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US Army National Guard/Sgt. Renee Seruntine
This month, soldiers from the US Army's 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) worked with Hellenic Armed Forces, to execute Eddie's Odyssey, a first-of-its-kind training mission in the Aegean Sea.
During the exercise, US helicopters supported Greek special operations forces while they operated on objectives only accessible by traversing long distances over water.
STEFANOVIKEIO, Greece – The US Army's 1st Battalion, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB), 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), together with Hellenic Armed Forces, executed Eddie's Odyssey, a first of its kind, joint training mission on Velopoula Island and over the Aegean Sea, January 13-14.

Eugene Goodman served in the Army for four years and held back a violent crowd long enough for others to secure the Senate floor.

American service personnel can be almost anywhere, but true to a long-standing tradition, the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard will do their best to make sure every

tul welcome back. she served in hawaii and was deployed to iraq. he was an infantry pla foon leader with the 101st airborne. both were elected to congress this past november and both are with me now democratic congressman tulsi gabbard of hawaii and republican congressman tom cotton of arkansas, thank you both for coming here with your particular brand of expertise and i want to ask you looking at the war now and how you felt about it when you first touched down in iraq and how you feel about it now, is there a difference? >> well, i'll start out here. when i was activated for duty, it was actually by combat team in hawaii that was activated, i

closely because he was in the 101st airborne. he was with fox company and they went everywhere together. >> looking forward at 4:00 p.m. eastern to see the interview, different side of steve phestep we don't often see. later tonight, you have a special on bowe bergdahl. >> this is the story of the week, bowe bergdahl and the mystery surrounding bowe bergdahl. we'll be exploring that with some people who served with him in his squad. some of the people who knew him from back in idaho and from other parts of his life, trying to get to who this man was, beyond the political nonsense and the accusations and counteraccusations, free from anything having to do with washington and president obama, republicans. just bow bee bergdahl, the sold. we will watch that. that's 7:00 p.m. pacific. >> 8:00 p.m. -- >> 8:00 p.m. central and 9:00 p.m. mountain. >> all right, thanks.

about these letters. they are just fascinating. uncle eddie was a member of the 101st airborne. that's a group called band of brothers and there's a part where he's trying to educate his children and they're watching band of brothers and there's a letter from his uncle eddie mentioning the main character in the book and film. it's really interesting and very, very moving story. that's coming up in the hour. >> i think they will. i remember when his mom did pass away and you probably saw it, too. he honored his mom. he had a huge tribute on his show and everybody was like whoa, there is really a soft side to this guy. you have a special tonight on bowe bergdahl? >> that's right. we're trying to take it out of the political arena. look at who is bowe bergdahl? we talk to friends of his, people in the platoon, the squad

western europe was free. one of those heroes was a young lieutenant who talks about falling into nazi arms. who bet to talk about this than this young man's nephew, stephen colbert. facing unimaginable odds, americans and allied troops stormed normandy, june 6th, 1944. among the paratroopers behind enemy lines that night, first lieutenant andrew tuck iii, or uncle eddie. tuck's nephew is stephen colbert, the comedian who actively thanks troops every chance he gets. lieutenant tuck belonged to the 101st airborne, made famous by the book and hbo mini series

afghanistan, he was reassigned to the 82nd airborne. and sunday, he'll parachute into normandy. i became part of a family of real american heroes, he said, the par troopers of the 82nd. wilson, you should know that specialist janice rodriguez joined the army not only two years ago, was assigned to the 101st airborne and just last month earned the title of the 101st airborne division air assault soldier of the year, and that's inspiring but not surprising when the women of today's military have taken on responsibilities, including combat like never before. i want each of you to know that their commitment to their fellow service members and veterans

al qaeda but they became disgusted and turned against them and begged the united states for weapons knowing that the u.s. military doesn't go about ethnically cleansing. there is no such actor on the ground today. there is no 101st airborne. there's no first division. no american military presence. this is the hobbsson's joyce facing the country. this is the reason that sunnis have not in groundswell manner risen up against isis. this is game of political pragmatism for them. >> i appreciate it. still to come, a history making vote in los angeles. the city looking to raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour. we'll talk about that next.

isis's former incarnation, al qaeda and iraq did use chlorine gas bombs as early as 2006. that was in iraq. an entire country that had american, over 150,000 american troop stations there. with respect to the current coalition effort, you don't have anything as sophisticated or powerful as the 101st airborne or u.s. marine corps in iraq or syria fighting these guys. there's absolutely going to be susceptible to this. the question is does isis have more stocks. if they do, how will they deploy them and against who? so far the only alleged victims have been the kurds. what happen is they start unleashing them. this could draw more foreign powers into this war and some kind of ground defensive.

either the taliban in afghanistan or the militias taking over, and pro iranian militias or whatever in iraq? >> the argument i would make, wolf, is precisely that. it is about the u.s. leaving. it does not work to pushing a whole lot of money into standing up a major military and then to say, you are on your own. this can be a multi year, and even a generational process. and its chances of success are tied to the commitment that we are going to make to make it work. and i'm not talking about sending back in the 101st airborne to afghanistan or to iraq. i am simply saying that we need to make the commitment to a sustained presence, a sustained commitment to helping the afghan

pants-ruining fear and ponder the reality of the actual job. i'm thinking about the men in 101st airborne over normandy. those guys jumped in the dark, surrounded by exploding ordnance. most of them didn't land anywhere near their intended drop zone and most were killed before they even hit the ground. today our men and women are still at it, still jumping head long into clear and present danger. if they can do that, the least i can do is this.

like in in kentucky, 552 students from two middle schools are squeezed into one as they wait for construction of a new school to accommodate all of them. a school where the air-conditioning and heating works properly. where there aren't multiple classes of kids in the same room struggling to cons sen trait as various lessons go on around them. now those plans have been shelved indefinitely. the 60 plus million dollars that would have paid for the new facility is gone. to put that in perspective, this is fort campbell. how many to the 101st airborne which has sent troops to the border on the president's orders and also the fifth special forces group. you might be familiar with their work. they're the commandos who entered afghanistan about a month after 9/11, the legendary green beret horse soldiers who carried out a mission to link up with the northern alliance and out of the taliban who were responsible for carrying out the september 11th attacks.

mountainous terrain, enduring fatigue, hunger, bad weather, dying, killing, and a lot of terrible wounds. they were rifle company commanders of the 506th regiment of the 101st airborne, the same regiment of the band of brothers, their motto, "we stand alone." >> sytes told me that bill taylor is the embodiment of the military academy cadet prayer, "make us to choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong and never be content with a half truth when the whole can be won." colonel sytes told me he's been enrag enraged, watching the president and his aides lie about bill

ukraine's president to launch investigations that might help his reelection effort. joining me is congressman patrick maloney who sits on the house intelligence committee and heard taylor's closed-door testimony today. congressman, thank you for joining us. >> good to be with you. >> here's what sources are telling cnn, that there were audible sighs and gasps during taylor's opening statement. i would like your take on what it was like, and on what you heard as well. >> right. well, i know you know i can't get into specifics, but sure, my takeaway and emotional reaction is consistent with that. it was gripping testimony. he's a key witness. guys like bill taylor who spend 50 years serving as an infantry officer in vietnam with the 101st airborne, serving as a foreign service officer in some really hardship posts, guys like that don't pull their punches. and he came and told the truth. it's going to be a big part of getting that truth to the american public. >> so taylor directly contradicted gordon sondland's

bipartisan basis is that ambassador taylor's testimony shows that the president was pushing a change in policy with respect to ukraine. that's not an issue for impeachment, but it does show how dramatically and how quickly he is changing the u.s.' role in the world and it's foreign policy towards a country that previously has been considered an ally and someone that we were providing substantial security assistance. >> and as you point out, on a bipartisan supported basis over a very long period of time. >> ambassador, you know bill taylor and i say this statement that just came out from the m e white house that it is a smaer campaign from radical unelected bureaucrats waging war on the u.s. constitution. i suppose that one of those according to the white house is bill taylor. he was first appointed by george w. bush to an ambassadorship. he served under reagan and every president since. he's a west point graduate and served on the 101st airborne in

commanders of the 506th regiment of the 101st airborne, the same regimen from the world war ii book and series band of brothers. their motto being we stand alone. >> sytes told me that bill taylor is the embodiment of the military academy cadet prayer, it says in part, quote, "make us to choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong and never be content with a half truth when the whole can be won." colonel sytes told me he's been enraged listening to president trump and white house staffers lie and launch personal attacks on bill taylor. taylor's service to his country

clear enough, morrison clearly was in the middle of this and will be able to connect whatever dots are not clearly connected already and of course, you know, getting back to the president's comment about taylor, was there no mistake. ambassador taylor has served his country with distinction for 50 years. he has done an outstanding job as most recently as acting ambassador to ukraine, and last i checked, he's still the acting ambassador. so clearly, the secretary of state does not think it was a mistake to put him in that position, and so there's a huge disconnect, it seems to me, between the president and the secretary of state and that's really not sustainable. something's got to break there. >> what do you make of that, senator santorum? here's the reality. mike pompeo is taking taylor's side. the president keeps trying to demean bill taylor and act as what he's saying is not true because he's a never trumper. what do you make of that? this is a guy that served in vietnam in the 101st airborne.

it was riveting. bill taylor is an american hero. he served in vietnam with the 101st airborne. he's a graduate of west point. you cannot impeach his character in any way. and his evidence was absolutely def stating to the president of the united states. >> what was the reaction to republicans who were in that meeting? >> not good. you could tell that they were troubled by what he was saying. >> republicans have been saying -- questioning the process. why do you have -- why are you doing this behind closed doors? why are you interviewing witnesses without republicans in the room? republicans are in fact in the room. and they have had equal time to question as well, right? so why not have this open to the public? why not have this open to other republicans? >> having prosecuted a lot of cases myself, i know that when the defense doesn't have the facts or the law they attack the process. and in this case that's what republicans have. they don't have the facts on their side or the law on their side. and their process arguments are quite silly.

something else going on here, this is note a quiet unity, that's why it sparked unity. >> i think we learned from jimi hendrix, and i got this from you, the song can be boast a protest and patriotic. i'm referring to woodstock. >> absolutely. i think hendrix's is just a beautiful version of "the star-spangled banner" because it brings all the complexity of what it means to be an american. in my research, one of the things i want to do is to show the country's history as complex. ice filled with cacophony, filled with dissidence. it's actually changed a lot over time. so someone like hendrix gives a patriotic statement. he plays all the notes in all the right place, but he has these bomb-bursting fire fights that are at the controversy in the middle which during the conflict in 1969 was political. but you remember he was a member of the 101st airborne, he had

washington correspondent. let me start with you and taylor. we know what he said under oath in private. he's going to lead the public testimony both ginning on wednesday. west point grad, infantry officer in the 101st airborne. he served as a diplomat under every administration since reagan, and you have all of these things he said, including that it was, quote, the directive had come from the president to the chief of staff to hold up that aid. at the it was an interesting op-ed asking the question, could the taylor memos be the nixon tapes? >> look, i think there's three big things that came out of the first the public statement and now the full testimony that's been revealed that he will finally get a chance to present to the public. the first is he points the finger at the president, right? that his understanding of this was that it does indeed come

that cannot have their credibility questioned. bill taylor is a west point graduate. he served in vietnam with the 101st airborne. you have amazing witnesses that are going to be able to push back on all the republican talking points. and by the way, it was just announced today that the justice department is looking at expanding its case against the 13 russians that interfered in our elections. those are russians. they're not ukrainians, and our entire intelligence community understands and has said it's the russians that hacked us in 2016, not the ukrainians. >> and this new reporting from "the new york times" that president trump has considered firing the intelligence community inspector general, who he actually appointed, if the president were to actually do that, is that something that could become part of an overall impeachment inquiry? >> absolutely. inspector general's job is to root out fraud, waste, and abuse of power. it's not to be loyal to the president. again, this is trump's own handpicked person that is now trying to tell the truth to the american people, and tomorrow

talking about not only the whistle-blower but other officials testifying in this impeachment inquiry. >> we'll get back with you. thank you. joining us now, democratic congressman maloney. thank you. let's get right to bill taylor, top u.s. democrat, laid out a quid pro quo in his closed door testimony. what sort of follow-up questions do you think you will have for him? >> it's very important the american public see for himself ambassador taylor's testimony. glad the transcript is out and he will be in public sessions soon. this is an infantry officer that served in 101st airborne in vietnam and serving for 40 years in the military and hotspots and hardship posts from around the world. he knows right from wrong. when he saw what was happening. remember, he replaced

not only this week, but also next week. where additional hearings have been announced. >> how likely is it that republicans will, according to a plan, to push and debunk conspiracy theories that it was ukraine that interfered in the election and not russia and support unsupported claimed about the bidens and is it a tale of two different committee meetings and democrats will ask questions and then republicans focus on their theories. >> the difference is you're going to have career diplomats, have trump's own people testifying against him. the american people will see that these are witnesses that cannot have the credibility questioned. bill taylor is a west point graduate. he served in vietnam with the 101st airborne and you have amazing witnesses that will be able to push back on all of the republican talking points. and by the way, it was just announced today that the justice department is looking at expanding its case against a 13 russians that interfered in our

♪ ya sing it louder. ♪ i am, ooo ooo ooo ooo ♪ ehhh ehhh ehhh pre-order and get more. get up to $150 samsung credit, plus 6 months of unlimited music with spotify premium. >> shannon: fox news exclusive, national security correspondent jennifer griffin talks with the nation's new defense secretary, mark esper, in his first interview since taking over at the pentagon. >> it is first television interview since becoming defense secretary, mark esper explained why he viewed china as the country's greatest threat. >> they studied us in the years since gulf war one, they studied us and learned about how we employ weapons and they've learned about our doctrine. >> esper spent ten years in the army on active duty serving the first gulf war with the 101st airborne screaming eagles and another 11 years in the national guard and reserve. the president declared afghanistan as the harbor university of terrorism.

us officials believe they were testing a nuclear powered missile. rob: the border wall in san diego is working. according to the cdc there were 3000 apprehensions in that sector in august. chief douglas harrison says the new barrier is intimidating adding i was in the 101st airborne and what not try to cost that. the structure is 80% complete and features 18 feet fencing backed up by a 30 foot steel wall. jillian: cnn at the new york times getting backlash from both sides of the aisle over their choice of debate questions from impeachment to unlikely friendships but nothing on immigration. >> house democrats have officially launched an impeachment inquiry against donald trump. why shouldn't it be the voters who determine the president's fate? ellen degeneres was criticized after she and george w. bush were seen laughing together at a

that's when the country could see enough vaccine for all american adults. and by the end of july, moderna and pfizer will deliver the last of their 600 million doses, which would mean a surplus. >> we're going to use every conceivable way to expand manufacturing of the vaccine. the third vaccine, to make even more rapid progress in getting shots in people's arms. >> reporter: but today some health officials concerned about the variants, noting the recent plunge in cases may be stalling with an uptick in the last three days. >> the latest data suggests that these declines may be stalling, potentially leveling off at still a very high number. we at cdc consider this a very concerning shift in the trajectory. >> reporter: still, the race to vaccinate is picking up steam. the 101st airborne division deploying to orlando to support vaccination efforts there. and those shipments delayed by the storm now flowing in the northeast. new york adding overnight shifts at mass vaccination sites after getting extra supply.

the fda advisers, doctors and scientists, recommending the vaccine late today in an unanimous vote. the big difference with this vaccine, just one shot, and they say it's 100% effective in preventing hospitalizations and deaths and that it was test in communities with concerning variants and that it still performed well. president biden in houston today promising to use every conceivable way to expand manufacturing of vaccines in this country. pfizer and moderna already promising to make enough vaccine to give shots to all americans by july. now johnson & johnson tonight promising 100 million by june. you can do the math and this could very well boost the pace of this. so far, 47 million received at least one dose, more than 14% of the population. tonight, the pictures, the 101st airborne deploying to orlando to help at fema vaccination sites. but this is still a race against the variants. and the head of the cdc just today saying she's very concerned that the number of new cases of the virus are leveling off at a high number, saying the data may reflect the, quote,

vietnam with the 101st airborne. >> when do you think those public hearings will be held? >> i think it would have to be before the end of the year. it makes less sense if it were to happen next year. >> are we going to have -- are we going to see an impeachment vote on the floor of the house before the end of the year? >> that is -- if we're going to go down that path, i think we have to do something before the end of the year, yes. >> and do you expect any of your republican colleagues to vote with democrats or is this going to be a party line vote? if it is, is it worth it? >> if republicans put country above party, then you would expect a large number of them to. some of them have been saying, well, there's no quid pro quo. ambassador bill taylor pretty much drove a stake through that defense. and now you see republicans acting like children. they're acting out because they have no other move left. they're basically trying to stop these witness depositions from happening. >> congressman ted lieu. congressman, thank you very

that has something to do with it. jeremy bash, the white house talked yesterday in a statement about a radical unelected bureaucrat, apparently referring to ambassador taylor. ambassador taylor was pulled out of retirement by secretary of state mike pompeo back in may. so the radical unelected bureaucrat is someone hand picked by this administration to come back and run ukraine because of his experience in that country. if you read through his statement, there is an explicit quid pro quo. we don't have to dance around this. what did you see in that testimony yesterday, at least the part of what we heard? because he was in there for nine and a half hours. all we have right now is his opening statement. >> we're talking about a west point grad, someone who served in the 101st airborne in vietnam, served in the army. served every republican and democratic administration since 1985 and was hand picked by the trump administration, by secretary pompeo to lead our efforts in ukraine, and now here he comes with a shocking set of

in this "washington post" opening statement that was leaked that the president is saying to connect investigations to aid. >> so congressman, how did you assess your witness yesterday, ambassador taylor? he obviously took very detailed notes, a career diplomat, an experienced diplomat who knew he needed to get some of this down in writing. he had dates and times and everything else. the white house came out yesterday and referred sort of indirectly to him as a radical unelected bureaucrat. how did you assess his credibility in the room over those nine and a half hours? >> well, i saw this radical unelected bureaucrat walk into a room of about 75 people, a very small room, with a commanding courageous presence take a seat and for 40 minutes lay out what he saw starting with his own credentials of serving in vietnam after west point in the 101st airborne division, working in the senate, working for nato, working at the state department,

>> you know, i understand where assistance for political you were because for a lot of my purposes. he doesn't say so let's talk but that the policies in place >> bill taylor, let's talk about bill taylor personally for a few state, that is the reality. >> yeah. moments. bill taylor graduated from west >> and i think one of the things point, he served in the 101st that our presidential candidates having the kurds control an area are missing -- and i'd love your with the turks on the other side take on this -- is to speak airborne, led a combat infantry directly to these folks who was working back in august that platoon in vietnam and has was agreed to by the turks and served the united states of about his personally. really for them, donald trump america in the state department they just decided to go ahead was like pulling a pin on the under consistent administrations republican and democrat, and hand grenade and lobbing it into d.c. and saying, well, nothing yesterday the white house's and he served the united states response to ambassador taylor's of america in state department else has worked. we still can't afford to retire, statement and testimony under consistent administration we still can't afford to send yesterday was to describe it as and through and what we have is our kids to college. part of a smear campaign from election politics and not everybody who gets free stuff is republican and democrat. somebody other than me. far left lawmakers and radical and yesterday the white house's national security being decided talk about the failure of our response to ambassador taylor's by the president of the united candidates thus far to speak unelected bureaucrats. states and it's a betrayal to directly, especially to people statement and testimony was to living in places like rural describe it as part of a smear that's how they described missouri. >> yeah, i think it's important campaign from far left lawmakers that people in missouri, which i ambassador william taylor. and radical unelected the kurds and our policy with as david ignatius just indicated will now pronounce correctly -- it had the feeling, his bureaucrats. that's how they described >> both are correct. >> no, i'm going with yours. statement when you read it of a ambassador william taylor. russia and it's one of the worst it's important they do that, but a radical unelected bureaucrat national security blunders i sea change in this now shuiftin have seen. i also think we all need to step >> senator, it's willie geist. but as just indicated, it had back for a second. the reason i wrote a funny book the feeling, his statement, when about this is because every people like mark meadow and jim you read it, of a sea change in other book about politics now is so angry and serious, and we've jordan and most of the this. you mention them coming to an now shifting people like mark agreement to fill the void as gotten our self into a really

gain. is that who we want to be? russia for the national interest president trump yet. career. he's a graduate of both west still ahead on morning joe, and security of the united taylor told lawmakers that president trump informed point and harvard university's we'll talk about exactly who kennedy school of government. states. diplomats like gordon sondland he served for six years as an ambassador bill taylor is and >> good morning. >> i'm ticking off who won with that ukraine would not get why his testimony should be army infantry officer including taken seriously by lawmakers and this syrian policy the president military aid until president with the 101st airborne in the white house. zelensky did what he wanted. you're watching morning joe. we'll be right back. use. you're watching morning joe. we'll be right back. (contemplative synth music) enacted. iran won, russia won, the war the dictionary -- the dictionary vietnam. he is among the country's most calls that kind criminal assad won, turkey won, experienced diplomats with a i'm trying to figure out from career that spans nearly 50 this deal maker that he calls years serving in every himself in the white house, what did we get out of this? administration republican and democrat since president ronald reagan. he was appointed by president george w. bush in 2006 to serve as ambassador to ukraine and what did he extract in return served under both bush and for this victory. president obama. isis clearly won. after decades of service in is there any upside to this - [narrator] forget about vacuuming for up to a month. government, taylor left and was shark iq robot deep-cleans and empties itself serving as the executive vice decision that eluded all of us that you can see? into a base you can empty once a month. president of the united states and unlike standard robots that bounce around, institute of peace in washington. when he was called back after it cleans row by row. if it's not a shark, it's just a robot. marie yovanovitch was ousted >> no, we didn't win anything. from her position as ambassador ( ♪ ) the president won an applause line and that's what is driving to ukraine in may. and as willie mentioned he was him in his decision making. only tylenol® rapid release gels recommended to secretary mike have laser drilled holes. here's one of the biggest pompeo for that role by kurt they release medicine fast, challenges that we have.

he wants an investigation in a >> quid pro quo. >> i hate that word. conversation about military aid and releasing it. >> a direct line he said between biden and military aid. there's no ambiguity here the >> an attack on security and our way there has been up until this country. because instead of talking to ukraine but the president is point. actually trying to get dirt on >> what i want to do is right an opponent. now defend people like bill that's what he was doing. taylor against this president. and i just cept a let door the because it's public servants head of the fec. i got a letter back saying is like this guy, comes out of west that something of value and today she answered and she said point, serving in the military, that it was. she also said that when that in the infantry, the 101st whistle-blower complaint went over to justice and they decided not to bring a criminal action, airborne, everything about his life is serving the country. that there's a memorandum of and to have this president who's given so little to the country, who's avoided service himself to understanding that says it then goes over to the fec. trash these people and call them guess what? deep staters is just playing a it did want. so that just shows once again game of awful american nature. the cover-up. it's awful what this guy is to me it's straightforward. doing about these -- these are what this was was a president of good people who are blowing the the united states looking for whistle on bad behavior, dirt, opposition research on an unconstitutional behavior. thank you so much, congressman opponent from a foreign leader. ted lou of california, former then they try to cover it up pie putting it on this super secret senator clara mccaskill, and server so that no one can see

american military aid and a white house visit until that happened and that the white house staff, including lawyers of the white house staff sought to cover that up. so the defenders of the president only have three places to go without these process arguments available to them.soid number one is i guess perhaps they could say well, the facts weren't as described. he never said these things, and it's a misinterpretation the people who heard that. i don't think that's going to fly. they could argue the law.ac n they could say look, the president did do these things, but it's not unlawful, not impeachable. in other words, it's awful but not unlawful. and i guess the third approach, and we begin to see hints of do this is that they could go on the attack against decorated combat veterans like ambassador bill taylor who was in the 101st airborne of vietnam and who has served a 25-year public service career culminating as ambassador

affairs contributor and jill wine-banks as well, she's an msnbc legal analyst. congressman maloney, let me start with you. i just want to get from you why you decided to start with ambassador taylor's biography. >> because it's an extraordinary story of, well, you use the word valor. and he's so understated and humble, he might not know this was a person who graduated fifth in his class of 800 at west point. and then with any choice he wanted went to the thick of the fight in vietnam and served with distinction. and that of course was the beginning of his career. the 101st airborne. he was with the 506 regimen and serves his country for 40, 50 years.

under attack by russia was held up for these political reasons. of course, he tried to walk it back, but today, many bricks were added to the edifice of the case of -- for the impeachment of donald trump. and it's -- i mean, if you're a patriotic american, lawrence, it's got to be a sad day. i mean, i personally take no joy in this, but it was an overwhelming day, and why? because somebody like bill taylor, an infantry officer in vietnam, 101st airborne, who went on to serve the country from his days at west point for a total of 50 years and counting, lawrence, he doesn't care about democrats. he doesn't care about republicans. he cares about the national security interests of the united states and he reluctantly came back to serve in the country, as you mentioned, that he loved so much, ukraine, and he's watching right in front of his eyes a

democratic sean patrick maloney of new york and we're also joined now by ambassador wendy sherman former under-secretary of state for political affairs in the obama administration. she is a member of the global affairs contributor and jill wine-banks as well, she's an msnbc legal analyst. congressman maloney, let me start with you. i just want to get from you why you decided to start with ambassador taylor's biography. >> because it's an extraordinary story of, well, you use the word valor. and he's so understated and humble, he might not know this was a person who graduated fifth in his class of 800 at west point. and then with any choice he wanted went to the thick of the fight in vietnam and served with distinction. and that of course was the beginning of his career. the 101st airborne.

and we begin to see hints of this is that they could go on the attack against decorated combat veterans like ambassador bill taylor who is in the 101st airborne of vietnam and who has served a 25-year public service career culminating as ambassador to ukraine or colonel vindman who is an active duty army officer who has served for 20 years in the military, who was wounded in combat in iraq and who is going to tell the story that he heard the phone call personally, and he thought it was inappropriate and illegal. >> peter baker, one of your colleagues who knows a thing or two because he has seen a thing or two is carl hase. he wrote when the house voted in 1998 to begin an impeachment inquiry into president bill clinton, 31 democrats sided with republicans and the white house breathed a sigh of relief that the number was not significantly higher. in today's polarized washington, questions on impeachment would be considered a tsunami.

kent and, yovanovitch? >> think they're smart to lead off with bill taylor. he's a foreign service officer. he started as an army officer serving in vietnam, serving in the 101st airborne, he's got combat experience. he's devoted his life to public service. he's served ever president, republican, and democrat since the 1980s. he's not a political figure. if anything, he was recruited by this administration by secretary pompeo earlier this year to come over and take back his old job as the president's envoy to ukraine. he's not a never trumper, he's not a democrat, he's a career public service official. he's going to say very clearly i was there, i was in the discussions. the shakedown demand was clear as a bell. the united states was not going to give military assistance, they were not going to offer a white house visit unless they

people who heard that. i don't think that's going to fly. they could argue the law. they could say look, the president did do these things, but it's not unlawful, not impeachable. in other words, it's awful but not unlawful. and i guess the third approach, and we begin to see hints of this is that they could go on the attack against decorated combat veterans like ambassador bill taylor who is in the 101st airborne of vietnam and who has served a 25-year public service career culminating as ambassador to ukraine or colonel vindman who is an active duty army officer who has served for 20 years in the military, who was wounded in combat in iraq and who is going to tell the story that he heard the phone call personally, and he thought it was inappropriate and illegal. >> peter baker, one of your colleagues who knows a thing or two because he has seen a thing or two is carl hase. he wrote when the house voted in 1998 to begin an impeachment inquiry into president bill

the way the republicans and the white house have vilified lieutenant colonel vindman, a wounded combat veteran, current serving army officer a ukraine expert who explained why he was so disturbed by the president's conduct and why he went to the white house counsel and it follows on other efforts by republicans to vilify people like ambassador bill taylor himself, member of the 101st airborne served in vietnam, devoted his life to service, serving republicans and democrats, and he was highly disturbed by the president's conduct. >> jeremy, you raise important points we want to get into and i mentioned you, of course, have the experience as counsel, i want to bring in another of counsel here at msnbc, professor mur fri nyu law, former clerk for judge sotomayor at the time and weigh in on what jeremy raises the question of fairness, this is a constitutional process, this is the only time the constitution is treating as

and it's -- i mean, if you're a his administration are patriotic american, lawrence, testifying against him, it's patently absurd. it's got to be a sad day. look, you have been more i mean, i personally take no joy outspoken than anyone about how in this, but it was an ridiculous he is, and frankly, overwhelming day, and why? because somebody like bill taylor, an infantry officer in how stupid he is. vietnam, 101st airborne, who went on to serve the country from his days at west point for so it just doesn't work. a total of 50 years and he is being given a fair and due counting, lawrence, he doesn't process and he needs to go ahead care about democrats. and participate in it. and if there's any vindication, he doesn't care about put it on the table. republicans. we doubt there's any vindication he cares about the national whatsoever. security interests of the united >> john heilemann, when i was states and he reluctantly came hearing donald trump lead his back to serve in the country, as crowds and encourage them in their "lock her up" chants, i you mentioned, that he loved so never heard them chanting about much, ukraine, and he's watching her having a trial before they right in front of his eyes a locked her up. >> yeah, you know, lawrence, the president undermine the national recourse to a process argument security of the united states is always the recourse of for his own political end. scoundrels. so that's a really sad day. >> yeah. and it just confirms what the >> it's, you know, when the facts are against you you argue president, himself, has said. the law.

lift all sanctions imposed. that ukrainians would be killed we're willing to take blame and out this military assistance we're also willing to take credit. >> the president's actions that president trump, in his telling and other accounts, was allowing russia's president conditioning on investigation of vladimir putin to cement his place in syria after stepping in his political rivals and as the cease-fire came to an end. russian troops now mobilizing in baseless conspiracy theories northern syria where american involving a computer server in the 2016 election. troops had been patrolling just as i wrote, this guy's two weeks ago. credibility is pretty rock joining me now, nbc's kristen solid. the white house has come out welker at the white house. and, you know, used typical kristen, this was extraordinary, rhetoric about deep staters and aside from the distraction radical partisans. this guy has spent 50 years in element, the president now claiming victory against all public service. evidence from the ground. he was in the 101st airborne in vietnam. >> reporter: that's right, he's been an ambassador all over andrea. and a couple of other things the world, he has deep that stood out for me, you had experience in ukraine. president trump saying that he i spoke to several former was going to leave a small diplomats who know him well who contingent of troops in the said that this guy is just kind of a paragon of integrity in region to essentially patrol and safeguard the oil resources public service. so he just can't easily be there, although not saying dismissed. i think the most memorable quote specifically how many troops are of all i got yesterday is if going to stay. so there's going to be a lot of bill taylor says something happened, it happened. focus on that. you can bet that u.s. forces, >> absolutely, that stood out from your great reporting, who are anticipating deploying to the region, want to know what michael crowley. and phil, briefly, you broke the

prosper every moment. >> that is absolutely true. >> you attended a veterans tribute this july 4th. tell us what you did on the 4th of july. and what was going through your mind as you were talking to some veterans. >> as soon as i walked up the steps and shook their hands, i was wondering what were their back stories and what they have to go through to be here, right now. >> you want to document that. let me tell you this. i think you started with your family and then your community. you know there are about 20 million vets in america today. you have a big project on your hands. >> yeah. >> you're just going to take it one day at a time, one veteran at a time because you want to hear their stories. what's the biggest story that sort of stuck out to you? >> well, i met one veteran that was a world war ii vet. he served during -- he jumped on the beaches of normandy, 101st airborne paratrooper. >> that's a good one. >> i'm curious, do you take the book everywhere with you? how do you go about getting

a generation later, the army returned to europe and embarked upon a great crusade with knives and rifles in hand, the rangers scaled the cliffs of normandy, the 101st airborne leapt into the danger from above, illuminated only by enemy flares, explosions, and burning aircraft, they threw back the nazi empire with lightning of their own from the turrets of sherman tanks and of the barrels of the m1 rifle. in the darkness of the battle of the bulge, with nazis on every side, one soldier is reported to have said "they've got us surrounded again, the poor bastards." outnumbered, american warriors fought through the bunkers pork

the entire battalion surrendered because of york. a generation later the army returned to europe and embarked on a crusade. the rangers scaled the cliffs of normandy, the 101st airborne leapt in the danger from above. illuminated only by enemy flairs, explosions and burning aircraft. they threw back the nazi empire with lightning of their own from the barrels of the m-1 rifle. in the darkness of the battle of the bulge with nazis on every side one soldier is reported to have said, they've got us surrounded again, the poor bastards. [ applause ] outnumbered american warriors fought through the bunkers of

>> >> >> iran announced they did not receive sanctions relief. we have a deadline of july 8th. in the persian gulf, what if iran does begin to enrich uranium. >> donald trump was on hand, >> something else happening. taking on the role of acting defense secretary, >> he deployed and fought in the 101st airborne.