Sen. Jack Reed on Charlie Kirk's death

There you are. This is a very hard day in America. I'd like to get your assessment. Well, the attack was reprehensible. One of our fundamental principles of the American way of life is the freedom to speak out and to do so without fear of not only intimidation but violence, and it's a tragic moment for the family and for many Americans. We all should stop and pause for a moment and reflect on where we have come from and where we are going. This is absolutely reprehensible.

Reed, I know-- and you know better than I do because you're in the cloakroom of the United States Senate. There are conversations almost daily now about what the risk profile is for members of the House, members of the Senate, and these are bipartisan conversations by necessity because, as I mentioned at the top of this show, in these spasms of violence, there are victims on both sides of the ideological spectrum of one kind or another. Charlie Kirk is a grievous victim, the most grievous victim we can think of in modern history, but you have these conversations. What are they like, and how are they likely to change? Well, you're exactly right, Major. The concern is accelerated, particularly after a tragic moment like this where someone, as we do consistently, speaking to a group of fellow Americans is suddenly cut down. So it is something that we're concerned about. If there are palpable threats to an individual member of Congress, then the Capitol Police will provide protection. But again, in this world where this violent activity is unpredictable and, many times, the result of an individual who has not only mental issues but also many other issues and has a weapon, and that's hard to anticipate. But we are concerned about it. Senator Reed, I imagine this is going to influence the dialogue for the remainder of this week, probably the remainder of this month. And there are a lot of hard issues for Senate Democrats, House Democrats, the Trump White House to resolve, not the least of which is continuing to fund our federal government and avoid a government shutdown. Those can be contentious conversations. There can be lots of sharp elbows thrown. How do you anticipate that playing out, and is your advice to all concerned to lessen the intensity-- and that's putting it mildly-- of their rhetoric in these skirmishes? Well, I think that's exactly right, Major. I think what we've seen over the course of the last several years is a deterioration of the sense of community and the sense of common purpose and dialogue. A lot has been reduced to simply political rhetoric on both sides, and we are not going to get to a solution on major problems, both domestically and internationally, until we come together and communicate. And I think we should be an example of that to the American people. And I must say, many times over the last several years, we've let the American people down by being vitriolic, by being acerbic in our comments, and that goes not just for the Congress. It's also for the White House.

Senator Jack Reed, Rhode Island Democrat, ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee. Sir, thank you very much. I appreciate it. Thank you, Major.