Maduro In Court, Vandal Attacks VP Vance Home, Pentagon Moves to Demote Sen. Kelly： AM Update 1⧸6
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Summary
Former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores appeared in a New York City courtroom yesterday afternoon, appearing on narco-trafficking and weapons charges. The pair arrived at the courthouse via helicopter and armored motorcade from a federal facility in Brooklyn where they've been held since their capture in Venezuela on Saturday.
Transcript
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Good morning, everyone. I'm Megan Kelly. It's Tuesday, January 6th, 2026, and this is your AM Update.
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It's hope for every Venezuelan. This is a hope.
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As Venezuelans celebrate the downfall off authoritarian leader Nicolas Maduro, many wonder what happens next.
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A young man reportedly posing as a woman arrested after allegedly vandalizing Vice President J.D. Vance's Cincinnati home.
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Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders.
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The Pentagon initiates a process to demote retired Navy Captain Senator Mark Kelly
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after he participated in a video urging military members to disobey certain orders.
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And convicted quadruple murderer Brian Kohlberger's sister speaks publicly for the first time.
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All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM Update.
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Former leader of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, and wife, Cilia Flores,
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in a New York City courtroom yesterday afternoon, appearing on narco-trafficking and weapons charges.
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The pair arriving at the courthouse via helicopter and armored motorcade from the federal facility in Brooklyn,
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where they've been held since their capture in Venezuela on Saturday in an extraordinary mission carried out by the U.S. military.
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DEA agents escorting the couple wearing matching tan jail outfits to the courthouse for the arraignment.
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92-year-old Clinton-appointed senior U.S. District Court Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein is overseeing the case.
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High-profile attorney Barry Pollack, who previously defended WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange,
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representing Maduro, appearing alongside his client yesterday.
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Maduro's wife Celia is represented by attorney Mark Donnelly.
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Donnelly claiming his client was injured in the arrest,
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and that she will require medical care for possibly fractured ribs.
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Both pleading not guilty to the charges against them involving
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as well as possession of and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.
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Maduro speaking throughout the proceedings via translator,
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as any comments can be used against them in the proceedings.
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There will be a time and a place to go into all of this.
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carried out before dawn inside a Venezuelan military base by the U.S. Army's elite Delta Force,
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Pollack arguing Maduro is shielded by foreign head of state immunity,
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that Maduro is not the legitimate president of Venezuela.
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The U.S. and others say Maduro lost an election to opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez in July 2024,
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but declared victory anyway, refusing to leave power.
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Judge Hellerstein setting the next court date for March 17th.
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celebrating the end of the authoritarian leader's reign in their home country.
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posting reactions from Venezuelans living across the U.S.
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This president is the first president to do something.
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I've been looking forward to this day for so many years.
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Thank you, the United States, and God bless Venezuela.
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Meanwhile, some Democrats calling for President Trump to be impeached
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for failing to seek congressional approval for the operation.
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The White House argues approval from Congress was not required
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because the arrest was a law enforcement operation
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Congressman Dan Goldman from New York releasing a statement,
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This violation of the U.S. Constitution is an impeachable offense.
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I urge my Republican colleagues in the House of Representatives
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to finally join Democrats in reasserting congressional authority
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Axios, however, reporting behind the scenes some more moderate Democrats
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saying their party should be celebrating the successful raid.
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If you don't acknowledge when there is a win for our country,
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U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, Democrat John Fetterman,
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going on the record with Fox in support of the operation.
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America is a force of good, order, and democracy,
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You know, let's pretend that now we are acting in a way.
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Now, remember, we all Democrats years ago wanted to eliminate him,
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and why have a bounty of $25 million if we didn't want him gone?
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Why would you do these things if you weren't willing to actually do something
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House Speaker Mike Johnson last night following a briefing by Trump officials.
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The Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war, that is true.
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But it also vests the President of the United States with vast authorities as Commander-in-Chief.
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Under Article 2 of the Constitution, the President has the authority, as all presidents do,
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to deploy military forces to address threats to the U.S. and to enforce U.S. law.
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The War Powers Act states that notification should be made to Congress within 48 hours
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As we've noted, and I've made many public comments, that happened almost instantaneously here.
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My first call was at 4 a.m. by Secretary of State Rubio.
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Despite the claims by some of my colleagues under the War Powers Act,
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there is no requirement for prior congressional approval or prior notification.
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And in fact, in this case, the intelligence was so sensitive, the conditions had to be perfect.
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There was no predetermination of when exactly it would occur.
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And if there had been prior notice, even assembling the Gang of Eight,
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for example, during the December holiday, it would have set off alerts
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and very likely might have been a leaked situation,
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which could have caused great damage to our forces, our troops there.
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Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez swearing in yesterday as interim president.
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President Trump, who said on Sunday, the U.S. is in charge of Venezuela now,
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telling NBC there will not be a new election next month.
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The president saying Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth,
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and Vice President J.D. Vance will oversee the U.S.'s involvement in Venezuela in the meantime,
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and that Mr. Rubio has been in communication with interim President Rodriguez.
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A Cincinnati man in custody after allegedly vandalizing Vice President J.D. Vance's personal
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26-year-old William D. DeFore arrested by Secret Service after allegedly striking four
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of Vice President Vance's windows with a hammer and damaging a Secret Service vehicle.
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Secret Service reporting the incident in the early morning hours on Monday,
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telling dispatch the suspect had fled the scene, according to local outlet Fox 19.
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Agents apprehending DeFore shortly after midnight, he was then booked into the Hamilton
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County Justice Center by the Cincinnati Police Department.
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DeFore is set to be arraigned today. He faces four charges, including one count of obstructing
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official business, one of criminal damaging or endangering, one of criminal trespass,
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all or misdemeanors, and one count of vandalism, a felony. At the federal level, DeFore charged with
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damaging government property, engaging in physical violence against any person or property in a
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restricted building or grounds, and assaulting, resisting, or impeding federal officers. The top
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charge carrying a penalty of up to 20 years in prison. It is unclear when DeFore is due in federal
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court. The Vice President and his family were not at home at the time, Fox 19 reporting DeFore
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pleading guilty last April to two counts of vandalism for inflicting more than $2,000 of
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damage to a local business. He was sentenced to two years of mental health treatment and required to
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pay over $5,000 in restitution. In 2023, DeFore charged with criminal trespassing, though a judge
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later determining he was not mentally competent to stand trial, dismissing the charges. The Daily Mail
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reporting DeFore, who went by the name Davis at his $27,000-per-year private Catholic school,
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now living as, guess what, a fake woman named Julia. A Facebook page under the name Julia DeFore,
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with a picture appearing to match the suspect, seems to have been created just last month,
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reports the Daily Mail. The profile likes another page called the Heartland Trans Wellness Center,
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an organization providing resources to so-called transgender patients in Cincinnati. DeFore's
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father reportedly donated to Kamala Harris, a Democrat Party PAC, and President Biden's 2020
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campaign. DeFore reportedly growing up in an affluent neighborhood, just a short drive away from the
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vice president's residence with a surgeon father and pediatrician mother. DeFore graduating high
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school in 2018 as a national AP scholar, though he does not appear to have gone on to graduate from a
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four-year college. VP Vance posting on X, quote, I appreciate everyone's well wishes about the attack
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at our home. As far as I can tell, a crazy person tried to break in by hammering the windows. I'm
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grateful to the Secret Service and the Cincinnati police for responding quickly. Coming up, the
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Pentagon initiates a review in order to demote retired Navy Captain and now U.S. Senator from Arizona,
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Mark Kelly, over his involvement in a video urging U.S. service members to disobey illegal orders.
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And the sister of convicted killer Brian Kohlberger speaks out.
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promo code MEGAN. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announcing yesterday morning the Pentagon will
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move to cut Democrat Senator Mark Kelly's retirement pay for his participation in a social media video
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last year urging U.S. service members to disobey illegal orders. Senator Mark Kelly, I was a captain
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in the United States Navy. We want to speak directly to members of the military. Our laws are clear.
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You can refuse illegal orders. Five other Democrats also participating in the video.
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Senator Kelly, however, remains subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice as a retiree,
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prompting the Pentagon to open an investigation late last year. Secretary Hegseth writing yesterday
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that the Department of War is taking administrative action against Captain Kelly, issuing a formal letter
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of censure outlining, quote, Captain, for now, Kelly's reckless misconduct. From the letter,
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quote, Between June 2025 and December 2025, you engaged in a sustained pattern of public statements
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that characterized lawful military operations as illegal and counseled members of the armed forces
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to refuse orders related to those operations. The letter does not name a specific order,
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though shortly after the video was released, the Washington Post reporting the U.S. conducted
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in September a second strike that killed survivors of an attack on an alleged drug vessel.
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Secretary Kelly publicly questioning the legality of such a strike. Here's one moment from CNN.
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I've had questions about the operation in general, and I've been saying this for weeks,
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putting service members kind of like, are you stepping over a line here? Is this legal?
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They have tied themselves in knots trying to explain to us on the Armed Service Committee
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how this is legal. Not sharing, you know, all of the information either, which is really troubling.
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But, you know, going after survivors in the water, that is clearly not lawful.
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The letter accusing Senator Kelly of undermining the chain of command,
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counseling disobedience, creating confusion, and discrediting the armed forces.
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The letter ending with a warning that further misconduct may result in criminal prosecution
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or further administrative action. With the issuing of the letter, the Pentagon now initiating proceedings
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to demote Kelly's retirement ranking and lower his retirement pay as well.
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Senator Kelly releasing a statement, reading in part, quote,
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I will fight this with everything I've got. Not for myself, but to send a message back that
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Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump don't get to decide what Americans in this country get to say about
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their government. The senator has 30 days to submit a formal response with a final determination
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Convicted killer Brian Kohlberger's sister speaking out to the New York Times,
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sharing the family's perspective on the gruesome slayings carried out by Kohlberger in 2022.
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Last July, Kohlberger accepting a highly controversial plea deal, pleading guilty to
00:16:13.840
all charges against him, including four counts of first-degree murder.
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Kohlberger admitting to entering a rental home near the University of Idaho, brutally stabbing
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20-year-old Ethan Chapin, 20-year-old Zanna Kernodal, 21-year-old Madison Mogan,
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and 21-year-old Kaylee Gonsalves to death. Kohlberger accepting the deal, avoiding the
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death penalty. Mel Kohlberger, photographed by the Times wearing a goth-style shirt,
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sporting electric blue grown-out hair and heavy eye makeup, says she was about to begin a new job
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as a mental health therapist in 2022, but intense inquiries following her brother's arrest
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led to her agreeing to leave the post. She felt a sense of alarm, she says,
00:16:59.100
that her brother lived just 15 minutes from the scene of the grisly murders,
00:17:03.680
with the killer still on the loose. Mel recalls telling her brother, quote,
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Brian, you are running outside, and this psycho killer is on the loose,
00:17:12.680
unaware that the psycho killer was her brother Brian.
00:17:17.400
Brian apparently thanking her for her concern, assuring her he would be safe,
00:17:22.400
then returning home for Christmas break, where Mel says she only remembers him bringing up the
00:17:27.020
murders one time, mentioning that investigators were still searching for the killer. Mel describing
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her younger brother's struggles with his weight and persistent bullying as a teen, calling his
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personality standoffish, noting the family now believes it was related to autism. Those struggles,
00:17:45.020
followed by a heroin addiction, Brian at one point stealing his sister's phone to buy more drugs.
00:17:50.880
Mel telling the Times the family worried that Brian was on a path to an early death,
00:17:55.160
but felt he was on a better trajectory after addiction treatment and acceptance into a PhD
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program at Washington State University, where he studied criminology. Quote,
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we were all so proud of him because he had overcome so much. Mel telling the Times the family
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previously declined to give public statements out of respect for the victims and their families during
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the legal process, expressing concern for further traumatizing the families, though noting that
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Kohlberger's challenges cannot compare to what these families have endured. A book about the
00:18:26.940
murders recently appearing on Amazon published under the name Melissa J. Kohlberger, appearing to be
00:18:32.440
someone posing as Brian's sister to make money off of the story. Mel saying, quote, it's painful.
00:18:39.000
It's like being victimized, but not really being a victim. Brian's mother, she says,
00:18:44.040
prays daily for the affected families. Mel says she put each of the victims' birthdays in her calendar,
00:18:49.800
so she will be reminded of them. Mel telling the Times the family was raised with lessons rooted in
00:18:56.080
their mother's Catholic faith, that they grew up reading books like Little House on the Prairie.
00:19:01.140
She says she never saw her brother behave violently, which is one reason the family found
00:19:05.240
the ordeal so disorienting. She talks about a night shortly after the murders. She cut her finger
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in the kitchen, Brian expressing disgust at the sight of the blood, but ultimately overcoming his
00:19:17.240
revulsion to help her clean and bandage it. This was days after he viciously stabbed four college
00:19:23.520
students to death in their beds, causing so much bleeding, the exterior walls of the house were
00:19:29.500
dripping red. Brian Kohlberger is serving four life sentences at the Idaho Maximum Security
00:19:35.600
Institution. We'll have more on the sister's interview on The Megyn Kelly Show later today.
00:19:40.780
And that'll do it for your AM update. I'm Megan Kelly. Join me back here for The MK Show,
00:19:47.720
live on SiriusXM's The Megyn Kelly Channel, 111 at noon east, on youtube.com slash megankelly,
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