erik prince. erik prince: let me answer last to first. you are right, there are more contractors in afghanistan already. there is 26,000. 9.5 thousand of those are americans in afghanistan. there are another 9000 u.s. troops. so you are right. there are a lot of contractors there. the plan i am advocating severely reduces all of those numbers. the question of inherently governmental comes up. i was born in the summer of 1969, the summer of woodstock and apollo 11. if you were to say is it inherently governmental that only the u.s. government can put a rocket into space, 1969, of course, you would have said yes. but now today, 2017, the only way the u.s. government gets to space is on a private contractor's rocket or oddly with the russian space program. it was not inherent. time and technology changes that. steve scully: laredo, ohio. good morning. caller: good morning. the first thing i would like to say is this whole thing is ridiculous. i mean the russians warned us 15 years ago, do not go into afghanistan. you cannot win. they were ri

host: our guest is erik prince. nancy, democrat line, new hampshire. caller: thank you for taking my call. as an older person, i am much older than erik prince, i am curious, you do not seem to operate under any laws. military,e afghan there was no central military or government in afghanistan before, there was always tribes. you are men were arrested for open fire in the square in iraq when civilians were killed. how did you get access to all of our treasury money to build your own mercenary army in afghanistan? i am appalled we would consider hiring mercenaries on behalf of the american government. we will never be done with terrorists as long as you continue to occupy afghanistan. it is unbelievable, 16 years later that we are pouring all this money in dick cheney lied through his teeth and you are a good friend of his. how did you get money from the treasury? guest: let me clarify a couple of things. .e are not doing that work now the u.s. military is doing it and have been doing it for 16 years. it is costing the taxpayers more than $50 billion pe

guest, it would be your erik prince. betsy devos. very disturbing. wants to privatize public education and her brother, erik prince, wants to military.the so are we in a middle of some of cue. this, i rn body in gnize erik prince was hired, the cia they blackwater and believe a problem and i tbl had with abu ghraib or something obscene. mention that erik prince is involved with the uae, nited arab emerites, has private military organization with them. i don't know why this is allowed of america.d states we are in the middle of a military coux. military, but our and we are tutions under attack f. we don't stand going to have any, this is a warning, folks. morgan from nashville, tennessee. org, army a news dot chief pledging what he's calling iserable punishment on the u.s., in a rally in north korea opposing sanctions implemented u.n. toward pyongyang "scheme of america's pressure." to lee joining from brooklyn, democrat's line, your top story of the week, what is it, lee? caller: the idea they took a poll of republicans and the republicans agree if 2

erik prince has done a handful of interviews on the subject. he's proud of the idea.e's cited colonial rule under the british empire as the role for how they should conduct the next x years of the afghanistan war. the idea of the education secretary's billionaire brother being installed in afghanistan to be paid billions of dollars a year by the taxpayers to run his own private war there, it's enough to curl your eyelashes. it is hard to believe that would ever be taken seriously outside of hollywood. the news reports about erik prince making this proposal, they've generally taking the tone that this idea is not really being seriously considered by the trump administration. honestly that reporting has been offered in the same nonspecific spirit in which we all keep getting reassured that there are real adults in charge somewhere behind the scenes in the administration and therefore nothing too terrible will happen. forgive me skepticism. james mattis, secretary of defense was recently asked about erik prince's big business plan to take over the war from the u.s. milit

when the former blackwater ceo erik prince had with cnn's aaron burnett.posal he put forward to trump. >> you have to put someone in charge. there has to be a lead official. they have to stay there for a while. so you have a continuity of decision-making. >> and american viceroy? allan: a colonial -- it cameonial term but from a british empire that had little communications when you had that someone in charge you could make decisions. case, it means someone who can rationalize the mess that is u.s. policy events. >> 20 use the word, you went out it is a colonial word. exercising authority. a loaded word. are they talking to you about this? talked to plenty of afghans about this. when they understand we are not viceroy colonize, the is someone who will rationalize so we don't go through different ambassador every two years. there has been a fragmented command and it has to change. amy: that was the former life water founder, erik prince. talking about an american viceroy. mattis about how james is opposed to this and there is a defamation campaign going on

and we're not in a war yet well you know just this ok we'll see where it goes blackwater founder erik prince the oligarchy brother of education secretary and billionaire betsy to vos as told usa today that the trump administration is seriously considering his proposal to privatizing the war in afghanistan under princes plan five thousand five hundred private contractors primarily former special operations troops would advise afghan combat forces the plan also includes a ninety plane private air force that would provide air support believe it or not princes actually compared this plan positively to the east india company which looted and pillaged india on behalf of the british empire by the way did the same thing with the north american continent which led to right to seven hundred seventy three in the british and the the boston tea party aren't some things like war or prisons best left to government pick i would say so even libertarian would say that the government has certain roles like in immigration or in wars but i think we should pull out altogether i think the government should continu

steve bannon was the one who was erik prince's chief ally in favor of this idea. once steve bannon got fired today, erik prince was blocked from attending that afghanistan meeting at camp david that he was otherwise going to be at. the person who blocked him, reportedly was national security adviser h.r. mcmaster. is that true? are there other kok cocaminie schemes that will take place now that he's gone? we're chewing on that tonight. here's my big question tonight which we might be able to figure out with the right reporting in just a moment. why was steve bannon there in the first place? what was he there to do? and at whose behest was he there? and whatever he was sent to do, did he leave now because he accomplished it? there were a lot of other inexplicable people in the trump campaign and now in the trump administration and those people fit another pattern entirely. russia. russia. as to how they got their place and why they're there. but bannon really is different. bannon came on a year ago out of the blue to run the trump campaign, despite the fact that wi

. >> we want to welcome to the table, erik prince, the finder of lack water, usa, the chairman of frontier service group. thank you for being with us. let's get right to it. an editorial on usa today, earlier this week, you wrote -- the president can restructure the war, similar to a bankruptcy reorganization, by aligning u.s. efforts under a presidential envoy, that will institute decisions about military aid, support and intelligence, and become laser focused on creating a table and self-supporting afghanistan. it would give our troops and exit ramp. we have been there for the last 16 years, so outlined specifically what you want to do? >> the president temple everything out completely, which i think would be a bad idea. i think taliban and isis would end up taking over the country, and they would say that they have beat the united states. wewe could keep the way that have been, we have now spent almost $1 trillion, and we are now spending more than the entire defense budget of the united kingdom, just in afghanistan. more than 2000 american soldiers dead, 20,000 plus wounded. health-car

so a billion dollars a year and if erik prince gets ten twenty percent of that it's great for erik prince however not actually great for what's going on in afghanistan yeah i mean i look at it like this eric says look you know he's making the argument that look we can do more of the same which is basically what the pentagon has trouble doing is just you know throw more troops in there and throw more than a few more that's more of the same and he's going to making this argument that look you could put a smaller amount of people in there majority of them mercenaries and we can you know work with the afghan infrastructure there and actually get the job done of disrupting terrorism which yeah eric that might work but i got a better option and even better option than the other ones put on the table how about we just leave oh you just say you know the american adventure in afghanistan just isn't worth it anymore and let's go but we can't do that because of you know minerals and poppy fields and all the other things over there that we need to kind of quote unquote protect yes. erica also but i'm

meet erik prince the founder of blackwater a private military company with a controversial reputation with its legacy you might expect princes career to be over but this cannot be farther from the truth there's no backlash for him no shame the man's gun for hire business is booming what i care about says it's pays the large you wasting food say five billion dollars a year in afghanistan i don't think it's appropriate to pull out completely with all the wars the us is waging abroad times are lucrative for private security firms yet you'd struggle to find one with an untainted slate dyna corp for example for over a decade the u.s. state department was giving almost seventy percent of its funding for afghanistan to this particular firm this company's record features a sex slavery scandal in bosnia a male prostitution scandal in afghanistan and also there a botched seventy million dollar worth construction project were also means big business for sally port global who were paid nearly seven hundred million dollars to secure an iraqi base they allegedly turned a blind eye to alcohol smuggl

the trump administration defending prince and his proposal. >> if you look at erik prince's track record's not about bilking the government. it's about the opposite. it's about saving the u.s. taxpayer money. so this is a cost cutting venture. we open the door here at the white house to outside ideas. >> reporter: still, defense officials have long noted that in some operations, contracts are not less expensive than active duty military members who are paid considerably less. the man leading the fight in afghanistan, general john nicholson is averaging for a few thousand more troops to train afghan forces mainly in addition to the 8400 u.s. troops already there. a plan believed to be backed by secretary of defense james mattis and national security adviser h.r. mcmaster. >> we have a shortfall of a few thousand. and this is in the nato train advise mission. so this can come from the u.s. and its allies. >> reporter: still, nicholson may not have the full backing of the president, who is thought to be frustrated with nicholson's command of the afghanistan war. something that mcmaster deni

erik prince has a piece in the opinion section of the "u.s.a. calls for restructuring of the afghanistan strategyng the present has proved ineffective, repeating the surge has appeal. reduced taliban influence, the taliban returned, troops were through. expensive to maintain large-scale military presence, luckily, there is another option, the president can estructure the war, similar to bankruptcy reorganization by decisions l envoy, regarding aide, military support laser elligence become focused on afghanistan. it would give our troops an exit ramp. envoy would support forces rom within, providing leadership, air support and business administration assistant. resources will be procured and the u.s. -- the way u.s. manpower support, they hire it. more about his op ed piece in "u.s.a. today" this morning. to bob first on this open phones in illinois. line, bob, good morning, go ahead. caller: good morning, c-span, a new phrase, minority rules. majority, they e have been fighting for it for so years, the minority make them look silly. hey don't ha

strategy at camp david that led to night's speech was reportedly to include a press addition from erik prince. that said, take with a big grain of salt any reporting that tells you the private for-profit war plan is dead now or anybody who tells you there's a clear view of what the president might do exactly. years of past statements on this issue are clear and consist ten. they would make you think he's about to announce the end of war tonight. the best said reporting that we've got tonight is that he's about to add for troops. and then there's the wild card with this president, the gigantic bomb this spring, the privatization plan they're considering, the timing of doing this speech tonight. we're told to expect that the president will make a decision about his strategy in afghanistan tonight. we don't know exactly what he'll say. we have no advance excerpts. here he comes. >>> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states. ♪ ♪ >> thank you very much. thank you. please be seated. vice president pence, secretary of state tillerson, members of the cabinet, general dunford, deputy s

presence in afghanistan now one proposal is being put forward on afghanistan and it's coming from erik prince now erik prince is the founder of a private security firm a military contractor formerly known as blackwater this quite controversial he's proposing that the usa privatized its war in afghanistan there would be contracted people professionals former special special operations veterans that have experience in that theater to go do that work would it be profiting from the war. well we're not there no but in even the again that solves that solution that's that's capitalism that's that's what it's about now the expanded use of. terry contractors in afghanistan and other parts of the world raises questions of accountability when such forces violate international law or engage in activities that are questionable but this is just one of the many questions that are raging as the sixteen year intervention by the united states in afghanistan continues. two people have been killed by kenyan police off the riots broke out in the wake of presidential elections. opposition activists branded the ree

david: erik prince thank you. >> thank you.at was jam-packed from the president, doubling down on north korea. david: "risk & reward" starts right now. >> maybe it wasn't tough enough, they have been doing this to our country for many years, it's about time someone stuck up for the people of this country, north korea better get their act together, or they will be in trouble like a few nations ever have been in trouble in this world. liz: president trump finishing remarks about situation in north korea, dow dropping 205, continuing the plunge after hours, nasdaq down 2% as north korea said it is days away from the plan to fire 4 missiles into the waters near the u.s. pacific territory of guam. president trump intensifying his warnings as military threats

>> i think the blackwater erik prince plan was reported to be the brain child of steve bannon. i don't think that the base is particularly attune to or cares so much about having war overseas privatized. the president can still make his off-the-cuff appeals to economic nationalism and populism. it seems to be something that he feels very deeply and still take the advice of his generals and his chief of staff. >> thank you for joining us this morning. >> thanks for having me. >>> and what we just learned from investigators in a live report, next. you too, unnecessary er visits. and hey, unmanaged depression, don't get too comfortable. we're talking to you, cost inefficiencies and data without insights. and fragmented care- stop getting in the way of patient recovery and pay attention. every single one of you is on our list. for those who won't rest until the world is healthier, neither will we. optum. how well gets done. when heartburn hits fight back fast with new tums chewy bites. fast relief in every bite. crunchy outside. chewy inside. tum tum tum tum new tums chewy bites. s

presence in afghanistan now one proposal is being put forward on afghanistan and it's coming from erik prince now erik prince is the founder of a private security firm a military contractor formerly known as blackwater this quite controversial he's proposing that the usa privatized its war in afghanistan there would be contracted people professionals former special special operations veterans that have experience in that theater to go do that work would it be profiting from the war. well we're not there no but in even the again that solves that solution that's that's capitalism that's that's what it's about now the expanded use of military contractors in afghanistan in other parts of the world raises questions of accountability when such forces violate international law or engage in activities that are questionable but this is just one of the many questions that are raging as the sixteen year intervention by the united states in afghanistan continues. the german city of pittsburgh is trying to keep in the streets clean with armed campaign the president's address people using popular names tel

because bannon sees the world in this with the specters of islam is in globalists and he wants erik prince to come in with army of mercenaries and subdue the awful brown people to make afghanistan ripe for the plucking of rare earth minerals so you have in one case in the white house the general who doesn't want to a myth that afghanistan was in a moral war that could never be won as a war were based were trying to occupy a people and subjugate them and we have a man in a bed in who sees global islam is and he wants a mercenary to subdue them a great way to break it down i'm glad you brought up erik prince because he is everywhere in the media lately i don't know if you've noticed this of course his sister also happens to be education secretary but the device i want to play you something he said recently on another network. with their fuel their ammunition their parts on time that's what you need to keep the afghan forces afloat pentagon needs over fifty billion dollars more than the entire u.k. defense budget. i'm not sure if that was the correct one but essentially he's been saying all o

friday morning, blackwater usa founder erik prince discusses his op-ed in usa today where he calls forrivatizing elements of the u.s. military effort in afghanistan. and ron pollack and grace marie turner talk about their work as members of the convergence centers round table and to the proposal for health-care reform. resultst murphy shares of an investigation into california's trucking industry and allegations of driver mistreatment. be sure to watch c-span's washington journal, live at 7:00 eastern, friday morning. join the discussion. announcer: live coverage of the netroots nation conference friday and saturday on c-span. at 1:00 p.m. eastern, a discussion on standing up for working families and embracing progressive values. 2:30 p.m., a look at how to win back progressive power through organizing. 4:00 p.m., the developing division -- vision statements for the type of society progressives want to see. saturday, elizabeth warren and naacp head speak at the conference. at 4:30 p.m., former vice -- join usl gore and for live coverage on c-span. announcer: in case you missed it, on t

meet erik prince the founder of blackwater a private military company with a controversial reputation with its legacy you might expect prince's career to be over but this cannot be farther from the truth there's no backlash for him no shame the man's gun for hire business is booming what i care about is its taxpayer is that large you wasting food say five billion dollars a year in afghanistan i don't think it's appropriate to pull out completely with all the wars the us is waging abroad times are lucrative for private security firms yet you'd struggle to find one with an untainted slate dyna corp for example for over a decade the u.s. state department was giving almost seventy percent of its funding for afghanistan to this particular firm this company's record features a sex slavery scandal in bosnia a male prostitution scandal in afghanistan and also there a botched seventy million dollar worth construction project were also means big business first sally port global who were paid nearly seven hundred million dollars to secure an iraqi base they allegedly turned a blind eye to alcoho

erik prince from a black water. dish to what the. it's an expert. on. private security firms. and what did. for example. state department with getting seventy percent of its funding for afghanistan to this particular for this. afghanistan and also the air. million dollar instruction project. to secure iraqi base they'll turn a blind eye to. that sticker. allegations of sex trafficking has been fired prosecutors who uncovered wrongdoing and that's according to an associated press investigation a controversy goes on yet private security firms are doing just fine and selling off the spoils of war. are to washington d.c. police. through. one thing is part of a broader move to the west and. the. absolutely clear to the rest of the world that they have impunity so i think this is really the broad. project of proving to the world and to the world that british forces have impunity and that extends to. remember was to be interest in this trial in the u.s. it was from two thousand when they forced on the iraqi government. on their muslim would not be able to be tried in iraq at all so t

meet erik prince the top honor of blackwater a private military company with a controversial reputation what it's like saying you might expect prince's career to be over but this cannot be further from the truth don't backlash for him and no shame but the man's gun for hire business is booming i care about the taxpayer. it's appropriate. with all the. lucrative security firms. with an untainted flight for example for over a decade the u.s. state department was given almost seventy percent of its funding for afghanistan and to this particular book for its complete record features sex slavery scandal and boss a male prostitution scandal in afghanistan and also there a botched seventy million dollars worth construction project were also means big business for sally port who were paid nearly seven hundred million dollars to secure an iraqi base they allegedly turned a blind eye to a hospital billing bafta security for elections and allegations of sex trafficking unfaired investigators who uncovered wrongdoing according to an associated press some suggestion the list. goes on yet private str

erik prince won't run his own intelligence service.ou can't train at the battalion level unless you have a structure supporting you. people will get killed for $120,000. they will get killed for a bronze star with valor. so none this will happen. >> erik tries to make the argume argument, with all of the lives lost and no clear strategy or one that works in afghanistan, we need something different. it's as though he implies that hr mcmaster or other leads in the forces, it's an ego hit to him, they couldn't adopt the idea because they are simply too proud. is there any weight to that argument? >> no. i think it's ridiculous. look, at the end of the day there is a problem in afghanistan, we're trying to create a centralized federal government and group of warring tribes essentially the pashtun against the rest of them. there isn't going to be a win in afghanistan. the question is do we sit in there and try to prevent it from going down the tubes and become a terrorist haven or do we withdraw? and i think you know, to be blunt, no politi

should privatized its war effort in afghanistan erik prince believes the move would save lives and taxpayers' money they would be contracting people professionals former special special operations veterans that have experience in that theater to go do that work would be profiting from the war. well we're not there now but any vendor again that solves that solution that's that's capitalism that's that's what it's about over a ten year period blackwater made around two billion dollars out of the u.s. government and most of that came off for a security contract but following the two thousand and three invasion of iraq. certainly gained notoriety over the conduct of its armed forces the company was rebranded and sold off to four of its employees carried out a massacre in baghdad in two thousand and seven here's a quick reminder of what happened back then. no wonder the characters are there are . they were dead bodies everywhere in the city. among the dead. lift. the blackwater proposal to privatized the war in afghanistan as the legal battle over those killings in baghdad actually continues in u

should privatized its war effort in afghanistan erik prince believes the move would save lives taxpayers money there would be contracting people professionals former special special operations veterans that have experience in that theater to go do that work which would be profiting from the war. well we're not there now but any vendor again that solves that solution that's that's capitalism that's that's what it's about. well over a ten year period black water meter run two billion dollars out of the u.s. government most of that came after it secured a contract been following the two thousand and three invasion of iraq the firm gained notoriety over the conduct of its armed forces the company was rebranded unsold after four of its employees carried out a muscular in baghdad in two thousand and seven here's a reminder of what happened back then. you know when you're in the barracks there are. there were dead bodies everywhere in this argument. among the dead bodies lying on the street was a. black water finders proposal to privatized the war in afghanistan comes as the legal battle over t

should prioritize its war efforts in afghanistan erik prince believes the move would save lives and taxpayers' money there would be contracted people professionals former special special operations veterans that have experience in that theater to go do that work which would be profiting from the war. well we're not there now but any vendor again that solves that solution that's that's capitalism that's that's what it's about over a ten year period blackwater made around two billion dollars out of the u.s. government most of that came after a secured contract bonanza following the two thousand and three invasion of iraq the gained notoriety over the conduct of its mercenaries the company was reprinted and sold after four of its employees carried out a massacre in baghdad in two thousand and seven is your own mind of what happened back then. i wonder if. there are. there were dead bodies everywhere in the city. among the dead. lift. the black water fountains proposal to privatized the war in afghanistan comes as the legal battle over those killings in baghdad actually continues in u.s. courts d