>> mediacom supports c-span as a public service, along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> coming up on "washington journal," your calls and comments live. then jerry dunleavy talks about the u.s. withdraw from afghanistan in 2021 and efforts to investigate military errors in the deaths of u.s. service members. and army veteran mike lavigne of progressive advocacy group votevets pac discusses veterans issues and the role in campaign 2024. "washington journal" starts now. ♪ host: good morning, friday, august 30, 2024. we began getting your reaction

to vice president kamala harri'' first major sit-down inrview since launching her bid for presidency five weeks ago. she sat down with cnn's dana bas ch in georgia, alongith her running mate tim walz. we want to know what you thought. republicans,20 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002. you can also catch up with us on social media. facebook at facebook.com/cspanx or on x at @cspanwj. we show your reaction and reviews in the political newspapers. first from conservative media, breitbart, kamala's empty

rhetoric exposed in cnn interview. and then harris flip-flops and says she has no regrets about biden. huff post, political left, kamala harris has snappy answers to cnn trump-inspired questions. from the guardian, her first big interview was radically normal. it says, just like at the democratic convention, she did enough to clear the bar and do herself no harm. those are some of the headlines. we are interested in what you think. we have our phone lines for republicans, democrats, and independents. here is some of that interview, the vice president responding to a question about changing policy positions over the years. [video clip] vp harris: how should voters look at some of the changes -- >> how should voters look at

some of the changes you have made, when they look at your policy here. is it because you have more information now and more experience, because you are running for president in democratic primary? should they feel comfortable and confident that what you are saying now will be your policy moving forward? vp harris: dana, i think the most important and most significant aspect of my policy perspective and decisions is my values have not changed. you mentioned the great new deal. i have always believed, and i worked on it, that the climate crisis is real, that it is an urgent matter to which we should find metrics that include holding ourselves to deadlines around time. we did that with the inflation reduction act. we have set goals for the united states of america and, by extension, the globe around when we should meet certain standards for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. that value has not changed. i value around what we need to

do to secure our border. that value has not changed. i spent two terms as attorney general of california prosecuting transnational criminal organizations, violations of american laws regarding the illegal passage of guns, drugs, and human beings across our border. my values have not changed. that is the reality of it, and four years being vice president, i will tell you, one of the aspects to your point is traveling the country -- i am here in georgia, i think someone told me 17 times since i have been vice president, in georgia alone. i believe it is important to find a common place of understanding of where we can actually solve problems. host: that interview with cnn's dana bash took place in georgia at thames cafe, a black-owned restaurant in savannah, georgia -- at tim's cafe.

we will show you the reaction of the former preside, donald trump, taking to truth social. he wrote this, just a comrade kamala harris' answer to a question put in more as a matter of defense and curiosity, but her answer rambled incoherently, he said. she declared her values have not changed. on that, he said, i agree, her values have not changed. the bder will remain open, not closed, free health care, free illegal aliens, sanctuary cities, zero fracking, private health care abolished, a 70% to 80% tax rate will be put into place, and she will defund the police. america will become a wasteland, waistline all in uppercase. that is donald trump yesterday from truth social. we are asking your reaction this

morning. that interview with cnn's dana bash took place yesterday. we want to know what you think. laura in new york, democrat, you are up first. caller: i think the interview with well. i believe that she and the person that is going to be vice president, they are both honest people, people who understand the middle-class because they come from middle-class families, and they will do a great job. as to representing the average person, as to donald trump, he is a liar, and that man, i just do not understand how people who listen to his lies all the time -- that is my opinion. host: stephen in west palm

beach, florida, line for republicans. what was your take? caller: i enjoyed it very much. thank you for npr and your profession and service. happy labor day to you. i enjoyed it, and i am voting as a republican for harris and governor walz. i am concerned about medicare coming up. i am 65 -- medicare coming up at 65 and social security being cut. just all of our democracy, that we have anything left of the constitution. so i just want to say that. host: you say you are a republican. did you vote for donald trump in previous elections? caller: i did first time around back in 2016, and i'm not now, no. i am one of the once -- i go back to the area of palm beach county when they had the bushes

and the family here back since april 1966 when my dad and mom served at morrison airfield, you know, was palm beach, and i am an adopted japanese-american. i do not want to be put into a detention camp or anything. i do not even want to think about things, but i am just going to cast my vote though and rely up on a higher power and be grateful. host: that was steve in west palm beach, florida. for independents, mike in virginia. caller: good morning. i watched the interview last night. at the end of the day, i have a sense and a feeling that vp h arris and walz are really attempting to let america know

that they are in the corner of everyone. there is no divide in their conversations, no animus in their conversations, no fear in their conversations. since vp harris has been put on the ticket, but since this ticket has been created, vp harris has did everything in her power to let the world know that she is attempting to help all of those that are in america and doing all she can to let the world know is a good communicator. i think she is a good communicator, a great communicator. i think she will go down as one of the greatest communicators. i will vote for her, and i really hope and pray that they

win the ticket. so that is my comment. host: norwalk, connecticut, is next, cindy, republican line. caller: i have three points i would like to make real quick, ok? when it comes to the border, i am very tired of the go-to line that donald trump stopped the border bill. donald trump was not in office. nobody had to hear what he said. and there was never any pushback about the hr2, which the house passed in 2023, i believe it was april. chuck schumer would not bring it up on the floor of the senate. so there is that. everybody seems to forget that. let's remember three and a half years, and it was only when the biden administration started bleeding minority votes that they suddenly cared about the border. so it was a phony bill, a bad

bill, and once that was signed, there would be nothing to do to undo it, nothing could be done. number two, when we talk about the unrealized gains tax, well, don't worry, it is only for people making over $100,000 -- 100 million grand, it will not affect anybody. we did hear that with joe biden, no one that makes under $400,000 would be taxed. ok, a tax on the rich. but we are being taxed. we are paying for illegals, paying for all the theft that is allowed to go on in the stores when the stores close down. we talked about the rich, but we are making amazon a lot richer. guess what, our stores are closing down. number three, when she said she did not know about joe biden's cognitive decline, please do not be fooled, america, they knew,

and this was a coup. no doubt about it. my daughter lives in denver, and i am very scared for her safety, a single young girl in that city. i just came back from there, and she has been there seven years, and that city is really filthy. there's people all over the streets loitering, homeless, drugs. it is very sad. host: that is cindy in the connecticut. your first point was on immigration, and kamala harris was asked about that issue last night by dana bash. this is what she had to say. [video clip] vp harris: first of all, the work i did as vice president that i was asked to do by the president has resulted in a number of benefits, including historic investments by american's nurses in that region. -- by american businesses in that region. i will say this, that joe biden

and i in our administration worked with members of the united states congress on an immigration issue that is very significant to the american people and to our security, which is the border. and through bipartisan work, including some of the most conservative members of the u.s. congress, a bill was crafted, which we supported, which i supported, and donald trump got word of this bill that would have contributed to security our border, and because he believed it would not have helped him politically, he told his folks in congress do not put it forward. he killed the bill. a border security bill that would have put 1500 more agents on the border. let me tell you something, the border patrol endorsed the bill, in large part because they

are working around the clock. that bill would have allowed us to increase seizures of fentanyl . as guinea community in america that has been devastated by -- ask any community in america that has been devastated by fentanyl what that would have done. >> you want to push this legislation again? vp harris: not only push it, i will make sure it comes to my desk and i sign it. >> in 2019 when you first ran, there was a debate and you raised your hand when asked whether or not the border should be decriminalized. do you still believe that? vp harris: i believe there should be consequence. we have laws that have to be followed and enforced that address and deal with people who cross our border illegally. and there should be consequence. let's be clear, in this race, i am the only person who has prosecuted transnational criminal organization traffic in guns, drugs, and human beings.

i am the only person in this race who actually served a border state as attorney general to enforce our laws, and i would enforce our laws as president going forward. i recognize the problem. host: that interview last night on cnn. we are talking about it this morning on the first hour of "washington journal." dorothy in new york, democrat. did you watch? what did you think? caller: good morning. i was very pleased with her performance -- performance is the wrong word. she is strong. she was very clear, deliberate. she did not back away from any of the questions. in general, i was, again, very pleased. i agree with most of the callers who have called in with a positive reaction. i would also like to remind the country that she is trying to be elected president of the united

states, and god is not her competition. a sleaze bag, disgusting, cruel person in the form of donald trump is trying to compete with her, and he can. the debate that is coming up, he will be eliminated or annihilated. i want to thank c-span for the opportunity to get this out. host: why are you so sure that he is going to do poorly in the next debate? it was the first debate in which president biden did so poorly and dropped out of the race. caller: because she is not debilitated, and he is. and he cannot communicate. i challenge anyone to follow his line of reasoning, even when he is talking about the economy or anything.

cannot put two words together without stumbling. because he has no ideas. any idea, any program that was created was not created because of his idea, someone convinced him somehow to do something. host: that is burning in new york. line for independents, joe in lyndhurst, new york. caller: good morning. how are you? host: doing well. did you watch the interview? caller: i did. i just have a comment on your last caller, i don't know what he watched, but i watched a whole different interview. listen, she is a nice person, has worked hard all her life. but for people to put donald trump down nike was never the president and he did not -- to put donald trump down like he was never the president and he did not do things -- look, i am independent, i vote for the candidate. the better candidate has got my vote. i do not really like this

name-calling situation where people are going to be degrading people. but the truth is the truth. she did not answer one question confidently last night. host: what did you think about how she responded to questions about donald trump talking about her race and ethnicity? and she brushed off that answer, saying it is the same old thing from donald trump and then moved on. what did you think about that line? caller: well, i am kind of disappointed that anybody uses race, sexual orientation, or anything to choose our leader. i am not saying a woman would not be a good leader, but donald trump has already been a good leader. she has proven through her border policies and her green new deal, through canceling

thousands of jobs in the oil industry, that they have no idea what people are doing down here at the level of everyday life. they need to get out and really talk to people that they do not agree with so they can find out what the people that agree with the other side are thinking. they are living in a bubble. it is kind of unbelievable. host: that is joe and they new york. here is that moment in which kamala harris was asked about donald trump's comments about her. [video clip] >> what he said last month, he suggested that you happened to turn black recently for political purposes, questioning a core part of your identity. vp harris: same old tired playbook. next question, please. [laughs] >> that's it?

vp harris: that's it. host: this is jay in long beach, california, democrat. what did you think? caller: i thought it was a really informative interview. i thought that both harris and walz responded appropriately to the questions. as far as the part about her responding to donald trump's insults, i loved that. it was a homerun for me because i do not think you should follow someone down the rabbit hole. i felt like it was an appropriate. there could have been other questions asked. i felt dana bash would have asked something about election security, changing the laws in georgia. if you're confident that you are going to be the candidate or you can lead this country, then why try to cheat to keep yourself relevant in the race?

you have people -- all his cases have been postponed. if you are number one to win the race, then that should resonate in your character as well as your political stance. that is the way i see it. i think instead of voting for the party, you need to vote for values. you have never lived in a country where you never had the right to vote. oh, vote for me just this one time, you do not need to vote anymore. what kind of country are you building? that is not the one i prefer to live in. if i picked up a glass of water, i want to know that it is approved for me to drink. you want to eliminate the epa and all this other stuff in project 2025. i am a very educated voter. i do my own research. i have no one make decisions for me. those are my comments today.

host: this interview with cnn took place as the harris-walz campaign was barnstorming through the peach state, as they try to put that state into play in this election. polling in that state showing a very close race, as usual in georgia. to georgia, al is a republican. what did you think? caller: [inaudible] host: are you with us? got to stick by your phone. joe, republican in reading, pennsylvania, another swing state. caller: i watched the thing because i think what is happening here, you know, to me, she murdered that woman with five children and that little 12 or 13-year-old girl that got raped by illegal immigrants, now

they are breaking into condominiums in colorado and beating people up and making them pay rent. yeah, she really protects this country. like bernie, he must be brain-dead to think she is anything. she is clueless, clueless. clueless kamala, you know what i mean. i do not know where these people -- they must have their head up their ass. host: we will go to david in florida, independent. caller: good morning. this is going to be my first election. i have recently become an american. and i was looking at kennedy, for the most part, and after watching that interview last night, boy, i don't know how anybody could vote for that kamala harris. she did not answer anything, looked disingenuous. and when i start watching other channels, the primary question that the moderators are asking

is about the race -- about her race and about trump's view on is she black or not, and i am just shaking my head going, there are so many other big problems in the world that i would like specific policy answers on. that is just not one of them. host: what is one or two of them that you want specific policy answers on? caller: i would like answers on all the vaccines that are being professed and the science that is showing how they can detrimental. whether they can or not, i think it deserves a discretion. -- a discussion. the war in ukraine is an abomination, sending billion dollars over there when we need penny -- need every penny of it over here for veterans and infrastructure. the whole thing is not making very much sense to me. and of course, immigration is ridiculous. immigration is unbelievable.

host: you say that as an immigrant to this country. what country did you come from? caller: i am canadian and an american now. this will be my first election. naturally, i lean a little bit left. i was kind of hoping that the democratic party would kind of go back to the kennedy roots where i could feel comfortable voting for them, but that is just not happening. host: what was your immigration path to this country, david, from canada? caller: it was extremely difficult and costly. i married an american woman, and about seven years ago i immediately applied and it took almost five years for me to come through legally. really, i just walked in and said, listen, i am here, give me $25,000 for a new house, that would have been easier. host: this is timbo in mountain home, arkansas, democrat. what did you think of the interview?

caller: big john, how you doing this morning? host: doing well. what do you think? caller: she nailed it, buddy. she tells the truth like it is. a big contrast to the other idiot running for president. tell you one thing, it will be a big poll in november, man, because birds of a feather flock together. we are going to find out how many criminals are in this country calling themselves citizens or patriots, which is just a joke. host: what do you think about tim walz? he was part of that interview and answered some questions, as well. caller: oh, tim walsh, man, he is a patriot. he devoted -- tim walz, man, he is a patriot. he had devoted his life to this country. the -- it is mind blowing. donald trump will spend the rest of his life in jail. let's get it started come november. host: that is timbo in arkansas.

here is more of that cnn interview from last night, governor tim walz taking questions about his background, military records, his family. [video clip] >> i want to ask you a question about how you have described your service in the national guard. you said that you carried weapons in war but you have never deployed actually in a war zone. a campaign official said you misspoke. did you? mr. walz: first of all, i am incredibly plowed -- proud to wear the uniform for this country. my record speaks for itself, but i think people are getting to know me and i speak like they do. i speak candidly and where my emotions on my sleeves. i speak passionately about our children being shot in schools and around guns. so i think people know me, they know who i am the know what my heart is, in my record has been

out there for over 40 years to speak for itself. >> the idea that you said you were in war. did you misspeak, as the campaign said? mr. walz: this was after a school shooting, and i was speaking of the idea of carrying these weapons before. my my -- my wife would tell you my grammar is not always correct. the one thing i will never do is i will never demean another member's service in any way. i never have and never will. >> one other question because this is all new, not however many days ago, not on either of your and go carts, especially yours -- not on either of your bingo cards, especially yours. you said you and your wife used ivf, but you actually used a different kind of fertility. and your campaign repeatedly made false statements about a

1995 arrest for drunken reckless driving. what do you say to voters who are not sure whether they can take you at your word? mr. walz: i have been very public. i think they can see my students,, former folks i served with. i own my mistakes when i make them. i wish in this country we would not have to do this, i spoke about our infertility issues because it is hell and families know this. i spoke about the treatments available to us to have those beautiful children. that is in contracts to folks that are trying to take those rights away from us. so i think people know who i am. they know that record. they have seen that. i have taught thousands of students. i have been out there. i will not apologize for speaking passionately, whether it is guns or schools or protecting reproductive rights they contrast cannot be more clear on this. i think most americans get it if

you have been through that. i do not think they are cutting hairs on ivf or iui, i host: tim walz last night on cnn. we are getting a response this morning as we come up on 7:30 on the east coast. we are taking this question, the first hour of the "washington journal." heas one text from a viewer saying, kamala harris must give more interviews because that cnn show did not introduce her policies to the united states. taking your calls on phone lines as well. this is well out of l.a., republican. good morning. caller: hi, good morning, john. thanks for c-span. i'm calling in regards to this interview, supposedly interview, with the vice president. it is more like a walk-through. she really had nothing

policy-wise, but she denied her flip-flopping. there was an interesting -- a new concept. apparently her staff members told us that she was going to be strong on the border and, you know, it is kind of like, she spent the whole interview sticking to her marxist guns. host: she repeatedly said, "my values have not changed." caller: values being her initial values, which are pretty left-wing, liberal all the way. and that whole 25% tax, you know, that is some crazy stuff. but i wanted to talk about her being the first black woman president.

she has to go out with an old white guy as her chaperone, almost. it is almost like -- it's like, tim walz? she brings this guy along so he can, i guess, back her up or whatever, but he could not even back his own troops in the war. it was almost like it was a john mccain 2.0. you abandon your troops and then you expect valor? is like, the whole john mccain thing, that is why trump got on john mccain. because he abandon his own troops. he turned against his own pows. his own people. and they even went as far as to -- host: why do you think john mccain his troops? he was a prisoner of war. caller: that is what happened.

according to his own fellow military troops he abandoned them. they used to call him hot dog. he used to show off him and he was not a very -- he was not a great -- he was not a great man. anyway. host: this is sam. here in d.c., independent. good morning. caller: good morning. i am independent. i did not hear anything that vice president kamala harris and the vice presidential nominee said regarding the genocide with a clear conscience i could never, ever vote for any party that is complicit of enabling genocide. all of this nonsense, both

parties are supported by mega donors, and there is no daylight, difference between them. host: what are you referring to when you say the genocide? caller: well, the genocide, according to a kazi or cortez, she said she is working day and night to exchange hostages, but all she needs to do is stop sending these 2000 pound bombs, on the schools, on the mosques, on the civilians, and then they say it is self-defense. host: she said last night, when it comes to the war in gaza, sticking close to joe biden's position, calling on israel and hamas to reach an agreement on a cease-fire and exchange of hostages. she said, we have to get a deal done. that is what she said in the

interview last night. caller: yes, but that is disingenuous. we know that netanyahu has been playing this game since july, when our president and came out and said these are the guidelines, and hamas agreed with it. and then mr. netanyahu changed his mind, added more stuff to it. he is not interested in peace. he is interested in the genocide of the palestinians. and what ms. harris is saying to the american public is nonsense. she knows all of these ways that mr. netanyahu is going to listen is when they stop providing all of this weapons to him. the same as when ronald reagan called them and said, you need to stop the invasion of lebanon.

so, this is nonsense. it is really a sham. host: this is tony in detroit. democrat. good morning. did you watch? what did you think? caller: i just want to go back a couple of callers. there was a guy calling from l.a., his name was will. he talked about john mccain. like, john mccain was a deserter. john mccain stayed in prison and let american troops go ahead of him. his arms were broken. where he cannot even lift him up over his head until the day he died. and to let that guy say that, to let him just sit there and say that, that is a shameful thing that just happened. host: why do you think there are

people who don't believe he was a hero for his actions in vietnam? why has that become a thing? caller: i don't believe it is not that they don't believe it. i believe they are following suit to what their leader donald trump -- it is like a cult. if the coal heater says it, they're going to follow it, even if they know it is wrong. it is just that way. now, i did want to make a comment, it was another caller a little earlier. it was a lady. i cannot remember which city. but she said, the talking point about donald trump killing the bill, the border bill, he was not president, she said. and people, now, they use these wage issues, the way they are using them, how about donald trump new that covid was going to be deadly?

and he knew it before we did? and he said nothing to the american people? tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of americans died when the president at the time knew that that was going to be a deadly, deadly pandemic. he should be court-martialed and imprisoned for that. but they are talking about the 13 dead americans in afghanistan, which i feel my heart goes out to their families. or they are using the illegal border, it was a murder, what, lake and riley? my heart goes out to her family also. but we hear this stuff in the neighborhoods every single day. every day. and nobody is saying anything about it. but what they are doing, they are setting up, they are looking at newsmax and fox, and that is

all they listen to. this is a shame. host: he was the four headlines from breitbart in the wake of the interview. kamala's empty rhetoric exposed, harris unprepared, no good answers, nothing but platitudes. dana bash lets her off the book for abandoning the border. and walls hits on stolen valor. that is their four headlines for this morning's front page. caller: to that i will just say this, and then we can hang up. donald trump is -- in his presidency told over 45,000 lies. 45,000 lies. like, the bar is so low. it is the way we are looking at this end talking about. how come the person who has done work for the american people,

dedicated, hard work, is being shunned and the guy that was born with the silver spoon in his mouth, who did not really do any kind of -- he did not build anything. he did not make anything. he did not help the people. it is like, look the other way, it's not that bad. anyway, thank you for listening to me this morning. but it is frustrating, the way they denigrate john mccain. and i am a democrat saying this. my father fought in world war ii. for these people, these cult followers, to just act like that didn't happen. it is the craziest thing i have ever heard. it just is. but thank you. host: tony in detroit. about 20 minutes left in this first test -- first segment. this is curtis, an independent. good morning. caller: good morning and thank

you for taking my call. i'm going to help the fellow out with this. it is called trumpism. it is called trumpism. this is all my opinion that i'm going to speak. it is called trumpism, which is better known now as -- with the republican party used to be, which is conservatism. conservatism now is not what it used to be. it is called trumpism, which in other words means you have no integrity to vote for a person that the convicted felon, which should not be even allowed to run for the office of president, should not be even allowed. then you have the ones that you call the democrats. and the democrats, who are better known by the trumpisms

and conservatives as socialist and liberals, are people of integrity and people of honor and trust. host: curtis, i understand your feelings about donald trump. did you watch the interview last night? caller: i did watch the interview, and i think that people are trying to put more into her policies and stuff like that that need to -- just look at, she has been a prosecutor in the state of california. she has never been convicted of any type of crimes of any nature. host: got your point, curtis. kamala harris last night talked about her record, about her economic record. there was a series of questions last night. here is about two minutes of her response. vice pres. harris: when we came in our highest priority was to do what we could to rescue america, and today we know we

have inflation at under three percent. a lot of our policies have led to this reality that america recovered faster than any wealthy nation around the world. what you are right. prices, in particular for groceries, are too high. the american people know it. which is why my plan includes what we need to do to bring down the price of groceries. what we need to do to extend the child tax credit, to help young families take care of their children in their most formative years. we need to do to bring down the cost of housing. my proposal includes what would be a tax credit of $25,000 for first-time homebuyers. so they can just have enough to put a down payment on a home, which is part of the american dream, and their aspiration, but do it in a way that allows them to actually get on the path to achieving that goal and dream. >> you have been vice president for 3.5 years. the stuff you are talking about now, why have not -- why haven't

you done them already? vice pres. harris: first of all, we had to recover as an economy. i'm proud of the work we have done that has brought inflation down. the work we have done to cap the cost of insulin for seniors, donald trump said he was going to do a number of things, including allowing medicare to negotiate drug prices, it never happened. we did it. now as i travel around our country the number of seniors that have benefited? i was in nevada recently, a grandmother who showed me her receipts, and before we capped the cost of insulin at $35 a month she was paying thousands of dollars a month for her insulin. she is not doing that anymore. >> you maintain bidenomics is a success? press pres. biden: -- vice pres. harris: when we cap the cost of prescription medication for seniors at $2000, when we do what we did in the first year of

being in office, to extend the child tax credit s we catch child poverty by over 50%, when we do what we have done to invest in the american people and bringing manufacturing back to the united states so we created over 800,000 manufacturing jobs, wringing business back to america, what we have done to improve the supply chain so we are not relying on foreign governments to supply american families with their basic needs, i will say that that is good work. there is more to do, but that is good work. host: vice president kamala harris last night on cnn. we are getting your reaction. about 15 minutes left in this segment of the "washington journal." this is bonnie out of prospect, connecticut. republican. good morning, you are next. caller: hi. thank you for having me.

i'm very happy to share my opinions. first of all, i wanted to know why kamala harris was not asked more, you know, important questions. i feel like the things she touched on, there was nothing about crime. there was nothing about, you know, things that matter to us. and to say that she is going to help us with the economy by, you know, price gouging or things like that, it is just, there is an economic people that have said, this is not going to work. that giving people $25,000 for home is going to drive prices of the houses up. almost everything she throws at the table, there is people on both sides of the parties saying that it is a dream, it is a pipe dream. where is this money coming from?

where are we going to get all of this money? also, another thing i would like to address is, why doesn't anybody ever want to stop the war in ukraine? it is always, stop israel, and stop hamas. why did they keep funding the war in ukraine and nobody talks about going to the table and stopping that war? host: on ukraine, just some news on that front, coming from the, this story in most major papers, the associated press reporting one of the handful of f-16 warplanes ukraine has received from western partners to help fight russia's invasion has crashed. the pilot died. the fighter jet went down monday when russia launched a major missile and drone barrage on ukraine, according to a statement posted on facebook. four of those russian missiles that were shot down by the f-16s, the crash was the first reported loss of an f-16 in

ukraine. at least six warplanes are believed to have been delivered and it became a symbol of the willingness of the united states and nato allies to supply or sophisticated weaponry to kyiv as it battles russian forces. that from the washington times today. this is eric, lake charles, louisiana. good morning. caller: good morning. first of all i would like to say, when we talk about kamala harris, i would like to say that donald trump is looking out for donald trump and his billionaire friends. if he gets back in the white house he will do nothing for the middle class people except hurt them. i believe that kamala harris is the best person for the job to take over as president of the united states because she is for the working people. and she worked as a lawyer and

she was a district attorney, and donald trump, like that last guy just said, was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. he did not even want to go to the army because he put himself in the middle of not going because, oh, i have problems with my feet. donald trump is the laziest bastard. host: got your feelings about donald trump. donald trump was in la crosse, wisconsin yesterday, set down with former democratic congresswoman tulsi gabbard. here is some of what he had to say, including his new proposal when it comes to in vitro fertilization for those americans who are struggling to have children. >> some of your opponents, your political opponents, are saying you want to ban ivf. while it did not work for us, it

has worked for a lot of families. and i just know that there are women and couples in this crowd, or those who are watching here tonight who may be going through this same struggle and are concerned about being able to have this option, either because they might not be able to afford it or they are concerned that it may not be available. i would love for you to talk to them about how they should feel. >> thank you very much. i did not know about your situation, and it is tough stuff, right? life is pretty tough. it can be beautiful, but it can be difficult. we are doing something with ivf, because ivf, as you know, from friends, people you know, it has really worked out very well for a lot of people. it gave them a child when they would not have had a child. and i told my people i wanted to look at this a couple of weeks ago, and as you know, we have no

taxes on a thing called tips. you know that. [applause] we did three things. we did that and no tax for seniors on social security benefits. [applause] and i have been seeing a lot of ivf, and i kept hearing that i'm against it, and i'm actually very much for it. in alabama, where the judge ruled against it, and i countered the judge and came out with a very strong statement for it, and the alabama -- >> you were very quick in your response to it. >> the legislature approved, virtually, my statement, full ivf. it is terrific. i said, with the tips and the social security, no taxes on social security, i said, maybe for ivf. i have been looking at it, and what we are going to do is, for people that are using ivf, which is fertilization, the government

is going to pay for it. we are going to mandate your insurance company to pay for it, which is going to be great. [applause] we are going to do that. >> i can't tell you how life-changing that would be for so many families. because it costs a lot of money. a lot of people go into debt just for the hope of being able to start their own family. >> well, it is big, and you want to know watch? we want to produce babies in this country. host: donald trump yesterday in wisconsin with former congresswoman tulsi gabbard. about five minutes left in this segment of the "washington journal." getting your reaction to last night's interview with kamala harris on cnn. park in indiana, independent. did you watch? what did you think? mark, are you with us? we've got to stick by your phone. this is john in georgia,

republican. did you watch? caller: good morning, john. i appreciate you taking my call. all too frequently it is what a politician doesn't tell you that is the most important thing. here is what vice president harris is not telling you in reference to the border. during obama's second term and during trump's term, border crossings averaged, they hovered around 500,000 per year except for the year 2019. they jumped to 850 thousand. and in 2020 it was lowered to about 400,000. ever since biden took office, 2021, $1.5 million. 2021, $2.1 million. 2023, about $2 million. do you know what it is today? why? because they changed some of these securities at the border. you had a democrat on this show saying border crossings have been lowered because they asked

mexico for help. why did they not asked three years ago? alright, you did not need the border bill to lower the crossings. that is why it was a bad bill. host: john, bring me to last night and some of those questions about immigration that kamala harris got. caller: pardon me? host: bring me to last night's interview, john. caller: last nights interview, she is not telling the entire truth. that is the whole point. border crossings are down. you don't need the bill to lower the crossings at the border. why would you codify almost 2 million people coming into the country illegally when they have proven that they could have done it all along? host: that is john in georgia. this is carrie in st. louis, democrat. what did you think of the interview last night? caller:na carrie, and thank you for taking my call. i watched the interview last night as well, but i would like to comment on the people calling

in. i think the problem we have, even after watching the interview and listening to all the people, is that people are truly uneducated on things that are going on in this nation. people either just listen to what their leader says and not do any research about what is going on or they don't pay attention to what is around them. if people watch, look, listen, and do some research, because if you don't believe in what you are hearing, you should look up. i look up what donald trump is saying. i look up the policies they have for the 2025, 900 page policy for the republicans. and if the people listen to this or read any of it, they will know that the government will control everyone.

we won't have any rights. the government will have it. and i think that is ridiculous. people calling in, talking about, she did not answer any other questions, donald trump doesn't answer a single question. all he does is talk about other things that are not important. he goes around the block over and over again, and then he comes back and says one thing, but he credits himself for policies he never made. he did a tax break, but it was for the rich. host: that is carrie in missouri. time for maybe two more calls. this is jerry in maine, independent. caller: good morning, john. i did watch the interview. it amazes me, i mentioned to all

of these collars, some watch msnbc and some watch fox. i don't think any of them watch any of the others. here is what i got out of the show last night. dana asked about the border and she said, i was in charge of the reason why people are coming here. she says, i did a lot. i sent a lot of money to foreign countries and we made a lot of jobs for american corporations. that was her exact quote. i don't know what that has to do with us. i was on the fence before i watched this interview. when it came to him, they ask him about drunk driving. people make mistakes. everything he kept saying in their, i guess it is wartime, he said, people know me, people know me. i don't know him at all. he never answered anything. if you look at him, the way they had it set up, he looked more presidential than she did. she looked like she was download. you know, that is up to whoever

is advising her or whatever. what i got out of the interview is, she needs a lot of interviews. she kept saying my values. if this is her values, we are talking about it and rid of all insurance, all private medical insurance? because that is her values. if i am reading this right. what i got out of it, john, i was on the fence, but it looked like tweedledee and tweedledum out there. and at the end it was like an info commercial. they kept playing music. they did not get into the riots at the colleges. they did not get into anything. they did not get into israel, all of the foreign policy in ukraine. she needs some real interviews. host: do you think there will be more real interviews? caller: i don't think so. i understand it took a while because pretty much there was -- i don't know. one of the other questions is, when she said i was having

pancakes with my nieces and he called me and she said, it felt good? what dana should ask, did you ask him, why are you getting out? why didn't, laissez, why are you getting out? because she said he was great. people kept saying, both sides go to money, both sides go to money. this is really about abigail disney and george clooney and nancy pelosi. the big shots of the democratic party. they threw him out and put him -- they threw him out and put her in. and now i sort of understand why. thank you. host: troy. last call out of illinois. democrat. go-ahead. caller: good morning. how are you doing, john? host: what did you think of the interview? caller: i thought the interview went pretty well. i don't know why it seemed like all of the collars expected her to bat 1.000. out of the gate.

if you look at the country, she has got probably 40% sewn up, and trump probably has what he percent sewn up. we are arguing over the 20% in the middle. i expected her to talk about policy. i thought she did. and -- host: did you think it was a softball interview? caller: no. i mean, i thought dana actually challenged her on some stuff, and walz, on some stuff. but at the end of the day she is not going to be able to explain an entire presidential policy she has not had time to develop the profile. i do know that moderates in this country are swung by policy, facts and don't want to hear rhetoric. i think she is well coached. she is hammering we will do this

and that. the policy doesn't even have to be good, it just has to be policy. for not hearing that on the other side. you showed the video of him changing his stance on in vitro fertilization. that felt like it was a desperate attempt to grab at something to walk back something he had done before. he's got to pivot. if you want an actual race, he has to pivot to the middle and i don't think he's capable of doing that. we have not seen him do it since 2016. every time it will b -- he won't pivot to the middle. she's addressing policy. if she keeps doing that she's probably going to win. host: last caller of this first segment of "washington joual." we are going to be joined by

jerry dunleavy to discuss the third anniversary of the 2021 u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan and the deaths of u.s. service members during the withdrawal. later, mike lavigne, army veteran and senior advisor to the advocacy group votevets pc. -- pac. stick around. we will be right back. >> american history tv saturdays on c-span2, exploring the people and events that tell the american story. 6:15 p.m. eastern, the national portrait gallery's prints and drawings curator takes a look of the exhibit "brilliant exiles," american women who went to paris in the early 20 century hoping to make the mark on the arts while breaking gender and racial barriers they encountered in the united states. at 7:00 p.m. eastern, the conclusion of our making history

tv series historic convention speeches featuring remarks by presidential nominees and other political figures from the past several decades. this week texas governor george w. bush excepted his party's nomination at the 2000 republican national convention in philadelphia. exploring the american story. watch american history tv on saturdays on c-span2, and find a full schedule on your program guide or watch online anytime at c-span.org/history. >> sunday on q&a, former rhode island democratic congressman patrick kennedy talks about americans who struggle with mental illness and the role family members play in their care. >> >> in my own case with my mother>> , my brother and sister and i had to get guardianship over my mother. we saved her life so she could

be around with my kids. my kids never met my father who died before they were born. they got to meet my mom. they got to meet my mom because a brother and sister and i went to court to get guardianship over our mother. to keep her from killing herself. she was so happy. at the time she wasn't happy but she ended up being so grateful that she was able to make it to the other side because we intervened. >> patrick kennedy with his book "profiles in mental health courage," sunday night at 8:00 eastern on q&a. you can listen to q&a and our podcasts on our free c-span now app. >> c-span now is a free mobile app featuring your unfiltered view of what's happening in washington, live and on-demand. keep up with the day's biggest events with live streams of

floor proceedings and hearings from the u.s. congress, white house events, the courts, campaigns and more from the world of politics. all at your fingertips. you can stay current with the latest episodes of washington journal and find scheduling information for the tv networks and c-span radio, plus compelling podcasts. c-span now is available at the apple store and google play. scan the qr code to download it for free today or visit our website c-span.org/c-spannow. c-span now, your front row seat to washington anytime, anywhere. >> washington journal continues. host: jerry dunleavy joins us now the author and former congressional investigator who wrote the following in a column this week and the washington examiner. "the republican-led congressional committee tasked with seeking answers and candidly for americans in the where fecund has instead let the generals who lost the war off

the hook." how do you know that to be true? guest: because i was a senior investigator on the house foreign affairs committee that was tasked with investigating this. unfortunately, chairman mccall, the leader of the committee deliberately by design chose to absolve generals like the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff mark milley and commander of central command frank mckenzie off the hook. i was in a meeting with chairman mccall, milley and mackenzie on the phone ricky told him chairman mccall did not believe they were responsible with what had gone wrong in afghanistan in 2021. previewed the questions they

were going to be posed and even provided one of the generals with potential answers to wriggle out of the tough questions. that hearing with the two generals who -- while they had advised president biden not to do his go to zero order, they do deserve some credit there. on the other hand, the generals did make their own mistakes in 2021 with milley misjudging the speed of the taliban's advances, getting the size of the afghan military police completely wrong, inflating it will beyond what was, and general mckenzie turning down an offer from the taliban on august 15 that potentially would have allowed the united states to secure kabul on her own rather than letting the tell event walk into the city in the united states having to run an

evacuation at of justin airport with the taliban right outside the gates. chairman mccall made a decision to absolve the two generals of responsibility. let them off the hook. it was delivered the way the hearing was designed. it was deliberate what he told the generals. that was one of many things wrong with the investigation that spurred me to come forward. i thought the abby gate gold star families need to know. the veterans of the war needed to know. the american people needed to know the investigation that should have been holding everyone accountable, from the president, vice president, state department, intelligence community and military, should have held them all accountable but he was choosing to let some of them sly. host: this was a republican-led foreign affairs committee. how long were you in investigator and did you bring the concerns up to chairman mccall before blowing the

whistle in the form of resigning from the committee and writing the story in the washington examiner? guest: i was an investigative reporter for a number of years. i cover the withdrawal and disastrous withdrawal and evacuation from afghanistan. i wrote a book on the disastrous withdrawal from afghanistan and the committee staff reached out to me and asked if i would like to join the committee last summer. i worked on the committee for a little over a year. i raised my concerns about the way the investigation was run with chairman mccall and repeatedly with senior staff, the chief investigator on the committee in-person, repeatedly in writing raising concerns about state department when this is refusing to bring in, the key military witnesses we were refusing to bring in, the documents we needed to be getting in work, the tough

questions we needed to be posing to agencies, and then raising concerns about the way we were letting witnesses like -- off the hook and letting the two generals off the hook. host: what to you believe the purpose of letting milita -- the military off the hook served? guest: it is tough to say. it is hard for me to get inside someone's head. i can speak to what i saw and what i know. chairman mccall is friendly with chairman milley. he likes him personally. that may have been a factor. the real factor here i think was a desire to simplify the narrative. it is true that ultimate responsibility for what happened

in 2021 lies with president biden, his inner circle, buys president harris, blinken, sullivan, austin. it is true the state department screwed up pretty much everything you could possibly could. the intelligence community failed but it's true the military, especially the commanders in generals failed as well and did not see this coming. they did not properly prepare for it. they were not ready for the evacuation that needed to be conducted. they made mistakes. there was a deliberate decision made by chairman mccaul to semper fi the narrative such that simplify the narrative such that the president is at fault in the state department is at fault, which is true, but the military commanders were not. that piece of it is a significant omission that i think is dangerous and problematic for not getting answers and accountability. it's also dangerous if the

military commanders and generals are not forced to learn the lessons they needed to learn from the war. host: in the wake of your resignation letter that you posted on x, this was from a spokeswoman for mccaul and republicans on the foreign relations committee. she said chairman mccaul pours his heart and soul into getting answers for our goldstar families in afghanistan veterans. she points to the publication in september of the final report looking at the decision-making surrounding the u.s. pullout. what do you know about what will be in that document? what do you know about who is to blame here or whose fault this was? guest: chairman mccaul, his claim that he pours his heart and soul into getting answers for the abby gate goldstar families, he's made that sort of public promise. he made that promise in private as well.

unfortunately, the rhetoric does not match the actions. he did not meet his promises to do everything in his power to get answers about the abby gate bombing, about the disastrous withdrawal, about the problems with the evacuation. he chose to let military commanders off the hook, refused to go after key officials that we should've interviewed, failed to post tough questions about their own investigation and the investigation into the abby gate bombing that i think in many ways attempted to whitewash what had happened. as for the report, i hope by coming forward the way i have it applies public pressure on them to make the report as honest and hard-hitting as it should be. my guess is it probably will be more honest and hard-hitting

that it would have been if i had not come forward. the problem with any report like this is that a report is often only to be as good as the investigation. this investigation by choice has giant gaps. because of that the report is going to have big gaps in it. host: we will have viewers ask questions in a second. in reference to the centcom investigation, this is what you are referring to. the department of defense concluded when it comes to the abby gate attack where 13 service americans -- american servicemembers it was not preventable at a tactical level. from your investigations being on the committee and the reporting for your book you agree with that conclusion? guest: i don't agree. i think the abby gate bombing was potentially preventable and i can give some quick examples. part of the result of mckenzie turning down the taliban's

offered to let the united states secure kabul meant the taliban took over the entire city and all the u.s. had was the little airport and a small secret cia base in kabul. that is all we had. the u.s. was relying on the taliban to provide security outside kabul airport. that was obviously very troubling in a bad decision. there were multiple instances where the u.s. military asked the taliban to search isis locations in kabul during evacuation. the taliban multiple times refused to do so. i think that potentially could have changed the game. the taliban, the first thing they did and they took over the airbase around august 15, which we abandon a month and a half earlier, the first thing they did was they threw open the gates of the prison, freed

thousands of taliban prisoners, dozens of al qaeda prisoners in over 1000 isis k prisoners. one of those went on to become the abbey gate bomber. centcom is now saying that they expanded their definition of nonpreventable to even saying it didn't matter whether the abbey gate bomber was behind bars or running free. even if he had been locked up, never freed by the television, isis wouldk have used another bomber. i find that to be extremely fatalistic. i find that to be absurd. i think anyone with common sense would know if you can go back in time and stop the person to carried out an attack from being able to carry it out, that makes it less likely the attack is going to occur. that gives you a sense of how centcom is approaching this. they are not willing to expand

that into some pretty absurd conclusions. host: monday was the third anniversary of the abbey gate bombing. 183 died. hundreds wounded. 13 american servicemembers, 11 marines, one army operations specialist and one navy corpsman. your calls with jerry dunleavy. he has written a book about it, former investigator for the house foreign affairs committee working on the topic. republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independenta, (202) 748-8002. a special live for afghan war veterans. (202) 748-8003. we have you for about the next half-hour today phone calls. this is david from bradenton, florida. independent. you are on with jerry dunleavy. caller: your guest is not talking about the trump administration negotiated with

the taliban for over a year. they had a whole year to get this thing right. the problem is the biden administration, the mistake they made was following trump owes plan -- trump's plan. to secretary of defense. they should've never followed that crummy plan. that is one of the problems. the only head 2700 troops left in afghanistan who were not even fighting. all the fighting was done by the afghanistan army. maybe we should have never left. there were no american casualties. so from the beginning the plan was a bad plan apparently. the biden administration should have never followed that plan. they should have started a new

plan. it was done and signed by the president at the time. host: that is david in florida. the u.s. number of deaths during the afghanistan war, 2465 deaths, including the 13 at abbey gate. wounded in action, 20,769. what would you say to the caller? guest: i'm glad you brought up the total casualty numbers. this was a 20-year where we are thousands of americans died. there were mistakes made. my task was largely focused on the end but there were 20 years of mistakes. the doha agreement was one of them, absolutely. a flawed agreement to be sure. i would never say or imply otherwise. the doha agreement was flawed. it had some conditions. the taliban met none of those

conditions. when president biden took office, one of the things he did was got rid of a host of trump policies. he got rid of a host of trump officials. he could have just one of the doha agreement. he probably should have but he did not do that. he could have gotten rid of the argument -- architect of the doha agreement. he kept him on. the vita administration praised his vital work. he remained the u.s.'s top negotiator with the taliban. biden should have torn up the agreement,. he could've chosen to enforce all the conditions of the agreement. he chose not to do so. he chose to carry out a conditional withdrawal, pulling all u.s. troops out which meant pulling contractors, logistics, advisors, air support.

all that in rapid fashion within weeks and just a few months. it left the afghan military which had been built around all that support in an extreme the weakened state. already a precarious situation before that but now hung out to dry with the backbone of their support pulled out. predictable result of what president biden did and culminated in a taliban offensive that began shortly after resident biden's border -- president biden's border and it resulted with them taking over the country in august. host: marlon, republican. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you so much for being a whistleblower and having the courage to come on and say what you're saying. as a republican i want you to stick with your guns and stay without. president trump the other night

said at one of these rallies his first day in office he wants the resignation of everyone that had anything to do with the disastrous withdrawal of afghanistan. he wants a resignation. general milley left already but maybe something can be done with him. host: jerry dunleavy, i will let you pick up on that. guest: i appreciate the kind words. as for the label of courageous, the people who are courageous are the was service members who fought and often died in afghanistan for 20 years. i would say that my motivation here was to do the right thing. i felt compelled morally to speak out about this. that is kind of what my motivation was. in terms of president trump closing vow to hold military

commanders accountable, chairman milley has retired and gone off to retirement. general mckenzie has gone off to his nice retirement. the committee i worked for, republican-let committee had the opportunity -- republican-led committee have the opportunity to get answers out of them and make it clear the military commanders played a part in what went wrong in august of 2021. the committee failed to do that. host: general milley appeared before the committee. this is about two minutes from that hearing, the back-and-forth with chairman mccaul. i will let you fill in the gaps. [video] >> i want to thank you for your service and your courage for testifying before the committee.

almost a year ago to the day. he was a sniper at abbey gate. he testified to us that he had the suicide bomber in his sights. was identified on the be on the lookout. he set the sniper photos and other related documents to his commanding officer for permission to engage the suicide bomber. yet that warning was ignored. he never heard back. i and the chairman of the armed services committee after the testimony sent a letter to the department of defense requesting that these documents and sniper photos be delivered to the congress, produced to the congress by this document, this letter of request. to date that has been ignored. the department of defense has refused. we have also requested the

testimonies of general chris donahue and admiral peter baisley who were the commander officers on the ground during the abbey gate disaster. to both of you, the general milley, do you think these documents should be turned over to the united states congress? do you think both general donahue and admiral vaisley should testify before congress? >> i believe transparency. i believe you are entitled within the bonds of classification, absolutely. whatever documents are out there should be turned over to the opry jurisdiction and oversight. whatever witnesses are needed to establish truth and transparency, absolutely. that is why am here. host: retired general milley and chairman mccaul. explain what came from that meeting.

to the committee ever get those documents? guest: pc chairman mccaul -- you can see chairman mccaul praising general milley's courage for appearing in front of congress. i don't think is anything courageous about a general appearing before congress. that is their duty and responsibility to the american people. it doesn't take courage to testify when you're supposed to. that sort of praise is the sort of thing i found odd. general milley, general mckenzie played their part in why things went wrong in august of 2021. the committee should have been attempting to hold them accountable, not praising them in public and not telling them they weren't responsible for women wrong in private. in terms of some of the things that were raised there, the committee never seriously attempted to bring in general

donahue, general sullivan, we're admiral peter vaisley, the top military commanders on the ground. some of them in the final days of the retrograde and evacuation, some during dust during the evacuation itself. these are the gentleman who would be able to speak to the u.s.'s interaction with the taliban during the evacuation, the threat posed by isis k. they could answer by the taliban was refusing to assist in as states properly with going after isis k during the evacuation. they could answer why the united states did not carry out any airstrikes against isis k until after the abbey gate bombing rather than before it. the committee never made serious efforts to bring other military commanders in for transcribed interviews. they never attempted to do it.

there was often good talk in public about what the committee was going to be doing but there was little follow-up in private. that was one of my big frustrations. the unwillingness of the committee to follow through on the things it was vowing in public. host: marilyn, this is steve on the line for democrats. you are on with jerry dunleavy. caller: we always promote to the level of our confidence. we have the ashcroft report from the senate, the legislative branch going on for years. he always referred to it as the groundhog's day because it was dumping money into an endless war. at the end they said it was costing us $50,000 a day. that seems cheap relative to you ukraine. that's our new 20-your afghan

war -- 20-your afghanistan war. the parade we saw, the parade that c-span showed on the taliban and everybody driving around in our military equipment says everything about that. what a shame to give up a base. a landlocked space. we were in the backyard of russia and in the backyard of china. right there, right where we needed to be right now in the backyard of china and russia. unfortunately, the senate -- it always comes back to the senate. they always talk about the senate. that is where all the incompetence lies, right in the senate. that is where all the hearings from biden to -- nothing ever seems to come of the hearings that we have and we are trying to hold people accountable in our federal government. host: jerry dunleavy, what we have been talking about is in the house.

was there senate involvement? guest: there was limited involvement. the democrats currently control the senate. the democratic party is not particularly interested in doing oversight over the biden-harris, you know, disastrous withdrawal from afghanistan. the really has not been much oversight. he mentioned this important base he was referring to. the united states did abandon bagram in 2021. a very bad decision. they would have been a safer place to do and evacuation from. bagram would have allowed the u.s. to assist the alcan military air force, continue to carry out airstrikes. if the was held on to bagram there is little chance that you have seen the taliban be able to advance to kabul the way it did in august of 2021.

as he referred to, bagram was a strategic case regionally. they gave us the ability to keep an eye on pakistan and china. president biden did give that up in july of 2021. that was a strategic mistake. as i mentioned, it was the base that had the present added where -- at it where the abbey gate bomber was behind bars until freed by the taliban. host: to california. rory in rancho santa margarita. caller: good morning. ok. the afghanistan withdrawal. don't ever have artificial lines or timetables. you should get the civilians out before you do the military. take out your equipment, or if you can't, destroy it. don't let the taliban uses to kill everybody else.

the second part of this is biden. he's been found in confidence the local military leaders are becoming a little fiefdom of their own. they are worried that when harris gets defeated on november 5 and trump wins, the iranians will drop an atomic bomb on israel. only israel has an atomic bomb, drop it on iran -- and may drop it on iran. that is the best way i can say it. host: what is the question? do you have a question, rory? caller: the local commanders are going to take charge. if this is happening, what is the present administration going to do? are they just going to twiddle their thumbs customer host: jerry dunleavy. guest: he mentioned the idea of not doing things on a timetable and bringing civilians out

before you bring the military out. president biden on august 14, 2021, announced his go to zero order. he set the deadline for that full withdrawal, the end of the u.s. presence in afghanistan for the 20th anniversary of 9/11. that was extremely the following. i could say that based on the afghan war veterans i talked to another's it was also extremity disheartening to pick the 20 anniversary of 9/11 for his withdrawal date -- 20th anniversary of 9/11. from what the committee investigation was able to find, it seems like that was just a date that president divide himself really wanted. he wanted to make his mark on the war in afghanistan by picking the 20th anniversary of 9/11 as a deadline. with the result of that was was that the television, the group that had -- taliban, that

taliban which continues to protect al qaeda today, the group that carried out the 9/11 attacks, that taliban is now back in charge of afghanistan on the 20th anniversary. he also brought up the importance of bringing out civilians before the military. absolutely. the u.s. military was essentially gone from afghanistan outside of a small force in kabul. the retrograde was completed between april and pretty much early july of 2021. when all the american citizens were still in afghanistan, tens of thousands of -- probably many tens of thousands of afghan allies were still in afghanistan. when the telemann swept through the country -- taliban swept to the country in a couple of months the evacuation conducted, u.s. forces had to be poured back in. now all the u.s. had a foothold on was that small airport.

that meant to get out americans often had to make their way through taliban lines. the taliban would often turn americans away. there are instances of the taliban speeding up americans. they would beat up and kill afghans trying to escape. likely including many of our afghan allies. the more i have learned about this and the more i have talked to people who were on the ground and were there, it does seem like the taliban executing afghans trying to escape happened in larger numbers than was originally admitted to. that was the result of the decisions that were made by president biden and his inner circle in april of 2021. host: the book which you have talked about in this program, "couple -- kabul: the untold story."

you mentioned talking to veterans -- lest then 10 minute left. -- less than 10 minutes left. i want to talk about arlington national cemetery with the trump campaign staffer. what is your take on what we have heard from what happened there? guest: i will note that president biden, the biden-harris campaign earlier this year put out a campaign ad attacking president trump and using footage from an overseas u.s. military cemetery in france as well. this is something that president biden has done. he put out a -- during his presidential campaign and 2020 he put out an ad, a memorial day

ad that did not attack president trump it was a campaign ad which featured an older photograph of himself at section 60 in front of gravesites. host: that was in the 2020 election? guest: indeed. this is not a new thing and wasn't exactly an uproar when president biden did something that's at least as in the same ballpark as what happened. as for what happened with president -- former president trump and his visit to arlington, i'm ultimately going to differ to the views of the abbey gate goldstar fumes that invited trump to be there. by their own account and public statements, they wanted him there and to take pictures. i'm ultimately going to defer to them. the abbey gate goldstar families are extreme the unhappy with the

way that president biden, vice president harris and the biden administration have handled the disastrous evacuation, the disastrous withdrawal but also how they handled everything since then. president biden has still yet to say the names of the 13 service members who were lost out loud and in public. that is something they want. they want answers and accountability. they want the recognition from president biden he made a serious mistake here. when it comes to what happened at arlington, i ultimately just feel the need to kind of differ to the desires and wishes of the abbey gate goldstar families. host: newt gingrich, front page of today's commentary section of the washington times. he names all 13 of those who died at abbey gate. darren hoover of salt lake city.

sergeant johnny rosario. sergeant nicole gee of sacramento, california. dagen page of omaha, nebraska. lance corporal david espinoza of rio bravo, texas. lance corporal gerrit schmidt of st. charles, missouri. lance corporal riley mccallum of wyoming. lynn's horrible kareem -- of california. that story today is in the washington times if you want to read it. a couple more call. arnold from texas, republican. caller: good morning.

i'm a u.s. marine. my wife is a u.s. marine. we are both republicans. it is disgusting with the 13 deaths. we have lost plenty of troops before. we have to be mindful that this was put in place by the trump administration to draw down the troop strength to 2500. there's no way we could have defended ourselves because of the previous agreement with the taliban set in place. we did not have troop strength to defend us. i believe the by demonstration did what they did, but i think it's more about politics than not. in lebanon we lost 248 marines and we did not have this level of vitriol in politics. we need to have integrity when we talk about these issues and when we lose our troops. thank you so much. host: i did not mention the army

staff sergeant who died, the 13th member -- 11 with marines. guest: there are a couple of issues he raised. the doha agreement. it is not an agreement on here to defend. as i have written in my book and insisted on the committee that was a very flawed agreement. there were conditions in the agreement that were limited conditions. there were some. one was that the taliban needed to essentially break ties with al qaeda and ensure al qaeda was not able to operate in afghanistan or pose a threat to the united states. the taliban never followed through on that condition. they weren't following it in 2020 when president trump was in office or in 2021 when president biden took office. president biden shows -- chose

not to enforce that element of the agreement before doing a conditionless withdrawal. as for the number of u.s. forces in afghanistan in 2021 when present biden took office, 2500. we will go with 2500 u.s. forces. on top of that there were a fairly significant number of nato forces. you were at that point nato had a much -- a significantly larger presence than the united states did. many nato member states pushed the biden administration to stay, to not do a conditionaless withdrawal but he did so anyway -- conditionalless withdrawal but he did anyway. it would have meant a nato force

of 7000 to 10,000. those combined forces i believe would have been able to keep the afghan military and air force in the fight, keep the afghan military taking the fight to the taliban. the taliban would not have been able to take over afghanistan in the u.s. and nato left a small presence there. host: one more call in the time we have left. craig in alabama. pleasant grove, alabama. democrat. caller: thank you for taking my call. thank you for being on the show. i'm nervous. my heart goes out to the gold families. i would like to start off that donald trump -- if biden gripped of the doha agreement, that would not have taking -- put the 5000 taliban fighters back in prison.

they were already on the warpath at the same time trump drew down our troops down to 2500 from 13,000. biden did what he had to do. on that understanding what you're talking about here. trump wanted to invite the taliban to the white house, to camp david on the university of september 11. -- anniversary of september 11. he also negotiated with the taliban and let the afghan army out of negotiations also. all this plays a part in what happened with what joe biden had to do. trump single-handedly reinforced the taliban. that is so important. you are leaving that important thing out of your book, conveniently. he single-handedly reinforced the taliban. i don't know what president that set three more terrorists than donald trump did. host: that is crack in alabama.

guest: i guess maybe i would encourage the caller and readers if they are interested to read the book that i wrote. there is a section, a chapter on the doha agreement and how it was a very flawed agreement. i am not here to defend the doha agreement. i think it was a bad deal that did exclude the afghan government and did weaken the position of the afghan republic. there's no real debate about that. the problem is that when president biden took office they were 2500 u.s. troops still there, nato forces still there. the afghan military was still there. the taliban would not have taken over. they were dilating the limited conditions of the doha agreement. it had not broken his ties with al qaeda. in my view it was not going to.

the u.s. was under no obligation to follow through on it and of the depth -- of its end of the doha agreement. president biden could have torn of the agreement or said the taliban is violating the agreement. i'm not under an obligation to withdrawal and i think that is likely what he should have done. he kept the architect of the doha agreement on an the biden administration praised his vital work. cap to asked the chief negotiator with the taliban -- kept him as the chief negotiator with the taliban. it continued under biden in 2021. host: jerry dunleavy, a former congressional investigator and the author of the book "

kabul: the untold story." coming up, we are joined by mike lavigne, senior advisor to the group votevets pac. we will talk of what the role of veterans in this year's election. stick around for the conversation. we will be right back. ♪ >> campaign 2024 has developed and unexcited ways. c-span promises unfiltered coverage of the candidates as they battle to win the white house and congress. you may not know that c-span is a private company that operates that at dime of government money. like many video organizations, we have been impacted by cord cutting. this summit we are asking for you to help support our unbiased political coverage with the donation -- a donation. 100% of your contribution

directly supports c-span operation. festival, an anonymous donor has pledged to match your donation dollar for dollar. you can find out more at c-span.org/donate. help ensure that c-span's unique coverage of politics is here to stay. visit c-span.org/donate. thank you f wching at thanks so much for your support. ♪ >> american history tv, saturdays on c-span2, exploring the people and events that tell the american story. 6:16 p.m. eastern, the national portrait gallery's prints and drawings curator towards the exhibit "brilliant exiles," telling the story of the american women that went to

paris in the early 20th century while breaking gender and racial barriers in the united states. at 7:00 p.m. eastern, the conclusion of our american history tv series stuart convention speeches featuring notable remarks by presidential nominees and other political figures from the past several decades. this week texas governor george w. bush accepted his party's nomination at the 2000 republican national convention in philadelphia. exploring the american story. watch american history tv saturdays on c-span2, and find a full schedule under program guide or watch online anytime at c-span.org/history. >> sunday on q&a, former rhode island democratic congressman patrick kennedy, author of " profiles in mental health care it" talks about the role

families play. >> my brother and sister and i had to get guardianship over my mother. we saved her life so she could be around with my kids. my kids never met my father obviously who died before they were born. they got to meet my mom. they got to meet my mom because my brother and sister and i went to court to get guardianship over our mother to keep her from killing herself. she was so happy, at the time she wasn't but she ended up being so grateful that she was able to make it to the other side because we intervened. >> patrick kennedy with his book sunday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span's q&a. listen to q&a and all of our podcasts on our free c-span now app. >> washington journal continues. host: back with mike lavigne,

u.s. army veteran and senior advisor to votevets political action committee. what role is it playing? guest: host: thanks for having me -- guest: thanks for having me. votevets provides a voice to veterans. in the longest period of conflict from 2001 2 recently that to recently -- 2001 to recently we did not have a voice. the percentage of representation in congress just plummeted from the 1950's and 1960's. when our founder came back from iraq a little disillusioned about how the war ran he threw himself into providing that voice to veterans. that was getting, cutting veterans to run and to win

races, house, senate. we are happy to have a veteran on the presidential ticket this year. host: when and where did you serve? guest: 28 years, retired at the end of 2021. i have a little bit of real estate all over the world. i served on was eight years overseas between deployments and standard overseas tours. germany, korea. stationed in d.c. a couple of times. fort riley, kansas with the first infantry division, my division home. i had a great time. host: there's been issues already with veterans. we will get to those. what role do you see veterans playing here in the next 66 days to election day? guest: people listen to veterans. veterans are really effective messengers. we are still part of the most trusted group of americans.

polling shows it. when we say a second trump administration is not good for america, people listen to that. when we say the candidates we are putting forward for the house and senate are solid candidates, they listen. our goal this year is to run and win those offices. host: how many have you endorsed? guest: the presidential ticket. we have a fistful of house and senate candidates. pat ryan in the new york 18th. chris deluzio. we are looking for folks that are running to replace incumbents. eugene vindman in virginia seventh. jon tester has done amazing things for veterans. ruben gallego in arizona. host: a line for active and

retired member's of the military in the segment is (202) 748-8003 . otherwise, the lines as usual. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. let me get to some of those controversies involving veterans issues. you mentioned governor walz on the democratic ticket. he was asked about how he described his military service in the past in the interview with cnn. this is a minute and 10 seconds. [video] >> i want to ask a question about how you described your service in the national guard. you said you carry weapons and war -- in war but you never deployed in a war zone. a campaign official said you misspoke. did you? >> first of all i'm incredibly proud to have 24 years wearing the uniform of this country. equally out of my service in a public school classroom.

i think people are get to know me but i speak like they do. i speak candidly. i wear my emotions on my sleeves. i speak especially passionately about our children being shot in schools and around guns. i think people know me and know who i am and where my heart is. my record has been out there for over 40 years to speak for itself. >> the idea that you said you were in war, did you miss speak? >> we were talking about and after school shooting. the idea of carrying the weapons of war. my wife -- my grammar is not always correct. it's an attack my children for showing love for me or my dog, i won't do that. i'll never demean another member's service in any way. i never have and i never will. host: jerry dunleavy -- mike lavigne, your response? guest: weapons in war or weapons

of war. i can see myself in a speech screwing this up. he's admitted to the misspeak. i think this is just a political storm. this is just an effort to get something to stick to governor walz when i don't see much else does. host: political storm. on monday, the incident in arlington national cemetery involving the trump campaign staffer and the staffer for the cemetery. guest: like i said earlier, a hell month this week. one thing on top of another. i served in arlington national cemetery in the third u.s. infantry regiment, the honor guard that does funerals in arlington cemetery. for me to see that hallowed ground misused in the way that it was by mr. trump and his campaign staffers, i thought it was disgusting. i have yet to connect with a

veteran, see it on social media where somebody did not call it out as disrespectful. that said, there were people that were pushing back. the last guest mentioned there has been some campaign imagery from the biden side with headstones. there's a big difference between having a partisan political activity and photo wing it -- photographing it and using released imagery in support of a political campaign. host: explain that a little more. guest: if you have been on social media everyone has seen the picture of the extract from the dod regulation that says national cemeteries cannot be used for partisan political activities. it specifically says partisan political activity or things that appear to be partisan that would interfere with other operations in the cemetery or appear to people in the cemetery as partisan. it has nothing to do with using photos taken inside in a later

campaign ad. mr. trump's campaign went specifically to capture imagery of him at graveside in a partisan political act which was giving the speech decrying president biden's withdrawal. we are comparing apples and dump trucks. host: you served in arlington cemetery. how clear is that will communicated? is that something that is well-known to anyone who comes in, especially somebody running a political race for president or whatever? guest: this was not some geek off the street. this was a carefully chlorinated visit to the cemetery. it required multiple levels of coordination between the military district of washington, arlington national cemetery, joint base meyer henderson hall. this was not a last-minute decision to go do this. that could be sort of laughed

off as a misunderstanding. my understanding is that it was initially denied. it was escalated through the speaker of the house's office to make it a reality. represented brian mast debts representative brian mast was the sponsor the event. there is no way key people in the campaign and two set of congressmans' offices were not aware of the rules. they flagrantly disregarded them. host: jd vance has been one of those who pushed back against this. he was the lead for the trump campaign manager came to tim walz's record. he was a marine. here's what he said on wednesday when the controversy about arlington national cemetery first came up. [video] >> the altercation arlington cemetery is the media creating a story where i don't think there is one. there is verifiable evidence --

there is verifiable evidence that the campaign was allowed to have a photographer there. there is -- they were invited to have a photographer there. there is evidence the families of these four people who had their loved ones die for years ago at abbey gate, they had -- those 13 americans, a lot were there with the president. they invited him to be there and to support them. that is not an insult to the memories of their loved ones. they wanted donald trump there and thank god we have a president who stands with our veterans instead of ones who want -- one who runs away from them. host: that was jd vance on wednesday. the last point that the families wanted donald trump there. guest: the families. guest: when i listen to thatspet 13 sets of families invited mr. trump to arlington cemetery. two families did. and i don't think that's broadly

representative of all of the gold star families that lost the member on that day. and i think it's a little disingenuous for j.d. vance to suggest that, you know, this verifiable evidence -- i'm still waiting on a video to be released from the trump campaign -- host: initially saying they were going to release a video. guest: exactly. still waiting for that video. if they were allowed to have a photographer, it was for the wreath-laying. it certainly wasn't for any activities inside the cemetery and certainly not at the graveside. host: i'm going to let you chat with callers. ed, jacksonville, on the line for veterans and active duty. is that correct, ed? caller: yes, sir, that is. i'm a retired first sergeant army. served in vietnam as a trigger puller and deployed to afghanistan and iraq as national guard guy. currently i'm going to address the issue, i'm not going to

address politics here. but currently the guard seems to be overlooked when it comes to the benefits that they receive and that the active duty component far exceeds the guard. saying that, if people would look back, 50% of the iraq and afghanistan made up of the guard. so we're trained to get some parity as far as our benefits go in the sense that we don't get the same tricare or the benefits of the active duty and we shed the same blood as our active duty components. i would like to stick to that and not talk to -- host: can i ask you about your service? you searched in vietnam and afghanistan? caller: in iraq as well. yes, sir. host: how old were you in vietnam? caller: i think i was like 17 or 18, something like that, sir. host: and how old when you went to afghanistan and iraq?

caller: let's put it this way, they retired me when i got back from afghanistan. host: are there many people that you know who have served in those three places for the u.s. military? you have met anybody else who has done that? caller: no, sir. they referred to me as what they called the vietnam -- in vietnam they used to call me a lifer. host: thanks for the call. thanks for sharing your story. the question was on benefits and services for active duty versus guard. guest: unfortunately i'm not an expert on how the benefits are broken down by component. but what i will say is once you get a v.a. disability evaluation, they take into account -- he mentioned it doesn't matter what service you're in or what component you're in when you shed blood. the v.a. looks at it that way as well. and so when you put in for a v.a. disability, if you have a service-connected injury or wounding that occurred, you're

going to get the same fair shake that an active duty soldier, say lohr, airman -- sailor, airman, marine will get. host: do you think veterans' issues are getting enough attention in this campaign psychle? we've heard a lot about immigration and abortion, we've heard a lot about crime and the economy. where should veterans' issues fall and what is the major issues that veterans want addressed right now? guest: i would say that for this cycle i don't think we would have gotten as much attention as we have if it hadn't been for two vice presidential candidates having served in the post-9/11 era. that really opened the book on military service and, frankly, the discussions that have gone around, you know, ranks and awards and times of service i think has really broadened the conversation a little bit for the american people. and let people understand the

service and sacrifice that many americans have given to the country since 2001. i think that's great. in terms of big issues, toxic exposure is still really at to e top of the list. there are tens of thousands of americans who served in iraq and afghanistan in locations close to burn pits and those -- many of those service members returned back to the united states and developed some form of a cancer and had to fight the veterans' administration to have that cancer recognized as service-connected. the pact act, which is now two years old, is something that allows for some of those conditions to be considered presumptive. and if you have a certain type of cancer and you served in one of those locations, then it's presumed to be service-connected and your benefits start. that's a huge boone for veterans in the modern era. host: you pointed this out

before, that the next vice president will have military service, one current member of congress, one a form member of congress. just some more numbers for viewers to see. there's 96 veterans currently in congress. over 170 vetans have won a house or senate primary so far this year in this cycle in congress. back in 1973, nearly three in every four members of congress had some type of military rvice. now it's just over one in every six members of congress. your thoughts on that number changing in that short amount of time. guest: to be honest with you, that's what votevets wants. votevets wants to put more veterans into congress, more democratic veterans, of course, but to have a broader and wider representation of our service members, our military families, to have the power of the purse and help guide this country in the direction that it needs to go, to care for the veterans and the families that have given so much for this country in the last 20 years.

host: this is lisa waiting in alexandria, virginia. independent. just across the river. go ahead. you're on with mike lavigne. caller: hi, mike lavigne. i just want to say to you that you'd have to be asleep to not have seen presidential candidates visiting arlington cemetery prior to this incident with trump and i think that right now it's time for us to focus on how veterans are surviving in this economy and how they're not and how they're killing themselves. so for you to be on here this morning and that's your topic of discussion because i heard you say you don't know anything about specifics of the v.a. and how they handle their claims, then that tells me that you came on today to play politics and i'm tired of special interest groups playing politics with our veterans' issues. get to the issues of veterans.

host: what's your response? guest: i appreciate that, lisa. so the presidential visit side, obviously we've seen plenty of pictures that get thrown up in response to the trump visit, president obama graveside or president biden graveside and the difference between president biden and president obama graveside is those are -- you can look at those men's faces and see the reverence they have for the ground they're on. the imagery is acquired, processed and delivered by the department of defense or by the white house. officially released. they're not used in partisan political ads. they're released to show commanders in chief comforting the families of the fallen. and to lisa's point about these other issues surrounding the veteran community, suicide is one of the largest ones. the number 22 is thrown around,

it's actually gotten a little bit larger in past years. but -- host: 22 what? guest: 22 veterans per day commit suicide. that's a massive issue and it's something that there's a collective effort between veteran service organizations, the military services and community organizations to try to bring this group together, this disparate group together and find solutions to keep people from taking their lives. host: this is thomas in new jersey. republican, good morning. caller: yeah, good morning. how you doing, everyone? listen, mike, are you familiar with the national guard, the female national guard who got killed by a drone that was hidden behind another drone coming in to land? and it killed her. well, if you are -- host: where did this take place to*rpblgs? caller: i think it was in iraq. it was about like a year ago. a young black woman, national

guard, we were bringing a drone in and behind it the enemy had a drone hidden behind that drone and that killed the girl. are you familiar with that? guest: no. host: is this -- the base in syria, is this what you're talking about? the outpost? caller: in syria. it happened about a year ago or less. guest: i know what he's talking about. host: what's your question? caller: the drone that was hidden behind our drone, where do you think that drone came from, my friend? host: what are you hitting at, thomas? what's your point? caller: my point is the drone came from obama. the democrats gave the terrorists all the information on how to build our drones and they gave them billions of dollars to kill americans. host: how did they do that, thomas? thomas hung up. anything you want to speak to? guest: not really. host: gerald, dayton, ohio. democrat. good morning.

caller: good morning. i was calling more so as a veteran than partisanship. but i am -- i have been registered democrat. my question is more of addressing the benefits for veterans. just to piggyback on the veteran call from florida who served in vietnam. and afghanistan. is that often congress and even active duty people do not understand and realize how big of a gap there is between the benefits that guards members get, even state by state it can vary, versus what active duty gets. and like he said, been called upon to serve and help out alongside active duty counterparts and we're not necessarily advocated -- host: you're guard in ohio?

caller: yes. in the past. yes. host: how many years were you in the guard and what do you do now? caller: over 10 years. and i still have -- now i do more -- work for a private company doing research. host: how did you make that transition from military to full time civilian life? caller: because i've been in the guard i got to always go back and forth working as a civilian while being military. but we're called upon to serve like several years on active duty and going back to my regular job. so i've had that fluidity of going from civilian to military life. host: thanks for sharing your story from ohio. anything you want to pick up on? guest: i do know that, you know, in particular state missions, so, for example, the texas border mission where texas national guard members are activated in support of securing

the border between texas and mexico, those guardsmen, because they're activated for a state mission and not a federal mission, their time doesn't count toward retirement. health care doesn't kick in. there's certain pay and benefits that also aren't activated. i agree -- host: does that happen when there's a natural disaster, a hurricane that comes in and the national guard gets called in, the same thing? guest: it's always going to depend. whether it's a federal activation or the governor calls them up. so i agree that there should be a hard look at what benefits are offered based on particularly long-term call-ups like i believe it's operation lone star that's in texas but that's been going on for quite some time. host: is that a mission that you are critical of? at votevets, or is that a necessary mission? guest: we haven't taken a position on it but personally if i was a guardsman in the state of texas, i would be looking to be elsewhere, where i know my

time in uniform would not only help my state but also help make sure that i get the benefits that i've earned while i'm wearing that uniform. host: to john in maryland. good morning. caller: good morning, good morning, good morning. host: what's your question or comment, john? caller: my question is this. why is it that everybody seems to think that -- [indiscernible] -- interest of our veterans. let's be honest here. trump is not a republican. he's maga. maga republican is two different things. he called out -- -p it's been documented and proven from his -- he said it. just a couple weeks ago he bragged that the taliban called him -- [indiscernible] -- this is on him. he made the deal. he made a deal with the taliban

without having any afghan government input so why would they fight and why should we stay and fight for them? i'm sorry the servicemen lost their lives but belief in those 5,000 taliban, that pretty much put the country into turmoil. host: got your point. mike lavigne on the afghanistan withdrawal. guest: i want to go to his initial point about care for veterans and maga. so, you know, the project 2025 report that's come out from the heritage foundation, it clearly lays out some steps in their veteran section where they plan to reform the veterans' health administration and the veteran benefits administration. to the point where they want to remove medical care for anything that is not service-connected. a big part of that is reproductive health care, gender affirming care and maternal

care. so if you got a 10% valuation from the v.a. and you can get health care for a turned ankle from a drop zone at fort bragg in 1995, but you also have congested heart failure, you're on your own for the heart failure. they'll take care of the ankle under this plan. that's just really breaking the faith with veterans who signed on the line and said that they would do whatever the nation needed them to do in a time of war. host: to bob in atlanta, georgia. republican. good morning, you're next. caller: good morning, john. and to your guest. by the way, john, next to greta, you're my favorite host. anyway -- host: thanks, bob. caller: i served in the fourth infantry division in 1970 and 1971 and how can you sit there and stomach obg what the last guest said about the awful withdrawal from afghanistan? how can you be a democrat and take the same oath i took to defend this country when we have an invasion at the southern border for the past three years?

you don't sound like that you have any patriotism left in you. go ahead and answer -- host: there were two things there, right? defending the withdrawal in afghanistan and the invasion at the southern border. host: those were his two main issues. guest: the withdrawal, i got to be honest. afghanistan has the fingerprints of both administrations. both parties, administrations. four administrations worth of presidents. and so to blame it all on president biden is really just disingenuous. obviously some bad decisions had been made under the biden administration for the withdrawal. that's -- i think that's reasonable for anyone to say. conditions were set during the trump administration that led to where we found ourselves in 2021. and frankly, from 2002 until the doha agreement, it was almost a

hot potato. handed off time and time again between administrations and leaders. i don't think that anyone can really hold the blame for afghanistan. it's shared. what we have to do is lay down the understanding of what happened and move forward. and that's going to hurt for a lot of people. there's a lot of gold star families that feel like their loved ones' sacrifice was meaningless after leaving afghanistan behind and i feel for them and i understand how they feel. but at the end of the day, what happened happened and we have to move on. host: immigration, southern border, was the other issue. guest: as far as the invasion goes, i mean, i love that term because we collectively, democrats proposed and president biden led a bipartisan agreement to control the border. and the house killed it because

that's what mr. trump wanted. so for anyone to claim that this is all at the feet of a democratic administration, again, is just beyond the pale. host: to the caller's last statement before we hung up the phone, questioning your patriotism. i want to bring it to a broader issue of questioning the patriotism of other americans in this country. especially in this election cycle, how quick we are right now to do that to the other side. how do we fix that? is that something that you see happening more today than it happened in the past? guest: absolutely. and i mean, it's social media. right? i think we have all entered into our own silos of information where we hear the things that we want to hear, we experience our own confirmation bias every single day by the people we

follow and the people we engage with on social media. by the networks we watch. and i think that there's been a hardening of those partisan lines, particularly in the last four to eight years. where we just don't want to have honest and open exchanges of information anymore. we want to call names, we want to use the talking points that have been fed to us and i think we're all the poorer for it. host: what's the armed forces network? guest: that's the broadcasting network that services service members and families overseas, since the world war ii era. broadcasting american information, news and entertainment to troops and civilians serving overseas. host: you worked there for how long? guest: i spent four years overseas and then two years back here in d.c. doing it. host: how does the armed forces network try to not get caught up

in what you were just describing, we watch our own television stations that give us the information that we want to hear and silo us from hearing other information, what was the approach at the armed forces network to try to present information to members of the military and their familys? guest: i don't want to date myself too much here but my time at a.f.n. was mostly in the pre-social media era. so everyone got the majority of their information -- i mean, there was internet but you weren't getting fed things on twitter and facebook. and so i would say that when you sort of have a can'tive audience, you have to do -- captive audience, you have to do your absolute best to represent a balanced view of everything. so if you're going to play rush limbaugh, you're going to play something on the other side of the partisan -- host: this is with the armed forces network? guest: right and television. for every fox news show, there's going to be a cnn or an msnbc

show. to balance out all of that programming. so that nobody feels too talked to by a certain side. and i would say that we saw success because we got complaints from both sides. so if everybody's complaining you're probably doing something right. host: do you get the sense that members of the military today get most of their information, some of their information, from the armed forces network, or do members of the military fall into the same trap as you were describing of getting into your social media feed and then being siloed again? guest: i don't want to get too much hate mail from the current generation of a.f.n. guys so i don't want to go too deep but i will say the modern era is streaming. you're getting your information, you're getting your entertainment through streaming services. you're very likely getting your news through either satellite radio or some type of stream. a.f.n. still has a huge mission and a purpose.

noncombatant evacuation operation. so if something happens in south korea, the first place you're going to hear about orders to go to a certain location to evacuate south korea is through a.f.n. host: about five minutes left. let me get to more callers. jacklin is a veteran, baldwin, georgia. when and where did you serve? caller: i spent seven years in active army and the rest of my time was in the army national guard, full time. i was mobilization officer and i did the deployments of thousands of army national guardsmen. and women. and something, when vice president harris picked tim walz, she could not have picked a better person in this world to support our veterans. he's command sergeant major and i hear people say he's sergeant

major. no, he's a command sergeant major. and he is the one who i can't wait to talk to personally to talk about the suicide of veterans. in 2005 the new england journal of medicine published that 30% of deployed soldiers will have ptsd and 2% commit suicide. last year over 8,000 soldiers committed suicide. and the v.a. is not taking care of this problem. they're putting them in the mental ward for three days, giving them a bunch of medications that make them more suicidal, and then they come out, give them a case worker for a week and nothing is done. somebody needs to do something. i have been to the state capitol talking to senators in atlanta about this and the veteran department says they don't have

money for this. there is money for this. so somebody needs to do something about soldiers being suicidal. it's ridiculous. host: thanks -- caller: and i cannot wait to talk to command sergeant major tim walz. about this issue. personally. host: thanks, jacklin. baldwin, georgia. thanks for the call. guest: so jacklin's spot on. the suicide is really an epidemic. and there needs to be some serious measures taken to stem this tied. 8,000 last year was unacceptable. one is terrible but 8,000 is unbelievable. veteran service organizations, community organizations, whole of government approach, there are ways to make this happen. i think it's going to take a little bit more time, energy and attention and having governor

walz in the office of the vice president i think would be a phenomenal step toward putting someone that has sort of a stake in this, skin in the game, if you will, to really push that effort downfield. i totally agree with what you say about governor walz because walz was a 24-year noncommissioned officer. the job of a noncommissioned officer, i was myself, the job of the noncommissioned officer is to care for shoulders and families and here's a guy who took that love and affection for his soldiers and their families and knew that he could do something bigger and better and when he chose to run for congress, he was able to care for service members and their families at a much broader scale than he ever could have as the battalion command sergeant major of a field battalion.

host: line for republicans, allen, you're on with mike lavigne. caller: am i on? host: that's you, allen. go ahead. caller: i would just like to ask the gentleman one simple question. and that is, if president trump hadn't have gone to arlington to honor the 12 veterans, hello? host: we're listening. if he hadn't gone to arlington to honor the veterans? caller: who would have gone from the -- representing the army and the dignitaries that we have in this country? who would have gone if trump hadn't have gone? guest: thanks for the question. i don't know. i don't work for the white house. my understanding is the invitation that was extended to mr. trump specifically stated that the president and the vice

president were not invited and would be turned away if they arrived. so it just seems a little odd for people to say where was the president or where was kamala harris when they weren't invited to start with. and as far as memorializations and recognition of the anniversary, that's best for the family. what gold star family member wants the dog and pony show showing up at their child or their husband or their father's gravesite when the day for honoring and revering our fallen, it falls to that gold star family. that's not a political event. it's something for families to experience. host: one last call, this is paula in illinois, independent, good morning. you're on with mike lavigne. caller: yeah, hi, i'm here. all right. my dad was a world war ii veteran for the army air corps

on a v-17 tail gunnar. he had his hearing affected because of that so i did take him many times to the v.a. to get health care for his hearing problem. when i read about project 2025 where they are going to shut down -- they want to shut down and dismantle the v.a. hospitals, veterans' health care, and anybody who has had a problem and they haven't reported it in a 10-year where time period, they will be elimb eliminated from that care. they want to privatize all the veterans for their health care. so elimination of v.a. hospitals, health care, to go to the private sector. your regular hospitals and your regular clinics, but there's 10 years' limit on it is disgusting. i also want to bring up about trump, arlington, with the thumbs up, that was despicable. and in addition, the afghan thing, trump shut down all the airbases except one which

crippled the afghanistan exit. host: that's paula in illinois. minute and a half left. what do you want to pick up on? guest: totally agree on her last point. no question there at all. i concur with her assessment of the arlington cemetery appearance as well. we've kind of asked and answered. the v.a., you know, there's a broad hand waving project in 2025 that wants to push community care over in-clinic care at the veterans' administration and the part that is just going over the heads of policy writers at the that is ge heads of policy writers at the haired -- heritage foundation is they don't have the capacity to absorb the millions of veterans that get care through the v.a.. i just think it is a little bit off the wall to just say, well, they are going to get better care in the community when if those providers aren't there, they are going to go from perhaps getting mediocre care are not the level of care they might need for their particular

issue. host: mike levine is the senior advisor at the organization. we appreciate the time this morning. 30 minutes left in the program, we will turn the phones over to you. it is our open forum. now is the time to call in. the phone numbers are on your screen. start calling in now and we will get to the calls right after the break. ♪ >> today, watching c-span's 2024 campaign trail, a weekly round of c-span's campaign coverage, providing a one stop stop to what candidates across the country are saying to voters in -- along with first-hand accounts of political reporters, fundraising data and campaign ads. watch c-span's 2024 campaign

trail today at 7:30 p.m. eastern on c-span, online at c-span.org or download as a podcast on c-span now, our free mobile app or wherever you get your podcasts. c-span, your unfiltered view of politics. >> book a tv every sunday on c-span two features leading authors discussing the latest nonfiction books. at 2:00 p.m. eastern, stephen hale retraces the lives of inmates on death row and the people who visit them at the riverbend national security institution in tennessee in his bookdeath row welcomes you." then former congressman tulsi gabbard talks about why she left the democratic pay d became an independent. beginning at 8:00 p.m.we will feature books on the january 6

riot at the capitol. also followed by a book on sling the air force veteran and the other women who participated in the riot. watch book tv every sunday on c-span to invent a full schedule on your program guide or watch online anytime at ok tv.org. >> house will be in order. >> this year, c-span celebrates 45 years of covering congress like no other. since 1979, we have been your primary source for capitol hill, presenting balance, unfiltered view of government, taking you to where the policies are debated and decided, all with the support of cable companies.

c-span, 45 years and counting, powered by cable. >> "washington journal" continues. host: time for our open forum, any public policy issue or political issue you want to talk about. phone lines for republicans, democrats and independents as usual. today, 1245 p.m. eastern, and event, conservative media commentator sebastian gorka on parental rights and education hosted by mounds for liberty. that is live at 12:45 p.m. eastern. later in the day, former president trump is going to talk with amounts for liberty cofounder. we will air that a8: p.m. eastern here on c-span, c-span.org and the free c-span w app. live coverage of the former president's comments at the

amounts were liberty summit this evening. i wanted to let you know some of the news fm washington on inflation numbers in the cotry. the inflation measure closely tracked by the federal reserve remained low last month extending a trend of cooling price increases that cleared the way for the fed to start cutting the interest rate next month for the first time in 4.5 years. they note prices rose slightly from the previous month increase compared with a year earlier, where inflation was unchanged at 2.5%. the numbers out from the commerce department today. this is jimmy up first in maryville, tennessee, line four at democrats. caller: good morning. how are you? host: i am doing well. caller: i just want to talk

about the economy. a lot of people give up biden and harris a lot of credit about the economy and about the interest rates coming down and everything. if you go back to world war ii, democratic presidents have done better on the economy then republican president. the labor people who have endorsed harris, i believe what they said about trump that wanted to destroy the unions when he was president. i just think a lot of people just need to do a lot of research about what i am talking about. host: what you think about the

trump-vance outreach to unions in particular this article? caller: i mean, i think a lot of the union laborers are turned off on trump the way he had done them when he was president caused plans to shut down in michigan and ohio and i agree that we don't need to go back. host: to richmond, virginia, kendra, independent. caller: and greta are my favorite hosts on c-span washington journal. i'm african-american and independent. regarding the harris interview, she was looking down while talking and often not making eye contact? what was that about?

what was that about. i saw the camera angle did it change where it intentionally showed the table they were sitting at. was that to prove notes were t on the table after the notes were removed? to the c-span washington journal watchers i have a question, on all of the guests that come on "washington journal, do you ever remember them looking down to answer questions? you had an african-american woman under the age of 30 on a few weeks ago and she wasn't looking down while answering questions. so why would a woman running for president be looking down like a woman caught in a lie. the outcome of the debate will be very unfair for trump because he will not be able to go at

heard the way she can go at him. host: what do you mean by that? caller: anything he said will be turned around as against women or racist. for instance, another reason why the news media and journalists are afraid to question her, they have a lot of concerns about her but unfortunately, anyone who is not black basically has to be very careful, almost like stepping on egg shells when saying something against her. host: do you think donald trump should debate her? caller: he should debate her and i congratulate him for that but i don't think it will be fair because it will be spun around by the media that he can't go at her the way she can go after her. this gives her an upper hand,

just like barack obama. journalists can't say certain things about her, like it will be spun around. when you put your capabilities it is spun by the media and celebrities as a racist comment. host: got your point. this is margaret out of pine bluff wyoming, independent. caller: good morning. i watched only parts of the harris-tim walz what you might call an interview. i would like for the american women, black, white, asian, whatever, please think about what it is you are really voting for when you say you want harris as president, because once again, she will continue the policies that biden started.

biden operated outside of constitutional law by opening the border through executive fiat. harris will continue all of its and you pro-abortion ladies, i don't know where you are coming from with this pro-abortion being equated with freedom, because freedom is not having to answer government. that to me is freedom. host: to jason, fort wayne, indiana, democrat. caller: good morning. i wanted to talk about, i was trying to get on with mike levine. i wanted to point out the previous caller was talking about politicians who lie. i am glad she is concerned about politicians who lie. donald trump told a lie in 2019

directly to the troops when he was addressing the troops in iraq after christmas. he gave a speech to them in which he bragged that he had gotten them the biggest payraise in their history, a 10% pay raise. it was a complete and total ally. at the same pay raise every year they always get, about 2.5%, they never got even close to a 10 percent raise and he looked them right in the eye and lied to their face. it is disgraceful. it is against federal law and a disgrace. when people say the families invited him there, two families invited him there. there has already been a family of one of the troops, a special forces member, his gravestone

was in the picture and they said they did not get permission for that and it is a disgrace they are using it for the campaign. no other president would do this. he is not fit to be commander in chief and president of the united states. host: where did you serve? caller: i was in the army. i was stationed at fort hood and was a parachute rigger and we supported special forces, resumes and arbery -- army national reserves. i always say the same thing tim walz says, i got more out of the army than they got out of me. i am proud of my service and proud to be a veteran and i never want donald trump to be commander-in-chief again. host: what does a parachute rigger do? caller: rigging supply loads for air drops. we's drop jeeps and could even

drop a old sheraton tanks and also packing the personnel parachute for airborne troops to jump out of airplanes. host: you mentioned the incident at arlington national summit. it came up in the pentagon briefing yesterday. it was about two minutes long yesterday exchange with the pentagon press secretary and reporters. [video clip] >> what happened? >> it was a verbal assault and who did what? >> army said an employee who attempted to ensure adherence to the rules was pushed aside pretty employee acted with professionalism and decorum but there was a bit of an incident that happened. >> there is a potential assault charges that the person has

decided not to bring but also federal law broken, filming a campaign ad or using campaign propaganda with the backdrop of the cemetery. can't the department referred that to the justice department for pursuit? >> yes, that can happen but that is a decision the army would have to make an my understanding is the army is considering the matter closed. just to get the broader question on political ads, that is not something the department has a say over. for anything used in an ad, i would refer you to the campaigns. >> federal law not to use what was essentially a base controlled by this department and the defense secretary could overrule the army. why is he deciding not to overrule them? >> what we want to focus on is

the fact that the people that work at the arlington national cemetery every day do so with dignity, work to preserve the memories of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice and ultimately work with the families visit arlington national cemetery. there are nearly 3000 public ceremonies conducted at arlington national cemetery every single year without incident. the rules and regulations are a very clear. what happened earlier this week is very unfortunate. it is really the decision for the army to make and to pursue any other path forward. the department is not doing that and we stand behind the army and consider this matter closed. 2 that was yesterday at the pentagon briefing. back to phone calls. 14 minutes left in the program. we expect a brief pro forma

session in a house and that is where you take us if you state where we end here. this is loose in oklahoma, republican. good morning. caller: i am a vietnam veteran and my job was the missions we went out on we would stay two months 24/7. we got a hot meal once a week. the rest of the time it is eating with a minute. whoever ends up as president i would like to update the v8 benefits, especially dental care. there is no excuse for us not to have a care as a veteran of this country through that is all i've got to say. thank you. host: gene is in louisville, kentucky, democrat.

caller: i am a veteran. i was in germany. the one caller was right that barack obama did send money for the planes to fly over to afghanistan and fly over to iraq and fly back to the united states. a lot of soldiers died over heroin in all. i am going through a lot of stuff here and i am a veteran and i am being tortured by the feds in the local police in louisville. host: how are you being tortured? caller: the fbi kidnapped me and had sex with my wife. host: ted in minneapolis,

minnesota, independent. caller: i would like to bring up the fact that this commander in chief, donald trump, actually denigrated the medal of honor by saying that the medal of freedom which was handed out many times to civilian award. the fact that donald trump said that the medal of honor is on the same equal basis of the medal of freedom, actually he said it was more better than because you never got killed over there is an absolute disgrace to this country. i cannot believe that every veteran in this country is just sick to their stomach thinking about donald trump or what he has said about the military.

thank you very much. host: tom, woodbridge. caller: there are so many topics that have been talked about especially in regard to the last guest you had. i am a 32 year plus veteran and i was in afghanistan with special forces in afghanistan with special forces and a career intelligence analyst. i have been doing this for years and years and an politically active in virginia. it is just infuriating to me how ignorant democrats can be about things like trump wanted the border wall before there was a problem and now all of a sudden the democrats think because trump opposed a bill that was

going to supposedly build a border wall that he is somehow the bad guy and they were the ones saving the country. he was trying to do that before the democrats. kamala harris let millions of illegal immigrants into the country and overflowing schools and hospitals and housing. people just don't understand how ignorant that is. with regard to trump, first of all, go and look at all of the things, educate your self on all the things donald trump did for veterans. i can't even list it. i will be posting it tonight for all the things he has done for veterans. he has not denigrated veterans. he has said things that are taken out of context. everyone knows how donald trump talks. he loves veterans and i know and have many veterans who have

stood alongside him and he is an advocate for veterans. anyone who believes otherwise is an idiot. the medal of honor and medal of freedom statement is again taken out of context. the arlington cemetery thing was not a campaign event. he was asked to come by the families of the veterans, military service members who were killed at abbey gate and he was there to honor their sacrifice. i personally warned my congressman's national security team as that is exactly what the taliban were going to do in the days of our departure from afghanistan. that attack was a psychological operation and a photo op event for the taliban so they could

say they defeated the united states and drove them out of afghanistan, just like they did the soviets. i warned they would do exactly that. host: a few more calls left. this is tony in fort lauderdale florida, independent. caller: good morning. i am an immigrant and have been here five decades but i owe so much to the military and service people who made it possible for me to enjoy the life i do. every service person who mistakes their record, if you think that your service was not good enough, even if you were a cook, your service is as value as anybody else's. if you think your service was

not good enough, trying to make it seem more than it was, that is a spit in the face of the millions who have served this country. half a good day. host: this -- have a good day. host: this is orion, north carolina, republican. -- this is ryan, north carolina, republican. caller: i would like to express my backing of donald trump and the reason why. i don't know how anyone can sit back and know the open borders has let so many illegals through. this morning i saw some homework breaking into apartment homes with machine guns held to their heads. they don't know what they are

going to do about that situation. host: are you talking about watching the news? caller: as soon as i turned it on i was on fox news and they were showing it where there was a gang of venezuelans illegals, who had guns and were going literally busting doorknobs off of doors breaking in on these people and throwing them out of their own homes. my thing is, i tried to be open minded and give credit where it is due. it is what i struggle with. with being a republican and donald trump building that wall, when joe biden got in office the very first day he stopped the wall from being built. they started flooding in and this is because of kamala harris

and the biden policy. i sit on tv and see protesters burning the american flag and all of the veterans calling in that served in the national guard and armies and military, you have seen it too. you have seen our flag being burned and being taken down and the palestinian flag, everybody for hamas. this is unacceptable. host: that is a in north carolina -- leanne in north carolina. we wanted to let viewers know that today is our founder's brian lamb, last day at c-span. it was his revolutionary idea to put congress to the american

public with use of cable and satellite radio and television and he did that starting back in 1979. he hosted the first call in in 1980 and it was that call in that eventually led to the "washington journal." before we go we wanted to show him a 44 years ago on that first call in. [video clip] >> this is the first time we have tried this. you'll notice what is sitting next to me. when we go from here to the satellite, 22,000 miles up and down and light travels faster than sound and there is a delay. our telephone number here in washington is area code 202-783-2651. that is 202-783-2651.

and for those of you who would like to give us a call, we will answer the calls as they come in . i see we have a couple. ask us any questions. i will rely on my experts about any aspect of our coverage of this campaign or what the chairman of the federal communications had to say or any facet of broadcasting or communications industry. i think we have a couple of calls coming in. what is the name? hello, yes sir. caller: this is bob in south

dakota. host: go ahead. caller: should i build a dish and put it in my yard with a satellite? host: brian lamb has been a mentor and friend to all of us at c-span. the rumor is he never said his own name on air. i am not sure if that is true but i know he never made this network about him but made it about giving americans access to and a voice in their government. the good news is that he will continue to host his book notes plus podcast and we hope you will download and listen. for today we was a fair winds and following seas to brian. we will miss you. and that will do it for us this friday morning on the "washington journal. we will see you back tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. eastern, 4:00 a.m. pacific.

we will take it to the united states capitol, for a brief pro forma session set to get underway momentarily. [captioning made possible by th, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]