to leave. Some were blocked from leaving because they were clogging up that main pathway. But in that moment, as they're chanting, hands up, don't shoot. I was just, I was looking across our sanctuary, kind of remaining in my post, as it were,

behind the pulpit. And that's when there were children in our church who were putting their hands up in fear. And that's the moment when I turned to the woman who had initiated the protest or the chanting. And I told her what I would say now. It was shameful. Shame on her. It was a rebuke. We were there to worship Jesus.

It is the house of God. It's a sanctuary. And she invaded that space. And this mob invaded that space with anger and rage. And then from there, it began to just get louder, more chanting. People were blowing whistles. It was an absolutely disorienting moment. Folks were still trying to leave as best as they could.

Some remain. Others again had taken cover. We had a lockdown our child care. It was an extremely chaotic moment. And then in the midst of all that, I did not realize that the children put their hands up. They were scared, and they thought they were being ordered to do that. And I said this on the show, that the children having no idea about Ferguson, Missouri, or Michael Brown, would not understand the hands up, don't shoot thing. They would be hearing hands up, and they would be hearing the word shoot.

And that, indeed, you're testifying here, was part of the trauma that they went through. It was horrifying. Also, in our context, just a year ago, the tragic, horrid. shooting at a school in the Twin Cities. And so that's fresh on the minds of many people. And there were definitely folks who believed it was an active shooter situation fleeing they thought for their lives. And that was the moment when, in the midst of all that chaos, absolute mayhem that

an individual kind of spawned in and stuck a microphone in my face and asked me what I thought about what was going on. And then instantly, as he began to talk to me, others came forward with microphones and cameras, and cameras, and it kind of surrounded me. And he was asking me, again, what was going on? What did I think about it? And I told him, it was shameful. It's unacceptable.

This should not happen ever. And then in the midst of that conversation, you've seen the video. He makes a comment about me pushing him. And that was the turning point from me. That's when I realized this guy is here with them. He's trying to incite me. And I was trying to, as best as I can, disengage from that encounter as quickly as I could, trying to be a gentleman as well, trying to be kind,

but it was a very disorienting moment. And one of those things that I've thought about so many times afterwards, and it just should never happen again. What was it, you know, now he says he was just a journalist doing his job covering this as a journalist. You and others inside the church perceived him as a member of the protesters, as in tandem with them in concert with them. why? The turning point for me was when he made the comment to me about pushing him and the fact that when he came close to me and was in my space crowding me, others who were there protesting the agitators, they joined him and also encircled me. And so in my mind in that moment,

I definitely understood him to be part of what they were doing. He went a different way with it. here he is, this is recently, sat down with Jim Acosta and said the following on February 18th, sought 62. I don't know. It's weird because they kept saying it even when I told them that I'm not. And I think they were looking at me and because the bulk of the protesters were black, maybe they thought because I'm black. And I kept saying, I'm not a protester.

I'm here covering the protest. I'm not with them. And they were, you know, they just for some reason could not understand. And I had to keep telling them that. I'm not part of the group. I'm just here photographing. I would say chronicling or whatever it is. And that's it, Jim.

So why they couldn't figure it out? I don't know. What's your reaction to that, Pastor? That's the first time I've actually heard that. Yeah, the truth will come out. That's what we want. We want the truth. And so my counselor, Renee Carlson, is here.

She can comment on details when it comes to the First Amendment. But, yeah, that's, yeah, that's hard to watch. Well, Megan, I mean, if I was not his skin color. Oh, go ahead. No, I mean, you're, it was not his skin color that led you to believe he was a member of the protesters. That's ridiculous. There's, as you know, Megan, I mean, there is never an excuse to invade a church. And this whole hiding under journalism, um, when they've really violated the law, there is no First Amendment right to invade a church. There's no constitutional right for that. There is a right to worship freely. And that's exactly.

what was happening at city's church. There is no press pass to invade a church. And the Constitution is really clear and you know this, Megan, about the limitations on the First Amendment and freedom of speech. That's the time, place, and manner

in which this speech takes place. Here, that line was crossed. I mean, you've talked about this and we've appreciated your coverage. You've said things like, look, you can't just go into the courthouse, bust in stage of protest and say, I'm covered by the First Amendment.

nobody could walk into your house, bust in stage a protest and say, I'm covered by the First Amendment. Likewise here, you cannot invade a church. And stage a, like you said, it's protest and air quotes here. This was an ambush on the church. There was obstruction. There was threats. This behavior is absolutely unlawful. It's completely a violation of the FACE Act, which protects the right to worship in the space of worship.

And I just do want to highlight what Pastor Parnell said. that there was that moment when they ambushed him. They gathered around him. He did not feel a freedom to move. He was obstructed. And probably even worse, these parents couldn't get to their children. They blocked exits.

And that is terrifying. What a horrific moment for this church. It's absolutely not protected by the First Amendment. This is activism. This is not journalism. We saw children crying. We saw children fleeing, trying to flee in that van where they quickly tried to slam the door to get away as the person.

protesters are still harassing them even outside the church. We saw Don Lemon, finally outside the church many minutes after he'd been told to leave, saying the trauma is all part of it. That's part of it. That's the glory of protest is the trauma you cause others. You tell me, Renee, when this goes to trial, do you think that there will be adequate testimony to convince a jury that there was obstruction and that there actually was trauma, as Don Lemon observed? I think there will. And here's something else to think about, Megan, is that these charges were brought after an indictment. That requires a number of jurors, at least 12 jurors, to say that there is probable cause to bring these charges forward. And that's what happened here. We have a cross-section of

people in Minnesota who saw the evidence, who saw all of these things that you're talking about, and they put forward these charges. They said there is a probable cause to believe that Don Lemon committed these crimes. You know what's also shameful, though, Megan, is all the say that in the state of Minnesota, there is this sense of anti-religious bigotry that has to stop. We are very thankful that the Department of Justice has come in, has been aggressive about bringing these wrongdoers to justice. But we have not heard anything from these states' attorney general as far as enforcing the law. The state attorney general could bring a claim to the face.

He went on Don Lemma's podcast the Monday after he did it. Exactly. The attorney general, like yet another person seeming to have no problem. with his violation of the citizens of Minnesota's rights. Pastor, you, like, I can't imagine what you've been through in trying to comfort your constituents and trying to make sure people feel safe that this isn't going to be an every week kind of thing. Meanwhile, you have Don Lemon out there cloaking himself in like this, you know, the protection of journalism like he's Ben Bradley of the Washington Post. When you saw that the DOJ actually did charge him

and said, we are not going to treat you any differently just because you had a mic in your hand. How did you feel? Yeah, you know, that is the job of the Department of Justice. You know, as Christians, we preach the gospel. We gather to worship Jesus. You know, Jesus is real, is our worldview. It's also the treasure of our hearts. And because of that, we're going to be okay, ultimately, no matter what.

But we're thankful that, according to Romans 13, I mean rulers are put in place by God to punish wrongdoing. And so we're grateful that right now the Department of Justice is doing that. Now, he, of course, went on this podcast after it happened just days after, and said the churchgoers are white supremacists. Having zero basis to make that accusation, then said churchgoers were doing the exact opposite of what Christianity is supposed to be all about. But, like, I can't, how did you feel when you heard him insulting the congregants in that way? Yeah, you know, there's been a lot of insults like that. And the Bible tells us, First Peter four, that when we're insulted, we should receive it as a blessing, that the spirit of glory, the spirit of God rest upon us. We know who we are. We know the work of God's grace in our lives. Our church is made up of people from all kinds of different walks of life. It's been our mission to gather, to worship Jesus weekly, to love. and serve one another to seek the good of these Twin Cities. We know who we are, and we're

sticking to that. We're continuing to fulfill our mission to be who God's called us to be, and when we get insults like that, we're blessed. That's what Jesus says. I wish I could go to your church. I would love to come and be a member of your congregation and listen to you preach. I think I would have appreciated the sermon on John as well. Are things getting back to normal now or are people starting to feel, you know, just a sense of serenity again? Yeah, you know, that's a good question. And I've been thinking about that just because I get the question a lot, how is your church doing? How are things going? And again, ultimately, I want to say because Jesus is real, we're going to be okay. We have a hope. We have a future. And at the same time,

although that's true, we don't want to ignore reality. And then the truth is that things are still, you know, they're tough. We have seriously increased our security measures. We have children who are still afraid to come back to church. We're still working through lots of things as a congregation. But ultimately, we know God has been so kind to us. And so we're very thankful for that. I was just a couple nights ago, my wife and I were having dinner with some of the members of our church. And I always like to hear how other people would answer that question. So I asked them, I said, hey, how do you think we're doing? And my friend, friends said right away three things. She said, we are more, she said, we're more bold, we're more careful,

and we're more thankful. And I just thought that was a great, a great answer. And that's something to aspire to her. Like, we want to be more bold, more careful, and more grateful. And you are one yourself. Renee, before we let you go quickly, is there going to be a civil lawsuit? Any civil lawsuit against Don or the people who did this to you guys? Well, Megan, the freedom to worship is certainly important. That's something that the church is taking very seriously. You can appreciate as an attorney. I can't get into the legal strategy here today, but happy to update you as those details emerge. Ah. So we're not saying no. The church is exploring all options to make sure that Sydney's is protected and that this never happens again. Good, good. Good luck to you both, and we will definitely keep covering it. Thank you. Thank you for having us.

And your flock as well. Thank you. Wow. Before we go, it's official. Punch Bull News now reporting, Trump says he will nominate Mark Wayne Mullen to be DHS Secretary, pointing out this comes after we reported this morning that he had been calling the Hill asking about firing Nome. Punch Bull News reporting Trump is firing Christy Nome and that he will nominate Mark Wayne Mullen. So far just seeing this from Punch Bull News. Haven't seen it confirmed independently.

Oh, wait, no, this is just coming in. Trump posted on truth social, what that says per the daily mail, he has fired her. Later on Thursday, he announced that it will be Mark Wayne Mullen of Oklahoma, who will be nominated and says, quote, I'm pleased to announce that the highly respected U.S. Senator from the great state of Oklahoma, Mark Wayne Mullen, will become the United States Security of Homeland Secretary, Homeland Security, effective March 31st. Trump posted on truth social. The current secretary, Christy Knoem, who has served us well, and it has had numerous and spectacular results, especially on the border, will be moving.

to be special envoy for the shield of the Americas, our new security initiative in the Western Hemisphere. I thank her for her service at home. I mean, that's nice of Trump. He gave her a soft landing and the chance to save face that this is just a lateral move. That's not a lateral move. This is definitely a firing and a demotion. But

the president has to do what he has to do. He has to have confidence in those around him. And I'm sure after all the bad press around the messaging around Minnesota and then this, it was probably just too much. Thank you guys for tuning in. We'll do it all over again tomorrow. I'll see you then. Thanks for listening to The Megan Kelly Show.

No BS, no agenda, and no fear.