DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin defends decision to livestream Fort Hood shooter's execution

[0:00] We want to start with a quick update on the aftermath of Hurricane Isaias, which made [0:05] landfall Friday night and resulted in the deaths of four people. [0:09] For that update, we turn to Homeland Security Secretary Mark Wayne Mullen. [0:13] Good morning to you, Mr. Secretary. This is the first Atlantic hurricane of the year, [0:17] hundreds of thousands of people left without power. I know the president [0:21] approves some federal support. What is needed? [0:24] Well, we're in touch with all the governors that are affected and might be affected by [0:30] the continuing storm moving across the nation. The president has been very involved in this from [0:35] the get-go. Cam Hamilton, who is our director of FEMA, we started pre-positioning assets into [0:42] every state and working closely with their emergency responders. Right now, from the conversation I've [0:48] had with each governor, they're in good shape. We have good partnership. What's interesting about [0:55] this area is why they may not have been hit with storms real bad the last two years, [0:59] they work really, really good together. When I was talking to Governor Kemp from [1:03] Georgia, he was talking about his relationship with Ron DeSantis. [1:09] When we were dealing with the other governors, they were talking about how they're cooperating [1:14] with sending assets to the areas that are affected without power to get the power restored. [1:19] FEMA is setting by responding with life-saving responses. The Coast Guard is out in the inner [1:28] waters in the Mississippi, the mouth of Mississippi out in our shores. And we are still doing some [1:37] boat rescues, but really it's more recovery of the boats, not of the individuals. So we're working [1:42] together well as a team. We were, you know, you never can be fully prepared for a storm like this, [1:47] but I can tell you that the coordination from the Oval Office with President Trump's leadership [1:52] to the governors, to the county first responders, we're all working very closely together. [1:58] Well, we hope everyone in that pathway is safe. I want to ask you about something else on the [2:04] enforcement side of things. There have been at least 30 DHS officer-involved shootings under the [2:11] Trump administration, according to CBS's tally of events here. There was this incident last week [2:17] in New York City, and the NYPD did release a security video that shows a man dressed as a civilian [2:24] with a gun drawn, approaching a car, and then punching in the window. I know you have said there [2:29] were other DHS ICE officers in the area who were put at risk by the driver. But just to clarify events, [2:37] when are you going to release the body cameras worn by those officers? [2:42] Well, Margaret, what you're seeing is a pole cam. What you're not seeing is actually the audio [2:47] footage or a different angle where you have multiple officers that are actually approaching [2:51] this individual named Oscar with a long, very long, extensive rap sheet. He's only been in the [2:58] country for three years, and he has a rap sheet of four charges of felony robbery, [3:04] two charges of felony assault, felony larceny, misdemeanor assault, possession of weapons, [3:10] possession of stolen property, two felony charges of dangerous drugs, and strong gang affiliation [3:16] that has direct or indirect knowledge of a CBP officer that was shot last year. [3:22] And this guy evaded officers last month when we tried to get to him. [3:26] We knew he was armed. We knew he was dangerous. We knew, or there was a possibility of being armed. [3:30] We knew he was dangerous, and we knew he was going to evade. So when we approached his vehicle, [3:33] we were giving lawful commands. We had approached him just like any other undercover agency that's [3:40] out there from local, state, federal, or county that has undercover officers. We had our badges out, [3:48] once again, giving lawful demands. He decided that he was going to accelerate and try to evade again. [3:53] We had taken every precaution and tried to keep that from happening, [3:55] and unfortunately, this took place. We would have loved for him to exit the vehicle like we asked [4:01] him to. He decided not to, and unfortunately, because of the selfish behavior, he put his five-year-old [4:06] at danger. [4:07] You said they were wearing body cameras. [4:09] When will you release that footage? [4:11] Margaret, as far as information being released, [4:13] FBI and HSI is going to do the investigation, continue to do the investigation. When it's [4:18] completed, we'll release all the information. [4:20] Okay. There was that five-year-old you just mentioned. [4:23] Given that rap sheet and how long you'd been monitoring, [4:27] how come those officers didn't notice that a child was put in that car? [4:31] Well, what our understanding is, is he drove into the neighborhood. [4:37] We knew his pattern of life, but we didn't know the five-year-old was in the vehicle. [4:41] Who did know who was in the vehicle was Oscar. [4:44] Now, as a father of six individuals, or six kids, I mean, [4:48] there's no way would I ever put my kids in danger. [4:51] If I was giving lawful commands, and he knew he was being sought after, [4:55] he knew the police was looking for him, because like I said, he just evaded a month ago, [4:58] I would have immediately got out of my vehicle to protect my child. [5:03] There's no way I would have been selfish enough to put my child in danger. [5:08] He was absolutely selfish enough to put his child in danger. [5:11] He's the one that decided to accelerate and ram into another vehicle with his five-year-old in [5:16] the vehicle, and then tried to accelerate towards other police officers. [5:19] That tells you the type of character that Oscar is. [5:23] And yet somehow the mayor is out there protesting about this, [5:27] but yet seven days ago when a NYPD officer got stabbed in the same neighborhood by criminals [5:35] that they released, by the way, Oscar had been released multiple times back onto the streets, [5:40] not one time to the governor, not one time to the mayor. [5:43] Have a press conference or talk about how awful it was that these criminals are stabbing NYPD officers. [5:49] That's right. [5:50] But I think we're all thankful, as I'm sure you are, that that five-year-old was not harmed. [5:55] Let me ask you about something else, though. [5:57] Okay. [5:58] Let me ask you. [5:58] It's frustrating, though, Margaret, because this guy should have never been on the streets, [6:01] because we had asked, we had had a tainer on him and asked New York City to hand him over to us [6:07] when they had him in their possession. [6:09] He was on probation. [6:10] He's an illegal. [6:11] He should have never been on the streets to begin with. [6:13] Let me ask you about another concern. [6:16] Secretary Hegseth said that he plans to livestream the upcoming execution by firing squad of convicted [6:23] murderer Nidal Hassan, who killed 13 servicemembers in 2009. [6:28] Hassan's in a wheelchair. [6:30] Doesn't the administration risk livestreaming this and making him a martyr to his cause? [6:36] Couldn't this be a risk to the homeland? [6:39] No one has to watch it. [6:41] But for me to have sympathy for anybody that killed 13 servicemembers in a scumbag like this [6:46] as a psycho who was supposed to be a psychiatrist, I have no feelings towards him at all. [6:49] I'm not asking about him. [6:50] I'm asking about the livestreaming and the risk that could be created by it. [6:55] Listen, once again, no one has to watch it if they don't choose to. [6:59] Why livestream it? [6:59] I follow President Trump. [7:01] He's a commander and chief of the country, and he does a phenomenal job. [7:06] He leads this country with a very, very, very direct, forward, straight hand, and he's restoring [7:12] America values and bringing us where America should be back in line with what we want. [7:17] Your Republican colleagues, Lisa Murkowski and Kevin Kramer, have both said that this provides [7:20] exactly what terrorists crave, an audience. [7:23] It risks martyrdom. [7:25] Have you weighed the risk here of radicalization, of just creating a risk? [7:32] Margaret, we waive the risk every single day in this country. [7:35] Department of Homeland Security, that's what we do, is we protect the homeland. [7:39] But I don't see an elevated risk at this point at all because of this. [7:44] I think people need to understand if you attack America, we will come after you, [7:50] and we will make sure that the punishment fits the crime. [7:54] And in this case, he killed 13 individuals on Fort Hood. [7:57] I have no sympathy for him, and I give absolutely zero thought to the way that this man died. [8:06] My job as Secretary of Homeland Security is to protect the homeland, and that's what we do, [8:10] and all 270,000 employees we do that work in DHS do every single day. [8:15] Yes. [8:16] That's what I was asking about the homeland. [8:17] I want to ask you about another issue. [8:19] Money that was allocated by Congress to Customs and Border Protection was used to purchase roughly [8:24] $20 million in ads that have run on networks. [8:28] One of the ads will be on this program as well. [8:31] It's touting President Trump's accomplishments and also him personally. [8:35] There has been outcry from some Republican senators, including on this program last week. [8:40] The president has since said his political action committee will pay for future ads. [8:45] That's taken care of. [8:47] Okay. [8:47] What about the past spending? [8:49] Will U.S. taxpayers be reimbursed for the money that was spent on this? [8:54] Anytime we can do a public service announcement and brag about America, I'm all about it. [9:00] You have so much negative media that's out there by fake media that's constantly controversy, [9:06] that if it bleeds, it leads. [9:07] I think 99% of the coverage on President Trump is negative. [9:11] The majority of it's negative about our country and supposedly the direction that we're headed. [9:15] But yet murder rates are down to 126-year low. [9:18] We have most secure borders in probably our nation's history. [9:23] Fentanyl deaths are dropping. [9:26] Drug seizures are dropping. [9:28] Drug apprehension is gaining speed every single day. [9:34] And we should be bragging about what's happening inside America. [9:37] I commend the opportunity to have the... [9:39] I commend the opportunity of President Trump to give us the opportunity to brag about America. [9:45] Okay. [9:45] So no reimbursement. [9:46] Secretary Mullen, thank you. [9:48] Thank you, Margaret.