brian lamb: how does operate?ropublica is a nonprofit investigative news focused onn that is stories in the public interest, meaning, we look for stories that exposed harm or wrongdoing that is being committed by public agencies, corporations, or by any organization or institution that serves the public. we write everything from stories harm, anditals doing schools and educational programs that are not serving children as they should, to civil rights litigation against school district. justice stories, people who have been wrongly prosecuted , we cover the military, a whole range. brian lamb: when it started, a man of the wall street journal went over to run it. fist democratic to some gave $10 million to start it up. how much of it is involved in partisan politics? ginger thompson: propublica is a nonpartisan organization. we have written critically about officials,public president obama, and republican public officials. we are an equal opportunity investigative news organization. we identify wrongdoing wherever

brian lamb: who were those men?frey rosen: ballenger was the secretary of interior, pro-corporate he was supposed to figure industry. head ofwas roosevelt's the forest service to is a moralist and crusader who goes to become governor of pennsylvania and a crusader for prohibition. he lived in philly. even today, you cannot buy wine in philly things to ballenger's laws. what happened is ballenger -- pinchot. i meant pinchot. he is the one who is challenging taft authority. it's a consultative story. there is a whistleblower called -- and the interior department he was convinced that ballenger has given lamb's to us in the kit that was controlled by morgan and guggenheim. dass contributors to taft campaign. taft'sributors to campaign. he accuses ballenger of being corrupt. that,eviews and concludes in fact, bollinger had not been corrupt and there was a legitimate reason for not preserving the lambs. he exonerates ballenger. but pinchot is convinced it was a cover-up. -- taft firesys gladys for insubordination. he fir

brian lamb: what else did he accomplish?frey rosen: the canadian free-trade agreement, the precursor of nafta. this is a really big deal. he thinks free trade between the u.s. and canada is essential. he confesses congress to pass a canadian free-trade treaty. he writes a letter to theodore roosevelt while canadians are debating it saying that if canada does not pass it, they will be in annex of the u.s. it leaks and goes viral. the canadian premiere called him tricky taft and said he was trying to pull something over on canadians and canadian voters rejected it. it would have been the greatest accomplishment of his presidency. his other significant achievements are his constitutionalist vision of foreign policy. he sends troops to the mexican border where there is an insurrection, but not over it. he thinks of the constitution gives congress the power to declare war. he invokes a young congressman lincoln who criticized president polk for sending troops over the mexican border. taft, like lincoln, maintains the peace and re

brian lamb: bottom line, it is a dynasty. jeffrey rosen: it is an amazing dynasty. rappreciated dynasty full of people who are devoted to public service. brian: you have some quotes that, i am trying to remember if they came from, i am not sure where they came from. it doesn't matter. you will get the gist, when i read them to you, about the feeling that the taft and roosevelt had about each other. here's one of them. you say, "taft campaigned vigorously after winning the massachusetts primary. he told a crowd in maryland, i am a man of peace and i don't want to fight, but when i do fight i want to hit hard. even a rat in a corner will fight. after alarming the public with this unfortunate image, this is during the 1912 campaign, he lamented the "hypocrisy, insincerity, selfishness, the monumental egotism, and almost the insanity of the megalomania that possessed theodore roosevelt." why would he be saying this about a guy who got him the vice presidency, and then encouraged him to run for president? jeffrey: the egotism, megalomania, it was his constitutionalism tha

brian lamb who founded c-span worked in that office. >> this is an incredibly important office and i have been going through the archives and no one has writ bn this from an historical point of view so it's been really exciting to go through this material. it was founded in 1970. and it connected staffers, like brian lamb and its director, clay whitehead, who were concerned about the media environment. the television environment. and the monopoly that the three networks had and the control that they had. so they were really interested in opening up the media environment. nixon saw this as an opportunity that he could use policy to combat the media institutions that he believed were biased. so nixon saw this as an opportunity. that created this office in the white house would allow him to shape the conversation about telecommunications policy, in ways that presidents had not before. so the work of the staffers, the attitudes of nixon, his believe that it was really important that telecommunications policy was important to break up the monopoly of the three networks, a lot of new techn

it connected staffers, like brian lamb who worked -- who were concerned about the media environment and the monopolies and the control that they had. they were really interested in opening up the media environment. nixon saw this as an opportunity that he could use policy to look at the news that he believed were biased. he believed that creating this office in the white house would allow him to have a conversation about telecommunication policy in the way that the president could not support. to the work of the staffers and the attitudes of nixon, and his belief that it was really telecommunications policy it was important to break up the monopoly of the three networks a lot of new technologies were discussed a very different ways. they talked about deregulation. he change the television industry since the 1950s. >> was it successful? >> it was. in the short-term, no. but to the office of telecommunications policy was very late to this broader war that nixon want to do wage. the network news problem, which is how he called it. he felt that network television was very biased against him

go through with this material and basically was founded in 1970 and it connected staffers like brian lamb and its director, play whitehead who were concerned about the media environments and the monopoly of the three networks had and the control they had. they were really interested in opening up the media environment. nixon saw this as an opportunity that he could use policy to combat the media institutions that he believed were biased. nixon saw this as an opportunity that creating this office in the white house would allow him to shape the conversation about telogen medications policy in ways that presidents have not before. through the work of the staffers and the attitudes of nexen and his belief that it was really important until he medications policy was important, to break up the monopoly of the three networks, a lot of new technologies were discussed in very different ways. they talked about deregulation. they challenged some of the shapedions that really the television industry industry in the 1950's. >> was it successful? >> it was. in the short term, no. in the short term, the

thank you, brian lamb, for c-span and thanks to all the moderators on "washington journal" who really do a fabulous job. the calls are wonderful. i loved nancy. and just as she said that the filmmaker won her heart. bill from pennsylvania won my heart. his story was just wonderful to hear. he was punished the same way that mohammed ali was punished and that's why mohammed ali is a hero to my generation. i think the war protesters were significant to ending the war because they drove linden johnson out of office. he knew he wasn't going to be re-elected. so he withdrew from the possibility of the nomination and i think that was because the protesters put so much pressure on him. now my question for mr. stanton, who i think is a hero too. when robert mcnamara wrote his book about 15 years ago, in which he said that they all knew that it was an unwinnable, untenable tragedy. how did you -- how did that make you feel? did that vindicate your feelings of doubt as a soldier or do you think he should have taken it to his grave? >> lynn novick, i thought i saw you nodding your head for a seco

this is going on c-span so brian lamb is can write me an angry letter. >> let me try one of these. how important is the truth these days? >> that's okay. the very good point. that is more about what you do and what i have learned from y you. i have friends here that i talked about trump while we're talking about trump on the five and how wise hypercritical of him. he was saying stuff that like, let's face it, i have said worse. he was running for president and i was like more obsessed with his words, because there were no deeds yet. but, i have become more like emotionally invested in his behavior which was kind of a waste of time. i realized when i came across a book, charlie monger recommended a book by jeannie called influence, scanner the art of persuasion. when i read the book i started to see what trump was doing. i started to look at him less as a political figure and more as a host of a comedy roast. he had basically redefined every contest he was in. this is how hypocritical i was. during the first debate, when megan kelly asked the first question and it was like and says,

host: c-span brian lamb sitting down with senator mccain.was a prisoner of war in vietnam for 5.5 years. here's part of that interview. [video clip] >> one of the great things about being a fighter pilot, you are sure everybody else is going to get shot down but not you. >> and when that happened how many vietnamese were around you in that lake? , it's ai first went in long story but i was barely able to get back to the surface. a bunch of them jumped in and there's a picture which i'm sure you will show of them pulling me out of the lake. you can see my arm is broken. once they pulled me out they weren't very happy to see me. because i just finished bombing the place. we got pretty rough. broke my shoulder. hurt my knee again. i don't blame them. we were in a war. i didn't like it, but at the , when you are in a war in your captured by the enemy, -- you cannot expect to have tea. pull me out of the lake, put me on the truck to mobile you a lo. a five minute drive away. it's a very long story about how they found out my father was and decide

brian lamb: ginger thompson, when did you get interested in reporting on mexico?inger thompson: i grew up on the u.s. mexico border. i am an army brat. for my high school years, i lived in el paso, texas.

independent, and went to california and was a delegate for you in 2000, and had a nice chat with brian lamb while i was there. >> long beach. >> yes! >> and my question is, there was a time when i supported the vietnam war in the mid-'60s, i was in high school, and graduated in '66. you knew it was unwinnable with the chinese pouring in there as they did in korea. why didn't we handle vietnam like they, like truman handled korea? i've always wondered that. >> truman, korea drove truman out of the white house and it was general eisenhower that came in. we had a dmz where two armies were lined up, and threatened the chinese, and he got a, basically an honor -- vietnam, he had a much different story. chinese were not in vietnam, the north vietnamese were in the south, but it's a very good question. looking back, and obviously, anybody that's been involved in any way, and i wasn't there, but writing speeches in the white house, and working for nixon as an aide before he ran. and you have to ask yourself, the vietnam water accomplished a lot -- war accomplished a lot of good things, it held the

brian lamb sat down with him in his office. he was a prisoner of war in vietnam for 5.5 years. here's part of that interview. >> one of the great things about being a fighter pilot is you're sure everybody else is going to get shot down but not you. ha, ha, ha. many vietnamese were around you in that lake? >> and when that happened, how many vietnamese were around you in that water in that lake? >> when i first went in, it's a long story, but i was barely able to get back to the surface. but then a bunch of them jumped in and there's a picture which i'm sure you'll show of them pulling me out of the lake. onct you can hesee my arm is broken and up high. and then, of course, once they pulled me out, they weren't very happy to see me. >> why not? >> because i just finished bombing the place. it got pretty rough. broke my shoulder and hurt my knee again. war. i didn' but look, i don't blame them. i don't blame them. we're in a war. time i didn't like it. but at the same time, when you're in a war and you're captured by the enemy, you can't expect to have tea. so they pulled me out

kathleen rice, linda sanchez, bill pascrell, conor lamb, seth , timon, brian higgins ryan, jim cooperkurt schrader, who theyumbent members have listed on that tracking of the democrats opposing nancy pelosi to continue in her leadership role. some democratic candidates are actually running ads criticizing nancy pelosi as well. here is one of them. kathleen williams who is running for the at large seat in montana. [video clip] congressans deserve a that can get things done. this congress is stuck in dysfunction and gridlock. both parties are responsible. paul ryan is retiring, so republicans will have a new leader. that is why i won't be voting for nancy pelosi for leader. i will push to find a new leadership team that ensure congress works for all of us. i am kathleen williams and i approve this message. host: taking your calls for the next half-hour, lines for just democrats and independents. we want to hear your thoughts and views of nancy pelosi and looking for tweets as well. thoughtful process is writes "any democratic leader the republicans hate should be firmly retained by demo

brian: you have ortiz that was successful, the 28-year-old that you're trying to get to debate but the ones that almost win and close the gap and other like connor lamb really interesting phenomena to watch the rhetoric of the democratic party is taking over the left of the democratic. the people winning are more moderate democrats, if they are smart they will embrace moderate democrats, they are afraid ofial -- alienating millennials. ainsley: this is a shocker, award show got political last night vma awards, watch this clip. >> you never know what's going to happen at the vma's, bad language, people run to the bathroom and send out crazy tweets, it's basically like typical day at the white house. in your face, trump. do not worry because at this game you guys are allowed to kneel, you can do whatever the hell you want, no old white man can stop you. ♪ ♪ ainsley: all right, what was your reaction to that? logic, slamming the border wall and all the families, immigrant families joined together when -- steve: the wall went up. ainsley: when the wall goes up. >> so much courage, so much courage to be in los angeles to talk about how terrible trump is a

independent and went to california and was a delegate for you in 2000 and i also had a nice chat with brian lamb while i was there, it was an exciting experience. >> long beach. >> caller: yes. and my question is: there was a time when i supported the vietnam war in the mid '60s, i was in high school and graduated in '66. you knew it was unwinnable, though with all the chinese pouring in there as they did in korea, why didn't we handle vietnam like truman handled korea? i've always wondered that. >> well, with truman korea drove truman out of the white house and it was general eisenhower who came in and decided that we are not going for victory. you had a dmz where the two armies were lined up and he threatened the chinese and he got -- he got basically a armistice. with vietnam you had a much different story. the chinese were actually not in vietnam, the north vietnamese were in the south. but it's a very good question, i mean, looking back and obviously anybody that's been involved in any way, and i wasn't over there but i was writing speeches in the white house and working for nixon as an aid