unfiltered, unbiased, word for word, if it happens here, or here, or here, or anywhere that matters, america is watching on c-span. powered by cable. >> "washington journal" continues. host: we're back with jim hake, the founder and c.e.o. of spirit of america, and he's here with us this morning to discuss with us the work that his group is doing to assist members of ukraine's military. jim, good morning. guest: good morning. host: first of all, tell us exactly what spirit of america is. guest: it's a privately funded citizens service organization, a nonprofit. i founded the organization after the attacks of 9/11, because i wanted to stand up for what america stands for, and our team are all veteran field operations

team and works alongside u.s. troops and diplomats all over the world to help them save and improve lives. and we are the only nonprofit, private nonprofit that is recognized by congress and approved by the department of defense to work alongside u.s. military personnel to provide assistance in support of their missions and in support of what the united states is trying to accomplish around the world. host: when you say you work alongside united states military and you're completely -- you're all veterans, so explain exactly what assistance do you bring to the united states military and to its mission. guest: i'll talk about what we're doing in ukraine right now, because i think that's the most timely thing. in coordination with both u.s. military and state department personnel, we are providing assistance that's needed by ukrainian says on the front lines, both regular soldiers, as well as civilian volunteers who have stepped up since the russian-launched war began. the assistance we're providing is to keep them safe, allow them

to do their jobs, defending their country. that includes things like body armor, helmets, first aid kits, food, water, communications gear, you name it, everything that is in the assistance category that is to help them be safe and more effective in their work. host: so spirit of america does not get involved with providing weapons or any type of training or any type of fighting in these areas, does it? guest: no, we do not provide weapons. that's the government's job. we're a private organization supported by americans across the country. we've sent in one chartered cargo plane last week. that assistance was on the front lines within a matter of days. our second charter flight leaves this tuesday evening. that will be, the assistance will be in ukraine on thursday morning. host: you say you're not funded by the government. so where do you get your funding? guest: it's americans across the country. our contributions have ranged from $10 up to $5 million for

what we're doing in ukraine right now, and it's for people who want to see ukraine prevail in the fight to defend freedom and democracy and also stop the tremendous suffering that's happening in ukraine at the moment. host: you've had described your group as a not neutral government ocean. what do you mean? guest: it's really important and important point, and in the world of international assistance, the dominant paradigm, the dominant policy of organizations is to be neutral, which means they will not support military personnel. they will not support u.s. troops in the case of ukraine. they will not support ukrainian soldiers and civilian volunteers who are fighting to defend their country. and there are a lot of good reasons for that. but what that policy does is leaves a really big gap when there's a situation like what's happening in ukraine right now, which is those ukrainians who were fighting to defend their country need help. the more we lean forward to help them defend their country and stop the source of the suffering at its cause, the faster this

will be over and the values that ukraine shares with the united states will be protected. host: how many people do you have in ukraine right now, and how are you keeping them safe? there's an active war going on. guest: well, our personnel are in ukraine only when they need to be. today, no one is there. and it varies based on the situation. so we've been active as an organization in ukraine since 2015. the first project, which we helped stand up there, working with the ukrainian ministry of defense and military was an armed forces radio station. ukraine's first armed forces radio station called army f.m., and that was to meet the information needs of the ukrainian soldiers on the front lines fighting the russians, going back to that point in time. maybe folks don't know that russia has been aggressive in ukraine since 2014. and what we've been doing since then, we've been active in the country. we've had personnel in and out of the country during that whole period, and we still have

personnel in theory now. host: according to your website, you're describing your organization as the only nonprofit officially approved by congress and the department of defense to work alongside deployed u.s. troops and provide private assistance in support of their mission. first of all, how did you get that designation? guest: well, it only took 15 years after i started the organization. and what spirit of america represents is a new model of private-public cooperation t. began from the very bottom up in supporting civilian efforts in both iraq and afghanistan, and we've operated around the world in west africa, the philippines. we worked just as well with the state department as we do with the u.s. military, and the model that we have of this private-public collaboration with the military really broke new ground, and there was not a frame work for it. so in 2019, it we finally

achieved both the congressional recognition and the agreement with the department of defense that provides the worldwide legal and operational framework for our collaboration with the military. host: so what does it mean having that designation? does that mean you get to do something other n.g.o.'s can't? guest: what it means is commanders and military personnel level at all levels can take advantage of our assistance when they want to. it does not give us any special privilege. it's all about empowering those who serve our nation abroad so that they can take advantage of private assistance like spirit of america can offer. and that varies. we've done things in afghanistan with soldiers and marines helping them provide sewing machines to afghan women so they can provide for their families. in the philippines right now, we're helping set up a program to stop illegal fishing in the south china sea by empowering filipino fishermen. it varies what we do all over

the world n. ukraine right now, the core thing is supporting the effort to stop the russian war and protect ukraine esteem come, protect its democracy. host: let me take a second here to remind our viewers that they can take part in this conversation. we're going to open up regional lines. regional lines. that means that if you are in the eastern or central time zones, we want to hear from you at 202-748-8000. if you are in the mountain or pacific time zones, your number is going to be 202-748-8001. keep in mind, you can always text us at 202-748-8003, and we're always reading on social media on twitter at c-span wj, and on facebook at facebook.com/cspan. let's talk specifically a little bit about what's going on in ukraine right now. are there rules that n.g.o.'s like spirit of america have to follow in the ukraine theater

right now? guest: one of the biggest rules that is extremely important, there's tremendous amount of complexity in providing assistance into ukraine. i'll just say, it's not as easy as it might look. so on some of the materials that we're providing, body armor and helmets, for example, the export of those, or the provision of those anywhere in the world outside the united states by american citizens is tightly regulated by the department of state and department of commerce. so we follow those rules completely, of course, everything we're doing where it needs to be licensed by the u.s. government is licensed. and with respect to what we're doing in ukraine, everything we're doing is need-driven. we don't, as an organization, do anything because we want to do it. we're in communication with folks at the point of need, and everything we do is to meet those exceeds on the ground. some of the needs we hear about from u.s. military personnel and state department personnel, others we hear other needs about from the ukrainian partners that

we've had there, trusted ukrainian partners since 2015. host: you just got into exactly what i was going to ask. who are you getting requests from? are you getting requests from the ukrainian government? are you getting requests from ukrainian military? are you getting requests from the american military or the american government or all of the above? guest: all the above. our principal partners start with the u.s. military and state department personnel. they are in touch and in communication with their counterparts that are still in ukraine in the thick of the fight there. those are the first set of needs that are identified by u.s. personnel, by their counterparts. military and civilians. so that's our top priority. the second is with the ukrainians that we have known since 2015, i'll give a good example of that. the ukrainian who was behind this army f.m. radio stations that i mentioned earlier, his name is ruslan. before the russian war began, he was the deputy director of

ukraine's first holocaust museum and memorial. after the war began, he dropped what he was doing with that, and he's now running a training center for the ukrainian civilian volunteers who were stepping up to defend their country. so he's running a training center. so we've heard from ruslan. he sent us a list about an arm long of different things that they needed. the meals ready to eat, m.r.e.'s, a food source for ukrainians on the front line. helmets, body armor, first aid kits, clothing, boots, everything you can really imagine. because a lot of these ukrainians who were stepping up to defend their country, people just like me and you, are doing so without any of the gear that's really needed. you'll see images of 19-year-old skateboarders who are going to be trained and then fight on the front lines. and what they have are their skateboarding knee pads. so we're trying to help them so they can be safe and successful

in their work. host: i think i probably would not be too far off base to say that russia probably does not like what your n.g.o. is doing in ukraine right now. are you concerned about confronting or having any of your people confronted by russian forces? guest: well, the safety of our personnel and the effectiveness of what they're doing is mile an hour top concern always. we have had, over the years, personnel on the ground within marine units and helmet province at afghanistan and special forces units in kandahar province in afghanistan. so it's one of the reasons why we have an old veteran field operations team, because they understand what they're getting into. i understand what they're getting into. and their safety is paramount. but we're focused on having an impact on the ground in some very difficult and dicey circumstances. so yes, of course, we're all concerned about russia. i doubt russia likes what we're doing at all, but anyone who's doing anything to help in

ukraine, russia is not going to like it, anything. we see, of course, the russians are not only attacking the core values of freedom and democracy in ukraine, but they're killing children. so we cannot stand for that, and the american people have a say in it. host: let's let some of our viewers take part in this conversation. we'll start with a caller from st. petersburg, florida. good morning. caller: good morning, guys. i'm firmly against putin. but also i'm against our corrupt politicians that have gone into iraq or going in there and ripped off people. i mean, it's a real disaster that these politicians like graham and mccain went in there and offered weapons and sold us out, and now we know with hunter's laptop, there's

probably 100,000 emails that will be coming out indexed connecting our politicians, democrat and republican, to ukraine. basically it's been a money laundering operation for many years. thank you. guest: thanks very much for the call. and there are a lot of things that i am against. and in this moment, what's really important is not just what i'm for, but what america is for, not just what we're against. and what we're for we can actually do something about. so what i am for is ukraine's peace, security, and democracy and freedom. and there we have a real say in it. what russia is doing, and it's unprovoked war. none of us asked for this. none of us wanted it, of course. certainly not the ukrainians. but they launched a war that is not just an attack on ukraine, but an attack on the ideas of

freedom and democracy in ukraine and around the world. what do we do about that? i looked back, my dad, as a 22-year-old, he fought in world war ii. so he did his part. americans across the country did their part. that's why we always remember them as the greatest generation. so now in this moment we can be great, too, and we're going to be great by standing up for who we're for, help the ukrainians, our partners in the fight for freedom. we can help them the whole world is watching what are americans going to do, not just the american government, but what are americans going to do? are we going to do our part? and that's what we're doing at spirit of america. that's what all the people supporting us are doing. it's about what we're for, not just what we're against.

host: one of our social media followers has been listening to us about assisting the military, and they have a question to add in here. what about helping the civilians in ukraine? does spirit of america help civilians in america, and if so, how? guest: absolutely. we're doing three things. one of which is helping the ukrainian soldiers and civilian volunteers who are part of what's called the territorial defense forces, with the kind of nonlethal assistance that i mentioned. the second thing is we're helping humanitarian organizations that are doing tremendous work inside ukraine. so what they'll be getting this week is the same kind of protective equipment that we're providing to the ukrainian soldiers and civilian volunteers. because they are as much of a target of russia as the ukrainian military is. so they are getting the same kind of things in terms of first aid kits, body armor and helmets. the third thing that we're doing

is providing support for refugees. our focus in that is in moldova, which is a smaller, less well known country, but which is receiving a great influx of refugees, and they're also a poorer country, so they need the assistance that we're able to provide there. we're doing that in coordination with the u.s. embassy in moldova. host: let's go back to our phone lines and talk to alex, who's calling from california. alex, good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. what i wanted to say is during the three decades after the collapse of the soviet union, if the ukrainians had created a modern european state, they'd have the wealth and technology to build the weapons to fight off the russians easily. however, because they failed to do that, and ukraine is corrupt and impoverished, they now need our military assistance. i think, in my opinion, that we should get a firm commitment from president zelenskyy that he will modernize his nation before

we continue to provide him any more military, economic assistance, otherwise this whole effort will end in futility. that's my comment. guest: well, thanks for the call. i used to live out in your neck of the woods, i appreciate the question. your characterization of ukraine is unfair. and right now ukrainians are in a death struggle for the fight of their country, which is also the future of the values that we share with ukraine, in terms of freedom and democracy. and ukraine has not been perfect. it is not perfect. and after they are able to win this war against russia, they still won't be perfect. neither are we, but what they believe in as our shared values, those are perfect. and we need to support them in that effort right now. there's an urgent situation. people, men, women, children are

being killed in ukraine right now. let's solve that problem. let's stop the source of the suffering at its root cause, which is the russian-launched war. then we're going to have plenty of time to help ukraine further advance as a society. but they have chosen to fight for freedom and democracy and their independence right now. that's what we have to help them with. host: what do you say to americans who want to donate items to your effort? guest: what we have set up over the last three, four weeks since the war began is a scalable infrastructure to be able to deliver and essentially an unlimited supply of the need-driven assistance into ukraine, that involves the logistics involved in that are extraordinarily complex. we have awesome people and awesome organizations and companies working with us on that, and we have, from the u.s. into ukraine, including that last mile figured out really well. it are and it's really hard to

move goods through that that are not sourced responsibly, that are licensed, so the most important thing that is needed to leverage that scalable infrastructure is financial support. and donated goods are not really that useful. they don't match up very well with what's needed on the ground, and we can move much faster with purchasing and procuring the things that are needed and getting them through the logistics chain and into ukraine, just about immediately, with financial support. host: let's go back to the phone line and talk to cynthia, who's calling from wilmington, north carolina. cynthia, good morning. caller: good morning. it sounds like your organization is doing really good work around the world, and it's based on donations from 500 to five million, so people or companies that are donating millions of dollars, are they influencing

where you are helping and how you are helping, and are you transparent about those high-dollar donations? thank you. guest: well, it's a great question. and no, our financial supporters do not influence what we do. what they influence is our ability to do it on a scale, but where we operate, how we operate is not influenced by our financial supporters. we're supported by people who, and this is what we think about in terms of prettyism without politics -- prettyism without politics. beyond this work, there's a great need for this today, which is people who believe in what the country stands for, in our most aspirational sense, the promise of a free and better life, and they want to support our work in doing that. we've been around now for almost 20 years, and we have a track record of having an impact in every situation and in every country in the most dangerous parts of the world every time we

do it. our supporters trust us to do the right thing. one of the reasons they trust us to do the right thing is because of our close collaboration with u.s. military and state department personnel. so when we go into a country, any situation, what we're doing is essentially built on top of the united states existing investment and presence and personnel. people who have spent months, years, decades figuring out what needs to be done, and we bring in kind of private assistance with entrepreneurial speed and flexibility that allows them to achieve objectives much more quickly than we could otherwise. our supporters at any level, whether it's $5 or much greater sum, trust us to do the right thing. and since we're not -- that's our accountability. we have to produce results. and we do. host: let's talk to kathleen, calling from fort bragg, california. kathleen, good morning.

caller: good morning. i just want to say i'm proud of you. i don't really have a question. i've been reading along what you've got published online, and seems like your organization has really lined up with how i feel about america, so i thank you. guest: kathleen, thank you. host: what do you say to americans who want to go overseas and help in a way like spirit of america is doing, but want to do it on their own instead of with a n.g.o.? guest: well, it's an extraordinarily complex situation over there, and i've been really busy doing what we're doing, setting up the infrastructure that we have, raising money so we can deliver the assistance, the first plane was about 20 tons of assistance and valued at about $4 million. the one leaving this week is 35 tons and $6 million of assistance, the kinds of things i just mentioned. so i have been really busy with

that. and so is our whole team. in terms of the other things that people can do, you know, i can't really say, but what i would caution people, including donors, is this was also true when the afghanistan crisis response and the evacuation. these situations are much, much more complex than they might seem from sitting here in the comfort of the united states. and a lot of times there's a lot of winging it that's going on. and as an entrepreneur, businessperson myself before starting spirit of america, i'm usedded to a certain level of flexibility in figuring things out as you go along. but doing so in a responsible way, not only responsible, but has an impact on the ground, that's what we focused on figuring out how to do for almost 20 years now. i would encourage people to president trump the bakes. but find the people who are doing the work and help them do

the work in whatever way you can. host: what would you say is the best way the average american can help? guest: well, i'm going to speak to our organization, because that's what i'm familiar with. i know what we have in place, and i know what the impact is going to be. a dollar in our system today is going to have an impact in ukraine in five days. i'm very certain about that. in terms of all the other good work, the other organizations are doing, i'm sure it's out there, i'm just not familiar enough to be able to speak to it, honestly. folks can go to spiritofamerica.org. the funds that are contributed to what we're doing in ukraine, 100% of the funds will go to the things that i just mentioned a moment ago. we call it 100% promise. our other costs, we're able to take care of that through other means of support for the organization, but people go to our website today and contribute $10 or $100 or whatever, all that money will go to provide

assistance on the ground in ukraine very, very quickly. host: let's talk to it a caller from new york. good morning. caller: yes, hi, good morning. i just want to say i love what you do. mr. hake, i love the work of your spirit of america, around the world, specifically with the focus on ukraine right now, which is very much needed. i appreciate that you also made a point to appropriately characterize president zelenskyy and the plight of democracy. many of us here in america, we take that for granted. we don't know the trials and tribulations that this country has come through to get to where we are, and still we are always ever mindful that it is a precious sight day-to-day. also, as a military mom, i appreciate that you're doing what you're doing. my son is in the region right

now. i am standing with ukraine. i thank you for standing with ukraine. i will do my best to promote what you do on twitter. i hope you have a twitter handle, thank you. guest: i do, and we do. and thank you very much. and one of the things that is true is that those who serve, and i thank you for your son's service, the moms and dads and the husbands and wives of those who serve don't really get the appreciation that you deserve. so that is a hard thing to have a son in harm's way. thank you. host: we're about out of time, so we want to thank jim hake, founder and country crew of c.ef spirit for coming on and talking about the work his group is doing to assist members of ukraine's military. jim, thank you so much for coming on with us this morning. guest: thank you. it's been a privilege to be with you. host: and we'd like to thank all

of our guests, all of our callers, and all of our viewers of today's "washington journal." everyone, continue to stay safe. continue to wash your hands. and have a great sunday. we'll see you again tomorrow. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2022] >> monday morning, reporters

talk about the week ahead in washington. and talk about the potential nuclear threat posed by russia and nato's effort to support ukraine. watch "washington journal" live at 7:00 eastern monday morning on c-span and our free mobile app. join the conversation with your text messages and tweets. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government, funded by television companies including charter communications. >> broadband is a force for empowerment. that is why charter has invested billions building infrastructure, upgrading technology, empowering opportunity in communities big and small. charter is connecting us. >> charter communications supports c-span as a public

service, along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> if judge ketanji brown jackson is confirmed by the senate, the nation will have the most diverse supreme court in history. tonight, the university of tennessee law professor argues that while this is true on the surface, a closer look suggests there is a radical similarity among the justices, especially when considering the educational and career paths. this group of justices has spent more time living in washington d c, than any previous group of justices. the reason is the common career path of the hyper elite version of meritocracy. they stay in town. they work at a law firm, the

senate,. it is a great study and what this type of lawyer does over the course of their careers. it does tend to cluster geographically around washington, d.c., and especially around the appellate court. you start at harvard in boston and go down to d.c., you will capture years and years of life experience for these folks. >>'s book, tonight. you can listen on our free c-span out. -- free c-span app. >> this week, both chambers of congress are in session with the house taking up a bill that would legalize marijuana at the federal level. the january 6 committee holds a meeting monday to consider recommending two former advisors to president trump be referred

to prosecutors for criminal contempt of congress. look for that on the c-span networks. general todd walters, the head of the u.s.-european command and the supreme allied commander of europe testifies on security challenges on the continent tuesday. wednesday at 10:00, he will appear before the house armed services committee. both hearings will be live on c-span.org and the free video app. shalonda young is also on capitol hill. she will testify on president biden's 2023 budget tuesday at 10:00 and before the senate budget committee on wednesday at 11:00 eastern. both hearings will be live on c-span three. thursday, an interview with mitch mcconnell by the punch bowl news founders. you can watch that live on

c-span. the fcc chair and commissioners testify before the house energy and commerce subcommittee. you will be able to watch that on c-span.org and c-span now. watch this week live on the c-span networks or our free mobile app. head over to c-span.org for scheduling information or to stream video. c-span, your unfiltered view of government. >> judge ketanji brown jackson appeared for the third day of confirmation hearings before the senate judiciary committee. if confirmed by the full senate, she will be only the sixth woman to serve on the bench and the first african american woman. she spoke about being "the lucky inheritor of the civil rights dream." senator. first, let me just address my comments to