thi this. ice forgot about the plan or is not using the plan. it closed its family detention center in texas a couple of years before this got out of hand. what i.c.e. ended up doing was releasing some of the family members, some of them getting parole status. they have released information on where the unaccompanied juveniles have been resettled so far which i put in the packet. total of 37,000 of them they've provided details on with the majority going to a handful of states -- which are a little bit different than the unusual patterns of illegal settlement here. over 5,000 in texas. 4,000 in new york. 4,000 in california. almost the same number in florida as in california. and also significant populations of almost 3,000 in virginia and maryland. what they're doing is people are going to places where there are already existing established communities of central americans who arrived before them. the numbers, i'm sure, are going to increase next year. and the reason is no one is being sent home. so our country has yet to establish an effective deterrent for more people to come here illegally through south texas. according to news reports, there have been exactly -- not exactly -- roughly 280 of those 200,000 new arrivals who have been deported from the country. that's about 280 people associated as a family unit who were deported from the center in ar t artisia. that's a miniscule drop in the bucket compared to the sizable influx. the main cost, as mayor kennedy indicated, to communities that are absorbing these individuals is education. to give a sense of the sum total of what this cost is going to be, i took a look at what some of the states that are most affected have estimated for the costs of providing an education to just -- to all of the kids who have arrived in this influx. texas estimates that it is going to be spending about $9,500 per child. that's a figure that was developed for their budgeting process in the legislature. florida has estimated that its average cost for educating a child is about $8,900 a child. per year, but that these unaccompanied juveniles require an investment of an additional $1,900 per child. the national average -- both of those states, by the way, seem to be running a little bit less per child cost than the national average which is more like $11,000 to $12,000 per child. so if you apply those costs to just the number of unaccompanied juveniles who have arrived just this year, which is expected to be 90,000, that works out to about billion per year. just for the ones that arrive this year. not counting previous arrivals, not counting future arrivals. it is an enormous sum of money that american taxpayers are going to be putting out to cover the costs of education. again, we don't know how many kids are in the family units. it's got to be at least 60,000, assuming one child, one parent. it's certainly much more than that. another relatively undiscussed impact of this surge is going to be on the labor markets in our communities. how many of these individuals are going to be working and where and what kind of jobs. we know that some of the kids in lynn are working, particularly in the landscaping industry, as i understand. and i think it is reasonable to assume that that's one of the primary motivating factors for them to come here, is that they will be able to work, whether legally or illegally. what. many people don't realize is the family units who were admitted before they started detaining some of them, because they were released as parolees into the united states rel gibl united states are eligible to apply for a work permits and many will certainly be granted work permits while they're here. work. permits have really become the primary vehicle for executive amnesty. the executive branch has the authority without restrictions from congress on issuing work permits. they can issue an unlimited number of them. it has become apparent that when the president can't issue more work visas, he turns to the work permit as an option for providing people with the ability to say here and support themselves. but finally, the worst unintended consequence of our failure to control this influx is the public safety consequences that are going to be a result of this. the most affected state has already quantified this and that's texas. they've already budgeted $300 million for this year which they had anticipated, because they've seen this surge happening over the last couple of years. they've had to add on an additional $17 million a month in state funds for public safety, primarily to back up the border patrol because. many border patrol agents are taken off the line in order to manage the custody of the families and juf nice who are crossing. but beyond the immediate expense of trying to contain the surge and limit the ability of criminal enterprises that are exploding this weakly controlled border in texas, there is another very serious, but again predictable, potential unintended consequence and that is the resurgence of violent criminal street gang activity that is almost certain to result from this new influx of illegal immigrants. i know the mayor referred to a decline in the number of gang members in lynn. i think it is a pretty safe prediction that lynn and other cities like it that have been absorbing a lot of this influx are going to see an increase in street gang activity. we know this from experience but we also know it because of changes in i.c.e. policy that have affected their ability to do gang suppression and dismantling efforts. it is predictable because it's happened before. one of the unintended consequences of a previous wave of illegal immigration from central america which occurred if '80s and '90s was the emergence of a new breed of extremely vicious and unusually degechlt nerate street gang. ms-13 was started by thugs who settled illegally in california when gangs were not a focus for law enforcement and they were able to expand across the nation into areas that already had large illegal salvadorean populations. a large share of the membership of ms-13 and 18th street and other gangs is comprised of illegal aliens. that made them before, and makes th them today, vulnerable to immigration enforcement in a way that they were not so vulnerable to local law enforcement or even to the fbi. as a result of targeted immigration enforcement activity starting at about 2005 and continuing until just a couple years ago, through a program known as operation community shield, these gangs were depleted and weakened throughout the country. it was a huge success. i.c.e. made more than 30,000 arrested of gang members across the united states. ooh significant share are from the three central american countries of the surge. i've given you some statistics on those arrests nationwide and countries of origin. we also find that a disproportionate share of the most violent street gang members and leaders and associates who are arrested do come from the central american countries and particularly from ms-13 and 18th street. the success in i.c.e.'s program was possible because of the aggressive use of force by immigration authorities. they were arrested sometimes just because they were here illegally. i know that sounds like a quaint, antiquated concept now for them to arrest someone just because they were here illegally, but they were targeted because of their known affiliation with a criminal street gang. mostly due to their involvement in crime and even minor crime. i.c.e. successfully penetrated many of the more organized and larger street gangs and got them off the street. central american gangs have evolved in many ways over the years. they are now less flamboyant, less public, better organized, more professional, they have a lot more money and a lot better equipment. that makes them even more dangerous and harder to suppress and control. as a result they are even more of a threat to public order now than was the case ten years ago. many of them were deported to their home country and were able to continue and expand criminal activity there. they've recruited a lot of new members, often through intimidation. gang crime and especially violence is, as we know, pervasive in the three central american countries that are the source of the surge where they operate with near impunity there. but in recent months they've had the opportunity to take advantage of the chaos at the border to return and in fact many of them are involved with the smuggling organizations, either doing the smuggling or providing security for the smugglers or discipline enforcement. whatever. but one thing has changed. i.c.e. is now less able to address that public safety threat posed by these gangs because of changes in immigration policies. agents are restricted in who they can arrest. they have to wait before an individual is convicted of a serious crime before they can keep them in custody and process them for deportation. family ties that a gang member has can trump criminal affiliations or potential threat to the public. even crimes that they've already committed. some of these gang members now have quasi legal status, either through daka or their status is having come here as an unaccompanied juvenile. and d had hs has, frankly, inadequate screening to prevent the embedding of gang members here and enabling them to get status. i.c.e. policies often lead to the release of gang members who have been taken into custody, arrested and charged by some of i.c.e.'s investigative agents. one branch is arresting they will, another branch is releasing them back into the community. gang suppression, frankly, just isn't the priority that it was in years past for i.c.e. all of this leads me to have grave concerns about the potential for an increase in violence and crime due to street gang activity in those areas absorbing the surge. so i think it's probably about time to see what you folks want to talk about and take your questions, which we're happy to do. >> there's a microphone, if you could wait for that and identify yourself. >> hi. penny star, cns news. this is for the mayor. you were talking about the ages of the students. can you be more specific? are you able to determine the actual age of the students and, say, are some as old as 18 or even older? it sounded like you were indicating that. >> we have no ability to confront the student directly and demand an accurate age. every once in a while we'll be able to determine that somebody is well above the age at which they would be entitled to an education in the lynn public schools. for example, if a student does not show up for a few days of classes, we will send our truant officers out to find out what's going on at that home. so when they knock on the door and they say, we're looking for so and so, and the responding person says, well, they're at work. then every once in a while a person will out, for one example, the woman who answered the door said he's 35 years old. he's not going to show up at school. so we know -- we have good authority. but we cannot, per doj guidelines, we cannot ask them for any more verification of their age. and most of them don't come with birth certificates anyway. all they come with is a form from the jubilee center that says their date of birth was 1-1-98. we can't go beyond that. it does become very frustrating. >> any other questions? >> thank you. i'm a member of the fair board of advisors. i'm also a massachusetts original by birth. mayor kennedy, why haven't towns and cities like yours stood up to the federal government, the justice department, and made them sue you for your doing your due diligence to establish the facts regarding your students, and why haven't you asked the national congress to cut the budgets of some of these agencies that aren't doing their jobs and redirect that money to cover the costs that the federal policies are imposing on your local government. >> well, actually, one of the reasons why i am down here in washington is to meet with some of the staff members of members of congress to ask them to find solutions to help communities like mine. i can't speak for other communities. i don't know why they haven't stood up. i think the superintendent and i finally just reached our breaking point. i had gotten very good hold of the city's finances when i came mayor 4 1/2 years ago. we went from a baa1 bond rate i ing. i had had a solid financial backing for the city. in the last couple of years, it has all fallen apart and it has really frustrated me. so i am down here. this trip i'm meeting with some staff members of congress people because they're on break. but i am planning another trip in the next probably five or six weeks to come back down and meet directly with the congressional senators and representatives to find out what we can do to assist communities like lynn and getting the money to pay for this increase in population. >> mike mackey, retired foreign selves officer. i've spent six years if central america and another five years in south america. so i'm aware of some of the issues there and what's causing some of the out migration. one of the issues here though is the responsibility of the federal government and a specific issue that we are looking at in fairfax county is title 1 resources. i'm wondering what's been your experience with title 1 which is basically based on the poverty index, a self-reported need for free and reduced lunches. is that helping? is it increasing? is it going to be part of your discussion with congress? >> well, lynn has always been historically a lower income community, a real blue collar community. we have about 8 % free or reduced lunches as far as our student population goes. so the title 1 impact really hasn't been significant simply because we were at such a level even before this influx. one issue that i failed to bring up in my initial presentation regarding the schools -- i know this is more the at state level, but i wonder if virginia has something sim la. we have a massachusetts comprehensive test for students in the fourth, seventh and tenth grades that students are required to pass. they are expected to take and become advanced or proficient on those tests by their second year if the school system. our state funding can get jeopardized if our students don't score advanced or proficient. when i tell you these people are being placed in the ninth grade and they're illiterate in both english and spanish, the odds of us getting them to pass a tenth grade math examination are negligible. so i am expecting that this is going to hurt the city of lynn's standing with the massachusetts department of education. the other issue concerning the schools that i did want to bring up is our drop-out rate. now the way massachusetts calculates this is if joe smith is a student in our system and he drops out in april, takes a landscaping job, comes back in october, drops out the following april, that counts for us as two dropouts even though it is one person. we've actually had one of these students drop out four times already and when our drop outrates go up, that also affects the city's standing with the massachusetts state department of education. so we see a lot of problems coming down the road as well as the ones that we're dealing with which are primarily financial right now. i'm glad all of you have taken an interest in this. but i'm acting i guess in a way as a beacon or a warning to let people know that these are the consequences of the policy that the federal government has pursued. >> two questions. kno neil monroe. does this impact projects of economic development in lynn and what do the government officials tell you? what word do they use when you come up and say, i can't check their age, what are you doing to us? >> well, like i said, the i.c.e. that i've met with have told me that they're doing a really good job resettling these people but i don't think that they're really keeping track of where they're resettling them. we're not getting any firm answers. we're getting reassurances that feel more like pats on the head like just go about your business. and in fact, i've talked about the number of unaccompanied minors that have been resettled here in the city of lynn. once they get resettled and they're claimed by a sponsor, those sponsors can be illegal themselves. but those sponsors then become conferred with the type of protected status because they are obligated to have control over that unaccompanied minor until their status hearing date. those status hearing dates are being pushed back through 2017 right now because of the backlog. so we haven't really gotten any answers from any federal officials as to what their long-tell plan is for helping out the communities where the resettlement is occurring. and the economic development. i really haven't seen any kind of impact on our economic development. lynn is, as i said, a poor community. it is an old factory community. we have had actually a positive impact on the prices of our rental units and the availability of our rental units especially the ones in the desirable section of town. the prices have gone to the point where they're bidding wars when they come on the market. the stock in apartments is really scarce right now. so i guess in that way there's kind of perverse positive effect on the economic development. as far as business development, we've added a couple of businesses that have one that's going to generate 500 full and part-time jobs in the community, and another one that's generated 200 jobs for the community. so we haven't really seen any direct effect on the economic development prospects in the city of lynn. >> are people in the town glad to see the prices go up? >> no. no. the landlords are happy that the prices are going up. but we have -- i guess as a consequence of that as well, the scarcity, we have started to see, although we can't directly confirm this, that apartments are being subdivide, which does create a public safety hazard for the community. one reason that we know this is happening is recently, about two or three weeks ago, we had a three-alarm fire in two multi-family homes. it started in one and spread to the second. and when the firefighters got to the third floor of the second building, they were finding it difficult to get into the bedrooms and find out whether there were people trapped in there because there were locks placed on those bedroom doors. they, in effect, became subdivided apartments, and that apartment effectively was used as a rooming house. so we don't know how many more of those apartments are out there. i would love to just be able to knock on doors and take a look around but i'm prohibited from just bursting into people's apartments and checking that out. unfortunately, we found out about it when the fire occurred. fortunately, nobody was hurt, but it could have posed a real danger for either people trapped inside those illegally locked rooms or the firefighters that were wasting valuable time trying to look and check to make sure everybody had gotten out safely. >> dana milbank with the "post." you mentioned alleged teenagers with grey hair and wrinkles. can you say how many there are? have you seen them yourself? are there photographs? are there names? >> i have seen their applications, their processing forms that have come from the jubilee center. i would say, of the 30 or 40 forms that i have seen, maybe seven or eight of them clearly, to me, looked older than the 17 or 18 years old that they were claiming to be. >> there are photographs -- >> photographs. i have not personally seen these people, because by the time i've become aware of them, they've been placed into the schools and -- i suppose i could ask the superintendent if i could take a walk over to the school system once school starts. for us it starts wednesday after labor day and maybe i'll be able to get some first-hand up-close looks at these students. but clearly, from some of the photographs, these people are adults. >> between legal/illegal, can you break down of the new student enrollment -- >> no. as i said, that's part of the problem with these figures i have been given. when i do get this out-of-country admissions sheet, it doesn't tell me how many are refugees, how many are illegal immigrants, including unaccompanied minors, and how many have arrived in the community legally. but i can tell you just based on my conversation with the superintendent, that virtually all of those ninth grade guatemalan admissions are unaccompanied minors. another thing about lynn, we are projected to be the number one resettlement community for refugees coming in to the state of massachusetts. lynn is projected to get 202 new refugees this summer. and that opposed to the second largest city in massachusetts, springfield, is getting 58. boston's getting only 19. so we have -- >> these are not central americans. it this is through the regular refugee program. >> right. right. we have a multitude of problems. zpr tho . >> those are, by definition, legal immigrants and you don't know how many of these others are illegal immigrants. now given that and the fact that the surge that you had actually predates the real surge that we've had in unaccompanied minors at the border, why are you so sure it is related to that as opposed to these other problems? >> because the start of our surge predated the national so-called -- when the national stage first became aware of this. as i said, in -- through 2012, we had only three ninth-graders from guatemala in 2011 and 2012. by 2013, it was 56, i believe. and then in 2014, it was 126. that was clearly the start of a trend. it was not any new factor that was introduced that was complicating those figures. and again, we know that a lot of these unaccompanied children are coming through the jubilee center and the paperwork that they're coming up with is from the jubilee center. >> do you know how many you got from the jubilee center is it. >> i don't have the exact figure right now. i can get that. and by the way, if any of you have additional questions that you'd like me to answer that i don't have the answers for right now, you can send me an e-mail. the e-mail address to use is jcerul jcerulli@lynnma d jcerulli@lynn jcerulli@lynnma.gov. i'll be back at work tomorrow and i'll be able to start answering any more questions you might have. i'll have more access to research and be able to contact the school downtown to get any other information you might want. >> let's take a couple more questions so that you don't get e-mails. did you have something jessica? >> i was just going to add that, there were some photographs of some of the individuals claiming to be juveniles who arrived in lynn that were published. so -- couple months ago. i can tell you where to get those. >> matt boyle. i wanted to ask you, what is the effect of this on lynn's citizens and on legal immigrants that are there, and are they aware of this and what is the community's thoughts of this surge that's happened? >> most of them are very afraid to speak publicly about it because they don't want to be branded as a racist. however, i can tell you that through the e-mails i have received and through the personal conversations i have had with the individuals in lynn, they are very concerned about the number of people who are coming in. they want to see it stopped. they're glad that i'm speaking up about it. and even the legal immigrants are very frustrated that they had to wait eight, ten years and spend, in some cases, thousands of dollars to come to the country legally. they don't feel that it's fair that people who are coming across and throwing themselves at the mercy of i.c.e. are being able to get resettled more quickly and more cheaply than they were able to do. >> other than economic compensation for your budget, what specific changes in the immigration policy are you advocating before congressional staff? >> well, as i said, there's nothing specific. i will leave that to the policymakers at the federal level. but simply allowing all of the -- well not "all of." but to have a direct line from the resettlement centers, such as the jubilee center, to the city of lynn without compensating the city of lynn for that direct line i think is unfair. i think, for example, if lynn has experienced an 8% increase in its school population, maybe there has to be a way to redirect students so that until every surrounding community has an 8% increase in their student population, then there's a moratorium placed on having the students enter the lynn school system. just to balance it out. that might be the fairway to do it. having immigration law changes might be the way to do it. having a tougher border security might be the way to do it. i'm not here to advocate for the value of one approach over the other. i'm simply making people aware that there are communities far away from the border that are feeling the economic impact of the policies that the federal officials have in place currently and i'm asking them to look at them to acknowledge the impact that they're having on communities far, far away from the border and do something to change it. but as far as specifics, i leave that to the experts. >> some experts in the form of department of homeland security officials, border patrol and others of us who have studied this program over the years think that the appropriate response is to address the surge by deterring the continued entry and resettlement of people who are coming. we know that certainly the border patrol believes and has said and has written that when there are no consequences for illegal entry, and when people are allowed to rejoin family members who are already living here illegally, and when people who are here illegally are not subject to immigration enforcement unless they're convicted of a very serious crime, and when our local government create sanctuary policies, for example, to prevent local law enforcement agencies from cooperating with i.c.e., those are all the conditions that lead people to believe that they will be able to successfully resettle here, and often with our government's help. so the answer is to enforce the laws we have, use the tools we have, to turn off the faucet of illegal entry rather than trying to redistribute funding to help out all the communities that are forced to absorb it. >> we're going to have to -- i want to respect people's time. we're going to have to -- one more question very quickly. quick answers. then we'll wrap it up. >> melanie uhb from numbers, usa. during my research on places like the juneby center, i found they describe their uac programs as placing children in foster care as one of the main priorities. do either of you have any insight to the foster care program? have you talked to anyone who's been a foster parent? are they americans? the figures, the process. anything? >> i have not. that's a quick answer. >> okay. thank you, folks. i'm not sure whether the mayor or jessica will be around to be accosted afterwards but you can always try. i appreciate everybody coming. thank you very much. and thank you, mayor kennedy. >> thank you. >> some live events to tell you about. at 10:00 a.m. eastern, the bipartisan policy center hosts a discussion on how terrorism threats are affecting national security. that's live on c-span. here on c-span3, the national press club will hear from former democratic senator jim webb of virginia. that gets under way at 1:00 p.m. eastern. over an c-span2, we'll be live from knocks with president obama speaking at the clinton global initiative's annual meeting. live coverage begins at 2:00 eastern. with live coverage of the u.s. house on c-span and the senate on c-span2, here on c-span3 we complement that coverage by showing you the most relevant congressional hearings and public affairs events. then on weekends, c-span3 is the home to american history tv with programs that tell our nation's story, including six unique series. the civil war's 150th anniversary, visiting battlefields and key events. american artifacts, touring museums and historic sites to discover what artifacts reveal about america's past. history bookshelf with the best known american history writers. the presidency, looking at the policies and legacies of our nation's commanders in chief. lectures in history with top college professors delving into america's past. and "real america," featuring archival government and educational films from the '30s through the '70s. watch us in hd, like us on facebook and follow us on twitter. president obama recently awarded the medal of honor are to two vietnam war veterans. army command sergeant major benny adkins and army specialist donald sloat. command sergeant major adkins receives his medal for his action as an intelligent sergeant. sloat was posthumousry awarded for his work as a gunner. ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states. ♪ ♪ >> let us pray. most high and gracious god, we pray today to remind us of the value of sacrifice, how hero is a venerable title because of the price paid by soldiers like the two we honor today. to never accept defeat, to never quit. and one who saved the lives of his friends by selfishly and reflectively giving up his own. these brave men, living and dead, consecrate or history and our faith, the courage of our soldiers, the sacredness of our values, strength of our nation. today we weave their actions into the fabric of our history as they served in the jungle mist in the caisson lowlands. may the living never forget what they did, the friends they lost, the family which he left behind. and we take to heart the words spoken after battle by a grieving president, that it is for us the living to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought have so nobly advanced. we ask you to grant these in your holy name, amen. >> please be seated. good afternoon and welcome to the white house. more than four decades ago, in early 1970, an american squad if vietnam set out on patrol. they marched down a trail, past a rice paddy. shots rang out and splintered the bamboo above their heads. the lead soldier tripped a wire, a booby-trap. a grenade rolled toward the feet of a 20-year-old machine gunner. the pin was pulled and that grenade would explode at any moment. a few years earlier on the other side of the country, deep in the jungle, a small group of americans were crouched on top of a small hill. it was dark d they were exhausted. the enemy had been pursuing them for days. now they were surrounded and the enemy was closing in on all sides. two discrete moments, but today we honor two american soldiers for gallantry govern and beyond the call of duty at each of those moments. specialist donald sloat who stood above that grenade. and command sergeant major benny adkins who fought through a ferocious battle and found himself on that jungle hill. nearly half a century after their acts of valor, a grateful nation bestows upon these men the highest military decoration, the medal of honor. normally this medal must be awarded within a few years of the action, but sometimes even the most extraordinary stories can get lost in the fog of war or the passage of time. yet when new evidence comes to light, certain actions can be reconsidered for this honor, and it is entirely right and proper that we have done so and that is why we are here today. so before i go any further, i want to thank everyone present here today whose research and testimonies and persistence over so many years finally resulted in these two men deserving the recognition they so richly deserve. i especially want to welcome members of the medal of honor society, as well as two american families whose love and pride has never wavered. don sloat grew up in the heart of oklahoma in a town called kowita. and he grew big. to over 6 4. loved football and played for a year at a junior college. then decided to join the army. when he went to enlist he didn't pass his physical because of high blood pressure. so he tried again and again and again. in all, he took the physical maybe seven times until he passed. because don sloat was determined to serve his country. in vietnam, don became known as one of the most liked and reliable guys in his company. twice in his first months his patrol was ambushed. both times don responded with punishing fire from his machine gun leaving himself completely vulnerable to the enemy. both times he was recognized for his bravery. or, as don put it in a letter home, i guess they think i'm really gung-ho or something. and then one morning don and his squad set out on patrol past that rice paddy, down that trail when those shots rang out. when the lead soldier's foot tripped that wire and set off the booby-trap, the grenade rolled right to don's feet. at that moment he could have run. at that moment he could have ducked for cover. but don did something truly extraordinary. he reached down and he picked that grenade up and he turned to throw it but there were americans in front of him and behind him inside the kill zone. so don held on to that grenade. he pulled it close to his body and he bent offense it. then as one of the men said, all of a sudden there was a boom. the blast threw the lead soldier up against a boulder. men were riddled with shrapnel. four were medevac'd out. but everyone else survived. don had absorbed the brunt of the explosion with his body. he saved the lives of those next to him, and today we're joined by two men who were with him on that patrol, sergeant william hacker and specialist michael mulheim. for decades, don's family only knew that he was killed in action. they'd heard that he had stepped on a land mine. all those years, his gold-star family honored the memory of their son and brother whose name is etched fref on thorever on t granite wall not far from here, later in her life, don's mother, evelyn, finally learned the full story of had her son's sacrifice and she paid it her mission to have don's actions properly recognized. sadly, nearly three years ago, evelyn passed away. but she always believed -- she knew that this day would come. she even bought a special dress to wear to this ceremony. we are honored that don and his mom are represented here today by don's brother, sisters, and their families. on behalf of this american family, i'd ask don's brother, dr. bill sloat, to come forward for the reading of the citation and accept the gratitude of our nation. please. >> the president of the united states of america, authorized by act of congress march 3rd, 1863, has awarded if in the name of congress the medal of honor to specialist donald p. sloat, united states army. specialist donned p. sloat distinguished himself by acts of gallantry at the rick of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a machine gunner with company d, 2nd battalion, 1st enfantry regiment, 196 light infantry brigade during combat operations against an armed enemy in the republic of vietnam on january 17th, 1970. on that morning, specialist sloat's squad was conducting a patrol serving as a blocking element in support of tanks and armored personnel carriers in the area. as the squad moved up a small hill in pile formation, lead soldier tripped a wire attached to a hand grenade booby-trap set up by enemy forces. as the grenade rolled down the hill, specialist sloat knelt and picked up the grenade. after initially attempting to throw the grenade, specialist sloat realized that detonation was imminent. he then drew the grenade to his body and shielded his squad members from the blast saving their lives. specialist 4 sloat's actions defined the ultimate sacrifice of laying down his own life to safe the lives of his comrades. his extraordinary heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflects great honor upon his division and the united states army. snflt [ applause ] at this point i'd like to ask benny adkins to come join me on stage. now, let me just say, first thing you need to know is, when benfy and i met in the oval office, he asked if he could sign back up. his lovely wife was not amused. most days, you can find benny at home down in opa locka, alabama. tending his garden or his pontoon boat on out on the lake. he's been married to mary for 58 years. he's a proud father of five. grandfather of six. at 80, still going strong. couple of years ago he came here to the white house with his fellow veterans for a breakfast we had had on veterans day. he tells folks he was the only person he knows who has spilled i just have to correct you. that makes two of us. i have messed up my tie. i have messed up my pants. in the spring of 1966, benny was just 32 years old, on his second tour in vietnam. he and his fellow green berets were at an isolated camp along the ho chi minh trail. i huge north vietnamese force attacked, bombarding benny and his comrades with mortars and white phosphorus. at the time it was nearly impossible to move without being wounded or killed. benny ran in to enemy fire again and again to retrieve supplies, ammo, to carry the wounded to safety, to man the mortar pit holding off wave after wave of enemy assaults. three times explosions blasted him out of the pit and three times he returned. i have to be honest. in a battle and daring escape that lasted four days, benny performed so many acts of bravery we actually don't have time to talk about all of them. let me just mention three. on the first day, benny was helping load a wounded american onto a helicopter. a vietnamese soldier jumped on to the helo trying to escape the battle and aimed his weapon directly at the wounded soldier ready to shoot. benny stepped in, shielded his comrade, placing himself directly in the line of fire, helping to save his wounded comrade. at another point in the battle benny and a few other soldiers were trapped in the mortar pit, covered in shrapnel and smoking debris. their only exit was blocked by enemy machine-gun fire. so benny thought fast, dug a hole out of the pit and snuck out the other side. as another american escaped through the hole he was shot in the leg. an enemy soldier charged him hoping to capture a live p.o.w., and benny fired, taking out that enemy and pulling his fellow american to safety. by the third day of battle, benny and others managed to escape into the jungle. he had cuts and wounds all over his body. he refused to be evacuated. when a rescue helicopter arrived, benny insisted that others go instead. and so on the third night benny, wounded and bleeding, found himself with his men up on that jungle hill, exhausted, and surrounded, with the enemy closing in. after all they had been through, as if it weren't enough there was something more. you can't make this up. there in the jungle they heard the growl of a tiger. it turns out the tiger may have been the best thing to happen to benny in those days. because he says the north vietnamese were more scared of that tiger than they were of us. so the enemy fled. benny and the squad made their escape and they were rescued finally the next morning. in benny's life we see the enduring service of men and women in uniform. he went on to serve a third tour in vietnam. a total of more than two decades in uniform. after he retired he earned his master's degree -- not one but two -- opened an accounting firm, taught adult education classes. became national commander of the legion of valor veterans organization. he has earned his retirement, despite what he says. he's living outside auburn. yes, he's a fan of the auburn tigers but i polled the family and there is some crimson tide fans here. so there is obviously division. benny will tell you he owes everything to the men he served with in vietnam. especially the five who gave their lives in that battle. every member of his unit was killed or wounded. every single one was recognized for their service. today we are joined by some of the men who served with benny including major john bradford, the soldier benny shielded and major wayne murray, who benny saved from being captured. i would ask them and all of our vietnam veterans who are here to please stand or raise your hand to be recognized. [ cheers and applause ] now i ask for the citation to read. >> the president of the united states of america authorized by act of congress march 3, 1863, has awarded in the name of congress the medal of honor to sergeant fist class benny g. adkins, united states army. sergeant first class benny g. adkins distinguished himself by acts of gallantry at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as an intelligence sergeant with detachment a-102, fifth special forces group first special forces during combat operations against an armed enemy at camp eshu, republic of vietnam from march 9th to 12th, 1966. when the camp was attacked by a large north vietnamese and vietcong force in the early morning hours, sergeant first class adkins rushed through intense enemy fire and manned a mortar position, continuing adjusting fire for the camp, despite incurring wounds as the mortar pit received several direct hits from enemy mortars. upon learning several soldiers were wounded near the center of camp, he temporarily turned the mortar over to another soldier, ran through exploding rounds and dragged several comrades to safety. as the hostile fire subsided sergeant first class adkins exposed himself to sporadic sniper fire while carrying his wounded comrades to the camp dispensary. when sergeant first class adkins and his group of defenders came under heavy small arms fire from members of the civilian irregular defense group that had defected to fight with the north vietnamese, he maneuvered outside the camp to evacuate a seriously wounded american and draw fire all the while successfully covering the rescue. when a resupply air drop landed outside of the camp perimeter sarge ert first class adkins again moved outside of the camp walls to retrieve the much needed supplies. during the early morning hours of march 10, 1966, enemy forces launched the main attack and within two hours sergeant adkins was the only man firing a mortar weapon. when all mortar rounds were expended sergeant first class adkins began placing effective recoilless rifle fire upon enemy positions. despite receiving additional wounds from enemy rounds exploding on his position, sergeant first class adkins fought off intense waves of attacking vietcong. he eliminated numerous insurgents with small arms fire. after withdrawing to a communications bunker with several soldiers. running extremely low on ammunition, he returned to the mortar pit, gathered vital ammunition, and ran through intense fire back to the bunker. after being ordered to evacuate the camp, sergeant first class adkins and a small group of soldiers destroyed all signal equipment and classified documents, dug their way out of the rear of the bunker, and fought their way out of the camp. while carrying a wounded soldier to the extraction point he learned the last helicopter had already departed. sergeant first class adkins led the group while evading the enemy until they were rescued by helicopter on march 12th, 1966. during the 38-hour battle and 48 hours of escape and evasion, fighting with mortars, machine guns, recoilless rifles, small arms and hand grenades, it was estimated that sergeant first class adkins had killed between 135 and 175 of the enemy while sustains 18 different wounds to his body. sergeant first class adkins's extraordinary heroism and self-sness above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, detachment a-102, fifth special forces group, first special forces, and the united states army. [ applause ] over the decades our vietnam veterans didn't always receive the thanks and respect they deserved. that's a fact. but as we have been reminded again today our vietnam vets were patriots and are patriots. you served with valor, made us proud and your service is with us for eternity. so no matter how long it takes, no matter how many years go by, we will continue to express our gratitude for your extraordinary service. my god watch over don sloat and all those who sacrificed for our country. may god keep safe those who wear our country's uniform and veterans like benny adkins. may god continue to bless the united states of america. at this point i would ask our chaplain to return to the stage for the benediction. >> let us continue to pray. as you go forth be not afraid. go into the world with peace, have courage. hold onto good. turn no evil for evil, strengthen the faint hearted, support the weak and help the suffering. honor all people. let us love and serve and may god's blessing be upon us. remain with us always, amen. >> at this point, i would welcome everybody to join the sloat family, the adkins family for a reception. i hear the food is pretty good. once again to all of you who serve and your families who serve along with them the nation is grateful. your commander in chief could not be prouder. thank you very much, everybody. [ applause ] turning now to u.s. military strikes against isis, conducting the first airstrikes overnight in syria. the hill reports that president obama is expected to talk about the airstrikes before he leaves today to address the u.n. climate summit in new york. the pentagon announcing last night that the u.s. and partner nations have begun striking isis targets with land and sea-based missiles. we'll have the president's remarks live this morning on our companion network c-span and we'll also take you live to the pentagon for a briefing on the airstrikes that's expected in about an hour's time, 11:00 a.m. and that briefing will be on c-span2. and reaction from members of congress, including the chair of the house armed services committee, buck mckeon. he issued a statement that reads, our men and women in uniform are once again striking an enemy that threatens our freedom. with strong coalition partners, a capable military, and a clear mission, it is a fight we can win. and ed royce, chair of the house foreign affairs committee says while this initial attack will be a big psychological blow to the terrorist group, an air campaign will need to be major and sustained. the reported participation of arab allies in the region is welcome. this is their fight, as much as ours. we'll bring you related briefings and updates on the c-span networks. c-span campaign 2014 debate coverage continues thursday night at 9:00. nebraska's second congressional district debate between the incumbent representative lee terry and state senator brad ashford and sunday the iowa u.s. senate debate between u.s. congressman democrat bruce braley and republican jodiny ernst. c-span campaign 2014 more than 100 debates for the control of congress. we turn now to health care and a look at insurance providers. insurance commissioner ted nickel says he favors a fixed regulatory approach as several insurance company exclude certain providers from their networks in an effort to control costs. also this discussion will hear from the obama administration's former director of insurance exchanges. this discussion was hosted by the alliance for health reform. okay folks we're going to go ahead and get started. good morning. and on behalf of the alliance for health reform, and our honorary co-chairman senators rockefeller and blunt i'd like to welcome you to this morning's session about network adequacy. i'd like to thank our two sponsors, the blue cross/blue shield association and the university of pittsburgh medical center. if you are following us on twitter, the hash tag is network adequacy. if you are listening by phone or watching on c-span2 you can e-mail questions to us at questions @allhealth.org. or tweet them to #networkadequacy. so the title of this session is network adequacy. but we've heard many names for these networks. we've heard anything from limited networks, narrow networks, value networks. why are we having so much trouble naming these things? first, what are they? some new insurance plans in the marketplaces offer consumers networks that are -- that do not include certain doctors, hospitals or other medical providers. some are saying that these smaller networks are causing problems for provider access choice while many are saying that if done the right way, this can help by creating competition and controlling costs while also maintaining quality. so there are a lot of questions about these networks, therefore, the trouble naming them. do they save consumers money ? is the quality of care as good in consumer networks? do consumers have enough choice? do they need all of that choice? how prescriptive should the federal government and/or the state governments be in setting requirements for the networks. what is the consumer experience so far and what will it be going forward? so we're fortunate today to have three experts with us. and we are going to start with ted nickel today. he's wisconsin's insurance commissioner. and he also plays a leadership role at the national association of insurance commissioners where he is a point person on this subject and is heading on efforts to update model regulations for the state. joel ario to my left is managing director of manet health solutions. he was the first director of the office of health insurance exchanges at the department of health and human services, what we now call csio. ize been pennsylvania's insurance commissioner and also oregon's insurance commissioner. michael chernew on the other side of ted nickel is a professor of health care policy at harvard medical school. he's a member of the congressional budget office panel of health advise remembers, and of the institute of medicine's committee on national statistics. he's also a former chair -- vice chair of med pac, the medicare payment advisory commission. once the three of them have given presentations, we'll open up to questions and answers. and, at that time, diane holder who is executive vice president of upmc, university of pittsburgh medical center, and alina pavin, who is manager within the value partnerships department of the blue cross/blue shield of michigan will join us for the q&a. so we're going to go head and start with ted. >> good morning. thank you for having me here today. this is really a very important discussion and is one that's going to continue for quite some time into the future. but it really is -- we really want to focus on the issue of network adequacy. i'd like to start off by providing a little bit of background and an update from a regulator's perspective on the network adequacy. first of all, it's really important to know and realize and to remember that there are a lot of conflicting issues surrounding network adequacy. for consumers, the main issue is whether or not their doctor or their hospital is an insurance plan and whether or not they can receive the care that they're looking for. and, also, whether or not they can ultimately be able to afford particular -- their care, and keep their health care costs down, as well as their health insurance costs down. for providers, on the other hand, the wider the networks, the greatest the reimbursement rates. the more attractive it is for consumers to pick from those plans and thus increase patient numbers. and providers are obviously constantly negotiating with insurers for higher reimbursement rates. insurers view wide networks a little bit differently. they would typically see those as increasing costs and decreasing their ability to manage care. insurers are constantly negotiating with providers on reimbursement rates and to narrow, at times, networks to increase and better manage the care of patients and consumers. all of this is to a point. from the regulator's perspective the networks must be sufficient or the insurer may have to pay in network benefits to out-of-network providers. with the divergent issues all in play, how do we, as regulators, referee? it's really a mixed regulatory approach. it differs from state-to-state. networks are subject to a number of different reviews. first is state review. a network must meet state standards. and then there are a number of -- excuse me. then, any number of insurers may try to become accredited by national accrediting firms such as ncqa or buraq. this is optional, but it's a sign of quality. a good housekeeping seal of approval. for insurers selling on exchange or opts for qualified health plan designation, they also must follow the federal standards. again from a regulatory perspective, who do we regulate to assure network adequacy and network folks following networks. for the insurer, do we regulate the insurer, do we regulate the network itself, do we regulate tpas? for a fully insured plan, it's pretty simple. the insurance regulators regulate the insurers and can regulate the plans through that process. for a self-insured plan, it's not quite as clear. as a result, some states have looked at regulating third party administrators to get to the issues. most states will only be able to regulate the network issues through the insurer oversight function. it's also important to note that there may be different standards for different products. in wisconsin, for instance, an hmo or a closed panel may be required to report more quality measures or may be required to allow direct access to certain providers such as an ob/gyn. they may have certain appeals processes in place for emergency care. ppos and open plan plans may have lesser requirements because consumers do have an option to choose from any provider. one of the other debates, at some point, may end up being resolving around this business of multitier plans, where one of the plans has very small copays, one of the networks has very small copays, and a larger network is attached to that with higher copays and out-of-network benefits. the question might be do we look at these tiers, how do we look at these tiers, should the smaller tier be regulated, and should it have to be a full network? typically, that tier level does not include specialists. all of this is to get at my next point. many cases, the passage -- in the past -- excuse me. in many cases, the passage of the aca has resulted in the accelerated use and focus on narrowing networks across the country. harking back to hi earlier point, control can lower costs for insurers. wider benefits under qhp, under aca have increased the cost of insurance. insurers to keep insurance costs lower look to network design to slow the anticipated increase in rates. the renewed focus on networks and network adequacy also cause the naic, of which i'm a member, to re-examine and update the model law. not unusual, usually not -- but unusually environmental factors cause the naic or the normal business institute at the time to update our model laws. the current naic model has not really been looked at or updated since the late 1990s. but states are still able to make their changes. the states have adopt the model and able to make their own changes at any time. the model was adopted in 1996 and very flexible and is still very good. its pliability reflects the diversity in terms of market differences, large versus urban, excuse me, large urban versus vast rural and the way insurance operates. open panel versus closed panld. but still keeps the same standards. the model itself requires sufficient number of covered services or provide coverage at no greater cost to the consumer. also, provider distances and wait times should reflect the norms of the area. it further requires insurers to file an access plan to ensure they are meeting standards of the area. wisconsin chairs that group and it's charged with revising the model. as chair we've sought a lot of input from all parties affected by the law, consumers, providers, insures and accrediting organizations. we've received 26 comments thus far from interested parties. and once we're finished reviewing those, we'll continue working on revising the model. and the goal is to add all of those changes and look at all of those changes and then take a fresh look and go through the model yet one more time. a great deal of important questions to ask in and around network adequacy. in some cases, we may not be able to come up with an answer. as a regulator of insurance, it may not be our place to answer. issues that will be grappling with include are narrow networks even a problem? what if no wide networks are offered in a particular market? what if an insured is not offered out-of-network coverage? how narrow is too narrow? what does it matter if an insurer -- does it matter if an insurer covers all out-of-network services? what is the appeals process for uncovered services? should there be a single statewide standard? what happens when a doctor or hospital leaves a network? and to what degree should continuity of care requirements should there be? and then, of course, consumer notice requirements as well. the list goes on and on. and finally, i just want to keep -- we as regulators and folks working on this, this very important issue, need to keep a couple of things in mind, as well. we always need to be mindful of cost. we need to look at access to medical care for vulnerable consumers and we need to recognize and understand that we, as regulators, do not have all of the answers. the bottom line is that we need a model that can address the existing and emerging issues foq another 15 or 20 years. with that, i'll turn back to you. >> okay, great. >> actually, before we move on. can i just ask you what can you tell us at the moment? i understand that you haven't finished your work at the naic, but what can you tell us about where you think we're headed with these regulations? are there any, based on the comments, based on where the other insurance commissioners are, what can you tell us about where you think we're headed with these regulations on some of these questions that you've raised? >> that's a broad question. it's clear,and i was talking to some of my fellow commissioners, regulators last week, and it's clear that this business of state-to-state differences and needs to be recognized. we have states with significant urban populations and then you have states like wisconsin with pockets of urban populations surrounded by cows. and it's -- it's important to make sure that there's a model in place, and there's a framework in place, to get ultimately get consumers the type of care, get the consumers the type of access they need, but, again, keeping in mind, keeping in mind the cost -- the cost issues. the other issue that we've seen so far is in talking with other regulators and talking with some of my staff, this whole issue of network adequacy. while always being something we get complaints about, or something we get questions about, we have not yet seen an uptick. we haven't seen an uptick in the amount of questions about, gosh, you know, my insurer canceled my network or they threw out my doctor, what am i going to do? we're not seeing that yet. we're trying to keep all of those things in mind as we look to, again, update the model. and update it with an eye toward, an eye toward there's new products out there. there's new technology available. there's a lot of just -- the entire health care marketplace, you know, the entire health insurance marketplace has changed since the model has passed. so we're heading in that direction. of updating the model given a lot of the environmental factor that is we're -- that we've been experiencing that we've seen. >> okay. great. and one more very quick follow-up question and then we'll move on. regarding the comments that have come in, from stake holders and others, are there any particular themes that you -- thread that you saw in those or any distinctive disagreements that you think are going to make it -- make your job a lot more difficult? >> i think the one issue that's always going to be a challenge is access. you're going to want -- there's going to be a certain folks that want to have just complete, wide access to whatever's available out there. and you're going to have the other side pushing back saying that's a great idea, but, it's just not affordable at that level. and you're also going to -- you're also going to -- we've seen that there's a need for more managed care. there's so much more technolog,k out there. there's so many ways to better handle individual care. and i think joel is going to address it at some point this morning. this idea of focusing and narrowing of networks and better managing care is really becoming a huge part of landscape. and it's really -- it's really promoting healthier outcomes. and so there's going to be that -- there's going to be that struggle. there's going to be those back and forths on, you know, wider the better versus narrower the better. and i think that's what we're going to be grappling with as we look at updating the model. >> okay. so let's move to joel now. >> okay. thank you. i always enjoy following ted at these kinds of events because it reminds me of why i love my years in the naic, a sense of deep knowledge of the issues, a sense of balance of professionalism about how to handle them. i think a lot of these kind of issues, looking to the naic and the different perspectives and the different states and the way they're represented is a good way to get a window into the issues. so i thank ted for his comments here and i hope we do keep this issue primarily at the state level. i think it's the kind of issue that differs dramatically across the states. one more comment i want to make is the event that shawn carr asked me to organize and attend. and then shortly after i learned of his sudden death. i just want to take a moment to commemorate shawn. he was i think a reporter in the very best tradition. just a natural curiosity about issues and just did a bang-up job of covering these issues, particularly at the naic. so with that i'll get into my comments. i basically have three points to make. one is around the networks and what was intended in the aca in terms of setting up the exchanges and competition within the exchanges. two, what are some of the broader issues within the aca that we waive to the network issue with intent to foreshadow that with the managed delivery systems and so forth. and then, three, what are some of the consumer concerns here? because i think ultimately, consumers will be the barometer on this issue. and if they react like they did in the '90s to some of these narrowing of networks, we're going to have a different outcome then if they see it as one choice and one of many in a market place. so starting with the first comment, narrow or value networks, i'll try to use both terms. it shows you how controversial the issues are. you get in trouble right away depending only what you call these things. but narrower value networks i think were clearly intended in the aca. when you take out a lot of the other variables, insurers are used to competing with each other on particularly risk selection, i'm glad that's gone as a form of competition, or it's not completely gone but it should be gone and it will be gone, then you have to look at other ways to compete. i think it was pretty clear as the aca was set up that one of the things that insurers were going to do to compete with each other was really ask hard questions about their networks and try to manage price around how they set up their networks. it was also envisioned, i think, in the aca, that part of the reason that would work in counter distinction to the '90s was because the exchange would offer a multitude of choices to identify other. it wouldn't be your your employer trying to go with ahmo and it's a one-size-fits-all situation. the exchanges allow you to have a situation where, if people want, they can choose broader ppos. if they want, they can choose other kinds of narrower network products. and i think that's very important. and if i were running an exchange, i would want to make sure that all the products weren't narrow networked, tightly managed network-type products, that there were some choices for consumers out there in the ppo world. i'll come back to that when we talk about the consumer side of this. the consumer has to be educated and know the difference between these kinds of issues. the first point is this is not a surprise to people who put the aca together. this 1 what was intended in the competition. and it's a healthy kind of competition to have in the marketplace. and if i feared one thing more than anything else in this this whole arena, it would be that some events happen that cause people to sort of set a one-size-fits-all solution to this problem. and it takes away the rich kind of competition that can happen around different approaches to network. so that's point one. point two, if you look to the rest of the aca outside the exchanges now, you do see the kinds of things that ted talked about right at the end there, the aco, the affordable -- accountable care organizations, which could call them affordable care organizations, too. but the acos, and really, other dimensions of the payment reform initiatives that are coming out of cmi, innovation center, bundled payments, they all required tightly managed oversight of provider net works and integration between the provider network and the insurer, could call them kaiser-like approaches to the issue. i know when i was at the agency, when we were setting up the original kind of network rules and some people were proposing, you know, fairly stringent kind of standards that would apply to everybody, as we're just kicking around ideas, i would always ask the question, well, what would you do with kiez kaiser under that kind of simpluation. people would say oh, kaiser is different. so you can't just say kaiser is different. you've got to let everybody have an opportunity to do that or you say you can't do it at all. and i think those kind of integrated delivery systems are very important. we saw an earnings call last week from cigna, aetna, both talked about the importance of having flexibility around networks, and how they're aco worked, which they're busy creating acos, in conjunction with their insurance activities, that those become examples of products. and i think teddy, i saw your state now or the chinese plan in san francisco. you're going to create these plans in local areas that have a select network that works in that local area, and if i'm an exchange director i want those on my exchange. again, not as the only product, but i do want them. in some ways, the insurers are going to have to be pushed in to creating these products. in massachusetts, it was the legislature that had to say we want all the insurers to offer a product with lower price point with a narrower network because we want that choice available. so, i think all of that is important here. it's intended for price competition, but it's also key to managed care and improving the quality of the aaa and improving the quality at the same time you're reducing the costs. the way in which networks are managed are critical to that and i think the future holds these aco type developments that are happening around the country will show up as products, targeted products on the exchanges. so, that gets me to the third, probably the most important point because i think consumers are the ultimate barometer here. the insurers, the politicians, everybody that's part of this system, even the insurance commissioners, depending on what consumers say and how they vote in the marketplace, will react to that, and the rules will differ. so i think two issues are important to make for a vibrant and competitive network. one is transparency. consumer does need to know who's in what networks and which plans are which kind of networks. unlikely to see a kaiser being challenged on its networks because of where it operates. people pretty much know what they're getting there, and they know in more or less a closed system. it's a much different thing if a broader plan that's a got a reputation and advertises itself as you know we have all the doctors in the state in our networks and so forth, and then somebody buys that product and they say well, there was actually small print over here and said, the part you bought, that's not part of it. we don't have that. we are having else. you should be able to do that everybody should be able to have those kind of networks but it's got to be very transparent. the consumer has to understand what they're buying. so i think there's a lot of work to be done and i look to the naic around those kind of issues. finally i think there have to be some kind of safety valves for out-of-network kind of protections if you're going to draw a tight line around the in-network and really reward people for staying in network and pretty big penalties if you go out of network and maybe you don't get any reimbursement in some cases out of network then you have to have rules for things like i go to the in network hospital and i get a bill a month later that says unbeknownst to me one of the professionals, i had to see the allergist or something, is not in network so i have an out-of-network price for that. that kind of thing, new york now regulates that and said if the consumer doesn't know about it ahead of time, then they get the innetwork price for that sort of service. a lot of issues to make sure the consumers are educated around these issues and that there is full transparency. it would be wise and i suspect that the naic will come to this conclusion that we ought to give states fairly wide latitude to regulate this in response to local market conditions. so let's turn to mike chernew. >> great. thank you. i am thrilled to be here. when i speak at events like this, sometimes speakers disagree and there are a lot of fireworks and it's pretty exciting. unfortunately i am going to be in agreement with the previous speakers. so for the viewers who wanted a jerry springer type of event i don't think we're going to have one today. maybe later. first let me start by saying something about the term narrow versus value. value and narrow are not synonymous. their row networks may be high value net woeshs. but value implies something about cost and quality, not just cost. so value has a very specific meaning about what you're getting for the amount that you're paying. which is not simply to equated with narrow for the sake of you could have a high value narrow network but you might not have a high value narrow network and i think the entire discussion here is what to do when you have a narrow network that's not potentially high value. let me start by trying to at least lay out a general conceptualizization. one of the things i find frustrating is when i read articles the topic du jour is one area and they move to another area and they forgot everything that was written last week. there was a lot written about the prices we have that are high. that's an issue. so one advantage about having narrower networks -- and when i say price i don't mean premiums, i mean the price paid to providers. one advantage of narrower networks is it strengthens the negotiating hand of those people who are purchasing. so i had a friend and unfortunately he said when buying a car in -- to his wife in front of the salesman i don't care what we do, we have to get the car today. which, you know, it was an interesting thing to say. it wasn't that useful in the negotiation process. if you are negotiating and the other person knows they have to be in, it changes your ability to negotiate price. if you are worried about the price and you may or may not be but if you are, in a market system, the ability to exclude people becomes important in that type of negotiation. another topic that has been very interesting we did some work and the topic was geographic variation. it's known as a variation of traffic patterns across geography and across providers. there are providers that are more efficient than other providers and there's a lot written about that. if you knew that, wouldn't it make sense to try to construct a network that focused folks on those providers that you thought were more efficient that ends up being an advantage of a narrower, and in that case probably more of a value network. there's other reasons why these narrower networks are good. you -- if you can concentrate enrollment amongst fewer providers, it facilities engagement and may reduce administrative costs. i can make a strong case for why there is merit to these types of things and that said and you now realize i'm an economist because i'm about to say, on the other hand, there's a lot of legitimate reasons to be concerned about these types of products. most importantly, people need access to good doctors. they need access to convenient doctors. they need access to their doctors. and we very much want to have people have that opportunity. the problem is in general, you choose your plan before you get ill. so it's not clear you know who your doctors are. i'm a reasonably healthy guy. i can name one doctor who is my doctor. there's a lot of things -- i have a lot of body parts. all of them can break. i have no idea which doctor i would want to go in that eventuality. i would be forced to choose my plan. i don't want to investigate who the best neurologist and dermatologist, and whatever else ologist i might need before i choose my plan. i can't make that choice. even though i agree completely with the other speakers, consumer information and awareness is important. there will be limits to how much we can inform consumers, because of the time when they choose their plan, versus the time when they need their care. in the case where you might need to use a lot of doctors it may be difficult to get the doctors that you want into the plan. for example i only have one doctor so i pick my primary care doctor where they are. but i might not, you know -- i might have -- in my mother had a lymphoma she had a very good relationship with oncologists. me could have been put in a wags where she had to choose between her primary care physician and her oncologist. you wouldn't want that to be a case. there are many clinical conditions where people have very serious and important relationships with their physicians and in these models it is difficult to say to certain people, well now you have to choose and we have to figure out how to balance that concern with the other advantages that i mentioned before. so transparency is obviously important. it's not going to be a full solution. regulation of network changes i think matters. there's a concern about a bait and switch thing that might happen, you know. you join a plan you thought your doctor was in and in the middle, network changes. maybe because the doctor left. not something the plan did. you're stuck and we have to think about how to deal with that. both said and i think it's important one of the ways to deal with this type of problem is to reduce the consequences if your physician or hospital ends up being out of network. what do you have to pay to reduce the harm that occurs if there is some mismatch between what you want and need. and what your network looks like. there is another problem. another concern about the types of networks, the concern related to selection. it is true that i can make a compelling case that there's variation and'oy efficiency ac providers and we want to be able to pick physicians that are more proficient. you might be able to pick certain types of patients by picking certain doctors. we have to worry about them. i believe, personal comment, we have made sufficient advances in risk adjustment that i am less concerned about that. i could show you some academic evidence to suggest that now it might be more appealing for plans for folks with chronic disease in as opposed to chronic disease out because of the way we do risk adjustment but that remains to be seen and we are certainly at the beginning not the end of this process. so i think that that matters. a few other final points, the first is and i hate to say this because we are going out on tv somewhere, but i believe this. fairness to providers is important, but it is not the fundamental goal of the health care system. so there is a sometimes an undercurrent in these discussions that we have to be fair to providers. and i do believe just on the record, i do believe we do need to be fair to providers. but at the end of the day the ability of providers to get into a network is not ultimately what we're concerned about. we're concerned more about patients having access to the care that they need at a cost that they can afford. we will see through the networks a big reorganization of delivery systems and how the provider responds and how that plays out will be one of the most important things to monitor as providers find themselves in a somewhat more complicated environment because the providers are going to have to negotiate potentially in different ways with the plans. a few other things as was mentioned before, we need to think about the issues of network adequacy as market not planned specific things. that creates challenges for the regulators and i'm glad i'm not one. but i do think that does matter a lot and we have to focus on that and the second thing is ideally we would be able to focus on measures of outcome not structure. focus on the quality and the access, things that were mentioned as opposed to focusing on structure. it is always very hard and i think will remain to be very hard if we focus exclusively on aspects of structure and i think the more we can improve our measures of outcomes the less important the decisions we make and the easier it will be to make decisions about the underlying adequacy things, because we will be able to make sure that we can at least avoid the most egregious cases of where there are problems. we will not -- so summary, we will not get this perfectly correct. there will be complaints for a variety of reasons. many of them are likely to be justifiable complaints but we're going to have to avoid the temptation to move to a ses testimony that prevents any type of creative network development because we want to avoid there ever being a problem when those networks do get developed. so, thank you. >> great, thank you. before we head into the q&a one question for the three panelists, and that is what do we already about cost and quality? between, if you're comparing the narrower networks to the broader networks. do we have any numbers, research, that show us our experience already in terms of cost and quality? >> one thing i can jump in on here is, with all of the data that's now available for research, what we're seeing and what's being seen by some of the insurers, is, in fact, that higher prices for services does not necessarily indicate better outcomes. what we're seeing -- is providers that are doing, let's say, do knees, or rebuilding knees or fixing knees, the more they do it, the more familiar they get with it the better the outcome and because they do so many of them, oftentimes, the price of that procedure is lower than it is for the guy who does one a week or one a month. if they do or two or three a day versus one a month, what we are seeing in terms of the outcomes is that often times the lower cost procedure is really producing better outcomes. >> we know that narrow networks are cheaper, and i think we also know that we're seeing a lot of narrow networks in the chaex inks, and therefore prices are a little lower in general terms than people expected going in to the exchanges. and quality i think is pretty much anecdotal still. my view is that we don't really know yet very much about how to measure quality. but there are a few things we do know and one of them that i like to point out is that if you look at who scores well on the medicare five-star system, which is, you know, one of the systems out there that's leading the way in measuring quality, again the caveat i'm not sure how well it does that but to the extent it does measure quality if you look at who comes highest on the achievement under that system, it tends to be the achp companies, which are the integrated delivery system companies so it's like dine's upmc company, kaiser, group health, intermountain, the groups that have integrated delivery systems do tend to perform better on that medicare system. >> just before you jump in, you mentioned the medicare, and the system for medicare advantage, and the federal government is looking at some new standards that will be similar to medicare advantage. is that where we should be going? and how is that going to work? >> well the federal government did hold up to quality initiatives under the exchanges for a couple of years. there are several different initiatives there and one of the main reasons for it was that they wanted to make sure that of those alignments across these different federal programs. so the last thing we want, i think, is one approach to quality in the exchange, a different one in medicaid and a different one in medicare so there's a lot of work going on to align these things. but again, i think we're pretty primitive on being able to part of it is if you look at consumers they don't tend to pay a lot of attention to those ratqsn you can find examples where think do. i don't think the american people know how to measure quality very well yet. i think we have a lot of work to do. >> okay, mike? >> joel is right that the analogy to this discussion if you looked at the managed care experience in the past, which wasn't a resounding success in a variety of ways, but i do think the evidence at the time suggests that those plans were able to have a somewhat lower cost and perform well on the state-of-the-art quality measures of the time. and the key phrase there is at the time. and again joel is right the quality measures weren't that good. the interesting thing there is the narrowing of the net woeshs in those plans was not the defining feature of those plans. the flair rowing of the network in those plans enables them to do a whole series of other things in those organizations. and so i think it will be a mistake, particularly given where we are in the process now, to try and generalize about these plans. i ensure there will be exceptional ones that can provide low cost and high quality care regardless of how you measure high quality care most of the time. i am also sure there will be some that won't be as good. the challenge here is to try to set up a system that both identifies, informs, and monitors those that are falling on the part of the spectrum that we don't like. i think it's going to be very challenging to try to generalize about anything about what these types of networks do. they're going to be local. they're going to be done by different organizations with different abilities to manage them well, and they will have, as part of the network portion, a series of other tools layered on top that will vary. p you are not talking about just the network. although that's what our topic is today. there is a bunch of other things that occur related to the managing of the care and a bunch of other things that define the outcomes of these networks that you want and we're going to have to decide the extent to which we trust consumers which came up to choose amongst them and respect their choices, versus limit their choices for various reasons. >> okay. >> we are going to open up for a q&a now. i want to remind those who are listening on the phone line, or watching on c-span2, you can e-mail questions to questions @allhealth.org or you can tweet them to #networkadequacy. i also want to remind everyone that we have two on-the-ground experts with us. we have diane holder. who is with the university of pittsburgh medical center, and she can give us an on-the-ground perspective, as well as alina painen who is with the blue cross/blue shield of michigan. we have some on-the-ground experts so they will be joining in the conversation, and you can direct your questions to anybody on the panel or just to the panel in general. and when you ask your question, if you could please identify yourself. yes. [ inaudible ] >> i guess my general concern would be regarding centers of excellence. their exclusion, for example, if i were diagnosed with cancer, for example, i'd want to go to a national cancer institute designated center of excellence. and those should not, in my view, be excluded for any disease. so, i guess my question is will in fact most of these networks provide access to designated centers of excellence for various diseases? >> diane, you might want to talk about what just happened in pittsburgh, because they settled a case out there with two insurers arguing about networks and one of the parts of that was that certain facilities that upmc has, particularly the cancer facility, it does need to be in-network for both of these insurers who are essentially going to have separate networks over time. so i think the point's well taken. you might want to have a tiered pricing approach, maybe some pricing difference for the consumer depending on where they choose to go but i think cutting off completely access to certain kinds of facilities probably isn't going to work very well with the consumer. >> well the other thing is -- if the initial treatment choice is the best, and if you have that choice, i mean, to have that treatment, then it might, you know, prevent more treatment down the road. >> yes, i think one of the things that is really at the heart of this debate is what really is adequate, and when you look at the outcomes people are trying to achieve, and they want clinical outcomes that are an improvement than what we have, you know, in many regions, and really across the country, we suffer from some deficits in our -- in our quality. you know, the struggle, i think that people have had gets to the heart of what michael said, which is a network's not a network's not a network. and a narrow network is not a narrow network. it's really about what is it that the people need in their region, and how do they get access to the right combination of cost and quality. i think there are certain minimal standards that have to be met and certain minimal access points. and it has to be balanced with both provider and insurance competition. because we're not going to get the kind of innovation we need if we stand in the way of trying to do things differently than we've done them in the past. >> and i would add, so first let me say because i mentioned my mother did have a lymphoma and she was treated in pittsburgh, and cancer is one of the most complicated areas, because of this notion that you're not going to know beforehand exactly where you want to go for your cancer care. so i think it's unrealistic to expect someone when choosing a plan to be sure they're picking one that has the cancer center that they want, and of course that may, in fact, vary by the type of cancer. i'm very, very wary of a situation in which we force organizations to include particular providers in them because of what that would do for prices. and in fact, i think, and i might be wrong about this, i think that would be on the road towards some type of price regulation. you want to say everybody has to have in your network, that's fine. we're now going to tell you what price you're going to be able to charge and i'm not so sure how appealing that would be. i'm not arguing that that should happen or even that that would happen. but the concern is if we think there becomes a monopoly-type provider, a cancer center, we have to think of some way of dealing with that beyond a rule which is every network has to include this particular provider, the type where they are competing, we might have a different approach in a place where we have different providers and all of the network development with b%ñ regulation to make sure they have access to good cancer care and in a way that doesn't give a blank check to the organizations to say now you can charge whatever you want and do whatever you want. it is the case that they may in fact save money to make treatment choices and has yet to be shown that they do for a variety of reasons. that's an academic discussion. >> i wanted to make the point that in and around the work we are doing, in and around the model, to michael's point, when a situation does arise where you haven't decided where you want to go if something bad happens, there are formal and informal appeals peals processes built into the system. i can think of one informal process and they said i need to go where i can get the treatment and i need a way to get there. the long and the short of it, we made it happen and that person is alive today because of that. that's the role of the regulator. as long as we play it straight down the line when those situations come up. in terms of rewriting of the model, that will be contemplated, the ability to file quick appeals for either emergency or specialized care and formal or informal means consumers when faced with those challenges have an avenue to pursue. >> this seems like something they haven't had in a long time to compel the hospitals in particular to do more and align their prices with a market response. we get a lot of hospitals in dallas that compete on whether or not they are a four star hotel and what the thread counts are for bed sheets and such. you don't see anything reflected in that that gives the insurers the ability to say wait a minute, if you want that you can buy it. adequacy doesn't necessarily include four-star hotel experience. >> interestingly, of course, insurers could have had a narrower network in a variety of ways. back in the '80s and '90s people thought they would. they voted with their feet not to. what has been interesting and i'm not sure, again my co-panelists can comment on it. i'm not sure it was anticipated that on exchanges there would be demand for those things. the balance is to separate the thread count from cancer care. it is a question as to what level of sort of quality and separation we would want and when we want the consumers to make those choices. we are having the discussion of how to create markets that work in a world where information is imperfect and we care about the outcomes in a way that we don't for other things. if you buy a third-rate cell phone, i'm sorry. but if you end up getting really bad cancer care i feel differently about that in a variety of ways. and so i do think we will see and i think we should allow consumers to make choices as fwr what they are allowed to pay to get access for different facilities in the network. we have to have a lower bound at some level and we have to be able to regulate the processes around that for information choice and some of the exception processes that were discussed so some more egregious things that might happen are minimized. i want to say eliminated but i end up sticking with minimized. >> quick is dallas is an ideal place to have this situation because you have hk systems and health and hospital systems so there could be great competition. the side of this is you get to some parts of the country there is not the same kind of leverage to use network strategies. >> one thing that has become a hot topic which is another issue which you see on the pages of the press but isn't connected is issues of antitrust. one of the solutions if you are a provider is various types of mergers. so in combination with this discussion will be aspects of network consolidation. we can have a whole other press briefing on how we want consolidation to allow integration where we think there are efficiencies and maintain competition among providers. many of the issues i think are in the forefront of the minds of policymakers end up overlapping. one of the themes that trn sends all of them is the extent to which we can end up with a competition that works and one that we have to put regulatory barriers to that competition. >> a question for ted. cms this year decided for 2015 that it was going to, i think, put in place more strict network adequacy standards for plans offered. they suggested in the future they might look at specific standards around time and distance requirements. do you think they shouldn't be in the business of doing that given what you said about recognizing state by state differences? >> i love my friends at the federal government. but i'm very leery and very weary and concerned if folks at hhs come up with a floor. i know i have fellow regulators who would like a floor. given the diversity of market places throughout the country what i don't want to have is an extra or a heavy push by the federal government to get into the business of something that states do very well. they know their markets and know their market places and distances and urban versus rural areas. we do a pretty good job there. what we don't want to have is friends around here somewhere in d.c. or maryland to put something in place that will mess up strategies that are already working very well in the states. they should give us a wide berth at the state level to make these kinds of decisions and better manage our market places because we are right there. >> i would like to actually ask if the other panelists want to weigh in on this question on the federal versus state or some combination of both that would work? where are we headed? what is going to happen with federal? is the federal government moving forward in some aspect? >> i have a quick comment from the michigan plan. i think i agree with what ted is saying. we would want the ability to do that for our own community. we have cases where we don't have network providers in certain geographies because a doctor's office doesn't exist in that area. i think it becomes complex for patients who live in rural areas where they go to access care, how expensive is it in that geography. as a plan there is a way to work with providers and develop measures and programs where you have kind of a team between the plan and the provider to develop high quality low cost care for those parts of the state. so for my perspective we agree with the flexibility in allowing states to do that work. >> i would say we did set in the original regulations. that was the qualitative standard and not a quantitative. having said that, i think there always are wrinkles here. one wrinkle is the exchanges have a lot more low income with people coming into the commercial market place now than has been the case traditionally. there is a second part of network adequacy which is essential community providers who serve that population. we did start with quantitative regulations, 20% of all of the essential community providers to make sure that the providers who dealt with low income population will be represented. i would be wary of where it goes. all generalizations are false is a good motto to keep in mind when thinking about these issues. >> robert? >> i would like to follow up maybe with a question for mr. nickel. have the medicare advantage standards created problems? those have like five different levels based on the diversity of a community total population, population density. have those failed or inadequately recognized diversity among states?
major adkins received the medal for his actions while serving during the vietnam war. army specialist sloat was awardrd his posthumously while serving as a machine gunner during vietnam. dr. sloat will accept the medal of honor on his brother's behalf. this is 25 minutes. >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states. ♪[music]♪ >> let us pray. most high and gracious god, we pray today, if you will remind us of the value of sacrifice and how hero is a venable title because of the price paid by soldiers, like the two to be honored today, remembered by his persistent to defend his brothers, to never accept defeat and to never quit. and one who saved the lives of his friends by unselfishly giving up his own. these brave men living in death consecrate our history and our faith, the courage of our soldiers, the sacredness of our values, the strength of our nation. today we weave their actions into the fabric of our history as they served in the jungle midsts. we, who are the living, may we never forget what they did. the friends they lost, the family left behind. and we take to heart the words spoken after battle by a grieving president, that it is for us, the living, to be dedicated here, to the unfinished work which they who fought have so nobly advanced. god of grace, we ask you to grant these, in your holy name, amen. >> please be seated. good afternoon. and welcome to the white house. more than four decades ago, in early 1970, an american squad in vietnam set out on patrol. they marched down a trail, past a rice paddy. shots rang out and splintered the bamboo above their heads. the lead soldier tripped a wire, a booby trap. a grenade rolled toward the feet of a 20-year-old machine gunner. the pin was pulled and that grenade would explode at any moment. a few years earlier, on the other side of the country, deep in the jungle, a small group of americans were crouched on top of a small hill. and it was dark. they were exhausted. the enemy had been pursuing them for days. now they were surrounded and the enemy was closing in on all sides. two discrete moments but today we honor two american soldiers for gallantry above and beyond the call of duty, at each of those moments. especiallyist donald sloat -- specialist donald sloat, who stood above that grenade, and command sergeant-major bennie adkins who fought through a ferocious battle and found himself on that jungle hill. nearly half a century after their acts of valor a grateful nation bestows upon these men the highest military decoration, the medal of honor. normally this medal must be awarded within a few years of the action. but sometimes even the most extraordinary stories can get lost in the fog of war or the passage of time. yet when new evidence comes to light, certain actions can be reconsidered for this honor and it is entirely right and proper that we have done so, and that is why we are here today. so before i go any further, i want to thank everyone present here today, whose research and testimonies and persistence over so many years finally resulted in these two men deserving the recognition they so richly deserve. i especially want to welcome members of the medal of honor society, as well as two american families whose love and pride has never wavered. donald sloat grew up in the heart of oklahoma, in a town called coweta. and he grew big, to over 6-foot-4. he loved football and played to a year at junior college. then he decided to join the army. but when he went to enlist, he didn't pass his physical because of high blood pressure so he tried again. and again. and again. it only took maybe seven times until he passed, because donald sloat was determined to serve his country. in vietnam, don became known as one of the most liked and reliable guys in his company. twice in his first months, his patrol was ambushed. both times don responded with punishing fire from his machine gun, leaving himself completely vulnerable to the enemy. and both times he was recognized for his bravery. or as don put it in a letter home, i guess they think i'm really gung ho or something. and then one morning, don and his squad set out on patrol past that rice paddy, down that trail, when those shots rang out. when the lead soldier's foot tripped that wire and set off the booby trap, the grenade rolled right to don's feet. and in that moment, he could have run. in that moment, he could have ducked for cover. but don did something truly extraordinary. he reached down and he picked that grenade in that moment up and he turned to throw it, but there were americans in front of him and behind him, inside the kill zone, to don held on to that grenade and he pulled it close to his body and he bent over it. and then, as one of the men said up and he all of a sudden there was a boom. the blast threw the lead soldier up against a boulder. men were riddled with shrapnel. four were medevaced out. but everyone else survived. don absorbed the brunt of the explosion with his body. he saved the lives of those next to him, and today we're joined by two men who were with him on that patrol, sergeant william hacker and specialist michael moheim. more decades, don's families only knew that he was killed in action. they had heard that he had stepped on a land mine. all those years, this gold star family honored the memory of their son and brother, whose name is evened forever on that granite wall not far from her. don's mother evelyn finally learned the full story of her son's sacrifice and she made it her mission to have don's actions properly recognized. sadly, nearly three years ago evelyn passed away. but she always believed -- she knew that this day would come. she even bought a special dress to wear to the ceremony. we are honored that don and his mom are represented here today by don's brother, sisters and their families on behalf of this american -- on behalf of this american family, i'd ask don's brother, dr. sloat, to come forward for the reading of the citation and to accept the gratitude of our nation. >> the president of the united states authorized by act of congress, march 3 1863, has awarded in the name of congress the medal of honor to specialist four donald sloat, united states army. specialist donald sloat distinguished himself by acts of gallantry, at the risk of his life, above and beyond the call of duty, while serving as a machine gunner with company d second battalion first infantry regiment. during combat operations against an armed enemy in the republic of vietnam on january 17, 1970. on that morning specialist four sloat's quad was conducting a patrol serving as a blocking element in support of tanks and armored personnel carriers in the area. as the squad moved up a small hill and filed formation, the lead soldier tripped a wire set up by enemy forces. as the grenade rolled down the hill, specialist sloat knelt and picked up the grenade. after initially attempting to throw the a wire set up by enemy forces. as grenade, specialist four sloat realized that detonation was imminent. he then drew the grenade to his body and shielded his quad members from the blast, saving their lives. specialist four sloat's actions to save the lives of his comrades -- specialist four donald sloat's extraordinary selflessness, above and grenade, beyond the call of duty, reflect great credit upon himself, company d and the united states army. battalion. 1st infantry regiment 196 light infantry brigade america division in the united states army. [applause] [applause] [applause] [applause] [applause] >> at this point, i'd like to ask bennie adkins to come join me on stage. ome join me on stage. >> now, let me just say, the first thing you need to know is, when bennie and i met in the oval office, he asked if he could sign back up. [laughter] his lovely wife was not amused. most days, you can find bennie at home, down in alabama tending his garden or his pontoon boat out on the lake. he's been married to mary for 58 years. he's a proud father of five grandfather of six. at 80, still going strong. a couple of years ago he came here to the white house with his fellow veterans for a breakfast we had an veterans day. he tells us folks he's the only person he knows who has spilled his dessert in the white house. and i just have to correct you. that makes two of us. [laughter] i've messed up my tie. i've messed up my pants. but in the spring of 1966, bennie was just 32 years old, on his second tour in vietnam. he and his fellow green berets were at an isolated camp. a huge north vietnamese force attacked bombarding bennie and his comrades with mortars. at the time, it was nearly impossible to move without being wounded or killed. but bennie ran into enemy fire, again and again, to retrieve supplies and ammo, to carry the wounded to safety to man the mortar pit holding off wave after wave of enemy assaults. three times explosions blasted him out of that mortar pit. and three times, he returned. i have to be honest. in a battle and daring escape that lasted four days, bennie performed so many acts of bravery, we actually don't have time to talk about all of them. let me just mention three. on the first day, bennie was helping load a wounded american onto a helicopter. a vietnamese soldier sumped on -- jumped on, trying to escape battle, and aimed his weapon at the soldier. bennie placed himself directly in the line of fire, helping to save his wounded cam comrade. at another point, bennie and a few other soldiers were trapped in the mortar pit, covered in shrapnel and smoking debris. their only commit was blocked by -- only exit was blocked by enemy machine fire. bennie snuck out the other side, as another american escaped through that hole, he was shot in the leg. an enemy soldier charged him hoping to capture a live pow, and benny fired pulling his fellow american to safety. by the third day of battle bennie and a few others had managed to escape in the jungle. he had cuts and wounds all over his body, but he refused to be evacuated. when a rescue helicopter arrived, bennie invested that others go instead. so on the third night, bennie wounded and bleeding, found himself on that hill, exhausted and surrounded with the enemy closing in. after all they had been through as if it weren't enough, there was something more. you can't make this up. there in the jungle, they heard the growls of a tiger. it turns out that tiger might have been the best thing that happened to bennie during those days, because he says the north vietnamese were more scared of that tiger than they were of us. so the enemy fled. bennie and his quad made their escape. and they were rescued finally the next morning. and bennie's -- in bennie's life, we see the enduring service of men in uniform. he went on to serve a third tour in vietnam, a total of more than two decades in uniform. after he retired, he earned his master's degree, actually not one but two opened up an accounting firm, taught adult education classes become national commander of the legion of valor veterans organization. so he has earned his retirement, despite what he says. and, yes he is a fan of the auburn tigers, although i did a poll of the family and there's some crimson tide fans here. but bennie will tell you he owes everything to the men he served with in vietnam, especially the five who gave their lives in that battle. every member of his unit was killed or wounded. every single one was recognized for their service. today we're joined by some of the men who served with bennie, including major john bradford, the soldier that bennie shielded in that helicopter, and major wayne murray the soldier bennie saved from being captured. i'd ask them and all of our vietnam veterans who are here today to please stand or raise your hand to be recognized. please stand or raise your hand to be recognized. [applause] [applause] >> and i'd ask that the citation be read. >> the president of the united states of america authorized by act of congress, march 3, 1863, has awarded in the name of congress the medal of honor to sergeant first class bennie adkins, united states army. sergeant first class bennie adkins distinguished himself by acts of gallantry at the risk of his life, above and beyond the call of duty, while serving as an intelligence sergeant with a102, fifth special forces group, first special forces, during come combat operations against an armed enemy republic of vietnam, from march 9 to 12, 1956. when the camp was attacked by a large vietcong force in the early morning hours, sergeant first class adkins rushed through intense enemy fire and manned a mortar position, continually adjusting fire for the camp. despite wounds, as he received several direct hits from enemy mortars. upon learning that several soldiers were wounded, he temporarily turned the mortar to another soldier, ran through several rounds and -- he exposed himself to sporadic sniper fire while carrying his wounded comrades to safety. when they came under heavy small arms fire from members of the defense group that had defected the site with the north vietnamese, he maneuvered outside the camp to evacuate a seriously wounded american, all the while successfully covering the wesk had defected the site with the northcovering -- the rescue. sergeant first class adkins moved outside of the camp walls to retrieve the much-needed supplies. curingduring the early morning hours of march 10, 1966, enemy forces launched their main attack. within two hours, sergeant first class adkins was the only man firing a mortar weapon. when all mortar rounds were expended sergeant first class adkins again replacing effective rifle fire upon enemy positions. despite receiving additional wounds from enemy rounds, sergeant first class adkins fought off intense waves of the attacking vietcong. sergeanted adkins eliminated numerous insurgents. running extremely low on ammunition, he returned to the mortar pit gathered vital ammunition, and ran through intense fire back to the bunker. after being ordered to evacuate the camp, sergeant first class adkins and a small group of soldiers destroyed all equipment and classified documents, dug their way out of the rear of the bucker and fought their way out of the camp. while carrying a wounded soldier to the extraction point, he learned that the last helicopter had already departed. sergeant first class adkins led the group while evading the enemy until they were arrested by helicopter. during the 38-hour battle and 48 hours of escape and evasion fighting with mortars, machine guns recoilist rifles, small arms and hand grenades, it was estimated that sergeant first class adkins had killed between 135 and 175 of the enemy, while sustaining 18 different wounds to his body. sergeant first class adkins' extraordinary heroism, are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit on himself and the united states army. [applause] >> over the decades our vietnam veterans didn't always receive the thanks and respect they deserved. that's a fact. but as we have been reminded again today our vietnam vets were patriots and are patriots. you served with valor. you made us proud. and your service is with us for eternity. so no matter how long it takes no matter how many years go by, we will continue to express our gratitude for your extraordinary service. may god watch over don sloat and all those who have sacrificed for our country. may god keep safe those who wear our country's uniform, veterans like bennie adkins. may god continue to bless the united states of america. at this point, i'd ask our chaplain to return to the stage for the benediction. >> let us continue to pray. >> as you go forth, be not afraid. have courage. hold on to what is good. fear no evil, for evil -- support the weak and help the suffering. and we honor all people. let us love and serve and may god's blessing be upon us. remain with us always. amen. >> and at this point, i would welcome everybody to join the sloat family and the adkins family for a reception. i hear the food is pretty good. and once again, to all of you who serve and your families point, i would who serve along with them. the nation is grateful. and your commander in chief could not be prouder. thank you very much, everybody. [applause] >> next, who filmmaker ken burns talks about his new documentary on the roosevelts. after that, a discussion on the challenges facing american youth. then a debate between the candidates running for iowa governor. tomorrow at at noon eastern, our campaign 2014 coverage continues with a debate between texas governor candidates, wendy davis and republican attorney general greg abbot. this is the first time in 14 years that texas will elect a new governor. that's at noon eastern. we'll follow that at 1 p.m. eastern with the arkansas governors debate between ross and hutchinson. mr. ross served as a u.s. congressman for 12 years. mr. hutchinson served as administrator of the u.s. drug enforcement administration. that begins tomorrow at 1 p.m. eastern on c-span. award winning filmmaker ken burns discusses his new pbs documentary, the roosevelts, on monday. the seven-part film covers the lives of theodore, franklin and eleanor roosevelt. this is about an hour. >> for more than 30 years, ken burns' documentaries have presented the stories of the american experience, with drama and flair. his topics have ranged from the brooklyn bridge to baseball, from mark twain to jazz, from prohibition to the national parks. remarkably, his works never become outdated. as we commemorate the 150th anniversary of the civil war this pbs series on that war remains as relevant today as it was when it debuted in 1950. burns captures the historic moments of american life with archival materials like personal letters, diaries and newspapers. his use of still photographs have been revolutionary. he has called photographs the dna of everything he has done and his evocative scans have transformed his subjects into a cinematic experience. the slow-moving the slow motion scanning technique is now even called the ken burns' effect. his new seven-part pbs series, the roosevelts premiered last night. and i have reliable information that the ratings were extremely high and that they are soaring. the series will be broadcast every night this week. in this film, he focuses on the towering but flawed figures who, before they were history were family. he was able to draw on news reel footage, radio broadcasts and personal documents, notably a trove of newly discovered letters between fdr and his cousin daisy and well as an enormous volume of photographs. ultimately nearly 2,400 stils were used in this series. burns has always rejected using the voice of god approach to narration, relying instead on contemporary voices to bring his subjects' words to life. in the roosevelts, you will hear some of america's greatest actors, edward herman as franklin and marilyn street as elmore. ken burns, like his films, he never becomes outdated. please join me in welcoming the press club member ken burns. >> thank you all very much for coming.
when we look through the lens of health 1 of 3 kids is obese or overweight. when we take the collective impact of each of those disparity points, what we see is indeed a generation of young people who are in crisis and there is a cost associated with that crisis, a cost that totals into the more than $150 billion that we estimate it will cost this nation when young people don't graduate. additional burdens that will come in the health care system. so what we see is that our work is not just about prevention but our work is really about stabilizing the very foundation of this nation in terms of leaders, in terms that we have the work force that we need, and in terms of reducing the burden on our health care system. >> and we want to let you know that you can call in and join the conversation about what the challenges are facing today's youth or share your own experience with the boys and girls club of america or other sort of mentorship organizations. if you were under 18, you can call us at 202-585-3880. if you're a parent, call us at 202-585-3881. all others can dial us at 202-585-3882. you can also corned with us on twitter at c-span wj, on facebook at facebook.com/c-span, or send us e-mail at journal@c-span.org. damon, i unthat you actually have a personal experience with the boys and girls club of america, that it helped you in your past to your current career. >> absolutely. i grew up in dayton, ohio. and i was a member of the boys and girls clubs of dayton. it was an important piece of the youth development ecosystem that really helped to put me on the pathway to what i think has been a great career and really a healthy and happy life. you know, i've been a scholar, published multiple books. i've worked at the highest levels of higher education administration and now i have an opportunity to be with boys and girls clubs of america, which is a world class organization, which really makes a difference in the lives of young people in our three priority areas and a chance to be a colleague to the thousands of youth development professionals across this country in our 4100 clubs which erve again more than 4 million youth. i don't know where i would be if the club wasn't part of my background. we look at our alumni data and my experience is similar to other alumni. what we found is over 57% of our alumni said that the club actually saved their lives and really serves as an anchor to keep young people on the road toward great futures, which is what we focus upon each and every day. >> now, the kids in crisis report you all put out has a very alarming statistic, which says that 3 of 10 children will not graduate high school on time. what are some of the major barriers they're facing in order to both get the high school diploma and get it in four years? >> absolutely. one of the spaces we've really focused into that we know is an incredible detriment to on time high school graduation is summer learning loss. every day during the school year roughly 15 million young people come home and don't have a place to go. those young people that are unsupervised, uncared for, and unsupported during the school year, it gets even more dramatic during the summers where 43 million young people are not in a learning-enriched space each and every summer. as a result, what happens in those summers is that many young people lose capacity in math, they lose capacity in literacy. because they're not practicing those skills. what happens is a summer slide. that summer slide then results in often as much as two to three months of learning loss in the areas of math and literacy, which are fundamental. so the slide sends you crashing into the academic year. and you're performing at a lesser level than you were when you left school in the spring. what we know is that over time, by as much, by as early as the fifth grade, many young people are as many as two years behind academically. we believe and it is part of our impact agenda that we can make a difference particularly during the summer. one thing we say is when school is out the clubs are open whether that be during the school year or the summer. in 2013, what we did is we drew a line in the sand and we launched our summer learning loss prevention program. we served about 15,000 students in that program. this past summer we just completed 2014. we served nearly 100,000 young people in our summer learning loss prevention program. what we learned in the pilot data and we still await our continuing data is that there was no loss in the summer learning capacity in terms of math and literacy from the evaluation data we have and what we've also come to see is that there was some strengthening of 21st century leadership skills. strengthening in terms of teamwork, problem solving, terms of the ability to collaborate with others. all the things we know are foundational not only to academic achieve mentbut in terms of being leaders in this country. that is a key place. >> we want to turn to the phone lines now. our first caller is jeff from newark, new york. he is calling on the other line. jeff, go ahead. you're on the air. caller: yes, hi. mr. williams, i'm from dayton, ohio also and i attended the boys club down in wayne avenue and it did a lot for my life. i played basketball down there. currently i'm an educator in new york state. i'm very concerned about -- you talk about education and how to help these kids. i'm very concerned that legislators across the country are not funding public education like it should. i wonder if the boys and girls clubs of america have any sway with legislators to get public education funded like it should. i know in ohio they have charter schools and i think right now they're going through some turmoil. but i think public education is the key and i'd like to get your opinion on that. >> absolutely. well, first off, it being on the line with a fellow daytonian and boys and girls club alum i am glad to be on the line with you and appreciate your question. our vision is that the out of school time space is a highly complementary space to what happens during the school year. we see it as a space where we can really enrich the learning of young people and really strengthen them academically. what we know from the research and the research is clear and i've spent my life as a social scientist is that young people who are involved in expanded learning time environments, the out of school time space, they attend school more often. they get better grades. their behavior shows less of the negatives we know lead to destructive pathways. indeed, they even test better. so for us, it's all about expanding that complementary space to the school year and strengthening the work we do after school abduring the summers. >> next up is dina calling from houston, texas. you're a parent. how many kids do you have? caller: actually a parent and step parent so collectively i have five. this past summer i actually had the opportunity to have my 14-year-old join the boys and girls club. it was my first experience with the program. and she was the one who turned me on to it. we were trying to find something for the summer and she said, hey. let's try, you know, this. and we went and it was probably the most awesome experience she had all summer. brilliant child. it really did give her the opportunity to continue her own interests. so, mr. williams, i just want to commend you. thank you for your very clear and comprehensive overview of the program and the use of the data. it really helps. i'm a nonprofit so i really wanted to commend you for your work and just let you know you did an awesome job. my daughter really valued and appreciated it. thank you. >> well, i tell you, on behalf of the nearly 54,000 youth development professionals across this country, which get up every day and work on behalf of our children, we appreciate hearing that positive story and indeed that's a story we know took place all across this nation. one of the things we really focus into during the summers and during the school years, we want our environments to, number one, be safe. number two, to be fun. three, to be enriching, four, to really, really have the highest expectations for our young people. and, five, we want to recognize and acknowledge young people as they're doing great things. that for us is what it's all about. i appreciate that story. it's a great organization in houston that we have. >> diana is our next caller from college park, maryland. you're also a parent. caller: i am sure am. i'm a single parent at that. i see so many, mr. williams, good morning. i see so many children especially like in urban areas trying to break cycles now. and when i say breaking cycles, i mean, many of our children, particularly in the black community and the latino community, are being run by single parent households. and there is a continuation of a lack of resources, a continuation of these children are sometimes the older children are placed in an adult role for their younger siblings. how do you address that and how do you make it, you know, how do you feel about your program and just making sure that these children have -- are children and they continue their childhood more so than, you know, you got to get your younger brothers and sisters tucked in and make sure they do their home work and if i'm not there by the time you leave for school, get them breakfast and everything like that and then go to school yourself and concentrate on what you're supposed to concentrate on. it is very, very hard. i see some of these kids are struggling with that. how do you address that? >> i appreciate that question and your kwlarification of what a true challenge in our communities is. we see our clubs as being a space where young people can be children, tweens, teens, and come into those spaces and environments and explore their interests. they can explore their passions. they can define purpose and identify pathways and resources to help them get there. they can have fun and just explore life. that's why we believe so deeply in the boys and girls club mission. it allows for young people to be young people and to not all -- all the time be burdened and obligated to some of the responsibilities we know many of our young people carry each and every day. the grit and the resilience that is built by being a care giver are qualities that we know serve young people in the long haul and, for us, what we try to do is focus that in each and every young person that comes to the door helping them to move forward and having a plan for the future which we believe is essential and for so many really building that plan in terms of a clear vision toward post secondary education. whether it be at the community college level or the balk lawyer yet level. >> damon, you said earlier that you estimate the obstacles facing today's youth to cross the country something like $150 cost in the long run. can you break that $150 billion number a little bit? what are the factors contributing to that? >> we've looked at a couple things and worked with economists who assisted us and what we've come to understand is that there is a true burden that comes when young people don't graduate from high school. there is a true burden of childhood obesity. there is a true burden when young people are disassociated youth meaning they don't graduate from high school and also, too, they're not employed. what we know is that the clubs make a difference in terms of keeping young people on the pathway toward great futures, keeping them on a pathway toward academic success and really helping them have an understanding of the habits of mind and body that are going to be absolutely critical in terms of protecting your health over the course of a lifetime. so when we talk about that number it's taking all of those factors into account. some might say it is even a modest number when we look at the true impact of the challenge that we face today. >> all right. now we'll turn to suffolk, virginia, where clifton is calling as a parent. you're on the air. caller: good morning. thank you for receiving my call. there's one thing that i really resent and it's that most people call children kids. a lot of incidents this morning, callers as well as you have spoken of them as kids. i wish you would reframe that and call them children, youth, young people, young adults, anything other than kids. my superintendent at my sunday school wouldn't allow us to call -- he said that's a goat. it's not a human being. >> all right, clifton. we hear you. our next caller is dick from lyndon, michigan, who is calling for all others. caller: yes. thank you so much for this program. you've got it right on. so many people talk about this problem and love to talk about the problem and cause of the problem but never get to solutions. you're talking about solutions and i hope you and i can talk further after this program is over because we're trying to put together a program exactly like you're talking about. we know they lose it in the summer time and we can do a lot with summer programs. we propose to bring them in two days a week, feed them two meals, work them in the garden, on habitat for humanity, set up a shop program, tear down engines, teach them some basic nutrition, and anatomy, and do some basketball, physical activity. those are the things here and we'd surely love to talk with you. >> what organization do you work for? or do you work with? caller: i'm a board member at the senior center in lyndon, michigan. >> okay. caller: we are trying to put together a scholarship program where the seniors can support this. we're not looking for tax dollars. we know where the private sector money is. >> all right. next caller is paul from hemlock, michigan. you're a parent. how many children do you have? caller: four adult children and i have seven grandchildren. but my concern is the children, you can take them to school. you can give them food. they have to go back to the same environment they came from where they have parents that don't give a damn about them. i have a problem with yes there is some social science we can deal with but the children are thrown right back into the same mess they came out of. how do you resolve that? >> damon williams? >> a couple things. we see ourselves as a powerful complement to what we and i refer to as a youth development ecosystem. that means schools, families, other community organizations, faith-based organizations, lots of organizations and lots of different parties are going to have to play a role in terms of strengthening what happens with our young people. when those young people walk through the door the one thing we know is that we want it to be a safe environment. nurturing o be a program and get them involved in programs that can be transformational. there are factors beyond the control of any one organization. for us we really focus into those young people in ensuring we're enriching them in all the ways we can each and every day they come to our doors. we want more members, more often coming into the clubs. because we know ultimately that will make the difference in terms of their outcomes. >> damon williams, you mention you guys are one of the oldest organizations focusing on children and mentoring. how has your strategy changed over time as society has changed, as technology has entered these children's lives. how do you adjust to fit their needs? >> that is a powerful question. i think one of the things that is truly changed is that we've continued to evolve and grow but staying toward our mission of helping young people who need us most. we'll find clubs in 2014 in urban environments. you'll find clubs in rural environments. you'll find clubs on military installations around the world. you'll find clubs on native american lands and territories. you'll also find clubs in public housing. last and definitely not least, you'll find many of our clubs actually in schools and moving toward even tighter integration of the school day and out of school day. that's been a key evolution of our strategy. as we look toward the future, we will be engaging even more and more in the space of digitizing youth development and not only complementing what we do in bricks and mortar when kids walk through the door every day and support it but also how we move forward in terms of embracing the fact that so many of our young people, they're known as digital natives. they live in the digital world. so we're evolving our strategy and will continue to do so to really embrace that as a space for positive youth development where we continue to maintain the highest standards of safety but have a vision toward where we want our young people to go. >> kim is calling from nashville, tennessee. you're a parent. how old and how many children do you have? caller: i have one >> you have one kid. okay. what is your comment today? caller: my comment is it is not about boys and girls clubs but parents coming together. you know what i'm saying? . meless -- the kids need help we can teach our kids to give back. maybe the kids will appreciate and understand there are kids who don't get no allowance, no basketball. you know, to help people. instead of teaching them to play basketball teach them to . to work and help other kids using influence. kids have nobody to talk to. hat's why they have a problem. they need help. >> damon williams? >> you know, each and every day young people that come through our club doors, we get them involved in service activities and really trying to make a difference in their communities locally. it's a key component of what we really embrace and was a major aspect of what we really celebrated this last week. we were in d.c. for the identification of our national youth of the year. each and every year thousands and thousands of kids across the country who are members in our organizations participate in what we believe was one of the world's great youth recognition programs, youth of the year, which celebrates our three priorities of academic achieve ment, good character and citizenship and healthy lifestyles. we identified mariah sullivan a wonderful young woman in central florida, boys and girls club, who is now a first-year student at the university of south florida. mariah is the embody mentof all we hope for in our youth across this nation. she carries north of a 4.4 gpa, is endeavoring toward a career in the health professions. she was captain of her track team, honor student, and deeply involved in service and involved in helping to make a difference and being an empower mentleader in our community and at the end of the day it's the three aspects and qualities which we want all of our youth and couldn't be more of an ha sullivan. mary >> next up from california calling on the line for all others. caller: well, good morning. the point i wanted to make was that the program that i've been involved with, with helping our youth and people that are going to grow up and some day lead our society, involves a specific thing. that is h that they can come into a program with little or no meteorology of what it really -- with little or no knowledge of what it is all about and each one leaves feeling like they have been a uccessful part of a group. i think that is very important because, and studies have shown, there was a study by university of edinboro, some ere in l.a., where the ramifications were recognized by school principals and teachers who said, wait a minute. i notice this group is light years beyond some of the other kids and they're active and participating, etcetera. why is this happening? and they ended up tracing it back to the program that i was involved with. but whatever program it is, whether it's taking kids into the garden, whether it's all the things you've mentioned, it' important that they feel like they are successful at something new. part t i think is a key f whatever program we're doing. a gentleman from michigan mentioned habitat for humanity, which is a great program. how many kids -- excuse me from the other gentleman -- how many of our youth don't understand a lot of what our kids are going through? >> i want to ask you about another statistic that is in the report, which is that three out of ten kids are obese or overweight. again, from your america kids in crisis report. what are you guys doing to address the obesity issue? is this a health care problem? is this a nutrition problem? is it an access problem? how do you tackle it? >> absolutely. you know, one of the things that has always been fundamental to the dna of boys and girls clubs is having an active lifestyle. whether that be getting involved in youth sports, whether that be just hopping into the swimming pool and swimming some laps, whether that be playing a game of dodge ball or kick ball in the field or the yard, that's always been part of the dna of our clubs. if you step into club across america you'll still continue to see that dna. some of the other things we've really been focused on particularly in the last several years with our partners is really focused into helping young people understand the importance of nutrition and really helping them understand the importance of consumption regularly of fruit and vegetables. this is a challenge for many of our young people who grow up candidly in virtual food deserts in many communities where they don't have access to good food, to fresh fruits and vegetables. so one of the things we place an incredible priority on helping young people to understand nutrition and to have a level of nutrition literacy moving forward that will serve them throughout a lifetime, keeping them moving and active and setting a foundation for habits that can last a lifetime and each and every day trying to get young people more often to have the opportunity to consume fresh fruits and vegetables and healthy snacks as a part of their club experience but also as something that that carries into their life once they leave the club each and every day. >> from fort wayne, indiana, calling as a parent. good morning, tim. caller: hi, damon. you mentioned the education of our public schools, our children were rated like 22 out of 28 internationally. the public schools have our kids nine months out of the year. isn't that long enough? i think children need to stop being institutionalized. when i came home from school, got off the bus, i went home to my parents. the problem is, we can't be having the glorified babysitters. since 1996, boys and girls clubs have received $875 million and, like i say, there is no dad, no parents. the single parent business. it's nothing to be proud of. you're being selfish. >> damon williams, your response? >> you know, one of the things we do is we see ourselves as a highly complementary space to what happens during the school year and particularly during the summers and really creating an enriching environment we know makes a difference in the lives of young people over time. we can look across the data and see very powerfully that young people who are involved in our clubs tend to graduate more frequently than young people we compare them to who are not involved. they tend to consume more fruits and vegetables and live a healthier lifestyle than those we compare them to who are not in our club. at the end of the day we go back to our alumni survey and go back to the alumni survey and what the alumni said and 57% said the club helped save their lives. so we stay focused on our mission to serve youth every day particularly those who need us most and to really do anything and everything we can to help our young people be on a pathway toward a great future. >> next up is elaine calling from clear water, florida. you're a parent. how um children do you have? caller: four. >> how old are they? caller: they're in their 50's and 40's >> okay. grown children. what is your question today? caller: it's not a question. i want to tell you that 68 years ago, my youngest brother was pingpong champion of the boys clubs of america. it was only boys back then. we were allowed but i was a little girl and i was allowed to go to the boys club movies on friday night. i think if it wasn't for the boys club my two brothers would have been probably a lot of trouble. but they hung out in the boys clubs all the time and turned out to be great guys. >> all right. next up is ron from pennsylvania. also calling as a parent. caller: yes. i'm a little late in the program right now but i don't know if this was touched on. a lot of this stuff with the kids are the parents. nowadays you see the parents, in my generation, or buddies with their kids. there is no real authority figure in the family. they have their friends over drinking beers or what not and there's the parent right along with them, you know? i don't think that's the right thing. it's not teaching the kid anything. >> damon williams, how do you straddle the line between being a comforting presence in these children's lives but also being an authority figure? >> you know, we really focus into the work, when young people walk in the door we want to set a certain type of value system for them and set a certain expectation level of how we think behavior should manifest itself in terms of character, in terms of ethical decision making, in terms of being caring and nurturing and supporting and understanding the needs of others and being able to look at the world through multiple perspectives. that all wraps up into our character development work we do with the clubs and young people. we do that again just in the general environment but also through our targeted programs that we have. programs like smart moves, programs like passport to manhood. programs like smart girls which really hope to empower young people to make great decisions in their lives. that's the space that we can really play in. that's the space we know that we can make a difference in. that's the space we do each and every day across our 4100 clubs. >> i think we have time for one last caller. pal will be betty from meto, florida. also a parent. caller: yes i am a parent. i -- we had boys clubs with my children growing up. they weren't allowed to go, all white. that's the part i didn't understand. two kids have been educated. i have five boys and two girls. i have twin boys. they couldn't go to the boys and girls club. so i had to take my grandchildren, four of them. they started the boys and girls club. the girls could go. so the oldest granddaughter played basketball the whole time and she went on to the university of florida. now she got her masters and she is in pennsylvania. the boys club i always say, helped my grandchildren. they didn't help my boys but helped my grandchildren to have a place to go. and i been writing the governor and everybody trying to get the boys club out here but they won't do it. we need a boys and girls club so bad out here. we don't have nothing. >> damon williams, final word? >> the thing we say is that great futures start each and every day in our clubs. and this year we launched our great futures impact plan for america's youth. those of you who tuned in had a chance to hear about that from me but i encourage you to go to great futures.org. i encourage you to learn more, get involved locally at volunteers given the treasure of your time and given the treasure of any resource that you might give because america's youth need it so much. we appreciate all of you who are partners and thank you for the opportunity to be here today. >> thank you for joining us. that is damon williams from the boys and girls clubs of america. discussing the challenges facing today's youth and some of the solutions to their problems as well. thanks again. >> thank you. >> on the next "washington journal" thomas litman of the middle east institute talks about the u.s. effort to form a coalition of arab states to fight against isis. bloomberg news reporter alex wayne details a new report by the cdc on reducing the number of uninsured americans. then we'll talk with local reporters about some of the mid-term elections in arkansas, pennsylvania, and kentucky. and as always, we'll take your phone calls and you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. "washington journal" live at theext, a debate between candidates running for iowa governor. after that, president obama the medal of honor to two vietnam veterans. talks -- kener ken ken burns talks about his new documentary on the roosevelts. now, the iowa governors debate between terry branstad and his democratic challenger jack hatch. branstad is iowa's longest serving governor. 1999.ved from 1983 to then was reelected to another term in 2011. -- currently anumb iowa state senator with 22 years iowa house and senate. cook political report has this race listed as likely republican. this is about an hour. >> good evening, and welcome to burlington, iowa. i'm gary with kwqc. marks the second of three debates in the race for iowa governor. we are happy to bring it to you with our partners, the burlington hawkeye newspapers and the greater burlington partnership. for the next hour, terry hatch, hisd jack democrat challenger, will answer panelists.rom our let's introduce them, kenneth, danielle, and the managing hawkeye, dale. we'll also be getting some questions, from you, our viewers and readers, through twitter and facebook live throughout this program. use the hashtag #iowagovernordebate. please welcome terry branstad and jack hatch. >> the overall theme, if you will, continue is on the economy, from jobs to job creation to infrastructure. jobs.rst topic will be on in this, we will talk about job likeion, tax incentives, those used to build the fertilizer plant that's being built right now not far from wage.and the minimum but we begin with jobs. job creation and sustainment is very big political promise and point of contention candidates running for office. danielle begins our discussion a jobs, specifically with question for senator hatch. 4.4%,ator hatch, at iowa's unemployment rate is even lower than the national average. iowa'suld you do to make job climate even better? and we'll get to the governor's in just a moment. >> we're very fortunate in this state, as in every state, to have recovery after the 2008-2009 recession. and every state is increasing their employment record. we're glad that iowa has the it's ever had before. the other states in this country. and unemployment is going low, and that's as well an accomplishment for all of us. but what we need in the next governor must lead iowa to the next generation of jobs. be an explosion of economic opportunity. but to get there, we have to do different. build the economy from the community up. not from the top down. plan is to have an economic development authority, not one to cover the whole state, but regionally, four of them, so district willonal be able to match the state's with national priorities that will be funded by our congress persons and also the local communities have spent so much time and effort, like davenport and burlington, to be able to create jobs on their own. who knows jobs the best but the authorities, the city councils? they know where the jobs are. the communities are that need it. they noa know -- know what theye do to get those jobs to become a reality in their community. state government is going to be provide refreshing new dollars instead of one agency getting it. be disbursed to four economic development authorities with their own board of directors, appointed by the governor, to sit for three years. they will create the thertunities and identify match between our state investment and the local priorities. >> senator, thank you. governor branstad, 45 seconds rebuttal. >> well, first of all, obviously my opponent doesn't know what's going on in illinois, because have the second-highest employment -- unemployment in the nation. iowa's has dropped by nearly in debtinois is mired and has the second-highest unemployment in the nation. i'm really proud that we've created over 150,000 jobs in the last three years and eight months. we've gone from the highest unemployment in 25 years to of peopleecord number employed. that doesn't happen by accident. we've got a great economic thatopment authority partners with the locals. the fertilizer plant happened county the people in lee partnered with the state and made that possible. we see those that great jobs in iowa. >> and we'll be talking more about the fertilizer plant in moment. would you care to rebut for 30 seconds? >> yes. it's important for us to understand these numbers. the governor talks about 150,000 new jobs that he has created. a fifth know, even grader knows you have to subtract what you've lost. 80,000 jobs were lost in this economy, giving a really 75,000 orin of about 80,000. that's how we identify jobs. knowe private sector, we that government doesn't create jobs. businesses do. governors don't create small businesses. entrepreneurs do. create a base of entrepreneurs in this state that will be able to meet the demands the needs of our communities. >> thank you, senator. keep on path,to we'll try to keep as close as we can -- i'll give a reminder as to the length of time. it's harder to keep track of, i know, from back here. our best.do our second question now, still on the question of jobs. >> yes, governor. to go a little bit more into detail about your promise 2010 about creating 200,000 jobs in five years. increasing iowans' personal income by 25%. hatch has accused you of cooking the books on this. all right. us where weto tell were at that point, where we are now, and how you think you've those promises, talking about adding and subtracting? to where weink back were four years ago. the unemployment rate here in southeast iowa was the highest in the entire state. and we had an unemployment rate 6%.owa well over we've reduced that by over 30% 40% here. nearly i was just last week down at the fertilizer plant. 1900 construction jobs there. they're going to add another 400. goingrmanent jobs are now to be 240. but there's also another right here in burlington that share foods is going to be investing $35 million and adding 80-some jobs. every day to bring more good jobs to the state of iowa. i'm proud of the fact we work in localrship with the governments and with the local economic development people and economic development authority, debbie durham, has done a great job. i think it would be a big mistake to divide the state into four regions. wouldn't have as much resources. i'm really proud of what we have accomplished. but we're not done. we're going to continue to focus on how we can prepare the the jobs of the future, because the lieutenant governor and i hear from butness we have good jobs can't find people with the right skills. iowa andere skilled investments in s.t.e.m., science, technology, engineering and mathematics, prepare them i'm reallyobs, and proud of the fact that today the ismployment tax rate in iowa going to go down again in january for the fourth year in a row. morealso makes iowa excessive for business -- businesses and jobs. >> senator, 45 seconds. >> thank you. that the top-down approach that governor branstad following where des moines picks winners and loses is the wrong approach to from an we're recovering recession. our proposal is from the community up. thatroposal is to ensure local communities, state coalitions, city councils, boards of supervisors, have a chance to identify and empower their communities to get engaged and to value their own dollars and to be able to have a to leverage local dollars with state dollars. tohink it's wrong to be able say it's only going to be des moines that's going to make those decisions. that's the wrong direction. we're going to have a direction of going from the community up. >> now let's move to the big have, but the both of you alluded to, regarding tax incentives. incentives are used more and more for job creation and generating revenue by many states. tax incentives, tax breaks, the fertilizer plant being built $1.6 billion area, plant being built here. $100 million in tax breaks used to land this deal and to build the plant was too much. the first question here regarding tax questions for the governor, dale allison, whose has done a considerable job of reporting on this very subject. governor. regarding the negotiations to land the plant, property owners the immediate vicinity aren't quite -- don't share your it.usiasm with negotiations were done out of the purview of the general public. and, you know, not only was the property negotiated but a of taxes andeu other considerations, including water rights. was announced, iowa fertilizer upped its demand from 480 millions 3.3 billionally to gallons. how is this good public policy everyday working iowans and you address the charge that this deal was crammed down wever?idents of >> , first of all, it was initiated by the people, the supervisors and they provided incentives. but the thing you need to net result ishe the fort madison school district and lee county are going to get of 2.9 million additional tax revenue every year. iowa is also of going to gain revenue. if it had not located here, we get those additional tax revenues and we wouldn't have the 1900 construction jobs, the 400 more that are going to be added, nor would we have the wouldent jobs, nor farmers benefit from the $740 reduction in nitrogen fertilizer costs. significant, because that is the biggest cost of raising corn today, is nitrogen fertilizer. most of it is being imported. and the big cost is all the transportation costs to bring it in from overseas here to this in theoducing area midwest. so this was a good deal. in fact, the site selection magazine, read by economic developers around the world, said this was the second-best development deal in the entire world last year. it.e very proud of and the ceo of the company recently said that they're just up.ing warmed when they complete this, they're looking at expanding it. were tennly -- there fertilizer plants being looked at. only three of them being built, and two of them in iowa, and we're really proud they're being built here, where the corn is produced. >> senator hatch, 45 seconds. >> thank you. let me be clear. i'm in favor of fertilizer will help engage and expand our agricultural base. favor ofery much in the jobs it has created. what i've been critical of is -- deal that the governor negotiated. it was a reckless deal. it is a bad deal. a terrible deal, where he $110 millionngage 165tate money to create jobs. 700,000 --al to job.000 per governor, in the seamen manufacturing plant, gave money to them to build wind blades. for 240 jobs, that equaled $7,000 per job. governor, in the seamen job.acturing $7,000 per job, $700,000 per job. there's an imbalance. that's what we're up against. a bad deal. that is what is causing the problem. imagine whatust this area could do, if we were able to balance those two us tosses and allow spread the investment from the state to more businesses and to areas than just lee county. >> governor, 30 seconds. >> well, you can't be against and for the jobs.. without the incentives, we wouldn't have gotten the jobs. debbie durham is a very skilled negotiator. for 15 years, she did a great job up in sioux city. that's why i asked her to be the economic development authority. she worked with the local people here. and actually, it looks like this going to continue to grow beyond what was initially planned. the net revenue gained -- we didn't write out a check. credit against a taxes in future years. frankly, the state is going to fort madisonw the school district in lee county gained substantially. this was a great deal. on this samentinue subject with the next two questions. so for the next question, let's who has aelle, question for senator hatch. >> senator hatch, if you're elected, what's your plan to any business that does receive a state tax incentive is held accountable job creation, contributing to the overall economy, and also also explain how you have used tax incentives in your own private investments? >> absolutely. the one important thing that you maketo do as a governor, sure that there's transparency, accountability and responsibility. ans is another good area, example, in which governor branstad did not use any of those three guidance or principles in negotiating a deal. the citizens of iowa want to know what's going on. you've got to be open, transparent, and that's how you can ensure that negotiations with a company will be honored in the deal. they are already changing the deal. gonna change the deal more. and it's going to hurt our our local folks, our water and the entire ability of to share other tax credits. now, the governor has been criminal of my business -- critical of my business. des moines register spent over six weeks investigating his claims of a conflict of interest and that i'm spending so much state money and not giving anything back in return. kind ofeally disturbing. roberts,nd i, sonia opened up our entire business. no privately held company would this to happen. claims by thee governor prompted us to do this. what did they find? that we followed the rules. was no conflict of interest. kcrg also had a fact check. what did they find? claims thaternor's our misuse of tax credits was false, that we did things right, an appropriate company and we're a good company. and it's strange that a republican governor would be blaming a good businessman for having a good and honest business. wrong.just and it shouldn't be happening. >> governor, 45 seconds. people of trust the iowa and i have disclosed 4 of myof my -- 24 years taxes and if he wants to disprove our claim that he has gained substantially and made millions of dollars at the expense, i would challenge senator hatch to -- to years of hismore taxes. i'm willing to do another four, i the previous four before came back as governor, if he's willing to do that. i believe that we need to be open and transparent and i'm telling you we have been. the people in lee county know that. and we have worked with them. and we're very proud of the fact partnered with lee county to bring this great project here and bring these iowa.obs to southeast >> senator, would you like 30 seconds here? >> i think what's important is us to understand, in my business with my wife, that we in areasax credits that no other developer would go in. housing.affordable des moinesst 21, the register wrote an editorial that said our use of tax credits was appropriate. the governor's use of negotiating with one of the profitable most egyptian companies in that nation was questionable. so we're providing a public good, by providing housing for low-income iowans. he's providing additional dollars to one of the most profitable corporations in the world. to a socialve on media question. our first of the night. this is for the governor. johnny writes, since the governor brags about the deal in bringing the fertilizer plant to which was a good thing -- i'm quoting here -- increasing the workforce and putting a lot work with this deal, how many of those jobs actually went to iowans? of those i have met say wever, iowa, it's out of town contractors bringing their them.rce with >> first of all, it's brought a lot of jobs to the area. iowans.e been filled by and there have been some that have come in from other areas as well. for the been also great economy, here in burlington and fort madison, wever, the entire area. i'm really proud of the fact that we have that. passed this year for more opportunity for people to learn while they earn. apprenticeships. and we're working, because there's a need for more people in the construction industry -- the construction industry during the previous administration, during the recession. that.now rebuilding and we have a great opportunity. we tripled the funding, the funding for apprenticeships. that way people don't have to go into debt. they can earn while they learn in construction and manufacturing. say we work with building and construction trades and we worked with the contractors. and we got that legislation this year. and it's now in the process of being implemented in helping people for those jobs in the construction industry, the fertilizer plant, and others being created all over the state of iowa. jobs up inhere's fort dodge, up in woodbury county, all over the state, so this isn't the only project. but this is the biggest and one of the best. thats a follow-up to question, were there not enough skilled iowans to do these jobs? enough.here weren't that's the reason why we need apprenticeships, to train more skilled jobs.se you can talk to the building and construction tradespeople. they'll tell you they need more people with skills. and we're working hand in hand people so wetrain have more iowans with those building and construction trades jobs. good careers. and we want to have more of them in iowa. seconds.r hatch, 45 >> thank you. we're talking about the possibility over the next four years of an economic opportunity explosion in jobs. if we'ren't do it going to put all of our eggs in the basket of large corporations projects. then you will have an inability the workers to do the job in the construction. focus on isoing to on small business. on small business, i want to to southeast iowa's vision, when tom brought in anheuser-busch, when he widened highway 34 and he created and developed the avenue of the saints. that's what's going to create the opportunities in southeast and all over the state, by our ability to focus on job opportunities for small businesses in this state. >> let's move now on to the of minimum wage. danielle has a question for senator hatch. >> senator hatch, in your you talk about growing small businesses and also increasing the minimum wage. the small business owners we've heard from say they're worried about how an minimum wagehe would affect their business. how can you be in favor of both? >> well, you know, good question. [laughter] allyou're assuming that small businesses pay below the minimum wage, which is wrong. 216,000w, there are iowans that get less than the we are proposing. that's not high wages. allows an individual working 40 hours a week, works works hard, works every day, to get just above the poverty. no iowan should be able to work and not get the wages necessary to lift their lives the level of poverty. that's my value. believe in sot i much, that we had no problem acommending that wage of minimum wage. and it would lift 216,000 possibly 20% of them, off of general assistance. not thesinesses are type of businesses that pay cheap. businesses, like my wife and i, pay very well. they're all over the state. we can't be afraid of that kind of wage. ofknow that from other types proposals, and when we raise the minimum wage before, and which signed, there was no outcry from the small businesses that they were losing losing opportunities. just the opposite. people got that money. they spent it in their communities. they were able to get off of general welfare. they were no longer part of that anti-poverty program. >> governor, 45 seconds. >> well, if the minimum wage was when theant, why, minimum wage bill was assigned to the committee that senator on, was it killed by the democrats who controlled that committee? they didn't even bring the bill out of committee. it shouldn't -- it couldn't have been that big a priority. i reserve judgment until i see where a bill ends up. it's gotta pass the house and the senate in the same form. in this case, the minimum wage did -- was not even approved by the democratic-controlled senate, house.ne the republican my focus is on trying to bring helpjobs to iowans and to people get the skills so they can have a living wage and be themselves and their families. we work at that every day. workforcesing on development and economic development and coordinating them. is thetor hatch, if that case with the blockage in the legislature, how do we fix this? >> well, you know, harry truman in thepublicans believe minimum wage, as minimum as possible. [laughter] that bill come through, senator courtney, your senator here, was the chair of subcommittee. there were negotiations all year. and during the legislative session, whether or not the house would pick it up. the house said no. we went to the governor's office. governor,help us, dislodge the disagreements in your own caucuses? no, he wouldn't. that's not leadership. they had no intention. so our majority leader said, you know what? this is a political year. we're not gonna put our members in the way of being criticized a political year and then have workers who are trying to lift themselves out of poverty become the political ping-pong during an election process. we are very sensitive about that. passed it without a problem. the fact is, it would have been stopped. and it was stopped by the governor.s and by the continue thate'll with this from social media. 40-plus hoursork a week in construction with three kids and a wife that's a cna. and we still live paycheck to paycheck. is that right and is there any way that will change? >> that's the reason why we're bringing 40-plus hours a week in construction with these jobs at the iowa fertilizer plant. it pays very well. and we're working to try to more of those kind of jobs in the state of iowa, companies like g.e., here in burlington, they provide good wages. companies like cargill and c.j., which we brought to the fort area. - --ciences, iowa home-groan home-grown businesses have all been expanding. we're working every day to try to do that. make sure people have the skills for those jobs. that's why we started with the bill, the skilled iowa program, why the lieutenant governor has led the efforts for s.t.e.m., science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and we're working with every high state andthe community colleges to train the jobs of the require knowledge in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and we want to make sure the workforce of the future in iowa has those skills. i'm going to continue to work on that every day. recently proposed a center for human capital which would coordinate what we're doing in economic development with our workforce development so that we the workforce with the skills for those jobs that can incomes and better provide for their families and to the economic well-being f our state -- of our state. >> senator hatch, in the 45 ournds we have remaining in first half hour, your reaction to that. >> well, it's interesting, the governor said he would like to he's done.hat the state doesn't have enough than just onere orscon's model. and the fact is we need to be what our friend said in his question as an opportunity to understand that middle class iowa family to paycheck.ycheck they're being taxed too much. and we may talk about this later. but we had proposed a middle class tax cut, where every family under $220,000 would get. they're being taxed too much. and because we're working on productive ti, and children are the values of our proposal. ups that if you have to live paycheck to paycheck, the state responsibility to invest in our communities and our small the biges, not undeserving corporations like we have. >> and we will continue regarding property taxes, accountability and leadership, much more still to come in our gubernatorial debate. >> we continue our conversation now with the focus on accountability and leadership. weoughout the campaigns, have seen on television and on airwaves, radio and newspapers as well, senator hatch has have. >> and we will continue regarding property taxes, accountability and leadership, accused the branstad administration of being scandal ridden, settlements of state employees. now is our chance to discuss this matter in particular. we begin with dale who has a question for senator hatch. likenator, iowans clearly their governor. they keep reelecting him time widertime, by wider and margins. yet instead of telling iowans lead the state, your advertisements and press statements focus on criticisms. that iowans don't get it? >> what i'm saying is that iowans need to listen to the problems that this governor has over the past four years. it is the most scandal ridden administration in the history of state and it's beginning offices development that he closed, that the iowa supreme court said was unconstitutional. then the iowa juvenile home he closed and the district court said governor, that's unconstitutional. then it was the settlements and changes of merit employees. to of them were moved over political over to political positions including administrative law judge. meaning that they no longer had qualifications but could be fired for any reason. right under the direction of the governor's office. and then you had the secret settlements to fire employees have been there before and then hush money to keep them quiet. then the black list of do not hires that now there's a class action suit against the governor on people's names that should not have been on there. firing of top aides. and the d.c.i. agent that reported the governor's vehicle for speeding doing a hard 90 on route 20. he was fired for reporting that. and then of course was the commissioner godfrey's position. where he was asked -- the governor asked him to resign. he wouldn't. and then commissioner godfrey who just left for an impressive position in washington sued the governor for defamation of character. that is not leadership. that's not something iowa wants. that's not something that iowa values have. it should very well be looked at. and there are now investigations of the senate and the courts to look at how governor branstad has been managing the state. >> governor branstad. 45 seconds. >> well, iowans know me. they know that i go to he have county every year. i have a press conference every week. they know i'm honest. i'm straightforward. i'm transparent. i've released all my taxes. they know these attacks are false. they are not correct. and the people of iowa know that. and i trust the people of iowa. i have nothing to hide. i'm very proud. fact when we found out about confidentiality agreements, i signed an executive order to prevent them in the future. senator hatch and his friends in the senate killed that bill, which would have made it available to the public to know what's in those personnel records and why people have either been dismissed or not hired. i want honest, open, clean government. i'm committed and the house passed that by an overwhelming bipartisan margin. the senator and his friends killed it. >> 30 seconds, senator. >> sure. the fact is iowans don't know what's going on. and if you look at his ads that are attacking me, you would think that i'm the one that's under investigation in the statehouse. but that's not the case. governor's ads are false. don't take my word for it. "des moines register" and their series of articles understood that i had done nothing wrong and they said that i followed the rules. and kcrg did a fact check and again, they said nothing was right in his advertisements. that his advertisements were all false. ladies and gentlemen, and governor, i would like to ask that you take the key from one of your political heroes. ronald reagan. and he said, and i keep it to you, you stop lying about me, and i'll stop telling the truth about you. [applause] >> an opportunity to also answer that if you choose. governor, social media question. twitter. why postpone deposition if charges are true? why didn't you want that information out there? >> well, first of all, this lawsuit was filed about three years ago. it's been delayed by the plaintiffs on many times. we're in the midst of a campaign. i have a very busy schedule. and that's -- we have agreed upon the date for the deposition. like i said, we've got nothing to hide. first of all, i treat everybody with respect and dignity. i don't make these outlandish attacks. everything that's in our ad has been documented. it is true that he killed a bill that would have reduced the fees for the kind of tax credits and also true that he's made millions of dollars off of tax credits. he may complain about the tax credits that have created good jobs here in southeast iowa. but he has no complaints about that. nor will he release the tax returns to show the people of iowa how much money he made and what kind of tax breaks he got. >> senator hatch, let's talk about this because this is a lot of information for the voters to go through. one side having one big issue and another bringing up other issues. let's talk about whether the politics in play regarding the -- some of the lawsuits against the governor right now and some of the accusations you face. >> sure. the fact is i'm only repeating -- not accusations, but lawsuits, investigations. even the state auditor said that the governor had mishandled the investigation of the secret settlements, that there were more secret settlements even after the governor and his staff said there weren't. if you're going to be a leader, you need to be a governor who's going to be open and transparent. and it's just unacceptable that the governor stands in front of us that he's open and transparent and has nothing to hide when that's all they've been doing. is hiding and not just an attack of a candidate. but the accusations come from legitimate sources of the legislature. the state auditor's office. from the courts. and from individuals who have taken the time to sue him personally and his office. these are not the actions of a governor who can lead. >> governor, would you care for 30 seconds? >> this is iowa, not illinois. most of the former governors in illinois are in prison. i'm back in office because the people of iowa trust me. they know me. they know i'm honest. [applause] and i have been totally open and transparent. and i have a press conference every week. and i take the tough questions from the press. and anybody can file a lawsuit. but i can tell you we worked with the auditor. there was one agreement that was agreed upon before i signed the executive order and was signed later and when it was discovered that was the case, it was changed. they eliminated the confidentiality clause in that. that has been enforced. i will continue to enforce it. but we want to extend it to local governments and to the legislature and the house passed it with an overwhelming bipartisan vote. and my opponent and his friends in the senate killed it. because they don't want the public to know the truth about what's in those confidential files on employee personnel. i think the people of iowa deserve to know that because it's their tax money that's paying it. >> and as i give you 30 seconds on this, because i think this is such an important issue, i will remind our audience, please, do not applaud until the end of our debate so we can continue moving forward. senator hatch. >> gary and the audience, it's really important for us to understand that these accusations could go back and forth. it's not something we've made up. the republican governors' association and the governor have spent millions of dollars attacking me on tv. on accusations that are untrue. and he's expanding his search to find something more. i'm very proud of my company with my wife. we spent a lot of time being successful. and the fact is we did not kill a bill that would lower the amount that develop coerce receive and in actuality if you read "the des moines register" story, governor, you would see that what they said is that my developer fee was actually less than 10%. it was 9.2%. and that bill had no support with anybody else. and it wasn't dead. it wasn't taken up. this is the kind of leadership you would expect from a governor of illinois. not the governor of iowa. >> this is also a subject matter that can be intertwined with the following questions so let's move to property taxes now. for a question for governor bran stand from dale. >> sure. governor, last week, we published a story looking at property tax reform and how it looks to be working against smaller low growth communities. in fact, in the story, the state was accused of institutionalizing devaluation. apartment complexes, for example, have been taxed at 100% of their value. they're on their way to being taxed like residential rates. retail and industrial properties are also headed lower. somebody must pay for the cost of government. if taxes are being lowered for the upper values, the burden must fall on someone. do you know how this is going to shake out? do you know how this will work out for slow growth communities like burlington which are kind of more the rule rather than the exception? and how can you assure ordinary iowans that they won't be asked to shoulder an even bigger burden? >> well, thank you for asking that question. because this has been a problem that has faced the state of iowa for 30 years. multiple residential properties should have never been taxed as commercial. and that is being corrected. that was actually something that senate democrats wanted. i wanted to provide permanent tax relief for commercial industrial property. and the agreement we reached between the house and senate and the governor does all of that and by getting the state's financial house in order, putting together a five-year projected budget, and the state providing the money to replace the commercial-industrial property tax is going to provide tax relief to businesses, small and large, across the state of iowa in communities of all sizes. it will especially help slow growth communities and rural communities because the property tax credit is significant. it also benefits for economic development commercial development in our state as well. and the state is providing the money to replace the local property taxes. and i insisted that we put that money in a standing appropriation so the legislature couldn't renege on that commitment. >> senator hatch, 45 seconds. >> the commercial-industrial property tax bill that was passed as the governor said with his insistence did nothing for residential property tax receivers. and his priority was to reduce corporate taxes, not residential. if it wasn't for the senate democrats who he is so openly criticized now, that provision of allowing commercial property tax for small businesses and property depressed areas would never have seen the light of day. and so we came to a conclusion. i think there's going to be issues in the future about how the state will be able to fund all of those property tax reliefs. but it didn't help the middle class. it did not help the residential property tax owners. and it certainly gave a boone to the largest out of state corporate leaders that are taking more taxes away and out of this state. >> governor, would you care to respond? >> i would just point out that this was passed with bipartisan support in both houses of the iowa legislature. it was long overdue. our commercial property taxes were the third highest behind minnesota and illinois. we don't want to be there. this is going to make a difference. and it's going to be the most significant property tax cut in iowa history. and it's going to be phased in over a period of time. and we have the resources to do it. and i've protected it because we've cut the size and cost of government. so we can afford to fund the education, leadership bill that we passed for teacher leadership and property tax relief. >> senator hatch, you'll probably get a chance to respond to that if will you in this next question from danielle. regarding property taxes. >> senator hatch, your campaign website says your proposed income tax cut for middle income families would cost the state about an estimated $300 million a year. over the next couple of years. at a time when you say we need to fund our schools and our infrastructure needs, vital and immediate investment, why would that be the best use of that money? >> the best use of that money for middle class iowans, you're right. it's the best use for that money. iowans who are in the middle class working every day, 40 hours, 50 hours a week, need a break. middle class iowans need that kind of help. we are the sixth highest state with dual income families. we are a low wage state. and we are a state that values children. so when our property tax relief, we identified families that have dual incomes. and we gave them a $1,000 tax credit. because we value the productivity of the state. and we also valued the children. and i think governor bran stand and almost every politician will say they are our greatest resource that is need protection. so right now we give them a $40 tax credit. they're valued a lot more than that. under my proposal, we give them a $500 tax credit. when you put them together it provides us with a very strong middle class tax cut. that will help the people that need it the most. not these corporations. but people need that. to answer your question on the budget, it is a priority. the budget is a priority. someone once said you could tell me all you want about your values. but show me your budget. then i'll tell you what your values are. this would be a high priority of our administration. >> do you believe that the legislature would pass such a plan and why? >> well, i think the legislature will engage in this discussion. i can't guarantee anything. but i know that the democratic caucus in the house and senate believe very proudly and very clearly that middle class has got to get a break. that middle class iowans can't be left out in the cold. they were under the governor's commercial property tax relief. that's the largest property tax relief in history. but it wasn't for the residential taxpayers, it was for the corporate taxpayers. i want to give residential middle america the everyday iowan the tax break they deserve. equal to the tax break he gave. to the corporations of this state. >> thank you, senator. governor, your response. >> well, first of all, eliminating federal deductibility will raise taxes for some low income people, too. because if your income varies from year to year, you won't be able to able to deduct your federal taxes. the bill that we passed, the property tax relief, isn't just for corporations. it's to all commercial and industrial property including all the main street businesses in burlington and fort madison and all over the state of iowa. and people have gotten those tax bills and they can see there's real significant tax relief for individual iowans that own commercial property. i've heard from them. all over this state. and they're saying thank you. finally we got some real tax relief. and i'm proud that we did that. and that's going to continue next year. and we want it to continue in the future. if you instead going out and spend that money on another program, then we won't be able to do that. and the education money that's committed also for teacher leadership. >> 30 seconds, senator. >> being a governor means that you set priorities and that you lead. the governor just said he wanted to provide the commercial and industrial property tax relief for commercial businesses in this state. i want to provide property tax relief and the middle class tax cut for the residents of this state. for the citizens of this state. for the everyday iowans of this state that need a tax cut. my priorities will always be with the middle class. corporations, which we are one, we're good at what we do. we'll figure out a way. and we'll be able to continue to provide the jobs that are necessary, but i want middle class iowa to get the support they need. >> with just under 10 minutes remaining in our debate let's try to squeeze another category in if we can. regarding gas tax, infrastructure, roads, bridges, the question is for the governor from dale. >> time's going by quickly. >> i like it when you're having fun. >> you're a pay as you go guy. but the state needs money, too, to improve its infrastructure. you're administrator of the department of transportation says there's not enough money to maintain the network that we have. local coalitions have lobbied you for some time to widen u.s. 61. between burlington and muscatine county and that's more important with all the traffic coming from the fertilizer plant. lawmakers told in us january that there was support for an increase in the gas tax. if you would have indicated your support, but without such an indication, nobody was prepared to propose a tax that might get vetoed. during the state fair debate, you said you were working on a transportation funding plan. but we're not prepared to reveal it. why not? why the wait? >> paul trobini has put together a series of options and i've been discussing that with legislators for the last several months of how we can go to a hybrid system that would replace the gas tax partially with an excise tax on fuel. like you have with the sales tax and also increased fees for heavier loads that go across the state of iowa. i would also compliment paul trobini when we had that flood in 2011 on the missouri river, he was able to put together a strategy to rebuild all of those roads even though we only had 60 days to do it. we rebuilt all those roads and got the federal funds reimbursement to pay for all of that. he also we've had the two biggest road building years in history. the last two years. because he's reduced administrative costs by $50 million. i'm continuing to work with him. i intend to work with a bipartisan group of legislators as we did the last time we addressed this issue back in 1988. and we got a majority of both house and senate republicans and democrats to agree to do this. and i will lead but i want to make sure that we have a majority of both parties, both caucuses, supporting it. >> senator, if you can, for time constraints, 30 seconds, please. >> you can't lead with legislators unless you have a proposal. i've offered a proposal for over two years. 10 cent gas tax. two cents a year for the next five years. not only is highway 61 needing a four lanes, but highway 20 up in fort dodge to sioux city. there are areas there that need four lanes. plus the bridges in this state. we have the second worst state in bridge repair in the country. we cannot have a repair of our county roads and our state roads if we don't have revenue. jackson county said they are just now reducing the tonnage of 44 bridges in jackson county. from 10 tons to three. you can get a van with children on that three ton bridge. but you can't get emergency vehicles. you can't get ambulances. you can't get the fire trucks. you can't get the farm implements. the combines and the trucks that need to pass and to provide commerce for power farmers. this is a crisis. and for the governor not to recognize it, to have a cash force that he doesn't liston and waiting for the special interests to say you can do it now is not the leadership we want. we need a leader to take the lead. >> it is time for us now to get to our closing statements. the order is determined by the coin flip. senator hatch, you are first. >> thank you. gary, i thank you very much. for kwqc to be a sponsor, the chamber of commerce and the hawkeye. i commend the two panelists and yourselves for providing this for this opportunity. and also i want to acknowledge my wife, sonya roberts, and my running mate, monica vernon, in the audience. and if i could give a quick shoutout to my daughter in anchorage, alaska, who's an nbc affiliate reporter and weekend anchor. so for danielle, she's -- i'm as proud of her as i'm sure your parents are of you. but being governor means that we have to lead our state into a new area of economic explosion. i want to return iowa to the tom vilsack iowa where we focused not only on agriculture insurance but we diversified this economy to finance information technology and advanced manufacturing. in iowa where we are not picking winners and losers but create regional authorities we can rely on local leaders to match the priorities of our local and our county leaders. to do this, we need to reorganize an economic development effort into four regions. equal to the congressional districts. establish regional boards of directors. and provide leadership, locally. and i will announce and tonight that my running mate, monica vernon, will take the lead being a city council person, she knows how to bring people together. she's done that. and she's a leader in the community. local business leaders know what they need. and we'll rely on their advice. we need a community of economic development proposal. not a top down. we need local people picking what they want to invest in, not winners and losers from a board in des moines. thank you very much. >> governor branstad. >> first of all, i want to thank the greater burlington partnership, kwqc, burlington hawkeye, and all of you in the audience for being here and for sponsoring this. and great to have this debate at the first territorial capital of iowa in burlington. i'm really proud to be here. my mother was born here. i'm proud to have my wife and a lot of members of my family, my stepmother here. and i also want to say i love this state. i grew up on a farm. i learned to work hard at a very early age. and i worked every day, the lieutenant governor kim reynolds and i go all over this state. we go to every county every year. we work hard every day to bring more good jobs to iowa. to make iowa the best in the nation in terms of education, to reduce the tax and regulatory burden. we've reduced the size of government by over 1,400 and we're not done yet. we're focused on things like college affordability and reducing student debt. two years, no increase in resident state tuition. and we're going to do more. to reduce that and make college more affordable, we've proposed a center for human capital enrichment. and connect every acre so that we have high speed internet everywhere in iowa. i would appreciate having your vote of confidence, your support, and the opportunity to work hard for you for the next four years. i love iowa. and i'm proud to have the opportunity to serve you. and i would appreciate your vote. thank you very much. >> gentlemen, thank you. [applause] the conversation continues at your next debate. but that is all the time we have for tonight. we would like to thatching our candidates, senator jack hatch and governor terry branstad. let's give them a round of applause. [applause] watch us at kwqc.com and on hawkeye.com. thank you for watching tonight. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> now here's a look at a couple of campaign ads from the governor's race in iowa. >> four years ago, 114,000 iowans were out of work. terry branstad came back. jobs.0 new governor branstad is just getting started. iowa is back. terry branstad is building i was future. >> he is honest, compassionate, a visionary. he is always looking forward. where can we go next? to do better, bring jobs to the economy. and we see that. the jobs today, young people moving back. more iowans are working today than at any other time in our state history. i am really optimistic about the future. he definitely has a passion for this state. >> after 20 years, iowans are tired of governor terry branstad. the scandals, bad deals, and political favors. $110 million bad deal, taxpayer money given to an egyptian billionaire. isu economists call it the dumbest economic decision made in iowa. branstad even tried to abolish preschool funding. aren't you tired of terry? time for a fresh start. jack hatch for governor. >> there are two men running for iowa governor. terry branstad forces tax breaks for corporations, and jack hatch supports tax cuts for middle class families. while he gave away millions to a wealthy egyptian comedy, jack hatch was putting iowans to work. only one thing branstad and jack hatch have in common. for jack, that is one thing too many. >> i'm ready for a fresh start. >> here are just a few of the comments we have recently received from our viewers. >> i want to say how much i enjoy c-span. to theorning i listened call-in shows. on the weekend, i love the book shows. i traveled white a bit in the summer. i take notes from your history programs. it has enhanced my travel. i see things and i look for people and places and objects i would not have looked for before seeing your program. you have made my life so much better and so much more interesting. take you so much. >> i have been very disappointed in c-span. i called a few times. to my mind, the other day, it looked like grandma and grandpa. realize, youo think that she's going to be fit for office? this is a tough job, being president. she has got nothing. >> 24 hours a day, i hardly ever watch regular tv. i watch "washington journal every morning. weekends are fabulous with book tv and all the historical topics you cover. thank you so much for c-span. it is a big part of my life. >> to tell us about the programs you are watching, call us or e-mail us. you can send us a tweet. join the c-span conversation. like us on facebook or follow us on twitter. next, in a white house ceremony, resident obama award the medal of honor to two vietnam veterans. then ken burns talks about his documentary on the roosevelts. then a documentary about the challenges facing america's youth. on monday, resident obama awarded the medal of honor to benny atkins and army specialist donald. his medal for the actions as serving as an intelligence during the vietnam war. will accept the medal on his brother's behalf. this is 25 minutes. gentlemen, the president of the united states. chief plays] ♪ sacrifice. how hero, the title, is a price paid by soldiers, like the two to be honored today. first remembered by persistence to defend his brothers, to never accept defeat, and to never quit. one who stays alive for his friends by selfishly and respectively giving up his own. these brave men, living and dead, consecrate our history and our faith, courage of our soldiers, significance of our -- sacredness of our values, strength of our nation. today we weave their actions into the fabric of our history as the served in the jungles. we, who are the living, never forget what they did, the friends they lost, the -- -- may we take to heart the words spoken by a grieving president, it is for us, the living, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought have so nobly advanced, god of redemption and grace, we ask you to grant these in holy name, amen. >> amen. >> please be seated. good afternoon and welcome to the white house. more than four decades ago, in early 1970, an american squad in vietnam set out on patrol. they marched down a trail, past a rice paddy. shots rang out and splintered the bamboo above their heads. the lead soldier tripped a wire. a booby trap. a grenade rolled toward the feet of a 20-year-old machine gunner. the pin was pulled. and that grenade would explode at any moment. a few years earlier on the other side of the country, deep in the jungle, a small group of americans were crouched on top of a small hill. and it was dark, and they were exhausted, and the enemy had been pursuing them for days, and now they were surrounded, and the enemy was closing in on all sides. two discreet moments, but today we honor two american soldiers for gallant triabove and beyond the call of duty at each of those moments. specialist donald sloat, who stood above that grenade. and command sergeant major bennie adkins, who fought through a ferocious battle and found himself on that jungle hill. nearly half a century after their acts of valor, a grateful nation bestows upon these men the highest military decoration, the medal of honor. normally this medal must be awarded within a few years of the action, but sometimes even the most extraordinary stories can get lost in fog of war or the passage of time. when new evidence comes to light, certain actions can be reconsidered for this honor and it is entirely right and proper that we have done so and that is why we are here today... then he decided to join the army but when he went to enlist he didn't pass his physical because of high blood pressure said he tried again and again, and again. in all it took a physical maybe seven times until he passed. because don sub i was determined to serve his country. in vietnam became known as one of they liked and most are siebel -- likeable guys in this company. his patrol was ambushed both times. don responded with punishing fire from his machine gun leaving himself completely vulnerable to the enemy. both times he was recognized for his bravery or as don put it in a letter home, i guess they think i'm really gung ho or something. and then one morning don and his squad set out on patrol pass that rice patty down that trail where the shots rang out. when the lead soldiers foot trip that wire and set off the booby-trap, the grenade rolled right to don's feet and in that moment he could have run. at that moment he could have ducked for cover but don did something truly extraordinary. he reached down and he picked that grenade up and he turned to throw it but there were americans in front of him and behind him inside the kill zone. don held onto that grenade and pulled her close to his body and bent over it and then as one of the men said, all of a sudden there was a boom. the blast through the lead soldier up against a boulder. men were riddled with shrapnel. four were medevaced out, but everyone else survived. don had absorbed the brunt of the explosion with his body. he saved the lives of those next to him and today we are joined by two men who were with him on that patrol, sergeant william hacker and specialist michael multi-in. for decades, don's family only knew that he was killed in action. they had heard he had stepped on a landline. all those years as gold star family honor the memory of their son and brother whose name is etched forever on that granite wall not far from here. late in her life dawn's mother evelyn finally learned the full story of her son's sacrifice. and she made it her mission to have dawn's actions properly recognize. sadly nearly three years ago evelyn passed away but she always believed, she knew that this day would come. she even bought a special dress to wear to the assembly. we are honored that don and his mom are represented here today by don's brother, sisters and their families on behalf of this american family i would ask don's brother dr. bill sloat to come forward with a rating of a citation and accept the gratitude of our nation. >> the president of the united states of america authorized by act of congress march 3, 1863 has awarded in the name of congress the medal of honor to special sworn donald p. sloat united states army. specialist donald sloat distinguished himself with acts of gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty serving as a machine gunner with company t second battalion, 1st infantry regiment 196 lightning pair trooper. during combat operations in the republic of vietnam on january 17, 1970. on that morning specialist sloat's squad was performing a patrol and armored personnel carriers in the area. as the squad moved up a small hill information to lead soldier tripped a wire attached to a hand grenade booby-trap set up by enemy forces. as the grenade grenade rolled downhill specialist for sloat nelson picked up the grenade. after initially attempting to throw the grenade specialist for sloat realized that nation was imminent. pete drew the grenade to his body and show with his squad members from the blasts saving their lives. specialist sloat's actions to find the ultimate sacrifice to save the lives of his comrades. donald p. sloat's selflessness above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflects great credit upon himself, company t second battalion. 1st infantry regiment 196 light infantry brigade america division in the united states army. [applause] [applause] [applause] [applause] [applause] >> at this point i would like to ask bennie adkins to come join me on stage. now, let me just say the first thing you need to know is when bennie and i met in the oval office i asked him if he could sign back up. [laughter] his lovely wife was not amused. [laughter] most days you can find bennie at home down at opelika alabama. tending his garden or his pontoon boat out on the lake. he has been married to mary for 58 years. he is the proud father of five, grandfather of six and at 80 still going strong trade a couple of years ago he came here to the white house with his fellow veterans for breakfast we had on veterans day. he told folks he was the only person he knows who spilled his dessert in the white house. [laughter] and i just had to correct him. that makes two of us. [laughter] i have messed up my tie. i had messed up my pants. but in the spring of 1966, bennie was just 32 years old on his second tour in vietnam. he and his fellow greene berets were an isolated camp along the ho chi minh trail. a huge north vietnamese force attacked bombarding bennie and is comrades with mortars and white phosphorus. at a time it was nearly impossible to move without being wounded or killed. but bennie ran into enemy fire again and again, to retrieve supplies and ammo, to carry the wounded to safety, demand a mortar pit, holding off wave after wave of enemy assaults. three times, explosions blasted him out of that mortar pit and three times he returned. i have to be honest, in a battle and daring escape that lasted for four days, bennie performs so many acts of bravery we actually don't have time to talk about all of them. let me just mention three. on the first day, bennie was helping load a wounded american in to a helicopter. vietnamese soldier jumped into the hilo trying to escape the battle and aimed his weapon directly the wounded soldier ready to shoot. bennie shielded his comrade placing himself directly in line of fire helping to save his wounded comrade. at another point in the battle for bennie and a few other soldiers were trapped in a mortar pit, covered in shrapnel and smoking debris. they're only exit was blocked by enemy machine gun fire. so bennie.fast. he dug a hole out of the pit and snuck out the other side. as another american escape through that hole he was shot in the leg. an enemy soldier charged in hoping to capture a live p.o.w. and bennie fired taking out the enemy and pulling his fellow american safety. by the third day of battle, bennie and a few others had managed to escape into the jungle. he had cuts and wounds all over his body but he refused to be evacuated. when a rescue helicopter arrived bennie insisted that others go instead. so on the third night's bennie wounded and bleeding found himself with his men up on that jungle hill exhausted and surrounded with the enemy closing in. and after all they had been through as if that weren't enough, there was something mo more, you can't make this up, they're in the jungle they heard the growls of a tiger. it turns out that tiger might've been the best thing that happened to bennie during those days because he said the north vietnamese were more scared of that tiger than they were a plus. [laughter] said the enemy fled. bennie and his squad made their escape and they were rescued finally the next morning. and danny's life, we see the enduring service of our men and women in uniform. he went on to serve a third tour in vietnam, total of more than two decades in uniform. after he retired he earned his master's degree, actually not one but two, opened up an accounting firm, taught adult education classes, became national commander of the legion of valor veterans organization. so he has earned his retirement, despite what he says. he is living outside auburn and yes he is a fan of the auburn tigers although i did a poll of the family and there are some crimson tide fans here. [laughter] so there's obviously some divisions. but bennie will tell you that he has everything to the men he served with in vietnam, especially the five who gave their lives in that battle. every member of his unit was killed or wounded. every single one was recognized for their service. today we are joined by some of the men who served with bennie including major john bradford the soldier that bennie shielded in that helicopter and major wayne murray, the soldiers, the soldiers thought they deserved -- saved from being captured. and i would ask them in all of our vietnam veterans who are here today to please stand or raise your hand to be recognized. [applause] [applause] [applause] and now i would ask that the citation be read. >> the president of the united states of america authorized by act of congress march 3, 1863 has awarded in the name of congress the medal of honor to sergeant first class danny g. atkins united states army. sergeant first class danny t. adkins dissing bush himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as an intelligence sergeant attachment a 125th special forces group were special forces during combat operations against an armed enemy at camp eshoo republic of vietnam from march the ninth to 12th 1966. when the camp was attacked by a large vietnamese and viacom force in the early morning hours sergeant first class atkins rush through intense enemy fire and manned an order position continually adjusting fire for the camp despite recurring wounds as a mortar pit received hits from enemy mortars. upon learning that several soldiers were wounded near the center of camp be temporarily turned the mortar over to another soldier ran through exploding mortar rounds and drag several comrades to safety. as hostile fire subsided sergeant first class atkins exposed himself to sporadic fire while carrying his wounded comrades to the camp dispensary. but sergeant first class atkins in this group of defenders came under heavy small-arms fire by members of the civilian irregular defense group they have defected to fight with the north vietnamese he maneuvered outside the camp to evacuate a seriously wounded american and draw fire all the while successfully covering the rescue. when a resupply air-drop landed outside of the camp perimeter sergeant first class atkins again moved outside of the camp walls to retrieve the much-needed supplies. during the early morning hours of march 10, 1966 enemy forces launched their main attack and within two hours sergeant first class atkins was the only man firing a mortar weapon. when all mortar rounds were expanded sergeant first class atkins began placing effective require a list of rifle fire upon enemy positions. despite receiving additional ones from enemy rounds exploding on his position sergeant first class atkins bought up intense waves of attacking vietcong. sergeant first class atkins eliminated numerous insurgents with small-arms fire after withdrawing to communications bunker several soldiers. running extremely low on ammunition he returned to the mortar pit gathered vital ammunition and ran through intense fire out of the bunker. after being ordered to evacuate the camp sergeant first class atkins and the small group of soldiers destroyed all signal equipment and classified documents, dug their way out of the rear of the bunker and talk their way out of the camp. while carrying a wounded soldier to the extraction point he learned that the last helicopter had already departed. sergeant first class atkins led the group a with aiding the enemy until they were rescued by helicopter on march 12, 1966. during the 38 hour battle in 48 hours of escape and invasion fighting with mortars and machine guns require less rifle small-arms and hand grenades, it was estimated to sergeant first class atkins had killed between 135 and 175 of the enemy while sustaining 18 different ones to his body. sergeant first class atkins extraordinary heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, detachment and a 125th special forces group for special forces in the united states army. [applause] [applause] [applause] [applause] >> over the decades, our vietnam veterans didn't always receive the thanks and respect they deserved. that's a fact. but as we have been reminded again today, our vietnam vets were patriots and are patriots. you served with valor. you made us proud. and your service is with us for eternity. so no matter how long it takes, no matter how many years go by, we will continue to express our gratitude for your extraordinary service. may god watch over don sloat and all those who have sacrificed for our country. may god keep safe those who wear our country's uniform and veterans like bennie adkins and may god continue to bless the united states of america. at this point i'd ask our chaplain to return to the stage iv the benediction. >> let us continue to pray. as we go forth be not afraid. have peace and courage and honor what is good. return no evil for evil to strengthen the fainthearted support the weak and helpless suffering. we honor all people. let us love and serve and may god's blessing be upon us and remain with us always, amen. >> and at this point, i would welcome everybody to join the sloat family and the atkins family for a reception. i hear the food is pretty good. and once again, to all of you who serve and your families who serve along with them, the nation is grateful. and your commander in chief could not be prouder. thank you very much everybody. [applause] >> tomorrow at noon eastern our campaign 2014 coverage continues with a debate between texas governor candidates. this is the first time in 14 years that texas will elect a new governor. that's at noon eastern. we'll follow that at 1:00 p.m. with the arkansas governor's ebate. >> monday night on the communicators, wade baker on the recent data breaches at home depot, target and j.p. morgan chase. >> it's all of the above. we have worked with law enforcement agencies who have busted down doors and dragged people out of their basement literally. we have also participated in fairly large scale arrests of multiple individuals that are very highly connected together. they have individual specialties and roles. someone writes malicious software. the others know how to wash the money. just like organized crime. then there are others that definitely are working on plaff of a government. they have an office. there is pictures of it and recon photos going in and out of work and they go to that building. that's their job is to hack into companies and steal information on behalf of a government. i've seen photos of eastern yirne towns for instance that were just an insane number of people drive lamb boar ginnnies and things like this and a lot of that is spam, fake pharmaceuticals, the financial fraud and just tax fraud and medicare fraud. it's staggering amounts of money that are at some point along that chain traced back to data that was stolen stored at a corporation or government. >> monday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span2. >> award winning film maker ken burns talks about his documentary the roosevelts on monday. it covers the lives of thee door, franklin and eleanor this. is about an hour. e than 30 drama and flair. his topics have ranged from the baseball,ridge to from mark twain to jazz, from prohibition to the national parks. remarkably, his works never become outdated. we commemorate the 150th anniversary of the civil war, on that waries remains as relevant today as it 1950.en it debuted in burns captures the historic moments of american life, with archival materials like personal and newspapers. his use of still photographs been revolutionary. he has called photographs the he has donething and his evocative scans have aansformed his subjects into cinematic experience. the slow-moving, the slow motion scanning technique is now even the ken burns' effect. his new seven-part pbs series, premiered last night. and i have reliable information that the ratings were extremely and that they are soaring. the series will be broadcast every night this week. film, he focuses on the figures,but flawed who, before they were history, were family. news reele to draw on footage, radio broadcasts and personal documents, notably a trove of newly discovered letters between fdr and his daisy and well as an enormous volume of photographs. nearly 2,400 stils series.d in this burns has always rejected using the voice of god approach to narration, relying instead on contemporary voices to bring his words to life. in the roosevelts, you will hear some of america's greatest herman asward franklin and marilyn street as elmore. ken burns, like his films, he never becomes outdated. me in join
applause -- plus applause -- [applause] >> good morning, america. ladies and gentlemen, families, friends, and most of all my fellow veterans. i'm privileged and honored to be here on the hallowed grounds of this beautiful memorial to speak with you today was i proudly serve aid among the ranks of many serving today. like many of you, i wore the uniform of my country proudly and served a cause greater than myself. the defense of our nation's and our -- of our nation and our freedoms we value so much. it's a special bond all veterans share and it's a privilege to share that bond with you on veterans day weekend. today is special to us. when the country calls, my brothers and sisters and i responded by say, send me. on veterans day we all think about our brothers and sisters, those we served beside, those we led, those with looked up to, and those we lost. for us, veterans day could never be just another day of the year. military and veteran families are unique in this way. when a wife or husband, son or daughter raises his or her hand and says, send me, there's a great deal of sacrifice involved that most americans can't begin to understand. our men and women in uniform miss holidays, birthdays and other milestones other families take for granted because service members are often called away on duty. we're rapidly approaching the holiday season. military families often cannot invest the emotional capital of enjoying this time of year that is for most filled with joy, being surrounded by loved ones. it happens all too often in military careers, sometimes the rug gets pulled out from under you when least expected orders drosm that, as many of you know, is like a hard kick in the gut. it's no wonder that only one-half of one percent choose to serve today, but serve they do and they, in my humble opinion are among our nation's finest and bravest because they raise their hands and say send me, i will go. when our country calls. i'm also proud to be part of a very special group, a group of people who left behind part of themselves while serving our country. disabled veterans, whether they're injury is visible or not, reminds us all of the phrase freedom isn't free, it's more than just a cliche tavepls daily truth we all live with. that's why i'm proud to be part of the d.a.v. disabled american veterans. we know our heroes want to live fulfilling live lives with respect and digny. they don't ask for much and that makes it all the more important to keep our promise to our veterans who served. d.a.v. fights to make sure those promises are met and i urge you to get involve. let's briefly examine what veterans day means to those who said, send me. let me share three words with you. has anyone ever heard of we the people? america's sons and daughters took an oath, put on american uniforms and have sworn to uphold and defend freedom in dangerous and desolate places. i'm very proud, as all veterans should be, when i remind myself that i'm part of a special group who committed to defend the ideas of our forebears. the concept of hard-won freedom and liberty outlined in our constitution gave birth to what was a profound and radical concept way back in 1789. a government that was responsible to the people who elected it. what about those words, duty, honor, and country? general macarthur said those words, reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, and what you will be. they are your rallying points to build courage when courage seems to fail. to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith. and do to the create hope when hope becomes forlorn. because of the words "we the people" mean something to all american the words duty, honor, and country carry profound meaning to military members and veterans. committing to serve one's country and community is the single most important undertaking one person can make. i was and still am proud of my military service, but knowing i still javo -- advocate for the american veteran makes me prouder still. our veterans are part of america's greatest treasure. in my mind, they are the bravest, finest, and ensuring that we can and always will be a nation comprised of we the people. thank you for letting me share my thoughts with you today and remember that for d.a.v., every day is veterans day. [applause] >> thank you, mr. hope. please welcome the honorable robert mcdonald, secretary of veterans affairs. [applause] >> vice president biden, medal honor recipient brian thacker, secretary hagel, secretary perez, secretary castro, and members of your family, senator hirono, senator king, senator cantwell, minority leader pelosi, former secretary veterans affairs jim pique, secretary james, chairman dempsey, general dunford, admiral grinnard, and your spouses, ron hope, disabled american veterans our co-hosts for this year's celebration, and other representatives of veterans service organizations, dr. and mrs. summers, thank you for your advocacy on behalf of veterans and god bless the memory of your son daniel. fellow veterans, members of our armed forces, v.a. colleagues, other distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. good morning, everyone. what a great day for honoring veterans. for decades, americans have set aside this hour of this day of this month to honor those who have served this country in uniform. in times of both peace and war. it's fitting that veterans day comes so close to thanksgiving because veterans day is the day to give thanks to and ask the almighty's blessings on those who serve and have served the cause of peace. it's also a day of sacred remembrance and it's a day of both prayers and promises. we pray and promise that those who have served and are still serving will never be forgotten. that returning warriors will not bear their wounds alone. that their families will receive help and n facing uncertain futures, and that we as a grateful nation will embrace and care for survivors of those who do not return. this year, all of us at v.a. arrive at today's ceremony of traveling along what we call our road to veterans day. we stepped off this journey more than 90 days ago and the road was built on the foundation of both v.a.'s mission and our immediate objective, which is to better serve and care for those who have borne the battle and for their families and survivors. we set three goals for ourselves as we began to move forward. the first was rebuilding trust with veterans and stake holders. second, improving service delivery, focusing on veteran outcomes. third, setting v.a. on a course for long-term excellence and reform. we want veterans to know that they do not strive alone. the vision of our president, our vice president, the leader sipe and support of the congress, the concerted efforts of our veterans service organization, the good people of v.a. and the american people are all required to best serve veterans. at v.a., we are reorganizing for success in thevert, fleaps largest restructuring in the history of the department. we call that reorganization and our customer experience solution my v.a. part of our road to veterans day strategy. it's called my v.a. because we want veterans to view us as an organization that belongs to them prorkviding quality care in ways they need and want to be served. my v.a. will entail combining functions, simplifying operations, improving processes, leveraging technology, enhancing efficiency, increasing productivity, and effectively implementing the veteran's access choice and accountability act, a 360-degree effort to provide veterans with a seamless, integrated and responsive v.a., regardless of how they come taos. all this is to say that v.a. must regain and retain a laser-like focus on veterans from the 90-year-old who fought across omaha beach to the 19 yeermed who faced the determined foe -- to the 19-year-old who faced the determined foe in afghanistan. our goal is simple. to provide quality, timely care and benefits to all generations of veterans. our special guest today fully shares president obama's commitment to america's veterans. he and his wife, a tremendous supporter of veterans and service members in her own right have seen a son off to war and felt the special pride of having a child who shares both the privilege and the responsibility of wartime service to our great nation. ladies and gentlemen, i am deeply honored both professionally and personally to present to you a great advocate for our veteran the vice president of the united states, joe biden. [applause] >> thank you very much, mr. secretary. thank you. thank you. mr. secretary, thank you very much. in the short time you have been in your position, people are beginning to see significant changes. you believe, as i do, that we only have one truly sacred obligation. as a nation, we have a lot of obligations, to the young, to poor.d, to all, the but there's no obligation that's truly sacred other than the commitment to our veterans. and you carry that with you from your days at west point to today. we appreciate it. to all the distinguished guest here, let me say, particularly to the gold star families, let me say how much i appreciate the opportunity and privilege of being able to speak here today. it's one of the great privileges a president or vice president has, to be able to literally speak on this sacred ground. it's the second occasion i've had in my tenure as vice president. it's a beautiful, beautiful awe dumb tai -- autumn day. the sun is shine, the skies are clear, the temperature is perfect. nothing like the scorching heat, the bitter cold and intense storms that confronted many of you here today and our troops through every conflict in every age. today, surge is -- today's sunshine is nothing like the scorching heat our veterans endured while battling across the sun-baked coral islands in the pacific and in some cases going days without water. nothing like the hardships faced by a generation of americans who waded through the rice paddies in vietnam. nothing compared to the 115-degree heat in fallujah as a young warrior climbed into an mrap to show me how it saved his life. nothing compared to what our young men fought through in 25 below zero degree temperatures in the north korean mountain, pen down by heavy enemy fire, on the frozen ground, 60 years ago. and nothing compared to the snow and cold that hampered our forces in the argon forest 66 years ago. one of my favorite lines is from a poem, a play, a book by john stein beck. "east of eden." where cyrus trask describes to his son adam what it means to be a soldier. here's what it says. he says to his son a soldier is the most holy of all humans because he is the most tested. a soldier must coldly learn to put himself in the way of losing his own life without going mad. if you can bring yourself to face not shadows but real death, described and recognizable, by then you need never be afraid again. you are, the veterans of america, the most trusted among us, and the most tested of all americans. collectively, you represent generations of soldier, sailors, airmen, marines and coast guard who have served and sacrificed for all of us. you are not only the heart and soul, but you are the very spine of this nation. nd as a nation, we pause today to thank more than 23 million surviving veterans who have so bravely and faithfully protected our freedom. you gave and they gave. nd you deserve our thanks. we stand here today, committed to show our respect, honor, and to recognize our responsibility to care for all our veterans and for those who continue in harm's way as i speak to you today. since 9/11, 3.5 million women and men have joined the military . with the near certainry ty of knowing that they would be deployed -- near certainty of knowing that they would be deployed, and they have, over 2.6 million of this generation have been deployed to iraq and afghanistan. some -- some of you have been deployed multiple times to both places. and more than half of you have returned to civilian life with the honored title of veteran. the 9/11 generation took on a responsibility that extended far beyond base or battlefield. they were prepared to follow osama bin laden to the gates of he will -- to the gates of health and they did. -- of hell and they did. and they continue as committed. never before has america asked so much over such a sustained period of all volunteer force. and like so many generations before them, this generation of 9/11 warriors has paid an incredible price. every day for the past six years, i asked my staff early in the morning to contact the department of defense, to get a detailed report on the number of troops deployed, the number wounded, and the number killed. not a general number. the exact number every day. because for every one of those warriors, there's an entire family, an extended family, back america that has bled or is bleeding. s of this morning, u.s. troops died in iraq and afghanistan, 6,703. troops wounded in iraq or fghanistan, 5,168. troops still deployed, combat new york afghanistan, 19,650. security assistance in iraq, 1,400. like some of you, i've seen the incredible sacrifices they have made and continue to make. it's been my honor over the last two decades to visit our troops in the field from bosnia to kosovo from iraq to afghanistan, aslamabad. h to i've never once been failed to be impressed by the grit, the resolve, the patriotism of these young women and men. and every time -- and i've been accompanied by some of the time behind me -- every i've been in the field with them i find myself thinking, if only, if only everyone in america could see what i'm seeing. taste what i'm tasting. understand what these warriors are doing. and no one knows better than this audience that it's not just the veterans that's been asked to sacrifice and serve. it's his or her family. his mother or father, children, especially the husbands and wives. the english poet john milton once wrote, they also serve who only stand and wait. they also serve who only stand nd wait. when our son bo a major in the delaware national guard, was deployed to iraq for a year, my wife, who is a professor, would leave early for school, i'd get up and walk into the little kitchen in the vice president's home and without fail i'd see her standing over the sink with a cup of coffee in her hand, mouthing a prayer that the wife of the adjew tant general of the national guard gave her. you've all done that you spouses you moms you dads, you children. when they're deployed. there wasn't three hours that went by that they didn't cross your mind. you all know what it's like. and we owe you. we owe you as much as we owe your sons and daughters you husbands and wives. -- and daughters, your hises and wives. my jill points out that fewer than 1% of america's population serves in uniform but over 99% of americans owe that 1% so much more than we can ever repay. it's my firm belief that we do owe them. [applause] we have an obligation to care for and equip those who we send to war, and care for them and their families when they come home. as i said earlier, it's the only sake rhett obligation a government has. and we're honor bound to keep it. you're absolutely remarkable, you veterans. jill and i have visited wounded veterans in hospitals around the world, multiple times from germany, brooke army medical center, walter reed and so many other places. we spend christmas day at reed all day. the reason i mention that is you've had the experience i have had. walking into the room of a wounded warrior with his or her family. always ask the same question. i've talked to general dempsey about this, he's done the same. ask the same question, what can i do for you soldier, sailor, marine, airman? what can i do for you? and the answer i get almost every time is stunning. and americans should know it. and you understand it. the answer i most often get is, mr. vice president, sir, can you get me back to my unit? mr. vice president, sir, can you get back to my unit? i've learned so much. can help. jill and i recently hosted a team of wounded warriors at our home, several hundred, as they prepared to represent the united states of america in a competition in london called the invictus games for wounded warriors. and it struck me that there couldn't have been a more appropriate description of the determination and commitment and character shown by all our veterans than these games referred to as the invictus games. the poet william ernest henry wrote a poem called "invictus." the last stanza of that po poem says, it matters not how straight the gate, how charged the punishment, the scroll, i'm the master of my fate, i'm the captain of my soul, i'm the master of my fate, i am the captain of my soul. every single generation of veterans throughout our history has been the best that this country has had to offer. it's as true today as it was 200 years ago when a generation of warriors held the ramparts at fort mchenry against the full might of the british navy in the battle of baltimore. as the dawn's early light broke following that battle a young lawyer named francis scott key looked toward the fort's flagpole, asking a simple question -- does that star spangled banner yet wave? that question and its implications and its aspiration have echoed through every forlous fight that's turned american veterans. did it wave in the hands of the first african-american medal of honor recipient as he took that banner from a fallen comrade and charged the ram parts of fort wagner? did that star spangled banner yet wave over observation post that medal of honor recipient ryan fitz held against machine gunfire in afghanistan? did that star spangled banner yet wave over six marines atop a mountain in iwo jima? did that star spangled banner yet wave over american troops in trenches from france, beaches of normandy, jungles of vietnam, streets of fallujah and the valleys of afghanistan? and does that star spangled banner yet wave over every forward position, ship, base, woman and man deployed in the service of our nation today? does it wave on the front porches of families, waiting out those deployments, silently praying for their warrior's safe return. does it wave over walter reed, fort belv oimbings r, the center for the intrepid, the v.a. trauma center, and so many other places where american warriors continue their march to recovery? it waves in every school house, firehouse, little league field where american veterans serve their community while standing ready. in the guard and reserve. it waves in the hearts of -- hearts of every american long after their time in uniform is through. and in the silent vigil above the row of white headstones here nd over there. ladies and gentlemen, francis scott key's questions persist to this day. does that star spadged banner yet wave, o'er the land of the free and the home of the brafe? thanks to all of you veterans, to the unbroken line of warriors who have answered the call, the answer, generation after generation, continues to be yes, now and forever. because as every adversary in every age who has ever come up against you as learned, american warriors never bend, never break, and never, ever, ever yield. [applause] that's why, as i tell every foreign leader i encounter, it's never, never been a good bet to bet against the united states of america. because we have you. god bless you all and may god protect our troops. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, please rise and join the united states marine band in singing "god less america." >> ♪ god bless america land that i love stand beside her and guide her through the night with a light from above from the mountains to the prairies to the oceans white with foam god bless america y home sweet home god bless america y home sweet home ♪ [applause] >> and on this veterans day, we're asking, what's your message to veterans? in the conversation at facebook.com/cspan, on twitter the #cspanchat. >> coming up at 6:30 on our companion network c-span2, u.s. senator john mccain, vietnam veteran john mccain is talking ability his new book "13 soldiers: a personal history of americans at war." the 13 soldiers profiled in his book served in wars from the revolution to iraq and afghanistan. that's live at 6:30 eastern. >> c-span veterans day coverage continues tonight at 7:00 eastern with selections from this year's white house medal of honor ceremonies, followed at 8:00 by the traditional wreath laying ceremony at arlington national cemetery. then the annual u.s.o. gaza featuring general martin dempsey. and discussions on veterans mental health issues as well as other selections from the white house medal of honor ceremonies. >> in september, president obama awarded the medal of honor to two vietnam war veterans, army command severaget major bennie add kins who was awarded the medal for a 36-hour battle. army specialist donald sl oombings t received the -- sloat received the medal post-mue hew mousely. his brother accepted the ward award on his behalf. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] >> ladies and gentlemen, the resident of the united states. ♪ > let us pray. most high and gracious god we pray you remind us of the power of sacrifice and how soldiers sacrifice like the two we honor today. they never accept defeat and never quit and one who saved the lives of his friends by self-lish -- selfishly and reflectively giving up his own. these brave men, living and dead, consecrate our hist ary and faith, the courage of our soldier the sacredness of our values, the strength of our nation. today we weave their actions into the fabric of our history as they serve in the jungle lappeds. the low may we, the live, never forget what they did, the friends they lost, the family left behind. we take to heart the words spoken after bat bail grieving president, that it is for us, the living, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought have so nobodyably advanced. god of redemption and grace, we ask you to grant these in your holy name, amen. >> please be seated. >> good afternoon, welcome to the white house. more than four decades ago new york early 1970, an american squad in vietnam set out on patrol. they marched down a trail past a rice paddy. shots rang out and splintered the bamboo above their heads. the lead soldier tripped a wire a booby trap. a grenade rolled toward the feet of a 20-year-old machine gunner. the pin was pulled and that grenade would explode at any moment. a few years earlier, on the other side of the country, deep in the jungle, a small group of americans were crouched on top of a small hill. it was dark. they were exhausted. the enemy had been pursuing them for days. and now they were surrounded and the enemy was closing in on all sides. two discrete moments but today we honor two american soldiers for gallantry above and beyond the call of duty at each of those moments. specialist donald sloat, who stood above that grenade and command sergeant major benny adkins, who fought through a ferocious battle and found himself on that jungle hill. nearly half a century after their acts of valor, a grateful nation bestows upon these men the highest military decoration, the medal of honor. normally, this medal must be awarded within a few years of the action. but sometimes even the most extraordinary stories can get lost in the fog of war or the passage of time. when new evidence comes to light, certain actions can be reconsidered for this honor and it is entirely right and proper that we have done so and that is why we are here today. so before i go any further, i want to thank everyone present here today whose research and testimonies and persistence over so many years finally resulted these two men getting the recognition they so richly deserve. i want to welcome members of the medal of honor society as well as two american families whose live and -- whose love and pride has never wavered. oc sloane grew up in oklahoma. and he grew big toverple 6'4". he loved football. played for a year at a junior college. then he decided to join the army. but when he went to enlist he didn't pass the physical because of high blood pressure he tried again and again. and again. in all he took the physical maybe seven times. until he passed. because he was determined to serve his country. in vietnam, don became known as one of the most liked and eliable guys in his company. twice in his first months his patrol was ambushed. he responded with punishing fire from his machine gun, leaving himself vulnerable to the enemy. both times, he was recognized for his bravery. or as don put it in a letter home, i guess they think i'm really gung ho or something. then they set out past that paddy, when those shots rang out. when the lead soldier's foot tripped that wire and set off the booby trap. the grenade rolled right to don's feet. and at that momenting -- at that moment, he could have run. at that moment he could have ducked for cover. but don did something truly extraordinary. he reached down and he picked that grenade up and he turned to throw it but there were americans in front of him and behind him, inside the kill zone so don held on to that grenade. he pulls it close to his body and he bent over it. and then as one of the men said, all of a sudden, there was a boom. the blast threw the lead soldier up against a boulder. men were riddled with shrapnel. four were medevaced out, but everyone else survived. don had absorbed the brunt of the explosion with his body. he saved the lives of those next to him. and today, we're joined by two men who were with him on that patrol, sergeant william hacker and specialist michael mohine. for decades, don's family only knew he was killed in action. they'd heard he had stepped on a land mine. all those years, this gold star family honored the memory of their son and brother whose name is etched forever on that granite wall not far from here. late in her life, don's mother, evelyn, finally learned the full story of her son's sacrifice. she made it her mission to have his actions properly recognized. sadly, nearly three years ago, evelyn passed away. but she always believed, she knew, that this day would come. she even bought a special dress to wear to the ceremony. we are honored that don and his mom are represented here today by don's brother, sisters, and their families. on behalf of this american family, i'd ask don's brother, dr. bill sloat, to come forward for the reading of the citation and to accept the gratitude of ur nation. >> the president of the united states of america, authorized by act of congress, march 3, 1863, has awarded in the name of congress the medal of honor to pecialist four donald p. sloat united states army. he performed acts of gallantry above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a machine gunner with second battalion, 196th light infantry brigade during combat operations against an armed enemy in the republic of vietnam on january 17, 1970. n that morning, specialist a t's squad was serving as block. as they moved up a small hill, the lead soldier tripped a wire attached to a hand grenade booby trap set up by enemy forces. as the grenade rolled down the hill, specialist sloat knelt and picked up the grenade. after initially trying to throw it he, realized that detonation was imminent. he drew the grenade to his body and shielded his squad members from the blast, saving their lives. ecialist sloat's actions represent sacrificing his life to save others. it is in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit on himself and company d, second battalion, first infantry regiment, americal division, nited states army. applause] >> at this point, i would like to ask beeney add kings to come join -- bennie adkins to join me n stage. now let me say, first thing you need to know when we met in the off will office, he asked if he could sign back up. [laughter] >> list lovely wife was not amused. most days, you can find him at home in alabama. pontoon is garden or boat on the lake. he has been married to mary for 58 years. e is the proud father of five, grandfather of six. at 80, still going strong. a couple of years ago, he came here to the white house with his fellow veterans for breakfast we had on veterans day and he was the only person he knows who has spilled his dessert in the white house. and i just have to correct me -- him, that makes two of us. i messed up my tie, i messed up my pants. but in the spring of 1966, he was just 32 years old on his second tour in vietnam, he and his fellow green beer as were -- berets with on the trail. and it was tacked impossible to move without being wounded or killed. but he ran into enemy fire, again and again, to retrieve supplies and ammo to carry the wounded to safety, to man the mortar pitt. three times explosions blasted him out of that mortar pit and three times he returned. i have to be honest in a battle and daring escape that lasted four days, he performed so many acts of bravery, we actually don't have time to talk about all of them. let me just mention three. on the first day, he was helping load a wounded american on the helicopter, a soldier aimed his weapon at the wounded soldier. he placed himself directly in the line of fire, helping to save his wounded comrade. another point, he and a few other soldiers with trapped in the mortar pit. their only exit was blocked by enemy machine gun fire. he dug a hole out of the pit and snuck out the other side. another american escaped through that hole, he was shot in the leg and enemy soldier was hoping to capture a live p.o.w. and he returned fire. by the third day of battle, he and a few others managed to escape in the jungle and had cuts and wounds all over his body. when a rescue helicopter arrived. on the third night, he found himself with his men exhausted and surrounded with the enemy closing in and after all they had been through, as if it weren't enough, there was something more, you can't make this up, there in the jungle they heard the growls of a tiger. it turns out that tying might have been the best thing that happened to him because he says, the north vietnamese were more scared of that tiger than they were us. the enemy fled, they made their escape and rescued finally the next morning. we see the enduring service of our men and women in uniform. he went on to serve a third tour in vietnam. a total of more than two decades in uniform. after he retired, he earned his master's degree, opened up an accounting firm, taught adult education classes. so has earned his retirement despite what he says. living outside of auburn and he is a fan of the auburn tigers and i did a poll of the family and there are some crimson tide fans here. there is obviously some divisions. but he will tell you that he owes everything to the men he served with in vietnam, especially the five who gave their lives in that battle. every member of his unit was killed or wounded. every single one was recognized for their service. today, we are joined by some of the men who served with him. including john bradford and major wayne murray. and i would ask them and all of our vietnam veterans who are here today to stand or raise your hand to be recognized. [applause] >> i ask that the citation be ead. >> the president of the united states of america, authorized by act of congress, march 3, 1863, has awarded the in the name of congress the medal of honor to sergeant first class, united states army. ergeant first class adkins had risked his life above and beyond the call of duty as serving with fifth special forces group, during combat operations against republicic my at -- of vietnam. when the camp was attacked by the forces in early morning hours, he rushed through intense enemy fired and manned a mortar position, continually adjusting ire. >> he temporarily he ran through ex ploding mortar rounds. as the hostile fire subsided, sergeant first class adkins exposed himself to fire while carrying his comrades. when sergeant first class adkins and group of defenders came under small arms fire from members of the group that had defected to fight, he went a ide the camp to help comrade. when a resupply air drop landed outside the camp perimeter, he again moved outside of the camp walls to retrieve the much needed supplies. dug the early morning hours of march 10, 1966, enemy forces launched their main attack and within two hours, sergeant adkins was the only man firing a mortar weapon. sergeant first class adkins began placing rifle fire. despite receiving additional wounds from enemy rounds, sergeant first class adkins fought off intense waves. eliminated insurgents after withdrawing with several soldiers. running low on ammunition. he returned to the mortar pit and ran through intense fire back to the bunker. after being ordered to evacuate the camp, sergeant first class adkins and a small group of soldiers destroyed all classified documents and dug their way out of the bunker and fought their way out of the camp. while carrying a wounded soldier, he learned that the last helicopter had already departed. sergeant first class adkins led the group until they were rescued by helicopter on march 12, 1966. during the 38-hour battle and 48 hours of escape, fighting with rifles, small arms and hand grenades, it was estimated that sergeant first class adkins had killed between 135-175 of the enemy while sustaining 18 ifferent rounds. [applause] [applause] >> over the decades, our vietnam veterans didn't always receive the thanks and respect they deserved. that's a fact. but, as we have been reminded again today, our vietnam vets were patriots and are patriots. you served with valor, you made us proud and your service is with us for eternity. so no matter how long it takes, no matter how many years goes by, we will express our gratitude for your extraordinary service. may god watch over don sloat. may god keep safe those who wear our country's uniform and bennie adkins. i would ask our chaplain to return to the stage. >> let us continue to pray. as we go forth, do not be afraid. have peace and courage and hold on to what is good. and help the suffering. we honor all people, let us love and serve and may god's blessing be upon us to remain with us always. amen. >> and at this point, i would welcome everybody to join the sloat family and adkins family. i hear the food is pretty good. and once again, to all of you who served and your families who serve along with them. the nation's grateful and your commander in chief could not be prouder. thank you very much everybody. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> here at 8:00 eastern, wreath-laying ceremony, followed by the annual u.s.o. service members awards gala. at the event, general dempsey broke out in song. here's a look. ♪
specialist four duran stood tall. and learning that two seriously wounded troopers were helplessly pinned down under fire, specialist four duran assaulted the enemy position on the run. he fired into the enemy's foxhole, eliminating for and cutting down several others as they fled. you specialist four duran then again to poor effect fire on the fleeing enemy. his extraordinary heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the united states army. [applause] and >> accepting on behalf of of sergeant candelario garcia. sergeant candelario garcia distinguished it self by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving as an acting team leader for company b, first battalion, second infantry, first brigade, first infantry division, during combat operations against an armed enemy in the republic of vietnam on december 8, 1968. while conducting reconnaissance, sergeant garcia and his platoon discovered communication wire and other signs of an enemy base camp leading into a densely vegetated area. they came upon intense fire. several men were hit and trapped in the open. ignoring the bullets, sergeant garcia crawled to within 10 meters of a machine gun bunker, let to his feet, and ran directly at the fortification, firing his rifle as he charged. sergeant garcia's jammed grenades into the import and placed the muzzle of his looking inside, killing the occupants. continuing to expose himself to fire, sergeant garcia raced 15 meters to another bunker and killed his three defenders with hand grenades and rifle fires. after braving the enemy roche to rescue two casualties, he joined an assault which overran the remaining enemy positions. his extraordinary heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest additions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the united states army. [applause] >> accepting on behalf of his brother, joe r. baldonado. he served as an acting machine gunner in the 183rd airborne regiment in korea on november 25, 1950. on that morning, the enemy launched a strong attack. the platoon had extended most of its ammunition and the platoon leader decided to commit his third squad in a defensive action. since there was no time to dig in because of the proximity of the enemy who advanced within 25 yards, the corporal provided a withering stream of fire on the enemy. the enemy than concentrated all their fire on his gun and attempted to knock it out by rushing the position in small groups and hurling hand grenades. several times, grenades exploded extremely close to the corporal but failed to interrupt his continuous firing. the hostile troops made repeated attempts to storm him and with your with casualties. a grenade landed near his gun, killing him instantly. his extraordinary heroism and selflessness at the cost of his own life above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and united states army. [applause] >> accepting on behalf of his father, corporal victor h. espinoza. corporal victor h. espinoza, distinguish himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving as an active rifleman in company a, 23rd infantry regiment, second infantry division during combat against an armed enemy in korea on august 1, 1952. on that day, corporal espinoza and his units were responsible for securing and holding a vital enemy hill. as a friendly unit neared its objective, it was subjected to a devastating volume of enemy fire. corporal espinoza, being fully aware of the hazards, left his place of comparative safety and made deliberate one-man assault on the enemy with his rifle and grenades, destroying a machine gun and killing the crew. corporal espinoza continued to cross the terrain to an exposed vantage point where he attacked a mortar position and two bunkers with grenades and rifle fire, knocking out the enemy mortar position and destroying old bunkers and killing their occupants. upon reaching the crest and running out of rifle ammunition, he called for more grenades. a comrade who was behind him threw some chinese grenades to him. immediately upon catching them, he pulled the pins and rolled them into the occupied trenches, killing and wounding more of the enemy with their weapons. continuing on, he made a daring charge inflicting at least seven more casualties upon the enemy who were fast retreating into the tunnel. corporal espinoza was in pursuit that hostile fire from the opening prevented him from overtaking the retreating enemy. as a result, corporal espinoza destroy the tunnel with tnt, called for more grenades, and hold them at the enemy troops until they were out of reach. corporal espinoza's incredible this way of valor secure the point and took a heavy toll on the enemy, resulting in at least 14 dead and 11 wounded. corporal espinoza's extraordinary heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest tradition of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and united states army. [applause] pete corrall accepting on behalf of his uncle, sergeant eduardo eduardo c. gomez. sergeant eduardo c. gomez distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving with company i, 8th cavalry regiment, 1st cavalry division during combat operations against an armed enemy in tabu-dong, korea on september 3, 1950. that afternoon, while conducting combat patrol, sergeant gomez' company was ruthlessly attacked by a hostile force which moved within seventy-five yards of the command post before it was immobilized by rocket fire. however, an enemy tank and multiple enemy machineguns continued to rake the company perimeter with devastating fire. realizing the tank posed a serious threat to the entire perimeter, sergeant gomez voluntarily crawled thirty yards across an open rice field vulnerable to enemy observation and fire, boarded the tank, pried open one of the hatches on the turret and dropped an activated grenade into the hull, killing the crew. wounded in the left side while returning to his position, sergeant gomez refused evacuation. observing that the tripod of a .30 caliber machinegun was rendered inoperable by enemy fire, he cradled the weapon in his arms, returned to the forward defensive positions, and swept the assaulting force with withering fire. although his weapon overheated and burned his hands and his painful wound still bled, sergeant gomez maintained his stand and, upon orders to withdraw in the face of overwhelming enemy superiority, remained to provide protective fire. sergeant gomez continued to pour accurate fire into the enemy ranks, exacting a heavy toll in casualties and retarding their advance. sergeant gomez would not consent to leave his post for medical attention until the company established new defensive positions. sergeant gomez's extraordinary heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the united states army. [applause] >> laurie wegner accepting on behalf of her uncle, private first class leonard m. kravitz. private first class leonard m. kravitz distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving as an assistant machinegunner with company m, 5th infantry regiment, 24th infantry division during combat operations against an armed enemy in yangpyong, korea on march 6 and 7, 1951. after friendly elements had repulsed two probing attacks, the enemy launched a fanatical banzai charge with heavy supporting fire and, despite staggering losses, pressed the assault with ruthless determination. when the machinegunner was wounded in the initial phase of the action, private first class kravitz immediately seized the weapon and poured devastating fire into the ranks of the onrushing assailants. the enemy effected and exploited a breach on the left flank, rendering the friendly positions untenable. upon order to withdraw, private first class kravitz voluntarily remained to provide protective fire for the retiring elements. detecting enemy troops moving toward friendly positions, private first class kravitz swept the hostile soldiers with deadly, accurate fire, killing the entire group. his destructive retaliation caused the enemy to concentrate vicious fire on his position and enabled the friendly elements to withdraw. later, after friendly troops had returned, private first class kravitz was found dead behind the gun he had so heroically manned, surrounded by numerous enemy dead. private first class kravitz's extraordinary heroism and selflessness at the cost of his own life, above and beyond the call of duty, are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the united states army. [applause] >> iris negron accepting on behalf of her father, sergeant juan e. negron. sergeant juan e. negron distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a member of company l, 65th infantry regiment, 3d infantry division during combat operations against an armed enemy in kalma-eri, korea on april 28, 1951. that afternoon, sergeant negron took up the most vulnerable position on his company's exposed right flank after an enemy force had overrun a section of the line. when notified that elements of his company were withdrawing, sergeant negron refused to leave his exposed position, instead delivering withering fire at hostile troops who had broken through a road block. when the hostile troops approached his position, sergeant negron accurately hurled hand grenades at short range, halting their attack. sergeant negron held the position throughout the night while friendly forces organized and launched a counterattack. the next morning, after the enemy had been repulsed, friendly forces relieved sergeant negron and found the bodies of fifteen enemy soldiers surrounding his position. sergeant negron's extraordinary heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the united states army. [applause] >> michael david pena accepting on behalf of his father, master sergeant mike c. pena. master sergeant mike c. pena distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a member of company f, 5th cavalry regiment, 1st cavalry division during combat operations against an armed enemy in waegwan, korea, on september 4, 1950. that evening, under cover of darkness and a dreary mist, an enemy battalion moved to within a few yards of master sergeant pena's platoon. recognizing the enemy's approach, master sergeant pena and his men opened fire, but the enemy's sudden emergence and accurate, point blank fire forced the friendly troops to withdraw. master sergeant pena rapidly reorganized his men and led them in a counterattack which succeeded in regaining the positions they had just lost. he and his men quickly established a defensive perimeter and laid down devastating fire, but enemy troops continued to hurl themselves at the defenses in overwhelming numbers. realizing that their scarce supply of ammunition would soon make their positions untenable, master sergeant pena ordered his men to fall back and manned a machinegun to cover their withdrawal. he singlehandedly held back the enemy until the early hours of the following morning when his position was overrun and he was killed. master sergeant pena's extraordinary heroism and selflessness at the cost of his own life, above and beyond the call of duty, are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the united states army. [applause] >> sergeant ashley randall accepting on behalf of her grandfather, private demensio rivera. private demensio rivera distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving as an automatic rifleman with 2d platoon, company g, 7th infantry regiment, 3d infantry division during combat operations against an armed enemy in changyong-ni, korea on may 23, 1951. early that morning, a large hostile force emerged from a dense fog and viciously attacked private rivera and his comrades. private rivera immediately responded by firing with deadly accuracy until his weapon jammed. without hesitating, he threw his rifle down and began to engage the enemy with his pistol and grenades. at one point, private rivera fearlessly crawled from his emplacement to engage an infiltrating enemy soldier in fierce hand-to-hand combat. with only the sound of footsteps and obscure shadows to guide his aim, private rivera held his position against tremendous odds, inflicting numerous casualties on the enemy until he found himself without ammunition of any kind except one grenade. displaying a peerless fighting spirit and an utterly selfless devotion to duty, private rivera pulled the pin from his last grenade and calmly waited for the enemy to reach his position. as enemy troops leaped inside his bunker, private rivera activated the grenade with the full knowledge that it meant his almost certain death. when the debris from the explosion had cleared, friendly forces recovered a severely wounded private rivera and discovered the bodies of four dead or dying enemy soldiers surrounding him. private rivera's extraordinary heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the united states army. [applause] >> joe rodriguez accepting on behalf of his uncle, private miguel a. vera. private miguel a. vera distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving as an automatic rifleman with company f, 38th infantry regiment, 2d infantry division in chorwon, korea, on september 21, 1952. that morning, despite suffering from wounds inflicted in a previous battle, private vera voluntarily left the aid station to join his comrades in an attack against well-fortified enemy positions on a hill of great importance. when the assaulting elements had moved within twenty yards of the enemy positions, they were suddenly trapped by a heavy volume of mortar, artillery and small-arms fire. the company prepared to make a limited withdrawal, but private vera volunteered to remain behind to provide covering fire. as his companions moved to safety, private vera remained steadfast in his position, directing accurate fire against the hostile positions despite the intense volume of fire which the enemy was concentrating upon him. later in the morning, when the friendly force returned, they discovered private vera in the same position, facing the enemy. private vera's noble intrepidity and self-sacrifice saved many of his comrades' lives. private vera's extraordinary heroism and selflessness at the cost of his own life, above and beyond the call of duty, are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the united states army. [applause] >> nancy weinstein accepting on behalf of her husband, sergeant jack weinstein. sergeant jack weinstein distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while leading 1st platoon, company g, 21st infantry regiment, 24th infantry division in kumsong, korea on october 19, 1951. that afternoon, thirty enemy troops counterattacked sergeant weinstein's platoon. most of the platoon's members had been wounded in the previous action and withdrew under the heavy fire. sergeant weinstein, however, remained in his position and continued to fight off the onrushing enemy, killing at least six with his m-1 rifle before running out of ammunition. although under extremely heavy enemy fire, sergeant weinstein refused to withdraw and continued fighting by throwing enemy hand grenades found lying near his position. he again halted the enemy's progress and inflicted numerous casualties. alone and unaided, he held the ground which his platoon had fought tenaciously to take and held out against overwhelming odds until another platoon was able to relieve him and drive back the enemy. sergeant weinstein's leg had been broken by an enemy grenade and old wounds suffered in previous battles had reopened, but he refused to withdraw and successfully bought time for his wounded comrades to reach friendly lines. sergeant weinstein's extraordinary heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the united states army. [applause] >> dominga perez accepting on behalf of her father, private pedro cano. private pedro cano distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving with company c, 8th infantry regiment, 4th infantry division during combat operations against an armed enemy in schevenhutte, germany on december 2 and 3, 1944. on the afternoon of the 2nd, american infantrymen launched an attack against german emplacements but were repulsed by enemy machinegun fire. armed with a rocket launcher, private cano crawled through a densely mined area under heavy enemy fire and successfully reached a point within ten yards of the nearest emplacement. he quickly fired a rocket into the position, killing the two gunners and five supporting riflemen. without hesitating, he fired into a second position, killing two more gunners, and proceeded to assault the position with hand grenades, killing several others and dispersing the rest. then, when an adjacent company encountered heavy fire, private cano crossed his company front, crept to within fifteen yards of the nearest enemy emplacement and killed the two machinegunners with a rocket. with another round he killed two more gunners and destroyed a second gun. on the following day, his company renewed the attack and again encountered heavy machinegun fire. private cano, armed with his rocket launcher, again moved across fire-swept terrain and destroyed three enemy machineguns in succession, killing the six gunners. private cano's extraordinary heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the united states army. [applause] >> miriam adams accepting on behalf of her uncle, private joe gandara. private joe gandara distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving with company d, 2d battalion, 507th parachute infantry regiment, 17th airborne division during combat operations against an armed enemy in amfreville, france on june 9, 1944. on that day, private gandara's detachment came under devastating enemy fire from a strong german force, pinning the men to the ground for a period of four hours. private gandara voluntarily advanced alone toward the enemy position. firing his machinegun from his hip as he moved forward, he destroyed three hostile machineguns before he was fatally wounded. private gandara's extraordinary heroism and selflessness at the cost of his own life, above and beyond the call of duty, are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the united states army. [applause] >> alfonzo lara accepting on behalf of his brother, private first class salvador j. lara. private first class salvador j. lara distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving as the squad leader of a rifle squad with 2d platoon, company l, 180th infantry, 45th infantry division during combat operations against an armed enemy in aprilia, italy on may 27 and 28, 1944. on the afternoon of the 27th, private first class lara aggressively led his rifle squad in neutralizing multiple enemy strongpoints and in inflicting large numbers of casualties on the enemy. having taken his initial objective, private first class lara noticed that the unit to his right was meeting stiff resistance from a large, well-entrenched enemy force in a deep ditch. private first class lara quickly gathered three men and attacked a wide section of the enemy position, killing four, forcing fifteen others to surrender and causing two enemy mortar crews to abandon their weapons. his fearless and efficient performance enabled both his own unit and the unit to his right to continue to their objective. the next morning, as his company resumed the attack, private first class lara sustained a severe leg wound, but did not stop to receive first aid. his company suffered heavy casualties as a result of withering machinegun fire coming from an enemy strongpoint on the right flank. after requesting permission to destroy the enemy machineguns armed only with a browning automatic rifle, private first class lara crawled alone toward the nearest machinegun. despite his painful wound and the extreme danger of the task, he rose and fearlessly charged the nest, killing the crew members. another machinegun opened fire on him, but he quickly neutralized this weapon with accurate fire from his browning, killing three more of the enemy. his aggressive attack forced two other machinegun crews to flee their weapons. after rejoining his company, private first class lara continued his exemplary performance until he captured his objective. private first class lara's extraordinary heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the united states army. [applause] >> patricia kennedy accepting on behalf of her father, private first class william f. leonard. private first class william f. leonard distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a squad leader in company c, 30th infantry regiment, 3d infantry division during combat operations against an armed enemy near st. die, france on november 7, 1944. private first class leonard's platoon was reduced to eight men as a result of blistering artillery, mortar, machinegun, and rifle fire. private first class leonard led the survivors in an assault over a hill covered by trees and shrubs which the enemy continuously swept with automatic weapons fire. ignoring bullets which pierced his pack, private first class leonard killed two snipers at ranges of fifty and seventy-five yards and engaged and destroyed a machinegun nest with grenades, killing its two-man crew. though momentarily stunned by an exploding bazooka shell, private first class leonard relentlessly advanced, ultimately knocking out a second machinegun nest and capturing the roadblock objective. private first class leonard's extraordinary heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the united states army. [applause] >> alice mendoza accepting on behalf of her husband, staff sergeant manuel v. mendoza. staff sergeant manuel v. mendoza distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a platoon sergeant with company b, 350th infantry, 88th infantry division during combat operations against an armed enemy on mt. battaglia, italy on october 4, 1944. that afternoon, the enemy launched a violent counterattack preceded by a heavy mortar barrage. staff sergeant mendoza, already wounded in the arm and leg, grabbed a thompson sub-machinegun and ran to the crest of the hill where he saw approximately 200 enemy troops charging up the slopes employing flame-throwers, machine pistols, rifles, and hand grenades. staff sergeant mendoza immediately began to engage the enemy, firing five clips and killing ten enemy soldiers. after exhausting his ammunition, he picked up a carbine and emptied its magazine at the enemy. by this time, an enemy soldier with a flame-thrower had almost reached the crest, but was quickly eliminated as staff sergeant mendoza drew his pistol and fired. seeing that the enemy force continued to advance, staff sergeant mendoza jumped into a machinegun emplacement that had just been abandoned and opened fire. unable to engage the entire enemy force from his location, he picked up the machinegun and moved forward, firing from his hip and spraying a withering hail of bullets into the oncoming enemy, causing them to break into confusion. he then set the machinegun on the ground and continued to fire until the gun jammed. without hesitating, staff sergeant mendoza began throwing hand grenades at the enemy, causing them to flee. after the enemy had withdrawn, he advanced down the forward slope of the hill, retrieved numerous enemy weapons scattered about the area, captured a wounded enemy soldier, and returned to consolidate friendly positions with all available men. staff sergeant mendoza's gallant stand resulted in thirty german soldiers killed and the successful defense of the hill. staff sergeant mendoza's extraordinary heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the united states army. [applause] >> robert nietzel accepting on behalf of his first cousin, sergeant alfred b. nietzel. sergeant alfred b. nietzel distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a section leader for company h, 16th infantry regiment, 1st infantry division during combat operations against an armed enemy in heistern, germany on november 18, 1944. that afternoon, sergeant nietzel fought tenaciously to repel a vicious enemy attack against his unit. sergeant nietzel employed accurate, intense fire from his machinegun and successfully slowed the hostile advance. however, the overwhelming enemy force continued to press forward. realizing he desperately needed reinforcements, sergeant nietzel ordered the three remaining members of his squad to return to the company command post and secure aid. he immediately turned his attention to covering their movement with his fire. after expending all his machinegun ammunition, sergeant nietzel began firing his rifle into the attacking ranks until he was killed by the explosion of an enemy grenade. sergeant nietzel's extraordinary heroism and selflessness at the cost of his own life, above and beyond the call of duty, are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the united states army. [applause] >> dr. terry schwab accepting on behalf of his father, first lieutenant donald k. schwab. first lieutenant donald k. schwab distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving as the commander of company e, 15th infantry regiment, 3d infantry division, during combat operations against an armed enemy near lure, france on september 17, 1944. that afternoon, as first lieutenant schwab led his company across four hundred yards of exposed ground, an intense, grazing burst of machinegun and machine-pistol fire sprung forth without warning from a fringe of woods directly in front of the american force. first lieutenant schwab quickly extricated his men from the attempted ambush and led them back to a defiladed position. soon after, he was ordered to overwhelm the enemy line. he rapidly organized his men into a skirmish line and, with indomitable courage, again led them forward into the lethal enemy fire. when halted a second time, first lieutenant schwab moved from man to man to supervise collection of the wounded and organize his company's withdrawal. from defilade, he rallied his decimated force for a third charge on the hostile strong point and successfully worked his way to within fifty yards of the germans before ordering his men to hit the dirt. while automatic weapons fire blazed around him, he rushed forward alone, firing his carbine at the german foxholes, aiming for the vital enemy machine-pistol nest which had sparked the german resistance and caused heavy casualties among his men. silhouetted through the mist and rain by enemy flares, he charged to the german emplacement, ripped the half-cover off the hostile firing pit, struck the german gunner on the head with his carbine butt and dragged the german back through a hail of fire to friendly lines. first lieutenant schwab's action so disorganized hostile infantry resistance that the enemy forces withdrew, abandoning their formidable defensive line. first lieutenant schwab's extraordinary heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the united states army. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, it is very rare where we have the opportunity to reflect on the extraordinary courage and patriotism of such a remarkable collection of men. we are so grateful to them. we are so grateful to their families. it makes us proud and it makes us inspired. and so, before we conclude the program, i would ask all those who have witnessed this extraordinary day to please rise and give these latest recipients of the medal of honor your warmest applause. [applause] chaplain, would you give us the benediction? >> let us pray. almighty god, you have surrounded us with his great crowd of witnesses. may we persevere and complete the mission set before us. ,he legacy of courage and honor dignity and devotion in spy or our service and our spirit, that we work for true and lasting peace. amen. >> thank you so much, everybody. this concludes our program. but please have an opportunity to enjoy the white house. we are so grateful that all of you had a chance to come. god bless you. god bless america. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] wednesday, virginia senator tim kaine and harvard professor jack goldsmith discuss the constitutional role of congress and the executive branch in military intervention to combat isis. you can see the evident from the wilson center live at 10:00 eastern on c-span 2. dr. craig spencer, a physician in new york being treated for ebola was released this week from the hospital after being declared ebola-free. wednesday, health and human services secretary sylvia burwell testifies on the government's ongoing response to protect americans from the ebola outbreak in west africa. live at the senate appropriations committee at 2:00 p.m. eastern on c-span 3. takes c-span city store book tv and american history tv on the road, traveling to u.s. cities to learn about their history and literary life. we partnered with charter communications for a visit to madison, wisconsin. >> it is a glorious service. the call comes to every citizen. struggle tonding make and keep government -- importanty the most political figure in wisconsin and one of the most important in the history of the 20th century of the united states. he was a reforming governor. he defined what progressivism is. he was one of the first to use the term. he was a united states senator who was recognized by his peers in the 1950's as one of the five greatest senators in american history. opponent of world war i, stood his ground advocating for free speech. he was about the people. after the civil war, america a nationadically from of small farmers and small producers and small the laterers, and by 1870's, 1880's, 1890's, we had concentrations of wealth, we had growing inequality, and we had concern about the influence of money in government. -- he spent the later part of the 1890's giving speeches all over wisconsin. if you wanted a speaker for your group, bob gave the speech. he went to county fairs, he went to every kind of event you could imagine and built a reputation for himself. 1900, he was ready to run for governor, advocating on behalf of the people. he had two issues, one, the direct primary. no more selecting candidates in convention. ,wo, stop the interests particularly the railroads. onsaturday at noon eastern c-span 2's book tv and sunday afternoon at 2:00 on american history tv on c-span 3. >> next, the medal of honor command sergeant major adkins. he received the medal of honor for his actions while serving as an intelligence sergeant during the vietnam war. specialist slope received the medal of honor posthumously for his actions while serving as a machine gunner in vietnam. this is 25 minutes. ♪ >> ladies, the president of the united states. gentlemen, the president of the united states. ♪ >> let us pray. us of the value of sacrifice. the price paid by soldiers duly honored today. acceptreminded to never defeat, to never quit. he stays alive to his friends by selfishly giving up his own. in deadave men living create our history and our faith, the courage of our soldiers, the strength of our nation. their actions through the fabric of our history. and serve in the jungles the low lands. we who forget what they did, the friends they lost, the families which they left behind, we take to heart the words spoken after battle by a grieving president that it is for us, the living, to be dedicated to the unfinished work which would they who thought -- out of redemption, we ask you to cast these in your holy name. amen. >> please be seated. good afternoon, and welcome to the white house. more than four decades ago, in early 1970, an american squad in vietnam set out on patrol. they marched down a trail, past a rice paddy. shots rang out and splintered the bamboo above their heads. the lead soldier tripped a wire -- a booby trap. a grenade rolled toward the feet of a 20-year-old machine gunner. the pin was pulled, and that grenade would explode at any moment. a few years earlier, on the other side of the country, deep in the jungle, a small group of americans were crouched on top of a small hill. and it was dark, and they were exhausted; the enemy had been pursuing them for days. and now they were surrounded, and the enemy was closing in on all sides. two discrete moments, but today we honor two american soldiers for gallantry above and beyond the call of duty at each of those moments: specialist donald sloat, who stood above that grenade, and command sergeant major bennie adkins, who fought through a ferocious battle and found himself on that jungle hill. nearly half a century after their acts of valor, a grateful nation bestows upon these men the highest military decoration -- the medal of honor. normally, this medal must be awarded within a few years of the action. but sometimes even the most extraordinary stories can get lost in the fog of war or the passage of time. yet when new evidence comes to light, certain actions can be reconsidered for this honor, and it is entirely right and proper that we have done so. and that is why we are here today. so before i go any further, i want to thank everyone present here today whose research and testimonies and persistence over so many years finally resulted in these two men deserving the recognition they so richly deserve. i especially want to welcome members of the medal of honor society, as well as two american families whose love and pride has never wavered. don sloat grew up in the heart of oklahoma in a town called coweta. and he grew big -- to over 6'4". he loved football, and played for a year at a junior college. then he decided to join the army. but when he went to enlist, he didn't pass his physical because of high blood pressure. so he tried again. and again. and again. in all, he took the physical maybe seven times until he passed -- because don sloat was determined to serve his country. in vietnam, don became known as one of the most liked and reliable guys in his company. twice in his first months, his patrol was ambushed; both times, don responded with punishing fire from his machine gun, leaving himself completely vulnerable to the enemy. both times, he was recognized for his bravery. or as don put it in a letter home, "i guess they think [that] i'm really gung-ho or something." [laughter] and then one morning, don and his squad set out on patrol, past that rice paddy, down that trail, when those shots rang out. when the lead soldier's foot tripped that wire and set off the booby trap, the grenade rolled right to don's feet. and at that moment, he could have run. at that moment, he could have ducked for cover. but don did something truly extraordinary -- he reached down and he picked that grenade up. and he turned to throw it, but there were americans in front of him and behind him -- inside the kill zone. so don held on to that grenade, and he pulled it close to his body. and he bent over it. and then, as one of the men said, "all of a sudden there was a boom." the blast threw the lead soldier up against a boulder. men were riddled with shrapnel. four were medevaced out, but everyone else survived. don had absorbed the brunt of the explosion with his body. he saved the lives of those next to him. and today, we're joined by two men who were with him on that patrol: sergeant william hacker and specialist michael mulheim. for decades, don's family only knew that he was killed in action. they'd heard that he had stepped on a landmine. all those years, this gold star family honored the memory of their son and brother, whose name is etched forever on that granite wall not far from here. late in her life, don's mother, evelyn, finally learned the full story of her son's sacrifice. and she made it her mission to have don's actions properly recognized. sadly, nearly three years ago, evelyn passed away. but she always believed -- she knew -- that this day would come. she even bought a special dress to wear to this ceremony. we are honored that don -- and his mom -- are represented here today by don's brother and sisters and their families. on behalf of this american family, i'd ask don's brother, dr. bill sloat, to come forward for the reading of the citation and accept the gratitude of our nation. the president of the united states of america, authorized by act of congress, march 3, 1863, has awarded in the name of congress the medal of honor to specialist four donald p. sloat, united states army. specialist four donald p. sloat distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a machinegunner with company d, 2nd battalion, 1st infantry regiment, 196th light infantry brigade, americal division, during combat operations against an armed enemy in the republic of vietnam on january 17, 1970. on that morning, specialist four sloat's squad was conducting a patrol, serving as a blocking element in support of tanks and armored personnel carriers in the area. as the squad moved up a small hill in file formation, the lead soldier tripped a wire attached to a hand grenade booby trap set up by enemy forces. as the grenade rolled down the hill, specialist four sloat knelt and picked up the grenade. after initially attempting to throw the grenade, specialist four sloat realized that detonation was imminent. he then drew the grenade to his body and shielded his squad members from the blast, saving their lives. specialist four sloat's actions define the ultimate sacrifice of laying down his own life in order to save the lives of his comrades. specialist four donald p. sloat's extraordinary heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, company d, 2nd battalion, 1st infantry regiment, 196th light infantry brigade, americal division and the united states army. [applause] >> at this point, i'd like to ask bennie adkins to come join me on stage. now, let me just say the first thing you need to know is when bennie and i met in the oval office, he asked if he could sign back up. [laughter] his lovely wife was not amused. [laughter] most days, you can find bennie at home down in opelika, alabama, tending his garden or his pontoon boat out on the lake. he's been married to mary for 58 years. he's a proud father of five, grandfather of six; at 80 still going strong. a couple years ago, he came here to the white house with his fellow veterans for a breakfast we had on veterans day. he tells folk he was the only person he knows who has spilled his dessert in the white house. [laughter] and i just have to correct you, that makes two of us. [laughter] i've messed up my tie. i've messed up my pants. but in the spring of 1966, bennie was just 32 years old, on his second tour in vietnam. he and his fellow green berets were at an isolated camp along the ho chi minh trail. a huge north vietnamese force attacked, bombarding bennie and his comrades with mortars and white phosphorus. at a time, it was nearly impossible to move without being wounded or killed. but bennie ran into enemy fire again and again -- to retrieve supplies and ammo; to carry the wounded to safety; to man the mortar pit, holding off wave after wave of enemy assaults. three times, explosions blasted him out of that mortar pit, and three times, he returned. i have to be honest, in a battle and daring escape that lasted four days, bennie performed so many acts of bravery we actually don't have time to talk about all of them. let me just mention three. on the first day, bennie was helping load a wounded american onto a helicopter. a vietnamese soldier jumped onto the helo trying to escape the battle, and aimed his weapon directly at the wounded soldier, ready to shoot. bennie stepped in, shielded his comrade, placing himself directly in the line of fire, helping to save his wounded comrade. at another point in the battle, bennie and a few other soldiers were trapped in the mortar pit, covered in shrapnel and smoking debris. their only exit was blocked by enemy machine gun fire. so bennie thought fast. he dug a hole out of the pit and snuck out the other side. as another american escaped through that hole, he was shot in the leg. an enemy soldier charged him, hoping to capture a live pow and bennie fired, taking out that enemy and pulling his fellow american to safety. by the third day of battle, bennie and a few others had managed to escape into the jungle. he had cuts and wounds all over his body, but he refused to be evacuated. when a rescue helicopter arrived, bennie insisted that others go instead. and so, on the third night, bennie, wounded and bleeding, found himself with his men up on that jungle hill, exhausted and surrounded, with the enemy closing in. and after all they had been through, as if it weren't enough, there was something more -- you can't make this up -- there in the jungle, they heard the growls of a tiger. it turns out that tiger might have been the best thing that happened to bennie in those -- during those days because, he says, "the north vietnamese were more scared of that tiger than they were of us." [laughter] so the enemy fled. bennie and his squad made their escape. and they were rescued, finally, the next morning. in bennie's life, we see the enduring service of our men and women in uniform. he went on to serve a third tour in vietnam, a total of more than two decades in uniform. after he retired, he earned his master's degree -- actually not one, but two. opened up an accounting firm. taught adult education classes. became national commander of the legion of valor veterans organization. so he has earned his retirement, despite what he says. [laughter] he's living outside auburn. and, yes, he is a fan of the auburn tigers, although i did a poll of the family and there are some crimson tide fans here. [laughter] so there's obviously some divisions. but bennie will tell you that he owes everything to the men he served with in vietnam, especially the five who gave their lives in that battle. every member of his unit was killed or wounded. every single one was recognized for their service. today, we're joined by some of the men who served with bennie, including major john bradford, the soldier that bennie shielded in that helicopter, and major wayne murray, the soldier bennie saved from being captured. and i'd ask them and all our vietnam veterans who are here today to please stand or raise your hand and to be recognized. [applause] and now, i'd ask that the citation be read. >> the president of the united states, authorized by act of congress, march 3rd, 1863, has awarded in the name of congress the medal of honor to sergeant first class bennie g. adkins, united states army. sergeant first class bennie g. adkins distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as an intelligence sergeant with detachment a-102, 5th special forces group, 1st special forces, during combat operations against an armed enemy at camp a shau, republic of vietnam, from march 9 to 12, 1966. when the camp was attacked by a large north vietnamese and viet cong force in the early morning hours, sergeant first class adkins rushed through intense enemy fire and manned a mortar position continually adjusting fire for the camp, despite incurring wounds as the mortar pit received several direct hits from enemy mortars. upon learning that several soldiers were wounded near the center of camp, he temporarily turned the mortar over to another soldier, ran through exploding mortar rounds, and dragged several comrades to safety. as the hostile fire subsided, sergeant first class adkins exposed himself to sporadic sniper fire while carrying his wounded comrades to the camp dispensary. when sergeant first class adkins and his group of defenders came under heavy small arms fire from members of the civilian irregular defense group that had defected to fight with the north vietnamese, he maneuvered outside the camp to evacuate a seriously wounded american and draw fire, all the while successfully covering the rescue. when a resupply air drop landed outside of the camp perimeter, sergeant first class adkins, again, moved outside of the camp during the early morning hours of 1966, enemy forces launch their main attack. he was the only man firing a mortar weapon. when all mortar rounds were expended, he began placing effective rifle fire upon and me sessions. additionaleiving rounds exploding on his disposition come he fought off cong.ely attacking viet he had small arms fire's. run the extremely low on ammunition, he returned to the mortar pit and gathered vital ammunition and ran back to the bunker. after being ordered to evacuate the cap, he and a small group of soldiers destroyed all classified documents. they fought their way out of the camp. while caring a wounded soldier to the extraction point, he learned the last helicopter had departed. he led the group elevating the enemy until they were rescued by helicopter at march 12, 1966. during the 38 our battle and 40 hours of escape and evasion, fighting with mortars, rifles, small arms, and hand grenades, it was estimated he had till enemyn 135-175 of the while sustaining 18 different wounds to his body. heroism goesnary above the call of duty and reflect great credit upon and the united states army. [applause] >> over the decades, our vietnam veterans didn't always received the thanks from others. as we have been reminded again vets were vietnam patriots and are patriots. you served with valor, made us proud, and your service is with us for eternity. no matter how long it takes, no matter how many years go by, we will express our attitude for your extraordinary service. watch over you and all those who have sacrificed for our country. may god keep safe those who wear our country's uniform and veterans. may god continue to bless the united states of america. at this point, i asked the chaplain to return to the stage for the benediction. let us continue to pray. as you go forth, do not be afraid. go into the world in peace and courage. find what is good. strengthen the fainthearted. help the suffering. honor all people. let us love and serve to make god's blessing be upon us and remain with us always. amen. >> amen. >> and at this point i would for ae everybody to join reception. i hear the food is pretty good. once again to all of you who serve and your families who serve along with them, the nation is grateful to your commander in chief could not be prouder. thank you. [applause] >> coming up on c-span, president obama speaks at the same date anniversary of the d-day invasion. later, general martin dempsey is a keynote speaker at the uso awards gala. "n the next "washington journal david drucker discusses the congressional lame-duck session and issues before the end of the 113th congress. then women in politics and the effect women had in public office. pharmaceuticals and have industry has helped treat ebo la patients. live at 7n journal" a.m. eastern on c-span. the house and senate returned wednesday at 2 p.m. eastern. the house is scheduled to debate 10 bills, including updating the presidential records act. in the senate, procedural votes on judicial nominations. watch the house live on c-span on the senate on 2. the 2014 midterms are over. just about over anyways. we look ahead to the lame-duck session. we are joined by a correspondent who covers the hill. looking to the lame-duck session, the funding bill will wait until december, you writing that article gives lawmakers just a day or two to debate and vote. they have got a deadline. included?t be -- what will be included? >> that is right. an omnibus spending bill that would fund the government through the rest of the fiscal year which would be to the end of next september. lawmakersng bill that approved in september expired on december 11, which is that week. people will only have just a few the to debate and vote on bill and otherwise, what could happen is lawmakers might choose to expand the continuing resolution that is currently in place for maybe a shorter period of time. soundsort-term extension like they have done that in the past. how much is in this bill? levels they agreed to in a budget the past earlier? what other surprises may we see? >> that is correct. the level that will be the omnibus spending bill would be at the level set by the budget deals that paul ryan and patty murray breach last december. it would be around the 1.014 trillion dollar mark it otherwise, it is hard to know what will be new in the omnibus spending bill. separate house has two requests that are pretty major. one is for the ebola fight and the other is for the fight on isis. lawmakers will obviously have to debate these requests. it is possible they could wind up in the omnibus spending bill. administratione is hoping for. adequate >> republicans who oppose those requests. there arecourse, republicans who could oppose is requested. there is a question of whether the president has the authority to do this. correct? >> he does have the authority to carry out military operations in iraq and syria. seek anthat he will authorization to carry out these operations in the middle east. the problem is a lot of democrats do want this war authorization to happen in a lame duck session since they do have control of the senate. republicans want it to be pushed until next year. i think that might be what winds up happening. republicans might get their way here. i don't think they will be able to get much done besides a spending bill and maybe a few other things. i think something as large -- >> lets over to the senate. ericta lynch replacing holder. interesting the hill and other organizations reporting about a possible delay in the nomination. the democrats are likely to ram through the attorney general pick. why wait leaders delay the consideration of the nomination in way into labor pocket majority takes control of the senate. >> i think democrats are not too concerned. i think the white house put her forward as somewhat of a bipartisan choice. she has been good for him to be u.s. attorney in new york. i don't think they will have two heart of a time getting her through. even john mccain said earlier today that he thinks she will get through a republican senate next year. days tove too many debate in a lame-duck session. what are his potential efforts in terms of repealing obama care? well, he does want to repeal obama care. i wrote a story about a number of conservative groups trying to push mcconnell in the next congress. he has kind of suggested that he could use this budget tool called reconciliation to push it through. however, there are a number of legislative and procedural hurdles he might face. i think what would be much more likely is may be present obama may bee willing to sign a repeal of the medical device tax. something that might get some sort of bipartisan attraction. >> both sides will hold the whole leadership elections next week. what are some races we should keep an eye out for? >> i don't think this would be too controversial. republicans are holding their leadership election on thursday as a democrat and the senate -- i think what we are really looking for is what is happening in the senate is that two sides are going to flip. mcconnell will get the majority here. there are some races that are open that are not too controversial. as far as john boehner, i think he's going to get the speakership again. my be a few tea party republicans that might choose to put their name in the hat. i don't think you have two heart of a time. it seems clear he will be speaker again. >> looks like there are strengthened by the results of the election. thanks for the update. >> thanks. >> here are a few comments we recently received from viewers. >> just called to let you know, q&a."oyed " i turn off my phone and i get my cup of coffee. it is the most enjoyable hour on television. lexi was very informative. i enjoyed listening to him and the comments that were done today. he was very accurate. he was on point. i greatly enjoyed it. likee you have more guests that. he was right on target this morning. >> i'm calling to say that i think like many people c-span is wonderful. as to the criticisms, i almost have none. i think you all do a tremendous job. my hat off to you. thank you very much. >> continued to let us know what you think about the programs that you are watching. e-mail us. send us a tweet. join the c-span conversation, like us on facebook, follow us on twitter. >> june 6 this earmarked to send it anniversary of
have -- the arab spring and it was during the strikes against libya, and the objective was to restore democracy in libya. two years later, it's -- now in libya. it's no man land. and libya is destroyed, as afghanistan, iraq, don't speak about yemen, sudan, and all these conflicts. do you think -- don't you think if you are going to enter military or us to other partners to make war against this so-called islamic state, don't you think that's going to make also jordan and lebanon, maybe iran, and other countries? second question, mr. secretary secretary -- >> quickly. >> the arab public opinions knows that the main reason of instability in the area is because the international community didn't find a solution to the israeli/palestinian conflict, and it's not the israeli/palestinian con. the israeli arab conflict. don't you think if nato, european union, eu member states, exert pressures against israel, so as to accept king abdullah for peace which was accepted by all arab countries, without restrictions, because arabs have nothing to negotiate and to give to israel. don't you think that is going to stop these terrorist, and to have mail -- military, don't you think it's better to invest in the development office these countries? thank you very much. >> two questions. does military action threaten -- destabilize more than stabilize, in libya, and is the solution of the arab israeli conflict necessary. >> the first question is a very good question because you can point to some historical examples that in the wake of a military operation, we have seen unstablity, violence, maybe even failed states. and -- but first let me stress that we have -- or individual allies have received a request from the iraqi government to assist the government, in the fight against this terrorist organization. and i think we have a responsibility to help the iraqi government fight isis, exactly to avoid that iraq would become a new failed state. having said that, i think we have -- there are lessons to be learned from previous military operations. i would not argue against the military operations because in each and every case, i think they were necessary and legitimate. however, i think the international community, as such, should learn from these operations that it is of utmost importance to strengthen efforts after a military operation, to help these societies improve their capability, to establish security and good governance. libya -- after 40 years of dictatorship, the new authorities have to start from scratch, and seeing retrospectively, i think the international community us a such did too little too late to help the new authorities in libya. it's a new nation. the nato operation was a great success. we implemented the u.n. security mandate hundred%. we prevented attacks against the libyan people so we did what we were mandated to do. but when we had finished the military operations, i think, seen red throw specktively, that the international community, led by the u.n., should have done much more, much faster to help the new authorities in lib gentleman, and that's one of the important lessons to be learned, that military operations should go hand in hand with civilian efforts to follow up, to establish or to build a new nation after such a military operation. but i have to say, this goes beyond nato's capabilities. nato is a military alliance so it's for the broader international community to follow up in such cases. of course, i can only agree that a settlement of the israeli/palestinian conflict would solve many problems. absolutely. i fully agree. and without going into too many details, i still think that the long-term sustainable solution is to see true states living side-by-side in peace and harmony, and within secure borders. i still see this as the right formula for a long-term sustainable solution to the israeli/palestinian conflict. >> going to the other side, right here from reuters. >> adrian from reuters. how long it would take an independent scotland to join nato and whether you believe that nato -- that scottish independence would undermine britain's contribution to nato's defenses? >> did you get those? >> yes. probably you know very well that i'm not going to interfere with the referendum campaign in scotland. what i can tell you is the following. if a new independent state wants to become a member of nato, it will have to apply for membership. of nato, and such an application will be addressed in exactly the same way as all applications are dealt with, and eventually it will require consensus, unanimity, within the alliance to accept a new member of our alliance. as this is a hypothetical question, we haven't discussed it at all within our alliance, and i'm not in a position to say anything about timelines. as you know from history, timelines differ significantly when it comes to applicants towards membership of nato and basically it's very much a part of their able to fulfill the necessary criteria. so actually the answer is that i can't say anything about timelines. >> on the issue of whether scottish independence would undermine u ks ability as being one of the leading member offered nato to participate. any concerned about that? >> no. without interfering with the debate leading up to the referendum, i don't see that any outcome of the scottish referendum will have an impact on uk's contribution to nato. >> right there, egyptian television, with the book up. >> hi. i am a reporter for -- one question. when you had this operation in libya, you spoke about three conditions which under this conditions you are going to lead the operation. clear request from the libyan authorities, and i think u.n. mandate. under which conditions you are going to lead this coalition, international coalition in iraq? do you exclude this or it's something for the future? >> just to throw in one from twitter here, saying almost the saying thing. given the kosovo precedent would nato need a u.n. security council backing. >> let me stress we're not considering a nato role or even a leading nato role in this operation. a number of nato allies are forming a coalition that also includes countries from the region. so, to avoid any misunderstanding, let me stress that we are not in a process of engaging nato as such in military strikes against isis. i pointed out that at the summit, we mentioned three possibles of a nato involvement. firstly, defense capacity building in iraq. if requested. secondly, the coordinating role. thirdly, strengthen cooperation on intelligence and information-sharing among allies to counter foreign fighters. so the rest of it is quite hypothetical because we haven't received any request for a nato involvement, but nato allies are involved, and i really welcome that. peter, you added the question about u.n. mandate. when individual allies engauge in this, will they need a u.n. mandate? i'm not a legal expert, so i -- but i see the following. isis commits horrific atrocities, and i would say, witnessing manslaughter, their attacks against religious and ethnic minorities, in my opinion, it's pretty close to genocide. and in my opinion, that gives such a military operation legitimacy within the principles of the u.n. charter. i say this without being a legal expert. and finally, also consider this a kind of self-defense which is also committed within the u.n. charter. so, i would say that, as layman, as a politician, not as a legal expert, as far as i can see, there is a basis in the fundamental u.n. charter principles, to conduct military operations against isis. >> we have five minutes left. let me take two or three for the secretary general. sir, at the front here. just come to the microphone, please. >> host: i work at carn anything gee. my question is, secretary, during your five years, turkey has been involved in afghanistan and in libya, although noncombat mode. turkey is still weighing decision on missile defense, which has been for two years now, and we don't know the answer yet which, of course, very fortunate -- important to nato missile defense. we learned on friday that turkey will not play any role in the military operations against isis. after your five years, what would be your judgment without perhaps going as far as what the -- what the general said on saturday, turkey has talked a long ago being a friend of the west. do you see a problem there in the future? >> let me take another one. i saw a gentleman -- the blue shirt right there. >> i have a question. given the security volatility in eastern europe, can nato resources be applied to the u.an allies? for example, by deploying nato troops to protect strategic infrastructure in the region. for example, the pipeline. thank you. >> lastly, there's a woman right there. >> thank you. my question is that there's some critics, doubts the capacity -- sorry -- the able of nato to use its forces in assault. how do you think about this? also, there's another question. do you have any detailed plan to rescue the hostage in the region? thank you. >> three very different topics for you, turkey, energy security, and the ability to do multiple things at one time. >> guest: first on turkey, i have to say i consider turkey a strong ally, and on a personal basis, i have had an excellent cooperation with the turkish leadership, since i took office as secretary general. and whenever we have needed contributions to nato operations, turkey has actually engaged and contributed to nato operations. now, in the case of iraq, first of all, we're not speaking about a nato operation, but so far a coalition on the willing. furthermore, it may play a role that isis has also taken turkish hostages. i don't know. it's for the turkish government to answer that question, but i have to say, seen from my chair, that turkey has played a crucial role within our alliance, and continues to play a crucial role, and overall, i would also have to say, turkey -- not least because of the radical location, is a very important ally and partner from a strategic point of view. and as regards missile defense, i'm sure that the turkish authorities have listened to concerns raised by fellow allies. next, on energy. first of all, let me stress that nato's core task is territorial defense of our allies. and as regards pipelines, on allied -- on allied territory, of course, it's part of the territorial defense to protect such pipelines and other means of energy supply. but first of all, i think energy security is much more about reducing europe's dependence on imported gas and oil. it has become evident that there's also an overall security aspect of being so dependent on one single supplier -- in this case russia -- and i think -- that's more the european union. i think it's of utmost importance to increase energy security by establishing a well-functioning european energy market with more free flow of energy across borders, so that this single most important supplier cannot blackmail one and single out individual allies, because energy will flow more freely across borders. alternative pipelines, development of alternative energy sources, all this is part of overall energy security, and i think it's for the european union first and foremost to deal with that. finally, can we actually address security challenges from both the east and south at once and the same time? i think that i answered to that question already at the beginning of this q & a, and, yes, we can. we have the capacity to deal with these wide-ranging threats. it was one of the very important outcomes of the nato summit in wales, that we will not become a one dimensional ally. we do have the capability to deal with more or less conventional threats, both to the east and to the south, as well as addressing newer security challenges like cyberattacks, missile attacks. that's why at the summit we decided to enhance our cyberdefense. we continue building our missile defense system. so i can assure you that the alliance stands ready and capable to address both these and the south and cyberspace, if needed. >> let me wrap this onement one last quitter question from a fellow dane. the foreign fairs spokesman for the social democrats. what the most important advice to offer your successor? >> i think actually the most important advice would be to continue reforming, modernizing, our alliance, and continue strengthening our collective defense, so that nato remains capable to address this broad range of security challenges, and then on top of that, he will need some patience to make sure that he is spent the necessary time and efforts to create consensus among 28 independent nations. but for me, it's been a great pleasure. it's been a very positive experience, and while it may take some time to create consensus among 28 nations, once we reach the consensus -- and there is a very strong consensual spirit in our align -- once we take a decision, all 28, then it is a very strong alliance that moves forward. that's been a big pleasure for me to see. >> thank you. join me with one more round of applause. thank you very much, sir. [applause] >> i've been told to encourage everyone after the event to join us for drinks outside, and down, and that wraps up this one. four and final for you here at carnegie. thank you very much. [inaudible question] [inaudible conversations] >> defense secretary chuck haigle and the chairman of the joint chiefs, general martin dempsey, will testify about u.s. strategy to combat the militant group isis. we'll have live coverage from the senate armed services committee on c-span3. and later in the day, a look at the international response to the ebola outbreak in west africa. witnesses include the head thief national institute of allergy and infectious diseases and health workers who treated people infected with the virus. this joint senate health committee hearing is live at 2:30, also on c-span3. >> two soldiers who served in vietnam, one still living and one killed in action, received a medal or honor during a white house ceremony today. that's next on c-span2. >> later, remarks from homeland security secretary jay -- jeh johnson. >> the 2015 student video cam competition is underway. owl of. -- awarded the medal of hon to donald sloat and adkins, who both served in the vietnam war. this is 25 minute. s. ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the ute. ♪ let us play. we pray today to remind us of the value of sacrifice. how hero, the title, is a price paid by soldiers, like the two to be honored today. first remembered by persistence to defend his brothers, to never accept defeat, and to never quit. one who stays alive for his friends by selfishly and respectively giving up his own. these brave men, living and dead, consecrate our history and our faith, courage of our soldiers, significance of our -- sacredness of our values, strength of our nation. today we weave their actions into the fabric of our history as the served in the jungles. we, who are the living, never forget what they did, the friends they lost, the -- -- may we take to heart the words spoken by a grieving president, it is for us, the living, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought have so nobly advanced, god of redemption and grace, we ask you to grant these in holy name, amen. >> amen. >> please be seated. good afternoon and welcome to the white house. more than four decades ago, in early 1970, an american squad in vietnam set out on patrol. they marched down a trail, past a rice paddy. shots rang out and splintered the bamboo above their heads. the lead soldier tripped a wire. a booby trap. a grenade rolled toward the feet of a 20-year-old machine gunner. the pin was pulled. and that grenade would explode at any moment. a few years earlier on the other side of the country, deep in the jungle, a small group of americans were crouched on top of a small hill. and it was dark, and they were exhausted, and the enemy had been pursuing them for days, and now they were surrounded, and the enemy was closing in on all sides. two discreet moments, but today we honor two american soldiers for gallant triabove and beyond the call of duty at each of those moments. specialist donald sloat, who stood above that grenade. and command sergeant major bennie adkins, who fought through a ferocious battle and found himself on that jungle hill. nearly half a century after their acts of valor, a grateful nation bestows upon these men the highest military decoration, the medal of honor. normally this medal must be awarded within a few years of the action, but sometimes even the most extraordinary stories can get lost in fog of war or the passage of time. when new evidence comes to light, certain actions can be reconsidered for this honor and it is entirely right and proper that we have done so and that is why we are here today... then he decided to join the army but when he went to enlist he didn't pass his physical because of high blood pressure said he tried again and again, and again. in all it took a physical maybe seven times until he passed. because don sub i was determined to serve his country. in vietnam became known as one of they liked and most are siebel -- likeable guys in this company. his patrol was ambushed both times. don responded with punishing fire from his machine gun leaving himself completely vulnerable to the enemy. both times he was recognized for his bravery or as don put it in a letter home, i guess they think i'm really gung ho or something. and then one morning don and his squad set out on patrol pass that rice patty down that trail where the shots rang out. when the lead soldiers foot trip that wire and set off the booby-trap, the grenade rolled right to don's feet and in that moment he could have run. at that moment he could have ducked for cover but don did something truly extraordinary. he reached down and he picked that grenade up and he turned to throw it but there were americans in front of him and behind him inside the kill zone. don held onto that grenade and pulled her close to his body and bent over it and then as one of the men said, all of a sudden there was a boom. the blast through the lead soldier up against a boulder. men were riddled with shrapnel. four were medevaced out, but everyone else survived. don had absorbed the brunt of the explosion with his body. he saved the lives of those next to him and today we are joined by two men who were with him on that patrol, sergeant william hacker and specialist michael multi-in. for decades, don's family only knew that he was killed in action. they had heard he had stepped on a landline. all those years as gold star family honor the memory of their son and brother whose name is etched forever on that granite wall not far from here. late in her life dawn's mother evelyn finally learned the full story of her son's sacrifice. and she made it her mission to have dawn's actions properly recognize. sadly nearly three years ago evelyn passed away but she always believed, she knew that this day would come. she even bought a special dress to wear to the assembly. we are honored that don and his mom are represented here today by don's brother, sisters and their families on behalf of this american family i would ask don's brother dr. bill sloat to come forward with a rating of a citation and accept the gratitude of our nation. >> the president of the united states of america authorized by act of congress march 3, 1863 has awarded in the name of congress the medal of honor to special sworn donald p. sloat united states army. specialist donald sloat distinguished himself with acts of gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty serving as a machine gunner with company t second battalion, 1st infantry regiment 196 lightning pair trooper. during combat operations in the republic of vietnam on january 17, 1970. on that morning specialist sloat's squad was performing a patrol and armored personnel carriers in the area. as the squad moved up a small hill information to lead soldier tripped a wire attached to a hand grenade booby-trap set up by enemy forces. as the grenade grenade rolled downhill specialist for sloat nelson picked up the grenade. after initially attempting to throw the grenade specialist for sloat realized that nation was imminent. pete drew the grenade to his body and show with his squad members from the blasts saving their lives. specialist sloat's actions to find the ultimate sacrifice to save the lives of his comrades. donald p. sloat's selflessness above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflects great credit upon himself, company t second battalion. 1st infantry regiment 196 light infantry brigade america division in the united states army. [applause] [applause] [applause] [applause] [applause] >> at this point i would like to ask bennie adkins to come join me on stage. now, let me just say the first thing you need to know is when bennie and i met in the oval office i asked him if he could sign back up. [laughter] his lovely wife was not amused. [laughter] most days you can find bennie at home down at opelika alabama. tending his garden or his pontoon boat out on the lake. he has been married to mary for 58 years. he is the proud father of five, grandfather of six and at 80 still going strong trade a couple of years ago he came here to the white house with his fellow veterans for breakfast we had on veterans day. he told folks he was the only person he knows who spilled his dessert in the white house. [laughter] and i just had to correct him. that makes two of us. [laughter] i have messed up my tie. i had messed up my pants. but in the spring of 1966, bennie was just 32 years old on his second tour in vietnam. he and his fellow greene berets were an isolated camp along the ho chi minh trail. a huge north vietnamese force attacked bombarding bennie and is comrades with mortars and white phosphorus. at a time it was nearly impossible to move without being wounded or killed. but bennie ran into enemy fire again and again, to retrieve supplies and ammo, to carry the wounded to safety, demand a mortar pit, holding off wave after wave of enemy assaults. three times, explosions blasted him out of that mortar pit and three times he returned. i have to be honest, in a battle and daring escape that lasted for four days, bennie performs so many acts of bravery we actually don't have time to talk about all of them. let me just mention three. on the first day, bennie was helping load a wounded american in to a helicopter. vietnamese soldier jumped into the hilo trying to escape the battle and aimed his weapon directly the wounded soldier ready to shoot. bennie shielded his comrade placing himself directly in line of fire helping to save his wounded comrade. at another point in the battle for bennie and a few other soldiers were trapped in a mortar pit, covered in shrapnel and smoking debris. they're only exit was blocked by enemy machine gun fire. so bennie.fast. he dug a hole out of the pit and snuck out the other side. as another american escape through that hole he was shot in the leg. an enemy soldier charged in hoping to capture a live p.o.w. and bennie fired taking out the enemy and pulling his fellow american safety. by the third day of battle, bennie and a few others had managed to escape into the jungle. he had cuts and wounds all over his body but he refused to be evacuated. when a rescue helicopter arrived bennie insisted that others go instead. so on the third night's bennie wounded and bleeding found himself with his men up on that jungle hill exhausted and surrounded with the enemy closing in. and after all they had been through as if that weren't enough, there was something mo more, you can't make this up, they're in the jungle they heard the growls of a tiger. it turns out that tiger might've been the best thing that happened to bennie during those days because he said the north vietnamese were more scared of that tiger than they were a plus. [laughter] said the enemy fled. bennie and his squad made their escape and they were rescued finally the next morning. and danny's life, we see the enduring service of our men and women in uniform. he went on to serve a third tour in vietnam, total of more than two decades in uniform. after he retired he earned his master's degree, actually not one but two, opened up an accounting firm, taught adult education classes, became national commander of the legion of valor veterans organization. so he has earned his retirement, despite what he says. he is living outside auburn and yes he is a fan of the auburn tigers although i did a poll of the family and there are some crimson tide fans here. [laughter] so there's obviously some divisions. but bennie will tell you that he has everything to the men he served with in vietnam, especially the five who gave their lives in that battle. every member of his unit was killed or wounded. every single one was recognized for their service. today we are joined by some of the men who served with bennie including major john bradford the soldier that bennie shielded in that helicopter and major wayne murray, the soldiers, the soldiers thought they deserved -- saved from being captured. and i would ask them in all of our vietnam veterans who are here today to please stand or raise your hand to be recognized. [applause] [applause] [applause] and now i would ask that the citation be read. >> the president of the united states of america authorized by act of congress march 3, 1863 has awarded in the name of congress the medal of honor to sergeant first class danny g. atkins united states army. sergeant first class danny t. adkins dissing bush himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as an intelligence sergeant attachment a 125th special forces group were special forces during combat operations against an armed enemy at camp eshoo republic of vietnam from march the ninth to 12th 1966. when the camp was attacked by a large vietnamese and viacom force in the early morning hours sergeant first class atkins rush through intense enemy fire and manned an order position continually adjusting fire for the camp despite recurring wounds as a mortar pit received hits from enemy mortars. upon learning that several soldiers were wounded near the center of camp be temporarily turned the mortar over to another soldier ran through exploding mortar rounds and drag several comrades to safety. as hostile fire subsided sergeant first class atkins exposed himself to sporadic fire while carrying his wounded comrades to the camp dispensary. but sergeant first class atkins in this group of defenders came under heavy small-arms fire by members of the civilian irregular defense group they have defected to fight with the north vietnamese he maneuvered outside the camp to evacuate a seriously wounded american and draw fire all the while successfully covering the rescue. when a resupply air-drop landed outside of the camp perimeter sergeant first class atkins again moved outside of the camp walls to retrieve the much-needed supplies. during the early morning hours of march 10, 1966 enemy forces launched their main attack and within two hours sergeant first class atkins was the only man firing a mortar weapon. when all mortar rounds were expanded sergeant first class atkins began placing effective require a list of rifle fire upon enemy positions. despite receiving additional ones from enemy rounds exploding on his position sergeant first class atkins bought up intense waves of attacking vietcong. sergeant first class atkins eliminated numerous insurgents with small-arms fire after withdrawing to communications bunker several soldiers. running extremely low on ammunition he returned to the mortar pit gathered vital ammunition and ran through intense fire out of the bunker. after being ordered to evacuate the camp sergeant first class atkins and the small group of soldiers destroyed all signal equipment and classified documents, dug their way out of the rear of the bunker and talk their way out of the camp. while carrying a wounded soldier to the extraction point he learned that the last helicopter had already departed. sergeant first class atkins led the group a with aiding the enemy until they were rescued by helicopter on march 12, 1966. during the 38 hour battle in 48 hours of escape and invasion fighting with mortars and machine guns require less rifle small-arms and hand grenades, it was estimated to sergeant first class atkins had killed between 135 and 175 of the enemy while sustaining 18 different ones to his body. sergeant first class atkins extraordinary heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, detachment and a 125th special forces group for special forces in the united states army. [applause] [applause] [applause] [applause] >> over the decades, our vietnam veterans didn't always receive the thanks and respect they deserved. that's a fact. but as we have been reminded again today, our vietnam vets were patriots and are patriots. you served with valor. you made us proud. and your service is with us for eternity. so no matter how long it takes, no matter how many years go by, we will continue to express our gratitude for your extraordinary service. may god watch over don sloat and all those who have sacrificed for our country. may god keep safe those who wear our country's uniform and veterans like bennie adkins and may god continue to bless the united states of america. at this point i'd ask our chaplain to return to the stage iv the benediction. >> let us continue to pray. as we go forth be not afraid. have peace and courage and honor what is good. return no evil for evil to strengthen the fainthearted support the weak and helpless suffering. we honor all people. let us love and serve and may god's blessing be upon us and remain with us always, amen. >> and at this point, i would welcome everybody to join the sloat family and the atkins family for a reception. i hear the food is pretty good. and once again, to all of you who serve and your families who serve along with them, the nation is grateful. and your commander in chief could not be prouder. thank you very much everybody. [applause] [applause] b i really didn't expect to spend the day watching tv, but i caught the end of the key west program and started checking what was coming and i couldn't turn it off. it was really terrific. i hope it's okay that i recorded it. there is so much information and i like the opportunity to see parts of it again. i don't have a computer but at any rate, it was a wonderful program. thank you so much. >> i watched c-span covers last night at the irs hearings. it was like a three-hour little editorial piece. and i was stunned. i was stunned by the moments that were picked out over all the hours of interviews and committee meetings and investigations and hearings. i was stunned to see out of all the moments that were picked was when the democrats were attacking republicans, accusing them of witch hunting and hatred and bigotry and stupidity, un-american, unpatriotic, whatever. that was three hours of c-span propping up the democrats and protecting barack obama. i always knew you had a bias. i have only been following c-span for a couple of years. i have always known there was a liberal bias. you'd have to be stupid not to see it but last night was absolutely stunning and c-span obviously, obviously through that three-hour debacle that i listened to last night, obviously c-span supports the democrats, the irs, the union and barack obama, no question about it. shame on you. >> i does want to say the programming, especially on the weekends on c-span2 and c-span3, in is everything somebody with some brains could hope for. with all the junk on tv that stuff is fantastic. thank you so much and i also enjoy regular c-span in the mornings. thank you again. you are doing a hell of a job. i hope you continue for years to come. >> now nato allied commander europe general philip breedlove talks about the recent nato summit held in scotland this month in the ongoing situation in ukraine. from atlantic council, this is an hour. [inaudible conversations] >> good morning and welcome everybody. we are delighted to be here at atlantic council. i very much appreciate you being here this morning for this commander series event. to hear from general philip breedlove, commander of u.s. european command and nato supreme allied command europe. in a few minutes he will give us his remarks and join a roster of atlantic council commanders series speakers that includes general martin dempsey, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and general james amos commandant of the u.s. marine corps. the commander series is our long-standing flagship speaker series for senior u.s. and allied military leaders and i want to thank north america for their strong and consistent support for this series. you can follow the series if you are interested including today's event on twitter using the hashtag ac commanders. we have more great speakers lined up in the series later in the year including admiral jonathan greenert, chief of naval operations, general lloyd austin commander of central command and general jim kelly commander of southern command among others. we hope hope that you'll be able to join us for these upcoming events as well. but today we could not be more excited to host general breedlove, the generalist is returned from the nato summit in wales where the alliance charted his pass for the future while also working on how to deal with a brutal price devices, russia's invasion of ukraine and emerging threats around the alliance southern flight. this is indeed a crucial time for nato and i i think the coming period of time will help shape the alliance for many decades to come. finally with the atlantic council we like to consider ourselves the washington home of the dc-based nato community so we are especially pleased that we can host those top military leaders at the council once again. this time for his readout on the summit among other things. we are delighted to have the general and admiral greene who is traveling with him as well as many other members of the delegation. we have some midshipmen from the naval academy to match pitted like to give them an extra special shout out. it's always a pleasure to be in a company of our future leaders. without further ado i would like to turn the day is over to my predecessors general jim jones for additional comments. general. >> thank you governor and good morning everyone. it's an honor to be here to introduce or to help introduce the supreme allied commander of europe. i like to spell out that title because it has a special elegance to it that some people around washington don't appreciate. so good morning and welcome. as i said it's a real honor to be here. i would also like to recognize the 17th supreme allied commander of your comments are the 11th 11th. the 17th is to be introduced. general george allen, pardon me. general, always good to see you and thank you for being here. when the recently completed wales summit was first planned it was originally intended to mark the conclusion of nearly a decade of successful allied operations in afghanistan. the responsibility the alliance assumed many moons ago when i held general breedlove's position. while nato and its isaf partners did have a meaningful discussion on the afghanistan transition the summit will most likely be remembered for nato's response to russia's ongoing destabilization in ukraine and his discussions about the emerging extremist threat on nato's borders in iraq and syria. the crisis in ukraine and the dramatic rise of tensions of moscow have been on welcome developments in all matters pertaining to european security. secretary-general rasmussen has stated that russia's action in and around ukraine propose the most serious threat to european security since the end of the cold war. yet throughout this crisis general breedlove has provided remarkable clarity and decisive leadership of allied military forces in responding to a new strategic challenge. .. across all of europe, north, south, east, and west, buy land, in the air, and on the sea. meanwhile, he and his staff have been hard at work in advance of the summit to develop new measures to strengthen nato's continuous presence and readiness in europe's east and north. measures that were blessed at wales and i'm sure general breedlove will describe to you in more detail. general breedlove has impacted the alliance beyond the ukraine crisis overseeing operations in kosovo, the mediterranean, off the horn of africa and in insuring a peaceful transition in afghanistan. meanwhile, he has worked to strengthen nato partnerships around the globe as part of the alliance of missions of bolstering security. general breedlove assumed the title of commander, u.s. european command and supreme allied commander europe in may. an f-16 pilot by trade with combat experience in the bosnia and cause of a complex, general breedlove has a rich regional experience of senior command positions in asia and europe as well as the u.s. air force. he served most recently as vice chief of the united states air force and commander of u.s. air force of europe before assuming the best job title and the u.s. military, supreme allied commander europe. a great pleasure to have general breedlove at the atlantic council and a pleasure to welcome him back to the council for his public debrief of the nato summit. i would like to turn the microphone over now to mr. mr. jonas hjelm who will continue the introduction. thank you. >> thank you, general jones and governor jon huntsman. it is not easy to come after two such distinguished gentleman. allow me to elaborate a little bit about why saab is sponsoring this. first, i would say it is a pleasure to have general breedlove here today. i am looking forward to what you are going to give us for insight and good things from the summit. saab in the atlantic council have been partners for many, many years now. i think this is a fantastic relationship. the company and the council continue to grow and evolve. i think we, saab, as european, north european company makes business globally but also on both sides of the atlantic equal to the atlantic council. we'd read the transatlantic, soda say the values and cherish them. i think the events we see around the world today, all the tragic events and what is happening, these values are even more important than before. this is the core thing our partnership with the atlantic council. before the general is giving his remarks, let me maybe add on something to general jones describing what the general did before he assumed his -- and i agree, very, very nice title, the supreme allied commander. it is something you could kill for, to have that title one day. i want unfortunately. he was the commander of the u.s. air forces in europe as well as the commander for the u.s. air forces in africa. before that from 2008-'90 commanded the third air force out of ramstein, germany. before going over there the general also served in various positions here in the united states air force. he was the senior military assistant to the secretary of the air force. he also was director for strategic plans and policy, and he also was chief of staff for the united states air force. that was just a part of the very extensive and long, good career that you have had, general. so without further delay, could you please help me welcome the general to take the stage. [applause] >> so first of all, thank-you to the atlantic council for a lot of things, for this opportunity to speak to you but most importantly for all of the work that it has done through the years in helping shape the policies and the positions that take us forward in our relationships across the northern atlantic, and it is about shared values and things that were mentioned. and those of the visions that we continue to hold for the future despite some of the challenges that we see out there today to our naval cadets, this is your worst nightmare as a speaker. you are standing in front of a crowd, literally two-thirds of this crowd are qualified to great my paper. okay? and then secondarily, you stand in front of two of the nation's greatest leaders who have had your job before and know what doing it right looks like, and they are greeting me every day about whether i am doing it right or not, but it is a privilege to be in such an eye test group and a group that has the expertise that this group has about the atlantic alliance. thanks to both of you as you all helped me as i moved into, i agree, one of the greatest jobs in the world. it is right now quite a challenging job and quite 85 let's say there are not enough hours in the day to get to everything we need to do. the ark of instability that we see to ourselves and now instability that we see in eastern europe, a place we just would never have thought about it in the past, these are all challenges that not only in my u.s. european command had gives us a lot of work to do, but certainly for the nato alliance, this is a challenge that comes already in a busy time. he did not have to think hard about a factor we still have a lot of work to do in afghanistan. and giving this -- getting this change of mission under fire from resolute support, this is no small matter. we see issues in our south from the mediterranean, eastern, and northern african area that is clearly still very much on the minds of our southern nato alliance, and so there are a lot of things that need to be addressed. and i will talk a little bit more about that in a minute about our southern area. of course, right now we have just come out of the summit that had a lot of focuses, a lot of place in the air. one of the central place in the air is, how do we address this russia? how do we address a nation that has sort of broken those rules, morals, and is using force to change international boundaries. something that we thought was over with what happened in georgia, and now we see that that is not the case. our mission remains the same in nato, and we embrace that quite frankly at the summit. and we also, at the summit, began to look at, what is it that makes our way forward so important? and it goes back to a shared values. a shared vision for a europe free and at peace. that sometimes brings a little hollow because it is said so many times, but quite frankly that is still a central, guiding position for what we want to see. and i will say something that may be a little bit controversial right now, but i do not think that we can ever arrive at a europe whole, free, and at peace without russia as a partner. and so for the last 12 years we have been trying to make russia a partner. we have been making basing decision, force structure decisions, economic decisions of around the fact that russia would be a constructive part of the future of your. and now we see a very different situation, and we have to address that. what i would like to talk about today -- and i will roll a few grenades out of the table. i would like to talk about some of those very important results from the summit, the readiness action plan, our expectations going into this summit for the readiness action plan or measured. we knew that we needed to make some change. we did not know how much change we could affect. i am happy to report that, quite frankly, we got just about everything we wanted to. now, if we are able to implement the changes that we made in the readiness action plan i think that we can reset this alliance for this new challenge that we see in eastern europe. and quite frankly, the changes that we will make will also give us adaptations that will better position as where some of the problems we see in the south. this is important for our southern nato alliance members, that this is not just about the north and east. it has to be addressing all of our alliance. responsiveness, we have had a magnificent nrf, well engineered across the agency. it did all the things we asked it to do. we evaluated, look at it hard, and it meets every expectation that we set forth in the past. so one of the things that we try to make sure people understand is, we are not disheartened by what the nrf did in the past. it meant exactly what we ask it to meet. now it is inadequate to task for what we see is the future requirement on our nrf forces and capabilities. and that is why the readiness action plan will look at a series of measures that will adapt by the nrf responsiveness, about readiness. readiness is exactly what we asked for. now we ask to tweak their readiness but make major changes to responsiveness. we will talk about that. i am often asked, are you trying to deter or a share? and give a simple answer, yes. we're trying to do both. we needed immediately to ensure our allies when ukraine first kicked off the crimea but certainly when the russian forces came across the borders into eastern ukraine when needed to assure our alliance posture. allow me as an element to use an air force example. fourteen hours from go to show, our aircraft left, landed in estonia, and were flying gaps 14 hours from go to show. this is assurance. this is nato power cannot just air power assuring our allies that we are there and we can be their rapidly if required. we brought assurance to those nations. now, of course, as you know, we were tasked to build, as the general mentioned, a series of measures that our air, land, and see, north, center, and south. the alliance did a magnificent job of doing that. the air element immediately. the land and naval elements took a little bit more time, but they were very quick and very visible and very assuring to our nation's. i think that we head, in sports terms, a 448 -- for logger 40-yard home run with assuring quickly our nato allies. to weedy terror? i will allow you to enter that debate. if you want to talk about it in a q&a at think it's a good question. clearly when mr. panetta and now looks across the borders of these three northern nations he sees a nato alliance represented by nato forces that i they're exercising, preparing all of the things that we need to do should we ever have to take action in those areas. some who credible plot persistent, pleasant -- presence with capability that is visible not only to the nation we wish to assure but any aggressor we wish to deter. so we looked at nato and ask ourselves, as we see this new situation where you have a nation that will assemble a large force of the border completely equipped ephors, all of the elements of enablers that make it credible, bring forth operation and in some cases strategic resupply for that force all in the name of an exercise. and it goes across an internationally respected border and an ax is par for surf portion of a sovereign nation. so how do we react to that? how do we react to the possibility of us an area in the future? we looked at what a simple fighter pilot calls the three latest tool. it lays out like this. why would i call it a three legged stool? it is to make a point that if you take any leg aware of what happens? it falls over. these are interrelated, interconnected requirements. the first like his we need to change the responsiveness of the nrf. like we talked about before, the nrf does what we ask you to do now to what but what we asked to do is inadequate to tasks to the new threat we see to the scenario i describe of this nation not respecting borders and changing borders by force. the first element is that some portion of the nrf will become much more rapidly available for use. how much? that is a discussion that we will work on. we have put forward ideas of 48 hours and five days for some of that force. now we will begin to look at the details of will that work. i now have another sports analogy. i talk about the goal posts. whatever we do with this force would have to go through the goal posts of be affordable and sustainable. if is not affordable and sustainable, it is not credible for the long run. this has to be something that remains with us. the first leg was changing the responsiveness of a portion of the nrf, and i will be happy to talk about the particulars if you want later. meanwhile the second piece is again it sounds a tiny bit irresponsible, but remember for 12 years i have been treating russia as a partner. on a day-to-day basis we don't have any what i would call operation or tactical level headquarters in natal but is thinking about article five, corrective defense, the ability to defend an ally and he's clearly in my headquarters we talked about it and think about it. we are not an operational or tactical level. we need a headquarters element of ability, i think, at the core level that will be focused every day 365 days of the year 24 hours a day on collective defense article five responsibilities for the alliance. this is primarily, of course , and at the north vietnamese, and i will talk about the rest in a minute. this second leg of this three-legged stool is a headquarters that feels responsible to the alliance for article five collective defense all day every day. that is the mission. that will be the primary mission. that will be the second part command-and-control capability ought to be with collective defense article five. the third piece is the harder, more controversial piece and the one we hear talk about in the paper so much. some forward presence in these nations that does multiple missions. in peacetime, forward presence appears the battlefield, which at where we can expect forces, works on those infrastructure requirements and allow us to rapidly receive forces, put them a field to fight, if required. stated day exercises with the local nation to bring of those processes which makes nato much quicker to react if required. works to prepossession materials, works to establish local understandings that would allow a nato force if it had to rapidly respond to quickly come to mission. and then in that worst case scenario where we needed it this headquarters would be the backbone on which rapidly reacting forces from the new nrf structure would fall in on too rapidly constitute combat power and the forward area, if required. how do we define this forward presence? how do we define its mission, its role? how do we finance the requirements of forward positioning equipment? these are all the details. if you think about this three-legged stool i talked about, rapidly available nrf, command-and-control structure that is as be andretti, if required and a receding force that on day-to-day is exercising, preparing, setting the stage for a rapid acceptance of combat power that comes from that newly structured nrf if required. these are the three legs. these are the details that we will begin to work out. we have written a paper to lay out. these concrete pieces. the three legs require each other. can we do it without this or that? the answer is sure. it may not work. i think it requires all three. >> again, very encouraged by what happened. very encouraged by the solidarity that i saw in the alliance. i would hate to over characterize. i don't want to sound too positive. the feeling that we can get. the nation truly embraced the change. now the details to it the goalpost. i think that is the end of my prepared remarks. now we will enter into the more fun part of today's conversation. i will ask for help in choosing who will get to grill me first. [applause] >> in this spirit i am happy to stand as well. >> that's terrific. we will see how well we constructed. first of all, i really want to thank you for taking this time. we have all been impressed by your voice in this crisis , this moment of history, and the clarity of your op-ed in the wall street journal. it was brilliant. the one thing the three-legged stool did not address his what does nato do, what is the alliance to toward what one would call gray areas? let me ask this in two parts. give us our assessment of what the situation is on the ground at the moment in ukraine. what are you seeing during the cease-fire? and then if you could take it a little bit beyond ukraine to the general question of are we trying is in europe or can we avoid that? >> so many of you have served with me. i see more and more faces in the crowd of people i have worked for or with in my life. i would hope that those who have served with me would be quick to say that general breedlove is almost always an optimist because i am. i am well over a glass half full on all manner of things about nato, the progress that we made and wales, the solidarity are see in our alliance, absolutely rock steady commitment. some things are just incredibly, i think, positive. i would tell you that along that vein, i am a glass less than half full on what is happening in the ukraine. rather than get into a long discussion of what we all understand russia's actions have been in the east, they have now for a series of days been reducing their force presence. they have left behind some very capable and very tailored force in the east that allows them to bring continued pressure on president poroshenko and the leaders of ukraine. and with that pressure allows them to do is completely shape what i think is sort of the geostrategic context of ukraine for the future. i think that the cease-fire, while it has done many good things like stop the loss of life, what it also is doing is allowing a situation in eastern ukraine that could easily slip into another conflict. that worries me greatly. i think our will stop there. as far as these gray areas, we, as i said before, of a great commitment and a rock-solid commitment to our nato allies and what that means. clearly there are other nations in europe that are not made allies. i think the western world needs to come to grips with what is it that is going to happen in these states that are outside the alliance and between the alliance and russia and hell are we going to -- what are the expectations of the nation's four how nations will conduct themselves in these states in the future. i think this is work that i would ask the atlantic council and others to begin to ponder, the approach to these nations that are not in the alliance and may come under great pressure in the future by those who would try to exploit. >> let me just ask another question. welcome. talk to us a little bit about what you're seeing and what your watching on the ground in ukraine. what is the russian military strategy? what elements are involved? people talk about hybrid warfare. from the standpoint of your position, what exactly is that? >> so we have seen will we have all started turning as hybrid warfare in the early stages of what has happened in eastern ukraine. we watched this play out in crimea and then the hybrid warfare became more overt. they have essentially in next that portion of ukraine and we saw almost the same script play out in eastern ukraine. the little green men, the denial forces, the deniable presents and how the presence was shaping the support to the russian -- are call them russian-backed sforzas. some call them pro-russian forces in eastern ukraine. and what we saw was the ukraine was actually able to a symbol of military force and begin to reshape the ground. when the ukrainian forces brought great pressure on those forward russian-backed forces, now we are on the horns. can the russian federation see defeat in eastern ukraine? can they see their force is being cut off by the ukrainian forces who are having success? i talked. a hard-fought battle with great impact for all on the ground, both sides. but there were successors in ukraine command what we clearly saw is that they are not acceptable for moscow. the russian forces went from hybrid warfare, and discriminant little green man to overt action by three armored russian columns along the maps and along the coast. those forces turn the tide. reestablished wide-open support lines of that pressure could for resupply. that great pressure, those two ports that are so key to the ukraine fiscal ability to move forward. that is where we see ourselves now. i think that the lines of support are now wide-open, and i think that in this cease-fire the lines of supply will run at full tilt we see now some of the russian force that is bringing great pressure. you can look at that in two ways. it is either a coercive force to say, meet our terms in these negotiations are else. or it is a force that is well-suited for taking that course if required. that is kind of where we find ourselves now. >> thank you. we will have a ukrainian president poroshenko here on thursday after his joint session of congress. it will be interesting to hear his views. final question from me, your three-legged stool, thought it was a good image. i will not deal with the rapid reaction forces, command-and-control part of it. you did mention that the forward presence is most controversial. what is required for a credible forward presence? and then what triggers the forward presence? are the green man. >> that me we characterize your question a little bit because i do not think that the forward presence needs to be triggered. i think that we need it right now. >> badly put. >> we describe this as persistent presence, and it will be a persistent presence enables by rotational forces. how long those rotations are will be decided by much more smart men and women who do that kind of planning and look at duration verses understanding the mission verses other pieces, but i believe we need a persistent presence rotational enabled by significant duration so that we are not relearning something every three months . so this forward presence as, i think, in peacetime, as i have described, has lots of duties. first of all, exercise with the host nation to bring everybody stability of and everybody's interoperability up. secondly, establish a watchman, an area where if needed we could rapidly bring force forward. today we can relatively rapidly take forces into nations like this, but when they land they have to figure out supply, lodging, forward position, fighting material. now we will have a force for word in these areas on a day-to-day basis doing all that preparatory works such that they are available then to rapidly receive this new portion of the nrf to build to combat capability so there will be some command-and-control. we need to rotate through some of the enablers so that each can be able to work with the host nation to understand the challenges and the things that need to be done. we need fire supporters working with the host nation on a rotational basis to understand how you would use fires to support business in that area. we need communicator's occasionally to establish and workout lines of communication. we need logistics' people saying, this is how we resupply, move forward command these are the things that we need to possibly put in pre positioning so that it is available and we do not have to transport it when they come forward. so all hosts of the enablers need to be a part of that rotation so that we can work the squeaky wheel and get it all ready to go if we have to. and then sitting in there in that command and control capability with some force is attached if the worst happens ready to rapidly proceed. when of the commander, who to land and plug into, the ammunition kid. rapidly and fight it. or looking at that model right now now that we have the agreement for the requirement of it. >> article five is harder. it can be as cyber attack potentially. it is not likely to be a russian market tank. can't you look at all of that? >> a broad series of questions first of all, cyber, what constitutes an article five. and that we, frankly, have not been addressing. after the world summit we agree that there is work to do about what cyber means in this context. on the flip side to the little green men, we have clearly now seen the script play out in crimea. we have seen this could play out in eastern ukraine. we are beginning to see some of the script in moldova. so we are beginning to understand this whole track of how this hybrid war will be brought to bear. and so what we now have to do is look at those forces in our border nations where there are substantial russian populations and now we better prepare those nations to survive the initial onslaught of this hybrid war. i think what we all understand is that this hybrid war, if it kicks off, and it is attributable this is not a nato issue. it is an internal nation issue, and emmeline problem. now we better prepare our allies to characterize, understand, and survive the initial onslaught of the little green men scenario. clearly also we have great acceptance among the nato allies that if you attribute this little green man issue to an aggressor nation it is an article five action. all of the assets of nato come to bear. those are the lines of thought. >> very interesting. >> identify yourself. >> good to see you again. george nicholson, consultants. you talk about enablers. one large initiative was the establishment of nato special operations command. >> which is a huge success. >> well, one of the things that was tried but has been pushed back, he wanted to duplicate that capability for general kelly in south,. can you talk to how effective you think that is? >> it has been absolutely amazing. quite frankly, what you have seen out of the special operations unit of multiple missions in afghanistan is a result of this exact effort. the sharing of tactics, techniques, procedures, but everyone to a standard, working on interoperability of forces together as they worked in afghanistan. it is a huge success and a great force multiplier and will be a big part, i think, of helping nations understand how to handle themselves when they're under the onslaught of this little green man scenario up until it is attributed. and it is a different issue. >> thank you. >> thank you, general. i am francisco you were very discreet. i would like you to talk about turkey in the context of how they are actively working against western policy by supporting isil. the information has become public. thank you. >> here is what our would like to say about turkey. we need to remember that turkey is an important ally. right now than air and a pretty tough place. a border to the south, which is, as you know, quite exciting. now they have a neighbor to the north who we used to think was a partner who has put in place in crimea the ability through coastal defense cruise missiles and surface-to-air missiles to pretty much dominate the black sea. pretty hard on their ability to exude influence. so our ally, turkey, is caught between a rock and hard place. and so i think we need to understand the context in that way. the good news is that our alliance has responded, as you know. we are now actively involved in the air defense to the south end of felton to understand what is going on along the border in the intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance way. i am going to disappoint you because i am not trying to address the political piece of this. i think that is for others. as a military man, what i think we need to focus on is we have a member of our alliance that we have shown our support for and asked them to support us and actions we think are important. and that is a conversation that is, i think, just beginning. >> thank you, general. congratulations on a good cop and the washington post. >> general, in ukraine what you said about forward deployments case, what we're doing for allies, is that feasible to do for your great? -- for ukraine. a deterrent matter to try to at least held the russian advance where it is. it shall -- make sure they at least have to undertake an action that is probably bigger than they would feel prudent for them to do in order to move beyond where they are. >> let me broaden the question again. i think that a line of logic you just used is exactly what i think the western world and to some degree our nation needs to look and. now, there are nations outside of nato and not russia, literally in some cases between us. how does the western world approached those nations? and what are the expectations of all neighbors east and west as to whether their actions should be in the nation's? what are accepted international norms? i think this is first principle conversation. then you can begin to look at what you talk about. those assurances that we could give these nations. we would be an interesting personal pronoun in that sentence. is it nato, a coalition, bilateral? all of those things would have to be addressed. right now there is no nato policy on what to do in those nations that find themselves outside of the alliance and not in the russian federation. services, i think, a place where credit brinkley i would ask the atlantic council to help cover conversation along these lines. how do we approach these conundrums. >> thank you very much right in front. you first. >> peter sharp and. would you anticipate in the future exercises in which the elements of the nrf or other elements moved to practice reinforcement in the form of -- >> yes. >> i am being flipped by that one word answer. now let me elaborate. i don't think we in our nation have some of the most amazing rapid reaction forces out there. i think you would agree. the elements of the 802nd airborne and others who are on these short strings are truly incredible forces. you do not have that force if you do not exercise that force irregularly and sometimes off schedule. you really don't know if you have a 48 hour force until you ask it to respond insider 48 hours. so part of the original conversation that we had with the leaders of the summit is that this would be an expectation that we would exercise elements of these forces and speed in order to ensure we have it. the short answer is yes. >> thank you. the nato summit in istanbul, the last summit was about enlargement, what do you think about countries such as macedonia, an enlargement in the summer situation such as georgia and ukraine. >> i think obviously this is a good question to ask a military leader verses a political leader. how do you look at the whole issue? >> what our nations have a firm is at the door is still open. no one moved through the door, but several have their programs of engagement and prove and most notably ukraine and others have their programs of engagement improve. georgia clearly as well. i think that there are lots of things that nations need to do to come across the barrier into nato. what i would do is reserve now to make remarks toward the military pieces of those because those are the things i understand the most. clearly some of the nation's like georgia have done an extremely good job at becoming interoperable with nato and deploying with nato georgia has deployed in a very constant and high-level its forces and support in afghanistan and other places. and so what i see is the nation's continued to move toward their goal or have already probably in some cases that the military expectation that we have for their entry into nato. now some of the more political issues of being worked out by the political leaders. >> thank you, general breedlove. there are so many questions. i can only take two more. this young man year. two rows back please. those will have to be the last two. one after another. >> i was wondering, how are you keeping the administration's eye on russia with everything happening right now? secondly, with the european reassurance initiative to when you know, if appropriate how would you like to see that money spent? >> this last question. [inaudible question] >> i just wanted to ask, and provocative signal to putin. >> i apologize to all of those i was unable to get to. >> let me go back to the first. it would be a gross misstatement that ever keep our government focused on anything. clearly we have all lot of challenges out there. isil, isis, whatever we call these guys is an incredibly tough problem and clearly deserves a lot of focus. i think of we still have a government that completely understands that we have got to address what russia is doing in eastern europe, and we are working through those issues, an active debate inside of the bill way about how to address. i think that sometimes what we see in the headlines seems to tell us that we are maybe focused on one thing at the expense of another. i don't think that is the case. a think our government is completely focused on both of these issues. i see the ongoing work of out to address this and am able to make my input. remind me attorney but the second part of your question. okay. eri. a great in my opinion, it offers us a tool to begin to do all of those things don't need to do to address the three latest will. we will need u.s. forces to be a part of that small rapid reacting part of the nrf. certainly we will not be all of it and have already had several other capable nations stepped up to be a part of that small force. we will need to make investment in training and capability to make sure that we are well set to be a part and to lead and be a big part of that rapid reacting peace. the third piece, our presence forward, in some cases i believe it will help us to be a part of conditioning lodgment setting forward with other nato allies those prepossession materials that we think that we needed some of these areas, and it will allow us to enable that. so i have great hopes to be an enabler of exactly what we need to do for that third leg of the stool. i see that very well. back to the actions ours. this has been on the books for years, and it is one that we do every year. we are continuing exercise today. it is a little over a thousand people, 14 nations. the u.s. part is just under 200 people. it is about a police operation, about bringing nations together to be able to interact and interrelate. it is being conducted so far west of ukraine it is almost in poland about 22 kilometers from the polish border and 1200 callers to been asked. so the exercise is going forward. no, i do not think it is provocative. his bid on the books. we have been talking about it forever. the continued to move forward and show engagement with the government trying to build a positive way forward. i think this can be a big part of the positive way forward. >> general breedlove, i think our speak on behalf of everyone here. i want to thank governor jon huntsman and jonas hjelm. always welcome to have to supreme allied commanders in the audience. never shy to give me feedback. >> i was waiting for the question to come. i am sure that there would all, as i do, not only saloon what you have done today us salute your courageous lead. thank you very much. >> thank you. [applause] >> the chairman of the joint chiefs will testify about u.s. strategy to combat the militant group isis. live coverage from the senate armed services committee. that is on c-span three. later in the day i look at the international response to the ebola outbreak in west africa. witnesses include the head of the national institute of allergy and infectious diseases and health workers to treat people infected with the virus. this joint senate health committee hearing is live at 2:30 p.m. >> up next on c-span2 remarks from a homeland security secretary jeh johnson and nato secretary-general talks about the potential for the militant group isis to expand. later a white house medal of honor ceremony. >> the three branches in new . cash prizes were students and teachers totaling $100,000. >> the head of the homeland security department jeh johnson spoke about national security last week. secretary johnson said the u.s. is reviewing systems used to screen airplane passengers with western passports before the board flights to the u.s. he spoke of the council on foreign relations in new york. >> thank you very much. i am pleased to be here. i see a lot of really good friends out there, friends and neighbors naturally. and stephen schlesinger. we have known each other for 30 years or so because we were next door neighbors to 24 riverside drive. anyway, it is great to be here with such good friends. richard, thank you for inviting me. i am here to speak to you today about the important subject of homeland security supported by my friend and colleague, the late ted sorensen, i became a member of the council on foreign relations in july 2001. as soon as i joinder learned by attendance of meetings that this was a terrific organization for the receipt of information and the bipartisan exchange of ideas concerning america's foreign-policy and national-security. i am sorry that in recent years i have not been able to visit these much. i have been busy in washington. a little more than two months after i joined the council on foreign relations in july 2001 by 44th birthday. i remember that part state far more vividly than any other before or since. it changed my life. it was a tuesday. the weather was beautiful, temperature in the 60's or 70's, no humidity, not a cloud the sky and he did was a perfect weather day. i decided to drive to work that day to midtown manhattan. i looked forward to coming home that evening and celebrate my birthday with my wife and her two children all of that changed at age 46:00 a.m. in an instant that beautiful day turned into one of the single darkest days in american history. like millions of others, there are images and moments i remember about that day that will never fade with time. the image of black smoke billowing out of the towers of the world trade center against the backdrop of a crystal clear blue sky is one burned into my memory. with the south tower collapsed at 9:59 a.m. it was the one moment in my life when i really could not believe my own-. i kept thinking that building which had been a fixture on the manhattan skyline for almost 30 years was going to emerge from the cloud of dust. i remember thinking by the time i got to my car later that day and drove across the george washington bridge manhattan island had suddenly been transformed into a war zone. out of that tragic day the department of homeland security was formed. my personal commitment to the mission of homeland security was born. today vhs is the third largest department of our government with 240,000 employees, 22 components, and a total budget authority of about $60 billion. the department has a broad and diverse set of missions. it is responsible for, among other things, counter-terrorism, the a ministration and enforcement of our immigration laws, cyber security, aviation security, maritime security, border security, the security of land and sea ports, protection against nuclear, chemical, biological threats to the homeland, protection of our national leaders, protection of our critical infrastructure, training of federal law enforcement personnel, coordinating the federal bear in response to natural disasters and emergency preparedness for state and local authority. the 22 agencies or components that make up vhs include u.s. customs and border protection which by itself is the largest federal law enforcement agency. u.s. immigration and customs enforcement, u.s. citizenship and immigration services, coast guard, tsa, fema, secret service. counter-terrorism must and will remain the cornerstone of the department of homeland security mission. during my four years as general counsel of the defense department guy was pleased to be a witness to many of our governments counter-terrorism successes, many of the leaders of al qaeda from 2001 are now better captured. in september 2011 -- september 11th 2001 was my first it -- for stay as an american. may 1st 2011, their intelligence committee and special operations forces was my best day as a public servants. about 13 years after 9/11 it is still a dangerous world. there is still a terrorist threat to our homeland. today the terrorist threat is different from what it was in 2001. it is more decentralized and complex. not only is there a core al qaeda in afghanistan and pakistan, there is al qaeda in the arabian peninsula which is still active in its efforts to attack the homeland. al qaeda and the islamic marker, how sure bob, our minister front in syria, the newest affiliate, al qaeda in the indian subcontinent. there are groups which are not official affiliate's have al qaeda put share its extremist ideology. the islamic state of iraq and the live on or isil previously known as al qaeda in iraq is now vying to be the preeminent terrorist organization on the world stage. at present we have no credible information that isil is planning to attack the homeland of the united states. that is not by any means the end of the story. isil is an extremely dangerous organization. as the elements of those to -- both a terrorist organization and an insurgent army. it kills innocent civilians and has seized large amounts of territory in iraq and syria which it can utilize for safe haven, training, command-and-control and from which it can launch attack. it engages in 30 to 40 attacks per month, has an estimated 10,000 fighters and takes in as much as a million dollars a day from illicit or else map -- oil sales, smuggling, and ransom payments. it's public messaging and social media is as slick and effective as any ever seen from a terrorist organization. rap
[inaudible] >> a chance of success we must be prepared to back up diplomatic soft power with military hard power when necessary. we must not only develop the capabilities we need, we must also demonstrate the political will to use them when required. so i welcome the important efforts by the united states and other allies and partners to act against the so-called islamic state. we have seen again and again that crisis breeds crisis. force is still effective. and if we fail to defend freedom and democracy oppression will seize their opportunity. we have seen again and again that appeasement does not lead to peace. it just incites tyrants. any failure to counter oppression will only invite further oppression. that is the lesson of the 20th century, a lesson we must never forget. remains the last resort,t be able to resort to it when we need to, not to wait for but to build peace. ladies and gentlemen, i am very proud to have served this unique alliance. nato is the only permanent framework where 28 democracies of north america and europe consults, decide and act every day to ensure our collective security. after 20 years of challenging operations, we have the most capable and connected forces in the history. and we are at the center of a wide network of security partnerships with countries and organizations across the globe. this is a challenging time. a time when our values and our will are being tested. we must rise to the challenge, resist the pressures to retren retrench, and remain resolute. over the past year we have seen why we need nato. the question is no longer why nato. the question now is about more nato. our wales summit has set out a clear course. we need to pursue that course urgently, to reinforce the rules-based international order and remain united today and in the years to come. we must preserve our freedom, protect our people and promote our values. thank you. [applause] >> thank you very much mr. secretary-general and i thank john for inviting me to share the stage with you. it's been a great pleasure working with you in the past five years. sadly we are losing you that we have new skin in the game and hopefully he will be as open open and oppressive to have been. let me start with current and recent events. he said in your earlier remarks the threat posed by the islamic state demands military response. there are some who have argued recently that we are in the west reacting precipitously because of images of americans and british people killed. i wonder if you could address and perhaps as a follow-on to that the same people argue that perhaps faces is not a threat to our homeland where is the major strategic -- russia and ukraine risk becoming stranded by her focus on vices. can you address those issues? thank you. >> first, i think it's fair to say that the rise of isis because i don't want to call it the islamic state because it's not a state, the rise of this terrorist organization has become obvious during the last months i would say. i think this is the reason why the international community takes action now. of course the despicable acts, the murder not only of sunni westerners but actually thousands of people in iraq and syria add to this picture. and i think all this has provoked the international efforts to establish a coaliti coalition. and i also think it's important to build a coalition that includes regional powers within countries. and it takes some time. so i think that explains why it is now that we take action. the next question, all the efforts against isis detract attention from what is happening in the middle east? definitely not. we are able to handle the broad range of security challenges whether they are seeing to the east or to the south. that is actually one of the very important conclusions of the whales summit that nato will not become a one-dimensional alliance. we will keep our ability to address the broad range of security challenges. we will not lose sight of what is going on in this. >> will you follow up on the issue whether isis presents a threat to nato? he said rather definitively that and again one of the things you cited was the foreign fighter issues where european americans are going to the region fighting and coming back. is that the greatest threat this poses to our stability both in europe and the u.s.? >> of course the issue of foreign fighters returning to our countries is a very direct threat and we have to address that. we decided at the whales summit that they would strengthen our cooperation on intelligence and information-sharing to counter that threat. but obviously increasing instability will also have an impact on the overall euro atlantic security. this is the reason why nato allies take action and try to create an international coalition to counter isis. >> both nato and carnegie submitted questions via twitter and i will pick a couple that are wrote to her conversation. first i wanted to touch on from a gentleman named tom steinocher is a senior research -- and it does to this issue. what is nato's role in anti-isis coalition? thus far nato as an institution he argues the state on the sidelines. why is that ann is that accurate? has this been a coalition of the willing rather than a nato-led coalition why so? >> first of all actually this goes beyond nato. i think it's of utmost importance to establish a coalition that also includes countries from the region. so this goes actually beyond nato. secondly, we haven't received any requests for nato involvement. however at the whales summit we decided three strands of activities that could be relevant for nato and strands that are relevant for nato. firstly we declare that if we receive a request from the new iraqi government we stand ready to consider defense capacity building which for instance could be to resume our training activities in iraq. we had a training mission in iraq in 2011. we could exchange of activities if the iraqi government request though. secondly dado can contribute to coordinating individual allies efforts in iraq and certainly as you mentioned we will strengthen intelligence cooperation to counter the threat of foreign fighters returning. >> to push push him point to one thing that nato does bring to the table that many organizations organizations can't is this command-and-control capability with allies. is that something that potentially down the road as the alliance comes together could play a role in terms of being the backbone for that command-and-control operation? >> at this stage i won't exclude anything because they think the international community has a responsibility to degrade and defeat isis. that poses a threat not only to iraq and to the region that poses a global threat. but as i mentioned so far we haven't received any requests for nato involvement. in 2011 you saw that the military operation against libya started as a coalition unwilling but it eventually became a nato operation including the. >> i will abuse my chairmanship for one more question and turned to the audience for q&a and give further questions as we continue. you mentioned in regard to isis the appeasement does not lead to peace. i want to turn out slightly on its head and use that speech, that line and ask you about russia. what we have seen over the last week is on friday day suspension or delay on elements in the e.u.-russia or china trade deal to the end of 2015. we saw the e.u. foreign ministers are talking about suspending or lifting sanctions. are we suddenly now willing to accept something of a conflict in the basque against the russian threat inside the ring? >> we should never accept a new frozen conflict in eastern europe and of course we should do all we can to encourage a peaceful solution to this conflict but actually my concern is it's in russia's interest to establish a new protected frozen conflict in the region. actually i think the long-term ambition of freshness to reestablish russian influence in the neighborhood and prevent countries, neighboring countries, prevent them from seeking integration with nato and e.u.. at that and that is within russia's interest to keep these frozen protracted conflicts in moldova and georgia now crimea and eastern ukraine and ukraine. so we should never accept that. >> just to push a slightly on this you have used stark language in your address the threat posed by russia and the violation they have done to any number of agreements. an almost equally stark language for isis you advocate military involvement and for russia by last year in interviews in person but also press conferences whether you advocate military systems and heaven only -- heavy weaponry and you have have to first lay on that. why are you advocating military prevention for isis but not help for ukraine militarily win in your rhetoric you seem to present an equal threat to our way of life. >> firstly, while it's clear that russia has violated all its international commitments and has conducted illegal military actions in ukraine, i don't think russia poses an imminent threat to nato allies for the very reason that russia knows that we have a nato treaty that protects any ally against atta attack, and an attack on one of being attacked on the whole. that's why i don't think russia poses an imminent threat to nato allies. however, to keep our deterrence credible, we have taken steps as you know to reinforce our collective defense and for ukraine, we do believe that the right way forward is it a political solution and while it's clear that russia has violated international norms and rules, i still think russia would be capable to negotiate if they decide to do so. .. mr. secretary general, i am -- my origins are from palestine, jordan. mr. secretary general, two years ago we were invited by europe to speak about nato and arab spring, and you said that you have -- the arab spring and it was during the strikes against libya, and the objective was to restore democracy in libya. two years later, it's -- now in libya. it's no man land. and libya is destroyed, as afghanistan, iraq, don't speak about yemen, sudan, and all these conflicts. do you think -- don't you think if you are going to enter military or us to other partners to make war against this so-called islamic state, don't you think that's going to make also jordan and lebanon, maybe iran, and other countries? second question, mr. secretary secretary -- >> quickly. >> the arab public opinions knows that the main reason of instability in the area is because the international community didn't find a solution to the israeli/palestinian conflict, and it's not the israeli/palestinian con. the israeli arab conflict. don't you think if nato, european union, eu member states, exert pressures against israel, so as to accept king abdullah for peace which was accepted by all arab countries, without restrictions, because arabs have nothing to negotiate and to give to israel. don't you think that is going to stop these terrorist, and to have mail -- military, don't you think it's better to invest in the development office these countries? thank you very much. >> two questions. does military action threaten -- destabilize more than stabilize, in libya, and is the solution of the arab israeli conflict necessary. >> the first question is a very good question because you can point to some historical examples that in the wake of a military operation, we have seen unstablity, violence, maybe even failed states. and -- but first let me stress that we have -- or individual allies have received a request from the iraqi government to assist the government, in the fight against this terrorist organization. and i think we have a responsibility to help the iraqi government fight isis, exactly to avoid that iraq would become a new failed state. having said that, i think we have -- there are lessons to be learned from previous military operations. i would not argue against the military operations because in each and every case, i think they were necessary and legitimate. however, i think the international community, as such, should learn from these operations that it is of utmost importance to strengthen efforts after a military operation, to help these societies improve their capability, to establish security and good governance. libya -- after 40 years of dictatorship, the new authorities have to start from scratch, and seeing retrospectively, i think the international community us a such did too little too late to help the new authorities in libya. it's a new nation. the nato operation was a great success. we implemented the u.n. security mandate hundred%. we prevented attacks against the libyan people so we did what we were mandated to do. but when we had finished the military operations, i think, seen red throw specktively, that the international community, led by the u.n., should have done much more, much faster to help the new authorities in lib gentleman, and that's one of the important lessons to be learned, that military operations should go hand in hand with civilian efforts to follow up, to establish or to build a new nation after such a military operation. but i have to say, this goes beyond nato's capabilities. nato is a military alliance so it's for the broader international community to follow up in such cases. of course, i can only agree that a settlement of the israeli/palestinian conflict would solve many problems. absolutely. i fully agree. and without going into too many details, i still think that the long-term sustainable solution is to see true states living side-by-side in peace and harmony, and within secure borders. i still see this as the right formula for a long-term sustainable solution to the israeli/palestinian conflict. >> going to the other side, right here from reuters. >> adrian from reuters. how long it would take an independent scotland to join nato and whether you believe that nato -- that scottish independence would undermine britain's contribution to nato's defenses? >> did you get those? >> yes. probably you know very well that i'm not going to interfere with the referendum campaign in scotland. what i can tell you is the following. if a new independent state wants to become a member of nato, it will have to apply for membership. of nato, and such an application will be addressed in exactly the same way as all applications are dealt with, and eventually it will require consensus, unanimity, within the alliance to accept a new member of our alliance. as this is a hypothetical question, we haven't discussed it at all within our alliance, and i'm not in a position to say anything about timelines. as you know from history, timelines differ significantly when it comes to applicants towards membership of nato and basically it's very much a part of their able to fulfill the necessary criteria. so actually the answer is that i can't say anything about timelines. >> on the issue of whether scottish independence would undermine u ks ability as being one of the leading member offered nato to participate. any concerned about that? >> no. without interfering with the debate leading up to the referendum, i don't see that any outcome of the scottish referendum will have an impact on uk's contribution to nato. >> right there, egyptian television, with the book up. >> hi. i am a reporter for -- one question. when you had this operation in libya, you spoke about three conditions which under this conditions you are going to lead the operation. clear request from the libyan authorities, and i think u.n. mandate. under which conditions you are going to lead this coalition, international coalition in iraq? do you exclude this or it's something for the future? >> just to throw in one from twitter here, saying almost the saying thing. given the kosovo precedent would nato need a u.n. security council backing. >> let me stress we're not considering a nato role or even a leading nato role in this operation. a number of nato allies are forming a coalition that also includes countries from the region. so, to avoid any misunderstanding, let me stress that we are not in a process of engaging nato as such in military strikes against isis. i pointed out that at the summit, we mentioned three possibles of a nato involvement. firstly, defense capacity building in iraq. if requested. secondly, the coordinating role. thirdly, strengthen cooperation on intelligence and information-sharing among allies to counter foreign fighters. so the rest of it is quite hypothetical because we haven't received any request for a nato involvement, but nato allies are involved, and i really welcome that. peter, you added the question about u.n. mandate. when individual allies engauge in this, will they need a u.n. mandate? i'm not a legal expert, so i -- but i see the following. isis commits horrific atrocities, and i would say, witnessing manslaughter, their attacks against religious and ethnic minorities, in my opinion, it's pretty close to genocide. and in my opinion, that gives such a military operation legitimacy within the principles of the u.n. charter. i say this without being a legal expert. and finally, also consider this a kind of self-defense which is also committed within the u.n. charter. so, i would say that, as layman, as a politician, not as a legal expert, as far as i can see, there is a basis in the fundamental u.n. charter principles, to conduct military operations against isis. >> we have five minutes left. let me take two or three for the secretary general. sir, at the front here. just come to the microphone, please. >> host: i work at carn anything gee. my question is, secretary, during your five years, turkey has been involved in afghanistan and in libya, although noncombat mode. turkey is still weighing decision on missile defense, which has been for two years now, and we don't know the answer yet which, of course, very fortunate -- important to nato missile defense. we learned on friday that turkey will not play any role in the military operations against isis. after your five years, what would be your judgment without perhaps going as far as what the -- what the general said on saturday, turkey has talked a long ago being a friend of the west. do you see a problem there in the future? >> let me take another one. i saw a gentleman -- the blue shirt right there. >> i have a question. given the security volatility in eastern europe, can nato resources be applied to the u.an allies? for example, by deploying nato troops to protect strategic infrastructure in the region. for example, the pipeline. thank you. >> lastly, there's a woman right there. >> thank you. my question is that there's some critics, doubts the capacity -- sorry -- the able of nato to use its forces in assault. how do you think about this? also, there's another question. do you have any detailed plan to rescue the hostage in the region? thank you. >> three very different topics for you, turkey, energy security, and the ability to do multiple things at one time. >> guest: first on turkey, i have to say i consider turkey a strong ally, and on a personal basis, i have had an excellent cooperation with the turkish leadership, since i took office as secretary general. and whenever we have needed contributions to nato operations, turkey has actually engaged and contributed to nato operations. now, in the case of iraq, first of all, we're not speaking about a nato operation, but so far a coalition on the willing. furthermore, it may play a role that isis has also taken turkish hostages. i don't know. it's for the turkish government to answer that question, but i have to say, seen from my chair, that turkey has played a crucial role within our alliance, and continues to play a crucial role, and overall, i would also have to say, turkey -- not least because of the radical location, is a very important ally and partner from a strategic point of view. and as regards missile defense, i'm sure that the turkish authorities have listened to concerns raised by fellow allies. next, on energy. first of all, let me stress that nato's core task is territorial defense of our allies. and as regards pipelines, on allied -- on allied territory, of course, it's part of the territorial defense to protect such pipelines and other means of energy supply. but first of all, i think energy security is much more about reducing europe's dependence on imported gas and oil. it has become evident that there's also an overall security aspect of being so dependent on one single supplier -- in this case russia -- and i think -- that's more the european union. i think it's of utmost importance to increase energy security by establishing a well-functioning european energy market with more free flow of energy across borders, so that this single most important supplier cannot blackmail one and single out individual allies, because energy will flow more freely across borders. alternative pipelines, development of alternative energy sources, all this is part of overall energy security, and i think it's for the european union first and foremost to deal with that. finally, can we actually address security challenges from both the east and south at once and the same time? i think that i answered to that question already at the beginning of this q & a, and, yes, we can. we have the capacity to deal with these wide-ranging threats. it was one of the very important outcomes of the nato summit in wales, that we will not become a one dimensional ally. we do have the capability to deal with more or less conventional threats, both to the east and to the south, as well as addressing newer security challenges like cyberattacks, missile attacks. that's why at the summit we decided to enhance our cyberdefense. we continue building our missile defense system. so i can assure you that the alliance stands ready and capable to address both these and the south and cyberspace, if needed. >> let me wrap this onement one last quitter question from a fellow dane. the foreign fairs spokesman for the social democrats. what the most important advice to offer your successor? >> i think actually the most important advice would be to continue reforming, modernizing, our alliance, and continue strengthening our collective defense, so that nato remains capable to address this broad range of security challenges, and then on top of that, he will need some patience to make sure that he is spent the necessary time and efforts to create consensus among 28 independent nations. but for me, it's been a great pleasure. it's been a very positive experience, and while it may take some time to create consensus among 28 nations, once we reach the consensus -- and there is a very strong consensual spirit in our align -- once we take a decision, all 28, then it is a very strong alliance that moves forward. that's been a big pleasure for me to see. >> thank you. join me with one more round of applause. thank you very much, sir. [applause] >> i've been told to encourage everyone after the event to join us for drinks outside, and down, and that wraps up this one. four and final for you here at carnegie. thank you very much. [inaudible question]ed in the v. this is 25 minute. s. ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the ute. ♪ let us play. we pray today to remind us of the value of sacrifice. how hero, the title, is a price paid by soldiers, like the two to be honored today. first remembered by persistence to defend his brothers, to never accept defeat, and to never quit. one who stays alive for his friends by selfishly and respectively giving up his own. these brave men, living and dead, consecrate our history and our faith, courage of our soldiers, significance of our -- sacredness of our values, strength of our nation. today we weave their actions into the fabric of our history as the served in the jungles. we, who are the living, never forget what they did, the friends they lost, the -- -- may we take to heart the words spoken by a grieving president, it is for us, the living, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought have so nobly advanced, god of redemption and grace, we ask you to grant these in holy name, amen. >> amen. >> please be seated. good afternoon and welcome to the white house. more than four decades ago, in early 1970, an american squad in vietnam set out on patrol. they marched down a trail, past a rice paddy. shots rang out and splintered the bamboo above their heads. the lead soldier tripped a wire. a booby trap. a grenade rolled toward the feet of a 20-year-old machine gunner. the pin was pulled. and that grenade would explode at any moment. a few years earlier on the other side of the country, deep in the jungle, a small group of americans were crouched on top of a small hill. and it was dark, and they were exhausted, and the enemy had been pursuing them for days, and now they were surrounded, and the enemy was closing in on all sides. two discreet moments, but today we honor two american soldiers for gallant triabove and beyond the call of duty at each of those moments. specialist donald sloat, who stood above that grenade. and command sergeant major bennie adkins, who fought through a ferocious battle and found himself on that jungle hill. nearly half a century after their acts of valor, a grateful nation bestows upon these men the highest military decoration, the medal of honor. normally this medal must be awarded within a few years of the action, but sometimes even the most extraordinary stories can get lost in fog of war or the passage of time. when new evidence comes to light, certain actions can be reconsidered for this honor and it is entirely right and proper that we have done so and that is why we are here today... then he decided to join the army but when he went to enlist he didn't pass his physical because of high blood pressure said he tried again and again, and again. in all it took a physical maybe seven times until he passed. because don sub i was determined to serve his country. in vietnam became known as one of they liked and most are siebel -- likeable guys in this company. his patrol was ambushed both times. don responded with punishing fire from his machine gun leaving himself completely vulnerable to the enemy. both times he was recognized for his bravery or as don put it in a letter home, i guess they think i'm really gung ho or something. and then one morning don and his squad set out on patrol pass that rice patty down that trail where the shots rang out. when the lead soldiers foot trip that wire and set off the booby-trap, the grenade rolled right to don's feet and in that moment he could have run. at that moment he could have ducked for cover but don did something truly extraordinary. he reached down and he picked that grenade up and he turned to throw it but there were americans in front of him and behind him inside the kill zone. don held onto that grenade and pulled her close to his body and bent over it and then as one of the men said, all of a sudden there was a boom. the blast through the lead soldier up against a boulder. men were riddled with shrapnel. four were medevaced out, but everyone else survived. don had absorbed the brunt of the explosion with his body. he saved the lives of those next to him and today we are joined by two men who were with him on that patrol, sergeant william hacker and specialist michael multi-in. for decades, don's family only knew that he was killed in action. they had heard he had stepped on a landline. all those years as gold star family honor the memory of their son and brother whose name is etched forever on that granite wall not far from here. late in her life dawn's mother evelyn finally learned the full story of her son's sacrifice. and she made it her mission to have dawn's actions properly recognize. sadly nearly three years ago evelyn passed away but she always believed, she knew that this day would come. she even bought a special dress to wear to the assembly. we are honored that don and his mom are represented here today by don's brother, sisters and their families on behalf of this american family i would ask don's brother dr. bill sloat to come forward with a rating of a citation and accept the gratitude of our nation. >> the president of the united states of america authorized by act of congress march 3, 1863 has awarded in the name of congress the medal of honor to special sworn donald p. sloat united states army. specialist donald sloat distinguished himself with acts of gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty serving as a machine gunner with company t second battalion, 1st infantry regiment 196 lightning pair trooper. during combat operations in the republic of vietnam on january 17, 1970. on that morning specialist sloat's squad was performing a patrol and armored personnel carriers in the area. as the squad moved up a small hill information to lead soldier tripped a wire attached to a hand grenade booby-trap set up by enemy forces. as the grenade grenade rolled downhill specialist for sloat nelson picked up the grenade. after initially attempting to throw the grenade specialist for sloat realized that nation was imminent. pete drew the grenade to his body and show with his squad members from the blasts saving their lives. specialist sloat's actions to find the ultimate sacrifice to save the lives of his comrades. donald p. sloat's selflessness above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflects great credit upon himself, company t second battalion. 1st infantry regiment 196 light infantry brigade america division in the united states army. [applause] [applause] [applause] [applause] [applause] >> at this point i would like to ask bennie adkins to come join me on stage. now, let me just say the first thing you need to know is when bennie and i met in the oval office i asked him if he could sign back up. [laughter] his lovely wife was not amused. [laughter] most days you can find bennie at home down at opelika alabama. tending his garden or his pontoon boat out on the lake. he has been married to mary for 58 years. he is the proud father of five, grandfather of six and at 80 still going strong trade a couple of years ago he came here to the white house with his fellow veterans for breakfast we had on veterans day. he told folks he was the only person he knows who spilled his dessert in the white house. [laughter] and i just had to correct him. that makes two of us. [laughter] i have messed up my tie. i had messed up my pants. but in the spring of 1966, bennie was just 32 years old on his second tour in vietnam. he and his fellow greene berets were an isolated camp along the ho chi minh trail. a huge north vietnamese force attacked bombarding bennie and is comrades with mortars and white phosphorus. at a time it was nearly impossible to move without being wounded or killed. but bennie ran into enemy fire again and again, to retrieve supplies and ammo, to carry the wounded to safety, demand a mortar pit, holding off wave after wave of enemy assaults. three times, explosions blasted him out of that mortar pit and three times he returned. i have to be honest, in a battle and daring escape that lasted for four days, bennie performs so many acts of bravery we actually don't have time to talk about all of them. let me just mention three. on the first day, bennie was helping load a wounded american in to a helicopter. vietnamese soldier jumped into the hilo trying to escape the battle and aimed his weapon directly the wounded soldier ready to shoot. bennie shielded his comrade placing himself directly in line of fire helping to save his wounded comrade. at another point in the battle for bennie and a few other soldiers were trapped in a mortar pit, covered in shrapnel and smoking debris. they're only exit was blocked by enemy machine gun fire. so bennie.fast. he dug a hole out of the pit and snuck out the other side. as another american escape through that hole he was shot in the leg. an enemy soldier charged in hoping to capture a live p.o.w. and bennie fired taking out the enemy and pulling his fellow american safety. by the third day of battle, bennie and a few others had managed to escape into the jungle. he had cuts and wounds all over his body but he refused to be evacuated. when a rescue helicopter arrived bennie insisted that others go instead. so on the third night's bennie wounded and bleeding found himself with his men up on that jungle hill exhausted and surrounded with the enemy closing in. and after all they had been through as if that weren't enough, there was something mo more, you can't make this up, they're in the jungle they heard the growls of a tiger. it turns out that tiger might've been the best thing that happened to bennie during those days because he said the north vietnamese were more scared of that tiger than they were a plus. [laughter] said the enemy fled. bennie and his squad made their escape and they were rescued finally the next morning. and danny's life, we see the enduring service of our men and women in uniform. he went on to serve a third tour in vietnam, total of more than two decades in uniform. after he retired he earned his master's degree, actually not one but two, opened up an accounting firm, taught adult education classes, became national commander of the legion of valor veterans organization. so he has earned his retirement, despite what he says. he is living outside auburn and yes he is a fan of the auburn tigers although i did a poll of the family and there are some crimson tide fans here. [laughter] so there's obviously some divisions. but bennie will tell you that he has everything to the men he served with in vietnam, especially the five who gave their lives in that battle. every member of his unit was killed or wounded. every single one was recognized for their service. today we are joined by some of the men who served with bennie including major john bradford the soldier that bennie shielded in that helicopter and major wayne murray, the soldiers, the soldiers thought they deserved -- saved from being captured. and i would ask them in all of our vietnam veterans who are here today to please stand or raise your hand to be recognized. [applause] [applause] [applause] and now i would ask that the citation be read. >> the president of the united states of america authorized by act of congress march 3, 1863 has awarded in the name of congress the medal of honor to sergeant first class danny g. atkins united states army. sergeant first class danny t. adkins dissing bush himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as an intelligence sergeant attachment a 125th special forces group were special forces during combat operations against an armed enemy at camp eshoo republic of vietnam from march the ninth to 12th 1966. when the camp was attacked by a large vietnamese and viacom force in the early morning hours sergeant first class atkins rush through intense enemy fire and manned an order position continually adjusting fire for the camp despite recurring wounds as a mortar pit received hits from enemy mortars. upon learning that several soldiers were wounded near the center of camp be temporarily turned the mortar over to another soldier ran through exploding mortar rounds and drag several comrades to safety. as hostile fire subsided sergeant first class atkins exposed himself to sporadic fire while carrying his wounded comrades to the camp dispensary. but sergeant first class atkins in this group of defenders came under heavy small-arms fire by members of the civilian irregular defense group they have defected to fight with the north vietnamese he maneuvered outside the camp to evacuate a seriously wounded american and draw fire all the while successfully covering the rescue. when a resupply air-drop landed outside of the camp perimeter sergeant first class atkins again moved outside of the camp walls to retrieve the much-needed supplies. during the early morning hours of march 10, 1966 enemy forces launched their main attack and within two hours sergeant first class atkins was the only man firing a mortar weapon. when all mortar rounds were expanded sergeant first class atkins began placing effective require a list of rifle fire upon enemy positions. despite receiving additional ones from enemy rounds exploding on his position sergeant first class atkins bought up intense waves of attacking vietcong. sergeant first class atkins eliminated numerous insurgents with small-arms fire after withdrawing to communications bunker several soldiers. running extremely low on ammunition he returned to the mortar pit gathered vital ammunition and ran through intense fire out of the bunker. after being ordered to evacuate the camp sergeant first class atkins and the small group of soldiers destroyed all signal equipment and classified documents, dug their way out of the rear of the bunker and talk their way out of the camp. while carrying a wounded soldier to the extraction point he learned that the last helicopter had already departed. sergeant first class atkins led the group a with aiding the enemy until they were rescued by helicopter on march 12, 1966. during the 38 hour battle in 48 hours of escape and invasion fighting with mortars and machine guns require less rifle small-arms and hand grenades, it was estimated to sergeant first class atkins had killed between 135 and 175 of the enemy while sustaining 18 different ones to his body. sergeant first class atkins extraordinary heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, detachment and a 125th special forces group for special forces in the united states army. [applause] [applause] [applause] [applause] >> over the decades, our vietnam veterans didn't always receive the thanks and respect they deserved. that's a fact. but as we have been reminded again today, our vietnam vets were patriots and are patriots. you served with valor. you made us proud. and your service is with us for eternity. so no matter how long it takes, no matter how many years go by, we will continue to express our gratitude for your extraordinary service. may god watch over don sloat and all those who have sacrificed for our country. may god keep safe those who wear our country's uniform and veterans like bennie adkins and may god continue to bless the united states of america. at this point i'd ask our chaplain to return to the stage iv the benediction. >> let us continue to pray. as we go forth be not afraid. have peace and courage and honor what is good. return no evil for evil to strengthen the fainthearted support the weak and helpless suffering. we honor all people. let us love and serve and may god's blessing be upon us and remain with us always, amen. >> and at this point, i would welcome everybody to join the sloat family and the atkins family for a reception. i hear the food is pretty good. and once again, to all of you who serve and your families who serve along with them, the nation is grateful. and your commander in chief could not be prouder. thank you very much everybody. [applause] >> now nato allied commander europe general philip breedlove talks about the recent nato summit held in scotland this month in the ongoing situation in ukraine. from atlantic council, this is an hour. [inaudible conversations] >> good morning and welcome everybody. we are delighted to be here at atlantic council. i very much appreciate you being here this morning for this commander series event. to hear from general philip breedlove, commander of u.s. european command and nato supreme allied command europe. in a few minutes he will give us his remarks and join a roster of atlantic council commanders series speakers that includes general martin dempsey, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and general james amos commandant of the u.s. marine corps. the commander series is our long-standing flagship speaker series for senior u.s. and allied military leaders and i want to thank north america for their strong and consistent support for this series. you can follow the series if you are interested including today's event on twitter using the hashtag ac commanders. we have more great speakers lined up in the series later in the year including admiral jonathan greenert, chief of naval operations, general lloyd austin commander of central command and general jim kelly commander of southern command among others. we hope hope that you'll be able to join us for these upcoming events as well. but today we could not be more excited to host general breedlove, the generalist is returned from the nato summit in wales where the alliance charted his pass for the future while also working on how to deal with a brutal price devices, russia's invasion of ukraine and emerging threats around the alliance southern flight. this is indeed a crucial time for nato and i i think the coming period of time will help shape the alliance for many decades to come. finally with the atlantic council we like to consider ourselves the washington home of the dc-based nato community so we are especially pleased that we can host those top military leaders at the council once again. this time for his readout on the summit among other things. we are delighted to have the general and admiral greene who is traveling with him as well as many other members of the delegation. we have some midshipmen from the naval academy to match pitted like to give them an extra special shout out. it's always a pleasure to be in a company of our future leaders. without further ado i would like to turn the day is over to my predecessors general jim jones for additional comments. general. >> thank you governor and good morning everyone. it's an honor to be here to introduce or to help introduce the supreme allied commander of europe. i like to spell out that title because it has a special elegance to it that some people around washington don't appreciate. so good morning and welcome. as i said it's a real honor to be here. i would also like to recognize the 17th supreme allied commander of your comments are the 11th 11th. the 17th is to be introduced. general george allen, pardon me. general, always good to see you and thank you for being here. when the recently completed wales summit was first planned it was originally intended to mark the conclusion of nearly a decade of successful allied operations in afghanistan. the responsibility the alliance assumed many moons ago when i held general breedlove's position. while nato and its isaf partners did have a meaningful discussion on the afghanistan transition the summit will most likely be remembered for nato's response to russia's ongoing destabilization in ukraine and his discussions about the emerging extremist threat on nato's borders in iraq and syria. the crisis in ukraine and the dramatic rise of tensions of moscow have been on welcome developments in all matters pertaining to european security. secretary-general rasmussen has stated that russia's action in and around ukraine propose the most serious threat to european security since the end of the cold war. yet throughout this crisis general breedlove has provided remarkable clarity and decisive leadership of allied military forces in responding to a new strategic challenge. .. across all of europe, north, south, east, and west, buy land, in the air, and on the sea. meanwhile, he and his staff have been hard at work in advance of the summit to develop new measures to strengthen nato's continuous presence and readiness in europe's east and north. measures that were blessed at wales and i'm sure general breedlove will describe to you in more detail. general breedlove has impacted the alliance beyond the ukraine crisis overseeing operations in kosovo, the mediterranean, off the horn of africa and in insuring a peaceful transition in afghanistan. meanwhile, he has worked to strengthen nato partnerships around the globe as part of the alliance of missions of bolstering security. general breedlove assumed the title of commander, u.s. european command and supreme allied commander europe in may. an f-16 pilot by trade with combat experience in the bosnia and cause of a complex, general breedlove has a rich regional experience of senior command positions in asia and europe as well as the u.s. air force. he served most recently as vice chief of the united states air force and commander of u.s. air force of europe before assuming the best job title and the u.s. military, supreme allied commander europe. a great pleasure to have general breedlove at the atlantic council and a pleasure to welcome him back to the council for his public debrief of the nato summit. i would like to turn the microphone over now to mr. mr. jonas hjelm who will continue the introduction. thank you. >> thank you, general jones and governor jon huntsman. it is not easy to come after two such distinguished gentleman. allow me to elaborate a little bit about why saab is sponsoring this. first, i would say it is a pleasure to have general breedlove here today. i am looking forward to what you are going to give us for insight and good things from the summit. saab in the atlantic council have been partners for many, many years now. i think this is a fantastic relationship. the company and the council continue to grow and evolve. i think we, saab, as european, north european company makes business globally but also on both sides of the atlantic equal to the atlantic council. we'd read the transatlantic, soda say the values and cherish them. i think the events we see around the world today, all the tragic events and what is happening, these values are even more important than before. this is the core thing our partnership with the atlantic council. before the general is giving his remarks, let me maybe add on something to general jones describing what the general did before he assumed his -- and i agree, very, very nice title, the supreme allied commander. it is something you could kill for, to have that title one day. i want unfortunately. he was the commander of the u.s. air forces in europe as well as the commander for the u.s. air forces in africa. before that from 2008-'90 commanded the third air force out of ramstein, germany. before going over there the general also served in various positions here in the united states air force. he was the senior military assistant to the secretary of the air force. he also was director for strategic plans and policy, and he also was chief of staff for the united states air force. that was just a part of the very extensive and long, good career that you have had, general. so without further delay, could you please help me welcome the general to take the stage. [applause] >> so first of all, thank-you to the atlantic council for a lot of things, for this opportunity to speak to you but most importantly for all of the work that it has done through the years in helping shape the policies and the positions that take us forward in our relationships across the northern atlantic, and it is about shared values and things that were mentioned. and those of the visions that we continue to hold for the future despite some of the challenges that we see out there today to our naval cadets, this is your worst nightmare as a speaker. you are standing in front of a crowd, literally two-thirds of this crowd are qualified to great my paper. okay? and then secondarily, you stand in front of two of the nation's greatest leaders who have had your job before and know what doing it right looks like, and they are greeting me every day about whether i am doing it right or not, but it is a privilege to be in such an eye test group and a group that has the expertise that this group has about the atlantic alliance. thanks to both of you as you all helped me as i moved into, i agree, one of the greatest jobs in the world. it is right now quite a challenging job and quite 85 let's say there are not enough hours in the day to get to everything we need to do. the ark of instability that we see to ourselves and now instability that we see in eastern europe, a place we just would never have thought about it in the past, these are all challenges that not only in my u.s. european command had gives us a lot of work to do, but certainly for the nato alliance, this is a challenge that comes already in a busy time. he did not have to think hard about a factor we still have a lot of work to do in afghanistan. and giving this -- getting this change of mission under fire from resolute support, this is no small matter. we see issues in our south from the mediterranean, eastern, and northern african area that is clearly still very much on the minds of our southern nato alliance, and so there are a lot of things that need to be addressed. and i will talk a little bit more about that in a minute about our southern area. of course, right now we have just come out of the summit that had a lot of focuses, a lot of place in the air. one of the central place in the air is, how do we address this russia? how do we address a nation that has sort of broken those rules, morals, and is using force to change international boundaries. something that we thought was over with what happened in georgia, and now we see that that is not the case. our mission remains the same in nato, and we embrace that quite frankly at the summit. and we also, at the summit, began to look at, what is it that makes our way forward so important? and it goes back to a shared values. a shared vision for a europe free and at peace. that sometimes brings a little hollow because it is said so many times, but quite frankly that is still a central, guiding position for what we want to see. and i will say something that may be a little bit controversial right now, but i do not think that we can ever arrive at a europe whole, free, and at peace without russia as a partner. and so for the last 12 years we have been trying to make russia a partner. we have been making basing decision, force structure decisions, economic decisions of around the fact that russia would be a constructive part of the future of your. and now we see a very different situation, and we have to address that. what i would like to talk about today -- and i will roll a few grenades out of the table. i would like to talk about some of those very important results from the summit, the readiness action plan, our expectations going into this summit for the readiness action plan or measured. we knew that we needed to make some change. we did not know how much change we could affect. i am happy to report that, quite frankly, we got just about everything we wanted to. now, if we are able to implement the changes that we made in the readiness action plan i think that we can reset this alliance for this new challenge that we see in eastern europe. and quite frankly, the changes that we will make will also give us adaptations that will better position as where some of the problems we see in the south. this is important for our southern nato alliance members, that this is not just about the north and east. it has to be addressing all of our alliance. responsiveness, we have had a magnificent nrf, well engineered across the agency. it did all the things we asked it to do. we evaluated, look at it hard, and it meets every expectation that we set forth in the past. so one of the things that we try to make sure people understand is, we are not disheartened by what the nrf did in the past. it meant exactly what we ask it to meet. now it is inadequate to task for what we see is the future requirement on our nrf forces and capabilities. and that is why the readiness action plan will look at a series of measures that will adapt by the nrf responsiveness, about readiness. readiness is exactly what we asked for. now we ask to tweak their readiness but make major changes to responsiveness. we will talk about that. i am often asked, are you trying to deter or a share? and give a simple answer, yes. we're trying to do both. we needed immediately to ensure our allies when ukraine first kicked off the crimea but certainly when the russian forces came across the borders into eastern ukraine when needed to assure our alliance posture. allow me as an element to use an air force example. fourteen hours from go to show, our aircraft left, landed in estonia, and were flying gaps 14 hours from go to show. this is assurance. this is nato power cannot just air power assuring our allies that we are there and we can be their rapidly if required. we brought assurance to those nations. now, of course, as you know, we were tasked to build, as the general mentioned, a series of measures that our air, land, and see, north, center, and south. the alliance did a magnificent job of doing that. the air element immediately. the land and naval elements took a little bit more time, but they were very quick and very visible and very assuring to our nation's. i think that we head, in sports terms, a 448 -- for logger 40-yard home run with assuring quickly our nato allies. to weedy terror? i will allow you to enter that debate. if you want to talk about it in a q&a at think it's a good question. clearly when mr. panetta and now looks across the borders of these three northern nations he sees a nato alliance represented by nato forces that i they're exercising, preparing all of the things that we need to do should we ever have to take action in those areas. some who credible plot persistent, pleasant -- presence with capability that is visible not only to the nation we wish to assure but any aggressor we wish to deter. so we looked at nato and ask ourselves, as we see this new situation where you have a nation that will assemble a large force of the border completely equipped ephors, all of the elements of enablers that make it credible, bring forth operation and in some cases strategic resupply for that force all in the name of an exercise. and it goes across an internationally respected border and an ax is par for surf portion of a sovereign nation. so how do we react to that? how do we react to the possibility of us an area in the future? we looked at what a simple fighter pilot calls the three latest tool. it lays out like this. why would i call it a three legged stool? it is to make a point that if you take any leg aware of what happens? it falls over. these are interrelated, interconnected requirements. the first like his we need to change the responsiveness of the nrf. like we talked about before, the nrf does what we ask you to do now to what but what we asked to do is inadequate to tasks to the new threat we see to the scenario i describe of this nation not respecting borders and changing borders by force. the first element is that some portion of the nrf will become much more rapidly available for use. how much? that is a discussion that we will work on. we have put forward ideas of 48 hours and five days for some of that force. now we will begin to look at the details of will that work. i now have another sports analogy. i talk about the goal posts. whatever we do with this force would have to go through the goal posts of be affordable and sustainable. if is not affordable and sustainable, it is not credible for the long run. this has to be something that remains with us. the first leg was changing the responsiveness of a portion of the nrf, and i will be happy to talk about the particulars if you want later. meanwhile the second piece is again it sounds a tiny bit irresponsible, but remember for 12 years i have been treating russia as a partner. on a day-to-day basis we don't have any what i would call operation or tactical level headquarters in natal but is thinking about article five, corrective defense, the ability to defend an ally and he's clearly in my headquarters we talked about it and think about it. we are not an operational or tactical level. we need a headquarters element of ability, i think, at the core level that will be focused every day 365 days of the year 24 hours a day on collective defense article five responsibilities for the alliance. this is primarily, of course , and at the north vietnamese, and i will talk about the rest in a minute. this second leg of this three-legged stool is a headquarters that feels responsible to the alliance for article five collective defense all day every day. that is the mission. that will be the primary mission. that will be the second part command-and-control capability ought to be with collective defense article five. the third piece is the harder, more controversial piece and the one we hear talk about in the paper so much. some forward presence in these nations that does multiple missions. in peacetime, forward presence appears the battlefield, which at where we can expect forces, works on those infrastructure requirements and allow us to rapidly receive forces, put them a field to fight, if required. stated day exercises with the local nation to bring of those processes which makes nato much quicker to react if required. works to prepossession materials, works to establish local understandings that would allow a nato force if it had to rapidly respond to quickly come to mission. and then in that worst case scenario where we needed it this headquarters would be the backbone on which rapidly reacting forces from the new nrf structure would fall in on too rapidly constitute combat power and the forward area, if required. how do we define this forward presence? how do we define its mission, its role? how do we finance the requirements of forward positioning equipment? these are all the details. if you think about this three-legged stool i talked about, rapidly available nrf, command-and-control structure that is as be andretti, if required and a receding force that on day-to-day is exercising, preparing, setting the stage for a rapid acceptance of combat power that comes from that newly structured nrf if required. these are the three legs. these are the details that we will begin to work out. we have written a paper to lay out. these concrete pieces. the three legs require each other. can we do it without this or that? the answer is sure. it may not work. i think it requires all three. >> again, very encouraged by what happened. very encouraged by the solidarity that i saw in the alliance. i would hate to over characterize. i don't want to sound too positive. the feeling that we can get. the nation truly embraced the change. now the details to it the goalpost. i think that is the end of my prepared remarks. now we will enter into the more fun part of today's conversation. i will ask for help in choosing who will get to grill me first. [applause] >> in this spirit i am happy to stand as well. >> that's terrific. we will see how well we constructed. first of all, i really want to thank you for taking this time. we have all been impressed by your voice in this crisis , this moment of history, and the clarity of your op-ed in the wall street journal. it was brilliant. the one thing the three-legged stool did not address his what does nato do, what is the alliance to toward what one would call gray areas? let me ask this in two parts. give us our assessment of what the situation is on the ground at the moment in ukraine. what are you seeing during the cease-fire? and then if you could take it a little bit beyond ukraine to the general question of are we trying is in europe or can we avoid that? >> so many of you have served with me. i see more and more faces in the crowd of people i have worked for or with in my life. i would hope that those who have served with me would be quick to say that general breedlove is almost always an optimist because i am. i am well over a glass half full on all manner of things about nato, the progress that we made and wales, the solidarity are see in our alliance, absolutely rock steady commitment. some things are just incredibly, i think, positive. i would tell you that along that vein, i am a glass less than half full on what is happening in the ukraine. rather than get into a long discussion of what we all understand russia's actions have been in the east, they have now for a series of days been reducing their force presence. they have left behind some very capable and very tailored force in the east that allows them to bring continued pressure on president poroshenko and the leaders of ukraine. and with that pressure allows them to do is completely shape what i think is sort of the geostrategic context of ukraine for the future. i think that the cease-fire, while it has done many good things like stop the loss of life, what it also is doing is allowing a situation in eastern ukraine that could easily slip into another conflict. that worries me greatly. i think our will stop there. as far as these gray areas, we, as i said before, of a great commitment and a rock-solid commitment to our nato allies and what that means. clearly there are other nations in europe that are not made allies. i think the western world needs to come to grips with what is it that is going to happen in these states that are outside the alliance and between the alliance and russia and hell are we going to -- what are the expectations of the nation's four how nations will conduct themselves in these states in the future. i think this is work that i would ask the atlantic council and others to begin to ponder, the approach to these nations that are not in the alliance and may come under great pressure in the future by those who would try to exploit. >> let me just ask another question. welcome. talk to us a little bit about what you're seeing and what your watching on the ground in ukraine. what is the russian military strategy? what elements are involved? people talk about hybrid warfare. from the standpoint of your position, what exactly is that? >> so we have seen will we have all started turning as hybrid warfare in the early stages of what has happened in eastern ukraine. we watched this play out in crimea and then the hybrid warfare became more overt. they have essentially in next that portion of ukraine and we saw almost the same script play out in eastern ukraine. the little green men, the denial forces, the deniable presents and how the presence was shaping the support to the russian -- are call them russian-backed sforzas. some call them pro-russian forces in eastern ukraine. and what we saw was the ukraine was actually able to a symbol of military force and begin to reshape the ground. when the ukrainian forces brought great pressure on those forward russian-backed forces, now we are on the horns. can the russian federation see defeat in eastern ukraine? can they see their force is being cut off by the ukrainian forces who are having success? i talked. a hard-fought battle with great impact for all on the ground, both sides. but there were successors in ukraine command what we clearly saw is that they are not acceptable for moscow. the russian forces went from hybrid warfare, and discriminant little green man to overt action by three armored russian columns along the maps and along the coast. those forces turn the tide. reestablished wide-open support lines of that pressure could for resupply. that great pressure, those two ports that are so key to the ukraine fiscal ability to move forward. that is where we see ourselves now. i think that the lines of support are now wide-open, and i think that in this cease-fire the lines of supply will run at full tilt we see now some of the russian force that is bringing great pressure. you can look at that in two ways. it is either a coercive force to say, meet our terms in these negotiations are else. or it is a force that is well-suited for taking that course if required. that is kind of where we find ourselves now. >> thank you. we will have a ukrainian president poroshenko here on thursday after his joint session of congress. it will be interesting to hear his views. final question from me, your three-legged stool, thought it was a good image. i will not deal with the rapid reaction forces, command-and-control part of it. you did mention that the forward presence is most controversial. what is required for a credible forward presence? and then what triggers the forward presence? are the green man. >> that me we characterize your question a little bit because i do not think that the forward presence needs to be triggered. i think that we need it right now. >> badly put. >> we describe this as persistent presence, and it will be a persistent presence enables by rotational forces. how long those rotations are will be decided by much more smart men and women who do that kind of planning and look at duration verses understanding the mission verses other pieces, but i believe we need a persistent presence rotational enabled by significant duration so that we are not relearning something every three months . so this forward presence as, i think, in peacetime, as i have described, has lots of duties. first of all, exercise with the host nation to bring everybody stability of and everybody's interoperability up. secondly, establish a watchman, an area where if needed we could rapidly bring force forward. today we can relatively rapidly take forces into nations like this, but when they land they have to figure out supply, lodging, forward position, fighting material. now we will have a force for word in these areas on a day-to-day basis doing all that preparatory works such that they are available then to rapidly receive this new portion of the nrf to build to combat capability so there will be some command-and-control. we need to rotate through some of the enablers so that each can be able to work with the host nation to understand the challenges and the things that need to be done. we need fire supporters working with the host nation on a rotational basis to understand how you would use fires to support business in that area. we need communicator's occasionally to establish and workout lines of communication. we need logistics' people saying, this is how we resupply, move forward command these are the things that we need to possibly put in pre positioning so that it is available and we do not have to transport it when they come forward. so all hosts of the enablers need to be a part of that rotation so that we can work the squeaky wheel and get it all ready to go if we have to. and then sitting in there in that command and control capability with some force is attached if the worst happens ready to rapidly proceed. when of the commander, who to land and plug into, the ammunition kid. rapidly and fight it. or looking at that model right now now that we have the agreement for the requirement of it. >> article five is harder. it can be as cyber attack potentially. it is not likely to be a russian market tank. can't you look at all of that? >> a broad series of questions first of all, cyber, what constitutes an article five. and that we, frankly, have not been addressing. after the world summit we agree that there is work to do about what cyber means in this context. on the flip side to the little green men, we have clearly now seen the script play out in crimea. we have seen this could play out in eastern ukraine. we are beginning to see some of the script in moldova. so we are beginning to understand this whole track of how this hybrid war will be brought to bear. and so what we now have to do is look at those forces in our border nations where there are substantial russian populations and now we better prepare those nations to survive the initial onslaught of this hybrid war. i think what we all understand is that this hybrid war, if it kicks off, and it is attributable this is not a nato issue. it is an internal nation issue, and emmeline problem. now we better prepare our allies to characterize, understand, and survive the initial onslaught of the little green men scenario. clearly also we have great acceptance among the nato allies that if you attribute this little green man issue to an aggressor nation it is an article five action. all of the assets of nato come to bear. those are the lines of thought. >> very interesting. >> identify yourself. >> good to see you again. george nicholson, consultants. you talk about enablers. one large initiative was the establishment of nato special operations command. >> which is a huge success. >> well, one of the things that was tried but has been pushed back, he wanted to duplicate that capability for general kelly in south,. can you talk to how effective you think that is? >> it has been absolutely amazing. quite frankly, what you have seen out of the special operations unit of multiple missions in afghanistan is a result of this exact effort. the sharing of tactics, techniques, procedures, but everyone to a standard, working on interoperability of forces together as they worked in afghanistan. it is a huge success and a great force multiplier and will be a big part, i think, of helping nations understand how to handle themselves when they're under the onslaught of this little green man scenario up until it is attributed. and it is a different issue. >> thank you. >> thank you, general. i am francisco you were very discreet. i would like you to talk about turkey in the context of how they are actively working against western policy by supporting isil. the information has become public. thank you. >> here is what our would like to say about turkey. we need to remember that turkey is an important ally. right now than air and a pretty tough place. a border to the south, which is, as you know, quite exciting. now they have a neighbor to the north who we used to think was a partner who has put in place in crimea the ability through coastal defense cruise missiles and surface-to-air missiles to pretty much dominate the black sea. pretty hard on their ability to exude influence. so our ally, turkey, is caught between a rock and hard place. and so i think we need to understand the context in that way. the good news is that our alliance has responded, as you know. we are now actively involved in the air defense to the south end of felton to understand what is going on along the border in the intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance way. i am going to disappoint you because i am not trying to address the political piece of this. i think that is for others. as a military man, what i think we need to focus on is we have a member of our alliance that we have shown our support for and asked them to support us and actions we think are important. and that is a conversation that is, i think, just beginning. >> thank you, general. congratulations on a good cop and the washington post. >> general, in ukraine what you said about forward deployments case, what we're doing for allies, is that feasible to do for your great? -- for ukraine. a deterrent matter to try to at least held the russian advance where it is. it shall -- make sure they at least have to undertake an action that is probably bigger than they would feel prudent for them to do in order to move beyond where they are. >> let me broaden the question again. i think that a line of logic you just used is exactly what i think the western world and to some degree our nation needs to look and. now, there are nations outside of nato and not russia, literally in some cases between us. how does the western world approached those nations? and what are the expectations of all neighbors east and west as to whether their actions should be in the nation's? what are accepted international norms? i think this is first principle conversation. then you can begin to look at what you talk about. those assurances that we could give these nations. we would be an interesting personal pronoun in that sentence. is it nato, a coalition, bilateral? all of those things would have to be addressed. right now there is no nato policy on what to do in those nations that find themselves outside of the alliance and not in the russian federation. services, i think, a place where credit brinkley i would ask the atlantic council to help cover conversation along these lines. how do we approach these conundrums. >> thank you very much right in front. you first. >> peter sharp and. would you anticipate in the future exercises in which the elements of the nrf or other elements moved to practice reinforcement in the form of -- >> yes. >> i am being flipped by that one word answer. now let me elaborate. i don't think we in our nation have some of the most amazing rapid reaction forces out there. i think you would agree. the elements of the 802nd airborne and others who are on these short strings are truly incredible forces. you do not have that force if you do not exercise that force irregularly and sometimes off schedule. you really don't know if you have a 48 hour force until you ask it to respond insider 48 hours. so part of the original conversation that we had with the leaders of the summit is that this would be an expectation that we would exercise elements of these forces and speed in order to ensure we have it. the short answer is yes. >> thank you. the nato summit in istanbul, the last summit was about enlargement, what do you think about countries such as macedonia, an enlargement in the summer situation such as georgia and ukraine. >> i think obviously this is a good question to ask a military leader verses a political leader. how do you look at the whole issue? >> what our nations have a firm is at the door is still open. no one moved through the door, but several have their programs of engagement and prove and most notably ukraine and others have their programs of engagement improve. georgia clearly as well. i think that there are lots of things that nations need to do to come across the barrier into nato. what i would do is reserve now to make remarks toward the military pieces of those because those are the things i understand the most. clearly some of the nation's like georgia have done an extremely good job at becoming interoperable with nato and deploying with nato georgia has deployed in a very constant and high-level its forces and support in afghanistan and other places. and so what i see is the nation's continued to move toward their goal or have already probably in some cases that the military expectation that we have for their entry into nato. now some of the more political issues of being worked out by the political leaders. >> thank you, general breedlove. there are so many questions. i can only take two more. this young man year. two rows back please. those will have to be the last two. one after another. >> i was wondering, how are you keeping the administration's eye on russia with everything happening right now? secondly, with the european reassurance initiative to when you know, if appropriate how would you like to see that money spent? >> this last question. [inaudible question] >> i just wanted to ask, and provocative signal to putin. >> i apologize to all of those i was unable to get to. >> let me go back to the first. it would be a gross misstatement that ever keep our government focused on anything. clearly we have all lot of challenges out there. isil, isis, whatever we call these guys is an incredibly tough problem and clearly deserves a lot of focus. i think of we still have a government that completely understands that we have got to address what russia is doing in eastern europe, and we are working through those issues, an active debate inside of the bill way about how to address. i think that sometimes what we see in the headlines seems to tell us that we are
your own country every day. and media is doing that. almost every african-american has a flagship website that's on top of all africa. so media is playing that role, and it would keep going that way. >> okay. let me -- i think we have time for a couple more questions. right here. >> this question is for akon and amadou. i'm a technologist and we have an army of developers in africa. we constantly thinking about creating something to own that content and navigate it through, but because we are so bound into our technology mind, we don't know what to do. what kind of focus -- what is the media focus we should be basically focusing on? >> my name is abdel and i'm from dci. my question to the panelists and you kind of touched about it a few minutes ago but you didn't go deeper. the first fdi from africa to united states, it was here. and so far it's not utilizing to its full potential to change what you all are talking about as the narrative about africa. we all in this room have been to all those little of this country and when you get to a person in charge of africa, you see the american guy who been on the continent one or two times and write a book about it but doesn't have all the perspective that the people have here. so how can we, people in this room, make that change happen that america can use the real african who is here and can tell them what really happened on the continent or what really matter as a change that we are looking for? and i want an opinion from the panelist. >> one more question over here. >> thank you very much. thank you. i think my name is joshua. i come from kenya. i think we operate in a region where perhaps covering over 250 million people within eastern central southern africa today. me quai estion to the panelist i'm a proud african. we continue to run the race of transforming the continent today. i think the question for me when you spoke in the last panel was around the technology around data and voice. for 500 million people connected on the continent shifting the conversations happening today. a huge opportunity for investment. and we have a lot of american investors today we see in our markets. is there a chance to be -- it's a complex continent, i agree. it's 55 countries. it's not one story. one is positive in nigeria is negative in another country and it will be like that for a long time. sometimes we want to see it as one africa. it's not one africa for us. every single country is different. so is there a chance to see and i love what amadou is doing, are we able to see you utilizing that technology platform to shape this the stories that transforms the continent? >> so we just have a couple minutes. so why don't we just go down the panel and everybody can respond to some of those questions, make some final comments on what we've heard. akon, we'll start with you. >> which question first? >> well, there's several questions that were put to you. one about technology and how that can be utilized. >> absolutely. on what technology you think you should start, right? i would start with mobile. because right now mobile hand helds is the key communication for africa. anything that you can operate from your phone, you'll win. so create apps that you can actually use on dumb phones and smartphones because a lot -- a lot of the rural areas they don't have smartphones, but there's a minimized type of technology that creates apps that can utilize, you know, technologies that actually work with smartphones or more just to be able to communicate in other ways. but i think they business revenue you have that can operate from a cell phone, you can actually win in africa for sure. >> great. john, do you want to respond to any of those or anything else. >> i was going to ask you if you could help me make that dumb phone be a little smarter. >> you have a blackberry. >> i have something to talk to you about afterwards. i'm one of the loyalists, i can't let go. the blackberry. i was going to try to answer the question only to say that in the 30 years that i have sort of been involved in politics in the american system and in policymaking on africa, it is very powerful when african constituencies in the dais practice work together and come together around specific issues. i go back to somalia in the late 1980s where they helped dismantle the dictatorship. now, they couldn't anticipate what came after that, but the power of somali americans working together and congressional district after congressional district made a big impression on me and i have seen that replicated many, many times over the last 25, 30 years. and i think about the trade agreement between the united states and africa that needs to be renewed in the coming year and for for instance to come together for that name of which is -- >> agoa. >> african growth and opportunity act. the way the lost boys were sent throughout the united states in their reintegration journeys, getting asylum in the u.s. and how they're plolitically in eac congressional district they live in. and the impact they can have. the congolese-american and how much of an impact. when the dodd/frank bill came along and there was a provision that said we just want american companies to divulge and be transparent about the investments that they're making in africa. the companies that are listed on the new york stock exchange. just be open and honest about how you're getting your resources down stream in your supply chain. it's that unity really that in diversity, that impact, the raw possibilities of that impact. >> just add a footnote in 2008, the obama campaign, i remember going into district after district talking to communities and it didn't even matter if they were americans or not because even if they weren't, they knew somebody who was and they could get out the vote and it was just incredibly electric and i think that power can be replicated over and over again. amadou, let me come to you for a thought here. >> thanks, witney. just want to end by saying, of course, we hear all the time that necessity is often the mother of invention, which is true. but at the same time what i usually say is des prperation i the mother of action, and when you look at, you know, my brother there when he was talking about like how to use american companies, when this in the middle know that this here knowledge and talent they can use to get them ahead because they are losing ground more and more, they will do it. so when they become desperate, they'll go to action. and i think, you know, the outlook for me is great. and i really want to end it there. there's still a lot of work to be done but it's all of us in this room and our kids who would really ultimately finish it. >> yeah. great, thank you. william. >> just speaking about the diaspra, one of the less told story are those going back to take advantage of opportunities. but i think to take it right back to how you started this sort of complex picture that comes out of the continent, it's amazing that you've got this trend alongside this extraordinary kind of exodus where tens of thousands of people are marching across the sahara desert into in many cases a watery grave in the mediterranean. i think that kind of -- those two trends actually rather sum up what's happening on the continent today. there is still place where is people are really suffering and desperate but you've also got these tremendous opportunities which are bringing them back. >> incredibly complex picture. helene, i don't know which side of the chair you want to sit on. >> i'm going to sit on all three. i think we had a question earlier just about the whole idea of how to get the african story across, and i think the western news media part of me says that we at the "new york times" and "the financial times" and "the wall street journal" and these news institutions really need to do a better job of finding for instanafricans t their stories. ditto for hollywood and tv, and then the american in me says we have to find a better way of telling our own stories as africans and doing it ourselves. this is a job for us. it shouldn't be africans relying on "the new york times" to tell our story. we should be taking charge of our own destiny and telling the world what we have to say and then the american in me says that we also here, those americans who have been interest in africa, should read those stories. go out and buy "americana." read "ghana must go." support this burgeoning group of african writers who are fantastic. >> hear, hear. [ applause ] >> well, we've gone over our time and before we depart, just let me say there's a reception after this immediately. drew, where is it? >> right next door. >> right next door. so please come and join us, and let me thank the panelists for really your willingness to come on and sort of tackle a subject that's not often taken on and not easily discussed but i thank you very much. let me ask you to give them a hand of applause. [ applause ] and here on c-span3, president obama awarding the medal of honor to two vietnam era veterans. you can watch our live coverage in about 40 minutes, 1:50 p.m. eastern time. and turning to capitol hill today, the house and senate both in. the house starting legislative work at 4:00 with more than a dozen bills on the schedule, including ones dealing with steroid trafficking and child care subsidies. you can watch the house live on our companion network c-span and the senate gaveling in at 2:00 for more work dealing on a bill with campaign spending and federal elections. watch the senate live on c-span2. the house rules committee is supposed to meet to consider a continuing resolution to temporary fund the government and related agencies number law ma -- until lawmakers pass a budget. you can also tune into the meeting streaming live online at cspan.org. tonight on "the communicators" anna eshoo talks about net neutrality and rules governing the internet. >> i spoke publicly about what i thought the fcc should do to be on firmer legal ground and pointed to title two. now we've had fast forward, we've had discussions at the committee about it. this is all about net neutrality obviously. people in our country feel very, very strongly about the internet. not only how they use it but how they think about it and the access to it and that it be free and that it be open and that no one, no isp or anyone should be able to interfere with that. >> tonight at 8:00 eastern on "the communicators" on c-span2. next, a look at president obama's four-part strategy to fight the militant group isis and the legality of it. this is from today's "washington journal." >> eli lake is a national security correspondent for the daily beast. author of a piece from last week "obama's new war on isis may be illegal" is the headline of that piece from last week and eli lake, let's start by laying out the white house legal argument for its effort in iraq and syria. >> sure. when president obama first authorized bombing in iraq for the first time i guess since 2011, the authorization was that, you know, the constitution first article says congress only declares war, but the second part says that the president is the commander in chief and presidents before him have used article two authority saying he's the commander in chief of the military and as the president has the responsibility to keep m.a.s.american citizens interests secure, and he used that as presidents before him have used those powers. but the problem is 1973 there is something called the war powers act which was a reaction to using these kinds of inherent constitutional authorities to wage very long, drawn out wars. the classic example that everybody points out is there was never a declaration of war against vietnam. so the vietnam war was always seen as a police action although it was probably our longest and worst war from the perspective of just casualties. actually civil war would be our worst war in terms of casualties but at least in the 20th century. so in 1973 congress passed the war power act and that said that every 30 or 60 days the president needed to inform congress about these kinds of prolonged activities and it tried to narrow what exactly could count as that. so, you know, certainly a rescue operation in syria would count as something that would be covered under the war powers clause and the clause in the constitution, but once you start getting beyond really basic stuff like protecting u.s. interests and u.s. personnel as the bombing campaign in iraq quickly did. remember, it then became to protect and to prevent sort of for humanitarian reasons a genocide against the yazidis, then it became protecting crucial iraqi infrastructure such as the mosul dam and he used a phrase preventing isil from action that is could cripple -- permanently cripple iraq. so as the war expanded, i believe that the white house was looking for another rationale for that. then it gets to something called the 2001 authorization for the use of military force but really that is the post sort of three days after 9/11 congress says we are declaring war on those who are responsible for 9/11. and that quickly became obviously al qaeda and was used by both bush and obama as the legal justification for air strikes, indefinite detention of individuals not just in al qaeda but also associated forces of al qaeda as it became sort of argued in the courts. >> in your piece you say this is where they start to get into shaky legal ground by using that when applied to isis. >> exactly. because isis while it does begin as a franchise of al qaeda is today a force that is really in competition and in some cases at war with al qaeda's franchise in syria. because the leader of isis right now has declared himself the caliph of all the pious muslims in the world he's a rival to ayman al zawahiri. and they correspond publicly in various ways but they both have sort of acknowledged they're out of -- isis is now no longer affiliated with al qaeda. so i called up some legal scholars who have since written on their own in more detail but the view was that you cooperaul really say isis was an associated force of al qaeda because they've kicked them out. theed ed administration's argums if it walks like a terrorist and quacks like a terrorist -- talks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck. i don't think that's going to pass legal muster. it's hard to make this argument that isis is an associate force. it's a wholly separate force than al qaeda. >> is it then leaving it up to the terrorist groups thegez mse to define who they're related to or what groups they come from? i mean, an argument that the white house has been making on capitol hill is that -- >> it's a very -- first of all, i mean, this is independent entirely from whether or not the united states should be at war with al qaeda -- i'm sorry, with isis. but the problem is that even before they used this justification for isis, there were a number of people who were very concerned that the original purpose of the war resolution, the people responsible for 9/11, had expanded to the point where it was justifying american air strikes in somalia and pakistan and yemen, really all over the muslim world. this raises this issue which i have written about before of, of course, is this a recipe for war without end, a permanent war, if you expand the definition of who was responsible for 9/11. bin laden is now dead. most of senior leadership of the organization at the time is in guantanamo or has been killed. if you continue to define it out and this original resolution becomes to elastic that it allows for a kind of permanent war that will last beyond obama's presidency and maybe this new normal. so that's been a concern from not just a legal perspective but from a kind of political perspective. so i think the alternative could have been a new resolution that was narrow and against isis that was sort of just everyoncompass everything obama said. certainly i think most republicans would have voted for it and i think you would have gotten a number of democrats just based on the public statements they've said. and i still don't really know. i don't think -- i don't know why exactly they haven't gone to congress but i can say the last time they went to congress, similar things, air strikes in syria, this time against assad about a year ago after assad violated the red line on chemical weapons, they ended up not having the votes. >> we asked our viewers in our first segment this morning whether they thought congress should hold a vote and if they did, should it happen before or after the election. is there any chance that something like that could happen before the election at this point? >> well, we haven't seen speaker boehner say he would hold that vote. we haven't seen harry reid say he would have that vote yet. so it's up to them. they're the leaders of the respective chambers of congress. but the other thing is that if they have from a military perspective, if you have, you know, baghdadi in your sights and he's in syria, then would you not then take the shot if you knew you could get him because you didn't have a formal authorization? and that's why i think they are asserting that they do have that authority under the aumf. we're talking with eli lake. if you have questions democrats call 202-585-3880. republicans 202-585-3881. independents, 202-585-3228. if you're outside the u.s. 202-585-3883. as you are calling in want to note that we've used the term long term war, new war in iraq. secretary of state john kerry was on "face the nation" yesterday and was asked about calling the fights against isis a war. >> can i clear up one thing first? this week you went to some lengths to say you wouldn't call this a war but yet at the pentagon and at the state department even they were saying we are at war with isis. are we at war? >> well, bob, i think there's frankly a kind of kor toured debate going on about terminolo terminology. what i'm focused on obviously is getting done what we need to get done to isil. but if people need to find a place to land in terms of what we did in iraq originally, this is not a war. this is not combat troops on the ground. it's not hundreds of thousands of people. it's not that kind of mobilization. but in terms of al qaeda, which we have used the word war with, yeah, we were at war with al qaeda and its affiliates. in the same context if you want to use it, we're at war with isil in this sense. i think it's a waste of time to focus on that frankly. let's consider what we have to do to degrade and defeat isil and that's what i'm frankly much more focused on. >> eli lake of the daily beast. again, we see bringing up al qaeda and isis here in the same sentence. >> i mean, it's a war because the united states will try to seize its assets, kill its leaders, take its territory. it won't do that they say for now with combat troops on the ground although there are over 1,000 americans right now in iraq that have been sent since june. they will be using air power to do so and nobody at any point ever said we weren't at war with al qaeda even though there were not combat troops in pakistan or yemen or various other places. so it's a little precious to sort of hear kerry say that. that said, it's to me kind of interesting because john kerry has been i think out front on saying that the united states needed to stop and defeat isis. he called them the face of evil last month. the president was the one who was very reluctant. he went from degrade to defeat or destroy isis. the president i think was the last holdout there, and i think kerry's main point is that there isn't going to be an invasion like we saw with iraq and afghanistan and i don't think there's any republicans really clamoring for that either. so it's kind of a red herring. >> we're talking with eli lake of the daily beast. his recent piece from last week. we'll start with matthew in mechanicsville, maryland, on our line for republicans. >> caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call. i heard -- with my comment i heard it said in other ways, i will try to do my best here, but i can remember us going into iraq when i was in the fifth grade and we've been in that area for about 25 years now, and if you're in the beltway and you're listening to these people and you're seeing the way that they define the actions we're taking over there, it's starting not to pass the smell test. they're kind of letting people that don't have the united states in their best interests define the way that we approach security issues, and you can hear it from the way that the president tries to use different acronyms to describe. i mean, let's be honest, these are the same people that we were fighting in afghanistan, and you can just read general history like universal history books on these topics. they're learning to fight us in a way that they can define the term, and this is just from what i have noticed from the semantics that our own leaders are using. they're tying themselves in knotts with who they're fighting and it's like they can't -- if they just read some general history on the area i think they would figure out who they're fighting and they are all the same people. >> eli lake? >> well, there is an ideology. we could calm it jihadism, islamic extremism. it's not the same as the religion of islam. in fact, we know that muslims are often the first and worst and their most victims i suppose of these barbarians. the caller does have a point if you want to say that the ideology that motivated osama bin laden is the same one that motivates baghdadi and eisis an al shabaab. it seeks to bring back this caliphate. it basically would enslave all women. it would make it illegal to be anything but a muslim and if you were jewish or christian you could pay a tax. it's gruesome stuff. i think i would say it's fair to say it is rejected by the people who have to live under it and we've seen that over and again, and the only way they can enforce the ideology is through just horrific and kind of almost theatrical violence. it has also recruited i think a fringe group of kind of losers in the west who feel that this is an opportunity to, you know, have a kind of exciting -- to participate in some sort of worl historical movement and it's true that the united states has been fighting this current for some time. i would say 9/11 was kind of the hinge point. the irony here is that the president has until really about june. obama has tried to say, no, no, no, we're only at war with al qaeda central and we're only at war with the franchise in yemen. and he has really resisted the idea of talking about the enemy in this kind of ideological sense, that there is this ideology, it's probably wrong to say it's political islam per se but it's kind of an extremist version of political islam and now he's facing that, and the great irony of the earlier point about the 2001 authorization for the use of military force is that by saying that, you know, that justifies the war against isis, he's making his point implicitly that this is all part of the same war and even though the franchise of isis is fighting al qaeda's formal franchise in syria, they are still sort of fellow travelers of this same ideology. there was a really revealing interview in "the atlantic" with hillary clinton who talked about needing a component to address this ideological element of it and saying it was similar to america's war against totalitarian communism during the cold war. i think it's wrong to say that these are the same people because they share the same faith of islam because there's so many muslims who fought against them. when i have been to iraq as a reporter, i spoke to several tribal sheikhs who had come to reject al qaeda even though they felt at first they sort of reached a pragmatic deal with them and i think in those cases such as some of these sheikhs, not all of them, al qaeda and this ideology will have an enemy for life because they faced the brutality themselves. >> davis is waiting on our line for republicans. davis, good morning. >> caller: good morning. first of all, you know, i would just like to say that all this war is because of the lies from george bush's administration, dick cheney, rumsfeld. you have these guys repeatedly on tv. there was an article that the think tanks are taking money from overseas in order to influence what they say and in the united states government. he was also captured by the american military in iraq and turned loose. he was part of the anbar awakening, the very same people who john mccain and them armed -- >> let me ask you you're calling in on our line for republicans. do you disagree with republicans in congress and how they're handling this? >> caller: i'm more like powell who don't believe in this war and stuff. >> all right. >> caller: let me -- >> go ahead. >> all right. first of all, ron paul is now giving his lunatic opinion on foreign policy on the kremlin funded rt network, so he's the one who is taking direct payment from a foreign government and a foreign government that just invaded and occupied ukraine. you hear this a lot and certainly politicians lie. there's a bit of dissembling in the intelligence community and operating in secrets and you can sort of debate this stuff but the truth of the matter is this president was uninterested in a war until this isis which is sort of a terrorist army was able to take over iraq's second largest city and then really became engaged when they threatened to wipe out the last of the yazidis, and now that we have three gruesome internet videos of the beheading of westerners, i think it has moved world opinion to the point where they realize they cannot live in a world in which you have the equivalent of al qaeda stand in the middle of the middle east. now, those are just facts. this is what this group has done. the argument you could leave them alone and they would leave us alone i think is clearly -- i think it's discredited by events so i would just leave it there. >> eli lake is a national security correspondent with the daily beast, previously worked with the washington times, the new republic, new york sun. how many times have you traveled overseas to iraq and the region? >> well, i have been to iraq on three different occasions, three different extended trips. i have been to the region several times. been to sudan. fortunate enough to travel a lot in my job. >> he's leer to here to take your questions and comments. joseph is up next on our independent line. >> caller: how are you doing? i want to thank you for taking my call. >> go ahead, joseph. go with your question. >> caller:ist list isis isist io the people complaining, as a military person, vietnam, gulf war, and bosnia, i want to tell you something. i served with a lot of different people, muslims, arabs, jews, whatever you want to call them, roman catholics. you know, my mom and my grandmother were concentration camp. they escaped because my father helped them. this here i think it is an illegal war against muslims. not all muslims are the same as we think they are. you know, we have a group of people like here in america, ku klux klan, organized crime, neo-nazi thing. fine. you take care of it as a person. >> eli lake i will let you jump in if you want to. >> it is correct i think it is a fair analogy to say al qaeda and isis are the -- are to islam and muslims as the ku klux klan is to clhristianity. so that is a correct analogy. >> ernie is in littleton, colorado. >> caller: good morning. a few questions here. as far as isis and al qaeda, are they not one in the same, just different terminology for isis? and, two, as far as going into syria and iraq to bomb them, is this just another say round about way to go in and get assad out of power? and then my third question is the bush administration, the obama administration, neither one of them want to release the 28 panges of 9/11. i'm just wondering why. >> i don't know why they won't release the 28 pages. i suspect it's because it implicates the saudi government. i think that's probably it. on the second point, i don't think that these air strikes are a threat to the assad regime although it's true that assad has had an opportunistic relationship with these ultra jihadists. he certainly worked with them when they were funneling foreign fighters into iraq. he is fighting them now in his civil war but not fighting them consistently. he's gone after much more moderate encampments of the free syrian army and has largely left some of the isis positions in syria untouched. he's -- he has intended to create a choice, it's either me or these lunatics. that said, what was first thing he was -- >> the general question about the relation between isis and al qaeda. >> we talked about it. isis began as an al qaeda franchise. they share the same ideology but the two groups are very much competitors right now and simple distinct and the key here is that you could -- both zawahiri and baghdadi have said this themselves. they've said you are no longary formal affiliate of al qaeda. so that i think is why you can't say that they're exactly the same organization. they certainly are the same ideology. >> one thing i wanted to talk about is your latest column in the daily beast, gotten some attention. contractors ready to cash in on isis war. >> well, first of all, i would just -- i want to point out that people who are military contractors, a lot of them have had long and important careers in military usually at the tip of the spear and there's nothing wrong with kind of going into the security contractor industry. i'm not one of these -- not like jeremy scahill who thinks it's all sort of suspect. that said the president have said a couple things that are noteworthy. number one, this is going to take more than a few months. remember he started saying it's not going to be weeks, it's going to be months. now he's saying it's going to be a few years probably lasting beyond his presidency so the length of the time is important and the second is he's promised these no combat boots on the ground. there are companies, triple canopy, academy have just merged, that are specialists in training up local forces similar to our green berets in the military so that, you know, sort of turning them into these fighting forces and it's been done by contractors for some time now and so the view is that it's probably going to be a lot of reliance on these contractors, an irony because, of course, you know, blackwater was very much associated with the republican party and joe biden himself i think in the first term in one of his trips to iraq compromised to prosecute blackwater from the justice department. this administration at least politically tried to distance itself from these contracts and it's almost certain that at least the contractors i interviewed say they believe this will present a business opportunity for them and that obama will be relying on them for this new war. >> we're talking to eli lake. he's here to answer your questions or comments. atlanta, georgia, is up next. al is waiting on our line for democrats. al, good morning. >> caller: yes, good morning. yes, i'd just like to get something understood here. i do know that obama -- first of all, i do agree with what obama is doing. he has a hard job. i mean, gosh, this is -- i don't know of anybody who would want a job like that. the question is it seems like the talk is out now that he has to have the permission of congress to do things and everything. why is it that going back 20-some years or so that president reagan did not have to have the permission or i believe he did not have, maybe i'm wrong, but he did not have the permission from congress to send army troops into granada. i don't believe he had permission to send 1,000 combat marines into lebanon where over 400 men got killed. i wonder if he could answer that. >> sure. well, the constitution at least legal scholars would say has two views. one is that congress declares war and the other is that the president is the commander in chief of the military. modern presidents including reagan have said that article 2 gives them the authority to do things such as granada. on granada it was a very time limited operation. it was so save medical students after a communist coup. in the case of what we're envisioning now against isis is by the president's own admission a long war. you know, not just weeks or months. it's not a couple air strikes and then we're out. so that is one factor i think that plays. i'm not a lawyer but i think that's an important difference. but, you know, i think there's a broader point beyond the law and that is that, you know, what we saw in the bush years was that despite even a resolution authorizing the iraq war, once that war went badly, once there were no weapons of mass destruction that were found, it became a very partisan issue. when you can have a kind of resolution that authorizes a war like this, it's a way of having a political buy-in so you avoid having that war becoming a partisan issue. this should -- in my view it shouldn't be a democrat war or an republican war. it should be an american war. that's the one benefit of having one of these authorizations i think. >> gloucester, virginia, is next. robert is on the line for democrats. >> caller: good morning to you. i serve with the 82nd airborne many -- a couple decades ago. i see us not being able to squaup der our resources any more. when you have an iraqi army that threes down its weapons and runs away after a decade of training, why are we the policemen of the world? you know, why do we have to involve ourself? we can't afford this anymore. >> well, i mean that is a -- i think that that's a viewpoint that has been gaining a lot of supporters recently. certainly this idea about america not being the policeman of the world. here is a great irony. the 2000 republican convention condoleezza rice and her introduction to the mass media i guess gives a speech in which she says america is not the world's 911. then 9/11 happens and then, of course, we become even more engaged in this long war which the president obama has tried to get us out of and now he's kind of dragged back in. so i mean i think it's true that america shouldn't be the only kind of -- the nation of last resort that's engaged in this nation building. it's so frustrating. i was there seeing a lot of on the job training in the last decade where the american military mentored iraqi military and to see them throw down their weapons in mosul. but i would just say this, i'm not making any excuses for it because i think that in some ways does show the limits of american power, but one of the factors that led i think to the failure of the iraqi military in mosul is that the prime minister, nuri al maliki, governed in many ways like the shia saddam. he alienated the sunni minorities and others, including the kurds, in his own country and replaced a lot of competent military leaders with cronies and tried to consolidate his power the way a petty dictator would and people don't want to fight for someone like that or something like that. so that i think is another factor. all these wars have that political component. i'm not entirely sure we've seen this was a matter of just -- that we failed in training them. i think it was that maliki failed as a leader and i think we failed in trying to use our influence to stop maliki from doing what he's doing which was tearing the country apart. >> mary in ohio. rich is on the line. >> caller: great. its curious people declare war on us and we just ignore it. before 9/11 they declared war on us and they're too small to cause trouble. world war ii on pearl harbor, they attacked first and then declared war. why we kept all the ships together and didn't pay attention there is beyond me. but we can't be asleep at the switch. we ought to look at 9/11, who was getting benefit from shorting the markets then, what countries, what peoples, and stuty that and find out whether it was more even than just an attack, it was a financial attack on our country to try to really set us back. >> eli lake on being asleep at the switch. >> it is the way of things usually when the united states is attacked and then we're surprised. since 9/11 there's been enormous amounts of resources in the military and intelligence committee trying to prevent another one of these attacks, to track these terrorist groups. i think the united states is better at fighting a war on terror since it started after 9/11. >> carnegie, pennsylvania. >> caller: when i listen to your guest, it's almost astonishing when i listen to the level of deceit particularly when it comes to the facts of the words existential threat. the only ex shen shall threat to the united states is the israeli government which represents a true threat which was an active participant in 9/11. >> would you like to jump in? >> i would like to jump in. make sure to listen to the man in the white lab coat. he's only trying to help your recovery and i wish you luck with your mental illness. >> jim is in winston-salem, north carolina. >> caller: good morning. the problem with what the we're having today is the same problem we've had with washington as a whole. republicans and democrats, regardless who the president is, we do the same thing in the same manner expecting different results and we never get that. evidently there's not enough people up there to realize we're not at war with isil. if we have a problem, let's go take care of it quickly and be done with it. we're not at war with the whole muslim world even though who knows. but with this particular group when there's a conflict and who calls it a conflict? i haven't heard anybody call it a war or a conflict. let's take care of the problem. they've killed two of our citizens. if we need to bomb them, let's bomb them and get out. >> that's what we're doing. i mean, yeah, i agree we're not at war with all the muslims. sure. i think it's an ideological component of it that you probably can't win with just bombing and military action alone. there's a lot of things there. >> do you want to talk about the coalition that is being built here? some headlines of a lot of the front pages in the major papers today, arab nations offering air power in u.s. strikes against isis. although unnamed arab nations to this point. >> it's been a harder slog than they originally anticipated but keep in mind this entire effort has really caught the white house -- the white house did not want to do this. they have not -- they have been reluctant at every stage. i think every stage has taken longer than they thought. i don't think it was a particularly fruitful meeting between kerry and president al si si in egypt. i think america lacks the influence it did before but that said particularly for the gulf states, particularly for saudi arabia, united arab emirates, they know that while they have been saying for some time that iran is their number one threat, they also know these groups like isis and these radical extremists are also a major threat and i think that in that sense they have an interest here in trying to defeat them. although, you know, i have to say they came after -- they came two years ago to the united states, three years ago when syria was devolving into civil war and they said we need you to do something and obama pretty much declined. so they might be saying too little, too late but at this point i think, you know, the u.s. is engaged and they probably eventually will end up helping. >> a few minutes left with eli lake p lake. try to get to as many kuls as we can. freeman has been waiting from sioux falls, south dakota. freeman, good morning. >> caller: good morning. listen to this guy here and you kind of started talking about what i was going to talk about. the fact is that barack obama, president barack obama had tried to keep us out of the syrian mess and people like mccain and probably guys like this guy here when this conflict first started wanted -- basically wanted the boots on the ground and things like that. the isil deal popped unand we've had the ukrainian deal and the president wasn't just, you know, willing to just jump in there and risk american troops' lives and what he did do was hold out and make sure he was able to get a coalition. just like with the germans and the english and the surrounding nato countries. just like down there in the middle east, there was no, you know -- if the americans would have went in there like mccain and this guy -- >> we are going to leave the last five minutes or so of this to take you live to the white house where president obama will be awarding two vietnam era veterans the medal of honor, the high he is awaest award that ca to military personnel. ♪ ♪ and here at the white house waiting for president obama here shortly to award the medal of oh honor to army command sergeant may jr. benny adkins and donald sloet. major adkins will receive his medal for serving as an intelligence sergeant during the vietnam war and sergeant sloat for his actions as a machine gunnerer during vietnam. dr. william sloet will accept on his brother's behalf. ♪ ♪ ♪ ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states. [ "hail to the chief" ] ♪ let us pray. most high and gracious god we pray today that you remind us of the value of sacrifice. how hero is a venerable title, the price paid by soldiers like the two we honor today. remembered by persistence to defend his brother to never accept defeat and never quit. one who saved the lives of his friends by selfishly giving up his own. these brave men living and dead consecrate our history and faith, the courage of our soldiers, sacredness of values, strength of the nation. today we weave their actions into the fabric of history as we served in the jungle mists in the kasan lowlands. may we never forget what they did, the friends they lost, the family they left behind. we ask you to grant these, your holy name, amen. >> please be seated. good afternoon. welcome to the white house. more than four decades ago in early 1970, an american squad in vietnam set out on patrol. they marched down a trail past a rice paddy. shots rang out. and splintered the bamboo above their heads. the lead soldier tripped a wire, a booby trap, a grenade rolled toward the feet of a 20-year-old machine gunner. the pen was pulled. that grenade would explode at any moment. a few years earlier on the other side of the country, deep in the jungle, a small group of americans were crouched on top of a small hill. it was dark. they were exhausted. the enemy had been pursuing them for days. now they were surrounded and the enemy was closing in on all sides. two discrete moments, but today we honor oh two the american soldiers for gallantry above the call of duty at those moments. specialist donald sloat stood above the grenade and command sergeant major benny adkins who fought through a ferocious battle and found himself on the jungle hill. nearly half a century after their acts of valor, a grateful notion bestows upon these men the highest military decoration, the medal of honor. normally, this medal must be awarded within a few years of the action. but sometimes even the most extraordinary stories get lost in the fog of war or the passage of time. when new evidence comes to light, certain actions can be reconsidered for this honor and it is entirely right and proper that we have done so and that's why we are here today. before i go any further, i want to thank everyone present here today whose research and testimonies and persistence over so many years finally resulted in these two men deserving the recognition they so richly deserve. i especially want to welcome members of the medal of honor society as well as two american families whose love and pride has never wavered. don sloat grew up in the heart of oklahoma in a town called powita. he grew big. over 6'4". he loved football. he played for a year at a junior college. then he decided to join the army. when he went to enlist he didn't pass his physical because of high blood pressure. so he tried again and again and again. in all he took the physical maybe seven times until he passed. because don sloat was determined to serve his country. in vietnam, don became known as one of the most liked and reliable guys in his company. twice in his first months, his patrol was ambushed, both times don responded with punishing fire from his machine gun, leaving himself completely vulnerable to the enemy. both times he was recognized for his bravery. or, as don put it in a letter home, i guess they think i'm really gung ho or something. then one morning, don and his squad set out on patrol, past that rice paddy, down the trail when the shots rang out. when the lead soldier's foot tripped that wire and set off the booby trap, the grenade rolled right to don's feet. at that moment he could have run. at that moment he could have ducked for cover. but don did something truly extraordinary. he reached down and picked that grenade up. he turned to throw it, but there were americans in front of him and behind him. inside the kill zone. don held onto the grenade and pulled it close to his body and he bent over it. as one of the men said, all of the sudden there was a boom. the blast threw the lead soldier up against a boulder. men were riddled with shrapnel. four were medevaced out. everyone else survived. don absorbed the brunt of the explosion with his body. he saved the lives of those next to him and today we are joined by two men who were with him on that patrol -- sergeant william hacker and specialist michael moleheim. for decades, don's family only knew he was killed in action. they heard he stepped on a land mine. all those years, his gold star family honored the memory of their son and brother whose name is etched forever on the granite wall not far from here. late in her life don's mother evelyn finally learned the full story of her son's sacrifice. she made it her mission to have don's actions properly recognized. sadly, nearly three years ago evelyn passed away. but she always believed she knew this day would come. she even bought a special dress to wear to this ceremony. we are honored that don and his mom are represented here today by don's brother and sisters and their families. on behalf of this american family i would ask don's brother, dr. bill sloat, to come forward for the reading of the citation and accept the gratitude of the nation. >> the president of the united states of america authorized by act of congress march 3, 1863 has awarded in the name of congress the medal of honor to specialist four donald p. sloat, united states army. specialist four donald p. sloat distinguished himself by acts of gallantry at the risk of his life serving as a machine gunner second ba tall i don't know, first infantry regiment 196 light infantry brigade during combat operations against an armed enemy in the republic of vietnam in 1970. that morning specialist of the squad was conducting a patrol. serving as a blocking almost in terms of tanks and other personnel in the area. as the squad moved up and filed formation the lead soldier tripped a wire attached to a hand grenade booby trap. as it rolled down the hill, specialist sloat knelt and picked up the grenade. after initially attempting to throw the are grenade he realized detonation was imminent. he drew the grenade to his bind shielded his squad members from the blast, saving their lives. his actions define the ultimate sacrifice of laying down his life in order to save the lives of comrades. donald p. sloat's heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, company d, second battalion, first infantry regiment 196 light infantry brigade, and the united states army. [ applause ] [ applause ] at this point i would like to ask benny adkins to come join me on stage. now let me just say the first thing you need to know is benny and i met in the oval office. he asked if he could sign back up. his lovely wife was not amused. most days you can find benny at home down in alabama. tending his garden or oh his pontoon boat on the lake. he's been married to the mary for 58 years. he's a proud father of five. grandfather of six. at 80, still going strong. a couple years ago he came to the white house with his fellow veterans for a breakfast we had on veterans day. he tells folks he was the only person he knows who has spilled his dessert in the white house. i just have to correct you. that makes two of us. i have messed up my tie. i have messed up my pants. in the spring of 1966, benny was just 32 years old, on his second tour in vietnam. he and his fellow green berets were at an isolated camp along the ho chi minh trail. a huge force attacked bombarding benny and his comrades with mortars, white prhosphorous. it was nearly impossible to move without being wounded or killed. benny ran in to enemy fire again and again to reare troo trieve ammo, carry the wounded to safety, man the mortar pit holding off wave after wave of enemy assaults. three times explosions blasted him out of the pit and three times he returned. i have to be honest. in a battle and daring escape that lasted four days, benny performed so many acts of bravery we actually don't have time to talk about all of them. let me just mention three. on the first day, benny was helping load a wounded american onto a helicopter. a vietnamese soldier jumped on and aimed his weapon at the wounded soldier. benny shielded his comrade, placing himself this the line of oh fire, helping to save his wounded comrade. at another point in the battle benny and other soldier ares were trapped in the mortar pit, covered in shrapnel and smoking debris. their only exit was blocked by enemy machine gun fire. so benny thought fast, dug a hole out of the pit and snuck out the other side. as another american escaped through the hole he was shot in the leg. an enemy soldier charged him hoping to capture a live p.o.w., benny fired killing that enemy and pulling his fellow american to safety. by the third day of battle, benny and others managed to escape into the jungle. he had cuts and wounds all over his body. he refused to be evacuated. when a rescue arrived benny insisted others go instead. benny, wounded and bleeding, found himself with his men on the jungle hill exhausted and surrounded with the enemy closing in. after all they had been through, as if it weren't enough there was something more. you can't make this up. in the jungle they heard the growls of a tiger. it turns out the tiger may have been the best thing to happen to benny in those days. he said the north vietnamese were more scared of the tiger than they were of us. so the enemy fled. benny and the squad made their escape and they were rescued finally the next morning. in benny's life we see the enduring service of men and women in uniform. he went on to serve a third tour in vietnam. more than two decades in uniform. after he retired he earned his master's degree -- not one but two -- opened an accounting firm, taught adult education classes. became national commander of the legion of valor veterans organization. he has earned his retirement, despite what he says. he's living outside auburn. yes, he's a fan of the auburn tigers but i polled the family and there is some crimson tide fans here. so there is obviously division. benny will tell you he owes everything to the men he served with in vietnam. especially the five who gave their lives in that battle. every member of his unit was killed or wounded. every single one was recognized for their service. today we are joined by some of the men who served with benny including major john bradford, the soldier benny shielded and major wayne murray, who benny saved from capture. i would ask them and all of our vietnam veterans who are here to please stand or raise your hand to be recognized. [ cheers and applause ] now i ask for the citation to read. >> the president of the united states of america authorized by act of congress march 3, 1863, has awarded in the name of congress the medal of honor to sergeant fist class benny g. adkins, united states army. sergeant first class adkins distinguished himself by acts of ga lan tri at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as an intelligence sergeant with detachment a-102, fifth special forces group during combat operations against an armed enemy at camp eshu, republic of vietnam in 1966. when the camp was attacked by a large north vietnamese and veet congress force in the morning hours sergeant adkins rushed through intense enemy fire and continually adjusted fire for the camp despite incurring wounds as the pit received several direct hits. upon learning several soldiers were wounded near the center of camp, he temporarily turned the mortar over to another soldier, ran through exploding rounds and dragged several comrades to safety. as the hostile fire subsided sergeant first class adkins exposed himself to sniper fire while carrying wounded comrades to the dispensary. when he and his group of defenders came under heavy small arms fire from members of the civilian irregular defense group that defected to fight with the north vietnamese he evacuated a seriously wounded american and draw fire while successfully covering the rescue. when a resupply air drop landed outside of the camp perimeter sergeant adkins again moved outside of the camp walls to retrieve the much-needed supplies. during the early morning hours of march 10, 1966, enemy forces launched the main attack and within two hours sergeant adkins was the only man firing a mortar weapon. when all mortar rounds were expended sergeant adkins began placing recoilless rifle fire upon enemy positions. despite rounds exploding on his position, sergeant adkins fought off intense waves of attacking vietcong. he eliminated numerous insurgents with small arms fire. running extremely low on ammunition, he returned to the pit, gathered vital information and returned through intense fire back to the bunker. after being ordered to evacuate he and a small group of soldiers destroyed classified documents, dug their way out of the rear of the bunker and fought their way out of the camp. while carrying a wounded soldier to the extraction point he learned the last helicopter had already departed. sergeant adkins led the group until they were rescued by helicopter. during the 38-hour battle and 48 hours of escape and evasion, fighting with mortars, machine guns, small arms and hand grenades, it is estimated sergeant first class adkins killed between 135 and 175 of the enemy while sustaining 18 different wounds to his body. sergeant first class adkins's extraordinary selflessness above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect upon himself, a-102, fifth special forces group, first special forces and the united states army. [ applause ] over the decades our vietnam veterans didn't always receive the thanks and respect they deserved. that's a fact. but as we have been reminded again today our vietnam vets were patriots and are patriots. you served with valor, made us proud and your service is with us for eternity. so no matter how long it takes, no matter how many years go by, we will continue to express our gratitude for your extraordinary service. my god watch over don sloat and all those who sacrificed for our country. may god keep safe those who wear our country's uniform and veterans like benny adkins. may god continue to bless the united states of america. at this point i would ask our chaplain to return to the stage for the benediction. >> let us continue to pray. as you go forth be not afraid. go into the world with peace, hold onto good. support the weak and help the suffering. honor all people. let us love and serve and may god's blessing be upon us. remain with us always, amen. >> at this point, i would welcome everybody to join the sloat family, the adkins family for a reception. i hear the food is pretty good. once again to all of you who serve and your families who serve along with them the nation is grateful. your are commander in chief could not be prouder. thank you very much, everybody. [ applause ] ♪ ♪ the presidential medal of honorer ceremony wrapping up. if you missed any of it, we'll have it up shortly online. check it out any time at c-span.org in the video library. today at the u.s. capitol the house and senate have govled in. the house starting legislative work at health care 4:00 eastern time with more than a dozen bills on the calendar in the house including steroid trafficking, and child care subsidies. watch the house live on c-span and the senate and speeches now and more work on a bill dealing with campaign spending in federal elections. you can watch live on c-span 2. the house rules committee is supposed to meet to consider a continuing resolution. a short-term federal spending to fund the government and related agencies until lawmakers pass a budget. c-span cameras will be there at the rules committee. we'll take you live. it's scheduled to meet after the last vote in the house today. you can tune into that meeting streaming live online. c-span.org. several hearings coming up this week on the u.s. strategy to combat isis. defense secretary chuck hagel and the joint chiefs of star chair dempsey will appear before the senate armed services committee. live coverage at 9:30 a.m. eastern here on c-span 3. also tomorrow a hearing on the ebola outbreak in west africa and the international response. witnesses in that hear ing include the head of the national institute of allergy and infectious diseases. also health workers who treated people directly who are infected with the virus. watch that joint hearing of the senate health committee tomorrow live at 2:30. >> tonight on "the communicators." california democratic representative anna eshoa talks about net neutrality and rules governing the internet. >> i spoke publically about what i thought the fcc should do to be on firmer legal ground and point it to title two. now we have had, fast forward, discussions at the committee about it. this is all about net neutrality, obviously. people in our country feel very strongly about the internet. not only how they use it, but how they think about it and the access to it. that it be free and open and that no one should be able to interfere with that. >> tonight at 8:00 eastern on the communiqcatoommunicators. >> ted nichol talked about the mixed approach. he spoke during a panel discussion with the lines for health reform in washington, d.c. a former official with the obama administration took part in this discussion. it's about 90 minutes. >> okay, folks. we are going to go ahead and get started. good morning. on behalf of the alliance for health reform and our honorary cochairmen i would like to welcome you to this morning's session about network adequacy. i would like to thank our sponsors, the blue cross/blue shield association and the university of pittsburgh medical center. if you are following us on twitter, the hashtag this morning is # network add question si. if you are listening by phone or watching on c-span 2, you can e-mail questions to us at questions@all health.org or you can tweet them to # network adequacy. the title of the session is network adequacy. we have heard many names for these networks. we have heard everything from limited networks, narrow networks, value networks. why are we having so much trouble naming these things? first, what are they? some new insurance plans in the marketplaces offer consumers networks that are -- that do not include certain docker tors, hospitals or medical providerers. some are saying that the smaller networks are causing problems for provider access, choice. many are saying if done the right way, this can help by creating competition and controlling costs while also maintaining quality. so there are a lot of questions about this. therefore the trouble naming them. do they save consumers money? is the quality of care as good as in broader networks? do consumers have enough choice? do they need all that choice? how prescriptive should the governments be in setting requirements for the networks? what is the consumer experience so far and what will it be going forward. we are fortunate today to have three experts with us. we are going to start with ted nichol today, wisconsin's insurance commissioner. he also plays a leadership role at the national association of insurance commissioners. where he's a point person on this subject and is heading up efforts to update model regulations for the states. joe ario is managing director of menat health solutions. he was first director of the office of health insurance exchanges at the department of health and human services. he's been pennsylvania's insurance commissioner. also oregon's insurance commissioner. michael chernu is a professor of health care policy at harvard medical school. he's a member of the congressional budget office panel of health advisers and the institute of medicine's committee on national statistics. he's also a former vice chair of the medicare payment advisory commission. once the three of them have given presentations we'll open up to questions and answers. at that time, diane holde executive vice president of university of pittsburgh medical center and elena pabin within the value partnerships department of the blue cross/blue shield of michigan will join us for the q&a. we are going to go ahead and start with ted. >> good morning. thank you for having me here today. this is really an important discussion. one that's going to continue for quite some time into the future. we want to focus on network adequacy. i want to provide a little bit of background and update from a regulator's perspective on network adequacy. first of all it's important to know, realize and remember that there are a lot of conflicting issues surrounding network adequacy. for consumers the main issue is whether or not their doctor or hospital is in their insurance plan and whether or not they can receive the care they are looking for. also whether or not they can ultimately be able to afford a particular care. and to keep their health care costs and insurance costs down. for providererers on the other hand, the wider the networks the greaterer the reimbursement rates. the more attractive it is for consumers to pick from those plans and increase patient numbers. then providers are constantly negotiating with insurers for higher reimbursement rates. insurers view wide networks a little bit differently. they would typically see those as increasing costs and decreasing the ability to manage care. insurers are constantly negotiating with providerers on reimbursement rates to narrow at times networks to increase and better manage the care of patients and consumers. all of this is to a point from the regulator's perspective the networks must be sufficient or the insurer may have to pay in network benefits to out of network providers. with the divergent issues in play, how do we as regulators referee. it's really a mixed regulatory approach. it differs from state to state. networks are subject to a number of different reviews. first is state review. the network must meet any state standards. then there are a number of -- excuse me. then any number of insurers may try to become accredited by national accrediting firms such as ncqa or iraq. this is optional but used as a sign of quality. good housekeeping seal of approval. for insurers selling on an exchange or opting for qualified health plan designation, they also must follow federal standards. again, from a are regulatory perspective who do we regulate to assure network adequacy and network -- folks following networks. for the insurer, do we regulate the insurer, the network itself. do we regulate tpas? for a fully insured plan it's simple. the insurance regulators regulate the insurers and can regulate the plans through that process. for a self-insured plan it's not as clear. as a result some states have looked at regulating third party administrators to get to the issues. most states will only be able to regulate the network issues through the insurer oversight function. it is also important to note there might be different standards for different products. in wisconsin, an hmo or a closed panel may be required to report more quality measures or may be required to allow direct access to certain providers such as an ob/gyn. there are also appeals processes in place for emergency care. ppos and open panel plans may have lesser requirements because consumers have an option to choose from any provider. one of the other debates at this point may end up revolving around this business of multi tier plans. a larger network is attached with higher co-pays and out of network benefits. do we look at the tiers? how? should the smaller tier be regulated and should it have to be a full network? typically that tier level doesn't include specialists. all of this is to get at my next point. many cases in the past -- excuse me. in many cases the passage of the aca has resulted in the accelerated use of, focus on and narrowing of networks across the country. harken back to my earlier point that no control or narrower networks can lower costs for insure insureds. widerer benefits under qhp, under aca increased the cost of insurance. insurerers to keep insurance costs lower, look to network design to slow the anticipated increase in rates. renewed focus on networks and network adequacy caused the nic, of which i am a member to re-examine and update the modern law. not unusual but usually environmental factors cause the naic or the normal vicissitudes of time to up update laws. the current model has not been looked at or updated since the late 1990s. state that is adopted the model are able to make their own changes at any time. the model was adopted in 1996, very flexible and is still good. its pliability reflect it is diversity that exists between states in terms of market differences, large versus urban -- excuse me, large urban versus vast rural and the way insureds operate. open versus closed panel but keep it is same standards. the model itself file a plan to ensure they are meeting the standards of the area. wisconsin chairs the group. it's charged with revising the model. we have sought a lot of input from all parties affected by the law. consumerers, providers, insurers and accrediting organizations. we have received 26 comment letters thus far from interested parties. once we are finished reviewing those, we'll continue working on revising the model. the goal is to add all the changes or look at the changes and take a fresh look and go through the model one more time. in and around network adequacy, in some cases we may not be able to come up with an answer. as a regulator of insurance it may not be our place to answer. issues we'll be grappling with are narrow network as problem? what if no wide networks are in a market. what if the insured doesn't offer out of network coverage. how narrow is too narrow. does it matter if an insurers cover all out of network services. what is the appeals process for uncovered services? should there be a single state-wide standard? what happens when a doctor or hospital leaves a snunetwork? and to what degree should there be continuity of care. and requirements as well. the list goes on and on. finally, we as regulators and folks working on this very important issue need to keep things in mind as well. we always need to be mindful of costs. we need to look at access to med call care for vulnerable consumers and recognize and understand that we as regulators don't have all of the answers. we need a model that can address the existing and emerging issues for another 15, 20 years. >> actually, before we move on, can i just ask you what can you tell us at the moment? i understand you haven't finished your work at the naic, but where do you think we are headed with the regulations? are there any based on the comments, where the other insurance commissioners are? what can you tell us about where you think we are headed with the regulations on questions you raised? >> that's a broad question. >> state to state differences needs to be recognized. we have states with significant urban populations. then you have states like wisconsin with pockets of urban populations surrounded by cows. it's important to make sure that there is a model in place and a framework in place to get ultimately get consumers the type of care, the type of access they need. again, keeping in mind the cost issues. the other issue that we have seen so far is in talking with staff, this issue of network adequacy, while always being something we get questions or complaints about we have not seen an uptick in the amount of questions about, gosh, my insurer cancelled my network or oh threw out my doctor. we are not seeing that yet. we are trying to keep those things in mind as we look to, again, update the model. and update it with an eye toward new products out there. there is new technology available. a lot of the entire health care market, entire health insurance market has changed since the model has passed. heading in that direction of updating the model given a lot of environmental factors that we have seen. >> one more question and we'll move on. regarding the comments that have come in from stake holders and others. are there any particular themes that you -- this red threads yow or disagreements you think are going to make your job a lot more difficult. >> think the one issue that's always going to be a challenge is access. you're going to want -- there will be a certain folks who want to have complete wide access to whatever is available out there and you're going to have the other side pushing back saying it's a great idea. but it's just not affordable at that level. and you're always going to -- we have seen that there's a need for more managed care. there is so much more technology out there. there are so many ways to better handle individual care. and i think joel will address it at some point this morning. that this idea of focusing on a narrowing of networks and better managing care is really becoming a huge part of the landscape. it's really promoting healthier outcomes. >> handling these issues, looking to the naic and different perspectives and the way they are represented is a good way to get a window into the issue. i i hope we keep this issue primarily at the state level. i think it is the kind of issue that differs dramatically across the states. one more comment i want to make is the last time we were here at the press club it was for an event that john carr asked me to attend. i learned of his sudden death. i think he was a reporterer in the very best tradition. just a natural curiosity about issues and just really did a bang-up job covering the issues, particularly at the naic. i will get into my comments. i have three points to make. one is around the networks and what was intended in the aca in terms of setting up exchanges and competition. issues within the aca to the network issue. and what are some of the consumer concerns here. ultimately, i think consume rs will be the barometer on this issue. we've going to have a different outcome than if they starting with the networks, shows you how controversial the issues are. you get in trouble right away depending on what you call these things. narrower value networks were clearly intended in the aca. you take out a lot of the other variables on particular risk selection. i'm glad it's gone as a form of competition or maybe not completely gone. it should be and will be gone. you have to look at other ways to compete. i think it was clear as the aca was set up that one of the things that insurers do to compete was really asking hard questions about the networks and trying to manage price around how they set up the networks. it was also envisioned in the aca that part of the reason it would work in counter distinction to the 90s was because exchanges offer a multitude of choices to people. so it wouldn't be like your employer deciding to go with an hmo as the only product and you are forced into a narrow network and it's a one size fits all situation. the exchanges allow you to have a situation where if people want they can choose broader ppos. if they want, they can choose other narrower network products. i think that's important. i would want to make sure all the products weren't tightly managed products that there were choices for consumers in the ppo world. i will come back to that to talk about the consumer. the consumer has to be educated, know the difference between those issues. the first point is this is not a surprise to people who take the aca together. they have this competition and it's a healthy kind of competition to have in the marketplace. i feared one thing more than anything else in this arenament it would be that some events happened that caused people to sort of set a one-size fits all type solution to the problem. it takes away the rich competition that can happen around different approaches to networks. if you look at the rest of the aca outside the exchanges now, you do see the things ted talked about at the end there of the acos, affordable care -- accountable care organizations which could call them affordable care, too. the acos, really other dimension of the payment reform initiatives out of the innovation center, bundle payments. they all require are tightly managed oversight of the provider networks. and between the provider network and the insured. you could call them kaiser-like approaches to the issue. when i was at the agent setting up the original network rules. some people were proposing fairly stringent standards that would apply to everybody as we were just kicking around ideas. i would ask the question, what would you do with kaiser under that situation? people would go, oh, kaiser is different. i would say, well, what about other people that are going to say when the law is in place, we want to be kaiser. you can't just say, well, kaiser is different. you have to let everybody have an opportunity to do that or you say you can't do it at all. i think those integrated delivery systems are very important. we saw earnings calls last week. david credani of sig that and mark -- from aetna talk about flexibility around networks and how the aco work which they are busy creating acos in conjunction with the insurance activities that those become examples of products. i think ted, you have some in your state now. the chinese plant in san francisco. you will make these plans in local areas that have a select network and i want those products on my exchange. i do want them. insures have to be pushed into creating products. in massachusetts, it was the legislature that had to say we want all the insurers to offer a product with a lower price point with a narrower network. we want the choice available. so i think all of that is important here. it's intended for price comp oh technician. it's also key to managed care and improving the quality at the same time you are reducing the cost. the way in which networks are managed are critical to that. and i think the future does hold that a number of the aco-type developments happening around the country will show up as targeted products on the exchanges. so that gets me to the third, probably the most important point. again, consumers are the ultimate barometer here. the insurers, politicians, everybody that's part of the is system, even the insurance commissioners, depending on what consumers say and how they vote in the marketplace. will react to that. and the rules will differ. so i think two issues are important to make for a vibrant and competitive network. one is transparency. the consumer need s to know who is in what network, which plans are which kind of networks. unlikely to see a kaiser being challenged on its networks because of where it operates. people pretty much know what they are getting there. it's more or less a closed a closed system it's a much different thing if a broader plan that has a reputation and advises itself as all the doctors in the state and our networks and so forth. there was a small print who said that's not part of that. you don't have that. we have something else. you should be able to do that and have those networks. it has to be transparent. there is a lot of work to be done. finally i think there have to be some kind of safety valves for out of network protections if you are going to draw around the out of network and reward people around the state and network and big penalties and no reimbursement out of network. you have to have rules like i go to the in network hospital and i get a bill that said unbenounced to me, one of the professionals is not in networking. new york now regulates that and said consumer doesn't know about it ahead of time, they get the in network price. a lot of issues to make sure the consumers are educated around these issues and that there is full transparency. it would be wise and i suspect that they'll come to this conclusion that we ought to give states wide latitude to regulate this in response to local market conditions. >> so let's turn to mike. >> great. thank you. i am thrilled to be here. when i speak at events like this, sometimes speakers disagree and there a lot of fireworks and it's exciting. unfortunately i am going to be in agreement with the previous speaker. for those who wanted a jerry springer event, i don't think we will have one. maybe later. first let me start by saying something about the term narrow versus value. value and narrow, narrow networks may be high value. about but value imi plies cost and not just that. value has a specific manying about what you are getting for the amount and not to be used for the sake of that. you could have a high value, but you may not. i think the discussion here is what to do when you have a narrow network that is not high value. let me start by laying out a general part. one of the things i find frustrating is when i read articles, the topic is when they move to another area and they forgot what was written last week. there was a lot written about the prices we have that are high. that's an issue. so one advantage about having narrower networks, the price that is paid to providers. one advantage of narrower networks is it strengthens the hands of the people who are focusing. he is buying a car and he funds to his wife and one of the sales men. it was interesting to say it wasn't that useful in the negotiation process. if you are negotiating and the other person knows they have to be in, it changes the price. if you are worried about the price and you may or may not be in a market system, the ability to exclude becomes important. another topic that has been interesting and we get the geographic variation. and actually across providers. there is a lot more. if you knew that, wouldn't it make sense to try to construct a network for you folks on those providers and follow more efficiently the advantage of having a narrower tactic. there other reasons. if you can concentrate enrollment and it facilitates engagement and may reduce administrative costs. i can make a strong case for why there is merit to these types of things and that said, there is a lot of reasons to be concerned about the products. most importantly, people need access to good doctor and convenient doctors and their doctors. we very much want to have people have that opportunity. the problem is in general, you choose your plan before you get ill. it's not clear who you know. i can name one doctor who is my doctor. i have a lot of body parts and all of them can break. i have no idea which doctor i would want to go in that eventuality. i would be forced to choose my plan. i don't want to investigate who the best neurologist and dermatologist and whatever else i might need before i choose my plan. i can't make that choice. even though i agree with the other speakers, the consumer awareness is important. it would be how much we can inform consumers. the time they choose their plan versus the time when they need their care. in the case where you use a lot of doctors. i might not know and the relationship with the oncologist. it was the primary physician. people were very serious. it was difficult to see now you have to choose. so transparency is obviously important. it's not going to be a full solution. it was a bait and switch thing that might happen. the network changes all of a sudden your doctor is not in. we have to think about how to deal with that. both said and i think it's important one of the ways to deal with this type of problem is to reduce the consequences if your physician or hospital ends up being out of network. what do you have to pay to reduce the harm that occurs if there is some mismatch between what you want and need. there is another problem. another concern about the types of networks, the concern related to selection. it is true that i can make a compelling case with variation and proficiency and pick those who are more proficient. you might be able to pick different patients by picking certain doctors. we have to worry about them. i believe in a personal comment, we made ard vances in risk and i am less concerned about that and i could show you evidence that suggests it might be more appealing for plans for folks with chronic disease as opposed to out with the way we do risk adjustment. that's the end of the process. i think that matters. a few other final points, the first is and i hate to say this because we are going out on tv somewhere, but i believe this. fairness to providers is important. it is not the goal of the health care system. there is sometimes fair to providers. at the understand of the day the ability of providers to get into a network is not what we are concerned about. it's more about patients having access and the cost they can afford. we will see through the networks a big reorganization and how the providers respond and that will be one of the most important to monitor. the providers are going to have to negotiate in different ways with the plans. a few other things as was mentioned before, we need to think about the issues that is narcotic and not plan specific things. that creates challenges and i'm glad i'm not one. we have to focus on that and the second thing is ideally, we would be able to focus on measures of out come and not structure. things that were mentioned as opposed to those things on structure. it will remain hard if we focus on structure. the more we can improve our measures, the less important the decisions we make and the easier it will be to make decisions about the underlying adequacy things because we will be able to make sure to avoid the most egregious cases. in summary, we will not get this perfectly correct. there will be complaints for a variety of reasons. many are likely to be justifiable, but we have to avoid the temptation to move to a system that creates a creative network development because we want to avoid there ever being a problem when those networks do get developed. thank you. >> great. thank you. before we head into the q&a, one question for the three paneli s panelists. what do we already know about cost and quality? if you comparing the narrower to the broader networks. do we have numbers and research that show us numbers in terms of cost
and he pulled it close to his body and bent over and that is when one of the men said all of a sudden there is a boom. the blast threw the lead soldier up against a boulder. men were riddled with shrapnel. four were medevacked out but everyone else survived. don absorbed the brunt of the explosion with his body. he saved the lives of those next to him and today we're joined by two men who were with him on that patrol, sergeant william hacker and specialist michael mullheim. for decades don's family only knew that he was killed in action. they heard he had stepped on land mine. all those year his gold-star family honored the memory of his son and brother whose name is etched forever on that granite wall not from here. don's mother finally learned the full story of her son's sacrifice and she made it her mission to have don's actions properly recognized. sadly nearly three years ago evelyn passed away but she always believed -- she knew this day would come. she even bought a special dress to wear to the ceremony. we are honored that don and his mom are represented here today by don's brother, sisters, and their families on behalf of this american family i would ask don's brother, dr. bill sloat to come forward for the reading of the citation and accept the gratitude of our nation. >> the president of the united states of america authorized by an act of congress march 3rd, 1963, has awarded the medal of honor. specialist sloat distinguished himself with the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving in the second battalion, first infantry regimen during combat operations against an armed enemy in the republic of vietnam on january 17th, 1970. on that morning specialist sloat's squad was on a mission. as the squad moved up a small hill in formation, the lead soldier tripped a wire attached to a hand grenade booby trap set up by enemy forces. after initially attempting to throw the grenade, specialist sloat realized that detonation was imminent. he shielded his squad members from the blast saving their lives. specialist sloat's action define the ultimate sacrifice to save the life of his comrades. his extraordinary heroism above and beyond the call in duty are keeping in the highest tradition of military service and reflects great company upon himself and his company and the united states army. [ applause ] >> at this point i would like to ask benny atkins to come join me on stage. now, let me say the first thing you need to know is when benny and i met in the oval office he asked if he could sign back up. his lovely wife was not amused. most days you can find benny at home down in alabama. tending his garden or his boat out on the lake. he's been married to mary for 58 years. he's a proud father of five. grandfather of six. at 80, still going strong. a couple years ago he came here to the white house with his fellow veterans for breakfast we had on veterans day. he tells folks he was the only person he knows who has spilled his dessert in the white house. and i just have to correct you. that makes two of us. i've messed up my tie. i've messed up my pants. but in the spring of 1966, benny was just 32 years old on his second tour in vietnam. he and his fellow green berets were at an isolated camp along the trail. a huge force attack ed at a tim it was nearly impossible to kill without being wounded or killed but benny ran into enemy fire again and again to retrieve supplies and ammo to carry the wounded to safety, to man the mortar pit holding off wave after wave of enemy assaults. three times explosions blasted him out of that mortar pit and three times he returned. i have to be honest in a battle and daring escape that lasted four days, bennie performed so many acts of bravery, we don't have time to talk about all of them. let me just mention three. on the first day, bennie was helping load a wounded american on a helicopter. a vietnamese jumped on the hilo trying to escape the battle and aimed his weapon at the soldier ready to shoot. bennie stepped in places himself in the line of fire helping to save his wounded comrade. at another point in the battle, bennie and a few other soldiers were trapped in the mortar pit covered in shrapnel and smoking debris. their only exit was blocked by enemy machine gun fire so bennie thought fast. he dug a hole out of the pit and snuck out the other side as another american escaped through that hole, he was shot in the leg. an enemy soldier charged him hoping to capture a live p.o.w. and bennie fired pulling his fellow american to safety. by the third day of battle, bennie and a few others managed to escape into the jungle. he had cuts and wounds all over his body but he refused to be evacuate e evacuated. when a rescue helicopter arrived, bennie insisted others go instead. on the third night, bennie found himself with his men up on that jungle hill exhausted and surrounded with enemy closing in and for all they had been through as if it weren't enough, there was something more. you can't make this up. there in the jungle they heard the growls of a tiger. it turns out that tiger might have been the best thing that happened to bennie during those days because he says the north vietnamese were more scared of the tiger than they were of us. the enemy fled. bennie and his squad made their escape and they were rescued finally the next morning. bennie's life we see the enduring service of our men and women in uniform. he went on to serve a third tour in vietnam. a total of more than two decades in uniform. after he retired, he earned his masters degree actually not one but two, opened up an accounting firm, taught adult education classes, became national commander of the legion of valor of veterans organizations so has earned his retirement despite what he says. he's living outside auburn. and, yes, he is a fan of the auburn tigers although i did a poll of the family and there are some crimson tide fans here so there's obviously some divisions. but bennie will tell you he owes everything to the men he served with in vietnam especially the five who gave their lives in that battle. every member of his unit was killed or wounded. every single one was recognized for their service. today we're joined by some of the men who served with bennie including major john bradford, the soldier that benny shielded in that helicopter and major wayne murray, the soldier benny saved from being captured. i would ask them and all of our vietnam veterans who are here today to please stand or raise your hand to be recognized. [ applause ] >> now i ask the citation be read. >> the president of the united states of america authorized by act of congress march 3rd, 1863, has awarded in the name of congress the medal of honor to sergeant first class benny g.adkins. he distinguished himself by acts of gallantry at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as an intelligent sergeant fifth special forces group first special forces during combat operations against an armed enemy in the republic of vietnam from march 9th to 12th, 1966. when the camp was attacked by a large north vietnamese force in the early morning hours, sergeant first class adkins rushed through intense enemy fire and manned a mortar position adjusting fire for the camp despite incurring wounds from enemy mortars. upon learning several soldiers were wounded toward the center of camp, he turned the mortar over to another soldier, ran through exploding mortar rounds and dragged several comrades to safety. as the hostile fire subsided, sergeant first class adkins exposed himself to sniper fire while carrying his wounded comrades to the camp dispensary. when sergeant first class adkins came under small armed fire, he maneuvered outside of the camp to evacuate a seriously wounded american and draw fire while successfully covering the rescue. when a resupply air drop landed outside of the camp perimeter, sergeant first class adkins moved outside of the camp wall to retrieve the much needed supplies. during the early morning hours of march 10th, 1966, enemy forces launched their main attack and within two hours sergeant first class adkins was the only man firing a mortar weapon. when all mortar rounds were expe expended, he placed effective rifle fire upon enemy positions. despite receiving additional wounds from enemy rounds exploding on his position, sergeant first class adkins fought off intense waves of attacks. running extremely low on ammunition, he returned to the mortar pit, gathered vital ammunition and ran through intense fire back to the bunker. after being ordered to evacuate the camp, sergeant first class adkins and a small group of soldiers destroyed all classified documents, dug their way out of the rear of the bunker and fought their way out of the camp. while carrying a wounded soldier to the extraction point, he learned that the last helicopter had already departed. sergeant first class adkins led the group while evading the enemy until they were rescued by helicopter on march 12th, 1966. during the 38-hour battle and 48 hours of escape and evasion fighting with mortars, machine guns, rifles, small arms and hand grenades, it was estimated that sergeant first class adkins killed hundreds of the enemy while sustaining 18 different wounds to his body. his extraordinary heroism above the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit on special forces and the united states army. [ applause ] >> over the decades, our vietnam veterans didn't always receive the thanks and respect they deserved. that's a fact. but as we have been reminded again today, our vietnam vets were patriots and are patriots. you served with valor. you made us proud. and your service is with us for eternity. it doesn't matter how long it takes, no matter how many years go by, we will continue to express our gratitude for your extraordinary service. may god watch over don sloat and all those that sacrificed for our country and may god keep safe those who wear the uniform and veterans like bennie adkins and may god bless the united states of america. at this point i ask our chaplain to return to the stage for our benediction. >> let us continue to pray. as you go forth be not afraid. go into the world in peace, have courage hold onto what is good and strengthen the feign hearted. we honor all people. let us love and serve and may god's blessing be upon us, remain with us always. amen. >> and at this point i would welcome everybody to join the sloat family and the adkins family for a reception. i hear the food is good. the nation is grateful. your commander in chief could not be prouder. thank you very much, everybody. [ applause ] >> incredible. we have sat and watched a lot of these u.s. medal of honor ceremonies at the white house in recent years and they have been younger service men, many of whom who have been awarded these medals of honor but to see this man from alabama getting this award 48 years later after serving so bravely in vietnam. it's just absolutely stunning. as we always like to button these up saying thank you to our service men and women who fight for this nation each and every day. just ahead, fears that the killings of four men could be part of a "bloody crusade" a college student accused of cold blooded killings as revenge against the united states and an actress says police slapped her in cuffs for public displays of affection with her boyfriend but is that the whole story? we'll hear from her coming up. i'm brooke baldwin. you're watching cnn. the eyes may be the windows to the soul. but in the case of the lexus ls... ...which eyes? eyes that pivot with the road... ...that can see what light misses... ...eyes designed to warn when yours wander... or ones that can automatically bring the ls to a complete stop. all help make the unseen... ...seen. and make the ls perhaps the most visionary vehicle on the road. this is the pursuit of perfection. it's monday. a brand new start. your chance to rise and shine. with centurylink as your trusted technology partner, you can do just that. with our visionary cloud infrastructure, global broadband network and custom communications solutions, your business is more reliable - secure - agile. and with responsive, dedicated support, we help you shine every day of the week. centurylink your link to what's next. sweenjoy it all...ry! 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>> i can tell you this, brooke. he's at this point charged with murder in two different states. we're talking washington state as well as in new jersey. and this spanned over the course of two months as you pointed out authorities saying he was on a bloody crusade killing four people, three in washington state and one in new jersey and the common thread among these four victims according to authorities is they are all adult males and that according to authorities they don't see any known connection between this man and his victims. they say all of his victims died by multiple gunshot wounds and they were killed execution style and as you point out the interview that he had with police very disturbing. according to these court documents i'm looking at right here, he told police that he did in fact kill these four people and that he was exacting vengeance against the u.s. ep says he became angry at the evil of the united states and evil that had led to the death of innocent civilians and children in iraq, afghanistan and syria. he's telling police that he was on a mission to kill americans as a way to exact vengeance for u.s. foreign policy, brooke. >> what more do we know about brown prior to these killings? does he have any previous criminal history? anything. >> he's a registered sex offender. he was tied to a bank fraud case several years ago that happened in washington state and this was a group of people who won of them at least had a connection to al shabab but as far as other details about him, i was speaking to the prosecutor in new jersey and they are staying tight lipped right now. they can tell me he's an american citizen. he's believed to have been born in the u.s. any other details are really staying tight lipped at this point. it's clear he has a previous criminal history. he hasn't been charged with terrorism at this point, brooke. there is the state terrorism charge and the federal terrorism charge and at this point hasn't been charged with any of those. that could happen. his case hasn't been brought to a grand jury yet in new jersey so a lot could still happen in this case. >> thank you so much for coming up on this for us in washington today. pamela brown, we'll look for more of your reporting. i appreciate it very much. always a point of debate here. should america pay ransom to free americans held hostage? 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the mother of james foley recently talked to cnn and said she's absolutely livid with the obama administration for not doing more to save her son. in fact, she said she was threatened with prosecution if she raised ransom. my next guest says the u.s. should rethink its policy. she's the american held in iran for two years. stunning story. her opinion next. suddenly you're a mouthbreather. well, put on a breathe right strip and instantly open your nose up to 38% more than cold medicines alone. so you can breathe and sleep. shut your mouth and sleep right. breathe right. so you can breathe and sleep. means keeping seven billion ctransactions flowing.g, and when weather hits, it's data mayhem. but airlines running hp end-to-end solutions are always calm during a storm. so if your business deals with the unexpected, hp big data and cloud solutions make sure you always know what's coming - and are ready for it. make it matter. veggies you're cool... reworking the menu. mayo, corn dogs...you are so out of here! ahh... the complete balanced nutrition of great tasting ensure. 24 vitamins and minerals. 9 grams of protein... with 30% less sugars than before. ensure, your #1 dr. recommended brand now introduces ensure active. muscle health. clear protein drink and high protein. targeted nutrition to feed your active life. ensure. take life in. there it is... this is where i met your grandpa. right under this tree. ♪ (man) some things are worth holding onto. they're hugging the tree. 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cnn interviewed james foley's mother who says the government failed the murdered journalist. >> jim believed to the end that his country would come to their aid. we were, you know, asked to not go to the media, to just trust that it would be taken care of. we were told we could not raise ransom. it was illegal. we might be prosecuted. we were told to trust that he would be freed somehow. and he wasn't, was he? >> that was diana foley sitting with anderson. susan rice responded in this cnn interview. >> i and others in the u.s. government work very hard with diane foley and her family to try to be supportive, to try to provide what information we could and of course as you know the president ordered a very daring and very well executed rescue operation. >> like toy bring in sara shourd ultimately freed after her ransom was paid. nice to have you on. welcome. >> great to be here. >> you offered unbelievably unique perspective on the issue of hostage and paying ransom. you believe the u.s. should be paying ransom for these captives. tell me why. >> i think it's always a very delicate and careful equation. every case is different. i do feel that in the case of these american hostages, beheaded by the islamic state, that we could have prevented so much more damage. no one wants to pay ransom to a group like isil. but think of the ramifications. think about how much this has escalated violence and brought us into what looks like an all out war. once we start bombing, it will be very difficult to stop bombing and without making it look like islamic state has won and the u.s. is weak. think about how much they've been able to spread their message of terror through these videos. so not only should we safeguard what important work that americans are doing in the middle east as journalists and as a humanitarian workers but we should prevent more material to spread this horrific message. >> sara, i hear you loud and clear as a journalist that this is important work for these journalists and humanitarians to be in this difficult part of the world. it could go dangerous the other direction if the u.s. were to be paying. they were asking for 130 million plus for james foley and if the u.s. had paid, that would just up the ante for groups like isis. the prize is there. catch more americans. they'll keep paying. do you see it that way as well? >> i understand that argument. i think it's very valid. there are instances where paying ransom is not the right thing to do. but the situations are never black and white. and first of all, it never should have gotten to this point. the u.s. says that it doesn't negotiate. it says it doesn't pay ransom but frankly that's dishonest. in our case it was through a third party. it was a very thinly veiled ransom that they paid. the u.s. finds ways to negotiate and free people and to say they don't is very dishonest. as far as the money that is paid for ransom, of course we don't want to fund these operations. think of the power of this propaganda. the vast, vast, vast majority of people in the middle east loathe isis but there are people in every country of the world that are extremists that can be emboldened by this propaganda and want to join isil forces. that should have been prevented. that material has done more damage than any ransom ever could. >> you're right on the propaganda. talked to a lot of experts who would 100% agree with you. that's one part of the equation and hearing diane foley saying she was told not to raise funds herself and that would be illegal and she could be prosecuted if they tried to raise that money to save her son's life, just curious your reaction to that. what would you say to that mother? >> i have an incredible amount of empathy for dan foley and the families of sotloff and foley. i was held hostage for a year and i was released before my now husband and friend and i was in middle of the negotiations for their release. we heard many things from the u.s. government. we heard again and again direct messages of things that would work from the iranian government and sometimes small gestures and we heard this is a nonstarter. this can't be done. and i think people need to put pressure on our government to do a lot more and to safeguard not only journalists and people that are working for the american government in the middle east but citizens and humanitarian workers. this situation in syria, no one went into that situation knowing that beheading was a possibility. that wasn't something that sotloff or the young woman that still remains -- there's a 26-year-old humanitarian worker that's being held hostage by isis right now and an american man. the ransom they asked for her is $6.6 million. i really want to ask if that amount of money is not worth it to save this woman's life, to safeguard the work that americans do in the middle east and vital work so that we can know what's going on on the ground and we can add that to the conversation and to stop isis from being emboldened by using this propaganda. >> so you would change the policy. gosh, also thinking about your own experience and just reading about what you've written. you especially being in solitary spending time around and feeling broken and hearing promises. can you just describe as you have been forced to relive some of this because of what's happened in the news recently. what has really been brought back for you memory-wise? >> well, our families went through hell. we never knew that we would have a happy ending. it took two years and in our case our story from the beginning had tremendous amount of support and got a tremendous amount of media attention because of the circumstances. and i think that gave us leverage that we could use to pressure our government to act in the end and to put pressure on third parties to secure our release. not everyone has that. and it just makes me think about all of the times that our families were told not to make a lot of commotion in the media and to wait and to be patient and that's exactly what diane and sotloffs and foleys families were told. it really does make me angry. it makes me feel like our government is not being honest and is not treating all of its citizens equally with equal weight. >> i appreciate your anger and i appreciate you coming up. it's a conversation we have to have in this country. sarah shourd my best to you and your family. the daughter of the british aid worker, david haines thanked everyone for their support. she wrote, i'm david's daughter who lives in perth. i was touched by the messages of support during this hard time. i know my dad would be really touched and grateful. she goes on thank you so much all of the messages really mean a lot to me and the family. more on that ahead. also ahead, also just into us at cnn, the football player accused of abusing his son, a charge that sparked a national conversation on spanking here is now speaking out and he's explaining himself. his emotional statement next here on cnn. what does t-mobile have that at&t doesn't? 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the same guy who thought that small caps and bond funds would go with a merging markets. it's a masterpiece. thanks. clearly you are type e. you made it phil. welcome home. now what's our strategy with the fondue? diversifying your portfolio? e*trade gives you the tools and resources to get it right. are you type e*? we have just now got a statement from someone in the news in the last couple days. adrian peterson accused of abusing his young son. we are now hearing to him. i want to take time to read this to you to climb into his head and see what he's thinking and we'll have a bigger conversation on spanking coming up. this is what adrian peterson has said. my attorney asked me to not to discuss the facts of my pending case. i hope you can respect this case and help me honor it. i want the public to hear from me but it's not appropriate to talk about the facts in detail at this time. he goes on. nevertheless, i want everyone to have brought to my child.t i - i never wanted to be a distraction to the vikings organization or the community or my teammates. i never imagined being in a position where i'm being called a child abuser because of a discipline i administered to my son. i voluntarily appeared before the grand jury to answer any and all questions they had. before my grand jury appearance i was interviewed by two different police agencies without an attorney. in each of those interviews i have said the same thing and that is that i never, ever intended to harm my son. i will say the same thing once i have my day in court. i have to live with the fact that when i disciplined my son the way i was discipline d as a child i caused an injury i never intendeded to happen. i understand after meeting with a psychologist that there are other alternative ways of disciplining a child that may be more appropriate. i have learned a lot and have had to re-evaluate how i discipline my son going forward but deep in my heart i believed i could have been one of those kids that was lost on the streets without the discipline instilled in me by my parents and other relatives. i always believed the way my parents disciplined me has a great deal to do with the success i have enjoyed as a man. i love my son and i will continue to become a better parent and learn from any mistakes i ever make. adrian peterson says this. i am not a perfect son. i am not a perfect husband. i am not a perfect parent. but i am without a doubt not a child abuser. i am someone that disciplined his child and did not intend to cause him any injury. no one can understand the hurt that i feel for my son and for the harm i caused him. my goal is always to teach my son right from wrong and that is what i tried to do that day. his final graph here he writes this. i accept the fact that people feel very strongly about this issue and what they think about my conduct regardless of what others think, however, i love my son very much and i will continue to try to become a better father and person. adrian peterson just in this statement coming out speaking so we'll have a much bigger conversation. i would love to hear what you think about his statement. send me a tweet and let me know what do you think? adrian peterson coming out accused of abusing his son. just ahead, fears the killing of four men could be part of a "bloody crusade." a college student accused of cold blooded killings in america as revenge against the united states. plus a man is killed by police and once again what police say is not matching what eyewitnesses are saying. so which side does an independent autopsy support? the details on this utah case coming up. sweenjoy it all...ry! 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behind him inside the kill zone. so, don held onto that grenade. and he pulled it close to his body. and he bentso over it. and then as one of the men said, all of a sudden, there was a boom. the blast threw the lead soldier up against a boulder, men were riddled with shrapnel, four were medevaced out. but everyone else survived. don had absorbed the brunt of the explosion with his body. he saved the lives of those next to him and today, we are joined by two men who were with him on that patrol, sergeant william hacker and specialist michael moline. for decades, don's family only knew that he was killed in action. they had heard that he had stepped on a landmine. all those years, his gold star family honored the memory of their son and brother, whose name is etched forever on that granite wall not far from here. late in her life, don's mother, evelyn, finally learned the full story of her son's sacrifice. and she made it her mission to have don's actions properly recognized. sadly, nearly three years ago,y but she always believed, she knew, that this day would come. she even bought a special dress to wear to this ceremony. we are honored that don and his mom are represented here today by don's brother, sisters and their families. on behalf of this american family, i would ask don's brother, dr. bill sloat to come forward for the reading of the citation and accept the gratitude of our nation. >> the president of the united states of america, authorized by act of congress, march 3, 1863, has awarded in the name of congress the medal of honor to specialist 4 donald p. sloat, united states army. specialist donald p. sloat, above and beyond the call of duty, while serving as machine gun we are company d, second battalion, first infantry regiment, 196 light infantry brigade, americaal division, during combat operations against an armed enemy(]ggárq republic of vietnam on january 17, 1970. on that morning, specialist 4 sloat's squad was conducting a patrol, serving a a blocking element in support of tank and armored personnel carriers in the area. as the squad moved up a small hill and in file formation, the lead soldier tripped a wire attached to a hand grenade bobby trap set up by enemy forces. as the grenade rolled down the hill, specialist 4 sloat knelt and picked up the grenade. after initially attempting to throw the grenade, specialist 4 sloat realized that detonation was imminent. he then drew the grenade to hishis body and shielded the squad members from the blast, saving their lives. specialist 4 sloa it. he's a actions of laying down his own life in order to save the lives of his comrades. specialist 4 donald p. sloat's heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflects great credit upon himself, company d, second battalion, first infantry regiment, 196 light infantry brigade, light americal division and the [ applause ] >> at this point, i would like to ask bennie adkins to come join me on stage. now, let me just say the first thing you need to know is when bennie and i met in the oval office, he asked if he could sign back up. [ laughter ] his lovely wife was not amused. [ laughter ] most days, you can find bennie at home down in opelika, alabama, tending his garden or his pontoon boat out on the lake. he's been married to mary for 58 years. he's a proud father of five, grandfather of six. at 80, still going strong. a couple of years ago, he came here to the white house with his fellow veterans for a breakfast we had on veterans day. he tells folks, he was the only person he knows who has spilled his dessert in the white house. [ laughter ] and i just had to correct ya. that makes two of us. [ laughter ] i've messed up my tie, i've messed up my pants. but in the spring of 1966, bennie was just 32 years old, on his second tour in vietnam. he and his fellow green berets were at an isolated camp along the ho chi minute trail. a huge north vietnamese force attacked, bombarding bennie and his comrades with mortgagers and white phosphorus, at a time, it was nearly impossible to move without being wounded or killed. but bennie ran into enemy fire, again and again, to retrieve supplies and ammo, to carry the wounded to safety, to man the mortar pit, holding off wave after wave of enemy assaults. three times, explosions blasted him out of that mortar pit and three times, he returned. i have to be honest, in a battle and daring escape that lasted four days, bennieavé performed many acts of bravery, we actually don't have time to talk about all of them. let me just mention three. on the first day, bennie was helping load a wounded american onto a helicopter, a vietnamese soldier jumped i don't to the hilo trying to escape the battle and aimed his weapon directly at the wounded soldier, ready to shoot. bennie stepped in, shielded his comrade, placing himself directly in the lane of fire, helping to save his wounded comrade. at another point in the battle, bennie and a few other soldiers were trapped in the mortar pit, covered in shrapnel and smoking debris. their only exit was blocked by enemy machine gun fire. so, bennie thought fast. he dug a hole out of the pit and snuck out the other side. as another american escaped through that hole, he was shot in the leg. an an enemy soldier shot him, hoping to capture a live p.o.w., but bennie pulled him to safely. the third day of bat, bennie and a few others managed to escape in the battle. he had cuts and wounds all over his body, but he refused to be evacuated. when a rescue helicopter arrived, bennie insisted that others go instead. so on the third night, bennie, wounded and bleeding, found himself with his men, up on that jungle hill, exhausted and surrounded, with the enemy closing in. and after all they had been through, as if it weren't enough, there was something more, you can't make this up, there in the jungle, they hear the growls of a tiger. it turns out that tiger might have been the best thing that happened to bennie during those days because he says, the north vietnamese were more scared of that tiger than they were of us. [ laughter ] so the enemy fled. bennie and his squad made their escape. and they were rescued finally theá)z next morning. in bennie's life, we see the enduring service of our men and women in uniform. he went on to serve a third tour in vietnam, a total of more than two decades in uniform. after he retired, he earned his master's degree, actually not one, but two, opened up an accounting firm, taught adult education classes, became national commander of the legion of valor veterans organization. so he has earned his retirement, despite what he says. [ laughter ] he's living outside auburn. and yes, he is a fan of the auburn tigers, although i did a poll of the family and there's krichlson tide fans here. [ laughter ] so, there's obviously some divisions. but bennie will tell you that he owes everything to the men he served with in vietnam, especially the five who gave their lives in that battle. every member of his unit was killed or wounded. every single one was recognized for their service. today, we are joined by some of the men who served with bennie, including major john bradford, the soldier that bennie shielded in that helicopter, and major wayne murray, the soldier bennie saved from being captured. and i'd ask them and all of our vietnam veterans who are here today to please stand or raise your hand to be recognized. [ applause ] and i now i ask that the citation be read. >> the president of the united states of america, authorized by act of congress, march 3, 1863, has awarded in the name of congress the medal of honor to sergeant first glass bennie g. adki adkins, united states army. sergeant first class bennie g. adkins distinguished himself by the acts of galante and inter pedestrianity by risking his life above and beyond the call of duty by serving a with unit a 102, fifth special forces group, first special forces, during combat operations against an armed enemy at camp eschew, republic of vietnam, from march 9 to 12th, 1966. when the camp was attacked by a large north vietnamese and vietcong force in the early morning hours, sergeant first class adkins rushed through intense enemy fire and manned a mortar position, continually adjusting fire for the camp, despite incurring wounds as the mortar pit received several direct hits from enemy mortgagers. upon learning that several soldiers were wounded near the center of camp, he temporarily turned the mortar over to another soldier, ran through exploding mortar rounds and dragged several comrades to safety. as the hostile fire subsided, sergeant first class adkins exposed himself to sporadic sniper fire while carrying his wounded comrades to the camp dispensary. when suspect first classed a kiss and his group of defenders came under heavy small arms fire from members of the civilian irregular defense group that had defected to fight with the north vietname vietnamese, maneuvered outside the camp, while successfully covering a rescue. when a resupply air drop landed outside of the camp perimeter, sergeant first class adkins again moved outside of the camp walls to retrieve the much-needed supplies. during the early morning hours of march 10, 1966, enemy forces launched their main attack and within two hours, sergeant first class adkins was the only man firing a mortar weapon. when all mortar rounds were expended, sergeant first class adkins began placing effective recoilist rifle fire upon enemy positions. despite receiving additional wounds from enemy wounds exploding on his position, sergeant first class adkins fought off intense waves of attacking very yet congress. sergeant first class adkins eliminated numerous insurgents with small arms fire after withdrawing to communications bunk we are several soldiers. running extremely low on ammunition, he returned to the mortar pit, gathered vital ammunition and ran through intense fire back to the bunker. after being ordered to evacuate the camp, sergeant first class adkins and a small group of soldiers destroyed all signal equipment and classified documents, dug their way out of the rear of the bunker and fought their way out of the camp. while carrying a wounded soldier to the extraction point, he learned that the last helicopter had already departed. sergeant first class adkins led the group while evading the enemy until they were rescued by helicopter on march 12, 1966. during the&)ñ 38-hour battle an8 hours of escape and evasion, fighting with mortgagers, machine guns, recoilist rifles, small arms and hand grenades, it was estimated that sergeant first classed a kips had killed between 135 and 175 of the enemy while sustaining 18 different wounds to his body. sergeant first class adkins' extraordinary heroism and selflessness above the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, detachment a 102, fifth special forces group, first special forces and the united states army. [ applause ] >> over the decades, our vietnam veterans didn't always receive the thanks and respect they deserved. that's fact. but as we have been reminded again today, our vietnam vets were patriots and are patriots. you served with valor, you made us proud and your service is with us for eternity. so, no matter how long it takes, no matter how many years go by, we will continue to express our gratitude for your extraordinary service. may god watch over don sloat and all those who have sacrificed for our country. may god keep safe those who wear our country's uniform and veterans like bennie adkins. may god continue to bless the united states of america. at this point, i'd ask our chaplin to return to the stage for the benediction. >> let us continue to pray. as you go forth, be not afraid. go out into the world in peace, have courage, hold on to what is good. do no evil for evil, strengthen the fainthearted, support the weak and help the suffering. we honor all people, let us love and serve and may god's blessing be upon us and remain with us always. amen. >> amen. >> and at this point, i would welcome everybody to join the sloat family and the adkins family for a reception. i hear the food is pretty good. [ laughter ] and once again, to all of you who serve, and your families who serve along with them, the nation is grateful. and your commander in chief could not be prouder. >> we have been watching president obama with the medal of honor ceremonies today for two individuals. first, for specialist 4 donald sloat. his mother wanted to make sure that this happened for him. he has since passed away. his mother has passed away. his brother received the honor for him today in his place. also honored, sergeant major bennie adkins, who was there in person. he served in the vietnam war and you just heard the amazing story of his heroics. president obama also aof prod the awarding of the honor to alonzo h. curbing for gallantry in action on the battle of gettysburg, july 3, 1863. first lieutenant alonzo h. curbing will receive the medal of honor posthumously for his actionser can serving as commanding officer battery a, artillery brigade, second core, army of the pat he distinguishet an armed enemy in gettysburg, pennsylvania, july 3, 1863. additional details on the award to first lieutenant curbing will be announced separately. well, in the meantime, a lot of other news to get to today on the real story. i hope you had a great weekend. i'm gretchen carlson. welcome to the show. western leaders vowing to pursue isis with new fervor now after that bea heading of british aid worker, david haines. the execution video prompting a swift and passionate response from the uk government. prime minister david cameron stressing support for u.s. air strikes against the islamic militants he calls monsters. meanwhile, here at home, mixed messages from washington. white house chief of staff, dennis mcdonough, says, yes, we are at war with isis, but others in the administration, including the president, still not using that word. president obama promising a broad coalition of allies to take on the islamic militants and multiple nations now said to be on board, although it's unclear exactly what they will actually be doing. all right. in a moment, we are going to go to ed henry, but first, wither going to take a quick break and be right back with the real story. with equity experts who work with regional experts that's when expertise happens. mfs. because there is no expertise without collaboration. ♪ [music] jackie's heart attack didn't come with a warning. today her doctor has her on a bayer aspirin regimen to help reduce the risk of another one. if you've had a heart attack be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. welcome back to "the real story." president obama promising this broad coalition of allies to try to take on the islamic militants but unclear exactly what the allies will be doing. chief white house correspondent, ed henry, live from the north lawn as promised before the break. >> good to see you. >> hi, ed. so, has secretary kerry made progress on this coalition from afar? >> well, it's a mixed bag right now, frankly. after the brutal execution of that british aid worker, david haines, you saw the british prime minister, david cameron, come out and basically say he will do anything in the days ahead to try to wipe out isis. but he didn't formally commit to helping with u.s. air strikes inside syria in the days ahead. and when it comes to arab nations, the secretary of state john kerry is trying to rally on a trip in the middle east right now. the white house simply won't name who is on board and who is not in terms of helping with u.s. air strikes. i pressed a time ago on whether there is a strong coalition. >> isis, the threat is there the president himself laid out the stakes last wednesdayi g÷ night so, is this not a failure for secretary kerry to not get this coalition together? >> based on the very strong statements that we're seeing from public officials representing these other governments, there is a clear indication that this coalition together is -- is coming together very nicely. >> you can hear, they believe it is coming together nicely because of statements, because of conversations, but there have not been formal commitments in terms of helping the u.s. with air strikes, but josh ernest signaled that may change next week when the president goes to new york city to attend the u.n. general assembly meetings, hoping to finally get those allies together next week. gretchen? >> ed henry live at the white house. thanks so much for the update. so, a u.s. senate secret, it's out. never before seen details from a handbook of rules and regulations now available for the world to see. so, what can our elected leaders do and not do? we are gonna tell ya. and minnesota vikings running back adrian peterson will play this weekend. his team reinstating him despite facing child abuse charges that got him benched yesterday. what does this mean for the nfl, facing the crew scrutiny over its handling of the ray rice scandal. >> i don't care what it is. take him off the dang gone field, as a man, that's the only thing we really respect. we don't respect no women. we don't respect no kids. the only thing roger and them do, take them off the field, 'cause they respect that. wouldn't it be great if hiring plumbers, carpenters shopping online is as easy as it gets. and even piano tuners were just as simple? thanks to angie's list, now it is. we've made hiring anyone from a handyman to a dog walker as simple as a few clicks. buy their services directly at angieslist.com no more calling around. no more hassles. start shopping from a list of top-rated providers today. angie's list is revolutionizing local service again. visit angieslist.com today. welcome back to the rather story. as secretary of state john kerry meets with other top diplomats in paris, arab countries are offering to help conduct air strikes against the islamic militants. these ten middle eastern countries signing a joint -- well, kind of like a communication document, vowing to do their share to combat the terror group. although pledges of support are rolling in, the plan of action still short on specifics. so joining me now for clarifying cation, i hope, captain chuck nash, retired navy captain and fox news analyst. i can'tet to see you. >> nice to be with you, gretchen. >> what do you make of these ten arab nations coming together, first foremost? >> it remains to be seen whether promises yield concrete results and actual force structure because a lot of these countries, their air forces are predominantly designed foreu i don't know that they would be too excited about leaving their region once isis is pushed out of there and actually conducting warfare against the sunni because for years, it has been the kurds and the minority sunni that have had the closest in the south. when you look at the south, you've got the shia, then moving into sunni tribal lands is going to be problematic for the sunnis. so, that is going to just keep them fighting. what's really required here, gretchen is a political settlement in baghdad that allows the sunni to realize that they have a good enough guarantee, backed by the united states and the coalition, that they can make a political deal that will allow themgeñ to overthrow in isis element that's within their ranks, get rid of them and get back to business as being the country of iraq. >> okay, does it bother you at all, captain that there seems to be a disconnect in the messaging, back to that with regard to what we are actually calling this mission, some in the administration using the word war, others not. does it matter? >> yes, it matters, because put yourself in the position of one of these potential coalition partners. and then put yourself in the position of a congressman or a senator here in washington. and that is if you're out there as a potential coalition partner and you can't even hear the united states speak with what it is we're doing, are you really willing to sign up and risk domestic terrorism in your own country when you have an uncertain trumpet? and if you're up there on capitol hill, are you willing to sign off on something that gives the -- say, yeah, okay, i'm all-in. remember me next time, elections come around. i was all in on this and turn it over to somebody who appears they don't know what they're doing. >> that is such an interesting perspective. i had not thought of this it that way. captain chuck nash, always great to get your insights, thank you, sir. >> my pleasure, gretchen s time to check in with shep hard smith.from the news desk. hope odd great weekend. what do you have coming up? >> did, indeed. arab nations have agreed to carry out air strikes against the islamic state terrorists, which arab nation and why won't the white house tell us? in a region with such complicated alliances, will the united states military actually get the supports that it has to have? we will talk with a former assistant secretary of state, pj crowley, about what the state department needs to do now. that's ahead on shepherd smith reporting, top of the hour, see you then. >> thank you, shep. now for some real talk. for years, the senate, well, they have been keeping some sort of a big secret from you. you ever heard about this? the hush hush handbook of rules and regulations that every senator has to follow, right down to the most minor of details. but now that book, all 300-some pages, out there. "usa today" publishing an itemized list showing how senators get to spend from $3 to $4 million a year to cover office overhead. they can't spend any of that on personal services, per say such as movies, gifts or alcohol. but a refrigeratorer for the office or a piano for special events? that's a-okay. julie reg begin i did ski has seen this all first happened, a democratic adviser to the late frank lautenberg and david is from gopac, a training organization for republicans. some real talk here. what did you see, julie? >> i did not work for senator lautenberg in the senate, a different senator, amazing, people go down there they can see what the they have access to, private subway cars, good forbid you walk to vote and private elevators are, god forbid you get on with a hoi polloi. and private dining rooms and hairle is salons, get access to, very discounted, that was nice, especially if you're not a highly paid senate staffer. >> you got your hair done there? >> i got my nails done, i think. i don't know if i trust my hair to a bureaucrat, but i was going to trust my nails. >> i know you trust it to fox news hair. >> hair and makeup, the best. they are artists, of course. >> david, how -- first of all, i can't believe that this 380-page document has never been released before. but what does it mean to the average joe out there, like you and me? why should we care? >> house republicans have published their rules for many years, maybe senate democrats should embrace the information highway that al gore created for them so that they could publish their rules as well. and why does it matter average voters? there's a reason why we are at 1 4% approval rating amongst congress. >> that's being nice. i think it's 13 or lower. >> paid staff and relatives, right, as john mccain says. >> yes. >>. >> there's this belief that congress is up to something they don't get to know about. even if it's something as simple as the senate rule book, why can't that be out there? what harry reid is doing is making folks like mark begich and kay hagan and mark pryor and mary landrieu go out and defend why is it there's always secrets up there? >> in fairness -- >> let me show a few more of the secrets, i know people -- i'm intrigued by this. here is another thing that's in all of these pages. senators are allowed to use charter planes or boats if it would be advantageous to the senate. i'm not exactly sure what that means but maybe julie and david can help me out here. "usa today" has reported that senators took nearly $1 million worth of charter flights last year, at taxpayer expense. now, we hear how much air force one costs, so, 1 million may not be that much money, unfortunately, when it comes to charter flights. but julie, again, what does it mean, if it's advantageous to the senate? >> i guess if you're flying somewhere to really remote part of your state that is not accessible by commercial flights, i guess. i do have to take issue with something david said. i don't remember leader lott or leader dole or any of these republican leaders exactly putting this out there, having "usa today" print this either. the senate has always had very arcane rules. the filibuster being obvious one, that nobody who's not a senator understands or appreciates and this is exactly why people are fed up. i will tell you, if you go down there and you work down there, even as somebody who worked down there as i did and david lives down there, you're still kind of appalled. there's a little anecdote, there's a guy who, i don't know if he's there, a capitol police officer on the house side on pennsylvania avenue, if you cross against the light, would threaten, physically threaten to arrest you for jaywalking. never seen anything like it any where but not to a congressman, to.to staff, visitors. >> that makes me mad. >> makes me mad, too. >> quickly add, the blame that my friends on the left love to give to president bush, everything that happens bad in the obama administration is the bush fault now goes to the senate and that whatterry reid, now in charge for six years couldn't have changed rules, couldn't have put that up online so people could know what the senate rules r that's the republicans' fault. >> everybody can find out and maybe congress's approval rating will go up a tick? we will have to see. julie and david, thank you. >> thanks. the nfl's fast-growing female fan base, including me, now questioning the league and its commissioner. >> do you think roger goodell should have showed up? >> of course. he should have made some type of appearance. yes. >> well, the new backlash against the nfl for its handling of the ray rice domestic violence case and how rice now is expected to respond to his indefinite suspension. will he appeal? plus, you say offensive, they say vintage. popular clothing store, urban outfitters, being accused of selling a shirt mocking the 1970 shooting at kent state. wait till you hear how they are responding now to this new controversy. right back. copd includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. spiriva is a once-daily inhaled... ...copd maintenance treatment... ...that helps open my airways for a full 24 hours. you know, spiriva helps me breathe easier. spiriva handihaler tiotropium bromide inhalation powder does not replace rescue inhalers for sudden symptoms. tell your doctor if you have kidney problems, glaucoma, trouble urinating, or an enlarged prostate. these may worsen with spiriva. discuss all medicines you take, even eye drops. stop taking spiriva and seek immediate medical help if your breathing suddenly worsens, your throat or tongue swells,... you can get hives, vision changes or eye pain, or problems passing urine. other side effects include dry mouth and constipation. nothing can reverse copd. spiriva helps me breathe better. sfx: blowing sound. does breathing with copd... ...weigh you down? don't wait ask your doctor about spiriva handihaler. ... ... ... ÷ time to check out what america's clicking on today. actor will farrell says there will be a "zoo lander 2 "s request and he's gonna be in it. he adds a review of the see yes, ma'am script is scheduled to take place soon. pennies may be more trouble than worth. the "wall street journal" reporting it now costs 1.6 cents to actually make each one-cent coin due to the high price of zinc. and in china, a sidewalk is divided into a cell phone lane and a no cell phone lane this is crazy. property owner says it is intended to remind people, of course that texting while walking, no the driving, while walking, can still be dangerous. former baltimore ravens running back, ray rice, expected to appeal now his indefinite suspension by the nfl. it's gonna happen today. he is also reportedly considering legal action against the league in the wake of the increased punishment he received once video of his elevator assault of his then-fiancee was actually made public. meantime, espn's hannah storm openly questioning the nfl's integrity, discussing some pretty tough questions being brought up in her own home by her daughters. listen. >> i spent this week answering seemingly impossible questions about the league's biggest stars. mom, why did he do that? why isn't he in jail? why didn't he get fired? and yesterday, why don't they even have control of their own players? we all wait on the answer to this central question, what exactly does the nfl stand for? >> and this weekend, a woman's organization flew goodell must banners over is several stadiums and those bappers attacking roger goodell will fly again over tonight's monday night football game. joining me now are darryl reed, former nfl player who won the 2007son with the indianapolis colts. congrats on that. and lease wheel, a fox news analyst. hello to both of you, no bigger fan of football than gretchen carlson. i'm one of those females, growing population. i have always been a fan, but females really, really into football now. so i have a female here and i have a male here. let me start with you, darryl. what's gonna happen? what should be done? >> well, they -- i think they took the right steps. they took them a little late. maybe they tried to brush something under the rug. the baltimore ravens, maybe the nfl and it backfired and that -- now they are deeming with that. and the repercussions from -- from that are very intense. >> i think it's more than just a little bit late though, because the problem i have, and i guess from a woman's standpoint, no the a big -- not a big football fan, myself. but, you know, pardon. >> watch out who you're sitting next to >> sorry. but the point is as long as it -- rice got the suspension right of the two games, as long as the video didn't come out. once the video came out, then, oh, now we are gonna get irate about it now we're gonna get upset about that, that really is upsetting from am woman's point of view, wait a second, we are sort of expandible, it's fine, you get a slap on the wrist if some video comes out, unless it becomes public. a commodity? >> what about the legal aspect of that, because now if he is gonna appeal today, does he -- a lot of people don't want to give him reason to have a case, but does he have a case? >> yes, he does. if he can show that the nfl knew or should have known about the video, or either one of those two videos, then he's gonna have a case under the collective bargaining, section 46, actually, which says you can only be penalized once for one thing, for one offense. the two-game suspension, if they knew about that video and they really should have and everyone said that they, you know, they got it in april. >> he said, did he not, the reports were that ray rice told the commissioner back in april that he did pump his wife in the elevator. >> and this is the issue. he told the commissioner everything that happened. he said, i hit my wife. i knocked her out. and so he got the punishment, the two-game suspension. so, now, why he getting suspended for the year? because the video came out what he already said he did. >> i think indicted back in march, a grand jury indicted him. >> a whole other side, a lot of people think the judge is too lenient the way he punished him then. >> the information was out there >> interesting how the story comes full circle, bro he can with the video, yes, indefinite suspension, now we are back to, okay, maybe he does have a case, not making the domestic violence aspect of it right. i want to show you what's happening, this is just really gaining traction. let's take a lock at this photoshopped of coulder girl this is not the photoshopped one this is the cover girl makeup made for the nfl and the tag line here is get your game face on, #gameface. now look at this. this is photoshopped by somebody to show a black eye on the woman. a pretty poignant, incredibly strong statement, right? >> absolutely. this cries out to every woman looking that the and saying, you know, is this now gonna be the poster, this gonna be the poster child for the nfl? and that's why i think the commissioner's in big trouble here. the thing about it is domestic violence never had a face until now. ray rice is officially the face of domestic violence. and it's not fair to him. he came out. he told the story. other players have been involved in other domestic violence cases. there's two pending cases right now. >> and a bunch of other crimes took it brings up so many questions about whether or not this is gonna change the culture of what's allowed in the nfl. before i let you go, darrel what do you think is gonna happen to roger goodle? >> what -- should anything happen, if anything? >> you have got to remember, there's a number of different things going on with roger goodell. first off, besides the two other cases that are going on right now, they say there's 50 other cases that happened while he was in office that basically he brushed under the rug. all these cases are gonna come out now. >> and they are all gonna be down to this one clause, too, because if you have the penalty, you penalized by it and then it comes up the commissioner knew about it -- >> double jeopardy. >> double jeopardy. factor in the owners, too and how much they were involved in some of these decisions. >> ozzie newsome, the gm. i like ozzie. >> not probably just one person. although he is -- >> who's your team? who's your team? giants? >> got to start much wag. i will have a football party.@u >> gretchen who is your team? >> the vikings, of course. >> i got my purple on. >> the university of minnesota, you should know that darrel, lis, gout it. urban outfitters producing a kent state -- have you seen this? it appears to have bloodstains, even bullet holes on gunned down in the '70s. when most couples have a spat, they don't do this. heartache on the racetrack, nascar style. listen up... i'm reworking the menu. veggies you're cool... mayo, corn dogs...you are so out of here! ahh... the complete balanced nutrition of great tasting ensure. 24 vitamins and minerals. 9 grams of protein... with 30% less sugars than before. ensure, your #1 dr. recommended brand now introduces ensure active. muscle health. clear protein drink and high protein. targeted nutrition to feed your active life. ensure. take life in. that corporate trial by fire when every slacker gets his due. and yet, there's someone around the office who hasn't had a performance review in a while. someone whose poor performance is slowing down the entire organization. i'm looking at you phone company dsl. go to comcastbusiness.com/ checkyourspeed. if we can't offer faster speeds or save you money we'll give you $150. comcast business built for business. this story doesn't happen every day. danicka patrick involved with an indent with a driver. but the other driver turns out to be her boyfriend. patrick was running 18th, with just a few laps to go when she made contact with the car belonging to ricky stenhouse junior. both cars suffered damage and neither won so i guess they're speaking to each other. they have been dating and were also involved in wrecks last year twice. >> piece of clothing sparking big outrage now. urban outfitters selling kent state sweatshirts that appear to be splattered blood red. are you kidding me? trace gallagher is live. >> and now, gretchen, urban outfitters said it hadks not intention of alluding to the shooting at kent state. which begs the question did anybody look at the sweatshirt? it certainly appear to be a blood-stain pattern, and as you might imagine kent state is not happen, as a lot of other people are not happy. kent state released a statement saying, quote, we take great offense to a company using our pain for their publicity and profit. this item is beyond poor taste and trivializes the loss of life that still hurts the kent state community to this day. on may 4th, the national guard protesting the vietnam war. killing four, and wounding nine. quoting, this shows the continued lowbrow of wall street and urban outphotoers continues to perpetuate a low standard of ethics. >> one says, what is next, columbine or sandy hook sweatshirt? this short has now been taken off the company's web site. they released a statement, the red stains are discoloration from the original shade of the shirt and the holes are from nature wear and fray. urban outfitter has been accused of offending everyone from native americans to jews to president obama. the person who sold this sweatshirt is trying to resell it@f ebay. >> of course they. fox news alert. adrian peterson, speaking of football, turning to twitter to comment on his pending child abuse case. he say, quote, i am without a doubt not a child abuser. i am someone that disciplined his child and did not intend to cause him any injury. peterson did not play with the vikings yesterday, but he has been allowed to play coming up this sunday. so, that statement coming in from adrian peterson. right back with "the real story" after this. >> over the weekend i traveled to atlantic city for the miss america pageant and took part iç telecast. to the new miss america, she is here -- there she is with all the former missmers there, and this is keira with the jump's panel and this is a picture of my parents. thanks, mom and dad, for accompanying me and being the world's best parents ever. i love you thank you for being part of "the real story." here's shep. >> building a coalition to fight the islamic state. leaders from dozens of nations now meeting to talk about how to take care of the terrorists. u.s. officials say, arab countries are now offering to carry out airstrikes. but which arab country? the white house will not say which countries they're talking about. inside the islamic state's bank accounts. the group said to be pulling in millions of dollars a day. ahead, how they're making their money and is there any way to cut off the cash flow? >> a late-night ambush outside a state trooper barracks, two officers shot, one dead. now a manhunt for cop killers. and late breaking news on the nfl star adrian peterson. let's get to it.