mattis. that, of course, is general jim mattis the highest ranking military officer to ever lead the defense department of the united states of america, a four star general with 40 years experience, including in iraq. it is a stunning letter, and it is a moment of history in this country to see a defense secretary say something like this to a president. kaitlan collins is "outfront" at the white house. kaitlan, it is a moment, such an important moment for this presidency, for this country. how did it go down today? >> reporter: we're told by sources that defense secretary mattis came to the white house this afternoon around 3:30 and he met with president trump in the oval office, just the two of them, one-on-one, and mattis tried to get the president to change his mind to withdraw u.s. troops from syria that abrupt decision that he made yesterday, but the president rebuffed him. he didn't agree and mattis said he was going to have to resign and he offered the president that letter that you've

mattis leaves in february. you're going to see a change of command in several key positions that was already scheduled. the head of central command who oversees the wars in the middle east and afghanistan is leaving this winter. the head of special operations command leaving this winter. the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff already scheduled to retire in october, his replacement will be general mark milley, the head of the army. general milley, a supporter of president trump, but also a man of the battlefield with lots of combat experience in afghanistan. he will be somebody who will have to answer a lot of tough questions about how can you take troops out of afghanistan? how can you not support alliances? how can you not support nato? how can you not support the afghan forces? are you not risking american security? because the fundamental question underlining all of this tonight, all of these decisions made by president trump is is this battlefield of terrorism being basically surrendered to isis, the tal

secretary mattis, retiring, no. secretary mattis is being pushed pout ther-- pushed out. there had been for weeks that jim mattis would never leave of his own will. this was someone who wanted to stay on the job through thick or thin. we had often talked to him in these hallways about it. privately he felt very strongly that he had come back, retired actually from military service, and had come back as secretary of defense to serve the troops. that is what he wanted to do. let's be very clear. he's pushed out. his influence had waned in recent weeks. there were several issues that he had lost out on. but, you know, as we think about this, it is this last issue, the issue. u.s. troops coming out of syria that perhaps is most instructive on this because the signals had been that mattis was not talking about this in public. when we would see him here in the press corps, his modus operandi is to talk to us about the decision-making, his views about. if he's been silent for days. he has not been seen around the pentagon, and that might have been the first sign that he was thin

i know secretary mattis was. what kind of morale problem we might have in the pentagon and in the military ranks? >> well, look, there is a tremendous structure of discipline and obedience built into the senior military officers. they won't in any way lose focus on what their priorities have to be. on the other hand, i think by enlarge, particularly in the ground combat units that are deployed, this will be badly received. it will be unsettling. by the way, i think the other place it ought to be badly received, there are only two people in national security that are vital to the safety of the american people. one is the secretary of defense, and the other is the homeland security secretary. the latter is probably about to go also. and so losing secretary mattis ought to be of concern not just to combat troops but also the american people. >> general mccaffrey, appreciate you coming on the phone and sharing a little bit with me there. thanks very much. let me go to jeremy bash himself. a former chief of staff to d

jim mattis came to this point. saying i've carried the fight in every battle i've been in, but i can't do this in the name of our country. >> you describe a series of decisions on america's greatest national security threats. russia, syria, afghanistan, north korea. is the president fit to be commander in chief in your view? >> in my judgment, no. i expressed this view to begin with publicly. i did not support him for the president. i felt that by training and background and temperament, that he was not fit for the job, and everything i've seen to date, not everything, i give him credit when he's been right and i give him credit for taking on china on multiple issues. but when it comes to the national security and the way he's dealing with our allies and betraying our interests, then i say no. >> secretary cohen, thank you. i feel it in your voice, and you've done your time there, thank you for sharing that with us. >>> joining us now, we have retired rear admiral john kirby, who served as spokesman during the obam

>> alisyn, i think secretary mattis' resignation is a loss for the administration, and mattis is somebody the men and women in uniform admire, and so he could go to the hill and advocate for the administration's policies. i do think that's a significant loss for the administration. on the shutdown, i feel like it was good to have the vote last night. it's good to have people on record on this. i hear the continued talking points that democrats favor border security but i don't think there's a record that supports that. unless you go back to 2006 when 80% of the conference voted for the construction of the wall, but i think the process has been very poor on all sides. we have not passed appropriation bills in this country for 20 years. >> i hear you, mark, but not speaking historically but just yesterday, did you think there was something particularly chaotic about the way it all unfolded? >> i think this is a process that should have played out long before yesterday. i mean, if the administration was going to continue to push for this vote, then this vote should have happened before we re

and the president told mattis so. the "60 minutes" interview saying that he may be a democrat, answering one question. i asked secretary mattis about his plans and whether he was going to step down. he said he was not going to tell me. i was going to be the last to know and what do you know, i was the last to know. he felt it was his service to the country, his duty to serve the president at the president's pleasure. he talked about a lot of important things happening around the world that he is integral in. it is going to be a challenge. there is obviously a right seat, left seat here for time for someone to be chosen and get up to speed. >> juan: bret, jason chaffetz has a question. >> obviously the person goes to who are the names that might be out there. i think one of the problems and challenges the problem is going to have is mattis was beloved on both sides of the aisle, house and senate. they were able to -- who can fill those shoes and have that same type of gravitas? >> bret: they are big shoes to fill. ther

it was jim mattis, "mad dog" mattis. he's good on the ground. but is he strategic enough. does he have enough policy making experience. suddenly because he and president trump parted way, he's an american hero. howie: heroism can be situational in the media. a tweet yesterday if anyone other than your favorite president announced we would be bringing home troops from syria, you would be prides, but hit hard by the mainstream media. crazy. gillian: what the president -- i hate doing this, what president trump really meant to say. but -- he feels he's been unfairly hammered. the obvious reality to anybody who pays attention to military policy is that there is never a good time to withdraw american troops from the midst of an ongoing civil war in another country. but if you don't make the decision. the obvious response from the trump administration should be, this is a hard choice. it's not an obvious choice. there are risks inherent inner decision we make. we said we would pull out and we are pulling out. howie: david sanger wrote trump's view cannot alter the fundamental ba

i need agamet general mattis be well. he was my senior trainer before i took a division in iraq and he was nothing short of a less than calming influence. he had the ability to chew butt with the best of them and was quite dynamic but what is interesting is the requirements for strategic leadership is to address your superiors, the people who are your bosses in different ways depending on their style. where he may have been forceful with president obama who was somewhat calm and didn't make the quickest of decisions and had to be forceful with president trump, he was proba y probably, i didn't see him but i would suggest he was very calming in his attempt to influence and talk him off the rails. to get to your question who is left? we lost some key figures in national security. we've lost some key figures within the cabinet. secretary mattis' resignation and his departure is much different and i want to make this point, too, don, that military officers throughout their career discuss resignations in their different school

james mattis thinks that is 100% wrongs. we will srong. >> i want to get your take on the issue of not going back into public service. that is final. how significant is that? he was considered as the favorite. who might replace mattis given all that has happened? >> i was the one who originally reported that jack was in contention. he was in contention now we see the policy going the way it is. i'm not surprised jack has taken himself out of contention. he is for american involvement in the middle east. here is the rumor intelligence as i got it from early this morning. we have deputy secretary of defense patrick shanahan. richard spencer. david mccormick. then a couple of dark horses that are being thrown about. jim talent. a former senator. dan coats. they are looking for someone who has been vetted. someone they can plug and play. that's all speculation and preliminary. it can all change tomorrow. the search has just begun. >> finding someone okay with the syria withdrawal is not okay. josh, great to have you here. >> tha

and mattis adds this. you have a right to have a secretary of defense whose views are better aligned with yours. so what will the president's reaction be to this stunning rejection today? we may soon find out. the president will be facing cameras for the first time since mattis' shocking announcement any minute now. will he address this? will he address the other crisis, the fast approaching government shutdown to hit tonight? we'll bring you his remarks when they happen. cnn's abby phillip is at the white house watching all of this along with us. president trump is set to be meeting with senate republicans right now. what are you hearing? >> well, kate, this hastily called meeting is supposed to be happening as we speak, although it's not clear exactly if they started on time. we saw mitch mcconnell coming in around 10:30. but we did hear reports, according to our ted barrett on capitol hill, that some senators and their staff were having trouble getting into the compound because they didn't have enough t

you liked that someone like mattis who trump called "mad dog" mattis. he was more thought of as a monk who was very interested in literature and academic and strategic and intellectual. they like it. this is a political blow to the president. the likes of which any departure has precipitated. >> i'm not sure the president realizes that yet, but it certainly is a major blow to him and republicans and those who support him need to increasingly decide, do they continue to dance with the one that brung them as we have been so far. or do they -- >> staggering. >> or do they begin to assume the role that mattis once did and try to act as the type of guardrails we've been waiting for republicans to do. >> you have a president who listens more to ann coulter than general mattis. think about that. >> heaven help us. alicia, thank you for being here. >>> robert mueller's job may have become even more difficult as the president recruits anti-mueller extremists to the justice department. how could that affect the possible subpoena fight over the president's testimo

mattis was among the first cabinet picks. >> general "mad dog" mattis. >> reporter: and now joins the ranks of departed top officials within the trump administration. the president tweeting, a new secretary of defense will be named shortly. kristen welker, nbc news, the white house. >> president trump's next step is to nominate a successor to james mattis who can be confirmed by the senate. last night it's majority leader mitch mcconnell issued a statement with a direct message to the president that echoed mattis' call to support our allies. i believe it's essential that the united states maintain and strengthen the post-world war ii alliances that have been carefully built by leaders in both parties. we must also maintain a clear-eyed understanding of our friends and foes and recognize that nations like russia are among the latter. i was sat to learn that secretary mattis who shares those clear principles will soon depart the administration. but i'm particularly distressed that he is resigning due to sharp differences with the president on these and other key aspects of america's glo

touch with mattis. he said he's going to hang in there. he thinks it's important for the country and thinks he's there, he's doing good. he will take a lot of blows and hang this there to prevent worse things from happening. for me the resignation is so important because it's not simply that he's discussed it about the syria decision or disappointed by it or even apalled by it. this means that mattis thought he could not stop a lot of other bad decisions from happening down the road. in afghanistan that's already going to happen. but all kinds of other places. mattis saw what was coming and thought i can't make a difference anymore. where he has swallowed an awful will the. he's told people he's going to stay for four years. he told friends of mine that as recently as this month. the fact that mattis felt he couldn't do any good anymore is. louzing him is bad, but. the fact that he felt he couldn't stay and do any good is even worse. >> casey hunt, losing mattis is bad enough. the way he resigned makes

he's really upset about james mattis. he put out a blistering statement in mitch mcconnell terms for the resignation of mattis. i wonder what will mcconnell do today? >> well, we'll see. we have been told to expect a vote around noon today. the presumption is the vote is going to fail. when it does, it is likely it will shut down. then it becomes how much pressure comes on trump and the government to reopen. the issue facing trump really, again, i was speaking to a white house official last night who said half in jest, but not really, that this shut down is keeping trump away from his golf course at mar-a-lago. he will not be happy sitting in the white house not golfing, watching the bad coverage on television that will start when the government shut downs. we don't know how mitch mcconnell is going to get out of it. >> when do you think, abbie, the president will leave the white house for march ra la house. >> the white house has committed he will stay here and sara sanders basically reiterated that this morning, but it

it's not just that mattis is a person of stature, and james mattis for a long time had been the person of a binkie for lack of better way of putting it for democrats and republicans for some sense of calm or guardrail within the administration, and i am not sure that was anything more than amirage, because the president did more of what he wanted to anyway. people have been able to delay the president but not dissuade him from what he really wanted. mattis would convince him, and i think it's hard for people who are increasingly, particularly in the republican-held senate, who have issues with the president's conduct -- we are going to hear a lot more of that in the last coming months when the house will have the investigations. >> mattis spelled it out for everybody. he wrote a letter. this wasn't a leak. this was not unnamed sources. >> no, he put his name to it. >> yeah, he said while the u.s. remains the indispensable nation in the world, we cannot serve that role effectively without maintaining strong alliances and showing respect to our allies. that's his version of sounding an a

but how petty is it of the president to nuance on twitter that mattis is retiring knowing that mattis was resigning in protest? >> it's incredibly petty. it's of a piece with tweeteding that rex tillerson is dumb as a rock or stone. it's tweeting omarosa is a dog. this is the way our president amazingly behaves. this one, though, is so silly because within hours we knew that tweet was meaningless. we had this letter that mattis wrote which was so soulful and heartfelt and which has a very subdued tone, which is one of the things that gives it such impact and authority. but if you read that letter, it's very clear he's resigning in protest. he's very clearly rebuking the president. and so trump's tweet in retrospect just looks like the silly wishful thinking of a child thinking he could make his spin win the day. >> general mattis was asked if there was a situation in which he'd resign over bad orders. he said "had i ever been asked to do something unethical immoral or felony stupid of course you'd owe it to yourself. you'd owe it to your troops." then he argued for the innate wisdom o

by the time i mifinished it, mattis was resigning. mattis was out. what does the president's latest move on syria, afghanistan, the fact that mattis could not stomach it, as barbara just laid out, anymore, what does it tell you about the state of affairs? >> well, poppy, thank you. i think first of all, this is a day that america's allies had been dreading and fearing and hoping wouldn't come for the entire almost two years of the trump presidency. this is a worst-case scenario from their point of view. i have to tell you, even i was very shocked yesterday. the reason is not that i knew there was a rift, obviously, between president trump and secretary mattis for a long time, but i had been assured, as i'm sure many others had been, by sources close to mattis for a long, lawn time, that he would not leave unless there was some absolutely unbridgeable gap or something absolutely directly that he was ordered to do by president trump that struck at a matter of principle. in that sense, it's a worst-case scenario. and i feel like we can't underscore enou

however you felt or feel about james mattis, secretary mattis, general james mattis, he was the bulwark between impulse and stability in this administration. he was the last person left who could tell an impetuous president slow your roll. hold your horses. cool your jets. you don't want to do that. so tonight a political earthquake is rolling through washington as the trump administration sinks further into chaos. defense secretary james mattis, hailed as a great military leader, is resigning after the president falsely claimed isis is defeated and announced he is withdrawing troops from syria. mattis also knows that that is a false and dangerous position for the united states military to take. he is also said to be against the president's expected order to withdraw about half of u.s. forces from afghanistan as well. now, in this country the president of the united states is commander in chief of the u.s. armed forces. that is the way it works. it's momentous. it requires a steady hand, a sense of responsibility for the lives of our young men and women in uniform, and adherence to the

however you felt or feel about james mattis, secretary mattis, general james mattis, he was the bulwark between impulse and stability in this administration. he was the last person left who could tell an impetuous president, slow your roll. hold your horses. cool your jets. you don't want to do that. so tonight, a political earthquake is rolling through washington as the trump administration sinks further into chaos. defense secretary james mattis, hailed as a great military leader, is resigning after the president falsely claimed isis is defeated and announced he is withdrawing troops from syria. mattis also knows that that is a false and dangerous position for the united states military to take. he has also said to be against the president's expected order to withdraw about half of u.s. forces from afghanistan as well. now, in this country, the president of the united states is the commander in chief of the u.s. armed forces. that is the way it works. it's momentous. it requires a steady hand, a sense of responsibility for the lives of our young men and women in uniform, and adherence

>> secretary mattis met with the president. they made the decision, and he won't leave for another couple of months but he wanted to make a decision today. amy: defense secretary james mattis resigns in protest as president trump orders the withdrawal of all u.s. troops from syria and 7000 troops, half the troops come out of afghanistan. we will speak to retired colonel andrew bacevich, author of "america's war for the greater middle east." then to the first step act. president trump is poised to sign a bipartisan bill to roll back sentences for federal prisoners in a major overhaul of the criminal justice system. >> we are not finished. it iss the first step. what i is the second step? to learn from this experience and a find a way to reduce incarceration while still reducing c crime rate in americ. amy: we will speak to van jones and jessica jackson sloan n of cut50, w which helped win suppot the legislation. and then we speak to democratic congresswoman nanette barragan who is just back from the u.s.-mexico border or she esc

jim mattis is the military defense professional. he is a soldier widely respected within the pentagon and u.s. armed forces and a great voice of reason, sanity, common sense and experience within this administration. and so his decision to leave, whether he was forced to or decided he could no longer abide by what is happening in this administration, is a great loss for our country. and it should be seen as a very worrisome development that mr. trump continues to take these rather irresponsible, repulsive and reckless actions to the development of national security. jim mattis is somebody who we all in previous administrations have greatly admired and respected. and we're very glad he was at the helm of the u.s. military as secretary of defense. so his departure is something i think we all should be concerned about. >> i want to read you a statement that was put out by mitch mcconnell who as you know very rarely breaks with the president in public. and he said i was particularly distressed that he meaning mattis was resigning on key

mattis. 84% approval rating, only 4% disapproval rating, twice the approval rating that donald trump had and so i'm just wondering, david, what are you hearing from your sources inside the military? what are you hearing from your sources inside the community about the public humiliation, not that anybody knows james mattis, he's just fine, but donald trump's attempt to publicly you hpublic publicly you had m humiliate a . >> that's part of trump's base. trump likes to say he's for a strong military and that he has military families backing him. there is no symbol of the military that's more powerful these days than general mattis. he looks like he was born a marine, born in that green marine uniform, and people watched him suffer this president and finally snapped, do something that was very unmattis like. mattis usually unflappable. he grits his teeth and gets on with it. he didn't this week, he resigned. i found that in conditioning among the diplomatic core, among recognizes who had been s

mattis that he was fired? >> well, yeah, he would stay in his post until relieved, until he was told he had to go. if you would have spoken to him recently, you would have gotten exactly the same message. i think the same thing is true of general kelly as a matter of fact. these people would serve the country and not an individual and would leave only if they were told they have to leave and general mattis put the best face on it. i think you're losing a person with extremely forward-thinking vision, somebody who is focused on the defense of the republic and it is difficult to envision somebody as good as he replacing him, ari. >> eleanor. >> well it is a sad day in america when a liberal like me says they're regretting the fact that mad dog mattis is leaving the administration. it was a nickname that he detested but he served this president as best he could and i think the country is in much less safe hands with his departure. after the president changed syria policy and announced that u.s. forces were victor

we are learning mattis will be leaving early. sources are telling fox news this is not general mattis' decision. he's being forced to leave early. the. he's forced to leave early because the president is aggravated with all the positive press he's getting. he wanted to insure an orderly transition of nato. en a'' she was told the president is annoyed by the positive coverage of mattis. shanahan worked for boeing for 30 years and is mattis' deputy. but he's not particularly snriewtd pentagon as being a good manager. so a big change again. this is something that was not done at mattis' request, but something that was sourced and had to do with the president not being thrilled with a lot of the coverage mattis has been receiving. all of this happening in the middle of the government shutdown. two of the key negotiators on the budget are vice president mike pence and budget director and incoming acting chief of staff mick mulvaney. the pair have visited capitol hill meeting with democratic senator chuck schumer. mulvaney says they ga

jim mattis is excellent. he's a wise sage -- >> they're all saying it. >> keeping donald trump from going off the rails. he's now resigning saying donald trump has gone off the rails so deeply that he cannot countenance being in the administration anymore. what do republicans in congress do. what does a branch of government meant to check an out of control president do when the person they said they trusted in the administration said you can no longer countenance being part of this? when do they -- we can talk all we want about how donald trump acts. but we know how he acts. he's acted this way the whole time. when do republicans in congress stand up and do their job? >> they went up to the white house today and came out having been fed this sandwich that they have to eat, and they just came out with this grin on their face like, oh, well, the president wants the wall. >> and they didn't have to do it. paul ryan, nothing to lose, he's got a few days left. >> yeah. >> he could have said -- >> they could have p

abc's martha raddatz has covered the middle east and has known mattis for years. >> secretary mattis is a man whose life has been about service and sacrifice. he cares deeply about our troops and this country. he said he would never leave the post as long as he felt his service to the president was valued and productive. that no longer was the case. it seems clear that the situation was intolerable for mattis. >> reporter: now, mattis and the president have also disagreed on the role of nato, the transgender ban announced on twitter, korea policy and the president's recent decision not only on syria and afghanistan but also to send u.s. troops to the border. mattis will officially leave the administration in february. kendis, janai. >> so many republicans and democrats expressing concern about that resignation. lana, thank you. >>> and former defense secretary william cohen says he's a friend of general mattis and spoke to him the night before he resigned. >> he tells cnn that mattis was most concerned about betraying our allies in syria. >> and i can tell you he was distraught just

mattis is leaving. the government's about to shut down and the president seems to be taking the lead of the hard right media listening to rush limbaugh slamming him for allowing the government to stay open without the wall being put up and ann coulter, my god. as was laura ingraham. explain why the president has elephant ears for the right wing media. >> it's a chaotic night here in the newsroom at the post, chris. i feel like we're rewriting tomorrow's story by the hour due to all of this turbulence, the changing story. the bottom line is that this is a president under siege, a president who governs in part by watching television to see where his base is going and he saw his base breaking with him on the eve of divided government and he's thrusting his government toward a shutdown to make a point, a political point that he's with his core voters. >> he's listening to the media, rich limbaugh, lead the people. is rush limbaugh the chicken or the egg here? is he telling his constituency where to go or is

mattis is there. it will be okay i think it is real lay watershed moment and the question is how is the president going to be to behaifr looking forward? so this is a huge development. i want to say that syria, you know, all of the complex military problems in the middle east none more so than syria. you at least two wars going on there. you the war against isis. you have the war for sort of eventual runningover syria and it wasn't clear what we were seeking in terms of an instinct. certainly this withdraw has left our allies bewildered and frankly our enemies quite pleased. >> putin says the move is correct because u.s. troops aren't needed. all of this sparking a resignation. what's your reaction? >> you know you're doing something wrong when putin says they are doing it right. >> can you put that in perspective what a big deal that is? >> well, russia and iran are both there for their own. russia wants warm water ports which they otherwise can't have. they don't want that bottled up in the black se

not what james mattis did. said what i disagree with the president about is recognizing enemies, protecting friends and i'm signing this just james mattis, no respectfully. that letter is a warning that mattis thinks there is something not different between the two points of view but untrustworthy, unreliable, unpatriotic about the president's point of view. >> look at quote from the l.a. "times" tonight, comes from republican senator conversation. think of trump as sitting on island said a top aide to pro-trump senator who requested anonymity, every story like mattis, syria, shutdown is waive that erodes the beach. how much will be left when tidal wave hits? >> bob corker is retiring. been on this show and many others, expressed much his anxiety about what is happening. saying nothing that hasn't been said but they're fearful. >> number of republican lawmakers railing against all the chaos, saying hey yeah, going to vote to extend the cr, add $5 billion towards it? could argue that republicans capitulated to t

mattis. but he also knew that this sense of chaos is huge and of very serious concern. i think that's why he went immediately to shanahan rather than having some other person or perhaps keeping mattis a little longer. shanahan is someone who has been approved by the senate. i think the president here today is is, amazingly enough, doing sort of a responsible thing. >> you just heard a downplay to all the chaos, but is this what it looks like when a president disrupts the norms of d.c.? >> it's the president disrupting the norms but it's also a president more and more isolated from, i think, his political and personal inner circle and certainly a good chunk of congress, i imagine. i think to some extent there is some connection between the shutdown & tand the shanahan appointment and announcement, because if he's losing respect to the wall, maybe he thinks there is something he can gain from this space force. there is discussion around where this space force should be around the pentagon. mayb

you for joining how big a loss to the will theration -- general mattis' departure? >> think a big loss. he helped them with nato and t but i don't know how many eithet insults or prons of advice secretary mattis could take. you may recall that when the entire national security apparatus of the unitestates said t russians attacked us and they deliberrfely try to ine and did interfere in the election system from the president said "i believe president pin" rather than the intelligence committee. enecretary mattis and others recommended not going forward in north korea until there was an ement on what each side meant by the terms, that was rejected. he was upset thapresident chose to send troops pending thanks giving to the border. i think it was just a straw too heavy for him to bear -- namely, to rejected the recommendation aboukeeping a sufficient force to really defeat is as opposed to this false declaration that we won and now it is we arin tired of figand it is somebody else's burden. that was one-mile too far for him to walk given his courage in his battle exper

so, yes, i am shaken by the resignation of general mattis. what it means to our country, for the message it sends to our troops and for the indication of what his view is of the commander in chief. [inaudible conversations] >> less safe without mattis running -- [inaudible] should they be fearful? >> look, our military soldiers, the 2.5 disease 2.15 million of them, our civilian employees and defense looked up to general mattis. i'm sure they feel it's a great loss. i'm sure most americans feel it's a great loss. and everything like that happens, the resignation of a strong leader, gives the american people less and less faith in president trump and the way he governs. >> it's just all the more reason for us to pray for our country. our country has been blessed in so many ways by leaders throughout the centuries, decades. and some of them, one of them, general mattis. this is a very sad day for our country. read his letter. have you read his letter? read his letter. and examine the activities that have led up to it and what it means. because

that means james mattis quit under protest. he talked in that letter about the need to support alliances and about the need to support u.s. interests around the world at the time when president trump is taking a much more isolationist view and believes the u.s. does not have a frontline role anymore in fighting terror groups like isis. alison, dave. >> barbara starr, thank you. secretary mattis' decision stunned capitol hill. one who supports this president wondering whether the wheels may be coming off. after reading the resignation letter, we recommend you read it, marco rubio tweeted it is clear we are headed toward a number of grave policy errors. he calls on people who support president trump to persuade him to choose a different direction. >> democrats are shaken. mark warner tweeting this. this is scary. national defense is too important to be subjected to the president's erratic whims. also weighing in is william cohen. >> our remember takes has been called into question. the president can say i made a campaign promise.

for secretary defense mattis. i also think that secretary mattis is probably discouraged today to see the media reaction to his resignation. >> explain that. >> he would be the first to tell you that the graveyard is filled with indispensable men. he comes from an organization that always prepares to have the leader taken off the battlefield. he's been taken off the battled field. i think he is probably dismayed with what we're seeing inside the media. now, regarding policy difference -- >> wait a second. what about coming from people in the foreign policy, national security world who have serious concerns as well as republican lawmakers. do you think he would be shoving those away too? >> what i say to all of those people is i know you have policy differences but if we're pulling out from syria, are you prepared to send your sons and daughters in there to take mare place. >> as it relates to military men and women on the groupnd, how d you see this affecting them? do you think this is breaking through? >> jim mat

general james "mad dog" mattis. he doesn't lose. >> reporter: the rift between the president and defense secretary mattis had been building for some time. according to a senior defense official, some in the pentagon say the president had stopped listening to mattis a long time ago. in his letter, mattis also brings up, quote, china and russia, writing, quote, i believe we must be resolute and unambiguous in our approach to those countries whose strategic interests are increasingly intentioned with ours. the president seeming to rebut that line this morning via twitter writing, quote, there has never been a president who has been tougher but fair on china or russia. never. just look at the facts. >> if putin likes donald trump, i consider that an asset, not a liability. >> reporter: the american troop withdrawals, along with mattis' resignation have left america's allies in europe and across the globe stunned. >> this is a day that america's allies have been dreading and fearing. and hoping wouldn't come. >> reporter

cohen: i suspect that secretary mattis would say, mr. president, we have made tremendous gains against isis. we are not there yet. still0,000, perhaps even more, isis fighters. we leave, they will come back like weeds and spread their poison. we have got to stay until there was a political settlement. as negotiations are underway. we have just removed leverage. unless the president has commitment from russia and erdogan and assad, of all ople, to say that they have a political solution, where is our leverage on the way out i suspect discussing this with secretary mattis specificay, he would recommend, mr. president, let'nos not pullout we have this question of timing and the question of the process, whereby we consult with our allies and capitol hl friends and discuss this in a way that is responsible. it was done for a political reason. i think there's a lot ofad news this week and this is another attempt to t,ange the subjn my judgment. jane: getting to the point that he thinks heso deservebody who is more aligned with his way of think

>> because of the patriot general mattis is. i think everybody in the country should read his letter of resignation. it is a letter of great patriotism, of respect for the president, but also a statement of his values where he talks about the strength of our nation linked to thely competence of system of alliances we have. he talks about we must be .nambiguous in our approach it is a beautiful letter. as a nation toes international security, written by a patriot who was a comfort to many of us as a voice of stability in the trump administration. what could this mean? the president taking action that has encouraged his secretary of defense to issue a letter of resignation. maybe he thinks it's a government shuts down he can golf more comfortably. that is not how it works. the government must work, even if you are golfing for two weeks. there is something very wrong with the picture. our troops look to secretary hetis as a leader, and now is going to be leaving them. this is very serious for our country. was one ofy mattis the few

mattis came to work this morning. he reported for duty serving this country as he has done for four plus decades. now what? >> 6:15 at his desk this morning as usual, poppy. right now what we expect is to see him stay on the job through february, ensure that the work continues to get done. he will do some of the first congressional hearings of the winter season. he resigned yesterday really making a stand basically saying to the commander in chief of the strongest, most powerful military the world has ever known, i can no longer serve you. we are told by officials that mattis' last straw, his red line was the decision to withdraw troops from syria and afghanistan, but it was syria that concerned him so much. the u.s. has been supporting forces inside syria, and now that promise is broken. those forces essentially abandoned by the u.s. and potentially facing a blood bath from a turkish potential invasion. mattis could not live with the prospect of abandoning his friends on the battlefield. this is a man who has served

. >> mattis' letter is going to be a road map. what are the differences between the president and mattis. how are those reflected in who he picks next and how do they changes reflect what the senate and congress expects. we all this great consternation that the president was going to withdraw troops on twitter. there's a great deal of questions ahead. >> the president would say i've been saying this for months, years that i wanted to withdraw troops and i'm finally doing it. but we are just hours away from a government shutdown. trump says the democrats now own the shutdown but that is a different take that we heard several years ago. take a listen. >> they talk about the government shutdown. they're going to be talking about the president of the united states. who was the president at that time? they're not going to be talking about who the head of the house, the senate, who is running things in washington. they're going to be talking about one person. i think the pressure is on the president. >> two weeks ago the president said

general kelly, general mattis, so many others. mcmaster. there is chaos now in this administration, this week is one of the most chaotic weeks we have ever seen in american government and amazingly they want to close the week -- president trump does -- by shutting down the government. shutting down the government. we all know that secretary mattis had disagreements with the president on syria and the wall. some have speculated that the president was going to demand that he started building the wall which he knows he can't do by law and maybe that's one of the reasons he stepped down. >> reporter: do you think there's any reasonable prospect that a shutdown could override his veto? >> you would have to ask our republican friends. >> the worse he gets, the more they rally around him. this just to refer back to what leader schumer said about the voice of stability in this administration and the people who have great leaders who have left the administration in dismay. that is what this administration has been about. we don't want to be fearmong

jim mattis had the goods. you have been talking to so many of these people and they are shaken and concerned about chaos, right? >> absolutely. from nato allies to middle east allies to neighbors of syria caught flat footed by this and compounding that is when they reached out to the people they could normally trust in the pentagon, the state department and intelligence agencies and said what is happening, what next? and they were told, well, we don't know, that's when the alarm really spread. so i've spoken to multiple diplomats who are concerned and watching closely to see who replaces mattis. one of the other things that i'm hearing confirming some reporting out there by the associated press is that this phone call that the president had with the turk ish president, that that was the pivotal moment that no one could anticipate. yes there had been friction with mattis but that mattis was prepared to stay until the end of the administration but it didn't feel like that this was worse right now than it had bee

the positive attention james mattis is getting. look, since his letter came out people have been praising his even-headed look at national security factors, the things like alliance relationships and long-term strategic interests of the united states that he hints at in his letter. well, that's the opposite of the decision-making process by which the syria decision was made. i think that contrasts between the positive coverage of how james mattis wrote about his departure and the president's decision-making process has just highlighted that tension and made it hard for the president to want to hear that for two more months until secretary mattis wanted to leave. >> i do think the president was basically pretty tired of hearing people say that james mattis was the only adult left standing in the room. >> yeah, it's a met for that has become tired any way, there are probably other people in various agencies and departments who are doing a good job of trying to prepare this president as well as possible for national security decisions

the news e shaken by about jim mattis's resignation. shaken?you >> i'm shaken by the patriot is.eral mattis i think everybody in the country should read his letter of resignation. great letter of patriotism. respect for the president. also a statement of his values, where he talks about the nation is our intrinsically link, unique and omprehensive system of alliances that we have. about, we must be rest our oot and unambiguous in approach, who is -- [inaudible] intentions with ours. it's a beautiful letter about, again, our values as a nation in terms of our national security. by a patriotic american us was a comfort to many of as a voice of stability in the trump administration. just look at this week. troops out t taking of syria without really full with the national security leaders of his own administration. the president taking actions secretary of his efense to issue a letter of resignation. reversing his position about signing a bill. thinks if the government shuts down he can golf more comfortably. not how it works. government must work

it's not just mattis. it's john kelly, ryan zinke, nikki hailey. and the word chaos has been used a lot to associate what's happening in this administration and in this white house. the white house is saying this isn't chaos. the president says i'm in the driver's seat here. i know what i'm doing here. and he's going with his gut. >> he is going with his gut, fred. problem is the gut is telling him different things at different moments as we've seen his reaction to the mattis resignation. mattis saying he would stay on for a couple of months, the white house saying that he was going to stay on a couple of months. that's what gives the sense of chaos. shanahan appointment isn't going to rock people certainly the way that the whitaker appointment did at justice. people won't doubt his credentials, at least or a short-term basis. it shows there's not a lot of forethought going into major decisions and one major reason mattis wanted to stay on for that period of time was to ensure foreign leaders and foreign capitals that there would be a calm and stea

mattis was among the president's first cabinet picks. >> general "mad dog" mattis. >> reporter: and now he joins the ranks of departed top officials within the trump administration. the president tweeting, a new secretary of defense will be named shortly. kristen welker, nbc news, the white house. >>> i'm andrea mitchell in washington where the president's plans for afghanistan and withdraw from syria were the final straw. a decision mattis strongly opposed and so had the president's key advisors arguing the fight against isis was not over. >> it would be reckless. >> with regard to stabilization, we have a long way to go. >> reporter: to the president, it's a campaign promise kept tweeting today does the u.s. want to be the policeman of the middle east? mattis among those who thought they talked him out of it and then big pressure from turkey's president erdogan three weeks ago and on a call friday, arguing america's partners in the fight, syrian kurds are terrorists. the president over ruling secretaries of state and defense announcing his decision with a slick white house video invok

mattis so he is very much enamored with mattis but we watched a couple things happen in the white house that didn't necessarily match policy in the pentagon. a lot of times my pentagon press reporters that i often consult with, it seemed as though pentagon was caught off guard on a lot of policies. from suspending exercises in north korea. now with the withdrawal in syria, now we're looking at afghanistan. a possible withdrawal of 7,000 troops the alignment wasn't necessarily there and secretary mattis made it clear by saying you deserve to find a secretary of defense that's more in line with your world view >> a pointed statement and the straw that broke the camel's back maybe more than a straw. referring to her time she spent with defense secretary mattis. >>> hi, rick >> it's been such an interesting week you all know that. the last couple days, as we digest fed policy and some of the data points, mixed bag maybe two-thirds okay. one-third a bit weaker than expected yields are a little soft today down about 3, 3 1/4 base points. you see the 10 minus 2 here. and this is only a two-day