Tulsi Gabbard in CNN "State of the Union" interviews during 2019

On Civil Rights: My time in the military changed my anti-gay views

"I was raised in a very socially conservative home. My father is Catholic, he was a leading voice against gay marriage in Hawaii at that time. Again, I was very young, but these are the values and beliefs that I grew up around," she said.

Gabbard said her views shifted when she deployed to the Middle East, "where I saw firsthand the negative impact of a government attempting to act as a moral arbiter for their people, dictating in the most personal ways how they must live their lives."

"Race or religion or orientation, these were things that didn't matter, because we were focused on our mission of serving," she said.

On Civil Rights: I never personally supported gay conversion therapy

On Homeland Security: End this new cold war and nuclear arms race

She pointed to a cell phone alert -- which turned out to be a false alarm -- last year warning people in Hawaii to take shelter because a missile was incoming. She described residents of the state facing agonizing decisions about how to seek shelter and who to spend what they feared could be their last minutes with.

"This alert turned out to be false, but the reason we reacted the way we did is that the threat is real," Gabbard said. "Our leaders have failed us and brought us to this point. It doesn't have to be this way. We have to correct our course. We have to end this new cold war and nuclear arms race that is currently being waged that threatens our very future and that costs us trillions of our taxpayer dollars--dollars that need to be spent and invested to serve the needs of our people here at home."

On War & Peace: U.S. government lied to American people to launch Iraq War

Gabbard also would not say whether she would trust the American intelligence community as president. "We have, in our recent past, a situation where our own government told lies to the American people, and to the United Nations for that matter, to launch a war," she said.

On Civil Rights: Views on LGBT rights evolved; 100% rating from HRC

A: I was raised in a socially conservative household with views and beliefs and things that I no longer hold today. My views have evolved, to the point where now you can look to my record over the last six years in Congress that reflect what's in my heart and my commitment to fighting for equality, my commitment to fighting for LGBT rights. I have a 100 percent legislative voting record with the Human Rights Campaign. I'm a member of the Equality Caucus, and, again, look forward to continuing to recognize the work that still must be done towards equality and working to make that change happen.

On Foreign Policy: Defends meeting Syria's Assad; supports Trump on North Korea

A: It continues to be very important for any leader in this country to be willing to meet with others, whether they be friends or adversaries or potential adversaries, if we are serious about the pursuit of peace and securing our country. It's why I have urged and continue to urge President Trump to meet with people like Kim Jong-un in North Korea, because we understand what's at stake here.