The Megyn Kelly Show - The Important and Powerful New Movie ＂Reagan,＂ with Dennis Quaid, Penelope Ann Miller, Dan Lauria, and Clint Black

00:00:00.620 Welcome to The Megyn Kelly Show, live on Sirius XM channel 111 every weekday at noon east.

00:00:11.680 Hey everyone, I'm Megyn Kelly. Welcome to The Megyn Kelly Show, coming to you live from the Sirius XM studios in New York today, our HQ.

00:00:19.120 We've got a very special show for you today. I'm thrilled. It's great. This is actually the perfect day to be doing this.

00:00:24.480 There's not that much news. There's a small bump for Kamala Harris, arguably, in the polls, but honestly, it's questionable.

00:00:31.480 And the biggest one was the Fox News poll, showing things tightening up in the swing states, but they don't have prior polling to show us whether that's a bounce or not.

00:00:37.680 So just calm down. Just calm down. Do you ever watch a tennis game? I watch my husband play tennis. I watch my kids play tennis.

00:00:43.440 They're down, you know, 30, love. I'm like, ah! Minutes later, they've won the game. All right, so just calm down.

00:00:49.320 Today's just a snapshot. That's the news of the day. There, I've caught you up.

00:00:52.840 Also, there's a bunch of nonsense going on about what happened at Arlington National Cemetery.

00:00:57.080 Here's the bottom line. Trump went and Biden didn't. Biden thinks he lost no one during his entire presidency, and he did.

00:01:05.340 He lost more than those 13 service personnel who fell on the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, and now they're trying to take Trump's appearance at the request of the families at Arlington and make it into a political storm for him.

00:01:16.640 Okay, you're caught up. Let's get to the fun thing that we want to talk about today, and that is the movie Reagan.

00:01:21.740 This movie, you need to see it for so many different reasons. So first of all, now I've watched it twice, and what you take away when you watch this movie is not, I love Ronald Reagan, though that's one of the things you're going to take away.

00:01:34.360 It's, I love this country. I believe in this country. I believe in my fellow Americans, and we can get back to a place where we are leading with love and respect,

00:01:43.740 even though we're going to fight bare-knuckle brawls during the day, during our political arguments, and so on.

00:01:49.460 It hits theaters this weekend, okay, so you've got to go to the theater and support this film.

00:01:54.000 It really is a must-see, and this could not come at a more appropriate time, with our tumultuous political landscape mirroring the 1980s in many ways, actually.

00:02:03.560 I'm going to show you first some of the trailer. Watch.

00:02:05.700 There's nothing a retired governor can do about the Soviets, but a president.

00:02:10.160 I'm sure you're okay with me.

00:02:11.020 Now he can do a thing or two.

00:02:12.160 Yeah, he's good.

00:02:13.060 Welcome to your life.

00:02:16.380 I was a lifeguard on a river.

00:02:19.000 There's no turning back.

00:02:22.420 And I learned how to read the currents.

00:02:27.480 Not just the ones on the surface, but also the ones deep underneath the water.

00:02:33.620 I am about to start the biggest war of this century, and I'm not going to fire a single shot.

00:02:43.040 You're going to blow up eight years of diplomacy.

00:02:44.940 Well, if you think that got their undies in a wand, you just wait.

00:02:48.560 What did the president know, and when did he know it?

00:02:51.260 What would you have me do?

00:02:53.180 I want you to fight.

00:02:54.260 Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.

00:03:11.100 I got the chills.

00:03:12.680 It gave me a chill.

00:03:13.420 Every time I say that trailer, so well done.

00:03:16.260 The cast of Reagan joins me today.

00:03:18.480 Actress Penelope Ann Miller, who plays Nancy, and Dan Loria, who plays Tip O'Neill, are on deck.

00:03:24.660 But first, we are joined by legendary actor Dennis Quaid.

00:03:30.280 Dennis, so great to see you again.

00:03:31.620 How are you?

00:03:32.340 Great to see you, Megat.

00:03:33.580 You were there at the beginning, before we started shooting, in fact, when we did that interview out at the Reagan Ranch.

00:03:39.200 Yes, that was 2018.

00:03:40.880 My team actually pulled some footage of you giving me a tour.

00:03:44.800 Let's take a look at it, because it seems like another lifetime ago.

00:03:47.780 Let's watch some of that.

00:03:50.140 The Western White House.

00:03:51.640 All right, so let's check it out.

00:03:53.540 Just last month, Quaid was tapped to play the title role in the upcoming star-studded biopic, Reagan, about the life of the 40th president.

00:04:01.560 Pretty impressive.

00:04:03.200 I voted for Reagan the first time, by the way.

00:04:05.720 Yeah, and I voted on both sides.

00:04:08.120 I'm not a Republican.

00:04:09.040 I'm not a Democrat.

00:04:09.700 I'm an independent, always have been.

00:04:11.780 Is that allowed in Hollywood?

00:04:13.000 I didn't realize that was allowed.

00:04:14.980 To be an independent, yeah, that's allowed.

00:04:16.580 That's how I get away with it.

00:04:19.700 It's mostly just about what was the little things that were important to him in his life, I think.

00:04:24.640 Like his bookcase, I find so extraordinary.

00:04:27.640 Look at that.

00:04:31.720 It's going to be important who plays Nancy.

00:04:33.860 Yeah, really, really important.

00:04:35.420 All right?

00:04:35.700 You're going to have chemistry with her.

00:04:37.280 I mean, that was a true love affair.

00:04:38.480 And that was just walking around their actual ranch, the Reagan Ranch, in which, I mean, it's preserved like a time capsule with their clothes and everything.

00:04:47.900 Yes.

00:04:48.380 Some friends bought it after his passing, and they left it exactly as it was.

00:04:53.460 It's not open to the public.

00:04:55.300 Their clothes are in the closet.

00:04:57.080 You expect them to be coming back.

00:04:58.700 I remember the head and shoulders in the shower.

00:05:01.880 This feels like a HIPAA violation.

00:05:03.700 Was that Nancy or Ron?

00:05:05.020 I'm not sure.

00:05:05.640 But, yeah, and the Liberty Bell shower head and the king-sized bed, which is two single beds that are zip-tied together.

00:05:12.680 Fancy.

00:05:13.360 Yeah.

00:05:13.680 That's what I realized, that Reagan was not a rich man.

00:05:16.940 Right.

00:05:17.500 That place is how many square feet?

00:05:19.360 I'd say 1,100 tops.

00:05:21.240 Wow.

00:05:21.540 You know, and that you can really feel his spirit there.

00:05:26.200 That's really going there the first time was what made me say yes to that, because I could really feel him there.

00:05:35.000 But it's such a big challenge.

00:05:36.600 It's so scary to play somebody that well-known.

00:05:39.140 Yeah.

00:05:39.820 And that distinctive in his look, right?

00:05:42.640 So was there any hesitation of, like, am I going to be able to embody him?

00:05:45.620 Well, when I was asked to do it, fear went up my spine, because, you know, Reagan is like Muhammad Ali.

00:05:52.420 You show his picture to anyone in the world, and they know who he is.

00:05:57.160 And he was also my favorite president.

00:05:59.380 I felt all these feelings of being not worthy.

00:06:02.280 And then I – so it took some time to think about it, and it was when I went up to the ranch that I could feel him.

00:06:11.740 Because I didn't want to do an impersonation.

00:06:13.600 I wanted to get to the human being behind the public persona of Reagan.

00:06:18.180 And, you know, one thing I did find out that was really interesting, it was that to a person, they said that Reagan was – and sometimes – well, there was a part of him that was unknowable.

00:06:32.720 That a very private place that he had.

00:06:35.580 And, you know, this is the great communicator, but I think he had a deep place of privacy inside him that he kept sacred.

00:06:47.020 I should tell the audience that in the studio with us here, we have Miss Peaches, who is – she's meandering now.

00:06:52.640 This is Dennis' bulldog.

00:06:54.280 And Miss Peaches actually plays a role in this story, too, because in that footage we just showed of Dennis and I at the ranch.

00:07:00.880 Yeah.

00:07:01.080 Here she is.

00:07:02.860 Look at her.

00:07:03.960 We were talking, and there's a scene in the movie right by that pond of Dennis and Penelope.

00:07:09.760 Right.

00:07:10.200 As Nancy and Ronald rowing a rowboat, and we were standing right in front of that pond and shooting an interview.

00:07:16.500 Yeah.

00:07:16.860 And Miss Peaches, I mean, she just dropped like a stone into that pond.

00:07:21.320 Yeah, apparently it drops off very quickly.

00:07:23.800 And I bulldog's –

00:07:24.080 The next thing you know, I look up, I see your cameraman.

00:07:26.640 It just drops his camera and goes to rescue Peaches.

00:07:29.180 He saved Miss Peaches.

00:07:30.300 Yeah, he did.

00:07:30.820 I guess bulldogs can't swim.

00:07:32.500 They cannot swim at all.

00:07:34.340 So anyway, she's alive and well.

00:07:35.900 Here we are six years later.

00:07:36.840 She's fine.

00:07:36.960 And she's naturally careful.

00:07:38.280 She's roaming the studio.

00:07:39.600 If you hear her heavy breathing, it's not Dennis and it's not me.

00:07:42.440 It's Miss Peaches.

00:07:43.860 So you decided to take on the role.

00:07:45.380 You had played Bill Clinton.

00:07:46.900 Yes.

00:07:47.180 And as you told me in that clip, you voted Democrat and Republican, as have I.

00:07:51.000 You're registered independent, as am I.

00:07:52.920 Yeah.

00:07:53.400 But did you worry at all, given the climate of Hollywood?

00:07:55.820 Like, it could be some blowback.

00:07:58.820 Maybe just a titch.

00:08:00.740 But, you know, at the time, I think – was that before the election cycle?

00:08:05.780 I think it was.

00:08:06.620 Yeah.

00:08:06.780 It was before the election when we –

00:08:08.480 It was 18.

00:08:09.300 Yeah.

00:08:09.640 It was 18.

00:08:10.520 And things weren't so divided.

00:08:13.240 I mean, they were divided, but they weren't so divided back then.

00:08:15.760 It was calmed down when it's not an election year.

00:08:17.840 Yeah.

00:08:18.460 And then it got really intense.

00:08:22.000 But I didn't have any qualms about that because, to me, the movie is, for one thing,

00:08:26.760 it's not political.

00:08:27.460 Reagan was a Democrat for 40 years before he was Republican for the next 40.

00:08:33.040 By the way, people sometimes forget that.

00:08:35.680 And this was a biopic.

00:08:38.220 It was also, as you said, it's about us.

00:08:41.600 It's about America, really.

00:08:43.660 And those eight decades of the 20th century where America became preeminent and triumphed

00:08:53.140 in the Cold War with the Soviet Union of the time, that collapse.

00:08:58.680 And so it's – it is about America and that feeling of being an American, which was so

00:09:07.380 fantastic, really, under Reagan.

00:09:09.800 He came along at a time when we were being told we were a nation in decline.

00:09:15.500 And he said, no, we're not.

00:09:17.260 We're a city on a hill and we're going this way.

00:09:19.560 And we followed.

00:09:21.900 So what I loved about the movie was it takes you through Ronald Reagan's whole life and

00:09:26.900 it shows you, for those of us who haven't read a bunch of biographies on him, how he

00:09:31.000 got to be the way we knew him to be, that sunny, optimistic, but shrewd and insightful

00:09:38.740 negotiator, leader, and change agent.

00:09:42.420 And it's – the movie's based on a book that really gets into all of that.

00:09:48.840 And the movie is set up with having a KGB agent, played by John Voight, talking to a

00:09:54.600 future Russian leader about what happened.

00:09:57.880 How did Russia lose the Cold War to this guy, this actor from Hollywood?

00:10:01.660 And the book was called The Crusader.

00:10:03.240 And it takes you through the building blocks that made Ronald Reagan this, you know, mostly

00:10:07.480 commercial actor into the leader of the free world in the truest embodiment of that term.

00:10:14.040 And here is one of my favorite scenes from the movie.

00:10:16.160 It's short, but I love it.

00:10:17.680 You're not in it, but I love it.

00:10:19.900 It's the young Ronald Reagan with his mom and she's teaching him how to handle a bully.

00:10:26.980 A bully.

00:10:27.320 Here it is, Sot 2.

00:10:34.120 That's where you're going.

00:10:35.460 Come on, Dutch.

00:10:37.480 Scary cat.

00:10:39.180 All right.

00:10:40.300 That's the boy that's been threatening you.

00:10:41.800 Every day.

00:10:42.820 Get over here.

00:10:46.840 He'll be there tomorrow, too.

00:10:48.680 That's what bullies do until you stand up to them.

00:10:51.900 It's time for you to settle this, Dutch.

00:10:54.160 Go on.

00:11:00.040 My mama's boy.

00:11:04.120 I think you're paying for some riches.

00:11:07.480 You can run from a bully for so long, but sooner or later, you're going to have to stand up to him.

00:11:27.260 Reagan put things in a way that everyone could understand because he governed and he lived his life basically on principles that go beyond being a Democrat and a Republican.

00:11:40.000 And that was his strength.

00:11:43.520 Knowing that you eventually do have to punch the bully in the face to get him to back off of you is an important life lesson for all of us.

00:11:50.480 But Ronald Reagan took that one to heart and would bring it into presidential politics.

00:11:53.940 Yeah.

00:11:54.560 And he was, you know, in this case, the bully that he really referred to is the Soviet Union at the time, the evil empire or whatever.

00:12:01.920 But it's true that, you know, America was it had appeased the Soviet Union for quite a long time, actually.

00:12:10.800 And Carter being the coal warrior, I mean, Reagan being the coal warrior, you know, he was called a warmonger.

00:12:17.920 He was, you know, the tough guy.

00:12:20.640 He was going to get us in a nuclear exchange.

00:12:23.440 But it took some president like him to be able to negotiate with the Soviets because they see appeasement as weakness and they built up their their military in the meantime.

00:12:35.220 And the great thing, what makes Reagan a great president is that he was this coal warrior.

00:12:44.140 But when it came to dealing with the Soviets, he was pragmatic.

00:12:48.680 And once he had that relationship with Gorbachev, it everything relaxed in the sense that it became personal.

00:12:58.580 And they were able to really they became really good friends, I think.

00:13:04.820 But it's an odd combination to see somebody who's so likable and positive and optimistic and warm, but also like a stone cold negotiator.

00:13:15.300 Right.

00:13:15.680 Who will look you you're his friend and you're making great progress.

00:13:19.000 And this is big for the United States and the Soviets and say, I'm out.

00:13:23.420 Yeah.

00:13:24.360 Yeah.

00:13:24.760 He was not going to be played.

00:13:26.460 And which had happened in so many times in the past.

00:13:32.020 Carter had come along and, you know, God bless him.

00:13:34.480 And I think he did an incredible job with Egypt and Israel and making peace really throughout the world in a sense.

00:13:42.540 But he also was I think the Soviets saw him as weak.

00:13:46.720 He gave away the B-1 bomber.

00:13:48.900 He kept giving away things without asking for anything in return.

00:13:53.180 And it's a little kumbaya, I think.

00:13:58.360 And the that's like I said, the Soviets saw that as weakness.

00:14:02.520 There's a great scene in the movie.

00:14:03.700 I mean, a lot of scenes documenting Reagan dealing with Gorbachev and where Gorbachev's pushing him.

00:14:08.640 Just get rid of your missile defense shield program and we'll reduce these nukes and it'll be a big win for you.

00:14:13.340 It'll be a big win for us.

00:14:14.960 And Reagan just gets up and says, no, no, I'm out.

00:14:18.560 Yeah.

00:14:18.860 I mean, it was like you see that.

00:14:20.300 And this is actually one of my other favorites where it's Ron and Nancy on the couch, I think, at the Reagan Ranch or maybe it's at their home.

00:14:28.340 And he's explaining to her what he learned from being a lifeguard.

00:14:32.300 A bit of it was in the trailer.

00:14:33.840 And there's a very funny scene earlier in the movie when we see him being a lifeguard and he's this young strapping buck.

00:14:39.360 Yeah.

00:14:40.040 Suddenly a lot of ladies are going down.

00:14:41.960 Yeah.

00:14:43.460 A lot of people that he rescued are very not thankful for it as well.

00:14:49.620 But yeah, he did see those currents underneath the water.

00:14:52.740 Wait, let me play it.

00:14:53.360 Let me play it.

00:14:53.820 Let me play it.

00:14:54.200 And then you react to it.

00:14:54.860 Here's the scene.

00:14:57.980 If we get them to spend money they don't have, they can't support themselves.

00:15:01.920 The Soviets.

00:15:02.780 The Soviets.

00:15:03.920 We've been going about this all wrong.

00:15:05.920 We don't have to match them missile for missile.

00:15:09.100 All we have to do is just keep up the pressure.

00:15:13.460 We have deeper pockets than they do.

00:15:16.320 And here I thought I married an actor.

00:15:19.700 Well, you can always talk to Dick Nixon, President Kennedy, or any of your political friends.

00:15:26.500 But why is it that my husband seems to know it's going to happen before they do?

00:15:35.860 Well, I was a lifeguard at a public swimming hole on a river.

00:15:41.780 And I studied that river.

00:15:44.720 And I learned how to read the currents.

00:15:50.140 Not just the ones on the surface, but also the ones that were deep underneath the water, flowing way under.

00:16:01.920 And I got good at it.

00:16:03.600 Great scene on so many levels.

00:16:10.060 Yeah.

00:16:10.920 You know, you brought up Iceland.

00:16:14.200 And when Reagan said no to the Soviet Union, it was all about SDI.

00:16:21.020 The Soviets wanted him to give up SDI, that initiative, you know, that was missiles, defensive missiles that would shoot down.

00:16:32.800 It was a totally defensive system.

00:16:34.760 And he wouldn't do it.

00:16:36.920 And he said, look, we'll even share it with you.

00:16:40.560 We'll pay for it.

00:16:41.720 But we're going to keep it.

00:16:44.460 And the Soviets said, this is the line.

00:16:46.500 We can't go past it.

00:16:47.540 The interesting thing was, is that SDI was at least 20 years away from even getting up on its feet.

00:16:55.980 It didn't exist.

00:16:57.140 It was, I mean, it was taken from Star Wars.

00:17:00.640 So why would he tank the deal over it?

00:17:02.760 It was, this is the power of negotiation that he had because they believed it was real.

00:17:11.200 Maybe they didn't believe 100 percent, but they believed at least 40, 50 percent that we did have it.

00:17:20.500 And that was the kicker in the negotiation.

00:17:24.220 That's why Reagan was great at negotiation.

00:17:27.740 Like, it's amazing how he got there.

00:17:29.700 This kid from a very modest background, alcoholic father, religious mom.

00:17:36.860 And that's captured in some of the exchanges in the movie, which I absolutely love.

00:17:40.260 She was a strong role model for him.

00:17:42.740 And, you know, remember who you serve and who you are.

00:17:45.700 And ultimately, you know, becomes the head of the Screen Actors Guild, which I always thought was just like a credential.

00:17:52.360 But you really see in this movie, it was more than just a credential.

00:17:55.860 It was important to who he became.

00:17:57.440 That's not a job that actors gun for, actually.

00:18:00.980 You know, that's, he was really a kind of a failing, fading actor at the, you know, towards the end of his career.

00:18:08.560 And he was married to Jane Wyman at the time, who won an Academy Award right around that time, too.

00:18:14.920 You know, and so I think he felt a bit of a failure, to tell you the truth, in that.

00:18:19.660 I know he never actually got in acting, got to the place that he aspired to be.

00:18:26.340 And I could really relate with that sometimes in my life.

00:18:30.580 But as the Screen Actors Guild, he, it became a place where the fighting communism, that was during the time of where the Soviets, it was true, they were trying to infiltrate the unions and take over in a subversive way.

00:18:45.800 You know, that was always kind of a wives' tale.

00:18:48.340 But once the Soviet Union fell, they found all the papers that confirmed all that.

00:18:56.220 And also an interesting thing about Reagan is that in 1960, 61, he came out of retirement as the president of Screen Actors Guild to negotiate for the actors for their health insurance, which we have, like, some of the best health insurance in the world, actually.

00:19:17.360 I mean, I'm a member now, Dennis, because I did a cartoon.

00:19:19.960 I was a big star.

00:19:21.180 Maybe you heard about it.

00:19:22.160 Yeah.

00:19:22.480 Maybe not.

00:19:23.560 Anyway, I'm a member.

00:19:25.060 Yes, exactly.

00:19:26.480 But, you know, he, but that was when he was a Democrat as well.

00:19:31.200 Right.

00:19:31.780 You know.

00:19:32.220 He was strong and he didn't take any BS from anybody.

00:19:35.380 No.

00:19:35.620 And he knew when it was time to throw down.

00:19:37.380 And we would see that, of course, throughout his life when people, even though he was sunny and optimistic and a great messenger, when people got in his grill, he knew when to push back from the air traffic controllers who striked illegally.

00:19:51.400 Right.

00:19:51.700 And they all got fired to the infamous moment of, I, I paid for this microphone.

00:19:57.440 I think we actually have that clip.

00:19:58.840 That's fantastic.

00:19:59.920 Let's watch that one.

00:20:01.020 Would the sound man please turn Mr. Reagan's microphone now?

00:20:03.740 Is this on?

00:20:11.480 Mr. Green, you turn on my microphone.

00:20:13.620 If you ask for me, if you would.

00:20:15.600 I am paying for this microphone, Mr. Green.

00:20:18.560 The air traffic control, that was probably the first test of his presidency.

00:20:25.020 And he basically just said a contract is a contract.

00:20:28.600 It felt like they were holding the United States hostage, you know, as far as the airspace.

00:20:33.980 And the Soviets actually saw that and said, well, if he's willing to shut down the airspace in his own country like that, what would he do to us?

00:20:43.200 Right.

00:20:43.360 What does that mean?

00:20:43.820 So this is where I wanted to go with you.

00:20:45.760 So you've said that you're supporting Trump in the presidential election.

00:20:49.840 I was looking at that.

00:20:50.980 I'm going to confess something.

00:20:52.200 I've also said that I'm voting for Trump, but I'm not going to lie.

00:20:55.860 Trump is not the same character as Ronald Reagan.

00:20:59.800 Just you can stick with the marriage alone to see.

00:21:02.280 I was totally with you on that one.

00:21:03.880 Right.

00:21:03.980 I mean, the presentation is totally different, and I think it reflects the times of which we're in now.

00:21:10.560 You know, you couldn't say a four-letter word on television six years ago, and, you know, now you can say anything you want.

00:21:19.980 But I think the thing about Trump, you know, I've even cringed at sometimes the things that he says.

00:21:25.540 Please don't say that and all that.

00:21:26.680 But at the same time, I will say that the principles that Trump has are very much the same.

00:21:34.080 That was my takeaway, too.

00:21:35.600 That Reagan has.

00:21:36.080 Because you start off kind of frustrated.

00:21:37.640 Right.

00:21:38.020 Because Ronald Reagan just seems like such a poster boy for just goodness.

00:21:42.000 And I realize he had his flaws not necessarily highlighted by the movie.

00:21:44.960 But that—and then you think, oh, where is a leader like that?

00:21:47.640 Well, he was more complex than that, and Trump is more complex than that.

00:21:51.540 But they do have a through line of strength.

00:21:53.800 Yes, and have principles, you know, that go with that, way of governing, and pragmatic.

00:22:01.620 I would venture to say that both of them are very pragmatic.

00:22:06.840 What do you think Ronald Reagan would say about this 2024 election, looking around?

00:22:11.560 Well, well, there we go again.

00:22:14.200 Well, you got the well down.

00:22:17.140 The well is the first thing that comes along.

00:22:18.900 Everybody can do the well.

00:22:20.020 But the issues are really spookily the same.

00:22:29.600 I mean, we had 1979, 1980.

00:22:33.240 We had high inflation.

00:22:35.320 We were supposedly a nation in decline.

00:22:38.960 We had hostages in the Middle East.

00:22:42.980 You know, we have hostages right down the Gaza Strip that no one's talking about.

00:22:47.340 I wish they'd talk about them more.

00:22:50.220 But there was a whole feeling of malaise in the country in a certain sense.

00:22:54.760 And the stakes, we were divided in a certain sense, not in the intensity that we are now, but it was post-Watergate.

00:23:05.780 And I think there was a schism there with Republicans and Democrats, in a sense, as far as taking up sides before they had liberal Republicans and conservative Democrats.

00:23:19.780 Yeah.

00:23:20.520 The movie, in a minute, we're going to be joined by Dan Lario, who plays Tip O'Neill.

00:23:24.780 And the movie does a great job of highlighting their friendship, notwithstanding their difference in electoral politics.

00:23:31.340 So, and we talked about how Reagan got up and walked out on the Soviets saying, no, you know, I'm going to draw the line.

00:23:36.340 But that friendliness and that willingness to sort of humble yourself and start anew is captured, too.

00:23:43.360 And this is something, I mean, Trump takes a lot of guff for going and meeting with Kim Jong-un, right?

00:23:48.400 Yes.

00:23:49.300 But Reagan met with Gorbachev at a time when things were very tense.

00:23:53.560 That's captured a bit in the following scene, which is Sot 4.

00:23:57.960 Let's watch it.

00:23:59.940 I used to do a little acting a couple of hundred years ago back in Hollywood.

00:24:05.080 Let me show you how we used to handle this sort of thing.

00:24:16.460 Take two.

00:24:18.400 Hello, McHale.

00:24:21.340 My name's Ron.

00:24:27.000 How would you like to go for a little walk?

00:24:32.500 That's a scene that really happened.

00:24:34.420 Is that right?

00:24:35.000 It went down like that?

00:24:35.800 Yeah.

00:24:36.220 Where they were coming to loggerheads and he just got up and reset it?

00:24:39.380 Yeah.

00:24:39.740 Yeah.

00:24:40.120 Gorbachev had grown up, you know, watching his movies.

00:24:43.680 In fact, you know, they were fascinated by Hollywood at the time.

00:24:47.960 I mean, all of Europe was basically.

00:24:49.840 And so, you know, that was a way in, I think, for them.

00:24:55.020 We spent a minute on the, well, but how much work went into getting the voice and the mannerisms?

00:25:03.380 Well, I think it was just when you and I had the interview that I think I was just beginning, actually.

00:25:08.760 And so I was lucky that we wound up having like a year and a half to prepare for it.

00:25:14.360 And so I spent my poor kids and my poor, beautiful wife having to listen to me for, you know, just around the house.

00:25:21.620 Suddenly she's married to Ronald Reagan.

00:25:22.820 Because I wanted to learn it that I wanted to, you know, just forget about it.

00:25:27.040 And I had to learn, you know, him at 35, the way he sounded compared to like in his later years, how he sounded and slowed down a bit.

00:25:36.160 You know, they're different voices, really.

00:25:38.340 And YouTube is great for all that videotape that's still out there.

00:25:44.540 Did you do it on your own or did you get a voice coach?

00:25:46.640 No, I just did it on my own.

00:25:48.320 Really?

00:25:48.580 Yeah, I didn't have the guts to get a voice coach.

00:25:51.340 Wow.

00:25:51.920 I didn't want to be judged.

00:25:53.200 No, it was excellent.

00:25:54.860 Yeah, but I did want to do an impersonation.

00:25:59.120 With the inside of Reagan, that was really kind of more important.

00:26:04.040 Because an actor, you know, you're an actor.

00:26:05.680 You're always, it's always going to be me there.

00:26:10.420 You know, that's just the way it is.

00:26:11.940 Though you do forget it's Dennis Quaid.

00:26:13.740 Well, thank you very much for that.

00:26:15.840 It's like, there you are.

00:26:16.200 And then within a few minutes, you're like, it's Reagan.

00:26:18.580 But when I watch a Jack Nicholson movie or a Marlon Brando movie, it's still, I'm watching

00:26:23.060 Marlon Brando.

00:26:23.760 That's why I went, you know.

00:26:25.340 And so that part is the interpretation.

00:26:29.720 Another, unfortunately, a parallel between what happened in Reagan's time and what's

00:26:35.260 happening now is an assassination attempt.

00:26:37.800 Yeah.

00:26:38.020 And that's captured in the movie, both, you know, the attempt, the attempt to kill Ronald

00:26:44.300 Reagan.

00:26:44.560 He was shot.

00:26:45.320 He was actually shot by John Hinckley Jr.

00:26:47.400 And then, of course, we saw what happened to Trump in July.

00:26:49.780 There's a bit of that captured in the scene.

00:26:51.940 And what stood out to me, of course, as a journalist is the media, the actual media footage

00:26:56.500 that you guys pulled and put in the movie.

00:26:58.520 Hinkley, great stuff, watching real time the news anchors react.

00:27:04.160 At first, they thought Reagan hadn't been shot, that Hinkley had missed.

00:27:07.620 And then you see them in the movie actually realize, oh, my God, the president's actually

00:27:11.400 been shot.

00:27:11.840 Let's watch a bit.

00:27:12.300 My mother used to say, everything in life happens for a reason, even the most disheartening

00:27:22.480 setbacks.

00:27:23.800 And in the end, everything, even seemingly random twists of fate, is all a part of the

00:27:31.580 divine plan.

00:27:42.300 The details are very sketchy at this moment.

00:27:58.820 We don't know precisely what happened.

00:28:00.740 We don't know the sequence.

00:28:01.940 First of all, the president is safe.

00:28:04.340 That is Justice, pardon me, please.

00:28:07.020 Bob Berkowitz.

00:28:07.900 Hello, Bob.

00:28:08.520 I'll wait for somebody in the back room to come up here and tell us.

00:28:15.020 We had been reporting to you that the president was not injured.

00:28:18.760 The White House has confirmed now, just in the last few minutes, that President Reagan

00:28:22.480 has indeed been shot.

00:28:24.320 He is in communication.

00:28:26.940 Larry, can I repeat...

00:28:27.900 Is there any evidence the assassin was working for the Soviets?

00:28:30.900 Larry...

00:28:31.220 I can't say less than...

00:28:32.680 Larry, we have got confirmed...

00:28:34.800 Wow.

00:28:37.560 Everybody that was alive remembers what they were doing on that day, that exact hour.

00:28:43.440 You know, he was shot, but he had his hand raised to wave, and the bullet actually bounced

00:28:49.100 off the car and entered right here.

00:28:53.520 And so they didn't see it.

00:28:55.420 The Secret Service agent, you know, was on top of him getting into the car, and he said,

00:29:00.480 Oh, gosh, I think you broke my rib.

00:29:03.340 And they checked him out, and he was fine, and they were headed back to the White House.

00:29:09.320 And he started to...

00:29:11.780 He coughed, and this frothy type of blood came out, and they headed to the hospital.

00:29:19.040 And if they'd gone back to the White House, he wouldn't have made it.

00:29:22.240 Oh, wow.

00:29:22.800 A lot of people don't know.

00:29:23.660 He lost a third of his blood.

00:29:25.700 Is that right?

00:29:26.400 Yeah, by the time they got to surgery, it was so close, a lot closer than people realize

00:29:35.320 that the bullet was lodged not even a quarter inch from his heart.

00:29:40.020 Oh, my gosh.

00:29:40.800 Yeah.

00:29:41.180 That classic moment reflected, too, in the movie where he looks up at all the doctors and

00:29:46.620 nurses about to cut him open and says...

00:29:48.580 Yeah, yeah.

00:29:49.800 I hope you're all Republicans.

00:29:53.140 Since today, Mr. President, we're all Republicans.

00:29:56.500 Before I go to break, I got to ask you, having played that scene, and then in July, you see

00:30:01.680 the attempted assassination attempt with a gun on President Trump, what was that day like

00:30:06.280 for you?

00:30:06.600 Here's the takeaway of that, you know, as to relate it to today, is that when Reagan got

00:30:14.460 shot, it was full disclosure about we knew about Hinkley and his background and why he

00:30:23.960 had done it and everything within 48 hours.

00:30:27.740 And what do we know now?

00:30:30.580 Sloped roofs are not safe to stand on.

00:30:32.800 Yeah.

00:30:33.220 Why does it take so long?

00:30:35.760 Why do they have to, like, kind of massage whatever they're hearing?

00:30:41.120 Why can't it just be transparent to the American people?

00:30:45.420 In a day where it's so much easier to be transparent, right?

00:30:48.620 With...

00:30:48.980 Yeah, incredibly so.

00:30:50.480 ...i phones and social media and all of it.

00:30:51.900 Yeah.

00:30:52.600 Yeah, it's dark.

00:30:54.260 I mean, it was Jodie Foster, Hinkley.

00:30:57.600 He had a thing about Jodie Foster that he was trying to impress her.

00:31:01.420 Right.

00:31:01.940 And, yeah, he acted alone and everything, but all the details were out there really quick.

00:31:07.700 Mm-hmm.

00:31:08.280 And so much different on the Trump assassination.

00:31:10.480 It's been, like, pulling teeth.

00:31:11.920 Right.

00:31:12.280 That Secret Service agent just embarrassed herself, the head of the Secret Service, who's now gone.

00:31:16.880 All right, there's much more to get to.

00:31:18.180 Dennis is staying with us.

00:31:19.600 And joining us next will be Dan Loria, who we've mentioned a couple times.

00:31:22.980 You may remember him from Wonder Years.

00:31:25.140 Now he's back as Tip O'Neill.

00:31:27.560 And he actually is, not for nothing, but he's voting for Kamala Harris.

00:31:31.920 So Dennis and Dan are modeling real life, in real life, what it's like to be friends across the aisle and, in a way, an example of the characters they portray as well.

00:31:42.580 Stand by.

00:31:43.120 Did you know there's nearly $1 trillion of infrastructure and pandemic funds yet to be spent?

00:31:48.800 Yes, that's right.

00:31:49.300 There's a massive amount of money that the lame duck administration is pushing hard to spend right now in their last few months of office.

00:31:55.560 If the president is able to push these funds out, we could see another prolonged inflation surge, just like we saw during COVID.

00:32:01.620 But there is hope.

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00:32:43.840 Mr. Speaker.

00:32:44.960 Mr. President.

00:32:46.380 Congratulations.

00:32:47.820 Welcome to the bigs.

00:32:49.120 Now, you enjoy tonight because tomorrow we go to work.

00:32:51.740 Well, I've been well briefed on you, Tip.

00:32:54.160 I've been told I better get a pretty good head start.

00:32:57.540 That's very Irish of you.

00:32:58.920 Yes.

00:32:59.240 You plan on going 10 rounds every day.

00:33:01.880 That's how we do things here.

00:33:03.260 All right.

00:33:03.880 Just remember, every day as of 6 p.m.

00:33:06.720 What do you mean by that, sir?

00:33:07.940 Well, after 6, we're not political enemies.

00:33:10.200 We're just two Irishmen having a beer.

00:33:13.500 Do you?

00:33:14.100 I love that.

00:33:16.740 Can you imagine that happening today?

00:33:18.600 No.

00:33:18.920 No.

00:33:19.320 Of course, no one can.

00:33:20.720 Like Nancy Pelosi and Trump back when that, no, that was not going to happen.

00:33:24.060 No way.

00:33:24.520 Welcome back to the Megyn Kelly Show.

00:33:25.740 Dennis Quaid stays with us today.

00:33:27.420 And now Dan Loria, who played Tip O'Neill in the movie Reagan, which hits theaters this weekend.

00:33:34.840 They're here together.

00:33:36.200 Dan, welcome.

00:33:36.860 Thank you.

00:33:37.320 Thank you for having us.

00:33:38.380 So that scene kicked it off.

00:33:40.700 And then we'll get to the hospital scene, which was just one of the best of the movie.

00:33:44.940 But what did you learn about their relationship when you were studying up on Tip O'Neill?

00:33:49.120 Well, they didn't really know each other very well before Ronald Reagan came to the White House.

00:33:56.300 I mean, they met each other, but they decided that they had found common ground that they could work on.

00:34:03.760 And they did.

00:34:05.100 And during that process, they actually became very good friends.

00:34:09.380 It's just hard to imagine in today's day and age.

00:34:12.860 Yeah.

00:34:13.100 And this was a Democrat Congress.

00:34:16.480 Yes.

00:34:16.860 With a Republican president.

00:34:18.720 And they got a lot done during that.

00:34:20.660 A lot.

00:34:21.200 A lot.

00:34:21.520 A lot.

00:34:22.520 Especially dealing with the Russians.

00:34:24.620 There were a lot of Democrats that didn't want to support Reagan.

00:34:28.460 And Tip O'Neill got him in line and said, no, no, this is bigger than politics.

00:34:32.820 We got to do it.

00:34:34.020 And Reagan was always very gracious with his comments to and about Tip O'Neill.

00:34:40.180 And they were called Reagan Democrats.

00:34:42.340 Yeah.

00:34:42.820 That's right.

00:34:43.600 And they have tax cuts.

00:34:45.580 Yeah.

00:34:45.780 And then they also did a little tax raising, too, actually.

00:34:49.020 You know, compromising this way and that.

00:34:51.360 Well, we got to the place where compromise is a dirty word now.

00:34:54.120 Yeah.

00:34:54.860 What line?

00:34:55.660 I love the line where I say to Dennis, you'll do anything to get a tax cut right after you're shot.

00:35:00.920 Yeah.

00:35:01.440 You're right.

00:35:01.880 OK, so that there's this is one of the best scenes in the movie.

00:35:05.280 And it's one of the ones that when it was done, I've told this story before, but Mark Joseph is a friend of mine is the executive producer of the show of the movie.

00:35:12.120 I was sitting with him and I I just couldn't move in my seat.

00:35:16.720 I was crying.

00:35:17.420 I was just so we right.

00:35:20.360 I mean, I was immobile.

00:35:21.560 It was like we've lost because we've lost that.

00:35:24.820 It was.

00:35:25.340 Yes, I loved Reagan, of course.

00:35:26.820 And I felt his loss and the loss of that sort of character and leader.

00:35:30.740 But this friendship and this ability to work with each other and not demonize everybody on the other side, I feel like it's slipping away day by day.

00:35:40.220 And here it's embodied beautifully in a scene.

00:35:42.800 You saw the attempted assassination scene.

00:35:45.180 And now here's the scene which actually happened of Tip O'Neill, the Speaker of the House Democrat, going to visit Ronald Reagan in the hospital after he'd been shot.

00:35:53.140 Let's watch.

00:35:55.680 Why?

00:35:56.820 He'll do anything to get that damn tax cut.

00:35:59.940 I left specific orders.

00:36:01.560 No Democrats within a hundred yards.

00:36:03.680 You'll have to grin and bear it.

00:36:06.320 How you doing, pal?

00:36:08.320 Well, I don't recommend getting shot.

00:36:12.000 No.

00:36:14.280 You know, Tip, I think there's, I think there is a reason for all this.

00:36:21.060 There's a big job left to be done.

00:36:23.080 And whatever time I have left, it belongs to him.

00:36:29.920 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil, for thou art with me.

00:36:40.620 Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life.

00:36:45.660 And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

00:36:49.880 That's so beautiful.

00:36:55.840 Yeah.

00:36:56.260 What was it like going into that?

00:36:58.780 Did you feel a responsibility?

00:37:00.580 Oh, very much so.

00:37:01.860 And I have to tell you, I've been doing this for 50 years.

00:37:05.820 Dennis made it so easy.

00:37:07.340 Because if you don't work together on a scene like that, it falls flat.

00:37:12.700 And, you know, we're on the opposite ends of the boat.

00:37:16.480 We're really like Tip O'Neill and Ronald Reagan.

00:37:19.060 But we found the common ground and Dennis said, go for it.

00:37:22.380 And we went for it.

00:37:23.400 And it's a good scene.

00:37:25.040 It was like four in the morning.

00:37:26.600 Is that right?

00:37:27.520 Yeah.

00:37:27.760 But Tip, he was the first visitor to Reagan's other than Nancy, you know, after the assassination.

00:37:34.920 And they got together almost on a weekly basis over at the White House.

00:37:42.440 And, I mean, you don't see that anymore.

00:37:44.280 It's only when they have to come over.

00:37:46.640 It reminds me, in another life I practiced law.

00:37:48.740 And this is how it is for a lot of lawyers.

00:37:50.680 You know, you do bare-knuckled brawls all day long in the courthouse and in depositions and so on.

00:37:55.480 But then a lot of times you're traveling to do depositions or whatever.

00:37:58.640 And then you do go out for beer with each other at the end of the day.

00:38:00.820 You can check it.

00:38:02.100 Yeah.

00:38:02.520 And some of our presidents who have really gotten a lot done, it was because of the way they could work with the other party.

00:38:09.240 I always think of LBJ and Everett Dirksen.

00:38:12.060 They would go at each other all day long and then at night go over, break open the bourbon bottle.

00:38:18.500 I wouldn't call a dog what you called me today.

00:38:22.320 And Everett, well, I took an oath to tell the truth, LB.

00:38:24.860 It was a lively debate.

00:38:27.260 It wasn't that long ago.

00:38:28.620 You know, when I first started working at Fox, Bob Beckel was there.

00:38:31.560 He was a Democrat campaign guy for years.

00:38:34.320 And he was grizzled.

00:38:35.580 But he was one of those guys who would meet in the underground bars and have the scotch when he was still drinking with his Republican colleagues.

00:38:42.440 And they talked sense about the race.

00:38:44.420 You know, like the truth.

00:38:45.500 Yeah.

00:38:45.800 Your guy's going down.

00:38:47.020 I know.

00:38:48.240 And they'd be real honest with each other.

00:38:49.780 That circle of silence.

00:38:51.240 Yeah.

00:38:51.560 You know, the lawyers also have.

00:38:53.600 And the thing, you know, thing, the truth is, is Republicans and Democrats, we need each other.

00:39:02.220 They do.

00:39:03.020 Oh, yeah.

00:39:03.600 Because they keep each other from going this way or too far that way.

00:39:07.860 I mean, George Washington didn't want us to have political parties.

00:39:13.620 He thought, you know, but I mean, you've got to have a pro and a con of a side, you know, in order to debate that.

00:39:23.120 And so it's a time when it worked.

00:39:26.580 Yeah.

00:39:27.000 And there is a lot more common ground than we are made to believe.

00:39:32.000 Right.

00:39:32.300 You know, we have a lot more things in common.

00:39:34.980 And the politicians who are willing to work together are the ones who usually find that common ground.

00:39:40.920 They exploit it.

00:39:41.860 And then we benefit from it.

00:39:43.400 But if you don't get together, you can't accomplish anything.

00:39:46.520 I mean, they do pass a lot of things in Congress that we just don't hear about on the news.

00:39:50.200 Yeah.

00:39:50.760 It's not news.

00:39:52.040 That's true.

00:39:52.300 Why don't they advertise?

00:39:53.460 Yeah.

00:39:53.960 I mean, they don't want their constituents to know.

00:39:55.980 Yeah, I guess so.

00:39:57.080 Like I said, compromise is a dirty word.

00:39:58.440 I'd say we would agree on 70%.

00:40:00.800 So that makes you a 70% friend, not a 30% enemy, which is one of Reagan's things.

00:40:07.620 So let me ask you this, Dan.

00:40:08.820 There are a lot of conservatives in the movie.

00:40:11.300 You know, Dennis is an independent who's voted on the right side of the aisle as well as left.

00:40:15.740 But there's Kevin Sorbo.

00:40:17.540 There's Kevin Dillon.

00:40:19.080 There's John Voight.

00:40:20.720 So is there any?

00:40:21.260 John Voight, very right.

00:40:22.240 John Voight, very right.

00:40:23.200 Big, big Trump fan.

00:40:24.160 Can I tell you?

00:40:24.840 I'm very left.

00:40:25.600 Yeah, so is there any risk to you and do it?

00:40:27.900 Like, do you have to explain to your friends why you would act with these guys?

00:40:30.700 I know how Hollywood is.

00:40:31.580 No, not at all.

00:40:32.520 It's cool.

00:40:32.780 And I'd like to share with your audience a very nice thing about John Voight.

00:40:38.380 I am on the National Veterans Foundation board.

00:40:41.920 And whenever we've called John as veterans to come and present an award or do a fundraiser or even receive an award.

00:40:49.400 I presented John with the first Charles Durning acting award.

00:40:54.560 Charles was like my father and the youngest man in the land on Normandy.

00:40:58.900 He was great.

00:40:59.480 And he thought, John, boy, it's a hell of an actor.

00:41:02.060 Forget politics.

00:41:03.100 So John's always been there for the vets.

00:41:05.800 So for me, I disagree with John politically about everything.

00:41:10.240 But working together with him, it's like working with this guy.

00:41:13.180 He's the best.

00:41:14.700 He embodied Reagan.

00:41:16.240 I mean, it must have been like being around Reagan.

00:41:17.960 Oh, yeah, it was.

00:41:19.200 It made it easier for me.

00:41:20.600 So you mentioned the military.

00:41:22.040 You're a former Marine.

00:41:23.100 Yes.

00:41:23.880 Went to Vietnam.

00:41:25.480 And I know you're very careful about characterizing exactly what you did in Vietnam in the right way.

00:41:30.320 Yeah.

00:41:30.660 You know, I always make it clear that we had orders go to Vietnam and they stopped us at Okinawa.

00:41:36.300 And we technically, I'm a vet because we floated off the coast.

00:41:39.180 We had to keep going.

00:41:40.100 And then at the very end, I went in with a South Vietnamese unit to teach them to call in airstrikes.

00:41:46.960 But as soon as we got hit, they got us out of there.

00:41:49.300 I don't, I'm speculating, but I think it's, they didn't want the public to think they were redeploying Marines again.

00:41:56.840 Well, God bless you for your honesty on that.

00:41:58.840 But you ultimately got put on a commission that investigated back to the presidential assassinations.

00:42:06.060 Sadly, the JFK one worked.

00:42:08.440 Yeah.

00:42:08.880 And I had never heard this before, Dan.

00:42:12.240 Tell us about the recreation and what this expert marksman included.

00:42:16.300 Colonel McMillan.

00:42:17.240 Yes.

00:42:17.520 He was the one who trained the, uh, our Olympic team where they run through the snow and then shoot.

00:42:22.660 So we had to recreate, uh, it was at Quantico, Virginia.

00:42:26.740 And if you look at the, uh, Senate investigation on assassinations on that, when they were at the firing range, the officer day, it says Lieutenant Dan Loria.

00:42:38.440 So that's my, I actually held the weapon that, uh, I really used the very one.

00:42:45.260 Yeah.

00:42:45.580 About that.

00:42:46.080 And, uh, 1978.

00:42:47.500 Is that what we're talking about?

00:42:49.060 That was when it came out, but we were investigated.

00:42:51.800 This is not Warren commission.

00:42:53.160 Oh, no, no.

00:42:54.320 Seven years after.

00:42:55.160 Oh, yeah.

00:42:55.960 This is, this was way, had nothing to do with the Warren commission, but, um, and I'll never forget it as long as I live.

00:43:03.360 But the bullet that went through Kennedy's throat easily could have been that terrible weapon that Oswald used could have been shot from that window.

00:43:13.620 But the bullet that took off the part of Kennedy's brain has to be a different weapon for one reason.

00:43:20.180 The velocities are different.

00:43:22.280 Wow.

00:43:22.660 That's what this expert marksman said.

00:43:24.520 And I remember asking, uh, Colonel McMillan, who do you think did it?

00:43:29.820 And boy, I got to look, I'll never forget.

00:43:31.940 That's not our job, Lieutenant.

00:43:34.060 As long as people talk about who did it, they're going to ignore the physical evidence.

00:43:38.760 That it was more than one person.

00:43:40.120 That it has to be two weapons.

00:43:42.140 Yeah.

00:43:42.740 That's all we were.

00:43:43.480 Have you read Unspeakable?

00:43:44.720 Yes.

00:43:45.300 Robert, uh, RFK recommended it.

00:43:47.860 Uh, it takes all of the evidence that is there, including the stuff that's been released, uh, and puts it into a cohesive growth in the times, but it's, it's a 360.

00:43:59.680 Right.

00:44:00.300 And Bellucci's theory.

00:44:01.340 He thinks it was the intelligence community.

00:44:02.880 I mean, he's told me that himself.

00:44:03.940 Specifically the CIA.

00:44:05.380 Yeah.

00:44:05.700 There's three frames missing in the Zabruta tape.

00:44:08.420 And I think Bellucci might have had a good theory.

00:44:11.440 He thinks the security agent in the front seat, he pulls out of his weapon.

00:44:16.000 Then there's three frames missing.

00:44:17.860 He thinks he accidentally fired.

00:44:19.360 And that's what killed him.

00:44:20.580 Oh, my.

00:44:21.080 That's, you mean, is that what he went through the sign?

00:44:23.940 Uh, are you talking about?

00:44:24.900 No, there's three frames actually cut out of the Zabruta tape, but it is part while it goes through the sign.

00:44:30.120 Right.

00:44:30.300 Everybody thinks it.

00:44:30.660 I mean, if that's what, if it's just gross incompetence, that actually, I mean, that's kind of where we are on the Trump investigation, because the Secret Service had so many fall downs on the job that a lot of people are saying they were in on it or somebody was in on it.

00:44:44.460 And my instincts as a reporter covering Washington for 20 years is always vote for incompetence.

00:44:50.500 You'll be right more than you're wrong.

00:44:51.840 You'll be right more than you're wrong.

00:44:52.260 But it is a wound that is still there since 1963.

00:44:58.380 I remember, I remember that day.

00:45:00.480 Everybody remembers that day.

00:45:02.500 And there's a wound that is still there that is never, because you feel that things were withheld and the truth is out there.

00:45:11.380 And we need to know in order to heal, even as a nation, in order to go on, we need to know.

00:45:18.220 I don't think any president is ever going to let us know.

00:45:21.060 Trump had the chance to release.

00:45:23.300 Every president did.

00:45:24.280 Right.

00:45:24.740 But, I mean, you would think Trump would have.

00:45:26.580 You know, he was big on, like, pulling back the curtain and busting things up, but he didn't.

00:45:30.960 Tucker was just on last week saying it's because of Mike Pompeo, who told him not to do it.

00:45:34.860 But now he's saying that he'll put RFKJ in charge of declassifying certain things.

00:45:41.480 So, I mean, maybe we'll finally get to see what happened to his uncle.

00:45:44.720 He wanted to.

00:45:45.520 You're more optimistic than I am.

00:45:47.660 Wait, Dan, can you tell the story about the three dummy bodies that they shot through?

00:45:54.240 They had three dummy bodies.

00:45:56.500 They had a tower set up.

00:45:58.120 The distance, by the way, isn't as far as you think from the window in the book depository to the actual, to John F. Kennan.

00:46:07.180 But they shot from there, and not once did that terrible weapon go through three body density dummies.

00:46:16.880 Yeah.

00:46:17.040 Then they put three dummies, and they went straight on, head on with it.

00:46:21.240 It didn't go through three.

00:46:22.380 So that thing about the bullet going through three.

00:46:24.480 The magic bullet.

00:46:25.140 Yeah, making a right turn through the seat.

00:46:27.280 That's insane.

00:46:28.080 Yeah.

00:46:28.520 Into his.

00:46:29.620 Yeah.

00:46:29.920 Yeah.

00:46:30.120 Through his wrist and into his thigh.

00:46:31.380 Yeah.

00:46:31.780 Get out of here.

00:46:32.280 I mean, if you buy that, I got a bridge going to Brooklyn.

00:46:35.300 So now, I'll ask you, as somebody who's actually served our country honorably and worked on this commission to figure out who was behind a presidential assassination,

00:46:43.460 I just heard a disturbing story about a group of Democrats who I know who celebrated when they saw the Trump assassination attempt.

00:46:53.440 I was shocked to hear this.

00:46:55.480 I wasn't there, but I was shocked.

00:46:57.040 I don't know why you would be shocked, but I think we have negatives going both ways.

00:47:03.440 I can't imagine celebrating the attempted assassination of any Democrat, you know, even somebody who I can't stand politically.

00:47:10.500 I just can't imagine that.

00:47:11.500 Well, when Kennedy was shot, there were those that were celebrating as well.

00:47:14.240 There were, too.

00:47:14.920 Yeah.

00:47:15.120 There were.

00:47:15.800 And, you know, at the time, you take the boot of the country and what was going on.

00:47:19.880 There was a whole idea that Kennedy had really kind of, in a way, lost control of the administration as far as behind the scenes of Vietnam and what he was trying to do with that.

00:47:33.480 That, you know, he would get these scenarios of nuclear attack that we ought to do.

00:47:40.020 And remember, Kennedy, one of the first advisors, the first person he called about, should we go forward, was President Eisenhower.

00:47:48.140 He went right to the military.

00:47:49.520 Can you imagine if after the Trump assassination attempt, this is when we still had Joe Biden at the helm on the, you know, ticket to run again, if he had shown up at the site or at the hospital?

00:47:59.560 Well, he called immediately the next day.

00:48:01.740 I know, but I'm just thinking, like—

00:48:02.680 And he said there's no place for violence.

00:48:04.900 Yeah.

00:48:05.200 You know, I think he did what he could.

00:48:07.440 I just think that Tip O'Neill showing up there was an extraordinary act of, like, politics are irrelevant, right?

00:48:13.140 Here I am, and it would be wonderful to see somebody do something extraordinary.

00:48:17.000 Yeah, I don't think that we should take that the wrong way, though.

00:48:19.200 So, you know, in a sense, because we don't know what was spoken.

00:48:22.700 Trump was actually very gracious about that telephone call himself.

00:48:26.820 Yeah, yeah.

00:48:27.480 I'm not blaming Joe Biden.

00:48:28.460 I'm just saying that.

00:48:29.300 I think the American people need—

00:48:30.920 Well, I think the major difference is that Tip O'Neill and Reagan had actually become friends.

00:48:38.340 I don't think politics had anything to do with Tip O'Neill going there or Reagan letting him in when no one else was—

00:48:45.680 He wasn't trying to make himself look good.

00:48:46.480 I mean, there were Republicans who couldn't get in the room, but Tip, he allowed in.

00:48:49.760 And I think if more of our politicians took time to be friends, you know, we'd have a lot more compromises going on.

00:48:57.600 You meet the other person's kids.

00:48:59.460 You meet their spouse.

00:49:00.940 You meet Miss Peaches, their dog.

00:49:02.540 And you fall a little bit in love with him as a human.

00:49:05.360 John McCain, who I worked with twice, his first choice for vice president was not Lieberman.

00:49:10.680 It was Biden.

00:49:11.640 And Biden gave the eulogy in Arizona.

00:49:15.160 He was—you know, and they were very close friends.

00:49:18.100 And they worked together, especially on foreign relations.

00:49:20.980 They worked together a lot.

00:49:22.320 And that was true of Tip and Reagan, too.

00:49:24.700 That was the area in which they found some common ground.

00:49:26.940 I would hope that after this election is over, no matter who wins, that we learn to talk to one another one again, to get back to that place.

00:49:39.320 You know, it's been a big experiment going on for the last four years.

00:49:43.820 And America does that.

00:49:44.840 We did it back in the 60s.

00:49:46.260 You know, we were pretty out there in a sense.

00:49:48.620 And we do that, and we come back to a center place where we can work together, be Americans.

00:49:56.660 That's a good point.

00:49:57.220 We had a civil war, and we managed to find our way back to one another.

00:50:01.680 Hope springs eternal.

00:50:03.040 We're not done.

00:50:04.080 Dennis and Dan, stay with me.

00:50:05.320 And up next, Nancy Reagan, Penelope, and Miller joins the party.

00:50:10.040 Don't go away.

00:50:14.760 I guess there's only one thing left to do, and that is to launch an exhaustive,

00:50:18.620 and a detailed investigation.

00:50:20.960 Well, of course, I've retained an attorney.

00:50:23.000 Oh, there won't be any need for that.

00:50:24.480 We can knock this out over dinner.

00:50:26.240 Excuse me?

00:50:27.080 Yes, we can discuss it then, but I can't be late.

00:50:30.140 I, uh, yes, have an early studio call tomorrow morning.

00:50:34.100 Oh, well, I'll have to check my date book.

00:50:39.400 Just kidding.

00:50:40.560 Yes?

00:50:41.580 Yes.

00:50:41.980 Um, well, well, I think I can manage it, but I have an early call, too.

00:50:50.600 Well, then it's a date.

00:50:52.800 Yes.

00:50:53.560 Yeah?

00:50:53.900 Okay.

00:50:54.280 Thank you.

00:50:56.440 Pleasure.

00:50:57.280 Goodbye for now.

00:50:58.380 Aw, that is Ronnie and Nancy meeting for the first time, as shown in the movie Reagan,

00:51:07.700 which hits theaters tomorrow.

00:51:09.720 As I said to you before a couple weeks ago, run, don't walk.

00:51:13.220 Make sure you go and support this movie.

00:51:15.160 It's such a special piece about our country and ourselves, and offers just a sprinkle of

00:51:21.040 hope that we can find our way back to each other.

00:51:23.740 Actors Dennis Quaid and Dan Loria are still with me, stars of the film, and now the woman

00:51:29.220 who brings it home, Penelope Ann Miller, who plays Nancy Reagan.

00:51:34.700 So nice to have you here.

00:51:36.340 Thank you.

00:51:36.960 It's so nice to be here.

00:51:38.320 Thank you for having us.

00:51:39.420 You nailed it.

00:51:40.480 You nailed this part.

00:51:41.740 What was the secret to doing that?

00:51:43.500 Oh, my gosh.

00:51:44.520 Um, well, it was, it was a daunting task for sure, and I was very nervous about playing

00:51:50.320 somebody so iconic and so famous, and just so we know, Peaches, the dog is snoring.

00:51:55.600 If you're wondering what that sound effect is.

00:51:57.340 I don't think it's hitting air, but we're enjoying it.

00:51:59.780 I just wanted to make sure they didn't think I was making weird noises.

00:52:02.780 So what's wrong with Penelope?

00:52:04.000 I was like, she's making some weird noises.

00:52:06.540 Anyway, just to clarify, but, um, you know, I did an enormous amount of research, and I

00:52:11.720 just really wanted to honor her legacy and, and pay tribute to this woman who, um, existed

00:52:18.200 and was quite prolific and a States woman.

00:52:21.620 And, um, and I, I just, I wanted to do right by her.

00:52:25.620 And so it was really important that I get it right.

00:52:28.160 And I really wanted to capture her essence and her spirit, um, rather than doing some

00:52:34.020 sort of superficial external, uh, portrayal.

00:52:37.740 And so to humanize her, obviously reading her memoir was huge for me.

00:52:41.960 I read, uh, her book called my turn, uh, which it was, it was her turn.

00:52:46.380 And, um, and you know, just to hear things from her point of view, I spoke to her press

00:52:51.440 secretary, Sheila Tate.

00:52:53.160 I read her book, lady in red here.

00:52:54.820 I am wearing Nancy red and, um, spoke to many, many people and watched videos and interviews

00:53:00.700 and much like Dennis.

00:53:01.600 I mean, we just didn't want to do these impersonation, like SNL characters or something.

00:53:06.600 So, uh, she channeled Nancy.

00:53:09.580 It was really, it made my job so easy.

00:53:12.680 I mean, it was, it was even in the lunch line.

00:53:16.140 I mean, it was, it was, it was, do you guys remember that?

00:53:19.060 It was Nancy.

00:53:20.200 Award ceremony.

00:53:21.720 Where, uh, Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper were like staring at each other.

00:53:25.180 Everybody thought they were having a real life affair after that movie.

00:53:27.820 Um, the way we were.

00:53:28.820 Yeah.

00:53:29.100 Right.

00:53:29.680 The star is born.

00:53:30.660 Sorry.

00:53:31.000 Yeah.

00:53:31.160 The star is born.

00:53:32.020 Thank you.

00:53:32.440 Some idea.

00:53:33.000 Everybody was like, are they actually, because the chemistry was so strong.

00:53:37.900 That's how it was between the two of you in this movie where you're like, they seem, I

00:53:43.160 realized it's acting, but like genuinely in love with each other.

00:53:45.780 The pond scene, the plane, I'm going to show the plane scene.

00:53:50.080 After the assassinate, the attempted assassination.

00:53:52.200 When I said I should have been there, I wasn't there.

00:53:54.860 I would, I always walk on your left side.

00:53:56.460 That scene really moves me because they really were inseparable and they were not just a power

00:54:01.460 couple, but they were a partnership and they were truly in love, in love.

00:54:05.680 And he wrote her love notes every day, even when, after he was shot.

00:54:10.780 Well, I think after his first marriage, I think he was so disillusioned and I don't,

00:54:15.140 I think he couldn't believe that he could find someone that would truly love him for

00:54:19.300 him and believe in him.

00:54:21.120 And I think it was her belief in him and belief in his greatness and his greater purpose

00:54:26.260 is actually what catapulted him, not only from governor of California, but to then to

00:54:32.060 turn his president.

00:54:32.820 She did not know she was marrying a future president at all.

00:54:35.300 No, and she was very apolitical, actually.

00:54:38.080 She just didn't care what he did.

00:54:39.640 She was a smitten kitten.

00:54:40.860 And you see that in that first scene.

00:54:42.580 I mean, she was crushing on that man.

00:54:44.880 Yeah.

00:54:45.020 For the listening audience, there was nothing in Nancy's date book whatsoever.

00:54:48.360 She was just pretending she was busy.

00:54:49.260 She was so excited.

00:54:50.580 And I read this in her book.

00:54:51.740 She was, I don't know if I can use this word, but she was titillated and very excited to

00:54:57.180 meet Ronnie.

00:54:59.700 And when she, there was more than one Nancy Davis and she was, the other Nancy Davis was

00:55:05.560 connected to the Communist Party.

00:55:07.700 And so when she was working with Mervyn Leroy, who's producing a movie, she said, you know,

00:55:12.560 I need help with my name.

00:55:14.660 And he said, well, you can meet with the president of Screen Actors Guild, Ronald Reagan.

00:55:19.760 And no joke, I saw this in an interview.

00:55:23.220 She said, well, that would be just dandy.

00:55:26.460 So she was very excited to meet Ronald Reagan.

00:55:29.740 And she would, I think, go to his, um, his, his talks or speeches and watch him even when

00:55:36.500 he was SAG president.

00:55:37.740 But Jane Wyman, on the other hand, I think just wanted him to be a movie star.

00:55:42.340 And she's played by, uh, Mena Savari, who's wonderful in the film.

00:55:46.500 Yeah.

00:55:46.600 She really captured her as well.

00:55:48.420 But she didn't seem to have much of an appetite for Ronald Reagan as, as his wife, unlike

00:55:52.380 Nancy, who came along and saw prime rib and was all in.

00:55:56.440 And they, they had lived a very modest life.

00:55:58.820 I mean, you know, they were, he was working for General Electric to make some money and

00:56:02.940 then she would do the commercials with him, which you'll see in the movie.

00:56:05.580 He was broke when they met him.

00:56:06.720 Yeah.

00:56:07.020 It's amazing.

00:56:07.660 You always think of, you know, Hollywood types.

00:56:09.820 Yeah.

00:56:10.020 Right.

00:56:10.340 Or just being around rich people.

00:56:11.240 Well, you also have to understand too, that that was back up until what, 1952 or 90% tax

00:56:18.240 bracket.

00:56:19.160 Oh gosh.

00:56:19.960 And the, you know, from the depression onwards, that's what it was.

00:56:23.420 90% of the, in the upper bracket, 90% of what you made went to Uncle Sam.

00:56:28.260 And we could be going back there soon.

00:56:29.720 Yeah.

00:56:30.080 And then you, and then you got state tax after that, by the way.

00:56:34.200 Oh gosh.

00:56:34.900 The state tax.

00:56:35.440 Okay.

00:56:35.680 That's horrifying.

00:56:36.740 Before, well, I have all three of you here because in a minute, it's just going to be Penelope

00:56:39.820 and yours truly.

00:56:41.200 Can we talk about the attempted censorship of the movie and how crazy this is?

00:56:45.580 Well, I said, last I checked, Reagan wasn't running for president.

00:56:49.060 So I'm a little confused since it was what, 40 years ago or something, you know, that he,

00:56:54.400 that he was in office.

00:56:55.360 And, uh, it's part of our history and our culture and I actually don't even know, I

00:57:01.240 know people from both sides of the aisle and in between, and I feel people are genuinely

00:57:06.160 excited to see this film because these were the, these were the Reagan years and I grew

00:57:10.380 up in the eighties and, you know, I, I don't understand it.

00:57:14.080 I don't understand what, why this is not a political film.

00:57:17.160 Did this happen to you when you played Mary Todd Lincoln?

00:57:19.960 Well, also a political figure.

00:57:23.140 Yes, but Mary Todd was vilified like Nancy was, which we can get into later.

00:57:27.320 But anyway, go ahead.

00:57:27.860 Well, I think both sides, people from both sides of the aisle, my friends too, are, are

00:57:32.600 outraged about any kind of censorship.

00:57:35.460 Right.

00:57:35.840 And we're talking about free speech.

00:57:37.360 We're talking about a free market.

00:57:38.880 Right.

00:57:39.220 And it's, you know, if it can happen once it happens, then it's going to happen to you

00:57:43.700 eventually.

00:57:45.100 Uh, it's always going to happen to the other side.

00:57:47.400 Eventually.

00:57:47.880 This is where I'm talking and our site, if we, as a, just as a people just have a wind

00:57:54.380 up having this silent ascent to it over, you know, a period of time, then we get used to

00:58:01.700 it.

00:58:02.480 And the next thing, you know, we say, where did our freedoms go?

00:58:05.860 Well, it's very interesting because Mark Zuckerberg is out there this week saying we were pressured.

00:58:10.060 This is him in writing saying we were pressured by the Biden administration during COVID.

00:58:13.680 Um, and we submitted and we shouldn't have submitted.

00:58:17.760 We should have been more skeptical on the things that they wanted us to censor.

00:58:21.180 And we regret that.

00:58:22.320 And we're not going to be doing that anymore.

00:58:23.520 And at the same time, the Reagan, it's not, it's been a couple of clips that have gotten

00:58:28.460 censored, but the, the paid promo to promote the movie much in the same way we just showed

00:58:33.400 the audience with the trailer has been censored repeatedly.

00:58:36.700 They said it was a mistake and yet they continue doing it.

00:58:40.560 It was censored and it was because it was an attempt to influence an election.

00:58:46.400 That's what they said.

00:58:47.660 That's what they said.

00:58:49.060 And my point is, is that you, you banning or censoring it, that is itself an attempt

00:58:54.860 to influence an election by keeping information from, uh, or one side of information away from,

00:59:02.140 uh, the American people.

00:59:03.840 There's also many people in this film, you know, including Dan and Mark Moses and Xander

00:59:10.220 Berkeley.

00:59:10.800 I mean, I could go on and on about people in this movie who aren't conservative Republicans.

00:59:16.640 And it's, it's surprising to me because when we made this film, which was four years ago,

00:59:22.140 it wasn't during an election.

00:59:23.660 We didn't do it for political reasons.

00:59:25.480 We did it because we're actors, we're artists.

00:59:27.800 We like, we want to play real people.

00:59:31.240 We want to have these opportunities.

00:59:33.020 And we did it because we thought this story about Reagan had never been told.

00:59:37.220 Right.

00:59:37.460 There's not a ton of movies about him.

00:59:39.160 No, not that I choose from.

00:59:40.860 No.

00:59:41.160 Well, in a way it was, I think it was fortuitous that COVID delayed everything and it hit now

00:59:45.620 because we're at a political fervor, which makes people more interested, I think, in

00:59:49.320 our historical figures in the politics lane, but it was just nonsensical for Facebook

00:59:54.060 to, whether it was the automated algorithm or otherwise, they should have corrected it

00:59:57.460 and said, for sure, we need people to see this same as we need to see information about

01:00:01.680 any of our political leaders.

01:00:04.660 That's why even, we were talking about this earlier, even the people who were, who posted

01:00:11.860 about GLAAD or like he missed, you know, about, about the Trump assassination, you know,

01:00:18.700 in the end, you have to defend their right to say anything that they want.

01:00:24.480 Sure.

01:00:25.420 In the end, otherwise it's, it's free speech and that's what it is.

01:00:30.620 Yes.

01:00:31.020 You're allowed to say, and we, this is something the young people today don't understand.

01:00:34.800 Hate speech is protected by the U.S. Constitution.

01:00:39.080 That's what makes America special.

01:00:41.060 That's one of the gorgeous things about us.

01:00:43.920 You can say dumb things and hateful things.

01:00:45.780 That's why we live in a free country.

01:00:47.320 Yeah.

01:00:47.740 We want this.

01:00:48.580 We want to stand by those, those, our forefathers created this and got out of communism and dictatorship.

01:00:57.500 That's why we live here.

01:00:58.800 And then somebody can stand up and tell you you're an idiot.

01:01:00.860 That's fine too, right?

01:01:01.780 Right.

01:01:02.060 That's, that's why it's okay to burn the American flag.

01:01:03.500 The people versus Larry Flint.

01:01:05.320 You know, there's so many things from the civil rights movement.

01:01:07.920 We go back to the House of Un-American Activities, all, all of that stuff.

01:01:11.700 Dennis told me that I, that my quote I gave was censored, that I gave it to a publication in support of the movie.

01:01:22.560 Right.

01:01:23.000 So that got censored too?

01:01:25.800 Yeah.

01:01:26.200 We'll, we'll just wait to see if this gets, because the thing was, it's that it happened.

01:01:32.240 We, I, I wrote a letter, uh, to Newsweek, which, you know, uh, turned into an article, uh, Facebook's two hours later, after it came out, apologized that it was their automated systems that it picked up with buzzwords or whatever it was.

01:01:48.080 It was because it was, you know, trying to influence an election and that they were going to correct that.

01:01:54.200 And they were sorry about it.

01:01:56.100 Fine.

01:01:57.080 We'll move on.

01:01:58.260 But then three days later, it happened again.

01:02:01.340 And it happened the next day and it continues to happen.

01:02:04.760 And so why is that?

01:02:07.960 Well, I'm going to read that quote right here because I have a lot of listeners watching it.

01:02:12.480 Here is what I said, what I wrote.

01:02:14.280 The irony in Facebook banning Reagan ads is that this is a movie about a historical figure who, yes, was a politician, but whose bipartisanship and friendship with Democrats is an important theme of the film.

01:02:26.620 It's a movie about America and how we used to talk to each other and respect each other, irrespective of political differences.

01:02:33.080 On cue, Facebook bans promotion of the film, apparently seeing it as socially divisive.

01:02:39.240 Facebook has embarrassed itself and done a disservice to the nation with this moronic decision.

01:02:45.620 I was right.

01:02:46.880 Stand by my statement.

01:02:48.100 Yeah, right.

01:02:48.680 I mean, if we allow this to keep on going, it's the social media.

01:02:53.380 I mean, the tech giants have gotten so big.

01:02:56.540 I mean, there's getting to the point of together they may be more powerful than the government.

01:03:02.860 It's certainly as far as getting the word out and things like that.

01:03:05.540 I'm a liberal.

01:03:06.200 I'm against all censorship.

01:03:07.760 You're good.

01:03:08.900 Old school liberal.

01:03:09.680 You guys didn't bring that in.

01:03:10.440 And if we allow this to keep on going, then we're headed towards oligarchy.

01:03:14.480 Dan, conservatives don't want to ban books.

01:03:17.780 Oh, really?

01:03:18.340 Well, I can speak to this from somebody who's pushed for some of these so-called bans.

01:03:21.980 You're going to lose this.

01:03:23.260 Let me tell you.

01:03:24.040 I don't want the disgusting sexual content in K-12 schools.

01:03:29.100 That's what I—you can get it online.

01:03:30.680 You can get it on Amazon.

01:03:31.880 Yeah, but see, there's no definition of what you call sexual content.

01:03:35.240 Well, we have a list of books.

01:03:36.680 There's a list of books that goes around.

01:03:38.380 Oh, yeah, there's a list of books, and I wouldn't ban those.

01:03:39.980 Well, look, I mean, I'm not talking about poetry.

01:03:42.180 I'm talking about, like, here's how you do anal sex.

01:03:44.640 It's a no.

01:03:45.620 No, no, no.

01:03:46.760 I don't think you'd find anybody who would disagree with you on that.

01:03:50.780 I have.

01:03:51.120 But when you take out certain words out of books because they're not right, or you're

01:03:55.640 going to place God in the book where it isn't supposed to be, that's just as bad as sex.

01:04:00.560 You start getting into Lenny Bruce territory.

01:04:02.040 I'm not disagreeing.

01:04:03.220 Let me get it straight.

01:04:04.500 I'm not disagreeing with you about the Reagan movie.

01:04:06.600 That's terrible.

01:04:07.460 Yeah.

01:04:07.580 If that's true, that is terrible.

01:04:09.340 You'll have as many liberals fighting for you as you will conservatives.

01:04:13.740 But to be, again, where are those areas of compromise, you know?

01:04:18.100 And I think when you say sexual intent, who's going to prove that?

01:04:22.940 I mean, you know, men don't understand that about the abortion issue, Roe v. Wade, how it

01:04:27.780 affects men.

01:04:28.740 Because in it, there's a clause about profanity.

01:04:33.420 And the first thing about profanity that the person who brought it up was transgender.

01:04:40.300 Then the next step will be anal sex is profanity.

01:04:43.520 And then we'll go all the way back to interracial marriage.

01:04:46.200 So I think when somebody blatantly says sexual content, well, what do you mean about sexual?

01:04:52.080 Well, it's true.

01:04:52.880 I mean, sexual content can be—

01:04:54.360 You know, we have to define those things.

01:04:55.280 What is profanity?

01:04:56.560 And you're going to find more and more people like us will agree once we discuss this and

01:05:03.900 put limits on it.

01:05:05.020 Because once you start doing that, I guarantee you, it's going to come back at you and it's

01:05:09.900 going to happen to you.

01:05:11.020 Yeah.

01:05:11.180 But I will say, look, I mean, we've been covering this in depth.

01:05:13.340 You guys are, I understand, informed, but in a different business, we cover this at length

01:05:17.640 on the show.

01:05:18.080 And if I pulled out the list of books and the content right here, you would be totally

01:05:22.100 uncomfortable.

01:05:22.700 I'm on your side about that.

01:05:24.060 I think that's a thing for parents to decide, actually.

01:05:26.920 I just don't want it in my kid's elementary school.

01:05:28.980 Exactly.

01:05:29.160 If you want to share that with your kid, God bless, you can get on Amazon and do that.

01:05:32.700 I just don't, I don't want my kid wandering by some kid reading about that.

01:05:36.180 We all remember when sex education was in school and how controversial it was until we

01:05:40.540 determined that it wasn't until the junior year of high school, at least in New York,

01:05:44.940 it was, I don't know about the other place.

01:05:46.640 And then it was, okay, we can deal with that.

01:05:49.480 Yes.

01:05:49.800 Older kids can handle more than the younger kids.

01:05:51.500 Because we saw enough kids getting pregnant and getting involved too early.

01:05:55.580 So there are compromises on these things.

01:05:58.000 Agreed.

01:05:58.380 But I just, I just don't like the blatant, no, they're wrong.

01:06:01.200 Look, I'm old enough that I remember the whole, like.

01:06:03.580 Do parents have, you know, the rights over their children?

01:06:07.040 Yes.

01:06:07.540 To determine what they're going to have versus the government.

01:06:09.200 Well, that's why they have that.

01:06:09.860 We do.

01:06:10.460 So we're getting deep into the weeds.

01:06:12.040 That's why they have the right to send them to public schools.

01:06:13.520 And on that note, sadly, we had to say goodbye to Dennis and Ann.

01:06:16.920 But to be continued, you guys, congratulations.

01:06:18.940 What a wonderful film.

01:06:19.860 Always have a fantastic time.

01:06:21.040 Oh, thank you for having us.

01:06:21.760 Really, thank you, Megan.

01:06:22.540 Thank you.

01:06:22.900 All right, to be continued.

01:06:24.340 You've got to check out the movie if you want to see more.

01:06:26.360 You won't be disappointed.

01:06:27.380 You will thank me.

01:06:28.040 You will send me an email, Megan, at MeganKelley.com and thank me.

01:06:32.020 But Penelope stays with me because we've got to get into the love story.

01:06:35.700 And I have to tell you, Dennis, I know, has been reading Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance.

01:06:39.940 I see a lot of parallels here in some ways between what Usha, J.D.'s wife, has done for him

01:06:45.860 and what Nancy Reagan did for Ron.

01:06:49.100 So we'll talk about her role in this story in two minutes.

01:06:52.820 I'm Megan Kelly, host of The Megan Kelly Show on SiriusXM.

01:06:57.400 It's your home for open, honest, and provocative conversations

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01:07:56.320 Penelope Ann Miller, who plays Nancy Reagan in the incredible new movie,

01:08:00.340 hits theaters tomorrow, Reagan, is with me.

01:08:03.680 So, Penelope, you studied Nancy Reagan, and she, it does occur to me, as you pointed out,

01:08:08.200 she was absolutely pilloried by the media when he was actually the president.

01:08:14.820 And you said that was also the case with Mary Todd Lincoln, which I actually don't.

01:08:17.700 No, there's some parallels because I played Mary Todd Lincoln, too.

01:08:20.840 And she was vilified.

01:08:23.040 I mean, as we all know, you know, President Lincoln, Abe Lincoln, was very admired and beloved.

01:08:30.880 And they didn't like Mary.

01:08:33.240 And I think the same for Reagan.

01:08:36.420 I think Ronald Reagan was a very popular, beloved president.

01:08:41.920 I mean, some people obviously didn't like him.

01:08:44.440 But as far as Nancy goes, my goodness.

01:08:47.560 I mean, they really attacked her.

01:08:49.900 And it started almost right away because she redecorated the White House.

01:08:53.920 And when she said she got there, she said it was in shambles.

01:08:57.360 I mean, the plumbing, the electricity, the rugs were frayed, the furniture, the curtains.

01:09:03.800 And she thought of this, she said, this isn't my home.

01:09:07.580 This is the people's home.

01:09:09.000 So she was proud and thought, you know, I want it to look appropriate when we're having people

01:09:14.100 come to visit.

01:09:14.860 And it was actually Mary Todd Lincoln that started the public viewing of the White House.

01:09:18.720 She did the same thing.

01:09:19.840 She redecorated the White House.

01:09:21.100 But I think because it was a civil war and a depression and so on and so forth, I think

01:09:25.920 she was maligned for it.

01:09:27.520 Whereas Nancy raised privately funded money to, it wasn't taxpayer money to redecorate

01:09:34.040 the White House.

01:09:34.760 And then there was the whole, the China controversy where she got all the new red China.

01:09:39.240 It was because when she, I think their first dinner was Margaret Thatcher.

01:09:43.340 And they said, and there was some comment about how there were so many mixed China sets.

01:09:47.560 And it's because there was not a complete set anymore.

01:09:50.040 Or they'd either been chipped or broken or stolen.

01:09:52.640 You know, people take a little bread plate and put it in their purse and say, I've got

01:09:55.620 a souvenir.

01:09:56.620 So once again, she said, we're having politicians and presidents and dignitaries from all over

01:10:01.300 the world.

01:10:01.680 I want to have proper China.

01:10:03.920 So she was maligned for that as well.

01:10:07.020 And, and their fashion.

01:10:08.280 So Mary Todd loved fashion, was getting like the finest silks from France and having a dressmaker

01:10:14.880 and they, who happened to, they started an abolition, um, charity together.

01:10:20.540 Um, Mary Todd Lincoln was fascinating.

01:10:24.120 We can get into that.

01:10:25.140 All I can think of is the hair, the middle part.

01:10:27.560 And the hair.

01:10:27.740 Yeah.

01:10:28.000 And she lost three boys, three sons.

01:10:30.780 She had melancholy.

01:10:32.300 She was also, you know, people laughed at her because she had seances.

01:10:35.240 And I think it was her way of dealing with her grief.

01:10:37.680 Yeah.

01:10:38.200 Um, whereas Nancy did astrology and, you know, attempted assassinations, very similar parallels

01:10:45.100 between those two women.

01:10:46.320 And, uh, and Nancy said she cried a lot of the eight years in the white house in her memoir.

01:10:51.000 Oh no.

01:10:51.840 She, she really felt attacked and didn't know why people disliked her so much.

01:10:55.660 And it's funny when you look at her, you see this very stoic regal woman.

01:10:59.760 Yes.

01:11:00.040 And I think, and maybe it made her seem cold and she was very, like, fiercely protective

01:11:06.840 of her husband.

01:11:08.260 And I think it just made her maybe not appear warm and fuzzy or, or, or approachable, but

01:11:14.380 I think it was sort of an armor.

01:11:15.740 I think it was a protective shield that she had.

01:11:19.280 That makes perfect sense.

01:11:20.240 But she needed that strength behind the scenes.

01:11:22.280 He needed her strength behind the scenes.

01:11:26.400 And this is what the point I was trying to make before we went to break, you know,

01:11:29.460 Dennis had mentioned, you know, before that he's reading Hillbilly Elegy or recently read

01:11:35.300 it.

01:11:35.660 And I know JD Vance a bit.

01:11:37.420 And I know that Usha, his wife played and continues to a critical role in his life and

01:11:44.700 his development as a man that she, he told me personally, she, she helped show him how

01:11:51.820 to love, how to be in a relationship.

01:11:54.060 Yeah, that's, that's so interesting that you point that out.

01:11:58.120 And because, as I mentioned before, he was really hurt from Reagan was hurt by his first

01:12:06.160 marriage to Jane Wyman.

01:12:07.440 She was a movie star.

01:12:09.380 She wanted him to be a movie star.

01:12:11.120 He started to get more political being screen actors, skilled president, and she had absolutely

01:12:16.060 zero interest in politics.

01:12:17.340 She hated it.

01:12:18.240 And he really wanted to help.

01:12:21.540 And that was something that he felt very strongly about.

01:12:25.800 And so that was sort of the demise of, of their marriage.

01:12:28.760 And so by the time when they got, and he also believed you marry once.

01:12:32.680 And, um, and I think he just didn't trust that he could find that kind of relationship.

01:12:38.280 And so I, it took him longer.

01:12:39.960 I mean, as I said before, Nancy was quite smitten immediately, but she was really patient with

01:12:44.420 him because I think to trust again and to believe and to believe in a marriage and to believe

01:12:49.900 in a love.

01:12:50.780 And I do think just like you said, um, about JD Vance's wife, I think, and that's why he

01:12:57.300 wrote her all these love letters is because I think once he found this and it was real

01:13:01.760 and it was true that I think he just appreciated her so, so deeply that he wanted to prove it

01:13:08.960 to her all the time.

01:13:09.780 And he wrote this book and that's the cover of the book and it's called, I love you, Ronnie.

01:13:13.160 And it's all the love letters he wrote her and notes, um, just telling her how he appreciated

01:13:18.180 her and the fact that, you know, no one, she don't sign up for the job of first lady and,

01:13:23.520 and, and how much he also appreciated her constant support.

01:13:28.480 And, you know, that thing with a man behind a woman or behind every great man is a woman,

01:13:32.540 but also you can be, there's a lot of misogyny there as well.

01:13:36.360 Cause I think when there's a woman behind a man, she's manipulative and conniving and devious.

01:13:42.340 And I'm sure you've dealt with this in a lot of areas of your career, but, uh, a man behind

01:13:48.440 a man is a strategist, right?

01:13:50.780 You know, and I just, and I've, I just feel like they, they don't like strong, powerful

01:13:56.440 women.

01:13:57.860 And, uh,

01:13:59.180 And she wasn't somebody who was seeking power.

01:14:01.500 No, she really saw that with other first ladies.

01:14:04.280 She wasn't like that.

01:14:05.260 No, she didn't care about being famous or powerful.

01:14:09.180 I mean, she liked wearing her fancy dresses.

01:14:11.700 Oh, interesting.

01:14:12.640 Just really on a side note, the one person who did all this and redecorated the white

01:14:16.220 house and had great fashion, who was beloved was Jacqueline Kennedy.

01:14:19.780 Yes, that's true.

01:14:20.680 So it's interesting.

01:14:21.940 And look at what happened to Melania.

01:14:23.320 I mean, I'm sensing a pattern here with the Republican firstly.

01:14:25.740 It's, it's, it is kind of interesting, I have to say.

01:14:29.100 Um, but I, I do think that, um, you know, she, she really was, she believed in his greater

01:14:36.340 purpose and that he, she wanted him to be happy.

01:14:39.320 And there's that scene in the movie where I say, or Nancy says, you know, I've had to

01:14:43.780 share you my whole life, but that's what I signed up for.

01:14:46.560 And I want you to be happy.

01:14:48.040 And she knew when he, he didn't win the second, uh, time he ran and he wanted to, she knew

01:14:54.580 he, he wants to run again.

01:14:56.000 And I believe in this man and I believe in his greatness.

01:14:58.700 And he even said, and so did Ron Jr.

01:15:01.480 At the memorial, my dad would never have been president of the United States if it wasn't

01:15:06.000 for my mother.

01:15:06.880 I believe that.

01:15:07.520 Yeah.

01:15:07.820 And I think she propelled him watching the story.

01:15:10.780 And also I think she was important because he was so sunny and optimistic.

01:15:15.360 She was the realist, you know?

01:15:17.820 Like, listen, you're in trouble.

01:15:20.440 We have a bit of that in this one scene before I show it.

01:15:24.720 Can you just tell us what the air force one shots?

01:15:26.700 Cause this is shot on air force one.

01:15:28.460 Yeah.

01:15:28.580 We got to shoot, uh, at the Reagan library as well as the Reagan ranch, which was

01:15:33.900 incredible because of course all their furniture hadn't been touched and their clothes in the

01:15:38.780 closet.

01:15:39.440 And, um, but going to the Reagan library was incredible because we, we were on the actual

01:15:45.040 plane, air force one that they would fly in.

01:15:47.680 And so we're sitting in the chairs and doing these scenes that they were in and walking

01:15:51.860 around and, and it was, it's not a Trump plane.

01:15:54.540 I mean, I mean, this is a little plane, you know?

01:15:58.680 So, uh, not as big as it used to be, but we were also on Marine one.

01:16:02.340 And, uh, just to be able to shoot in those places that they actually lived in and just

01:16:08.280 feeling their spirit and their energy.

01:16:10.020 And it was pretty phenomenal.

01:16:12.860 It raises the stakes for you.

01:16:14.480 It's like, oh gosh, you want, I'm sure you want to do the hair and the makeup and the

01:16:19.220 wardrobe because that team, that creative team that we had on, on the movie, um, did

01:16:25.180 an amazing, amazing job, um, uh, of recreating us to look as close as possible to, to these

01:16:32.720 people.

01:16:33.220 Yes.

01:16:33.460 I was saying to Dennis, you totally forget that you're actors embodying these parts.

01:16:36.880 You think you're looking at the actual people.

01:16:38.820 I hope so.

01:16:39.280 That's what we hope.

01:16:40.080 Here's a bit of a scene when Ronald Reagan, Iran Contra hit, uh, did we trade arms for

01:16:44.500 hostages and, um, he was in danger of being impeached and his wife, Nancy knew it much.

01:16:53.060 Honey, you know, Washington, you know, the way it works.

01:16:57.140 It's politics.

01:16:58.560 That's all talking impeachment.

01:17:00.500 No impeachment.

01:17:01.620 Yes.

01:17:02.480 They want to destroy you.

01:17:04.200 They're putting you on trial, removing you from office.

01:17:07.680 This isn't about politics anymore.

01:17:09.580 This is about you.

01:17:12.000 Everything is at stake.

01:17:13.200 One more headline, one more star witness, one more arrest, and they will do it.

01:17:18.140 I have cooperated with him.

01:17:20.360 I appointed a special prosecutor.

01:17:22.520 I've turned over every document I have.

01:17:25.520 What would you have me do?

01:17:27.480 I want you to fight or this is all over.

01:17:37.860 And he listened to her.

01:17:39.680 Yeah, he did.

01:17:40.780 And, you know, she, she was influential in a lot of ways.

01:17:44.140 I mean, she really pushed for the peace talks as well.

01:17:47.220 And she, she was actually, cause I read it in her memoir.

01:17:50.920 Um, you know, she said, you better go before another, another one dies because they kept

01:17:56.120 dying, you know, the, um, the Russian presidents.

01:17:59.720 And so, uh, that was a really important for, really important.

01:18:05.080 That's portrayed in the movie too.

01:18:06.280 It's like the Russian, they keep dying.

01:18:08.080 It was just so funny.

01:18:08.860 Another one dies.

01:18:09.720 Another one dies.

01:18:10.380 Yeah.

01:18:10.780 It was, it was wild.

01:18:12.260 It was, it, there's so much that you don't know that I found.

01:18:16.060 And I love history too.

01:18:17.660 And I, I feel like, you know, I don't, I want us to remember our history.

01:18:21.700 You know, it's, it's, um, it's part of our heritage and our culture.

01:18:25.340 And I think it's so important.

01:18:27.380 Um, but there's so many things that I found that people have seen this movie, including

01:18:31.660 myself who did the research too.

01:18:33.660 And there was so much that I didn't know.

01:18:36.060 There was so much about Reagan.

01:18:37.480 I didn't know.

01:18:38.140 And I think what's cool about a film like this is, and it's not a political drama.

01:18:42.800 It is a biopic and it's finding out about all the things that we can't see, like being

01:18:48.100 the fly on the wall and finding out about these relationships.

01:18:51.480 And that's why at the heart of it is the love story.

01:18:53.880 How about the guy who's camping out in the tent who becomes a speech writer?

01:18:59.280 Oh my God.

01:18:59.820 Hysterical.

01:19:00.340 Is that real?

01:19:01.100 I actually forgot to ask Mark Joseph whether that's a real story.

01:19:03.700 Apparently it was.

01:19:04.840 That's insane.

01:19:05.400 It's insane.

01:19:06.220 Right.

01:19:06.460 And then, and then she says, oh, you know, he, he won't talk to you for five minutes.

01:19:11.380 He'll talk to you for hours.

01:19:12.740 That's why Nancy won't let the guy in the tent come in.

01:19:14.960 Yeah.

01:19:15.340 And she, that's once again, she said, it's my job.

01:19:18.180 Your job is to be out there and be charming.

01:19:20.300 And he was, he was disarming and charming and, and wanted to be loved and everything.

01:19:24.780 But it was, she felt it was her job to be paying attention and to look out for him.

01:19:30.200 But she, those love letters are really telling because when the movie closes with,

01:19:36.460 Reagan's Alzheimer's diagnosis, which is just so sad, you know, that this is plaguing 6

01:19:42.400 million Americans and we still don't have a cure and doesn't look like we're really close

01:19:45.460 to a cure.

01:19:46.000 All these years later, how many have to go?

01:19:48.180 Margaret Thatcher had a, he had that issue.

01:19:49.880 Obviously she was an American, Sandra Day O'Connor, so many millions of Americans.

01:19:53.680 But he, when he found out he had it, wrote a love letter to all of us.

01:19:58.680 To the American people and wanted us, wanted us to look out for her.

01:20:03.960 Oh, I know.

01:20:05.140 It's so heartbreaking.

01:20:06.520 Yeah.

01:20:06.720 Because he knew what, how painful and the grief that she was going to have watching him, you

01:20:13.840 know, living through this, this horrible disease.

01:20:17.520 Um, and it's really quite beautiful, uh, actually.

01:20:21.620 And, and we don't talk about enough, the, the Alzheimer, uh, disease and, um, how, how

01:20:28.000 tragic it is, but to see this great man, to see this man that she loved.

01:20:33.220 So, I mean, I, even at the end of the movie and the credits when she's, I mean, that's

01:20:38.440 what got me where she won't let go of the casket.

01:20:41.080 She's literally like leaning on over it and kissing it and kissing it.

01:20:45.440 And it's just, it's so heartbreaking.

01:20:47.620 I know.

01:20:48.040 Um, even, you know, the, my other favorite, well, that was a scene in the movie, but it's

01:20:53.100 a real life thing, but it was after the assassination attempt when she comes to the hospital and she's

01:20:58.360 saying, you know, I should have been there because they were really inseparable.

01:21:02.240 And she said, I always, I always walk on your left.

01:21:04.440 And then he said, but it would have been you then.

01:21:06.600 And she felt so guilty for not being there for him.

01:21:09.400 But the thought of losing him then, uh, was, was horrifying.

01:21:13.000 Um, that's, that is one of the things that's most beautiful about the movie.

01:21:17.620 So I watched it with my husband.

01:21:19.140 I watched it with Mark the first time.

01:21:20.620 And then I watched it with my husband the other day.

01:21:22.660 And, um, I really think that was like, when we watched it together, that was our number

01:21:27.000 one takeaway.

01:21:27.520 It was just a reminder of how lucky we are to have each other, to have found true love.

01:21:33.460 I like to believe, and I do, that my husband and I love each other the way those two loved

01:21:37.880 each other.

01:21:38.240 And it's great to see that celebrated so often, like the TV these days is talking about the

01:21:45.100 extramarital affairs and this one's three people in the relationship.

01:21:48.160 It's like, yeah, it's a beautiful relationship, a beautiful marriage in which they both loved

01:21:52.640 and supported each other and a true partnership.

01:21:54.560 And I think it's so, like you said, refreshing to see in a film.

01:21:58.700 And I think that's what tugs at your heartstrings and that's what makes it emotional and why you

01:22:03.360 care about these people, regardless of how famous they were, um, it, it, it, it humanizes

01:22:10.780 them and it, and it, and also it's, it's a great example of a, of a real love, uh, and a partner where

01:22:17.540 you lift each other, um, and you support each other and you have each other's back and she was

01:22:22.280 his rock.

01:22:23.140 And, um, I, I, I think it is beautiful.

01:22:26.420 And I think that's why people get emotional at the end of the movie.

01:22:29.380 And, and, and this is, what's fun about going to the movies is to me is to have, you know,

01:22:35.000 to feel something, to not just be assaulted with these special effects and, you know, horror

01:22:40.600 movies, um, that are assault on our, on our, you know, uh, bodies and, and, and emotions.

01:22:47.620 I feel like to be able to actually have a character driven story, a good old fashioned

01:22:52.260 movie about a real person.

01:22:54.600 You learn, you learn about history, but you also are entertained and, and you also feel

01:22:58.520 something.

01:22:59.060 And I think that's why we love going to the movies.

01:23:01.600 So I hope that will be the reason people want to go see it.

01:23:05.220 So last question, have you had any weird feedback because you're the Nancy Reagan, a Republican

01:23:10.420 in the movie about a great Republican?

01:23:12.640 Is that dicey at all for you in Hollywood?

01:23:15.100 I really like Nancy have stayed very out of the politics of it all.

01:23:19.280 I, I, you know, I, I never get into politics.

01:23:22.760 I honestly feel people don't care what actors think.

01:23:27.360 That's very smart.

01:23:28.340 I really think that it's actually, it makes people wall their eyes.

01:23:31.980 I'm not here to have, I'm not here to tell anybody how, who they should vote for, how they

01:23:38.320 should vote.

01:23:38.720 That's not my business.

01:23:40.180 That's not, I'm even in that line of business.

01:23:42.660 That's, you know, other people out there such as yourself and other people go at it, you

01:23:47.560 know, but my job is to be an artist, to entertain, to embody different people, no matter whether

01:23:53.940 you like them or not.

01:23:55.040 I don't judge who I'm playing.

01:23:57.120 You know, I played Dahmer's mom, you know, I played Mary Kate Letourneau who went to prison

01:24:02.180 for, you know, I mean, I played some pretty controversial characters.

01:24:05.340 Um, but I, I, I feel it's my job to, to, to play people that we can learn about and maybe

01:24:12.200 be inspired and maybe say, Hey, I won't make that choice or I'll make that choice.

01:24:16.340 Or this was an America that was a really interesting time.

01:24:20.120 Like the eighties were in the Reagan years.

01:24:22.360 So that's, that's my job.

01:24:24.420 God bless you.

01:24:25.140 So I think it was comedian Andrew Schultz who came on the show and said, we'd be so

01:24:28.540 much better off if everybody would just do their job, stay in their lane, just do the

01:24:32.640 job that you actually have.

01:24:34.280 Yeah.

01:24:34.780 And, uh, there's some wisdom there.

01:24:36.460 It's so nice to meet you.

01:24:37.620 So nice to meet you.

01:24:38.680 Congrats.

01:24:38.880 The film is spectacular.

01:24:40.620 I'm sure it's going to be a wonderful few months for you.

01:24:42.740 I hope so.

01:24:43.420 Yeah.

01:24:43.740 Don't forget.

01:24:44.420 It's called Reagan.

01:24:45.460 It hits tomorrow.

01:24:47.560 Run, don't walk and take the whole family.

01:24:49.840 Take the whole family.

01:24:50.540 You can take your littles.

01:24:51.560 I mean, maybe not like five-year-olds, but certainly 10-year-olds and up.

01:24:54.300 My 15-year-old really enjoyed it.

01:24:56.000 My family, my kids too.

01:24:57.480 And my youngest is 11 and absolutely loved it.

01:25:00.120 And they had a bunch of follow-up questions and it's a historical film.

01:25:03.100 So they'll learn something about history in our country.

01:25:05.700 All the best.

01:25:06.320 All right.

01:25:06.560 You too.

01:25:07.080 Thank you.

01:25:07.560 Up next, country star Clint Black joins us.

01:25:11.320 He also put me in tears and I'll explain how, when he explains his role in this movie

01:25:17.080 next.

01:25:20.040 Joining me now, musician Clint Black, who plays a

01:25:24.060 very powerful role in the new movie, Reagan, and it's an unexpected one.

01:25:29.540 Clint, welcome to the show.

01:25:30.760 Thank you.

01:25:31.660 Okay.

01:25:32.060 So let me tell you something.

01:25:32.720 Yeah, that's a very unexpected role for me.

01:25:35.860 I went, I saw this film with Mark Joseph, the producer, and I loved it and I cried and

01:25:40.020 it was spectacular.

01:25:41.580 Then I saw it this week because I wanted to remind myself of everything that was in it

01:25:46.680 in advance of today.

01:25:48.360 And up pops Clint Black singing a song that will bring me to my knees in tears on a regular

01:25:57.380 day.

01:25:57.880 Never mind when it's sung by you over Ronald Reagan's final moments in this scene.

01:26:04.800 Here's a little bit of Clint Black singing a song you will all know.

01:26:09.280 All my memories gather round her, miner's lady, stranger to blue waters, dark and dusty,

01:26:26.980 paint it on the sky, misty taste of moonshine, teardrop in my eye.

01:26:36.380 Country roads, take me home to the place I belong.

01:26:47.140 I'm West Virginia, mountain mama, take me home, country roads.

01:27:01.460 Oh, just a crusher, Clint.

01:27:04.740 You've sold over 20 million albums.

01:27:06.700 So what gave you the confidence to actually dip a toe into the John Denver world?

01:27:13.160 Oh, I've had my toe in that world since I was a teenager.

01:27:18.480 I've sung that song, oh, I don't know, who knows, 10,000 hours worth, along with so many

01:27:26.060 of his other great songs and got to sing with him on a TV show once.

01:27:31.680 And, you know, these things come your way, you don't expect them and you don't say no.

01:27:38.160 So you don't say no, but you're recognizing the bigness of the moment, right?

01:27:43.640 Because you've got John Dender, of course, but you've got the final scene about this epic

01:27:49.000 American figure who's a hero.

01:27:51.940 So does that affect the way you're going to do this or whether you take it on at all?

01:27:56.260 Yeah, you have to do it with reverence, both to the original artist and to the scene, all

01:28:05.880 the people behind the scene and the man they're portraying in that really special moment in

01:28:12.880 his life.

01:28:13.540 You were not.

01:28:14.240 You have to be reverent.

01:28:16.060 You were not the only big star to lend his voice to the movie.

01:28:19.840 Bob Dylan and Gene Simmons, both singing songs for the movie, which is pretty extraordinary.

01:28:28.000 Like, why do you think you and these other guys are willing to participate in this?

01:28:32.180 Because none of you really needs the money.

01:28:34.440 So what's the point?

01:28:38.000 Well, first of all, Dennis is a pal and I would support him in anything.

01:28:42.700 I'm a huge fan.

01:28:44.000 I'm very happy for him to have such an important role, portraying an American president revered

01:28:50.620 by so many.

01:28:52.180 So I was thrilled to jump in just because of Dennis, but also understanding the context

01:29:00.260 and singing a song I've sung so many times, which I think is just an amazing composition.

01:29:09.240 I just didn't even give it a second thought.

01:29:12.800 It was, I had to really work hard to get it done.

01:29:18.400 I came in on my tour bus, got a little bit of sleep, got up the next day, worked all day

01:29:26.260 into the evening to get my part done, and then got back on the bus and left town.

01:29:33.960 I don't usually work that way, but I was not going to miss this chance.

01:29:38.860 No, I know that you've got a little bit of experience with Donald Trump because I know

01:29:43.860 you were on Celebrity Apprentice and he fired you, but did you have any kind of experience

01:29:49.280 with Ronald Reagan?

01:29:51.960 I mean, what did you think of him?

01:29:54.820 I didn't have any.

01:29:56.160 And I had limited impressions because in my youth, I didn't pay that much attention, although

01:30:03.260 there were big moments that you couldn't not see, even though I didn't get a lot of TV

01:30:10.200 watching time.

01:30:11.100 I was either setting up my gear, playing in a bar, bringing my gear and sleeping all day

01:30:17.400 to do it again.

01:30:18.120 So I didn't see a lot, but looking back, there's a lot of context.

01:30:23.940 I read a biography on him.

01:30:25.460 I read as many as I can.

01:30:27.380 I'm a big history buff.

01:30:29.620 So I did have a more well-rounded impression of him.

01:30:34.540 And what I loved about him most was his sense of humor.

01:30:38.100 I loved his joke telling.

01:30:40.260 He was quick on his feet.

01:30:42.040 I loved, you know, communism in some ways is getting a good name.

01:30:48.060 I don't like it.

01:30:49.100 I'm glad that that was his mission in life, to fight it.

01:30:53.700 Apart from that, I don't go much deeper.

01:30:58.840 To me, you know, he was, I think we were all, all of us, no matter where we stand on politics,

01:31:08.420 I think in his time, we were much closer together than we are now.

01:31:13.560 And it's sad to see.

01:31:15.700 I'm already blocking people on Twitter for attacking me for singing a song in this movie.

01:31:23.900 And yeah, I don't give it more than a second of my life.

01:31:28.400 I've gotten very quick at blocking.

01:31:30.120 I don't have any time for intolerance.

01:31:33.640 I have friends from every walk of life and every political persuasion.

01:31:37.220 And I always joke that I allow the people I love to be as misguided as they need to be.

01:31:43.920 Right.

01:31:44.260 And I love them for what is lovable.

01:31:48.140 And I try very hard not to hate.

01:31:52.180 That's very Reagan-esque of you.

01:31:54.180 I mean, I know what you're saying.

01:31:56.300 I actually, I'm always kind of disappointed when I see somebody I love as a performer,

01:32:01.240 especially a musician, because music is so transformative.

01:32:04.640 It just, it can improve your mood like that.

01:32:07.500 It's just such a special piece of most people's lives that I don't want any negative associations

01:32:13.060 with the person whose music I love.

01:32:15.600 So as a consumer of the product, I thank you for that.

01:32:19.100 I don't, I think we should have less politics in our music than we have right now.

01:32:24.160 I mean, I'm sure you've seen a lot of this happening around you.

01:32:27.980 Yeah, I feel like if someone's passionate about a policy or a principle, that doesn't affect me.

01:32:39.360 If they turn ugly about it and start attacking people who disagree with them on a personal level,

01:32:49.060 I think policy debate is, it's where it all started at the Continental Convention

01:32:54.780 and all the compromises that had to take place to form this union.

01:32:58.980 And if we can't have that, then we don't have a country.

01:33:05.320 But if you turn it into something personal, then I think you've gone down the wrong path.

01:33:10.780 What do you think, I mean, I do wonder, because some people aren't that ginger about it.

01:33:14.740 They go off into the political lane in music.

01:33:17.580 And then to me, it seems like you'd be having your audience, right?

01:33:21.380 You'd be cutting your audience right in half.

01:33:22.920 I respect my audience too much.

01:33:28.620 I appreciate them too much to make them feel like I don't respect.

01:33:35.820 I don't respect their role as an American, their ability, their rights and all of that.

01:33:41.880 I want to entertain them so badly that I will do my best to not taint that with something that's offensive.

01:33:50.160 What do you make, because one of the things I love about Reagan is you cannot help but feel patriotic when it ends.

01:33:57.200 You know, you're just reminded of the things that make us special as a country, as Americans.

01:34:03.960 And I think given your line of work, you experience that more than most on a daily basis.

01:34:11.420 So where do you think we stand as a country right now when it comes to our patriotism?

01:34:15.400 You know, I feel like we mostly, I think we mostly all want the same things.

01:34:27.700 We want to look after that single mom who almost doesn't stand a chance to raise her kids well.

01:34:35.860 We all want the education to be the best in the world.

01:34:39.620 We all want the security and the safety in our communities.

01:34:42.580 We all want so many of the same things.

01:34:46.080 And I believe where the disagreements come in are how to achieve that.

01:34:49.960 And I often think of it in terms of mom and dad.

01:34:52.980 Mine were very different.

01:34:54.400 My mother was very tolerant and would just, we could just make her bend over backwards so far.

01:35:03.580 My dad, he said no once.

01:35:05.780 And if you pushed it, you were going to be in trouble.

01:35:09.420 And I often think of that as an analogy to our political climate.

01:35:16.480 And I think if we all appreciated that we all really want the same things and let's find the compromises to get those things, we would be much closer together.

01:35:27.880 Having been on the road and performed in front of so many different venues and to such success, what do you love about this country?

01:35:35.380 When you go out there and you meet real Americans all the time and you see people behind the scenes, what makes you love the country?

01:35:42.360 Well, I appreciate the history.

01:35:47.740 I appreciate the sacrifices to create this document that governs us, the Constitution.

01:35:54.940 I appreciate the fact that, you know, I was living hand to mouth and have managed to build a business and raise a family.

01:36:06.460 You know, I appreciate how much alike we all are.

01:36:11.000 I don't care if you're in New York or Maine or Alabama or Texas.

01:36:16.800 If you get away from the hustle and bustle of things and meet people one-on-one, I think we're so much alike.

01:36:28.820 You know, country folk are country folk, city folk are city folk.

01:36:32.940 And if you get people out of the city and away from the stresses of a city, then they'll be so much like country folk, you just wouldn't believe it.

01:36:44.560 We might need a few lessons in order to survive on the ranch, however.

01:36:48.740 Just a little training.

01:36:51.500 And a lot of country folk would be happy to give those lessons.

01:36:55.960 Clint, thank you so much.

01:36:57.460 Thank you for bringing me one of my favorite songs in a new version that was spectacular and that really did make me cry.

01:37:04.260 The ugly cry, but in a great way.

01:37:06.560 All the best to you.

01:37:07.960 Okay.

01:37:09.640 Thanks for having me on.

01:37:11.240 Anytime.

01:37:11.840 Anytime.

01:37:12.600 And my thanks to Dennis Quaid, Dan Lauria, and Penelope Ann Miller.

01:37:16.980 Please check out this movie.

01:37:19.380 Yes, I know the filmmaker, but I would not be selling it to you in the way that I am if I didn't believe in it,

01:37:25.580 if I didn't believe that you will love it.

01:37:27.460 That would be my credibility on the line.

01:37:29.620 So trust me, it's amazing.

01:37:31.880 You can find out more about the movie if you want at reagan.movie, and then go see it.

01:37:37.560 Go see it with your family and your friends and talk to us about it.

01:37:40.940 You can email me, Megan, at megankelly.com.

01:37:44.560 Tomorrow, we are going to have our reaction to the big Kamala Harris interview tonight with her emotional support governor.

01:37:52.540 We'll see how she does with her big white blankie next to her across from Dana Bash.

01:37:58.240 We'll see.

01:38:01.740 Thanks for listening to The Megan Kelly Show.

01:38:03.640 No BS, no agenda, and no fear.

The Megyn Kelly Show - August 29, 2024

The Important and Powerful New Movie ＂Reagan,＂ with Dennis Quaid, Penelope Ann Miller, Dan Lauria, and Clint Black ｜ Ep. 874

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