on capitol hill, we welcome to our desk and expert, author, and former investigative reporter, ron kessler. mr. kessler these allegations of aged misconduct stemming from the secret service alleged drinking and driving incident. this as director joseph clancy's first big test. how do think he did in those hearings this week? guest: you know, he came across as pathetic. he had all the wrong responses. he started claiming that there was a culture of drinking in the secret service. there isn't. in this case, they went to a party. they should not have gotten into a government car. they should not have gotten into the compound. that is not common among the agent. the agent overall are brave and dedicated. the problem is the culture within the management. the management has this attitude of covering up, of laxness, of corner cutting. and agents who report problems or threats are punished. our retaliated against. and in turn, those who pretend that everything is fine are promoted into management. as one example of the culture of fear, when gunshots were fired at the white house in 2011, a uniform

host: ron kessler? guest: to say that the blue -- what is it, the blue line -- that is just prejudice. that is like saying all blacks are criminals or all jews are whatever. you know, to just have a blanket statement like that about people who risk their lives to protect is really reprehensible, in my opinion. host: stephen is up next. texas. line for republicans. stephen, good morning. caller: yes, sir. i am just trying to figure out -- i did not vote for him, but nobody should be put in the position they are put in. but he did choose the secret service man to cover him protect him, however the way it works. but i do not know if it is going to take outside sourcing, as far as navy seals if secret service can't do it. why can't they all work together? i have a lot of respect for the secret service, but i cannot understand why everybody wants to throw secret service under the bus. i mean, everybody is stressed. the secret service is on 24/7. host: ron kessler. guest: as i said, agents say it is a miracle

host: ron kessler. guest: as i said, there has never been an assassination. and that is how important it is to fix the secret service. really, in assassination nullifies democracy. i lived through the jfk assassination. and i cried for days. it was a terrible blow for the country. that is what is involved here. when it comes to who should run -- and outsider, such as a former fbi person, i think is better than a military person because former fbi alreadyare a lot spent. a military prison would be an improvement over clancy, but you know, there will be a very steep learning curve. host: the caller brings up the call -- alcohol issue. your thoughts on director clancy talking about agent using this as a coping mechanism and how they need to be helped? guest: i think those part of clancy's cover up. trying to blame everything on stress and having thinking problems. you know, every organization has some people who engage in excessive drinking it these agents, you know, when to a retirement party. they drink the way all of us do. but then the problem is they got in

joining me is ron kessler a "new york times" author of several books about the secret service, also an award winning investigative reporter. ron, what do you make of this latest development? >> i think this is a typical cover-up by the secret service. i'm used to seeing that because they tried to cover up revelations in my book the first family detail. "the washington post" reporting on the secret service problems has been very accurate and why is it that these two high ranking individuals were removed from their post and put in non-operational positions. obviously something very serious happened there. and -- >> you use the word cover-up. and programs that's what the evidence will show. i'm far more concerned that their reputations, these men are innocent until proven guilty that their reputations have been besmirched with a rush to judgment. >> you know the so-called pushback is all anonymous. if if really there was a factual basis the secret service would issue on the record statement about it. and the fact that they removed these individuals, tells you that in fact they were involv

at 8:40, ron kessler. host: good morning. it is friday, march 20. today marks the first day of spring and the end of another busy week on capitol hill. among the stories we have been tracking on "washington journal" are the release of the congressional republicans' 2016 spending plan. congressional leaders rolled in iranian nuclear negotiations, the fight over attorney general

. >> reporter: ron kessler is author of two books critical of secret service management.e says the the president appointing long time agent joseph clancy as new director has done little to change the agency's culture. in the past few months most of the senior secret service leaders have been replaced, director has been replaced and this incident still occur. is there still a problem do you believe. >> the managers that mr. clancy replaced have been replaced by other managers who have the same mentality. >> reporter: clancy still has support on capitol hill. >> i believe he is the the right person for this job at this time. he has talk about zero tolerance and i expect him to react a accordingly. >> reporter: the the two agents are on desk duty. president obama knows both men personally. mark albert for cbs-3 "eyewitness news". >>> in the the boston area today a man carjacked by the the a accused boston marathon bombers took the stand in court today. he told jurors that tamerlan tsarnaev jumped in the car, put a gun in his head and ordered him to drive to new york. dunn de

after that ron kessler talks about his book and current reform proposals for the secret service. plus we'll be taking your phone calls, facebook comments and tweets all on washington journal, live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >>> our road to the white house coverage continues friday in iowa with remarks from potential presidential candidate former governor martin o'malley. live coverage at 9:00 eastern on c-span. >>> this weekend the c-span cities tour has partnered with media come to learn about the history life of columbus, georgia. >> right here inside the museum is remains of a confederate ironclad the css jackson. this was built here in columbus during the war. those oval shapes that you see are actually the gun ports of the jackson. and the jackson is armed with six rifles. the particular brook rifle that we're firing today is one of the guns built specifically for the jackson. it was cast at the selma naval works in selma, alabama and completed in january of 1865. the real claim to fame is directly connected to the fact that there are only four ironclads from the civil

after that, ron kessler talks about his book. current reform proposals for the secret service. we will be taking your phone calls and tweets. all of washington journal. live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. the republican national lawyers association is holding a daylong policy conference in washington dc. featured speakers include bob corker, representative susan brooks. former maryland governor, bob ehrlich. you can watch it on c-span two -- c-span2. >> now isis rears its ugly head. this army is shaky. we should not be surprised. you cannot undo decades of soviet era with eight years. especially when you talk them when you're going to have u.s. advises partner with them. afghanistan -- we currently have 10,000 troops there. we are drawing down to 5000 year. almost down to zero the year after that. we'll see a similar result as we saw in a rack with the isis attack. the army is going to be shaky. >> this sunday on join a on the u.s. fail on the failed u.s. -- what we should have done different. on c-span's q&a. >> this weekend media, to learn about columnist george. >> inside t

after that, ron kessler and current reform proposals for the secret service. >> martin o'malley will be speaking friday at the democratic party red white and blue dinner. we will bring you live coverage from the event in davenport. >> this weekend, the c-span cities to our has partnered with media, to learn about the history of columbus, georgia. >> this is the remains of a confederate fighting class, the css jackson. those oval shapes you see are the gun ports it is armed with six rifles this rifle is one of the guns built specifically for jackson. it was cast as the selma naval works in alabama and completed in january of 1865. the real claim to fame is directly connected to the flag -- to the fact that there are only four ironclads from the civil war that we can study right now. the jackson is right here and this is why this facility is here. it is first and foremost the tail and the story of this particular ironclad, to show people that there are more than just one or two -- there were many. >> what all of our events saturday at noon eastern on c-span two's book tv. >> fiscal con

kessler. he has written about the secret service. ronand they're senior in the department. they know the whole world is watching the secret service now. how could this happen? >> there is a culture within the secret service of covering up really a corrupt culture which is within the management. so you have these senior supervisors not only these two agents who were involved in the crash into a barricade at the white house after drinking, but a supervisor overruling officers who wanted to arrest them on the spot and give them sobriety tests. that alone could be obstruction of justice. and what has clancy done about it? he reassigned them. he should have taken away their guns and badges which is happened with the agents in colombia. but those were lower level people. you have this double standard, you have this corrupt culture and mr. clancy who is a long time career agent. he is part of this culture. at a hearing on the hill, he was asked about the false statements that the secret service put out about the intrusion at the white house. an