The Megyn Kelly Show - Seventh Iran War U.S. Death, IED Attack in NYC, New Epstein Security Guard Questions: AM Update 3/9

Episode Date: March 9, 2026

The U.S.–Israeli campaign in Iran intensifies into a second week with a seventh U.S. death, a disputed strike on a school, and oil prices topping $100 a barrel as the conflict shows little sign of ending. Two suspects are in custody after an 18-year-old allegedly threw an improvised explosive device during dueling protests outside Gracie Mansion, prompting a terrorism investigation. Newly released DOJ records reveal a guard on duty the night Jeffrey Epstein died searched for news about him online minutes before his body was discovered. A new NBC poll shows President Trump underwater on approval and losing ground on the economy, with Democrats holding a six-point lead on the generic congressional ballot heading into the midterms.   Birch Gold: Text MK to 989898 and get your free info kit on gold   Herald Group: Learn more at https://GuardYourCard.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Tom Bevin, co-host of the Real Clear Politics Show on the Megan Kelly Channel. It's Monday, March 9, 26, and this is your AM update. We continue to resist as long as it takes. The U.S. Israeli operation in Iran entering week two, and it appears there is no end in sight. Amir Balat, an 18-year-old man, lit and threw an ignited device toward the protest area. Two suspects in custody after a man threw an IED into an anti-lawful. anti-Islam protest in New York City, authorities now investigating ties to terrorism. Newly released Epstein files reveal shocking details about what a prison guard was doing

moments before the disgraced financier was found dead in his cell. And a new poll signals potential trouble for President Trump heading into the midterms. All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM update. Think about this. In 2006, $20,000 equaled roughly 33 ounces of gold at spot price. Okay, 20,000 bucks got you 33 ounces. At today's prices, those 33 ounces would be worth about $165,000. That would have been a very good investment. And that's why so many smart Americans do diversify a portion of their savings into precious metals. They're thinking about what's going to happen in the next 20 years. And it's also why you should consider buying gold from

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Sent Com posting to X, quote, The service member was seriously wounded at the scene of an attack on U.S. troops in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on March 1st. The identity of the deceased has not yet been released. The strikes continuing at full intensity, with more than 3,000 Iranian targets hit since the start of the operation. Questions now emerging about one of the earliest strikes launched on the first day of the campaign reportedly hitting a girls' elementary school in Iran. According to Iranian health officials, as men as 175 people were killed, mostly schoolgirls,

between the ages of 7 and 12. CBS News reporting the school was located near two sites controlled by Iran's revolution Guards. A CNN investigation of satellite imagery among multiple media outlets finding it likely that U.S. military forces were responsible for the destruction. So nearly a week after a strike killed scores of Iranian students in Minab. It seems more and more likely that the U.S. was responsible. A new satellite image shows an Iranian Revolutionary Guards base and an elementary school in southern Iran.

Here you see craters in several of the buildings, including the school. They were hit in their exact centers. suggesting precision strikes, experts say. A wall separates the school and the base. Satellite images from December show dozens of people in what appears to be a handball court at the school. Reuters now reports that U.S. military investigators believe U.S. forces were responsible, though they haven't yet reached a final conclusion. Secretary of War Pete Hegeseth telling reporters on Wednesday the U.S. does not target civilians, but not disputing the potential for an accidental strike, and noting it is currently under investigation.

Trump, Saturday on Air Force One, offering a different theory. We think it was done, we think it was done by Iran. You're very inaccurate, as you know, with their munitions. They have no accuracy whatsoever. We're done by Iran. Secretary Hegeseth at that same gaggle, reiterating that the matter is under investigation, while emphasizing that Iran is the one that targets civilians. U.S. ambassador to the UN Mike Walts yesterday on ABC conceding the possibility of an accident.

The New York Times did a meticulous look at that satellite photos. They're not saying the U.S. would do that on purpose, but they said it appears that the U.S. is responsible for that bombing. Why did the president say he believes it is Iran? Well, I'll leave that to the investigators to determine. We've seen instances like we saw in Gaza, for example, where Hamas immediately blamed the Israelis, The international community jumped on it, and it turned out it was an errant rocket from Hamas. So we've seen those kind of incidences in the past. As Secretary Heggseth said, it's under investigation.

I could tell you as a veteran in no uncertain terms, the United States does everything it can to avoid civilian casualties. Sometimes, of course, tragic mistakes occur. Meanwhile, President Trump rebuffing Iranian offers to go back to the negotiating table. Speaking at the White House on Thursday, Mr. Trump saying, quote, they're calling, they're saying, how do we make a deal? I said you're being a little bit late. In an early Friday morning true social post, the president writing, quote, there will be no deal with Iran except unconditional surrender.

These statements coming as Iran fires hundreds of retaliatory missiles and drones at neighboring Gulf states, damaging civilian sites like airports and hotels. Iranian President Massoud Peschian on Saturday morning apologizing to its neighbors, saying Iran would halt strikes on the other countries if attacks against Iran launched from those countries, housing military bases, also stopped. Mr. Trump responding with another true social post early Saturday, declaring Iran, quote, is being beat to hell and, quote, will be hit very hard until they surrender to the U.S. or collapse. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Arachi releasing a statement, quote, If Mr. Trump seeks escalation, it is precisely what our powerful armed forces have long prepared for and what he will get.

Overnight, Iranian strikes continuing. In Saudi Arabia, two people reported killed when a military projectile landed in a residential area. The Iranian foreign minister, yesterday on NBC, asked if Iran would consider unconditional surrender. We never surround and we continue to resist as long as it takes. We continue to defend ourselves and we are defending our territory, our people and our dignity. And our dignity is not for sale. Last night, Iranian state media reporting Mojtaba Khomeini, son of the late Supreme leader, selected as his father's successor.

President Trump previously saying he is opposed to the Ayatollah's son serving as the next leader of Iran, insisting on U.S. input in the decision. Back in the U.S., opinion on the operations split on the political right. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a longtime leading advocate for intervening in Iran, yesterday on Fox, urging goal states to get involved. Now, to our Arab friends, you're being hit too. Have any, has any Arab country struck a run? Now, if you want a treaty with the United States, you need to get in this fight.

Now, America's not going to the middies just to fight alone. So I'm urging our Arab allies to fight back. You're being hit too. Executive Director of the American Conservative magazine Kurt Mills, last week on the Zero Hedge Debate podcast, arguing the operation risks serious long-term damage to U.S. diplomatic efforts far beyond the Middle East. I stipulate that the president can cut his losses. I think currently the biggest macro problem, actually, is that the U.S.'s diplomatic word is getting crushed. I mean, I think this really harms Trump's ability to make a deal with the Russians to end the war in Ukraine, for instance. And I think that it harms the ability of this president to do positive things on the global stage. But I think it also potentially could permanently scar any future president's maneuverability and diplomacy. So I don't think that's, it's, it's, it's, it's, much has changed. I think if you think the Iranians are bad dudes, they just replaced the 90-year-old hominay with a 58-year-old hominay. And they very possibly further entrenched their military and economic

elite, the IRGC, in control of that country. And there's every evidence that we have politically vindicated the ultra-conservatives in that country and the hardliners, which is that you cannot deal with the United States and that Donald Trump and that the U.S. only responds to force. Israel on Saturday striking 30 Iranian fuel depots, lighting up the sky with bright orange flames and billowing black smoke, reportedly far beyond what the U.S. anticipated. By Sunday evening, oil prices surpassing $100 per barrel, raising new economic headaches for the Trump administration as it grapples with domestic affordability. The NYPD confirming an improvised explosive device, or IED, capable of causing serious injury

or even death, was thrown during dueling protests outside the mayor's residence. Saturday. The incident unfolding outside the mayor's residence, Gracie Mansion, on Manhattan's Upper East Side, where one protest was organized by individuals associated with pardoned January 6th writer Jake Lang, including about 20 people marching to, quote, stop the Islamic takeover of New York City. The counter-protests called, quote, run the Nazis out of New York City, stand up against hate, drawing about 125 people. As tensions flare between the two groups, one member of the anti-Islam group, pepper spraying, a counter-protester. NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch describing what happened shortly after that.

At approximately 12.38 p.m. a counter-protester identified as Amir Balat, an 18-year-old man, lit and through an ignited device toward the protest area landing in the crosswalk of East 87th Street and East End Avenue. Witnesses reported seeing flames and smoke as it traveled through the air. before it struck a barrier and extinguished itself a few feet from police officers. Mr. Ballot then ran southbound on East End Avenue toward 86th Street and gets a second device from a man tentatively IDed as Ibrahim Nick, 19 years old. Mr. Balat lights the device and starts running with it. He then drops the device on the west side of East End Avenue between East 86 and East 8.6th

87 streets. Officers immediately secured the area and they took both men into custody. Balat, seen on video shouting Alu Akbar as he threw the device, later footage showing him repeating the chant as NYPD officers placed him in the back of a police vehicle. Fox News reporting both suspects are believed to be U.S. citizens. Fox reporting Balat's parents are naturalized U.S. citizens from Turkey and Qiyumi's parents are naturalized from Afghanistan. NBC News reporting the NYPD and FBI are also examining the incident as a potential act of terrorism after one of the suspects allegedly referenced ISIS in statements to law enforcement. The NYPD yesterday discovering another suspicious device in connection with the incident located in a vehicle. The suspects are in custody. It's not yet clear whether charges have been filed.

Coming up, new Epstein files revealing something very strange, a guard on duty, did the night the disgraced financier. died. And new polling highlights some red flags for President Trump heading into the midterms. Our sponsor, the Electronic Payments Coalition, says Washington politicians are always getting in your wallet. And now they're messing with your credit card. They say your credit card and the security it offers are under attack and that senators Dick Durbin and Roger Marshall want to change the nation's payment system to benefit corporate megastores like Walmart and Target at the expense of everyday Americans. Credit cards can keep your payments secure and provide rewards that families use to help make everyday purchases more affordable.

The Electronic Payments Coalition says the Durbin Marshall mandates would let corporate megastores cut corners on credit card processing, routing transactions over cheaper, untested networks, with weaker security and fewer protections. Find out more at guardyourcard.com and consider telling Congress to guard your card. New details emerging about the night Jeffrey Epstein died in federal custody, with newly released Justice Department records raising fresh questions about the conduct of one of the guards assigned to watch him. Metropolitan Correction Center Guard Tova Noel and fellow officer Michael Thomas were on duty the night Epstein was found dead in his cell on August 10th,

2019. Both guards accused of falsifying records to claim they checked on Epstein throughout the night as required, though a federal judge later dismissed the charges under a prosecution agreement. The New York Post reports previously undisclosed FBI records revealing Noel searched online for updates about Epstein just minutes before his body was discovered. According to the documents, Noel typing, quote, latest on Epstein in jail, into a Bureau of Prisons computer at 542 a.m. and again at 552 a.m. Less than 40 minutes later, at 6.30 a.m.,

Thomas discovering Epstein dead in his cell of an apparent hanging. Prosecutors previously saying the two guards failed to conduct the required 30-minute security checks during their shift, with Noel browsing online furniture listings and at times falling asleep, and Thomas spending part of the shift looking at motorcycles online. According to the Post, when questioned in a sworn 2021 interview with the Justice Department, Noel denied making the searches, telling investigators, quote, I don't remember doing that, I don't recall looking him up.

Separate DOJ records also drawing attention to Noel's finances. According to a document released in the Epstein files, Chase Bank filing a suspicious activity report with the FBI in November 2019, flagging multiple cash deposits into her account. Bank records cited in the files showing 12 cash deposits beginning April 2018, totaling $11,880, including a $5,000 deposit on July 30, 2019, just days before Epstein's death. Noel beginning work in the Special Housing Unit where Epstein was held in early July 2019.

The post-reporting, Noelle was not asked about those deposits during her Justice Department interview. The newly released files also containing an internal FBI, briefing, identifying Noel as the officer believed to be seen in blurry security footage, carrying linen or inmate clothing toward the special housing unit tier around 10.40 p.m., which investigators say was the last time any correctional officer approached the entrance to the area where Epstein was being held. In her sworn statement, Noel told investigators the last time she saw Epstein alive was somewhere around after 10.

She denies distributing linens to inmates saying, quote, I never gave out linen ever. by investigators whether she had any role in Epstein's death, Noel responding, quote, no. The NYC chief medical examiner ultimately ruling Epstein's death a suicide with no foul play. A new NBC news poll showing President Trump's approval rating at 44%, with 54% of voters disapproving of the president's performance, virtually unchanged from the one NBC conducted in October. The poll conducted from February 27th to March 3rd as the U.S. began strikes on Iran. NBC chief data analyst Steve Kornacki pointing out on Sunday a potential warning sign for Republicans heading into the midterms. But I think for Trump here in his first term, that 2018 midterm, this is almost exactly where he was at that point, too.

Of course, there was a 40-seat Democratic landslide that year Democrats took back the House. The survey finding voters increasingly unhappy with the president's handling of the economy and cost of living. Cornacki with the details. Asking folks, do you approve of how the president has handled inflation? Cost of living specifically 36% approved, 62 disapproved. That's down a year ago. It was 4255. It's twice as bad now for him. Steve, that's a big dip on a critical issue for this midterm election. Absolutely, Kristen. Voters continue to say this one is of pretty central importance to them. And then also are they feeling it? You know, have Trump's policies helped or hurt almost 50%?

They're saying they have hurt a majority of independence saying the same thing. The poll also revealing a split in how voters view immigration versus border security. On immigration, 44% approve of the president's handling of the issue while 54% disapprove. But when voters are asked specifically about border security, the numbers flip, with 53% approving of President's Trump handling of the border, and 44% disapproving. On the generic congressional ballot, Democrats with the advantage. 50% of respondents saying they would pull the lever for a Democrat versus 44% who would prefer Republicans to maintain control of Congress. The polls suggesting that edge may be tied to changing perceptions around one critical issue in particular.

Kornacki breaking down how voters now rate the two parties when it comes to handling the country's biggest challenges. When you ask you about threats to democracy, that's an 11-point advantage for Democrats there. Democratic voters say that's their top issue. Republican voters say the border security immigration, more important to them, big Republican advantages. But Kristen, this will be it. It's the economy. It's a tie between the parties. Republicans have had the advantage on this issue for nearly a decade. Now it's wiped away. Question going forward. Did Democrats actually open an advantage on the economy? That could be key to them if they are going to have a big midterm. The midterm is set for November 3rd. That'll do it for your AM update. I'm Tom Bevan. Catch the Megan Kelly show today. Live on SiriusXM's The Megan Kelly Channel 11 at noon east on YouTube.com slash Megan Kelly and all podcast platforms.