The Megyn Kelly Show - Scott Pelley's Smug Bias, and Why Trump Was Right to Leave NBC Interview, Plus Entrepreneur and Horse Racing Owner Mike Repole ｜ Ep. 1334

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00:01:25.480 out. Welcome to The Megyn Kelly Show, live on Sirius XM Channel 111 every weekday at

00:01:31.580 New East. Hey everyone, I'm Megyn Kelly. Welcome to The Megyn Kelly Show and happy Monday,

00:01:41.940 where over the weekend, all outstanding hope that Spencer Pratt might make the runoff in LA

00:01:46.720 for this mayor race slipped away. Literally unbelievable. Sure, Jan, sure. Nithya Raman

00:01:53.820 came from third place and in all these outstanding jurisdictions, not only beat the Republican,

00:01:59.580 which, okay, you could see that potentially, but beat Karen Bass too? Like not only did the

00:02:04.820 Democrat come from behind, but this Democrat? Okay, sure. Coming in just a bit, we'll talk

00:02:13.300 about it a little bit more. And then in our second hour, we're going to bring on a first-time guest

00:02:17.380 with an incredible story. His name is Mike Rapoli. And not only, this is where, let me just quickly

00:02:23.300 tell you why I wanted to talk to this guy. Do you guys remember of the Kentucky Derby? Um, when

00:02:29.060 the golden, what's his name? One tempo. I always want to call him golden dome. I don't know why

00:02:36.560 golden tempo one. And, um, he came from behind. It was like out of nowhere. And he just won the

00:02:41.420 Belmont stakes too, by the way. So cool. But he remember he had a jockey on him who had a brother

00:02:46.700 who was also a jockey and his brother at the Kentucky Derby was riding the horse that was

00:02:52.240 the favorite, but they didn't win thanks to Golden Tempo. And anyway, the two brothers held

00:02:57.660 hands as they crossed the finish line because they were proud of each other. So sweet. The owner of

00:03:02.620 the horse that was the favorite but lost, the moment between this guy and his jockey was caught

00:03:09.140 on camera. And you expect them to be like, good try, nice job. No, he was like, you lost to your

00:03:17.220 brother your brothers that's that's what matters you know he was like this sweetheart with the

00:03:21.980 thick New York accent and even though he had just suffered this big loss at the Derby and his horse

00:03:27.220 was a favorite he was he had such the right messaging when he talked to his horse's jockey

00:03:32.540 and like he understood there's like a moment of unity for the country and this family and like

00:03:37.560 I was so impressed by the guy I wanted to meet him his name is Mike Rapoli it turns out he's worth

00:03:43.500 two and a half billion dollars. And I'll tell you what he, how he made his money. You're going to

00:03:48.960 know the product very well, but totally self-made guy, totally like humble, hardworking, true blue,

00:03:58.680 red, white, and blue American. I can't wait to talk to him. So that's the second hour.

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00:05:14.380 promo code M-E-G-Y-N. First though, we have got to talk about what's going on at 60 Minutes,

00:05:21.100 specifically with the firing of longtime CBS correspondent Scott Pelley. We told you last

00:05:26.820 week that CBS fired Pelley for cause, it said, on Tuesday after reports that he confronted

00:05:31.900 newly installed executive producer, Nick Bilton, in a heated staff meeting the day prior.

00:05:38.760 Before he did that, Barry Weiss, who she calls herself editor-in-chief of CBS News, 0.98

00:05:46.840 had fired the top three women at, well, three of the top women at 60 Minutes. 0.92

00:05:54.260 Sharon Alfonsi, another gal whose name I can never remember, and the woman who, 0.75

00:06:00.460 Cecilia Vega, that was her name, and also the new and not that long in charge editor or

00:06:08.520 executive producer. She had fired all three of them. And the staff of 60 Minutes was reeling. 1.00

00:06:17.520 And I get it, that would be jarring because very rarely do people get fired at these network

00:06:22.940 positions in 60 Minutes, even less so. But they were fired. And Scott Pelley's position was

00:06:29.980 everybody was reeling. I was like the senior most person. And so I felt the need to confront

00:06:34.320 the brand new editor or executive producer who none of us knew at all. This guy who was dropped

00:06:40.560 on us out of the New York Times documentary unit. Like, who are you? This guy Blinton.

00:06:49.440 So he wasn't happy. And he went, we got up in this guy's grill, built in, I should say.

00:06:54.060 and it didn't go well. Scott Pelley tried to play the tough guy. Sure, sure, Scott.

00:07:01.140 He was, look up the, I'm going to look, I've been calling him a prig. 1.00

00:07:06.140 Just for kicks, I looked up that definition. You tell me, I mean, I think, I got to be honest, 1.00

00:07:12.080 Scott Kelly is the walking definition of that word. Here's the definition.

00:07:18.560 A self-righteous, annoying person who demands rigid conformity to rules and propriety.

00:07:24.060 They often look down on others, acting as though they are morally superior and fussing

00:07:29.460 endlessly over trivial formal details while ignoring the feelings of those around them.

00:07:33.960 Okay, I mean, that's, that's, his picture should be there.

00:07:39.060 There's no love between us and Scott Pelley.

00:07:42.120 I said last week, I don't think this is well handled and I stand by that, but like today's

00:07:48.240 story is about Scott Pelley because he decided to sit down with our friend Lulu Garcia Navarro.

00:07:54.060 over at the New York Times, The Daily Show, and it was his first interview. It was posted

00:08:00.320 online yesterday. It was a lot, and we're going to go through some of it. First, here is how,

00:08:07.720 now Scott has been at 60 and CBS for 37 years. That's a long time. He spent his career there,

00:08:14.800 quite clearly. He feels very connected to the organization. Don't begrudge him one second of

00:08:18.480 that. Um, but there, there are some dramatics going on in this interview like this. Take a

00:08:25.060 listen to how he described his emotional state right now. I want to actually start by just

00:08:32.120 asking you how you're feeling in this moment. Well, if we want to talk about it at an emotional

00:08:37.300 level, the best thing that I can imagine in terms of describing it is that it's,

00:08:43.540 it's like your spouse was murdered um whoa there's some moments of the day i feel fine

00:08:50.940 there are some moments of the day that um i just frankly uh fall apart uh when i least expect it

00:08:58.820 but i do want to be clear uh that i do not feel sorry for me i don't care about me i'm fine

00:09:09.360 I care about these people that I left behind, the people who are still trapped there.

00:09:20.980 Okay, so first of all, I don't believe that he doesn't care about me the way he says it.

00:09:24.480 I don't care about me.

00:09:25.060 You do care about yourself.

00:09:27.120 Like, let's be honest.

00:09:29.220 You are so self-important.

00:09:31.600 You are at the forethought of everything you do.

00:09:34.600 And we need only to watch you and listen to you to know that.

00:09:40.220 So whatever.

00:09:41.400 This is him cloaking himself in this sort of self-righteousness.

00:09:45.840 He's the Avenger.

00:09:47.300 He's there for Sharon, what's her name, and the other gal, Cecilia.

00:09:51.040 Okay.

00:09:53.520 He's like, they fired one-third of our staff.

00:09:56.960 It's like, I think there's only six correspondents.

00:09:59.520 So it's like, I don't, they fired two.

00:10:02.340 So I guess the math tracks, but like, sounds kind of dramatic.

00:10:05.900 You don't have that many people.

00:10:08.360 So he there compares his firing to his wife being murdered.

00:10:13.200 Now, I'm just, I ask you, just sit for one second, please.

00:10:16.660 Forgive me, but like with the unpleasant thought of that actually happening in your life.

00:10:20.700 Do you think you'd be like, you know, some days I was fine.

00:10:25.360 I was fine.

00:10:27.900 But other days I fell apart.

00:10:29.460 and who, like, what could happen to you

00:10:32.400 in your professional life?

00:10:33.420 And I've had some negative things happen to me

00:10:35.360 that would compare to the murder of your spouse.

00:10:40.740 I'm, like, this is not the right analogy.

00:10:43.860 This is not where we should have gone, Scott.

00:10:46.840 But, like, it does show you how important

00:10:49.780 he thinks 60 Minutes is, CBS News is.

00:10:55.980 And honestly, one of my overall takeaways

00:10:57.760 of this whole interview was how out of touch he is. Okay, but he did not stop there when it comes

00:11:03.460 to the murder comparisons. Watch. That's a family at 60 Minutes. My former boss and former producer

00:11:15.340 Bill Owens saved my life in a firefight in Iraq so Lulu these bonds are pretty

00:11:34.540 tight and when somebody wipes out murders a large number of your family members people are hurt

00:11:50.380 and shocked in disbelief and just desperate for some explanation okay so bill owens that's

00:12:02.600 that is a compelling story. Bill Owens was the executive producer of 60, but he stepped down

00:12:07.320 last year. He wasn't there and he's not involved in all this. And so I'm sure you feel grateful to

00:12:12.340 him, but you know, he's not there and he's not involved. So I'm not sure what this is about.

00:12:18.560 I also have to be honest. It's, it's not a family. It's a news organization. And Barry was brought in

00:12:25.100 to revamp it. And some revamping is going to trample across 60 minutes, Scott, because of you

00:12:33.820 and Sharon and Leslie and people like you. No one can step into your family and rejigger it.

00:12:43.720 No one can step in and say, there are some weak members of the family who are going to have to go

00:12:47.860 because people like the family less than they could. This is a news organization.

00:12:52.580 That's why it was possible for a new boss to come in and start moving chess pieces around

00:12:57.300 and changing the way you play the game altogether.

00:12:59.900 That's okay.

00:13:00.940 It's allowed. 0.87

00:13:02.040 The way he is behaving is like a child, like a petulant child.

00:13:06.680 It's fine if you feel like your family in your workplace or you feel like you have this

00:13:13.080 bond of loyalty and so on that transforms everything and tramples any commercial concerns.

00:13:21.900 trumps, but it doesn't. You need to retain the knowledge that it doesn't actually. Actually,

00:13:28.700 it's a place of business and business decisions are going to be made accordingly. The entire

00:13:34.420 interview shows somebody who doesn't seem to understand that. And this is one of the reasons

00:13:40.260 why I've said, some others have said before me, it is not a good idea to spend your whole career

00:13:46.040 in news. It's not. It is so much better, I think, for you as the consumer of news and for the news

00:13:53.500 people, the newsrooms, hire people who have had another life before they get into news so that

00:13:58.940 they understand what real life is like, right? Like the newsroom, he talks about it. It's this

00:14:04.940 revered place where we're all family. We're risking our lives every day. Okay. You have

00:14:10.660 gotten too self-important. The news is important. The First Amendment is important. But let's be

00:14:17.260 honest, it's not brain surgery. OK, we don't actually have people's lives in our hands. We

00:14:23.460 have information that's important to them that we should give responsibly and truthfully.

00:14:28.180 But you don't understand, Scott Pelley, that to the right half of the country,

00:14:32.820 we think you left that business a long time ago. You don't think that, but we think you left that

00:14:38.240 business a long time ago. And we don't look at you the way you see yourself at all. Okay,

00:14:45.820 there's gonna be more on this in one second. But so Pelly then explained to Lulu why

00:14:49.700 he was so aggressive with this new guy, the show's new executive producer, who I have to be honest,

00:14:57.120 seems utterly clueless. How they're making the executive producer of 60 Minutes, a guy who's

00:15:04.420 never done television before is beyond me. It is an insult. It is to the 60 Minutes staff and the

00:15:12.380 CBS News. What the F? He's never done television before. So what do you say? How can you put this

00:15:18.720 guy in charge of 60 Minutes? Well, who did it? Barry Weiss. Barry Weiss has also never done

00:15:24.080 television before. These utter novices when it comes to broadcast journalism are trying to say

00:15:28.480 like, how hard could it be? I guess it's just exactly the same as print journalism like I did

00:15:32.480 at the New York Times or at the free press. It's not. It isn't. There actually are multiple layers

00:15:39.420 of doing broadcast and communicating with an audience visually through moving pictures that

00:15:46.960 you obviously don't understand. And some of what Scott Pelley said about Barry trying to make

00:15:52.620 changes to a cooked 60 show like it was already in the books and it was just all they had to do

00:15:57.920 was hit play like an hour or two before air did make sense. And I give him those points. You can't

00:16:05.720 come in. I know this just from being at Dateline, you know, for a little bit and doing some Datelines

00:16:11.380 like my Putin interview was aired in the Dateline time slot. And I think one other, I did one other

00:16:17.280 in-depth piece that was aired in the primetime Dateline spot. But my point is simply, and then

00:16:21.240 I had my own 60 minutes type show on their Sunday night air at NBC for about two minutes.

00:16:29.520 It didn't do very well. But my point is simply, I understand like the deadline situation.

00:16:33.620 You can't mess with it that close to air. It's not like the live Kelly file on Fox or this show.

00:16:38.100 You can't. It's on tape. Every element has been combed over. It's been run through legal

00:16:44.120 standards and practices. Every line has been looked over to prevent you from getting sued

00:16:48.760 because these tend to deal with heavy, headier stuff.

00:16:52.760 You cannot open up the product two hours or an hour

00:16:55.860 before air and start messing with it.

00:16:57.340 I mean, unless there's a serious, serious reason to do it.

00:17:00.940 And he was complaining that she,

00:17:02.420 but my takeaway on that is it does matter

00:17:05.840 whether you've had experience in broadcasting.

00:17:08.200 It does.

00:17:09.180 So you cannot have both an editor-in-chief over there

00:17:11.340 and now an executive producer of 60

00:17:13.460 with no television experience.

00:17:15.640 I get it.

00:17:16.620 I give him that point

00:17:17.680 And I understand why the staff is eye rolling at this guy.

00:17:20.720 However, you do have to afford him some level of respect as a colleague who has, for better or worse, been placed in this position.

00:17:31.440 Your new owners over at CBS, David Ellison, the son of billionaire Larry Ellison, believes in him and thinks he's the man for the job. 0.98

00:17:40.460 So you can't be a total asshole when the guy has his first big staff meeting. 0.99

00:17:46.360 no matter how mad you are about the people getting fired. 1.00

00:17:50.040 Okay, but here in this clip, he's explaining

00:17:52.040 why he, Pelly, was so aggressive

00:17:54.560 with this new executive producer.

00:17:57.240 He talked about how the first thing that ticked him off

00:18:00.500 was this guy gets in front of the staff,

00:18:02.760 and instead of just speaking like a human to them,

00:18:05.600 like, which honestly would have been the right thing to do,

00:18:07.760 just say, like, I know it's been a rough week.

00:18:09.960 I know people are feeling unsteady.

00:18:11.900 You know, we fired the EP, we fired two top correspondents.

00:18:14.480 let me tell you what we have in store, what we have in mind. I can't comment on personnel

00:18:19.860 decisions, but I can tell you that he took out his phone and started reading something he had

00:18:27.060 written, which is humiliating. I think it would be humiliating in most businesses, but in a business

00:18:34.800 where we're all paid communicators,

00:18:38.440 it's especially humiliating.

00:18:41.300 And I mean, way to insist that the staff disrespect you.

00:18:46.560 The thought of Roger Ailes ever needing to read

00:18:51.060 his little remarks to the newsroom at Fox is a joke.

00:18:57.920 You're a leader or you're not, or you're not.

00:19:00.500 You speak from the heart about your leadership vision

00:19:03.340 and this show you've taken over, or you don't.

00:19:07.200 I mean, honestly, there is no doubt in my mind

00:19:11.380 that they recoiled when they saw,

00:19:14.040 they as broadcasters saw this guy

00:19:15.840 needing his little notes on his phone

00:19:18.760 to read to them what was going on.

00:19:21.960 Even if legal has said,

00:19:24.120 this is the way you need to say X,

00:19:26.620 you start off the top of your head,

00:19:29.460 you speak from the heart,

00:19:30.580 and when you get to the part that's dicey legally,

00:19:32.580 you pick up your phone and say, sorry, I have to read this part, and then you do it.

00:19:37.440 Broadcasters also understand that. Newsmen and women also understand that. This was someone who

00:19:42.840 was scared. And you know what happens in the workplace setting when someone who's already

00:19:46.960 not respected and not wanted projects fear, right? Well, here's Scott Pelley on that moment.

00:19:56.700 I felt that somebody had to stand up for the broadcast, not just the broadcast, but the

00:20:01.640 people. There are people in that room who go to war zones when they are pregnant. It is a life

00:20:12.860 threatening job in many instances. And very strong bonds, very emotional bonds are found

00:20:24.180 or are developed in that kind of setting. Okay. It's not untrue that you develop close

00:20:33.160 bonds in the newsroom. And there are people who go to the war zones while they're pregnant.

00:20:37.680 It's not unique to 60 Minutes. It happens at CNN. It happens at Fox. It happens across news media.

00:20:44.300 And these are the journalists we respect. And we remember because bad things do happen to them.

00:20:51.180 I mean, there have been, just look what's happening over now in Lebanon.

00:20:55.320 I mean, multiple, multiple journalists are being killed by Israeli bombs, and we're in

00:21:01.260 Gaza as well, some connected to Hamas and some not.

00:21:06.600 And you do risk your life as a journalist when you embed with the troops and you put

00:21:11.920 yourself in harm's way.

00:21:13.040 In fact, my husband and I were just in D.C. over the weekend, and we went to Arlington

00:21:19.400 National Cemetery, which is very moving, very moving. Look at my phone now because I just want

00:21:24.420 to tell you about this plaque that we saw when we were walking through Arlington. It's on the ground

00:21:32.260 and it's one small homage, which is the size of the homage that it should be, not big in Arlington,

00:21:40.260 to journalists. And it reads, U.S. correspondent, this tree grows in memory of journalists who died

00:21:47.000 while covering wars or conflicts for the, let's see, for the American people, covering the

00:21:56.480 conflicts for the American people. One who finds a truth lights a torch. One who finds a truth

00:22:05.580 lights a torch. And it goes on from there. And it's a beautiful tree right in the middle of

00:22:09.340 Arlington to honor the journalists who have given their lives while covering the news. And honestly,

00:22:13.860 as much as we, most people on the right, can't stand the media, there are definitely honest,

00:22:20.640 great journalists who we're really lucky to have. And it is an important job. It's one of the

00:22:25.720 reasons why some of us stay in it, stay with it, even though we find it toxic and difficult and

00:22:30.420 disappointing, because it is an important job to keep the public informed. So I'm with him on the

00:22:37.120 sacrifices that people make. But again, it does not insulate your newsroom from overhaul, from

00:22:44.860 tweaks, from accusations of bias that have to be addressed. And if you really wanted to save those

00:22:53.840 jobs, Scott Pelley, you would try listening. You would try listening, right? I mean, the audience

00:23:00.660 knows like Barry and I are in this negative place. Unfortunately, she attacked me. I did not attack 0.61

00:23:06.840 her. She, she drew first blood. Um, and look, I've been honest that I don't think this is the

00:23:13.340 job for her. She has no television experience. However, she isn't wrong that 60 has lost its

00:23:20.780 way. It is biased noticeably toward Democrats and progressives. We know that this, most of the

00:23:30.420 people listening to this show do not need to be convinced of that, but Scott Pelley clearly has

00:23:35.520 no clue. Barry is a liberal, but she's a non-woke liberal. So she's seen enough with her eyes to

00:23:46.340 know how this show and frankly, the news organization is perceived by the other half

00:23:54.900 of the country. The side she's not on, but she's not woke. So she understands where most of us are

00:24:00.260 coming to it from. And she's trying at the direction of her bosses to correct for some of

00:24:05.900 that in the programming there. And it's going about as well as you might expect. They're accusing

00:24:11.520 her. They're mad at her because they think she's Trumpifying the newsroom, which is a joke. 0.81

00:24:16.820 You can inject more fair and balanced coverage and make changes around the edges without 0.98

00:24:22.300 Trumpifying the newsroom. That's a joke. You couldn't Trumpify CBS or 60 if you tried.

00:24:29.120 Honestly, that would not be possible.

00:24:32.000 Literally everybody would quit.

00:24:33.980 So it's something that's being done around the edges.

00:24:37.040 These are very minor changes, and they're being treated like earthquakes.

00:24:42.360 Now, there's another segment that's looking at the changes happening at CBS, which also

00:24:46.740 happened to be almost universally pro-Israel at a time when Israel's, for the first time,

00:24:52.480 doesn't have majority support amongst the American people.

00:24:54.620 And they're objecting to that because that's Barry's own set of biases that she's injecting into the coverage.

00:24:59.880 And it's obvious.

00:25:00.720 And the Ellisons apparently share it.

00:25:02.660 So there are like all sorts of issues about what's happening at CBS.

00:25:06.200 However, I want to stick on the Pelley piece of it because that's today's story.

00:25:11.180 All right.

00:25:11.460 So he talks about people go to war. 0.88

00:25:14.000 So I got it.

00:25:15.380 Now, this, however, is not really how Scott Pelley these days is spending his day job.

00:25:22.620 Right.

00:25:23.080 He's been to conflicts over the years.

00:25:24.780 I get it.

00:25:25.820 What he's really doing these days is ripping apart Moms for Liberty. 0.52

00:25:31.380 Like, that's his thing now.

00:25:32.940 Or giving sanctimonious graduation speeches.

00:25:36.200 Do we have that?

00:25:36.820 We had it here the other day, and I didn't play it.

00:25:38.940 I probably didn't pull it over.

00:25:40.020 But my God, the sanctimony of Scott Pelley when he spoke not long ago at a graduation speech.

00:25:47.520 Not this year, but I think it was last or the one before.

00:25:50.400 That's what he's really doing.

00:25:51.640 and the cluelessness is obvious as the nose on your face

00:25:56.080 to anybody who'd take the time to listen.

00:25:59.260 In this next clip, you will hear him compare himself

00:26:02.940 to heroes who risked their lives for our country.

00:26:06.780 Lulu did challenge Pelley a bit

00:26:08.320 on his choice of the violent language,

00:26:10.380 like the murdering of your spouse.

00:26:12.640 And Pelley, well, here's how he answered, watch.

00:26:15.300 In that meeting, you said Weiss was,

00:26:17.000 and I'm quoting here, murdering 60 Minutes,

00:26:18.900 language that you've used here.

00:26:21.640 Can you explain to me what you mean by that?

00:26:25.200 One of the things Nick Bilton said in that ill-fated email to the staff was that he was excited to tell, I'm paraphrasing here, he was excited to tell the staff about the new crop of correspondence.

00:26:43.140 And when I saw that, I thought, okay, they're going to fire all of us eventually.

00:26:50.860 That's the plan.

00:26:52.160 He put it in writing for all of us to see.

00:26:56.300 And so that's why I use these, admittedly for a journalist, hyperbolic terms.

00:27:04.740 Okay, I get it.

00:27:06.220 So you may be unsteady, feeling like everyone's going to get fired.

00:27:08.900 But again, you have no right to your job.

00:27:11.320 You have no right to that position.

00:27:12.620 There's no right.

00:27:14.100 If you have a contract and they fire you without cause,

00:27:17.240 you have a right to your salary until the end of that contract term.

00:27:20.100 That's it. That's it. It's the way it goes. Every on-air person in news understands this.

00:27:31.740 So Scott Pelley gets in the face of his new boss. He confronts him. By the way, that new boss with

00:27:40.960 zero television experience, who nobody respected, who had to read his little statement off of his

00:27:44.740 phone. He's reportedly making $2.3 million a year. That's a joke. That's a joke. Anyway,

00:27:56.200 Scott Pelley confronts him in front of the entire staff and in very dismissive terms,

00:28:03.540 like suggesting that this guy, Bilton, is not going to make it. What the hell is his name?

00:28:10.200 I mean, nobody even knows him, Bilton, Nick Bilton, that he's not going to make it over the long haul.

00:28:16.700 And Pelley is showing open disdain for him, which is by any definition insubordination.

00:28:23.140 And despite all of this, Pelley tells Lulu he never in a million years thought that they would fire him.

00:28:30.740 Watch.

00:28:31.540 Tell me about that meeting and if you were at that point going in expecting to be fired.

00:28:37.800 Oh, gosh, furthest thing from my mind.

00:28:41.020 It hadn't occurred to me.

00:28:42.180 So I walk in the door, and I see Barry Weiss is sitting in there, and I think, this is terrific of her.

00:28:51.980 She's come to this meeting, and now I'm going to be able to ask her these questions.

00:28:56.880 She's going to be able to explain what happened.

00:28:59.460 But it really didn't occur to you that you could be fired after so many of your colleagues had been let go, after you'd had this very contentious interaction with your new boss?

00:29:12.120 You know, some reporter I turned out to be.

00:29:14.360 I just didn't connect the dots.

00:29:18.100 Why not?

00:29:20.160 Because he thought he was untouchable.

00:29:23.700 He didn't think it could ever happen to him.

00:29:25.740 And what you need to realize pretty much in every job, but certainly in a television job, is no one is irreplaceable.

00:29:32.300 No one.

00:29:34.280 It doesn't matter who you are, how big your star is, how badass you were.

00:29:39.220 You are replaceable, and they will replace you, and the organization will go on.

00:29:45.100 It will.

00:29:45.640 It's especially something like 60, which is about the institution and not the individual correspondence.

00:29:50.480 I mean, I, for one, would love to see 60 go back to the way it was during the Ed Bradley, Mike Wallace years, the murderer's row 60, and not Scott Pelley's 60.

00:30:00.780 I would love to see Barry fire everyone there.

00:30:03.220 I would. 0.99

00:30:04.540 Those last three correspondents, they're ridiculous, too. 0.99

00:30:07.500 They just issued a statement over the weekend. 0.98

00:30:09.060 Leslie Stahl, Bill Whitaker, and John Wertheim.

00:30:11.620 Bill Whitaker was the one who interviewed Kamala Harris, remember, when they edited her soundbite to make it look and sound better than it did?

00:30:19.320 Leslie, you know, the laptop can't be verified. And then there's this other guy, John Wertheim,

00:30:24.020 who apparently is in sports. I don't, obviously, you're shocked to hear. I don't know him.

00:30:29.720 They issued a statement saying they're going to stay at 60. I guess 60 wants them to stay.

00:30:36.300 Barry wants them to stay and they're going to stay. But this is what they say.

00:30:41.220 Um, nevertheless, we have decided to stay on. We fear that our returning might be construed

00:30:48.660 as an endorsement of our overlords across the street, meaning Barry and this guy Blinton and

00:30:54.580 others. That is simply categorically not the case. Newsrooms are not supposed to be

00:31:01.760 run like dictatorships. Collaboration and argument are the way we have always worked

00:31:07.280 at 60. And then they go on to say, um, here's why we are staying. We don't want to see 60 minutes

00:31:14.360 die. We've been grieving because this whole mess has been, has wounded and damaged the broadcast.

00:31:19.340 We want to stay and fight, try to repair and preserve our reputation. We're staying for our

00:31:24.520 teams and all the teams we work for you guys. The thought of abandoning you became unbearable. And

00:31:31.140 of course we're staying because this is home. They are staying because they will never get

00:31:35.760 another job in television. They're not special, and they cannot stand the thought of not seeing

00:31:40.400 themselves on camera. That's why they're staying. It has nothing to do with those things they said.

00:31:44.720 Nothing. Nothing whatsoever. Give me a break. I mean, no one's ever even heard of most of them.

00:31:51.860 So that's them trying to cloak themselves in glory as they hold on to their jobs and refuse

00:31:59.100 to walk, why would you? You have a deal, do the best you can, maybe keep an open mind on the

00:32:07.260 suggested changes. But here are a pair of soundbites I really wanted to show you that really,

00:32:13.880 in my mind, tell you what you need to know. Okay? I'm going to tie them together. Here's the first

00:32:18.680 one, Sot7 from Pelly. I was not familiar with her name. So I did some research and discovered

00:32:27.040 those things that you just outlined. What concerned me was that she had zero television 0.98

00:32:33.040 experience and had never managed a large global operation like CBS News. Those were red flags to

00:32:43.860 me. But I thought, you know, David Ellison thinks she's the right person for the job.

00:32:49.800 We are absolutely going to welcome her, listen to her, and give her the benefit of the doubt.

00:32:58.200 I mean, I'm surprised that you hadn't heard of her.

00:33:01.660 She's a lightning rod in journalism.

00:33:04.900 You know, she just hadn't crossed my radar.

00:33:10.200 And if I hadn't heard of Barry Weiss at that point in time, that probably tells you more about me than it does her.

00:33:17.700 Yes, it does.

00:33:19.800 which leads me to SOT 8.

00:33:23.760 Watch this.

00:33:25.100 What was the feeling about that particular opening salvo to the team?

00:33:31.760 Uh-oh.

00:33:33.880 She, I am told, said something to the effect of,

00:33:38.120 why do you think the country thinks you're biased?

00:33:42.280 But she didn't offer any kind of a metric.

00:33:44.940 You know, what's your metric?

00:33:46.480 Why do you think so?

00:33:48.380 Do you have a poll?

00:33:49.800 Is there market research?

00:33:52.140 What are you talking about?

00:33:53.780 Because we certainly didn't believe that.

00:33:57.360 There it is.

00:33:59.180 Right there in a nutshell.

00:34:02.000 He didn't know who Barry Weiss was because he only operates in this rarefied airspace way above it all.

00:34:10.740 He doesn't spend time on digital media or independent media.

00:34:15.900 I guarantee you he thinks that's way beneath him.

00:34:18.560 Why would he familiarize himself with the free press and this low-life Barry Weiss?

00:34:24.260 It's an irrelevant person until she became his boss's boss.

00:34:28.340 So he had absolutely no idea who she was, and I believe him.

00:34:32.860 And he has absolutely no idea that half the country thinks 60 Minutes has lost its way

00:34:38.600 and is incredibly biased against right-leaning conservative or Republican people.

00:34:44.360 No idea.

00:34:45.300 so that this is why it's all part of the same ignorance that has confused scott pelly about

00:34:53.840 who this person is and why she would come in without evidence and say why does half the

00:35:02.400 country think that you're biased why do people think you're biased and he's offended he doesn't

00:35:08.760 know what she's talking about and you heard him there like explicitly defending the charge he had

00:35:13.060 nothing to back it up. Get out of your Upper East Side circles, Scott Pelley, and go to flyover

00:35:23.500 country. Spend some time in Iowa, in Montana, in Arkansas, in Texas. Go anywhere. Go to Ohio

00:35:34.320 where people are hurting right now and ask them whether 60 Minutes Celebrating Germany's

00:35:41.780 crackdown on free speech rights with criminal charges is as funny as Sharon Alfonsi thought it

00:35:52.240 was. Okay, go figure out through contacting real live Americans who don't share your politics.

00:36:02.280 Figure it out for yourself why Barry came in with that knowledge, not opinion, knowledge,

00:36:09.620 and was trying to do you a favor by telling you this, by saying, I actually have been out there.

00:36:19.360 Barry is a liberal lesbian living in California at this point. She's not of flyover country. She's 0.96

00:36:29.620 from, I think, New York. She went to good schools. She went to Columbia for college,

00:36:34.720 all leftist, leftist, leftist. OK, but she's been out there. She reads. She talks to real

00:36:40.800 life people. She has her finger on the pulse of what people want and what they don't want when

00:36:45.500 it comes to identity politics. I mean, unfortunately, as of late, she's apparently

00:36:50.000 trying to expand the definition to include people who are Jewish, which we've had arguments about

00:36:55.920 this for years now. The answer to fighting DEI is not to put more groups into it. So like we're all

00:37:00.540 in there. The answer is to demolish DEI, or now they call it belonging. Note to parents out there,

00:37:06.400 that's the new way they're getting away with DEI in your kid's school. Now it's belonging.

00:37:09.560 Who could be against that? In any event, he didn't know her and he doesn't know her information

00:37:16.120 because he doesn't care. He doesn't fraternize with people like you and me. He thinks we're

00:37:20.580 gross. He thinks we're Nazis. He thinks we're, you know, these dumb Trump-supporting Neanderthal 0.98

00:37:28.640 deplorables. So he wouldn't have any idea that what she's saying is true. Here's the 0.99

00:37:35.660 Moms for Liberty clip. We've shown it before, but this is the guy now. This is the guy who says

00:37:41.040 she had no, she had, she had no support for her accusations. She had no evidence

00:37:48.560 to back up her bias accusations. Watch. Parents send their children to school to be educated,

00:37:54.460 not indoctrinated into ideology.

00:37:56.840 What ideology are they being indoctrinated into?

00:37:59.900 Let's just say children in America cannot read.

00:38:04.100 They often dodged questions with talking points.

00:38:07.680 You're being evasive. 0.98

00:38:08.700 21% of Hispanic students are reading on grade level. 1.00

00:38:11.540 You're being evasive.

00:38:12.080 What ideology are the children being indoctrinated into?

00:38:16.080 What is your fear?

00:38:17.420 I think parents' fears are realized.

00:38:20.300 They're looking at these books where sexual discussions are happening

00:38:23.920 with their children at younger and younger ages. 1.00

00:38:25.840 Tiffany Justice read from sexually explicit books 0.99

00:38:29.940 written for older teens, but found in a few lower schools. 0.61

00:38:35.260 Most people wouldn't want them in a lower school.

00:38:38.260 But in a tactic of outrage politics, 1.00

00:38:41.720 Moms for Liberty takes a kernel of truth

00:38:44.620 and concludes these examples are not rare mistakes, 0.99

00:38:49.100 but a plot to sexualize children. 0.85

00:38:51.920 Oh my God, so infuriating. So infuriating. It's just, it's not like, okay, every time one of these books winds up in a kid's library, it's a plot to sexualize children. 0.99

00:39:09.000 But there's no question that there is a general school of thought that talking about inappropriate sexual acts to children is an OK thing to do for many academic leftists.

00:39:22.200 It has to be. Otherwise, these books wouldn't keep showing up in K through eight libraries in schools.

00:39:30.000 Scott Pelley, shame on you. You shamed. Warriors for children who are trying to protect them.

00:39:39.000 against grooming, which is happening, whether that's the intent or not.

00:39:46.460 It's happening. 0.99

00:39:47.700 That's the relevant point that should have been made on 60 Minutes, you asshole. 1.00

00:39:53.140 The way you groom children into wanting to have sexual relations with adults 1.00

00:39:58.000 is you inappropriately discuss matters that should never be in front of a child first,

00:40:04.120 and then you graduate the child to doing it.

00:40:07.320 Pay attention. 1.00

00:40:09.000 And that's one of the main reasons why moms for liberty object to this smut winding up in our children's classrooms. 0.76

00:40:18.400 It's not Bob and Jane had a hot night together between the sheets.

00:40:22.720 This is not what's happening. 0.99

00:40:24.700 It's talking about anal sex and exactly how to do it. 0.98

00:40:28.080 It's talking about incest, these books do. 0.98

00:40:31.480 Honestly, we've gone through them many times.

00:40:33.880 Shame on this guy.

00:40:34.880 And now he has the nerve to say this, Barry, she's so clueless. 1.00

00:40:39.200 She came in here and accused us of not being fair to conservatives and like dismissing them. 0.99

00:40:43.540 She didn't need a poll, Scott.

00:40:46.700 She'd been watching you.

00:40:49.520 She knows how half the country can't stand you. 0.83

00:40:53.760 Never mind Leslie Stahl. 1.00

00:40:56.140 The laptop can't be verified when a presidential election was on the line.

00:41:01.500 Or Bill Whitaker changing, with his editing team, the Kamala Harris answer when an election was on the line.

00:41:09.520 This is why it's very hard to listen to his little lectures on the journalists who are dying in the field.

00:41:19.240 They deserved better than what you've given them at 60.

00:41:22.520 You besmirched them with these pieces and this so-called journalism.

00:41:26.880 It's yellow.

00:41:28.840 You besmirched them.

00:41:30.540 So don't get all high and mighty with me or Barry or this guy, Nick Bilton, who I've never heard of before.

00:41:37.900 You shamed your newsroom.

00:41:39.780 You did, sir.

00:41:41.140 And Sharon Alfonsi and Leslie Stahl.

00:41:44.600 You are the ones to blame for the 60 Minutes problems, not Barry.

00:41:50.680 Shame on this guy.

00:41:53.220 I'm not buying it.

00:41:54.500 You know, and I've said, I told you last week, I don't think she's handling the tumult well, and I think there was definitely a better way of, like, not preventing this from spilling into a scandal that's in the news every day.

00:42:06.920 But that does not excuse his terrible behavior. 0.55

00:42:15.260 I'm going to end with just this one, Sot 11.

00:42:18.440 President Trump reacted to your being fired.

00:42:22.120 Did he?

00:42:22.980 He went on a podcast and called you a stiff.

00:42:25.860 I'm surprised that the president of the United States would bother to notice, but okay.

00:42:32.100 Please tell me.

00:42:32.940 I'm not aware of this. 1.00

00:42:34.400 He also said you were part of this gang of stupid, crooked people that don't care about your country. 1.00

00:42:42.260 Stupid, I can take that. 1.00

00:42:46.340 Stiff, yeah, probably. 1.00

00:42:47.720 don't care about the country

00:42:52.760 I've never

00:43:00.580 worn the uniform

00:43:01.720 but I've been in combat for this country

00:43:06.920 in Afghanistan

00:43:08.880 and Iraq

00:43:10.680 Kuwait

00:43:12.460 been shot at

00:43:14.600 spent nights in foxholes, filling up with water in the desert.

00:43:23.760 I'm not aware that the president of the United States has ever done any of those things for his country.

00:43:33.040 You know what, Scott Pelley? There are a lot of ways to serve.

00:43:38.260 As you yourself seem to be intimating, you didn't don the uniform.

00:43:43.600 those acts were in service of journalism. That's why you did them. I don't begrudge you

00:43:50.060 any moment of it. How dare you begrudge Donald Trump the sacrifices he's made?

00:43:56.400 Honestly, like Trump literally took a bullet for this country. So fuck off, Scott Pelley. 1.00

00:44:04.440 The absolute arrogance and nerve of that asshole to suggest that because Trump didn't wear the 1.00

00:44:12.240 military uniform. He's done nothing for America. Donald Trump could be sitting in Balmoral, 1.00

00:44:19.420 Scotland at his golf course, enjoying what's soon to be his 80s. He decided to come back

00:44:27.940 and run again after having been impeached twice, besmirched, called a Nazi at every turn,

00:44:36.940 seen his sons become the most subpoenaed presidential children in U.S. history and

00:44:42.760 arguably the most subpoenaed civilians in America. At that point, he ran for re-election

00:44:51.320 in November of 2024, had been nearly assassinated twice and had actually almost

00:44:59.440 taken a bullet in the head. One did hit his head, his ear. He served. You may not like him,

00:45:06.940 but he's served. And even now, I'm not, as you know, in favor of this war in Iran,

00:45:12.120 but it's a call that our commander in chief made. And while you may not like the call,

00:45:18.520 his command is to be respected. Once the call is made, you root for the American troops,

00:45:25.240 as we have been here, too. It's not an easy job. He's got a lot to balance. He's got a lot on his

00:45:32.220 plate. How dare you? How dare you besmirch him because he never actually had a military uniform

00:45:38.200 on while aggrandizing yourself for going over to cover wars as a journalist? It's unbelievable.

00:45:47.000 This is the same thing we're seeing with some leftists now who are ripping on J.D. Vance because

00:45:49.960 he was in the Marines, but he was a correspondent. He was updating the troops and others on what was

00:45:57.040 happening in the war as opposed to on the front lines firing a gun. Who cares? Did you go?

00:46:00.980 Most people didn't go to Iraq. All right. Most people didn't go to Afghanistan. Stop. Just stop. 0.97

00:46:11.580 It just sums up Scott Pelley's arrogance. He wants to elevate himself over Donald Trump,

00:46:17.580 who, by the way, not only has he literally endangered himself in an effort to serve

00:46:23.480 in a job he doesn't have to do and doesn't need, but he actually is the sitting commander in chief.

00:46:29.400 So stop.

00:46:30.360 Don't don't try to compare yourself to him and don't suggest he hasn't served.

00:46:35.380 It isn't true.

00:46:36.320 He's serving right now as the commander in chief of the armed forces.

00:46:40.780 And you know that.

00:46:41.880 And we're at war.

00:46:44.280 I just this is this is your problem, Scott Pelley.

00:46:48.100 This is your problem.

00:46:50.380 Your problem is actually not Barry Weiss.

00:46:52.820 How about starting to show some of that care and family like protection for the country?

00:46:58.880 instead of just some staffers over at CBS News. All right. I want to switch to NBC

00:47:05.040 because Kristen Welker got yet another opportunity to interview the president. 0.90

00:47:10.320 It was in Wisconsin and it didn't go well to the point where Trump got up and ended it early.

00:47:16.720 Here are some highlights. Watch. Do you think it's appropriate that they have an election

00:47:22.120 and five days later, they're nowhere close to picking a winner?

00:47:25.600 local officials acknowledge they are slow. They're urging. No, they're crooked. They're

00:47:29.660 urging the votes to be counted quickly. That's how they vote in California. They're crooked,

00:47:32.580 just like you're crooked. Your press is crooked. And meet the press is crooked. To be fair, 0.99

00:47:36.680 I'm not crooked. But let's continue. Really? Well, you play right into their hands. Let's

00:47:40.060 continue. You're either crooked or you're stupid. You play right into their hands with this rap. 1.00

00:47:44.400 You know that these elections are rigged. Your network knows that they're rigged. And you're

00:47:51.620 crooked. And Mr. Press is crooked. And so is ABC and CBS and CNN. You're one-sided crooked 0.99

00:47:59.560 network. So let's call it quits because I've had enough. Thank you, darling. Have a good time.

00:48:03.560 Mr. President, let's please. I traveled all the way to Wisconsin. I've sat in the rain with you.

00:48:08.700 I know. I've sat in the rain with you for an hour. On and off in the rain. And I've given you

00:48:13.660 enough time. You ought to straighten out your press because you know what? A country can never

00:48:18.440 be great with a dishonest person.

00:48:21.620 Okay. I don't blame him. I got to be honest. I don't blame him.

00:48:30.100 He sat there with her for quite some time. Reportedly, they were together for an hour.

00:48:34.580 And the problem for Kristen Welker is she made that moment about Kristen Welker and about the 0.97

00:48:41.080 vaunted reputation of NBC News. When you are interviewing the president of the United States,

00:48:46.200 especially Donald Trump. You're going to have to give him a little. You got to give him something.

00:48:54.800 It's there's a back and forth in an interview where you can't just keep battering him over the

00:49:01.160 head at every turn. Look at that exchange. He says, is it appropriate? They're talking about

00:49:07.380 California to have an election. And five days later, they're nowhere close to picking. She says

00:49:12.000 state and local officials acknowledge they're slow. They're urging the votes to be counted

00:49:15.720 quickly. He says, no, they're crooked. That's how they vote in California, she says. Now,

00:49:21.480 why wouldn't you, as the news anchor, give him that fucking point? I'm sorry. Why wouldn't you say, 0.99

00:49:27.560 I understand it. It does undermine the confidence for many. That is such a gimme. Give him that.

00:49:34.480 Give him anything. Instead, she's got to take every point on because, you know, otherwise you're

00:49:39.500 an election denier. I've never said the 2020 election was stolen. A lot of my audience would

00:49:44.440 love for me to say that i can see what's happening in california stinks to high heaven and you know

00:49:50.120 what i have credibility to say that because i didn't jump on every election denial denier claim

00:49:55.540 and so on kristen welker you undermine your own credibility you think you're boosting it for nbc

00:50:01.120 by not giving him what everybody can see which is it's suspicious as hell that this woman came out

00:50:08.980 of third place, a distant third in all the days after the actual vote and is now going to be the

00:50:14.840 second to make it into the general election contest over the one Republican, Spencer Pratt,

00:50:19.800 who coincidentally happens to be very Trumpy. Who do they think they're kidding? It's it smells.

00:50:26.860 We don't believe it. But again, just like Scott Pelley, she doesn't understand. Like,

00:50:33.200 what do you mean? Anybody who would be questioning that would be an election denier. So I have to

00:50:37.960 come out and say, oh no, that's how they vote in California. And he's getting frustrated. They're

00:50:43.220 crooked, just like you're crooked. The press is crooked. To be fair, I'm not crooked. Would you 0.99

00:50:47.800 stop? Again, this is Trump's tactic. He's angry with you. Don't take the beat. You don't have to

00:50:55.400 respond to the personal attack in the moment just because he makes it. Whatever. Or maybe try to be

00:51:01.300 playful. Maybe try to lighten the mood because you can see he's getting agitated. He's got a lot

00:51:06.960 on his plate. The whole thing was very antagonistic. And so if you watch the whole thing, there was a

00:51:12.520 lot of this prior to the moment we just showed you. And I honestly, by the time he got up and

00:51:16.320 walked, I didn't I didn't blame him. And I wasn't surprised. She was rude. He he has allowed you to

00:51:23.160 interview him. There's a lot going on in the country right now. I flew all the way to Wisconsin.

00:51:26.520 Who gives a shit? No one cares. You got on a plane. Oh, boo hoo. You have one hour of television 0.99

00:51:31.520 you have to do a week. No one cares. You had to fly to Wisconsin. Please, Mr. President,

00:51:36.380 You're so desperate to save the interview.

00:51:38.060 Why don't you treat him more respectfully as it goes on?

00:51:40.600 And there's a way of challenging him without being so whiny and nasty.

00:51:45.000 Work on that.

00:51:46.620 Try to be a little bit more likable.

00:51:48.240 Try to telegraph to the president that you don't hate him and you don't think everything he's saying is a bunch of nonsense.

00:51:52.600 No, you wanted to perform for your audience.

00:51:54.800 You had to perform for them, for your bosses at NBC.

00:51:58.080 That's why he got up and walked out, which you deserved.

00:52:00.840 And I'm sorry to hear that you're allegedly getting another interview because you don't deserve that.

00:52:05.780 We'll be right back.

00:52:06.980 For the first time since World War II, our national debt has exceeded the gross domestic product.

00:52:15.020 America's reckless government spending keeps catching up with us.

00:52:17.800 Higher inflation, higher prices, higher cost of living expenses, and higher interest payments on the national debt.

00:52:23.800 Every dollar Washington spends on interest is a dollar it has to tax, borrow, or print.

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00:53:19.080 terms apply. We are going to be joined by Mike Rapoli in a minute, but I want to start with

00:53:28.360 just two quick updates on two legal matters that we've been following closely here at the MK Show.

00:53:32.980 First of all, Henry Novak, this young man who was murdered in London as he walked home

00:53:39.860 by a man named Vikram Digwa, who is Sikh, who happens to have brown skin,

00:53:47.100 relevant because Henry was white. And Vikram and his brother told the police that Henry was the

00:53:53.840 aggressor, that Henry was attacking them based on some sort of discriminatory grounds, that they

00:53:58.880 were Sikh, that he ripped off their turbans, called them names, and that he needed to be in

00:54:04.940 trouble criminally for these behaviors. The cops showed up, treated every word of that like it was

00:54:09.400 true, slapped cuffs on Henry, who lay dying, argued with Henry when he told them he'd been stabbed,

00:54:15.280 that he hadn't. In fact, he had been stabbed five times, including in the back of his legs as he

00:54:20.540 tried to run away from this villainous pair and paid the ultimate price for it, for no one believing

00:54:26.600 him and for his white skin. It was absolutely detestable, deplorable. And it was both the fault 0.99

00:54:34.480 of these two Digwa brothers, their mother, who helped hide the murder weapon for them, who also 0.99

00:54:41.040 was found guilty by a jury in the UK, and of the police, who in the moments they had

00:54:47.760 to assess this situation, saw one brown man and one white man and immediately assumed

00:54:53.260 the white man was the evildoer.

00:54:56.040 This is just as evil and wrong as when back in the day, 75, 80 years ago here in America, 0.99

00:55:02.500 we would look at a white man and a black man and assume the opposite. 0.83

00:55:06.620 Just as evil and wrong.

00:55:07.840 We have so overcorrected for a prior history of racism that we are now openly discriminating against whites and white men in particular.

00:55:21.080 And that's what this case is, an example of it.

00:55:24.020 Now we've just gotten our hands on Vikram Digwa's brother's 911 call.

00:55:32.440 Over there, it's 999.

00:55:34.340 He called 999 after the stabbing.

00:55:38.660 And the number of lies in this phone call, I mean, I'd love to know more because I don't know why he called 911 at all.

00:55:49.380 I can only think that they wanted this guy arrested or they knew that they thought he was going to live and they thought he was going to point the finger at them.

00:55:57.380 And they wanted to sort of get the jump on looking like you're the victim.

00:56:03.440 That's my guess. But the number of lies in the brother's 911 call is astonishing. This is the

00:56:09.720 first we've heard it. And here it is. It's emergency. Yeah, we've just been attacked by

00:56:15.960 someone racially. Yeah, that's not true.

00:56:20.840 This is the type of cookies to start off.

00:56:24.800 Sorry, we just got attacked racially by some white person.

00:56:28.780 You're talking about verbally or physically?

00:56:30.740 No, no, he's physically attacked my brother. We're Sikhs, we wear a turban, and he's just attacked my brother.

00:56:36.660 No, he didn't.

00:56:37.460 Have any weapons been involved?

00:56:39.440 No, no, no. No.

00:56:42.740 Leave him one second. I'm calling the police. I'm calling the police. Leave him.

00:56:46.860 We're restraining police. He's verbally attacked my brother racially.

00:56:50.480 He's attacked my brother and took his turban off.

00:56:52.640 Then he's recorded it on his phone, thinking he was going to do something.

00:56:57.820 So I need someone here. ASAP, please.

00:56:59.780 I can't let him go

00:57:03.560 Until this gets sorted

00:57:04.600 I'm not being racially attacked

00:57:06.260 And letting this get away with

00:57:07.640 He said this and he said that

00:57:09.160 What did he specifically say

00:57:10.780 So he said to my brother

00:57:12.840 You're whatever

00:57:14.320 Vic

00:57:16.540 Sorry let me just ask him

00:57:19.700 Vic

00:57:19.960 Did he racially say anything to you

00:57:23.000 Did he racially say anything to you

00:57:24.400 He called him a packie

00:57:25.740 That's what I needed to know

00:57:29.320 Then he's grabbed my brother's hair and started yanking his hair.

00:57:32.040 Obviously his feet have really long hair, as you may be aware,

00:57:34.700 and he started pulling my brother's hair,

00:57:36.520 to which then my brother's grabbed him as well.

00:57:38.440 Has anyone seen any weapons?

00:57:40.800 No, there's no weapons.

00:57:41.880 Is this guy fighting and struggling, trying to get away?

00:57:46.200 At the minute, now he's lying on the floor.

00:57:48.660 He was trying to get away.

00:57:49.800 He jumped over some bins and stuff on the other neighbour's side.

00:57:53.580 He jumped over the bins and tried to leave for the binway.

00:57:56.120 He's left a shoe here as well.

00:57:57.400 so he doesn't have any injuries

00:57:59.380 he's hurt his face

00:58:01.820 I think he's fallen

00:58:02.720 because when you try to

00:58:03.640 climb over the bin

00:58:04.220 he's fallen

00:58:04.560 he's fallen from

00:58:05.780 the one side of the bin

00:58:06.820 over the gates

00:58:07.540 to the other side

00:58:08.260 when you say an injury

00:58:09.900 to his face

00:58:10.440 can you just tell me

00:58:11.040 a bit more about that

00:58:11.880 yeah give me a second

00:58:13.780 let me go back to him

00:58:14.600 so he's hurt his face

00:58:16.480 from his mouth

00:58:17.280 and he's bleeding

00:58:18.220 from the mouth

00:58:18.900 I think he needs

00:58:21.340 medical attention

00:58:22.100 does he need

00:58:24.220 medical attention

00:58:24.860 you reckon

00:58:25.180 he will

00:58:26.580 Yeah, I believe. Yeah. He's jumped. Yeah. So he's jumped over the gates. He's fallen onto a car

00:58:34.540 on the other side. And he's he's obviously very drunk as well at the minute.

00:58:42.040 Just to confirm, no one's seen any weapons. No, no. Such a lie. Such a lie. Vikram had at least

00:58:52.700 two knives on him, reportedly, and one was used to stab Henry Novak five times in an altercation

00:58:59.420 that lasted. He stabbed him. Henry ran. He stabbed. He caught up with him as he tried to run away

00:59:04.580 and stabbed him repeatedly in the back of the legs as he tried to go over that fence

00:59:07.780 that the brother was right there. So the brother calls up and says he's been attacked physically

00:59:13.980 because of his race and verbally because of his race. What did he say? I don't know. Vikram,

00:59:19.880 Were you attacked verbally because of your race?

00:59:21.740 So what are you doing?

00:59:22.360 Why are you calling 9-1-1?

00:59:23.740 He's making things up.

00:59:25.080 And then when asked for the specifics, decided to let Vikram do these specific lies.

00:59:29.300 And Vikram then offers that he called him that word, which over in the UK, my information is it's treated like the N-word.

00:59:36.760 You don't say that word, that P-A-K-I.

00:59:41.240 And so he drops this incendiary allegation, none of which was true.

00:59:46.000 None of this was true.

00:59:48.300 Henry had been videotaping part of the confrontation.

00:59:52.500 Not a word of that is on there.

00:59:53.960 And in fact, what we now know is that there was a recording, a recording two days after the murder in the police's presence where detectives secretly recorded these two brothers speaking in Punjabi to one another.

01:00:14.200 And in this discussion, Digwa, Vikram Digwa, admitted to his brother that he had stabbed Novak and made no mention of his earlier allegation of racial abuse.

01:00:26.800 Instead, he agreed with the brother that he would claim that this was self-defense.

01:00:32.980 These two brothers knew all along what had happened.

01:00:35.300 For some reason, they decided to confront Henry Novak, who was alone.

01:00:38.920 It was two to one.

01:00:40.500 They were the aggressors, not Henry.

01:00:42.740 and they murdered him. Vikram Digwa murdered him. And the mother wound up being an accessory

01:00:49.280 after the fact. That's what happened. There was no racial abuse. If there was any racial abuse, 0.99

01:00:53.900 it was by the Digwa brothers against Henry, who may have been targeted just because he was a white

01:00:58.840 man walking home alone. And that's the 911 call in which you hear the brother lie repeatedly

01:01:05.160 over and over and over. He lies. There were so many lies in there. And most specifically,

01:01:10.520 there were no weapons involved. Really? How'd he get stabbed? What happened there? Walk me through

01:01:15.000 it. He attacked us racially. No, he didn't. He physically attacked us. No, he didn't.

01:01:21.640 Did he racially say anything to you? No, the answer is no, but we heard a lie on there about

01:01:27.100 that slur. He grabbed my brother's hair and pulled off his turban. Zero evidence of that.

01:01:31.640 If Henry did any of that, it was in self-defense as he was getting stabbed five times. And then

01:01:35.380 he tells him there are no weapons, and he knows full well that the brother has been stabbing

01:01:40.920 Henry Novak. Now, this comes out at the same time we learned that the police in London had an

01:01:46.860 initial plan to portray Henry as the aggressor. The Sunday Times of London revealed that the

01:01:53.100 police force designed to do this in an official statement that they had put together three days

01:01:58.080 after his death, but they changed their wording after Henry's family got word of it and objected.

01:02:04.420 An initial police statement they report read as follows.

01:02:08.220 It was reported two men had been assaulted by an unknown man.

01:02:14.020 Henry's the unknown man.

01:02:15.940 The Digwa brothers are the two men.

01:02:17.700 It has been reported two men had been assaulted by an unknown man.

01:02:23.200 The Novak family, raw with grief, became concerned that a false narrative was being pushed about their son and pressured the officers to drop it.

01:02:30.820 And by that point, the police knew that Digwa was a liar because this was after they had heard the two brothers in Punjabi talking to each other about the fact that Vikram had stabbed Novak and had made no mention of the earlier claim of racial abuse.

01:02:49.860 So this has been a lie and a cover-up and a conspiracy to further lie from the beginning and still no accountability for those police officers at all.

01:03:03.540 Now, the latest number I saw was that this could take until September of 2027 for the cops to get back to us with whether there's going to be discipline.

01:03:13.300 It's an outrage.

01:03:15.340 Everyone in the UK is outraged.

01:03:17.220 America has taken notice of this.

01:03:18.620 It's all over social media accounts now.

01:03:20.380 People understand how wrong this is, and that's not going to get it done.

01:03:24.780 A year from now is insufficient.

01:03:26.840 We'll stay on it in the meantime.

01:03:29.100 Then I want to tell you what's happened in the Carmelo Anthony case where it's not going

01:03:32.500 well for team defense at all.

01:03:35.240 They had a rare Saturday court session in which they had multiple witnesses come forward.

01:03:40.820 The prosecution ultimately would rest on Saturday after calling 21 witnesses, 21.

01:03:46.380 um the most emotional over the weekend was the chief medical examiner dr elizabeth ventura

01:03:53.940 who warned that it was going to be graphic testimony and poor austin metcalf's family

01:03:58.560 got up and left the room just a quick line for those of you not familiar with the case

01:04:02.200 austin metcalf 17 was at a track meet where he was participating his twin brother hunter was there too

01:04:07.820 uh carmelo anthony from a neighboring school also 17

01:04:11.700 went into Austin Metcalf's team tent where the track athletes would hang and their fans would

01:04:19.220 hang, some of whom, and wouldn't leave. Carmelo didn't go to their school. There was no reason

01:04:24.920 for him to be in their tent. He was asked apparently by several people to leave. He didn't.

01:04:30.220 And then Carmelo Anthony, who's black, took out a knife and stabbed Austin Metcalf,

01:04:35.720 who had apparently placed hands on Carmelo in some way that's reportedly described by many

01:04:41.220 as not aggressive.

01:04:43.320 In fact, one guy said,

01:04:44.220 I was sitting right next to Carmelo

01:04:46.340 when Austin, at Carmelo's urging,

01:04:50.240 did put his hands on Carmelo,

01:04:52.020 saying, you've got to leave.

01:04:53.300 And he said, the push was so gentle,

01:04:55.540 Carmelo didn't even bump into me.

01:04:57.300 And I was next to him.

01:04:58.600 So this was not some shove,

01:05:00.920 something aggressive.

01:05:02.500 Carmelo kept saying, make me,

01:05:03.740 make me leave, make me.

01:05:05.600 And Austin placed hands on him

01:05:07.360 and the response was instantaneous.

01:05:09.380 he was stabbed in the heart. The medical examiner testified that the wound was gaping two and a

01:05:18.260 half inches in length and quote, not survivable. The prosecutor showed four autopsy photos to the

01:05:24.740 jury. Several jurors appeared emotional, covering their mouths in horror. Hunter held his twin in

01:05:32.680 his arms as he lay dying. The witness accounts of the incident have been almost identical,

01:05:40.640 but all in favor of Austin's version, or I guess the Hunter's version, to be fair. Austin is no

01:05:47.100 longer here. 18-year-old Eddie Parra, a teammate of Austin's at Memorial High School, took the stand.

01:05:54.200 He was in the tent. Carmelo was there. I dabbed him up, Parra said. I think he just means like

01:06:00.720 there was a greeting of some sort. I don't know what dabbed him up means. I mean, dabbing is like

01:06:03.900 the arm motion in any event. He says that he was asked who he noticed in the tent. Carmelo was

01:06:11.520 there. He was asked if he thought it was weird that Anthony was in the tent. Yes, because teams

01:06:17.340 are supposed to be at their own tent. He broke down on the stand when describing the stabbing,

01:06:22.540 saying he noticed blood and a hole in Austin's chest, and that Austin started screaming.

01:06:28.620 The prosecutor asked Parra if the case was about race or self-defense, and Parra said

01:06:33.300 no.

01:06:35.140 He was then asked who was in the wrong that day.

01:06:37.820 He responded, Carmelo.

01:06:39.540 One team witness disputed the claims of self-defense being raised by Carmelo Anthony.

01:06:45.880 He's not being identified because he's underage, but he said he did not believe this was a

01:06:49.820 stabbing that was in self-defense.

01:06:51.660 That was lethal force against non-lethal force, he said.

01:06:55.920 When the prosecution rested, the defense moved for a directed verdict, which is a matter of course for these cases.

01:07:01.060 You say, the prosecution hasn't met its burden.

01:07:03.720 Please direct the verdict my way right now.

01:07:06.060 The judge says no in 99.99% of those cases, as happened here as well.

01:07:10.960 And they certainly have made their burden.

01:07:13.340 Then the defense began presenting its case.

01:07:15.100 They called Centennial High School track coach Adam Linwood to the stand.

01:07:18.760 He said Anthony's teammates nominated him to be captain, trying to paint him as a choir boy.

01:07:26.040 That athletes often go into other teams' tents to mingle.

01:07:29.960 Please.

01:07:31.280 The prosecutor asked, is there any reason an athlete should have a knife at a track meet?

01:07:35.000 This was on Cross.

01:07:36.300 Linwood replied, no.

01:07:38.420 Anthony's defense team argued he acted in self-defense.

01:07:40.800 point out that this town had no policy

01:07:46.400 barring athletes from going into other teams' tents.

01:07:51.020 But of course, there's testimony now

01:07:52.680 that this was the standard practice not to.

01:07:56.540 Just FYI, there were multiple witnesses on Friday

01:08:01.640 and multiple more on Saturday.

01:08:04.120 And the six teens who were on the stand on Friday

01:08:09.800 four of them were black all testified on behalf of austin metcalf because carmelo anthony's family

01:08:16.860 and their spokespeople have tried to make this a racial thing there's zero evidence race had

01:08:20.200 anything whatsoever to do with it nothing nothing has been submitted by anybody uh and four of the

01:08:26.980 teens who testified that this was carmelo's fault and not in self-defense were black

01:08:31.020 don't know what percentage of the ones who testified on saturday if any

01:08:35.600 were black. But they're all telling the same story, that Carmelo was not known or wanted

01:08:43.140 under the Memorial High School tent because he didn't go there, that multiple kids asked him

01:08:48.040 to leave and he refused, that Austin Metcalf took the lead, something that kids say was normal for

01:08:52.740 him, that Carmelo challenged Austin to a fist fight. That's actually the first time we've heard

01:08:59.980 that claim. That was one witness who said that, that Austin responded, I'm not going to fight you

01:09:04.340 at a track meet, bro. And when asked, let's see, by the defense attorney, did Austin grab hold of

01:09:13.660 Carmelo? Teen number four said he didn't get the chance to. He was already stabbed. Teen six

01:09:19.580 described watching the verbal back and forth between Austin and Carmelo. While Carmelo had

01:09:23.960 his hands in his backpack and claimed he had something in his bag, the vein in his arm was

01:09:29.120 visible, said teenager number six. It looked like he was grabbing something. And then there's this

01:09:35.880 from some of the shit-stirring supporters outside of the courthouse 0.99

01:09:41.540 or and beyond. This was, I think, it was just at a turning point event, SOT-16, 0.97

01:09:49.560 or just a turning point table near the proceeding. I'm not sure exactly where this comment was made.

01:09:54.720 you know it was to a turning point correspondent outside of the court listen to this nonsense

01:10:01.540 thought 16 if evidence does come out that carmelo was not in fact fighting for his life when he

01:10:07.540 stabbed and killed austin metcalf do you think that the black community will accept that

01:10:11.460 if if evidence shows that he did not no we're gonna stand by ours regardless they stand by theirs 0.94

01:10:18.100 we're gonna stand by ours regardless i'm a mother first i'm a black mother let me put that on there

01:10:22.820 I'm an African-American mother, so I have to put away my color first

01:10:27.920 and step into the motherhood.

01:10:30.500 Nobody wants to see their child slain,

01:10:32.380 so I do want to send prayers to Austin Metcalf, their family.

01:10:37.960 But at the end of the day, I've got to think, like, okay,

01:10:40.380 what did you do to them or whatever to cause this to happen, the reaction.

01:10:44.600 We've got to start taking accountability for our kids.

01:10:46.680 Because then again, if my kid, that's why I said Catch-22,

01:10:49.200 And too, if my kid was Carmelo and I feel like his back was up against the wall, I'm

01:10:53.440 going to tell you straight up, better mine than yours, better mine than yours.

01:10:56.680 So either way it go, everybody loses.

01:11:00.780 Unbelievable.

01:11:02.220 I mean, first of all, that made no sense.

01:11:03.800 If we're going to start taking accountability for our kids, that means Carmelo should own

01:11:07.420 up to what he did like he did on the spot.

01:11:09.080 I'm not alleged I did it and he should pay the price for it.

01:11:13.260 I'm sorry for Carmelo Anthony and his family, but he should spend the rest of his life in

01:11:16.640 prison.

01:11:17.500 Sorry.

01:11:19.580 That's what needs to happen here.

01:11:22.240 He took a man's life in cold blood for no reason.

01:11:26.520 Absolutely no reason. 0.99

01:11:28.080 The kid seems like a sociopath. 0.92

01:11:31.440 We're going to protect ours. 0.98

01:11:33.720 Really?

01:11:35.720 That's what some of the prospective jurors were saying that got them bounced.

01:11:40.940 And then he had some faction out there saying it was racist to bounce them.

01:11:44.360 That somehow the prosecution should be fine putting on black jurors who were like,

01:11:47.240 I would never vote against one of ours.

01:11:48.580 Oh, okay. This is an absurd attitude. She's a racist. That's what she is. She's a raging

01:11:56.920 racist. They come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. And it's disturbing that if she's some 1.00

01:12:05.200 sort of representative of the community down there in Frisco, Texas, God help the wheels of justice. 0.97

01:12:11.620 if somebody like this, black or white, 0.84

01:12:15.020 would ever wind up on this jury.

01:12:18.120 It's not going well for the defense,

01:12:19.880 and I predict that Carmelo Anthony will be found guilty,

01:12:24.240 and this woman and others who have that kind of attitude

01:12:26.420 will claim racism, and we will cover it for a day, 0.99

01:12:29.420 and then we will promptly move on with our lives

01:12:31.200 while Carmelo Anthony spends the rest of his life in prison.

01:12:35.180 That's the way it works here.

01:12:36.400 I hope it was worth it to feel like a tough guy in the moment.

01:12:39.960 robbed Austin Metcalf of his entire life, his twin brother, of his brother's companionship,

01:12:46.240 his poor parents, who now will spend every anniversary and Christmas and birthday

01:12:51.140 wondering what might have been. It's the callousness with which some people talk about

01:12:58.040 this, the cavalier nature of, we've got to stand by ours. What are you talking about? What if yours

01:13:04.020 does this again? 0.99

01:13:06.480 What if the victim happens to be black? 0.79

01:13:08.320 Would that play on your heartstrings at all? 1.00

01:13:12.160 There's an insane person there.

01:13:15.400 In any event, I'm heartened by the fact

01:13:17.820 that the trial's not going well for the defense. 0.98

01:13:20.200 No one's buying this bullshit claim of self-defense. 0.98

01:13:22.360 There's been no evidence of it. 0.98

01:13:23.480 In fact, just as we came to air,

01:13:25.420 my team just sent me this update.

01:13:27.700 This happened.

01:13:28.980 The defense is obviously grasping at straws.

01:13:31.080 They, per independent journalist, Brianna Morello, who's reporting from inside the courthouse, the defense witness took the stand. He's a teen, will not be identified. According to prosecutors, this teen told police that Carmelo Anthony was surrounded. There's a videotape of it, people. It's not very good. Apparently it's pretty grainy, but you can see bodies. You can see where people were. And prosecutors replayed the video of the stabbing.

01:13:53.840 um this must have been on cross obviously because the prosecution is rested we're in the middle of

01:13:58.340 the defense case now the teen admitted he actually couldn't tell if they had surrounded Carmelo from

01:14:04.200 the footage they hadn't they hadn't there's been multiple eyewitnesses to say no the teen earlier

01:14:10.080 said that they ganged up on him now the teen says he doesn't want to use the term surrounded

01:14:15.280 to describe the scene right because the videotaped evidence belies it so yeah not going well for

01:14:23.580 team defense. And that is a good thing because this defendant happened to admit it on the spot.

01:14:29.620 I'm not alleged. I did it. And he doesn't seem particularly sorry. There's been no expression

01:14:35.220 of remorse whatsoever. So he's a threat, not only obviously in this case to Austin Metcalf,

01:14:42.640 whose life he took, but to society. And what do we do with people like that? We lock them up.

01:14:47.400 We lock them up. That's what should happen to him, in my view. Up next, Mike Rapoli is here

01:14:55.320 on his fascinating life story, the Derby loss, what happened just yesterday or two days ago at

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01:17:48.780 no apologies. Along with The Megyn Kelly Show, you're going to hear from people like Mark 0.99

01:17:52.660 Halperin, Link Lauren, Maureen Callahan, Emily Jashinsky, Jesse Kelly, Real Clear Politics,

01:17:57.940 and many more. It's bold, no BS news, only on the Megyn Kelly channel, Sirius XM 111,

01:18:04.660 and on the Sirius XM app. Now we turn to the world of horse racing with a man who caught

01:18:14.240 our attention following Golden Tempo's stunning victory in the Kentucky Derby last month.

01:18:21.000 Mike Rapoli is a serial entrepreneur and owner of Rapoli Stable, which has more than 300 race

01:18:27.840 horses. His horse, Renegade, was all the buzz at the Derby. It was the favorite, but it came in

01:18:34.980 second, notwithstanding a great race, to Golden Tempo at the Kentucky Derby that day, who came

01:18:40.180 from behind and blew everybody away. And Renegade and Golden Tempo back in action over the weekend

01:18:46.400 for the Belmont Stakes. We'll get to that in a second. But it was Mike Rapoli's reaction

01:18:50.540 to his horse losing the Kentucky Derby that made me fall in love with him from afar.

01:18:57.320 His horse, the favorite, had just lost. That's a disappointing moment for any owner.

01:19:03.660 His jockey, who also was very well respected and expected to win, came over to him.

01:19:10.180 Did he berate the jockey?

01:19:11.980 Did he say, how did you lose that race?

01:19:14.360 We're the favorites.

01:19:15.360 What do you mean?

01:19:15.860 It was your fault.

01:19:17.360 No, no, because you see that jockey happened to be brothers with the jockey who was on

01:19:25.780 Golden Tempo, the winner.

01:19:27.900 Both brothers coming in one and two.

01:19:31.580 And when they crossed the finish line, they held hands together.

01:19:35.280 Such a sweet moment.

01:19:36.280 But you'd think that Mike Rapoli is the owner of Renegade, the horse is the favorite that didn't actually manage to win that one.

01:19:43.780 Might have been a little bit in a bad mood that day or in that moment.

01:19:48.140 And instead, when his jockey, again, the losing brother that day, came back to speak to him, this is what happened.

01:20:06.280 That's why you're the best rider in the country, okay?

01:20:16.840 You're the best, okay? 1.00

01:20:18.740 You're the fucking animal. 1.00

01:20:21.740 You are the fucking animal. 1.00

01:20:23.680 And if you're ever going to fucking lose, you lose to your brother. 1.00

01:20:26.920 Family one for you, okay? 0.99

01:20:28.500 All right? 0.82

01:20:29.400 Let's go beat him up a little bit, okay?

01:20:32.600 I'm so proud of you. 1.00

01:20:33.940 That was a fucking unbelievable rat, yeah? 0.99

01:20:36.280 I love that so much. 1.00

01:20:55.400 It's just an example in great sportsmanship,

01:20:58.240 in understanding what matters,

01:21:01.160 in kindness, support, love.

01:21:04.020 It's a little tough to hear.

01:21:05.120 I know the audio is a little tough, but here's what he said.

01:21:08.360 Jokingly, he says at the top, F your brother, because he just lost to him.

01:21:11.960 He's hugging and kissing him, which you can't see if you're just listening to our program.

01:21:16.040 But he's hugging and kissing the jockey the whole time, saying, you're the best rider.

01:21:19.960 You're the best.

01:21:21.040 He says, if you're ever going to lose, you lose to your brother.

01:21:25.180 You lose to your brother.

01:21:26.100 He said, you did everything right, everything right, as he's hugging and kissing him.

01:21:29.300 So he's making his jockey feel better about the loss

01:21:32.780 and saying, that's what matters, family.

01:21:36.560 What really matters here?

01:21:38.200 Family.

01:21:38.920 Good for your brother.

01:21:39.880 I love that moment so much.

01:21:41.440 I needed to meet him and he's here right now.

01:21:43.240 Mike Rapoli, welcome to the show.

01:21:45.540 Hey, Megan, how are you?

01:21:47.460 I'm great.

01:21:48.680 All right, tell me everything.

01:21:50.200 How were you able to find that magnanimous spirit

01:21:53.760 in that moment?

01:21:54.640 Well, I think you have to go back a little bit.

01:21:56.400 I fell in love with horse racing 40 years ago

01:21:59.080 I was a kid from Queens who used to cut out of school and go to aqueduct.

01:22:03.460 And I think my first entree to being an entrepreneur was taking money from my mom and dad and sneaking out at the track and trying to make an investment back.

01:22:12.340 Because if I didn't make my money back at the end of the day, I'd be in big trouble.

01:22:15.460 So I've been blessed to have so many special horses, been in the game for about 20 years.

01:22:21.800 For people who don't know, I'm now 0 for 12 in the Derby.

01:22:25.580 uh that two of the favorites scratched and um you know you fall in love with um you know my

01:22:32.800 trainer Todd Pletcher I have a great relationship with Johnny Velasquez there you saw Irad Ortiz

01:22:37.560 you know that's the team and I know Irad and Jose since they were 19 18 year old kids

01:22:42.600 they came from Puerto Rico I have a brother who's 15 months younger uh he was a New York City cop

01:22:48.540 I'm a serial entrepreneur uh my dad's a waiter from France and my mom's a seamstress from Italy

01:22:54.900 And, you know, I'm a first-generation kid like these two, and neither one won the Derby.

01:23:00.720 But Irad and both Renegade, obviously, together, gave it their all.

01:23:05.480 The horse could not have been more courageous.

01:23:08.260 Irad, to be in that one post, get banged the way he did at the beginning, to fight through that adversity,

01:23:14.220 to make every single possible move correct for two minutes,

01:23:18.680 and to get to the lead and three or four seconds right before the finish to get caught at the wire.

01:23:25.900 You know, it wasn't just Mike Rapoli, the owner.

01:23:27.620 I always have those kids call me Uncle Mike.

01:23:29.880 And, you know, I just went down there and I just, you know, I'm in my mid 50s.

01:23:33.480 And I saw a young kid who's the best jockey in the country that hasn't won the Kentucky Derby.

01:23:39.520 It's like that great Super Bowl.

01:23:40.920 And he's won every other big race.

01:23:42.340 And all I saw there was a was a nephew that was gave it his all.

01:23:47.120 And I just looked at him as just who he is, just a great kid who, you know, Megan, I have a think, dream, big, think, big, dream, bigger philosophy.

01:23:56.380 And, you know, of course, the Derby is important to me, but I'm so blessed with so many dreams I've already accomplished.

01:24:02.120 I just wanted that so bad for him.

01:24:05.140 I can't believe you had the presence of mind in the moment because I mean, I know some people in horse racing and like the moment right after you lose when you're, you know, you had a shot at winning is a very tough moment.

01:24:16.300 It's like the disappointment is pretty acute. But in that moment, you were building him up.

01:24:23.120 You were there for him. And technically, you're way above him on the totem pole.

01:24:26.940 But like there wasn't a moment of reproach. There wasn't like keep him away from me.

01:24:31.980 I can't talk to him right now. There was only you hugging and kissing him, telling him what a great job he did, what a badass he was.

01:24:38.280 and like getting the sentiment exactly right,

01:24:42.240 which is like, but your brother,

01:24:44.320 your brother had this moment

01:24:45.920 and we're all happy for your brother.

01:24:48.020 It brings a tear to my eye.

01:24:49.700 I just, so you know Jose as well,

01:24:51.540 who was on Golden Tempo

01:24:53.340 and actually did get the W that day.

01:24:55.020 Yeah, and we've gone to dinner together

01:24:56.920 as they have grown up in this game.

01:24:59.140 I knew them before they're married.

01:25:00.580 They're both married.

01:25:01.460 They both have three kids under 10 years old.

01:25:03.840 I'm an older parent.

01:25:04.780 I've been married to my wife, Maria, for 26 years,

01:25:06.660 But we went through some personal hurdles.

01:25:09.060 I have a 10-year-old daughter, Joya Mia, which means my joy in Italian.

01:25:12.240 So, you know, I know this feeling about having young kids and what they've done.

01:25:16.700 And, you know, again, you know, you said something, the totem pole.

01:25:21.780 I mean, you know, my grandmother passed away five years ago at 90 years old.

01:25:27.740 She was a 42-year-old grandmother.

01:25:29.880 My dad was a waiter in a French restaurant.

01:25:31.940 And then he was a banquet waiter at Lexington Marriott.

01:25:34.660 and my mom was a seamstress.

01:25:36.720 So I'm pretty low on the totem pole too.

01:25:38.920 And I'm always going to be Mike from Queens

01:25:40.040 no matter what I've accomplished.

01:25:42.080 I love that attitude.

01:25:43.600 You, I mean, the audience knows

01:25:45.000 because I told them at the top of the first hour

01:25:46.360 that you're worth over $2 billion now,

01:25:48.300 two and a half or so reportedly.

01:25:50.020 And yet you still have that attitude.

01:25:52.480 You're still a kid from Queens.

01:25:53.780 You still are the guy who grew up in that apartment

01:25:55.700 that if it was a thousand square foot, it was a lot.

01:25:58.900 That's key, wouldn't you say?

01:26:00.360 I mean, that's one of the main reasons

01:26:02.300 you became so successful.

01:26:03.820 You know, listen, you can never forget where you came from.

01:26:07.800 But not only do I know where I came from, I know what my parents came from.

01:26:11.200 And I know what my grandmother came from.

01:26:12.600 And someone told me that you grew up in the suburbs of Saratoga.

01:26:16.300 So I'm sure wherever you live now, wherever I live now, our homes are a little bit different

01:26:20.520 than the homes that we grew up with.

01:26:21.900 And, you know, I shared a room by my brother for 28 years, and I only got my own room because

01:26:26.620 he got married first.

01:26:27.920 So I got my own room for a year.

01:26:30.300 And, you know, family's everything.

01:26:32.200 and and your friends and you know I had 75 family and friends member there you know when they crossed

01:26:39.020 the line I mean I put my head down for a good 45 seconds and I could just hear people like my

01:26:44.920 daughter crying my wife crying people in agony and once I put my head up you know it's it's it

01:26:52.360 was about them and they wanted it for me more than I wanted for myself and then it was very easy for

01:26:57.840 when I saw Irat in that moment, just to, it was just about him, man. And, and, you know,

01:27:02.860 there's no one that loves winning more than me, Megan, but no one who accepts and learns from

01:27:07.940 losing more than me. And I think you can learn, you actually learn more than losing in life than

01:27:12.420 actually winning. And some people forget about that message. It takes a big man though. I have

01:27:18.060 to say again, I don't, I don't know you at all. I don't, now I know, now I've, I've learned that

01:27:22.820 you invented, came up with smart water and vitamin water. Got it. Yes. Very familiar,

01:27:29.300 but I didn't know you at all. And then, and then I just thought you were into horse racing. And I

01:27:32.900 realized you're this very successful entrepreneur, but I'm, I was so impressed by it, Mike. I got to

01:27:37.080 say, it's like, there's so many examples in the news and I've, I've heard your mouth. So I think,

01:27:41.840 I know you're not going to be offended. So many douchebags out there. It's like great to see 0.98

01:27:46.600 somebody who just makes you feel good about our country, our athletic events, you know,

01:27:51.540 winning and losing, who projects the right attitude to the kids. I was watching that with

01:27:55.840 my kids. I'm like, you see that? Look at him. Look what he did. You know, you were an example

01:27:59.940 in the moment. We have two few heroes out there. So thank you for being one of them. And along

01:28:05.280 with I read showing, showing my kids and others across the country how to lose grace, gracefully.

01:28:10.440 Yeah. And you said the word that I'll use, you can still be a likable douchebag. You know, 0.98

01:28:15.840 you don't have to be, it doesn't always have to be controversial. I mean, you know, trust me,

01:28:19.900 If you ask me my wife for 80, you know, 26 years, if you ask her if I'm an asshole, she'll say yes. 0.99

01:28:24.480 If you ask you, do you love me? She'll say more than anything. 0.99

01:28:26.700 So, you know, the biggest thing I try to I try to portray to my daughter, who's 10 years old and even even others.

01:28:33.120 I mean, I'm always going to be Mike from Queens. I always try to tell kids, just be yourself.

01:28:38.460 Just be you. We live in a society where we worry more about what people think or what people want us to say.

01:28:44.520 And at the end of the day, it's I think it's really why we have so many unhappy children, unhappy people.

01:28:50.680 They go through life faking it. I mean, be yourself, be proud.

01:28:54.720 And and, you know, listen, you can agree to disagree.

01:28:57.840 Reason why I have the same friends for 45 years is they can complain to me about anything they want.

01:29:02.980 We've had this incredible life, incredible journey taken together.

01:29:06.100 And, you know, once in a while, my my friends of 45 years have to have tough conversations with me.

01:29:11.640 recently they uh they came to me with a very serious subject and they weren't happy with the

01:29:16.920 food on the private plane it's a very very serious subject you know considering we used to go to

01:29:21.080 mcdonald's and pizza every friday the private plane didn't meet their standards so i had to

01:29:25.620 work on that but it's the ability to be real i like that they're leaning in yeah they have to

01:29:30.320 they have to feel i have to make them happy man that's my goal in life right so why shouldn't they

01:29:36.180 have the best um let's go back to that moment if you'll if you'll permit me at the kentucky derby

01:29:40.840 then we'll get to what happened uh this past weekend but at the derby we were all we weren't

01:29:45.440 at the derby but we were watching at home because we always get dressed up in my home in connecticut

01:29:49.560 and we watch as a family we have our virgin mint juleps and and we watch and enjoy and here was

01:29:56.240 that incredible come from behind moment uh by golden tempo renegade right there stop 52

01:30:02.180 renegade is in behind that group he's on the rail he's got 10 lengths to make up

01:30:07.220 as 6-speed and Denon Burbeter 1-2 on the far turn.

01:30:11.200 Mike Smith is so happy you're there to their outside.

01:30:14.420 Two and a half back, and then down toward the inside

01:30:17.660 comes emerging market as they make their way to the top of the stretch.

01:30:21.620 Further ado is getting going on the far outside with commandment.

01:30:25.740 They're both putting in their runs as they arrive into the final furlong.

01:30:30.260 Oh, Sally is also gaining ground on the far outside

01:30:33.900 as they come to the last 16th of a mile.

01:30:36.460 Denon Bourbon in front, both selling a huge long shot.

01:30:40.260 Renegade and Golden Tempo are closing two.

01:30:43.640 Here's Golden Tempo.

01:30:46.240 Golden Tempo and Cherie DeVoe make history in the Kentucky Derby

01:30:52.340 over Renegade in a final time of 2.02.27 seconds.

01:30:59.560 Oh, the two brothers held the hands.

01:31:01.780 It was just so sweet.

01:31:03.160 So can you just spend a minute on this horse, Golden Tempo?

01:31:07.380 Because, spoiler alert, Golden Tempo also just won the Belmont Stakes.

01:31:11.800 He did not race in the Preakness, which was too close in time to the Derby.

01:31:16.200 A lot of horse owners decide to make that same choice for the health and goodness of their own horse.

01:31:21.300 But can you describe this horse, Golden Tempo?

01:31:24.240 Because he did it again at the Belmont Stakes, coming from behind to win the whole thing.

01:31:28.480 And he beat me again.

01:31:29.600 We were the favorite, and he beat us again.

01:31:31.380 I didn't want to mention that, Mike.

01:31:33.160 We came in third. We had the lead at the top of the stretch and two horses got outside us and they had the momentum.

01:31:41.520 And then I think when Golden Temple got by us, the other horse, Commandment, just went with Golden Temple, who actually came in sixth, I think, in the derby.

01:31:48.680 And, you know, you know, when you when you see that moment, you know, you know, I've been blessed.

01:31:53.960 I mean, you know, the biggest race I've ever won in my life was in 2022.

01:31:59.420 This Belmont Stakes that just was this weekend, I came in first and second with both my horses.

01:32:03.940 And I've always said as a kid, I've wanted to win the Belmont Stakes more than the Kentucky

01:32:07.200 Derby.

01:32:08.480 But now that I've won the Belmont Stakes, I want to win the Kentucky Derby, right?

01:32:11.460 So, you know, there's a moment in the stretch that you really might be a 15 second spot

01:32:16.920 where you think you're going to win this.

01:32:19.420 You think you're going to win this.

01:32:20.820 and you think about dreaming about this race for 40 years and here it comes and it's so close

01:32:26.420 and here you go and you can vision it just for 15 seconds and then it ends like that and you

01:32:32.020 get caught at the wire and then you got to regroup and you know listen i you you learn more about

01:32:37.900 people through adversity anybody's a great friend a great family member things are going great

01:32:44.140 everybody's winning everybody's happy but life isn't defined by good times and happiness it's

01:32:49.960 good it's it's it's defined by losses and adversity and to me listen it it's i'll say it

01:32:56.920 this way toughest loss of my racing life will always be renegade to golden temple the one of

01:33:04.020 the best accomplishments in my entire life being a kid from queens is being second in the kentucky

01:33:09.280 derby by a head um i think megan maybe six or seven more years of therapy i think i should be

01:33:14.620 okay i might be able to get over it but um but you know what you can't change it and now i'm

01:33:20.140 starting to look to the 2027 derby right i got something to chase well and also like you had a

01:33:27.160 horse you have renegade in the kentucky derby i didn't have that nobody listened to this had that

01:33:31.280 that's such an accomplishment what you've done in racing and it's just like a blip on your resume

01:33:35.440 it's like an extra that would be a throwaway for uh for you but not for most people would be our

01:33:40.040 only accomplishment so all of it is just really it's incredible and you gave us all such a

01:33:44.440 thrill. Like that, the horse is, Renegade's amazing. And that moment between the Jockey

01:33:49.460 Brothers was just something that was unforgettable. Can I ask you about the, I don't really know a lot

01:33:54.500 about horse safety. I think most people who watch horse racing love the horses and they worry about,

01:34:01.700 you know, whether they're being well taken care of. And this has been a bit of a scandal because

01:34:06.040 there have been a lot of horses who have died in thoroughbred racing. So what's the status of that?

01:34:10.600 what's your opinion of of that yeah the unfortunate part of horse racing is any other sport if a horse

01:34:18.160 if a person either breaks an ankle or sprains an ankle um you know he's on the shelf for six weeks

01:34:25.000 to 12 weeks unfortunately the way these horses are built they have these four legs that carry

01:34:30.580 anywhere from a thousand to twelve hundred pounds so unfortunately there is no science right now

01:34:35.660 that if they break a leg and it can't be fixed properly,

01:34:40.180 they either unfortunately have to be euthanized

01:34:43.580 or they possibly could get lemonitis,

01:34:47.300 which means no blood gets to this spot

01:34:49.520 and they can die from that.

01:34:51.240 So it's unfortunate that that's the situation.

01:34:55.920 I mean, there's been a lot of done on horse safety.

01:34:59.680 And the other thing that we've been tackling

01:35:02.020 and we're very close to is

01:35:03.740 there's a there's a safe act which really is about horse slaughter where people can ship horses to

01:35:10.280 Mexico or other countries where they actually eat horse as a delicacy and we have a bill right now

01:35:18.360 that just got I think it passed one of the houses and if we can stop that we can stop any horse from

01:35:24.180 being shipped out for slaughter so there's good work being done better work being done but I

01:35:29.980 couldn't sit here and tell you that never will there ever be an injury to horse racing where

01:35:34.600 unfortunately they won't have to be euthanized because of the way they're built but you know

01:35:39.820 we i mean there's a ton of precautions there's a ton of safety but hey it happens in life it

01:35:45.380 help happens in you know if you're driving past midnight it's it's it's it's one it's the saddest

01:35:50.680 part of the game that is we've gotten so much better at it but it's not fixable unless you

01:35:56.840 completely stopped the sport and but we've done a very good job because i know you also did not

01:36:02.820 race renegade in the preakness is the preakness just too close to the derby and can that be

01:36:07.820 fixed like why why is it so close that all these great horses who win or come close to winning in

01:36:13.780 the derby don't race megan you know i love this sport and i grew up with the sport for the last

01:36:18.920 40 years i i came to love it um you know i also have the united football league i'm involved in

01:36:25.820 st john's basketball um it's the worst marketed sport in the united states it's the worst run

01:36:32.400 sport in the united states um you know there's there's organizations that have been around

01:36:37.580 since the late 1800s that unfortunately haven't been able to let go of the sport

01:36:42.260 it reminds me megan i heard the clip that you had on ufc well before ufc there was boxing

01:36:48.880 and boxing was not regulated properly was not run properly and horse racing is at that stage right

01:36:55.220 now. I'm sure you've gone to Saratoga being a girl from upstate New York. And if you bring

01:37:02.240 people to Saratoga, it's something they fall in love with. If you've ever been to the Derby,

01:37:06.700 it's an event. This year, 25 million people viewed the Kentucky Derby. But the retention

01:37:13.400 of being able to hold them isn't there because there's no one really looking at what is the

01:37:19.120 best interest as a whole of the entire sport. It's one of the things I'm trying to fight

01:37:24.500 for fan interaction, gambling, ownership, breeding.

01:37:31.880 I mean, New York State, a lot of the breeding money

01:37:34.140 comes from upstate breeders that need horse racing to succeed.

01:37:39.260 California needed horse racing.

01:37:41.360 Kentucky is the king of state of racing,

01:37:45.360 but it's a great sport.

01:37:47.360 And I think I really, for the first time in about 10 years,

01:37:51.400 I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel that people are now looking to work

01:37:56.940 together versus staying silos and only want to fix their spoke of this 10 wheel spoke. But,

01:38:03.760 um, you know, I'm sure you're, you love going, but when it's not a big race or a big event,

01:38:09.620 you forget about it. The other 362 days a year.

01:38:13.440 Mm-hmm. Yeah, that's true. Yeah, no, I grew up in a suburb of Albany, which is a stone's

01:38:17.820 from Saratoga. And we went up there all the time for all sorts of reasons. Saratoga is just charming,

01:38:22.220 but the racetrack is like time travel. It's stuck in 1959 in a great way. And they're having the,

01:38:28.540 they're having the Belmont stakes there now, because I guess they're redoing the racetrack

01:38:31.840 over at the Belmont. So Saratoga it is, but we'll definitely be there. We try to go as often as we

01:38:36.020 can in the summer and we'll definitely be there this summer as well. Let me just expand it. The

01:38:40.020 time we have left to your, your other, you know, your real empire, all of your work and smart water

01:38:45.680 and so on, I read that one of the early business partners you coupled with was Kobe Bryant.

01:38:53.080 And that is such a wonderful but tragic story. How did you come to know Kobe? And what did you

01:39:00.800 make of his legacy? We started a small or invited one with my partner, Darius Bykov, who was from

01:39:06.760 Manhattan and I was from Queens. And we had this $100,000 company that he basically began. And

01:39:12.740 it was $100,000 for three straight years. And, you know, we kind of joined together. We had two

01:39:17.140 different personalities. It's one thing that I always talk about when you go into business with

01:39:22.120 another co-founder or partner, you know, go to business with someone that adds a different point

01:39:27.560 of view, not someone who thinks like you or dreams like you, but someone who's got a different

01:39:32.360 skill set. I do a lot of sales and marketing. He was ops and finance. He was more visionary. I was

01:39:36.720 more strategy and work together. We built this incredible brand, Smartwater Vitamortar. You know,

01:39:41.620 was 36 years old and we went from two employees to 600 employees and uh you know we sold for 4.1

01:39:47.320 billion but the real story about that was i always believed success is best when shared so

01:39:51.860 i started a 10 option pool for all the employees because i wanted everybody to be an owner and you

01:39:58.600 know 10 of 4.1 billion is 410 million and when you divide that by 600 employees obviously presidents

01:40:04.500 and vps made more but when the receptionist who's making 45 000 back in 2007 is gets a check for

01:40:11.520 400 000 and the shipping clerk gets a check for 700 000 and you create 250 millionaires i mean

01:40:18.080 it really is a great feeling and i've taken that with me with body armor with noble with kind bars

01:40:23.840 with pirate's booty just about making people owners letting them build something with you

01:40:29.120 together and i think it's so important that you know oh the stock market is doing so great look

01:40:34.400 at this it's one percent of the people why not profit share why not these kids are graduating

01:40:39.360 college. I doubt your education is going to cost you as much as your kids' education is going to

01:40:44.460 cost you or did. My parents were able to pay $5,000 a year for St. John's. I have one 10-year-old

01:40:50.620 daughter. I've already paid for seven college educations, but that's okay. And I'll pay for

01:40:53.920 more. But how do these kids graduate to get a $50,000 job? The math doesn't work. So how can

01:41:00.240 we get these employees to really share the success with this next generation? Because

01:41:04.720 I used to think they had it easier than us till about 10 years ago. And I'm not sure if Megyn

01:41:11.000 Kelly's Megyn Kelly and Micropoli's Micropoli, if we were 15 years old today versus being 15 years,

01:41:16.620 you know, when we were 15. So to me, that's, that's very important.

01:41:21.020 I worry about it too. I worry about it too. It's like, I don't, especially with AI,

01:41:25.440 very concerned about the job prospects of our kids. But I love, I love that you've given back

01:41:29.840 to St. John, because, you know, that's also not too far away from my hood. And it's, of course,

01:41:34.920 I know it from basketball. What I learned in reading up on you is one of the reasons we know

01:41:37.760 for basketball is because Mike Ropoli has given $10 million to the program. You've given away

01:41:42.040 tens of millions of dollars to so many different cancer researches, Sloan, Kettering, like the list

01:41:47.120 is very long. It's got to feel so good, Mike. You know what? It's the best thing I do. I mean,

01:41:52.160 I think, I think at the end of the day, I listen, I always know if I'm going to be successful,

01:41:57.460 you know i don't look at it like my number or my accomplishment the ability to share it with my

01:42:02.940 friends and family the ability to share it with my vitemortar family or my pirate's booty family

01:42:07.460 or my junkless family or my noble family all the brands ufl and and and helping people reach their

01:42:14.100 dreams to me is is more special than i mean you know listen i didn't want to be the only rich

01:42:19.440 person out of my friends and family i wanted everyone to just success so when when vitemortar

01:42:24.180 sold you know my brother gave me a hundred thousand dollars my aunt gave me a hundred thousand dollars

01:42:28.140 my parents gave me their their life savings and you know I was crazy probably to take it but I

01:42:33.540 was a little naive but you know success is best when shared it's so important and then quickly

01:42:38.120 you talked about my relationship with Kobe you know Kobe came to me after he tore his Achilles

01:42:42.920 I was friends with him in 07 or 08 and the one thing he said to me is Mike I my basketball career

01:42:49.120 at the end. I need to know how to be an entrepreneur. I got another 50 years of my life.

01:42:53.800 So I spoke to Kobe in a way that nobody else spoke to Kobe. I mean, I didn't really like him

01:42:58.680 in basketball. I wish that he lost every game. But when I knew Kobe, the person, and you know,

01:43:03.640 the biggest compliment he gave me, and it was a compliment he probably didn't mean, was there's

01:43:08.020 only two people that talked to me like this, you and Vanessa. I said, good, I'm glad. And we built

01:43:13.920 this beautiful, beautiful dream. He gave me $6 million and he wanted up, the family ended up

01:43:19.880 getting $450 million in total. And Kobe knows that in heaven, his great, great, great grandchildren

01:43:25.420 are taken care of and still talk to Vanessa, Natalia, Capri and BB. And you know, it's maybe

01:43:31.260 I got to run because we had 15 seconds to the hard break, but God bless you for helping him

01:43:36.440 in so many families. If only his prediction of 50 more years had been true. All the best. We'll

01:43:41.800 continue to follow it. Thanks for the memories. We're back tomorrow. We'll see you then.

01:43:46.960 Thanks for listening to The Megyn Kelly Show. No BS, no agenda, and no fear.

The Megyn Kelly Show - June 08, 2026

Scott Pelley's Smug Bias, and Why Trump Was Right to Leave NBC Interview, Plus Entrepreneur and Horse Racing Owner Mike Repole ｜ Ep. 1334

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