peter baker, veteran journalist and author, chief white house correspondent for "the new york times." jackie alemany, political reporter for "the washington post" and author of the paper's morning newsletter, the early 202. and retired four star u.s. general, barry mccaffrey who once served a colin powell's assistant. former battlefield commander in the gulf, former cabinet member, former member of the national security council. good evening and welcome to you all. general, i'd like to begin with you. as young men, you both went off to vietnam. you both returned seriously wounded combat veterans. you both retired with four stars on your shoulder, no easy feat. you both spent over 30 years in the u.s. military, and then transitioned still in public service to civilian jobs. so the question is how will you remember your friend colin powell? >> well, in a lot of ways. my wife and i are both extremely sad about his passing, and our thoughts go out to alma and her entire family. a remarkable man. tremendous judgment, very hard worker, a sense of humility, even though he was at the center of globa