Kilmeade & Friends – FOX News Radio

Fox News GOP Presidential debate moderator Bret Baier and Ed Henry broke down the first debate with Brian on “Kilmeade and Friends.” Bret told Brian that he feels the moderators hit their marks, crafted tough questions and wanted to get the candidates off talking points and was very happy overall with how it went. He thinks that they didn’t go too hard on Donald Trump because these are questions that he will have to face and that they wanted to address each candidates vulnerabilities. Bret did say that he briefly talked to Donald Trump after the debate and Trump was not pleased. Ed explained that the front runners need to be asked the tough questions during the debates. Rounding out the debate, they believe that Governor Christie, Senators Cruz and Rubio all came across very well, and Jeb didn’t do anything to help or hurt himself. All the candidates wanted more time but with 10 candidates on the stage we wish we could have had another hour.

Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union and also served as George W. Bush’s deputy assistant and political director talked to Brian about tonight’s GOP presidential debate on “Kilmeade and Friends.” Matt said that he feels that Carly Fiorina is an awfully unique candidate and that she is the most articulate spokesperson in what conservatives believe in and why Hillary would be a disastrous. He also believes that Jeb Bush should come out and address Planned Parenthood and the videos because he defunded the program while the governor of Florida and that he should embrace it. Matt thinks that Jeb steps away from this opportunity he may miss his chance. You have to do what Donald Trump is doing with all the discrepancies of him changing positions over the last fifteen years and own it, accept it, and say that like many Americans I have been confused about what these parties stood for and I now see that I am more aligned with the Republican party.

John Catsimatidis owner, president, chairman, and CEO of Gristedes Foods and the Red Apple Group weighed in on the GOP presidential debate and Trump’s popularity with Brian on “Kilmeade and Friends.” John Catsimatidis told Brian that Trump’s popularity comes from people being mad as hell and not taking it anymore. He also explained that unlike politicians who make their decisions after looking at polls Mr. Trump tells it the way he feels and what he’s emotionally tied to. John believes that Donald Trump can make the adjustment from the business room to the political forum. He also believes that if someone attacks Donald during the debates he will hit back twice as hard.

Alan Dershowitz Harvard Law Professor Emeritus and author of the new e-book “The Case Against the Deal With Iran: How Can We Stop Iran From Getting Nukes?” weighed in on the Iran nuke deal with Brian on “Kilmeade and Friends”. Professor Dershowitz told Brian that he votes Democrat but is strongly opposed to the Iran deal because we don’t know what it is, is it a deal to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon or is it a deal to give them a weapon, we are hearing it from both sides of their mouths. He also believes that this deal makes war a bigger possibility. Professor Dershowitz believes that Congress could salvage the deal if they pass a statue adopting the preference of the deal (which states that Iran will never develop a nuclear weapon) as American policy and committing the President to take whatever action is necessary to keep Iran from getting the bomb. He also wonders why we as a super power negotiate from a position of weakness and take the military option of the table, tragically, their Ayatollah checkmated our President.

Here is this week’s Kilmeade and Friends week in review with some of Brian’s guest including: Lt. Col. Alan West, Gov. Mike Huckabee, Senator Lindsey Graham, Gov. Bobby Jindal, Dr. Sebastian Gorka, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Gretchen Carlson and Mike Wallace.

Dr. Sebastian Gorka, an expert on counterinsurgency and counter terrorism and teaches irregular warfare in the War and Conflict Studies Department at the College of International Security Affairs at the National Defense University, weighed in on ISIS and the turmoil in the Middle East with Brian on “Kilmeade and Friends.” Dr. Gorka told Brian that ISIS was Al Qaeda in Iraq and because we pulled out our troops and intelligence assets in the region and allowed them to grow. They are a real threat to America not because they have strength in the Middle EAst but because they have recruited 20,000 foreign fighters with U.S., U.K., and German passports who at some point will return home and cause trouble.

Congressman Jeff Miller (R-FL) chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs dropped by “Kilmeade and Friends” and talked to Brian about the Veteran Affairs department and how their culture is to move someone who isn’t doing their job rather than being fired. Rep. Miller explained that their has to be accountability and because the federal employee unions are against his bill giving the Secretary the ability to fire employees the Democrats are fighting it. We can’t change the culture in the Veterans Affairs Department culture overnight, it is going to take a concerted, bipartisan fashion.

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and GOP presidential hopeful, weighed in on the Middle East, the Iran nuclear deal, and Turkey helping with ISIL but bombing the Kurds. Senator Graham told Brian that the Iran deal is terrible and that the next President could do much better if we left sanctions on the table. He also believes that we can get a better deal with Iran if the threat of force was on the table but no one in Iran believes President Obama would use force to stop a nuclear breakout. The bet the administration is making is that Iran is going to change, but he believes that looking back at their history you see that there is no chance that they will change. In responding to the swipe Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) took at him Senator Graham responded: There was one senator who rejected my resolution that passed 90-1. And the resolution said the following: We cannot allow Iran to get a nuclear weapon and try to contain them because it won’t work. Once they get a nuke they will share it with a terrorist group and it will come here or one day use it and start a nuclear arms race. If they ever get it you can’t contain them. 90 senators agreed with me, there was only one senator who disapproved with my resolution—Rand Paul. So here is what I would say about Senator Rand Paul. He is more misunderstanding of the Mideast than Obama and that is saying a lot. He agreed with President Obama about pulling all of our troops out of Iraq. I objected. I think I was right. He did not support helping the free Syrian Army 3 years ago when it mattered. This is a religious war. We were attacked on 9/11/01 we didn’t have one soldier in Afghanistan. We didn’t have any foreign aid. We didn’t have an embassy. So in Rand’s world, if you leave them alone they will leave you alone. In my world, we’ve got to put radical Islam in a box. Whatever it takes. As long as it takes. A school house in a remote region educating a young poor girl will do more damage to radical Islam than any bomb. I am for leading from the front, empowering people over there. We’ve got to have partnerships that include assistance. Rand Paul had a budget that cut off all aid off, even to Israel, so if you don’t want to be at war all the time, you need to help people. You need to build up others.

Fill in host Leslie Gold spoke to Mark Fleming, the chief economist at First American Financial Corporation, and talked about millennials and why they aren’t buying homes. Mark said that although most surveys show that millennials believe in the concept of home ownership, they don’t want to do it yet because they haven’t settled down and decided if this is the city that they want to live in. In a way this shows that millennials are showing that they are very prudent and cautious about debt because of what they saw happen in the housing market. They will become homeowners but will do it in a financially safe way.

Former Arkansas governor and G.O.P. presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee checked in with fill in host Chris Stirewalt on Kilmeade and Friends and talked about President Obama’s press conference, which he called painful, Planned Parenthood and more. Governor Huckabee believed that President Obama has lit a fuse that could be one of the most dangerous acts of history since when Chamberlin thought we could make peace and appease the Nazis. He went on to say that it was surreal to watch the naivety with which Obama went into a deal with people who for 35 years have not kept one single agreement they have ever had. The governor went on to say that this agreement only works if you trust Obama and if you trust the Iranian government and he just can’t go there. Gov Huckabee said that Obama always likes to say there were only 2 options and he made the right one, but he says that there was a third option, increasing sanctions and totally bankrupting them.

Former chief speechwriter for President George W. Bush Marc Thiessen weighed in on the Iran agreement with guest host Leslie Gold on “Kilmeade and Friends” and talked about all the problems he sees with it. He told Leslie that Iran didn’t want to break out as a nuclear power today, they wanted to be a threshold nuclear power so they get a huge financial reward with the lifting of restrictions and will continue to advance their program and break out when they want. Marc also explained that there is no way that Congress could stop this deal, and unfortunately it was the Corcker Bill that gives President Obama power to veto anything Congress does. Marc also explained that Iran won’t cheat because the bill gives them a path to a nuclear weapon in the future. Marc explained to Leslie that President Obama’s strategy was to hold off the Iranians just a little and let the next president handle it. He went on to say that because of Obama’s foreign policy the next president is going to inherit one of the most dangerous international situations we have ever had.

Arthur Brooks president of the American Enterprise Institute and author of “The Conservative Heart” dropped by to talk to fill in host Chris Stirewalt on “Kilmeade and Friends” about how Conservatives need a bold new movement to fight for people. Arthur explained that the GOP can’t take back the country unless they express the core ideas of unity and optimism and show the heart that is all about compassion and fairness. Arthur believes that compassion and fighting for people, looking out for the welfare of the poor, is not just some thing that can win, it’s the only thing that can win. Pure conservative values like meaningful work can help people regain their dignity and get their life back on track. He also explained that it’s not all about the money but the you have to fight for the people all the time.

Fox Business Network’s Ashley Webster checked in with fill-in host Leslie Gold on ‘Kilmeade and Friends” to discuss the latest bailout agreement between Greece and the E.U. Ashley told Leslie that the bailout measures are actually tougher than the ones that they voted no on last week. Ashley talked about the austerity measures in the past and although there are enforcement measures in this bailout Greece is good at putting promises on paper but that means nothing. He went on to explain that Greece talks a good game bu they are slow at enacting, if they enact it at all, and are very poor at following up to make sure the system is working. The E.U. had to play hardball with Greece because if they let them out of the Euro or allowed a haircut it would start a domino effect for countries like Italy, Portugal, Spain and Ireland. The biggest problem is that having 19 countries with different economies using the same currency just doesn’t work. Ashley believes that Greece needs a unity government, somewhere in the center, that can follow through. There is a lot of doubt and a lot of lack of trust as to whether Greece can actually turn it around.

Brad Thor author of “Code of Conduct” and former member of Dept of Homeland Security Analytic Red Cell Unit talked to Brian on Kilmeade and Friends about how he became a member of the special unit and how they predicted the rise of fundamentalism. Brad told Brian that we are not fighting extremism, we are fighting fundamentalist Islam. He also explained that the reason President Obama is out there telling us that we are beating them because we are actually losing. President Obama actually understands that he caused ISIS because he didn’t negotiate a status of forces agreement because he wanted to say he got our forces out of Iraq. He also talked about how he came up with the idea for his latest book “Code of Conduct.”

Lt. Col. Oliver North (Ret. Marines) talked to Brian on Kilmeade and Friends about ISIS, how the administration has been so inept in degrading and destroying them, and the 5 point plan he believes could defeat them. Lt. Col. North believes that we have to start arming the Kurds directly and not expect the Baghdad government to send them any of our equipment. The Kurds don’t have the weapons to take out ISIS. They also talked about how Senator McCain asked Ash Carter why the fighters we are training are being told to only fight ISIS and not the Assad regime. Col. North said that shows a total lack of understanding of what is going on. The bottom line is the way things are going we are going to see nuclear proliferation the likes of which we have not seen since the 1950’s.

Peter Morici professor at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland and a premier economist was on Kilmeade and Friends to talk about the economic crisis in Greece and explain what caused it and how to remedy the problem. Morici told Brian that he believes that by forcing Greece to shrink their government and entitlements so quickly and drastically the German’s and the EU are creating a depression. Peter explained the the fault actually lies with the IMF and the German Finance Minister who imposed this plan plan but refuse to admit that it failed and that they need to re-negotiate the terms. All of southern Europe (Italy, Spain, Portugal) is in depression because of these bailout arraignments which impose too much austerity and shrink the government sector too much too quickly. Peter went on to say that by having countries like Greece suffer economically it benefits Germany because it bring the Euro down and allows their companies be more competitive in the global market. Peter told Brian that he believes the Germans have exploited the rest of Europe just like the Wall Street bankers pay themselves really well while the rest of us have sinking standards of living.

Jay Sekulow author of “Undemocratic” and chief counsel for the American Center for Law & Justice joined Brian on “Kilmeade and Friends” to talk about the latest on ISIS and the mistakes President Obama is making in fighting them. Listen Here: Jay explained that we should have been arming the Kurds from the beginning of the fight against ISIS because they are the only ones fighting against them and protecting other minority groups in the region. The Kurds are a real freedom force and the danger is we want all the weapons are to go through Baghdad. ISIS has told their followers to take out Westerners whenever they have an opportunity, they don’t have to wait for an order or coordination. Jay told Brian that ISIS is a dangerous enemy and we have to get organized and start getting very aggressive.

Representative Trey Gowdy (R-SC) Chairman of the Select Committee on Benghazi checked in on “Kilmeade and Friends” and talked to Brian about the Benghazi investigation and explained that he is not dragging this out, he just hasn’t interviewed all the people he needs to file a complete report. Listen Here: Rep. Gowdy told Brian that President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry could put an end to the investigation by telling everyone to cooperate and give all the information he is asking for. He explained that until he gets what he needs from the State Department he can’t interview the people on his list. If you want me to write the definitive accounting of what happened in Benghazi, I can’t do it with some of the document.

Former World Cup champion goalie Brianna Scurry talked about the devastating loss England suffered against Japan and talked about how the USA’s loss to Japan in 2012 has motivated them for this charge to the final. Listen Here:

Former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Robert W. Jordan dropped by Kilmeade and Friends to talk with Brian about his new book “Desert Diplomat”, whether the Saudi’s are truly our allies, former President Jimmy Carter bashing Obama’s foreign policy, the turmoil in Egypt, Iran and more. Listen Here: Ambassador Jordan said that he agrees with President Carter that he believes none of our relations in the world are better since Obama took over. He explained that unlike other presidents, Obama has not tried to build personal relationships with foreign leaders and he has a tendency to lead from behind. Amb. Jordan views Saudi Arabia as a transactional ally because we have common interests, but not common values. Ambassador Jordan also talked about being in Saudi Arabia after 9/11 and explained that they were originally in denial that the high-jackers came from there because they didn’t want to see that their country had a big extremism problem. For the full interview, get the podcast