Good evening. I'm John Yang. President Trump's shake-up of Washington reached the Pentagon

as he fired several top military leaders, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the

Admiral leading the Navy. Last night, Mr. Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Heggseth said

they were dismissing Air Force General C.Q Brown as the country's senior military officer. Admiral Lisa Franquetti,

the first woman to lead the Navy, General James Slife, the vice chair of the Air Force, as well as the

top lawyers for the Army, Navy, and Air Force. President has selected retired Air Force Lieutenant

General Dan Kane to be the new Joint Chiefs Chairman. That job

requires Senate confirmation. Mr. Trump has spoken highly of Kane since meeting him in Iraq

during his first term. Eric Edelman has served in several senior positions in the state

and defense departments under both Republican and Democratic presidents. He's now at the Center

for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.

Mr. Edelman, how unusual is this?

A new president coming in in his first month,

getting rid of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs

and a bunch of other leaders?

It's unprecedented, John, as far as I'm aware.

We've had presidents relieve other senior commanders of positions.

Of course, President Truman relieved General McArthur during the Korean War. President Obama

relieved General Stan McChrystal. But that was for cause. And in this instance, no cause has been given.

So it's really unprecedented as far as I can see.

We've had previous presidents who wanted to put their own chairman in.

President Kennedy, for instance, wanted to have Max Taylor become chairman, but he waited

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