Transcript
Aaron Parnas (0:00)
Tonight, the United States of America is in chaos. From foreign policy decisions abroad to domestic issues at home, Americans are struggling. Americans are scared. Americans are nervous. I hear it from you every single day. I read your comments, I listen to your notes. And the truth is, today was a very hard day for our nation. In Minnesota, a ICE officer killed a 37 year old woman. We now know that when ambulances went to try to save her, ICE blocked them. Abroad, Americans are growing anxious as the Trump administration ramps up a modern day war machine seeking to increase defense budget from $1 trillion to $1.5 trillion as it targets countries from Venezuela to Greenland to Cuba, Iran and elsewhere. And at the same time, Americans here at home are struggling, struggling with the high cost of living, struggling with the lack of affordable health care as Affordable Care act subsidies have expired. And I'd be remiss if I didn't start tonight's update just by acknowledging where we are as a nation. We are a nation in crisis. And today I sat down with Senator Mark Kelly from Arizona, Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, his wife, to talk about this crisis. Fifteen years ago today or 15 years ago tomorrow, Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was preparing to speak with constituents in Arizona when a gunman opened fire, shooting her, shooting other individuals, killing several people. A horrific act of political violence. A horrific act of gun violence. To think that that would have been the end, that America would recover. But 15 years later, America remains on edge. America remains a country of political violence, of gun violence, a country in crisis. Tonight, I want you to watch this interview with open eyes. I want you to let me know what you think and if you can please consider subscribing to support my work. I'm not backed by big corporate executives or big advertisers. And I ask often, but truthfully, it's just me, you, and the truth. With that, here is Senator Mark Kelly and Congresswoman Gabby Giffords.
Interviewer (2:37)
Senator Kelly, Gabby Giffords, thank you so much for joining me today. I'm really excited for this conversation. I really want to kind of start off because you've been in the news lately, Senator Kelly, with everything that's been happening with Secretary Hexseth, you're now the Department of Defense going after your rank, your retirement pay. There's something that you could say to Secretary Hexe today. What would it be?
Senator Mark Kelly (3:00)
I was just in a brief with him downstairs talking about these operations in Venezuela. That's generally not the venue. The last time I was in that situation with him, he actually brought it up. And I had some very specific Strategic questions at this point with him. You know, I, I, you know, don't think there's anything that I need to say to him, you know, personally. He knows that in November, myself and five of my colleagues in the House and the Senate that we, you know, said something that was lawful in the Uniform Code of Military justice, very basic, reminding service members that they should follow the law. The President said I should be hanged and executed for what I said and then prosecuted. And then Secretary Hegseth began this prosecution, in theory, to court martial me. At this point, they've sent a letter of censure, and they're now threatening to reduce me in rank, and they're going to come up with a determination. So I don't have anything to say to him personally that I don't say publicly, repeatedly. You know, which is, in my view, this guy was totally unqualified for this job. I did not vote for him. We actually had to have the vice president come over because they could not get enough Republicans to vote for him because he does not have the background to do this. And he has demonstrated over the last seven, eight months as how long he's been in this job that he shouldn't have, shouldn't have gotten the job and should have been fired. So there's, there's nothing I need to say to him personally.