hanoi escalates by creating the viet cong. the viet cong mobilize local people, start assassinating family chiefs, assassinating teachers, organizing people around a particular cause against them and americans. what is the kennedy administration going to do? in the end of 1961, jack kennedy besides, and there are implications because of the bay of pigs that he will hold the ,line in vietnam. he escalates. there was a lot of argument to this day. i myself have no clear judgment as to whether the strategic hamlet program was accessible -- that successful. it was not a total failure. whether it was as successful as some people say, i do not know. i was not there. the government had more strength in rural areas, but it lost the support of urban people, particularly of the nationalist intellectuals. there is a buddhist conflict between buddhists and catholics, and there is another coup. it was led by young nationalist officers. this time it succeeds. the leader and his brother are murdered. it was ordered by a general who was the h

so in early '65, hanoi escalates again. hanoi begins to send out north vietnamese regiments. not vietcong village guerrillas. coming down to attack forces and destroy them. by may and june of '65, the south vietnamese army is losing about a battalion a week and there are no young men coming into recruiting centers. in june, general westmoreland sends to president johnson what is known as the 44 battalion request. west moore larnd says i have been sent out here with the mission to defend south vietnam. with the current trend in north vietnamese increases and south vietnamese losses they are going to take over within a few months. then, if you want me to actually move the communist back, i am going to need more forces in phase two. which i will then use on an offensive campaign. by the way, to deal with this north vietnamese escalation, johnson starts bombing. starts bombing the north and the ho chi minh trail. and the rationale produced by mcnam marra is pressure on hanoi to give up. we are going to be so tough that we are going to convince the communist that they can never wi

hanoi starts to send more people. sent in 1960 they 542. 1217.hem this is a document from hanoi's ministry of defense that shows all the troops this in south. this was given to me by a person who was a former north vietnamese leader now in exile in paris. .anoi escalates the viet cong mobilize local people, start assassinating family chiefs, assassinating teachers, organizing people around a particular cause against them and americans. what is the kennedy administration going to do? in the end of 1961 jack kennedy decides, and their implications because of the bay of pigs debacle and his decision to plot of loss that he will hold the line and vietnam, he escalates. there was a lot of argument to this day. i myself have no clear judgment as to whether the strategic hamlet program was accessible that successful. it was not a total failure. whether it was as successful as some people say, i do not know. i was not there. the government had more strength in rural areas, but it lost the support of urban people, particularly

let's get to our chief correspondent haslinda amin in hanoi for us. good morning.is interesting this water down communicate, that team following the g7 and the g-20. you are right. the u.s. pretty much topped the agenda and dictated the outcome, a diluted statement. apec trade member servers pledged to remove barriers and regulations, but there was no mention whatsoever on resisting protectionism, and like you indicated, we saw this at the and g7 summit when secretary mnuchin refused to sign off on any strong wording resisting protectionism. it is suggesting that the u.s. isrica first agenda dominating all talks on trade everywhere in the world. newman of the hour is the , alltrade representative the trade ministers here at the aipac meeting wanted a bilateral meeting to get a gauge of what u.s. trade policy will be with the respected countries in this part of the world trade dominated talk, but he apparently shares very little of what u.s. trade policy would be ministers here could we spoke to get some clarity. take a listen. is everybody who wants clarity, what t

any moment, aipac trade ministers meet in hanoi.utive director alan boulder next. ♪ you are watching "daybreak asia." ramy: a quick check of the latest business flash headlines. the nikkei news says it is preparing a bid for 51% of that unit, with toshiba retaining the rest and keeping substantial authority. may make the purchase -- ikea aims to double its sourcing from india to $650 million. ahead of opening its first store in a nation to become the third biggest consumer market. they have roque and ground on the outlet in mumbai and has a 20 35. 25 stores by they have broken ground on the outlet in mumbai. paytm owner will use the money to grow its user base to 20 million. they will join a longtime partner alibaba is a major shareholder -. yvonne: the transpacific partnership may not be dead after all. japan is keen to revive it, even without the u.s.. we will discuss the idea at the sidelines of the summit in hanoi. amin. get to haslinda i haslinda: it is not dead yet. in fact, the likes of vietnam and malaysia may be back on boa

hanoi, the man urged unity. japan wants to continue with deals despite'trumps decision to withdraw. agreement that has in-depth coverage of things like digital trade, intellectual property, customs procedures, and so forth. only the tpp covers all these areas. it is highly regrettable that the u.s. decided to withdraw, but even without the u.s., trade remains hugely important. betty: u.s. protectionism was one of the main topics this week, and we spoke to the world trade organization on the sidelines of that event. biggestral said the risk is one country asking -- acting alone. >> there has been an improvement. we do expect actually for 2017, numbers will be higher than 2016 . 2016 we grew by 1.3%. this year we expect to go 1.8% and 3.1% depending on the environment. we are actually going to do better, but still below the historical average of trade growth. treaty,: with the u.s. what message would you like to send the trump administration and the trigger presented of? -- the trade representative? >> trade is not easy. it is a complex equation. numeral something here, somebody else

we'll be live in hanoi.to trading after the turmoil of politics in washington last week driving to we have balanced back, seeing nice gains. has been a lot of question as to how much further to run. 8501 on your terminal. a little bit falling over when it comes to crude. you can take a look in terms of accents. stocks and bonds -- they have correlated. the question as to whether this reflation is going to play out when it comes to ems. that doesn't seem to have been correlated in this pattern. we also have upside when it comes to positive news. outa getting ready to roll the tax reform plan before the united states has gotten there to see what tax reform in the u.s. looks like. particularly here in asia. indonesia trading is getting underway. let's go to julia to look at the record highs. >> a great start. 1.3%, adding to the positivity across the region. we have seen stronger oil prices playing into market sentiment. 0.8%.n see the asx 200 up you are seeing a little bit of flat movement coming through at th

bloomberg's live in hanoi.l, equity markets did shrug off the scandal surrounding the white house, and donald trump denying any ring going on, saying it is a witchhunt. #8522, increasing frustration amongst the people being polled about what is going on with indeed donald trump and his popularity. 53.1 is his disapproval rating. we go into the 40's when it comes to his approval rating. that is the lowest on record for a president in office for as long as he has. it's not playing out that great with the people polled here. that is one way of looking at it, but equity markets, well, -- went haidi: you can see that playing out. even though you did have the president saying it is ridiculous to say he did anything that would warrant an impeachment, we did see a prevailingt in asia, when it comes to sentiment. 30 minutes from the open and china and hong kong. shery to it over to see how things are doing. coming on mix, the asx 200 meeting declines. some optimism out of wall street but those positive fives not lasting

prime minister, despite the changes here in washington and in hanoi for that matter, i welcome your visit as the next logical and important step in involving partnership. thank you so much for allowing heritage to be a part of your visit. [speaking in native tongue] please let me invite you to the podium. [speaking in native tongue] [applause] [speaking in native tongue] thank you very much for that introduction and distinguished participants ministers and representatives of the us government, ladies and gentlemen, your friends. [speaking in native tongue] at the invitation of president donald trump i am leading the viennese delegation on this official visit to the united states and we had have been having a series of meetings and activities in new york as well as washington dc today. [speaking in native tongue] i have had a series of meetings with american secretaries, members of the cabinet and a number of us corporations. i also, just before coming here, had a successful meeting with president trump itself. [speaking in native tongue] i fully concur with you and what you said earlier t

it's a measure of how far washington and hanoi have come since the vietnam war.rime minister is the first southeast asian leader to visit the white house since trump's election. a chance for storms tonight.. but the big story this morning - fog. eileen whelan times out when it will lift - coming up next. - another republican leaders are to affordable health care. i'm tom perriello and in congress i voted for obamacare because it was wrong that a million virginians weren't covered while insurance companies held all the power. now i'm running for governor because it's wrong that most virginia incomes haven't gone up in 20 years. raise wages and build an economy that works for everyone. and we'll make sure this never happens in virginia. morning - finally some sun later today - marginal risk for severe storms this afternoon - beautiful tomorrow & friday - unsettled weather returns for the weekend today: am patchy fog, clouds. partly sunny. isolated pm t-shower. highs: 79-84 winds: se to nw 5-10 mph tonight: lingering shower or storm early. partly to mainly clear. lo

execute firm leadership so that the fruits and results amongst these 12 economies -- among the tpp 11 in hanoi, there will be the ministerial meeting. i hope that the way ahead will be definitely shown at the meeting. as for the tpp 11 to get together, we have already been given standing by the knighted states. >> one of the themes we have been discussing today is u.s. engagement with asia and one or two people have expressed concern that since the election, since the presidential election and the rejection of tpp, since china has taken is much more assertive role with one belt, one road, the u.s. seems to have less of a voice in asia now and there is a lot of concern expressed here and i heard it elsewhere in asia, that the u.s. might not be as engaged in these important asian economic and security conversations as is traditional allies would like them to be. are you concerned about that? do you think the u.s. is disengaging from these asian conversations? for myself, in fact today, with admiral harris, commander of the pacific command, i have just spoken with admiral harry harris. after trum

in hanoi, the ministerial meeting. i hope that the fact the way ahead will be definitely shown. as for the tpp 11 to get together, we have already been given understanding by the united states. >> one of the themes we have been discussing today is the u.s. engagement with asia, and one or two people have expressed concern that since the presidential election and the rejection of tpp and china is taking a much more assertive role, the one belt, one road, the aiib, the u.s. has less of a voice in asia. and a lot of concern expressed here and elsewhere in asia, the u.s. may not be engaged in the important asian economic and security conversations as japan and allies might be. are you concerned about that? do you think the u.s. is disengaging from these asian conversations? prime minister abe: as for myself, in fact, today, with admiral harris, commander of the pacific command, i have just spoken with admiral harry harris. after trump took administration, in a certain sense in this region regarding the security of northeast a's a desk asia, i recognize that the commitment has been s

while in hanoi, she landed in the er with fluid in her lungs and a terrifying diagnosis. >> they confirmed that i had lung cancer. >> reporter: back in california doctors revealed her disease was advanced. she had stage four lung cancer. it had spread to other parts of her body. >> and you never smoked? >> i never smoked in my life. >> reporter: toi isn't alone. doctors are seeing a growing proportion of lung cancer in women who have never smoked. >> reporter: one in six female lung cancer patients, young asian women in particular who never picked up a cigarette. as to why? >> we are not sure. >> reporter: there is no hard evidence, dr. jorge 93 aiva -- nieva toi's oncologist, say there are many theories, birth control, environmental toxins, maybe even hpv infections may all play a role, still it's a mystery. >> something in the environment, something in our practices, whether it's, you know, weight, diet, hormones, we don't really have that smoking gun for why we are seeing this phenomenon. >> people are great. >> reporter: dr. anthony kim heads up the division of thoracic surgery at usc

-- in hanoi. will speak exclusively with the former hedge fund manager, phil falcone. also hosting a roundtable with the prime minister tomorrow on the investment opportunities in the country. and throughout asia. do not miss that interview i 1:00 p.m. new york time, or 3:00 a.m. if you are watching in sydney, or 1:00 a.m. in hong kong, guys. anchor: coming up next, the st. louis fed president's views with nomura. this is bloomberg. ♪ yvonne: this is daybreak asia. i am yvonne man in hong kong. betty: i am betty liu in new york. anchor: u.s. policy makers would like to start shrinking their bloated balance sheet by the end of the year. guestpen growth, our next says the fed's communication around balance sheet reduction has been excellent and shall limit the chance of another taper tantrum. you know, we just had jim bullard on from the st. louis said he said the taper tantrum a few years ago was a malcolm indication -- was from communication. do you think the fed is going to execute both on the ex

the prime minister spoke exclusively to bloomberg in hanoi before leaving for the u.s. >> my visit aimse partnership between vietnam and the united states for wider scope and added substance including bilateral, regional, and international. >> will you be pushing for bilateral free-trade agreements even that the u.s. has pulled out of tpp? >> after the u.s. withdrew from the tpp, vietnam and the u.s. have restarted the framework issues ofto maintain common interest related to economic and trade matters. we respect president trump's decision with regards to trade and we want to make sure we can convince him that this is a mutually beneficial relationship for both sides. and american consumers benefit and prefer these products that vietnam makes to the u.s. market. >> are you saying you are confident in concluding a free-trade agreement, a bilateral free trade agreement with the u.s? noting that president trump has called vietnam a trade sheet because of the trade deficit with the u.s. in anye is no cheating kind of product that we export to the united states, whether it he -- we have acc

i mean, you go to saigon or hanoi?everything. is -- that's not happening here? >> french guy: yes, i can see there is an acceleration now. when you go to the market and you say, where is it from? they say, thailand. vietnam, china, and to find local fruit, it's difficult. but if you talk to old people, they will say -- we are like the bamboo. we are not trees, so when there is too, too much wind, voila, we bend in the wind, we get up. >> french guy: i was a monk for little bit more than one month. in fact, i signed for three weeks. after three weeks i wanted to stay a little bit. they push a lot the way to not suffer. to learn how to disconnect the important things in life. that's why the people, they drink a lot. they like to enjoy, to share. if you don't share, you are poor. more you give, more you're rich. you have money a lot, you lose your money tomorrow, some people will be upset. when you go up and going down, it's never a good feeling. as they say, look at the river. it's go up, it's go down, but always in the

we spoke exclusively to the ,ietnam prime minister in hanoi head of that meeting with president trumpromorts of the the united states will increase significantly this year, as we sign a billion dollars worth of deals from american firms and import high-value products to create american jobs. leaving his role as the white house communications director, mike duff key. for that we want to bring in tim o'brien, executive editor of bloomberg gadfly. tell us about the role that mike was playing in the white house as communications director. what was he doing? sahil: he was in charge of the messaging operation. he oversaw that, top to bottom. this has obviously been a housec time trump white in terms of messaging. president trump with a very adversarial, openly hostile at times relationship with the press and mike was overseeing thathole tng. it includes having to say things that get contradicted by the a few days after you wind up putting out a statement. most demoralizing thing that can happen to you. we don't know the specific reason that he left. ignore.ext is hard to david: you have a c

so the choice they have made, that japan appears to have made, based on the apec leading in hanoi, gotpp without the u.s. liz: i see. >> i think that is a very good idea. and what that will do, because tpp is very high standard trade agreement. that will raise the standard of trade agreements in asia before the rcep comes in which is where china plays a role and that's a very low standard. so this is a moment to define where we want the standards in asia. and the type of leadership role that japan can play. i just hope we recognize that moment and not insist we have bilateral agreement with japan. liz: everybody talks about the china will fill the void perhaps the united states has left but they can't see everything donald trump sees. donald trump brought xi jinping to mar-a-lago, not washington, d.c. he had a much more casual dinner atmosphere. looks like he knew what he was doing because shortly thereafter there were deals struck, they will allow more of our beef there, they will sell some of our chicken, some of our viewers flipped out called it sick chicken because they had proble

on his 93rd combat mission, he was shot down, captured as a p.o.w., and thrown in the hanoi hilton for the better part of six years, some of that time in solitary confinement. he was treated in plain english like an animal, tortured and injured for life. he quickly realized he needed a way to retain his own dignity and sanity. so he decided to walk home to the states. he measured and started pacing in his cell. even at five by six feet in solitary, he walked, counting the steps, doing the math, until he was walking ten miles a day. and only when the guards weren't watching as exercise, of course, wasn't allowed. in his mind and in his heart, leo was walking home, and that's how he survived. so when richard nixon placed the medal of honor around leo's neck in 1973, he told him, quote, we've been waiting for you for six years. he was aawarded the medal for sacrificing his own safety for p pilots who had been shot down. leo was a man his fellow heroes looked up to. as our friend and military consultant, his fellow medal of honor recipient jack jacobs said just tonight, i always thought le

the admin mise prime minister nguyen xuan phuc speaking exclusively to bloomberg's haslinda amin in hanoi likely stocks will rise soon. this is bloomberg. ♪ so we need tablets installed... with the menu app ready to roll. in 12 weeks. yeah. ♪ ♪ the world of fast food is being changed by faster networks. ♪ ♪ data, applications, customer experience. ♪ ♪ which is why comcast business delivers consistent network performance and speed across all your locations. fast connections everywhere. that's how you outmaneuver. so new touch screens... and biometrics. in 574 branches. all done by... yesterday. ♪ ♪ banks aren't just undergoing a face lift. they're undergoing a transformation. a data fueled, security driven shift in applications and customer experience. which is why comcast business delivers consistent network performance and speed across all your locations. hello, mr. deets. every branch running like headquarters. that's how you outmaneuver. rosalind: this is the latest first word news. mario draghi has warned the u.s. it might he headed down the wrong path on trade. the ecb president said

hanoi recently eased rules on investment and vietjet boosted its ownership limit.proached by some foreign stock exchanges including london, hong kong, and singapore, which expressed their interest in our stock. we don't want to hide our hope to become the first vietnamese company to lift -- list shares overseas. taylor: saudi arabia could attract billions of dollars in foreign investment if the market is added to the msci emerging markets indexed. bank's research anticipates up to $35 billion of inflows. the largest oil exporter is pushing to diversify its economy away from fossil fuel. nejra: thanks so much. let's get more with my guest, maximilian kunkel, net worth investment strategist at ubs switzerland. i want to talk to you about the euro. leveraged funds are close to pulling the plug on what had been there longest lived short some of the euro, as the currency rebounds. i'm showing you on a chart here, 895.v it is showing hedge funds close to exiting their bets against the euro. in your view, is this about improving fundamentals in europe versus the u.s.? is

that was the vietnamese prime minister speaking inlusively to haslinda amin hanoi.on financial risks. the former fedo china economist next. this is bloomberg. ♪ haidi: this is "bloomberg markets: asia." i am haidi lun in sydney. a quick check of the business flash headlines. told shareholders that it is evaluating several options for its u.s. shale unit to carry out a review of the energy operations. elliott claims bhp has destroyed $30 billion in value from its foray into shale in the u.s. andrew mackenzie told investors that the country will consider selling part of its energy portfolio. raisen australia could billions of dollars by asking rio tinto and bhp to pay a levy on iron ore. would be madement instead of increasing attacks, but it has been met with a lukewarm response. it is looking to reduce its debt pile, which the government says could take decades to pay off. carrierng italian flag alitalia has been hit by industrial action with flights canceled on sunday, walking out, demanding the government re-nationalize the airline after years of losses. alitalia

up by its passengers, the lack of communication, the lack of communication here in the airport from hanoiication from individuals here at the airport —— tannoy. many have said ba staff are nowhere to be seen, and people are trying to get through to the customer line and they say they either can't get through or it appears to be disconnected. british airways have said this is not the case, but people are having great problems getting through to that line. no doubt because of the volume of calls. they also say they are having problems getting through to the website. that theme coming through time and time again, from passengers on social media and passengers we have spoken to, the lack of communication from the company over the problems they are experiencing here. andy, thanks forjoining us. just as i was talking to andy, we have a new statement issued by ba. it takes up some of the issues which have been raised. " many of our it systems a re have been raised. " many of our it systems are backed up today and we are doing what we can to restore the fight programme and get as many possible cu

we will come together again in hanoi to look at what that might look like.nkan takes a few they it could happen, then that is a good outcome. , vietnam saidr tariff free access to the u.s. is the only reason why it wants to be part of tpp. without it, it is not agreeable to it. what indications did you get from vietnam? >> they are keeping all options on the table. what is swaying it one way or the other? perspective,alia's we want to achieve a good outcome. tpp can do that for us. upmay be that it doesn't get in the but a lot of people have been saying tpp is not dead. we need to keep working through this process to see if we can put in place a comprehensive modern trade agreement that goods, services, investments chapter and digital economy, all of these benefits. we don't want to let that go, especially small to medium-sized exports. that go, especially small to medium-sized exports. >> is there a time frame? >> it needs to happen by february next year. it becomes the 24 month window. it.re 12 months into that would not have carriage under a tpp 11, but i

s are heading to c tradehis weekend -- ape ministers are heading to hanoi this weekend.inister told us australia sees opportunity from the chinese initiative. for us to betunity able to work in a cobbler mentoring away with this initiative. australia of course has a great relationship with china, especially when it comes to trade. we have a lot of knowledge and its variants we can share, so i'm confident going forward, australia will be able to play its role as part of the broader initiatives being executed across the various countries and throughout asia and into europe. shery: you are in hong kong at the moment. you are there to launch trade negotiations with hong kong. what are you hoping to achieve out of this deal? steven: there is a lot more to trade than simply goods trade. a number of initiatives we can undertake. what i am focused on, especially in a highly developed economy like australia, is making sure we can maximize our export potential. basically, around 75% of australia's economy is service-based. we have tremendous opportunities to boost our exports. onl

was our hanoi bureau chief speaking with the founder and ceo of vietjet.you need to know to get your day going with today's edition of daybreak. bloomberg subscribers go to dayb on their terminals. you can customize your settings so you get only the news you care about. this is bloomberg. ♪ ." this is "daybreak asia" >> a quick check of the business flash airlines. the struggling italian carrier alitalia has been hit by industrial action with hundreds of flights canceled. they are demanding the government nationalize the airline after years of losses. alitalia is in its second bankruptcy in 10 years. western australia could raise billions of dollars by asking rio tinto and bhp billiton to on iron ore. has had a lukewarm response so far from bhp and rio. western australia is looking to reduce its $22 billion debt pile of which the government said could take decades. >> that is it from us here on "daybreak asia." haidi has been tracking developments out of north korea. we are seeing market reaction limited, but what is the reaction so far? it takesu won

speaking at the milken institute, he told bloomberg that the apec meeting and hanoi this months willthe next focus for progress on the deal. it's absolutely possible and it is good if it happens. fundamentally, what we need to do is cap the benefits. we were disappointed but it was not unexpected when the u.s. withdrew. there have been questions about what countries might do but we met recently in chile. we had a conversation, the 11 of us decided to keep the options alive. nejra: independent emmanuel macron will face marine le pen of the national front tonight for their first and only head-to-head debate of the election. with four days to go, plls suggests macron would take 60% of the vote but more than 1/4 of electors plan to abstain. global news 24 hours a day powered by 2600 journalists in 120 countries. this is bloomberg. getcine: we're just breaking data out of the u.k. this is for april. it's construction at it is a beat. 53.1 instead of the 52 we were expecting. i'm surprised we are not seeing much reaction on the pound. 129.29. yesterday, we did have some pretty encouraging

on december 18 nixon unleashed round the clock air strikes that flattened targets around hanoi and highemembered as the christmas bom bombing. all of a sudden around christmastime we hear an operation b52s, bomb, bomb, bomb it's all, just exploding in everyone and in the two years that is a clip from the vietnam war from ken burns and lynn novic. they are here this morning dc. taking part in annual memorial day event grant marshals aft national memorial day parade which gets under way at 2:00 o'clock this afternoon. we're so honored lynn and ken both join us live with more on the event. what it means to them and of course we'll talk more about their new documentary as well. good morning to both of you. thank you so much for taking your time to be with us on this memorial day. >> other way around, holly thank you so much for having us. >> ken, you're always so gracious. lynn, happy to have you as well. let's talk a little bit about this project. one of your most ambitious ever. is it true you've work on it forelock a decade? >> yes, it is true. we started thinking about the film taken th

hanoi has discussed the wired over chinese the direction of the south china sea. in the trade front, president trump raised concern about the growing trade deficit that had nearly $32 billion last year. what do you make of this? this has been one of the biggest issues in trade. is this the right tax at the prime minister of vietnam? >> is the right path to take. the president was vehemently opposed so he needs to go out there in the asia-pacific region and strike deals especially early with the trade part is over there. it is critically important, especially because he's seen his administration talk about that. but as for wilbur ross or lighthouse there, we need to strike these deals because we have ip issues we need to settle it would also need their assistance when it comes to exports and taking in imports when it comes to be. >> there was not focused on this. even with regard to germany. about of conversation there. vietnam's prime minister to sign deals for up to $17 billion during his trip to washington. >> the hard-line boat for a while. to a certain extent,

experienced some of the worst the north vietnamese prison system had to offer, including the infamous hanoirtis. is there a time or week and a month where you don't remember where you were when you were in prison? >> ever present fact. >> reporter: facing isolation and torture, the p.o.w.s were desperate to communicate with one another, but how? >> there were six pilots that were taken prison, a guy named smitty harris and he remembered learning about a tap code taught in survival school. >> reporter: the tap code harris taught them was based on a simple 5 x 5 matrix with the letter c standing in for k. if you tapped once and paused and tapped again it was an a. if you tapped once and two together it was >> reporter: suddenly the prisoners were suddenly no longer alone. every tap, every word meant home. >> we did it religiously because i shortly learned communication was the key to my survival. >> absolutely. >> without that, i wouldn't be here today. >> reporter: by chance, another captured pilot was a spanish language whiz. ken fisher became a tap code professor. >> they use med like a di

including the hanoi hilton. so did julius jarow and tom curtis.ou don't remember, where you were when you were in prison? >> ever-present fact. >> reporter: facing isolation and torture, the p.o.w.s were desperate to communicate with one another. but wow? >> the sixth pilot that was taken prisoner was a guy named smitty. and he remembered learning about a tap code caught in survival school. >> reporter: the tap code that harris taught them was based on a five-by-five may ticks. with the letter "c" standing in for "k." >> if you tapped once, and paused and tapped again, it was an at a." if you paused and tapped two together, it was a "b." >> reporter: every tap, every word, meant hope. >> we did it religiously. i learned that communication was the key to my survival. >> absolutely. >> without that, i wouldn't be here today. >> reporter: by chance, another captured pilot was a spanish language wiz. ken fisher became a tap code profess professor. >> he would send words. and the guy between the cell would come over and tap them on our wall. and we wou

experienced some of the worst the north vietnamese prison system had to offer, including the infamous hanoia month when you don't remember where you were when you were in prison? >> every present fact. >> reporter: facing isolation and torture the p.o.w.s were desperate to communicate with one another, but how? >> the sixth pilot that was down that was taken prisoner was smithy harris and he remember learning about a tap code taught in survival code. >> reporter: the tap code was based on a simple 5 by 5 matrix with the letter "c" standing in for "k." >> if you tapped once and then paused and then tapped again it was an "a." if you tapped once and two together, it was a "b." >> reporter: suddenly, the prisoners were no longer alone. every tap, every word meant hope. >> we did it religiously because i shortly learned that communication was the key to my survival. >> absolutely. >> without that, i wouldn't be here today. >> reporter: by chance, another captured pilot, was a spanish language whiz. ken fisher became a tap code professor. >> they used me like a dictionary. >> he would send words

he was captured and spent six years in the hanoi hilton, six years in the darkness. it was there that he met his cellmate, our colleague and future senator john mccain. imagining six days in such a terrible place is more than most people could handle, never mind six years. but leo thorsness -- when he received, was to an astonished and grateful nation. the man was unfaced. he told his wife after being released, "i would have called sooner, but i've been all tied up." he went ton serve in the washington state senate and run for other offices. but his legacy is not one of the titles he won. it is the example he sext he was quite a man, leo thorsness. we'll keep his memory for a good, long time to come. leo thorsness, rest in peace. mr. president, i yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: 123450 quorum call: quorum call: quorum call: # quorum quorum call: mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: wit