On the next washington journal political strategist Stefan Hankin and David Winston talk about the early stages of the president ial primary race and the latest developments in campaign 2016. Also a look at hacking concerns with michael riley. Plus, we will take your calls and look for your comments on facebook and twitter. Washington journal live every day on cspan. The republican president ial candidates are in manchester New Hampshire for the first president ial forum on monday at 7 00 eastern. We are providing live coverage of this. The New Hampshire union leader ours is sponsoring this. Following the forum, you can join our call in program or add your comments on facebook and twitter. Road to the white house 2016. On thursday, general Martin Dempsey met with military children at a forum hosted by the military Child Education coalition. He offered advice to those who wanted to join the service. His wife also spoke at the event. General dempsey will retire soon and another general will become the next chair, already confirmed by the senate. This is 40 minutes. [applause] next, i have the honor to introduce two individuals that are no strangers to the military coalitions. This is the fifth year that general dempsey and his wife have joined us and participated with the military Child Education coalition. General dempsey is the 18th chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. He and his wife have been married 39 years and have raised three children, all of which have worn the uniform of this nation. There is no couple that provides more support than the dempseys. Day in and day out, they have been supporters of what we do and stand for. So it is with great honor and pleasure that i introduce two good friends, general Martin Dempsey and his wife deedee. [applause] we are glad to be back. This is our fifth year, so for those of you who know the military, i now qualify for my silver oak leaf. Every year has been a joy to see you and to feel the commitment that you have made to our children. My wife often reminds me that there are things we have to do. I did one of those yesterday. And then there are things that we get to do, and we get to spend time with people like you. As we come to the end of our career, that is the part that we will really miss, because we admire what you do so much. Briefly, then i will turn it over to my wife, then we will bring a panel of distinguished questioners. On this day, Kris Kristofferson was born. He crosses generations, many of us remember him as a countrywestern singer with johnny cash. Others might remember him as an actor in movies. He was also in the film the dolphin tale. I mentioned him because he is a military child, the son of an air force general. He did well for himself and made his living in entertainment. He describes being a military child as magical and painful all at the same time. I think many of us can relate to what that means. He was commissioned into the army and volunteered for vietnam, but they sent him to west point to teach english. While he was there, he decided to get out of the military and pursue his career in music. I mention it, because i was captain teaching teaching at west point, and ive often wondered [laughter] no not really. I will turn over to my wife and then we will bring those youngsters out here. Deedee thank you for those moms, for what you do for children. Because we get to travel and hear the issues. You ought to be proud of what you do for all those kids. I wish that you are there when my kids were little. Thank you for being here and thank you for all of you and what you do. General dempsey bring them in. [laughter] when is the raffle . I have been hanging on to my ticket. What happened to the raffle . I was hoping to be part of that. Dont make eye contact. [laughter] they are here. These are military children. You can introduce yourselves and then you will ask questions. Introduce yourself. I am Katelynn Jensen from Falcon High School in colorado and i will be a junior. I am sarah from washington. I will be a senior next year. I am a junior in florida. I am Raul Gonzalez and i am in junior high. I am a junior at Falcon High School in colorado. Gen. Dempsey how about a round of applause . [applause] ok, katelynn. General dempsey. How do you define your success . Gen. Dempsey i dont know. [laughter] oh, you want me to extrapolate . Yes, please. Gen. Dempsey that is a great question. It works at a bunch of levels. The thing i am most proud of about myself although pride is counter to humility which i think is the greatest virtue of all in senior leaders, but i am proud of being a soldier. Not much more than that. Meaning, it is not about the stars. That surprises people sometimes. I am proud of being a soldier, a husband and a father. Do you think that failure plays a part in that success . Gen. Dempsey could you hear the question . Can you Say Something to make sure they hear you . Yes, sorry. Do you think that failure plays a part in that success . Gen. Dempsey failure plays a part in every success. In life im sure, you have overcome your own challenges. Its like chumbawamba, i get knocked down and i get up again. [laughter] i am trying to connect to the kids. Do you want me to break into uptown funk do you . Dont believe me just watch [laughter] it really is true. You measure the path of life and the ability to stumble and keep on the path. There are some things that i tell youngsters, to include my own kids, being in high school is about keeping doors open. Every door that you imagine is open to you until you do something to close it. That is the great thing about being american. I am a grandson of four irish immigrants. My father was a postman and my mother stocked shelves at a convenience store. I am the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. That would not happen anyplace else. The doors are open, you just cannot close them. You can stumble, you just cannot fall flat on your face. I will leave it to your imagination to decide which are stumbles and which are catastrophes. Do you want to add anything . No. Gen. Dempsey you get your own questions . Deedee i am not helping you with yours. [laughter] gen. Dempsey anything else . That is it, for now. I have a question, mrs. Dempsey. If you had to start over again at our age, would you have done anything differently . Deedee when i was your age is when i met this guy sitting next to me. The life i lead, i never would have imagined at that age and now looking back i would not have changed it. It has been an amazing ride. I dont think i would. General dempsey, i have a question for you. Gen. Dempsey good. Are you ready . Do you have any mentors . Gen. Dempsey of course. Mentors are an important part of growing up. It is a twoway street. You can want anyone to be your mentor, they have to want to be that in return. I have been blessed, in particular, that the military leaders i have chosen by the way, they do not always have to be older than you. I have peers who i consider to be mentors. I have military mentors, some of whom are still on active duty. Though, i am now, for better or worse, the oldest officer on active duty. It is hard to find someone older than me to mentor me. [laughter] but, mike ksyewski is a great friend. I love the way that he carries himself. His confidence and values. If you are not a duke fan, you probably do not care. If you are a yankee fan you have to live with people from boston. But mentors can illuminate they cannot actually do it for you. You have to do it yourself but they can illuminate ideas you may not have had the opportunity to think for yourself. You can take them in. You are the aggregate of the things that impress you and inspire you. I am not a person who believes that you need one mentor. I think that you have to cast your net very wide so you can understand how others have done it and then decide how much of each of them will become you. Ultimately it is you. Have they impacted your life . Gen. Dempsey constantly. I get phone calls, sometimes unsolicited and sometimes i reach out every week, for sure. Not every day. Every week i will reach out or be reached. In particular, on things like i am the only one who can define for myself this issue of civilian and military relations. It is challenging. In the information age, trying to stay centered as the senior military leader, the advisor to the president and the secretary of defense, the mentor of Combatant Commanders and the peer of service chiefs, i have to work to find that centerline. To make sure we are finding a political apolitical, best military advice. Sometimes i will call up a professor who i have a relationship with and i will say how did that go . Yesterdays congressional testimony . They will say, you moved a little too close to the shoulder of the road. I have not talked to them today so this is not about yesterday. [laughter] but they will tell me. The left or right of the centerline. Not the political left or right, but they help center me. They help me think about my job. Thank you. Gen. Dempsey you are welcome. Mr. Dempsey, in in gen. Dempsey we are proud of you. Take your time. In one word, can you describe the life of being married to the general . Gen. Dempsey in one word . [laughter] i have this whole vocabulary. Deedee humbling. To be in this position is humbling. You get the opportunity to touch the sailors and marines as you travel around. Because of martys job, i have influence to help in situations. To be given that gift is very humbling. There are probably 50 words i could give not yours, probably. If i had to do one, it would be humbling. You are also an ambassador for your country. Marty and i do a lot for our counterparts around the world. No matter where you go, we are representing the United States of america. You land in that plane as the United States of america and people are in awe, with their cameras, taking pictures. It is neat to know we have been giving this gift to serve our country and our Service Members and to care about them as best we can. Gen. Dempsey your word was better than mine. [laughter] general dempsey, how did you become involved with mcec and how are you helping others . Gen. Dempsey that is a great question. It started when i was chief staff of the army. We were asked to come to this thing called mcec, frankly i did not know what it was. Deedee i did. [laughter] gen. Dempsey i didnt, really. The way it works for a fourstar general is you have a meeting in your office and you say to your aide de camp, what is next . As you are walking, you prepare for that event. I know that you think i took weeks to prepare for tonight today. Is it night . [laughter] but it is your lot in life that your life is directed for you. I said to my aide, where are we going . He said mcec. I said, what . I had no idea. I got here and you cannot help but fall in love with the organization and the idea. Just the idea that there is a group of people that gather together with sponsors to try to help military children navigate the path they took. So, i have not missed it since. We build our calendar about six months out. When i build my calendar, there are three to four things we put on the calendar and we tell the rest of the world to fit around it. Sometimes the white house is a bit of a challenge. [laughter] that is why these morning events are better for me. They dont really spring into action until the early afternoon, and well into the evening. [laughter] seriously, it has been a privilege to be a part of it. How has that helped my development . The answer is, you can become isolated as the chairman unless you put yourself out there and try to find out what is going on. I learn a lot from the adults. I will ask a couple of you a question in a minute. I hope youre ready for that. Mrs. Dempsey, same question. How did you become involved in mcec . Deedee i was in germany. In what was at that time called awag. Having children in school i wanted to learn more about it. You get away from it, and will arrest the come back we knew that interest and appreciation for what they do. Thank you. Gen. Dempsey is it my turn . She said, if you would like it to be. [laughter] general dempsey, what is some advice you would give to anyone interested on joining the military . Gen. Dempsey advice on joining the military. We are several things. We give young men and women purpose, meaning and variety. We give them a genuine purpose. You can feel like you are accomplishing something and you are part of the team. My instinct is that young men and women in america today, at some level because of electronic devices, are content to sit in the middle of a football field all by themselves with a laptop connected to the world, you know what i mean . They want to be kind of by themselves but in the virtual world, connected to everybody, everything, and all information. What the military does is take that instinct for belonging to something and make it physical. We take it out of the virtual world. From the moment you come in to any service, you are part of the team. That idea is literally drilled into you and eventually it becomes your own. So thats purpose. There is no higher meaning than being willing to protect your fellow citizens. There is a notion that the military is this kind of monolithic, giant, faceless lack of caring organization. Actually, it nurtures. It has a builtin system of mentoring. Importantly, we change jobs almost constantly. We moved 23 times. How many times have you moved . Neither of my [laughter] gen. Dempsey not only do we move you geographically but we move you from job to job so you can develop this versatility. We literally invest in your development from the time you come in to the time you get out. The last thing i will tell you there is no more fair place on the planet than in the military. We embrace every race, every ethnic group, every religion. We are literally genderless and becoming even more so. It is genuinely a place where an irish immigrant can become the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. Thats all ive got for you. Thank you. Gen. Dempsey youre welcome. Before we came here this week, we were all asked to decide on a defining moment that changed us into who we are to do and who we will eventually become. And i would like to know if you have a defining moment or moments that kind of made you the man you are today. Gen. Dempsey well, thats a profound question, young lady. Thank you. Gen. Dempsey a good question, actually. You know, a defining moment is tough to pin down, but i will tell you this. I went to west point because my mother wanted me to go. Really, that is why i went to west point. My mother wanted me to go. I got there and it lit my fire and i got enthusiastic about it. Deanie and i were not sure that we wanted to spend our lives in the military. I made the promise to her that many of you have made to your spouses in the past. I said after five years my obligation is over and i will become whatever. Five years came and went and the next and you know we were on this slope to 41 years. But what was fascinating was that i got out to about 18 or 19 years or so and i was contemplating leaving at 20. And our kids were saying you cant i get out. I said, wait a minute, i thought i was the one keeping us in. What had happened was it had flipped actually. My wife and children had become just as inspired or maybe even more inspired and so here we are. In fact, that was part of a conversation as my son was struggling over whether to go to west point or not. He had an appointment to west point as well as to some really incredible rotc opportunities and he went to west point. My son went to west point. My daughter went to west point right behind him, and our youngest went to wake forest on an rotc scholarship. It was the finest moment for me when it became not just my particular passion, but our familys passion. General dempsey, what were your goals that you set out to accomplish when you joined the military. What were they. Gen. Dempsey when i started . Yes, sir. Gen. Dempsey well, when you start west point, your goal is to survive. [laughter] its a great question because people ask me now, you know, what do i have to do to become the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. A young lieutenant every once in a while will pop that question. My answer flippantly at first is you shouldnt want to do that. It is not because of the job. That is not the right question to be asking at 22 years of age. The right question to be asking yourself is what exactly are you trying to do with your life. And in my case, the reason why the military was such a great fit is that i found i had a passion for building teams and for trying to make the team better than the sum of its parts. So you take as a platoon leader, a 30man in those days, it was all men, but now there is it is men and women. That it is a 30man team and you try to make it the best it can be. Not out of some sense of ambition, but because you want to see that team one of those things i am most proud of is the string of proteges that have now succeeded behind me. In terms of legacy, your legacy is not a piece of equipment or a particular job. It is what you left behind in terms of a commitment that people make to this profession. So, that has been the goal. It just got a little bigger over time. I wanted to do the best i could for those 30 men. Now we are trying to figure out how to do the best we can for 2. 1 million. It is a little daunting on occasion, but it is the same goal. What support systems were in place to help you achieve those goals . Gen. Dempsey she is sitting right next to me. You cant have a steady, Firm Foundation at work and go home unless that foundation is equally solid. In other words, to accomplish the goals that you set for yourselves in whatever profession you choose. And i hope you choose professions, something you can be passionate about. But you have to work equally hard at home to make sure you have a little balance in your life. The first and foremost support system is family and always been will be your family. In 58 days not that i am counting when i retire thats it. Those who have been in the military know there is this wonderful ceremony. We pass a flag from one officer to the next. He goes out to the Officers Club at fort myers, virginia, for a reception. We stand there and shake hands and all of a sudden, everybody is gone. Literally, everybody is gone. You realize, you know, you go from being invited to sit on a panel and talk to children and go to the white house situation room and appear before congress. When that is done, what you have is your family. You might get invited back if you do well, i suppose. But what you have at th