Loading summary
A
If we knew more about our sleep, what would we do differently? Would we go to bed at a consistent time or take steps to reduce interruptions to our sleep? With the all new Sleep Score, Apple Watch measures your bedtime consistency, interruptions and sleep duration. Then every morning it combines these factors into an easy to understand score from 1 to 100 so you'll know how to take the quality of your sleep from good to excellent. Introducing the new Sleep Score on Apple Watch, iPhone 11 or later required.
B
Bill O'Reilly Here you are listening to the O'Reilly Update. Coming up next, the news with Mike Slater.
C
Thank you, Bill. It is Thursday, November 27, 2025. Happy Thanksgiving. Here's what's happening today in America. Guardsmen targeted in D.C. judge tosses Trump election case. Huge fire rips through Hong Kong and a new survey ranks the least corrupt countries on earth. It's all coming up. Then I'll be here with your message of the day. But first, three people were shot, including two National Guardsmen in Washington, D.C. yesterday afternoon led to a lockdown at the White House. It was outside of a subway station just a couple blocks from the White House. The suspect is Ramanula Lockenwall, a 29 year old Afghan lock and wall reportedly entered the United States in 2021 and his permission to stay in the US expired in September, which means he's been in the country illegally since then. Our secretary of War, Pete Hexath, said that President Trump has requested an additional 500 National Guardsmen to be deployed to D.C. hexath said this will only stiffen our resolve to ensure that we make D.C. safe and beautiful. It went on to call the Guardsmen heroes willing to serve in D.C. serve for people they don't know and they've never met because they love their country and their capital and their community. A judge in Fulton County, Georgia, dismissed the case brought against Trump for allegedly interfering in the state's 2020 ballot count. This suit was brought by the district Attorney Fanny Willis claims the president violated the state's anti racketeering laws. According to prosecutors, Trump attempted to fabricate 15,000 ballots to win Georgia's election votes. It's a ridiculous case, of course, finally thrown out. Crazy images in Hong Kong, a wild blaze ripping through a high rise apartment killing at least 40 people. It's going to be way more and setting off this massive rescue effort, but we don't know how many victims trapped inside. At least one firefighter has been killed as well. Cause of the fire not immediately known. First responders believe maybe began with Just a cigarette, but the whole a couple apartments just top to bottom, totally engulfed in flames. A report from Transparency International ranking the least corrupt countries on Earth. The nations are judged on free elections, business opportunities, organized crime and political violence. The top five least corrupt, Denmark, New Zealand, Finland, Norway and Sweden. The most corrupt, Sudan, Syria, Somalia, Venezuela and Afghanistan. Why are we importing as many people as we can from those places? The United states dropped number 28, right between Chile and South Korea. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving today, but we're not done yet. We'll come back with the message of the day about the pilgrims and one story that's not often known about our pilgrims. Really the first deportation story in American history. We'll share that coming up next.
B
Let's face it, the US Economy is under stress, national debt rising, trade war shaking the markets. And meanwhile, China is dumping the dollar and stockpiling gold. That's why I protected my savings with physical gold and silver. Theroux, the only dealer I trust, American Hartford Gold. And you can do this, get precious metals delivered to your door or place in a tax advantage. Gold, Iraq, they'll even help you roll over your existing IRA or 401k tax and penalty free with billions in precious metals delivered, thousands of five star reviews and an A from the Better Business Bureau. You can trust American Hartford Gold as I do. Please call 866-326-5576 or text BILL to 998899. Again, that's 866-326-5576, or text BILL to 998999.
C
I'm Mike Slater filling it for Bill O'Reilly. Now it's time for the O'Reilly Update. Message of the day. I'll take every opportunity to talk about our pilgrims, the Puritans, our ancestors, our heritage. My kids get this lecture all year round, particularly when we're on a long car ride and they complain. And I say, well, the Pilgrims were on the Mayflower for 66 days. So the story of our pilgrims, they actually left England. First stop, Amsterdam. They were there for about 12 years, but it was tough for them. And the main reason they left Amsterdam was because their kids were starting to embrace the pagan culture that was around them. William Bradford said, our kids were drawn away by evil examples into extravagant and dangerous courses, departing from their parents. So, like, this isn't good enough either. Sure, we're not getting beheaded like we were in England, but it's not great here either. So they went to the new world, 1620, they got on two boats the Mayflower and the Speedwell. And they left their community, their church and in many cases, family members behind. William Bradford said, we left that goodly and pleasant city which had been our resting place for nearly 12 years. But we knew we were pilgrims and looking not much on those things. We lifted our eyes to heaven, our dearest country, and quieted our spirits. Heaven was their dearest country. So they got on these two boats and it didn't go well. Speedwell took on water right away. They abandoned ship. They all crammed into the Mayflower. 102 people in total. 102 people crammed into this little dark, dank cargo ship. It was a 66 day journey across the ocean. But when they got to the New World, it was winter, so they had to stay on the boat for another six months. And that is when half of the Pilgrims died. Imagine every day, no cell phones, nothing all day, just misery on this boat with everyone around you dying. They finally were able to get off and get to work. There was no buc EE's there waiting for them. They had to get to work cutting down trees to live. At one point everyone was so sick there were only six men there were were able to do any and all the work and all the work needed to be done. I'll leave you with a neat pilgrim story. By the way, we thumped the Bible all week on my podcast about the Pilgrims. We talked about the last sermon their pastor gave on the Mayflower before they set sails from Ezra 8. 21. We talked about the Pilgrims and Mary's prayer in Luke 1:46. Also why John Adams called for Thanksgiving to be a day of fasting and prayer, not gluttony, fasting and humiliation. What's humiliation? Why would our president call for a day of humiliation? That's all on my podcast, Politics by Faith, but for now I'll share a different story. About five years after the Pilgrims landed in Plymouth, another group of British folk came to build a settlement. They called it Mary Mount. It was just north of Plymouth, not far. Now. The difference between Plymouth and Marymount was pretty much everything. The leader of Marymount was a pagan. Not, not an atheist, but a pagan. They had drunken orgies and feasts to pagan gods. The opposite of Plymouth. So Bradford sent his commander, Miles Standish. It's a cool name with 16 other pilgrims to go attack this English settlement. But they were all so drunk, not a single shot was fired. And Standish was able to go to their leader and grab the gun out of his hand. Thus the end of that trading post. And they were all exiled back to England, the first deportation out of the New World. But it's proof that our pilgrims were not here just for a better life or for freedom just to do whatever they wanted. Our Pilgrims are here on a religious mission, a Christian mission to create a new nation founded on Christian principles. Praise God and thank you, pilgrims. Thank you for establishing this heritage for us that we can look back on and celebrate and emulate. I'm Mike Slater from the podcast Politics by faith. Bill O'Reilly with something you might not know next.
B
Have you heard about Gold Belly? It's an amazing site that celebrates the best of America by shipping our country's most iconic foods from legendary restaurants straight to your door anywhere in the usa. I just had the Maine lobster roll and the deep dish pizza. Felt like a celebration. It was good. Now this Thanksgiving, I am going to do a little pecan pie, I think, and a holiday roast. Everybody's going to be able to enjoy both of those things. Gold Belly's reliable shipping makes sharing these memorable moments easy and joyful. So if you are looking for the perfect holiday gift or want to impress your friends and family with an epic Thanksgiving, please go to goldbelly.com get 20% off your first order with promo code bill. That's goldbilly.com code bill. 20% off your first order. Great deal. Now the O'Reilly update brings you something you might not know. It is officially Thanksgiving Day in America. More than 330 million US citizens will celebrate the festivities with food, family, football. The original feast began in 1620 when pilgrims in Plymouth, Massachusetts invited their Native American neighbors for a three day party. Hooray. Since then, other nations have adopted the American tradition. Here's how Thanksgiving is celebrated around the world. Liberia starts on the first Thursday of November. The holiday was established by freed American slaves who returned to West Africa. Grenada in the Caribbean celebrates the holiday on October 25, commemorating the 1983 US led invasion of that restored peace to that island. The Netherlands tradition is tied to the Mayflower. The Dutch enjoy a turkey dinner to honor the English pilgrims who spent a decade in Holland before sailing to the New World. That's kind of strange because the Dutch really didn't like the Puritans. They were happy to see them leave. In Japan, the harvest festival is 2,000 years old. After World War II, the holiday evolved into a celebration of labor. Today, millions of Japanese children hand thank you notes to workers all around the country. The South Koreans mark Thanksgiving with a three day feast to honor their ancestors. Celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month in the lunar calendar. Families eat rice cakes steamed over pine needles. Koreans exchange fruit baskets to symbolize a good bounty. And here's something else you might not know. One of the strangest celebrations can be found in the South Pacific. Norfolk Island, a former British colony now owned by Australia, is an unlikely place for a Thanksgiving meal. In the 1880s, an American trader named Isaac Robinson used the holiday to lure American sailors to the remote island. And that scheme worked. Thousands of whalers descended on Norfolk. Today, they have turkey, pumpkin pie and mashed potatoes just like us. Back in a moment. Hi.
C
I'm here to pick up my son, Milo. There's no Milo here. Who picked up my son from school?
B
Streaming only on Peacock. I'm gonna need the name of everyone that could have a connection.
C
You don't understand. It was just the five of us. So this was all planned.
B
What are you gonna do?
C
I will do whatever it takes to get my son back.
B
I honestly didn't see this coming. These nice people killing each other.
C
All her fault. A new series, streaming now only on Peacock.
B
Thank you for listening to the O'Reilly update. I am Bill O'Reilly. No spin, just facts. And always looking out for you.
This Thanksgiving edition of The O’Reilly Update delivers the latest headlines, a deep dive into Pilgrim history, and explores Thanksgiving traditions around the globe. Guest host Mike Slater steps in for Bill O’Reilly to provide both news analysis and an evocative “Message of the Day” on the Puritan roots of Thanksgiving, highlighting lesser-known stories of America’s early settlers.
[00:39–03:29]
Mike Slater covers four major news stories in quick succession:
Shooting Involving National Guardsmen in Washington, D.C.
Trump Election Case Dismissed in Georgia
Deadly Hong Kong Fire
Transparency International Corruption Rankings
[04:36–08:32]
Mike Slater delves into the lesser-known history of the Pilgrims, connecting their challenges and motivations to Thanksgiving’s legacy:
Pilgrims’ Journey and Motivations
Hardships Upon Arrival
Early Deportation in American History
Memorable Quote:
[08:32–12:24]
Bill O’Reilly recounts surprising details about global celebrations inspired by Thanksgiving:
Historical Facts
International Applications of Thanksgiving
Notable Commentary
Mike Slater on the Pilgrims’ perseverance:
“Imagine every day, no cell phones, nothing all day, just misery on this boat with everyone around you dying.” ([06:32])
William Bradford’s reflection:
“But we knew we were pilgrims and looking not much on those things. We lifted our eyes to heaven, our dearest country, and quieted our spirits.” ([05:56])
On U.S. corruption ranking:
“The United States dropped number 28, right between Chile and South Korea.” ([03:14])
For a deeper dive into the Pilgrim story, Mike Slater refers listeners to his own podcast, Politics by Faith.
End of summary.