And even if a combat zone, this president , well, he cant tell the truth to our troops, lying right to their faces, telling them they got them a 10 pay raise this year and that it was the first they have had in ten years. Thats a lie. Troops get an annual raise. That means they get one every year. Some years its more than others. This year, it was 2. 8 , not 10 . And even on his first visit to troops in a war zone, usually its a morale booster. Its supposed to boost morale, right . You say positive things. You thank them for their service. This president took the opportunity to tout his policy on syria, specifically defending his Decision Just one week ago to withdraw u. S. Forces from the country against the advice of his own National Security advisers, his top generals, and party leaders, creating a crisis at the pentagon. The defense secretary, james mattis, even quitting his post and publicly rebuking trumps policy. But today the president is telling reporters he made the right decision. I think that a lot of people are going to come around to my way of thinking. Its time for us to start using our head. So President Trump also claiming falsely last week that isis had been defeated. Remember that . Well, today he walked back those comments, slightly, saying isis is very nearly defeated. Weve knocked them out. Weve knocked them silly. But hes also suggesting iraq could be used as a base for potential future missions against isis in syria. So isis has not been defeated, and the pentagon brass knows it. President trump out of washington on the fifth day of a partial government shutdown, chaos largely of his own making. And the ones paying for it, hundreds of thousands of federal workers who are either furloughed or forced to work without being paid. The big battle remains the border wall. The president is demanding Congress Give him 5 billion for it, but he doesnt have the votes in the senate. And hes still not backing down. He was asked just today how long the shutdown may last. Whatever it takes. I mean were going to have a wall. Were going to have safety. We need safety for our country, even from this standpoint. We have terrorists coming in through the southern border. The president as well as investors, though, getting a christmas break on wall street. The dow jones soaring more than 1,000 points today, erasing what was a disastrous, disastrous Christmas Eve loss. President trump is only adding to the markets chaos and volatility. Hes said to be upset with the treasury secretary, steven mnuchin, doesnt feel hes doing enough to calm wall street jitters. And the president s been hinting that fed chairman Jerome Powells days may be numbered in that post. Heres what he said just yesterday. What about the fed chair . Well, well see. Theyre raising Interest Rates too fast. Thats my opinion. Today, a white house official sought to calm markets and investors by saying chairman powells job is safe. We shall see. Weve heard that before. We have a lot to get to tonight with samantha vinograd, Lieutenant General mark hertling, who served two tours in iraq, and Major General james spider marks. Also served in iraq. Were so glad to have all of you here. Thank you so much for your service. Gentlemen, good evening, and happy holidays to all of you. General hertling, your last job was commanding u. S. Forces in germany. The president just left the air base there following his visit to iraq, his first visit to a war zone. What does it mean to our troops to have their commander in chief meeting with them on foreign soil, especially during christmastime . Its very positive, don. Having experienced it during three tours in iraq actually, all of the president s visited while i was active duty in the war zone. President bush famously came during thanksgiving and served dinner to our troops. Whats interesting is youre jazzed for it. Youre excited about it. Youre seeing the commander in chief. You like to take selfies. You like to get autographs. All of those things are important. They come with a little bit of rock star image to them. But at the same time, what they dont do is politicize the event. And unfortunately as we saw some of the commentary by the president today, thats exactly what he did. And it puts the soldiers, truthfully all of the military personnel, in a very bad position because the military has regulations against doing exactly that. But the president pushed that in both iraq for a short period of time. He was there for about three hours. He landed at Ramstein Air Base at about 2 00 this morning, stayed about an hour and a half there, met some additional probably mostly all airmen there, and theyre excited to see him. But what happens at those bases is somewhat confounding when he says, as you said before, the lies about paycheck, the lies about what theyre doing to isis because the soldiers more than anybody else know that. I mean spider will tell you we get whats called a leave in Earnings Statement every month that says, here is your pay. And when you get a pay increase, it tells you exactly what it is. So hes not fooling any of these military members who get that leave in Earnings Statement every month. Spider marks, weigh in on that. I think its as mark indicated. Its wonderful that the president visited. The key thing, albeit its been, i think, contrived. The reason that he went now is that he couldnt go to maralago because the government was shut down. But lets put that aside, and lets be thankful that hes there. I would say that the key thing is you need to be in the moment. When youre with the troops, soak up and marinate in the joy as mark indicated. Look, you are the president of the United States. This is a big deal. They want to see you there. They want to be a part of your world. Youre now enjoying the opportunity to be with them. Just kind of be in the moment. Just have a few opportunities to chat, pat some backs, drink some coffee, tell a few jokes. Mmhmm. Be joyous that theyre there defending americas freedom. Its the day after christmas. Theyre deployed from their families. Make it about them. Dont put the spotlight on you. You really dont have to do that. It really was perplexing watching his message today, and then yesterday i do have to tell you, i tried not to because i was with my family. But when we turned on cnn and we saw the president politicizing a christmas message, it was like we kept saying, hes like the grinch. Im being honest. No, he stole christmas. Instead of being positive with the troops, saying this is about the troops, its not about me. Im here to thank you for your service, whatever, even if reporters ask him questions. This is not about me. This is about the troops. They serve our country well. Maybe he should have said its unfortunate that some of them are not getting paid. Well come to an agreement and make sure everyone gets paid, the 42,000 members of the coast guard. Lets be positive about christmas. It was so negative and so you want positivity when it comes to christmas. It is perplexing. Why would he visit the troops and do that . Well, don, to be candid, i hope that this trip helped from a morale perspective. But from a National Security perspective, for all the reasons that you just listed, the president should have stayed home. He traveled to iraq where Service Members are defending our homeland. Theyre not protecting another country. Theyre defending our homeland from isis, an enemy that we know has attacked the United States. And he made this about himself. These visits that president s undertake i served for a year in iraq. I helped execute some of president obamas trips to afghanistan and iraq are about the troops. Theyre about their mission, and theyre there to tell the troops what theyre doing matters. This trip was about President Trump trying ostensibly to score political points and to list his accomplishments instead of telling the troops that what theyre doing matters and clearly outlining a mission for them going forward. How many unknowns do we have right now about when our troops are leaving syria, when our troops are leaving afghanistan, and whats going to happen in iraq as a result of that. There should have been clarity during this trip, and the focus should have been on the troops. Mmhmm. You know, this president is defending his decision right now to pull u. S. Troops out of syria. He says that isis is, quote, nearly very nearly defeated. I mean hes qualifying that. What is your reaction given a week ago that he said that isis was defeated . Thats for you, general hertling. Its not, don, and anyone who says it is doesnt know anything about terrorist organizations. Spider, i think, will back me up on this because hes a lifelong intelligence officer. What we know is they have been pushed back on their heels. They certainly have gone to ground, and theyre in areas in syria and in iraq. The new Prime Minister of iraq has admitted that. The new president of iraq, a kurd, has admitted that. These are individuals who are still looking to come forward. And truthfully some of the comments last week has given isis and other terrorist organizations a huge propaganda victory because they again have been called dead, and theyre not, and they know it. So theyre going to rise back up again. This is going to be unfortunate. I say that as a guy who has fought these organizations for a while, and its just unfortunate that in fact you have to drive them into the dirt. You cant stop when theres 10 or 20 or 30 left. You still have to continue to fight these individuals and their ideology. The idea is not dead. There may be fewer people on the battlefield, but the idea certainly can rise like a phoenix. Can i ask you, general marks, who is you know, james mattis is not there, leaving early, right . January 1st, hes gone. You know, weve been talking about adults, what have you. So if the president is in front of troops, giving these messages to people in their home, a lot of people are watching. Who is who is in the government saying to us who can say to us, americans, you are safe . Is there anyone left in this administration who can calm the fears of americans and make us feel that we are safe and that were doing the right thing abroad, especially when it comes to our troops and for National Security . Don, its a great question. You know, the short answer is if you look into the face of any soldier who is out there deployed today, thats the answer. Thats the response that says, hey, look, everybody, its okay. Im out here on the horizon. Im on the edge of the universe. Im doing what the nations asking me to do, and youre okay at home. When youre asking to put a face on this at the top level, certainly jim mattis and his team have been phenomenally gifted in terms as i think ive said earlier, jim mattis is our generations george marshall. Hes got that gravitas. He has all of the credentials that match that type of a description. But, look, you do have a president of the United States and a vice president. You have a congress. You have a supreme court. You have this incredible government that weve created. Our founders made this magic occur. We have young men and women that are going to raise their hand. Theyre going to do what needs to be done. And the message needs to be clear through every one of those elements of government that were okay. Were doing our job. We have challenges. We have troubles, but were all right. Were going to be okay. Were going to weather this storm. Yeah. But heres the problem, don. Sam, can you hold because i just want to play this. I want to get your thoughts. I think it goes into this. This is this president , okay, criticizing the former president barack obama for withdrawing troops too quickly from iraq, using inflammatory language when he did it during the 2016 campaign. Watch this. Isis is honoring president obama. He is the founder of isis. Hes the founder of isis, okay . Hes the founder. He founded isis. Hes the founder of isis. I do. He was the most valuable player. I give him the most valuable player award. I give her too by the way. But hes not sympathetic to them. He hates them. I dont care. He was the founder. The way he got out of iraq, that was the founding of isis. Obama is the founder of isis. The founder. Barack obama is the founder of isis. Because of his weak policies and because he failed he failed because he failed to get them out, because he failed to do something about it. I wanted to play that just so folks could see, number one, thats hypocrisy because hes basically doing the same thing he accused the former president of. But also does it matter because doesnt the buck stop with the president , what everyone else about him says . Thats exactly it but what have we been seeing for two years . You could argue there was a National Security council. There was a cabinet. People he picked. There were people he picked that did try to emit strategy and messages about what we were doing all around the world, whether it was iraq. The president gave a speech on afghanistan last year and laid out a strategy. His team was working. They may have stopped now. But when he goes out and he makes statements like on isis or on the taliban or politicizes troop deployments, he is trumping his own team. The buck stops with the president , and despite what theyre doing, despite the talking points that they probably onerously worked on for this trip, he went to the podium. He described isis the way he felt like he wanted to describe isis, and all their work is for naught. Until we have a president that listens to his team and actually coordinates his messaging, i dont know that it matters who the secretary of defense is at that point because the president isnt listening. Don, if i could go back to your question about who is leading the charge now and keeping america feeling like theyre safe, what i would say is this. That what we really have to depend on, theres a lot of institutions and organizations. We have a great country with a great intelligence community, a legal system, a justice system. And we need leaders that exhibit and weve been saying this for a very long time the character that people can depend on, that rely on integrity, on telling the truth, in searching for facts, in having the intellect to know that you dont have all the answers and you have to depend on everybody else around you who are the smart people. Thats what weve gotten away from. It cant just be one individual who is constantly lying, who is constantly telling untruths, who feel they can be the only one that solves the problem. Leadership you know, spider and i study leadership in the military. Its part of a doctrinal manual. There are certainly things you must do, and one of those things is to have integrity. Another one is to have empathy and humility. Weve lost that. But there are certainly a whole lot of people in government who still maintain that. Theyve got to stand forward and rise to the forefront again, particularly some of our members of congress on both sides. Yeah. Perhaps one side more than the other have to stand up when they hear lies, when they hear facts being distorted, and where people arent listening in terms of what is the best interest of not a certain base, but the entire group of American People that depend on leaders to guide our nation forward. When people like you speak, i believe them. We count on you. I hope that you are right. I do have to say it did not go unnoticed, though, general marks, your christmas outfit. I love the sweater. Hey, thats my bride. She laid it on. Its the perfect christmas outfit. Its warm and fuzzy and cozy, and it also gives us a sense of comfort. Fuzzy and cozy, thank you, don. Ive never heard spider marks be called warm and cozy before. I hope you had a great christmas and whatever holiday youre celebrating, everyone. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Merry christmas. President trump visiting troops in iraq while the federal government is in the fifth day of a partial shutdown with no end in sight. 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Take care of it for you right now. Giddyup hi this is jamie. We need some help. So the president making a surprise visit to u. S. Troops in iraq earlier today. But even there he could not escape questions about challenges he faces here at home. Lets discuss. Patrick healy is here, april ryan as well. April is the author of the book under fire reporting from the front lines of the trump white house. Good evening to both of you. Hope you both have a great christmas. April, listen. The president made a surprise christmas visit, and we keep saying surprise. These trips are often not often. Theyre always planned because theres lots of logistics, so he surprised the troops, but this has probably been in the works for a while. He is following in the footsteps of president s before him. Yes. What stood out to you . What would be a normal visit for a president to make . Well, first of all, don, youre absolutely right. You know, president s before this president have done this before. What stood out is that it took this long. Thats what stood out. Many of the troops want to see that. Its a morale booster. But i talked to congressman Elijah Cummings today, who is the incoming majority leader in the government oversight reform committee, and he said, you know, he needed to do this, especially at a time when hes losing general kelly and general mattis. He said he needed to do this. He said at issue is the fact that once he does this, what happens next . Whats next . But this is definitely something that should have happened a long time ago. He did it, but i mean should we really be commending him because president s have done this before. Its just been a while. It took him a little bit longer to get there than we expected. Yeah. Patrick, speaking to the troops, i mentioned this in the open of the show. The president overstated the pay raise the soldiers got every year. He said, because of me, you got a pay raise. You got a 10 pay raise. You know, you havent got one in ten years. Its not the truth. They get one every year. Some are larger than others. Usually its around 2point something. I think this one was 2. 8 . So hes lying to the troops, right to their face. Whats the reaction to that . Details and facts have rarely mattered to this president. What hes going over there to do is what he usually does. He likes to brag. He likes to brag about himself, and he likes to often overstate what he thinks hes doing for the military. I mean this is a president who said that, you know, through the trump foundation, you know, through his own support, he was going to be better for the troops, better for the military, than any president in history. And by so many measures, that hasnt proven true. But his view of leadership is one, again, of bragging and making claims to make himself sound, you know, like this historic figure who has got the troops back. Oftentimes the facts dont measure up. April, its interesting because during his visit, the president defended his decision to withdraw troops from syria. He faced questions about the government shutdown. Was it surprising to you the way he answered it because usually the answer i guess, well, a more fitting answer is, listen, we face problems. Were america. We will get through this. But this trip is to support our troops and give credit to the men and women who keep us protected. But still he sort of used it as a almost as a campaign, you know, stop to talk about his policies in defending the shutdown in syria. A Campaign Stop in iraq to defend his policies. I mean some of the troops, hats ready, those red maga hats ready. And theres a question right there for that. You dont use your troops to campaign for yourself. Nothing surprises us any more with this president. Again, weve said it over and over. Its overstated that hes nontraditional. But the question is does he understand what hes doing when he goes beyond, well beyond the norms and says things like this . I mean these things, what hes doing is setting a precedent for other president s to see what he is doing to get away with or what hes allowed to do or not to do. The troops deserve more. These are people who are fighting for our freedoms, and they deserve more, and they do want to come home. But the matter is how and if he can do it the right way. Mmhmm. This is all happening amidst a partial government shutdown. Were just a few hours from day six. I just want to play for you something the president said when he was in iraq. How long do you think the shutdown will last, mr. President . Whatever it takes. I mean were going to have a wall. Were going to have safety. We need safety for our country. We need a wall. So when you say how long is it going to take, when are they going to say that we need Border Security . Patrick, what . Why . Yeah. I mean hes so he is so preoccupied with the phrase the wall. That is sort of his focus, and he knows that is what helped get him elected, that that is what the base of supporters that, you know, the president still has left after the midterm shellacking that he experienced in the suburbs and with traditional republicans. Its the base thats left wants a wall. But the problem is the republicans but thats why they were defeated because people dont want a wall. Again, he doesnt see it as a defeat. He saw it as a massive victory. They won north dakota. Thats where the future of the Republican Party resides nationally. You know, thats what he tells himself. The thing is the republicans for years won this battle over immigration because they focused on Border Security, this phrase that encompassed, you know, a great many things. It encompassed workers. It encompassed drones. It encompassed fencing. There was, you know, some sort of Perimeter Security that got into Border Security when they focused on that. You know, President Trump is so focused on the wall and sort of making that the you know, the animating idea for his base, keeping out the others, keeping out those people, those sort of dangerous people. And as long as he keeps talking about the wall, which is something the democrats, you know, are never going to support, sort of the literal wall idea, you know, hes losing a battle that republicans often won when they just kept it to Border Security, to a comprehensive package of policies to keep the border safe. But, you know, he cant get off that one phrase. I kept listening to him when he was talking about this is being built, and were doing this contract and that. Im like what is he talking about . On christmas morning, bringing up what is he talking about . Things that are just factually not true, provably false statements and just lying through his teeth like nothing. Like, oh, yeah, i had eggs for breakfast. Its 115 miles. Its 200 miles. Its 500 miles. The original wall that mexico was supposed to pay for is 2,000 mile as long the border. Now its five. Its a big, beautiful wall that no one would be able to get over, and now its steel slat. Were going to talk about that. Maybe he should be more focused with a pretty door. Maybe he should be more focused on his separation policy at the border rather than the wall because another child died in dhs custody. Were going to talk about that, and were going to talk about who wants and who doesnt want this wall. Well be right back. At tmobile get the unlimited plan with the latest phones included for 40 dollars were included . Included at tmobile get the unlimited plan and the latest phones included for 40 dollars. Feels so good to be included. The new Capital One Savor card. Earn 4 cash back on dining and 4 on entertainment. Now when you go out, you cash in. Whats in your wallet . Kayla our dad was in the hospital. Josh because of smoking. But we still had to have a cigarette. Had to. Kayla do you know how hard it is to smoke in a hospital . By the time we could, we were like. What are we doing . Kayla it was time for nicodermcq. The nicodermcq patch with unique extended release Technology Helps prevent your urge to smoke all day. And doubles your chances of quitting. Nicodermcq. You know why, we know how. Were back now. Patrick is here, april as well. So, listen, the president is also trying to claim, april, that the wall is being built. On monday he tweeted that he had signed a contract for 115 miles of the wall. The president doesnt award construction contracts. And sections of the wall are being sections of the fence are being renovated, but there is no new construction going on. Right. What is going on here . Right. Smoke and mirrors. The president wants to be perceived as a winner and that hes winning. In all actuality, you know, Congress Goes back next week, and democrats are saying theyre going to let the president stew in this right now. So hes trying to show that hes winning when hes not. And they say that when they go back, the democrats in the house say when they go back, theyre going to possibly work on something to reopen the government because of the stalemate over this wall that he wants 5 billion for. Yeah. I just want to play something. This is what the president said today about why democrats wont support funding for a wall. Watch. Have you come down from the 5 billion ask to 2 million . Heres the problem. Yeah, heres the problem we have. We have a problem with the democrats because nancy pelosi is calling the shots, not chuck. And chuck wants to have this done. I really believe that. He wants to have this done. But shes calling the shots, and shes calling them because she wants the votes. And probably if they do something, shes not going to get the votes, and shes not going to be speaker of the house, and that would be not so good for her. Again, here is another fact check, okay, patrick . Nancy pelosi locked down the votes for speaker of the house a while ago. So thats his explanation. That does not make sense. Also, thank you for sending me this quote because i didnt see it today. This is from usa today. Representative nancy pelosi of california, a democrat, who is expected to be elected speaker next week told usa today, he says were going to build a wall with cement, and mexico is going to pay for it. While hes already backed off of the cement, now hes down, i think now hes down to, i think, a beaded curtain or something. Im not sure where he is. Yeah. This has only just begun. No, its going to be two years. Nancy pelosi has President Trumps number pretty well as we saw in that white house meeting, you know, when she schooled him quite a bit on how politics works and how the congress works. And the reality is, is that, you know, President Trumps political analysis of her claim, her chances of becoming speaker are pretty off. I dont think she has to worry about getting the votes because of what she does or doesnt do on shes boxed him in. Shes really boxed him in. What theyre looking at now is the shutdown continues into next week and the democrats take the gavel and nancy pelosi is in the leadership. Theres a likelihood that the democraticled house will pass the bill that the senate, the republicanled senate, has already approved, that has money in their for Border Security, that the republicans have agreed to, but doesnt have the wall money that President Trump is, you know, screaming for. And if the democrats approve that and the republicans in the senate reapprove it again, it will go to the president , and hell have to decide whether to veto a bill that Senate Republicans and a lot of republicans like on Border Security. So nancy pelosi knows the strategy that shes pursuing here, and the beaded curtain quote is, you know, is characteristic of how she knows how to get under his skin. April, a serious subject when you talked about theres been another tragic death of a child, an 8yearold guatemalan died in Border Patrol custody on Christmas Eve. The second child to die in custody this month. Dhs is now doing medical screenings for all children in its custody, but its another example of the severity of the problems and also the lack of preparedness to deal with them. Yeah. You know, when the white house was asked about the first death, they were saying things like, you know, its a sad situation, but it would have never happened if the parents would not have allowed them to come across the border. And the white house is deflecting and throwing the onus on the parents, who are trying to find a better way of life, and its about humanity at this point. I mean when you have two children who have fevers over 103 degrees, 105, 105plus, thats not good. Thats saying something. You have to figure out what are you going to do. You cant just keep deflecting. These are humans. These are children who are dying in the midst of looking for a better way of life, and theyre coming to our country dying. Something has to be done, and they have to figure this out because it doesnt bode well. Two within the last month. Two within just a matter of weeks doesnt bode well at all. Yeah. Thank you both. I appreciate it. Thanks, don. Speaking of wanting to help your children, maybe fred trump, Donald Trumps father, wanted to help him in some way. So were going to discuss bone spurs. Did they help keep donald trump from military service in vietnam . Did his father help him with that . Next. Chicken . chicken. Chicken thats right, candace new chicken creations from starkist. Buffalo Style Chicken in a pouch bold choice, charlie just tear, eat. Mmmmm. And go try all of my chicken creations chicken hey yeah . I switched to geico and got more more savings on Car Insurance . They helped with homeowners, too ok plus motorcycle, boat and rv insurance geicos got you covered like a blanket houston . You seeing this . Geico. Expect great savings and a whole lot more. Mauntil i held her. Diabetes wasnt my top priority. Geico. I found my tresiba® reason. Now im doing more to lower my a1c. Once daily tresiba® controls blood sugar for 24 hours for powerful a1c reduction. 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Ask your Diabetes Care specialist about tresiba®. This holiday season, families near you need your help. Visit redcross. Org now to donate. President trump making a surprise visit to iraq to visit u. S. Troops. News of his first visit to a war zone coming as the daughters of a queens doctor, new york foot doctor, say their late father diagnosed donald trump with bone spurs so he could avoid the vietnam war. They say he did it as a favor to trumps father, fred trump, a powerful Real Estate Developer at the time. Here to discuss, michael dantonio, the author of the truth about trump. Very interesting story. Michael dantonio, thank you so much for joining us. Do you believe this story about a podiatrist diagnosing trump with bone spurs in 1968 to avoid the draft . I absolutely do believe it. You know, the clincher for me was the reference to it being a favor. So the trumps forever have dealt in favors. You do something for me, i do something for you. And these daughters of this podiatrist talked about how forevermore, he was able to call up and maybe talk about the rent not going up so quickly and get a repair made here and an adjustment made there. And fred trump was good to people who were good to him. And im not even sure actually that the president knows the truth about this. This is the odd thing. He may have been examined. He took off his shoes and tried to show me these bone spurs. I didnt see anything. I thought he said they healed over time, michael. How does that is that im not a doctor, but is that medically possible . You have bone spurs, and then all of a sudden they miraculously cure themselves, heal themselves . No, they dont generally heal over time, and he really did think that he was showing me something and that i saw it. You know, he pointed to his heels and said, see, right there. You know, if youre a polite person, you dont say, well, i dont see anything. You say, uhhuh. So, you know, this is the problem with the president , is so many of his biographical details are hazy in this way. In this case, i believe these women. I dont think there ever was a medical issue. Do you think that people should be requesting these medical records like he requested the former president s birth certificate . Well, i think they should. I dont think theyre available. From what the New York Times reported, there werent any records left behind. And, you know, the irony here is that fred trump was trying to do something for his son. Donald was not a conscientious objector, but he really did not want to serve, and he was like millions of other young men during the vietnam war who tried whatever they could do to get out of their service. Now we have a situation where there are all these parents who are trekking across latin america, trying to get their kids out of harms way, and the irony is now that theyre in custody in United States facilities. So theres confusion and ironic details going in every direction here, and i wish the president would step back and think about those parents and their motivations being the same as his fathers were in 1968. Very interesting. Difference, though. These are poor people. He and his dad had plenty of money. He likes to name people. He has the name now, president bone spurs. Thank you, michael. I appreciate it. Im afraid hes stuck with it. Thanks, don. Outrage leading to an emergency meeting tonight after a High School Wrestler was forced to cut his dreadlocks or forfeit a match. Was the referee just following the rules, or is this a case of racism . Well talk about that. If your moderate to Severe Ulcerative Colitis or crohns symptoms are holding you back, and your Current Treatment hasnt worked well enough it may be time for a change. Ask your doctor about entyvio®, the only biologic developed and approved just for uc and crohns. 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For psoriatic arthritis, otezla is proven to reduce joint swelling, tenderness, and pain. And the otezla prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. Dont use if youre allergic to otezla. It may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. Otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. Tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts, or if these feelings develop. Some people taking otezla reported weight loss. Your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. Upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. Tell your doctor about your medicines and if youre pregnant or planning to be. Otezla. Show more of you. A new Jersey School board had a meeting after a High School Referee told a wrestler to cut off his dred locs or forfeit his match. School administrators said they have seen the video and theyre deeply troubled by it. The referee insists johnsons hair and headgear are not in compliance with league regulations. The aclu says this has nothing to do with hair and everything to do with race. Miguel marquez and amol sinha, the executive director of the new jersey aclu, who was at the board meeting. Thank you both. Everyone has been watching this video, the story and troubled by it. What came out of this meeting . Good evening. Not a lot. They held it on the day after christmas while school is out trying to make the statement they are taking positive steps, that they are paying attention to this. And theyre hearing from people. People are incredibly upset by this video. They actually took testimony from the public. One woman spoke out that was particularly emotion. What led up to this . Do you have a sound bite . Lets play this, sorry. As a mother raising children in this community, it broke my heart. It didnt matter if he was black, white, green or purple. It broke my heart to watch that young man stand there and be humiliated like that. Which is a natural reaction. That is the sensibility youre hearing across the board. But there are two different agencies now investigating this. One other thing they said in the meeting tonight is lets wait and give the family some space and wait for the facts to come out before we start drawing conclusion whats this was all about. My question is then what, led up to this . I understand the referee was late to the match. He was late for weighin when they would do the initial assessment of the wrestlers. When he got there, he did a quick assessment, didnt have any issues when this young man got on the mat. Thats when he said the hairs a problem. Its not in its natural state meaning that it was dreadlocks which he kept referring to as braids, say the family. That adds a racial context to it, as well. Theyre just upset all the way around. The lawyer for the family is saying they dont blame is the woman actually cutting the hair or the coach talking to him and trying to keep him focused. He won that match, by the way. They blame the referee. Theyre keeping focus on the referee who insisted either the hair goes or he forfeits the match. Amal, the director of the aclu of new jersey, why do you think this student had to make a choice, had to choose between can youing his hair or participating in this match . Well, if you ask the referee, hell tell you its because the student was out of compliance. But theres got to be a step in between not being compliant and being forced to choose between can youing your hair or forfeit package is the match. It seems unconscionable there was no other alternative. As miguel mentioned, i think this is incredibly inextricably intertwined with race. Theres a narrative going on throughout the United States. We see black folks and people of color generally carrying the burden of enforcement of rules that seem to be race neutral on paper but when theyre applied, it has a racial diskrimtarily impact. I would imagine he has been wrestling with this same hair obviously to get to this point and has not had any trouble before. Thats right. And to force the student to make a decision within 90 seconds is incredibly coesive and puts him between a rock and hard place. Whats he going to do . Youre sure it was discrimination . It smells of implicit bias. We all carry these with us and every institution including schools in particular have them within their ranks. Its important to view it through that lens. Miguel, give us the facts, what are the rules when it comes to hair . They follow national rules. The hair cant be below the eye line, cant bebelow the ear lobe. Cant hit the collar. If its longer there are rules for that, tied back in a helmet with a hair net to keep it in place. Thats what he did the week before. Why wasnt that an option . Thats why the family is focusing on this referee. For whatever reason, theyre saying the referee did not listen to the young man, didnt listen to his trainer or coach. They were all pleading with him to let him wrestle as he did before and he wouldnt allow it. Is the referee saying anything . He was just saying it was not in a natural state, that he kept referring to them as braids. Hasnt put out a statement . Has not and were not naming him at this point because its difficult to know exactly what happened there and thats what he this investigation by the Attorney Generals Office in new jersey is all about. What do you want to see happen . Some sort of uniform policy change here. We should make sure there is no discrimination whenever laws and policies are enforced. Weve got make sure this sort of situation is addressed before the match, that any sort of hair accommodation thats able to be made to any other student is applied equally across the board. And we need guidance at the stout level for this. Go on the website and watch this video if you havent seen it. It is heartbreaking. Thank you amal, miguel. Thanks for watching. Our coverage continues. Icken crs from starkist. Buffalo Style Chicken in a pouch bold choice, charlie just tear, eat. Mmmmm. And go try all of my chicken creations chicken what a year. Your Home Improvement todo list still isnt todone. But hey, at least you still have time to get the ford vehicle youve always wanted. Just get to the final days of our holiday sales event. See you sometime between now and january 2nd. So you can end your year on a high note. Ford. Built for the holidays. Its time to get our best offers of the season. At tmobile get the unlimited plan with the latest phones included for 40 dollars were included . Included at tmobile get the unlimited plan and the latest phones included for 40 dollars. Feels so good to be included. The new Capital One Savor card. Earn 4 cash back on dining and 4 on entertainment. Now when you go out, you cash in. Whats in your wallet . Theres no place likargh e im trying. Yippiekiyay. Mom. A book that youre ready to share with the world . Get published now, call for your free publisher kit today hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and from all around the world. Im rosemary church. Youre watching cnn newsroom. Ahead this hour, donald trump surprises troops with an unannounced trip to iraq. But couldnt help but mixing politics into what are normally nonpartisan visits with the u. S. Military. Plus, wall street whiplash. After taking a beating on Christmas Eve, u. S. Stocks rebound with their biggest point gain in history. And tragedy near the border calls for an investigation after a second migrant child dies in u. S. Custody