commander in afghanistan, general john nicholson, says more americans are needed there. >> let me be clear. we will not relent in our mission to fight against our afghan comrades to destroy isis in 2017. >> reporter: whether they are committed to general nicholson is another matter. >> general nicholson is not going to be able to win in afghanistan. the rules would have to change. >> reporter: the administration has every confidence in mi nicholson, however, they would be willing to outsource at least half of the flight. bannon has been skeptical of changing positions on the ground in afghanistan long term. and the continued involvement is in u.s. security interests. the head of the blackwater security company suggests letting private contractors assist the military in more permanent afghan-based

mcmaster was ask about this, too. >> do you have confidence yourself in john nicholson ?can't imagine a more capable commander on any mission money. >> does the president? >> absolutely. >> let me bring in retired army lieutenant anthony schaeffer. the trump team once considered him for a senior defense intelligence role. when you look at america's longest war and obviously nobody thinks things are going perfectly there, is the answer to get rid of john nicholson? >> no, i don't think he's the problem. we have refought the war one year at a time. the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results. that's what we have here. i understand the president's frustration and his point. let me be blunt. general eisenhower, the commander of allied forces during world war ii would not have gotten a second chance at d-day. if he blew the invasion, he wouldn't have remained commander. that's i think the president's point. i think what we have is a belief of doing process and doing the process well is success and that's not the case. goi

post, it talkson a little bit about john nicholson, who is heading up afghanistan. make the case for an expanded military commitment in a aniston. guest: you of the first installment of his wish you u.s. commanders were telling barack obama that goal of reducing 203 was an invitation taliban to come back. the military provided estimates. was the upper 70's or higher. ended the mission and started drawing down, that drew down to the 50's and lower. will do aink -- 4000 couple of orton rings. the numbers we have are only putting in higher-level units. we have to get down to the battalion level. thosemportant for officers to be there. something we sell work in iraq. what do people there think about war? their president has been in that it did a very much want in american presence. people are terrified. the taliban was a brutal regime -- regime. they are taking terrible casualties. the united nations report showed the civilian counties are being -- casualties are being put in by the taliban. when we asked why are there so many dying, it's because we withdrew those numbe

do we -- is army general john nicholson, the commander there, is he the right brain, do you think? >> well, i think just about anybody with any experience can actually execute a relatively narrow strategy, which is what we have. we have a very narrow strategy that says that we're going to train these guys to take care of themselves. quite frankly, anybody can do that. nicholson's a great guy, there are lots of other great guys, but at the end of the day, the scope of this mission is in actuality is very much narrower than the scope of our mission back when we had 100,000 troops there. and i want to pass on something i'm reminded of something general mcchrystal said some time ago when he suggested that in afghanistan it would really take lots and lots of american troops, i mean more than 100,000, and more significantly a lot of time. he was talking about decades before we could actually have the kind of strategic impact that the united states is looking for. we're not going to stay there for decades. >> get to anita shortly, as well as niall. one more question, colonel, before i get

commander here, general john nicholson warned the war had come to a stalemate. >> mason: the presidentexpected to ask the government to help. >> that's a big ask. the government is divided. they're weak, and they're fighting amongst themselves. corruption and incompetence continue to cripple any efforts. u.s. marines we spoke to in helmand province expressed their frustration that they're still running into afghan forces that are corrupt, but they say there is a big difference now. now when they have identified even senior officers who are found to be corrupt or incompetent, kabul reacts much more quickly. >> mason: charlie d'agata in kabul tonight. thank you, charlie. cbs news will bring you live coverage of the president's address tonight at 9:00, 8:00 central, that's 6:00 in the west. in steubenville, ohio, today, a judge was ambushed and shot outside the county courthouse. the judge returned fire and a probation officer shot and killed the attacker. turns out the dead man was the father of a young man convicted of raping a 16 year old in 2012. judge joseph was not involve in that c

talk of president floating the idea of firing current commander of resolute support army general john nicholson but sec def jim maddest and h.r. mcmaster advised against it they along with secretary of state rex tillerson and generals dunford and nicholson argue that refusing to commit more u.s. troops to the region would result in much of the country falling back to the taliban now ed the president was considering sending an additional four thousand troops in a surge by late summer but even that decision has been stalled so no word yet on intelligence confirmation of this so-called cooperation between isis and the taliban but the death toll is continuing to climb at. all right thank you miller certainly will keep an eye on the sixteen year old german girl is headed home after she left to join isis she was captured two weeks ago with several other female are used to supporters and could now face the death penalty or to use peter oliver has the details tonight. this latest video that's emerged shows sixteen year old linda venter he's originally from a small town just to the the northeast of dres

trump blew up over the failure to win the war, demanding defense secretary mattis fire general john nicholson, the current commander of u.s. forces in afghanistan. on wednesday, general mcmaster, the nfc adviser, defended nicholson in an interview with hugh hewitt. >> do you have confidence yourself in general nicholson? >> of course. i've known him for many years. i can't imagine a more capable commander in any -- on any mission. >> does secretary mattis, does the president? >> absolutely. >> joining me now is nbc's kristen welker at the white house, national political reporter carol lee who broke that story about the infighting over afghanistan and msnbc military analyst general barry mccaffrey, former four star u.s. army general. thanks to all of you. first, carol, to you. you and your team broke this story and it represents an extraordinary argument, debate really, heated debate in the situation room, from a man who -- when he was running said, i love the generals, but then at some points he said i know more than the generals, i'll have my own generals, and here he -- as president obama i

general john nicholson said the u.s. and nato will help afghan forces to drive outed the islamic state, as well as what is left of al-qaeda. he said it will be based on conditions on the ground, not a timetable. u.s. officials have said as many as 3900 additional service members could be sent over. >> there will be additional capabilities. some of that is already arriving, but we're not going to talk about the specific numbers. we're not going to telegraph to the enemy what it is we're going to do and how we're going to influence the battlefield. >> u.s. and afghan leaders say they'll make leaders to get the taliban to the negotiating table. however, a spokesperson for the taliban ruled out negotiations, saying the group will keep fighting unless u.s. forces completely withdraw. >>> a ruling handed down today from the california supreme court that up holds a measure to speed up death penalty cases. marie has reaction from both supporters and opponents, and what this could mean for executions resuming. >> reporter: in the

room two weeks ago that his defense secretary fire his top commander in afghanistan, general john nicholson sat down with hr mcmaster to ask him directly. >> do you have confidence in the commander? >> yes, i have known him many years. >> so does secretary mattis and the president? >> absolutely. >> carol lee is joining me now, wonderful reporting on this. take me behind the scenes, what was that meeting like? >> it was very tense. it lasted about two hours. all of the president's top advisors and national security team were there, and they were going into the meeting hoping they would make a new decision. it has been going on for months. he asked for more information, he was dissatisfied with the options. and he suggested multiple times that they fire the commander in afghanistan, and he said maybe we should set up a meeting because the president has not met him, but at the end of the meeting, he did not make a decision and he left frustrated. other presidents have had to grapple similarly with this issue. >> has he made an point to meet with that general yet? >> our understanding is that

fast forward to february of this year, 2017 and a commander of troops in afghanistan, general john nicholson, declaring that there was essentially a stalemate between american and afghan troops and the taliban. so it will be interesting to see which of these options the president chooses moving forward. certainly a heated point of contention between many officials close to the president and we will find out his decision tonight at the okay p.m. boris sanchez, cnn, traveling with the president in bridge water, new jersey. >> president trump's announcement will follow a very rocky week so to speak. will this be the opportunity for the president to turn the page? let's talk about the pages he hopes to turn first. scott lucas, professor of university politics at university of birmingham in engla england. thank you for being with us, scott, this hour. before we talk about the week ahead, let's talk about the week that was. we saw mr. trump's chief strategist, steve bannon fired. also that intense criticism the president faced for his response that both sides were somehow to blame for what happene

general john nicholson. we just had fresh troops going over to afghanistan.e president actually pulling that option of? >> i don't think so. the president says things and doesn't carry them out. and second already turned over to general mattis the capability of making all the decisions in this and other wars in which we're engaged. and i think, third, i think if the president decides to go ahead and fire nicholson without the concurrence of general mattis, i think there is a good chance he could say good-bye to general mattis as well. and i don't think he wants that. >> colonel jacobs, xwrats to ha great to have you we me. so next we have more on the breaking news, latest in the russia investigation. ie me. so next we have more on the breaking news, latest in the russia investigation. the me. so next we have more on the breaking news, latest in the russia investigation. me. so next we have more on the breaking news, latest in the russia investigation. >> nobody has ever said god, i wish i had jury duty. available. >> so with the grand jury in place, the late

commander general john nicholson says the new approach is based on conditions on the ground and not a political timeline and includes bringing in other central asia companies -- countries to help to keep the peace after the u.s. forces leave. >> this means there will be no terror attack emanating from the region and it is a peaceful demonstration. >> reporter: the response has been mixed and china said they will cooperate with the u.s. to bring stability to afghanistan but other lawmakers in pakistan said their country refuses to cooperate. >> pakistan should give a job breaking response to this insulting announcement. >> reporter: the key element of the president strategy, the trump administration is insisting that only diplomacy can lead to long-term stability and there warning that the afghan government is appearing a military solution. >> if you think you can overthrow the government by military means i bite you to forget about it. >> we don't believe there is a long-term military fighting absolution to peace in afghanistan. >> reporter: the spokesperson for the calvin ruled out n

general john nicholson said that the u.s. and nato will assist afghan forces. he said the push will be based on conditions on the ground, not a particular timetable. nicholson would not say how many u.s. troops would be involved. u.s. officials have said as many as 3900 additional service members could be sent over. >> there will be additional capabilities. some of that is already arriving but we are not going to talk about the specific numbers. we are not going to telegraph to the enemy what it is we are going to do and hue we are going to influence the battle field. >> u.s. and afghan leaders say they will also make efforts to get the taliban to the negotiating table. however, a spokesman for the taliban ruled out any cooperation and peace talks saying the group will keep fighting until u.s. forces withdraw. >>> two sisters out of south lake tahoe who were reported missing after attending a solar eclipse rally in oregon have been found. they were reported missing wednesday. the parents last heard from them sunday night after they left for oregon to see the so

when the commander of troops in afghanistan, general john nicholson, said that american and afghan troops had essentially reached a stalemate with the taliban. there's a lot of questins about exactly how the united states will move forward in this long war that has cost quite a few lives, ana. >> all right. so many lives on the line, and fortunately we're seeing americans unfortunately, as recent as this week. boris sanchez, thank you. >>> as we await the president's announcement we can tell you his decision came at the president met with national security team at camp david on friday. joining us to discuss more about the president's plans laying out his strategy tomorrow night. elise labott. how likely is this a deper cher frcher -- departure from what is happening right now in afghanistan? >> reporter: not a major departure. a modest bump in troops 3,000 to 5,000 troops maybe to maybe help afghan forces kind of continue to make their way and break that stalemate with the taliban. i mean, some of the options out there that boris discussed, such as the complete withdrawal, which some peop

officials during a july 19 meeting with defense secretary james mattis, trump suggested general john nicholsonmmander of u.s. forces in afghanistan, be fired because he's not winning the war there. this on the heels of a tragedy in the region, a suicide bomb attack on a nato convoy earlier this week left two american service members dead and four u.s. troops wounded. trace, i'm going to come to you. we've been there for over 15 years. over 2,350 dead. what does winning in afghanistan look like? do we know? >> trace: i don't know but let me begin by saying my heart always goes out when i hear these tragic stories. i get to see a lot of these wounded warriors every night. at our shows. i've been to afghanistan a couple times, and i actually think it's beautiful. but it's the wild west over there, and i don't know what were going to do about that. >> eric: trace, in the white house right now coming of mcmaster and mattis who say they need help, need more bodies. ten more american people, troops, advisors, whatever capacity. yet bannon and the other crowd says there is no winning in afghanistan. m

frustrated with the pentagon strategy in afghanistan, suggesting the top commander there, general john nicholson, should be fired. today even members of the president's own team defending the general. >> i can't imagine a more capable commander in -- on any mission. >> this coming on the same day as news of two u.s. soldiers killed in a suicide attack in afghanistan. >> i think we have a huge investment in afghanistan. what we don't want is for it to once again become a strong hold for isis or any other terrorist group. >> inside the white house president trump unvailing a new plan for better health care, for those who fought in afghanistan and all veterans. >> the death of a young woman in ocean city is still one of the biggest downloaded stories on our app. what we're learning now that a beach violation likely led to >>> also first at 4:00, a former local doctor accused of going too far with his patients. how his alleged victims are trying to get justice. >>> plus why you might think twice about your seat belt the next time you get in someone else's car. >> and we're working for you, even duri

commander general john nicholson said the new approach is based on conditions on the ground and not apolitical timeline. and will include bringing in other central asian countries to help keep the peace after u.s. forces leave. >> our end state is a peaceful reconciliation and that means there will be no terror attacks emanating from this region. the response from regional powers has been mixed in china says it will cooperate with the u.s. to bring long-term stability to afghanistan but some lawmakers in pakistan say the country should refuse to cooperate. >> is that of adopting a peaceful position pakistan should give a job breaking response to this insulting announcement. >> reporter: afghan president is calling on the telephone to return to the bargaining table. another key element of the strategy. trump administration insists only diplomacy can lead to long- term stability. but he wants the afghan government is preparing a military solution as well. >> if you think you can win the war and overthrow the government by military means i advise you to forget about it. but we don't beli

the man leading the fight in afghanistan, general john nicholson is averaging for a few thousand moreops to train afghan forces mainly in addition to the 8400 u.s. troops already there. a plan believed to be backed by secretary of defense james mattis and national security adviser h.r. mcmaster. >> we have a shortfall of a few thousand. and this is in the nato train advise mission. so this can come from the u.s. and its allies. >> reporter: still, nicholson may not have the full backing of the president, who is thought to be frustrated with nicholson's command of the afghanistan war. something that mcmaster denied in an interview with msnbc. >> i've known him for many years. i can't imagine him a more capable commander on any mission. >> aviation analyst says all this could lead to commercial airlines being much more careful about where they fly in asia. barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. >> and former blackwater ceo erik prince spoke with cnn's erin burnett about his plans for contractors in afghanistan. >> imagine them as a skeletal structure that provides leadership, intelligence, m

commander in that region, general john nicholson basically saying right now we are at stalemate. senior u.s. officials tell us that the president is expected to announce as many as 3,900 additional u.s. troops heading to that region to help advise and train afghan forces there, also to help with counterterrorism efforts against both the taliban and isis in the region. this follows the president's meeting at camp david late last week. he tweeted over the weekend about that saying important day spent at camp david with our very talented generals and military leaders. many decisions made, including on afghanistan. we are told that what he will discuss today is not exclusively about military intervention but also about expanded diplomacy, pressuring mon othamong others nations of india and pakistan playing a bigger role in the process going forward. this is also a challenge for the president, who is heavily critical of the war in afghanistan in the past, as candidate and even before that in 2013. here's one of the items he tweeted. "we should have a speedy withdrawal. why should we k

the man leading the fight in afghanistan, general john nicholson, is arguing for a few thousand moretroops to train afghan forces mainly, in addition to the additional 8400 troops already there. >> we have a shortfall of a few thousand and this is in the nato train and advise assist mission. this could come from the u.s. and its allies. >> reporter: still, nicholson may not have the full backing of the president who is thought to be frustrated with the command of the afghanistan war. something that mcmaster denied in an interview with msnbc. >> i can't imagine a more capable commander on any mission. >> a major unanswered question, would afghan president aghani even accept eric prince's contractors. >> a big question. thank you very much, barbara. former navy s.e.a.l. eric prince, the former ceo of the private military company called blackwater. good to see you again. you pointed out that the united states has had 17 commanders in afghanistan in 15 years. when you see that number in black and white, it's stunning. >> absolutely. there's been no unity of command. that's not counting t

the top commander in afghanistan, general john nicholson has called for troops to break what he calls a, quote, stalemate. the primary options include sending thousands more troops to help train and advise afghan forces. and also to bolster counterterrorism operations against the taliban and isis. the u.s. currently has about 8400 troops in afghanistan. mcmaster along with mike pence pushed hard for more troops and also that mcmaster killed a planned pitch from the former blackwater private security firm which would outsource much of the war effort going forward. president trump has given the authority to set u.s. troop levels in afghanistan to jim mattis. although he has waited for trump to sign off on a strategy first. previously promised congress the administration would have a plan by mid-july. since there is a tweet from the president for every situation, he in march of 2013 he wrote, quote, we should leave afghanistan immediately. no more wasted lives. if we have to go back in, go in hard and quick. rebuild the u.s. first. and also do not allow our very stupid lead toers sign a

chiefs of staff marine general joe dunford fire the top commander in afghanistan: army general john nicholson. nicholson assumed command more than a year ago, the pentagon was reportedly considering extending his term. general h.r. mcmaster, the national security advisor, dismissed the charge in an interview yesterday with msnbc host hugh hewitt >> do you have confidence yourself in general nicholson the combatant commander in afghanistan? >> of course. i've known him for many years. i couldn't imagine a more capable commander on any mission. >> does secretary mattis, does the president? >> absolutely. >> reporter: today, republican senators came to nicholson's defense, and cautioned mr. trump against ignoring his advice. >> if you don't listen to the generals and you try to make this up as you go as obama and biden did, you're going to wind up losing afghanistan like we did iraq and the consequences to american are worse. >> reporter: the president's own position on afghanistan is unclear. in june, he authorized mattis and the pentagon to dictate troop levels in afghanistan. nicholson said e

commander there, general john nicholson, this gentleman here, be fired. even though he has strong support at the pentagon and from national security adviser mcmaster himself a general who served as a commander in afghanistan. >> do you have confidence yourself in general nicholson. >> of course, i've known him for many years. i can't imagine a more capable commander in any mission. >> does secretary mattis, does the president? >> absolutely. >> joining us live now is mark jacobson, served as a senior adviser to the secretary of defense and secretary of navy during the obama administration and served in kabul under general david petraeus and mcchrystal. let me make some sense of this. i think everybody in government is frustrated with afghanistan. i think you're not going to find a lot of americans if you went out there, how do you think we're doing in afghanistan, who would say it's great? what's the right way to think about this? >> first, fthanks for having me. there are a lot of great questions to ask about afghanistan. he's right to ask about the stra

they've teamed up with current commander general john nicholson, who just yesterday painted an apocalypticture if the u.s. abandoned afghanistan. >> if we were to fail, it would unleash waves of migration in the millions around the world. if we were to fail, it would embolden jihadists globally to >> putting some more firepower back in can make a huge difference at the right time and at the right place to be successful. >> reporter: from 2011 to 2013 general john allen was the u.s.' top commander in afghansitan. last year he campaigned against donald trump, for hillary clinton: >> hillary clinton will be exactly, exactly the kind of commander-in-chief america needs. >> reporter: but today he's backing president trump if he increases troop numbers. >> here's an opportunity for president trump to make decisions that can put us on the road to the success he's looking for. >> reporter: allen and the president's military advisors say deploying more troops that are better integrated and have no departure date can turn the tide, and help push the taliban to the negotiation table. >> you can get a

i'm hoping that the 17th commander commander in 16 years john nicholson will buy into the idea of somethingyond the surge. you can't turnover the troops every six or seven months so there should be latitude for new ideas, like a hybrid of covert operations with foreign advisors embedded with afghan troops. they live with them fight with them. they don't go away in six months . the foreign and afghan pilots in every air strike which is what was proposed at camp david last weekend those kinds of civilian contractors, forward air controllers are going to live with afghan units fly with afghan pilots. i think you could have if you will a hybrid of what was proposed and i hope the military is open to it. >> liz: thank you colonel north and thank you for your service to our country. be sure to watch war stories saturdays and sundays right here on the fox business network. thank you again colonel north. let's take a quick look at the stocks and how they did let's take a check on lockheed martin all ending the day down in the red. let's get to this story for you, u.s. new home sales unexpectedly pl

commander there, a man named general john nicholson who has not yet met with.e aren't winning, we are losing, they quoted trump as saying in a july 19th meeting. trump reportedly expressed frustrati frustration. perhaps most telling trump left that national security meeting without making any decision on a strategy for the war. none at all. it bears mentioning that the war in afghanistan is america's longest war, now approaching its 16th year. tonight the pentagon has announced that two more u.s. service members were killed in action when their convoy came under attack. the u.s. now launched as many troops in afghan this year as we lost in all of 2016. joining us is one of the reporters that broke that story, nbc news national security and military reporter. courtney, thank you so much for being here. >> thanks for having me. >> let's talk about this national security sort of strategy, and donald trump's frustration with the way that it's going. the thing that sort of stood out to me in this reporting is the idea that he felt we were too slow in gaining mineral

forces in afghanistan, john nicholson, be fired and "the new york times" has reported that trump is thinking national security adviser h.r. mcmaster back to afghanistan where he's spend a lot of times. what in the world is going on? who is leading this? and what is the strategy from the president? >>> i think those are all good questions. first of all, what happens if afghanistan is the president's responsibility. secondly, the general who's in charge has simply come back and said what you told me to do i don't have enough people to d so if you want me to keep going on what i'm doing, give mae more people. this led to the white house refute. the problem in afghanistan is not exclusively or primarily military. it's political. it's cultural. it's geostrategic. you have to have diplomacy. you have to work with afghanistan's neighbors. you might want to bring in the united nations. afghanistan is a cockpit for conflict between china, india, pakistan, iran, russia's back in there now. all of these things are way above the responsibilities and the authorities of general nicholson. so there should

it was just earlier this year in february when the commander of troops in afghanistan, general john nicholsond that u.s. and afghan troop his essentially reached a stalemate with the taliban. so it will be interesting to see how the president approaches this moving forward. not just again in afghanistan, but the whole region in the south of asia, ana. >> right. a conflict that continues to claim american lives. >> boris sanchez, thank you. >> i am now joined by democratic congressman ruben gallego of arizona. thank you for spending time with me. i know you have strong feelings about this rally president trump is holding in your state on tuesday, but i want to start with this big announcement set to make tomorrow on afghanistan. you are a marine corps veteran who has been on the front lines on the war against terrorism and you served on the house arms services committee, so i'm curious has your committee been notified of the president's decision on this new strategy? >> no. we certainly haven't. we've had very little input from the secretary of defense or any other apparatus of the white house

general john w. nicholson in afghanistan is something i want to shift to here. in the "the washington post" a report indicating there is widespread alarm among afghans that president trump is firing the general and afghanistan is then in jeopardy. the u.s., they believe, will just abandon them. if the president asked you about general nicholson and the u.s. mission moving forward in afghanistan, what would you say to him today? >> well, i know mick nicholson very well. he is a good friend of ours. we worked to 0 an assignment for a long period of time, and he knows afghanistan more than any other soldier in the united states army, to be quite honest with you. he has been there multiple times and multiple tours and been in command now over a year and a half. so he knows the trajectory of the country and what is going on there. the president hasn't met general nicholson yet. this is a very insightful individual. he knows the progress that afghan has made and he knows where they are failing but he also has his ha

repeatedly suggested that james mattis and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff replace general john nicholsontan, because he's not winning. >> that's right. essentially the president's advisors went into this meeting on july 19th in the situation rooming hoping he would make a final decision on an afghanistan strategy. something delayed for months. what they found was a president who was expressing frustration about the options being presented to him. he was essentially questioning the merit of the advisors sitting around the table. his national security team. and so what ensued is two hours of a series of tense exchanges where he repeatedly suggested that the commander in afghanistan should be fired. he was complaining that his advisors were moving too slowly on figuring out whether the u.s. could get right to afghanistan's minerals which he said could be the resolution to having a reason why the u.s. is staying in afghanistan. and he compared the process of coming up with a strategy for afghanistan to this renovation of the 21 club in new york. and left his advisors stunned, and ultimately

the president repeatedly suggested the defense secretary fire his top commander there, general john nicholson who has strong support from the pentagon and from the president's own national security adviser. those sources say the president vented nato allies aren't pulling their weight and asked for plans on how u.s. businesses can make money mining minerals in afghanistan. stunning some in the room. the sources said the president created a strategy for the war to renovating one of his favorite manhattan restaurants in an analogy, describing now how the 21 club paid an outside consultant for what the president called lousy advice, stressing talking to the waiters instead might have been better for business. the message, according to one senior official, that high-level advisers aren't always more useful than lower ranking workers on the ground. >> in the end, the president didn't make a decision and asked them to go back to the drawing board and make changes. >> reporter: in 2016 then candidate trump blasted military leaders under president obama. >> you've already said you know more about isi

general nicholson, who john kirby talked about, talked about it being a stalemate earlier in the year to figure way to marti marshal support. >> the poll numbers suggesting just that from the nbc news/marist poll from yesterday showing in the three state the president carried michigan, pennsylvania, wisconsin, asking whether or not the president's standing has been strengthened or weakened on the world stage. by president trump. it says that in all of those states, 59% believe that the president has actually weakened world standing, not strengthened. at the same time a separate poll from earlier this year said that 46% of americans in counties that president trump carried actually support appointing additional troops to afghanistan versus 39% who opposed the idea. john, you spent a lot of time in trump country with trump voters. how do you think they'll respond to the deployment of additional troops? >> oh, i think some of them will have heartburn over the prospect of continuing this war, but i think generally any moment where the president can cloak himself in the garland of commande

and he's now reeled him in and he's going with nicholson and the chairman of the joint chiefs and mattis and h.r. mcmaster and john for whom afghanistan is such an emotional challenge, given the fact that he lost his son after the obama increase to $30,000 troops and that he has another marine son either dlo deploying or about to be deployed. >> that human connection for the key decision makers here is key. pleasure to have you with us here tonight. joining us now in the studio is andrew exum. in 2009 he served as an adviser. he's a contributing editor at the atlantic magazine now. great to have you here. let me ask your top line reaction to the speech tonight. >> you hit it. it's not a policy change. the big shift is where the president has been. he has been down on this war and now he's the president and has to confront a series of some really bad options in afghanistan. i think the biggest takeaway is that he is now taken ownership of this war. to a certain degree mattis insisted on that. this is not going to be something he delegated to the generals and could blame on the generals. now he has ownership of it.