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DAGEN: THE HEARTBREAKING STORY
OF A MICHIGAN MOTHER, REBECCA
KIESSLING WHO LOST BOTH HER SONS
TO FENTANYL POISONINGS IN 2020.
SEAN: SHE GAVE GUT-WRENCHING
TESTIMONY BEFORE CONGRESS THIS
WEEK.
REBECCA KIESSLING JOINS US NOW.
REBECCA, THANK YOU FOR JOINING
US.
I WILL TELL YOU I WAS A FORMER
MEMBER OF CONGRESS AND I THOUGHT
YOUR TESTIMONY IN FRONT OF THE
HOUSE WAS SOME OF THE MOST
POWERFUL TESTIMONY THAT HAS BEEN
GIVEN IN THAT CHAMBER BUT WOULD
YOU DO US THE BENEFIT OF TELLING
US ABOUT YOUR SONS AND WHAT
HAPPENED TO THEM?
>> MY SONS, CALEB AND KYLER,
WERE 20 AND 18.
AS MY SON WROTE SHORTLY BEFORE
HE DIED, THAT HIS, HIS FAILURES
DON’T DEFINE HIM AND, HE WAS AN
EXTRAORDINARILY YOUNG MAN.
HE HAD BEEN VICE PRESIDENT OF
THE STUDENT COUNCIL.
HE WAS AN A STUDENT.
HE GRADUATED EARLY.
VERY, VERY INTELLIGENT.
WAS GOING INTO THE NAVY.
SCORED A 90 ON THE PCAT TEST.
MY SON KYLER WAS AN AMAZING
ATHLETE.
HE WAS ALWAYS A HELPER.
ALL THE TEACHERS SAID THEY HAD
THE BEST MANNERS AND ALWAYS SAID
PLEASE, THANK YOU, HELLO,
AMAZING BOYS.
HOWEVER, THEY GOT CAUGHT UP IN
EXPERIMENTING WITH DRUGS, SADLY
LIKE SO MANY YOUNG PEOPLE
DESPITE ALL OF THE WARNINGS AND,
THEY ENDED UP WITH FAKE
PERCOCETS THE NIGHT THEY WERE
CELEBRATING KYLER’S GRADUATION.
AND, THE FAKE PERCOCETS TURNED
OUT TO BE ALL FENTANYL.
AND IT KILLED MY SONS ALONG WITH
17-YEAR-OLD SOPHIA HARRIS.
>> REBECCA, YOUR TESTIMONY
CONNECTED WITH SO MANY
AMERICANS, PEOPLE WHO ARE
GRIEVING THEIR OWN LOSSES OF
LOVED ONES, FAMILY MEMBERS TO
FENTANYL POISONINGS.
TELL US REACTION TO THE
TESTIMONY YOU’VE EXPERIENCED,
THINGS YOU HAVE HEARD FROM
PEOPLE ACROSS THIS COUNTRY.
>> I’VE BEEN GETTING JUST ABOUT
NON-STOP EMAIL MESSAGES ON ALL
MY SOCIAL MEDIA FROM OTHER
PARENTS WHO LOST THEIR CHILDREN,
PRIMARILY FROM OTHER PARENTS WHO
HAVEN’T FELT THEY HAD A VOICE,
HAVEN’T FELT LIKE THEY HAD THE
STRENGTH TO SPEAK UP.
I MEAN I DON’T NECESSARILY FEEL
LIKE I DO EITHER.
I’M SUPER BROKEN BUT I WAS ASKED
TO DO IT BECAUSE MY BOYS STORY
WAS HIGH-PROFILE.
BECAUSE THREE YOUNG PEOPLE DIED
AND TWO BROTHERS AT THE SAME
TIME.
SO THEY’RE SORT OF CHEERING ME
ON.
AND THEN I ALSO HAVE RECEIVED A
BIT OF HATE MESSAGES, PEOPLE
SUGGESTING THAT I RAISED MY
CHILDREN TO DO DRUGS, AND
SOMEHOW I THINK DOING PERCOCETS
IS OKAY, TAKING ILLEGAL
PERCOCETS, OF COURSE NOT.
I HAD A MESSAGE A LITTLE BIT AGO
WHERE SOMEONE SAID I SHOULD BE
THE NEXT TO DIE. AND IF THAT WASN’T BAD ENOUGH,
AND IF THAT WASN’T BAD ENOUGH,
THEN PRESIDENT BIDEN, KNOCKED
THE FACT THAT IT WASN’T UNDER
HIS PRESIDENCY.
SEAN: YOU KNOW, REBECCA, I’M A
FATHER OF NINE KIDS AND, THE
STRENGTH THAT YOU HAVE TO TELL
YOUR BOYS STORY, I KNOW THEY’RE
LOOKING DOWN ON YOU.
SO PROUD OF YOU FOR HAVING THE
HEART AND BACKBONE TO TELL YOUR
STORY.
YOU JUST MENTIONED WHAT
JOE BIDEN SAID ABOUT YOU.
I WANT TO PLAY THAT CLIP RIGHT
NOW.
PRESIDENT BIDEN: SHE WAS VERY
SPECIFIC RECENTLY SAYING THAT A
MOM, A POOR MOTHER WHO LOST TWO
KIDS TO FENTANYL THAT THAT I
KILLED HER SONS OF THE
INTERESTING THING IS THAT
FENTANYL THEY TOOK CAME DURING
THE LAST ADMINISTRATION.
[LAUGHTER] ANYWAY, I DON’T WANT
TO GET STARTED.
SEAN: IT WAS HARD FROM THAT
CLIP, REBECCA, NOT HOW HEARTLESS
IT IS TO YOU AND OTHER PARENTS,
FAMILIES OF VICTIMS AFTER DRUG
OVERDOSE, ESPECIALLY FENTANYL,
BUT THE FACT THAT JOE BIDEN
ACTUALLY LOST HIS OWN SON TO
CANCER, BEAU, HIS OTHER SON HAS
A DRUG ADDICTION PROBLEM.
INCENTIVE TO A GRIEVING MOTHER
FROM THE HEART TELLING HER
STORY.
WHAT MESSAGE DO YOU HAVE FOR
JOE BIDEN AFTER HEARING HESS --
HIS COMMENT?
>> WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU,
WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?
SOMEONE ASKED DID HE MISSPEAK?
YOU’RE THE PRESIDENT OF THE
NIGHT.
YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE TO THINK
ABOUT IT, LIKE THIS IS THE
OUTFLOW OF HIS HEART.
THIS IS WHO HE IS AND I THINK IT
EXPLAINS A LOT WHY HE CHANGED
HIS WHOLE BORDER POLICY.
I DON’T THINK HE CARES, I REALLY
DON’T.
I DON’T THINK HE CARES THAT OVER
110,000 PEOPLE HAVE DIED IN THE
FIRSTER.
>> OF HIS PRESIDENCY.
THERE WAS AN INCREASE OF 22%.
TENS OF THOUSANDS OF MORE PEOPLE
DIED WHEN HE CHANGED THE BORDER
POLICY AND, I DON’T THINK HE
CARES.
I REALLY DON’T.
>> REBECCA HAVE YOU HEARD FROM
ANYONE IN THE WHITE HOUSE TODAY?
>>> NO, NOT AT ALL.
SOMEBODY JUST TOLD ME THERE WAS
A PRESS CONFERENCE AND AT THE
WHITE HOUSE AND THEY WERE ASKED
ABOUT WHETHER HE WAS GOING TO
APOLOGIZE, AND THEY JUST SAID
OH, YOU KNOW, IT WASN’T INTENDED
FOR ME.
HE WAS TALKING ABOUT YOU KNOW,
CONGRESSWOMAN MARJORIE TAYLOR
GREEN.
THAT PEOPLE ARE JUST TWISTING
HIS WORDS.
NO.
YOU DON’T GET AWAY WITH THAT.
SO MANY OTHER PARENTS ARE
FURIOUS.
THEIR KIDS DID DIE UNDER HIS
WATCH.
SEAN: REBECCA, I JUST, I KNOW A
LOT OF FAMILIES A LOT OF AMERICANS HAVEN’T HAD A SON OR A
AMERICANS HAVEN’T HAD A SON OR A
DAUGHTER OR EVEN SOMEONE IN
NEIGHBORHOOD DIED OF THIS OF A
DRUG OVERDOSE.
>> IT WAS NOT A DRUG OVERDOSE.
SEAN: THAT’S TRUE, YOU’RE GIVING
A FACE TO THIS CRISIS, SPEAKING
OUT WITH PASSION AND HEART,
KNOWS SOMEONE WHO LOST A LOVED
ONE FROM A POISONING.
DAGEN: I CAN SPEAK FOR SEAN TOO,
REBECCA, WE BOTH, I KNOW WENT
HOME AND PRAYED FOR YOU LAST
NIGHT AND WE PRAY FOR EVERY
FAMILY WHO HAS LOST A LOVED ONE,
TO FENTANYL POISONINGS.
WE PRAY FOR ALL OF THOSE
GRIEVING, ALL OF THOSE MISSING
SOMEONE BECAUSE A LIFE WAS TAKEN
BECAUSE OF FENTANYL POISONING.
WE PRAY --
>> MOMS AND SUPPORT GROUP WHO
COMMITTED SUICIDE.
IT IS REALLY HARD TO SURVIVE
THIS.
DAGEN: WE PRAY FOR STRENGTH FOR
YOU.
WE PRAY FOR THAT YOU CAN PICK UP
YOUR FEET EVERY DAY AND TAKE A
STEP FORWARD AND KEEP DOING WHAT
YOU’RE DOING.
BECAUSE YOUR VOICE IS SO
IMPORTANT TO TRYING TO FIX THIS
PROBLEM, TO MAKE SURE THAT MORE
LIVES AREN’T LOST.
SEAN: REBECCA KIESSLING, GOD