and i think that that also showed something chris mentioned earlier. t president is commander in chief and being willing to do the hardest job that a commander in chief does, which is to recognize and talk with the families of the fallen. and i think tomorrow, all around the country, they may be talking about the disaster that is obamacare, the regulatory rollback. he did call on neil gorsuch to be confirmed swiftly. but they ll be talking about mrs. owens, may be talking about megan crawly but i think that sustained applause, it was a very patriotic speech and the blue states that went for donald trump and the reluctant trump voter that s out there wondering can he do the job that i put him in there after the barrage of the first month, i think they are tremendously reassured by what i thought was a tremendous speech with a translate sen dant
i m not doing psychoanalysis. the s.e.a.l.s on the ground lost ryan. you may want to attribute to him the attempt to distance, but that not what he s done. gold star fathers get to say whatever they want. i just admire mrs. owens for coming tonight and i admire the president for inviting her and saying we appreciate the sacrifice and we know you re out there tonight and this administration is going to be with you. we re going to give you what you need and my generals will follow up on it. i heard it completely differently. that s the divide in the country. people hear things differently. when they said they lost ryan, i think that was a recognition that a band of brave warriors, the best that we ve got, lost one of their own and it s not something civilians can say we lost. we don t put it on the line the way they do. hew, i hear you.
eternity. thank you. [ applause ] let s discuss that applause went on. in several different iterations the president joked that ryan was looking down and he was happy because he probably broke a record. let s bring in lieutenant general mark hertling and cnn military analyst general james spider marks. general, let me start with you. you see karen owens at times looking up to the heavens for strength while she was making it through, everyone in the chamber honoring her and clapping. she s clapping for her husband there. it obviously was impossible not
navy s.e.a.l., ryan owens. ryan died battling against terrorism and securing our nation. [ applause ] that standing ovation went on for almost two minutes. my panel is still with me and joining us now, msnbc military analyst and retired four-star general, barry mccaffrey. that was an important moment, but specifically for karen owens, you have dealt with so many families, and you are a military man yourself, and how important was that moment to her? well, very touching and a very powerful message for the armed forces. i think we should be happy the way it was brought up. one caution, stephanie, that has bothered me for the last several
on one point, which is i think that moment in the speech will penetrate people s consciousness a lot more than the back and forth about the mission, whether it was worthwhile and what happened. so i do believe that will be a lasting moment for some people. you know why? because the one pure just a minute, hugh. the one poor communication tonight was that woman karen owens talking to her husband. she was talking to him. this is a chance. i ve got to talk to my husband right now. this was pure love communication. there s not a guy in the world who doesn t want to have a spouse like that. she is a lover of her lost husband. that is real. the rest of that is politics. that s real. chris, i agree with that 100%. that was so moving. what i have to respectfully disagree, when the president said they lost ryan, here s what i heard, the s.e.a.l.s didn t bring back one of their own, not