by an isis k suicide bomber. >> john: the biden administration has refused to take responsibility for their deaths and denied there was anything chaotic about how that withdrawal played out. >> sandra: aishah hasnie ahead of hearing from the families live on the hill for us. we are about to hear from some of these parents and many of them have spoken out throughout these years. they are angry, they want an investigation and they're demanding accountability. we will hear from them in moments. but for now, what have we heard from them, aishah? >> aishah: you are exactly right, sandra. a lot of these folks are coming in upset two years later because they feel they have not gotten accountability. the answers, really closure. some are looking for simple closure from the biden administration and they feel they have not gotten that. so, happening right now, congressman darrell issa is opening up this bipartisan forum in escondido, california, it's next to camp pendleton, and the 13 soldiers here died in a suicide bombing at the abbey gate entrance of the kabul airport, some parents feel their children not the acknowledgment from the biden administration and while this is not an official congressional hearing, we are not going to see any other house members here, it will be the first opportunity for the families to really testify together in a public forum and congressman issa tells us they have a lot of unfinished business with this administration. >> many of these men and women deserve awards they haven't received. obviously i mentioned the personal belongings that have not been returned that we expect the military to find and get them to the families. and then there is the accountability for what happened. >> sandra and john, we are reaching out to the pentagon during the hearing to see if they have any answers for these folks who are again still wanting closure. to date, no administration official has been held accountable since that botched withdrawal. sandra. >> sandra: aishah, and a programming note, congressman darrell issa and the parents fallen marine darren hoover will join martha on "the story" at 3:00 p.m. eastern time. >> john: looking ahead to that. negotiations continue between republicans and the doj for the u.s. attorney david weiss to appear on capitol hill. fox news has learned his testimony may be delayed after hunter biden's original plea deal fell apart over the judge's concerns about the controversial agreement. ja jason, it's great to see you. don't know when weiss will become before the committees, september or october, but if you were still in congress and on the committee what questions would you want to ask weiss? >> well, first thing you need, john, you need to get the documents. i'm associated with the heritage foundation's oversight project. they issued a four-year request. we know there are 2500 pages of communication between david weiss and the department of justice specific to this plea deal. those documents need to be produced. now, the department of justice will take the position that hey, it's an ongoing case, we can't do that, but house rules do not recognize that. so, they should go get the documents. only from the documents can you then press the u.s. attorney to explain himself, explain why did they treat this case so differently than previous cases. why do they, you know, treat hunter biden with such kid gloves. what were the prohibitions that david weiss had in pursuing hunter biden's case outside the realm and geographical location of delaware. there's a lot to ask him. >> john: would you want to know why the sweetheart deal, as many people have been calling it, was written the way it was with the immunity clause in the gun diversion part of the deal as opposed to in the misdemeanor pleas on the irs charges and would you also want to know what role, if any, the attorney general, merrick garland, played in the deal? >> i want to know what the attorney general knew and his participation. he says he's hands off but i highly doubt it. no way with an explosive case like this he was hands off. i doubt that. i want to know about the immunity deal. i went through this under the hillary clinton case, five times the department of justice handed out immunity with no requisite they have to participate and help the government. so, why are you giving out immunity deals with no requirement to actually communicate and help the government. that's usually the trade that comes off of here. but yeah, why such a sweetheart deal? there is no u.s. attorney i've ever interated with that has been on this network and others that can tell you that is typical and how they have dealt with this. this was sweetheart deal for the bidens. >> john: pivot to the trump case, the attorneys have until 5:00 this afternoon to file objection to the protective order sought by jack smith. if allowed, it would severely limit what trump and his legal team can say about the evidence in the case. what do you think about the fact that smith is trying to limit what they can say? >> that is classic department of justice, isn't it. it's a first amendment case and they are going to try to gag the president of the united states, a candidate for the presidency of the united states from being able to talk about his own defense and his own case? don't tell me that the department of justice has been mum. they have been out there every member of congress, everybody in the administration, joe biden, everybody has been out there talking about donald trump and how wrong he is. the guy gets to defend himself and shocked if they try to put a gag order on donald trump and his legal team, but it would not surprise me. but boy, would that be fundamentally wrong in the united states of america. >> john: we have folks on both sides, some democrats are asking for this, john lauro and others are saying there should be cameras in the federal courthouse. they have not been allowed for criminal proceedings in federal court. should they be in this case? >> no, no, it's enough of a clown show. i like the prohibition on the cameras in federal court and at the supreme court i think they sawed stay in place. >> john: probably highly unlikely they would be allowed but what a show it would be. we'll see what happens. jason, thank you. >> sandra: president biden touting his economic policies saying they are working for the american family. touting bidenomics as americans are taking a bigger and bigger hit at the gas pump. why you are seeing gas as a national average, $4 a gallon, up $0.29 over the last month. peter doocy on the pain at the pump. what's driving the prices? >> pete: depends who you ask. they say it's rising because of the folks who work here. >> joe biden declared war on energy in the first day in office, shutting down the keystone and dakota pipelines, prices are jumping back up. >> joe biden immediately, first thing, almost the first day shut down the keystone xl pipeline. surrendered our energy independence and future dominance. >> pete: we do stories of rising gas prices every summer but this summer is particularly tricky because inflation down does not mean inflation gone. >> certainly the oil exists on the planet, it's just a matter of getting it out of the ground and getting in the form of gasoline. but certainly inflationary, and it's something that everybody feels. so while the white house may crow about inflation slowing down to 3% for consumers, it's not the case paying $0.50 at the pump and another $0.50 on that if opec cuts back on production. >> pete: and that's different here, we heard it was the putin price hike and when the gas prices has been high, they have tapped the strategic reserves to try to bring prices down. we do not expect to see that happen this summer. instead, on the contrary, president biden is gonna go out west this week to tout this week green energy alternatives to the expensive gas. >> sandra: peter doocy, thank you. john, everybody is out there, you see the gas prices going up. up more in some areas in the country than others. national average, up $0.30 in a pretty short period of time and while a lot of folks say oh, summer driving season, it's really not demand that is going up. economists are saying this is a supply side problem that's driving these prices up, and remember, not only did this president shut down the building of the keystone xl pipeline, but when prices were going up as a result of massive government spending, causing that inflation, they tapped emergency reserves to up the supply. when that's not happening, prices are going back up and what we are seeing happen now. >> john: i'll tell you, we were in san diego all last week and the gas prices there, i mean -- it's unbelievable. so, for the president to be going out there to sell green energy, he might run into what about the energy we are using now, can you do something about the price of that. and there's lots of electric cars in california, but far more that use gasoline. >> sandra: and the price of just about everything, back to school supplies, they are going up. pork prices are going up, jeff flock a short time from now and steve moore will join us next hour. >> john: you are telling me the cost of bacon is going up? trading in the hammer and sickle for the trident shield. how locals are responding to the change coming up next. >> sandra: and a live look at the meeting of gold star families, rep darrell issa in his district. foreign affairs committee. convening a public hearing to hear testimony from the gold star families. 13 u.s. service members killed in afghanistan. they are going to speak out moments from now on the lack of accountability with what happened to their loved ones. we will get into the room shortly when we return. 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for just $49.99 a month. plus, ask how to get one free line of unlimited mobile. comcast business, powering possibilities. >> sandra: really important event happening in california, where you can see congressman darrell issa is holding this public hearing. this is the first-ever congressional forum for gold star families of the 13 servicemembers lost in the chaotic afghanistan withdrawal, and for the first time you will see these family members assembled in one room, share their stories to the public as they are searching for answers. they are searching for the truth and closure for the disastrous withdrawal that cost them their loved ones' lives. so, darrell issa a moment ago saying what is your message to washington, what do they want the american public to know about the loss of their daughter or son or loved one, what they believe did not go right, he wants to hear from them and he wants to know from them what they want lawmakers and this country to do about it. so, as soon as those family members begin sharing their stories we will get into the room. >> john: our nation's greatest adversary is creeping closer to u.s. shores. china and russia carrying out alarming naval operation near the coast of alaska last week in what's dubbed a highly provocative move. the u.s. navy launched four destroyers. what is the u.s. military saying? >> not much. the china-russia war game is over but the alarm set off by the provocation is ringing. flotilla of warships showed up in the berring sea not far from the coast of alaska, they did stay in international waters. russia gave this picture to the associated press, shows combined 11 naval warships from china and russia conducting joint training. worked on communication, helicopter landings and fires missiles at a mock enemy submarine target. it's not the first joint military exercise but is the nearest to the united states by far. and that potential threat prompted a significant u.s. response. u.s.s. benfold was sent to monitor along with three other destroyers, including the u.s.s. john mccain here in washington. and aircraft were sent to shadow. dan sullivan was happy with the u.s. response but said we have a new era of authoritarian aggression led by dictators in beijing and moscow. today on fox and friends, said xi jinping is preparing china for war with help from russia. >> i think the obvious thing that stands out, increasing coordination between the two countries, historically are strange bed fellows but now a shared alliance against america and allies that is designed to take us down to undermine american global leadership. >> the chinese embassy released a statement which reads in part "this action is not targeted at any third party and has nothing to do with the current international and regional situation," meaning the war in ukraine and certainly over in taiwan. we'll have to see if the biden white house is buying that line, though, john. >> john: yeah, they continue to provoke us and looking for some sort of response or at least a show of strength on their part to see if we respond to it. dan springer in seattle. thank you. >> sandra: mysterious company behind nearly a billion dollars in land purchases is suing farmers claiming they inflated their prices when selling it to them. since 2018, flannery associates has invested in about 55,000 acres of american land surrounding travis air force base. our next guest has suspicions the land is being bought up by a group linked to china. let's bring in john germendi. you have our attention. what do we know about this mysterious company, 50,000 acres of american land around this air force base in california. $800 million they are spending, and now they are claiming the farmers are price gouging them? >> yeah, it is -- it is beyond understanding. it is very, very opaque. it has us very concerned about exactly what is going on here, and they have clearly purchased land that is in position to significantly impact the operations at travis air force base, which is the gateway to the pacific. it is one of the busiest transit air force bases in the world, certainly the biggest in america. personnel, material, in fact, material is leaving that air base today with munitions headed for ukraine. so, what's going on here? we don't know. and therefore, we are concerned. we do know that chinese organizations connected to the government of chinese have tried to purchase land around critical air bases in the united states specifically the grand forks base in north dakota, which is our intelligence surveillance base in which we fly platforms and observe around the world. so it's a concern. what is this all about. >> sandra: can i follow up o that, is it merely a suspicion because we have seen china try to buy up land like this, or do you have any evidence that chinese is indeed linked to this? we had the map up a second ago, congressman, of the land owned by flannery associates around the air force base, and if that's indeed the case that would be alarming. do you have any evidence that this is chinese linked? >> we have no evidence where the 800, almost $900 million has come from. therefore, we are very, very concerned. this is most unusual. this has never happened in this region where a company, totally opaque, under delaware corporate law, we cannot pierce the veil as to who the owners are or where the money is coming from. we have asked and the fbi and the treasury department are investigating. but then they are taking additional step of putting very heavy legal pressure on farmers in the area, generational farmers who refuse to sell their land. i was talking to two farm groups last friday, and they are being sued, they are putting up whatever money they can gather, to defend themselves and to hang on to their family farms in some cases five generation farms. what's happening? what is this all about? why do they want to own all of this land as shown on the map. keep in mind, the major power grids from the columbia river go right through this land and flannery now owns land on either side of the power grids. this makes no sense economically. paying five times, sometimes ten times the normal value for dry land, grazing farm for sheep and cattle. what's this all about? we are concerned. >> sandra: ok. so, if you don't mind, we have some breaking news to get to. we will certainly follow up with you on this. really important to shed light what's happening there and we will get back to you. appreciate it. >> john: thank you so much. now to california, the 48th congressional district represented by darrell issa. this is kelly barnett. mother of star sergeant darren hoover, one of the 13 killed at the abbey gate bombing during the disastrous withdrawal. >> the rest of the world would fade and he would give that person his whole attention, his whole, you know, everything possible to make sure that person knew that they were important and that they counted. i wish i had that ability. i really do. what a cool dude. definitely was. marine corps was always his goal since he was little, six years old and up, that's all he talked about. sorry, congressman, no armymen, only played with marines. went to boot camp september 13, 2010, and i told him you made this choice, this is going to be hard, you are going to do it, do it 110% and i don't want to hear any -- i said some other words, but i don't want to hear any griping about it. if they beat you down in boot camp retend i'm looking over you and telling you get up, again choice words, i would rather have them beat you down there than someone else beat you down, and always a thing between us. he would tell his friends and it was a thing he said it helped him through boot camp and soi and his first deployment. so -- boot camp, soi, he deployed five times, three of them to afghanistan. his first deployment he had -- i don't know if it was a pleasure, but had the opportunity to be with some of the last of the real war horses over there. they were his, you know, his sergeant, and he became such an awesome man, an awesome machine, such a good person, and that's where he learned his leadership skills and basically life skills. so i am so thankful to those people and the marine corps for what they did for my son. always took care of his business, took care of his family, his friends, he took care of his men. he, like all of us, he had -- he experienced a few years back some very traumatic things in his life. tested him. and he decided that it was not going to beat him and didn't let it beat him. enacted his motto, movement is life. to him that meant you keep going, you keep pushing, you fall down, ten times, you get up 100 times. you keep going. and he did. he came out wiser, stronger, completely focused on what life really meant and when he wanted to do in the marine corps. he loved his family, he loved his friends, he loved his animals, his two dogs, aires and bellow and he loved his men. he didn't have any women that served under him, so i say he loved his men with a deep passion. gearing up for this deployment he -- he would call me every morning on his way to pendleton and he would tell me, you know, mom, i'm frustrated, i'm worried, i don't know if i'm getting through to these guys, i don't know if they are going to be ready, i don't know if they are going to be prepared. you know, they are doing this or that. and ask me later if you want to hear some funny stories what they were doing. there are some sad ones but really funny ones, too. but he would, you know, ask me mom, you know, what do i do. so we would pray together, i would tell him to keep pushing, you know, keep going and he did. he would pray and ask his old war horses for advice, put their advice into play, and this went on for a few weeks and he called me one morning and he was in the best mood and he told me mom, you know, they are doing so good, they got it, i'm so proud of them, he's like you know, don't worry about me, you know, these guys, i got total confidence in them, we are going to be great. and he celebrated in their victories. he wanted them to be as good or better than him at all of his skills and all of his abilities that he taught them and when they excelled that's how he celebrated in that. he was a true leader. i know that from the time he was born. he always led. but he led by his heart and his knowledge. he never led by his title ever. that never wasn't to his head. he didn't like the titles. but he always, always, always gave his whole heart to everything that he did. like i said, he was deployed five times. his first two deployments were to afghanistan and back in the muck when that was going on. his last one, of course, was in august of 2021. i thought this was, you know, going to be a piece of cake deployment compared to those where i prayed every day, you know, numerous times for his safety. i got complacent and that wasn't the case. and i beat myself up every day for that. but i do know that he was prepared and what happened happened for a reason. unfortunate but i know that he was where he was for a reason. on this deployment he -- his platoon, 28 of them, were chosen for a special mission to be on a ship, the lewis b. polar, it's funny, his nickname was chestie because he was so motivated, had a few others, tactical tailor and hoove dog, all kinds of things, but 139 people on the ship, a special mission, at the strait of hormuz, and iran, so you know what was going on over there at the time, it's going on still, but he was on that mission from may 'til the end of july. 28 marines and like i said, 139 people total, 28 marines for their security and the rest were sailors and people from one of the three letter agencies, starts with a c. and end of july they left the ship and went back to join the rest of 2-1, and then he left for afghanistan august 15th, august 16th, and third time on afghan soil. his concern began the moment that he landed and saw what he saw. his words were chaos, no communication, lack of leadership, said he's never seen anything like it and he was in afghanistan two times before. he told me mom, i now know that the command cares nothing for us. my son and 12 others left this earth thinking that their command cared nothing for them. the wounded felt their command felt nothing for them. the survivors felt their command felt nothing for them. i feel this as well. after seeing their friends die, picking them up off the ground, sending them off, then being told to destroy everything at the airport, they were told you got to clean up the airport. we can't leave it dirty for the taliban, they have to clean up the airport. what kind of disrespect, what kind of hatred for our military, what kind of mess, confusion, deceit, loss, angry, sad, heart broken and disgusted. these are the feelings the service members felt and are still feeling. these are the feelings i'm feeling. taylor's dad is feeling, sisters, family, friends. we were told lies, given incomplete reports, incorrect reports, total disrespect. there were gunshots. all i wanted to know where my kid was, where he fell, how long did he last, did he fight, i was told to my face he died on impact, that's not true. the only reason i know this is because witnesses told me the truth. i was lied to and basically told to shut up, that that's the way it was, not true. he lived for a little while, but not on impact, he was giving out his ammo. he tied a tourniquet around his leg. i don't understand the reasoning for that lie. it makes no since. other than the fact that did they really even do an investigation. did they talk to witnesses, i don't know. please don't be distracted by the mess that you are seeing on tv. aliens, who cares. are they real, i don't know. if they are, i got a list of people, please take 'em. [laughter] please take 'em. i can read that list to you now. biden, the biden administration, blinken, millie, austin, ball, unfortunately there's more, that's just the ones that i'm focused on at this moment. incompetent, cowards, evil, some are a few of those, some are all of those. i want justice. i want accountability. why would they just not say we made a mistake. our plan was wrong, i'm so sorry. that will have been -- that would have been something, you know, i understand war is hell. i understand that. but no. we didn't get that. staff sergeant taylor hoover, knauss, nicole gee, sergeant ricardo, corporal page, lance corporate epzpinoza, kareem, jared, maxton, they deserve justice. [applause] >> good morning to all of you. i first want to start by saying thank you and acknowledging congressman issa and the rest of his staff and the various mayors sitting here on the stand. but most of all i want to -- i want to thank all of you for being here to listen to the hurt, the anger, the anguish, that we feel for our children. my name is darin hoover. i'm the father of marine corps staff sergeant darin taylor hoover. we had different middle names, he's a self-made man, man to himself, that left a hole in our families when he was taken from us by terrorists. he's left behind some pretty big shoes to fill and if i'm being honest with you and with myself they will never be filled. not for lack of trying, as we strive every day to do, but that's the measure of the man he is and that he was raised to be. we miss him immensely and time will never heal that wound. kelly and i were blessed with taylor, and as his parents, like all other parents, given the sacred responsibility to protect and provide for his well-being. we were tasked with also teaching him about life. now he's taught us so much more than we ever did with him. we raised him to know right from wrong. we raised him to be a patriot and to love this country that we are blessed to call home. we raised him to help others as they needed it or saw the need to do so even if it seemed insignificant at the time. we never know the hearts that we are able to touch, with just a kind word or a helping hand up. taylor is the poster child for being a loving and caring human and took that responsibility to a whole other level. this compassionate and caring man was always looking out for others but especially his marines. if some one came to him and asked him a question of -- a question of him that he didn't know, he would research the answer so that he could give the correct information back and also expected that from his marines. this compassionate caring was put to paper by his lieutenant at the time of his death, lieutenant bird and is as follows. it's called the grown ass man. what is my number one rule, taylor would ask this question to his marines at least once a week and you could always count on it being asked on a friday afternoon before the marines were released for the weekend. and always without fail taylor would point to one of the marines in the formation and he would answer back. be a grown ass man, staff sergeant. taylor would reply exactly. and with that, the marines would go on and enjoy their weekend. it was part of our weekly rituals that we had and this was always the last thing the guys were told before we left for the weekend or the week. back on a friday in february we had a whole group of young marines who had just joined our platoon a few days earlier. all of them were 18 or 19-year-olds, just graduated high school approximately eight months before that. when it came time for taylor to ask his weekly question he pointed to one of our brand-new marines and said as he did every friday, what's my number one rule? lo and behold, this poor young kid did not know the answer as this was his first friday with the platoon. and as you can imagine, uh -- uh -- uh -- i don't know, staff sergeant, and barely audible and full of fear as he looked down at the ground. at this point everybody in the platoon is silent. and no one is really sure what is about to happen. even the more senior marines had a look of hesitation on their faces. you could see them trying to calculate what taylor was going to do next. this was the first time this had ever happened, and i myself was pretty curious to see how this was going to turn out. well, you know what, today's your lucky day, said taylor. we are going to give you the answer to this. hey, sergeant tree, can you tell this young marine what my number one rule is? your number one rule is to be a grown ass man, staff sergeant, said sergeant tree in a large booming voice so that everyone, especially the new junior marines could be sure to hear. exactly. now i'll tell you what. i'll give you another chance. said taylor to the now clearly flustered young marine. what do you think i mean by that? and once again in the most quiet voice that a human could possibly emit, this poor young kid goes i don't know, staff sergeant. i figured that, said taylor. so, let me tell you. being a grown ass man means you will always look out for the marines that you see around you because they will always look out for you. if you see someone needs help, go over and ask them what you can do to help them. if you need help with anything, you need to be mature enough to ask for help. being a grown ass man means if you make a mistake, that you will own up to it and then work to correct it. it means that if you have to think twice about doing something then you probably shouldn't do it. if you make a mistake, it's ok because no one is perfect. we will still stand by you and support you, but a grown ass man learns from his mistakes. but understand this. you as a grown ass man need to understand there is no such thing as a mistake when it comes to morality. you are well aware of what things like lying or stealing that are wrong and those in fact are not mistakes. those are conscious decisions that you as a grown ass man are not allowed to make. does that make sense? it does, staff sergeant, said this young marine, though not in a quivering whisper as he had been speaking but a tone filled with confidence and respect. taylor was the big brother and the father figure that so many young marines never had. a lot of them had come to us from broken homes or been raised by their grandmothers or other family members. it wasn't that they hadn't been taught what was right from wrong, it was that some of them had just never had a father figure that truly cared for them. taylor was exactly that person. there was never a time when he was not acting in a way that should not be emulated. he would never hesitate to pull a marine regardless of rank. and pull them to the side and ask him how things were going if he had the slightest inclination that there was something bothering him. there are so many young men that taylor took the time to mentor, to coach, to listen to, when he saw that they were going through something or just needed someone to confide in. and i can say with the fullest confidence that there are countless young men who have become not just better marines, but better fathers, husbands, sons, and friends because of the influence that he had on him. the loss of taylor is a void that simply cannot be filled. i want to ensure everyone that taylor will forever live on and that his impact will live on through those that he considered his brothers. when new marines check in, they will hear the stories, not on just his heroic actions but they will come to embody the values that he stood for and just like those he directly led, they will as well go on to better men because of it. now as i said in the beginning that his mother and i took the responsibility for taylor's safety and his well-being. and in that day in september we transferred that responsibility to the marine corps, the department of defense, and the others in the various administration since he joined the marine corps 11 years before his death. the most recent administration department of defense and the marine corps did not uphold their end of that contract. i know there are those that will say that taylor and his brothers in arms signed on the dotted line and knew the consequences that could occur as we had been at war for 20 years, and they would be correct. but this didn't need to happen in the manner that it did. and for those who had power over our military, know that they made a conscious decision that led to the chaotic and frantic withdrawal from afghanistan. for the secretary of defense, general austin, general millie, to say they are satisfied with the withdrawal of our troops is nothing short of disgusting and ignorant. retired marine corps general mckenzie can be included in this as well as these were his marines. and he should have known better. with all of these generals having approximately 90 years of experience combined, and to come up with a plan they attempted to carry out is despicable. and to say to congress they thought it was a good withdrawal are sorely, sorely mistaken. then to have individuals like john kirby come in and say that he did not see the chaos from his perch is both tone deaf and ignorant. we have all seen the pictures and the videos as he was speaking. now to the secretary of state. our kids were not trained extensively what to look for when looking for the green cards, the passports, and the other pieces of paper that were needed to get out of that country. and to assist our americans that were there, our allies. the afghans, which just wanted to get out and a new life out from under the taliban rule. to have the ambassador to afghanistan changed out midway through all of this should be a huge red flag. why was that done? because the prior ambassador was not on board with the decisions being made and the way it was being handled? if that's the case, then something needs to be done. in closing, i'm calling out secretary blinken, secretary austin, general millie, general mckenzie, lieutenant colonel whitehead, who could not give the order to the snipers to take out the bomber before he detonated his vest and ultimately the president. do what our son did. be a grown ass man. admit to your mistakes. learn from them so that this doesn't happen ever ever again. you all need to resign immediately. our sons and daughters have more integrity in their little toes than every one of them combined. you owe it to our families here today. to the other gold and silver star families that have gone before. and most of all to the veterans who have given so much for this country so that we have the freedoms that we enjoy today. thank you. [applause] >> kristi, you want to go next? >> good morning. my name is kristi chamblin, i'm proud to be sergeant nicole gee's mom-in-law. her mom becky would be here today but she passed before nicole and i would like to think she was waiting for her in heaven. i'm not a speaker, and this is not my comfort zone, so please be patient with me. i would like to thank congressman issa and you all for being here today. it's really important. it means so very much to us. thank you. as i thought about what i could say today i thought of nicole and the bright light that she brought to our lives. she was known for being a positive and encouraging person to so many people in her life. she was ambitious, driven, caring. she was a badass marine. [applause] one of my favorite memories of nicole includes the picture that was taken of her just days before her murder in afghanistan. she's holding an infant and she posted with that, i love my job. she's in the middle of the most horrific conditions i've ever witnessed in my life and she's proudly serving her country and loving her job doing 100%. she held nothing back. she strived to be the best she could and she encouraged everybody in her life to do the same in their own way. my son was active duty marine at the time of her death also. they were a marine couple stationed at lejeune in north carolina. very proud of my son. as god has seen fit sometimes in my life he put us together on the day he was notified. and we left the next day to dover air force base for what i now know is called the dignified transfer. i can't even begin to piece together the words that would convey to you the devastation that her murder has brought to our family. when your child is murdered you feel like there is no justice and you question your very existence. happy to tell you that success with the support of the marine corps and mental health professionals does come in small doses. and you gain small footings every day to make a new chapter in your life. we are grateful, so very grateful for people like yourselves and the americans who want to hear our children's stories. because we don't get to make new memories with our children. all we have is their memory -- all we have is the memories, the stories we get to share with you guys. we are grateful for the support of people like congressman issa and several other congressmen who have been taking us and really allowing us to have our voices heard and to make it better for both our active duty service members, our veterans, and the next families that will have to welcome their children home in a casket draped with a flag. it will happen again. it is the cost of the greatest country on earth and it's the cost of our freedoms. and we want to make sure that while we can't bring our children back, the next ones will be treated with more respect, the respect that they earned by dying for our country. helping for a positive change is the silver lining for our family. when our leaders, including secretary of defense and our commander in chief called this evacuation a success as if there should be celebration -- it is like a knife in the heart. for our families and the people who came back and for every servicemember that served over this 20-year war. i live every single day knowing that these deaths were preventable. my daughter could be with us today and that wasn't just one decision, it was many decisions, many times over it could have been stopped. so to call it a success is an ultimate disrespect for the very people that deserve every ounce of respect that we can give them. that day there was 13 avoidable deaths of our servicemembers. 30 plus critically wounded warriors who have our hearts. these young men and women came back bigger patriots than they left. i don't know how that's possible and i admire them from the bottom of my heart. we left thousands, thousands of allies behind. billions of dollars in resources for them to use against us. this was not a success. and doing the same thing and expecting different results is the definition of insanity. what we are asking for is to stop the insanity and make it better for the next group. thank you. [applause] >> hello. i'm completely out of my wheelhouse. and that's my son right there between the american flag and the marine flag, kareem nicoui. there we go. ok. i would like to thank god,