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Sec. Kristi Noem - TPR's In Focus - March 6, 2026 · In Focus with Carolyn Hutcheson

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  Support comes from the Wiregrass Archives at Troy University's Dothan Campus,
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  identifying and preserving historical documents and photographs for research related to the
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  Wiregrass region. More information at troy.edu slash wiregrass archives.
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  From Troy Public Radio, this is the news wrap from In Focus, and I'm Carolyn Hutcheson. Todd
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  Stacy, host of Alabama Public Television's Capital Journal, discusses the firing of
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  Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Alabama's role going forward.
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  Todd Stacy, welcome back to the news wrap from APT's Capital Journal.
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  Good to be with you.
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  What's in the news that caught your attention today?
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  Well, there's lots in the news, but it's a pretty big deal coming out of Washington with
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  an Alabama nexus, and that is that Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has been fired,
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  if you will, by President Donald Trump. He made the announcement on social media
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  that she is out as Homeland Security Secretary and that he's going to appoint
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  Oklahoma Senator Mark Wayne Mullen. Kristi Noem had been really embattled the last couple of
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  months with all the immigration enforcement controversy, the Minneapolis situation,
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  and she had a really unfavorable, I would say, hearing this week in the Senate as she got
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  grilled over things like that. It wasn't all that surprising that Trump decided to go a different
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  way. I say it has an Alabama nexus because Senator Katie Britt chairs the appropriations
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  subcommittee that oversees the Department of Homeland Security. She's really engaged in all
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  that, and they're right now in negotiations to try to reopen that department. So, she's had some
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  things to say about this. She's friends with Mark Wayne Mullen and says he's going to be a good
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  secretary. So, it's interesting how Alabama just always seems to be in the middle of things,
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  even with these big national stories. And Senator Mullen's background is
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  interesting. He's a member of the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma, also a former mixed martial arts
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  fighter. Right. He's got an interesting history. He's a self-made guy, built a small business up
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  from nothing and turned it into a multi-million dollar enterprise. He and Katie Britt are
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  good friends, and so that can be helpful to Alabama to have friends in high places like that.
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  Well, with all of this news, how about a wild card? Well, everybody's seen on social media
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  Punch the Monkey. His name's Punch, and he got kind of rejected by his family. It was really sad.
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  The zookeeper gave him a little teddy bear. They called it a plushie. And so, Punch is making
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  friends now, and maybe he's outgrown his little teddy bear. And so, his group of family is starting
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  to accept him. So, that's good. I just felt so sorry for this little monkey. I wanted Toby to
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  go be friends with him. Toby would be friends with Punch. Yeah, Punch was dragging around that
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  little orange orangutan plush toy. He could use a friend like your dog, Toby. Right. It's just
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  too cute. I guess everybody has to grow up. Well, Todd, get us up to date on Capitol Journal now that
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  we're a little over halfway through the legislative session. Absolutely. We're going to be covering
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  what happened this week on Capitol Journal. I'm going to be speaking with House Speaker Nathaniel
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  Ledbetter and Majority Leader Paul Lee. They had a pretty dramatic couple of weeks, some kind of
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  infighting in the Republican caucus. We're going to talk all about that. Plus, I'm going to be
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  talking with Madison County Commission Chairman Rex Vaughn. So, a really good show, Capitol
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  Journal. We're at a different time this week because the high school basketball championships
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  are going on. And so, Capitol Journal will air at 9 o'clock Friday night rather than their normal
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  7 30. Noon on Sunday. And on YouTube. That's the easiest way to watch. Just go to YouTube.
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  Todd, thank you so much for joining us today for the news wrap from Capitol Journal APT. Thank you.
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  That was Todd Stacy, host of Alabama Public Television's Capitol Journal. More information
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  can be found at the website aptv.org. Thanks for joining us today for the news wrap from
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  In Focus, which is a podcast on NPR One or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Carolyn
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  Hutcheson, and this is listener supported Troy Public Radio.