, we had to, change fundamentally the character of afghanistan. - the estimate for afghanistan and iraq, if you add all of this, is in the three plus trillion dollars, maybe more. that's if you sort of add everything. that's a real number, i mean that is, that's the cost of running the entire us government in a year. that's 20% of all of the money spent in america in a year. - [narrator] washington seeks to transition responsibility for security to the afghan government. - for all intents and purposes, the president's mission to me was to transition the theater. we had a lot to do. close down the theater, transition nato from a main force, ground force unit, to an advisory force, move the ansf into the lead, and recover the american 33,000 troops. - but the united states has made some big compromises along the way. its eagerness to try to hand things over to afghanistan, and its lack of success in building a really effective afghan national force, has led it to rely on either warlords who can keep the peace, so called, in certain parts of the country. or it has led the united states to

just dropped on afghanistan. it is the most powerful nonnuclear bomb ever, unleashing an explosion equivalent to 11 tons of tnt with a mile-wide blast radius. we'll go to kabul to get reaction, and we'll speak with kathy kelly of voices for creative nonviolence about their campaign to end u.s. military and economic warfare. she's just back from afghanistan and is now among 20 peace activists who are on day five of a vigil and fast in front of the united nations to protest the ongoing u.s. support for the saudi bombing of yemen. >> we're hoping to this fast and vigil, people all across the united states will start to recognize we cannot turn the other way and ignore what is happening in yemen. we also hope to bring people attention tobring south sudan, nigeria, somalia, countries nearby which are also nearing a trio of near famine conditions. amy: then hundreds of undocumented immigrants are on hunger strike to protest the conditions and extremely low wages at the for-profit northwest to tension center in tacoma,

local time in afghanistan the united states military used a gbu 43 weapon in afghanistan. the gbu 43 is a large powerfully and accurately delivered weapon. we targeted a system of tunnels and caves that isis fighters used to move around freely making it easier for them to target u.s. military advisers and afghan forces in the area. the united states takes the fight against isis very seriously. in order to defeat the group we must deny them operational space which we did. the united states took all precautions necessary to prevent civilian casualties and collateral damage as a result of the operation. any further details i would refer you to the department of defense on that. moving on, as you may know from the schedule the president has a 2:00 event so i'll try to keep this tight. earlier today the president signed hg 43 bringing the total number of congressional review act legislation pieces that he signed now to 13. this resolution that he signed today yeoverturns a piece of legislation that was put in place that would have taken away the right of states to set their own

talks with afghanistan hit a harder line on pakistan the talks between the united states and afghanistan wrapped up on sunday as the trunk administration reviewed its options in the 15 year american presence in the face of a resurgent taliban and. lieutenant general h.r. mcmaster met with afghan leaders ghaniding president ashraf the bombthe days after was dropped in afghanistan. thein afghanistan, strengthening of the taliban in interview with the afghan television channel, general mcmaster said what is necessary at this point is to consolidate gains and to deal with what is a big security problem now. obviously picking up from the issues that the obama administration had with the taliban." do you think, as they reassess policy in afghanistan, what do you think is ahead? guest: it is very important that we engage the afghans and the pakistanis at the senior level. , a. mcmaster, of course veteran of two or's -- of tours in afghanistan. he and i were there together. he knows the states. -- stakes. we have to work to stabilize the situation against a taliban onslaught. and then move ahead

ambassador to afghanistan about military action in syria and afghanistan. this is about 20 minutes. joining us this morning, former investment ryan crouser who served as u.s. ambassador to six countries, including afghanistan, syria, and iraq. welcome this morning. toasked you on this morning talk about recent efforts in syria and afghanistan in particular. the military efforts, the tomahawk launch in syria, and the mom dropping in afghanistan. the military side early on of the trump foreign policy. what do you sense from where you sit and the people you talk to, that the trump administration is seeking to do on the diplomatic side of things in regards to syria and afghanistan. guest: thank you for having me. thanks for having me. it has been a fascinating 100 days. we have not had a president this internationally engaged this early in the presidency since the george herbert walker bush. ran on hisvidual who america first policies, he has been a very international president. today, you've got vice president in east asia, you have the national security adviser in south asia, and you

forces in afghanistan, about a request for more troops for afghanistan. they are considering several thousand more u.s. troops for afghanistan. as you know, the last administration was in the process of drying down from afghanistan, in fact, in januar january, many were pulled out, but it is now being reassessed at this time. so the president weighing what to do next for afghanistan, will the u.s. get more involved? it is certainly unprecedented to use this sized bomb on an area where there were bound to be villages and civilians in that area along the pakistan border. >> jon: this is jon scott obviously, you mentioned that tunnel in that area. is this the kind of bond that is able to collapse those tunnels or does it send shock waves through the tunnels that take the lives of any taliban fighters who might be in there or do we know? >> this is a concussive weapon, that means it explodes above those tunnels. the force of the blast would kill anything inside those tunnels, but it is not a penetrating bomb. again, it was first tested in 2003, and we used to

. -- mountains of afghanistan. while afghan relief and aid attracted support throughout the western world, americans felt a special sympathy. perhaps because of the lingering grievance in vietnam, but more from reagan's success in defining afghans in ways congruent to americans. sometimes deeply hostile to the west, the mujahedin enjoyed a level of american seem never remotely near it by the contras. the righteousness of their cause in pursuit of outright victory. domestic politics of the afghan dynamic withique theress trying to outdo administration. hardened by their cheapness today, the reagan -- achievements, the reagan administration were trapped by success. provedt in afghanistan historically fleeting. after the reagan era, pursuit of victory came abandonment. indifference. the afghans could continue to fight amongst themselves, and hardly anyone cared, for a while anyway. [applause] >> thank you. great paper. we are well aware of charlie wilson. host the charlie wilson share in afghan studies. >> thank you t

at this hour we have brand new video of that massive bombing in afghanistan. what you're watching is the exact moment that america's most powerful nonnuclear bomb dubbed the mrt other of all bombs stru an isis cave and tunnel complex. u.s. military officials defending its use. >> this was the right weapon against the right target. i want to assure the people of afghanistan that our forces take every possible precaution to prevent civilian casualties. >> meanwhile in moscow the foreign ministers of russia, iran and syria are reacting to last week's u.s. strike on a syrian air base warning u.s. actions could, quote, threaten the current world order. this as the u.s. faces a new threat from north korea. that country now vowing a merciless response that would leave no survives to u.s. provocation. kim jong-un could hark an important holiday with yet ail nuclear test and if he does there's a chance vice president mike pence could be just across the border when it happens. he is schedule to arrive in seoul on sunday. we are covering this story only as cnn can. we ha

let's turn to afghanistan. the us defence secretary, james mattis is in afghanistan. he arrives at a time of grief and governmental upheaval. the afghan defence minister and the army chief have both resigned. on friday, the taliban killed over 100 soldiers at a military base — that's the deadliest attack on afghan armed forces in a decade. and this has raised questions about whether the us is too focused on the islamic state group, rather than the taliban. here's general mattis speaking earlier. 2017 is going to be another tough yearfor 2017 is going to be another tough year for the valiant afghan security forces and the international troops who have stood and will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with afghanistan against terrorism and those who seek to undermine the legitimate united nations recognised government of this nation. if the taliban wished to join the political process and work honestly for a positive future for the afghan people, who have suffered long and hard, they need only to renounce violence and reject terrorism. millions of people in afghan

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 behavior. this is why the majority of the afghan people, som

local time in afghanistan last night, the united states military used a gbu43 weapon in afghanistan. the gbu43 is a large powerful and accurately delivered weapon. we targeted a system of tunnels and caves that isis fighters used to move around freely. >> dana: we've got live fox team coverage. jennifer griffin at the pentagon, the adviser to four u.s. ambassadors, united nations and ben collins a former g beret who served three tours in afghanistan. all of them standing by with analysis. but we begin with kevin cork just out of the white house briefing. kevin, sean spicer referring a lot of reporters, questions over to the pentagon today for more details. will we get more details from them? >> you know, that's a very good question, dana. i would guess that we'll get more granular detail about why this decision was made and what exactly it means. and jen griffin will help us unpack all of that. it was pretty interesting. keep in mind they're usually pretty puntual here. then you finally saw the press secretary come out and offer very little in the way of det l detail. usually we expe

forces in afghanistan testified russia has become more assertive in the past year in afghanistan overtly lending legit massly to the taliban claiming they're fighting isis there. he also says the military there, iran is supporting the taliban in that country. this is after the u.s. in 2001 ousted the taliban, the u.s.-backed government has had issues getting rid of the taliban throughout the whole country and the taliban has become more aggressive taking back portions from the western-backed government there. >> bill: back in the headlines. thank you, rich at the state department. thanks. >> shannon: mainstream media accusing president trump of flip-flopping. or is it a matter of being flexible? bernie goldberg joins us on that next. >> president trump: i'm a very flexible purpose. i don't have to have one specific way. and if the world changes, i go the same way. i don't change. well, i do change and i am flexible and i'm proud of that flexibility. you totanobody's hurt, new car. but there will still be pain. it comes when your insurance company says they'll only pay three-quarters of w

. >> also of concern, afghanistan. the military's largest bomb reportedly killed dozens of militants there. but no word on the -- just how that attack fits into trump's largest policy there, even as russia hosts the first day of an afghan reconciliation summit, where participants are all gathering. let's start with our reporters. kelly o'donnell is following president trump in west palm beach, florida. and from reuters, josh smith in the capital of afghanistan, kabul. kelly, let me start with you. we know that vice president pence is headed to south korea this weekend. what can you tell us about the white house's approach to the situation in north korea? >> reporter: well, the partnership the u.s. has with south korea is so critical in this, craig, as we understand they are at most risk, most vulnerable from any aggression from the north koreans. wanting to be on the same page, giving them insight directly from the vice president on this mission where he'll visit several countries in that part of the world. to ease any

so a similar approach clearly used in afghanistan but when we say isis in afghanistan, this is a messy group. maybe people were too young to be in taliban and maybe a few years ago, they are much clearer to finding ground again, possibly in the hundreds. maybe al qaeda affiliations, too. a lot of jihadist tendencies making use of the security vacuum that allowed bin laden to hide before 2002 before the -- 2001 before the attacks in new york. given that the u.s. has thrown the kitchen sink at afghanistan and they are still trying to make it more secure. >> what about adding another layer to the conversation, general marks, you're right about not conflating but you have this bomb dropped in afghanistan and then, ryan brown, you have a number of allied fighters killed in this coalition air strike in syria. can you tell me what happened there? >> reporter: there was a battle for a dam which is a key strategic area in the fight against isis. the u.s. has been performing local strikes against the syrian democratic forces. they include some kurdish and arab fighters and they have been some of

tim: staying with afghanistan, does that mean more troops? he asked for a few thousand more. >> general nicholson has asked for several thousand more. not a surge, as you say, but additional troops that would allow him to put americans down a layer or two in the afghan army, afghan national forces. this would help them, the afghan national forces, do what they need to do. but i think general mcmaster is going to evaluate that request. i don't think the decision has made yet. tim: moving to the middle east, it is a truism that you cannot defeat islamic state just militarily. >> i think that is very important. that is the important question in afghanistan as well as syria. the afghanistan situation is such that there is a well-developed, or developing, military strategy for the defeat of isis and trying to get control of the taliban. there needs to be -- this is what our sense was -- there needs to be a corresponding political strategy. they've got connections coming -- they've got elections coming up, negotiations possibly with the taliban. th

military operations in afghanistan asked the u.s. military central commander for authorization to use this bomb to fight isis, is that a problem? do you think these generals are looking at domestic politics? >> well, no. i was referring to the president. now, to the extent to which centcom has made that request, that should be something considered by the president. but there are lots of things that are said and asked for by generals that the commander in chief will demure on because it is going to send us into further war. our engagement in afghanistan has been there for decades now. it is the longest war in our history. and if we're going to step it up again, i have reason to wonder if this is -- the effort is really worth our undertaking at this time. >> because this bomb has been ready to be used, this 22,000 pound moab, this mother of all bombs has been in the inventory since 2003. it was not used during the bush administration in the iraq war or in afghanistan. it was not used during the eight years of the obama administration.

military in afghanistan. the ministry of defense did not know about the strike, the afghan ministry said. the biggest weapon used in active combat so far. janice calling from columbia, maryland. what you think? caller: yes, i would just like to say that i think the strategy that trump is using by saying he is leaving all of the decisions up to the general is very alarming. that generals make a decision in terms of what is going to be the best strike, where, in fact, there are many political decisions that need to be made. to just say that he is washing his hands of it and leaving it up to them is, i think, certainly not right. host: what about the argument that is made by the president and members of the administration that, in the past, military officials have felt hamstrung and not able to act quickly wall waiting for washington to give the signed? caller: i understand that and i was listening very quickly. i think that is some merit to that argument. that does not mean you go to the other extreme. the pres

you spent a great deal of time in this area in afghanistan. tell us a little bit about your experience, what was like they are, what do you think our viewers should know? >> that's right. i actually have a chapter in my book about a chain district with a strike occurred and where, unfortunately, we lost a green beret just this last weekend. it's an incredibly mountainous area. we're talking the foothills of the hindu bush that lead eventually to mount everest. these caves have been there since they were fighting the soviet union back in the early '80s.you can only reach them byt and even then, they are very narrow, mountain tabs, carved in the side of the mountain, single file. any defender could see you coming a mile away and could rake you with all kinds of small arms fire and heavy fire if you try to go in by foot. if you tried to go in by helicopter, those helicopters would be incredibly exposed and you would be easily basing -- facing a blackout down scenario. general nicholson made the right call. we had either two choices, either let is

it's both afghanistan and the united states's top priority to eliminate isis from afghanistan or what we call daesh this year, and hence this intensified operation against all of their bases. the review is still ongoing. there hasn't been a decision made yet, but from our conversations so far it is moving along quite fast. and when it is completed, i guess we'll -- we'll be able to talk about it more then. but we are coordinating quite closely on making sure that we have a winning strategy in afghanistan. >> quickly, 20 seconds, mr. ambassador, and we will learn more about that i'm sure. 20 seconds. how do you think, this is early morning in this part of the world. how will this bomb be received in afghanistan? >> well, early reaction so far is that the area has been cleared. it is late at night in afghanistan now, and our forces have moved in to assess the impact. we'll know by the morning how -- how it has all gone. >> okay. mr. ambassador, thank you so much for your time. i really appreciate your voice in this breaking news. thank you. thank you all for being with me. i'm brook bro

dropped in eastern afghanistan. white house press secretary sean spicer saying here at the white house a little lyle ago, this took place 7:30 local time in afghanistan. it took place three hours or so ago. eastern afghanistan, mountainous region, where tunnels and gives are. they have an using the tunnels and waives to their advantage. sean spicer talking about this gbu-34. >> the united states takes the fight against isis very seriously. in order to defeat the group we must deny them operational space which we did. the united states took all precautions necessary. reporter: trish, this happened we believe about three hours ago. of note i think should be brought up, if you were watching the briefing spicer was very tight-lipped about everything that happened. essentially referring everything to the department of defense. he would not even answer whether or not the president was briefed on this matter or the ticktock basically, how this all came about. i bring that up, last week when everything was happening with sy

the target, so—called islamic state in afghanistan. we targeted the system of tunnels and caves that isis fighters used to move around freely, making it easier for them to target us military advisers and afghan forces in the area. the united states ta kes forces in the area. the united states takes the fight against isis very seriously, and in order to defeat the group, we must deny them operational space, which we did. defeat the group, we must deny them operational space, which we didm is turning out to be a busy time for the commander—in—chief. is turning out to be a busy time for the commander-in-chief. we are so proud of our military, and it was another successful event. and no one can say it is not what he promised during the campaign.” can say it is not what he promised during the campaign. i know more about isis than the generals do, believe me. i would on the (bleep) out of them. the tunnels and caves that were used by the taliban over 15 years ago are now being used by is. this bomb was dropped on a complex tunnel netwo

dark in afghanistan. they will flying recon -- they will want to take a close look at it in the daylight hours. i think for two reasons, john. one, to absolutely see that the target is destroyed and that they were able to destroy it. but again, because they've never used it in combat, this will be something that intelligence analysts will want to really pour over and make sure the weapon actually worked as designed and as expected. this is a first. so they're going to want to take a very close look at it and get all the intelligence they can, analyze exactly what damage they were able to inflict. >> an important point. barbara, thank you for the fabulous reporting. we'll get back you to. i want to bring into the kf conversation military analyst rick francona. if you're sitting there planning an operation and people are bringing you your options and you decide to use this, the mother of all bomb as it's known in shorthand, largest nonnuclear bomb the air force has in its convinces. >> well, this bomb is 11

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

at 7pm local time in afghanistan, last night, the united states military used a gbu—43 weapon in afghanistan. the gbu—43 is a large, powerful and accurately delivered weapon. we targeted a system of tunnels and caves that isis fighters used to move around freely, making it easier for them to target us military advisers and afghan forces in the area. the united states takes the fight against isis very seriously, and in order to defeat the group, we must deny them operational space, which we did. the united states took all precautions necessary to prevent civilian casualties and collateral damage as a result of the operation. and joining me now is zalmay khalilzad, former us ambassador to the un, as well as iraq and afghanistan. president to a campaign promise to he was going to attack islamic state and we did not necessarily think that would be in afghanistan but that would be in afghanistan but that seems to be what has happened, correct? it seems so. isis has been moving into afghanistan. government of afghanistan has come in the field, and they have been raising the issue of isis present

afghanistan, think about this, we've been in afghanistan for 12 years. it's just -- 16 years since 9/11. the united states has spent hundreds of billions of dollars. and the fact that we had to use a bomb like this suggests that the enemy is able to find ways to evade the usual bombs. it's not exactly a sign of success. the united states has still almost 10,000 troops in afghanistan 16 years after 9/11 and you have to use this kind of ordnance. it reminds you you're in the middle of a messy civil war. i think it's possible to say that donald trump is perhaps recognizing if not flexing the muscles of the u.s. military. the military has been doing what it does and trump is recognizing it and he praised it, but i think it reflects a larger issue, which is there isn't going to be some kind of easy, quick, clean military solution. they've been trying it for 16 years. if he wants to think about what lesson to try, you also need to work the politics of this. if you don't get a representative government in afghanistan that can control its territory, we'll be dro

dan rather who hash to afghanistan 16 times. all of you know so much about this, the context we all need so much tonight. general heart ling, it is a massive bomb. we heard about it. we know this was targeted at a remote area. that were the point. if it were dropped on a city, to give us a sense of how big this is, what would it do? >> well, to a city, erin, and that's why it hasn't been used in the wars in iraq and afghanistan is a lot of combat has been in the cities. it was use against the position, a very good combat commander in afghanistan said i can destroy cave complex in a defensive area but most importantly he can also get after the i.e.d.s because the overpressure of this bomb. it doesn't penetrate a cave wall but it provides overpressure to knock things down and provide the i.e.d.s with a means of exploding. you can clear an entire area of about 15 to 20 football fields in radius. so it will be significantin terms of the area of the blast and the concussive device. >> the city you would be talking about a huge part o

forces in afghanistan. we will bring back barbara starr. >> let's explain for a minute of the press conference. you hear the afghan translator. general nicholson is having the conference in kabul mainly for the afghan press to explain the mission to the people of afghanistan. important part of the coalition. what he told us is afghan and u.s. troops are back on the ground at the remote site in eastern afghanistan looking at the damage caused by the bomb being dropped. right now, they don't see any evidence of civilian casualties on the ground. they are trying to assess did they get after the target they wanted. the afghan government has said 36 isis fighters killed. a number of tunnels and ammunition destroyed. what helps us understand is why the u.s. and why general nicholson decided to use this massive bomb. 21,000 pounds. the largest non-nucleconvention bomb used to date. it is a complex of kafs acaves tunnels they were going after in an area. they wanted to get to the very widespread target. a more conv

forces about what has happened in afghanistan just outside of kabul. the u.s. dropped the mother of all bombs. the moab. let's see what the commander is telling us. we have our satellite back. >> isis has murdered male family members, kidnapped wives and daughters and forced them. >> all right. we're having satellite issues. we are monitoring the press briefing. let's bring in barbara starr from the pentagon. >> good morning to both of you. one of the interesting things general nichols said at the beginning is no u.s. casualties on the ground. at first light, u.s. and afghan forces are at the site to determine what the impact has been. i think we have the satellite feedback now. >> killed and wounded hundreds of innocent civilians. [

to him it was all about afghanistan. president trump asked yesterday as this unfolded whether he authorized the afghan mission. listen to what he had to say. >> did you authorize it, sir? >> everybody knows exactly what happened. so -- and what i do is i authorize my military. we have the greatest military in the world, and they've done a job, as usual. so we have given them total authorization, and that's what they're doing, and frankly, that's why they've been so successful lately. if you look 59 what's happat wh over the last eight weeks compared to the last eight years, you'll see there's a tremendous difference. >> reporter: he's authorized military commanders. the question he's not answering, of course, whether or not he knew about this mission. military commanders tend to like to make sure the president of the united states knows what's going on. back to you. >> especially with the mother of all bombs. barbara starr, thank you with that and our military panel ahead. >>> joining us with more perspective, afghanista

was moved to afghanistan in early january. we have fox news team coverage with rich edson at the state department. let's begin with jennifer griffin. so we're learning where defense secretary mattis will be next week. can you tell

or nato troops for afghanistan. kimberly. >> kimberly: jennifer, thank you. tensions are rising with north korea over a new report that the regime could be carrying out a new nuclear task. a monitoring group shows activity over a north korean nuclear site. but says that if beijing fails to act, the u.s. and its allies will. assad's chemical attacks, he's now claiming it was fake. in washington with more is leland. >> assad is basically asking the world to believe him rather than our blind eye, suggesting videos like these of the dead and dying from sarin gas were fake. "our impression is that the west, mainly the united states, is hand in glove with the terrorists." that is what assad calls anyone he doesn't like. they, meaning the united states, fabricated the whole story in order to have a pretext for the leattack. in an exhaustive presentation, the pentagon went as far to put out the radar track of the syrian jet that dropped the siren bomb. the secretary of state doubled down on the charge in front of assad's russian protectors yesterday. suffice to say n

afghanistan, just think about this, we've been in afghanistan for 12 years. i'm sorry 17 or 16 years since 9 9/11. the united states has spent hundreds of billions of dollars, and the fact we have to use a bomb like this, it suggests that the enemy is able to find ways to evade the usual bombs. it's not exactly a ringing sign of success. the united states has still got almost 10,000 troops in afghanistan 16 years after 9 laegs 11, and you have to use this kind of ordinance for it. inside syria it's ary minder you're still inside a very messy civil war. i think it's showing donald trump is recognizing and he praised it. i think he reflects a larger issue, which is there isn't going to be some kind of easy, quick, clean military solution. they've been trying it for 16 years in afghanistan. so he wants to thing about what lesson to draw, you also want to work the politics of this. if you don't get a representative government in afghanistan that can control its territory, we'll be dropping these bombs for another 16 years. >> david gergen was on in the last hour,

we bombed afghanistan, was that good or bad? >> when did we bomb afghanistan? judge jeanine: wake up. "justice" starts now. break night, north korea attempts but fails at a missile launch. hello and welcome to justice live from our nation's capital, i'm judge jeanine pirro. it's not known what type of missile it was. but the u.s. is confirming north korea attempted to fire a missile, but it explode on launch and failed. president trump has been briefed on the situation. former governor mike huckabee and john bolton join me tonight to discuss. we have colonel david hunt and general tom mcinerney. gregg palkot is in pyongyang and has been following this breaking story. >> the came in two hours ago. it didn't come over from the north korean government. we talked to officials here. and so farther not giving us any word. the first word came from a south korean military. they surveil closely what happened here. just before dawn there was a launch on the east coast of north korea. it looks like an intermediate-type missile. a asked you-type -- a scud-type missile. it

this is why he's moving forward in this place in afghanistan. what does this mean in other nations like yemen that harbor isis? it's sending a clear message to them, which is watch yourself. we're coming after you. this is a very bold move by the president. >> it's a complete and total paradigm shift from the obama administration's foreign policy in every conceivable way. there's so much sacrifice, so many -- i personally -- my brother has had multiple deployments. i know there's a feeling or had been a feeling with the military of frustration that president obama wouldn't let them win. what are the ramifications? we'll wait and see. saying there's a new sheriff in town doesn't put -- >> with a big shining star. we're now engaged in six different countries with military action. it's afghanistan, iraq, syria, to a lesser degree yemen, somalia and libya right now. >> bill hemmer, you saw new pictures coming in. that's the bomb itself that we're talking about, the mother of all bombs. the largest nonnuclear bomb in our arsenal. these are new images

afghanistan does not equal a rock -- iraq. but what our mission was was to halt the momentum of the taliban, because we were on the march to reverse it. we wanted to decelerate the stability -- instability in afghanistan so we could begin with some tasks, which we achieved all wall overachieving -- while achieving the overarching goal, which was a valid mission for the united states and afghanistan. thatwas too sure -- ensure afghanistan was no longer sanctuary for transnational extremists. david: you briefed president bush, 43, and many times president obama. if they were taking sat tests, who would do rather -- better? and who was a better athlete? president bush. when are you going to come right amount and bite with me? he could talk some trash. david: well you were in afghanistan, the attempt to capture osama bin laden was going forward. capture or kill. ,ow were you alerted to that because you are not directly in the chain of command for that decision that night. gen. petraeus: no one else in our headquarters new at all.

forces afghanistan as well. the department of defense are best to walk through the military operations that are ongoing there. i think with respect to the intelligence community and the national security team, as you know, the president put together a world-class capital of top-notch national security experts from general mattis, general kelly, general mcmaster and others that continue to provide him the best advice to make the best decisions for the country, and he continues to rely on them and director pompeo, director coats at the dni, they continue to give sage advice how best the united states be. >> reporter: did the president specifically authorize the use of this ordnance? >> i'm not going to get into the details right now. i'm not. as i mentioned. i'll let the department of defense handle the lead on this one. >> reporter: and follow up on a question earlier, you didn't answer specifically what changed that led to the president to re-evaluate? >> let me get back to you on the ex-im banks specifically. i

you obviously spent a tremendous amount of time studying afghanistan in afghanistan. you, of course, interviewed osama bin laden. you write in this new opinion piece, the timing of this, that the war in afghanistan is at a critical point. what message did this send? and will it be effective? >> well, you know, one strike doesn't make a strategy, obviously. but when i say it's a critical point, the taliban now control or contest a third of the afghan population, and that is a development that most americans haven't really noticed because there's been not that much coverage of the afghan war. >> right. >> we have 8,400 american soldiers there right now. general mcnicholson, the commander who spent a great deal of time in afghanistan has asked for a thousand more advisers. i mentioned advisers. that would not be a combat presence, that would be an advise and assist and train the afghan army. and clearly, and also, there's a review going on at the national security council and at the pentagon. general mcmaster, the national security adviser, is going to travel to afghanis

in 2010 in afghanistan. as you watch, continue u.s. military action seven years after that. 15 years into the conflict. just in general, what are your feelings this is still going on in afghanistan. >> i want to see the end in sight. i care as much as anybody about my friends that are still out on the battle field. i have a lot of them still out there and probably the reality is i'll end up losing some of them before this war is over. that's not something i want to think about. i don't think it is something any american wants to think about or any family member who has their sons and daughters over there. this is not something we want. to get to that place where we're going to be able to make peace. we have to make them a former enemy. that requires a certain level of commitment. it certainly is not lost on me whatsoever. the cost of war. i don't mean that monetarily. i lost 67 friends in our theaters of war. i don't mean that in terms of limb. i recovered alongside when i was injured in 2010. there were 50 or 60 men or women a month w

in afghanistan last night, the u.s. 43 weapon ind a gbu- afghanistan, which is a tactical delivered weapon. we targeted a system of tunnels and caves that isis fighters used to move around freely, making it easier to target u.s. military advisers in the area. the united states took all precautions necessary to prevent casualties and collateral damage as a result of the operation. host: that was white house spokesman sean spicer giving a few more details about that bomb the u.s. has dropped in eastern afghanistan, the world's biggest nonnuclear bomb, never been used before in combat. has been testing that weapon since 2030. this is the first time it has been used. the united states has been involved in the conflict in afghanistan for the past 16 years, for in feist -- fighting first al qaeda, the taliban, and the islamic state as well. last week's chemical attack in syria was fabricated by the united states in order to make the case for war, according to president bashar al-assad. in his firirst interviview since more than 80 people e killed and hundreds poisoned in a rebel held village ear

i think what we should do in afghanistan is we should make a sustained commitment to afghanistan, stop the year on year agony over whether we can draw it down further. in fact, i actually think we have drawn down a bit too far and it would be great to have another -- if you take all the coalition forces, say 5000 additional forces back on the ground, we are doing foolish things because of these troop caps. there's an aviation per grade -- brigade that is employed out there. there's all of these helicopter pilots. they had to leave maintenance crews behind, we paid extraordinary cost and you fracture unit integrity because maintainers are sitting in the heartland of the u.s. without helicopters to work on while their comrades are at war and need them. we have to think our way through that. there is no blank check ever and the afghans should not think they have that. they have to deliver, but they are very much fighting and dying for their country. we need to continue to enable them. the mission we talked about earlier, to make afghanistan never a sanctuary for transnational extremists,

local time in afghanistan, last night, the united states military used a gvu 43 weapon in afghanistan. >> things are coming together this weekend. one is the distinct possibility using a detonation, and another is a great deal of fire power going at the korean peninsula. >>> a supreme court nominee meetings with the russian president, a big bomb in afghanistan, and we go into the weekend with the specter of war with the weekend ahead of us. the 85th day of the presidency. the comedian. first, his new al bum, his new one, mainstream american kmcoc is on sale. let's start with the hitler comment. weust heard. d he apologized very quickly. i give him credit for that. it wasn't even a couple hours, but critics are still calling for him to be out because of the mistake like that. is there long-term fallout from comments any more? >> i think it just the idea that sean spicer is like an elementary school student that did the science project the day before and now has to speak about it. the difference being that he has preparation and he is an adult. but it is frightening. it is very -- >> do

afghanistan's representative to the u.n. recently told the security council that pakistan maintains ties with more than 20 different terrorist groups. mr. speaker, pakistan is playing us. pakistan turns a blind eye to the terrorist allies, the afghan taliban and the network fighters in the area. the pakistan taliban fighters ended up becoming leaders of the isis affiliate in pakistan. isis announced their afghan affiliate in january, 2015, and now has entrenched itself in the eastern part of the country. for the first time ever, the military dropped its largest nonnuclear bomb, the massive ordnance air blast bomb earlier this month on isis targets in afghanistan. it's no surprise that afghanistan is a hotbed for terrorist mischief groups, all related to pakistan, and that's what pakistan has always wanted, a weak and divided afghanistan that threatens the united states. mr. speaker, it's time we reassess our pakistan policy so that it matches pakistan's behavior in afghanistan. we need to call pakistan out. we must reduce ai

back to this massive bomb drop in afghanistan. the pentagon said it took pains to avoid civilian casualties. but it's already drawing an angry response from a former afghan leader. >> hamid karzai lashing out at this attack. he it's up to afghans to stop the usa. >> david. >> terry moran with us. >>> i want to get right to retired marine colonel steve ganyard. can you help put the size of this bomb in perspective. >> no other weapon in the u.s. inventory short of a nuclear weapon short weapon. >> we know the terrain in afghanistan is notoriously challenging. this bomb massive in scope. not the size that might not just make it more effective. >> it's some of the most rugged terrain in the world. as this weapon dropped and hit the valley floor the blast would have been focused and pushed into these caves to take out of these isis fighters. >> steve, thank you for joining us >>> this comes one week after the u.s. missile strike on syria. that action was taken after the chemical attack killed so many, including children. >>> now syria

troops for afghanistan, there are -- u.s. ornateo or nato troops for afghanistan. lou: joining me now to discussion president trump's war on terror, and mess think tha message that bomb sent to rogue nations, john bolton with us tonight. republican strategist, and veteran of 10 presidential campaigns, the dean, edrollins. ambassador, let me start with you, this bomb, dropped on a system of tunnels in eastern afghanistan, near the pakistan border, the impact we're told was significant. it will be a while before the full impact can be judged. your thoughts on the symbolism and actual affect. >> i'm delighted that they decided to use it, i don't really understand why they used this one. other than massive ordinance penetrate or. maybe they thought it was better choice. i leave it to them. also interesting that the pentagon, itself, ma has been leaking that bomb was sent to the region at the end of obama administration, he was getting ready to use it. the better point is that for 8 years he, probe just could not seem to find a reason to do it but two months after trump