Transcript: Sen. Mark Kelly on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” June 14, 2026

The following is the text of the interview with Sen. Mark Kelly, Democrat of Arizona, aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on June 14, 2026.

MARGARET BRENNAN: We now turn to Arizona Democratic Senator Mark Kelly, who joins us from Phoenix. Welcome back to Face the Nation. Senator, I want to read something that the president has posted on his social media account in the past about today’s events in Beirut. He said the attack, the Israeli attack on Beirut, should not have happened, especially on a special day when we are so close to a peace agreement with Iran. Israel has the right to defend itself, but the attack it responded to was too small and senseless, and all sides should stand down. That’s a different answer than the Secretary of Defense shared with us. It seems that the president is afraid that this may interfere with the negotiation and the possibility of signing the agreement. 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 agree with what the president said about standing down. Obviously we are negotiating with the Iranians right now. I think it’s important for people to remember, how did – how did we get here? We are 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 by costs, energy costs, and therefore, especially fuel, food costs. And this is the time when Americans are having a historic time giving their lives.

Margaret Brennan When I asked him about that, he said that it was a story being told in the media, which I was doing, but he also said that his testimony before your committee was speculation. What is the truth test there? Do we have an arms problem?

SEN. KELLY: Well, as Secretary Hegseth said before the Weapons Committee, which I’m a member of, this is going to take years to rebuild the arsenal, so we have a weapons issue. I mean, it came from him, and I think it’s widely understood that when you’re attacking more than 10,000 targets from the air with cruise missiles and ballistic missiles and bombs from aircraft, you’re using a lot of weapons, and we don’t have an infinite supply of these things. So, we are now in a situation where we have to be incredibly careful, and this is at a time when Ukraine continues to need some help. The President is now selling weapons to Europeans, because I think, as everyone understands, this has always been his base. But Ukraine is an alliance, they have been illegally invaded by the Russians, and they still need our help.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, President Zelenskyy was on the show and he told us that he’s waiting for President Trump to approve the US-Ukraine drone deal. Do you know what a holdup is?

SEN. KELLY: I don’t yet, and I don’t think there should be a catch. I also agree that we should consider co-production. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, you know, has 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 more help from us. So co-production of other interceptors would be a possibility, but also help in their production of drones, and this could help us in the future as well. Ukrainians are really good at this, and we can learn a lot from them.

MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to go back to something that we were discussing with Senator Warner, and that is the security risk that this warrantless surveillance program, Section 702, is currently suspended. You, earlier this month, voted against a bipartisan bill that would extend surveillance authority. He said that any short or long term extension would not be in his favor until he resolved the Bill Pulte issue. Isn’t that problem solved now that Jay Clayton is the nominee?

SEN. KELLY: Not entirely, because when Tulsi Gabbard leaves, we’re not sure if the president will install Bill Pulte as acting DNI, but this is very easy to solve. The president today can make it clear to the American people that Bill Pulte will not have a role in the office of Director of National Intelligence. If I hear that, we have a direct way to get FISA renewed.

MARGARET BRENNAN: That’s the value of your vote, did that statement come from the president himself?

SEN. KELLY: I mean, you know, I’m always analyzing the situation. I appreciate FISA, especially 702B, which allows surveillance of foreign nationals. It is incredibly important to our national security, and when it expires, there is some danger. But I also think there’s just as much, if not more, risk of putting someone, Bill Pulte specifically, who’s not qualified for the job, Margaret. If you made a list of the million most qualified Americans for this position, I sincerely hope that Bill Pulte would not be on that list. There is a risk of putting him in this situation, and it is now clear how we solve this.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, the hearing for Jay Clayton, who would be the Senate confirmed head of National Intelligence, if he gets all these votes, is on Wednesday. Are you sure yes? I mean, given your objection to Pulte, you need a solution. It sounds like this is not a question.

SEN. KELLY: No, I don’t know Clayton. I mean I’m reviewing his background. He has a process to go through. We need to check on him. The rule for this job is that someone will have extensive national security or intelligence experience. Do you have that? I think it’s clear that he doesn’t. Are you better than Bill Pulte? Yes, I think much better. Are you experiencing some sort of, perhaps small, non-minimum level? Maybe. So, I’m looking forward to Wednesday. He has to answer the tough, tough questions of the committee, and I’m going to check his background and whether or not I think he’s up to the task.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Wow. Meanwhile, there are many issues – of great concern to the national security service. One of them, artificial intelligence. The White House on Friday came out and it looks like it’s really upping the ante with Anthropic. The White House told them to stop access to any outsiders, which led the company to stop all customers from accessing its most advanced AI systems. Do you know if there is an emergency, and is it so, as reported by Semafor, because there were suspicions that the Chinese liaison group reached it?

SEN. KELLY: Well, I haven’t heard that officially, but Mythos and some of their models in AI companies are incredibly capable, and some of the capabilities these models have to access systems, not just federal government systems, but financial systems, really concern us. So we have to take some time with these tools and do a comprehensive analysis of what the risk is to the American people if we take these out. So I agree with the management on this. We have to be incredibly careful, and the AI ​​companies, and you know, I think Anthropic is a good example, they seem willing to work with the federal government on this to make sure we don’t make a mistake and release something that we’re going to regret later.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Senator Mark Kelly, thank you for your time today. We’ll be back in a little while.