 Come back to Talk Story with John Wahe'e. I have to tell you, we have another historic episode for you today. We get a chance to talk to Hawaii's newest congressman about what it was like to be a new congressman representing Hawaii, going up there with feelings of aloha, I would say, and walking into the situation that he was a part of being involved in, which was the insurrection at the Capitol. And we want to talk a little bit about that, talk a little bit about some of the aftermath of that, and where we all going to go, where Hawaii is going to find itself, maybe, in the future. And so, welcome, help me welcome, congressman, I feel so good about saying this, because here we are, you know, we've known each other for a number of years, his dad was my very good friend, and today I get to call congressman Kai Kaheli, and he represents my island, aloha Kai. Thank you so much for taking time, for being with us today, and you know, I want to start off, you had moved up to Washington sometime in the beginning of January, before any of this happened, right? I mean, it's not, you just got there, right? Just got there, we left right after Christmas, we spent new years in Washington DC, my wife Maria, and my daughters, we all flew up together, and you know, we were getting ready for, you know, the January 3rd, Sunday January 3rd, you know, historic day for myself, and for Hawaii's second congressional district. That's when you got sworn in, you get sworn in on. That was the day I got sworn in, as Hawaii's newest member of congress. Who saw you, who saw you in, by the way? You know, unfortunately, it was because of COVID, and so, you know, they did it in groups, ultimately the speaker of the house, Nancy Pelosi, swore in my freshman class as a group. I brought a little bit of history, and Hawaii with me, I had carried, and was sworn in with the Hemolele Baibala, or the Hawaiian Bible, that he was his personal Bible. I went to the home of, you know, Senator Cocker, and got Auntie Millie, asked permission to take it back to Washington DC, and I used it to swear in as Hawaii's, you know, newest member of congress. Fantastic. It was a special day. It was, that sounds so special. I mean, everything's so heartwarming, and then you walk three days later. Where were you? And what were you doing when all those events happened at the capitol? If it wasn't for COVID, the entire House and Senate would have been gathered in their respective chambers during the certification of the Electoral College, but because of COVID and the limitations on gathering, even right now, we are brought into the House chamber to vote in groups of no more than about 70 members. So most of us were in our offices. I was not in the capitol. I'm residing about two blocks away, and so I was just preparing to come in and leave when the insurrection happened, and the capitol was taken over. And at that point, you know, the entire capitol complex was in disarray. There was a lot of confusion happening. It was- So you were on the outside. You actually- I was on the outside. So you're going through the capitol, and you see all of these guys just attacking the place. And I had, you know, I've been in the military for 20 years, so I've been taught to blend in with your surroundings. And so I had over my suit that I was wearing, I had sweatpants, I had a hoodie on, you know, I had my athletic shoes over my suit that I would be wearing in the capitol. And so I had tried to dress and blend in because I would be walking to the capitol and didn't want to be recognized as a member of Congress. You know, we had our congressional pins hidden, and that was what I was doing to get to the capitol complex safely, and then of course, you know, the capitol was stormed and was under attack. And so I stayed home. Yeah. So you were- That's what I was going to ask you that, and you're a militarily trained person. I mean, so when you see all of this happening, what kind of things were going through your mind? I mean, this is, you know, you're trained to defend. You have actually spent time fighting the enemies of this country. I mean, you've been in Iraq and so forth. What's this like? First thing that came to my mind because of where I was at that moment in time was making sure my family was safe, making sure my kids were safe. That was the first and foremost thing on my mind. If they weren't with me and they were back in Hawaii, it would probably be a different story. But I made sure they were safe. We closed all the windows. We made sure the house was secure where we were staying at. And we were not going to go outdoors. Next thing on my mind was my staff. And I had my chief of staff who was in the office. We had prepared. We could have never prepared for this, but we knew that there would be many people coming to Washington that day. So we purposely let all of our staff stay home, made sure nobody came in to the capital DC area that day, except my chief of staff who came in and she was in the office. And so I made sure that she was safe, that everything was locked, that the windows were closed and she would not go outside until the all clear was lifted, which lasted for several hours. She was locked and barricaded in our congressional office for about four hours before I was able to make it there once the all clear was given. And that happened about eight o'clock in the evening that night. You know, when the word went out that we would reconvene the Congress and that we would restart the certification of the electoral process. I knew that that I was going to head in and and I did. I returned to the capital, the U.S. Capitol about eight thirty that evening, and I stayed until about four o'clock in the morning until the final certification and that Galva went down. And you said earlier that you're you're you're where your home is located. It's just a few blocks of capital. So in other words, most of the you must have been I mean, it must be must have been pretty close to where all of these insurrectionists were. You could hear everything happening. And and, you know, the night prior, Governor, I drove around a capital complex about eleven o'clock at night just to see if, you know, that the complex was ready and secure for what was going to happen the next day. I would never could never imagine that what happened happened. But, you know, it looked to me that that the capital complex was unprepared for the type of gathering and the thousands that would gather and come that day. And as the morning unfolded that morning, you could see people just coming from everywhere. You know, they were parking and walking a mile and a half to the ellipse where President, former President Trump impeached former President Trump twice now, had gathered to speak to the crowd of thousands and then directed all of that energy to the United States capitol. So I, I, you know, we're so glad that your family was safe. You know, I mean, as a I mean, they were right in the line of fire. I think the unfortunate, the real sad thing was we had spent a few days prior leading up to the swearing in and the swearing in day. And it was such a special, you know, joyous moment for our family to be in the capital. One of the few, you know, members of the public that could come because of the historic nature of swearing in the new Congress. And to go from that and the special moments we had as a family there and then to see on TV, the violence and the desecration of, you know, the capital really hurt. And we cried as a family as that event was unfolding because we just couldn't believe what we were seeing in a place that we had just been, you know, the day prior and someplace that's so sacred to our country. You know, a former and the late Mayor Billy Kenoy referred to the United States Capitol as as the hell, you know, of a sacred hell of democracy, you know, and and, you know, for those of us that have had the privilege to to walk through the halls of the United States Capitol, you know, how beautiful it is, how historic it is. And, you know, that was a dark day in our country's history and will be for for generations to come. You know, and so as a result of that, obviously, the former president was impeached for the second time. Right. And, you know, I know for those of us in Hawaii, we had a chance to watch some of the proceedings. And I must say, at least for myself, that the managers from the House of Representatives were fantastic in the actual trial. But before there was that actual trial, there had to be an impeachment vote in the in your House as well, in the House of Representatives. Tell us a little bit about it, what it was like as a new congressman dealing with the first thing you're dealing with is impeaching a former president of, well, he was still present at that moment. You know, by the next day, the articles of impeachment were already drafted by several colleagues of mine. And as soon as I found out that they were drafted and they were going to be introduced, I called Congressman David Cicilini and I said, you know, please add my name on as an original co-sponsor to the articles of impeachment, which was a single article of insurrection against the president. And you know, there wasn't, I didn't hesitate. I wanted to, we needed to send a strong message as the representative body of the people in the House and that unfolded fairly quickly. And the president, through a bipartisan effort, was impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives, about 10 of my colleagues in the Republican caucus crossed the aisle and voted for impeachment and then we sent those articles to the Senate. You know, it's amazing. And I think that your children someday are going to be pointing at your grandchildren saying, hey, that's, you know, grandpa's signature. And that's something, you know, I think you got to be proud of. So now we have the trial in the Senate. And I'm assuming that what was being presented to before the Senate was being closely followed by the rest of the members of the House of Representatives. So continue. I mean, this is really interesting to those of us that, you know, like watching it on TV, what it was like following it in person. Our House impeachment managers did a fantastic job. They presented the case to the Senate, a very compelling case. You know, the message was that whether you were a current president or a former president, that committing insurrection against the United States of America is an impeachable offense and that the president violated his most sacred oath, and that is to protect the American people and our United States capital, and that he should be held accountable for that, that nobody is against the law, even the, or, you know, nobody is above the... I mean, I'm having, you know, I'm really having some emotion coming up because I'm watching you, Congressman. And I can't help but think that a person like yourself who is trained as a military, as a colonel in the Hawaii National Guard, I mean, your feelings to what somebody tried to overthrow an election of the United States must have been, I guess, you must have had some really deep feelings about all of that. I'm having that right now. Well, you know, I think our producers are asking us to go to break, so I'll let you do that, Governor, and then we can come back and I can explain that to you. So why don't you transition us? Oh, I see what you did to me, Carl. You got me so involved with all of this, but we do have to take a short break. We'll be back in a minute, and at that time, we'll find out from the Congressman what he feels the aftermath of all of this is, but and just as importantly, what he is doing to represent all of us in the Congress. So hang tight, folks, and we'll be right back. Welcome back to another historic episode of Think Tech Hawaii where we're discussing the recent events that occurred in Washington with Congressman Kai Kahele, and the name of the episode being, of course, the insurrection, the impeachment, and the aftermath. So here we are, Congressman, and they were, as you pointed out during the break, 43 senators that actually voted against the impeachment. And, you know, they're doing this, a lot of them on the grounds that somehow they're challenging the constitutionality. In other words, they're trying to, well, back in the day, we would have called this trying to have your cake and eat it, too, or something like that. They, you know, the Senate GOP, they had the opportunity to do the right thing, and they chose not to. You know, they turned their backs on the American people. They refused to defend democracy. Like I said, I think our House impeachment managers did an excellent job, and I'm grateful for their service to our country, but, you know, not convicting the president will be a dark day in the history of our nation. So what do you think about Mitch McConnell's speech when he comes out and he says afterwards that this guy is a bad, I mean, they admit to everything. And then say, but I, you know, that's not what this is about. You know, the former majority leader had the opportunity to stand with the American people, and he decided that his loyalty was going to be to Donald Trump, that his loyalty to Trump was more important than the evidence presented by the House managers and the Constitution. And there's no way that he could vote that way and then try and walk back and condemn the president. And he's doing it because he feels that that's what they need to do to regain the U.S. Senate and to regain the House. And I think it's absolutely despicable. And it's really sad that they would do that. Now, what do you think will be some of the lasting effects of that whole episode, the impeachment and insurrection? I mean, well, I think it's important to also note that this was a bipartisan impeachment, that 10 Republicans on the House side crossed over, that you had seven Republicans on the Senate side crossed over, that the evidence was overwhelming. It was irrefutable. And that President Trump make no mistake is guilty of insurrection against the United States Capitol. And that he's somebody who I don't think should ever hold elected office again. And his insurrection and sedition to the American people is disgraceful. So what are some of the fallout? I mean, as a result of this, of the people crossing over, by the way, and I think people ought to realize that in the history of the United States, this has been the most bipartisan results for any impeachment at any time. So, you know, it's amazing that it was so bad. I mean, in a way, I remember historically Richard Nixon and the difference between what happened to Nixon and what happened in this instance is that the leading Republicans in the Senate actually went to the president then, which is Nixon, and told him, you know, don't embarrass us, resign, or we are going to impeach you. And I was, you know, hoping that just a little bit of that might have rubbed off, that they might have been somebody who would have gone to Trump and say, you know, even before the impeachment, before he left on, even if he resigned the day before. And, you know, his refusal to even intervene while the attack was happening, while members of Congress lives were in danger, while his own vice president's life was in danger is incomprehensible. And that is why the evidence provided by the House managers, the groundwork that they had laid, the inciting of the imminent and violent attack that he directed towards the Capitol and members of Congress is exactly why he should have been convicted by the United States Senate. But, you know, Governor, at this point, we need to move on. We need to address COVID-19. We need to get behind President Biden's COVID relief package of $1.9 trillion that I will be voting on next week in the House. We'll send that to the Senate. We need to get as much vaccines out to our communities so we can get, you know, our families and our kupuna vaccinated as quick as possible. And then we need to look at how we can build back better and pass a big infrastructure package so we can inject money into our economy and start, you know, putting people back to work. And you're absolutely right. You're absolutely right. So why don't you tell us, let's get to something, you know, like hopeful, you know, get past this thing. And I'm glad you brought that all up because, so tell us a little bit about what your assignments are, what you're doing in the Congress and the like. So I've got two committees for Hawaii. I've been nominated and I'm on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. I sit on the Aviation Subcommittee and the Highways and Transit Committee. And I'm also on the House Armed Services Committee where I sit on the Aviation Subcommittee and the Tactical Airland Committee. And so two really important committees for Hawaii. Of course, you know, because we have a United Congress and a Democratic White House, I think it's all but inevitable. We will have a stimulus infrastructure package that I'll help to be able to craft and make sure that Hawaii's priorities are in that package. Everything from investing in our highways, our bridges, our schools, our airports, the critical infrastructure that we need, investing in the infrastructure to expand rural broadband and high-speed internet access to our rural communities. Looking at major projects on our national defense and things that we can do is I'm really excited about and working together. And it's things that you actually have a pretty good background in. I mean, these are areas that you've actually worked on in some fashion or not. You know, one thing COVID has taught us, I think, as a state is that broadband is not really a lot. It should be a right. I mean, one of the things you can't have kids, what COVID has shown is that you can't have some kids with access to the computers and others that are not. You know, that we've got to reach out to. And it's not just a matter of economic. Equity. It's equity. It's justice. Well, every kid on the big island ought to be able to access everything that somebody living in one of the kakaako high-rises can get to. Don't you think so? I mean, that's... Absolutely. And not only do they need that connectivity, but they also need the equipment, whether it's an iPad or a laptop or the opportunity to have a device so that they can get online and that they can learn online and, you know, very, very important. And so that's what I'm going to work on. I've been asked by the majority wit, Jim Clyburn, the number three most powerful person in the house to serve on his rural broadband task force. And so that's also something that I'm on as well. Fantastic. You know, Governor Igay has tasked Ed Stiffen, who is the deputy director at transportation. Highways. Yep. And highways. And apparently this fits right into your... I can't help but notice that it fits right into your assignment because apparently there's some highway funds that are available to bring greater access to underserved community. So, you know, I hope people realize that just you say highways doesn't mean that that doesn't somehow relate to broadband and to equity. You know, I'm really happy you're there. And I think Hawaii ought to be really proud of all of that. You got any last words for the people of Hawaii? Or, you know, your constituents? In addition to some of those priorities, I know that this would be for hopefully another episode. You know, I really want to do something big and great for our native Hawaiian community. You know, we have a unique opportunity with Senator Schatz who is chairing now the Indian Affairs Committee, which has purview over the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act and the Department of the Interior and the Office of Native Hawaiian Relations. And, you know, this July is the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act. And, you know, I really, really want to work on important issues for Native Hawaiians in terms of education, health care, and of course fixing some of the issues that we have at the Department of Hawaiian Homeland and getting people into homes is something that's really, really important to me. Well, Congressman, I really appreciate your commitment as a Native Hawaiian myself and as a homesteader. I appreciate your commitment to all of that. I have to tell you that the first thing my years heard, though, was the idea that there'll be another episode. So I want to thank you in advance. I want to thank you in advance and I can assure you that before July, there will be another episode. And the people of Hawaii will have a chance to hear from their newest Congressman, Kai Kahele. And so, Aloha and thank you so much for joining us, Congressman. Aloha, everybody.