The Megyn Kelly Show - Trump's Nominee Chavez-DeRemer Grilled, RFK Unleashed, Lively-Baldoni Latest： AM Update for 2⧸20

00:00:00.000 Good morning, everyone. I'm Megan Kelly. It's Thursday, February 20th, 2025. And this is your

00:00:08.820 AM update. This is a negotiation between two fractions of the party saying we're willing

00:00:19.280 to work together. President Trump's choice to head the Labor Department takes center stage on

00:00:24.860 Capitol Hill. Supporters say labor ally Lori Chavez de Riemer is the latest pick representing

00:00:30.720 a new Republican coalition. But will the Republicans go for it? Science and democracy

00:00:37.420 were born together during the Enlightenment, and they share the same ideals for open as

00:00:43.340 for public access and for transparency. As skepticism toward the scientific

00:00:49.640 establishment grows, a new chapter begins at HHS. RFKJ takes the helm, vowing to increase

00:00:57.500 transparency. They got left in space. They've been there. They were supposed to be there eight

00:01:02.240 days. They're there almost 300. Elon Musk says he's been given the green light to return the

00:01:06.700 NASA astronauts from space following a month's long extended journey up there. And the latest

00:01:12.940 in the legal drama between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. All that and more coming up in just a

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00:02:23.200 Lori Chavez-Daremer front and center before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee 0.76

00:02:29.160 in her bid to head the Labor Department. The nomination ruffled Republican feathers. A former

00:02:34.540 representative from Oregon, Ms. Daremer, once co-sponsored a bill protecting the right to 0.98

00:02:40.220 organize. The bill was lauded by Democrats for strengthening labor protections and expanding

00:02:45.260 workers' rights. Republicans lambasted the bill for its provision overturning right-to-work laws,

00:02:51.200 which make it illegal to require workers to join a union or pay union dues as a condition of

00:02:56.620 employment. These protections exist in 27 states. Republican members of the committee questioned

00:03:02.420 Ms. Daremer on her past support for some provisions of this proposed law.

00:03:06.880 Do you still support the PRO Act or don't you support the PRO Act?

00:03:11.140 I fully, fairly, and support states who want to protect their right to work.

00:03:15.520 I have said that to every senator that I have visited with.

00:03:17.680 So you no longer support the aspect of the PRO Act that would have overturned state right-to-work

00:03:22.320 laws? Yeah. There were so many parts-

00:03:24.140 That's a yes?

00:03:25.140 Yes.

00:03:25.920 Do you continue to support the elimination of secret ballots in union elections?

00:03:34.700 I do not support that portion.

00:03:37.340 That was Kentucky Senator Rand Paul and then Maine Senator Susan Collins.

00:03:41.820 Ms. Daremer's biggest obstacle? GOP hesitancy. Oklahoma Senator Mark Wayne Mullen tried to soften

00:03:48.060 GOP resistance when introducing Ms. Daremer prior to her opening remarks.

00:03:52.960 Lori represents someone that is uniquely positioned to bring people like Sean and I, who presented

00:03:58.940 Lori to President Trump, and said this is someone that we can work together with.

00:04:04.460 This is a negotiation between two fractions of the party that is saying we're willing to work

00:04:14.640 together.

00:04:15.420 The Sean Mr. McMullen is referring to there is Sean O'Brien, president of the International

00:04:20.600 Brotherhood of Teamsters. Senator Mullen and Sean O'Brien, highly unexpected allies, not least of

00:04:27.500 which because of this exchange we saw at a committee hearing back in November 2023, where the two

00:04:32.340 nearly came to blows.

00:04:34.300 In fact, you tweeted at me one, two, three, four, five times. And let me read what the last one said.

00:04:45.260 Quit the tough guy act and these Senate hearings. You know where to find me. Any place, any time,

00:04:52.100 cowboy.

00:04:52.400 Sir, this is a time, this is a place. You want to run your mouth. We can be two consenting adults. 0.97

00:04:59.220 We can finish it here.

00:05:00.400 Okay, that's fine. Perfect.

00:05:01.800 You want to do it now?

00:05:02.580 I'd love to do it right now. 0.98

00:05:03.600 Well, stand your butt up then. 0.99

00:05:04.780 You stand your butt up. 0.99

00:05:05.840 Oh, hold on. 0.99

00:05:06.320 Oh, stop it.

00:05:07.540 Is that your solution?

00:05:08.360 No, no, sit down.

00:05:10.040 That was Bernie Sanders there, full-time senator, part-time referee. Sean O'Brien telling Fox News

00:05:16.160 he is ready to go to the mat to get Mr. Reamer confirmed. Overall, the hearing generally lacked

00:05:22.400 many fireworks. Democrats and Republicans both emphasizing the importance of growing

00:05:26.900 apprenticeship training. Mr. Reamer agreed. When you're down to apprenticeship training,

00:05:32.320 you're in a good place of seeing your nominee confirmed. Virginia Senator Tim Kaine did lay a bit

00:05:37.460 of a trap for Mr. Reamer at one point. Should you be confirmed? Would you take those obligations

00:05:43.300 to watch out for American veterans seriously? Absolutely. If you became aware that an employer,

00:05:49.320 a major employer, was taking actions that disproportionately negatively affected veterans,

00:05:56.060 would that concern you? Yes. The mass firing that President Trump is doing within the federal

00:06:02.160 government right now, is hitting veterans very, very hard. The civilian workforce is about 3%

00:06:08.920 veteran. The federal workforce is 30% veteran. Important context there, the Trump administration

00:06:15.200 is not targeting veterans. These are broad cuts designed to lessen the size of government across

00:06:19.940 the board. As Senator Kaine himself points out, the government hires a high number of veterans,

00:06:25.260 therefore any broad cuts would naturally affect veterans too, but in no way are they being singled

00:06:31.300 out. Senate Democrats also used their time at the hearing to target Elon Musk. Will you be a rubber

00:06:37.840 stamp for the anti-worker agenda of Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and other multi-billionaires who are

00:06:45.040 blatantly anti-union? They don't make any bones about it. Will you commit to denying access to Elon Musk or

00:06:55.000 any of his representatives to information about labor violations at OSHA?

00:07:01.540 It seems like Mr. Musk is getting a big payback from Mr. Trump right in the first month of this

00:07:08.080 administration, and that concerns us greatly. Doge's access to federal agencies remains a top issue for

00:07:13.560 Democrats. Elon Musk derided by Dems as a private citizen rummaging through federal databases for

00:07:19.940 personal gain, a claim that's unsubstantiated. Earlier this week, the White House outlined the

00:07:25.340 parameters of Mr. Musk's federal employment status. He is a special government employee serving as a

00:07:31.640 senior advisor to the president. Joe Biden had lots of those too. The filing states, like other senior

00:07:37.100 White House advisors, Mr. Musk has no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself.

00:07:42.900 He can only advise the president and communicate the president's directives. Democratic attorneys general

00:07:48.140 and other left-leaning groups have launched multiple lawsuits aimed at curbing the president's

00:07:52.900 executive authority. One judge even going so far as to demand the White House restore certain web

00:07:58.620 pages at the NIH. As has become custom in these hearings, Democrats repeatedly ask what the nominee

00:08:05.360 would do if asked to violate the law. Ms. DeRiemer consistent in her response. The president of the

00:08:12.300 United States has the power to determine what he's going to do through his executive power.

00:08:17.600 I have not been confirmed. I have not been read into all that. I'm asking you, will you follow the

00:08:23.420 law? I will always follow the law and the constitution. She added she does not believe the president will

00:08:28.940 give her an illegal order. Coming up, RFKJ's first full day as head of HHS and Presidents Trump and

00:08:40.220 Zelensky trade barbs as the U.S. leads peace negotiations on the Ukrainians behalf. As President Trump

00:08:47.260 begins his new administration, one of the top Democrats in Congress aiming to undermine the

00:08:51.780 Trump agenda is Senator Dick Durbin. And according to our sponsor, the Electronic Payments Coalition,

00:08:57.240 Senator Durbin has a new scheme, a government takeover of your credit card. Today, Americans

00:09:01.740 have thousands of choices in credit cards, but they say Senator Durbin's plan will result in less

00:09:06.320 competition and less security. And that means more risk for your credit and your identity.

00:09:10.940 Learn more at guardyourcard.com and consider telling your senators to stop Dick Durbin's

00:09:17.200 government takeover of your credit card before it's too late.

00:09:20.040 After a highly contentious confirmation process, RFKJ arrives for his first day as head of health

00:09:30.440 and human services. HHS is a massive department overseeing an approximately $1.7 trillion budget

00:09:37.600 with 11 divisions. As head of the department, RFKJ will oversee public health, social services,

00:09:43.360 and medical research. He will be a critical figure in developing and implementing the Trump

00:09:48.120 administration's health care policies. This is a department with its work cut out for it.

00:09:53.380 From RFKJ's remarks on Tuesday. In the U.S., six out of every 10 adults

00:09:58.540 have at least one chronic disease and four in 10 have two or more. Asthma and autoimmune diseases

00:10:07.120 are far more common in the U.S. than in any other part of the world. Autism now affects one in every 36

00:10:14.600 kids. Our only solution to these issues seems to be more and more pharmaceutical interventions

00:10:22.700 that don't seem to be alleviating the problem and in many cases appear to be worsening it.

00:10:29.400 Kennedy referencing studies showing 90 percent of health care spending goes toward treating chronic

00:10:34.780 illness in this country. He says despite paying two to three times as much for health care,

00:10:39.540 Americans are among the world's sickest people. Kennedy says the mission of this department 1.00

00:10:44.880 now will be reversing the chronic disease epidemic. The reason for most of the controversy about

00:10:50.960 Kennedy is his history as someone who is unafraid to question the safety of some vaccines.

00:10:56.980 Kennedy's a longtime critic of corporate influence on pharmaceutical companies too,

00:11:01.560 especially when it comes to research and development. The former FDA administrator,

00:11:05.960 Robert Califf, he estimates approximately 70 percent of clinical trials are self-funded

00:11:12.380 by the very drug companies seeking approval. RFK committed to the employees of his new agency that their

00:11:19.160 mission will be restoring full transparency and respect of the science without preconceived notions.

00:11:26.300 Nothing is going to be off limits. Whatever belief or suspicion I have expressed in the past,

00:11:32.680 I'm willing to subject them all to the scrutiny of unbiased science.

00:11:40.180 That is going to be our template.

00:11:42.400 Actor Zachary Levi articulated the feelings of many Americans on the Megyn Kelly show yesterday.

00:11:47.580 But I think that these are things that have been long, long, long overdue, long overdue,

00:11:53.960 and we deserve it. Everyone deserves this kind of transparency. Like light is the best disinfectant.

00:12:00.540 Like just get in there. Just look at it all. Let's have a real coming to Jesus moment. And we need

00:12:05.300 to do that with all things. We need to bring the American public in on a lot of these things

00:12:09.260 that have been secretive. And no, no, no, we can't tell. I'm like, rip the Band-Aid off.

00:12:13.420 Presidents Trump and Zelensky in a war of words as the U.S. lays the groundwork for peace negotiations

00:12:19.380 in Ukraine. Their leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, voicing increasing criticism of the Trump administration.

00:12:25.400 And there are a lot of different voices around new American administration. And I'm not sure

00:12:31.940 that all these voices on on our side. Now we can't rule out the possibility that America might

00:12:39.240 say no to Europe on issues that threaten it. It's up to them, but they can discuss everything

00:12:47.300 they want, but not about Ukraine without us. All of those soundbites took place within the last week

00:12:53.260 At a Tuesday press conference at Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump returned some of the criticism.

00:12:58.840 Today I heard, oh, well, we weren't invited. Well, you've been there for three years. You should

00:13:02.240 have ended it three years. You should have never started it. You could have made a deal.

00:13:06.300 I could have made a deal for Ukraine that would have given them almost all of the land, 0.53

00:13:12.240 everything, almost all of the land, and no people would have been killed and no city would

00:13:16.100 have been demolished. Democrats have interpreted that comment as President Trump accusing the Ukrainians

00:13:21.060 of starting the war. This is Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

00:13:25.140 President Trump amazingly blamed Ukraine for Putin's invasion. It's disgusting to see an American

00:13:32.300 president turn against one of our friends and openly side with a thug like Vladimir Putin. 0.53

00:13:39.940 The people of Ukraine did not start this war. Vladimir Putin did.

00:13:46.080 That sentiment repeated across the cable networks. Mr. Zelensky called a press conference yesterday

00:13:51.940 in Ukraine saying he would like to, quote, have more truth with the Trump team because this does

00:13:57.160 not have a positive impact on Ukraine. In those same remarks, he asserted the belief that the U.S.

00:14:03.240 is helping President Putin, quote, come out of years of isolation. And yet President Trump's remarks

00:14:09.240 are very much in line with the many previous times he has said this war was not inevitable.

00:14:14.860 Mr. Trump acknowledges the Russians' claims that NATO expansion poses a legitimate threat to their

00:14:20.640 national security, but he also believes in Ukrainian sovereignty. In the months leading up to the

00:14:25.980 invasion, there were multiple failed diplomatic efforts by the Biden administration to dial back

00:14:31.220 the crisis. Mr. Trump lays much of the blame on Joe Biden for strategic blunders along the way.

00:14:37.800 National Security Advisor Mike Walls remains adamant that both sides, of course, will have a say in the

00:14:43.040 final outcome. This from an appearance yesterday on Fox News. At the era of an endless grinding war

00:14:49.640 with death and destruction on all sides costing hundreds of billions and costing hundreds of

00:14:57.420 thousands, if not millions of lives, that era is over. President Trump has been very clear he intends

00:15:03.080 to bring this war to an end that all sides need to be bought into that. Ukrainian elections were

00:15:10.500 suspended earlier this year. The country has been under martial law since the beginning of the

00:15:14.780 invasion. The White House's rapid response account posting to X yesterday, quote, in America,

00:15:19.980 we hold a presidential election every four years, even during wartime. Before President Zelensky decides

00:15:26.380 to lecture the American president again, he should hold an election too, end quote. The president

00:15:31.820 clearly warning Zelensky, you're on thin ice. President Trump and Elon Musk announced the two

00:15:40.020 astronauts aboard the International Space Station will be brought home in a matter of weeks. Originally

00:15:45.820 scheduled for just an eight-day mission, astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have been in space

00:15:51.700 since June. Technical issues with their Boeing Starliner led to an indefinite extension of the trip.

00:15:58.080 Don't you hate it when your flight gets canceled? Elon Musk placing blame for the long delay on the

00:16:03.320 Biden administration. At the president's request or instruction, we are accelerating the return of

00:16:09.620 the astronauts, which was postponed kind of to a ridiculous degree. They got left in space.

00:16:15.480 They've been there. They were supposed to be there eight days. They're there almost 300.

00:16:19.000 Biden. They were put, yes, they were left up there for political reasons, which is not good.

00:16:23.400 The astronauts themselves dispute that characterization. Here they were earlier this week with

00:16:27.960 CNN's Anderson Cooper. Do you feel you've been abandoned? We don't feel abandoned. We don't

00:16:33.300 feel stuck. We don't feel stranded. I understand why others may think that. We come prepared. We

00:16:39.500 come committed. That is what your human space flight program is. It prepares for any and all

00:16:44.580 contingencies that we can conceive of, and we prepare for those. So if you'll help us change the

00:16:49.980 rhetoric, help us change the narrative, let's change it to prepared and committed.

00:16:55.240 The projected launch date for their return, March 12th.

00:17:01.480 The latest on the It Ends With Us drama, which seems never-ending, Blake Lively amends her

00:17:07.520 complaint against co-star and director Justin Baldoni. In the 163-page document, Lively now

00:17:13.520 alleges that multiple women felt uncomfortable on the set as a result of Baldoni's on-set behavior.

00:17:20.200 She contends her claims are corroborated by other witnesses, but the actress is not

00:17:24.200 naming them, allegedly to protect innocent bystanders rather than exposing them to

00:17:30.220 further harm. She claims the witnesses will testify and cooperate with the discovery process.

00:17:36.120 Mr. Baldoni's lawyer, Brian Friedman, who happens to be my own lawyer, dismisses the complaint,

00:17:41.260 saying it lacks evidence. Mr. Friedman responding that this complaint is filled with hearsay by unnamed

00:17:48.560 persons, quote, who are clearly no longer willing to come forward or publicly support her claims.

00:17:54.580 Since documents do not lie and people do, the upcoming depositions of those who initially supported

00:17:59.400 Ms. Lively's false claims and those who are witnesses to her own behavior will be enlightening.

00:18:05.660 Mr. Baldoni is countersuing Blake Lively for $400 million in damages. The trial is scheduled for March

00:18:11.160 2026. And that'll do it for your AM update. Thanks for listening, everyone. I'm Megan Kelly.

00:18:19.000 Join me back here later for The Megan Kelly Show. We are live on SiriusXM Triumph Channel 111 at

00:18:24.620 New East and on YouTube.com slash Megan Kelly and all podcast platforms.

The Megyn Kelly Show - February 20, 2025

Trump's Nominee Chavez-DeRemer Grilled, RFK Unleashed, Lively-Baldoni Latest： AM Update for 2⧸20

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