i think general milley's comment is exactly correct.he military is apolitical and must remain apolitical, and it should not participate in any way in the enforcement of the laws. that's the posse comitatus doctrine which said the military cannot be used domestically to enforce the laws which is why the lafayette scene where the defense department was out there was so inappropriate for which general milley and secretary esper had to apologize. this can come in two directions. surely donald trump could order the military to play some role quote/unquote to provide security during the election which, of course, as we know, is a form of voter suppression. but there's also a concern that if donald trump loses and refuses to leave office, how will we physically get him out of the white house by january 20th. and there are some suggestions the military should play a role. i agree with some who say the military should play no role in that. that's for the courts and our legal system to create the constitutional order that we have had in a peacefu

we had the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff out in ,amouflage at lafayette park and general milley would be the first to say that was not a good moment. what are your thoughts about the right balance for the military optics? chris: great question. it is something that has become alarming. national security professionals beyond the military, certainly when i was on the hill, there was always broad bipartisan support for these institutions. there is a degree of trust and deference shown to them from the believing of not there are conspiracies afoot to undermine the functioning of the u.s. government and its elected leaders. and that erosion of trust has been deeply worrisome. the u.s. military is hanging on. well ine weathered this light of how many different ways this could have played out. the instance you cite general milley, i think he recognized he put himself and ended up in a compromising position and was quick to correct the record and admit that that should not have happened. the military leadership keeps the institution on the right track. and it has been very difficult for

they address this letter to the chairman of the joint chiefs general mark milley and this sparked bigrsations in military and civilian communities alike and it prompted an op-ed in defense one in response. quote, the military won't save us and you shouldn't want them to. it is deeply irresponsible not to mention organizationally nonsensical to suggest that general milley should evict an election-losing trump from the white house. joining me now is jim goldby from the clement center for the university of texas, austin, and co host of a podcast called thanks for your service. thanks for coming on. >> thanks so much for having me on. >> so this was a swift reaction that you had to this initial op-ed. tell me why you and your co-author felt it was necessary to respond. >> well, thanks, so much. i think the main point is we think it is dangerous to think that the military should be the prime tool to solve our domestic political disputes and we don't think a call to do that would end well. and we're worried that raising the idea that we would turn to the military to settle an election could

as general milley said, this is the most serious thing imaginable for our military.hould treat it similarly. >> and finally before we let you go, i want to get your reaction to that op-ed that we mentioned from colonel vinman. let's quote it, he said, "at no point in my career or life have i felt our nation's values undergrade or threat are in more peril than this moment." do you share that sentiment when it seems like loyalty to the president seems to be more of a priority than loyalty to the constitution? according to vinman? >> i found the op-ed by lieutenant colonel vinpl dsvinm painful reading. he bled for his country, got a purple heart in iraq. his case is another example of something we've seen repeatedly which is interference by this president in the professional areas of our military, uniformed military, of our top law enforcement agency, the fbi, our intelligence agencies. the president again and again has reached down to try to impose the outcomes he'd like to see. and i think that's undermined the professionalism, the independence of the military. lieute

and the idea that milley would show up in camo on that day. wear camo when you're going to war. you don't wear camo when you're clearing the street so the president can do a political photo op. he was, in a way, declaring war against peaceful protesters that were americans. that was wholly -- he should have apologized. >> mm-hmm. >> but example after example, he has really tested the very huge binding thing between the commander in chief and the military. because a lot of the military, especially the leadership, just doesn't respect this president. >> senator mccaskill, what do you expect from jill biden tonight? how well did you get to know her when you served alongside -- when you were serving in the senate when biden was vice president? what do you think we should hear -- expect to hear from her tonight? >> well, you know, one of the things i think that jill biden -- one thing that michelle obama said last night, and i wrote it down because i thought it was important. that the bidens have lived a life the rest of us can recognize. that, i t

military who gave these people the spice and ok this is not just the active service people like general milley even secretary esper can't stand the guy but they're sitting there trying to stomach the whole situation that all the retired military can't stand what it would general madison great patriot has written a. about him and so you know they're going to scrape him out of there if they have to you know there's already been conversations as you know well documented between the secret service and the marines about who's going to remove him if he tries to contest the election and so i think that it is a horrible situation i want you to imagine america the peaceful transfer of power through the civil war 244 years to 2 global wars we have a lunatic in the white house where the secret service and the marines have to having a contemplated strategy of what they're going to do to remove him from office that enough should be the litmus test for the american people a 2nd wait wait wait this is not the right guy for us we are so much better than this we can do so much better than this man and so yes i

i think the instant you cite with general milley, i think you recognize people himself in a compromising position and was quick to come out and correct the record and admit that shouldn't have happened. those are the kinds of things that keepsadership the institution on track. i think it has been difficult for them to maintain that line. i think that is where civilian leadership is essential. wherenot want a society we are treating the military like a priesthood. we want strong civilian leadership. part of that leadership is sheltering the military from these kinds of political interests, something that i think is becoming harder to do as more of this process becomes politicized. i hope that is something we can move away from an recognize if we keep going down that path, it will lead us to some pretty dark places. that the u.s.s military, i think they have done a admirable job of keeping out of politics, constantly making it clear that the loyalty is to the constitution and the oath they took when they joined the ranks of the u.s. military. that is something that will continue to guide t

general mark milley, who i think the world of, you might notice his camouflage uniform wasn't there inront of the church. he disappeared once he figured out what was going on. secretary mark esper wasn't quite as astute. but we do have a problem. we need stability, good judgment, experience, and american values in the president of the united states. and i certainly hope mr. biden can provide that. >> i also want to get your reaction to the intel report that came out today. i keep returning to this thesis sentence by matt miller. trump solicited, welcomed, and benefited from russian interference. to paraphrase claire mccaskill, if you came across this in normal times, in the clear, the reaction would be cataclysmic in our country. >> well, look, it is simply not possible to understand what's going on with mr. trump and his fawning is the word that was used tonight over mr. putin, who is a classic kgb thug running a fairly small country that's an economic basket case with an armed forces that's only capable of threatening their neighbors and a giant pile of nuclear weapons, which he's th

of the media and in the eyes of washington, he was not corrupt, he operated in the area of gray to milleyoliticians which could be used against them and actually ran. >> of course the irony of newt gingrich while the ethics charges and in his own life, shall i say riddled with some of its own problems, talk about that, how is gingrich's own character issues service here? >> you have lots of character issues, not only did they have them in public, they were written in the media, to streams of problems that by the time he goes after jim right unknown problems, when his relationshi relationships, he has for example a pretty difficult divorce with his high school math teacher and there was a story about it mother jones in 1984 which is trying to capture what new grange ridge was like personally and while his life was in the hospital for cancer surgery, he came to discuss divorce with her in an article they ripped out the papers which wasn't exactly true although he did have these discussions in the hospital and he was also known to be somebody who had an affair and this was known in washingto

the remarks came after general mark milley, chairman of joints chief of staff, armed forces will have of carrying out election process. he has not commit today accepting the election's results. the biden speech follows criticism president trump aimed at states like oregon which have resisted federal intervention amid ongoing violent protest and after widespread looting, arson and violence in wisconsin, biden's campaign is countering claims that people will not be safe in joe biden's america. >> i think suburban voters are looking around at what is going on in the country and they are looking at donald trump, they don't see joe biden, they see donald trump. this is trump's america. chaos that suburban voters are feeling and that voters all across are feeling is as a result of donald trump's failed leadership. reporter: pew researching poll show half of biden supporters rank violent crime very important issue but top issue for nearly 75% of president trump's base. now biden is facing calls from within his party not just to address the unrest coming from racial systematic racial disparit

looked the other way or said nothing when jim mattis rebuked him after lafayette square, when general milleywill be bodies there. what are they going to say? what is the case for donald trump? this is the best we can do, america? 171,000 people dead from covid, 5 million infections and there are still in some places an eight-day turn around for tests but let's go back to school anyway? what is the case? the economy annihilated? not because of the pandemic but because of donald trump's response to the pandemic. what are they going to say about the other guy after what they've just seen? they can't say he's hiding in his basement. and if he was, maybe donald trump should try it. if you saw that speech, i don't know what the case is that you make for trump and against this ticket. >> way to pretend you don't know how to pronounce qanon. >> it was in my prompters for the first time last night and i said quaye-non. >> i made it without it being in the teleprompter but it is qanon. >> and it's in congress. >> this all makes me want quanine and a gin and tonic. >> none of us should be qanon -- >> w

i just noticed after june 1st the words in not only general milley but retired admirals and generalsy generals and admirals that there was no wiggle room here. that the military would not get involved in keeping any president in power if the voters voted that president out. >> certainly, that's my anticipation. we've heard from respected military leaders that take issue with the president's actions, with our federal military, and that's why representative slotkin to it was important to put this on the record, what our military does and areas our military should not be involved. >> jonathan lemire is with us and he has a question for representative slotkin. >> congresswoman, good to see you. it's not a military matter, per se, although the president has raised the possibility of using military on american streets. let's remember, of course, with the insurrection act earlier this summer he very much went down that road and received pushback from his add am. could you weigh in, though, on what you're seeing in cities like, say, portland, where there is a significant federal presence on

the campaign continues to heat up, america's top general, the chairman of the joint chiefs, mark milleywrote a letter to congress saying that the u.s. military will not get involved in the november election, even if the results are disputed or the election is contested. instead he says they will defer to the courts. and he says he truly believes in the importance of an apolitical military. dana? >> all right. thank you. >>> there's another stark warning about the battle against the coronavirus this morning. the institute for health metrics and evaluation at the university of washington warns the u.s. death toll could top 317,000 by december 1st if social mandates are eased. it comes as the country inches closer to having at least six million covid-19 infections. 46,000 new cases were reported on friday. health officials across the country are leaning on the centers for disease control to revise its latest testing guidance. michael george has more. >> reporter: criticism of the centers for disease control heightened this week after the agency indicated testing people without covid-19 sym