← Real America’s Voice
Real America’s Voice
Just the News No Noise with John Solomon and Amanda Head, October 15th, 2025
00:51:42
Loading summary
Transcript122 lines
- [00:00]
Kash Patel
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:05]
John Solomon
Time is precious and so are our pets.
- [00:07]
Kash Patel
So time with our pets is extra precious.
- [00:10]
John Solomon
That's why we started Dutch.
- [00:11]
Kash Patel
Dutch provides 24,7 access to licensed vets.
- [00:14]
John Solomon
With unlimited virtual visits and follow ups for up to five pets. You can message a vet at any time and schedule a video visit the same day. Our vets can even prescribe medication for many ailments and shipping is always free. With Dutch, you'll get more time with your pets and year round peace of.
- [00:31]
Andy Mangione
Mind when it comes to their vet care.
- [00:57]
John Solomon
Good evening, America. Welcome to a very special Wednesday edition of Just the News. No noise. I'm your host, John Solomon. Yes, I'm in Washington, but we're not in our Norma. That's why I say this is a special night. We're at the White House. That's right. And we're broadcasting live. Why? Because just a little while ago, President Trump and FBI Director Cash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi had a press conference and they briefed America on the extraordinary results of a summer operation unlike anything I've seen in the 30 years I've covered the FBI. 8,600 felons taken off the street, hundreds of children rescued from unsafe or indentured servitude situations, thousands of guns taken up the street. Well, let me bring in quickly my amazing co host Amanda. You get to do this place every day. It's. I used to come here a lot, not as much. I didn't see an Oval Office press conference like this in a very long time. It's very unique.
- [01:43]
Amanda Head
It was wonderful to see it and it was awesome to see the three perspectives of the folks who deeply, deeply care about this country and they want the best, even for blue cities. That's what's most remarkable to me about this, John, is that you've got three patriots who who care about the cities that probably didn't vote for them and they want to see things cleaner. I loved that President Trump was leaning into the notion that, hey, if you've got dirty, crime ridden c and you've got a FIFA game coming to your city, guess what, we're going to rethink that if you're not going to let us come in and clean it up. So I thought that it was fantastic. I thought the FBI director who is sitting to our left, I thought he did a fantastic job taking on an agency that a lot of folks lost a lot of trust in. And he is rebuilding it brick by brick.
- [02:24]
John Solomon
He says it, he's let copy cops again and that's why we're succeeding. And let's not waste any more time. Let's bring him in. Our good friend, the director of the FBI, Cash Patel.
- [02:32]
Mike Kennedy
Hey, guys.
- [02:32]
Kash Patel
It's so great to be with you at the White House.
- [02:34]
John Solomon
It's amazing. It was an amazing day. I want to start. These numbers are extraordinary. You did a great job briefing everybody. I've been talking to a lot of law enforcement and they say that you yourself put a very important strategy in place. And that was if you want to bring crime down quickly, you go after the kingpins, all the big guys who've been left on the street. You work the top of the organizations, these crime groups, and then all of a sudden you disable them downstream. Talk a little bit about the strategy you brought in with the great team that you've. How did that.
- [03:00]
Kash Patel
Well, I'd love to be able to take credit for it, but I may have added one of the ideas. But there's two groups. There's one man who is responsible for Operation Summer Heat, and the architect is Deputy Director Dan Bonjour. He drew it up, he put out the mechanics, he went to the field, and he went 100% for these last seven months. And the men and women of the FBI executed Deputy Director Bongino's Summer Heat operation. And Summer Heat, that's just a three month snapshot, by the way. That was only three months from June to September. So the numbers you just announced, we just released the numbers for the last eight straight months of the FBI and the number that people should take away more than anything as a result of this. Because Summer Heat was our juggernaut that we used to kinetically operate in Memphis, in Chicago and every major city literally in America. We have over 28, 000 arrests year to date, this year alone of violent offenders. 28,000.
- [03:53]
John Solomon
That's amazing.
- [03:54]
Kash Patel
Put it. But the just for people who don't know, to put that in perspective, last year, year to date, the Biden administration had 14,000. Wow. We're double.
- [04:02]
John Solomon
Double.
- [04:03]
Kash Patel
We're double. And that's because the failed policies of Biden administration allowed these criminals to come in. And President Trump gave me and Dan an agenda to say you have to rid our cities of these violent criminals. And that's the top line number that matters more than anything. We could break the rest down.
- [04:18]
John Solomon
Yeah, that chart you showed people, it's a bell because you got the FBI last four years like this, and all of a sudden it goes just like that. It's remarkable.
- [04:25]
Amanda Head
Director, when you look at these blue cities where crime has become really an institutionalized infestation. These are Democrat run cities, but when you go in and you clean it up, you not only the crime, but also the drugs that are there, physically taking the drugs out of those cities. I can imagine that there are folks there who vote blue. Moms, dads, grandmothers, grandfathers who are very happy for what you are doing at the FBI. Talk to us about the reception from those folks.
- [04:53]
Kash Patel
Well, like President Trump says, we don't see cities as blue and red when it comes to law enforcement. You just can't. Every American deserves a safe community for their kids to grow up in. And so what we did was we went out and found cities like Memphis, who, by the way, had the highest per capita homicide rate in the country. And we went in at President Trump's direction and Dan and I created a plan to go in there quietly and do what we call operational preparation of the environment. Do the intelligence ground level collection with our state and local partners. And then we went into every single field, field office, 56 different field offices across this country, and did the exact same thing in places like Dallas and Houston and Los Angeles, where you saw us dismantle the riders in Portland, where we're getting after it. And what that leads to is numbers that are historic because the prior administration allowed so many criminals to flourish over four years. When you're taking down gang enterprises by the hundreds, when you're dismantling child sex abuse rings by the thousands, that is a massive influx of crime that had been allowed to flourish for far too long. And one of the numbers we're most proud of is our fight against fentanyl. We have made it a national priority because the President knows, and rightly so, has said it is a scourge that is killing over 100,000 people. So this year, year to date alone, we have seized over, Excuse me, 1900 kilograms of fentanyl. That is a 31% increase year to date from the Biden administration. And 19, excuse me, 1900 kilograms of fentanyl is enough to kill 130 million Americans.
- [06:19]
John Solomon
That's unbelievable.
- [06:20]
Amanda Head
A third. A third of the country.
- [06:21]
John Solomon
It's amazing. Yeah. That statistic, when you said it in the Oval Office, was just jaw dropping to hear. There's one statistic I paid attention to because I was a long time covering counterintelligence threats in this country. They went way up under Joe Biden because that border was there more than a tripling of counterintelligence cases. You're getting bad foreigners with ill intent off of Our. So tell us a little bit how you done it.
- [06:41]
Kash Patel
Yeah. So it's not just the crushing violent crime mission, it's a defending the homeland mission. They're both priorities, equally important. And to countermand, not just the counterterrorism threat and the narco trafficking threat, which we've had historic results on, you got to go after the spies. And the spies are coming from Russia and the PRC in Iran. And in this calendar year alone, we have more than increased the number of arrests of spies by 35% on average for each country. What does that tell us? That means they were putting into place long term plans in the Biden administration to go after and steal our secrets and sell our agricultural secrets and ship them back to mainland China and Russia and Iran and rob the American public not just of our ingenuity, but of our precious resources. And we in this FBI went after them because President Trump made it a priority to go after national security and protect the homeland. And when you see that many spies running around this country, you have to ask yourself, why was that ever allowed to occur in the United States of America? But thank God for President Trump and this FBI and the men and women there that are going after it at historic levels. The numbers, the fake news will probably attack the numbers, but all that is, is you're attacking the men and women of the FBI. And so, you know, they can do with it what they may. But those numbers don't lie.
- [07:53]
John Solomon
No, they're big.
- [07:54]
Amanda Head
Speaking of the men and women of law enforcement, we now know that Chicago, the city leadership told local law enforcement to stand down and to not answer distress calls from ICE officials. How concerned are you that this is an epidemic? Because Portland seems like it's rife for this type of issue. Is it in other, other cities as well?
- [08:12]
Kash Patel
So I was in Chicago just last week on the ground right there at our command center, and what I saw was the interagency with the FBI leading the charge, going after the violent criminals, going after with Chicago pd. And here's the thing about Chicago pd, they want to do the work. It's their leadership that wants to get in their way and obstruct because they're playing politics with American people's lives. And the only person in government that's not playing politics with American people's lives is President Trump. He had the audacity and made the right decision to go into Chicago, the most bluest of blue cities maybe in all of America, because he doesn't care if it's blue or red. He knows it's when you have 1200 people getting shot in a calendar year, that's way too many. When you have over 500 homicides in a calendar year, that's way too many. So he sent us in quietly, the FBI, months ago, and we reduced the number of homicides by 25% in just a few months. We've been there, but that's just phase one. We now need the National Guard, we now need dhs, we now need our interagency partners to finish the job. And we're going to continue working with Chicago pd. There's nothing that mayor or governor can say that's going to turn that off.
- [09:11]
John Solomon
I love that the president shouted that out because a lot of people didn't know you went in months ago and that things were coming down because of that operation, which didn't brag about it. It just happened. And it's an amazing moment. I want to turn to something that the Democrats often try to deny and the media try to deny, and that's Antifa and these sort of radicalized groups that are aiming for our children, their minds. You made this a high priority effort. I've talked to a lot of people who say there's enormous progress. And one of the things I've learned in just my reporting, there seems to be a lot of connections to these radicalized groups, to nonprofit money and maybe to some of those foreign enemies, some of those people you just mentioned in Iran and Venezuela, Russia. What are we learning? What can you tell us about this threat?
- [09:53]
Kash Patel
So, look, the thing I can tell you is that money doesn't lie. And the thing we're doing at the FBI is following the money. And thanks to President Trump, we now have antifa, designated, rightfully so, as a domestic terror organization. And we have had multiple investigations going on, not just in Portland where we are mapping out the money and we are using social media and the influencers that the president had here just this last week because they're the ones on the ground getting us ground level intelligence, because law enforcement isn't able to enter these spaces and these people are brave enough to do it. So we already have dozens of arrests of these individuals involved. But what we want to do is, as you pointed out, is someone is paying for this. These are organized acts of violence, fully funded by people who don't even live necessarily in these communities, showing up in dozens with the same placards, the same helmets, the same riot gear. Someone's paying for it. And we're on the verge of finding that out, thanks to these new authorities.
- [10:43]
Mike Kennedy
Wow.
- [10:44]
Amanda Head
Are you finding a substantial amount of crossover between antifa groups and now what we are seeing as almost militant trans groups?
- [10:52]
Kash Patel
I think there's going to be some crossover for sure. But what that raises in my mind is a problem that I've been trying to tackle for a long time, which is social media is wildly out of control. I mean, our kids are allowed to go on these gaming platforms for fair purposes gaming. But then unfortunately, you have the child predators that go on these gaming platforms. You have antifa that goes on these gaming platforms and no one's overseeing them because our kids aren't monitored while they're on these platforms. And they're taking advantage of lawful use of these mechanisms to make basically an anarchist system that wants to take down the United States government. And that's why this threat is so real. And that's why we in this White House and this administration are so frightened, fervently tackling it. With every resource we have at the FBI, we've created an entire new program and division dedicated to rooting out the money that is funding these operations. Whether it's US based or domestically, excuse me, internationally. We're going to get there and I think you're going to see even more crossover. It's these communities that you identified.
- [11:50]
John Solomon
Yeah, it's amazing. Will, are our enemies taking advantage of these iron anarchist groups or using them as proxies to further destabilize our country? Do you see some foreign, the Cuba, as Venezuela is, Iran's involved with them?
- [12:02]
Kash Patel
Well, I think they were before President Trump sealed the border. You know, they were coming in by the thousands, these criminals, and they were taking advantage of America and our resources that are supposed to be for our citizens who are lawfully here. And so when you stop and seal the border, that's step one, like the President did. But now what you have to do is go clean up four years of the Biden administration's mess that has been allowed to embed themselves. They're not just there for a fleeting moment. They're living as your neighbors and you don't even know it. And that's the thing we try to highlight when we talk about these crimes against children that people are doing. They are done by people, not just violent anarchists, but people who are in positions of power and are supposed to be protecting our youth. So there is a crossover of all of this and that is why we are out there crushing violent crime and using Operation Summer Heat to do it.
- [12:44]
John Solomon
It's huge.
- [12:46]
Amanda Head
I think that the militant trans issue really became familiar to the American people. Last month, when Charlie Perk was killed, I. I mean, you guys, at breakneck speed, found this guy. You identified him. You profile the type of person he would be, and that's incredible. Is there more evidence that you guys can offer to people? Maybe video from that roof? Do you expect that there will be more to be released?
- [13:10]
Kash Patel
I think the best thing we can do for Charlie, especially me as FBI director and our team, is to prosecute this case in the courts of law, where it is in Utah, in the state of court of law. And what we're going to do is what we've done. Give them every piece of evidence we collect. Our cellular analysis systems are the best in the world, and that's what the FBI does, and that's what we flew in and did. That's how he led the manhunt and got him in 33 short hours. And every single piece of video or forensic evidence or witness interview, we've done dozens and dozens gone on these platforms, found every single person, all of that material. And I know this is frustrating the public, and I understand it, but I'm not going to allow the Charlie Kirk prosecution to be dismantled because we want to get over our skis and publicize information. That is the one thing you cannot do. We will make everything public in court. It just takes time.
- [13:56]
John Solomon
It does, yeah. It always does in these cases. Is there any possibility that other people involved. When you talked at the White House, I sort of got a little inkling that maybe you're looking at other people. Just.
- [14:06]
Kash Patel
We're looking at everyone that was. That was there, that was online, and we're looking to refer these matters to the state prosecution authorities when there's enough evidence. But the reality is, again, with social media, when you have hysterical conspiracy theories filling the void, you're harming Charlie and his family and a rightful prosecution of his alleged assassin, who we have in custody, and rightly so, in my opinion. And if anyone helped him. Do you think that we at this FBI are literally going to let them get away with it? Us standing silent in the face of glowing, growing conspiracy theories? That's what we do to shut down a faulty prosecution. That's what we do to shut down a system of justice that wants to be exploited by these same anarchists, then that's what they're doing. They're bringing it to social media. They're bringing it online for clickbait, and we're not going to take it. We don't care what you say about me or Dan Bongino or Anyone in leadership at the FBI, they're just going to keep doing the work.
- [15:02]
John Solomon
Yeah.
- [15:03]
Amanda Head
There is such a stark difference between the last administration and this one. You had under Director Wray and under Joe Biden, you had folks like Catholics who attended Latin Mass, parents of school board meetings, lawful gun owners who were targeted by this administration. On the other hand, now we have a situation where you have a lot of political violence. Last administration, they didn't deserve it. This time around, though, are you guys taking a keen interest in. In investigating and placing a focus on that type of violence?
- [15:33]
Kash Patel
Absolutely. There's no type of violence that is going to be accepted by this FBI. But the difference between this FBI and The prior administration's FBI's is simple. We are not weaponized. We are not politicized. We are removing the fangs of weaponization. You saw what they did, from everything between Russiagate and attacking Catholics and everything in between to leaking and spying on senators unlawfully. So this FBI, under my leadership, has been more transparent than ever before. We have produced to Congress four times as many documents in seven months that then Comey and Ray did combined, and we're going to continue on that. My commitment to work with the American public is not just a transparency effort, but it's also to have accountability in the public forum, not just in the courts of law, to say, these people corrupted our system of justice. And we're showing you how they do it, and we're showing it on everything from January 6th on on.
- [16:20]
John Solomon
I've talked to members of Congress and some staffers you said, for the first time, but able to do real oversight of the FBI because you got them things in some cases that they were looking for for like seven, eight years. They're pending for seven, eight years, and you've got them there. What's the biggest surprise that you've learned since you've been in the FBI? What's the thing that surprised you most about now being its director?
- [16:39]
Kash Patel
I don't know. That's a tough one. I think maybe the men and women of the FBI I've known always wanted to do the work. The thing that surprised me the most is that that prior leadership allowed so many people who had a political motivation to operate a law enforcement agency. I knew there were some. I ran the rush to get investigation.
- [16:58]
John Solomon
Yeah, sure.
- [16:58]
Kash Patel
So I knew that there was a number of folks there, but I made a commitment to the American people and President Trump when I got this job. We're going to. We're going to find them all. And I think there's More that we found in this FBI in these short seven months than the American public ever even expected. And we've expelled all of them. And if there's anyone remaining that's doing a weaponization or politicization at the Bureau, they're going to be removed immediately.
- [17:20]
John Solomon
Yeah, that I'm sure of.
- [17:22]
Amanda Head
We've known you a long time. We've had you on the show for a long time. We know you as extremely patriotic. When you have these tough days on the job because you inherited a bear of a job, when you come across these tough days on the job, which I know is probably every day, is it transparency that keeps you going? Is it accountability? Is it a desire to see overhaul at the agency? What drives you?
- [17:45]
Kash Patel
It's all of the above. You know, when there's nothing that can prepare you to be the Director of the FBI, I don't care what anyone says. There's no job or sequence of jobs that gets you ready for it. What you have to do is stick to what got you here in the first place. And for me, that was a mission of accountability, not just for the criminals in the streets and terrorists and drug traffickers that are harming our way of life. But the hypocrisy at the FBI had to be shattered from prior leadership because they would not look inward, because they were the ones, some of which have now been charged, who are committing the most heinous crimes against the United States of America. And that's what the American public was ticked off at. So that motivates me more than anything else to root out the corruption that was embedded into this FBI and restore the trust of this FBI. Past leaders talked about it and then did the opposite and embedded themselves in a system of corruption and lied and used the intelligence community and law enforcement to go after their enemies. And when they now come after us, like they didn't, one of the questions we had in the Oval was, well, what about weaponization of law enforcement? Is the utter height of hypocrisy for someone like James Comey and his band of miscreants to tell me and lecture me about how law enforcement should be when they are the ones that authored and penned the biggest criminal conspiracy in US History, which was Russiagate?
- [18:55]
John Solomon
Yeah. Well, we now have Director Comey under indictment, so he's. He's facing that accountability for the first time. I want to finish with something that obviously got a lot of attention. It got the attention because you found the records and your team got them to Congress. First were eight or nine members of Congress whose phone records were rifled through. And I know the FBI gets the blame for it, but actually it was Jack Smith's team that gets his subpoena and gets us FBI just doing its job. Today we also learned that there was an effort by the January 6 committee to get the FBI to take a whole bunch, I guess 30 million lines of phone records. I don't think the FBI did it, but it seems to me that Americans phone records maybe didn't have a lot of protection during the Obama Biden years. Are you looking at some new civil liberty protections to make sure there aren't abuses in the future?
- [19:36]
Kash Patel
Absolutely, we're working on it, Department. We've already implemented changes, we've already informed Congress. We won't be grabbing their cell phone records or their staffers cell phone records for just a sense of weaponization. We're never going to be participating in any of that. And some of the reforms we've implemented on FISA and so many other corrupt institutions that were weaponized by the likes of Comey and Strzok and Page and so many others, we've ended that regime and they hate us for it. And the mainstream media who bought into their conspiracy theories because they hated President Trump so much that they were willing to spread fake news. They're a part of the scheme too, and we're exposing every single one of them. So the good news about this FBI, it is mission focused. It is law enforcement first. And it doesn't matter if you're red or blue or in between or where you live. We are going to come in and root out not just criminality, but corruption in every single town in this country.
- [20:24]
Amanda Head
Do you have time for one more, please. A lot of Americans, because of controversies of the last 10 years or so, are ready to be done with the atf. They want to see it abolished. But I know your hands are full. Would you like to at least see that those responsibilities reabsorbed by the FBI?
- [20:40]
Kash Patel
So look, the atf, we work hand in glove with these guys. And I was the acting director of the ATF for my first month on the job. They're awesome. They have a mission set that we must have in law enforcement in the 1811 special agent community. And so they're doing their job. I understand again, in the past the ATF was weaponized, whether it was gun running under one of the former DOJ leaders, Holder, and all this other stuff that people, people are rightfully so ticked off. But here's what President Trump's doing. He's putting in leaders to restore the trust and credibility by putting these folks, whether it's at FBI or ATF, out in the field and not in Washington, D.C. to chase criminals. And I think everyday Americans are seeing that. I mean, when you see these results that we've talked about and some, you know, 5,400 children that the FBI has found and identified as a 35% increase. Four of the world's top children, 10 most wanted FBI fugitives captured in seven months. Seven months. That's, that's the same amount as Biden did in four years. I think the American public is seeing when you let law enforcement, the FBI, atf, who have you do their jobs, it doesn't matter where they're housed. The problem was the people that were running them.
- [21:48]
John Solomon
Somewhere tonight, either watching the Oval Office press conference or the show tonight, there's a parent who has her kid back because you went and got them. Your agents went and got them. That's an extraordinary thing to say because it doesn't happen very often. Last question. All the things that you've seen, all the weaponization you've uncovered since you came in and found these secret files or restricted files, all those things beyond those who are already charged, do you think you've seen other crimes that might eventually get referred to justice?
- [22:13]
Kash Patel
Yes. We are looking at so many different leads on criminal activity by those who are in positions of power. And we're not going to stop until every single one of those is fully exposed. The documents are provided either to Congress or the courts of law and make every referral we can to the Department of Justice. These indictments that you've seen and the ones that you're going to see coming up here in this near future are just the beginning. But I have to remind the audience one thing. Everybody's like, it's seven months. What have you guys been doing? Well, they spent 20 years building this disease temple of corruption. It takes a little bit of time to defeat it and beat it down. And I'm not asking you to trust me. I'm asking you to look at the work the men and women of the FBI have done so far in these seven, eight months and just imagine what we're going to do come the year end.
- [22:55]
John Solomon
The FBI looks a lot more like the one I covered 20, 30 years ago than the one I had to endure and cover the last 10 years. And as a great credit to you, Director, there's no doubt about the President said it today, we know it's true. What an honor to have you on such a busy day. Thanks for joining us.
- [23:07]
Kash Patel
Thanks so much, guys.
- [23:08]
John Solomon
What a great conversation. All right, folks, we're gonna take a quick commercial break. When we come back, we had a great conversation with Congressman Mike Kennedy of Utah. He had a lot of good things to say about the FBI. He's pretty excited about what's going on. Well, I'll have that next right after these messages. Hey, folks, I knew we all have two ages, our actual age and our body's internal biological age. What I didn't know is I've likely lowered my biological age without even knowing it. Here's the thing. Because Americans eat so many processed foods and not enough fruits and veggies, many are 10 plus years older on the inside than their actual age. And that is a ticking time bomb. Major university study suggests how to slow aging and diffuse that biological time bombs. Participants slowed their aging by drinking field of greens. That's all. They didn't change their eating, drinking or exercise. Just took field of greens. Each fruit and vegetable in field of greens was doctor selected for specific health benefits. Cell health, heart, lungs, kidney, metabolism, even healthy weight. I feel great knowing field of greens can slow how quickly I'm aging. And I encourage you to join me. Swap your untested fruit, vegetable or green drink for field of greens while there's still time. Check out the university study and get 20% off when you use the promo code. Just news@fieldofgreens.com that's fieldofgreens.com promo code just news.
- [24:37]
Amanda Head
Welcome back, everybody. The government shutdown drags on. Remember, the record is 35 days. That was the end of 2018 going into 2019 under President Trump's first term. We are now, I believe, on day 15. So joining us now to discuss if this is going to be the longest we've seen, if it surpasses that 35 days, we've got Congressman Mike Kennedy from the great state of Utah. Sir, thank you so much for being here.
- [25:00]
Mike Kennedy
Amanda, thanks for having me on. I'm glad we could get this scheduled finally. We wanted to visit with you, too, for a while. So glad to see you.
- [25:07]
Amanda Head
Me, too. We are so glad to have you here, sir. 35 days is the record. I don't know what it will take to bring Democrats to the table before that day. What are you feeling is going to bring them to the table?
- [25:20]
Mike Kennedy
We're hearing word on the street that they have a We Hate America rally this coming Saturday. And so they don't want to fold to their progressive side of their party until after that. I'm sure for them to go to this rally on Saturday is something that they can't go saying we just, we just folded to the Republicans. And so they're at this point going to hold out through this week, I expect. What's going to happen next week? Any anybody's guess. But I'll just remind you and your listeners and watchers that 26 days ago we've voted to fund the government. So anybody complaining about our TSA and air traffic controller people that aren't being paid right now, the government workers that are furloughed, we already voted to fund all those people. And I believe that was the right thing to do. We're just waiting for some seven sensible Democrats on the Senate side to actually support us in this effort just to fund the government.
- [26:10]
John Solomon
It's funny, sir, you're one of the most popular people on our program because we've been talking a lot about this legislation that you and others are pushing that when members of Congress fail to get a budget done, they shouldn't collect their paychecks. People love this idea. Tell us why you inspired it or what inspired you to do it and then what reaction you get when you talk to everyday Americans about it.
- [26:29]
Mike Kennedy
We saw this looming government shutdown and this was a great time to send that bill. File that bill in the form of, look, if Congress isn't going to do its job, then Congress people should not get their pay. And I totally support that. So I filed that bill. We'll see if we can make it through this process. But when I talk to average people about that, absolutely. If you're not going to show up to work, you don't get a paycheck. I'm a small business owner before I came to Congress. And that's how it works, is if you don't come to work, you don't get paid. And Congress should be held to the same standard.
- [27:00]
John Solomon
Absolutely novel idea, sir, when it comes.
- [27:03]
Amanda Head
To the messaging war, especially on things like this, no work, no pay, it absolutely is common sense. But I was at treasury earlier today and both Treasury Secretary Scott Bessen as well as Trade Representative Jameson Greer, both of them started by saying, you know, the Democrat shut down, the Schumer shut down, Republicans have coalesced around this messaging. And the longer it drags on because you got the Trump administration, who has cobbled together pay for service members, for moms who are needing government resources. So what do Democrats do with the messaging as this drags on when they've got constituents coming to them saying, hey, you guys aren't taking care of us.
- [27:40]
Mike Kennedy
They're going to get hurt by this. And it's going to take a while for their progressive base to understand what's at stake here and how this is operating. Because of the fact in history that Republicans have been leading these efforts. I think a lot of people are not awake to the fact that this time the Democrats are leading the efforts. Shut the government down. And when their base recognizes that the government that they love and they want to expand, the progressive base wants to see more and more government. That when those people are not only being furloughed, those government workers, those bureaucrats, but they're also being fired by the Trump administration. I think the Democrats the heat is going to continue to build on the Democrats. The other thing for both of you, John and Amanda is this is nonsense. A one and a half trillion dollar demand from Chuck Schumer on the other side saying we should just go in the back room. Speaker Johnson just talked to the Congressional Caucus yesterday and said that's what Chuck Schumer wants is he wants us in a smoke filled back room with Chuck Schumer, Speaker Johnson, Leader Thune and Hakeem Jeffries to hammer this out. 1 1/2 trillion dollars of of deficit spending on something that most people don't even understand what's going on as to enhance premium tax credits. That is how Chuck Schumer operates. And back smoke filled back rooms. He wants to with four people spend one and a half trillion dollars. That's what he's demanding as a result of this government shutdown. He's holding the people, American people hostage. I find it entirely irresponsible. And Speaker Johnson will have none of this. Leader Thune, none of this President Trump, none of this. And I think we should hold firm. We've passed a resolution to fund the government and Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer should be held to task for this Schumer shutdown.
- [29:17]
John Solomon
So I want to ask about those enhanced Obamacare benefits, which I think are twofold message. One is it shows that Obamacare never was going to lower premiums unless there was a massive subsidy. And two, isn't it the insurers who get the money? Isn't that aren't Democrats holding out to help big insurance companies on this?
- [29:35]
Mike Kennedy
Right on, John. Actually I've been approached by hospitals and insurance companies for eight months. They've been talking to me about this. And by the way, the idea of doubling your premiums, this is what Obamacare does, by the way, without government subsidies all of a sudden come January 1st everybody's premiums are 26 million Americans. Premiums are going to be doubled. That, that's a big deal. And we can have those conversations. But this is this. Actually, the Democrats put this enhanced premium tax credit plan, this boondoggle, spending a bunch of money back four years ago, five years ago. They put it in during the COVID era and the Democrats set it to expire. So this expiration and this crisis that they're complaining to us about, the Democrats created this five years ago. And I am happy in the proper setting, in committees when we have budget hearings to discuss these policy issues. But holding the American people hostage and keeping the government shut down so our air traffic controllers and air traffic can't go in a safe fashion, totally inappropriate. So let's get the government open and then have those conversations that we need to have about this, this enhanced premium tax credit debate. But this is a Democrat creation. And for them to blame it on us is entirely, it's a, it's a myth, it's a fiction, and I'm not going to stand for it.
- [30:56]
Amanda Head
Congressman, something else is big of the news cycle that affects your state, states like Utah, that have critical resources under the earth. You've got China, who is now placing these very stringent limits on exports on critical minerals. Now, it obviously is an issue, but it has highlighted something that's even more important, which is that states like Utah, you guys have resources as well. Are Republicans on Capitol Hill working with the Trump administration to not only find a short term way to fill in the gap in the meantime before we can get things worked out with China, but also to extend that to a longer and more durable situation where we are getting these critical minerals from our own Earth, from states like Utah.
- [31:37]
Mike Kennedy
Self sufficiency is fundamental to the American people and it's certainly fundamental to Utah. And it is nonsense for us to offshore critical earth minerals, these rare earth minerals, offshore them to China, our international adversary. And so absolutely, the Trump administration is working vigorously to, to enhance permitting capacity and open up our vast federal lands, including Utah. In Utah, I'll just tell you right now, White Mesa Mill, we are processing rare earth minerals. And we've got a great group of people in San Juan county, rural Utah, rural America, that they, these, these outstanding individuals are taking our raw elements and processing these rare earth minerals so that we can make the vital magnets, the batteries that are essential not only for defense, but also for our technological innovations here in America, where we stand ready and able to do this. President Trump's empowering that through permeating reform. I know Doug Burgum on the Interior side. He's working vigorously on this as well. But after the Biden administration locked us up for four years, it's, it's been really difficult with NEPA and the environmental process for us to even move into this stuff. So just like anything, it's going to take a while for us to get ramped up. But we need to do this for our own security and self sufficiency. And I'm entirely supportive of President Trump and doing that.
- [32:56]
John Solomon
One last question before I let you go. There's been a lot of focus about what vulnerability we have for our phone records. I think a lot of people never thought it would be the government or the Congress that was rifling through Americans private phone records. But a few weeks ago, we learned eight senators and one House member had their FBI records gone through by the FBI. Today, we learned that Adam Kinzinger, former member of the House, went to the FBI in December 2023 to offer them 30 million lines of Americans phone data that the J6 committee basically collect data that basically mapped who was calling the Trump White House from all over the country. Does Congress need to have some restraints maybe put on when it can access everyday Americans phone records?
- [33:38]
Mike Kennedy
Absolutely nobody should be subject to these kind of civil rights violations. And where, as I mentioned, the Democrats are going to show up on Saturday for some protests and telling us how terrible America is, I hope they talk about what they've been doing to actually seize Americans property and values and records, in this case phone records, and use it against these people. While they complain about ICE trying to arrest illegal aliens and also gang members in our country, they should also complain about the fact that 30 million phone lines were tapped and efforts to influence elections were used. And absolutely I'm entirely supportive of those kind of constraints, which actually are constitutional, unreasonable search and seizure. The Constitution already protects us from that. But sadly, some congressmen don't understand it. And I'm entirely supportive also of statutory protections that enhance our protections in modern society.
- [34:31]
Amanda Head
Good ideas, ideas like that, that fortify the trust of the American people, which has been unfortunately, sorely corroded. Utah Congressman Mike Kennedy, thank you so much for being with us tonight, sir.
- [34:40]
Mike Kennedy
Great to be with you.
- [34:42]
Amanda Head
Absolutely. We'll get you back on soon. All right, everybody, we're going to take a quick commercial break and then we'll be right back.
- [34:50]
John Solomon
Hey, folks, I've got an important message for you about high blood pressure. It's one of the highest risk factors for mortality. Nearly one in two adults have high blood pressure, meaning there's about a 50, 50 chance you could be affected. Getting help and taking control of your blood pressure is crucial for your health and longevity. And and one way to do that is by using 120 Life. And 120 Life is not just to help manage high blood pressure. It also can be beneficial for those with diabetes because managing high blood pressure can help with diabetes, making 120Life a valuable tool for overall wellness. 120Life is trusted by healthcare professionals with over a thousand doctors recommending it to help manage your blood pressure naturally for a limited time. Try 120Life and save 20% off. Just use the code JTN at checkout at 120Life.com 120Life offers a risk free trial with a full refund. If you don't see lower numbers in two weeks, go to one to zero life.com and use the code jtn to save 20%.
- [35:58]
Amanda Head
Welcome back everybody. Yes, I think we are racking up three different locations for the TV show tonight. First at the White House at eeo, be with the FBI director, the last segment back at our regular studio. And now magically I'm here at the White House. Thank you so much for being with us tonight. And I am excited to bring in our guest tonight. He serves as AMAC Actions Senior Vice President Andy Mangione. Andy, thanks so much for being with us.
- [36:21]
Andy Mangione
My pleasure, Amanda.
- [36:25]
Amanda Head
Andy, I want to talk to you about election integrity in this Myers Report. Election integrity is obviously something that was at the forefront of a lot of Americans that minds leading into the November election. And I think that a lot of folks thought that since President Trump won and he won the popular vote that things were all good. Everything's copacetic and hunky dory. But tell us about this Myers report that ranked the world's democracies when it comes to elections.
- [36:51]
Andy Mangione
Well, the Myers Report, Amanda, is an ongoing discussion group. It's a think tank. It was founded in 1985. It's a forum comprised of thought leaders from many different professions and diverse political affiliations. And in August, they released a study that evaluated 17 areas of voting system risk and concluded that the United States has the worst voting system of the Democrat. I'm sorry. The democracies studied, the US Actually scored lower than nations such as Mexico, Kenya, Italy and Rwanda. The report cited widespread vulnerabilities related to mail in voting, ballot harvesting and electronic voting machines without auditable paper trails. Among the report's most alarming conclusions. AMANDA is that 94% of countries studied do not allow unrestricted mail in voting, compared to the United States where it is now common practice in many states. The study also highlights that 55% of US states allow ballot harvesting, a practice banned in every other country study. Additionally, 92% of other democracies in the study required a photo ID for voting, while 29% of states in the US do not require any ID to vote. But Amanda, it's not all bad news. The study cited the top performing US States included Mississippi, Arkansas and Kentucky, all of which earned scores above 75 out of 100. And we believe that this study validates the ongoing efforts by IMAC Action to continue our fight for election integrity by supporting measures like voter ID and US Citizen only voting and working to get rid of ranked choice voting, ballot trafficking, same day voter registration and other bad processes that threaten the security of our elections.
- [38:39]
Amanda Head
Yeah, that is really good news. And I think that a lot of people hear about these vulnerabilities and the first thing they would think is, okay, well, let's just fix them. But we all know that they're are a lot of Democrats, primarily in this country, who are pushing back against practically every voter every election integrity measure that Republicans try to pass. When you look at these other democracies across the world who ranked poorly like we do, did they have the same issue that they were facing with regards to actually fixing it?
- [39:07]
Andy Mangione
Well, they don't have a Democrat party in those, but there was pushback. There was pushback on specific election integrity measures that mirrored what we have here. So in a way, they are facing the same types of uphill battles that we are with regard to simple election integrity measures. Like, like voter id, for example.
- [39:29]
Amanda Head
Yeah, well, and I suppose what I'm asking is, you know, I think the perception, the conventional perception here is that the reason that folks are pushing back against election integrity measures is because they want there to be vulnerability so that they can manipulate the system. Is that what you observe in other countries as well?
- [39:47]
Andy Mangione
Absolutely. Absolutely.
- [39:49]
Mike Kennedy
The.
- [39:50]
Andy Mangione
Yeah, if you cast doubt into the system, it can be manipulated. And it's the same thing elsewhere in the world.
- [39:58]
Amanda Head
Yeah. Incredible. So, all right, you've got the Republican Party who seems to by and large want to fix it. You've got a lot of different pieces of legislation up on Capitol Hill. Are there any specific pieces of, of legislation that you think are the quick fix? I mean, I know there's, there's not a quick fix, but something that could really put the nail in the coffin of integrity issues.
- [40:19]
Andy Mangione
Well, I'll tell you, Amanda, this. This fight for election integrity is being fought on two levels. In the states and in the federal government. The federal government can control federal elections. Every other election takes place and is managed by the states. So in all states are different with regard to how their legislatures run. But let's take a look at the federal issue. For example, the SAVE act, the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility act, was reintroduced this Congress. What this would require is proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections. That sounds familiar. We sound like a broken record here, but it's an important piece of legislation. Between last Congress and this Congress, AMAG members have sent over 30,000 messages to their to the representatives in Washington, D.C. to get the SAVE act passed. We did it last Congress and this Congress, now it heads to the Senate in this Congress. And you can bet we'll be keeping an eye on it to shepherd it through the Senate when they take it up when the government reopens, etcetera, etcetera.
- [41:20]
Amanda Head
Absolutely. So, Andy, you know, we're talking a lot about the infrastructure that can be created to fortify elections, but there's another aspect of this that can also fortify it. And it's not with machines, it's not with paper, it's not with legislation. It's with human eyeballs. I know that AMAC is doing a really great job of focusing on poll washers and having folks there present on the ground to at least, you know, there's an optics to having people there watching what you are doing that can possibly deter any type of shenanigans. But tell us about AMAC's effort to get this done.
- [41:53]
Andy Mangione
Well, our members are very, very engaged on this level. We've got a gubernatorial election forthcoming in Virginia. It's pretty high profile. I'm sure you're familiar with it. And there's a critical need for people to work the polls in Virginia. Let's go back to 2021, Amanda, when hundreds of AMAC members served the commonwealth by working the election that resulted in Glenn Youngkin being elected governor. There are many, many conservative eyes on the process, and we were told that because of that scrutiny, the voting experience was relatively smooth. We recently launched a recruiting drive to ask AMAC members to answer the call again and serve as poll workers and officers of election in Virginia. The race there is garnering much attention and Virginia needs to ensure that the process is uncorrupted. And you mentioned how our members have answered the call before. Our members come in and they work the polls. Over 2500 of them work the polls in the 2024 elections. And we're counting on this same engagement again in Virginia for this year. It's not hard asking AMC members to do this. They have responded in great numbers. They make us look good, but all the credit goes to them. These are long days. I've worked elections myself. So have my colleagues at Amec Action. 13, 14 hour days. It's well worth the effort and it's well worth the scrutiny to ensure that our elections are secure.
- [43:12]
Amanda Head
Yeah, and Andy, I can attest to that because every time I have done an AMAC event with John, it is packed to the gills and people who are, they are patriots and they are ready to get involved and to take action to fix the problems in our country. Before I let you go, you mentioned some of the states that rank high for election integrity. What were some of the worst ones?
- [43:30]
Andy Mangione
Well, no surprise here. New York, California, Vermont. No big surprises. You can, you could guess that, but you'd be right.
- [43:39]
Amanda Head
Absolutely no surprise at all. Andy Mangione, thanks so much for being with us tonight.
- [43:44]
Andy Mangione
My pleasure, Amanda. Thank you.
- [43:47]
Amanda Head
Absolutely. All right, everybody, if you want to get in on the AMAC membership, John always talks about it. He loves his relationship with amac. You want to go to that website there on the screen. We're going to take a very quick commercial break and I think that John has made it back to our regular studio. So we're going to try to meet on the other side.
- [44:09]
John Solomon
Folks. As an investigative journalist, I've spent my career digging into the facts, cutting through noise, asking hard questions and getting to the truth. And when it comes to who I recommend to my audience, I hold everyone to the same standard. That's why I want to tell you I've done the homework. And amac, the association of Mature American Citizens, is the real deal. AMAC is a conservative alternative to aarp. They're focused on faith, family and freedom. And they offer real benefits to their members, myself included, including discounts on travel insurance and prescriptions. So much more exclusive resources and their excellent AMAC magazine. And right now, when you sign up for a five year membership, you'll save up to 33%. That's just over a dollar a month. A smart investment to stay informed, get real value and support a cause that matters. Visit AMAC Us justnewstoday. I've done the vetting. Now you can take the next step to real America's voice. Real minute, Your quick look at the powerful stories of faith and freedom inspiring audiences across the nation. Angel Studios presents I'm Bo Davidson with.
- [45:16]
Narrator
Your real America's voice. Real minute at Camp Ouigaway, a Christian summer camp filled with adventure and camaraderie. Kids come together for experiences that challenge and inspire them. Between canoe races, campfires and heartfelt conversations, they form deep friendships and uncover new layers of their faith and identity. Each day at camp offers opportunities for personal growth, connection and unforgettable memories.
- [45:42]
John Solomon
Come on, pick it up.
- [45:42]
Mike Kennedy
Let's go. I can't be the only one pumped.
- [45:44]
Kash Patel
To go read a Bible in the.
- [45:45]
Mike Kennedy
Middle of the woods for a week.
- [45:46]
John Solomon
If you need a hand with packing.
- [45:48]
Amanda Head
We'Re here to help.
- [45:49]
John Solomon
Thank God.
- [45:50]
Narrator
A troubled teenager takes a leap of faith to attend camp A Week Away in this series directed by Alan Powell and a cast that stars Antonio Cipriano, David Koechner, Leigh Ellen Baker and Carlos Penavega. It has music from the same producers who created High School Musical and Camp Rock.
- [46:07]
Kash Patel
Three, two, One More Time.
- [46:10]
John Solomon
I know we're amazing.
- [46:14]
Kash Patel
Why am I here?
- [46:17]
Amanda Head
It's the question we are all asking ourselves.
- [46:22]
Narrator
This action packed fun series will have you asking, why am I here? And what is my purpose? The series streams exclusively on Angel Studios platform. So the best way to see this new series is by joining the Angel Guild, a community of over a million members that have a vested voice in what series and films get greenlit by Angel. This means that A Week Away was voted on by members of the Guild to move forward. So becoming a guild member is like being a member of the television academy and you'll get all the perks from the comfort of your own home. So head on over to Angel.com Rav to join the Guild and watch A Week Away today.
- [47:13]
Amanda Head
Welcome back everybody. As promised, John Solomon at the studio, me here at the White House. We are meeting up to hit a bunch of topics before we head out for the evening. John, we feel like we've traveled all over the city. At the White House, at our studio at eeob, an amazing interview with Kash Patel. But I want to bring something to your attention that I know is probably near and dear to your heart because of your long journalist career. Clarence Thomas was confirmed 34 years ago today, 52 to 48. And what an impact. How consequential has he been to the judiciary?
- [47:46]
John Solomon
One of the very first stories I covered, I came here the week the Clarence Thomas hearings came and it was an early effort at that liberal cancel culture to take an allegation that could not be fully verified. That's why the senators ultimately confirmed him. But to try to play into a stereotype and cancel the man because he had such a potential powerful intellect, just like Charlie's powerful intellect has been canceled. And so it was an extraordinary moment. Ironically, Joe Biden is the guy that actually foils the Democrats plan. And Clarence Thomas ultimately gets selected to the bench. And when he does, he blazes a path of really historic rulings. And history will look back at Clarence Thomas as one of the most consequential justices of the late 20th and early 21st century. I think I have a lot of fun memories of just being in the AP newsroom during those first few weeks and kept thinking, wow, if this is what Washington is going to be like because I just moved here from Milwaukee, I can't wait to be here. And I stayed 34 years.
- [48:46]
Amanda Head
Oh, the drama that John Solomon has seen since then. Yeah. You know, obviously what they did to Justice Clarence Thomas was abominable. The accusations that were that were thrown at him. But I would say that they were probably right in their estimates, estimation and their calculation that he was going to be very, very influential among that body. So, John, I want to ask you because I haven't had a chance to ask you about this today. There was kind of an exodus from Pentagon press folks who are opposed to some of the rules that Pete Hegseth that Secretary Hegseth laid out. And for our audience, those rules were actually pretty basic. You can no longer roam the halls of the Pentagon. You have to wear your badge at all times and you can't solicit criminal acts for from employees there at the Pentagon. John, is there more to it or are these folks who are leaving en masse, is it justified?
- [49:35]
John Solomon
You know, it's interesting. There's a lot of conservative groups that are joining in this like the Daily Caller and Newsmax, I believe. I don't know Foxes, but it's possible Fox will be listen, what the policy states is the dirty truth. There are these laws on these books and journalists have not wanted to to address that issue, that there are these laws on this book that create legal liability. If you ask a Pentagon official to give you something they're not allowed to give you, it becomes criminalized. And so all Pete Exef has done is write a memo telling the journalists what they've tried to ignore for two or three decades, which is, you know, there are laws and the people who leak to you may get prosecuted and if you personally solicited, you may get prosecuted. Now when I came to Washington in 1991 and I got my first ethics briefing from the Associated Press, they raised These very laws with me. I was going to be an investigative reporter. They knew that, and they wanted, hey, you should know you can receive information, but if you ask someone to leak your classified secret, it could be illegal. And if you asked a military person who has a different requirement than a civilian worker, they could get in some serious trouble. So think carefully about when you're going to give anonymity to someone because they might put you in prison. Think carefully about these consequences. So nothing in this memo surprises me because my briefing 34 years ago this month when I came to the Associated Press, included a lot of these issues. Ironically, one of the lawyers I worked with at the ap, Dave Schultz, is the lawyer now representing the Press Association. There's nothing that surprises me in the roles. There's nothing that surprises me in the reaction of the news media. But here's the dirty secret. There was no objection to most of the things in this thing. The only objection we see in a letter we got last night, they don't want to acknowledge that. The media does not want to acknowledge they understand the rules. I think that's pretty lame. Find some other reason, say I object to this or that. But the actual letter says the only thing we're objecting to is saying we understand. You're supposed to understand as a journalist, if you want to make a point, say what in the rules you're objecting to. But don't say you're fighting over the word understand.
- [51:40]
Amanda Head
Absolutely. Guys, I don't. I can't hear a clock. I don't see a clock. But I'm trying to get an answer from John on the most.
- [51:47]
John Solomon
We're headed out. I'm gonna take a Saturday.
- [51:49]
Amanda Head
Never mind.
- [51:50]
John Solomon
Yeah.
- [51:51]
Amanda Head
Yep. All right, everybody, thanks for joining us on our tour of Washington tonight. And head back tomorrow, 6pm Eastern right here on Real America's Voice. Have a great night.
- [52:17]
Kash Patel
This is an I Heart podcast.