NPR and PBS Grilled on Bias, Signal Story's Latest Details, Crockett Doubles Down: AM Update 3/27

Speaker 1 Good morning, everyone. I'm Megan Kelly.

Speaker 4 It's Thursday, March 27th, 2025, and this is your AM update.

Speaker 6 He said he found 87 registered Democrats, zero Republicans.

Speaker 7 Is that accurate?

Speaker 8 We do not track the numbers or the voter registration.

Speaker 9 Heads of publicly funded outlets, NPR, and PBS called to Capitol Hill to answer for their left-wing political bias.

Speaker 13 Well, I don't know about downplay. The press upplays it.
I think it's all a witch hunt. That's all.
I think it's a witch hunt.

Speaker 5 The Atlantic magazine's signal messaging story dominates left-wing media for the third day with reaction falling mostly along party lines.

Speaker 16 And Democrat Congresswoman from Texas, Jasmine Crockett, under fire for mocking Texas Governor Greg Abbott's disability.

Speaker 1 All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM update.

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Speaker 24 Heads of NPR and PBS testifying in front of the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Wednesday.

Speaker 11 Both outlets receiving a mix of direct and indirect funding from the federal government.

Speaker 29 NPR reporting 8% of its 2022 budget coming from the publicly funded Corporation for Public Broadcasting, another 6% from federal, state, and local governments.

Speaker 31 PBS says 14% of its operating budget comes from the feds.

Speaker 11 Republicans have long criticized both outlets for what they say is intense media bias against the right.

Speaker 2 GOP lawmakers' frustrations targeted mostly at NPR in the hearing.

Speaker 33 Last year, 25-year NPR veteran Uri Berliner confirming the left-wing NPR bias in a free press essay titled, I've Been at NPR for 25 years.

Speaker 10 Here's how we lost America's Trust.

Speaker 16 Mr. Berliner writing, quote, Today, those who listen to NPR or read its coverage online find the distilled worldview of a very small segment of the U.S.

Speaker 32 population.

Speaker 25 Republican Congressman from Ohio Jim Jordan questioning NPR CEO Catherine Marr on some of Mr.

Speaker 31 Berliner's claims.

Speaker 6 In the D.C. area, editorial positions at NPR,

Speaker 6 he said he found 87 registered Democrats, zero Republicans.

Speaker 7 Is that accurate?

Speaker 8 We do not track the numbers or the voter registration, but I find that...

Speaker 6 Because award-winning journalists who worked 25 years at NPR, Mr. Berliner, was he lying when he wrote that?

Speaker 8 I am not presuming such. I just don't have, we don't track that information about our journalists.

Speaker 28 One wonders why Ms.

Speaker 30 Maher, if she finds this possibility so concerning, never bothered to check it out.

Speaker 26 A month after Mr.

Speaker 5 Berliner's essay, NPR implemented an additional editorial review process involving a final check by six editors, none of whom appears to be right-leaning.

Speaker 9 Ms.

Speaker 11 Maher herself has a long history of expressing controversial opinions.

Speaker 37 Most written knowledge today has been written by white, white, colonial, European, North American men.

Speaker 37 And so one of the things that we're really focused on is how do we think about correcting the record? The number one challenge here that we see is, of course, the First Amendment in the United States.

Speaker 28 In 2016, Ms.

Speaker 4 Maher tweeting, quote, airline business class demographics are such a pet peeve of mine.

Speaker 26 In the lounge and on the plane, usually more than 80% male, usually white. After Joe Biden's win in November 2020, Ms.

Speaker 10 Maher tweeting, I can't stop crying with relief.

Speaker 5 Many similar examples remain on her X-Feed and were the subject of some questioning on Wednesday.

Speaker 38 Do you believe that America believes in black plunder and white democracy?

Speaker 8 I don't believe that, sir.

Speaker 38 You tweeted that in reference to a book you were reading at the time, apparently, The Case for Reparations.

Speaker 8 I don't think I've ever read that book, sir.

Speaker 15 You tweeted about it.

Speaker 38 You said you took a day off to fully read the case case for reparations. You put that on Twitter in January of 2020.

Speaker 8 I apologize. I don't recall that I did.

Speaker 38 Do you think the white people should pay reparations?

Speaker 8 I have never said that, sir.

Speaker 38 Yes, you did. You said it in January of 2020.
You tweeted, yes, the North. Yes, all of us.
Yes, America. Yes, our original collective sin and unpaid debt.
Yes, reparations. Yes, on this day.

Speaker 39 Why did you call President Trump a fascist and a deranged racist sociopath in 2020?

Speaker 8 Congressman, I appreciate the opportunity to address this. I regret those tweets.
I would not tweet them again today.

Speaker 16 Republican lawmakers also calling out uneven NPR coverage of investigations into the Trump and Biden presidencies.

Speaker 40 And in 2020, unfortunately, NPR's managing editor for news refused to cover the story, and he branded it a, quote, waste of time.

Speaker 40 How many times did y'all interview Adam Schiff about the Russia collusion?

Speaker 8 I'm sorry. Sorry, I don't have that number.

Speaker 40 It was 25 times.

Speaker 40 You know how many times NPR interviewed chairman of this committee, Oversight Committee, Jamie Comer, about the Biden impeachment inquiry, the Hunter-Biden tax evasion and illicit business dealings with the Biden family.

Speaker 8 I'm sorry, sir, I don't know.

Speaker 40 I believe that's zero, so it's 25 to zero.

Speaker 16 The Hunter Biden laptop story, which was later verified as completely true, suppressed by the media in the weeks leading up to the 2020 election.

Speaker 11 NPR did not acknowledge the laptop's authenticity until 17 months later.

Speaker 12 Democrats on the committee mocking and condemning the hearing.

Speaker 15 Is Elmo now, or has he ever been a member of the Communist Party of the United States? A yes or no? No.

Speaker 15 Madam Chair, if shame was still a thing, this hearing would be shameful.

Speaker 15 My Republican colleagues don't want to talk about the corporate waste, fraud, and abuse because those corporations fund the Republicans' campaigns.

Speaker 15 So instead, they want to shut down educational programming for kids.

Speaker 10 Side note, Sesame Street was sold to HBO back in 2015.

Speaker 23 Chairman of the committee, Marjorie Taylor Greene, concluding the hearing, saying she will refer NPR and PBS to the Doge team for funding cuts.

Speaker 11 President Trump expressing support for the idea on Tuesday.

Speaker 41 Would you be interested in defunding and taking away taxpayer dollars to NPR and PBS?

Speaker 42 Well, I would love to do that. I think it's very unfair.
It's been very biased with the whole group. The kind of money that's being wasted, and it's a very biased view.

Speaker 42 You know that better than anybody.

Speaker 42 And I'd be honored to see it end

Speaker 16 reaction to the Atlantic magazine's big bombshell that its editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, was copied on alleged war plans by top intel and defense officials, falling mostly along party lines.

Speaker 10 The Atlantic, releasing the details of what it initially referred to as, quote, war plans, now slightly softened to say, quote, attack plans.

Speaker 31 The newly revealed messages show Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth texting the group on the signal app a timeline of the administration's planned attack on the Houthi rebels.

Speaker 11 Press Secretary Caroline Levitt fielding multiple questions in a tense White House briefing.

Speaker 44 We have said all along that no classified material was sent on this messaging thread.

Speaker 41 What is it about what Pete Hegseth wrote that makes you say this is not classified?

Speaker 44 Well, it's not just me saying that, Peter. It's the Secretary of Defense himself.

Speaker 24 Why aren't launch times on a mission strike classified?

Speaker 44 Again, I would defer defer you to the Secretary of Defense's statement.

Speaker 11 President Trump dismissing concerns about the security lapse.

Speaker 45 It's something that is not a big deal, other than you want to find out who did it and how they did it,

Speaker 45 because you don't want to happen in the future. You can't have that happen.

Speaker 13 Well, I don't know about downplaying. The press upplays it.
I think it's all a witch hunt. That's all.
I think it's a witch hunt.

Speaker 24 Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was in the group chat weighing in on the controversy from a tour of the Caribbean, appearing to distance himself himself from the matter.

Speaker 46 Someone made a big mistake and added a journalist. Just speaking from my role, I contributed to it twice.
I identified my point of contact, which is my chief of staff.

Speaker 46 And then later on, I think three hours after the White House's official announcements had been made, I congratulated the members of the team.

Speaker 32 A left-wing federal watchdog group called American Oversight, now suing the Trump administration, saying their use of signal is a violation of the Federal Records Act.

Speaker 10 The case randomly assigned to U.S.

Speaker 16 District Judge James Boesberg, the same judge who issued a nationwide injunction against the Trump administration on its invocation of the Alien Enemies Act to deport suspected Venezuelan gang members.

Speaker 25 The signal controversy dominating the questions in a Wednesday House Intelligence Committee hearing, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe defending their participation in the chat.

Speaker 37 What was shared today reflects the fact that I was not directly involved with that part of the signal chat.

Speaker 15 Those messages were revealed today and revealed that I did not transmit classified information.

Speaker 25 Democrats on the committee repeatedly admonishing the Intel officials.

Speaker 47 Y'all, the idea that this information, if it was presented to our committee, would not be classified, y'all know, is a lie. That's ridiculous.

Speaker 7 This is classified information.

Speaker 24 This is classified information.

Speaker 48 Secretary Hagseth, who undoubtedly transmitted classified, sensitive operational information via this chain, must resign immediately.

Speaker 30 Democrat Congressman from California, Jimmy Gomez, questioning Secretary Hegseth's sobriety.

Speaker 15 To your knowledge, do you know whether Pete Hegseth had been drinking before he leaked classified information?

Speaker 15 You know, no, I'm going to answer that. I think that's an offensive line of questioning.
The answer is no. This was a question that's on the top of minds of every American.

Speaker 15 He stood in front of a podium in Europe holding a drink. So, of course, we want to know if his performance is compromised.

Speaker 16 The congressman referencing a quickly debunked claim from a left-wing media troll after a February NATO press conference.

Speaker 29 A still image at the time showed Secretary Hegseth appearing to sip a brown liquid from a glass in a room full of people, which sparked speculation by one troll of alcohol consumption.

Speaker 16 However, video of the incident revealing the glass was actually filled with clear water, its color simply distorted in one still shot by the appearance of Hegseth's hand behind it.

Speaker 16 Congressman Gomez trying to smear the Defense Secretary as crafting military actions while drunk with zero evidence.

Speaker 5 Coming up, Democrat Congresswoman from Texas Jasmine Crockett under fire for calling wheelchair-bound Texas Governor Greg Abbott Governor Hot Wheels.

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Speaker 16 Democrat Congresswoman from Texas Jasmine Crockett under fire for making particularly nasty comments about Texas Governor Greg Abbott and his disability.

Speaker 16 Congresswoman Crockett over the weekend speaking at a human rights campaign event.

Speaker 10 You know, the human rights campaign that fights for equality for all, especially for, quote, the most marginalized.

Speaker 43 Y'all know we got Governor Hot Wheels down there.

Speaker 15 Come on now.

Speaker 43 And the only thing hot about him is that he is a hot ass mess, honey.

Speaker 17 The audience laughed.

Speaker 20 In 1984, an oak tree fell on the then 26-year-old Mr.

Speaker 16 Abbott, paralyzing him from the waist down.

Speaker 11 It was seemingly all leading disability advocacy groups could do to begrudgingly express mild criticism of Miss Crockett's remarks.

Speaker 10 Josie Bizak, director at the United Spinal Association, saying,

Speaker 11 Representative Crockett has a history of protecting the programs and rights of people with disabilities, disabilities, and that's wonderful.

Speaker 10 At the same time, the stigma is real.

Speaker 2 Disability rights advocate Emily Lidow telling Politico, quote, right now, we're in really tenuous times where you don't want to make a foe out of someone who is otherwise a friend, like Crockett clearly is, but we cannot hold one side to account and not the other.

Speaker 28 Congresswoman Crockett on Tuesday in damage control mode, posting to X, quote, I wasn't thinking about the governor's condition.

Speaker 23 I was thinking about the the planes, trains, and automobiles he used to transfer migrants into communities led by black mayors, deliberately stoking tension and fear among the most vulnerable.

Speaker 4 Fox News's Jackie Henrich asked the congresswoman on Wednesday if she would like to apologize.

Speaker 50 I put out a statement regarding May, you didn't apologize.

Speaker 50 I'm going to apologize when I put out a statement.

Speaker 16 The Washington Free Beacon reporting Ms.

Speaker 11 Crockett previously liked multiple social media posts referring to Abbott as Hot Wheels before the governor's migrant busing initiative even began.

Speaker 25 Governor Abbott responding to Ms.

Speaker 11 Crockett's statements on Hannity.

Speaker 7 The reality is they have no vision, no policy, they have nothing to sell but hate. And Americans are not buying it.
It's one reason why Texas is going to remain red.

Speaker 10 Ms.

Speaker 11 Crockett going viral several times in recent weeks for using aggressive language to discuss political opponents.

Speaker 16 Earlier this week, she told the Dallas Morning News Democrats need to punch harder to win elections.

Speaker 43 I think that you punch.

Speaker 5 I think you punch. I think you're okay.

Speaker 43 You're okay with punching. It's Santa Cruz.
I mean, like, this dude has to be knocked over the head, like, hard, right? Like, there is no niceties with him.

Speaker 10 Miss Crockett, a vocal supporter of the Tesla takedown group, last week saying in a live stream, on March 29th, it's my birthday.

Speaker 52 And all I want to see happen on my birthday is for Elon to be taken down.

Speaker 11 There have been dozens of attacks against Tesla facilities across the nation in recent weeks involving Molotov cocktails and other acts of vandalism.

Speaker 10 On Monday, three incendiary devices discovered at a Tesla dealership in Austin, Texas.

Speaker 27 There is no evidence linking Crockett's remarks to recent attacks.

Speaker 25 There is, however, evidence of Ms.

Speaker 28 Crockett dramatically changing her manner of speaking from just a few years ago to now.

Speaker 3 Take a listen to her in 2022.

Speaker 43 You know,

Speaker 43 no one could have told me that when I went down to Austin, now it looks like a little bit over a year ago, that I would be running for Congress. It's just not what my plan was.

Speaker 43 But what I've always decided is that I would step up when there was a need.

Speaker 23 And more recently.

Speaker 43 I just want to run it back though to the very beginning. So let me tell you something.
Y'all don't know what white privilege looks like, but I'm going to show you a little bit of something.

Speaker 43 We in these hot-ass Texas streets, honey.

Speaker 43 That you want to shut down everybody that is not Fox News is bullshit. We need to stop playing.

Speaker 12 Hmm.

Speaker 14 Well, that'll do it for your AM update.

Speaker 51 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.

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