we'll ask colonel cedric leighton.t," i'm dave briggs. >> i'm christine romans. it is 30 minutes past the hour this tuesday morning. after months of planning, president trump has unveiled to the nation his new vision for the u.s. war in afghanistan. the president breaking from his campaign rhetoric when, of course, he promised to pull out of afghanistan. keeping with his "america first" theme saying the days of nation-building are over. the strategy, light on specifics. the president reaffirmed he does not want the enemy to know his plans. and a hasty withdrawal like the one in iraq is not an option. >> the vacuum we created by leaving too soon gave safe haven for isis to spread, to grow, recruit, and launch attacks. we cannot repeat in afghanistan the mistake our leaders made in iraq. >> the president signaled the u.s. would increase troop levels in afghanistan but offered no numbers by design. president trump also put no end date on america's longest war. >> retired air force conditional cedric leighton, military ana

i want cedric leighton to weigh in as well. the regime of kim jong-un warrant respect and make sure they are protected, that regime, that nuclear capability, seen by the north koreans, the regime, as the basis of that protection. so what makes anyone think, cedric, that the north koreans will give up that nuclear capability? without it they worry their days are numbered? >> absolutely, wolf. they will not give up voluntarily. we have to make a choice. either we are concerned enough about their capability that we want to eliminate it, requiring, in my opinion, military action, direct military action against their nuclear capability. or we agree to live with it and have an international inspection regime as general marks mentioned. that could then be one way to do that, but if the north koreans are unwilling to accept an international inspection regime, we may finds ourselves in one of those quandaries where we really end up in a place we don't want to be, and that would be a war that would require a lot of sacrifice on the part

joining me now is cedric leighton, former member of the joint chiefs of staff. might be remarkable for you to watch here, cedric. to see this happen multiple times, not just twice in the last two months, but four times in the last year. what could possibly explain that for the world's most capable naval forces? >> jim, i think it's one of those areas where there are going to be a lot of issues that immediately come to the forefront. when i look at it, one aspect is what ryan mentioned in his reporting. that was the training factor. there's clearly something going on here where -- whether it's just within seventh fleet or a navy-wide issue. seventh fleet having the responsibility for asia in the u.s. navy. that becomes the most important thing to look at. but then you have to look at the operational aspects. how is command exercised on board the ships? i served briefly with the navy on the "uss blue ridge" the flagship of the seventh fleet. the procedures at the time were quite tight. you wonder if the procedures used to navigate and steer the ship through various

retired air force colonel cedric leighton, cnn military analyst.morning to you, colonel. >> good morning. good to be with you. >> and you. let's start with the "uss john s. mccain" colliding with the oil tanker more than three times its sides off the coast of singapore. five injured, ten are missing. most importantly is what you see on the screen. this is the fourth such incident this year. what is happening here, colonel? >> it looks like there's real problems from a training and operations perspective. so this is very serious. when i was in the region, when i served in the pacific region, i did spend some time with the u.s. seventh fleet, the same parent-numbered fleet that is responsible for this area and for the accidents that happened on its watch this year. so we have a training issue, an operational issue. it looks as if there are issues with how u.s. navy ships in this part of the world are dealing with merchant vessels. there have to be procedural changes to make sure this doesn't happen. >> these are some of the most sophisticated ships,

. >> colonel cedric leighton, again, we appreciate your perspective and for you sticking with us throughout in just an hour from now the president will be signing the veterans affairs choice employment act of 2017. we're going to monitor that event to see if he talks about the unrest and chaos in charlottesville, virginia. stay with us. we'll be right back after a quick break. 's going on here? um... i'm babysitting. that'll be $50 bucks. you said $30. yeah, well it was $30 before my fees, like the pizza-ordering fee and the dog-sitting fee... and the rummage through your closet fee. are those my heels? yeah! yeah, we're the same size... in shoes. with t-mobile taxes and fees are already included, so you get four lines of unlimited for just $40 bucks each. and now, get zero down on the hottest smartphone brands. get your ancestrydna kit.here. spit. mail it in. learn about you and the people and places that led to you. go explore your roots. take a walk through the past. meet new relatives and see how a place and its people are all a part of you. ancestrydna. save 30% through august 15th at

also back with us, military analyst colonel cedric leighton. thank you both for being here., given the stakes, given the k bellicose rhetoric from the president, they just had this huge diplomatic achievement at the united nations, getting russia on board, getting china china on board. do you believe the president boxed himself in, ifn a sense, with the choice of words he used yesterday? >> i think the president underscored the terrain we are on, not only with the nature of this crisis with north korea but the crisis of his leadership. i don't know we've had an international crisis of this magnitude at a time we have a president facing such doubts among the american public and for that matter the leaders of most of our allies about both his judgment and his veracity. if you look at polls, again, cnn poll out, 60% say they do not believe he is honest and trustworthy. 60% or more in other polls saying they don't consider him level-headed. i think it is a challenge for the president to reassure the country and the world that in fact this genuine real challenge is being dealt wi

. >> colonel cedric leighton and john park, thank you both so much. >> you bet, brooke. >>> let's getas here. record rainfall pushes levees to the brink there. officials warning, get out now. more than 9,000 people are now in shelters in houston and that number is growing quickly. we're going take you back to houston where those rescues are under way. where are we? about to see progressive's new home quote explorer. where you can compare multiple quote options online and choose what's right for you. woah. flo and jamie here to see hqx. flo and jamie request entry. slovakia. triceratops. tapioca. racquetball. staccato. me llamo jamie. pumpernickel. pudding. employee: hey, guys! home quote explorer. it's home insurance made easy. password was "hey guys." >>> let's get you back to houston to our breaking news here where frantic rescues have not let up. so many people remain trapped from all the heavy flooding and the worst part of all of this is that it is still not over. more rain is coming. harvey set to make landfall again, could drop up to 15 or so more inches of rain. the rainfall h