| Speaker | Time | Text |
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unidentified
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Coming up this morning on Washington Journal, your calls and comments live. | |
| And then we'll talk about today's parade commemorating the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary with pollster and communications strategist Frank Lunt. | ||
| And we'll continue the discussion with Charles Bowery, Executive Director of the U.S. Army Center of Military History. | ||
| Washington Journal is next. | ||
| Join the conversation. | ||
| Good morning. | ||
| It's Saturday, June 14th. | ||
| The exchange of missiles over the Middle East continues today following Israel's attack targeting Iran's nuclear infrastructure, scientists, and military leaders. | ||
| More than 70 people have been killed there. | ||
| In turn, Iranian missiles have hit at least seven sites around Tel Aviv, with at least three deaths and multiple injuries reported. | ||
| Meanwhile, here in the U.S., a military parade celebrating the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary is set to roll through the streets of Washington as millions across the country are expected to protest in opposition to the president's actions. | ||
| This morning, we're getting your thoughts on those two issues, the Israel-Iran conflict and the Army parade. | ||
| Here are the numbers. | ||
| Republicans, 202-748-8001. | ||
| Democrats, 202-748-8000. | ||
| And Independents, 202-748-8002. | ||
| You can send a text to 202-748-8003. | ||
| Be sure to include your first name in your city-state. | ||
| And we're on Facebook at facebook.com/slash C-SPAN and X at C-SPANWJ. | ||
| Welcome to today's Washington Journal. | ||
| We'll start with the headlines, the front pages of the major newspapers. | ||
| Here's the Washington Post. | ||
| Iran retaliates with no end in sight. | ||
| Israel says it intercepted most missiles. | ||
| Both sides accuse the other of crossing red lines. | ||
| Here's the front page of the New York Times. | ||
| Missiles fly across the Middle East. | ||
| Barrage from Israel hits nuclear site but misses fuel. | ||
| Quote, they started a war, Ayatollah says, as Iran fires back. | ||
| And here's the Wall Street Journal. | ||
| Iran retaliates after Israeli attack. | ||
| Missiles are fired at Tel Aviv after strikes hit Tehran brass and nuclear program. | ||
| And this is a story of an explosion in Tel Aviv on Friday. | ||
| Let's take a look at what Prime Minister, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said in a statement early yesterday morning about Iran's nuclear threat to Israel and to the United States. | ||
| I want to assure the civilized world, we will not let the world's most dangerous regime get the world's most dangerous weapons. | ||
| And Iran plans to give those weapons, nuclear weapons, to its terrorist proxies. | ||
| That would make the nightmare of nuclear terrorism all too real. | ||
| The increasing range of Iran's ballistic missiles would bring that nuclear nightmare to the cities of Europe and eventually to America. | ||
| Remember, Iran calls Israel the small Satan. | ||
| It calls America the Great Satan. | ||
| And this is why for decades, it's led millions in the chance of death to Israel and death to America. | ||
| Today, Israel is responding to those genocidal calls with action and with a call of our own. | ||
| Long live Israel and long live America. | ||
| Our action will help make the world a much safer place. | ||
| I want to thank President Trump for his leadership in confronting Iran's nuclear weapons program. | ||
| He has made clear time and again that Iran cannot have a nuclear enrichment program. | ||
| Today, it is clear that Iran is just buying for time. | ||
| It refuses to agree to this basic requirement of peaceful nations. | ||
| That is why we have no choice but to act and act now. | ||
| Prime Minister Netanyahu, take a look at this opinion by opinion columnist Tom Friedman of the New York Times. | ||
| This is what he says: The full-scale Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear infrastructure on Friday needs to be added to the list of pivotal game-changing wars that have reshaped the Middle East since World War II. | ||
| He says it's far too early, and the possible outcome is so multifold to say how the Middle East Game of Nations will be changed by the Israel-Iran conflict. | ||
| All I would say now is that the extreme upside possibility, which is that this puts in motion a set of falling dominoes, ending with the toppling of the Iranian regime and its replacement by a more decent, secular, and consensual one, and the extreme downside possibility that it sets the whole region on fire and sucks in the United States, are both on the table. | ||
| Wonder what you think of that and what you think the possible outcome of this would be. | ||
| Let's go to the phones to Pat in Brick, New Jersey, Republican. | ||
| Good morning, Pat. | ||
|
unidentified
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Hi, good morning, America. | |
| Happy Flag Day. | ||
| Happy 250 years for the Army, for God and country. | ||
| Happy birthday, President Trump, and happy Father's Day to all. | ||
| Thank you, Israel, for Liberation Day for the Iranian people and the West. | ||
| Don't ever forget October 7th. | ||
| How did we get here? | ||
| The Iran nuclear deer was funded by Barack Obama and Joe Biden, who have a lot of blood on their hands. | ||
| May God have mercy. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| Here's Bethany in Florida. | ||
| Democrat, good morning, Bethany. | ||
|
unidentified
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Yes, good morning. | |
| I'd like to say long live Iran and the courage that they have to take on Israel, to stop them from tearing up the Middle East and committing all of the murder and genocide across those nations. | ||
| I'm so sad as a veteran to see that America is being dragged into this ugly mess. | ||
|
unidentified
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This is what Israel wanted. | |
| We have blood on our hands, and we've got to stop it. | ||
| We've got to stop Israel. | ||
| It is the most racist nation on the face of this earth. | ||
| Long live the Palestinians. | ||
| Long live Iranians. | ||
| Fight. | ||
| All right, Bethany. | ||
| And here's what the Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a statement yesterday. | ||
| They said this. | ||
| The Zionist regime's acts of aggression against Iran could not have been carried out without the coordination and approval of the United States. | ||
| Consequently, the U.S. government, as the primary patron of this regime, will also bear responsibility for the dangerous repercussions of the Zionist regime's reckless actions. | ||
| Here is Herbert, Michigan, Independent Line. | ||
| Good morning. | ||
|
unidentified
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Good morning. | |
| I agree with your last caller, except for one thing. | ||
| I don't think killing people is the right way to go. | ||
| I believe that, first of all, this is all because of Donald Trump. | ||
| We had an agreement with Iran, and he pulled out. | ||
| He said it was a terrible agreement. | ||
| Well, we had inspectors in their plants. | ||
| We knew what they were doing. | ||
| He pulled out of this agreement, and now look where we are. | ||
| This is all because of his racist ways. | ||
| He did the same thing with trade. | ||
| We were in the TPP, all because Obama negotiated these deals he pulled out. | ||
| And now look where we're at. | ||
| All these nations that were in the TPP are making deals. | ||
| And now we're on the outside looking at Donald Trump is our biggest problem. | ||
| We need to get rid of him. | ||
| Bottom line. | ||
| All right, here is Al in Plymouth, Massachusetts, Republican line. | ||
| Al, you're on the air. | ||
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unidentified
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Where it all started, Plymouth, Mass. | |
| You know, I want to remind people: Israel was established by the United Nations in 1948, and most Arab nations declared war on them. | ||
| They haven't had peace since their existence. | ||
| The left-wing media complex and those in the elite universities are ignoring that, and they're dug into their arrogance rather than leading, you know, if you're a religious person, if you believe in Christ, he returns to defend Israel when the whole world comes against Israel. | ||
| So if you believe in that, that's what's going to happen if you believe in Christ. | ||
| All right, Al. | ||
| And here's the other news story: the parade. | ||
| Today is the 250th anniversary of the founding of the U.S. Army. | ||
| Here's NPR that says, by the numbers, a look at the Army's 250th anniversary parade on Trump's birthday. | ||
| It says, in a few days, which is today, the nation's capital will host its largest military parade in decades. | ||
| There'll be thousands of marching soldiers, rows of tanks, parachute jumps, and flyovers. | ||
| The Army has been preparing for this celebration for over a year. | ||
| It says, Trump said in a video posted on Instagram earlier this month, quote, we'll celebrate a spectacular military parade in Washington, D.C. like no other. | ||
| Here is Sandra, North Carolina, Independent Line. | ||
| Good morning. | ||
|
unidentified
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Good morning. | |
| So today, I just want to say that today we got King Charles. | ||
| It's a royal military parade. | ||
| And Trump's throwing himself one to like we're living in the deleted scene from the fall of empires. | ||
| Meanwhile, Iran and Israel are trading missiles. | ||
| And at this point, I don't know if I'm watching geopolitics or a dystopian birthday party for egomaniacs. | ||
| Either way, the rest of us are just trying to survive the confetti. | ||
| Have a good day. | ||
| And we had Ezra Levin. | ||
| He's a leader of one of the groups that is organizing the nationwide No Kings Day that's happening today. | ||
| And here he was on the program yesterday. | ||
| Here's a portion of what he said. | ||
|
unidentified
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Look, when we heard that Donald Trump was planning a military birthday parade for himself that would cost $100 million of taxpayer dollars, your money, my money, everybody who's watching your taxpayer dollars, we were shocked. | |
| I mean, that's not the kind of thing we've seen in America. | ||
| It's the kind of thing you would more likely see in North Korea. | ||
| And that's really dangerous. | ||
| What we know from the experts in authoritarianism is would-be authoritarians want to project strength like this. | ||
| They want to show that they are the supreme leader. | ||
| And we couldn't let that stand. | ||
| We didn't want to play into Trump's hands. | ||
| We didn't want some kind of counter-protest of that parade. | ||
| We didn't want to give him the narrative device that he could say we're protesting the military. | ||
| So instead, we said, look, Donald Trump can have downtown D.C. for his little birthday parade. | ||
| We're going to organize peacefully, joyfully, boisterously, and powerfully everywhere else. | ||
| And on Saturday, there are going to be more than 2,000 locally led, peaceful protests for No Kings Day, not just in the big city centers, but in places like Homer, Alaska, in Winnebago, Wisconsin, in Eureka, Montana, in small towns and cities across the country. | ||
| People are standing up and saying, we don't do kings in America. | ||
| And we are going to be covering one of those protest rallies in Philadelphia this afternoon. | ||
| Representative Jamie Raskin and American Federation of Teachers President Randy Weingart and others will be speaking at that rally in Philadelphia, protesting President Trump and his administration. | ||
| The rally is part of that larger, what organizers are calling No Kings Day to coincide with the military parade in DC today. | ||
| You can watch that live starting at 1 p.m. Eastern here on C-SPAN. | ||
| It's on C-SPAN now and it's on our free mobile video app. | ||
| Just in case you want to see the website and find out more about that, it's called nokings.org and there is a map on the website where you can see some of the rallies and get more information. | ||
| It's interactive so you can press on it and find out the information, the time, and the location. | ||
| Also, today, just so you know that we are covering that military parade. | ||
| So that gets underway at 6 p.m. today on C-SPAN. | ||
| So today is the 250th anniversary of the parade. | ||
| We're going to show you the parade. | ||
| It will go from the Lincoln Memorial over to the ellipse, which is just south of the White House. | ||
| There's going to be Army equipment, flyovers, nearly 7,000 soldiers in uniforms from past and present marching down the street. | ||
| Again, that begins at 6 p.m. Eastern. | ||
| We'll look at the Army's history along with sights and sounds from key points around the parade route. | ||
| And it will end with a parachute demonstration by the Army's Golden Knights and a concert and fireworks. | ||
| So that's all here on C-SPAN. | ||
| But we're getting your opinion of that and of the Israel-Iran conflict. | ||
| Here is Juan in Kansas. | ||
| Democrat, good morning. | ||
|
unidentified
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Good morning. | |
| This is Juan Houston, flying to Canada. | ||
| Just want to say that people forget the truth. | ||
| The truth is that the British rounded up the remnant of the Jews there in Europe and brought them to Palestine. | ||
| Palestine has been occupied ever since. | ||
| The Israelis have killed all the Palestinians, and what's left is just Gaza. | ||
| They violate all the agreements that were made. | ||
| They're now going into the Golan Heights. | ||
| I mean, they've gone into the Golan Heights, they've gone into the West Bank. | ||
| They bulldozed everything, and they just said, okay, the country has been stolen from the people who own the country, and that is the Palestinians. | ||
| It's a shame the UN did not give them a state. | ||
| And so the Palestinians have been betrayed from the beginning. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| Here's Kim. | ||
| Alexandria, Minnesota, Republican line. | ||
| Kim, you're on the air. | ||
|
unidentified
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Hi. | |
| Yeah, it does sound like it's going to be an extreme parade thing, and I think money could be spent better. | ||
| I think this world is nothing like a chess game. | ||
| We sit there and talk about Israel. | ||
| The one man mentioned that this is what Israel wanted. | ||
| I don't think they wanted it. | ||
| This conflict's been going on for thousands of years. | ||
| Israel was originally the people. | ||
| We're where they are now. | ||
| It was promised to them. | ||
| And then the man that was talking about Jesus, it is prophesied Jesus will have, he will step down, and with a breath, he's going to annihilate everybody that doesn't believe in him. | ||
| All the nations will gather against Israel. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| And here's Mark, Groton, Massachusetts, Independent Line. | ||
|
unidentified
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Hey, good morning again. | |
| How are you doing today? | ||
| Good. | ||
|
unidentified
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I'm just trying to get my thoughts together. | |
| I just turned you guys on. | ||
| So, yeah, my name is Mark Croto from Massachusetts. | ||
| I'm kind of a regular caller, and I find both parties. | ||
| I find the Democrats disgusting and the Republicans repulsive and stuff. | ||
| I'm a left-leaning independent. | ||
| But, you know, when I first turned you on, I thought it was not hearing correctly because I was a couple rooms away. | ||
| Somebody said, long live Iran. | ||
| A Democrat said, long live Iran. | ||
| I don't know. | ||
| And Jamie Raskin and the Dems are having a parade today or protest, whatever. | ||
| I'm just wondering, what do the Democrats stand for? | ||
| You know, I don't know. | ||
| I've been trying to talk to people about the dangers of the national debt for 30 years, 35 years. | ||
| Nobody seems to be paying attention. | ||
| All these conservatives and Republicans, they brag about Trump. | ||
| Oh, yeah, he's going to, oh, he's going to fix the. | ||
| Yeah, I'd like to address Speaker Johnson. | ||
| Speaker Mike, are you out there and your conservative friends? | ||
| What happened with your, oh, I thought you guys were going to cut the deficit and the debt and pay off the debt. | ||
| All right, Mike, we're going to focus on the Iran-Israel escalation and the parade here in D.C. | ||
| And this is Angela in Conowingo, Maryland. | ||
| Democrat, good morning. | ||
|
unidentified
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Good morning. | |
| Yes, I wanted to wish a happy 250th to the Army. | ||
| If it wasn't for the Army, I wouldn't be here. | ||
| My family's going back with the Army in military and civil service since World War II. | ||
| I think it's kind of disgusting the way Trump is politicizing the military, firing the upper echelons and putting Marines in California. | ||
| I don't believe he understands the military. | ||
| He told General Kelly that. | ||
| General Kelly said he was standing over the grave of his son who's buried in Arlington. | ||
| And Trump said, I don't get it. | ||
| I don't get it. | ||
| What's in it for them? | ||
| Well, maybe if he'd have been raised around the military and civil service, he'd understand what's in it for them. | ||
| I feel really bad that they have this horrible commander-in-chief, but I wish them all the best. | ||
| I love the Army, and I'll watch the parade today, and I'll mute it when Trump speaks. | ||
| Thank you, Mimi. | ||
| Here's Keith in Twin Falls, Idaho, Republican line. | ||
| Good morning, Keith. | ||
|
unidentified
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Good morning. | |
| Hey, what everybody else said, they're full of crap. | ||
| Trump's doing the right thing. | ||
| It's just, you know, you got to have some brass cohonus, and you know what that means. | ||
| But there's one thing I want to tell you: and get it around. | ||
| We know what the Democrats were, they stand from the Civil War prior up to now. | ||
| All they're doing is trading the blacks for the Mexicans. | ||
| By the way, I come from San Diego. | ||
| I was stationed at Camp Pendleton. | ||
| I got 30 years in the Marine Corps under my belt, seven tours in different areas, not just over in the kitty box. | ||
| So, power to him. | ||
| They need to start dropping a few flies. | ||
| This is The Associated Press did a poll about the parade. | ||
| It says that more adults approve than disapprove of Trump's decision to hold a military parade. | ||
| Overall, 40% approve, 29% disapprove, 31 are neither. | ||
| It says less than half say the military parade is a good use of government funds. | ||
| So only 38% think it's a good use of funds. | ||
| 60% say it's not a good use of funds. | ||
| Wonder what you think of that. | ||
| If you'd like to weigh in, this is Hattie, a Democrat in Beaumont, Texas. | ||
| Good morning. | ||
|
unidentified
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Yes, good morning. | |
| I care about what's going on with Israel and the war over there. | ||
| I sympathize. | ||
| I sympathize for all innocent people that are going to be affected on both sides. | ||
| But I also care about our democracy, how it's being eroded. | ||
| So my main concern is what's happening over here. | ||
| And people are not realizing that they're losing their right. | ||
| And Hattie, what do you think of the parade happening later today? | ||
|
unidentified
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All for the military. | |
| My father, I had a father, three brothers in the military. | ||
| They need to be celebrated. | ||
| Trump's birthday should not be connected with that. | ||
| All right. | ||
| And what you're seeing on the screen is those military vehicles coming into town by rail. | ||
| Those are that's courtesy of the Defense Department video. | ||
| And this is Mimi in Los Angeles, Independent Line. | ||
| Good morning. | ||
|
unidentified
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For Mimi? | |
| Yes. | ||
| Hi, Mimi. | ||
|
unidentified
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Oh, I'm so sorry. | |
| Okay, I would love to make two quick points. | ||
| I'm a little offended by Democrats not understanding the land, Israel, and God. | ||
| Jesus is coming to redeem that. | ||
| It's not a political thing. | ||
| And in fact, Israel is really referring to the people, the descendants of Jacob, also known as Israel. | ||
| He is coming for the Jews as the Christians to be reunited under a new earth. | ||
| And it's a symbolic holy city, Jerusalem. | ||
| Now, that aside, the military parade is unfortunate, but the real military parade, the army parade, was, I think it's more, oh my gosh, well, it's going to be in Lawson. | ||
| Lawscent, I believe, I'm sorry. | ||
| The point is that original parade is going to be canceled because of this rouhaha that Trump wants, that pushed this actual parade aside because of all of the disruptions, the protests that's taken place nationwide. | ||
| So they're going to be canceled. | ||
| And it's just kind of sad. | ||
| We lost Mimi there. | ||
| This is Michael in Smithfield, North Carolina, Republican. | ||
| Hey, Michael. | ||
|
unidentified
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Hey, Mimi. | |
| I tell you what, that fresh cut on your hair list also. | ||
| Oh, I got a cut earlier. | ||
| You didn't notice. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Well, the thing of it is, I've had a horrible week. | |
| Nothing bad, but just not much television time like I normally have in the morning. | ||
| This is the first C-SPAN I've seen of Washington Journal since probably last Friday or Thursday of over a week ago. | ||
| So I haven't seen your new hairdo, but it's spectacular, and I love it. | ||
| Thank you, Michael. | ||
| So what do you think of what's going on in the world? | ||
|
unidentified
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Well, the world needs Jesus more than ever, and that's why Iran has got to be stopped. | |
| Iran cannot have nuclear weapons because you're talking about millions of people losing their life with maybe just one good enough size nuclear warhead on any kind of rocket or missile. | ||
| So we're talking about saving millions of lives. | ||
| We're talking about decades of fallout, nuclear fallout not happening. | ||
| If Iran gets a nuclear weapon, they're going to use it. | ||
| They're going to worship that weapon in the public streets. | ||
| They are going to use it immediately against Israel. | ||
| And, Michael, do you think the negotiations with the nuclear negotiations with the United States was a useful thing to do? | ||
| Should that have been continued? | ||
|
unidentified
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Well, we tried. | |
| We tried. | ||
| And if we're not going to give them briefcases full of money, they don't want anything to do with it. | ||
| They really don't. | ||
| They want a one-way bargaining table. | ||
| They want cash. | ||
| They want currency so they can hire more terrorists, train more terrorists, have more explosive vests. | ||
| And it's just a matter of time. | ||
| If we don't do something now, I'm 50 years old. | ||
| And if we don't do something now, in my lifetime, there'll be major terrorism over here in the States, like with car bombings and explosive vests in public. | ||
| I'm really fearful of Iran. | ||
| And Iran's just a puppet of all the other communist countries. | ||
| And, you know, China sits back and Russia sits back and really enjoys it. | ||
| I really think they do. | ||
| I like President Xi. | ||
| I don't think she is as bad as Putin because she's more of a businessman. | ||
| I really believe that. | ||
| I believe she's more of a businessman than he is a military leader. | ||
| All right, Michael. | ||
| We'll talk to you in a month. | ||
| Here is the Associated Press reporting breaking news saying Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson has called further nuclear talks with the United States, quote, meaningless after Israeli strikes on the country, state television says, but stop short of calling them off. | ||
| The next round of talks between the two nations was scheduled for tomorrow. | ||
| Here is Kevin, Granville, Ohio Democrat. | ||
| Hi, Kevin. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Hello. | |
| Thank you for having me on. | ||
| First, I just want to say that I'd watched them all at the United Nations this morning, you know, talking about everything that happened. | ||
| And it's just, it's incredible that people don't realize that they are publicly telling them that they are going to destroy Israel day by day, and it's the United States along with them. | ||
| And we have something going on in this country right now where we have forgotten one of the great things that they said is that United We Stand and Divided We Fall. | ||
| They're trying to separate us. | ||
| They're trying to make us all fight against each other. | ||
| Who's trying to get us to fight? | ||
|
unidentified
|
I'm not really sure who it is, but there's so much dismay. | |
| And I'm not a big fan of President Trump. | ||
| But one of the things that I think that's happened is people are emboldened now. | ||
| They're willing to say things that they just normally would have reserve and think about and think about the other person. | ||
| And we need to remember that we're all humans. | ||
| And as far as the parade today, we are a great military power. | ||
| And that's the only thing that has made people listen in this world. | ||
| Lots of times we would like to reason with people, but there's nothing that we can do if they will not listen to reason. | ||
| All right, Kevin. | ||
| Well, President Trump talked about today's military parade earlier this week with reporters in the Oval Office and offered a warning to any would-be protesters. | ||
| I just think it's amazing. | ||
| We're going to have a fantastic June 14th parade flag day. | ||
| It's going to be an amazing day. | ||
| We have tanks, we have planes, we have all sorts of things. | ||
| And I think it's going to be great. | ||
| We're going to celebrate our country for a change. | ||
| You know, recently, as you know, with World War II, the victory of World War II, I called up France and they were celebrating the victory. | ||
| Well, we helped them a lot, as you know. | ||
| I don't have to get into that. | ||
| But I called up other countries. | ||
| They were all celebrating the victory. | ||
| We're the only country that didn't celebrate their victory. | ||
| And we're the one that won the war. | ||
| Okay, if it wasn't for us that war, you would be speaking German right now, okay? | ||
| We won the war, and you might be speaking Japanese, too. | ||
| I mean, you might be speaking a combination of both. | ||
| We won the war, and we're the only country that didn't celebrate it. | ||
| And we're going to be celebrating big on Saturday. | ||
| We're going to have a lot of, and if there's any protester wants to come out, they will be met with very big force. | ||
| By the way, for those people that want to protest, they're going to be met with very big force. | ||
| And I haven't even heard about a protest, but, you know, this is people that hate our country, but they will be met with very heavy force. | ||
| We're talking this morning about two things, the parade scheduled for later today for the U.S. Army and the escalation between Israel and Iran. | ||
| Also, the Huffington Post is reporting this. | ||
| Marines carry out first known detention of civilian in LA ICE protests. | ||
| It says the troops are authorized to detain people who pose a threat to federal personnel or property, but only until police can arrest them. | ||
| That's at the Huffington Post, if you'd like to see that. | ||
| And this is Alicia in Flint, Michigan, Independent Line. | ||
|
unidentified
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I'm calling because I don't have a problem with Trump's parade, but I do want to say that I'd love to be in the room where the Chinese Communist Party leaders are going to be watching our parade. | |
| Also in Moscow, where Putin and his folks are going to be watching the parade. | ||
| People, Americans are just so uninformed. | ||
| They cannot see beyond their Bible. | ||
| Do you think Xi Jinping really cares about what Jesus prophesied, what's prophesied in the Bible? | ||
| No. | ||
| They're getting ready to take over Taiwan. | ||
| They're probably sitting back and saying, yeah, go ahead, show us all your wares. | ||
| We know how they all work because we've infiltrated and have had spies and that sort of thing. | ||
| We know what's behind every piece of equipment that's going to be going down the road today. | ||
| And therefore, in about three months, we're ready to invade Taiwan. | ||
| People need to look beyond the United States. | ||
| This is the entire planet Earth. | ||
| And what I'm concerned about with the war that has been started in the Middle East again is the rogue actors. | ||
| Again, Iran, North Korea, those are our threats, folks. | ||
| Those are the threats to the United States of America. | ||
| And do we have somebody who's capable in the position of commander-in-chief to address those issues? | ||
| I don't think so. | ||
| So Alicia, do you, since you say that Iran is a threat to the United States, do you welcome Israel's actions? | ||
|
unidentified
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No, I do not. | |
| I think they stirred something up. | ||
| Did we have, you know, what I'd really like to know is what is the intelligence that the International Atomic Agency that put out the report the day before that said they were so close to being able to enrich uranium to the point of putting it on the tip of a missile. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Isn't that a United Nations-funded organization? | |
| I'd really like to dig deeper into the intelligence that said Iran was ready to, you know, basically send a nuke towards Israel. | ||
| I don't have a problem with Israel defending itself, but I think they're doing it for their own. | ||
| Again, these countries on this planet look at their own internal political situations and act aggressively towards others on this planet to save themselves. | ||
| Got it. | ||
| Here is in Clearwater, Florida on the Republican line. | ||
| Andrew, good morning. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good morning. | |
| I just wanted to comment on the parade that's going to be happening. | ||
| I, for one, am actually very happy to see the parade happening. | ||
| In so many ways, I think Trump really nailed it on the head when he was describing why it would be a good thing to do. | ||
| We have, as Republicans and constitutionalists, we have put up with for a very long time this very strong undertone from Democrats and liberals of a self-hatred for America, just constantly, you know, at their rallies, whether it be BLM or whether it be the latest No Kings riots. | ||
| They like to burn American flags. | ||
| They like to talk down about America. | ||
| And, you know, we're used to seeing that from Democrats. | ||
| And we're kind of, we've been tired of it. | ||
| And so to do something actually opposite to that, to be proud of our country in a public way, not just privately hanging an American flag on our door showing our patriotism, but to actually take part in a parade where we're displaying that we love our country. | ||
| That's completely the opposite angle that Democrats like to push publicly. | ||
| And so it would be very refreshing for all of us to see that we're all on the same page together in a public space. | ||
| All right, Andrew. | ||
| And some numbers for you from that article from NPR about the parade expected to cost the U.S. Army is estimating the cost to be between $25 and $45 million. | ||
| It's going to depend on how much repair is needed to DC streets since tanks and other heavy armored vehicles tend to damage roads. | ||
| More than 6,000 soldiers from every Army division are expected to participate in the parade. | ||
| And it says the parade will feature 49 aircraft, 128 vehicles, 25 horses, two mules, and one dog, not counting the historic aircraft and vehicles also set to appear according to the Army. | ||
| Jasper, Memphis, Tennessee, Democrat, good morning. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good morning. | |
| I want to talk about the war between Israel and Iran. | ||
| Yes, go right ahead. | ||
|
unidentified
|
I hear a lot of, ma'am? | |
| Yes, go ahead. | ||
|
unidentified
|
I hear a lot of these Republicans always want to stand up for Israel. | |
| But Israel is the one that's been starting that war in the Middle East for years. | ||
| They kept pushing their Palestine back in their area. | ||
| They kept taking their land. | ||
| They kept cutting off supplies. | ||
| The people got tired and they retaliated. | ||
| Now, I want to talk about this parade on a 22-year vet, two combat tours. | ||
| This is an embarrassment to us. | ||
| And these Republicans let this stuff happen. | ||
| It's downright sickening. | ||
| No man has been in the war, Doug Buddhist, crawled through rice paddies. | ||
| We don't want to see that stuff, stuff like that out there on the street. | ||
| It is a letdown to us. | ||
| Now, this guy here, Tamal, what he has done, he is one of the cows that ran from the war. | ||
| We are real people. | ||
| We don't want to actually fight for the rights of this country. | ||
| We don't want no showboat up there. | ||
| That's all he is, a showboat. | ||
| And for all of these Republicans, come up there that they are Christians. | ||
| They are not Christians. | ||
| Those are the fake ones the Bible talk about. | ||
| And that's all I got to say. | ||
| Tanya in Maryland, Republican Line, you're next. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Hi. | |
| Hi, good morning. | ||
| I would say Trump is the best. | ||
| He's the perfect chief and commander for these times that we are living in. | ||
| And, you know, as far as with the parade, I would like, you know, for all patriotic Americans to be there in support of this country of 250 years. | ||
| It hasn't been perfect. | ||
| I'm not going to say that. | ||
| But, you know, be there in support of Donald Trump. | ||
| He's the perfect person for this job. | ||
| And as far as with the lady that called in and said something about, you know, what does the Bible have to do with nowadays that, you know, what Xi Ji Ping believes in and all of that. | ||
| Well, if she read the book of Ezekiel 38, it tells you the specific countries that were going to come after, that were going to be enemy combatants of the United States. | ||
| Ezekiel 38, it's right there in plain, plain, just plain as day. | ||
| So go out and support the red, white, and blue and get these foreigners. | ||
| Tanya, are you going to the parade since you're in Maryland? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Yes, yes, indeed. | |
| I will be there. | ||
| I would not encourage people to be there if I wouldn't, you know, wouldn't be there. | ||
| What's good for the goose is good for the gander. | ||
| So all right. | ||
| Got it. | ||
| And here is Eric, North Carolina, Independent Line. | ||
| Good morning. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good morning. | |
| How are you? | ||
| Good. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Oh, boy. | |
| First of all, I think Israel is wrong. | ||
| You know, I believe a basic right, and that is your rights and the other peoples began. | ||
| We have weapons. | ||
| Israel has weapons. | ||
| But we don't want other countries who may be a threat to us to have weapons. | ||
| And so we go on the offense. | ||
| I think that's the wrong move. | ||
| I think America is already involved, although our leader is not saying it. | ||
| I don't think Israel would attack if America, who's supposed to be in talks with Iran, objected to it. | ||
| As far as the parade, I think 4th of July is our country's birthday. | ||
| So I think this is all about the president. | ||
| And again, our president is lying to the people and he's giving a false narrative. | ||
| That's what I'm having. | ||
| I can say a whole bunch more, but that's what I'm going to say. | ||
| All right, Eric. | ||
| And we've got a post from Ambassador Mike Huckabee on X. | ||
| He is the U.S.'s ambassador to Israel. | ||
| He says this. | ||
| If you hear, quote, Israel is no concern to USA, remember, 700,000 Americans live in Israel. | ||
| That is equivalent to a full House district. | ||
| More Americans here than in any other country except Mexico. | ||
| Iran isn't just attacking Israel, but your fellow Americans who live here. | ||
| This is Roland in Glen Burney, Maryland. | ||
| Democrat, good morning. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you, McCall. | |
| I'm really trying to understand how Republicans, they seem to have more hatred for their fellow Americans just because they're Democrats or they don't see things the same way they do because everything always leads to Obama, Biden, Clinton, every other comment. | ||
| You notice Democrats stick to the issues. | ||
| Okay, well, let's stick to the issues, Roland. | ||
| What do you think of either the Iran-Israel conflict or the DC parade? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Well, to me, Trump's always fine is any issues that divides us, anything we don't agree on. | |
| Like I said, it's just basic point, basic. | ||
| The Constitution. | ||
| I mean, you remember the Constitution? | ||
| That's the one document that binds us all together. | ||
| And Democrats keep trying to remind us all this is this, you know, it's like a contract. | ||
| But Republicans keep trying to ignore it, keep pretending that document don't exist. | ||
| And if you say, if you raise your voice, say anything, it's all that. | ||
| So you don't like America. | ||
| You hate America. | ||
| We just try to stick to our traditions, our Democratic traditions. | ||
| How come everything that used to apply to Democrats don't apply no more to this man? | ||
| All right, Roland. | ||
| And White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt was asked about the president's threat towards would-be protesters at the Army parade. | ||
| Here's what she said. | ||
| In the president's comments yesterday, though, he just said protesters would be strongly dealt with. | ||
| In your list before, you referred to insurrectionists, rioters, and protesters together. | ||
| Obviously, they're quite different from your earlier answer. | ||
| I'm struck by the fact that the president has not at any point said the most important thing here is to protect the First Amendment rights of peaceful protesters. | ||
| So I'm wondering where in his hierarchy of interests does he place that? | ||
| Is the First Amendment protection the most important? | ||
| Is stopping violence most important? | ||
| Why is he not out saying all peaceful protesters will be protected? | ||
| I think two things can be important at the same time. | ||
| And the president, as I just answered, supports the right of Americans to peacefully protest. | ||
| He supports the First Amendment. | ||
| But that is not the majority of the behavior that we have seen taking place in Los Angeles. | ||
| We have seen mobs of violent rioters and agitators assaulting law enforcement officers, assaulting our federal immigration authorities. | ||
| And we have seen, as I said, this goes back to what this administration is trying to do and accomplish, and that's enforcing law and order in our nation's communities. | ||
| And it's removing public safety threats from communities in Los Angeles. | ||
| You're saying the majority have not been peaceful. | ||
| The majority have been lost. | ||
| I just read for you the arrest numbers. | ||
| We've arrested nearly 400 illegal aliens alone, just illegal aliens who have been arrested in these riots since June 6th, since they began the streets. | ||
| Yeah, and we've had hundreds of people who have assaulted law enforcement officers. | ||
| Are you saying that that's appropriate behavior? | ||
| Are you saying that? | ||
| I'm just trying to figure out. | ||
| The Democrat governor and the Democrat mayor of Los Angeles have failed their citizens. | ||
| And the majority of Americans, the majority of Californians, do not want to see law enforcement officers being assaulted in the streets. | ||
| And thankfully, the president took action and stepped in to protect our federal law enforcement agents, to protect federal buildings, to protect the federal mission of deporting illegal criminals off of our streets. | ||
| And that mission will continue every day as far as we're concerned. | ||
| We're taking your calls for another 15 minutes about the two issues, two biggest issues today, the conflict between Israel and Iran and the Army parade happening later today in D.C. | ||
| This is Ricardo in Easton, Pennsylvania, Independent Line. | ||
| Good morning. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good morning. | |
| Thank you for taking my call. | ||
| And I am an independent. | ||
| I'm not a Donald Trump supporter, but I am a devout Christian, specifically Quaker. | ||
| So yes, we are real. | ||
| We're not just the guy on the oatmeal box. | ||
| And therefore, I'm a devout pacifist. | ||
| And the conflict that's going on between Israel and Iran, I'm not supportive of. | ||
| And the Army parade that's going on in Washington, D.C., which is really just for Trump's vanity because today happens to be his birthday. | ||
| I'm not supportive of either. | ||
| A little while ago, you had a woman making a quote from Ezekiel and using this quote to justify conflict. | ||
| Well, I guess she forgets about if she calls herself a Christian when Christ said, blessed are the peacemakers. | ||
| If God loves us all equally and wants us all to love each other and help one another, not hurt and harm one another. | ||
| And that's the Christian way, and I believe that's the American way also. | ||
| And this idea that hurting people because they're different than you is somehow righteous is something that I believe very firmly is wrong. | ||
| All right, Ricardo. | ||
| This is Richard in Texas, Republican. | ||
| Hi, Richard. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Yeah, I want to just make a comment. | |
| I'm absolutely sick of hearing these moronic Democrats talk about democracy and the Constitution after the last four years. | ||
| Chuck Schumer lies every time he opens his mouth. | ||
| C-SPAN lies every time you open your mouth. | ||
| Thanks, Richard, for your input there. | ||
| And this is Lloyd in Whitestone, Virginia, Democrat. | ||
| Good morning. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good morning. | |
| It's a pleasure to be with you today and have a time to say something. | ||
| We need a unity today. | ||
| We need example being set today. | ||
| We need due process of law. | ||
| And we need to look up for the future of young people coming up here. | ||
| An example we're being set in there is not with the parade, example being set by showing how we can live our lives one with another. | ||
| We're going to be talking scripture. | ||
| We've got to live the example and be the peacemakers because the future is in the hands of young people. | ||
| And right now, we're not setting no kind of example whatsoever. | ||
| Please pray for me. | ||
| Here's Michael in Essex, Connecticut, Independent Line. | ||
| Good morning, Michael. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Hi, I want to point a couple things out that you've already showed multiple times here. | |
| The president standing in front of a bunch of soldiers, Army soldiers, cheering on Confederate soldiers. | ||
| When the president announced the name Robert E. Lee and the return of the name Robert E. Lee, the leader of the Confederacy, which fought against the United States of America, killed Americans. | ||
| Look at those soldiers standing behind him, cheering Robert E. Lee. | ||
| That's chilling to think that that's the future of our military. | ||
| That's the present military. | ||
| Apparently, the president cheering on and soldiers behind him cheering on military leaders from our past who seceded from the United States of America and killed Americans. | ||
| Chilling. | ||
| And now a parade today. | ||
| One of the things that made America great is we didn't have to brag about our power. | ||
| But now we're going to display our military might, our ability to kill at a time when this president, who praises Confederate soldiers, is cutting the budget. | ||
| And as a result, and I know you've had this information on in the past week, we now have a survey that shows Donald Trump's policies have resulted in the deaths of over 300,000 people around the world. | ||
| So while we're displaying our military might and our ability to kill Donald Trump, we now have the evidence that shows he's cutting the budget, killing some of the poorest people around the world, over 300,000 people dead because of Donald Trump's policies. | ||
| This is not a day to be proud, my friends. | ||
| This is not a day to be a proud American. | ||
| Think, look, listen, learn. | ||
| Stop all the praying. | ||
| Start accepting what we are. | ||
| And you need to stop it while you can. | ||
| And military.com has this article: Brag soldiers who cheered Trump's political attacks while in uniform were checked for allegiance and appearance. | ||
| It says, as Trump viciously attacked his perceived political foes, he whipped up booze from the gathered troops directed at California leaders, including Governor Gavin Newsom, amid the president's controversial move to deploy the National Guard, as well as former President Joe Biden and the press. | ||
| Those soldiers roared with laughter and applauded Trump's diatribe in a shocking and rare public display of troops taking part in naked political partnership. | ||
| It says that the troops ultimately selected to be behind Trump and visible to the cameras were almost exclusively male. | ||
| One unit-level message bluntly said, No fat soldiers. | ||
| Quote: If soldiers have political views that are in opposition to the current administration and they don't want to be in the audience, then they need to speak with their leadership and get swapped out. | ||
| Another note to the troop said. | ||
| This is Becky calling us from Smyrna, Tennessee. | ||
|
unidentified
|
I'm very proud for this parade. | |
| My father was a Korean and Vietnam veteran, 20 years. | ||
| He's a founding father since day one of the Army Museum that needed to be. | ||
| Nobody cares if there's like a billion people out there going to protest, but where was everybody when the Vietnamese, I mean, the Vietnam bits were coming home and getting spit on? | ||
| All my family has been born and bred military. | ||
| I've got a grandson. | ||
| That tank that's coming off right now. | ||
| That's what he drives. | ||
| He's been in the service four years, and we're waiting for him to come home. | ||
| So I am proud of our military, and I'm proud of Trump. | ||
| So y'all have a blessed day. | ||
| All right, Becky, you too. | ||
| And here's Susan, a Democrat in Walton, New York. | ||
| Good morning. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good morning. | |
| I'd like to say that when our country was worried about every other country in the world, we don't look at what we need right here in our own country. | ||
| We need the protection of our military. | ||
| We need to show people that we have power. | ||
| And we need to stand behind somebody who's got a brain. | ||
| And for the four years that we had Biden, and he was incapacitated, and the Democrats, as a Democrat, I feel like I was lied to. | ||
| And I can't see how all these Democrats can support Joe Biden after what we saw. | ||
| And when you have a president that is not capable, that is more dangerous than what we have here with the tanks. | ||
| He could push the button anytime. | ||
| So I can understand why the Democrats lost the election because they lied to the American people. | ||
| And so I think that all of this is just, you know, it's almost unbelievable that they could say Trump is so bad. | ||
| At least he has a brain. | ||
| You know, and that's all I have to say. | ||
| And thank you for taking my call. | ||
| You're welcome, Susan. | ||
| And in Florida, on the independent line, is it Garciani? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Gracieni. | |
| Go ahead. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Yeah. | |
| So I voted. | ||
| I never voted. | ||
| I'm from Brazil originally. | ||
| I never voted while I was in Brazil because I could see through people. | ||
| I could feel that they're bullshitting, you know, the Brazilians. | ||
| And when I came to this country, which I call home today, I paid $500 penalty for not voting in Brazil, wedding the word of God. | ||
| You know, that is something created where if you don't give your voice, you pay for it. | ||
| So that's why I left Brazil. | ||
| Not because I didn't love, you know, it's still my home, because that's what I was born, but I call home United States. | ||
| And this country was built on the foundation of strength, no weakness. | ||
| And Trump, I don't know you. | ||
| I don't know you physically, but I know you spiritually. | ||
| I know your heart. | ||
| I know that you love this place more than any other country, than any other president, because I feel your energy. | ||
| And I was the one that took the bullet from, you know, going into your brain at that day, you know, and you felt me. | ||
| I was beside you, my dear, and I love you from today to eternity. | ||
| And anything that you need from me, I'll be here to support you, my loved one. | ||
| All right. | ||
| Here's Jeff, North Carolina, Republican. | ||
| Good morning, Jeff. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Hello, Minnie. | |
| Hello. | ||
|
unidentified
|
I would just like to say happy birthday to the greatest president we've ever had. | |
| And happy 200 Peters birthday to the United States Army. | ||
| And I'd like to thank our great President Donald Trump for coming to the great state of North Carolina to Fort Bragg, which he had to rename after that idiot named it Fort Liberty. | ||
| Thank you, Donald Trump. | ||
| And as far as these Democrats call in, we don't care what you have to say. | ||
| Okay? | ||
| Anybody's protesting today? | ||
| You are anti-American, and you should be deported. | ||
| Bill, Way Cross, Georgia, Democrat. | ||
| Good morning, Bill. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good morning. | |
| Good morning. | ||
| I have to preface a couple of things, and I am going to comment on Israel and so on. | ||
| I'm 75. | ||
| I'm fluent in Hebrew. | ||
| I've been talking to friends of mine in Israel for a good 30 years. | ||
| They tell me and have told me for a very long time that, you know, Netanyahu, the reason Mossad knew that they were going to be attacked, and they believe and tell me that Netanyahu allowed that to happen. | ||
| He was about to be thrown in jail. | ||
| I mean, he was already about to be thrown in jail and fined tremendous amounts of money for them. | ||
| And so he allowed that to happen. | ||
| Mossad knew exactly that it was going to happen. | ||
| Now, his and I remind friends of mine that, you know, a preemptive strike, well, that's what the Japanese did at Pearl Harbor. | ||
| The whole notion that he would attack Iran and that the United States, our president now, who, you know, I did two tours in Vietnam. | ||
| I couldn't find any bone spurs, but the president now would be backing him. | ||
| You know, all of this is, it is, and the whole notion of a parade, oh my goodness, that's it's silly, but I know what it's for. | ||
| And we have now a president who yearns to be an authoritarian. | ||
| He writes love letters to Kim Jong-un. | ||
| He meets with Putin on a regular basis and has plenty of long conversations with him. | ||
| I suppose that that is so that Putin can instruct him on: look, this is how you do things. | ||
| This is how you eventually will be able to take over your country. | ||
| All right, Bill. | ||
| Here's Joanne, St. Petersburg, Florida, Independent. | ||
| Good morning. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good morning. | |
| I just want to say that I'm going to be out there protesting today. | ||
| I'm very happy to be out there. | ||
| I have no respect for this president at all. | ||
| And as far as Israel goes, he's in coups with the criminal Nathan Yahoo, humanitarian criminal. | ||
| He should never, never be allowed to step foot out of Israel, or he should be arrested. | ||
| But as far as I listening to these comments this morning, I've been listening to C-SPAN now for about an hour. | ||
| And as an independent, listening to the Republicans and the Democrats, these are not Republicans. | ||
| These are a cult, the mega. | ||
| I've never heard so much hate for American citizens in my life. | ||
| They say they love America. | ||
| No, they don't. | ||
| They hate Americans. | ||
| They're a disgrace. | ||
| Thank you for listening. | ||
| Elaine is in Olympia, Washington on the line for Republicans. | ||
| Hi, Elaine. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Hi. | |
| I just wanted to say one thing. | ||
| Everybody is complaining about the parade that they're going to have, but this parade has been in the works for two years. | ||
| So if they want to complain, why aren't they complaining about Biden? | ||
| It was his idea. | ||
| He set the date. | ||
| He got the ball rolling. | ||
| And it makes me sick to think that they're calling Trump all these awful names because he wants to have a parade. | ||
| And it happened to fall on his birthday, which is Flag Day. | ||
| But that has been established years ago. | ||
| So I don't get it. | ||
| All right, Elaine, and that's all the time we've got for this segment. | ||
| But later, Washington, D.C., as you've been hearing, will be the site of a parade honoring the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. | ||
| And joining us later to discuss the Army's history will be Charles Bowery of the U.S. Army Center of Military History. | ||
| But first, we've got pollster author and communication strategist Frank Luntz to discuss public opinion on today's parade and military service. | ||
| We'll be right back. | ||
|
unidentified
|
American History TV, exploring the people and events that tell the American story. | |
| This weekend, Frank Garmin, author of A Wonderful Career in Crime, on Charles Cowlum's career as a convict, spy, detective, congressional candidate, adventurer, and con artist during the Civil War era. | ||
| Then a discussion about African-American law student Lloyd Gaines, who petitioned the Supreme Court when he was denied entry into a whites-only law school at the University of Missouri. | ||
| In 1938, the Supreme Court ruled in his favor, but months later, Mr. Gaines disappeared and was never seen again. | ||
| On the presidency, a discussion on food at the executive mansion and how even the food at the White House is political with a former White House chef, food historians, and presidential scholars exploring the American story. | ||
| Watch American History TV every weekend and find a full schedule on your program guide or watch online anytime at c-span.org slash history. | ||
| Next week on the C-SPAN networks. | ||
| The House is out on a district work period. | ||
| The Senate has a short work week due to the Juneteenth federal holiday. | ||
| The Senate will vote Tuesday on final passage of stablecoin cryptocurrency legislation. | ||
| They'll also continue consideration of President Trump's executive nominations. | ||
| On Monday, Democratic New York Congresswoman Yvette Clark hosts a town hall in Brooklyn. | ||
| On Tuesday, talk show host and author Tavis Smiley will host a town hall on climate change and racial justice in Pasadena, California. | ||
| C-SPAN continues live coverage of cabinet secretaries and department officials appearing on Capitol Hill to discuss their budgets. | ||
| On Wednesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegse, Under Secretary of Defense Bryn Wollacott-McDonald, and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair General John Kaine testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee regarding their department's fiscal year 2026 budget. | ||
| Also, the Senate Judiciary Committee investigates concerns surrounding former President Biden's health, and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell holds a news conference following the Federal Open Market Committee meeting. | ||
| And Thursday through Saturday, it's C-SPAN's live coverage of the U.S. Conference of Mayors annual meeting from Tampa, Florida. | ||
| Watch live next week on the C-SPAN networks or on C-SPAN Now, our free mobile video app. | ||
| Also, head over to C-SPAN.org for scheduling information or to watch live or on demand anytime. | ||
| C-SPAN, Democracy Unfiltered. | ||
| Washington Journal continues. | ||
| Welcome back to Washington Journal. | ||
| We're joined now by Frank Luntz. | ||
| He's a pollster and communications strategist. | ||
| Welcome to the program. | ||
| Today, of all days, this is such an honor. | ||
| I'm grateful. | ||
| I'm privileged. | ||
| And I hope we have a really good conversation. | ||
| I think we will. | ||
| Well, today's events in D.C. come as Marines and federal troops are in Los Angeles. | ||
| Tensions are rising in the Middle East. | ||
| What do you make of this moment? | ||
| What's interesting, and I heard the introduction about five minutes ago about public opinion, is that the only institution right now that still has a majority of support, faith, trust, and confidence is the military. | ||
| Doesn't matter whether you're a Democrat or Republican or an Independent. | ||
| It is the most trusted institution in America today, and I'm determined to keep it as such. | ||
| Keep out the politics, keep out the partisanship. | ||
| We don't trust our schools, we don't trust our health care, obviously, we don't trust politicians anymore, but we believe that the military serves us and it's selfless service, and we're grateful. | ||
| And in fact, the thing that I want to emphasize as a very first way to kick this off is when you thank someone in uniform for their service to the country, do more than say thank you. | ||
| Buy them a meal. | ||
| I know they won't take it, but buy them a meal, pat them on the back, give them a first-class seat on the plane. | ||
| Do something meaningful, measurable, and tangible to express your appreciation. | ||
| Because let's face it, our democracy exists because of the men and women in uniform. | ||
| You said you want to keep out politics and partisanship, and I want to ask you about President Trump's appearance at Fort Bragg. | ||
| The military.com is reporting that there was quite a bit of politics and partisanship there. | ||
| There's a quote here I want to share with you from a commander at Fort Bragg, and he is anonymous to avoid retaliation. | ||
| He said this: This has been a bad week for the Army, for anyone who cares about us being a neutral institution. | ||
| He said, This was shameful. | ||
| I don't expect anything to come out of it, but I hope maybe we can learn from it in the long term. | ||
| And this is in response to the people being, the soldiers being screened for their political affiliation, for booing President Trump's political opponents, and for cheering for his politics. | ||
| I was there at the speech that he gave to the West Point cadets, and I think for the first time ever, he invited cadets to come up on stage and be recognized for their service, be recognized for how outstanding they were. | ||
| And that's what I would prefer. | ||
| I would prefer it to be a celebration and a recognition of things that are exceptional and extraordinary. | ||
| As I said to you off air as we were talking, I will not do politics here. | ||
| I will not mention the president's name because I think today is essential that we maintain the commitment of the military to defend the Constitution. | ||
| And that's what people don't know. | ||
| And I say this to you all watching. | ||
| They don't swear an oath to the president. | ||
| They don't swear an oath to the United States of America or to the people. | ||
| Their oath is the Constitution. | ||
| And that is why they've been so successful. | ||
| That's not why they've been successful, but it's why we've been successful. | ||
| The Constitution above all, regardless of who sits at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. | ||
| I want to ask you about Defense Secretary Hagseff's message to the force. | ||
| I want to read you a portion of it and ask you about it. | ||
| He says this: The President gave us a clear mission, achieve peace through strength. | ||
| We will do this in three ways: by restoring the warrior ethos, rebuilding our military, and reestablishing deterrence. | ||
| We will revive the warrior ethos and restore trust in our military. | ||
| We are American warriors. | ||
| And he goes on. | ||
| He uses the term warrior three times in that and indicates that this warrior ethos is being restored and revived. | ||
| So here's what's interesting about this. | ||
| I know how moms react to that. | ||
| I don't know if you're a mom, but when moms hear warrior, they get nervous. | ||
| They love the service. | ||
| They love the character. | ||
| They love the sacrifice. | ||
| They love the selflessness. | ||
| But warrior concerns them, but that's their job. | ||
| And as someone who's an instructor there, who's, I guess, my title is senior fellow, I watch how this develops. | ||
| And I'll say this to you, and this should give you a sense of safety and security. | ||
| Not only are they developing a warrior ethos, but it's with character. | ||
| It's selfless service. | ||
| It's relentless. | ||
| It's all the attributes, discipline, determination, focus, kindness. | ||
| These are people who are being required to do the ultimate sacrifice. | ||
| But they have a heart and they have a soul and they love their country. | ||
| And what they appreciate more than anything else is the commitment to each other, to the man or woman to their left, to the man and woman to their right, to always have their backs, to always be there for them. | ||
| All the attributes, character traits that we really want in our young people, it's what's being taught at West Point and in our service academies. | ||
| So yes, they use the word warrior, but please include the fact that these are young men and women of character, of sacrifice, of commitment. | ||
| And one last thing. | ||
| A cadet cannot lie, cheat, or steal, or tolerate those who do. | ||
| Isn't that what we want in society? | ||
| Isn't that what we want for our kids, for our parents, for the people we work with? | ||
| These are attributes that we should be celebrating in addition to the warrior ethos. | ||
| Well, let's take a look. | ||
| You spoke to some of the cadets. | ||
| These are Sandhurst team captains. | ||
| We'll talk about that later. | ||
| But here's where you're asking them about the term warrior. | ||
| How do you know you're a warrior? | ||
|
unidentified
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We train and we compete and we test ourselves. | |
| And through those tests, we kind of gain confidence and realize where we're at or what we need to improve. | ||
| And that's how we know if we're ready or not. | ||
| To win this competition, we have a series of alumni that are out in the big army that are doing a lot of great things, serving their country, and they invested great amounts of time to this organization and to win it. | ||
| And so there's a culture that we create of winning. | ||
| And so this year, our task is the same as it's been for the last nine years. | ||
| Win the competition because that's what you do and that's the person you are for the alumni. | ||
| And expand this to the country. | ||
| What does it mean to America? | ||
| It showcases America is ready to go. | ||
| It showcases our lethality. | ||
| It shows that we're ready to support and defend the United States of America and its people. | ||
| That's exactly what people want. | ||
| These future leaders, these future second lieutenants, I'm sitting there in that focus group, standing there. | ||
| And I'm wondering, where the hell are these people? | ||
| How did they get here? | ||
| I've always been a supporter of the military. | ||
| My dad was in the National Guard for 24 years. | ||
| I wish he was still alive because he would love all this. | ||
| And I'm listening to them and I'm watching how they act with each other. | ||
| And I'm thinking, how can we create tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people who have that commitment? | ||
| I know we're going to show other clips of this, but they act the way that we want them. | ||
|
unidentified
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They are who we want them to be. | |
| And thank God for West Point because it's there to ensure that it is not just leadership. | ||
| It is not just lethality. | ||
| It is not just a commitment to the military aspect, which it is. | ||
| But we're going to win the right way. | ||
| We're going to win the ethical way. | ||
| We're going to win. | ||
| But we're going to be proud of it. | ||
| And I love that. | ||
| Tell us about West Point Sandhurst Military Skills Competition. | ||
| What's it all about? | ||
| So it's been there now for about 60 years. | ||
| I think it started in 1967. | ||
| And invites teams, obviously from West Point, from the ROTC units across the country. | ||
| Usually they have more than a dozen of them. | ||
| There are often 15, 10 or 15 countries that are represented. | ||
| And here's what's interesting. | ||
| Competing in this tournament, in this competition, where teams from Germany, Italy, and Japan, our enemies who we are killing 80 years ago are now on side competing peacefully, physically, emotionally, militarily. | ||
| This is to me the greatest success that these sworn enemies of our grandparents are now our allies. | ||
| And the competition, I got to read them to you. | ||
| Tactical combat care, grenade assault, land navigation, rifle marksmanship, weapons assembly, all sorts of fitness tests and obstacle courses, machine gun deployment. | ||
| And it's physical, it's mental, and it's based on team. | ||
| And all the skills that we require in the military are part of Sandhurst. | ||
| In fact, that's the whole purpose of it, is to recreate those skills that they're going to need in the next 10, 15, 20 years of their lives. | ||
| I can't do any of them. | ||
| I can't even, I can't even put on a uniform, obviously. | ||
| I am so intimidated by what they do in five minutes because it's more than I do in five hours. | ||
| And the best are just awesome individuals. | ||
| If you'd like to join our conversation with Frank Luntz, you can. | ||
| These are the numbers. | ||
| Republicans, 202748, 8001. | ||
| Democrats, 202-748-8000. | ||
| And Independents, 202-748-8002. | ||
| If you're active or retired military, you can call us on 202-748-8003. | ||
| You can also use that line to Texas. | ||
| Frank, what's your affiliation with West Point? | ||
| So I'm a senior fellow. | ||
| I started teaching there a year and a half ago. | ||
| The untold story of this is that I actually started at the Naval Academy before that. | ||
| And I wanted to teach there permanently because I saw that there was something different about the students. | ||
| That they were more serious. | ||
| They were more focused. | ||
| They didn't ask questions to perform. | ||
| And they weren't seeking to be affirmed. | ||
| They were seeking to be informed. | ||
| But the Naval Academy never got around to it. | ||
| I have issues with bureaucracy. | ||
| It's a great academy, but it's too bureaucratic. | ||
| And West Point, in the meantime, said, why don't you come up, talk to us, do a lecture or two, which led to multiple lectures, which led to the pitch of a class. | ||
| So now I teach a course called You Are the Message. | ||
| These second lieutenants have to be able to communicate. | ||
| They have to be able to deliver orders, to be able to explain why you have to charge that hill, why you have to stand up when you'd rather sit down or go forward when you'd rather go backward. | ||
| And so I get a chance every semester to teach language. | ||
| I don't think I'm going to be too much longer, but it has been the greatest experience of my life over the last 30 years. | ||
| I haven't done anything as meaningful as this. | ||
| I actually have purpose. | ||
| I look forward to going into the class. | ||
| I look forward because I'm the worst human being in that group. | ||
| I mean, you smile at me, but I'm sitting there with 19 cadets, couple other faculty people, and I'm the worst human being of all of them. | ||
| Why do you say that? | ||
| Because I can't live. | ||
| Because I'm embarrassed. | ||
| I promised I would not get emotional before I did this. | ||
| I did not serve. | ||
| Every night in college, I got to sleep in a warm bed. | ||
| I got to drink. | ||
| I got to do whatever. | ||
| On Friday night, this is several months ago. | ||
| They're celebrating the 500th day. | ||
| They're going to graduate 500 days from then. | ||
| And I'm walking home. | ||
| It's about 9 o'clock. | ||
| It is snowing and sleeting. | ||
| And the weather is awful. | ||
| It's 30 degrees. | ||
| It's cold and wet. | ||
| And these people come pouring out of the dorms in uniforms and get up that I never saw before. | ||
| I was so intimidated. | ||
| Normally I take pictures of this. | ||
| I was so intimidated at Friday at 9 p.m., they're going to be outside for the next eight, 10 hours on the ground, in the rain, in the snow, outside, cold and wet, and I'm going home to a comfortable place a mile from there. | ||
| It just doesn't seem right to me. | ||
| And they do this every day, and they do so with, they don't like every day, to be clear. | ||
| Every cadet doesn't like every day at West Point, but they love what it means, and they love to serve. | ||
| And these are people who would listen to the calls that you're going to take momentarily, and frankly, I think they'd be upset. | ||
| They don't hear Democrat or Republican. | ||
| They hear America. | ||
| They don't think left-wing or right-wing. | ||
| They think Constitution. | ||
| And the three generals who run this place, General Gillen, who's the superintendent, General Garcia, who I'll talk about in a moment, because this is his program. | ||
| He's the commandant. | ||
| And General Reeves is the dean. | ||
| These three generals have created or are stewarding a learning environment like no other. | ||
| You don't play games. | ||
| You don't perform. | ||
| You ask questions. | ||
| You're expected to challenge, but not in a way that is divisive or polarizing. | ||
| I have never had a discussion. | ||
| You know I taught politics. | ||
| I've never had a discussion that ended with someone saying, I'm out of here. | ||
| They just don't do it. | ||
| Because they're taught respect. | ||
| And if there's one value that matters more, this is not the most important value for the military, but it's the most important value for a teacher and a professor. | ||
| It's respect. | ||
| You challenge me, by the way. | ||
| Yes, as a pollster, you know how divided this country has become. | ||
|
unidentified
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It's awful. | |
| How polarized this country has become. | ||
| Those cadets are a product of this country. | ||
| So how do they, I mean, is West Point some sort of a utopia where politics doesn't matter and everybody gets along and everybody loves everybody? | ||
| Everyone doesn't love everyone, but everyone respects them. | ||
| And actually, at West Point, I made the comment before, you have to protect the person on your left and the person on your right. | ||
| It's part of the ethos of the academy. | ||
| And it's why I say to parents, don't send your kids to the Ivy Leagues. | ||
| The Ivy Leagues teach personal excellence. | ||
| West Point teaches team, teaches problem solving, critical thinking, team building, and the most important of all, which I don't get at any Ivy League, and I've taught at two of them, character development. | ||
| So you ask me what's different about West Point, it's the character. | ||
| And that is part of what the generals insist on. | ||
| It is not just military performance, it's also character. | ||
| Now, troops have been deployed in LA. | ||
| They could be deployed in other countries. | ||
| Some of those cadets that you're teaching could graduate and be deployed in the United States for partisan purposes. | ||
| I don't want to say that because does it make me feel uncomfortable? | ||
| Yes. | ||
| But is it partisan? | ||
| There is a problem in LA right now. | ||
| We should say for their political leadership, not necessarily for partisan purposes. | ||
| I agree with you. | ||
| I misspoke. | ||
| How are you preparing them for that kind of a situation? | ||
| So here's the problem. | ||
| And this is, by the way, if anything's going to get me fired, this is going to get me fired. | ||
| So, I probably shouldn't say it, but I'm going to say it anyway. | ||
| I respect them so much that I don't chew them out anymore. | ||
| I respect them so much that I don't like yelling at them. | ||
| I don't like, I will challenge them. | ||
| I hate people when they say the word like, and you haven't said it once in this interview. | ||
| Every kid I know at every university, well, like, it was the coolest thing, and like, and it's driving me nuts. | ||
| It is to me fingernails on a chalkboard. | ||
| And I was given the right to make them do push-ups to stop them from doing it. | ||
| And I did for the first two semesters. | ||
| But then I started to get to know them. | ||
| And they were willing to do it because saying like is not part of good training. | ||
| It's not part of good communication. | ||
| And I stopped doing it because I just didn't want to cause them a hassle. | ||
| Oh, you're a big softy. | ||
| Yeah, that's the problem. | ||
| That's what's going to get me fired. | ||
| And I've been told by my colleagues, fight it. | ||
| You have to deliver. | ||
| You have to be tougher. | ||
| You have to say to them, you will not do this because in the end, someone who says like six or seven or eight or ten times is not going to be a good communicator. | ||
| And that means they're not going to be a good leader. | ||
| Let's talk to callers. | ||
| We'll start with Alan. | ||
| He's retired military in Palm Bay, Florida. | ||
| Hi, Alan. | ||
|
unidentified
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Hi, how you doing? | |
| Good. | ||
| I just want to say, Frank, you know, I hear you talking about West Point, all the academies. | ||
| You know, it's not just there, it's the entire military. | ||
| The thing is, this is, you know, we've gotten so far away from family and faith and respect. | ||
| Nobody respects each other anymore. | ||
| Nobody respects themselves. | ||
| The military, they break you down. | ||
| Every single person that goes to boot camp is the same way as these kids today. | ||
| They're pretty close. | ||
| They're all independent. | ||
| They're all better than the next guy. | ||
| They beat each other up if they met each other. | ||
| But they can't, right? | ||
| Because they learn to respect. | ||
| They learn that they're colorblind. | ||
| They learn they have to work together because I have to save your life. | ||
| You have to save my life, right? | ||
| And the thing is, is we've just gone so far away. | ||
| Everything is so, the world has gone so crazy. | ||
| Everybody's mad at each other. | ||
| Everybody takes political politics as the one and only thing. | ||
| And it's crazy. | ||
| All right, Alan. | ||
| Can I prove that if you guys back in the control room can queue up the next clip? | ||
| Because you're going to hear it from them. | ||
| They talk about this. | ||
| They, it doesn't matter whether you're West Point or the Naval Academy, if you're enlisted, and by the way, the people who I find respected the most are the leadership of the enlisted, the non-commissioned officers. | ||
| They keep our military running. | ||
| And the level of respect and appreciation is so strong, but I'd rather have the cadets explain that to you than me explain it to you. | ||
| This is when you asked them about the impact that the competition has had on them. | ||
|
unidentified
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Yes. | |
| All right. | ||
| Let's play it. | ||
|
unidentified
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Everything kind of comes together. | |
| You learn a lot of discipline being on a Sandhurst team. | ||
| You have to go, you know, get up at five o'clock in the morning to go work out. | ||
| All these things really seep into other aspects of your life. | ||
| And I think that's the biggest change. | ||
| How are you a better human being because of Sandhurst? | ||
| I realize if I ever wanted to achieve anything in life, I needed to suffer. | ||
| You will learn from that suffering and you will become better because of it because you know what you're capable of and you can trust your training. | ||
| You can trust what you've done and that like you become better because of that. | ||
| Is he right? | ||
| Yes. | ||
| You all agree with this. | ||
|
unidentified
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The thing is about the shared suffering as well. | |
| I'm building faith in the teams you work in. | ||
| I think for us like going through academies, it's building faith in your peers around you to perform under pressure as well as yourself. | ||
| I think that shared suffering is one of the only ways you can sort of forge those bonds and forge that trust. | ||
| And you can't really get that outside of putting yourself through and your peers throughout pushing that events. | ||
| A willingness to suffer. | ||
| We run away from that. | ||
| Our young people run away from that. | ||
| They want to be coddled. | ||
| And they want it to be tough. | ||
| And this is something, and I said to you, the reason why I shouldn't be there is because I am too soft. | ||
| Not just emotionally, physically, all aspects of it. | ||
| I needed to suffer to learn. | ||
| I needed to suffer to grow. | ||
| And everything for them is a life lesson. | ||
| From the moment they wake up in the morning until the moment they go to sleep at night, what can I learn from this? | ||
| How can I become better from this? | ||
| I've never met students more determined to make not just their lives better, but the people around them better, to lift everybody up. | ||
| And it's not happening at other college campuses. | ||
| And that's why I think it's exceptional and extraordinary. | ||
| And I don't want to be fired. | ||
| I probably should not have told that story. | ||
| But these young people, these men and women, I want to emphasize this, because Sandhurst, you've seen guys on that video. | ||
| The women at West Point are awesome. | ||
| I would use a four-letter word, but I don't want the FCC coming down on you. | ||
| They are so awesome. | ||
| They are dedicated and committed and focused and great leaders of character. | ||
| And to be around them, I don't measure up. | ||
| They're better than me. | ||
| They really are. | ||
| Here's Tom, a Republican in Spring Hill, Florida. | ||
| Good morning, Tom. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good morning, Mr. Luntz. | |
| I appreciate you taking my call. | ||
| My question is: with all the damage the left wing in this country has done to Democrat, progressive, liberal, leftists, with everything from DEI to the riots in Los Angeles to putting in this admirable, this fruitcake, lunch, whatever his name, whatever its name is. | ||
|
unidentified
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Where do these soldiers stand when it comes down to a civil war with red states and blue states? | |
| Where do they stand? | ||
| Because it's inevitable that there could possibly be a civil war with the way things are going, with the left just keep pushing it, pushing it, and pushing it, pushing it, you know, poking the bear. | ||
| Where do you see this military standing? | ||
| I know they're trying to get it. | ||
| That's so easy. | ||
| There are no red states. | ||
| There are no blue states. | ||
| To the West Point cadets, there are only the United States. | ||
| They don't see it. | ||
| They don't have glasses or edits that make them left or right, Republican or Democrat. | ||
| Which is probably why it's kind of weird for me to be doing this on this show, because you have a Republican line and a Democratic line to ensure that everyone gets a voice. | ||
| And that's really cool. | ||
| That's very important. | ||
| By the way, I do. | ||
| Your bosses here gave me the C-SPAN shirt. | ||
| I don't know if it's on camera, but I love this place because everyone gets heard. | ||
| At West Point, it's the Constitution. | ||
| And the Constitution doesn't have an R or a D after its name. | ||
| It's how they can applaud a Democrat and a Republican at the same time, how they can engage. | ||
| The colours said that a civil war was inevitable in this country. | ||
| Look, I'm very pessimistic about America. | ||
| I think that we have issues, divisiveness, and an unwillingness to hear each other. | ||
| We do get our news to affirm rather than inform. | ||
| We don't hear the other side. | ||
| And the problem is we don't seem to want to anymore. | ||
| I teach my cadets to sit around people who you don't necessarily agree with, who don't look like you, who don't sound like you, and get the experience. | ||
| We just brought them to Europe for 10 days. | ||
| They got to meet four British prime ministers. | ||
| They got to meet the commander of NATO, General Cavoli. | ||
| They got to meet the head of the Finnish military. | ||
| They got to meet the leader of the European Commission military. | ||
| They got the broadest understanding of what Europe thinks right now. | ||
| And they look at us and they don't understand why we're doing what we're doing. | ||
| Europe looks at us and says, Why are you so chaotic? | ||
| Why are you such a mess? | ||
| And please don't bring that mess to us. | ||
| And the cadets, the questions that they asked and the knowledge that they got from this isn't tinted based on partisanship. | ||
| It's focused on the facts. | ||
| And everyone, we all are told you teach a fact-based approach. | ||
| Nothing more and nothing less. | ||
| I want to ask you about DEI programs in the military writ large since the caller brought that up. | ||
| Not necessarily with at West Point, but in general. | ||
| What are your thoughts on that and the impact that that's had on the military? | ||
| The goal of it was to ensure that people saw individuals who look like them. | ||
| So we got female leaders advanced and got promotion and people who might have otherwise been excluded. | ||
| But the highest priority for people who lead us and who serve us, whether in the military or the police or the fire or health care, education, all the things that matter in society, it's about merit, about performance. | ||
| Did you actually earn it? | ||
| Who you look like, what you look like, is not as important as what you know, as what you do, and the record that you've had, whatever track record you've had. | ||
| So is it your opinion that removing those programs has been a positive, a net positive for the military? | ||
| You see it as removing programs, and I see it as reinstilling performance and merit. | ||
| You earned it, and therefore you deserve it. | ||
| And that is so important in American life because that's one of the things that makes us American. | ||
| That's what makes us exceptional. | ||
| That if you're really bright, I've got a cadet right now. | ||
| All I'm going to say is his first name. | ||
| His name is David. | ||
| He's got crummy grades. | ||
| There will be 10 cadets who know who I'm talking about. | ||
| This kid is bright as hell. | ||
| And I need to ensure that he gets every opportunity to succeed because he's going to take advantage of it. | ||
| And that's what makes West Point so awesome. | ||
| You can start with lousy grades and you can end up the leading general in the country. | ||
| Patton had the worst. | ||
| He flunked calculus. | ||
| George Patton flunked calculus. | ||
| By the way. | ||
| How is he commanding an army not knowing calculus? | ||
| Well, this is back in 1940, 40-something. | ||
| That's a very funny line, by the way. | ||
| I have a letter from him apologizing to his dad for really screwing up on math, but saying that the other grades are getting better. | ||
| And it's so amusing to me because his penmanship is awful. | ||
| But here he is as a 21-year-old apologizing to his dad. | ||
| And about 40 years after that, 45 years after that, he's going to save America. | ||
| I love that. | ||
| All right, let's talk to Vincent in Lilliburn, Georgia, also retired military. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good morning, Vincent. | |
| Good morning. | ||
| How are you guys today? | ||
| I'm just calling in reference to, I guess, the what you guys are talking about this morning. | ||
| I'm just going to encourage and let the U.S. know that I enjoy training cadets from West Point. | ||
| They generally, when I was in the military, I was a drill sergeant. | ||
| That's what our job is for a certain period of time to train soldiers, whether they're men or women. | ||
| And I will say training West Pointers. | ||
| Good morning. | ||
| Once again, I'm a retired military. | ||
| So, Vincent, we got that. | ||
| And you were saying that you were training West Pointers. | ||
|
unidentified
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Yes, they come into active duty military drills training on a daily basis. | |
| And usually they are with us for a week. | ||
| We train them on everything that we possibly do, just like we do a normal soldier. | ||
| And I would say, after the week of training, the things that they thought they couldn't do, they do. | ||
| Yep. | ||
| Frank. | ||
| They drill and they drill and they drill and they drill. | ||
| I love the drill sergeant because they're the ones who have to be tough on them. | ||
| Because in the end, you have to be prepared for anything that can happen. | ||
| And that's why the gentleman who's the commandant, so there are three different leadership positions at West Point. | ||
| And the commandant is the one responsible for the military, for that aspect of it. | ||
| And what's happening at West Point right now is a real transformation. | ||
| Utilizing innovation, utilizing ingenuity to ensure that the cadets are prepared to win the next contest, not backwards, but in the future. | ||
| They have to do drones, and there's a program there, West Point Projects, where they celebrate how they're focused on science and technology and math. | ||
| What's amazing about the Academy is that they have to excel in three areas. | ||
| Intellectually, you have to be bright. | ||
| Militarily, you have to be more than just competent. | ||
| You have to be able to do your job. | ||
| And physically, you have to excel. | ||
| Once again, there is no place on earth that I know of that requires all three at the same time. | ||
| And if you fail at any one of those three, you don't graduate. | ||
| Michelle is a retired military in Converse, Texas. | ||
| Hi, Michelle. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good morning. | |
| Good morning. | ||
| I am almost at a loss for words. | ||
| I understand and have always revered my place in the military and the West Points and all. | ||
| But I am becoming more and more dismayed with the tenor of the military and some of the thoughts that some of the military leaders at some of these bases and some of these enlistees, senior enlisted and military officers display. | ||
|
unidentified
|
You know, Frank, I used to really like to listen to you and enjoy some of your discussions, but the more I listened, the more I felt that you're becoming a little bit more toward the right and having some kind of very distinct focus. | |
| Now, so hold on, hold on, hold on. | ||
| Let me, I'm actually going in the other direction. | ||
| I used to come on this show up until about six, seven years ago, on the Republican side. | ||
| So actually, it's the exact opposite that I've been, my politics has been changing, my commentary has been changing. | ||
| And in fact, today I don't speak as a Republican or a Democrat. | ||
| I speak as someone who's in awe of this 250th Army anniversary. | ||
| So I urge you to go back to the videos that you're watching and see where I was 10 years ago compared to where I am right now. | ||
| And that's part of what the military's done to me. | ||
| How has it changed you? | ||
| Because I can't do partisanship anymore because they can't. | ||
| I have to be able to speak to every individual, every caller. | ||
| But you weren't working with the military 10 years ago. | ||
| No, and that's the whole point. | ||
| It's like a kick in the head. | ||
| I realize I should be a better person. | ||
| And this is part of what I've been going through, my health situation, my career situation. | ||
| I wasn't who I should have been. | ||
| I took a line rather than taking the truth. | ||
| And I sought the phrase rather than the facts. | ||
| And that's completely changed now. | ||
| And I know that it agitates some cadets who think that I'm coming in with a certain ideology. | ||
| They see me on YouTube. | ||
| They've read my background. | ||
| They assume they're going to get one thing, and they don't. | ||
| And it upsets them. | ||
| And I tell them it's a much better way to live. | ||
| When you learn how to apologize, I say this to that caller. | ||
| When you learn how to apologize, a whole world opens up to you. | ||
| And even more importantly, when you learn to say you're wrong, you have freedom to get it right. | ||
| And it's so liberating for me. | ||
| Michelle, did you have another question for Frank? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Well, I did. | |
| And I wanted to get his take on, I think it was called the Sandhurst group that he was with. | ||
| All white. | ||
| All white. | ||
| No, no. | ||
| You said, let me speak. | ||
| Let me speak. | ||
| And you said that you were not going to be discussing the politics of the day and all. | ||
| But when you say that West Point tries to implement DEI, which stands for diversity, equity, and inclusion, which means that we want to include everybody who can be of value to us in leadership roles. | ||
| I don't see that. | ||
| You see where we have a president who came in and one of the most, two of the most educated and most brilliant military minds, was it C.K. Brown from here in this area here? | ||
| He's fired for what purpose? | ||
| Okay, Frank. | ||
| Okay. | ||
| First off, I was there at the competition. | ||
| There are people not just of every race, every gender. | ||
| It's a global competition. | ||
| There are, I think, 15 teams, 16 teams from other countries. | ||
| There are Razi units. | ||
| You get onto a team and you succeed based on how you perform. | ||
| And that's it. | ||
| And I mean it. | ||
| That's it. | ||
| You don't get a position because of who your last name is, because of what state you're from. | ||
| You have to prove physically, mentally, that you deserve it, that you've earned it. | ||
| Asked about General C.Q. Brown getting fired. | ||
| And a president has the right to choose who he wants to serve. | ||
| It's part of being president. | ||
| People lost their jobs at State Department, at the Pentagon, at all these cabinet agencies. | ||
| Presidents make that decision, and it's up to them to decide who they want to be advised by. | ||
| I don't see race in that. | ||
| I saw that he wanted to go in a different direction. | ||
| And one last thing about DEI. | ||
| It is an admirable goal. | ||
| But the way it was being pursued wasn't admirable. | ||
| We just had this debate. | ||
| The cadets just talked about this. | ||
| If you're from the Asian community, you're getting punished by DEI. | ||
| Let's find a way that we can lift up everyone rather than this group at the expense of this group. | ||
| Here's Josephine in Livingston, New Jersey, Independent. | ||
| Good morning. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good morning. | |
| Let me just say I'm 81 years old, so it's my observation. | ||
| But one thing I'd ask C-SPAN, please. | ||
| Stanley McChrystal, a four-star general, has just written a book. | ||
| It's called On Character, Choices That Definite Life. | ||
| Please, please, please bring him on. | ||
| As far as that goes. | ||
| Now, to where Mr. Lunt is concerned, I watched two graduations. | ||
| It's just my observation. | ||
| Last year, I watched the graduation of the president going to give his speech, which he did, okay? | ||
| And he stood and shook each and every student's hand. | ||
| This year, I watched the graduation. | ||
| It became a political speech. | ||
| He was like a rah-rah, brought these students up, and did he stay to shake the hands of the students. | ||
| Are you kidding me? | ||
| He hightailed it out of there so fast. | ||
| That's only my observation. | ||
| That's what I'm thinking about. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| And people did talk about that. | ||
| And they accepted the trade-off. | ||
| The idea of the cadets, and by the way, there's one more segment that you've got that I really want you to show of the video before we run out of time. | ||
| I appreciate the caller's point of view. | ||
| They talked about that there. | ||
| The president talked for a long time, much longer than the president usually talks. | ||
| So while he did not hand out the diplomas, he did engage them in what he was thinking about at the time. | ||
| So I find it very hard to criticize him for not devoting enough time when he actually spent an hour engaging them in his commentary and recognizing half a dozen of them for exceptional service. | ||
| All right, so here is the portion where you asked the Sandhurst team captains about how this competition helped them overcome weaknesses. | ||
| How did it change you? | ||
| What are those weaknesses that Sandhurst changed? | ||
|
unidentified
|
So for instance, I've found that I don't recover very well from failure. | |
| I get very hyper-focused on tasks that if I underperform at, it hinders me. | ||
| And I have a hard time recovering from that. | ||
| Sandhurst has taught me that you can't stay there. | ||
| You have to keep your head up and keep moving forward because there's plenty of competition left in front of you. | ||
| So I think that really speaks to what we've been talking about a lot, just that resiliency piece. | ||
| Sandhurst shows you that no matter what happens, you know, you might take some hits. | ||
| You got to keep your head up, keep moving forward. | ||
| Sandhurst has made me a better problem solver under stress. | ||
| There's mistakes I've made in years past that I think about when I train now so that I don't repeat those same mistakes. | ||
| Maybe I missed a target. | ||
| Maybe I shot 39 out of 40 on a stress suit. | ||
| Well, I can't do that this year, but I especially can't do that on the battlefield. | ||
| Like what if I only shoot 39 soldiers out of 40? | ||
| Well, what happens if I get hit? | ||
| One of my buddies get hits. | ||
| You know, you have to remind yourself these things while you're training so you don't repeat the same mistakes. | ||
| Go ahead. | ||
| I was going to say another thing that kind of changed me was like not to be afraid of suffering. | ||
| I think the best moments in my life have been while I've been suffering the most, like, especially with your team. | ||
| When you're suffering the most is when your team, people do dumb stuff and funny things. | ||
| People say something funny and it's just, it's honestly, in that moment, it's the most hilarious thing in the world. | ||
| And when you look back on it, it's still the most hilarious thing in the world. | ||
| And that suffering is the only reason why that moment was so great. | ||
| And so I think suffering really like, it has such a negative connotation as regular society, but I think here is what brings us all together and it's kind of what makes Sandhurst such an awesome thing that we come back for and want to do again. | ||
| Tough, relentless, determined, unwilling to accept anything but the best, but perfection. | ||
| And what does that do? | ||
| That's what gives us an army that we're about to celebrate today. | ||
| That's what has allowed us to celebrate the freedoms that we were granted 250 years ago. | ||
| And the only thing that I'm afraid of, my greatest fear, is that we are lowering our expectations, that we are accepting average or mediocre. | ||
| In the military? | ||
| In life itself. | ||
| And that's why the military still has the most credibility, still has the most support, has the most faith, trust, and confidence in. | ||
| Because they're trying to be the best. | ||
| How do you reach the conclusion that society as a whole is lowering its expectations? | ||
| Because of all the focus groups I do. | ||
| And it's so difficult now that I'm going to stop doing them shortly because it depresses me so much. | ||
| People are so mean. | ||
| You've had it on your phone calls before I came on. | ||
| That they're looking to own people. | ||
| To them, the best thing that they can do is get on the air in front of a million or two or five million people, whatever many are listening, and just damn the other side. | ||
| We don't need to do that. | ||
| We all have faults. | ||
| None of us are perfect. | ||
| I go back to admitting mistakes and seeking the truth. | ||
| That's the way to live. | ||
| That's the way these West Point cadets live. | ||
| That's the way the military. | ||
| You see them on your camera shot right now. | ||
| The military is truly committed to the pursuit of perfection and the pursuit of the truth. | ||
| And I think that that's why they're exceptional and extraordinary. | ||
| Will you be going to the parade today? | ||
| So here's the issue. | ||
| I have to go. | ||
| I have to go. | ||
| Number one is I'll be emotional. | ||
| I can't help it. | ||
| I've got through 45 minutes without doing this, and you triggered it. | ||
| So I don't appreciate that. | ||
| Second is, I really can't stand for three hours, four hours. | ||
| It is really difficult. | ||
| But if they could stand, if they can do whatever they have to do, I have to be there. | ||
| But I'm scared to death of what happens when I try to get home because it'll be a mile walk or trying to take the metro. | ||
| And if an audience person sees me walking, I am not drunk. | ||
| My balance is messed up. | ||
| If they see me struggling, it's not because I'm an idiot. | ||
| It's just physically. | ||
| But yes, I'm planning to go because I want to applaud, not the tanks, not the planes. | ||
| I don't care about them. | ||
| General Garcia, it was a decorated Apache pilot before he became Commandant at West Point. | ||
| And I've never had the chance to thank him for what he did because he was a hero. | ||
| All of those three people, the three generals who run the place, are heroes. | ||
| So if they can do what they do in the grit and the mud and the dirt and the being fired on, I can put up with a mile-long walk. | ||
| So I'm just talking myself into it right now. | ||
| Yes, I'm going to go. | ||
| All right, that's Frank Luntz. | ||
| He's a pollster communication strategist and a social sciences department senior fellow at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. | ||
| Thanks as always for coming in. | ||
| I'm grateful for the opportunity. | ||
| I'm grateful for the callers who call in because that's what democracy is about. | ||
| And for those of you who've served in any branch in any way, bless you. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Be healthy and be happy. | |
| Coming up next, we'll discuss the history of the Army with U.S. Army Center for Military History's Charles Bowery. | ||
| And as we go to the break, we want to show you some of the military vehicles that will be featured in the parade today in Washington. | ||
| C-SPAN got a closer look as they arrived in Jessup, Maryland earlier this week. | ||
|
unidentified
|
All right. | |
| Good morning, everyone. | ||
| Welcome as we download equipment from the U.S. Army's 3rd Armored Corps out of Fort Cavassos, Texas, here in Jessup, Maryland. | ||
| What you're seeing here today is right behind me, courtesy of our amazing soldiers, we already were able to kind of start downloading some of the M1A2 system enhancement package version 3 Abrams main battle tanks. | ||
| We still have two more to download. | ||
| So you guys are going to be here for the downloading of the last two tanks that we'll be participating in the U.S. Army Birthday 250 parade on 14 June. | ||
| And then we're going to switch a couple of the train cars around and we're going to download the remaining Bradley fighting vehicles and the Paladins. | ||
| So the Bradley fighting vehicles, so right behind me, the very first vehicle right there on the train, that is an M2A3 Bradley fighting vehicle. | ||
| And then immediately behind it is a M109A7 Paladin 155mm self-propelled howitzer. | ||
| What we brought from Fort Cavasos is 28 Abrams made battle tanks, 28 Bradley fighting vehicles, six Paladins, and 28 M1126 Striker infantry carriers. | ||
| Now the Striker infantry carriers, those are eight-wheel vehicles and they were downloaded yesterday at the Benning CSX yard further south from here and they were staged at Joint Base Andrews. | ||
| But all the vehicles that are right here at Jessup, they're going to be put on commercial low boy carriers in about five, six hours and during the period of low traffic and period of darkness that it does not impede traffic going in and out of Washington DC, we're going to start moving them into West Potomac Park and it might take like several days. | ||
| So what you're seeing right here, a couple other vehicles being downloaded. | ||
| So we also brought some maintenance vehicles, some M88 recovery vehicles, basically our equivalent of giant wreckers, and also some other support vehicles as well. | ||
| But overall, the train left on 2 June. | ||
| Approximately 2,000 miles of rail arrived, what came through Washington, D.C. early Saturday morning and then was staged north of Jessup, was brought into the yard yesterday, and then this morning started kind of break the chains and started downloading. | ||
| So 51 rail cars overall. | ||
| There were also some pieces that went from Fort Cavasos here that were also line hauled the entire time. | ||
| But yeah, we are one step closer to getting everything stage of West Potomac Park for the Army's 250th birthday. | ||
| Out of like four Cavasos, we brought over 600 soldiers. | ||
| 200 soldiers will be marching. | ||
| 200 soldiers will be manning and driving the different vehicles. | ||
| And another 200 plus, they're in the support role to either help download, to maintain, or like, hey, wait, we have maybe there's a small, we got to top it off with a little bit of oil, a bit of fuel, because we did bring our own fuelers as well with our own JP-8. | ||
| That's what these bad boys run off of. | ||
| All the M1 tanks, people are kind of curious to learn like, how do you move almost 80 tons in any type of scenario? | ||
| So basically in the back of all these M1s is basically a jet engine tank. | ||
| So when these are, when you hear them move, the way they sound, it's totally different. | ||
| And the way they kind of, the fuel smells is a little different. | ||
| So we've taken several steps to mitigate impact on roads here in Washington, D.C. | ||
| The very first thing started about two months ago and we started changing out every track pad on all the tracked vehicles. | ||
| So being the Abrams main battle tank, the Bradley fighting vehicle, and the Paladin self-propelled howitzer. | ||
| So that was like number one. | ||
| Number two, we're going to be driving at three miles per hour. | ||
| So that slow speed is also going to help. | ||
| Then there is the formation. | ||
| So column of two staggered. | ||
| So it's going to be four Abrams, four Bradleys, one Paladin, and then four cargo trucks pulling artillery pieces. | ||
| And then obviously we put down one-inch steel plates at key turning points intersections. | ||
| So with all that, track pads, three miles per hour, the formation, steel pads, this is going to help mitigate. | ||
| And then lastly, if you want to look right here, I'm like, only thing you see is some of the rubber that was rubbed off on the asphalt here at the parking lot. | ||
| Washington Journal continues. | ||
| Welcome back. | ||
| We are joined now by Charles Bowery. | ||
| He is Executive Director of the U.S. Army Center of the Military to discuss the Army's 250th anniversary and the history of the Army. | ||
| Charles, welcome to the program. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you for having me. | |
| So tell us about the U.S. Army Center of Military History. | ||
|
unidentified
|
CMH is a part of the U.S. Army's Training and Doctrine Command. | |
| And so we are the Army's senior historical office and responsible for coordinating historical and museum programs across the U.S. Army. | ||
| So you're the Army's senior historian then? | ||
|
unidentified
|
In effect, the Army employs lots of historians in various roles. | |
| I'm the most senior of those in rank and my role at the level of the Army's command is to advocate for history and historians, for the use of the past in shaping a future in a more effective Army. | ||
| And why do you think it's so important to have that history? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Well, it really comes down to context and perspective, doesn't it? | |
| And so historians ask questions about the past. | ||
| They use the past, both in its material culture and its records. | ||
| And we see ourselves as historians, but also as staff officers. | ||
| And we're responsible for supporting Army leaders in making decisions using the events of the past to reach better and more effective decisions and operations. | ||
| But then also, I think we play a strong role in helping to develop and foster the Army's culture, which is a culture of resilience and a culture of serving something larger than yourself over time. | ||
| And so we help soldiers of all ranks to learn about how their personal past and their personal path nests inside a large, enduring organization like the Army. | ||
| So the Army was created 250 years ago. | ||
| It was 1775. | ||
| Tell us about what was happening in 1775 that led to the creation of the Army. | ||
|
unidentified
|
And it's a great story, and it really points to the fact that before we were a nation, we had an army. | |
| And this army was formed in the summer of 1775. | ||
| So after the first military events of the American Revolution in Massachusetts at Lexington and Concord, the New England colonies formed what they called an Army of Observation, which was camped around Boston, and they were in effect besieging the British troops in the city of Boston. | ||
| And in the month of May of 1775, the provincial Congress wrote to the Continental Congress and they said, hey, we're forming this Army to fight the British regulars here in Boston. | ||
| We think it would be more appropriate as an army that is serving a people who want to be free for the Continental Congress to assume oversight and management of this Army and in effect to make it an army of all of the rebelling colonies. | ||
| And so on the 14th of June 1775, the Congress directed the raising of 10 companies of riflemen, six from Pennsylvania, two from Maryland, and two from Virginia, who were to march to Boston to join that Army of observation. | ||
| But this would become an army of the United Colonies. | ||
| And so in effect, at this point, the Army becomes managed by the Continental Congress and in effect by the national government at that point versus being a regional force of militias. | ||
| And who's in command of that? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Well, a Massachusetts militia general named Artemis Ward was the original commander of the Army. | |
| But on the 15th of June, the Continental Congress debates and confers command of the Army on a Virginia militia colonel and colonial legislator named George Washington. | ||
| And so George Washington becomes the commanding general of the Army. | ||
| He leaves Philadelphia immediately, arrives in Cambridge, Massachusetts on July 2nd, and assumes command of what will become the Continental Army. | ||
| If you've got a question about the Army's history, you can give us a call. | ||
| Our guest is Charles Bowery. | ||
| He is director, executive director of the U.S. Army Center of Military History. | ||
| Our lines are bipartisan. | ||
| Republicans are on 202-748-8001. | ||
| Democrats on 202748-8000. | ||
| And Independents 202-748-8002. | ||
| And our line for retired or active duty military is 202-748-8003. | ||
| That's the line you can also use to text us your comments. | ||
| What was that original mission of the Army? | ||
| Was it, were we in the middle of the War for Independence and the mission was independence for the colonies? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Not initially. | |
| And so initially, The approach and the vision of this Continental Congress was to pursue confirmation and a protection of their rights as Englishmen. | ||
| But it becomes quickly apparent across the year 1775 that what the colonies are really seeking is independence. | ||
| And so a movement for independence really grows within the Continental Congress. | ||
| There are advocates of both sides of this debate early on about whether we should pursue, again, rights as Englishmen or independence. | ||
| But it's clear from the writings of George Washington and some of his interactions that even at the command level of the Army, there's a growing spirit of independence. | ||
| And so later during the campaign around Boston, George Washington will write a letter to his opposite number, Thomas Gage, who's the commander of the British forces in Boston, because he is complaining to Gage about the treatment of Continental Army officers who've been taken prisoner. | ||
| And Gage replies that he only recognizes one authority in military law, and that is the commission of the King of England to serve as an officer. | ||
| And George Washington's indignant response is: well, we are serving a higher power. | ||
| We are serving a free people who are making decisions as a free people, and I can think of no higher commission than that cause of freedom. | ||
| And so these general ideas of human rights, of government by the people, begin to inform and shape this view that we're not English subjects, we are something different, and we are what become Americans. | ||
| So how that original very small army that the United States had, what were the characteristics of it? | ||
| What were the guidelines? | ||
| I mean, I would assume that it was created in the image of the British Army, since that's what the colonists knew. | ||
|
unidentified
|
That's exactly right. | |
| So George Washington's charge is to take an encampment of several thousand militiamen, mainly from the New England colonies. | ||
| Others begin to arrive from the Mid-Atlantic, some from the southern colonies in the course of the summer. | ||
| But his task is to mold this army of citizen soldiers into an army that is European in its aspect. | ||
| And as you described it, the British Army at that point is the world's foremost army. | ||
| And so they're the model. | ||
| So 18th century military science means that you have an army that is uniformed uniformly. | ||
| It is equipped. | ||
| It is trained to execute the battlefield tactics of the day, to conduct siege operations, to use artillery. | ||
| All of these techniques of military science are not really in the spirit or in the background of militia soldiers. | ||
| And so he's got to meet the army where it is, which is a group of citizen soldiers, but he's also got to impress on them the need for things like military discipline or hygiene or good order and discipline, applying military law to an encampment. | ||
| And so he spends the summer forming this army into units. | ||
| And so that means you're going to select officers and you're going to commission officers at various ranks. | ||
| But you're also going to undergo training, discipline to maneuver about on the battlefield as units of soldiers. | ||
| He's going to create uniforms, badges of rank, insignia, things that give the Army the ability to command and employ itself, but then also begin to give soldiers a sense of what they belong to in this army that comes to represent the new United States. | ||
| And so when declaration is, or when independence is declared in the summer of 1776, we move from a continental army to what becomes the United States Army and a direct lineage from that day. | ||
| Fast forwarding through American history to World War I and World War II, what impact did those two wars have on the way the Army operates? | ||
|
unidentified
|
It was really a sea change in the way Americans thought about an army. | |
| And I want to go back to that period of 1775, the colonial period. | ||
| One of the issues that Washington and the commanders and Congress had to deal with was a distinct distrust in standing armies. | ||
| And so people in the 18th century viewed a standing army as a tool of repression. | ||
| They were employed. | ||
| Why would they think that? | ||
|
unidentified
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Because they were employed by a monarch generally in an imperial context, in a divine right monarchy, in a centralized government, to maintain order. | |
| And so an army was a part in keeping people in their station in life. | ||
| And so you were drafted into the army without your consent. | ||
| You were dragooned. | ||
| You served in the army, again, at the pleasure of the king. | ||
| That was not voluntary service. | ||
| And so an army, a standing army, was perceived widely in the world really as a tool of a despot. | ||
| And so Washington has to account for this in the spirit of the people who are serving in this army of the new United States as free people. | ||
| They have volunteered to serve. | ||
| And so this distrust of standing armies is really prevalent in the American conversation throughout the 18th and into the 19th century. | ||
| And so by the turn of the 20th century, the U.S. Army is still a very small, mainly constabulary force. | ||
| It's been employed in small units mainly in the American West. | ||
| But its role is internal to the United States and not external on the world stage. | ||
| And World War I, primarily, and then World War II change all of that, both in scope and scale and what the Army does. | ||
| And so in the World Wars, the U.S. Army takes the side of allies fighting overseas, in Europe, and then in Asia, and it fights on a world stage. | ||
| And this implies a number of important developments for American society as well, including the acceptance that this standing army is going to remain in existence. | ||
| So the question of a citizen army versus a standing regular army is pretty much resolved at that point. | ||
| We're always going to have a large standing army going forward, but that mobilization for the World Wars also changes the character of the U.S. Army in deep ways. | ||
| And so the U.S. Army up to the turn of the 20th century is a small regular force. | ||
| It's supported, but the militias, the citizen soldiers who become our current Army National Guard, really are organizations of the state. | ||
| They are organs of individual states and territories, and they don't really have the deep lincoln relationship that those forces have to the U.S. Army of today. | ||
| In World War I, we mobilized not only the small regular army, but we add National Guard divisions which are mobilized in federal service and serve overseas. | ||
| We also then add a third component to the Army in this so-called national army. | ||
| And so the World War I was our first national experience with a really widespread draft. | ||
| There had been conscription in the Civil War, but in World War I, that is conducted on a national scale. | ||
| And these soldiers who were drafted form what are called national army divisions. | ||
| that national army of federalized draftees becomes today the third component of the modern U.S. Army, the U.S. Army Reserve. | ||
| And so out of this experience of World War I and World War II, we have what we call today the total army of a regular army, the Army National Guard, and the Army Reserve, which all perform very specific, carefully orchestrated roles in a total army. | ||
| But the World Wars also engendered deep changes in how American society relates to its military forces, both in terms of the mobilization, the growing roles for women in military activities, but then also military service as an incubator of social change. | ||
| I want to talk about that, but how large is the total Army if you account for active duty, reserve, and guard? | ||
|
unidentified
|
The total army today stands at around a million people, and that is really a mix of full-time regular Army soldiers, National Guardsmen who serve in their states, Army reservists who serve in their communities, but then also a significant corps of civilian employees, Army civilian employees, who support the Army in every way and aspect. | |
| Everywhere the Army is, civilian employees, members of the Army team, support those operations. | ||
| And so it remains today a large institution. | ||
| And that is the largest of the services. | ||
|
unidentified
|
It is the largest of the services. | |
| And really on this 250th anniversary, it's important to think about the ways in which the U.S. Army of all of the services is really the most deeply embedded in our society. | ||
| And that comes from its large size, but then also its very diverse scope of missions. | ||
| The Army does everything you can think of that a military service would have to do to conduct operations, but then also those reserve components give it a presence in our communities that the other services have to some degree, but not to the large scale of the U.S. Army. | ||
| And you mentioned cultural changes. | ||
| How does the Army impact societal cultural changes, and how does society impact the Army? | ||
|
unidentified
|
It's really a very symbiotic relationship. | |
| And I'd encourage our viewers who are here in the region to visit our new National Museum of the U.S. Army, which we opened in 2020. | ||
| We're really proud of. | ||
| But maybe my favorite space in the museum is the Army and Society Gallery. | ||
| And it discusses that symbiotic relationship. | ||
| But the Army has always been an organ of social change in America, but it's been affected by the nation's and society's social changes as well. | ||
| It's a two-way street of change. | ||
| But the Army, throughout its history, has confronted the social changes, complexities, and dilemmas that American society is struggling with within its ranks. | ||
| And so particularly in the era of the World Wars, you saw a massive expansion in the scope of military service. | ||
| This affected women. | ||
| And so women have always been a part of military operations and of war going back into deep history. | ||
| And women have served the U.S. Army in numerous capacities. | ||
| But in World War I, you have women increasingly serving in administrative and support roles such as nurses and the hello girls who were communicators. | ||
| These are women with French language skills who were employed as switchboard operators in France. | ||
| And so their experience there and as war workers at home really builds into the women's experience in World War II in the Army. | ||
| And in 1942, we formed the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps, which becomes the Women's Army Corps. | ||
| We've got people that want to talk to you. | ||
| So let's start with Thomas, a retired military in San Diego, California. | ||
| Good morning, Thomas. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Hey, how are you doing? | |
| You know, I was just wanted to comment. | ||
| My dad landed at Normandy, and it was D-Day one, June 7th. | ||
| It was 17 years later, I was born in 61 on June 7th. | ||
| My brother was in Vietnam. | ||
| My brother-in-law was in the Marine Corps. | ||
| I was in the Marine Corps 79 to 82, not a whole lot going on. | ||
| The world was more scared of us than they hated us. | ||
| Right now, they hate us more than they were scared of us. | ||
| There's been a kind of a transition there. | ||
| And then my son, little Tommy, he's 39 down, and he did two tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. | ||
| I come from a family of service. | ||
| And I want to celebrate, you know, I'm in the Marine Corps, so, you know, we in the Army, first of all, we take, you know, 90-something percent of all casualties in all wars, you know, after nobody else has a navy superior to ours in the last 30 years. | ||
| But World War II, obviously, there was a lot of naval casualties. | ||
| But what I wanted to say is some people, it's trying to explain people that it's so hard when you see black and white in the other side. | ||
| They just can't see what you're seeing. | ||
| And I'm going, you can't change people's minds. | ||
| You know, obviously, I'm pro-American, and I'm 100% behind this parade. | ||
| A good Marine always likes a great parade. | ||
| All right, Thomas. | ||
| Charles. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Well, sir, thanks for your service, your family service. | |
| And I think what I really want to hone in on what you highlighted is that Army service and military service is so deeply embedded in many families. | ||
| I mean, most people, when they look back in their family's past, have a relative who has served, even if they haven't served. | ||
| And I too served three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. | ||
| My wife just recently retired as an active duty officer. | ||
| So we have that in our family as well. | ||
| And I encourage people to really reflect on this 250th anniversary about that nature of service over time. | ||
| And I think that pride in service is eternal. | ||
| And it goes beyond the debates and the controversies of today. | ||
| Abraham is a New Jersey Republican. | ||
| Good morning. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good morning. | |
| I would like to say that I thank all servicemen and women for everything they've done for our country. | ||
| Without them, we wouldn't be where we are today. | ||
| I'm just worried that the use of military and all the different aspects that are going on with the administration using military for this purpose of working on our soil is kind of reminding me of Tenement Square, where the military works for the government and they run people over who are trying to protest freely with a tank. | ||
| You see something like that, and you say, well, that could never happen in our country because the military is not here. | ||
| Now, what's going to happen when the military starts to work for the government that is either Republican or Democrat? | ||
| And they say, hey, the Supreme Court said we can do this. | ||
| I mean, you're treading on a very, very thin ice when you start having the military work for the government that's in power at the time and do their wins. | ||
| So I don't. | ||
| All right. | ||
| We'll take that up. | ||
| Charles Bowery. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thanks for your comment and your call. | |
| One of the key aspects of our Army, and I really think back to those initial thoughts we had about the formation of the Army and the character of the U.S. Army, and it leads me to remind ourselves that one of these core concepts to which we ascribe is civilian control of our military. | ||
| And that concept is really important, I think, for reflection today on our 250th anniversary. | ||
| And it reminds me of an incident in the Army's early past and back to the year 1781. | ||
| So the revolution is in effect over. | ||
| The Treaty of Paris is under negotiation, but the Continental Army is still encamped. | ||
| It's still in being, and it's up in the Hudson Valley of New York, still under Washington's command. | ||
| And a group of officers has decided at that time that they are going to begin to agitate for payment of their pensions. | ||
| They're worried that the Continental Congress will not pay them the pensions that they had been guaranteed for their service. | ||
| And so there are discussions throughout this camp about a revolt, about officers banding together and moving on Congress to address Congress to petition them to pay these pensions. | ||
| And this is a really dangerous moment in this experiment. | ||
| And George Washington learns of this. | ||
| He gathers the Army officers, all the Army's officer corps together in a meeting hall there in New Windsor, New York. | ||
| And he harangues them about this concept of civilian control of the military and the danger in vacating their ideals that they fought and bled and died for for these many years. | ||
| And he's worried that this has had no effect. | ||
| And he's worried because there's silence in the room and it's really uncomfortable. | ||
| And he decides to read a letter that a member of Congress had written him about this situation. | ||
| And he takes out his spectacles and he puts them on. | ||
| And he says, you'll forgive me, gentlemen, but I've grown poor and unhealthy in the service of my country, but I've also grown blind. | ||
| And he puts on his glasses. | ||
| And by some accounts, there was an audible gasp in the room when these officers thought about the implications of disregarding this oath. | ||
| And so what was called the Newburgh Conspiracy at this moment melted away. | ||
| And we've never encountered the like again. | ||
| But it reminds all of us on this 250th that civilian control of the military is critical. | ||
| And if American citizens wish to engage in this discourse, their way is to exercise their rights as free citizens, to petition their elected representatives, to express their concerns, and then those things turn into our military policies that our Army today supports and defends as they always have. | ||
| And peaceful protests. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Absolutely. | |
| You mentioned pensions. | ||
| How was that very first Army funded? | ||
| Where did the money come from? | ||
|
unidentified
|
It's a great question. | |
| The money came from a mix of sources from the Continental Congress, which had a really, really limited ability to levy taxes early on to appropriate money for the Army. | ||
| But it mainly came from the largesse of the colonies and the colonial assemblies. | ||
| And so this was essentially a handshake agreement between the colonies and the Continental Congress that they would fund the Army's needs in terms of supplies and pay for soldiers. | ||
| But this system rapidly runs out of steam. | ||
| And really, by the year 1778, the Continental Congress is bankrupt. | ||
| The Army has no resources. | ||
| And really, the only thing that is keeping this entire enterprise at float at this point are our allies. | ||
| And I'm talking mainly about France and Spain, who begin to float the new rebelling nation enormous loans and significant amounts of military supplies and cargo. | ||
| But these enable the Congress to get through this rough patch and to begin to levy taxes, to levy requirements on the colonies, but then to begin to sustain the Army. | ||
| And so in this initial period, it's really a compact of the colonial governments, and they mainly supply and fund their own units. | ||
| And so the colonies are raising units that serve in the Continental Army. | ||
| These are regiments that are named from the state line. | ||
| So it's the Connecticut, the 1st Connecticut Regiment or the 3rd Virginia Regiment. | ||
| And so the colonies will generally fund their own units. | ||
| And they'll also fund their militias when they are mobilized by the Continental Congress for service with the Continental Army. | ||
| Alonzo is retired military in Tampa, Florida. | ||
| Alonzo, you're on with Charles Bowery, the Army's historian. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Hey, good morning, sir. | |
| Good morning, C-SPAN. | ||
| I always appreciate you guys. | ||
| I'm calling, because I'm a retired Marine, okay, and I'm an African-American Marine on top of that. | ||
| And during my service and my history, my question is, during World War II, there were no black officers during the D-Day invasions. | ||
| There were no, but there were a lot of black soldiers and sailors. | ||
| The black sailors and Army were relegated to the supply. | ||
| They were relegated to providing cooks. | ||
| That's kind of the idea. | ||
| Then when the guns were taken out, my uncle was moved to gun emplacement from the supply area, and he had to take it over. | ||
| But when he got back to the United States, he and my father, who participated in the big red one transporting supplies through the enemy lines, okay, they weren't given any ability to participate in the GI bill. | ||
| When they came back home, they weren't allowed to do any of that. | ||
| Okay, so during the military, my service, every time you're in the military, excuse me, you have to take a test. | ||
| You have to score high. | ||
| You have to compete at a high level. | ||
| So the fact that this whole DEI of lowering standards for African Americans or women is untrue. | ||
| Okay, there's no way that you can get promoted if you do not pass the standardized testing. | ||
| That is true. | ||
| And so this historian could tell the mystery of that. | ||
| All right. | ||
| Let's get that, Alonzo. | ||
| Go ahead, Charles. | ||
|
unidentified
|
So Alonzo, thanks for your call. | |
| A topic that I think is important and we continue to discuss. | ||
| And it leads me back to the point that I'm a soldier. | ||
| I've served in and around the Army my entire adult life. | ||
| And I am a passionate believer that the Army brings out the best in all of its people and that we are an organization that is focused on merit, skill, and pride. | ||
| But Alonzo's correct. | ||
| And as we talked about the Army as an incubator and a reflector of social changes, the role of African Americans in the military underwent significant change, as he described, in the period of the World Wars. | ||
| And many of these obstacles to service for African Americans are deeply rooted in the era of slavery. | ||
| They're rooted in racist ideas of black incapacity to serve in combat roles, to lead other people. | ||
| And so this process was a process of African Americans themselves fighting for their own advancement, serving their country at the same moment as the country itself does not reward or recognize or acknowledge their service. | ||
| And so this double V campaign that African Americans came to speak of in World War II was really a campaign against our enemies overseas, but against racism at home and segregation at home. | ||
| And so the Army has its own really interesting path along with all of the services toward greater integration and greater opportunities for the service of African Americans. | ||
| And that includes representation in the leadership ranks of the military services. | ||
| And today we see African American leaders in ever-increasing numbers in our Army. | ||
| And I'm a firm believer that although this is an ever-unfinished process of ensuring that we offer equal opportunities to serve to everyone who wants to serve, we know that this is a challenge with deep historical roots. | ||
| And so the Army is always on the lookout to maintain its ability to offer service and to raise people up who wish to serve and demonstrate those skills. | ||
| There are reports of the administration trying to remove references to the contributions of African American soldiers on military websites. | ||
| Has that happened with your website? | ||
| What do you know about that? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Well, what I know is that we at CMH are the stewards of the Army's past. | |
| And that past includes all of these stories. | ||
| It includes all of these people and our products, you know, our published products, our websites, our social media accounts, our museums. | ||
| They discuss these dynamics, these issues, these challenges, and the service of all Americans in their Army. | ||
| And so I'm very confident that although the Army has continued to comply with orders and policy as regards to its activities, those activities do not erase our past. | ||
| It's one thing to change words on a site. | ||
| It's another thing entirely to erase the service of people. | ||
| And I'm completely confident that we have not erased aspects of that past. | ||
| But if you erase words, you can erase people's memory of that history. | ||
|
unidentified
|
There is a challenge there. | |
| And what I would encourage folks to do is to go to our published products at history.army.mil at our National Museum's website. | ||
| They'll see the stories of all Americans, African Americans, women, all groups that make up this very diverse and inclusive Army over time, and to see those stories. | ||
| Ron is retired military in Barrien Springs, Michigan. | ||
| Good morning, Ron. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good morning, Mimi and Charles. | |
| A Vietnam veteran. | ||
| And I see this administration as erasing black history out of another history. | ||
| For instance, Harriet Tubman, who Abraham Lincoln appointed a captain to carry out military raids during the Civil War and intelligence gathering, she's being eliminated. | ||
| And we have them saying they're going to scrub the Smithsonian of black contributions to our military. | ||
| And we see with this administration, Trump, with military soldiers illegally putting them on a political display and having them shear Robert E. Lee, a traitor who should have been hung after the Civil War. | ||
| And we would not be having this problem today if that had been done properly. | ||
| Nathan Bedford Forrest should have. | ||
| But now we see this military, this administration. | ||
| They're hostile to black people in the military, they're eliminating from high command and other posts. | ||
| Okay Ron, let's get a response. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Charles, I want to again continue to focus on my portfolio and our purview as the uh, as the shepherds uh, of the army's past. | |
| Uh and uh, And I'm glad that citizens have concerns and they express those concerns. | ||
| But in my experience, in my role, again, as a person who serves soldiers, who serves with soldiers, was a soldier themselves, I'm confident in the Army's ability to continue to foster service, merit, and excellence, whatever the background of the individual concerned. | ||
| Here's Tony, a Democrat in Claypool, Indiana. | ||
| Good morning, Tony. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good morning. | |
| Charles, first off, I'd like to thank you not only for your service, but especially for your current service regarding military history of the Army. | ||
| I'm 63 years old, growing up, book club, if people remember that. | ||
| I saved my money to buy stuff about the Battle of the Bulge and D-Day. | ||
| So I really love history. | ||
| So I really appreciate your mission and what you do. | ||
| The host just kind of brought up what my question was, and that was regarding to with the Trinity administration and DEI and everything. | ||
| I just wanted to ask what's going on as far as that. | ||
| You hear everything in the news. | ||
| And I know a lot of things have been removed, but then I hear, well, they're still there. | ||
| You just have to look harder. | ||
| And I guess that's my question. | ||
| But again, thank you for what you do. | ||
| Appreciate it. | ||
| Anything you'd like to add? | ||
| I know you've talked about this. | ||
|
unidentified
|
No, I think I'm sensing a trend here in the comments. | |
| But I want to reassure everyone who's watching that, again, I'm inside the Army. | ||
| I see it every day. | ||
| I operate at a fairly high level. | ||
| But I'm really confident and I'm a believer that the Army continues to foster the best in people who raise their hand and serve and swear an oath to support and defend the Constitution, and that our policies enable excellence in every regard. | ||
| And again, I want to point out the ways in which the Army has continued to offer pathways to service in hundreds of different specialties. | ||
| One of those was during the era of COVID when we encountered certainly some recruiting challenges. | ||
| The Army has encountered the fact that many young people with a propensity to serve and an interest in serving can't meet educational or fitness requirements. | ||
| And so the Army in 2021 developed a future soldier preparatory course. | ||
| This was a course taught within the basic training command of the Army, but it allowed people with an interest in serving in the Army to raise their scores on the Army's vocational test and their fitness scores to meet those requirements to go on and serve. | ||
| And so today, we're inducting thousands of young Americans into the Army who ordinarily would not be able to serve. | ||
| And those come from every part of the country, from every socioeconomic background, every racial and gender background as well. | ||
| And so all of those people can serve as a result of those policies, which are really focused on merit and excellence. | ||
| One more call, Richard in Louisville, Kentucky, Republican. | ||
| Go ahead, Richard. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The content of their character, not the color of their skin. | |
| A great man said that one time, and his name was Martin Luther King. | ||
| But yet, here today, 2025, the 250th anniversary of the United States Army, who has protected this country, all you want to talk about is race. | ||
| You're a disgrace. | ||
| Thanks, Richard. | ||
| I wonder before we let you go, is there a favorite story from the Army's history that you particularly like that you think maybe some people might not know about? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Wow, you stumped me. | |
| I've been thinking about this so long in these engagements that we're going to do over the next 24 hours for the Army. | ||
| I think I will just kind of take it personally. | ||
| You know, everyone, I think everyone goes through these phases when they're a kid, when they think about what they want to be when they grow up. | ||
| And I went through numerous different ideas and phases, but the one that stuck for me was a soldier. | ||
| That was the one thing I always came back to. | ||
| And my parents kept the uniform items that I kept when I was a kid. | ||
| When I was eight years old, my father took me to an Army museum, which was near our house. | ||
| And that engendered that passion for service in me that's existed to this day. | ||
| What the Army gave me was everything. | ||
| It gave me a chance to serve and excel, to serve my country. | ||
| And so across 250 years, as some callers have alluded to, the United States Army ensured our freedom and our independence as a nation. | ||
| It guaranteed it. | ||
| It fought for it. | ||
| Without the U.S. Army, there wouldn't be no independent nation. | ||
| The U.S. Army served to eliminate the scourge of slavery from our shores. | ||
| In the 20th century, the U.S. Army has fought and died to free millions from Nazi tyranny, from fascism, from imperialism in Europe and Asia. | ||
| And the Army continues to serve at home and overseas, protecting Americans in the wake of natural disasters. | ||
| And so across the Army's past, all of these modes of service and these settings point to an institution that is, again, older than the nation itself and of which we are incredibly proud. | ||
| All right, that's Charles Bowery, Executive Director of the U.S. Army Center of Military History. | ||
| He's also a retired colonel in the U.S. Army. | ||
| The website is history.army.mil. | ||
| Thanks so much for joining us. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you, Mimi. | |
| Coming up, it's Open Forum. | ||
| You could start calling in now. | ||
| Here are the numbers. | ||
| Republicans, 202-748-8,000. | ||
| Democrats, 202-748. | ||
| Sorry, Republicans are on 8,001. | ||
| Democrats are on 8,000. | ||
| And Independents, 202-748-8,002. | ||
| We'll be right back. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Join C-SPAN for live coverage of the U.S. Army's 250th Anniversary Parade and Celebration today from Washington, D.C., commemorating June 14, 1775. | |
| the historic date when the Continental Congress established the Continental Army and laid the foundation for America's national military force. | ||
| This June 14th, witness a tribute to the Army's evolution from the Revolutionary War to today. | ||
| With nearly 7,000 soldiers and period in modern uniforms marching along Constitution Avenue near the National Mall. | ||
| The parade will showcase Army vehicles and equipment, aerial flyovers, and a timeline of U.S. Army history. | ||
| The celebration continues with a ceremonial enlistment and re-enlistment event featuring President Trump, dramatic parachute jumps by the Army's Golden Knights, a live concert, and a finale with fireworks. | ||
| Watch the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary parade and celebration today, starting at 6 p.m. Eastern on C-SPAN. | ||
| C-SPAN Now, our free mobile app, or online at c-span.org. | ||
| Mike said before, I happened to listen to him. | ||
|
unidentified
|
He was on C-SPAN 1. | |
| That's a big upgrade, right? | ||
| But I've read about it in the history books. | ||
| I've seen the C-SPAN footage. | ||
| If it's a really good idea, present it in public view on C-SPAN. | ||
| Every single time I tuned in on TikTok or C-SPAN or YouTube or anything, there were tens, if not hundreds of thousands of people watching. | ||
|
unidentified
|
I went home after the speech and I turned on C-SPAN. | |
| I was on C-SPAN just this week. | ||
| To the American people, now is the time to tune in to C-SPAN. | ||
| They had something $2.50 a gallon. | ||
|
unidentified
|
I saw on television a little while ago in between my watching my great friends on C-SPAN. | |
| C-SPAN is televising this right now live. | ||
| So we are not just speaking to Los Angeles, we are speaking to the country. | ||
| Washington Journal continues. | ||
| Welcome back. | ||
| We are in Open Forum. | ||
| And as you know, the U.S. Army is marking its 250th anniversary. | ||
| There's going to be a parade near the National Mall in Washington, D.C., featuring Army equipment, flyovers, and nearly 7,000 soldiers in uniforms from past and present. | ||
| C-SPAN's live coverage begins at 6 p.m. Eastern with a look at the Army's history, along with sights and sounds from key points around the parade route. | ||
| The parade itself begins at around 6:30 p.m., followed by an enlistment and re-enlistment ceremony attended by President Trump. | ||
| And the evening ends with a parachute demonstration by the Army's Golden Knights. | ||
| There'll be a concert and fireworks. | ||
| That starts at 6 p.m. today. | ||
| You can see that on our app and online. | ||
| Also, this earlier than that, so this afternoon at 1, Representative Jamie Raskin, American Federation of Teachers, President Randy Weingarten, and others will speak at a rally in Philadelphia protesting President Trump and his administration. | ||
| That rally is part of a nationwide protest, which organizers are calling, quote, No Kings Day. | ||
| That coincides with President Trump's military parade in D.C. | ||
| And that starts at 1 p.m. Eastern on C-SPAN. | ||
| That is also on our website and online, on our app. | ||
| And we'll go to your calls now to Tony in South Dakota, Democrat. | ||
| Hi, Tony. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Hi. | |
| Ma'am, is Charles Bowie still there? | ||
| No, I'm sorry. | ||
| He's left, but what did you want to say? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Well, I want to tell Charles why wasn't Vietnam the Army was all around us? | |
| I was in the Marine Corps, and I happened on a black man that was really hurt bad. | ||
| He had a little white guy with him. | ||
| And it was, I want to tell him, the Army is a birthday, even though it's in the Marine Corps. | ||
| It means a lot to me. | ||
| That guy didn't survive. | ||
| But still, we gave it a goal. | ||
| All right. | ||
| Thank you for sharing that with us, Tony. | ||
| And this is Pete in Buffalo, New York, Republican. | ||
| Hi, Pete. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Hello. | |
| I just want to thank you for having Charles Barley. | ||
| It was so interesting. | ||
| I want to encourage the protesters today, which I don't understand where they get the King's thing, but to be respectful to all the people that are keeping the protesters under control. | ||
| If the protesters respect the police and don't throw things, it's a great thing. | ||
| But I just don't understand why they're protesting. | ||
| Murders have gone down 20%. | ||
| The borders are closed pretty much. | ||
| And inflation is steady. | ||
| And everything is going very well in this country. | ||
| But the protesters are still protesting. | ||
| The illegals are having that opportunity to take the money, leave the country, and come back legally. | ||
| And that's very good of President Trump to do that. | ||
| And that's my comment. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| All right, Pete. | ||
| This is Chris, New Hampshire Independent Line. | ||
| Good morning. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Yeah, listening to Mr. Barry also was, that was incredible. | |
| And you can hear the emotion in his voice on how he took things. | ||
| That's exactly how everybody is right now, or from the majority of us in the United States. | ||
| The gentleman that just spoke talking about Trump doing something good. | ||
| We have the worst president in history, and he's the most disingenuous man you can imagine. | ||
| He's only profiting for himself and his billionaire, so that he stays in office. | ||
| It's almost like we've gone back to the dark ages with information because Trump doesn't tell the truth. | ||
| I'm sorry. | ||
| I'm going to have to get going. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| Bye. | ||
| Here's Miles in San Angelo, Texas, Democrat. | ||
| Good morning, Miles. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Hey, good morning, Amy. | |
| Hold on. | ||
| Hey, good morning. | ||
| Listen, I just want everybody to remember that Donald Trump, first and foremost, is a criminal, and he is convicted criminal. | ||
| So when they start talking about rule of law and keeping people quiet from protesting, just remember, this is coming from a guy who skated. | ||
| They say no one is above the law, but that's not true. | ||
| Ever since January 6th, this guy has been committing crime straight up the line. | ||
| And they're not just removing black soldiers from history. | ||
| Pete Hag's death is also removing women's military histories. | ||
| Okay? | ||
| And Frank Lunch was on there saying we need to stop calling people names. | ||
| It's so rude. | ||
| I like that guy, okay? | ||
| But look, Trump started the name-calling. | ||
| He can't give a speech without saying something horrible about President Biden. | ||
| Okay, Trump set up January 6th, y'all. | ||
| Ever since January 6th, it's been game on, and he's been trying to be a fascist dictator using Project 2025. | ||
| It's so obvious. | ||
| And this parade is going to cost more than $65 million. | ||
| I bet it's $150 million. | ||
| You know, what difference does it make to a billionaire like Trump anyway? | ||
| He's just used. | ||
| All right, Miles, we got that. | ||
| This is the New York Times reporting today. | ||
| This headline: Trump Shifts Deportation Focus, Pausing Most Raids on Farms, Hotels, and Eateries. | ||
| The abrupt pivot on an issue at the heart of Mr. Trump's presidency suggested his broad immigration crackdown was hurting industries and constituencies he does not want to lose. | ||
| That's at the New York Times, if you'd like to read that. | ||
| This is Diane in Albany, New York, Republican. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Hi, I just wanted to say I was born in 1939, and I do appreciate all that our Army does for the U.S. Being born in 39. | |
| We always were tuned in the mornings of the early 40s for our fireside chats. | ||
| I really feel that we do not hear enough about what our Army does, and I do appreciate the service. | ||
| Diane, do you have any memories of World War II, or were you too young? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Oh, no, absolutely. | |
| My mother had five brothers in World War II. | ||
| My father had three, and then there were also numerous cousins. | ||
| So I have great memories of my aunt making cookies by the batches and putting them in big cans and sending them to all of my uncles. | ||
| It was a time of living in fear for, I think, a child as young as me. | ||
| But, you know, my family always listened to those fireside chats and did appreciate that, you know, our president was giving us the proper information. | ||
| All right. | ||
| Here's Horseshoe, North Carolina, Independent Line. | ||
| Mike, good morning. | ||
|
unidentified
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Hello. | |
| Thank you for taking my call. | ||
| I'm not going to talk smack about anybody at this time. | ||
| I just think the parade is, I think it's a good thing. | ||
| The last military parade we had was 24 years ago, 91, celebrate the end of the Gulf War. | ||
| And that was a good thing. | ||
| And I think the parade today is good because the prevention of major war that the United States hasn't been involved in is worth celebrating. | ||
| And I appreciate that. | ||
| I thank you, and y'all have a great day. | ||
| Ingrid, Pensacola, Florida, Democrat. | ||
| Good morning, Ingrid. | ||
|
unidentified
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Good morning. | |
| I've enjoyed this morning as well. | ||
| I'm a retired Navy, Vietnam War. | ||
| And I heard on a couple of channels this morning that some of the military are wearing MA hats over their berets, are wearing necklaces, MAGA necklaces. | ||
| Can you look that up and see if that's true? | ||
| Happy birthday, President Trump. | ||
| And I'll tell you, presently speaking, I'm scared. | ||
| I'm scared for this country. | ||
| Okay, we'll ask maybe our producer can look that up for us while I take some more calls. | ||
| Ann in Massachusetts, Republican line. | ||
| Good morning. | ||
|
unidentified
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Yes. | |
| Hi. | ||
| Good morning. | ||
| I didn't think I'd be on so fast this morning. | ||
| I just wanted to call and say thank you to Frank Luntz who's coming on this morning and saying what he had to say. | ||
| I totally agree with him. | ||
| I think today is all about the 250th anniversary of the Army. | ||
| Putting politics aside, I'm a little bit upset that some people have still called in. | ||
| I'm not going to say what party they are. | ||
| I'm not going to go there, but they still want to play the same game as always. | ||
| And this is what we're contending with. | ||
| I am a Republican. | ||
| I called in on the Republican line. | ||
| I am trying to focus on the day. | ||
| This parade has been in the works for over a year, from what I heard from a politician. | ||
| This is not something that started when President Trump came in. | ||
| This parade has been on the books for a year. | ||
| And putting everything political aside, today, let's look at being Americans and what today is supposed to represent. | ||
| I know it's hard for some people, but let's really, really try. | ||
| And that's what I'd like to say. | ||
| Thank you to everybody. | ||
| Thank to all you veterans. | ||
| My husband is a Marine. | ||
| And thank you to all the veterans that went off the Marine during Vietnam. | ||
| Thank you to all of the veterans that have either given their life for their service or are currently in the service. | ||
| Thank you very much. | ||
| John in Chardonnay, Ohio, Independent. | ||
| Chardonnay? | ||
|
unidentified
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Yes. | |
| I think we've really got to change the mindset of people who've been, I think, programmed for 100 years through the corporate media. | ||
| And I think there's no difference between the Democrats or the Republicans when it comes to warmongering or foreign policy or any of these questions. | ||
|
unidentified
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There is no difference. | |
| And that's obscured by the fact that that media, the 1,500 radio stations across the country and Canada are all right-wing, whether they in calling for the wars and propagandizing for the wars, whether they're Democrat or Republican-leaning. | ||
|
unidentified
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We have no choice in this country. | |
| There is none. | ||
| And I think that have to get independent information. | ||
| And I would suggest globalresearch.ca and globalresearch.ca because it brings in many of the people in the military and the CI and the Pentagon who have grown a conscience and become disgusted with the lies of the military and the government and leading us into these wars. | ||
|
unidentified
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They are never interviewed on any of these talk shows, none of them. | |
| They are banned. | ||
| And they are some of the most accredited people in geopolitics and the CI and the Pentagon. | ||
| But they are not the yes men. | ||
| Only the S men are constantly shoved down our throats on all of the TV, radio, and especially the radio. | ||
| Every day of our lives cradle to grave. | ||
| And I think we have to get some of the sources of information like global research to get the truth. | ||
| And some of the things that we're not being told is that the United States supported Hitler and the Nazis during the build-up towards World War II because the big power structures in the United States had the same ideology of rabid anti-communism as the Nazis did. | ||
| The first people that were sent to the death camps were the Communists and the Socialists, the Liberals and the Leftists, all of the betonovers of present-day media and showing the total sharing of the same ideology. | ||
|
unidentified
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Even before the Jews were sent to the Holocaust, the left, the Democrats, I'm not the communist, socialists, liberals, and leftists were sent there. | |
| And I think this is one of the things that have been completely redacted from people's understanding. | ||
| Got it, John. | ||
| And got this article here from military.com with the headline: Army officials pushed back on pop-up MAGA shop ahead of Fort Bragg Trump speech. | ||
| It says, ahead of President Trump's rally-style appearance at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Army officials raised alarms over a vendor planning to sell Trump-branded merchandise on site. | ||
| They feared selling the merchandise could undermine the military's carefully maintained image of political neutrality, according to two officials. | ||
| But on Tuesday, the vendor 365 campaign was on the Army base anyway, and soldiers purchased clothing and items like Make America Great Again chain necklaces and faux credit cards labeled, quote, white privilege card, Trump Trumps Everything. | ||
| That's at military.com if you'd like to find out more about that. | ||
| That's in response to the caller that asked about MAGA hats. | ||
| That's what we were able to find. | ||
| Here is Natalie in Florida, Democrat. | ||
| Good morning, Natalie. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Hello. | |
| Hello. | ||
| Hi, go right ahead. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Natalie. | |
| Yes, I know. | ||
| Go ahead, Natalie. | ||
|
unidentified
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Oh, thank you. | |
| But you're reading something on the thing right now that has me confused. | ||
| Yeah, yeah, don't look at the TV screen right now. | ||
| Just listen to me in your phone. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you, Mimi. | |
| Thank you very much. | ||
| I am 96 years old, and I am the wife of Sepperino, who served in Utah Day on Utah Beach on June the day of the invasion. | ||
| He was 20 years old at the time, and he was one of the millions that went over. | ||
| But I want to say that our soldiers today, I look at them and they look like robots. | ||
| My husband went in as a human being to serve the Army and the United States, and he was just a regular guy. | ||
| And these guys that I saw now graduating from West Point, I was just alarmed and in there in the way they speak. | ||
| I wondered if anybody thought about that. | ||
| Natalie, did your husband survive D-Day? | ||
|
unidentified
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Yes, he did. | |
| And he died over 20 years ago, and he had PTSD. | ||
| But thank God we were able to form a family. | ||
| And I've been given the honor of having grown children professionals and who are serving this country in the capacity of their jobs. | ||
| So I thank God for that. | ||
| But I'm worried about the coming generation and their freedoms to be able to choose. | ||
| All right. | ||
| Thanks, Natalie, for sharing your story with us. | ||
| Marlene is an Orlando, Florida Republican. | ||
| Good morning, Marlene. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good morning. | |
| Goodness, thank you, Natalie, for your family's contributions. | ||
| I'm calling because I'm thankful for the military. | ||
| I'm thankful for the police. | ||
| I am so thankful to be born a seventh generation American woman. | ||
| Oh, we are so blessed and so lucky in our country. | ||
| You may not like these protests, but at least we have the freedom to protest. | ||
| That's all I really have to say. | ||
| God bless America. | ||
| Here's Barbara, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Independent Line. | ||
| Good morning. | ||
|
unidentified
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Are you talking about me? | |
| Yes. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Barbara? | |
| Yes. | ||
| Go ahead, Barbara. | ||
| You're on the air. | ||
|
unidentified
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Thank you. | |
| I really am tired of this. | ||
| You letting them say all these things about Biden. | ||
| Here he is dying of cancer, and he has never done anything but help this country. | ||
| And the first thing he did was fix the border, worked four months with our senator, and we all know what happened. | ||
| They got a bipartisan bill that everybody was happy, oh, but not Trump, because he needs to tell that, oh, sorry, Biden. | ||
| And they love Biden, and we hate Trump. | ||
| That's the problem. | ||
| I mean, every day, the same lies. | ||
| And you'll let them say that Trump won the 2020 election, that all of these things, why? | ||
| I don't understand it. | ||
| That isn't America. | ||
| And no one, except dictators, show their weapons because we're sorry to kill people. | ||
| I'm not a Christian, so I don't kill people. | ||
| I don't think it's right to kill people. | ||
| They do. | ||
| He's got all the Christians with their guns and pictures of them with their guns shooting Pelosi in the head. | ||
| And why? | ||
| Do you think we're ever going to come back if C-SPAN of all people? | ||
| I've been watching you since 79, and I can't hardly watch you now. | ||
| I really can't. | ||
| You can't say these things over and over. | ||
| And Biden, you know, he's dying. | ||
| And you just let this crap be said about him. | ||
| If it was true, that's one thing, but it's not. | ||
| Every word out of Trump's mouth since he's born, I'm a year older than him. | ||
| And I've been watching him all these years because he pushes himself in on people. | ||
| But all these years, and I just can't believe this. | ||
| You all have just supported him in every hateful, fearful, vengeful, violent thing he wants to do. | ||
| Well, Barbara, we let everybody have their say, and then people have to decide what they believe or not. | ||
| Here is Earl, Canton, Georgia, Democrat. | ||
| Good morning, Earl. | ||
|
unidentified
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Yeah, good morning. | |
| I was in the military, drafted in 1969, June of 1969, and I stayed my two years and got out. | ||
| But anyway, that being said, I didn't go to the jungle. | ||
| It was Nixon's draft, and I didn't go to the jungle. | ||
| Thank God I got sent to Europe. | ||
| But what I called about was this who's provoking who out there in L.A. | ||
| I mean, it looks to me like the protesters are being provoked overwhelmingly by the police officers or the FBI, whoever they are. | ||
| But there's one little clip on the news now. | ||
| You see those garage doors at the federal building start to come open. | ||
| They're not even up hardly three foot. | ||
| And those people that are inside there, they're shooting out into that crowd there. | ||
| It might have been 50 or 100 people there for no reason. | ||
| Why would they do that? | ||
| And they want to say that they're being provoked? | ||
| Good God almighty. | ||
| I think it's the other way around. | ||
| All right, Earl. | ||
| And a quick update for you from the New York Times. | ||
| Israel and Iran defy calls for de-escalation with second day of attacks. | ||
| It's the most intense fighting in decades between the two countries, fueling fears of a wider conflict that could draw in the United States and other major powers. | ||
| That's at the New York Times. | ||
| And a reminder that the parade will, the Army 25th, 250th anniversary parade and celebration will be on C-SPAN. | ||
| That gets underway at 6 p.m. Eastern Time today. | ||
| Be sure to watch that if you're interested. | ||
| And that's it for today's show. | ||
| We will be back again tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. Eastern. | ||
| Have a great weekend. | ||
| Thanks for watching, and happy Father's Day for tomorrow. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Coming up Sunday morning, we'll talk about the latest political news with James Antel, executive editor of Washington Examiner magazine, and the nation's D.C. Bureau Chief, Chris Lehman, and then the Brookings Institution's Michael O'Hanlon on the 2025 G7 summit, including the current state of relations between the countries and challenges for the group. | |
| C-SPAN's Washington Journal. | ||
| Join in the conversation live at 7 Eastern Sunday morning on C-SPAN, C-SPAN Now, our free mobile app, or online at c-SPAN.org. | ||
| This afternoon, Representative Jamie Raskin, American Federation of Teachers President Randy Weingarten, and others will speak at a rally in Philadelphia protesting President Trump and his administration. | ||
| The rally is part of nationwide protests, which organizers are calling No King's Day, to coincide with President Trump's military parade in Washington, D.C. See that live at 1 p.m. Eastern on C-SPAN, C-SPAN Now, our free mobile video app, or online at cspan.org. | ||
| Experience democracy in action with C-SPAN's Voices, where we hear directly from you. | ||
| We want to know what are your thoughts on the upcoming military parade in Washington, D.C. | ||
| I think it's hopefully a start of a great tradition. | ||
| 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States Army. | ||
| There's probably no organization that deserves to be honored more than our U.S. fighting forces, particularly the Army. | ||
| I consider myself pretty anti-military seeing Army parades in the U.S. | ||
| I can't help but think of depictions of Army parades from countries like Nazi Germany, from the Soviet Union. | ||
| My thoughts about the military, I think it's great. | ||
| We need to honor our veterans and our soldiers. | ||
| My thoughts on the Armored Parade is this is just a tremendous waste of money and waste of energy on a man that really doesn't deserve a parade. | ||
| My name's Guy. | ||
| I'm from Florida, and I think it's a wonderful thing. | ||
| I mean, we see military parades throughout the country. | ||
| However, this being the headquarters for freedom and serving in the military myself, I really think it's a wonderful idea. | ||
| It's a waste of taxpayer dollars. | ||
| We generally would like to see our taxpayer dollars go towards improving infrastructure and social programs and things like that rather than a parade for the Army and for Trump's birthday. | ||
| C-SPAN's Voices, Delivering Democracy Unfiltered. | ||
| Be part of the conversation. | ||
| C-SPAN, Democracy Unfiltered. | ||
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| Good morning. | ||
| It's Saturday, June 14th. | ||
| The exchange of missiles over the Middle East continues today following Israel's attack targeting Iran's nuclear infrastructure, scientists, and military leaders. | ||
| More than 70 people have been killed there. | ||
| In turn, Iranian missiles have hit at least seven sites around Tel Aviv, with at least three deaths and multiple injuries reported. | ||
| Meanwhile, here in the U.S., a military parade celebrating the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary is set to roll through the streets of Washington as millions across the country are expected to protest in opposition to the president's actions. |