Jack Smith Grilled, Trump Hosts AI Summit, NYT Executive Allegedly Killed by In-Laws: AM Update 9/30

0:00It's time to vote and President Trump needs you. He cut taxes, secured the border and put American workers first. Inflation is going down, jobs are going up and the future is looking bright. DSA Democrats are so mad they can't decide whether they want to abolish prison or put Trump there. Go to GOPVotes.org right now. Defend Trump. Defeat the DSA. Vote early right now. Paid for by SLF PAC. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. www.slfpac.org. Good morning, everyone. I'm Megan Kelly. It's Wednesday, September 30th, 2026, and this is your AM Update. You use your ability and the powers of your office to lie to the court, to lie to Congress, to lie to the American people.

0:52Former special counsel Jack Smith back on Capitol Hill facing hours of grilling over how deeply his investigations into President Trump intruded into Congress, Republican groups and even the media. You'll now have one front door for every single question. Everything will be answered easily and quickly. President Trump putting artificial intelligence front and center yesterday, launching a new government website and meeting with tech leaders. A New York Times executive in the middle of an ugly custody battle gunned down in broad daylight. Police say the suspected killers are the victim's elderly in-laws.

1:29And remnants of a hurricane that hit Mexico Monday night, now threatening to dump months worth of rain on parts of southern Colorado as the flood risk spreads into Oklahoma and Texas. All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM Update.

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3:17Smith dropping the election case after Mr. Trump won in 2024, while Judge Aileen Cannon had already dismissed the documents case after ruling Smith had been unlawfully appointed. Now Republicans examining how far Smith's investigation reached beyond the president himself. Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley used the hearing to lay out newly released records showing Smith's team obtaining and reviewing text messages involving 44 members of Congress, Republicans, and Democrats, while collecting communications from 87 phones used by officials in the first Trump White House. Senator Grassley also releasing 197 subpoenas issued by Smith's team, seeking testimony, communications and records tied to more than 430 Republican individuals and organizations.

4:06Those records also sweeping up communications involving nearly 50 journalists at more than a dozen news organizations, including Fox News, CNN, CBS, NBC, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Reuters, The Federalist, and the Associated Press. Smith rejecting Republicans' accusation that any of it amounted to political targeting. the former special counsel telling senators he still stands behind both prosecutions, insisting politics played no role in his decisions, and saying he would bring the same cases today against a former president of either party. The sharpest fight centering on those congressional phone records.

4:45Smith arguing his team was not investigating the lawmakers themselves, but trying to establish who President Trump and those whom prosecutors considered his co-conspirators were contacting around January 6th. Republican Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana challenging Smith. You saw just the records of the Republicans, and you knew that violated the speech and debate cause, didn't you? That is incorrect. We sought to comply with that. Did you take con law? I'm sorry, Senator. Were you in the quad playing frisbee during con law at Harvard Law School? I did take constitutional law, yes. Well, then you had to know it violated the speech and debate clause.

5:28In fact, when you went to Judge Boasberg, you didn't even tell him you were seeking the phone records of members of Congress, did you? Because you knew he wouldn't agree. He would say, hey, counselor, anybody who knows a law book from a J. Crew catalog knows that this violates the Constitution. But you didn't tell him, did you? We sought nondisclosure orders from the court. You didn't tell him, did you? In seeking nondisclosure orders, we did not disclose. You didn't tell him, but you're unbiased. You have no personal feelings. You make me want to throw up in my mouth. Then came one of the morning's more embarrassing moments.

6:09Republican Senator Eric Schmidt of Missouri confronting Smith over what he suggested was evidence placing the special counsel in Atlanta in February of 2024, at the time Fulton County DA Fannie Willis was separately prosecuting Mr. Trump. Did you go to an NBA game between the Golden State Warriors and the Atlanta Hawks on February 3rd, 2024? What city would that be in? Atlanta. No. So your testimony today is that you did not go to a Hawks game on February 3rd, 2024. Is that correct? I have no recollection of that. Okay. Did you ever meet Nathan Wade or Fannie Willis in your time at special counsel?

6:47No. What would you say if I had a series of text messages from your team that said you were in Atlanta at a Warrior Hawks game on February 3rd, 2024, the day after Willis and Wade announced their affair? I don't think you know that we have this stuff. So I'll give you a second to process it so you don't perjure yourself. You just took it down really quick. If I could look at that again. Democrat Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota then jumping in. We need a copy of the actual text. Can you give the witness the courtesy of giving him a copy of that? Mr. Smith, please address it. Just very briefly, if this is the correct basketball game, I recall going to a University of Maryland basketball game where Caitlin Clark was playing right around that time.

7:36And the marshal service was there with me. You could check if that was the exact date. It was Maryland playing Iowa, I think, February of 2024. But again, you could check that out if that's what we're talking about. Could it then be that University of Iowa is the Hawkeyes? Could that be it? If he was at an Iowa game, is that correct? It was because Caitlin Clark was coming to Maryland to play. I know, but that might be the confusion over the names of the team, but perhaps you should have looked at it more carefully. Klobuchar adding on X later, glad one of us knew the difference between the Atlanta Hawks and the Iowa Hawkeyes.

8:16Yes, if only that same one of you knew the difference between a man and a woman when it comes to sports. But the truth is, while Eric Schmidt has reliably stood up for girls and women's rights against the trans lobby, Amy Klobuchar has made clear she's fine with boys co-opting girls' sports in Minnesota. Save your sanctimony, madam. One confrontation on the Hill turning personal. Republican Senator Darlene Graham of South Carolina pressing Smith over investigators obtaining the phone records of her late brother, Senator Lindsey Graham, and questioning how his office justified keeping the subpoena secret.

8:51Mr. Smith, do you really believe that Lindsay was going to destroy evidence that was not even in his possession? No, I believe your brother was a patriotic public servant. Then why does the gang order say that disclosure of the subpoena would result in destruction of our tampering with evidence? Because disclosure of that subpoena could result in Donald Trump attempting to intimidate witnesses as he had before. and after. We had an ample basis for that. The evidence in question belonged to Lindsay and was in the possession of Verizon. It makes absolutely no sense that anyone would be able to destroy the evidence you are seeking.

9:37Do you know what I think? I think you're just trying to bully my brother and other allies of President Trump. You caused my brother and a lot of other senators a lot of stress, and that makes me sick. Calci putting the chance of Jack Smith actually being charged with a federal crime this year at 16%. Give Calci, our sponsor, a try by using code MEGYNKELLY or by clicking the link in the description. All new users get$25 free when they trade$25. President Trump devoting much of yesterday to artificial intelligence, launching a new government website and sitting down at the White House with some of the biggest names in tech.

10:21The day beginning with the unveiling of America.gov, an AI-powered portal designed to become a single front door for Americans trying to navigate federal government services. Mr. Trump describing it this way. For our entire lives, we've become used to a government so big it makes the citizen feel very, very small. Instead of forcing citizens to search through the endless maze of tens of thousands of terrible government websites and rules and more than 10 ,000 forms, you have over 10 ,000 forms to do basic acts. You'll now have one front door for every single question. Everything will be answered easily and quickly.

11:03A digital home built around your time and your life. You'll save hours and hours, many hours, hundreds of hours, perhaps a year. The administration planning to greatly expand what Americans can actually do on the site next year. Airbnb co-founder and U.S. Chief Design Officer Joe Jebbia saying that beginning in 2027, users are expected to be able to complete forms and track applications for a number of services directly through America.gov. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announcing Americans will also be able to use the site to apply for their first U.S. passport, a major hassle which you cannot currently do online, beginning next year.

11:43From there, the focus shifting from how the government uses AI to what Washington should do about the companies building it. Mr. Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson hosting a White House lunch attended by a who's who of the tech industry. They were all there. The gathering coming as some of the executives developing the most advanced AI systems are calling for stronger safeguards. Somebody save us from ourselves. While the president has repeatedly warned against regulations he believes could slow American development and allow China to catch up. The closed door discussion reportedly lasting more than two hours.

12:19The president making clear he remains opposed to heavy handed government regulation of the industry. President Trump saying the discussion also focused on how much responsibility the companies themselves should bear for policing the technology. Well, there's a belief that there should be tremendous self-regulation, and we automatically have regulation with the Department of Justice, the FBI, all of that. But the self-regulation is very important. There's something else that was discussed, and that's local communities. This is a group that loves local communities. They love our country. And they're going to work with local communities for the data centers in particular.

12:55and they're going to work to make the community happy. That might be supplying oil and gas, it might be supplying education, it may be helping teachers along financially, helping people along financially. The executives agreeing to a voluntary framework calling for advanced AI systems to undergo internal and outside review as lawmakers continue debating how much oversight the rapidly developing tech actually needs. Later in the afternoon, President Trump and the tech execs speaking with reporters outside the White House, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg describing the safety framework. I think what we can all agree on is that the American public and our customers want to know that what we're building is working in the way that we all intend.

13:40So we drafted a set of principles and commitments around building robust internal controls and detecting if there are any issues with the technology, coupled with multiple layers of auditing and controls, starting with internal risk review, external auditors and evaluators, and agreeing that we're going to have all of our boards of directors independently review the reports that come from the auditors. I know these are good steps forward. Anthropic co-founder Dario Amadei, one of the leading voices for an AI slowdown, sounding cautiously optimistic. AI has incredible benefits. I've talked about the medical benefits of the technology.

14:22As the president has said, you know, whoever wins AI wins. I think that's very important. But I think the technology has very real risks. And, you know, the mechanism, how we address those risks is still under discussion. But we all need to work. We all need to work together to make sure that we can win and we can win safely. If we if we do this right, if we work with the president and everyone here, we can win safely. Coming up, a couple of married 77-year-olds now in custody, accused of gunning down their daughter's spouse, who worked for the New York Times, in broad daylight. And a hurricane hitting Mexico Monday night, now sending a flood threat north from Colorado down to Texas.

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15:48The doctors at Brickhouse Nutrition created lean for frustrated dieters with 10 or more pounds to lose. You could get started with 20 % off and free rush shipping, adding lean to your healthy diet and exercise plan. Visit takelean.com and enter MK for your discount. That's promo code MK at takelean.com. A New York Times executive gunned down in broad daylight over the weekend in the parking lot of a Northern California sports complex. Police say the suspected killers are the executive's 77-year-old in-laws. 40-year-old Jonathan McKenzie found shortly after 3 p.m. Saturday in the middle of the parking lot at Dublin Sports Grounds, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.

16:33Jonathan McKenzie pronounced dead at the scene. A Dublin police sergeant happening upon the shooting while driving near the complex as dispatchers reportedly began receiving multiple 911 calls. Witnesses helping officers locate Shoyang Zhang and Shi Li Chen nearby within minutes. The married couple identified by police as Jonathan McKenzie's in-laws, both arrested on suspicion of murder and booked into Santa Rita Jail. Witnesses telling the New York Post two masked attackers approached McKenzie in the parking lot before reportedly taking turns firing. McKenzie, with the New York Times since 2023, most recently serving as director of engineering for their games division.

17:16Police have not announced a motive, but the killing comes amid an ugly divorce and custody battle between McKenzie and Candace Jang, the accused killer couple's daughter. The New York Times reporting Jang and McKenzie each sought domestic violence restraining orders against the other last year, Candace Jang accusing husband McKenzie in court filings of physical abuse, including an incident Jang says left her with a fractured vertebra. A separate police report shows Jang also accused McKenzie of striking the couple's six-year-old child in the face. Police responding to that complaint reportedly found the couple's two-year-old alone in an upstairs bedroom after dad McKenzie had gone shopping for more than an hour, all of which resulted in McKenzie being charged with two misdemeanor counts of child abuse, McKenzie pleading not guilty and being released on the condition that parenting classes be completed.

18:09A pretrial hearing had been scheduled for next month. McKenzie filed for divorce in December, seeking a separate restraining order against wife Jang. That filing revealing, guess what, McKinsey was actually a woman, but had undergone surgical procedures in order to appear male. McKinsey previously accusing wife Jang and Jang's parents of abuse, tied to McKinsey's so-called gender identity. McKinsey alleging the mother-in-law called McKinsey a, quote, monster after McKinsey's young son began wearing his sister's dresses and accusing the father-in-law of punching McKinsey in the chest during recovery from double mastectomy surgery in 2010.

18:49According to booking records, Zhang and Chen now facing charges including first-degree murder, felony conspiracy, willful discharge of a firearm with gross negligence, and child endangerment. They are set to be arraigned later today. Hurricane Polo's tropical moisture driving a serious flood threat from the Rockies into the Plains after the storm made landfall in Mexico's Baja California Sur region Monday night. About 28 million people were under flood watches as of yesterday, according to the Washington Post. By early this morning, what is left of Polo reaching eastern Colorado, where a separate weather system could pull it toward the mountains and keep it spinning over the region for much of the day.

19:31The National Weather Service in Pueblo, Colorado warning wildfire burn scars are especially vulnerable to flash flooding, the danger spreading farther into the plains today and tomorrow. The post identifying heightened flood risks along I-80 from Nebraska through Des Moines and into eastern Iowa, and along the corridor from Kansas City through Wichita, Oklahoma City, and Dallas into the Texas Hill Country. Fox weather meteorologist Britta Merwin explaining why the first real drenching after a long, hot, dry stretch could be a problem. All of this mess in the Southwest will continue to push farther east as we work our way through the middle part of the work week.

20:12And this is a huge threat to states like Oklahoma and Texas who find themselves in a level three out of four flash flood potential on Wednesday and Thursday. Part of the problem here, folks, is the summer that we've had in the central plains. No rain, triple digit heat for more than two months. And in fact, we haven't had more than a hundredth of an inch of rain in months. And the first real drenching rain that we're going to get is way too much. We're talking about over half a foot of rain in two days. So this is going to cause big problems. Again, similar to the Southwest story, this is fueled by tropical moisture.

20:51In Texas, rainfall totals could reportedly reach double digits by the end of the week, while today's storms could bring damaging winds or even an isolated tornado. And that'll do it for your AM update. I'm Megan Kelly. Join me back here for the MK Show, live on SiriusXM's The Megan Kelly Channel, 111 at noon east, on youtube.com slash megankelly and on all podcast platforms.

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