The Megyn Kelly Show - Trump-Putin Summit Today, Newsom Gerrymandering Plan, Biden Trip Scrapped Over Steps： AM Update 8⧸15

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00:00:30.000 Good morning, everyone. I'm Megyn Kelly.

00:00:34.900 It's Friday, August 15th, 2025, and this is your AM update.

00:00:40.220 All I want to do is set the table for the next meeting, which should happen shortly.

00:00:44.620 President Trump's set to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin today face-to-face in Alaska,

00:00:50.200 the most significant step so far in the effort to end the war in Ukraine.

00:00:54.240 California Governor Gavin Newsom faces a crowd of tens,

00:00:58.360 unveiling a plan to gerrymander California in response to Texas' redistricting battle,

00:01:04.220 an initiative facing a tough uphill battle.

00:01:07.060 That's more evidence that the staff around Joe Biden sheltered him and tried to hide the fact

00:01:13.160 that he was in a massive mental and physical decline.

00:01:16.560 Newly released emails reveal Biden White House staffers canceled a planned tour of a large ship

00:01:22.580 because there would be too many steps, but they couldn't keep up with him behind the scenes,

00:01:27.840 they swear.

00:01:28.880 All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM update.

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00:02:45.600 President Trump set to meet one-on-one today with Russian President Vladimir Putin

00:02:51.420 at the Elmendorf-Richardson military base in Anchorage, Alaska,

00:02:55.580 the most high-stakes effort yet to bring a resolution to the war in Ukraine.

00:02:59.800 The meeting set for 11.30 a.m. local time, that's 3.30 p.m. Eastern,

00:03:04.260 each leader reportedly accompanied only by a translator.

00:03:07.480 For what it's worth, your humble reporter has been alone with Vladimir Putin without anything but translators,

00:03:13.400 and let me tell you, he understands English very well, better than he lets on.

00:03:19.020 The translator almost feels unnecessary. 0.99

00:03:22.120 After the two leaders' initial meeting today, a broader working lunch is planned between the two delegations,

00:03:27.880 the summit expected to conclude with a joint press conference.

00:03:31.620 This, the first face-to-face meeting between President Putin and any Western leader since the war began in February 2022,

00:03:38.340 marking President Putin's first trip to U.S. soil in nearly a decade.

00:03:43.260 President Trump indicating Thursday from the Oval,

00:03:46.020 this meeting is simply to take full stock of Mr. Putin's intentions.

00:03:49.700 I would say that tomorrow, all I want to do is set the table for the next meeting, which should happen shortly.

00:03:56.020 I'd like to see it happen very quickly, very shortly after this meeting.

00:03:59.880 I'd like to see it actually happen maybe in Alaska, where we just stay, because it's so much easier.

00:04:05.160 But I think that, I think it's going to be very interesting.

00:04:09.080 We're going to find out where everybody stands,

00:04:11.520 and I'll know within the first two minutes, three minutes, four minutes, or five minutes,

00:04:15.840 like we tend to find out whether or not we're going to have a good meeting or a bad meeting.

00:04:20.520 And if it's a bad meeting, it'll end very quickly.

00:04:23.040 And if it's a good meeting, we're going to end up getting peace in the pretty near future.

00:04:27.260 Today's summit, following months of failed attempts to negotiate a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine,

00:04:32.700 in recent weeks, President Trump publicly doubting Mr. Putin's sincerity in reaching a settlement,

00:04:38.000 setting a deadline of last Friday to reach a ceasefire.

00:04:40.780 On August 6th, two days before that deadline, Mr. Trump ordering 50% tariffs on imports from India,

00:04:49.160 aimed at punishing India for its purchases of Russian oil in hopes of putting a stop to them,

00:04:54.700 a move designed to financially squeeze Moscow and push Mr. Putin toward a deal.

00:04:59.960 Those tariffs set to kick in August 27th.

00:05:03.000 The same day as the secondary sanctions were announced,

00:05:06.420 the Kremlin reportedly reached out to the White House,

00:05:09.160 requesting a meeting between the two leaders.

00:05:11.780 President Trump on Wednesday threatening additional punitive measures if progress is not made.

00:05:17.000 President, will Russia face any consequences

00:05:19.960 if Vladimir Putin does not agree to stop the war after your meeting on Friday?

00:05:25.640 Yes, they will.

00:05:27.000 What will the consequences be?

00:05:28.080 There will be consequences.

00:05:29.020 Sanctions, tariffs?

00:05:29.820 There will be.

00:05:30.540 I don't have to say.

00:05:31.320 There will be very severe consequences.

00:05:32.880 Treasury Secretary Scott Besson on Fox Business Thursday challenging European allies to increase

00:05:38.980 financial pressure on Russia as well.

00:05:41.000 I want to say that it is time for European counterparts to put up or shut up.

00:05:46.820 They keep saying, oh, the U.S. should do this, U.S. should do that.

00:05:50.800 President Trump has put secondary sanctions or secondary tariffs on India because of their consumption

00:05:57.260 of Russian oil, and the Europeans haven't done that yet.

00:06:01.440 As a matter of fact, the Europeans are buying the refined products that the Indian refiners make.

00:06:06.980 So we need some coordination here.

00:06:09.280 So if we are going to have a united front, which will give President Trump maximum leverage,

00:06:15.760 then I think that our European counterparts need to do their part.

00:06:21.180 Secretary Besson going on to say all options are on the table, including secondary tariffs

00:06:26.240 on Chinese goods sold in America at commensurate levels to China's purchases of Russian oil.

00:06:33.040 Following today's events, President Trump planning to call Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky,

00:06:38.200 then other European leaders, to report on progress.

00:06:41.840 Russia currently occupies about 20 percent of Ukraine's territory.

00:06:45.520 President Zelensky consistently emphasizing Ukraine will not accept any deal that involves

00:06:50.220 giving up additional territory.

00:06:52.420 The Trump administration repeatedly maintaining any deal will likely have to include land swapping,

00:06:58.260 though what that means exactly has not been made clear.

00:07:01.560 On a Wednesday call between Presidents Trump and Zelensky and other European leaders,

00:07:06.060 Mr. Trump reportedly saying he does not intend to discuss dividing territory with President Putin

00:07:10.860 without Mr. Zelensky's participation in the discussion.

00:07:14.620 Political reporting, President Trump also told the European leaders,

00:07:17.920 the U.S. is willing to contribute security guarantees for Ukraine if a ceasefire is reached,

00:07:23.740 with some conditions, so long as that arrangement is separate from NATO.

00:07:28.440 NBC reporting on Thursday evening, Mr. Putin sounding positive ahead of the summit,

00:07:33.300 saying he believes President Trump is making, quote,

00:07:35.700 quite energetic and sincere efforts to stop the fighting

00:07:38.500 and reach agreements that are of interest to all parties involved in this conflict.

00:07:43.460 Mr. Putin then adding,

00:07:44.560 the efforts are intended to, quote,

00:07:46.440 create long-term conditions of peace between our countries and in Europe

00:07:49.880 and in the world as a whole, end quote,

00:07:52.960 particularly if the negotiations are extended to cover strategic offensive weapons treaties,

00:07:58.440 aka nukes.

00:08:00.200 President Trump has on multiple occasions suggested after the war in Ukraine

00:08:04.100 he would like to focus on denuclearization.

00:08:07.580 Critics of the summit arguing it amounts to a reward for Mr. Putin,

00:08:10.920 a sampling here from CBS, MSNBC, and CNN.

00:08:15.300 This is someone who actually is seizing this moment for domestic propaganda value.

00:08:20.580 Given that Russia used to own Alaska and given the significance of joint-based

00:08:24.800 Almendorf-Richardson and Russian-American relations,

00:08:27.380 it's almost like it was chosen to make Putin feel special or something.

00:08:32.020 You know, it's a personal meeting, but I think it gives advantage to Putin.

00:08:36.840 He would love to be able to run the country in the way that Putin runs Russia.

00:08:39.840 He would love to have this authoritarian, very strong hand and do whatever he wants to do.

00:08:43.420 And I think he just sort of looks up to the way that Putin runs things.

00:08:46.400 President Trump Thursday from the Oval reacting to that criticism.

00:08:49.700 No, I don't think it's a reward.

00:08:51.460 I think that what we have is a situation that should never have started, should have never started.

00:08:57.260 It didn't start under me, and for four years it wasn't even discussed.

00:09:01.020 And I could see it was going to happen after I left.

00:09:04.040 I could see what was happening.

00:09:05.240 Everything that we did was wrong.

00:09:08.160 Everything that was done was wrong.

00:09:11.200 Everybody's to blame.

00:09:12.320 Putin's to blame.

00:09:13.420 They're all to blame.

00:09:14.760 This is a war that would have never happened.

00:09:16.680 We'll bring you what happens at this historic summit on Monday.

00:09:19.900 Coming up, California Governor Gavin Newsom becoming the first Democrat governor to officially roll out a plan aimed at gerrymandering his own state in response to the Texas DOJ-ordered redistricting effort.

00:09:34.040 And newly released emails reveal Biden staffers canceled the president's plans to tour a large ship because it involved too many steps for the man they told us was the best Biden ever.

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00:11:05.240 Democrat Governor of California, Gavin Newsom, speaking to tens of listeners, unveiling a plan to redraw his state's congressional map yesterday in response to Texas' push to approve a new map that would add five GOP-leaning House seats.

00:11:23.740 Governor Newsom calling for a special election on November 4th to approve new congressional maps through 2030.

00:11:31.040 If successful, the maps could erase as many as six GOP House seats in the Golden State.

00:11:36.140 Query how fair that would be to California's Republican voters who, while comprising nearly 40% of the state's electorate, thanks to previous gerrymandering there, currently hold less than 20% of California's U.S. House seats.

00:11:50.500 Typically, California's maps are drawn by an independent redistricting commission.

00:11:55.440 Newsom's plan would effectively override the commission for the next three election cycles, picking back up again after the 2030 census.

00:12:03.180 Newsom at a Thursday press briefing, casting the effort as a righteous response to President Trump's threat to democracy.

00:12:10.300 This is the difference between what's happening in Texas and what's happening here in California.

00:12:15.500 We didn't receive a phone call from the President of the United States to then quietly go in the back room and start drawing maps and legislatively try to jam them through against the consent of the people.

00:12:26.360 We're doing precisely the opposite.

00:12:28.560 We're working through a very transparent, temporary, and public process.

00:12:34.180 We're putting the maps on the ballot and we're giving the power to the people.

00:12:39.100 This will be the first redistricting that's ever done that.

00:12:42.100 That's the difference.

00:12:43.180 The governor is saying later in the day he will drop the bid if red states considering redistricting drop their plans as well.

00:12:50.440 The state legislature is expected to vote next week on the governor's initiative.

00:12:54.840 Political reporting, Democrat leaders in the state say they have the legislative votes necessary to approve the measure.

00:13:01.620 The plan, however, does not appear to have the support of the governor's constituents.

00:13:05.520 Politico's polling finding voters overwhelmingly prefer the state's independent redistricting commission by a nearly two-to-one margin.

00:13:13.380 Just 36 percent of voters support returning redistricting authority to state lawmakers.

00:13:19.020 The National Republican Congressional Committee responding in a statement, quote,

00:13:22.620 Gavin Newsom's latest stunt has nothing to do with Californians and everything to do with consolidating radical Democrat power, silencing California voters, and propping up his pathetic 2028 presidential pipe dream.

00:13:35.540 Former Republican governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who spearheaded the creation of the independent commission, reportedly ready to fight the measure as well.

00:13:43.400 A spokesperson for Schwarzenegger telling political, quote, he calls gerrymandering evil, and he means that.

00:13:50.300 He thinks it's truly evil for politicians to take power from people.

00:13:53.920 He's opposed to what Texas is doing, and he's opposed to the idea that California would race to the bottom to do the same thing.

00:14:01.180 Outside of the event in Los Angeles, Border Patrol agents conducting a large-scale enforcement operation in the sanctuary city and making several arrests.

00:14:10.220 Mayor Karen Bass, blasting the Border Patrol, saying, quote,

00:14:13.600 There is no way this was a coincidence.

00:14:15.880 There was no reason in the world for them to come here.

00:14:18.200 This is a complete provocation.

00:14:20.080 This has nothing to do with safety.

00:14:22.300 This is the exact opposite of keeping our city safe.

00:14:26.000 It happens as the Trump administration vows to ramp up enforcement in sanctuary cities.

00:14:32.400 Recently uncovered emails from the Biden administration revealing Team Biden scrapped plans

00:14:37.700 for the then-president to visit the National Security Multi-Mission Vessel,

00:14:43.040 a large ship at an event in a Philly shipyard because it would require too many steps.

00:14:49.760 The event planned for July 2023, just a few weeks after Mr. Biden tripped and fell on the stage of the Air Force graduation ceremony,

00:14:58.580 a fall the White House dismissed as the fault of a poorly placed sandbag.

00:15:03.020 Nothing to do with age, you see, but instead, as The Guardian later put it,

00:15:08.000 quote,

00:15:08.400 A minor accident that could have befallen any one of us.

00:15:12.200 In an email dated July 17th, 2023, an event coordinator writing, quote,

00:15:17.440 No visit to the NSMV vessel is planned after the White House realized how many steps were involved to get on the ship.

00:15:24.360 A former Biden official telling Fox News the size of the massive shipyard would be considered in the planning of such events,

00:15:32.320 adding that the email references steps and not stairs specifically.

00:15:37.180 How does that help again?

00:15:38.740 Fox News reporting on records obtained by non-profit watchdog group Protect the Public's Trust.

00:15:44.780 The concern over the president's physical capability,

00:15:47.800 currently part of the House Oversight Committee investigation into a possible conspiracy among Biden staffers,

00:15:53.340 to cover up the true mental and physical state of the president,

00:15:56.760 allegedly while usurping the powers of the presidency via the auto pen,

00:16:01.560 a mechanical pen used to replicate the president's signature.

00:16:04.960 Head of the Oversight Committee, Congressman James Comer of Kentucky,

00:16:08.340 telling Fox Business the latest revelation bolsters his investigation.

00:16:12.820 The new emails that have emerged show that they didn't want Joe Biden to go take one walk around a ship

00:16:19.720 because they didn't feel that he could actually make enough steps without tripping or falling down.

00:16:25.240 That's more evidence that the staff around Joe Biden sheltered him and tried to hide the fact

00:16:31.300 that he was in a massive mental and physical decline.

00:16:34.860 And there were a very small group of people that were around Joe Biden that shielded him from cabinet secretaries,

00:16:40.440 they shielded him from the press, they shielded him from the American people.

00:16:43.260 And yet these are the same few staffers that operated the auto pen.

00:16:48.020 As part of the investigation, Chairman Comer so far interviewing several former Biden staffers,

00:16:53.080 some including former White House physician Dr. Kevin O'Connor, pleading the fifth.

00:16:58.240 The next interview set for next week with former Biden spokesperson Ian Sams.

00:17:03.400 In September, former press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and former chief of staff Jeff Zients are scheduled.

00:17:09.580 Congressman Comer saying the basis of the investigation is to determine whether Biden's executive orders and pardons can be nullified in court

00:17:17.620 if he can prove President Biden was not the one making the final decisions.

00:17:24.040 And that'll do it for your AM update.

00:17:25.920 I'm Megan Kelly.

00:17:26.880 Join me back here for The Megan Kelly Show, live on SiriusXM Triumph Channel 111 at noon east,

00:17:31.940 on YouTube.com slash Megan Kelly, and on all podcast platforms.

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The Megyn Kelly Show - August 15, 2025

Trump-Putin Summit Today, Newsom Gerrymandering Plan, Biden Trip Scrapped Over Steps： AM Update 8⧸15

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