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Sunday Night in America 10/19/25 FULL END SHOW | ᗷᖇEᗩKIᑎG ᑎEᗯS Tᖇᑌᗰᑭ October 19, 2025
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00:00Good evening and thank you for joining us. I'm Trey Gowdy and it's Sunday night in America.
00:04The government shutdown continues as people feel the pain of intransigence.
00:10Leader Schumer, myself, Democrats in the House and the Senate, that we want to sit down,
00:14find a bipartisan path forward to enacting a spending agreement that actually makes life
00:19better for the American people. I sent them a totally clean CR. It had zero Republican
00:25policy priorities attached to it. It's merely maintaining the status quo, keeping the lights
00:30on so that we can continue all of our work and keep, get government appropriations finished up.
00:34They, they, they denied that. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has offered Democrats a dozen
00:41offerams to end this shutdown. One would think paying soldiers, police officers, air traffic
00:46controllers, prosecutors would be bipartisan, but one would be mistaken. Only three Democrats voted
00:54to open government. Georgia Senator John Ossoff claims to be moderate in election years, but
01:00then he winds up voting with Elizabeth Warren and Chuck Schumer. I don't have a PhD in government,
01:06but I'm almost positive Democrats are in the minority in both houses. And, and, and they're
01:11in the minority for a reason. Voters rejected their ideas. Why would Republicans negotiate with
01:17a minority party acting like petulant children? Joining us is Chairman Tim Scott from South Carolina,
01:24who also runs GOP Senate election efforts in 2026. Welcome. Mr. Chairman, I'm almost positive that
01:31Barack Obama did not sign the reveal, the repeal of Obamacare when Republicans shut government down.
01:38So why would Republicans reward Chuck Schumer for bad ideas that failed at the ballot box?
01:45Well, we, we won't. Number one, the Schumer shutdown continues. But Trey, let's remember why the
01:50Schumer shutdown started. The Democrats are desperate for power. They are willing to sell
01:56out current constituents like women, infants and children for what? For illegal immigrants,
02:04their future voters. This is a power grab. They're willing to shut the government down so that they can
02:11earn and gain more power. This isn't going to work. When your rally yesterday was supported by,
02:18sponsored by the Communist Party USA, you're on the wrong track. You're not heading for power. You're
02:26heading for not to be in existence at all. It is just utterly ridiculous to see what the Democrats are
02:31doing to the most vulnerable people on the planet. Thank God, Trey, for President Trump, who found the
02:37resources to continue the WIC program helping women, infants and children.
02:43All right, Chairman, you mentioned the most vulnerable and I know you're sensitive to that. People are hurting.
02:50Most Americans do not have enough savings to survive a long shutdown and they shouldn't have to.
02:57Is there an off ramp? And let me just single out John Ossoff from Georgia. I mean, that's right below us.
03:03Why in the world is he voting with Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders in a state that went for Trump and Brian Kemp?
03:09You can't tell the difference between John Ossoff and AOC if you if you tried really hard.
03:17Their voting records are so similar. What we know without any question is John Ossoff is only a
03:22moderate on TV when running for reelection. The rest of the time he votes like a liberal,
03:27a liberal that allows for parades and rallies to be sponsored by the Communist USA Party and to say
03:34nothing. The best way to stop this shutdown from ever happening again. The best way to make sure
03:39the American dream continues to go forward is to elect more Republicans starting in Georgia. And then
03:46let's roll up the tapes and go to Michigan and New Hampshire. Let's make sure that Susan Collins and Maine
03:53is protected. And let's bring another Republican back to North Carolina. You can help us by going
03:59to defend the majority dot com right now. You can make a difference by supporting the Republican
04:05Party at defend the majority dot com and keep John Ossoff from being reelected. And let's bring some
04:11Republicans to Michigan and New Hampshire as well. All right, Chairman, let me switch gears with you.
04:18Virginia AG candidate Jay Jones is unfit for office. He called for capital murder, traumatizing children,
04:25urinating on graves. And now some GOP officials were exposed for using the N word, comparing people
04:31of color to monkeys, laughing about the Holocaust and belittling sexual assault. And what vexes me is
04:38I don't see why it's so hard for some to condemn both. I mean, both are outrageous and they're disqualifying.
04:44Why is it so hard for some to condemn both?
04:49Having a clue, Trey, is despicable and disturbing the texts that we've seen
04:54from those young Republicans. I'm thankful for Congresswoman Elise Stefanik and others,
04:59Mark Wayne Mullins, who took a stand and said, not in my watch, not in my party. That is just
05:04wrong. And they stood up. The good news, Trey, our party has done something. Many have been terminated
05:10already. While Jay Jones and the Democrat Party, you can't see daylight between them because there
05:16is no daylight. The endorsements keep coming in for Jay Jones. It is absolutely utterly ridiculous
05:24for a guy who dreams of murdering Republicans and their kids to still receive the support of the
05:31Democrat Party and the senators in Virginia. The one thing your viewers can do if you live in
05:36Virginia, there's an election less than 30 days from now. You can work and vote for Winsome Sears
05:42for governor, Jason Meares for attorney general. Let's get these Democrats out of office,
05:47keep them out of office because they've lost their mind because they're losing their voters.
05:52I can't think of anything more disgusting than Democrats to stand firm and strong with Jay Jones,
05:59no matter what he says. All right, Senator Chairman from the great state of South Carolina,
06:05thank you for joining us on a Sunday night. Now we turn to the other major news story. Hamas once
06:11again showed you who they are after lying about the bodies of dead hostages. Hamas created
06:17more business for morgues by executing Palestinian civilians. For those who claim to love due process,
06:23there isn't much when you're put on your knees and shot in the back of the head. President Trump spoke
06:29about the timeline for Hamas disarming. Is there a timeline to get Hamas to disarm?
06:36They're very violent. 50,000 of them have been killed, okay? You know, they get replaced by other
06:42people, young people, but we're going to find out. So it's not a hard timeline, but it's a line in my own
06:49mind. And at a certain point, if they don't do what they're supposed to do, then we'll have to do it for
06:56them. Despite that warning, Hamas is actively undermining this nascent peace agreement. Joining
07:04us is Israeli ambassador to the US, Michael Leiter. Welcome, Mr. Ambassador. Thank you for joining us.
07:11First, I want our viewers to know that you lost a son who was a soldier and a medical doctor as part
07:17of this conflict with Hamas. So while the issue is personal for many, you have felt the sting in the
07:24most significant way of all. Well, I have, Trey. Thank you for mentioning that. It's good to be with
07:31you. As a matter of fact, today we lost two soldiers, one 26, one 21 years old, when Hamas fired
07:40anti-tank missile at the troops that were just standing beyond the yellow line. And then when
07:48medics came to take care of them, snipers fired at them. We had another three injured. So when I
07:55heard the news, it brought me back to that night when I got the knock on the door, when I was told by
08:01the officers that my oldest son, who led forces into Gaza on the first day of the war and fought for 13
08:07days until he went into a Hamas booby trap tunnel, was killed. So I identify very much with the
08:17parents and the family who got the knock on the door today because Hamas again violated the ceasefire.
08:27Yeah. And that kind of, that kind of raises my next question, Ambassador. I mean,
08:31no one doubts Hamas is going to sabotage this agreement. The question is just how,
08:37and will it be sufficient to break this fragile peace deal? I mean, they don't want peace,
08:43but, but can, can this deal even withstand Hamas?
08:49Well, it's a great question, Trey. And actually we'll see what happens in the next couple of days
08:54and weeks. The president has invested an awful lot in, in this deal and it wouldn't have happened
09:01without the influence, uh, that president Trump brought to bear. There's no question about that
09:06on, uh, Qatar and the Turks. And they're going to have to hold Hamas's feet to the fire. This is a
09:11ghoulish fiendish organization, uh, that celebrates in death. It's a death cult really. And, uh, what they
09:18did on October 7th is something they'll repeat tomorrow if they're not stopped. And that's why
09:23this deal that the president brokered is so important because as he emphasizes repeatedly,
09:28since it was signed, Hamas has to completely be disarmed and Gaza has to be demilitarized.
09:35And they committed to turning over our hostages. Now we still have 16 bodies. I mean, they're keeping
09:40bodies of the people they killed. Even the mafia remembers where, where they keep the bodies of the
09:46people they bump off. These people have, uh, 16 of our, uh, citizens that they're holding onto
09:52and they're not releasing them. And under the agreement, they were supposed to give us
09:55all the living and dead hostages in 72 hours. That's long gone. So we're waiting for that to
10:00happen. We cannot move into the second phase until all of our hostages are released. We have great
10:06faith in the negotiating, uh, capabilities of, uh, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff. They're doing an
10:12incredible job and there's a lot of hope here, but again, we are dealing with a very, very bloody
10:18terrorist organization that has no moral scruples whatsoever.
10:24Yeah. And for those Americans who like to celebrate Hamas, uh, keep in mind, Israel release
10:30certain Palestinians that were being held only for those Palestinians to be put on their knees
10:36and executed without a trial, by the way, for my liberal friends in the United States. I mean,
10:42what sense does that make to get people as part of an exchange and then execute them in the street
10:48in Gaza? Again, these people have absolutely no moral scruples whatsoever. And look, they're
10:56responsible for the, uh, the damage that's been wrought on Gaza. I mean, they created 450 miles of terror
11:04tunnels in an area that's 24 miles long and eight miles wide. And the, the people that they claim to
11:10represent, uh, are the people who have suffered and they brought this suffering upon them. Uh, look,
11:15we cannot have jihadis living at our border. That's the lesson of October 7th. We can't have jihadis in
11:21the south and the north and the Golan Heights. Uh, no country in the world would tolerate 40,000 armed
11:28terrorists to the teeth that believe in annihilating you living at your border. It wouldn't be the case
11:34in any state of the 50 United States or any country in Europe wouldn't tolerate this. And we can't
11:40tolerate it either. So we're very hopeful moving forward that we're going to get this, uh, uh, uh,
11:45peace agreement that, uh, President Trump has invested in. And if anybody could bring it,
11:50it is he. But we really have to, uh, hold Hamas's feet to the fire on this. We have to see
11:56their, uh, firing at our troops stopped completely. We have to see all of our hostages released.
12:02And then perhaps hopefully we can move into the second phase of disarming Hamas and demilitarizing
12:07Gaza. Then there's hope for the future. And oh, by the way, if Hamas stopped shooting and returns
12:14to the remains, then the humanitarian routes can open and the Palestinian people have been impacted.
12:20This can also be helped. Hamas doesn't think like that. We have, we have continued to flood despite
12:27these ridiculous accusations of starvation and genocide. You know, it's, it's easy
12:33to beat up on, on, on Jews throughout history. And now you beat up on the Jewish state.
12:37We have continued to the flow of humanitarian aid throughout this entire process.
12:42And there's been an excess of caloric intake that we've flooded Gaza with. And these accusations
12:47that we were holding up, uh, humanitarian aid are simply, are simply not true.
12:52Today, we warned Hamas and we said, look, if this continues, if you continue to violate
12:56this, uh, uh, ceasefire and this peace accord, you don't turn over the bodies and you continue
13:02to shoot in our soldiers, we're going to have no choice but to close the, uh, Rafa crossing and,
13:08and to hold up, uh, any humanitarian aid coming in because they're using it, uh, to reconstitute
13:15themselves and, uh, uh, implement this, um, uh, uh, terror reign that they have over the citizens
13:22of Gaza and, uh, over our troops. We are hoping against history because that is not the history
13:28of Hamas, but we are hoping nonetheless. Ambassador, thank you for joining us on the Sunday night.
13:34It's good to be with you. Yes, sir. Coming up. Welcome back to Sunday night in America. A federal
13:40grand jury charged suspected Antifa members with terrorism for a July attack on an ice facility
13:46in Texas. J.B. Pritzker doesn't want help, but President Trump is undeterred. We moved out 1700
13:54career criminals and criminals from other countries that came in through Biden's open border. Governor
14:00Pritzker, he doesn't want us in. You know, if I were him, if I were a Democrat and I were him,
14:05I'd say, come on in. What do you have to lose? J.B. Pritzker is running for, well,
14:12actually he's probably walking or playing blackjack at a casino, but you get the point.
14:17He sides with criminals and derides police. God help us. He's ever in charge of federal law
14:23enforcement. Joining us as ICE director, Todd Lyons. Welcome director old J.B. Pritzker. Never
14:28met an arsonist, an undocumented alien, a roulette wheel he didn't like, or an ICE agent that he did.
14:35Yeah, it's true. You know, uh, the governor definitely has some very heated and pointed
14:41comments about what we are doing, but I just really wish, you know, the governor would take
14:44into account that we're actually taking criminals out of his state. And that's what seems to fall on
14:49his thought press is the fact that the ICE agents, the men and women of ICE who are out there every
14:52day along with other partners are really truly taking out bad people from his state.
14:59You know, director, I hear he's an avid viewer. So perhaps he's watching tonight and you and I can
15:04educate him. Tell him and the rest of the world how ICE is prioritizing those that are here unlawfully.
15:13Yeah, Trey, that's 100%. You know, we are going after the worst of the worst. President Trump had
15:17that from day one. He said we were going to get the worst of the worst first out of here. And that's
15:21what we focused on, right? Especially these places like Illinois, that's a sanctuary state.
15:25In Chicago, it's sanctuary city. You know, people in Illinois found it a threat to lock these people
15:31up after they committed a crime. Yet we have to go out and find them again so they don't reoffend
15:35because they just let them on the street. And what we would have loved to have the cooperation of
15:40having making arrests in the jails in a secure location. But no, we have to go into the communities
15:44now. And if we're out there, Trey, we're going to get those bad actors. But if we encounter somebody
15:48who's here illegally, we're not going to turn a blind eye no more. Not into this administration.
15:52People are going to be held accountable and ICE is going to enforce immigration law.
15:55All right, Director. For those that are not as well-versed in the criminal justice system,
16:02someone commits a crime, they're in a state or local jail or prison, and ICE wants to place a
16:08detainer or a hold on that person. So when that state or local charge is adjudicated, ICE can get
16:16involved. That, to me, is simply what you are asking them to do, but they will not do that.
16:21No, Trey, you're right. That's 100%. You know, the state has already identified
16:27this criminal alien as just that, a criminal who's committed a crime. That's a public safety threat
16:32that they themselves have locked up. So why not turn this person over to us in a safe,
16:37secure environment? And instead of letting this person go back out and terrorize the community,
16:42or better yet, terrorize the migrant population because they know there's such a chilling effect
16:47that working with ICE, that people aren't going to report any type of crime because they don't see
16:51any action when these foreign-born actors are let back into their communities just to keep committing
16:56more crimes. Yeah, the safest place in the world to serve papers is in a secure facility like a jail
17:04or a prison. All right, before I let you go, some on the left want convicted criminals to have a
17:09sanctuary. You and I just talked about that. There's some on the right who want mercy shown to women and
17:15children and others who have been here without issue. So how does ICE decide who to deport,
17:21or is that agency simply enforcing deportation orders already in existence?
17:29Yeah, Trey, right now on the books, there's over 1.5 million individuals in the United States that have
17:35been legally and lawfully ordered removed or deported by a Department of Justice immigration judge,
17:40and they just failed to ignore that order. ICE can't let that stand anymore. Some of them are
17:45criminals, but some people are who came here who asylum claims were false or have done all their due
17:50process and applied for every appeal, yet they were still found deportable. That's what we're focusing
17:55on. We're focusing on the people that are the worst of the worst that are committing crime. But if you
18:00have violated immigration law and you've been lawfully ordered deported by a judge, then we're going to
18:04make sure we remove you from the country as well. We're no longer going to turn a blind eye to the
18:08Immigration Nationality Act. I know I sound like a broken record, but ICE does not decide who is
18:15subject to a deportation order. That is a judge. You are simply doing what Congress enacted and a judge
18:23ordered. I don't know how people don't get that. Todd Lyons with a very difficult but important job,
18:28but thank you for taking time to join us on a Sunday night. Thanks, Trey. I appreciate it.
18:34Yes, sir. Up next, the House Judiciary Committee wants to hear from former Special Counsel Jack
18:41Smith and so do the rest of us now that I think about it. Jim Jordan after the break with that and more.
18:49Welcome back to Sunday Night in America. Prosecutors have enormous power to investigate,
18:54indict, plea bargain, cut deals, recommend sentences, offer immunity. The power to search
19:00every aspect of our lives. Prosecutors impact reputations and liberty and livelihood and
19:05can even seek to take your life. To whom much power is given, humility and fairness should be
19:12practiced. Our next guest has been lamenting a two-track justice system for over a decade,
19:18highlighting disparate treatment, prosecutors who reward friends and punish foes, and that he was doing
19:24even before Jim Comey and the Russia hoax. When President Trump won in 2016, some wanted to pursue
19:31Hillary Clinton, but President Trump rejected those calls, saying she'd been through enough and the
19:36voters rendered the ultimate verdict. And then Biden won, and Donald Trump was indicted four times,
19:41facing nearly 100 counts in both state and federal court. And then Donald Trump won again,
19:46and now it's U.S. versus Jim Comey, Letitia James, John Bolton, for now. So where's the line between
19:55an aggressive prosecutor and a vindictive one? And can we get back to a justice system devoid of politics?
20:02Jim Jordan now chairs the committee where he wants to ask those questions and he still wants answers.
20:07Welcome, Mr. Chairman. Who do you want to hear from? And without showing your hand, yes,
20:13sir, you too, without showing your hand, what are you looking to look at?
20:17Tom, took the fifth questions like, was this a political exercise going after President Trump?
20:22I refuse to answer. We asked them the question, how many other members of Congress did you surveil?
20:28I mean, we know they surveilled eight United States senators. We know that the deputies,
20:31before they became part of Jack Smith's team, took the phone of one of our, your former colleague,
20:36my current colleague, Scott Perry, General Perry, took the phone of a sitting member of Congress.
20:41So we want to ask Jack Smith some questions. We'll see if he answers more than Mr. Bratt and Mr.
20:46Windham did when we had them in for their deposition. And Trey, I would also say this,
20:51never forget what Jack Smith did. Put a gag order on the President of the United States,
20:56raided his home, offered what appears to be a bribe to one of the lawyers for a defendant,
21:01Mr. Woodward. And then when they did take classified, so-called classified information from
21:06President Trump's home, they missed.
21:12Vance fires back at Biden's criticism, calls his foreign policy a total disaster.
21:19VB Vance tells Fox News' Martha McCullum that he sees progress in Ukraine talks and global trade
21:28negotiations. Vice President J.D. Vance fired back at Joe Biden's new criticism of the infamous Oval
21:37Office meeting with Ukrainian President, yeah, I'm going to say Zelensky because I know how to say his
21:45surname. Volodymyr. Volodymyr. Okay. Okay. I'll say Zelensky because that's easier.
21:52Vice President J.D. Vance fired back at Joe Biden's new criticism of the infamous Oval Office
22:03meeting with Ukrainian President Zelensky, dismissing the former commander-in-chief's foreign policy as a
22:11total disaster. I think it's rich for Joe Biden to comment on anything that we're doing when it comes to
22:20Russia and Ukraine. Vance on Thursday told Fox News anchor Martha McCullum. On the story.
22:29Under Biden's administration, Russia launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. I wish Joe Biden
22:37the best. I don't really care what he has to say about American foreign policy because so much of
22:42what he actually did was a total disaster. In an interview with the BBC earlier this week,
22:49his first since leaving office in January, Biden called the President Donald Trump Vance meeting
22:55with Zelensky beneath America. In addition to addressing Biden's criticism, Vance reaffirmed the
23:04Trump administration's support for Ukrainian sovereignty but stood by earlier comments
23:10suggesting the US may scale back its role as lead negotiator in peace talks.
23:17We obviously want Ukraine to remain a sovereign country, he said. We knew that Russians' first
23:23offer would be too much. We knew that they would ask for more than was reasonable to give. That's how
23:30negotiations often work. I'm not bothered by that. What would bother me is if we conclude that the
23:39Russians are not engaging in the negotiations in good faith. And if that happens, yeah, we're going to
23:47walk away, said Vance. Despite a recent rejection of a ceasefire proposal by Russia, Vance struck a
23:56cautiously optimistic tone about the direction of peace talks. I actually think it's progress that
24:03they're even talking, he said. We're putting concrete peace plans on the table. Vance also addressed
24:10developments in global trade touting the administration's first formal tariff agreement
24:16reached with the UK earlier this year. The Trump administration imposed a 10%
24:22reciprocal tariff on UK imports and additional tariffs on global products like steel and vehicles.
24:31Because of our long time history and allegiance together, it is a great honour to have the United
24:36Kingdom as our first announcement, Trump wrote on Truth Social, many other deals which are in serious
24:44stages of negotiation to follow. Vance said, the UK was chosen first because of its openness,
24:52and strong relationship with the current administration. As for China, which retaliated
24:58with steep tariffs of its own, Vance acknowledged the difficulty of rebalancing global trade but said
25:05the administration remains committed. We're going to have a conversation with them. We'll see where it
25:14leads, he said. We just want to deal with any country, whether it's China or anybody else,
25:21that makes American workers and American businesses in a better position. Vance continued, saying he felt
25:29that the goal was very achievable. Turning to domestic issues, Vance discussed ongoing efforts under
25:37Doge even as its leader Elon Musk steps back from day-to-day involvement.
25:42Elon's not disappearing, Vance said. Nobody said that the work of Doge would only last 110 days,
25:50and that would be it. We think there's a lot more waste and fraud that we can find.
25:58He confirmed that Attorney General Pan Bondi is preparing investigations into potentially large-scale
26:04fraud and fraud and that lawsuits could follow. I know that she's working on building the case
26:11against some of these people who have committed absolute fraud on the American people.
26:17You're going to see some of those prosecutions over the next few years, he said.
26:22When asked about the rumoured tension between himself and the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio,
26:30both of whom have been floated as potential Trump successors, Vance dismissed the idea.
26:41Marco's actually probably my best friend in the administration, he said. We hang out and talk
26:47all the time. He's doing a really good job. And of course, I'm doing the best job that I can.
26:54Still, Vance didn't rule out a run from the presidency in 2028.
27:02I could see myself doing a really good job for the next one, 100 days,
27:07and then the American people can figure it out from there, he said.
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