may 8 turned out to be the day. >> our guest is rick atkinson. it is the 75th anniversary of v-e day. we would love to hear from you. here are the lines. (202) 748-8000 for the eastern and central time zones. (202) 748-8001, mountain and pacific. and for those of you who are world war ii veterans or families, if your parents served in world war ii, we ask you to call on (202) 748-8002. in your book, it is a -- alarming to read the death tolls. i think in one story you spoke about the training for the day alone. there was an accident that killed 700 soldiers. looking at the statistics of how many people died and overall military deaths, 417,000 u.s. deaths. on the soviet side, 8.8 million to 10.7 million soviet soldiers. that is not just civilian deaths. >> the soviet union had 190 million people. total deaths were 26 million. that is a staggering percentage of 13% or 14% of their total population. we had 291,000 killed in action. a little more than 400,000 as you mentioned, all of this including accidents and disease. that is about one third of 1

but first author rick atkinson talked about victory in europe day which ended the war there 75 years ago. he joined us on washington journal. and nen from our reel america series, a number of short films on the war produced by the u.s. government and released in 1965. and later a visit to the world war ii museum. >>> may 8th was ve day or victory in europe day marking the day when the allies found the surrender of armed forces bringing the end of hostilities. last week rick atkinson author of the guns at last light, the war in western european 1944 to 1945 spoke about the anniversary. the program begins with archival reel from may of 1945 showing the signing and a statement from president harry truman. >> throughout the world throngs of people hail the end of the war in europe. it is five meres and more since hitler marched into poland. years full of suffering and death and sacrifice. now the war against germany is won. grateful nation gives thanks for. hundreds of thousands crowd into american churches to give thanks to god. president truman announced the official surrender. >> this

anniversary with rick atkinson. author of the gun at last night, the war in western europe from 1944 to 1945 and begins with a news real from may of 19345 showing the signing of the surrender and a statement by president harry truman. >> throughout the world throngs of people hail the end of the war in europe. it is five meres and more since hitler marched into poland. years full of suffering and death and sacrifice. now the war against germany is won. grateful nation gives thanks for victory. hundreds of thousands crowd into american churches to give thanks to god. president truman announced the official surrender. >> this is a solemn but glorious hour. i wish that franklin d. roosevelt had lived to see this day. general eisenhower informs me that the forces of germany have surrendered to the united nations. the flags of freedom fly all over europe. for this victory we join in offering our thanks to the providence which has guided and sustained us through the dark days of adversity and into light. much remains to b

we welcome author and historian rick atkinson. uthor and historian rick atkinson whose final book published in 2013, the final of three books focusing on the years 1944 and 1945. started,r conversation just a quick timeline of where things were and how they came from v-e day on june 6, 1944 in late august deliberation of paris in august 25, 1944. the battle of the bulge in december that year into january of 1945 and then to v-e day. eighth back to may 7 and of 1945. how did the war end in europe? guest: the war ended with the germans basically deciding hitler's having killed himself more than one week earlier that there was no profit in dragging it out with the russians in berlin. the russians murdering civilians, killing german soldiers by the hundreds of thousands. the germans decided that trying to make peace with western allies, americans in particular, was their best bet. they were going to get a better deal from washington allies than they were from the soviets. eisenhower had his third headquarters in the french town in nor

host: our guess is rick atkinson. it is the 75th anniversary of v-e day. we would love to hear from you. for the eastern and central time zones. (202) 748-8001, mountain and pacific. and for those of you who are world war ii veterans or families, if your parents served in world war ii, we ask you to call on (202) 748-8002. , it is a -- alarming to read the death tolls. you spoke one story about the training for the day alone. there was an accident that killed 700 soldiers. looking at the statistics of how many people died and overall military deaths, 417,000 u.s. deaths. on the soviet side, 8.8 million to 10.7 million soviet soldiers. that is not just civilian deaths. 190t: the soviet union had million people. total deaths were 26 million. that is a staggering percentage of 13% or 40% of their total population. we had 291,000 killed in action. a little more than 400,000 as you mentioned, all of this including accidents and disease. that is about one third of 1% of the american population of 130 million during world war ii. as staggering as those numbers ar

host: we have a lot of calls waiting for you, rick atkinson. go first to larry in gallup, new mexico. larry, good morning. caller: yes, good morning, my father was a code talker in the south pacific. and on your research, i wanted to know how much the role of the american indian including the sioux, the comanches, and the hopis, how much research have you done on them, if any? what was their role during the war? thank you very much. rick: thank you, larry, for the call and to your dad. american indians were important. first of all, they had a tradition of being warriors which was critical when you were trying to put together an army. as you mentioned, there were code talkers, navajo and others, who had their own language, and it was assumed, correctly, that if a navajo was talking to another navajo on the radio, that even if the japanese, and we were talking about pacific in this case, could eavesdrop and could hear that conversation, which they could, they wouldn't be able to decode it because very few japanese spoke navajo. so, the code talke

is rickr guest atkinson, it is the 75th anniversary of d-day.ld love to hear from your questions and comments. here are how the lines are broken up. for the eastern and central time zone's. and then the mountain and pacific time zones. for those of you that are world war ii veterans or their families, if your parents served in world war ii, we ask you to call in on --. atkinson, it rick is a really a alarming -- it is really a alarming to read the death tolls. in one story you write about the training, just the training for d-day alone, there was one thatent in the training killed 700 soldiers in that training accident. looking at the statistics of how many people died, military death come up -- u.s. deaths. over 10 million soldier deaths. estimated that the total soviet debts were -- -- million. our losses were bad enough with 291,000 killed in action and over 400,000 in terms of all deaths including accidents and disease. that is about one third of 1% of 100american population of 30 million during world war ii. staggering as those numbers are

take us back, rick atkinson to may 7th and 8th of 1945. how did the war end in europe?well, the war ended with the germans basically deciding hitler having killed himself more than a week earlier that there was no profit in dragging it out with the russians in berlin. the russian murdering civilians, killing german soldiers by the hundreds of thousands. so the germans decided that trying to make peace with the western allies, the americans in particular, was their best bet, that they were going to get a better deal from the western allies than from the soviets. so, eisenhower had his forward headquarters in the french champagne town in northeastern france. the germans sent a dealt gas station. there was a lot of collaborativor about what the conditions would be for a conversation and were told in no uncertain terms that uncondition -- unconal unconditional surrender render be the only way the war would end. so -- it was 2:00 in the morning may 7, 1945, and the articles of sur rendersurrender was boiled down to barely 200 words and the ceremony with cameras rolling laste

host: we will get a response from rick atkinson. >> thank you for the call.s of there first order committed by the soviets not only in berlin but through all of eastern europe, really, as they overran poland into the eastern precincts of what was then the german empire. the reason the soviets were doing that, besides a fatal lack of discipline, was the feeling that the depravity that the germans had visited on the soviet union, beginning with the invasion in 1941 and extending right on through the end of the german advance, was to be repaid in kind. so it was out of control in ways that no one can for see. this is a good example. -- atrocities that committed the germans committed repaid, probably with interest, by the russians. i agree that the russians certainly carried the way of the it is estimated that soviet soldiers killed nine german soldiers for everyone who was killed by british and american troops combined. i mentioned 26th millions soviets dead. it was vital to have them remain as part of it. host: it is the 75th anniversary of v-e day. victory in

and rick atkinson, how quickly was the military able to prove it?>> the commanders in europe and the civilian masters have been thinking about how to take a good portion of that force and move it to the pacific would do that and where would go, was it fair for those who have been fighting from north africa and then in italy and then in the pacific, there were plans that had been put together, there were in fact units that were being shifted as you just said in may of 1945, getting ready to retrain for the assault on the japanese homeland and the b 29 he mentioned was the newest of the bombers that had been doing extraordinarily work and devastating japan. they were used to drop those two atomic bombs. so it was a belief that they would have to take a good portion of that european force, leaving some behind as an army of occupation but the majority of it was going to end up in the pacific and one form or the other. >> there is a photo of general eisenhower flashing the v for victory pin at the signing ceremony. what are your early interviews in 2002

welcome your calls and comments as we welcome rick atkinson this morning. back to your calls.his is william in maryland. good morning. caller: hello. hello. host: good morning, william. you're on the air. caller: yes, so i produce an event in maryland and run a nonprofit called juice box jams. and it's our fifth year. and at this point, we're looking like we have to cancel it in july. we've reached out the governor's office multiple times to figure out what phase we need to be in . and at this point, our only option to do an event is one of these drive-in events which is kind of weird keeping everybody in their car, driving in the county fairgrounds and letting them do a drive-thru festival. so for them, i'm sure we're done for this year looking to move on to next year. host: do you think typically, how many people would you draw to an event like that? caller: it's about 4,000, 2,000 to 4,000 people. it's a nonprofit. we let in military veterans, first responders, their wives, husbands, children, significant others, all free. last year, we did close to 1,500 people free. so fo

host: our guest is rick atkinson . it is the 75th anniversary of v-e day.e would love to hear from you. here are the lines. (202) 748-8000 for the eastern and central time zones. (202) 748-8001, mountain and pacific. and for those of you who are world war ii veterans or families, if your parents served in world war ii, we ask you to call on (202) 748-8002. , it is a -- alarming to read the death tolls. you spoke one story about the training for the day alone. there was an accident that killed 700 soldiers. looking at the statistics of how many people died and overall military deaths, 417,000 u.s. deaths. on the soviet side, 8.8 million to 10.7 million soviet soldiers. that is not just civilian deaths. 190t: the soviet union had million people. total deaths were 26 million. that is a staggering percentage of 13% or 40% of their total population. we had 291,000 killed in action. a little more than 400,000 as you mentioned, all of this including accidents and disease. that is about one third of 1% of the american population of 130 million during world war ii.

atkinson, the inspector general at the intelligence community it was his following the law with a whistle-blower complaint that led to the impeachment inquiry. so mr. trump wasn't comfortable with that. that's not a standard. this man followed the law. and should be supported, not removed. the ig at the department of health and i'm services was doing her job. she was reporting on shortcomings and failures in the response to the coronavirus crisis. that's her job and he removed her because he didn't like what she had to say. it contradicted his narrative and, of course, at the state department it's even more petty because apparently the -- mr. linick, the ig removed last night, another friday night so no one notices, was looking into charges that secretary pompeo and his wife were improperly e using staff for personal errands

the ukraine investigation and then impeachment proceedings of the president last month atkinson to was fired. in addition to linick in atkinson last month the pentagon's acting inspector general glenn fine who was overseeing spending on coronavirus response. >>was removed from the top job and 2 weeks ago the official serving as watchdog of health and human services was replaced after investigators found shortages of testing kits and masks along with delays and coronavirus test results. >>where did he come from the inspector general which is name 3 of the 4 were dismissed late on friday nights, this is the dismemberment of accountability in the federal government if it continues the trump administration has named a new inspector general for the state department his name is stephen akard he worked closely with vice president mike pence in indiana when pence was the governor there akard also served as a career foreign service officer in a number of diplomatic posts around the world. most recently at the state department he has been the director of foreign missions. but the anger is growin

in the case of atkinson, he spent months decrying this whistleblower complaint as baseless. lenick was a little bit maybe more surprising. it was less of a case where there was something that involved trump personally, but clearly, this was something that involved the state department and involved secretary of state mike pompeo. and white house officials are saying that this was something that mike pompeo requested, which i think, importantly, the state department is now disputing in some measure. whether the secretary was actually involved in this determination would seem to be a very big question here. and, you know, house democrats have shown a willingness to investigate this, but this would seem to be something that would be a focal point of that investigation. >> hey, aaron, nicole, who is a veteran of government service, just touched on something here. and i'm wondering if you can spend a minute talking about the ethos of the inspector general community. i've had a lot of government veterans say to me, look, nothing good -- if you're an employee, nothing good comes of

atkinson in the newspaper. >> that doesn't answer my question. president trump said he is a total disgrace. do you agree with that statement? >> senator there's a number of reasons why i don't want to get involved in that question. first of all i don't know all the facts. i don't know the thinking. second, that is protected by white house confidentiality. as a lawyer i have the obligation. when justice kagan was before the senate for confirmation she limited her comments on the white house counsel office and the clinton domestic out one - - policy counsel. >> i did not specifically about any confidentiality when i asked the question the way the president talked about atkinson and the independence avenue inspector general is important so judge how you view those independently if you participated or not is very telling. thank you. >> i would like to begin with ms. miller. earlier with testimony you did not have an opportunity to respond there was the inappropriate activity. will you like to take an opportunity to respond or share your activities of

atkinson in the newspaper. >> ok, that doesn't answer my question. president trump said of inspector general atkinson, the man is a disgrace to i.g.'s, he's a total disgrace. do you agree with that statement? mr. miller: senator, there's a number of reasons why i don't want to get involved in that question. first of all, i don't know all the facts. i don't know what went on, i don't know what the thinking was, and secondly, a lot of that is protected by white house confidentiality. as a lawyer, i have ethical obligations to find all lawyers -- and when justice kagan was before the senate for confirmation, she limited her comments about her time in white house counsel's office and her time in the clinton domestic policy council to the white house. >> my time has expired but i want to say, i did not ask you what you specifically did if you did something. i asked you whether you were involved. i didn't ask you about any confidentiality when i asked the question about the way the president classified inspector atkinson. and i think independence, as you s

atkinson last month was fired too.n addition to the two last month the peg's acting inspector general glen fine who was overseeing spending on coronavirus response was removed from the top job and two weeks ago, the official serving as watch dog of health and human services was replaced after investigators found shortages of testing kits and masks along with delays and coronavirus test results. >> where did it come from? the inspector general. >> reporter: three of the four dismissed late friday night. house speaker nancy pelosi blasted the firing of steve linick saying it has accelerated trump's dangerous pattern of retaliation against the patriotic public servants charged with conducting oversight on behalf of the american people. linick will now be replaced by a vet rang state department official, steven ackard. he has been serving as the director of foreign missions and also served in a number of diplomatic posts around the world. he also worked with the vice president in indiana when vice president pence was the g

the ukraine investigation and then impeachment proceedings of the president last month atkinson to was fired. in addition to linick in atkinson last month the pentagon's acting inspector general glenn fine who was overseeing spending on coronavirus response. >>was removed from the top job and 2 weeks ago the official serving as watchdog of health and human services was replaced after investigators found shortages of testing kits and masks along with delays and coronavirus test results. >>where did he come from the inspector general which is name 3 of the 4 were dismissed late on friday nights. house speaker nancy pelosi blasted the firing of steve linick saying it has accelerated trump's dangerous pattern of retaliation. >>against the patriotic public servants charged with conducting oversight on behalf of the american people. leonard will now be replaced by a veteran state department official stephen anchored who is a close ally of vice president mike pence. >>it was alex marquardt reporting for us tonight steve a has been serving at the state department is the director of the office

the ukraine investigation and then impeachment proceedings of the president last month atkinson to was fired. in addition to linick in atkinson last month the pentagon's acting inspector general glenn fine who was overseeing spending on coronavirus response. >>was removed from the top job and 2 weeks ago the official serving as watchdog of health and human services was replaced after investigators found shortages of testing kits and masks along with delays and coronavirus test results. >>where did he come from the inspector general which is named 3 of the 4 were dismissed late on friday nights, this is the dismemberment of accountability in the federal government if it continues the trump administration has named a new inspector general for the state department his name is stephen akard he worked closely with vice president mike pence in indiana when pence was the governor there akron also served as a career foreign service officer in a number of diplomatic posts around the world. most recently at the state department he has been the director of foreign missions. but the anger is growi

i will tell you that my dealings with inspector general atkinson, i had no issues. i think he did what he thought was right. i think he did think he was following the law. the flip side to that is that the legal opinion within the odni, from the general counsel and from the department of justice, office of legal counsel, my reading of it is that their determination was that he may have exceeded his authority because the investigation involved issues that were not intelligence activities or intelligence community employees. that's a legal question that i don't know the answer to. again, i very much want to reiterate that if confirmed, how important inspector generals are in government, and my strong history of working with them. and i understand although he's an acting capacity inspector general tom is in that role. i don't know him but he's a 30 year veteran, very well respected so i hope to have the opportunity to work with him. >> thank you. i appreciate that answer. if confirmed, do you commit to directing all ic agencies to cooperate fully with congressional ove

host: let's take michael atkinson.t was the first warning shot that there was a war on whistleblowers. that was the intelligence community inspector general who received allegations from the ukraine whistleblower and handled that properly. while there were efforts by the just didn't -- by the justice department in informing congress, he went through his chain of command. they reported it to the congress. what appears very clear, retaliation by the president. he has removed that ign has and has still not given any explanation for it. host: you right in the washington post it is past time for congress to give inspectors general additional protection. inspectors general need to be shielded against the president's ability to fire them at will. the administration should be required to demonstrate the office was unwilling to conduct oversight. this would allow inspectors general to conduct dogged reviews without fear of retaliation. why don't they have that protection now? guest: in 2008, the house passed those protections.

the ukraine investigatioand then impeachment proceedings of the president last month atkinson to wasin addition to linick in atkinson last month the pentagon's acting inspector general glenn fine who was overseeing spending on coronavirus response. >>was removed from the top job and 2 weeks ago the official serving as watchdog of health and human services was replaced after investigators found shortages of testing kits and masks along with delays and coronavirus test results. >>where did he come from the inspector general what's his name 3 of the 4 were dismissed late on friday nights, this is the dismemberment of accountability in the federal government if it continues the trump administration has named a new inspector general for the state department his name is stephen akard he worked closely with vice president mike pence in indiana when pence was the governor there akron also served as a career foreign service officer in a number of diplomatic posts around the world. most recently at the state department he has been the director of foreign missions. but the anger is growing amon

but first author rick atkinson talked about victory in europe day which ended the war there 75 years ago. he joined us on washington journal. and nen from our reel america series, a number of short films on the war produced by the u.s. government and released in 1965. and later a visit to the world war ii museum. >>> may 8th was ve day or victory in europe day marking the day when the allies found the surrender of armed forces bringing the end of hostilities. last week rick atkinson author of the guns at last light, the war in western european 1944 to 1945 spoke about the anniversary. the program begins with ch

my name is angie atkinson.ome of the men thinking as they participate this unit and eventually we'll end with what they do here at gettysburg. ok? with that we'll get started.

i will tell you that my dealings with inspector general atkinson, i had no issues.i think he did what he thought was right. i think he did think he was following the law here the flip side to that is that the legal opinion within the odni from the general counsel and from the department of justice, office of legal counsel, my reading of it is that their determination was that he may have exceeded his authority because the investigation involve issues that were not intelligence activities or intelligence community employees. that's a legal question that i don't know the answer to. again, i very much want to reiterate that if confirmed, how important inspector general are in government, and my strong history of working with them. and i understand although he's an acting capacity inspector general tom is in that role. i don't know him but he's a 30 year veteran, very well respected so i hope to have the opportunity to work with him. >> thank you. i appreciate that answer. if confirmed, do you commit to directing all i see agencies to cooperate fully with congressional

last month, atkinson too was fired. in addition to linnic and atkinson, last month the pentagon's acting inspector general, glenn fine, who was overseeing spending on coronavirus response, was removed from the top job and two weeks ago, the official serving as watchdog of health and human services was replaced after investigators found shortages of testing kits and masks along with delays in coronavirus test results. >> where did he come from the inspector general? what's his name? >> reporter: three of the four were dismissed late on friday night. house speaker nancy pelosi blasted the firing of steve linnic saying it has accelerated trump's dangerous pattern of retaliation against the patriotic public servants charged with conducting oversight on behalf of the american people. linnic will now be replaced by a veteran state department official, steven 5:00 ard, a close lie of vice president mike pence. >> that was alex reporting. steven serves as the state department director of foreign missions. he brevesly worked wit

the ukraine investigation and then impeachment proceedings of the president last month atkinson to wasired. in addition to linick in atkinson last month the pentagon's acting inspector general glenn fine who was overseeing spending on coronavirus response. >>was removed from the top job. and 2 weeks ago the official serving as watchdog of health and human services was replaced after investigators found shortages of testing kits and masks along with delays and coronavirus test results. >>where did he come from the inspector general what's his name 3 of the 4 were dismissed late on friday nights, this is the dismemberment of accountability in the federal government if it continues the trump administration has named a new inspector general for the state department his name is stephen akard he worked closely with vice president mike pence in indiana when pence was the governor there akard also served as a career foreign service officer in a number of diplomatic posts around the world. most recently at the state department he has been the director of foreign missions. but the anger is growi

atkinson. i wonder what he thinks about mexican americans and latino contributions in american wars. more than 500 mexican americans in the war. guest: thank you for the question. as with the other ethnic contributions that we talked about earlier, native americans, blacks, and others, the hispanic contribution, take the texas national guard, 36th infantry as it became after it was federalized, or the 45th division, which had been the oklahoma and new mexico national guard. you go down the roster of the names of the soldiers of those units and you see lots of hernandez's and gonzales's. there are many hispanic names , mexican and otherwise. their contribution is significant. their role in making those units into fine fighting units. the 36th and 45th both fought in italy, and some of the worst fighting in italy. know, hispanic americans have every reason to be proud of their role and their contribution to that 16.1 million men and women force that made the united states military in world war ii

host: let's take michael atkinson. guest: that was the first warning shot that there was a a real concern and from our perspective a war on , whistleblowers. that was the intelligence community inspector general who received the allegations from the ukraine whistleblower and from our perspective handled , that properly. while there were efforts by the justice department to prevent that inspector general from informing congress about the complaint he went through his , chain of command. in this case, it was the head of the agency. they reported it to the congress. what appears fairly clear retaliation by the president. ig and has nott given any explanation for other than he did not have trust in him. host: you right in the washington post it is past time for congress to give inspectors general and whistleblowers additional protection. here is your argument. inspectors general need to be shielded against the president's ability to fire them at will. before removing at inspector general the administration , should be requ

atkinson. i wonder what he thinks about the mexican-americans and latino contributions in american wars. more than 500 mexican americans were in the war. guest: thanks for the question, jesus. as with the other ethnic contributions that we talked about earlier, native americans, blacks, and others, the hispanic contribution -- take the texas national guard, the 36th infantry as it became after it was federalized, or the 45th division, which had been the oklahoma and new mexico national guard. you go down the roster of names of the soldiers of those units and you see lots of hernandez's and gonzales's. there are many hispanic names, mexican and otherwise. their contribution is significant. and their role in making those units into fine fighting units. the 36th and the 45th both fought in italy, in some of the worst fighting in italy. so, you know, hispanic americans have every reason to be proud of their role and their contribution to that 16.1 1 million men and women force that made the united

i will tell you that my dealings with inspector general atkinson, i had no issues. i think he did what he thought was right. i think he did think he was following the law. is that the to that legal opinion within theo dni from the general counsel and the , my reading of it is that their determination was that he may have exceeded his authority because the investigation involved issues that were not intelligence activities or intelligence community employees. that is a legal question that i don't know the answer to. again, i very much want to reiterate that if confirmed how important inspector general's are in government and my strong history of working with them. i understand that inspector general tom in chaim's in that role. i don't know him, but he is a 30-year veteran, very well-respected. i hope to have the opportunity to work with him. >> i appreciate that answer. if confirmed, do you commit to directing all ic agencies to cooperate fully with congressional oversight requests regarding covid-19? produce the full membership and staff of the congressional intell

atkinson was fired last months.before the pentagon's acting inspector general glenn fine who is overseeing spending on the coronavirus response was also removed. two weeks ago, the official serving as the watchdog for the department of health and hugh machine services weias replaced after shortages of testing kits and masks and delays in coronavirus test results. >> when you fire them with impunity, you're sending a chilling message to every inspector general of every department that, in fact, when you step on the administration's toes, then you are fired. that cannot stand. >> leading house and senate democrats quickly announce an investigation of steve linick's firing saying it may be an illegal act of retaliation. few republicans have spoken up. senator mitt romney found it unprecedented and without cause. >> president trump wrote about the state department firing. it is vital that i have the fullest confidence in the appointees serving as inspectors general. that is no longer the case with regard to this inspect

last month, atkinson too was fired.nth the pentagon's acting inspector general, glen fine who was overseeing spending on coronavirus response, was removed from the top job. and two weeks ago, the official serving as watchdog of health and human services was replaced after investigators found shortages of testing kits and masks along with delays in coronavirus test results. >> where did he come from? what's his name? >> reporter: three of the four were dismissed late on friday nights. nancy pelosi blasted the dismissal of linick. it's a dangerous pattern of retaliation against the patriotic public servants. linick will now be replaced by a veteran state department official, stephen akard, who is a close ally of vice president mike pence. he's been serving at the state department and served in a number of diplomatic posts around the world. he also worked with the vice president in indiana when vice president pence was the governor there. there are now a growing number of democrats coming out angrily against this move to r

you don't have to look too deep because the president himself has admitted why he wanted to remove atkinsonlso openly criticized christie grimm, the inspector general of hhs that he removed after a scathing report showing a severe shortage of coronavirus testing kits and ppe in hospitals across the country. so i think it's, for one, bringing together this series of firings and oustings to show they're greater than the sum of their parts. second, congress has the ability -- >> go ahead, i'm sorry. >> i was going to say, congress has the ability to withhold, using the pursestrings, withhold funding. that's not a power that they've used to hold this white house back. what we know is this president is sort of immune to calls for decorum, calls for adhering to democratic norms, public backlash against his transaggressiotran transgressio transgressions, so we need something stronger from congress here, than just this wrist slapping. >> he has the right to do these firings, i mean, it's not as though it was unconstitutional. it might be setting a precedent that we really don't like in that it's da

michael atkinson of the intelligence community, he was also taken out of his position. department of defense is moving on, inspector general of health and human services. in the wake of linick's firing, he tends to be an ally of the president, and he has renewed his call for the president to explain in writing wife michael atkinson and now linick were removed from their positions. >> bill: okay, john, thank you for that. north lawn there. stay tuned for that. i mentioned bill barr. he had this to say in washington. >> as to president obama and vice president biden, whatever their level of involvement, based on the information i have today, i don't expect mr. durham's work will lead to a criminal investigation of either man. >> bill: so this is a very interesting day there. in regard to the ongoing investigation, time to bring in tom. good afternoon. what does this suggest to you on the criminal side? felt compelled to answer that question with regards to obama and biden. >> the attorney general was giving us a bit of a preview of the durham report, and he may have been

last month, atkinson, too, was fired. last month, the pentagon's acting inspector general, glen fine who was overseeing spending on coronavirus response was removed from the top job. and two weeks ago, the official serving as watchdog of health and human services was replaced after investigators found shortages of testing kits and masks and delays in test results. >> where did he come from? >> three of the four were dismissed late friday nights. the trump administration has named a new inspector jemg, his name is steven ak ard. he worked closely with mike pence when he was governor there. he has served in number of diplomatic postes arous around world. but the anger is growing among democrats with the chairman of the house foreign affairs committee calling the firing outrageous. alex marquardt, cnn, washington. >>> protesters rallied in south georgia, demanding just physical for ahmaud arbery. they also want accountability for two local district attorneys who failed to file charges in the shooting that took place in febru

last month, atkinson too, was fired. last month the pentagon's acting inspector general flynn fine overseeing coronavirus response was removed and two weeks ago the officials serving as watchdog of health and human services was replaced after investigators found shortages of testing kits and masks along with delays and coronavirus test results. >> where did it come from, the inspector general? what's his name? >> three of the four were dismissed late on friday night. >> this is the dismemberment of account ability in the next if it continues. >> reporter: the trump administration has named a new inspector general for the state department. his name is steven acker. he worked closely with vice president mike pence in indiana when he was the governor there. acker also served as a career foreign service officer in a number of diplomatic posts around the world, most leent e recently at the state department. he has been the director of foreign missions. but the anger is growing among democrats with the chairman of the house fo

last month, atkinson, too, was fired. in addition to linick and atkinson, last month the pentagon's acting inspect general who was overseeing spending on coronavirus response was removed from the top job. and two weeks ago, the official serving as watchdog of health and human services was replaced after investigators found shortages of testing kits and masks along with delays in coronavirus test results. >> where did he come from, the inspect general? what's his name? >> three of the four were dismissed late on friday night. >> this is the dismemberment of accountability in the federal government if it continues. >> the trump administration has named a new inspector general for the state department. his name is steven akard. he worked closely with vice president mike pence in indiana when pence was the governor there. he also served as a career foreign service officer in a number of diplomatic posts around the world. he has been the director of foreign missions. but the anger is growing among democrats with the chairman o

our guest was pulitzer prize winner rick atkinson, author of "the guns at last light: the war in western europe 1944-1945." the final book in his liberation trilogy about the allied triumph in europe. at 8:00 p.m. eastern, 5:00 p.m. pacific on the presidency, a discussion with three contributors to c-span's book "the presidents." noted historians rank america's best and worst chief executives. ♪ >> this was the europe of 1941. the nazi blitzkrieg had overwhelmed france, holland, belgium -- [explosions] denmark -- [explosions] norway and luxembourg. russian armies were in desperate retreat. the german air force was raining death and destruction on england. combined italian and german forces were menacing egypt. their objective -- to defeat an opposing british army and dominate all of north africa. in asia, japanese air and ground forces were driving forward in their bloody conquest of china. only one of the world's major powers was still not at war -- the united states. it was a sunday afternoon in december 1941, and the statue of liberty towered serenely over new york harbor. as if she w

. >> i think the president did the right thing in removing atkinson.ink the president has every right to be frustrated because i think what happened to him was one of the greatest travesties in american history. >> what is your response to mr. barr's defense that the president's personal or emotional feelings about something can justify actions which you and your committee have identified as potentially unconstitutional? >> well, the president's emotional responses cannot justify illegal or unconstitutional acts, obvious ly obviously, if we are a nation of laws. and here you have a perfect illustration. the president, on the other hand, and attorney general barr on the one hand are making sure that the president's friends, roger stone tries to get a lighter sentence, flynn doesn't get prosecuted even though he pleaded guilty on the one hand. but anyone who is honest like atkinson, the inspector general who simply did his job mandated by law, he is punished. he is fired. the people who were witnesses in the impeachment hearings vindman and other people,

removed just since april, that's also included intelligence community inspector general michael atkinsoninjector general at the department of defense glen fine and now linick. fine sources told cnn at the time of his removal that trump had long viewed him as an obama holdover but atkinson his removal was seen widely as retaliation for his role in the impeachment inquiry and linick played a small but important role in the impeachment inquiry as well, linick briefed bipartisan staff on the committees and house and senate of documents ukraine related documents that had been provided to the state department by rudy giuliani. theres that connection in linick's case as well but still a lot of clarity needed to be gained from the white house about why president trump made this more, victor and christi. >> sarah westwood from washington, thank you. >> thanks, sarah. >>> so the hard hit navajo nation is trying its harshest measures yet to stop the spread of the coronavirus. what their weekend lockdown looks like. that's just ahead. stay close. [horns honking] birthdays aren't cancelled. hope isn'

to the national hot line are substantially up 31% in march and 17% in april pediatrician norelle atkinsons a specialist in philadelphia. >> we're seeing an overall decrease in the number of kids coming into the hospital with injuries, but the children that are coming to the hospital with injuries tend to have more severe injuries or injuries that require hospitalization. >> reporter: how concerned are you right now about children >> very concerned. we have kids that are reaching out, that actually makes me feel better they reach out and we can try to guide and educate and prompt but the ones we're not hearing from is scary. >> reporter: in this difficult period, she says we all have a responsibility to watch for signs that a child is in danger. kate snow, nbc news. >>> if you or someone you know needs help, text or call 1800-for a child. >>> we're back with news about the summer ahead we're learning about some big changes you'll see in a lot of familiar faces >>> some of america's biggest tourist attractions are announcing plans to reopen many places will look and feel different. here is

there was a difference of opinion over whether atkinson exceeded his authority. so he tried to thread the needle. he tried to distance himself from some of president trump's more extreme actions and rhetoric without actually criticizing the president directly. and everyone watching, remember that the reason he's up there for that job is because he was a dogged partisan defender of president trump with red meat rhetoric during these controversial ukraine and russia hearings, andrea. >> ken dilanian, thank you so much for all of that. and today is a special day. it's giving tuesday now. a new global day of giving in response to the coronavirus and the great needs. we at nbc are the signature media partner for this event. we want to focus on one group of young people, extraordinary young people giving back by helping seniors disabled and the sick sheltering at home. helping them get their groceries, their medications and other necessities. when the crisis began, they launched a delivery service called invisible hands, providing comfort in everyday needs from a safe

history tv and washington journal marked the 75th anniversary of the german .urrender with rick atkinson the final book and his liberation trilogy, about the allied triumph in europe, watch tonight and over the weekend on 3.span the house returns wednesday and thursday or legislative business. the fisa reauthorization bill extends through december 2023. it will require house action. with new rules in place to allow for proxy voting, members beginning on wednesday can vote for other numbers who are not present during the floor votes. watch live house coverage on c-span and on demand at any time on c-span.org. >> this is a live shot from washington national cemetery the president is expected later this morning good heading into this holiday weekend the united states hit a milestone in the pandemic as all 50 states moved into some phase of the reopening process. this morning we will check in with reporters from across the country to talk about how that process is playing out and as we do we want to hear from you. give us a call this morning and let us know what reopening looks like in you'r