. white house on defense, not just the president but the chief of staff >> is this is what we're talking about at 6:30. let's get to it. >> the story has been given an norms amount of coverage over the last 48 hours. it should have ended yesterday after general kelly's comments but it didn't. it continued. and it's still continuing today. it's still the bulk of the coverage on most every tv you turn on. and most every newspaper that you open up today. and the president responded to those continued accusations and continued mischaracterizations of his comments >> in case you've been under a rock the last couple days. what we're talking about.

>> yes. >> president trump was questioned about why he had not reached out to the four soldiers, families that were killed in n, a gir and his statement was, you know, his predecessors didn't always make those phone calls or maybe they did. and this is escalated into where we are right now. >> it was one of those things, the sort of been characterized by some as saying this is a situation that -- there was no questioning for the media whether or not the president made these phone calls. that was not the case. here we are. we have a whole panel joining us tonight. we have a iraq war veteran. hello to the three of you tonight. it's been an eventful week >> the more the demes focus on these, i think this goes on six weeks. these are

donald trump. the democrats can't run issues on who treats the soldiers better. donald trump treated soldiers better than any president in u.s. history, probably including george w bush who was great. i hope these issues go on another year, elect republicans house senate and trump will be reelected. >> what's your response to what jack said >> here's the thing, the big issue, there's a big disconnect between the military and veteran community and the rest of america. approximately 1% of americans served in the iraq or afghanistan. this shows there's a is disconnect and you have the 1% who served and their families and rest of america unsafe doing the same thing be something as sacred as the death of officers are being politicized. of >> i absolutely, look, i think we, you know, it's not about who can represent the veterans better, who's the most patriotic, it's about what they've done, and sacrifice they have done for this country. and we have to respect that. and i think that the bigger question is not

in niger? what went down? >> the media want to see what happened in the phone call. if there's factual doubt, if we don't know what donald trump said. i say and it's logical, you have to give the president the benefit of the doubt >> did anybody -- it didn't seem for once, seemed like the words weren't what were disputed. i'll be the first, i think congress woman wilson shouldn't have come out and said that. when john kelly comes out or when the president is comes out and said she was secretly on the call, no, she wasn't.

>> that was surreptitious eaves dropping. they were in car together. do you know what the congressman knew. we don't know whether the president was aware, that she was listening at the time. we don't know. we don't know that the president's awareness because >> i don't think that's the issue. >> the issue is, when you have, you know, the wife of sergeant johnson, she gets to decide how and when she grievous in this situation, we don't know the full situation. i agree the congress woman, maybe she did or did not get approval of the spouse to speak about it. however for general kelly who i have the utmost respect form he didn't know the full situation. for example, i believe they were in the car. what is she going to do when the president calls? sorry i have to call you back. again, we need to decide, it's up to her to decide how she and who and how she grievous. if that was the case >> if they're down to making issues out of this. what they need to do is get b

in game of reclaiming -- ok, they need to get back in the game of reclaiming the pop pewlism. these are republican issues, democrats and their alleys in the media will gain nothing by these issues, like i said i hope they go on. >> again, this is, you know, the tactics you're using right now are talking about things that aren't relevant to the conversation we're talking about right now. >> you mean argue with strong manner >> we're here to talk about what happening in niger and what's happened to the soldiers that gave their lives for this country and i think we need to focus on that. you said you want democrats to focus on this issue. look, everything comes out in the wash. everything will happen. we just need to keep talking about issues that are important to americans like healthcare. >> you can survey our troops.

bottom, the top. you pentagon and >> but it was donald trump who brought up the issue. the media wasn't involved in that. the media wants to know how come you haven't reach out to the families of the soldiers killed in niger and it turned into this when he brought in his predecessors. i think the conversation now is, and i'm wondering why the white house doesn't come out and say looking we do want this to be over. certainly >> i believe we all want it to be over >> the president was in a tough situation, if he used those words he didn't mean it the way it came out. it's a tough situation, he's not a person with a military background. but we do want to focus on the four soldiers and how they ended up in that situation >> i think the most important issue is, the death of sergeant johnson and, these are the special forces the elite of the elite. we need to focus on the family to make sure they have the support that this country has the back. this is not a democratic or

it should be nonpartisan but it's turning into this. >> i got to jump in. we want to play quickly what sarah hackabee-sanders said and we'll pick it up on the other side of the break >> if you want to get into a debate with a four-star marine general i think that's something highly inappropriate >> i think that was one of the people in the media in the room were asking they wanted to talk to general kelly today and she said you know, if you want to question him but i believe in all fairness, we have that right. he opened up his mouth and made a statement. again, i think this needs to go back. focus needs to be on the families and now we're starting to see the congress calling for investigations into what happened, and how come those particular troops were left out there alone >> do you really think this is something that should go on and on? >> no, i don't. >> in relative terms? eit merits maybe a few days of attention. these are relatively small issues in the national. if you want to talk about caring for soldiers, this isn't the way >> isn't the

continuing the conversation when he tweets out about you know, the congress woman is what did he call her whack key and says she lied, and we continue the conversation >> exactly. this is an issue of the president's own making. he keeps bringing it up over and over. as recently as this morning with a tweet. >> you bring up a good point. it's a lot of the troops support president trump and the way he handle that is. i believe in the grand scheme of things be regardless of who's in office, every bright minded maryland member knows that that is the commander in chief. regardless of who it is. and i think when you look, when you step back and you look at the whole situation, we do want to get past this, we want to focus on what's going on in this country. again, this was something brought up and we never -- we didn't start the fire >> you're looking at an example of how the establishment media is so me mass against the president even on literally things to continue an issue like this for weeks and weeks. trump is reaching the point, you're right from a pr strategy. maybe he is ov

tweeting too much. but can he win? is it possible for the president to win? we may have reached a point where the answer is just no: >> we'll give you the last word. you served go for it >> i respectfully disagree this is a minor issue politicizing. this is not a minor issue. again, this show as huge disconnect between the civilian and military population. it needs to be fixed. right now, veterans are upset about what's going on both sides. i highly disagree that it's a minor issue that we need to just hopefully in a couple of days passes to them. >> i wish the conversation ended with us here, but unfortunately, i think -- i think it's going to continue on. gentlemen, thank you so much. >> thank you very much. >> have great weekend. >> happy friday. >> thank you. another story dominating the headline >> the recovery and relief efforts in puerto rico, harvey, hurricane maria, irma, his team is working as quickly as he can despite massive power outages and the need for basic

intersectionties. >> reporter: nearly 80% of puerto rico is still without power. we learned it could take a long time for rest of the island to be restored >> i hope i'm wrong and we can go an awful lot faster but what i don't think is smart to do is give false hope >> the head of army corporate of engineers warning it could take up to a year before the island is fully restored for power. they need tens of thousands of power lines built. >> this is massive logistics challenge. >> the president said it deserves a ten for the hurricane response conceding the to our grid remains a challenge. >> you can't bring electric back until you rebuild a power plant >> the senate is set to vote on a multi-billion bill. some say the bill doesn't go far enough >> i have serious concerns that the current disaster relief package currently being considered by congress

short. >> reporter: army corporate of engineers said it plans to restore power nearly 50% of the island by december and will continue working to restore power >> the bigger question is what's the long-term plan for puerto rico? >> reporter: none of the funding approved for puerto rico has been offset by can you bes or remove increases, meaning it will be added to the federal deficit and the total national debt. in washington, caroline shively, fox news. this was a gorgeous day out there. you see it. you saw caroline shy ofly up on r there on the hill. i had a chance to go up to the capitol and it was a gorgeous day to see all of dc >> you were up high >> i was up on the ratunda. i was outside >> gwen is talking to you guys about the weather, i'm going to find out what jim was doing on top of the capitol >> i think it would be a great debate. i'd like to find out is it your testimony give us the inside scoop. meantime it will be a fantastic

outside. 69 degrees by midday, no shortage of sunshine as we roll into this weekend. the weather just will continue to approve. is it really october. ridge of high pressure large and in charge, southerly wind flow for tomorrow, that ridge of high pressure will park itself off the coast and really influence our weather pattern over next few days, sunshine for tomorrow, we're headed to the 70's, we get a warmer flow with a southerly wind kicking in, then we'll keep eyes to the skies as we get into the week, take a look at all of this, we got a strong system all the way on the west coast it will make its way to the east coast as we get into the weekend. that's going to give us a change. if you're headed tomorrow for the marine corp marathon, 56 by 8:00 early in the morning but it will be a great day for that race. plenty of sunshine. here's a look at your fox 5 weather seven-day forecast. heating up to 77 by sunday, wet weather from the west coast system, that's going to affect us monday night, primarily on tuesday, we need the rain and some will be pretty heavy. then on the back side of it looking at cooler air as we head down t

and still some pretty dry days ahead but the weekend right now i'm serving it up as sunshine for the weather buffet heading into those 70s for you. back to you. >> looking forward to the weekend and those 70's >> i explained the whole story to shawn, it makes sense. >> very true, maybe we'll tweet it or share some of this later >> he was a straight shooter on the issues now president trump accused of being out of touch with some of the same people who voted him into office. we'll take a closer look when 5@630 comes right back. 0 comes right back.

. tweet us using 5@630 to talk little bit more about this if you want to weigh in with your opinion. >> so here's the deal. we -- we'll be frank with you. we have a guest sitting to our left. we really don't have much of a way to hear him because we had a little bit of an issue with the microphone. what i would like to know is could somebody tell us, can you hear, >> let our viewers know, if you guys think the president sees the world sort of how you think the presidencies the world, tweet us, let us know and we'll be right back after the break. deny coverage for pre-existing conditions. seniors would be charged thousands more.

and adams is against medicaid expansion - denying coverage to thousands of veterans, children and the disabled. john adams: higher costs, less coverage, hurting virginians. mark: i'm mark herring, candidate for attorney general, and i sponsored this ad. ♪ ♪ ♪ it feels good to be back. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

. good, when we hear this criticism of the president, do you believe, this is simply because, a, he has never been a civil servant before, he comes from, you know, being the head of his own corporation, now he's the president and maybe doesn't necessarily understand how politics or government works >> i suspect it's a large part of it. he comes from business world, they will always sell the product. in this case, the product is himself, they have a tendency to talk about how great everything is, and the products, if you look at it, that's what president trump does and in his mind everything is great. no one signed more bills, no one done more than any other president. on monday, he brought, republican leader mitch mcconnell into the white house and after the meeting he invited all the press into the rose garden and talke

fantastic relationship he has with all lawmakers and with the democrats, that's not true and a lot of republicans it's not true. he basically accused of creating his own reality >> when you look at the prism which he speaks in and the media at large, his supporters will hear the president say that and they will believe what comes out of his mouth as posed to everything else. they take him at his word which not a lot of politicians have had the luxury to >> the article was posted on usa website we're the one creating the false sense of reality that he has been successful's has a good relationship with lawmakers and trump and his aids will insist on it >> when you look back and where we are right now and you compare sort of the way they view things or talk about things, how would you see that? >> i don't think there's ever been a president like donald trump. i think we're in brand new, unique territory. there's never been a president who had never served in public office before or the military. so he's coming straight in from the cold, there's nev

president. i don't think there's ever been a president promoted himself and used the kind of sales techniques he uses we're in one chartered waters >> when you talk about president trump and his support and i come from western pennsylvania and i tell a lot of people why one place like western pennsylvania when you would have hillary clinton come to town she go to biotech. president trump went to cole mines and he at least spoke to the people worried about those jobs specifically. they didn't want to reretrain, >> he's stale paying a lot of attention they don't group. how are my people affected? he's talking about people in western pennsylvania, ohio, michigan, the industrial has been suffering. no doubt about it >> do you believe this is, is strategy? is he, you know, was the term crazy like a fox does he know what he's doing or is this donald trump being donald trump >> i think crazy like a f

he definitely knows what he's doing. had his supporters would say and tell you he's a positive person, looking on the positive side and that's what he's doing when he creates the sense of reality and he feels like it's going to be effective for had my. >> david jackson we will see what happens as we move forward throughout the presidency. we'll be right back with 5@630 and talking politics in hollywood. stick around. stick around.

ralph northam: i'm ralph northam, candidate for governor, and i sponsored this ad. narrator: ed gillespie wants to end a woman's right to choose. ed gillespie would put the government in charge of a woman's personal decisions, not women and their doctors. as governor, ed gillespie says, i would like to see abortion be banned. if ed gillespie would like to see abortion banned, i would like to see i would like to see i would like to see that ed gillespie never becomes governor. . all the scoop and the paparazzi. let's talk about the queen of -- not the

oprah winfrey talking about the possibility of her running for office >> it's the billion dollar question, her being a billion air. she mentioned three times that she will not run, she sparked a lot of interest earlier when she retweeted a tweet saying hey, oprah is the democrat's best chance at actually becoming president. earlier she got a chance to join gail king her best friend, hey are you running for president >> it was interesting because oprah seemed shocked when she asked her. that's your best friend. i'm pretty much you discussed it >> and you hosted a network morning show, doesn't matter if you're best friends or not >> she said as of right now, she is not planning on running. >> as of right now >> it was interesting as to how gail asked you, who's going to be your running mate >> oprah looked

think you probably rehearsed that one. >> we'll have to wait and see. >> that the typical oprah, typical what they do >> think about how many years did donald trump candidate trump before he was candidate trump retweet at any time i hope you run in 2012 >> he said no, i'm not, i'm not. >> let's talk about other big names, tom hanks and arnold schwartz coming to dc? what's up with that >> arnold schwarzenegger was in dc last night. it was well to do. passed the gray pompom while there, they're about volunteerism. it's hard to believe arnold schwarzenegger is 70. but it's all about volunteerism. i'm curious as to whether or not he went to visit the whiteou

>> what about tom hanks. >> in town tonight and tomorrow, recently authored a book entitled uncommon traits. he's receiving an award tomorrow from the national foundation. it's one of those organizations >> tom hanks is getting an award breaking >> it's about time he gets recognition >> a lot of people have been talking about the whole body double thing with the first lady? what's going on >> we all saw it. you know, the jury is still out. everybody is saying, is it or is it not melania? you know what gives it away? the nose. you have to look at the nose and you be the judge >> meatballs think the a body double >> you have to put the two side by side. but it's actually her >> that's a good?

>> good screen play right there. leave it at that. good seeing you have a great week. >> thanks for joining us everybody on 5@630. news continues fox5dc.com and 8:00 fox 5 plus.

announcer: today on "tmz" -- harvey: ok, lonzo ball made his big debut at the lakers game last night. triple b's, bellies, bo and billionaires. clippers-lakers, e home team. >> home team, lonzo ball'sig debut did not go swimmingly. harvey: tell me all about it. >> the nba's best defender was on lonzo ball last ht. >> excuses, good excuses. >> charles doesn't support ack people. [laughter] >> o.j. simpson isne step closer to being back on the road because he's getting his driver's license. so we've got photos of him at the d.m.v. taking his written test. the best question is when you hear the siren or see the flashing lights in the emergen vehicle, you must -- >> book a trip to chicago immediately.