(Jose Luis Magana | AP Photo) Vice President Mike Pence speaks during the Global Chiefs of Mission Conference "One Team, One Mission, One Future" at Department of State on Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2019, in Washington. Pence is claiming that the Islamic State "caliphate has crumbled" and the militant network "has been defeated." But his comments Wednesday in a speech at the State Department came shortly after the U.S. military said American service members were among those killed during an explosion during a routine patrol in Syria.