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Transcript: Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Oct. 11, 2026

2026-10-11T10:20:00-0400 / CBS News

The following is the transcript of the interview with Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin that aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Oct. 11, 2026.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Good morning, and welcome to Face the Nation. We’ve got a lot of politics ahead, but we want to start with a quick update on the aftermath of Hurricane Isaias, which made landfall Friday night and resulted in the deaths of four people. For that update, we turn to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin. Good morning to you, Mr. Secretary. This is the first Atlantic hurricane of the year. Hundreds of thousands of people left without power. I know the president approves some federal support. What is needed?

SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY MARKWAYNE MULLIN: Well, we were in touch with the- with all the governors that are affected and might be affected by the continuing storm moving across the nation. The president has been very involved in this from the get-go. Cam Hamilton, who is our director of FEMA, we started pre-positioning assets into every state and working closely with their emergency responders. Right now, from the conversation I’ve had with each governor, they’re in good shape. We’re- we have good partnership. What’s interesting about this area is they’re- while they may not have been hit with storms real bad the last two years, they work really, really good together. When I was talking to Governor Kemp from, you know, from Georgia, he was talking about his relationship with Ron DeSantis. When we’re dealing with the other governors, they were talking about how they’re cooperating with sending assets to the areas that are affected without power to get the- the power restored. FEMA is standing by responding with- with life-saving responses. The Coast Guard is out in the inner waters and the Mississippi, the mouth of Mississippi, out in the- our shores, and we are still doing some boat rescues, but really it’s more recovery of the boats, not of the individuals. So we’re working together well as a team. We were, you know, you never can be fully prepared for- for a storm like this, but I can tell you that the coordination from- from the Oval Office with President Trump’s leadership to the- to the governors to the county first responders, we’re all working very closely together.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, we hope everyone in that pathway is safe. I want to ask you about something else on the enforcement side of things. There have been at least 30 DHS officer-involved shootings under the Trump administration, according to CBS’s tally of events here. There was this incident last week in New York City, and the NYPD did release security video that shows a man dressed as a civilian with a gun drawn approaching a car and then punching in the window. I know you have said there were other DHS ICE officers in the area who were put at risk by the driver, but just to clarify events, when are you going to release the body cameras worn by those officers?

SEC. MULLIN: Well, Margaret, what you’re seeing is a pole cam. What you’re not seeing is actual- the audio footage or a different angle where you have multiple officers that are actually approaching this- this individual named Oscar with a long, very long, extensive rap sheet. He’s only been in the country for- for three years, and he has a rap sheet of four charges of felony robbery, two charges of felony assault, felony larceny, misdemeanor assault, possession of- of weapons, possession of stolen property, two felony charges of drugless- of dangerous drugs, and strong gang affiliation that- that has direct or indirect knowledge of- of a CBP officer that was shot last year. And this guy evaded officers last month when we tried to get to him. We knew he was armed. We knew he was dangerous. We knew, or there was a possibility in being armed. We knew he was dangerous, and we knew he was going to evade. So when we approached his vehicle, we were giving lawful commands. We had approached him just like any other undercover agency that’s out there, from local, state, federal, or- or county that has undercover officers. We had our badges out. Once again, giving lawful demands. He decided that he was going to accelerate and try to evade again. We had taken every precaution to try to keep that from happening, and- and unfortunately, this took place. We would have loved for him to exit the vehicle like we asked him to. He decided not to, and unfortunately, because of the selfish behavior, he put his five-year-old at danger. But as far as–

(CROSSTALK)

MARGARET BRENNAN: You said they were wearing body cameras. Will–

SEC. MULLIN:–the information being released–

MARGARET BRENNAN: When will you release that footage?

(END CROSSTALK)

SEC. MULLIN: As far- Margaret, as far as the information being released, FBI and HSI is going to do the investigation. Continue to do the investigation. When it’s completed, we’ll release all the information.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay. There was that five-year-old you just mentioned. Given that rap sheet and how long you’d been monitoring, how come those officers didn’t notice that a child was put in that car?

SEC. MULLIN: Well, what- our understanding is- is he drove into the neighborhood. We knew his pattern of life, but we didn’t know the five-year-old was in the vehicle. Who did know who the five- who was in the vehicle was Oscar. Now, as a father of six individuals, or six kids I mean, no way would I ever put my kids in danger. If I was getting lawful commands- and he knew he was being sought after. He knew the police was looking for him because, like I said, he just evaded a month ago. I would have immediately got out of my vehicle to protect my- my- my child. There’s no way I would have been selfish enough to put my child in danger, he was absolutely selfish enough to put his child in danger. He’s the one that decided to accelerate and- and ram into another vehicle with his five-year-old in the vehicle, and then tried to accelerate towards other police officers. That’s- that is that tells you the type of character that Oscar is, and yet somehow the mayor is out there protesting about this, but yet seven days ago, when NYPD officer got stabbed in the same neighborhood by- by criminals that they released, by the way, Oscar had been released multiple times back onto the streets. Not one time did the governor, not one time did the mayor have a press conference or talk about–

(CROSSTALK)

MARGARET BRENNAN: They did release a statement and visit the officer in the hospital.

SEC. MULLIN: –how awful it was that these criminals are stabbing NYPD officers.

(END CROSSTALK)

SEC. MULLIN: That’s right.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But I think we’re all thankful, as I’m sure you are, that that five-year-old was not harmed. Let me ask you about something–

SEC. MULLIN: — Absolutely–

MARGARET BRENNAN: — about this, though. Okay, let me ask you–

SEC. MULLIN: — It’s frustrating, though, Margaret, because this guy should have never been on the streets because we had asked- we had had a detainer on him and asked the New York City to hand him over to us when they had him on in- in their possession, he was on probation. He’s an illegal. He should have never been on the streets to begin with.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Let me ask you about another concern. Secretary Hegseth said that he plans to livestream the upcoming execution by firing squad of convicted murderer Nidal Hassan, who killed 13 service members in 2009. Hassan’s in a wheelchair. Doesn’t the administration risk livestreaming this and making him a martyr to his cause? Couldn’t this be a risk to the homeland?

SEC. MULLIN: First of all, no one- no one has to watch it–

MARGARET BRENNAN: — Well then why are you livestreaming it?–

SEC. MULLIN: — But for me to have sympathy for anybody that killed 13 service members and a scumbag like this, it’s a psycho who was supposed to be a psychiatrist–

MARGARET BRENNAN: — I’m not asking about him. I’m asking about the livestreaming and the risk that could be created by it.

SEC. MULLIN: Listen, once again, no one has to watch it if they don’t choose to–

MARGARET BRENNAN: — Why livestream it?–

SEC. MULLIN: — I follow President Trump. He’s a commander- he’s a commander in- in chief of the- of the country, and he does a phenomenal job. He leads this country with a very, very, very direct, forward, straight hand, and he’s restoring America values and bringing us and bringing- where America should be back in line–

MARGARET BRENNAN: — Your Republican colleagues Lisa Murkowski and Kevin Cramer have both said that this provides exactly what terrorists crave, an audience. It risks martyrdom. Have you weighed the risk here of radicalization of just creating a risk?

SEC. MULLIN: Margaret, we weigh- we weigh the risk every single day in this country. The Department of Homeland Security, that’s what we do: is we protect the homeland. But I don’t see an elevated risk at this point at all because of this. I think people need to understand if you attack- if you attack America, we will come after you, and we will make sure that the- that the punishment fits the crime. And in this case, he killed 13 individuals on Fort Hood. I have no sympathy for him, and I give absolutely zero thought to the way that this man dies. My job as Secretary of Homeland Security is to protect the homeland, and that’s what we do. And all 270,000 employees we do that work in DHS do every single day.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes, that’s why I was asking about the homeland. I want to ask you about another issue. Money that was allocated by Congress to Customs and Border Protection was used to purchase roughly $20 million in ads that have run on networks. One of the ads will be on this program as well. It’s touting President Trump’s accomplishments and also him personally. There has been outcry from some Republican senators, including on this program last week. The president has since said his political action committee will pay for future ads. That’s taken care of. Okay. What about the past spending? Will U.S. taxpayers be reimbursed for the money that was spent on this?

SEC. MULLIN: Anytime we can do a public service announcement and brag about America, I’m all about it. You have so much negative media that’s out there by fake media that’s constantly controversy. That if it bleeds, it leads. I think 99% of the coverage on President Trump is negative. The majority of it is negative about our country and supposedly the direction that we’re headed–

MARGARET BRENNAN: — So no reimbursement of the $20 million?–

SEC. MULLIN: –But yet, murder rates are down to 126-year low. We have- we have most secure borders in probably our nation’s history, fentanyl- fentanyl deaths are dropping. Drug seizures are dropping every- or drug apprehension is- is- is gaining speed every single day, and we should be bragging about what’s happening inside America. I- I commend the opportunity to have the- I commend the opportunity. Of President Trump to give us the opportunity to brag about America.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay, so no reimbursement. Secretary Mullin, thank you.