Transcripts For KYW Face The Nation 20171022

Families. Well hear from khizr khan a gold star father who appeared at the Democratic Convention last year, his new book is an American Family and well look at finding compromise in controversy as former green beret turned nfl Football Player nate boyer talks about his efforts to find a balance between protest and honoring the flag he fought under. Plus analysis of all the news and an unusual show of unity from the five former president s. Its all ahead on face the nation. Good morning, welcome to face the nation im john dickerson. Last were a could row sieve political spat broke out over respect for Fallen Soldiers and their families. We begin with a look at what sparked this new low in america and october 4th attack in niger where four american soldiers, ryan black, jeremiah johnson, la David Johnson and Dustin Wright were killed when they were reportedly ambushed by Islamic State extremists, joinings now to answer some of the questions about the attack are michael morell, cbs News Senior National security contributor and former number two the at cia and cbs news National Security correspondent david martin. Mike, start with you before we get a sense of what exactly happened. Why were us servicemen there . John, it has been u. S. Policy for some time to support those nations facing a terrorist threat. One of the key pieces of that support is to train, advise and assist local military. One of the places we were doing that was niger, they face a significant threat from a robust Al Qaeda Group and a growing isis group. Both of those are located in mali but come across that border and conduct attacks in niger, americans might ask why were they there helping them . The answers while this is a regional threat today, it could be a threat to europe tomorrow and it could be a threat to the homeland day after. That were there trying to keep this under control so that it doesnt become a significant threat to the United States. Its a policy that makes sense, i support it. Dickerson david, what happened in this particular case . What do we know . What we know is maybe different from what happened. We know that four american soldiers were ambushed and killed during a patrol on which no enemy contact was expected. Pentagon says that that team of advisors had been on 29 previous patrols in the six months before that, never had any contact, no indication at this time would be any different. As a result they had no drone overhead providing surveillance and there were no armed escort aircraft. Now that version of events seems to be at odds with the fact that the u. N. Has published a map which show that there were 46 attacks in that part of western niger in the past 20 months, in fact there was one overnight, a group of militants came across the border from mali he attacked Police Barracks are reported to have killed 13. So it seems like there would have been reason to expect enemy contact so we dont understand why the contact was expected. Dickerson is that intelligence failure . We dont know. We really need the results of the investigation that general mattis has ordered up before we know what happened. But i will tell you in this kind of situation intelligence is far from perfect but we really need to know the results of the investigation. You know, general waldhouseer testified last march before congress, he said that he had only one quarter of the Intelligence Surveillance and reconnaissance flights that he needed throughout africa. This is an operation which is just sort of starting up and all the resources arent in place. We dont know if somebody missed something out there or if theyre just simply werent the aircraft and other intelligence sources operating that could have detected this. Dickerson whats the most important thing going forward, mike . I think its to make sure that we dont politicize this, this has the feel of ben goody is me. Benghazi to me. In the political field. Exactly. I hope we dont politicize it i hope we figure out what happened so that it doesnt happen again. Dickerson let me switch talk about isis in syria, the president announced yesterday that successful capture of raqqa. Where do things stand . For months weve been conditioned to think that the battle for raqqa would be the final battle against isis and syria, guess what, its not. Before that city was encircled the leaders and lot of the foreign fighters got out of there, went down the river valley into these towns and along the river that leads down to the iraqi border. Thats where they are now and in between the American Forces and those isis forces are a whole bunch of regime, Syrian Regime forces and their russian advisors and russian aircraft. So, this is going to get very, very dicey, all these forces converge on the river valley and the remnants of isis in syria. Very important that we dont think that the taking away of the caliphate is the end of isis they will go underground, they will be in the shadows, remain fundamental security problem. Dickerson thank you so much. We turn now to Oklahoma Republican senator James Lankford he joins us from new york. What is your assessment what do you know about niger and what questions are you asking . We have all the same questions that have already been mentioned there as well to find out what actually happened thats the key aspect all the facts that are on the ground. That is an extremely unstable region, lot of weapons that came out of libya are going down into this region, being used by al qaeda and isisaffiliated groups. Weve had well over 100 u. N. Troops killed in mali. So there are lot of issues with this region, not only the flood of weapons but the instability of the governments in the area and have large growing presence of isis and al qaeda in the area. Dickerson some of your colleagues, senator mccain among them has expressed frustration at get knowledge answers out of the administration from the pentagon, do you share that frustration . I do. What senator mccain focuses son getting the full story not getting parts of the story or not getting conflicting stories at this point we have conflicting stories, we want to be able to get the full accurate story, get it right. Dickerson do you feel like this is a localized problem or a broader one . The president has talked about giving the military greater rein do to its work is there tension in terms of greater reign but not informing Congress Perhaps as much about what the military is doing and where its doing it . Were advising and assisting all over the world to put down al qaeda stand isis and other radical islamic groups around the world that are seeking to terrorize not only local communities but we learned from afghanistan its not just isolated region of the world that will never come after us. Obviously they have come after us before these isolated regions its extremely important that we do stay engaged were typically in the back, quite frankly typically these isis groups wont attack a United States convoy because theyre well protected. They will attack other u. N. Peacekeepers, local police stations, they will attack local governments or bus stations where they know there are softer targets than come after the heavily militarized targets like ours. Well know each others presence but wont engage certainly until now weve seen that here. Dickerson let me ask you another question about potential business on Intelligence Community that youre on. Youre looking boot russian influence in the election, there have been reports this week about russian efforts to try to influence the Obama Administration and try to influence perhaps Hillary Clinton through donations to the Clinton Foundation with respect to the purchase of uranium. Is that something that Intelligence Committee should look at that youre interested in looking at . We have the report that we november now that is unsettled issue that something that the fbi has pursued for now a decade to try to determine what influence was done as you know there are several russians that have been arrested nor or have been charged on these crimes of trying to be able to influence the purchase of in the deal on uranium with the Obama Administration through the Clinton Foundation. There are Unanswered Questions that should be answered, may not necessarily be by this investigation we like to be able to close it down. But that is unfinished business, quite frankly the Judiciary Committee will be the lead Investigative Team on that one from the senate. But we still wait to see the final reports from the fbi to be able to get the actual details on that one as well. Dickerson let me ask you about the budget. You said last year during one of the obama budgets we cannot keep saying well add debt every year and theres no reckoning for that, budget passed out of the senate this week, not going to tackle the deficit as much as some would have like. What does that mean . What about that reckoning . Tremendous frustration as we walk through this process, there are several ways to bring back the budget not necessarily on the tax side but some of the spend knowledge side. Way to be able to get out of this big hole is pretty straight forward, limit our spending not matter of dramatic cuts but cap our spending make sure that it doesnt continue to grow past inflation rate. Then also have growing economy. The last ten years our economy has grown at less than 2 on average every single year for ten years. Weve not had a decade like that in a century. Typically grows about 3 . Weve encouraged a bump on the economy with tax reforms, not been done in 30 years of major tax reform. If the economy is stuck, as i like to say old illustration of record needle, if the economy is stuck in the same track over and over again somehow you got to be able to bum than to get it go. I think reform is that, certainly tax reform to get our economy growing again. Dickerson a final question on another committee on homeland security. Overseas pima, response to port recould, president gave himself a ten out of ten this week, how would you grade him . Im not sure id give a grade than one. Its extremely difficult for fema dealing with disasters in houston, florida and puerto rico at the same time. You have staff thats incredibly stretched, you have a lot of resources that are going towards puerto rico a much harder issue based on the fact its an isla island. Moving power poles takes a week just by barge to be able to get them there. All the power is out across the entire island, three and half Million People that have got to get access to basic services again. It takes a long time to get equipment there. Dickerson weve out of time. Thanks for being with us. Thank you. Dickerson joining us now the white house director of the office of management and budget, mick mulvaney. Lets start with the budget, passed out of the Senate Setting the stage for tax cuts. But that budget does not achieve balance, thats something you wanted as a congressman, so why doesnt achieve balance why isnt that a big problem . I think weve made a decision with within administration that plan a or part of plan a which was to try to cut our way to balance just wasnt going to get very far in washington, d. C. We had offered 54 billion worth of discretionary cuts in our budget back in march. Only about four or five billion survived so far on the hill. Were not going to be able to cut our way to balance. So the next part of the plan, next part that have sort of the calculus, deficits are revenues less expenditures, focus on the revenues. How do we get government revenues up. The way that we balance the budget back in the 1990s was fiscal restraint, Slower Growth in Government Plus huge Economic Growth that drove wealth for families, but also drove seats seeds to the government. Dickerson the spending question, though. Republicans for a long time talked about spending restraint and so to now say well do it through growth, thats a big thats no small deal like Weight Watchers saying were going to give up the dieting part. You have to sit there go, okay, theres two parts to this equation, there isnt the political will on the hill right now. Dickerson why not . Youre in charge. They run over this for so long. Its difficult i think to cut spending in washington it really is. Dickerson sit lack of will of members, lobbyists constate wants. Its all of the above. Washington is designed to spend more money. Probably too deep in the weeds for this show but the 1974 budget act which drives everything that we do, every dollar that we spend designed to spend more money one year from the next. Thats the bill that says if you spend 15 0 last year, and 104 this year we call it a cut. Snot making that up. The law really is set up to spend more money, hard to get out of that cycle. Dickerson here is why i ask. Theres a lot of questions about outsiders and insiders. What sometimes happenss people in the outside say we got to do this and that and they become insider, either through expediency or more complicated this they dont follow up with what they said. That disconnect has led to serious splits in Political Parties its happening in the Republican Party. Why would somebody looking at this from the outside say, now theyre in power just doing the easy thing. You got bigger issues than just spending that fall into that category. Republicans who promised to repeal and replace obamacare they havent done that yet. Republicans promised to do tax reform. We had a huge step in that direction this week, i think were making a lot of progress, but theres lot of things we havent followed through on, weve seen president act with great deal of frustration in reaction to that, seen lot of frustration back home with people from that. Absolutely. Have to start keeping our promises but passing this budget this week which is the next step and absolutely critical step to get tax reform was a big step forward keeping that promise. Dickerson lets talk about taxes. There was framework released included removing deductibility for state and local. Now there seems to be some wobbling on that. What is the status of removing that as a deduction. I hope they dont wobble. Keep in mind what the president wants here something that is simpler, better and fair. This is one of those issues that goes right to the fairness issue. If you and i make the same amount of money we live in house that has the same value, our cars the same car, shouldnt we pay the exact same amount in federal taxes . We should. Thats fair. But if you live in i live in south carolina, i pay more in federal taxes than you do thats not fair we hope that that does remain part of the process. Dickerson although lets pick off couple of other things. What is status of the carried interest loophole . This is tax treatment that helps hedge fund managers, the president called it, getting away with murder when he was a candidate, it wasnt in the framework where sit now . The stuff that wasnt in the framework we werent able to come to general agreement on with the house and Senate Leadership going into the more detailed discussions which will start now. Thats why the framework was still very important we did have agreement on basic rates, on corporate reductions, on reform and so forth its not in the framework it means, well put that aside to discuss later. Later is now. I will confirm to you president Still Believes carried street b probably something that needs to be looked at very closely. Dickerson you talked about fairness, the president as candidate went right to that fairness argument said theyre getting away with murder, middle class is getting nothing. Why not say this must be in tax reform. If its up to the president it would. But we have to dickerson hes not shy about saying what he wants. Why be mumbley on this one. Weve been careful to make sure were focusing on what we agree on as we released that framework. The thing that we agreed on, things that arent agreed to in advance they go on committee thats a process that starts next week. Dickerson Bipartisan Health reform, president seemed to be supporting Alexander Murray now he says hes not, whats the status that have . I saw that, where he has been from the very beginning on csrs which is say want to get a deal. I dont want to give this money to insurance companies, i dont want to give money to the ceos. Dickerson the bill is written in a way. He doesnt want to do any that have without also getting something for folks. Criticisms youve heard are like, look, im okay with doing a deal, this is the president now, but im not getting enough of the folks what are getting hurt. Give me more by way of associated health plans, more of the things we know we can do for folks back home to actually help them. I think actually pretty good chance to get a deal. Just murray, tall ex wander in current form isnt far enough. Dickerson well have to leaflet, mr. Director, well be back in a moment. Believe it or not you actually like what you do. Even love it. And today, you can do things you never could before. Youre working in millions of places at once with iot sensors. Analyzing social data on the cloud to create new designs. And using blockchain to help prevent fraud. So get back to it and do the best work of your life. Dickerson a question the President Trump on monday about why he had not mentioned the loss of the four soldiers in the 12 days after they were killed in niger. If you look at president obama and other president s, most of them didnt make calls, a lot of them didnt make calls. Dickerson that was not accurate as staffers for previous president s pointed out. Then a harsher criticism when president called the wife of fallen soldier la David Johnson, democratic congressman Frederica Wilson accused mr. Trump of being disrespectful to the grieving widow. I was in the car. When never said the word hero. He said to the wife, well, i guess he knew he was getting into. How insensitive can you be. Dickerson the president denied it on twitter then the next day chief of staff and four star marine general john kelly made a stunning statement. Citing his personal experience when he was notified of his own sons death in 2010, he said he advised president not to make calls. Said to him, sir, theres nothing you can do to lighten the burden on these families. Let me tell what you i tell them. What my best friend told me. He was my casualty officer. He said, kel, he was doing exactly what he wanted to do when he was killed. He knew what he was getting into by joining that 1 . He knew what the possibilities were because were at war. Thats what the president tried to say to the families the other day. I was stunned when i came to work yesterday morning and broken hearted at what i saw a member of congress doing. Member of congress who listened in on a phone call when the president of the United States to a young wife. And in his way tried to express that opinion, hes a brave man. A fallen hero. Dickerson his criticism of congresswoman wilson didnt end there. He cuesed of bragging for getting funding for fbi building at ceremony honoring two fbi agents killed in the line of duty. To recognize the family of special agents. Dickerson but videos surfaced that contradicted kellys story, we cant tell you how this will end but we will talk about it with another gold star parent, khizr khan, when we come back. Pend retail. Under pressure like never before. And its connected technology thats moving companies forward fast. Ecommerce. Real time inventory. Virtual changing rooms. Thats why retailers rely on comcast business to deliver consistent Network Speed across multiple locations. Every corporate office, warehouse and store near or far covered. Leaving every competitor, threat and challenge outmaneuvered. Comcast business outmaneuver. Throughout my career, ive been fortunate enough to travel to many interesting places. Ive always wanted to create those experiences for others. With my advisors help along the way, its finally my turn to be the host. When you have the right financial advisor, life can be brilliant. Ameriprise dickerson were joined by the gold star father who last year gave an impassioned speech at the Democratic National convention, khizr khan. Hes the author of the new book an American Family a memoir of hope and sacrifice welcome. Thank you for being here. We want to get to the book which was originally why we invited you here but you are the father of captain khan i wonder if what your reflections are on this week now that weve had this public feud about gold star families . Two words. Dignity and restraint. First, i offer my deepest condolence to the families of four sons, brave hero sons that died protecting us. Without their sacrifice this nation would be vulnerable. They were they will always be remembered mir families will always be remembered as best of america. I stand with them. I support them. They deserve utmost dignity and respect and privacy at this moment. That should have been recorded when this matter came to public but that had not been done it had been made political football. Again, i request and i ask utmost dignity, respect and privacy. Dickerson this week, general kelly, chief of staff also talked about number of thing in American Life that had fallen away, he talked about respect for women, reledge on, he said gold star families i think that left in the convention over the summer, he was talking about respect accordinged to gold star families you spoke at one of the conventions, what did you make of those words . We stood for the best of america, for the values of this country. We spoke about the blessed documents and the traditions of this country. We spoke about the best citizen kelly, former general and we acknowledge his sacrifice and service and Family Service but now he is citizen of United States. Should have refrained from doing exactly same thing what he was complaining about. Dickerson well continue this conversation after a commercial we need to take just a bit of a break here but well be back with more from khizr khan in a moment. Bp developed new, industryleading software to monitor Drilling Operations in realtime, so our engineers can solve problems with the most precise data at their fingertips. Because safety is never being satisfied. And always working to be better. Bp engineered a fleet of 32 brand new ships with advanced technology, so we can make sure oil and gas get where they need to go safely. Because safety is never being satisfied. And always working to be better. Dickerson well be right back with a lot more face the nation. Stay with us. Do your research. Nd. Find the best fit. Why not do the same for your Prescription Drug plan . At silverscript, were experts in Medicare Part d. And 5 Million People, just like you, trust us every day. With no deductible and lower monthly premiums, we could help you save money and get better coverage on thousands of prescriptions. So take a closer look at silverscript. We think youll like what you see. Dickerson we continue our conversation with khizr khan, author of an American Family before we get back to the book i just wanted to get what you were saying about general kelly. You were saying he engaged in the behavior he was criticizing. . Is american tradition that when military leaders retire they go home, collect their pension and they maintain the dignity that he have earned. In case of former general kelly he had i was shocked, i was shocked to see citizen kelly standing next to the president when president could not have the proper word to condemn attack on the blessed city of charlottesville, virginia, by neonazis. He stood you could look at his face and his gesture in disgust, but he stood in support of that moment when donald trump could not condemn the attack that took place. Then again instead of advising the president that restraint and dignity is the call of the moment, former general kelly indulged in defending behavior of the president and made the situation even worse. Our political leaders elected by the people are deserve canning of equal digiti knee and equal respect instead of being maligned on misstated facts. That was beyond the call of the moment. Dickerson we should note that you live in charlotte. I want to turn to the book now, you write in it that in your american story, there were many who were in america who were open and welcoming and gregarious. Give us an example of that. When we first arrived, the very first day when we arrived my two sons arrived in houston we rented a 200 onebedroom apartment. I was off loading the stuff from the car, we just closed the door after offloading, there was a knock at the door. Paul let, our neighbor, was holding two bags in her hand, that was the first gesture of american goodness that we experienced. She said, we brought this, you have two small children they may need something, they just arrived. After she left i looked at my wife, i said all the values that i had dreamed of about america, about this country, the goodness of this country, the generosity, we had been touched by those values while working in dubai by americans, are true. We begin to fall in love. And that has continued not only in houston but in maryland, in virginia, every step the generosity, the kindness, the dignity that america grants. We are immigrants, we are patriotic immigrants. When immigrants become citizens the patriotism begins to come together by living by experiencing the goodness of this country. When you first you spoke at the Democratic Convention but when you used to carry a republican membership card. Yes. I very well member the First Political participation i was not citizen then, was to go and listen to Ronald Reagans speech in houston. I am very fond of his speech where he says about the city on the hill, the beacon of hope for the rest of the world. I was very much in support of his policies, his defining of the American Values and we tell that story in detail in our book, and many other stories of how it all came together. I used to take my children to Thomas Jeffersons with other guests and i would ask them to read the inscriptions on the walls of Thomas Jefferson memorial. Both of my children used to roll their eyes because i had taken them so many times there, built look what happens, patriotism begins to take root in the hearts and minds of people reading these values. Wrote an article, mentioned that in the book in detail those stories, the title of hess essay was democracy requires vigilance and sacrifice. You probably hear my voice raising when i say this, in these Tumultuous Times we all will be well served if we are vigilant. Our democracy, our way of life, ourself governing is under attack. Dickerson let me describe for a moment the declaration of independence where you first read i you talked about jefferson, well bring his work on the table, what was that like . I was 22 years old in pakistan had taken a course in comparative study, among the materials the very first page was the declaration of independence. I looked at it, we come from an asian country then from colonized part of the world, amazing, amazing document i read. Is there a nation on earth that declares its independence . Independence is given. Independence is attained. Its politically argued and received. Is there a nation. So that love affair started in 1972. I am still in awe of those 1338 words of the declaration of independence, implore all americans read it how we found understand blessed nation. Dickerson you have stepped boot political arena at the Democratic Convention, what has it been like since then . It has been journey of hope, bridge building, interfaith dialogue. Standing with those who truly care for the values of this country. We will prevail. I have seen the hope and aspiration in the eyes and in the hearts and in the minds of the people that i have dealt with throughout this nation. We are blessed to have all this, i remembered the moment, we explained that in the book in much more detail, when i became citizen of United States. I wish every american reads the oath of citizenship that i took. I had nothing when i went, Human Dignity terms, nothing when i went to take that oath. I came out blessed with all dignities that a human being aspires to have. That is a story that we write in the book. Dickerson thank you so much for being with us. Well be right back. You . Iti historyo well, because it tells us something powerful about progress that whether times are good or bad, people and their ideas will continue to move the world forward. As long as they have someone to believe in them. Citi financed the transatlantic cable that connected continents. And the panama canal, that made our world a smaller place. We backed the Marshall Plan that helped europe regain its strength. And pioneered the atm, for cash, anytime. For over two centuries weve supported dreams like these. And the people and companies behind them. So why should that matter to you . Because, today, we are still helping progress makers turn their ideas into reality. And the next great idea could be yours. Giveyoure finished curse you, heman, you interfering imbecile give us one good reason we shouldnt vanquish you to another dimension ok, guys, hear me out. Switching to geico could save you. Hundreds on Car Insurance. Huh, he does make a point. I do like to save money. Catch you on the flip, suckas geico. Because saving fifteen percent or more on Car Insurance is always a great answer. Dickerson for those looking for an exit from the escalating culture wars in the u. S. We want to look at one model, nate boyer served in iraq and afghanistan as a green beret was awarded the bronze star before playing for the Seattle Seahawks in 2015. Last year, boyer wrote an open letter to Colin Kaepernick that encouraged cap irrelevant in this case to stand during the national anthem. As opposed to sitting out of respect for veterans. Kaepernick wouldnt go that far but the two worked out compromise and kaepernick began to kneel instead of sitting. Nate boyer joins froes austin, texas, welcome. I want to go back to that first letter you wrote, what inspired you and then how did you get in this conversation with Colin Kaepernick . You know what inspired me was just it hurt. It hurt to see somebody protes protesting the flag and the anthem at least in my eyes thats what it was. It was somebody sort of protes protesting america and symbols that stand for these freedoms and all that, it was confusing to me. I didnt understand where that was coming from and it just hurt as a war fighter when youre going overseas and youre fighting for those that cant fight for themselves an fighting for all those freedoms that we have here and then to me, the way i perceived it was somebody was sort of sitting that out and not interested in that. And upset about those things that we were trying to provide. I just was hurt by that. So i wrote an open letter explaining my experiences, my relationships to the flag, why i stand, why i feel the way that i do. But instead of attacking or telling him, you know, this is why you should stand it was more like, you know, i want to understand where youre coming from. Why are you sitting. I dont know what its like to be you. Ive only had my experience so im just trying to empathize and understand through that letter, colin reached out we ended up having a sit down, face to face conversation which led to him taking a knee instead. It was powerful moment for me, i think for a lot of people to see two people that disagreed on the subject or topic that was pretty important to our country that were able to work out some sort of compromise or at least have that conversation civilly. Dickerson a lot of people think that compromise, lot of people who share your views that inspired your letter dont think that compromise gets at it. They think its still offensive and just the way you described. Right. There is. Everybodys got a different relationship to everything in our world. And things are perceived different ways. Whats interesting about the protest itself, whether its sitting, kneeling, doesnt matter, even when a lot of these men are saying its not about the military, its not even about the anthem or the flag. They dont get to necessarily choose how people see it. How individuals perceive that. If somebody makes another hand gesture towards you thats offensive to you but theyre saying, no, im not this is not what it means, this is not what not the point of what im doing right now its not up to them how you take that and how you receive that. Theres been issues with that. And, yes, people believe that kneeling is still offensive they have every right to believe that and feel that because thats whats great about our country. You can have those opinions, have those feelings and for me, i thought it was better. I thought kneeling was better. People kneel in our country to pray, when you propose to your wife you take a knee. Out of respect. So, i thought it was better. I want him to stand, i want everybody to stand for the anthem and feel that pride that i feel but i want them to do it because they want to do it, i dont want them to do it out of obligation. Dickerson i want to touch on Something Else you wrote about that when you returned home from Service Overseas you said you returned to a country that was so divided and so hateful, talk about that a little bit, that inspired your effort to try to find some ground here and is there any lesson for anyone else in that . Yeah. Its a tough time to be back home in america. Because we are so divided, we seem so angry and stirred up, we dont have these conversations we dont sit down with someone we disagree with and talk any more. Were on our cell phones and were sharing stuff through social media or other platforms and its just a constant attacking of one another. Its really frustrating as a soldier, i was in the army and going overseas and going to fight for our people here. Then to come book to a nation thats just angry at one another and, like, what happened recently with the four soldiers who lost their lives over there it didnt even really become a topic or something we talked about until we were discussing the president s involvement in the remarks all that. Why arent we honoring these guys before that even happens because were so wrapped up whine is right and who is wrong in our country and everyone trying to turn each issue into this good versus evil instead of just trying to understand that we all have different experiences and we come from different places and thats what makes our country great that mixture of all those things. Dickerson thank you so much for sharing some time with us well be back in a moment with our panel. After 8 years of chris christie, is kim guadagno the change new jersey really needs . Guadagno is christies handpicked successor. Says shes proud to be part of the christie administration. Guadagno was Chris Christies right hand as our schools came under attack, Critical Services were underfunded, and our Credit Rating was downgraded. 11 times. From the bridge to the beach, weve seen it all, and weve had enough. Kim guadagno isnt the change we need. Dickerson were back with our political panel. Rich lowry said for of national review. Jamelle bow we the slate magazine and cbs news political analyst, also joined by politico chief International Affairs columnist, Susan Glasser and Deputy Managing Editor for Time Magazine michael duffy. Michael, start with you, where are we at the end of this week on this question of gold star families and whats happened around it . To be continued for sure, no question that if president simply apologized after monday for maligning his predecessor for not calling or writing or whatever he accused barack obama of not doing, this whole thing might have gone away. Instead we got a cascading series of missteps and mistakes that really took five days to go through. I dont think were quite done. It also normally left the president with another week of sort of three steps back, one step forward. The chief of staff who took the job to sort of interpoise hill self between a president who doesnt have the all the protocols of doing this job down, may never. And potential disaster, by stepping into that space then make somebody mistakes of his own, kelly actually added to it, john kelly. It was week that just started bad, got worse and i think left unanswered, a lot of questions, about what were doing in the first place. Dickerson you wrote that this may be stupidest most unworthy controversy of the year. Its been the most distressing controversy of the year. And thats saying a lot. And this would be a better debate, maybe it wouldnt even be a debate at all if everyone could concede just a modicum of good intentions and good faith on the other side. Its clear that President Trumps call with the widow, it landed the wrong way. But its obvious to me he didnt do naomaliciously or callously, in fact there was video of the call with another widow of a soldier killed in afghanistan in april that was posted by the widow because she found it great comfort in this call. That call trumped is sympathetic, humane, hes warm. I think in this instance its incumbent on him to be the big eer figure say, i did not mean enany way to add to your distressf i did, im sorry ill do anything to make it up to you. But thats obviously not the way he operates. Dickerson jamelle, there does seem to be lack of restraint here. These things end when somebody has chance to wallop they stop. On both sides, this is not just we can figure out who started this, but its now turned into a regular old political fight. I think i agree with rich that this entire controversy is so small and silly. But i do think it reveals something important about the president which is that he cannot take responsibility for any mistakes hes made. From initial statement maligning his predecessors, that would have ended had he just said, im sorry that i said this, i was wrong. The widows reaction, representative wilsons statement having just said this was my error, or i didnt mean it this way this would have ended. At any single phase, the president can take responsibility for restrain from punching back. We see this time and time again throughout his presidency just like move away from controversy and scandal and sort of actually being president and doing the job of president , this inability to take responsibility for mistakes or to back down is disastrous. It is quality that has filled better president s. She also in better world, congresswoman works have gone to john kelly privately they were very upset, anything you can do to make it right. Instead show blows it opened joying her 15 minutes of fame over this familys distress which is disgusting in its own right. Susan, let me ask you about the larger point kelly made this week but that also john mccain made, george w. Bush made, president obama made this this dropping of standards. Chief of staff kelly said whether its religion or treatment of women or now this fight intruding on this sacred space. Just this cry this week from variety of report thats right standards have dropped totally. Thats almost indisputable. I think, jamelle is right. Were not surprised donald trump behaved this way because its very consistent with what weve seen from President Trump throughout his hes in the going to back away from a fight if one is offered he encourages it. I think its more surprise hang we saw from general kelly, we learned more. One of the things thats been apparent over the last couple of months that this underscored is that it remains Donald Trumps white house and not john kellys white house even if he has imposed more discipline and more of a process. Number two, perhaps we saw that general kelly this week shares more of Donald Trumps agenda than we realized. You talked about the standards dropping. I found general kellys comment to be surprising and even puzzling that he would have brought up in the same commentary about this incident with the gold star families, this notion that in the good old days, women were sacred and isnt it so tear table we get there, lot of people talk about irony of working for a president who has been accused of this kind of behavior. But to me, that issue, working for donald trump but theres also the question of, whats the good old days exactly is that what this America First is about, looking backward to some halls i dont know and almost myth impasse that was better. He could have been groping for an understanding of it. [ laughter ] but hes fumbling trying to touch on something that many other people were talking about. Chief of staff was there to try to explain how signals were missed it. Was classic damage control operation by white house chief of staff. He seemed politically naive i agree with you. He was also hes fundamentally a political person. One of the speeches this week by mccain and bush about dropping of standard or loss of Something Else, its an amazing week in this respect which is Republican Party have never been more dominant in american politics, never been more split wide open cracking apart. You have two of the most he is teamed fights, george w. Bush and john mccain who has been reluctant to say anything since he left the oval he was come out this week actually encoded term, not very coded, criticized the Trump White House and donald trump for his handling not only of his rhetoric but Foreign Policy and lot of other things. This was on top of mccains rather remarkable, what do you call it, halfbaked that party split, thats not words of war, thats war. Thats happening at the same time that there are seemingly in control of everything. Dickerson yet rich was with mitch mcconnell. Least convincing bromance of all time donald trump and mitch mcconnell. There is a civil war in the Republican Party, the irony is it began before the election, it was papered over during the election and they won everything. At the national level, trump is still sort of trying to be the pivotal figure who can work with both sides. He likes steve bannon, he understands where hes upset, yet mitch mccome is his best friend trying to work with him on the hill. Trump and lot of ways this leads to incoherence. He doesnt know whether he wants Lamar Alexander to cut a deal or wants to be at House Freedom caucus who oppose that owe poach. It may speak to broader exhaustion of the traditional at least since reagan framework for republican politics. That you have Republican Party who actually look to government who with want sort of assistance. He promised to defend medicaid, medicare, promised to defend social security. This is joined to sort of more traditional republican activist class, Republican Voters who want tax cuts, things like obamacare repealed. Winning hasnt really done anything to sort of reconcile those differences whatsoever. Dickerson final 30 seconds. I have to say, i do agree with you but im struck by fact that foreseen more mccain, injury george w. Bush, their speeches are about americas role in the world. Thiso dickerson well have to stand up say no. Im afraid were out of time. Well be right back. Dickerson today we want to leave you with an unusual show of unity. That of all five former president s, president jimmy carter, george her barred walker bush, bill clinton, george w. Bush and barack obama. Gathered last night at texas a m university to raise money for hurricane victims. Thats it for us today. Well be back next week for face the nation im john dickerson. This is chevy sunday kick off on, cbs3. Very dramatic score, right there. Good morning, welcome to chevy sunday kick off im don bell. Im leslie van arsdal. Im pat gallen. Kick off is about, 34 hours away. Im not a math major. Let me hand that will one. We will calculate that before the show. Eagles looking nor season sweep of the redskins. This is an enormous game. This is back to back sunday was no football on sunday. Bummer. So, right now eagles have this enormous bulls eye on their b