‘Tremendous sense of fear and unknown’: RFK’s daughter recounts events of DC incident

[0:00] New information about the suspect in the attack on the White House Correspondents Dinner. [0:04] Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche says the accused attacker appeared to be targeting [0:09] members of the Trump administration and potentially the president himself. [0:14] Let's bring in activist and author Kerry Kennedy. Kerry attended the dinner, [0:18] as did her brother, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. [0:22] Welcome. It's good to see you, Kerry, again. But look, let's talk about what all went down last [0:27] night. We know that you were in a conversation with Congressman Jamie Raskin. [0:32] What happened next? So we were standing at the table next to the door and we heard this big bang [0:41] and then suddenly people started yelling, get down, get down, get down. And so I immediately laid down [0:50] and my head was on the lap of a Boston Globe journalist and my knees were on a United States [0:59] senator. And then Jamie just used his whole body to shield me like the hero that he is. [1:06] And he kept whispering, you're OK, you're OK, you're OK. And then all of a sudden the doors, [1:14] the doors were already opened. But this phalanx of Secret Service agents came racing in the room, [1:22] like 20 or 30 of them. And they all had their hands on their holsters and they were looking around [1:29] like they didn't know if there were many shooters in the room or what was going on. And this just [1:35] tremendous sense of fear and unknown. And you could see they were so sharp. And then they raced into the [1:43] room. They started pulling out cabinet members and taking them to safety. And you could see the [1:50] terror on the eyes of the people they were pulling out of the room. And the whole thing lasted about [1:57] four or five minutes. And then there was this kind of, I have to say, during those minutes, I was so [2:05] scared. It was like my body could not move. I had no control of my body. It was just this kind of [2:16] whimpering coming out of my mouth, which I had no control of. But every ounce of the energy was [2:23] about focusing on what's going on, on survival. And where is, you know, where's the threat? Where's [2:32] the threat? And then it was over. And people sort of stood up again and looked around, tried to figure [2:41] out what's going on. The journalists madly came to work and did their job and they're, you know, [2:48] posting and talking about how to get the word out. And then another group of security came running into [2:58] the room and said, go, go, go, go, go out. And so we rushed out of the room. And it was really [3:08] terrifying. I just was thinking so much about my dad, who of course was killed by a shooter in a [3:18] situation like that, about my incredibly mighty mother, who was 10 months pregnant at the time. I [3:27] mean, she was pregnant at the time with her 11th child, but she had 10 children at home. [3:33] And I can tell you the way I feel today is so grateful for all the Secret Service agents, [3:43] especially for Jamie Raskin, who was such a superhero, you know, just putting his life [3:49] on the line to protect me. You can see it right in that picture. And I'm grateful that no one got [4:01] hurt. I understand there was a Secret Service agent who was shot, but he had a bulletproof vest on, [4:08] so I'm praying for him and his families. Well, the good news on that, I can tell you, [4:13] Carrie, he's been released from the hospital. He left this morning and so he's not injured. So [4:17] your prayers have been answered on that front. Can I ask you, because we saw some video of your brother [4:22] and sister-in-law being, you know, taken from the room, Secret Service rushing to them. [4:27] Could you see him? Was he in your line of sight as well? Or were you just back there on the floor? [4:32] I couldn't see him. Of course, I was very, very worried about him because I knew he was in the [4:38] room. But I sent him a text, you know, immediately. But I think, you know, this is something that [4:50] impacted everybody in that room. I'm just one of all those thousands of people. But just think about [4:58] all these children, kindergartners, who are experiencing the same thing in their schools [5:04] in our country. Why? There's no reason for this. And that's something that- [5:09] It just doesn't happen in other countries. It just doesn't happen. And it's all about access to guns. [5:16] And we have to wake up to this and stop this insanity. [5:21] You're saying this today. And this was something that was even on your mind. In the heat of the [5:28] moment last night, when you were able to rationally think about the fallout from this kind of gun [5:34] epidemic. We had Jamie Raskin, who noted this morning in an interview, of course, we all know [5:40] you lost your father. You lost your uncle as well to gun violence. And yet the first thing you said to [5:45] him was, this is happening in schools across this country. And the kids have no resource to process [5:52] the trauma. What has to change, Carrie? I mean, we have to stop this insanity in our country with [6:02] allowing anybody and everybody to buy guns and make it so easy for them to buy guns. That's what we have [6:13] to do. You know, there are more gun dealers than there are McDonald's in our country. We've got to [6:19] stop this. They stopped in other countries. We can do it. We have suggestions, one of them being [6:27] from Congressman Ro Khanna, who is now suggesting a bipartisan commission on political violence. [6:34] But the question is, yes, you're talking about the number of guns that we have in this country and [6:39] the access to it. Is that how we got here? I mean, what's your thought process behind that? [6:44] And do you think the commission is the answer? Look, I think when my father was running for president [6:51] in 1968, one of his stances was, we need to have gun control. And so we've lost so many, so many people [7:03] since then, you know, and in so many schools. But I think today, we also need to see each other [7:16] with more love. And we have to be more intentional about saying the light in me sees the light in you [7:26] and argue as hard as we possibly can on issues, but keep it to the issues and not to the personalities. We [7:37] have to find ways of saying, I see you as a human being and treat each other with kindness and with [7:46] generosity and with a sense of forgiveness in our country in order to move forward with the hope of peace [7:56] and justice and the community that all of us so desire. [8:02] Yeah. Well, from your lips to everybody's ears, I have to say, but telling the story of what happened [8:07] to you, Carrie, that was a great story. You told it and we were right there. I started getting chills [8:13] listening to you. I'm so sorry you went through this, but I hope that you have a [8:17] day today that you can reflect on it and start out the week in a more positive tone tomorrow. [8:23] Meantime, I'm really glad to see you because you look great. [8:26] Thank you. It's good to talk with you and see you doing well. [8:28] Thank you. [8:28] Okay. See you again. Thanks.