it's a sea change between secretary rumsfeld and secretary gates. and i think senior military leaders at the time would say that the surge probably couldn't have taken place without a change. secondly, one of the things that you get in the pages of "surge" wanted to get in the pages of michael gordon spoke, the endgame, and some others is a near encyclopedic knowledge of iraqi politics, iraqi society, iraqi culture and the interrelationships of the there is political factions, ethnic and sector in groups. and it tells you, it shows just how little we knew about iraq, that iraq was such a black box to us in 2003 when the invasion took place, and it was a very hard learning process. it was one that we unfortunately have to pay for in blood between 2003-2006, just to get the knowledge so that you know, for example, that roddy -- ramadi is a sheikh, or as you put he is a minor sheikh of the miner driving lady stepping into a larger role, why? because the major sheikhs have fled from al-qaeda pressure and they're not in jordan. what we have known that ki

secretary rumsfeld is of course very quotable. he at the time was vociferously against the 9/11 commission's recommendations and he wrote in a letter to george bush from this time period something that i think is very notable and you can almost hear some of the intensity in his voice which was something basically that the united states congress, the media and john kerry can afford to be wrong and pay no penalty. the president of the united states has to be right on a matter of such importance and the end of this memorandum to george bush at the time which is detailed in the book with a single word, caution. urging caution on the president before he adopted these particular recommendations. vice president cheney himself a former secretary of defense also oppose the dni recommendations. he focused on the fact that we were at war at the time in iraq and afghanistan. he said now is no time to rearrange the deck chairs on the titanic as we were trying to fight and win a war. the second view was those at cia. cia i think took some offen

secretary rumsfeld is of course very quotable. he at the time was vociferously against the 9/11 commission's recommendations and he wrote in a letter to george bush from this time period something that i think is very notable and you can almost hear some of the intensity in his voice which was something basically that the united states congress, the media and john kerry can afford to be wrong and pay no penalty. the president of the united states has to be right on a matter of such importance and the end of this memorandum to george bush at the time which is detailed in the book with a single word, caution. urging caution on the president before he adopted these particular recommendations. vice president cheney himself a former secretary of defense also oppose the dni recommendations. he focused on the fact that we were at war at the time in iraq and afghanistan. he said now is no time to rearrange the deck chairs on the titanic as we were trying to fight and win a war. the second view was those at cia. cia i think took some offen

it's a sea change between sum tear rumsfeld and secretary gates. would say that surge probably couldn't have taken place without that change. secondly, one of the things that you get in the pages of surge or michael's book "the end game" and some others is a near enpsych low pediatric knowledge of iraqi politics and society and culture. iraq was such a black box to us in 2003 when the invasion took place. it was a very hard-learn progress excess. it was one that we unfortunely had to pay for in blood between 2003 and 2006. just to get the knowledge so you know. stepping to a larger role. why? the major sheik have fled from al-qaeda pressure in there and aman jordan. i mean, would we have known that kind of thing in 2003? the level of knowledge you had to gain to be able to see where the scenes were that you could exploit is extraordinary. one of the things. let say in the opening chapter you describe what went before the surge. the major development that is missed, i think in the campaign as it is planned for in 2004 to 2006 is the indicators of an

rumsfeld asked you said first of all he would try to avoid all of these meetings and the ones he could not avoid weber principals meetings he tried to delegate, but he simply didn't want to know about any of this and i don't think that he had any objections to it but as a savvy politician he just didn't want to especially after abu ghraib. >> host: so he leaves you in an elevated until you are asking for higher approval you are still representing an agency. so you have been out now for four years. you have heard whether this constitutes torture. i have to say that after understanding what your role as a lawyer to rep resents your clients and to protect them i just get the impression by the way you talk about it is that you actually -- and this is my question and he's intervening years that you consider this torture. but it is not something less especially in combination. and i'm wondering -- there are a lot of -- if you the people were protected, which they are. nobody is going to go back and say it was okay to use these techniques. we are going to go and cause them trouble now. but is

man, ass was just the rumsfeld was certainly not the man. republican today in your opinion?hat is a democrat? ani think, gates, he is ideological operative of the permanent regime that exists whether you are a democrat or a republican in the oval office. pose as experts on national security or for that matter, like larry summers and some others, they pose as nonpartisan experts on economics and fiscal policy. they are all deeply ideological. they believe in military force abroad. they believe in the washington neoliberalism or free-market style crony .apitalism at home the whole business about abortion is somewhat and thatning -- enlightening he should raise that. these are the types of people who don't really bother about those sorts of issues. they understand that these are simply divergence to read up the things, polarize whether it is gay marriage, abortion and some of the other social issues. the real issue for the permanent state is, who gets what? how is the pie going to be cut up? >> was there a point where you flipped on the republican party? gradual journey. ofhink

they were so thrilled he wasn't rumsfeld, they didn't ask the really hard questions and a lot of those pertained to his past activities. he was involved in iran-contra. he was a very prominent figure in the cia at the time. they required intelligence that iran was somehow moderating, and that intelligence was conveniently forthcoming. >> the gates book has moved to number one on the bestseller list. i'm going to read back to you a quote from tom ricks you probably know of. he wrote a review in the new york times and he says, the gates book is probably one of the best washington memoirs ever. what is your take? i have read your piece. would you say the same thing? >> i would not concur. i know of tom riggs of it and i do not understand where he comes from on that judgment. i am not attacking gates in an ad hominem way or saying that he is the devil with horns, however i think his representation of congress, of the administration and so forth, represents his own ax grinding. we all grind our axes occasionally but it should be seen as that. his criticism of obama and biden got a great dea

the detainees and you also say that that's what colin powell, was moats concerned about and that rumsfeld used to walk out of the room, didn't want to hear about this. that must have rung alarm bells for you. >> guest: you're referring to national security council principals meetings held. regularly during the course of the interrogation program. wasn't just cia doing thissen it's own. the was all of the policy-makers who were briefed regularly on the tenth instincts, how they were being implemented, and i would go to some of these meetings, as a back-bencher and a -- with the cia director, and at the table so i would observe reactions, and i -- it was fascinating. >> host: did it make your nervous sometimes? >> guest: yes, certain sense of for boding. i say in the book that waterboarding was late out in detail on how we were using it at the time. i was struck by colin powells body language and demeanor. he gave off eave vibe of not wanting to be in the room. but when he did speak up, i was struck, and given his extensive military background he would know this. he seemed to view sleep dep

if you want to make references back it to old europe and donald rumsfeld complaining in the post-9/11 years about how france and germany would not support american military adventurism, obama has ended that. obama in the last five years got the united states out of iraq. the french are happy about that. it's a safe bet for hollande domestically to come to washington and be seen as close to this intellectually, ground breaking, forward thinking american president. the extent to which it trumps germany's relationship with the united states, i don't think so. . >> i think that was not well received by merkel to put it mildly. she is the leader of that whole constituency in europe. i don't think she was very happy about that. i also don't think she was very happy about the obama administration and she has not been for quite a qiel. where as hollande who has unique problems in france at this stage, had this was a perfect escape for him. it's the kind of public reaction that he got both here and in europe and france in it particular helped him. >> do you recall what the attitude toward fran

a ceasefire in the embattled city of homes rumsfeld today these people unable to escape with et nights. now that's the thing that going on. they were among the hundreds evacuated from the siege neighborhoods and homes at it this week the ceasefire that enable effective pots and without any tangible outcome of the un sponsored peace talks to syria. the geneva meeting for a coffee shop today. an un me dh and i got to see me didn't hide his disappointment in the way that is the utter joke. i apologize to the syrian people. their hopes. which weren't very many high that something would happen here we left. you want to delete a lot has been on tuesday homes. give them even more hope maybe these is the beginning itself the coming out to the explorer because this happened. hahas to the syrian opposition to president assad sites regime has refused to discuss the political condition. it pokes fun at variance with that. he said he would consult the un sec gen kind to me about finding a way for it. outside of any opposition support to demonstrate against csi real soon. that desperate for a reside

cyprus has his own way home today from piano just glad it's all spam fine rumsfeld are also using grenades fine lines and most local tales again thrilling forces. others threw rocks and wailed and baseball on sentimental well as attend swirls tomato around trying to strip the scoldings for an f as acts that the police admonished as those behind the protest overdue to break a romping up to find that just as planned escalation is just one pushed it to the people behind the demonstrations and protests. organizing or to push the government and finally teacher the demonstrators as always yes yes matter how hard a government raid. for more. an atheist who supported and opposed to going for broke it out there for three months now. the two shows results and he decided to do next to the hatred and death. care needs or dies. in the process russia has kicked at the mo abundance and ukraine and called on them so she's in kiev to resolve the crisis adults have the means they see fit. he's reading this crap has announced presidential spokesperson me to the school has dispelled any realistic bleeding aro

they were so thrilled he wasn't rumsfeld. the really hard questions. all of those pertains to his test -- past activities. prominent figure in the cia at the time. they required intelligence that iran was somehow moderating and that intelligence was conveniently forthcoming. >> mike writes about washington in "the party is over." sunday night at 8:00. minutes, we will be going back live to the national winterr's association meeting. they will be focusing on states disaster response and repair nest. the governors will be hearing from the chief of the national guard bureau and associates with the red cross. it will begin live at 3:00 on c-span. tomorrow morning, our coverage of the visiting governors continues, first on wanting to .ournal with terry branstad he will join us to take your calls. we'll talk to the president of service employees international union about issues facing labor unions and their workers. report onent u.n. north korea and crimes against humanity. john park will join us for that. watch washington journal live every morning at 7:00

complaint notes that miller carried those tactics out even after then secretary of defense donald rumsfeld with drew permission to use the most controversial interrogation practices the united states has yet to issue a public response on the case want to animal of course remains open has been open for more than twelve years and destress is all despite president obama's efforts to close it. and more than other third of the police officers in the small california town of king's city have been arrested this is all for their alleged involvement in a scheme to steal impounded cars belonging to poor families who were often of latin ethnicity in fact one of the police officers was promised he could keep one vehicle for every ten to fifteen vehicles he's steered to towing company for more insight on that earlier i spoke with artie's ramon the lindo and i first asked him to talk about how the scheme operated. romero well residents of this small town of king city had been complaining that police had been taking their cars for years but this investigation involving the monterey county district attorn

complaint notes that miller carried those tactics out and then after then secretary of defense donald rumsfeld withdrew permission to use the most controversial interrogation practices the united states has yet to issue a response on the case guantanamo remains open more than twelve years after it began holding suspects despite president obama's efforts to close at and the third of the police officers in a small california town of king city have been arrested. this is all for their involvement in a scheme to steal impounded cars belonging to pour family is rocking latino immigrants in fact one of the police officers was promised he could keep one vehicle for every ten to fifteen vehicles he steered towards a towing company. for more insight on this earlier i spoke with our t's room on the window i first asked him to tie the knot how this team really operated. brett mayo well residents of this small town of king city having complained that police had been taken their cars for years but this investigation involving the monterey county district attorney's office in the fbi to start about six mont

people don't remember this. 9/11, we hade defense secretary rumsfeld get up in front of the american people on television and tell them that the military-industrial complex had $2.6 trillion. they don't know where the money went. this is fraud and corruption and waste. it should stop. they don't have an accounting system. host: this is the last call we will take on the subject. we will go to eric holder live in just a few minutes. the room is slowly starting to fill up for the event very you can catch this event live on c-span. thank you for holding on. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] the attorneys general are waiting to hear from attorney general or colder. it should get underway shortly. the new york times is reporting that the attorney general yesterday injected the administration into the emotional and politicized debate over the future of state same-sex marriage bans. he said state attorneys general defend lawsgated to they feel are discriminatory. them toot encourage disavow their own laws. he said if they have studied bans on gay marriage could refuse t

your interrogators be leaved broke one of the detainees and they were most concerned about and that rumsfeld used to walk out of the room, didn't even want to hear about any of this, those must also run on those to you. in the course of the interrogation program it wasn't just to the cia doing this on their own, it was all of the policymakers briefed regularly on with the techniques work and how they were being implemented. it was a certain sense of foreboding. waterboarding was laid out in detail how we were using at the time and love concern or hand wringing objections to the waterboarding just the general body language and demeanor with every possible vibe of not wanting to be in that room but a distinguished background they would know this. they were to try to avoid all of these and the ones they couldn't avoid he just simply didn't want to know about any of this and a savvy politician he just didn't want to especially after abu ghraib. >> host: even though you're asking the higher authorities for approval you are still representing the agency. >> host: you have been out for four years a

they were so thrilled that he was not rumsfeld, they did not ask the really hard questions. a lot of those pertained to his past activities. he was involved in iran contra. he was a very prominent figure in the cia at the time. they required intelligence that and was somehow moderating that intelligence was conveniently forthcoming. >> formal -- a former capitol hill staffer writing about the white house in "the party is over," tonight on "q&a." next, energy executives discuss how transportation and infrastructure can affect energy production in the economy. from an all-day conference hosted by the u.s. chamber of commerce, this is one hour. >> thank you to all of you who are here. welcome to my panel, so that they can get set and talk to you a bit about why we are starting with the question of energy. we know

is what colin powell who was the secretary of state at the time was most concerned about and that rumsfeld used to walk out of the room and he didn't even want to hear about any of this. those must have rung alarm bells for you in a way. >> guest: what are you referring to is the national security council principles meetings that were held regularly actually during the course of the interrogation. with was the cia doing this on its own or all the policies were were -- policyholders were reefed on how they were being implemented. i would go to some of these meetings with the cia director at the table so i would reserve reactions. it was fascinating. >> host: did it make you nervous sometimes? >> guest: yeah a certain sense of foreboding. i say in the book that waterboarwaterboar ding was laid out in detail and how we were using it at the time. i don't remember a lot of debate for concern or objections to waterboarding but i was struck by cowan powells general body language and first of all he gave off every possible via the not wanting to be in that room. but he did speak up. i was struck b

give me your assessment based on a smaller, lighter military, something even don rumsfeld tried to do was not successful. what structure would we have that is dramatically smaller? >> basically, even if it's smaller, it's more sophisticated. this stuff about world war ii is nonsense. you have a garden reserve, which we know based on what happened in afghanistan and iraq. we're larger than any other land army in the world. so when i hear this type of thing that's just nonsense, the amount of money, even if you control for inflation, is $100 billion more than eisenhower had when he was in office and you had an existential threat. the the mission is to deal with terrorists with a global reach. regimes like iran and north korea. and with rising powers like brazil and russia and china. you're not going to deal with them all militarily. secretary gates said any secretary who recommends sending large land armies into third world countries should have his head examined. i hope we learned that after iraq and afghanistan. >> the defense budget right now is sitting around $700 billion. it's 20 p

that's what powell, who was the secretary of state at the time was most concerned about, and that rumsfeld walked out of the room because he didn't want to hear about it. those must also have rung alarm bells to you, in a way. >> yeah, sure, you are referring to national security counsel principle meetings that were held regularly, actually, during the course of the interrogation program. it was not just cia doing this on its own or this was all of the policymakers briefed regularly on what the techniques were, how they were implemented, and i would go to meetings as a back bench, with, you know, the director at the table, and i would observe reactions, and, you know, it was fascinating. >> host: did it make you nervous? >> guest: it was forboding, and water boarding was laid out in how we were doing it, and i don't remember debate or concern or hand wringing or objections to water boarding, but i was struck by powell's body language, and giving off every vibe of not wanting to be in the room, but when he did speak up, i was struck by the fact, and, of course, distinguished military backgr

they were so thrilled he wasn't donald rumsfeld they didn't ask the really hard questions and the lot of those pertaining to his activities. he was involved in iran-contra. he was a very prominent member of the cia at the time. they required intelligence that iran was somehow moderating and that intelligence was conveniently forthcoming. >> former capitol hill staffer mike lofgren rights the party is over on c-span's q&a. ..

. >> have we seen plans similar to this before like with donald rumsfeld prior to 9/11? rex i am not sure about that and what was being proposed. 9/11 changed everything overnight. we did see secretary gates and secretary panetta push these specific proposals with tri-care fees with some of the benefit rollbacks. they were met with mixed success. it is very easy for congress to give out extra money when it looks like they are being magnanimous when it comes time to pay for it and it becomes tougher for everyone. >> what happens with the budget proposal from here, the proposal from secretary hagel, where it is a go now? rex next monday we will see the rollout of the federal budget proposals. said -- gaveel some of the themes and you will see people attacking the nitty-gritty specifics. it will head up to the hill and there are some authorization bills. mckeon said that he has committed this year to making sure that his committee's work on the defense authorization bill get done by october 1. it would be the second time in the last decade they have been able to get the bud

and as the former secretary of defense, donald rumsfeld said, we had no choice.he country floated on a sea of oil. the idea was to get oil. to avenge his dad. and hopefully end sectarian violence. and we look at this years later and we have hundreds of thousands of iraqis, some human rights groups put it at a million-plus that are dead. tens of thousands of american veterans who are harmed and whose lives have been ruined or they have been killed. then we end up with a veterans administration that can't handle all of this. on top of that, as he's launching these two wars, iraq and afghanistan, he's administering a huge tax cut at a time when the spending is about to go up, he gives a tax cut to the upper income, to corporations, and then all of this comes home to roost in our economy. we get a big deficit. our country is now still struggling from all of that. so my belief is that regardless of any category you might consider, i think the judges have to give the oscar for worst president to george w. bush. >> yeah, i mean, you make a very strong case. i think one

. >> they'll be distressed to think they are the intellectual step children of donald rumsfeld, who thoughtould replace people with machines and win all the wars we need to win, and that's just not true. >> what about those who point to the inflated budget, that some of the lists of things the military says they need at one point in time, we find they don't use. i want to read briefly, politico points out, if congress doesn't like it, hagel said they should try sequestration, fall back into place as they would in 2016, under current law, the air force would also lose all of its extender tankers, block 40 model global august drones and slow purchases of its f-35a, lose more ships, including aircraft carrier, and delay it's 5-35c. there are some things most people don't know what they look like, some of those things are not needed. >> that's true, but most people don't realize the genesis of those kinds of programs are not in the military establishment, but in the congress. there are lots of villains here. what we have to make sure is we have a balanced force to meet the requirements of a cou

. >> and the previous president and advisors had a ton of experience in foreign policy, rumsfeld and cheney. >> yes. and one of the things that faces anyone who is president is the unexpected i mean you don't know the context when obama first came to prominence, it didn't seem as though the things that were going to face him were the things that actually did face him, the financial crisis was, you know, no one knew that was going to happen when he began his campaign, but suddenly he is president and his job to -- >> rose: let me move to in having experience and different times of background, what qualities make a great president? from all the presidents you guys have known or studies, what makes a great president? you know, one of them you have to say is compassion, because this is a country where it is not a country of complete justice, it is a country in which there always has been a large measure of injustice, which resists until today so when you have a lyndon johnson said, poverty, i grew up in poverty, i am going to make war on poverty, you feel that, you know, when he was a bo

they were so thrilled that he was not rumsfeld, they did not ask the really hard questions.ot of those pertained to his past activities. the iranvolved in contra. he was a very prominent figure in the cia at the time. they required intelligence that .ran was somehow moderating that intelligence was, conveniently, forthcoming. >> former capitol hill staffer, mike lofgren, writes about washington in "the party is over ," tonight on "q&a." >> c-span, we bring public affairs events from washington directly to you, putting you in the room at congressional hearings, white house events, briefings and conferences, offering complete gavel-to-gavel coverage of the u.s. house. by thec-span, created cable tv industry 30 five years ago, funded by your local cable or satellite provider. follow us on twitter. facebook. >> "washington journal" continues. host: all they hear we are covering the winter meeting of the nga. one of those participants is iowa governor, terry branstad. guest: thank you for having me this morning. host: earlier this year you announced seeking a sixth term. are you

secretary rumsfeld wanted to cut two army divisions. what happened? we end up in iran rack and afghanistan. we had to add two army decisions. they don't understand you don't always get to pick your wars. dream of technological solution to warfare is still that, a dream. i will tell you that the administration has of slashing army because we want to make sure we don't have the capability to do long-term occupations that is like canceling your fire insurance to prevent a fire. it makes no sense. eric: you talk about slashing, let's look at some of the numbers. right now we're at 520,000 active members of the military. they could potentially go down 100,000 or so. >> yes. eric: 440 to 450,000. colonel, look at our adversaries rivals, enemies. china, 2.2 million active duty members. that is five or six times more. north korea, 1.2 million. russia, double, 800,000? we would be below, ready for this, we would be below turkey. turkey has 510,000. we would be egypt, 43thousand. would be above miramar, 40thousand. what does it mean the united states of america

is no longer on war footing and reshaping the military is even something donald rumsfeld wanted to do. 11:00 am pacific time disabled veterans officials will be testifying on capitol hill. you can be sure charlie and norah, this will bealready be an issue. >> thank you. >>> some delta passengers arriving from london last night were accidentally allowed to skip cut customs and immigration screenings. these photos were taken by the husband of a cbs employee when airport workers realized the mistake, flyers were sent through proper screening but several had already walked off. delta airlines tells cbs news quote, it's aware of reports thatty small number of customers were able to bypass customs screening. >>> meteorologist megan glaros of our chicago station, wbbm says much of the west is gearing up for heavy rain. >> good morning, charlie and norah. good morning to our viewers in the west. two storm systems will target the west coast over the course of the next few days. the first coming into play on wednesday. so, tomorrow expecting possible heavy rain and mountain snows as the first s

i was kind of a metaphor that don rumsfeld went to sinuous record.defend that one of his snowflakes. do you agree with that? >> i do. that is one of the things i said at the oxford union that we have to be sent to dave with our actions, not reading those who want to do harm against americans faster than we can take them out. and one of the things we will do in this administration and government is to develop and how we can address this in the homeland because we need to be sensitive to the fact that there are people who while they live in this country hate this country for various different reasons and want to do harm to others who feel disenchanted, disassociated, disconnected and are influenced by forces under control. we need to try to address that audience are some way or another to get this exact issue. i think i want to, and i know others want to in our government, begin thinking about this issue. we started developing ideas for how he can go about doing a better job. >> speaking personally commend not amount to underscore the last part is awes

. >> remember donald rumsfeld got blow black when he said old europe. old europe and new europe.bigger deal if everything is equal. last night was jay leno's last night. >> i know. after years of bringing so many laughs, he actually gave everybody his heart and got choked up. take a listen. >> this has been the greatest 22 years of my life. first year of the show i lost my mom. second year i lost my dad. then my brother died. and after that i was pretty much out of family. and the folks here became my family. in closing i want to quote johnny carson who was the greatest guy to ever do this job. he said, i bid you all a heart felt -- >> the way he talked about the personal tragedy that he went through in the first couple of years of the job, when you watch the show, you never knew that. >> no. >> he knew his job was to make us laugh and he did that for 22 years and did he a great job. america loved him. hollywood loved him. he was based there in burbank. here are a number of celebrities giving some advice to mr. leno as he looks past burbank. >> do what i do. use your down time to

petraeus.that with they were so thrilled he wasn't rumsfeld they did not ask the really hard questions a lot of those pertained to his past activities. he was involved around contra. he was a prominent figure in the cia at the time. they required intelligence that iran was somehow moderating and that intelligence was common. >> sunday night at eight on c-span's "q&a." >> the meaning of this spell -- of this bill announces the 22nd annual sale -- >> this universal declaration of human rights may well become the international magna carta of all men everywhere. >> the equal rights amendment will not be an instant solution to women's problem. >> i am trying to find my way through it and trying to figure out how to best be true to myself and fulfill my responsibilities to my husband and my daughter and the country. >> what they may not have imagined, looking at the white house from the outside, is it is a very normal life upstairs. >> i try to wring a little bit of michelle obama into this, but at the same time respecting and in valuing the traditions that is america. final two-hour program

secretary rumsfeld famously said to a soldier you go to war with the army you have. and that's true. but what i add is then you better make it into the army that you need as fast as you can. and that's what i think we did not do. >> yeah. i have to ask you this. you mentioned in the book and i think i have this right that your good friend, brent scocroft, a very senior national security official with then-bush 41, i think it was, the first bushed administration, opposed the invasion in iraq. and i was wondering, you never really address that issue as far as you're concerned in this book. had you been asked, had you been part of the administration then, would you have supported the iraq war? >> well, i say in the last chapter sort of summing up in reflections that i don't know. it's hard for me to say what i would have advocated in 2003. i, like a lot of people in the congress and most other countries in the world, initially all accepted the argument that saddam had weapons of mass destruction. that's how u.n. security council resolution 1441 got passed. the intellige

i think the military brought in to what was being ease spoused by secretary rumsfeld. there were plans on the shelf that said we needed 300,000 troop and so forth. it was under a different commander. the current was all in. he was okay with i think the advise. i think the the bigger issue. how can we train and educate our leaders when they pin on four star and give better advise. it goes to the professional military education system in this country and need to have rigorous extensive professional military education that counts in an officer's career. ..