Latest / DEEP INSIGHT / Trump Triumphal arch will be used for drones, snipers & ammo

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Trump Triumphal arch will be used for drones, snipers & ammo · DEEP INSIGHT

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: President Trump says his latest project to change the skyline
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: of the nation's capital won't just be for show. He
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: is now arguing that his so-called triumphal arch will also
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: be a military complex.
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: The president says his proposed 250-foot-tall arch, directly across from
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  Speaker 2: Arlington National Cemetery, will be used to store ammunition, drones,
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  Speaker 2: and even serve as a sniper's post. With us now
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  Speaker 2: to discuss, CNN military analyst, retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Layton.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: Colonel Layton, great to see you as always. So the
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  Speaker 2: president says the arch is going to house these drones
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  Speaker 2: and snipers and sniper ammunition. How does that make sense
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  Speaker 2: from a strategic standpoint?
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  Speaker 3: Boris, it doesn't. It's one of the oddest things I've
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  Speaker 3: heard when it comes to this kind of a monument.
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  Speaker 3: You know, when you look at any kind of defensive
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  Speaker 3: position or any reason for this, drones are in places,
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  Speaker 3: protective drones would be in places where they can actually
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  Speaker 3: do some good. You would be looking at them interfering
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  Speaker 3: with the flight patterns, for example, at Reagan National Airport.
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  Speaker 3: You would certainly be wondering where these snipers are supposed
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  Speaker 3: to do their work and for what purpose they would
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  Speaker 3: be doing their work. So there is no military reason
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  Speaker 3: that I understand for these things to be on any
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  Speaker 3: building of this type or any structure of this type.
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  Speaker 3: The only time that an arch of its type was
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  Speaker 3: used in a way for military purposes that I've been
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  Speaker 3: able to find was in 1871 when the French used
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  Speaker 3: the Arc de Triomphe as a position for artillery when
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  Speaker 3: they had the Paris Commune and there was civil strife
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  Speaker 3: in Paris. But that is the only time that a
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  Speaker 3: structure of this type has been used for any kind
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  Speaker 3: of military purpose like that.
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  Speaker 1: Is reason to question what he's doing. Because as he's
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  Speaker 1: saying that this was at the, quote, strong request of
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  Speaker 1: the U.S. military, he also used similar kind of late
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: game explanations to explain the ballroom and why it needed to,
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: the East Wing needed to be converted to the ballroom,
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  Speaker 1: saying that it served a national security purpose. Is that
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  Speaker 1: real as you see it? Or is that just trying
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  Speaker 1: to make these controversial projects real? more palatable? Does it
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  Speaker 1: seem real?
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  Speaker 3: I think it's trying to make them more palatable because,
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  Speaker 3: you know, when you look at the White House, when
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  Speaker 3: you look at the East Wing and the ballroom, there
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  Speaker 3: is a military complex underneath that structure. There is a
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  Speaker 3: security area for the National Security Council and the National
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  Speaker 3: Command Authority. So that exists. There is nothing new about that. Now,
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  Speaker 3: they may be making modifications and modernizing things. Sure, that
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  Speaker 3: happens all the time. But there is no reason to
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  Speaker 3: justify the kind of construction, if you want to call
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: it that, that has been going on there. When it
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  Speaker 3: comes to this particular structure, this proposed structure, I would
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  Speaker 3: like to see the military justification for it because looking
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  Speaker 3: at these kinds of things in the past, I have
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  Speaker 3: never seen justification that would fit for this.
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  Speaker 2: There's also what it looms over, and that's Arlington National Cemetery.
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  Speaker 2: It not only disrupts the sight line from the cemetery
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  Speaker 2: and the Lincoln Memorial, which has a historic symbolism to it,
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  Speaker 2: but also they're planning an observation deck, which the administration
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  Speaker 2: has now changed to a military observation deck, and that
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  Speaker 2: would give sight to ceremonies that are happening at the
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  Speaker 2: cemetery in at very sensitive times for these military families.
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  Speaker 3: And that would be a real disservice to those military
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  Speaker 3: families because that moment of grief when you lay someone
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  Speaker 3: to rest is really a difficult time for the family anyways.
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  Speaker 3: And to have people even from a distance intruding on
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  Speaker 3: that ceremony, is a disservice to them. It's almost sacrilegious.
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  Speaker 3: And so when you look at these types of plans
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  Speaker 3: and you see what other countries have done with facilities
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  Speaker 3: of this type, they will use these as civilian observation points,
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  Speaker 3: but they're not in the line of sight. I drove
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  Speaker 3: that line of sight today. It is a most magnificent view.
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  Speaker 3: If you're heading toward the Lincoln Memorial and you look
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  Speaker 3: in your rear view mirror, you can see this absolutely
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  Speaker 3: perfect line to Arlington House, to the Women's Memorial, to
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  Speaker 3: all of those areas. And then you look ahead and
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  Speaker 3: you see the Lincoln Memorial if you're heading into Washington.
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  Speaker 3: And it is absolutely beautiful. It is a pristine view.
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  Speaker 3: And it is a view that really, for aesthetic reasons
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  Speaker 3: as well as for the reasons of propriety, it should
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  Speaker 3: not be changed.
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  Speaker 1: Keeping this picture up, I just want to be very
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  Speaker 1: clear to people who may not be familiar with Washington, D.C.
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  Speaker 1: and Arlington, Virginia. You kind of can't quite make it out,
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  Speaker 1: but what we're talking about is the space about between
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  Speaker 1: where this photo is being taken and that entrance to
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  Speaker 1: the cemetery at the end. In the middle is a
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  Speaker 1: traffic circle. It's almost like in a little bit of
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  Speaker 1: a depression. If you look at it, you can see
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  Speaker 1: just a little bit of green there. It's not that big, Cedric.
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  Speaker 1: It's also a thoroughfare, even though it takes you from
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  Speaker 1: Washington into the cemetery, there are then also, it's a
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  Speaker 1: big commute to the left and the right in this
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  Speaker 1: photo of people coming from Virginia to D.C., and vice versa.
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  Speaker 1: It works right now. It's hard to see how it
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  Speaker 1: would work with so much construction.
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  Speaker 3: It's really difficult to imagine because when you look at
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  Speaker 3: these pictures that we have here, you can see it
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  Speaker 3: would really interrupt the flow of traffic. And the other
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  Speaker 3: thing that's really important for major funerals, this is the
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  Speaker 3: area that would be used, for example, for a state funeral.
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  Speaker 3: And when John F. Kennedy's casket was brought to his
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  Speaker 3: final resting place, it came through this area. And that
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  Speaker 3: would really disturb the flow of a procession like that.
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  Speaker 3: And it would also really create some difficulties, you know,
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  Speaker 3: in everyday life for everyday commuters as well. So this is,
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  Speaker 3: you know, there are some dangers here to putting this
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  Speaker 3: out here from an aesthetic standpoint and certainly from the
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  Speaker 3: standpoint of the families who have loved ones at Arlington
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  Speaker 3: National Cemetery.
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  Speaker 4: How do you feel about the president's new justification for
• 6:23
  Speaker 4: this 250-foot arch as a kind of sniper outpost?
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  Speaker 5: Well, there's such a high level of absurdity around the
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  Speaker 5: entire thing because Washington, D.C. already has an anti-aircraft and
• 6:33
  Speaker 5: protection system that is in place from the military. But
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  Speaker 5: that arch not only would directly block Arlington Cemetery, it
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  Speaker 5: also is a hazard to the airport and potentially to
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  Speaker 5: other military infrastructure. But I think the biggest piece for
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  Speaker 5: me especially as somebody who has veterans in my life
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  Speaker 5: and my own partner who is a veteran of the Marines,
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  Speaker 5: is that it is so insulting that Donald Trump wants
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  Speaker 5: to build an arch to himself in front of one
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  Speaker 5: of the most hallowed grounds in our nation's capital where
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  Speaker 5: thousands of veterans are buried and would obstruct the view
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  Speaker 5: of the unknown soldier. I find it disgraceful. I think
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  Speaker 5: he's going to lose his lawsuit. I think his public
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  Speaker 5: statements up until now have made this clear. He's building
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  Speaker 5: this arch to himself. And I'm proud and grateful of
• 7:18
  Speaker 5: the veterans who are suing right now.
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  Speaker 4: You are on the House Oversight Committee. If Democrats take
• 7:23
  Speaker 4: control of Congress, oversight will have the ability to conduct
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  Speaker 4: hearings and whatnot. For you, what would be the priority?
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  Speaker 4: What would be the first thing you would want Democrats
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  Speaker 4: in the majority in oversight to do?
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  Speaker 5: Well, I think we really have two huge tasks. One
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  Speaker 5: is to tackle the abject corruption we see coming out
• 7:41
  Speaker 5: of this White House. And I think secondly, for me,
• 7:44
  Speaker 5: it's getting justice for the Epstein survivors, which we've spent
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  Speaker 5: much of the last year trying to pursue and been
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  Speaker 5: blocked at every single stage as the president has used
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  Speaker 5: his cabinet, the war room of the White House, the
• 7:56
  Speaker 5: Situation Room to try to stop the release of the
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  Speaker 5: Epstein files. But, you know, Donald Trump is, I believe,
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  Speaker 5: the most corrupt president in history. It eclipses anything we've
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  Speaker 5: ever seen. And I think that our job is to
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  Speaker 5: investigate the corruption, to make criminal referrals for when a
• 8:11
  Speaker 5: DOJ is able to prosecute any potential crimes in the
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  Speaker 5: future and to change the laws to make sure that
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  Speaker 5: this can never happen again in the United States.