and general mattis, secretary mattis is pushing it to his generals in the field.o that is why you have seen since january a real yup tick in activity, air strikes, special forces raids, that kind of thing. because generals in the field have more authority to do that. and so everybody is a lot bussier. >> when did you first meet him. >> it was-- i remember it very well, it was 2003, during the invasion, general mattis was the heads of the first marine division soo he was the head of 25,000 trip troops. >> i think he was a two star general, maybe one star and i was just, i was driving in a rental car through iraq, trying to find my way to baghdad. and i happen to be there with the marines one day when this helicopter came down and general mattis got off and i remember he had a pair of ray-bans on and a helmet. and even then all the marines were kind of whispering and looking on him with some a-we. there is general mattis. >> but he was if you remember that time the entire plan of the invasion was speed, go fast and so that's what mattis was doing, essentially going

even then, on the marines were whispering and saying "there is general mattis." that time, the entire plan of the invasion was speed. go fast. that is what mattis was doing, essentially, going around to his commanders and saying "go, get to baghdad as fast as possible." i am not sure, in retrospect, it was not his strategy. i am not sure that was the wisest thing. charlie: what was his strategy? mr. filkins: to go as fast as possible. he was essentially ordered to do that by secretary rumsfeld and the bush administration. take the iraqi regime down. which they did. and of course, you know, chaos. charlie: he is interesting because he seemed to be prepared to say exactly what he thinks, even if it is not what his box set -- his boss says or even believe. mr. filkins: when you go back and look at the career of general mattis, it is 40 years in the military. you know,it is just, one after the other, these extraordinary things. you read something he said to people and you are like " wow, people in public life don't talk way." he is standing up and addressing a graduat

it was 2003, during the invasion and general mattis was the head of the first marine division, so he e head of 25,000 troops. i think he was a two star general, maybe one star. i was driving in a rental car through iraq, trying to find my way to baghdad, and i happened to be there with the marines one day when this helicopter came down and general mattis got off and i remember he had apparently -- a pair of ray-bans on. and a helmet. even then, on the marines were whispering and looking at him with awe, saying "there is general mattis." if you remember that time, the entire plan of the invasion was speed. go fast. that is what mattis was doing, essentially, going around to his commanders and saying "go, get to baghdad as fast as possible." take the regime down. in retrospect that was his strategy. i am not sure that was the wisest thing. charlie: what was his strategy? mr. filkins: his was to go as fast as possible. he was essentially ordered to do that by secretary rumsfeld and the bush administration. get to baghdad, take the iraqi regime down. which they did. and of course, you kno

something that stood out to me actually was general mattis' response. while he was asked by supporters about the attack. i believe, i'm not sure who it was, but i saw him on camera and he said, i like to learn about something before i talk. let me look into it. now, many have said that is sort of a wink, a nod, maybe saying to his boss, the president, i realize, this is an upsetting time, but before you go out to make broad generalizations, we have to learn more information. and it is an especially tough time, not just for general mattis but for other members of the administration coming off the nato meeting and the g7 who tried to qualify the president's statements. so when he's out there shooting from the hip, when gary kahn wrote the op-ed with h.r. mcmaster last week saying, america first isn't alone, we need to be together. when things feel so divided after an attack like that, that's the opposite of what we need to be doing. >> that's not the last to hear from general mattis over the course of the show. we have more to tell you about. >>> and we s

now, the secretary of defense former general mattis told us in written testimony in january that climate change is impacting stability in areas of the world where our troops are operating today. has triggeredisis drought, famine, and other devastating environmental changes that spark political turmoil and wind up with refugees. even trump's team knows that climate change is a national security threat. again, we have the testimony that goes back to 2007, 10 years ago. we've known that. it's an economic issue. andreds of businesses executive support the record, including energy companies like exxon mobil, several members of trump's business council resigned yesterday in protest of his decision. trump says he is putting america's jobs first, but the accord would have created an explosion of green energy jobs for the future. keep america preeminent and number one for the jobs of the future is essential unless the world moves to replace that recognizes the danger of climate crisis. it's a health issue, national security issue, and economic security issue, a personal security issue. families h

general mattis, how wonderful general mattis focused on the troops he is serving.ut the first thing is, he is serving the american people. he is working for the people not only that voted for him but the people that didn't vote for him. what his obsession should be is not getting praise from those people, but doing everything he can to help the working class people that voted for him and also voted for barack obama and the rest of americans who need this economy to grow at more than 2%. who if he believes he can help them by tax reform, he needs to fight hard. and that entire thing should have been orchestrated, how do we get real tax reform passed to help working class and middle class americans and small business owners and people that hire working class americans and get them back to work. get money from offshore, get it down here bring wages up. if he wanted to talk about immigration reform, to make sure working class americans weren't competing with too many low wage workers. that's fine. but don't make it a cheerleading session about yourself. that's not why

lou: president trump earlier this week granted defense secretary-general mattis authority over troopomewhere between 3,000 and 5,000 more our troops, joining the 8,400 troops already there. joining me to talk about the war on radical islamist terror in all its forms, and mueller's special counsel and more. general jack keane. great to see you. let's start with 3,000 to 5,000 troops. a president who granted to general mattis, the defense secretary, the authority to make those troop-level decisions. this seems to be clearing the way for a different form of action on the part of our military. >> the taliban have momentum and they had it for two years now. when they conduct operation they normally succeed. they have taken back a considerable amount of territory. so that is the issue. the commander when he did testimony here a few weeks ago. he made a request that we need 3,000 to 5,000 additional trainers. they would be there to help the afghan army. when you look at that request, i don't dispute the fact it would be helpful. but i don't believe it's decisive. i don't think that would ch

coming up, a new move by the trump administration gives general mattis the say over the level -- the levels in afghanistan. general jack keane has some pretty compelling thoughts and his take on why that might be potentially a historical ramifications. senator kamala harris is crying sexism after she was asked to stop interrupting attorney general jeff sessions at the hearing. we are going to show you how this is not the first time that this kind of back and forth as happened with kamala harris. what is up with that? jessica tarlov and representative marsha blackburn coming up next. ♪ he's told that joke a million times. and you always laugh like you're hearing it for the first time. at lincoln financial, we get there are some responsibilities of love you gotta do on your own. and some you shouldn't have to shoulder alone. like ensuring he's well-taken care of. even as you build your own plans for retirement. ask a financial advisor how lincoln can help protect your savings from the impact of long-term care expenses. afi sure had a lot on my mind. my 30-year marriage... ...my 3-month

if you looked in the background as general mattis was talking, you saw a very uncomfortable h.r. ional security adviser, a lieutenant general who i'm sure felt just the same way as general mattis at that kind of parade of sycopha sycopha sycopha sycophantcy. not what people want to say. >> everybody around that table you're looking at now, they do not serve donald trump. they serve the people of the united states of america. they do not take an oath to donald trump, they take an oath to uphold the constitution of the united states of america. if they don't understand that, they need to leave. >> well, and if the president seems delusional about his accomplishments, you can point to no further than that room that is helping confirm this sort of sense of totally exaggerated self that he has. >> mika, i think it's very telling the first week we went in there, we went in nine, ten days into it, and it was very obvious when he asked how i thought the first week went, and i said not well. he kept repeating that for an hour and a half to anybody who would listen, how shocked he was. it w

general mattis said, and i have a lot of respect for the man, but he said gimme some beer and a pack you have to ask yourself, would he himself give up information that would allow america to be attacked in an instant? he would not do that. the only thing standing between another catastrophic attack with some senior person is whether or not that person is willing to voluntarily give that information. you feel that because america no longer uses enhanced interrogation techniques that it is a less safe place? we used law—enforcement techniques. the local mall cop has more choices for interrogation techniques. america is less safe as a result in your view? yes. notjust this, but many of the things that happened in the last eight years. republican senatorjohn mccain, a vietnam war veteran. he wrote in the washington post in 2011, "i know from personal experience that abusing prisoners sometimes gives good intelligence but sometimes bad intelligence, because under torture, someone will say anything he believes his captors want to hear." that is a response to your points. sometimes coercio

general mattis is talking about deploying another 4,000 american troops to a war that is 16 years old. i think many of the americans are ti are tired of it and want clarity what is the mission in afghanistan? is it winnable? and are we going to continue to send american troops there when we have these incidents? when you have these incidents, it underscores the inability of the afghan government to properly vet their own people and it also tells us the taliban has been very effective in putting sleepers into the afghan army and then they conduct these kinds of operation. so it's just a very confusing situation and general mattis really has to define what he wants to happen in afghanistan before i think he should deploy any more troops to afghanistan. >> speaking of mattis. he now has the authority to increase the number of troops in the region. president trump gave him that authority. this is what mattis told lawmakers on capitol hill recently. ed, quote, the president gave him the authority to turn number up and down as necessary when it comes to u.s. troops in the region. some, thou

morning asking your thoughts on the president's reliance on his military advisors, his generals, secretary mattis, welcome your calls and comments and your tweets as well, @cspanwj. lots of thoughts this morning. this one says that we'd rather he rely on generals rather than obama relied on rice and others with no military or foreign policy credentials whatsoever. michael says nobody will help america fight anymore thanks to trump. robert is saying you use the expertise of your generals, smart. from edward, don't trust this president and generals fighting a losing battle if they're ok with occupation and invasion. michael, meanwhile, saying trump is allowing the professionals to conduct the tactical side of military operations, he decides the strategic goals. we've set aside a line for afghanistan vets. that's 202-748-8003. we go to harold, who's in winston-salem, north carolina. caller: thanks. glad to be on this morning. i served in afghanistan, i served in both iraq and afghanistan as an infantry veteran. and what i can tell you is that many times, many of the missions that we conducted, espec

all i can say is general mattis, secretary mattis, has it right. iran would be appreciative of us not selling those weapons to saudi arabia. we are going to sanction iran this week i hope for what they've done outside the nuclear agreement. since nuclear agreement was pa passed, they have humiliated our soldiers, our sailors. they captured them on the high seas and humiliated them. i don't member saudi arabia doing that. they are just like missiles in violation of u.n. resolutions that could destroy israel and one day reach us or our allies throughout the mideast and europe. they are spreading their form of radical shiism all through the world, all through the mideast. the money they received from the iranian nuclear deal is not going to build roads and bridges and hospitals. its increasing the lithology ofe the irg and other iranian combat units. what we're trying to do, president trump is trying to do is give our allies the ability to contain the threat, which is in our interest. so sanction iran and denying saudi arabia the weapons they need to

general mattis, secretary mattis, has it right. to iran would be appreciative of our not selling those weapons to saudi arabia. we will sanction iran this week, i hope, for what they've done outside the nuclear agreement. since the nuclear agreement wash they soldiers, our sailors, they captured them on the high seas and humiliated them and i don't remember saudi arabia doing that. they are test firing missiles and violation of un resolutions that could destroy israel and one day reach us or our allies throughout the middle east in europe. they are spreading their form of radical shiite is him all through the world, all through the middle east, the money they have received from the iranian nuclear deal is not going to build roads and bridges and hospitals, is increasing theidem lethality of the lusardi and other combatant units and whatch we are trying to do, what president trump is trying to do, is give our allies the ability to contain the threat which is in our interest. ne so, sanction iran and denying saudi arabia the weapons

see you around, giulia lou: president trump earlier this week granted defense secretary-general mattis over troop levels, sending somewhere between 3,000 and 5,000 more our troops, joining the 8,400 troops already there. joining me to talk about the war on radical islamist terror in all its forms, and mueller's special counsel and more. general jack keane. great to see you. let's start with 3,000 to 5,000 troops. a president who granted to general mattis, the defense secretary, the authority to make those troop-level decisions. this seems to be clearing the way for a different form of action on the part of our military. >> the taliban have momentum and they had it for two years now. when they conduct operation they normally succeed. they have taken back a considerable amount of territory. so that is the issue. the commander when he did testimony here a few weeks ago. he made a request that we need 3,000 to 5,000 additional trainers. they would be there to help the afghan army. when you look at that request, i don't dispute the fact it would be helpful. but i don't believe it's decisive

a president who granted to general mattis, the defense secretary, the authority to make those troop-levele way for a different form of action on the part of our military. >> the taliban have momentum and they had it for two years now. when they conduct operation they normally succeed. they have taken back a considerable amount of territory. so that is the issue. the commander when he did testimony here a few weeks ago. he made a request that we need 3,000 to 5,000 additional trainers. they would be there to help the afghan army. when you look at that request, i don't dispute the fact it would be helpful. but i don't believe it's decisive. i don't think that would change the momentum on the battledfield where we are starting to get a political outcome and favorable solution. this is the united states of america. we have been involved here for 16 years. we've should have brought this to a conclusion a long time ago. we are fighting people with ak-47s and home plead explosive devices. lou: the world's super power with advanced technology available to no one else on the planet, is there a sen

. >> many people don't know this but many people don't know this that i like general mattis.is honest quote about military leadership. >> what keeps you awake at night? >> nothing, i keep other people awake at night. [cheering] >> he says often stuff like that all the time. in an effort to be more like him i decided to spend the day at work speaking only in a real post from general mattis. problem is i scared some people. watch. >> i want to be on tv to. i need to be polite, be professional but have a plan to kill everybody you need. >> hey, kat. what's going on i have an idea for the shows i made a powerpoint for the patient. to my looking it over christmas. >> powerpoint makes us stupid. >> you sunk my battleship. how do you win every time? >> because the most important 6 inches on the battlefield are between your ears back high, summer intern, i'm kat, i'll be your guide today. i come in peace. i do not bring any artillery but i am pleading with you with tears in my eyes if you [bleep] with me i will kill you all. >> kat, i love that you're joining the company's apathy but

. >> many people don't know this but many people don't know this that i like general mattis.military leadership. >> what keeps you awake at night? >> nothing, i keep other people awake at night. [cheering] >> he says often stuff like that all the time. in an effort to be more like him i decided to spend the day at work speaking only in a real post from general mattis. problem is i scared some people. watch. >> i want to be on tv to. i need to be polite, be professional but have a plan to kill everybody you need. >> hey, kat. what's going on i have an idea for the shows i made a powerpoint for the patient. to my looking it over christmas. >> powerpoint makes us stupid. >> you sunk my battleship. how do you win every time? >> because the most important 6 inches on the battlefield are between your ears back high, summer intern, i'm kat, i'll be your guide today. i come in peace. i do not bring any artillery but i am pleading with you with tears in my eyes if you [bleep] with me i will kill you all. >> kat, i love that you're joining the company's apathy but i have to tell you it

this is to both secretary mattis and general dunford. sec. mattis: let me come back to you again in private. i would prefer -- these are areas that are very sensitive. i don't want to let our adversaries know which ones we are looking at. we will be explained -- explaining exactly what we are looking at. sen. peters: i understand. general, same position? gen. dunford: absolutely. sen. peters: i look forward to working with both of you. thank you. sen. mccaskill: i know the chairman has mentioned this several times but i think repetition matters in terms of getting this message out to the american people. the president said he was going to have historic increases in defense spending. at one point, the president said he was going to expand the army from 480,000 to 540,000. it is my understanding as the chairman has mentioned that the president's request in military was exactly 3% higher than president obama's. and furthermore, i assume you all agree that it calls for zero additional soldiers, correct? sec. mattis: that is correct right now. sen.

mattis is a great general. h.r. mcmasters is also a great strategist. and these are complex issues, and as owen mentioned, there's a lot of bad stuff going on in afghanistan, even right now. right now, the taliban has taken back tora bora, that famous location in the mountains where bin laden was crossing over into the border of pakistan, when he escaped, and when we let him escape. anyway, long story short is we need to retake tora bora. we need to close down helmand province, all along the pashtoon border there, there has to be restricted -- they can't be bringing their camels akandahar back and forth like that with impunity. that's part of the strategic thing that has to happen in afghanistan. the second thing that has to happen in afghanistan is they have to wipe out all the opium locations right now. this has been totally unreported there, and that's where all the money comes from, uzbekistan and that area. host: you see a long-term presence for u.s. troops or advisors? caller: well, you know, i think you're exactly right. i think that unless you'r

>> for me, i like the fact he lets general mattis take the reigns and do what he knows best. i think that's where when trump was coming up, he's a businessman. he surrounds himself with people that is smart. he's going to let them do things. he's going to keep them in check. for me, it's renegotiation of nafta, getting out of paris and pulling back out of the u.n. >> you think the united states should not have a seat at the united nations? >> i think we should re-negotiate our position. we are funding all of these things ourselves. >> you are shaking your head. >> we are. >> when you remove yourself if the paris climate accord, and the united nations, you see power and authority to china and russia. >> they weren't paying. >> we have tried isolationism before. where did that get us? >> i'm not saying isolation, i'm saying renegotiation. >> you talked pulling out of the u.n., i don't know what renegotiation is, if it's payments or what? >> if he threatens to pull out. >> i'm not understanding what you mean specifically by that but i do not support a country of the president is

rex tillerson, wilbur ross, general kelly, general mcmaster, general mattis, steve mnuchin, gary cohnly the best cabinet that has been formed in the last 20 years. megan: at yale, the only 'a' you need -- thank you ver much. ♪ >> the thrill of living well is in the pursuit. the pursuit of the rarest experiences, the pursuit of the finest products. the pursuit of quality in everything you do. and in all of these pursuits, you need the best intelligence to make the best decisions. >> we know that she sells for a lot, but what makes are important. >> it isn't easy. it is difficult work. >> welcome to "bloomberg pursuits," where you find information that follows your inspiration. in this edition, how to make the most of a visit to mumbai. how to choose the sports car that suits you perfectly. >> this car has a lot to offer,

rex tillerson, wilbur ross, general kelly, general mcmaster, general mattis, steve mnuchin, gary cohnly the best cabinet that has been formed in the last 20 years. megan: you are looking at the administration, with great would you give it? so far? tom: look, i would not give it a grade yet. if you look at metrics, if there a health bill, tax bill, no. we have put a lot of chips and of things and are doing a great job, but it's too early to bring the report card in. i would give an 'a'for what they intended to do was to come in and turn things upside down. you can't live with status quo. i would take a sabbatical from the grades. look at it in a year as we approach the midterm and give him a chance. it is too early to evaluate it. megan: at yale, the only 'a' you need -- thank you very much. [applause] ♪ narrator: our world today is wealthier than ever. but not everyone shares in this wealth. today's young business leaders are challenging this, changing the way we think about money, its power and its purpose. this is a new generation. this is the new philanthropy. ♪

general mattis saying he was grateful for the opportunity to serve with the men and women. he made it much more about the we instead of the me. >> looked the president right in the eye when he was saying it. >> he did. chris cillizza, there is something to give thanks in all this, the opportunity to discuss what is the role of the media here. you hear from trump supporters, the president himself. the media thinks because they are not nice to me, they are too mean. what is your response to the idea of balance of naughty and nice. >> by the way, chris, just to add, the president up and tweeting this morning, bashing the phony media, i think. >> might as well be calling you by name. >> i know, which would be fine, probably help my twitter following. the fake news media, has never been so wrong or dirty. purposely incorrect stories and phony sources to meet their agenda of hate. sad. that's my reading. this is tremendously corrosive to democracy. i can't say it any other way. undermining an institution aimed at trying to be fair, trying to get the facts for the people who repre

rex tillerson, wilbur ross, general kelly, general mcmaster, general mattis, steve mnuchin, gary cohnably the best cabinet that has been formed in the last 20 years. megan: you are looking at the administration, what grade would you give it? a to f, so far? tom: look, i would not give it a grade yet. if you look at metrics, if there a health bill, tax bill, no. where are we on foreign policy? we have put a lot of chips and and things and are doing a great job, but it's too early to bring the report card in. i would give an 'a'for what they intended to do was to come in and turn things upside down. you can't live with status quo. so i would take a bbatic om therades. i'd say, let's look at it in a year as we approach the midterm and give him a chance. it is too early to evaluate it. megan: it reminds me of that old saying at yale, the only 'a' you need -- thank you very much. ♪ ♪ announcer: "brilliant ideas," powered by hyundai motors. >> ♪ i-d-e-a, ideas ♪ ♪ narrator: times square, new york, this giant projection is the work of artist pipilotti rist, part of an important exhibition ab

now that the president has given over authority on troop numbers over to the pentagon, over to general mattisd press" today is reporting that they are likely to be adding an additional 4,000 troops there. that enough to turn the tide, chris? >> well, it's hard to say from this optic. i think what's important is allowing those on the ground to allow the clearance date they are to achieve. numbers are arbitrary if you don't have that end state in mind. >> do we have it now? do we have -- is it clear the mission in afghanistan now, so many years in? >> i don't know that it's clear the afghanistan -- the people of afghanistan right now, and that's the most critical part of an insurgency. so, we have to make sure that we're having that direct dialogue with the local populations. >> what's your view in general of the president giving over the responsibility on troop movements to general mattis, additional troop numbers? is that his responsibility? >> i think it's important he give troop number responsibility to secretary mattis -- >> you do? >> but not the decision, because to put more troops in af

also, secretary mattis, we discussed one time proper transition. general corral s has worked on this extensively, from hand-off to active duty and making sure it's a smooth transition. are the department and the va working closely on this, and do you think progress is being made timt? because what's happened sometimes, not to get too off script or whatever, a lot of active duty when they become vets, medicines that they're dependent on, critically important are not available when they flip to thrksa side, which causes significant problems. and i wanted to make sure that the transition and the dod and va are working properly to get this done. >> sir, i believe the committee will be briefed very soon. we have made significant progress on electronic health records. that's actually one of the contributing factors to how we will do this right. and i believe according to people who have been involved with this for many years and in one case over two decades, we've never had a closer relationship with dod and va targeted right at the records and form lairies. >>

general mattis said diplomacy is an option on the table, working with china to sort of keep the gyang in check -- pyon check. says north korea is a strategic burden to them and not a strategic asset. china has responded in some ways positive. do you think that pyongyang will respond to diplomacy? what about the u.s. prisoner that had been kept there for a year and a,? coma? guest: i think we should try diplomacy first. i just came back from south korea and japan, and we heard from south koreans, japanese scholars,nd chinese and also some of their leaders. they want diplomacy. they don't want us to do anything that may even infer that we want to go to work because they will be the ones who suffer, first and foremost. and the hope is that china, because the three depends on china so much, can intercede and be that partner that rings him back. so i agree with that. that is why it is so important with the budget that we do not likehe state department president trump's skinny budget looks like it wants to because diplomacy comes first and even military folks support that idea. host: ok. lo

from his previous experience, general mattis is saying there's no way you can enter political talks with the taliban, you have to fight them. one other thing, to put everything into perspective. if you look at the region from me middle east to china and west in general, the only country you see where despite intervention the u.s. and the world still does really well is afghanistan. so that's the last outpost you have left there. and if you lose that, then what happened in manchester, in london, that will even increase. peter: is it time to talk to the taliban? this is a strategy that's been much muted at this point in time. susanne: governments talk to the taliban all the time. i remember once i did a profile on president karzai at the time, 2006 or 2007, so i spent a couple of days with him. the taliban, high level taliban, has been visiting him all the time. so contact is there. that's not the issue. and i think there could be a settlement with the taliban. but the political issue is bigger. so it's not only about the taliban and the government. that could be settled, possibly. no, it'

oft even now, the secretary defense, former general mattis, told the senate that climate change is impacting stability in areas of the world where our troops are operating today. the climate crisis has triggered drought, famines, and other devastating changes that have sparked political turmoil. that is my statement. even the trump team knows it is a national security threat. ofin, we have the testimony -- this goes back to 2000 7, 10 years ago. we have known this. it is an economic issue. hundreds of businesses and executives support the accord, including energy companies like exxon mobil. several members of the business council resigned in protest of the decision. trump says he is putting american jobs first, but the accord would have created an explosion of green energy jobs for the future. to keep america preeminent for the jobs of the future is essential that the world moved to a place that recognizes the danger of climate crisis. it's a health issue, a national security issue, it's an economic security issue. it is a personal security issue. families health is affected. this agreement

. >> reporter: when it comes to china, there are potential highs and lows in general mattis' eyes. the secretary of defense says the u.s. is not pleased with their actions in the south china sea, but they are pleased and, quote, encouraged by some of china's actions in regards to north korea. here's mattis peeking to representatives -- speaking to representatives from more than 20 countries at the annual international security conference in singapore. >> as a matter of u.s. national security, the united states regards the threat from north korea as a clear and present danger. ultimately, we believe china will come to recognize north korea as a strategic liability, not an asset. >> reporter: north korea is carrying out missile launches more frequently than in the past. china is the reclusive regime's closest ally. on friday the u.n. security council voted to expand targeted sanctions against north korea. it took weeks to negotiate, but what they passed is noteworthy, because it's the first time since trump took office that china and the u.s. agreed to pass this sort of resolution at

general mattis will make it by july. trying to accomplish? he will ask himself, 3 to 5,000 troops the come mander is asking for, will that be decisive, will that be enough to turn the momentum around to our favor where we eventually get a political solution here, no. stuart: not enough? >> not enough. stuart: most of them trainers. >> they will beç helpful, but that is not the same question will it be decisive. stuart: well, i thought that if president trump got involved in military action, the man plays to win. so does general mattis. this doesn't sounds to me like a winning strategy. it sounds like a holding strategy. >> i agree with you. that is about what it would be but that is not his decision though. this is being leaked out from somewhere. he hasn't made a decision, i know that for a fact. stuart: would you do it differently? would you play to win, go gung-howin or walk away? >> it is disgrace, 16 years involved this, stuart. it should have been over years ago. we should have crushed guys against the obama admin

us hoped in the early days that when he picked real luminaries, excellent professionals like general mattisnd general mcmaster as his national security adviser, that this would somehow help him make better decisions. but the problem is, that you cannot normalise a president who is fundamentally not normal. and we have seen repeatedly... i'm sure he would object to being described as not normal, but anyway. he may object to it, but you can see in the way he makes decisions, the way that he lashes out, the way that he attacks people, and the way that he tries to essentially belittle and divide, that this is not a normal circumstance. it's really incumbent on all of us to call it out as such. don't you have to judge him by the actions that take place? and, as you just said, we were talking about foreign policy, that's a continuation of barack obama, and that's a continuation of barack 0bama's and the democrat's policy and so on. so actually, the actions don't quite match the intemperate rhetoric. they do in many important respects. the continuation i was describing was specifically on the issu

dangerous and we just don't really know who's making policy in washington is it donald trump is it general mattis. it's of situationally and terribly reminiscent of nine hundred fourteen when people didn't know who was really in power in berlin turned out it was the generals and that possibly wasn't a very good idea maybe that's the case in washington ok appreciate your insights on this as ever mark harmon director of the crisis research institute thank you for that. thank you. we've just heard a lot of this is the u.s. the conflicts in line with russia's proven effective at mitigating strategic miscalculations and deescalating it tensions that line from the u.s. led coalition. the u.k. now a van is plowed into a crowd of pedestrians near a mosque in london injuring ten people one person also died at the scene although the cause of death is currently unclear the incident which is being treated by the authorities as a terror attack took place in the north of the city police first responded to reports of the vehicle hitting people outside the muslim welfare house on seven sisters road within a minu