general nicholson: isis is certainly a threat globally. they're attempting to establish their own form of a caliphate here by seizing and holding terrain. as you're aware, we have begun -- we've been attacking that caliphate since last -- since early haft year, reduced it by about two-thirds in size, reduced their fighters by at least half. we've done this through a series of operations, the latest one in early march. continuous pressure on them and we'll keep going until they're defeated in 2017. now, they have an aspiration i think to move fighters here from syria. we haven't seen it happen. in fact, by reducing their sanctuary here, by annihliating them here, it should be very clear to isis. there is no space for them to ome to in afghanistan. >> thank you, gentlemen. if you could just address the -- x of russian weapons inaudible] the russians s: seem to be choosing to be strategic competitors in a number of areas. they're of success achieving, i think, the jury is out on that. i'll let the general talk about any of the specific weapon

general nicholson has authority to drop it without notification. what is behind the strategy right now from the trump administration? the military commanders have authority over this. they can do what they want. what does that mean for the civilian control of the military? >> well, you know, this white house is looking back at the predecessor, president obama, who had a reputation of having a lot of control over the operational activity of the military. wanting to authorize strikes and wanting to be involved in the decision making process. trump is taking a different track. he believes the military should be left to their own devices to do what they need to do. i don't think you should equate that necessarily to trump not being aware of what's going on. the question is who is making the final decision. trump has clearly said he will take a step back. at the same time, though, there is a reason why we have civilian control of the military. one of the reasons is to sort of have a check on the instincts of military commanders who are in the forces at

and that's what nicholson did knowing the threat in the nangarhar province. he was able to destroy a lot of caves and complexes and overpressured ieds. so he did what he needed to do in that area, sending a signal to the isis khorasan group. >> kimberly, real quickly, we just saw the vice president leaving for south korea as he's going to be discussing north korea very much on this next 11-day tour that he has. how influential do you think his words will be? how much actionable change do you think he will be able to influence? >> i think what the vice president will be doing is to explain to people behind the scenes that here's our thinking, yes we have one face that is looking very provocative but we have a national security team we trust and this is what we're moving forward on. it's going to be a reassurance tour. and just to second what general hertling said in terms of the use of the weapon in of a dpan stan, what we're hearing from isis-related fise isis-related fighters, they are shocked and stunned that there aren't even bodies for them to bury. it ha

it's not and one of the issues here is that this weapon, had been requested by the commander general nicholson for some time an was authorized to use it by his immediate spear general bo tetell before trump' administration was even inaugurated so this has been in the works for some time. we had been told president trump was briefed that this bomb was going to be used but the authorities to use it had been delegated down the chain of command for some months now. so this is a 22,000 pound bomb ne never used in combat, developed in the second iraq war developed in the early 2000s, i think the u.s. is still waiting to make its assessment exactly as to what happened but this area of afghanistan, it's a very volatile remote region, it borders pakistan and kind of a real hot bed for isis k, their affiliate, and there's some 600 isis fighters the military believes largely create from the other terror groups, pakistan, taliban members who formulate thd groed the group and rebranded. a u.s. soldier lost his life there this last weekend. so you are seeing this deployment of this weapon to sen a message a

what i'm thrilled to see is general nicholson having the authority to use this type of force. we just lost a green beret trying to go in the ground against this tunnel and cave complex last weekend. i have been in that region. it is easily defend and god awful terrain. faced with the choice of sending in hundreds of afghans and americans to clear it out and taking casualties or dropping the largest nonnuclear bomb, i'm glad to see the commander able to do that. i think this is an extension of president trump delegating authority down to his combat commanders. i don't think you would have seen this approved under the obama administration. >> dana: we haven't had a chance to talk about what the green berets are doing there. we know we just lost one of the green berets over the weekend. what is the range of responsibility that the green berets have in that area. >> they are unique in special operations forces in that they specialize in training and then combat advising local national either guerrillas or in this case the national afghan army. so of course you have your counter te

general john nicholson, the u.s. commander in afghanistan, said he used the bomb so afghan troops and their american advisers wouldn't have to go in on the ground to clear out the caves. erere are an estimated 600 to 800 isis fighters in afghanistan, most of them located in an area right across the border from pakistan. nintagon officials said the arike had been in the works for months, and that the bomb itself was moved into afghanistan during the obama administration. authority to use it had been delegated to general nicholson, although he notified washington in advance. as shown in this 2003 test, the bomb is dropped from an mc-130 aircraft using a parachute to drag it out of the cargo bay. , e sled detaches and the bomb falls to earth, guided by a dsp.s. system designed to be avcurate within 10 yards. this test, conducted on open anound, shows the pressure wave ctt off by the bomb. it was specifically developed to attack cave complexes and for its pure terror effect. inanwhile, scott, the war against the taliban

this is something that john nicholson, the commander of u.s. forces in afghanistan testified to recently. he's saying that russia has become more assertive the past year. they're trying to use the taliban and saying the taliban is fighting isis in that case as a way to also curb u.s. influence. they say that iran is helping the taliban. there has been a fight ever since 2001 between the two entities with the u.s. backing the government continually with u.s. forces there, nato forces there as the taliban has become more aggressive the past couple years. da dana? >> thanks so much. the trump administration facing many challenges. kim jong-un says that north korea is in the final stages of developing intercontinental ballistic missiles. the u.s. hit a syrian air base with 59 tomahawk cruise missiles. yesterday the u.s. dropped a massive bomb on isis cave complex in eastern afghanistan and this weekend, satellite images suggest north korea is preparing for their sixth nuclear test. a lot to unpack. marie is a former state department spokesperson. m

. >> general nicholson says it all went according to plans. caves and tunnels destroyed. afghan officials say dozens of isis fighters kill. >> we had persistent surveillance over the area before, during and after the operation, and now we have afghan and u.s. forces on the site and see no evidence of civilian casualties nor have there been any reports of civilian casualties. >> reporter: bomb had been in afghanistan since early january. nicholson signed the final order authorizing the mission just 24 hours before the bomb dropped. afterwards local afghans described the enormity of the blast. >> translator: last night's bomb was really huge. when it dropped, it was shaking everywhere. >> reporter: so general nicholson thinks he can get rid of isis sometime in 2017. a lot of firepower used here, but estimate is the there's still upwards of 800 isis fighters inside afghanistan. brianna? >> that's a very good point. barbara starr at the pentagon, thank you. >>> and we're back now with democratic congressman mark vesey, a member of the senate armed services committee. so much

the commander of us forces in afghanistan generaljohn nicholson said the attack had been coordinated with the government in kabul — and that no civilians were harmed. our south asia editor jill mcgivering reports. this is american hard power in action. the moment the us dropped, for the first time, the biggest non—nuclear weapon it has. it was a moab, nicknamed the "mother of all bombs", and it was targeting underground bases in eastern afghanistan, a stronghold of the so—called islamic state group. the us military insists afghan leaders gave full approval. this was the right weapon against the right target. we will continue to work shoulder to shoulder with our afghan comrades to eliminate this threat to the afghan people, especially the people of nangarhar, to the people of the entire region, and indeed, the people around the world. local people confirm this remote, harsh terrain was used by the islamic state. translation: the bomb was dropped last night on is position and caves. it was really powerful and has been used to destroy all their tunnels and caves. translation: the

this was a target that general nicholson knew could be serviced by this munition. it was a tactical decision to use that saving the lives of afghan fighters and u.s. fighters that would have had to clear this target. the rules of engagement and collateral damage, the decision processes have been in place and predate this separation. certainly back to the obama administration and bush, et cetera. >> david, the question is does this bomb have a larger extra strategic significant? is there a bigger strategy? >> i think there is an emerging strategy of sending a political message with the use of force. i think you saw that in syria. look, the contrast could not be clearer to the previous administration in syria for example. draw a red line. don't back it up. we heard from former advisers to president obama who said that they wished he would have done that. would have done what president trump has now done. i don't think it is a substitute for a larger military strategy. in either of these countries. i think what could happen in korea is still very much unknown. there i

his top general john nicholson made it more clear. that. >> reporter: the visit comes after a sneak attack by the taliban on an afghan military base that killed at least 140 afghan soldiers. military vehicles drove taliban uniforms past checkpoints. survivors said the militants then opened fire oni unarmed afghan soldiers returning from a mosque. they called the attack barbaric. the taliban also claimed responsibility for another attack at camp chapman that houses cia and special operations forces. in 2009, seven u.s. officers were killed in a suicide bomb attack. there were to american casualties this time. the taliban now control about 40% of the country. the u.s. sent 300 marines to hellman province this general nicholson said he may need a few more,000 troops. despite a resurgent taliban, the u.s. military targeted isis militants two weeks ago, driving a 22,000-pound bomb on a series of tunnels. there's been no confirmation of isis deaths. 2017 is going to be another tough year for afghan security forces and there's no word if gen

general john nicholson who took this decision on his own. the pentagon has released video showing this bomb being dropped in eastern afghanistan. you can see from the video why they call it the mother of all bombs. this weapon is designed for its psychological effect as much as anything. and designed to send a clear message. today afghan officials say 36 isis fighters were killed in yesterday's strike. this is an isolated part of afghanistan, a mountainous region on the border with pakistan where isis fighters move back and forth freely across that border. speaking in kabul general nicholson it was the right bomb and the right time to use it. >> we had persistent surveillance over the area before, during and after the operation. and now we have afghan and u.s. forces on the site and see no evidence of civilian casualties for have there been reports of civilian casualties. >> military experts say a deep strike penetrator bomb, not the moab, is the preferred weapon against underground tunnels and why this bomb was chosen. it was a tactical dec

general nicholson said he may need a few more,000 troops. despite a resurgent taliban, the u.s. military targeted isis militants two weeks ago, driving a 22,000-pound bomb on a series of tunnels. there's been no confirmation of isis deaths. defense sent msecretary mattis said 2017 is going to be another tough year for afghan security forces and there's no word if general nicholson's request for more u.s. troops will be granted. >> charlie, thanks. >>> today in france, nearly all the mainstream political parties united against the far-right candidate in the presidential election. yesterday's vote narrowed the field from 11 candidates to two. marine le pen who wants to withdraw from the european union finished second to emmanuel macron. the two will meet in a runoff may 7th. >>> today a man who never lost a presidential election made his first appearance since leaving office. dean reynolds is in chicago with the reemergence of barack obama. >> reporter: mr. obama appeared cool and at ease, to a degree only a former president can enjoy. the 44th president chartered a post-president

but general nicholson isn't just a good tactician and strategist, he's also a good politician, and i think he calculated that with this administration, should there be any blowback, that they would be much less likely to be upset about the use of this bomb and they'd be more likely to embrace it. >> thank you all. coming back with us in a moment. the multi-of all bombs today, 60 cruise missiles launched on syria days ago. an ahmarda as the president calls it coming to north korea. is this america first? plus another north korean nightmare. could kim jong un have missiles loaded with sarin, the same that bashar yalg asads just used on his own people? and on the united flight debacle. the airline says that flight wasn't overbookds. isn't that even worse? 6 his own people? 6 if you've tried every pill on the shelf to treat your tough nasal allergies... ...listen up. unlike pills that don't treat congestion, clarispray covers 100 percent of your nasal allergy symptoms. clarispray. from the makers of claritin. i realize that ah, that $100k is notwell, a 103fortune. yeah, 103. well, let me

the last two requests from general nicholson for more u.s. troops are all well and good, but at some point, this administration like the administration before it is going to say, okay, this is 17 years on, we are probably not going to be able to win this immediately, so are we going to commit for another ten years? >> jenna: what do you think the threat of isis and terrorism inside afghanistan continuing to fester there poses to the national security of the united states? >> i think afghanistan is actually less concerning than libya where the central government has totally broken down, there are at least three entities that govern themselves, and isis has a lot of influence for advance we have with afghanistan government and taliban is they both hate ice is in addition to the united states so we have a de facto tripartite alliance against this small isis group organizing in the country. >> jenna: very interesting, 30 seconds and you have taken us around the world which we appreciate. what are you watching next? >> i want to see what happens o

speaking today in kabul general nicholson defended his decision to order the bomb's deployment. >> this is the first time the 21,000-pound weapon has ever been used in combat. it effectively taxi out anything within a mile radius. >>> meantime dangerous threats coming out north korea tonight. that nation is warning it could test another nuclear weapon at any time. and its neighbors are on high alert. the threat comes ahead of the country's celebration to mark the birth of its founder. china is warning tensions on the korean peninsula could spin out of control. >>> a beloved pet cat is shot and in cold blood and now there's a big reward to fine out who is responsible. >>> and could there be live in our solar system? a recent nasa discover has something that once seemed impossible now within reach. >>> and delta airlines is look to go take advantage of united airlines bad pr. delta is giving airport employees permission to offer passengers up to nearly tepp thousand dollars to give up their seats on over booked flights. ♪ >>> a vandalism spree in bucks county but that bench is about to

. >> general nicholson says it all went according to plan. caves and tunnels destroyed, afghanistan officials saying dozens of isis fighters were killed. >> now we have afghanistan and u.s. forces on the site and see no evidence of civilian casualties nor have there been any reports of civilian casualties. >> reporter: nicholson signed the final order authorizing the mission just 24 hours before the bomb dropped. afterwards, local afghanistans described the enormity of the blast. >> translator: last night eats bomb was really huge. when it dropped, it was shaking everywhere. >> reporter: and as you say, erin, a lot of firepower on this one mission. general nicholson estimates there are still upwards of 800 isis fighters inside afghanistan. erin? >> thank you very much. 800 left, 36 killed by the biggest bomb in the u.s. arsenal. lieutenant rick fran owa served in iraq. the number, 36 isis fighters is what they're saying about the number that was killed. the network of tunnels also impacted by this. the headlines around the world, the mother o

>> well, there's been reporting, exactly as you say, general nicholson, the head of the u.s. command in afghanistan, does want more troops there. we had as many as 100,000 when we had the troops surge under president obama. he steadily dropped the level. what happened was, as he hoped to have all troops out by the end of last year, he saw that the afghan forces, the government that we supported all these years couldn't stand up against the taliban. if we left, might be like what happened in iraq and a power vacuum and taliban taking over huge parts of the country. it will be interested to see. president trump has made no commitment there and talked at great length about wanting to focus on rebuilding this country, not having our blood and treasures spent overseas. but you know, if general nicholson comes and says if we don't have more troops, we're going to lose in afghanistan. it will be interesting to see how the president responds to that. >> it will be interesting to see what happens with all of this boiling in north korea as well. chris wallace, thank you. chris will hav

. >> general john nicholson signed off and that the white house was informed before the bomb was dropped. why use it now and what signal does it send to allies around the world? nick walsh joins us from iraq, good morning nick. >> reporter: a very strong message i think of american resolve by using the bomb. the casualty of 36 isis members doesn't equate to use the largest non-nuclear device in american history, a stark message and consequences, many of the residents moved out along ago, this device doesn't get to pick and choose who it kills and many felt the blast and dust as well. this is in a mountainous part of afghanistan and where it's been the epicenter for isis quite sometime. now they have come back in again and clearly this target was felt to be of adequate importance that the u.s. wanted to completely and utterly level it. now isis has been regaining strength and gaining a hospital, and seem to be gathering momentum and comes at a i'm -- well over half the country being controlled by the taliban or fought over by them. that's an enormous mess. president -- did tweet support f

general nicholson said hundreds of u.s. air strikes and the past two years have got this member of isis fighters down by two-thirds. yesterday's strike killed 36 isis fighters. senior air force officials told me this is a weapon that is used to form strategic messaging. i'm told this was a tactical decision by the commander in afghanistan with no real strategic input from washington. in other words, no particular message designed to be sent to north korea. >> meghan: thank you. meantime, republican defense are praising president trump. senator lindsey graham tweeting i hope america's adversities ae watching. >> the decision to use the largest nonnuclear bomb that we have sends a clear signal of strength building on what he did last week in syria and is also a reminder both to the russians and north koreans that we have enormous assets if we want to use them. the speed the democrats appear to be throwing cold water on the strike saying it raises a lot of questions. this from jackie spear who sits on the armed services commit

sent 300 marines to helmand province this month, and general nicholson has said he may need a few thousand more troops. despite a resurgent taliban, the u.s. military targeted isis militants two weeks ago, dropping a 22,000-pound bomb on a network of caves and tunnels near the border with pakistan. there's been no confirmation of isis deaths. defense secretary mattis said today the 2017 is going to be another tough year for afghanistan security forces, scott, and there is no word if general nicholson's request for more u.s. troops will be granted. >> kris: charlie d'agata for us in our london newsroom. charlie, thanks. >> pelley: today in france nearly all the mainstream political parties united against the far right candidate in the presidential election. yesterday's vote narrowed the field from 11 candidates to two. marine le pen, who wants to withdraw from the european union, finished second to emanuel macron, a centrist. the two will meet in a run-off may 7th. today man who never lost a presidential election made his first major appearance since leaving office. dean reynolds is in chic

i know general nicholson very well. we work together in afghanistan and make is dropping a moab on k known ratline to kill isis fighters, i know it was a valid target. one we needed to drop on and clothes some cave mouth and drop some tunnels on some enemies. and this is a very effective weapon because all its energy goes out and kills the personnel you are trying to kill. it doesn't go into the ground and get dissipated into t the ground. >> kimberly: apparently we will be able to get -- hopefully one save declassified, the video of that. what you think about this in terms of the presence of isis in afghanistan and disseminate long years of hard fought there in an area that is still so troubled and problematic? >> just to add to the general tata's point, over the last eight years, all anyone in the region has heard is withdrawal, withdrawal, withdrawal. that has caused everybody including our enemies to wait us out. what we see here is a completely different method.as i'm sure a lot of viewers and people are saying wai

we've got vince brooks in afghanistan, mick nicholson in afghanistan. you couldn't ask for better leaders to be leading our military and i think it's great that he respects the military enough to be making these decisions. >> robert, how do you see it? >> i see it largely in the same way where the tactical commanders decided there was a situation that could be solved with this particular piece of ordinance. i do feel that some of the commanders feel more enabled in the environment that president trump has created. even though we have some indication that there was some allowance for these weapons previously, we haven't seen these types of bombs dropped. they seem more inclined to use big weapons like this. >> you are all essentially on the same page. president trump said what i do is authorize my military. general tata, what happens, hef vin forbid, there is collateral damage in some part of the world that the president himself did not personally authorize. where does the blame fall there? >> well, i think the buck stops with the commander on the ground

general nicholson made the right call. we had either two choices, either let isis continue to grow and fester and build its capabilities in this mountainous area, or take them out by the air and he chose the right ordinance. what has me a little bit disturbed, but no surprise given the last eight years, is people in washington debating what type of bomb a four-star general decides to use. >> jenna: why does that disturb you? >> i'm sorry? >> jenna: what is that disturb you in any way? >> we've seen from the white house over concern of civilian casualties -- our commanders on the ground and our operational four-star commander understands fully the downside in the problem with having civilian casualties when you need to win hearts and minds, aside from the humanitarian standpoint. thus the last thing they want to do. they look at it carefully, they will have predator drones over the area beforehand to make sure civilians aren't in the way and i personally have made decisions not to drop ordinance dozens of times when i thoug

our nato general, our nato ismander, dylan nicholson one of our most experienced offers others in the field and most strategic thinkers. the teamwork that we enjoy here between the afghan government, our diplomats and international military contingency has reached very high levels of ownership and in a word, i have found it impressive. within the new american administration, our review is dialogue with secretary tillerson and staff at the white house. i would say we are under no illusions about the challenges associated with this mission. anothergoing to be tough year for the valiant afghan forces and international troops who have stood and will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with afghanistan against terrorism and against those who seek to undermine the legitimate, united nations recognized government of this nation. wish to join the political process and work honestly for a positive future with the afghan people who have suffered long and hard, they need only to renounce violence and reject terrorism. that's a pretty low standard to join the political process. that is my impr

and then it was up to general nicholson to decide where and when to use it. the suggestions on how that even donald trump could lie about this one when he was asked, was this your decision, senior better than to live. the general would have basically countered him. >> greg: richard, richard, richard. they moved the bomb. it wasn't used! president obama dithered. that was always the problem. he had a problem dealing with the military, let's face it, and the military had a problem dealing with him. otherwise he would've done what joey would've asked, right? >> the fact is, again, when you have general nicholson on air, ask him why he did it the other day and that several months ago. with all due respect to joey, we've heard his description ago, we need to destroy the town to save it. that's what we came out with vietnam, right? we saw how well that worked. we can't go door-to-door, we aren't going to going to kill enough isis with bombs or weapons. it's collateral damage, though. >> greg: there is no collateral! no civilian casualties. >> we killed 36 isis. >>

general nicholson was there and he authority to use every tool at his disposal. he didn't necessarily have to inform everybody of time date and place he was going to use it. now you see more sensitivity to this. you see commanders a little more aware of what they are doing may have second, third order effects on the world stage because the day after the strike general in this case -- nick nicholson came out and said it didn't influence his decision. but they picked up and ran that it was sending a message to north korea about u.s. military power when general nicholson was doing this on his own. >> what is the protocol for the use of this enormous bomb? fl z >> there is no set protocol for the use of that or any other. he did have this weapon in theater. he did have all the authority he needed. i would add that it was exactly the right weapon for this particular target. that said, in the past i think it would have been appropriate to float that up the chain of command just to make sure that everybody was aware, because it hadn't been used in afghanistan. there are

general nicholson chose this weapon for the facility. this is an area for dropping this bomb. it's rocky, hilly, has a lot of gorges. the overpressure will collapse those tunnels. it doesn't penetrate the ground. they have another bomb much larger than that one to penetrate if you need to to get underground. it has a concussive effect and collapses the tunnel. this is a bad guy area, to be sure. this is giving the afghan forces and the americans in the area problems for over a decade, this province area. this particular bomb, this gbu-43 as it's called, replaced another one from the vietnam era called a daisy cutter. you know, when you're talking about a commander, i'm going to channel some of my former combat commander status on this, you literally look when you target areas, it's something called a joint munitions employment manual. it's a guide for your targets to say, this is the target, this is the kind of situation we have, what kind of weapons should we drop on this, this is a perfect kind of thing. it's a tactical system, though, and we shouldn't get all breathless abo

general nicholson is the longest serving commander in country. this is an issue that he has embraced that the united states must get its arms around. the afghanistan military has to increase its professionalism. and we can ill-afford to establish timelines and declare when we're going to depart. we have to do that based on our assessment of the conditions. that's where we are right now. and i think contributing factor with general nicholson was look, this makes the use of this moab makes perfect sense here, and it relieves some pressure from the afghanistan military. >> i want to thank everybody on the panel. just ahead tonight, the people who helped put the president in the white house, and the extent of their contact with russians. it wasn't just u.s. intelligence that picked up their communications we're learning. new details on that. >>> and later, glenn beck joins us signs the president's chief strategist, steve bannon may be on the outs. uick-start fertilizr and natural super- absorbent mulch grow grass anywhere. guaranteed. this is a scott

here's part of the statement from general nicholson. the fight against isis is important for the world, but sadly it is not without sacrifice. i guess that's true. >> we've been at this almost 16 years now and afghanistan. in that way, afghanistan is sort of a forgotten war. president obama chose to never talk about it. he never said why we really there. what's going on there is isis has a bona fide safe haven there. whenever they have safe havens where they group and they protect themselves, we've got to crush it. it was a major lesson coming out of 9/11 that we did not crush the al qaeda safe haven in afghanistan we knew it existed there and we got 9/11 as a result. whenever that forms, we've got to deal with it and that's what we're doing here. >> jenna: why did the mother of all bombs do that? >> it killed most of them, but probably not all of them. we have to go back in that area to get them out of there. i don't know who these soldiers are, whether they were advisors or whether this was a special operations raid, but certainly the

i'm imagining, katherine nicholson, that the mood is rather festive, although maybe, maybe marine le pen was hoping -- and she repeated this -- that she would come out first? >> absolutely. i mean, when we started looking at polling for this election, marine he enwas far and away the front -- le pen was far and away the front-runner, well above 25%, which is a much higher score than she ended up getting. there's quite a lot of booing going on, that's because the people who have gathered here are watching french tv. that was where they saw the announcement also first round provisional results. hamon is currently speaking, the socialist party candidate. the people here have been pretty much booing anyone who's not from the national front, i have to say. they also booed emmanuel macron's national headquarters were shown as well as the republican party. at the exact moment when we found out those provisional results, however, there was a real outpouring of chants, of singing, people saying we're going to win. but, yes, what you say, an unmitigated jubilant atmosphere here. we will, of co

i've been in that area, as has general nicholson. and he knows it quite well, and he knows that it's incredibly sparse and that he's going to achieve maximum effects and maximum damage. the other choice, military choice he had was, you know, to send in ground troops or to try to, you know, launch pinprick airstrikes against these burrowed-in tunnels and caves. and i think that would have been much less effective. you know, the point here is that he was able to do what he's paid to do, and he did it well and it's incredibly successful. and we're seeing that across the board when you let the military do its job. julie: absolutely. and when you talk about these plans that are made by generals some as defense secretary jim mattis, obviously, the plan, the ultimate goal is to defeat isis, and it should have been goal for the last eight years. but, in fact, isis grew by the thousands in numbers and has managed to take over not only afghanistan, but syria where we never actually went out there on the ground. remember boots on the ground, th

general john nicholson, the u.s. commander in afghanistan said he oldered the first combat use of the bomb so afghan troops and their american advisers wouldn't have to go in on the ground to clear out the cave. pentagon officials said the strike had been in the works for months and the bomb itself had been moved during the obama administration. authority to use it had been delegated to general nicholson, although he notified washington in advance. still, it happened on donald trump's watch. >> if you look at what's happened over the last eight weeks and compared that to what's happened over the last eight year, you'll see there's a tremendous difference. >> reporter: the bomb is dropped from an mc-130 aircraft using a parachute to pull it out of the cargo bay. it struck within ten yards of the target. the bomb was developed specifically to attack cave complexes and for its pure terror effect. u.s. and afghan soldiers are at the cave complex now. a u.s. military official said aim of the strike was to collapse the tun

the current record is held by new zealander andrew nicholson, who in 2015 managed the feat in 123 days. it's not just about a it's notjust about a bike race and what my team can do, but it's also about the border crossings, it's about the border crossings, it's about finding the right supplies, it's about not being delayed by things that are out of our control. those are the things that could make the difference between going less than 80 days or not. some training and effort that goes into that without a doubt! a big week in golf this week, the first women's golf major ended on sunday, the ana inspiration one by ryu so—yeon. and also the augusta national masters gets under way on thursday. goodbye from me and the team. morning. we've got some rain working its way in from the west but, before we take a look at that, let's look back at some of the highlights of monday. a beautiful weather watchers picture sent in from cambridgeshire. a lovely afternoon, and we saw highs here of 18 degrees. but the storm clouds gathered in argyll and bute. a very atmospheric shot here. and that's becau

general john nicholson, the u.s. commander in afghanistan, said he used the bomb so afghan troops and their american advisers wouldn't have to go in on the ground to clear out the caves. there are an estimated 600 to 800 isis fighters in afghanistan, most of them located in an area right across the border from pakistan. pentagon officials said the strike had been in the works for months and that the bomb itself was moved into afghanistan during the obama administration. authority to use it had been delegated to general nicholson. although he notified washington in advance. as shown in this 2003 test, the bomb is dropped from an mc-130 aircraft. using a parachute to drag it out of the cargo bay. the sled detaches and the bomb falls to earth guided by a gps system designed to be accurate within ten yards. this test conducted on open ground shows the pressure wave set off by the bomb. it was specifically developed to attack cave complexes and for its pure terror effect. >>> tomorrow is a national holiday in north korea,

nicholson signed the final order authorizing the mission just 24 hours before the bomb dropped. afterwards, local afghans described the enormity of the blast. >> last night's bomb was really huge. when it dropped, it was shaking everywhere. >> reporter: a lot of fire power was used but the estimate is there's still upwards of 800 isis fighters inside afghanistan. barbara starr, the pentagon. >> we turn to turkey. a yes vote would mean sweeping changes and a power boost for president erdogan. >> in berlin, german finance minister reports there is a risk of an erdogan dictatorship. ian lee, explain the popularity of this president and exactly why many feel that he is due more power. >> reporter: george, to quote former u.s. president george h.w. bush, it's the economy stupid. and that's what you hear from everyone. they say erdogan was able to take turkey to become one of the top 20 economies -- largest economies in the world. they say lives have increased dramatically, places in rural turkey see better infrastructure and industry. now, i spoke with a man who knows him personally

hearts had sam nicholson was sent off in the second half, for an off the ball incident. referee keith stroud has apologised after accidentally denying newcastle the chance to take the lead in their 1—nilwin chance to take the lead in their 1—nil win over burton albion. although newcastle move back to the top of the championship table, stroud has admitted he should have allowed their penalty to be retaken after dwight gayle had encroached, instead of the indirect free kick that he wrongly awarded to burton. elsewhere huddersfield revived their hopes of automatic promotion with a three nil win over norwich. their goals came in the second half from elias kachunga, aaron mooy, and nahki wells. huddersfield are third, nine points behind brighton but have played a game less. the showjumper nick skelton, who was britain‘s oldest olympic goal medallist at the rio games last year, is to retire. he was competing at his seventh games — 17 years after a broken neck forced his initial retirement. katie gornall went to meet nick and his horse ‘big star.‘ if age was just a

especially if you're ken nich nicholson who happened to be ri time to record this lynx trying itself a squirrel lynxs. the cats withtips on the ears. i did a school reportifth or sixth grade. f tt about lynx. >> i justttle black wispy hairs. they're beautiful and agile as uvile lynx who was out there with another one. one of them scared the squirrel up into a tree. the thing is -- >> whoa! this is crazy! >> the thing is that when the squirrel worked its way up, the other one followed and ken the guy that recorded it is becoming a local celebrity. unfortunately for the lynx, it's been outsmarted. squirrels know their way around trees. >> the squirrel just baited the lynx up there. he's like keep coming. come on. almost got you where i want you. >>> she loves oreos so much that she's going to sing about it. ♪ that's why i like oreos hear how the rest of the song goes. >>> plus -- >> hi, everyone. oh. sorry, i forgot i had that on. today we're making a little bit of magic for your mouth. >> find out what that magic in your mouth is. >> you can have the edible version in bubble form. y

. >> general nicholson has asked for several thousand more. not a surge, as you say, but additional troops that would allow him to put americans down a layer or two in the afghan army, afghan national forces. this would help them, the afghan national forces, do what they need to do. but i think general mcmaster is going to evaluate that request. i don't think the decision has made yet. tim: moving to the middle east, it is a truism that you cannot defeat islamic state just militarily. >> i think that is very important. that is the important question in afghanistan as well as syria. the afghanistan situation is such that there is a well-developed, or developing, military strategy for the defeat of isis and trying to get control of the taliban. there needs to be -- this is what our sense was -- there needs to be a corresponding political strategy. they've got connections coming -- they've got elections coming up, negotiations possibly with the taliban. they need to be integrated with a stronger military. tim: so much ground has been taken by the

met with general nicholson. met with both diplomatic and military leadership. in afghanistan where you have in the past when general nicholson and others would be meeting with president obama, he was being asked what do you need in order to not lose? a low risk, medium, high risk? how do we increase our chances of not losing? as we're going to a new administration, what we need is a shift in strategy where we're telling our commanders what do you need in order to win. this is just the first few weeks of a new administration, but as we see in syria, a limited targeted -- targeting of infrastructure, not people, in response to a clear red line being crossed. i think was an appropriate use of force on the part of this president. the use of the moab in afghanistan which is cutting off access to tunnels and caves for isis fighters is an important execution on that front. we should be having that debate in congress and working with the administration because the key is that we need to win. we don't want to have a political -- >> but what does the win look like? when

breaking news exclusively at cnn the battle damage assessment that's beginning to take ship, general nicholson got what he wanted out of this. they were able to kill some isis fighters, to close up some of those tunnels and caves. they have no evidence of civilian casualties in the area. those civilians in the area are reporting they heard the blast and felt the ground shake. a senior military official told me this was a message to isis that the u.s. will hunt them down even in these remote mountain valleys and that -- if that's the message, general nicholson achieved his goal of delivering it. the video shows us that the bomb dropped where they meant it to drop. it went into this very steep mountain valley where this complex of caves was located, an area that these isis fighters had retreated into. but still a very long way to go in afghanistan. the affaghans say a few dozen fighters were killed. there may be 800 isis still in the country and there is still the taliban out there who are resurgent in the south. president trump will have to decide in the coming weeks if he wants to send more u.

catherine nicholson is on the campaign trail in northern france and joins us now. le pen visited the market this morning. go there today? -- why did you choose to go there today? town,s is a very small only 8000 people live here, close to where le pen held her election party just down the road. it gives you a clue as to why she was here. le pen is for a popular among voters in the town in the region. yesterday, le pen scored 42% of the vote. in second -- a story that tells many in france. made its money in coal mining, they have since felt abandoned by the rise of globalization and the decline of industry and higher unemployment in towns like this. communist for a letter -- they believe it is marine le pen who better represents their interests. market thist the morning telling me they believe marine le pen, a strong french identity. they talk about the area they see as a threat to their way of life. it is the small people, as they put it, the little man's interest, that they will be protected. >> what is next for le pen? >> le pen has already reached out saying he