Senator Mark Kelly, a Navy combat veteran and former astronaut, joins Terry Moran for one of the most urgent conversations yet about military integrity, illegal orders, presidential power, and the looming risk of conflict in Venezuela.

Kelly explains why he and several Democratic senators released a video reminding service members of their duty to refuse unlawful orders — a message rooted directly in the Uniform Code of Military Justice. He discusses the backlash, Trump’s threats, the firing of JAG officers and inspectors general, and the profound institutional damage he believes is underway inside the Pentagon.

The discussion turns to Venezuela, where Kelly raises alarm about Trump’s intentions, the lack of a clear mission, and the danger of dragging American troops—many already worn from Iraq and Afghanistan—into another conflict with no justification, no planning, and no explanation to the American people.

Kelly also speaks about political violence, his wife Gabby Giffords’ survival, and why he refuses to be intimidated by presidential threats.

A bracing, unfiltered interview about democracy, duty, and danger in 2025.

⏱ Chapters

00:00 – Terry Moran welcomes Senator Mark Kelly in Washington

01:04 – Why Kelly told the military they can refuse illegal orders

03:08 – Why he believes “something really bad could happen”

05:29 – Kelly defends the message as simple UCMJ fact

06:47 – Trump calls for Kelly to be executed; consequences and fear

07:49 – Why firing JAG officers and IGs threatens accountability

08:25 – The Venezuela crisis and moral danger for service members

10:46 – Are we too quick to pull the trigger?

11:20 – What decades of war have done to the military

12:25 – Risk of a new conflict in Venezuela with no clear purpose

13:50 – The Juan Hernández pardon and troubling signals

15:46 – Personal safety, political violence, and refusing intimidation

17:01 – Why subservience in Trump’s cabinet is dangerous

17:53 – Could Kelly run for president? His answer

18:52 – Closing reflections and thanks

#MarkKelly #Military #Venezuela #USPolitics #Democracy

Ambassador John Bolton joins Terry Moran in Austin for an unflinching conversation about the Trump administration’s approach to Venezuela, the Ukraine peace plan, the Pentagon shake-up, and what Bolton sees as a dangerous breakdown in U.S. foreign policy decision-making.

Bolton argues that Trump’s actions toward Venezuela lack planning, strategy, and congressional or hemispheric support. He tells Moran he sees “a mishmash of thinking” in the White House and warns that a failed military flex in the Caribbean could seriously damage American credibility.

The discussion turns to Ukraine, where Bolton says the proposed peace plan appears aligned with Russian interests and reflects a chaotic internal process driven by Trump’s impulses rather than American national security.

He also raises alarms about the politicization of the military, the firing of senior officers, and the erosion of long-standing norms of civilian-military relations.

One of the most substantive interviews yet in the series — and a sobering look at U.S. foreign policy at a moment of global instability.

⏱ Chapters

00:00 – Terry Moran introduces Ambassador John Bolton in Austin

00:36 – What is happening in Venezuela and the U.S. force posture

00:42 – Bolton says the administration is confused and unprepared

02:10 – Moran challenges Bolton on regime change and past U.S. interventions

02:52 – Bolton explains why Venezuela is a unique case

03:40 – The risk of acting without alignment with the opposition

04:33 – Is Trump showing force for the sake of optics?

05:09 – Bolton on Trump being “in a box” over military action

06:29 – Are we going to war with Venezuela?

07:40 – The Ukraine peace plan and signs it aligns with Russia

08:27 – The collapse of internal foreign-policy process

09:37 – Moran on military politicization and senior officer firings

10:13 – Bolton on damage to civilian-military norms

11:08 – Should members of Congress encourage refusal of unlawful orders?

11:20 – Bolton says Congress needs to legislate, not post

11:56 – Closing and farewell

#JohnBolton #Venezuela #Ukraine #ForeignPolicy #USPolitics

At the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin, Terry Moran sits down with former Senator Joe Manchin for a candid, wide-ranging conversation about the shutdown, Donald Trump’s governing style, the decline of Congress, immigration, political extremism, and what Manchin sees as a dangerous moment for American democracy.

Speaking with the bluntness he’s known for, Manchin argues that the 43-day shutdown should never have happened, that both parties have abandoned the center, and that Congress has surrendered too much power to the presidency. He also discusses immigration reform, the border crisis, Trump’s use of federal troops in American cities, and the rise of political violence.

Manchin reflects on his decades in public life, why moderation is disappearing, how Congress lost its constitutional backbone, and why Americans still want a government that works.

One of the most substantive and revealing episodes yet.

⏱ Chapters

00:00 – Live from Austin: Terry Moran introduces Joe Manchin

00:35 – Manchin on the 43-day shutdown: never should have happened

01:15 – Why shutdown politics make no sense to him

02:00 – Democrats, elections, and governing from the minority

03:00 – Schumer, McConnell, and how Manchin voted his own way

04:40 – The 51-vote Senate math and why the filibuster matters

06:05 – Why polarization and media ecosystems are killing common sense

08:00 – Manchin on redistricting, primaries, and extremism

09:30 – Why independents are now the largest group of voters

11:00 – Why moderates vanish when they arrive in Washington

12:15 – Is the politics of the center dead in the age of Trump?

13:40 – Trump’s toughness, extremism, and why voters respond to it

14:40 – Congress collapsing as an institution

15:30 – How Trump is exploiting Congress’s failures

17:00 – Schumer, Reid, party-line votes, and Manchin’s independence

19:20 – What Trump is getting right on immigration

21:40 – The 2013 immigration bill and the Tea Party rejection

23:00 – Border failures and the politics of crime

25:00 – Trump’s National Guard deployments to cities

26:40 – Are these moves authoritarian?

28:10 – Biden, Democrats, and border failures

29:30 – Freedom, public service, and Manchin’s political roots

31:10 – Violence, threats, and the human cost of political extremism

32:40 – How both parties lost their way

34:10 – Venezuela, foreign policy, and the risk of war

36:20 – Nick Saban stories and growing up in West Virginia

38:30 – Final reflections

#JoeManchin #venezuela #Immigration #Trump #Democracy