nate boyer joins froes austin, texas, welcome. i want to go back to that first letter you wrote, what inspired you and then how did you get in this conversation with colin kaepernick? >> you know what inspired me was just -- it hurt. it hurt to see somebody protes protesting the flag and the anthem at least in my eyes that's what it was. it was somebody sort of protes protesting america and symbols that stand for these freedoms and all that, it was confusing to me. i didn't understand where that was coming from and it just hurt as a war fighter when you're going overseas and you're fighting for those that can't fight for themselves an fighting for all those freedoms that we have here and then to me, the way i perceived it was somebody was sort of sitting that out and not interested in that. and upset about those things that we were trying to provide. i just was hurt by that. so i wrote an open letter explaining my experiences, my relationships to the flag, why i stand, why i feel the way that i do. but instead of attacking or tell

we want to look at one model, nate boyer served in iraq and afghanistan as a green beret was awarded the bronze star before playing for the seattle seahawks in 2015. last year, boyer wrote an open letter to colin kaepernick that encouraged cap irrelevant in this case to stand during the national anthem. as opposed to sitting out of respect for veterans. kaepernick wouldn't go that far but the two worked out compromise and kaepernick began to kneel instead of sitting. nate boyer joins froes austin, texas, welcome. i want to go back to that first letter you wrote, what inspired you and then how did you get in this conversation with colin kaepernick? >> you know what inspired me was just -- it hurt. it hurt to see somebody protes protesting the flag and the anthem at least in my eyes that's what it was. it was somebody sort of protes protesting america and symbols that stand for these freedoms and all that, it was confusing to me. i didn't understand where that was coming from and it just hurt as a war fighter when you're going overseas and you're fighting for those that can't fight for

nate boyer, u.s. army veteran and founder of the nonprofit mvp joins me now.ave you with us tonight. welcome to the program. >> thank you. >> martha: i want to go back to the beginning of this story for you. how is it that you came to be the person who suggested or gave advice to collin kaepernick that rather sit on the bench during the anthem it would be better if he knelt? >> yeah, a little over a year ago, i wrote an open letter when he was sitting and i was upset by it. you know it, really frustrates me to go fight for what the flag and the anthem represent the freedoms to come back and have someone, in my view, disrespect that instead of just shouting and attacking him, you know, i tried to come at it with an open mind. so i wrote an open letter about explaining my situation, my life, why that flag and anthem means so much to me and many of the men and women i fought alongside. but also, saying i don't know what it's like to be you. i hope we can figure this thing out. and he reached out. we ended up, you know, meeting before the last preseason game last

player who is also a veteran nate boyer told kaepernick, look, man, there's a better way to do this.> we sort of came to a middle ground where he would take a knee alongside his teammates. soldiers take a knee in front of a fallen brother's grave, you know, to show respect. he said i think that would be really powerful. >> trevor: yeah. so you see, kaepernick changed his protest to take a knee because, clearly, he does respect the troops, and still president trump called him out in a way that he never did to the nazis in charlottesville. so, in my opinion, this has everything to do with race, and if you say it doesn't, i just think it's very disrespectful to the country. ( cheers and applause ) we'll be right back. ( cheers an) >> trevor: welcome back to "the daily show"! donald trump's beef with the n.f.l. has left a lot of people with a lot of questions. the question that has come up for me, once again, is when is the right time for black people to protest? everyone has a different answer. for me, it's right before lunch because that's when i'm hangry, right? after lunch i'm not ef

we'll look at finding compromise in controversy as former green beret turned nfl football player nate boyer talks about his efforts to find a balance between protest and honoring the flag he fought under. plus analysis of all the news and an unusual show of unity from the five former presidents. it's all ahead on "face the nation." good morning, welcome to "face the nation" i'm john dickerson. last we're a could row sieve political spat broke out over respect for fallen soldiers and their families. we begin with a look at what sparked this new low in america and october 4th attack in niger where four american soldiers, ryan black, jeremiah johnson, la david johnson and dustin wright were killed when they were reportedly ambushed by islamic state extremists, joinings now to answer some of the questions about the attack are michael morell, cbs news senior national security contributor and former number two the at cia and cbs news national security correspondent david martin. mike, start with you before we get a sense of what exactly happened. why were us servicemen there? >> john, it has been

player who is also a veteran nate boyer told kaepernick, look, man, there's a better way to do this.> we sort of came to a middle ground where he would take a knee alongside his teammates. soldiers take a knee in front of a fallen brother's grave, you know, to show respect. he said i think that would be really powerful. >> trevor: yeah. so you see, kaepernick changed his protest to take a knee because, clearly, he does respect the troops, and still president trump called him out in a way that he never did to the nazis in charlottesville. so, in my opinion, this has everything to do with race, and if you say it doesn't, i just think it's very disrespectful to the country. ( cheers and applause ) we'll be right back. discover card. hey. what can you tell me about your new social security alerts? oh! we'll alert you if we find your social security number on any one of thousands of risky sites, so you'll be in the know. ooh. sushi. ugh. being in the know is a good thing. sign up online for free. discover social security alerts. (cheering) a triangle solo? surprising. what's not surprisin

player who is also a veteran nate boyer told kaepernick, look, man, there's a better way to do this.> we sort of came to a middle ground where he would take a knee alongside his teammates. soldiers take a knee in front of a fallen brother's grave, you know, to show respect. he said i think that would be really powerful. >> trevor: yeah. so you see, kaepernick changed his protest to take a knee because, clearly, he does respect the troops, and still president trump called him out in a way that he never did to the nazis in charlottesville. so, in my opinion, this has everything to do with race, and if you say it doesn't, i just think it's very disrespectful to the country. ( cheers and applause ) we'll be right back. hfor just $20 per month per line with 5 lines. plus, switch and get up to 5 free select samsung galaxy phones. so get more, save more and get down. cricket wireless. something to smile about. i'll have the langoustine lfor you, sir?i. the original call was for langoustine ravioli. a langoustine is a tiny kind of lobster. a slight shellfish allergy rules that out, plus my w

around the country i can certainly see where some people feel bad about it but i happen to have nate boyer on recently. and he came on and he was the one that suggested to collin that he take a knee instead of sitting down now who is that he's a guy that served in afghanistan a couple of times decorated soldier with an award and everything and so he remember recommended that that they you know that he take a knee and he indeed did that then you think happen it's going to play in the n.f.l. again is he black listed yes. i would have to say yes he's been blackballed because you know what i find out interesting about that if you take a look at the owners in the national football league they gave a lot of money to the president. and they also are involved with the draft kings and other gaming sites as such and they're almost being hypocritical they don't want to take on something like cap or nick when they're involved in things that are of controversy you know as well so it's a little bit disappointing and i think it's just the way we're going to keep an eye on on the legalisation of gambling

upon seeing that kaepernick was sitting for the anthem, nate boyer, a decorated former special forcesote an open letter, saying he felt the player ‘s actions were disrespectful. in my eyes you might as well burn it, that's what it felt like when i saw that. that was my initial reaction before i stopped and thought a little bit. i think that's what's happening in our country right now, everybody, they see something and it's like... bloom, reaction. the two men eventually met. kaepernick agreed to kneel with boyer saying he would stand alongside him. i don't want people to stand out of obligation, i don't care if its fans in the stands or players on the field, i want them to stand because they care. so i thought taking a knee was more respectful to people in my community. people will disagree with that, but that's how i felt. this is sitting on the bench, isolated from your team. at least taking a knee alongside them is embracing those around you, it's not saying i'm bigger than this or i'm better than this or i'm, you know... we are still part of this country. but it's demonstrating th

army veteran nate boyer who also played college football and nate suggested to him, this former veteraned to him, i think kneeling is a sign of respect. we kneel when our fallen comrades come home. we kneel very often, you know, towards the flag and we kneel in prayer. so i think you should kneel. to me that is one of the biggest misconceptions that people forgot. when i say the players don't want to kneel, they would rather see these issues come to a halt. >> right. >> so they want to the nfl to be able to help them to help promote and empower them to help move these issues forward. i think, again, you may see later today that none of the 49ers for the first time will not kneel because they feel like the nfl is going to take tangible steps. it will be interesting to see what happens today. >> is interesting. the 49ers are now playing the redskins in washington. we saw the vice president go to indianapolis last week. will there be a member of the cabinet or someone within this administration show up there at fedex field for another protest, depending on what the 49ers and redskins do? d

something from nate boyer. >> i think it would be a powerful notion to see two people who are obviously on opposite ends of the spectrum during this whole situation just as an example for our country. we need to listen to each other more, whether you agree with others or not and have these conversations. >> jesse: he was talking about colin kaepernick sitting down with president trump. >> dana: i think why not? >> kimberly: like the beer summit. >> dana: but with sincerity. i think president trump is in a great position. if the nfl came out and said we are for criminal justice form. and you have bipartisan support in the house and senate with cosponsors to say we are for criminal justice reform too. why wouldn't you want to drive it forward and be the leader? if it is there for the taking, make it happen. >> juan: i don't know. i don't know if jeff sessions is going to buy in. >> dana: if the president says i want this done. >> juan: they undid so many so many things. >> dana: i think if the president said this is what i want done. the power of the president is amazing. bring people tog

joining us former nfl player and retired green beret nate boyer.you have player kaepernick to. >> from sitting to kneeling during the anthem. now, the president of "time" magazine is showing president trump as an inflatable tackling bag. is the president right on this one? >> first of all, it's not a right or wrong thing. it's not is it right to stand and wrong to kneel or vice versa. we're getting so in the weeds on that. and i also think it's not necessarily disrespectful. they're not disrespecting the flag or the anthem, they're demonstrating about something else during that time. so we have to understand that, we've got to get past that. i agree in the sense that i think we should all stand personally because of my experiences, but these guys have a message, all these players, most of these guys that are leading the way are very read up on this issue and very intelligent on this issue and are passionate and feel strongly about it. i will always support our rights as americans regardless of whether i agree with them or not. but i think that unit

his name was nate boyer. he and colin kaepernick worked out a deal.hey said the best way to peacefully protest in a respectful manner was to take a knee. >> brian: robin, i appreciate your service and your sincerity. when you take a seat at the national anthem, i don't care what deal you cut with a special forces operator. i can make my own decision. the american people aren't looking for a pie chart. they know how they feel when someone takes a knee and disrespect the flag. >> that's exactly right. the espn commentator, she was far worse in what she said to the supporters of president trump. she called all 60,000 supporters who voted for the president white supremacists. which is outrageous. she should have been fired two weeks ago. the fact that she only gets a slap on the wrist because she offended the employer because she went after the dallas cowboys, that's ridiculous. she should have been fired a long time ago. >> brian: you talk about getting out of control? it's going to get worse. al sharpton, a real unifier just tweeted out -- he said jemel