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Jimmy Failla
Hello, everyone.
Kayleigh McEnany
I'm kayleigh mcenany along with lisa booth, harold ford jr. Brian kilmeade and jimmy fala. Who let him in? It's five o' clock in new york city and this is the five. We begin with this FOX News alert, a critical and emotional day four of the Charlie Kirk program. Preliminary murder hearing. The court hearing for the first time a recorded interview from Tyler Robinson's former roommate and former lover, Lance Twigs. Here's some sound from that where Lance Twigs claim that Tyler Robinson told him he wished he had not done it.
Harold Ford Jr.
So he acted erratically.
Lance Twigs
Was he pacing? They just sitting down relaxing now. He was, he was walking around a lot and that's within the home.
Harold Ford Jr.
And did he talk about what he had done?
Lance Twigs
Didn't go into detail. He just, I just asked him in person if what he said was true the night before and he said it was. I started crying a little bit and said he wishes he hadn't done it.
Kayleigh McEnany
Let's go right to Claudia Cowan in Provo, Utah. Claudia?
Claudia Cowan
Well, good afternoon, Kaylee. Here on day four of Tyler Robinson's preliminary hearing. We finally got to this highly anticipated police interview with Lance Twigs, Tyler Robinson's former lover and roommate and the prosecution star witness in their case against the accused assassin. Judge Tony Graff ordered that much of the 37 minute long interview be played with significant redactions to ensure Robinson receives a fair trial. But by any measure, what was played here today was incriminating. In the video interview, Twigs tells prosecutor Ryan McBride about his relationship with Robinson and messages he received from him the night and day after Charlie Kirk was killed. He said on September 10, Robinson left early, saying he had a long drive to work and heard from him again at 11 that night when he got a text message directing him to a note he had left. That's when the courtroom monitor goes to black, but the audio continues.
Lance Twigs
Listen. That was the note under his keyboard that he was referring to in the first text of that chain.
Jimmy Failla
So where did you find us on,
Lance Twigs
on his desk underneath his, like, computer keyboard.
Claudia Cowan
Prosecutors say that note and text exchanges include confessions and a motive, including a text where Robinson, when Twigs asked, why did he do it, replies, I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can't be negotiated out. Twiggs also positively identified Robinson as the man seen in surveillance video at the crime scene, saying he recognized his clothes and his sunglasses. Twiggs also testified Robinson was trying to get hold of a rifle and was interested in engraving bullets for an upcoming hunting trip. The court saw pictures of bullets found inside the suspected murder weapon with messages like, hey, fascist. And. And if you can read this, you are gay now. This testimony about rifles and hunting brought Erica Kirk to tears. She has been fighting throughout this whole week to get access to as much evidence as possible to combat wild conspiracy theories and to protect her own First Amendment rights. Kaylee, we may not have seen everything that the prosecution have, but what we did see in court today would appear to go a long way to helping the prosecution prove to. That there is probable cause to hold Tyler Robinson responsible for her husband's murder.
Kayleigh McEnany
Yeah, without question. Claudia, thank you. Let's bring in Fox News contributor and former LA Deputy DA Josh Ritter. Josh, I want to play a sound bite and then I have a question for you, but this is the moment Lance Twiggs talks about those engravings. You just heard Claudia say that some of this testimony drove Erica Kirk to tears. Listen to this.
Lance Twigs
Was he engraving bullets before this?
Brian Kilmeade
Yeah.
Lance Twigs
I don't remember exactly when, but he had said he was planning to go hunting with his family. And he asked me for a. If we had like, a Dremel, because he said he wanted to create messages on bullets. And I just told him where Dremel was and told him to make sure he doesn't, like, set off a bullet on accident in the house. But I didn't really think about it until then.
Jimmy Failla
So are we talking like a year before?
Lance Twigs
Oh, no, not, not that. Not that long. It would have been, I'd say, at most a month before. This was when he was asking.
Kayleigh McEnany
So, Josh, I read testimony that or some color from the courtroom that Robinson's becoming visibly agitated during some of this. And talking about the engravings. Do you think he's realizing that it's not just a mountain of evidence and it's an avalanche. Could this drive him to plea deal?
Josh Ritter
Yeah, I think he's seen the walls closing in. There was an avalanche of evidence today. We had heard a lot of evidence before today, but today was really the lion's share of it and some of the strongest evidence, too. We're talking about evidence coming from his former partner, his roommate, a person that he had a romantic relationship with, who's essentially giving the most powerful evidence in this prelim yet, talking about the confessions that he made out of his own mouth to this crime, along with the text messages and the, the messaging online and the letter that he left behind. All of this is incredibly convincing evidence. And, yeah, he's probably starting to think to himself that whatever his attorneys had been convincing him of before now might not be all that true. And this is a very convincing case for the prosecution.
Brian Kilmeade
What I'm wondering is, if I submitted this script for Law and Order, they'd hand it back to me and say, there's no mystery here, there's no intrigue. This is the craziest case ever. You have the gun, you have the admission, the handwritten note, you have the corroboration. You have it in writing. You got the text exchanges. You have him worrying about his fingerprints. You have his change of clothes, you have the video of him on campus, you have the interaction, you have him get the confirmation of the identification that that's him from his boyfriend, trans lover. So you have all this together. The question is, if you're the defense, do you see any holes to pursue right now, or do you say, make your decision, Judge, I will see you on trial?
Josh Ritter
I don't think they have any holes to poke in this case right now with this lower standard that we're talking about at the preliminary hearing of just probable cause. And as far as how they handle this case going forward, to me, there's two strategies. They go hat in hand to the prosecutor's office and they beg for something less than the death penalty. Or it's this war of attrition that we've seen. We are past the 300 day mark right now, and we're just getting to the preliminary hearing. So they've already tried to employ that to just try to wear the prosecution down, and perhaps we'll see more of that. But if this goes to trial, I agree with you. The evidence runs the entire gamut from forensics and to DNA to surveillance, to his own confessions. It's a very, very powerful case. I don't see any obvious holes. Unless there is something that catastrophically falls apart for the prosecution, I don't see the prosecution offering him anything less than the death penalty. It'll be remarkable if we see any kind of plea agreement before this reaches trial.
Lisa Booth
You know, Josh, Lisa Booth here. Thanks for doing such a great job breaking this down for us. Obviously, you look at the publicness of this trial and the information that is surfaced, what role does this preliminary hearing play in with the eventual jury pool?
Josh Ritter
So that's been a big question and something that the defense has tried to focus on and why they're making much of their arguments as to why some of this evidence should be. Should not be shown in court. They keep talking about how we cannot prejudice our client, meaning we cannot somehow spoil the potential jury parole that they will already have made up their minds. Before they even get called into court as potential jurors. But this is not the first case that we've had in front of a camera. I mean, we've, you know, we've been doing this for decades now. We know how to handle this as a judicial system. We have very robust voir dire and jury questionnaires. I think they're going to be able to handle a find, a fair jury. What this is doing more than anything is probably putting to rest a lot of these bizarre and circulating conspiracy theories so that people can actually see the evidence against him.
Jimmy Failla
Josh, that was going to be my question. We've got so many moon bats on social media trying to exploit the notoriety of this trial. Today was by all accounts a really bad day to be a social media agitator, would you not say?
Josh Ritter
Yeah, I think you're exactly right. It did seem as though the prosecution was going down a checklist of every kind of conspiracy theory that was circulating online and almost answering it in turn. I mean, we, we got down to the idea that he was familiar with that weapon before, how that weapon could have certainly fired from that distance. All the things that seem to have been a question online. We're connecting him through DNA, we're connecting him through surveillance. I mean, one of the things that shouldn't get overlooked with the testimony that we heard from Lance Twiggs today is he identified Tyler Robinson from steals of that surveillance video. That's the first time that we've heard that before now. It's always been a person matching his description. And, and he said in court through this recording that that does look like Tyler Robinson.
Kayleigh McEnany
Josh, this is supposed to end tomorrow. We are supposed to finally, after 300 days, get a plea from Tyler Robinson. Does that happen? Does this end tomorrow?
Josh Ritter
I, you know, if the prosecution is wrapping things up today, I think we've got a chance. When you're counting witnesses, it looks like we're getting down to the last couple. But bear in mind, too, there's argument at the end of all of this, and if we've learned anything from these attorneys, they like to take a lot of time to voice their arguments in court. The judge has said he fully intends to have this done. If you're asking me, I'm not going to say I'm going to be shocked if it bleeds on beyond next this Friday.
Kayleigh McEnany
All right, we'll get cozy in Utah there. Josh Ritter, thank you. Coming up next, Maine Democrats scramble for a new candidate after Graham Platner bows out of the Senate race.
Harold Ford Jr.
Cheers to America's 250th birthday. Get 20% off your first purchase at foxnewswineshop.com with code FNRADIO 2020 discount excludes wine club offers and cannot be combined with any other promotion. Expires July 31, 2026. Must be 21 or older to order. Please drink respons.
Brian Kilmeade
Yes, let's talk about Graham Platner. It's been a minute. Maine Democrats are scrambling to replace the disgraced accused rapist they once rallied behind after he bowed out last night in a rambling 11 minute video. A corporate media system and the political establishment got to act as judge, jury and executioner. It's not the false allegations, though, that have brought us to where we are. It's the fact that they are being used by the political establishment to put structural pressure on us. This is incredibly difficult because I know that some will think it's an admission of guilt, and it most certainly is not. And of course the Democrats can't own up to their poor judgment. They're finding a way to spin out to Be Republic to make it about Republicans and President Trump.
Claudia Cowan
Watch.
Jimmy Failla
Republicans should just really just shut up.
Brian Kilmeade
They really should just shut up if
Jimmy Failla
they're going to be critical of Democrats
Brian Kilmeade
for supporting a morally challenged candidate.
Claudia Cowan
My empathy goes with the bravery of that woman for speaking out.
Lisa Booth
And he has to drop out of the race. Platner's problem is he should have ran
Claudia Cowan
as a Republican and then he would
Lisa Booth
be the senator because they don't have an issue with this.
Kayleigh McEnany
It's not okay.
Lisa Booth
And I keep pointing to the one
Kayleigh McEnany
at the top because this is the
Jimmy Failla
one that is in front of our kids as well.
Kayleigh McEnany
Yes.
Claudia Cowan
And we have to explain why we
Jimmy Failla
say no to this one, but this one is okay.
Lisa Booth
An ultimately deeply enraging political career for Graham Platner. Enraging for all of us.
Jimmy Failla
Right?
Brian Kilmeade
They're trying to spin their way out of this. Kaylee. Is it working?
Jimmy Failla
No.
Kayleigh McEnany
They were all on board. Look, I don't know why I do this, but occasionally subject myself to Ms. Now, Jen Psaki was on board. They were all on board with Graham Platner. They loved this guy. They loved him when he had a Nazi tattoo. They loved him when he had Reddit posts that were unearthed that said the army was absolute trash, full of fat, lazy trash. They still supported this guy. They supported this guy when we saw Reddit posts that he said the Navy Seals were generally incompetent. Teddy Daniels, remember what he said about him? That m eff. He said, should that Dumb MF her didn't deserve to live. They were all with this guy. They were still with him when Lindsey Fifield came forward and said he pushed her left marks on her shoulder, locked her in a room. They were all on Roe.
Brian Kilmeade
Khanna appeared with him that night.
Kayleigh McEnany
Absolutely. Bernie stayed. Elizabeth Warren stayed. This is what they did. And Grant Blattner, he's going out guns a blazing. He's blaming this on the establishment. He is going to I think, take down whoever is next. He might do it subtly off the record to reporters, but he is on a mission to burn down the house and evidence of that. Axios just reported that. He told staffers on the phone he's not filing his paperwork to exit the race until Monday. He has until Monday at 5pm why is this guy waiting till Monday? He has an ax to grind. He's not going away. And the absolute comedy of the New York Times saying that his advisors thought he would be a 2028 presidential candidate. I think not.
Brian Kilmeade
Wow, Lisa, you do still think he could be president?
Kayleigh McEnany
Yes, we do.
Brian Kilmeade
Right my pre interview, correct?
Lisa Booth
I never said that, Brian. But look, two things can be true here. Obviously he's not some progressive martyr. And also this was a hit job from the Democrat establishment. Some of these groups pulled advertising prior to the Politico rape story was published. Also they choked him out of this race. They cut off future funding for him. The Democratic establishment did in supporting groups also said they would deny him access to like their voter files and important data that campaigns need to survive and thrive. So it was a hit job from the Democrat Party. They're stacking up more bodies than the mob. But also what I think is really interesting here is do Democrats end up in the exact same position that they're in now? They have another unvetted candidate. Because the whole problem with Graham Platner is the people who brought him into this race, they vetted him in three days. They only spent six or seven. $6,250. When I've worked on big Senate races before, I've worked at the National Republican Congressional Committee. It takes weeks to do proper betting. Tens of thousands of dollars. The Democrats have a two week process to identify a candidate and to properly vet them, that is not enough time. And the last thing I will add is even if they try to go with someone who's already in the public eye, for instance, someone like Troy Jackson, who led in Graham Platner's internal polling against Susan Collins and who says he wants to be in the race, he wants to run well, guess what? He was accused by a progressive group of throwing a water bottle at a woman.
Kayleigh McEnany
So they think they rescinded that? I don't.
Lisa Booth
Well, I'm just saying they did put that out initially. So my only point is that they could end up replacing Graham Platner with someone who potentially has their issues of their own.
Brian Kilmeade
Jimmy, do you think the next candidate should be forced to talk about their tattoos before they get any nomination?
Jimmy Failla
I think that's why they're floating Patrick Dempsey. We've seen him with his shirt off.
Brian Kilmeade
That's true.
Jimmy Failla
They know he's in the clear.
Lisa Booth
Hot, though.
Jimmy Failla
Yeah. Do you know how. You know how Hunter Biden was joking a few weeks back that he could run? He's actually in the clear because we've seen his whole body. Yes, okay, but this is what drives me crazy about this as someone who legitimately cares about the state of politics in this country. We don't have societal accountability for the people who are dividing us the most shamelessly off of falsehoods. Like, let me give you an example, okay? Everybody who told you Graham Platner is a model citizen told you Biden was airtight. Okay? I know you saw him shake hands with invisible people, but from this angle, he was doing 110 meter hurdles. He broke a world record. They told you Trump colluded with Russia. They told you about the fine people hoax, and every time they were proven to be wrong, we never slammed on the brake and said, by the way, you lied. Okay, we need to bring back shame. Do you know when the dog goes to the vet, gets the cone of shame, you just move on? I support. That's what I mean. I support First Metal more than anybody. I'm a comedian. Okay? But we need to bring back some type of societal accountability for the people who did this, because they're all pretending it never happened. Elizabeth Warren is in about 50 different clips that are viral right now going, this is the best human being who's ever lived. And now all of a sudden, she has reservations. Good night, everybody. But this is what drives me crazy. I just want to say this, okay? The justification for sticking with him was that he relates to the working class, which is the ultimate tell that you have no relationship with the working class. I'm the working class of telemarketer driven a cab. I dress like an affordable male stripper right now. Like Magic Mike's brother, Tragic Mike, you know, chubbier, got a little fat during the pandemic. But the point is, there is no working class job in America. Where the Nazi sex pest, okay, with multiple assault allegations is popular. Now, if you go to any job in America and show up with the Nazi, you're not getting hired. So the idea that that was the justification and now they're like, but this last allegation was a bridge too far. Dude, there have been so many bridges with this guy. I need an easy pass to talk about him.
Brian Kilmeade
Absolutely stupid. And you have to have a credit card that works.
Harold Ford Jr.
Interesting thing about him, and I think he should get out of the race. I would not have voted for him if I were in Maine during the primary is that he still got the nomination by a large amount, by a pretty large margin, 2% of the vote. Even when these stories were coming out and we learned about the tattoo, there were questions about his previous relationships. So I do think that there's something I listened to someone earlier on a Democrat side talk about. What is it? Not only the vetting piece, but something else is going on. Our standards is not meant to malign or be an indictment on anybody in politics today. But just think about it broadly. Our standards intolerance for character has just changed in politics over the last 20 years. I mean, whether you like, there are people we all like, people we don't like. You say, well, that's just him or that's just her. But something has changed in politics. The last time this happened on the Republican side was in 2004 in a Senate race in Illinois. A guy named Jack Ryan, who was a Democrat that everybody knows now named Barack Obama, was running for the Senate. Poor Jack Ryan had to get out the race. He and his wife were having marital issues and apparently they went to some club in Paris together that was revealed in his divorce proceedings. Now, if that happened today, that guy was probably been able to run based on the standards, but the standards we have. So what I hope Graham Platner understands is that this was never about you. If you believe in the things. And I really believe. I don't know him, but I believe he believes that the affordability challenges and the need to talk to and respond to and address the needs of working class America and working class Mainers every day is a priority. But if that's the priority, then move on. Because if you. This is just not meant to be a partisan comment from my friends around the table. But if you're a Democrat and you want to win, he's going to be too much of a distraction to win in that race. So I think the only thing that disappointed me in listening to him the other night or last night was that he took no responsibility for anything. And I also think that is a new thing in politics today on both sides where people just think if they can just get past the story, it'll move on, they can get above it and things will be fine. At some level, character does matter. And the only thing about this matter that is relieving is that the country and Mainers are going to have to now select someone else. They have a process and hopefully the process, I do think that Platter is right, it should be transparent and hopefully they choose someone that is able to separate and give people real choice between Susan Collins and the Democrats.
Lisa Booth
Real quick though, Grant Platter didn't just do well in his primary. He got more votes than any other Senate Democrat candidate in primary history in the state of Maine. And that was even after all of the information out, with the exception of the rape story, had been out there.
Harold Ford Jr.
So I think that's on us, but like that's on we as voters.
Josh Ritter
So it's main.
Brian Kilmeade
Don't blame me.
Harold Ford Jr.
No, no, no, I'm not. But I'm saying, but still, voters there, they're not, they're Americans. They made that decision. So I think there are a lot of questions here that we need to, we need to contemplate even after this primary.
Brian Kilmeade
I think the one difference is with Trump, I don't know if the Ken Paxton analogy might be relevant, but with
Jimmy Failla
Trump, I didn't mention any names.
Brian Kilmeade
Yes, but with the one, there's one thing with Trump, if he, if you accuse him, he's going to tell you no, you accuse me, he'll point you out, he'll hunt you down. He'll say directly exactly what it is. He doesn't say generally it' not true. He'll tell you exactly who accused him and tell you why it's not true. So he would confront these people, he just said it's not true. Well, you dated her for a while. Tell me why it's not true. Tell me the proof that would show a guy that wanted to fight over the last six days that probably would have kept him in the race if he pushed back and had proof that he didn't do it.
Harold Ford Jr.
Standards have changed. That's the only thing I see coming up straight ahead.
Brian Kilmeade
America is keeping the pressure on Iran with a second night of strikes, while President Trump says he still wants a deal. Kinda.
Lisa Booth
Scum, a little loco and cuckoo. President Trump is swapping the trash talk with action, pounding the Iranian regime with more bombs. The United States launching a second round of strikes in 24 hours in response to Iran firing on ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Now, U.S. forces hitting approximately 170 Iranian targets over the past two days. Tehran returned fire, but nearly everything launched was shot down, and There were no U.S. casualties. Thank God for that. President Trump vowing to, quote, finish the job, but he's still hopeful of a deal. Watch.
Brian Kilmeade
We've already won. Militarily. They have very little. They have very little left. They want to make a deal so badly. I just don't know if they're worthy of making a deal. I don't know that they're going to honor the deal. That's a problem.
Lisa Booth
Meanwhile, there is a lot of intrigue as to why President Trump swapped airplanes on the way back to the United States. The President flying part of the way home from Turkey to the UK on the old Air Force One, then the new Air Force One back to the United States. The President dismissing the idea that it had to do with security concerns, but reminding the public that he is constantly a target of the Iranian regime.
Brian Kilmeade
You know, the life of a president is very dangerous. It's 5.2%. You know what a race car driver is? 1/10 of 1%. It's a very dangerous profession. No, I'm number one on the kill list for Iran.
Lisa Booth
Scary stuff there. Brian, I'm going to start with you because you are a foreign policy guy. So when President Trump says we need to finish the job, what do you think he means by saying that?
Brian Kilmeade
You got to bring them down to a point where they're not even attempting to control the Strait. The Strait is their new nuclear weapon. They think it's actually more valuable than a nuclear weapon. They think they can control it. They think they control it. And if you look at point 14 of the memorandum of Understanding, it actually says, we will work with Oman and we will administer the Strait. So why that's in there is unbelievable. And why they signed off on the MOU is not understandable, because almost as if Iran wrote it. Now, the only thing stupider than all that is Iran didn't realize they had the outline of the framework of a deal of a lifetime. That is, you leave the strait alone, you get your funds eventually unfrozen, you begin to sell oil, then you survive to live another day, but instead, you're back to a destroyed economy, a capital that doesn't have any water. And strategically, we're blowing up their airlines, we're taking down their missile defense, we're taking down their drone operations. This isn't just Random, let them feel pain and blow with a few things up. They know exactly what they're doing. Ultimately, they have to retake the strait themselves. I know there's a multiple of plans. I hope the president picks the right one. And I also don't think that Witkoff and Kushner should be the ones doing this. They're business guys. They have not been effective in Ukraine, not been effective in Gaza. They have not been effective in this. They can't have three portfolios to begin with. We have a State Department for a reason. Marco Rubio, even Democrats admit, has been looked at as a genius internationally. He is the guy that most people would want even if you gave truth statement to Democrats, he should take the lead on this because you can't do this like a business deal. You have to understand the history of the region and how distrustful the Iranians have been. They will only make a decision if they have no other choice.
Lisa Booth
You know, Kelly, Brian laid out what the United States has done to Iran thus far, yet they're still standing. Have we underestimated Iran's capacity for pain?
Kayleigh McEnany
Yeah, I think that's a great point. And yes, we have. And their capacity to have multi tiered leadership dispersed throughout the country to survive in weather, a storm, and the great might of the United States military. You know, I'm going to quote a great foreign policy expert, my husband, Sean Gilmartin, who said something very brilliant last night. I joke because he's a retired MLB baseball player, but he said, you may not be able to solve Iran, but you can manage it. And I thought to myself, he's right. Look, solving the issue of Iran means removing the nuclear dust from the country. We are very far from that. That doesn't look like anywhere near a possibility at this point. But managing the nuclear dust means burying it, making sure it stays buried, occasionally engaging in strikes when necessary. And he said this, and I thought it was a great point. And Byron York then kind of outlined this point in greater detail. He said, forget about any sort of treaty or agreement. If more extensive bombing is needed in the future, do it. Then there's no need for a neat, clean ending to this. Just keep up the pressure and move on. And that might ultimately be the answer. It's not a clean answer. It's not the answer, you know, any of us hoped for or wanted. But managing Iran bearing the nuclear dust is certainly much better than in the pre Trump days where Iran was a day or two or a few weeks away from a nuclear weapon.
Brian Kilmeade
You just need that straight open I
Lisa Booth
mean, maybe President Trump should bring her husband on board. He's.
Kayleigh McEnany
There you go.
Lisa Booth
A lot of common, a lot of common sense there. Yeah, bring him into the negotiations. You know, Harold, you are a former member of Congress. You know how elections go. We've got a midterm election coming up. What role is that playing in some of the decision making behind the scenes, do you think, with the Trump administration?
Harold Ford Jr.
So I think that Brian is, is, is 100% right. I think the president, what the Iranians know from a leverage standpoint is that they now, they know they control the straits. We can do all the talking we want about us, but we don't control the straits if humble as they do. Two, the president does not want this issue at the forefront politically over the next several months. And the Iranians also have library book cards. They've read the Art of the Deal. So you add those three things together and they now are figuring out, have figured out a way to negotiate more effectively. I think Brian says something that it's not meant to be critical of Mr. Wyckoff or Mr. Kushner, but this is a different set of negotiations than the Abraham Accords, or for that matter, some of the incredibly successful real estate and business transactions both of those men have driven, instigated and been a part of. These are the most difficult, the most untrustworthy, the most uncouth negotiation negotiators that you're going to face on the world stage. And you have to have people who understand, not just the State Department, but even some of our nuclear experts. Now, to your husband's point, he's right. We had that, though. We've been managing this relationship for 30 years. And a guy who managed it back in 2000, in the mid 2000s was Barack Obama. People didn't like his deal, but the deal was not as bad a deal as we thought.
Kayleigh McEnany
Clauses.
Harold Ford Jr.
But Kay, let me just finish my point. That was managing the deal. Now, you might not have liked the management of it, but that was managing the deal.
Kayleigh McEnany
I don't like feeling like Iran's on a one week brink of a nuclear weapon.
Harold Ford Jr.
Guys, guys, it's four on one. The deal that President Trump, you just admitted the deal they signed. How do you sign a deal that says that Iran and Oman are going to collaborate and figure out who gets through the straits?
Kayleigh McEnany
Is it better, Harold, that the nuclear dust is buried? I would say yes. It wasn't buried during the Obama era, but here's.
Harold Ford Jr.
It was. But here's the thing. No, it was not the Straits of Hormuz has now. To your point, Lisa, has now overtaken the uranium enrichment as the key issue.
Jimmy Failla
Why?
Harold Ford Jr.
Because what the Iranians have figured out, Kaylee, is that to manage America, all you have to do is hit them economically, hit their pocketbook, hit their wallet so they. So what we don't have. I'll finish on this point.
Brian Kilmeade
The objectives.
Harold Ford Jr.
The objectives, strategy, and endgame. We have none of those. We have. Neither of those things do we have. Clearly at this point. And until we do, right, we are going to find ourselves dealing with this week by week, by week.
Jimmy Failla
We do have a secret weapon, though. His name is Jimmy Phelan. Okay.
Harold Ford Jr.
I like it.
Jimmy Failla
If you want to wrap this up, you send me in right now. Think about why. Okay. I obviously know Pete Hegseth really well, but I'm also a former New York City cab driver, which means I've worked with half the Iranian army. You send Phela in there, we're throwing this deal in parallel park, and we're out of here with the win. You're welcome, America.
Kayleigh McEnany
Bring a sequin suit.
Lisa Booth
We've got a new one.
Brian Kilmeade
No Waymo needed.
Jimmy Failla
The gay ayatollah would love my jackets. Are you kidding me?
Lisa Booth
Haley's husband, Sean. Jimmy. And then we'll send Brian in.
Jimmy Failla
Let's go.
Lisa Booth
All right, we got to keep it moving because there's a lot more to cover. Coming up, the socialist takeover of the Democrat Party somehow gets even dumber. Stay tuned.
Kayleigh McEnany
She's from Texas.
Jimmy Failla
I can tell by the way he's
Brian Kilmeade
too Stepping round the run.
Jimmy Failla
Oh, boy, did they let it blast. 700 little records all rock and roll. As Chuck Berry, the birthing person of rock and roll, it's like trusting Jeffrey Dahmer's Yelp reviews one of the socialist whack jobs who are trying to turn our country into Cuba. Francesca Hong wants to be Wisconsin's next governor, and she's giving socialism a shiny new sales pitch. Check it out. Don't think empty shelves or breadlines. Just think potholes. For real.
Kayleigh McEnany
I think that when folks hear socialism, they may be taken aback, but I bring it back to potholes and the packers and public education and, you know, issues that have broad bipartisan support and broad bipartisan opposition, like data centers. As a democratic socialist, it means that my values are rooted in democracy, fairness, and human rights.
Josh Ritter
Yeah.
Jimmy Failla
Unfortunately, the only pothole will be the crater in your wallet. But sadly, many Americans are taking the red bait and want to swap the stars and stripes for a hammer and a sickle. Check out this gross new poll from The Wall Street Journal showing that just under half of Americans say capitalism is working very well or even somewhat well, down from 60% who said so about a decade ago. That comes as Democrats announced their plan for a socialist future. Brian, I have a theory that socialism is actually popular with this generation because of the everybody gets a trophy mentality. Losers want to be treated like winners without doing the work to get the prize. Is that not what this is?
Brian Kilmeade
I think it is. And it's also a situation where instead of competing, people are saying, you know, let's level the playing field and give me something. But I just fault. It goes back to the educational system that doesn't talk about the Henry Fords of the world and the Thomas Edison's and the Elon Musk and the people that move forward. You don't talk to your neighbor about what they did to become vice president of the insurance company down the block or how they rose through the ranks from a Division 3 team to be coach of a Division 1 team. It's a process. And without instant gratification or some frustration, people want to blame the system. And I think politicians make it worse by saying, you're right, you've been wrong, I'll fix your problem. Rather than, you know, ask not what you do for your country, ask what you can do for your country. I said that backwards. You did, but you know what I'm talking about. But I'm on color television. That was said on black and white. So it's all fair. But you know what they're talking about? They're talking about eliminating the Senate, replacing the President and the Supreme Court. Amnesty for all immigrants defunding, Department of War. This gets worse and worse and worse. They don't want this country.
Jimmy Failla
Yes.
Brian Kilmeade
They have no interest in the future of our country. This is not. This is a sad statement for people that are in the wrong place.
Jimmy Failla
Amen.
Josh Ritter
It is.
Jimmy Failla
It's like we're watching the Producers and they're trying to tank the play. But the play is called America. Harold, here's my real concern. One of the biggest causes of mass migration in this country is people fleeing socialism. So are you afraid the Democrats are going to alienate the demo?
Harold Ford Jr.
You know, I think you could be right. I think that people are so frustrated with their lives and this has happened throughout our time, throughout our 250 years, that people flock to ideas. And certainly you can look at this in world history. Her trying, that young lady trying to make it about potholes, the packers and public education was probably a smart political, clever political way, if indeed she has, she's not saying, I'm going to take, take, take from you and we're going to give you things free. I don't have an issue with people who have different political ideas, economic ideas, as long as it's predicated on people working and the rule of law. And so many of what I don't like about the socialist ideas that come out of some of these people who are claiming to be Democrats, I don't think they're Democrats, is that all they want to do is give things away for free. When you look at the fact that the bottom 50% of workers in our country who earn basically $70,000 a year or less, pay only 3% of the federal taxes now, you can say a lot of things, say, well, they should be taxed more, whatever the case may be. Here's my take. They don't make enough money.
Jimmy Failla
Yes.
Harold Ford Jr.
So people are. You've worked jobs, you find, and congratulations on the great success you've had, but you worked your tail off to get there. To your point, we're not teaching. I don't think either party, certainly my party's conflict with it now. But President Trump said when he came in he would do all these things and things are, things are more out of reach for people. The American dream seems out of reach for so many Americans. To think that more, more Americans, and they'll say, this is more Americans believe that capitalism is not working. In the 1920s and 30s, a lot of Americans felt the same way. Then we had a president named FD who figured out a way to partner with the public sector and private sector to give electricity and water to where I live in the south, figured out ways to get corruption out of government and figured out ways to make our military stronger. We need leadership with the fraud, fraud right now.
Brian Kilmeade
Don't you see that? Massive fraud.
Harold Ford Jr.
We should, but we gotta deliver for people. People don't believe they have a bright future. The kids can't buy a house. You see a house at 28 houses, 42.
Lisa Booth
But I wonder, though, this word socialism has become so watered down. I wonder if you actually polled Americans on the intricacies of socialism and what it. And then you see what the response and the popularity looks like. So I don't know if we can necessarily buy it on its face. The last thing, I'm not buying into it.
Harold Ford Jr.
I don't like socialism. I don't like socialism.
Lisa Booth
History shows that when countries fall to things like socialism, it's not overnight, it's a slow creep. You look At Hugo Chavez, when he took over Venezuela, he was democratically elected. He promised to fight corruption. He promised to return power to the people. And then he did the opposite. They rewrote the Constitution. He expanded presidential powers, he corrupted independent institutions. And you look here in America with leftist. And what Democrats want to do, what Brian had pointed out, packing the Supreme Court, eliminating the filibuster, expanding ballot harvesting nationwide, rewriting election rules so that they favor the Democrat Party. That is how you have a slow creep to a fallen nation right here in America.
Jimmy Failla
So you're saying these people are going to wind up in a Nike tracksuit like Maduro? Really quick for you. The irony of all of this is the only person actually addressing the long term affordability crisis is Trump with the Trump accounts. Because you could be the poorest guy in America if you have $1,000 seat in a Trump account right now and you feed it with 10 doll gonna raise a millionaire no matter what you do for a living.
Kayleigh McEnany
Yeah.
Jimmy Failla
So isn't, oddly enough, Trump is attacking this and not getting credit for it.
Kayleigh McEnany
Yeah, 100%. That's a big deal. The Trump accounts. Lisa's exactly right. And that's a point James Carville made to me. He said, look, I don't think people understand socialism. I think they tag it with things like potholes, maybe, and that's why they answer polls that way. There is something to that. We need to explain to people what socialism is. We have a great investigative unit on Saturday in America. We've done a deep dive into these DSA folks. They want to build a coalition of religious people with socialist values to defeat Christian nationalism. What is Christian nationalism? Okay. They want to defeat the moral fabric of this country. Rip up Article 1, no Senate. Rip up Article 3. No Supreme Court. When you end judicial review, you end the Supreme Court. They want non citizen voting. No electoral college. They want to change the fabric of this country, rip up the constitutional foundation of America. That is what socialism is. And we need to educate people to Lisa's point.
Brian Kilmeade
32 hour work week too. And new Green Deal, we should add that.
Lisa Booth
Although I'm okay with the 32 hour work week.
Jimmy Failla
Yeah. Stop it. And the only other asterisk, socialism you like. The only other asterisk is your research team. Is it that good? Because they keep booking me.
Brian Kilmeade
They're clearly not doing their homework.
Jimmy Failla
How does he get on up next? He. Forget about it. Commie mom. Donnie just wiped Little Italy off the map. Shame.
Harold Ford Jr.
Is this a mistake? New York's mayor Zoran Mandami just released this official map celebrating New York City's immigrant neighborhoods. But guess what he left off the most famous immigrant enclave of all. Little Italy. We did learn where Little Yemen, Little Senegal, and even where Little Palestine is. I thought when I read this story that we were gonna cover and I saw that we were on that this evening, I quickly thought about what your reaction might be.
Jimmy Failla
Well, I wanna start by congratulating Mom Donnie on never getting a vote in Staten island again.
Brian Kilmeade
Yes.
Jimmy Failla
Okay. Do you have any idea how Italian Staten island is? The last time I was there, a cop stopped me for driving without a cannoli. Okay. Literally pulled me over. This is the most Italian place in the world. And what's so crazy about it is Little Italy is the original Little. Okay. This would be like a racing Little Wayne. Okay? There's no Little Bow Wow. There's no Little Yachty. There's no little Nas X without Lil Wayne. So all the other little Stem off of Little Italy. And there's no way you can tell me this isn't a targeted thing because he also went after Greece. He went. Also went after the Irish. Okay. And seems to be fancying the map as if New York is no longer the Big Apple, it's the Big Ala. It seems antagonistic on purpose and it burns my. I'm a little upset, Harold. I'm worked up today.
Harold Ford Jr.
You should be, Brian. I feel you. I share your view. Brian, your thoughts on this half Italian
Brian Kilmeade
Little Italy matters most. It's 11% of the city population. It's a dumb political move, but it's the same guy that didn't march in the Puerto Rican Day parade. He didn't march in the Israeli. The day for Israel. Israel's birthday. It was a big parade. He didn't do that. So he does not care. But he loves that we're talking about it right now. He does not like the Italian.
Harold Ford Jr.
Five seconds. You for this against him. You have five seconds.
Lisa Booth
He hates white people.
Harold Ford Jr.
I don't know about that.
Kayleigh McEnany
But, Kaylee, I'm totally fine with this because I spend my time in little Yemen, so.
Brian Kilmeade
Right? Yeah.
Josh Ritter
Yeah.
Jimmy Failla
A little Palestine for me.
Brian Kilmeade
I love the dead end where the
Harold Ford Jr.
Houthis hope the mayor changes his mind on this. And one more thing is up next.
Kayleigh McEnany
It's time now for one more thing. Jimmy.
Jimmy Failla
Hot damn. The fala family going on the road next week for stand up comedy. July 17th in Monterey. July 18th in Napa. And then July 25th at the Grove in Anaheim. Come see me do what I do best, which is drink in the green room. But the July 25 show is a big one because that's when they're expected to finish counting the votes in the LA Mayors race.
Kayleigh McEnany
So be there, monster. You Brian.
Brian Kilmeade
Pensacola, Florida, Saturday night. It's gonna be streamed on Fox Nation. Hope everyone will watch. Look at all those dates in the fall. Briankilme.com Love it.
Kayleigh McEnany
A lot of time in Florida.
Brian Kilmeade
I know.
Kayleigh McEnany
That's my stomping ground. I hear good stuff. They'll treat you well. All right, Harold, you have five seconds.
Jimmy Failla
Good night, everybody.
Harold Ford Jr.
France. I think France is gonna win this game.
Jimmy Failla
So gutsy.
Brian Kilmeade
Call the number one in the world.
Jimmy Failla
Listen to the 5ad free on Amazon Music with your prime membership or subscribe
Harold Ford Jr.
wherever you get your podcasts.
Episode: Charlie Kirk Murder Case
Date: July 9, 2026
Panel: Kayleigh McEnany (Host), Lisa Booth, Harold Ford Jr., Brian Kilmeade, Jimmy Failla
Special Guests: Claudia Cowan (FOX News correspondent), Josh Ritter (former LA Deputy DA)
This episode of The Five dives into two headline stories:
The panel later pivots to cover:
The mood is characteristically lively, mixing sharp debate, legal analysis, and the cast’s signature banter.
(00:05 – 10:25)
Notable Quote — Claudia Cowan (03:31):
"The court saw pictures of bullets found inside the suspected murder weapon with messages like, 'Hey, fascist.' And, 'If you can read this, you are gay now.' This testimony about rifles and hunting brought Erica Kirk to tears."
Notable Quote — Josh Ritter (05:04):
"Yeah, I think he's seen the walls closing in. There was an avalanche of evidence today... All of this is incredibly convincing evidence."
(10:45 – 21:18)
Platner Drops Out:
Democrats scramble after their embattled candidate, Graham Platner, bows out following allegations of sexual misconduct. The panel covers the party's misjudgment and vetting failures.
Vet and Standards in Politics:
Lisa Booth explains the Democratic establishment’s "hit job" on Platner after initial uncritical support, warning they may end up with another poorly vetted candidate:
Public Response and Accountability:
Jimmy Failla delivers a comedic but sharp critique of political double standards and the lack of accountability for party elites who lionized Platner.
(21:21 – 29:27)
Military Actions:
Trump orders strikes on Iranian targets after Iran fires on ships; US has struck about 170 targets, shot down Iranian missiles.
Debate Over Diplomatic Approach:
Kilmeade emphasizes strategic necessity of controlling the Strait and criticizes the administration for deploying business advisers rather than diplomatic experts.
Notable Quote — Brian Kilmeade (23:23):
"The Strait is their new nuclear weapon... The only thing stupider than all that is Iran didn't realize they had the outline of the framework of a deal of a lifetime..."
'Managing' Versus 'Solving' Iran:
Kayleigh McEnany summarizes a more modest foreign policy goal of “containing” Iran’s nuclear risk:
Election Year Dynamics:
Harold Ford Jr. highlights political incentives for Trump to minimize conflict before midterms; stresses complexity of negotiating with Iran vs. previous business deals (Abraham Accords).
(29:36 – 36:59)
Redefining Socialism:
Francesca Hong (Democratic Socialist, Wisconsin) tries to rebrand socialism as relatable: "I bring it back to potholes and the packers and public education..." (30:20)
Jimmy Failla and Brian Kilmeade warn it’s a smokescreen for radical policies.
Polls & The 'Trophy Generation':
Declining faith in capitalism among Americans; panel blames educational system, political pandering and the “everyone-gets-a-trophy” mentality (31:28).
Historical Caution:
Lisa Booth and Harold Ford Jr. draw parallels to Venezuela under Hugo Chavez: slow accretion of intrusive government powers can end in “a fallen nation” (35:02)
Trump Accounts:
Jimmy Failla notes the irony that Trump, not the left, is addressing affordability through "Trump Accounts," yet gets little credit from critics (35:58).
Notable Quote — Kayleigh McEnany (36:02):
"...They want non-citizen voting. No electoral college. They want to change the fabric of this country, rip up the constitutional foundation of America. That is what socialism is. And we need to educate people..."
(37:29 – 39:19)
Jimmy Failla (38:00):
"Do you have any idea how Italian Staten Island is? The last time I was there, a cop stopped me for driving without a cannoli."
Overall Episode Tone:
Fast-paced, incisive, and irreverent. The panel mixes heartfelt commentary (Kirk murder hearing), biting satire (Platner/NYC map), and substantive policy debate (Iran, socialism), always maintaining the show's signature playful combativeness and humor.
Summary prepared for listeners who missed the episode or want to revisit the day’s key arguments, moments, and panel interplay.