Transcripts For CSPAN Washington Journal 20150326

That Sergeant Bowe bergdahl, who was held in captivity for five years, has been charged with desertion and ms. Shaving before the enemy. And misbehaving before the enemy. The numbers are on the screen. You can also send us a tweet or go to facebook. And you can also send us an email. The announcement came from fort bragg yesterday from the army, outlining the charges against Sergeant Bowe bergdahl. Take a look at what they had to say. [video clip] the u. S. Army command has thoroughly reviewed the allegations surrounding Sergeant Bowe bergdahls disappearance and formally charged him on march 25, 2015 with desertion with intent to shirk important or hazardous duty and misbehavior before the enemy and has referred the case to an article 32 preliminary hearing. Host colonel daniel king the spokesman for the u. S. Army forces command then went on to talk about the potential punishment for Sergeant Bergdahl. Take a look. [video clip] colonel king there are potential punishment associated with the charges. Desertion with intention to shirk important or hazardous duty carries a maximum potential punishment of a disHonorable Discharge, reduction to the rank of eone total forfeiture of pay and allowances, and a maximum confinement of five years. Article 99 of the uniform code of military justice, misbehavior before the enemy by endangering the safety of command to my unit, or place carries a maximum potential penalty of a disHonorable Discharge reduction to the rank of e1 total forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and possible confinement for life. Host the Army Spokesman yesterday outlining the punishment that Bowe Bergdahl could face if he is charged with the accusations put forth by the army yesterday, desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. We will take your thoughts on this. The phone lines are open. At first, joining us on the phone is Gordon Lubold, senior military defect senior military reporter for defense one. Gordon, lets begin with why now . Guest this investigation had on on for some time and was actually completed by sergeant millie completed by the fourstar general charged with the matter. It has been under wraps for some time. I think there were some political push to get this done and out there. As you know, the swap that resulted in Sergeant Bergdahls release last year was highly political and controversial. A lot of Service Members complained about the attempt to rescue or find Sergeant Bergdahl at the time command and subsequently the swap for Sergeant Bergdahl 45 detainees at Guantanamo Bay who were remanded to qatar was also highly criticized. Host we heard the charges and potential punishment. What is the likelihood that Sergeant Bowe bergdahl would be charged to the maximum from a court . Guest right, so hes been charged with desertion and his behavior misbehavior with the enemy, which is kind of a strange charge but is the more serious one that if he was found guilty of that could end up in prison for life. It seems pretty unlikely that bergdahl will get a long time in prison. Clearly, he was held captive by the taliban for five years. This is almost like it is something that army has to go through to determine his guilt or innocence. In the end, it seems somewhat unlikely that he would actually be put back in prison. There are some there is several hundred thousand dollars that he is owed, because when he disappeared the army stopped paying him. They have been holding those funds all this time. The forfeiture of that money, as well as being bumped down to private and dishonorably discharged seems the more likely outcomes of this. Host what happens next year to what happens next . Guest he has been charged, and the contents of that investigation has not been revealed. Even his own attorney does not know exactly what is in there. There will be what is called an article 32 hearing sometime soon. We dont know exactly when. This is a military justice process that is likened to a grand jury inquiry. It will determine if you will be courtmartialed or not and how that will move forward. We will probably have some clarity in the next month or two i would think. Host Sergeant Bergdahls lawyer put out a 20 page statement yesterday, and in that he included a letter that was sent to the general who investigated and came up with these charges. I will be part of it for you and our viewers. In light of nearly five years of captivity Sergeant Bergdahl endured, the purpose of his leaving his unit, and is gave her while a prisoner, and would be unduly harsh to impose on in the life my lifetime stigma of a courtmartial conviction or in other than Honorable Discharge and to deny him Veterans Benefits. The existing missing captured that is determined should not be disturbed and his injuries in captivity shall be deemed to have been incurred in the line of duty and not as a result of his own misconduct. What do you think of that . Guest its a really interesting case, because Sergeant Bergdahl apparently left the base on his own, and the desertion charge. According to his lawyer, to find a senior officer to complain about things within his unit which seems a little funny because he was a combat outpost in afghanistan, a particularly dangerous area along the border. So to go leave the base and try to find a senior officer to complain to seems like a strange and funny thing. But anyway, he did this on his own and you are aware of the criticism even among some Service Members even within his unit, glad to go find him or try to find him who had to go find him or try to find him. There was some claim that the search for him resulted in the death of some Service Members, and others being wounded as they tried to rescue him. I think the issue is, did he wander off on his own . Maybe it was good judgment or bad judgment, but how do you provide justice when this is something he did on his own . He wasnt kidnapped or anything else. I think it will really come down to what his lawyer was talking about, which is his veterans and if its Veterans Benefits and his pay and the status he will leave the army with as opposed to prisoner. Host Gordon Lubold senior military reporter with defense one, thank you. Lets get to your thoughts. Derek from texas, good morning. Caller good morning. I think that the man should be courtmartialed. Its kind of difficult when people go out to search for your life and help you out. They are a band of brothers. Host you are referring to those who went and looked for him . Caller that is correct. Host there was an independent investigation done by the army and those details have not been released yet. But the lawyer for Sergeant Bergdahl was given an executive summary of that report and in the statement he put out yesterday, he says this about the report. The derek, your response. Caller i think that is going to be a really tough one to figure out. This is in a military tribunal now. But i honestly feel that the story of the day is ted cruz. He is getting obamacare now. That is the story of the day. Host all right, derek. Bill, your thoughts with Bowe Bergdahl being charged with desertion and misbehavior with the enemy. Caller one of the things that the reporter failed to mention was that in the military code of conduct, death is part of the sentence that Bowe Bergdahl should receive. However, i dont believe that. But i do believe that he should be imprisoned for life and if he was paid any money for when he was in captivity, that should be paid back i him. Back by him. This is ridiculous. Six men were killed, according to the men he served with who were at that base, and as the general stated, he should receive life in prison without parole. He is a deserter. Host i just read part of the lawyers statement put out yesterday by pope by the lawyer for Bowe Bergdahl. He referenced the investigation looking into the circumstances of his captivity and he says this report dismisses any notion that he aided with the enemy that he was seeking out the enemy, and that anyone was killed searching for him. This will all play out in court, presumably. But you dont believe that . Caller i do not believe that and i think because of the way the president embarrassed himself, and miss rice coming on National Television stating that he was a hero i think they put a spin on this. But special forces commanders and generals in iraq stated stated six men were killed trying to locate bergdahl. Host ok. Eric in cedartown, georgia high, eric. Hi, eric. Caller these people are just conspiring with israel or the United States government these are the people that need to be dealt with. Bergdahl probably could have just had some kind of psychotic episode. Something could have been wrong with him. He didnt have note secrets or nothing to give to give these people. Please dont cut me off. Host we are listening, eric. Caller these guys are the traders. Also, anyone who comes on and questions the israeli propaganda , you want to hang up on people and stuff. They are the real traitors, spying on the united host when you make generalizations about entire group of people, that is when the host in this chair jumps in, because you sound or people who have made those in the past found antisomatic. Sound antisomatemitic. Thats not our topic this morning. Lets continue on. Caller i think at a minimum he should be tried for treason and shot. I think we also do not know how to try anyone like this. Major at fort was, he should have been excluded, too. If i had abandoned my buddies in vietnam, i expect to be shot for treason. Host jamie, independent. Caller the government is lying again. Six men were killed searching for this man. Line him up and shoot him. Host ok, as we said to mother lawyer for Sergeant Bergdahl putting out a nearly 20 page statement yesterday outlining his case against the United States in defense of Sergeant Bergdahl. Its newly 20 pages. You can find it its nearly 20 pages. You can find it on our website. It is on your screen there. That from the New York Times this morning. In a statement from Sergeant Bergdahl lawyer, he does make reference to this, the report by the army that has yet to be released makes it clear that Sergeant Bergdahl is a truthful person, albeit an naive and unrealistic one. Fred in huntsville, alabama, independent color. Independent caller. Caller good morning. Im retired veteran almost 15 years. One of the positions i held was drill site and. Drill sergeant. We work to weed out those people who do not function well under stress. They had to dock on do this to this guy because they need to send a message to all of they had to do this to this guy because they need to send a message to all of the other troops that they cannot just get up and run. And the other thing is this america, sending these people over there for three or four or five tours of duty, that is asking too much of these people. Host the front page of the usa today, their story. They say this. John in louisiana, republican. Hi john. Caller good morning. I spent 28 years in the air force, retired. I flew in combat in vietnam and the row a lot of my fellow aviators who spent many years in captivity in horrible conditions, yet managed to return with honor. Its not great. Its black and white. The reader do or you do not. You either do or you do not. You take an oath, as the last element pointed out. And its a very solemn oath and you have to live at the consequences. No, not everybodys going to rise to the same high level, but there are consequences for the people who are there and the military men know the consequences of that action. The thing that i think is bothering me the most about this is how the politics are getting wrapped into what is essentially a judicial matter. Yes, the man is innocent until proven guilty. The Court Martial system will do that. But there are so much flak going on around it is hard to separate the fact that this isnt this is a military judicial case and it will have an ending. Like what the lawyer read he is quoted from some report that has not been in evidence yet. Host john, do you think you can get a fair trial, Sergeant Bergdahl . Caller yes, i have been on military courtmartial. The military judicial system, i think, is superior to civilian. The military panel, its like a jury asking a question. The judge has to allow it yes but i think its a more fair system. You are certainly judged by your peers. A have to be military people. They have to be military people. It used to be all officers, but now it is officers and enlist in. Host some have said, shouldnt we cant count five years in captivity of time served . And before you answer, his leader put out a page and a half statement outlining what he went through. Let me read a little bit for you and the other viewers and you respond. He says that he tried to escape 12 times during those five years. Caller yes, and that sounds a lot like what the men in vietnam went through. Yes, its horrible. Now, he does get credit for his time served. But at some point in time, that doesnt stop until he is convicted in a courtmartial and given Something Like a disHonorable Discharge. That is when things stop. Not right now. He is still getting all of the benefits and everything he is due. You can go through books about the p. O. W. s in the hanoi hilton and read that a thousand times, and some of them died in captivity because of what they had to endure. Yet they stayed faithful to the end. The standard is very high. Im not apologizing for that. Nobody goes into that High Standard job with their eyes closed. It is voluntary. And it has to be followed. Host let me read a little bit more from Sergeant Bergdahl in his own words. Loretta in lucasfilm ohio, independent. Lucasfilm, ohio, independent. Caller they say they do not negotiate with terrorists, but wasnt it terrace that they freed from Guantanamo Bay to get his men back at home that was to get this man back . That was negotiation itself. Host is that your point . Caller yes. Host and some of the papers are saying that the president that a dangerous precedent. Caller i dont believe they ever call that guy in texas that killed a dozen or so at the base. They never called him a terrorist. They called it workplace violence. That is bowl. Host listen to this, the president talking about Sergeant Bergdahls release. [video clip] president obama this morning, i called bob and Ginny Bergdahl and told them their son was coming home. While bo was gone, he was never forgotten. His parents thought about him and prayed for him every single day, as did his sister sky, who prayed for his safe return. He was not forgotten by his community in idaho, or the military, which rallied to support the bergdahls through thick and thin. And he wasnt forgotten by his country, because the United States of america does not ever leave our men and women in uniform behind. As commanderinchief, im proud of the servicemembers who recovered Sergeant Bergdahl and brought him safely out of harms way. As usual, they performed with extraordinary courage and professionalism and they have made their nation proud. Write now, our top priority is making sure that boewe if the care and support he needs and can be reunited with his family as soon as possible. Host president obama in june of last year talking about the release of Sergeant Bergdahl, the exchange he did for five prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. Jonathan turley writing and usa todays opinion pages says this. By the way the Government Accountability office saying today that president obamas decision to go around congress was illegal in not informing them of this swap. Inside the Washington Times this morning, here is a quote by the obama administration. That is from the spokesperson of the state department. Lucius in memphis, tennessee republican. Your thoughts. Caller democrat. Host ok, go ahead. Caller i want to a make one statement. No one knows whether that man was under orders to do that or not. And its not coming out because it secret. I served 20 years in the military and ive been told that. We do that. Host ok. Jean in michigan, democrat. Caller bergdahl, when he left his post, he was probably in that morning absent without leave. And then when he was taken to prisoner, he was changed to absent without leave and then to prisoner of war. You are not listed as a deserter until youve been gone for 30 days. To prove desertion in a courtmartial, you have to prove that he never intended to return , and by him trying to escape a couple of times, he was obviously trying to return to stop to return. Its going to be a legal think of and investing he can do is get a civilian lawyer when he is courtmartial. Host yeah, i think he did. What do you think of his promotions in captivity . The statement that his lawyer put out, which you can read yourself he includes letters that were sent, or certificates of promotion given to Sergeant Bergdahl while he was in captivity. Caller well, he was listed as prisoner of war and kept on the payroll. And he was due promotions as he had enough time and grade to get them. If he had been listed as a deserter, all pay and allowances would have been terminated. He was never listed in the official records as a deserter. Host ok. Gerald in North Carolina democrat. Caller good morning, cspan. How are you wanted you to full day . Host doing well. Caller please allow me as much time as you did those republicans earlier, because im a vietnam veteran myself. I have a couple of things to say. First, nothings been put into judicial record. No witnesses have been crossexamined and stuff like that. Everything is premature by saying that he should be shot and stuff like that. Number two, republicans are sort of sympathetic to this because bush 43, george w. Bush, he was gone six months during his term, because i was an air Traffic Controller during that time. He just took off six months and worked on a Senatorial Campaign and that was to run for president. Maybe we can let bergdahl run for president. Number three, you chastise someone earlier for making antisemitic comments and cut them off. Just because its one of our friends, does not mean that we are asked moses is god criticized israelis. Host absolutely, gerald, you can be critical, but when a line is crossed, there is a difference between those two things that you mentioned. Lets see reaction from capitol hill on twitter. Here is the speaker of the house between this out. Some reaction from capitol hill to the armys announcement yesterday that they were charging Bowe Bergdahl with desertion and misbehaving with the enemy. This will play out in Court Proceedings in the coming months. We are getting your reaction to that this morning. We will hear from bob republican in wisconsin. Bob, go ahead. Bob, good morning to you. Are you there . One more call for bob wisconsin. You hang on the line and we will try to get that worked out. In the meantime, joining us on the phone this morning to talk about this budget debate on capitol hill is David Hawkings Senior Editor with cq roll call. Lets talk first about what happened in house yesterday, a series of votes on six different budget proposals for 2016. In the end, which one past . Which one passed . Guest the one that passed was the one that the majority of republicans could agree on, which was a budget that went a little bit beyond the military spending of what the leadership originally thought was a good idea, and would bend the socalled sequestration numbers in a way that would allow a little bit more defense spending than those rules would have allowed, but not as much as the major defense hawks in congress wanted. It was a battle within the republican party, as so many other battles in the house that has been of interest in the last four years have been, and internal debate. In this case, between the true budget hawks and the true defense hawks. Host did the speaker, john boehner, and his lieutenants score a victory here . Guest yes yes, they did. They eat one out in the end. Eked one out in the end. It was the system shown the way the supposed be working, which was that the House Republicans understood where their caucus was and where the sort of sweet spot was within the republican party. It is on a space in the political continuum that is different then where was a few years ago. Just a few years ago, there were some republicans that were farther to the left than some democrats. That is no longer the case. It is a caucus of conservatives, ultra conservatives and ultraconservatives. Really, the most notable victory so far for steve scully as long as he has been the whip. Host and today on the senate but budget proposal, where is that . Guest there is a limit of 30 hours of debate on the budget in the senate. But that debate time that 30 hours, does not include time for votes or introducing amendments. After the 30 hours are over, by recent custom, it has become increasingly aggressively used a senator can stand up and propose an amendment to announce that the amendment would do, and then they immediately go to a rollcall vote. That is why they call it the voteorama because by recent calculations there have been 36 rollcall votes on the budget at the end. That is something on the order of 10 to 15 of all of the the boat all of the votes that happened during the year. It could start in the early afternoon and go into the night, because each of those votes could take 15 minutes. Host whatever comes out of the senate, house and the senate will have to reckon ill will have to reconcile their differences. How is that process likely to work . Will the Senate Republicans agreed to what the house wants to do and vice versa . Guest guest the pressure is enormous former rebel ginsu show that they can govern. As many of your viewers and list republicans will have to show they can govern. As many of your viewers and listeners know, the fight has been back and forth. This is really the first truly big test of that. It is especially geared toward allowing the majority parties to get their way on the budget in both the house and the senate. As i mentioned a minute ago, there is no limits on debate. The republicans can essentially have the parliamentary system totally to their advantage to get this done. All they have to do is agree amongst themselves between house and the senate and in the end, they only need to get about 90 of the house members and 94 of the Senate Republicans to agree on a budget. There is a two week break. My guess is that during that two week break, the spring break and that is about to happen in congress, staff and leadership will be making phone calls to decide how easy it is to come to a budget agreement. Which as your listeners will know its just a nonbinding document that does little more than set parameters for legislation later in the year. That is why this huge. Unless they set its budget, they will not get much done that they want to get done. Host later on today, the house will be taking up the socalled doc fix, the deal that was brokered by nancy pelosi. It has reforms in their that people like. It sound like it will get through the house. Will he get through the senate . Guest yes, it will definitely get through the house. The sound of you saying on the other this was a deal brokered by nancy pelosi and john boehner, this is an historic moment, really. This is the first relatively big deal they have come to agreement on. I think its going to happen on in the house. There are lots of reasons it could happen the senate as a last minute before they go on spring break, but there are plenty of other reasons why it will be delayed until after spring break if not into the fall. Senator Mitch Mcconnell may want to save this as a bill to carry more political freight later in the year. There are some senators that are ticked off as a point of personal and little pride that they were not consulted on this deal, so they may want to have a chance to tinker with it. The white house said yesterday that while they applaud this deal, they think it could be improved. The odds are that its not so good this will get done by the deadline, which is technically to say tuesday in the middle of next week after the recess has begun. If it does not get done, in theory, payments to doctors by medicare dropped by 21 . Also a chance they will do one of these cankicking procedures were they keep the status quo going for a month or two or three. Host David Hawkings Senior Editor with secret will call. Thank you with cq roll call, thank you. Back to your thoughts on Bowe Bergdahl being charged with desertion. Bob, what do you think . Caller how do you do we act of this is bob. Im a veteran. Host were listening. Go ahead. Caller ok, im a veteran. I want to thank all my fellow veterans out there first. I think its the wrong message president obama is giving to our country by allowing five taliban killers out for one deserter. As a veteran, im very proud to have served my country and we are supposed to do it to protect our freedom. That young man deserted his post under fire. As i understand it that deserves the death penalty, and i think all deserters need to know that. Host ok, you think the army needs to send a message. Gerald in louisiana, democrat. Caller im a veteran, too. There is something wrong with what that color just said about that caller just said about the vets. We dont leave nobody behind. John mccain knows that. He should know what he went through and he should know what bergdahl went through. We gave five people away for our person. We dont leave our people behind. We are supposed to protect our people. Our government or the military charge bergdahl. They should know what they were doing a Guantanamo Bay. Host listen to this. Dylan in sturgis, south dakota. Republican. Your thoughts . Caller im a disabled vet. I served a couple of years in vietnam. I was out in the bush, you know. We didnt have any deserters. I really hate to think what would have happened if we had gotten a hold of a deserter. I think the brother that was just on his wrong about the whole thing. I think that if somebody desserts deserts, they should have the death penalty, like the other brothers said. Host ok, dylan. 73 of people polled in june 2014 from the Washington Postabc news poll said they wanted criminal charges for Bowe Bergdahl. That was in june of last year. 73 said they wanted criminal charges for Bowe Bergdahl. Sergeant bergdahl has written in his own words a page and a half, released by his lawyer yesterday, singlespaced, describing what he went through in captivity. He was a little bit more of what he had to write. He also writes in here that he tried to escape 12 times during the five years of captivity. Surely in georgia shirley in georgia, democrat. Caller my thoughts on that, all those people that were polled they need to be over in iraq, or afghanistan. All of them saying this man should be charge, that is where they need to be. You cannot tell me that a person who is in cap in captivity for five years, that he should be charged for desertion charged with treason. That man, petraeus that the person who allowed his girlfriend to get all of these secrets. This boy didnt have any secrets to give out. Its wrong, brother. And you need to stop asking all of these republicans republicans, republicans and everybody says the same thing. Host ok. Mike in ohio. Caller i didnt like the wait this disney production all started out. Can you hear me . Host yeah, we can. Caller if you remember back in the Bush Administration they talked about god and country and then they took the flag and wrapped it around the bible and hid a missile inside of it and sold it like a lollipop to a bunch of suckers. And that is just what weve got too. And then bush, cheney, look at the end of the war and halliburton headquartered over there, blackwater, and the rest of this disney production. You have a good day, maam. Host ok, mike. Cnn with the these on their website. What has Bowe Bergdahl done since he returned to the United States . President obama agreed to swap by prisoners from Guantanamo Bay. That is from cnns website march 25 of this year. Brian in albert, texas republican. Go ahead. Caller good morning. I just want to say that this guy is a complete disgrace. Number one, he is a deserter. He left his post. I think they need to do uh, i think they need to do a full prosecution on him and make him an example that traders will be dealt accordingly. Traitors will be dealt accordingly. There needs to be accountability in this country. Its a mess. Host ok, brian. The Washington Times says this. It goes on to say that its too early to predict what kind of sentence Sergeant Bergdahl could receive if convicted, noting that military juries have a lot of control over handing out sentences in court marshals. John in maryland, democrat. You are on the air come a goahead. Caller good morning. Listen, ive got a situation. I dont ever remember hearing Congress Declare War on afghanistan. Im only thinking, i dont know how george bush got the authority to go attack iraq, and in barack obama to go and continue to finish the war in afghanistan, for this meant to be for this man to be considered a deserter. I thought congress was dealing with the right to declare war. Im a veteran of the 67 airborne. We sound like a bunch of matt bloody dogs masdd, bloody dogs, with all of this killing going on and we are talking about killing one of our own. We dont know what the date of mine what his state of mind was. Nobody was killed when he walked off his post. I would venture to say that all the lies of the military that are told to the American People about vietnam, about iraq, about afghanistan, about the tray is how can we tell trust any thing that is said by the generals because all of it is about getting the next rank. This man, mccain, he acts like a bloodthirsty animal every time something comes up. He wants to kill shoot, and palm. And hes the one who should understand what this man went through. It is just that that america has not had enough of bloodshed and bombing and killing that we want to kill one of our own. I would be willing to bet you every young man that has been blown up or shot during award if you could have the chance during a war, if he could have the chance to come back and do it again, he would say no. This war on terror, this whole thing is a joke. And we are talking now about this one gunman and this one young man. Its really sad. Host ok. Kathy, go ahead. Caller really quick, i just want to say that i think her doll should be charged with treason. I dont know what that means as far as his punishment. He was not captured. He left his post of his own free will. And we really have to listen to the soldiers that were there. They knew he left. It was a slap in the face. And obamas swap is disgraceful honestly. He left of his own free will. He is a deserter. He needs to be punished. Host were going to take a short break and we will return with heritage foundations james carafano, a retired colonel. We will get his reaction to these allegations. And later, a member of the Homeland Security committee will join us and we will talk to her about the charges against Sergeant Bergdahl and other security issues. A special Committee Hearing on alzheimers, former actress and model, b smith, talks about her personal experience with the disease. Here is what she had to say. [video clip] it has been a tough time for me, because i do have early onset alzheimers disease. And im here because i want to make, though, a difference. Im here because i dont want anybody else to have to go through this. Im here to ask you to make a difference, not just for the 5 million americans who have alzheimers, and their caregivers, but for future generations who will face that. This has been this has been something that is very new to me. Ive been so healthy for such a long time and ive never had anything like this. But what im going to do is, im going to fight. Im going to do exactly what i can to be the best, and to be better than the other person that i ever really was. So let there are lots and lots of people at their who are probably feeling the way im feeling stop im feeling, like this should never have happened to me that type of feeling. Im sure there are many people. But there are many problems out there also. I feel that im ready to work. Im ready to do what i have to do to be the best that i can be and to help as many people as i can help. And if i have to tell somebody they should not do something because, i will do it, and they will tell me, i will do it or i dont want to do it. But its important to me. Health and wellness has always been something that has been a big part of my life, and a big part of helping young people. And so today im excited to be here and happy to be here and i thank you very much. Ive got a lot to do in my future. And going to do it, and im going to and im going to do it, and im going to do it the best way i can. And if people can help me, we can do it together. Thats fine. But however we do it, we just have to do it. Washington journal continues. Host we are back with james j carafano. I want to get your reaction that they are charging Bowe Bergdahl with desertion and his behavior. Guest the first thing, as with any case, the accused is innocent until proven guilty. He keeps his rank and pay, and is afforded every opportunity to defend himself. That is the weight is supposed to work. I was in the army for 25 years. There are few things i am prouder of than my interface and affiliation that i had with the military Justice System. I thought it was a tremendous system. I was involved with several military justice activities. I felt an enormous amount of pressure and obligation to get it right, obligation to the service, obligation as an individual. I cannot say it was fun. But it was rewarding and i felt i was given the resources to do that. If you believe in the term let justice take its course, then it will and that is the right thing. Host did the charges surprise you, and could the army have charged him with even more stiffer charges . Guest you hear people use the words treason and desertion interchangeably. Treason is, you have to actively engage with a known enemy in your supporting activities against the United States. That is a much higher bar than desertion, which is essentially leaving your post when you are in a combat position with the enemy. Some people will say, maybe it is not fair that we are its not fair that we are charging them with a military system. But this is the case where you cannot do that because there is no civilian equivalent to the charge of desertion. It is purely military crime. There is the mother option other than putting them through the military Justice System. Host there is also the charge of misbehaving with the enemy. It sounds like they are saying he was seeking out the taliban that he was communicating with them. Guest yeah, that is very, very different. Think back to the korean war. In the korean war, we had a lot of people taken prisoner of war and the North Koreans did not abide by the geneva conventions at all. We were in many ways disappointed with how Many Americans performed as prisoners of war in the korean war. And we came out with different guidelines and reforms because there are things you can do which are inappropriate for a military person to do, but they fall way short of acting with the enemy against the United States. You are always a soldier. It does not matter where you are. It is better if you are a prisoner of war in a war camp in another country or in fort hood, texas doing a drill. Your obligations as a soldier are the same. Host there is an investigation that has been done by general kenneth. Looking into the general kenneth dahl looking into the circumstances of his captivity that have not been released. But his lawyer said he was able to look at an executive summary of that and he said in that there was no evidence that he was trying to reach out to the taliban or that he was trying to permanently walk away, and no evidence that soldiers were killed looking for him. Guest those are all things which they will have a full opportunity to present in the judicial system. People need to understand this could be a very long and multifaceted process. This is really the equivalent of a grand jury. We think there is enough here to that somebody could be called to be accused of the crime. That goes to a convening officer who then has the obligation to decide which way to proceed forward. The matrix you go through is the same. It does not matter if it is a minor offense or a major crime. They have to ask act in the best interests of the nation the best interest of the service and the individual. What are the options under the legal system and what is the most appropriate . You could have a wide range of activities including and up to a major trial. Host will the public know what is happening in this trial . It will be public . Guest the public will the steps of the process, consistent with the militarys obligation to respect the rights and privacies of the accused. There is a fair amount of transparency in the sense that its not as if you take them off to a secret place and you never hear from him again. His lawyer could say anything he wants, really. He can keep people informed of the process. There are a lot of ways this could go. Bergdahl could enter a plea and you could have a plea agreement and that could be the end of it. Or you could have everything that goes through a series of steps that goes up to what looks at a regular trial and a jury and judges and the whole normal person eating. Host the lawyer has the whole moral proceeding. Host the lawyer has not indicated which way that process will go. Go ahead. Guest the first thing you would want to do as a lawyer is to see all of the evidence that will be used against her client and then you would want to assess that. And then you would want to talk to your client and then to the convening authority. There is a lot of information to sit through. And again, there are many options. The art the army will give him a lawyer. He can have a civilian a lawyer. He can hire a team of lawyers. My guess is that he will be very well represented. This is a highprofile case. They will be very scrupulous. It will be very professionally run. Host you think you can get a fair trial. Guest im very confident in military Justice System, particularly in situations like this. If you actually made a little matrix and you looked at the protections and the rights of an accused in the military Justice System and compare that to most civil Justice Systems in the world, it would rank really high. In many cases, higher than some civilian courts in the United States. Host caller hi, look. This with Sergeant Bowe bergdahl , we know that he left. Where were the other troops who were on guard duty . Didnt stop this man, did a question he was going, nothing. He was allowed to walk out on his own free will. Should he be charged with desertion . No. We are not going to kill this in man. I was in the service and i did not have any problems. It is uniform code of military justice and is it going to be fair i dont think so. Me saying that because military code of uniform code of military justice is supposed to protect officers more than people. Host i want to take that point up about the uniform code of justice. What is it . Guest it applies equally to officers and enlisted. In a matter of fact, if you go to fort leavenworth, there is a separate military prison where we put people who have been conflicted with most serious offenses and there is a separate wing for officers were kept separately, but they are treated exactly the same. The other thing, if you are actually convicted, one of the things is you could lose all drinking privileges. You could be a general in an army but if youre convicted of a serious crime, you go into the general population like any of the burials like anybody else. Host what is the uniform code of military justice . Guest a Legal Framework like the u. S. Code of laws. It is it exists with the sanction of congress, so it has the force of law. It is the system of justice that the military goes by. Well, why do we have a separate system . Because the military operates and then in a separate environment than a legal system. Legal systems are designed to operate work roles of law exist. Police around the corner, people can walk to a judge, you collect evidence. Military environments can be chaotic. The rights of the accused are the same, the requirement of the system to be fair is the same but it has to be able to operate in a military environment, so we created a separate system. It blurs the line between what is called nontraditional and judicial punishment. Nonjudicial punishment is maintaining good order in the military. Article 15, petty theft, line, not showing up for duty, not performing duty. Then you walk into more serious crimes and it goes to a judicial proceeding. The punishment and severity of the crime increases the amount of due process by the individual gets and it is proportional. Host article 32 . Guest the lowest level. In article 32, the commanders judge, jury, and executioner. In article 32, you go before the commander and say, this is what i think. The commander could bring in other witnesses or bring in evidence, and then he would he or she would make a decision and he or she would say this is her punishment. Things like forfeit to pay, host that is where Bowe Bergdahl is . Guest that is up to the convening authority to decide where we are going to go into what severity of punishment they are considering. It is really up to the convening authority now. That is the next step. Beyond that, you will have the proceedings. Host augusta, georgia, christina. Independent. Caller hi, the reason im calling is that my understanding here is that to me this is desertion. He should have taken a discernible discharge. A disHonorable Discharge. It wouldve been a lot better than torture. What really gets me is, nobody is looking at what he did. What he suffered, they are looking at, but not what he did. It is everybody is political. It is ripping this country apart no matter what everybody discusses, it is always republican, democrat. Im an independent. I come from a democratic family. I was a democrat. I originally come from massachusetts and i became an independent to pick who is best. I dont understand why everything has got to be political. He did something wrong no, he should not be shot. That is ridiculous, but he should pay for what he did. Dont trump up charges, just what he did wrong. Dishonorable, couple years whatever. Somebody had to replace him and people put them in jeopardy as people looked for them. Nobody is looking at that. Make people responsible for their actions and stop getting so political about everything. Host ok, got your point. Guest that is the benefit of the military Justice System. It is a legal system. A political views of the president doesnt matter. As a matter of fact, the secretary of Defense Organization official tried to implement that, that would be a crime. It is supposed to be a Legal Process. Like all good Legal Processes it increases the sanctions between the act itself and what is called mitigation. Other factors that the convening authority might want to consider to say well, it is worse and we think or we understand, so there are things we should be more empathetic for. They will it considered, but separately. First, with the statutes and this is what constitute the crimes. The person you go through, does the evidence, and in this case it would be a very High Standard of evidence, did the person commits a crime, yes or no . Then when you got to a sentencing portion, you would say, are there mitigating factors we ought to consider that maybe this is worst . Or maybe there were issues in the unit or how he left or how he was treated . And we got to take those into consideration when they consider either of the kind of judicial process we have or if he is convicted, and the type of punishment he receives. Host pennsylvania, john. A republican, hi, john. Caller good morning. We have a republican, democrat an independent. This hits home with my family. My father was in the Second World War and my mother has letters about the soldiers being ordered by the general to execute the japanese prisoners that they interrogated. Of course, it went on in the korean war. When you look at afghanistan for instance, it is always the soldiers who take the brunt of all of this. If you remember, president obama said we had to take it easy in afghanistan with civilian casualties. And the following weekend, the general, i feel should be in jail, bond that wedding and they killed 59 civilians there. Of course, couple weeks later he was relieved of duty. If you look at the generals order with young girls in the south to abuse those prisoners that came down from the Bush Administration. Why is it always the youngest kids that take the brunt of this . There is a reason we have 23 suicides of these soldiers when they come back from this madness in our country. You really have to stop Bowe Bergdahl you can tell thisBowe Bergdahl gentleman has emotional issues. Guest absolutely. That is part of the mitigation process they go through. It is a very comparable to what you do in a civilian situation. You are convicted of robbing a Grocery Store and when you go before the judge look, my family was starving. I had no money, i was a desperate. And the judge says, oh, ok. I understand that. They will look at mitigating factors. I will say, that is factually incorrect, military Justice Systems apply to everybody. War crimes and things are illegal and we have seen people with action being brought against them. If you think of the massacre during vietnam, officers up the chain of command had punishments attributed to that and generals have lost their rankings for the fences. So, this is not a system just about disciplining individual soldiers and exempt everybody. Everybody up to and including the chairman joint chiefs of staff comes under. This is not a new problem. The caller mentioned world war ii. During world war ii, the military convicted 21,000 servicemembers for desertion. 21,000. In most prolonged conflicts, these things happen. We had like 11 million in uniform, so that is a tiny number, but these things happen. A revolution, the civil war, the mexicanamerican war. Host robert, southwest city, missouri, you are on there. You are on the air. Caller i cant understand why this man is being charged with desertion when the commanderinchief created five of those to get him loose. Does that mean the commanderinchief was in charge of all the military . That man was innocent, he brought them back home, and often the armies of step in and charge the man with desertion when the most, that i can understand about this, he could be charged with a wall awol which is a misdemeanor. Host his remark about the culture and heritage of the arabs that aside, he makes a point about those that were swapped. The prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. Guest this is actually a problem we have come to see in the public. Week tend to conflate everything into one issue. There are three separate distinct issues here and we need to deal with them on their own levels. One is, the spin or the way the administration framed this. And what they said, the right answer and why they said that, that those are political judgments, rhetorical things. That is one issue. We could have a big debate about that. The second issue, the wisdom of the mechanics of the swap itself. Every soldier, we have an obligation to bring every soldier back. It does not matter what they did, so that is irrelevant. How we bring them back, that does matter. And there have been many situations where soldiers have been kept in terrible circumstances because of the good of the nation always comes first. We can about them, we are going to bring them back, but how and when we do that, that, the nation comes first. So we could have a debate about the wisdom of the swap. The third piece, which is how is Bowe Bergdahl treated under the code of uniform military justice. It could have any opinion on those two issues, completely irrelevant with how you treat this person. Answer is, you treat them according to what the rule of law says. The rule of law says this is a crime. You conduct an investigation and if a person is present innocent until guilty, if they meet the criteria, they are convicted. Then you have a judgment about punishment. That is the way it should happen, but to cramp everything together the other thing we should realize, the president can pardon people. At the end of the day, the military can do whatever it wants, but if the president elect to pardon someone, they can do that. Host and what happens . Guest they are pardoned. Host and he doesnt serve whatever he might be. Guest i would say that discussion is way premature and incredibly unrealistic if you remember Richard Nixon for example, when he left office, gerald ford became president and Richard Nixon had not been charged with anything. He was pardoned before. I think it is incredibly unlikely that the white house with step in and do anything like that this point. I think they will at the Legal Process play out. At the end of the day, if the Legal Process concludes what president obama is still in office and the next president they will get a vote on what to do. They can pardon of community sentence. Host keith madison, arkansas you are next. A democrat. Caller first of all, good morning. I would like to weigh in on the previous comments of dealing with the code of military justice. Im a u. S. Of that u. S. Veteran, and i went to the process while i was courtmartialed. At the time i went through, i went and got a civilian attorney and all that good stuff, but everything was premeditated. I was found guilty, forced out of the military, i lost a whole lot being a sergeant in the military. So, i would like to say to you sir, i strongly disagree with this. I dont believe the sergeant will get a fair shake. Simply because the moment he walks inside the courtroom, everything is already premeditated. That is the thing that troubles me because i was a victim of that. Host ok, keith. Guest i cant speak to the fact of this case because i dont know what they are. I can speak to my participation in the mc mj, when you get down to the levels, every interaction i ever had my standard of proof was i would never convict somebody unless i was absolutely, absolutely totally convinced the evidence said that that person was guilty. And observing uc mj, including going to guantanamo several times since i have retired, i thought that was extraordinary i went down and witnessed the military proceedings and to me it was interesting because the lawyers there were the military lawyers that were defending the accused. They werent the 18 the ateam. Government lawyers and prosecutors and the military lawyers, i thought were nearly not as wellqualified and the judge, i thought the military judge, i thought they were amazing in terms of i mean you could not tell the difference between a real trial that was somehow everything was good. You cannot tell that from watching proceedings. Host oakland, california. Caller im originally from belize. Cspan viewers listen to me. My husband in the 1960s deserted and he went to belize. Thousands and hundreds of thousands of the military when they were drafted went to belize and they are still there. What they did, that changed the citizenship. Belize gave them citizenship and the coming over here and going back home as belizeans. You guys are talking about illegal aliens and the same goes for the military when they deserted the army and that is not fair to me. And like what this guy did, it has been going on for years. And nobody has done nothing about it. Guest it is interesting to go back and look at the history of the 1960s, 19 70s. We had a lot of people that deserted and a natural for military service. Many went to canada and other places. Many of them are pardoned. That was a decision the president made. There is also a distinction between not showing up for service and going awol and desertion. Desertion happens in the face of the enemy. You can understand why you would have that distinction. If you are in a combat environment, you are therefore reason. You are part of a team and you have a responsibility to that team. If you fail, you could put other lives and the mission at risk. The level of severity if you think for example, why we hold some crimes more serious than others even though it is the same crime. Crimes against children we hold much more severe than identical crime against andel. That is because we think the circumstances are but crimes against an adult. Thats because we think the circumstances are incredible he heinous. Host jeff is next. Nebraska, a republican. Jeff, good morning. Caller good morning. I really think this guy is toast and he will get life imprisonment. Lose his rights, lose all of his money. Because todays service is voluntary. Back when you are talking, it there was a draft. So now it is all voluntary and this guy voluntarily laid his weapon down, voluntarily walked away, and they went out and actually looked for him because on megan kellys fox show, they have all six of his members of his platoon sit right there and look out for him, and they know now that six people were killed fighting for this guy. Host ok, the lawyer for Bowe Bergdahl says there is no evidence that anyone died looking for him. That will play out in Court Proceedings. Guest the caller has an interesting point. It does not matter if you volunteer for military service or if you are drafted. The uniform code of military justice applies for everyone who was wearing a uniform. It is not care how you got there. As a matter of fact, you swear a note when you join the military. I swore it and it is always identical to the old that the oath people say when they are sworn in. When you were sworn in in vietnam world war ii, korea, you took the same oath that kids today take. That is the example that it is not a mitigating factor. It is not matter if you volunteer or if you are drafted. Host bardot, independent caller. What is the name of your town . Caller hello, i doubt i think many of your listeners have misunderstood. There is going to be investigation to determine whether the sergeant should be charged at the crime and he has not yet been charged of the crime. If he is charged and if there is a trial, it would be extremely difficult to prove beyond a reasonable doubt because witnesses will not be available to the defense. So i suspect there will never be a conviction. Host beyond reasonable doubt. Guest i think there are a lot of statements in that call that were not factually correct. There was an investigation and he was charged with a crime. The grand jury does not investigate, but the prosecutor does and the preliminary investigation. The goat fax, they get facts go to grand jury. Here is the evidence we have and if you look at those together, there is enough to suspect that this person has committed a crime and should be charged and go through the Legal Process to determine if they are guilty or not. Now we are moving to a phase where we are going to weigh whether that person was actually committed the crime or not. What is going to happen is, all of the evidence that the prosecutors, using civilian terms, that the prosecutors gathered to determine if that charge can be made. Theyre going to give all that evidence to Bowe Bergdahl and his lawyers. They will have an opportunity to review the evidence, make a case, and potentially some kind of military tribunal. They are going to get their day in court. Bowe bergdahl whether this can whether Bowe Bergdahl is convicted or not, the tribunal will decide. Whether he has reached the standard host a couple more phone calls. Tony, you are next. Pennsylvania, democrat. Caller good morning, sir. Good morning, greta. A lot of people seem to be basing their opinion on this, the reasons we are in afghanistan. One of those 30 guys sitting in the middle of the desert and you are at the wrong end of a gun, i think politics goes out the window. You depend on your brother protecting your back and you protecting his. To justify his actions waste on the reasons with that, i dont think his fellow platoon mates were thinking in those terms. I saw the interviews with them, and some of them actually seem like they had disagreements with the war, but they understood in order to come home alive, they had to have each others backs. I think with that man did was wrong. Guest the most important thing i would go to music fest every year so my prejudice to the caller is that is when the close places. The caller raises an interesting point. It is not with individuals in the platoon thought was bright around that really matters. The military Justice System is designed to operate in that environment. It recognizes that there is chaos and confusion. That there are people taking witness statements may be five minutes after the crime. There may be situations where you cant interview, they get all that. The system is designed for that, but again it has the same criterion as a civilian system. You have to have a clear definition of a crime. The wind is is presumed innocent until they get their day in court. The witness is presumed innocent until they get their day in court and they have rights than he to be protected. Host will they consider time served and how much weight will that hold . Guest that is up to them. The other thing you have to realize, lets say Bowe Bergdahl is convicted, he can appeal. There is an appeal in the military Justice System. Host james carafano, appreciate your time. Coming up next, we will talk with Loretta Sanchez. We will get her reaction to the news about Bowe Bergdahl Sergeant Bowe bergdahl and we will talk about forces in afghanistan and National Security issues. We will be right back. This sunday on q a, eric larson on his new book dead wake. The story gets complicated when the question arises, what ultimately happened to the lusitania . Why was it allowed without escort, without the kind of detail warning that could have been provided to captain William Thomas turner that was not . This has led to some very interesting speculation about was the ship essentially set up for attack by churchill or someone in the admiralty . It is interesting, i found a no smoking memo and i would have found a smoking memo if they existed, that is to say there was nothing from churchill or somebody else. Lets let the lusitania go into the irish sea because we wanted to get some, nothing like that exists. Sunday night at 8 00 eastern and pacific on cspans q a. Here are some of our future programs for this week and on the cspan networks. On cspan [applause] on cspan2s, Peter Wallace and discusses Government Housing policies caused the 2008 financial crisis and it could happen again. Sunday afternoon at 5 00, director at columbia university, jeffrey sachs, on a Development Plan to counter global issues like poverty, political corruption, and environmental decay. Saturday morning at 10 30 eastern on American History tv on cspan3, a discussion on the last major speeches of abraham lincoln, and Martin Luther king jr. Sunday afternoon at 4 00 on real america, the 1965 we do interview with Martin Luther king jr. Find a complete schedule at www. Cspan. Org and let us know what you think about the programs you watch. Follow email us, call us, or send as a treat. Send us a tweet. Join the cspan conversation, like us on facebook, follow us on twitter. Washington journal continues. Host we want to welcome back, some in Loretta Sanchez democrat of california. She is on security panels. Your reaction to the charge against Sergeant Bowe bergdahl and misbehaving with the enemy . Were you briefed on this . Guest no, i have not been briefed on this, although i will play that tomorrow we do have a meeting with the white house with respect to many issues of security, not only homeland, but what is going on in ukraine isis, etc. Im sure the details we brought up on that. I would just have to say that the military generally takes its time in trying to find out the facts. It is always about the facts when you decide to use the ucmj or in the court system in the United States, so i would anticipate they will have a set of facts that point toward a decision and collaborating or hanging out with the enemy, if you will. It is a sad day for us. Host you were going over to the white house tomorrow. . Who are you meeting with you are you meeting with . Guest most likely National Security advisers. I dont know of the president will step in or not. Host is it just democrats . Guest i have no idea. They just told me would be some military and homeland people. From the congress and that work with them. Since i am number two for the democrats and on Homeland Security committee, they have asked me to go. Host do you think that the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay that were released in exchange for Bowe Bergdahl pose a threat to the United States . Guest yes, i do. I will tell you why. First of all, at least in the beginning and as we began to release some of these prisoners what we saw was a height risk a height risk. Many people went back into the polls to work against us and against the western concerns. I think at that time it may have been a 70 or 80 which is not very, very high. You can say 10 years later, 15 years later, that comes down a bit, but the reality is that you take a big risk when you release these types of people. There was a reason we have been holding them for so long. Maybe we have not been able to try them because i think the previous Lieutenant Colonel who was on her was talking about ucmj, how difficult it is to get a chain of evidence, you are going into and you are under fire, grab computers and information as much as you can it is not like what you see on law and order, where everything has evidence and you have the time and everything. Everything is haphazard and chaotic as you try to do some of this. We may not have all of the evidence to be able to try somebody, but we probably know that they are bad people. Host we are talking with congresswoman Loretta Sanchez. Democrat of california, she will take comments and questions, not only about the charges against the sergeant but the president s announcement that he will be keeping troop levels in afghanistan the same, the situation in yemen, and other National Security issues. She has served on Armed Services and Homeland Security. The number two democrat on both of those committees, so the phone on the phone lines democrats 202 7488000 republicans 202 7488001 independence 202 7488002. Was it a mistake for the president to make that swap for Bowe Bergdahl . Guest you have to realize that i am married to a former military guy who spent his career in the military and has a son who was about to go most likely into a place like iraq, etc. We have a doctrine that says leave no one behind. We truly believe in that and i believe in that as a military family. I think it was important for us to get Bowe Bergdahl out of there. I dont know that i personally would have traded these five guys for him. Host before we get to cause, the president says troops will stay the same in afghanistan. Do you agree . Guest it depends what we want to do in afghanistan. I told the president the first chance i got as he came into office six and half years ago the sooner we are out of afghanistan, the better off we are. Lets declare victory and go. I could not see any more of our people and treasure there in that country, but of course, he is the commanderinchief. The one who gets to set International Formulations policy, so his decision is that he is going to stick it out in afghanistan and try to stabilize it some more. I dont know what that means because we have been making deals with the taliban, turning a blind eye to the largest terror cultivation going on in the world there. There are a lot of things that if you look at our value system, we have turned and i to in order to stay in afghanistan. The president host the president says he wants to unwind of the wars in afghanistan and iraq, and he said deadlines. Take a look at the headline in the Washington Post. He is saying we will keep troop levels the same in afghanistan and you have the front page of the Washington Post that says u. S. Has now joined the fight because it is making a significant step back into iraq. Guest again unfortunately these things are very complicated. They are never clearcut. We really have to stand back and say, what is our objective in these countries . Or what is the objective between the regional stability of the areas we are talking about . I personally believe it is very difficult to be half in and half out. And that is what you get you know, i saw this and did i saw this in the bush of menstruation. In a different way. The Bush Administration. In a different way. He wanted to go into iraq with only 90,000 troops instead of the 200,000 plus that they said at the time were needed. People want to tell americans how we can get this done, we wont raise taxes for it, the war dont worry, but the reality is that when you go in half heartedly, you get probably half. Host another headline to sharing a comments on. From the Washington Post, saudi arabia watches strikes in yemen as rebels advance. A proxy war taking place in. A piece that militants in yemen the season, that this excuse me, this information was handed over to iranians. In new york, democrat collar. Caller i would just like to say, general betray us petre us was given everything this country had to offer and a Great Respect and position and he was given a sweet deal for a man who should have known better and people are in jail for having done what he did now, this young man, Sergeant Bowe bergdahl was obviously in some kind of moral distress or psychological problems. He served and spent five years in prison and tortured. We certainly should be able to have mercy for him if we do for general petraeus, who should have known better. Guest i think the caller for putting a human component to this. The issues are always very complicated. With respect to the prosecution of this young man, it will be based, i hope on the facts. There is a component in their that leads to with ic with somebody people who have gone and fought on behalf of our country, and that is a very emotional turmoil. Difficulty to reintegrate. Isolation that happens. And i know that many of you have seen the detriment from when veterans return. It is not always a blackandwhite situation and hopefully when he goes before tribunal, he will have people who are cognizant of that issue. And the fact that he has already spent five years in a difficult situation host munro, new york francis. A republican. You are next. Caller yes, my question is with everything that is going on with Bowe Bergdahl and number one, he was not held captive. He was a captive prisoner of war, but my main concern is why is no one Holding President obama responsible for disregarding the law and informing congress of the trade of the five big time leaders of the taliban for who they knew at the time for all the surrounding reports of his fellow soldiers off the base . Host sorry, i thought you were done. Why would the president why was the president not held accountable . Guest a lot of us have question what has gone on. We of course knew, after the fact or at least i did, i dont recall whether he informed our intel people, meaning my colleagues with respect to who sits on intelligence or formulation or maybe what we call the big four, i am number 21 Armed Services, not number one. Number one generally gets to be in these higherlevel where they discuss for told about these issues and they get a phone call ahead of time. Host who are the other four . Guest ive got to remember now. Senate side, mccain, our side, mac thornberry. Host Armed Services . Guest yes. Certainly, even before you get to that the four and the ranking democrat in each of the senate and house, Armed Services committee, even before you get to our level of those people who do this day in and day out, of course you would have the leadership, the speaker, minority leaders of the houses. Host jerry, knoxville, tennessee, an independent. You are on the air with congresswoman Loretta Sanchez. Caller i would like to comment on Bowe Bergdahl. I am a former marine and i spent several years in afghanistan as a contractor. Holding operation there. I have some familiarity with this and i cant really discuss it, but i would like to say in the congresswoman may know there is at least two programs in afghanistan where we were exchanging caliban insiders and commanders taliban insiders and commanders, taken out the battlefield, and we were doing that to reach agreements with local militia commanders. And these programs were run by the u. S. Military, and we were doing that for the last five years. I would just like to say Sergeant Bowe bergdahl, he was a doofus. If you read into what he says and what his parents say and why he did this, he had some crazy ideas. What if this was my son, i would not but if this was my second i would not care who he traded for him. People up into afghanistan, they cannot people who have not been to afghanistan cannot imagine what it would be like to be tortured to death there. We got in hysteria when we saw ices guys chopping heads up journalists and other humanitarian aid workers what what a lot of people would have no problem if the taliban were to put Sergeant Bowe bergdahl and tortured him to death. That is disturbing to me. Guest well, i cant speak to the program that the gentleman a caller talked about with respect to what was going on in afghanistan. I will tell you, and i go back to what i said originally, in order to try and stabilize afghanistan and get out of there with the decision made by the government, both bush and obama honestly, the policies really havent changed much. And that was that we would even though eventually we did go into afghanistan only clearly defined our enemy as the taliban , the fact of the matter is, they are now the partners in this Regional Security type of situation that we believe is moving forward. Personally, i would not have gone there. That is not how i would handle that. To the point of these programs come i cant speak to specifically, but certainly, we are Holding Hands with some of the taliban leaders in order to achieve the mission that we have there. Host clinton, alabama, miranda. Democratic caller. Miranda you are on there with Loretta Sanchez. Caller this is miranda. He was captured, they spent they waited 45 days before they looked for him. [indiscernible] they are all idiots to start with. All they have to do is hide behind. Host all right, miranda. There will be a lot of speculation about the circumstances Bowe Bergdahl with and now the trial goes forward. How much information should the public know . Guest well, i would say that if it endangers our people who are on the ground then this information needs to be kept within a smaller circle within the tribunal and the court system we have under the ucmj. I am always one of those people for much more information for the american public. If you look at my voting record, i voted against the patriot act and the patriot act can about this. Now we find out about snowed in and snowedden put americans imperiled peril but he did tell us about things that were going on that nobody had told us about. When we make these broad statements, broad laws, they can capture our civil rights. Im a person and as an american i believe that information and ability to access that information is incredibly important to the american public. Host what to get your thoughts on yemen. Saudi arabia doing airstrikes. It says in the Washington Times, president obama has authorized the provision of support to these military operations. This is being called a proxy war between them in iran. Isnt it interesting that we believe that proxy war guest it is really about Shiite Muslims which is iran and the sunni muslims which it be saudi arabia. Only look at the events in iraq, we are in cahoots with government that is significantly pushing forward or in other words, iran is the proxy on our side trying to help us with isisll, maybe i dont know. All along this whole trail, we have made major mistakes. Now theyre coming back to haunt us. Host the president has made major mistakes . Guest both. I remember in the bush time, people in front of me asking commanders in iraq, what are you going to do about the fact that we have 60 shiite, 20 sunnis, kurds, and they are not getting along. I think it was just a decoy for iran. When we would send weapons and train people in the military, he had all of his people in their. He had very few kurds sunnis, and he was creating an empire based really along tensions against two other pieces of iraq. We are surprised that the place fell apart once we left . I would ask these questions. When only going to get to what it says in the constitution. A vote for the kurds, for example. They have their own availability to have their own ability to have their country. That was the constitution. And i remember, it couldve been frank or maybe another general at that time overseeing iraq is said to me, well yeah, that is the most difficult to do and we have not been able to get it on the table. Just because it is difficult to do does not mean that you dont get to it. We left without any resolution to all of that. Host political resolution. Danny in indiana, independent caller. Caller yes, on the subject to Sergeant Bowe bergdahl. I was in vietnam. I joined the military and found myself in vietnam, and i lost a lot of my ideals and i was out in the boondocks, so to speak and his only problem i see is that what he did not even think one man would make a difference. As to all these people having a treason sign looking to hang some place, i suggest a look at u. S. Congress when they went around the president and they are sworn to uphold the constitution but they went around the president of the United States and stock and talk to a Foreign Government as the president was trying to make a peace treaty. Host danny talking about having the Prime Minister of israel come to this country and also the letter to iran from the 47 senators. Guest well, i was not one of those 47 senators to sign that letter. I certainly one of the things i do, being the number two person on the Armed Services committee and i have shared before a subcommittee that deals with nuclear appropriation Nuclear Proliferation and nonproliferation. I had i follow with these negotiations are about what is going on. There was nothing that netanyahu could have said in a chamber that wouldve told me and he could not have diebolds any top secret diebolds divulged any top secret information and nobody knew what the negotiations for. Now we find out that israel may have been spidering, that is another case. Even i dont know how the negotiations are moving forward and i am one of the top people to be briefed at some point. I have always said we need to give the president that space. We need to give them the space to try and find a solution other than a military solution. Look, i am stronger the military. I told you i have had has been who was in the military for 23 years. I believe in the military, i want them to be strong but they are not the solution to every problem we have in the world. Diplomacy and economics those solutions could possibly exist and allow us not to get into another war. Host nancy, democrat. Hi, nancy. Caller hi, i would like to know this woman says she is a military family, how many of those prisoners which you have given up for her husband or son of the there . And with this gentleman, who knows what was going on in his mind at the time. Maybe he wanted to get it over with and get out of there. Guest i would agree. And i truly believe in our Justice System. Now, he will be tried under what we call the uniform code of military service and it is a code that believe it or not has a lot of leeway to the descendents. He will have his day in court. I do not believe in any sense that things will be stacked up against him. I think the ucmj is a very flexible and system that actually protects each soldier or marine or semen or airman or seaman or airman that is tried under it. I dont think it is black and white. Host michigan, joel. An independent. Hi, joe. Caller thank you. My comment is that president obama more than likely, if Bowe Bergdahl is prosecuted will be pardoned. Also i have another comment. We have prosecuted us by and put them in jail and the taxpayers are funding him to have a sex change. Thats it. Host all right joel. Kentucky, democrat. Caller my question, in the military justice, is it unanimous decision or is it that they only have to have so many of them vote like a majority . Another question i have, about the Bowe Bergdahl if it was resolved about mccain being a citizen, why was there so much controversy about president obama before and now with ted cruz coming back, it is coming back again . What is the issue that . What is the issue there . Guest first look, let me say that it we saw mccain run we would not have a problem with seeing ted cruz run. I dont know why they went after president obama with respect to his birth certificate. I cant get into the minds of people who are there. Host i think that was it. We have about eight minutes left, so i do want to ask about this news from the Associated Press on the airliner that went down in the french outs. The copilot, according to the associative press, intentionally sent a plane into its dim dissent. It raises questions about Homeland Security. Are our airline system, the international system, what kind of questions and concerns does it raise for you . Guest first love, from what i knew before i walked into the studio, first of all, from what i knew before i walked into the studio, the copilot had been outside of the cockpit. The first question is, it is very rare for a pilot to leave the cockpit 30 minutes of taking off from the flight. Maybe he had to do about them run or something. That is the first question, why would you do that . Secondly we do know, at least it has been reported, that he did try to get in and he was desperate because he got no feedback from the one who was left in the cockpit. Unless they have been able to find a different recording, i wonder where that ap is getting this from because it could be speculation. What prosecutor, etc. We will have to sit back and wait for facts, but the issue you are asking about on what is happening to our planes, who can we trust, what is going on . Certainly, background checks are important for people find the planes. Mental health is incredibly important. I would say the same thing because earlier when coming here to the capital. On any given day, somebody could be having a really, really bad day and how do you see that . How do you test for that . Whether it is a pilot, congressperson coming into chamber. Because it usually is not one thing that happens, it is two or three things that are going on at the same time that put you over the edge. Certainly, it seems to me absent to a terrorist link because he couldve had a bad day. How do you measure that . How do you measure a normal person who goes to their life, do something right, and on a given day decides to put the plane into a side of a mountain . Host having been briefed that there is no terrorism information there is no terrorism link . Guest no. Host so no briefing . Celebrating . So no briefing . Guest no, probably later today. Just talking about what prosecutor and what about the forensic evidence about what is going on . Host tom, an independent. Caller as a vietnam veteran and a veteran from a case, i do have sympathy for the military. As far as what is going on today, all of this being talked about, i wonder why no one wants to discuss why president george w. Bush first floor, George H W Bush put us into panama and kidnap their leader and bring him back and he still sits in a prison. He cannot be charged under our Justice System. George w. Bush lied the congress and to the people to get us into iraq in the first place and totally disregarded the fact that 19 terrorists were in the print tower destruction came from saudi arabia in the twin tower destruction came from saudi arabia. Host i will jump in. We only have a few member few minutes. Guest thank you for your service and the battles you fought. Im always amazed at the patriotism and abilities of the people who are in our military and i would include my husband and that category. With respect you may know or not know, i did not vote to go into the iraq war. I believe i did my job. In my job was to meet with as many people as possible to try and understand and talk to former military, to talk to people who work at the geopolitical situation of what is going on, who talk to those who are formulating the game plan to go, etc. Quite honestly, it did not take me very long for me to understand, that this was not the war we were to be in. That we had no game plan about how to win and what to do afterward. That we really should not be putting, again, our military in a situation like that. I was against all of that. One of the few democrats, by the way. I am a democrat, coming from a republican area of orange county, california, home of Richard Nixon. I was not very wellliked for a couple of years there. Over the fact that i said no to the iraq war. I did talk to what was in the mind of george bush one or judged verse two for george bush to, i can just say that the best thing i can do in my job is to do my homework and asked the questions and hopefully, to have some judgment on which to make the right decision. Host alabama, republican. Go ahead. Caller some pretty women on tv today. Maybe that will give me a few extra seconds. I am off subject. Im a chronic pain page and patient and i have had over many back surgeries and will have to have others. The company when i went on disability, me and all the other guys and some of them have parkinsons and diseases like that, we were promised full pension. Host the house is gaveling in early at 9 a. M. Eastern, so unfortunately, i have to ask you to hurry up. Caller my question, miss Loretta Sanchez, will you please do something to help people like us. I am unable to work and i cant make a dollar if i had to. Guest first of all difficulties, back surgeries, i admire you for being on the phone, talking, moving on. We are trying. I know that a lot of people dont like the aca, Affordable Care act, but one of the things we are trying to do is make some type of Health Care Available to all people in the United States. Host was about to open on house floor. Real quickly, march 20, Los Angeles Times says you are think it about running for senate. Four to six weeks to make your decision. Any closer russian mark any closer . Guest very close. I love american california host sounds like you are getting closer to saying yes. Guest we are getting closer to a decision. I will take time with my family at easter and really think about this and see where we are. Host we can expect an answer after easter that. Thank you for your time. That does it for todays washington journal. Live coverage of the house. Stager, secondary Jesuit Association washington, d. C. The chaplain god of love, bless the members of