military operations in afghanistan. then combat operations against pentagon's he response to ebola. historian david catoosa on wartime. host: good morning everyone on this thursday, thanksgiving day 2014. president obama has plans to watch football on his favorite holiday. but before that, they plan to go to a local food bank for his d.c. neighbors in need. we plan to talk politics today, and if so, what debates will you be having? -- will you plan to talk politics today, and if so, what debates will you be having? tweet orlso send us a

go to facebook and you can also send us an e-mail. we will get to your thoughts here in just a minute. politics onalk thanksgiving today, and if so, what debates will you plan to be having? your are a couple of tweets for you from members of congress. we will begin with the speaker of the house. he said this just before thanks , just beforeis out the giving, obama administration releases plans for 3415 new regulations.

to the hill newspaper about irs employees getting bonuses. story, thanksgiving, moved up aup -- fdr week and set up a political firestorm.

are you going to talk politics this thanksgiving? that is our question to all of you this morning. if so, what debates do you plan

on having today? the numbers are on the screen. the lines are open, so start dialing in. also, another story from politico this morning that the house gop could respond in immigration next week. is this one of the debates you could be having with your family today? the house leadership is reserving time on the floor tentatively next week to respond to president obama's executive order on immigration.

at this point, there is no indication the gop is unified in a way to respond. immigration could be one of the debates your family has today. thomas, you are up first. will you be talking politics? no.er: because inot? caller: am the only republican at the table today and the rest are democrats. host: so you are going to avoid it? intor: it tends to devolve an argument and that's not the kind of conversation i want to have today. host: why are you the only republican? caller: you would have to ask my family members. host: why did you become a republican? it was several years ago and i did it because of economic policies and social policies that they champion, not that they always follow those ideals.

but the principles is what i like to live by. host: a few years ago you became a republican. does that mean that you voted for president obama in 2008? caller: actually, i'm only 21, so i wasn't able to vote for him in 2008. my first presidential election was in 2012, and i voted for romney. at 18 i voted for republicans and i have not voted for a democrat yet. rick in louisville, independent. will you be talking politics? caller: you are talking about talking politics on thanksgiving. if you lived here in ohio, you see, ohio -- the states like texas and oklahoma, louisiana, maryland, new york, and , they steal about $75 billion from the state of ohio ever year. state of michigan, the same

thing. indiana, illinois, pennsylvania -- you see, when we go to war and this is since bush and cheney were elected, all of these illegal wars and the four dollars gas, that sucks money -- gas, thatur dollar sucks money out of our state. and wall street and banking, which is the east coast, you know, connecticut and new york, we don't have anymore for manufacturing here. wall street, they sent out jobs to china. -- inacking industry fact, why don't you guys here on thanksgiving talk about chesapeake energy commode which is from oklahoma and came into ohio and is destroying our state? now they are being indicted with and embezzlement

and racketeering and antitrust. but the entire national media and the local media will refuse to expose this. what happens is when chesapeake have a-- here in ohio we different way of talking about politics on thanksgiving then you people over there in washington. host: all right, rick. sheridan, go ahead. for having meyou on. i would prefer not to talk politics at thanksgiving, but with all these people who have barely seen each other in a year or more, it is inevitable that it comes up. personally, there are members of ,y family that are provincial to say the least, and there are members that are in college, and it's really hard to get it -- a bridge going between them. usually, one side blurts out and the other side stays quiet to avoid conflict. it's hard to have a conversation

about politics at thanksgiving. sheridan, what issues do you expect to come up? caller: ferguson, the overall performance of president obama, and our lack of faith in congress. host: all right, sheridan in ohio, independent. politicsoing to talk today on this thanksgiving, 2014? that is our question for you all of you today. an announcement has been done that lawmakers can indeed defund immigration if they choose to do so. this is a report from the congressional research service that says lawmakers have the power to defund president obama's executive action on immigration, reigniting a fight within the gop.

the nonpartisan congressional research service says if republicans want to go that route, they can. and the appropriators on capitol disagree with them. some other issues that might come up this morning is the "atlantic constitutional journal" with this story. "one marine apply for health coverage." it is off to a solid start, according to the administration. and then the "houston chronicle" has the story.

by the way, next to that story this morning is a sidebar story about justice ruth bader to berg, 81, is expected at work next week after she had put in yesterday. she is hospitalized for a heart talk aboutreviving how long the liberal jurist will be staying on the supreme court. after a routine workout, she had some pain and went to the hospital and had a stint put in. also, the "miami herald" with this headline, that obama's action allows benefits upon

retirement. andrew in los angeles, democratic caller, you are up. ,o you plan to talk politics and if so, what issues you think will come up? i spend a lot of time talking politics with my friends. i wanted to ask you your name, if that would be ok. host: sure, it's greta bronner. caller: ok, ms. bronner. wouldhoping c-span would he's one of my,

favorite candidates. i enjoyed reading about him in the l.a. weekly, i believe it is. i want to see him again. will he be appearing soon? host: he has been on the show, yes. let me just say, thank you for your time. host: thank you, andrew. will go on then. bob, independent color. do you plan to talk politics? caller: not today. my son-in-law is a staunch supporter of obama and his policies, and i'm the polar opposite. we don't usually have so little -- a civil conversations when we discuss politics. if you are together with family, you just don't talk about it. host: how old is your son-in-law? caller: he is 32. host: and how old are you? caller: i am 54. host: your daughter married a

democrat. are you a republican? caller: i tend to be a republican, to be honest. actingington, they are -- i tend to be a democrat, to be honest a stop in washington, they are acting in a way that i cannot follow along with. i align more with republicans, to be honest. my father was from poland and the laws would not allow him to come here and be a part of this country. it was very frustrating to try to help them get a green card to work consistently in our nation. politico reported this

morning that homeland security secretary jeh johnson emerged yesterday as a new leading contender to replace defense secretary chuck hagel, but the race remains fluid and the timeframe for an appointment is still unclear. so report -- so politico reporting that dhs homeland secretary jeh johnson could move obamaf president nominates him and if congress approves that nomination. brian, i wonder if you are going to be talking politics at the thanksgiving dinner table. go ahead. we lost brian. we will move on. the phone lines are open. do you plan to talk politics this thanksgiving day? what issues you think will come up? runoff isana senate

slated for december 6. as many of you know, bill cassidy, the republican in that race is winning the runoff money race. he is ahead of them a crescent a to mary landrieu in the money race. she has raised $1.5 million ahead of the runoff and test the has pulled in $1.2 million. by the way, they will be having on decembert week 6. let's go to joe in north dakota, independent. hi, are you ready echo host: yes, go ahead. would like to make one comment about this immigration deal. it's been on the books for 25 thes when -- so why does president go on this executive order? when all they would have to do is go find every employer and fine an illegal --

every employer who hired an illegal $250,000. why doesn't the justice department enforce that? host: all right, tom. -- all right, joe. tom, will you be talking politics today? caller: probably not. she may not want to get into it in today's environment. host: why is that, tom? independent, but i changed parties. i was republican and then went to democrat and then to independent, because basically, most the people in my family know the two parties are pretty well falling off. there's nothing the average person can do out here.

the one guy from ohio, i'm from ohio, too. they have sent jobs overseas. and maybe that's the reason for what's happening in ferguson. people in america do not have any liberal -- livable wage jobs. people want livable wage jobs. it's not good to talk politics, icause personally myself, don't think i even have to pay republicanscause and democrats don't represent me. they represent the rich. the average american has an have a raise -- hasn't had a raise. i made $10.35 30 years ago. and there are people out here working on that. i was making $10.35, a gown of milk was $.80 and a gallon of gas was $.50. host: tom brought up ferguson.

thisuffington post morning, their banner is "experts are not buying it." this is the story that is running in the "washington post" and is probably on many of your local newspapers. it appears on the "denver post" this morning.

that's on the front page of the "denver post" and many of the local newspapers this morning. "the washington post" has this story, that regulators are demanding a recall of cars with deadly airbags. that is the story this morning in the "washington post." ino on ebola, another story "the washington post" this morning. four newsmakers this sunday, we shock, r --h regime

rajieadajit shaw, -- with shaw, the lead for coordinating the effort against ebola. here's what he had to say. [video clip] ginny andlook at sierra leone -- looking at sierra leone and guinea, we have made progress. it will be a long fight to deal with ebola and ultimately, kill it at its source. this will continue many months into the future. in particular, we have taken a very data-driven approach and we have seen results from that. we saw that 70% of transmission in liberia, for example, when transmission was at its peak, members family

touching, consulting, kissing to the washing the bodies of deceased people who had died of ebola. so we sent out these ebola teams that had six or seven persons per team. they had personal protective equipment and they go in a dignified way safely dispose of the bodies. messaging a huge campaign, plus the fact that we now have 820 ebola treatment to get sick,ria that has brought the rate of transmission down dramatically, from as much as more than 100 new cases a day to now 15 to 20 new cases a day. that is making a huge difference in transforming the state of that entire country. you can see the entire interview with usaid the sunday at 10:00 a.m. and six clock p.m. on suspect -- 6:00 p.m. on c-span and you can see it available online at www.c-span.org.

do you plan to talk all it takes this thanksgiving? if so, what you think will come up? on twitter, sam says, cannot help talking about it. it directly attack -- directly affects your table fare. and richard says, politics is live, i'll talk politics any time, any day. michael in detroit, go ahead. caller: we talk politics every day. i don't know how you can live without talking politics, because politics is nothing but group ethics, and ethics is the code of values that determines your choices and actions. when people say they don't want to talk politics, that means they are being disingenuous. you cannot live without -- talking politics. one of the subjects we will talk about is that money is playing such a large part in the election. when they turn money into speech, they are saying that the

group that has the most money will have the most to say. they cannot stand on their own rhetoric, so they by public giveions firms and they out the best advertisement and try to make good candidates look at her. second of all, we will talk about immigration. intoan you invite people your country when you ain't got enough jobs for the people already in your country? that is crazy. inviteu -- will you people to your thanksgiving table if you cannot feed them all? has an adverse affect on the african-american. how ironic. they built this country with slave labor. , and thenbuilt rebuilt by integrated labor from immigration labor from mexico. and now they want to get bit of them. but you wanted them to do the slave jobs. doingen you say they are jobs that other people won't do, though jobs that other people

won't do shouldn't be a job in america. that means you are not paying them right. that means you are not giving them the type of benefits they deserve. that means that is slavery. i don't care what other name you put it by. when you don't pay the people right, and as the guy said earlier, the cost of living has ifen to such a point that the county across and the wages they are paying the costday, the way of living has risen, people are losing. michael. right, in california, democratic caller, go ahead. you on the air, florida -- flora. my son-in-law, we really disagree. but i'm not going to vote

democrat anymore because i don't see any point in voting against my interest most of they are not doing anything for us. all they are concerned about his illegal aliens -- is illegal aliens. all illegal aliens are concerned about is themselves. i'm concerned about my grandchildren. my grandchildren will not have a job. i'll we have is -- what are work? here you guys warehouses and spanish-speaking supervisors. says learn english. no, baby, we have to learn spanish. three of my granddaughters lost jobs because they were not bilingual. host: sharon, oregon city, independent. caller: we will be talking about a lot of things. i wonder why the treasury department in 1913 would give away their most honored thing to

let our money because by a group of foreign bankers and all of our taxes go to pay the interest , it goes in the pockets of people. .nd they talk about ebola kabola.eferred to as run, because they know we put things in them. and the ebola czar that obama just put in office come a it's well-known that he wants them dead. how can you not talk about chemical trails and viruses being genetically altered and being joined to those can trails chem trails? they want us dead. host: all right, sharon. karen in sacramento, democratic caller. caller: the macy's parade,

fiddling while rome burns. of course we will be talking to -- about politics. there was a 12-year-old child forpolice shot him dead playing with a gun. they acted as if they were demanding as if he should .espond like an adult and he didn't respond like an adult criminal, survey shot him down. -- so they shot him down. i was in florida many years ago, but we were not going to kill children for playing with guns. use toy is, you cannot guns and toy tanks at all of these war toys for anything, except to encourage children to play at killing, and that is wrong. the people that manufacture

those things and made money off of selling toy guns to foolish parents to give to their children, they bear a whole lot of responsibility here. the "new york times" has the story this morning, carol. they report that a police officer who shot and killed a 12-year-old boy outside of cleveland recreation center fired within two seconds after the patrol car that he was riding in pulled up. the "new york times" this morning. times" has the story of ferguson on the front page.

"theon the front page of washington times" this morning. harold, independent, good morning to you. do you plan to talk politics today? caller: yes, i do. host: what issues do you think will come up? caller: mostly immigration, the violence in the country. what happens with the

republicans. i would like to point out one .hing how the president can go ahead forsign an executive order 5 million people in this country illegally. last year, he signed an order in 3 million u.s. citizens the dead of winter. it seems like he's selective. host: all right. jim into,, washington. tacoma, washington. i'm screaming, jumping up and down. nothing was mentioned by reporters or the prosecuting attorney about the talks green of the victim as well as the officer who shot him. there is something missing there screen of the

victim as well as the officer who shot him. there is something missing there. fergusonyou think that will come up around the thanks giving table? caller: yes,. unfortunately, i will not be there. host: please member to always turn your television down. caller: next up. caller:i think immigration is a big topic -- next up. caller: i think immigration is a big topic. also ferguson commandment people don't know that the officer had just say the life of a black baby just before the incident. he was saving a life in one case , but people don't talk about it. i wonder how many people know about that. here is a story in the

"washington post" this morning. that a balance

a little glints -- glimpse of speakinglinton career. do you plan to talk politics? will go to chicago, independent color. tell me your name. ses.er: it is moi politicsefinitely talk , the state of the country, and why the ruling class of the country, it needs racism to divide the working people. and why they use racist tailors to a press -- to oppress black and latino people. and also, why they use borders

to divide people that should be united. the world,ple of basically. there should be no borders. open up all the borders. those will be the issues. and this violence is a terrible tragedy. -- the racist violence in the the ruling people state of enslavement. that is where i will be coming from. mixed family knows is a -- and is a mixed bag of people. the front page of "the new york times" on president obama's epa rule.

the "washington post" this morning, their headline on this -- they are vowing to put up a vigorous fight against this regulation. also, the u.s. is adding planes to bolster the drive to wipe out isis. fred page of the "new york times

" if you are interested. -- front page of the "new york times" if you are interested. coming up, we will talk with major general todd semonite and then later, a discussion about the cost of threats around the globe. but first, president obama pardoned a thanksgiving turkey yesterday, continuing a tradition that dates back 67 years. here's a little bit of the president yesterday. [video clip] it's important to note that turkey's have always had powerful allies. benjamin franklin once wrote, i wish the legal had not been chosen as the representative of our country. he is a bird of the admiral character. the turkey is a much more respectable bird. i think these two turkeys would agree with mr. franklin, and they will get to live out the rest of their days at a virginia estate with some 10,000 acres of

land to rome. i know someone call this amnesty. [laughter] there's plenty, of turkey to go around. in fact, latest afternoon, we will take two turkeys that did not make the cut to a local who work hardks year-round and do not have quite enough and need close to where and food to eat. makingto thank them for those are nations to stop it is six years a row that they have made those contradictions and for thankst possible giving dinner for some of our fellow americans. and finally, some think it strange that we hold the tradition. typically, on the day before thanksgiving, the story went, the man who makes decisions about wars and other matters of state chooses to pardon a turkey

and an alternate. tell me about it. puzzling that i do this every year. it,i will say that i enjoy because with all of the tough stuff that swirls around in this office it is nice once in a while to say, happy thanksgiving. and this is a great escape -- great excuse to do it. tomorrow is a special moment, will he give thanks to the people -- for the people we love and we are reminded of the incredible blessings we have received. the folks whor cannot spend their holidays at home, especially the brave men and women in uniform who helped keep our country secure. and we celebrate a holiday thinking about what is best about the station and what makes and that is its

generosity and openness. as president roosevelt once said, we make a commitment to build a country in which no one is left out. i know everyone is wanting to get out of town, mac & cheese included. on, girls. are we ready? cheese, you are hereby pardoned from the thanksgiving dinner table. congratulations. [applause] >> "washington journal" continues. from kabul,g us afghanistan this morning as major general todd semonite, the commanding general of the

combined transition command in afghanistan. general seven night, thank you so much for being with us. ,appy -- general todd semonite thank you so much for being with us. happy thanks giving to you and your troops there. can you tell us who you have with you today? thank you for taking the time on the thanksgiving morning to budgets pay with us and see some of these great soldiers. the soldiers behind the are some of the great soldiers of isaf here. i will talk about them in a couple of minutes. a lot of these are my security detail. when we go out as senior officers, we take any of our soldiers and civilians out. we want to make sure that force protection's number one. a lot of these people are people that we count on to take care of us. there is a great major that you will see on tv today, he is my xo. , three to iraq,

three to afghanistan, and five little kids. and he volunteered to come over here with me. those are the kinds of failures we have over here. great people here with us today. host: general, where are you exactly in kabul? and what is your role they are? -- and what is your role there? guest: we are about 45 feet up in the air. are of our offices here relatively temporary. we are right in the middle of isaf headquarters, so we can see the perimeter. it is actually a really beautiful night out here. our role is to be members of the isaf team. and before you go on, i really want to take two great points and make sure those point -- those permeate everything i say. the most important part of our role is to be able to take our service members with us and for

them to be able to do this function. i've been in the military 35 years and a lot of our leaders over here have a lot of experience. i've been amazed at how the service members step up to after day to do these missions. you are well aware that we are deployed all around the world and there are a lot of things that are facing the service members and the department of defense. today, we continue to ask these great people to help defend our great nation, to help find terrorist that have an agenda to hurt us and our homeland. we take them, probably don't pay them as much as we should, the poor them to a far-off land, asked him to leave their families, rotate your kids from schools all the time, and come to a combat zone and nature we are protected, us as americans that our way of life. that, they are also here to give the people of afghanistan just the chance to even be able to have part of the

freedoms we enjoy in america, and the quality of life that we enjoy here. continuing doing is to set the conditions for security here, so the rest of the redevelopment of afghanistan can continue to flourish and continue to go on. the second most important thing i really want to highlight, and it is important today is what i think of as a narrow window of opportunity, a couple of years. we have been here for 13 years, timesr one of the first we seen, the new president of afghanistan, the new ceo of dola , they really appreciate the coalition. we wereo days after here, they came down and talked to the senior leaders and they said, we have not been a good enough job of appreciating the international community and all of the costs that you have borne , your sense and daughters, and billions of dollars here. and they said we want you to

know we appreciate you being on our team to build the conditions for success. we have seen ghani with a lot of initiatives. he is making inroads with women's rights and we are seeing reductions with human rights violations. and in the international committee in saudi, pakistan, and even into china, to be able to continue to build international confidence in my because he knows unless there is confidence in the donor nations funds dounds -- if the not continue to flow to afghanistan, he will have a hard road ahead. it is all the soldiers here behind me and us to administration that appreciate isaf and nato being here, this has given us a window of opportunity. i want to get to calls, but first, let me bounce this headline off of you and show our viewers. scope ofexpands the future operations in afghanistan.

it is an announcement made by the president. i'm wondering, what does that mean for you and the troops behind you? guest: first of all, i want to make sure we're very clear that about a year ago we had 135,000. the ramp was always continue to come down. today, we are about 20,000. we will be on plan of 9800 by the first of january, 2015. and then we will continue to bring you down to 5500 by 2016. that is the plan, sometime on the first of january 2017. it is the administration's intent that we will continue to convert to much more of an embassy-like operation. what you might be alluding to is the fact that because bsa was delayed and this is the status of forces agreement and the stationing agreement, and is a well, the elections were delayed , some of the international

contributions, other nations getting their soldiers in here was delayed as well. so we will not have enough people on the first of january per the original plan. and there are some options right now, if need be, where the department of defense can bring some additional troops in for a very short timeframe, until the international soldiers come into be able to replace those temporary bridging soldiers. that is probably what you are alluding to. are on the ground here executing our mission. we don't see a significant issue as long as we continue to have the soldiers we need to go through the beginning of next year. host: ok, let's get to calls. paul, you're up first. go ahead. caller: good morning, and thank you for taking my call. i would like to wish a happy thanksgiving to the general and all his troops there. there are a lot of people here in this country that appreciate you being there.

will be thinking of you at our table today. happy thanksgiving to all of your troops. my question to you, sir, -- here's my question. are the afghan people standing up and taking this fight to the enemy that is killing our soldiers? deserve a lot more than what this administration gives them. this administration is the most est bunch ofng thieves. how a soldier wears a uniform to represent an administration like this is just beyond me first of i want to know, will the afghan people stand up and take the as theo them administration draws down the soldiers echo -- the soldiers?

host: general, go ahead. guest: that is a good question and we have seen the people step up and take the fight to the taliban. -- right now, they are trusted by 75 to 80% of the afghan people. and the new government is trusted by 83%. we are seeing great support. on the other hand, several years ago, it was cooked coalition -- it was the coalition side-by-side. we're not doing that anymore. we are in the middle of transition this month and next month and we are going to and mission.d assist it is the afghan soldiers that are doing 100% of this mission. they are soldiers and police force and they are aggressive. to a fact asinuing it is fighting season over the winter. we expect great things in 2015.

will continue to reinforce them. we have more helicopters and weapons coming in. to see you will continue an afghan security force that continues to get more robust. and on the other hand, we are seeing just the opposite with the taliban. the taliban are not able to hold their ground. they're not able to have momentum and continue to go. we are seeing positive things on the soldiers side, of where we are expecting them to take the fight to the taliban. and there is another side of which is the- ministerial psych him and i can talk about that in a minute. i guess, the afghans are stepping up to the fight. host: from the "washington post" earlier, --

general, can you explain those circumstances? aret: yes, and greta, there two missions that we have. one is the train come advise, and assist mission command i talked about how we are doing that. and it is important. but there is a second mission called counterterrorism. we have the authorities to continue to take the mission to any remnants of al qaeda, or if in fact, al qaeda looks like they are going to continue to attack us in the united states. there is a very discrete set of authorities that the department of defense is working out with the administration right now to give our commanders on the ground the tools to be able to have very limited operations against remnants of al qaeda. exactly what is being worked in washington, d.c. and i would continue to reiterate that we feel we have on awful lot of support here to do our mission -- an awful lot of support here to do our

mission and i will leave those authorities to the people on the other side of the ocean. host: the general we are talking to is the commanding general for the combined mission in kabul, afghanistan. your questions this morning. and by the way, we have a fourth line for active and retired military. charles is in shreveport, democrat, and former military. go ahead. caller: i just wanted to say that i wish these fellows where -- well. i've been there. i was with the marine corps in korea. and recently relies, and they dropped turkeys to us and we suddenly relies, guys, we're going to have thanksgiving. we were all wishing you at home. -- we were at home. host: charles, before you go,

what you mean that they dropped turkeys to use echo caller: it was in north korea. we had not quite gotten to our chosen reservoir, but we were on our way there. the planes flew over and dropped the turkeys and some other supplies to us. and they set up some field houses where we could have a turkey dinner. it was still kind of warm, but after that, it got so cold if you wanted to keep a meal for yourself, you had to carry it under your arm pit during the day, because it would probably freeze on you. general, i assume the thanksgiving celebration is different today in afghanistan. it is, but first of all, i want to thank paul for his service. we have been doing this for 239 years. and we didn't start from scratch. there are many great soldiers, many great service members that ahead of us.

they have paved the way. world war i, world war ii, obviously korea. we are beginning to recognize , vietnam.le, 50 years the soldiers behind me today. always try to do is follow in the great steps of patriots like you did to continue to give our country free and show us the way ahead. today, we are very honored to continue to follow in the footsteps of those with -- who have gone before us. thank you again for your service. you andneral, how have your troops celebrated thanksgiving? it is evening time in afghanistan. it has been a tough day. we've had a hard week. we lost a couple of great soldiers earlier in this week. it was a tough day today. we started out and let our guys have a run. and then we had a volleyball tournament here. we really tried to slow them down. most of our soldiers work 18

hours a day, seven days a week. they don't get much of a break. we just came from the dining facility. it is dark year now. our chaplain, we gather them all together and i gave a speech to 300 guys. i told them i was going to be on tv with you and that we could not be prouder of the service members over here and all of their great service. and then all of the leaders when income and this is the tradition -- we went in and we stood behind all of the different places on the serving line and 300 people came through. whether he was turkey were mass potatoes, we said happy thanksgiving. we talked about where their families are, and pretty soon we're going to go back and watch the parade. and watch some football. of these guysst will either skype or facebook with their families. it will be a good day. st. petersburg, florida, will, democratic caller. well, good morning, you are on the air. caller: are you talking to

willie? host: yes, willie in st. petersburg come a go-ahead. -- in st. petersburg, go ahead. caller: what is the function of the united nations echo -- united nations? sir, i think your question is about the united nations. i want to elaborate that we are a coalition of 26 nations here doing a security force mission, mainly for the minister of defense and the minister of interior under the nato flag. our authorities and most of our guidance comes under nato. i want to reiterate, though, that while we are doing security, there are another bunch of elements, the u.s. embassy is right across the backside of our organization here. there are people from all different elements of our state department, our leaders from the embassy. they are working hand-in-hand

with the united nations, as well international agencies to be able to do the other side of the security. what about the schools? what about education? what about infrastructure? what about voting sites -- voting rights? we're trying to do more with women rights. critical in a lot of those functions and the u.n. is instrumental in making sure some of the policing functions are done as well. 352,000 of those soldiers of police work closely with the u.n. and nato to be complementary. the international community has to continue to work together to make sure that we are doing the best we can to set afghanistan up for success. host: tom, independent. wanted toneral, i thank you, and all of guys there with you for your service. -- a navy an abc be

cb and he just returned. i come from a long military family. my father and his other father served in world war ii one and two and i had relatives that served in vietnam. they were all navy or marines. interesting is my grandson just enlisted in the army. a kind of throws us for a loop here.he army won one but in all honesty, i'm really ,rateful, my whole family is for everything you are doing. i know what my son was doing over there, and when he got back i was there at norfolk naval base to meet him. on tuesday, it was really great, great homecoming. he shed some light on the job that you guys are all doing over there. all i have to say is that we are doing the best job we can not only as a country and supporting you, but i note the men and women over there are doing it as well.

tom, i just want to elaborate that this really is a whole team fight. and behind me, they are members of all of the services. service. great i was out about them in a minute. it really is army, navy, marines, air force, and coast guard all working side-by-side. along with 26 international nations. ,art of what the cvs were doing which was great was to help us retrograde out of here. when you go from 30,000 down to 9800, we have an awful lot of stuff. one of the things that is iftical is to make sure that u.s. taxpayers bop is a commitment, where can we return it back, because a lot of it has to go back into our units to fill the

over here. the cvs were instrumental in helping us ship out about 25,000 vehicles, about one million different types of equipment, 2010 boxes, and another thing that a lot of the soldiers have done, we built over -- 20 ton boxes, and another thing that a lot of the soldiers have done, we built equipment to that the cvs helped with our facilities back over to the afghan capability. for the shorthis run, although the soldiers in the service members will be gone in a couple of years. i want to impress upon you and that we in the army continue as an international community to see the support needed for community forces for many years to come. while the service members will only be in it for the next two years, we need to be in it for afghanistan.

continueto shoulder to to set the condition and then be able to succeed after we leave. not to come in for six to eight months. we invested 13 years here. we want to make sure when we leave, that continues them a afghanistan team continues when we left and continues to have enduring and long-term conditions to support the rebuilding of the country. robert is an independent from alabama. caller: good morning, sir. caller, you are in the uniform of our great country and i truly appreciate what you and your troops are doing in afghanistan in general. i want to wish you a very happy thanks giving, a very merry

christmas, and to strive forward. once again, we must know that under this present administration, our military has received more promotions, more levels of honor, and more recognitions main any previous administrations before them. enough politics. i just want to say i wish i was .here with you my age now of 68, i do not think i would be allowed to serve anymore. it i certainly country and love it. take care, sir. thank you so much for your service. thanks for those great compromise for my soldiers here. a lot of these guys are the guys out on the front lines. ,hey're writing back and forth -- riding back-and-forth with the convoys, and do this job. time too have the

really think both the department of defense, our elected officials, and all of you. we have unbelievable support over here, the best equipment, the best indications gear. we are trained to a standard that is unbelievable. our challenge is to make sure the enemy does not get a vote over here and we continue to build capability in the afghanistan force. an unbelievable appreciation from the american public every single day of what we are doing. if it is walking to an airport, and you seeing one of our soldiers or sailors and thanking guys a lot of times, our get boxes from the boy scouts. we got a bunch of churches that sent us a bunch of things. we got good food, but there is nothing like getting something from home, whether it is an

e-mail or facebook, and just letting our guys know that america is standing behind them, that is what it is all about. we are all in this together and we are here to represent our country and to do the best we can to be able to give the people of this country a better chance. pj, rhode island, republican. caller: i have been out for a year from the infantry. i wish you guys happy holidays. wish i was still with you guys. be safe. that is a couple of callers who served in the military who say they wish they could be over there with you. can you explain that sentiment? the bond that the soldiers feel? guest: this really is, i think it is the legacy that all those who ever served that want to continue to serve, it is not

just who you are and when you're in the service. it goes back to, when you get out, you continue to be a soldier for life or a marine for life. we continue to lean on our community, and we continue to see unbelievable support from divisions like the 10th mountain -- division, that were here. i think that is the thing. what our guys have a high -- a hard day, and there are hard days, and they know whether it is someone reaching out and touching them, whether the neighbor next door who saw somebody graduate from high school a couple of years ago and just them a note and says, you are doing a good job, it is just overwhelming to our soldiers to know that america stands behind them. all the colors wanted to be here, but we just had the greatest team over here right now. we could not be any prouder of the people we have and the dedication they take every single day to do this. they all want to be home and be

with her family. there is never a day where they -- even when we take a need for the fallen soldier, the next day, they are right there online doing what they need to do to make this a success. >> mask you about a story in the new york times this morning afghan's temporary government and the situation in afghanistan? uncertainty with the new government coupled with the economic crisis in the wave of recently has striven to normal stable currency plunge in value. what sort of challenge does that pose for you and your team? i will stay on the security lane and get to the economy in a minute. we have to set the commission -- the commission to help reduce the threat.

to turn theget them corner, that will continue to set the conditions for other ,nternational donors to come in just like businesses to continue to let the economy go. there is no doubt about economic challenges in the country. the president is flying to the country in a couple of days to continue to solicit support. they have challenges in their budget. that is why the international community has to support the security side here there are teachers not getting paid what they need to get paid. and there are different ministries having challenges right now. as much as we can all work together, the state department and the security piece, to help long-term process, that will continue to make it happen here at i will not comment on

exactly what the cost of the currency is and how that will go. it does not necessarily affect us directly. we know we are only here for a couple of years to set the conditions for a better place. if we can't help afghanistan do their job, that will not allow the rest of the international community to come in and invest in afghanistan. we are seeing a lot of other byntries continue to stand our side, and the stance the administration and country has taken on anticorruption will continue to build that. economicno doubt the conditions in this country are tough. there has been significant in a lot of the areas on governance and the economy, there will be a couple of hard years ahead. let's an independent and a veteran, my love from iowa. go ahead. i remember like it was

yesterday in 1968, vietnam. to hear you does an old man good. in the midst of the division and we hear everyday constantly, to hear your andusiasm is a blessing warms my heart. i thank you all for serving so much, and we love you. we are behind you 110%. >> that is a great comment. notoldiers unfortunately do have earphones and they cannot hear that. i will reassure you in a couple of minutes when we cut this off, i will turn them around and look them in the eye and pass along your thanks. i appreciate it. you havenderstand

someone there with you today you would like to talk about. we do. where is my sergeant? sergeant clinton, can you stand up? crisis is my third deployment or my second appointment is afghanistan. to serve my be here country. host: can you ask her how long she has been serving in why she joined?

guest: the audience would like to know how long you have been serving and why you joined. >> i have been in the military for 14 years. i wanted to serve my country. i do logistics and i enjoy working in the army. >> when you leave here, what do you think is the biggest and you will take away? nato,ike working with working with everybody and making this a win. she speaks for all the great soldiers here. she is representative of the thousands of great soldiers we have in afghanistan. host: i want to share with the staff sergeant some stuff that we have on the phone that would

like to speak to her. go ahead, caller. >> how are you doing? ? am i love you. -- >> mom, i love you. be all it's going to right, baby. don't cry. we still love you. be safe. >> can't wait to see you. host: her family i think is still on the line. her husband is still on the line. how do you plan on spending thanksgiving today?

we will just cook a meal and be thankful for being blessed the way that we have. how is your family coping with having your wife in afghanistan? it is a part of serving your country. making a sacrifice of having sometimes one that is a way. just knowing that she is there with a team and not being there by herself makes all the difference in the world. host: how often do you talk? we get to talk often. how are the kids doing? the kids are doing great. basketball,aying and my new grandson is eating

and pooping, as babies do. my son-in-law is videotaping everything. i would like to the able to say goodbye to your family for now, and for the two of you to just talked with each other and say happy thanksgiving as we wrap up our time here with all of you in afghanistan. go ahead. >> i just want to say, he sweet potato pie for me and send pictures. i love you all. caller: i will do that. >> we love you, mama. >> we love you a lot. come on back. >> love you, mommy.

want to thank her family for joining us on the phone and sergeant clinton, for your service, and all the folks serving in afghanistan and around the world. we thank you very much. we have got just a few seconds left here with you. general,uld wrap up, and talk to us about what you are all doing there and why you view it as important. guest: we have great soldiers and it is a hard mission in a dangerous place. we have a good understanding of how we will be out here. i want to review with what was said at -- just days after he took over. right up front, you have billed as an army of 352,000. you have been fighting side-by-side with us for 13 years. you have given us the guns and ammo and helicopters.

you helped us defeat the enemy. if you continue to transition out of fear, what we need your legacy to be is not about guns and not about mo. -- ammo. what your legacy has to be is about process and system. that is what we are doing. continuing to make sure we have the long-term plan to set the conditions so as we following on-ramp to get out of here in the next couple of years, we are convinced that the afghanistan leadership and the people out there will have a better place. missions and hannibal, the right people to do it, and it will happen. the last thing i will tell you, hello to my wife, connie, the best spouse in dod. thank you very much clear thank you to all the troops there. thank you for your service and a happy thanksgiving to all of you. we really appreciated. -- appreciate it.

up next, we will talk with author and historian david hasrusza about how wartime shaped this president and other precedents. later, we will talk with marcus weisgerber about the cost of national security threats around the globe here it first, we want to show you president obama's annual thanksgiving address. >> on behalf of the obama family, michelle, malia, sasha, i want to wish you a very happy thanksgiving. many of you will spend the day with family and friends, catching up, eating some good food, and watching some football. before we left a fork, we go help the community to serve neighbors in need, and we give thanks for each other and all of god's people. more than any other holiday, it is uniquely american. each brings traditions and

cultures and recipes the table, but we all share the day united by the gratitude for the bounty of this nation. we welcome the contributions of all people, no matter their origin, color, or believes, who call america home, and enrich the life of our nation. unum.ibus out of many, we are one. we are reminded this creed and america itself is never inevitable, but the result of people in every generation doing their part to uphold our founding ideals by taking the blessings of freedom and multiplying them. as president kennedy once wrote, even as we give thanks for all we have inherited for those who came before us, the decency of purpose, steadfast, and strength of will, for courage and humility, which they possessed. we must also remember the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.

today, we are grateful to all americans who did their part to lift up those ideals. including those overseas and their families who sacrificed so much to keep america safe. we say next repair for those who are away from home and renew our commitment to take care of you as well as you take care of us. we are grateful for the countless americans who serve our communities answer -- and soup kitchens and filters -- shelters, lifting those who are less fortunate and those who have fallen on hard times. this generosity and compassion that weeve -- believe are each other's keepers is essential every day. it is easy to focus on what separates us. as we gather with loved ones on banks giving, let's remember and be grateful for what binds us together. a love of country, our commitment to justice and equality, a believes that are ahead,est days and our inherited ideals must be

the birthright of all children. that is what today's all about. out of many, we are one. thank you, god bless you. from my family to yours, happy thanksgiving. >> "washington journal" continues. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] >> we are back with david pietrusza, a journalist to talk about wartime. how does it impact of previous residence? guest: woodrow wilson said it would be a tragedy if my presidency revolved around foreign policy. more and takes it up to a much higher level. i do not think any president really signs up for that. byalways catches them surprise.

there was a saying that war is not good for children and other living things. it is also not good for presidency. think about our living memory, of harryashed any hope truman getting back into the white house at 52. himon johnson, and forces out, aside from health issues, which cannot be ignored, it certainly does not do much for george w. bush. war and evenin a if it is successful, look at winston churchill being grown out of the office in 19:46 am a 19 and five, and the republican congress coming in with their slogan, had enough, in 1946. the 19tht good even in century for presidential popularity. the midterms of 1982 go very heavily for the democrats against lincoln. you say, that is a tough trip to

do because all the democrats were in the south. still, he loses popularity. james madison almost loses its popularity to the guy in the federalist party in 1812. not good for whatever party in whatever time. people don't like war. is it always part of a president's presidency -- legacy? guest: that is what makes or breaks. if you are in a time when, the chinese, i was saying, the time arepages of written in the happiest days in history. increases, whether it is lincoln or franklin roosevelt, whether they are determined to be great whether thate not, will impact obama, this is a low burner kind of work.

we were talking with producers the other day about how it does not seem to affect us on a daily basis. we talk about it almost like a spectator sport, not like bluehing the goldstar and star mothers, would have been in world war ii, where the stars would hang in the window. a blue star, a mother had a son in the service. a goldstar if you lost one here it -- lost one. we thankfully do not see that as much. we do not see the rationing which occurred voluntarily in world war i, not voluntarily in world war ii, the shortages which followed. we are not impacted as much as in previous generations. anotherohnson has strategy, and we sort of have that today, in sequestration. a we were just talking with general in afghanistan, and part

of his conversation was president obama's announcement recently that he would expand int scope of our strategy afghanistan. a war he promised to end, and now he is expanding it. a president elected in 2008, promising to end two worse. >> this is unique because we seem to be going through the exit door and things are coming back in afghanistan and iraq, where we're talking about putting more advisors in. have we not heard that song before in vietnam, or training rebels? that to me, i suppose what would occur to most people -- i read it again last night and i was thinking, it sounds like training the anti-castro dies in pigs. the bay of it opens late does not end up like that and we hopefully have learned some lessons. but as thousand we have been

there before. after eight years, you elect someone to solve a problem, and the problem seems to continue. you reach a peak and then you're down in the valley again they're not good for presidential legacies or for the country. host: a newspaper headline recently, -- i am reminded of the friend who was a hunchback. one day, they were walking past the synagogue and he said, i used to be jewett. his friend said, i used to be a hunchback. yourself whatever you want to, but it does not change the reality of what you are. if it walks like a duck and >> like a duck and all of that, -- quacks like a duck, and all of that, it doesn't change.

phenomenon only of my lifetime -- my lifetime. the first one is light eisenhower. up to that point, it is franklin d. roosevelt. anyone who would dare to pull it off was free to do it. ulysses s. grant tries for a third term. even presidents with great power are constricted. , when he was elected in his own right, as soon as you selected, he says, i am not running again. and makes him a lame duck historians universally agree this is the one singular mistake he makes politically. it really weakens you when you're going out the door, going out the door. i suspect at some point, we are going to talk about a defense

secretary or someone is going to call, and i was involved with the government of the city of new york. change, when the term ends, when they are going to leave, not only do you have less influence over the legislature, but you also have homes recruiting new people to come in. you're not going to get quality people to come into your administration for two years there it they're not going to disrupt their life for this, unless it is a capstone of a career. but you might start moving is on the backr of the titanic, which leaves you with, if jeh johnson comes into the fence, who backfilled that? you have got problems and no matter what president it is, and you cannot change it by saying you're not.

given his lame-duck status and waning influence like all shouldnts with congress, this president have other presidents turned their attention the last two years to what is happening overseas, to foreign policy, whereas the commander in chief, he can make decisions without? a good point. he certainly has more latitude there than legislatively. house fourlosing the years ago now, he has not been able to get a legislative program through. he will certainly not get one through now. he merely has to control the damage of how he would perceive the republicans would put things together. yes.foreign affairs, that is where he has latitude. that is what we saw a red the

election where he goes to china, announces an agreement with them, and takes headlines away from the new republican leadership on the hill. host: let's get to calls. we are talking with david pietrusza, author and historian, for president in wartime. democratic caller, go ahead. to say,i would like first of all, the old r&b artist is it good for? absolutely nothing." that --ong with the this conflict is not winnable, because we're going against religious values that other people have and issues that other people have that by givingone -- won

people's land and other things. serving over in iraq and afghanistan. i think this war is not winnable and with the current president, he just has all the problems of and unwinnable war. that illustrates the problems obama faces right now, not just opposition from republicans on the hill, but also from within his own party. the lawn signs are still out there. make -- maybe figuratively, get us out. stop the work. a lot of the people who elected him one of the worst two and.

themselves disappointed. he faces not only opposition on the right, but i was fascinated to see a few weeks ago, neil young was on one of these john stuart type shows. he said, would you support impeachment of the president, and he says yes, over fracking. encouraged expectations on the left. they have not always been fulfilled, so the frustration, you know, the revolution of rising expectations. next in deset is moines, independent caller. want to thank you for bringing the men and women onto the tv. i give them my love and support. my question is for the gentleman that is with you, what does he think of mr. president reagan when he said, take down that wall?

i was wondering what his feelings are on that. certainly awas wonderful moment, and more wonderful when the wall came down. i mean, geewhiz. i am polish, ethnically. i spent how many decades of my life thinking that my kinsman would never be free, never be free. then, somehow, without firing a shot, miracles do happen. cold war, the people of eastern europe, freed. can probably tell, i'm getting choked up thinking about it now. it was such a wonderful thing. the fact that he said it and his advisers said, do not say it. you're going out on a limb and you're not helping international

relationships or playing the game. the game which, as they say, insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and we kept doing the same thing over and over again in the cold war and it was not working. maybe it was working and it did butturn into world war iii, it was not working in terms of coming to a resolution and it got resolved. >> are we back in the cold war? >> which one? with whom? ok. yes. it certainly is. the reset button was reset to the cold war, and not to the happy gorbachev days. ukraine, we see that congress is probably pretty hawkish. we had a resolution come out of the vote in the house foreign affairs, foreign relations committee.

the other day. condemning putin. i think we will see more of that and we may see a package for military aid to the ukraine. veto that?esident will he sign it? i don't know. i don't have a clue. but things are not going to improve. keys pushing. -- keeps pushing. -- putin keeps pushing. there was something in the washington post about their fears about putin. finland? the ukraine, the missiles coming out of a went a few years ago. the baltic states are nervous, but finland, never part of the old soviet union, they're talking about five recent

incursions in the airspace, the -- how they have to retain their readiness, and they maintained constriction -- constriction. they're not like the western europeans, except the swiss. their power ran -- ran out. >> lorraine, independent caller. good morning to you. >> how are you? happy thanksgiving, david. hello, dad, if you're listening. i was listening and i remember david saying something like, a lot of things don't affect us. i am worried about ms. ginsburg. hopefully, she is recovering also. i just wish a good recovery for her. i think she was in surgery. please have missiles and a lot ofplace,

the things i worry about, -- now i am nervous. >> you are doing fine. you're doing fine. ok. it is just, things really do affect us and i really admire the president, when he comes out peaceful strategies. host: i think we got your point. i will leave it there. we will have david pietrusza jumped in. she was getting to the point, the president, wartime president , he has made many attempts to try to resolve conflicts comes to mindat is russia and putin in sanctions, trying to go that route, rather than military. guest: right, but we also had his initiative to go into syria,

and now we seem to be pulling back from what we do against the side. also, we had 2011, i think it was, with the overthrow of qaddafi, in which the united states intervened, and intervened, again, without notifying congress. do we go to congress, he says no. went to the united nations. went to our european allies, so he did not have to go to congress. congress did not really protest. time, that hehe should have and it was essential. and i think it kind of gave him permission not to go to congress on other things. we are seeing that up to and including amnesty today. ,ut they did not do it, i think because of popularity and unpopularity. riding very high in

popularity. it was like they did not want to be accused of bringing -- of pro-qaddafi. gaddafi had artie flipped, not an ally, but already held closer. twitter, you want to know if it is not war, it is nation building. >> i do not know if it was a nationbuilding thing. nationbuilding in south korea with harry truman. everything always starts further back than when you say it starts there and it is the undeclared naval war with france with thomas jefferson. it is always something before the example you end up giving, and many you wish we had given another one. the modern era, since

war.ring were -- since that, germany declared war on us. harry truman declares police action, etc. i think everybody will be talking about it. rand paul says, i am going to move for a declaration of war when congress comes back in december. it is like, ok. i am thinking, ok. to before harry truman and i read the resolution, which has a lot of quotes from james madison, and then he says, we will not put food -- who's on the ground except for this and that. will notost like they

bomb the bridges, not bomb north korea, and we will micromanage and have these almost privileged sanctuaries. the oneike come on hand, it was this, and on the other hand, it was that. good luck, congress. you sorted out. -- sort it out. host: mike on footer says -- dude -- says says -- fred, orlando, florida, democratic caller. hello. good morning. go ahead. caller: yes. i believe, it is hard to declare were. i definitely believe we should to stop them.er

they are trying to destroy the world. host: what do you mean? in the i mean everyone united states, everyone in the world. there is a terrorist group that wants to structure, chaos there it we have to stick by the president. i think we do have a consensus on that. very broad. i think very few people would not agree with that. even the neo-isolationist congress, rand paul, even he is saying to declare war on it and do it in a certain way. virginia, bob is next. caller: i want to ask a two-part question. do you think a leader like putin is weak president obama

and is therefore taking advantage of his perceived weakness? given thatpart is, chuck hagel was a republican appointee and obama has ceded's ears a does it make sense to appoint a republican or a democratic pragmatists, something like carl levin or jim west, or john mccain on the republican side question mark can you comment on that? thank you. >> i will answer the second one first because i already forgot the first one. appointing a republican. was reading the list. carl levin would be an interesting choice, but i think he is 80 years old era i do not inc. in a -- i do not see him taking it from an age standpoint.

in terms of mccain, i have seen that approach. that would be really very interesting. they mentioned the air force and the secretary of the navy being high on that list. mention the secretary of the army. that gets back to your point on that. the army was of john mchugh, a member of congress from the republican party from afar in northern reaches of upstate new york. not being mentioned in the mix. it is not like he is a controversial fellow. out to a republican , an interesting idea. there was an article in the times a few days ago. very well done. it talked about how many of were left on that

terms. it was a substantial list. the hagel situation is a mess for a variety of reasons. this goes back a long way, where fdr have to fire harry would world war ii because he is an isolationist. the first secretary of defense under harry truman, and the unification of the services, he is playing footsie with tom dewey in the campaign. cutbacks,policies, almostthink about disarmament of the united states in the 1920's. their big drawdowns in the a policy issue, he is forced up by truman.

it is such a sad case because -- he ends up in the half will in a nervous write-down and commits suicide. that is a bad situation. lewis johnson is forced out after that. all of those things are problems. rumsfeld, going for a much closer history. the first question was question mark -- was? putin, is her taking advantage of a perceived weakness? guest: i think that is true. i think the situation is only midterms.d by the when you get an essential repudiation on the homefront of a chief executive, that sends message to foreign leaders. the same thing happened to woodrow wilson in 1918 very woodrow in october of 1918 sends out a message to the american

people, if you are backing me and you are backing the war, vote for democrats and you do not vote for these republican guys, very much like, my policies are on the ballot, everyone of them. with pretty much the same effect . the republicans who had the house of representatives takeover the united states senate. will hamstring his problems with the league of nations. it also sends a message to the foreign leaders that woodrow wilson is not all that popular back home, and how much clout does he have? one was a change in policy and the other is keeping the policy.

>> any lessons to be learned for this president changing up the defense secretary with two years to go? be whoever gets nominated and confirmed by the president will be president obama's fourth defense secretary? time to getly tough anyone to come in, not only because it is for such a short duration, but also because you have got worse, at least two wars going on now. god knows what will happen anywhere else. what do you do in eastern europe? about two from wars and two ocean 80's and all of that and everything has come down there it and yet the threats are popping up everywhere. we have sequestration, shortages in terms of what is available.

there are only so many drones and missiles in the arsenal before you have to replenish your stock. also, what person is going to come in where you may be derided as being a knowing doormat for people in the white house? policy is often come at the state and federal level, the agencies often refer to the white house second floor as it was called the new york state. it appears to be an extreme case here right now with the white house, the defense department. what happens not just with hagel, but his two predecessors. we are talking to a and includingert,

his work on presidential elect world history. in hollywood, florida, a democratic caller. thank you for hanging on the line. it is your turn. >> that the think doing. -- happy thanksgiving. guest: i had not heard in the name mentioned. i do not think he has military experience being a governor, but i do not think he is in the mix. hosea in miami, a republican. you are up next. wondering were all the republicans were. they must be at church. history is one of the most fascinating subjects to me. i would like to know your decisions andical historical positions with our politicians.

it seems they are contradicting. back in the 1700's, thomas jefferson going into tripoli, .hat was for commercial reasons we have pirates in somalia. when we went into vietnam and all these other countries we are going into, we ended up with a wall in berlin and ended up losing it and we ended up with half of korea. the politics seem to not the, , historians have politiciansed the and the politicians do not have a good knowledge of history to keep making the same mistakes they keep repeating. guest: you get a lot of

mistakes. but also, i used to be a baseball historian. an official encyclopedia, major league baseball. people would ask me questions. i say, all things being equal, all things are never equal. also, the circumstances change. the circumstances around, some wins a midterm. lewis, a blogger, a caller, did some stories. i did a talk with him talking about how it does not honor that because republicans do well this year that they will sleep like republicans swept in 1920. you do not have to go that far in history.

you just have to go back to the last midterm. you can learn all those things. you can learn all those things. next in wisconsin, independent caller. you're on the air. caller: happy thanksgiving, c-span. i have a comment, kind of religious. i believe we are fighting a religious war and not a political were so much. i believe trade will and this word. -- this war. the end of world war ii, they do a lot of trade agriculturally as far as the cleanup post-work. i did not see obama do any of that. >> i think we have packages that

are substantially all parts of the world. about is thealking .reek aid so many people were starving in europe and the cities were ruined, particularly in germany. we reached out to help and we did the same thing in world war with aid. herbert hoover was in charge of that for the united states. we helped not only the people in western europe, we helped, it was not the soviet union until 1932, but communist russia and the middle east. one of the mistakes made was that the british insisted on -- it meant after the piece was arrived at, on

november 11, 1980 team, the german people kept starving and they resented that. they resented that. thing to bebad magnanimous. host: on twitter -- guest: hm. any, eh? there were few. like harding, stuck with military occupations in central america. flareups inu have nicaragua. i think theodore roosevelt, on the enough, might not.

the moral war continues under mckinley. foreign? it depends on how you define things. all the indian wars of the post-civil war era. very few. maybe john tyler or james monroe , the era of good feelings. here,thinking, coming in about military experience, what president did and did not have it. after civil war, you have all these republican general types running the white house am a all the way up to mckinley. get people with no tr, all theories after the way from task through hoover . into the 40's. frankly -- franklin roosevelt.

eligible fore was a naval cross or something. he had been in combat because he toured the front lines here at the -- in terms of realize military, no. psyche toifted the want a president with military experience, thinking of today's times, when you have the threat of terrorism after september 11, 2001. >> it is a natural thought. we want people with experience to look at it and frame the right questions, coming to the right answers. greatin roosevelt was a were president. basically by letting the generals do their job. his work experience as a combatant, no.

part ofin the civilian the operation world war i, yes. woodrow wilson was a good president, again. no military experience. i do not think it is necessarily a plus or a minus. lyndon johnson, it is a dicey thing. inserves, to some extent, the navy, world war ii, but it is pretty bogus. pretty short and pretty bogus. >> our line for democrats, woodland hills, california. >> good morning. good morning and happy holidays. think theke to say i president is doing a fantastic job in light of what he stepped into. were on the verge of having no economy. he did not bring us into iraq. lost 4500, 5000 men.

i don't know. people talk about boots on the ground. i do not really have the stomach for it. religious work, giving always other countries to help us, that is what we need to do. everyone has an interest. if the purse strings will be tied, he is taking the best measured response he can. and tired ofick hearing the republican party drone on. mcconnell said it from the get that they would obstruct everything this guy does and that is all they do. i am not sure if the purse strings will be tied fighting isis in afghanistan. that remains to be seen. >> about the president's legacy,

what have previous presidents done in the last years to shore up press -- legacy? do they shore up the legacy with their party base? some might say he should work with congress and come up with a new program. sure the program -- where the programs come from or whether he is even interested in that here they might go in a different direction. he seems to be going in a different direction, toward his , either with amnesty and his agreements with china, the forecast, what will happen in wherext two years, instead of getting along, go along to increase the legacy, he will just crank up the volume. how does that compare with previous presidents? guest: george w. bush went out

with a whimper and not a bang. bill clinton is a special case. he was busy with something. eisenhower basically -- he is a guy -- but e kind of he faces same thing that obama did. people forget that one of the great midterm bloodbaths of all time is 1958. kicked the ts just republican party almost into oblivion. that is one reason why richard nixon is a candidate in 1960. he is the first vice presidential candidate to go on. they are unless accidental president -- do not get nominated. but he does. partly because there's nobody left in the room. i'm not going to step on --

host: and we have. we have thomas from california. republican. caller: good morning. hi, dave. made about the sequester. any information that can fill us in on the political ramifications and the financial ramifications of this thing? or they just going to kind of keep it quiet. guest: it has hurt the it has helped -- obama has actually talked about how the deficit has gone down. that was part of the deal, which everyone had signed on to. it was a bargain which people it probably won't happen because everybody dislikes so many parts of it.

there is a lot of talk of it being reopened and the spending going back in. john mccain is very interested in that. so, basically, stay tuned. host: we'll get an update on stands sequestration coming up next. talk about national security threat in the cost of them. richard next in massachusetts. caller: hi. good morning. to talk about isil. we were giving them weapons to overthrow assad. so that is that situation. and they keep saying that bush brought us into this middle east war and iraq. it was brought in by congress. they voted for it. so when they say this was bush's war, it wasn't. voted to going there,

and you should tell these people and they say that. that is all i have to say. thank you very much. host: referring to isis or isil. guest: one thing i didn't mention about the resolution is that he is repealing a lot of that. the authorization was there, and that was one of the things which obama relies on. host: gary in indiana. a democratic caller. caller: happy thanksgiving to you two. i'm wondering what type of davis would fferson have made. guest: i have never given it that much thought. it is not entirely

impossible. other things not happened. war use he was secretary of under franklin, who was in tainly a big rising star the american federal government. if one can speculate on the of robert e lee becoming leader of the union and the civil war, i guess one can do alternate history in that regard. ohio, a th in democratic caller. caller: it just makes me so bad to a t here and listen historian talk about these iraq and afghanistan conflicts as a that people can follow. if we had a draft, people would care about those forces.

guest: i think that is a point. i don't know if you want to draft -- d. the institute it. draft was a powerful tool. instituted d nixon the draft lottery, i can tell you from personal experience protests against the war dropped like a rock. the less that people had a personal involvement in it, and the more that they were willing or any of those people who are on earlier from vietnam -- from afghanistan, were just amazing people, just see them sitting there, how brave they were and what they are doing for our country. but, yes. and congressman wrangell of new york has been very vocal. spreading against the misery around.

and reinstituting the draft. it does bring everyone in is -- it is t it very disruptive. and i do not think i would support it. host: martin berg, south carolina. hello to you. caller: thank you for taking my call. i just wanted to remind the there and the public that when president obama was elected president, mitch said that his goal was to see president obama fail. and how can president obama be of the major one congressman has already stated to see him al was fail?

guest: well, qualifies like to see their opponents fail. the fact, again, whether you are saying you are a lame duck or not. whether somebody says or doesn't say they want the opposition to fail. that doesn't change matters, but also, obama said basically i won the election. answer to nnell can the president, we won the election. let's follow our policies. how have previous presidents dealt with a divided congress? or the other party controlling congress? of the at the beginning 20th century -- governments are not really divided much. there are exceptions after 1930's to some extent. vetoes the tax bills and things like that. but, even though truman derives

the 80th congress -- do-nothing congress -- this is through ss that puts greek- turkish aid. he also get some taft-hartley, which he doesn't want. the guy who really has to work with a divided congress is dwight eisenhower. he works with lyndon johnson. not exactly a shrinking violet, but they get things done. they cooperate. this is the period where foreign-policy stops at the water's edge. where things are bipartisan. it is like, we are going to fight a communist. we are going to contain them, rather. dragon. famously d tip o'neill get things done. the gingrich era

begins, clinton vetoes welfare reform at all times, but then ultimately signs it. so there are periods of cooperation in divided congresses, and it has arms become a norm. almost become a norm. host: jeff in bloomington, illinois. an independent. the average us citizen, what are they most concerned about? isis, terrorism -- host: i do not follow the last one, either. i guess -- we can and by sort of talking about -- guest: statistically more people died from the flu the 9/11. but by god, we had to do something about 9/11. and i did get my flu shot this year. host: what is your prediction for the next two years?

guest: a lot of conflict. god knows what is going to -- foreign affairs -- things are going to be very difficult. mitch mcconnell, i think, will step up the battle. pretty sharp guy, stay tuned. host: david pietrusza, thank you for your time. happy thanksgiving. coming up next, we are going to talk with marcus of defense one about national security threats. before we get to that, i want to show you the republicans thanksgiving address. >> hello. i am tom cotton. senator elect from arkansas. i want to wish you and your family a blessed thanksgiving holiday. have early as long as we been a people, americans have set aside a day for public

thanksgiving for our many blessings. many chase our modern thanksgiving back to the programs. this hardships of the incoming new england winter, settling a gers of new land, these pilgrims celebrated a feast to thank god. president washington established the day of thanksgiving where americans, acknowledge with grateful hearts the favors of the almighty god. after the civil war, president lincoln proclaimed the last thursday of november as a single day for a nationwide thanksgiving. to help unify people of a divided nation. just days after the shock of pearl harbor, president roosevelt established the fourth thursday of november as our national day of thanksgiving. practice which continues today. constant among these thanksgivings, and the one we

celebrate today, is gratitude for the blessings of the magnificent and loving lord. we as a nation face many challenges. too many of our fellow citizens are out of work, too many family struggling to make ends meet. have faced greater simply ges aand not survives, but thrived. consumed by o be this as a people. harvest from our fields and the amazing fruits our industry and commerce, we all too often take for granted. civil and religious freedoms and the rule of law. and we can overlook the blessings of family and i love our children. day of thanksgiving, then, let us once again pause and reflect on these blessings. and also remember that we are

not alone. they are the gifts of a just and merciful god, who loves us in spite of our feelings. and deepest gratitude -- in deepest gratitude, we think our lord for these gifts. >> "washington journal" continues. host: joining us from new york morning is marcus weisberger. he is here to talk about national security threats. mr. weisberger, let's begin, news of this the week that defense secretary chuck hagel is getting pushed out. and that president obama will have a new defense secretary. what do you make of it? the president and chuck hagel are on different pages with assault isa strategy. is what ultimately led to chuck hagel submitting his resignation this week. hagel esident put chuck and this corner.

he said that there couldn't be any boots on the ground in iraq and syria. military t now, the has been constructing airstrikes for the past several months. but those can only go so far. so there are about 2000 people ground there right now, and it is tough to say how that will go forward. ultimately, the isa strategy didn't when. host: where were the differences between the two? not t: it is unclear or whether secretary hagel was pushing for actual boots on the ground, but in terms of just a you go after ow do someone if you, you know, at up in the sky, the sx could only have so much affect -- the airstrikes could only have so much affect. someone mention this week that a strategy could come in that doesn't include the boots on the grounds.

host: what is the military brass saying? was just rtin dempsey in iraq and he spoke. that he is ng optimistic that the iraqis are regrouping right now. one of the things he told which optimism is that the have good military equipment. they have been buying equipment from the united and just after 2003, when the us toppled saddam hussein. dempsey was talking iraqis having cargo aircraft, and they have civilians needing food. they asked the us for help, and us said, hey, you need this help. they loaded up a plane. and they were successful there.

whether or not that translates to success on the broader yet to be seen, but the military right now -- they saying they are optimistic. on the army side, the army is process of reducing its infantry. there are well over 500,000 last year. are going down. has been dent's budget going down. if sequestration sticks around, it might even have to go down even further to about 420,000 troops. if that happens, the army says not have enough -- and of the isis ecause fight -- they need more troops. of the isis ng fight, they have alluded that they need more boots on the ground. what would be those triggers?

guest: well, right now what you are saying is boots on the ground. what the assisting -- pentagon likes to call it is how to conduct raids to attack isis -- remember, you need someone on and the iraqis are those people on the ground right now. how could that escalate? it could escalate where the us is doing direct training. they could do that next year as the us transitions out of the combat role. they could be more directly turning the iraqi military. on the other level, you can see insertion of special forces going in and conducting raids. if you took it a step further, which no one is predicting right now, you have a major ground operation. had that in 2003, and

likely have had in afghanistan since 2001. host: as of right now, how much is accosting? guest: as of right now, the estimates from the pentagon are just short of $500 million. the us military says it it is $7.8 million per day. on h that being mainly spent fuel for aircraft to fly the strike missions, and for the actual bombs they are dropping themselves. the aircraft's flight long distances. from airbases in places -- from places like qatar. a lot of fuel. fuel is expensive. you need refuel is in the air. so, again, about $7.8 million to $7.9 million per day. host: and how much more will it

cost of the strategy would be expanded to, say, troops on the ground? and how much more right now is the president requesting from congress? guest: right now, the president just short of 6.9 million dollars, and that would be primarily for airstrikes to continue. if you put boots on the ground, the dynamic completely changes. the costs go up exponentially. we are talking billions, and of billions of dollars, because of the everything d getting on the ground. are talking with mark weisberger from defense one of national st security threats, including -- afghanistan, as well. impact of the sequestration then on this isis strategy.

guest: well, sequestration should not have any type of strategy, and why -- isis strategy, and here's why. so the base budget to get equipment and do training -- that is all funded to the base budget. that is what is being impacted by sequestration. the war budget -- a supplemental request -- that is not impacted by sequestration. that is not subject to the cuts that have happened, so that is seen a direct ot -- a major affect from war estration of the actual effort in afghanistan; however, where sequestration has had its on routine stateside training back in the united states. take the air force, for instance. they grounded the number of fighter squadrons and the pilots all lost their currency,

which is their term for being able to fly and go to war. got the money back after sequestration, they were able to train them and certified to fly again. host: the phone lines are open. get to your calls. jeff, you are up first in indiana. i have been -- i on with the question that i have been trying to listen to in the last few comments. about the base budget extended budget, of sorts, and how is that impacted when it comes to our forces -- now i guess we're kind of one-for-one, so to speak -- armed forces for military contractors. lesser that a higher or

cost using military contractors at every different levels. what is the cost there? and what is the understanding in congress? is the sort of going along unspoken, so to speak, and discontinuing? thank you very much. guest: like i said earlier, the overseas contingency operation, that funds pretty much goes on in that afghanistan. the pentagon has, over the last four or five years, expanded with that money is used for. many of the bases in what is called the us central command the middle east, are all lly -- they funded through this account. paid some contract work is for through their. it is difficult to tell how and where that money is being spent.

the money is coded in the way that be military sends it. though, in theater -- theater being combat -- they tend to cost around the same, i would guess, as a troop. but exactly -- the exact amount is tough to call. host: a democrat from connecticut, go ahead. caller: good morning. hello? host: you are on the air, go ahead. i have a real problem with people talking about boots on the ground. young e lost over 5000 men and women ddefending the rights and the privileges of iraqis to vote.

the sunnis and shia have been killing themselves for centuries. liberated the iraqis. we train their troops. we should not be putting more troops on the ground. to attack president obama, who took our troops out of afghanistan and iraq. being in the military, we had extended tours of combat greater than world war ii and vietnam. our troops are sick. our troops are wounded. and we do not need to insert ourselves into another civil war. if the sunnis and shia want to kill each other, let them kill each other. host: okay. what is the status of our forces? with the hat is hesitation is, from the president to actually go and

put the boots on the ground because he sees -- he understands, i believe, that the troops have been through a the last 10 years. with constant deployments. special operations, rescue in the air force -- the is dership in the military very cognitive of that. host: how much has been spent ensuring up the iraqi forces? aand how much is going to be spent on training syrian forces? when will that happen? guest: well, the syrian force training will happen pretty soon. what happened is they have put money aside for training -- the syrian forces. they have asked for about $500 million from congress, and they have gotten it. timing of the

training and when that is going to begin is still to be determined. okay, dennis from virginia. go ahead, dennis. caller: i'm just wondering why secretly obama has signed a deal to send troops back into afghanistan, and congress is also approved $53.4 or something like that, for them to fund that. the ink the military, congress, the president, are inational corporations all holding hands to mislead the public and the media. host: okay, that is dennis. let's go to chris in salem, massachusetts. caller: well, my question is sort of three-part. i would just make a statement and then asked the question. if you go back to dwight before wer's last speech

he left office, he talked about something called military-industrial complex. called the ng hegelian dialect, which always seems is a problem reaction solution from vietnam to now. something happens, and then in through these wars, spend billions of dollars -- billions of dollars -- then it turns out to be a farce and a bunch of people die. is an old saying, follow the money. i do not think we need any of these events. i think countries like iraq may have been a little rough, but fairly stable, if we never invaded them. it is just money at play. problem reaction solution. then they have the response. then their reaction is to go in with banks and spend billions of dollars. at the end of the day, it is raising lockheed martin -- these companies are making on

this amount of money. you start to wonder, what is really going on here? so my question for the donovan on television is this -- can have any or do you money that is spent -- about the banks or any involvement on where the rest of this money comes from? they spend this money to do the strike missions, does this money come from loans? where does it come from? i cause from my theory, and will end here, is follow the money. 60 to wars over the past 70 years, it always seems like it is more and more and more money. i'm wondering where the money comes from. host: okay, chris. mr. weisberger. guest: the congress is appropriate in the money. and, yes, companies to profit a lot from situations like this

-- makers of the weapons, -- ers of the aircraft companies who have contract to maintain aircraft. they do make money off of this. host: we go to todd in maryland. todd, good morning. caller: good morning to you and happy thanksgiving to everyone. -- automated ones systems -- on the battlefield, as the military looking at this costs in the ut future? they ow far are the willing to go -- are they go without the responsibility being placed on the responsibility of a human being who was operating it? guest: that is a great question. right now, that is something that is very heavily debated in on whether or not

to make a drone to make a kill decision on its own. there are people in the loop throughout the entire way -- potentially for the that are being flown -- and you have a pilot will have a weapon system officer -- kind of the same thing you'd see in a fighter where you have the jet in n the front -- the air we have a pilot in the front and a man in the back. as maverick and goose from "top gun". to look at is technology and stuff that the pentagon can use in the future give it an advantage over its adversaries. talk about the jones, them of it has to do with

flying in formation -- kind of jet analogy ighter or comparison, where you have one plate here, another plane here, another plane here, aand up with each d other. but strikes and all that kind stuff are for later. they're not being considered, i should say. host: richard is next from florida. an independent color. caller: yes, happy thanksgiving to everyone listening and all of c-span. i would like to commend "washington journal" for putting on a segment about our troops over in afghanistan, clinton and the general and although wonderful troops. it was very heartfelt. thank you so much. on in hat is going oour nistan -- commander-in-chief, president

obama, it must be a nightmare to deal with this man. he previously said -- the objectives and mission are probably still unclear. it has been from the beginning. said he does not have victory, like we did in world war ii. i was looking at some statistics about our dead and wounded. from 2001 until 2009, when president obama became commander and implemented his the rules of of engagement, wwe had approximately 3500 casualties in afghanistan. since 2009 to present, over 17,000 casualties in afghanistan. i do not think he is there to win. whatever his objectives are, they are still unknown to the public. i think we definitely need a change.

in ould like to see impeachment, almost immediately, on this president. host: okay, mr. weisberg, your thoughts on afghanistan. guest: i don't think his on casualties are correct, but after obama took office, it was mainly due to the surge in afghanistan. i was in afghanistan for the first time in 2007, and at the time, iraq was the hotspot. in afghanistan, it was kind of the forgotten war. heard s kind of what i from a lot of the troops who i met with over there. once obama took office, they did their own type of surge in afghanistan. and when, you know, operations start going new out more and they were and ucting more patrols stuff like that, the casualty rate correlated with that.

angeles, jan, democratic caller. caller: thank you for taking my call. they have all identified the growing threat of climate change as our primary national security issue. a primary threat. multiplier eat around the world, which is going to engage them for decades to come. if this is so, then one of the appropriate weapon for climate be establishment of of rogue of gigawatts carbon energy, initiated by the revenues where the could be used to be thought to beef up fema, to

beef up other organizations. why doesn't the pentagon respond to the threat that they have identified with weapons of would own choosing, which be renewable energy. thank you. guest: well, the pentagon has -- you are a bunch right, they have identified climate change is a major issue. one thing, for instance, that doing a lot of his alternative power sources. different from using types of fuel aand natural even, to power airplanes -- there are bases i believe, have a base in afghanistan that runs through alternate power sources. there is a lot doing done -- being done. for the past four years, five years, or so, they have been taking it pretty seriously. what are the anticipating their role being, if there is some sort of climate disaster.

right now, you know, you see the states calling in the national guard when there some sort of situation. but that is different. what does the pentagon envision its role as being? the pentagon always provides humanitarian efforts when it is needed. countless of is of my -- off the top head, 2007 there is a major and the ke in china, usa sent massive cargo planes with supplies over there. we have seen hybrid helicopter search and rescue missions across southeast asia. the us s very much military -- they take this job very seriously, and they will continue to be doing it. host: and where does the money come from for disaster response? guest: a lot of times, the

money is taken out of that base budget of the military. there actually predispositions planes and cargo -- the planes aren't loaded, but and they is ready, could load it and mobilize it to do that. host: bob in tennessee, a republican. hi, bob. caller: good morning and a happy thanksgiving to you all. i feel that the president doesn't know what he is doing. if we do not start fighting these wars to win, and have our really and die and can't fire back -- i mean, like world we ii -- bbelieve me, if would fight these -- we are the biggest military force on earth. the rest of the world, once

they started seeing that, they will come down. host: okay, thank you, bob. let's hear from jeff in mississippi, a republican and retired military. caller: this time we had to go iraq because of isis sunni part of iraq -- just started off bad, but that we e, these bombs are dropping -- the smart bombs -- they are costing $8 million-$10 million a day. why can iraq not pay for that? host: okay, do you know what iraq is paying for and what they are not paying for? guest: it is not clear what

they are paying for. is buying us systems. they have been planning to buy lot of us equipment, but a lot of that got -- got slow end with the transition in power and government there. of late, though, you're seeing of the weapon sales to them start to increase again -- announcements of them increase -- and they are expected to increase. paying for ill be that with their own money. host: wwhen congress returns next week, before they adjourn the bring the gavel down on hundred 113th congress, what do they need to address when it comes to their budget? guest: well, they need to strike a major budget deal for them to get rid of sequestration. more immediately, what they need is an appropriations bill for 2015.

right now, they are operating continuing resolution, it coming lot of from 2014. most immediately, they need that appropriations bill. that will help them get some programs moving that they need to get going. looking to the future, they're going to continue to push for repeal of sequestration for the military. host: okay, mr. weisberger. reporting on d his defenseone.com. thank you for your time. guest: thank you, as well. host: we are going to open up the lines. here are the numbers. 202-585-3880 for democrats. 202-585-3881 for republicans. 202-585-3882 for independents.

send us a tweet or go to our facebook page. we will get your thoughts here in just a minute, but first i want to show you the speaker of the house, john boehner, who thanksgiving greeting, as well. >> a recipe online, i worked on it, tinkered with it. in on my current recipe. half a good water, a big head of garlic and cut it in half. the real secret -- 16 ounces of pure maple syrup. i bring it to the point where and turn it to boil off. take a bucket, put a bag and there, but the turkey in there after i rented off. pour the brine over it -- the

to be cool -- and put it in the refrigerator for about 24 hours. take it out, rinse it off, and cooking, i ough the go in and pick it up and turn it over. now i was cook my birds at about 160 maximum. then i put foil over it and let it sit for about a good hour. it is the resting time that really works. >> the speaker of the house with his thanksgiving greeting, talking about his favorite recipe. we have open phones for the remainder of the "washington journal". in on any policy debate that we have talked about here on the "washington journal" this morning. we will begin with the economy. the washington times story this shoppers are remaining wary. despite the economic tailwinds,

though, retailers are finding themselves hhaving to work to get shoppers in the stores. five years into the economic recovery, most americans are still struggling. gas prices may be hovering at a four-year low, but americans paying more for food, healthcare, and other costs. unemployment has fallen, too, but wage growth has been stagnant. even though the stock and housing markets have improved, have much not change their shopping hungry habits. holiday sales were grow 4.1% to $616.9 billion. we will ask all of you tomorrow on the "washington journal", do spend more or less or about the same this holiday season? will have to t, we economists on from different

viewpoints to discuss the minimum wage and its impact on the economy. in other news, the front page of the new york times this morning, president obama builds a new legacy with the clean air act. the president could leave furthest th the reaching green legacy. it is very possible that not a single major environmental i will have passed during his two terms. instead, she goes on to say, mr. obama has turned to the vast reach of the clean air act of 1970. congress can still overturn of obama's green legacy, far, they have upheld the regulations and three significant cases. the act, however, was designed by lawmakers in a democratic the ress to give environmental protection

agency, which was created at the same time, great flexibility in its interpretation of the law. john in fairfax, virginia. a democrat. caller: good morning. i would like to complain that c-span did not do any coverage of the disqualified voters. center made a report, and -- and other news organizations out that there were more unfairly disqualified voters than was the margin of victory in many states. think that oversight -- c-span should be ashamed of. why you are ask you disqualified? i was not disqualified, there was an event similar

florida in 2000 -- a bogus names in different states, claiming that they voted twice when they do not vote twice. i recommend viewers who want to learn more about what is going the world to watch, the thom hartmann show -- host: okay, thank you. we go to steve. steve, what is on your mind this morning? wanted to just delineate that the clean air and the clean water act has a goal to take private property. thanks. host: a report that lawmakers vigorous aact

against -- saying that tighter pollution standards would be a disaster. gop criticism came as white house officials announced details of the proposal to tighten restrictions on ground-level ozone. an analysis released by the administration projected that standards would prevent hundreds and perhaps thousands premature deaths, while yielding a net savings by reducing health costs. we go to the democrats line. hi, steve. caller: hi, thank you for c-span, and happy thanksgiving. i hear that the economy is coming back, jobs are coming back, but the pay is not there. isn't that a plan to lower wages to make us more competitive with countries around the world? host: steve, what do you think? is the plan nk that

-- caller: i think that is the plan. these are the jobs they will bring back. these other jobs, this is what they will pay, and that is the plan. go to willy in new jersey. caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call. reason i am calling is to serve bring up what is going on in the middle east, and all the we are facing -- all the troubles that our -- it seems facing of the e majority american people do not really understand, fully, what is going on in the middle east. think that we are in forms properly as to the problems of the middle east. which, of course, the problems east stem from -- stem from british control. that the british, after they empty the subcontinent of a 12,

-- of its eastward wealth, they moved eastward -- sheila in , we go to north carolina. i say that right? caller: i would like to talk about the illegal immigrants. i do not think it is right for them to be in this country with out proper papers. vote he democrats are not for president obama if they want to keep the illegal ban. host: okay, a couple stories for you on immigration. the house gop could respond on immigration next week. meeting l hold a closed on tuesday morning, when they return from the thanksgiving recess, and if there is early in the week, a

bill could come to the floor as early as thursday. speaker boehner has several options. they're trying to pass a they might l, oor, directly respond to the executive action in a stand-alone bill. that story in politico. have "the hill" newspaper, saying that congress can defund this immigration action. there has been some disagreement over that. the appropriators on capitol that say -- have said congress cannot defunded bbecause this program is paid with fees -- it is self-funded. but according to the research for senator report jeff sessions, republican of alabama, that even a fee-based agency can be blocked from carrying out certain policies. there is a story on the front page of the washington post

about senator jeff sessions. immigration strategy infuses the gop choice for the budget panel. jeff sessions and mike were same day, but enzi hold seniority over his longtime friend through a totally random feature of the party rules. they say enzi is unfairly blaming claim. sessions has been serving as the top republican on the committee for the last four years. since then, sessions has party leaders with his opposition to obama's administration actions. so, there could be a fight over the gets the top fight on senate budget committee because of this immigration strategy.

let's go to pat in northville, michigan. an independent caller. caller: hi, i am calling in regards to -- you had a segment afghanistan and what not. host: yes, we talked really the general from afghanistan. c caller: yes, what my question in vietnam i served in combat, and we brought in prisoners of war. them in two se weeks. we didn't bring any more pows back, i can tell you that. i'm wondering if they have any pows from afghanistan. host: ookay, that was captain michigan. we have open phones. the lines are open. more of your calls, but first i want to show you this headline in the washington post. ebola goals will be difficult

to reach. global health organizations have far to go to meet a self-imposed december 1 deadline for isolating patients with a deadly disease and safely burying those who die of it. this according to the world health organization. on newsmakers, we sat down with the usaid administrator -- the agency in charge of the efforts in west africa -- and he talked about what is going on there. >> usaid has the responsibility for coordinating response in west africa. the ink if you look across three endemic countries, wwe have seen signs of real progress over the last two, three months. but we also know this is going be a long-term fight to keep ebola contained and ultimately dealt with added source, so that we can be safe and secure here at home. the needs are going to continue many, many months into the future.

in particular, we have taken a very data-driven approach. and we have seen results from that. that 70% of transmission to liberia was from family members touching, consoling, kissing, washing bodies of the disease people who had died of ebola. these people ebola teams -- they go in a dignified way to safely dispose of the bodies. that sparked a huge messaging campaign. we now have 820 ebola treatment units available to liberia to get sick. that has brought the transmissions down dramatically. from more than 100 new cases a day to now 15 to 20 new cases a day. that is making a huge difference at transforming the state of the entire country. host: you can see the entire

sunday at 10:00 am and 6:00 pm eastern here at c-span. newsmakers is available online at c-span.org. another headline for you this morning, out of the "new york times". ginsberg is recovering. procedure ent a heart on wednesday morning, and was expected to leave the hospital within the next two days. ginsburg, 81, experience discomfort during routine exercise on tuesday night. the court said in a statement, her ors placed the stent in right coronary artery. a procedure known as coronary catheterization. she is resting comfortably. justice ginsburg expects to be on the bench on monday. the court is expected to hear

to arguments that day. dennis and arkansas, a democratic collar. dennis, go ahead. would like to know, what kind of records can we of the ainst the doctors va hospitals when they malpractice, and then they stand there and tell you that will never get in? i have been fighting for 13 get my veterans benefits because i was disabled the veterans hospital -- not by the war. knee in the navy while i was over there, but -- a lot of problems. when i go to them, they don't pay attention. and they do not even speak english. can you communicate with a doctor who cannot even talk to? is there a way to fight something like that?

host: okay, dennis a veteran in arkansas. we are going to leave it there. on to marshall, starting at 7:00 am eastern time, we'll -- on bout the economy tomorrow's show, starting at 7:00 am eastern time, we will talk about the economy and get your views on it. then later, we'll talk with deputy he former attorney general for civil rights. we'll talk about the ferguson grand jury decision and the civil rights investigation there. that does it for today's "washington journal". to all of anksgiving you. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] of the obama family, i want to wish you a very happy thanksgiving. like many of you, we will spend with family and friends.

catching up, eating some good food, and watching a little football. before he left a fork, we lend a hand by going out into the community. and we give thanks for each other, and all of god's blessings. thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because, more than any other, it is uniquely american. each of us brings our own recipes to the table, but we all share this day united by the gratitude for the bounty of this nation. we welcome the contributions of all people. no matter their origin or color or beliefs. old as our s as founding, out of many, we are one. reminded that this creed, and america itself, was never in an inevitability. but ordinary people in every generation doing their part to uphold our ideals.

as president kennedy once wrote, even as he give thanks for all that we have inherited those again before us, the the ncy of purpose, the dfast of resolve, and courage of humility which they possessed. the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. today, i am grateful to all americans who do their part to live by those ideals. including our brave men and women in uniform overseas, and their families. to our service members, we say and xtra prayer for you your loved ones, and we make a commitment to take care of you you have taken care of us. and to those who are looking who are less fortunate. this generosity, this compassion, this belief that we are each other's keepers is

essential to who we are, not just on this day, but everyday. it is easy to focus on what separates us, but as we gather ones on this thanksgiving, let's remember what binds us or together -- our love of our belief that america's best days are that america's best days are ahead, and our inherited ideals must be the birthright of all children. that is what today's all about. out of many, we are one. thank you, god bless you. from my family to yours, happy thanksgiving. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] >> up next, hearing from others about native americans, from the stored rival of closure columbus -- christopher columbus all the way to today. first,