Ballerina Home from Russian Prison, RFK Autism Announcement, Shower Exec Order: AM Update 4/11
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Good morning, everyone. I'm Megyn Kelly, and it's Friday, April 11th, 2025. This is your AM Update. If you know my casinia...

President Trump securing the release of another American citizen wrongfully detained in Russia. HHS Secretary Kennedy says his department will determine the cause of autism by September. The president is not keeping his promise to bring down egg prices.

The media says egg prices are skyrocketing, but just weeks ago they were reporting the opposite. We cracked the case. Should we keep daylight savings time? The U.S. Senate takes that up. And President Trump signs an order to make showering great again. All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM Update.

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Wrongfully detained Russian-American dual citizen Ksenia Karolina, returning to the U.S. after spending more than a year in a Siberian penal colony. The 33-year-old ballerina exchanged for dual Russian-German citizen Arthur Petrov. He was held in the U.S. on criminal charges relating to illegal exporting. The swap conducted in Abu Dhabi. CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff leading negotiations on behalf of the U.S.,

Russian authorities detaining Ms. Karolina in January 2024 upon entry into Russia where she was visiting family.

A search of her phone revealing a 2022 donation of $51 to a U.S.-based nonprofit providing aid to children and elderly people displaced by the war in Ukraine. After a 16-hour interrogation, authorities releasing Ms. Karolina with a warning not to leave the country. Weeks later, Russian authorities charging her with treason.

On Monday, the boyfriend of Miss Carolina, champion boxer Chris Van Yerden, describing the ridiculous nature of the allegations in an exclusive interview on The Megyn Kelly Show.

We now know within the three weeks from January 2nd to January 27th, they investigated every single thing on her cell phone. This is where they came across the Venmo, $51 on Venmo, charged her for treason, funding the enemy state. That's what she was charging for, funding the enemy state, buying weapons. And if you know... I started laughing and crying at the same time because it was like, if you know my Ksenia...

She is the sweetest, kindest person you'll meet. She goes out of her way to do good for people. She hates seeing people hurt. So you can imagine elderly people, young kids without food and water, she would be the first to donate money. Mr. Van Yerden, who fought tirelessly for his girlfriend's release, saying it was extremely difficult to find a lawyer to even take Ms. Carolina's case, many too afraid of going against the state.

Ms. Carolina's family eventually setting on a lawyer advising a guilty plea. Mr. Van Yerden describing the legal process to us. The lawyer ended up telling Kassadin to plead guilty. Now, I was very upset about that. I was like, why would you do that? And he said, look, she's going to get 20 years in prison. I can get that down to five years if she pleads guilty. I was like, I don't like this, but the parents liked the idea. So the lawyer got her to plead guilty.

And guess what? She got the minimum of 12. It didn't work. But I painted this picture of Ksenia now acknowledging what she did. And it made me very, very upset. Mr. Van Yerden spoke to the terrible conditions of the prison camp. She's in a labor camp, right? So she wakes up at 6 a.m. in the morning. She works till 9 p.m. at night.

She gets two 15-minute breaks in between snowing in Siberia. Close to where she's held, close to Siberia, her mother would send her some wipes and stuff. And she was like, I would use the toilet water to clean myself.

She's got problems with her legs. And this worries me. This really worries me. She's now all of a sudden got she's got leg pain. She's got some big veins popping out on her legs from all the standing. On Monday, Mr. Van Heerden describing the maddeningly slow pace of the Biden State Department in even declaring that his girlfriend had been wrongfully detained, saying if not for a phone call from Hollywood director Peter Berg, it would not have happened.

Mr. Van Yerden also crediting UFC President Dana White for bringing the situation to President Trump's attention. Following news of the release, Mr. Van Yerden saying in a statement, quote, I am overjoyed to hear that the love of my life, Ksenia Karolina, is on her way home. I cannot wait to hold her. Our dog Boots is also eagerly awaiting her return.

This is the second prisoner exchange with Russia since President Trump returned to office. Teacher Mark Fogel released in February. The U.S. tracking at least six more wrongfully detained Americans in Russia. On Thursday, HHS Secretary RFKJ announcing a major White House initiative in President Trump's cabinet meeting. At your direction, we are going to know by September we've launched a massive testing program

and research effort that's going to involve hundreds of scientists from around the world. By September, we will know what has caused the autism epidemic and we'll be able to eliminate those exposures. In the 1960s and 70s, autism was considered a rare disorder. Early studies citing just 1 in 10,000 children diagnosed. Today, that number reported to be 1 in 31. President Trump responding to RFKJ.

There will be no bigger news conference than that. So that's it. If you can come up with that answer, where you stop taking something, you stop eating something, or maybe it's a shot.

but something's causing it. The CDC maintains there is no link between vaccines and autism. RFKJ has long advocated for increasing vaccine safety standards and testing. Under Secretary Kennedy, the HHS department focusing on treating the causes of the top health conditions plaguing Americans. HHS also conducting a comprehensive review of more than 10,000 chemicals added to food products in recent decades. Chemicals banned in Europe.

The March Consumer Price Index report delivering a win for the Trump administration. Inflation cooling to 2.4 percent, better than expected. Consumer prices falling by 0.1 percent, the first monthly decline since March of 2020. The falling prices attributed to declining oil prices, translating to lower energy costs, a day one Trump White House priority.

Media outlets quick to downplay the news. From the New York Times, quote, economists say the latest data is only a temporary reprieve as tariffs could stoke higher inflation. Reuters, quote, the benign inflation reading is unlikely to be sustained after President Donald Trump doubled down on tariffs.

The media also picking up on another data point from the report, egg prices. One thing that everyone's paying attention to is the cost of groceries and eggs in particular. The overall price of eggs still going higher and higher to all-time highs. He promised lower egg prices, lower prices in the grocery store. Eggs are down, by the way. Okay, but people, well, not if there's a...

10% tariff on everything. Egg prices went up and now on the year they are up by more than 60%. Last month it was 58%. So the president is not keeping his promise to bring down egg prices.

The truth is, while the retail price of eggs went up in March, wholesale egg prices are down, and typically there is a bit of a lag in those decreases making their way to retail stores. The wholesale price of a dozen eggs was $8.15 in February, $6.85 in March, and $3.19 today.

On Wednesday, President Trump recognizing Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. I want to say hello to Brooke. She got the cost of eggs down 87%. 87% governor. We have somebody that's done a great job at Department of Agriculture. Ms. Rollins acknowledging the still high retail prices, but saying Easter is the Super Bowl of eggs. And once we are past Easter, the prices will come down.

Coming up, Attorney General Pam Bondi seeking to dismiss charges against an alleged MS-13 ringleader arrested just two weeks ago. What's the strategy? And President Trump signs an order to make showering great again.

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Attorney General Pam Bondi seeking to dismiss charges against an alleged illegal immigrant MS-13 ringleader. A.G. Bondi telling CBS News, quote, as a terrorist, he will now face the removal process. CBS News and The Washington Post reporting sources familiar with the proceedings say dropping the charges will fast track that removal process. 24-year-old Henry Josue Villatoro Santos arrested two weeks ago by a Virginia Homeland Security Terrorism Task Force.

AG Bondi on the morning of the arrest vowing a swift removal. He was the leader for the East Coast, one of the top three in the entire country, right here in Virginia, living half an hour outside of Washington, D.C. He is an illegal alien from El Salvador.

and he will not be living in our country much longer. The government requesting in a Wednesday court filing to dismiss the charges without prejudice, meaning they can be refiled at a later date. The feds originally charging Mr. Santos with possession of a firearm by a person in the country illegally.

Authorities capturing the suspect on March 28th in his mother's Virginia home, recovering a cache of weapons, four firearms, ammunition, and two silencers. Also seized a letter from a jail outlining inmate clicks.

Mr. Santos, born in El Salvador, entered the country illegally in 2014, around 13 or 14 years old. Apprehended by authorities at the border, Mr. Santos then released to his mother, already in Virginia, and the DOJ alleging shortly thereafter, recruited by MS-13. Mr. Santos' lawyers requesting a two-week delay, arguing once the charges are officially dismissed, their client will immediately be deported to an El Salvadoran prison.

On Wednesday, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation holding a hearing evaluating whether the U.S. should, quote, lock the clocks once and for all. And if so, whether to stick to standard time with early sunrises like we have in the fall and winter or daylight savings time with late sunsets like we have in the spring and summer.

Republican Senator from Texas Ted Cruz and Democrat Senator from Delaware Lisa Blunt Rochester opening the session. The original idea behind daylight savings time was to reduce energy consumption by making better use of daylight during the longer days of summer. The idea was simple. Fewer hours of darkness meant less electricity consumption for lighting and heating.

This concept might have made sense in the early 20th century when our economy and our homes relied much more heavily on energy consumption tied to daylight hours. Today, the data show energy savings from daylight savings time are de minimis, if not entirely non-existent. But the back and forth between daylight savings time and standard time needs to change and needs to stop. We need to stop the clock.

We need to find a solution and stick with it. The U.S. ping-ponging on daylight savings time since its inception in 1918. Clock standards changing in 1942, 1966, 1974, and most recently in 2007. The House and Senate introducing, then tabling, various bills in recent years.

Witnesses presenting diametrically opposed arguments. The first witness representing the National Golf Course Owners Association, the second from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. We'll be winners and losers no matter which way the knot is cut. We recognize the sleep-related arguments for standard time, but the benefits of extended daylight for physical and mental health, outdoor recreation, and public safety are significant. Obesity, depression, and crime all have ties to reduced daylight.

sedentary lifestyles. So in short, we urge the Senate to avoid the consequences of permanent standard time. We encourage solutions that preserve evening daylight for golf, for health, for recreation, and local economies. The sun is one of the most powerful drivers of health and well-being, but the

timing of sunlight is what's critically important. Without enough morning light or with too much evening light, our circadian rhythms delay. This disrupts our sleep patterns and our body and brain functions. Permanent daylight savings time would cause sunrises after 8 a.m. for two to four months every winter, depriving us of this critical morning light. This is why permanent daylight saving time would be exponentially worse than seasonal daylight saving time.

The committee hearing meant to help advance debate on the Senate's Sunshine Protection Act, which would make daylight savings time longer summer daylight permanent. We'll see. President Trump on Wednesday signing an executive order to make showers great again. The new orders scrapping Biden and Obama era environmental regulations targeting water flow standards. President Trump commenting on the new order from the Oval. Dishwashers, toilets, sinks.

But the shower heads are a huge deal. There's no water. You don't get water. It's ridiculous. So with this executive order, we're effectively going to be reversing that set of regulations to ensure that Americans have choice in the consumer market. If they want a low-flow shower head, they can buy one. If they want a real-deal shower head, they should have the ability to get one. That's right. And you take a shower or wash your hands, whatever you do, including dishwashers where no water comes out.

The beautiful hair.

The order reading, quote, twice in the last 12 years, those administrations promulgated multi-thousand word regulations defining the word showerhead. This latest order, part of a broader effort to increase consumer choices previously limited by Green New Deal style policies. Showerheads, paper straws, incandescent light bulbs, all restored to their previous glory by Trump 2.0.

And that'll do it for your AM update. I'm Megyn Kelly. Join me back here for The Megyn Kelly Show, live on SiriusXM Triumph Channel 111 at noon east, on youtube.com slash Megyn Kelly, and on all podcast platforms.

Yeah.

It's time to make America affordable again. It's time to support the President's plan.