Day im heather childress. Nice to be here with you. Bill and sandra are off today. The president set to arrive at arlington toward the bottom of the hour coming off a very eventful weekend at the white house after african selling the summit with north korea on thursday. Now he says he is getting close to the meeting in singapore back on track. He said our United States team has arrived in north korea to make arrangements for the summit between kim jongun and myself. I truly believe north korea has brilliant potential and will be a great economic and financial nation one day. Kim jongun agrees with me on this. He ends by writing, it will happen. We have Fox News Team coverage for you, greg palkot standing by in seoul, south korea. We begin with kevin corke at the white house. Nice to see you. Do you have any news for us from the advance team on the ground in north korea about potential progress toward the talks . There has been a lot of back and forth. As the old idiom goes, no news is good news. Weve seen no new resistance on the part of the north not to move forward. Lets go back to twitter, the one the president posted at the beginning of the holiday weekend. He said listen, very good news to receive the warm productive statement from north korea. Well see soon where it will lead. Hopefully to long and enduring prosperity and peace. Only time and talent will tell. Now, that, of course, preceded word of a meeting of north korea and south korea on saturday that, yeah, a meeting will hopefully take place perhaps on the original date of june 12. I want you to take a moment and listen to how the president described the apparent change in tone from pyongyang over the weekend. President trump i think there is a lot of goodwill. I think people want to see if we can get the meeting and get something done. If we got that done and if we can be successful in the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula it would be a great thing for north korea, a great thing for south korea, a great thing for japan and great for the world. I think its constructive to have a positive summit and i prefer president s choice of diplomacy over threatening fire and fury. But i would caution if we go ahead without using every ounce of leverage we have over china, were making a mistake. Democratic senator chris kuhn from the great state of delaware. A solemn tradition continues this morning as the president makes his way to arlington to mark memorial day. He said this on twitter about the day. Happy memorial day saying this to the american people. Those who died for our great country would be very happy and proud how well our country is doing today. Best economy in decades. Lowest unemployment numbers for blacks and hispanic and women in 18 years. Rebuilding our military and so much more. Nice. Clearly a day to honor, remember and celebrate the lives of those who paid the ultimate price for our freedom. As we mentioned well pause and carry that live when it starts. But another big topic for the white house turning now to the special counsel, what is the likelihood of the president testifying before the special counsel . What are his lawyers saying about it . Okay. Rudy giuliani was on Fox News Sunday in a very captivating interview with bill hemmer. I would highly recommend it. It is fascinating conversation. Giuliani was talking about the idea the president does, in fact, want to testify. He wants to get out there and state his case but you made a very interesting distinction at the end saying what are his lawyers telling him to do. Right now Rudy Giuliani is saying absolutely without certain conditions the president will not, in fact, testify before the special counsel. Now, this is complicated because there is a legal matter here. There is also legal precedent, also president ial powers at stake here, heather. I want you to listen very carefully as we describe not just how mueller continues to shape this probe but how the president s lawyers see this as an attack on him. Nothing wrong with the government doing that. Everything wrong with the government spying on a candidate of the opposition party. Thats a watergate, spygate. Without any warning to him and now to compound that to make it into a criminal investigation, bill . Thats why this is a rigged investigation and why the president has been right from the beginning. Way back when the president said there was surveillance of his campaign. Turns out he was right. It was human surveillance rather technical surveillance but surveillance nonetheless. There have been those including adam schiff pushing back against the notion that the president was spied on. It is something that the department of justice is looking at very carefully. This is a complicated story. One i suspect will continue to unfold in the weeks and months ahead. Were also talking about the possibility of peace on the Korean Peninsula which we should be focusing on. Thank you so much, appreciate it. Have a great day. You bet. As we mentioned the u. S. Delegation talking to north korea in the dmz talking before the potential summit. Greg palkot is live with the latest in seoul, south carolina. Hi, blake. There are intensifying talks in the region about that possible summit between President Trump and north Korean Leader kim jongun. At the scene of this past weekends surprise summit between north Korean Leader and south korean president moon jaein on the north side of the dmz, the north korean side. Weve been watching u. S. And north korean delegations. U. S. Basically trying to press the north as to how far pyongyang is willing to commit towards denuclearization. An unsettling line in todays north korean state media saying they will denuclearize on their own timetable despite external factors. The u. S. Team is led by the current u. S. Ambassador to the philippines. A longtime north Korea State Department hand korean american song kim. North korean side a powerful official, the vice foreign minister. She is the one that last week in the explosive statement called Vice President pence a political dummy. At the same time landing just about now by our figuring in singapore another u. S. Team led by the White House Deputy chief of staff joe hagen. He will be joining up with some north korean officials and they will look at the nuts and bolts. Theyll look at the planning and logistics about a possible summit. Again, all sides over the weekend, including the north Korean Leader, including President Trump, sounding like this summit is going to go forward. The devil, as always, though, in those strategic details. We will be watching. Back to you, blake. Indeed. 15 more days until june 12th. For more on this lets bring in byron york from the washington examiner. You heard the last report on the on again off again and the summit coming up on june 12. They seem to be on again with the u. S. Having teams not only in north korea but also in singapore getting ready for the selection of a very experienced american diplomat to handle this. It all seems on again. I would say we still have 15 days left. There is plenty of time for things to get rocky and then smooth out again. I think from the very beginning this whole process was never going to be a very smooth process to june 12th. It wasnt going to work that way because both sides were jockeying for position. And to suggest maybe that all that jockeying is just now over probably not. Do you think thats something that President Trump planned for all along and every move that he has made up until this point has been strategic to get us to where we are . Well, its hard to say that every single thing was planned out in advance. It seemed like the president got a little ahead of himself with the talk about the nobel prize and how great this was. He appeared to want it a little too much. That is when the North Koreans became very provocative and the president called their bluff and pulled out of the thing and it became clear very quickly the North Koreans really wanted and needed this to happen. But as i said, i would expect some of this jockeying probably to continue in the days ahead. You said it could get rocky over the next 15 days. We of course expect it probably will. What do you think will be probably one of the key Sticking Points that well have to deal with moving forward . The big key Sticking Point will be what denuclearization really means. And what the North Koreans can really agree to. Most experts seem to think that the leaderships entire National Identity is based on the possession of Nuclear Weapons and whether that is something they could really negotiate away. And if they did, what kind of inspection regime would be in place. Something that would be satisfactory with International Standards . There are enormous numbers of questions and reasons that this thing could fall apart. I want to take a moment to ask you before we wrap up this segment the latest on Rudy Giuliani was on fox over the weekend and talked a lot about the mueller probe, whether or not the president will, in fact, appear, will he be questioned and will he not . Did you hear his interview and what did you think about what he had to say . He said similar things throughout, which is basically that the president s lawyers do not want him to testify. Although they leave the door open that if Robert Mueller could narrow his questioning, could narrow the amount of time devoted to the questioning, could somehow make it a more controlled experience that perhaps he would be open to this. But one last thing to remember about this, you know, the president has testified in a lot of depositions in his business career. The idea that he might just fall to pieces upon being questioned by Robert Mueller doesnt seem to be correct. There could still be a way, if mueller agreed to limitations, where he would talk. All right, byron. You are joining us today. Thank you, have a good day. As weve been mentioning were awaiting President Trumps arrival at Arlington National cemetery where he will lay a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier. Well bring you that ceremony live next hour when it gets underway. A separate search underway for a missing person after flash floods overtake an historic city in maryland. Were live on the ground where state of emergency has been declared. The house gop leadership working to contain a rebellion from members within their own party on Immigration Reform. The impact this could all have ahead of the Midterm Elections. Just five months out. Republican congressman joins us coming up after the break. The debate becomes over should there be a special pathway, should they go to the back of the line, the front of the line. Obviously those are things that we have to negotiate. The most important thing is to secure our southern border so we dont have to deal with this problem a decade from now. In ir. Im really grateful that usaa was able to take care of my family while i was overseas serving. It was my very first car accident. We were hit from behind. I called usaa and the first thing they asked was are you ok . they always thank you for your service, which is nice because as a spouse you serve too. Were the hayles and were usaa members for life. 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Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take and if youre pregnant or planning to be. Otezla. Show more of you. Tand, our adulte children are here. So, we save by using tide. Which means we use less. Three generations of clothes cleaned in one wash. Those are moms. Anybody seen my pants . Nothing cleans better. Put those on dad its got to be tide. Keep your insights from prying eyes, so they wont be used by anyone but you. The ibm cloud. The cloud for smarter business. The ibm cloud. Youre smart,eat you already knew that. But its also great for finding the perfect used car. Youll see what a fair price is and you can connect with a truecar certified dealer. Now youre even smarter. This is truecar. Heather a fox news alert for you, former president george h. W. Bush was hospitalized in maine yesterday for low Blood Pressure and fatigue. He was awake, alert and not in any discomfort. But he will likely stay for just a few days for observation were told. Just one day earlier the 41st president met with local veterans at a pancake breakfast and had planned to attend the memorial day parade in town today. We wish him a speedy recovery. Blake also this Morning House g. O. P. Leaders attempting to contain a battle over Immigration Reform ahead of the midterms as conservative members push for a vote on a hard line bill. President trump tweeting over the weekend put pressure on the democrats to end the horrible law that separates children from their parents. Once they cross the border into the u. S. Catch and release, lottery and chain must also go with it and we must continue building the wall, democrats are protecting ms13 thugs. Well get to that part in a second. First well bring in republican congressman a member of the house ways and Means Committee and candidate for United States senate. Thank you for joining us this morning. Thanks for having me. Blake i want to ask you about the discharge petition that some of your colleagues facing tough races come november, many of whom want to see something done on daca are putting forth this effort to essentially force the house to vote on this and potentially other immigration numbers as well. You arent one of the republicans who is a part of that group. Why not . First off i do believe we need to get immigration done. Thats something that Congress Needs to work on. In the end, this bill has too many open ends for me. There are four bills that could be brought to the table. I want to see something of substance. Im not opposed to discharge petitions. It is regular order but at the same time i think this has too many open ends to it. I do think, though, that having this discharge position will help move immigration along which in the end is something we need to get accomplished. Blake a lot of different factions. One the House Freedom caucus, the more conservative group within the house. Take a listen to mark meadows, the head of that group and what he said yesterday on this issue. Listen here. Emotional topic. My district is very different from some of my moderate friends. Yet were having real conversations within the last 48 hours on trying to get a resolution. Blake it is an emotional topic. We have a Midterm Election coming up here in five months. Is the reality, though, with all of this that if a big if something gets done it wouldnt happen at the earliest until 2019 . Well look, i hope we can get something done as soon as possible. The president said he wanted something done by march. If it wasnt for court orders we proper probably have something moving forward but immigration is something we cant keep kicking down the road like many other issues in congress. We have to get it done and make sure that the Nuclear Family is not separated but at the same time we have to make sure that people also follow a process. Im a big believer in immigration process that is the same for everyone. I think thats important. Blake you mention the Nuclear Family. We read the tweet from the president over the weekend. The Trump Administration says if you break the laws in this country, the parent goes to jail and separated from their children. Those are the laws on the books. Critics say we do not need to be doing this at the southern border. Your position is what and why . Well in the end i do believe that the immigration process we have a process and we need to work through it. Does it need improvement . Yes. We also have to follow the same process. Nobody should get in front of the line. I know people hate to hear that but at the same time everybody should be able to follow the process and come through the process and have citizenship like my grandparents did. There is something called Legal Immigration and process. Lets follow the rules and get it done. Blake you are okay for the children being separated from the parents it sounds like. I believe we have to make sure the process is followed and that the parents go through a process and the children go through the same process as well. Again, we have to have a Legal Process and a Legal Immigration process. Blake congressman from ohio, thank you for joining us this memorial day monday. We appreciate it. Heather a state of emergency just declared across the state of florida as sub Tropical Storm alberto bears down on the coast this morning. Blake raging floodwaters on an historic city in maryland. Folks suffering a serious blow in many parts. Were live on the ground coming up with the latest right after the break. Get to a safe place. The sense of dread and numbness and loss. Alright, i brought in new max protein. To give you the protein you need with less of the sugar you dont. Ill take that. [cheers] 30 grams of protein and 1 gram of sugar. New ensure max protein. In two great flavors. Blake the greatest spectacle in racing, the indy 500 crowning its 2018 winner. Power, indianapolis 500 winter for 2018. Checkered flag. Power wins it. Blake you know the name. Will power winning his first indy 500 race. History for himself and his team. Team penskes 17th indy win and the first aussie to win the big race. Theyre lucky they had good weather yesterday. All up and down the east coast it has been anywhere from not good to a mess. Heather more on the way. We need to talk about nascar and the cocacola 600 yesterday. Im a nascar girl. Congratulations to kyle busch from winning that. Were talking about the weather situation and it is really bad across many portions of the country. Emergency crews searching for a missing person after flash floods devastate one of the marylands historic cities. Look. Oh, they are all going down. Heather look at that. The streets of Ellicott City overrun with water causing significant damage for the second time in two years. Governor larry hogan declaring a state of emergency. My heart is broken thinking about what the people are going through here. And the peoples lives who were devastated to years ago and they rebuilt and now they are faced with the same daunting task again. Heather that water. Rich edson is live from Ellicott City, maryland. After the water subsides theyll be left with all that mud. Whats the latest . Its everywhere, heather. Now you have Business Owners and residents coming back downtown here from last night who are assessing the damage. Some of whom had just finished fixing their houses and businesses from two years ago. If you look behind me right here there are two cars wedged under that bridge in what is now a stream, last night was a massive flooded river. Theyre pulling these cars out from underneath along with dumpsters, debris, mud. All that ongoing right here as folks are beginning to assess the damage and figure out how much it will cost them to dig out this time. As you know, this happened a couple years ago. That episode cost tens of millions of dollars. Local Business Owners say they had gotten about 99 of the way back to where they were before the flood in 2016 where two people died. And then this happens again last night. There was water all the way up to this porch last evening. Saw some pictures from residents here. This was all grass a couple of days ago. Now if you look it is all mud. Back all the way that way if you can see theyre clearing what is just a massive yard of about a dozen different automobiles. They have mud in them, they are destroyed. It is a whole area of destruction here. If you go down to the main street area here where its memorial day. Normally you would have people, tourists Walking Around enjoying the weather in the afternoon. Now its mud on this part and then if you go all the way down there police say. They arent letting us to that part. Theyre saying the water washed away a large portion of the road down there. Still assessing the damage. Still pulling cars out of bridges here as it is destruction down here, heather. Heather our hearts go out to them. Thank you so much, appreciate it. Blake meanwhile there is a state of emergency declared across florida at subTropical Storm alberto moves toward the gulf coast. People braced for the impact. Not even into june. Getting sandbags to prevent flooding. Were monitoring that storms path and well have a full report from the scene coming up. Heather a team from the u. S. In north korea working together to try to salvage a june 12th summit in singapore between President Trump and kim jongun. Will the north Korean Leader try to work around giving up his Nuclear Weapons . Retired four star general jack keane joins us. Blake later this morning President Trump set to leave for Arlington National cemetery where he will lay a wreath at the tomb of the unknowns as we remember the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice. President trump arlington is a special place and our country is a special place. As americans, we come together to remember our great heroes on this memorial day. Copd makes it hard to breathe. So to breathe better, i go with anoro. Go your own way copd tries to say, go this way. I say, ill go my own way, with anoro. Go your own way oncedaily anoro contains two medicines called bronchodilators that Work Together to significantly improve lung function all day and all night. Anoro is not for asthma. It contains a type of medicine that increases risk of death in people with asthma. The risk is unknown in copd. Anoro wont replace rescue inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than once a day. Tell your doctor if you have a heart condition, high Blood Pressure, glaucoma, prostate, bladder, or urinary problems. These may worsen with anoro. Call your doctor if you have worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain while taking anoro. Ask your doctor about anoro. Go your own way get your first prescription free at anoro. Com. Blake fox news alert as we await President Trump as a memorial day wreath laying ceremony at Arlington National cemetery. The event will begin about 30 minutes from now. Meanwhile a u. S. Tell gaition is meeting with north korean officials in the Demilitarized Zone in an attempt to come up with a denuclearization agreement that President Trump and kim jongun could potentially sign next month. The state Department Spokeswoman Heather Nauert saying we continue to plan for a meeting between President Trump and kim jongun. Lets bring in jack keane and a fox news strategic analyst. General, good morning to you. Your thoughts on memorial day before we start. Were honoring our Fallen Heroes today. I think its the most sacred holiday of the year with the exception of our religious holidays and everything we have in this country. Just everything is due in no measure to what they have sacrificed and what their families have sacrificed. Im delighted america continues to honor americans who have fallen. What they gave was true honor. We can never, ever take that devotion for granted. And i certainly appreciate fox who has never, ever taken americans fallen and their devotion for granted. God bless you guys. Blake well said. Thank you, sir. There was a lot of movement on north korea over the weekend. Youve got one team at the dmz. You have one team at singapore. This may or may not happen 15 days from now on june 12. Do we need more time or do you think this is moving right along schedule . The argument would say we need more time. You cant get all of that done in that period of time. But here is what i think is happening. First of all, President Trump is in the drivers seat here. He has the leverage. After the may 8th meeting with moon and xi done in secret in china the whole summit changed. They moved away from denuclearization. The substance got President Trump to cancel the summit. He is back in the drivers seat and they recognize now if they ever had a doubt, they recognize they cannot game this president. If they are going to continue to do that as we go into the summit negotiations, they arent going to make that kind of progress. If thats going to happen, if thats happening, which kim right now, our chief delegateor there. If they arent willing to put on a program that we can see the details in terms of disarmament that has the milestones and schedules associated with us and gives us confidence theyre serious about this likely well delay. Blake what do you think happened in the second meeting between kim jongun and xi. The president things something through it off schedule happened. What exactly do you think might have happened . The president hasnt spelled that out yet. First i think what happened is president xi did not like the fact this was moving so fast and he was no longer in the process. And given who he is and what he represents to that region and what he represents to north korea certainly he wanted to be more involved in the process. The second thing i think that was crucial that happened at that meeting is that he influenced kim jongun to slow this thing down. President trump wants complete verifiable denuclearization within his first term of office. Thats a little over two years from now. I think what kim jongun started to talk about. Im not totally committed to denuclearization and it will take many years to put this process together. President trump is not going to put up with that. I think we can come up with a framework that says one, they can agree to this, lets end the war, the armistice, lets put in place a roadmap to a peace treaty. Two, lets get this people separated by the korean war since 1953 in the north and south. Reunite those families again and three, put together a strategic framework where the parties agree to complete denuclearization and parties agree to the security of north korea indefinitely. Some details to support that. Thats possible in the next two weeks. But if they arent serious, if north korea is gaming this thing as they were the last two weeks, then i think what the president s team will advise him is to delay the summit. Blake briefly, marco rubio said over the weekend he thinks the North Koreans want sanction relief. Jeff flake says he thinks a freeze would be better than what we currently have. Is that maybe where this is headed . Maybe not complete denuclearization but the North Koreans wanting something along those lines . I dont know what senator flake is talking about. Kim jongun has already put in place a freeze. He did that a number of weeks ago. Were freezing nuclear and ballistic testing. That doesnt mean anything. He can restart tomorrow if he wanted to do that. Thats the violation that he has made historically in the past. President trump i would be stunned if coming out of this summit he would grant them any sanction relief whatsoever because we are so far from denuclearizing we dont even know where all their Nuclear Weapons are. They have to give us an accounting and verify theyre disarming. We cannot pull away from any of the sanctions that we have on right now. Blake general keane, we have a lot to talk about over the next 15 days or more. Heather and as weve been mentioning, we are awaiting President Trumps arrival at Arlington National cemetery where he will lay a wreath honoring the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation. Todays ceremony comes amid concerns the cemetery is running out of space for future war heroes. The executive director of the Army National military cemeteries gives us an inside look how they plan to tackle the problem. So the National Cemetery was established in 1864. Over 624 acres. We have right now a little over 100,000 burial spaces. We are an active cemetery. We have an average of 30 burials a day every day. We perform 7,000 burials a year. Without any type of change in eligibility and expansion by 2041 well be out of room. Were standing on land, one of the few remaining sections that is open for new burials underground. That is a wall and niche walls where people who choose cremation have cremated remains placed in an urn can be placed there and families come and like to touch the wall and this year going on right now we have an ongoing survey, very focused on eligibility and asks us about people about limiting eligibility. We could restrict eligibility to those active duty. Medal of honor recipients and valor awards. So if we have those type of restrictions, we can remain open for generations to come. One thing that is very special about arlington, americans from every single conflict in this country have been laid to rest here, every single one. Heather its hard to believe when you consider the average is 30 funerals monday through friday is the average and seven on the weekends. Blake amazing when you go to that property to see how sprawling it is and to think she said 2041 in a couple of decades they might run out of space. Heather the space they have where they can expand is not nearly enough. Blake a place everyone should visit. As we await that ceremony with the president to get underway back at the white house President Trump and his legal team launching a full scale attack on the mueller russia investigation this week. Why he is now pointing the finger at his predecessor barack obama. We alt is we wont sit him down if this is a trap for perjury. 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Ask your dermatologist if cosentyx can help you find clear skin that lasts. But how do i know if im im getting a good deal . I tell truecar my zip and which car i want and truecar shows the range of prices people in my area actually paid for the same car so i know if im getting a great price. This is how car buying was always meant to be. This is truecar. The first survivor of ais out there. Sease and the Alzheimers Association is going to make it happen. But we wont get there without you. Visit alz. Org to join the fight. You have 13 democrats, you have a focus on things that didnt happen. No russia collusion. Just defending yourself. Now were into the basis of it being illegitimate. Heather Rudy Giuliani calling on special counsel Robert Mueller to get the facts straight in the russia investigation as President Trump turns the attention to former president barack obama. He tweeted this yesterday. Why didnt president obama do something about the socalled russian meddling when he was told about it by the f. B. I. Before the election . Because he thought crooked hillary was going to win and he didnt want to upset the apple cart. He was in charge, not me, and did nothing. So lets turn to our panel. Katie pavlich is editor at town hall. Com and Adrienne Elrod a former director of communications for Hillary Clinton. Katie, ill start with you. That seems like a pretty legit question. If you think that russia is going to meddle in the election and you think that they are possibly involved or they want to be involved with the Trump Campaign, why not give the Trump Campaign a headsup, a type of byron york called it a defensive briefing . It wasnt just an issue of thinking this might happen. President Obamas National Security council was handed a report in 2014 showing extensively what the russians planned to do in terms of interfering not just in the u. S. Elections including the 2016 president ial election but in western democracies across the globe. Mostly in europe. We saw this happen in europe. We knew it was coming. Barack obama essentially laughed in mitt romneys face when he brought it up at 2012 as russia being a threat. Here we are now with the Obama Administration and officials from that administrations and people who worked for Hillary Clinton say the only reason President Trump won is because of russia. It was a big threat and we want to stop them from meddling in our elections. Why is it during a threeyear time span the Obama Administration didnt stop it from happening. Congress isnt doing much about this, either. There was a Briefing Held by Homeland Security on capitol hill and 300 members didnt show up. Thats a problem. Heather remarkable. Ill ask you the same question, adrienne. Could we possibly have avoided everything that were dealing with right now if the Obama Administration had stepped in prior to the election . I certainly dont know we would have avoided everything thats happened to this point but i do ive said this multiple times on television, i wish president Obamas Administration had done more on this. A lot of work was taking place behind the scenes. Dennis mcdonagh laid it out in the Washington Post last summer. But certainly i wish there was more they had done. We need to focus on the now and the fact that President Trump time and time again is trying to disparage the mueller investigation, trying everything to do everything he can to discredit the investigation. Its troubling. Regardless of Political Party any time an adversarial government is trying to influence the outcome of an election its something every american wants to get to the bottom of. Heather what about when the United States government is sending in informants, spies or whatever you want to call it to a Domestic Campaign . Thats the thing about this entire investigation that has really exposed the other side. The Trump Campaign was akiesed of collusion and working with the russians. Weve seen all this information coming out about an informant being on the Trump Campaign giving information to the f. B. I. The Clinton Campaign paying a foreign spy british spy working with russians to create a dossier with salacious information about President Trump and that being put into the record with the f. B. I. And possibly used to get a fisa warrant. We have seen the results of all of this boomerang on the other side on the Clinton Campaign which was more directly connected to the russians than weve seen any evidence of with the Trump Campaign. Heather adrian. I dont know where to start here. The Clinton Campaign didnt have collusion with russia. They paid someone working with russians money for opposition research. It was a dossier. It was opposition research. Money went to the russians. Sounds like collusion to me. Not at all. Not at all. But again, i want to make the point clear Going Forward that we need our president to care about getting to the bottom of this to understand what happened. Instead always see him heather clearly he has he has been disparaging Robert Muellers integrity. Heather this has been going on for over a year and a half and i think americans definitely would like to see some sort of resolution one way or the other. Lets let the investigation play out. Heather for how much longer is the question . Thank you both for joining us. Appreciate it. Thank you. Blake President Trump set to arrive at Arlington National cemetery at any moment now. Well take you to that ceremony live when it gets underway. A u. S. Flag that flew on a blackhawk helicopter in afghanistan is on our set coming up in moments after touring the entire nation. Two men behind that initiative are here to tell us about it next. Only marshall tuck will change that. Year after year, policians fail to improve public schools. Tuck turned around failing schools, raising Graduation Rates 60 . Marshall tuck for state superintendent. Marshall tuck. To california schoolsd, need big change. Marshall tuck is the only candidate for state superintendent whos done it before. Less bureaucracy, more classroom funding. Marshall tuck for state superintendent. Marshall tuck. Blake United States flag that flew on a blackhawk helicopter in afghanistan is spreading awareness of families of our Service Members left behind. Two men behind the campaign. Jim farrell and its the children of fallen patriots foundation. This flag has been in afghanistan making its way 8,000 miles across the country ending in white plains, new york. What are you hoping to accomplish with all this . We want to thank you for having us on the show and pepsico for their support. We provide College Scholarships to military children who lost a parent in the line of duty. We are raising awareness and funding for that effort. Blake you thought it was important to get involved because . We have thousands of veterans that work for us. We display this in our lobby. I wondered if we could move it in the normal course of business across the country. The team said not only we can do it but with all veteran drivers. I said we are doing this. Rolling remembrance and so proud of the employees in pepsico how they rallied behind the cause. You speak of the children of fallen patriots. 20,000 over the past three plus decades. It is a staggering number. I have to imagine this is something the money that you guys raise that goes towards a lot to help these kids. It does. There is a big financial need there. A couple of Government Programs but doesnt cover the full cost of college and leaves a gap of 32,000 a year per student. A half billion total gap in funding for students. We are here to help them achieve the college dreams and one of the best ways to honor our Fallen Heroes. There is a Million Dollar match. Yes, they have a donor who is anonymous that has made an offer to match a Million Dollar donation. It cant be 999, it has to be a million. If someone out there is feeling generous email me david fallen patriots. Org. I would love to speak with them. Heather i understand youve raised 590,000 to date so far and equates to 90 years of college for students. Thats right. Through their involvement over four years has raised the sum you mentioned through Grassroots Efforts from hundreds of thousands of employees. We have thousands that are veterans and thousands more that love our military. That money was raised from our front line employees. Each of the stops. They are donating 5 and 10 at a time and its added up. Heather we have great americans. Blake thank you very much for joining us this morning. Appreciate it. Heather thank you. Any moment now President Trump will be arriving at the Arlington National cemetery where he will lay a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldiers. Right now most of his cabinet appears to be there. Defense secretary james mattis will speak at the ceremony as well as President Trump and we will bring you that live as soon as it gets underway. Stay with us. Heather memorial day across america as we pay tribute to the Service Members who made the ultimate sacrifice for this country. Were live at Arlington National cemetery awaiting a ceremony to remember those Fallen Heroes. And welcome to a brandnew hour of americas newsroom, im heather childress. Blake im blake. Good to be back with you again for hour number two on memorial day. Bill and sandra are off. President trump at Arlington National cemetery where any moment he will lay a wreath at the tomb of the unknown and set to speak along with defense secretary jim mattis as they lead the nation in honoring the brave men and women who fought and died for our country. National security correspondent Jennifer Griffin is live at the pentagon. The history of memorial day and the tomb of the unknowns is intertwined with our nations history. It became a National Holiday in 1971 but its origins go back to the civil war. It was originally called Decoration Day and began when war widows from the civil war began laying flowers and flags on the graves of Union Soldier may 5, 1866 they closed their shops in waterloo, new york and went out to decorate the graves of their sons and fathers, 600,000 americans died on the battlefield during the american civil war. Two years later, general john logan took a group of 5,000 war widows to Arlington National cemetery to decorate the graves of 20,000 killed in the civil war. Other cities across the country competed with waterloo, new york and held their own Decoration Days. Some in the south held theirs on different days because they felt the Southern Confederate soldiers werent being properly honored. After world war i when 130,000 americans were killed in europe we decided to honor the dead from all its wars. Effort to unite the north and south who sacrificed sons and fathers of the fields of europe. On 1921, november 11, veterans day, the first remains of an unknown soldier were interred in Arlington National cemetery. Those remains of four unknowns were exhumed in france and a young Army Sergeant chose the casket, the third from the left, as all three all four were presented to him. He placed a spray of white roses on the casket. They sailed with the remains on board and later remains were interred for those killed in our other wars and dna testing in 1998 led to the vietnam unknown to be identified. Air force First Lieutenant Michael Joseph blassie shot down in vietnam in 1972. His family removed his remains and reburied him in st. Louis. The sculptor of the crypt, the same brothers who carved lincolns statue at the lincoln memorial. You may recognize some of the carving. It has been guarded 24 7 since 1937 by the third u. S. Infantry regiment, the oldest u. S. Infantry regiment since 1784. Every step they take is based on the 21 gun salute. 21 steps, 21 second pause and turn. The sentinels must memorize the history of the tomb down to the punctuation mark. Today is the an niversary of the bloodiest battle in u. S. History. Almost half of those killed in vietnam since last memorial day 14 americans have been killed in combat overseas. Some perspective of how huge the battle was, 54 americans were killed during the battle for fall ouja and that was the biggest battle of the iraq war. Blake fascinating history, jennifer. Speaking before the president will be the defense secretary jim mat is. What do we expect to hear from him . Well expect him to put this day into perspective. Remember, there is still a belief in the military and in the pentagon and among families who have family members serving that there is still a great gap between a Civil Military gap where civilians who dont have family members serving want to remember today and be connected to those who have sacrificed so much. If you go to a as i was driving in this morning i looked out at the arlington tombstones i saw a lonely soldier in uniform standing with his dog. Either a service dog or a dog that was probably used mine sniffing dog but such a sight amidst all those white tombstones with flags in front of each and every one of them the lone soldier standing there. Today youll hear general mattis try to put into some context. As you know, he is a student of history. He is a great reader of history. In fact, when he deployed to iraq he was said to have taken 6,000 books with him. So you will hear from secretary mattis today a perspective on what the nation has sacrificed in the past and remember, this is different from veterans day. Memorial day is about the fallen. Thats what well be remembering today. Blake. Blake Jennifer Griffin at the pentagon this morning. Heather we have gotten word the president has arrived there on scene. He will be laying the wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldiers shortly and we will, of course, pause as that ceremony begins. But in the meantime a little bit more on what jennifer was talking about. May 29th she talked about the flowers. This marks the Memorial Day Flower Foundation and volunteers are there on site now handing out roses to visitors who will then be able to lay those roses at the grave sites throughout the cemetery. Joining me now to talk more about this as we continue to wait for the president is california Democrat John garamendi a member of the House Armed Services committee. Thank you for joining us. I was thinking when we talked about all of the unknown soldiers that are laid to rest there, including the korean war, i believe there are four. What are your thoughts on how we are talking about the possibility of peace on the Korean Peninsula on this day, memorial day, when we honor all those Service Members who have lost their lives in all of the wars weve fought . It would be such a wonderful thing if that were to happen. It could happen. The breakthrough with the president of south korea breaking through and saying we need a peace treaty. We do have two countries here. Major step forward. The president has carried it further down the line. The negotiations that will take place. I really believe they will. Theyll be so very important. A peace treaty. You think about all those men that died and a few women along way that died in that war. And all the past. It is a very, very special moment today as we ponder the reality that maybe maybe well have a peace treaty and maybe there be will peace on that peninsula and a denuclearization of it also. Heather what do you think the possibility is the summit will happen as planned on june 15th and then also as once again we continue to wait . What do you think the definition of denuclearization is to kim jongun . First im not so sure that the summit needs to take place on the 12th. It needs to be very well put together, all of the issues lined up so that when these two leaders get together they know precisely what the issues are and what the possibilities are for solving the problems that are laid out. The 12th is not so important as is the preparation for it. With regard to what to expect coming in the future, i really believe we have a chance here. Denuclearization, what does that mean . Thats part of the work that must precede the two leaders getting together so that there is clarity as to exactly what that is. A time frame, how we can certify that they actually are removing their Nuclear Weapons. All of those things need to be very carefully done ahead of the summit. Otherwise i dont think the summit will work well at all. Heather i understand that you had discussed that there was three paths that can be pursued with north korea. What were those three paths . Well, very clearly one path is to accept the fact that they have Nuclear Weapons and try to figure out how to deal with the threat that gives us in america. Not a good option. The next path would be a war. And that would be a horrendous war. It would be devastating problem several hundred thousand people would die in the first couple weeks of that war. Most of them koreans in seoul. The third path is what i hope and pray will take place. That is a negotiations carefully done, wellprepared. Let these two leaders get together with all of the preparatory work done. Thats the preferred path of the three. Heather how much credit do you give President Trump for where we are in the process at this point . Do you think we would even be talking about this possibility if it was not for him . Well, he certainly is a key player in this and certainly deserves credit for where we are today. There is also a lot of credit that needs to go around to many others. The sanction regime is the result of several countries, china definitely involved. Japan, russia and others all involved in the sanctions. Thats important. Also south korea, the new president there moving away from the 60year previous policy of unify indication and saying we dont need to unify. Maybe that could happen in the future. Lets get a peace treaty and recognize we have two countries and work towards a peaceful resolution in the long term and unification someday in the future. The president plays a major role in this. Credit is due to him and everyone else involved. Lets make sure it happens and get the negotiations underway. Heather what about the way he has dealt with iran and the Iran Nuclear Agreement . I do believe i see the president walking out now so well probably pause before you can answer that question. But many people have said north korea watching to see how the president has dealt with iran taking cues from that to see where things would move in terms of north korea and our policies with them and sanctions as you were just discussing. All of these things tied together, the talk about libya clearly is a problem, i believe. Also the iran deal can it be carried out by the next president . Those are Critical Issues and things that will be discussed. And i would hope they would be discussed preliminary so the two leaders dont have to get into a titfortat at a summit. Heather as we continue to monitor Arlington National cemetery the tomb of the unknown we see john bolton just passed by and were continuing to watch for actually there is sarah sanders. She is holding the hand of one of her little children. Lets talk more specifically what is going on today though in the images were seeing and how important it is and how it brings to mind and brings home the importance of negotiation and diplomacy. We dont need another war. We dont need more of our men and women there at Arlington National cemetery. Exactly right. Im thinking as i was listening to your shows before i came on thinking about my father, who was a veteran of world war ii and his friends that died and others that ive known from that generation and the korean war and beyond. All of these really remind us that war is horrendous. War is deadly, and our families did suffer and will if we have another war. Therefore the negotiations of the three tracks that i said clearly the best is the negotiations and so we should do everything we possibly can to avoid it. We dont need more of the grave sites in arlington filled. Keep in mind we still have men and women around the world in harms way today whether africa, syria, iraq, afghanistan and other places. And so we have to keep in mind our prayers, our thoughts, and always work for peace along the way, even though we know that many of our men and women are in harms way all around the world. Heather im so glad you mentioned that. Oftentimes many of those forgotten and we need to mention all their family members here at home waiting on word of them as well. Thank you so much for joining us. Were going to go to blake and talk to Jennifer Griffin who is Still Standing by. Blake thank you for joining us once again. As we look at these images coming out of the Arlington National cemetery awaiting President Trump it is a reminder this is a president with his biggest issues being Foreign Policy as heather was just talking about. You have the situation wherever it stands right now with north korea, the iran nuclear deal, trade with china. He has already gone through taxes and healthcare and infrastructure. The white house said wont happen this year. A reminder that this is an administration right now with a host of Foreign Policy issues. Well remember, blake, there are still two wars taking place that the u. S. Military is fighting in afghanistan and iraq and syria that are entering their 17th year. That is an incredibly long time for a war to be taking place. And then you have military operations taking place throughout africa. There are special operations forces, special forces throughout africa that are operating. These wars after 9 11 really did not end. Then, of course, you have the Korean Peninsula where 25,000 u. S. Troops are still stationed because the korean war never officially ended. So you have a president who is a commanderinchief who is trying to deal with huge issues on the domestic front, particularly if you look at veterans affairs, there have been scandals associated with the v. A. And its been a pry priority of this president. And ongoing wars, can you end them and what is achievable at this point . The fact as we mentioned that 14 u. S. Service members died since last memorial day on the battlefields over in africa as well as afghanistan in particular and syria. Blake commanderinchief and james mattis accompanying here. Well hear from the defense secretary and President Trump. He is accompanied by a handful of members, if not more than that, of his president ial team and lets step in now and watch the ceremonies here. [band playing starspangled banner] [taps being played] blake President Trump laying wraoet wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier and many of his staff. I have to imagine i missed several more than that who are there as well. One of those in attendance is white house chief of staff john kelly. And one has to wonder what a day like this is for him, not only as the white house chief of staff, but as someone who served overseas, as someone who has told the stories of what it is like to bury those killed overseas and as someone who knows firsthand what it is like to bury a child who was killed in action. Chief of staffs son killed in 2010. Would like to bring in governor john sununu, former chief of staff to president george h. W. Bush. Thank you for joining us on this memorial day. Good morning to you. I just ran through john kelly, you are a former white house chief of staff. I wonder what you think it is like for him on a day like today, this memorial day standing there at Arlington National cemetery as a parent but also as the right hand to a president. Im sure that general kelly not only today but every day has a sense of pride in his son. Certainly a sense of loss. And recognizes that today is a day where all america comes and joins him in those feelings. I think President Trump said something at the Naval Academy that we all ought to think a little bit about. He said you have to have a pride in history to have confidence in the future. And today is a day where we reflect back on history, on the individuals who have helped us maintain our freedom. Freedom comes with a price and today is the day we honor those who have paid a disproportionate price for us to maintain those freedoms. Thats a sense thats probably going through not only general kellys head but the president s head and americans across the country today. Blake well said. We await the remarks from President Trump from the defense secretary jim mattis as well. John sununu joining us. What is it like being in the white house, governor, on the day like today . Well, one thing you struggle with in the white house is to make sure that you have a balanced tone in responding to the day. Each day each memorial day has a different context as we go through the years and you want to make sure that you treat the historical aspect of memorial day properly and yet put it in the context of what is going on in the world. Im sure that as the president will make his remarks, he is very conscious of the fact that we have almost 30,000 american troops in korea. He will be going into hopefully a summit that could make a huge difference into the risk that those troops are exposed to. And so you try as a member of the white house to help the president grab the full sense of the history of the day and the appropriate context of the day at the given moment. Blake john sununu former white house chief of staff to president george h. W. Bush. Thank you for joining us. Heather were awaiting remarks from todays Memorial Day Ceremony at Arlington National cemetery. Were awaiting comments from President Trump and defense secretary mattis as we pay tribute to all those Service Members who gave their lives fighting for our country. Today is the day we put aside to remember Fallen Heroes and to pray that no heroes will ever have to die for us again. Its a day of thanks for the valor of others, a day to remember the splendor of america and those of our children who rest in this cemetery and others. your heart doesnt only belong to you. Child bye, grandpa and if you have Heart Failure, entrusting your heart to entresto may help. Entresto is a Heart Failure medicine that helps improve your hearts ability to pump blood to the body. In the largest Heart Failure study ever, entresto was proven superior at helping people stay alive and out of the hospital compared to a leading Heart Failure medicine. Dont take entresto if pregnant. It can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. Dont take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren, or if youve had angioedema with an ace or arb. The most serious side effects are angioedema, low Blood Pressure, kidney problems, or high blood potassium. Ask your doctor about entresto. And help make more tomorrows possible. Entresto, for Heart Failure. Heather were back live to Arlington National cemetery where were awaiting President Trumps memorial day comments. This as we take a look at how much the Trump Administration has done for our veterans and analyze the president s Foreign Policy. National security correspondent Jennifer Griffin is live at the pentagon. Just before the break we were talking about general kelly and his son and what he is no doubt going through as he is there today. His son buried at Arlington National cemetery. He was killed by a roadside bomb and you have a little bit more that you can offer us about that. I think what struck me most seeing general kelly there, remember, general kelly is really one of the most Senior Leaders the lose a son in combat. First lieutenant robert kelly was killed in 2010. What many people dont realize, and i realize since i saw general did again dunford, the chairman of the joint chiefs with his hand saluting in uniform. Many dont know how close general dunford and general kelly are. I remember when general kellys son was killed i was seated at a dinner honoring Wounded Warriors that night and general dunford had just come from dover where they met the remains of First Lieutenant robert kelly when he came home but he was the one who went to general kellys home and delivered the news because general dunford was the Top Commander of the marine corps at the time and best friends. When general kelly saw general dunford coming to his home he didnt need to say the words, he knew what had happened and that day changed the kellys lives, as you can imagine. But just four days later many people dont realize general kelly delivered a eulogy for im still friends with her and i think of her and the loss of her son. Heather it is remarkable as we continue to watch and the speakers begin to move in. We mentioned that secretary mattis will be speaking first and then he will be followed by President Trump. Thank you so much for your insight. It is invaluable on this day. Blake im joined by hugo gordon the editorial director at the washington examiner. Lets pause for a second. We see President Trump at the microphone right now. Blake you can see the president and defense secretary jim mattis. I believe the program is beginning. Lets bring in for a moment at least hugo gordon. Thanks for being on stand by for us. The editorial director at the washington examiner. Thank you for being with us on this memorial day. The president will pay tribute to all those who have given up their lives in defense of this country and of freedom. And he will pay tribute to all those who wear the countrys uniform. I think that really important thing that he will do, i expect he will do it pretty well, is to make this a kind of unifying day in the period of extraordinary political turmoil. Governor sununu said something absolutely right. That was about getting the tone right on these things. Its important that the country and the president addresses the country in a way that catches the emotional content of the day when were remembering tens of thousands hundreds of thousands of people who have died. At the same time, you notice the ceremony is very simple, very dignified, and doesnt get emotional. That is the way the military does things. They want things to be done well, they want things to be done with reverence and dignity but they the military is a tough organization and they want it to be done in a way which reflects those sorts of qualities. Thats what the president has to capture right now. Blake we might have to jump in at any point. Excuse us if we do. Were about to hear from secretary mattis, somebody as you and your reporters know. Myself covering the white house on a daily basis someone who is immensely respected within that building and respected by the president. We have seen turnover within the president s cabinet but not with the defense secretary, jim mattis and the president s relationship to that you say what . Jim mattis and the president do not, i think, have a particularly warm relationship. They are about as far apart as they could be in terms of character. Jim mattis is not just a warrior but a scholar, a learned man. That isnt the reputation the president has. But jim mattis has served his country throughout his military career and serving his country now. He knows that he was called on by the commanderinchief, by the president , to fulfill the role of defense secretary and he is doing that in the most dignified and thorough way. Frankly, an extremely impressive way. You dont have to have the perfect friendly relationship with your boss but you want to do the job properly. Thats what mattis is doing. Blake hugo gordon. Thank you for joining us. The festivities are beginning with the president and the defense secretary set to speak. Lets listen. [choir singing starspangled banner] please be seated. Ladies and gentlemen, general dunford. Ladies and gentlemen, once again welcome to this mornings ceremony. Mr. President , secretary mattis, distinguished guests and most importantly to the gold star families with us this morning it is an honor to join you in solemn remembrance. Today we pause to remember the more than one million americans who gave their last full measure so we could live if freedom and raise our children in peace. We also mark the 100th anniversary of world war one. In that war to end all wars, americans deployed to europe and promised they would not come back until its over over there. Heather lets go to arizona congresswoman and Fighter Pilot martha mcsally. She traveled to the dmz area meeting with u. S. Forces ahead of the planned summit next month. Weve been discussing thoughts on the possibility of peace on the Korean Peninsula on this day, memorial day. I would also like to get your thoughts, of course, as retired military. Absolutely. Thanks for having me on. I was very moved to be in korea and honoring over the 50,000 americans who sacrificed their lives in that war. And today we are reminded of the over one million who perished for our freedoms. Sometimes people come up to me on memorial day and say thanks for your service. I say thats for veterans today. Memorial day is for those who paid for their lives in blood snuffed out potential for their future and grieving loved ones for us to have this conversation today and keep us free. It was moving to be over there. Got back last night. Especially on the cusp of an opportunity to move forward to end the war in korea. Heather i want to ask you more about that as we actually have pictures of your trip that you just returned from. A lot of back and forth over the weekend in terms of whether the summit will happen or not happen. What direction do you see it going . You were just there. I was. In fact, we were right at the truth village about three hours before president moon met with kim jongun again in secret. We were aware of that meeting as it was ongoing. I went over there extremely skeptical. There is an historic opening because of President Trumps leadership and maximum Pressure Campaign but asked myself what makes this different than the maneuvers of the past and the propaganda that nothing changed. Sanctions were rereceived and they continued on their paths. I walked away with a couple of thoughts. There is an historic opportunity here. It is all up to kim jongun what he decides to do. Im proud of our troops and their readiness and capability to fight tonight to defend the peninsula. The alliance is as strong as ever between us and south korea. And the opportunity is certainly there to can you think about this to actually end the armistice and war . It was just an end to hostilities, no peace treaty. A lot needs to change in order to make that happen. Heather you mentioned the things that are different this time around. The sanctions, Something Else that is different is the president of the United States being donald trump. And what do you think the significance is of that . Well, thats exactly what i think is different. Under his leadership the maximum Pressure Campaign is really showing that they are feeling the heat over there in north korea. Already an impoverished nation but when the elite start to feel it and cranking down on their resources thats an important shift. Also this president is not going to make the mistakes of the past where there are sanctions relief with a promise to move towards denuclearization only for north korea to turn around and continue on their belligerent path. Were very clear eyed what needs to come out of this is an agreement to the complete denuclearization thats irreversible of the peninsula before any sanction relief will happen. Thats whats different. Heather thank you so much for joining us on this special day. Great to hear from you. Thank you. Blake that, of course, is one of the Big Questions Going Forward. What will happen in north korea . It is a question that might go answered in a matter of hours, days, weeks, months, or not. But the moments of this day is clearly memorial day to pay respects to those who paid the ultimate sacrifice. You can see President Trump and defense secretary jim mattis at Arlington National cemetery. We expect them to be speaking within a matter of moments here. Heather you were talking earlier in terms of Foreign Policy and how important that has become front and center in this administration. People will be listening today to see what they have to say both secretary mattis and President Trump. Blake we expect the president to be speaking any moment now along with jim mattis. Lets listen. [choir singing] glory, glory, hallelujah, glory, glory, hallelujah, his truth is marching on glory, glory, hallelujah glory, glory, hallelujah glory, glory, hallelujah, his truth is marching on amen, amen [applause] ladies and gentlemen, secretary mattis. Ladies and gentlemen, secretary mattis. [applause] mr. President , gold star families, americans and allies, general dunford, a country worth fighting for indeed. I believe Robert Lewis Stephenson best captured the spirit of today when he wrote under the wide and starry sky dig the grave and let me lie, glad did i live and gladly die and i laid me down with a will. This be the verse you grave for me, here he lies where he longed to be. Home is the sailor, home from the sea and the hunter home from the hill. It is my privilege and honor to introduce our commanderinchief, president donald trump. [cheering and applause] President Trump thank you very much, everyone. Thank you very much. What an honor. Secretary mattis, i love you, too. General dunford, joint chiefs, members of the armed forces, members of the cabinet, members of congress and distinguished guests, thank you for joining us on this solemn day of remembrance. We are gathered here on the sacred soil of Arlington National cemetery to honor the lives and deeds of americas greatest heroes, the men and women who laid down their lives for our freedom. Today we pay tribute to their service, we mourn alongside their families and we strive to be worthy of their sacrifice. The heroes who rest in these hallowed fields, in cemeteries, battlefields and burial grounds near and far are drawn from the full tapestry of american life. They came from every generation, from towering cities and wind swept prairies, from privilege and from poverty. They were generals and privates, captains and corporals of every race, color and of every creed but they were all brothers and sisters in arms. And they were all united, then, as they are united now forever by their undying love of our great country. [applause] theirs was a love more deep and more pure than most will ever know. It was a love that willed them up mountains, through deserts, across oceans and into enemy camps and unknown dangers. They marched into hell so that america could know the blessings of peace. They died so that freedom could live. Americas legacy of service is exemplified by a world war ii veteran who joins us today, senator bob dole. [applause] earlier this year, i was fortunate to present a very special award to bob, the congressional gold medal. [applause] bob, thank you for honoring us with your presence and thank you for your lifetime of service to our nation. Today we remember your fallen comrades who never returned home from that great struggle for freedom. We are also proud to be in the company of another american hero, navy veteran ray chevez. [applause] [cheering and applause] at 106 years of age. [applause] and he was in the oval office two days ago and he doesnt look a day over 60. [laughter] he is the oldest living survivor of the attack on pearl harbor. [applause] what a guy. And ray, you are truly an inspiration to all who are here today and all of our great country. Thank you, ray, for being with us. Thank you. [applause] thank you. Most importantly, were joined today by the families of american heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice. We cannot imagine the depth of emotion that this day brings each year, the grief renewed, the memories relived, those last Beautiful Moments together cherished, and always remembered. And you also feel that incredible pride, a pride shared by one really and truly grateful nation. [applause] to every parent who weeps for a child, to every child who mourns for a parent, and to every husband or wife whose heart has been torn in two, today we ask god to comfort your pain, to ease your sorrow, and to wipe away your tears. This is a very special day. And today our whole country thanks you, embraces you, and pledges to you we will never forget our heroes. [applause] joining us today is the family of marine Lieutenant Colonel david green who rests here at arlington. [applause] david grew up in upstate new york, dreaming of attending the United States Naval Academy. In 1982, that dream came true. Soon another dream came true when dave met his eternal soul mate sarah who is here with their two beautiful children jenna and wesley. [applause] he is looking down on you right now, you know that, right . He is looking down on you and he is so proud and happy. After 10 years of service as a marine helicopter pilot, dave left active duty to spend more time with the people who truly filled his heart. Those are the people you just met. But sarah knew the man she married, she knew he couldnt live without serving. Couldnt do it. So she suggested he join the services in the form of reserves and thats what he did. In january 2004 dave deployed to iraq. That summer, just a few weeks before he was scheduled to return home, he was called in to provide air support for Ground Troops who were in very serious danger. They were in very serious trouble. He immediately raced to the scene. As he covered his troops, he was shot by ground fire giving up his life for his comrades and for his country. Lieutenant colonel green remains one of the highest ranking marines to have been killed in iraq since 2003. But for him it was never about rank or title. Like all of his fellow warriors, it was only about duty. He served to defend our flag and our freedom. And now his son, wesley, who is a senior at liberty university, plans to follow in his fathers footsteps and join the military. [applause] wesley, i just want to congratulate you and your entire family. Great, great family. Thank you very much. And thank you for being here with us. [applause] thank you very much. Beautiful. You are going to love the military. They are incredible people. We are also honored to have with us today the family of army captain mark stobenhaufer and his wife and their children lauren, justin and hope. [applause] thank you for being with us. Thank you very much. Such an honor. Mark grew up not far from here in springfield, virginia. Every year he visited these grounds and hoped to someday serve here as a member of that very, very famous old guard. In 2004, mark deployed to iraq for the second time. While he was there, patty went into labor with their third child and mark was with her, by phone, when their beautiful baby girl was born. Together they named her hope. Just a few months later mark was on a mission near baghdad when he was tragically slain by a snipers bullet. Today hope is 13 years old. Although she never had the chance to meet her great father, she can feel his love wrapped around her every single day. And when patty puts her children to bed and kisses them good night, she can see marks legacy beaming back at her through their bright and glowing eyes. Thank you so much. [applause] its really beautiful. Thank you. You know that, right . Also joining us today is a very special friend, 7yearold christian jacobs, who is here with his mom britney. I met christian exactly one year ago today. Last year after the wreath laying ceremony, christian walked over to me with great confidence, shook my hand, looked me straight in the eye and asked if i would like to meet his dad. He loved his dad. Marine Sergeant Christopher jacobs, who died when christian was just eight months old. Xt
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