war in afghanistan. we will now read the biographies of our second set of distinguished guests and i recognize my distinguished co chair for his introduction of dr. vickers >> >>. thank you. dr. vickers is joining us here today as an expert witness. his bio reads like no other bio i've ever been exposed to. he has had a career as a special operator in the military, a cia operations officer, national security policy maker, an intelligence community leader. that is just to start. his experiences span the last two decades of the cold war through a decade and a half of our war with al qaeda, its allies and its offshoots. as the assistant secretary of defense for special operations, low intensity conflict. and the under secretary of defense for intelligence, 2007 to 2015, he conceived and led the largest expansion of special operations forces in our nation's history and oversaw several other major capability investments ranging from next generation long range strike to undersea warfare. he was a key operation

war in afghanistan. some might argue that the self -evident lesson of the war in afghanistan is quite simple. never again. however earnestly we may seek to avoid foreign entanglements, such distaste for intervention is an imperfect shield against the future. we did not enter afghanistan in search of a 20 year commitment . we entered in response to what was seen as a profound and open ended threat to the american homeland. a future generation may find itself in similar straits. we owe it to this nation to arm that future generation with the hard won insights of afghanistan. our first panel sets the stage for our inquiry by helping us better understand the value of a rigorous independent examination like that the afghanistan war commission is undertaking. we will hear from distinguished historians and experts about prior efforts to draw lessons from history. throughout our work, we will ask witnesses to challenge our assumptions in pursuit of a thoroughly balanced understanding of the war. our second panel

policy in afghanistan. our work and our recommendations will be even more important to protect the future national security of our country. so i really appreciate the honor to be able to serve. i want to be able to thank both of our distinguished witnesses. i do have one question for dr coburn, you suggest that the failure to build legitimacy of afghanistan government institutions was a serious failure and that it was avoidable. so my question would be, looking at the conflict from the early stages of u.s. involvement, what could have been done differently to build a greater level of government legitimacy at both the local and national levels? >> thank you. i think that is a really important question. i would say that the ultimate legitimacy of the afghan government lay in the hands of the afghan elites that created the government. that being said, i think u.s. policy did a lot to undermine and distort priorities for afghan leaders. listening to dr. vickers, i think one of the strong contrast between the mu

i commend the courage of all those who served in afghanistan.1 americans who made the ultimate sacrifice in the longest war in american history. i grieve with the sprayed service member supplies were lost during the withdrawal. we also thank those inside and outside of government who have done so much to help thousands of afghan families resettled in the united states. remember, critics said if we end of the work it damage our alliance and great threats to our homeland, foreign direct terrorism out of a safe haven in afghanistan. neither has occurred. neither has occurred. our alliances stay strong. we've used our capability to strike in afghanistan and elsewhere when we had to. for instance, eliminating zawahiri, leader of al-qaeda and we did without putting more american boots on the ground. and by ending the war we had been able to focus our energy and resources on more urgent challenges. there's nothing i can tell you with my conversation with both president xi and putin, nothing adversaries and competitors and russia and china built like mo

we can amend the courage of all those who served in afghanistan.ll 2,461 americans who made the ultimate sacrifice in the longest war in american history. i grieve those brave service members whose lives were lost during the withdrawal. you think those inside and outside our government who have done so much to help thousands of afghan families resettle in the united states. remember, critics said if we ended the war, it would damage our alliances and create threats to our homeland from foreign directed terrorism out of a safe haven in afghanistan. neither has occurred. neither has occurred. clients stays strong. we have used our rising capabilities to strike in afghanistan and wherever where we have had to. for instance, the leader of al qaeda, helped orchestrate this september 11th attacks. we did it without putting more american boots on the ground. by ending a war, we have been able to focus our energy and resources on more urgent challenges. there is nothing i can tell you from my conversation with both xi and putin like russian and china would

and in afghanistan. in exile, and most of the men's team are, surely there's something wrong there. staying with cricket, sir clive lloyd, the former west indies captain, says he's very disturbed by reports of a new two—tier system for international test matches. it's been suggested the heads of cricket in australia and england will meet with the icc to discuss splitting the test playing nations into two divisions, enabling the big three to play each other more often. if west indies were placed in a second division of nations, lloyd fears for the future. i think it will be terrible for all those countries who worked so hard to get to test match status. and now they're playing among themselves in a lower section. how will they make it to the top? how will they — when you play against better teams, you improve. that's how you know how good you are. how bad you are. so i think that — i'm very disturbed about this. and i hope that something, you know, is done, it must be, you know, stopped now. the way to go

i commend the courage of all those who served in afghanistan. we grieve 2, 461 americans who made the ultimate sacrifice in the longest bar in american history. those lives that were lost during the withdrawal and thank those inside and outside of government who have done so much with afghan families reset in the united states. remember, critics said it would damage our alliances and create threats to our homeland and neither has occurred. neither has occurred. our alliances stay strong. we have used the capabilities to strike in afghanistan and elsewhere when we had. eliminating diswa what hiree. and we did it without putting more american boots on the ground. and by ending the war, we have been able to focus our energy and resources on important urgent challenges. there is nothing i can tell with conversations with putin and xi. russia and china would have liked us to be tied down in afghanistan for another decade. for all those reasons, ending the war was the right thing to do and i believe history will reflect that. from the moment i entered

banks: i served in afghanistan, you served in afghanistan. 75% of our nation's veterans disagree with how the withdrawal from afghanistan was handled, the embarrassment of it. with that done, i believe -- what that's done, i believe, has impacted the historic recruitment crisis in this country, without a doubt. you have already talked about that. how do we fix it? how do we bring pride back to wearing the uniform for the next generation and inspiring them to do what you and i did, take that oath for our country? mr. hegseth: it comes down to strong, clear leadership, patriotic, pro-american leadership that says we are not going to focus on all the other political progress. we all have political perspectives. i said this before and i will say again, in uniform none of that matters. green, blue, you bleed red. who you vote for doesn't matter. when the perception changes, you don't want people deciding to serve based on -- that is a dangerous thing for continuity inside military. it is fragile right now. president trump, and if i'm confirmed, with my leadership, we will restore the conti

many of afghanistan's female players have left the country for their own safety.ss, slippery and morally wrong". i was just really cross with their response, the one they gave to me was the one that we want out to the media. i felt it was non—committal, it didn't show any kind of backbone. i do stand by what i said earlier. i also understand the context in which he's dealing with it. i still think they should be seriously considering a boycott. i made my views clear to him and then he — they made their views very clear about what the consequences of doing such a thing would be. this competition hasn't been around for the last eight years. it happens to be a very big deal for people in pakistan, the pakistani government. i understand the geopolitics of it. there's a wider and bigger issue around women and girls in sport and in afghanistan. if our women cricket players from afghanistan are now living in exile, and most of the men's team are, surely there's something wrong there. staying with cricket, sir clive lloyd, the former west indies captain, says he's very di

i commend the courage of all those who served in afghanistan.2461 americans who made the ultimate sacrifice in the longest war in american history, and i grieve those brave service members whose lives were lost during the withdrawal. we also thank those inside and outside of government who have done so much to help thousands of afghan families resettled in the united states. remember, critics said, if we ended the war, it would damage our alliances and create threats to our homeland from foreign direct to terrorism out of a safe haven in afghanistan. neither has occurred, neither has occurred, and our alliances have stayed strong. we've used our over-the-horizon capabilities to strike in afghanistan and elsewhere when we had to, for instance, eliminating zawahiri, the leader of al qaeda who helped orchestrate the september 11th attacks. and we did it without putting more american boots on the ground. and by ending the war, we've been able to focus our energy and resources on more urgent challenges. there is nothing that i can tell you from my co

and so we not need to stations sizable number american forces in afghanistan. i think if i was head of communications in the white house, i would have mentioned to, to him quietly, maybe maybe see this one like when it comes to afghanistan. well, 2 things. number one, he said that the primary objective was accomplished, but we never really knew what the primary objective is. i s'pose i suspect it was transferring the ex tremendous amount of money from the pockets of the american taxpayers into the coffers of the military industrial complex. if that was the primary objective with no doubt, it was a significant part of it. they were successful, they are. so i think joe biden has been a horrible president and my that yet politically, he has destroyed his own party, completely wiped out his party. they are reeling and they have, they've lost the supreme court, they lost the house, they lost the senate, they lost the white house. joe biden has obliterated his own part.

it was down to the second but it was reminiscent of afghanistan. it was a war zone. >> i remember going through -- and the height of the iraq war and that was dangerous but seeing what these folks went through trying to escape the flames. nobody was shooting at them but it looked as dangerous. did i hear you correctly? good your watering down act as a firing break? >> you can see the flames approached the home and the water line, you can see where it stopped and see where it went up the hill and attack the other homes. yes, that is correct. >> i have seen devastation like this before, never experienced that myself and obviously your home survive. this happens sometimes when you are in a firefight, there is this idea of survivor's guilt. i know you say you wish you could have done more but you did save homes below you on the fire line. what do you say to your neighbors? do you think you will be them again? you think people will rebuild and leave? >> i am still talking to my neighbors every day. the firefighting is still going on. we are part of the

and iran, afghanistan, everything is always new. the existence of the book at all is kind of interesting to me, and i want to know how your con temperature prain yows musings and what future historians came out during your lifetime? >> the purpose is i realize what you just said that so many of the things that i had to deal with that were very serious for president obama to address. and some of them have and iran captured our hostages and developing a nuclear weapon. others are still there. energy. human rights and environment. china, afghanistan, iraq and so forth. go down the list. i said about 40 things i had to address that was still there and one of the reasons i wanted to write the book. i was surprised of how frank and unadull tear rated about individuals that i had to face in the future or looking back on before i made mistakes and i thought it would be the unique and i use that word carefully, unique picture of what the presidency is from the point of view from someone holding that office. i hadn't been in politics very lon

but people predicted once we left afghanistan it would harm our alliances. our alliances are at historic high thaisms predicted that we would have a safe haven in afghanistan for plotting terrorist attacks against the american homeland. terrorism remains a very real concern. but president biden pointed out before he pulled out that it's a more diffuse and metastasized threat, including the kind of homegrown violent extremism we saw on display in new orleans in january. in fact over the course of these four years, we have seen president biden, that was the first terrorist attack that has happened on american soil, that was not connected to afghanistan as far as we know. it was connected to inspiration from isis. so president biden believes that the decision he took has left america in a profoundly stronger position and he'll explain in his speech today why he think that's case. reporter: can you talk at all about the unified u.s. approach between your administration and the incoming? and 40-plus years ago when president reagan took over, there was a perceptio

and you serve in afghanistan. veterans disagree with how the withdrawal from afghanistan was handled,as the embarrassment of it" on has directly impacted historic recruitment crisis in this country without a doubt and departed talked about that, how we fix this? bring pride back to wearing the uniform for the next generation and inspire them to do what united to raise our hand and settled. >> it comes back to strong, clear ship. patriotic american leadership that says we are not going to focus on all the political. we all have political perspectives. i also say this again, in uniform, none of that matters. the green, blue, please let. do you but work doesn't matter but when the perception of that changes and you don't want people deciding whether to serve a political party in t power, is a dangerous thing for continuity and america and its fragile right now. president trump and if confirmed, restore the continuity of a political military the acts decisively and only based on merit. they are d fundamental. >> you a

back in afghanistan.here jake sullivan says we did a great thing leaving. >> lawrence: he used the abbreviation, talking about the connection to usama bin laden. we know back in usama bin laden days, when they releasing folks they went back to the battlefield. >> brian: taliban five. lawrence do we want to do the same thing all over again? that's going to be something the president-elect is going to have to weigh in. >> ainsley: j.d. vance interviewed talking about the hostages in gaza. he says there will be a deal struck for some release of some of the hostages. they are trying to work out some sort of a deal over the next few days that could happen this week? >> brian: over in doha meeting right now steve witkoff back and forth with bill mcguirk trying to get there make sure hamas is wind out. netanyahu talked to president biden yesterday and at which time he says i need a cease-fire stay out of rafah. enough done, don't go in and now you see when you ignore joe biden how much better you do so my sense

the withdrawal from afghanistan.ck and a lot of things republicans say need to change. >> the facts look at it differently. the taliban is back in charge in afghanistan after 20 years of blood and treasure left there by americans who have a major land war in europe. the red sea shipping there has been completely shut down by this rag tag group of houthis that are backed by the iranians, iran enriching uranium at exponential rate and americans have been held hostage underground in gaza for more than 400 days under this president very clear a lot of these moves were made because america is weak as a result of the president unable to make strong statements and take strong action show appeasement is not something that works but instead action. >> bret: juan, there is hope springs eternal for hostage deal and cease-fire but we have seen that before and kind of like charlie brown and lucy and the football being yanked away, it seems when these deals fall apart. >> right, we have some reason for encouragement. the israelis

you served in afghanistan 75, 75% of our nation's veterans disagree with how the withdrawal from afghanistan was handled, the embarrassment of it. what that's done, i believe, has directly impacted our historic recruitment crisis in this country, without a doubt. and you've already talked about that. but how do we fix it? how do we bring pride back to wearing the uniform for the next generation, to inspire them to do what you and i did to raise our right hand and take that oath and serve this great country? >> i really do think it it comes back to strong, clear leadership, patriotic, pro-american leadership that says we're not going to focus on all the other political prerogatives. that's why we all have political perspectives. i said this before, and i'll say it again in uniform, none of that matters. you wear green, you wear blue, you bleed red. that's it. who you vote for doesn't matter. but when the perception of that changes, then you don't want people deciding whether to serve based on a political party in power. that's a dangerous thing for continuity inside your military. and it's fr

obviously, afghanistan is one place the u.s. did not leave in a stronger position. the country of afghanistan itself and the chaotic withdrawal. we lost 13 u.s. service members. today, the taliban is firmly in charge, once again stripping away women's rights. you heard senator katie britt talk about the resurgence of i.s.i.s. k according to washington post columnist david ignatius, you offered to resign in the wake of the withdrawal operation. is that true? well, i have kept my personal conversations with the president private for four years. >> that is the job of national security advisor, and i'm not going to change up in the last week. so i can't tell you what i talked about with him personally and privately. what i can tell you is that the united states of america is definitively better off, that we are not entering our 25th year of americans fighting and dying in afghanistan. well, let me ask you this then. >> did you feel responsible? did you feel personally responsible for the failures in the withdrawal? i think the entire team, the entire national security t

jake: he will address afghanistan in the speech. and it was in a sense referenced because i said we kept america out of war. president biden ended america's longest war after 20 years. it had been passed from president to president. sending american men and women to fight and die in a foreign land. year after year after year. president biden was not going to hand that off. he believes that history will judge his decision to end that war as being the right decision for the united states. that america's bert off today that we are not entering now our 25th year of war of americans fighting and dying of billions and billions of dollars spent in afghanistan and what we have been able to do instead is refocus that effort and energy and attention on the challenges of the future. when you end a war after 20 years with all of the decisions that have piled up over that time, there are going to be challenges and difficulties. there were challenges and difficulties in the period of the drawdown. by *r but people predicted once we left afghanist

and so we not need to stations sizable number american forces in afghanistan. so when i took office i had a choice over there, i saw no reason to keep thousands of service man. and i've janice that i take, i have my schedule with me and i keep on them. i don't here, don't it. but i keep out of the back of my car. the actual number of dead and wounded occurred in our longest war. mind myself keep spending hundreds of millions of dollars a day. we no longer doing that. in my view was trying to end the war and bring our troops home and we did command the courage of all those the serv canister. we grieve, all 2461. americans made the ultimate sacrifice and the longest war and american history. and i really, those brave service matters wiser last, during the withdrawal. and we're also saying those inside and outside of government have done so much. 12000 wrapped in families re settling united states. remember, critics that we had of the war would damage our lines of credit stretched to our homeland and foreign director, terrorism. out of a safe haven that can stand

forces from afghanistan.but nevertheless, he did say it was important to him that he keep his promise of ending the presence of american forces there and not handing off that war to his successor. but i will say, as we are talking about in the big picture, this victory lap that he is taking on foreign policy and trying to cement his legacy. i think we just have to be realistic about the fact that, you know, if it is president biden's right to make this kind of a speech, it is also incoming president donald trump's right to ignore every piece of advice that president biden might be trying to give him on ukraine. he said, you know, we can't walk away now on china, he said it is better for the u.s. to deal with china alongside its its alliances and allies. president trump doesn't have to do anything with that. and i think that is going to be a reality that president biden, of course, knows very well and is going to be a bitter pill for him to swallow, given that he didn't want to be passing the baton back to don

it's not about withdrawing from afghanistan. it's the way that they did it.t's the fact that they decided to move the troops out before they got everyone else out. it's the fact that they closed down bagram and still, after all of that after losing 13 member and women, they didn't have to die as a result of his foreign policy. they labeled it as a success. how do you label such a catastrophe as a success? is it's like there is no introspection still from this administration. >> ainsley: yeah. how do you call it a success when you have these americans that died at the abbey gate. was that not successful. >> lawrence: no. >> brian: genius they look at him as a genius. he does have great academic record. doesn't realize when vladimir putin saw we were retracting from the world and left afghanistan. he said this is the time to take added a vantage of america and retreat. 2500 troops left in afghanistan makes us vulnerable you have one hell of a bad military. i'm pretty sure america could have left 2500 in afghanistan and had a looking glass on china, pakistan and

no one has been held accountable for what happened in afghanistan. i applaud you and trunk for being accountable. with that, i yield back. >> we recognize the distinguished member. >> i would like to submit an article discussing some of the issues of readiness and dei. there has been a comment that 5.9 million man hours have been used for dei. that is an estimate out of more than 2 million man hours the department invested. >> where is this published? >> it is published by megan myers and i will get the dash military.com. >> it will be admitted to the record. senator slotkin. welcome to the committee. >> thank you for referencing the great carl levin as you introduced me. for those i haven't met and my one week i have been sworn in, i am a cia officer recruited after 9/11. i did three tours armed in iraq and have worked for four different secretaries of defense both democrat and republican proudly and watched them make decisions that literally determined the life and death of americans. i am a democrat representing a state that trunk one. i understan

when jake sullivan says when we were still in afghanistan people would be dying.t's not the criticism. it was about a decision to withdraw and the way it was done. it is hard to see right now how that looks better in time as history takes its course, sir. >> first of all, americans weren't fighting in afghanistan since 2014. we were there at the end with only 2500 soldiers on the ground and we had three c.i.a. bases as well. and the reality is that 2500, that's less than what would be in one of the 53 brigades in the united states army. and that was a modest commitment by anybody's definition and our soldiers were not fighting and dying as he is describing. that's a false narrative that he is creating there. the six nato nations who were there with us, who had 7,000 troops collectively, they wanted to stay. and listen, yes, the decision to go was an incentive for the aggression that we have seen since that time. what do i mean by that? it wasn't just the chaotic emergency retreat that took place. that's what we saw on our video. but it was the judgment -- the judg

the 18 that's taxes and one got there was a road expose a road to unit a with an elite forces in afghanistan for systematically executing those types of, you know, select the shopping, bring the ethics as with the idea. so i just craving 50 pounds to live in the cost a food costs in india's best efforts. bye tom. the thing is with the photos of rules and legal action, the governments step into the 5 p have already large, a 1005 year complaints. 1000 man, i get paid by the i c level to target people who had pretty probably and probably advertise the crimes signs as well. and it was 5 in los angeles, california, at least 5 dates space and democratic leadership is lost in for this longer the home from julia, furious. the suitcase firefighting here was simple to claim the almost to the well, this is off c, and it's good to have a company today that would begin. i knew though, in central africa, focusing on chives capital just outside the gate. so look for us as a part of security as old as open fire on attack cars attempting to breach the compound. why in the assault, how the farm man addressed

like me, he was sent to afghanistan. and because of me, he went there on a blood mission bent on revenge. daniel looked for every opportunity to be in combat, making it his personal mission to cause as much destruction possible to the people who had nearly succeeded killing his brother. he went back to afghanistan on a second deployment. he went back on his third. each daniel was looking for a fight. his weapon of choice was the mtu forte. bravo, one of the biggest machine guns in individual can carry. and very unusual for a medic, since they're also responsible for all the medical equipment. in addition to the normal load and ammunition for their weapon. but true to his nature, he was never afraid. he overcame every challenge. protect the men around him. always ready for a fight with the people who were responsible for nearly killing me. and threatening his team. during three deployments, daniel was exposed to countless grenades, mortars, recoilless rifles and the constant concussion of the 7.6 millimeter machine gun ro

many of afghanistan's female players have left the country for their own safety., the one they give to me is the one that went out to the media. ijust the one that went out to the media. i just felt it was noncommittal, ijust felt it was noncommittal, it did not show any backbone, so i do stand by what i said earlier. but also, i undressed, and —— understand the context in which she's dealing with it. i still think that they should be seriously considering a boycott. i made my views clear to him and then he, obviously, they made their views very clear about what the consequences of doing such a thing would be. this competition hasn't been around for the last eight years. it happens to be a very big deal for people in pakistan, for the pakistani government, so i understand the geopolitics of it. but there's also a wider and bigger issue around women and girls in sport and in afghanistan. and that is what... if there are women cricket players from afghanistan and now living in exile and most of the men's team are, surely there is something wrong there. introducing a

i assume that's our wars in iraq and afghanistan. do you think our troops are committing genocide in iraq and afghanistan? >> senator, i do not. i think our senator, our troops, as you know, as so many in this committee know, did the best they could with what they had. we're not the outcomes. and tragically, the outcome we saw in afghanistan under the biden administration put a stain on that. but it doesn't put a stain on what those men and women did in uniform, as you know full well, senator. >> thank you. mr. >> thank you, senator cotton. at this point, i offer i ask unanimous consent to offer into the record a letter submitted by omar abbasi, son of former city council president of samarra, iraq, who worked with mr. hegseth in iraq. without objection, that will be entered. senator gillibrand. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you. mr. hegseth. i do want to thank you for your service, and i want to thank you for your willingness to serve in this capacity. >> thank you, senator, i have many concerns about your record and particularl

it's stunning rewriting of the fact of the history and you solve afghanistan you stop fighting in afghanistan we had a modest representation of our troops 2500 that is less than what in the 52 brigades of the united states army that's how small it is and he makes this statement that we ended the war, we did not end the war we ended our participation to the taliban that susan charge of the country. that is what are the reasons it incentivize our adversaries not just because of the chaotic emergency retreat what they saw as the united states after working side-by-side with the partner the afghan government to deal with the taliban who supported al-qaeda and killing 3000 americans, the reality is we surrendered that very country to her adversaries and they look that as being weak on part of the united states begin this idea that russia and china would not want us to be there. and the fact that he is trying to make the point that there delighted that were out of there, we had three cia boy under bases on the border of china, three cia bases on the border of iran one country away from russia. also

my sense is that the president was correct in pulling the plug on afghanistan but the government wasate in anticipating how this might unfold. >> what about the israel-gaza war? it is ongoing. president biden said they are close to a cease-fire agreement, yet this has been a massive crisis over the last year for his presidency, as well. >> there are people who argue on both sides that the president has made it worse either by not restraining netanyahu and the israeli side enough, not doing enough to assist the palestinians, not helping israel enough. the president in many ways, nobody thinks he has the right balance. equally, nobody knows when this will be over and while the president is optimistic that we are on the brink of a deal, i spoke to a former biden administration official last week told me i don't think there is ever going to be a deal. netanyahu doesn't want it, hamas doesn't want it. this could be a long trail end or we could be on the brink of a real resolution that reads innocent people and sends them home. >> do you think there is a biden doctor and when it comes to f

and so we not need to station sizable number american forces in afghanistan. i think if i was head of communications in the white house, i would have mentioned to him quietly maybe maybe sit this one like when it comes to a found this done as well. 2 things. number one, he said that the primary objective was accomplished, but we never really knew what the primary objective is. i suppose, i suspect it was transferring the extra minutes amount of money from the pockets of the american taxpayers into the coffers of the military industrial complex. if that was the primary objective was no doubt, it was a significant part of it. they were successful there. the other thing that was interesting is that he kept referring to afghanistan as a war. however, legally speaking, the president of the united states can't go to war, only congress can, i can, you know, ok, they can come together and they have to vote on it. so i find it interesting that he finally admitted that the united states presidency has been taking the country to war without the constitutionally required

she's a combat veteran of afghanistan. she will be the first to tell you that she would never want to be held to a different standard than any other marine that she served with. pete just like i have no problem with wenham -- with women in uniform. they are great warriors. weekly not -- cannot create multiple standards that create a denigration of our ability to fight and win wars. that is exactly what we've seen is they've put... they decided to do social engineering with our military. the results speak for themselves. readiness of our aircraft and ships is at an all-time low and we have the greatest military failure in afghanistan in a generation. we need a new generation of leaders across the board but especially in this department. we need someone who's good to be a disrupter, a fighter and he's going to look at things outside the box. we've been thinking outside the box for way too long and look were it's gotten us. >> sean: will he be confirmed? >> i believe he will. we haven't voted yet but i think he's got the supp

the president's team is trying to free handful of americans held by taliban in afghanistan.hey are considered wrongfully detained and there is talk of a trade. >> brian: we are sending humanitarian aid to taliban right now? >> peter: there is a lot of foreign aid going out of door, i'll check on the numbers. when you ask folks around here, they will tell you there are people in every country that need help no matter who was in charge. we will check on the exact number. >> brian: that might be leverage you need, how would you like to lose the money? that might be better. >> peter: there are 15 people left ins guantanamo bay right now. is this something president biden is prioritizing just getting the number down to 14 and trading this guy or about getting these americans home. have they determined this on only way to get americans free from taliban control or is there an aid component to it. we don't know what the thinking is. maybe give a big foreign policy address at 2:00 and fill us in. >> brian: we'll see. we'll have our vcc's rolling. >> lawrence: right. people running t

stuart: jack sullivan once again defended biden's withdrawal from afghanistan.tegic call president biden made looking back through years, history judged well and will continue to judge well from the point of view that if we were still in afghanistan today, americans would be fig fightingd dying, russia would have more leverage over us, we'd be less able to respond to the ma jordy strategic challenges we face. stuart: general, do you agree with that? strategic call was right? >> not only do i disagree, it's a false narrative. we weren't fighting in afghanistan since 20146789 and at the end, only 2500 soldiers and that's less than any one of the three 53 brigades in the army and that's how small and the nato countries wanted us to tay and russia, china and iran got out and the united states was willing to surrendered country to the adversary we were fighting and gave up on our ally, who was standing by for 20 years. that's the reality of it. stuart: general, i'm interrupting because karen bass, the mayor of los angeles stepped up to the podium to answer questions

these are american citizens held captive in afghanistan.ammed the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks is scheduled to plead guilty in just a few days on friday in guantanamo bay in exchange for a life sentence. defense secretary lloyd austin personally stepped into nick's the deal that would have spared mohammed's life that he was overruled by military panel and at this point it appears the deal could go forward, sandra. >> sandra: david spunt with the details for us, thank you. we will speak more with this about alex gray and the white house national security council under donald trump. that is coming up. ♪ ♪ >> the illegal migrants accused of setting a woman on fire new york city separate arraigned him in court that why city officials downplaying fears have violent crime in the big apple? in manhattan, rafael mangual and head on that. plus this... >> hey, everyone i want to talk about something important because it's time to get back to our roots free expression on facebook and instagram periods patent that is mark zuckerberg. he is making