CBS This Morning on Tuesday scored an exclusive interview with the acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. So, of course, co-host Anthony Mason used the opportunity to push Kevin McAleenan on Donald Trump’s culpability for this weekend’s mass killings.
Mason demanded, “Some of the Hispanic members of the community in El Paso have suggested that the President's rhetoric has contributed to the situation. Do you think the President's rhetoric in any way has inflamed this problem?” After the journalist failed to get the satisfactory answer, he asked the same question: “But do you think rhetoric on a national scale by a figure of the President's stature contributes to the problem?”
Mason also pushed McAleenan on gun control: “Both suspects this past weekend used high-capacity weapons that they purchased legally. Do we need restrictions on these kind of weapons?”
One question that didn’t come up was the Dayton shooter’s alleged support for Elizabeth Warren, Antifa, socialism and other left-wing causes.
A partial transcript of the segment is below:
CBS This Morning
8/6/19
8:05 AM ET
ANTHONY MASON: Mass shootings in 2019 are on track to surpass the total from 2018. The gun violence archive counts more than 250 mass shootings so far this year in America. The group defines mass shootings as any incident where four or more people are shot, not including the gunman. Yesterday, President Trump proposed several ideas to curb gun violence. They include passing so-called red flag laws and addressing mental health. Acting Director of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan joins us for an interview you'll see only on CBS This Morning. He is in Washington. Good morning, Mr. Secretary. Thank you for joining us.
...ANTHONY MASON: You probably heard, Mr. Secretary, that some of the Hispanic members of the community in El Paso have suggested that the President's rhetoric has contributed to the situation. Do you think the President's rhetoric in any way has inflamed this problem?
KEVIN MCALEENAN (Acting Homeland Security Secretary): Well, a lot of those Hispanic members of the community are CVP employees. The majority Hispanic. Those are our families. That's our communities. And I think we do a great job of protecting it at the border, But also responding to help state and locals address it in the interior.
MASON: But do you think rhetoric on a national scale by a figure of the President's stature contributes to the problem?
MCALEENAN: I think we've got a responsibility to call out hate in all of its forms, and white supremacist extremism is a critical element we want to address. I think the President was very clear on that yesterday.
...
MASON: Both suspects this past weekend used high-capacity weapons that they purchased legally. Do we need restrictions on these kind of weapons?
MCALEENAN: I think the president talked about this issue yesterday. He's asked the Department of Justice to look at legislation that could be necessary in these areas. But I think we've got to get better at addressing those early warning indicators. Both as a federal family, but also with whole of community efforts across the country.
MASON: Acting Secretary Kevin McAleenan, thanks very much for being with us.
