The Megyn Kelly Show - August 20, 2026


Clancy Witness Backs Insanity Defense, Fauci Adviser Pleads Guilty, Election Upsets: AM Update 8⧸20


Episode Stats


Length

21 minutes

Words per minute

157.67

Word count

3,313

Sentence count

205

Harmful content

Misogyny

1

sentences flagged

Toxicity

1

sentences flagged


Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
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00:00:30.000 Good morning, everyone. I'm Emily Drashinsky, host of After Party and the Megyn Kelly Wrap-Up
00:00:36.900 Show on SiriusXM Channel 111. It's Thursday, August 20th, 2026, and this is your AM Update.
00:00:43.200 She had bipolar disorder with postpartum psychoses, and she had no appreciation
00:00:48.720 for the wrongfulness of her act. A psychologist for the defense offering a notable opinion in
00:00:54.400 the Lindsay Clancy murder trial. Police returning to a home connected to Hayden Penetier's on-again,
00:00:59.320 off-again boyfriend just days after the actress's sudden death. A longtime Dr. Fauci advisor pleading
00:01:05.500 guilty to hiding government communications about COVID research, now facing up to five years in
00:01:11.380 prison. Let's make something very clear to David Jolly. We are not going to apologize for Florida.
00:01:19.720 And Florida voters setting up a fiery governor's race, while a far-left Democrat pulls off a
00:01:24.580 stunning Senate upset. All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM Update.
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00:03:11.600 Day 16 of the Lindsay Clancy murder trial resuming yesterday morning.
00:03:16.340 The Massachusetts mother pleading not guilty to three counts of murder in the January 2023 deaths of her children.
00:03:22.460 Five-year-old Cora, three-year-old Dawson, and eight-month-old Callan.
00:03:26.380 Clancy not disputing that she killed the children before attempting to take her own life.
00:03:30.820 Her lawyers arguing she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and was not criminally responsible.
00:03:36.060 Prosecutors contending, she planned the killings and understood that what she was doing was wrong.
00:03:41.340 Defense psychologist Dr. Paul Zeisel returning to the stand, telling jurors Clancy's medical
00:03:46.080 records reflected paranoia, an inability to experience pleasure, and intrusive thoughts
00:03:50.660 about suicide. Zeisel saying Clancy feared that if other people could hear her thoughts,
00:03:55.640 she worried state authorities would take her children away. The psychologist also testifying
00:04:00.180 that someone experiencing psychosis can still complete ordinary tasks and appear to interact
00:04:05.160 normally with other people. Zeisel then offering his opinion on the central question jurors will
00:04:10.360 ultimately decide. Can you tell this jury, sir, in your opinion, to a reasonable degree of medical
00:04:16.620 certainty based upon all of what you have reviewed, all of what we have talked about, all of what
00:04:21.780 you have considered as to whether or not at the time of this incident resulting in the killing
00:04:29.840 of these three little kids that she was suffering from a mental disease or defect,
00:04:36.820 such as that she lost substantial capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of her act
00:04:45.820 or, in the disjunctive, was unable to conform her conduct to the requirements of the law.
00:04:52.620 Yes.
00:04:53.120 Tell the jury what your opinion is, please. 0.96
00:04:54.720 My opinion is that she did have indeed a mental disease or a defect.
00:04:59.100 That's a legal construct, not a DSM-5 one.
00:05:03.000 But she had bipolar disorder with postpartum psychoses.
00:05:06.820 In addition, she was unable to conform her behaviors to the rule of law, and she had no appreciation for the wrongfulness of her act.
00:05:16.880 Prosecutors challenging both Zizel's objectivity and basis for that conclusion.
00:05:21.760 Assistant District Attorney Shannon Buckingham questioning him about his frequent work for defense attorneys in the state's public defender agency,
00:05:29.300 along with his longstanding professional relationship with Clancy's attorney, Kevin Reddington.
00:05:34.720 Zizel acknowledging that Clancy has not reported hearing voices since the killings
00:05:38.520 and agreeing the only time she specifically described a male voice
00:05:42.040 was while recounting what happened that night.
00:05:45.020 Clancy reportedly telling a hospital chaplain after the killings
00:05:48.600 that a male voice had ordered her to kill the children and then herself.
00:05:53.040 Buckingham also noting that Clancy declined an opportunity for inpatient treatment in December 2022,
00:05:59.180 challenging Zizel's characterization that she had gone to an emergency room
00:06:02.980 but received no help. The prosecution then turning to hospital observations recorded on
00:06:08.560 emotionally significant dates following the children's deaths. Were you aware that on May
00:06:14.040 26, 2023, that the defendant was observed by staff in a note stating that she was visible along the
00:06:24.080 unit hallways, self-propelling her wheelchair, that she had a visit with her mother, they ate
00:06:28.440 and played games during the visit.
00:06:29.900 Are you aware of that?
00:06:31.080 That would have been approximately four months after the incident
00:06:34.700 and on the date of Callan's first birthday, right?
00:06:39.820 Yes.
00:06:40.640 How about on January 24th, 24,
00:06:44.540 where she's observed in a note from Tewkes-Farre State Hospital,
00:06:47.740 a patient was visible in the milieu,
00:06:50.200 engageable with both staff and select peers,
00:06:53.300 that she was pleasant during interactions,
00:06:55.880 self-propelling in wheelchair in the halls spending much of the morning and early afternoon
00:07:00.600 in her room and hall on her electronics do you recall reading that record not specifically
00:07:06.580 and january 24th 2024 would have been the year anniversary of the incident correct
00:07:10.760 yes reddington returning to those same records on redirect how about um in reviewing the records
00:07:18.500 i didn't hear that she's laughing and partying and having a good time while she's in the
00:07:24.040 Troukesbury Hospital. Did you see anything like that? No. Lindsay Clancy has bad days
00:07:29.660 and worse days. And when you speak with her and meet with her, a doctor,
00:07:36.720 has she ever mentioned her children? Because apparently, according to the question that you
00:07:41.540 underwent, she never talks about her kids. She does speak about her children. What does she say?
00:07:47.420 She really loves them and misses them and thinks of them every single day, almost every moment of the day.
00:07:59.600 The jury later leaving the courtroom while the judge considered proposed testimony from Emily Thorndike,
00:08:05.480 a former McLean Hospital social worker who posted a TikTok challenging the prosecution's portrayal of staffing at the psychiatric hospital.
00:08:13.260 Clancy spending several days at McLean around New Year's in 2023,
00:08:17.260 although Thorndike had stopped working there roughly a year earlier
00:08:20.200 and had no direct involvement in her treatment.
00:08:23.160 Judge William Sullivan ultimately refusing to allow Thorndike to testify before the jury,
00:08:27.940 finding her proposed testimony had limited relevance because of that gap.
00:08:32.040 Sullivan then sending jurors home early because of what he called
00:08:34.740 an unforeseen circumstance,
00:08:37.280 telling them not to speculate about the reason or hold the interruption against either side.
00:08:41.940 Testimony expected to resume later this morning.
00:08:44.640 We spoke with the MK True Crime Show co-host Phil Holloway,
00:08:48.080 who tells us Zizel's testimony represents a pivotal moment for the defense.
00:08:52.440 The testimony by the defense expert is really sort of the whole money shot.
00:08:57.740 This is what the defense case is all about.
00:09:00.740 We've picked around the edges of her mental status at various times
00:09:06.360 through the various prosecution witnesses
00:09:08.760 when the defense had them on cross-examination,
00:09:11.860 but the defense case was always meant
00:09:15.360 to center on her lack of mental capacity.
00:09:21.040 In other words, they, the defense, 0.96
00:09:22.920 they're saying that she does not have
00:09:25.120 or did not have at the time
00:09:26.660 the mental capacity to form criminal intent.
00:09:31.280 So we knew it was gonna come down to the defense case.
00:09:33.580 This is where the experts are really going to zero in
00:09:37.840 on the legal distinction between a guilty act versus a guilty mind.
00:09:45.100 Holloway saying the periods when Clancy appeared to be functioning normally
00:09:48.260 do not necessarily undermine the defense's case.
00:09:51.860 The prosecutor, there's been testimony in the case that at various times,
00:09:56.520 Lindsay appeared normal, she appeared sociable, she appeared, you know,
00:10:00.280 caring for the children, things of that nature.
00:10:02.800 But as we've discussed on the MK True Crime Show this week,
00:10:07.260 We had an expert come on and explain to us that someone's, basically their postpartum psychosis or postpartum depression, it can wax and it can wane.
00:10:18.440 And it's not one of these things where you're either in it or you're not in it.
00:10:22.340 You can go into psychosis and then out of psychosis.
00:10:26.740 And you can also exist in these mixed mental states.
00:10:29.900 So the prosecution can try to cherry pick instances of where she was acting relatively normal, but these defense witnesses should have no problem explaining to the jury that someone with this type of disorder does not necessarily exhibit signs 24-7.
00:10:48.840 As for whether jurors will hear directly from Clancy, Holloway saying that decision will likely depend on how her lawyers believe the defense case has gone.
00:10:56.800 A lot of times the defense can very well have a case, essentially one, until a defendant takes the stand and ruins it.
00:11:06.500 So if they believe that things are going well enough, and by that I mean does the defense team believe that there's reasonable doubt in the minds of at least one of the jurors, then the best strategy is probably for her not to take the stand.
00:11:21.940 So I think the default setting is that she's going to remain silent, but anything could change and something could happen between now and then where her lawyer and she feels that it's necessary.
00:11:34.840 Police conducting a welfare check Wednesday morning at a home belonging to the family of Hayden Panettiere's on-again, off-again boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, just days after the 36-year-old actress was found dead in South Carolina.
00:11:47.760 Panettiere found unresponsive Sunday afternoon at an Airbnb in Greenville,
00:11:51.800 with first responders arriving shortly before 2 p.m. and finding her in cardiac arrest.
00:11:57.640 Paramedics attempting to revive her before she was pronounced dead at 2.32 p.m.,
00:12:02.260 according to the Greenville County Coroner's Office.
00:12:05.000 An autopsy finding no signs of trauma that contributed to her death,
00:12:08.480 with the cause and manner still pending as investigators await additional testing.
00:12:12.400 Police also saying they have found no signs of foul play.
00:12:15.480 An overdose is suspected.
00:12:18.020 According to a police report released Tuesday, Hickerson and his brother Zach were both at
00:12:22.020 the residence when officers arrived.
00:12:24.220 Zach reportedly telling police he found Panettiere unresponsive, while Brian Hickerson directed
00:12:28.660 officers to a bag containing medications she had reportedly been taking.
00:12:33.100 The exact status of Panettiere and Hickerson's relationship at the time remains unclear,
00:12:38.060 though Zach reportedly described her to police as his brother's girlfriend.
00:12:41.020 The two first linked in 2018, beginning a turbulent relationship that included multiple domestic violence cases against Hickerson.
00:12:49.040 Police returning to a property connected to Hickerson's family yesterday morning,
00:12:52.840 Page Six reporting officers arrived at the Greenville home around 8.20 a.m. for a welfare check,
00:12:58.640 knocking on several doors before leaving a few minutes later.
00:13:02.100 Police telling people the call was unrelated to the investigation into Penetierre's death and did not require an incident report.
00:13:08.920 Police have not publicly said who the welfare check concerned.
00:13:13.220 Coming up, a former top Fauci advisor admitting he helped keep COVID-related government communications
00:13:19.120 out of public view, now pleading guilty to a federal conspiracy charge.
00:13:23.480 And President Trump's endorsed candidate cruising to victory in Florida
00:13:26.360 as another Trump-backed contender falls short in Wyoming.
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00:14:43.920 A longtime advisor to Dr. Anthony Fauci pleading guilty to a federal conspiracy charge,
00:14:49.280 admitting he helped keep government communications about COVID research grants out of the reach of public records laws.
00:14:55.640 78-year-old Dr. David Morins, working as a senior advisor in the office of the director
00:15:00.420 of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases under Fauci from 2006 through 2022.
00:15:07.560 The Justice Department, announcing Morin's pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring to commit
00:15:11.980 offenses and defraud the United States. According to his guilty plea, the scheme developing after
00:15:17.300 the National Institutes of Health terminated a grant studying the emergence of bat coronaviruses.
00:15:23.260 That grant had been awarded to a non-profit that sent some of the money to the Wuhan Institute of
00:15:27.340 virology in China. Prosecutors saying Morinz and others then worked behind the scenes to help
00:15:32.540 restore the grant and counter the theory that COVID-19 had leaked from a laboratory. At the
00:15:38.080 same time, they were reportedly anticipating that their communications could become the subject of
00:15:42.520 Freedom of Information Act requests. Morinz admitting he and his co-conspirators agreed
00:15:47.660 to move those conversations onto his personal Gmail account rather than his official government
00:15:52.360 email, intentionally keeping them out of public view. The DOJ saying that private account was
00:15:57.700 then used to exchange non-public NIH information, discuss efforts to influence NIH funding,
00:16:04.260 edit letters being sent to NIH leadership, and pass information through unofficial channels to
00:16:09.240 a senior NIAID official. The plea documents do not publicly name the other people involved,
00:16:15.520 however the Washington Post reporting previously released congressional records indicate one was
00:16:20.140 Peter Daszak, the former president of EcoHealth Alliance, which received the NIH grant and worked
00:16:25.680 with the Wuhan lab. He has not been charged in the case. Morins, also admitting as part of his plea
00:16:31.100 that he and the co-conspirator believed to be Daszak, conspired over illegal gratuities.
00:16:37.020 The Justice Department finding Morins received wine as thanks for what was described at the time
00:16:41.480 as his, quote, behind-the-scenes shenanigans, with additional offers reportedly including meals at
00:16:47.280 Michelin-starred restaurants. Morin's now facing up to five years in federal prison,
00:16:52.720 though the Justice Department notes federal sentences are typically below the statutory
00:16:56.040 maximum and will ultimately be determined by the judge under federal sentencing guidelines.
00:17:00.860 Morin's scheduled to be sentenced November 12th by U.S. District Judge Paula Zinnis in Maryland.
00:17:06.200 His attorney, Timothy Belavetz, releasing a statement after the plea, quote,
00:17:10.360 by pleading guilty today, Dr. Morin's has taken responsibility for what he did and will continue
00:17:15.160 to do so. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, who had also asked the DOJ back in 2024 to investigate
00:17:21.640 Morin's over the private emails, reacting to Tuesday's guilty plea, writing, quote,
00:17:25.920 one of Fauci's fall guys, denied the privilege of an auto pen pardon, has pleaded guilty to
00:17:30.940 conspiring to commit fraud. I want to know who his co-conspirators were and what they knew.
00:17:36.740 What does Dr. Fauci have to say about this? Was he involved?
00:17:39.780 President Trump backed Congressman Byron Donalds, easily winning Florida's Republican primary for
00:17:46.660 governor, taking roughly 48% of the vote in a crowded field. Donalds finishing more than 22
00:17:52.060 points ahead of Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins, roughly 37 points ahead of investor James Fishback,
00:17:57.320 and now facing former Republican Congressman David Jolly, who won the Democrat nomination
00:18:01.880 with roughly 61% of the vote. Donalds using his victory speech to target Jolly of the Democrats'
00:18:08.020 promised to apologize to the world on Florida's behalf. David Jolly is out of his mind. And to top
00:18:16.580 it all off, he has vowed that on election night that he wants to apologize for Florida to the
00:18:24.920 rest of the world. Well, let's make something very clear to David Jolly. We are not going to
00:18:32.540 apologize for Florida. We will not apologize for keeping our state open. We will not apologize for
00:18:41.360 keeping our taxes low. We will not apologize for backing our police. And we will not apologize
00:18:48.400 for protecting girls' sports. And we will never apologize for protecting parental rights.
00:18:55.760 Also in Florida, Republican Senator Ashley Moody and Democrat State Representative Angie Nixon
00:19:00.880 winning their respective primaries for U.S. Senate, Moody taking nearly 80 percent of the
00:19:05.900 Republican vote as she campaigns to keep the seat she was appointed to fill in January of last year,
00:19:11.400 Nixon pulling off the bigger surprise, defeating former National Security Council official Alex
00:19:15.980 Vindman by roughly 56 to 44 percent, despite Vindman reportedly raising more than 16 times
00:19:22.180 as much money. Vindman best known for testifying during President Trump's first impeachment
00:19:26.540 proceedings. Nixon, meanwhile, aligning with the Democratic Socialists of America and campaigning
00:19:32.140 on Medicare for all, free child care, a national rent freeze and abolishing ICE. Axios senior
00:19:38.140 politics reporter Mark Caputo offering another explanation for the upset during CNN's election
00:19:43.380 coverage Tuesday night, arguing Vindman simply ran an abysmal campaign. He was a terrible
00:19:48.740 candidate. It's difficult for me to put that in words. I was almost offended by his his just
00:19:55.320 inability to campaign properly. I don't really know where that money was spent because you
00:20:01.940 didn't really see him on television. You didn't really see him in the community. You didn't see
00:20:06.540 him in mailers. You didn't see him in text messages. There was no presence. One notable
00:20:11.660 defeat for a Trump-backed candidate coming in Wyoming, with state senator and rancher Eric
00:20:16.440 Barlow winning the Republican primary for governor. Barlow taking roughly 45% of the vote,
00:20:21.640 defeating Trump-endorsed state superintendent Megan Dagenfelder by about 15 points.
00:20:27.860 Barlow now heavily favored against Democratic nominee Ken Kasner in November.
00:20:32.480 Republicans currently hold every statewide office in Wyoming.
00:20:38.120 That'll do it for your AM update.
00:20:40.020 I'm Emily Droszynski, host of After Party.
00:20:41.800 Go and check out more at AfterPartyEmily.com.
00:20:44.620 Catch The Megyn Kelly Show later today,
00:20:46.300 live on SiriusXM's The Megyn Kelly Channel,
00:20:48.580 111 at noon east on youtube.com slash megynkelly.
00:20:51.640 and all podcast platforms.
00:20:58.100 Today's episode was brought to you by SuperSure.