The Megyn Kelly Show - Russia Plague Worry After Lab Worker Death, JD on Trail, Alleged Chinese Spy Arrest： AM Update 10⧸6

00:00:00.000 Hey, guys, Megyn Kelly here. Like millions of you, I love true crime content. So this summer,

00:00:07.220 we created the show I always wanted to listen to. We're calling it MK Confidential. One case

00:00:13.120 per week, five episodes, Monday through Friday. New episodes every weeknight. JonBenet Ramsey,

00:00:20.300 Shaundra Levy, the DC Snipers, Scott Peterson, and some you've likely never heard of before.

00:00:26.140 Search for The Megyn Kelly Show wherever you listen to podcasts.

00:00:29.240 You'll find it there.

00:00:32.820 Good morning, everyone.

00:00:34.120 I'm Megyn Kelly.

00:00:35.020 It's Tuesday, October 6th, 2026.

00:00:37.500 And this is your AM update.

00:00:39.520 Historically unpopular Republican in Kansas and Donald Trump and a historically popular

00:00:43.960 Democratic Senate candidate and Adam Hamilton.

00:00:46.180 That may be the equation that gets Kansas its first Democratic senator in 94 years.

00:00:51.660 President Trump and Vice President Vance hitting the campaign trail as Republicans confront tightening Senate races across the map.

00:00:59.080 What was in that test tube? And that's what I think everybody's pushing for transparency on.

00:01:03.500 Had that bacteria been modified in any way during the research that they were doing?

00:01:10.300 U.S. officials seeking answers after the unexplained death of a worker at a Russian plague research lab, as Moscow offers few details about the case.

00:01:19.780 a suspected Chinese spy arrested on American soil accused of surveilling the family of Taiwan's

00:01:26.700 president for the Chinese Communist Party, and Prince Andrew fighting to get police search

00:01:32.080 warrants tossed months after his arrest for allegedly sharing sensitive government information

00:01:37.520 with Jeffrey Epstein. All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM Update.

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00:03:30.920 Four weeks from Election Day, President Trump and Vice President Vance hitting the campaign

00:03:36.560 trail as Republicans fight to hold seats in states the party carried comfortably just

00:03:41.200 two years ago. The president campaigning in Nebraska yesterday for Republican Senator Pete

00:03:46.800 Ricketts, who is facing a competitive challenge from Independent Dan Osborne, while Vice President

00:03:52.220 Vance traveled to Alaska to rally for Senator Dan Sullivan. More on that race in a minute.

00:03:57.480 The push coming as new polling shows an increasingly difficult map for Republicans.

00:04:02.820 New York Times polling showing Democrats ahead in Senate races in red states like Texas,

00:04:08.360 Alaska, and Ohio, tied in Kansas, and trailing by just one point in Iowa.

00:04:14.180 President Trump carrying all five states by double digits in 2024.

00:04:18.640 His approval rating now averaging just 40% across those five.

00:04:23.600 In Kansas, Senator Roger Marshall locked in a dead heat with Democrat Adam Hamilton,

00:04:28.600 despite President Trump winning the state by more than 16 points two years ago.

00:04:32.960 Hamilton, a first-time candidate and senior pastor of the country's largest United Methodist

00:04:37.880 congregation, posting the strongest favorability rating of any candidate tested across the five

00:04:43.560 Senate races. CNN's chief data analyst, Harry Enten, breaking down the implications.

00:04:48.660 Adam Hamilton is popular. Take a look at this. Okay. Key Senate races, the highest net favorable

00:04:54.680 rating of any of the candidates that the New York Times tested is Adam Hamilton in Kansas,

00:04:59.620 the Democrat nominee. His net favorable rating is plus 12 points. The average candidate that

00:05:04.700 the Times tested was actually a point underwater. This to me is potentially a mathematical perfect

00:05:10.220 storm. A historically unpopular Republican in Kansas and Donald Trump and a historically

00:05:14.680 popular Democratic Senate candidate in Adam Hamilton, that may be the equation that gets

00:05:19.100 Kansas its first Democratic senator in 94 years. In Texas, an even more severe warning sign,

00:05:26.800 Democrat James Tallarico leading Republican Ken Paxton by six points in the latest Times polling,

00:05:32.840 matching a string of recent surveys showing an extremely competitive race.

00:05:37.180 President Trump's approval rating among likely Texas voters falling to 38 percent,

00:05:41.700 while Paxton is the least popular of the 10 Senate candidates tested across the five states.

00:05:48.400 The race also showing a dramatic shift among independents. According to the New York Times,

00:05:53.700 Tallarico now leads Paxton among independents by 23 percentage points. Paxton also dramatically

00:06:00.600 underperforming in another core voting bloc, says CNN's Enten.

00:06:05.180 How about this? Texas evangelical voters. Texas evangelical voters. If you can't read it,

00:06:10.240 Trump won him by 73 points back in 2024.

00:06:14.880 Greg Abbott, who's running for the governorship of Texas, is leading him by 62 points.

00:06:20.020 How about white evangelicals?

00:06:21.580 Kent Paxton, though, only winning him by, get this, only winning him by 48 points.

00:06:27.640 Only winning him by 48 points compared to Abbott's 62 points.

00:06:32.160 In other words, maybe scandals do matter.

00:06:34.900 Maybe, maybe, maybe it turns out that white evangelicals do not want candidates who, in fact, leave their wives.

00:06:42.120 He's winning, but they don't even like him.

00:06:43.920 They don't even like him.

00:06:44.860 His favorability rating is only plus 14 with white evangelicals.

00:06:48.480 So it turns out that scandals may actually matter.

00:06:51.720 And this is something we've seen in the polling data going forward.

00:06:54.260 Maybe Republicans aren't going to be nominating candidates who are scandal plagued.

00:06:58.700 Alaska proving to be another major concern for Republicans.

00:07:01.480 former Democrat Congresswoman Mary Peltola leading Republican Senator Dan Sullivan

00:07:06.760 by seven points in the latest New York Times poll. Alaska uses a top four primary system

00:07:13.080 where candidates from every party run on the same ballot and the four highest finishers advance to

00:07:18.420 November. Peltola finishing eight points ahead of Sullivan in that August primary before both

00:07:24.280 moved on to the general election. Vice President Vance acknowledging to reporters yesterday,

00:07:28.940 the race is competitive. It's a very interesting state. In very deep red years, Alaska is

00:07:36.200 competitive. In very deep blue years, Alaska is still competitive. So I think it's just a reality

00:07:41.220 of the politics of the state. They obviously have the kind of weird rank choice voting system that

00:07:45.060 I don't fully understand. But, you know, I think that whether this was going to be a blue wave or

00:07:50.400 a red wave year, you're going to have a competitive Senate race in Alaska. That's been true historically,

00:07:55.360 and I suspect it's going to be true this year too. The broader economic picture also working

00:07:59.800 against Republicans. CBS News finding voters continue to judge the economy largely through

00:08:05.000 prices and the cost of living, while 91 percent say the war with Iran has driven oil and gas

00:08:10.980 prices higher, including 64 percent who say prices have risen a lot. 52 percent say the war is more

00:08:17.860 likely to end if Democrats win control of Congress, compared with 17 percent who say the same if

00:08:23.820 Republicans remain in power. President Trump pushing back yesterday on the suggestion

00:08:28.320 that his own standing could make matters worse for Republicans,

00:08:32.400 insisting his appearances on the trail give them a boost.

00:08:35.460 I think when I travel there, the numbers go way up. We have massive crowds. We have another

00:08:42.320 sold-out crowd today. We went to Ohio. We went to Texas. We went to Oklahoma. We're going to

00:08:48.520 Michigan. We're going all over the country. And we have another massive sold-out. They say the

00:08:53.520 lines are, it's already sold out. So, you know, when I go there, they pick up a lot of steam.

00:08:58.680 When I go there, they win. And that's what I'm doing. Over on the Democrat side, former President

00:09:03.940 Barack Obama preparing to return to the campaign trail. Mr. Obama set to appear in Detroit October

00:09:09.960 24th alongside Democrat Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, who is leading Republican Mike Rogers

00:09:16.880 by 3.6 points in the Real Clear Politics average of all polls. The New York Times reporting on

00:09:23.400 Monday that El-Sayed is struggling somewhat with Black voters in Michigan, up 76-13 over Rogers,

00:09:30.620 but compare that to the gubernatorial race there, where the Democrat is leading with Black voters

00:09:35.740 92-1. Prediction market Kalshi has El-Sayed with a 74% chance of winning the race right now,

00:09:44.080 compared with 26% for the Republican Rogers. That's a 12% shift in the Democrat direction

00:09:50.000 in just the last month.

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00:10:02.720 Republicans currently hold a 53 to 47 Senate majority,

00:10:07.240 meaning Dems need to flip four seats

00:10:09.520 and hold on to all of their own

00:10:11.620 in order to win control of the chamber.

00:10:14.440 Kalshi has the Democrats' chance of winning the Senate

00:10:16.400 at 64%.

00:10:20.000 A mysterious death at a Russian laboratory that studies plague, now prompting quarantines,

00:10:25.540 U.S. government scrutiny, and questions about what exactly happened inside this facility.

00:10:31.120 A 28-year-old technician at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute in Siberia

00:10:36.660 reportedly dying last week after developing what Russian health officials describe as

00:10:41.300 pneumonia of unknown origin. A local Russian outlet reporting the woman became sick after

00:10:47.340 allegedly breaking a test tube containing the bacteria that causes pneumonic plague.

00:10:53.780 That account has not been publicly confirmed by the Russian government.

00:10:57.640 Russian officials acknowledging the hospital where the woman was treated was placed under

00:11:01.540 quarantine, while Russian media reporting nearly 200 people who may have come into contact with

00:11:06.920 her have been placed under medical observation. Russia's public health agency saying no

00:11:12.600 microorganisms tied to the woman's work were detected in her body and reporting no additional

00:11:18.180 illnesses among employees at the lab. At least one regional Russian official saying publicly

00:11:23.820 that the woman may have died from plague, though Moscow has not confirmed that diagnosis.

00:11:29.880 Pneumonic plague is caused by the same bacteria as bubonic plague, but infects the lungs,

00:11:35.640 allowing it to spread not through infected mice, but through respiratory droplets.

00:11:40.620 The NIH says the disease has a nearly 100% death rate without treatment,

00:11:46.060 though antibiotics are reportedly highly effective when given early.

00:11:50.800 There is also the possibility that this bacteria was being modified by the Russians.

00:11:56.160 The reported lab accident and broader quarantine response now drawing scrutiny from U.S. officials.

00:12:01.960 The Washington Post reports the CDC, State Department, and other federal agencies

00:12:05.880 are trying to learn more about what happened,

00:12:07.920 but officials say their efforts have been complicated by Russia's reluctance

00:12:11.840 to provide information. The Post also reports U.S. officials are examining whether researchers

00:12:17.860 at the facility may have been modifying existing plague samples, potentially involving what is

00:12:23.740 known as gain-of-function research, the practice of altering pathogens to give them new or stronger

00:12:30.420 traits, such as making them more contagious or more lethal. The controversial research

00:12:36.840 becoming a major focus of the investigation into COVID's origins. Former White House

00:12:41.640 Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx Sunday on NewsNation calling for more

00:12:47.360 transparency from the Russians. This area of Russia is where they do a significant amount

00:12:53.340 of plague research. They also have a significant number of military labs there. And so I've heard

00:12:59.540 that it was a broken test tube. What was in that test tube? And that's what I think everybody's

00:13:04.160 pushing for transparency on. Had that bacteria been modified in any way during the research that

00:13:11.820 they were doing? And this woman traveled after exposure with pneumonic. The pneumonic plague

00:13:18.700 means it's in her lungs. So she had it in her lungs. She traveled. She potentially could have

00:13:24.260 exposed many people because that is then transmissible by droplet. So a lot of concerns

00:13:30.660 and a lot of reason for the Russians to be transparent.

00:13:34.580 Russia, meanwhile, pushing back on the speculation.

00:13:37.160 A Kremlin spokesperson telling NBC News

00:13:39.360 the public should rely on statements

00:13:40.780 from the country's health authorities

00:13:42.300 rather than what he called, quote,

00:13:43.940 rumors and speculations.

00:13:46.400 The State Department says many of the details

00:13:48.440 surrounding the case remain unconfirmed.

00:13:51.060 It's calling on Moscow to provide

00:13:52.860 accurate information quickly and openly.

00:13:56.020 Secretary of State Marco Rubio telling reporters yesterday

00:13:58.700 the admin is watching very closely. We know what we know, obviously, about whatever the Russians

00:14:04.380 have provided, which is it seems that there was a worker at the lab that was infected and is

00:14:10.180 concerned that that, you know, could have spread, at least internally. So you've seen them do

00:14:15.320 quarantines of that nature. There's very limited travel between the U.S. and Russia, obviously,

00:14:21.040 but like anything else, something like that gets out, it could quickly spread. So we're watching

00:14:24.840 and monitoring it closely. I don't think it's cause for alarm, but it is cause for focus

00:14:29.280 and a cause to just keep an eye on it. And we're doing that.

00:14:32.600 Former White House COVID response coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha posting on X last night that he is,

00:14:39.240 quote, concerned, noting that Russia is well known to have an active military biological

00:14:43.860 weapons program. There are reports of FSB or Russian intel involvement in the response here,

00:14:50.280 and that security services are accompanying ambulances carrying exposed contacts.

00:14:56.940 Jha earlier yesterday telling NBC that even if the woman did contact pneumonic plague,

00:15:03.200 the chances of it developing into a large outbreak, much less a global pandemic,

00:15:07.700 are exceedingly low. President Trump saying yesterday he's concerned about the potential

00:15:12.680 outbreak. Well, I hate to see them having it. It's a rough disease. You know, that's a disease

00:15:19.440 We used to be able to control, but somehow those microbes have gotten stronger and smarter.

00:15:24.940 They're like an army, and we don't have the same medical.

00:15:29.560 Even with great advancement, the germs have really become relatively stronger than they were,

00:15:37.000 and things that used to work with pneumonia don't work as well anymore, so we'll help.

00:15:42.620 Anybody that has that kind of a problem, we're always willing to help.

00:15:46.520 We'll help.

00:15:46.960 coming up potential chinese espionage on u.s soil a california woman accused of spying on taiwan's

00:15:55.960 first family for beijing and prince andrew taking police to court challenging the warrants used to

00:16:02.760 search his homes after his arrest over alleged government leaks to jeffrey epstein

00:16:07.620 we are less than a month out and the midterms are coming at us like a freight train

00:16:18.860 make no mistake if the house flips it's a big deal for our economy and it might be the senate too

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00:17:20.800 A California real estate agent arrested at LAX, accused of secretly working for the Chinese

00:17:26.800 government and spying on the family of Taiwan's president here in the United States. 34-year-old

00:17:33.320 Wanying Heather Zhang of Irvine, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from China, arrested Sunday

00:17:39.960 as she was preparing to leave the country, now charged with acting as an unregistered agent of

00:17:45.340 China. The FBI says Zhang conducted surveillance last year in the United States on the son of the

00:17:51.060 Taiwanese president, Lai Qingda, and his family, allegedly photographing and recording them and

00:17:57.420 passing information about their vehicles back to Chinese officials. According to federal

00:18:02.160 investigators, Zhang and another person, identified only as Individual One, flying to the Seattle area

00:18:08.400 in September 2025 at the direction of Chinese officials, then conducting surveillance outside

00:18:14.540 the target's home. A nearby security camera reportedly capturing the pair filming the family

00:18:19.340 from inside a vehicle, Zhang then allegedly sending Chinese officials photos and videos

00:18:24.800 from the operation, along with license plate info from the family's vehicles.

00:18:29.600 The FBI affidavit detailing Zhang's long-standing ties to people connected to the Chinese government.

00:18:35.440 Zhang previously attending Beijing's University of International Relations,

00:18:39.840 described by federal officials as closely linked to China's intel apparatus.

00:18:44.740 First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Assaylee Sunday on Fox,

00:18:48.000 saying the alleged surveillance reflects a much broader Chinese strategy inside America.

00:18:53.900 This is what China does.

00:18:55.220 China's very good at using people who are already here,

00:18:58.660 and they do it to elected officials, so they know how to game our system.

00:19:03.300 And so, you know, that was a big blow to us when the birthright case came down

00:19:07.440 because the other thing they're doing now, you know, this might be breaking news as well,

00:19:11.320 it's not just birthright tourism.

00:19:12.620 They're sending sperm and eggs and they're implanting them in surrogates here in American

00:19:18.040 surrogates here in the U.S. to get around the visa stuff. China is working at every level.

00:19:23.020 They're very smart and they play the long games. Taiwan's presidential office confirming President

00:19:28.040 Lai's relatives were targeted, calling the alleged surveillance a, quote, classic case of

00:19:33.460 transnational repression. China's embassy in Washington not immediately responding to the

00:19:38.560 Associated Press's request for comment yesterday, while the foreign ministry in Beijing was closed

00:19:43.640 for a holiday. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor launching a legal challenge after his historic arrest earlier

00:19:51.220 this year, now asking Britain's high court to throw out the search warrants police used to

00:19:56.360 raid two royal properties as part of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation. The former Prince Andrew

00:20:02.620 arguing that Thames Valley police did not lawfully obtain warrants to search his former home

00:20:08.120 at Royal Lodge in Windsor and Marsh Farm on King Charles' Sandringham Estate.

00:20:13.980 The legal fight coming nearly eight months after the king's younger brother was arrested in

00:20:17.500 February on his 66th birthday on suspicion of misconduct in public office. Andrew accused of

00:20:23.980 sharing sensitive government information with Epstein while serving as the UK's special

00:20:28.560 representative for international trade. The allegations emerging from the massive cache

00:20:33.320 of Epstein files released by the U.S. Department of Justice, including emails appearing to show

00:20:38.200 Andrew forwarding official government documents to Epstein and others while he held the trade

00:20:44.060 position. Police questioning Andrew for hours in February before releasing him without any

00:20:49.620 charges as the investigation continued. Investigators also spending several days

00:20:54.420 searching Marsh Farm and Royal Lodge, removing documents and other material under warrants

00:20:59.180 approved the day before Andrew's arrest by a judge at Britain's Central Criminal Court.

00:21:04.840 Andrew now asking the High Court to quash those warrants.

00:21:07.900 Thames Valley Police issuing a statement, quote,

00:21:10.380 We are engaged in legal proceedings in relation to warrants

00:21:13.340 previously obtained from the Central Criminal Court.

00:21:16.580 Newsweek Chief Royal Correspondent Jack Royston yesterday on Good Morning Britain

00:21:20.680 breaking down the significance of the police response.

00:21:23.940 The most interesting line in it is the reference to the Central Criminal Court,

00:21:27.760 which to ordinary people is the old Bailey so they've got they appear to have got warrants from

00:21:32.880 effectively the most senior criminal court in the country it's a long it's a far cry from the old

00:21:38.580 fashioned go down your local magistrate's court and ask for permission to arrest somebody so I

00:21:43.360 would say that that's quite a robust and fulsome response actually and what Andrew's doing here is

00:21:48.660 he's filed something called a judicial review which is a legal challenge to the decision that

00:21:53.000 was taken i mean part of what the police is kind of saying here is that they they asked for this

00:21:57.780 from the old bailey and were given the warrants and then executed those warrants so i think part

00:22:03.980 of what they're saying is that actually you know we didn't simply just take this decision

00:22:07.740 ourselves we uh we asked for permission to do it and were given that permission

00:22:13.420 and so i think that they're effectively saying in no uncertain terms that they're going to

00:22:18.580 contest this judicial review. And they seem fairly optimistic about the outcome of it. I think what

00:22:23.680 Andrew probably wants is to try and find some technicality on which he can try and wriggle out

00:22:28.260 of this investigation. A high court hearing now scheduled for Thursday, beginning behind closed

00:22:33.400 doors as police ask the judge to keep some of the court documents private. Former head of special

00:22:38.920 crime at Britain's Crown Prosecution Service, Nick Vamos, telling the New York Times that even if

00:22:44.240 Andrews succeeds in getting the warrants thrown out, police could still ask a court for permission

00:22:48.800 to keep the material they seized, and the investigation could continue.

00:22:54.540 And that'll do it for your AM update. I'm Megan Kelly. Join me back here for the MK Show on Sirius

00:22:59.860 XM's The Megan Kelly Channel, 111 at noon east, on youtube.com slash megankelly, and on all podcast

00:23:06.500 platforms. Time to get this party going.

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The Megyn Kelly Show - October 06, 2026

Russia Plague Worry After Lab Worker Death, JD on Trail, Alleged Chinese Spy Arrest： AM Update 10⧸6

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