The Megyn Kelly Show

Pratt's Lead Over Raman Evaporates, Karmelo Anthony Defense Begins, Golden Tempo Wins: AM Update 6/8

19 min
Jun 8, 2026about 1 month ago
Listen to Episode
Summary

This AM update covers Spencer Pratt's evaporating lead in the Los Angeles mayoral race as mail-in ballot counting shifts momentum to Nithya Raman, President Trump's contentious NBC interview that ended abruptly, graphic testimony in the Carmelo Anthony murder trial, and Golden Tempo's come-from-behind Belmont Stakes victory.

Insights
  • California's mail-in voting system creates extended counting periods that fuel public distrust and conspiracy theories, with late-counted ballots showing different demographic patterns than election-day votes
  • Progressive and younger voters holding ballots longer creates measurable shifts in race outcomes during post-election counting phases
  • Registered Republicans face structural disadvantages in overwhelmingly Democratic jurisdictions regardless of candidate profile or campaign strategy
  • Media confrontations with political figures increasingly end abruptly when questioning becomes persistent on contentious policy areas
  • Female trainers are breaking historical barriers in elite sports, with Shari Davoe becoming the first woman to train multiple Triple Crown race winners
Trends
Extended election counting periods becoming political flashpoints and erosion vectors for democratic trustDemographic voting pattern divergence between election-day and mail-in ballot cohorts in major metropolitan areasPolitical figures using media platform exits as rhetorical strategy rather than genuine disengagementWomen achieving historic firsts in traditionally male-dominated sports training and leadership rolesGraphic courtroom testimony and visual evidence becoming standard prosecution strategy in high-profile murder trials
Topics
California Mail-In Voting System DelaysLos Angeles Mayoral Race 2026Election Integrity and Public TrustPresidential Media RelationsIran Nuclear NegotiationsAgricultural Economic StrainMurder Trial Testimony and EvidenceTriple Crown Horse RacingWomen in Sports LeadershipPost-Election Vote Counting Procedures
Companies
NBC
Network that conducted President Trump's contentious interview with Kristen Welker that ended abruptly
New York Times
Reported on Nithya Raman's post-election ballot count gains in Los Angeles mayoral race
Los Angeles Times
Analyzed late-count voting trends and demographic patterns in Los Angeles mayoral election
Kalshi
Prediction market providing updated odds on Bass-Rahman runoff scenario at 99%
Court TV
News outlet with reporter Cody Thomas covering Carmelo Anthony murder trial testimony
People
Spencer Pratt
Former reality star whose lead over Nithya Raman evaporated during mail-in ballot counting
Nithya Raman
Surpassed Spencer Pratt for second place in mayoral race as late ballots were counted
Karen Bass
Incumbent Los Angeles mayor leading election night but failing to clinch 50% needed to avoid runoff
Donald Trump
Participated in contentious NBC interview with Kristen Welker that ended abruptly over election integrity claims
Kristen Welker
Conducted rainy interview with President Trump on Meet the Press that became increasingly combative
Mike Murphy
Discussed corrosive effects of California's slow vote counting on public trust in elections
Carmelo Anthony
19-year-old accused of fatally stabbing 17-year-old Austin Metcalf at Texas high school track meet
Austin Metcalf
17-year-old fatally stabbed at Frisco, Texas high school track meet in April 2025
Shari Davoe
First woman to train Kentucky Derby winner and multiple Triple Crown race winners
Golden Tempo
Won Belmont Stakes in come-from-behind victory, second Triple Crown race win under trainer Shari Davoe
Jackie Jose Ortiz
Rode Golden Tempo to victory in Belmont Stakes
Emily Drzciński
Host of After Party and Megyn Kelly Wrap-Up Show delivering AM update
Cody Thomas
Covered Carmelo Anthony murder trial testimony from inside courtroom
Quotes
"I was going to be happy if I wasn't moving forward because I would have known that God didn't want me to be the mayor. But now I feel very confident that I am going to continue to work hard."
Spencer PrattEarly in episode
"It's unacceptable now. We could do better but that's kind of the California state motto now in most government things."
Mike MurphyMid-episode
"I had to stop a country very powerful very dangerous country from having a nuclear weapon because they'd use it. They're nuts okay they're crazy people."
President TrumpNBC interview segment
"They're crooked just like you're crooked. You're presses crooked and meet the presses crooked."
President TrumpEnd of NBC interview
"We felt the best horse won the Kentucky Derby and it just solidified that today."
Shari DavoePost-race press conference
Full Transcript
You could make things complicated, searching every website, double-checking every Best Buy table, even scouring the newspapers. Or you could keep things simple with a high interest one-year fixed savings rate from Marcus by Goldman Sachs. 4.6% AER locked in for one year from a five-time which recommended savings provider. Savings made simple with Marcus by Goldman Sachs. Find out more at Marcusstopcode.uk. Interest rate is 4.6% AER, 4.6% gross fixed for one year, interest is paid annually, rate correct as of 13th May, 26th. Good morning everyone. I'm Emily Drzciński, host of After Party and the Megyn Kelly Wrap-Up Show on Series 6M Channel 111. It's Monday, June 8th, 2026, and this is your AM update. Spencer Pratt's lead over city councilwoman Nithya Raman completely vanishing in the Los Angeles mayor race over the weekend as the fight for the final spot in November's runoff intensifies. Let's go all in quick because I've had enough. Thank you darling. Have a good time. Good morning. President Trump's rainy sit-down with NBC ends abruptly after a series of increasingly tense exchanges. There was a two-inch deep wound that hit the cartilage of Austin Metcalfe sternum and actually pierced one of the ventricles in his heart. A rare Saturday court session in Texas with jurors hearing graphic testimony in the Carmelo Anthony murder trial as prosecutors rest their case. And no triple crown sweep but still a stunning finish in the Belmont steaks as Golden Tempo makes history yet again. All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM update. For thousands of years gold has been a store of wealth and today it can be a crucial part of any balanced strategy. Birch Gold can help you convert an existing IRA or 401k into a tax sheltered retirement account in gold. Just text MK to the number 98998 to receive your free info kit on gold. There's no obligation just useful information with an A plus rating with a better business bureau and tens of thousands of happy customers. Let Birch Gold help you diversify with gold for peace of mind. Text MK to the number 98998 now. Former reality star Spencer Pratt's once promising lead over Los Angeles councilwoman Nithya Rahman to make the runoff in November evaporating over the weekend as California's notoriously slow vote count drags on with one blue wave of ballot drops after another. On the actual election day incumbent mayor Karen Bass leading the night but failing to clinch the more than 50% needed to avoid a runoff. Pratt ending election night in what looked like a clear second place with 30.4% of the vote. Pratt on Tuesday sounding confident about the next five months. I was going to be happy if I wasn't moving forward because I would have known that God didn't want me to be the mayor. But now I feel very confident that I am going to continue to work hard, learn everything I need to learn, build my teams, show all the experience that I'm going to surround myself with because that's a concern people have. Oh he has no experience. I'm going to build that experience around and we have five months to put the best team the city could ever dream of around me. Rahman ending election night with 22.4% of the vote addressing supporters and remarks that sounded like a candidate bracing for the end. Many thousands of votes will be counted in the days ahead and we may not get an answer we like but regardless of what happens next nobody, nobody can take away what all of us have built together. But by this weekend the race looking very different as there were still hundreds of thousands of ballots still outstanding. In California mail-in ballots postmarked by election day can still be counted if they arrive up to a week later meaning the numbers can keep shifting for days after voters leave the polls. In the New York Times reporting Rahman began making up ground in the first major post-election updates with the councilwoman outperforming Pratt among newly counted ballots on Wednesday and Thursday. Throughout the weekend the gap continuing to narrow. Rahman winning the Saturday ballot drop with Rahman not only beating Pratt but even outpacing Bass taking 40% of the newly counted Los Angeles city vote to Bass's 33% and Pratt's 18%. As of yesterday afternoon Pratt's lead dwindling to just about 1.27.32% to Rahman's 26.21. And then with last night's latest vote count coming in Rahman officially surpassing Pratt moving into second place. Prediction market Kalshi now putting the odds of a Bass-Rahman runoff now at 99%. The drawn out count becoming its own political flash point with Pratt's vanishing lead fueling a wave of online skepticism from supporters and commentators questioning how a race could shift so dramatically after election day. California leads the nation in voting by mail sending ballots to every active registered voter and seeing more than 80% of voters return ballots by mail in 2024. But those ballots still have to go through a lengthy processing period before they are counted allowing the numbers to keep shifting for days after election day. California's Secretary of State office requires counties to complete the official canvas by 30 days after election day including counting, auditing and certification. But Republican strategist Mike Murphy telling NBCLA the long wait is damaging public trust. In your view what is the impact when we vote and there is suspense for weeks as we count close to half the ballots? It's unacceptable now. We could do better but that's kind of the California state motto now in most government things. Right but does it have a corrosive effect on the process? You know I worry about it and we might see this. If the scenario where Rahman catches up with Bass Pratt is going to pull out the Trump hymnal and start screaming oh they put the fix in it, the machine, you know it's all corrupt and well that is not true it is corrosive. In the average voter it looks at this and thinks why the hell does it take so long to honestly count the vote? What's going on? And people are so cynical about politics they think oh yeah there's somebody in a back room who gives the icky to somebody and cut through the machines all change. So yes I think it is corrosive which is why it's worth investing to run a 24 hour operation and count these damn votes a lot quicker. The Los Angeles Times reporting the late count trend was not a surprise to election analysts who expected Rahman to gain ground as mail-in ballots came in reporting quote many left of center voters Rahman's base held on to their mail-in ballots into the last minute as they waited to choose between Democratic gubernatorial candidates. They also say younger more progressive voters tend to hold on to their ballots longer generally. The Times also noting that while the LA mayor's race is officially non-partisan Pratt is a registered Republican running in an overwhelmingly Democratic city. Pratt for his part still insisting the race is not over posting yesterday afternoon to X quote we've got all the way till July 6 to keep counting they're not the only ones who know where to find votes. We'll stay on the story on the MK show all week. President Donald Trump's sit down with NBC's Kristen Welker on Meet the Press Yesterday turned increasingly combative during a rainy interview in rural Wisconsin marked by interruptions, tense exchanges and an abrupt ending. The interview taped Friday taking place inside what appeared to be a large barn or shed with rain clearly hurt pounding outside. Welker even noting at one point they had paused the interview for heavy rain to pass and later pausing again for an audio issue. As the interview continued despite the delays the tension between Mr. Trump and Welker only growing. Welker pressing the president on the ongoing conflict with Iran where a peace deal remains elusive. One of your consistent campaign promises was no new wars going all the way back to 2015. Did you break that promise to the American people? I had to stop a country very powerful very dangerous country from having a nuclear weapon because they'd use it. They're nuts okay they're crazy people. I deal with them and very high strong people. They're crazy and get along with them. I like them but you don't want to let them have a nuclear weapon and I'm doing the world the service. So you're saying you didn't break your promise and yet Mr. President in your first term you held to that promise and it was so fundamental to who you were as a candidate to a first term president? Because I didn't guarantee no war. Why would I have built the strongest military in the world? I built our military so when you say I promised I didn't promise anything I don't like these endless wars. This is not an endless war. From there the conversation turning to the economic fallout at home. Welker pressing President Trump on the strain facing farmers a core part of his political coalition. What's your message to farmers though Mr. President who say they are struggling they're struggling to make ends meet? Are you ready? Am I allowed to talk? You keep asking questions and you don't listen to the answers. I love the farmers and the farmers love me and the farmers trust me. I had a choice to make. I could keep it going the farmers were doing great. Fertilizer was very cheap. Everything was cheap. Gasoline was very low. Everything was very low. I could have kept it that way but I said I have to take a little bit of a turn. The farmers are going to understand it better than anybody. We're going to have higher gasoline, we're going to have a little higher fertilizer, etc. But I'm going to get rid of a nuclear weapon in the hands of very dangerous people. Excuse me, wait. It should have been done for 47 years. No president had the guts to do it. I did it and I've done it. It's almost complete. As soon as that's complete gasoline prices are going to drop like a rock. The interview eventually veering into California's slow vote count when the tension that had been building through the interview finally boiled over. Do you think it's appropriate that they have an election and five days later they're nowhere close to picking one? State and local officials acknowledge they are slow. They're urging the votes to be counted. That's how they vote in California. They're crooked just like you're crooked. You're presses crooked and meet the presses crooked. To be fair, I'm not crooked. But let's continue. Really? When you play right into their hands. Let's continue. You read the crooked or you're stupid. Let's continue. You play right into their hands with this rep. You know that these elections are rigged. Your network knows that they're rigged. And you're crooked and meet the presses crooked. And so is ABC and CBS and CNN. But Mr. President. You're one sided crooked network. Let's call it quits because I've had enough. Thank you darling. Have a good time. Mr. President, let's please. I traveled all the way to Wisconsin. I've traveled all the way to Wisconsin. I've traveled all the way to Wisconsin. I've traveled all the way to Wisconsin. I've traveled all the way to Wisconsin. I've traveled all the way to Wisconsin. On and off in the rain and I've given you enough time. You ought to straighten out your press because you know what? Mr. President. You'll never be great with a dishonest. And that is where the interview ended with Welker later saying she and the president spoke after the camera stopped rolling and that the president agreed to another interview at a later date. Coming up emotional testimony in Texas as jurors hear graphic details about the fatal stabbing of 17 year old Austin Metcalf and Golden Tempo making history yet again storming from behind to win the Belmont Stakes. Everybody's talking about weight loss injections because the results can be so dramatic. They work by lowering blood sugar and reducing appetite. 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Prosecutors resting their case in a rare Saturday court session after jurors hearing day three of emotional witness testimony in the murder trial of Carmelo Anthony. Anthony, now 19 years old, accused of fatally stabbing the 17-year-old Austin Metcalf at a Frisco, Texas high school track meet in April of last year. The two boys who attended different schools involved in a confrontation under Metcalf's team's tent. Prosecutors say Metcalf and other students repeatedly told Anthony he was in the wrong tent and needed to leave with a confrontation escalating after Metcalf touched or pushed Anthony. Prosecutors say Anthony then stabbed Metcalf in the chest. Anthony now facing a charge of murder, a first degree felony that carries anywhere from 5 to 99 years in prison. Prosecutors calling a 17-year-old witness to the stand Saturday morning, a member of Metcalf's track team. The student testifying that he was in the tent when Metcalf asked Anthony to leave and it was his impression that Anthony was trying to provoke Metcalf. A second teenage witness asked by prosecutors what Anthony did when asked to leave the tent. Quote, he doesn't leave. He gets angry and tries to provoke us saying, make me leave. Another witness taking the stand, one of Metcalf's teammates who also knew Anthony. The witness saying he saw Anthony under the tent and initially greeted him before Metcalf asked Anthony, quote, who are you? The team testifying Anthony became defensive when he was asked to leave, quote, Carmelo said you'll have to move me. The witness saying Metcalf then put his hand on Anthony's back and he saw Anthony's hand go into his backpack. The team telling jurors he did not expect anything dangerous to be inside because, quote, we're at a track meet. On cross, the defense pressing the witness on his relationship with Anthony, showing jurors photos of the two at social gatherings together. The witness acknowledging he and Anthony were, quote, cool with each other but did not hang out one on one very much. The defense asking why when the confrontation began, he did not step in and tell the others he knew Anthony. The witness replying he was focused on the track meet and did not think he needed to calm the situation down. The prosecution then calling its final witness, the Collin County Medical Examiner. Before testimony began, the state warning those in the courtroom, including Metcalf's family, that the evidence would be graphic and anyone who needed to step out should do so. Metcalf's family leaving the courtroom before the medical examiner took the stand. Court TV's Cody Thomas, a reporter following the trial from inside the courtroom, describing that testimony. We heard about this two inch gaping wound. She described gaping as she described the difference between gaping and a slit style stabbing wound. And we're gaping, it's more of it's kind of like slayed open, you know, not to be insensitive to it, but that's the way she kind of described it on the stand. And that it was a two inch deep wound that hit the cartilage of Austin Metcalf sternum and actually pierced one of the ventricles in his heart. So it was literally stabbed in the heart, which is likely why the CPR and life-saving efforts weren't working because no matter how much the heart was pumping out, it was leaking, you know, from the source. So it was, you know, really establishing the gravity of the wound and the jury again got to see four pictures. Two of them were Austin Metcalf on the autopsy table and two of them were the heart removed from the body. That's what the medical examiner was describing they were seeing. So of course, I'd imagine that a family didn't want to hear that. The state resting its case, calling 21 total witnesses over three days. The defense then asking the judge for a directed verdict, essentially arguing prosecutors had failed to present enough evidence for the case to even go to the jury. The judge denying the motion, allowing the trial to continue. The defense then calling several witnesses of its own, trying to show Anthony had not crashed the tent as aggressively as prosecutors suggested. A football and track coach at Anthony's school testifying, he knew of no specific rule barring athletes from entering another team's tent area. But on cross examination, prosecutors repeatedly bringing the focus back to the knife. The coach agreeing weapons were not allowed at track meets and there was no reason for an athlete to have a knife there. The trial set to continue later today. Out in the center of the racetrack, commandments running a giant race, renegade in between and golden tempo, golden tempo, renegade, commandment on the outside. Golden tempo from last the first has to fend off commandment in the final strides. Golden tempo pulls away late. Golden tempo has won the Belmont Stakes. Golden tempo with another remarkable come from behind win. This time at the 158th Belmont Stakes just over a month after winning the Kentucky Derby. Jackie Jose Ortiz again riding golden tempo to victory, winning by a length and a quarter over commandment with Derby runner up renegade finishing third. The win making even more history for trainer Shari Davoe, who became the first woman to train a Kentucky Derby winner earlier this year and now becomes the first woman to train a winner of multiple triple crown races. Davoe also becoming the second woman in four years to win the Belmont after Jenna and Nucci trained Archangelo to victory in 2023. Here Davoe reacting to the win at a post race press conference. I keep saying it's surreal and it's overwhelming and it's amazing and all the superlatives, but I kind of wrongfully probably thought that because of the way the race was run in the Derby, he was having to go out and prove himself. We felt the best horse won the Kentucky Derby and it just solidified that today. For the second year in a row, the same horse winning the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont stakes without running in the preakness. Davoe and Golden Tempo's owners choosing to skip that middle leg, a decision that ended any chance at a triple crown sweep. Davoe asked after the race if she believes Golden Tempo could have won the triple crown. Davoe responding, quote, we made our decision and we won today and we're going to be happy about that. That'll do it for your AM update. I'm Emily Drosinski, host of After Party. Catch the Megyn Kelly show live on Sirius XM's, the Megyn Kelly channel, one 11 at new knees on YouTube.com slash Megyn Kelly and all podcast platforms. 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