the military, served two tours in iraq -- am i right about that? >> you're correct. >> what did you make of general kelly's statement today. >> general kelly's remarks were very powerful. equally powerful was the image of sergeant johnson's widow grieving over her husband's flag-draped casket. when i was in iraq i was an officer for a buddy of mine who was killed. i had to pack up all his stuff and send it home. i don't know if i would have had the words to stay to his spouse and to his family, but i think all our nation can do is give as much compassion and the highest level of gratitude to these families. there should not be politics. four days into this i'm still in disbelief we're having these conversations. >> it is interesting. it's a tricky thing. because i don't think we would be having this conversation, and i don't want to sound like i'm blaming the president for it, but it was the president who brought this into the public discourse by using conversations with gold star families to divert from a question he apparently didn't like and to