What Happened to Mitch McConnell?
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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It's Wednesday, July 8th. He's one of the most recognizable men in Washington. So where is he? You start here. Questions grow about the health of Senator Mitch McConnell.
We still have not seen Senator McConnell or heard his voice.
A hospital stay has been confirmed, but not much else will walk you through an increasingly worrisome absence. Meanwhile, the tide has turned against a Senate hopeful. We're taking the time to reflect on the best path forward. Graham Platner has lost the support of influential Democrats, and that was before the latest allegation overnight. And Charlie Kirk's family is in court reliving the worst day of their lives. When those videos are shown, the ones that are graphic, we see the Kirk family getting up and walking out. The pretrial hearing outlining the case against an alleged assassin. From ABC News, this is Start Here. I'm Brad Milkey. Mitch McConnell is no longer the Senate majority leader, but he is still a Republican U.S.
senator, an influential one.
I think what's not in dispute is that NATO is the most important military alliance in world history.
Just in the last few years, though, at various points, there have been concerns about his health. In 2023, he suffered a bad fall. He went to the hospital for a concussion and rib fracture. Within months, he fell again coming off a plane. He's a polio survivor, so these aren't the most unforeseeable things in the world. But then just days later, he alarmed onlookers when he was speaking at the Senate and just froze in the middle of a sentence.
What new questions have emerged about Mitch McConnell’s whereabouts and why does it matter?
It's been good bipartisan cooperation and a string of...
He was silent for more than 20 seconds. Eventually, some colleagues gently led him back to an office. Well, recently, in what is expected to be the final year of his term, Mitch McConnell went to the hospital. Some voters feared the worst. Reporters waited for updates. He wants to be back, but I'll... defer to his staff on when. That was three weeks ago. The public has not seen him since. And the questions in Kentucky and around the country are only growing louder. Let's start today with ABC's Ali Pakorn, who covers the Senate for us. Ali, first off, can you just explain what we know about Senator McConnell at this point? When was he hospitalized? How did that happen?
Well, right. So let's take it back to last month to get things started. So in mid-June, on June 14th, Senator McConnell is hospitalized and a spokesperson for his office confirms that he has been hospitalized, although very little information is provided about what has happened to him and whether he's all right. We just know that he is in the hospital. Now in the weeks that followed that initial hospitalization, ABC News was able to review some EMS phone calls regarding that day. What we ultimately learned is that emergency medical personnel were dispatched to McConnell's Washington home. to attend to an unconscious person who appeared to be in cardiac arrest. Now, those EMS recordings do not directly mention Mitch McConnell, but you do hear sort of this play-by-play suggesting that they're responding to someone in cardiac distress at his address.
For instance, at 8.36 a.m., you hear a dispatcher directing ALS response ambulances to McConnell's residence for a, quote, unconscious person. Medical office, medical agency, medical service, ALS response, unconscious person. And then at 8.42, an EMS responder identified as that medic that is responding responds, saying to inform the supervisor of CPR in progress. Medic, great communications. Can you inform your supervisor of CPR in progress? Okay. Then at 8.43, the dispatcher says, EMS to respond for cardiac arrest. EMS to respond for cardiac arrest and once again repeats McConnell's address.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–2:09
2
What new questions have emerged about Mitch McConnell’s whereabouts and why does it matter?
2:09–13:42
3
What do EMS recordings reveal about the June 14 hospitalization at McConnell’s residence?
13:42–23:43
4
How have McConnell’s colleagues and staff described his condition and communications since hospitalization?
23:43–28:42