destination, nicaragua. at this moment, dr. mirro and the revolutionary council are in new york, 2,000 miles away. in their hotel they don't know what is happening. no one tells them. behind the scenes they are still deeply divided on how to defeat castro. on april 12, the president holds a press conference. >> has a decision been reached on how far this country will be willing to go in helping an anti-castro invasion? >> well, first, i want to say that there will not be on any condition the intervention in cuba by the united states armed forces. and this government will do everything it possibly can. and i think it can meet its responsibilities to make sure that there are no americans involved in any actions inside cuba. >> preparations for the invasion continue. from texas the united states takes off the airfield. >> a united states naval task force puts to sea for caribbean maneuvers scheduled for the next week. the united states marines are at sea in transport to take part in the maneuvers. april 13th, at puerto cabeza, nic

destination, nicaragua. at this moment doctor miro and the revolutionary council are in the country 2000 miles away. in the hotels, they don't know what is happening. no one tells them. behind the scenes there is still deeply divided over how to defeat castro. on april 12th, the president holds a press conference. >> as a decision has been reached on how far this country would be willing to go in helping and anti-castro uprising in cuba? >> first, i want to say that this will not be under any condition be an intervention in cuba by the united states armed forces. this government will do everything it possibly can, and i think it will meet its responsibilities to make sure that there are no americans involved in any of the actions inside cuba. >> preparations for the invasion continue. from texas, the united states face off in the photographs on the airfield. the united states naval passport switched to see for caribbean maneuvers schedule for the next week. united states marines are in transport at sea and a

you also had a ninth b-26th flown by a pilot who flew directly from nicaragua to miami, who landed in the b 26 and claimed that he was part of the conspiracy of cuban pilots who that morning had bombed their own air fields and was now coming to the united states. that fell apart very quickly, though, for a number of reasons. for one thing, his b-26 was different than the b-26s in castro's air force. and some enterprising journalists figured that out rather quickly. for example, he had machine guns in the nose cone, castro's machine guns were mounted under the wings. so that was part of how this whole -- why john kennedy ended up canceling the air strikes on the 16th. because once people realized this was not true, a charade, they realized, wait a minute, something is not right about this, and they started looking at the americans for answers as to what was going on. so, yeah, they were all marked. they were all marked to look like castro's planes. there's somebody over here. i'll come to you in a second. yes. >> in your opening remarks, you referred to the fact that kennedy was concer

flew from the brigade air base and nicaragua to cuba they did this because the brigade pilots had been flying virtually non-stop and had suffered numerous casualties and these americans volunteered to fly in their place. well that morning their planes were shot down over cuba and all four were killed. including a 30 year old pilot named thomas pete ray thomas ray's daughter janet ray is here with us tonight and was a big help to me when i was writing this book. as we're veterans of the brigade when i visited him two years ago over the 48th anniversary of the bay of pigs invasion, so i'm grateful for your help and for their help. and i'm grateful to all of you for coming and listening to me tonight. and what i want to do now is give you a chance. to ask any questions that you might have. or make any brief comments. we've got c-span here with us. so you please wait for the microphone to come over before you speak and and please because there are so many of us here tonight. try to keep it brief. so everybody gets a chance who wants to say something we'll get a chance to do. so, okay. than

thank you for joining us from around the world in nicaragua, brazil, germany, and two viewers watching from poland. i know that your father escaped to the city in vote -- lithuania and you and your mother soon followed him. the three of you were among 15,000 estimated jews who found safe haven there but it was not long lived. soviet forces invaded. how did this affect your father? in relation to his outspoken political views? leo: my father, who was a brilliant man, was a very strong member of jewish socialists, anti-communist, anti-stalin, and he was on a list for arrest or could have been on a list. nkdb was the precursor to the kgb. once the russians came back to capture, he did not return. he was not happy with the russians. he called my mother and -- on a telephone that our neighbor had, we did not have a telephone, and told her to grab me and some stuff and take the last train before the borders closed. she did that and we said our goodbyes. we did not know whether that would be for a week, two weeks, or whatever. it turned out to be forever. we did know it -- did not know it at

thank you for joining us from around the world in nicaragua, in brazil, the city of cologne in germany and in the polish city of krakow. we're very happy to have you here. now, leo, i know from speaking with you previously that your father escaped to list wane a ya, and you and -- lithuania and you and your mother soon followed him. you were among an estimated 15,000 polish jews who found safe haven there, but it was not long-livedded. after eight months, soviet forces invaded, and we are seeing a photograph of those troops coming into town. how did this affect your father particularly in relation to his outspoken political views? >> well, my father who was a brilliant man was a very strong member of the organization who were jewish socialists, very much anti-communist, very much anti-stalin. and, therefore, he was on a list for arrest, or could have been on a list anyway. he wasn't ever sure of the nkbd which is the precursor to the kgb. and so once the russians came back into the city, he did not return from vilna for the reasons i just indicated. he was not happy with the russians,

thank you for joining us from around the world in nicaragua in brazil in the city of cologne and germany and to viewers watching from the agalonian university in the polish city of krakov. we're very happy to have you here. now leo i know from speaking with you previously that your father escaped to the city of vilnius or vilna and lithuania and you and your mother soon followed him the three of you were among an estimated 15,000 polish jews who found safe haven there, but it was not long lived after eight months in lithuania soviet forces invaded and we are seeing a photograph of those troops coming into town. how did this affect your father a particularly in relation to his outspoken political views? well, my father who was a brilliant man was a very strong member of the boom organization who were are jewish socialists very much anti-communist very much anti-stolic and therefore he was on a list for arrest or could have been on a list. anyway, he wasn't ever sure of the nk. which is the precursor to the kgb and so once the russians came back into capture biala stock. he did not return

they signed up, there was a recruiting drive and again, they were trained in guatemala, nicaragua, a few places in the u.s. despite state department -- they were hoping to take back their country for freedom. host: lets let some of our viewers take part in this conversation, roger from new york. good morning. caller: good morning. how are you feeling? nicholas: fine. caller: i have an interesting question. in 1898, the u.s. with teddy roosevelt got rid of the spaniards and mckinley sent the rough riders in and everybody in cuba to get rid of the spaniards. why didn't eisenhower, why didn't kennedy, why didn't they send the u.s. military in. i was reading a thing about the bay of pigs on usa today and most of generals at the time -- most generals at a time, the cia was not supposed to go in and do military operations. the u.s. military, the dod, was supposed to go into cuba to get rid of castro. nicholas: yes. both eisenhower and kennedy were unwilling to commit, at least openly, u.s. military forces to the overthrow of the castro regime. one of the great concerns was to maintain good

you know, there was a recruiting drive, and, again, they were trained in guatemala, nicaragua, a few places in the united states, despite the state department objecting to that. and they were hoping to take pack their country for freedom. >> let's let some of our viewers this conversation. we'll start with roger who is calling from great neck, new york. roger, good morning. >> caller: good morning. how are you feeling? >> just fine. >> go ahead, roger. >> caller: yeah, hi. i have a question, an interesting question. in 1898, the u.s. with teddy roosevelt and the 17th volunteer of new york got rid of the spaniards, and mckinley sent the roughh riders in and everybody into cuba to get rid of the spaniards. why didn't -- why didn't eisenhower, why didn't kennedy, why didn't they send the u.s. military in? i was reading a thing about the bay of pigs on a"usa today" in las vegas, nevada, and most generals at the time, the cia was notra supposed to go in ando military operations. the u.s. military, the dod, was supposed to go into cuba to get rid of castro. >> yes. both eisenhower and kenn

guatemala nicaragua a few places in the united states despite the state department objecting to to that. and they were hoping to take back their country for freedom. let's let some of our viewers take part in this conversation. we'll start with rogers who's calling from great neck, new york roger. good morning. good morning. how are you feeling? go ahead roger. yeah. hi. um, i have a question very interesting question. in 1898 the us with teddy roosevelt in the 17th are volunteer of new york. got rid of the spaniards and mckinley sent the the you know, the rough riders in and everybody into cuba to get rid of the spaniards. why didn't why didn't eisenhower's in kennedy? why didn't they send the us military in? i was reading a thing about the they have pigs on usa today in las vegas, nevada and most generals at the time. to cia was not supposed to go in and do military operations the us military the dod was supposed to go into cuba. get rid of castro. yes. both eisenhower and kennedy were unwilling to commit at least openly us military force is to the overthrow of the castro regime one o

[laughter] he served as the consulate to nicaragua and venezuela over a four-year period he was in venezuela during coup d'État. he quits the foreign service around 1910 it comes back to new york city although he had some periods back-and-forth with jacksonville. by the way he got a lot agree and was also principal at stanton high school for a while that was in the 18 nineties. he went to university which is very pivotal in his life where he really discovered jim crow. but then he becomes a newspaper editor writing all the editorials for the new york age for almost three years. quite a journalist. political journalist then in the middle of world war i, he was recruited by a w eb the boys to come to the naacp and became first the field secretary which meant he was traveling all over the jim crow south to organize chapters or branches they called them of the naacp and the membership increased to and threefold he was field secretary by the then he was the director and spent 14 years running the naacp. but by the way along the way he wrote the most famous early modernist black novel called the

venezuela and new grenada in mexico in argentina and chile and peru in guatemala in el salvador in nicaragua in costa rica in panama in the hellenic republic in brazil, the united provinces bolivia and uruguay had all written their own declarations of independence all of them modeled on ours we know in fact that american travelers in chile and mexico actually distributed translations of our declaration there in the years before the chileans and the mexicans liberated themselves. and multiple translations of our declaration also made their way to colombia, venezuela and ecuador over the course of the 50-year period after 1776. a half century known to scholars as the age of revolutions so you could call it the age of declarations, too. as the harvard historian david armitage has shown and i'm drawing on his work here. that age of revolutions was just the first of four great waves of declaration making in global history since 1776 a second wave swept round the world in the immediate aftermath of the first and second first world war between 1918 and 1939. declarations of independence was central

thousands of cubans demanding their freedom, the consolidation of the region's third dictatorship in nicaragua and a contested election in perÚ. the administration is prioritizing migration starting with good governance, growing economic opportunity and improving public safety. these crises pose risks to the stability of the hemisphere. afghanistan's rapid deterioration poses a serious national security risk, many of our afghan partners who championed democracy and human rights are unable to apply for the special im grant visa program or existing channels to protect afghan allies. i urge you to accelerate your plans to address the potentially life-threatening situation these individuals face with the current u.s. withdrawal from the country. how we withdraw and what political arrangement is left in our wake matters deeply not just for u.s. interests but also for the lives of these brave afghan partners. africa is facing numerous security and development challenges, the protracted conflict in ethiopia, a fragile transition is sudan, coups in mali and shad diminishing efforts to diminish extrem

counsel to nicaragua. he was in venezuela during a coup d'etat, he had to wear a gun all the time, day and night. he quits the foreign service around 1910, '11, comes back to new york city, although he had some periods back and forth in jacksonville where, by the way, got his law degree. principal of stanton high school in the 1890s and went to atlanta university, black college, very pivotal in his life, where he really discovered jim crow, but then he becomes a newspaper editor in the teens, wrote all the editorials for three years, quite a journalist, political journalist. and along about in the middle of world war i, 1916, he was recruited by w.b. du bois and others to come to the end of the naacp. and he became first their field secretary, which meant he was the person traveling all over the south, the jim crow south, to organize chapters, branches, they called them, of the naacp. and the membership of the naacp increased two and threefold during the time he was field secretary. by the early '20s he be