but what i am is a goldstar brother. i would just like to remind people, there are a lot of goldstar families out there who run organizations to do everything they can to support veterans. everything from 22 a day to honor and tribute, to recently i helped clean up my veterans cemetery, memorial walkway, as a volunteer. i go to soldiers funerals who have no family. goldstar's are important and we do a lot of work. we are just not very much talked about. host: let's talk about it, matt. leo shane, what are goldstar families? guest: goldstar families are families that have lost a loved one to a war. and it's not just the sacrifices of the service members, but the sacrifices of the families too. there was an event at the white house yesterday, the elizabeth olsen foundation, wounded warrior project, talking about the effect war had on children who were disabled and have suffered some injury, the increased chances of depression and stress on them, and that stress that will be on them. they want to help folks get more resourc

caller: this debacle we are watching unfold as a slap in the face for our goldstar families. i've lost brothers in combat in both iraq and afghanistan. i did three tours in afghanistan. their sacrifices are being trampled on right now. this is an insult to all of us who served in our families who sacrificed. i've been deployed five times myself and i was retired this year. joe biden and the democrats are cowards, and the generals and the pentagon that followed them. everybody knew this was going to happen. i called this in april. i have a friend in kabul. this debacle, everybody who has been on the ground knew this was going to happen. you have the generals and pentagon who are not on the ground and do not listen to their officers and senior enlisted on the ground. that is why this happened. this is on joe biden, aspen and millie. those cowards knew this was going to happen. you can't just walk out of afghanistan. the airport will be attacked, mark my words. host: you say you called this in april. are you talking about the announcement that president biden made in april, abou

60,000 goldstar families so thank you for bringing that to our attention. was a pew research poll and they said if they were positive or negative reception they said it was positive but between the ages of 18-29 felt it was a negative perception. guest: in the past five years we've seen an erosion of trust in the military americans who serve at a lower capacity and percentage that prev of young americans serve in the military or civilian service and one things we have done is pushed to advanced americorps was a way of serving. we think service is theeey that helps unite us across party lines. one of the first candidates we supported for a gubernatorial his line is that service can save the first bill he put forward was a bill to enable more service these are the types of initiatives we are seeking to help maintain the value set they can maintain the values going forward. host: what do you think is behind the negative perceptions of the military? guest: i think they've been directed to the culture wars there is an eat those and i studied us in undergraduate

chairman mccaul, his claim that he pours his heart and soul into getting answers for the abby gate goldstaramilies, he's made that sort of public promise. he made that promise in private as well. unfortunately, the rhetoric does not match the actions. he did not meet his promises to do everything in his power to get answers about the abby gate bombing, about the disastrous withdrawal, about the problems with the evacuation. he chose to let military commanders off the hook, refused to go after key officials that we should've interviewed, failed to post tough questions about their own investigation and the investigation into the abby gate bombing that i think in many ways attempted to whitewash what had happened. as for the report, i hope by coming forward the way i have it applies public pressure on them to make the report as honest and hard-hitting as it should be. my guess is it probably will be more honest and hard-hitting that it would have been if i had not come forward. the problem with any report like this is that a report is often only to be as good as the investigation. this investi

the frustrations over the attack on the goldstar family shows how little sway the republican party officials have. questionthink it is a fromking campaign advice republican officials. >> let's talk about third-party candidates, gary johnson, jill stein. today, word that evan mcmullen is launching his own independent bid. >> he is a 40-year-old former cia operative. a lifelong republican. quantity.an unknown he is the anti-trump who has come forward to put himself forward as part of a new generation. statement of the candidacy he put out was as harsh on hillary clinton as it was on donald trump. my colleagues that down with him today. -- my colleague sat down with him today. people have been looking for a conservative alternative. it is too late to get on the ballot. he can sue to try to get on others. it is an easy prediction to say he will not be the next president. >> that was my follow-up point. in order to win the electoral college vote, you have to be on the ballot. >> the ballot deadlines in 27 states have already passed. it is hard to get on a bunch of others. the clock is ticking and

they don't mention black people and young black people that are goldstar recipient. could fight in iraq .nd save lives, his goal was -- was to save lives here. when every policeman and america is not the policeman in minnesota. host: tiffany cross? write a lot about what she talked about. when the republican and democratic party shifted and the other part of the last century. i also write about the black soldiers who lined up to join the army during world war i when the u.s. realized their standing army of 126,000 men would not be enough. black soldiers lined up to help defeat germany. when they did that they were treated horribly in the army. they were spat upon. they were victims of racial hostility. these black soldiers could not sleep inside the warm barracks. they were left to sleep in tents. they went for months without having a change of clothes. the wightman they were serving --ngside -- the right men the white men they were serving alongside were incredibly disrespectful. when they got back to the united states in 1919, how do you think americans welcomed th

60,000 goldstar families so thank you for bringing that to our attention.was a pew research poll and they said if they were positive or negative reception they said it was positive but between the ages of 18-29 felt it was a negative perception. in the past five years we've seen an erosion of trust in the military a is exasperated among young americans who serve at a lower capacity and percentage that previously sold lessha young americans serve in the military or civilian service and one things we have done is pushed to advanced americorps was a way of serving. we think service is the key that helps unite us across party lines. one of the first candidates we supported for a gubernatorial position wases moore from maryland. his line is that service can save us in the first bill he put forward was a bill to enable more service these a the types of initiatives we are seeking to help maintain the value set they can maintain the values going forward. host: what do you think is behind the negative perceptions of the military? guest: i think they've been directed

performance with the goldstar widow, when he started in the pressroom with this eloquent description of how soldiers are prepared for burial and then segued into that unhinged tirade the false against representative wilson, that showed that he might be out of his depth politically. we can talk more about that. callsbefore we go back to , he remains unconventional did we go to dan in corpus christi, an independent caller. caller: happy new year to both of you. how is this relevant to a current middle school are, someone in the ninth or 10th school, they are so uninformed. how could you ever make this relevant, that it is so important? that's a great question. i think that so much of being a white house chief of staff is really common sense, much of it is being grounded in having good judgment. was one of the unsung but really effective chiefs of staff under jimmy whenr during his last year carter finally realized he had to have an effective white house it's, jack watson said almost everything you need to know in kindergarten. it's not complicated. it requires an ability to work with p

i think that is where we are with the goldstar family issue. are plenty of people who want to move on to other issues. while this stays in the new cycle, while he keeps saying things that are seen as insensitive, it is hard to move past that. host: where is the freedom of speech on this issue difficult start family steps into the ring? ohio, active military. hello, rick. caller: thank you for taking my call. number one, one of my main concerns or aggravations is with the military leadership. i wish the generals and admirals who are concerned about this country as much as they were about getting the next star on their shoulder board. number two, i'm not convinced that either hillary or donald are nearly as concerned about the veterans as they would make it appear. i think these are self-serving comments geared only to get them elected. wifer three, the v.a., my works at the v.a.. she tells me that many of the veterans do not want treatment outside of the v.a. they want to be treated by the v.a. get in thet, either war and win the thing, or get o

but what i am is a goldstar brother.like to remind people, there are a lot of goldstar families out there who run organizations to do everything they can to support veterans. everything from 22 a day to honor and tribute, to recently i helped clean up my veterans cemetery, memorial walkway, as a volunteer. i go to soldiers funerals who have no family. goldstar's are important and we do a lot of work. we are just not very much talked about. host: let's talk about it, matt. leo shane, what are goldstar families? guest: goldstar families are families that have lost a loved one to a war. and it's not just the sacrifices of the service members, but the sacrifices of the families too. there was an event at the white house yesterday, the elizabeth olsen foundation, wounded warrior project, talking about the effect war had on children who were disabled and have suffered some injury, the increased chances of depression and stress on them, and that stress that will be on them. they want to help folks get more resources, but this i

there were goldstar groups of african-american women.hey were still segregated during the pilgrimages. it is an interesting part of history that needs to be told. they were still provided the ability to come over but they were still segregated. >> this is one place where pershing deserves credit. he insisted that blacks and juice and other -- lacks -- he insisted that blacks and the jewish and other denominations not be separated. he wanted everyone to be mixed without distinction in the cemeteries. if you go there, i highly encourage it. it is such a moving experience. it is a beautiful place to go. >> we are talking with edward lengel, the author of thunder and flames: americans in the crucible of combat, 1917-1918 . we are taking your calls as we focus on the first major american engagement of world war i. >> i need to know if -- who brought them? is there a cemetery in france? is there a list of soldiers that died in the war?? -- >> there were troops from the indian subcontinent that fought in world war i. mostly under british comman

we didn't mean to impact goldstar kids are now way. we worked together and will probably -- we are grateful to have you on the committee and we will likely have a near unanimous a vote out of the house on that. hopefully we will get the senate on it, too. the bigger issue that we are working on his more national service. how do we get folks more tied to their country. we have to get back. there are ways to connect that to education and help the folks who are working in communities that need support. host: >> the u.s. house is now in recess. when members return at noon eastern, they'll work on a bill requiring health insurance coverage for those with pre-existing conditions and another bill providing over $17 billion in disaster relief. again, the house live at noon eastern here on c-span. and coming up in just a few minutes, house republican leader kevin mccarthy is expected to brief reporters. we will take you live there in just a moment. >> here's a look at some of our featured programs this weekend on "book tv." saturday night at 9:

they are a goldstar family. she chose to attack them like this. i really don't want to go into it because i am so angry about it. i am afraid it will not choose my words as carefully as i should. the bottom line is -- host: steve from california on the democrats line. good morning. caller: good morning to you, sam. i got a little horse with allergies in california. representative mcclintock, i am 68 years old. i am a labor democrat, a conservative democrat. i watched you for years. with all due respect, sir, the republicans, the way they go after biden and the afghanistan -- he mentioned that -- this is not a videogame, america. they had airlift 120,000 people. we were there for 20 years. the population of vacaville is 125,000. they airlifted the entire population of my city out of afghanistan. we are trying to do the best we can. we cannot do endless wars. you talk about the tax bill and $3.2 trillion or whatever. what about the farmer subsidies that they get in the sacramento valley? we give all the money to the farmers. you guys are stomping bi

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

i am not giving myself a goldstar. we are in aituation where i our culture, numr one, we do not respect and reverence our elderly. the government causes more ouble than it does at solving the problem. they nursing homes, one of the biggest problems in nursing homes, not just for me but coming from rn's, a lady that works hospice, 30ears administrator in a nursing home, undersffed, understaffed, understaffed. we have a disintegrati system where people are -- like that one lady just listen to, it is a really tough situation. again, i am doing my part and like to help wherever i can. whenever i am in a nursingome, spending time in the nsing home, let me tell you, my dais in the va hospital right now, he is getting the most top-noh care in that hospital, amazg. i do not say that lightly, and i know there's a lot of problems in v.a. homes. homes, in general. my brother took care of him for about seven years and finally did not do it anyme. god, last summer after all the doctors had written my father off and said he was goin

just yesterday we had an incredible roundtable with the goldstar families of the 13 servicemembers killed august 26, 2021. the only caveat i will give as i am just here as the co-author. i am not talking on behalf of the committee. host: we covered that on c-span, that hearing, and if anybody is interested you can look at that on c-span.org or our app. james, you are a former u.s. army captain and served in afghanistan. tell us what you did and where you served. mr. hasson: i served in coast province. two provinces on the border from 2014 to 2015. i have a lot of family members still serving actively and several, including, in the special forces community -- including close friends, in the special forces community. host: you are not there during the withdrawal. mr. hasson: i was already out. host: how long did you stay in afghanistan? mr. hasson: nine months. host: let's talk about the book called "kabul". do you chronicle the entire war or is this just about the withdrawal? mr. dunleavy: i wish we could have done a book that went through the 20 years of war. it would have had to be 10,00

trump and his visit to arlington, i'm ultimately going to differ to the views of the abbey gate goldstarumes that invited trump to be there. by their own account and public statements, they wanted him there and to take pictures. i'm ultimately going to defer to them. the abbey gate goldstar families are extreme the unhappy with the way that president biden, vice president harris and the biden administration have handled the disastrous evacuation, the disastrous withdrawal but also how they handled everything since then. president biden has still yet to say the names of the 13 service members who were lost out loud and in public. that is something they want. they want answers and accountability. they want the recognition from president biden he made a serious mistake here. when it comes to what happened at arlington, i ultimately just feel the need to kind of differ to the desires and wishes of the abbey gate goldstar families. host: newt gingrich, front page of today's commentary section of the washington times. he names all 13 of those who died at abbey gate. darren hoover of salt lake

performance with the goldstar widow, when he started in the pressroom with this eloquent descriptionf how soldiers are prepared for burial and then segued into that unhinged tirade the false against representative wilson, that showed that he might be out of his depth politically. we can talk more about that. callsbefore we go back to , he remains unconventional did we go to dan in corpus christi, an independent caller. caller: happy new year to both of you. how is this relevant to a current middle school are, someone in the ninth or 10th school, they are so uninformed. how could you ever make this relevant, that it is so important? that's a great question. i think that so much of being a white house chief of staff is really common sense, much of it is being grounded in having good judgment. was one of the unsung but really effective chiefs of staff under jimmy whenr during his last year carter finally realized he had to have an effective white house it's, jack watson said almost everything you need to know in kindergarten. it's not complicated. it requires an ability to work with peo

i want our american military, veterans, goldstar families, and of the wounded to know that their efforts were not in vain. they gave hope and opportunity. there were the best of our opportunities that we tried to bring to afghanistan. host: what is your biggest fear today with no military presence and no diplomatic residence on the ground in afghanistan? guest: that if he goes back to the way it was before 2001 when the taliban first entered. nothing to base it on that they will be any different, because we know they already are terrorizing women, keeping them from getting to the gates at the airport, keeping them from checkpoints. now fanning out to the borders as people are trying to make yet again a daring cross. they couldn't do it by plane and they will try to do it by a car or over land and by foot. these stories are coming in and people are risking their lives to try to share this with us so they know what we are facing. a young female journalist went on afghan tv two weeks before everything broke down this august and interviewed a member of the taliban and directly said, we want

must stand against donald trump's bigotries and attacks on gold parents -- goldstar parents and civilhts heroes. i will not attend. said another congresswoman that after seeing the overwhelming poll results, she will not attend. one house democrats that is schiff.g is adam yesterday, he spoke about what he will be attending in a facebook coach -- post. >> i was appalled when donald trump admitted he would not honor the peaceful transition of power if he was elected, and i feel like i would do -- would be doing the same if i were to not attend the inauguration. reasons why the others are sitting out on the inauguration, and that is because they do not believe he respects the office to which he is being nominated. caller.our next an independent from washington, d.c. caller: my comment is that i have been watching with great interest. i think the democrats are quite , as one lady said in the debate early on, there are many things on the table that have not been resolved. the voting machines of the democratic party, and whatever hacking has been going on connected to russia. also, the con

we didn't mean to impact goldstar kids are now way.e worked together and will probably -- we are grateful to have you on the committee and we will likely have a near unanimous a vote out of the house on that. hopefully we will get the senate on it, too. the bigger issue that we are working on his more national service. how do we get folks more tied to their country. we have to get back. there are ways to connect that to education and help the folks who are working in communities that need support. representative jimmy panetta, representative don bacon, thank you both for joining us today. up, we will have a discussion on u.s. china trade talks and joining us for that .iscussion is robert daly to give you a sense of what else is going on in washington, here's greta brawner. host: yesterday the health secretary announcing that any television ad for prescription drugs will have to include pricing. the house energy and commerce subcommittee on health is holding a hearing on the topic ways to lowern prescription drug prices. live coverage b

because like you and your losses, the thought of sitting across the table from another goldstar family, from another maimed and wounded warrior as result of soleimani, to meet is unconscionable. i think the president had a duty to act and responsibility to take that kind of action. >> host: republican line from mississippi, jeff, go ahead. >> caller: i appreciate your service to our country. >> guest: thank you. >> host: commenting on soleimani's death. he was a declared terrorist. he was supposed out of iran. [inaudible] i i agree with that 100%. the man was destroying people's lives, hundreds of thousands in that area the middle east. and i think the war powers deal they done yesterday was a papier-mÂchÉ issue to stand iran to say that united states was a bunch of chickens. they wrong. that war powers act, we know in time of terrorism, in our day, we had to be prepared. men and women can't go there and be sitting ducks over these actions. i do appreciate your service and i would like to hear comments on why he was allowed to travel even now during the bush and obama administration. >

when writing the book, i had the privilege and the honoro talk to bunchf the goldstar falies and it's tough. i can't imagine what they went thugh and what they are still gointhrough. but i appreciate their willingness to speak with me and speak publiclybout who those service members were. lot of these were very young service members, lot of them probab don't even remember 9/11 terrorist attacks guest: exactly right, that w the oldestuy. i had the pleasure of speakin with darren hoover's parts, and a numbeof parents of the 13 u.s. service members. they wanted childr stories to be told, and they also want answers about how this would be able to happen, and they want acuntability for why a 20 year war ended this way, why the u.s. was pigeonholed into a tiny airport surrounded by an enemy thate had fought for 20 years, why isis terrorists would be able to carry out a deadly bombing that killed their 13 sons and daughters, that grievously wounded dozens of american service members, and killed the 200 afghans. i'm glad that youead e names there. host: i know you said youould stay for the pa

have 74 million people who will vote for person to be president and that person will talk bad about goldstart: next out of arkansas, republican. good morning. caller: good morning. host: when will be america's best days? have they already happened? caller: i think they have already happened. i'm a military vet. i retired out of the service. i served two years out of vietnam. i've been married 54, 55 years this year. my wife and i discussed things this going on. most people have no idea, they don't listen to the news. they don't read the newspaper. they are just not interested. they just don't care anymore. the woman that spoke, she should have never said she voted for trump because we know him as a republican and that's a bad taste in people's mouth. but they tormented our president for the whole time he was in service. served us in the white house. i'm not saying he was perfect. there was only one man that walked this earth who was perfect and they killed him on the cross. but what i'm getting at is if you ask most people this question, what you think about the last administration took over

and also, i would like to say thank you to all of our vets and our goldstar families. i don't know if you can hear me or not. host: i can, christine. caller: oh, ok. i feel like we have a lot of things. he is not above the law. right now he still has all this information in mar-a-lago. we are going to have so much. he is just playing his own "apprentice" game and he is trying to win. host: christine mentioned liz cheney. here is republican congresswoman liz cheney of wyoming, a critic of former president donald trump and the vice chairwoman of the january 6 committee. she spoke about the influence over the republican party and the candidates that he supported, how they fared in the election. [video clip] >> the fact that we are here and we don't know what party will control the house or the senate tells you a lot about defying expectations. the extent to which it was normal. i think you saw many candidates who were reflecting the election denialism of president trump. some races are still left to be called, but i think it was a really important, and frankly hopeful, ou

million people who would vote for a person to be president, and that person would talk bad about goldstarilies. host: joel is next out of mountain home, arkansas, republican. good morning. caller: good morning. how you doing this morning? host: doing well. when were our best days, or when will our best days be? have they already happened? caller: i think they have already happened. i am a military vet i retired out of the service. i served three years in vietnam. i have been married 54 or 55 years this year. my wife and i, we discuss things that is going on. and most people have no idea. they do not listen to the news, do not read the newspaper. they are just not interested. they just do not care anymore. the woman that spoke, she should have never said she voted for trump. we know, as a republican, that that is a bad taste in people's mouth. i am not saying he was perfect. there was only one man who walked this earth perfect, and they killed him on a cross. but what i am getting at, if you ask most people the question, what do you think about the food price up 40% since this last adminis

that's kind of like saying every family is a goldstar family.ll affected by those who are killed in war but we aren't directly affected. we can only feel it. immigration has to be number one in texas and arizona, but in other states they aren't feeling it and they aren't border states. otherwise it would be number one on their list. we are spending so much money in the state trying to control our border. when i go to church -- i'm catholic -- they have three masses in spanish and one in english. for our first communion class, we had 89 students that are hispanic and one is anglo. it didn't used to be like this. they are just surrounding us and the state is paying so much for our school, medicine, border control, and others should recommend -- recognize that. daca, i'm all for letting the kids who were born here who have done well stay but those who are in jail and dropped out, why reward them with citizenship? we can't give like it coverage for everybody. we have to start looking -- give blanket coverage for everybody. we have to start looking a

superintendent of the american cemetery and talked about americans visiting the cemeteries and the idea of goldstar pilgrimages. [video] >> the u.s. government gave the a choiceof the fallen to bring remains home. for those who chose not to bring them home and give them overseas, they were provided the choice to come over in the early 1930's to visit their headstones. they did some shopping and other things that were non-war related. that was over four different summers from 1930 to 1933. i don't know alternately how ,693 came to this site but 6 women came on that trip. men were not eligible. they often call it the gold star mother pilgrimages because it was often mothers. these are desegregated, integrated sites. there are black soldiers buried next to white soldiers, next officers, all states. ofre were gold star groups african-american women. they were still segregated during the pilgrimage is as well -- pilgrimages as well. they were still providing the ability to come over, but they were still segregated at that point. host: edward lengel? guest: this is a place for pershing deserves a lot of

they know, especially goldstar families. i had a meeting with a bunch of goldstar families from the seal teams last week. the goal of that meeting was to see where everybody is at, how are you guys feeling? it turned out there was no existential questions about whether their son or husband had died in vain. that was the worry, that people feel like our sacrifices were made in vain. but nobody actually has that opinion. everybody knew. what do we get for 20 years? we got no more 9/11. we got no attacks on the homeland from this threat that caused 9/11 into thousand one. it is worth noting -- in 2001. it is worth noting we were not at war in 2001. we are were not at war in 1998 when our embassies were bombed. we were not at war in 1993 when the world trade center was bombed. somebody was at war with us. we were just pretending they were not. after september 11, we stop pretending. unfortunately, today, we began pretending again. we began pretending like we ended a war. i hope nobody is writing a headline that is saying we ende

they are going to try out these goldstar mothers again.hese mothers are so bitter that they are blaming miley and austen and clark and the military when in fact the people they need to blame our beaumont trump, mike pompeo, and joe biden. mike pompeo and trump set this up and biden did not have to run with it but he did because he is a vigilant old man and it is a total travesty of what happened on afghanistan. they keep bringing up this sniper. what if they had taken the sniper out? does that mean the bomb was not going to go off? let's get real here. host: that is glenn in california. they will be a roundtable discussion featuring goldstar family members, family members of u.s. military members killed. those families will appear at the house foreign affairs committee. you can see that this afternoon on this main channel, c-span, c-span now, or online at c-span.org. roy, go ahead. caller: we should have a voter registration. if you drive a car, you have to have a license. they should incorporate responsibilities of a u.s. citizen. without

they don't mention black people and young black people that are goldstar recipient. in iraq .nd save lives, his goal was -- was to save lives here. when every policeman and america is not the policeman in minnesota. host: tiffany cross? write a lot about what she talked about. when the republican and democratic party shifted and the other part of the last century. i also write about the black soldiers who lined up to join the army during world war i when the u.s. realized their standing army of 126,000 men would not be enough. black soldiers lined up to help defeat germany. when they did that they were treated horribly in the army. they were spat upon. they were victims of racial hostility. these black soldiers could not sleep inside the warm barracks. they were left to sleep in tents. they went for months without having a change of clothes. the wightman they were serving --ngside -- the right men the white men they were serving alongside were incredibly disrespectful. when they got back to the united states in 1919, how do you think americans welcomed these black pa

when it comes to trump, i am a veteran and he talked about the goldstar family. he talked about mccain. he is talking about hillary. at the same time, it talks about when they found the laptop with hillary. when he talks to the christian part of republicans, he talks about repenting and he said he never has. he always wants to succor somebody and do something for him. he says the work is not at the quality so i will give you half. if you let people cheat you out of your business, they come at you. when it comes to people that try to overturn the election, you have to deal with it out of new york city. republicans, think about what the man has done. he is facing criminal not civil charges and he has two more cases he's got to go through. biden can stay-at-home. i will vote for him one way or another. think about what trump has done and when it comes to the wall, his policy is still in place. they are keeping kids from their mama. host: next is republican line, its open forum, go ahead. caller: how are you all doing? what i want to say is that it seems like the lad

people come to me and thanked me for my service, i always remind them that they would thank the goldstarilies and the disabled veterans instead of people who came back whole. host: i'm in a leave it there for james. go ahead. guest: a lot to unpack, so it goes to my point that in some sense the all volunteer force is a family business. a lot of the people in my book and that i have met in uniform have come to us through a rich family tradition of service which is interesting. i did not write about those from vietnam. i limited this book so those who served in the poor -- to the post 9/11 wars and iraq and afghanistan. i covered those reuters and -- wars and i personally witnessed the all volunteer force and that was how i bracketed this book. i am familiar with these wars in the context of them so i wanted to write about the service members that i had seen in iraq and afghanistan. but, i wish i had known the story of this extraordinary individual from vietnam. there were more than a couple, 20050i think medal of honor recipient from vietnam. it was an infantry man's war in many ways and

to goldstar families, you will always be in our prayers. host: the legacy of the afghanistan war is our question. this is from the wall street journal. military mission ends, but the worry is back. he writes, as last week drew to a close, a senior state department official was asked whether afghanistan's new rulers have the willingness and capability to stop more terrorist strikes by the islamic state radicals who had just killed 13 american servicemen and women at the kabul airport. the official replied the intent is there. the capacity is in question. in other words, it is likely the taliban rulers do want to stop islamic state fighters, who are their sworn enemies , from playing lethal trade on afghan soil, but the taliban's ability to make good on that promise is in question. that underscores the biggest irony of american withdrawal from afghanistan, the hope next thing the country that americans could finally forget about afghanistan. the reality is they now have to worry about it all over again. comments by text, (202) 748-8003 . this

couldn't -- coincidentally, people would go down with goldstar families to washington, maybe go to arlington cemetery to see their sons' graves, their child's graves, and george bush would ask if they would like to come to meet the president. i do not think people know anything about what president bush did for these families. he hugged with them, cried with them, and woudl meet them at least -- and would meet them at least three times a week. so would vice president cheney. host: here is another expert from "decision points." as an obama when looked increasingly likely, i started to think more about what it would mean for an african- american to win the presidency. i got an unexplained -- unexpected glimpse a few members -- a few days before the election. he came in for a farewell photo. one said, where is barack obama? i said, he is not here yet. on election night, i was moved by the images of black men and women crying on tv. more than one said, i never thought i would live to see this day. here is a comment from one of our twitterers. "let's hope another texas governor steps to the plate

we created 4486 goldstar moms. what did their kids die for? what the heck was accomplished? host: rich in south bend, indiana this morning. here is more on the aumf this morning. we want to get your thoughts on this congressional debate that is now starting on the president's war powers request. joe is in woodbridge, virginia the line for republicans. joe, good morning. caller: good morning to you. i think one of the lessons we could learn is that it's much better to deal with secular dictators than to deal with radical islamic monsters. i think george bush probably made the first mistake by getting rid of hussein, and obama has compounded the problem by basically getting rid of syria's assad getting rid of mubarak in egypt, gadhafi in libya, and so on. those messages, -- the message is, a secular dictator who is not prone to our style of democracy is much more prone to civilization in the region than these monsters from isis. host: if that is the lesson, then what do you do with the really -- the reality on the ground? what is your message to congress on the authorization o

we are supported by goldstar, boost our family is, the american institute of health professionals, a student organization for college-age suicides, the american academy of grieving counselors, etc. the family medical leave act grants 12 weeks if you have a child, adopted child, or 46 family member, , you,, or you care -- you are sick, are you care for an injured service member. there is nothing dealing with bereavement. one of the problems of the existing fmla, which was signed in 1993 by president clinton, is, if you lose a child, you can use mental illness or depression as medical leave. many parents are reluctant to do so because it shows up on their record and could affect future insurance rates. it could cause some bias in the workplace in the future job. an employer was a, you took out six weeks for depression? bereavement is a natural life cycle. a natural death happens far too often. if you will, it is a part of life. there is no half-life. to put the going phone numbers on the screen and his people want to talk to you about the issue of family medical leave act and bereaveme

it includes actor george takei and the muslim goldstar father. ist we are trying to to highlight the values of the constitution of the united states, the values of freedom of practice ofdom of religion, equal dignity, equal protection of law, and due process of law. those values are challenged today. >> watch on c-span and c-span.org or listen on the free c-span radio app. this holiday weekend on booktv -- tonight at 10:00 eastern, wall street journal editor joanne loveland looks at top women leaders in corporate america. at 11:00, a cnn political contributor talks about the book , "unprecedented: the election that changed everything," and a look back at the 2016 presidential campaign. sunday afternoon, a professor talks about the final volumes of her eleanor roosevelt series. at 10:00 p.m. eastern, and author on the death of the steel industry and its effect on a working-class town, seen through the lens of high school football. for the complete schedule, go to booktv.org. >> "washington journal" continues. host: joining us is terry jeffrey, edi

those who have served our country -- i am mindful of the price paid by our goldstar families. we're failing the young people. i am with you. i was over it. i believe when americans are given good information, they will make good decisions. i made it clear to my district that revenue has to come up as part of a comprehensive plan. i was told not to said that before the election. they said, can you wait until the last date before someone can file a primary challenge. i said, no. they sent me back to have this privilege to serve. revenue has to come up. expenses have to come down. ost: you did not re-sign the grover norquist pledge. guest: i don't think the pledge is good for our nation. i respect those with whom i disagree with then my conference and across the aisle. i am a data-driven person. i do not think the data supports this. it was lower than the overall level of spending we agreed to spend as republicans. that is what i call a structural defect in our platform. host: i want to give you a chance to talk specifics. we have a tweet. guest: sure. i am proud of our conferenc

it can get frustrating, but you have to stay in the room and do your job, whether it is helping goldstar families or the trade deal or health care and prescription drugs. guest: the beauty of the problem solvers caucus, it is driven by its members and their ego is not the typical congressman or congresswoman ego. they don't care who gets the credit or if they have a celebration. all they care about is getting something done for the american people. host: we were talking about this segment the other day, to join the caucus you have to bring a member of the other party along. you have 24 democrats, 24 republicans. i would have to find a member of the opposite party. guest: and you have to go to the membership and look them in the to and honor our bylaws stand as a block when we get to 75% consensus, and it is working. guest: if you don't show up every week, you don't build the relationship and the trust. people do not spend enough time with the other side. you get to know each other and it is amazing what you get done if you not only just speak to the other side but listen. find areas we c

i am a goldstar brother, and -- and good morning, america.goldstar brother and try to look at things realistically, but to no one's ever going to convince me that my brothers deaths did not mean anything. there are numerous goldstar families. people do not realize how many of us there are. we never ask for this honor but we are stuck with it for life. we would really, truly appreciate if the bickering stopped. all of this blaming and political arguing, the only thing that does is that creates and gives us more anxiety. we are the people who gave the ultimateup until world war ii, o thirds of hispanic americans in congress were these statutory percentages, mainly delegates from mexico and commissioners from puerto rico. from a research perspective, this book is a little bit different. unlike the fields of women's history and african-american history, hispanic, latino studies, does not have as many monographs or political biographies of individuals who are covered here. in this aspect, the field is somewhat undeveloped in this country. much res

they know, especially goldstar families, i had a meeting with a bunch of goldstar families seal teamt week. the goal of the meeting was to kind of see where everybody is at, how are you guys feeling? turns out there were no existential questions about whether their son or husband had died in vain. that was the worry, the people feel like sacrifices were made in vain. nobody had that opinion. everybody knew know, what do we get for 20 years? no more 9/11's. no attacks on the homeland from this threat that caused 9/11 in 2001. fortunately, we were not at war on september 10, 2001. we were not at war when the uss cole was bombed or in 1998 when the embassies were bombed or 1993 when the world trade center was bombed, but somebody was at war with us. we were just pretending like they weren't. after september 11, we stopped pretending. unfortunately, today began pretending again. we began pretending like we ended a war. i hope no one rights headline that says we ended america's longest war, we ended no wars. we did give up a strategic position in the war, in the fight. it will now be extr

they both used goldstar parents. , hillary simply said she was sorry. trump attacked the family.hat is why it is a dustup in the news media. i would challenge any republican that calls in to name a mainstream republican that has supported trump's statements. thes pure and simple, lower-level republicans just want to make an excuse for trump. host: one more call on this topic and we will get that from dawn, new haven, indiana. caller: i am calling in to say i do not understand what is going on as far as they are putting trump down. put mr. and mrs. up in high esteem, number one. number two, they would not have banned from coming into our country like with some of the other callers that have called from the republican mine. they have not been banned. these people are very good people. and i do not believe that he was putting them down at all. he at the time, i thought, i wondered why she was not talking. if she was not going to talk, she should not have been out on the stage if that was going to hurt her that much. if i had a son that died like that, i would have let my husband tal

honored to welcome back some of the men that fought that , members of the black knight troop, and the goldstar families of those who gave their lives that day. as these soldiers and families will tell you, they are a family, forged in battle and loss and love. reunion,something of a and we come together again with gratitude and pride to bestow the medal of honor on a second member of this family, staff sergeant ty carter. as always, we are joined by many distinguished guest, and we welcome you all. today, i want to focus on our most established guest. more than 40 members of ty family -- your parents, mark, barbara, your wife, shannon, who you call the ceo of your family. you are a wise man. i have the same arrangement. [applause] [laughter] children.iful eight-year-old madison, in her new dress, and she was telling me about her new room, and nine- month-old sierra, for whom we'll try to make this brief, because we do not know how long the cheerios will last. came, ty carter said he was hoping to take his children around washington to show them the sites and the history, but if you want to kno