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This is an iHeart podcast. You want smart political talk without the meltdowns, we got you. I'm Carol Markowitz. And I'm Mary Kathryn Hamm. We've been around the block in media and we're doing things differently. Normally is about real conversations, thoughtful, try to be funny, grounded, and no panic. We'll keep you informed and entertained without ruining your day. Join us every Tuesday and Thursday Normally on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Whatever team Phi is on has a chance to win a championship. I'm Christina Williams, host of the podcast. In case you missed it with Christina Williams, the WNBA playoffs are here and I've got the inside scoop on everything from key matchups and standout players to the behind the scenes moments you won't find anywhere else. It's really, really hard to be the champions, but we have to remember how it feels and embrace the new challenge that we have. So listen to in case you missed it with Christina Williams and iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and entertainment on iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. Ahead on American Sunrise, FBI Director Cash Patel slated to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee in about an hour. Today's hearing comes after Patel just confirmed Charlie Kirk's alleged assassin's DNA was found on several pieces of evidence near the crime scene. Coming up, what investigators found as the accused killer has a date with the judge a little bit later today. Plus, House Republicans are reportedly trying to get a clean continuing resolution passed in order to keep the government funded. So how long would this latest CR last and what's the reaction in the Republican conference? Congressman Tony Weed of Wisconsin joins us in just a few minutes to answer those questions and so much more. And the Trump administration says a deal has been reached related to TikTok. Those are just some of the stories we're working on for you as American Sunrise starts right now. Good morning America. Welcome to American Sunrise. Whether it's culture, we have breaking news to share with you. Politics and President Trump is joining us live now from Florida. We've got you covered. This is what it looks like to be a patriot. We have to protect the American family. The American dream is still alive. I'm David Brody. I'm terrence. And I'm Dr. Gina. Good morning, everybody. I'm Dr. Gina. We are live with you from the Palm Beaches. Let's bring in David Brody. He's out in Washington, D.C. and Tbates in our Denver newsroom. Good Morning, gentlemen. Good Morning. Good morning, Dr. David. Good morning. Hey, look, you know, when there's big news happening, I typically have my popcorn ready. I've got my popcorn ready again. Today, Cash Patel is set to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee. He's going to talk and likely get lots of questions about Charlie Kirk's assassination and the investigation into it. I think it's going to be a very interesting one because David and Dr. Gina, I think we both still have questions while the suspect is in custody. At least for me. I'll speak for myself. I still have some questions about the process and the ongoing investigation. David? Yeah, of course there's way tons of questions. How many other folks would have known about this were involved? I mean, all the discord chats. And look, Cash is going to get a grilling today. We know from Democrats. The question is how many Republicans are going to drill him, too? You know, he obviously came out and said that the suspect, the original suspect that was later let go was never a suspect. Said the suspect has been caught, basically, and then said, oh, never mind. Actually, we're not. He's not the suspect. And so I think, you know, that that's going to come under a lot of consternation today on the Hill. You know, sometimes you can get such great perspective when you talk to friends from other countries from the outside looking in. And I was talking to a friend from another country, and they said, do you think you're ever going to really know what happened? Because, of course, John Solomon mentioned on this show at the very beginning, foreign government involvement, other things we're not hearing. Follow up on that. And this friend of mine from another country said that to me. And he said, because, I mean, do you guys really know that much about what happened in Butler, Pennsylvania, when the president was attempted assassinated? So I know I just said that all wrong, but you know what I'm trying to say? We still really don't know what happened in Butler, Pennsylvania. So will we ever have all the answers? And sometimes we have to turn to a different place to get the answers that matter, don't we? T? Oh, that's a Dr. Gina. Thank you for the softball. That's a great setup for our Bible verse. I suspect the different place you meant for those answers was up above. So would you give us our Bible verse, please? Yeah, sometimes it's all we've got, Terrence, and I think we have to go to it. It's from Second Corinthians today, 3, 17, 18. Now, the Lord is the spirit, and where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty. But we all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the spirit of the Lord. I love that one. 2nd Corinthians 3, 17, 18. It's not the one that Corinthians is famous for, but it certainly is a beautiful and hard hitting one. During the first show since Charlie Kirk's assassination, Vice President J.D. vance took the microphone from for his friend. Listen. Filling in for somebody who cannot be filled in for, but I'm going to try to do my best. My dear friend, the great Charlie Kirk. The last several days have been extremely hard for our country. They've been hard for me, hard for my family, hard for the countless people in this building who knew and loved Charlie Kirk. And of course, they've been hardest, most of all for his darling wife, Erica and their two beautiful children. The thing is, every single person into this building, we owe something to Charlie. He was a joyful warrior for our country. He loved America. He devoted himself tirelessly to making our country a better place. He was a critical part of getting Donald Trump elected as president, getting me elected as vice president. And so much of our success over the last seven months is due to his efforts and his staffing, his support and his friendship. I don't think that I'm alone in saying that Charlie was the smartest political operative I ever met. For more, let's bring in Wisconsin Congressman Tony Weed. Congressman, thanks for being here today. You know, we talk to a lot of folks. They are hearing from their own children, for example. Congressman, I don't want you in politics anymore. I've heard that. I've heard this from several friends of mine in media and politics alike. How do we go forward when you know, Congressman, you've got to go back to your district. You can't just have bulletproof glass and a whole security team and sharpshooters on roofs. How do we go back? What are we going to do about this? Well, thank you for having me and I appreciate you reading the Bible verse here this morning. I think we need to make sure that God is in our lives and certainly our creators, you know, the founders of our country. I mean, you know, know that, that, you know, our rights come from our creator, not from the government. No question that we need to turn down the temperature in this country. There is no place for political violence at all. But what I've heard from people of all ages, but especially the Young in their 20s and even 30s, those in, in universities that really were touched by Charlie Kirk in one way, shape or form. I, I heard from a young man in college that said, look, I, I started going back to church and listening to Charlie Kirk. And I think what, what he brought was an authenticity. He didn't agree with everything that he said. I mean, he didn't even agree with universities, but he was on universities talking and connecting with kids and, and the youth. And I think the best part about Charlie was he liked talking to people that he didn't, just that he didn't agree with and felt that if we stop talking, if we stop having, you know, good debate and passionate debate, that's when a civil war, that's, that's, that's when problems arise. And, and I feel like he's just been such a good mentor for, for so many people. And it certainly is a difficult time, but it is also a turning point. And I think people will rise up. I'm seeing a lot of people, you know, very passionate about what they believe in. And, you know, I feel convicted and very fortunate to be in the position I'm in and representing people in Wisconsin state district. And we're going to continue to move strong in a forward direction. Well, Congressman, you say it's a turning point. I agree it's a turning point with conservatives. The question is, is it a turning point on the other side and will they heed that call to stop calling Trump Hitler and all that type of nonsense you write in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the op ed here that says spirited policy debates should end with handshakes, not hatred. And you mentioned that since becoming a member of Congress, there have been threats made against your staff, yourself, your family. Talk about that a little bit. And really to the essence of the question, how are we supposed to have unity with people that have no desire for unity? Well, since my short time in politics, I was a small business owner, my wife and I, for 30 years. But what I've seen and really what, you know, I think is, is the kind of, that radical far left leadership. I think that's hijacked the Democrat Party that continues to call President Trump Hitler or Mussolini or saying he's a threat to democracy, he's a king, he must be stopped. You know, that rhetoric, and that's echoed by the media that's local in northeast Wisconsin, all the way to national media. That is provoking people, I would think. And really that's the hatred. I see that. And folks that maybe disagree with me or didn't vote with me, but. And I think that's really unfortunate. I think we ought to have and be able to have passionate debate. We're not going to agree it's a free country, but you should be able to end with a handshake. And I'm going to continue to do that. I did that through my campaign. I think be respectful towards people. Speaker Johnson said we should, you know, the first day we were here, you get to know those on the other side of the aisle, get to know their children's names. If they have them, you won't hate them. And I think that's really important that we have good passion, passionate debate, may not agree on things, but end with a handshake. And really everyone's trying to, I think, do the right thing for the most part. But we may have a different way of getting there. But it is, it is important that you know that far left radical rhetoric has to stop. Congressman, I appreciate your perspective. Unfortunately, it can be challenging to reason with unreasonable people. But we'll just leave the conversation there. I want to bring your attention to this headline which reads House GOP ise stopgap into November 20to avert a government Shutdown. The reports say that it's going to largely be a clean CR with funding through November 20th. I want to ask you a several pronged question. First of all, is a continuing resolution a foregone conclusion? Is that what you see happening? Secondly, do you see this going through November 20th? Is it going to be a fairly short term thing or do you see it longer term? And then finally, and I know this is a lot I'm putting on your plate, but I think all of these are important questions to the same issue. When are you and your colleagues going to get down to discussions about actually passing the appropriations bills and not continuing to kick the can down the road? Well, in a perfect world, we ought to have single subject spending bills and get back to regular order. And Speaker Johnson talks about getting back to regular order all the time. It's obviously I haven't seen the tax, I haven't seen what's, what's going to happen or be presented. It does seem that, you know, a short term, I'm hearing that a short term into November, certainly the president would like to see one out probably through the, the first of the calendar year. But you know, I think right now we, you know, it's our, it's our efforts is to keep the government open. I think Democrats are going to try to shut it down, but I would like to see us get back to regular order against Speaker Wood as well. And I think that's the right approach. And we need to keep pushing for fiscal responsibility. No question. We have a Congress has an addiction to spending. We need to cut back on discretionary spending, and we're going to continue to go off a fiscal cliff. Congressman Weed, thank you so much for being here. We'd love to have you back sometime. All right. Thanks for having me. Nice suit, by the way. I like the color. Yeah, I like that, too. Look at us, we're almost twinning. Congressman. There you go. Have a good day. God bless her. Thank you very much. Coming up, we check out the hottest headlines from the RAV newsroom with Terrance Bass. Also later, how the faith community is reacting to the assassination of Charlie Kirk. We're going to ask a prominent faith leader coming up on American Sunrise. Hey there. I'm Mary Kathryn Hamm. And I'm Carol Markowitz. We've been in political media for a long time, long enough to know that it's gotten, well, a little insane. That's why we started normalely a podcast for people who are over the hysteria and just want clarity. We talk about the issues that actually matter to the country without panic, without yelling, and with a healthy dose of humor. We don't take ourselves too seriously, but we do take the truth seriously. So if you're into common sense, sanity, and some occasional sass, you're our kind of people. Catch new episodes of normally every Tuesday and Thursday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. Would you guys consider anything less than a championship to be a failure from this year? I wouldn't say anything is a failure, especially because we all grow every day. Obviously, the goal is a championship. That's there's no doubt in that. And that's the goal. We want to win a championship. I'm Christina Williams, host of the podcast. In case you missed it with Christina Williams, the WNBA playoffs are here and I've got the inside scoop on everything from key matchups and standout players to the behind the scenes moments you won't find anywhere else. It's really, really hard to be the champions, but we have to remember how it feels and embrace the new challenge that we have for all the biggest stories in women's basketball. Exclusive, exclusive interviews with the game's brightest stars. So to be here, I think it's one that we definitely don't take for granted. But we also know, you know, that's just one stop along the way. And we're hoping to, you know, make it run. So listen to In Case youe Missed it with Christina Williams, an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and entertainment on iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. News Break is brought to you by AMAC association of Mature American Citizen. That's the White House this morning. Still such a somber, somber time as we remember the life and legacy of our dear friend Charlie Kirk. Welcome back to American Sunrise, everybody. I'm David Brody. Speaking of Charlie, we will have more recollection of memories about his life and legacy from one of his friends, someone he got to know pretty well. First, though, T. Bates standing by with the latest headlines from the Real America's Voice newsroom sponsored by amat. The association of Mature American Citizens is the conservative voice for Americans 50 and older. AMAC is fighting for the values that you hold dear. Join today. Together we can right the course of America. The man accused of assassinating Charlie Kirk is expected to be officially charged with capital murder as soon as today. His initial court appearance is scheduled for later today by video from his cell. We're expecting a news conference confirming the charges this afternoon. On Monday, FBI Director Cash Patel confirmed the 22 year old suspect's DNA was found on a towel that was wrapped around the rifle believed to have been used to kill Kirk. Investigators also say they have DNA evidence linking the alleged accused assassin or the alleged assassin to a screwdriver that was found on the rooftop where the deadly shot was fired. Plus, the FBI director says the suspect wrote a text message before the shooting saying that he planned to kill Kirk. Investigators also believe the guy wrote a physical note saying that if he had an opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk, he would do so. That note was reportedly destroyed, but investigators were able to reconstruct it. By the way, Director Patel is scheduled to be on Capitol Hill within the next hour to face questions before the Senate Judiciary Committee. We'll take you there live in our second hour. Embattled Federal Reserve Board member Lisa Cook will be present today when the Federal Reserve opens its two day policy meeting. A federal appeals court ruled on Monday that President Trump can't fire her. 47 was looking to give Cook a pink slip amid an investigation into allegations that she committed mortgage fraud. The Trump administration is again expected to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court. In the meantime, President Trump will have an ally. At today's meeting, Steven Mirren was confirmed to fill an open seat on the Fed's board. He was tapped for the job by President Trump after serving as the chair of the Council of Economic Advisers to the president. All eyes will also be on this week's policy meeting, which of course, wraps up tomorrow in order to see if the central bank decides to lower interest rates. For the first time of this current Trump presidency, the Israeli military is expanding its ground offensive in Gaza City and warning residents to leave. It is the latest escalation in the conflict and it comes on the heels of Secretary of State Marco Rubio meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday. Israel's defense minister says, quote, we will not relent and we will not go back. And until the completion of the mission, the secretary of state left Israel and immediately made a stop in Qatar, whose leaders are still a bit upset about Israel's strike on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar last week. He says there's a very short window of time to reach a ceasefire peace deal between Israel and Hamas. We, of course, will continue to monitor that ongoing situation. Now, though, let's get a quick check of your coast to coast weather NATION Headlines meteorologist Tracey Anthony joining us. Tracy, very rainy start in Miami. Typically not a place I expect to see a lot of rain. Yeah. You know, they have had over 14 inches so far just this month. So on track for the wettest September on record. And there's a few other spots across the country where we've had these tropical like rainfall accumulations. So we're tracking a few systems, one out across the plains. But this coastal low that's going to impact the mid Atlantic, we are expecting 3 to 5 inches of rain to stack up over the next 48 hours. So it's slowly going to be pushing on shore, bringing in breezy winds, coastal flooding and then even the potential for some inland flooding. So that's a hot spot that we're going to be watching here throughout the day. But coast to coast temperatures for most of us trending on the warm side, trending well above average. Most of us 10 to 15 degrees warmer than average. Even LA 91 degrees. And areas like LA, you haven't had rain since the start of June. But we do have some tropical moisture that's heading our way as well. So expect some showers by mid to end of the week as those temperatures do cool down. So, Terrence, that's some much needed rain for the West Coast. Absolutely, Tracy, appreciate it. We'll check in with you a little bit later. Thanks so much. Sounds good. Up next, Charlie Kirk's funeral is set for this Sunday, but what will his final legacy be? We'll take a look shortly. But first, a Quick look at this day in history. Sock it to me. It was on this date in 1968 that President Richard Nixon appeared on Rowan and Martin's Laugh in which was an influential comedy show that brought counterculture to America's living rooms. It was, in many ways the blueprint for Saturday Night Live. Nixon's appearance was a calculated move to humanize the stiff public image that Nixon enjoyed, which, of course, had suffered after his 1960 televised debate against John F. Kennedy. The campaign hoped to make him more relatable to younger voters who followed the countercultural show. The show, by the way, had been mocking Nixon for months, labeling him as the man who never laughs. His willingness to appear and participate in the show's humor was meant to prove the label wrong and to show that he could actually be be a good sport. More American Sunrise coming your way in just a moment. Hey there. I'm Mary Kathryn Ham. And I'm Carol Markowitz. We've been in political media for a long time, long enough to know that it's gotten, well, a little insane. That's why we started Normally a podcast for people who are over the hysteria and just want clarity. We talk about the issues that actually matter to the country without panic, without yelling, and with a healthy dose of humor. We don't take ourselves too seriously, but we do take the truth seriously. So if you're into common sense, sanity, and some occasional sass, you're our kind of people. Catch new episodes of Normally every Tuesday and Thursday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. Would you guys consider anything less than a championship to be a failure from this year? I wouldn't say anything is a failure, especially because we all grow every day. Obviously, the goal is a championship. There's no doubt in that. And that's the goal. We want to win a championship. I'm Christina Williams, host of the podcast. In case you missed it with Kristina Williams, the WNBA playoffs are here, and I've got the inside scoop on everything from key matchups and standout players to the behind the scenes moments you won't find anywhere else. It's really, really hard to be the champions, but we have to remember how it feels and embrace the new challenge that we have for all the biggest stories in women's basketball, plus exclusive interviews with the game's brightest stars. So to be here, I think it's one that we definitely don't take for granted. But we also know, you know, that's just one stop along the way. And we're hoping to, you know, make a run. So listen to In Case youe Missed it with Christina Williams, an iHeart woman sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and entertainment on iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Welcome back to American Sunrise. Charlie Kirk's tremendous devotion to his Christian faith is inspiring Americans young and old to read the Bible, pray and even attend church services. Many faith leaders develop personal friendships and connections with Charlie, including Catholics for Catholics, president and friend of the show here at American Sunrise, John. Yepp. John and Charlie grew up a few blocks away from each other near Chicago. He is here with us now on American Sunrise to discuss further. John, thank you so much for joining us. What can you tell us about Charlie's faith and spirituality? I know the two of you spoke often about where he was on that journey. Well, it's what, 8:00, over there on the East Coast. And if you were a friend of Charlie's and he was still alive, you already have a text message on your phone with a scripture code for the day. That's how he, that's how he rolled. He woke up, he was up early, and he made prayer priority. I would see him at church oftentimes and we kind of fist bump on our way to our different offices. Right. And then, you know, it was off to the races. So Charlie was someone who definitely was moved. The political junkie, if you call him that, are just very valid and trying to change our country. But first and foremost, he loved his family and he loved his Lord. Yeah, for sure. Hey, John, behind, behind the headlines, there's real grief, obviously tonight, or we should say we're really asking the question that few have the courage to ask, which is, how are you doing? This is obviously very difficult for you. You know what's going to help a lot? Obviously, we're more to the death of a friend. You know, it's just, it's a brother in arms. Like you're, you're in this business, you tie into a service. That sounds crazy to say this, but given the, the temperature out there, you have to be willing to risk it all. Charlie was that we trade off text on that very subject of quote, martyrdom, which literally just means witness. Witness for what you believe in to the point of death. Right. But you know, it would help a lot. So much. We've got to get justice. Yes, there's maybe one killer, but the details are foggy and I think people are really itching for the Department of Justice, FBI to get to the bottom of this and quickly. That would help so much. You know, John, we're all so united as believers that in. What a great testimony, right? Charlie Kirk's whole entire life was certainly. And so the last thing I want to do is bring up any division. But. And I'm not, I'm doing exactly the opposite here because one of the things that I love that Charlie said, I went to Catholic schools all the way through, I'm not Catholic. But one of the things I love that Charlie said was he talked a lot about how sometimes perhaps Christians in general who are not Catholic have maybe not given enough credence to Mary's role as the selfless, completely submitted mother of Christ that she was. And that has always been a bone of contention between Catholics and non Catholics. I've dealt with this my whole life because I know, you know, a lot of us don't believe in icons. Catholics very much do the rest of it. But putting all that aside and just talking about Mary as a woman, because Charlie was so adamant about the family, about the woman's role in the marriage, about the man's important role in the marriage. Tell us what he said to you about that. We literally traded out messages precisely on the role of Mary and the reverence to her. And you know, the church that he went to, there's a big old grotto commemorating the, the apparition of Lourdes, when Mary appeared in Lourdes, France, and hundreds of miracles. Right. So he saw that every day. He saw the local Catholics gathering there before church, 6am praying the rosary, that devotion which we see just as a way to get closer to Christ. Right. So. But either way, even if you're not there, you don't believe in that. That's okay. Because the Charlie thing to do would be precisely this. You talk about it, roll on and continue waving that same American flag. And that's what we're here today to celebrate with Charlie. Absolutely, John. You know, Charlie, he wasn't just a commentator, he wasn't just a extraordinarily faith filled man. I mean, he built a movement with Turning Point usa. Where do you see his legacy going? I mean, where do you see the organization going from here? And that's. I'm glad you brought the work element too, because, you know, we weren't just, we didn't have a relationship, but just based on faith. Right. It was bound to action. That's how Charlie, again, he was wired that way. One of the things that just got him the most was when pastors who had this platform to speak the truth just didn't do it for the cowardice or whatever. But he saw faith as something he brought into action. That's why we were Turning Point's partner during the ballot chasing operation of 2024. Turning Point has got a great feature. 30,000, 32,000 new groups. Right. For the chapters that they've announced. President Trump said that yesterday. That's an amazing turnout and it's just the beginning of the movement. John, you're a Catholic leader. Obviously, in a moment of intense anger and loss, your faith, our faith, does call us to forgive, to turn the other cheek. The context is everything, though. How do you square that with the. It's not just rage. I think it's anger in all different sorts of levels that many of us feel. And what does that look like? I mean, you know, this idea of just forgiving the person that took Charlie's life, whether it be Erica Kirk has to deal with or many of us have to kind of think through. Go ahead. There's two extremes here. You know, we in the scholastics teach it very so well. There's. There's holy anger, righteous anger. Then there's anger which arouses from sin. One is divorce from reason. You know, we absolutely must have that healthy holy passion, because the opposite, Charlie wouldn't want that. Right. So, not rage. We absolutely forgive. And that's the strength of Christendom. Right? Our ability to forgive and remove hatred from our heart. But yet that holy passion to find justice that's so necessary in today's world, we need more of that. And that's why tonight will be at Turning Point, organizing a massive prayer rally to keep people on that focus of forgiveness, but again, focus on saving America. One of the interesting things, John, was that Charlie didn't let himself get tripped up in squibbles over denominations. This is pretty much at least as I read the Bible. I'm certainly not a pastor. What God calls us to. He kept the Sabbath. He's got a whole book coming out on it. We're going to talk about that later. As you mentioned, he had attended Catholic church from time to time with his wife. But he was a devout Christian in his own right and had chosen his own denomination. What do you see that we can take away from. From Charlie's almost burning curiosity about exploring every faith and coming to his own conclusions, his passion for the word of God, I mean, even though, like I just said, the scripture quotes that he would send, it wasn't just like a Miranda thing. I'd open up a page and send it to my friends and come off all pious and all that. Right. It was like that quote he would get into, like he would understand the context. Why does St. Paul write this? In this moment he lived and breathed the word of God. If we go to the scriptures we will find everything because everything, all of our traditions source from there. Right. So I would take that from Charlie. Let the word of God be truly what feeds you in your daily lives. No joke. For real. John, very nice. We understand. Go ahead, Emily. Please go ahead. I was just going to say I understand that you are going to be there at Charlie's funeral on Sunday. Just want to say that we are praying for you and thank you so much for joining our show this morning here. John. David, if you had a final question, please. No, no, that's, that's good. But John, we appreciate your time, really. Thank you. That was, that was great. Yeah, Let the audience have in their minds. Every day I go to church now, these last few days and when we go up there for communion, we hear audibly Erica's cries. That poor girl is sobbing for her husband. Don't forget those cries and let it be impel you to action. Really, really well said, John. Great conversation this morning. Thanks again for joining us. Coming up on American Sunrise, President Trump is getting ready to depart for the United Kingdom. You're looking live at joint based Andrews where Trump will take off. Still ahead is the left's obsession with so called social justice just really a cover for control, narcissism and violence. We are going to discuss all of this with Dr. Kelly Victory right after the break. Keep it right here. Hey there. I'm Mary Kathryn Hamm. And I'm Carol Markowitz. We've been in political media for a long time. Long enough to know that it's gotten, well, a little insane. That's why we started Normalely a podcast for people who are over the hysteria and just want clarity. We talk about the issues that actually matter to the country without panic, without yelling and with a healthy dose of humor. We don't take ourselves too seriously, but we do take the truth seriously. So if you're into common sense, sanity and some occasional sass, you're our kind of people. Catch new episodes of normally every Tuesday and Thursday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen. Would you guys consider anything less than a championship to be a failure from this year? I wouldn't say anything is a failure, especially because we all grow every day. Obviously the goal is a championship. That's, there's no doubt in that. And that's the goal. We want to win a championship. I'm Christina Williams, host of the podcast in case you missed it with Christina Williams. The WNBA playoffs are here and I've got the inside scoop on everything from key matchups and standout players to the behind the scenes moments you won't find anywhere else. It's really, really hard to be the champions, but we have to remember how it feels and embrace the new challenge that we have for all the biggest stories in women's basketball, plus exclusive interviews with the game's brightest stars. So to be here, I think it's one that we definitely don't take for granted. But we also know, you know, that's just one stop along the way and we're hoping to, you know, make it run. So listen to In Case youe Missed it with Christina Williams, an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and entertainment on iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. All right, welcome back everybody to American sunrise. I'm Dr. Gina. We thank you for joining us this sunrise. It is time now for today's health news, sponsored by the Wellness Company and under the microscope today, left wing extremism linked to psychopathy and narcissism. A bombshell study revealed that left wing extremists, the same crowd of radical activists who riot, shut down speech, set things on fire, attack police, all the rest are linked to dark personality traits, some in the dark tetrad, if you're familiar, like narcissism and psychopathy. This according to a study published in the peer reviewed journal called Current Psychology. Researchers surveyed hundreds of Americans found that for violence against traditional institutions was not driven by altruism or justice, but actually by egotism, anger and personal gain. While the media often smears conservatives as selfish, narcissistic or authoritarian, this study confirms that much of the violence actually comes from the radical left hiding behind the language of social justice to push their own power and control. It remains to be seen if the alleged assassin of Charlie Kirk fits into this category, but doesn't take a rocket scientist. Let's just say that new administration in Washington, D.C. has brought a lot of positive changes when it comes to fixing our broken health care system. But there's only so much government can do if we really want to make America healthy again. It's going to start at home with each of us. And that's where the wellness company comes in. You see and hear from their doctors all the time on this network. You know, their products are the gold standard for keeping your family safe and healthy. Through the Wellness Company, you can be sure you're prepared for whatever happens with our series of medical prescription kits. These kits have an assortment of life saving medications and guidebooks to assist in the use of the meds in the kit. Additionally, the Wellness Company offers a variety of products from parasite cleanses to methylene blue to weight loss assist and so much more. These can help you stay healthy and live a longer, more satisfying life. Make America healthy again starts at home. Do your part. Protect the health of yourself and your family. Go to TWC Health RAV today. Give it an order. That's TWC Health RAV. Use the promo code RAV. That'll save you 10%. Joining us now from the Wellness Company is one of our favorites, Dr. Kelly Victory. She's chief of disaster and emergency medicine for the Wellness Company. Welcome to the show. Dr. Victor Victory. I don't know why I can't say your name today. This has been a rough couple of days. Maybe that's why, because I think we're all a little sleep deprived, all of us still reeling from the assassination of Charlie Kirk during the pandemic. Charlie was one of those, I remember with very few others, many on Ravi, who were brave enough to have dissenting doctors on our shows to talk about early treatment of COVID and the dangers of the vaccine. You know, it's good that we had his voice in this and it's hard to measure what impact it had. But tell us what it means to you that Charlie and others were taking the lead, asking questions that our medical community wasn't asking on the by and large. Well, thanks for having me as always, Gina. Like all of you, I am deeply saddened by the tragic loss of Charlie Kirk. He was a friend. I'd known him since he was 18. He was an absolute titan of courage and truth. He had a remarkable way of communicating and connecting with people, particularly young people, people. And as you said, he was not afraid to push alternate narratives or to ask the tough questions. That's really what Charlie did. I think. He asked questions and he let the answers fall where they may. If people left his microphone feeling silly or embarrassed, it's largely because Charlie was able to point out the fallacies or the flaws in their arguments. When it came to Covid, he was willing to explore things that were not being said in the mainstream. He never shied away from something that may have been unpopular or may have really upset the apple cart when it came to the traditional narrative. And we've lost that voice hopefully, as you've heard from so many other people over these last days, that void will be filled now with a mighty throng of others. He awakened so many people, I think, in this country to what's been going on with our media, the loss of God and family and the importance of returning that. It pains me terribly as I watch the abhorrent posts, people reveling in his death, the truly satanic or demonic nature of some people, a small, hopefully faction of this country and of this world who take glee in the death or suffering from others. I think it's important that we point this out, that we don't simply ignore it and that there is a social price to pay for that sort of behavior. We never meet violence with violence, but there has to be a social price to pay when you are acting in a way that is inconsistent with civil society. Have we entered a new and dangerous era? Is left wing violence against anyone who disagrees now just a function of our country and a reality, something we have to live with every day? Well, unfortunately, I don't think it's going away anytime soon. I don't think of it as just quote, left wing. I think unfortunately, we have a portion of the population that is, that is unstable, unhinged. I will address the elephant in the room. Look, we have a number of recent violent attacks, whether it's, you know, the, the church shooting, the recent shooting in Colorado, over and over again that are perpetrated by people who are not socially stable. There's a reason why, you know, trans people are overrepresented in this group. There's no question that in the trans community we have a disproportionate number of people who have been diagnosed with autism or autism spectrum disorder. These are people who are on the fringe already. They are not socially well adjusted. They are unhappy in their own bodies and where they are in society and they take it out on others. And this is a real problem. Unfortunately, given the tsunami we are facing of autism in this country country and the fact that rates are on the rise. The greatest number of people diagnosed with autism were born this year, meaning they are babies now. Okay, we 10 years from now, 15 years from now, we are going to have a much larger group of people who fit into that, that diagnosis and we're going to have to contend with that. So I think we, we aren't going to see a reversal of this anytime soon. The best thing we can do, as I said, is call out this behavior, absolutely refuse to accept it. The idea for too long, I think Conservatives have, and I don't want to get into the religious connotation of, quote, turning the other cheek, but we cannot accept in civil society this type of behavior. We cannot normalize it. They don't. They. They call us these names, Nazi, fascist, you know, Hitler, whatever it is. They don't. They don't kill you or strike out at you because they believe you are those things. They call you those things so that they can strike out at you to justify their actions. And we cannot allow that to happen. And it starts with our elected leaders, people in Congress who have got to stop using those terms because it gins up these people who are not mentally stable. It gives them a justification for the violence that they then go on to perpetrate. Yeah. You know, you're so right, Dr. Victory. And I think that as we continue to go forward, we're going to see a lot more attention paid because studies are changing, science is changing. Right? Absolutely. And as I said, I am not, you know, phobic of anything. I'm simply calling out the reality. We have seen the last six or eight shootings have been perpetrated by people in some way connected with the transgender, quote, unquote, community. We need to acknowledge that and figure out what that's about. As I said, I believe personally that it is related to the overrepresentation of autism and autism, autism spectrum disorder in that group of people, and the fact that we are going to have to acknowledge the growing rates of that problem, deal with the mental health issue at the same time that we double down on our commitment that we are not willing to accept this type of violent behavior. We are not willing to allow our streets to burn, businesses to be looted, police cars to be turned over. Every time somebody is unhappy with something that occurs, it's super important. And of course, we're not alluding that people with autism are automatically violent at all. Correct. But as those numbers increase and as the problems increase therein, thank goodness there's a new. A new sheriff in town right in rfk and he will be shedding some light on that and some studies that are more authentic than those in the past that have been all funded. Guess who? Big Pharma. Dr. Victory, we appreciate you. Thank you for being with us today. Thanks for having me. All right, coming up, North Carolina Republicans blame Democrats for WOKE policies they say contributed to the Charlotte light rail stabbing that left one woman dead. As you'll remember, those details, we're going to talk to you about just ahead as American Sunrise continues. Hey there. I'm Mary Kathryn Hamm and I'm Carol Markowitz. We've been in political media for a long time. Long enough to know that it's gotten, well, a little insane. That's why we started Normaly, a podcast for people who are over the hysteria and just want clarity. We talk about the issues that actually matter to the country without panic, without yelling, and with a healthy dose of humor. We don't take ourselves too seriously, but we do take the truth seriously. So if you're into common sense, sanity, and some occasional sass, you're our kind of people. Catch new episodes of Normally every Tuesday and Thursday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen. Would you guys consider anything less than a championship to be a failure from this year? I wouldn't say anything is a failure, especially because we all grow every day. Obviously the goal is a championship. There's no doubt in that. And that's the goal. We want to win a championship. I'm Christina Williams, host of the podcast in case you missed it with Christina Williams, the WNBA playoffs are here and I've got the inside scoop on everything from key matchups and standout players to the behind the scenes moments you won't find anywhere else. It's really, really hard to be the champions, but we have to remember how it feels and embrace the new challenge that we have for all the biggest stories in women's basketball, plus exclusive interviews with the game's brightest stars. So to be here, I think it's one that we definitely don't take for granted. But we also know, you know, that's just one stop along the way and we're hop to, you know, make a run. So listen to in case you missed it with Christina Williams, an iHeart woman sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and entertainment on iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast. Welcome back to American Sunrise. I'm Emily Finn. Hope that you're caffeinated this morning because it is time to stay awake, not woke. The left says that it's politicizing a tragedy. Republicans say it's time to wake up after the brutal stabbing of 23 year old Ukrainian refugee Irina Zarkoutska on a Charlotte light rail. North Carolina Republicans are blaming lenient woke crime policies for her death. The suspect is a violent repeat offender released on a written promise to appear in court despite a rap sheet a mile long. The question this morning are Democrats soft on crime policies costing innocent Americans their lives? For discussion, let's welcome to American Sunrise. Dr. Gina David and Terrence. Terrence, why don't you go to you first on this one. What is your take? I think anyone who saw the video of what happened to Irina thought it was just tragic, it was horrible, it was senseless. I really don't see any other take. No, it was brutal. There are many more adjectives I think you probably could draw from that. Heartbreaking. But one of the things that heartens me is that President Trump is taking a hard line on crime across this country. Of course, just yesterday he signed a new order saying that he was going to be sending National Guard troops into Memphis, specifically the city of Memphis. And so I think this is really kind of the crime, the law and order president and it starts with cities like Memphis. But I think the bigger picture here is that it sends a message across the country that crime, excuse me, is not going to be tolerated and that there's a new sheriff in town, so to speak, who is going to really crack down on that crime. Dr. Gina yeah, I think that we've got to take some lessons from the past. You know, anyone with a 13 time arrest record would never have been set free free even 10, 20 years ago. What has happened, you know, and what needs to revert. I also, I think we have to go back to reconsidering punishments, perhaps more public punishments, perhaps more swift punishments, perhaps more of them. I don't know. You know, this is not my field of expertise, but I can say there is a criminal psychology. I've seen, seen it in therapy sessions with people where they have said to me, I'm not afraid of doing it because I know you only get a slap on the wrist for that. I've had people say that to me when considering crime, when I've worked with people who were criminally insane, things like that. So to say that there's no prevention in furthering punishment is simply not true. There is a deterrence effect and it needs to be put back in into place. Brody yeah, look, the Democrats are on the wrong side of the safety issue time and time again. We can go back to defund the police. They were all for that until they weren't because it wasn't popular. And here we are with cashless bail and we just go down the line. Now we're talking about like in Chicago, for example, Pritzker and these folks, they're like, we don't want the National Guard, but we'll take your money. You know, they want some help federally, you know, to put some more money and take it takes a village programs or whatever their community organizing programs are there that haven't worked clearly in Chicago. So, you know, Democrats always like to throw money at the problem. They've been doing that since lbj and it just hasn't worked. And we know that. And they're on not only on the wrong side of anti or the wrong side of safety, they're on the wrong side of this politically and it's going to hurt them in 20, 20, 26. I got to get my facts and yours correct. Yeah, absolutely. You know you're on the wrong side when there are innocent people that continue to die. Absolutely awful. All right, stay with us. We are back in a moment with more honoring Charlie Kirk's life and legacy, how Kirk's work through TPUSA is still shaping faith, family and freedom across America, even after his tragic death. We'll be right back. Stay with us. Hey there. I'm Mary Kathryn Hamm. And I'm Carol Markowitz. We've been in political media for a long time, long enough to know that it's gotten, well, a little insane. That's why we started normalely a podcast for people who are over the hysteria and just want clarity. We talk about the issues that actually matter to the country without panic, without yelling, and with a healthy dose of humor. We don't take ourselves too seriously, but we do take the truth seriously. So if you're into common sense, sanity, and some occasional sass, you're our kind of people. Catch new episodes of normally every Tuesday and Thursday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you listen. Would you guys consider anything less than a championship to be a failure from this year? I wouldn't say anything is a failure, especially because we all grow every day. Obviously the goal is a championship. That's. There's no doubt in that. And that's the goal. We want to win a championship. I'm Christina Williams, host of the podcast. In case you missed it with Christina Williams, the WNBA playoffs are here and I've got the inside scoop on everything from key matchups and standout players to the behind the scenes moments you won't find anywhere else. It's really, really hard to be the champions, but we have to remember how it feels and embrace the new challenge that we have for all the biggest stories in women's basketball, plus exclusive interviews with the game's brightest stars. So to be here, I think it's one that we definitely don't take for granted. But we also know, you know, that's just one stop along the way and we're hoping to make a run. So listen to in case you missed it with Christina Williams, an iHeart woman sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and entertainment on iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast. In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. Welcome back to American Sunrise. It is now time for our moment of feature, Faith brought to us by Lee Greenwood and the God bless the USA Bible. In focus today, religious liberties in public schools. A piece in the National Review lays out how public schools are trampling on religious liberties and even failing our children. The piece cites how families in Michigan, Texas, and New York claim that they found their school districts have policies that allow them to, quote, socially transition students. Students despite objections from the parents. The article also cites that public schools are reportedly adopting policies that could make young girls share bathrooms, locker rooms, and even sleeping accommodations. As a father of two girls, Yeah, I ain't having that. For more, let's bring in the CEO of Promise Keeper, Shane Winning. Shane, good morning. Hey, good morning. Thanks for having me. Absolutely. We're going to get to all of that momentarily, but first, I do want to give you an opportunity to speak on the passing of Charlie Kirk. How are you doing with it? How are you coping? What are your thoughts? Yeah, I mean, it's tragic, unfortunately. I'm well versed in processing grief, you know, having lost soldiers in the army and dealing with the things I saw as a cop. But it doesn't get any easier. And I will say this is the first time I ever saw someone I knew executed. And, you know, I'm just thankful that, you know, time doesn't heal all wounds, but Jesus does. And so I'm leaning on him, as I'm sure many others are in this hour. And I think that's a perfect transition for us to this religious liberties in schools question, because it's something that Charlie would have pushed for. And religious, religious liberty is really a form of freedom that's being taken away by some of these school districts. Yeah, that's right. And, you know, it's not just taking away our freedom, but it's actually imposing their will upon the next generation, which is satanic at its core. You know, to do things behind a parent's back to secretly transition or to call a child by a different name or a different pronoun to create a wedge. The Bible talks about the enemy coming in and creating a wedge between two people. And the last place we should see this happening is in our schools, where we hope that our kids are going to learn how to become productive citizens. How to learn the basics, math, science, reading, all of these things. No, it's become about sexuality. It's become about, you know, politics and culture, and it's just strayed so far. And that's why my wife and I were homeschooling as I see many others are drifting towards, you know. And to your point, the fact that it's become about so many other things, that at one point in time, our schools were training ground for morality, but it seems that has gone by the wayside. That makes it that much more incumbent on parents to be involved and to make sure you raise up your child in the way it should go. That's right. And that's our responsibility as parents. It's not the teacher's responsibility. With that being said, you look at the power of prayer in the Bible in schools. I believe it was in the 60s that a 22 word prayer was removed from schools. And since that removal of that prayer, which was basically just a prayer to bless the nation, the leadership, bless the teachers, bless the people of America, when that was taken out, all of the statistics got worse, not better. We're talking dropouts, we're talking poverty, we're talking crime. We can track the effectiveness of God's word. And when we take it out of schools, the only one left in those schools is Satan. Amen. We'll leave it there. Shane, always good to talk to you, my friend. Thanks so much, man. God bless. Likewise. Bless you as well. We're back with the second hour of American Sunrise right after this. Hey there. I'm Mary Kathryn Ham. And I'm Carol Markowitz. We've been in political media for a long time. Long enough to know that it's gotten, well, a little insane. That's why we started normally a podcast for people who are over the hysteria and just want clarity. We talk about the issues that actually matter to the country without panic, without yelling, and with a healthy dose of humor. We don't take ourselves too seriously, but we do take the truth seriously. So if you're into common sense, sanity, and some occasional sass, you're our kind of people. Catch new episodes of normally every Tuesday and Thursday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. Would you guys consider anything less than a championship to be a failure from this year? I wouldn't say anything is a failure, especially because we all grow every day. Obviously, the goal is a championship. That's. There's no doubt in that. And that's the goal. We want to win a championship. I'm Christina Williams, host of the podcast in case you Missed it with Christina Williams. The WNBA playoffs are here and I've got the inside scoop on everything from key matchups and standout players to the behind the scenes moments you won't find anywhere else. It's really, really hard to be the champions, but we have to remember how it feels and embrace the new challenge that we have for all the biggest stories in women's basketball, plus exclusive interviews with the game's brightest stars. So to be here, I think it's one that we definitely don't take for granted. But we also know, you know, that's just one stop along the way and we're hoping to, you know, make a run. So listen to In Case youe Missed it with Christina Williams, an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and entertainment on iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Ahead on this second hour of American Sunrise. In moments, FBI Director Cash Patel will be in the hot seat on Capitol Hill. He's set to testify before Congress about the Bureau's handling of the Charlie Kirk assassination investigation. Will take you there live the moment it happens and at the center of the questioning. The FBI's early missteps will include Patel initially declaring a suspect was in custody when he wasn't. Lawmakers, of course, want to know if this was this bad information or was it simply bad management? It's going to be a good one, folks. Adding to the pressure, though, Patel's confirmation of a detail match to the murder weapon and a chilling note by the alleged assassin. Those are just some of the stories that we're working on for you as the second hour of American Sunrise continues right now. Good morning America. Welcome to American sunrise. Whether it's culture, we have breaking news to share with you. Politics. President Trump is joining us live now from Florida. Florida, we've got you covered. This is what it looks like to be a patriot. We have to protect the American family. The American dream is still alive. I'm David Brody. I'm terrence. And I'm Dr. Gina. Welcome back, everybody, to the second hour of American Sunrise. I'm David Brody coming to you from D.C. let's bring in Dr. G in West Palm. And of course, T. Bates in our Denver newsroom. Good morning to you guys. Busy, busy morning. We've got the president about to take off for the UK There is Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews. We're covering that this hour. And of course, Cash Patel as we've been talking about the FBI director about to appear on the Hill in a big hearing. He'll come under a lot of questions, Gina, as it relates to the handling of the Charlie Kirk assassination. We'll see how many Republicans start to pile on here. And if they do, that could get, it could get dicey there for Cash. Yeah, it'll be interesting to see how this is handled. You know, we want, we have. So there's, first of all, there's so much disinformation out there, but there are so many questions that remain unanswered, and some of them are logical. And what really offended me was in the press conference when I'm not sure who it was. It wasn't Cash said something along the lines of stay off of the Internet. Yeah. It was the governor of Utah. Yes. And kudos to him for all he's, all the pressure he's under. And listen, I'm holding no grudges right now. I told my family, even because my kids are so upset over so much of this, I'm like, there are no grudges right now. You say anything, you go through what you deal with your grief in your way. We have to respect other people's plight in this, in this grief moment right in our history. But at the same time, don't tell me I can't get on the what. No, we're going to go to the Internet. We're going to look. Because you know what? We are used to our politicians and our media not telling us everything and not telling us the truth. So we're going to go out there, we're going to look for evidence, we're going to weigh it against. We're going to realize there are Russian bots and Chinese bots and all the rest of it out there trying to divide us. Like, go into it with that mindset and then don't let anyone tell you your eyes are lying to you. Yeah. And by the way, let me just TBH real quick. Before you say just. I want to say that's what I was saying last week with that press conference where I was so frustrated because he was saying, hey, watch out. There's disinformation out there. And then they wouldn't give any answers. So it's just frustrating. Gotcha. Hey, guys, let's hope that we get some answers right now. Senator Chuck Grassley, I believe that is right. Right now, the head of the Senate Judiciary Committee is speaking as this Kash Patel hearing is getting underway. Let's listen in. Teams nationwide are working alongside immigration and custom enforcement. This teamwork has resulted in the arrest and removal of a historic number of violent criminal aliens, gang members and child sex offenders. Those are overwhelming better records than at least two of your past predecessors. During the Ray ERA at the FBI, the Bureau reallocated resources from child crimes to January 6th work. Director Patel, you've also moved agents from headquarters to field offices to better assign align with their law enforcement mission. Under your leadership, the FBI has apprehended several most wanted fugitives and secured the extradition of senior leaders of the Central american gangs like Ms. 13 now. Well, it's well understood that your predecessor left you an FBI infected with politics. I'm going to provide examples of that today, including making public new whistleblower records. At your nomination hearing, I made public records that whistleblowers provide me about Arctic Frost. Arctic Frost was the FBI case opened and approved by antitrust Trump FBI Agent Thibault. Arctic Frost then became Jack Smith's elector case against then Citizen Trump and now President Trump. These new records show that Arctic Frost was much broader than just an electoral matter. The case was expanded to Republican organizations. Some examples of the group that Ray FBI sought to place under political investigation included the Republican National Committee, Republican Attorney General's association and various Trump political groups. In total, 92 Republican targets, including Republican groups and Republican linked individuals were placed under investigative scope of Arctic Frost. On that political list was one of Charlie Kirk's groups, Turning Point usa. In other words, Arctic Frost wasn't just a case to politically investigate Trump. It was the vehicle by which partisan FBI agents and Department of Justice prosecutors could achieve their partisan ends and improperly investigate the entire Republican political apparatus. So today Senator Johnson and I are making these records public for the entire country to see, and I hope a lot of people are interested in seeing what government can do when various agencies have a political agenda. My investigative work has also exposed the political way in which Peter Navarro was investigated and prosecuted. When FBI Agent Thibault found out that Biden's DOJ would prosecute Navarro, he said, wow, great. That's a quote, unquote. Through whistleblowers, I've obtained a audio recording of Special Agent Giogardina and Special Agent Sebastian Gardner's delivery of a subpoena to Navarro. I'm making that audio public today. In a court document filed by the Department of Justice, Navarro's interaction with the FBI was unfairly described as quote, unquote, the word combative. That intervention with Navarro was just as a justification to later aggressively arrest him. Then we get to The Clinton Annex and the Durham Annex. The Clinton Annex showed that the Comey FBI had evidence necessary to complete the Clinton investigation, the one about her mishandling of emails and classified information. But the FBI never did its job because it never reviewed the evidence at that time. The Durbin Annex showed that the Clinton campaign had a plan to falsely tie Trump to Russia. Yet the Comey FBI failed to investigate that information. Instead, the Comey FBI used the discredited Clinton campaign funded Steele dossier to advance Crossfire Hurricane against Trump. Director Patel, thanks in a large part to you. Both annexes were finally declassified. That may be history, but it's history to make sure we don't repeat the history of the past. And the people ought to be concerned when the weaponization of government is used in this way, whether it's done by Republicans or Democrats. Last Congress, I made public an FBI document called 1023 form that alleged a bribery scheme with the Biden family. To date, the FBI has never answered Congress whether they investigated the text messages, the audio files and the financial records referenced in that 1023 whistleblowers have provided my office with two additional FBI 1023 documents. These documents memorialize statements from FBI sources. These two new 1023 documents are from separate FBI confidential human sources during different years. So in total, we now have three different FBI confidential human sources providing information about the Biden family and potential criminal conduct. Today, Senator Johnson and I are releasing these records. Let me say this for the partisan media, the people that are supposed to be policemen of our Republican form of government. We aren't saying the allegations are true. We want to know what the FBI did to fully investigate their version, veracity or lack thereof, and what they concluded. Let's put this matter to rest one way or the other. Starting with my chairmanship, I've given one example after another of disgraceful partisan weaponization by federal law enforcement. Since the Trump administration took power, many FBI agents have been removed. The removal included agents and prosecutors who became partisan weapons that lost their way. And I've made records public to prove it. And many of my whistleblowers were aggressively retaliated against by some FBI agents who were subsequently fired. One FBI whistleblower publicly said of these terminations, quote, ensuring that they no longer work at the FBI isn't retribution, it's responsible leadership, end of quote. Which brings me to my final and favorite topic, whistleblowers. In August, 10 of my FBI whistleblowers secured compensation agreement because of your leadership, Director Patel. It included a mix of reinstatement of the to the FBI, reinstatement of security clearances and monetary compensation. At the beginning of this month, another of my FBI whistleblowers got their job back. All told, across government agencies, almost 20 whistleblowers have received fixes to their retaliation. Today, you'll get a lot of grief from some members of this committee, but in the short amount of time you've been director, you've corrected whistleblower retaliation, increased transparency more than any other FBI director I've seen. Whether that FBI director was appointed by Republicans or Democrats, and I've been around here more than anybody else on this committee. I yield to Senator Durbin. Thanks, Chairman Grassley, for holding this oversight hearing during a critical period in the history of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. During my four years as chair, I held four hearings with then FBI Director Wray. As a reminder to Republicans who claim the Biden administration weaponized the FBI, President Biden retained Director Wray, a lifelong Republican who was President Trump's nominee for the office after his second election. In an unprecedented move, President Trump forced out Director Wray and nominated Keshe Patel, arguably the most partisan FBI director ever. Director Patel came to the FBI with a political mission, and he spelled it out in writing, in detail. He wrote, government gangsters, quote, the rot at the core of the FBI is not just scandalous, it's an existential threat to our Republican form of government, end quote. And with the power of his office and the blessings of the President, he attacked the FBI with a vengeance. Mr. Patel had falsely claimed the FBI, quote, was planning January 6th for a year, end quote. He even went so far as to produce a song by the January 6 rioters who violently assaulted police officers in the Capitol. He compiled an enemy's list of public servants. He called government gangsters, like former FBI Director Mueller, who Patel called, quote, an utter swamp creature. Former Trump officials who served with Mr. Patel warned us he would weaponize the FBI to protect the President's allies and target his critics. And indeed, Director Patel has already inflicted untold damage on the FBI, putting our national security and public safety at risk. Since January 20, the Trump administration has engaged in an unprecedented purge of FBI officials. As we heard from highly credible whistleblowers, Mr. Patel was involved in directing this purge even before he was confirmed, despite his sworn testimony to this committee. It began with terminations and forced retirements of all six nonpartisan career officials who run all six branches of the FBI. The executive assistant directors. Since then, at least 18 of the 53 special agents in charge of FBI field offices have been removed along with many other senior officials. Individual agents have been targeted for termination simply due to the work that they were assigned, such as January 6th investigation. In fact, according to former Acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll, in a lawsuit filed last week, Director Patel made this very plain, telling Driskell personally, quote, that his own job depended on the removal of agents who worked on the cases against the President. End quote. And even though he knew, quote, the nature of summary findings were likely illegal. At the same time, Director Patel has installed MAGA loyalists as political appointees in key career positions, including conspiracy theorist Dan Bongino as FBI Deputy Director, the first time in the history of the FBI that this position has not been held by a career FBI agent. Director Patel has also reportedly initiated loyalty test, loyalty test requiring dozens of officials to sit for polygraph exams and answer inappropriate questions about whether they've made negative comments about him personally. Of course, as is often the case in the Trump administration, the rules apply to thee, but not to me. As we understand it from highly credible sources, key members of Director Patel's senior executive team and others on the seventh floor had disqualifying alerts on their initial polygraph exam. Well, how did they survive? They survived because of personal waiver by either the Director or the Attorney General to remain employed by the Bureau. Understand the context here. Political operatives in key positions given the routine FBI polygram exam failed and had to receive waivers to continue their positions. They were lucky to keep their political appointments. They were. But the 5,000 career civil servants the Director has so far forced out of the Bureau's ranks were not offered that same courtesy. 5,000. This mass exodus has created a disastrous brain drain, particularly in the fields of cybersecurity, counterterrorism, counterintelligence. For example, my office has received information indicating that cuts to the Bureau's cyber division will cut personnel by half, despite the ever increasing threats posed by adverse foreign actors. The brain drain is exacerbated by Director Patel's misuse of remaining FBI personnel and resources to focus on other priorities of this administration. According to reports, the 25 largest FBI field offices have been ordered to divert 45% of their agents from their primary missions to work on the mass deportation of immigrants. Just as concerning is Dr. Patel's plan to hire fewer qualified agents by removing the college degree requirement and reducing new agent training at at Quantico from 18 weeks to just eight. So we have a brain drain and a significant watering down of training. Quite a record, Mr. Patel. As recently fired special agents and others have warned fast tracking inexperienced and improperly trained people into critical national security jeopardizes the Bureau's ability to effectively protect America. Director Patel himself had no training or life experience experience for this position. The result of that incompetence is staggering. For example, after Attorney General Bondi publicly stated in February that the Epstein client list was quote, sitting on my desk right now to review. That's what she said on Fox. Director Patel diverted more than 1,000 FBI personnel from their critical missions to work on 24 hour shift shifts, reviewing over 100,000 pages of Epstein related records. These personnel were instructed to flag any records in which President Trump was named. But that review ended in an unsigned memorandum from DOJ and FBI stating simply there is no incriminating client list. Close quote. Director Patel still has not responded to my letter from two months ago asking about his role in his cover up. On the day of the horrific shooting of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University, Director Patel again sparked mass confusion by incorrectly claiming on social media that the shooter was in custody, which he then had to walk back with another social media post. Mr. Patel was so anxious to take credit for finding Mr. Kirk's assassin that he violated one of the basic of effective law enforcement at critical stages of an investigation. Shut up and let the professionals do their job. Notably, Director Patel recently forced out Special Agent in Charge at Salt Lake City, Mayim Saeed, a counterterrorism expert with 20 years experience who would have led this high profile profile investigation. The men and women who serve at the FBI and the American people deserve a director who has the ability and the character to restore the Bureau to its place as the preeminent law enforcement agency. I want to close on a personal note. I came of age in the 1960s. We experienced a number of horrific assassinations including President John Kennedy, Senator Robert Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King. We are going through a similar period of division and political violence. All of us in public life on both sides of the aisle have a responsibility to bring down the temperature and to work to unite the American people. Let's be clear. Republicans are not Nazis and Democrats are not evil as Mr. Patel has claimed. Democrats are not responsible for the murder of Charlie Kirk and Republicans were not responsible for the murder of Melissa Hortman. Our political opponents are not our enemies. We are all Americans and we should be working together to keep the American people safe and protect their constitutional rights. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Would you please stand so I could swear? Do you. Do you affirm that the testimony you're about to give before this committee will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God. Please be seated and you can give your statement now. Thank you. Good morning, Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Durbin and members of the committee. It's an honor to be here with you today. As the ninth director of the FBI, I want to provide by providing a briefing into the tragic assassination of Charlie Kirk. It's important that this FBI as transparent as possible without jeopardizing investigations. Charlie Kirk was shot at 12:23am excuse me, p.m. on September 10th. I think this timeline is critically important. Less than a day later, the FBI at my direction, released the first set of images of the suspect that we captured based on our analysis on the ground. Later that evening, while conducting extensive interviews and cell phone analysis and also flying out evidence response teams and hostage rescue teams and evidence tacticians who were collecting evidence in live time and flying them back to Washington D.C. in our laboratories for immediate analyses, we were able to extract video from the campus feed. And at my direction, at 8pm, in partnership and promise to working with the public to bring this fugitive to justice, we released a newly never before seen video of the suspect. We also released new enhanced photos of the suspect. A few hours later that suspect was in custody pursuant to the interrogation of the suspect's own father who stated when I saw that video that you released, I recognized it was my son and I confronted him and he was handed over to lawful law enforcement authorities. That is the FBI working with the public as I promised, being transparent and provided critical information along the way in the manhunt for the suspect and suspects involved in Charlie's assassination. We received over 11,000 tips in the first 24 hours alone. We received 16,000 submissions to our digital media enterprise and tip lines. That is a large number of material to go through. I want to thank President Trump and the Attorney General Pam Bondi for their unwavering support and commitment resources to this and all investigations. I also want to specially thank our colleagues and in Utah Governor's office, DPS and the sheriffs out there. State and local law enforcement partnership has been a cornerstone since I took over at the FBI and it was no different here and our teams in Salt Lake City, our sacs out there across the country, our lab technicians in Quantico who raced to complete the evidence analysis so the public could have the answers they need. These people worked through the night without sleep for days on end. They are to be commended, they are not to be attacked and many, many, many more people. I don't have time to thank here today. But I do want to thank the American people especially. The mission of the FBI is for them and with them and by, with and through them. And is that mission and that ethos that I brought to this investigation and so many others. And that's why that suspect is in custody. We cannot do our job without the American public. Incredible reporting in the media. And that's why Tyler Robinson is in custody. To say, about to face charges. The last time I appeared before this committee was in January for my confirmation hearing. I told you then that if I were confirmed, I would provide and do everything I can to provide a safe and secure America. I promise to provide the courageous men and women of the FBI the tools and resources they need to crush violent crime and defend the homeland. I pledge myself to commit to full transparency, oversight and accountability so we could restore the public public's trust in the FBI. That's exactly what I've done. Under this administration, the FBI has arrested more than 23,000 violent criminals. That's more than twice for the same time period from Last year alone. 23,000. More than twice from the same time period last year. We've taken over 6,000 illegal firearms off the streets. That number is an exponential increase. We've identified and located more than 4700 child victims. More than 4700 child victims have been found by this FBI. That is a 35% increase from the same time period last year. 1500 child predators have been arrested. That's a 5% increase from the same time last year. 300 human traffickers have been arrested. That's a 10% increase from the same time last Year. Over 350 members of TRENDE Aragua foreign terrorist organization have been arrested and we have 42 ongoing cases. That is a 250% increase from the same time last year. Those are just some of the things the FBI is doing differently and better because we are leading the mission to crush violent crime and defend the homeland. We have also arrested four, captured four top 10 fugitives from the FBI's top 10 most wanted list. To put that in perspective, that's the same amount I've captured in seven months that my predecessor did during the entirety of the Biden administration. Those are real results. And the credit is to the men and women at the FBI. We've been able to achieve these results because the FBI recognizes violent crimes doesn't just happen in Washington D.C. that's why one of my first decisions as a director was to get the people, the Bureau's professional staff out to the field. And we've done that with great speed. And every single one of your districts and states has received a plus up of FBI personnel, agents and special operators to the tune of almost a thousand. We did that because crime had unexpectedly and unacceptably exploded across the country. In fact, one of the stats that the American people should thank the FBI the most for is we are on track to have the lowest murder rate in modern American history. The lowest murder rate by double digit percentages. A major factor in the drop of this violent Crime is the FBI's flagship operation, Summer Heat. We use this initiative at the direction of the President, the Attorney General. Surging resources to our major and mid major cities across America, conducting intelligence based operations to target the worst of the worst, to target the gangs, to target the transnational organizations, to target the TCOs and to target the drug trafficking cartels. And we have taken them out city by city. There's a lot of work left to be done, but we're off to a great start. Just ask the citizens of Seattle, Miami, Memphis, Charlotte, Chicago and so many more places. Specifically New Orleans and Nashville alone. There has been an increase in the number of violent crime arrests by an average of 250% for each of those cities. And there has been a drastic reduction in crime across the board in mid major cities across this country, thanks to the men and women of the FBI. How are we doing that? We are attacking the drug epidemic. We've seized nearly 1,000kg of meth and cocaine off the streets of America. We've taken over 1600, 1600 kilograms of fentanyl off the streets. Maybe one of the greatest achievements we have this year, 1600 kilograms of fentanyl. That's a 25% increase from the same time last year. To put things in perspective, that's enough fentanyl to kill a third of the American populace, 115 million Americans. We're also going after the companies that manufacture these precursors overseas in places like mainland China and their cutting agents. In fact, this month in Cincinnati, we announced groundbreaking charges aimed at the individuals and businesses responsible for flooding these opioids and their precursors and cutting agents into the streets of America. And for the first time that I can remember, we are charging these businesses and enterprises not just in America, but in mainland China, and seizing their operational necessity to have money by seizing their cryptocurrency wallets. We're also equally important to protecting the homeland. We know we have a no fail mission. We're committed to keeping our nation safe from terrorism, cyber attacks, and foreign adversaries, whether stopping threats inspired by foreign terrorist organizations or lone wolf actors or sponsored by hostile nation states. This year we've already made nearly 60 counterintelligence arrests. 60 counterintelligence arrests this year alone is a 30% increase from the same time period last year for the CIA work at the FBI. I'm proud when we can share our successes, such as when an espionage charge was brought against an active duty US Navy sailor caught spying for the People's Republic of China. But I want the American people to know the FBI is protecting the homeland from foreign adversaries in a way that will never make the news. And a lot of the good work that they do will never be able to discuss in this setting. Working on cyber threats, we're attacking malware infrastructure, going after ransomware attackers, delivering a new partnership with the private public sector. Engagements we've taken with the companies who are attacked by these foreign adversaries and nation state actors and individual enterprise rings from around the world. We are combating Salt Typhoon, Vault, Typhoon, Flax Typhoon, and so many other ransomware and cyber threats this nation faces. We're also arresting people such as Tajik national in Brooklyn who is suspected of sending tens of thousands of dollars to support isis. We're going after the new form of what I refer to as modern day terrorism in America. 764 crimes that involve harming our children by going after them online, causing self mutilation, suicide, sexual abuse, and steering them in the wrong direction. Currently, we have 3500 international terrorism investigations. Specifically, we have in this country 1700 domestic terrorism investigations, a large chunk of which are nihilistic. Violent extremism nve those who engage in violent acts motivated by a deep hatred of society. Whatever that justification, they seem as the FBI has seen a 300% increase in cases opened this year alone versus the same time last year. In the last couple of months, the FBI secured a guilty plea for a man in Tennessee who attacked an energy facility with drones and explosives. We secured the indictment of violence Sinaloa cartel faction leader in Chicago on narco terrorism charges. Our folks in San Francisco, excuse me, Sacramento. Collaborated with domestic and international partners to secure a guilty plea for leader of a transnational terrorist organization who solicited the murder of federal officials. But the Bureau's job is not done. I'm committed to this transparency, Mr. Chairman. You alluded to our work with Congress. To date, in the seven months that I've been FBI director, we have produced 33,000 pages to the United States Congress. 33,000 pages. Just to put that in perspective, my predecessor in his seven year term issued 13,000 pages to Congress and his predecessor in his four year term issued 3,000 pages to Congress. I've issued 33,000 pages in seven months and we're going to keep going. I'm dedicated to restoring the trust that the public has and needs and the integrity at the FBI. And it's being done every day by the men and women of the FBI. Now, I know that there's a lot of talk about Epstein and I'm here to testify that the original sin in the Epstein case was the way it was initially brought by Mr. Acosta back in 2006. The original case involved a very limited search for warrant or set of search warrants and didn't take as much investigatory material it should have seized. If I were the FBI director, then it wouldn't have happened. The search warrants were limited to small time periods to include 2002 to 2005 and 1997 to 2001. Mr. Acosta allowed Epstein to enter in 2008 to a plea and non prosecution agreement which then the courts issued mandates and protective orders legally prohibiting anyone from ever seeing that material ever again without the permission of the court. The non prosecution agreements also barred future prosecutions for those involved at that time of those individuals. Still, this administration at the direction of President Trump, has done more to turn over all the credible information we are legally able to do so and we will continue to work with Congress to achieve that end under the direction of the President. We Excuse me. Thank you for your support for our mission to working to jointly deliver transparency and congressional oversight to the United States. Lastly, I want to close with the President's initiative here in Washington D.C. as an example of what we're doing around the country. And I think our next city is Memphis. 21,000 arrests in D.C. with our federal partners. A huge decrease in violent crime. 60% decrease in gun crimes in Washington D.C. in the last month. 74% decrease in carjacking in Washington D.C. in the last month. 53% decrease in homicides in Washington D.C. in THE LAST month. The drugs are disappearing, people are freely walking around the states and we're storing the nation's capital to its glory. That work is through the interagency process that the FBI is proud to be a part of and the initiatives spearheaded by President Trump and the Attorney General and perhaps most notably for investigations in Washington itself. It was the intelligence that the FBI gathered through our source network here in D.C. that helped us identify the suspects in the horrific murder of the D.C. intern Eric Tarpinian. We're proud to be a part of that investigation. We're proud to put the resources to bear of the FBI. And in closing, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee and Ranking Member Durbin, I'm honored to be the ninth director of the FBI. I'm not going anywhere. If you want to criticize my 16 years of service, please bring it on over to you. I've observed when whether it's Republican or Democrats want a yes or no answer, that the witness and the Senators talking over each other. So I thought what I'd do this time rather than have that happen. If there's something you don't get a chance to answer because of the demeanor of a Republican or Democrat senator before we, when we get done with that questioner, I'd give you a chance to fill in if there's something you didn't get a chance to say. Since 2019, I've sought greater transparency about Jeffrey Epstein and the government handling of the matter. I've continued to investigate during this Congress. Director Patel, was Jeffrey Epstein an intelligence asset for the United States government or the foreign government? And if so, which agencies or government? Mr. Chairman, I can only speak to the FBI as the director of the FBI and Mr. Epstein was not a source for the FBI. Would you commit to providing my office with all classified non classified records relating the Epstein matter? I will commit to providing all all records. I'm legally permitted to do so under the court order. It seems to me that I accept your answer to my question, but the broader intelligence community ought to answer these questions as well. Victims deserve an answer. Regarding the initial FBI 1023 document that I made public last Congress, that document mentioned 1 text messages, 2 audio recordings, and 3 financial records that allegedly proved a bribery scheme with the Biden family and foreign interests. Regarding those records, did the Ray FBI make any effort to determine whether they existed? Did the Ray FBI make any effort to obtain those records? Not to my knowledge. Mr. Chairman, since this matter hasn't been fully investigated, the FBI has an obligation to the public to do exactly that and figure out why it wasn't investigated. Next question. I've done a lot of oversight relating to sexual misconduct by the FBI agents. In fact, I believe this is something I discussed with Ray. One of his appearances before this committee. According to the FBI Inspection Division, it opened nearly 300 investigations based on sexual misconduct referrals between 2017 and 2024. According to whistleblowers of Biden, Ray FBI totally dropped the ball, on this question, one credible accusation of sexual misconduct is too many. Of course. Are you committed to reviewing the Bureau's policies to ensure responsible responses to credible allegations of misconduct? That there are swift and adequately protect victims? Yes. Mr. Chairman, relating to a similar subject, during child crimes and sexual misconduct related investigations, are any private sector companies less than cooperative with you? What improvements in information sharing need to be made to catch those criminals? Mr. Chairman, we can always do better with their private sector companies. I've reached out to the leaders of most of them, asking them to provide more material so that we can be responsive and take legal action and protect the youth of this country. I'm happy to discuss, you know, possible legislation that we can do to allow for these companies to continue. Yeah, say maybe one inch up on the microphone. Sorry, not. I think you're close enough, but I think it's just a little bit lower. When you raise your head, it's difficult to hear. Director Patel, since 2021, I raised concerns about the Biden administration administration failure to properly vet Afghan evacuees. Director Gabbard informed my office that as of August 2022, approximately 1600 evacuees located in the United States had ties to terrorism and other derogatory information. That's why I and many others have opposed bills giving blanket approval. Are you aware of what steps your predecessor took to investigate these evacuees? And what steps have you taken to investigate them? And what, if any, national security concerns still exist? Mr. Chairman, I can't speak to the steps my predecessor took, but I will make sure we do a sweeping review and get back to you on that. As far as the Afghan refugees and evacuees, as during my tenure, we are going through the databases to make sure that no known or suspected terrorists enter this country to harm our nation. And also as my resolve as FBI director, one of the first acts we undertook was a manhunt of one of the Abbey Gate bombers and leaders in that crime spree that killed 13 brave Americans. And within two weeks, within two weeks, we caught one of the leaders of the abigate bomber and brought him to justice here in two weeks from packing. And so my commitment to you on Afghanistan in all matters is complete and without border. Through my and other investigations, we found that the Biden administration lost thousands of undocumented children. We never heard a peep from senators wanting to help find them, even after I invited them to do so. In September 2020 25, the Trump health and Human Services announced the creation of an interagency crime coordinator cell to find these and other missing children. That interagency group report reportedly includes your agency. What resources and personnel have the FBI assigned to this new interagency effort? And what steps have the FBI taken to assist in locating missing children that the incompetent Biden administration lost? Protecting our youth is maybe the top priority for the FBI. As specifically relates to your question, Mr. Chairman, as I stated, we've surged resources not just to this cell, but across the Nation to our FBI's field office to locate children who have been trafficked, who have been victims of sexual abuse. And we have located 4700 children in the seven months since I've been FBI director. And that is a 35% increase from the same time period last year. And we're not stopping. And we're committed to doing that work on our tribal lands as well. And we are finding victims of child trafficking and child abuse every county and every district, and we're not going to stop. Okay. As I mentioned during my opening, I'm releasing documents with Senator Johnson about Arctic Frost. Specifically, the documents show its scope expanded to include 92 Republican organizations. From evidence that I've seen, it looks to me like another political hit job against Republicans. What steps has the FBI taken to make sure improperly predicated investigations and weaponizations like this don't happen again? The simple answer, Mr. Chairman, is the FBI will only bring cases that are based in fact and and law and have a legal basis to do so. And anyone that does otherwise will not be employed at the FBI. We are doing a prospective and retrospective analyses of individuals who may have weaponized the department and the agency. And as I've committed to you during my confirmation hearing and my conversations with you, this FBI will not be weaponized anymore in either side of the aisle. In June of this year, I raised concerns about the FBI's use of resistant, restricted access and prohibited access systems. According to the FBI, quote, when search teams. When search teams that exist in a prohibited access status cases are searched in sentinel, the particular search will receive a form, false negative sentence, search response, end of quote. Clearly, this is not only affects FBI agents, it impacts congressional requests and court cases. And the Biden administration used it to thwart oversight. How are you ensuring that restricted access and prohibited access files are produced to Congress during court cases? And have you identified any Biden family records in restricted and prohibited. All right, we're going to dip out of this feed of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing involving Cash Patel as we're watching live. President Trump on the tarmac there at what used to be called Andrews Air Force Base. Now it is Joint Base Andrews. He is heading over to Air Force One where he and the first lady will be boarding the plane here in short order headed across the pond, as the Brits like to call it. He's going to be heading to England, to Great Britain for a state visit there. In Great Britain, he of course, will be meeting with the king as well as with the prime minister, Keir Starmer, over the next couple of days. And then he's expected to return home around Thursday or Friday. All of that, of course, in advance of Sunday's funeral for Charlie Kirk. But there you see the president and first lady boarding Air Force One on their way across the Atlantic Ocean to Great Britain where President Trump will meet with King Charles for a state visit. And then of course, he'll also meet with the prime minister, Keir Starmer. We'll of course have more coverage of that throughout the day. In the meantime, let's get you back to Capitol Hill. The Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Chuck Grassley speaking as Cash Patel. The FBI director listens and other documents maintained outside of the FBI. Has the FBI now reviewed and analyzed those records? Has the FBI properly recorded the documents? And these records are clearly responsive to my, as well as my colleagues, congressional requests. What steps have you taken to ensure all responsive records are produced to Congress? That has to be my last question. What's supposed to happen is leadership at the FBI is supposed to, pursuant to the Records act, correctly store these records that are Information Management Division imd In this room we found a plethora of hard drives, computers, hard documents, soft documents that were not so recorded, a voluminous amount of information. So we are continuously processing in that information. So a, we subscribe to the Records act and commit that those records will be kept permanently at the FBI. Two, we are reviewing those materials. A lot of those materials are related to ongoing investigations. And three, we are on a rolling basis providing Congress the documents that we can and we will continue to do so. Okay. Thank you very much, Senator Durbin. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Director Patel, in addition to the extensive purge of non partisan career, FBI official reports, reports indicate that dozens of remaining officials have been suggested have been subjected to polygraph exams to test their loyalty. My understanding is approximately 40 officials have been asked to sit for a polygraph during your administration and several have been asked whether they have ever made negative comments about you. Director Patel, FBI agents pledge their loyalty to the Constitution in the United States, not you personally. What is the basis for requiring polygraph exams or your workforce and Asking them if they've made negative comments about you. I don't know what reports you're referring to, Ranking member. And I reject any reporting that has false information in it. So I'm not going to respond to that. As far as polygraphs go, generally they are always and always have been utilized at the FBI to track down those that leak sensitive information and have unauthorized disclosures to the media. And we will continue to use them to ensure the integrity of the FBI. Did any individual on your senior executive team, the Director's advisory team or who serve in the positions on the seventh floor receive disqualifying alerts on their polygraphs? Senator, I'm not going to get into the personnel discussions that were had on a polygraph. Those are private discussions and many of them relate to ongoing investigations. Did you or Attorney General Bondi provide any individual with a waiver so that they can remain employed after they receive disqualifying alerts on their polygraphs? I'll have to get back to you. You don't remember that? No, sir. My priority is protecting the American public, not getting into the weeds of polygraphs and to have a decent memory when you come before a committee. I'm happy to talk about all the good work the men and women of the FBI are doing including provided the lowest crime rate in American history. If you want to talk about how to protect the citizens. Chicago has seen a 30% reduction its murder rate because of the men and women you take credit for. For them happily do that. The interagency partners and the men and women, the Chicago PD have never been more powerful. Local law enforcement. Please. Have you ever seen my testimony across this country where I always lead with our interagency partnerships with state and local law enforcement. It is the pillar of what I am doing. And on the seventh floor, for the first time in FBI history, I have installed police officers and sheriffs right on my seventh floor to report to us every day what's going around the country on the street level. Because that is a priority of the FBI and is the only way we are going to work. I don't take credit for the anything but I will defend the men and women of the FBI and the cops that help us get it done. You should. Director Patel, to your knowledge, did a whistleblower ever make a disclosure to Attorney General Bondi indicating that the New York field office was withholding Epstein related records? I'm not familiar with that whistleblower. There's there you know that there was such a whistleblower. I'm not familiar with that whistleblower in response to the blowback she received. Attorney General Bondi also pushed the FBI to review approximately 100,000 Epstein related records on an arbitrarily short deadline in March. And the FBI was directed to flag any documents that mentioned President Trump. Nothing came of that review until July when DOJ and FBI released an unsigned memorandum stating there is no incriminating client list. Why was this July 7th memorandum unsigned? Would you prefer I've used auto pen did well. Why was it the memorandum had the insignia of the department Again we're interrupting this hearing to take you to the White House. Moments ago before boarding Air Force One. President Trump speaking outside the White House. People out of a hundred so they should listen to people that are smart. Nothing wrong with that. But they have to make their own choice. But they should listen. Did you speak to a Prime Minister Netanyahu about the idea of Israel beginning this ground offensive in Gaza City? Do you support that? Well, I have to see. I mean I don't know too much about it. I can tell you that if they put the hostages is in front of him Hamas as protection as they call them bodyguards. Hamas is going to have hell to pay. Trip to the UK You're a trip to the UK today. What do you hope to achieve? Well, my relationship is very good with the UK and Charles, as you know, who's now king is my friend and it's the first time this has ever happened where somebody was on honor twice. So it's a great honor. And this one's at Windsor. They've never used Windsor Castle for this before. They use Buckingham palace and I don't want to say one's better than the other but they say Windsor Castle is the ultimate right. So it's going to be nice but basically up there also on trade, they want to see if they can refine the trade deal a little bit. We made a deal and it's a great deal and I'm into helping them. Our country is doing very well. We've never done this well. We're making we're having trillions of dollars coming because of the tariffs. They'd like to see if they could get a little bit better deal. So we'll talk to them. But primarily it's to be with Prince Charles and Camilla. They're friends of mine for a long time, long before he was king. And it's an honor to have Ms. King and you know he's I think he represents the country so well. I've watched he's such an elegant gentleman and he represents the country so well. After Robert Redford passed away today, did you hear about this? Wow. At his home. Well, that's a good way to go, I guess. But I'll say Robert Redford was great. He had a, he had a series of years that he was. There was nobody better. This just happened, I guess. Huh. Wow. The guy that caught in Utah, what movie would you say? Life Investing. Well, you have a lot of them. Honestly, he made, I'd say he made seven or eight great movies. They were really great. There was a period of time when he was the hottest. I thought he was great. Are you going to delay the tick tock ban? Well, we have a deal on TikTok. I've reached a deal with China. I'm going to speak to President Xi on Friday to confirm everything up. We made a very good trade deal and I hope you're doing for both countries, but a very different deal than they've made in the past. We'll be announcing that we have a group of very big companies that want to buy it. And you know, the kids wanted it so badly. I had parents calling me up. They don't want it for themselves, they want it for their kids. They say if I don't get it done, they're in big trouble with their kids. And I think it's great. I like, I hate to see value like that thrown out the window. So on autoclave auto executives, you know, you're talking about tens of billions of dollars. Some auto executives are concerned that compromising the 15% for auto tariffs coming in hurts American automakers. What do you say to well, I haven't compromised anything. Where did I compromise? Going down to 15%. Going down to 15%. We charged well. And where did the 25 come from? It came from there. You tell me. Just so you know, they paid nothing for years. Now they're paying 15%. And some things can pay more. Like chips could pay more. Pharmaceuticals could pay more. You know, there's a bigger margin with a car. You have to make 15% before you make a profit. Pretty tough. So we had a good deal. Don't forget European Union is paying our country because of tariffs, $950 billion. Think of that. We're talking about a year. $950 billion. Japan is paying us $650 billion. These are companies, these are countries that paid us nothing until I came along. And China is paying us a tremendous tariff. You know what the tariff is, right? You know what the tariff they're paying. What? So it's 30% for the fentanyl as well as whatever for the 301. 20% for the fennel, but the overall is about 55%. Okay, that's as opposed to nothing. Would you say that's a difference? We have a big decision coming up. And if the Supreme Court rules the way, hopefully they will because, I mean, every legal expert said we win that case, but you still have to watch. And the Supreme Court's been terrific. I think they're very fair. All I want is fairness. Then we win. But if we win the Supreme Court case, which is the finalization of tariffs, we will be by far the richest country anywhere in the world. And we'll be able to help our people more and we'll be able to help other countries when we want to. But I will say if we win that case, our country, you see what we've taken in just on a temporary basis, we've taken in trillions of dollars, trillions with a T. And we will be by far the richest country in the world. There'll be nothing for us. You know, one other thing, we'll have tremendous power to negotiate the use of tariffs. I settled seven wars. Four of them was because I was able to use tariffs. That was President Trump speaking to media outside the White House before heading across across the ocean to Britain where he is going to be participating in the state in a state meeting there in England. All right, let's get you back to Capitol Hill now. Cash Patel speaking before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Want to work at the FBI. Should deserve that opportunity in a shortened Cambridge program which we provided. We are also keeping the 1818 week BFTC as it's traditionally being held at the FBI. So we're not reducing any requirements. We are increasing those that we bring into the FBI. Change any of the requirements on college degrees. We are allowing police officers who have served for a number of years to come into the FBI who did not obtain the requisite college degree to apply to be federal agents because we feel they have the street level experience we need to conduct this mission. You want smart political talk without the meltdowns, we got you. I'm Carol Markowitz. And I'm Mary Kathryn Hamm. We've been around the block in media and we're doing things differently. Normally is about real conversations, thoughtful, try to be funny, grounded, and no panic. We'll keep you informed and entertained without ruining your day. Join us every Tuesday and Thursday Normally on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts, whatever Team Phi is on has a chance to win a championship. I'm Christina Williams, host of the podcast in case you missed it with Christina Williams. The WNBA playoffs are here and I've got the inside scoop on everything from key matchups and standout players to the behind the scenes moments you won't find anywhere else. It's really, really hard to be the champions, but we have to remember how it feels and embrace the new challenge that we have. So listen to in case you missed it with Christina Williams. An iHeart sports production in plain partnership with Deep Blue Sports and entertainment on iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an iHeart podcast.
Podcast: Real America’s Voice
Date: September 16, 2025
This episode of "American Sunrise" opens during a somber week, with the nation reeling from the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The main focus is the fallout—politically, socially, and personally—surrounding Kirk’s death: the ongoing investigation, FBI Director Cash Patel's high-profile testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, reactions from political leaders and faith voices, and deep reflection on the state of civil discourse and safety in America. Key guests include Wisconsin Congressman Tony Weed, Catholic leader John Yep, Dr. Kelly Victory on social psychology and political violence, and Promise Keeper CEO Shane Winning. The show intertwines hard news, commentary, and personal moments, exploring themes of faith, unity, justice, and the fragility of public service.
[00:00–06:00 & 16:15–25:50]
Morning headlines: FBI Director Cash Patel is set to testify before the Senate regarding the Kirk investigation. Patel recently confirmed DNA evidence links the alleged assassin to the crime scene.
Speculation & unresolved questions: Hosts express lingering doubts about the investigation, referencing possible foreign involvement and confusion over the suspect’s timeline.
Personal grief: Vice President J.D. Vance delivers a heartfelt tribute, underscoring Kirk’s legacy and impact on American conservatism.
Memorable Quote—J.D. Vance [07:25]:
“Filling in for somebody who cannot be filled in for, but I'm going to try to do my best. My dear friend—the great Charlie Kirk... The last several days have been extremely hard for our country... hard for the countless people in this building who knew and loved Charlie. He was a joyful warrior for our country. He loved America. He devoted himself tirelessly... I don't think I'm alone in saying that Charlie was the smartest political operative I ever met.”
[10:20–13:05, 57:20–59:45, 01:15:25–01:18:10]
Biblical Reflection: Dr. Gina shares 2 Corinthians 3:17–18 to frame a message of spiritual liberty and transformation amidst loss.
Impact on Faith Community: John Yep (Catholics for Catholics) recounts Kirk’s spiritual practices and influence, emphasizing Kirk’s early-morning texts with daily scripture, and his passion for uniting Christians.
Interdenominational Unity: Kirk’s respect for diverse Christian traditions, including Catholicism’s reverence for Mary, is highlighted as a model for respectful debate and common cause.
Memorable Quote—John Yep [01:09:00]:
“It sounds crazy to say this, but, given the temperature out there, you have to be willing to risk it all. Charlie was that... We trade off texts on that very subject of ‘martyrdom,’ which literally just means witness—witness for what you believe in to the point of death.”
[25:50–46:40, 01:18:10–01:22:40]
Hearing focus: Oversight of the Kirk investigation; earlier confusion about suspect status; potential missteps and weaponization of federal law enforcement.
Bipartisan grilling:
Patel’s defense: Emphasizes transparency, rapid progress in the Kirk case, and FBI achievements in violent crime reduction.
Key Quote—Director Patel [01:34:45]:
“We cannot do our job without the American public. The mission of the FBI is for them, with them, and by, with, and through them... That’s why the suspect is in custody.”
House Republicans & government funding: Ongoing debates about a “clean” Continuing Resolution (CR) to keep the government open; Congressman Tony Weed criticizes escalating political rhetoric and calls for returning to regular order and respectful debate.
Rhetoric and threats: Weed shares his experience of increased threats since entering Congress and argues against demonization and for civil dialogue.
Key Quote—Rep. Tony Weed [18:39]:
“Since my short time in politics...that radical far left leadership...continues to call President Trump Hitler or Mussolini or saying he's a threat to democracy...That rhetoric is provoking people. I think we ought to be able to have passionate debate... but end with a handshake.”
[51:15–55:40, 01:05:50–01:13:00]
Recent tragedies: The stabbing death of Irina Zarkoutska (23, Ukrainian refugee) in Charlotte becomes a flashpoint for debate on “soft-on-crime” policies, bail reform, and public safety.
Tough-on-crime message: President Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to Memphis and his image as “law and order” president are discussed.
Host perspectives: Dr. Gina and David Brody call for stronger deterrence and critique Democratic approaches as ineffective and often politically damaging.
Notable Moment—David Brody [01:07:13]:
“Democrats always like to throw money at the problem... It just hasn’t worked, and they're not only on the wrong side of safety, they're on the wrong side politically and it’s going to hurt them in 2026.”
Dr. Kelly Victory: Discusses a recent study tying left-wing extremism to “dark tetrad” traits (narcissism, psychopathy). She argues that violence is increasingly rationalized through ideological language, yet often driven by egotism and instability—not altruism.
Mental health and violence: Dr. Victory asserts a link between high-profile attacks and marginalized, unstable individuals—citing data on autism in the trans community (controversially) and urging a focus on mental health support and societal boundaries.
Quotable—Dr. Kelly Victory [01:10:13]:
“We never meet violence with violence, but there has to be a social price to pay... For too long, Conservatives have...‘turned the other cheek’—but we cannot accept in civil society this type of behavior. We cannot normalize it.”
[62:00–70:00, 01:09:00–01:14:52]
Turning Point USA: John Yep notes explosive chapter growth (over 32,000 new groups) and Kirk’s push to marry faith and action—especially challenging religious leaders to speak out boldly.
Forgiveness and “holy anger”: The show debates faith’s role in seeking justice while eschewing rage, with Kirk’s life offered as a model of conviction with charity.
Lasting impact: The hosts and guests predict Kirk’s loss will mobilize many others, especially youth, to stand for faith, debate, and patriotism.
Key Reflection—John Yep [01:13:34]:
“Let the word of God be truly what feeds you in your daily lives. No joke. For real.”
[01:15:25–01:18:10]
[01:20:50–01:21:30; 01:26:34–01:29:30]
“Charlie was the smartest political operative I ever met.”
“That rhetoric is provoking people… We ought to be able to have passionate debate... but end with a handshake.”
“He woke up, he was up early, and he made prayer a priority.”
“We never meet violence with violence, but there has to be a social price to pay…”
“Since [prayer] was taken out, all of the statistics got worse, not better.”
“We have a deal on TikTok. I'll speak to President Xi on Friday to confirm everything up....the kids wanted it so badly.”
| Segment | Timestamp | |-------------------------------------------------|--------------------| | Introduction, headlines, Kirk investigation | [00:00–06:00] | | J.D. Vance tribute | [07:00–08:45] | | Rep. Tony Weed interview | [13:00–25:50] | | T. Bates news segment (Kirk case details, Israel, Fed) | [25:50–34:00] | | Meteorology, “This Day in History” | [34:00–36:30] | | John Yep (Faith/Legacy) | [57:20–70:00] | | Dr. Kelly Victory (Political violence study) | [51:15–55:40] | | Crime & public safety (Charlotte stabbing) | [01:05:50–01:13:00]| | Religious liberty in schools (Shane Winning) | [01:15:25–01:18:10]| | President Trump live/sound bites | [01:20:50–01:21:30; 01:26:34–01:29:30]| | FBI Director Cash Patel Senate Testimony | [01:18:10–01:56:15]|
The tone oscillates between personal grief and defiant optimism (“the American dream is still alive”). Speakers are frank, passionate, often combative toward opposing politics, but invoke calls for unity, faith, and justice. Much language is overtly religious, with “witness,” “martyrdom,” “forgiveness,” and scriptural discussion. There’s pointed distrust of mainstream narratives and government, matched by a strong affirmation of grassroots activism.
This loaded episode of "American Sunrise" encapsulates a pivotal moment in American political and cultural life—with the assassination of Charlie Kirk as a tragic focal point. Through breaking news and layered conversations, the show interrogates the meaning of violence, the need for justice and unity, as well as the enduring call to faith and action amid tumult. The episode leaves listeners with a vision of resilience and a renewed challenge: to carry forward Kirk’s example—seeking truth, civil debate, and steadfast commitment to American and spiritual values.
For ongoing coverage and full hearing remarks, tune in to Real America’s Voice or revisit this episode.