when you look at what isis had, what isis controlled when this administration began and where they are today, this has been a substantial achievement. but we have to finish the job, and the job is not finished. and why has isis' presence in syria been degraded? it is because the united states, with a very limited military presence -- we're not talking afghanistan here it tens of thousands of troops. we're not talking iraq here with a massive urge. we are talking about a very capable but lightfootprint of american trainers and people there to assist, although they can fight and have done so in the past, working alongside a ground force made up of the syrian democratic forces, primarily air abc, and the -- air be as, and the -- and the arabs. and they have been on the ground fighting with our assistance and our direction and sometimes our direct involvement against isis in the ufray tees river value chicago. they are the reason why isis' control has rapidly degraded. but that's right ones fighting. that has been a difficult thing to achieve because the number-one objective of the kurds t

isis can do anything. we are under their cortrol. >> rr: civilians say encounters with isis have become a near-daily occurrence in thisa area, but ma reluctant to speak openly about them for fear of being targeted by isis. as sunnis, they also fear the shia-dominated security forces, g om they blame for failin secure the area. the government forces, in turn, accuse the civilians of supporting isis.at >> ( transl ): it's very difficult to gatheren intellig. the reason is the nature of this area. people have close family relations with isis, s nthat's why it easy to get information from them. >> reporter: muntaha fouad's son and husband joined isis. they surrendered when iraqi forces liberated the area, and are currently imprisoned. fouad herself, and the rest of her family, were accused of being isis collaborators by association, and were transferred to this camp an hour ea of hawija. but she insists that she has nothing to do with isis. >> ( translated ): what is our guilt? i know nothing about my son, i k

we have not yet eradicated isis. that doesn't account for some of the cells that still exist throughout this area. mr. graham: do you remember being told that thousands of isis fighters have gone back into the fabric of syria and they will reemerge under the right conditions? mrs. shaheen: absolutely. it's what we saw in iraq. gray gray i --. mr. graham: i want to say the following: this has been a long struggle. most americans, all things being equal, would like to get all of our troops home. the mideast is a very complicated place. i share the president's desire to withdraw our forces when it makes sense. and as to the public at large, i want to stress to you that having been in the military for quite awhile, i'm very aware of the sacrifices required to go overseas and serve in iraq, syria, and afghanistan. i've come to conclude that a presence over there is still necessary to keep us safe here. now there's a division in this body about whether or not we should have a wall as part of border security. i think we nee

has defeated isis in syria. the latest report is that there are 30,000 isis fighters in iraq and syria. do you disagree with the president'sisis is defeated? >> i don't know yet what i think about the president's actions. i want to get a briefing from the white house and i want to talk to general mattis. i think we have for the most part 95% driven isis out of the middle east. having said that, i want to understand the impact that this will have on our kurdish friends. we would not have been able to defeat isis without help from the kurds. i want to make sure we are not leaving them high and dry. >> this clearly serves russia's interests. it serves iran's interests. they don't like having u.s. forces on the ground. it takes pressure off of isis there. how would this serve u.s. interests at all particularly from a president who criticized president obama from withdrawing forces too quickly from iraq? >> it could serve american interests. i mean, we have spilled a lot of blood and spent a lot of taxpayer money in

military to be the ground troops to fight against isis. once we pull back and withdraw our troops, the turks have threatened to launch an offensive to kill the very people on the ground that protect american troops and fought the fight against isis. i ask the american people, how do they feel, steve, about betraying our allies who did most of the fighting for us against isis? >> the headline from the "washington post," the syria pullout, alarms allies in iraq. coleman is joining us from tulsa, oklahoma. good morning. >> caller: yes. thank god for president trump preventing us from heading down the path of venezuela. the guest on your program praising the socialists like ma macron and trudeau, i bet he did not have the same objection whenever obama pulled the troops out of iraq. trump is saving us as a nation from the deep state that's now being uncovered and what we've had if hillary and people like your guest continued in control. >> we'll get a response. thank you, coleman. >> listen, i'm very proud of the position that i take as an amer

isis. we've beaten them and we've beaten them badly. we've taken back the land and now it's time for our troops to come back home. these are great heros of the world. they fought for us, but they've killed isis who hurts the world. we're proud to have done it. >> you know, i think george w. bush would tell you that these sort of ceremonies are much more effective if you have a banner behind you. that says mission accomplished, mr. president. because the mission is not accomplished. just last week, president trump's special envoy to syria brett mcgurk told reporters at the state department that it would be, quote, reckless to simply declare victory and leave. this was just last week. the trump administration also stated just last week that there was months of fighting still left. just look at what the trump administration was saying just last week. if. >> we really are now down to the last 1% of the physical territory. we're prepared to maintain the stabilization effort in iraq and syria. th

he is the founder of isis. he is the founder of isis. >> reporter: trump is now facing criticism that he has abandoned suflt alli u.s. allies in the region still fighting to crush the terror group even as he insists they've already been defeated, telling reporters -- >> we've knocked them out. we've knocked them silly. today they're not so dominant anymore. >> reporter: all of this unfolding amid an avalanche of problems on the home front, including a partial government shutdown that the president isn't backing down from. trump telling reporters in iraq that the border wall must be funded. >> whatever it takes. i mean we're going to have a wall. >> reporter: while 800,000 federal workers spend the holidays in uncertainty due to the partial government shutdown, the president complained that he was all alone in the white house after he cancelled plans to travel to florida for christmas. trump's sour mood was fuelled by steep losses on wall street this month, caused by his own trade war and his sharp criticism of

military to be the ground troops against isis. once we pull back and withdraw our troops, the turks have threatened to launch an offensive to kill the very people on the ground that protected american troops and fought the fight against isis. so i ask the american people, how do they feel about betraying our allies who did most of the fighting for us against isis? host: the headline from "the washington post," "the syria pullout alarms allies in iraq and hardens foes." joe is in oklahoma. good morning. caller: one, thank god for president trump preventing us from heading down the path of venezuela. the guest on your program praising the socialists like macron and trudeau, i that he did not have the same objection whatever obama pulled the troops out of iraq. basically, trump is saving us as a nation from the deep state that is now being uncovered, rather than what we had is hillary and people like your guest were in control. host: thank you. guest: listen, i'm very proud of the position i take as an american who has spent my caree

the fact that there are remaining isis sympathizers or isis militants on the ground, not organized as military units or controlling territory, iso probablything that would have vexed any u.s. withdrawal at an point because the goal of actually exterminating everyone in syria who has isis ideology ricochetinaround his or her brain is simply going to be impossible. i think, you know, the administration-- two administrations, really-- working in series, uein seqe, have put an end to the islamic caliphate. that's a major achievement, and it was an achievement that was widely expected because the correlation of forces was so skewed in favor of the alliance that wasighting isis. but the ideologyn ca't be extermated. it will be around and getting rid of that ideology is not going to be a military mission. d e fact is the uniates has dropped its aid program for the reconstruction of syria in areas where isis had been operating. unless those people get the support they need to rebuild their lives and thir towns, thel isis iy will remain a serious problem. it the always be there. >> yang: so, m

, not the death of isis, but destruction of isis is that it has stopped a lot of that -- of that sort of radicalization. and so this idea that isis had -- threat to western europe or the united states is just a hysterical factually inaccurate and assumes that isis can't reform. i think what people -- look. ideology like isis don't die. right? they will exist. we still know they exist. how we win is that that we make that philosophy not successful in terms of attacks and in terms of ownership of land, so that the ideology withers at the vine. and that is what we were doing with isis and both, you know, mattis and mcgurk sort of are saying, you know, this sort of decision by the president is premature and reckless, and almost everyone agrees with that, including our allies. >> one of their last joint media vable availabilities, dunford and mcgurk said isis is a clandestine organization and other cells popping up in the area that were cleared by u.s. forces but this ideology they still have to fight and the commitment of that beyond the commitment on the ground we will have to see how th

withdrawal could give isis new life. south carolina senator lindseygr am: >> if we do in fact withdraw, the biggest winners are going to be iran, isis, assad. the biggest losers i think are going to be the people of syriao ntially america if isis comes back and projects forcend again,ur allies. >> yang: but at least one republican, kentucky senator. rand paul, bactrump. >> i'm very supportive of the president's declaration, i'm very supportive of bringing the troops home. >> yang: the decision wi p also likelylease turkish president recep tayyip erdogan, who is threening to attack the u.s. backed kurdish fighters in syria. ( translated ): until the last terrorist in the region is neutralized, we will comb through syrian territory inch by inch.id >> he hey're tied to a kurdish separatist group in turkey. late today, white house ulofficials said that be up to the pentagon. t no views on president trump's decision to withdraw forces from syria. retired general john allen served as the special presidential eoy for the global

isis. two years after he falsely claimed that president obama was responsible for isis' rise -- >> isis is honoring president obama. he is the founder of isis. he's the founder of isis. okay? he's the founder! he founded isis. and i would say the co founder would be crooked hillary clinton. co founder. >> reporter: trump is now facing criticism that he has abandoned u.s. allies in the region who are still fighting to crush the terror group. even as he insists they have already been defeated, telling reporters -- >> we have knocked them out. we have knocked them silly. >> reporter: all of this unfolding amid an avalanche of problems on the home front, including a partial government shutdown that the president isn't backing down from. trump telling reporters in iraq that the border wall must be funded. >> do whatever it takes. we're going to have a wall. >> reporter: while 800,000 federal workers spend the holidays in uncertainty due to the partial government shutdown, the president complaine

he's the founder of isis. he's the founder. he founded isis. and i would say the co-founder would be crooked hillary clinton. co-founder. >> so if you can follow the president's logic during the campaign, he essentially said it was president obama's decision to pull out of iraq that led to the founding of isis and that's why he was the creator of isis. elise, is history repeating himself to a certain degree with president trump's decision here in syria? couldn't this lead to the same sort of situation that he criticized president obama for? >> well, i think that's a big concern, ryan. when he said that he founded -- this was like a glib remark about president obama and hillary clinton. there was, if you remember, a lot of criticism of the obama administration for failing to see the signs of this group that kept gaining steam and gaining strength and before you knew it, they had amassed power of a whole swath of both syria and iraq. i think that there was a lot of responsibility placed on the obama administration. i think the fear is right now t

we defeated isis. but now you have the hawks in the administration and throughout congress saying, now we have to wait until russia and iran leave syria. that was never our goal, it's never going to happen. >> brennan: well that was the goal articulatedyhe nional security advo the president,ohn btoit toal -- it was never -- that's a new goal. that's what you call mission creep. the mission has now changed, if we're going to wait until iran leaves and russia leaves, the president told them that's not his mission, that was this r never the mission, the mission was to wipe out isis and we did succeed. and the thing is, it's incredibly bold to win a war and come home. that's what the people want. if you poll the american people, it's 60 to 70% of people ready to get out of afghanistan. i'll bet you the same of syria if you ask the people. it's only the people in washington that arm chair general, is that want to keep us at war forever and people, americans are tired of it.o cre, roads, bridges here at home

the remnants of isis. can match therth strength of american soldiers, airmen and marines. , even in even close terms of our equipment. we make the greatest equipment in the world, whether missiles, ships or anything that you want to name. we have the greatest in the world. , the new f-35, the super at 18. we make the greatest equipment and the world. you strike fear into the hearts of our enemies and bring comfort to all of our allies and those who cherish peace. we want peace. the best way to have pieces eace is strength -- p through strength. we are stronger than ever and very soon, when that equipment it is beingg -- made now -- there will be nobody in history that is even close. american and coalition forces have had one military victory after another over the last two years against isis, including the retaking of postal -- mosul. thanve liberated more 20,000 square miles of territory. 20,000 acres is a lot. think about what 20,000 square miles -- it is a lot. this was all formally held i isis and libe

they took k the fight to isis. i feel l like this is also a lessonon that the pyd shouould e rerealized because any partnersp with t the u.s. -- it buburns. this is somemething that we are seenen in history time and time again. a lot of u.s. allies throughout the e 20th cenry andndeyeyond to get burned. care abouttends to a self f and sells you u out. at this is something that most superpowers dodo. the pyd is learning a a harsh lesssson. .my: you mentioned the kurds many are talalking about convnversations the president hs , the presidentgan of turkey, who went behind-the-scenes around the murder of khashoggi with erdodon putting out the video of his saudi hit team in istanbul. concernsare erdogan's about the u.s. working with the kurds in syria, and what a are turkey'ss plalans now? concern forrdogan's the turks ---- w we need undersd histstory. ththere is a long, dark hihiston termrms of dealing with kurdish rights andnd kurdish representation. a the pyd, as a force of kurdish force that is militarily strong and

the president wants to finish the job regarding isis. i share his goal to withdraw our forces from syria. i want to do it in the right way. making sure that iran is not the big winner. after discussions with the president, i have never felt better about where we are headed. we are slowing things down in a smart way but the goal has always been the same. be able to leave syria and make sure that isis cannot come back, make sure our partners are taking care of, and iran is contained. thannk it will take longer everybody thought but i think we will get there. >> [indiscernible] >> i think the president has come up with a plan with his generals that makes sense to me. the goal is to make sure that isis does not come back. we left iraq to soon. we had them on the ropes and we left too soon. the president is very committed to making sure that when we leave syria, isis is completely defeated and we are inside the 10 yard line. and the iran-kurd situation has to be dealt with. i think we are in a positive situation. we are reevaluating what is t

ground troops where isis still controls territory. leaving the pentagon, which does not believe isis has been completely defeated, scrambling to did evise a way to get them of harm's way. >> this clearly sends a message to moscow and tehran that syria and, frankly, bigger parts of the middle east, are yours. >> there is confusion on all fronts. several allies caught unaware. on tuesday, the state department was adamant, the isis fight is not done. >> we've made significant progress. recently in the campaign. and -- but the job is not yet done. >> an official dod estimate says there may be up to 30,000 isis fighters in iraq and syria. just days ago, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff said the u.s. was not close to finishing its task of training local forces to fight isis. >> we estimate, for example, about 35 to 40,000 local forces have to be trained and equipped in order to provide stability. we're probably somewhere along the line of 20% through the training of those forces. but with regard to stabilization, we still have a lo

once we were there we had to stay and win founder of isis for allowing isis to rise up. since tesco because of obama's decision, isis carried out a hundred and 43 attacks and killed more than 2,000 people and injured tens of thousands more having campaigned against that, having pledged and then re-defeated isis, why would he make the same mistake that barack obama made? by pulling all of our troops out, taking our boot up the terrorist neck and allowing them and al qaeda to have a safe haven in syria. it makes no sense. >> bret: 67 u.s. service members have died fighting isis broadly in a number of different countries. not specifically from syria. the russia statement about this decision came out. a milestone story which might involve this decision is a real prospect for a political solution. hope emerges, this will follow the example of other syrian towns and villages which begin getting back to peaceful life. once americans were there, there was no such hope. there was also no such hope really of protecting those syrian kurds who people like president erdogan would lik

isis is an idea. to go out and declare victory and do it in a way where you are doing foreign policy via tweet, you are doing a video in the rose garden where you are not being asked questions, it's a publicity stunt and a campaign. at the end of the day it's going to make us less safe. our allies are not very happy, and the british foreign office coming out in a diplomatic way, but this is not true. >> on the flip side, if you believe as the president does and so many people who voted for him that we can't be the world's police officers forever, what is the alternative? to stay in syria, to have troops in syria forever. >> we are not police officers when it comes to syria, we are a 73-nation coalition fighting isis in syria. we are doing a small part of the mission on the ground and supporting the other military functions that the coalition members are doing. if the president disagrees with the generals, he could decide to with draw troops from syria because he feels like doing so. the problem is the

. >> we have won against isis. so our boys, our young women, our men, they're all coming back and they're coming back now. we won and that's the way we want it and that's the way they want it. >> reporter: u.s. forces have beaten isis far back. u.s. officials say the group has lost 99% of its territory with more than 60,000 fighters killed. when are the roughly 2,000 u.s. forces in syria coming home? it's unclear. the pentagon issued a statement saying the campaign against isis is not over, but is transitioning to a new phase, but gave no specifics. we were on the front lines in syria last spring with u.s. and kurdish troops after they took back the isis capital raqqah. this is the main square in the center of raqqah today. isis used this place for public beheadings, even crucifixions. u.s. commanders told us repeatedly, unless isis is completely defeated -- and it is not yet -- the group could return. >> if trump withdraws from syria and they do come back, like i think they will, he'll be one of the reasons they c

military role against isis. defense official saying the pentagon is preparing for rapid withdrawal of all u.s. forces in syria. the president tweeting this morning, quote, we have defeated isis in syria. my only reason for being there. about 2,000 u.s. troops still on the ground and mostly helping train kurdish rebels and while isis has been diminished, the militants still control considerable territory. cnn pentagon correspondent barbara starr, we know the generals don't believe this fight is fully won but the commander in chief disagrees. >> you'd be hard pressed to find a top commander to say isis is defeated. in fact, just a few days ago, the chairman of the joint chief said only a small number of the u.s. backed forces in syria had been trained. they had a long way to go. a big question now, is it in fact the troops all come out and what will happen to those backed militia forces behind and u.s. supported in the fight against isis? that is one question. the other question, what about russia and iran? now un

the mission had been to defeat isis. tough as that may be, given that isis is essentially an ideology. officials will tell you, there are still thousands of isis operatives and loyalists, especially in syria, where the u.s. has been trying to push back against them, and trying to push back to a large extent by training local forces. and this is now one of the major questions. what will happen to the thousands of local forces that have been trained once those 6,000 u.s. troops on the ground are withdrawn. are they simply going to be abandoned, will they be isolated? what will happen as the syrian forces potentially move into these areas and operate against them? what if isis resurges on the ground, as is well expected they might? all of these questions tonight, but certainly one common thread. there is perhaps no one by the president that believes isis has been defeated. wolf? >> and barbara, the pentagon where you are, u.s. allies, they were all caught by surprise with this announcement. what are you learning? >> caught

of will not fight isis i mean it's a very dangerous situation for u.s. soldiers in this chaos to withdraw from syria because that nobody knows exactly what's going to happen turkey could attack the regime could do something it's very very unclear situation now but both the guests in washington d.c. and in moscow have said that this is a tactical change that there will still be support full syrian kurds a just will take a different shape are you still cynical. so cynical because in the past. and on the the coalition it was quite clear what the policy was but now there's a sudden but roll so now it's very unclear what's going to happen before it was clear but this decision is made by the us president this it's against the policy of the pentagon this against the policy of the state department is going against all the advice of his advisors like francis defense secretary so i think this is leading to a lot of instability and chaos in the region while for instance they could have taken two years to have like a face with raul to reach some form of accommodatio

support for isis or against isis and what they'll do without the u.s. president striking isis in syria. i think the headlines will be quite confused as to what the president's doing, especially if he's not actually consulting with allies on the ground. >> we're in a very different situation, general kimmitt, than we were when we were in vietnam or when we did some very short military wars under president george bush. we are in a situation where we have the longest wars in history, our longest engagements in history. and frankly, on a day h-to-day basis, unlike when walter cronkikro cronkite used to come up during the vietnam war and we would see the faces of those who were lost, it's not something inform their minds every day, even as so many americans continue to put themselves in harm's way. so what would you want the average american to take away from this, as we see the faces of the people who are away from their loved ones in this holiday season. >> again, wii think the standar answer and the right answer is that the president cares. he cared about

the president wants to finish the job regarding isis. i share his goal to withdraw our forces from syria. i want to do it in the right way. making sure that iran is not the big winner. after discussions with the president, i have never felt better about where we are headed. we are slowing things down in a smart way but the goal has always been the same. be able to leave syria and make sure that isis cannot come back, make sure our partners are taking care of, and iran is contained. i think it will take longer than everybody thought but i think we will get there. >> [indiscernible] >> i think the president has come up with a plan with his generals that makes sense to me. the goal is to make sure that isis does not come back. we left iraq to soon. we had them on the ropes and we left too soon. the president is very committed to making sure that when we leave syria, isis is completely defeated and we are inside the 10 yard line. and the iran-kurd situation has to be dealt with. i think we are in a positive situation. we are reevaluating wha

isis isn't defeated. we're defeating them, but what this is going to do if the president follows through on it is double or triple the size of isis probably overnight and it's very sad. >> so why do you say isis hasn't been defeated? because that was his specific claim today. >> yeah, well, we know by numbers that there's still at least i've heard some estimates as low as 2,000, and some estimates as high as 20,000 or 30,000. as long as there's one member of isis, we're going to have to continue this fight. you know, fighting terrorism is not a choice we have. it's a choice that terrorists make on our behalf. what we do have a choice about is where we fight them. do we fight them in syria? do we fight them in iraq? do we find them in their home area or do we fight them here on the streets of new york or d.c. or channahon, illinois? that's the question. if the president follows through on what he said and we leave syria, that fight is going to move somewhere else because they're not going anywhere. >> and

leaving, because they'll have to fight isis and others without us. he's not saying that isis is defeated today, he's saying it will have to be up to others. he d. when national security officials say isis has inspired and directed attacks, and at the president says isis hits is, they are doomed, which is exactly why military leaders and national security leaders says we are there in it is first place to keep them from hitting us here. the president has received limited backup on his decision from a handful of lawmakers, and as you highlighted vladimir putin as well, who called the decision the right decision and when asked about whether isis has been defeated putin says donnell is right, and i agree with him. >> my goodness, i need some help with this. kevin barron, eddie long, and bret stephe bret stephens, thank you. kevin, i need you to help us understand this first, for those of us who syria has not been on our mind, walk us through it so we are reminded of the importance of t. >> syria i think is the shining success story if you're a special ope

this was all formerly held by isis and liberated more than three million civilians from isis' blood thirsty control. the men and women stationed atal asad -- at al asad have played a vital role in the military defeat of isis in iraq and syria. because of these gains, our service members in syria can now return home to their families. some will come here for a stay. but a lot of them are going to be going back home where they want to be with their families. they've done a fantastic job. originally years ago they came here, and it was supposed to be for three to four months, and that was a long time ago. that was many years ago. but what a job you have done, what a job they have done. i made it clear from the beginning that our mission in syria was to strip isis of its military strongholds. we're not nation-building. rebuilding syria will require a political solution. and it's a solution that should be paid for by its very rich neighboring countries. not the united states. let them pay for it. and they will. finish they -- they will. in fact, saudi arabia yesterday, you probably realize, step

my question is about the enduring defeat of isis. i think one of the most important factors that isis used is the grievances. while wee guarantee are not doing unintended consequences? i just heard from the council pushing back on certain of the programs that the government is trying to put together, essential services and others, they have their own agenda and stuff like that. how can we really make sure that we are not getting into the same trap that could be probably to start with have brought isis into the area? and then let's just get the last question as well. we have that one and then the other. , matthew kennedy. recently finished a masters degree in chinese politics and this is kind of an odd question. ambassador, what are the chinese interests in the current process and what role have they been playing in the situation? amb. jeffrey: let me start with stabilization. nobody knows how to do this. [laughter] amb. jeffrey: many times, we are successful enough to keep the state or the area from falling back or somebody else's su

pullout could lead to a resurgence in isis. it could lead to isis rebuilding their international attack capability. we perhaps saw this videotape play out before in 2010, 2011 with the u.s. withdrawal of troops from iraq. after that we saw isis building up its operations, storming into mosul and into other areas taking control of much of iraq and syria. fast forward to late 2018. isis is down but very much not out inside syria. it still has thousands of fighters inside syria, thousands of fighters inside iraq. it has a presence in a number of pockets inside syria, notably in the euphrates river valley region near the iraqi border in and around the town of ha shin. there have been kurdish fighters in that area in recent weeks. last week they managed to take control of the urban center, and they were set to push into the surrounding countryside into the rural areas around there where much of the isis high command is believed perhaps to be hiding possibly includining a bu back baghdad bee. will he and other senior isis commanders,

, the remnants of isis, and to turkey. >> right. so this is something that foreign leaders seem to be growing more and more adept at as the trump administration approaches the end of the second year, which is if they know what the president's underlying instincts are they can often exploit that and basically manipulate him by playing right into that. so everyone knows that trump wanted to pull out of syria and was basically being talked into staying by his advisers. so erdogan gets on the phone with trump and says essentially, look, you are supposed to only be there to fight isis, isis is basically defeated and, do you know what, i will give you my word as a friend, we will finish off the islamic state for you. that's according to a description of what erdogan said, provided to nbc news yesterday by senior white house official. and trump essentially says, all right, do you know what, fine, you finish off isis and we will go home. now, what all national security experts who have been following this know is that in addition to the isl

my question is that the enduring defeat of isis. how can we guarantee we are pushing toward programs while not doing unintended consequences. they are pushing back on certain programs they are government is trying to put together. they have their own agenda. we makewe make sure sure we're not getting into the same trap? collect the last question. kennedy, refinishing the master's degree in chinese politics. what are the chinese interests in the current process and what role have they been playing in the whole situation? pamela me start with stabilization. as someone who is spent a for amount of the last 20 years -- nobody knows how to do this. many times we are successful enough to keep the state or the area from falling back -- from following back into the same old environments, the same old dysfunctionality, the same old chaos going into the first place. it's a question of money, but we have a great deal of money in iraq. we were successful in constitution. they were successful in assisting the iraqis. bringing a democratic system

the coalition liberated the isis-held territory, but the campaign against isis is not over. >> the white house is struggling to articulate the withdrawal plan. they cannot say how many troops have come home or the timeline or when other personnel will leave. an administration official referred all questions to the pentagon and the pentagon referred them right back to the white house. >> the president ordered to withdrawal all troops is being met with universal condemnation. there are a lot of reasons why. we have nima elbagir with more from london. you know, everybody scratching their heads this came up out of nowhere. saying it is impulsive. what is behind this foreign policy decision? >> reporter: it is no secret that the president has signalled in the past he is keen to withdrawal from syria and he is keen to not repeat the mistakes of president obama, as he put it. this is something the key allies within the anti-isis coalition have been fighting. this is something which is a concern of conversations with the president and the egyptian president erdogan. this is a kurdish force which

mission in syria is far from over in large part because as was pointed out isis may be territorially contained but he said it would be naive to assume that they are completely defeated and we don't actually know how many isis fighters still exist the estimates range between two thousand and thirty thousand that's a huge range of people who might still be out there fighting for the so-called islamic state and even some people in trump's own party have been pushing back we saw one senator saying that this would be an obama like a mistake referencing the two thousand and eleven when president president obama also announced that he would be withdrawing troops from syria so not a lot of unity here but possibly just something that president trump wanted to say that he was able to accomplish during just the first two years of his term my shrader reporting from washington thank you i want to tell you now about some of the other stories making news around the world. the european commission has revealed plans to handle a no deal drugs while these include measures to avoid disruption in key sec

he promised to destroy isis. he is going to keep that promise but we are not there yet, but as i said we are inside the 10 yard line and the president understands the need to finish the job. he is worried about iranian influence and potential dangers of israel from having a superhighway from beirut to tehran in terms of delivering weapons into lebanon. he will we talking to turkey about making sure that we do not have the turks and their allies the kurds. i like what i've heard and we still have some differences, but i will tell you that the president is thinking long and , how tout syria withdraw our forces, but at the same time, secure our national security interests which is to make sure that isis is destroyed , they never come back, that our allies the kurds are protected, and i feel pretty good about where we are headed and i told the president that his trip to iraq was much appreciated. i think he learned a lot and i certainly learned a lot from him today. on multiple fronts, the president is in a good mood

will isis make

isis isn't defeated. we're defeating them, but what this is going to do if the president follows through on it is double or triple the size of isis probably overnight and it's very sad. >> so why do you say isis hasn't been defeated? because that was his specific claim today. >> yeah, well, we know by numbers that there's still at least i've heard some estimates as low as 2,000, and some estimates as high as 20,000 or 30,000. as long as there's one member of isis, we're going to have to continue this fight. you know, fighting terrorism is not a choice we have. it's a choice that terrorists make on our behalf. what we do have a choice about is where we fight them. do we fight them in syria? do we fight them in iraq? do we find them in their home area or do we fight them here on the streets of new york or d.c. or shanahan, illinois? that's the question. if the president follows through on what he said and we leave syria, that fight is going to move somewhere else because they're not going anywhere. >> and i

we have won against isis to those who say we have defeated isis in syria that is a inaccurate statement we've beaten them. to syria's territorial integrity should be respected by everyone. and we've been badly the presidents of us troops in syria is not legitimate human and now it's time for our troops to come back home i believe it is a catastrophic mistake we have not yet eradicated isis total darkness from the president and his national security team well tell you what the plan is there is no plan. also coming up tonight before he returned to earth the german astronaut alexander garrett recorded a message for his future grandchildren an apology for the kind of planet that we are set to leave behind. when looking down to earth i feel that i have to apologize. it looks like my generation is not going to leave the planet in the best shape. i wish i could look into the future with your eyes. look into your world and understand how you see it. we begin the day with u.s. president wrongs announcement that u.s. troops are leaving syria the decision yesterday called almost everyone off guard

isis is not destroyed, and we have seen signs of increased activity by isis. so we have to be there. whether or not this is a time -- that is left for them to really decide at that point. >> leland: we will read about this coverage tomorrow morning in "the wall street journal," a chance to dissect some of the things of the president said. we appreciate some things that you have said. in "the wall street journal," the stock market is soaring today. i haven't been able to say those words for a while. and alive look, and with that we bring in christina, reporting live from the new york stock exchange. >> i was here on christmas eve, and you are seeing this swing into business days is incredibl incredible. some are asking why it's moving on some say, i have no idea. it could be attributing it to sales, and it could also be the strength in oil that we have been talking about over the last little while because oil is still relatively low, below $45 u.s. per barrel. and the other major mover and is, it's the end of the year. you often have a lot of rebalancing of pen

he's the founder of isis, okay? he's the founder. he founded isis. he's the founder of isis. i do. he was the most valuable player. i give him the most valuable player award. i give her too by the way. >> but he's not sympathetic to them. he hates them. >> i don't care. he was the founder. the way he got out of iraq, that was the founding of isis. obama is the founder of isis. the founder. barack obama is the founder of isis. because of his weak policies and because he failed -- he failed -- because he failed to get them out, because he failed to do something about it. >> i wanted to play that just so folks could see, number one, that's hypocrisy because he's basically doing the same thing he accused the former president of. but also does it matter because doesn't the buck stop with the president, what everyone else about him says? >> that's exactly it but what have we been seeing for two years? you could argue there was a national security council. there were people he picked that did try to emit strategy and messages about what we were doing all around the world, whether it was i

phil, what does this mean for the war on terror and isis? >> we're confusing two questions here, one is the president's decision to pull out, the policy. question two is how we do t i think it's debatable and i would support the president in terms of saying maybe it's time to get out of syria, but you don't want -- let me give you a parallel to where we are in the vacation season. you don't want to be called on christmas morning to be told 15 people are coming to your house on christmas. you would like to say that's a great family reunion, but i would like to prepare for that. the question here is, how much time do we give the turks, kurdish allies, jordanians to prepare for this? it almost sounds like we made a policy decision and announced it via twitter. you can't do that, ana. >> trump did just tweet i had a long and productive call with president erdogan. we discussed isis, mutual involvement in syria and the slow and highly coordinated pullout of u.s. troops from the area. after many years they are coming home. we also discussed heavil

of will not fight isis i mean it's a very dangerous situation for u.s. soldiers and discards to withdraw from syria because that nobody knows exactly what's going to happen turkey could attack the regime could do something it's very very unclear situation now but both the guests in washington d.c. and in moscow have said that this is a tactical change that there will still be support full syrian kurds a just will take a different shape are you still cynical. so cynical because in the past. and on the the coalition it was quite clear what the policy was but now there's a sudden but roll so now it's very unclear what's going to happen before it was clear but this decision is made by the us president the it's against the policy of the pentagon this against the policy of the state department is going against all the advice of his advisers like frances defense secretary so i think this is leading to a lot of instability and chaos in the region while for instance they could have taken two years to have like a face with raul to reach some form of accommodation

support that iraq is good the defeat of defeated isis. to them of having washington d.c. what do you think without u.s. support may well come back this is what we seem to be hearing. well first of all i should have picked up my cell phone and called my colleague because i was in baghdad at that very time and i've been working with iraqis for many many years and my colleague from moscow is exactly right the iraqis are the ones that have done the fighting the iraqi military was swept off the battlefield and ran off the battlefield but it was able to be turned around primarily with the help of the militias and the u.s. support and what i would say is that's exactly what this plan will envision the united states did not do the fighting i spent a lot of time with the federal police in iraq and they had thousands and thousands of casualties but they were supported by american airstrikes american training and equipment and american intelligence and that's exactly what we're going to continue to do in syria the only difference is that we're pulling two thousand ground troops out

we've done a very, very major job on isis. >> we have defeated isis. >> intelligence shows that al qaeda has been alive and well and making inroads into vulnerable regions. >> weekly linkages from al qaeda in west africa to al qaeda in syria to al qaeda in south asia. so in my judgment they are trying to regain relic relevance. >> al qaeda is looking to make a comeback and reassert itself as the world's most high-profile terrorist group. it's been hit hard by the u.s.-led coalition's ground wars inside iraq and syria. their manpower in those countries has been decimated over the past several years. so instead, the group has turned its attention to aviation attacks. officials say first up on al qaeda's agenda is developing new technologies to take down passenger jets including bomb carrying drones, naturalized bombs, new chemicals and new explosion methods. terrorism experts tell fox news al qaeda is also focused on infiltrating airports. they're planning to get more jihadist operatives hired as airport employees giving them access to flight passenger info and planes. >> we don't have any

the remnants of isis. can match therth awesome strength of american soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines. nobody is even close. and nobody is even close in terms of our equipment. we make the greatest equipment in the world. whether it is missiles, ships, or anything you want to name, we have the greatest in the world. f-35,t fighters, the new the super f-18s. we have the greatest fighter jets and the world and we make the greatest equipment in the world. but you strike fear into the hearts of our enemies and bring comfort to all of our allies and those that cherish peace. and we want peace. and the best way to have peace is strength. when we are strong, we are going to have peace. when we are not strong, you know what happens. ande are stronger than ever very soon, when it all comes in, when the equipment keeps flowing. it is being made, much of it now, there will be no when in history even close. american and coalition forces have had one military victory after another over the last two years against i

ally against isis and elsewhere. there is a real at least talk that they could get slaughter and i wonder is that hyperbole or reality? >> let's look at the president and he had a conversation with the president of turkey. the turkish president said the turks would be able to finish off isis. to do that, they have to go through a lot of territory controlled by the kurds. i don't see the kurds letting that happen. if the turks come into northern syria, the kurds are going to stop fighting isis and they are going to defend themselves. isis is set up for a rebound. we are very, very close to eliminating isis in syria territorially. now is not the time to stop doing that. what the president is proposing plays into that. >> i noticed how you point out territorially. isis is not just militants, but a philosophy. what is the possible impact on isis if the troops just pull out? >> first on your question about the kurds being slaughtered. the turks tried to move in a separate part of syria where we didn't have proops and they

he's the founder of isis, okay? he's the founder. he founded isis. he's the founder of isis. i do. he was the most valuable player. i give him the most valuable player award. i give her too by the way. >> but he's not sympathetic to them. he hates them. >> i don't care. he was the founder. the way he got out of iraq, that was the founding of isis. obama is the founder of isis. the founder. barack obama is the founder of isis. because of his weak policies and because he failed -- he failed -- because he failed to get them out, because he failed to do something about it. >> i wanted to play that just so folks could see, number one, that's hypocrisy because he's basically doing the same thing he accused the former president of. but also does it matter because doesn't the buck stop with the president, what everyone else about him says? >> that's exactly it but what have we been seeing for two years? you could argue there was a national security council. there was a cabinet. people he picked. there were people he picked that did try to emit strategy and messages about what we were doing

we have won against isis to those who say we have defeated isis in syria that is a. we've beaten them yet syria's territorial integrity should be respected by everyone. and we know badly if the presence of u.s. troops in syria is not legitimate humans and now it's time for our troops to come back home i believe it is a catastrophic think we have not yet eradicated isis total darkness from the president and his national security team but the plan is there is no plan. also coming up tonight before he returned to earth the german astronaut alexander garrett recorded a message for his future grandchildren and apology for the kind of planet that we are set to leave behind. when. i feel that i have to apologize. it looks like my generation is not going to leave the planet in the best shape. i wish i could look into the future with your eyes that look into your world and understand how you see it. we begin the day with u.s. president drums announcement that u.s. troops are leaving syria the decision yesterday called almost everyone off guard from berlin to london to inside