Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
We are staying on top of that breaking news out
of Minnesota, but we know a manhunt is underway right
now after two Minnesota state lawmakers were shot and what's
being called a targeted incident. Minnesota officials say State Representative
Melissa Hortman and her husband were shot and killed in
their home in the suburbs of Minneapolis. State Senator John
Hoffman and his wife also shot in their home not
too far away. Both have undergone surgery and aren't expected
(00:23):
to be okay, but officials say the suspect was impersonating
a police officer and now believed to be on the run.
He was last seen in Brooklyn Park, where there's now
a shelter in place.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Order.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Minnesota Governor Tim Walls is now recommending that people not
attend any political rallies in this state today until that
suspect is caught. One event in Minneapolis we know has
already been canceled as thousands gather around the country for
those anti Trump no Kenes protest. I'm joined now by
someone who served alongside Melissa Hortman for more than two decades,
(00:55):
former Minnesota State Representative Patrick Garoffalo. Thank you so much
for being here. First off our condolences on the loss
of your friend. I can't imagine this is a difficult day,
not just for you, but also the state of Minnesota
and the country. Patrick, what went through your mind this
morning when you heard about these shootings.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Well, thanks for having me on Morgan to talk about
my friend Melissa Hartman. You know, first thing I should
say is that in this time of hyperpartisanship, you know,
Melissa was a Democrat. I'm a Republican. That really has
nothing to do with anything that happened. Melissa Hartman is
just a really good person who worked really hard. Certainly
(01:34):
had disagreements on issues, but she's the kind of person
that cared very deeply about people and understood her duty
as a legislator to see compromise and work with the
other side of the aisle. This is a an act
of pure evil. It's you know, all violence is bad,
but political violence is an exceptionally concentrated form of evil.
(01:55):
And it's someone that is going to be It's a
big loss for the state of mind Minnesota, and she's
going to be She's going to be missed.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
No, Patrick, you mentioned that hyper partisanship. You were a
good friend of Melissa Hortman, despite being a member of
a different party. Tell us what it was like to
work alongside her. I imagine that you guys didn't agree
on everything, but you developed a friendship as well. How
did that blossom over the past few years.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Well, you know, we got elected together back in two
thousand and four, and as you can expect, most stories
with friends don't are not suitable for a national TV audience,
the most funny ones. But I'll tell you that she's
a genuinely compassionate and caring person. The story I've been
sharing with people today is that back in twenty twenty two,
(02:45):
it was a very successful political night for Melissa Hortman.
She had gotten reelected as Speaker of the House. The
Democratic Party in Minnesota had gained full control of Minnesota government.
It was a big win for her and for her party.
She had led it, and as a Republican I was devastated.
I'm not going to lie. It was a very tough night.
And in the moment of her victory and success, my
(03:10):
friend Melissa Hartman took the time to call me to
see how her friend Patrick was doing. And that's the
kind of person that she was, just a stand up
tell you to your face what she thought. Sometimes you
agree with her, sometimes you disagree with her. But a
fundamentally good person and a real a real big loss.
(03:33):
Not for Democrats, not for those in politics, but the
state of Minnesota today. We've we've lost our political innocence
in our state and this is this is a devastating
loss for our state.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
And Patrick, I want to shift to the investigation because
we know that the suspect, according to police, had a
list of other Democratic politicians. You know, is there something
to be said here about lowering the temperature?
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Yeah, so you know, I lose track, Morgan, of what's
public and what's not. So if I appear cautious, please
understand that I'm not concealing anything. I just don't don't
want to spread this information, but I do want to
give a huge round of thanks to law enforcement. The
facts of this case are that they the shooter had
stopped by State Senator John Hoffman's house, shot and wounded
(04:21):
he as well as his wife. They are in surgery,
they have come out of surgery, and they're cautiously optimistic
they're going to recover. A smart thinking police officer at
the scene thought, hey, we should go check out Melissa
Hartman and see and they drove over to Melissa's house,
Melissa and Mark's house, and that's where they saw the
(04:43):
fake squad car and the driveway. And after this person
had murdered Mark and Melissa encountered them coming out of
the building, out of their house and engaged in a
gunfight with them. Now, the gunman ran out the back
of the house and as far as I know, is
still on loose. But the quick thinking act of law
enforcement going from the Hoffman crime scene to the Hertman
(05:04):
crime scene have saved lives. There was a hit list
in the car law enforcement has shared with us. This
is a person who is going to be on a
rampage going across Minnesota, and the quick thinking actions of
law enforcement have saved lives. So to answer your quick question, yeah,
there's going to be a lot of time to talk
about this, but all of us need to understand that
(05:26):
this venom, hate filled sewer stream of politics that has
become the normal, like it needs to stop. And this
is the consequence of the negativity and venom. But today,
you know, I'm thinking about my friend Melissa Hartman and
are loss of a really good leader and a really
good person.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Former Minnesota state Representative Patrick Garofolo, Thank you, and I'm
thinking about you and everyone there in Minnesota.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Thanks Marian,
We are staying on top of that breaking news out
of Minnesota, but we know a manhunt is underway right
now after two Minnesota state lawmakers were shot and what's
being called a targeted incident. Minnesota officials say State Representative
Melissa Hortman and her husband were shot and killed in
their home in the suburbs of Minneapolis. State Senator John
Hoffman and his wife also shot in their home not
too far away. Both have undergone surgery and aren't expected
(00:23):
to be okay, but officials say the suspect was impersonating
a police officer and now believed to be on the run.
He was last seen in Brooklyn Park, where there's now
a shelter in place.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Order.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Minnesota Governor Tim Walls is now recommending that people not
attend any political rallies in this state today until that
suspect is caught. One event in Minneapolis we know has
already been canceled as thousands gather around the country for
those anti Trump no Kenes protest. I'm joined now by
someone who served alongside Melissa Hortman for more than two decades,
(00:55):
former Minnesota State Representative Patrick Garoffalo. Thank you so much
for being here. First off our condolences on the loss
of your friend. I can't imagine this is a difficult day,
not just for you, but also the state of Minnesota
and the country. Patrick, what went through your mind this
morning when you heard about these shootings.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Well, thanks for having me on Morgan to talk about
my friend Melissa Hartman. You know, first thing I should
say is that in this time of hyperpartisanship, you know,
Melissa was a Democrat. I'm a Republican. That really has
nothing to do with anything that happened. Melissa Hartman is
just a really good person who worked really hard. Certainly
(01:34):
had disagreements on issues, but she's the kind of person
that cared very deeply about people and understood her duty
as a legislator to see compromise and work with the
other side of the aisle. This is a an act
of pure evil. It's you know, all violence is bad,
but political violence is an exceptionally concentrated form of evil.
(01:55):
And it's someone that is going to be It's a
big loss for the state of mind Minnesota, and she's
going to be She's going to be missed.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
No, Patrick, you mentioned that hyper partisanship. You were a
good friend of Melissa Hortman, despite being a member of
a different party. Tell us what it was like to
work alongside her. I imagine that you guys didn't agree
on everything, but you developed a friendship as well. How
did that blossom over the past few years.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Well, you know, we got elected together back in two
thousand and four, and as you can expect, most stories
with friends don't are not suitable for a national TV audience,
the most funny ones. But I'll tell you that she's
a genuinely compassionate and caring person. The story I've been
sharing with people today is that back in twenty twenty two,
(02:45):
it was a very successful political night for Melissa Hortman.
She had gotten reelected as Speaker of the House. The
Democratic Party in Minnesota had gained full control of Minnesota government.
It was a big win for her and for her party.
She had led it, and as a Republican I was devastated.
I'm not going to lie. It was a very tough night.
And in the moment of her victory and success, my
(03:10):
friend Melissa Hartman took the time to call me to
see how her friend Patrick was doing. And that's the
kind of person that she was, just a stand up
tell you to your face what she thought. Sometimes you
agree with her, sometimes you disagree with her. But a
fundamentally good person and a real a real big loss.
(03:33):
Not for Democrats, not for those in politics, but the
state of Minnesota today. We've we've lost our political innocence
in our state and this is this is a devastating
loss for our state.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
And Patrick, I want to shift to the investigation because
we know that the suspect, according to police, had a
list of other Democratic politicians. You know, is there something
to be said here about lowering the temperature?
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Yeah, so you know, I lose track, Morgan, of what's
public and what's not. So if I appear cautious, please
understand that I'm not concealing anything. I just don't don't
want to spread this information, but I do want to
give a huge round of thanks to law enforcement. The
facts of this case are that they the shooter had
stopped by State Senator John Hoffman's house, shot and wounded
(04:21):
he as well as his wife. They are in surgery,
they have come out of surgery, and they're cautiously optimistic
they're going to recover. A smart thinking police officer at
the scene thought, hey, we should go check out Melissa
Hartman and see and they drove over to Melissa's house,
Melissa and Mark's house, and that's where they saw the
(04:43):
fake squad car and the driveway. And after this person
had murdered Mark and Melissa encountered them coming out of
the building, out of their house and engaged in a
gunfight with them. Now, the gunman ran out the back
of the house and as far as I know, is
still on loose. But the quick thinking act of law
enforcement going from the Hoffman crime scene to the Hertman
(05:04):
crime scene have saved lives. There was a hit list
in the car law enforcement has shared with us. This
is a person who is going to be on a
rampage going across Minnesota, and the quick thinking actions of
law enforcement have saved lives. So to answer your quick question, yeah,
there's going to be a lot of time to talk
about this, but all of us need to understand that
(05:26):
this venom, hate filled sewer stream of politics that has
become the normal, like it needs to stop. And this
is the consequence of the negativity and venom. But today,
you know, I'm thinking about my friend Melissa Hartman and
are loss of a really good leader and a really
good person.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Former Minnesota state Representative Patrick Garofolo, Thank you, and I'm
thinking about you and everyone there in Minnesota.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Thanks Marian,
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