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Bloomberg Audio Studios Podcasts Radio News.
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Joining us now on Balance of Power live from the Munich Security Conference is Democratic Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona. Senator, thank you very much for your time in Munich. Last year, Vice President J.D. vance sent a very clear message to Europe. I would imagine the message you are bringing to those gathered there is a bit of a different one. But what can you really tell them and what assurance can that provide them when you are currently in the minority power in Washington? Are you effectively just telling them, hold out three more years?
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Well, Kelly, yeah, I mean, I just got here today. I've had multiple meetings with prime ministers, foreign ministers, defense ministers, you know, many of our allied countries. What I'm hearing from them is, you know, they're, they're really concerned about some of the actions that this White House has taken over the last year and some of the plans that they've had. I was just meeting with, you know, somebody from Denmark, and the discussion, as you might imagine, goes to Greenland. And, you know, how is it that the United States of America made, you know, was starting to go down the path of making a decision to use force against one of our NATO allies? This is unprecedented. So I'm here because these are issues discussed here that I really care about. I'm on the Armed Services and the Intelligence Committee. And I think it's important to send the message that, you know, what this president and White House might believe is not what all Americans believe. And if you go just like one level down in the government or maybe two, there's a huge difference of opinion on the way we should be treating our allies and that we have common adversaries and that if we continue to, as we've had since, you know, the 1940s, continue to work together, that benefits all of us.
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Senator, you're arriving in Munich as the Pentagon redeploys the USS Jerry Ford carrier strike group once again heading back toward Iran to join the USS Lincoln. From your perch on the Armed Services Committee and as a naval aviator, do you believe that we will strike Iran when that carrier strike group gets there?
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Well, I can't predict what this administration is going to do. I mean, we're at a moment of time with Iran, you know, right now where they are potentially at a tipping point. And we could see a regime, this oppressive regime that has been in place since the late 1970s, we could see it finally go away, and the Iranians could build a government that, that they deserve, and that would be a huge win for the entire region. I mean, just think for a second you know, what happens to the Houthis and Hezbollah and Hamas without the support of the Iranians, the militias in Iraq. So this is a moment in time. We got, as you say, we got the Ford Battle Group going over there. I also think it's a really hard decision to. To make, to be, especially if we're going to use kinetic action against the Iranian regime a second time to try to push this in a direction it could backfire. And my biggest concern here with this president is I don't see a guy who brings the right people together to get the right information to make informed decisions about anything.
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Does this mean that we did not totally obliterate Iran's nuclear program as the President told us?
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That is correct. I mean, there was significant damage done to the Iranian nuclear program, but what the President said was far from true. We did not obliterate it. They have the ability to rebuild it, to start enriching uranium, and we're going to track this rather closely. And, you know, having said that, it was an incredibly successful operation. When I was briefed by the members of the military who actually fly in the planes, you know, the ones that led elements of that strike, they did a remarkable job. It almost could not have gone better, you know, but once those bombs, you know, hit the targets, it's not up to the pilots for what happens after that. And we're going to have to see what the Iranians decide to do here in reconstituting that capability. Are they going to rush at some point to get a nuclear weapon or not? Until we know the final outcome? I think it's hard to say whether this was a good decision or not, but I will give the US Military a tremendous amount of credit. It went exceedingly well.
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Well, Senator, the man who helped lead the US Military, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, of course, has made an effort to demote you and cut your retirement benefits over the illegal orders video you and five of your Democratic colleagues participated in. A federal judge just yesterday ruled in your favor, saying that that likely violates your First Amendment rights. But the defense secretary has said he will appeal this. He says, to quote him, sedition is sedition. Captain, how far are you anticipating this will go? And has this become personal and personal enough that you believe that even if courts continue to rule in your favor on this specific issue, they will come after you in other ways?
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Well, I mean, I said something the President didn't like. I said something what was lawful, that's in the Uniform Code of Military Justice. And Donald Trump said, I should be hanged, executed, prosecuted, and then he sicked Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Defense on me to demote me, take away some of my retirement pay. And sure, the grand jury didn't indict me a couple days ago, but I don't put anything past these guys. You know, the President often doubles down on bad ideas. I mean, he has a habit of doing this. So I expect him to continue with this effort. But here's the thing. This is much more important than me. This is about the free speech rights of 2 million retired service members and millions of other Americans who have a right to say what they believe and speak out against the government. And it might sound like a couple days ago when they failed to indict me, that was a good thing. But think about this for a second. The President just tried to throw myself and another U.S. senator and members of the House in prison. He's trying to imprison us because he doesn't like what we're saying. So this is. We're getting, you know, close here to what? We're certainly in uncharted territory already. But I'm going to continue to fight this because this is about the Constitution, something I served in the United States Navy for. For 25 years. I went to war for. I fought our enemies for our country and our Constitution. And I'm not going to back down from this president or anybody else.
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Well, Senator, you referenced that failed grand jury indictment. One of your colleagues who appeared in that video alongside you, Senator Alyssa Slotkin, has asked the DOJ to confirm whether or not the investigation into the six of you has indeed concluded. Have you heard from her as to whether there has been a response to that? Have you yourself heard from the DOJ in that regard?
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We hear very little from the doj. I think as my office. The last thing we may have heard was that we were not under investigation. And the next thing we find out from the press is they attempted. Attempted to indict us. I mean, this is not how these processes are supposed to work. You know, these folks seem to not know how to do their jobs. And the worst thing about this, though, is the message it sends to the American people that if you speak out against this government, this president, The Attorney General, U.S. attorneys, they're going to come after you. And that is just fundamentally un American.
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Senator Kelly, when you get back to Washington, it looks like the Department of Homeland Security will be closed. It's set to shut down tonight, of course, because of the dispute over DHS and more specifically, restrictions around ice. When you return, we're also going to be talking about the prospect of missed paychecks for folks in the tsa. We're going to be looking at the Coast Guard and fema. How long can Democrats hold the line on this?
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Well, what we've seen from ICE over the past months in Minneapolis and other cities is, is an agency that has just run amok and is violating the constitutional rights of thousands and thousands of Americans. We have two dead Americans. We have people that have been beaten up. I have a constituent that was just standing on the sidewalk and a federal agent in a vehicle just sprays her in the face with Mace. I mean, what is going on? I mean, this agency needs to be overhauled. People need to be fired. Why are they in uniforms that tactical operators in Fallujah wear? I mean, why don't they wear name tags? They seem to not follow any reasonable use of force criteria. The agency needs to be fixed in a dramatic way. And until that happens, I mean, I am not in favor of funding them beyond what they. What the president gave them and Republicans in the House and Senate gave them in his big piece of legislation, which was $75 billion to be spent over three years. You know, they have resources. They do not need more resources that will go towards violating the rights of the American people.
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But of course, as we've established, the tsa, fema, Coast Guard get penalized by this action as well. Senator, are there talks underway in Munich about crafting a deal? Because we know that negotiations have been underway in the background. What are you hearing?
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You know, hey, the Republicans know what they need to do here. You know, we sent a reasonable proposal to the White House. They sent an unreasonable and unserious response. You know, and I think at this point, many of them realize that this situation has gotten out of control and it has to be fixed. So if they would sit down with us and seriously consider what we're asking them to do with this agency, I think we could rather quickly get to a deal.
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Senator Mark Kelly joining us live from the Munich Security Conference. Senator, thank you for being here on Bloomberg and thank you for your service.