The Megyn Kelly Show - Megyn Reveals Her Candace and Erika Backstory, and Disturbing New Rob Reiner Son Details, with Ruthless ｜ Ep. 1214

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00:01:06.880 Welcome to The Megyn Kelly Show, live on Sirius XM Channel 111 every weekday at New East.

00:01:18.620 Hey everyone, I'm Megyn Kelly.

00:01:20.460 Welcome to The Megyn Kelly Show.

00:01:21.800 We have got so much to get to today.

00:01:23.560 Nick Reiner is soon expected to be formally charged with the murder of his parents,

00:01:28.560 legendary movie director Rob Reiner, and his photographer mother, Michelle Reiner.

00:01:33.660 A killer, meantime, is still on the loose after a gunman killed two and wounded nine at Brown University.

00:01:41.040 That situation is going from bad to worse.

00:01:43.000 I mean, I don't know what you're going to do out there with this mayor.

00:01:46.440 Good luck to you, Providence. 1.00

00:01:47.740 It's what a buffoon. 0.96

00:01:50.520 We'll get to the latest on how he and now the attorney general are contradicting each other. 0.98

00:01:55.560 They're not inspiring any confidence whatsoever that this shooter will be caught anytime soon.

00:02:01.040 And we are definitely going to get into this Vanity Fair profile.

00:02:04.900 Look at this.

00:02:05.240 Here are my notes on it.

00:02:08.220 It's a very thick document.

00:02:10.220 It's a very long two-part article written by Vanity Fair with the cooperation of and with several interviews over the course of a year of President Trump's chief of staff, Susie Wiles, and the entire cabinet.

00:02:26.240 Um, here's a little preview.

00:02:29.020 It didn't go well at all, which is no surprise if you're going to sit down with Vanity Fair.

00:02:36.400 Everyone's asking, why would she do this?

00:02:37.860 You know, why would she sit with Vanity Fair? 1.00

00:02:39.820 It's the reporter.

00:02:41.000 I guess the reporter has done all these profiles on chiefs of staff over the years.

00:02:45.860 Okay, that shouldn't do it because Vanity Fair hates conservatives, right?

00:02:52.660 So, you kind of should know what you're going to get.

00:02:56.340 I think Susie Wiles is a very smart, very savvy woman, but, um, you know, it's not a surprise that Vanity Fair did an incredibly unfair piece on Susie Wiles that does not make her or anyone in the cabinet look good.

00:03:11.360 And she's already trying to, like, tamp down some of the admissions.

00:03:16.080 It's not good.

00:03:17.060 We're going to talk about it in just a second because Ruthless is back.

00:03:20.360 The guys from the program are here.

00:03:21.840 Love the fellas.

00:03:23.380 They're coming on in just a couple minutes, but I just want to start quickly with this.

00:03:28.160 I've been telling you as this, I don't know if you want to call it a feud or what between Candace Owens and Erica Kirk has been heating up, that I would have something to say on it in the coming days, and I do.

00:03:39.400 Um, it's been going on now for a while where Candace, I had that exchange with Ben Shapiro out on the tour where he said she'd accused Erica of orchestrating Charlie's murder.

00:03:50.960 And I was taken aback.

00:03:53.020 I had not heard that.

00:03:54.080 And then in the interim between that day and the next, I had my staff go research exactly what she had said.

00:04:00.120 And then somebody just happened to ask me a question about it.

00:04:03.720 Truly, it was not, that was totally organic.

00:04:06.260 That was not a plant by me at all.

00:04:09.400 But somebody asked me about it the very next night, and I actually told them, because I'd been planning on saying something on the show since Ben had made the accusation.

00:04:16.780 And if it was not true, I did not want to be having something that heavy hanging out there.

00:04:22.100 Um, someone asked about it, and I said, that's actually not true.

00:04:26.160 And at that time, it was not true.

00:04:28.120 Candace had not accused Erica of orchestrating Charlie's murder.

00:04:31.840 Um, and I've gotten a lot of grief for saying that, but I was correct. 0.77

00:04:35.760 We're, we are relentlessly factual here in this program.

00:04:38.360 And she had not done that at the time.

00:04:40.200 As I pointed out at the time, she had impugned turning point.

00:04:43.160 And I realize Erica is CEO, but she wasn't until after Charlie died.

00:04:47.960 Um, so, you know, saying the guys at turning point had done something prior to Charlie's death is not the same as saying Erica Kirk.

00:04:55.880 Okay.

00:04:57.100 I'm sorry.

00:04:57.860 It may seem to you like a distinction without a difference, but we really do care about facts being precise here on the program.

00:05:03.760 We don't always get it right, but that's a big one to get wrong.

00:05:06.400 Well, since then, Candace has been more focused on Erica Kirk. 0.82

00:05:14.380 And I think that's because Erica Kirk went on a media tour and started clearly speaking out about Candace. 0.98

00:05:20.660 And so, you know, it was, it turned into a rather explosive situation last week where Erica went on with Harris Faulkner on Fox News and said very clearly she wants these, quote, conspiracy theories to stop, especially about Turning Point USA, which she called her Turning Point family.

00:05:40.620 And she was clearly upset, you know, we played the soundbite for you.

00:05:45.380 She was clearly, you know, she's had it.

00:05:47.680 And then, um, she went on with Barry Weiss on CBS for a town hall.

00:05:52.980 They had aired the preview, saw it, and then the actual exchange aired on Saturday night with, with Barry, where, um, Erica told Candace to just stop. 1.00

00:06:03.360 Okay.

00:06:03.600 She just said, I want you to stop.

00:06:05.440 Actually, we'll, uh, we'll play that.

00:06:07.540 Let's play the soundbite here.

00:06:08.340 The podcaster Candace Owens, okay, at one time, a friend of Charlie's, at one time, an employee of Turning Point.

00:06:18.480 She has been one of the main peddlers of these conspiracies, and she is making a huge amount of money on it. 0.79

00:06:24.500 She is building her business off of these lies.

00:06:28.500 What do you want to say to her and the other people that are putting these lies out into the world right now?

00:06:36.560 Stop.

00:06:37.080 That's it.

00:06:40.900 That's all I have to say.

00:06:42.740 Stop.

00:06:45.340 And that was a clear play on words, if you will, because Candace, when she had started down the Turning Point narrative, had said, only my husband or Erica Kirk can tell me to stop this.

00:06:57.580 And, you know, like, one word from Erica will stop this.

00:07:01.600 And Erica didn't say anything about this.

00:07:04.240 She hasn't really been commenting on podcasts and so on.

00:07:06.860 But she did, as you saw in that clip, say stop.

00:07:12.080 And it was not taken as the command to stop.

00:07:18.600 I think Candace felt she was saying stop lying.

00:07:22.780 And Candace, her defense was she's not lying.

00:07:25.460 She's actually trying to do an investigation into the true killer of Charlie Kirk.

00:07:29.820 I've said before, and I will say again, I think they have the true killer of Charlie Kirk.

00:07:34.800 His name is Tyler Robinson.

00:07:36.120 He's in custody.

00:07:36.780 And I have every reason to believe that he committed this murder.

00:07:41.280 Many people disagree with me.

00:07:43.420 Many people believe there's more to this story that we're being lied to by our FBI, that there are too many inconsistencies around the official story.

00:07:49.800 And those people are more than entitled to that belief.

00:07:53.640 I don't share it.

00:07:54.920 That's fine.

00:07:55.660 This is America.

00:07:56.460 You can feel differently about these things.

00:07:57.920 But with things ratcheting up between Erica and Candace last week, many people had been asking me, why aren't you saying anything?

00:08:07.500 Obviously, I love Erica Kirk.

00:08:09.300 I do.

00:08:10.000 I love her.

00:08:11.380 And I feel, as I said on the tour, protective of her because she's in an extremely vulnerable state right now.

00:08:19.160 Yes, she's taken on the CEO position of Turning Point.

00:08:21.640 And, you know, it's a fair question to ask whether that's a job she can do right now while she's at the height of her grieving.

00:08:29.900 I take no position on that.

00:08:31.500 I think she's doing fine.

00:08:33.020 But I also think it's fair.

00:08:34.280 You can ask that.

00:08:36.660 So I don't like to see her get attacked at all.

00:08:40.520 And I wish that would stop.

00:08:42.980 And to be honest, I wish Candace wouldn't be pursuing the Turning Point narrative at all.

00:08:49.040 Never mind Erica.

00:08:49.860 Though, again, she hasn't graduated to blaming Erica for Charlie's murder.

00:08:55.600 She's criticizing her and the media tour.

00:08:58.640 And that is fair game.

00:09:00.100 That piece of it is fair game.

00:09:01.780 So in any event, Candace knows I disagree with her on this.

00:09:05.020 Petty internet people want to turn that into a catfight between Candace and yours truly, which will fail. 1.00

00:09:11.200 She and I actually have only gotten closer over the past couple of months as people try to make me attack her. 1.00

00:09:18.040 So fuck off, okay? 1.00

00:09:20.240 I have no obligation to you to hate the people you hate or try to bring down the people you want brought down. 1.00

00:09:26.080 I'm sorry, but if that's what you want from me, you do need to move on.

00:09:30.500 It's not going to happen.

00:09:31.480 And I've learned a lot behind the scenes from Candace about some of the things she's been put through from people I used to respect.

00:09:40.340 I also adore and love Erica, so I want this to stop.

00:09:46.680 I do, of course.

00:09:47.860 None of this is a mystery to Erica or to Candace.

00:09:50.860 And a couple of weeks ago, Erica called me.

00:09:55.380 And it's relevant to the meeting they just had.

00:10:00.740 Okay, so I'm going to get into this.

00:10:02.380 Those two had a sit-down meeting yesterday for four and a half hours.

00:10:05.920 Erica and Candace alone.

00:10:07.440 Well, I think they had two other people with him, but those were the two principals.

00:10:10.940 And they met face-to-face in Nashville yesterday.

00:10:16.660 No recording devices, nothing, just the two of them.

00:10:20.040 And again, each had a supporter.

00:10:23.040 Someone from their own respective teams.

00:10:25.020 I'll let them disclose the specifics of that.

00:10:27.480 But they made a lot of progress, according to them.

00:10:31.180 And this is what they tweeted out yesterday after the meeting.

00:10:33.980 Candace said, Erica and I wrote, had an extremely productive four and a half hour meeting that I think we both feel should have taken place a lot earlier than it did.

00:10:42.960 We agreed much more than I had anticipated.

00:10:45.420 Of course, we also disagreed on various points and people as well.

00:10:49.360 Most importantly, we were able to share intel and clarify intent.

00:10:52.440 I will, of course, have a full rundown for you all tomorrow, as I am currently exhausted.

00:10:57.220 But I wanted to quickly let you guys know that absolutely nothing was held back.

00:11:00.780 And the immediate result was that tensions were thawed.

00:11:03.920 That's very good.

00:11:05.900 Erica posted something 10 minutes later, writing, had a very productive conversation with Candace Owens.

00:11:12.700 More to come from both of us.

00:11:14.180 Looking forward to AmFest this week.

00:11:16.000 That's Turning Point's biggest event of the year.

00:11:17.600 It happens this weekend, later this week into the weekend.

00:11:20.860 Time to get back to work.

00:11:22.440 So, I will let Erica and the Turning Point crew and Candace Owens fill you in on what happened at that meeting and so on.

00:11:31.040 I just wanted to note, because many of my viewers have been wondering why I haven't said anything, given my previous statements about Erica.

00:11:40.160 Erica, and the reason is that I have been working behind the scenes to try to foster a detente between them.

00:11:51.080 Erica called me weeks ago and asked me if I would be part of this sit-down with them, which originally they had contemplated might be for consumption by the public.

00:12:06.240 My air in some way, shape, or form, and asked if I would facilitate that meeting between the two of them.

00:12:14.460 And I said, yes, immediately, of course I would.

00:12:17.380 I reached out to Candace.

00:12:19.100 She said, absolutely, I'm thrilled it's you.

00:12:21.980 I'm in.

00:12:22.580 And the two of them took it from there, trying to negotiate the specifics of what they'd both be comfortable with, where, when, etc.

00:12:31.560 And eventually, it changed after they hit some roadblocks.

00:12:36.240 Again, that's for someone else to tell you about, if they so choose.

00:12:42.000 Not having anything to do with yours truly, but hit some roadblocks in scheduling and the specifics.

00:12:48.060 That led them to just say, let's do this privately, not on camera, not in a live stream, just us.

00:12:56.880 And I thought that was a great idea, and I fully support it, and I have been in touch with both of them repeatedly.

00:13:03.080 Okay, so that's what I've been doing.

00:13:06.000 And I understand my core audience knows who I am and would never have assumed the worst about me, that I was just abandoning Erica or getting ready to pounce on Candace and, you know, insert myself into this on one side.

00:13:19.920 I'm not getting ready to do that, and I don't want that.

00:13:22.860 I don't think that's God's role for me here.

00:13:25.340 I really fully believe God's role for me here is to possibly play a role in getting this whole thing to a better place.

00:13:35.840 I think I might be in a position to help construct that.

00:13:39.660 Maybe, maybe not.

00:13:41.520 But sitting here in my studio in Connecticut just slinging mud at one side or the other or tearing people down or, you know, expressing my disgust, my outrage, that is pointless.

00:13:54.940 Here, my goal and my job here, I think, is to try to understand, yes, where Candace is coming from on this.

00:14:04.500 I know you're not supposed to say it, you're supposed to just immediately condemn her.

00:14:08.640 But I love the turning point, guys, and I don't believe for one second any of them had anything to do with Charlie's murder.

00:14:13.680 Not for one second do I believe that.

00:14:16.620 So people who care about Candace and love Erica have been in a tough position as this whole thing has escalated.

00:14:24.780 And care about turning point, which I deeply do.

00:14:26.860 And I will make sure that their legacy is not destroyed.

00:14:29.840 And I will do everything within my power to help them thrive, including supporting my own kids in forming a turning point chapter.

00:14:37.180 And going out to AmFest and helping headline that event and encouraging everyone I know within the conservative movement to go and support them and to donate.

00:14:45.940 So that's where I am.

00:14:46.960 But that doesn't mean I need to sling mud at somebody who sees it differently than I do.

00:14:54.020 And it especially doesn't mean I should remove myself from a position that I think few hold where I might be able to actually help this thing go away if I can.

00:15:06.080 Or at least get to a better place.

00:15:08.340 All right, just at least get to a better place.

00:15:10.840 Not just for them.

00:15:12.500 I don't think this is good for anybody's mental health.

00:15:15.480 But for America.

00:15:17.400 You know, for our country.

00:15:19.120 And definitely for the conservative movement.

00:15:21.880 There are so many really important battles that we're going to have to fight together against the radical left.

00:15:28.500 And if there's any way that strain of argument and contention can be dissipated, can be managed to a place where it's not quite as upsetting, awful, tough on a lot of people I love, then I would like to be that person if I can.

00:15:50.180 This isn't about me.

00:15:51.120 It's totally not about me.

00:15:52.240 It's about those two.

00:15:53.280 And I commend both of them.

00:15:54.340 I mean, honestly, like, that took a lot of guts for both of them.

00:16:01.560 Erica is grieving.

00:16:03.120 Erica was away all week on the road promoting Charlie's book.

00:16:06.780 She just did.

00:16:07.460 I know people have given her blowback on the press tour.

00:16:10.320 She committed to the stops that Charlie committed to.

00:16:13.540 She is truly trying to fulfill Charlie's legacy and promise on his book.

00:16:19.260 It's not easy for her.

00:16:21.040 People say, oh, she's loving it.

00:16:22.380 She's not loving it.

00:16:23.320 She'd rather be home with her babies because she is now a single mother. 1.00

00:16:27.200 She's got a three-year-old and a one-year-old who need her back at home, not to mention Turning Point.

00:16:32.060 And it took guts for Candace to go, too.

00:16:34.920 Let's face it.

00:16:36.000 You know, she's been ripping on Turning Point, an organization that Charlie built that Erica's running mercilessly for weeks now. 0.99

00:16:42.980 And she'd been coming under fire for not accepting the invite of the Turning Point guys to join their live stream, which was supposed to take place yesterday, responding to her claims.

00:16:54.200 And then, you know, the big kahuna, the CEO, Erica Kirk herself and Charlie's widow, she's got a couple of roles in this whole story, reaches out to her and says, I will come sit with you directly.

00:17:07.160 And so, you know, she could have run for that from that.

00:17:10.260 She could have found 10,000 excuses not to do it.

00:17:13.380 You know, I'm just happy to sit here on my set and hurl allegations without saying them to your face.

00:17:18.140 She didn't.

00:17:18.960 She, she, they sat for four plus hours yesterday.

00:17:22.780 So I'll let them take it from here.

00:17:25.780 But I wanted to tell you what my role in it has been.

00:17:31.460 And I'll just say this final thing.

00:17:34.100 To the hateful people whom I used to call friends who have been all over the internet trying to shame me and say that no one should ever listen to this program again because I haven't spoken out on the Erica, Candace conflict. 1.00

00:17:48.960 And there's no, I don't have any pearls of wisdom other than go fuck yourselves. 1.00

00:17:54.760 Go fuck yourselves. 1.00

00:17:55.980 You have no fucking clue what's going on. 1.00

00:17:58.960 You don't know what I do behind the scenes. 1.00

00:18:02.080 And your world is so myopically online, you fail to understand there are real humans involved here.

00:18:08.400 And actually being able to touch grass and have relationships with them, which is something I'm, I'm doing, could prove to actually benefit all involved.

00:18:17.560 Maybe it won't, maybe it, maybe it won't at all, but it's at least got a shot.

00:18:22.120 I'm not sure your Twitter shame game has gotten anything of value done.

00:18:28.840 Okay.

00:18:29.760 Let's get to the news.

00:18:31.460 More on that tomorrow after both women, I think we'll have spoken out about it in more detail or their teams.

00:18:37.340 Joining me now, the fellas from Ruthless, one of the greatest programs on earth, Josh Holmes, Michael Duncan, John Ashbrook, and Comfortably Smug.

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00:19:49.960 Guys, welcome back.

00:19:51.460 Hi, Megan.

00:19:52.280 Great to see you.

00:19:53.580 It's great to see you, too. 1.00

00:19:54.640 Just a day ending in Y where before you come on, I've told everyone to go fuck themselves. 1.00

00:19:59.060 Yeah. 1.00

00:20:00.640 I thought that was, yeah, a special reservation for us since you're speaking our language.

00:20:05.560 Makes you feel right at home.

00:20:07.520 It does, right?

00:20:08.340 You're back.

00:20:08.840 We're back.

00:20:09.300 We can pick up right where we left off.

00:20:11.120 All right, but actually, where I want to pick up is the Susie Wiles thing.

00:20:15.240 Have you guys read this thing yet?

00:20:16.660 Yeah.

00:20:16.940 Mm-hmm.

00:20:18.140 O-M-G. 1.00

00:20:20.960 So just for the listening audience, and we'll get, we'll go through it and we'll talk about

00:20:24.120 all the juicy details.

00:20:26.080 It's extraordinary.

00:20:27.360 It was, it was so revealing on so many fronts.

00:20:31.500 I texted my team today saying, is she quitting?

00:20:33.960 Is Susie Wiles quitting?

00:20:35.500 Like, this seems like the kind of thing you do knowing that your days were numbered and

00:20:39.660 you're kind of going to burn some bridges on the way out and you don't really give an F.

00:20:42.720 But she's not quitting.

00:20:45.000 She tweeted an attack on the Vanity Fair article today saying, we're mission focused, we're

00:20:50.760 not going to pay attention to this and that kind of, but like, she talked to this guy for

00:20:54.460 over a year, multiple times, double digits, I think.

00:20:58.420 And, um, like there's so much, how many, Rob?

00:21:05.840 Eleven.

00:21:06.500 Eleven times.

00:21:08.120 Um, to the point where, like, now people's jaws are slack online wondering, does she hate

00:21:16.480 everyone in the administration or does she just not understand Vanity Fair? 1.00

00:21:20.500 Many people I've talked to within the conservative circles think that she must have been saying

00:21:26.020 these things thinking they were off the record.

00:21:28.380 Now she's trying to tell the New York Times that she didn't say at least some of them and

00:21:32.540 which has forced the reporter, Chris Whipple of Vanity Fair to provide the tape recording

00:21:37.540 pieces to the New York Times showing she did say the things.

00:21:42.720 So that's not the move.

00:21:43.940 If this guy is a respected reporter, though he works for a leftist publication, you know,

00:21:50.500 she's producing the receipts, the recordings already.

00:21:53.600 So don't play that game.

00:21:54.800 If you said it, just stand by it.

00:21:57.400 Um, and I'll just give you what I think is the biggest, this is what I think is the biggest

00:22:02.620 problem in it.

00:22:04.660 All the rest is just insults, like saying J.D. Vance is a conspiracy theorist and has been

00:22:10.180 for 10 years, um, saying his conversion to MAGA and being pro-Trump was sheerly political,

00:22:18.440 which she contrasted with Marco Rubio's evolution, which she credits as being sincere, right?

00:22:24.660 Like it's not great.

00:22:25.940 He's the vice president.

00:22:26.880 He's almost certainly going to be the Republican nominee next time around.

00:22:29.920 And you've got Susie Wiles saying he's a conspiracy theorist, but I'll tell you the one that's

00:22:34.040 probably the most consequential in real terms.

00:22:37.140 And that is on page 18 of the 35 page, uh, article, at least the way it printed for me.

00:22:43.000 And when she was talking about the Letitia James indictment and he's pressing her on whether this

00:22:50.680 is all retribution, she is saying, okay, you know, he's, he doesn't like some of these people,

00:22:58.340 et cetera.

00:22:58.940 And then she says, the question is, what about Letitia James and her mortgage fraud?

00:23:05.260 Answer.

00:23:06.420 Well, that might be the one retribution, quoting Susie Wiles.

00:23:11.260 That is utterly unhelpful.

00:23:13.880 And if they ever managed to reindict Tish James with a grand jury that will actually do its

00:23:19.480 job because she does deserve to be reindicted, it will be promptly dismissed now with that 0.99

00:23:23.940 quote, because she speaks for the president. 0.96

00:23:25.900 And that is effectively the president on record saying, this is no more than political retribution,

00:23:30.800 which as a practical matter will now doom the Letitia James criminal case. 1.00

00:23:36.720 Again, it's already on life support, given the fact that they can't get a grand jury to

00:23:40.280 reindict now that it's been thrown out because it didn't have a prosecutor on it, who was

00:23:43.920 a legitimate U.S. attorney, according to the courts.

00:23:46.540 But that statement actually will have consequences.

00:23:50.340 The rest is political chaos.

00:23:53.260 And that's where you guys come in.

00:23:55.300 What's your favorite thought or admission or takeaway on this thing?

00:24:00.880 Well, Megan, first of all, I think this took the political world by storm this morning in

00:24:06.260 large part because Susie Wiles is known for the discipline and this White House has been 1.00

00:24:11.180 known for their incredible discipline and their lack of interest in entertaining the sort of

00:24:15.640 left wing media narrative.

00:24:17.740 And so anything that showed up in that space was going to be interesting, to say the least.

00:24:23.060 But from my perspective, I always do this when I'm dealing with like a New York Times or

00:24:26.320 Vanity Fair or whatever, I look at something that they pulled out for a pull quote and they

00:24:30.440 try to throw it in a subhead.

00:24:32.820 And in this case, there was a reference to Donald Trump having the personality of an alcoholic,

00:24:38.600 quote, unquote.

00:24:39.960 And I looked at that and I'm like, all right, before I read this article, I'm going to go

00:24:43.000 down and I'm going to try to find the context that is printed in this to see if this could

00:24:48.500 make, because that's not something just out of context that somebody like Susie Wiles would 1.00

00:24:52.620 ever say.

00:24:53.220 And then you go down and you find out that she was talking about her history of dealing

00:24:56.840 with men, her father, people with alcoholism.

00:25:00.140 Who was Pat Summerall of the NFL.

00:25:02.340 Exactly.

00:25:03.160 Functional alcoholism, as she calls it, where she says that basically their personality is

00:25:07.600 their personality.

00:25:08.620 It's just much more embellished than your average person.

00:25:12.680 And so Donald Trump has a much more embellished personality.

00:25:15.720 And that was the context of it had nothing to do with alcoholism or personality.

00:25:19.260 And then she actually goes on to say he operates with a view that there's nothing he can't

00:25:23.740 do.

00:25:24.180 Nothing, zero, nothing, which also adds to it.

00:25:26.820 So it's like trying to be a compliment.

00:25:29.000 But yeah, the pull quote is not phrased as a compliment.

00:25:32.640 So but that but right there, then you have the framework for the rest of the piece, which

00:25:37.920 is anything you can say and do or quote is going to be framed in the worst possible way.

00:25:44.280 I saw another thing about J.D. Vance making a joke with the photographer about like, I'll

00:25:49.100 pay you a hundred bucks if I look better than everybody else in here.

00:25:51.320 A thousand if it's Marco.

00:25:52.520 Yeah, that's J.D.

00:25:53.640 That's funny.

00:25:54.420 And like I leftists don't understand our sense of humor, apparently.

00:25:57.360 No, and they reported that that that's evidence of the tension, the tension amongst the cabinet.

00:26:02.980 Like, what is an obvious joke?

00:26:05.220 As is this piece.

00:26:07.660 Yeah.

00:26:08.140 Yeah, totally.

00:26:08.660 So, I mean, that's the framework that I'm working in now.

00:26:11.960 It's 1735 pages or whatever.

00:26:14.640 And there's a whole bunch of stuff.

00:26:15.620 And you can talk a lot about whether there is wisdom and sitting down 11 times with a

00:26:19.060 reporter who's capable of doing something like this or not.

00:26:22.240 But I think that most of it in there, if read through the eyes of the people who know them,

00:26:27.000 know the levity.

00:26:29.020 They know the context of the things that are being said.

00:26:32.040 Johnny, I don't know.

00:26:32.680 You work with these people all the time.

00:26:34.600 Like, this is this seems like it's sort of par for the course.

00:26:37.520 Yeah, and I also think that this is the most transparent administration that we have ever

00:26:41.700 had in our lifetimes.

00:26:42.780 And they're not afraid of saying what it is they're doing, what it is they're thinking,

00:26:46.120 because they're making such great progress.

00:26:48.240 And I think that came through in the story.

00:26:49.840 And there was a piece of news that they didn't push out on Twitter that caught my attention.

00:26:55.320 It's when she was talking about his building of this great room off of the East Wing.

00:27:01.440 And she said that that's not where it stops.

00:27:03.900 And so much of the left is just losing their minds over the president, our president, who

00:27:10.440 is a developer, improving the White House in a way that every administration behind him

00:27:16.460 will benefit from.

00:27:17.540 And as Michael Duncan points out, it's the most magnanimous thing he's ever done, because

00:27:20.880 he will never get the benefit of this great construction project.

00:27:24.140 It's true.

00:27:24.700 But like, just to interject, Ashbrook, here's here's the quote.

00:27:27.200 Um, she says, uh, was while saying that Trump was planning more as yet undisclosed White

00:27:35.620 House renovations, quote, I'm not telling.

00:27:39.160 That's pretty much all that's in there.

00:27:40.680 But that's got people in a meltdown.

00:27:42.340 I love it.

00:27:42.720 I love it.

00:27:43.560 It's fantastic, because if you're going to have a developer who happens to be one of

00:27:47.280 the best developers in the history of mankind in the White House, you might as well walk

00:27:52.160 away with something even bigger and better than you had before.

00:27:55.020 I mean, think if John McEnroe was the president of the United States, the tennis court would

00:27:58.660 look awfully good when he was done.

00:28:01.140 But I mean, like, if you're going to have a developer in the White House, I'd hope he

00:28:05.120 would improve it.

00:28:05.980 And there's that skill set.

00:28:07.260 There's that quote that societies flourish when older men plant trees whose shade they 0.99

00:28:11.360 will never sit under.

00:28:12.460 And that's the case with all of this that's being done at the White House.

00:28:15.100 He'll never actually get to enjoy the benefits of having a secure area to hold White House

00:28:19.140 events.

00:28:20.020 Whoever succeeds him will.

00:28:21.740 Yeah.

00:28:21.880 Let me tell you, I was at an event at the vice president's residence over the weekend,

00:28:28.980 a Christmas celebration.

00:28:30.900 And it was, we had to go through a tent, and it was actually quite nice.

00:28:35.740 But I think a ballroom would have been even better, would have been even better.

00:28:38.840 And we'll just do a quick word on that, because I wanted to tell you, we saw a lot of the

00:28:45.140 administration figures.

00:28:46.640 Doug and I went and had a great night in D.C.

00:28:48.880 Can I say one thing real quick?

00:28:49.540 Great night in D.C.

00:28:50.240 Yeah.

00:28:50.700 J.D., my invite was lost in the mail.

00:28:52.240 Thanks for it, though.

00:28:55.120 Okay.

00:28:55.860 Oh, it's a sore subject over here.

00:28:59.040 Sorry, guys.

00:28:59.840 So, but I will say this.

00:29:01.580 There are a lot of people there, a lot of big names there, a lot of big donors there,

00:29:05.280 too.

00:29:05.980 And J.D.

00:29:08.180 Vance is just in a class of one.

00:29:10.840 I mean, he is just so at ease among the crowd, like, glad-handing, but also has the

00:29:20.420 Bill Clinton thing that to make you feel like you're the only one who matters to him when

00:29:25.260 he sees you.

00:29:26.020 Like, actually, he's looking in your eyes and listening to what you're saying and not looking

00:29:30.360 over your shoulder and, like, with a follow-up.

00:29:33.280 So it's not like he's just going to make one comment and move on.

00:29:35.880 I'm not even talking about myself.

00:29:37.140 This is me watching him deal with others.

00:29:39.100 He was also like that with my husband, Doug, and me.

00:29:42.260 But, like, he is just so easy with other people, so affable, so clever, naturally clever

00:29:50.120 and funny.

00:29:51.620 He's got it.

00:29:52.600 He's got the it factor.

00:29:53.920 It's one of the many reasons why we call him 48.

00:29:56.000 And I just think, you know, even in this piece, they have a quote from Marco saying, if, hold

00:30:02.400 on, I've got it.

00:30:06.080 Quote, this guy, Chris Whipple, writes,

00:30:09.100 will Rubio challenge Vance for the top spot on the 2028 GOP presidential ticket?

00:30:13.520 His answer, Rubio's, if J.D. Vance runs for president, he's going to be our nominee, and

00:30:19.360 I will be one of the first people to support him.

00:30:22.140 I think Marco's incredibly talented, too, but he sees what I saw.

00:30:26.420 Yeah.

00:30:27.120 Yeah.

00:30:27.720 Yeah.

00:30:27.940 Also, that's, like, the news.

00:30:29.880 You know what I mean?

00:30:30.880 Like, we go.

00:30:31.940 That's a breaking story, and then everyone else is just talking about this random nonsense,

00:30:35.600 and you have it right there, the question that everyone has been discussing for years

00:30:41.000 and will be discussing for years, and you actually have a definitive answer to it right

00:30:44.540 there.

00:30:45.200 And then further about J.D., every time we have spent time with him, every time I have

00:30:49.300 seen him, there is something to be said about an individual, because for the longest time,

00:30:53.440 Americans thought that when we elect a politician, you want someone who went to Harvard, and they're

00:30:58.580 fourth-generation Harvard, and they're all credentialed.

00:31:01.320 Like, there's something to be said about an individual who has survived conditions that

00:31:06.000 so many Americans have struggled and continue to struggle through, and there's a level of

00:31:11.220 realism that they bring, an understanding that they bring, where it's not like, oh, you

00:31:15.560 know, I sat through a sociology class which described the conditions that you may have

00:31:19.100 seen in the rest.

00:31:19.820 This is someone who understands it because it's their life story.

00:31:22.880 Spock, I thought when you were talking about suffering under the conditions, you were talking

00:31:25.920 about Yale.

00:31:27.720 That, too.

00:31:28.540 I thought that's where you were going.

00:31:29.680 That's-

00:31:30.920 No, no, no, it's the poverty.

00:31:32.620 Sorry, I'm not bad.

00:31:33.580 Wait, I want to get to a couple of the other admissions, though, before we, like, really

00:31:36.620 move on from it, because there is a lot that's going to come back.

00:31:40.560 First of all, a couple of words on this reporter.

00:31:42.860 He says, he writes, Charlie Crook's assassination in September turbocharged Trump's campaign of

00:31:48.480 revenge and retribution.

00:31:50.940 It did?

00:31:51.940 What do you mean?

00:31:52.400 What evidence?

00:31:53.240 Trump was doing the law fair prior to that.

00:31:55.200 Critics have compared this moment to a Reichstag fire, a modern version of Hitler's exploitation

00:32:03.140 of the torching of Berlin's parliament, that Trump is using Charlie's assassination in the

00:32:09.920 way Hitler used the Reichstag fire.

00:32:13.140 This is unbelievable.

00:32:14.320 This guy's really showing us his cards, right?

00:32:16.820 So I'll give you a couple more.

00:32:18.820 We talked about how he quotes her saying Trump's got sort of an alcoholic's personality.

00:32:25.160 He also includes the detail that back in 2016, Trump berated her in front of a gaggle of cronies.

00:32:31.340 Wiles told him, quote, it was a horrific hour plus at midnight, and I don't think I've seen him that angry since.

00:32:38.440 He was ranting and raving, and I didn't know whether to argue back or whether to be stoic.

00:32:42.960 What I really wanted to do was cry, and then she kind of stood him down.

00:32:47.400 Like, okay, again, I'm sure these aren't, like, her favorite details to read and print.

00:32:52.540 It is in here that she worked for DeSantis and got him elected governor in 2018, and then he turned on her, denouncing Wiles publicly and badmouthing her privately.

00:33:01.420 To this day, Wiles doesn't know what triggered the governor's vendetta, quote,

00:33:04.460 I think he thought I was getting too much attention, which is ironic.

00:33:07.920 I don't ever seek attention, which is true of her.

00:33:10.600 But, I mean, 11 interviews with Vanity Fair, you know, kind of cuts against the narrative.

00:33:14.900 By the way, I do know she can't stand Ron DeSantis, cannot stand.

00:33:20.420 Whatever he did to her burned a serious bridge, and he royally effed that up.

00:33:26.880 She would be a much better friend than foe to have.

00:33:31.600 Okay, keep going.

00:33:33.140 Okay, here's more evidence of Chris Whipple's bias and, I'm sorry, but, like, failure to commit to facts.

00:33:39.560 He's talking about the January 6th riot.

00:33:43.640 The January 6th, 2021 assault on the Capitol, in which nine people ultimately died.

00:33:50.180 Ultimately is doing a lot of work in that sense.

00:33:52.480 So much work, John.

00:33:53.620 What is that?

00:33:55.020 That is so misleading.

00:33:56.860 It's, yeah, no, there's definitely a lot of work being done.

00:34:02.460 And that word and plenty of other descriptions, and, like, the one that you read about the Reichstag fire.

00:34:07.200 I mean, get out of here.

00:34:07.900 I mean, just weaving Nazi propaganda in there, right? 0.56

00:34:11.160 I mean, why not?

00:34:12.320 Yeah, a trans-loving furry murders Charlie Kirk, and that is the Reichstag fire. 0.99

00:34:18.200 Are you kidding me?

00:34:19.100 I mean, it's amazing the way that their head whoops, you know?

00:34:23.360 And then here's a couple more.

00:34:24.180 Let's keep going.

00:34:25.060 I got more for you.

00:34:27.040 She's writing about Elon.

00:34:31.380 Wiles described Musk as something akin to a jacked-up Nosferatu, which is like a vampire, right?

00:34:39.060 Like a Dracula.

00:34:40.980 The challenge with Elon is keeping up with him, she told me.

00:34:44.260 He's an avowed ketamine user, and he sleeps in a sleeping bag in the executive office building in the daytime, and he's an odd, odd duck, as I think geniuses are.

00:34:53.380 You know, it's not helpful, but he is his own person.

00:34:56.280 Then she goes on to say that she was shocked when he eviscerated USAID.

00:35:00.580 There's a long section on this.

00:35:03.240 Not the way I would do it, she says.

00:35:06.400 Wiles says she called Musk on the carpet.

00:35:08.260 You can't just lock people out of their offices.

00:35:09.880 She recalls telling him, we called up Marco and said, you've got to be in charge of USAID.

00:35:16.960 And then she says, but no rational person could think the USAID process was a good one.

00:35:21.700 Nobody.

00:35:22.800 Now she's denying to the New York Times that she said he's an avowed ketamine user.

00:35:28.560 That's the line in response to which the reporter played the audio for the New York Times.

00:35:35.120 So she's ripping on Elon and then kind of denying it.

00:35:38.860 Okay, then I told you what she said about Tish James.

00:35:43.680 But here's a couple of like other more consequential pieces.

00:35:48.600 Okay.

00:35:49.260 She rips on Pam Bondi. 1.00

00:35:50.820 And I'm just going to be honest.

00:35:54.640 She speaks for us all.

00:35:56.220 She writes, she says, I think she completely whiffed on appreciating that that was the very targeted group that cared about this.

00:36:04.780 She's talking about the social media influencers who she invited to the White House only to embarrass them with those binders full of nothing.

00:36:12.180 She completely whiffed on appreciating that that was the very targeted group that cared about this.

00:36:17.360 First, she gave them binders full of nothingness.

00:36:21.640 And then she said that the witness list or the client list was on her desk.

00:36:26.040 There is no client list.

00:36:27.580 And it sure as hell was not on her desk.

00:36:30.540 Then she goes on about Epstein to correct Trump.

00:36:33.240 Now, Trump has claimed, writes the author, without evidence that Bill Clinton visited Epstein's infamous private island, Little St. James, supposedly 28 times.

00:36:41.140 Quote, Susie Wiles being quoted.

00:36:43.620 There is no evidence those visits happened.

00:36:46.040 Quote, the president was wrong about that.

00:36:49.020 And then here's the part about J.D. Vance.

00:36:51.360 The people that really appreciated what a big deal this is are Kash Patel and Dan Bongino, she said, because they lived in that world.

00:37:00.280 And the vice president, who's been a conspiracy theorist for a decade.

00:37:04.940 And we go from there.

00:37:08.500 Okay.

00:37:08.880 I mean, like, so she's called J.D. Vance a conspiracy theorist.

00:37:11.920 She's called Pam Bondi a shit you whip. 1.00

00:37:12.980 I already like J.D. 1.00

00:37:14.080 She doesn't need to convince me, man.

00:37:17.860 I don't know.

00:37:18.640 So I, what is, what is happening here?

00:37:21.400 Do you think Susie Wiles, who's, sorry, she's Wiley, she's very clever, she has universally good reviews of what a smart, savvy person she is, that she just got, like, had by the author of this, or what?

00:37:36.360 Yeah, you know, I mean, what's interesting is there's never been a chief of staff for President Trump in either his first term or anywhere around him, really,

00:37:45.080 who can get into this situation where immediately the entirety of the organization circles the wagons around him?

00:37:52.120 That's what you saw all morning, this morning, which was Don, everybody from Don Jr., the vice president, and Mark, everybody sort of saying, like, she's the best and shut this down.

00:38:02.320 And what gave rise to all of it, I don't know entirely why, you know, you do 11 sit-downs with Vanity Fair when they have a pretty private, you know, internal dialogue about an awful lot of this stuff.

00:38:16.140 But if you remove, at least from my perspective, if you remove, like, the left-wing fanaticism in terms of the framing and you remove, you know, just the kind of hyperbolic soap opera-like working that Vanity Fair is doing, there's some really interesting stuff in there.

00:38:32.880 Like, the USAID thing is fascinating.

00:38:35.100 We talked about it a lot, Megan, on your show and on ours about, like, is everybody on the same page with some of this stuff?

00:38:41.360 Because it feels like everybody is sort of in a different place, and Elon was sort of marching forward.

00:38:45.900 And, you know, we, I think, had broad agreement about the goals, but, like, to see that there was some internal discussion about that, like, that's valuable news information, right?

00:38:54.760 That's the kind of thing you lead an article about, you know?

00:38:58.020 And so, you know, there's a couple of different pieces of this, and you mentioned the ballroom, but that are newsworthy and interesting and probably good for the public to sort of understand and get underneath the hood.

00:39:09.520 But it's completely masked by this effort to make her look bad, the administration look bad, Republicans look bad, and in chaos, which, you know, according to the Trump administration, they're not having it today. 0.75

00:39:22.260 Let me give you a couple more pieces of bias that are obvious on the pages of this profile.

00:39:27.860 They're talking about RFKJ, and he writes that, in Wiles' view, RFK Jr.'s shock treatment of HHS is warranted.

00:39:38.620 Great.

00:39:39.600 He pushes the envelope.

00:39:40.880 Some would say too far, but I say, in order to get back to the middle, you have to push it too far.

00:39:45.300 Okay, we like that.

00:39:46.220 But then here's what the author adds.

00:39:48.680 In December, Kennedy's federal vaccine panel voted to end the decades-long recommendation for newborn vaccinations against hepatitis B, which is highly infectious and causes liver failure.

00:39:59.680 Period.

00:40:00.120 So nothing, none of the reasons why they said you don't have to get that for your baby if you don't want, and the mother isn't hep B positive or has an unknown status of hep B.

00:40:15.120 None of that, none of like, well, there's aluminum in the vaccines.

00:40:18.600 Well, there are too many.

00:40:19.380 Well, maybe we're giving these kids a sexually transmitted disease vaccination a little early in life.

00:40:27.320 Some parents where the mother doesn't have the disease might wait until we give like the HPV vaccine, which is like 12, assuming that kids might become sexually active sometime in their teens and you want to get ahead of it.

00:40:39.160 None of that's in there.

00:40:40.080 Yeah, so that particular thing is very infuriating for me.

00:40:50.340 I've talked to a lot of folks about this one specifically, especially those who work in healthcare.

00:40:57.240 The hepatitis B vaccine for expectant mothers and for newborns was specifically for mothers who are prostitutes and are at high risk for STDs and babies who may be exposed to those STDs because their mothers are prostitutes. 0.81

00:41:12.720 Or intravenous drug use, right?

00:41:14.200 Yeah, and so they figured, why not give this to every American instead of the small group of people who are doing heroin and are prostitutes?

00:41:23.400 That seems like, yes, HHS has absolutely gone way too far.

00:41:28.320 That specific vaccine, you talk to the number of mothers who are outraged that they were not told that information, that this is specifically has been designed for mothers who are at risk because they're prostitutes or they're taking heroin.

00:41:41.400 It's unbelievable, and kudos to RFK Jr. for getting on top of that.

00:41:45.680 Well, because two things could be true.

00:41:47.080 Like, you could say, I believe in the efficacy of the hep B vaccine, and you can also say, maybe it's not necessary my newborn gets it immediately.

00:41:55.880 Totally unnecessary.

00:41:56.820 But, like, in the nuance of that, you lose it, right?

00:42:00.700 Because no left-wing reporter wants to talk about that because that's way too complicated.

00:42:06.360 You're either pro-vaccine or anti-vaccine.

00:42:08.400 And you know what they were basically trying to do with the hep B vaccine?

00:42:12.040 They were trying to do what they were doing with all of us on the COVID vaccine, which is try to get some sort of herd immunity so that nobody would have hep B, and they wanted to use your baby to make sure that that was the case.

00:42:26.360 But then some of the studies showed that that hep B vaccine that you've given to your baby actually doesn't last.

00:42:33.680 It's not a lifetime vaccine.

00:42:35.640 So by the time, you know, I mean, we're saying, like, with the HPV, they give it to 12-year-olds because, let's face it, in some countries, you know, whatever, sadly, some kids get active very early.

00:42:45.640 But the thing with the hep B vaccine is, over the course of decades, it doesn't last.

00:42:54.440 So by the time the average person gets sexually active, which is probably more like college age, it might not even be working.

00:43:01.140 So there's really no reason to be giving it to a baby who wasn't born to a hep B positive mother, none whatsoever.

00:43:10.420 And yet RFKJ still says, if you want to get it for your baby, you can.

00:43:14.920 We're just not, like, we just want you to know you don't have to.

00:43:18.560 This shouldn't be on, like, the we really recommend you do this for people who are perfectly healthy.

00:43:23.180 Yeah, and I think, Megan, what you were just talking about, what these fellows were just talking about, and the lack of critical context in stories like this over the last few decades has led to an inflection point in media that you're living through, that we're living through, that will continue.

00:43:40.580 In that, the media used to write the first draft of history, and today it's written by those who are making it.

00:43:46.720 And that's why this story doesn't bother me at all.

00:43:49.100 Because I know what Susie Wiles has done for this last year. 0.68

00:43:52.520 She has brought order to a second term that did not exist in the first term.

00:43:57.980 And that's what everybody has watched with their own eyes.

00:44:00.880 They don't need to read 35 pages from a guy in Vanity Fair.

00:44:03.920 And you know what?

00:44:04.620 He's a good writer.

00:44:05.800 He's talked to a bunch of chiefs of staff in the past.

00:44:08.260 She's a chief of staff. 0.62

00:44:09.280 She's a history maker. 0.79

00:44:10.440 What does she have to be afraid of talking to the guy?

00:44:12.220 So he lies about her in some story that's 35 pages long.

00:44:15.780 Okay, she knows what the truth is, and so does everybody else.

00:44:19.080 And this guy, as talented as he is and as widespread as Vanity Fair is, he doesn't write the truth about Susie Wiles because she is making something very special happen in the White House, and nothing can change that.

00:44:32.900 I agree with everything you said, and I admire her, but I don't see what the upside of this was.

00:44:36.900 Like, the photography alone evidences the hatred that this magazine has for all of the Trump administration.

00:44:48.520 I'm going to show you a couple of the up-close photos.

00:44:51.160 You pose for a photo for Vanity Fair, you know, a headshot.

00:44:55.220 I think the common understanding would be that you're going to get a three-quarter, like a top third of your body, you know, portrait, like from the chest up.

00:45:03.660 Look at Susie Wiles. 1.00

00:45:04.860 Can you see this on your monitor?

00:45:06.860 It is—it's worse than a mugshot.

00:45:09.660 It's—even in the mugshot, they give you a little bit of collarbone.

00:45:13.500 For the listening audience, it's literally from her chin up to her forehead in a facial expression where she looks, like, shocked.

00:45:21.660 It does look mugshot-y.

00:45:22.980 It's not flattering, and she actually is a beautiful woman.

00:45:25.780 You can easily get a good shot of Susie Wiles. 0.99

00:45:28.780 Look at Caroline Levitt. 1.00

00:45:31.480 Stand by.

00:45:32.120 Yeah.

00:45:36.400 I mean, come on.

00:45:37.940 That is Caroline Levitt.

00:45:38.940 I'm—I'm sorry, but it's such an extreme close-up.

00:45:42.780 It doesn't even look like her.

00:45:44.040 You can't even tell it's her, but it is.

00:45:45.460 It doesn't even look like her.

00:45:45.740 Yeah, it's—it's her, but you can see the little needles from where she clearly had her lips done, which is something a lot of women do. 1.00

00:45:54.360 But that is 100% by design.

00:45:57.840 They wanted to embarrass her. 1.00

00:45:59.960 Like, fuck you. 1.00

00:46:00.960 So she—you know what? 1.00

00:46:01.840 I don't get my lips done, but I do get a bunch of needles in my face so they can inject a bunch of botulism in there and poison my forehead muscles.

00:46:11.500 I don't think I'd appreciate it if that were close-up on camera in Vanity Fair.

00:46:17.000 Megan, my kids would call that a 0.5.

00:46:19.500 And everybody is doing a 0.5 picture of their friends, and everybody sees each other's friends in it like a less-than-favorable light.

00:46:27.540 The setting on your phone.

00:46:28.620 Yeah, it is.

00:46:29.560 It's the setting on your phone.

00:46:30.500 Do you want to put that now, Megan?

00:46:31.480 Like, he's trying to teach us all this stuff.

00:46:33.600 Follow over here.

00:46:34.440 What I'm telling you is that Vanity Fair can throw their absolute worst at Caroline Levitt and at Susie Wiles, and they are going to go to work today and impress everybody in the country.

00:46:46.680 The 77 million people who voted for President Trump are well-served by people like them.

00:46:51.100 Yeah, I just kind of think it doesn't matter anymore.

00:46:53.440 I don't think it does either.

00:46:54.280 I mean, a story like this—

00:46:55.420 How do we get the little numbers to show up?

00:46:57.120 Yeah, you got her on her phone now.

00:46:59.140 I'll FaceTime my daughter.

00:47:01.200 Aspect?

00:47:02.140 Is that it?

00:47:02.580 I don't know.

00:47:02.880 Careful with that.

00:47:03.500 You don't want to take a lot of direction from Ashbrook about using your phone, Megan.

00:47:06.420 Nothing's happening.

00:47:07.020 I'm just getting the reverse, like the normal selfie.

00:47:09.580 But I have seen that little number on there where you can decide, you know.

00:47:14.160 It's called a 0.5.

00:47:15.380 It's just going to end in a regrettable place, I'm afraid.

00:47:17.920 I don't get it.

00:47:19.000 Sorry.

00:47:19.600 I tried, but I am listening to you.

00:47:22.380 But the 0.5 is not flattering.

00:47:23.800 Look at J.D. Vance.

00:47:25.040 Look at him.

00:47:25.500 I mean, J.D. Vance is pretty much by anybody's measure a handsome man.

00:47:28.900 Look at this. 0.97

00:47:29.640 Looks like a serial killer.

00:47:31.220 Like, what is it?

00:47:31.840 Like, with the furrow brows and no smile.

00:47:34.680 He's always smiling.

00:47:35.900 But no, this whole thing reminds me—

00:47:37.800 I think that's a good shot.

00:47:39.160 He just loves it.

00:47:39.840 No, it's not a good shot.

00:47:40.740 I mean, honestly, I've seen him in so many memes at this point.

00:47:43.260 Like, I just see his face everywhere.

00:47:44.580 Yeah, usually they add 100 pounds, you know.

00:47:47.020 True.

00:47:47.520 But look, this reminds me of what they did to Ann Coulter on the cover of Time magazine,

00:47:53.400 which we pulled, too, where they made her look absurd. 1.00

00:47:57.280 And Ann Coulter, too, is a beautiful woman.

00:48:00.320 And yet, look what they did to her.

00:48:02.440 And by the way, she's statuesque.

00:48:04.320 Like, she's very tall, very lean, something most people would like to be.

00:48:08.760 And they shot her sitting down in this chair with her legs crossed, 0.58

00:48:14.080 where they look totally disproportionate to her body, trying to humiliate her.

00:48:19.160 Like, I'm—not to mention, this happened to Sarah Palin when she was running as McCain's running mate.

00:48:23.460 Like, it's very dicey for a conservative to sit for a photo shoot with a magazine that hates them.

00:48:29.680 You really are taking a risk.

00:48:31.000 And I feel bad for the administration, because I think they probably trusted Susie

00:48:34.260 that we're going to cooperate with Vanity Fair.

00:48:36.440 We're going to be happy with how this turns out.

00:48:37.960 And there is no way anybody is happy with how this article turned out.

00:48:42.240 Hey, Megan, I have a question for you, because I agree 100% that, like, the left and the journos on the left,

00:48:49.420 they save their most visceral hatred for conservative women. 0.90

00:48:53.520 Yeah.

00:48:54.080 And I'm wondering if, like, you've ever felt that way in something that's covered you.

00:48:57.860 Oh, I mean, many times, many times.

00:49:01.120 I mean, just any day of the week, pick up the Daily Beast, and you'll see yet another hit piece on me saying, like,

00:49:07.040 I should be canceled, my career should be over.

00:49:08.980 How'd that work out for you, Daily Beast?

00:49:11.140 Anyway, it's like you just get used to it.

00:49:14.080 So I am of the mind that if you willingly go into the belly of the beast, like I sat with the New York Times six months ago, whenever that was, you've got to be ready.

00:49:23.880 You've got to, like, fight.

00:49:25.520 You know, you've got to make sure when they're on, when they're bringing you to the thin ice, you know you're there and you don't just sink.

00:49:31.560 Like, make sure you get your points in and ideally record it yourself so that you can fight back if the piece drops and think about what the point of doing it is.

00:49:39.720 You know, like, I sat with the New York Times because I actually thought it would be valuable for their listeners, their readers, to hear what I had to say about the Times and the state of media.

00:49:49.120 Like, I actually thought they should listen to me.

00:49:52.000 I can explain a few things to them about why they're so clueless on things like Joe Biden's mental acuity.

00:49:57.440 But you have to do it eyes open and not thinking this is going to be a nice piece.

00:50:02.900 Here's here's one more.

00:50:04.720 This this biased writer, he writes about how the deportations, many who have been who they've grabbed in these raids have been U.S. citizens or were entitled to be here.

00:50:18.260 Not long after the El Salvador deportation fiasco in Louisiana, ICE agents arrested and deported to two mothers, along with their children, ages seven, four and two to Honduras.

00:50:27.440 The children were U.S. citizens and the four year old was being treated for cancer.

00:50:31.340 Wiles couldn't explain it.

00:50:32.980 Well, I can.

00:50:34.120 The mothers were illegal and they said to the mothers, you got to go. 1.00

00:50:39.040 Do you want your kids to stay here with a relative or do you want them to go with you?

00:50:42.920 And the mother said, with me.

00:50:45.060 That's what happened.

00:50:45.940 I'm sorry that the mothers were illegal, but they were. 1.00

00:50:49.240 You don't get to stay just because you took advantage of birthright citizenship here and you happen to have an American baby.

00:50:55.840 That's not how it works.

00:50:56.680 So anyway, not a fair author, not a fair piece.

00:51:00.200 I got to take a quick break and there's a lot more coming up on the other side with the fellas after this.

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00:52:36.300 The fellas from the Ruthless Variety Program are back with me now.

00:52:41.440 Okay, guys, let's talk about the latest in the Rob Reiner murder,

00:52:46.300 the horrific double murder in which the couple's son, Nick, is in custody.

00:52:52.080 This time yesterday, bail had been set at $4 million, and we criticized that on this show,

00:52:57.040 saying that's not going to do it, and sure enough, bail was revoked.

00:53:00.640 There is no bail set for him.

00:53:02.040 He needs to remain in custody, where now they are reporting, TMZ, that he is on suicide watch

00:53:10.080 and in an administrative segregation, they call it, at Twin Towers Correctional Facility in L.A.

00:53:17.720 The night before his parents were murdered, Saturday night this past,

00:53:22.240 Nick got into a very loud argument with his father at Conan O'Brien's Christmas party.

00:53:26.600 The shouting match was loud enough that many others could hear it,

00:53:29.220 that Rob and his wife, Nick's mother, Michelle, then left the party.

00:53:33.320 We do not know if Nick left with them, reports TMZ.

00:53:37.740 A source at the party told us Nick looked out of place at the party, mostly keeping to himself,

00:53:42.780 and that was, there was more on that in today's reporting.

00:53:48.960 Then, this just broke.

00:53:51.720 Hold on before I move on to this, and there's so much to tell you.

00:53:56.780 Stand by.

00:53:57.380 Okay, let's see.

00:53:59.380 Fox News Digital reporting.

00:54:00.620 Nick Reiner was, quote, not medically cleared to appear in court today, which he was supposed to do.

00:54:07.760 His lawyer, Alan Jackson, that's the guy who represented Karen Reed and got an acquittal for her.

00:54:13.380 He's got a much tougher battle on this one.

00:54:17.320 Right, saying, quote, he is not medically cleared to be transported to the court.

00:54:21.540 That's an obvious reference to his mental health.

00:54:23.660 Nick, 32, did not appear before a judge on Tuesday.

00:54:25.920 The first time he was scheduled to appear since the bodies of Rob and Michelle were discovered.

00:54:29.820 Tuesday's hearing was postponed for another date.

00:54:33.600 Now, there's reporting about what happened at his hotel room, how those who checked him in said they didn't see blood all over him or cuts on him.

00:54:41.340 There was nothing obviously wrong with him.

00:54:43.420 But when the police made their way over to his hotel, they found a lot of blood on early Sunday morning in Santa Monica.

00:54:51.160 He was staying at a place called The Pier Side.

00:54:53.460 And he checked in around 4 a.m. Sunday.

00:54:57.060 So the murder apparently was already done using his credit card.

00:55:01.260 His check-in came hours after the heated argument at Conan O'Brien's Christmas party.

00:55:05.740 Eyewitnesses said he did seem tweaked out when he checked in, but no visible signs he'd been in a violent confrontation.

00:55:11.600 No blood, stains, or cuts on his body.

00:55:14.340 The reservation was made for just one day, but he never formally checked out.

00:55:17.380 Quote, when the staff came into his room later Sunday morning, they found the shower full of blood, blood on the bed.

00:55:22.920 The window in the room was covered by bed sheets, and the cops eventually went and gathered evidence there.

00:55:30.160 The report on the argument at Conan's party, many people noticed he was behaving strangely.

00:55:35.200 He was, quote, freaking everyone out, acting crazy.

00:55:38.540 He kept asking people if they were famous, a source told People magazine.

00:55:42.340 Per TMZ, after Rob Reiner and Nick got into a, quote, very loud argument, the director and Michelle left,

00:55:49.000 that his behavior at Conan's house alarmed the guests because it was so bizarre.

00:55:57.480 One of the guests recalled Rob Reiner telling his son his behavior was inappropriate.

00:56:02.640 Nick Reiner's behavior looked, he looked anxious.

00:56:05.420 He looked uncomfortable in a way that deeply unsettled one guest and another attendee.

00:56:12.340 So, then you have this from Billy Bush, who, of course, is a great entertainment reporter in particular,

00:56:19.500 weighing in on the fact that Romy Reiner, who is, I think, only 19 or 20,

00:56:25.460 she's the one who found her parents with her throats slit and bodies stabbed multiple times.

00:56:33.180 And there's new information in this soundbite.

00:56:36.820 Listen here from Billy Bush.

00:56:38.240 I got this from a friend who lives in the community.

00:56:43.560 I heard that the son, Nick, went into his parents' house, stabbed both mom and dad,

00:56:50.520 and that the daughter, I guess, lives on the property or at the house or in the back house,

00:56:54.380 and that she found them, and that the mom was still alive.

00:56:58.720 And apparently she called the ambulance and went in the ambulance with her mother. 1.00

00:57:02.400 Michelle died in the ambulance, but had enough time to tell her daughter that it was Nick, their son, who stabbed them.

00:57:10.500 And that's why they figured it out so quickly, and he's in custody.

00:57:13.600 My God.

00:57:17.420 Romy's 28, FYI.

00:57:19.000 But that's a critical piece of the prosecution's case right there, you guys.

00:57:23.500 If it's called a dying declaration, it comes into court, even though it's hearsay,

00:57:28.380 because it's an out-of-court statement by someone.

00:57:31.700 But a dying declaration comes in over hearsay objections.

00:57:34.620 So if Romy Reiner is actually going to take the stand and repeat that her mother told her as she lay dying

00:57:43.660 that it was Romy's brother, Nick, oh, my God, he's toast.

00:57:50.480 And what a tragedy all around.

00:57:53.100 Thoughts on these latest developments, guys?

00:57:55.180 Totally.

00:57:56.420 Horrific tragedy, obviously.

00:57:58.220 And another good reminder that nobody is immune to the terrors of drug abuse.

00:58:05.780 And, you know, anybody who's followed this story has known the troubles that Nick, his son, had had for decades.

00:58:12.660 They made a movie about it back in 2015 where the whole Reiner family was sort of involved in trying to get Nick to tell his story.

00:58:21.260 And there's a vignette.

00:58:23.360 I think it was like a Hollywood reporter or something today wrote about how this reporter who was then at the L.A. Times

00:58:29.360 was basically begged by Reiner to cover this story because he was trying to show that his son has got a better life here

00:58:39.000 and they're doing this together and what was a troubled relationship and now moving forward.

00:58:43.760 And he had his own, as a reporter, his own hesitations about all of that.

00:58:47.520 This is the piece in the Hollywood Reporter by Steven Zaitchik.

00:58:50.100 Yeah.

00:58:50.200 Is that the one?

00:58:50.800 That's it.

00:58:51.120 Yeah, I got it.

00:58:51.920 And we'll go through it a little bit.

00:58:53.360 I'll have detail.

00:58:53.920 Keep going.

00:58:54.800 Yeah, I just – I found it fascinating.

00:58:56.640 But, you know, I also think, like, look, Reiner, he's an icon.

00:59:02.720 You don't have to agree or disagree with his politics to understand the impact that he had on movies,

00:59:08.280 on films that we all grew up with, both comedy and drama and all these kind of things.

00:59:12.700 And so it is sort of shocking as a, you know, person in the public.

00:59:16.640 You see something like this happen to – but, again, I think it is a reminder that we've got to take these kind of things seriously.

00:59:22.920 And a reminder, I think, of, like, you can be born into every privilege in the world, and drug addiction can still bring you down.

00:59:31.800 Yep.

00:59:32.140 You know, and that's the scary thing because there are so many Americans who struggle with this that don't have all of the resources of a Reiner family, which only really does –

00:59:40.360 He was in rehab like 20 times.

00:59:41.940 Right, which only really does emphasize how destructive this is to life of a family. 0.52

00:59:48.020 I mean, I have to say, I read out a report on page six of the New York Post today that brought up a quote from Nick Reiner from a few years back where he admits that he lost his virginity at age 14 to a prostitute. 0.82

01:00:03.280 Only now you're supposed to call them sex workers. 0.97

01:00:05.860 Whatever.

01:00:06.080 He called – the report is that he called a sex worker to come over for $200 and lost his virginity to her, and that he got the idea, reports the Post, from someone he met who was also in some, like, post-rehab.

01:00:21.760 Like, they met in rehab, and now they were both post-rehab.

01:00:24.400 I thought he only went to rehab for the first time when he was 15.

01:00:27.640 This would put it even earlier, at age 14.

01:00:30.400 And I'm sorry, like, I do have to ask, how does a 14-year-old get so addicted to drugs that at least at 14 or 15 they already have to go into rehab, and they're calling sex workers to come to the house in the middle of the night?

01:00:46.820 He said he borrowed the money from his parents without telling them what it was for.

01:00:49.760 I just have to ask because I'd like to believe that if any of these behaviors were happening in my home, I would know because I am also a very busy professional, but I have a very close eye on my children.

01:01:06.500 I'm not blaming Michelle and Rob, but I do think we have to be honest about the fact that this level of drug addiction at this young an age may involve parents who were focused on the wrong thing, like careers, instead of their kid.

01:01:24.360 And while it looks like Michelle and Rob did everything within their power once they realized their kid was an addict to try to help him, that's not good enough.

01:01:32.580 You have to head it off at the pass.

01:01:34.700 You have to be totally attuned to your child's behaviors before that demon gets a hold of him.

01:01:42.320 Yeah, yeah, no question.

01:01:45.260 I mean, look, I deeply troubled young man, obviously, and drug addiction.

01:01:49.900 Probably did the paddling on that, but, you know, there's probably some psychological issues there, too.

01:01:54.760 I also think, like, you don't know what the lifestyle is like, you know?

01:01:58.680 I mean, you can watch the Charlie Sheen documentary to find out what it's like to be young and rich in Hollywood and find out.

01:02:04.600 And the Hollywood component of this is what I would say is, like, don't raise your kids around Hollywood.

01:02:11.520 I think this is a degenerate place that's full of drugs and prostitution and manipulating young people.

01:02:19.060 And I just can't imagine having to raise a young family in that environment, even if you are involved in movies and film and that sort of thing.

01:02:29.220 Yeah.

01:02:29.660 I just I feel like that is that is the main factor in this is just that town and how terrible it is.

01:02:35.580 Make me sound like a provincial bumpkin or something.

01:02:37.520 But, like, under no circumstance would I ever raise a family in Los Angeles.

01:02:42.160 Like, hell no.

01:02:43.180 You never hear any story of, like, you know, my kids started a lemonade stand when they were kids and they're completely normal now.

01:02:50.340 We live in Brentwood.

01:02:51.280 Like, you never heard that story.

01:02:53.280 Right.

01:02:53.520 But it's also interesting in that, at least in recent years, since 2015, they did an enormous amount of things as a family.

01:03:01.320 And I think it was, you know, it seems from the outside looking in, I don't have any firsthand knowledge, but it looks to me like they were trying the four of them with, was it Romy was the daughter's name?

01:03:13.440 Yeah.

01:03:13.540 And then there's another brother, too.

01:03:17.040 Yeah.

01:03:17.400 We'll just try to will their way through this whole thing.

01:03:20.960 And, like, look, this is a good example.

01:03:22.540 He's at Conan O'Brien's Christmas party.

01:03:24.220 I can't imagine that Conan O'Brien was like, hey, I definitely want Nick there.

01:03:27.900 Totally.

01:03:28.500 They brought him.

01:03:29.720 They brought him.

01:03:30.640 Right.

01:03:30.860 And so if you see all of this over the last few years where he's just a part of every picture, like they were at a Spinal Tap 2 September premiere that he was at.

01:03:43.100 Now, did he have anything to do with it?

01:03:44.320 No.

01:03:44.760 But he's a part of the family.

01:03:46.020 They were trying to will their way through it.

01:03:48.060 I think to your point, Megan, maybe he's too far gone, obviously, at this point.

01:03:52.600 But it is.

01:03:53.260 It's about the lifestyle and it's about – I can't blame them.

01:03:57.460 Also –

01:03:58.240 But this is a horrible tragedy.

01:04:00.040 But it's not about blame.

01:04:01.480 I'm not blaming them either.

01:04:02.380 I have nothing but empathy for Rob and Michelle.

01:04:04.220 God rest them.

01:04:05.020 But I do think we all, as parents, we have to take an honest look at where did this thing go sideways?

01:04:12.920 Because yesterday we talked a lot about the yoga instructor who Michelle and Rob brought in to teach young Nick yoga when I think he was as young as 10 because his behavior was so strange.

01:04:24.680 I don't think he was on drugs at age 10.

01:04:26.800 There's something off about him.

01:04:28.060 Right.

01:04:28.280 I think this kid had a mental health issue from a very young age according to the yoga instructor who said he would like scream at that age when he wasn't getting the attention he needed.

01:04:38.540 So I think drugs were sort of a way of addressing what was probably a previous mental health issue.

01:04:45.560 But I also really think, especially if you've got a kid who you know is going to be special needs like that, yeah, I would get out of a place like Hollywood.

01:04:53.040 I keep thinking of Matthew McConaughey who came on this show.

01:04:56.540 He's from Texas.

01:04:57.840 He was making it big in Hollywood.

01:05:00.400 And he and his wife, who's a successful model, I can't remember if she's also an actress, but model for sure.

01:05:07.680 They were like, we're out of here.

01:05:09.740 And they went back to Texas and they have raised good kids.

01:05:13.140 And his son is actually getting into acting now, but seems very together by all rights.

01:05:16.740 But as an adult, as like an 18 or 19 year old, but they raised their kids in Texas because they did not want anything like this to happen to them.

01:05:28.240 And he also put limits on his career, like how much he'd be away from his family.

01:05:32.500 He brought his family.

01:05:33.680 He brought his wife with him.

01:05:35.380 You know, like even, oh God, who was I just reading about?

01:05:39.300 It was, I think it's Ed Burns and Christy Turlington who have a rule that they won't be away from each other for more than two weeks.

01:05:46.540 And their marriage has lasted.

01:05:47.880 Like there are, like the people who make sure, like the kids are protected, notwithstanding the huge trappings of wealth, success, and the fast lane that is Hollywood tend to do a lot better.

01:06:01.060 So it's not a question of blame.

01:06:02.740 It's just a question of how do we not raise a kid like Nick Reiner?

01:06:06.760 That's frankly what I'm looking at.

01:06:08.840 Yeah.

01:06:09.060 And a series of choices, some which may be very difficult from a career perspective, but choices that, an understanding that the most precious commodity you have in your family are your kids.

01:06:19.760 And the rest of it doesn't matter.

01:06:21.820 If it all ended tomorrow, that's the only thing that you focus on.

01:06:27.000 And I think moms and dads, healthy moms and dads understand that innately, but I think as a culture, we need to embrace that a lot more.

01:06:34.060 The article you mentioned, Holmes, is like chilling.

01:06:39.200 So I want to go through it a bit.

01:06:40.140 It is.

01:06:40.380 Because it's worth it.

01:06:42.400 As mentioned, it's in the Hollywood Reporter.

01:06:44.420 It's by Steven Zaitchik.

01:06:46.340 And it is subtitled, well, it's titled, I sat down to dinner with Rob, Michelle, and Nick Reiner.

01:06:51.840 It was heartwarming and jarring.

01:06:54.880 So he writes about a dinner he had in Toronto with them at a restaurant 10 years ago.

01:07:00.120 And I'm just going to pull out a couple of highlights here.

01:07:02.380 We sat in a corner table.

01:07:03.440 We talked about what it meant to be part of a family with a serious addict, to be a parent, to be a sibling, to be the addict themselves.

01:07:10.180 The meal was a decade ago, but alive in front of me.

01:07:13.180 Directed by Rob and co-written by Nick, being Charlie, they were there to promote their movie that they did together, which we discussed yesterday.

01:07:19.840 Focuses on David, an accomplished actor now running for governor, clearly a Rob Reiner stand-in, and his drug-addicted son,

01:07:26.400 who feels like he's being pushed hard to get clean so as not to be an embarrassment to his famous father.

01:07:31.560 Clearly a stand-in for Nick.

01:07:32.680 Nick was sober now, the Reiner said, and after some 18 trips to rehab since his teenage years, some of which he spent on the streets.

01:07:40.820 This movie was going to provide the happy ending to all that sadness.

01:07:44.840 Can you believe this boy?

01:07:46.540 Rob said as we sat down, beaming.

01:07:49.020 Nick smiled uncomfortably, saying nothing.

01:07:50.760 From the start, a kind of fatherly pushing was evident.

01:07:54.860 Rob wanted this story told, wanted, not surprisingly for a man steeped in show business, for the movie to succeed where therapy had failed.

01:08:03.500 But he also genuinely felt pride.

01:08:06.080 Nachos, as he said, using the Yiddish word for parental joy.

01:08:10.060 Nick seemed less game.

01:08:12.820 A little, almost like he didn't want to fully be there.

01:08:16.480 He goes on to say,

01:08:18.180 It was tough at first to think, am I actually going to do this?

01:08:20.940 Nick said after I prodded a little.

01:08:22.620 Quote, I really wasn't sure if I wanted to do this.

01:08:25.400 Am I really going to get it out there?

01:08:27.460 Rob jumped in.

01:08:28.300 That's part of being a creative person.

01:08:30.080 You express it.

01:08:30.960 You get it out there.

01:08:32.160 The director looked lovingly at his wife.

01:08:34.500 Everybody's so open.

01:08:35.560 And it's because of Michelle.

01:08:37.300 Everybody is, she said, looking back at her husband.

01:08:39.520 But we didn't set out to do a public good.

01:08:41.960 We had to do it for each other.

01:08:44.300 We ordered and Nick explained the ineffectiveness of rehab for him.

01:08:47.060 I just couldn't get by in these programs.

01:08:49.760 I had resistance every time they tried to reach me.

01:08:53.380 The Elder Reiners described their own misgivings.

01:08:55.640 The program works for some people, but it can't for everyone, said Rob.

01:08:58.820 When Nick would tell us it wasn't working for him, we wouldn't listen.

01:09:02.540 We were desperate.

01:09:03.980 And because the people had diplomas on their wall, we listened to them.

01:09:07.100 When we should have been listening to our son.

01:09:10.060 I looked at Romy, who was also there, the Reiner's daughter.

01:09:13.200 How did she feel?

01:09:14.520 This is my best friend, and I was there for all of it, she said, gesturing to her brother,

01:09:18.120 two years older.

01:09:19.140 It's weird, but good to see it unscreened, she said.

01:09:22.120 She struck me as someone deeply admiring of her brother, but also perhaps a little tired

01:09:26.400 of explaining his behavior to her parents, to everyone.

01:09:30.740 Rob, who'd been eating, put down his fork.

01:09:32.460 What got us through is two books, Tweaked and Beautiful Boy, citing addiction memoirs.

01:09:36.820 Something poignant, even sad, abided.

01:09:38.680 Unable to access the mind of his own son, he turned to the words of strangers to let

01:09:44.020 him in.

01:09:44.500 And then just a couple more.

01:09:46.200 For all the talk about catharsis and success, something felt unsuccessful.

01:09:50.580 I later checked in with their publicist.

01:09:52.820 She thought everything was fine, but it didn't feel fine.

01:09:56.080 It felt like things were better, but far from resolved.

01:09:59.060 Like the last pile of living room mess before company arrives.

01:10:05.480 The family at dinner turned its attention to a line Rob insisted make it into the film.

01:10:09.400 Quote, I'd rather have you alive and hating me than dead on the streets.

01:10:12.860 Rob really, really wanted it in.

01:10:14.900 It explained his actions, justified them, even though he was now apologizing for thinking

01:10:18.620 that way.

01:10:19.560 For being so hard on his son.

01:10:20.880 I looked at Nick.

01:10:22.280 He didn't seem so happy to have that line in the film.

01:10:25.080 It was perhaps too excusing of the kind of parental pushing he didn't want to excuse.

01:10:30.760 The proposition was also based on a flawed assumption.

01:10:33.560 Hate did not automatically mean recovery.

01:10:37.540 I asked Nick what he thought.

01:10:39.300 What could his father have done?

01:10:41.020 But Nick had no answer.

01:10:43.640 Not at a dinner, maybe not ever.

01:10:45.760 Maybe there was nothing Rob could do.

01:10:47.140 Maybe the whole movie, I thought, was Rob coming to terms with that inescapable fact.

01:10:53.260 And all the cheer and the pride, well-earned as it was, could simply not illuminate that

01:11:00.260 darker, more severe reality.

01:11:02.860 Man, this is it.

01:11:04.260 He had done everything he could do to help his son.

01:11:06.980 He had even set in motion the Hollywood machine to help his son.

01:11:11.360 And yet there was nothing he could do to fully help his son.

01:11:15.360 Some things are beyond our greatest effort.

01:11:19.860 That's heartbreaking.

01:11:21.700 That's tough.

01:11:22.360 Yeah, it's tough because as a parent, well, as a parent, you, you know, everybody runs

01:11:31.260 into this at some point with a child where you want to will things to be true, right?

01:11:36.220 That you think you can command things to happen and you can't.

01:11:41.440 And the most insecure you'll feel, the most vulnerable you'll feel as a parent is knowing

01:11:47.520 there are some things that are outside of your control.

01:11:50.640 Totally.

01:11:51.220 You know, which is terrifying.

01:11:53.340 Yeah.

01:11:54.160 And this is-

01:11:55.700 Yeah, go ahead.

01:11:56.020 Obviously, just a confluence of events, right?

01:11:59.860 That started at a young age.

01:12:02.020 But, you know, Rob Reiner didn't give up.

01:12:05.500 I mean, he kept going.

01:12:06.980 It ended in absolute tragedy.

01:12:08.840 But, I mean, the effort was clearly that you can see it.

01:12:12.840 And that piece, by the way, beautifully written, and I think just got to the absolute heart

01:12:17.420 of the issue is that they were willing something to happen that was not going to happen.

01:12:24.600 And they knew it at some level.

01:12:26.340 Rob Reiner knew it, and so did Nick, and probably Michelle and Romy and Jake, the other brother,

01:12:31.020 too.

01:12:31.460 But even when you see these clips of them promoting that movie, some of which we played yesterday,

01:12:36.660 they don't seem close.

01:12:37.800 There does seem to be a lot of damage between them.

01:12:41.440 They do seem almost like he writes to trying to will this into existence.

01:12:45.220 Like, this is our happy ending.

01:12:47.520 And then the bit about using the Hollywood machine, which is, that's a tool that Rob Reiner

01:12:52.260 was very familiar with, that he used all his life to bring stories to us, to bring healing

01:12:56.320 to other people, in some instances, like Stand By Me, and try to use it on his own family.

01:13:03.220 You know, like, the power of putting something cathartic on the big screen.

01:13:08.600 He would help his son do that with his own story.

01:13:11.320 But he knew.

01:13:12.200 I think he knew.

01:13:13.140 Here's more that I wanted to get to.

01:13:14.820 He writes, he writes, okay.

01:13:19.280 Hold on.

01:13:23.220 Okay.

01:13:25.600 Speaking of Rob, he turned back to the table.

01:13:28.900 It was very hard.

01:13:30.260 The number one job of any parent is to keep their child safe.

01:13:33.400 And I hadn't done that.

01:13:35.160 He was almost tearing up.

01:13:36.720 And now here, I have done that.

01:13:39.380 I kept him safe.

01:13:41.080 He came out alive.

01:13:43.180 And the writer adds, here in 2025, the words kept ricocheting through my brain.

01:13:47.820 Yes, Nick had come out alive.

01:13:50.360 It was Rob that hadn't.

01:13:53.100 Oh, my God.

01:13:55.080 Tough.

01:13:56.620 Tough.

01:13:57.140 The final bit writes as follows, reads as follows.

01:14:01.580 Reiner was all about sorting through the complexity of parents and offspring and coming out okay on the other side.

01:14:07.300 He's the one who taught us how hard it was, but that we could get through it just as he did with his own famous father, with whom he had bonded over baseball.

01:14:14.960 He just couldn't enact the lesson with his own son.

01:14:20.060 At the dinner, we pushed back our chairs and stood up.

01:14:22.360 Rob looked at me.

01:14:23.100 He took my hand and clasped it.

01:14:24.320 Thank you, Steve.

01:14:25.700 Perhaps I imagined it, but in his eyes, I saw a pleading, an ask, not to conceal anything, more the opposite.

01:14:33.280 He wanted this story written in a way that willed the best outcome into being.

01:14:41.140 I clasped his hand back as he held my gaze an extra twinkly plaintive second.

01:14:46.300 It was the last interaction we had.

01:14:48.480 I still feel my palm squeezed.

01:14:50.760 That business about he wanted the story written in a way that willed the best outcome into being.

01:14:58.040 That's what I'm talking about, you guys.

01:14:59.560 You know, that movie, like, that's what he was trying to do, to use the best and most familiar tool he had, movie making, to will that outcome into being.

01:15:10.880 And one does wonder, like, now, as the son is clearly on suicide watch and now facing a massive legal trial, will he be able to use Rob Reiner's fortune to defend himself with this very fancy lawyer against charges that he killed his own dad?

01:15:36.040 Did Rob and Michelle keep him in their will?

01:15:38.760 Well, so many parents who have a drug-addled child will remove the child from the will and tell the child that for their own preservation.

01:15:48.180 And also the thought of poor Rob and Michelle in the moments right before they died, knowing it had come to this.

01:15:58.180 They didn't die with a bullet to the back of the head.

01:16:01.280 They knew.

01:16:03.220 Clearly, if the Billy Bush reporting is right, Michelle knew and told.

01:16:08.740 And then you would both know. 0.99

01:16:09.880 And you get stabbed to death. 0.93

01:16:11.760 You know exactly who's doing it.

01:16:13.920 Well, and imagine being his sister at a time like this and having to live through this trial that's going to happen.

01:16:21.920 Talk about the actual victim here.

01:16:23.440 You know, talk, I mean, it's the most horrific, unthinkable thing you'd have to deal with in life.

01:16:31.540 Yeah.

01:16:32.380 It's almost Shakespearean in some way.

01:16:35.000 I mean, this is a bizarre drama.

01:16:38.320 I mean, look, I think if there's a piece, a silver lining, a productivity of a conversation that you can have publicly about any of this, we don't know the circumstances of any of their relationships with each other or what led him to drug abuse or, you know, if he was relapsing and back onto it.

01:16:57.020 But spend time with your kids, you know?

01:17:00.540 Yes.

01:17:00.840 I mean, this is a perfect example.

01:17:02.040 Before it's too late.

01:17:03.080 Yeah.

01:17:03.640 Like early.

01:17:04.460 Do it early.

01:17:05.480 Yeah.

01:17:05.960 Like now, now, like our kids are 16, 14, and 12.

01:17:09.320 And we've been doing this our whole lives.

01:17:11.160 But like, have dinner with your children, ideally seven nights a week.

01:17:15.040 No, I'm not kidding.

01:17:16.480 Don't commit them to a sport that makes that impossible.

01:17:20.380 Like at least five nights a week, sit with them.

01:17:24.020 Drive them to school.

01:17:24.820 Like spend the time.

01:17:26.060 When they're my kids' ages, it gets harder and harder because their commitments get bigger and bigger.

01:17:30.580 And just their studying gets to the point where it's going to remove them from you for several hours.

01:17:36.080 The dinners are a must.

01:17:38.540 The breakfasts are a must.

01:17:40.040 The weekend time is a must.

01:17:41.860 You are more important than anything.

01:17:44.660 Time with you, the parents, the family, more important than friends, more important than sports, more important than academics.

01:17:50.800 Like there's so much pressure on these kids.

01:17:52.780 This has to be prevented before the drug problem and the 15 or 18 rehabs.

01:18:01.280 Like at that point, and I've talked to so many parents of like seriously drug-addled kids.

01:18:06.280 I don't know how to say this without sounding really brutal, but like at that point, the kid becomes like a nightmare.

01:18:16.580 Like you're saddled with them because they're yours and they're not capable of supporting themselves and they're out there in society.

01:18:24.320 And you can't just say they're society's problem.

01:18:26.320 You have some obligation to society to do something to protect society from them and make sure that they're not just, you know, in a tent on the street that you walk past.

01:18:35.140 But a lot of these parents know they're dangerous.

01:18:39.740 They're actually, if not just suicidal, homicidal.

01:18:43.760 And this is not minority report.

01:18:45.360 You cannot have them arrested before they've committed a crime.

01:18:47.660 And yet you know they're likely to, and you know your family may be the first victims.

01:18:52.480 It's a nightmare.

01:18:54.120 This has to be headed off early.

01:18:56.520 And with mental illness, it's even more, far more complicated.

01:19:00.900 Oh, totally.

01:19:01.920 And I'll say, I don't know how many of your, I imagine a fair number of your listeners know, but I mean, you really are a role model in this regard.

01:19:09.640 You and Doug, and we've met your kids, well-adjusted young, young people who understand family dynamic and have access to their family.

01:19:18.680 And, you know, we've looked at that and, and anybody in this line of work, there is always somebody asking for something.

01:19:24.980 But for a lot of your listeners, it doesn't matter what line of work you're in.

01:19:28.860 Somebody's always asking for something.

01:19:30.540 There's always something else you can do.

01:19:32.920 And you have to rattle around the opportunity cost of each time you go to dinner or each time you go away or what does this get me?

01:19:41.720 What does it not?

01:19:42.380 Just remember that whatever cost you've associated with your family, it is much higher.

01:19:48.860 Yes.

01:19:49.640 It's just, I don't know.

01:19:51.780 That's another problem with Hollywood is like as talented as Rob Reiner was and made so many movies that we all love.

01:19:57.980 Now I look back and I wonder who paid the price for all the time he spent on those films that I loved.

01:20:04.600 You know, where was Nick during those years?

01:20:08.700 You know, what, what, how much time was he putting it at home?

01:20:12.220 I'm not, again, not blaming him, but I, I think it's a fair inquiry to say all of us, all of us should be reminded now of the, the cost, the potential cost to not putting the hours in, in raising our kids.

01:20:25.040 Um, and while they seem to have done Herculean work later in life when they realized he was really struggling, it's really hard to stop that addiction train once it started so hard.

01:20:36.260 Um, I want to keep going, but I'm gonna take a quick break, not on Reiner, but I do want to get to what's happening at Brown University.

01:20:41.880 You guys, it's going from bad to worse there.

01:20:44.020 I like it, I'm sorry to use the overused Keystone thing, but it is starting to feel like Keystone cops there with dismay.

01:20:51.220 Um, stand by more with the fellas right after this.

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01:23:26.040 Hey everyone, it's me, Megyn Kelly.

01:23:31.000 I've got some exciting news.

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01:23:58.700 The fellas from Ruthless are back with me now. 0.98

01:24:06.740 So I want to go now to Brown University where there is still a killer on the loose,

01:24:11.700 and one does not take any comfort from what's happening with the local authorities.

01:24:17.500 I want to give you what Mayor Brett Smiley said on an interview with Good Morning America.

01:24:26.740 Hold on a second.

01:24:27.820 Let's just make sure I've—yeah.

01:24:29.920 This is what he's talking about.

01:24:32.080 He's talking about whether the suspect who was in custody, the person of interest, but then he got released.

01:24:37.840 He's talking about whether that person of interest has been fully cleared.

01:24:42.760 Here he is on GMA.

01:24:44.340 Watch this.

01:24:44.760 So you're absolutely convinced the person of interest said nothing to do with this?

01:24:52.420 We're not saying that definitively.

01:24:54.500 What we're saying is that after a review of the evidence that was gathered,

01:24:58.140 it was determined that the person of interest needed to be released.

01:25:02.820 Okay, so that's him yesterday morning saying we are not saying definitively that that person of interest is fully cleared.

01:25:09.000 Later that day, yesterday, the attorney general—this is the mayor—the attorney general, Peter Nerona of Rhode Island,

01:25:17.100 reiterated that the person who was detained and released yesterday is no longer a person of interest.

01:25:21.900 Quote, he has been cleared.

01:25:24.820 He has been cleared.

01:25:26.640 But the mayor, when asked whether the suspect had been fully cleared, quote, we're not saying that. 1.00

01:25:32.960 Indeed, you are saying that through your attorney general, you idiot. 1.00

01:25:37.300 Like, how are they not on the same page with that, you guys? 1.00

01:25:43.260 I think it should be at least a conference call, right?

01:25:45.360 Maybe just a heads up that we're all—we think something about this grisly situation.

01:25:50.900 Hey, I'm about to go on national television, you know? 0.98

01:25:53.800 Make sure to book the national television and then give an answer that shitty. 0.97

01:25:57.880 Right, right. 0.98

01:25:58.440 That's the problem with so many of these politicians.

01:26:00.280 They're like, hey, this is my chance for fame rather than here is a terrible thing that's happened in my community.

01:26:06.000 I need to get to the bottom of it and let somebody else talk to the national press.

01:26:09.760 You know what I mean?

01:26:10.320 Like, this is a terrible trend in our politics, and national media only feeds it.

01:26:16.540 And, I mean, who cares?

01:26:18.020 Like, the mayor on Good Morning America, the ratings aren't what they used to be on Good Morning America.

01:26:23.480 The guy needs to do his job and help this community who he was elected to serve.

01:26:28.180 Yeah.

01:26:28.540 You know why he can't, Ashbrook?

01:26:30.860 He explained.

01:26:31.620 He explained why he can't do his job that easily.

01:26:34.360 He's got some issues, and I think—hold on a second.

01:26:38.000 I want to make sure.

01:26:38.500 Here it is.

01:26:38.920 Here are some of his issues.

01:26:40.240 This is from a Monday afternoon presser, SOT11.

01:26:44.420 Everyone you see behind us, we've all been working for now 49 hours.

01:26:50.040 We're tired.

01:26:51.200 We're serious about the task at hand.

01:26:53.440 I know all of you have been working very hard, and I suspect all of you are just as tired.

01:27:00.520 No one cares you're tired.

01:27:02.140 I would get up and let him have a piece of my mind.

01:27:05.040 We got Mayor McCheese.

01:27:06.180 I mean, with the population of this town, this guy thinks he's like the president.

01:27:09.960 What are you talking about?

01:27:10.640 You're tired.

01:27:11.140 49 hours?

01:27:12.480 You don't even get your facts straight.

01:27:14.220 What is your job, first of all?

01:27:16.220 Like, what is the responsibilities you have?

01:27:18.040 Because keeping your people safe and everyone on the same page, you haven't done that.

01:27:21.500 I think that's like the basic job of any elected office, right?

01:27:24.520 How did no one get up and just slap him?

01:27:27.240 Boy, they've slid a long way since Buddy Cianci, haven't they?

01:27:31.300 Buddy would have had that guy cuffed and stuffed.

01:27:34.740 The former Providence mayor?

01:27:36.900 Oh, God.

01:27:37.540 I don't know.

01:27:37.840 How do you know the former mayor of Providence?

01:27:40.000 Oh, this guy.

01:27:41.300 Yeah, Buddy Cianci used to be a wonderful mob town.

01:27:45.580 Yeah, exactly.

01:27:47.460 Patriarcha.

01:27:47.940 Oh, this is, no, you've got to get up on this.

01:27:51.000 There's a crime town.

01:27:52.560 Yeah, crime town.

01:27:53.340 It's a good podcast.

01:27:53.940 It's a good podcast.

01:27:54.840 You should check it out.

01:27:55.740 But it examines the rule of Buddy Cianci.

01:27:59.460 It holds Italians accountable, but I don't know if you're going to be fine. 1.00

01:28:02.260 But of which I can promise you that in Buddy Cianci's Providence, none of this would be an issue.

01:28:09.060 Yeah.

01:28:09.660 Yeah.

01:28:09.940 Now we've got Mayor Smiley, who's super smiley and tired.

01:28:13.900 Smiley, what a joke.

01:28:14.300 Really tired.

01:28:15.440 It's very hard to track down a killer.

01:28:19.400 No one feels sorry for you.

01:28:20.840 I don't know why on earth he would say such a thing, but yeah, he did say such a thing.

01:28:26.400 And by the way, just in case you're feeling confident about the attorney general, who apparently set the record straight by saying, oh, no, no, the guy has been cleared.

01:28:33.560 We have moved on.

01:28:34.860 He's the same attorney general who put this woman on leave, but then kept employed.

01:28:39.820 His assistant attorney general named Devin Hogan Flanagan, who you may remember from a couple of months ago.

01:28:46.540 Oh, yeah.

01:28:46.560 Covered this on the show.

01:28:47.660 He's one of our favorites.

01:28:49.260 August, right, who was boozing it up at a Newport restaurant, very drunk, and started to play the I'm an AG, I'm an AG, I'm an AG card.

01:28:58.520 Here she is in SOT 12.

01:28:59.820 I want you to turn your body cam off.

01:29:03.380 The protocol is that you turn it off.

01:29:05.080 The citizen request is to turn it off.

01:29:07.560 So they want you guys to leave?

01:29:09.980 Yes, please.

01:29:10.600 Let's just leave.

01:29:11.300 Let's just make it easy, okay?

01:29:12.240 We're going to leave.

01:29:12.520 We're going to make it easy.

01:29:13.620 No, no.

01:29:14.120 That's not.

01:29:15.180 You guys just want to know?

01:29:16.140 Do you want them trespassed?

01:29:17.260 Anything we can do.

01:29:18.560 Trespass, yeah.

01:29:19.280 I just need them.

01:29:19.900 Trespass, get them out.

01:29:20.760 Yeah, please.

01:29:21.920 So you're trespassed, so we've got to leave now.

01:29:24.260 Unless you want to be in the air.

01:29:24.880 We're not trespassing.

01:29:25.780 You haven't notified us, so we're trespassing.

01:29:27.240 You're number one, don't you?

01:29:27.880 What did I just say to you?

01:29:29.140 You're trespassing.

01:29:29.500 Let's go.

01:29:30.000 Number one, number two.

01:29:30.520 I don't want to arrest you guys.

01:29:31.240 What did I just say?

01:29:32.200 You're not going to arrest us.

01:29:33.140 Number two is that your protocol is to take the citizen protocol.

01:29:37.180 I think this is where she shows us the world.

01:29:39.200 So she knows.

01:29:40.100 Well, that's **** lawyer stuff, so that's not true.

01:29:42.280 So we've got to go.

01:29:43.100 No, it is.

01:29:44.420 That's law.

01:29:45.220 I'm an AG.

01:29:46.240 I'm an AG.

01:29:47.180 Good for you.

01:29:47.640 You're so fancy.

01:29:48.480 Let's go.

01:29:48.980 Good for you.

01:29:50.600 I'm glad you ended that clip where I did.

01:29:52.780 It got a little racy.

01:29:53.740 Is this the first time a Flanagan got too many Guinness deep and started

01:29:57.620 with trouble in Providence?

01:29:59.380 A lot of bashing of the Irish, all right?

01:30:03.580 Hold, hold, hold, slow your roll. 0.97

01:30:05.480 There, smug.

01:30:06.940 But yeah, she's still gainfully employed. 1.00

01:30:09.040 And for all we know, working on this case, who the hell knows?

01:30:12.300 Here's another one for you.

01:30:13.540 This is Colonel Oscar Perez.

01:30:17.820 What's his role in this?

01:30:18.960 He was at the presser Monday afternoons.

01:30:22.120 This is the police chief.

01:30:23.840 And listen, listen to this, because the reporter asked the question that we all want to know

01:30:28.620 the answer to.

01:30:29.240 We've all heard the reports about this shooter allegedly, allegedly yelling Allahu Akbar

01:30:36.800 before the shooting.

01:30:38.920 Unconfirmed.

01:30:39.740 The reporter phrases it a little differently.

01:30:41.440 But listen to this non-answer.

01:30:43.220 Sadi.

01:30:45.200 There's a report the shooter yelled something right before his shot came in.

01:30:50.180 Can you tell us what that was?

01:30:52.500 Yeah, it's part of the investigation, John.

01:30:54.520 And we'll, yeah.

01:30:55.140 Now, the only reason I ask that, though, is, for instance, like with the Unabomber, his brother 1.00

01:31:01.680 recognized the writing.

01:31:02.860 So it's possible a friend or family member might recognize if the person said something

01:31:10.920 that was significant.

01:31:12.400 Correct.

01:31:12.540 That's why, you know, other than the nine millimeter, is there anything else inside that

01:31:18.640 auditorium that you could tell us?

01:31:20.040 No, that's correct.

01:31:20.660 And listen, like I said earlier, investigations will bring us to evidence that we need to collect

01:31:27.440 in order to be able to prosecute.

01:31:28.720 But with that being said, with that being said, we're going to continue to collect evidence.

01:31:34.700 And if it leads us to something to that nature, that's going to be extremely helpful.

01:31:39.560 I'm going to go ahead and say he didn't he didn't shout Merry Christmas.

01:31:42.540 OK, I think that's probably, you know.

01:31:45.120 Yeah.

01:31:45.500 Yeah.

01:31:45.800 And also, what is it with that reporter, you know, somehow tying this to the Unabomber?

01:31:51.240 Like, like, maybe we're going to discern something.

01:31:54.560 Yeah.

01:31:54.940 These two words the guy said.

01:31:56.580 He was extremely scared to ask the obvious question.

01:31:59.140 The obvious question.

01:32:00.080 Correct.

01:32:00.320 Did he say all the walk bar?

01:32:01.540 We had 35 years of terrorist attacks in this country since the Unabomber. 0.82

01:32:06.620 Yeah.

01:32:06.880 And it kind of had some similarities.

01:32:08.740 I don't know if anybody's paying attention.

01:32:10.480 But Nor, as a reporter, do you have to justify your question, especially at a presser?

01:32:14.280 We only get one shot.

01:32:15.740 Just did he yell any?

01:32:17.100 What did he yell?

01:32:18.080 There are reports it was Allahu Akbar.

01:32:19.980 Can you confirm?

01:32:20.840 That's it.

01:32:21.320 Get up and down on your question.

01:32:22.640 Don't give me a history lesson.

01:32:24.100 No one cares about Ted Kaczynski in this moment.

01:32:26.600 We have a killer to find.

01:32:28.100 My God. 0.99

01:32:28.880 Like, the ineptitude.

01:32:30.380 So now, yesterday, they did release additional pictures.

01:32:33.620 They're going to other houses now because since apparently of the hundreds of security

01:32:38.400 cameras across Brown University, they don't have one on this building and they don't have

01:32:42.860 one showing the suspect in any way that's clear.

01:32:45.900 So now they're going to area houses asking for, like, their ring cam video.

01:32:49.580 And they've put out—let's air them.

01:32:51.940 I mean, it's a little tough.

01:32:53.080 All we know is this guy is husky.

01:32:55.260 He's husky.

01:32:56.200 And they're saying he might be around 5'8", and not a thin guy.

01:33:01.400 Looks like an overeater.

01:33:02.720 He doesn't just look big bone to him.

01:33:03.760 This is the best we have?

01:33:05.640 Yeah.

01:33:06.020 This is what your Ivy League tuition goes to?

01:33:08.760 Let's hope the neighbors got ring cameras?

01:33:10.940 Oh, and the civil libertarians know where to move, huh?

01:33:13.440 I mean, this is unbelievable.

01:33:14.960 This is unbelievable.

01:33:16.620 How are we going to catch this guy like this, you guys?

01:33:18.160 It's not like Luigi, where at least when he was on the run—remember, he had gone to

01:33:21.940 like that—this is the best one right here.

01:33:24.200 Luigi had gone to like some soup kitchen or something, and he had pulled down his mask

01:33:27.520 when he was looking at that girl.

01:33:29.660 And so he did have a picture of his face, which is how they found him in that McDonald's.

01:33:34.080 This guy, so far, nothing.

01:33:36.200 And here we are.

01:33:36.960 Now it's Tuesday.

01:33:37.860 This happens Saturday.

01:33:39.140 We don't know where he is.

01:33:41.520 And the mayor is still saying everyone should send their kids to school.

01:33:45.980 Would you send your kids to school this week in Providence, Rhode Island?

01:33:48.680 Hell no.

01:33:49.740 I think I'd move out of Providence altogether if I saw that this was the extent of the law.

01:33:53.800 I mean, Keystone Cops is right.

01:33:55.420 That is—

01:33:55.920 Look at this.

01:33:56.120 This is unbelievable.

01:33:57.540 Look at this.

01:33:58.920 This is what they're getting from the local authorities.

01:34:01.860 I couldn't believe they put that out.

01:34:03.280 There are as clear pictures of Bigfoot than there are of that situation.

01:34:07.600 It looks like a tree.

01:34:08.680 It like blends.

01:34:09.360 Yeah, it blends into the background.

01:34:11.240 It literally—there is better evidence of Bigfoot than that.

01:34:14.280 You cannot see anything.

01:34:16.480 This does not instill any sort of confidence whatsoever.

01:34:20.920 It's like, if they didn't have cameras on Brown University—

01:34:23.560 Boy, the people of Providence deserve better.

01:34:25.120 Yeah, like, why not?

01:34:26.740 Why wouldn't you?

01:34:27.320 Like, what are the crime-fighting methods at the university?

01:34:30.280 Like, I don't get it.

01:34:33.380 I'm very concerned because no one knows where he's going next.

01:34:37.280 No one knows whether there is a list.

01:34:39.360 And then there's this reporting by our own Mark Halperin, who's part of the MK Media Network, who reported as follows.

01:34:46.140 Watch this.

01:34:49.320 People are telling me that the family of Ella Cook, the Alabama young woman who was a sophomore, has been told that she was the target of what happened at Brown.

01:34:58.460 I have no idea whether that's true.

01:35:01.440 There's other theories about why the person did what they did.

01:35:04.200 But now that we don't know who the assailant is, it's going to be harder to say.

01:35:08.160 He admits this is not something he would put in the New York Times if he worked there.

01:35:12.880 He doesn't feel the reporting is shorn up to the level of, like, you'd put it in print in a major newspaper, although we can debate what the standards are at the New York Times.

01:35:19.780 But in any event, he's saying that he is being told by a reliable source that that's what Ella Cook's family has been told.

01:35:26.260 She was the vice president of the college Republicans on campus.

01:35:29.600 The other man who was killed was a naturalized U.S. citizen from Uzbekistan who had dreams of becoming a neurosurgeon who, I mean, for what it's worth, appears to have brown skin and didn't match, like, the same profile as the young white Ella Cook, who was the college Republican.

01:35:49.100 Just for what it's worth, I mean, there were many other people who were shot, but the reporting that Mark is getting is that Ella was the one who was targeted, and she and this other young man are the ones who were killed.

01:36:01.620 It's just one of the many reasons why we need to find this guy, you guys, because, of course, people, if this is some sort of a Republican targeting, no matter what kind of targeting it is, we need to know.

01:36:11.900 It's bad enough if it's the worst case scenario if it's targeting of young adults.

01:36:16.080 I mean, does that mean other universities need to be on alert?

01:36:19.800 Schools need to be on alert?

01:36:20.860 Again, I would not send my kids to public school or any school this week were we in Providence.

01:36:26.300 Yeah.

01:36:26.960 Well, and there's also, I mean, what happened at Bondi Beach, the bust that happened out in California of that, I don't even know how you classify those psychopaths that were trying to bomb New Year's Eve.

01:36:37.360 Oh, the Turtle Island Liberation Front or whatever?

01:36:40.160 And this all within a 48-hour period.

01:36:43.080 Like, I don't know.

01:36:43.940 I mean, did I read that there is some kind of an estranged relationship there between the local law enforcement and the FBI on this, too?

01:36:52.300 Because, I mean, it strikes me.

01:36:53.600 They're pointing fingers at each other.

01:36:54.920 The FBI definitely wants you to know that this is being handled locally and that the FBI is just in an assisting supportive role.

01:37:04.120 And the locals were very sure to tell us that it was the FBI who told them the guy in the hotel is indeed a person of interest and that its cell phone analysis unit had zeroed in on him.

01:37:18.940 So there's definitely one of these things going where they're each pointing at each other.

01:37:22.040 Yeah, I mean, look at a time like this, I don't think that's acceptable at all.

01:37:27.480 I mean, this is all hands on deck situation.

01:37:30.340 Also, I don't want to blackpill on this, but let's say it is a Republican who is targeted.

01:37:35.420 And let's say it is radical left-wing violence.

01:37:38.400 Are we going to get any justice?

01:37:40.460 Are we going to get any results from that?

01:37:42.060 Has there been any nationwide crackdown on Antifa?

01:37:44.400 If you're out there hunting and hurting Republicans, have you felt justice or are you allowed back on the streets?

01:37:51.260 Are you celebrated? 1.00

01:37:52.940 It's ridiculous. 0.99

01:37:54.580 You know, like when is there going to be consequences for targeting Republicans, for killing conservatives, for attacking them? 0.99

01:38:01.560 When's there going to be consequences?

01:38:02.940 When's there going to be the crackdown?

01:38:04.100 Because I remember under Biden, doors were getting kicked in if you're conservative.

01:38:08.100 If you're a granny on Facebook, your door's getting kicked in. 1.00

01:38:11.080 Yeah, a parent at a teacher.

01:38:13.720 Yeah.

01:38:14.400 The FBI was tracking conservative moms who show up to PTA meetings as radicalized troublemakers. 1.00

01:38:22.340 But you're out there shooting or killing Republicans?

01:38:24.780 Honestly, if Ella Cook was targeted and they know that and they're not releasing that, they're endangering us all.

01:38:31.460 Like right now.

01:38:33.160 If that is a fact that they know.

01:38:34.600 Same thing with the Allahu Akbar.

01:38:35.820 If this was somehow, you know, Muslim violence for, you know, inspired by radical Islam, we need to know that. 0.99

01:38:43.220 Like what I don't trust these Providence, Rhode Island leftists to tell us all the relevant information.

01:38:48.760 And there's a killer on the loose right now.

01:38:51.620 So this just came in via CNN.

01:38:54.140 Providence police say they'll release at least one additional image of the person of interest seen in the surveillance video soon.

01:38:59.780 A spokesman for the Rhode Island AG telling CNN that there is a, quote, an enhanced photo that would be distributed on Tuesday.

01:39:07.380 They anticipate footage will be released later, picture first, later than footage.

01:39:13.200 Shifting gears.

01:39:15.000 Oh, and by the way, I think we're at 4 p.m.

01:39:19.020 4 p.m.

01:39:19.660 We're getting an update out of California on Nick Reiner and the status.

01:39:22.300 Again, we began that segment by noting they said he was not physically capable of showing up at the court appearance.

01:39:28.160 Now there's two breaking pieces of news, unrelated, we think.

01:39:32.780 President Trump just released that he is going to address the nation tomorrow night, Wednesday night at 9 p.m. Eastern.

01:39:39.860 All he writes is, my fellow Americans, I'll be giving an address to the nation tomorrow night, live from the White House at 9 p.m. Eastern.

01:39:45.180 I look forward to, quote, seeing you then.

01:39:47.880 It has been a great year for our country, and the best is yet to come.

01:39:52.420 President Donald J. Trump.

01:39:53.780 No idea what that's about.

01:39:55.140 And last but not least, J.D. Vance, who was just giving some public remarks, was asked the first question about whether he is a conspiracy theorist referencing that piece in Vanity Fair.

01:40:07.460 Here's his answer.

01:40:08.240 The White House Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles, gave to Vanity Fair, in which she's quoted as referring to you as, excuse me, and again, not my words, sir, but a conspiracy theorist of a decade.

01:40:22.080 Sometimes I am a conspiracy theorist, but I only believe in the conspiracy theories that are true.

01:40:26.880 Hell yeah.

01:40:28.180 And by the way, Susie and I have joked in private and in public about that for a long time. 0.97

01:40:32.960 For example, I believed in the crazy conspiracy theory back in 2020 that it was stupid to mask three-year-olds at the height of the COVID pandemic.

01:40:42.320 You know, I believed in this crazy conspiracy theory that the media and the government were covering up the fact that Joe Biden was clearly unable to do the job. 0.54

01:40:50.860 And I believed in the conspiracy theory that Joe Biden was trying to throw his political opponents in jail rather than win an argument against his political opponents.

01:40:58.940 So, at least on some of these conspiracy theories, it turns out that a conspiracy theory is just something that was true six months before the media admitted it.

01:41:10.840 And that's my understanding.

01:41:13.560 Mic drop.

01:41:14.900 Yeah, so good.

01:41:15.700 That's fantastic.

01:41:16.740 That's the kind of common sense you get in Middletown, Ohio.

01:41:19.640 Oh, here we go.

01:41:21.080 The nation will benefit from more of it.

01:41:24.180 That's why he's 48.

01:41:26.040 That's why we call him 48.

01:41:27.200 So good.

01:41:27.820 Took it on head on, didn't shy away from it, turned it into a positive.

01:41:32.800 Like, he just completely neutralized it, right?

01:41:35.340 And not the Susie Wiles, I think, meant to hurt him.

01:41:37.380 But, of course, Vanity Fair did.

01:41:39.440 Yeah.

01:41:39.940 I mean, that crack you hear is the barrel of the bat.

01:41:42.380 And that is what he does.

01:41:44.260 But it's also why I don't think this piece does any damage beyond the, you know, 48 hours where everybody in D.C. sort of fumbles around with their accusations.

01:41:53.080 It's because the commentary, almost all of it, is relatable internally in the way that they interact with each other, which is the only thing that matters.

01:42:01.080 The design of that piece was to try to pull them apart.

01:42:05.120 And that is clearly not happening.

01:42:07.140 Why do we think Trump is addressing the nation tomorrow night?

01:42:09.240 I think what happens, we did this in Congress a lot, and I think this is what he's doing now, is you want to do a year-end review.

01:42:17.000 And I think it's more important now.

01:42:18.860 And I think that's what that's about.

01:42:20.320 I don't know.

01:42:21.240 I would guess.

01:42:21.940 That's my guess.

01:42:22.600 It's more important now than ever when you've got a Democratic Party that woke up from ruining our economy over four years and all of a sudden have concerns about affordability.

01:42:29.980 You might want to reset the dial on that and reset the narrative going into 2026.

01:42:36.020 Yeah.

01:42:36.760 The tone of that true social post would suggest it's something upbeat.

01:42:40.060 It wasn't somber.

01:42:41.420 Guys, what a pleasure to see you again.

01:42:43.260 It's been too long.

01:42:44.160 Thanks for being here.

01:42:45.780 Yeah, great to see you, Megan.

01:42:46.860 Thanks so much.

01:42:47.540 Merry Christmas.

01:42:48.300 Lots of love.

01:42:49.000 Merry Christmas.

01:42:49.960 Yeah, to you too.

01:42:50.780 And Happy New Year.

01:42:51.700 And we are back tomorrow with Kelly's Court and more.

01:42:55.680 Thanks for listening to The Megyn Kelly Show. 0.94

01:42:57.980 No BS, no agenda, and no fear.

01:43:19.880 Download the app today.

01:43:20.920 Please play responsibly, 19 plus and physically located in Ontario.

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01:43:32.180 Okay.

The Megyn Kelly Show - December 16, 2025

Megyn Reveals Her Candace and Erika Backstory, and Disturbing New Rob Reiner Son Details, with Ruthless ｜ Ep. 1214

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