00:01:25.720and a last minute lawsuit tries to stop the historic UFC fight set to take place Sunday
00:01:31.500on the White House lawn. All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM update.
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00:02:34.480your discount. That's promo code MK at take lean.com. President Trump moving to diffuse a
00:02:42.560growing backlash over his temporary pick to lead the intelligence community, announcing yesterday
00:02:47.960a different name, Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan to serve as the next director of
00:02:53.800National Intelligence, or DNI. Regarding his new choice, the president posting to Truth Social
00:02:59.340yesterday that Clayton is, quote, very highly respected, pointing to his work as former chairman
00:03:04.660of the Securities and Exchange Commission, former head of the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell,
00:03:10.080and now U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. The nomination, which requires
00:03:15.000Senate confirmation coming after more than a week of bipartisan blowback over Mr. Trump's plan to
00:03:20.600install loyalist Bill Pulte as acting DNI. Unlike Clayton's nomination for the permanent job,
00:03:27.840Pulte's acting role does not require Senate confirmation. Pulte currently serving as the
00:03:33.020head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Mr. Trump tapping Pulte to temporarily replace
00:03:38.780outgoing DNI Tulsi Gabbard, with Pulte expected to assume the acting role on June 19th.
00:03:45.00038-year-old Pulte has no intelligence background, and he's used his position to help the president
00:03:50.920find alleged legal violations by certain political enemies like Letitia James.
00:03:56.920According to the New York Times, President Trump wants him to use the temporary role
00:04:00.940to keep cutting down the DNI office after Gabbard already made deep reductions.
00:04:06.740Democrats fear he'll use it to target them.
00:04:09.320The DNI position sits at the top of the U.S. intelligence structure,
00:04:13.180coordinating work across 18 agencies, Pulte's appointment quickly triggering alarm from
00:04:18.580Democrats and some Republicans who question why a housing official with no national security
00:04:24.340experience would be put in charge of the nation's intelligence community, temporarily or otherwise.
00:04:30.660The fight now threatening Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA,
00:04:36.780the surveillance authority allowing U.S. agencies to collect communications from
00:04:40.680foreign targets overseas without a warrant, which is about to expire, and which several
00:04:46.200lawmakers refuse to extend if Pulte is the one overseeing its use. Democrats warning they would
00:04:52.960not support an extension unless the White House dropped Pulte. Yesterday, the House rejecting a
00:04:58.180three-week extension of FISA, 198-218, with 19 Republicans and nearly all Democrats voting no.
00:05:06.880The rejection especially notable because despite long-running privacy concerns around the program,
00:05:12.160lawmakers in both parties were prepared to renew it under a compromise deal.
00:05:17.080The law now set to expire at the stroke of midnight tonight.
00:05:20.800The Times noting with the House leaving town for a week and some lawmakers reportedly heading
00:05:25.760overseas, scheduling another vote before the deadline would be extremely difficult.
00:05:30.420Speaker Mike Johnson accusing Dems of gambling with national security to pressure the president
00:05:35.960over Pulte. Is it time for President Trump to pull back his appointment of Bill Pulte
00:05:40.680and choose somebody else to let this important critical tool be? The president of the United
00:05:46.080States is fulfilling his responsibility. The president has named someone who would serve
00:05:51.000for a very short period of time while he seeks a new direction of national intelligence. The
00:05:55.620responsibility, the questions are for the Democrats in the House and Senate, why they're
00:06:00.320willing to jeopardize the lives of millions of Americans to make a political point because they
00:06:05.560have a disagreement about someone that the president has appointed for a short-term
00:06:10.280position, it is absurd. There is no way to defend it. And all the questions that everybody in the
00:06:15.520Capitol Hill press should be chasing every Democrat before they go get on planes and leave,
00:06:19.180so proud of themselves that they just jeopardize the safety of every American citizen.
00:06:23.940I pray, I'm going to be praying that we do not have, we do not have an event on our shores.
00:06:30.000There will be, there will be a lot to answer for if we do.
00:06:32.500Democrats argue the president created this problem by nominating Pulte in the first place.
00:06:37.340The new guy, Jay Clayton's nomination, now potentially giving both sides a way forward.
00:06:42.200Senate Majority Leader John Thune praising Clayton as, quote, a very qualified professional.
00:06:47.020Democrat Congressman Jim Himes, ranking member of the House Intel Committee,
00:06:51.140also welcoming the pick, calling Clayton a, quote, terrific choice for DNI.
00:06:56.180Still, however, for now, the standoff continues and the law is set to expire.
00:07:00.540The House began its recess yesterday with the next votes not expected until Tuesday, June 23rd.
00:07:07.180Speaker Johnson not appearing eager to call lawmakers back early either.
00:07:11.980Meantime, President Trump yesterday from the Oval standing by Pulte.
00:07:15.900Do you intend to have Bill Pulte continue to serve as the acting director of national intelligence?
00:07:21.600And do you think it's unreasonable that some Republicans have concerns that he has no intelligence experience, even if he's serving in this acting role?
00:07:27.820But he's intelligent, unlike a lot of other people.
00:07:30.540But do you think that's why there's no intelligence?
00:07:33.280He's only there for a little while. He's running it for a short while.
00:07:35.940Well, we get a very talented person, Jake Layton, as you know.
00:07:39.620Bill will run it for a short while. He's done a fantastic job.
00:07:42.440But Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac created tremendous.
00:07:45.840It's probably worth a trillion dollars now. Trillion.
00:07:49.300He's done a great job. He's a smart guy.
00:07:51.680Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, a Democrat, says even if the program lapses,
00:07:56.640most FISA powers will remain in effect until 2027 thanks to a built-in safety mechanism.
00:08:04.680Graham Plattner, fresh off winning the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in Maine Tuesday night,
00:08:10.300now facing a new set of challengers, Democrats. As Plattner gears up to face five-term Republican
00:08:16.420Senator Susan Collins in November, in a race Democrats widely view as central to their hopes
00:08:21.440of taking back the Senate, NBC News reporting some Dems are already working behind the scenes
00:08:26.940to see whether Plattner can be pressured to withdraw before Maine's mid-July deadline to
00:08:32.360replace him on the ballot. The concern? Plattner's victory coming after months of damaging revelations.
00:08:39.080Plattner effectively cruising through the primary after Maine Governor Janet Mills dropped out in
00:08:43.800April. Early in the campaign, reports surfacing about a tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol, along
00:08:50.200with some dicey Reddit posts. Back in January, Plattner telling CNN there was nothing else out
00:08:55.240there that could damage his campaign. But this month, more stories dropping. First reports that
00:09:00.700Plattner sent sexually explicit messages to multiple women while he was married. Then new
00:09:05.980allegations involving his treatment of women, including one woman accusing him of becoming
00:09:10.240physically threatening during their relationship. Plattner denying some of the allegations,
00:09:15.260including any physical abuse, confirming some other of the messages, but insisting he's not
00:09:21.060going anywhere. Earlier this week, Plattner asked again on MS Now whether more damaging
00:09:26.400information could still come out. Okay, so you say there's nothing out there that could be
00:09:32.840concerning. And this may seem a little bit rich. There's nothing out there that's actually
00:09:41.800concerning. People will make everything seem very concerning because that's what people do in
00:09:48.540politics. Not exactly a denial. As Plattner attempts to calm voters and Democrat Party
00:09:54.500strategists, earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal pressing a senior Plattner strategist,
00:09:59.820who is straight out of central Democrat casting, as you're about to hear, on how a candidate with
00:10:05.540this much baggage made it through the vetting process in the first place. At this point,
00:10:09.920You hadn't vetted Graham Plattner. You hadn't done a full scrub of who he is. How did you go
00:10:16.140about vetting him? We paid a nice firm a whole chunk of money and got some stuff back. Some
00:10:24.900of what you've seen on the news we got back. Other stuff we didn't. Did the vetting process turn up
00:10:30.180the tattoo that became so controversial? No. The Reddit posts, did that turn up in the vetting
00:10:36.160process? The firm sent us a thing, and it had some of the posts, but it didn't have all of them.
00:10:44.260And what did you think about that? How did you think your way through the fact that he had posted
00:10:50.200these things on social media? I said none of this will or should stop him from becoming a U.S.
00:10:56.680senator. That answer now feeding into fears inside the Democrat Party. If Plattner's own
00:11:02.200campaign didn't know the full extent of his baggage before voters did, what exactly might
00:11:07.580Republicans know? NBC News reporting some Democrats are privately discussing whether
00:11:12.560Plattner can still be pressured to withdraw before Maine's July 13th deadline. Republicans
00:11:18.640reportedly watching that same deadline. One unnamed GOP strategist involved in Senate campaigns
00:11:24.900telling NBC the Republicans may be holding back their opposition research file until after July
00:11:31.08013th. Out of fear, Democrats will, quote, Biden him, a reference to Joe Biden being pushed out
00:11:36.960of the 2024 race by members of his own party. National Republican groups already starting to
00:11:42.380capitalize on Plattner's existing scandals in ads. Listen to this one. Susan Collins spent time as a
00:11:49.460kid picking potatoes in Maine. Graham Plattner spent time as a kid at a $70,000 a year prep
00:11:55.900School in Connecticut. Susan Collins doesn't have a Nazi tattoo and she doesn't have an account on
00:12:01.780a notorious Predator's Paradise app. Graham Plattner did for years. And this was his profile
00:12:08.380picture. Oh gosh, please, please get that off the screen. Anyway, Susan Collins, a senator we can be
00:12:15.920proud of. Despite the internal concern, Plattner advisor Rebecca Katz telling NBC, quote, the
00:12:22.100Democrats of Maine have made clear who their choice is, and the rest of the party should
00:12:26.080honor that choice. The general election is set for November 3rd, but more shoes are sure to drop
00:12:32.340before then. Coming up, a Minnesota assassin pleads guilty, admitting to a deadly ambush
00:12:39.960targeting state lawmakers and their families. And a look inside the planning and preparation
00:12:44.940ahead of Sunday's planned UFC fight on the White House lawn.
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00:14:15.500Minnesota assassin Vance Belter pleading guilty yesterday to the shootings of two Minnesota
00:14:23.100lawmakers and their spouses as part of a federal plea deal. The attacks unfolding in the early
00:14:29.180morning hours of June 14, 2025. An armed Belter disguising himself as a police officer wearing
00:14:36.660body armor driving first to the home of Democrat State Senator John Hoffman. Belter knocking
00:14:42.620repeatedly claiming to be police, then opening fire on Hoffman and his wife, Yvette. Both Hoffmans
00:14:49.460survived life-threatening injuries. As part of his plea, Belter also admitting he attempted to
00:14:55.200shoot their daughter, Hope. From there, Belter driving to the Brooklyn Park home of former
00:15:00.420Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, arriving around the same time
00:15:05.840police were conducting a welfare check following the Hoffman shooting. Officers finding Belter
00:15:11.800outside of the Hortman home near a black Ford Explorer made to look like a police vehicle
00:15:16.960with police-style lights flashing. Moments later, Belter firing into the home, killing Mark,
00:15:23.420then rushing inside and fatally shooting Representative Hortman. Belter also shooting
00:15:28.400the family dog, Gilbert, who later had to be euthanized, according to the Minnesota Star
00:15:33.620Tribune. Belter getting away after opening fire on officers, triggering what officials later
00:15:39.500described as the largest manhunt in Minnesota history. For about 43 hours, federal, state,
00:15:45.400and local law enforcement searching for him across Minnesota before finally tracking him to a field
00:15:50.800in Green Isle about a mile from his family home. Police searching Belter's SUV, recovering five
00:15:57.320firearms, including semi-automatic assault-style rifles, a large amount of ammunition, and notebooks
00:16:03.640listing dozens of Minnesota state and federal elected officials, often with their home addresses.
00:16:10.100Investigators finding a handwritten letter addressed to FBI Director Kash Patel in Belter's
00:16:15.340vehicle. Prosecutors allege that in that letter, Belter admits to the attacks while also making a
00:16:21.680series of bizarre claims, including that he had been secretly trained, quote, off the books by
00:16:27.200the U.S. military and had carried out missions overseas. Belter also claiming Minnesota Governor
00:16:33.240Tim Walz, a Democrat, had approached him about killing Democratic Senators Amy Klobuchar and
00:16:39.140Tina Smith. Now nearly one year after the attacks, Belter changing his initial not guilty plea to
00:16:45.580guilty in federal court after the DOJ agreed not to seek the death penalty. The 58-year-old
00:16:52.000pleading guilty to all six federal counts against him, including stalking, firearms charges, and a
00:16:57.600federal statute that makes murder with a firearm an offense that carries a penalty of up to life
00:17:02.940in prison or death. Under the terms of the plea deal, prosecutors will recommend two consecutive
00:17:08.540of life sentences, followed by another 40 years in prison, the judge approving the deal and calling
00:17:14.420for an expedited sentencing with the goal of having Belter formally sentenced before the end of July.
00:17:20.180The final sentence still up to the court, but the judge indicating he is likely to accept the
00:17:25.480recommendation, according to CBS News. U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota, Daniel Rosen,
00:17:31.400speaking to reporters yesterday. Political violence is a scourge plaguing America in our
00:17:38.260times, the murders of Speaker of the House Melissa Hortman and Mark Hortman, shooting
00:17:44.920of Senator John Hoffman and Yvette Hoffman, and the attempted shooting of Hope Hoffman
00:17:50.520are among the worst political violence crimes that we have seen.
00:17:54.120Today the United States achieved the admissions and the agreement necessary for the perpetrator
00:17:59.080of those crimes to spend the rest of his life in prison without possibility of release.
00:18:06.220that would commit political violence at any level should take heed. The Department of Justice will
00:18:11.600seek and obtain the longest prison terms available for your crimes. Belter also facing separate state
00:18:19.440charges, including first-degree murder, attempted murder, animal cruelty, and impersonating an
00:18:25.100officer. A conviction on a first-degree murder count carries a penalty of life without parole.
00:18:30.500almost time for fight night at the white house as ufc freedom 250 is now just two days away
00:18:38.540set for sunday the first ever ufc cage match on the white house salt lawn kicking off a summer
00:18:45.020of events marking america's 250th birthday while also landing on flag day and president trump's
00:18:51.52080th birthday secretary of state marco rubio previewing the event yesterday with ufc president
00:18:57.520dana white the american 250 celebration belongs to the people of the united states for them to
00:19:03.080be able to see this event with their white house in the background as part of our celebration as
00:19:07.520a country in our 250 years i think is a gift to the american people we could have had a band and
00:19:12.940we have great bands we could have done a shakespeare in the park production uh there are a lot of
00:19:17.060things we could have done with it but this one will have people watching probably over what a
00:19:20.520billion people all over the world a billion people all over the world will be watching america
00:19:24.480celebrate its 250th birthday with the White House in the background and some of the best
00:19:29.340athletes in the world in that octagon. With the octagon already going up and a full weekend of
00:19:35.540programming planned, a last-minute federal wet blanket lawsuit now trying to stop the whole
00:19:41.140thing. The lawsuit, filed by the Public Integrity Project on behalf of two Virginia residents,
00:19:46.980arguing the event violates National Park Service rules governing sports events on federal parkland.
00:19:52.740The plaintiffs also blasting the event itself, arguing it's not really about America's founding, but about President Trump, UFC, and what they call a, quote, hideous spectacle on some of the country's most symbolic public grounds.
00:20:06.700Hideous spectacle? Where were they when President Biden had trannies on the White House lawn showing their nude, fake breasts?0.97
00:20:14.260Attorney Brendan Ballou calling it, quote, a corrupt use of our most sacred national monuments for private gain.0.96
00:20:22.140CBS News reporting U.S. District Judge Ahmet Mehta, an Obama appointee, deciding yesterday
00:20:27.700not to hold a formal hearing on the request to stop the event, but rather saying he will
00:20:32.740make a determination based on the written court filings.
00:20:36.200It's unclear when a decision is expected, but the fights begin in just 48 hours.
00:20:41.000DOJ attorneys firing back, accusing the two plaintiffs of trying to use the courts to,
00:20:45.300impose their idiosyncratic preferences on the rest of the country and,
00:20:49.720ruin an event designed to celebrate the United States of America. In a sworn declaration to the
00:20:55.240court, White House Management and Administration Director Joshua Fisher laying out just how much
00:21:00.200is already in motion. Fisher describing a massive multi-day production months in the making with the
00:21:06.180UFC, federal agencies, security teams, contractors, and outside production crews all involved. The
00:21:12.460price tag topping 60 million bucks with the UFC covering, quote, production, labor, construction,
00:21:18.060and promotion costs, and the feds handling law enforcement security emergency services
00:21:23.280and medical help. The footprint, enormous. Filings show roughly 4,000 guests expected
00:21:29.920on the South Lawn, plus more than 120,000 expected at the Ellipse for a watch party.
00:21:36.080CNN reporting the build-out has been underway since May 20th, with 20 to 30 trucks each day
00:21:41.180bringing in UFC equipment, staging, lighting, and technical gear, all screened before getting
00:21:46.400onto White House grounds. And then there are the porta-potties. According to CNN's review of
00:21:52.300planning documents, the National Park Service requiring at least one restroom for every 300
00:21:57.380guests. So planning documents call for at least 116 near the Lincoln Memorial and at least 350
00:22:05.060more near the Ellipse as crowds pour in across the weekend. The programming begins today,
00:22:11.100barring a court order, with a UFC press conference and face-offs at the Lincoln Memorial.
00:22:16.400Saturday bringing ceremonial weigh-ins, fan events, and a Zac Brown band concert at the Ellipse.
00:22:22.360Then Sunday night, seven mixed martial arts fights from the White House South Lawn,
00:22:27.340with President Trump, Melania Trump, and other top officials expected to attend.
00:22:32.040The event set to conclude with a fireworks show.
00:22:37.440And that'll do it for your AM update. I'm Megyn Kelly. Join me back here for the MK Show,