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- [00:02]
Bret Baier
What they did to your family. You're lucky to make it out alive. Streaming on Peacock.
- [00:07]
Tyrus
These men are going to come after me. Taking them out. It's my only chance.
- [00:11]
Bret Baier
Put a bullet in her head. From the co. Creator of Ozark. Looks like a family was running drugs. Execution style killing. It's rare for the Keys. Any leads on who they might have been running for?
- [00:22]
Tyrus
The cartel killed my family. I'm gonna kill them. All of them.
- [00:26]
Bret Baier
MIA Streaming now only on Peacock. I think that the future is strong. We just have to believe in what we believed in at the beginning. It's a partisan country and we are split ideologically, but we've been in really dark places before, really dark. And we have managed as a country to get through all of that.
- [00:46]
Tyrus
That's how we say America is different than any other country, because usually things like that are the beginning of the end. But America always has a way to kind of res. Hey, thank you so much for coming on.
- [01:02]
Bret Baier
You bet. Thanks for having me.
- [01:04]
Tyrus
Yeah, I'm one of the first guys to get a crack at this bad boy. Yeah, man, thank you. The Case for America. And who better than you? Your. Your title's going New York Times bestseller, you know all that. But I'm really enjoying this book.
- [01:18]
Bret Baier
Thank you, man.
- [01:19]
Tyrus
And. And I'll tell you why. And of all of your books, the one of the things that. That I always. Because people are like, oh, it's history. It's history. You always produce a significant character in our history that we've all forgot about. And you just, right off the bat, you go right into it. And when you say. When I. When you say the word Lee, we always think of generally like, that's the Lee that we think of. And in this one, you bring up in America's early struggle, and just the way you worded was very different than how our history, kind of how it was portrayed. And why was it important for you to bring in a character like that who was significant, but for some reason has kind of got lost in history?
- [02:02]
Bret Baier
Well, this is like setting up about the Declaration of Independence. And that's the linchpin of the start of the book. You know, all this is laying the groundwork for America 250 as we celebrate that anniversary. Henry Lee is the guy who stands up and essentially is the first one who vocalizes how this Declaration should happen. And it took serious guts and courage because just by doing that, it's a treasonous act.
- [02:29]
Tyrus
It's by death.
- [02:30]
Bret Baier
Yeah. Now, there were many people who thought it, but they had Henry Lee, stand up. He was kind of, you know, from an aristocratic family, but everybody kind of made fun of him. But he's the guy who actually stands up and says it and says, we need to break from the king and the royalty and history. I don't know why it overlooks him so much, but it had a crucial role. And that leads to obviously the formation of what Thomas Jefferson writes. Those guys who signed that document, they were taking their life in their hands. And we forget how big a deal that was at that moment.
- [03:09]
Tyrus
And he was considered an Elder statement at 44. At 44, think about that. 44 years old. And again, also, one of the things that you point out, a lot of the men that were signing this very easily could have stayed because it was the loyalist. And these were all men that benefited from a positive relationship with Britain financially. Yeah. And so because it was. A lot of people said it was economics and was taxing, but it wasn't. It was.
- [03:39]
Bret Baier
They were in good stead. I mean, colonies were doing okay.
- [03:42]
Tyrus
Their life was better. It was better than it was in Britain. The cost of living was down. There was more opportunities.
- [03:47]
Bret Baier
Yeah. And so it wasn't this economic hardship that forced them into action. It was this yearning for freedom, this yearning for liberty, this yearning for its self identity that, you know, in essence is the birth of America.
- [04:03]
Tyrus
And they use the term independence. And again, when I was reading this, and again, there were certain things that we, we always think of the Boston Tea Party because you, you, you, we argue, why did we celebrate July 4th? Why did we. Because that was the day it was declared opposed to when the war started or when George Washington was sworn in. But what I found, again, I consider myself, I forgot about the Stamp act. And a lot of people don't like the Stamp Act. That tax, a stamp tax that really was kind of the final punch. And America rejected it. But they said, okay, fine, but it was. Then they made it even worse. So, yeah, you don't have to deal with that, but we're going to make it even. And that was the moment, I think that kind of the loyalists kind of changed their tune.
- [04:50]
Bret Baier
That's right. They got more of the guys that were ready to say, you know what, let's just go back to British rule. Let's not fight this big uphill battle that we have to fight. And the Stamp act pissed so many people off that they lost like it would be today if you lost the independence, you know, and you do something that really makes people upset and it changes the dynamic that at that Moment changed the dynamic.
- [05:18]
Tyrus
And then you, you, you kind of bring in George and the first. Like I said, this first chapter is like an action movie. I mean, I'm just, you know, history books, sometimes they kind of start off slow, but, like, I would. This one just kind of like there was all this information even, like, to back the Lee. He made that statement. And you. You characterize it. There was such a long pause before the second came. Yeah, because.
- [05:41]
Bret Baier
Because some guys sitting there sweating, going, yeah. Oh, man, is this what I'm going to do? Is this a yes or no? All right, fine, I'm in. And, you know, and, you know, they're meeting behind closed doors. They're trying to get together and figure out how they're going to do this, but they're, you know, on the edge. They're out there on the. And when you get to the Declaration of Independence and putting it on paper, you know, in, in England, it's laughed at. And it said, you know, this is a joke. Right?
- [06:12]
Tyrus
It really was.
- [06:12]
Bret Baier
And this is ridiculous. We're just gonna slap them around and get them back in line. And they didn't fully appreciate how much this hunger for liberty and independence was.
- [06:24]
Tyrus
And at that time, no one had ever challenged a crown. Like, we think about it, the crown was. And not just England and Portugal. Spain. You didn't really go against the royalty. Like, this was. Wait a minute. You're going to be. You're going to run without a king. You're not going to, you know, like, we don't. That's not how people are. Yeah. Who are you? He's benevolent. He is. He is. It is. It is your duty to bend the knee. Yeah. You're lucky he's your father, basically, is what the. How the England looked at it and the way the world looked at it. And there was a lot of concern that in that independence, that the rest of the world would shut America out.
- [07:00]
Bret Baier
Yeah.
- [07:00]
Tyrus
Because, you know, wait a minute, they're doing this. What about our other colonies? They could, you know, this could be contagious. And there was again, we always hear the argument about the taxation and the thing. But it really was, when it really came down to it, independence. And that is something you can't put a price tag on. And you. You capture that right off the bat.
- [07:20]
Bret Baier
Yeah. All these voices, you know, I start there and we start in the Constitutional Convention. Eventually, if George Washington's not there, we don't get off the starting line. You know, we don't have a country. If he doesn't hold everybody Together, seeking common ground to make a constitution. But all the presidents I've written about contribute in different parts to this book. The voices from the past. So it's George Washington, Ulysses S. Grant, Teddy Roosevelt, fdr, Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan. So all those voices are throughout the book. And then I take contemporary voices like Ken Langone and Condoleezza Rice and David Rubenstein.
- [08:01]
Tyrus
It's like an all star cast of history.
- [08:04]
Bret Baier
Yeah.
- [08:05]
Tyrus
And it's, it's very exciting. And I'm. Especially in this time when it's really hard to find a good movie. Yeah, my, my head, I went right into. I'm just thinking of this old building where everybody, it's, it's hot and muggy and guys have been in there for days and they're trying to figure all this stuff up. Meanwhile, England is trouncing our army. Philly's about to fall. They got to get out. They didn't want to leave. They had to get out. They were bickering in and out. Nobody wanted anybody from Massachusetts because they started. Everyone's like, oh, no one from Massachusetts. And then this, this guy from Virginia, this George Washington comes along and you. I still think he's the greatest president of all time. And I don't think he can ever be changed because he gave away power. And you include his final message. And it was just so powerful to be like. And he was not an old man. These were not. I think sometimes because of the way the movies are portrayed, we see them with the white wigs and stuff. These were young men in their 30s and 40s and, and I, you know, that were making these decisions for a, a doctor or that has gave birth to the greatest country ever, you know, and it's, it's, it's so amazing that these guys were able to do that. Meanwhile going against the monster that was England. I mean, it was no easy task. And it was, I think it was George Washington's motivation and of course, that it was. We just wanted it more than they did.
- [09:27]
Bret Baier
Yeah. Here's a Virginian who said yes. Every time the country said, can you do this? He said, yes, General. He said yes. When they said, can you chair and head up the Constitutional Convention, you know, he just wanted to be on his, on Mount Vernon, on his farm, live a simple life with his wife, but he said yes. Then when they said, you need to be the first president, he said yes. And they wanted him to stay, and he said no.
- [09:59]
Tyrus
He wasn't going to trade one king for another.
- [10:01]
Bret Baier
I need to pass the baton. And it's just such a powerful beginning. And the fact that we are coming up on this anniversary gives us a chance to take a breath and to look back and say, what do we have to do to keep this going? And it's not, you know, Tyrus, it's not an easy task. I mean, we gotta fight to keep this going, like, for the freedoms that we have. It's. Our kids are gonna be the ones that are fighting that battle.
- [10:30]
Tyrus
And speaking of which, you dedicate the book to your boys. I thought that was very cool. This is my Bret Baer moment right here where I do this.
- [10:37]
Bret Baier
Get the glasses.
- [10:39]
Tyrus
But I gotta put them on because I can't read it. To my sons, Paul and Daniel, it is my wish that the nations you inherit will give you life to your dreams and fill your days with happiness and purpose. Now that's. That's, I think, one of the best messages a father can give his. Give his sons. Do you. Do you, as a father, not as a newsman, because you never, ever. You always call it straight. That's why you are who you are. But as. As a father, do you. Do you have concerns? Are you worried about the way things look? Because I can honestly tell you that I do have concerns sometimes.
- [11:10]
Bret Baier
100%. You know, 18 and 15, they spend a lot of time in their phones. There's a lot of bad crap that comes their way on social media. I say in my current job on news that I'm kind of like an ice hockey goalie trying to prevent the bad pucks from getting through. And I can't prevent them to my kids. And so I want them to read this. I want them to have a sense of where we are as a country. Because, you know, look, you know, with an AI, technology, a generation, we don't know what it's going to look like. They're going to be the ones that make the decisions. And they got to be grounded in at least some of the stuff that makes our country what it is, you
- [11:53]
Tyrus
know, and then you go right in. And again, I'm not. I don't want to. Chapter 2. I love how you go from one of the most monumental, the monumental moment of our. Of the birth of this country, and then you bring it right back to present day. And you have three things that this country is. And I thought. And you got to read it to get the whole message, but democracy is messy. That resonates big time. Because it is. It's messy, but it kind of has to be right. It's not ever going to be Clear cut. Because the whole point is to allow dissent. That's the whole point of having free society. It's not enjoying that we agree with each other. It's being able to say no.
- [12:36]
Bret Baier
It's baked in the cake. Dissent is part of who we are.
- [12:39]
Tyrus
And. And you're like, it's a good thing to have under the right concession. And then you again go right into it. You say something that we already should know. But maybe we just. I think we get spoiled because we. We live in a very. We live in the greatest country in the world. And I've traveled the world. You travel the world. There's a lot of great places, but there's never. I've never been to a place, and I've been to every part, every continent that I've said, you know what, hon? Sell all the. We found it where we're going. Yeah. After. After a few weeks, it's like, man, I can't wait to get back home.
- [13:08]
Bret Baier
Yeah.
- [13:09]
Tyrus
You know, and it's. And it's because our nation is diverse. And again, these are chapters within themselves, books within themselves, and you just capture it. Our nation is diverse. And. And you even say people. Some people don't like that word, but it is. It is the differences. And it's not just. It's not just a. A pigment thing. It's a cultural thing. It's a religious thing. It's. There's so many different ways to. Paths to success in this country. It's not just one way. And, you know, and then the third thing, and I'm just curious of what. We are young. It's a reminding that we're still growing and this is still the great experiment
- [13:45]
Bret Baier
in the history of the world. 250.
- [13:47]
Tyrus
It's nothing.
- [13:48]
Bret Baier
Not. It's. It's really quick.
- [13:49]
Tyrus
We still have training wheels on the bike.
- [13:51]
Bret Baier
Yeah. And Condi Rice said to me that one of the best things about this country is that it's a country still striving that we're trying to be perfect. We're never perfect, but we're striving to be perfect. Now. This is from a woman who grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, in the segregated South. Her friends were bombed and killed at that church that she was down the street from in Birmingham. She goes on to study, becomes a huge success, and is standing in the State Department as the Secretary of State, next to world leaders, looking in the mirror, saying, this can only happen in America.
- [14:27]
Tyrus
Yeah. Because America was founded again. I go back to the first chapter. England was. It's not. If it was a fight. They would have stopped it. They would have thrown the towel in. In the first round. Right. They were trouncing us. They were taking cities. They were, they were. They were making maps of how they were their new places and their new countries and their new colonies. And I mean, it was. It came down to where we just wanted it more. And men were willing to. Either we're either gonna have it or we're not. It's either liberty or death to the. So our country has kind of been. There has always been blockades in front of you. I've experienced them. You've experienced them. You don't get to where you are without failure, without success, without running into people who. Doesn't matter what you say, you just not it. You know, and it never stopped her. And you. You capture that to the point where she's now sitting at the head of the table and she's earned every right to be there because she took the failures, the setbacks, the. Whether it was the color of her skin or whether because she was a woman or whatever, because she was. She leaned right or left, whatever the issue is, there's always going to be blockades and roadblocks. It's just the American way is to go right through them or find a way around them. And I, And I think when we, we kind of get into this, this, this thing where we want, especially with our kids. We don't want our kids to go through anything.
- [15:47]
Bret Baier
You.
- [15:48]
Tyrus
You cannot, especially men. You cannot become a man unless you got some scars on the way up.
- [15:53]
Bret Baier
Totally.
- [15:53]
Tyrus
You have to go through heartbreak. You have to. Setbacks and failures. And then there's a. There's always a great lesson. And if you can, if you take the time to open a book or listen to somebody, you will see that, like the stuff that you're going through, somebody went through and they went through it in a much tougher road with less lights and less opportunities.
- [16:11]
Bret Baier
Totally.
- [16:12]
Tyrus
And you shouldn't look back on that and be like, feel sorry because they don't feel sorry for you. And they, and you ask them if you would ask her, would you change anything about her life. I. I think the answer would. She would look at you and say, no, zero. Because I think I asked that question.
- [16:24]
Bret Baier
Yeah.
- [16:25]
Tyrus
And. Yeah. And she said, I wouldn't be where I am without it.
- [16:28]
Bret Baier
So that's, you know, who we are. We're resilient. It's still the land of opportunity. We are unified with dissent. And we have to remember that it's a partisan country and we are split ideologically. But we've been in really dark places before. Really dark. And we have managed as a country to get through all of that. And sometimes I think it's just like a refresher that you just have to kind of remember and you need a little tweak.
- [16:59]
Tyrus
And that's what this kind of went through this in the 60s and 70s.
- [17:02]
Bret Baier
Yeah.
- [17:03]
Tyrus
You know, the race riots, the Vietnam riots, all that stuff. And then we kind of had a self correction America. That's. I always say America is different than any other country because usually things like that are the beginning of the end. But America always has a way to re. To kind of reset.
- [17:18]
Bret Baier
Pendulum swings.
- [17:19]
Tyrus
Yeah. And I think we're starting to see that reset in terms of the pandemic hurt a lot of people and especially our youth. Yeah, I mean they were. Their best friend was a tablet, you know, and that. That changes that. That and a lot of especially young men lost critical time of development to go through failures to have things, you know, you have kids didn't have their problem. There was a lot of things to where they just relied on whatever was put in front of them.
- [17:47]
Bret Baier
True.
- [17:48]
Tyrus
And it was, it was almost like a new drug in the sense to where like it was instant gratification. And the one thing about America is hard work isn't quick. So it was. We were basically going against the fabric of our country saying no, no, you don't have to do anything. Don't worry about it. Which leads to what? Socialism. So it's not really surprising that people like well it's not me, it's the system. It's I, you know, I'm, I'm a victim.
- [18:12]
Bret Baier
Right.
- [18:12]
Tyrus
And so that victimhood thing I think was the, was the worst outbreak of the pandemic was. And it's hard to blame them. You know, it's hard to be mad at them because you don't know how. I remember when I was coming up, the Malcolm X movie came out and all of a sudden me and all my friends were. We were all about it. You know, we had our, we went out, we got our African hats and we were out the man. And then I remember my black history class, he says hey, why don't you actually read the book? And I had to do a report on the book. And by the end of the book I was like, yeah, this Muslim thing ain't for me. You know, like the movie just kind of picked a few things. Right. And you get hyped into that. But there was that we had the, the, the Leadership that was like, hold on. They didn't say it was bad. They're like, I'm gonna lay it out for you to see. The problem is getting someone to sit. A kid who's used to tick tock, just, boom, here it is. And to get them to actually do the research without. Well, can I get the. Can you get the. Can I get the. The video version of it? No, no, no. You need to. To read for the interpreter to understand, to take the thing. And I think that's. I think that's what's missing. But we're starting to see. I think we're starting to see a comeback. We're starting to see. I do.
- [19:22]
Bret Baier
I see a little bit of bubbling up. I see a lot of a hunger for something deeper from the next generation. I mean, look at the kids going to church now. They're searching for something, right? They're searching for some structure, some identity, something. And I think touching the 250th is worth being one of those touch points. Hey, we have the best country, and here's why. X, Y, Z. And this is the case I'm making in front of a jury at the end of this book.
- [19:51]
Tyrus
And that's what I like about this, because it does kind of feel like you're in court, you know, and that. And like I said you. Like I said your books. The one thing I like about you is I can never cookie cutter you with a book up, you know, it's all you always. I remember with Ulysses, it was like, I didn't know about the alcohol and like, not want to change his clothes. Like you just. You capture. You paint a picture. Have you, as. Have you always been a storyteller your whole life? Has that always been something.
- [20:17]
Bret Baier
It's been something that I've refined. I've always loved storytelling, but the writing part has been, over time, I think, a lot easier for me. Like, as far as being descriptive of moments that I know are nuggets of history that we've. My team has uncovered in the National Archives, and we piece them together like a quilt. And to make it so that is really readable. And you could read it on a beach over the weekend.
- [20:43]
Tyrus
Yeah, I was just. Like I said, I was on Celtics around the playoffs. The Red Sox won last night, so I got some free time right now in my hotel room.
- [20:50]
Bret Baier
But you can read it and it's
- [20:52]
Tyrus
readable and it's a. It's a quick read. Yeah, I was. Was up later than I should have been last night because I got hooked and, and that's the nice thing is that. And you don't push any of opinions in the book. And that's one it's very hard to do.
- [21:12]
Bret Baier
The one thing I do do that I don't do every day in my news program is at the end of the book, I do make a verdict. I hop in the jury booth, no spoiler alerts. And I won't spoil it, but you can bet where I end up. But I make the case as a jurist and I don't do that day to day in the news show. But I felt like in a book like this that I should.
- [21:34]
Tyrus
Was that difficult for you?
- [21:35]
Bret Baier
It was, it was like, wait, wait, should I do this?
- [21:38]
Tyrus
Yeah. And what if it got good to you? Here's the news to me tonight, you know, and it would be an hour and a half of golf scores.
- [21:45]
Bret Baier
It did feel good. It did feel good to make, you know, after laying out the case. And I mean, I'll give it to you, I, I think that the future is strong. We just have to believe in what we believed in at the beginning.
- [21:59]
Tyrus
Now when, Because I think when we're coming up, politics wasn't the front page.
- [22:08]
Bret Baier
Yeah.
- [22:08]
Tyrus
You know, it was, you know, it was whether it was music. Music. Or it was sports or it was movies. It was. There were so many other things that define people now. It's like the, it's not only. It's not is. I think it's almost become more important than the, the tone of your skin is whether you have an R next to you or D next to you.
- [22:28]
Bret Baier
It's crazy.
- [22:28]
Tyrus
And I don't know when that happened. It has changed dramatically because that was never a thing.
- [22:34]
Bret Baier
Yeah. You know, the people who are most against Fox News are the people who don't watch it. You know, like I'll say, watch my show three times. Let me know if you think it was fair. And the people who do that, even on the far left say, yeah, it was fair. It happened. I don't know when it happened. It's probably only a decade ago or so. But I think part of this book is also I talked to Arthur Brooks, who's really good. He's now the happiness guy. You know, he writes about how to be happy. So he did focus groups with like maga, extreme MAGA and extreme left people and put them in a room, said, we're going to talk about politics. And you could see the hair going up on the back of their. They were like getting ready for a fight. And he said, but first we're going to spend 10 minutes talking about our families, your kids, teenage years, blah, blah, blah. So people start talking and they're identifying. Can you believe my teenager did this? And what do you do about this?
- [23:29]
Tyrus
Interesting concept.
- [23:30]
Bret Baier
Hello. And so that shared love. So the shared love of family. He says his case for America is that there is a shared love of the country. And that's where we have to get to this elevated place where we remember that we're in the same country. We may have very different ideas, but we have this shared love of the place. And. And then we get to a different place where we can listen to each other and be seriously, passionately opposed to what they believe, but respectful and in a different way.
- [24:04]
Tyrus
And I also think it's okay to say, listen, we don't. We politically don't agree, but our kids are best friends, so, hey, let's just not talk politics.
- [24:12]
Bret Baier
Right.
- [24:12]
Tyrus
We got sports, and our kids do enough wild stuff that we can talk about it, you know, or, or, you know, and I think when they. If we could. When you start to project that and you see people lead by example, and it just takes one person, honestly, to start, you know, a crazy trend of, of somebody comes on. And you. And I always thought one thing about you and all your interviews and stuff, it doesn't matter. I think probably Kamala was my favorite interview because there were so many opportunities to be. To challenge. And you were there just to get her story, whether she liked. It was her story, you know, and maybe she didn't like her story, but you didn't. You were there just to ask the same. You asked the same questions of her you would ask of the President. There was. It was no gotchas or setups. It was just what is your response? And I think sometimes that's unnerving for people because they're so used to coming that it's going to be one way or the other. And this. And this book, really, you're stating the case with the idea of the jury is a mixed group. Yeah. You're not trying to win MAGA support. You're not trying to win progressive support. You're trying to win American. Like, here is the case. The Juror is of 12, and it is of every different person of walk of life America to read this, to come up with their conclusion. Yeah. And. And that's not easy to do because ultimately sometimes stating it down the middle, you're going to get attacked from both sides.
- [25:37]
Bret Baier
Yeah.
- [25:38]
Tyrus
Because you're uncomfortable.
- [25:39]
Bret Baier
I do every day on X, you know, Bob will say you're so in the tank for Trump. And Sally will say, you're such a never Trumper. And I say, Bob, meet Sally. Sally me, Bob. You guys work it out.
- [25:49]
Tyrus
I'm just going to cover the news because that's why. Never afraid. Yeah. Yeah. I. But they have to watch to critique.
- [26:01]
Bret Baier
Yeah.
- [26:01]
Tyrus
So I guess that's the good thing.
- [26:02]
Bret Baier
One viewer at a time.
- [26:03]
Tyrus
One view. Hey, hey. It only takes if you get. If you can reach one angry person. And some people do it just to do it. You know, that's the one thing that I've, Because I, I've taken a step back completely from social media. My social media now is just a billboard, really. I've taken all personal stuff off and I just, I just. With the, with the AI stuff and the, the, the want for combative. It's not a debate. It's not someone like, hey, I heard what you said and I disagree. Here's why. You know, it's your, this, this, this and this bot. Yes. And then, and the worst thing is that my, my kids see the engagement and then I'm telling, hey, don't do that. But I'm doing it. So I was like, you know what? I'm off. Like, other than you just what you see with me on Fox and, and stuff, it's just. That's it. And, and to step back and say, listen, I'm. You're not going to see dad on his phone on the weekend.
- [26:56]
Bret Baier
Yeah.
- [26:57]
Tyrus
You know, you got to lead by example. When I, When I step off that plane, that thing's gone. You know, that's awesome.
- [27:01]
Bret Baier
I need to be able to do that. I'm not there yet, but I'm going to be because.
- [27:05]
Tyrus
And at first it's like, what did I. And I always, like, if I don't watch the news at all when I'm home and I focus on spending time with, with my kids, when I come back Monday, there's plenty of time to get up to speed.
- [27:16]
Bret Baier
Yeah.
- [27:17]
Tyrus
And a lot of times I can predict it, you know, like, you're like, oh, gee, who's gonna be mad about this? You know, and then, And I also find that, like, I'm also more refreshed. I don't have as much fatigue. That's really good because you're. It's there all the time.
- [27:32]
Bret Baier
Yeah.
- [27:32]
Tyrus
And then it also. You're talking about it with your family and they're like, we just want to go to a horse show.
- [27:39]
Bret Baier
Exactly.
- [27:39]
Tyrus
You know, we don't want to hear about this and that and this and that, and, and I had to like, like, hey, I'm complaining about it on air, but then I'm bringing it home, you know, and, and my wife was like, no more. Like, no more.
- [27:50]
Bret Baier
When I covered the Pentagon. Jack McQuethy with ABC covered the Pentagon and I traveled the world with him. And he said to me, brett, I have one piece of advice. When you get home and you're hanging your jacket in the closet, hang your job there too, and focus on your family. And I mean, it's easier said than done in 24 hour news. But he did it. And he unfortunately died in a ski accident a couple years after that. And I always remembered I was at his funeral and his family said he was so engaged when he was home. And I went, man, he did. He hung the job up in the closet and spent time with his family full time. And I aspire to do that, you
- [28:33]
Tyrus
know, And I think that's, it's so important because when you're, and you're in the business where you're trying to. Every day you go out there, you're trying to give the best factual information to the people as possible, which takes tremendous. I don't, I don't think people understand how much work goes into telling it, being a newsman. Because if, if it was easy, people will still be doing it.
- [28:59]
Bret Baier
Right.
- [29:00]
Tyrus
It's a lot easier. You don't have to study to give your opinion. You know, you don't grow as much when you're just shooting. Everyone can shoot off at the mouth. And that has become the. I think it's, it's almost an easy out for 24 hour news. I think, I think we should cut it to 12. I really do. Because it's just become one of those things where it's just, it's just not. The cycle is just. You got to get them to watch. You got to get them to watch. And that's what, not what the news was meant to be. Yeah, it was like, it was there for you to know what's going on in, in your government, but also stirring
- [29:31]
Bret Baier
the pot to get clicks and get attention. If you build it, they will come. That's what we, we decided one of the.
- [29:37]
Tyrus
And to focus back on the books. I know you got a million things to do. I love that you have on the inside. It's like. And I'm trying to like. And I'm like, wow, man, I remember when cursive writing was cool, you know, Like, I don't even know if my
- [29:48]
Bret Baier
kids can read cursive anymore.
- [29:49]
Tyrus
Yeah.
- [29:50]
Bret Baier
I don't even teach it anymore.
- [29:51]
Tyrus
I did a autograph signing with my daughter with our book we did together, and she was so excited to do her signature.
- [29:58]
Bret Baier
Yeah.
- [29:59]
Tyrus
And I was like, well, you can write some other stuff. She's like, it's a signature, you know, Like. And because she's homeschooled, her and her mom, they do the handwriting. But, like, if I went to my other kids who go to, they. I mean, if I wrote them a note in handwriting, I know they would be like, hey, I don't speak Spanish, Dad. I don't know what this is about. You know, I didn't know you did either. Yeah. You know, what is this? You can't text me, you know, and. But it's. I always say, hey, if the lights ever go out, you guys are done. You know, can you make a fire? Can you do that? You know, they're just looking at me like, I wouldn't have to. What do you mean? Like, done. Like, wi fi's out, you know? And it's like, oh, boy. But I think. And the jury, I think you do make a strong case for this country. And like I said, I'm at chapter four right now. I will finish this and probably by the weekend. I always, like, no matter what the. The book with you, it just. Once you get in, it kind of brings you on a journey. And I like the fact that after each chapter, I've learned something. And as a guy who thinks he's pretty verse in things, it's nice to, like, the. Now I'm obsessed. I'm, like, going down the rabbit hole of lead. I want to know more about this guy. How did I miss him? You know, And I. As a. As I taught history in. In third and fifth grade, and you get kind of a very, like, basic thing that you put out there. But I. I do think he should be talked about.
- [31:21]
Bret Baier
Totally.
- [31:22]
Tyrus
You know, and especially, who knows, maybe
- [31:24]
Bret Baier
there's a movie about Henry Lee at some point.
- [31:27]
Tyrus
I mean, he's a cool dude. He has mangled fingers from a hunting accident. I mean, it's like. And I'm assuming the cosmetic surgery back then wasn't. Was today. So I'm sure it was gnarly. And he's rubbing it because it's constantly hurt. And at the same time, he's standing up and everyone. Like I said, I wish when you read that book, I took a breath right after you said that, after that line. And it was a long time before the second, because once that was seconded and it got put on the thing for, for debate. There was no going back.
- [31:58]
Bret Baier
No. That jumped off the pier, you know
- [32:01]
Tyrus
literally and changed the course of all of our histories forever.
- [32:05]
Bret Baier
Yeah.
- [32:06]
Tyrus
I don't know if this, if this movement would have went the way it went had he not true because it was, it was about a 5050 split in terms of we need to just reconcile with, with England and just. It's not worth it. We can't stand up to a military. They're going to hurt us financially like this. We. There was a lot of people like I've. I have a good thing here. I don't know if I want to throw that away on a. On a whim, you know and for him who had more to lose than anybody in terms of well he come from a fluent family like this was not a guy who was a bitter guy who didn't want to do work and was looking for a break. Right. He. He put it all on the table and I think that's one of the most, most American things that, that have set the table. So thank you for bringing him to light and I, I appreciate it. Again I already got mine. I was right there and and then you blessed me the copy afterwards. I'm asking you to sign this. But the case for America is strong.
- [32:59]
Bret Baier
Thanks man.
- [32:59]
Tyrus
And you can pick it up where books sold Amazon. It's already bestseller. It's killing it. I expect no less. But if you're looking and this is a good read for the kids.
- [33:07]
Bret Baier
It is.
- [33:08]
Tyrus
This is a good read. Again I got a couple of graduation gift. Yeah well actually it's. It'll be a punishment because I'll force them to read it with me at first. You know they always roll their eyes when I did it with Animal Farm nice. Or I handed everybody squeeze them at the dinner table. Yeah. Well with being on the road it's FaceTime now we get hooked the FaceTimes up and. And instead of watching a movie together turn to chapter three because the nice thing about this book is you can pick and choose. Yeah there there. You don't have to go front to back. You can Tarantino in and pick spots. But I'm. I'm hooked. Like I said this I appreciate this. It's a great time for it right before give us kind of an appreciation of what we have in this country going into midterm stuff. Maybe we'll start voting for substance and what's best for you. And again the. We're approaching our 250th anniversary and I think you've you've captured it. This is an amazing book and thank you so much for stopping by, man. I really appreciate it. Always, always a good time.
- [34:06]
Bret Baier
Thanks, man.
- [34:07]
Tyrus
Oh, listen, I. Before I let you go, my B team.
- [34:12]
Bret Baier
Yeah.
- [34:13]
Tyrus
We have a Brett Bear acolyte, Ryan, whose dream is one day to take your job.
- [34:19]
Bret Baier
Fantastic.
- [34:20]
Tyrus
He was wondering if he could ask you a couple quick questions.
- [34:22]
Bret Baier
Yeah, of course. Come on.
- [34:26]
Ryan
Brett, it's an absolute pleasure to meet you. I have admired your work for a long time. Whenever I do interviews with Tyrus or ask us questions, I actually watch your video. Almost like to study. Like, I'll watch past interviews with you and just see how you do it because I think you have such a great way of doing things and it's really great for this business.
- [34:54]
Bret Baier
Thanks, man.
- [34:55]
Ryan
To see that. So I have a couple questions for you.
- [34:57]
Bret Baier
Yes, sir.
- [34:57]
Ryan
I appreciate the time. So let's see what I got. So you've built a very respected career, and I think everybody has to start somewhere. Where in your career would you say was that moment where it's like, this is my big. My big break. What was that like?
- [35:17]
Bret Baier
So it's tough. You know, I bounced around small market tv. Before I started at Fox, I fought. I started at Fox 28 years years ago. And the Atlanta bureau started in my apartment with a fax machine and a cell phone. And I covered the Southeast and South America. So, you know, along the way, there were little breaks that took me to different markets. But the biggest thing was the Tallahassee recount in 2000. I was always trying to file for my mentor, Brit Hume and his show Special Report.
- [35:49]
Tyrus
Yep.
- [35:50]
Bret Baier
And that moment of the recount in 2000 with the hanging chads and the presidency is hanging in the balance, that became a really big thing. And that then got me to the next step, which was when 9, 11 happened. I was called up to back up in New York, and they rerouted me to the Pentagon and I never left. I became the Pentagon guy. But let me say this, and I say this to kids in colleges when I speak, I didn't know how I was gonna get there. I didn't know what the steps were. And I said, the analogy I use is that, like, I'm a car where I have one headlight and can barely make out the road in the dark of night, but I can make out the road and I'm driving. And then a little bit later, I have two headlights and I can see more of the road. Road. I'm still driving. And then I can see a street light comes on And I see more of it. And then eventually the sun comes up over the mountains and I see more of it. And before you know it, I'm at this destination. But along the way I didn't know how I was going to get there. And so what I tell people is my biggest break is that I, I just hustled and I was always the guy that said yes.
- [37:08]
Ryan
That's a great, like great, great way to put it with the one headlight. I mean that's really how it is in this business. And I think that's a great segue for my next question. I've only been in this, you've been in this business, you said at Fox 28 years, which is incredible. I've only been here for four. But even in a smaller scope of things, I could still see how demanding and just how critical this business and industry is. So for people that are watching at home that don't, don't get it, they only see bread on tv. They only see what is on camera. What do you think people misunderstand about the industry that we're in?
- [37:46]
Bret Baier
Well, that takes a lot to put an hour of television on and it takes a lot of people, it takes a big team. And there's a lot that goes into one hour of Special Report. You know, I, I get in, we have a meeting at 10:00am we, we kind of go over the news. But it's a bottom up situation where I let the news drive the show. And that's one of the things Brit Hume told me is the show is not about you. The show is not about you and let the news drive the show.
- [38:17]
Ryan
That's awesome.
- [38:18]
Bret Baier
And I think, I think that a lot of people don't know how much goes into an hour of television.
- [38:24]
Ryan
Yep. It, it's, there's certainly from my side of things, you know, it's incredible. Two more really quick questions.
- [38:32]
Bret Baier
Sure.
- [38:33]
Ryan
You've interviewed so many people. You've interviewed presidents, politicians around the world, celebrities. I have a feeling I know who it is. But who is by far the most challenging person to interview?
- [38:45]
Bret Baier
Well, it's always the politician that is never going to give you the straight answer.
- [38:49]
Ryan
Fair enough.
- [38:49]
Bret Baier
He's always about the talking points. One of the challenging interviews was President Obama, head of Obamacare, in part because I only had a certain amount of time and his first two answers were like seven minutes. And there was always tough, there was a staffer with a iPhone that was ticking back from 15. So it's always a challenge of balancing time and when to press. But I think it's trying to get politicians off of their talking points. That's the challenge.
- [39:23]
Ryan
Trump's gotta be fun to interview. Right?
- [39:25]
Bret Baier
You gotta get in on the breath.
- [39:26]
Ryan
Yeah, yeah. You gotta. Last question. So Dana Perino had given me a copy of her book. I wish someone had told me. She gave me a copy of it before it came out and said, can you please read this quick? Let me know what you think. And one of the people that stood out the most in that book was you. And you had advice that was about being a better listener. And I think that's very important, not just for people my age or in any industry, but you really did have great advice. So my final question is, people like me that are young, trying to get into this industry, trying to replicate the charisma and just the longevity of your career, what advice would you give someone like that?
- [40:09]
Bret Baier
One, listen and let people understand what they're saying before you establish an opinion about that. And two is hustle. I tell my kids, if you work hard, you're going to beat 99% of people looking for some job. It doesn't matter. The job doesn't matter if it's in the media industry or whatever industry. If you're hustling and working hard, it usually pays off in this country. And that's what this book is about. Great.
- [40:40]
Ryan
Well, I certainly would love to read it. I'll have to steal Tyrus copy from him.
- [40:45]
Bret Baier
Okay.
- [40:45]
Ryan
But looking forward to it. Thank you for all you've done for our industry and everyone. Make sure you get Brett's new book.