Arizona Senator Mark Kelly on Trump-Zelenskyy meeting and immigration policies

(CBS, KYMA/KECY) - Senator Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) spoke with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation Sunday about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Donald Trump's Friday meeting in the Oval Office.

Brennan said that Senator Kelly's colleague, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham (R), " told reporters he had warned Zelenskyy, 'don't take the bait,'" prompting her to ask Kelly if Zelenskyy "took the bait," to which Kelly responded saying:

"He was cornered and he was bullied in the Oval Office. And that just makes us look weak. You know, I think Donald Trump was trying to look tough. J.D. Vance was trying to look tough. The only winner in that exchange is Putin, who's a criminal, who's killing, you know, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians. So, it was a sad day for our country. It was a dumpster fire of diplomacy. It should not have been done that kind of negotiation should not be done in public, in front of cameras. When we had our meeting earlier in the day with Zelenskyy. He, you know, he has this like habitual gratitude. He was very thankful, and the Chairman of the Armed Services Committee kicked the cameras out of the room before we started to talk. That's the way this should be handled, not what Donald Trump did."

Brennan brought up her earlier interview with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, where he said "you can't get an economic deal without a peace deal first," which Brennan asked Kelly what his understanding of what Zelenskyy's concerns were, and Kelly said:

"I mean, his concern is that he doesn't have a security guarantee, and he's being asked to give up minerals- that this is a business deal. Margaret, we're about to celebrate our 250th birthday as a country, and I didn't think we were just in it for the money. I mean, we are a country of values and principles. We stand with our allies. He needs security guarantees. Yeah, I understand this concept of economic deal and a ceasefire, but the economic deal comes after the ceasefire. None of that makes sense. They need to get in a room, including with the Russians. I mean, have the Russians given any indication that they want peace? Our Treasury Secretary questioned whether Zelenskyy wants peace. Of course he does. He has his population being murdered, raped...children are kidnapped. He wants out of this situation, but he is having a hard time, obviously, negotiating this in public, by the way. I mean, his English is not the best, so this is hard for him. To corner him in the Oval Office on that kind of stage was wrong and it makes us look weaker as a nation and it makes us less safe."

"Putin does not respect weakness," Kelly added.

During the interview, Brennan and Kelly talked about President Trump's immigration policies, where Brennan brought up a CBS News poll saying that "the number of migrants crossing the southern border illegally in President Trump's first full term and first full month in office plunged to a level we haven't seen in 25 years."

This prompted Brennan to ask Kelly if the numbers prove the president's theory is right, and Kelly said:

"I think the numbers being down...that's a good thing. What we need long term is a negotiation with the Republicans on long standing border policy. What the administration is doing, especially with ICE raids in schools, with flying repatriating people who often aren't only criminals in military airplanes for intimidation, talking about housing people on Guantanamo. That's for intimidation...it's good the numbers are down. That's a positive thing...We need a border security agreement. We need legislation. We also need immigration reform. Talk about my state for a second. We've got a lot of Dreamers. They deserve a pathway to citizenship. We need a plan for farm workers as well."

Brennan also brought up Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth sending "another 3,000 troops to the border, including an aviation battalion and Stryker vehicle," with her asking Kelly how he feels about this, and Kelly responded saying:

"I don't feel good about it. The way this should be handled is if we could work together within the United States Senate, Democrats and Republicans, get the Border Patrol more money, hire more Border Patrol agents, give them more resources to do the job they're supposed to do. When you do it with troops, that affects their readiness. This isn't what they're trained to do. Then they don't get to train to do- that Stryker battalion doesn't get to train to do the job that they need- may need to do one day. I don't want to see us in a conflict around the world anywhere. But what prevents that is for our allies to realize that they're not going to win in a fight and when they see us doing things like this, police actions with the military, that also is showing the rest of the world that our military is less capable and we are weaker. And that affects everybody's safety."

To watch more of Brennan's interview with Kelly, click here.