Trump's Miraculous and Historic Hostage Deal, with Batya Ungar-Sargon, and Cheryl Hines on Smears of RFK Jr. | Ep. 1170
Episode Stats
Length
1 hour and 44 minutes
Words per Minute
170.46443
Summary
One of the most consequential moments in history unfolding this morning in the Middle East, the long nightmare for the families of the survivors of the Israeli hostages is over. All 20 have been released into the arms of their loved ones, and I cannot get enough of the videos. They are incredible.
Transcript
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Welcome to The Megyn Kelly Show, live on Sirius XM Channel 111 every weekday at noon east.
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One of the most consequential moments in history unfolding this morning in the Middle East.
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The long nightmare for the families of the Israeli hostages is over.
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All 20 of the survivors released hours ago into the arms of their loved ones, and I cannot get enough of the videos.
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All right, we're going to go through a few of them.
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Among those released, 25-year-old Matan Zengauker.
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Last week, when his mother found out he would be released,
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she said the moment she was looking forward to the most was when her son's eyes could sink into her own.
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In each one of these, they're holding on to them like they might never see them again.
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I mean, they're holding on to their sons exactly the way that you would hold on to your son.
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I mean, exactly the way you would hold on to your son if you hadn't seen him in two years
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and he were in the hands of a terrorist group in some cave.
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You can feel the relief and the joy and the gratitude.
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And it's just one of the reasons why it's so emotional to watch these.
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Also among the released 24-year-old, let's say, Eviatar.
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Eviatar was kidnapped from the Nova Festival in southern Israel.
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This is a photo of him before he was taken hostage.
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In August, Hamas released video of him showing him looking emaciated.
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For the listening audience, he looks like a Holocaust victim.
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When his family was shown the video, his father said he did not even recognize that this was his son.
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He blew kisses to the crowd of onlookers as he arrived to a hospital in Israel.
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He still looks thin, but he was smiling and he was waving.
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Another hostage released was shown in one of the most widely shared videos of the October 7th attack.
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Avinathan Orr was at the Supernova Music Festival with his girlfriend, Noah Argamanid.
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When Hamas terrorists attacked the music festival, they spent hours hiding in a ditch.
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And Noah was seen being driven off toward Gaza on a motorbike.
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You can see just nothing but distress on her face as she reaches for him.
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While reaching for Avinathan, they were both taken.
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And the reports were that he actually had a chance to escape prior to this, but wouldn't go because he wasn't going to leave her.
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I'm not exactly sure how it went down, but he apparently had the chance to spare his own life and leave her behind, and he wouldn't.
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Eventually, they were both taken, but Noah was freed after an Israeli military operation earlier in these past two years.
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His mother once said about finding out that he was a hostage, quote,
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It's like lightning striking, but from all directions at once.
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Then all the light inside of you disappears, and the darkness means no thoughts, no emotions, no air, just nothing.
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In the first images of his release, he is shown pumping his fist.
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Now he's giving her a real kiss, touching her face.
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Hopefully, they can get past this nightmare, and we'll have a long and happy life together with lots of kids.
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One of the most emotional scenes today came from the family of Segev Kalfan.
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He, too, was taken from the Nova Music Festival.
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He called his family that day as he was trying to run from the terrorists.
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They never heard from him again and only found out in February of this year that he was still alive.
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When Segev was reunited with his family today, you'll see it at first.
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He tries to keep it together, but then he wails with emotion at the first sight of his loved ones.
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his dad is kissing his head. He's got his elbows on his knees. He's overwhelmed. So it's like so
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emotional to watch, isn't it? My God, the raw emotion. I'm sure both he and his family thought
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he was going to die for the entirety of those two years. Why would you put any faith whatsoever in
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Hamas? So many of them did die. One of the things we're still waiting on today is the release of
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the deceased bodies. Hamas has not complied with the obligation to release them
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immediately, contemporaneously with the live hostages. And so far as we came to air, only four
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of the deceased bodies had been released. That'll be a fight we'll see play out in the coming days
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as they try to retrieve them from under rubble. And also we are told in some cases, they're not sure
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where the remains are. So thank God Segev is okay. It easily could have gone another way.
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Gosh, those screams are so powerful. You could hear him screaming and his wailing is a better word
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and his dad wailing. And you just think of like a father's love for his son and what any father would
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give to have been the one taken instead of the son, you know, to trade places with his boy. So his boy
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didn't have to go through what Segev did and then to have them back. You know, it's like if you've ever
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lost someone, one of the five stages of grief is bargaining and you bargain that you'll be given
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that moment that like something will be wrong with the news you were given and that you, you'll get
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the moment of finding out he's not dead and you can hold him. You can wail like that with relief that you
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were wrong and he's been brought back into your life. I was like, every time I see one of these, I, this
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isn't some big promo for Trump, but I do think of Trump. Like what is it in that crazy mind of Trump's
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that just let him never give up? What is it about like sort of the madness that drives our president
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in the best sense that makes him say, no, I, I can get it done. I can do it. No, I'll, I'll keep going
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through the indictments. I don't care that my freedom's in jeopardy. No, I know I was just shot in
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the head, but I'm going to stand up and say, fight, fight, fight when we don't know whether
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the shooter's dead. No, I don't care that they impeach me twice. I'm going to run again. They're
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trying to keep me off ballots. They're trying to attack my family. No, I'm, I'm going to win. I'm
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going to run and I'm going to win. No, I don't care that you tell me this court or that, that I can't
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send troops there because people are dying and I want to make sure ICE officers are protected and I don't
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care. Like I'm going to find a way to do it because I know it's, what's right. I know this is,
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what's right. I, I know that this war needs to wrap up. Those were president Trump's terms.
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That's what he said. Time to wrap it up, but there has to be a way of getting the hot. There has to be
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a way of getting the hostages out. What we have to apply pressure. That's my business. Let, what are
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the pressure points? Go, go to Qatar, go to Egypt, go to Turkey, twist the financial concerns up,
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give them what they want, make it worth their while so that they can lean on, on the Palestinians
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in a way that the United States cannot because we lack the leverage points. There's something in his
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head that just doesn't let him take no for an answer. He's a miracle worker. That's what it feels
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like we're seeing. Segev walking out and holding his dad like that is a miracle after that picture of
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him in the tunnel. And as these hostages have been coming out one by one today, President Trump
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this morning, he's been going all night. You know, he, he flew to Israel. It was like 2.40
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U.S. time. There's seven hours ahead. So, you know, add seven. I screwed that up on the AM update,
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by the way. I had the reverse. Apologies for that. But he was over there, 2.40 landing,
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meeting with Israeli families, addressing the Knesset, the Israeli parliament. Then I think
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right now is already off to Egypt. Like one place, it's just what he's doing over there is superhuman.
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The man's 79 years old. Most of us complain if like we have a full day of work plus home
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responsibilities, plus like a social engagement in the evening. A lot of us, maybe not most,
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I do. It's incredible. So he addressed Israelis, the Israeli parliament this morning,
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talking about what's been achieved and his new hope for the region.
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After two harrowing years and darkness and captivity, 20 courageous hostages are returning
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to the glorious embrace of their families. And it is glorious. 28 more precious loved ones are coming
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home at last to rest in this sacred soil for all of time. And after so many years of unceasing war
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and endless danger, today the skies are calm, the guns are silent, the sirens are still,
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and the sun rises on a holy land that is finally at peace. A land and a region that will live,
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God willing, in peace for all eternity. I love Israel. I'm with you all the way.
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You will be bigger, better, stronger, and more loving than ever before. Thank you very much. God bless you.
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God bless the United States of America. And God bless the Middle East. Thank you, everybody.
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Chanting Trump. Joining me now, Batya Ankar Sargan. She's the host of Batya on News Nation and author
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are also available at Target, Whole Foods, Walmart, Amazon, CVS, and Walgreens. Batya, what a day.
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It's overwhelming, isn't it? Utterly, utterly overwhelming. That was such a beautiful opening,
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Megan. And you're so right. We just witnessed a miracle. Trump just performed an actual miracle
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before our eyes. I never believed these men would see the light of day again. And what he had to go
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through to get them out? He's the only person who could have done it. And even he, I didn't keep
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the faith. And I just have to say, Megan, I hope I can get through this. This is a huge, huge win for
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the United States, just like it is for Israel. Every American who voted for Donald Trump, but especially
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people like you, Megan, who played a role in getting him elected, who stood by him, who told the truth,
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who told the American people what he was going to do for us. You own this. There are 20 lives that are
00:15:40.980
going to be alive because of you, Megan. In Judaism, we say, if you save a life, it's like saving the whole
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world. And Megan, you saved 20 worlds. You get a share of this and you get to know this for the
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rest of your life, that you played a role in rescuing these 20 precious, innocent souls. And
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everything that comes from the Middle East now, I do believe there will be peace. Every person who
00:16:08.100
helped Trump get to this place, it's yours. Also, it is your victory. Of course, it's ours as Americans,
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because he's our guy. And it's just the most incredible, incredible day. I mean, glory to God,
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as you tweeted. And to President Trump, I did not think that I would live to see something like this.
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It is a world historic moment. We just witnessed Jewish history being made. And you now get a piece
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of that, Megan. So thank you from the bottom of my heart. You are so sweet, Batya. I wish I had
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something to do with it. But I do believe we wouldn't be here if Kamala Harris had won. I accept
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that piece of it. I agree with you. He's the only person who could have gotten this done because of
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that beautiful madness. I don't know what it is that makes Trump the way he is, just like a dog with a
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bone. You can't stop. When he wants something, he's going to have it. And if you can align the
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United States' interests, or in this case, the world's, with Trump's crazy desire to just make
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what he wants happen, miracles can happen. We're watching it time and time again. There's no
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question those 20 people are alive today because Donald Trump just did not have the ability to
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give up. It's not in him. And so he backed Israel, I mean, very forcefully from the beginning,
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but he also applied pressure on Netanyahu, who is his dear friend and whose back he's absolutely had,
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but was willing to pressure him when pressure was required, and then understood the Middle East and
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had already been over there in Trump 1.0 with Jared Kushner, with the Abraham Accords,
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treating them as equals with whom we could deal and listen to and address their concerns and maybe
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do business economically and not just treat as these weird, otherized people who we would never
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deign to interact with. That foundation was laid, and he has been exploiting it in Trump 2.0 to say,
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you need buy-in. We need buy-in from you. How can I make this worth your while,
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such that you get involved in a way that the Palestinian people listen to you? They listen
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to Qatar a lot more than they're going to listen to Donald Trump. And it worked. He sent two real
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estate guys over there, and they negotiated a deal. It happened. It's so unbelievably incredible.
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He threw out this sort of post-World War II world order to where there was this sort of fiction
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that we have shared values with people who are utterly different from us. And either the Obama
00:18:56.580
model where they actually want democracy or the Bush model where, well, we'll just foist it on them,
00:19:02.940
right? You don't get anywhere with that because they don't share our values. Donald Trump has zero
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interest in shared values. He's interested in sharing value, right? He doesn't want to give them
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democracy. He wants them to give us money. He believes in shared interests. And you're completely
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right. From the beginning of this second administration, he made that big trip to the UAE,
00:19:31.200
Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. And I don't think he went on that trip thinking, I'm going to bring peace to the
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Middle East. He went on the trip to bring $10 trillion of investment back to the United States.
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But here's the key for Trump is that because he doesn't believe in this nonsense about shared values,
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because he wants to put America first, and he thinks that will be good for the entire world,
00:19:54.240
his foreign policy and his economic policy are two sides of the same coin. So he went there for
00:20:00.360
economic reasons. He went there because he had sort of used tariffs in order to get leverage,
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and he wanted to see what could I make with that leverage, got all of this investment back.
00:20:10.780
And because he had intertwined our economy with the economies of these moderate Gulf Arab states,
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they believed him when he came in for a foreign policy diplomatic mission that he had their best
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interests at heart because their economy is now intertwined with us. Of course, he wants them to do well.
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So on the one hand, he's the most pro-Israel president we've ever had. He's very
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proud of that. He brags about it all the time. And you would have thought in the old world model
00:20:40.500
that, you know, you have to sort of keep Israel at arm's length. If you want to do something with
00:20:44.920
the Arabs, you have to equalize. No, Trump said that's ridiculous. Everybody knows I'm pro-Israel.
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I love Israel. I've got their back. That doesn't mean I can't also align the interests of this other
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side because he's thinking about interests as interests, right? Literally as investment.
00:21:02.600
And so this is, I think, the key to his dealmaking. You know, number one, ignore the experts. Number
00:21:09.120
two, align the interests. You can always find a way to end a kind of stalemate by rethinking what
00:21:17.020
the interests are. And number three, what you said, Megan, play the long game. Take the win. As he told
00:21:23.520
Netanyahu, take the win. He refused to let him back out of this. It's just so genius. And he's the only
00:21:31.760
person who could have done it. It sounded like spouses arguing when he's like, you're so fucking
00:21:36.520
negative. Just take the win. It was very funny to me how he's like, trust me. And Netanyahu was smart
00:21:44.140
to trust Trump. It's like, Trump's got a long history of winning and he's very, very savvy
00:21:49.620
politically. And Netanyahu, you know, it's like, if you keep doing the same thing over and over and
00:21:54.740
again, you're going to get the same result over and over again. And Trump actually does have a history
00:21:58.640
of dealmaking, the impossible deal. And he listened. He did treat it like a win. And look,
00:22:03.760
no one's saying, okay, it's guaranteed peace forevermore. But this is the biggest breakthrough
00:22:08.240
we've had in modern history. I haven't heard anybody saying, oh, but this other one beats it.
00:22:14.300
This other one is more promising. The closest we've had is these mealy mouth Dems like Antony Blinken
00:22:21.340
and this other person, former Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary, Sabrina Singh, who are like,
00:22:29.500
you know, he finished what we started. This is really our process that we got going. And he just
00:22:35.020
kind of put the cherry on top. As I said to Doug this morning, they're like, we loosened it. We,
00:22:39.460
you know, we loosened it, the jar. He just did the last little turn. Here's this person Singh on camera,
00:22:46.720
Sot32. I know the Biden administration on its way out tried to get to a deal. It did not.
00:22:53.920
What do you think is the difference here in this moment that put the Trump team ahead?
00:22:58.740
Yeah, the framework that has been put into place in this 20 point plan that the Trump administration
00:23:02.760
has implemented builds on the framework of the Biden administration. And of course,
00:23:07.140
there are a few differences in the plan, but it was always a phase, phase one, two, and three approach.
00:23:13.320
Great. How, how come you didn't do it then? Truly, if it was all your idea, like Anthony,
00:23:20.420
Antony Blinken tweeted, like it was, they're just picking up where we left off. This is really our
00:23:24.800
deal. Why didn't, why don't you get it done? Truly, seriously. If you had the idea, you had the vision,
00:23:30.520
you had the ability, why didn't you do it? I mean, this is so petty.
00:23:35.680
It's so ridiculous. It's like saying, because they said the words two-state solution,
00:23:40.080
therefore a person who actually got the two-state solution implemented owes them credit. It's
00:23:45.540
ridiculous. The implementation is the whole thing. Trump went in there and got Hamas to give up
00:23:51.720
all of its leverage. Like, do you understand what a miracle that is? They have nothing now. They're
00:24:00.300
back to killing other Palestinians because they can't kill any Jews. It is so amazing, unbelievable.
00:24:06.740
Like, literally got them to give up their leverage. And again, it comes back to the
00:24:12.500
real estate dealmaker in him. So in the Obama-Blinken model, the way that you get a deal is
00:24:19.900
you have, you know, the weaker party down here and the stronger party up here. So you got to,
00:24:24.520
you know, build up the weaker party and weaken the stronger party. And then as equals, this fiction of
00:24:29.920
their equality, they'll meet there and make a deal. And Trump says, that's nonsense. If you make the
00:24:35.240
weaker party stronger, they'll never concede to anything because you're building them up and
00:24:39.920
holding them up. If you bring down the stronger party, why should they agree to anything? You just
00:24:44.600
weaken their hand. Trump, who's a real estate guy says, no, here's how you get to a deal.
00:24:50.760
You weaken the weaker guy and you strengthen the stronger guy. And then everyone has an incentive
00:24:55.240
to come to the table because the strong guy doesn't feel threatened. And the weak guy is like,
00:24:59.560
oh my God, I have no leverage. I better make a deal. That is what we just saw. That was phase
00:25:05.200
one. He wasn't doing Hamas any favors. He stole their only leverage out from under them. And he did
00:25:13.240
it by going to Turkey and Saudi Arabia and Qatar and finding out what each of them wanted because
00:25:19.820
they each wanted something. And again, throw out the experts who said, oh, these people,
00:25:25.460
they're Muslims. They just want the end of the Jewish state. Bullshit. They have legitimate
00:25:30.940
interests. They want things more than they want to kill Jews. And Trump figured that out. And he
00:25:37.260
figured out how to make them see that he had figured it out. And what's so amazing is in the speech to the
00:25:43.660
Knesset, he's still closing with Bibi. So he's kind of negging him. But then he does the one thing he
00:25:49.860
knows Bibi really wants, which is he tells the Knesset, oh, why don't you guys give him a pardon?
00:25:54.260
Pardon. What's a bit of champagne? It was amazing. And now he goes to the Arabs and he's sitting in
00:25:59.920
Egypt. And what does he say to them? He keeps talking about how rich they are. Because of course,
00:26:04.320
that's what they want to hear, right? He just knows exactly what he is doing. And to just watch him be
00:26:11.620
able to perform at this level, bringing the expertise of a life in real estate to solve one problem after
00:26:19.920
another. And then the last point I'll make is just these previous wars, these failed attempts to bring
00:26:25.760
democracy to the Middle East. It's not just that they failed. It's that they cost us trillions and
00:26:32.100
trillions of dollars and the lives of precious, precious soldiers. And what Trump has done is the
00:26:38.900
exact opposite. Not only are we not paying for this, it's making us rich. Ten trillion dollars of
00:26:46.360
investment in our economy, in our working class, in our manufacturing base, was table stakes for the
00:26:54.400
Arabs to come and deal with him. So it's the exact opposite of the Democrats' approach to foreign
00:27:00.160
policy. It's bringing home the bacon while bringing peace. It's just total, total genius.
00:27:07.180
Yeah. I will say the one group that really does just want to kill Jews is Hamas. I mean,
00:27:12.920
he read that correctly too. The entire Middle East may not be as dedicated to that mission,
00:27:18.060
but that group is. And he understood that he needed to get these other Arab states to force them to say,
00:27:23.560
we're not going to have your back. It's going to be very painful for you unless you give up the
00:27:28.280
hostages and end this thing. So their protectors basically told them it's over. And Trump made those
00:27:34.820
protectors do it while looking at BB saying, yes, you need to take this deal, but also if they
00:27:41.280
don't take this deal, do your thing. End them. And he said openly to Hamas, they're going to obliterate
00:27:47.160
you and I will not stand in the way. So this is your last chance. He has their allies saying,
00:27:51.980
you're effed unless you take this. We're out of here. It's more important to us to do business
00:27:55.460
with the United States. And you had Trump looking directly at them saying, see this crazed bulldog next
00:28:03.080
to me who really would love to wipe every last one of you out. I'm going to let him off his leash.
00:28:07.920
I'm the only thing holding his leash and I will look forward to him killing you and ending you if
00:28:12.440
you don't come to reason. That's why it ended. So it's, you know, we talked about some of the
00:28:16.920
things that led Trump to think it could be done and actually get it done. But I would say too,
00:28:23.040
the other, the other reason he was the only one who could do it. And it's like, it's destiny.
00:28:28.460
It's almost just, it's destiny. Like it, it had to be him and it had to be him right now is he crazy,
00:28:35.720
like in a great way, you know, but Trump crazy. He's a little crazy. He's like all the crazy shit
00:28:43.220
he does where it's like from, you know, Soleimani to like threatening judges that he might, he might
00:28:49.400
not follow their rulings. He has followed them, but like openly threatening them. Um, and just like,
00:28:55.080
he's indicting Letitia James, which is good. I think she might've done something really bad.
00:28:59.480
So I'm in favor of it, but I'm just saying like, these are all stuff. Every, all like the mainstream
00:29:04.440
people, the respectable people said, don't, don't do any of that. Stop all of that. Don't,
00:29:10.120
why are we getting a new white house ballroom? Why are you taking a plane from Qatar? Why,
00:29:14.420
why did you gild the white house? Why? And it's all part of the same crazy ass, awesome package.
00:29:25.800
It's all that's so destabilizing for the people who watch him. They're like,
00:29:29.800
holy shit. There's no knowing what he might do. Like he, he posed for the mugshot and then
00:29:37.120
put his mugshot on t-shirts and mugs and like sold them. He did like crypto with his like,
00:29:44.340
all the crazy ass shit he's done has led everyone, including Hamas to realize
00:29:50.000
that motherfucker is going to do whatever he wants. He cannot be shamed out of this course
00:29:55.900
of action. There's no conglomerate that can pull him back by the bit. He is a singular historic
00:30:03.240
figure and for better or for worse. And in Hamas's case, I think they concluded for worse.
00:30:09.400
I think I told you the story once, but I had a subway experience that I think perfectly
00:30:15.300
encapsulates what you're describing, which is I got on the subway and there was a slightly crazy
00:30:20.920
person sitting opposite me, you know, nothing too menacing, talking to himself, you know,
00:30:25.160
twitching, giggling. Yeah, exactly. We pull into the station, the doors open and a person who's like
00:30:31.680
really crazy gets on. And this is one of these people who's like shouting and gesticulating. And,
00:30:36.320
you know, everybody's like, Oh God, is there going to be an incident? Please don't look at me,
00:30:40.120
you know? And Megan, that slightly crazy person sat up straight, stopped talking to himself and
00:30:47.400
immediately started behaving because he didn't want to attract any attention to himself. It was like a
00:30:53.120
game recognized game situation. And I always think about that when I see Trump sitting next to
00:30:58.480
somebody like Erdogan, you know, or CC or Putin, you know, Trump is the crazier dude. So they are
00:31:06.160
going to sit there and behave because he just has the bigger cojones and they just don't know what
00:31:12.780
he's going to do because he answers to nobody, but the American people.
00:31:16.740
It's true. This is like, this is one of his most and least attractive features. It's like such a
00:31:25.080
crazy combination. And one man will never have anybody like him. We really should be thanking God
00:31:31.680
every day that we have this president and he's our leader. We're so lucky. We're so lucky. He's
00:31:36.480
willing to serve. He's rich beyond measure. He does not need this job. He could be off with the
00:31:42.000
beautiful Melania, enjoying his Scottish golf course, whatever he wants. He wasn't done. And
00:31:49.120
honest, like today, Peter Doocy raised the question of heaven again with Trump. This is a very interesting
00:31:55.560
ongoing thread with Trump. He's got real doubts. He's going to get in. He clearly believes in heaven.
00:32:01.740
He was raised Christian and going to church on the Upper West Side and with Norman Vincent Peale as his
00:32:07.080
pastor, um, power of positive thinking. And, uh, he asked him again today. You would think today of
00:32:13.340
all days, Batya, you know, you, you had me convinced I'm getting in because of what you said,
00:32:17.880
even though I really had nothing to do with this, but I was, I was liking, uh, yeah, maybe this,
00:32:22.640
I could use this when I get to the pearly gates and he brings up all the mean things I said about
00:32:25.680
people. Um, and Trump too, even on a day like this clearly has doubts, which almost suggests a touch
00:32:37.300
of humility. What's going on? The pigs, they're flying. Watch this.
00:32:44.780
You had talked a couple of weeks ago, you were doing an interview and you talked about how you
00:32:48.280
hope to end the war in Ukraine because it might help you get into heaven. How does, how does this help?
00:32:54.120
Does this help? I mean, you know, I'm being a little cute. I don't think there's anything
00:33:00.260
going to get me in heaven. Okay. I think, I think I'm not maybe heaven bound. I may be in heaven right
00:33:07.080
now as we fly an air force one. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to make heaven, but I've made life
00:33:12.460
a lot better for a lot of people. Really incredible. He wouldn't say that if he weren't actually thinking
00:33:21.060
about it, you know, Trump, he really doesn't lie. Like he lies the way politicians lie, but
00:33:25.100
this isn't a lie. You can tell that he's genuinely been thinking about it as everyone does as they get
00:33:30.000
later in, in the years. And I do wonder about you, is that what we're seeing there? Like
00:33:34.580
humility? What's it, what is that? What's happening?
00:33:39.620
I have been seeing on his face, the same look. And I wonder if you agree with me as on the first night
00:33:46.900
of the RNC, which was the first time we had seen him since the Butler assassination attempt,
00:33:52.520
that same sort of almost beatific, like that he understands that this is now, it's just, it's,
00:34:00.900
it's notched up to the next level. He's leveled up. That same kind of humility vis-a-vis the greatness
00:34:07.100
of what is transpiring around him and because of him. And then of course, just like when he finally
00:34:14.980
gave his speech at the RNC and he, you know, he opened his mouth and it was Trump again, right?
00:34:19.060
Same thing at the Knesset, you know? So he had this look on his face of almost awe at what was
00:34:23.900
happening around him. And then he became Trump like immediately. And it was like a relief. Okay.
00:34:28.120
He's still him. You know, I I've been thinking a lot about something Ben Shapiro said after Charlie
00:34:33.060
Kirk was assassinated, which is, you know, Charlie wasn't just a great man. He was a good man.
00:34:39.940
And, you know, sometimes I think, you know, you don't actually have to be a good man to be a great
00:34:45.860
man. Although I do think Trump is a good man and the people who know him closest to talk about a very
00:34:51.120
giving person, you know, that, that, that thing of like the greatness is not always something that a
00:34:58.140
person might themselves interpret as, you know, the kind of banal, you know, mundane, everyday little
00:35:04.760
kindnesses that one typically thinks in a religious context are the kinds of things that would get you
00:35:09.000
into heaven. But I hope he doesn't really believe that he's, he's not headed there because obviously,
00:35:14.880
you know, he's gone. He's for sure. He's gone. If Trump doesn't get into heaven, there's no hope
00:35:19.680
for the rest of us because listen, if it's a balancing test at all, if it's like, if the test
00:35:23.960
is, have you done anything bad? We're all screwed. If the test, if it's a balancing test, he's, he's got
00:35:29.140
it. I can tell you Trump is a lawyer. You're good. I've done the, the weighing of the evidence. It's,
00:35:34.800
it's beyond a reasonable doubt that you're getting in. So you should celebrate personally,
00:35:38.840
too. All right, standby. I've got to take a break. Really enjoying this day. This is a wonderful,
00:35:43.660
wonderful day and we should celebrate. God bless the United States of America. God bless Trump.
00:35:49.060
God bless the Middle East, just as he put it. Uh, and that's not an accidental turn of phrase. Uh,
00:35:54.360
the other presidents used to just say Israel and president Trump intentionally widened it to say,
00:35:59.600
we're looking at all of you. We're, we're here for all of you. There's goodness to be had
00:36:04.700
for all of us. More with Bhatia coming up right after this. Speaking of goodness,
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00:37:08.480
Okay. Flights on air Canada. Oh, wow. Mallorca. That's new. Oh, nice. But Vienna is a classic.
00:37:15.820
Mozart palaces and schnitzel. Now you're cooking. If you're hungry, deli brings the heat.
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Heat. Cartagena's got sun and the sea to cool off. So does Martinique.
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Mmm. And that French cuisine. Book it. Yes, chef. Wait, what about Lyon? Choose from our world of
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destinations if you can. Air Canada. Nice travels.
00:37:41.380
We absolutely have to keep talking. It's more important now than ever. To cower, to hide,
00:37:47.700
to go silent is not the answer. And all I can tell you is there is no fucking way I am canceling
00:37:54.520
one stop on this tour. Not one stop. I'm going. I'm going to stand on these stages and I'm going to
00:38:03.940
say all the things that we say all the time on this show. We're going to make it safe for me. We're going
00:38:08.100
to make it safe for my team and my guests and you. We're going coast to coast and do something really
00:38:14.500
important, which is to say what's true and what's real to honor him. I really now more than ever would
00:38:21.580
love to see you all face-to-face. God, I would love to see you face-to-face. I need to see you face-to-face.
00:38:28.600
I am doing this tour and I would love for you to join me. MeganKelley.com for the tickets.
00:38:38.420
Thank you for standing up to the lies against Israel and the United Nations.
00:38:46.020
Thank you for brokering the historic Abraham Accords. Thank you for withdrawing from the
00:38:54.500
disastrous Iran nuclear deal. Thank you for supporting Operation Rising Line and for your
00:39:02.900
bold decision to launch Operation Midnight Hammer. My friends, this is only a partial list.
00:39:11.520
But it's enough to affirm what I've said time and again. Donald Trump is the greatest friend
00:39:18.700
that the state of Israel has ever had in the White House. Everyone is getting up on their feet.
00:39:35.820
Trump's sitting there behind and next to Netanyahu. Wow. That's the most you ever get from Trump is just
00:39:42.620
sort of like a beguiling smirk. He's definitely enjoying it. It's funny because he works so hard,
00:39:49.400
but he actually doesn't really take himself that seriously, even in a moment like this. You think
00:39:54.300
he's proud of himself, but he's kind of like, hey, this is kind of cool. He actually got a literal red
00:40:00.380
carpet rolled out for him when he landed. There was on the beach, the big, we love President Trump.
00:40:07.900
There's been all these, I mean, everybody, people are going crazy on social media in Israel,
00:40:13.380
singing his praises, saying, oh my God, there was this one woman like, I wasn't going to vote for
00:40:18.260
you. I didn't like her. I didn't want you to win. In other words, I didn't grab him by the P word.
00:40:23.060
No. And she's like, I was wrong. I was wrong about all of it. Like completely jubilant over there
00:40:29.740
watching him. He was asked about the pettiness by some here at home. It's not happening with the
00:40:36.400
Israelis, but some of our own, like I mentioned, Blinken and others. And he had, he had a good
00:40:41.500
response. Here it is in Sot 33. Blinken says it's good that President Trump adopted and built on the
00:40:48.920
plan that the Biden administration developed. What do you think about that? Everybody knows
00:40:54.440
that's a joke. Remember when B.B. came and he begged that you not do what they were doing with
00:40:59.300
Iran? You remember that, right? Begged him and they wouldn't even listen to him. Everything they did
00:41:04.560
was the opposite of what you should have done. And it's nice that they try and take a little
00:41:08.800
credit. That was years ago. And the mistakes were made years ago. And it was both by Biden and Obama.
00:41:16.780
Right on. And then listen to this, Baja, just to turn the page a little. The media. So the media
00:41:23.620
has had to admit what an accomplishment this is. It's been very fun to watch. Like they're so
00:41:29.960
angry about it. They're just like begrudgingly. They have to be like, it's a huge win. Never seen
00:41:35.640
anything like it. All right. And then here's Christiane Amanpour. I mean, truly, you can watch
00:41:43.100
the TDS coming out of her ears as she says the following. Watch this. And I think for sure,
00:41:50.380
people who start to talk to the hostages who've only just been released will find that it will take
00:41:55.960
a long, long time for them to recover physically, but also mentally. It's been a terrible, terrible
00:42:03.140
two years for them because not only are they there, you know, they're probably being treated
00:42:07.700
better than the average Ghazan because they are the pawns and the chips that Hamas had.
00:42:12.600
Now Hamas has given up all its leverage, by the way.
00:42:16.720
Sure. It was a day at the park for the Israeli hostages who were actually starving to death,
00:42:22.720
who were in underground tunnels, who had for weeks and months, in some cases,
00:42:27.940
hoods over their heads and were beaten and abused repeatedly, who had to watch their loved ones die,
00:42:34.200
whose loved ones had been killed in their arms, whose babies died. I'm sure it was a really
00:42:37.800
wonderful experience, Christiane. What the hell is she saying?
00:42:43.480
Just absolute scum of the earth. And I don't say words like that often.
00:42:48.500
They were starved. They were tortured. The women were sexually assaulted routinely.
00:42:56.220
They were all beaten. They were tied for days and days on end. You could see the evidence of the
00:43:02.500
torture on the arms of the returning men and on the women. Just disgusting. And Megan,
00:43:09.720
that's who our legacy media is. They are the stenographers of terrorists.
00:43:14.660
She's literally running cover for Hamas. Why? What would possess you to, first of all,
00:43:24.360
lie? It's wrong. You're a journalist. You're supposed to know this. We all saw that picture of
00:43:30.280
Evyatar David, although maybe they didn't show it on CNN because they can't stand showing bad things
00:43:36.000
that terrorists do. So A, it's wrong. But B, what would possess you, even if it was true,
00:43:43.220
to try to find a positive spin on the kidnapping by terrorists of innocent young people? It's so
00:43:52.980
disgusting and yet so totally in line with how our legacy media has treated this. The New York Times had
00:44:00.260
a headline the other day. What will Hamas do now that it's given up its leverage? The New York Times
00:44:07.340
is very worried that the mass raping, baby killing group that hides behind its own women and children
00:44:14.200
and tortures and executes its own elderly and teenagers is not going to have any leverage anymore.
00:44:20.280
This is who they've been from the beginning of this conflict because they're totally woke-ified
00:44:24.300
and everybody who works and consumes this legacy media at this point are part of that disgusting,
00:44:31.260
you know, over-credentialed leftist elite who inherently side with the people they see as
00:44:36.800
having less power. And so they're completely in the bag for Hamas. But just to see that from
00:44:41.480
Christiane Amanpour on CNN on this of all days, just utterly, utterly, utterly repulsive. I'm seeing
00:44:47.700
so many people on social media saying, that's it. I'm never watching that channel again.
00:44:51.460
Good. I mean, they should have come to that realization a long time ago. But it is,
00:44:55.960
it's interesting to watch, you know, we are seeing cheers in the Middle East. We are seeing
00:44:59.500
cheers amongst the Palestinians. For Trump, we are seeing that. It's crazy. Trump made the point
00:45:04.440
earlier, and he's right. He's like, normally, you only have one side cheering when something like
00:45:08.480
this comes to a close. But we have both sides cheering here. But the media, they're not cheering,
00:45:14.980
Batya. You can watch, they're forced. They know it's such a huge accomplishment. They have to say,
00:45:21.460
like, good job. But they're not actually feeling it. I think Christiane kind of landed in the place
00:45:27.660
she felt good about. You know, like, they had it better off than the Gazans. And now you'll probably
00:45:32.800
hear that repeated, because others will be like, oh, yeah, that's a good line. That's, I'm gonna go
00:45:36.040
with that. And I do wonder, like, why? Why? Like, what did they, do they want the hostages to die? I
00:45:44.440
can't, I can't go that far for them. Did they just want this to go on and on so that Israel got
00:45:49.240
further and further demonized? You know, like, you and I have talked about this, but it's my own
00:45:54.800
support for Israel that made me say, we got to wrap it up. Like, you're losing support. We can't
00:46:00.960
have a relationship between the United States and Israel fracture. But I feel like they wanted the
00:46:06.440
opposite. They wanted it to go on and on because they saw Israel losing international support. And
00:46:11.920
they loved it. Like, go look at Mehdi Hassan's Twitter feed. He's not feeling too celebratory.
00:46:18.560
And I do wonder what's going on there. What do you think?
00:46:22.100
I couldn't agree with you more. The whole, you know, ceasefire now crowd is silent now that there's
00:46:27.480
an actual ceasefire. You know, A, because Donald Trump did it, and B, because a lot of people were
00:46:33.580
making big career moves off of this whole war and celebrating, you know, the fact that Israel was
00:46:40.900
now losing tons and tons of support. Something, by the way, that was extremely important to
00:46:45.040
President Trump to put a stop to, just like you, Megan. And he explicitly said that. He said,
00:46:49.980
you can't stand alone, Israel. Bibi, you cannot do this alone. You have to wrap it up. And then was
00:46:55.780
able to pull this off. I think what's happening here with the hostages versus the Palestinians is
00:47:00.260
that in the woke mindset, you know, only certain kinds of victims count. So in the Judeo-Christian
00:47:07.520
worldview, we divide things based on right versus wrong. You know, we have like an internal moral
00:47:13.040
compass. A lot of it comes from the Bible, comes from God, comes from our values and our tradition
00:47:17.300
that says this is wrong and you shouldn't do it. And this is right and you should do it. And the people
00:47:21.800
who do the right things are good. And the people who do the wrong things are bad. It's like a normal
00:47:25.920
way of thinking about things. But in the woke mindset, they've thrown all that out and they've replaced
00:47:31.920
it with a different binary. There's only who has more power and who has less power. And whoever has
00:47:37.700
less power, that's virtue, is being powerless. And people who have darker skin are powerless. And
00:47:45.460
people who have lighter skin are powerful and thus they are inherently evil. So it's not divided based
00:47:50.920
on your actions, but just based on your gender or your race or what have you. So that's how you get
00:47:57.500
into a situation where every Israeli, which are coded as white, the way that they code Jews as white,
00:48:03.080
is powerful and thus evil and an oppressor and a colonizer. And every Palestinian who has darker
00:48:10.100
skin is oppressed and weak and powerless and therefore inherently virtuous. And that includes
00:48:16.980
Hamas, Megan, because they have no internal mechanism to say, well, maybe not all Palestinians. No,
00:48:23.160
because it's based on race, right? It's not based on your actions. So there's nothing in the mindset
00:48:28.200
that explains to them why they should be condemning Hamas and how an Israeli who is held captive could
00:48:37.160
actually be the real victim here and the one deserving of their sympathies. And this is the mindset that
00:48:43.980
every person with a college degree and every person certainly with a graduate degree, and that's most
00:48:49.460
journalists, by the way, have graduate degrees. They all get inculcated into this woke mind virus.
00:48:55.180
And so this explains all of the legacy media there. It's not because they're on the left, although
00:49:00.020
they are. It's because they're overeducated in universities that teach them this utterly godless
00:49:05.240
way of looking at the world. Mm hmm. So where are we now, Batya, with the this thing looking like it's
00:49:12.160
been I hate to choose the word like settled, resolved. Those are all scary, optimistic words that you don't
00:49:18.480
like to use about the Middle East. But a peace deal has been struck. And the biggest part of it,
00:49:24.420
releasing the hostages, has been lived up to the live hostages. We can fight about the remains of
00:49:30.420
the dead. But getting those live hostages back was just you can't overstate how huge it was. But now
00:49:36.780
what? Given that Israel has suffered in terms of its popularity and its its favor, you know, in the
00:49:42.520
Western world, now what? Like, where do we go from here? So each of those leaders wants something from
00:49:49.880
Trump. Turkey, they want F-16s. They want an easing up of sanctions. Saudi Arabia, I think,
00:49:57.580
want into the Abraham Accords, just like Indonesia. You have Qatar, who wanted an apology from Bibi
00:50:05.740
Netanyahu and want to have very good relations with Trump. And then you have Egypt, who were desperate not
00:50:11.120
to have Palestinians in Sinai and also get a lot of foreign aid. Everybody now is thinking,
00:50:17.240
what can I get out of Trump? And I think he's thinking, how can I give each of them what they're
00:50:21.620
asking for so they give me what I want, which is this peace deal?
00:50:25.120
Mm-hmm. We have no better steward in office than this guy. I completely trust Trump and have my faith
00:50:31.920
in him on this. And literally virtually every piece of his agenda, he's doing exactly what he promised
00:50:37.720
he would do. And unlike everybody else, he's actually getting it done. Bhatia, what a pleasure.
00:50:42.660
Thanks for being us here with us on a day like this of all days. Wow. It was wonderful to see you.
00:50:48.140
Megan, God bless and protect you. Thank you for everything.
00:50:52.580
Oh, you too. Gosh, it just feels so wonderful to have good news. It's great to have good news.
00:50:57.840
Coming up, the luminous one and only Cheryl Hines. Yes, she's a Hollywood star. She also happens to be
00:51:04.600
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00:51:11.120
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00:54:35.760
Cheryl Hines is an actress and comedian known for her role on Larry David's show as his wife in the hit
00:54:44.780
HBO program, Curb Your Enthusiasm. She's also the actual real life wife of our current secretary of
00:54:51.820
health and human services, who the man we affectionately call RFKJ here on our show.
00:54:57.280
Cheryl's new memoir, Unscripted, is out next month and it delves into her life growing up,
00:55:02.520
the ups and downs of Hollywood, her marriage, and the campaign trail, along with much more.
00:55:13.440
I was not sure you're going to be able to make it because we're having a Nor'easter up here.
00:55:19.500
You're tough. I was thinking about this all the way over here. You are, you're pretty amazing. You
00:55:25.500
have really, you have risen above everybody. You know, you've been through, people like to come
00:55:41.040
And here you are, and you're one of the, you know, there are a lot of podcasters, but you're one of
00:55:46.380
the top, very top, and one of the few female. Yeah. Super top. Well, thank you. And I, I see you.
00:55:56.160
Thank you. I feel seen in her. They do come for me. I go for them too, though. You know,
00:56:01.480
it's like, it's fine. It's sort of a weird ecosystem. It's like when people go on Twitter
00:56:05.660
and then they complain that people are mean. I'm like, ma'am, this is a McDonald's. Like,
00:56:10.200
go to Instagram if you want nice people. Right. In news, it's a rough and tumble business. Yes. So
00:56:15.600
it's like, like I recently saw a friend of mine and she was like, oh, do you, you know, people are
00:56:20.460
attacking you. Are you, I'm like, oh, please. If this is, is it okay if this is the worst thing
00:56:24.680
that happens to me today? I'm good. Bad words coming at me. Well, that's the good, that's the
00:56:28.560
advantage of having gone through it many times, right? Is it like when it happens then the 10th or 11th
00:56:32.660
time you're like, yeah, I'm fine. Yeah. Now, how, how has that been for you? Because you've had a
00:56:37.480
lovely life in Hollywood as a big star. And then now, boom, you're in politics. Yeah. Through
00:56:42.420
not exactly a choice of your own. You're correct. Yeah. Um, it was a learning curve because like
00:56:54.060
you're saying, I mean, when I started out as an actress, you know, you start out and when people
00:56:58.820
start recognizing you for no reason whatsoever, people still can be mean to you online. They can
00:57:05.960
say whatever. Yes. Don't like the way you look. Don't like this. Don't like what you're wearing,
00:57:10.140
whatever. That's fine. Um, but then when Bobby got into politics, it was a different world. And at
00:57:19.980
first, uh, you know, I was kind of taking it all on like, that's so hard. I can't believe they said
00:57:27.280
that. And then now I, I'm like you, I realized, oh, oh, it's part of, it's part of the, the ecosystem.
00:57:34.480
Like you said, this is what they, what people do. It's weird. It's like when we saw Trump and
00:57:39.420
Obama sitting next to each other at the Carter funeral, yucking it up and clad handing. It's like
00:57:44.980
arch enemies. Right. When you see them publicly, when they're, they have to do politics, like the
00:57:49.500
nastiest you can get, but like behind the scenes, everybody's understand it's kind of, I don't want
00:57:55.820
to say game, which makes you light of it, but it's just sort of, you put your armor on when you're
00:58:00.720
doing politics and you do politics and behind the scenes, hopefully you can still be a person
00:58:04.960
and do what those two did. Right. Not everyone can though. And I know you've experienced some of
00:58:10.080
that and all that, but like, has it been fun? Cause when you married a Kennedy, you were not marrying
00:58:14.700
an actively political Kennedy at the time. Right. Bobby was a lawyer.
00:58:20.700
I actually, when I met him, I asked him if he was ever, you know, had a desire to go into politics.
00:58:26.040
And he said, no, um, he, you know, he said he felt like he could get, he could achieve more
00:58:31.320
as an environmental attorney. Yeah. That's not, um, that, so he could go after big corporations,
00:58:38.080
big companies, uh, without worrying about a political party. So I felt good about that.
00:58:45.520
Yeah. And then, uh, no Hollywood actress is like, how can I get more politically involved
00:58:51.060
in a way that will cause all sorts of consternation in my life? Right. I know of course. And your
00:58:56.500
career has been going so well. I mean, I'm a huge fan of yours, by the way, long before you married
00:59:01.120
Bobby. Thank you. I've long been a curb fan. I love the show. I know Larry David is not in love
00:59:07.660
with my side of the aisle, but I don't care. It's funny. And it's so clever. Right. And I always knew
00:59:14.560
that it was, and you get into it a lot in unscripted. That's why I assume why it's called
00:59:18.800
unscripted, but, um, I didn't realize how loose it is, like how much free reign you're giving.
00:59:26.140
Well, it's, it would be if you did not have a background in improv, it would be terrifying.
00:59:34.000
Uh, but you know, I started at the Groundlings theater in LA, even though I had, even though I
00:59:40.580
had studied theater and acting with scripts, that's what they tell you when you're learning.
00:59:45.980
They're like, all your answers are in your script. Yeah. That would be comforting. Yes. That's it. That
00:59:50.260
is comforting. And then when I started learning how to improvise at the Groundlings, they said,
00:59:55.300
clear your mind and don't think of anything until you hear what that person next to you says. And
01:00:02.920
it's, it's a hard adjustment. Do you have to be genuinely clever in your own right to be good at
01:00:08.760
improv? Well, I think if you want to be entertaining in improv, you probably do. Like can a boring person
01:00:18.060
be good at improv? Yes. And that's what you have to say in improv. Uh, does, uh, does an audience want
01:00:28.560
to watch a boring person improvise? That's the difference. I guess it depends on what the scene
01:00:34.680
is and what the person is supposed to be. I mean, there aren't a lot of people that are dying to
01:00:38.760
watch boring improvs. So, um, I think you have to, you have to be able to trust yourself, which is,
01:00:48.760
it's hard to get there to say, listen, whatever you're about to say is the right thing.
01:00:58.200
And even if the audience doesn't laugh, don't sweat it. Um, if the audience boos, don't sweat it. It was
01:01:06.280
the right thing. And you're going to have the next thing that you have to say. So you have to not judge
01:01:12.380
yourself, which is hard. And you also have to not worry about the reaction. You just have to really
01:01:20.080
listen to what your scene partner is saying and say, yes. And if you're good at it, um, like live
01:01:27.400
improv, I think I find terrifying. Uh, but, but the people that are good at it are, are very entertaining.
01:01:35.220
Well, when you're across from Larry David, who really is genuinely funny, just him, just his person,
01:01:41.320
his personality. Yeah. Does it make it easier? Because you don't have to be the one that leads
01:01:46.740
every scene. Like just him being himself is going to make people laugh. It does, you know,
01:01:52.420
and especially improvising on screen to, to me is so much easier, uh, because you're not,
01:02:00.680
you don't have people like looking at you, watching you. Yes. That's how I feel about the
01:02:06.060
news business. I can do it much better sitting here in a studio than like, if I have to go and speak to
01:02:10.820
the people and look at them directly. Right. Right. Um, I think that's why podcasts are so, uh,
01:02:16.940
successful too, because it's just you and me talking in a little room, but it would be different
01:02:22.120
if there were, you know, 500 people out there watching, sitting, you know, 10 feet away from us.
01:02:27.200
Um, so with Larry, yeah, I was pretty much the straight man on the show and he would write a
01:02:33.280
story outline. So the story outline would be hilarious. Um, but I didn't have to worry about
01:02:40.800
what I was going to say. Um, and he specifically did not want you to think about what you were
01:02:48.380
going to say. He didn't want anybody to try to be funny because of the situations were already
01:02:55.220
funny. That's right. I get it. Yeah. Cause it's just, the setup is funny. Yeah. All right. So let's
01:03:00.240
go back before curb and the young Cheryl Hines. You're from Florida, grew up with not a lot of money.
01:03:06.180
It's true. Grandparents lived in a trailer nearby. Yeah. Your parents didn't have a lot of dough
01:03:11.000
either. Um, one of three kids for four. Okay. I'm sorry. Cause you lost your brother. Yeah. Thank
01:03:17.220
you. Um, and did you always know you want to be an actress? I did. I did always know that probably
01:03:23.900
since I was, uh, like eight, you know, because we, we would watch the Carol Burnett show and I thought,
01:03:34.220
Oh my God, that's what I want to do. Um, so the comedic thing resonated with you early age.
01:03:39.600
And then, um, and then when I was in middle school and high school, I was just the theater nerd.
01:03:48.260
Were you cool or was it truly nerdy in your school? Um, it, uh, I guess high school was a
01:03:56.200
little, well, we thought we were cool. Are you a nerd if you don't know you're a nerd?
01:04:03.180
It's like, uh, we thought we were doing pretty good. I don't know.
01:04:08.180
Okay. So it was a goal, but like, it's a goal for so many people and it usually doesn't happen
01:04:12.540
because it's such a competitive industry. Right. So you actually did the cross country trip.
01:04:16.620
Like I'm going to LA. My Toyota Tercel. How old were you? I was 25. Okay. And that's,
01:04:23.500
that's young enough that you can fail. Right. And still go on to do something else. Right. Right.
01:04:29.580
Right. Right. That's true because it's interesting. You know, when I was writing the book,
01:04:35.440
you see your life and all these little jigsaw puzzle pieces and you put it together.
01:04:40.740
And I think it was great that I didn't have much growing up because I had a, my family was really
01:04:48.800
solid and I always, we always had fun together. So, and I never felt like, oh, if we only had money,
01:04:55.980
my life would be so much better. It was a good lesson for me because I, when I moved to LA,
01:05:01.940
I just, I had nothing to lose. You know, you're the one person who moved to LA with like a solid
01:05:07.820
family background and like good moral upbringing and not looking to fill some dark void that had
01:05:14.060
been created by a terrible childhood. Right. It's very rare. It is rare. It is rare. It's
01:05:19.760
interesting because, uh, I know a lot of people that, that moved to LA or, or go into, you know,
01:05:27.540
acting because they want to escape. They want to be somebody else. Yeah. Um, but I never had that
01:05:34.160
feeling. As a matter of fact, it was really hard for me to move away from my family. Yeah. It was
01:05:38.640
really hard. Well, were you funny growing up? Because that's another piece of who you are.
01:05:43.160
Uh, it depends on if you're talking about, was I in on the joke or not? Um, but when I was really
01:05:54.760
little, um, like, you know, six, seven, eight, nine, I, I would not say I was funny, but would I say
01:06:04.040
that other kids laughed? Yes. Uh, because I was, I was a, I hate to look in your eyes and say this,
01:06:14.480
but I was a tattletale. Um, I'm not, I'm ashamed of it, but it's because they excluded me. So the only
01:06:21.860
attention I could get was from the adults. And I, you know, I, we call it whistleblower or informant.
01:06:27.440
I was a young whistleblower. Um, so that's how I got attention. I got attention from the grownups and,
01:06:34.840
um, I would bring them, you know, snacks. That works. They watch TV. And then of course my siblings
01:06:41.140
hated it. They were like, what are you doing? They're the other team. Yeah. Um, so I wouldn't say
01:06:48.940
I was, I was hilarious then, but when, by the time I got to high school, I could see what was
01:06:55.740
funny, you know, even like growing up without money. Um, you know, my sister and I would go to
01:07:05.280
Goodwill to buy our prom dresses. We actually, we made our own, um, boutonnieres for our dates.
01:07:13.440
Uh, which is kind of funny because it's not as easy as you think it might be.
01:07:17.080
I would not think it is easy. Well, we, we thought it was, but we got the green tape
01:07:21.180
and got some carnations and a pin. And when we got to the dance, the guy's carnations fell off
01:07:27.220
and it was just wads of green tape. And my sister and I thought was so funny. My friend Paul was so
01:07:33.220
mad. He said, Oh, did you guys make these? Which only made us laugh more. Um, so by that time,
01:07:39.680
you know, I could, I knew what was funny to me anyway.
01:07:42.820
Was when you went to LA, did you go right into this, the Groundlings workshop? And I understand
01:07:48.380
Lisa Kudrow was teaching it. You were in there with Melissa McCarthy. Yeah. Somebody else big.
01:07:53.800
Who was the other one? Um, well, Kristen Wiig was also there around the same time.
01:07:59.580
Maya Rudolph. Yeah, Maya. Yeah. My gosh. What a class. Yeah. Well, when I got to LA,
01:08:05.680
I was bartending at a hotel in downtown LA and I, you know, I wasn't ready for rejection
01:08:15.280
because at that time you could send out your headshots and resumes to all these different
01:08:22.120
agents. There were a lot of agents and I didn't do it for the first year because I thought,
01:08:28.260
what if none of them want me and I wasn't ready. Yep. Um, so I was just, I was bartending and, um,
01:08:37.380
yeah, I met Phil Hartman's sister at the bar. She was telling me about the Groundlings theater
01:08:42.780
and I went and saw a show and I was just blown away. It was the funniest show. It's like a live SNL,
01:08:53.920
you know, you're watching it in person. Yep. And, um, and then I, I started taking classes there.
01:09:00.160
Yeah. And Lisa Kudrow was my first teacher. Was she amazing? Amazing. Yeah. So smart and funny.
01:09:08.300
And this is right before she got friends. Oh, wow. Yeah. So I would go to class and just,
01:09:14.360
you know, watch her like, Oh my gosh, she's got all the answers. And then at that time as an actress,
01:09:22.460
I always thought when you go into an audition, you should be really like professional. Right. And
01:09:30.880
this is the script and I'm going to read the script. And then when I, when I saw her get friends
01:09:35.960
and I saw her character that she created, I was thinking, Oh, she had to go into that audition.
01:09:45.320
Quirky. Yes. Quirky. Yeah. And it was a game changer for me because I thought,
01:09:52.220
Oh, I think I've been, I've been worried too much about, you know, saying the right thing,
01:09:59.900
doing the right thing. Because really all they, they want to see when you walk into a room is
01:10:05.700
who you are, what's funny about you. What do you think is funny? Right. And not every role is like
01:10:12.680
Queen Victoria. Yeah. Some require a different approach. Yeah. Yeah. You're a waitress at the
01:10:18.000
diner. Relax. Um, so it was, it was interesting. I learned so much there, you know? So you get this
01:10:24.220
audition, you were, you're at the groundlings, you get this audition for what was then an hour long
01:10:29.340
special of curb. It was not, it wasn't a series. It was, it was just like come for an hour long
01:10:34.720
special. Yes. Larry David's wife. Did you know that was the role? Yes. Yeah. Cause you had to,
01:10:39.660
did you audition with him? I did. I auditioned with him. And you, you say in the book,
01:10:43.980
the one thing you didn't know in that audition is, um, again, the book is called unscripted.
01:10:47.820
We were talking to Cheryl Hines, it's author, uh, by now the book comes out next month.
01:10:52.340
You did not know that he has a strict rule against touching him.
01:10:55.700
No, I, and I'm glad I didn't because now I know. I mean, it is so Larry, but you know,
01:11:05.720
in the improv world, you are taught to make choices so quickly and to assume a relationship
01:11:14.140
and, um, you know, have a lot of physicality in a scene. So if I just met you and somebody
01:11:22.080
said, Oh, these two are making cappuccino, you know, I might put my hand around your shoulder
01:11:27.320
or something, or help your hand with the, you know, frother. Um, but then when I was walking
01:11:34.960
into the audition, the casting director said, don't, don't touch Larry. I was like, I thank
01:11:42.240
you for telling me. Thank you for, but he shook my hand when I walked in. So I thought, okay,
01:11:48.260
okay. He's not like a troll in the corner that doesn't want anybody touching him. Although he
01:11:54.320
doesn't want anybody touching. But you said he was, he was making like a serious pitch at one point
01:11:58.220
to try to change the universal greeting from a handshake. To elbow touching. Cheryl. Yeah.
01:12:04.480
How's it going? I don't think it caught on. No, it's so awkward. People did it on the set for a
01:12:10.140
little while and then it just, yeah. I mean, you, you, you'd have a better case for just the,
01:12:14.340
Hey, I know. Right. Like the hand up. I guess this is actually touching someone in his. I mean,
01:12:20.440
in church it's transformed post COVID. Have you noticed that? No. We don't really shake hands
01:12:25.220
anymore during the piece. We used to shake hands during the piece. Now it's just like, Hey,
01:12:28.740
or the little kids will give you the actual peace sign. That's adorable. I feel like Larry would
01:12:34.060
enjoy the Catholic church in that way. Yes, definitely. Yeah. He loved social distancing.
01:12:40.740
Yeah. He was like, well, finally everybody, everybody's on board. Getting on my program. Yeah.
01:12:45.520
Yeah. So you go in there and you know, my husband, he read your book too. You're, you're actually going
01:12:50.080
on his show. I know. I'm excited. Um, but he was the one who first read aloud to me the,
01:12:54.820
the following scene, which is very funny about, about when you got the call from Larry about making
01:13:02.520
the, uh, getting the role. Okay. Here it is. Um, he calls, Hey, HBO wants to turn the series into a
01:13:12.520
special or the special into a series. And I would like for you to play my wife. You, Oh my God.
01:13:18.000
That's the best news I've ever had him. I hope that's not true. Please tell me that's not true.
01:13:24.300
It's true. Don't say that. There have to be other things that have happened that are better than this.
01:13:29.660
Yeah. That's so Larry. That is amazing. He can't let you enjoy one thing. He's like,
01:13:35.300
yeah, this is the best news. He's like, don't say that. No, I don't. I can't possibly be your
01:13:41.780
highlight. He's like, you are. Okay. Okay. Well, we'll talk later. Yeah. Is he like
01:13:47.860
that in person? Like, is there ever any actual enthusiasm for anything? I mean,
01:13:51.320
the name of the show is Curb It. Uh, I'm trying to think of any time I've seen him excited.
01:13:59.240
You know, it's, it's that thing with, um, even a lot of comedians, comedic actors,
01:14:05.600
they'll watch another comedian or somebody funny. And instead of laughing, they'll say,
01:14:10.140
that's funny. Yeah. Right. Right. They just don't, not all the time, but, uh, yeah, I don't see him
01:14:18.680
really get excited about things. There was, um, some line by Hemingway to the effect of like,
01:14:24.760
I don't want to read anybody else's book because if I don't enjoy it, that's, that's bad for me. And
01:14:31.000
if I do enjoy it, I'll be so envious that that's bad for me too. I've completely screwed it up,
01:14:36.100
but that's basically the notion of it. Like Larry seems to be like that kind of a guy. Like
01:14:40.760
I'm not really rooting for you. Right. I'm not really rooting for myself either. Right. Right.
01:14:46.040
There's really no good outcome to any day. It's true. And to me, he's almost like a Woody Allen
01:14:50.640
character. Yeah. I don't know if you saw Woody Allen, uh, he's out with a book and there was a
01:14:54.740
big profile. I'm in the New York times a couple of weeks ago. And he had a quote in there saying
01:14:58.880
something like, uh, you know, I've had a great life. I come from a great family. My, my kids are great.
01:15:04.400
And, and I'm really appreciative. I'm 89. I feel in good health. I'm totally miserable. The whole
01:15:10.240
thing has been a disaster. Yeah. That does sound like Larry. Well, you know, Larry did a Woody Allen
01:15:16.240
movie. Oh yeah. I think I saw it. Now I can't remember the name of it, but. I mean, it seems
01:15:21.060
like if you're like a comedic actor and you came up over the past, you know, 50 years, you probably
01:15:25.700
had some stint in a Woody Allen movie. Good for good or for worse. So you get this job and I did not
01:15:32.060
realize Cheryl was the series on the air for 24 years. Well, we had, I think 12 seasons, but you
01:15:42.180
know, most shows her was not like most shows. Most shows would do, um, a season a year. Right. Yeah.
01:15:53.940
But for curb, even after the first season, after we wrap the first season, Larry said that that's it.
01:16:00.940
Well, we're done. So, you know, I would drive home thinking, okay, I've got to look for my next
01:16:06.880
job. And then I get a call. Oh, we're going to do another one. And so there was no rhyme or reason
01:16:14.220
to the timing of it, but yes, over 24 years, we did 12 seasons. There were, I think there was a time
01:16:21.680
when there was, um, like maybe a five-year gap. I remember that. I remember the gap. Like what,
01:16:26.920
what happened? Right. Where is it? No finale. Just like, okay. It's classic. Yeah. We have a lot
01:16:32.900
of clips, but I want to start with one that doesn't involve Larry. It's, it's, uh, from season 11. I'm
01:16:38.340
sure you've been subjected to watching this. This is with the character Maria Sophia. Oh my gosh.
01:16:44.180
Yeah. It was the funniest thing. And I love curb. I've, I've haven't watched every single episode,
01:16:48.780
but I've seen most of them, but it was really one of the funniest things I'd ever seen. I mean,
01:16:52.920
on television, she's hysterical and you're hysterical. And it just for the listening
01:16:57.600
audience, the premise of the scene that we're going to show is, uh, Larry, some guy drowned in
01:17:04.160
your Larry's pool and, um, he's worried about a lawsuit and long story short, like the,
01:17:10.980
a relative of that guy, or there's a guy who runs a restaurant who Larry's trying to appease
01:17:17.320
into not suing him. And he agrees to give that guy's daughter in the restaurant, a role in his
01:17:23.960
upcoming series. Oh, that was good. Yeah. You nailed it. Okay. And so her, his, that,
01:17:27.920
that man's daughter is named Maria Sophia and she cannot act, but she's hysterical. She's so off.
01:17:35.960
She has all the wrong emotions for every single line that they try to give her. And Larry has to
01:17:40.600
pretend she's great. Cause he's got to convince his fellow, right. To cast her. So there's a scene in
01:17:46.660
which you, as I think you were the ex-wife at that point, he asked you if you will like give
01:17:52.020
her an audition tape, like help her with her audition. Yeah. And her audition tape. Yeah.
01:17:55.980
So she comes over to your house and she, she acts up this scene and you are, you don't know what
01:18:03.160
you've been handed. Yeah. Okay. Here it is in part. I wanted to talk to you about that David boy.
01:18:14.800
Well, what about him? I feel like you're being seductive right now.
01:18:20.160
You're talking to your mother. Are we not close? In real life? Do you ever talk to your mother
01:18:25.900
like that? No, I don't seduce my mom. What is wrong with you? God. I don't really care for him.
01:18:31.440
I think he's mentally disturbed. He is not mentally disturbed. I saw that choice that you made and
01:18:40.160
maybe it's time to make a new choice. Like what kind of dance? No, not a little bit of salsa.
01:18:46.120
Let's keep going. Let's just keep. He's got mailman written all over him. You want bald children with
01:18:51.680
no brains? Go right ahead. I don't have to listen to you. If I want to see Larry, I am going to see
01:18:59.600
Larry. You are a horrible mother. I never want to see you again. Yeah. And I know that you stole my
01:19:08.820
jacket. What are you talking about? Don't touch me. Don't touch me. What are you saying? It's a jacket.
01:19:15.440
I don't know what you're talking about. Come on, Brad. elle, what are you doing? Let it go.
01:19:21.660
Get off me, I can't move. Oh my God. What is wrong with you? Don't touch me. Don't touch me.
01:19:28.440
Hang on, Cheryl. Cheryl. Oh my God. I'm coming. I want my jacket back. Let her go.
01:19:38.520
She's beating the hell out of you. Ted Danson's there too. Ted Danson comes in and gets tackled.
01:19:45.060
So that scene was so funny because she was, she was so good. And when she,
01:19:49.340
when she makes the turn and she's like, give me my jacket. It's like, what are you?
01:19:55.900
So how much is it? Was that planned? Like she's going to beat the hell out of you. That must've
01:19:59.740
been scripted. That was planned. She was going to beat the hell out of me. But yeah, all of the
01:20:05.740
dialogue is improvised. Oh my God. I love your, I see the choice you made there. About a different choice.
01:20:11.940
Something else. I feel like you're being seductive.
01:20:15.680
About your mother. It's just like, what are you doing? And then she just would get so angry.
01:20:21.960
Cheryl, how do you not laugh? Like seriously, how do you not break down in hysterics as she's
01:20:26.260
doing the weird dancing and the seductive to her mother thing?
01:20:28.840
No, that was hard. I have to bite the inside of my cheek.
01:20:34.920
See, that's a, that's a bad habit because it can swell up with scar tissue and then it
01:20:39.560
interferes with your speaking. I know about this because.
01:20:45.060
Because I never had my wisdom teeth removed and my mouth is too small for all those wisdom
01:20:50.040
teeth. I know no one would believe it. Small mouth. And I was going through a thing where
01:20:54.400
I kept like biting on my cheek. It was killing me. So I had one wisdom tooth pulled.
01:21:00.520
Can I ask you this? You don't have to answer. Well, why didn't you have them removed?
01:21:04.020
I don't, I came from a not well-off family that didn't think about things. The same reason
01:21:11.660
By the way, the SAT, I took that thing the night after our homecoming dance.
01:21:23.860
It was a surprise. I didn't even know we were having the SAT. I was like, oh, it's the
01:21:30.840
That's exactly how it was. And I was like, okay. And I never took it again.
01:21:34.940
No, I never took it. No one even thought to tell me to take it again.
01:21:37.860
My parents were like, oh, okay, that's fine. It was terrible.
01:21:41.760
I did terribly. And miraculously, I still got into Syracuse University because I had a decent
01:21:46.920
GPA. And I think they actually were, they just had mercy on me because my dad, like,
01:21:54.620
I don't think that's how it works in admissions.
01:21:56.680
No, they did. But I have a story because my dad had taught there my first 10 years of
01:22:01.440
life. We lived in Syracuse and then my dad had passed. And so my story, you know, was
01:22:07.000
like, and I think they actually did just have mercy on me because I did not really. Syracuse,
01:22:11.060
it's much harder to get into now, but back then it wasn't that hard. But I still shouldn't
01:22:14.800
have been admitted with that SAT score. I was just like, no, I was focused on other things.
01:22:20.640
Yeah. It is a different world. And it's a different world when you come from,
01:22:27.840
I was going to say wealth or money or resources.
01:22:32.020
Yes. We would never let our kids go into the SAT without having taken some practice tests.
01:22:39.320
Like, that's not even a thing in the world I'm in now.
01:22:42.460
No, I know. It's weird, but maybe because we grew up, because you know how I, I mean,
01:22:48.520
it's amazing that my, all my siblings went to college. It's amazing because our parents were
01:22:55.200
not, you know, they didn't say you guys have got to go to college.
01:23:00.280
Oh, it's like a thrill that you seem to be kind of happy and not upset about too much.
01:23:12.600
But like, did anybody care about that? Because, you know, in, in this community, if a kid said,
01:23:17.380
I'm going to cosmetology school, the parents would be like, what do you mean? You're going
01:23:21.700
No, my mom was thrilled. And as a matter of fact, like halfway through, you know, I was
01:23:28.260
17 when I started cosmetology school and I was having to do perms and jerry curls. And
01:23:35.900
this woman came in and, and I, I thought something looked off and I asked my teacher to come look
01:23:43.680
at her hair and she said, she has lice and you need to go tell her. And I was like, I
01:23:54.200
And I've been like shampooing. There's so many things.
01:23:59.300
I know. I know. And, um, at one point I thought, I don't think I want to finish this.
01:24:06.240
And my mom gave me a long talk and she said, do not quit. Like finish what you start. You
01:24:15.180
started this and you should finish it. I was like, well, we're talking about beauty school,
01:24:19.380
right? Um, but it was a good, it was a good lesson. And I did. And I did.
01:24:26.080
You know, I always wish I had taken something like that because it would have saved me a
01:24:34.700
So it's not, so you just, it's not saving you a fortune.
01:24:36.740
Yeah, it wasn't. But I think it was helpful when I was going out on auditions and stuff.
01:24:42.200
And then you go back to college. Okay. So now you get the role on curb and then you
01:24:45.820
shot to stardom quickly. That's a big role for your first big break.
01:24:50.520
What was interesting because the show was, um, I don't want to say small, but compared to
01:24:58.080
the other shows that were on HBO at the time, I mean, when we premiered, we premiered after
01:25:08.160
So you had those shows that were so big. I remember the Sunday nights watching it.
01:25:15.300
So we were kind of the little show in between, um, was supposed to look like a documentary.
01:25:22.880
So it was sort of, you know, it was not shiny and pretty like, like the others. Um, and so
01:25:32.340
at the beginning, it was really the industry liked it, liked the show because they loved
01:25:40.900
Larry. Larry co-created Seinfeld and, and he's so funny and everybody wanted to see what he
01:25:48.280
was going to do. And, um, but the rest of the country, you know, a lot of people didn't
01:25:57.380
What is it? It took a while to get familiar with it and its cadence and realize like, it's
01:26:02.760
a show about nothing like Seinfeld, you know, it really is.
01:26:05.480
Yeah. And there aren't punchlines because there's no script.
01:26:07.880
No, but you never turn out without having had genuine laughs.
01:26:12.240
Yeah. Even when you're, even when you sit down and you're, and you think I'm not in
01:26:17.140
the mood to laugh out loud and I'm just going to watch this. And then Larry does, you know,
01:26:22.500
I don't know, trip Shaquille O'Neal during the Lakers game. And now all of LA is mad at
01:26:27.940
Or he's stealing sneakers from the Holocaust museum.
01:26:34.200
No. And then you keep, you can't, and you turn it off going, I can't believe he just
01:26:41.160
I know he can get away with it. So now what, so then 2014, you and Bobby got together.
01:26:52.840
And at that point he was a Democrat from a famous family who was an environmental lawyer.
01:26:58.800
So I imagine there was no like, why him? Like there would have been, had you married
01:27:07.300
Right. But then he, you know, now I feel like knowing him the way I know him, which
01:27:13.460
is just a little from, you know, this era of his life seems inevitable. He was going
01:27:18.700
to get into politics in some way. Like he's just too dedicated to like helping people and
01:27:24.860
So, but it was a surprise to you. He went first, people may forget he ran for president
01:27:30.140
for a year and a half before he actually, you know, endorsed Trump and then went the HHS
01:27:34.860
route. So you, not only does he say he's getting into politics, he's getting into presidential
01:27:39.580
politics. And by the way, I guess we kind of skipped the part where he was banned. He
01:27:45.320
was at the top of the disinformation dozen by the Biden White House.
01:27:48.160
Right. Ours was one of the very first shows that platformed him. And he's been very sweet
01:27:54.920
and thanked us publicly many times for helping pave the way back.
01:27:58.800
Oh my God. We, it was our pleasure, but you would not believe how hard it was because none
01:28:05.800
So we had to do this crazy interview with him. It was three hours long, four hours. We
01:28:09.440
did two hours and two hours. We're like, we had to fact check him on all these things
01:28:17.960
And, and he did, it lived on every single platform. And after that, he was like, not
01:28:22.900
legit untouchable anymore. Yeah. It was like, we had done it and it was like, it's fine.
01:28:27.220
You can interview him and it can live and you won't get censored everywhere.
01:28:29.900
Right. And then the more people listen to him, I think the more they were like, oh my
01:28:34.800
This is what they've been telling us is so terrifying.
01:28:38.020
So what was that like for you to see him sort of normal environmental lawyer, then disinformation
01:28:42.780
dozen banned, and then kind of back and running for president?
01:28:46.000
Well, that's why I wrote a book because it was crazy. It was crazy. There were times that
01:28:54.780
were really challenging. You know, it also times that were fun, more challenging than fun,
01:29:04.780
but it was definitely a shift. And it's, it's strange the way it all happened, right? Because
01:29:10.700
the, when, when everybody shut down for COVID, there was a shift in the world, right?
01:29:19.820
And probably a shift in everybody's family because everybody locked down and now you're
01:29:26.780
with your family under the same roof 24 seven. So that, that was a shift in itself. And then,
01:29:33.320
you know, Bobby was questioning the vaccine safety and that was so, um,
01:29:42.540
people were so passionate about it on volatile. You were not allowed. It was like, but the odd
01:29:50.080
thing was, I mean, odd in a weird way is like a lot of crunchy people in California had questions,
01:29:55.280
you know, his constituency was sort of weird. Yeah. Couldn't always predict it by party label
01:30:00.560
or even voting history. Like a lot of his people probably never voted. Right.
01:30:04.700
But they had questions too. Right. Which I actually, I love that about Bobby. And I loved
01:30:10.840
when he was running, I really loved his supporters and the, the makeup of the supporters, because
01:30:19.000
there were Republicans, independents, and Democrats who were coming together and they were,
01:30:27.260
you know, they, they were all there because they wanted something better for each other,
01:30:32.420
for themselves and they supported Bobby. And it was so great. I just loved his, you know, supporters,
01:30:39.200
but it was so interesting because yes, in LA, um, there is a lot of, um, the people are,
01:30:50.720
I would say very careful about what they eat, what, you know, they exercise. Yeah. So you have these,
01:31:00.840
uh, people, mothers who have always been thoughtful about what they give their kids as far as medicine
01:31:09.320
goes, they, you know, so that when Bobby steps forward, um, and says, I'm, I hear you and you're
01:31:17.280
right. You should be questioning. You should be thinking about it. Then to see some people turn
01:31:23.300
against him was so strange. It's like on that issue. I mean, I've said this before when I was
01:31:28.760
at Fox, if you said anything about the vaccine schedule for kids, you get a call immediately
01:31:35.440
to stop talking about that. Yeah. And you know, Pfizer was one of our big advertisers. I was young
01:31:40.520
and didn't really put it together. Right. But it is crazy. Like there are certain things you're not
01:31:46.140
allowed to talk about. Right. You can't talk about it. And he was like a third rail. Let me love it.
01:31:51.640
Let me hold it. I know. And you're over there like, oh. I'm like Bobby, everybody, you're like
01:31:58.520
making people go crazy. He's like, I don't care. No. And you can tell that's true. Yeah. That's the
01:32:05.100
challenge. Yeah. Um, a new opportunity arose. Yes. An opportunity. I like the way that you say that.
01:32:11.700
Um, so it was interesting because, you know, the thing about LA too, that I think a lot of people
01:32:19.600
think about it because it is very liberal and it, and at the same time, there are plenty of people
01:32:28.300
who aren't, there are plenty of Republicans. The ones who don't say anything. Yeah. Those are the
01:32:33.000
Republicans. Yeah. Um, so it was, it was tough because I did, and I talked about it
01:32:41.160
in the book, unscripted. There we go. By Cheryl Hines. Cheryl Hines coming out November 11th.
01:32:46.000
Um, I talk about it because I would have been happy to never talk about vaccines. And I, I don't mean
01:32:55.840
that in a bad way because they are, it's very important. Um, and it's of course very important
01:33:04.240
to everyone's health and we need to look at it, but I, that's not what I do. No, it's not my background.
01:33:11.060
It's not. And at that time I had people from both sides coming at me saying, can, let me tell you
01:33:19.220
about this thing that happened to me or tell your husband to stop saying that. Oh gosh. And it was
01:33:26.340
overwhelming at times, you know, he felt so bad. I know. When we talked to him and whatever it was,
01:33:32.980
he felt so bad. He was a poor Cheryl, like the nicest person. And he was, I know. And, uh, he
01:33:40.720
offered like to do a fake separation just so you didn't get the blowback. It was like, which was
01:33:45.700
sweet. But I was thinking, I don't know how that would work. Yeah. No, those can, those things can
01:33:54.020
tend to lead to the real deal. Well, right. It's like, Oh, are they set? And then that's
01:33:57.540
the story. Are they separated? No, they're still together. No, it's, but it's crazy how people
01:34:02.320
expected you actually to leave him. Yeah. Like, of course my team pulled together all sorts of
01:34:08.460
tweets, but the one I'll read and I, I don't want to give the haters a lot of airtime, but
01:34:12.340
the one, let me see if I can find it. It was from Bradley Whitford where I really wanted to punch
01:34:16.480
in the face after reading this. My God, what a douchebag. And I, and I talk about it. I talk
01:34:22.040
about that in my book. He really thinks he's like, he, he thinks he's the West wing character.
01:34:26.560
Hello. I know he tweets out. Hey, Cheryl Hines, way to stay silent while your lunatic husband
01:34:31.460
throws his support behind the adjudicated rapist who brags about stripping women of their fundamental
01:34:36.380
rights. Gutsy. Great example for the kids profile and courage. Do you ever think about responding?
01:34:42.220
Do you ever want to be like, yo, Bradley, go fuck yourself.
01:34:46.480
Yes. Yes. I've had those thoughts. Well, it's interesting because, you know, I know Bradley
01:34:53.880
just casually, you know, I've, I'm sure I've worked with them somewhere somehow, but so I talk about
01:35:03.680
it in the book because I tried to stay off social media. I tried to stay off it as much as possible.
01:35:09.480
And then I wake up and I see these texts like, wow, that guy's an asshole. Yeah. And I was thinking,
01:35:13.520
oh, let's see of all the guys I know that could be an asshole making bets with myself. Who could
01:35:20.540
this be? Well, I'm sorry, but it must, you must've thought Rob Reiner first. Cause I know you worked
01:35:25.120
with him. He's got crazy TDS. Yeah. But, but Rob, uh, I like Rob and I don't think he would ever,
01:35:35.320
he would never come after me. Yes. There's a difference. He might go after Bobby. Um,
01:35:40.720
and that's fine. And that's fine. That was so weird about this out there. Yeah. What's so weird
01:35:44.740
about this is coming for you, the spouse. I know I was so, uh, I was, I was, uh, sort of confused
01:35:55.620
because I didn't understand what he was hoping for. Yeah. Like you're supposed to walk out in a
01:36:02.740
huff. Yeah. He's right. Yeah. It's over. It's over, Bobby. It was a very odd. And, um,
01:36:12.480
that day I kept, you know, I'm texting my best friend, Rachel. I'm like,
01:36:17.660
and my friend, and, and I'm like, uh, do I say anything? Do I need to make a statement? I love my
01:36:25.360
husband and I'm not going to have a divorce or his politics. Sorry. He could feel better or worse
01:36:32.740
or I don't know. So that I can maintain Bradley's love. You're more important to me, Bradley. Right.
01:36:40.120
Thank you for this tweet. Now that you mentioned it, I'm going to do some work. Uh, so it was
01:36:44.920
interesting because I, so I didn't do anything. I didn't, I just, you know, took a breath and was
01:36:50.520
at the end of the day, it's a, in my opinion, sort of a silly tweet. Also, what does he say
01:36:58.360
something about the kids? Like, wait, a good example for the kids. Yeah. Yeah. I was like,
01:37:03.640
what kids? I didn't even understand that part either. Bobby's stepkids. Yeah. Your stepkids
01:37:10.120
have hit. Right. And it's like, well, actually for my kids. Yeah. I think it's good to stand by
01:37:17.340
your husband, your wife, your spouse when they're, they're doing something that's important.
01:37:25.580
They're there. So that was also, it's very strange. You do find out as Eric Trump was just
01:37:32.400
telling us on the show on Friday, who your friends are when you get into politics, you know, that
01:37:36.540
Donald Trump senior sat them all down when he announced him 15 and said, now we're going to
01:37:41.200
find out who our friends are. And it's so true. Yeah. Like, because there'd be highs and lows. And I've
01:37:46.460
said this many times on the show, but no one gets as bad as Bobby. Like we're from the press.
01:37:52.300
They hate Elon. The press hates Elon. They hate Pete Hegseth, but they really hate Bobby in a
01:37:56.720
particular way. Cause he was a Democrat and you're not allowed to turn on them.
01:37:59.700
But by the way, when he was a Democrat, they did not embrace him.
01:38:02.480
No, because he was asking the wrong questions. He was embracing the wrong third rails. But I was
01:38:07.620
telling the audience in my house, I get the wall street journal, the New York times and the New York
01:38:11.720
post every day. And when he's in the news for whatever, all three are bad. It's very rare.
01:38:16.500
The very, very rare figure who has universally bad press, but he's the most popular cabinet member.
01:38:22.560
Did you know that? I did. Yeah. He's the most popular with the people and the least popular
01:38:28.400
with the press, which I think says he's doing something right. Now I know you, you write about
01:38:34.920
how you've become friends with some of the other like spouses to the cabinet members. Is there a
01:38:39.880
favorite? Is there like, do you have a bestie? Oh, well, I really like Jeanette Rubio. I like
01:38:47.320
Marco. I probably shouldn't call him Marco. I mean, that's, that's the other thing I'm always
01:38:52.240
asking Bobby, you know, because I see everybody at dinner and we're just hanging out that I'll say,
01:38:58.880
am I supposed to call Tulsi? Um, I even forget what her. Madam director. Yes. Director.
01:39:05.460
He's like, I don't think so. Sounds kind of communist when you say it like that, doesn't it?
01:39:08.480
Yeah. That's too much. But I can't even remember every, what I was supposed to call
01:39:13.240
everybody, but I liked them all. It's interesting because I thought, I don't know what I thought.
01:39:20.000
I didn't really think about it too much, but I, I guess I thought it would be a lot of boring
01:39:27.480
politicos. Probably in a different administration. You're probably right. I think you're right.
01:39:33.400
This, this president's got a, you know, a colorful personality and it attracts.
01:39:43.820
It's interesting. I mean, once again, I've never paid attention. I couldn't tell you,
01:39:48.640
I don't know anything about anybody else's cabinet in the history of, you know, politics.
01:39:55.140
Um, but, uh, but from everything I know and see, and I'm experiencing, it sounds like this is a
01:40:03.960
different, uh, way of leading. Yeah. That they really are supportive of each other. Yeah. You can
01:40:12.560
see that it's a team effort. Yeah. Speaking with Cheryl Hines about her book, Unscripted comes out
01:40:18.300
next month. Get your advanced copy. Now do you politics usually in my experience can be very
01:40:26.440
beneficial to the world. It can give one a sense of fulfillment because you're doing good. Um,
01:40:31.320
it can also be very, very hard. It can be, it can be somewhat soul crushing. I know a lot of people
01:40:36.040
have gone through the process and like emerged battle weary because it can be soul crushing. It's
01:40:42.380
just nonstop controversy and so on. So how are you guys feeling about that aspect of it? Just the
01:40:48.200
nonstop onslaught. Um, actually we, I don't want to say we feel good about it. Who can feel good
01:40:56.400
about it, but it's, it's, you know, it makes, um, it makes us stronger. Me and Bobby makes us really
01:41:08.840
strong because we have fun together. Even when we go to these, you know, um, parties or dinners,
01:41:17.940
as long as we're together, we'll have fun. And then to see what he is accomplishing and what the
01:41:24.680
administration is accomplishing, it feels like it's okay. People can say what they're going to say.
01:41:32.220
We're doing something higher. Yeah. And you see, you know, Bobby's getting petroleum dyes out of our
01:41:39.620
food source, you know, we're out of our food. Um, he's getting arsenic and lead out of our baby
01:41:45.600
formula. And so it's okay. We'll take the heat. We'll take the digs. We'll take the headlines,
01:41:52.820
whatever. But if he's, he's actually getting really good work done and same with, um, drug prices,
01:41:58.300
um, favorite nation drug prices that everybody, everything I'm talking about is beneficial for
01:42:04.740
every American. Yeah. So it's not just one party. It's stuff you don't understand how anybody could
01:42:08.180
object to. Right. Have you been eating like this since you met him? Like, have you been doing the
01:42:12.400
beef tallow and all that? I'm a vegetarian. Oh yeah. Um, so beef tallow, no.
01:42:20.140
I just picture like, what is life living, like, like living with Bobby Kennedy? Is he up at dawn
01:42:27.420
first mile run and then all like the natural organic everything? Yes. Yeah. He's up at dawn.
01:42:35.080
He gets up at the same time every day. The alarm goes off and I'm like, um, he gets up early. He,
01:42:42.560
he, he works out every day. Yeah. You can see that in the videos. He, he goes to a meeting,
01:42:48.340
you know, he's, he's in the program and that's very important to him. And, um, and that's how he
01:42:54.940
starts to stay, you know, and he eats, uh, clean. Yeah. He does not have the McDonald's on board Air
01:43:01.780
Force One with the Prez. No, I don't walk in and see him eating like a bag of Doritos watching football.
01:43:08.040
That never happens. Not surprised. Yeah. Listen, I'm so, so you're a Washington wife right now,
01:43:13.680
right? I mean, like currently having dinner at the white house. So this is a whole new
01:43:18.320
phase and yeah, is it enjoyable? Like, are you enjoying this phase? I am, you know, I think,
01:43:25.720
uh, I have a lot of friends who at our age, my age, um, you know, their, their kids have gone,
01:43:34.820
they moved out and their life is sort of quiet and they're bored. And my life is the opposite.
01:43:42.020
You are not bored. It would be impossible. Yeah. I got to wrap it because we're going to hit their
01:43:47.100
hard break, but the book is unscripted. It's by Cheryl Hines. Highly recommend it. It's an easy,
01:43:51.880
fun, fascinating read. Make a good present just in time for Christmas and Thanksgiving and all the
01:43:56.860
holidays. Lots of love. Thank you so much. Thanks for being here. Thank you so much. See you soon.
01:44:03.880
Thanks for listening to The Megyn Kelly Show. No BS, no agenda, and no fear.