i'm margaret brennan and on this memorial day weekend, we'll take a look at some american traditions and the challenges those traditions face in the modern era. this weekend included one sure sign of summer. the presidential commencement speech at west point. this year it was delivered with words of warning. >> freedom is not free. it requires constant vigilance.

from the very beginning, nothing is guaranteed about our democracy in america. the late may tornado rampage continued overnight with intense twisters touching down in at least three states. how will severe weather exacerbated by climate change impact what is expected to be a busy summer travel season we'll ask transportation secretary pete buttigieg. israeli forces press on in rafah coming up on the eight-month mark. the u.s. built floating pier off the coast of gaza is finally up and running but the military is struggling to maintain it and to get humanitarian aid to desperate palestinians. we'll have the latest from the region. plus, an update on immigration, border crossings for this time of year are atypically down, but the push for border reforms continues. we'll talk to connecticut democratic senator chris murphy

and texas republican congressman tony gonzales. on this memorial day weekend, a bipartisan conversation with two veteran in congress and their annual tribute to fallen soldiers at the vietnam memorial. it's their way of putting the partisanship aside. >> it's not just that we have -- we agree on everything or having served as a silver bullet as a legislator, but we have the commonalty of service and that matters. >> it's all just ahead on "face the nation". ♪ good morning. and welcome to "face the nation" on this memorial day weekend. where we honor those americans who died in service and reflect on what any fought for. those principles are nearly 250 years old, and are becoming increasingly challenged by political forces these days. politic was set aside thursday

morning, at least long enough for a group of house members, all veterans, who are part of the four country caucus, to join the annual cleanup of the vietnam veterans memorial ahead of the holiday weekend. we asked mike waltz and new york democrat pat ryan about the annual tradition for the caucus. >> once i got elected, you know, and i saw the acrimony and the infighting, i said, you know, let's get a group of veterans together, people who really have skin in the game. i think it's important for the american people to see, to see us honoring our forefather, to see us where democrat, republican, black, white, brown, none of that matters. it just matters that we're all americans, we're all veterans and we're honoring those that came before us. >> this is the most powerful thing i've done in congress, truly. it's very emotional. and it's -- it's positive. i mean, there's so many divisive forces and so to get together

with fellow veterans, all services, all generations, and just actually do something with your hands that improves the world, that honors our veterans, that prepares this memorial for hundreds of thousands of americans that are going to come here this weekend, it's really -- it's an honor. >> who are you thinking of this memorial day weekend? >> i think about actually one of my soldiers who i brought home from my first 12-month deployment and then tragically succumbed to the invisible wounds of war and took his own life. sergeant keith nuwiki. i think it's important we talk about that, too, because now we have more post-9/11 veterans that have taken their own lives, post-service, than gave their lives during service, and that's something else that we're working on together. >> yeah. i think of my uncle who was a vietnam helicopter pilot. greg waltz. he survived, but he's told me about the people that are on

this wall, and even though he survived, to this day, unfortunately, he's very bitter about how he was treated when they came home. sergeant matt pachino one of my green berets we lost in afghanistan. he volunteered to go on point every single mission, and eventually a trip wire ied killed him. i think about him, i think about his family, and i have to say, i think pat would agree with me, survivor's guilt is a very real thing. why him and not me? he was my responsibility, as were the other green berets that didn't bring home. i tell myself, i look in the mirror every time, every morning before goy into the capitol and tell myself to be worthy. you know, be worthy of that sacrifice, and our charge, i think, as leaders, as elected leaders, is to comport ourselves in a way that's worthy of their sacrifice in front of the american people. >> you mentioned that stunning statistic, what, 7,000 service

members died in the war since 9/11, but it's 6,000 veterans every single year since 2001 who have sucommed to suicide. do you think that the government and american taxpayers are doing enough to address this? >> we're not doing enough. we don't have the urgency. it needs to be a national problem. it needs to be a problem at every american recognizes as theirs because these are the small percentage of the american people who have put their life on the line and ultimately given their life. it's such a small percentage. it's about 1% of the american population, and there's just too much of a disconnect. i think that's a big part of the reason why we see people coming home from service and feeling alone, even surrounded in their hometowns, feeling alone, because they can't relate. so there's so many aspects to solving it, but it can't -- the government has to do a whole lot more. the whole country has to come into memorial day weekend and,

yes, you can celebrate, but please, take a moment and think about the names on this wall, the names on your local hometown memorial, the names on the memorial bracelets of the veterans you see, ask them about it, ask them to tell you those stories. we should be sharing those stories. >> you're working on legislation together to try to expand health care coverage for the children of veterans until age 26. do you have pledge from leadership to move this any time soon? >> we've been having this fight in this country for longer than both of our time in congress. we've been working together with this caucus of bipartian military veterans to apply pressure because if we don't apply that pressure, don't shine the spotlight on this problem, it will get sort of stuck in the dysfunction of the congress right now. >> i do think we'll get it through. at the end of the day it's becoming a recruiting and retention problem when service members can't have their kids covered. that's becoming an issue for the pentagon, we're working with them to make it a priority and working with leadership to make it a priority and get it paid for. >> it's hundreds of thousands of

military service members and their families, right now in this country, that don't have the same health care coverage as other americans. that is outrageous. >> what do you think your past service does for your thinking? why do you think it's important for leadership? >> it's essential to have people who have been on the receiving end of foreign policy at the table, especially with 58,000 names behind us, to keep in mind that every one of these decisions has tremendous human consequences for the service members, for their families, and there's not enough of that right now. >> why do you think the numbers serving is so low? it's less than 1% of the population is active duty. >> yes. in congress, at least we're getting the number up close to 20%. >> we increased it for the first time in 40 years, this congressional cycle. >> in terms of the divide between 99% of americans who aren't serving and the 1%, that

is deeply problematic, as a democracy. when you lose touch between those that are fighting our wars and their families and everyone else, that's something so essential that we have to figure out how to bring folks together and get more folks serving, so again, another thing that we're focused on. a lot of work we did last night on the defense bill is recruiting. every service has been challenged on recruiting numbers. we've been pushing in a bunch of directions to say that is not acceptable to the department of defense and we're starting to see the numbers come up. >> service doesn't just have to be in the military. one of the things that we're both adamant and advocates of is, getting us back to national service as a country. that's not a draft. that doesn't necessarily have to be in uniform. it could be with the national park. inner city tutoring, elderly care. how do we get young people out in an environment where they're learning leadership, disciplineship, serving a cause bigger than themselves, and with fellow americans who may look or

come from the same backgrounds as them? i think there's ways we can incentivize that. people are talking about giving away college or eliminating debt. how about the taxpayer gets in exchange for that in terms of service? you graduate high school, you go serve a year or two, maybe it's fema, maybe it's the peace corps and then you get some type of benefit. i think we need to rethink service as a country. >> i was looking at a pentagon study that said 1 in 4 active duty service members suffer food insecurity. and then within that subset over 120,000 dealing with extreme food insecurity. how is that possible is in america right now? >> it's a disgrace. we have soldiers, i have this in my unit when we were deployed, overseas n combat, their families were home on food stamps. using snap benefits. so one of the things we've done in the last several years is raise baseline pay

significantly. >> the most junior. >> for the most junior soldiers the most left behind right now, raise housing, basic allowance for housing, housing costs are so high, so bringing up housing and the quality of life in barracks. thinking about all the elements of a family's cost. like that's why this health care bill is so important because health insurance is such a driver of that pressure, so again, if the american people knew you had people putting their life on the line for the country, not able to put food on the table, we have to wake people up and stop focusing -- mine some of the -- with respect to our colleagues, some of the tenor and the tone, is disgraceful. whether you think about the urgency of just that problem we just talked about. we've got to examine together. >> "face the nation" will be back in one minute. stay with us. to take better control of your diabetes.

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correspondent imtiaz tyab reporting from east jerusalem. >> reporter: israeli police crack down hard as protesters gathered in central tel aviv to demand the government reach a deal to bring the hostages home. with divisions among israelis only deepening over prime minister netanyahu's handling of the war, diplomatic efforts to broker a hostage release will continue this week four sources with knowledge told cbs news, efforts which can't come soon enough for alli, whose brother yousef and hamza were abducted on october 7th. i want to talk to netanyahu, he says, and tell him there's no victory without first bringing the hostages back. belongs to a muslim bedouin community close to the barrier wall with gaza, while israeli citizens, their towns are often neglected by the government. >> it's so important for you to stop the war as well as release the hostages. not everybody feels that way in

israel. >> reporter: you can't release the hostages if there's a war, he says. what has eight months of war achieved? it's a disaster, and disaster brings more disaster. something aid agencies say is currently unfolding in rafah where israel has sharply ramped up its offensive there after the netanyahu government dismissed an order by the u.n.'s top court to stop its military campaign in the southern city to protect civilian life. as desperately needed humanitarian supplies continue to only trickle off the $320 million u.s. military constructed pier, which has been plagued by the problem after problem, since becoming operational a little over one week ago. and the latest problem for the pier saw a small u.s. vessel along with part of the dock become stuck on israel's ashdodd shore because of rough seas and as the u.n. estimates just 15%

of the aid needed for the over 2 million people facing famine in gaza, is currently getting in. >> that was imtiaz tyab. we're joined now by connecticut democratic senator chris murphy. good morning. >> good morning. >> i want to start here on the middle east. at the president's national security adviser said so far israel has been targeted an limited in what they're doing in southern gaza. the u.s. is watching to see whether there's a lot of death and destruction from this operation, or if it is more precise and proportional. are you clear on what the red line is here? >> well, what we know is that there's a humanitarian disaster unfolding right now in and around rafah. we have not been able to get in significant shipments of humanitarian aid, and so no matter how many people are dying from israeli military operations, there are people dying every single day from an inability to access food and medicine. this is ultimately accruing to

the benefit, not the detriment, of terrorist recruiting. that's my big worry here. there's a moral cost to the number of civilians that are dying inside of gaza, but when you continue to withhold food and aid from the people, that ultimately makes these terrorist causes stronger, not just in israel, but around the world. our own intelligence experts have told us that this is having a generational impact on terrorism, and so for many of us that want israel to bring this military operation to a close and focus on the future political settlement inside gaza, it is in part because we worry that this is a boon to terrorism, to terrorism groups growing all around the world. >> right. the national security adviser was suggesting there that the line hasn't been crossed yet. >> well -- >> looking at whether there's a lot of death and destruction. there is a heck of a lot of death and destruction. >> yes, which is why i am amongst many of my colleagues who have called on israel to pause military operations to try to get this humanitarian

nightmare under control, and to take the time to come up with a realistic solution for what gaza looks like after the fighting stops. what you have seen in the past few weeks is that as israel clears out of certain areas, like northern gaza, hamas is just filling back in because there's no viable plan for governance. israel has to take the time to both be less cavalier about the humanitarian costs but also come up with a plan for what gaza looks like after the fighting stops, and the fighting is going to stop at in some point. >> >> i understand the intention behind being the pier, three soldiers injured, the thing is breaking apart because of rough seas, it's insufficient to need. was it a mistake to do this? >> it wasn't a mistake. there's nothing -- >> not even fully being delivered. >> there will be rough moments in the early going of trying to get this pier operational, but you are absolutely right, whether it's the air drops or the deliveries on the pier there's nothing the united states can do that will

substitute for the decision by israel to open up crossings, to stop using these checkpoints as a means to interrupt the flow of vital goods. israel has to make a commitment to solve the humanitarian crisis inside gaza. the united states is not going to be able to do that for israel. >> i want to ask you about here at home, the southern border. border patrol apprehensions of migrants actually has been going down in these warmer weather months. they went down in april, they went down in march. is that just because of the mexican government? f if it's a biden policy why isn't the president claiming a success? >> it is because i think of smart, effective diplomacy between the united states and the mexican government. i don't know that it's permanent. and so i think we have to just recognize that without updating the laws of the is country, without surging more resources to the border, we can't count on the numbers staying as low as they are today. and remember, today you have about 3,000 people crossing at the border on a daily basis. that's still a high number

compared to what we saw ten years ago. and so for many of us, we are just heartbroken, sick over the fact that our republican colleagues in congress continue to vote against bipartisan border security that would give us the opportunity to actually give the president the resources and the authorities to make this a permanent change, to get the numbers under control, on a permanent basis. >> you're talking about the bill you helped author and it was put up for a vote, which they knew it was going to fail. this was about messaging. but like senator gary peters, who is trying to help democrats defend the majority in the senate was on this program last week, and he said, absolutely the president should be talking about the border more. why isn't he? >> so i agree that the american people want to talk about border security and right now, the president has the opportunity to go out there and talk about a democratic party proposal, negotiated with republicans, that would get the border under control. and an opponent -- >> or could have spent months

and weeks whipping support for it? >> and president trump's desire to keep the border a mess because he thinks that it helps him politically. this is as clear a contrast as has ever been available to the democratic party on the issue of the border. democrat support bipartisan border security, republicans want the border to be a mess because it's good politics for them and the president and democratic dem running for office should be talking about that. >> we've dug in deep on this bill you helped author on this program, but for americans who want something done, the ifs and puts don't matter much. the president could take executive action and has been talking about it since back in february when the homeland security secretary mentioned it was being considered. should he just get caught trying, pull the trigger, do something on executive action? >> the president has such limited ability to issue executive orders that would have an impact on the border. he can't conjure resources out of thin air. if he were to try to shut down

portions of the border, the courts would throw that out, i think, within a matter of weeks. the only thing -- >> the 212 authority being mulled here. >> i think the only thing that will bring ord the southwest border is bipartisan legislation. we have a bipartisan border bill if republicans decided to support it it would pass and we could get it to the peresident' desk. it's up to donald trump and the republicans if they want to solve the problem or keep the border a mess because it helps them politically in this upcoming election. >> quickly before i let you go here, there was a lawsuit that was brought this week by the families of those in uvalde, texas, whose children died at robb elementary school, and you represent sandy hook. they are trying to bring suit against video game makers and play platforms which owns instagram. what do you think of the premise of the idea that social media companies and video companies are to blame here? >> well, listen, there's no

doubt that these social media companies are feeding violent content to our kids. i don't know the underlying dynamics of that legal case, but our social media companies have a lot to answer for because these would-be killers whose brains are breaking often find inspiration for the crime they are contemplating online, but the solution here again is the same. you have to pass legislation. the courts can't solve this problem of school shootings and the good news, since we passed the bipartisan safer communities act right after the uvalde shooting, urban gun homicides in this country have dropped 20% and that's very important. >> we're going to talk to tony gonzales who helped get that over the finish line ahead. thank you. we'll be right back. >> announcer: this portion of "face the nation" is brought to you by charles schwab. own your tomorrow. investing the, it's easy to invest in ideas you believe in. spot a trend in electric vehicles? have a passion for online gaming? or want to explore the space economy? choose from over 40 themes,

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>> yes. >> how do the agents that you represent explain the drop off in crossings? >> i think a large part of it, first off, it doesn't have to do with what joe biden has done. we're on pace for 1.3 million people to come over illegally. the numbers are down. the explanation is mexico. a lot of people don't realize mexico has an election next month for the presidency, nine governorships, and its congress, so na many cases those that are running on security platforms are keeping the numbers down. the cartels are like companies. so they're taking a loss in q1 and q2, in order to increase the volume in q3 and q4. this is mexico carrying biden a couple rounds. if joe biden wants to secure this thing long term, i think he needs to stop looking at the senate for a solution and look to the house. >> what do you mean by that? what are you proposing? >> i think there's opportunities. h.r. 2 is a good start, but just a conversation -- >> that's a nonstarter. >> the president has not had any

real conversations with anyone in the house. the senate, yes, they've sat down and had these conversations, but in the house, they've given no oxygen to it. this is a different congress than in years past. the house is where i believe you start. if you truly wanted to solve it. if you want to make it about politics and blame someone else you hold it in the senate and say we're trying, doing the best we can. meanwhile, americans are dying of fets, the numbers we're on pace for 1.3 million. >> there's a lot of policy to get into with you on this and other topics. i have to take a break here. stay with me. we'll do that on the other side of it. we'll be back in a moment. ♪ ♪ i got the power of 3. i lowered my a1c, cv risk, and lost some weight. in studies, the majority of people reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. i'm under 7. ozempic® lowers the risk of major cardiovascular events such as stroke, heart attack, or death in adults also with known heart disease. i'm lowering my risk. adults lost up to 14 pounds. i lost some weight.

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- lift the clouds off of... - virtual weather, only on kpix and pix+. pete b welcome back to "face the nation." we return now to our conversation with texas republican tony gonzales. good to have you here in person. you know, uvalde, texas, that is your district. 19 kids and 2 adults killed at robb elementary