reporter: secretary mattis, you of isis. i nilings there is going to be a resideal threat from this group. and you mentioned the threats from isis, does that mean the american public should expect a long-term presence? secretary mattis: this threat is a long-term threat. you don't see a coalition this size if it's some short-term threat or a small regional threat, this is a transnational long-term threat. there are other concentration of forces. you say what will it look like when we say we've got success? the local security forces, police, that sort of organization can handle it. we drive them down to a point where the locals can handle that d no longer a transregional, transnational threat. so you have to drive them down to a threat where police can handle. police can't drive artillery or thousands of fighters in mobile vehicles that allow them to go far and wide. police elements need to handle it. reporter: expectations from the american troop presence. should americans expect they should be there in years to come? secret

secretary mattis: what are you referring to? reporter: what is new on the ground, the delegation of authorities, the decision to do surrounding operations. because president trump campaigned on the idea that the isis war wasn't working under obama, there was going to be a major change and firing generals and here we are now with your comments. is this a major difference or ar natural progression of what should have happened any way? secretary mattis: i'm not quite sure your question. i explained to you, we went to him with the situation as we saw it. the suggested changes. he discussed these changes with us, with whole of government, not just the department of defense and we made the decision. we took the decision and executed for an ack -- accelerated campaign and all of the ramifications and implications and those are the changes going forward. the campaign designed end state remains the same, to destroy isis, but no longer will we have slowed decision cycles because washington, d.c. has to authorize tactical movements on the

a lot of statistics were thrown about, but i think one of the key takeaways from yesterday was --mattisthis saying the focus hatch shifted to and not -- has shifted to annihilation. looking at the foreign flyers in both countries and doing the best to and circle them and take them out. host: your report in the military times says that by total annihilation, the pentagon's approach to defeating the islamic state is now defined as a merciless annihilation. has become ahat more aggressive effort in syria, , to prevent the foreign fighters specifically from escaping the stronghold once local allies have been cornered. foreign fighters are the strategic threat, should they return home to tunis, to kuala lumpur, paris, detroit, wherever , by taking the time to surround an attack, we carry out the annihilation campaign so we do not simply transplant this problem from one location to another. , do we see an actual plan on fighting isis formulated and if not yet, when do we expect that? guest: i think this is sort of the communication of the plan. the pentagon, certainly under the trump administ

as secretary mattis had on the 25th of may, president trump will be in brussels. he will meet with his counterparts. that is when we will see some commitments. my focus with my counterpart was to say that if political --ision-makers that side decide on the 25th of may to increase the forces in afghanistan, we should be prepared to provide those as quickly as possible. the other point that i discussed with my counterparts was that we have some unfulfilled .equirements outstanding today i encourage them to meet those requirements. and all want to go back look within their capabilities to do more in afghanistan. i was very encouraged by the tone in brussels and around the room. i think it is fair to say with will continue, we to support the plan for security. washe trump administration mulling sending between 3000 and 5000 more trumps -- troops to afghanistan. what you anticipate in terms of thencrease in troops? >> pentagon is being very cagey about those details. there is a big nato summit coming up. soon, -- very soon, in just a few days. we are hearing that presi

also expected to hear from the secretary of defense, jim mattis. comes to the secretary te, he's a former marine general. how does that change the dynamic? >> like it's the first memorial day for president trump, it's also the first memorial day for defense secretary mattis. he served in uniform, a marine general, served for 40 years. now he's back. took a special waiver, if you recall, to get him to be the defense secretary. it hadn't been since general george c. marshall that a sitting defense secretary was not himself a civilian but a former military general. so defense secretary mattis, he goes to funerals for his marine, his troops, he's had great responsibility. this is the first time that he's led the defense department, the pentagon on memorial day. >> it will be interesting to hear his remarks. i'm sure they'll be meaningful. president trump calling his first firm foreign trip as commander-in-chief a home run. what did it tell us about the state of his foreign policy? let's bring in claudia, the foreign policy resident at the women's forum

not general mattis. he'll do the same thing.w back to some classics but you know, you can tell the difference in the speeches between general dunford fundamental addressing the crowd making that national call to service. i think secretary mattis sounding like he normally does as the marine commander speaking to his troops and then the president. i'd also make note of general kelly in the audience. now secretary kelly. you know, quickly, i went with him back to afghanistan when he was the senior military adviser to secretary gates. he went back to the very unit, the 35 marines that his son was be is standing in and had been killed. they were still deployed. we went right out to one of their combat outposts. he brought with minimhim a "was post" article about his son's deaths and the eulogy he gave at his son's death if folks can go back and read it. it's the same national call for service and awareness. it wasn't as much a eulogy to his sons or to the marines or valors of combat. rather, it was a real calling for america to get i

mattis, thee jim secretary of defense.se] ♪ ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states. ♪ [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, chaplin austin. >> let us pray. peace,y god, prince of you have declared there is no greater love than to lay down your life for one's friends. sons and honor daughters, men and women who have given their lives in the name of freedom. we remember them on this memorial day. we pray it reminds us how blessed we are as a nation. we pray today for the family and friends of those who have given their lives in service to our nation. we pray that they will be comforted and reassured that the sacrifice of their loved ones is not in vain, and they are not forgotten. ask that you continue to give wisdom to our commander in chief, his administration, and our military leaders as they promote peace across our country and around the world. today, we have many men and women in harm's way. we ask that you bless them with strength and courage to be victorious, and we ask that you bring them home soon.

[applause] >> the honorable jim mattis, the secretary of defense. [applause] [cheers] ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states. [playing "hail to the chief"] ♪ [applause] [applause] [cheers] >> ladies and gentlemen, chaplain austin. chaplain austin: let us pray. almighty god, prince of peace, you have declared there is no greater love than to lay down one's life for their friends. today as a nation, we physically and symbolically stand among america's sons and daughters, patriots who have given their lives in the name of freedom. we pause on this national memorial day to remember them for their sacrifice and honor their memory. lord, i pray we may be more aware of how blessed we are as a nation, and realize the price that is paid to have and maintain our freedom. we also pray today for the families and friends of those who have given their lives in service to our nation. we pray that they will be comforted and reassured that the sacrifice of their loved ones is not in vain, and they are not forgotten. lord, we ask that you conti

karem, give me your sense -- when secretary mattis, general mattis, he did say the arctic is increasingly important area of frstrategic interest for the united states because of natural resources, the environment, opening shipping lanes and sea routes, vladimir putin has called it the new suez canal which the russians want to dominate, they're massively building up their military capabilities in the arctic. it's a new arctic military command, 40 ice breakers, building 13 more and we've been slow to the game up there. the department of defense has put out a revised arctic strategy which was mandated by this committee that the secretary of defense put forward. if confirmed, will you give that strategic area of the united states sufficient focus and interest the way secretary mattis stated he would during his confirmation hearing? >> senator, i will and if confirmed i look forward to working with our allies who share a significant stake in the arctic. >> we just had the arctic add ministerial led by secretary tillerson in the great city of fairbanks, alaska, last week where all the arctic mi

[applause] the honorable jim mattis, secretary of defense. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states. ♪ ["hail to the chief" playing] ♪ [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, chaplain austin. us pray. almighty god, prince of peace, you have declared there is no greater love than to lay down one's life for friends. today as a nation, we stand among america's sons and daughters, patriots who have given their lives to ensure our freedoms. we pause on this national memorial day to her member their sacrifice and honor their memory. i pray we may be more aware of how blessed we are as a nation, so we realize the price that was paid to maintain our freedom. we pray today for families and friends who have given their life in service of our nation and pray they will be comforted and reassured the sacrifice of their loved ones is not forgotten. lord, we ask you continue to give wisdom to our commander in chief, his administration, our elected officials and military leaders as they promote peace throughout our country and aroun

was jim mattis involved?nominated already, i believe or he was on the verge of being nominated. so was there a strategy to do this? those are the questions i would like to have answered. >> margaret final question to you. there are stories reporting about changes in the white house. what can you tell us about the staff changes, if there are any coming? >> there is a lot of talk but i feel there always is and when we come back from this trip and the president now back at the white house, we are expecting him not only to speak with his own lawyers but we are expecting him to make some of these decisions that they said are punted, not only for the climate change agreement but what happens with his own communications team? on this trip, we are, we heard very little from them, they weren't in front of cameras, they weren't explaining things and actually didn't put the president out there for a press conference, very unusual, he was the only one of the seven g-7 ministers or heads of states not, heads of state not

and thank you, general dunford, secretary mattis, for your moving words, and for your service to our of the armed forces and veterans, thank you for joining us as we honor the brave warriors who gave their lives for ours. spending their last moments on this earth in defense of this country, and of its people. words cannot measure the depth of their devotion, the purity of their love or the totality of their courage. we only hope that every day we can prove worthy, not only of their sacrifice, and service, but of the sacrifice made by the families and loved ones they left behind. special, special people. i especially want to extend our gratitude to secretary john kelly, for joining us today. incredible man. i always like to call him general. he understands more than most ever could or ever will. the wounds and burdens of war, not only did secretary proudly serve in the military for more than 40 years and during many hardships, but he and his incredible wife karen have borne the single most difficult hardship of them all, the loss of their son robert in service to our country. robert d

mattis: they shall not grow old as we that are left grow old. weary them, nor the years condemn. at the going down of the sun in the morning, we will remember them. mr. president, mr. vice president, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general dunford es,old star famili everyone, we gather here today with a shared attitude of gratitude. 20 centuries ago, so plutarch tells us, and all the spartan king observed, it is not the places that grace men, but men grace the places. today, we know that he was right. more than a century ago, this 624 acre plot of land was a plantation on the potomac, scenic but hardly sacred. now these fields hold the greatest treasure of our nation, america's courageous dead. those who today we pause to remember. not far from here lies the marker of oliver wendell holmes jr., a civil war infantry veteran who later rose to be a supreme court justice. holmes said those who serve in our military have hearts that are touched with fire. having known great things, he said, they are content with silence. if you have ever known

defense secretary mattis just a while ago saying u.s. forces attacked iranian forces in syria.to react to all of this is retired marine lieutenant colonel and host of war stories oliver north. i think this is significant, colonel north, the fact that we are actually now attacking surrogates, if you will, of iran, don't you? >> well, it is significant. and, in fact, there's a lot of significant events surrounding this particular event. the place it took place is a syrian border post and what's called the three corners area where the borders of syria, jordan, and iraq meet david. it's a stride the euphrates and the main highway that runs east of iran to iraq in iraq all the way to syria and therefore to lebanon. in other words, the iranians need this route reopened to secure a land route to support hezbollah. that's what this was all about. david: which was a creation of iran and essentially controls lebanon right now. now, the u.s. -- so the u.s. is hitting iranian forces in syria. nobody hates the iranians more than the saudi arabians and the president is on his way to saudi ar

mattis said the united states has signed an agreement. we have to show people that united states won't back away from the agreements. but there was no movement forward to tear up the agreement. trump himself has just recently made a statement saying that he felt iran was not keeping with the spirit of the accord but there is a back away from tearing it up. i'll limit myself to two comments. one, it has to do with the president's decision to congratulate turkey for his winning the election. for those that follow turkey, this is a referendum on gutting whatever remained of turkish democracy. turkey has for the last several years, the analysts, turkey has taken what was called an authoritarian turn and has become increasingly severe since last january. and what can only be called, i think, purges have taken place in various parts of the turkish state and also in the universities. it's been a hollowing out of just some of the turkey's best and brightest. the muscling and complete crock down on the turkish press is dreadful. while it's one thi

a spokesman for defense secretary jim mattis called the kurdish fighters in syria "the only force on the ground that can successfully seize the isis capital in the near future." turkey considers the kurds terrorists. >> i am not concerned at all about the nato alliance and the relations between our nations.

mattis was asked of any allies had expressed concerns about this and it mattis said no.ad been -- he spoke to two nato allies today and "it never came up." that is what we have from defense secretary mattis on that other story that broke as of the smarting, "the washington post" story on the classified information being leaked allegedly to the russians. >> bret: we are keeping track of it all. jennifer griffin, thank you. we are back with our panel. james, steve, a.b., and charles. dreams, our resident historian, you mentioned the comparisons to watergate that are already being made by democrats, our colleague gregg jarrett in new york as a lawyer, rights, obstruction requires specific intent. if james comey concluded that president trump's language was vague, ambiguous, or elliptical, then he has no duty under the law to report it because it doesn't rise to the level of specific intent. perhaps that is why he did not tell mccabe it seems or rosenstein. the question is, if this is the case, then why is it rising to the level now? speak of "the new york times" story has a

the christian school she attends is responding to the controversy. 18-year-old matty runcles is a senior and violated the school's code of conduct by having premarital sex, but her parents are struggling to understand how the christian school can promote being pro life but their backs on one of their own. >> heritage academy's president released a statement that reads, matty is being disciplined not because she's pregnant but because she was immoral. the student pledge, which every student from fifth to 12th grade signs states this application, extends to my actions such as protecting my body, by abstaining from sexual immorality and from the use of alcohol, tobacco and illegal drugs. the president of a pro life group that is assisting the family responded to that statement saying she believes, heritage academy is simply trying to make a public of matty. >>> did you catch that free air show today? when we come back we're going to give you a closer look at the blue angels when the news at 6:00 continues. 6:00 continues. >>> first, think of it as a bonus for uber drivers. the huge payout s

mattie runkle's is here exclusively to tell her story.ontana congressional candidate charged with assaulting a reporter just hours before the polls open. fox news reporter was in the room and witnessed it all. she joins us next. >> waiting to make your decision about health care? >> i'll talk to about that later. >> is not going to be time. h. nothing spoils a moment like heartburn. try new alka-seltzer ultra strength heartburn relief chews. it's fast, powerful relief with no chalky taste. [ sings high note ] ultra strength, new from alka-seltzer. enjoy the relief. ...doesn't happen by accident. i did active duty 11 years.my in july of '98. and two in the reserves. our 18 year old was in an accident. when i call usaa it was that voice asking me, "is your daughter ok?" that's where i felt relief. it actually helped to know that somebody else cared and wanted make sure that i was okay. that was really great. we're the rivera family, and we will be with usaa for life. usaa. we know what it means to serve. call today to talk about your insura

and just hours after defense secretary general james mattis set a conflict with north korea could possibly be the worst kind of fighting in most people's lifetime. >> the north korea bean regime has hundreds of artillery launchers in most densely populated cities on earth which is south korea. we are working with the international community to deal with the issue. bottom line it would be a catastrophic war if this turns into combat, if we are not able to resolve this situation into diplomatic means. >> the trump administration taking swift after action learning about kim jong un new provocative action sending a third aircraft carrier strike force and one of the world's largest warships to the pacific region. south korea also urging national security council a day after north korea had seen antiweapon

bottom line, leland, nobody knows the face of combat like secretary jim mattis.y understand their sacrifice. he will be planning the strategy for not just afghanistan but all combat operations moving forward. >> leland: we'll see how the trump doctrine evolved. thank you. molly has more. >> molly: president trump back from his first foreign trip returning to mull tich many plit kl head cakes in washington, the "washington post" report that his son-in-law and top advisor, jared tusher in, talked with the russians last december about setting up a secret backchannel communication. this amid ongoing investigations that the president may be considering a white house staff shakeup. let's bring in james freeman, assistant editor at the "wall street journal." he's also a fox news contributor. thanks for being here. >> good to be here. >> molly: let's kick off with the possibility of a staff shakeup. we have heard this from the beginning of the administration, he was still setting up his staff. here we are, a little more than 100 days in, things continue to grow, we keep

did you see some pictures that looked like this or the sky filled with what we call ma mattis clouds. i've only seen them a few times here myself and they are a sign of severe storm a the look of the pictures that people sent in, it seemed like a lot of people from montgomery county were looking south toward this storm and seeing the me mattis clouds which are caused by pockets of cold air singing down, a very tesh length sign in the sky. this one from paul mack gone l seeing the same type of cloud cover in gaithersburg. notice the color, too, because this was occurring as the sun lot of back lighting from the sunsetting causing the clouds to look golden and a little bit green here's another one. we got this one from tas dick in d.c. here's the storm that produced it all as i put it in motion, the lightning with this was incredible. at one point i saw lightning strikes of about 3,000 in 30 minutes. so it came across northern virginia. it basically missed the district. although we got a little of it and then on down into charles county where it has finally fizzled out tonight. i'm happ

secretary mattis was talking about that. largely depending on the chinese. but the reality is, no president can accept north korea getting ready to launch nuclear missiles at u.s. bases, allies, or in the continental united states. we cannot accept that. and that is what he is talking about. what that would mean is we would launch a preemptive strike and that would have to be fairly comprehensive, to give our audience a sense of this, it would not just go at the launch facilities, but the nuclear capability, the other ballistic missiles, much of their rocket and artillery arsenals as possible. they are all targeting the 10 million people that live in seoul, korea. fun, we would go to pyongyang and take down as much regime leadership targets as we could. that would be a very comprehensive attack by the united states on north korea. the damage as much as possible. they would come out back at us with everything they have left and we would have a war with nod south korea. the united states reinforcing south korea and the chinese, likely, reinforcing north korea.

clayton: sat down with mad dog mattis.ings that occurred recently, of course, a big bombing, hundreds of civilians were killed when a u.s. bomb hit mosul, iraq, one of the things john dickerson wanted to know are we going to see more of this. is the u.s. military going to kill more civilians? here with that exchange. watch. >> 100 civilians were killed after a u.s. bomb hit a building in mosul in iraq. is this the result of this tempo? is this the thing americans need to get used to as a natural by product of this strategy? >> the american people and the american military will never get used to civilian casualties. and we will fight against that every way we can possibly bring our intelligence and our tactics to bear. people who had tried to leave that city were not allowed to by isis. we are the good guys. we're not the perfect guys, but we are the good guys. abby: i loved that last line. because you know, you think about this country. you do the best job that you can. you are not always perfect out there, but you try to

said,as general mattis powers more important than ever. it doesn't make you soft on foreign policy to be an advocate for soft power, does it make you soft on national security interest. it makes you smart. to be brief, a whole range of other disappointing things involved the trump administration and president trump's -- and his family's unwillingness to untangle, disentangle the complicated web of obvious conflicts of interest they have all over the world, including the rampant uptick in the number of trademarks -- china and other places. there's a story in the new york times about jared kushner's families ties the diamond interests that are under international investigation in multiple countries. i don't know jared kushner, he seems like a fine person, but what's he brings to the table, or knows to being able to solve mid-east peace ordeal is the point person on international relations or china or you name it, and places where his family might have complex -- commercial interest is, should be troubling to any american. that's one thing th

i think mattis and kelly are terrific. kelly has been tremendous. have civilian control of the military, that's something that is underscored and it means the final decision is made by civilians. in terms of assessing the situation, you want mattis or kelly. >> meghan: marie, what's your reaction? >> marie: these are horrific attacks, and you have isis who can still do this, it's very problematic. i would say that if we decide to send more troops, we need a very clear articulation of what the mission is. it's now the longest war and our nations history. if we keep sending american men and women out there, we owe it to them, to their families, and to all of us to say is the goal to defeat the taliban? that won't happen. we need to see that. talk to mattis, talk to military commanders because if we send more troops without that, that's a problem. >> harris: now you're putting it on republicans, for the last eight years, was the plan for democrats? you're looking for this administration to say what's the endgame? then it's more fair to ask where has it

. >> rose: what do you say about mattis that makes everybody say that. >> jim mattis, one intellectually very deep. is he a voracious reader. jim was my neighbor for several years and i worked with him for many yearses. we were old and dear friends. i have the greatest respect for jim mattis. he is, again, tactically and strategically, you know, incredibly sound in terms of sunday understanding the battlefield and implications of how to kind of fight wars. is he great with the soldiers, sailors, air mern and marines. is he the general's general, if you will, he knows how to spend time with the soldiers. he knows what makes the soldiers tick. he has the respect of not only the young soldiers, airmen and marines but the respect of senior officers and military and as the secretary of defense, certainly all the combat ant commanders, senior officers, we report to the secretary of defense. >> rose: the book is called make your bed, admiral william h mcraven, u.s. navy, retired. he's had a remarkable life for a young man. and it condition continues in the good state of texas. back in a moment.

secretary mattis. h.r. mcmaster. secretary tillerson and the president himself. trump seems to have had an evolution. in january he said let's get out of afghanistan. our troops are being killed by the afghanis. we train and waste billions there. nonsense. rebuild the u.s. in september of 2012. 84% of troops wounded. 70% of our brave men and women killed in afghanistan have all gone under obama. get out of there. >> this is a debate that not just president trump has had. it's a debate that president obama and george w. bush had. the idea, going in hard and fast and getting out of afghan has not proved to be possible for any of them or for other nations that have gotten involved in afghanistan. that's what makes it such a hard question for the trump administration. clearly, if he goes for a troop buildup in afghanistan, that is at odds with what he campaigned on. the america-first policy, not just in afghanistan but elsewhere. his decision recently to do the bombing in syria was also a step away from what he campaigned on. and while it was widely praised in foreig

mattis and general dunford said the delay in arming the kurds did not delay efforts to retake raqa. took time to surround raqa and now they are ready to arm the syrian kurds, even though that decision may anger the turks who mike flynn is being investigated for having received $500,000 in speaking fees from. >> jenna: wow. that is a lot of news. really key news ab iranians targeted, not directly targeting iranians per se, but pro assad forces that they believe to be iranians on the ground in syria. also the strategy of not allowing isis fighters to flee syria, to go into europe, where they have ease of travel to all over the world, including the united states. but to kill the enemy where they sit as of right now. these are key strategic points that we should really focus on as we watch the president depart for saudi arabia. the first part of his trip is going to be about fighting isis, about fighting radical islamic terrorism. what sort of strategy will he bring to the table? what will that include? how will our priorities be mapped out now that the president is the leader of the fr

when they hear secretary tillerson and mattis in europe. there is clarity and forcefulness in the united states opposing russia and they're not hearing that from president trump. so there is a gap between the president and his cabinet officers and what the europeans are hearing. i think president trump needs to speak more like his secretary of state and secretary of defense. >> shannon: he has been critical because of the way they have handled their migrant crisis and having the free flow of borders. it seems as if his cabinet members have had part of the conversation, he has had the other part of the conversation that has been very critical. >> and that's i think unfortunate. because every past republican president has believed that the

i like general mattis. he says like it is. he says catastrophic -- to whom?he is saying, this could be such an ugly big war though it would probably be very ugly for them. and i think population of about california, 25 million, so you would have to deal with this rather swiftly. i think he is giving the message to everyone around there that this will not be something that just takes a lot of time. it will be very brutal. i think he is trying to speak adult words, so that people translate and understand. >> no, yeah, i am glad he plays for our team. when he was asked if people keep them awake at night, he was like no, i keep other people awake at night. >> yes, what i like about him is that he does not do drama or exaggerate. i think we should take the threat very, very seriously. and the determining factor that we were able to put forward today, basically it was the show of showing them that we will be able to knock it down. but that only last for so long. because they are continuing to progress, that means that we have to continue to progress, and the restra

sacrifice and duty, we return to our conversation with defense secretary mattis. we asked him about his concerns that one of the biggest challenges facing america today is its lack of unity. >> you mentioned in "the new yorker" you were worried about political, lack of political unity in america. >> well, you know, i am a, at west point where i am talking together, john, and you look at these young people who graduated today, over 900 of them, from all walks of life, every religion probably in america is represented, every state is represented. these people come together with an enthusiasm for protecting this experiment in democracy that we call america, and it takes people like, who have a fundamental respect for each other and a fundamental friendliness toward each other that i am worried is starting to slip away in this country. we still have it in the military. it is a diverse force. it is a force that can work together under the worst conditions and i just hope we can find our way back to engaging with one another, arguing strongly with one another, and then

here is jim mattis. >> conflict in north korea, john, would be probably the worst kind of fighting inost people's lifetimes. the bottom line is, it would be a catastrophic war if this turns into combat if we're not able to resolve this situation through diplomatic means. >> heather: as president trump tweeting this this morning. a north korea has shown great disrespect for their neighbor china by shooting off yet another ballistic missile. but china is trying hard. >> ed: meanwhile british police arresting their 16th suspect in the bombing in manchester. it is taking them to england's southern coast hundreds of miles away from the actual attack. this as authorities appeal for help with new images of the alleged bomber, salman abedi. what can you tell us about the investigation? >> it has been almost a week since the horrendous attack on that concert a week ago in manchester, u.k. the police in their words are still operating at full steam ahead. another arrest today hundreds of miles from where the attack occurred in southern u.k. a raid inside manchester and two arrests yesterday. po