degradation of isis is not the end goal. we must defeat isis. i recognize there are many pressing challenges in the middle east, but defeating isis is the united states' number one goal in the region. as we've said before when everything is a priority, nothing is a priority. we must continue to keep our focus on the most urgent matter at hand. at this moment we are still in a phase characterized by major military operations. the expansion of isis has necessitated a large scale military response and our offensive measures are reclaiming areas in iraq and syria in which isis has had a large and destructive footprint. our end goal in this phase is the refugeegional elimination o isis. the military power will remain where this caliphate has existed to set the condition for a full recov recovery. under president trump's leadership and the strength of this coalition our common enemy will remain under intense pressure. soon our efforts in iraq and syria will enter a new phase defined by a transition from major military operations to stabilization. in t

isis bans all imagery and isis may no longer fully control this part of mosul, but its presence still and we are still looking for answers. kevin, meet your father. kevin kevin kevin kevin kevin kevin kevin kevin kevin kevin trusted advice for life. kevin, how's your mom? life well planned. see what a raymond james financial advisor can do for you. >> as iraqi counterterrorism forces pushed into mosul we were embedded with them and ended up ambushed by isis. >> go, go, go. >> we were trapped for 28 hours. during that time an air strike had levelled the house beside the one where we had spent the night. we've returned to try to uncover what happened inside that house. we've been told that two families were inside. when it was hit by the air strike that morning in november. we had already met whose son was shot that morning, whose daughter in law's cries we filmed. he also lost his neighbors. >> the graves for two of the people who were killed. are right here. [ speaking foreign language] >> we were given the phone number of a relative who knew more about what had happened. he was too a

they say i'm isis, i'm taliban. they affiliate themselves with these labels and these organizations, whether they, you know, at times go home to their villages during crop season or something, that is something that the u.s. has seen in the past. but these people are identified as isis fighters, as an isis affiliates that emerged in afghanistan. that's why u.s. troops were up there fighting. and they are trying to get the afghan forces able to do it on their own, obviously. but it's a very long road. and that's one of the reasons that the u.s., that the trump administration, the pentagon are very quietly discussing sending additional u.s. military trainers and advisers to afghanistan to try and beef up the capability of afghan forces because the country is basically very fragile in many places in terms of its ability to maintain its own security. they have to make sure that the afghan forces can really be out there in front in these key areas or the isis comes back, the taliban come back. they've been resurgent in t

meet unez del fortry, a 28-year-old isis veteran.e offers a rare insight into the mind of an unrepentant isis supporter. >> every muslim in the world, even if he has a beard from onemeter to one milemeter, a pluz lm has to believe in caliphate. >> that dream led him to a war in syria and isis. he says he never killed anyone there. let me ask you something. if you had been asked while you were in syria to execute someone, would you have done it? >> look, in this land there is a pledge of alliance. >> would have you ever done it? >> because you be to obey it. because it's ilaumic law. believe me, it's not a fun thing to execute elpeople. it's terrible. >> now he's back, one of more than a hundred belgiums who have returned from syria and iraq. here now walking the picturesque streets of belgium. >> we have to impplement thetia reea. that's a must. >> so wae hear from a lot of people who support isis that they believe this ideology will spread from europe across the whole world. do you believe that? >> it's already here. i said it befor

the civil war in syria and to isis.says he never killed anyone there. let me ask you something, if you had been asked while you were in syria to execute someone would you have done it? >> there is the pledge of alliance. >> would you have done it? so you would have done it? >> it's something terrible, but yeah. >> now he is back, more than a hundred bell yums who have returned from syria and iraq. graduates from isis and other extremists groups here, now, walking the picturesque streets of belgium. >> we have to represent. it's a must. >> so we hear from a lot of people who support isis they believe this idealology will spread to europe and across the whole world. do you believe that? >> it's already here. i said it before. it's already here. >> but people will want to know, would you ever participate in a terrorist attack? >> why should i? i'm here to live. >> so that's a no. >> it's not on my agenda. >> but unis and those like him are what people fear most. >> people who come back after they are trained in syria are v

fresher face that isis provide, isis k, historically the area of pakistan they would like to see in their hands some say isis came across the border from pakistan when it infiltrated being the epicenter where it all began. isis lost by the afghan army, but regained ground quite substantially in the past months perhaps by the attacks in kabul. back to you. >>> thank you, nick. >>> let's bring in cnn military analyst retired air force colonel cedric lateen. he joins us from washington good morning, sir. >> good morning, dave, how are you? >> good. a little confused because when you hear the mother of all bombs will be dropped for the first time, you expect more than 36 casualties. are you surprised by these results? >> i am a bit surprised. i find them a bit shall we say disproportionality to borrow a term from the military because what you try to do in warfare is try to achieve a degree of proportionality is use the amount of force in order to get the job done. having said that, i think the big issue is the kind of structure or kind of terrain we're dealing with and there's few other

fight against isis. military officials say it was wrongly identified as an isis fighting position, that incident is under investigation. >>> the trump administration ordering dozens of additional troops to somalia, they will be training them and providing counter terrorism support fighting the al qaeda affiliate al shabab. they arrived in moegdy sshmoegd. >> 15 minutes past the hour, the man dragged off the united airline flight planning a lawsuit. and that's not the only problem for united. [ engine revs ] [ screams ] [ shouting ] brace yourself! this is crazy! [ tires screeching ] whoo! boom baby! rated pg-13. [ screams ] >>> the attorney for dr. david dao who was forcibly removed from united flights claims they have a history of bullying passengers and plan to sue them and the department of aviation police. they say dao had a concussion, lost two teeth and had a severely broken nose. >>> what happened to my dad should have never happened to any human being regardless of the circumstance. we were horri

these are people who identify themselves as isis adherence, isis fighters along the pakistan border. as i think general hertling can explain probably better than i, these kind of fighters identify themselves at different times with different loyalties. the fact that they say they're isis, it's still going to be the case that the u.s. doesn't want these type of unsurgents, these typical of terrorists going back and forth. the fokt that they're watching nangahar, that's why they've had troops there and when a special operations soldier died in a gunfight, it's why you have them up there. it may well be that this remote area, you get to the point where operations on foot just aren't going to make it if the fighters retreat into their complexes, into their mountain hideouts, into the very, very remote areas . it becomes much tougher for u.s. and afghan forces on foot to be able to operate there for long periods of time. it may be the case they looked at it and decided this was the way they wanted to get rid of this target once and for all and it also, again, we've talked about it so much

that we're fighting isis, and isis poses a threat to the rest of the world. the assad regime doesn't. and that's a civil war. the united nations takes that view, by the way, and hence, doesn't do anything about bashar al assad, as well. do you agree with kevin's take, that maybe we shouldn't be -- maybe we shouldn't be drawing such a clear li? that's john mccain's take. >>ohn mccain's take that kin has given us. >> well, you know, why does isis have support in syria? what assad has done to his own population and the past years have fueled recruits for islamic state. therefore, you can't draw a distinction between them. the russians do. they're not interested in fighting islamic state. they're interested in keeping bashar al assad in power and consistently deny any connection between what he's done and the growth of isis. so, you know, i think you can't say these things aren't connected. >> and kevin, i want to be clear, you were conveying that it is john mccain's take. you agree that these lines don't make sense? >> well, it's not that i agree or not. i think

>> i will never love isis. i don't think they deserve love.ng people do love, hope this isn't true, eli manning caught in a scheme. >> they are not sure but his integrity is getting called into question today. diner sports, sports memorabilia collectors are accusing the giant and eli manning of trying to pass along to fake equipment, this has been going on since 2014 but just last week eli manning pass along some emails in relation to the case and according to the new york post, this one, 2010, saying two helmet that can pass as game use, that is it was when this was released the giant sent a statement saying from the giants lawyers, the email was taken out of context, shared with the media by an unscrupulous memorabilia dealer and his counsel who for years have been seeking to leverage a big payday. this is going to court. >> they were trying to pass them out. >> eli doesn't get his stuff much but that is a good point. next topic which is incredible, united goes from bad to worse. this is almost unbelievable. >> the united passenger from hous

what is isis, if isis is in cuba, we're going to cuba. if isis is in syria we'll bomb them there. fighting the taliban. they're have two-front war with 8400 troops. senator warren who i always go to for military advice personally, wanted to weigh in. >> as is the case with every part of trump's foreign policy we're all trying tohunderstand, what what is strategy? >> you think this is more of a message to north korea? >> you know if we can't figure out what it means sort of hard to make that a message. one of the things we want to know what was impact on civilians. i think it is powerfully important. you go back to general mcchrystal talking about the importance of knowing who gets killed in these attacks because that is the real question about our future safety. who will be out there fighting in the future? ainsley: can i answer the question for her? doesn't donald trump just want to kill people who want to kill us? president trump is doing something that every american should support. these are the worst of the worst, geraldo. 36 bad guys. we have naysayers. how can democrats be

we were sending a very clear message to isis not only to isis here in afghanistan but also isis main. if they come here to afghanistan, they will be destroyed. in keeping with the secretary's intent they will be annihliated. so this continuing pressure we're putting on isis is achieving that effect and we'll keep it up. the shift to the first part of your question, the haqqanis and the taliban both pose a threat this year. we have not seen cooperation between isis k and the haqqanis. however, we're always watching for convergence between the various terrorist groups we see here. isis k claimed responsibility for the attack on the hospital that occurred. the taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack that occurred up in mazzary sharif. we don't see the connections between the two groups but in terms of what they did during these attacks there is very .uch a connection as the secretary talked about in his comments, the level of bar barretty and cruelty shooting patients in their beds, shooting yung students at the mosque in prayer, they are reaching new lows in terms of their be

you took out 36 isis fighters. we've got to get rid of bashar al-assad, by the way, some way, shape, or form, and we did send russia a message with what we did there in syria. why are they all worked up? >> well, for partisan purposes, obviously. apparently these guys have foreign that a green beret sergeant was killed by these people last weekend in this area. i thought the most poignant tweet on this whole subject was yesterday was from a double amputee in afghanistan. his name is johnny joey jones, and he was in a twitter war with another amputee who was opposed to dropping the moab but this guy johnny jones wrote i lost my legs because my government was afraid to use the tools i had and saw me as expendable. i wish i had this administration. and i thought that summed it up, and he went on and said we begged to use the bombs on the mind field ghost town i lost my legs. but your rhetorically righteous tweeting. i think colonel peters summed it up perfectly. this was the right thing to do. this saved american live

allies in the fight against isis. in this situation, what it appears, the air strike was called in by these forces and they misidentified a target. you had a situation of friendly fire where a local force allied with the u.s. on the ground accidently called in an air strike, directed an air strike at another allied force. that was a little closer to the front lines. it's a tragic situation as far as never friendly fire in the military, they never want to see that happen and occur. it does unfortunately happen in these close air support battles. >> what do you make of that, colonel leighton? >> it shows how difficult it is to integrate all of the different pieces there, brooke. and what you're seeing is a potential for the type of friendly fire incident or something else that could have occurred. ryan may have better situation but right now i don't think we know enough to say definitively that's what happened. but obviously there were risks here and it's a very tight battlefield in some quarters. >> thank you, everyone

it was about sending a message to isis. there are up to some 800 isis fighters in afghanistan and this message is take a look at this video, this is what we can do to you. so they feel at this point it was and there seems to be for now no pushback from the afghan government. >> what about this news, barbara, that the defense secretary is going to be visiting the middle east here soon? >> defense secretary mattis, the pentagon announced a short time ago is on his way to the region. let me just tick off some of the countries he's going to. saudi arabia, egypt, isreal, cutter and jabudi where there is a u.s. base where there is a good keel of counter terrorism effort being launched out of that base in north africa. saudi arabia egypt and isreal they'll be talking about security in the region. it may be additional stops for secretary mattis in the region that they will not announce at this point but we're going to have to wait and see. >> barbara starr, i want to get to jessica schneider. she is in west palm beach, florida. thi

it's been 117 americans charged with trying to support isis so far. the judge in this case, a man in michael davis really didn't think this was the appropriate sentence for these young men. he thought in mr. yousif's case, this was an 18-year-old who had been influenced by older men in his community and he thought that he could be reformed. he didn't think that the best move was up with this young man in prison for 15 years. he also couldn't take the risk of just letting him go free. the man and been radicalized and he did believe in some very violent pieces of the isis ideology. judge davis began to research, is there a way to deradicalizing mr. yusuf and his peers? is there a way to take out this toxic ideology that audience u.s. teenagers and convert them back into the young americans they had been before? judge davis found there were programs all over the world do exactly this kind of problem from nigeria to indonesia to denmark, all over. he began doing very in-depth research about what would be the best program to apply to mr. yusuf at his peers

we know isis is in these caves. so if we can, you know, do anything to help, let us know what we can do without doing too much public help. and that's where i think we have to be able to challenge people to say, look, we need your public support as well as your private support. so i would be pushing for both afghan leaders as well as the entire regions in the area. i think that's where public diplomacy can make a difference right after a 21,000 pound bomb is dropped. >> dana: ben, when the invasion of afghanistan first happened in october of 2001 right after the attacks of 9/11, the goal was to protect the united states, our national interest, to deny terrorists from being able to have a safe haven from which to plot and plan terrorist attacks. to me, this action today speaks to that original goal. the goal is to prevent terrorists of any kind, taliban, al qaeda, and now isis. how do you see it? >> i would agree with you completely, dana. jennifer griffin said the estimate is that there are 1,000 isis troops or figh

>> putin. >> isis. >> you want to meet isis? ask. judge jeanine: "justice" rolls on in a moment. judge jeanine: ben, good evening. you are a film maker, an actor, a comedian, a lawyer, a speech writer more nixon, a cook and renaissance man. you are a man for all ages and i'll ask you questions. >> go ahead. judge jeanine: what do you think of the left silencing the right or is the right the fascist group silencing the right. >> the left is the fascist group silencing the right it's like stalin and the ultra dictatorial people. they said we have to have violence. we seal the deal with violence. the way the nazis figured out the brown shirts go around, and if they couldn't convince the crowd with argument, they would have the brown shirts convince their opponents. at berkeley, the home of the free speech movement, that they would not consider having a free speech by a brilliant woman such as the one we just saw. it's horrible and shock. they did it to charles murray and he's a genius. and heather mcdonald. judge jeanine: a woman w

the red are areas under isis control. the yellow, isis support.us on those red areas, particularly around mosul, one of the strongholds and ramadi, extremely close to the capital of baghdad. talling ahead now to mafrp 2017. what do you see disappear? i will toggle back and forth to make it more visible for you. around mosul, this big area of isis control here, that disappears during the two-year period. you know that now part of mosul is out of isis control. that's progress. a lot of the cities along the way to mosul no longer under isis control. let's look down here. we're going back a couple of years. you had isis pockets here close to the capital and up the corridor towards syria. they're no longer in ramadi. you diminished that course there. let's look into syria. go back a couple of years. here is raqqah, that's the capital of the pro claimed caliphate. they still control raqqah. what's happened is you have the rebel-led forces getting closer there. they are supported by u.s. forced as they prepare to assault the city of raqqah. you have a lo

it was a known isis area. and we are getting word that not only did general nicholson sign off on this and think this was something that needed to be done, but also after began officials signed off on this. this was a decision made obviously in the white house and made with the top u.s. commander in conjunction with also afghan officials. it signals a big shift in terms of the u.s. military operation in afghanistan. it was 2014 that the u.s. hand over security responsibility to the afghans. this is a big change where the u.s. has taken a much more aggressive role in afghanistan. it comes on the heels of the 59 cruise missiles fired into syria. talking and listening to u.s. officials, it's clear this is a warning to isis in the region and also to north korea, iran and countries with deep underground operations of nuclear programs. this is the type of weapon if the youth chose to strike against north korea or their nuclear program, this is the type of weapon they would use. this is the beginning of tackling isis

fox has more disgust for trump than isis. also, why don't you go out there and teach love to isis?nd we have this double amputee warrior his name is johnny joey jones. he said this. i lost my legs because my government under obama was afraid to use the tools they had. they saw me as expendable. i wish i had this information. what's your reaction to all of this information we just gave you? >> i don't know mr. fox. i'm assuming he's probably a good guy. i mean, he's in a bubble where, you know, the whole love trump's hate. it's not the case -- look what this -- this is an ideology, a very violent ideology, they throw gays off of buildings, they have no rights for women, sex slavery, it's going on over there right now, and you're not going to go over there and give them a hug. i've dealt with these people before. it's not going to work. liz: could you have killed osama bin laden with love? it's not going to happen because i was too worried about him blowing himself up to be a mortar. it's not just about bombing alone, there needs to be education and one of the biggest problems we're

the hope this is going to destroy these isis caves, these isis tunnels. you heard ambassador bolton, capri, we've had this thing 10 years. >> right. trish: we haven't ever used it. the obama administration was afraid. how do you assess this? are we more at risk now as a country from isis threat, having used this in your view? >> i think honestly it's a mixed bag. anytime you are targeting, for example, the infrastructure of a terrorist organization, that is probably a good ing. i understand that you know, if we are aggressive we may be inciting some kind of a response but, you know that is kind, that is the world we live in. but i do think it is important to remember the geopolitical sort of balance is not what it was during the cold war, for example. so you know, yes, we want to to out there to say we are strong militarily, but the response so not mutually assured destruction as it was throughout the 20th century. we're dealing with syria, russia, iran, they are people not necessarily caring what happens to their people. each one of those rogue entity, e

is doing saying isis is the only way to be islamic. this points to the metaconclusion of if by calling them islamic we are saying it is implied, we understand it to be implied, they are the right kind of islamics, then we evidently have a view of islam that is different from the view of christianity or judiasm in that islam can only be one thing. if we said a group was christian we would not be complying it was the correct version of christianity or the only version of christianity. so i think we would rightly call a crazy christian group a christian group and just leave it to our imagination ow diverse the label of christian can be. the same thing is appropriate with the islamic state. at no point by doing so do we say it is the only version of islam or the correct version of islam. >> moderator: it is striking you brought up the difference with christianity because there is an interesting line there in the book. islam is not christianity on a five century delay and its formation well take a different shape. that is a frightened line.

someone from isis or putin? hit the streets find out who people are more afraid of in this week's trees "justice." take a look. who was a bigger threat to the united states, north korea, russia or isis. >> i don't know. that's a tough one. probably north korea. i don't know. i'm not really educated in this area. i don't want to say anything dumb on tv. judge jeanine: nobody really knows. >> i know it's all up in the air. judge jeanine: as long as it's not up in the air. do you think it's good that we show this force? >> absolutely. i think it's a good thing. i think north korea is bluffing. judge jeanine: are we bluffing? >> no. absolutely not. judge jeanine: how tall are you? stand up. who should the united states be more afraid of, north korea, russia or isis. >> great question, can i say our president? >> you are free to stay whatever you want. we have a first amendment here. isis, north korea, russia. >> i think it will be our own doing. i think we'll create the threat. i think a lot of our ignorance is goin

, our enemy is isis. we should be focused on defeating isis. that means collaborating with the russians. that means keeping our eye on the prize, which is isis. he's now moved to something which, in those terms, is kind of a distraction. it's not entirely clear how it helps or hurts and a lot of people have argued that by attacking the assad regime, you're helping isis. after all, the biggest opponent to the assad regime is isis. ted cruz had denounced obama's plan to attack the assad regime by saying you're turning america into the air force for isis. so that contradiction or complication is one we haven't figured out yet. so tactically, as everyone is pointing out, this is both a win because it's a limited contained strike. i think it also upholds an important norm. it shows that president trump is bold and willing to take some risks but strategically it does complicate the reality of our position in syria. are we now determined to get rid of assad? if that is the case, are we in an alliance with the ji

obama's strategy against isis had not brought him to the point where the destruction of isis in iraq was in contemplation. and we didn't have to face the question that the trump has to face, what comes after the defeat of isis. obama was never serious about getting rid of the al-assad regime. syria's allies iraq and russia were critical to get the nuclear deal with iran. you put these factors together, isis will soon be destroyed we hope and the iran nuclear deal which gives their efforts hegemony within the region is a detriment to american interests. we need to do it with a strategic context of the region in mind. that means conflict that comes after the destruction of isis so that iran and its allies, the baghdad government, assad and syria and hezbollah do not emerge stronger. kennedy: the creation of some of these groups hasn't led to their ends. it's still ongoing and you can argue it had its roots in the 80s. a proxy war or hot war with russia would be a bad idea. senator john mccain has spoke at length about arming the free syrian army. how do you even identify that army at t

isis viewed things a bit differently. there has been some mention as propaganda of 1924 and extinction of the caliphate being a key date but you often see them looking much further back for the last caliphate validity. 1258 is sometimes mentioned. >> moderator: the egyptian version doesn't count you are telling me? >> guest: sorry to break it to you, yes. it mentioned in their magazine we have not seen a caliphate since 1828. this means most of the people who historically if you go to the wiki ped oia page most are t chaos according thoothe islamic state. -- to the. they can revise this concept that has been attractive to other groups in the past in what they consider the most rigorous, most in tolerant way. a caliphate in a robust sense that hasn't existed in a long time. that flatters the caliphate obviously and it allows them to say that they are doing something of historical universe importance. >> i mean the key thinker of this struggle. we are talking about seven guys before more were considered to be part of the ch

and we have to stop isis. people ofct to the syria, by us taking action and the escalating what is going on in syria, that is the greatest thing you can do to support those people. the escalating the conflict there and containing isis is the greatest humanitarian relief we can provide first and or most. secondly, creating areas in which we can work with allies, including russia, committing for ensuring that there are places that are free from violence. in places free for people to gather safely. agree that the last thing people want to do is leave. they want to have a safe place to remain with their families and not be separated. our number one priority is to defeat isis. but from a humanitarian standpoint and refugee standpoint, ensuring we created environment that provides a safe place for them to ultimately remain. and on russia in particular, look -- if you look at the countries that are with us, it speaks pretty loudly the number of countries that have stood shoulder to shoulder with this president. russi

what does this do to isis? the syrians were making the argument that this hurts their ability to tackle groups like isis and other terrorist groups as well. whether or not they were really focusing on them is debatable, what they've seen for the most part, the regime is focusing on the rebel groups that directly threaten their regime and not groups like isis, but there has been some limited joint operations between the u.s. and russia in terms of targeting isis. going forward, listen, isis is in a good position. they've got all the groups that want to target them arguing and fighting themselves, this is how isis has operated in this region. there's been so much chaos among the groups that would target them, they have been able to fill the vacuum when there has been no government, they've exploited the chaos, the vacuum in the chaos. >> such an important reminder that there are consequences in such a complex situation, even just behind you, an area contested with rebel groups in isis. stay safe out there, i know

our focus is on isis. they also realize this is a bankrupt set of options to have assad staying in power. the allies are saying this chemical attack shows there's no future for assad in syria. what that means practically remains to be seen. he's supported by russia and by iran. and assad himself give an interview, which we talked about yesterday, in which he said, there's no option but to pursue this war. he fully intends to continue pursuing this war. we don't know whether his calculations change after this missile attack. but he is not by any stretch of the imagination, talking about peace talks or anything. he thinks he can win. he has powerful backers in iran and russia. the really interesting step forward now is to see whether anybody's political calculations will be shifted by the chemical attack and by the u.s. response. it's important that this is happening as president trump is hosting president xi in florida right now. >> how will it change the dialog dialogue? >> it will be focused where they di

, the ron as well as isis.sis.n as well as what's will be the discussion between this administration and president el-sisi. what we might be asking egypt to do on the counterterrorism front and what in your judgment could be giving that they are not doing? part, this is a sunni-arab-- the islim leadership in the area looking to differentiate itself is what it saw as the kind of weak or dishonest or intentionally betraying attitude of the previous administration. one of the mythologies in washington is of president trump -- the arabs are all upset about him. that is not exactly true because they see him -- unlike people in washington -- see him within the context of what they saw was an obama policy that favored the enemies of the sunni-arab muslim government. -- saudibia jordan arabia, jordan, the gulf states, whatever. there is a sense of that this administration should have the sunni-arab governments back when it comes to this issue. how that is actually going to turn out after the priority issue which is the

is isis, not the enemy is isis, not the syrian government. isis are terrorist animals who murder, and torture. haley show see ms. some pictures of the victims of isis, okay. right. l let's go now to larry calling in rcester, massachusetts, a democrat. good morning. morning. od i want to hopefully get a little bit of time to make some points. it's in the national interest to increase our in the world. and to alleviate the suffering people. ian the opinion of the united states thrown into disarray by chaotic this in nistration that's been power. but to alleviate the immediate do is , what we need to zones in theno-fly to h of syria, and we need do it -- we need to get a coalition of european countries, countries, all of the countries involved in this refugee crisis. the main thing would be to alleviate the suffering of the to, you know, nd just do something about this out-of-control refugee crisis on. host: let's move ahead to cliff oklahoma, to tulsa, on the independent line. good morning. caller: i don't believe it's in interest. ional i beli

has led some to join isis. it's really isis seen as being very strong. it its unity and pr is making it attractive at the moment. >> buck, we know isis has been in this region. he laid out how strategic and the tunnels. why now? >> it sends a message, i think, for this administration that there's a willingness to use every tool and do whatever is necessary to try and combat any of the jihadist forces that we're facing in afghanistan. the war has been going on for a long time. i was surprised how little attention it got when a little over a month ago you had the commander of u.s. forces testifying saying we may need more troops. they don't have enough to secure the country right now. the taliban is by some estimates in its strongest position in terms of territory under its control since the u.s. invasion. things are not going well at all in afghanistan. the taliban is the main enemy. the fact that there's an isis franchise on top of that is incredibly concerning and the administration with the first major shot a

reduce the threat of isis. and create the political environment, not just within the syrian people, but you can work with russia in particular to make sure that they understand that syriac, backed by russia's own accounting should be held accountable for the agreement it has made on chemical weapons alone. >> [indiscernible] sec. spicer: yes. sure. i think you can defeat isis with him in power and to your point, it's not like there is a single track that says you have to do -- if we can get both at the same time or one happens after the other, that's fine as well. the number one threat that america faces is isis in that region and we have to make sure we do everything we can to do that. message?s the specific will he threaten more sanctions? sec. spicer: i will let secretary tillis talk about his meeting. there's a lot to discuss. with respect to syria, we need to remind them of the commitments they have made. foremost,at first and we need to make sure that we understand what the situation is on the ground. the

not only isis in afghanistan, but isis main. if they come to afghanistan, they will be destroyed. the secretary's intent, they will be annihilated. the shift to the first part of your question, the haqqani network and taliban both does a threat this year. we have not seen collaboration , but weisis and haqqani are watching for convergence between the various terror groups that we see here. isis claimed responsibility for the attack on the hospital and the haqqani network claimed responsibility for the other. in terms of what they did during these attacks, there is very much a connection. as the secretary talked about, the layer of -- the level of barbarity and cruelty, shooting patients in their beds and killing people at mosque and prayer, they are reaching new lows in terms of their behavior and this is why something like 80% of the afghan people reject the taliban and do not want to see a return of this regime. said, ourretary afghan partners are open to having the taliban and rejoin peaceful life here in afghanistan. thank you. >> can you assess whether the haqqani network is

fight isis? >> reporter: then thursday and about face. >> it is in this vital national security interest of the united states to prevent and deter the threat and use of deadly chemical weapons. >> reporter: and trump's decision to strike syrias a a unilateral one after chasing obama for a go it alone approach. the president must get congressional approval before attacking syria. a big mistake if he does not, trump tweeted in 2013, president obama was ultimately unable to and scrapped plans to strike until 2014 when arab countries also participated in military action. well perhaps this is also classic trump, championing the element of surprise in foreign policy? >> i'm not saying i'm doing anything one way or another. >> reporter: and obsessed with appearing strong. >> if president obama's goal had been to weaken america, he could not have done a better job. >> reporter: it also changed the narrative long plaguing the trump administration the drip, trip, drip, of the stories about his campaign off

you look at isis. everywhere we turn we are being crowded by our enemies to whom we have apologized or given billions of dollars. trying to fight our way out, isis is they are. suddenly what we have to do is fire our way out of this thing and reestablish our preeminence so we can protect our liberties, protect our provider interests and plan property, now looking at ends, ways, and means. calling islamic extremism i threat and actually attacking that threat to try to eliminate it so we can live freely for an enduring time. >> kimberly: have a wonderful easter and passover weekend. coming up next on the special edition of "hannity"... >> the border is not open. please do not come. you will be apprehended if you do, and you will be deported promptly. if you are a criminal, you will be prosecuted. >> kimberly: jeff sessions says the southern border is now closed. as president trump moves forward with his plans to build a wall. richard fowler and paul babeu are here with reaction. and later... >> we will e

yesterday's strike killed 36 isis fighters. senior air force officials told me this is a weapon that is used to form strategic messaging. i'm told this was a tactical decision by the commander in afghanistan with no real strategic input from washington. in other words, no particular message designed to be sent to north korea. >> meghan: thank you. meantime, republican defense are praising president trump. senator lindsey graham tweeting i hope america's adversities ae watching. >> the decision to use the largest nonnuclear bomb that we have sends a clear signal of strength building on what he did last week in syria and is also a reminder both to the russians and north koreans that we have enormous assets if we want to use them. the speed the democrats appear to be throwing cold water on the strike saying it raises a lot of questions. this from jackie spear who sits on the armed services committee. >> they seem to be driven more by what kind of impact it's going to have on domestic policy then on a cohesive foreign policy. we ar

that was also claimed by isis. now this group in february issued a message for its followers to increase the temple against christians to carry out attack. it's not just been against churches. it's been to target assassinations and kidnappings involved. isis, unfortunately, is growing in egypt. there are a number of different elements across the country. there's also a very powerful affiliate of isis in -- they were behind the bombing, the metric jet plane a few years ago. the russian airliner. the egyptian authorities have until now they've got the situation under control. clearly they don't. it's a mission that they're accepting facing a challenge now that they've declared, they'll try and get a grip on the situation and build up to the east, there could be more attacks. >> coalition troops and allies syrian opposition forces, but a joint base in southern syria. >> the u.s. led coalition says the carrier, a complex attack on the border against a vehicle rigged with an explosive device and 20 to 30 suicide bombers

isis is well skilled in this. they have professionals who have expertise in this particular area so they know how to manipulate the information environment and create situations that they know will cause concern for us in western countries. as i mentioned in my comments to you, i do believe they do concern touse our operate at higher standards and prevent civilian casualties as a way to distract our campaign. it is important we recognize that. that has not changed how we approach things, does not change our values, adherence to law, and the fact that we do operate at a higher standard. it is an important thing to recognize about our enemy. mr. thornberry: i will conclude by saying, we want to be informed of the results of the investigation. we share your commitment to make sure we do things the right way. but the investigation needs to a core, and then you see what it finds. i will trust you and your folks to keep us fully informed once you are able to reach conclusions on that. let me yield to the ranking member.

and the humanitarian blockage was a distraction from isis.ow do you see those two matching up? >> i think senator mccain is exactly right. these are linked. you cannot ultimately defeat isis without getting rid of assad. he has no credibility with the largest percentage of his population, which are is the sunnis and never get it back and never get their support back and as long as that is the case, as long as he is there that will feed extremists, whether it is this isis or whether it is isis 2.0 down the road, assad has to go. they are connected. >> dickerson: tom, secretary of at a time is on his way to moscow. talk about moscow and its role here and then also the larger brief he has to carry with him to moscow as he meets with russia. >> he makes a good point with our relationship with russia at this point, a couple of points, one is, and we have been slow to realize this i think in the united states, russia is in an actively hostile posture towards the united states in and the west right now, undertaking direct efforts to undermine the we

close to an isis complex around 10:30 p.m. they were immediately met with intense gunfire on all sides. ac-130 gun ships and apaches were called in for support. officials are investigating if the fatal shots came from american or afghan partner forces. the mission was to kill or capture the head of isis in afghanistan. by the time the rangers were evacuated 4 1/2 hours later, he was likely dead, along with 35 isis fighters. nbc news has learned that military action and president trump's first 100 days, more frequent and intense, military officials say he has delegated more authority to ground commanders, and isis as it loses territo territory, is a more concentrated target. the firefight happening just three miles from where the u.s. dropped the so-called mother of all bombs two weeks ago on an isis strong hold. >> to the extent we put americans out there, we are going into a hornet's nest. an area we don't know very well. >> reporter: battle planners chose to use a ground support force, because women and children may have bee

ofac designated two isis financial facilitators as isis supporter in africa continuing our effort to disrupt key leadership notes for the group. the president and members of the cabinet have held many meetings and discussions with their international counterparts about the significant foreign policy challenges facing our world. you heard from the president alongside the nato secretary general about the need for a strong funded alliance to combat terrorism, the humanitarian crisis ongoing in syria and many other serious threats to our collective safety and security. also yesterday, ambassador nikki haley, along with her counterparts from nine other nations, voted in favor of a draft resolution to denounce the heinous chemical attack carried out by the assad regime last week. unfortunately but not surprising, russia stood in the way of the resolution. however i would like to point out that the abstention of china on the heels of president xi's successful visit and kazakhstan a long-time ally and former member of the soviet union. both are notable and signify that the united states is p