National Guard to Memphis and Portland, SCOTUS Takes Cook Case, Vance on Memes: AM Update 10/2

0:02Megyn Kelly:Good morning, everyone. I'm Megyn Kelly. It's Thursday, October 2nd, 2025, and this is your AM update. But we don't need military intervention in Portland. The National Guard begins training in Oregon ahead of an imminent deployment to protect ICE officials and property in Portland, despite opposition from local officials.

0:21Stephen Miller:Close to 25 percent of these drivers were illegally driving.

0:26Megyn Kelly:A sting operation in Oklahoma takes over 100 alleged illegal alien semi-truck drivers off the road. Fed Governor Lisa Cook scores a temporary win at the Supreme Court in her battle to keep her job. And Vice President J.D. Vance says the sombrero memes will continue until the shutdown ends. All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM Update.

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1:51Megyn Kelly:Attorney General Pam Bondi, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, and White House Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller in Memphis, Tennessee last night, speaking to federal agents amid a crime crackdown in one of America's most dangerous cities.

2:06Pam Bondi:We are going to work hand in hand to make the most violent crime city in the country have no crime. I see green, blue, black, tan, camouflage.

2:19Pete Hegseth:Altogether, one cause, one city. We are proud to be part of that effort to ensure we're defending the homeland and defending those who defend the homeland. This is a all of government unlimited support operation. ATF, DEA, FBI, ICE, Department of War, every resource we have. And they're not going to be sitting behind a desk at a keyboard. We are sending in real cops with guns and badges to go out with you on the street every single night making arrests. The idea that there is a square inch of block in this city where a citizen doesn't feel safe is unacceptable. This is Memphis. This is the United States of America, and all that bullshit is done.

3:08Pete Hegseth:It's over. It's finished.

3:10Megyn Kelly:Republican Governor of Tennessee Bill Lee last month joining President Trump at the White House, announcing the plan to deploy the National Guard and more than a dozen federal agencies into the Democrat-run city. It is unclear how long the surge is expected to last. A.G. Bondi posting to X yesterday morning, quote, in just 48 hours, our Memphis Safe Task Force has made 53 arrests and seized 20 illegal firearms. National Guard troops are soon expected to be on the streets of Portland, Oregon. On Wednesday, President Trump posting to Truth Social, quote, As I determined on September 27th, when I activated and called into service the National Guard in Oregon, conditions continue to deteriorate into lawless mayhem.

3:54Megyn Kelly:We will never allow mobs to take over our streets, burn our cities, or destroy America. The National Guard is now in place and has been dedicated to restoring law and order and ending the chaos, death, and destruction. We are a nation of law and we will prevail. Fox 12 News reporting the guardsmen began arriving Tuesday, where they will spend several days training in crowd control and use of force before beginning the mission in Portland. As of Wednesday afternoon, an official from the Oregon Military Department saying troops will likely move into Portland over the weekend. Earlier this week, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth mobilizing 200 Oregon National Guard troops under federal control for 60 days.

4:38Megyn Kelly:This in response to ongoing protests outside of the Portland ICE facility, which have resulted in more than two dozen arrests since June. Democrat Governor Tina Kotek on MSNBC Monday night, MSNOW, calling the deployment unnecessary. Portland, Oregon is a beautiful, vibrant, successful city. We are not a war zone. I was out there all weekend long. People were out and about shopping, going to restaurants, going to soccer matches, going to shows. Portland is a beautiful place, and we are not under siege. There's no insurrection here. When the president makes a choice to say, I should have military troops in my state, I push back right away.

5:19Megyn Kelly:I continue to not understand what the mission is here, but we don't need military intervention in Portland. Brigadier General Alan Gronewald, who leads the Oregon National Guard, penning a memo to his troops on Monday, quote, The mission is straightforward. Protect federal facilities and the federal employees working in them. The following night, DHS reporting six protesters were arrested outside of the facility. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin releasing a statement, quote, They assaulted law enforcement, even putting one member of law enforcement into the hospital, trespassed on federal property, attacked law enforcement by blinding them with strobe lights, and blocked the entrance to the facility.

6:00Megyn Kelly:The state of Oregon and city of Portland filing a lawsuit on Sunday to stop the deployment. A hearing on the state's motion for a temporary restraining order, or TRO, is set for Friday. Obama-appointed district judge Michael Simon is overseeing the case. If the TRO is granted, the deployment will be immediately paused as the case continues through the court system. Oklahoma Highway Patrol teaming up with ICE to run a sting operation at a weigh station near the Texas border last week. In just three days, authorities arresting 130 commercial drivers. Oklahoma's Republican Governor Kevin Stitt on Fox News yesterday, raising concerns about the sheer number of illegal aliens obtaining commercial driver's licenses, then operating 80 ,000-pound trucks across this country.

6:50Stephen Miller:Yeah, you know, when my head of highway patrol called me and was we were talking about this operation and to us, it's pretty simple. We're just going to enforce the law. And until drive on roads in Oklahoma, you've got to be able to read and understand English, especially the people driving 18 wheelers. So when he told me that he pulled over five hundred and twenty vehicles at one of our checkpoints as a as an operation and over close to twenty five percent of these drivers were illegally driving. They were from China, Russia, Venezuela. It is unbelievable. And these aren't people that are here legally with a legal CDL.

7:26Stephen Miller:They had overstayed their visa. They had illegally obtained this CDL. And they're just violating the intent of the law and the absolute law. I think the American people need to understand this is a problem. We have to be a law and order state and a law and order country.

7:43Megyn Kelly:Authorities say many of the licenses were issued by sanctuary states. including one New York license stating, no name given for a driver's first and middle name. No name given. The New York Department of Motor Vehicles confirming to the New York Post the license is real. A DMV spokesperson telling the Post, the commercial driver's license was issued in accordance with all proper procedures, including verification of the individual's identity through federally issued documentation, adding, it's not uncommon for individuals to have only one name. Well, isn't that comforting? According to Oklahoma Public Safety Commissioner Tim Tipton, many of the licenses were expired or listed under a single name, making identification impossible.

8:28Megyn Kelly:This operation comes just over one month after three people in Florida were killed in an accident involving an illegal immigrant truck driver making an illegal U-turn that suddenly blocked all lanes of traffic on a busy highway. The 28-year-old driver did not speak English and failed to accurately identify three of four highway traffic signs in an exam. Despite the accused man's lack of English language proficiency, he was granted a commercial driver's license in Washington and then again in California. That driver, Harjinder Singh, pleading not guilty earlier this week in Florida. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy last week announcing an emergency action drastically restricting eligibility for commercial learner's permits and driver's licenses to non-citizens after a nationwide audit exposed, quote, a catastrophic pattern of states issuing licenses illegally to foreign drivers.

9:24Megyn Kelly:Coming up, the Supreme Court grants embattled Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook a temporary win as the president seeks to fire her. And Vice President J.D. Vance offers advice to House Speaker Hakeem Jeffries on how to stop the president from mocking him on social media.

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10:23Megyn Kelly:I get it. Nobody wants to deal with Medicare. But in under 20 minutes, Chapter can review your options. If your plan is already the best for 2026, great, you're done. If not, they will help you switch before rising costs hit your wallet. No gimmicks, no pushy sales, just straight talk from people who know Medicare inside and out. Call Chapter today at 27 Medicare. That's 27 Medicare to talk to a trusted advisor today. The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday agreeing to take up President Trump's case to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. The High Court also in a short unsigned order allowing Ms.

11:04Megyn Kelly:Cook to retain her position, pending oral arguments set for January. The decision favoring Cook, at least temporarily, is a bit of a departure for the court, which has routinely sided with President Trump's authority to run the executive branch as he sees fit, permitting the firings of bureaucrats from independent agencies including the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the National Labor Relations Board, Federal Trade Commission, and more. However, in May, the Supreme Court describing the Fed as a uniquely structured quasi-private entity with a distinct historical position, setting it apart from other so-called independent executive agencies.

11:40The Federal

11:41Megyn Kelly:Reserve, responsible for setting interest rates and managing inflation, is part of the executive branch, though it operates independently. Board members are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate for 14-year terms. The high court will need to determine just how independent any executive branch agency, even the Fed, can be. Cook, nominated by Biden and narrowly confirmed to a position expiring in 2038. The president can only fire Fed board members, for cause, but that term is not defined. In August, the nation's top housing finance regulator, Bill Pulte, submitting two criminal referrals against Cook, alleging fraud on mortgage loan applications across three properties, where Cook is accused of wrongly classifying the purpose of those properties, potentially to secure more favorable financial terms.

12:30Megyn Kelly:President Trump then attempted to fire Cook, who in return filed a lawsuit. Cook's team arguing the allegations do not qualify as cause for her termination because the mortgage applications were submitted before she joined the board. Solicitor General John Sauer, writing in a filing, quote, quote, put simply, the president may reasonably determine that interest rates paid by the American people should not be set by a governor who appears to have lied about facts material to the interest rates she secured for herself. Sauer also noting Cook has not denied nor attempted to explain the allegations against her.

13:05Megyn Kelly:Quote, instead, in her latest brief, she once again promises a full-throated rebuttal to be provided at some unspecified future date and in some unspecified future proceeding. Her silence on this point speaks volumes. Cook arguing her ouster, even temporarily, could cause chaos in financial markets and, quote, eviscerate the independence of the Federal Reserve Board. The Federal Reserve is scheduled to meet two more times before January, where they are expected to vote on more interest rate cuts, which President Trump says are too late. Press Secretary Caroline Levitt reacting on Wednesday.

13:40Pam Bondi:Look, we have respect for the Supreme Court, but they're going to hear the actual case and make a determination on the legal argument in January. And we look forward to that because we maintain that she was fired well within the president's legal authority to do so. She was removed from the board and we look forward to that case being fully played out at the Supreme Court.

14:01Megyn Kelly:Vice President J.D. Vance on Wednesday joining the White House press briefing, speaking out about the government shutdown, asking Democrats to join Republicans in passing a temporary funding extension so negotiations can begin on other funding priorities. Mr. Vance questioned twice by reporters regarding memes shared by President Trump depicting House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries sporting a curly mustache and sombrero as mariachi music plays in the background. The memes meant to emphasize the Democrats' proposal to repeal measures in the Big Beautiful Bill that has already been passed that end taxpayer health benefits for illegal immigrants.

14:40Megyn Kelly:First up, a reporter from Reuters.

14:43Pete Hegseth:And is it helpful to post pictures of Leader Jeffries and a sombrero

14:47Lisa Cook:if you're trying to have good faith talks with him? Oh, I think it's funny. The president's joking and we're having a good time. You can negotiate in good faith while also poking a little bit of fun at some of the absurdities of the Democrats' positions and even poking some fun at the absurdity of the Democrats themselves. I mean, I'll tell Hakeem Jeffries right now, I make this solemn promise to you that if you help us reopen the government, the sombrero memes will stop. And I've talked to the president of the United States about that.

15:13Megyn Kelly:An AFP news agency correspondent hitting the racial angle.

15:17Pete Hegseth:Just going back to the sombrero, you said that the president's joking, but Hakeem Jeffries says that these, you know, these memes were racist.

15:24Lisa Cook:What's your response to that? Hakeem Jeffries said it was racist. And I know that he said that. And I honestly don't even know what that means. Like, is he a Mexican-American that is offended by having a sombrero meme? I saw one of the major TV stations put the meme up and then say, this is AI generated. And he had like the curly animated mustache, too. It's like, do the American people, do you really not realize the American people recognize that he did not actually come to the White House wearing a sombrero and a black curly animation mustache? Like, give the country a little bit of credit. we're all trying to do a very important job for the American people.

16:02Lisa Cook:The president of the United States likes to have a little bit of fun when he's doing it. And I think that's okay.

16:06Megyn Kelly:House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries responding on X by posting a clip of the vice president with a widely popular right-wing meme of Mr. Vance's distorted face superimposed over his actual face. Mr. Jeffries writing, quote, J.D. Vance thinks we will surrender to the Republican an effort to gut healthcare because of a sombrero meme. Not happening, bro. You didn't burn me, I burned you, bro. And that'll do it for your AM update. I'm Megan Kelly. Join me back here for The Megan Kelly Show, live on SiriusXM Triumph Channel 111 at noon east, on youtube.com slash Megan Kelly, and on all podcast platforms.