June 14, 2026 / 12:08 PM EDT
/ CBS News
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The following is the transcript of the interview with Sen. Mark Kelly, Democrat of Arizona, that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on June 14, 2026.MARGARET BRENNAN: We turn now to Arizona Democratic Senator Mark Kelly, who joins us from Phoenix. Welcome back to Face the Nation. Senator, I just want to read something that the president posted on his social media account moments ago in regard to the events today in Beirut. He said the attack, the Israeli attack on Beirut, should not have happened, particularly on a special day when we are so close to a peace deal with Iran. Israel has a right to defend itself, but the attack it was responding to was very small and meaningless, and all sides should stand down. That's a different response than what the Secretary of Defense shared with us. It seems like the president is worried this could disrupt the negotiation and the possibility of a deal being signed. Do you support the memorandum of understanding?SENATOR MARK KELLY: Well, I haven't seen the details yet, Margaret, and you know, I don't know if this is a special day, and if we're very close to a deal. I do agree with what the president said about standing down. It's obvious that we're negotiating with the Iranians at this point. I think it's always important for folks to remember, how did- how did we get here? We're here because in 2018, Donald Trump tore up the JCPOA and got us into an unauthorized war with the Iranians, and all this has done for the American people is driven up costs, the costs of energy, so, specifically gasoline, the cost of food. And this is at a time when the American people are having a historic time just affording their lives.MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, you questioned Secretary Hegseth last month about what this war did to American military preparedness, specifically restocking munitions that are depleted by the Iran war. As I questioned him about that, he said it was a media narrative, that I was making it up, but also said his testimony before your committee was speculation. What's the reality check there? Do we have a munitions problem?SEN. KELLY: Well, as Secretary Hegseth said in front of the Armed Services Committee, of which I'm a member, this will take years to rebuild the stockpiles of munitions, so of course we have a munitions issue. I mean, it just came from him, and I think it's widely understood that when you attack over 10,000 targets from the air with cruise missiles and ballistic missiles and bombs from airplanes, you are using a lot of munitions, and we do not have an endless supply of these things. So, now we're in a posture where we've got to be incredibly careful, and this is also at a time when Ukraine continues to need some help. President now sells munitions to the Europeans, because I think, as everybody understands, this is always about the bottom line for him. But Ukraine is an ally, they've been illegally- illegally attacked by the Russians, and they still need our assistance.MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, President Zelenskyy was on this program and told us he's waiting on President Trump to say yes to a US-Ukraine drone deal. Do you know what the holdup is?SEN. KELLY: I do not at this point, and I don't think there should be a holdup. I also agree that we should consider some co-manufacturing. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, you know, clearly indicated that he didn't- he didn't seem very interested in this, but if Ukraine is going to win, and I got to say, right now it seems like the momentum is on their side, they need additional help from us. So co-production of some interceptors could be a possibility, but also help with their drone manufacturing, and this could also help us in the future. Ukrainians are really good at this, and we have a lot we could learn from them.
