ryan crocker: of which we will not tell you about. zalmay khalilzad: for me, of course, i was in afghanistan besides having been born there, and spending a lot of my early life in afghanistan twice in an official capacity. one as the president's envoy right after the bomb agreement, and in 2003 as ambassador from 2003 2005. i have to think about the emotional sense that i have returning after 30 plus years and seeing kabul devastated. essentially a dead city when i arrived in january 2002. flying in a small plane when i landed at the kabul airport, the international airport -- which is now busy, the japanese have built a terminal, and the vip lounge is impressive. i remember an elderly man, who has since passed away, pushing a letter to the plane -- pushing a ladder to the plane so i could get off. we had a hard time synchronizing the ladder and the small plane that the government provided. if i had to reflect on the positives, the positive experience was that afghanistan was very divided politically. the last soviet takeover in 78, a

laura: ambassador ryan crocker. thank you for joining us. there has been a surge in fighting between government troops and pro-russian rebels and -- in ukraine. six were killed and 12 are injured. tom barrett got caught up in crossfire. a warning. this report contains disturbing images. tom: these and the men and women in ukraine to monitor a peace deal brokered by u.s. and russia. the long after we arrived in this village, the fire starts. a man lies injured amid the confusion. a reporter for russian military tv, who we believe triggered a booby-trap trap when he walked behind an abandoned shop. tom: the fighting has broken out. they're trying to get a casualty out of the village. this is territory controlled by pro-russian fighters. who is firing is often unclear. win a mission is in the village, there's little hope. hope faded long ago for the handful of elderly residents who have tate put. she lifted her basement with no gas, electricity, or water. >> we just want peace. so our children can come home. tom: in recent days the pro-russian

ambassador ryan crocker was in talks about iran over next steps, afghanistan. the tehran government also with the taliban, when the axis of evil brought everything to a halt. the ambassador said talks were constructive. iranians pragmatic. but once the united states signalled that it considered iran an enemy, the talks seized. what can the u.s. accomplish is the nuclear deal the first of many or not workable on its own. can the u.s. build down the tension with iran without jeopardizing long-standing relations with the saudis with israel. >> this is a deal leaving iran with the capacity to produce material for many nuclear bombs, and does so by lifting the sanctions up front. iran will have billions in its coffers not for schools, hospitals or roads, but to pump up the worldwide terror machine. >> that is binyamin netanyahu, sticking to his position that the agreement endangers his country. joining me now, david schenker former levant company director under donald rumsfeld now with the washington institute, and am am-alex ver tanga. is there a public face to the

that is something where my good friends, ambassador ryan crocker , i think he is one of the test things the foreign service has produced. now he is running the bush school. he says you need wingtips on the ground to prevent boots on the ground. i would be aggressive, in hard places. we would have clear collection priorities. host: having spent time in yemen, afghanistan langley what worries you the most as a member of congress? what should americans be concerned about? rep. hurd: the micro actors having macro impact. this is where one person can have a huge impact. who would have thought 11 people would have had the impact it did on 9/11? those are what we have to worry about. if you look at isis right now isis is -- the talent they are attracting from around the world is significant. higher levels in afghanistan than the original war in iraq ever were. their ability to leverage social media to get their message out is unprecedented. when i was in afghanistan and pakistan chasing taliban, they would do night letters. they would write a letter and leave it on doorsteps. you can only hit

ryan crocker, to my left here, was ambassador in afghanistan. and more recently than our other two participants but well known not just for his service in afghanistan, but elsewhere. and so we're delighted that he could be with us. he is dean at the texas a&m university presently. and zalmay khalilzad to his left is at the center for strategic international studies and served as our special envoy to afghanistan from 2001 to 2003. of course, always at the united nations, and so many other places. and ron neumann well known to us here in washington for his presence at many events. ron was the ambassador in afghanistan from 2005 to 2007. and is presently president of the american academy of diplomacy. now, some of you may wonder, afghanistan, middle east institute, i have to remind people that when the middle east institute was created in 1946, afghanistan was included as part of the middle east. now, this is foresight, really. we were already thinking of the greater of the middle east. and of course, when pakistan came into being in 1947, we threw

that's something where my good friends, ambassador ryan crocker, he's pretty much -- he's one of the best things foreign service produced and now he's down at texas a&m running the bush school. sometimes you need more pumps and wing tips on the ground. that's going to prevent us from sending boots on the ground. if i was there, i would be aggressive aggressive, would be in hard places, but clear collection priorities based on the threats we were facing. >> having spent time in yemen afghanistan, langley at the cia, what worries you. what should americans be concerned about? >> the microactors having macro impact, right? this is where one person has a human impact. who would have said 11 people would have the impact they did on 9/11, and those are the folks we have to worry about. when you look at isis right now, isis is the talent they attract from around the world. it's significant. it's at higher levels, than afghanistan or the original wars in iraq ever were, and what they are doing is their ability to leverage social media to get their messaging out is unprecedented. when i was i

that is something where my good friends, ambassador ryan crocker , i think he is one of the test things the foreign service has produced. now he is running the bush school. he says you need wingtips on the ground to prevent boots on the ground. i would be aggressive, in hard places. we would have clear collection priorities. host: having spent time in yemen, afghanistan langley what worries you the most as a member of congress? what should americans be concerned about? rep. hurd: the micro actors having macro impact. this is where one person can have a huge impact. who would have thought 11 people would have had the impact it did on 9/11? those are what we have to worry about. if you look at isis right now isis is -- the talent they are attracting from around the world is significant. higher levels in afghanistan than the original war in iraq ever were. their ability to leverage social media to get their message out is unprecedented. when i was in afghanistan and pakistan chasing taliban, they would do night letters. they would write a letter and leave it on doorsteps. you can only hit

ryan crocker to my left was ambassador in afghanistan, and more recently than our other two participants. but is well known not just for his service in afghanistan but elsewhere. and so we are delighted that he could be with us. is 18 at the texas a&m university presently. and zalmay khalilzad, to his left, is at the center for strategic and international studies, and serve as our special envoy to afghanistan from 2001-2003. and, of course he was at the united nations and some other places. and ron neumann, well known to us here in washington for his presence at many events. ron was the ambassador in afghanistan from 2005-2007, and is presently president of the american academy of diplomacy. now, some of you may wonder afghanistan, middle east institute, i have to remind people about when the middle east institute was created in 1946, afghanistan was included as part of the middle east. this is foresight really. we were already thinking of the greater middle east, and, of course when pakistan came into being in 1947 we threw pakistan in as well. so we are not new to this part of the worl

that's something where my good friends, ambassador ryan crocker, he's pretty much -- he's one of the best things foreign service produced and now he's down at texas a&m running the bush school. sometimes you need more pumps and wing tips on the ground. that's going to prevent us from sending boots on the ground. if i was there, i would be aggressive aggressive, would be in hard places, but clear collection priorities based on the threats we were facing. >> having spent time in yemen afghanistan, langley at the cia, what worries you. what should americans be concerned about? >> the microactors having macro impact, right? this is where one person has a human impact. who would have said 11 people would have the impact they did on 9/11, and those are the folks we have to worry about. when you look at isis right now, isis is the talent they attract from around the world. it's significant. it's at higher levels, than afghanistan or the original wars in iraq ever were, and what they are doing is their ability to leverage social media to get their messaging out is unprecedented. when i was i

my good friends ambassador ryan crocker, i think is one of the best things the foreign service has ever produced. he is at texas a&m running bush school. he says sometimes you need more pumps and wingtips on the ground that will prevent us from sending boots on the ground. if i was there i would be aggressive. would be in hard places and clear election priorities based on threats we're facing. >> host: yemen afghanistan langley, cia what worries you as the most as a member of congress? what should americans be concerned about the most. >> guest: micro actors having macro impact right? this is where one person could have huge impact. who would have thought 11 people would have had the impact they did on 9/11? those are folks we have to worry about. isis is the, the talent they're attracting from around the world it is pretty significant. it is at higher levels or afghanistan or original wars in iraq ever were. what they're doing their ability to leverage social media to get messaging out is unprecedented. when i was in pakistan, afghanistan, chasing al qaeda and the taliban they would do

that is something where my good friend, ambassador ryan crocker i think he is one of the best names that foreign service has ever produced. now he is at texas a&m running the bush school. if i was there, i would be aggressive, b in hard places but we would have clear collection priorities based on the threats we are facing. host: you have spent time in yemen, afghanistan, what worries you the most as a member of congress? what should americans be most concerned about? rep. hurd: the micro actors having macro impact. this is where one person can have a huge impact. who would have thought that 11 people would have had the impact they did on 9/11? those are the full suite have to worry about. when you look at isis isis is -- the talent they are attracting from around the world is pretty significant. it is the higher levels -- at higher levels than afghanistan ever was. they are leveraging social media to get their message out. it is on resident. when i was chasing out al qaeda and the taliban, they would do things called night letters. they would write letters and put them on people's foots