dice. instead the woman who follow ed her went on trial and as a result will die in prison. that's all for your this edition of "dateline." i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. g melvin thank you for watching good morning, everyone. i'm alex witt. here's whoo's happening. the government partially closed. how long will it last? finger pointing. both sides blames the other for the spending stall after president trump's abrupt about-face. so which side will blink first? and what happened? new details that might have sent

the president's syria decision. and the drone mystery that shed down one of britain's busiest airports, and it might not be over yet. we've got a live report ahead. but first, the government partially shut down at midnight, so we're headed into our eighth hour. negotiations set to resume in the coming hours. the white house unable to find a compromise last night on a spending bill. the stalemate over the president's $5 billion to fulfill a signature campaign promise of building a border wall. the third. one lasted nine hours, the other, 69. they're expected to work. they won't be paid though. and more than 350,000 federal employees will be furloughed or sent home. among those working without pay, 54,000 customs and border protection agents, 42,000 coast guard employees, 53,000 tsa

agents say they will likely be paid retro actively. also impacted by the partial shutdown, transportation, commerce, interior, culture, housing and urban development. they say he's throwing a tell per tantrum and pushing our nation into a destructive trump shutdown. >> president trump, you will not get your wall. abandon your shutdown strategy. you're not getting wall today, next week, or on january 3rd when democrats take control of the house. >> and republican senator lindsey graham said he spoke with the president last night. >> i think democrats hate trump so much they want him to lose even though it would be good for the country to work with him on border security, and if he doesn't break him now, it's going to be a terrible 2019.

>> is he going to -- >> and the president tweeting out this white house video with this reaction. >> with a wall or a slat fence or whatever you want to call it, we need a great barrier. call it a democrat shutdown, call it whatever you want, but we need their help to get this approved. let's be bipartisan and let's get it done. the shutdown will hopefully not last long. >> nbc's mike vieira has more. give us a tick tok of what's going to go down. >> good morning to you. it's unclear what if never they're going to be doing as those negotiations continue behind the scenes, and we have to use the terms very loosely here, alex, because both sides are dug in.

among the negotiators, vice president pence, mick mulvaney, the acting chief of staff at the white house, as well as jared kushner, the president's son-in-law and top adviser. huddling, chuck shum eric mitch mcconnell, and others, but unable to find their way out of this. the president, while he appeared to go along with no $5.7 billion for his border wall or slat fence as he's now calling it had a sudden change of heart on friday after withering criticism from the likes of ann culture and rush limbaugh who were excoriating him for backing down. we saw that dramatic footage in the driveway. quickly backtracking back to

square one. that's where we are this morning with no sign of a breakthrough in sight, alex. >> all right. let's take a listen to outgoing house majority leader kevin mccarthy. here's what he had to say about this. >> we talked to the president. we needed more criminal justice bill signing. he was hopeful we could find common ground. schumer has changed his position for a weeking a. he's trying to make it critical, and i don't believe the american people should have to be put through that. he shut the government down before. he knew that didn't play out well. >> pointing a finger there at senator schumer, but isn't it really the president that's the wild-card in these negotiations. >> yeah, alex. this is sort of the dog and pony show. we can pretty much map out how this is going to go until one side blinks. the fact of the matter is the democrats much earlier this year, there was talk they would

trade $5 pl for a border fence. some relief on that to institutionalize what president obama started when children were brought here. that is off the table now in every sense of the word. the fact remains president trump said before every one on earth in that infamous photohe would take the mantle for shutting down the border security. >> we'll see you again, my friend. thank you for that. joining me right now, kevin cirilli and erin delmordelmore. let's get to the president who's clearly trying to blame the democrats for this partial shutdown. but let's all take a listen to the opinion he had last week.

play this. >> totally up to the democrat whether or not we have a shutdown. >> the people of this country don't want criminals and people that have lots of problems and drugs pouring into our country. so i will take the mantle. i will be the one to shut it down. the last time you shut it dourngs it didn't work. i'm going shut it down for border security. >> so we heard first what he said last night, yesterday, and what he said a weekend ago. what happened here? what's the change in the president's mind? why is he not taking any responsible now over what he said he would be proud to do a week ago. >> he ee's saving face here. it's going to be an unpopular move. back in 2013 when the government shut down for 17 days,

republicans took the brunt of the blame for that. this could be a very similar effect. >> kevin, you can weigh in on this as well. >> look. this is quite stunning. we began the week with president trump suggesting there might be some type ofbipartisan compromise with senate minority leader chuck schumer. then you have the president marked by volatility in the markets. a departure from his secretary of defense following his decision to announce via tweet on foreign policy that thousands of troops would be removed from the middle east, that he would be listening to the likes of rush limbaugh and an culture. they're now negotiating with democrats and the senate minority leader.

to have vice president mike pence and acting chief of staff, representative mike pens and mick mulvaney were actually active. to have lawmakers on both sides of the aisle forcing as the president said it's going be a long government shutdown, to rock not just the thousands of federal employees who are going to receive furloughed pay and also the government contractors and the supply chains that are going to be impacted by this, this is nonsensical. >> let's take a look at i guess an updated version of what the president is envisioning, a steal slatds barrier. it's a lot different than when he first talked about it.

is there any softening by putting a wall of this type up? snow i think political rae alt is sinking in here, alec. not only is the type of wall different that he promised on the campaign trail, mexico is not paying for it. this shutdown is about the u.s. taxpayers paying for the border wall, which is not what he campaigned for. it's something that doesn't have a lot of approval. it's something we see in proving, that key promise he made that has yet to be fulfilled? it's worth repeating because he repeated it thousands of times on the campaign trail that mexico would pay for this. what happens? >>. >> it was a joke. >> of course, it was a joke. the mexican president laughed and said i'm not doing that.

>> i think it's a great point to. your point, i just don't see who's negotiating with who now. i think in the previous shutdowns that we've all covered, you kind of had a sense who was negotiating with who. is it the outgoing speaker paul ryan? who is negotiating with who. and now the wall, steal slates. call it what you want. it's not the serious type of policy post you're used to seeing. they had voted for bolstering security along the u.s./mexico border, but he was one who voted against this because this is not what we're used to having when there was bipartisan, a group of bipartisan lawmakers who put forward an issue -- a very

serious issue on immigration. yesterday, i'll say this quickly. a democrat from california, he represents the los angeles constituency. to think that a los angeles lawmaker would be able to get on board with this type of vitriolic acidic debate, it's next to impossible. >> is it also impossible for you guys to give me a prediction? >> i think both sides are dug in. it's the weekend. so the impact isn't going to be felt today and tomorrow. it's going to be a while before it sinks in and gets to you. solve it now or solve it later. >> okay. kevin, does that make a big difference january 3rd? >> absolutely. i think nancy pelosi is playing her political cards just right. >> all right. the two of you always playing things right with me.

thank you so much. one phone call, that's what triggered president trump's sudden about decision this week on syria. p's sudden about decision this week on syria for your brain. with an ingredient originally discovered in jellyfish, prevagen has been shown in clinical trials to improve short-term memory. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. but some give their clients cookie cutter portfolios. fisher investments tailors portfolios to your goals and needs. some only call when they have something to sell. fisher calls regularly so you stay informed. and while some advisors are happy to earn commissions whether you do well or not. fisher investments fees are structured so we do better when you do better. maybe that's why most of our clients

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a partial government shutdown now under way for a third time this year after a bipartisan spending deal collapsed over the president's demands for more money to build his border wall. joining me, geoff bennett. tell me about the implications of this? >> the president said he would be proud to order a shutdown over the border wall spending and he's got it. at this point it's not clear how

or when congressional leaders will find their way through the stalemate. this morning americans are waking up to a federal government that's partially shut down. with congress at an impasse over president trump's $5 billion border wall demand. congress already approved funding for about 75% of the government, but about a dozen major agencies are dark this morning. during the shutdown, at least 800,000 government employees will not receive their expected paychecks with christmas coming fast. >> it shouldn't be that i have to worry about getting paid. >> depending how rough it is, we may not have things during the holidays. >> essential employees will still be expected to work without pay including tsa agents and air traffic controllers. u.s. customs and border

protection agents, marshals, coast guard employees, and forest service firefighters. they'll likely be paid retroactively when the government reopens. another 80,000 will be furloughed or forced the take unpaid leave until the shutdown ends. it all comes to the president clinging to a campaign promise, a border wall, and abandoned a deal all right agreed tole reach. >> it's up to the democrats, so it's a democrat shutdown. >> a reversal over a few days ago. >> i would be proud. ly be the one. i'm not going to blame you for it. >> democrats have said all along, that i will not fund president trump's border wall. >> president trump, you will not get your wall. >> add to that, cnn discovering

a 2015 radio interview in which mick null vainy criticized trump's border wall. >> to say build the darn fence is absurd and almost childish. >> the president tweeted this out late friday. >> let's get out, work together, be by part sarng and get it done. the shutdown hopefully will not last long snow so at this point one whousz official tells us they're still working out numbers for a potential deal. might president trump be open to accepting something? might heing create a wall rather than the steel concrete wall reaching to the heavens as he's so often described it? that's something we don't know. they're in session today and at leaf a few extent the shutdown to last at least through sunday. alex?

>> thank you so much. new details and the split that led to the resignation of secretary james mattis. it all started with a phone call, this between trump and turkey's president erdogan. it ended with trump reportedly saying, it's yours, i'm leashing. joining me now is jeremy bash. a big welcome to you. really? the president ended the phone call saying, you know what? it's yours. i'm leaving. >> a bizarre and dangerous turn of events. here you have president erdogan of turkey, someone who doesn't always see eye to eye with the president of the united states. and the president was urged to press erdogan to back off from erdogan's plans to attack kurds

in syria, erdogan said, no, i'm not going to do that. and then president trump turned around and said he's withdrawing his troops. matt it is was working on it. the iranians want that territory. that i want a land bridge from the persian golf. jim mattis said removing american presences would be destabilizing. >> so, jeremy, do you think the president wept into this phone call with the intention of pulling out the troops from syria or is it potentially go against the advice, i'm mad, this is what i'm going to do?

>> it's hard to say. we don't know whether or not it's a game plan he went in with or an audible at the line. sometimes i think it's sheer inco incompetence. we see this time and time again. he goes into a summit and he walks out and kim has totally marched. the president goes into a secret summit of it. coming out and parrots putin's line about the election, and i saying i bleem them. i'm going to fire a bunch of questions at you. >> how many troops are there? are they in a combat role?

should americans stay there? >> one is to fight the operatives. the other is to train local nato forces so that i can be the force. we should draw down our troops in a responsible orderly fashion so if we ever have to go and hit isis, we can go back in. >> what do you think americans should be most concerns about with the potential fallout? would it be the state of play in erdogan attacking the kurds? a threat to our national security? isis? how do you see this playing out. >> two things, alex. one thing, there's going to be a volume and isis loves a volume. i would be worried they would regenerate, resconce substitute,

and pose a threat. and second and more fundamentally, iran. iran has always wanted a land bridge from its territory through iraq, lebanon. now it has the cover of russia. and vladimir putin has wanted this scenario for a long time. >> jeremy bash, sobering conversation, but good to see you nonetheless. >> thank you so much. a new report suggests when robert mueller may be. and the legal peril he may face. .

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new this week, government officials tell nbc news that special counsel robert mueller is planning a february wrap-up of his report, and while it's unclear whether the president will face criminal charges, he's

still looking into it. so from everything you've seen so far, is february a plaus about date for you and is there a way to tell if mueller has a plausible case against the president? >> your first question, february is a possible date. but we would not be surprised if this investigation goes well beyond february. mueller is investigating largely the largest white collar investigation of our time. these investigations take a long time, many months, sometimes years. so it could be very possible it would except beyond february. as to the obstruction charge, attorney general nominee barr recently wrote an unsolicited memo suggesting the president could not be considered to have committed obstruction of justice through a lawful skper says of his presidential duties, specifically hiring or firing

someone like fbi director james comey. on the other hand, there are academics and other opinions that say the president can be reliable for an obstruction justice. reasonable monday ands can differ on the issue. it really matters what mueller's mind does with it. >> officials were also saying that part of this report would be made public, but then it has to go through the acting attorney general, now matthew whitaker, right? so does making this report public, is that an easy process for the special counsel to do? >> the special counsel in this case, mueller, is certain to follow the regulations. and in doing so, the detailed report he prepares will go to acting attorney general whitaker. what whitaker does with it is up to him. he will brief congress with some information about it, but he will ultimately decide what if

anything to make public. so it's very possible we will not see the official mueller report ever. however, we have been hearing from mueller throughout this entire investigation as he indicts individuals that he has believed to have committed crimes with very detailed indictments. they're nomly documents that are bare bones telling only the amount of information necessary so as not to reveal anything else about an investigation. but mueller has departed from this rule and revealed very, very detailed factual indictments provides lots of information about the kind of work he and his team have done to date. >> let's look at one, roger stone. there are new documents obtained by the atlantic that provide a 2016 email. here's what it said, quote. get to assange and get the

wikileaks