one was admiral mike mullen's letter. the next, yesterday, what we're talking about, of course, james mattis' extraordinary statement. also ann applebaum just wrote one of the most important pieces i've read over the past three years, talking about republicans who have sacrificed their values, their -- whether it's their values, what they claim to believe in church, or what they claim to believe about the state. she wrote about history judging the complicit. it is, again, one of the most important articles of not only this year, but of this era. >> yeah. >> last night, anne applebaum asked these questions, following up with lindsey. anne had been critical that james mattis had not spoken out. she noted that he had spoken out. then she asks, where is lindsey graham? ex-military lawyer, he has some of the closest ties to the military and rule of law issues in the military. where is mike pompeo, as an active and robust china critic. he surely understands the use of the u.s. military to keep order in central washington, d.c.,

hour we will discuss with chad wolf and we will ask former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, mike mullenwhy so many military leaders are speaking out against the commander in chief. it's his first television interview during the controversy only on "fox news sunday." then, a battle for the streets of washington as tensions arise between the city's mayor and the president. we are joined by mayor muriel bowser to talk about her request to remove the federal military presence from the nation's capital. bless. >> today is probably, if you think about it, the greatest comeback in american history -- it's not going to stop here. >> chris: president trump celebrating shocking signs of economic recovery in the midst . we'll get analysis from mohamed el-erian, one of the world's most inspected the mic respected and vectors. after one of the most eventful weeks of his presidency. all right no ♪ >> chris: and hello again from fox news in washington. it has been a tough time for america. first the coronavirus pandemic, which forced the country into lockdown. that caused a loss of millions of jobs. o

retired marine general john allen and former joint chiefs of staff mike mullen and martin dempsey are also speaking out specifically for the president's threat to deploy active duty u.s. troops against the protesters. dempsey wrote, america is not a battleground. our fellow the city zens are not the enemy. >> this is what our founding fathers were deeply concerned about, the use of armed forces against our population. >> the white house has responded indirectly by criticizing media coverage of the protest and suggesting the news media would prefer the president invite looters return to the stores they broke into. >>> we would like to invite you to join our team in 20 minutes for nbc bay area news special "race in america: the conversation." we are devoting an entire hour. please join marcus washington tonight at 6:30. >>> tonight an announcement that might mobilize millions of people, a march much bigger than anything we're seeing right now. a march to washington, d.c. on a date that's linked to history. raj mathai, many people are making plans for this march. >> reporter: they certai

i have to say, i think this goes -- i want to go back to mike mullen earlier in the week. i feel as if what we saw from mark esper and general millie in the last 24 hours was influenced a lot by mike mullen and jim mattis. what are your thoughts on that? >> entirely possible. let's remember, esper is a west point graduate. mark milley, interestingly, is not. he's a princeton graduate. these are two folks who have an ear to the ground. they're smart and i think they are listening. as you probably know, chuck, hi a piece out in time magazine yesterday kind of along the same lines, slightly different angle. but i am hopeful that all of our voices together can help influence this debate, because our active duty senior military leaders are not in a position to step up, at least as freely as those of us who have had these positions and had these responsibilities in the past. >> admiral, i get the sense from you and others that your greatest fear and the greatest fear of those that defend the honor of the military and what comes out of it is that it gets politicized and it seems

former joint chiefs of staff mike mullen writes, it sickened me jed to see security personnel, includingembers of the national guard forcibly and violently clearing the path through lafayette square to accommodate the president's visit outside st. john's church. i have to date been reticent to speak out on issues surrounding president trump's leadership, but we are at an inflection point. the events of the past weeks have made it impossible to remain silent. admiral mullen spoke out after seeing the current chairman of the joint chiefs, the man in uniform right there, the joint chiefs general mark milley alongside the president in battle fatigues, no less, not the dress uniform normally worn when meeting at the white house. seeing the defense secretary taking part in the church photo op, that's the defense secretary in between those two. secretary esper at first denied he even knew where he was going. then he admitted today, yeah, he knew he was going to the church, but not that it would be a photo op. no, no, no, certainly not that. a short time later he and chairman milley spent about

former joint chiefs of staff mike mullen writes, it sickened me jed to see security personnel, including members of the national guard forcibly and violently clearing the path through lafayette square to accommodate the president's visit outside st. john's church. i have to date been reticent to speak out on issues surrounding president trump's leadership, but we are at an inflection point. the events of the past weeks have made it impossible to remain silent. admiral mullen spoke out after seeing the current chairman of the joint chiefs, the man in uniform right there, the joint chiefs general mark milley alongside the president in battle fatigues, no less, not the dress uniform normally worn when meeting at the white house. seeing the defense secretary taking part in the church photo op, that's the defense secretary in between those two. secretary esper at first denied he even knew where he was going. then he admitted today, yeah, he knew he was going to the church, but not that it would be a photo op. no, no, no, certainly not that. a short time later he and chairman milley spent abou

former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, mike mullen, saying, we are at an inflection point. and former defense secretary jim mattis with a blistering rebuke telling me, enough is enough. also writing, we must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our constitution. so let's get the latest on the protests yesterday in the nation's capital with the d.c. mayor, muriel bowser. good morning, mayor. the protests were some of the largest in d.c. yesterday since the death of george floyd. do you expect these protests to continue? >> well, it was the largest, martha, and we have had about a week of demonstrations in washington, d.c. people gathered at various locations and walked down to black lives matter plaza where you saw a lot of people coming together, healing, organizing, strategizing and thinking about how to make real the frustrations that they brought with them to these demonstrations. >> the president has been highly critical of you, calling you grossly incompetent and credits his response to a reduction in violence citing his decision to r

admiral mike mullen writing that trump's visit laid bare his disdain for the rights of peaceful protest in this country, and risked further politicizing the men and women of our armed forces. and tonight, strong messages from leaders currently serving. the navy's top admiral. >> i will never know what it feels like when you watch that video of mr. floyd's murder. and i can't imagine the pain and the disappointment and the anger that many of you felt when you saw that. >> let's get right to martha, live from the lincoln memorial. she spoke with former defense secretary mattis, and he said in a statement, i've watched this week's events angry and appalled. what have you learned talking to him tonight? >> reporter: this is a man who did not want to directly attack president trump. he wanted to stay out of politics, which makes this even more remarkable. he told me tonight, enough is enough. he said donald trump is the first president in my lifetime who has not tried to unite the american people. david? >> martha, thank you. >>> the death of george floyd being felt across the globe. thousan

military leaders are still condemning the move, including former joint chiefs of staff chairman mike mullensaid he was sickened by it. >> we have a military to fight our enemies, not our own people. >> reporter: republican colin powell, another former joint chiefs chairman, went further. >> i think he has been not an effective president. he lies all the time. >> reporter: and utah republican mitt romney, a frequent critic of mr. trump's, joined a demonstration outside the white house this weekend. >> black lives matter. >> reporter: today press secretary kayleigh mcenany tried to keep the focus on the economy. >> transition to greatness has officially begun. >> reporter: but a newly released report showed the u.s. entered a recession in february, and a poll out today shows the president's approval rating is down seven points. nationally he trails biden by 14, including in the key battleground state of michigan. tonight attorney general bill barr is defending the way lafayette square was cleared out. in a new interview, he said the administration was reacting to three days of protests that w

powell's words come after the president was criticized by general mattis and john keller and admiral mike mullen for wanting to u.s. military soldiers against protesters >> we have a military to fight our enemies, not our own people. >> reporter: the president calling powell a real stiff, responsible for getting us into the disastrous middle east wars after previously lashing out against mattis and other military leaders jennifer johnson, nbc news, washington >>> in the nation's capital, the new fence surrounding the white house is now a memorial wall protesters have plasteres suppos matter movement. it comes as the president prepares to meet with law enforcement officials today. nbc's kelly o'donnell has more >> reporter: from the president who declared this -- >> i am your president of law and order. >> reporter: a new order president trump withdrawing 4900 national guard troops on duty in washington, d.c. and writing, now that everything is under perfect control, they will be going home but can quickly return, if needed attorney general william barr rejected what many protesters are marching

marine corps allen joined in the chorus of military condemnation that was begun this week by admiral mike mullen who was the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff under president bush and obama. after donald trump used tear gas so he could have a photo-op in front of a church -- this was written -- mitt romney is the only senator who voted guilty in the trump impeachment. when asked today if he agrees that trump was a threat to the constitution, mitt romney couldn't bring himself to say "yes" or "no," but he praised james mattis's character. and this senator said -- >> later orn the senate floor less is a murkowski witnessed a moment, an anti-lynching bill, which was the first to ever pass the senate. they were in a heated argument with the one senator opposed to that anti-lynching bill, rand paul of kentucky, a state that has had 205 lynchings. senator murkowski said this -- >> i have been challenged by some. i have been chastised by some, some very close friends who have said you are silent, lisa. why haven't you fixed what we are seeing? and i have struggled. i have struggled with the right w

. >> the former chairmans of the joint chiefs of staff mike mullen said he was sickened to see the protesters cleared out of the way and couldn't stay silence any longer. even the president's former chief of staff john kelly is pushing back disputing his claim he faired mat tis. he did not ask for his resignation. the president forgot how it happened or is confused. most republicans are trying to avoid commenting on what mattis said. but today alaska senator lisa murcowski called his rebuke necessary and overdue. she says she is struggling whether to support the president in november. trump remained behind closed doors today as the fences outside the white house were for the tied despite severalnates of peaceful protests and no arrests on wednesday night. the park in front of the white house has been closed. an 8 foot fence has been arrested and an alpha bet of soup are controlling washington, d.c.. the d.c. mayor says she's concerned. >> that's the people's house. it's a sad commentary that the house and its inhibittants have to be walled off. >> now, jake, the president was scheduled to go

back and forth between the president the formertis and chairman of the chiefs of staff, admiral mike mullen, about whether federal troops should have been used to keep the peace? was in uniform, i was extremely bipartisan, apolitical, would never get caught up in anything like this, so i can understand the retired flag officers position on this. make sure we we primarily fight our enemies that are foreign. only in the biggest emergencies -- are we involved in domestic instances. this does not rise to this. these people were exercising their constitutional rights. mayor perkins, we have gotten some dramatic numbers on job creation. sense of the situation in shreveport, what is the state of your economy, the state of employment and unemployment there? adrian: we are struggling to balance our budget in the face of unprecedented short walls due to covid-19. we were already resource constrained before i came into office. i came into office inheriting a $1.2 million deficit. we have turned that into a surplus of $4 million, but covid will with that of way. we thought we would have a $25 million s

the dam broke when admiral mike mullen on monday published that piece.e since heard from james mattis, general john allen, general martin dempsey yesterday. the former secretary under president trump, saying the military shouldn't be used for political purposes. and late for lunch, i guess, could be the title of a book about republicans in the time of trump. >> not the best look. yes, that lunch will get held for them if they were a few minutes late, i'm sure. >> you'd think. >> what we're seeing is a number of the highly decorated and well respected military veterans from leadership positions, in the department of defense, come out and really condemn the president's behavior in the last week, particularly the way lafayette square was cleared on monday and the threats to use the military on american citizens. mattis, in particular, because he served with the president more recently, seemed to resonate. it put a lot of republicans in a difficult position. they are now going to be asked, every day, about whether or not they agree with him. you know, some w

to mention criticism from general powell, general martin dempsey, general martin allen, admiral mike mullend his supporters have had plenty of nasty things to say about these men who have served our country, of course. no need for me to report them. you all have access to twitter. there is one group of generals, however, that the president is standing firm with, dead racist losers. more specifically, the confederate commanders after whom ten army bases are currently named. days ago the pentagon said that they wanted to begin a bipartisan conversation about renaming these ten bases, but the president shut that down. he wants to continue to honor them. he wants to continue to honor, for example, john brown gordon, the name sake of fort going forward on in georgia. major gordon is believed to have headed the ku klux klan, essentially in that era a terrorist organization. the president wants to continue to honor general henry benning who was, in the words of general david petraeus, such an enthusiast for slavery that as early as 1849 he argued for the dissolution of the union and the formation

former chairman of the joint chiefs admiral mike mullen wrote former chairman gen.tin dempsey criticized current secretary of defense mark esper's words, writing: "america is not a battleground. our fellow citizens are not the enemy." and recently retired commander of special operations command gen. tony thomas: "the 'battle space' of america??? not what america needs to hear." to talk about this i'm joined by retired army general carter ham. over his 38 year career, he commanded troops in iraq and served as commanding general for both u.s. army europe, and u.s. africa command. general ham, welcome to the "newshour". thank you very much. why is there so much criticism and fear among retired officials but also some current officials who i'm talking about -- who i'm talking to about the idea of sending active duty troops into the united states? well, thanks, nick. it's a great question, and, in our nation, we have a long tradition, going back to the founding of the nation, concern expressed even in the declaration of independence and certainly in the constitution, a c

i also want to say, mike mullen, the former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, they also have beenrved in speaking out, both of them also spoke out. so this is powerful. >> general clark, you have the former generals and senior pentagon officials speaking out, you also had the sitting secretary of defense esper yesterday disagree with the president on the deployment of active u.s. military on the streets of the u.s., by invoking the insurrection act. i wondered, that combination, not just form of it, but a sitting defense secretary in conflict with the commander in chief on a key issue of national security, have you seen that before? how significant is that? >> that's very significant. and people have watched this, they know that secretary esper is a really good guy, he came into the position from the secretary of the army position, he knew the inside of the administration but didn't know what it was like to be in a hot seat like this. and so he realized, i think, as soon as he could understand what had happened, there was -- he had had no business being there, general milley, that

just the past few minutes, the joint chiefs mike mullen wrote a piece in the atlantic and impart he saidon issues surrounding president trump's leadership but we are at a point in the past few weeks where it's made it impossible to remain silent. i'm deeply worried that as they execute their orders, the members of the military will be co-opted for political purposes, even in the midst of the carnage we are witnessing we must endeavor to see townes and entering homes and neighborhoods not to be dominated and must never become so. the reference to battle spaces is something the defense secretary said a phrase he used. bill. >> the battle space were made by a lot of these people. cops were shot at, beaten and stores were broken into, citizens were roughed up. the the president didn't start this but what strikes me is thaa lot of the media, and you know, the democrats and even the hierarchy of the episcopal church were more upset about the president walking with a bible to st. john's church than they were about people trying to commit arson and burned the church down. let's keep proportional

leland: mike mullen, you saw soundbite from here. his interview in full from fox news sunday with chris wallace, 2:00 p.m. eastern right after the show. >> small businesses are now facing another challenge. kristen: rebuilding after the devastation left behind by riots . some joining us now are two small business owners. owner of a pharmacy in st. paul minnesota and john, go of tavern in downtown cleveland. i like to start you because you are the owner of the oldest independent pharmacy in st. paul. been there for 110 years pretty and burned to the ground last thursday. how are you doing, how are you employees doing and i believe, you were able to watch it all happen clyde on remote security cameras. >> i was able to watch on my surveillance cameras. i watched the losing lease. we are doing okay. trying to take care patients the best we can. we are doing okay in my employees have been awesome. kristen: that's good to hear. are you able to fulfill all of the prescriptions for your clients. i know you're not the only pharmacy in your c

. >> general, i was struck by what the 17th joint chiefs chairman mike mullen wrote in the atlantic sayinghe was sickened to see what he saw in terms of the president leading them across the street there for that photo-op. and that he's been hesitant to say anything about the president, but he said it is impossible to remain silent now and he writes, even in the midst of the carnage we're witnessing, we must endeavor to see american cities and towns as our homes and neighborhoods, they are not, quote, battle spaces to be dominated and must never become so. that's an obvious reference to defense secretary esper telling governors to dominate battle spaces in american cities. your thoughts. >> i totally agree with the former chairman. look, when you become the secretary of defense, you become the chairman, you are in a position not to get had as was described, rather articulately. you don't get ambushed when you're in that position. and you choose in this particular case or in any circumstance is this where i want to make a stand? and in this particular case, with what we have seen, and the c

former joint chief chairman admiral mike mullen wrote "we are at an inflection point and the events ofhe past few weeks have made it impossible to remain silent. james devries he called on retired military leaders to speak up, saying "we cannot afford to have a future lafayette square and up looking like henneman to make henneman square. >> everyone is entitled to his opinion but he's wrong on this one. >> former joint chief chair general martin dempsey tweeted after the president told governors to dominate the protesters, "america is not a battleground. our fellow citizens are not the enemy." bret? >> bret: jennifer griffin at the pentagon, thank you. up next, as las vegas reemerges from the lockdown, the huge steaks for a possible coronavirus treatment. first, around the country, fox five in atlanta as a judge rules there is enough evidence to try three white men for the murder of an african-american man in south georgia. repeatedly boxed in by two pickup trucks as we try to escape, shot three times with a pump action shotgun. one of the men was heard saying a racist lawyer as he sta

retired marine general john allen, former joint chiefs of staff mike mullen, and martin dempsey. >> our military was not trained for that purpose. >> it's really time that we said, no, our active duty forces should not be employed in a situation to crush peaceful protesters. >> reporter: on capitol hill some republicans remain silent. >> may i ask you a question, do you agree with mattis -- >> i have a phone call to get to. >> reporter: others praising former defense secretary james mattis for his op-ed accusing president trump of dividing the country. >> he's an american patriot, he's an individual whose judgment i respect. >> by just blaming the president he's only looking at half of the equation. >> reporter: as democrats mark the eight minutes and 46 seconds george floyd laid under an officer's knee, they're planning on a hearing on police brutality. tracie potts, nbc news. >>> two buffalo, new york, police officers are suspended without pay after some hard-to-watch video now going viral. it appears to show them shoving an elderly man to the ground. after the man walks up to the off

retired colonel john kelly, not to much criticism from colin powell, jo general dempsey, amiral mike mullenent and his supporters have had plenty of nasty things to say about these men who served our country. no need to report them. you have access to twitter. there is one group of generals the president is, however, standing firm with. dead, racist losers, the c confederate commanders. they want to begin a bipartisan conversation about renaming these ten bases but the president shut it down. he wants to continue to honor them. he wants to continue to honor john brown gordon, who is believed to have headed the georgia klu klux klan, a terrorist organization. he wants to continue to honor henry bennett who was in the words of general petraeus, such an enthusist for slavery that he voted for the slaveocracay, and continue to honor braxton bragg. and on and on. you get the point. men who declared war upon the united states to fight for their right to own and rape and kill black americans. now, the white house cannot defend the fact that a u.s. military base is named after someone believed to h

seen a couple of interesting dynamic, we have seen general mattis, general john allen, admiral mike mullenntly general dempsey, former general of the joint chiefs will speak out tomorrow in an interview on npr's morning edition in the morning, we have seen all of these senior retired military officials, including some who serve very recently in the highest levels of the trump administration, speak out. and say the president shouldn't be doing this. at the same time, you've got the current defense secretary, mark esper, apparently completely flummoxed by the functioning of his own mouth, having no idea that he was participating in these political actions with the president, that he was putting the defense department's imprimatu on what the president was doing on the walk to st. john's church, a reversal and another reversal and another reversal in which these troops from ft. bragg are actually deploying into the streets of dc. i develop very concerned by the distance from the sort of principled stance being taken by former military leaders, and this chaos and differing and confusion that we

channels or parlays the stars into the role of commentators there's nervousness about that, but mike mullen and others stepped up and kind of said what had to be said. that the idea of using the united states armed forces against the people of the united states is -- is just an atrocious idea, it's a betrayal of everything that the military stands for. the u.s. military is the most admired institution in america today and it is most so admired pause it is above politics, people because understand that those machine guns are pointed at our enemies and not our own people. the idea also -- it kind of feels that president trump isn't -- he's never been interested in policy. you know, you talk to him, but he likes the pomp of the job. he likes i think the idea of ordering troops around, pointing their guns. and so fundamentally feels like this is one more photo-op. one more celebration of a narcissistic personality in a way that uses the armed forces as props. >> donald trump, playboy magazine quote, when the students poured into tiananmen square, the chinese government blew it. that shows you i

fox news sunday, the acting homeland security secretary, former joint chiefs of staff, admiral mike mullenut your local fox station and listings for the time in your area. that is wallace on sunday. as we mentioned, the experts were wrong. it was big, next on that, coming up. this moment. this moment right now... this is our commencement. no, we'll not get a diploma or a degree of any kind. but we are entering a new chapter in our lives. our confidence is shaken; our hearts cracked. the kind of a crack that comes from the loss of a job; from life plans falling apart. we didn't ask for it... but we are rising to meet it. and how far we've come isn't even close to how far we can go. we just have to remember how patient we were... how strong we can be. (how strong you can be.) and remember this; there's a crack in everything for a reason. how else can the light get in? ♪ tomorrow starts today. robinwithout the commission fees. so, you can start investing today wherever you are - even hanging with your dog. so, what are you waiting for? download now and get your first stock on us. robinhood. b

criticized the president's response to the protests, we're talking about james mattis, john kelly, mike mullenou agree with their points of view? >> well, not necessarily. look, i think the president says a lot of stuff he shouldn't say. i wish twitter didn't exist at all, but i wish he didn't have a twitter account. but i think -- i read this letter today where the defense officials were saying that, you know, the president said he wants all the governors to squash the protests. the president hasn't said that. i haven't heard him say there shouldn't be protests. where his concern is, where mine is too, and where every american's should be as well, is the violence that deattracted from the beautiful message. this is the straw that broke the camel's back. it's been 3 1/2 years of tweets that some of us get tired of. i don't necessarily agree with them and their final conclusion on that. >> as you know, house democrats will unveil several sweeping police reform legislation details, you've seen some of those details already emerging. is this something you think you could support? >> well, the dev

jim mattis tried to refrain from doing that and i think martin dempsey has, mike mullen has, generalas as well. they generally do not want to criticize the commander in chief. but when they saw the u.s. military being abused and the threat that the president was somehow going to deploy the u.s. military across the country to engage in law enforcement, they saw that as undermining the whole role of the u.s. military. and the fact that many of them came out of vietnam, saw the breakdown between the relationship between military and the rest of our society, and the fact that they spent a long time trying to repair that relationship between the u.s. military and the american people, and now to have that relationship jeopardized by the president of the united states, that's why they came out and made their criticisms as public as they did. but i don't think it is something you're going to see a lot of from these distinguished military leaders. >> i notice, too, we mention powell, the president went after his record of secretary of state when he was george w. bush's secretary of state, run

admiral mike mullen, general john allen, richard meyers said something critical.d "the new york times" something changed this week. what changed? >> i think the attention is clearly on the protests centered in and around the white house and in particular the president's walk across lafayette park, essentially with his national security team in tow. that rightly gained a lot of attention this week and i think the basic point is that there's been a steady incremental change over the last 3 1/2 years as to how the president relates to the military. it has only burst on to the public scene most prominently this week. this has been a process underway for at least 3 1/2 years under president trump. >> i do get that it's an incremental process that's underway, but there seems to have been a tipping point this week. you talk about that walk across the street. why was that a tipping point? >> i think it's a process of vignettes. you have the president talking to the governors and recommending they crackdown violently and strongly against these largely peaceful protests, wh

>>the former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff mike mullen said he was sickened to see those protesters cleared out of the way and couldn't stay silent. any longer even the president's former chief of staff john kelly is pushing back on him today disputing his claim that he fired mattis he did not ask for his resignation, the president has clearly forgotten how it actually happened or is confused. most republicans have tried to avoid commenting on what matters said, but today, alaska senator lisa murkowski called his rebuke necessary and overdue she says she's struggling with whether to support the president in november, trump remain behind closed doors today as the fences outside the white house were fortified despite several nights of peaceful protest and no arrest on wednesday night. the park in front of the white house has been closed an 8 foot fence has been erected and officers from an alphabet soup of federal agencies are now patrolling washington d c. the dc mayor says she's concerned that that's the people's house is a sad commentary that. >>the house and its inhabitants have t

we have seen general mattis, general john allen, admiral mike mullen, apparently general dempsey, formerof the joint cheevers, is going to speak out tomorrow in an interview on npr's "morning edition" in the morning. we have seen all of these senior retired military officials, including some who serve very recently in the highest levels of the trump administration, speak out. and say the president shouldn't be doing this. at the same time, we've got the current defense secretary, mark esper, apparently completely flummoxed by the functioning of his own mouth, having no idea that he was participating in these political acts with the president, that he was putting the defense department's imprimatur on what the president was doing with what you just described in terms of that walk to st. john's church. there's been a reversal and then a reversal and then another reversal in terms of whether or not these troops from fort bragg are actually deploying into the streets of d.c. i feel very concerned by the distance between this sort of principled stance being taken by former military leaders an

former joint chiefs of staff chairman admiral mike mullen writes, i have to date been reticent to speak out on issuing surrounded president trump's leadership but we are at an event in the past few weeks to remain silent. whatever trump's goal in conducting the visit there was little good in the stunt. there was reporting that the entire incident was engineered by hope hicks and jared kushner and the bible was brought in ivanka's handbag which the internet quickly figured out retails for over $1500 at max marra. and james miller resigned. the defense science board calling yesterday's operation an appalling use of force. the president visited yet another religious site this morning with a stop at st. john paul ii shrine. that prompted an angry response from the archbishop writing, i find it baffling and presence henceable that any catholic facility would allow itself to be so egregiously misused and manipulated in a fashion that violates our religious principles which call us to defend the rights of all people. garrett haake was there in lafayette square yesterday when the pushing and te

mike mullen.neral marty dempsey out there, essentially, warning against the politicization. >> former chief of staff. >> mark esper. secretary of defense. and -- and mark milley, the chairman of the joint chiefs. taking a lot of grief on this. they are trying to back away. >> yeah. let me bring douglas in. douglas, can you explain the magnitude of this statement? have we seen anything like this before? >> it is an unbelievable statement. it's brilliantly written. it should be read by school children, for generations to come. it's an explanation about what our u.s. armed forces are all about. and it's coming from a marine corps general of 44 years who oversaw our troops in the iraq war, afghanistan, and the persian gulf war. mattis has done us a great service. it reminded me, though, in the 1954 during the mccarthy army hearings, when, you know, welch, the counsel, went after, you know, the mccarthy team and saying do you have no shame? do you have no decency? it was when the army went after mccart

the next day, it was his predecessor, chairman of the joint chief, mike mullen, published this articlecannot remain silent. fellow citizens are not the enemy and must never become so. four star general john allen wrote quote it may well signal the beginning of the end of the american experiment. talking about this the potential start of the end of american democracy. and of course, trump's own former defense secretary james mattis who was studiously not wanting to say something against president trump, broke his silence as well and talked about a mockery of the constitution, and we must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our constitution. and trump's own former chief of staff, himself a retired four star general john kelly said he disagrees with the president. the criticism of retired generals is extraordinary because they are generally a tight-lipped bunch. they are obviously strenuously nonpolitical. a requirement of the job. most of them served over plult administrations of both parts. take someone like retired three star general, douglas loot, s

you saw what happened with general milley and the criticism from jim mattis, the criticism from mike mullen, admiral mullen. what is the danger point you see here between the way the president conceives the use of the military and the way retired officers are speaking out? >> the danger is that we are seeing the president try to splittize the military. he's virtually politicized every other instrument in government. you may recall he said, i want my generals. i want my attorney general. i want my judges. so now he wants his military. and he's using the military to carry out a political purpose, and that clearly was the case when he called upon the military to be activated to force those protesters back, firing rubber bullets and mace and pepper spray. that was using the military to accomplish a political act. and it's something talked about before from mcmaster. dereliction of duty, in which h.r. mcmaster warned we should not allow the military to be used to achieve political purposes. and that's exactly what is taking place. the president is taking a wrecking ball to every institution that

you saw not just mattis, by mike mullen also come out strongly against trump's actions and the military being used this way. i think that seems to be what triggered general mattis who has been reticent to criticize president trump. it's the fact we're in dangerous territory. there are wires being tripped here that get to the essence of american democracy and that's bringing people to speak out. >> okay, but we're in dangerous territory and those who can take action aren't actually doing anything. the people we're talking about who are speaking out are former -- former. the people currently in power, republican lawmakers, are getting in line behind the president. you saw a day ago when they were asked about what the president did in lafayette park. they dodged and weaved. >> that's absolutely right, stephanie. we would not be where we are if president trump could not count upon the almost unified support of republican elected officials in the senate and house of representatives, particularly the senate. they've shown time and again that they'll give him blank check to ignore congress, to

and in an op-ed for the atlantic, dempsey's predecessor, retired admiral mike mullen, who, of course,rved under democrats and republicans says our fellow citizens are not the enemy and must never become so. making, again, that same point. so you have two former joint chiefs, secretary panetta and yet the defense secretary yesterday, trump's defense secretary, mr. esper, mark mi milley, they both went to that photo op and stood by the commander in chief in support of him. what do you make of that? >> well, i have respect for our military leaders and the experience they have and the respect they have for what this country is all about and what our constitution tells us about the royal of the military in terms of defending our country and protecting our national interests. so i would urge the secretary of defense and present military leadership to stand by the principles that have guided this country for over 200 years, when it comes to the use of our military. let's use them in battle against our enemies. let's not use them against our own people. >> all right. secretary panetta, i appr

>>the former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff mike mullen said he was sickened to see those protesters cleared out of the way and couldn't stay silent. any longer even the president's former chief of staff john kelly is pushing back on him today disputing his claim that he fired mattis he did not ask for his resignation, the president has clearly forgotten how it actually happened or is confused. most republicans have tried to avoid commenting on what matters said, but today, alaska senator lisa murkowski called his rebuke necessary and overdue she says she's struggling with whether to support the president in november, trump remain behind closed doors today as the fences outside the white house were fortified despite several nights of peaceful protest and no arrest on wednesday night. the park in front of the white house has been closed an 8 foot fence has been erected and officers from an alphabet soup of federal agencies are now patrolling washington d c. the dc mayor says she's concerned that that's the people's house is a sad commentary that. >>the house and its inhabitants have t

as we both now, mike mullen has been very quiet and very circumspect about not getting engaged in political debates but he's clearly felt he needs to speak out after the events of the last full days. >> indeed. and you will see a piece from me coming out of "time" magazine within the hour roughly parallel. i have worked with colonel mullen my career and i'm glad to see his point publicly to this, particularly as chairman of the joint chiefs. let us back up a bit. what our founding fathers worried about more than anything else was the ability to use the armed forces of the nation against the civilian population. they built multiple safeguards into our constitution to ensure that we would not face that kind of action. and so i think for any active duty military person to see that display yesterday of active duty military in lafayette square really rattles old ghosts and the dna of this nation. i'll conclude on this point, andrea, by simply saying as we look at this, we have the capacity to create civil order. we have a million police officers in this country. we have 500,000 members of the na

and i served with jim mattis and he was one of those kinds of leaders, as was mike mullen and jim stavridas those who express themselves on this issue. but i have to tell you that those kinds of qualities are desperately needed right now. the american people are looking for leadership at the senior levels, at the most senior level. and this is a chance for the president to truly unite the country as he tries to lead us through the covid crisis, but also to lead our people through this moment of intense pain by virtue of centuries of inequity and social injustice and inequality. it can't be about security. it has got to be about the future, bringing our people together and resolving these issues of inequality. here is the president's chance to truly lead our country forward in a unified manner. >> things like police reform, criminal justice reform, look, they're very complex issues. there's a lot of moving parts to it. how much do you think something like police reform is about leadership ultimately? >> it's all about leadership, anderson. any reform is about leadership. now, there will be c

and one day after former joint chiefs chairman mike mullen blasted the admiral to force peaceful protesters from latchette park. writing in part -- donald trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the american people, does not even intend to try. instead he tries to divide us. we are witnessing the consequences of the three years of this deliberate effort. and his initial support from the president's threat to use military force against the protesters is now raising questions about whether esper is on thin ice with the president, amidst reports mr. trump has been advised not to fire his secretary this close to an election. joining me nbc white house correspondent kristen welker and chief white house correspondent peter baker. kristen, what are the latest white house pushbacks? what are you seeing in lafayette park here today? >> andrea, first of what we're seeing in lafayette park, i will start with the last part of your question, let me step out of the way so you can see the protesters here. they have expanded the fence around the white house, around lafayette p

statements as of a piece with the criticism from former chairs of the joint chiefs, marty dempsey, mike mullen. we see mark esper reversed himself and said yesterday that he does not believe the insurrection act should be invoked to send active duty u.s. troops against protesters in the streets. i think collectively those things amount to an unofficial signal from the american military establishment to ordinary americans, that something is going on here that is wrong. that is not going to help the political -- the president's political position, it may weaken it further. >> maggie, we know that president trump thrives on some level in chaos. what has his mental state been for this past week? >> he's been very unhappy, alisyn, in a number of conversations with people he's sounded fine and, you know, a level of confidence, he feels okay about how he's going ahead. we know over the weekend the president was taken for a brief time to the bunker below the white house because of the protests getting closer and piercing some level of the barricades around the white house complex. we know that when pe

there's the former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff under presidents bush and obama, admiral mike mullenneral martin dempsey, and admiral james stavridis. and of course, the current defense secretary, mark esper has now split with the president over his threat to use the u.s. military against americans. let's just remind everyone what the president said in his address from the rose garden to america. >> if a city or state refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then i will deploy the united states military and quickly solve the problem for them. >> "outfront" now, in an exclusive interview, retired four-star general, richard myers, the former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff under president george w. bush and now the president of kansas state university. i appreciate your time tonight. what is your reaction to the president of the united states threatening to use u.s. troops against american protesters? >> well, i think you just have to go back to the constitution and the constitution under the first amendment, and all the a

but i think there's -- there is also real delight that general mattis, that mike mullen, former chairmanthe joint chiefs of staff, stepped up and kind of said what had to be said, that the idea of using united states armed forces against the people of the united states is -- is just an atrocious idea. it's a betrayal of everything the military stands for. the u.s. military is the most admired institution in america today, and it is so admired precise by because it is above politics, because people understand that those machine guns are pointed at our enemies and not at our own people. and, you know, the idea also, it just kind of feels that president trump isn't -- he's never been interested in policy. you know, you talk to him. but he likes the pump of the job. he likes, i think, the idea of ordering troops around, pointing their guns. and so fundamentally it feels like this is one more photo op, one more celebration of a narcissistic personality in a way that uses the armed forces as props. >> donald trump, playboy magazine, 1990. quote, when the students poured into tiananmen square,

former joint chiefs of staff chairman admiral mike mullen writes this in "the atlantic," and we quote. i have to date been receipt sent to speak out on issues surrounding president trump's leadership, but we are at an inflection point and the events of the past few weeks have made it impossible to remain silent. whatever trump's goal in conducting his visit, there was little good in the stunt. there was reporting today the entire visit was engineered by hope hicks and jared kushner. additional reporting that the bible that was brought was brought there from the white house in ivanka's handbag, which last night the internet quickly figured out retails for over $1,500 at max mara. and tonight in a letter to "the washington post," former undersecretary of defense james miller resigned. the pentagon's defense science board calling yesterday's operation an appalling use of force. the president visited yet another religious site this morning with a stop at the st. john paul ii national shrine. that prompted an angry response from the catholic archbishop, the diocese of washington, who wrote