Transcripts For CNNW New Day 20170821

Lets begin our coverage with cnns ryan brown live at the pentagon with more on our breaking story. What do we know about these souls . Reporter this collision between this much larger oil tanker and the u. S. S. John mccain took place east of singapore. The mccain suffered heavy damage, were told flooding took place in several compartments including a sleeping area as well as a communications area. The ship was able to make it back on its own power to singapore, just arriving earlier this morning. Now, again, ten sailors are missing, five sailors were injured, four of those were evacuated via helicopter due to the nature of their injuries, none of those injuries are lifethreatening. Those ten sailors a very active search operation involving u. S. Aircraft and aircraft from singapore and naval since from singapore is going on in an attempt to locate those sailors. This comes after several incidents involving u. S. Naval war ships in the region. Two months ago the uss fitzgerald similarly colliding with a cargo ship in the region, that cost the lives of seven sailors. One of the things theyve already done is kind of looked at the procedures on who is taking responsibility for the watch, who is responsible for these types of things taking place, theyre reviewing their training procedures and their accreditation procedures. On the fitzgerald the navy moved to relieve the leadership of that vessel from its duty. They relieved the officers from their duty as kind of a result of that investigation. We will see what happens with the investigation into the mccain collision. Chris and alisyn. Thank you for all of that. Joining us now is retired rear admiral john kirby, he is a cnn military and diplomatic analyst. Thank you for being here with this disturbing news that were trying to make our way through, how does Something Like this happen . Theres probably a thousand different ways how Something Like this can happen. Its unusual, i know it sounds a little strange for me to say that, but its unusual for ships to collide although i know we have had several here in recent months, but typically there are a range of procedures that the watch crew, the crew that are actually driving and navigating the ship will follow to avoid collisions. Its very difficult to tell by looking at the gash on the side of the ship there on the port side aft exactly how this could have happened, but this is a very busy area, this is a sprafk separation scheme as ryan said, think of it like many lanes converging on a bridge or tunnel when youre driving. You have lots of ships trying to get through a narrow passage. Obviously you go at a safe speed, there are procedures you follow with the Maritime Authority to report your location and your direction, your speed, your destination, to try to make sure that everybody gets in there safely and can pass through without incident. Obviously that didnt happen here, but its just nobody telling right now how this could have happened. Not only is it unusual for this to happen, but you have very specific rules especially with military vessels about distances theyre supposed to keep and there are so many guidance systems and watch systems. This cluster of incidents does raise suspicions about whether or not there is any connection between these incidents, whether they are just each one a one off and about training. We know with the fitzgerald action was taken. Is there any concern at all about whether or not, you know, theres any bad actor going on here. I think the short answer to that, chris, is yes. I can assure you that the navy has already done this in the wake of fitzgerald collision, already taking a look at their fleedwide training, their fleetwide procedures, watch standing processes, everything. Theyre taking a look at this to see if there is a systemic issue here broader throughout the fleet or throughout this region to see if theres something they can fix. That will certainly be i think accelerated in the wake of what happened here to the mccain, they will take a harder look at this. Theres absolutely no question that they will want to make sure that they dont have some larger issue going on culturally or procedurally inside the navy. Admiral, President Trump is already responding to this. We have the moment that journalists first asked him about this upon the news breaking. So listen to this moment. [ inaudible ]. Okay. I dont know if you could hear that. He said that twice. Thats too bad. Thats too bad. Then he is just tweeting after that, thoughts and prayers are with our u. S. Navy sailors aboard the u. S. S. John mccain where search and rescue efforts are under way. The first one, the thats too bad, thats too bad, received some criticism. Obviously it appeared he didnt know many details. How does that happen when a president needs to be briefed and then speaks to the press . Well, you would think that in the wake of a situation like this he would be getting a briefing, at least as detailed as possible by his National Security team, maybe chief of staff john kelly. It doesnt appear to me just by looking at that video they had gotten briefed on this. Who knows, i dont know how soon after the incident he was asked that question. Its possible they just couldnt get to him soon enough. So that would explain, i think, why he didnt offer much information or, you know, didnt come out with a more full or comprehensive statement, but i think his tweet will be welcomed by the men and women of the mccain and their families and the navy. What i would look for tonight, i hope, when he has a chance to talk about his afghanistan strategy that he will start by talking about this incident and really passing on his condolences. Its important for people to remember that you now have ten families who are going through hell. They dont know where their young sailors are or what their condition is and i think its really important for the commander in chief to address them and to talk about the anguish that theyre going through, as well as the navy family at large. Certainly, john, it will be the easy part of the task this evening. He has some daunting task before the nation when he addresses us about the afghan policy. John kirby, thank you very much. So this will be the first formal prime time address to the nation by President Trump. Hes going to unveil his long awaited plan for the nearly 16 year long war in afghanistan. Cnns sara murray live at the white house with more. What do we know . Reporter good morning, chris. This prime time address is going to be a huge moment for President Trump. It comes at a time when his credibility, when his character, when his ability to lead is under question by Many Americans, hes going to have to stand up tonight and convince them that his strategy is the right path forward for afghanistan. Its a very big decision for me. I took over a mess and were going to make it a lot less messy. Reporter President Trump set to outline his strategy for americas path forward in afghanistan. A major test for the new commander in chief. One that could put more american troops in marms way. After meeting with Top Administration officials at camp david on friday, the president announcing saturday he had made a decision after months of deliberation and delays. The president has made a decision, as he said, he wants to be the one to announce it to the american people. It is a south asia strategy, its not just an afghanistan strategy. Reporter the president has been presented with a wide range of options. Everything from a full withdrawal to the deployment of up to 4,000 more soldiers, adding to the more than 8,000 American Forces already there. Thats an option recently ousted chief strategist steve bannon opposed. The founder of the controversial Security Firm blackwater has also lobbied the white house to begin relying more heavily on private contractors. Defense secretary jim mattis remaining tight lipped about the details, but he gave this sobering assessment in june on the state of the nearly 16year long war. We are not winning in afghanistan right now. Reporter trump has questioned the purpose of americas continued involvement in afghanistan. Repeatedly advocating for full withdrawal on twitter, before running for president. Officials say he remains deeply skeptical, but his doubts have come up against hawkish generals in his inner circle. Any troop increase sure to meet at least some resistance from democrats. I dont believe putting more american soldiers in afghanistan is the answer. Reporter this crucial National Security decision comes amid questions about the president s leadership capability and mounting backlash to trumps defense of White Supremacists in charlottesville last week. You had some very bad people in that group, but you also had people that were very fine people on both sides. Its going to be very difficult for this president to lead if in fact that moral Authority Remains compromised. Reporter the president s Approval Ratings taking a hit, dipping below 40 in three key midwest states that helped trump win the presidency, with six in ten americans saying theyre embarrassed by the president s conduct. Tonight we are going to see teleprompter trump, we will see carefully crafted statements as the president acts in his very somber role adds commander in chief, but tomorrow we could see a very different version of the president , thats when he will be holding a campaignstyle rally in phoenix, arizona, a state where the two senators, john mccain and jeff flake have been sharply critical of the president. Lets bring back rear admiral john kirby, we also want to bring in Maggie Haberman and abby phillips. Maggie, lets start with the president s reaction to this unfolding tragedy of these ten missing sailors. He said, thats too bad, thats too bad. That was at about 8 30 last night. Whats the reaction to his reaction . I think that the best Case Scenario is that he was not briefed on exactly what was going on, that there were ten soldiers missing, that there were five injured at that point. It was still an unusual reaction. If he wasnt briefed you have to wonder why at that point he has a lot of members of the military around him who clearly can get information to him. His Immediate Reaction was still unusual for a commander in chief, especially when who is on the verge of addressing the nation in his first formal address. What would a traditional reaction be . A traditional reaction if you had not been briefed is im aware of the situation and im getting progress reports or something along those lines. He is somebody who i think just still doesnt fully understand what the resting state of the job of president is in that you are on all the time. Its not as if you get sort of momentary breaks, its not as if you will be given credit for sort of sounding a motive, you know, while youre learning whats going on. Look, he is no at politician, right, and so we know that and a he is often prone to saying things that seem, you know, unusual in an elected official, but the concern i think that people have with the president is that if there is a continual grading on a curve of what he says that you start to define down what is acceptable for a commander in chief. I wonder if the description of why this happens is as accurate as saying its that he is not a poll igs it. He usually gets benefit when you say that, yeah, thats right. Thats exactly right. I think its that he doesnt have leadership qualities. He has never had to practice these before, he has never run a team, he has never had to be out in front and give the guidance that are expected in situations like this, john kirby. You know, if this is the way he reacted and he knew thats one thing, but i think the bigger concern is that he didnt know. That his reaction to the information was, really . Oh, thats too bad. What is the chance that the president of the United States wouldnt have known about what had happened and that there were missing sailors . Well, pretty small. Right. Yeah, you would think that it would get to him very, very quickly. Again, i dont know what the communications setup is like or the circumstances of who was around him, but you would hope that at least this happened, you know, during the obama administration, you know, we were able to get the word to president obama very, very quickly. I want to follow up on what maggie said, i think shes right, i think, look, even if he hadnt been briefed, a better way to say this would have been, hey, look, i dont have all the information, but were looking into this, this is obviously very serious and tragic and our hearts go out to all the families in the navy. That kind of thing. You want to put some sort of emotion into that i think would have been better than thats too bad. I think it did come across as kind of glib. I think it would be great for him to address this tonight in the speech, im sure that he will, i hope he does, but theres a lot of time between now and then and it sure would be nice to hear the commander in chief, even if its a written statement, more comprehensive than a tweet talk about where this goes. They also may not be considered missing by then, either. We wont know. Abby, that leads us to tonight. So hes going to be making this address about afghanistan. I mean, why afghanistan . Why now . Do we have any sense of what the timing is on why hes doing this . Well, this is a decision thats been delayed for quite a long time and it reflects the difficulty of the decision that he faces. He has really bad options in afghanistan, like Many American president s have had in the past. They sat down at camp david friday to hash out some of these things. One of the interesting things about that meeting was the degree to which john kelly tried to enforce a kind of adult in the room sort of situation here for people who in the military to brief the president completely and fully. You heard mattis say over the weekend we tried to go into the room without preconceived notions. So the timing reflects the fact that this is kind of decision time, its really the moment you cant kick the can down the road any longer. And trump has to kind of decide both a discrete decision about numbers, how many troops are going to be in afghanistan, but also a broader decision about philosophically where he wants to go with his presidency. Does he want to engage further in the longest american war or does he really want to take a uturn and pull back. Thats why he has to do this in a public address because its beyond just numbers, its about his vision for the country, his vision for his presidency and its also about american lives. Its good that he understands and is responding to the fact that this is a big decision, its about human beings. But hes got more american lives at play in korea at the dmz, more american lives at play in iraq. It is an interesting choice to start in afghanistan which is just a complete sinkhole, its called the graveyard of empires for a reason. What do we know about the motivation to start with the most difficult task . I think in a lot of ways its because essentially the middle east wars over the last 16 years an engagements have been an avatar in the post 9 11 National Security realm. He doesnt want to start with iraq for a number of reasons. Syria is what it is. And he has dabbled with syria in discrete little areas. I think on afghanistan he has been under a lot of pressure from various corners to come up with a holistic strategy. You had this troop authority granted to step up the number of troops back in june but it was clear that nothing was going to be done until there was something more holistic. What i expect you will hear the president say tonight is something about how this is essentially a strategic retooling. Now, what that looks like, what concessions they may be getting in exchange for stepping up the number of troops, i dont know. I do think that there are significant portions to abbys point there are no good options here. Theres nothing that this president has in front of him that is a good option then why start there . If hes looking for points on the board, if hes looking to, you know, show successes were losing. Right. I mean, we are losing and you cant just ignore that. Thats going to become apparent but its no different now than five, six years ago. Because its a breeding ground for a lot of dangerous forces in a lot of ways. I think thats the main reason. And its a way for them to frame this as an aggressive fight against terror. That said, i do think you will have a substantial number of his supporters say, you know, he was very adamant get out. Get out, do not engage anymore. Every candidate discovers obama had the same issue, obama also talked a very large game about not engaging in the middle east anymore and he found out pretty quickly that thats not a great option, either. However, obama did have a surge and, you know, the results were not fabulous. So we will see what happens. Admiral kirby, your thoughts . I think why not . He has to do this because six months in he hasnt had a strategy for not only the war in afghanistan but the region. And the taliban is making gains, there is a pretty significant isis presence there, which is growing in fits and starts as well as al qaeda and other terrorist groups. Remember what we started out doing here 16 years ago is trying to keep afghanistan from becoming a safe haven for another 9 11 attack as it was back then. Now, we have made progress, there has been success, but offer the last couple of years when troop levels came out and in wake of a unity government in kabul that cant working so effectively the taliban is able to make gains. We are at a point now where youve got to do something. Now, what we heard in that little clip of secretary mattis he said its not just afghanistan strategy, its a south asia strategy which tells you theres going to be something in the air about pakistan, hopefully its getting harder on back stand for the save havens that they allow on their side of the border. So i hope what we see is a geo strategic, a little larger strategy overall. Les we forget where Osama Bin Laden was found. You have pakistan, you have iraq, you have so many places in the region that are equally as hot as a breeding ground for afghanistan. Well see what he says. Thank you very much. We will bring you live coverage of President Trumps address to the nation tonight, 9 00 eastern. And right after the president s address you will have a live town hall event with House Speaker paul ryan breaking his silence hosted by jake tapper at 9 30 p. M. Eastern. Tlal be fascinating to get his response to all of this. Now the president s chief strategist steve bannon is out of the white house, how will it impact the president s agenda . How panel digs into that next. And lifes beautiful moments. Ns get between you flonase outperforms the 1 nondrowsy allergy pill. It helps block 6 key inflammatory substances that cause symptoms. Pills block one and 6 is greater than 1. Flonase changes everything. Man oh boy. Looking for adventure this summer . Man 2 holy smokes. Oh man, thats pretty intense. Look no further than chevrolet. Man 3 this is a fast car. I feel like i left my soul back there. Man 4 wow. This has power man 5 what a nice car. 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Bannon will weigh in commercial if youre going to be talking about afghanistan because this is such a fundamental part of his philosophy, we should be out of there, the president supposedly bought into it and that leads us to tonight. Look, there were many issues on which the bannon clashed with almost everybody else within the white house and certainly afghanistan was a huge piece of that. He believed that the u. S. Should not be further drawn in and then he, you know, was advocating this privatization plan that was pushed by somebody named eric prince who was a relative of a cabinet secretary. As it turns out that did not go through any of the normal chams, it was all this side process that bannon had going. I do think that bannon sees himself as the keeper of this Campaign Pledge that the president made which was, you know, not getting further drawn into these foreign wars. I suspect you will see breitbart, bannons website, reacting pretty strongly to whatever comes out of the president s mouth tonight. In bannons exit interview with the Weekly Standard he said he likes the term bannon the barbarian, he feels jacked up, cant wait to get his hands back on his weapons, he said hes going to rev up the machine. What does any of that look like Going Forward . It looks like chaos, its the tough talk you hear from people that are not all that tough. He is in a much weaker position than he could ever be inside the white house. Even on the losing side of internal battles inside the bubble is a real position, as opposed to flinging bricks from the outside which is where he is now. Theyve lost a bunch of advertisers at breitbart, they make horrible mistakes of fact that they have to apologize for. Its just not the same thing. Now, to the extent that steve bannon wants to be a political warrior and nothing else maybe he is in the right place. Thats what they are going to do. Sounds like they are going to snipe an insult and try to get themselves into the news cycle but not the president. He says hes still going to have the president s back. He gave the Weekly Standard interview and a couple other ones and there was another turn in the cycle where he made it very clear that he wasnt talking about the president. Right. Hes going to cover for the president. When one of his cronies he tweeted the word war and what he said about the presidency being over, he then said but i dont have any quarrel with the president , this is about others. Here is the rub, though, to errols point, he has a president who is uniquely sensitive to criticism from the outside. While he may not be as powerful because he is not on the inside, what he says is going to bother the president , correct . Now that bannon is back at breitbart you should take a look at what breitbart is talking about. Its been instructive over the last few days a lot of what theyve been talking about has been the same old same old in terms of internal disputes. Those are the kinds of things, that, sure, trump doesnt like criticism but he doesnt as long as its not him. Thats what were seeing out there from bannon at this moment. From breitbart at this moment if bannon will reel that in we havent seen that just yet. Another just to errols point about bannon flinging bricks from the outside, one thing that he does have from the outside is the backing of a major trump patron, the mercer family, theyre considering potentially ventures that would be backed financially very well that would really be a force in the conservative media world. So there is the potential out there for there to be really just like a rock thrown in the middle of the pond and the ripples having incredible effects in the political world sthie also think theres nobody people never look as good to trump donald trump as when theyre walk wag away from them. You saw his ability to continue to contact all sorts of people especially late at night, on his cellphone, in the white house residence or, you know, the regular phone, but Corey Lewandowski who was the fired Campaign Manager is now back working for one of the outside groups, dave bossy who had come to tension spots with the president is now back in his favor. The president has a way of always wanting what is not there and so i think that we will see how that plays out. I think that he was very frustrated with bannon and unhappy with him toward the end, but he was taking pains on saturday to tweet very nice things about bannon and about breitbart. He is not interested in, you know, a full out war, either. Maggie, one more topic that came up over the past week that we need to talk about, the president s mental stability. So you hear people starting to talk about it, including some republicans, senator bob corker used the term the president has not demonstrated the stability. He didnt say mental stability. Big distinction. I think it is a big distinction, but still now that has taken on something of a life of its own about whether the president is mentally fit. Im not a therapist and i never got my psychiatry degree so im not going to comment on that, but and i think that you are hearing it from various corners, i know Brian Stelter did something about this last night. I dont think thats what corker was saying, i think what people are concerned about is just that you are seeing the president you know, is known to like drama and excitement and sees things as a show. This was a person that spent 14 seasons on the apprentice. I think that he has invested a fair amount of time in keeping the show going and less on doing the job. I think that is what bob corker was talking about. Whatever the reason is i do think that it has a wearying effect on people wanting to get something done. You have republicans concerned they are squandering a once in the lifetime opportunity here. The president does not compartmentalize his feelings about things, he tweets them instantly. He clearly allows it to affect all aspects of the job. And the presidency is a really big job and one that requires people to put aside certain things and deal with the task at hand. What republicans like corker are trying to say is focus on the job. Get over yourself. Surrender the meat of the week. And the stability of the institution. Unin of them will get what they want. Is beyond whatever is going on with donald trump. And i think thats what people want to see more. They will never get it. Its not going to happen. You tell him his house is on fire, his way to put out the fire is to start a new fire. Thats always been the problem with donald trump. You tell him to do what has you know, all of us sort of worry, but it doesnt worry him because the way he has acted, the chaos, the division and so forth, it made him a billionaire and it made him president. Panel, thank you very much. So sad news, he was known as the king of slap stick, jerry lewis was so much more than just a funny man, remembering a true hollywood legend next. Day 13. If only this were as easy as saving 600 when you switch to progressive. Winds stirring. Too treacherous for a selfie. [ camera shutter clicks ] sure, ive taken discounts to new heights with safe driver and paperless billing. But the prize at the top is worth every last breath. Here we go. [ grunts ] got em. Ahh. Wait a minute. Whole wheat waffles . [ crying ] why some use equipment to be at their best. And some use it to sleep their best. The Beautyrest Black hybrid provides exceptional support and unique conforming feel. Exclusively at mattress firm. Exceptional support and unique conforming feel. At holiday inn express, we cant guarantee that youll be able to contain yourself at our breakfast bar. Morning, egg white omelet. Sup lady bacon fruit, there it is but we can guarantee that youll get the best price when you book with us. Holiday inn express. Be the readiest. In our house, we go through a lot of mom et paper. So we switched to new charmin super mega roll. Get six regular rolls in one with charmin super mega roll our longest lasting roll. Guaranteed to fit. Enjoy the go with charmin. The suspected driver behind that deadly van attack in barcelona is still on the run. Spanish Police Say Search teams have been launched along the french border. The moroccan man is the last of the 12 suspects still at large. His picture is on your screen. 13 people were killed. More than 100 others injured thursday when the vehicle slammed into a crowd on a bustling street in barcelona. Tributes are pouring in for the king of comedy jerry lewis. The 91yearold funny man entertained audiences for nearly six decades. He died of an undisclosed illness over the weekend. Stephanie elam takes a look back at his life and legacy. Reporter he was born joseph levich in 1926 but he became known to the world as jerry lewis, the zainy but loveable fool in films such as the bellboy and the nutty professor he hit it big at age 20 when he teamed up with dean martin. Dean was the macho and i was the monkey and i knew we had lightning in a barrel. Martin and lewis became one of the most popular comedy teams in history. Thousands of sold out performances, 16 hit movies and dozens of radio and tv appearances. On his own lewis signed a seven year 10 Million Contract with paramount in 1959. At that time it was the largest contract ever between a studio and performer. Lewis went on to act in or direct shows in movies for several decades. He later offered this advice to fellow entertainers be a hit. Score. Get the audience laughing and happy. Thats the secret of success in this business. He didnt just make audiences laugh. Lewis used his name to make a difference taking up the fight against muscular dystrophy. For more than four decades his annual labor day telethons helped raise more than a billion dollars for research and treatment and almost always ended with his signature song youll never walk alone. Walk on with hope in your heart and youll never walk alone reporter lewis struggled with his own Health Problems over the years, including prostate cancer, type 1 diabetes, Pulmonary Fibrosis and heart disease. Its been a long, long grueling ride. Ive ingested more than 24,000 pills. Reporter but through it all he kept his sense of humor. You better laugh at it because theres the alternative is not funny. That signature laugh. Imagine, he started at 20 years of age with dean martin. I mean, there was a lot i didnt know about him just there learning that he got the biggest entertainment contract and that he had all of those Health Problems and yet he lived to 91. What a life. What a life and how many lives he affected, with i will really be his legacy, he kept them laughing but so many lives having worked with that telethon, boy, he changed lives. To his friends and family, our thoughts and prayers. So the countrys longest running war, is it going to drag on even longer . President trump set to announce his plan for afghanistan. Remember his signature pledge during the campaign to get out of these conflicts abroad. So we have the options hes considering and the decision hes likely to make next. My daughter is. Studying to be a dentist and she gave me advice. She said. Dad go pro with crest prohealth. 4 out of 5 dentists confirm. These crest prohealth. Products help maintain a. Professional clean. Go pro with Crest Pro Health crest prohealth. Really brought my mouth. To the next level. Mikboth served in the navy. S, i do outrank my husband, not just being in the military, but at home. She thinks shes the boss. She only had me by one grade. We bought our first home together in 2010. His family had used another insurance product but i was like well ive had usaa for a while, why dont we call and check the rates . It was an instant savings and i shouldve changed a long time ago. Theres no point in looking elsewhere really. Were the tenneys and were usaa members for life. Usaa. Get your insurance quote today. Megans smile is getting a lot because she uses act® mouthwash. Act® strengthens enamel, protects teeth from harmful acids, and helps prevent cavities. Go beyond brushing with act®. President trump will announce his strategy on afghanistan this evening. Addressing the nation in his first formal president ial address since february. Whats the plan for the longest war in American History . Lets bring in cnn military analyst and former army command be general in europe and seventh Army Lieutenant general mark hurting. Great to have you with us. The longest war in u. S. History, thats so notable. Lets face it, unless you have a Family Member serving there, afghanistan is not at the top of mind for most people. So why now, what do you expect from the president tonight . I think we are at an Inflection Point in afghanistan, alisyn, and i know thats been said before. When you talk to a lot of marines and soldiers who have served there they will use a phrase that its not a 16year war, its oneyear war reiterated 16 times. There hasnt been a longterm strategy for afghanistan since the beginning other than to eliminate al qaeda and after that it divulged into nation building and support for the afghan government. I think what were going to see tonight hopefully is a strategy that looks at south asia, thats whats been predicted and you will probably see an increase in troops i would guess between 4,000 and 6,000, but theres also going to be an emphasis on countries around afghanistan as part of that south asia strategy and were talking about pakistan and the fed real administered tribal areas, perhaps even iran and all the stands to the north of pakistan. Its going to be hopefully more of a holistic strategy, at least thats what im looking for, along with a couple other keywords that i hope the president usees. Such as . Well, i think one of the things that the media is going to focus on is the troop numbers and thats the worst thing to focus on, truthfully. I think what we really have to take a look at is what is the proposed path to victory . What kind of assumptions are part of this plan . In other words, is president ghani of afghanistan going to continue to bring his people together . Are we going to be able to influence the fed real administered tribal areas in pack stand where a lot of al qaeda and taliban terrorists hide out . What are going to be the advancement of the Afghan Security forces and the development of their Counterterrorism Forces with what we provide in terms of support . What kind of forces are nato going to provide . When you think about all those things that should be part of a strategy, you also have to take a look at what are the risk and what are the priorities . What is this new administration trying to get done . Those are the things im going to be looking for. If President Trump starts just talking about troop numbers and blaming the past administration for a mess like weve heard him do so many times before, that tells me that hes really not taking ownership of this and thats something that we need the president and the Current Administration to do. President trump, i mean, i think he has been over the map on afghanistan, understandably, so many people have, its hard to figure out what a Winning Strategy or what winning looks like there. Before he was president he tweeted a lot about it and he did have criticism obviously for president obama and others, he said, lets get out of afghanistan. Our troops are being killed by the afghanees we train, we waste billions there, nonsense, rebuild the u. S. A. This is from 2013. I agree with obama he said we should have a speedy withdrawal. We should leave afghanistan immediately, no more wasted lives. If we have to go back in we go in hard and quick, rebuild the u. S. First. It goes on. So back then it was simple to him, obviously before he was president , of get out, get out fast. Very simple. Its very simple when you dont have a stake in it, but when youre talking about the potential for allowing all the things that the forces have worked for, not only the u. S. , but also nato and afghanistan in terms of trying to reestablish a base within their country, a base for security so you dont see the areas being used by terrorist forces, and there is that possibility now, even though al qaeda has been tamped down, there is the potential for an increase in isis and isisk in afghanistan. Does that mean we have to stay in afghanistan forever . If a void if leaving leaves a vacuum then how can you ever win . Well, when you take a look at past wars, alisyn, you know, korea, europe, some other places, there have been stay behind troops left and i think one of the things we will hear President Trump say tonight also is we dont want to repeat the mistakes of iraq by pulling out completely because it does allow other groups to come in. So thats the conundrum that any president faces. Thank you for your expertise and service. Another factor for tonight will be whether or not trumps loss of moral standing after charlottesville will effect how the address is received. Lets take a break. We are hours away from the eclipse of the century. We are going to show you if you are in the path of totality and how you can experience this once in a lifetime event safely. And lifes beautiful moments. Ns get between you flonase outperforms the 1 nondrowsy allergy pill. It helps block 6 key inflammatory substances that cause symptoms. Pills block one and 6 is greater than 1. Flonase changes everything. On a perfect car, then smash it into a tree. Your Insurance Company raises your rates. Maybe you shouldve done more research on them. For drivers with accident forgiveness, Liberty Mutual wont raise your rates due to your first accident. Switch and you could save 782 on home and auto insurance. Call for a free quote today. Liberty stands with you™. Liberty mutual insurance. That goes beyond assuming beingredients are safe. Ood to knowing they are. Going beyond expectations. Because our pets deserve it. Beyond. Natural pet food. Can this much love be cleaned by a little bit of dawn ultra . Oh yeah one bottle has the grease cleaning power of three bottles of this other liquid. A drop of dawn and grease is gone. It feels good to be back. Theres excitement across america ahead of todays solar eclipse, millions of americans traveling far and wide to be in position to witness the moon blot out the sun. Cnns Miguel Marcus is one of them, he is live in salem, oregon, where it is dark no thanks to the eclipse right now. Whats everybody doing there, miguel . Reporter it is dark but they are lining up here in the zone of totality where we will have total solar eclipse. 12 states will see this thing, about 70 miles wide that shadow will be and from oregon all the way through south carolina. I want to show you here at the state capital in oregon people already lining up, a couple in from london here, these people came in from beaverton just down the way here, look at these two, they are not going to get any sleep tonight whatsoever, they will be crashed out during this eclipse. Theyre waiting here because they are expected to get solar glasses, about 1,000 of them will be given out here at the state capital. The reason these are so important, these are regular sunglasses, im going to show you, check this out, you can see right through those, right . These are the solar sunglasses, you need to watch the eclipse with, with these you cannot see a flashlight shining through them, you can only see literally the sun and we are such nerds here we each have binoculars with the solar filters on. We are ready to go. Very cool. That is a good demonstration of what the solar sunglasses were because i thought they were just like cheap plastic versions of sunglasses. No, theyre serious. They are. Our boss just said the same thing, that the looking at the sun thing is not is a joke. Dont do it. Youll hurt your eyes. Lets bring in miles obrien. Double down on the message of warning before we get into the path of totality. Yes, chris, alisyn, if you cant get ahold of some of these glasses, there are a few other options. One them is number 14 welders glass, you can find that, that works well, too. You can create a pinhole pham ra if you want, but whatever you do do not look at the sun until it reaches the point of totality. If you happen to live under that 70mile band when the moon passes in front of the sun completely take the glasses off because you wont see anything, you wont appreciate t but when the moon passes a i away after a couple minutes put them back on, you could hurt yourself. Miles, i was someone who was burned, had my eyes burned once by the hmi light, the light we use in tv news to make the appearance of the sun. So i have a lot of wariness about this. It was mortal pain having your eyes burned like that. So i am keeping my children inside which is no fun, you know, i mean, obviously we should just get our hands on some of those glasses but inside, if you are in the zone of totality, is it going to appear like its midnight there . This is a pretty good simulation of what were going to get in a few hours actually, its going to get very dark very quickly for a few minutes in the middle of the day. We will be looking around at some of the interesting things that happen, for example, the shadows that pass through the leaves will have a crescent as it approaches totality. When it gets completely dark, you know, birds that are fly by day and roost at night will stop flying. You might hear crickets begin chirping and if its nighttime. All kind of strange activities occur. What is in it for you, miles . What do you love about that . We have the funny not 3d glasses and the Historical Impact and the parents like alisyn who are being crazy overprotective. What is in it for you . Its a combination its kind of primal, right . I think the ancients looked up and saw these things, there were a lot of soup stigs involved, the bab loanians believed it overshadowed the king. After the eclipse the king in order to get back on the thrown would have the subject killed. So theres all kinds of interesting soup stigs that goes along with this. There is a lot of good science which will be done during this eclipse. Thats not how we treat correspondents. You will be permanently on this. You dont have to worry about it being fatal. Miles is in idaho for pbs news hour and the documentary nova eclipse over america which will air tonight. What are you saving for that documentary that you can tell us . Well, were going to be capturing some stuff today, we will be capturing the oohs and aahs of the moment, we will be getting fresh pictures of the suns corona which is not only beautiful to see but scientifically of great interest. The better we understand it the more we can protect our power grids which can be affected by their solar storms. There will be some amateur astronomers, and folks like us taking it all in and we invite you to do that. When is the next one. Seven years from now. We are very lucky. Thats very unusual. There will be another american continental eclipse seven years from now. Good to know. So thats unusual. Weve waited 100 years from this and now we will get one in seven years. I will get my kids the glasses by then. Corona, i thought he was more of an ipa guy, miles obrien. My corona. Thank you, miles. Thanks so much. Weve been covering what happened with yet another navy ship in the southeast waters Southeast Asian waters. There is an intense manhunt under way for ten missing sailors after a destroyer collided with an oil tanker. We have the latest from the pentagon next. The u. S. Navy is searching for ten sailors missing after the u. S. S. John mccain collided with a merchant ship. This does not look good. The longer the time goes the less the chances are. You now have ten families who are going through hell. They dont know where their young sailors are. What does success look like in afghanistan . Thats a question the president is going to have to answer. Its a whole lot easier to get into these wars than it is to get out of them. President trump giving his first major National Security address amid growing fallout over his charlottesville remarks. We would never allow any other president in the country to act and behave that this president has. It will be very difficult for this president to lead if, in fact, that moral Authority Remains