# Preview: Gabby Giffords on Before & After with Lester Holt - **Show:** Dateline NBC - **Published:** 19 Oct 2026 - **Source:** https://www.nbcnews.com/dateline - **Transcript:** https://podcasts.opennash.com/shows/dateline-nbc/preview-gabby-giffords-on-before-after-with-lester-holt-510dfb/ - **Provider:** OpenNash Podcasts (machine-generated) ## In brief This is a preview of Lester Holt's podcast Before & After, featuring former congresswoman Gabby Giffords. She was shot in the head in 2011 and lives with aphasia, a condition that makes it hard to get words out. Her story is told as one of recovery and of continued public work through her gun safety organization, Giffords. The tension is between what Giffords can say and what she wants to say. Her answers are short and often funny, while her colleague Emma Brown fills in the harrowing details. The brief conversation shows a person who has lost easy speech, kept her humor, and kept up a demanding routine of therapy and travel. ## Key insights 1. **Aphasia blocks speech, not Giffords' thoughts** Giffords says 'the words are there in my brain' but she can't get them out. This shows the condition affects expression rather than intelligence or desire to communicate. 2. **Her first words after waking were 'what' and 'chicken'** Emma Brown says that after weeks in a coma these were the only two words Giffords could say. Giffords rebuilt her vocabulary from there, and no one knows why those words survived. 3. **Family shielded her from news coverage at first** Brown says the newspapers were hidden from Giffords because the news was too much to take in. When she understood her injuries, she asked her husband what was happening to her. 4. **Giffords keeps a packed daily routine** She lists yoga, French horn, Spanish lessons, biking, gym work, pool therapy and heavy travel. She says she loves it and calls recovery 'a lot of homework'. 5. **The shooting shaped later gun-violence advocacy** Holt links Giffords to survivors of later shootings in Las Vegas and El Paso. Her organization, Giffords, is part of her response, and Emma Brown is its executive director. ## Questions this episode answers ### Who is Gabby Giffords and what happened to her? She is a former Arizona congresswoman married to Senator Mark Kelly. In 2011 she was shot in the head while meeting constituents outside a Tucson grocery store, as Lester Holt says in this episode. ### What is aphasia? It is a condition that can make speaking difficult. Giffords describes it as having the words in her brain but being unable to get them out. ### What were the first words Giffords said after the shooting? Emma Brown says that when Giffords woke from a coma, the only words she could say were 'what' and 'chicken'. Giffords then rebuilt her vocabulary from those. ### Who is Emma Brown? She is the executive director of Giffords, the gun safety organization, and she works with Gabby Giffords. In this episode she explains parts of the story Giffords has trouble telling. ### What is this episode, and where can I hear the full interview? It is a Dateline preview of the final episode of Lester Holt's podcast Before & After. The full conversation is available by searching for Before & After with Lester Holt. ## Facts - **Kate Snow** [0:00:58]: "Back in 2011, Gabby was shot in the head while meeting with constituents outside a Tucson grocery store." - **Kate Snow** [0:01:09]: "She suffered a devastating brain injury that left her with partial paralysis and aphasia, a condition that sometimes makes it difficult to speak." - **Kate Snow** [0:00:58]: "Gabby Giffords, the former Arizona congresswoman married to Senator Mark Kelly." - **Kate Snow** [0:01:09]: "Gabby still has a lot to say about her recovery, her gun safety organization, Giffords, and her hope for the future." - **Kate Snow** [0:00:58]: "Hi, I'm Lester Holt with a special preview of my new podcast, Before and After." - **Lester Holt** [0:02:31]: "I want to bring in Emma Brown. Hi, Emma. Hi. Um, you work with Gabby." - **Gabby Giffords** [0:02:47]: "Aphasia really sucks. The words are there in my brain. I just can't get them out." - **Gabby Giffords** [0:02:09]: "Yoga twice a week, French horn, Spanish lessons, biking, 240 for the gym, pool therapy, and I'm traveling 60 on the road." - **Emma Brown** [0:03:05]: "When Gabby was shot, um, she was in a coma for a few weeks. And when she woke up, those were the only two words that she could say." - **Emma Brown** [0:03:15]: "And what? Yeah, the word what. No one knows why. No one knows why. But those those were the only words that she could say, and she rebuilt her vocabulary from there." - **Emma Brown** [0:02:56]: "I don't experience you as all that quiet in real life." - **Ad read** [0:03:29]: "Tonight from Tucson, the massacre that's left a nation stunned. Six people are dead, and a congresswoman fights for her life." - **Lester Holt** [0:03:24]: "Right after you were shot, I flew out to Arizona and I was anchoring the news from there." - **Lester Holt** [0:03:38]: "I'm sure you've been told this, that there was some erroneous reporting that you had died." - **Emma Brown** [0:03:57]: "Gabby will, um, and Senator Kelly will tell a story of, um, after she had woken up, they hid the newspapers from her because it was too much, you know, to take in." - **Lester Holt** [0:04:30]: "I was thinking as I came here, all the shootings that happened after yours. There was Las Vegas. There was El Paso." - **Kate Snow** [0:00:30]: "Hi, I'm Kate Snow, NBC News anchor and host of the NBC News podcast, The Drink." ## Transcript **[0:00:00] Craig Melford:** I'm Craig Melford. Cheers, cheers. I've always been a glass half full kind of guy. And now I'm talking to some people who look at the world that way too. Some really fascinating folks who share their defining moments, their triumphs, their challenges. Their stories are funny and quite candid. So I hope you'll join me each week. And who knows, you might just come away with your own glass half full. **[0:00:24] Ad read:** Search Glass Half Full with Craig Melford from today on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts. **[0:00:30] Kate Snow:** Hi, I'm Kate Snow, NBC News anchor and host of the NBC News podcast, The Drink. This month, I'm having a non-alcoholic Guinness with filmmaker, actor, and writer Ed Burns. You know him from movies like Saving Private Ryan and 27 Dresses, but you will not believe what it took to get his first movie made, including tracking down legendary actor director Robert Redford. Ed and I talk about how he built his career on his own terms and the staying power of independent filmmaking. **[0:00:58] Kate Snow:** And of course, I had to ask, what's the secret to his decades-long marriage to supermodel Christie Turlington? We talk about all of it. I hope you'll join us for the drink. Listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Lester Holt with a special preview of my new podcast, Before and After. In this week's episode, I sit down with Gabby Giffords, the former Arizona congresswoman married to Senator Mark Kelly. Back in 2011, Gabby was shot in the head while meeting with constituents outside a Tucson grocery store. **[0:01:09] Kate Snow:** She suffered a devastating brain injury that left her with partial paralysis and aphasia, a condition that sometimes makes it difficult to speak. But as I learned, Gabby still has a lot to say about her recovery, her gun safety organization, Giffords, and her hope for the future. I can't believe we've never met. **[0:02:02] Lester Holt:** How is that? **[0:02:02] Gabby Giffords:** Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. **[0:02:04] Lester Holt:** I I wanted to meet you because I wanted to know what it's like being Gabby Giffords. **[0:02:09] Gabby Giffords:** Funny, funny, funny. I'm Gabby Giffords. Yoga twice a week, French horn, Spanish lessons, biking, 240 for the gym, pool therapy, and I'm traveling 60 on the road. **[0:02:23] Lester Holt:** Are we talking about an average day you Do all that? And how does it make you feel? **[0:02:28] Gabby Giffords:** Love it. Love it, love it. Yeah. **[0:02:31] Lester Holt:** This is a point I think I want to bring in Emma Brown. Hi, Emma. Hi. Um, you work with Gabby. **[0:02:36] Emma Brown:** Yeah, the executive director of Giffords. Yeah. **[0:02:39] Lester Holt:** Gabby has a condition called aphasia. Gabby, I'll I'll turn it to you on that. What does aphasia mean for your life? How does it affect you? **[0:02:47] Gabby Giffords:** Aphasia really sucks. The words are there in my brain. I just can't get them out. I love to talk. I'm Gabby, and I'm so quiet now. **[0:02:56] Emma Brown:** I don't experience you as all that quiet in real life. **[0:03:02] Gabby Giffords:** What, what, what? And chicken, chicken, chicken. **[0:03:05] Emma Brown:** When Gabby was shot, um, she was in a coma for a few weeks. And when she woke up, those were the only two words that she could say. The word **[0:03:14] Lester Holt:** Chicken chicken. **[0:03:15] Emma Brown:** And what? Yeah, the word what. No one knows why. No one knows why. But those those were the only words that she could say, and she rebuilt her vocabulary from there. **[0:03:24] Lester Holt:** Right after you were shot, I flew out to Arizona and I was anchoring the news from there. **[0:03:29] Ad read:** Tonight from Tucson, the massacre that's left a nation stunned. Six people are dead, and a congresswoman fights for her life. **[0:03:38] Lester Holt:** I'm sure you've been told this, that there was some erroneous reporting that you had died. **[0:03:43] Gabby Giffords:** Oh, no way, Jose. **[0:03:45] Lester Holt:** Yeah. How long before you realize what had happened and the extent of your injuries? **[0:03:52] Gabby Giffords:** What is happening to me? What is happening to me? **[0:03:57] Emma Brown:** Gabby will, um, and Senator Kelly will tell a story of, um, after she had woken up, they hid the newspapers from her because it was too much, you know, to take in. And I think he walked into the bathroom right in And The hospital and **[0:04:13] Gabby Giffords:** cried, yeah. **[0:04:13] Emma Brown:** Cried and um said to Mark, What is happening to me? You know, realizing what had what had happened and the extent of her injuries. **[0:04:22] Lester Holt:** Did you understand how badly You were? You have tracheotomy Scar **[0:04:28] Gabby Giffords:** The bullet. **[0:04:30] Lester Holt:** Went through your head? I was thinking as I came here, all the shootings that happened after yours. There was Las Vegas. There was El Paso. And I think about the survivors, people like yourself, and how you managed to figure it out. And you put 1 foot in front of the other, and you take back What's yours. Are You still recovering? What's that look like? **[0:04:57] Gabby Giffords:** A lot of homework. A lot of homework. **[0:05:00] Lester Holt:** It sounds hard. **[0:05:02] Gabby Giffords:** I'm tough. **[0:05:08] Lester Holt:** Thanks for listening. Search Before and After with Lester Holt to hear the full episode now. **[0:05:23] Ad read:** Friday night on an all new Dateline. **[0:05:25] Craig Melford:** They stab my wife about four or five times. **[0:05:28] Ad read:** He said she died trying to help a stranger. **[0:05:30] Craig Melford:** Gotta live with that every day. **[0:05:32] Ad read:** The hunt for a killer puts a city on edge. **[0:05:35] Craig Melford:** The race was on. **[0:05:36] Speaker 7:** It just floored me. **[0:05:37] Ad read:** An all-new Dateline Friday night at 9/8 central only on NBC.