tv Washington Journal CSPAN July 4, 2013 7:00am-10:01am EDT
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and who will talk about the career of george washington. george washington and the host: this is "washington july 4, for independence day, and the united states. even though the flag is flying over the capital, the federal government is closed today. celebrations nationwide, itol,ding here in the cap to celebrate independence day. you turn to egypt and celebrations there as well. ,n the left side of your screen those who are glad that the previous president, mohamed morsi, is on. -- gone. those on the right, people who have supported president morsi.
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the military is ushered in any sense of leadership within interim government this morning and promises of new leadership and new structure going forward. we will have information about that as well as we go on a first 45 minutes this morning. president obama is encouraging the establishment of a democratically elected civilian government. several stories in the paper are looking at egypt when it comes to the $1.2 billion we offer in foreign aid. we will take a look at egypt's military with the ouster of the previous president, mahmoud morsi, and we welcome your thoughts. here are the phone lines this morning. if you want to join us on twitter, @cspanwj is how you do that. we have posted something like this on our facebook page, .com/cspan, and you can
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send us an e-mail. out thetary took previous president, mohamed morsi, and issued -- ushered in a new interim leadership. "he egypt army ousts morsi, suspends charter." you look at international papers n" paper out ofn pape" london. ahram," " ex-l- president morsi." daragahi with "the los angeles times" is in egypt. could you tell us about this interim leadership? who is at the head and where did they go from here? guest: the interim head is
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-- the interim head is adly months war. it seems like he is the front man of the people who are really in charge -- the military, the judiciary, and the security forces, the actual forces who pushed mr. morsi aside in the wake of these mass demonstrations. host: is it true that the leader was brought in under the previous president mubarak? guest: most of the judiciary is very much associated with the previous regime, and especially in the upper echelons they have been widely accused of being very close to the values and ideology of that previous regime. there is no reasonably that this gentleman is any different. this, i would is say, balance whatever, so to
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speak, because the street protests were real and the people's anger and demands for some sort of progress in terms of democratic and economic development are real. if you tries any kind of authoritarian moves, i think the situation is very volatile, and the people will go back into the streets. host: we saw al jazeera providing pictures of those who were supporting and against mr. morsi. what are the concerns of civil violence, civil war breaking out? guest: i think that is a big worry, what people are calling the algerian scenario. you may recall that old -- and the early 1990s the military stole an election from islamists. what ensued was a bloody eight- year civil war that continues to haunt the country. i don't know if that is going to happen here. the dynamics are a little bit different. history has worked out a little bit differently here.
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the brotherhood are a little bit more seasoned than the algerian islamists. that is a very real possibility, and something that people are concerned about. has a roleilitary in keeping peace as the situation goes forward? guest: absolutely, and it appears that they are trying to menace and intimidate the islamists. there is an islamist in, nearation, a sit- eastern cairo, and the army has surrounded this demonstration with vehicles and tanks and have arrested a lot of the brotherhood leaders. they have stood by as a shadowy thugs have burned down the brotherhood lost opposite -- the brotherhood's offices and headquarters. there shown the islamist that they mean business. host: some papers were concerned about future elections, that any time people weren't satisfied with leadership, the military could comment and sift them out. is that a concern? guest: this is way off of
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egypt's constitutional roadmap. this is not a good beginning for law and order, which is something that egyptians have craved for many years. , ass a really risky gambit even the more seasoned opposition leaders have admitted. host: as far as the new interim leadership, what is the timetable? guest: i think the timetable is still a little bit unclear. what they're promising is parliamentary elections soon, as well as a revived constitution. a lot of this is unclear at this point. they're promising a technocratic government that will solve some of egypt last -- egypt's problems. many of the problems are institutional. any strong political acting in order to be confronted. technocratic government rarely works in that kind of situation. host: was this a revolt against current conditions in egypt or
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was this a revolt against the muslim brotherhood? guest: i think it was a revolt against the boats. the economy has been improving and people would not have been so angry if institutions had been improving. and i think if the islamists had not in many cases so blatantly tried to strengthen and expand their power, and the economy was not doing so well, they might've had a little little bit .ore time to get back together the, nation of the two was the death knell for the brotherhood. host: when this kind of thing takes place in other countries, we often hear that it is the younger generation that move this along. was this the case in egypt? guest: absolutely. no, no, it was the younger people who led the vanguard of this popular uprising. the younger people, as is often
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the case, were not able to translate that into a real political movement with a real political aims, winning elections and real organizational aims. the adults came in and took over, and for now these are happy. let's see what happens in a week or a month. daragahi, you have spent some time covering the united states. what does this suggest that the current administration? guest: i think it is a tough situation. it is a tough situation in either way, either case. everyone here blames america, every side length the obama admin assertion for everything, and every side accuses the other side of being dupes of the americans. there is no way that any administration in this current situation in the middle east can come out looking good. host: one of the situations being written about this morning is the foreign aid we offer. guest: absolutely, and this is something that you guys in
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washington have a better grasp on. there are questions as to whether the administration can continue giving that money if what happened here is characterized as a coup d'état. there might be legal concerns in washington and i'm sure they will work that out. host: before we go, something off of twitter -- you mentioned that the term "technocrat government," and someone was asking what that is. guest: i think there is this fantasy that there are these competent people who can come in problems witht's their smarts. that is not how it works ri. are because ofs entrenched interests keeping institutions moving forward. you need broad political senses -- political consensus, brought by in. there is no magic formula that some technocrat or some smart guy with a degree can bring and apply and fix the problems.
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host: tell us some things that have happened that you have experienced firsthand firsthand and i've seen, things that may not have been reported in the papers. guest: i don't know, i think it a little bioo the police here, who haven psion rights violations, so happy and out on the streets and sharing and participating in these demonstrations against the president. i think it is a little bit unseemly and a kind of not a good sign, that the police feel emboldened. it is the same bullies who orchard and raped prisoners -- the same police who tortured and raped prisoners and created the whole crisis in the first place of that in the january 2011 revolution. daragahi of " financial times," thanks for your time this morning. as we move on this morning, for the first 45 minutes we want your thoughts on the things going on in egypt, particularly
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.s it deals with u.s. laws he -- u.s. policy. you can join us on the phone lines. if you are outside the united states and are observing us as well, you may want to give her thoughts. @cspanwj is our twitter page, thebook.com/cspan is facebook page. president obama weighing in with a statement from the white house, including a page from their flickr page. this is the national security team discussing the situation. from the paper statement, the president said, "we are deeply concerned about the decision of the egyptian armed forces to
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remove president morsi and suspend the egyptian constitution. i now call on the egyptian military to move quickly and responsible to return full authority to democratically elected civilian government as soon as possible through an inclusive and transparent process, to avoid any arbitrary arrests of president morsi and his supporters. given today's development, i have also directed the terrel asked the relevant departments and agencies to review the -- applications under u.s. law for our assistance to the government of egypt." as we look at that, we will go to your cars. gina, democratic line, hello. caller: i have a comment about egypt, but first i want to say, not many people remember this, two weeks before saddam hussein was wrong, he sent a message to the people of iraq, the sunnis and shiites,, and he wanted them -- he warnedght them, do not fight amongst each other, you will fight -- play
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into the enemy's hands could i find it very interesting and timely that these rights started right after morsi stepped in as a mediator and his maker between israel and hamas. let's connect the dots, people. host: john, michigan, independent line. caller: i wonder if our government, our congress is paying attention to what is going on here. maybe stop and realize how quickly the same thing could happen here, because, quite frankly, i see a lot of people that are tired of the way our government has been running this country. host: of course we at replace people via elections. you are concerned about the military stepping and? congress may think expect the military to step in between the civilians at times and i don't see the military firing on us. host: tom from pasadena, maryland.
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democrats line. caller: hello, thank you for taking my call, number one, number two, you should go -- reutu -- from reuters this morning, this is a look at the military aid that other papers have referenced. "u.s. quietly allows military aid to egypt despite wright's concerns -- rights concerns." john kerryof state quietly acted last month to give egypt 1.3 billion dollars in u.s. military aid, deciding that this was in the national interest despite egypt's failure to meet democracy standards. kerry made the decision well before and egyptian court this week indicted 43 democracy workers in what the united states regards as a politically motivated case against pro- democracy nongovernmental organizations. mustecretary of state
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certify that the egyptian government is supporting the transition to civilian government, including holding free and fair elections, and lamenting policies to protect freedom of expression, association, religion, and due process of law. the legislation, championed by senator patrick leahy, gives the u.s. government the ability to waive that condition if he deems this in the u.s. national security interest and provides a detailed justification." john, good morning. caller: i used to live in tahrir. 30 or so years ago but i've been back since the uprising in the meantime anyway. i'm struck by how much money the u.s. has been spending in egypt, and how little my local neighborhood just around tahrir has changed him even though the u.s. is spending all this money. you go two blocks away and you have the u.s. embassy, a fortress did it was in that way 30 years ago -- it wasn't that way 30 years ago.
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if you go out towards the parents, there are gated communities -- if you go towards the pyramid, there are gated communities, the military folks. nothing has improved. there are simple things that the u.s. embassy was doing, like teaching english programs, and they got really positive feedback from that. as far as i know they haven't really continued that. host: are you surprised with the events that are occurring there? , weer: when i was there always knew that the people did he wase sadat, and assassinated, as everybody knows, and then there was mubarak, and it was not a surprise that the egyptians didn't like mubarak. it was a wonderful place to live. i love my life as a student there. but it was no secret with the egyptians -- you could ask people what is your opinion about keys, war, jimmy carter, sadat, and so forth, and it
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was very, very mixed. life has not improved at economists will tell you that is the case. host: what about the role of the military? did you see that happening during your time there? caller: there were so many people in the military -- it was a way of providing jobs for people. i'm combining armed forces forces and the police and the security and so forth. aswere all told that foreigners come in the middle of the city, a cap track of us -- they kept track of us. uniform,ee people in obviously, but i cannot see people undercover and so forth. but we were told that there were lots and lots and lots of people in different aspects of security and armed forces. host: terrier square, according to the map in "the new york times," is on the western part of the city. as far as your final thoughts, what do you think lies ahead for egypt's future, especially when it comes to new leadership?
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guest: i have great hopes for new leadership. i love the country, and i have hope that the egyptians will sort it out and i am hoping to be able to be a part of that. i a proposal in for education in americanhelp the university to create a new generation of diplomats who are both egyptian and american and affluent with each other and they know life on the ground through the main places in egypt. that is the thing that would come through in a different way. host: and a democratically elected and democratic government, is that possible in your mind? i'm sure it is. i'm not as expert as your "fp" correspondent, but i would think so i hope so. ,ost: that was john in france giving his thoughts. you can do the same on our phone line.
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off ohost: off of twitter this morning -- patrick leahy who you heard referenced in a story aidt age egypt, give hi -- to egypt, gives his thoughts this morning. ,ost: that is pat leahy senator from vermont, chairman of the budget committee, giving his thoughts this morning. for our next 25 minutes or so this is going to be our topic of conversation, events that occurred in egypt, which you probably saw on the news and read about in the papers as
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well. if you want to give your thoughts this morning -- coleman, texas, republican line, hello. caller: the news reports show that the morsi government apparently arrested 60 groups that were seen as opposition, political opposition. -- it causess to us to reflect on what is going on in the united states, where the irs as a government agency targets political opposition, and now we hear the fbi is really part of that.
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it says that when the government andts using its power targets people, there is a potential for uprising. that seems to be playing out in egypt, and it certainly could be somewhat of a comparison of the government targeting political the present administration and that kind of thing. we have to be concerned in the u.s., and frankly, i think that is why the obama administration is somewhat concerned about that comparison come whenever you really get into it. host: george from liverpool, new york, democrats line. george from liverpool, new york. caller: yes -- hello? host: you're on, sir.
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keep talking, george, stop listening to the television. caller: i'm so happy what happened in egypt, because i lived in egypt for 30 years. morsi was really not a good leader for the country. and all the egyptians in egypt was in the streets -- host: what made morsi not a good leader? caller: he was dealing with the cup the questions there, it wasn't even with -- coptic christians there, wasn't even with minority, giving people unfair situation. .e destroys economy in egypt as a leader he is supposed to be a good leader for the country to lead them to forward to -- host: what about the way he was removed, with the help of the military? caller: the military is in good
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position. they are not dictators. they will not stay in their positions for long. , tos happy with being there they saveem, because islamictry from brothers, which are terrorists for me. host: john from georgia, on our democrats' line. caller: good morning, how are you? host: fine, thank you. caller: i have one basic question -- why are we giving aid to egypt? can't they take care of themselves? one, butr 2 -- i said
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number two, we need to leave egypt alone and let them work out their own problems. if you want to have exchanges of culture or even trade with them, that's fine. but for us to interfere with the internal affairs of egypt, of how they run their country -- leave those people alone. host: why does one not affect the other? caller: excuse me? host: why is it not a concern of the u.s. as far as stability in the country? caller: well, the thing that i find -- we are always being the policeman, particularly in egypt. we are always interfering in internal affairs of different countries, not only egypt, but
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other countries as well. like i said, if we want to exchange culture, exchange goods and stuff like that, , because we have to all live in this world. but for us to interfere with trying to spread democracy, i think we need to be more of an example rather than to try to interfere with the internal affairs of other countries. host: on twitter -- the independent" newspaper out of the united kingdom says that mr. morsi is being held at a facility in cairo. "meanwhile, other muslim brotherhood leaders were arrested in a crackdown on the movement that when several elections last year. declare thatadei the military coup that
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relaunched the 2011 revolution that toppled hosni mubarak. but in a statement published on mr. morsi plus of dachshunds to morsi's official facebook page, the resident said that it amounted to a full military coup." no direct timetable as the actions move forward, but the situation where people are on the streets, with some protesting, some celebrating, as you saw from al jazeera this morning, the pictures out of their of celebrations taking place on both sides of the issue. as you look at those, here is cindy from florida, independent line. caller: hi, good morning. i'm really next on this because i'm not sure if this is outside- instigated or it is truly really the people. it is really confusing. justso quickly -- they did this. and the guy that asked the question about why we are
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sending aid to egypt, well, it's basically that we send it aid to all of those countries to prevent them from attacking israel. it is like protection money. towe have to send it to them keep israel safe. , this is fromro the associated press, saying that egypt's interim president is pressing the protesters -- adly mansour o saying that they united egyptians. thoughts on this are welcome for the next 15 minutes. illinois, republican line. hi. caller: yes, good morning. host: you are on, sir, go ahead. morsi is a member of the muslim brotherhood and he said after he was elected that he would make the capital of triedjerusalem, and he to become a dictator about three months ago. the muslim brotherhood was '28 and was in
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cahoots with atul heitman, for the extermination of the -- adolf eichmann, for the extermination of the jews, and it was in collaboration with hezbollah and terrorist groups. i don't know why we are dealing with these people. host: what do you think we will -- will happen with egypt going forward? caller: it looks like obama will back the muslim brotherhood because hillary clinton's best friend is huma abedin, so he will put morsi back in. host: virginia. caller: i will try to be somewhat articulate because i am 85 years old. can you hear me? host: yes, go ahead. caller: my experience in cairo. i remember having a short time there. we stayed in a hotel, on the
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first floor, and the windows were open -- in the middle of summer, they didn't have any screens on them. people teamed all over the , and thell night long bells or chimes -- i can't for , but theactly what muslim writer bells would ring. weekly. -- the muslim prayer bells would ring periodically. especially what i remember is i guess it was campbell's they rode, and they were very hostile, the people, to americans. ,hey named all their animals bar,s, names like hershey coca-cola, something american like that, and their eyes were just evil at us, and it would make snide comments about why we were there.
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work memories of cairo extremely -- were fixed but it was an interesting -- host: what are your thoughts about what is going on in cairo right now? caller: oh, well, when i see all those people, i can certainly believe it. -- it should be parts., i suppose, in 2 of course i would like it a democracy. i'm favoring on your screen the red side. that is the ones protesting, right? and the muslim side is the green side, right? host: i think you're correct, yes. caller: i'm a long time viewer
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of c-span. thank you for letting me speak. host: mona from front royal joining us this morning. we have about 10 minutes if you want to give your thoughts on events occurring in egypt. this is from representative ed royce, republican from california, chairman of the foreign affairs committee. he put out this statement yesterday. host: our next call is raymond from waco, texas. democrats' line. caller: good morning, sir. i just wanted his -- wanted to say that the world is seeing that overseas, all these protests and wars -- the reason
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we are having a lot of forces they believe in kings, queens, conquerors, dictators, emperors and all that, especially the religions. and the young generation is tired of all that, on the world is ready to move on. and it is the same here. the young generations are tired of the old unprejudiced -- old and prejudiced. until they kick the can, the world is going to move forward and better. there's just a whole lot of things i want to say and i don't -- i know you don't have the time to give me, but that is the most of what a thing i have to say. host: raymond from waco, texas. on twitter -- we heard yesterday from the
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egyptian army chief, he was describing a meeting he was taking with mohamed morsi in june. the elections going forward, and also the process for any who might oppose it. here is what he had to say. [video clip] the address from the president yesterday. they will not meet the demands of the masses of the people. the historic responsibility to consult with certain political and social , where the meeting parties agreed upon a future roadmap plan, which includes initial measures whereby a , coherentgyptian
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egyptian society is achieved without marginalizing any individual, political party, and putting an end to the state of division. here is mohammed from brooklyn, new york, independent line. caller: yes, hi. i would like to correct a few things about some of the comments i heard before. hello, can you hear -- host: you're on, go ahead. caller: i would just like to make some comments about what i heard before. the gentleman who said he lived in tahrir square, he was very honest and he gave good picture of what is happening there. but anyway, the muslim brotherhood -- when morsi came, he alienated everybody on my everybody. -- he intimated everybody. everybody. constitutionp the
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by the majority of the muslim brotherhood. and the muslim brotherhood did not know how to include everybody. i was there in egypt about a couple months ago. i had to cut my visit short because the people was so -- i could see depression, suffering from the economy. morsi's way of covering the country -- every time he talked he talked as if he was only the president of the muslim brotherhood. now i just -- host: what do you think is the future of a democratic government, even though we were talking with her guest at the beginning of the program, the
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military has asserted its influence in this case. what keeps them from doing so in future cases? caller: because of the people. the younger people are just -- trust me, they will not settle for anything else but a new democratic future. it cannot happen any other way. this is not -- one other point i want to make -- this is not motivated or incited by outside forces. this is the people. this is the young generations. they want real changes. they will not accept anything -- to answer your question , if the muslime brotherhood gets involved in the political arena peacefully, i think it will work. with thewise -- muslim brotherhood, some of the
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leaders got arrested, they were inciteing violence, they were talking about car bombing, as recent as a day or two ago, on television, and some of those television stations got shut down. those television stations were used to incite violence in the country. when i say that the army got involved, i am happy that the army got involved just for the simple reason that the egyptians were adding to revised -- were getting terrorized constantly. ever six stations, religious people, religion people talking on television, talking about politics and to incite people to come out and do stuff. you want to hear some of the stuff that they say on muslim.ion -- it is un- i don't like the way they say to alienated christians christians, to alienate the shiites.
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there is not too many in egypt, but the sufis. peacefultheir way -- people. lived in egypt for centuries. and all of a sudden would come in and find that they were harassed and attacked in alienated. the muslim brotherhood, you know -- i'm happy they're gone. host: guest and that is from brooklyn, new york. the caller mentioned the shutdown of television stations in egypt. al jazeera reported this morning that it was the military-led authorities. they "shut down several stations, including one by the muslim brotherhood, after president mohamed morsi was toppled by the army. the security forces on wednesday also raided the offices of al jazeera's egyptian news channel and detained at least five of its staff, and the channel was
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prevented from broadcasting from a pro-morsi rally in northern cairo and its crew there was also detained." ed on our independent line. caller: how you doing? happy independence day to america and egypt. host: you're on, keep going. caller: i just wanted to remind everybody that our constitution says that our people have the right and the duty to abolish any government that they feel is tyrannical, taking individual rights away from them. thepeople rose up and .ilitary didn't attack them they're holding the situation now and they will have to move forward and have elections. the general already said they will have those elections and the people made the choice for independents and let them do what they will.
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of the stories to point you to. has aew york times" story looking at a surveillance program that looks at mail coming in. .his is on their front page created afteras the anthrax attacks in late 2001 that killed five people, including two postal workers are highly secret, it seeps into public view last month when the fbi cited it in its investigation of ricin-laced letters sent to president obama and mayor michael bloomberg. no one disputes that it is sweeping." it says a little bit more about it in a piece. "law enforcement officials submit a letter to the postal service with -- which grant or deny a request without additional review. law enforcement officials say
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the postal service rarely denies a request. in other programs, like wiretaps, federal judge must sign off on the requests. the mail cover surveillance requests are granted for about 30 days and can be extended for up to 120 days. there are two kinds of mail covers -- those related to criminal activity and those requested to protect national security. a activity requests average , said to 20,000 per year law enforcement officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity." we are talking about events going on in each, although we are looking at other stories this morning. if you want to give your thoughts in the final minutes -- we had a few calls from outside the united states. you can also send us a tweet, @cspanwj. also on surveillance, this from
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"the washington post" -- " lawmakers question white house account of an internet surveillance program." ron wyden and mark udall said internet surveillance was discontinued only after they confirm a closed- door meetings -- closed-door hearings that the program is useful. last week a spokesman for director of national intelligence and james clapper, issued a statement saying that the program was abandoned by the executive branch as a result of an interagency review. the statement omitted any mention of a closed-door controversy in the senate over the program in 2011 and seem to be part of an administration effort to diffuse yet another controversy stirred up by edward snowden." independent line. caller: good morning, hello. happy july 4. host: thank you.
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caller: i just want to say that here we are watching other countries fighting for their liberty and here we are on july 4 trying to celebrate our liberty, where in other countries we are seeing political power eroding the rights of women and we still in this country do not have the right for women. our only constitutional right for america is to vote, which is really a sad thing in 2013. it is really amazing that all the states that are causing this -- on women are taking away i mean, if we look at the constitution of each of the states, all those the political power is in the hands of the people, and these legislators are ramming bills through in a very undemocratic way. maybe we should look at democracy in our country before we start judging other countries. thank you. host: joseph ramirez says --
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host: we also hear off of twitter this morning from ben jarvis -- host: one more call, this is from diane in massachusetts. caller: hi. i had a comment to make about our government and egypt and the riots going on in brazil. host: go ahead. caller: and i feel that i they're going on over there, and i underwent our constitutional rights are taken away from us, when we are going to do something. i think egypt has in the right thing, and i think our government should stay out of their business. host: that is diane from
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massachusetts. she will be the final call on this segment. we will continue talking about foreign matters, particularly the military and their actions in afghanistan. running as is major general john mcconville. he will join us from the bagram air base in afghanistan. he will talk about what is ahead for the future as we look to the 2014 deadline. later on in the program, author logan byrne talks about the presidency of george washington and the mac and and the market revolution. all of that as "washington on this continues independence day. we will be right back. what came out of those buildings -- we came out of those buildings and we could see a sea of humanity coming from union station, and we knew it was going to be dead.
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-- going to be big. we were supposed to be leading the march, but people were already marching. it was like, there go my people, that may catch up with them. -- let me catch up with them. [laughter] pushed us,f humanity pushed us, and we started moving towards the washington monument was the lincoln memorial. period, ionderful think, in american history. two: 20 pmuly 4, eastern, civil rights pioneer congressman john lewis shares his thoughts on the march on washington 50 years later, and it 4:40 five, some of the places we have visited and historians we have spoken with the during the first season of our series on first ladies. 7:00, pulitzer prize-winning photographers took about their work and coverage of world events. former president clinton and new
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jersey governor chris christie and a panelsters, talks about what it means to be a modern-day citizen. >> one of the points we make in this book, didn't make any difference to have a popular election? we come down on the side that yes, it did make a difference. senators began to act like house members, which is not something any senator wants to hear. >> what is that means? -- what is that mean? >> it means they were out scavenging for fovotes. all you need is 14 votes and you can easily pay off, and they did in some cases pay off 14 senators, pay off their mortgages and a couple of notorious -- paying off their mortgages in a couple of notorious cases to buy the election. >> more with historian richard a. baker sunday night at 8:00 on
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"q&a." >> "washington journal" continues. air: joining us from bagram base is major genreal james mcconville. he is the commanding general, and joining us to talk about what is happening in afghanistan when it comes to the military. general, thanks for joining us. pedro.good afternoon, happy fourth of july from bagram air force base, afghanistan. host: general, could you give our viewers a sense when it comes to afghanistan how prepare intending to its own affairs, particularly when it comes to security matters? guest: what i would like to do is give you a little background on my perspective. i have the privilege of serving with the 101st airborne division for 15 months from 2008 two 2009, and during that
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timeframe our forces did most of the fighting. the afghan army and police did not have a lot of soldiers or policemen and quite frankly, they were not that highly trained. as we went out and it operations, we would do most of the fighting and we would get a squad of afghans to go with us. over the next couple of years, when my division went back in 2010, 2011, the afghan security forces really had increased their capacity and capability, and they were really partnering with our forces. fighting side-by- side. today we find ourselves in a position where the afghans actually have the lead for security in their country. our role here is to advise and assist them so that they can secure their country. they have made some fairly significant progress in doing that. in my region, regional command corps, thee 2 afghan
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201st and 203rd. the 203rd is doing a major operation in their provinces, where they have multiple operations working with the police, working with the afghan , and the other security pillars to go ahead and provide a safe and secure environment for the afghan people. -ied are doing counter operations, medevac capability, and quite likely, they are doing most of this without us, with us just in the advise and assist role, and that is a fairly significant change from when i was here last. they are holding pretty well. host: our guest is going to be with us until 8:30. you can ask them questions about military activity in afghanistan that best4 lines represent you. if you called in the last 30 days, if you would hold off from
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calling today, we would appreciate it. host: we have set aside a line for those of you afghanistan veterans out there who want to ask the general question. as always, you can send us a tweet, @cspanwj. i should say that for those of you calling in, there is a bit of a delay between the time you asked your question and the time you get your response. my advice is that when you on the line and get ready, ask your question or statement and don't expect the follow-up because of the delay. if we do that we will will get as many calls as we can in for the general. general, you talk about security matters, but how does that factor in with the continued presence of the taliban, and specifically those forces in afghanistan, the nationals resisting against the taliban and fighting against them?
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used to likeliban to say that we have the watches but they had the time. after the development we have seen in the country the last 12 thes, we can say today that afghans have the watches and quite likely, they don't have time for the taliban or their oppressive ways. we are seeing that daily. there is a lot more kids going to school. if you see the difference during the taliban years, there is less than a million kids going to school. to 8 we have 6 million million kids, a lot of those little girls going to school. the economy -- i had a chance to fly and travel through regional command east, the 14 provinces around kabul. what you see is you see construction pdc construction of roads, construction of buildings -- what you see as
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you see construction. you see construction of roads, construction of buildings, and what i see is a lot of kids playing sports, which, quite frankly, for me is one of the big surprises. when the taliban was here, children weren't allowed to play sports. they are playing cricket, playing soccer, playing volleyball, and their overall quality of life has improved significantly the last couple of years. they have access to information they never havd, healthcare, jobs, schools. there is a long way to go but there is been significant progress made the last 12 years. host: specifically, what lies ahead as the u.s. gives less and less as far as security is concerned? the afghans take more of their responsibility. what goes along with the training to meet up with the taliban and the violence? guest: the thing we are seeing is that the afghans, they know how to fight. they have been doing this for a long time. they are brave in battle. but what we are helping them with is the enablers. we give them the overmatched
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they need to decisively defeat the taliban. what do i mean by that? first of all, on the indirect fire capability, they have the ability to fire howitzers, mortars come and we are working mostly with them -- we are working closely with them to give them the fire capability that will allow them not to be dependent on close air support. we are giving them the training they need for casual evacuation. they have helicopters but they certainly don't have the numbers that we do. much of their casualty evacuation will be done by ground, and we are helping to develop a system. the improvised explosive devices, or ied, as would like to call them, is prevalent. but they have developed tremendous capability to handle that, also. do extremely well finding the ied -- they do extremely well theyng the ied's, and don't have the technological
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capability we have. it will take until 16, 2017 on the they will need to develop their air force and they're doing that right now. host: our guest joining us until 8:30. we hear from a veteran from fairfax, virginia. this is tom, on with james mcconville, the major general. thanks for c-span, and thank you, general, for your service. it has been a while since i can in afghanistan. one of the questions i had was a little bit about what we're seeing in the media, with afghans, some shooting u.s. soldiers. i think that is a very rare occasion. in my experience, the afghans him and the afghan people, and i was in the regional command east, have really increased our presence. i would like you to talk about that and just talk about the size of the afghan force, and
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how do you feel about our presence there, whether or not it is in our best long-term interest to stay engaged there. tom, let me thank you for your service in afghanistan. if you were here a few years back, you clearly understand that there is a lot of unrealized potential in afghanistan, and that is being realized as we speak. i don't want to paint a picture that everything is perfect every year, but there is still a lot more things to be done, still serious combat operations going on. the afghans assisted by our troops are doing those very combat operations as we speak. but you speak about the insider threat, the green on blue, as we call it. it is something we are very aware of, something we take very, very seriously. what i found someone interesting is the afghan leadership takes
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extremely serious. -- take it extremely serious. the afghan generals told me that their number one priority for force is our advisors, and they understand the importance of us being here on and they understand that they have an obligation to protect us. if they let us down that -- that is the relationship that you probably saw when you are here, that most afghans appreciate the support they are getting, but it only takes one, it only takes one or two insurgents to infiltrate their way into the afghan severity forces, it takes one or two afghans to think they have been disrespected, and a lot of things are settled with guns over here, and then we have a situation that is not good for either one of us. but i think that we are working very closely on that and the afghans take that seriously. and to your question about numbers -- i don't know when
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you were here last time, but we're sitting about 350,000 afghan security forces, and when i was here in 2008, 2009, it has doubled the amount of security force we had, but what is really different is the quality. there is the quantity peace and there is also the quality piece. the quality of the afghan security forces is much better and it is getting better every day. ,ost: general, off of twitter there is a question about the hotspots. in thewell, what we see regional command east, we do have some hotspots. the hotspots tend to be in a rural areas, where historically, has held rule, so to speak. what we're seeing now is really a change, and this is a change for the afghan vets that were
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here before. there is a security force being developed by our special operations forces, called the afghan local police. the afghan local police our community police being stood up in the villages, these are people living in the village who stand up and are basically saying to the enemy of the afghan people that you can no longer operate here. i likely, the taliban is very concerned about -- quite frankly, the taliban is very concerned about these organizations standing up. they have said that they will attack them, and this is a very strong measure that is working against the taliban's narrative them.at the people support this is making a difference in the hotspots that we see. host: and to follow-up -- guest: well, what we're doing here is the afghan security forces stand up -- when i was here last time, we had somewhere around 130, 140 bases
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trade right now we're are sitting on about 22 basis. with the afghan security forces, basically what we do is we transfer our faces to the afghan security forces, and they take over them and they provide the security and we are collapsing in two larger host: the next call is from roger in taxes on the republican line. go ahead. caller: first of all, thank you, general. 101sther was with the airborne division. i appreciate your service to the country. as you withdraw, that is going to get really ugly. and i have a question. branchy general in any
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fall on.s. armed forces the revolutionary front in america on american soil? host: general, go ahead. all, i first of appreciate your advice and being concerned about force protection as we draw down our units. that is one of my top priorities. i know there are parents who send their sons and daughters to serve under my command and i take that very seriously. we will get the mission done at the minimum cost. i kicked their safety very seriously. the second question, would american general's fire on -- -- i am note on sure how to answer that
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question. we serve our civilian leaders. to obey onlyd legal orders. the american people can count on us to do that. 3880 forain, 202-585- democrats, 202-585-3881 for republicans and 202-585-3882 for independents. joining us is a major general james mcconville, joins us from afghanistan. he serves as the commanding general. there is a question about recent events worldwide. two recent events in syria and egypt have an impact in afghanistan? let me add to that with its current one on in iran. the regional command east, there are 14 provinces around kabul.
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we have an active insurgency but we are working closely with the afghan security forces to handle and to work through. right now, as far as what is going on in some other hot spots in the world, we do not see the impact here in afghanistan. host: to the previous caller's question, concerned about violence, as we take less of a role, what is the preparation for that? host: -- the narrative for the taliban historically has been that they were fighting because there were foreign occupiers here. what we are starting to find out right now -- there is a lot of confusion among the taliban and a discussion about possible talks -- is who are they fighting? they are fine fellow afghans.
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this is not resonating well with them -- they are fighting fellow afghans. they are fighting fellow afghans. they have created a lot of civilian casualties, which does not sit well with the local people. host: as far as the related security forces of afghan nationals, what does the training they look like? how long do they train? what kind of training do they go through? give us a sense of what goes on day to day. guest: they will go through an 8 week program. there are a lot of combat operations. they will move into the units. they will have an opportunity to participate in combat operations. when they are in a training cycle, they will do similar
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things that our soldiers do. they will practice with their weapons. they will practice physical fitness. if they have medical skills, artillery skills, aviation skills, they will practice that. it is very much like a football team. a football team plays maybe once a week. when they are not playing, they are on the practice field hitting the skill sets they need to be ready for the game. the difference here is that for the afghan security forces, most have a game every day. when they get a chance to practice, they certainly take it. host: jessica is from north line.ina on the democrats caller: i wanted to ask you how you are implementing the new things that have come down as far as sexual assault in the military. what we did here is reports of what is reported in the united
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states. what is reported on your basis? with you know? i can tell's what you. there was a question about insider threats with the afghan s. when i look a sexual-harassment, i looked a sexual assault. i see an insider threat with our military. i see blue on blue. i have strong feelings on how we deal with that. it goes against everything we stand for. parents out there send us their sons and daughters. they should be comfortable that we are going to take care of them. we have no room in our military or in the army or any unit associated with that to have that type of thing happen. it needs to be deeds bit
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deeds not words. host: women are born to be integrated into u.s. special operations. what does that mean in taking these policies out into day to day practice? guest: i have the privilege of being the second class with women that went to west point. had two fellow students who were women but to west point with me. i have no doubts -- where women go to west point with me. i have no doubt about what women can do in combat. with the future is, they are just taking a look at the standards and requirements. the policy makers will come up with the way ahead as far as how we make our way through that.
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host: charles from north carolina on the independent line. hello. caller: can you please explain how you can cut off the funding from the telegram by eliminating the opium trade that has been going on there? taliban byto the eliminating the opium trade that has been going on there? guest: sit, my focus is on getting the afghan security forces to the level with the capacity and capability so that they can secure their country and then in a position to get after that problem long term. host: philip is from new york on our democratics' line. caller: thank you for your service and happy independence
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day. women will be taking more of a role in combat. what about afghan gentleman and the society? are they going to be able to handle women working alongside them? guest: i will not speak for the afghan society. i know right now there are women in our military plane he rolls, women in ourroles, military interacting with afghans. the idea of women being in combat is happening right now as we speak. host: of our guest is major general james mcconville from afghanistan. he is taking question about -- questions about what is the one on there. recently it was set by chuck hagel that our nation has always
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from the service of a and lesbian soldiers, sailors, coast guardmen and marines. how is it being borne out on the front lines? i took over two months after the repeal of don't ask, don't tell. it has gone extremely smooth. if everyone in the military treats everyone with dignity and respect, we have a mission to do. you can do your mission in the military, you garnered respect of everybody who serves with you. host: from california on the independent line. is the if the is -- afghanistan defense force strong enough to avoid being decapitated by the taliban as
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soon as we leave? i have another question. what kind of missions do we send our soldiers on? are they merely advising the officers or do they go out into the fields and fight with the afghans? i will take your first question on the seniors -- leadership on when we leave. there are two issues on. the afghan security forces are picking up more and more irresponsibility for the security. --ut 95% of the operations the afghan security forces are picking up more of the responsibility for their security. are u.s. forces doing? we do combat operations.
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we do force protection operations for our base is that we need to do. s that we for our base need to do. we may partner with the afghans. we escort some of our equipment that is being retrograded. we do clearance missions to remove ied's from the highways that were run over so that ied's. are not hit by those are the types of operations that we do. from marylandbrad on the republican line. caller: congratulations for serving and happy fourth of july. my question is, what are the inficulties that come up having to stay in compliance with political laws and things like that as opposed to
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achieving a military objective? does that pose any real problems? how do you handle that? guest: the american people can be proud of the soldiers and sailors and marines. this is the most is the dominant force that has ever fought in the battle space to the there is tremendous -- fought in the battle space. lengths toeat protect civilians as we are conducting combat operations. for those who have dealt with insurgencies and dealt with guerrillas, this makes it difficult on our troops. they cannot readily identify who the enemy is. they understand that when you are conducting counterinsurgency operations, winning is not be feeding the enemy. it is really winning the people.
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you do not win the people by causing civilian casualties. we are very aware of that. quite frankly what we see on the enemy side is -- if you have read the paper on a couple of high-profile attacks -- they do not seem to been concerned about that. host: as pullout happens, what do you do with the equipment that has to stay behind? how much equipment are we talking about? guest: there are a couple of things with equipment. he couldn't we need for future missions we are sending back home right now -- the equipment we need for future missions we are sending back home right now. 55% to vision, we are 60% done with the move that on that critical equipment. some of the equipment we will send to other places. we are trying to be fiscally responsible as we deal with the
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awdown we do not want to spend $5 to state $2 on a piece of equipment -- to save $2 on a piece of equipment we do not need. host: what kind of equipment stays and what kind of equipment those? guest: the equipment that those is the kremlin we will need for the next fight. the equipment that goes is the equipment we will need for the next fight. we may leave a desk and give it to the afghans. we have other things that they thegoing to need for security operations. if it is not cost-effective to bring it back to the states and put it on an airplane or put it on a convoy, we would leave it here. host: we set up a special line for those who served in afghanistan. 202-585-3883.
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we have divided those lines and you will see them on your screen. illinois, an from afghan vet. go ahead. thank you for taking time out of your day. i was in afghanistan in 2001. back, i havecome done more research and study. i have studied what is really going on behind certain warrants. i have two questions for you. -- i have studied what is really going on behind certain wars. it is not to been hard to do
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research on the politicians will put us in these positions. there are nations that pose absolutely no threat to us. i know you still wearing the uniform. i would like to know how you alismabout intervention that has cost americans blood and treasure. guest: thank you for your service. you were here during the early days. you probably would not recognize afghanistan. we came here for a reason. we came here because terrorists came from afghanistan and they came to new york city and washington, d.c. and pennsylvania and they intentionally killed a bunch of great americans. that is why we are here. the thing about our country. most of the time when you take a
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look at when we go somewhere, we leave the place better than and became. that is what we are pointing to here. as we -- that is what we are going to do here. ladenknow, osama bin hazmat justice. al qaeda is still out there. -- as we know, osama bin laden justice. we are trying to leave this place better than we got it with a security force that will not allow something like this to happen in the future. that is the goal of our leaders. that is the right goal of our leaders because they have a responsibility to protect the people. a lot of people ask me. i hope folks are enjoying their fourth of july and going to parade or going out on their boats. i take pride in the that that us being here is allowing them to do that.
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if there is anyone out there having a good time, it makes us proud to serve. a team u.s. casualties occurred in june. 51,000 u.s. troops currently in the country. that is according to the department of defense. you talked about leaving the place better than you found it. would you think that is sustainable after we total the pull out and we give operations to the afghan nationals? with our commitment, there will be decisions made based on the conditions. those decisions will be made by the senior leadership much higher than my level. those will be conditioned-based. as my seniors tell me, the numbers may come down with the number of troops here. but the commitment does not. the commitments over the next couple of years for the decade
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2014.wth after there has been 12 years of war here and 12 years of education. who were sixs here years old when the war started. they have been going to school for the last 12 years. they have been exposed to the internet and information and quality of life, electricity, cell phones. i do not think they will except the way things were with the taliban. there has been a lot of growth. are 25 yearsghans or younger. the think we have given them an opportunity for a future and i think they are going to take it. is a as we speak there story in the new york times
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saying hamid karzai wants a firm commitment on the number of troops that will stay in afghanistan and leaves open a peace effort. he also wants to compel the united states to protect the -- protect afghanistan against pakistan. what does that mean for you? guest: president karzai is the elected leader of a sovereign country. decisions are above my level. i expect our leaders to do the same, to negotiate on positions better in the best interests of security in our country.
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my job is pretty straightforward. i am in tactical commander operating at the tactical level. what president karzai does is at a higher level than mine. i am plans to have extraordinary men and women serving their country and who are focused on the mission we have at hand. serve withance to 86,000 afghan security forces who are committed to securing their country. host: president karzai has been critical about the american president at times. guest: as part as president karzai -- as far as president karzai, he will do what he thinks is best for his country. host: on the republican line, good morning. -- we are being forced
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to do something political. leaders are saying we have to show that we trust them. even make a military decision concerning what is best for these trips. -- what is best for these troops. sorte trying to put some of looks good, looks better trust situation out there, if you understand what i am is saying. i can tell you we are trying to get the mission done at the minimum cost. we are working closely with the afghans. we have security procedures in place. they want the same thing.
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as i told myiers, soldiers, we are going to come on of the corner fighting with afghan fists. there are times we need to be there to observe, to assist. we need to provide systems for them, whether it is intelligence support systems, surveillance and reconnaissance systems, helicopters or attack helicopters in some cases. also, just good advice on how to do things better. here, they need to have enough over-match to defeat the taliban when we are not here. caller: general, thank you for your service. my concern is that we are going to leave afghanistan.
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i am talking about the air force. that we are going to buy 30 russian-made mi-17 helicopters along with a bunch of high performance, single engine planes. how many afghan pilots to you currently have? what type of equipment are the flying? are they flying american made or russian-made? last but not least, are we going to be worried about whether or not the russians will support the afghans as far as maintenance of these machines, as far as replacement parts? are we about to blow almost $1 billion for nothing? again, thank you for your service. for yourank you
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question. i am from massachusetts, too. i want to put a plug in for the red sox. they are leading the league right now. i will talk about the soviet helicopters. right now, the afghans are flying mi-17's. they are absolutely critical for the afghans. the only way the security forces can lose here is if they lose their confidence. one of the key ways to maintain their confidence is, if one of the soldiers could hurt, there is a medical system in place where they can come get them. this is absolutely critical. when you have a wounded soldier, you need to quickly get them to the hospital. do is toe mi-17's allow them to go to places where there is not a nearby hospital and they can extract those
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wounded soldiers and get them to the hospital. if you have into afghanistan, it is difficult terrain. it is mountainous. there are some places that are difficult to get to. we need to put afghan security forces places where it is difficult to get to. seeing over the last couple of years is that the young afghans are a thing as a kid. i want to take a quick little -- tell you a quick little story. there was a really bad place and we brought the afghan security forces out there. we saw 15 kids. they were gathering around to see the american soldiers. we ask the kids what they wanted to do when they grew up. 8 of the kids raise their hands and said they wanted to go into the afghan national army because it is one of the most respected institutions in the country. said they wanted to be
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doctors. beaid they wanted to engineers. that is the future of afghanistan. that is what the sacrifice that folks are making here is. every child deserves a future. the afghan children are no different. in the long run, this will keep young kids from strapping on suicide vests and going out and doing terrible things. host: the story in the paper that talked about helicopters came from a special inspector general report about teaching these groups to fight these helicopters. are you saying they are being flown by afghans? guest: absolutely. i know who the suspect is. as far as long term -- i am and operational commander. u.s.rade-off is to have helicopters continue to do that
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mission. i think the afghans can do it. they are doing it right now. we just need to give them the proper training and education. when the afghans really want to do something, they can do it. host: what our troops doing to celebrate this july for? toi understand -- what are doing to celebrate with the july? july? fourth of yesterday the taliban does not celebrate the fourth of july. we had the ambassador come down today. there was a naturalization ceremony for 37 of our soldiers from 22 different countries. these servicemen have been fighting for their country while they were not citizens. today, they became citizens. it was an emotional ceremony.
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i have never been to one of the naturalization ceremonies. if you have never been to one, you need to go. sometimes, we take our citizenship for granted. we live in the world's british country. worlde -- we live in the 's most extraordinary country. host: one more call from line.cky on the democrats' caller: i have one simple question. when we pulled out of there, are we going to be stuck there for a while? how long before we can completely with straw all about our troops from there and not be so tied up in be suckle their four years and years to come? stock -- be stuck over there for years and years to
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come? guest: it depends on the conditions ahead. we are committed to supporting the future of afghanistan. what needs to be decided is how we do that. how much advise and assist do they need? that will be worked out at a level of mine. host: general, how long have you been in afghanistan? guest: i have been here a little over a dial months. i spent 15 months here last time months.ttle over 4 when you are a commander, you work day today. host: general, thank you for your time. happy fourth of july to you. guest: i would like to thank the american people for this fourth we are getting. we cannot walk through an airport or go through a shopping
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mall or a restaurant without someone coming up and thinking as for our service. we do not need that thanks. on behalf of all of our troops, we really appreciate it. everyone have a great fourth of july. host: general, thank you. coming up in our next segment, we will talk with author logan beirne. he has written a book about george washington. the book is called "blood of george washington & the forging of the presidency." continuesn journal" on this independence day. ecuadoran says the presidents of mini-med south american countries will meet in -- of many south american countries today.eet i
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a bridges surveillance company denies it but ecuador's embassy in london. the allegation was first learned of from the media. the ecuador foreign minister says a microphone was found inside an electrical outlet inside the ambassador's office. has been living in the embassy for a year. finally on this july 4, the statue of liberty, which has been closed since the damage from hurricane sandy, will reopen today. in large crowd is expected for the holiday and a ribbon cutting ceremony will take place. repairs to a brick walkways is still underway.
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some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. oakies thought coming west they would leave behind the racism. the sun shines more benign the on them here. they said it was an even more cruel kind of racism. a smile in the face, but a dagger in the back is how they describe california. they were not allowed to live in any of the cities, not even the small towns. the only land that was available to them when these patches of out lying lands. when you ride up on the land, it is so salty, it looks like it has snowed here. this was the land that was available to them. they built their wooden shacks. no water. they had to go into town to affect the water. no city sewers -- to fetch the
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water. no police from this area. it was a no man's land. african americans who migrated to bakersfield, california from the south. on c-span's american history key -- american history tv. host: joining us now is logan beirne. is the author of george washington & the forging of the of "blood of tyrants: george washington & the forging of the presidency." a lot is written about george washington. what sets this book apart? what is seeking you set out that
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is different from what we have heard? guest: i tried to make the history irrelevant to today. whether it is torture, citizens i looked to see what the founders were doing to see what they had in mind. taking general washington and his military experience, talk a little bit about what you learned and how that applies to what he did during his presidency. they were making up a lot as they went along. they were forming in their hearts what it meant to be american. they grappled with a lot of issues we still face. these are basic american issues. as i was reading to the documents, it seems as if there were headlines from today. as they were grappling with
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these issues and overcoming assigning what it meant to be an american. they were using experiences and putting them into our constitution to form the government we still have. host: as far as modern day events general washington had to deal with, what are the parallels? guest: every event that comes up in the news has a direct tie and that to a fundamental issue that washington faced. andexample, edward snowden the nsa leak. washington has someone like edward snowden and he sentenced him to death. we started a revolution against government intrusion. when it comes to snowden and the way he has behaved, washington
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faced benedict arnold, someone who sought his way into a position of trust, that intelligence and the stick to the enemy. for washington, that was inexcusable. for him, there weren't legal means for which you can expose a dangerous program without in gaining the american the with- were legal-- there means through which you could expose a dangerous program endangering the american public. host: if you want to call, the number is 202-585-3880 for democrats, 202-585-3881 for and 202-585-3882 for independents. here is a line from your book. i want you to expand on it. he drew from his harsh
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experiences along with his own wisdom to formulate a principled approach is to dilemmas that are eerily similar to those we face today. by confronting an contour and these challenges, he defined the american way. what was george washington's frame of mind, his philosophy as he approached meeting these matters. guest: george washington was amazingly principal. i guess that is the difference in other revolutions throughout history. the military has a big role to play. join washington was the man in charge. after the war, people said, okay, time to become king. he was deeply offended by this. no matter how ambitious was -- and he was ambitious -- he never even dreamed of quashing
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american's liberty. strong desire between the way washington treated foreign nationals and the way they treated american citizens. with foreign nationals, he could be ruthless. he was ready to use all means to dispose of any kind of foreign enemy that is harming his people. when it came to american citizens themselves, he was much more hands off and provided them with due process. the best example would be going back to benefit on the. he never captured when dick arnold, -- the best example would be going back to been dick --old -- been a bit startled benedict arnold. but he did capture his two co- conspirators. one man was hanged within two days.
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the other one was not a sympathetic character. he was an american, but a really slimy dying. washington did not care for him. he had a gut reaction that he wanted to hang him from a tree. but he stopped himself. he said this could be setting a dangerous precedent. he provided him with due process and a chance to prove his innocence. and at -- the reason he does this is that he was to instill in the american people a strong respect for americans' individual liberties. host: our guest is logan beirne. he is the author of "blood of tyrants: george washington & the forging of the presidency." caller: good morning. you have a wonderful call
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screener. i did not know how to ask a question for the first time in my life. the american revolution, how it shaped president washington. can you rephrase the same question? citizens united with corporations having total control over the democratic system, giving money like crazy? how is that shaping the obama or the republican policies these days? somebody has to think about snowden, too. all these congressman and senators are supposed to be watching what is going on and they are ignorant of what is going on. , thank you. guest: i appreciate his question. washington became very pragmatic. war, theygoing to started trying to wage war by congressional committee. that did not work too well.
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the british beat us in new york city and were chasing us through new jersey. they were getting closer to the continental congress in philadelphia. congress realizes the british are very close and if they capture us, they will hang us. washington with broad authority to protect us. this is called the great american experiment really was an experiment to begin with. they learned to respect the american individual liberties. maybe the institution of the commander in chief is strong enough to protect us from abroad. you mentioned snowden and the nsa and oversight. the founders were concerned about the lack of oversight that the congress is displaying over the nsa program. during the revolutionary war,
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they were intercepting communications that could be problematic. there were abuses. the difference was, back then, congress and the american community responded aggressively. they made sure they democratized the process. they were open and transparent when they open these letters so that there would not be abuses. we had the secret programs with secrets fisa courts. that was the difference. they were advocating more oversight and transparency to make sure that these methods, which we will learn about war as or really helping and protecting us. they were so secret, that that makes them suspicious. united, thisizens
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is definitely a new phenomenon. during the revolutionary war, they would not have dreamed of this sort of issues where corporations would have become so big and powerful and proponents of political campaigns. it is hard to say. money is always an important part of america. have nownment that we was formed to help deal with the debt crisis we had back then. that is the irony. as far as being so involved in political campaigns, that is a relatively recent phenomenon. dismayedd be a little that we have become a team sport for republicans and democrats and who is giving more funding has become more important than doing what is best for the country. really wanted to each individual representative to vote and act according to his
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own conscience and do his own -- his best to represent the people. i would like to ask what we are doing with the military bases around the world when washington warned against a standing army in his farewell address? thank you. guest: thank you. happy fourth to you. this is a big shift from where we started out. first, we would not have the military strength to do it if we wanted to. ashington warned against standing army. the founders warned against a perpetual war. most applicable is that they warned against foreign entanglements. french helped us with
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the revolution, they had their own. they saw america differently the they do not care -- family than they do now. they saw america as a shining light that could guide the world through example. as far as being involved in foreign affairs, washington put troops on foreign soil. is, we was getting at have a lot of work to do. he foreign entanglements, whether it is looking at syria, for example, it has become un- pc to ask what is in it for america? washington was not ashamed to ask that at all. he with the sensory and say, i do not see american lives directly under attack. he probably would advise that we
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stay out. host: someone from twitter asked, what were washington's remarkable leadership skills and who has similar skills? he was a man of principle. he was not our best general. lost more battles than the won. we needed someone to politically united the nation. he was able to serve as the moral compass. who tooke one man these various actions. the country was blowing apart. he was able to unite them through his principal and commitment to liberty and the american people and his sense of service. that is what allows the country to win the revolutionary war. afterwards, he went back to his firm to retire. afterwards, he
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went back to this farm to retire. he was held in even higher in steam after that. they wanted him to help write the constitution. he was hesitant to do that, but he came out of retirement and went to philadelphia to help write the constitution. when they write the presidency, there was no one else to fill the role. we needed him to the first president to give it the legitimacy it needed to be adhered to by the people. he was the one man to lead the holdingrocess who was america's hand and leading us through many coils and tribulations that we face. like washington knew when to use his own power. sometimes he said that, especially when the constitution was being drafted.
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sometimes he would go through the streets to impress other people. it seems he had a sense of when he had to use his own power. since he had an amazing the ability to know that standing back and not using our power is the most powerful and prudent thing to do. would go down the streets of philadelphia to send a message to the bridges that we are strong. it gave the sense of pride that we needed. other times, he was very restrained. we were in new jersey and we were having a rough time with supplies and men were virtually starving. washington sent out his troops. you think he is given in wait to get food from the populace. he was released and -- you think he was given leeway to get food
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from the populace, but he was really strict. someone went to a house and said, we would like to purchase food and silverware. this loyalists said, absolutely not. at night, the guards dressed in disguises, but still wore their hats, which signified them as washington's guards. a break in and still the food and the silverware, the fine washington's orders. this is reported back to the -- defying washington post orders. this is reported back to the army. this a violation of american rights. agassi difference between what we see today. now there is so much a victory trying toe are all
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pursue the same goals. there is a houston of origins of opinions. but washington respected their rights. he had his own guard executive for violating an american's writes. i am wondering if you have read the books it afire. cred fire. guest: i have not finished it yet. caller: my question and comments are about washington's face. -- faith. i am wondering if you believe he was a deist. he said it is impossible to
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likely to govern a nation without god and the bible. his thanksgiving proclamation in 1789 is very powerful in showing his faith and how he god for of the glory to the success we had during the revolution. i am wondering what you think about washington's faith. guest: i think you really hit the nail on the head. lots of people think washington was half a deist. from his writings, especially his personal likings, you hit a deep sense of strong faith, strong christian faith. , a man of hisme
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class and section -- class and proper to beas not religious in public. that does not mean he did not believe it. time and again throughout the war, his faith was what really drove him to be so incredibly courageous. sense.this he referred to it as divine providence. it is the different ways weather helped us to win. i am sitting in new york city right now. war right we had the here was that after the battle of brooklyn, the british troops had us pinned against the river. but a northeaster comes in and
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it blows the winds south and the british ships were unable to close the trap and trap us in brooklyn. washington uses this storm as a means to escape. he is the massachusetts take the american troops back to manhattan to safety through the night. in the morning, the sunshine is rising. there are plenty of juice left to be ferried. rolls in and covers brooklyn. the american troops are thinking he bridges will destroy us as soon as the fog lifts. this happened a couple of times. in yorktown, is helped theses
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god being for the american cause. he was not the type that would be commanding from afar. they would sit back and watch from a hill, but he was right down on the front lines. asseemed to see himself bulletproof. he would have holes through his jacket. he would have forces shot out from underneath him. he seemed a bullet proof. i would agree with you. he was not a deist. he had a strong belief, but he did not wear it on his sleeve. host: a question. he relinquished power after the terms. oft was washington's sense his own presidential power? did he go to lengths to limit himself?
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guest: he did. what is fascinating about washington is the foresight he had. he knew or hoped that we would be having this discussion today, that we would be looking back 237 years later and focusing on what actions he was doing and what precedents he was setting. as commander in chief of the continental army during the revolution and as president afterwards, he wanted to forge a balance with regard to an executive who is powerful enough to protect us from tyrants and abroad, but not so powerful that he became a tyrant at home. he realized restraint when it came to american citizens. he wanted to be sure that we had due process and our dignity was not trample. he fought the revolution and stepped aside just so he couldn't still the liberties and allow us to be free and have all
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this independence. as he stepped in after the war, he almost became george iii. nesss fascinating be humble the display. after two terms as president, he stepped down again. host: greg is on the independent line. go ahead, please. in 1796, washington was only 64 years old. , whyestion was going to be didn't you right -run for a-- a third term. you partially answered the question. he wanted to let the country move on.
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part of it was personal. he did not want to be in charge. it really took a toll on him. martha did not like him being president. they wanted to have the humble existence. throughout the war and his presidency, look at his letters. a lot of them deal with fighting a battle and losing. but he is finding time to write back and say, make sure you did the tobacco crop out. -- heted to be that he wanted to be back with his family. it was a strong statement to step aside and establish the precedent that the president would not continue on and on like a moth mike. many feared -- like a monarch might.
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we feared that he would go on and on in perpetuity. he wanted to keep the country fresh with new ideas and new leaders. host: where was george washington on slave ownership? guest: mr. washington owned hundreds of slaves. he did come to this realization, but by that point he was too dependent on them to run his estate, and he did try to make too little too late, thatn his will he made it they be freed and provided further education upon martha's death. for washington, he grappled with the issue of slavery, because he saw this inconsistency with what he was doing and it troubled him quite a bit.
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when he was writing the constitution, that was the elephant in the room, slavery, and many knew that this was an awful institution and that it -- it would fracture the country in the civil war. but back in that time, they basically punted on the issue when writing the constitution, because our country was so divided already that we were going to lose the southern states and we would fracture and wouldn't become a cohesive nation at all if we didn't sort of point on that issue, which ends up having many consequences. host: from twitter -- guest: so, washington -- people tend to think he was an aristocrat of some sort. he wasn't.
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he was middle class upper- middle-class may be. always had a chip on shoulder because he didn't get a a chance to study in europe the classics like those in the upper crust would. but he was self-taught. he had this tremendous drive to be uppercrust and be powerful and accumulate wealth. the way that he did that was through hard work. and he also married rich. wealthyas a widow of a man, and when he married martha, he gains all sorts of wealth as well as slaves. but he took that wealth and he built it up quite a bit. he was a very hard-working man. he was very efficient, sort of the opposite of jefferson, who comes from wealth and squanders it and is not really attentive to the details of his finances. washington was the exact
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opposite. coming for more humble beginnings -- coming from a more humble beginning, he is the type who would watch every invoice, would haggle with taylor's because they overcharged him, trying to get the best price for the tobacco he was selling. really pennypinching and making it very efficient. he was able to build that wealth. sure enough, as much as he did, he was also willing to risk it all, because when the revolution comes around, one of the reasons he got so involved is because he saw this taxation, which was hurting his business, and he saw that it was deeply unjust that we had representation and yet were forced to pay all these penalties. that is what this involved good when it came down to it, he was a man of principle and was willing to risk it all. he would have been killed most
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likely, or it would've taken us -- his property and wealth. but we of course want any comes back to the revolutionary war -- but we of course won and he comes back from the revolutionary war and he rebuilt it and keeps getting more and more prosperous. florida,n in republican line. caller: good morning. i just want to say i am 92 years old and i've been interested in the revolutionary war ever since i read a book that newt gingrich wrote, and i also have a relative that fought -- forefathers that fought in the revolutionary war, when i was trying to get in the dar. my sisters and my daughter and i are in the dar. 's book.ewt gingrich i think george washington was a christian because when one of
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the young soldiers died from , walking around in the ice and snow, george washington got off of his big white horse and they prayed. i think he was a christian. your conversation is very interesting. bye. host: caller, thank you. guest: thank you very much. happy fourth of july. i love hearing about these organizations. i was raised by my mother in the daughters of the america revolution and it helped with this respect for history, because if we forget our history we are doomed to repeat it. that wery important look at what the founders were doing back then, i guess for two reasons. one, they were brilliant men
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and women and they define what it meant to be an american. when they were writing the constitution, this was the will of the people as they envisioned it that was enshrined when it was passed in 1789. even if we are not enlightened enough to do that of our own volition, although i think we should, we have to anyway because the supreme court, judges and scholars come and they to exactly this type of history when interpreting -- they look to exactly this type of history when interpreting what the constitution means today. host: logan beirne is our guest and he wrote the book "blood of tyrants." what was washington's relationship with congress as president and going forward? guest: it could be tumultuous. he always had an interesting relationship with congress, even with the revolution. they tried to rule him by committee at the beginning of the war. one thing that was different from the more current
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presidents we have seen in the past few terms, he was always deeply respectful. they held the legislative branch in very high esteem. when they wrote the constitution, it is interesting that they saw congress of the most powerful and threatening never dreamedey that the presidency would be so big and powerful as it has. but washington, for his part, was deeply respectful and humble in the wiki approach congress. but at the same time -- in the way he approached congress. but at the same time he was very much involved in trying to lead -- he took on a mantle of moral leadership of the country and he kept on charging until the day he died. host: next call is from fairfield, connecticut, on o our democrats' line. caller: my question concerns the election of george washington. to he face the election
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become the first president and who did he run against him and was there any discussion as to opponents? guest: he was the only president to receive unanimous vote of the market people because no one ran against him -- unanimous vote of the american people because no one ran against him. .e needed him that is why it is so important to look to the history th, becae when they wrote the constitution and put the powers of the presidency in the executive branch, they could fathom no one else being president at that point. that is why it was so difficult for the american people when he eventually decided to step down for a second term because it became what do we do next? host: talk a little bit about how the phrase commander-in- chief came about. guest: it's an old phrase. dates backn-chief
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to the british kings using those powers as well. a lot of scholars often look to the monarchy, the presidents -- precedents that were passed down from the british to say that is what it means for us today. i personally think that is a big mistake. of course what the commander-in- chief meant going back to blackstone and his writings or even further back, it shapes the context in which the founding fathers used commander-in-chief. however, i argue that having a revolution, they didn't want to repeat the british ways. they wanted their own meeting of the american commander-in-chief. that is why we have all these experiments. we have, for instance, the rule by committee approach. when the war starts, very, very weak commander-in-chief. siege of boston, george washington wants to bombard the
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city, bombard the british in there and have a big victory. he council of four, which congress told him to catch his council of war, which congress told him to consult, denies his -- his council of war, which comes told him to consult, denies his request. maybe that wasn't the best decision. and in the battle of york, washington wanted to evacuate sooner, but congress, again, put pressure on him not to. again, that was a mistake. toyou get further along december of 1776, that is when congress evacuates philadelphia, and they are running for their lives, basically, and they realize that that system of what commander-in-chief meant was not working. so they started giving him a little more power. they proclaimed washington as dictator, which is a dirty word now, but looking back to cincinnatus in roman times, the
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great story of the roman theades -- roman who saves romans from the invaders and goes back to his plow. that is what they envisioned washington doing, having him broad military powers -- again, over foreign nationals, that is the difference. they never declared martial law, they never because sweeping powers over american citizens themselves. that is the way we structure create what it means to be the american commander-in-chief, whh i argue was a brand-new concept and one in which the commander-in-chief had rod powers -- broad powers abroad but limited power at home because they didn't want him traveling american liberties. host: jim on twitter says --
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guest: he was called many things. during the war he was called his excellency. there were some trappings of royalty and circumstance in the office -- royal pomp and circumstance in the office. he did like the idea of mr. president because it made him more humble. is chris, new haven, connecticut, democrats line. caller: hi, good morning. thank you for taking my call, pedro. to beirne, i would like you speak about his commitment to pluralism. i don't want to deny the 92- year-old republican lady. i think she's probably probably right that washington was a christian. but i noticed that at his first inaugural, he invited a rabbi -- in fact, insisted a rabbi be there to honor his jewish troops. i think that he probably had a
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good sense of the wide variety of religious beliefs among americans in his commitment to pluralism symbolized by that, don't you think? guest: absolutely. thank you so much for pointing that out. that is an excellent point and very, very spot on. i have a soft spot in my heart for new haven, connecticut, so hello. washington is very ecumenical in his approach to religion, which is pretty on during those days. for example, when he -- which is pretty auto during those days. for example, when he wanted to have priests whether they were protestant, catholic, rabbis even, to minister to his troops, this is because he saw religion having a very strong part of the republic, strong role to play, in which he saw religion as instilling the moral -- the morality that we needed to function. what is so fascinating in what
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you point out is that he wasn't trying to impose a certain religion on people. he was just very -- he thought it was very important to have religion in general. is the authorirne of "blood of tyrants." we have been talking about george washington, the forging of the presidency. mr. beirne, when did you get the idea for this book and the approach? sitting in new haven, connecticut at el law school in 2005 -- a yale law school in 2005, and i had write a paper to graduate, and i was sitting in my constitutional law professor's class and we were discussing the commander-in- chief clause, and then it was president bush and we were comparing what powers he had, and it came up in class that throughout history we have argued back and forth about the ofsident can do x because the commander-in-chief clause or
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cannot do y because of the commander-in-chief clause, but there is so much debate about what that means. all it says is that the president shall be commander-in- chief of the army and navy and does not say much more after that. that's still encompasses a whole host of powers. , whyught back, ok, well don't we see what the founding fathers who wrote the term, what do they have in mind when they used to that charm and what powers did they think? the theory of original is and is due, at least as a starting point, look to what the founding generations thought when they enshrine their will on the constitution. , myote that for my paper thesis for yale law to graduate, and ended up winning an award from the faculty. tigeron amy chua, the mom, got a hold of it, she
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called me to her office, and i thought it was -- i thought i was in trouble, with commercial consultation and things like that. i thought i was in trouble. no, i wasn't rich she said, "-- no i wasn't. she said, "logan, this should be a book." after i graduated i was working at a law firm in new york but i kept thinking about it and was building on it and that became the book. host: this is jerry from north carolina, independent line. good morning. caller: happy independence day to you. how do you think washington would have regarded the bush doctrine? so -- well, thank you for that question. i think you would -- in some ways he would applaud it, in otherwise perhaps not. i think the divide for him would be -- he would aggressively
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pursue american interests overseas. this idea of you being a forceful commander and warrior, to fighthington was, threats to the american people he would applaud. he would say we are too strong, we need to be powerful to defend the american people. where you might have some issues would be regarding the idea of .erpetual war, he is a man who wanted peace and to be strong and crush the enemy so that we can have peace, rather than bankrupting the country and spending a lot of money. and also, he was very respectful when it comes to the american citizens themselves, whether those americans were for us or against us. he felt it was important that the commander-in-chief not be attacking particular people
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because they have their rights and should be respected. , author of beirne "blood of tyrants," who has been joining us from new york, thanks for the conversation. guest: thank you very much. happy fourth. host: this morning the gallup folks put this pullout. here is the question they ask you how proud are you to be an american? ,xtremely proud, very proud moderately proud, only a little proud, not a little proud at all. said8 to 29 category, 85% they were extremely and very proud, 11% said they were moderately proud, only a little bit proud or not doubt at all, five percent. when it is the 3249 category, 82% said they were extremely ly proud,% for moderate four percent for only a little and not at all proud 50-50-64 category, 86% said they were extremely proud, 13% moderately
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proud, only a little or none at all proud, five percent. we will ask you about this topic, whether you are proud to be an american. if you call us or tweet us, tell us why or why not, perhaps. here is how you can do so. if you are proud to be an american come here is your chance to let you us know your thoughts on that. rightl take the calls after this update from c-span radio. >> egypt does have a new interim leader today. the chief justice of egypt's supreme constitutional court was sworn in, taking over after the military ousted resident mohamed morsi -- president mohamed morsi. a date for the next presidential election has not yet been set. mr. morsi is under house arrest at an undisclosed location.
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gulf arab states are generally supportive of the ouster of the egyptian president morsi. united arab emirates, one of the arab world's most outspoken critics of egypt's muslim brotherhood, claims that islamist groups have sought to topple its western-backed really system. saudi arabia's king abdullah sent congratulations message to the egypt interim leader. finally, the brother of colorado democratic senator mark udall has been found dead. he was on a hiking trip in the rocky mountains. udall wasf randy found in a remote area in the mountains of wyoming yesterday. in a statement from his office, senator udall says it appears his brother did die of natural causes, and he thanked searchers for their efforts. some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. one of the points we make in
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this book is the radio question -- did it make any difference to have popular elections? i think we came down on the side of yes, it did make a difference. the senators began to act like house members, which is not something that any senator wants to hear. >> what does that mean? >> it means they were out scavenging for votes, they had to deal with the people, as opposed if you have a state legislature and there are 26 numbers of your state senate, all you need is 14 votes and you can easily pay off, and they did in some cases pay off 14 senators, paying off their mortgages and a couple of notorious cases by their election. more with historian richard a. baker sunday night at 8:00 on c-span's "q&a." >> "washington journal" continues. host: again, for our last segment this morning, 40 minutes, we are asking you about
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if you are proud to be an american. you can call in on our phone lines on this independence day, the flag flying at the capitol there. host: you can also tweak us -- @cspanwj, and send us journal@cspan.org. we showed you the gallup poll going into the break. there is another pole along the same lines. amongst their findings, when they asked about being proud to forn american -- republicans, 68% of those but his bidding, 49% of democrats but is abating, and for those who qualify as independents, 47%.
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with that in mind, give us a us, tell us where you fall, tell us why, and we will take those calls as we finish the program in the next 40 minutes or so. matthew in alabama, democrats' line. caller: yes, sir, i am proud to be an american and i just hope everybody enjoys their fourth of july, and hopefully, if you haven't read one, read the constitution. i don't mean to advertise, but it is a great read, a beautiful book, and i suggest everyone in america should read it. anyone who wants to come to america, it is a good idea -- host: how often do you read it? caller: i read it whenever i need to look it up or need some advice or something. it always picks me up and gets me back in the spirit of what it is like to live on this soil. host: when you say you are proud to be an american, what do you take pride in?
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caller: oh, the freedoms we have, the liberties we have, the rights we have. , the soil, just everything. even the government, even though but i'mple dislike it, just proud to be an american. host: wayne is up next from shreveport, louisiana. republican line. caller: hello? how are you doing there. i used to be proud to be an american, and proud to join the marine corps and go to vietnam years ago, but since this country has gone under communism i just cannot -- i just walk around with a sad face now. i was raised a free man but now the country is going downhill and the american people just don't seem to realize what the president is doing to this country, so anyway, i used to be proud to be an american.
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i would fight in a heartbeat against any nation that attacked us, but today we don't have no freedom. everything has been taken away from us. that's all i got to say. .ost: dan is next he joins us from pennsylvania, independent line. caller: thanks for taking my copy i want want to say that i am proud to be an american, and with regards to the last living above the country being under communism or something, taxes high for60 year -low, corporations, and i don't see where we are under communism. we have freedoms here, and it is not obama, it starts with bush, and i am proud to be an thingsn because of the we have in the constitution like free speech and separation of church and state, but i don't think that means we ought to be proud of invading other
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countries and try to force them , and what we want to do basically trying to establish a police state for the last 100 years. dan fromt is johnstown, pennsylvania, some examples of people calling in. our question of whether you are proud to be an american. lights are on your screen as we go through the morning and you can also send us tweets, @cspanwj. host: up next, north carolina, democrats' line. north carolina, are you there? caller: yes, sir. i am proud to be an american, because i'm a number one come i think we live in the freest country in the world, and we have a lot of soldiers in the air force, navy, marines
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fighting for our freedoms. people just don't get it that a lot of blood was shed for our freedoms, and we are one of the most powerful countries in the world, regardless of what people think and how they feel emotionally. people who don't really understand -- i'm a child of the soldier who, you know, served in the country, and i watch a lot of soldiers extend their hand in their lives for our freedoms. when people call him in a, -- that theynts about just can't see, that they are losing freedoms, they need to be thankful that we live in a society that we have free choice and we can do things -- i could never not be proud of being american, and i would lay my life on the line to continue these freedoms.
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it is a disgrace for people to come around and say that our president and -- the man has done everything in his power to extend our freedoms and reserve our freedoms. the presidency with a lot of problems. mr. obama, the president of this great country, he is doing everything he can. he is being tied up by republicans and democrats, and i am a democrat. you can't do everything. i'm proud to be an american because we've got great people, like yourself, sir, that do what great, and we've got people here in north carolina that do what they have to do, republicans or democrats. we live in a free society. host: thank you, tyrone could that is from north carolina. the caller mentioned the
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president of the united states. his weekly address deals with the message of independence day. here is what he has to say. [video clip] july 4, 7076, a small band of patriots declare that we are a people created equal, free to worship and think as we please treat it was a declaration heard around the world, that we were no longer colonists, we were americans, and that our destiny would not be determined for us, it would be determined by us. it was a bold and tremendously brave thing to do. it was also nearly unthinkable. at the time, kings and princes and emperors ruled the world, but those patriots were certain that a better way was possible. and to achieve it, to win their freedom, they were willing to lay it all on the line. their lives, their fortunes, their sacred honor to. .hey fought a revolution but for the first of many times to come, america proved the
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theters wrong, and now, united states, this improbable nation, is the greatest in the world, a land of liberty and opportunity, a global defender of peace and freedom, a beacon of hope to people everywhere who cherish those ideals. generations of americans made our country what it is today. farmers and teachers, engineers and laborers, entrepreneurs and elected leaders, people from all walks of life, from all parts of the world, all pulling in the same direction, and now we the people must make their task our of, to live up to the words the declaration of independence and secure liberty and opportunity for our own children and for future generations. we are continuing on with our topic, proud to be in a market. tom is on the republican line to caller: i am very thank full to be an american do my -- due
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to my education. i was lucky enough to be in school for 15 years and one of the topics was tooling die ,aking, -- tool and die making making stamping dies. in education i understood that aluminum cannot share structural steel, and that is a fact, and the world trade center was nothing more than a hoax. it is total bs that aluminum can sheer structural steel. it is humiliating that my fellow americans believe this hoax. i certainly hope that they will get wise and understand that the federal government has committed fraud against us. happy fourth of july. from northis thomas carolina. jack from arlington, virginia, independent line. caller: i'm totally not proud to be an american. i am proud to be a christian,
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and as far as the fourth of july goes, i know that the date is significant to people like george washington because it was called the second of sears back in ancient egypt. when you look at the washington monument, not only can you recall the fact that there was an act of god that that the that is trying to repair with money from the carlyle group, but the 100-our zero interest speech that preceded that when the president of the united states under the zero-interest privilege of he servednal bankers, that evil, satanic symbol that the anti-mason party well knew what it truly represents on the
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fourth of july, the point within the circle. there is so many things that that guy from yale who wrote that book, who is just totally, totally full of it, and so is the president of the united states totally full of it -- tweet, actually -- host: you can contribute by tweet or by phone this morning. florida, democrats' line. kathleen, good morning. caller: good morning. i am very proud to be an american. as an african american i am very proud. my ancestors were brought over here in chains and they fought for liberty and i am so proud of this. the battles have been won.
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government are giving our liberties away to foreigners. i need them all to go back and fight for the liberties. stop being cowards, stop being afraid. fight for your liberty. every man in every country. don't run over here. stay home and fight for your liberty. thank you. host: you heard from the president about independence day. here is house speaker john boehner in a statement he released yesterday.
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, house speaker john boehner weighing in on this independence day. a shot of the u.s. capitol as we talk about pride in america and if you are proud to be an american. take the line that is represents you. sue from kansas, republican line. .aller: hello i am proud to be an american. i am blessed that i was born in this country. but i am not proud of the school system that allows children to go to the 12th grade, graduate, and then they cannot read or write, and math and stuff like that. the parents need to start teaching their children. and i don't think money will solve this problem. it has to be a cooperation between the parents and the schools, and they have to start
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saying, hey, you're not going to the next grade because you don't know anything. there is a lot of things wrong with our country, but you know what, i would not move into any other country in this world. thank you very much. public religion research institute talk about their version of the pride in america, talked about how you show patriotism or at least asked participants how they show it. by thankingriotism members of the military for the service, 69% said singing the national anthem, 59% said displaying the american flag. as far as attending july 4 celebrations, 52% said that as a way of showing patriotism, and 50% said buying american-made products. friedman is up next, and he joins us from ohio, independent line. hi. caller: thank you for allowing me to stay on the line.
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yes, i'm proud to be american. wanted to give this country some of my sweat and blood. i fought in korea and was carried out, even though i was overdue for rotation, at least but when they came around, the platoon leader was with our offices, i refused to take the field commission, because it would extend my three years. but anyhow, what this is all about is the culture of this country. we all contribution -- we all i feelute to it, and
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that people somehow just don't realize how powerful their contribution is, even when they negate by making statements that they are against this or are let down by the government. i've even heard some of them fret explicitly with language that i won't repeat. anyhow, the thing is that we .we a lot to our military -- it's, also, we owe a lot to the fact that when i was young, in elementary school, my parents kept moving
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the once a year, sometimes twice. recessearned to realize was a great opportunity, because an oddlways in on man -- man -- always the new guy. that gave me a chance to really mix it up with the guys out some of the lot, and the schools i went to where out whereoreign country, they would take me and my brothers up -- i had four brothers and two sisters. my oldest brother was unable to go into the military. he was going after flying planes off of the aircraft carriers that were new to our military power at the time of world war ii.
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he graduated from college in 1942, ready to raise his hand to and a guy asked him to retake an x-ray and called in a doctor and he said, yeah, that's what his tuberculosis. host: ok, and -- caller: his depression was tremendous -- host: got to leave it there, thank you for counting your story. florida, democrats' line. caller: yes, i served the nato in the late 1970s, i got there to germany just before the what was it -- anyway, frankfurt airport got owned by, i think, the palestinian -- got
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bombed by come i think, the palestinian terrorists. that made world news, but other people didn't know they were bombing nato barracks after that. for me serving nato and all that, i got to learn from the other servicemen from other countries how it was and what the rules and regulations they had. i am proud to be, you know, where i was born. i am a second-generation american. on one side of my family did the other side goes back to the cherokee indian. and for conservatives to try to dictate to me how i should feel, like you live your life and don't try to tell me, because it doesn't work for me, and i won't try to tell you how to live. and i think obama is doing a good job trying to work together. i just wish the conservatives would just step back a little bit and give a little bit so we all can get together, because people get so rude with each other right now with the differences of political opinions.
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that is all i got to say for you. that is florida. off of twitter -- host: this from the huffington post, talking about july 4 celebrations and how they been affected by sequestration. the headline is "happy july 4! sequestration cancels celebrations nationwide." it goes into detail, including fireworks canceled at fort bragg, north carolina. they've been held for more than 50 years -- 30 years with more than 50,000 people. our soldiers in iraq and afghanistan will be some of the last to come home. we have had to cut back on our observance here." shaw air force base has scrapped their july 4 party.
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the navy band has pulled out of activities at rock island, illinois to matt to cancel that because of sequestration. the national mall cleanup in washington, d.c. has been postponed. the change will cut some overtime costs. it also says that voters may be stranded in national because of sequestration. the army corps of engineers will not be providing workers with .vertime you can read more of that on the huffington post today. carmen, hamilton, montana, independent line. i'mer: yeah, of course proud to be an american, very proud to be an american. sometimes -- not sometimes, a lot, this is a beautiful country, we live in a very beautiful place, and we're lucky for everything now we have. i think we've been getting
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as azed as a populous -- populous ever since we came under corporate rule. i think that if we get an end to corporate rule and de- militarized the world, what a big thing to do. it could be done. anyways, we could be more fiscally responsible to its country and there would be a lot more money for the people. we always end up giving it away .uring the war some of the snow as it happens that we are being lied into war, but nobody is out -- some of us know as it happens that we're being lied into war war, but nobody is ever held responsible. in thehave anxiety united states that they are and there's not much they can really do -- host: we will leave it there. on twitter -- host: we go next to keith from florida, republican line. anler: yes, i am proud to be
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american. i'm a veteran from the cold war days back in the 1970s, and my grandfather was in world war i had he fought in france. why father was a world war ii veteran, and he fought in the pacific against -- my father was a world war ii veteran and he fought and the pacific against the japanese empire along with millions of them out -- millions of other american troops. i just wanted to say that this past week i heard something about -- i'm going to be paul revere and say that the russians are going to station troops over here for training according to an agreement, that napolitano is going over to europe to talk about the big security council meeting of some type. i heard that in the past week and haven't heard anybody else talk about it except for michael levin havemark brought this up, and they are going to station troops over here to be trained in order to
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intervene in any event of a terrorist attack or anything to enforce laws on the american people. i just haven't heard very much, and i wanted to be paul revere and say watch out, because here is a foreign entanglement that they are bringing to the shores of the united states. i just want to say god bless america and thank god for ronald reagan. thank you very much. host: matt smith saying -- jeanne is up next from anderson, california, democrat'' line. caller: you ready? host: gene, are you on? caller: yes, i am. thank you for c-span. heck of a job you do, except we don't get c-span3 on dish
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network. i enjoyed your programming. i am very, very pleased to be an american. my family came over on the mayflower. we been around for a few weeks, and the thing that i like about the american government is that it is slow to change. our changes -- we don't have changes in major leadership except on a scheduled basis. i am a little the celtic for the 1960s -- i'm a little the sawchuk for the 1960s, seeing egypt going up -- in the 1960s ,e had ecuador and guatemala and we don't have to live through that. we are blessed to have so change come about. .- slow change come about celebrating the fourth, probably what our family will do is form a circle and all start yelling at each other our own issues, kind of emulate how our congress , nobody listening
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to anybody else but just screaming at each other. i guess our next coup in america will be the tea party and the john birch society, so who knows. but we are blessed. it's only going to be 114 degrees here by the oregon border, so try to stay cool under the circumstances. thank you. god bless c-span. host: gene, we appreciate you calling him. one of the polls that came, from the gallup poll that we initially to questions on this youing, is this -- do think designers of the declaration of independence would be pleased or disappointed by the way the united states has turned out? , and that category, 60 nine percent said the founders would be disappointed and 77% of those anticipating 65 and older said that the signers of the
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declaration of independence would be disappointed by the way the united states has turned out. again, one of the questions asked by the gallup poll, which initially took this question, if you are proud to be an american. emily in st. petersburg, florida, independent line. caller: emily? host: emily, you are on. -- my commentd th to the viewers is that we are not a monarchy, that cultures evolve, and that the more i speak to foreigners, the more i discover and i am surprised that foreigners consider it prestigious to be part of this wentry, because in theory are a well-designed structure. we have free speech, which some of us take for granted, and should never, because foreigners cherish what we have here and
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take for granted, and it's an eye opener when you hear that from them. i personally think the nature of ,an is not to live in peace that war is somehow inevitable sociologically, and our culture evolve over time. they involve and they evolve slowly. some day war may be obsolete. some day we maybe able to to live in a peaceful country. ,nd i wanted to comment that structurally, we have in place a very good system. to theism is adaptable altar was to nature of man -- alturistic nature of man the species.
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communism is not a system daemon is sick in nature like mccarthyism. people can take arms through propaganda,, irresponsible media, etc. the messages occupy wall street, the civil disobedience was somehow provoked in a mob mentality that was totally unnecessary, because there was no real objective or alternative avenue to address the wrongs. we do have a proper structure to , such ashe wrongs crime, corruption in communities. it is all in place -- host: ok, thank you. jim, we hear next from who joins us from solomon, arizona, independent line. caller: hello, this is jim, and
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i want to share the pride of mike grandfather and my father and my great-grandfather for what was done on this continent. first one got there in 1853. he fought in the civil war. missed, bute war grandfather actually fought 4 wars for this country and retired as a major. he was in uniform for korea. my father walked the ridges of 10 canal, the bloody ridges of glottal canal. -- guadalcanal. brothertholic, irish, of four. after they elected kennedy in 1963, none of us made it to vietnam, and we found out it was all a joke. 56000 and however
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million we killed of the vietnamese. now we are presently doing wars over pipelines to keep opec .rices up when my children came to me with their ideas of joining the military, i was dramatically opposed. and then they of course have their own choice, but this is a constitution that was amended 32 .imes when i was in junior high, back in the days i got shot in the face by the klan, but at the same time, these children are looking at a very uncertain future, and it was actually predicted by some of the divinely inspired men who did bring the constitution to this country. from arizona. jim we started our show today talking about egypt. an update from "the guardian" newspaper, saying that egypt's
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military has issued arrest warrants for members of the muslim brotherhood. to 300 members as the new interim president, adly mansour, is sworn in. "with key support bases of the muslim brotherhood, including television stations, close down or rated, a focal point for morsi's supporters in the east of the city was approached by air wednesday night. state institutions, including the security astonishment, have steadily abandoned morsi since sunday. mansour was sworn in as the head of state on thursday. elsewhere in egypt, where backing of the brotherhood has remained a solid despite morsi 's political relations, the reaction to his ousting has been far from celebratory. up to 10 people died in clashes, and more than 400 were ported wounded in the hours following
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the military chief abdel fatah all cc's announcement that he ended morsi's presidency." richard from maryland, democrats' line. caller: good morning. i love your program. i am proud to be an american and live in a country that allows change. i think we have to say that some of the callers have said it is a process, but the change is we can correct our errors. we don't really understand the founders and their world because if you go back, the only voters than were male landowners. we have change that over the centuries. i was in st. louis last week, and right from the arch is the old courthouse. beautiful. c-span should cover the old courthouse. what you find there is that is where the first two dread scott
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cases were tried and heard, and the second one decided in favor scott and his wife. and then of course it was overturned, the decisions, by the federal and supreme court. and those decisions were just awful. the supreme court decision that found that african-americans were not entitled to citizenship. it wasn't just about dred scott. what the court decided was that, and throughout the missouri compromise. sparkedd decisions that the civil war more than i think anything else. but we've corrected that. when i look at egypt today, people don't understand what democracy is, that it really is very the local, that you got to get involved.
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when people complain about our military, our corporations and it is really the failure of the emerging people to get involved and make their voices heard -- the failure of the american people to get involved and make their voices heard. host: maria, democrats' line. caller: good morning. glad to have your program on. i want to speak -- a lot of african americans have abandoned this elevation of the fourth of july feeling it has nothing to do with us, and i would like to shed new light on that, because we need to be reminded as african-americans that we played a major role in building this country, and the country could not have been the place that it is now without .ur free labor i need the whole of america to see the african-americans as having played a major role in building this country, and without our support it could not have survived in the early years. the other thing is that i am a
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converted muslim. we need to remember that it was muslims that were brought here ghana on slaved ships to do forced labor, and people need to be aware of this so they can see the muslims in a , the african american in a, and as african-americans, -- the muslims in a new light, the african-american in a new light, and as african-americans we need to be proud that we built a refuge for any nationality across the globe to come to. i am part cherokee and also a converted muslim. i need us to be proud of that heritage. lastly, i will just say that basically, it is about us -- if we do not get a justified ruling in this is zimmerman hearing come it is going to be like open range for every
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african-american son born -- host: we will leave that they are, because that is the last call we take for today's program. for tomorrow's program, three guests joining us. scola of "theancy washington post," a contributor, talking about the obama administration's use of what is called big data, which drives the decision-making of a lot about the obama administration does does, and recent issues such as the nsa and health care and politics. at: 30, we will be joined by or tired lieutenant general -- by retired lieutenant general norman seip talking about a recently released report looking at the current education system and how to improve it with the goal of making potentially better people who enter into the armed forces, a new report that looks at that issue. and then our "america by the
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9:15.s" segment and our guests will talk about how americans spend their money and time on travel and also talk about foreign visitors who come to the united states for travel and tourism, the big topics of discussion. i will be a 9:15 tomorrow. we will take your phone calls and look at the papers as well. "washington journal" comes your way at 7:00. we will see you then. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute]
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