Bill Gates' Shocking Climate Change Shift, Autopen Report Drops, Trump Files Appeal： AM Update 10⧸29
Episode Stats
Words per Minute
152.9347
Summary
Bill Gates reverses his stance on climate change in an apparent reversal of his prior stance. The House Oversight Committee drops a report on the Biden White House s use of the auto-pen, an early 2028 Democratic contender has emerged, and President Trump appeals his felony conviction in New York.
Transcript
00:00:00.000
Every child deserves to splash, to laugh, to share adventures with friends, to feel like they belong.
00:00:10.900
But for some, that joy comes with a price tag that's beyond their reach.
00:00:15.440
Help the YMCA bring its transformative programs to those who can't afford them.
00:00:20.160
Because connections, cannonballs, and confidence should never be out of reach.
00:00:30.000
Good morning, everyone. I'm Megan Kelly. It's Wednesday, October 29th, 2025, and this is your AM Update.
00:00:39.800
We have to frame it in terms of overall human welfare, not just everything should be solely for climate.
00:00:47.640
Leading climate activist Bill Gates changing his tune about the dire nature of climate change.
00:00:53.980
I have the advice of counsel. I must be expected to invite the answer.
00:00:56.980
The House Oversight Committee drops its report on the Biden White House's use of the auto pen.
00:01:03.020
An early 2028 Democratic frontrunner has emerged.
00:01:08.960
And President Trump appeals his felony conviction in New York.
00:01:13.080
All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM Update.
00:01:15.980
As President Trump is settling into his new administration, one of the top Democrats in Congress
00:01:24.080
aiming to undermine the Trump agenda is Democrat Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois.
00:01:29.100
And according to our sponsor, the Electronic Payments Coalition, Senator Durbin has a new plan,
00:01:37.140
Today, Americans have thousands of choices in credit cards, but they say Senator Durbin's plan
00:01:42.540
will result in less competition and less security, which means more risk for your credit and your
00:01:48.200
identity. You can learn more for yourself at guardyourcard.com. And you could consider telling
00:01:54.400
your senators to stop Dick Durbin's government takeover of your credit card before it's too late.
00:01:59.920
Bill Gates, the billionaire founder of Microsoft, in a stunning memo dropping what he calls tough
00:02:09.900
truths about climate change in an obvious reversal of his prior stance. The letter beginning, quote,
00:02:17.180
there's a doomsday view of climate change that goes like this. In a few decades, cataclysmic climate
00:02:23.480
change will decimate civilization. The evidence is all around us. Just look at all the heat waves and
00:02:29.400
storms caused by rising global temperatures. Nothing matters more than limiting the rise in
00:02:34.740
temperature. Yes, Bill, wherever did people get those doomsday views from? Oh, wait, it was from
00:02:41.320
you. You and people like former Vice President Al Gore, Greta Thunberg, and President Obama, to name
00:02:48.080
just a few. So certainly by the end of the century, you'll have permanent die-offs of all these
00:02:53.400
coral ecosystems. No beach you ever went to will be around. We're still putting 162 million tons into
00:03:01.680
it every single day. And the accumulated amount is now trapping as much extra heat as would be released
00:03:07.620
by 600,000 Hiroshima-class atomic bombs exploding every single day on the earth. People are suffering.
00:03:15.000
People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction.
00:03:23.720
The future seems somewhat bleak. There are times where I am doubtful that humanity can get its act
00:03:29.560
together before it's too late. And images of dystopia start creeping into my dreams.
00:03:36.240
It's an all-out effort, you know, like a world war, but it's us against greenhouse gases.
00:03:41.580
Gates' Tuesday letter admitting, quote, fortunately for all of us, this view is wrong. Although climate
00:03:48.480
change will have serious consequences, particularly for people in the poorest countries, it will not
00:03:54.360
lead to humanity's demise. Someone check on AOC immediately. Ahead of the upcoming climate summit
00:04:01.780
next month in Brazil, Gates attempting to completely shift the global conversation around the left's pet
00:04:07.560
issue. More from the letter, quote, although climate change will hurt poor people more than anyone else,
00:04:13.560
for the vast majority of them, it will not be the only or even the biggest threat to their lives and
00:04:18.840
welfare. The biggest problems are poverty and disease, just as they always have been. Reminder,
00:04:25.000
Bill Gates once backed a venture to spray dust into the atmosphere in order to block the sun to cool
00:04:31.060
the planet. Tuesday morning on CNBC, Gates explaining the key goal of the Paris Climate Accord,
00:04:37.780
limiting global rise in temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius, is not realistic, nor should it be a priority.
00:04:45.780
Climate is a super important problem. There's enough innovation here to avoid super bad outcomes.
00:04:52.720
We have to frame it in terms of overall human welfare, not just everything should be solely
00:05:00.000
for climate. The one thing about that accord that, you know, turned out not to be realistic was the
00:05:06.400
ambitious goal of staying to 1.5 degrees. We won't be able to do that. Even if you took all the money
00:05:12.880
away from health, you wouldn't be able to do that. Wasn't the goal here to improve human lives? And
00:05:19.600
shouldn't we, in our awareness of how little generosity there is to help measure, you know,
00:05:28.420
should we get them a measles vaccine or should we do some climate-related activity? And if we stop
00:05:36.140
putting all vaccines and that, you know, saved you 0.1 degree, would that be a smart trade-off?
00:05:42.640
Gates even admitting wind and solar energy options are not ready for primetime. Quote,
00:05:47.260
We don't yet have all the tools we need to meet the growing demand for energy without increasing
00:05:52.660
carbon emissions, calling for the world to focus on innovation and adaptation to improve people's
00:05:58.420
ability to live on a warming planet. Did he borrow this from Project 2025? Climate change scientist
00:06:08.500
Frankly, Bill Gates doesn't have any expertise in climate science, and he's failing to listen to
00:06:14.480
what the experts actually have to say. So when Bill Gates says, we'll just sort of try to engineer
00:06:19.800
our way out of it or innovate our way out of it, it's really tone deaf to the fact that there are
00:06:25.500
a very large number of people who will suffer catastrophic consequences if we continue to allow
00:06:31.680
the planet to warm up. Some on the left pointing to the change in administration as a reason for the
00:06:37.360
change in messaging. Gates among the tech CEOs who was at the White House with President Trump last month.
00:06:44.480
The House Oversight Committee late Monday night releasing its 100-page report into the Biden
00:06:50.600
White House's use of the auto pen, a mechanical device that replicates the president's signature.
00:06:56.580
Over the course of 47 hours of testimony from 14 former aides, investigators examining who
00:07:02.360
controlled access to the president's signature authority and how decisions were made involving the
00:07:08.120
auto pen. The report finding, quote, his staff abused the auto pen and a lax chain of command
00:07:14.120
policy to affect executive actions that lack any documentation of whether they were in fact
00:07:19.520
authorized. It goes on, quote, there is no record demonstrating President Biden himself made all of
00:07:25.700
the executive decisions that were attributed to him. Therefore, quote, the committee deems void
00:07:30.860
all executive actions signed by the auto pen without proper corresponding contemporaneous written
00:07:36.520
approval traceable to the president's own consent. What exactly the import of that declaration is
00:07:42.940
remains unclear, though Chairman James Comer, a Republican from Kentucky, did call on the DOJ to
00:07:49.500
conduct a review of the executive actions in question and investigate the Biden aides who pleaded the fifth
00:07:55.740
rather than testify. Those individuals include Mr. Biden's personal physician, Dr. Kevin O'Connor,
00:08:01.560
former deputy chief of staff for operations, Annie Tomasini, and former chief of staff to First Lady
00:08:08.220
Jill Biden, Anthony Bernal, a man who figured prominently in the Jake Tapper, Alex Thompson book.
00:08:15.580
The oversight committee's report calling Dr. O'Connor, quote, central to the scheme to, quote, obfuscate the
00:08:22.020
truth about the president's true cognitive state. The report concluding Dr. O'Connor, quote, recklessly
00:08:28.300
never conducted a cognitive exam of the president. When asked by the committee if he was told to lie
00:08:34.800
about President Biden's health and fitness to be president, Dr. O'Connor responding as follows.
00:08:40.900
On the advice of counsel, I must respectfully decline to answer based upon the physician-patient
00:08:45.220
privilege and in reliance on my right under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution. I am not a lawyer.
00:08:50.460
I must follow my lawyer's advice in this matter. Longtime political operative and Biden aide
00:08:56.000
Anita Dunn telling the committee, senior Biden advisors reached a consensus that the president
00:09:01.740
should not take a cognitive exam. The report delving into Dr. O'Connor's, quote, strong financial
00:09:07.760
and personal incentives to not break rank from the president's inner circle in the cover-up.
00:09:13.380
The report noting how Dr. O'Connor previously described his close relationship to the Bidens over
00:09:18.460
the years and how he, quote, ended up being involved in a lot of important family things.
00:09:23.760
O'Connor's financial ties to the Biden family, dating back to as early as 2017,
00:09:29.700
when, quote, Dr. O'Connor introduced Joe Biden's brother, James Biden, to medical leaders and
00:09:35.660
executives to support James Biden's business relationship with AmeriCorps Health, LLC.
00:09:42.420
The hookup was a bit odd because James Biden had no experience in hospital administration.
00:09:47.540
That company just months later, transferring $600,000 in loans to James Biden, $200,000 of
00:09:56.060
which was sent to his personal account. Later that same day, James Biden sent $200,000 to his
00:10:03.780
brother, Joe Biden, according to the Oversight Committee report. James Biden's attorney once
00:10:09.700
told the New York Times the doctor received no compensation for the connection provided to
00:10:14.740
James, but the doctor could not be asked about it at all, given that he pled the fifth.
00:10:22.980
This investigation into baseless claims has confirmed what has been clear from the start.
00:10:27.540
President Biden made the decisions of his presidency. There was no conspiracy,
00:10:31.640
no cover-up, and no wrongdoing. Congressional Republicans should stop focusing on political
00:10:36.420
retribution and instead work to end the government shutdown.
00:10:39.600
In July, former President Joe Biden telling the New York Times he made all auto-pen decisions on
00:10:46.520
his own. Coming up, looking ahead to 2028, an early Democrat frontrunner emerges. We'll tell you
00:10:54.380
who it is. And President Trump appeals the felony convictions resulting from the DA Alvin Bragg's
00:11:02.760
When customers are walking through the aisles of their local Walmart, they're not just picking up
00:11:12.020
groceries or supplies. They are supporting American businesses and their communities. The real story
00:11:17.500
is what's behind the label. With over two-thirds of the products Walmart buys made, grown, or assembled
00:11:22.680
right here in the U.S., buying local is not just stocking shelves, it's about strengthening communities.
00:11:28.300
Because of that commitment, Walmart invested $350 billion in U.S. manufacturing, helping American
00:11:35.400
companies like Fisher & Weezer Specialty Foods, a local Texas business, expand their operations in
00:11:41.300
Fredericksburg, Texas, hire more people as well, and bring their Texas-grown peach jam to a national
00:11:47.220
market. Their story is just one example of how Walmart's U.S. manufacturing investment is supporting
00:11:52.720
over 750,000 American jobs. Businesses across the country are empowered to sell more, hire more,
00:11:58.820
and help their communities grow. From farms, to factories, to final shopping carts, learn how
00:12:04.420
Walmart is fueling the future of U.S. manufacturing at walmart.com slash America at work.
00:12:11.280
A new poll out of New Hampshire showing former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg emerging
00:12:20.440
as a presidential frontrunner for the Democrats in 2028. Mayor Pete leading the pack at 19 percent,
00:12:27.340
trailed by California Governor Gavin Newsom at 15 percent, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at 14 percent,
00:12:34.900
former VP Kamala Harris at 11 percent, Senator Bernie Sanders at eight, and Illinois Governor J.B.
00:12:40.340
Pritzker at six percent, according to the Granite State Poll. For a little extra context, don't know
00:12:46.200
slash undecided coming in at 10 percent. The survey of around 600 Democrats planning to vote in the
00:12:52.680
2028 primary, also finding Buttigieg with the highest favorability among the pack at 81 percent favorable
00:12:59.060
to six percent unfavorable for a plus 75 net favorability rating. Senator Sanders with the second
00:13:06.180
highest favorability at plus 59, AOC in third at plus 56. Kamala Harris, who with each passing
00:13:13.960
interview gets closer and closer to saying she does plan to run again, notching just plus 38
00:13:19.920
favorability. Buttigieg becoming a national figure in the 2020 Democrat primary, running as an openly gay
00:13:26.840
former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, ultimately dropping out of the race just before Super Tuesday
00:13:31.840
and endorsing Joe Biden. Buttigieg later rewarded with the role of Transportation Secretary.
00:13:38.280
During the supply chain crisis of 2020, Buttigieg was missing for about two months, later citing
00:13:43.920
paternity leave as the excuse for his prolonged absence. Current Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy
00:13:49.960
in August slamming his predecessor, accusing him of putting career ambitions ahead of the job.
00:13:55.840
A lot of people, when they have a job, they use that job to run for a different office. And I think
00:14:02.180
that's a huge mistake. And I think Mayor Pete was Secretary, Buttigieg was running for president while
00:14:07.740
he was the secretary of DOT and didn't pay attention to the basics. And so he had a focus truly on DEI
00:14:14.660
and climate and the cost of that to the American people. And again, when you're focused on, you know,
00:14:21.800
changing the names of cockpit to flight deck or airman to aero, not because you're concerned you
00:14:27.840
could offend someone. All the while you have 84 near misses in the Washington, D.C. airspace between
00:14:33.880
helicopters and fixed wing aircraft. And you don't look at that. I don't know how you're going to run
00:14:38.700
for president on that record. You didn't do your job. And had he done his job, we wouldn't have
00:14:43.980
inherited all of the problems that we have right now that are going to take years to fix.
00:14:48.460
President Trump on Monday appealing his criminal conviction in the Alvin Bragg Manhattan business
00:14:56.040
records case, arguing the verdict should be overturned entirely. In a 100 plus page brief,
00:15:02.620
Mr. Trump's legal team writing, quote, this case should never have seen the inside of a courtroom,
00:15:07.160
let alone resulted in a conviction. The appeal challenging the 34 count felony conviction for
00:15:12.860
falsifying business records relating to payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels. Prosecutors
00:15:18.920
allege the payments made to keep Daniels story of an alleged sexual encounter with Mr. Trump out of
00:15:24.000
the press during the 2016 campaign were falsely filed as legal expenses, even though they were paid
00:15:30.920
out to Mr. Trump's lawyer. Prosecutors arguing Mr. Trump's desire to not record the words hush money
00:15:37.080
payments amounted to election interference. Mr. Trump's legal team accusing D.A. Alvin Bragg of
00:15:43.440
concocting a purported felony out of internal bookkeeping records by, quote, stacking time-barred
00:15:50.060
bookkeeping misdemeanors under a convoluted legal theory. The president's lawyers arguing, quote,
00:15:55.940
these charges against President Trump were as unprecedented as their political context.
00:16:01.780
They argued the convictions should be thrown out on multiple grounds, including the Supreme Court's
00:16:06.140
ruling on presidential immunity last year. From the brief, quote, the jury improperly heard extensive
00:16:12.320
testimony about at least four different kinds of official acts by President Trump, including
00:16:17.760
official presidential statements made on social media. Mr. Trump's team also saying Judge Juan
00:16:23.540
Mershon, who oversaw the case, should have recused himself due to conflicts of interest. The brief
00:16:29.420
citing three small yet improper payments by the judge to Biden for president and to two Democrat
00:16:36.000
PACs, including one called the Stop Republicans PAC. In addition, the brief citing Judge Mershon's
00:16:42.420
daughter's work at a political advertising company, quote, that was paid millions by the Kamala Harris
00:16:48.120
campaign and by other Democrats, including for running advertisements specifically invoking the district
00:16:54.500
attorney of New York's prosecution of President Trump in her father's courtroom. President Trump's
00:17:00.080
conviction handed down in May of 2024. In January of 2025, Judge Mershon delivering an unconditional
00:17:07.680
discharge, meaning after all that, a no penalty sentence was handed down just over one week before
00:17:15.520
Mr. Trump returned to the White House. But the conviction stands for now.
00:17:20.360
And that'll do it for your AM update. I'm Megan Kelly. Join me back here for The Megan Kelly Show,
00:17:27.780
live on SiriusXM Triumph Channel 111 at noon east, on youtube.com slash megankelly, and on all podcast
00:17:38.700
At MedCan, we know that life's greatest moments are built on a foundation of good health, from the big
00:17:43.880
milestones to the quiet winds. That's why our annual health assessment offers a physician-led full-body
00:17:50.560
checkup that provides a clear picture of your health today and may uncover early signs of conditions
00:17:56.200
like heart disease and cancer. A healthier you means more moments to cherish. Take control of your
00:18:01.360
well-being and book an assessment today. MedCan, live well for life. Visit medcan.com slash moments to get started.