The Megyn Kelly Show - September 09, 2026


Trump Headlines GOP Midterm Convention, Lewandowski Investigation, 9⧸11 Hero Honored： AM Update 9⧸9


Episode Stats


Length

19 minutes

Words per minute

147.89

Word count

2,946

Sentence count

175

Harmful content

Misogyny

1

sentences flagged


Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
00:00:00.000 I got better memory. Memory. Do I hear better memory? Cognitive health, too. Cognitive health.
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00:00:17.580 Good morning, everyone. I'm Megan Kelly. It's Wednesday, September 9th,
00:00:21.440 2026, and this is your AM update. This is a once-of-a-lifetime-type
00:00:27.160 election season. And listen, I think we're on the cusp of defying history.
00:00:31.780 President Trump taking center stage at the GOP's first ever midterm convention
00:00:36.400 as Republicans look to rebuild momentum and defy history. Former top Kristi Noem advisor,
00:00:42.660 Corey Lewandowski, accused of trying to turn his influence at DHS into personal profit
00:00:47.760 as investigators consider a potential criminal referral. CBS News chief correspondent Matt
00:00:53.760 Guttman now dropped from a former colleague's lawsuit.
00:00:57.540 He willingly made all of these trips up and down, up and down, up and down,
00:01:02.420 over and over again, saving life after life.
00:01:05.320 And the man in the red bandana receiving the nation's highest civilian honor
00:01:10.060 nearly 25 years after giving his life to save others on September 11, 2001.
00:01:16.320 All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM Update.
00:01:23.760 Our sponsor, the Electronic Payments Coalition, says Washington politicians are always getting
00:01:28.900 in your wallet and that now they're messing with your credit card. They say your credit card and
00:01:33.620 the security it offers are under attack and that Senators Dick Durbin and Roger Marshall want to
00:01:38.920 change the nation's payment system to benefit corporate megastores like Walmart and Target
00:01:44.180 at the expense of everyday Americans. Credit cards can keep your payments secure and provide
00:01:50.060 rewards that families use to help make everyday purchases more affordable. The Electronic Payments
00:01:54.960 Coalition says the Durbin Marshall mandates would let corporate megastores cut corners on credit
00:01:59.660 card processing, routing transactions over cheaper, untested networks with weaker security and fewer
00:02:06.160 protections. Find out more at guardyourcard.com and consider telling Congress to guard your card.
00:02:14.840 President Trump set to deliver the opening night keynote address at the Republican Party's first
00:02:19.780 ever midterm convention tonight in Dallas, as the GOP tries to build momentum less than
00:02:24.940 eight weeks before Election Day.
00:02:27.140 The president now scheduled to address the convention both nights, delivering tonight's
00:02:31.120 keynote before returning tomorrow to speak after Vice President J.D. Vance.
00:02:35.600 Reuters reporting the president's opening night appearance was added just last week,
00:02:40.060 expanding what was originally expected to be a single closing night address.
00:02:44.280 The two-day event at the American Airlines Center, featuring more than 100 speakers and
00:02:49.380 presentations, including members of the president's cabinet, congressional leaders, and Republican
00:02:54.140 candidates competing in some of the country's closest House and Senate races. Among those
00:02:59.140 scheduled to appear are Treasury Secretary Scott Besant, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,
00:03:05.120 A.G. Todd Blanche, House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, and former White
00:03:10.440 House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt. Secretary of State Marco Rubio notably absent from the
00:03:15.920 current speaker lineup, although the party has not said he will be entirely absent from the
00:03:20.620 convention. CBS News reporting additional speakers could still be added while surprise guests are
00:03:26.140 expected. The gathering marking a first for Republicans, national party conventions normally
00:03:31.540 reserved for presidential election years when delegates formally nominate a ticket and approve
00:03:36.620 a party platform. No such official business taking place in Dallas. Democrats holding several similar
00:03:42.940 midterm conferences during the 1970s and 80s, but the idea never becoming a regular feature
00:03:48.360 of American politics. The AP describing this week's event as part convention and part Trump
00:03:54.040 rally, complete with entertainment and a balloon drop. The unusual gathering coming as Republicans
00:03:59.780 confront the longstanding midterm disadvantage facing the party controlling the White House,
00:04:04.420 while also trying to turn out voters who strongly support President Trump,
00:04:09.080 but have historically been less reliable when he is not personally on the ballot.
00:04:14.360 The president recently urging supporters to vote in November
00:04:16.940 as though his name were appearing alongside the Republican candidates.
00:04:21.800 That effort taking on added urgency as the president struggles beyond the Republican base.
00:04:27.380 AP Polling published in June finding his support among independents dropping
00:04:31.520 17 points since the 2024 campaign from 43 percent to 26.
00:04:37.520 Republican support remaining more stable, though dropping since last year,
00:04:41.420 falling from 95% when he first took office to 83% in January, down to 78% today, according to Pew.
00:04:50.140 A more recent Reuters-Ipsos survey placing the president's overall approval rating at 33%,
00:04:55.660 that's the lowest point of his second term. Republican officials insisting the convention
00:05:00.680 offers a chance to move the focus back toward the administration's record on taxes,
00:05:04.640 border security manufacturing, and prescription drug prices. Organizers first opening a public
00:05:11.040 lottery for free tickets, with some winners promised front-row seats and other VIP treatment.
00:05:16.860 Reuters reporting some Republican insiders have privately questioned whether the party can attract
00:05:21.340 enough officials, donors, and activists to fill the venue, while organizers publicly maintain the
00:05:27.100 arena will be packed. The party expecting more than 20,000 people to attend. RNC Chairman Joe
00:05:33.220 Grutter's Monday on Real America's Voice, arguing the convention can help Republicans overcome the
00:05:39.340 historical odds. This is a once of a lifetime type election season. And listen, I think we're
00:05:46.220 on the cusp of defying history. You know, only four times in 150 years, the incumbent party has
00:05:51.280 been able to win these midterms, but we have everything we need to do just that. And it's
00:05:56.900 going to start this week in Dallas on the 9th and 10th. It's going to be absolutely amazing.
00:06:02.080 We have 109 different speakers, President Trump anchoring both nights.
00:06:06.220 We have the vice president is going to be there.
00:06:08.740 A lot of our candidates and some of these battleground races.
00:06:12.060 But it's really going to give us a chance to tell the story to the American people directly on the message of everything that the president has done well.
00:06:20.860 And that, you know, in terms of, you know, growing the economy, it means securing the border.
00:06:25.580 It means all these incredible things versus the contrast that we're going to show against the Democrats.
00:06:32.080 The Dallas stage also giving Republicans an opportunity to promote Senate nominee in Texas
00:06:36.760 Ken Paxton, one of the candidates President Trump has said the convention will help elect.
00:06:42.420 Paxton now locked in a far closer than usual Senate contest against
00:06:46.160 Democrat State Representative James Tallarico. The current Real Clear Politics polling average
00:06:51.540 placing Tallarico at 47.3 percent and Paxton at 44.9 percent, a Democratic advantage of 2.4
00:07:00.200 points in a state where no Democrat has won a Senate election since 1988. RealClearPolitics
00:07:06.920 currently rates the race a toss-up. Longtime advisor to President Trump Corey Lewandowski
00:07:13.860 facing allegations he attempted to use his influence inside the Department of Homeland
00:07:18.320 Security to secure private work from foreign governments, while also reportedly exerting
00:07:23.940 enormous control over billions of dollars in federal contracts. A new Wall Street Journal
00:07:29.220 investigation reporting Lewandowski approached senior officials from Qatar while serving as
00:07:34.280 then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem's most powerful advisor. Lewandowski working at the time as a
00:07:40.680 special government employee, a status allowing him to maintain outside business interests while
00:07:46.040 temporarily working for the government. He was also Secretary Noem's top advisor and exercised
00:07:51.540 extensive authority within the department, despite never holding a position requiring
00:07:55.700 Senate confirmation. Lewandowski and Noem reportedly linked romantically as well for years,
00:08:01.860 an allegation both have denied but which is considered an open secret in Washington.
00:08:07.560 The Journal reporting Lewandowski offering to work for the Qatari government on the side,
00:08:12.320 telling officials he could help the country navigate matters falling under DHS,
00:08:16.860 including visa issues. Lewandowski reportedly making a similar proposal to representatives
00:08:21.800 of the United Arab Emirates. Officials from both countries reportedly rejecting his offers,
00:08:27.920 with some questioning why they would need to pay Lewandowski when their governments already
00:08:31.840 had established relationships with senior members of the Trump administration. The alleged pitches
00:08:37.300 coming as Lewandowski and then-Secretary Noem repeatedly traveled to the Middle East,
00:08:42.720 despite White House officials reportedly expecting them to focus on domestic
00:08:46.320 immigration enforcement, and negotiations with Latin American governments. The journal also
00:08:51.880 reporting Lewandowski's influence extended deep into the department's contracting process.
00:08:57.340 Shortly after taking office, Secretary Noem bringing virtually every DHS expenditure exceeding
00:09:02.480 $100,000 under her direct control, a change intended to reduce waste and fraud, but one
00:09:08.560 officials say created an enormous backlog. The journal highlighting one particularly notable
00:09:13.880 example involving data analysis company Palantir. Executives from the company spending weeks
00:09:19.720 negotiating a $2.7 billion agreement covering immigration enforcement, Secret Service operations,
00:09:25.860 and other work. DHS initially pushing to finalize the deal before the end of the 2025 fiscal year,
00:09:32.560 but the agreement instead sitting unsigned on Secretary Noem's desk for weeks. Lewandowski
00:09:38.280 then reportedly seeking a one-on-one meeting with Palantra CEO Alex Karp, DHS repeatedly
00:09:44.360 requesting the meeting but providing no agenda. Palantra executives growing uncomfortable and
00:09:50.140 canceling. Lewandowski reportedly telling associates he planned to consolidate the
00:09:54.220 company's DHS work and reduce its funding. A larger meeting involving Lewandowski, Secretary Noem,
00:10:01.080 Karp, and other Palantra officials eventually taking place early this year. The contract then
00:10:06.420 reduced to $1 billion and signed in February. Polanter tells the journal it received no
00:10:12.020 explanation for the cut. President Trump removing Ms. Noem from DHS in March following months of
00:10:18.140 turmoil inside the department. Lewandowski departing at the same time, then seeking another
00:10:23.360 position in the admin but being turned down, per the journal. Lewandowski now working as a private
00:10:29.100 consultant, Bahrain reportedly hiring him after he left DHS. It is not clear whether that contract
00:10:35.720 had any connection to Lewandowski's
00:10:37.520 earlier government travel or contacts.
00:10:40.660 DHS Inspector General investigators
00:10:42.440 now examining possible improprieties
00:10:44.840 in the department's contracting process,
00:10:47.380 including whether senior officials
00:10:48.840 personally profited from their government roles.
00:10:51.980 Investigators reportedly finding evidence
00:10:53.780 that Lewandowski may have participated
00:10:56.060 in improperly awarding federal contracts.
00:10:59.480 Current DHS Secretary Mark Wayne Mullen
00:11:01.340 and White House officials have been briefed on the inquiry.
00:11:04.520 investigators now considering whether to refer potential criminal conduct to the DOJ.
00:11:10.360 House Democrats also preparing to open a related investigation if they capture the House majority
00:11:15.520 in November, a White House spokesperson declining to comment, DHS and a spokesperson for Noam not
00:11:21.640 responding to the journal's questions. Lewandowski responding to the report on X, writing, quote,
00:11:27.060 on the week of the 25th anniversary of 9-11, you would think the Wall Street Journal would be more
00:11:31.300 interested in how our homeland has become secure as opposed to the innuendo fake news story they
00:11:37.500 published today. He continues, quote, what's more amazing is after five months of working on a story
00:11:42.980 they don't have one on the record source because the whole story is fiction. Coming up, CBS News
00:11:51.260 chief correspondent Matt Gutman being removed as a defendant just weeks after a former colleague
00:11:56.600 accused him of workplace misconduct, and a young man who gave his life saving strangers on September
00:12:02.980 11th, now posthumously receiving the nation's highest civilian honor.
00:12:14.300 We are still a couple months out, but the midterms are fast approaching. And make no mistake,
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00:13:12.560 CBS News chief correspondent Matt Guttman now being dropped from a lawsuit filed by a former
00:13:17.800 ABC field producer over her firing and alleged mistreatment at ABC News, including allegations
00:13:24.560 against Gutman dating back to his own years at ABC. Gutman now working at CBS after nearly two
00:13:31.800 decades at the House of Mouse, joining the network in January. The producer, Samira Saeed,
00:13:38.240 naming Gutman alongside ABC, Disney, and former Los Angeles bureau chief David Herndon when she
00:13:44.680 filed the case last month. Saeed's attorneys, now asking a Los Angeles County Superior Court
00:13:50.340 to remove both Gutman and Herndon as defendants, reportedly offering no explanation for the change,
00:13:56.500 according to Deadline. ABC and Disney remaining defendants, with the accounts of Gutman and
00:14:02.180 Herndon's alleged conduct remaining part of the case, according to the LA Times.
00:14:07.100 Saeed working at ABC from 2021 until she was fired in March of 2025. One of her accusations
00:14:13.520 centering on an assignment where she was reportedly the only woman working with an otherwise all-male
00:14:18.440 crew. She alleges Gutman turned the conversation toward another female correspondent and assigned 0.51
00:14:24.480 her appearance a numerical score, with other members of the crew reportedly offering their
00:14:29.120 own assessments. Saeed claiming the men sought her opinion as well, though she reportedly refused
00:14:34.540 and told them the discussion was inappropriate. Gutman declining to comment to the LA Times
00:14:39.960 through a CBS News representative. Saeed also accusing her former employer of wrongfully
00:14:45.760 terminating her after allegedly failing to accommodate her mental health needs,
00:14:50.840 resulting from interviewing survivors of the Uvalde school shooting. The former producer
00:14:56.340 reportedly seeking compensatory and punitive damages along with attorney's fees.
00:15:03.280 A hero of September 11th now receiving the nation's highest civilian honor,
00:15:09.040 nearly 25 years after giving his life to save strangers inside the South Tower.
00:15:14.240 The presentation taking place on the ellipse outside the White House during the Tunnel
00:15:18.460 to Towers Foundation's Steel Across America event ahead of Friday when America will mark
00:15:23.900 25 years since the attacks. A 21-foot steel beam recovered from the South Tower standing
00:15:29.860 beside the stage following a months-long journey across the country honoring the victims and first
00:15:35.540 responders. President Trump yesterday posthumously awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom to
00:15:41.240 Wells Remy Crowther, the 24-year-old volunteer firefighter remembered as the man in the red
00:15:47.320 bandana. Crowther working as an equities trader on the 104th floor of the South Tower when United
00:15:54.280 Airlines Flight 175 struck the building below him. As he made his way down, Crowther reaching
00:15:59.900 the shattered 78th floor sky lobby, President Trump recounting the moment Crowther heard cries
00:16:05.520 for help and chose to answer them. A group of people on the 78th floor were trapped with
00:16:11.380 broken bones, charred skin and eyes and lungs filled with black smoke. They were sure they
00:16:17.400 were going to die. Then suddenly a rescue appeared. They call him the man in the red
00:16:23.660 bandana. He found an opening in one of the stairwells and traveled down from the 104th
00:16:30.320 floor to look for those trapped and dying. When he heard cries for help on the 78th floor, he began
00:16:37.540 extinguishing the fires, blocking the exit, directing survivors who could walk. But he
00:16:43.760 willingly made all of these trips up and down, up and down, up and down, over and over again,
00:16:49.520 saving life after life. Today, in honor of his incredible bravery and all of the other countless
00:16:56.340 unknown acts of heroism that day. It is my privilege to award the very special, the highest
00:17:01.980 honor that we give, highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Survivor accounts
00:17:10.160 crediting Crowther with saving as many as 18 people that morning. He never made it out of
00:17:15.260 the tower. Crowther's remains later found in the South Tower lobby alongside firefighters and other
00:17:21.080 emergency workers near what authorities believed had become a rescue command post. His family,
00:17:27.280 spending months without knowing anything about his final moments, the truth emerging through
00:17:32.000 a 2002 New York Times account as several survivors described the mysterious young man
00:17:37.420 who had led them through the smoke. They did not know his name. They remembered only the
00:17:43.020 red bandana covering his face. Crowther's mother, Allison, immediately recognizing her son,
00:17:48.980 who had carried a red bandana since childhood after receiving it from his father. Crowther's
00:17:55.020 mother and sister Paige accepting the medal on his behalf, his mother crediting her son's ability
00:17:59.980 to respond so decisively to the firefighter training he began as a teenager. Crowther
00:18:06.040 joining Empire Hook and Ladder Company No. 1 in Upper Nyack at just 16 years old, following in
00:18:12.240 the footsteps of his father, Jefferson. Allison saying Crowther may have gone to work that morning
00:18:17.720 as an equities trader, but when lives were in danger, he answered as a firefighter.
00:18:23.500 This means the world to me, my daughter's page and honor, and our entire family.
00:18:28.840 This will be treasured for generations to come.
00:18:31.940 Wells' light still shines brilliantly today, even after 25 years, is testament to his legacy
00:18:38.140 of courage, compassion, and love for humanity that continues to inspire and uplift others.
00:18:45.580 25 years after September 11th, his life continues to remind us of something very simple.
00:18:51.800 In moments when others need us, each of us has the power to choose courage, compassion, and service.
00:18:59.200 That's the real meaning of the red bandana.
00:19:02.100 To be courageous.
00:19:03.780 To find the good.
00:19:05.540 To be the good.
00:19:07.040 Wow.
00:19:09.480 That'll do it for your AM Update.
00:19:11.280 I'm Megan Kelly.
00:19:12.040 Join me back here for the MK Show, live on SiriusXM's The Megyn Kelly Channel, 111 at noon east, on YouTube.com slash Megyn Kelly, and on all podcast platforms.
00:19:42.040 flow stronger.
00:19:47.180 Start to see healthy living differently
00:19:49.320 at manulife.com slash health.
00:19:52.920 Stay cool.