korean peninsula if talks with continue the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff general joseph dunford says the success of diplomacy would eventually require adjustments to military strategy in the korean peninsula dunford also says the military is prepared to do what it can to support the departments of state but did not elaborate on what changes might be expected. jury selection is underway in the u.s. for the trial of one of mexico's most notorious drug lords men also known as el chapo has been held in solitary confinement in new york for the past two years security for the trial is expected to be high especially for witnesses and jurors cameron's military is involved in a major search operation after a gunman kidnapped seventy nine students two teachers and their principal they were taken from a school in the northwest by fighters pushing for an independent states alexy o'brien has more this still metry should be full if the sounds of students excited chatter in state they silence. absolute protests forced their way into this boarding school on monday kidnapping dozens of children

peninsula if talks with jong un continue the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff general joseph dunford says the success of diplomacy would eventually require adjustments to military strategy in the korean peninsula dunford also says the military is prepared to do what it can to support the department of state but did not elaborate on what changes might be expected. jury selection is underway in the u.s. for the trial of one of mexico's most notorious drug lords men also known as el chapo has been held in solitary confinement in new york for the past two years security for the trial is expected to be high especially for witnesses and jurors cameron's military is involved in a major search operation after a gunman kidnapped seventy nine students two teachers and their principal they were taken from a school in the northwest by fighters pushing for an independent states alexy o'brien has more this dormitory should be full of the sounds of students excited chatter in state they silence and say protests forced their way into this boarding school on monday kidnapping dozens of children aged

thank you to the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general joseph dunford. thank you, joe. army chief of staff, thank you general mark millie. thank you, mark. supreme allied commander in europe, general curtis scaparrotti. general, thank you. air force commander, general todd walters. thank you, general. thank you as well to the members of congress who have joined us. ralph abraham, anthony brown, john carter, paul cook, richard hudson, bill huizinga, john rutherford and steve stivers, thank you for being with us. thank you very much. i know you wanted to be here very badly. we appreciate it. in the united states, armistice day is enshrined as veterans day. we have a number of amazing veterans with us today, including six veterans of world war ii. james blaine, where is james? james, thank you. thank you, james. frank devita -- thank you frank. thank you very much. you look so comfortable up there under shelter. as we are getting drenched. you are very smart people. [laughter] pete dupree, thank you very much. gregory, thank you, gregory. stephen, thank you stephen. and ja

and i think dunford is first class strategic thinking.nd fortunately, we have john kelly in the white house, whose reputation is now being shredded by his association of the president of the united states. we're okay until we see those personalities disappear if they do so in the coming months. >> stay tuned, thank you so much. general mccaffrey, it's always good to see you. especially on veteran's day. >>> coming up, becoming candid revelations about michelle obama from the south side of chicago to the white house, and what's happened since the trump administration took over. you're watching the andrea mitchell report, stay with us. >> i know that laura bush reached out to you. and said, if you need any help i'm a phone call away. >> yes. you. >> wrote about how -- and talked about how you extended that same courtesy to melania trump. has she reached out for you to ask for any help? >> no, she hasn't. not long ago, ronda started here. and then, more jobs began to appear. what started with one job spread all around. because each job in en

what we did agree on was that chairman dunford and secretary mattis, when they first testified before you, not about the new nds but in 2017 when they were still operating under the existing defense strategic guidance from the obama administration, testified they believed they needed 3% to 5% annual real growth in order to sustain that strategy. our judgment as a commission was that the nds has a higher level of ambition bseecfts desire to put us in a competitive space with russia and china in particular and that, therefore, it stood to reason that 3% to 5% as an illustrative number was the minimum that would be necessary, possibly more. i think you get a wide range of views among us on the commission as to how much more, but that that would be the minimum. it's for that reason that we were very troubled when we talked to folks in the administration who said that they were planning in the department, that they were planning on flat budgets after '19. it seemed to us that it would be very difficult to actually execute that strategy under those kinds of fiscal constraints. i certainly a

ite house chief oftaff john kelly and joint chiefs chairman general joseph dunford represented the president. . trump was scheduled to go by helicopter, not motorcade. but the white house said poor visibility meant he could not make the 100-mile roundtrip on rine one. no explanation from the president himself, who tweeted he had vy productiv meetings. earlier, a different kind of chill. >> i do appreciate the fact you came here. >> reporter: new tension in a relationship that had been full of public displays ofio affe >> the united states can only do so much in fairness to the reited states. >> reporter: butdent trump bristled at emmanuel macron's recent suggestion that europe needed its own army. >> we're getting along from the standpoint of fairness, and i want it to be fair. >> reporter: the press secretary says presidents trumpnd macron worked out differences in their meetinhi here in paris, president trump will see vladimir putin, who arrives tomorrow. it should be just a quick hello and not a formal engagement. >>> in north carolina, authorities are still searching far 13-year-oldid gi

and is known and trusted by his counterparts and then general dunford, every week two or three times general dunford is meeting with the counterpart, chief of staff, a defense minister from a foreign military and talking about common interests and military plans. same goes for our intelligence service, cia has good liaison or better than ever with all of its scores of partners around the world who depend on the cia for basic information that helps keep them safe. those institutions of american power seem to me to be as strong as ever and that's the continuity we'll look for in the post-trump era. let's hope it's been strong, continuous enough that there's something rebuild on. >> so, david, i want to ask you a question here and then the actually throw it to everybody to kind of contemplate this. we've just seen this gigantic change in american politics. we got democrats taking over the house of representatives. they are going to be a check on the president for sure. they are also going to launch some number of investigation, maybe all the way leading up to impeachment, impeachment he

dunford also there at that first memorial in place of the president. but what do you make of what happened here, the sharp criticism that is coming president trump's way? >> well, it is what it is. trump having flown thousands of miles, not really to be there with other leaders -- i mean, he showed up late at saturday night's dinner. he came separately to the ceremony yesterday as they marched together along the champs-elysees. he was coming in in his car, the beast. trump was there to appear presidential, but on saturday, whether it's because the helicopter was grounded, whether it's because the white house truly feared a traffic jamb as an alternative to get to that cemetery, donald trump didn't show up. now, john kelly, his chief of staff, showed up. angela merkel, emmanuel macron, justin trudeau showed up at other cemeteries. but trump was absent. and again let's link that to what happened yesterday. emmanuel macron was saying, at this key moment in history, we can't trust america to be there. donald trump was there on sunday at the american cemete

general joseph dunford saying the situation on the ground is quote a stalemate is he correct is that your assumption of what's not really. well i believe the taliban will enforce their point of view they would like to rule the country they don't want any participation from others so i believe there realize that the americans are very weak and they can actually sit that agenda so i believe in the end that the american administration. will listen to taliban and pull out of their troops i think it is not the realistic to say by spring but i think that will intensify their attacks and spring and particularly and force that american to accept their point of view otherwise that casualties among the american need to that of afghan the army will be huge and coming straight because put it spring is the time for offensive drive from taliban in afghanistan given everything you've just said what you know about this place now it's the last seventeen years what's your prognosis for afghanistan for the short to medium term saying how is it going to pan out this year. you know it is a matter of time

united states was represented instead by the white house chief of staffjohn kelly, and gen joseph dunforde chairman of thejoint chiefs of staff, who travelled there by car. firefighters in california are continuing to battle the most destructive wildfires on record. entire towns have had to be evacuated and it's now known 11 people have died. authorities there have just given a press conference where they urged residents to heed warnings to evacuate their homes if necessary. we are still in los angeles county and are five cities affected by this tragic fire under evacuation. that includes westla ke tragic fire under evacuation. that includes westlake village, hidden hills, calabasas, includes westlake village, hidden hills, cala basas, agoura includes westlake village, hidden hills, calabasas, agoura and malibu. those areas are still under evacuation and we ask people to not go back in those areas because quite frankly it is still not safe. when we do ask you to evacuate, please heed that warning. it's for your own safety a nd heed that warning. it's for your own safety and the safety of

peninsula if talks with pyongyang continue the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff general joseph dunford says a success of diplomacy would eventually require just men still military strategy on the korean peninsula the pentagon says a russian fighter jet flew close to a u.s. navy payne over the black sea military pilots are known to use this tactic as a warning or to try to force other aircraft to change course the u.s. navy says the move was unprovoked while russia says it prevented violation of its a space the incidents last a twenty five minutes and happened in international airspace the black sea is an area that has previously seen tension between russian and nato forces. you know again i'm fully back to bill with the headlines on al-jazeera polls open in just a few hours for one of the most divisive us midterm elections in years present donald trump ate three states in the final day of campaigning holding his last friday in missouri we democrats immigration policies are extreme danger is reckless and insane they support catch and release they want to free criminal allan's they want

. >> this was general dunford on that very thing. politics. >> we do have a very strong nonpartisan, a political ethos in the u.s. military and i view my responsibilities as being the steward of that ethos. i'm very proud of our men and women during a contentious political period that the institution remained a political and nonpartisan. >> we did see the president today give what was essentially a political speech to troops. >> it was completely inappropriate. all he needed to say is thanks and your families and i support your mission and i will continue to support it. he found a way to inject judicial court decisions and trade deals he finds unfair. not a good place to put the troops. they are not an extension of the maga crowd and an arm of the party. it's an a political institution that defends and supports the constitution. that's where it should have stayed. >> the call today for some people might be an argument for why the president shouldn't. >> it very much is. part of me was happy he didn't go to arlington on veterans day.

. >> joint chief chairman of joint chiefs, general joseph dunford said there is no plan for troops onder to deny inren entry but to support border patrol. joining me to it is kis discusss and impact of the border. tom fox, contributor, great to have you with us. quite a night. we were pointing out that in our polling, for our this election, immigration was number wor issue, this is issue that paul ryan of encouraging the president to ignore. this president, who focused on his achievement and job creatio, economic growth. who this president has to contend with in washington d.c. to me is okay maze -- amazing what he has put up with in particular with speaker of the house who refused to build the wall. >> i am a big fan of president with immigration and border security. we've been talking about this issue for 34 years, for first time we have the president of united states who takes border security and immigration enforcement serious, now is the time to act. that is why i'm out as much as i am with you, you do it took now is the time, w we have a presidt in right spot who believes that b

fly his helicopter out there, but as you saw the chief of staff, john kelly, joint chiefs joseph dunford were both able to make it to that ceremony. the president was not. it raised questions back in the u.s. they say, no, no, no when a president goes to a foreign -- >> jim, this is cyril here. vladimir putin is walking up to the tent. he'll be, no doubt, taking his place among that group. so what we're seeing here is everybody came in together but there were two leaders, frankly i'm not surprised by this, but there were two leaders that did things a little differently. there are obviously security concerns as regards them. one was the u.s. leader, donald trump. he's now seated next to angela merkel screen left if you can catch a glimpse of him, and the other, russian president vladimir putin who is now walking -- about to walk right past donald trump. let's see where he's going to be seated. shaking hands. >> saw him shaking hands with the president, cyril. it's possible, we'll have to find out whether or not this is the case later since these two leaders kind of came in last there, whe

thank you to the chairman of the joint chiefs of staffer, general joseph dunford. ty, general. thank you. army chief of staff general mark milley, thank you, mark. supreme allied commander europe general curtis, general, thank you. air force commander europe, general walters, thank you, general. thank you as well to the members of congress who have joined us, ralph abe bra ham, anthony brown, john cotter, paul cook, henry wayar, bill high zynga, john rutherford, and steve stivers, thank you all very much for being with us. thank you develvery much. i know you wanted to be here very badly. we appreciate it. in the united states, armistice day is now enshrined as veteran's day. we have a number of amazing veterans with us today, including six veterans of world war ii, james blaine. james? where's james? james, thank you, james. frank davita. thank you, frank. thank you very much. you look so comfortable up there under shelter as we're getting drenched. you're very smart people. pete dupray. pete, thank you very much. gregory mellakin. thank you, gregory. steven meldakof. and jay

chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general joseph dunford and white house chief of staff john kelly took a motorcade to the ceremony the president was scheduled to visit so that they could conduct a wreath laying. katelyn collins joins us now. president macron today not being shy, shall we say? >> reporter: no, he wasn't. he wanted the ceremony today to be about one thing, and that is the dangers of nationalism, a message he has taken on the road this week, and a message he had at that ceremony today. jo john, there was one remarkable most where president macron seemed to be directly speaking to president trump. >> patriotism is the exact opposite of nationalism. nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism by saying our interests first. who cares about the others? we erase what a nation holds dearest, what gives it life, what makes it grace and what is essential, its moral values. >> reporter: now president trump has declared himself a proud nationalist and said he's just putting america first and his supporters say it's about time that an american leader had that mindset about the coun

instead the president sending his chief of staff and the chairman of the joint chiefs, joseph dunfordbecause according to the white house, the weather was bad in paris, there was some rain and it was overcast and it created security issue. there was some backlash to that decision, frances, i can tell you that one foreign policy expert here in france who actually advised president macron on the campaign trail tweeted out a view of the weather at paris which has supposed to have deterred @real donald trump, nothing a cyclist can't handle, let alone presidential helo. then this from french president emmanuel macron, who tweeted out a pick of himself and german chancellor angela merkel and he tweeted with one word, unis, which stands for united. a lot of people paying close attention to the tweet. the bottom line the white house says the focus should be on the purpose of the weekend, paying tribute memorializing world war i and more than 80 leaders and president trump at a dinner doing exactly that. >> there's also the question if the president is going to have informal meeting or talks w

korean peninsula if talks with pyongyang continue the chairman of the joint chiefs general joseph dunford say is a success of diplomacy would eventually require just minutes to military strategy on the korean peninsula the pentagon says a russian fighter jet has flown close to or buzz a u.s. navy plane over the black sea military pilots are known to use it as a warning or to try to force other aircraft to change course the u.s. navy says the move was unprovoked while russia says it prevented violation of its air space the incident lasted twenty five minutes and happened in international airspace the black sea is an area that has previously seen tension between russian and nato forces. jury selection is underway in the u.s. for the trial of one of mexico's most of tourists a drug lords harkin guzman also known as el chapo has been held in solitary confinement in new york for the past two years as security for the child is expected to be high especially for witnesses and jurors. thank you more news on our website at al-jazeera dot com we've got a special page on the u.s. midterm election wi

saw the photograph of john kelly, chief of staff, going instead ef the president alongside general dunford? i was thinking jeff sessions being fired, it's not a you're fired moment, it was a classic example of the president declining to say anything at a press conference, firing off two tweets and earlier in the day, john kelly handled the dirty work. >> my reaction was disappointment. he's the white house chief of staff. where is our president but secondly it signals there is more chaos to come. the president is scared of the aftermath of the mid terms. he's trying to in his own head whatever he thinks there is, i got to do something. when he does that, things get chaotic in the white house. we see exits and firings that are ridiculous. sessions, come on, the day after, buddy? to me, it's more chaos is coming. that's what i sense from the events of the past day or so. >> i wondered what is it going to take? you're a conservative and bold enough to call this out. you can't penetrate the layer of woeful ignorance from people who follow them. marco rubio at one time was a sensible republican

and the current chief chairman joe dunford. i think the president could have gotten there.t's really unfortunate because he let a few drips of rain to turn into a torrential downpour of criticism. it's not just to honor the troops that fought and guided belleau. >> i want to read you something from general hayden who wrote this on twitter. one of a number of tweets wonder if the american expeditionary force played in the rain. heard that black jack pershing was one hell of a mudder. the emojis there from him. >> we're trying to honor the sacrifices of so many who have sacrificed our freedom. it's important for our president, for our national leaders to stand up and not just to articulate the values of what so many fought and died, but really what their sacrifice means today. the large part, really more consequential than a bad hair day for the president, craig. it means us leaving the position of leadership in the world. a abdicating that leadership, saying our alliances are not as important as they once were. the important values that we ensure that europe remains whole an

thank you to the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general joseph dunford, thank you, joe. thank you. army chief of staff general mark milley, thank you, mark. supreme allied commander europe general curtis scarparoti. general, thank you. air fort commander europe general tart walters, thank you. thank you, general. thank you, as well, to the members of congress who have joined us, ralph abraham, anthony brown, john codder, paul cook, henry quaiar, richard hudson, bill hisenga, dutch repe rsberger, john rutherford and steve stibers, thank you all very much for being with us. thank you very much. i know you wanted to be here very badly we appreciate it. in the united states, armasist day is now veterans day we have a number of amazing veterans with us today, including six veterans of world war ii, james blayne, james where is james? james? thank you. thank you, james. frank divita. thank you, frank. thank you very much. you look so comfortable up there under shelter, as we're getting drenched you're very smart people. >> [laughter] president trump: pete dupre, pete, thank yo

that's the chief of staff john kelly, general joseph dunford, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. they were able to make it to the cemetery. the world leaders as well. former defense secretary chuck hagel on cnn earlier today highly critical of the president's decision not to go. >> it was an embarrassment, and he let down, i think, our veterans. he let down our country. and i think he sent a very wrong message to the world. world war i was a horrific, terrible war that affected really everybody and certainly affected us. and not to make a little bit of an effort to get to a very important ceremony was wrong. and i'm disappointed, and i'm sorry that he didn't do it. >> there were some other awkward moments as well. moments that beg the question, is president trump and the united states -- are we still -- is president trump still the leader of the free world? are we still the leader of the free world, meaning the united states? because as world leaders walked under umbrellas in the pouring rain to the arc de triomphe for the official ceremony in paris yesterday morning, president

not only other foreign leaders but general kelly, general dunford made it to the ceremony. i guess the president for whatever reason, maybe he was exhausted, just didn't want to go yesterday. >> five days -- on another subject here, thiis a ttti because he's tweeting about it. five days after the election, looks like the republicans may not have gained as much in the senate as we thought. we've got recount in florida, and in arizona the democrat is making gains. what does the smaller majority mean to the president? >> it's still a bigger majority than they had. no matter what, even the worst case scenario at this point and i think it's unlikely, the republicans can pick up one seat. they could go from 51 to 52. that's still pretty strong right there. the president had hopes on tuesday night when it looked like he might be able to win montana. we didn't know about nevada and arizona. he had some hopes that maybe the republicans would pick up three, four, five seats. that's not going to happen right now. but they still are going to have control. much more significant to the p

the legal reason that dunford and mattis keep saying that it is kosher and okay and the moral and thee question of how long it should go on, and what is not really going to matter until the migrant caravan makes it to the border and there is actual interaction with the troops and you will see what p happens, and if it is a peaceful assisting of the the border patrol whether you like it or not or if we get kent state and troops firing back at the peaceful protesters and until then, we will talk about the legal minutia and if the secretary made a time line of the troops pulling back, because we have had conflicting reports of this happening by the 15th of december. >> and also, exclusive reporting that dhs has spies embedded in the caravans, and checking that out with other forms of communication to figure out what is going on there as they are approach i approaching the u.s. >> yes, that is a stunning story that julia had. the administration is, and has been struggling since the orders were given for the to plus up at the border to kind of jus fi a threat among these 3500 mostly poor l

. >> sure, especially from the s people like mattis, dunford, the senior officers, who had served overcould we possibly leave? we're there. once there, we can never go. in other words, wherever the flag has been raised, we must remain in perpetuity. if we leave, chaos will break out. actually, if we leave, iran, russia, india, pakistan, will all have to become involved, and that's fine. let them become involved. >> tucker: colonel douglas mcgregor, always a voice of clarity. thank you. we just spoke to a man who is currently at the very center of the mueller investigation facing imminent felony charges. he is 72 years-old. he says he cannot remember the email he forwarded that may send him to prison. will america be any safer if he is behind bars?ay we'll get a response from a progressive viewer after this. we're also monitoring the election results in mississippi. senate race there tonight. a call for that race just ahead. i wanted more from my copd medicine... ...that's why i've got the power of 1-2-3 medicines with trelegy. the only fda-approved 3-in-1 copd treatment. ♪ trelegy. the

of staff has never directly criticized the president ever, but he has said publicly, general joe dunfordow, several times to remind the country that the military is apolitical. that's what they want to see the president do. if he goes to a war zone, if he goes to kuwait, which is not exactly the front lines, you know, the same issue. he comes out in front of a bunch of troops, they will applaud him. he is their commander in chief, but what will he do? there's a lot of concern he will see that visual, people applauding him, and he will simply launch into his political message. i spoke to one person today here at the pentagon who said, "who is briefing him over at the white house, why doesn't he understand?" i think a lot of people feel that probably if anybody is briefing him, he is just charging ahead and proceeding as he wishes to. jim. >> and not heeding that advice. cnn's barbara starr, thank you very much. let's get more wion all of this with the arizona congressman. you are a veteran who served overseas in iraq, so i want to get your thoughts on the president's phone call in a momen

peninsula if talks with pyongyang continue the chairman of the joint chiefs assad general joseph dunford says the success of diplomacy would eventually require just men's to military strategy in the korean peninsula done for it also says the military is prepared to do what it can to support the state department but didn't elaborate on what changes might be expected as always much more news on our web site at al-jazeera dot com all the very latest on all of our top stories including the u.s. midterm elections we've got a special page at al-jazeera dot com. hello again i'm fully back to bill with the headlines on al-jazeera polls open in just a few hours for one of the most divisive u.s. midterm elections in years present donald trump it three states in the final day of campaigning holding his last rally in missouri the vote is seen as a referendum on trump and his presidency. democrats immigration policies are extreme danger is reckless and insane they support catch and release they want to free criminal elements they want no pro-tax for american workers and taxpayers and they want totall

and we saw, the reason i'm on this point is we saw just a couple days ago, general joe dunford, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff once again publicly talk about he felt very deeply that part of his job as chairman is to make sure the military is not politicized. that is a message that was very pointed. he will never challenge the president in public, of course. but he is telling the white house through these kinds of comments and through the things we know that they are worried about that they are worried. they're worried if the president goes to the war zone that when he encounters a large group of troops who will applaud for him as commander in chief, he will suddenly be thinking he's at a political rally and will begin a political discussion in front of troops in a war zone. they are worried that the 2020 election already essentially under way in mr. trump's mind, he's going to use the military. and we saw it today. there is going to be a good deal of concern that he is putting troops in these positions. he should not be asking them what they think about the border. that is not th

thank you to the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff general joseph dunford thank you jim thank you army chief of staff general mark milley thanking more supreme allied commander europe general curtis scaparrotti general thank you. that air force commander europe general taught walters thank you thank you jen thank you as well to the members of congress who have joined us ralph abraham anthony brown john carter paul cook henry why are richard hudson bill huizenga dutch ruppersberger john rutherford and steve stivers thank you all very much for being with us thank you very much and know you wanted to be here very badly we appreciate it in the united states armistice day is now in shrine as veterans day we have a number of amazing veterans with us today including six veterans of world war two james blaine james where's james james thank you thank you james frank divvied. thank you frank thank you very much you look so comfortable up there under shelter as we're getting drenched you are very smart people. pete do pray pete thank you very much gregory melich in thank you gregory steven

we have three people i know, general mattis and kelly and dunford.rendous misuse to have them firing on any civilian at any border. the president of the united states, we just heard thim say that these people when you attempt to have a conversation with them they start a fistfight. that is beyond on surd. this is the president of the united states speaking. it is the president of the united states encouraging an action that is so opposed to everything that this country stands for. we should not be shocked because it happens nearly every day. >> you know donald trump. the president thinks this looks tough. he thinks it will deter people from coming here. it was the same argument they used that jeff sessions used for the family separation policy. it will deter people from coming here. this is what getting tough on immigration looks like. >> i love mr. tough guy that is tough on women and children. >> and he is afraid of being hurt. >> he backs down. beyond the fact the illegality of it the political stupidness of it. >> i'm not quite sure about that. >

[applause] >> so were going to break for lunch now and general dunford should be here to start around 1:00. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> booktv will be in prime time on c-span2 this week for three nights followed by a four-day thanksgiving holiday weekend. >> , cup thanksgiving weekend on the c-span networks, on c-span thursday at 8 p.m. eastern supreme court justice elena kagan followed by chief justice john roberts. >> deputy defense secretary patrick shanahan explained the trump administration plan to create a youth space force as a six the bridge of the armed forces. he spoke of the military reporters and editors association conference for about one hour. >> welcome. my name is john donnelly

the national defense strategies, establishing the torment of the chief dunford as a global integrated with the understanding that the evolved nature and character of war, make it unlikely that the impact of a conflict will be confined to a single geographic area of operation, the u.s. homeland cannot be impacted directly by events that 20 years ago would only generate indirect or collateral effects. in the cyber domain, this shift requires the joint force to take on at least two additional roles, one is the global integration in cyber and the other is coordination of cyberspace activities. the joint staff is taking on the global integration role, synchronizing collaborative efforts to ensure impacts from one theater of operations, does not affect the other, and our intentional and supportive rather than collateral. during the closed-door session i will provide operational details regarding ongoing efforts that illustrate the close cooperation among the departments, with regard to election security, and critical infrastructure pathfinders. thank you again for the opportunity to appear

should that part keep growing, as general dunford and secretary mattis and last week's independent national defense strategy commission have argued, should -- and as last year's budget argued -- should it -- because, which seems to be were president trump and john bolton and others within the administration are today. should it plateau? should it go somewhere else? that is ultimately where we want to get in the conversation and we look forward to the second half of the discussion and your questions as well. elaine, if you could help us frame this politically in the aftermath of what we have just seen. elaine: thank you, michael. nice to be on this panel with everybody else. i suspect as the panel goes on, i will have less and less to say as we get into the details here, but let me start by saying that obviously you know the headlines -- the democrats took over the house. one interesting thing about the election was that i have ever sat through in election where the lead grew so steadily and it took a solid week for us to realize that this was a major wave. although on election night, and so

and that is the part we are here to talk about today, and should that part be growing as general dunford and secretary mattis in the defense commission have argued? should it now plateau or be cut, which seems to be where president trump and john bolton and others within the trump administration are today or should it plateau or should it go somewhere else? that is ultimately where we want to get in the conversation, and i look forward in the second half of the discussion to your questions as well. without further ado, elaine, if you could help us frame this politically in the aftermath of what we have just seen. >> thank you and it is nice to be on this panel with everyone else. i suspect as the panel goes on, i will have less and less to say once we get into some of the details. but let me start by saying, obviously you know the headlines and democrats took over the house. one of the interesting things about the election was that i have never sat through an election where the lead grew so steadily and it took a solid week for us to realize was in fact a major wave although an election