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 just read there. now, the president said that mattis retired in his twitter feed but of course mattis

kelly, general mattis, so many others. mcmaster, exactly. there is chaos and now in this administration. this week was one of the most chaotic we have 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 real disagreements with the president on syria and on the wall. some have speculated that the president was going to demand that he start building a wall, which he knows he cannot do by law, and maybe that is one of the reasons he stepped down. >> is there a reasonable prospect that if there is a shutdown, you could override president trump's veto? strange about's our republican friends. the worse he gets, the more they rally around him. you have leaders, great leaders, who have left the administration , and that is what this administration has been about. we don't want to be here mongers in terms of our country. this great country can withstand just about anything, but it shoul

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 o

do you think that other officials will follow general mattis? >> i think so far the only person who really has consistently shown backbone and dignity is jim mattis. the rest of them frankly have never showed it at any point. we'll see whether that proves to be true. my prediction is nobody will leave, mattis will leave alone. >> the adult has left the room. >> the adult has left. and what's distressing about it is you know, you already have a national security council that is apparently a third of the seats unfilled. national economic council similarly. there are key positions -- and the white house is rarely difficult to staff. these are the most powerful jobs in washington. you're working directly for the president. >> everybody wants them. >> yeah, everybody wants them. and you know, nobody seems to want to work for this president. but now you see credit. you have the stature of jim mattis. you have convinced the president of policy. and one day it's all upended. >> pleasure, fareed. thank you. i appreciate it. don't miss "fareed zakaria gps"

general kelly, general mattis, others. >> mcmaster. >> mcmaster. exactly. there is chaos now in this administration. this week was one of the most chaotic weeks we have ever seen n american government and amazingly, they want to close the week, president trump does, shutting down the government. shutting down the government. we all know that secretary mattis had real disagreements and the president on syria on the wall. some have speculated that the resident was going to demand that he start building a wall, which he knows he can't do by and maybe that's one of the reasons he stepped down. >> do you think there is any reasonable prospect that if shutdown you can override president trump's veto of a cr? our u would have to ask republican friends. > it's strange our how republican friends, the worst he gets the more they rally around him. to what efer back -- schumer is saying, andsaying left, you who have have great leaders who have left andadministration in dismay the rest have left in disgrace. that's what this administration about.en we don't want to be f

mattis. >> a tweet from the president "general jim mattis will be retiring with distinction at the end of february after having served as secretary of defense for the past two years. during his tenure, tremendous progress has been made especially with respect to the purchase of new fighting equipment. general mattis was a great help to me in getting allies in other countries to pay their fair share in military obligations. i greatly thank him for his service. "the truth is this was not his choice, he was pushed out by the president, we just received his resignation letter from the pentagon. it says he will leave his job on february 28th. his influence has waned in recent months, one senior u.s. official told me they had never seen morale as low in pentagon meetings as they had in the past few days. he was not in favor of pulling all u.s. troops out of syria but the president announced it anyway after speaking by phone with the turkish president last friday. news broke moments ago that the president went to pull thousands of troops out of afghanistan beginning last month, i'm told it's much more th

there is -- yes, i am shaken by the resignation of general mattis. for 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. >> are americans left -- without mattis running the pentagon? >> look, our military soldiers 2.15 million of them are civilian employees and defense looked up to general mattis. i'm sure they feel it is a great loss. i'm sure most americans feel it is a great loss. and everything like this 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 is 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, the 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 of his leadership, we are safe. yes. and we have

general calle, general mattis, so many others. kelly, general mattis, so many others. chaotic we have seen in government. viviana: the u.s. plans to cut troop levels in afghanistan, coming just one day after president trump said he would pull forces from syria. the pentagon will withdraw half of 14,000 troops. this fulfills mr. trump's promises to bring forces home. king has accepted the resignation of the , just issued from the belgian royal palace. london's gatwick airport has reopened. a limited number of aircraft is scheduled for departure. were numerous sightings of an illegal drum. planes were diverted to other airports. it disrupted 120,000 passengers during one of the busiest travel period. s. global news 24 hours a day and at tic toc on twitter, powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. i'm viviana hurtado. this is "bloomberg." tom: thank you. abby cohen will join us in a moment. right now, some insight from william lee, helping milken institute. i want to talk about the solid economy of the vice-chairman, the economy of th

i need agamet general mattis be well.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 schools and the work college and staff college because there is alway

generals. you see right now john kelly is gone. mattis gone. what's going on? ifferent? >> i think the president still likes his generals. he just likes different generals now that he liked back at the beginning the administration. he likes general mark millet, the army chief of staff who we named at the army-navy game a couple is go to succeed general joad dunford is the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. i was told that was a brush back pitched in mattis who was looking at another -- naming the successor to joad dunford, that transition doesn't happen until october 1. it was another sign the president might be trying to box out some of mattis' choices. >> jason: how closely should we read the departure to the action in syria? is pulling out of syria a direct relation to what's happening with mattis? >> it might be coincidental more than anything, jason. i don't know for sure. one thing i do know is despite all the advice the president gets, there's one person who makes the decision. even though he was being advised by many, many people and we have heard th

it culminates a lot of dissatisfaction for general mattis. >> you serve on the armed forces committee. lindsey graham has been outspoken in his support of secretary mattis and his opposition to to wraur withdraw u.s. troops where syria. do you see an opportunity to work together in reaction to these developments? >> there is a real opportunity but also an obligation because literally the national security of our nation is at stake. and i am deeply alarmed by the departure of general mattis who was a source of strength and stability and embodied principles that should be bipartisan. unfortunately, the president has alienated our allies and embraced our adversaries. he has demeaned and degraded the brave and dedicated professionals of our intelligence community and i think there's an opportunity in the name of national defense for us to come together. i have worked closely with senator graham on many issues of national security around the globe on the armed services committee and elsewhere and i think there's an opportunity for us to come together. >> we'll see who the president nominat

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. activities that have led up to it and what it means. leadership, -- because of his leadership, we are safe. we have to continue to make sure the american people are safe. that is the oath of office we take, protect and defend. and we will. we shouldn't have to do so because of the temper tantrums of the commander-in-chief. there are a number of key cabinet posts they are forced to confirm here in a short period of time. is your caucus able to work with the administration with this new round of appointments? sen. schumer: unlike previous presidents,- democratic and republican's, there is no consultation. , what do you think of this person -- they do not call us to ask. most of them have been so subpar in their ideology, their ethics, i hope there will be a change, but given the past group of nominees, i don't. they are going to get very, very thorough examinations. they will get serious, serious questions. almost all of them have not passed mu

general mattis was a great ally to me and heot.

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 in our discussions. we didn't talk about resignation, but i can tell you what he felt that there is a betrayal of our ally, not only in syria but all of the allies who have supported this battle against isis, and the war is not over. they have not been defeated, and what he was concerned about is our credibility and our reputation for reliability has now been called into question. >> well, cohen says the decision to send troops to the southern border also frustrated mattis. >>> retired general stanley mcchrystal, who is the former commander of u.s. forces in afghanistan, has also raised concern about mattis leaving saying, quote, the kind of leadership that causes a dedicated patriot like jim mattis to leave should give pause to every american. if you'd like to read the entire resignation letter from secretary ma

but general mattis, unlike macarthur, was not playing to aggrandize himself. i think this was a sincere patriotic warning from a government professional who understands that this president is unhinged and incompetent. >> jennifer, do you -- to what howell said, the weight and the stakes do seem higher now. and i've been through -- this is like my 90th trump meltdown at this point. they all kind of run together. but there are different stakes now because of the fact that he's about to lose power. the government actually will shift hands. political power will change. the economy is not within his control. where are we right now? >> we're in a very bad place and because he is now making geopolitical decisions that have long-term ramifications for the country. he has just given both putin, iran, isis, assad a beautiful christmas gift in leaving syria. so he has now, i think, gone down in the annals of history as the worst, bar none, foreign policy president we've ever had. excuse me. but i think that effect and the fact that there is no one around him now who is a

he has a very different background to general james mattis, who was a general in the us marine corps,as called mad dog mattis at one stage. so it will be a very different person who ta kes will be a very different person who takes up this acting post, and the president has not said how long he will be acting in that role for. but we believe there will be some continuity, because he was working below continuity, because he was working beloinm mattis. you get the sense that president trump wants to appoint somebody who, first of all, he believes in, but secondly, will listen to him on key issues. it is clear that the president is following this isolationist policies as opposed to some of the thingsjim mattis was very clear about in his resignation letter. for example, jim mattis is concerned allies are not being kept on board, relationships are not being maintained in the way they should eat. he believes very strongly, but frankly there should bea strongly, but frankly there should be a global approach to tackling these issues, something he shared with brett mcgurk, who was the us speci

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 experi

as mattis just did, one of the greatest patriots i've ever met in my public service, general mattis. as mattis did, he followed suit and left. he did the right thing. i don't look at that as grandstanding. he has been an important person to us. the secretary of defense, obviously, is in a higher role, much higher profile position but brett has played an important role for our country. i thank him for our service, most difficult issue and wish him well as he moves on. >> senator corker, you said more than a year ago about president trump and what some people called the axis of grown-ups. take a listen. >> i think secretary tillerson, secretary mattis and chief of staff kelly are those people that help separate our country from chaos. >> tillerson was fired via twitter. mattis and kelly will be leaving in the coming days and months. first of all it's hard to imagine that the last year is the year without chaos but should we expect even more chaos than we have been experiencing, given the lack of these three men in the administration? >> yeah. so, look, i had a lot of respect for these t

general mattis is -- general mattis's resignation was not the only news, the president had an abruptut-face about funding. he is apparently praising house republicans for their vote on he said fund bill, and the chances are pretty good that there will be a shutdown. jen cruz, a gop strategist and a former spokesperson for the republican party of california. we saw the president in the oval office earlier, at his meeting nancyhuck schumer and pelosi say i own it, i own it. now he is tweeting the democrats own it. who owns it? >> i think trump is not afraid to call it the trump shutdown. who is surprised that president trump would shut down the government a few days before christmas has not been paying attention. this is the guy who went to washington, d.c. to drain the swamp. from day one, the day he announced his candidacy in new york city he said he was going to get funding to build the wall. that's two plus years in the making and it has finally come down to this. i think that house republicans did their job, they provided the funding and it's up to the senate republicans. senate s

negotiations are ongoing tonight, and general mattis steps down, a huge story, and we have a great guest on the story for us tonight. does the pentagon very well. any president, as well their general jack keane's joins me in just a moment. president trump announcing a short time ago that general james mattis will "require with distinction this february." bad news comes on the heels of two very controversial foreign policy decisions made by president trump, surprising and their timing, both of them. want to pull thousands of u.s. troops out of syria, the other, today, said he will do the same, essentially, in afghanistan. general mattis releasing a copy of his resignation letter to the president that reads, in part, "you have the right to have secretary of defense whose views are better aligned with yours." here now, general jack keane, four-star general, fox news strategic analyst and chairman for the study of war, general, good happy with you with us this evening. your reaction to this news tonight? >> i'm certainly saddened to see jim mattis departing, but i also understand. i think th

general mattis clearly reached his breaking point. at does this say about the point we are at in this trump administration right now? >> well, there's a great deal of appreciation here on capitol hill for secretary mattis' service. he came at a time when our allies needed assurances as to what the trump policies will be. he certainly assisted those on capitol hill who had question in the direction that president trump will go. what's troubling is in his letter, he outlined several areas in which he differed with president trump. so there's questions about who is coming next and what shift in policies that might mean. >> and there was a glaring omission and that was praise for the president. senate majority leader, mitch mcconnell, who typically avoids criticizing this president wrote he's distressed over the resignation of general mattis. >> 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

announced that the us deputy secretary of defence, patrick shanahan, will replace his former boss general mattishe secretary of defence's preferred departure date, february 28. insiders say that president trump was angry at mattis's resignation letter and his rebuke of his foreign policy. but that will remain centrestage. the president's preferred pick for the defence role will hang on the approval of the us senate, and senators are already indicating that, without clarity on how american interests in the middle east will be protected, that process will not be straightforward. david campanale, bbc news. one group directly affected by the decision to withdraw us troops are the kurds, who have been fighting so—called islamic state on the frontline. salih muslim is from the kurdish democratic union party in northern syria. he described how us support has worked so far. well, they were consulting your people, and training, as advisers on the battlefield. so they were not fighting directly, especially they were in the back lines. so this is what they were doing until now and maybe you can recognise t

heather: the wall street journal publishing and editorial on the repercussions of general mattis's resignation saying in part, quote, cabinet officers come and go in washington with little lasting political impact. the resignation of jim mattis thursday strikes us as a major political event that is likely to revert for the rest of donald trump's term and damage him in ways the president does not seem to appreciate. let's bring in jamie weinstein, host of the jamie weinstein show podcast, the "national review" online. what are the underlying insidious residual effects of general mattis's resignation at us special envoy to the middle east, the anti-isis coalition, on donald trump's tenure? >> there's international and domestic consequences. internationally it is easy to understand what the consequences are. our allies are not sure about donald trump's commitment to the international order that america helped to build in the last 60 or 70 years when he said things about nato that were nice, seems like they were forced in speeches, hoped and relied on a steady head of jim mattis to push the presid

announced that the us deputy secretary of defence, patrick shanahan, would replace his former boss general mattisthe ist, not the secretary of defence's preferred departure date, february 28. insiders say that president trump was angry at mattis's resignation letter and his rebuke of his foreign policy. but that will remain centrestage. the president's preferred pick for the defence role will hang on the approval of the us senate, and senators are already indicating that, without clarity on how american interests in the middle east will be protected, that process will not be straightforward. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: blast off for an upgrade to the american global satellite navigation system. the world of music has been paying tribute to george michael, who's died from suspected heart failure at the age of 53. he sold well over 100 million albums over a career spanning over three decades. the united states troops have been trying to overthrow the dictatorship of general manuel noriega. the pentagon said that it's failed in its principle objective to capture noriega and take him to

letter i have witnessed over the last year and a half how reliable general mattis has been is that he has a westernized meaning of what being allies was being allies it's fighting shoulder by shoulder it was those allies madis felt abandoned in syria saying in his resignation letter my views on treating allies with respect and also being clear right about both malign actors and strategic competitors are strongly held in informed by over four decades of immersion in these issues trump reportedly chafing at the television coverage telegraph the move in a tweet late saturday saying when president obama ingloriously fired jim mad as i gave him a second chance allies are very important but not when they take advantage of us ministrations highest priority then he unceremoniously gave madison early boot out the door in a tweet elevating deputy defense secretary patrick shanahan a former boeing executive to acting pentagon chief syria decision drew some support from republicans isn't working with so i have supplied them all with money we've given them uniforms have given them weapons they nee

the president asked general mattis to leave a month earlier. does that concern you about the way the president is handling all of this? >> no. i think as far as my understanding of general mattis, everything i observed from him. any of the time i have been able to spend with him hasn't been a lot. but it's enough to know this is a patriot. someone who loves our country and service to our country. whether james mattis' last day on ought job is the end of january or february, i think years down the road james mattis will be accessible to whoever the president is at that time if they want to lean on him for advice. i have no doubt there will be a smooth transition at the pentagon, especially with the fact you are picking someone who is currently number two who is here now and knows all these people. arthel: thank you, congressman. we'll move on on get to the shutdown. president trump said he would own the shutdown. we have a preview much what's to come on "fox news sunday" with chris wallace acting white house chief of staff mick mulvaney. incomin

general mattis joining this administration was a signal to many others that it's okay. you can work for your country and still work for donald trump. and now that proposition is going to be sorely tested as we have seen in the last 24 hours. >> vivian, will we see a cascade? who might be next? >> you also know brett mcgurk because of your time in baghdad as bureau chief there. >> sure. it's entirely possible. there's a lot of outrage in the government. when i first met brett and a lot of other of these officials, it was 2014 when the islamic state group had taken over a third of iraq and syria. nobody wanted to go back to war there. everybody had an aversion based on the 2003 u.s. led invasion of iraq during the bush administration that had gone so badly, no weapons of mass destruction were found. nobody wanted to go back, however, they believed, the united states felt at the end and brett mcgurk being the face of the discussions, we needed to be there for our allies in iraq and help them regain control of the country when everything had gone so poorly and their militar

strange thing to say, but listen. >> what about general mattis? is he going to leave? >> well, i don't know. he hasn't told me that. >> do you want him to leave? >> it could be that he is. i think he's sort of a democrat, if you want to know the truth, but general mattis is a good guy. we get along very well. he may leave. at some point, everybody leaves. everybody. people leave. that's washington. >> let's bring in the former department of defense and cia chief of staff jeremy beis. thank you for joining us. this isn't normal. there's something abrupt and perhaps unseemly about the defense chief. if we heard about this in any other country we'd say, what's wrong over there? >> that's right. >> there's something wrong when the top guy defending your country drops a letter on the table of the commander in chief and walks. >> that's right. mattis told people in recent weeks that he would not quit, he would not quit out of fatigue nor would he quit out of frustration. he would stand his ground and he would only leave his post, leave his assignment if he were pushed out. i

kelly, general mattis, so others. mcmaster. exactly. there is chaos now in this administration. >> chaos seems to be the word of the day or the week or the year. it's the word former secretary of defense leon panetta used in evaluating the situation. quote, we're in a constant state of chaos right now in this country. all that may satisfy trump's need for attention is raising hell with the country. the post continues, panetta said the resignation of matt sis a singular moment and his later which underscores how mattis sees trump's approach as misguided puts the security of the nation right now at some degree of risk. here's what panetta means. this part that talks about allies and says one core belief i have always held is that our strength as a nation is inextricably linked to our strength of our unique and comprehensive system of alliances and partnerships. while the u.s. remains an indispensable nation in the free world, we cannot protect our interests or serve that role effectively without maintaining strong allia

in his resignation letter, general mattis said the president had the right to have a defence chief whoseh his own. mr trump said the general would leave hisjob in february. this was how a former us defence secretary reacted. i think he was upset with the fact that the president chose to send our troops, pending thanksgiving, to the border, and is keeping them there, some of them there. and i think this was just a straw too heavy for him to bear, namely to reject the recommendation about keeping a sufficient force to really defeat isis, as opposed to this false declaration that we won, they're defeated, and now it is, well, we're tired of fighting somebody else's burden. i think that was just one bridge, one mile too far for him to walk. given his courage, his battle experience, and his scholarship, he could not take it. let's get more on this now. jonathan scha nzer is senior vice president of the foundation for defense of democracies and hejoins me now from washington. you hope there was a former defence secretary thinks. what is your thinking on this? -- you hope. my thinking on this?

that i have witnessed over the last year and a half of how reliable general mattis has been that he has a west tries to meaning of what being allies was being allies it's fighting shoulder by shoulder it was those allies mattis felt abandoned in syria saying in his resignation letter my views on treating allies with respect and also being clear right about both malign actors and strategic competitors are strongly held in informed by over four decades of immersion in these issues trump reportedly chafing at the television coverage telegraph the move in a tweet late saturday saying when president obama ingloriously fired jim mad as i gave him a second chance allies are very important but not when they take advantage of us ministrations highest priority then he unceremoniously gave madison early boot out the door in a tweet elevating deputy defense secretary patrick shanahan a former boeing executive to acting pentagon chief syria decision drew some support from republicans isn't working we've said supply them all with money we've given them uniforms have given them weapons they need to

i was at the national security council when general mattis was a centcom commander, and he and presidentd continuously on issues relating to iran. president obama ended up relieving generalma mattis of h post early, but general mattis stuck around, even though he had differences with president obama, because he still trusted president obama in terms of keeping our country safe. but there is a reason why there's more than a two weeks' notice period when a secretary leaves their position. i helped manage the national security adviser's transition from nsa donilon to nsa rice. you do these things over several weeks to months so there's not institutional knowledge that's lost, no balls are dropped. and in such a high-risk period for our country, in the holidays, the secretary of defense is supposed to be managing two withdrawals in addition to all the regular business of the day, the president is cutting off his nose to spite his face by pushing general mattis out earlier than general mattis had suggested, without allowing for adequate time to make sure that the acting secretary of defense c

he and general mattis didn't always see eye to eye either, i think on a larger world view of foreign so who -- does he have an idea of who is going to replace secretary mattis? >> reporter: that's a good question, chuck, and i don't know that he has a short list yet. certainly and undoubtedly probably has some names that he's looking at. but this comes amidst a big shakeup within his administration. i mean, remember, he is replacing his chief of staff, his attorney general, and the u.n. ambassador. so this is one of sort of a broader shakeup that's happening. we had a sense this was going to happen, chuck, that the president was going to redo top level -- >> the at this hour announcement of it to me is shocking. you're right, we knew it was coming, at this hour feels like the wrong timing there. >> reporter: i think so. and it came by tweet, chuck. >> of course it did. >> reporter: and it is worth noting that look, the chief of staff announcement seemed to be a little more orderly, so we're going to try to get the back story on this, at what point was this decision made. >> you mean

that i have witnessed over the last year and a half of how reliable general mattis has been that he has a west tries to meaning of what being allies was being allies it's fighting shoulder by shoulder it was those allies madis felt abandoned in syria saying in his resignation letter my views on treating allies with respect and also being clear right about both malign actors and strategic competitors are strongly held and informed by over four decades of immersion in these issues trump reportedly chafing at the television coverage telegraph the move in a tweet late saturday saying when president obama ingloriously fired jim mad as i gave him a second chance allies are very important but not when they take advantage of us ministrations highest priority then he unceremoniously gave madison early boot out the door in a tweet elevating deputy defense secretary patrick shanahan a former boeing executive to acting pentagon chief syria decision drew some support from republicans isn't working we've said supply them all with money we've given them uniforms have given them weapons they need t

the departure of general mattis is unique, however.in protest of the president. and as a result, his exit could have more impact than any of the others. general mattis' decision seems to have been prompted by his opposition to the president's move this week to pull u.s. troops out of syria. but he also told the president that he doesn't share his values, in particular he suggested the president doesn't respect traditional u.s. allies and hasn't been standing up strongly enough to adversaries such as russia and china. that's a serious allegation that goes right to the heart of foreign policy. general mattis told president trump he'd be better served by someone who shares his views. but as reaction to the secretary's resignation shows, in the republican foreign policy world it's not easy to see who fits that bill. this is a critical moment for the president and the country. does he now double down on his, to put it mildly, highly unconventional approach to u.s. global strategy, or does the mattis resignation force him to change tack? we'

he won't be there for that. >> steve, why was it so important for general mattis to stick around for that meeting? especially considering what we now know about the conversation between president trump and the turkish president erdogan? >> i think secretary mattis wants to backstop with our allies to know despite the transition the united states cares about nato and our common purposes in the world. i think it's a mistake to just focus on that u.n. meeting. having a transition of sort in the secretary of defense is something that's important for that building as well. mark milley who is head of the army right now is going to be the next commander of the joint chiefs. you've got various people come in. and so having these transitions so everyone is touched and we've seen despite the repuke of the letter, general mattis wanted to put forward a process. i was at secretary hagel's departures. and barack obama showed up at that. there was quite a beautiful ceremony involved in that so everyone knows that power transition peacefully from one civilian head of that department to another head

but general mattis is a good guy. we get along very well. he may leave. at some point everybody leaves. everybody. people leave. >> reporter: cbs news has learned it was mattis's own decision to leave and he personally delivered that resignation letter to president trump here at the white house. in it he also talked about the importance of treating allies with respect and being resolute against adversaries, specifically naming china and russia. the president hopes to name a replacement by the end of the year. weija jiang, cbs news, the white house. >>> president trump's intention to walk away from a 1987 intermediate arms deal treaty elicited a stark warning from vladimir putin. putin warned the u.s. action could lead to nuclear war. >> translator: this might lead to the collapse of the entire civilization, maybe our planet if those missiles were to be positioned in europe. what are we going to do? we will need to ensure that we are safe. >> the treaty bans both the united states and russia from singmeate range cruise and ballistic missiles in europe. thu

when people criticize the president for general mattis leaving, it's the average. many of those folks were upset and criticized president obama for being inexperienced and micromanaging. you are always going to have that level of disagreement. it where we at right now, is a good, stable choice. it will be hard to get somebody through congress in the gridlock right now. >> julie: don bramer. thank you very much for coming on. russia, claiming a success after testing a new strategic weapon said to be "invulnerable" to defense systems. why some analysts are skeptical, coming up. and democrats not backing down on the wall, threatening to stretch the government shutdown into the new year. what will it take for us to reach a deal? >> we need a wall. how long is it going to take? we need border security. when are the democrats going to say it? don't forget, the democrats all agreed we needed a wall, until i wanted it. >> julie: the partial government shutdown now in action and know and insight. democrats are firmly opposed to the wall and president trump saying he won't a