SUMMARY: The Trump administration's blueprint for America's arsenal continues the Obama administration's plans to rebuild all nuclear submarines, aircraft, and missiles, but also calls for deploying new capabilities. Critics say the plan will spark a new arms race. Nick Schifrin gets two views from Jon Wolfsthal of the Nuclear Crisis Group and Rebeccah Heinrichs of the Hudson Institute.
SUMMARY: Fear around the North’s missile and nuclear programs have spiked with false alarms in Hawaii over the weekend and Japan on Tuesday. At a Vancouver summit, U.S. officials hope to unite the West to target North Korea economically. Meanwhile, the two Koreas continue their first direct talks in two years. Nick Schifrin talks to retired Adm. Mike Mullen, former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman.
SUMMARY: U.S. bombing played a major role in driving the Islamic State group from cities in Iraq and Syria. But a report by The New York Times finds that thousands more civilians were killed in those bombing runs than originally admitted by the Pentagon. Hari Sreenivasan learns more from investigative reporter Azmat Khan.
SUMMARY: The U.S. shipbuilding industry continues to win billions of dollars in contracts to build Navy and Coast Guard vessels, despite serious safety lapses that have endangered and killed workers. From Reveal at the Center for Investigative Reporting, special correspondent Aubrey Aden-Buie reports.
SUMMARY: Unveiled today, President Trump's first federal budget embodies stark changes in federal spending priorities. The more-than $1.1 trillion proposal would cut funding to the EPA and the State Department by almost a third, while boosting spending for the Pentagon, Department of Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs. John Yang takes a closer look.
SUMMARY: From strong support to condemnation, President Trump's new budget proposal has garnered an array of reactions on Capitol Hill. Judy Woodruff gets two views from Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md), and Rep. Todd Rokita (R-Ind), who both sit on congressional budget committees.
SUMMARY: More than a month after a controversial U.S. Special Operations raid in Yemen -- during which Navy SEAL Ryan Owens was killed -- there are still questions about how the mission was authorized, what it accomplished and more. Chief foreign affairs correspondent Margaret Warner looks at competing claims and Judy Woodruff (NewsHour) gets the perspective of Sebastian Gorka, deputy assistant to President Trump.
SUMMARY: What level of planning did the Obama administration take on ahead of a deadly U.S. military raid in Yemen carried out under President Trump? Hari Sreenivasan talks to former Defense Department official Andrew Exum, and Colin Kahl former National Security Advisor to the Vice President [Joe Biden], two men with intimate knowledge of the Obama administration's process for authorizing the use of military force.
SUMMARY: The Pentagon revealed that the bombing of an Afghan hospital occurred when U.S. forces preemptively fired to clear the way for an Afghan offensive. U.S. and Afghan forces were not under fire when U.S. aircraft destroyed the hospital. Hari Sreenivasan takes an in-depth look at the series of errors with Jamie McIntyre of the Washington Examiner.
HARI SREENIVASAN (NewsHour): The Pentagon laid out the key findings of its full investigation today, as well as the fallout affecting 16 service members.
Head of U.S. Central Command, General Joseph Votel:
GEN. JOSEPH VOTEL, Commander, U.S. Central Command: The investigation concluded that certain personnel failed to comply with the rules of engagement in the law of armed conflict.
HARI SREENIVASAN: The bombing of the Doctors Without Borders hospital last October in Kunduz, Afghanistan killed 42 people. Of the 16 service members who were punished, one was a two-star general and some were specials ops forces. They face administrative actions, but Votel maintained their actions didn't constitute a war crime.
GEN. JOSEPH VOTEL: The label war crimes is typically reserved for intentional acts, intentionally targeting civilians or intentionally targeting protected objects or locations.
The investigation found that the incident resulted from a combination of unintentional human errors, process errors and equipment failures, and that none of the personnel knew they were striking a hospital.
HARI SREENIVASAN: Even though they didn't know they were hitting a hospital, the investigation found they made multiple fundamental and fatal errors.
For example, the AC-130 gunship's targeting system became misaligned after its crew attempted to avoid fire over Kunduz. That resulted in their target appearing as an empty field, instead of a building filled with Taliban fighters firing on Afghan troops. The crew then switched its focus to the hospital, thinking it was the original target, based on descriptions relayed from special forces on the ground.
GEN. JOSEPH VOTEL: So the aircraft is looking at one location. The ground force is thinking they're looking at another location. There's no way to visually confirm that back and forth between them, and their discussions, as you look at the transcripts, don't add clarity to that.
SUMMARY: A number of intelligence officers say that senior officials have been painting an overly optimistic picture of the fight against the Islamic State group. A Pentagon investigation is now underway, and the issue was the subject of a Capitol Hill hearing. Jeffrey Brown talks to Mark Mazzetti of The New York Times and retired Col. Derek Harvey, a former Army intelligence officer.
GWEN IFILL (NewsHour): ..... a look at a growing controversy that has gripped one part of the government’s intelligence community.
At CENTCOM, the military headquarters for U.S. forces in the Middle East, a number of intelligence officers are claiming that senior officials have been altering their analysis, painting a more optimistic assessment about the fight against the Islamic State group.
Jeffrey Brown has the story.
JEFFREY BROWN (NewsHour): The Pentagon’s Inspector General is now conducting an investigation of these allegations.
And this morning, the commander of Central Command, General Lloyd Austin, addressed this issue at a hearing on Capitol Hill.
GEN. LLOYD AUSTIN, Commander, U.S. Central Command: Because the allegations are currently under investigation, it would be premature and inappropriate for me to discuss this matter.
What I will say is, I welcome the DOD I.G.’s oversight, and once the investigation is complete, based upon the findings, you can be assured that I will take appropriate actions.
JEFFREY BROWN: But General Austin drew a sharp rebuke from Arizona Senator John McCain when he described the U.S. efforts to combat ISIS.
GEN. LLOYD AUSTIN: Fortunately, amidst all the — amidst the many challenges that exist in Iraq and Syria, we find opportunities, and we remain confident that our actions in pursuit of these opportunities will continue to produce positive results in the coming days.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), Arizona: So, everything is really going well.
GEN. LLOYD AUSTIN: No, sir, that’s not…
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN: Well, then, if things aren’t going well and we have had — quote — “setbacks,” and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says it’s tactically stalemated, and you think everything is going well as — pursuing the strategy and tactics on the ground that we are, General Austin, I respectfully disagree. I respectfully, fundamentally disagree.
