in afghanistan might be advisable. i am curious, then, how you then explain the apparent contradiction in the interview with george stephanopoulos? >> well, um, it's most interesting always when there is a -- a -- an apparent contradiction. what the reporting that bob costa and i did shows that in march of this year, not only secretary of defense austin but the secretary of state, tony blinken, went to europe and met with the leaders -- with the foreign ministers there and -- who were saying don't pull out completely. gait it or slow it down. and so, they both came back and made formal recommendations to president biden. slow it down or gait it. but then, they changed -- our reporting shows -- very