Michaelo Hanlin News Today

Doing here and elsewhere, so many parties to conflict and things evolve fast. if you are president trump and you have a million issues, probably temptation to say, i dont want anymore to do with the conflict, i sense that is where hes coming from. i think it is bad way to make policy, but i have sympathy. >> shepard: didnt go to pentagon in advance. jennifer reported they had no idea this was coming. >> right, new chairman of joint chief, mark milley, hasnt had time to settle in the position, he...

Northeastern syria. u.s. and top state department official says that is craziest thing hes ever heard because this is flat arid terrain, couldnt host millions of people. french ministry of foreign affairs says any unilateral action could have humanitarian consequences and would not bring about conditions necessary for safe and voluntary return of refugees to their area of origin and undermine the region. the german government and turkish government pulling for $27 million in aid to help in the p...

Baghdad, because its a shiite city, because of that, they believe that baghdad will hold and in reality that gives them some time. its a dire thought to imagine that only a third of the country has been taken over by isis and as long as baghdad holds, that gives us some time to decide on next steps. its amazing how the calculus has changed in just the last week, really. >> interesting indeed. iraq is spiraling toward all out war between shiites and sunnis. lets bring in retired lieutenant genera...

Over. 80% of the people are shias. i think isis will be stalled. the problem is the government of iraq is really on the brink of total collapse. we cant afford and i think michael would agree we cant afford to have a failed state of iraq. this is a rich country, an educated country and it cannot be a breeding ground for further terrorism. maliki has to be able to get some support so he can stop what looks like an inevitable collapse of his government. we have to have a robust conversation that t...

Essentially taken over and hes basically excommunicated and expelled any sunni whether they be fair minded or not in the process. as well as firing a lot of good sunni generals in the iraqi army. a lot of those steps have to be reversed or theres no hope of ever taking back that western third of the country. >> side -- spider marks, youve heard michaels comments about the politics in baghdad, that mali is -- maliki is a failed leader with no hope for redemption. you believe the military advances...

You could have a standoff or miscommunication that happens and ultimately wind up sparking some sort of military engagement. they want to make sure that everything that occurs there is handled quite carefully and they are watching those developments closely. senior administration officials tell you they feel as if they have the superior strength when it comes to military effort in the strait of hormuz and they think that sanctions are working. they do believe iran is more and more being boxed in...

Michael, flared fired today. what comes next? >> im not convinced were close to a naval engagement. if they could damage one of your ships, we would shot at them and then sink their navy. i think the more likely thing is these vary kind of embassy attacks. just creating unease around the world that will make countries skiddish about tightening sanctions. i might note thats not necessarily a fantastic place for us to put iran because it does increase the likelihood of lashing out. i dont agree wi...