Shocking Jack Smith Doc Dump as Scandal Grows, CBS News Shakeup, Missing Monkeys: AM Update 10/30

Summary

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The Megyn Kelly Show - AM Update (October 30, 2025)

Episode: Shocking Jack Smith Doc Dump as Scandal Grows, CBS News Shakeup, Missing Monkeys
Host: Megyn Kelly
Guests & Contributors: Sean Davis (CEO of The Federalist)

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Overview

This episode of The Megyn Kelly Show delivers a sharp and provocative rundown of headline topics: a major document release exposing an alleged political investigation scandal targeting Republicans, sweeping layoffs and restructuring at CBS News, a Federal Reserve rate cut, and a bizarre story of escaped research monkeys in Mississippi. The tone is assertive, focused, and unapologetically skeptical of media and government motives.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Jack Smith’s “Arctic Frost” Doc Dump: Explosive Political Scandal

• Major Releases: Thousands of pages from House & Senate Judiciary Committees expose FBI/DOJ investigations under the Biden administration.
• The Allegations: Republicans claim the documents reveal the “biggest scandal in Washington history”—the use of federal power to target not just Trump, but broad swathes of the conservative movement.

Scope of Investigation

• The House documents reveal that the FBI, via the "Arctic Frost" probe, surveilled and subpoenaed hundreds of Republican figures.
• The Senate drop includes 197 subpoenas targeting at least 430 Republican individuals/entities—including media companies (Fox, Newsmax), conservative PACs, legal organizations, and even sitting Senators.
  • Sean Davis:

    "They were trying to find and target and burrow into and learn every single possible thing about what every major figure in Republican politics was doing in the country." [06:03]

Comparisons to Watergate

• Both Kelly and Davis drive home that this dwarfs previous political scandals.
  • Sean Davis:

    “It is bigger than Watergate in the same way that the Pacific Ocean is bigger than your bathtub.” [07:07]
    “Arctic Frost is Joe Biden's Watergate. Merrick Garland was a fundamentally corrupt Attorney General. Jack Smith was a fundamentally corrupt president prosecutor.” [04:23]

Implications for Democracy

• The subpoenas are depicted as a tool for “legal terrorizing” of opposition.
  • Sean Davis:

    “They wanted to use that as a basis to effectively legally terrorize their opposition.” [05:53]

• Kelly underscores how Supreme Court intervention on presidential immunity rendered much of the probe “moot”—but raises potential damage already done.

What’s Next? Calls for Accountability

• Davis insists that there must be consequences or the behavior will repeat:
  • Sean Davis:

    “You cannot have this type of behavior go unpunished. ... You cannot have a country where one party is allowed to do this over and over and over again and nothing ever happens to them.” [09:12]

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2. CBS News & Paramount: Major Shakeup

• Layoffs: 2,000 layoffs across Paramount, including 100 at CBS News following a merger with Skydance Media. Notably, restructuring overlaps with the hiring of Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief.
• Key Moves: Eliminating several positions and closing the CBS South Africa bureau. Disbanding of “race and culture” units in the wake of George Floyd, paralleling a similar move by NBC.
• Editorial Shifts: Longstanding anchors like Bill Whitaker and Scott Pelley rumored to be on the chopping block as the network shifts back toward “hard-nosed journalism”.
  • Megyn Kelly, critiquing soft interviews:

    “Not exactly Mike Wallace is he.” [12:53]

Recent Journalism Critiques

• Bill Whitaker criticized for gentle handling of Vice President Harris interview before the 2024 election.
• Scott Pelley accused of dismissing parental concerns over sexual content in school books—a Supreme Court decision later affirmed those concerns were valid.
  • Snippet from Moms for Liberty discussion highlighting parental outrage and Pelley’s skepticism [13:36–14:36].

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3. Federal Reserve Cuts Rates

• Economic News: Fed lowers the benchmark interest rate by a quarter point, its second cut this year.
• Powell’s Position: Fed Chair Jerome Powell says further cuts aren't guaranteed.
• Trump’s Critique: Trump criticizes Powell, calling him “Jerome Too Late.” [16:35]
  • Trump (impersonated):

    “Despite having an incompetent head of the Fed. I call him too late. He’s always too late. He’s too late in lowering interest rates.” [16:35]

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4. Monkeys on the Loose in Mississippi

• Incident Summary: Truck transporting research monkeys overturns; several monkeys escape, prompting a hunt.
• Public Warning: Authorities ask people not to approach monkeys and to call 911 if seen.
  • Parallels drawn with the film “Outbreak”, introducing an element of dark humor and cultural reference.
  • Emergency dispatcher's incredulous response:

    “Do you need some assistance? Is he saying monkeys?” [17:20]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Sean Davis, on ‘Arctic Frost’ revelations:

  “So it was a massive, massive release that is starting to make clear the full breadth and insanity of this fishing expedition by Jack Smith and the Biden doj.” [06:03]

• Sean Davis, amplifying the scandal:

  “This was a political enemies list from the beginning.” [04:23]

• Megyn Kelly, regarding CBS’s shifting tone:

  “The race and culture unit formed in the 2020 aftermath of George Floyd’s death was closed down as well two weeks after NBC closed its same department. It was BS window dressing all along.” [11:56]

• Bill Whitaker’s questioned journalism:

  “You have accused Donald Trump of using racist tropes.” [12:48]

• Scott Pelley’s disputed reporting accuracy regarding school books:

  “In a tactic of outrage politics, Moms for Liberty takes a kernel of truth and concludes these examples are not rare mistakes, but a plot to sexualize children.” [14:10]

• Powell on inflation concerns:

  “Inflation is still very much making people quite unhappy.” [16:18]

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Important Timestamps

• 00:32: Megyn Kelly introduces the major scandals and headlines for the update.
• 03:00–06:59: Deep dive into the Jack Smith “Arctic Frost” document dump with Sean Davis.
• 07:07–09:32: Comparisons to Watergate and calls for repercussions.
• 10:00–15:00: Breakdown of CBS News layoffs, editorial changes, and critique of recent coverage.
• 16:02–16:47: Federal Reserve rate cut, Trump’s critique of Powell.
• 17:02–18:44: Mississippi monkey escape incident.

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Tone & Style

The episode is fast-paced, pointed, and refuses to mince words. Megyn Kelly and guests adopt a skeptical, combative stance toward perceived media and government excesses and failings, with regular quips and cultural references (“Not exactly Mike Wallace...”, Outbreak movie callback). Davis and Kelly offer thorough explanations but remain firmly on-message regarding alleged partisan overreach and media bias.

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Summary

For listeners seeking a brisk, opinionated, and unfiltered take on the day’s most contentious headlines, this AM Update pulls no punches. The Jack Smith scandal is presented as epoch-defining, with direct parallels to—and stark contrasts from—Watergate. CBS faces seismic changes as it retools its newsroom, while economic and cultural oddities (like runaway monkeys) round out a wide-ranging and characteristically charged installment of The Megyn Kelly Show.

Transcript

[Narrator/Voiceover]

If you could hear love, what would it sound like? Son, can we talk about your drinking? Yeah, Dad, I think we should. Helping those closest to you think about their excessive drinking. Maybe that's what love sounds like. [e-mail] an OHA initiative.

[Megyn Kelly]

Good morning, everyone. I'm Megyn Kelly. It's Thursday, October 30th, 2025, and this is your AM update.

[Sean Davis]

It is bigger than Watergate in the same way that the Pacific Ocean is bigger than your bathtub.

[Megyn Kelly]

Thousands of pages released this week by the House and Senate Judiciary committees exposing what Republicans are calling the biggest scandal in Washington history. The CBS News shakeups begin as parent company Paramount begins post merger layoffs. The Federal Reserve moves on interest rates. President Trump not yet satisfied. Do you need some assistance? Is he saying monkeys and research monkeys on the loose in Mississippi? All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM Update. As President Trump is settling into his new administration, one of the top Democrats in Congress aiming to undermine the Trump agenda is Democrat Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois. And according to our sponsor, the Electronic Payments Coalition, Senator Durbin has a new plan, a government takeover of your credit card. Today, Americans have thousands of choices in credit cards, but they say Senator Durbin's plan will result in less competition and less security, which means more risk for your credit and your identity. You can learn more for [e-mail] and you could consider telling your senators to stop Dick Durbin's government takeover of your credit card before it's too late. The House and Senate Judiciary committees releasing two separate troves of documents this week, each revealing a Biden administration FBI determined to investigate not just President Trump, but the vast majority of the conservative movement. The House Judiciary Committee releasing documents provided by FBI Director Cash Patel showing dozens of Republican figures wrapped up in what was known as the Arctic Frost investigation, which began as an examination of the alternate slates of electors Team Trump pushed in the 2020 election and developed into special counsel Jack Smith's wider probe into interference around the 2020 election, a dragnet that surveilled US senators, financial institutions, basically GOP heavyweights having anything to do with Donald Trump. The Senate Judiciary Committee releasing whistleblower documents containing the actual subpoenas issued by special counsel Jack Smith, targeting at least 430 Republican individuals and entities, including media companies like Fox and Newsmax, as well as turning point USA make America great again. PAC 8 GOP senators and private individuals scrutinized in what Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley describes as an FBI fishing expedition to, quote, improperly investigate the entire Republican political apparatus. That probe zeroing in on the GOP's so called false electors scheme. A plan in which pro Trump electors in several battleground states submitted alternate election certificates claiming Mr. Trump had won those states in hopes that they would be counted during the January 6 vote certification. The Trump camp describing these as contingent electors to preserve President Trump's legal rights amid ongoing legal challenges to the 2020 election. On Wednesday, GOP senators arguing these latest revelations unveil a scandal as big as any in modern political history.

[Narrator/Voiceover]

What is revealed in those 1700 pages of documents in those 197 subpoenas is nothing short of a Biden administration enemies list. People need to understand how politicized the Biden administration turned all these agencies.

[Sean Davis]

Arctic Frost is Joe Biden's Watergate. Merrick Garland was a fundamentally corrupt Attorney General. Jack Smith was a fundamentally corrupt president prosecutor. This was a political enemies list from the beginning.

[Narrator/Voiceover]

In this instance, I can't think of a bigger political scandal in the last hundred years. So if you want to compare it to Watergate, this is a hundred times worse than Watergate.

[Megyn Kelly]

We spoke with CEO of the Federalist Sean Davis about the significance of these documents.

[Sean Davis]

So Arctic Frost was a wide ranging massive investigation basically against the entire national Republican Party infrastructure launched under the Joe Biden administration, namely under the authority of Special Counsel Jack Smith. And it purported to be investigating January 6th and election interference and stuff like that. But that was all really a pretext to, to create legal reasons to destroy the Biden administration's entire political opposition in the country. They wanted to destroy their opponents and they kind of cooked up a whole bunch of reasons. Whether it's January 6th or Trump calling shenanigans on the election or what have you, they wanted to use that as a basis to effectively legally terrorize their opposition.

[Megyn Kelly]

The House Judiciary Committee documents contain the FBI information used to justify the investigation. That tranche was difficult to parse, says Davis. But the Senate drop provided by whistleblowers contained 197 subpoenas and hundreds of pages of underlying documentation.

[Sean Davis]

So it was a massive, massive release that is starting to make clear the full breadth and insanity of this fishing expedition by Jack Smith and the Biden doj. It wouldn't surprise me if there's more. They were subpoenaing Trump's campaign, the RNC itself, Trump affiliated PACs, conservative organizations, legal organizations, individuals. They were trying to find and target and burrow into and learn every single possible thing about what every major figure in Republican politics was doing in the country. They wanted to know who they were talking to, what they were talking about, who they were emailing, who they were doing business with, what their bank records looked like. And this even included United States Senators who clearly had nothing to do even, even if this thing is cooked up, they clearly had nothing to do with any of it.

[Megyn Kelly]

Davis says these revelations are worse than the scandal that forced President Nixon to resign from office in 1974 when we had Watergate.

[Sean Davis]

What we had was a scandal over a break in by a handful of people of the Democrat Party headquarters. And they alleged that Nixon knew about it and tried to cover it up. But it was a one time break in of a party headquarters on one evening by a handful of people. What we had here was a multi year fishing expedition using the most powerful tools and weapons in the entire federal government against hundreds, if not thousands of people, including the former and future President of the United States, all his aides, his campaign funders, the organizations that supported him, and the people who worked there. It is bigger than Watergate in the same way that the Pacific Ocean is bigger than your bathtub.

[Megyn Kelly]

Smith's investigation into the elector scheme was ultimately rendered moot by the US Supreme Court's ruling recognizing presidential immunity for most official acts in office. And not a moment too soon, says Davis.

[Sean Davis]

They were demanding financial records, basically any name they could get on from anyone with any real major influence within the national Republican and conservative party infrastructure. So they used it to go after alternate electors in places like Arizona or Georgia. They used it to go after lawyers. They went after Sidney Powell, they went after Jeff Clark and John Eastman. They used it to go after Donald Trump himself, a bunch of his campaign people. They used it to go after conservative organizations like the Conservative Partnership Institute or American First Policy Institute. They even used it to go after a Pillow company called MyPillow. You had the executive branch under a tyrannical DOJ going and just hoovering up legislative records from their opponents in Congress. And I mean, who knows what they were getting from that. Were they figuring out how to defeat Republican legislative strategy? I mean, that. That's an abomination.

[Megyn Kelly]

If that's what happened, what should come of the revelations? We asked Shawn Davis that too.

[Sean Davis]

You cannot have this type of behavior go unpunished. So I very much hope that Pam Bondi, the Attorney General, understands that the risk that not punishing these people poses to the future of the country, because you cannot have a country where one party is allowed to do this over and over. And over again and nothing ever happens to them.

[Megyn Kelly]

Coming up, hundreds of cuts at CBS News and some big names rumored to be on the chopping block and multiple aggressive medical research monkeys on on the loose in Mississippi. What YOU need to know when customers are walking through the aisles of their local Walmart, they're not just picking up groceries or supplies. They are supporting American businesses and their communities. The real story is what's behind the label. With over two thirds of the products Walmart buys made, grown or assembled right here in the US Buying local is not just stocking shelves, it's about strengthening communities. Because of that commitment, Walmart invested $350 billion in US manufacturing, helping American companies like Fisher and Weiser Specialty Foods, a local Texas business, expand their operations in Fredericksburg, Texas, hire more people as well and bring their Texas grown peach jam to a national market. Their story is just one example of how Walmart's US manufacturing investment is supporting over 750,000American jobs. Businesses across the country are empowered to sell more, hire more and help their communities grow from farms to factories to final shopping carts. Learn how Walmart is fueling The Future of US Manufacturing at Walmart.com AmericaatWork Paramount laying off about 2,000 workers beginning yesterday following its merger with Skydance Media earlier this year. CEO David Ellison writing in a memo to employees, in some areas we are addressing redundancies that have emerged across the organization. In others, we are phasing out roles that are no longer aligned with our evolving priorities and the new structure designed to strengthen our focus on growth. The CBS News division seeing about 100 employees cut, according to the Wall Street Journal, part of a broader restructuring underway at CBS under Ellison, beginning with purchasing independent media outlet the Free Press and installing its founder Bari Weiss, as editor in chief of CBS News. The layoffs were reportedly planned before Weiss was hired. Early steps in the overhaul eliminating streaming shows CBS Mornings plus and CBS Evening News plus and closing the South Africa bureau. The LA Times reporting the race and culture unit formed in the 2020 aftermath of George Floyd's death was closed down as well two weeks after NBC closed its same department. It was BS window dressing all along. Some of those employees will reportedly be moved to other divisions, the New York Post reporting earlier this week. Next on the chopping block could be some of the longest tenured 60 Minutes anchors, as Weiss aims to revive the marquee show once known as the Lion's Den due to its gold standard Hard nosed journalism. Bill Whitaker a possible target. He has been criticized for throwing softball questions, according to the post like in his interview with Vice President Kamala Harris just weeks before the 2024 election.

[Reporter/Interviewer]

I've been covering the border for for years and so I know this is not a problem that started with your administration, Correct?

[Megyn Kelly]

Correct.

[Reporter/Interviewer]

You have accused Donald Trump of using racist tropes.

[Megyn Kelly]

I'm glad you are pointing these comments out that he has made that have resulted in a response by most reasonable people to say it's just wrong. Not exactly Mike Wallace is he earlier this year, parent company Paramount agreeing to settle with President Trump over allegations that interview was edited to unfairly help the Democratic nominee. Scott Pelley, also rumored to be on Weiss's potential list. In March 2024, Peli humiliated himself in an interview with the Moms for Liberty co founders raising concerns about graphic sexual content in books commonly found in school libraries. A very real problem. Pelly openly scoffed at and downplayed parents.

[Moms for Liberty Representative]

Send their children to school to be educated, not indoctrinated into ideology.

[Narrator/Voiceover]

What ideology are they being indoctrinated into?

[Moms for Liberty Representative]

Let's just say children in America cannot read.

[Narrator/Voiceover]

They often dodged questions with talking points. You're being evasive.

[Moms for Liberty Representative]

21% of students are reading on behalf of being evasive.

[Narrator/Voiceover]

What ideology are the children being indoctrinated into? What is your fear?

[Moms for Liberty Representative]

I think parents fears are realized. They're looking at these books where sexual discussions are happening with their children at younger and younger ages.

[Narrator/Voiceover]

Tiffany justice read from sexually explicit books written for older teens but found in a few lower schools. Most people wouldn't want them in a lower school, but in a tactic of outrage politics, Moms for Liberty takes a kernel of truth and concludes these examples are not rare mistakes, but a plot to sexualize children.

[Megyn Kelly]

Just over a year later, a case about parents rights to opt out of insane radical school curriculum went all the way up to the US Supreme Court and the parents won the high court. Recognizing contrary to what Scott Pelley told his audience, this inappropriate material is indeed appearing in grade schools in violation of parents rights. 16 year CBS veteran John Dickerson too, announcing he will leave the network at the end of the year. In September, Dickerson facing criticism for reporting Charlie Kirk's alleged assassin's motive, quote remains elusive. That was after plenty of evidence had emerged revealing the shooter's leftist beliefs and deep hatred of Charlie Bye. The Federal Reserve cutting interest rates for the second time this year, lowering the benchmark rate by a quarter point to a range between 3.75 and 4%, the lowest in three years. Fed Chair Jerome Powell saying interest rate policy is not quote on a Preset course and another reduction at the next meeting in December, quote, is not a foregone conclusion. Markets mixed yesterday, closing with the Dow down slightly, the S&P 500 flat, and the Nasdaq ticking up slightly. Powell saying President Trump's tariffs have had only a fairly modest impact on overall inflation. But Americans still feel the pain of higher prices from years past.

[Reporter/Interviewer]

The reason they're so unhappy about inflation is the inflation that we had in 20, 21, 2 and 3. Because, you know, you can say that prices aren't going up as much, but that doesn't mean people aren't feeling those higher prices from the inflation we had two or three years ago.

[Narrator/Voiceover]

They are.

[Reporter/Interviewer]

And that's, I think, a large part of why the public view sample people. Inflation is still very much making people quite unhappy.

[Megyn Kelly]

President Trump, who has long argued for lowering interest rates, making it clear multiple times this week these cuts will not serve as a lifeline for Powell's job.

[Jerome Powell]

The prices are way down. Mortgage rates are down. Despite having an incompetent head of the Fed. I call him too late. He's always too late. He's too late in lowering interest rates. I call him Jerome Too late.

[Megyn Kelly]

Powell, when do you think you'll make a decision on the Fed?

[Jerome Powell]

Last Fed question, Say maybe by the end of the year. I think by the end year of the. The year, early next year. But by the end of the year, we want to get too laid out as soon as possible. We want to be too early with too late.

[Megyn Kelly]

Powell's term as chair is set to end in May of 2026. Audience members from Mississippi may want to pay some extra attention to this next story. Authorities are searching for three monkeys still on the loose after a truck carrying research animals overturned on Interstate 59 about 85 miles southeast of Jackson, the state's capital. The crash occurring on Tuesday afternoon. Dispatch audio capturing the moment responders first learned of the emergency. We got 21 monkeys that was on this trail. Got five of them on the run. Do you need some assistance? Is he saying monkeys? Yeah. So they gonna be some Reese's monkeys. An assessment later revealing six monkeys escaped in total. Some were recaptured and euthanized. It's unclear how many were killed. Video from the crash site showing some loose monkeys crawling through the grass and the debris near the wreckage, including overturned crates marked live animals. It remains unclear what caused the crash or where the truck was headed. Officials continue urging the public not to approach any monkeys and to call 911 if one is spotted. The whole incident reminiscent of the movie Outbreak from 1995, starring Dustin Hoffman and Donald Sutherland.

[Reporter/Interviewer]

In a remote African jungle, a small.

[Megyn Kelly]

Monkey is captured, bound for a pet store in America.

[Reporter/Interviewer]

The animal carries a deadly virus. The fate of the nation, perhaps the.

[Narrator/Voiceover]

World, is in our hands. Many people are dying and are going.

[Jerome Powell]

To continue to die unless we find this monkey.

[Megyn Kelly]

And that'll do it for your AM Update. I'm Megyn Kelly. Join me back here for the Megyn Kelly show live on SiriusXM Triumph Channel 111 at noon east on YouTube.com megankelly and on all podcast platforms.

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