Transcriber: nvidia/parakeet-tdt-0.6b-v2, sat-12l-sm, and large-v3-turbo
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Main
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frank luntz
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mimi geerges
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Appearances
benjamin netanyahu
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david sanger
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donald j trump
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karoline leavitt
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bev harris
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justice neil gorsuch
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kiron skinner
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patty murray
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rachel maddow
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greg in florida
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john in ohio
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Israel-Iran Conflict Debate00:13:51
unidentified
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.
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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.
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
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 gear was funded by Barack Obama and Joe Biden, who have a lot of blood on their hands.
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
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.
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
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.
All right, here is Al in Plymouth, Massachusetts, Republican line.
Al, you're on the air.
unidentified
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 reading, 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.
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
Good morning.
So today, I just want to say that today we got King Charles gets a royal military parade and Trump's throwing himself once you like we're living in the deleted thing from the fall 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.
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
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 in the military.
So instead we said, look, Donald Trump can have downtown DC for his little birthday parade.
We're going to organize peacefully, joyfully, boisterously, and powerfully everywhere else.
unidentified
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 Weingarten, 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 D.C. 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, 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 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 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, I'd like to address Speaker Johnson's 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.
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, it's unfortunate, but the real military parade, the army parade was, I think it's part, oh my gosh, well, it's going to be in Lawson, Law Script.
I believe, I'm sorry.
The point is that original parade is going to be canceled because of this brouhaha that Trump wants that push this actual parade aside because of all of the 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.
So what do you think of what's going on in the world?
unidentified
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
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, 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.
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
Thank you for having me on.
First, I just want to say that I'd watched them all with 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 if United We Stand and Divided We Fall, they're trying to separate us.
They're trying to make us all fight against each other.
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.
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
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?
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 from this planet look at their own internal political situations and act aggressively towards others on this planet to save themselves.
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.
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.
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.
I 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 you 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 the foreigners.
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, Michael.
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 lates to Obama, Biden, plaintiff, every other comment.
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?
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.
Yeah, and we've had hundreds of people who have assaulted law enforcement officers.
Are you saying that that's not appropriate behavior?
Are you saying that?
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 she calls herself a Christian when Christ said, Blessed are the peacemakers.
If God loves us all and wants 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.
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.
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, quote, 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 founded father of the, 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 vets were coming home and getting spit on.
All my family has been born and bred military.
I've got a grandson, the tank that's coming off right now.
I would just like to say happy birthday to the greatest president you've ever had.
And happy 200 Peters birthday to United States Army.
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.
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 find 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 ends up, 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, 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 Hegset, 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 DEMORCY UNFILTERD WASHINGTON JORNAL continues.
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 a 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 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 and 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.
And invites teams, obviously from West Point, from the ROTC units across the country.
Usually 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'm so intimidated by what they do in five minutes because it's more than I do in five hours.
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.
Because I can't live, because I'm embarrassed, because I didn't, 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 talk 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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Where do these soldiers stand when it comes down to a civil war with red states and blue states?
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.
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.
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.
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 healthcare, 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.
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 and some of these bases and some of these enlistees, senior enlisted and military officers display.
Shifting Politics00:02:25
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.
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, 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?
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.
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.
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 soup.
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 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.
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.
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.
See 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 Cavasos, 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 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 155 millimeter 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, 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 DC early Saturday morning and then was staged north of Jessup was brought into the yard yesterday and then this morning started kind of break tru, break the chains and and start downloading.
So 51 rail cars overall.
There were also some pieces that went from four cavasos here that were also line hauled the entire time uh, but yeah, we are one step closer to getting everything staged at West Potomac Park.
Uh, for the army's 250th birthday, out of like four cavasos uh, we brought over 600 soldiers.
200 soldiers will be marching uh, 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 uh oil, a bit of fuel, because we did bring our own fuelers as well with our own uh Jp8.
That's what these uh bad boys run off of all the M1 tanks.
People are kind of curious to learn like, how do you move almost 80 tons uh 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 uh, the way they sound it's 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 DC.
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 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, intersection.
So with all that track pads, three miles per hour, the formation steel pads is gonna help mitigate.
And lastly, if you want to look right here, I'm like, the only thing you see is some of the rubber that was rubbed off on the asphalt here at the parking lot.
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.
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.
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.
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 202748-8001, Democrats on 202748-8000, and Independents 202748-8002.
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 that 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 a 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 in 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 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.
And 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 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 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.
How does the Army impact societal cultural changes, and how does society impact the Army?
Military's Role in Social Change00:15:25
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 and 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.
So let's start with Thomas, a retired military in San Diego, California.
Good morning, Thomas.
unidentified
Hey, how you doing?
You know, I was just wanted to comment.
My dad landed at Normandy, and it was D-Day 1, 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 are 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 of 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, he'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.
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 can 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.
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 the 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 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.
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 afloat 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, 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 supply through the enemy lines, okay, they weren't given any ability to participate in the GI deal.
When they came back home, they weren't allowed to do any of that.
Okay, so during the military, in 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 these standardized testing.
That is true.
And so this historian should tell the history of that.
There were times when we let's 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.
Confidence In Army's Legacy00:08:32
unidentified
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 cheer 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 them from high command and other posts.
Charles, I want to, again, continue to focus on my portfolio and our purview as the shepherds of the Army's past.
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.
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 some 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.
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.
Open Forum: Army's 250th Anniversary00:05:06
unidentified
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.
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.
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 King's Day.
That coincides with President Trump's military parade in D.C.
And this is Pete in Buffalo, New York, Republican.
Hi, Pete.
unidentified
Hello.
I just want to thank you for having Charles Bowery.
It was so interesting.
I want to encourage the protesters today, which I don't understand where they get the Kings 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.
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.
Ingrid, Pensacola, Florida, Democrat, good morning, Ingrid.
unidentified
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 MAGA 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.
And that's obscured by the fact that that media, the 1,500 radio stations across the country and Canada are all right-wing in calling for the wars and propagandizing for the wars, whether they're Democrat or Republican-leaning.
unidentified
We have no choice in this country.
There is none.
And I think that we 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 CIA 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
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 S men.
Only the ES men are constantly shoved down our throats on all of the TV radio and especially the radio.
Every day of our lives cradle the 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 to 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
Even before the Jews were sent to the Holocaust, the left, the Democrats, not the communists, 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.
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.
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.