Efforts and to show the construction of two projects, norris dam in tennessee and wheeler dam in alabama. Both are still operational and on the register of historical places. Watch american heft tv tonight and over the weekend on cspan3. Earlier today defense secretary mark esper held a briefing at the pentagon where he responded to questions about President Trumps visit to Saint Johns Church during the protest. A look now at his remarks. Well, good morning, everyone. Over the mast couple of days there has been a fair share of reporting, some good, some bad, about what is transpiring in our great nation. And the role that the department of defense and its leaders. I want to take a few minutes to address the issues in person to make clur the facts and offer my views. First, let me say up front, the killing of george floyd by a minneapolis policeman is a horrible crime. The officers on the scene that day should be held accountable for his murder. It is a tragedy that we have seen repeat itself too many times. With great sympathy, i want to extend the deepest of condolences to the family and friends of george floyd from me and the department. Racism is real in america. And we all do our very best to recognize it, to confront it and to eradicate it. Ive been proud to be member of an institution, the United States military, that embraces diversity and inclusion. And prohibits hate and discrimination in all forms. More often than not we have led on those issues. And while we still have much to do on this front, leaders across the dod and services take this seriously and were determined to make a difference. Every member of the department has sworn an oath to uphold and defend the constitution of the United States of america. Ive taken this oath many times beginning at the age of 18 when i entered west point. The rights that are embedded in this great document begin with the First Amendment which guarantees the five freedoms of speech, religion, press, assembly and the right to petition the government. The United States military is sworn to defend these and all other rights and we encourage americans at all times to exercise them peacefully. It is these rights and freedoms that make our country so special and it is these rights and freedoms that American Service members are willing to fight and die for. At times, however, the United States military has asked in support of governors and Law Enforcement to help maintain law and order so that other americans could exercise this right free from violence against themselves or their property. That is what thousands of guardsmen are doing today in cities across america. It is not something we seek to do. But it is our duty. And we do it with the utmost skill. And i was reminded as i visited our National Guardsmen on duty on monday protecting our Hallowed Ground and monuments. Im proud of the women of the National Guard out on the streets today per forthing this important task and in many ways at the risk of their own welfare. Ive always bveive always beli continue to believe that the National Guard is best suited for performing domestic in these situations in support of local Law Enforcement. I say this not only as secretary of defense, but as also as a former soldier and a former member of the National Guard. The option tos active duty forces in a Law Enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort and only in the most urgent and dire of situations. Were not in one of those situations now. I do not support invoking the insurrection act. Last night a story came out based on a background interview i did earlyner dat i. It focused on the events last mond on the events in the park and i found it to be inaccurate in parts. So i want to state very clearly my account of what happened that monday afternoon. I did know that following the president s remarks on monday evening that many of us were going to join President Trump and review the damage in Lafayette Park and at saint johns episcopal church. I was not aware of exactly where we were going when we arrived to the church and what the plans were once we got there. It was my aim and general millie to meet with and thank the members of the National Guard who were on duty that evening in the park. It is something the president likes to do as well. The path we took to and from the church didnt afford us that opportunity. But i was able to spend a considerable amount of time with our guardsmen later this evening as i moved around the city to many of the locations at which they were posted. I also want to address a few other matters raised about that evening. First, National Guard forces did not fire rubber bullets or teargas into the crowd as reported. Second, guardsmen were instructed to wear helmets and personal protective equipment for their own protection, not so serve as some form of intimidation. Third, military leaders including the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff were wearing appropriate uniforms working in a command center and meeting with troops in the street. Fourth it wasnt until yesterday afternoon that we determined it was a National Guard helicopter that hovered low over a city block in d. C. Within an hour or so of learning this i directed the secretary of the army to conduct an inquiry to determine what happened and why and a report back to me. Now yall have been very generous for your time so let me wrap up to say ow proud i am of the men and women in uniform. The National Guard over a span of several months has gone from tackling natural disasters to coronavirus to now dealing with civil unrest in support of Law Enforcement on the streets of america. All while many of the fellow guardsmen are deployed abroad defending against americas real adversaries. Most importantly i want to assure all of you and all americans that the department of defense, the armed services, our uniform leaders, our civilian leaders and i take seriously our oath to support and defend the constitution of the United States and to safeguard those very rights contained in that document we cherish so dearly. This is a tough time for our great country these days. But we will get through it. My hope is that instead of the violence in the streets well see Peaceful Demonstrations that honor george floyd. That press for accountability for his murder and move us to reflect about racism in america and that serve as a call for action for us to come together and to address this problem once and for all. This is the america your military represents. This is the america we aspire to be. And this is the america that were committed to defending with our lives. Thank you. Well go to the phones. Bob burns. Thank you. Mr. Secretary, taking you back to your comments about monday evening when you left the white house with the president and others, i think if i heard you correctly you said you did know that you were going to be going to the Saint Johns Church but you didnt know what would happen when you got there. And youve since then criticized by many for participating in a president ial photo op so my question is do you regret having participated . Well, i did know that we were going to the church. I was not aware a photo op was happening. The president drags a large press pool along with him. I do everything i can to try to stay apolitical and sometimes im successful at doing that and sometimes im not as successful. But my aim is to keep the department out of politics to stay apolitical and that is what i continue to do as well as my leaders here in the department. Well go to phil stewart. Yeah, hi, secretary, you could address, there is a lot of criticism of the use of the word battle space in the United States where people are protesting. Would you like to take that phrase back and when you talk about keeping the military apolitical, how do you see the department navigating this when response protests has become a partisan issue. Thanks. Well, ill take your second question first, phil. That is the challenge, right. There is a political tone to this. We are in a political season and an election approaches and this is a challenge for the department of defense in every Election Year and well continue to deal with it as we creep closer and closer to the season. I want to stay out of politicals by remaining apolitical since i took office and i reinforced it when i came in and when we started the new year and ive talked about it several times since then and this is the ongoing challenge. With regard to your first question as you rightly said this week i was quoted as saying the best way to get street violence under control was by dominating the battle space. And probably all of you who cover the pentagon hears you use this phrase often. There are other phrases that we use day in and day out that most people dont understand. This is part of the military lexicon that i grew up and what we use to describe a bounded area of operations. It is not a phrase focused on people and certainly not on our fellow americans as some have suggested. It is a phrase i used over the weekend when speaking with minnesota governor walz. We spoke on friday and saturday as we spoke about the dod support to what was happening there. Keep in mind it was only a few short days ago where minneapolis was the epicenter and all eyes were focused on minnesota. But governor walz was a former member of the National Guard and i was complimenting him. The numbers rested control of the streets of looters and others breaking the law and i was giving him credit for that so Peaceful Demonstrations could be held and peaceful demonstrators could share frustration and anger. That is what i was encouraging other governors to consider. And in retrospect i would use different words so as to not to distract from the more important matters to understand or some to suggest we are militarizing the issue. Louie martinez. Thank you for doing this briefing. Some of the people that criticized you for the term of battle space were some of americas most respected former generals and they said that that was just inappropriate language. And if i could move on to what you knew about the situation at lafayette square. Were you aware that the park police were going to use such strong measures in pushing back the protesters there and did you express any concerns that may not be exactly what needed to happen to make that photo op possible. Thanks for the question, louis. I was not aware of Law Enforcements plans for the park. I was not briefed on them nor should i expect to be. But they had taken what actions a assume they felt was necessary given what they faced but i was not briefed on the plans and was not aware of what they were doing. Dan la moffitt. Yeah, mr. Secretary, thanks for your time. I realize youre trying to keep the department out of politics but it took you a week to say anything along the lines of what you did at the top of the call and your strong comments this morning about george floyd. In light of the more than 200,000 black Service Members in uniform and across the country, why did it take so long. Thanks, dan. It is a fair question. I think you may have written about this and rightly said i worked very hard to keep the department out of politics which is very hard these days as we move closer and closer to an election. Remaining a political means there are times to speak up and times not to. And what happened to george floyd happens way to often in this country and most time we dont speak about these matters as a department. But as events have unfolded over the past few days it became very clear that this is becoming a very combustible National Issue and what i wanted to do, i had made the determination as events escalated in the last 72 hours that the moment had reached a point where it warranted a clear message to the department about our approach and so given the dynamics i wanted to lead by crafting my own statement for the department first. Which i did yesterday. And yall should have seen it and it went out, this piece of paper. My message to the force would say i thought is the proper tone for our Service Members and dod civilians in all and giving my leaders the spacecraft similar messages expressing outrage and expressing commitment to the constitution and to end racism and hatred in all of its forms and just the general expression with regard to what the department was about. So that is the timeline, dan, if you will and i do that from great counsel from my advisers. Several of the cleaves were interested in speaking up sooner. Sometimes when you say nothing that says something onto it self. In retrospect would you have done so more quickly. We did. General millie, we talked to the chiefs. Most of the chiefs wanted to take the lead from me and so what i told them is through the chairman i was going to take send the initial message out again to set the tone to express my views and then i give them the space to share their views as well to do so. And again were a week into this or so. And when you look at what is escalated, it is a matter of 72 hours, maybe 96 or so. And weve been consumed with a lot of things between now and then. But i do think it is important to speak up and to speak out and to share what we view again as an institution, the racism that exists in america and how we view it as an institution. Again, i think weve led on these issues over the history of the United States military. And will continue to do so, certainly while im at the helm. One more from the phone. Tom bowman. If not tom then nick shiffrin. Mr. Secretary, thanks very much for doing this. If i could take you back to the other night. I know youre saying that you didnt know exactly what the plans were. But with all due respect those plans were designed by commanderinchief and also by bill barr, the fellow cabinet secretary and someone who is in the command center with you. So how could you not know about those plans and what does it say about those plans to both clear the park and go to the church and do what the president did, and number two i know youre conducting an inquiry on the use of the helicopter. You may not want to say this but do you believe it was inappropriate to use a med evac helicopter to intimidate protesters, thank you. On the first thing, i think there is speculation with ward to what you stated. It was a Law Enforcement action. I had not yet arrived at the command post and i was asked to return to the white house to update the president. I got back to the white house and within a short period of time the president went out to give his remarks. So there was no space in between there. There was no opportunity to get a briefing. And again, nor would i expect to get a briefing on what the Law Enforcement community was planning to do with regard to the clearing of park. Again, that was not a military decision. It is not a military action. The National Guard was there in support of the Law Enforcement. With regard to your second question. I would say this much, im not going to comment because i have asked an inquiry be made and i want to understand who was involved and what orders were given and not given and was there a safety issue involved with an aircraft hovering that low. So there is a lot of questions that need to be answered. I spoke to secretary mccarthy last night and hes digging into it and well get the facts and go back from there. In the room. Tara. Thank you, mr. Secretary. So you served in the d. C. National guard. I did. Thats right. To follow on nicks question, were you surprised that a medical helicopter from the d. C. National guard was used to intimidate people who were peacefully assembling and secondly as this goes on youve asked the secretary of the army to look into this who tasked the helicopter. Was the helicopter under the authority of the department of justice . Is that why there is this murkiness of how the helicopter how a medical helicopter was used in an aggressive form. These are the details weve had to tease out, was this at the request of Law Enforcement. You made a statement it was to intimidate protesters. I got a report back that they were asked by Law Enforcement to look at a checkpoint, a National Guard check point to see if there were protesters around so there is conflicting reports. I dont want to add to that. We need to let the army conduct the inquiry and get back to see what the facts are. When you looked at the video look, i think when youre landing that low in the city, it looks unsafe to me, right. But i need to find out and learn more about what is going on. It would not be unsafe if they were a med evac bird picking up somebody that was seriously injured. That is a different circumstance. So we have to find out all of the facts and take it all in and let the army do its work and come back with what they discovered. But to your understanding it was not a med evac mission. To my understanding it wasnt. Im sorry, but i need to head to the white house. So i want to wrap up by saying something to the men and women of the department of defense, and let me say this, as i said in my message to the department yesterday, i appreciate your professionalism and dedication to defending the constitution for all americans. Moreover im amazed by the countless accomplishments of the department of defense in these trying times from sheltering americans from a foreign land to delivering food and medical supplies to communities in need and protecting our cities an communities. In every challenge and across every mission the u. S. Military has remained ready, capable and willing to serve. As i reminds you in february i asked that you remember our commitment as a department and as Public Servants to say apolitical in the turbulent days. Weve earned the respect of the American People by being there to protect and serve all americans. Through your steadfast dedication to the mission and core values and we will safeguard the hard earned trust and confidence of the public as our nations most respected institution. Thank you. Mr. Secretary, you could consider taking another question from the room . Coming up today at 2 00 p. M. , Kayleigh Mcenany will brief protesters after the death of george floyd and give an update on the pandemic. Watch a coverage at 2 00 p. M. Eastern here on cspan3. The Senate Commerce committee holds a hearing on the impact of the Coronavirus Impact on transportation and critical infrastructure. Watch live today at 2 30 on cspan3 and online on cspan. Org or listen live on the free cspan radio app. Tonight beginning at 8 00 eastern on American History tv, a look at great depression, founded in 1933 during the depression. The Tennessee Valley authorities mission was to address Environmental Energy and Economic Development issues in a region suffering from soil erosion, floods, poverty and unemployment. A National Program in the Tennessee Valley is a 1936 film created by the tva to promote efforts and show the construction of two projects. Norris dam in tennessee and wheeler dam in alabama. Both are still operational and on the National Register of historic places. Watch American History tv tonight and over the weekend on cspan3. U. S. Space officials now discuss the militarys role in space including astronaut