Trump Lays Out Afghanistan Plan with Few Details; Trump to Visit Border, Rally Base in Phoenix; Trump Denounces Hate, Bigotry In Prime-Time Speech; Trump Unveils New Plan For Afghanistan War.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: -- bomb shelter, yes? Are they there?</s>ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: It was so underwhelming, I guess they could have left the house yesterday afternoon at some point. They're indoors.</s>CUOMO: Alisyn says I'm going to keep my kids inside.</s>CAMEROTA: Yes, like their mom.</s>CUOMO: J.B. was out there staring up at the son like a man.</s>JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, my only mistake was I wore 15 in my eyes, and it turns out that wasn't the way to go. You need at least SPF 30. All right. Chris --</s>CAMEROTA: But, John --</s>BERMAN: Yes.</s>CAMEROTA: -- that was a great moment with Bonnie Tyler where you were at the concert with the lighter.</s>CUOMO: Yes. One of your favorite songs too.</s>BERMAN: It was an --</s>CUOMO: I've heard you sing it many times.</s>BERMAN: It was an important moment. Thank you all for sharing it with me and with the country. Chris, Alisyn, have a great day. We got a lot of news. Let's get to it. All right. Good morning, everyone. John Berman here. The President's speech on Afghanistan was either a clear display of leadership, a complete flip-flop, a bold new strategy, the same old strategy, maybe not even a strategy. It has been called all of those things by friends and foes, sometimes both. What everyone can agree on is the scripted speech might just be a preview for what could be an unscripted, controversial political rally in Arizona tonight. With the nation still raw over the response to the displays of hate in Charlottesville, what could possibly go wrong? More on that in just a moment. First, the nation's longest war getting still longer. The President revealed his plans while revealing few details.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will not talk about numbers of troops or our plans for further military activities. Conditions on the ground, not arbitrary timetables, will guide our strategy from now on.</s>BERMAN: All right. A big day for the administration. We have CNN's Ryan Browne at the Pentagon, Athena Jones at the white house. Ryan, first, to you, what the White House is calling a new afghan strategy. The details, please.</s>RYAN BROWNE, CNN PENTAGON REPORTER: Well, John, the details are still a little bit sparse at this moment. Now, some of the broader outlines were made clear. One, no timeline. That's very much a big departure from the Obama administration. When President Obama announced his surge of troops, there was a very strict timetable attached to that. Some critics said that that encouraged the Taliban to wait it out. President Trump making it clear that there will be no timetables attached to this strategy. Another element of this will be kind of removing some of the restrictions on targeting that have been put during the late period of the Obama administration, allowing the military to target ISIS, al Qaeda, and Taliban elements in Afghanistan. Additional trainers, perhaps. We don't know the number, but we believe that some additional trainers will be sent to Afghanistan to help train local Afghan troops. And all of this kind of also working to put pressure on Pakistan. The no timetable element, they think, will potentially pressure Pakistan. Something the military has long sought to kind of curb some of these al Qaeda and Taliban safe havens in that border area, the Haqqani network mostly. So, again, these are some of the broader elements of this strategy that were outlined yesterday. Last night, President Trump kind of, you know, listening to his military commanders. A lot of these recommendations have been sought for the military some time, and it differed a lot from what candidate and citizen Trump had talked about when he talked about Afghanistan. And he acknowledged this change of heart as much in his speech last night.</s>TRUMP: My original instinct was to pull out. And historically, I like following my instincts. But all my life, I've heard that decisions are much different when you sit behind the desk in the Oval Office. In other words, when you're President of the United States. However, our commitment is not unlimited and our support is not a blank check.</s>BROWNE: So President Trump clearly listening to Secretary Mattis, H.R. McMaster, his other military advisers, with regards to Afghanistan, giving them the chance to pursue a more engaged strategy in the months and years ahead -- John.</s>BERMAN: All right. Ryan Browne for us at the Pentagon. Thanks so much. Later this morning, the President travels to Arizona for a political rally. The big question, can the president extend his streak of political discipline to two whole days? Athena Jones at the White House. Athena, obviously, the President's been sort of stirring that Arizona pot hard for a while.</s>ATHENA JONES, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, John. He has. If past is prologue, we're unlikely to see that scripted version of President Trump that we saw last night. He's likely to return to his usual characteristic unscripted, freewheeling, combative style at this rally. We know he loves these rallies before his supporters. One question is whether we'll hear any of the kinds of lines we heard at the beginning of that speech last night where he was focused on unity. But as you mentioned, it's not surprising to see Democrats, like members of Congress or Phoenix's Democratic mayor, criticize the President for deciding to hold a campaign rally, they worry, will be divisive. What's more interesting is that Arizona's Republican governor is also skipping tonight's rally. He is going to greet the President on the tarmac when he arrives in Arizona, but he won't be there tonight. And this is also a time when the President has some frosty relations with the state's two Republican senators, Jeff Flake and John McCain. This is what the President tweeted about Jeff Flake just last week. He said, great to see that Dr. Kelly Ward is running against Flake. Jeff Flake who was weak on borders, crime, and a nonfactor in the Senate. He is toxic. And also, at that now infamous press conference at Trump Tower, the President had some choice words for Senator McCain as well. Listen.</s>TRUMP: Senator McCain?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- to the alt-right and saying this --</s>TRUMP: Senator McCain --</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.</s>TRUMP: -- you mean the one who voted against ObamaCare?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And he said that --</s>TRUMP: Who is -- you mean Senator McCain who voted against us getting good healthcare?</s>JONES: Both of those senators are skipping tonight's rally. One big question is, will the President officially endorse Flake's challenger, conservative challenger, Dr. Kelley Ward at this rally? And also, will he pardon Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the former sheriff who has been convicted of contempt for ignoring an order to stop detaining people on mere suspicion of being undocumented immigrants -- John.</s>BERMAN: All right, Athena Jones for us at the White House. Athena, thanks so much. Joining me now to talk Afghanistan, Colonel Steve Warren, CNN military analyst, former spokesman for the anti-ISIS coalition in Iraq, and Juliette Kayyem, CNN military -- sorry, national security analyst and former assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Colonel, I want to start with you. There was the speech last night. The President spoke to the nation about Afghanistan, laying out his strategy. The question is, this morning, what is actually different? What has changed, now, in terms of U.S. strategy?</s>COL. STEVE WARREN, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, and that's exactly the right question to ask. The speech itself, I thought, was well-written and fairly well-delivered speech that hit all of the high points. The real question is, what's changed in the strategy? And the really only notable adjustment to this strategy is this pledge to shift away from a time-based strategy to a conditions-based strategy. The rest of it, really, is a lot of the strategy that we had been working out of the Department of Defense for the last several years. Maybe with some of the rougher edges filed off, kind of these points that the Department of Defense and the generals didn't appreciate very much. For example, the ability to flow troops in and out without having to ask permission, the ability to have additional authorities to strike terrorists and other targets throughout Afghanistan. So these are kind of, I think, small incremental changes. But the overall fundamentals of the strategy, from where I sit, appear to remain largely unchanged.</s>BERMAN: No, you're adding, what, 4,000 troops probably still doing the same types of things in the country you were doing before. But, Juliette Kayyem, the no timetable isn't insignificant in the sense that we've heard, for the last several years, that the Taliban, the bad actors inside Afghanistan, they always knew when the U.S. was getting out because President Obama kept on telling them when the U.S. was getting out. So from their point of view, all they had to do was wait.</s>JULIETTE KAYYEM, FORMER ASSISTANT SECRETARY, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY: Yes. I think, you know, lifting a timetable matters symbolically. But the problem with at least the speech is it didn't sort of lay out what the conditions would be for our own military about when we'd be willing to say, OK, we're waiting -- we're willing to leave Afghanistan at this stage. In other words, the conditions are just not known at this stage. And what's important to remember for everyone is the Taliban is going to outlast us. They outlasted -- you know, the Afghans outlast the Russians. They're going to outlast the United States. So what's our primary interest? Of course, it's the counter terrorism effort with al Qaeda and any growth of ISIS and supporting, to the extent we can, a government, a functioning government in Afghanistan. And that is it. We're not going to rebuild that nation, and we're not going to outlast the Afghanis. So what are the conditions that would make us more willing to leave? I have to say the speech left those conditions, I think, unknown at this stage.</s>BERMAN: Though, if you listen to the President, he claimed that he did define what those conditions would be. He had this line defining victory. Let's listen.</s>TRUMP: From now on, victory will have a clear definition, attacking our enemies, obliterating ISIS, crushing al Qaeda, preventing the Taliban from taking over Afghanistan, and stopping mass terror attacks against America before they emerge.</s>BERMAN: So, Colonel Warren, that's interesting. The foreign editor at Breitbart, Raheem Kassam, and the source here -- there is a political element to this which we'll talk about later in the show, but Breitbart notes, in those definitions of victory, there are no real measurables, which is something you, in the military, care about a great deal. Do you agree, Colonel, with that assessment?</s>WARREN: Yes, very difficult to measure those definitions of victory. And, in fact, some of those definitions sounded more like actions than actual, you know, completed tasks. And I think it's notable that, you know, this could open the door to an essentially endless occupation of Afghanistan. You know, if the Taliban continues to exist, would that -- if they're not brought to the table, if a regional solution that incorporates Pakistan, India, China, and even Russia and Iran into a total solution, if we can't get to that spot, we'll have American service members in Afghanistan for the foreseeable future.</s>BERMAN: Quickly, Juliette, 30 seconds left, the new attitudes towards Pakistan. Pakistan, you know, a difficult relationship over several administrations.</s>KAYYEM: That's right. I mean, a much tougher stance against Pakistan and sort of calling them out. To the extent that that matters, we've called them out privately. And I think that that was a significant shift, at least verbally, by the Trump administration. But while we're talking about a shift in Afghanistan, it is, just quickly, at least worth noting that, in some ways, the speech last night was Trump's default. I mean, if you look at our military engagement in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Yemen, and now Afghanistan, since January, we've increased our military presence. So while we talk about a potential shift last night or course correction or him going back on what he said in the campaign, in many ways, what he said last night was very familiar, at least during this administration.</s>BERMAN: All right, Juliette Kayyem, Colonel Steve Warren. Colonel, welcome to CNN. Great to have you here. Thank you both so much.</s>WARREN: Thank you.</s>BERMAN: All right. The President flips on Afghanistan, but is that already flopping with his base? We will find out tonight maybe when he tries to rev up supporters in this campaign style rally in Phoenix where Republicans are already on edge over the visit. And protesters bring the Charlottesville city council meeting to a halt. Look at this. Protesters furious that the deadly Unite the Right rally was allowed to happen in the first place. You can hear them chanting there, "blood on your hands."</s>CROWD: Blood on your hands. Blood on your hands.