land in an empty airfield, you re probably not going hurt very many people. and its list less likely any of them are going to be anybody other than syrians. you start putting them on control centers or troop formations you re bound to hit people from iran and russia. i started my day reading your incredible reporting about what was today john bolton s first day. in a normal white house, the fact that he is such a controversial figure, not just in foreign policy, but in republican politics would have been one of our top stories. we re getting to it here near the end of the hour. but talk about what an extraordinary first day this must have been for john bolton and about maybe his first witnessing of the swerving policy that this president makes when it comes to russia and foreign policy as it pertains to russia. that s right, nicole. so john bolton pretty much built his whole entire career up to this very moment where he is going to be here at the white house. this is something he h
them are going to be anybody other than syrians. you start putting them on control centers or troop formations you re bound to hit people from iran and russia. i started my day reading your incredible reporting about what was today john bolton s first day. in a normal white house, the fact that he is such a controversial figure, not just in foreign policy, but in republican politics would have been one of our top stories. we re getting to it here near the end of the hour. but talk about what an extraordinary first day this must have been for john bolton and about maybe his first witnessing of the swerving policy that this president makes when it comes to russia and foreign policy as it pertains to russia. that s right, nicole. so john bolton pretty much built his whole entire career up to this very moment where he is going to be here at the white
always hard how to interpret, read the tea leaves from north korean state media. what we saw in those pictures was kim jong-un reviewing troop formations and talking to generals and he was looking over maps of the plans and threatened strike to launch four intermediate range ballistic missiles into the waters just off the u.s. island of guam. there were actual lines from north korea to guam. so, very provocative. and also very stage managed. he said, he also gave a little bit. he said that he was going to wait to see how the foolish yankees behaved and that he would wait to see how the foolish yankees behaved before he would ring the necks or ring the wind pipes of the foolish yankees. now, against, this is the rhetoric we have gotten used to hearing from kim jong-un and north korean state media. something to be said here. it sound like he might be waiting and giving the u.s. a
continue to decentralize and push down authority and rules of engagement to our commanders on the ground, kate. i mean, special forces have been operating in that area, even since the drawdown has occurred. and frankly, their rules of engagement are far too constricted, and we need to empower them more to do more in these rural areas, not drop more bombs. colonel, i think that s one thing that maybe is that s part of the debate. but one thing that might be lost on folks. why is it in your view a good thing to decentralize to hand that authority down to folks on the ground, if you will, for lack of a better term? where you might see sensible, some folks might see dangers. well, see, we have this preferred western way of warfare, kate, which is to drop big bombs and put large troop formations on the ground. but afghanistan, the area being exploited by isis and al qaeda, is an honor-based tribal culture. and getting out in those rural areas where 80% of the population live and the b
outpost. is this an admission that the current strategy isn t working? i think it s fair to say that it is. certainly president obama hinted at it when he said our problem is not lack of planes. our problem is lack of targets. and therefore we need more intelligence. and by intelligence, i think you can read having people on the ground. he s stopped short of sending troop formations to iraq and syria. so i don t call this quite the slippery slope that some might call it, but certainly it s an uptick in the fact that that ash carter said, look, we re at war, and led with the fact that they would be conducting some raids, i think, as an effort to prepare us all for the fact that there could well be some casualties. let me tap into your diplomatic experience here. it seems as if the united states has a focus and it s isis. the kurds have a focus and it s sois. i think the iraqis have a focus, and it s isis. turkey doesn t have this. russia doesn t have this. we re not quite sure wha