Transcripts For CNNW Wolf 20151015 : vimarsana.com

Endless war. And i have repeatedly argued against marching into open ended military conflicts that do not serve our core security interests. Yet given whats at stake in afghanistan, and the opportunity for a stable and committed ally that can partner with us in preventing future threats and the fact we have an international coalition, i am firmly convinced that we should make this extra effort. In the afghan government, we have a serious partner who wants our help and the majority of the Afghan People share our goals. We have a bilateral Security Agreement to guide our cooperation. And every single day, afghan fores are out there fighting and dying to protect their country. Theyre not looking for us to do it for them. All right, lets bring in our White House Correspondent michelle kosinski. Break down the president s new plan for u. S. Troops, the timetable, the cost to u. S. Tax payers. Yes, this is basically the same plan that has been in place, but this is the second time its been delayed. So as it stands now, according to the president , that same number about 9,800 troops will stay through most of next year. Then after that, its going to drop down to 5,500. Before some time after that, after the president leaves office it going down to just a basic force protecting the u. S. Embassy in kabul. So it was interesting to hear the president say there at the very end. He took a question which wasnt even expected. But to say this is not disappointing, that this is part of the mission that they always felt that they were going to be tweaked as needed, that the threat is still there, but that the Overall Mission is still working. Still, though, its really hard to see how this would not be disappointing to a president who promised to end these wars. Afghanistans been going on for 14 years now. And who ran on that. This is something he clearly wants for his legacy. That goes without saying really. And its just not going to happen. The administration really wanting to focus on the positive. Maybe not so much in the last several weeks have we heard them using such careful language to focus on the mission remaining, the Real Progress has been made by these forces that are there, the government is behind them, the government is asking for help. Not wanting to even say at the most basic level that this is disappointing, wolf. The announcement does follow the taliban victory last month capturing the afghan city of kunduz, a city of 300,000, the fifth largest city in afghanistan, major parts of that victory for the taliban have now been reversed. But the administration is insisting that their new strategy is not simply the result of that city falling, right . Right, yes, theyre saying they were looking at the overall picture, really weighing a range of options and looking at the extend of the threat. They still want to focus on core al qaeda being decimated in that country, the progress that has been made. Really wants to compare it to the way it was back when this all started and the changes that have been made there. But what a reality check kunduz was. For the taliban to take it over, hold it for a couple of weeks and then finally Afghan Security forces with the u. S. Help was able to take it back. Obviously the administration wants to focus on the encouraging elements of the afghans being able to take it back. Afghan troop readiness has been an issue for so many years, wolf. These questions have been around forever. I remember being there in 2011, watching u. S. Trainers work with these troops. That was back when the u. S. Was just going to hand over individual bases in a kind of cascading way across the country. And then to a person these u. S. Trainers we talked to were saying, look, theyre just not ready. It takes a lot longer than originally planned to get them up and running. First of all, most of them were illiterate. You had to teach them how to read and count before you could train them to fight. Did the president say or other u. S. Officials say how much this is going to cost u. S. Taxpayers, keeping 10,000 troops there next year, 5, 500 troops the following year . Right, 14 billion a year to keep them there. The administration emphasizing this is key to u. S. National security interests, wolf. 14. 6 llion, on top of the hundreds of billions the u. S. Has already spent in this, the longest war in u. S. History, 14 years and counting right now. All right, michelle, thanks very much. Lets get some analysis on whats going upon joining us, our Senior International correspondent nick paton walsh. Joining us from istanbul turkey. And our analyst paul bergen. Youve been there recently. Youre encouraged, i take it, by what youve heard from the president . Yes, it is a slight grasp of reality. The timetable has really been down to obamas own electoral cycle. He saw it was a war in trouble. Put the surge in place. That was tailored off to get him really able to keep the idea that afghanistan was winding down, to get himself into a second term. And the second term was about pulling most of the rest of the troops out. Clearly that isnt going to happen here. It is a reflection of the reality. It goes against the narrative us as reporters in kabul were forced to swallow on a daily basis, that the Afghan Security forces are ready, violence is on the decrease, the taliban were losing out to consistent night raids against them. It clearly didnt have the longterm effect. Its obvious, really, the Afghan National Security Forces werent able to continue the job. Its now admitted by barack obama there still needs to get better. The slight tweaking of the timetable. Always felt the sloping off down to an embassy presence by 2017 or 2016 was much faster really than you could possibly consider to be ideal for the security situation on the ground. But it coincided with the end of his second term. Now were looking at him keeping the same number pretty much until his successor comes into place. The ground in afghanistan has been changing so fast. Taliban, yes, in resurgence. But theyre fractured. They just admitted their leader was dead. Now mosul has managed to get some currency by that victory in kunduz. Taliban, theyre increasingly prevalence in the eefts of the country. The president , who obama spoke so warmly about then, yes, much more affable to the west, ashraf ghani. Hes sharing power with abdullah abdullah, another westernfriendly face. Theres still the disputed results of the election. Its not easy, life in kabul. Still, there will be 10,000 troops to try to keep the taliban at bay. Let me bring in peter bergen. As you know, hundreds of billions of u. S. Taxpayer dollars already spent over these past 14 years in afghanistan. Those afghani troops were supposed to be trained and ready to go a long time ago. Theyre still not ready, as the president acknowledged. Explain to the American People why you believe spending another 15 billion a year to maintain that u. S. Troop presence in afghanistan is money well spent. Well, wolf, in the course of a morning, the morning of september 11th, 2001, the United States was attacked, and we lost 500 billion, the american economy, and of course 3,000 people. Obviously, we dont want to see that replay. As nick said, you know, were seeing isis establishing himself in eastern afghanistan and we are seeing, you know, there was simply no reason for us to repeat the experiment we already ran in iraq. Where an incompetent iraqi government, incompetent Iraqi Security services and a total american absence helped precipitate the rise of isis there. And since were already seeing isis in afghanistan, i mean, it really i dont think its a very difficult decision to make to say, hey, we need to make sure that we maintain the afghan Armed Services. Given afghans confidence, saying were going to leave. The big difference here with iraq is that afghans overwhelmingly want u. S. Forces to stay. They have extraordinarily high levels of support for the afghan Armed Services in contrast to iraq. So the situation is quite different. And yet we do want to be, you know, the United States and its allies cannot tolerate the potential of it being p reverting to a failed to state and al qaeda or isis gaining a strong foothold there again. Phil, i want you to listen to what the president had to say about the u. S. Military involvement in afghanistan. This is back, what, in may of 2014. This is what he said then. Starting next year, afghans will be fully responsible for securing their country. American personnel will be in an advisory role. We willi no longer patrol afgha cities or towns, mountains or valleys. That is a task for the Afghan People. Its clear, though, the Afghan Military, the afghan police, even at this point, 14 years into this war, phil, they are not ready to be fully responsible for securing their country. Thats right. I think we should draw a simple parallel there. The question is, its much easier for a president to maintain forces there than to withdraw them and reinsert them. Lets think about iraq for a moment. We had a rapid withdrawal of u. S. Forces. We had a military that was not capable of blunting an insurgen insurgency, an isis insurgency. We had a president who had to reverse course, a lot of political capital, and say were reinserting American Forces to train and advise the iraqi military. Think of the parallel. The white house had to sit there and say, do we take a legacy move, to say were going to maintain forces, as the president said today, or do we withdraw forces quickly and face the prospect that the next president , the successor to president obama, has to reinsert them when we realize the taliban is going to defeat the Afghan Military . We cant afford to have the taliban roll through these provinces in northern afghanistan. The u. N. Issued a report this month, not a year ago, two years ago. They found out the taliban is now in more parts of afghanistan than in any point going back to 2001, october 2001, right after 9 11, thats when the u. S. Went into afghanistan, and now the taliban, theyre targeting urban areas just as much as villaging out there. Why is the taliban so successful now in afghanistan . Maybe even more successful than its been over 14 years . Well, i mean, the international troop presence is, you know, pretty much at an alltime low. Its not just u. S. Troops that have drawn down to a much lower level. Its our nato allies as well. So were not talking about, you know, that, you know, some sort of the taliban has taken lets put it in perspective. In the last 14 years, the taliban has taken one city for two weeks. This is not like isis taking mosul, the second largest city in iraq, or taking fallujah or ramadi or any other big iraqi cities. Yes, theyve had one battlefield success, certainly not to be discounted. But the last 14 years have not been that militarily successful for the taliban writ large. Why did the u. N. In its new report say taliban is in more parts in afghanistan than at any point going back to 2001 . Im sure thats true. The u. N. Has a good record of these kinds of assessments. Being in a lot of places doesnt mean you control large cities or towns. Im just trying to create a little bit of perspective here compared to iraq, wolf, which is that the taliban has presence in plenty of rural parts of afghanistan. Unfortunately, so now does isis in some parts. This is all not an argument for saying, hey, we should just withdraw, its an argument for saying we should stay for as long as necessary to make sure isis and other of their allies do not come back. Peter, thanks very much. Phil mudd, appreciate it very much. Were going to have more on this developing story coming up this hour. Ill speak live with senator rand paul. Hes been very critical of the role of u. S. Troops in afghanistan. Hes standing by live. Ill also ask him what he thinks about the president s new strategy. Well get into some other political issues. His recent comments on gay right also in the workplace. His efforts to become the republican president ial nominee. More coming up this hour with senator rand paul. Also, a surge of violence has israel on edge right now. So much so, the government is even asking legally armed citizens to play a bigger part. Whats going on . Well explain. 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Just a little while ago, the israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the security crisis in his country. It comes on the heels of some horrific attacks in jerusalem and elsewhere over the past week. The only way that we can fight this big lie, all the other lies that are hurled at israel and spread in the palestinian social network and from there to the world is to tell the truth. This is what we will do today. We expect all our friends and anyone concerned with the facts and the truth, to look at these facts, to see the truth and not to draw false symmetry between Israeli Citizens and those who would stab them and knife them to death. Netanyahus government is encouraging legally armed civilians to play a greater part in keep the streets safe after a surge in violence. Police and soldiers have tightened security after repeated stabbings and other attacks. Our International Correspondent phil black is in jerusalem. Hes joining us live right now. Phil, theres apparently no new attacks today, but whats the mood there in jerusalem . No new attacks, wolf, but a great deal of tension, really, a very significant security presence on the streets of jerusalem. Israelis openly talking about the fear that they feel here at the moment. A couple of incidents which i think show just how tense things are here at the moment. On a train to haifa, the Northern City there, a woman thought she saw a suspiciouslooking man, shouted terrorist. In the chaos that follow, the brakes were applied, a Police Officer discharged his weapon. A search of the train found there was no threat. Similar, around tel aviv, a car, supposedly a suspicious car, was chased, blocked off using roadblocks and a helicopter and two palestinian youths taken into custody before being released. Once their suspicion was eventually cleared as well. You mentioned the fact that legal weapons owners in this country are being encouraged to carry their weapons here. It is all a sign of just how tense, how scared people are. And how difficult it is to police and secure the streets against the sorts of attacks weve been seeing here. Young men, sometimes teenagers, sudd suddenly, without warning, attacking with knives and cleavers innocent people on the streets. It is a Real Security challenge. And that is why things remain very tense here in jerusalem tonight, wolf. All right, be careful over there, phil, well stay in close touch with you. Thank you very much. Just ahead, senator rand pauls president ial campaign has a message for those naysayers out there who are not quitting. What about the pressure . Ing sagging poll numbers, a whole lot more. Heres a little healthy advice. Eat well, live well, and take of what makes you, you. Right down to your skin with aveeno® aveeno® daily moisturizing lotion with the goodness of active naturals® oat and 5 vital nutrients for healthier looking skin in just one day. Healthy skin equals beautiful skin. And for shower softness, add the body wash, too aveeno® naturally beautiful results® senator rand pauls run for the white house, a focus of a lot of speculation. The republican senator from kentucky says hes in this race to stay. Senator paul is joining us here live. Thanks very much for coming. Thanks for having me. Well talk politics in a few moments. Lets get your reaction to the president s decision today, reversal earlier, all u. S. Troops basically were going to be out of afghanistan by the end of next year. He says 10,000 will remain next year, 5,500 the year after. Its going to wind up costing u. S. Taxpayers 15 billion a year to keep those troops there. Good idea, bad idea . I think its a mistake. Its also not what our Founding Fathers intended. Our Founding Fathers intended when we were to go to war, congress would debate this and this would be approved or disapproved by congress. I dont know what our mission is. I would have voted for the original mission to go after those who attacked us on 9 11. We have bin laden. We have the people who attacked us. What are our mission . To build a nation . Frankly, im not for having our military stay indefinitely to build a nation. Presumably to make sure the taliban or isis in this particular case dont take over afghanistan from which they could build terrorist plots to do what they did on 9 11. Why dont the local people defend themselves against the taliban . Theyre obviously not yet capable. So the u. S. Is being asked to stay there and train them and equip them. How long . Its been a decade. Its been 14 years. More than a decade. Weve spent more in afghanistan using equivalent dollars than we did in the marshal plan. How much plan and how much money is it going to take . I think people will not stand up and defend themselves until theyre asked to. The people who live in afghanistan should stand up and say do you want to let the taliban, these thugs, run you over . Are you willing to fight . I think they would fight. We can aid them but i dont think we need troops there. You would get out right away . Yeah, i dont think we need to be in afghanistan. Immediately . Yes. Other controversy, Hillary Clinton criticizing your comments about samesex rights in the workplace. You were asked if lgbt employees should be allowed to sue if they were fired over their Sexual Orientation and you said, i think really the things you do in your house, if you could just leave those in your house and it wouldnt have to be part of the workplace, to tell you the truth. Then you said, i think society is rapidly changing. If you are gay, there are plenty of places that will hire you. The criticism is that youre preventing these people from going to court, if you will, if they are fired or terminated or exploited because of their Sexual Orientation. I dont think anybody should be fired for being gay. I do also, though, believe your personal life should be personal and shouldnt affect anyone firing you. I dont think the decision whether to hire or fire you should be based on things from your personal life. When say it should remain in your house, yeah, i dont think it should be part of the Decision Making of the business. I might have been able to word it better but i dont think it should enter into the decision at all. The implication is lets say youre gay and the employees dont like the fact youre gay so they fire you. Should that employee be allowed to go to court and sue . If youre an excellent employee, you havent done anything wrong. Shouldnt that employee have a right to go to court . I dont think anybody should be fired for being gay and i dont think their personal lives should enter into whether we hire or fire anyone. Whether or not that should be a federal law, i think these things should be decided at the state level. When our country was founded, we said that most criminal justice and most civil action would be performed at the local level. The federal government didnt have anything to do with it. I dont think the federal government should weigh in on things like this. Should be decided state by state. I do worry about a workplace, though, where every sort of classification, a person then becomes something where, oh, i lost my job, maybe ill see because i also happen to be gay. If you could prove its because the employee its always a he said she said. Nobody puts signs up saying that. What im saying is i think it should not enter into the workplace. In the sense you shouldnt be hired or fired because youre gay. Lets talk a little about your quest to become the republican president ial nomine. Is the money drying up . The interesting thing is weve raised about 20 million between us and our superpacs. Thats not an insignificant how much is the superpac . I dont know the exact number, i think its 14 and 6. 14 for the superpac . 14 for us and 6 for the superpac. Thats an approximate. I dont think all reports have come out. I do think raising 20 million is not an insignificant amount of money. We have about 150,000. This is not a significant movement. We have 600 precinct chairman. We get annoyed when they say, only raised 2 1 2, why is he in the races . Really, have 150,000. We also have something significant to add. Everybodys talking about iraq, i think its the worlds dumbest idea and the recipe for disaster and recipe for war. If im not in the race, that voice doesnt get heard. A lot of americans are with me and think we need a more prudent Foreign Policy and would prefer to not have another war. The president doesnt support a nofly zone. Youre with Bernie Sanders at the same time. Does that make you feel uncomfortable . Im a fiscal conservative. I think you can be a fiscal conservative and also one who thinks less intervention is a good idea. Im against the president in the sense that the president and Hillary Clinton have wanted to be involved in that civil war from the begin. I stood up to the president and said i dont want to bomb assad because i think that will make isis stronger. I stood up against the president and Hillary Clinton and said i dont want to send arms in there to fight against assad because that might create a space for radical islam. Sure enough, thats what happened. I wouldnt say as simple as me supporting them, but on the nofly zone, right now, russia has been inviteded by syria and by iraq to fly over their countries. They currently are flying over there. If you create a nofly zone in the space where russias already flying, youre essentially saying were going to shoot down russian aircraft. This is something we spent 70 years trying to avoid, was an altercation with russia. So its a big mistake, a very naive approach. On the cash issue, the money you have, how much cash on hand do you have now . 2 million on hand. And even if we raise not a penny more, wed have enough. We continue to raise money. Its gone up some since the last debate as well. There is a movement out there. In fact, when you poll me against Hillary Clinton, we lead her among independents in five of the battleground states. Really, we think among the republicans, we have a better chance of beating Hillary Clinton than any other to beat Hillary Clinton, you have to first get the republican nomination. Let me put some numbers up. Our new polls in nevada, south carolina. These are among the first four contests in the country. Right now, in nevada, youre at 2 . In is being is youre at 4 . Youre not doing much better in iowa or new hampshire. The first two contests. Whats going on . The interesting thing about the polls is sometimes they have about 200 people polled. The standard of error this is a cnn orc poll. Seeing that its the gold standard. Its siconsistent with other mainstream polls. Most of the polling have a plus or minus, 4 or 5 standard points of error. Which means could be my 5 is 10 or it could be 0 even according to what the pollsters are saying. When you look at all these polls, the first question they ask is are you decided. Then they ask you, well, who would you vote for it you had to . This is a vote or a poll of undecide people. Thats why its very fluid. It wont wind up this way. These people, these are registered republicans or people leaning republican. We dont ask, you know, democrats i know, but the people in the poll will also tell you theyre not firmly decided yet. Theyre leaning. Theyll ask you, who would you support . So really is a poll of largely undecided people. I do think its going to shift. Come january, we will be right in the mix and there will be four or five people that can possibly win iowa and i predict you wont know until late in the evening who wins iowa. I know the next Republican Debate is a couple of weeks or so, a cnbc debate. Theyll have two tiers. One start at 6 00 p. M. , one at 8 00 p. M. If youre not at 3 or so nationally in the national polls, youll go in the second tier. If they put you in the second tier, will you participate . Weve already seen the numbers and we know well be in the first tier. Theyve already told you . Theres only one or two polls left and were averaging well above the cutoff. The cutoff is 3 . I think its 3 and were way above the cutoff. Mathematically, i dont think theres a way we could go below 3. Our poll numbers seem to be ticking up. And as more people see that im the only voice really for not going back to war in iraq on the republican side, there are republicans who dont think war should be the first resort and are somewhat reticent to go back to iraq. So youre in it at least for now, right . For the long haul. Weve planned and organized in all 50 states. I wouldnt waste trying to get mooi message out. You dont think its going to hurt getting reelected . So far, no ones running against me. So its hard to think im struggling when no ones running against me yet. I still spend a lot of time in kentucky, thats where i live, in kentucky, in bowling green. I spend a lot of time doing my job as a u. S. Senator. I hope the people in kentucky will see im trying to give kentucky a bigger voice in the country. I know you sometimes do some medical work as well, volunteer. I know you were just in haiti and other places, took some time off to do that, which is obviously very important. Senator, thanks very much for coming in. Thanks for having me. Up next, russia flexing its military muscles in syria right now, but are there controversial maneuvers also giving the west a gift . A glimpse into the new russian weaponry. But thats just between you and me. Its really cool to the touch. At mattress firm, get zero percent apr financing. Visit mattress firm, americas number one tempurpedic retailer today. To build something smarter. Some come here to build something stronger. Others come to build something faster. Something safer. Something greener. Something the whole world can share. People come to boeing to do many different things. But its always about the very thing we do best. I can offer you no interest sittifor 24 months. Oday but its always about the very thing we do best. Thanks to the tools and help at experian. Com, i know i have an 812 fico score, so i definitely qualify. So what else can you give me . Same day delivery. The ottoman . Thank you. Fico scores are used in 90 of credit decisions. 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Russias continuing its aerial assault in syria with 32 reported air strikes and a range of targets in just the past 24 hours. Right now the russian president Vladimir Putin is taking aim, though, at the United States, for its refusal to sit down for direct talks over a possible solution in syria. A solution that includes a military and diplomat appointment. What is the u. S. Position, has there been any progress in these preliminary talks with the russians over syria . Purely over the issue of decon flexion in the skies. We do have word of positive progress. You have a lot of aircraft in that airspace. U. S. Led Coalition Jets. Now russian warplanes very active. In fact, more active than those u. S. Led Coalition Jets. They need to avoid dangerous conflicts in the sky. Where they dont have any progress is on the larger issue of a political settlement. Its of the belief that russian priority is propping up the regime of syrias assad. While the u. S. May not want him to fall immediately, they dont see him as part of the solution, they see him as part of the problem. Thats an issue where they have yet to find common ground. As you know, the russians are using a lot of newly developed military hardware in syria right now. Is the syria operation an opportunity for the u. S. To actually see what russia has in its arsenal . It is. Its been sobering. This is the first major russian Operation Overseas really since the invasion of afghanistan in 1979. And youre seeing some new tools. The fruits of billions of dollars invested in their military in recent years by Vladimir Putin. The su34, a warplane that the u. S. Calls the fullback. The sukoi34, operating, as many strikes a day as u. S. Led Coalition Jets are carrying out in about a month. You have a new russian Cruise Missile fired from 900 miles away, from some analyst estimates, more capable than u. S. Cruise missiles. Beyond that, a coordinated largescale deployment, far from its shores. That is an opportunity. And its also a sign of russias willingness to carry out and to use some of those military assetses to, you know, far from its shores. Its something the u. S. And people certainly in this building watching very closely. Theyre not just using those military assets occasionally, theyre pounding and pounding and pounding. The number of air strikes on a daily basis, huge. A lot more than what the u. S. And its Coalition Partners have been doing in this, over the syrian skies. Thats right. As much in a day as youre seeing in an average month from the u. S. Led coalition. Its a show of force. And also probably under different rules of engagement. You know the concern that u. S. And Coalition Forces take to avoid civilian casualties. Its the criticism from this building that russia certainly doesnt take the same concern. You havent heard reports of civilian casualties on the ground. The biggest criticism is the u. S. Does not believe these strikes are really going after isis, they believe theyre going after anyone who threatens the forces of Bashar Al Assad because of real concern from russia, from iran, that he was teetering on the brink of collapse. Jim sciutto at the pentagon for us, thank you. Up next, were going to catch up with Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail as her camp lashes out at the congressional Benghazi Select Committee after yet another republican admits Hillary Clinton was personally targeted by the republicans on the panel. Stay with us. With my moderate to severe ulcerative colitis, the possibility of a flare was almost always on my mind. Thinking about what to avoid, where to go. And how to deal with my uc. To me, that was normal. Until i talked to my doctor. She told me that humira helps people like me get uc under control and keep it under control when certain medications havent worked well enough. 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Tell your doctor if youve been someplace where fungal infections are common, or if youre prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or if you have persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. Dont start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. Joint pain and damage. Can go side by side. Ask how enbrel can help relieve joint pain and help stop joint damage. Enbrel, the number one rheumatologistprescribed biologic. Lets get to politics. Here in the United States, another republican congressman saying the House Select Committee on benghazi was designed to target Hillary Clinton. Congressman hanna, of new york, is the second republican lawmaker to link the panel to partisan politics directly aimed at hurting secretary clinton. Representative hanna not a member of that select Benghazi Committee but heres what he told a new york radio station. I think that there is a big part of this investigation that was designed to go after people and an individual, Hillary Clinton. I think theres also a lot of it thats important that we needed to get to the bottom of this. But this has been the longest investigation, longer than watergate. Hillary Clintons Campaign says the congressmans comment is yet further proof the Benghazi Committee is, in their words, a partisan fars. Farce. Right now, shes campaigning in san antonio, texas. Shes trying to build on the momentum from her Strong Performance at tuesday nights cnn democratic president ial debate. Our National Political reporter is traveling with the secretary. Shes at san antonio, at a rally right now. Quick to seize on these remarks by representative hanna. How is the campaign specifically responding . As you mentioned, they have long described this as a partisan farce. This morning, they came out and said this investigation has zero credibility. This is obviously galvanizing her supporters. We talked to a lot of voters here in san antonio this morning before her event. Basically, this is a partisan witchhunt that is only helping to excite people about Hillary Clinton around the country. She gave her assessment of this weeks democratic debate. What did she say . Well, whats so fascinating shes here talking about immigration issues, getting her latino voters excited here. She started in south texas as an organizer talking about some of that history. But she used this event here to contrast the rhetoric of the democrats with the rhetoric of the republicans like donald trump, who she called the flamboyant front runner. They have had paranoia threaded through his remarks thats its really been hurting the republican side and hillary is trying to reach out to latinos and its clearly going to hurt the republicans as donald trump is making news remarks throughout. I think we have a clip from Hillary Clinton. I want to play it, if we can cue that up. Lets listen. You could see those two long Republican Debates and when they werent insulting each other or some other person or group of people, they were not talking about the issues that are confronting our families or that are our nation faces. So i was proud to be on that stage with democrats who are focused on dealing with everything from how were going to raise incomes, how were going to make. The wealthy pay their fair share, how were going to make college affordable. All of the issues that we were talking about. So i came out of it very pleased that the country had a chance to hear an alternative to the prejudice and paranoia that were hearing from the other side led by their flamboyant front runner. Flamboyant runner, that would be donald trump. Standby, i want to go to the pentagon, the defense secretary ash carter is speaking out answering questions about the latest u. S. Decision to keep u. S. Troops in afghanistan. Our top military leaders, National Security team, nato allies and the government of afghanistan, the president announced his decision to maintain our current force posture of 9,800 troops through most of next year. By january 2017, u. S. Forces will draw down to 5,500 troops. And they will be deployed at several locations around afghanistan including kabul, kandahar and ji lal bad in support of two enduring missions opinion our counterterrorism effort and support to the Afghan Security forces. Were adjusting our presence based on conditions on the ground to give the United States and our allies the capability to sustain a robust counterterrorism platform, denying a safe haven for terrorist organizations. This will keep americans safer back home. These changing take into account the progress of Afghan Forces and the partnership we have form ed with the president. Afghan forces have proven thmss to be capable and resilient fighters who are able to provide security for afghanistan. They have performed admirably this fighting season, the first for which the responsibility to fight the taliban has fallen squarely on their shoulders. But taliban advances underscore the reality that this and remains a difficult fight. We understand they still need assistance and were working closely with the National Defense and Security Forces and ministries to ensure that they are prepared to protect the Afghan People and set iting the conditions for stability in this vital region. This extends, by the way, beyond our u. S. Military presence and includes financial. The u. S. Militarys presence and financial sustainment will enable the Afghan Security forces to continue their development as anned a jiel and forces capable of meeting Security Forces and partnering with terrorist exploitation of the region. It sends a strong message to the International Community that the United States is committed to afghanistan and intent on fostering stability over the longterm. We anticipate that the u. S. Commitment will in turn garner the coalition that u. S. Forces have operated with. We are securing their continued support for this mission. Over time, we will reduce our footprint in afghanistan but not our commitment to the country and its people. Back in march during his First Official visit to the u. S. , president gauny came to the pentagon and did something important to all of us here. He said thank you to the men and women of the forces that they have made over the last 14 years. He he visited Arlington National cemetery to remember the fallen. It was an important message. Today we deliver our own message to the Afghan People. Were with you. We support you. And were not going to give up the gains we fought so hard to achieve. Thank you and now ill take some questions. Mr. Secretary, what do you say to critic who is suggest that the 5,500 level isnt enough to do both the Counterterrorism Mission and the training and advise mission. Do you see that number as an enduring longterm troop level for some years to come after that . We do look at enough. We do a lot of homework on this and its the reason for that number of troop level, but also the locations that is important and i want to make sure we. Keep track of the funding, which is vitally important. Those are the ingredients of continuing to prosecute the mission in a way that can be successful. So that is what we judged, myself and chairman. To the second part of your question, which was is it going to be 5,500 forever. That is our best estimate now of what we should plan for in our planning for and budgeting for for 2017. I think that in the future, these will be decisions that a future president will take in that timeframe and ill presume well make judgments the way president obama has, namely to take into account circumstances as they pertained at the time and make whatever adjustments seem necessary at the time. This was our advice to the president for what would be sufficient and good basis for planning for 2017. The president today talked about the end of the u. S. Combat mission in afghanistan. Does that mean the that the u. S. Military will no longer provide combat support to the Afghan Forces, such as the airstrikes in kunduz a few weeks ago . Its not a part of the mission on a daytoday basis to engage in combat. Our mission on a daytoday basis is, and will continue to be, first of all, Counterterrorism Operations such as, for example, the one we conducted with the afghans just a week ago, which was very successful in destroying a major part of the remaining al qaeda presence in afghanistan. That kind of thing. And secondly, the train, advise and assist part of the mission. The commander does retain the authority to use u. S. Forces for, first of all, force protection and succeedly, in extremist support to Afghan Security forces. Both of those things. Now you asked about kunduz and just to remind you there, we dont know yet everything that happened there. General campbell as knowledged that a mistake was made. I have ordered him to conduct and he is committed to conduct and im sure he will a full and transparent investigation. The answer to your question is has ended and our mission now. Have you personally seen the video from that airstrike or either heard or read transcripts of any cockpit audio recordings. I have gotten periodic records, but im waiting for the full investigation. This is a situation we need to put all the facts together and make sure that every participant has an tournament tor interview. Youre talking about one particular kind of data, but theres other data as well. And make sure we have the full story. Im going to want the full story because. I think we have promised the world that we would give the facts when we have the facts