His son, marine lieutenant robert kelly, was killed in action in afghanistan in 2010. It was a devastating loss for him and his wife karen. Of a parents loss of a child, shakespeare once wrote, grief feels the room up, lies in his bed, walks up and down with me, unquote. And i know its clear to all who know john kelly and karen kelly that a robert is a constant presence in their lives, john kerry has been reluctant to speak publicly about the very personal and distressing loss i had suffered, but given the political fights about President Trumps false charge that president obama never called the familys of the fallen, and then later in the week, the charge by a democratic congresswoman that trump himself was insensitive when he called a grieving widow earlier this week, kelly obviously felt he needed to explain his behind the scenes conversations with President Trump. Lending advice to the president that someone who knew best how those families were feeling from both ends of that phone call, and those visits, starting with whether President Trump should even make a tradition of making these phone calls. When i took this job and talked to President Trump about how to do it, my first recommendation was he not do it. Because its not the phone call that parents, Family Members are looking forward to. Its nice to do in my opinion, in any event. Kelly also gave some clarity on whether president obama called him and his wife after their son robert was killed in twen in afghanistan, its a point that President Trump used to defend himself earlier this the week. He asked me about previous president s, and i said i can tell you that president obama, who was my commander in chief when i was on active duty, did not call my family. That was not a criticism. Kelly shared with the president privately and then remarkably with the rest of us today, that awful moment in twen when he was called by his friend, general dunford who bore and then broke the horrible news about robert. Let me tell you what my best friend, joe dunford told me, because he was my casualty officer. He said, kell, he was doing exactly what he wanted to do when he was killed. He knew what he was getting into by joining that 1 . He knew what the possibilities were. Because were at war. And when he died, and the four cases were talking about niger, my sons case in afghanistan, when he died he was surrounded by the best men on this earth, his friends. Thats what the president tried to say to four families the other day. He knew what he was getting into. Thats what general dunford told general kelly about robert and it was the message that President Trump tried to convey to the widow of Sergeant La David Johnson on tuesday. He was killed ed iniger. According to fred re ka wilson who heard the call, that message that attempt of consolation was obviously not received the way that President Trump intended it. Kelly expressed shock today at how congresswoman wilson shared this information. I was stunned when i came to work yesterday morning and brokenhearted at what i saw a member of congress doing. Member of congress who listened in on a phone call from the president of the United States to a young wife. And in his way, tried to express that opinion, he was a brave man, fallen hero. He knew what he was getting himself into because he enlisted. Theres no reason to enlist. He enlisted. And he was where he wanted to be, exactly where he wanted to be with exactly the people he wanted to be with when his life was taken. That was the message that was the message that was transmitted. Joining me now is Major General james spider marks, spent 30 years in the u. S. Army, former pentagon spokesman, john kirby, and also with us, cnn White House Correspondent sarah murray. Sarahs question to President Trump on monday is what sparked all of this. Admiral kirby, let me start with you, what did you make of john kelly, his comments and his how angry he was at the congresswoman . Im not surprised. I mean, you can tell that this was very emotional for him. This wasnt just the chief of staff advising the president of the United States, it was a gold star dad as you introduced in terms of what his personal experiences were. A lot of that comes with him. Im not surprised that he is, that hes as bitter as he is about the way that it came out, but i do think, and nobody can question his loyalty or service to the country or his bravery. Nothing i ever did in the navy comes even close. That said, hes a political figure now. And it wasnt congresswoman wilson who politicized this, it was President Trump who politicized this by making it into a competition with president obama. You mean initially. Yes, initially. You dont think congresswoman wilson politicized this at all . I think she contributed but he got it started. Thats what i meant. So, you know, i hope that the other person listening to that press conference this afternoon was the commander in chief because some of those messages, i hope, hit home to him too. Spider marks, in addition to serving, your fatherinlaw was killed in vietnam in july 1972 at the time he wasnt your fatherinlaw, he was your dads best friend, but obviously your wife is a gold star daughter. You have also additionally lost men in combat. How does this whole controversy strike you . Well, its immensely personal on multiple levels as john kirby laid out. And absolutely correct, when you get up on the high road, theres precious little traffic. I think we should all get up on the high road, this thing has been politicized, it needs to stop. This is a great patriot who lost his life and as john kelly described and he is cloaked in a former cabinet position, hes cloaked in the uniform of a four star, hes cloaked most importantly in this case his uniform of a father. And i think what we all need to do is just say look, this is an incredibly unfortunate incident and lets focus in on the operations in niger and what can that unified command, africa command, the department of defense, and what they can do with special ops command figure out what was the purpose of that operation . What were they doing there . Why were there so many resources that were shorted and not available to better assess the situation and to put those young men into a situation where they had a fighting chance, but we didnt do that. It was in fact i think the short story on this is we were going to figure out there was an intelligence failure. There truly is, jake, and i dont mean to walk away. There is an incredible personal face on all of this. And well talk about niger later in the show. Sarah, general kelly was obviously addressing this today because this whole controversy began with comments President Trump made in the rose garden on monday. Does the white house really feel that President Trump is entirely blameless in this controversy . Which is not to say that congresswoman wilson or individual members of the media or anyone else is above criticism, but does the white house really think that when President Trump first said he makes phone calls, but president obama didnt, that that didnt start the ball rolling on this whole unfortunate situation . Well jake, i can tell you theyve been extremely defensive about this. Theyre defensive about questions like the one i asked the president on monday, just why havent we heard from you on this . This is the deadliest combat incident involving u. S. Soldiers since this president has been in office. Its very uncharacteristic to not hear from the president on anything thats in the news, much less something as heart breaking, devastating as losing four american soldiers in a situation like this, thats what sparked this, thats what sort of sparked the incident of political score boarding, the president suggesting that obama and other president s didnt make calls as frequently as he did and eventually thats what got us to this controversy over the president s conversation with this widow, but the white house has basically said that the president did what he needed to do. That his spokeswoman went out there, addressed the fact that there was a loss of u. S. Life that we lost american soldiers, the day after this happened, they shared the information they could at the time. They said that they felt that was sufficient. They felt it was necessary to do it from a podium in the Briefing Room rather than through a written statement that it would elevate it. And they do believe that the president was essentially just trying to do his best to call these Family Members and to express his condolences, and i think one of the things that was telling in what general kelly was saying is that he advised the president not to make these calls. That he said theres nothing youre going to be able to do that lightens the burden on the families and frankly he said in his situation when he lost his son, was the only thing was hearing from his sons buddies. They werent upset according to general kelly they didnt hear from obama. It wasnt particularly important. I want to play one of the sound bytes from general kelly in the control room, general kelly talked a great deal about the decent graduation of american traditions. And how nothing seemed important or sacred anymore. Heres part of that. It stuns me that a member of congress would have listened in on that conversation. Absolutely stuns me. And i thought, at least that was sacred. John. Yeah, look, i was surprised when i heard representative wilson go out and describe the call publicly like that. That surprised me. That typically it is a very private affair between a family and an official like that. That said, apparently she was in the car and the family put the call on speaker. And thats not the congresswomans fault. The family obviously was comfortable having her in the presence, in their presence when they took that call and put it on speaker. So i think we need to be careful before we accuse representative wilson of sort of intruding and getting, you know, listening device or something inappropriate there. If i could address a little bit of the sacred comments, and on this, with all do respect to general kelly who is a far better member of the military than i ever was. I dont agree that things arent sacred anymore. I mean, he talked about women. I think that women still struggled in the 1950s and 60s, im not saying things are perfect now, its not as if, you know, everything is so much worse now than it was before. Same with religion. I mean, this country Still Believes and still patrol fesses freedom of religion, and im proud of that. And on the gold star families, again, im not a gold star Family Member, but from what ive seen over the last couple of days, thanks in part to the Media Coverage and the exposure theyve been given as a result of the president s actions is pretty clear to me that america wraps their arms around military families. We take that seriously. General marks, you know general kelly, i want you to take a listen as a part of his remarks today that were really i guess aimed at educating the public, he talks a lot about, hes not wrong for doing so, i think hes right. 1 of the dharnt sacrifices and serves in the military in the 99 of us that often take it for granted, and he took it the opportunity at the top of his remarks to educate people about how fallen soldiers, Fallen Heroes, come home. Lets listen to that. Most americans dont know what happens when we lose one of our soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, coast guardsmen in combat, let me tell you what happens. Their bowed i dids wrapped them up in whatever passes as a shroud, puts them on a helicopter as a routine and sends him home. Their first stop along the way is when theyre packed in ice, typically at the airhead, and then theyre flown to usually europe. Where theyre then packed and iced again and flown to Dover Air Force base where dover takes care of the remains, embalms them, meticulously dresses them in their uniform with the medals that theyve earned, the emblems of their service, and then puts them on another airplane linked up with the casualty officer escort that takes them home. A very, very good movie to watch if you havent ever seen it is taking chance where this is done in a movie, hbosetting, Chance Phelps was killed under my command right next to me. A casualty officer typically goes to the home, very early in the morning and waits for the first lights to come on. And then he knocks on the door, typically the mom and dad will answer, wife. And if there is a wife, this is happening in two different places, if the parents are divorced, three different places. And if the casualty officer proceeds to break the heart of a Family Member. And stays with that family until, well far long, long time. Even after the entournament. So thats what happens. I mean, the casualty officer proceeds to break the heart of the Family Member. This is spoken by somebody who has experienced those conversations on both sides, spider. And jake, you pray that its done with a level of professionalism as described by john kelly. And i would suggest to everyone that it is. These this is a sacred duty when you become a next of kin notification officer, a casualty assistance officer, you have to break this news on a very personal level. My motherinlaw, when she received notification, its something you cant ever redo. And so you pray that its done with a level of dignity and respect and with graciousness and immense amount of understanding. Theres no empathy, we cant talk about empathy because have you not been there, you just simply have never been there. And so it needs to be done and approached in a way as described by john kelly. I cant belief he was able to describe that linear sequence of events as objectively as he did, but he sure put a point on what takes place for our military and our nation to honor their fallen. General marks, admiralcare by, zaire ray murray, stick around. Were going to take a quick break. Well be right back. When youre close to the people you love, does psoriasis ever get in the way of a touching moment . If you have moderate to severe psoriasis, you can embrace the chance of completely clear skin with taltz. Taltz is proven to give you a chance at completely clear skin. With taltz, up to 90 of patients had a significant improvement of their psoriasis plaques. In fact, 4 out of 10 even achieved completely clear skin. Do not use if you are allergic to taltz. Before starting you should be checked for tuberculosis. Taltz may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. Tell your doctor if you are being treated for an infection or have symptoms. 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And fragmented care, stop getting in the way of patient recovery and pay attention. Every single one of you is on our list. At optum, were partnering across the Health System to tackle its biggest challenges. Were back with the breaking news about the extraordinary press briefing from former marine general now white house chief of staff john kelly who came out and talked to the press today about the process of how somebodys alerted by the commander in chief or others if they have a Family Member who is a Service Member who was killed. And explaining some of the behind the scenes of the controversy. One of the interesting moments about this briefing was how much anger john kelly had for congresswoman wilson, thats the florida democrat who is the one who shared her view and the familys view of the interpretation of President Trumps comments when he called gold star wife and said something along the lines of he knew what he was getting into. John kelly shedding some light as to where that message came from. Thats what he was told by general dunford when general dunford called him to tell him that his son robert had been killed. Kelly wasnt only angry about what wilson said to the press this week, he went back to the 80s and talked about congresswoman wilsons appearance at the dedication of an fbi building. It was dead kalted to two agents killed in a fire fight and some of the Family Members of those killed were there. Take a listen. And congresswoman stood up and in the long tradition of empty barrels making the most noise, stood up there in all of that and talked about how she was instrumental in getting the funding for that building. And how she took care of her constituents because she got the money and she just called up president obama and on that phone call, he gave the money, the 20 million to build the building and she sat down. We were stunned. Stunned that shed done it. Even for someone that is that empty a barrel, we were stunned. But you know, none of us went to the press and criticized. None of us stood up and were appalled. We just said okay, fine. So i still hope, as you write your stories, and i appeal to america that lets not let this maybe lost thing thats held sacred in our society, a young man, young woman going out and giving his or her life for our country, lets try to somehow keep that, keep that sacred. But it eroded great deal yesterday by the selfish behavior of a member of congress. Cnn sarah murray at the white house joins me, sarah, its kind of odd to listen to that because john kelly is deriding politics and the sullying of of grief really. The sullying of grief. Then he gave him the best council he could on how to navigate these conversations in the worst moment of someones life. Some people dont want to accept these phone calls from the president , but for him to go after the congresswoman, he does sort of adopt the role of a political, of a political actor. Hes the chief of staff to the president of the United States. And its worth remembering that, you know, the reason the congresswoman was there was because the family opted to have her there, to be present for this conversation. She said that the sergeant had been through her mentoring program that she had a relationship with this family. So it wasnt just sort of a congresswoman injecting herself without the family realizing that she was there and present for the conversation. Its a difficult situation on all sides, but theres no doubt, jake, that everyone involved in this has now played a role in politicizing it. And something else, sarah, congressman wilson notwithstanding, john kelly explained why it was that President Trump said to the widow of la david johnson, he knew what he was getting into, he knew the risks, because thats what general dunford told john kelly when john kelly found out that his beloved son robert had been killed in afghanistan in 2010. Right. President trump two days ago said that he never said that. He stood in front i think he was maybe in the roosevelt room or the east room, he was in the cabinet room and he told reporters he never said that i never said, john kelly just explained that he did say it, he brought in the context, he brought in the explanation, how President Trump meant it, although as you point out, the family didnt take it that way, but now we know that he did in fact say it, even though President Trump claimed that he did not. Thats right, and its worth noting from the podium yesterday, Sarah Sanders didnt dispute the language, didnt dissput that sentence that trump had said that he knew what he was getting into. He just said that the president , you know, his tone was what it should have been. He was calling to offer his condolences and i also think when you think about the framing of these conversations, i mean, general kelly having this conversation with general dunford, two people who served in the military, who are coming from a very different background from President Trump, i mean, thats the kind of thing that maybe sounds very different coming from general dunford to general kelly than it does coming from President Trump, someone whos never served in the military, speaking to someone who is just lost her husband, you know, in an incident that we still have a lot of Unanswered Questions about. So there are a lot of Different Things that play into this and again, this is one of the reasons that this is such a difficult task for a president , youre not just speaking to people, you know, in the worst moments of their lives, but anything you say, you dont know if anything you say is going to help at all, general kelly seems to suggest that theres nothing you can do to help anyway, and that some people are just not going to want to hear it. Maybe that would have been the case no matter what the president said, maybe it was this specific sentence, you know, either way, this is certainly not the outcome they were hoping would come from these calls and certainly not the conversation that they were hoping to have. And it does in some ways overshadow questions about what actually happened during this mission. How did we lose four american soldiers in an operation that many felt was supposed to be largely safe . Well have more of that part of the story later in the show, but youre right, a lot of raw emotions, and the best of intentions tragically unrealized, sarah murray, thank you so much. When we come back, our discussion will continue about general john kellys remarkable comments. Plus were going to hear from a gold star father whose son was killed in the war in afghanistan. Stick around. Ive asked chase sapphire reserve cardmembers to find my next vacation. Uganda, what are you up to . Thats a real silverback gorilla. Im freaking out 3x points on travel and restaurants. Sapphire reserve, from chase. Make more of whats yours. And my brother ray and i started searching for answers. vo when its time to navigate inhome care, follow that bright star. Because brightstar care earns the same accreditation as the best hospitals. 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Because when you start with more, you own the morning. Alive throughout history, the one meal when we come together, break bread, share our day and connect as a family. [ bloop, clicking ] and connect, as a family. Just, uh one second voice guy. [ bloop ] huh . Hey . I paused it. Bam, family time. So how is everyone . Find your awesome with xfinity xfi and change the way you wifi. Were back. We are breaking news, moments ago the pentagon held a briefing on that deadly ambush in niger, africa, in which four american soldiers were killed just 15 days. Pentagon officials pushing back on any notion that Sergeant La David Johnson was left behind. They insisted a major search and rescue mission was launched. Cnns chief National Security correspondent jim sciutto joins me now. Jim, they were asked about when was the white house notified about the mission and it went bad. What did they have to say . They didnt give a clear answer just as they did not provide clarity to the circumstances whether you call it left behind or not, it took 48 hours to locate and find the body of that fourth Service Member killed in that attack. This is, as were hearing, that the secretary of defense himself, not satisfied with the answers hes getting from inside the military regarding this ambush. Reporter tonight the head of the u. S. Military is demanding answers on the deadliest u. S. Combat mission of the Trump Administration. Loss of our troops is under investigation. We in the department of defense like to know what were talking about before we talk. And so we do not have the Accurate Information yet. We will release it as rapidly as we get it. Reporter two weeks after the ambush, defense secretary james mattis is discounselored by the lack of information hes received from his own people on the isis attack in niger that killed four u. S. Soldiers and injured two more. The 12member u. S. Army team was meeting villagers in a town on the mali border. They were walking back to their vehicles when were not armored when up to 50 isis affiliated fighters attacked them with machine guns and rocketpropelled grenades. The americans fought back, but were only armed with Light Weapons such as rifles. There had been nearly 30 trips along this route already. Sop they had reason to believe that they were in a per missive environment. Reporter after 30 minutes, french aircraft flew by to try to disperse the attackers from the air and later to evacuate the wounded. The u. S. Had to rely on a private contractor to air lift out the dead. In the chaos, Sergeant La David Johnson was separated from the rest of the team and left behind. Commanders launched a large, joint, u. S. , nigerian and french u. S. Rescue operation. 48 hours later, nigerian troops recovered his body. Today secretary mattis attempted to answer hard questions about what went wrong, for one, why the militarys own intelligence assessed it was unlikely the team would run into enemy forces. This specific case contact was considered unlikely, but theres a reason we have u. S. Army soldiers there and not the peace corps, because we carry guns. So its a reality, its part of the danger that our troops face in these counterterrorist campaigns, but remember, we do these kinds of missions by, with, and through allies, it is often dangerous. Reporter and as the families grieve, another question, why was a u. S. Soldier left behind on the battlefield . U. S. Military does not leave its troops behind, and i would just ask that you not question the actions of the troops who were caught in the fire fight and question whether or not they did everything they could in order to bring everyone out at once. Chief of staff john kelly was asked another hard question which is a simple one. Why are u. S. Forces in niger, his answer was there, this is an advised and assist mission and he said that small numbers of u. S. Service members go there to fight isis so that in his words, u. S. Service members soldiers and marines dont have to go there in the thousands. We know thats a formula that both the obama and Trump Administration has used, sometimes its worked, but other times it hasnt. Look at afghanistan now. Thats why you have more u. S. Troops going there because a small presence has not been able to fight back the enemy. First sense to niger, jim sciutto, thank you so much. We have much more on the breaking news, including gold star father whos going to share his take on general kellys comments and everything else, stay with us. Theres nothing more important than your health. So if youre on medicare or will be soon, you may want more than parts a and b heres why. Medicare only covers about 80 of your part b medical expenses. The rest is up to you. 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Youll be able to choose any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. Whether youre on medicare now or turning 65 soon, its a good time to get your ducks in a row. Duck quack call to request your free decision guide now. Because the time to think about tomorrow is today. And were back with john kellys remarkable statements this afternoon. He suffered the unthinkable loss of his who was killed in afghanistan in 2010. I want to bring in now paul montee who unfortunately also knows that pain all too well as viewers of the show know, weve covered the story before. Paul is the father of posthumans Army Sergeant jared montee who lost his life in afghanistan in 2006 when he ran straight into enemy fire to try to save the life of a wounded soldier. Paul, as always, thank you so much for joining us. And its always an honor to talk to you. My pleasure to be here with you, jake. So you received a call from president obama after jared was killed, did you find comfort in it . Or is the whole thing just so painful it doesnt even really matter . Well, first of all, set the record straight, i received a call from president obama three years later when oh. When my son was approved for the medal of honor. Great, okay, good point. Yeah. Thats when he called. Okay. Well let me ask you about the fact that he didnt call you after jared was killed, four men were killed on that horrible day in the summer 2006 on hill 2610, did it bother you that you didnt get a phone call from president obama or actually it was 2006, it would have been president bush. Did it bother you president bush. Did it bother you that you werent called by president bush or does does it not really matter . All youre focussed on is the loss . Well, youre not expecting a call from the president. Nobody is expecting that kind of response from the white house. At the time when your child is killed and the guys in uniform come to your house, you really go into a different world. You arent expecting anything, you dont know what to expect, you dont know what to do. You know, okay, whats going to happen now . You signed a bunch of papers that you dont even know what youre signing because your mind isnt there at all. So youre really not expecting much at all, and of course, theres a ten day delay between the time the body of your child gets to dover and then from dover to get home, its like a ten day delay. So that whole period of time is like a crazy waiting period with lots of people coming to the door, lots of phone calls, interviews, whatevers going on. So its really a very, very difficult time in there and as i said, youre really not expecting anything from anybody. President trump was criticized this week for telling a gold star widow, gold star wife that her husband knew what he was getting into. We heard an explanation earlier today from john kelly who said that was what was general dunford told him when general dunford called him to tell him that his son, robert, was killed in afghanistan. What do you make as a gold star father . What do you make of this whole controversy . First of all, lets deal with the issue here, gold star families do not want to be involved in politics. Thats the last thing they want to get involved in. Its not a political matter. Its a completely different thing and politics has no place in the gold star community. I understand what general kelly went through, went through the same thing i did. I actually met with him only days after his son was killed. We were having a mass Fallen Heroes dinner in boston and he was the honored speaker at the time, and we were all in awe that his son had just been killed, and yet, here he was at the dinner giving his speech. That was quite amazing. Hes an amazing man. There is another i mean, general kelly said so many fascinating and tragic and heartbreaking things today, here he was, i want to play this for you, this was him talking to the press about what he told President Trump in terms of whether or not President Trump should make a tradition of calling gold star families to offer his condolences. Take a listen. When i took this job and talked to President Trump about how to do it, my first recommendation was he not do it. Because its not the phone call that parents, Family Members are looking forward to. Its nice to do in my opinion, in any event. Whatd you make of that . I kind of agree with him. As i said, during that period of time and for months afterwards really, you just dont want to be reminded over and over and over again that your child is gone. Its just its a heart wrenching situation to begin with and its extremely difficult to deal with. And what you get is, you know, media coming to your door constantly and you have to go through the events again and again and again, in other words, you relived the death time and time again. So i can agree with general kelly, its just not its not a pleasant thing, and it wouldnt matter who called you because its just reinforcing the tragedy thats at hand. Paul monti, its always an honor to talk to you, its an honor to have you as a friend. Jared is an inspiration to all of us. Thank you so much for being with us today. And people thank you, jake. People at home, the song i drive your truck Famous Country western song is based on paul driving the truck of his beloved fallen son jared. Thanks so much, paul, good to see you. Thank you, jake. Okay. My Political Panel is here with me to discuss. We have with me Senior Writer for the federalist Mary Katherine hamm, david irvin, and van jones, beyond the messy truth author. Now its a New York Times best seller. David, i know youre john kelly, youre a veteran yourself. Ill ask you right here what i asked you in the hall, which is, i understand why john kelly is mad at the congresswoman, i understand why hes mad at the med media, is there really nobody in the white house that President Trump played at least a small role in this becoming as ugly and uncomfortable as it did . Jake, listen, i think the white house felt like they addressed the issue right after that it happened on october 5th. Sarah huckabee spoke on behalf of the white house, expressed the gratitude for these folks laying there, making the ultimate sacrifice and freedom. I think, i just want to again through my own personal for my own personal say thank you to the families of Staff Sergeant jer mie ja johnson, Staff Sergeant justin wright, Staff Sergeant brian black, as well as Sergeant La David Johnson who are all parish there. And a lot gets lost. Theres a huge disconnect in america, jake, between the folks who serve in the military and the rest of us. I think general kellys outrage today is that people go about their business here in washington and pittsburgh and kansas city, people watch Football Games on sunday and they tend to forget that there are many, many men and women serving in harms way across the globe that we all need to pray for. Their families, sacrifice more than anyone could know. And in this instance, i think he is, general kelly, is expressing his own outrage as well as others in the administration that this, these deaths have gotten blown so out of proportion. You heard mr. Monti saying that you live the death a thousand times over every time its mentioned. General marks was on earlier saying lets take the high road, lets put this behind us. Lets focus on these gentlemens sacrifice and get above the politics of it all. I think thats where we need to be. I survived and knocked on the door and told them their loved one passed away in a helicopter crash. Its a tough job to do. It happens thousands of times across this country, unfortunately, you know, men and women lay pay the ultimate sacrifice, the alter of freedom so we can all debate this. I think the white house is doing a great job. I think general kelly, huge hero. Van, there are people out there, democrats, who think yeah, we agree with everything youre saying, but President Trump is the one who made this political issue by saying that he made the phone calls and president obama didnt, which isnt true. Yeah, you know, its funny without trust, nothing works. Thats true in family, friendship, country, this seems like trump was trying to do something hard, and trying to do something good. And screwed it up. Which happens, but theres so little trust now between so many of us and this president that the benefit of the doubt was not given, and here we are. And i think the president needs is to take a look here, here, now youve gotten to a point after eight months, after nine months, where even when you try to do something good, people have a hard time receiving it because hes done so many things that were mean, so many things that were frankly cruel that its not out of the imagination people he might have called and stuck it to somebody. This is a very, very bad place, but without trust, nothing works. And thats why hes got to do a much better job of trying to include more people. Its also possible, if one interprets President Trumps remarks on the phone that way, that they were misunderstood. Right. It was coming from this is what general kelly told me to say, this is what he was told when his son was killed and i tried to say it. That also, its also possible to interpret President Trumps remarks on monday when he said president obama didnt call people, but i do, maybe he didnt mean it as a criticism in the same way that john kelly said he didnt mean it as a hypocricriticism when he said t obama didnt call him. But there is this context. Yeah, i think this is such a sacred and solemn thing, and i think when he made that first remark, he wasnt sure what obama did, it took it out of that sacred and solemn realm. I think the congresswoman also took is out of that sacred and solemn realm and were unfortunately having this conversation about it. Im honored to know a lot of families who have gotten that knock on the door, im having dinner tonight and well do probably a shot of me troen as we do for our fallen friend travis mannon, u. S. Marine corps, and they dont want to be in this back and forth. They want to be talking about la David Johnsons of the world and how were going to continue honoring them. I do think general kelly has a point when he talks about maybe not making these phone calls. I think that trump was trying to communicate this matters at the highest level. But that call is really hard to make and to do well under the best of worst circumstances sympathetic person in the world. And receiving that call is very tough, and its just its very tricky to do. So im not sure how well thats going to go in general. And i want to just turn to one other thing because president george w. Bush rarely speaks publicly, but he did today. He said something about the state of politics and i just want to run the sound. Our young people need positive role models. Bullying and prejudice in our public life sets a national tone. Provides permission for cruelty and bigotry, and compromises the moral education of children. The only way to pass along civic values is to first live up to them. A lot of people are interpreting those remarks as being about President Trump, david. Look, i dont necessarily know that thats who hes speaking to or not. I can tell you, id like to share my twitter feed after the show and see how civil debate is its hideous. Van and i can sit here, we can agree to disagree, i think thats whats missing in america. Is the lack of civil discourse. You know, the marketplace of ideas in america has seemed to shifl and disappear. And it takes place at all forms. I would join with president bush and echo that. And i think it takes place largely on the media now and not saying that this is i think we need to have civil discourse like this and much less shouting. Van. Well, i mean, davids right. Were friends, we get along, probably more of that goes on than we get down to, but am very proud to see george w. Bush addressing this head on. Youve had a lot of people on the left, people of color, whatever, crying about this, and you havent, you know, had yet enough conservative leadership coming up and saying, this is not a left right thing. This is a right wrong thing. White nationalism and this stuff has no place. Whether he was talking to trump directly doesnt matter. He was talking to americans directly. And thats important. You know, its not just about calling people out when theyre wrong, its about calling people up and in, and he was doing that. I wish the president would do that more. Mary katherine, saying our young people, bullying and prejudice in our public life sets a national tone, provides permission for cruelty and bigotry. Yeah, i think its likely its tough to read that he means something there. And he didnt vote for trump. I think many of the people, and this is the disconnect, many people that voted for trump voted for a bully on purpose. We are being bullied, theres a real disconnect about whether that behavior is a feature or a bug. To me, i was not a fan, and i just to want say that like i enjoy having this conversation with you guys, and i am so thankful for the four men who died in niger who fight for us to continue to that have conversation, we should honor them and they did in fact, its so remarkable, they were so brave to go there indeed knowing this could be the outcome and they still do it. And president bush wasnt the only former president that spoke about politics today. President obama gave a political speech and spoke a little bit about his legacy. But what we cant have is politics of division, that we have seen so many times before, that dates back centuries. Some of the politics we see now, we thought wed put that to bed. I mean, thats looking 50 years back. Its the 21st century. Not the 19th century. Van. I love that guy. I love him. I love him. Shocking. I do. I cant lie, i love that guy. I wrote that down as my prediction of what he was going to say. And you know, i think people feel that way. I think people really did think that we would not have to deal with nazis marching down the street in america, that we wouldnt have, you know, white nationalists and White Supremacists on the rise in this our country. And i think that everybodys got look in the mirror. I mean, thats part of, i think, whats wrong now is that weve now gotten to a politics of accusation. Where nobody wants to take responsibility. Its just all the other side. And its all projection, no reflection. And so my hope is that, you know, you got the george w. Bushs coming out, obamas coming out, you have these gold star families coming out, maybe we can all get to a higher level. 30 seconds. To think somehow there wasnt identity politics, politics of division before donald trump got to washington is naive. I love van, love him to death, hes a goodlooking guy, but doesnt matter, doesnt mean hes right. You know, you think about the democratic house, democratic senate, jamming the president bush and many things and many times, you know, division, division is not something new. All right. Everyone, thanks so much. Really appreciate it. Were going to take a quick break, well be right back. Welcome back own a lighter note and our money lead today, who will get the proverbial Glass Slipper with free twoday shipping from amazon prime . The deadline for cities to submit proposals for amazons Second Headquarters is at midnight in cities that spared no expense and even a little dignity to entice the tech giants to add jobs to their towns. New york lit up the Empire State Building orange, kansas city mayor bought 1,000 products from amazon for charity and gave each product five stars online. The city of stone crest, georgia, offered to change its name to amazon if chosen. Other cities and states have offered billions of dollars in tax breaks. One city not making a grand gesture, san antonio. Its mayor saying he suspects jeff bezos has already decided the future location of the Second Headquarters. Be sure to follow me on facebook and twitter. Thats it for the lead today, im jake tapper. Turning you over to wolf blitzer whos right next door in the situation room. Thanks for watching. Happening now, breaking news, emotion and frustration. President trumps chief of staff, retired general john kelly makes a surprising and very emotional appearance in the White House Press room. He defends the president s calls to the families of fallen troops and calls out the congresswoman who criticized the president s conversation with a soldiers widow. Kelly who lost his own son in action admitted he told that mr. Trump that former president obama did not call him after his sons death, but said that was never meant to be a criticism. Tonight, did kellys defense of President Trump end the controversy or make it