Page 7 - Alex Marquart News Today

Senators put out a statement and said was a deal. now, senator manchin appears to be saying that those senators were not telling the truth. i dont know what -- they put out a statement, so obviously there is something wrong. if we do have a vote, then well vote it down and well continue the negotiations so that we can actually deliver the entirety of the presidents agenda. >> well keep on top of this story, of course. it is going to be a very busy day in washington. now, the u.s. defense secre...

Of the other conditions. alex marquart, cnn, washington. military officials from china and the u.s. held frank and in-depth discussions in annual talks between the two nations. the pentagon stresses it is part of the bidens efforts to maintain lines of communication with china and avoid competition between two nuclear powers. well, north koreas leader says hes willing to reopen communication lines with south korea. during his speech at the legislative assembly monday, kim jong-un condemned t...

>> general milley, i assume you agree with that in terms of 2,500? >> i do agree with that. >> top military advisers were against withdrawal 2,500 troops. >> that wasnt true. >> your military advisers didnt tell you we should keep 2,500 troops, its been a stable situation the last five years, we should do that? >> no, no one said that to me that i can recall. >> reporter: white house press secretary jen psaki said there were a range of viewpoints presented to biden and that keeping 2,500 troops ...

Countrys fall to the taliban. top pentagon brass did, however, contradict mr. biden on one critical strategic point. we get more on all of this from cnns alex marquart. >> reporter: good morning, laura and christine. the u.s. militarys most senior leadership in charge of the war in afghanistan faced tough questions from a senate committee. secretary of defense lloyd austin, chairman of joint chiefs of staff and frank mackenzie told senators the collapse of the afghan army and the afghan governme...

This just in. the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff defending conversations he had with china in the final months of the trump presidency. general mark milley telling the associated press the calls which were intended to assure china the united states was not planning an attack were, quote, perfectly within the duties and responsibilities of his job. >> cnn senior national security correspondent alex marquart joins us now. alex, ive been speaking to the pentagon as well. they make the point ...

Of defense on these specific parts of the book, but they have tried to cast these types of communication as standard practice. we have done some of our own reporting. we know from a senior former defense official that it was not just milley who was having these conversations. the former secretary of defense mark esper also reached out to the chinese through back channels to reassure them. and we have been told from a defense official that the calls that milley had werent just him one on one with...

Armed. they also know that because these events have the possibility of attracting far-right extremists, its not unreasonable to think that there might be bouts of violence which is why, jim, we have this fence here now at constitution and delaware, northeast, in washington, d.c. this is the sad reality that this is a familiar sight because of january 6. ill swing over here to the corner where there is also a security camera. as you point out, members of congress are not going to be here at the ...

Channelled with concern that president trump might stumble the country into war with those countries. part of a pattern. alex marquart, thanks very much. well, the u.s., united kingdom and australia announced an hiss hotoric pact. they will acquire eight submarines and encountering china in the region. >> cnn national security correspondent kylie atwood joins us from the state department. what is the response from the chinese government here? >> reporter: this is a hugely substantial new partn...

Bay, but this pretrial will continue today, primarily with this questioning over whether the judge should be the judge for this trial going forward, jim. >> well follow closely. alex marquart, thanks very much. in paris a group of alleged terrorists tied to the 2015 attacks there that left 130 people dead, they are finally in court. its the deadliest attack ever carried out on french soil. it was just alarming if you remember. now some 300 victims are set to testify over the next nine months i...

With osama bin lauden. they are charged with terrorism, conspiracy, attacking civilians and more. if convicted, all five could face the death penalty. cnns alex marquart joins us now. tell us how long this trial goes forward? when do we expect to hear decisions? >> reporter: well, this pretrial is continuing today after it started yesterday, jim. i think more than anything, it just drives home the fact you just touched on, that 20 years after these attacks that claimed almost 3,000 american live...