Washington Post
Alex Horton is a reporter for the Washington Post. He formerly served as a senior advisor for VoteVets.org, a nonpartisan group looking after the rights of active and retired duty officers. Horton is a former specialist with the Army's 3rd Stryker Brigade, where he wrote the blog, Army of Dude.
More than 1000 migrants trek from Central American to U.S. President Trump tweeted today, “Mexico has the absolute power stop these Caravans.” He went on to blame Congress and Democrats for scuttling a deal on DACA, and other things. The president’s Twitter feed isn’t the most reliable source, but there truly is a caravan of migrants headed for the U.S. border.
Air Force oversight allowed Texas mass shooter to buy guns The killer of 26 people in a Texas church on Sunday was court martialed by the Air Force for domestic violence. Federal law might have prevented him from buying an assault weapon and two pistols, but the Air Force failed to enter his record into a data base. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson told Andrew Ross Sorkin of CNBC’s Squawk Box that the Air Force is checking all of its databases to confirm that all court martial convictions for violent offenses have been reported to civilian databases. "We've taken responsibility and we're going to find out what happened and fix it." Alex Horton is covering the mass shooting for the Washington Post .
Bowe Bergdahl gets dishonorable discharge but avoids prison At Fort Bragg, North Carolina today, a shocked courtroom heard a military judge sentence Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, who pled guilty to deserting his post in Afghanistan and faced life behind bars. The prosecution asked for 14 months. Instead, Bergdahl received a dishonorable discharge, a fine of $10,000 and no jail time at all. During last year's campaign, candidate Donald Trump accused him of "treason." About his chances of getting justice, Bergdahl said, "We may as well go back to kangaroo courts and lynch mobs that got what they wanted." Alex Horton, who covered his trial for the Washington Post , says many – including Bergdahl -- were shocked that he did not receive jail sentence.
Origins of Memorial Day; Honoring Our Fallen Soldiers Memorial Day began after the Civil War, which killed 600,000 Americans, North and South. But the first day of remembrance wasn't really about them. It was started by southern women, mourning what they called the Lost Cause: the Confederacy. When the northern states got into the act, it was all about commemorating the soldiers who died for the Union. We bring the history up to the present holiday—which is also about barbeques, three-day weekends and the beginning of summer. Does America do a good job of remembering war dead? What about grieving families and living veterans?
Veterans' Day: Just Another Day to Go Shopping? In the aftermath of September 11, President Bush told Americans to return to business as usual and go shopping. Today Americans have the day off to honor the veterans of past wars and those that are being fought now in Iraq and Afghanistan. But since establishment of the all-volunteer service, there’s a disconnect so great that, on Veterans' Day, many civilians don’t even know one. We talk to veterans about why they fight and what it’s like to come home. Should the dead and the wounded be treated as "victims" or heroes who suffered the consequences of their own choices? Is Veterans' Day more than another day to go shopping?
Trump's 'America First' goes missing abroad In the Middle East, President Trump is changing some policies of the Obama Administration—and reversing his own campaign attacks on Islam as a religion that "hates us." We hear about his visit to Saudi Arabia and what's at stake for the rest of his foreign excursion.
Ex-FBI Director Comey tells his side of the story Today, former FBI Director James Comey came close to calling the President who fired him a liar. The White House denied the claim and called it insulting, but Republican Senators did not challenge Comey’s truthfulness. Many questions remain: did the President try to obstruct a federal investigation? Later, we’ll go behind the “velvet rope” for a look at 5-Star health care for the richest Americans.
How was the trip? President Trump's travels got less fun as he went from the Middle East to Europe.
Janesville and the American Dream Janesville, Wisconsin is the hometown of Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. But he couldn’t prevent the closing of the General Motors factory after 100 years. On this Memorial Day rebroadcast of To the Point, we hear what’s happened to what once was a model of American middle-class unity.