by the way, i d be happier if there were 35,000 airmen, intelligence special ops there, not 8,000. so i think basically we don t want an implosion with millions of refugees fleeing into afghanistan and iran. we don t want to return to the safe havens. there was not a lot new last night, but there was a tone of pragmatism to what he had to say. lit null and pakistan putting the arm on them, a little tricky bringing india into the equation. i don t think, by the way, pakistan has ever been the central problem in afghanistan, notwithstanding safe haven. so we ll see. i think it was a solid notion of how to move forward. since he brought up pakistan,ly bring that up because the president did call out pakistan last night saying we can no longer be about, you know be quiet as pakistan is a safe haven for terrorist
their salaries are capped at $160,000 a year, evan. 42 people are being protected now total, 18 of them trump family members. but arguably this is what a lot of republicans say this is the same problem we ve had under every administration. is that so? this is, but it is magnified some. i know a lot of republicans criticize president obama for the trips he and his family took and said oh it s cost this much and that much. but i believe usually very inflated figure, by the way. and i believe that we should not be criticizing president trump on this at all. the safety of him and his family is paramount to the nation. you may not like him as president but it s important that we never have any sort of tragedy because that would just be an absolute catastrophe for us, and you don t want a president having something happen to a member of their family that could xomp mize their ability to lead the nation at a key and critical time. evan, caitlyn, great having both of you. up mex,
that rally up in charlottesville so, when he said that you just told me you don t agree with that, did those words offend you? the president and i were very clear last weekend in the wake of the terribly tragic events in charlottesville that we denounce bigotry and hatred and violence in all its forms. he said there were fine people on both sides of that rally. the president specifically denounced white supremacists, neo-nazis, and the kkk repeatedly. caitlyn, do we overestimate the impact this has had? even though you see the majority of americans disapprove of the way he handled the aftermath of the violence, most republicans approve of it. has he hit rock bottom? is the only way for him go up? and maybe last night was the start of it. republican senators as we saw were did not agree with that statement that mike pence just said. they did not see that trump handled this situation well. i think that judging from the
mind, i guess maybe it s not a surprise he decided to say what he said last night. is not revealing a plan in your mind a strategy? look, you know, we no re in bad situation in afghanistan. the last couple years have been a steady erosion of the position. the central government s corrupt and incompetent. the governors are out of control. the taliban now control half the country i think last night was realism in action. mr. trump may have read the speech, but he had to approve secretary mattis, tillerson, h.r. and others putting tot a plan to avoid a disaster. so i think that s what we heard. 4,000 troops, that s all on the margin. is this a plan to avoid disaer or a plan to win? plan to avoid disaster. i think general nixon on the ground there s a tremendous amount of experience, by the way, in d.c. if you know, chris, in understanding this problem. they did get left with a mess.
broader political engagement with pakistan, india, and others. so, you know, i think we ought to applaud that he s avoided a disastrous move, and this sounds like common sense coming out of mattis, tillerson, h.r. and others. i think it was a pretty good show last night. but pretty conventional as well? oh, yeah. look, you know, by the way, putting advisers at battalion level is a very risky business. i used to tell people i was wounded twice as a battalion level adviser in vietnam so, we re going to have a very thin screen of u.s. troops out there on the ground bringing in airpower, medevac, okay, but this is risky business for those soldiers and marines in afghanistan. general, always great to have your expertise. nayyera, will, thank to you as well. up next, president trump going against his instinct,