The Megyn Kelly Show - Kash Patel Takes Over FBI, Hamas Hostage Outrage, and DOGE Refund Potential： AM Update for 2⧸21

00:00:00.000 Good morning, everyone. I'm Megan Kelly. It's Friday, February 21st, 2025, and this is your

00:00:08.420 AM update. The yeas are 51. The nays are 49. The confirmation is confirmed. 0.98

00:00:15.940 Kash Patel is confirmed to a 10-year term as FBI director, with a surprise supporter

00:00:21.880 carrying him across the finish line. It was so humiliating, so disgusting, so despicable. 0.96

00:00:28.420 Even the UN Commissioner on Human Rights condemned it strongly and fearfully.

00:00:35.560 Our worst fears confirmed. Hamas terrorists parade the coffins of the innocent Bibas children through 0.98

00:00:42.960 the streets of Gaza before returning the tiny captives to Israel. We'll have a full report.

00:00:49.620 And a new slate of polls shows slight changes to President Trump's approval rating. And is

00:00:55.020 Doge about to send you a refund check? All that and more coming up on your AM update.

00:01:01.160 This show is dedicated to uncovering the truth in a media landscape often dominated by left-leaning

00:01:06.640 narratives, especially when it comes to President Trump. It's safe to say you can expect more agenda-driven

00:01:11.960 stories and factual distortions all over the rest of the news. But I do want to tell you about Ground

00:01:17.440 News. Unlike other platforms that censor or amplify certain narratives, Ground News is not a news

00:01:23.300 publisher. They're an independent app and website that aggregates every source on a story so you can

00:01:29.100 compare coverage and see through mainstream media spin. Ground News has an entire blind spot feed with

00:01:36.120 stories that are receiving lopsided coverage. It truly reveals how media narratives are shaping the

00:01:40.800 conversation. My viewers are going to get 40% off their Vantage plan, which gives you unlimited access to

00:01:46.200 their website and their app. They are independent. They are supported by subscribers, not corporate

00:01:50.780 interests. You can check them out at groundnews.com slash Megan. That's ground, G-R-O-U-N-D, 0.94

00:01:56.880 news.com slash Megan, to take back control of the news you consume. 0.93

00:02:04.820 Cash Patel confirmed as FBI director. The vote was 51 to 49. Senator Mitch McConnell surprising many

00:02:12.420 with his vote in favor of Mr. Patel. Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of

00:02:18.700 Alaska joining every Democrat to vote against the nominee. Mr. Patel was believed to be one of

00:02:24.840 President Trump's most controversial nominees. In fact, many pundits on both sides suggested there was

00:02:30.240 zero chance he would make it through. Yesterday morning, six Senate Democrats held a brief press

00:02:35.960 conference outside of the Hoover building in one last-ditch effort to protest his confirmation.

00:02:42.220 Cash Patel, mark my words, will cause evil in this building behind us.

00:02:47.740 He's an instrument of Donald Trump's effort to destroy the Justice Department and the FBI

00:02:55.280 so that he is absolutely and completely not only above the law, but beyond the law.

00:03:02.860 This is a real danger and a real threat. This vote will haunt you. You will be held accountable.

00:03:12.000 He is a yes man for President Trump, already undermining the critical bureau he wants to lead.

00:03:20.920 Former Congressman, now Senator, Adam Schiff of California also weighed in.

00:03:25.460 He will misuse the resources of the bureau. He will weaponize it against the president's political

00:03:31.220 opponents rather than protecting the safety, the public safety of the American people.

00:03:36.600 As a congressman, Mr. Schiff was removed from his position on the House Intel Committee by former

00:03:41.800 Speaker Kevin McCarthy. As then chairman of that committee, Mr. Schiff led the hearings investigating

00:03:46.760 Russian influence in the 2016 election. For years, he told the American people that behind closed doors,

00:03:53.660 he had seen evidence of President Trump's direct collusion with Russia to win the 2016 election.

00:03:59.520 Donald Trump was really the one who enabled this Russian operation to be so successful 0.91

00:04:04.000 by giving them cover, by denying it was even happening, by denying it was the Russians.

00:04:08.680 I think there's plenty of evidence of collusion or conspiracy in plain sight.

00:04:12.520 You can see evidence in plain sight on the issue of collusion, pretty compelling evidence.

00:04:17.560 There's ample evidence of collusion in plain sight, and that is true.

00:04:21.600 Follow-up investigations revealed none of that. In fact, we've learned that the story was based off of

00:04:27.460 phony intel originally funded by the Clinton campaign. The FBI knew the intel was questionably sourced,

00:04:33.720 but used it anyway to secure FISA warrants that allowed them to spy on Trump advisor Carter Page

00:04:39.480 and, by extension, the Trump campaign. Text messages between two top FBI agents revealed their plan to

00:04:47.580 quote, stop Trump from getting elected. Republicans frequently criticized the FBI under the Biden

00:04:52.920 administration, which created a specific threat tag, edu officials, that would monitor parents

00:04:59.640 attending school board meetings as potential threats. A leaked January 2023 FBI memo proposed monitoring

00:05:06.900 some Catholics, suggesting Catholics interested in the traditional Latin mass could be linked to extremist

00:05:12.940 groups. That memo was later retracted. Trust in the FBI has been on a steady decline. A 2003 Gallup poll

00:05:20.460 showed 53 percent rated the FBI as good or excellent. As of 2024, that number had dropped to 41 percent.

00:05:27.320 President Trump campaigned on a promise of rooting out partisan actors from the Justice Department and

00:05:33.120 FBI. A DOJ spokesperson said earlier this week, quote, this DOJ will return to its core function of

00:05:39.980 prosecuting dangerous criminals, not pursuing politically motivated witch hunts. Like Mr. Trump,

00:05:46.300 Bobby Kennedy and Tulsi Gabbard, Kash Patel is a fierce critic of the very bureau he now oversees.

00:05:52.280 He made the following statement in a September episode of The Sean Ryan Show.

00:05:56.960 The biggest problem the FBI has had has come out of its intel shops. I'd break that component out of

00:06:01.460 it. I'd shut down the FBI Hoover building on day one and reopening the next day as a museum of the

00:06:07.040 deep state. And I'd take the 7,000 employees that work in that building and send them across America to

00:06:12.000 chase down criminals. Go be cops. You're cops. Go be cops. Mr. Patel played a key role identifying FBI

00:06:18.100 misconduct related to the Steele dossier. Reuters reports that in the first month of the second

00:06:22.900 Trump administration, at least 75 career DOJ lawyers and FBI officials have either resigned,

00:06:29.320 been fired, or stripped of their posts. FBI directors typically serve 10-year terms.

00:06:35.300 Prior to his vote for Kash Patel yesterday, Senator Mitch McConnell announcing his own retirement.

00:06:40.120 Representing our commonwealth has been the honor of a lifetime. I will not seek this honor

00:06:51.080 an eighth time. My current term in the Senate will be my last.

00:06:58.160 After voting against Tulsi Gabbard, Pete Hegseth, and RFKJ, many expected the senator to oppose Patel

00:07:04.040 as well. That would have left the tie-breaking vote to Vice President J.D. Vance. First elected to the

00:07:09.500 Senate back in 1984, Mr. McConnell holds the title of longest-serving Senate party leader in American

00:07:15.700 history. Despite a contentious relationship with President Trump's nominees this time around,

00:07:21.200 Senator McConnell played a crucial role in shepherding Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh,

00:07:25.800 and Amy Coney Barrett onto the U.S. Supreme Court. Coming up, the Bebas children are returned to Israel. 1.00

00:07:33.740 The latest on Trump polling and possible DOJ refund checks? All this and more in just a

00:07:39.440 moment. The IRS is the largest collection agency in the world. And with April 15th fast approaching,

00:07:46.960 it's more aggressive than ever. If you owe back taxes or have unfiled returns, waiting is not an

00:07:52.300 option. And let's face it, it's stressful. Get this handled. April 15th could mark another tax year

00:07:58.420 that has passed you by. So the smart thing to do is to get ahead of it right now. But listen,

00:08:03.860 never contact the IRS alone. That's crazy talk. Don't do that. Instead, you could let the experts

00:08:11.020 at Tax Network USA handle it for you. Why? Well, not all tax resolution companies are the same.

00:08:17.240 Tax Network USA has a preferred direct line to the IRS, so they know exactly which agents to deal with

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00:08:42.780 Don't let the IRS control your future. Call 1-800-958-1000 or visit TNUSA.com slash Megan.

00:08:52.080 TNUSA.com slash Megan. April 15th is just around the corner. You act now.

00:08:56.380 Get it off your plate before the IRS acts first. Four bodies returned yesterday to Israel from the

00:09:03.700 Gaza Strip. Israeli officials say one of them, expected to be Shiri Bibas, is not actually her

00:09:10.880 and does not match any other hostage. The Israeli military releasing this statement, quote,

00:09:16.020 this is a violation of utmost severity by the Hamas terrorist organization,

00:09:19.900 which is obligated under the agreement to return four deceased hostages. We demand that

00:09:26.100 Hamas returned Shiri home along with all other hostages. Officials did confirm the remains of

00:09:32.600 her two young sons, Ariel, age four, and Kefir, just nine months old when they were taken from their

00:09:39.400 homes barefoot and in their PJs on October 7th, 2023. The boys, the youngest of the 253 hostages taken

00:09:48.280 that day, became a harrowing symbol, both to the Israeli people and to the world, of the sheer

00:09:54.120 brutality of Hamas's attack. As with fire-living hostages, the Hamas terrorists paraded the bodies

00:10:02.560 through the streets with loud music blaring, almost celebratory, some members of the crowd cheering

00:10:08.940 as the caskets of the babies pass by. The four black boxes then displayed on a podium, each with a

00:10:16.240 picture of the hostage at the base, their name and words in Arabic, October 7th, date of arrest.

00:10:24.320 On display behind them, an image of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with fangs and blood spatters

00:10:30.360 with the words, quote, the war criminal Netanyahu and his Nazi army killed them with missiles from

00:10:36.900 Zionist warplanes, a claim totally unsupported by any evidence. Israeli President Herzog on MSNBC

00:10:43.980 reacting to the barbaric scene. I think that is a true reality of what we Israelis have been going

00:10:51.780 through with these jihadists who've taken over Gaza and turned it into an Iranian terror base against 0.50

00:11:00.380 Israel with their hate and with a lack of morality and with a barbaric approach to life. But it was 1.00

00:11:09.460 so humiliating, so disgusting, so despicable. Even the UN Commissioner on Human Rights condemned it

00:11:18.400 strongly and fearfully. The coffins were scanned for explosives before they were returned by the Red 1.00

00:11:24.340 Cross to Israel. The remains of the fourth hostage, also confirmed by Israeli officials, were those of

00:11:30.740 Oded Leafsheets, 83 when he was taken hostage. He was the founder of the Kibbutz near Oz, the village where

00:11:38.420 he and the Bibas family lived. Mr. Leafsheets worked for many years as a journalist for a left-leaning

00:11:44.260 newspaper. President Herzog spoke about his life and work. The other person is Oded Leafsheets, an 86-year-old

00:11:52.600 retired elderly peace activist who used to work with the Palestinians on a daily basis to help them in

00:12:02.460 any way they need. The Times of Israel reporting Mr. Leafsheets was an Arabic speaker. He worked with an

00:12:09.200 organization called Road for Recovery. He would drive weekly into the Gaza Strip, shuttling Palestinians in

00:12:15.420 need of medical treatment into Israel. Oded's wife, Yokoved, tells the Times of Israel her husband, quote,

00:12:21.780 fought for the Palestinians his whole life. They betrayed him and took him to hell. Prime Minister

00:12:27.840 Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the Israeli people yesterday, saying, quote, our hearts may be broken,

00:12:33.300 but our spirit is not. And with this spirit, we will return all of our hostages. We will destroy

00:12:39.320 the murderers. We will eliminate Hamas. And together, with God's help, we will ensure our future. 1.00

00:12:46.480 Six more hostages are set to be released tomorrow. Phase two of these negotiations are now in the

00:12:52.780 preliminary stage. Earlier this week, Mr. Netanyahu reportedly told his cabinet the conditions for

00:12:58.120 entering phase two will require Hamas to disarm and to have no presence in Gaza.

00:13:07.080 A fresh slate of polls showing a slight decrease in enthusiasm for President Trump's job approval.

00:13:12.840 CNN's Harry Enten breaks it down.

00:13:15.300 The worst day of polling for Donald Trump during his entire second term in office. What am I talking

00:13:20.940 about here? Take a look at Trump's net approval rating. CNN, you see it on this side of the screen.

00:13:24.700 Minus five. Gallup. Minus six. Ipsos. Minus seven. Quinnipiac. Minus four. Negative,

00:13:31.660 negative, negative, negative. Underwater, underwater, underwater, underwater.

00:13:36.300 Enten saying it's the worst day of polling in Trump's second term. All of the polls he referenced

00:13:41.180 come out on a monthly basis, and President Trump is just one month into his second. Each of the four

00:13:46.780 polls referenced have Mr. Trump's approval in the mid to upper 40s, with strong support amongst

00:13:51.360 Republicans. Amongst all voters, CNN shows Mr. Trump with a 47 percent approval rating compared

00:13:58.320 to 52 percent who disapprove. Gallup has it 45 to 51. Washington Post. Ipsos 45 to 53. And Quinnipiac

00:14:07.020 45 to 49. According to the Real Clear Politics polling average, President Trump is at a 48 percent

00:14:12.920 favorable and 49 percent unfavorable rating, although these new polls are not factored into those numbers.

00:14:19.140 President Trump's approval rating remains far above his first term, which never got higher than 44 percent.

00:14:28.640 Potential for a Doge-funded tax refund? The Doge team reports they have saved $55 billion of taxpayer

00:14:36.340 money. The official website says the savings come from fraud detection, contract cancellations,

00:14:41.560 and asset sales, among other actions. Earlier this week, investment manager James Fishback proposed

00:14:47.340 issuing a refund to taxpayers on X with these savings. Elon Musk responding,

00:14:53.180 we'll check with the president. The idea picking up traction throughout the week.

00:14:57.040 President Trump addressed it in Miami on Wednesday.

00:15:00.540 There's even under consideration a new concept where we give 20 percent of the Doge savings to

00:15:06.880 American citizens and 20 percent goes to paying down debt because the numbers are incredible, Elon.

00:15:12.520 In the briefing room yesterday, Stephen Miller outlined how the concept might play out.

00:15:18.040 The way that it works is when you achieve savings, you can either return to the taxpayers,

00:15:22.980 you can return it to our debtors, or it can be cycled into next year's budget and then it just lowers

00:15:29.820 the overall baseline for next year. And when is it that people might see those checks?

00:15:33.920 Well, it's all going to be worked on through the reconciliation process with Congress.

00:15:37.500 A common Republican criticism of the Biden administration was that the stimulus checks

00:15:42.240 were inflationary and counterproductive. CNN's Caitlin Collins asked Kevin Hassett,

00:15:47.660 director of the National Economic Council, if he has any concern that

00:15:51.580 Doge refunds could have the same effect.

00:15:54.020 Oh, absolutely not. Because imagine if we don't spend government money and we give it back to people,

00:15:59.660 then if they spend it all, then you're even. But they're probably going to save a lot of it,

00:16:03.700 in which case you're reducing inflation. And also when the government spends a lot,

00:16:06.880 that's what creates inflation. We learned that from Joe Biden.

00:16:09.500 Right now, the House and Senate are working on budget proposals.

00:16:12.840 Any Doge refunds would have to come from the budgeting process.

00:16:20.220 Fort Knox, the 109,000 acre property located in Kentucky, is one of the world's most tightly

00:16:26.680 guarded locations. It holds about 161 million ounces of gold, approximately 59 percent of the U.S.

00:16:34.320 Treasury's total supply, according to the U.S. Mint. Or does it? Elon Musk saying, prove it.

00:16:42.000 The last public tour of Fort Knox was in 1974 under President Gerald Ford. A group of congressmen and

00:16:49.100 some journalists became the second tour group outside of authorized personnel to take a peek around.

00:16:55.060 The first look was President Franklin Roosevelt back in 1943, 10 years after the fort opened.

00:17:00.400 As part of the wider Doge audit of the federal government, Mr. Musk is encouraging President

00:17:05.760 Trump to investigate Fort Knox. President Trump responding to the idea on Wednesday aboard Air Force

00:17:11.640 One.

00:17:12.440 We do want to look. I mean, we hope everything's fine with Fort Knox, but we're going to go to Fort

00:17:16.340 Knox, the fabled Fort Knox, to make sure the gold is there.

00:17:19.400 Where would the gold have gone? If the gold isn't there, we're going to be very upset.

00:17:24.940 Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a separate interview on Wednesday, quote,

00:17:29.280 all the gold is present and accounted for. He says the Treasury Department conducts an audit

00:17:33.920 every year. I mean, it is, after all, Fort Knox.

00:17:37.120 That'll do it for your AM update. I'm Megyn Kelly. Join me back here for The Megyn Kelly Show,

00:17:44.500 live on SiriusXM Triumph Channel 111 at noon east, on youtube.com slash Megyn Kelly, and on all podcast

00:17:51.000 platforms.

00:18:00.000 Now streaming on Paramount+.

00:18:02.200 We like to walk that fine line between techno-thriller and romantic comedy.

00:18:23.720 We make up our own rules.

00:18:26.000 NCIS Tony and Ziva, now streaming on Paramount+.

00:18:29.460 We'll be right back.

The Megyn Kelly Show - February 21, 2025

Kash Patel Takes Over FBI, Hamas Hostage Outrage, and DOGE Refund Potential： AM Update for 2⧸21

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