news at this hour: america s top general has acknowledged that the taliban have strategic momentum in afghanistan. general mark milley said the afghan army was consolidating its forces and trying to make sure the militants didn t take control of any major population centres. but he said with the us withdrawal now 95% complete, the taliban control half the districts in the country. a significant amount of territory has been seized over the course of ten months by the taliban so momentum, strategic momentum appears to be with the telegram. smoke from the huge wildfires burning on the west coast of america has drifted all the way across the continent, to cast a haze over the east coast. officials in new york issued warnings for pregnant women and the elderly, due to the poor air quality, with cities as far apart as washington and toronto also affected.
of days. the entireity of the biden administration strategy was predicated on having the window of time to complete the military withdrawal. we didn t even get to the beginning of that withdrawal until the taliban were in the presidential palace. every stage, we underestimated the taliban, overestimated the afghan government and what we re seeing right now is the consequences of that failure to appreciate the magnitude of the situation. jillian: america s top general, general mark mille, he was on a phone call with senators yesterday. he said the terrorist threat could rise in the united states because of this. he said, quote, let s read it here, terrorist groups like al-qaida could reconstitute in afghanistan sooner than the two years defense officials previously estimated to congress because of the recent rapid taliban takeover in the country and congressman, we have no bases in the region, taliban took over bagram airfield. so without an intelligence presence there or a military pre
of staff in answering a question today saying, i want to understand white rage and i m white. here s our chief washington correspondent jonathan karl. reporter: america s top general today made an impassioned defense of the education that soldiers receive at west point, after republican congressmen accused the military academy of embracing divisive theories on race, citing one class in particular. a seminar that over 100 cadets attended titled, understanding whiteness and white rage , taught by a woman who described the republican party platform as a platform of white supremacy. this is going on at west point as we speak to our future military leaders. i do think it s important, actually, for those of us in uniform to be open-minded and be widely read. and the united states military academy is a university. and it is important that we train and we understand and i want to understand white rage and i m white. and i want to understand it.
in afghanistan. lindsey graham, republican senator, so worried about it, he says this is, quote, paving the way toward a second 9/11. then you have joseph dunford, general joseph dunford, america s top general, who just two weeks ago, gave this warning. leaving afghanistan not only would create instability in south asia, but in my judgment, would give terrorist groups the space within which to plan and conduct operations against the american people, the homeland, and our allies. wow. so now what? now what indeed. look, first of all, you should look out to see there are some thought that perhaps general dunford might follow secretary mattis out the door, and so that s one question, is whether he s even going to remain in the trump administration. he was excluded, according to reporting in the washington post yesterday, he was excluded from the decision-making meeting at which the president decided to abruptly leave syria. and again, you know, this is not just some process foul o
anna koran joins us now. we are also hearing from america s top general, anna. reporter: that s right. the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general joseph dunford is here in seoul. he is on his way to china now but met with the south korean president as well as officials of his government where he emphasized that this crisis needs to be resolved peacefully, through diplomatic and economic measures but if there is a provocation from the north that america, with its full capability, with its full capability, will return fire, will attack. he is saying that he has the military options needed for the president if there is a provocation from the north. he is also confident, john, that america can defend south korea, guam, hawaii and continental usa if there is any provocation from