what the president has to say. hopefully we'll come together as a nation. because one of the things that these incidents show us, brian, is that if we are a divided country, whether it's on international security issues or on domestic issues, we will not be as strong as we should be in a dangerous world. >> steny hoyer, democratic whip in the house, which means he's the persuader and will have a prominent position at the state of the union address. he has votes upcoming. congressman, thank you for joining us at this late hour. >> thank you, brian. >> thank you, congressman. >> we're joined on the phone now by a retired naval commander and a senior analyst for the study of war. commander, can you hear me? >> yes, loud and clear. thanks for having me. this is like a bad trip down memory lane for me, because i spent a lot of time in the persian gulf flying in and around farsi island. and i have a tremendous amount of sympathy for these sailors.