u.s. is involved in like iraq. i don't think it really well there's an entire u.s. command central command in tampa that is devoted to paying attention in the middle east there are literally thousands of people there working on middle east issues every day there is going to be considerable continuity douglas ollivant we thank you for speaking to us on al-jazeera thanks very much.

u.s. presence in iraq. there's also confusion about what the u.s.policy in the region is of the trump ordered the withdrawal of u.s. forces from syria some fear the pentagon may well build up forces in iraq as a contingency for any future action in syria or a potential war with iran. iraqi politicians from all sides are now calling for a vote that ends the u.s. presence in iraq the largest bloc on the souther is now their nationalists the us president donald trump's visit to iraq may well have given them enough i mean nation to be able to win a vote that ends all u.s. involvement in the country iran can al-jazeera baghdad around two hundred people seeking asylum in the u.s. spent some of christmas in a parking lot in texas after being sent there by immigration and customs enforcement officials in el paso city the group including women and children with hundreds of other.

u.s. president donald trump thinks about the relationship. politicians in iraq are demanding that u.s. forces leave the country following president donald trump's unannounced visits accusing him of violating iraq's sovereignty donald trump didn't need any of the country's leadership on his three hour trip but telephoned the prime minister abdul mahdi and invited him to the white house and from baghdad. the u.s. president seems determined to keep u.s. troops in iraq. but his visit lost in just three hours on wednesday night to al asad airbase one hundred thirty kilometers west of baghdad provoked a strong reaction from some iraqi politicians. i think it is shameful for the iraqi prime minister to accept the u.s. president's invitation to go to the u.s. after his mockery of iraqi politicians and the iraqi government he entered iraq without any coordination and no respect for iraq's sovereignty i spent three hours celebration with soldiers as if you to achieved a great victory in fact this visit is considered to feel rather than a victory. there are five thousand two hundred u.s. troops cu

iraq. after announcing that all u.s. troops would be leaving syria, iraq's neighbor to the west. he spent about three hours on the ground, the first lady along with him, and met with commanders and troops there as well as the u.s. ambassador to iraq and spoke for minutes. the team that travels with the president, the white house pool team put out notes about what he said. video to come within the hour of the president's remarks. ellison barber on the north lawn of the white house. the president left there late last night? >> he left late last night along with the first lady according to the press secretary and according to a reuters reporter who traveled with the president as part of this small group that was aware of and involved in this trip throughout the flight on the plane. the curtains were drawn and the lights were kept off for security. this is of course the first time the president has visited troops overseas. he hasn't taken a church trip like this since he's been in office in that something that people have criticized in the past. saying he's been in office for nearly t

u.s. troops in iraq today. it's the first commander-in-chief trip to a conflict zone and comes only days after he announced u.s. forces will be pulling out of syri syria. the president also had plenty to say about the government shutdown and his demand for billions of dollars from congress for a border wall. we'll get reaction from democratic congressman denny heck, a member of the intelligence committee and our correspondents, analysts and specialists. they have full coverage of the day's top stories. first, let's start with cnn white house correspondent, abby phillip. the white house, abby, kept the president's trip under wraps, as expected, until just a couple of hours ago. >> reporter: that's right, jim. president trump here left the white house under the cover of darkness on christmas day, and president trump said that he had been planning this trip for several weeks, but it had been rescheduled numerous times due to security concerns. but in the three hours that they spent on the ground, they met with troo

u.s. presence in iraq. there's also confusion about what the u.s. policy in the region is often trump ordered the withdrawal of u.s. forces from syria some fear the pentagon may well build up forces in iraq as a contingency for any future action in syria or a potential war with iran iraqi politicians from all sides are now calling for a vote that ends the u.s. presence in iraq the largest block on the souther is now the nationalists the us president donald trump's visit to iraq may well have given them enough i mean nation to be able to win a vote that ends all u.s. involvement in the country al-jazeera baghdad police in the democratic republic of congo have fired tear gas on opposition protesters just days before presidential and parliamentary elections there's anger after voting in some pro opposition areas was perspire and country goes to the polls on sunday the main opposition candidate has appealed for calm. we have. come to. france. and. we should have. patience. and. we have this. country. as i said please please we know. well the outgoing pr

u.s. presence in iraq. there's also confusion about what the u.s. policy in the region is of the trump ordered the withdrawal of u.s. forces from syria some fear the pentagon may well build up forces in iraq as a contingency for any future action in syria or a potential war with iran. iraqi politicians from all sides are now calling for a vote that ends the u.s. presence in iraq the largest block of the southern us now the nationalists the us president donald trump's visit to iraq may well have given them enough i mean nation to be able to win a vote that ends all u.s. involvement in the country iraq on al-jazeera baghdad around two hundred people seeking asylum in the united states spent part of christmas day in a car park in texas after being sent there by immigration and customs enforcement officials in el paso hundreds more were sent to other locations including bus shelters as al jazeera has gable in his honor reports from el paso they were left to fend for themselves in the cold. but well cast and yet it came to the u.s. from guatemala like so

u.s. presence in iraq. there's also confusion about what the u.s. policy in the region is often trump ordered the withdrawal of u.s. forces from syria some fear the pentagon may well build up forces in iraq as a contingency for any future action in syria or a potential war with iran. iraqi politicians from all sides are now calling for a vote that ends the u.s. presence in iraq the largest block of the southern us now the nationalists the us president donald trump's visit to iraq may well have given them enough i mean nation to be able to win a vote that ends all u.s. involvement in the country al-jazeera baghdad place in the democratic republic of congo have fired tear gas on opposition protesters just days before presidential and parliamentary elections there's anger after the much too late. by a week and he's going to the polls on sunday when opposition candidate has appealed for calm. we have. come. to. friday. and. the. nation. and everywhere. we have this. country. please please we know the violence the outgoing president of the day are saying

u.s. troops in iraq. reciprocal move the palestinian authority says it will back all imports of israeli vegetables fruit and poultry. and in sports roger federer lands his first big prize of the new tennis season. the president of the democratic public of congo joseph kabila was told that recent election violence is just politics but tensions are running high across the country ahead of sunday's presidential vote receive used live ammunition and to gas on protesters after a decision to delay some voting in opposition strongholds until march malcolm webb has more from kinshasa. in the eastern city of goma police blocked people from protesting in eastern city of benny police fired in the air to break up the marches they were processing through the streets but several eyewitnesses are telling us in some places we have allowed roadblocks to continue just to kill anything to protesters with one signals suggesting that the policemen themselves support opposition candidate martin fire you leave is very popular i

air force base in germany, his second stop in an unannounced tour that started with a visit in iraq to u.s. troops. >> if you would have seen what we had to go through, with the darkened plane with all windows closed, with no lights on whatsoever, anywhere, pitch black. >> reporter: the commander in chief, in a war zone for the first time during his presidency delivering new orders to the troops. >> the united states cannot continue to be the policemen of the world. we're no longer the suckers, folks. >> reporter: the president spent

u.s. presence in iraq to prevent and isis resurgence and protect u.s. interest and to watatch over any potential reef formation of isis and to watch over and ran. we will be watching. look at thekes a motivations behind his visit to iraq. >> there had been pressure to troops basedmbat abroad, something trump had not done so far in his almost two years of his presidency. he went to the base on the western outskirts of baghdad, where he met around 100 special operations forces active in the fight against the islamic state group in iraq and syria. he wants an n increased role for u.s. troops saying this might be a base from which to combat the remnants of the islamic state group in iraq and syria. he visited one country from which he does not want u.s. troops to be withdrawn, this coming after his announcement that all u.s. troops will be coming back from syria and he wants a half of the u.s. troops based in afghanistan to come back to the united states as well. of acoming into context, president insisting the united states should spend less money and wars

u.s. president donald trump has made an unannounced visit to iraq his first trip to see u.s. troops in the region trump and first lady madonna and landed as their base west of baghdad late on wednesday with a thank the troops for their service while there the president defended his decision to withdraw u.s. soldiers from syria while at the same time insisting he had no similar plans to pull out from iraq and also invited iraq's prime minister of the mahdi to visit washington after a meeting was scrapped. this year our eternal gratitude for everything you do to keep america safe strong and free. the other reason i'm here today is to personally thank you and every service member throughout this region for the near limitation of the isis territorial caliphate in iraq and in syria. two years ago when i became president there were a very dominant group they were very dominant today they're not so dominant anymore . when the moment i will have the reaction of reynolds in washington d.c. first let's go to iran counters in iraq iraqi capital baghdad so in iran there was meant to be a

u.s. after a surprise visit to american troops in iraq and germany the u.s. president stopped at ramstein air base in germany for his growing criticism of his failure to visit troops deployed overseas trump stayed for just three hours in iraq thanking soldiers and defending his decision to withdraw troops from syria rob reynolds reports from washington d.c. . resident donald trump got a warm welcome from u.s. troops during his brief visit to iraq. we came to this year our eternal gratitude for everything you do to keep america safe strong and free. account. tony by first lady maloney a trump the president shook hands with service members at an air base one hundred sixty kilometers from baghdad he posed for selfies and signed autographs including one on a make america great again campaign cap he bragged about the defeat of eisel on his watch two years ago when i became president there were a very dominant group they were very dominant today they're not so dominant anymore the visit came amid continuing fallout from trump's abrupt decision to pull out all u.s. f

has visited american troops and germany on his way home from an unannounced trip to iraq u.s. president stop at ramstein air base following follows growing criticism rather of his failure to visit troops deployed overseas for just three hours in iraq thanking a group of soldiers and defending his decision to pull out of syria however he did not meet with anyone from the iraqi leadership rob reynolds reports from washington d.c. . resident donald trump got a warm welcome from u.s. troops during his brief visit to iraq. we came to share our eternal gratitude for everything you do to keep america safe strong and free. accompanied by first lady maloney a trump the president should. cans with service members at an air base one hundred sixty kilometers from baghdad he posed for selfies and signed autographs including one on a make america great again campaign cap he bragged about the defeat of eisel on his watch two years ago when i became president there were a very dominant group they were very dominant today they're not so dominant anymore the visit came amid continuing fallout fr

iraq. >> standby, fire! ( explosion ) >> schifrin: about 5,200 u.s. service members are based in iraq. give fire support, and train iraqi troops, as well as provide intelligence and aerial surveillance. while iraqi troops hunt isis fighters, the u.s. conducts air strikes, such as thione two weeks ago against an isis cave. it's been more than a year since irei soldiers celebrated th government declaring victory against isis, but isis is still able to launch as many as 75 attacks per month, according to one study, including this christmas day bombing. speaking to pentagon reporters two weeks ago, the u.s. commander in iraq said isis militants were isolated and not a strategic threat. >> isis itself really right now is-- is in austere conditions. they're spending most of their time in-- in caves, underground, in-- in tunnels, in austere, tough desert terrain. >> schifrin: president trump has used that claim to follow through on campaign promises to withdraw from war.y, toven as he said troops in iraq would stay, he vowed to bring as many as he could m:me. >> brangick will be back after th

are the headlines i'll be back with more news after witness and monday put it well on the edges iraq u.s. and british companies have announced the biggest discovery of natural gas in west africa but what to do with these untapped natural resources is already a source of heated debate nothing much has changed they still spend most of the days looking forward to for the dry river beds like this one five years on the syrians still feel battered or even those who managed to escape their country haven't truly been able to escape the war. i. think julianne will still see the connection. between just because it's interesting kitty and the movie should we took it was emotional it was you were in cheek and concerned and i don't do bookkeeping that is now a little one who each year should be getting used to going to jail much i don't need to be somewhat. of a crystal could be to conduct a book you teach it is going to somebody that you know and if you're a good t.v. radio phone and secure data comes out so silly i mean they can they will but you know what are you well when you know about him but h

fellas al-jazeera politicians in iraq are u.s. forces leave the country following president announced accusing him of violating iraq's sovereignty did not meet any of the country's leadership on his three hour trip but telephone prime minister. mahdi invited him to the white house and ron carter has more from baghdad. the u.s. president seems determined to keep u.s. troops in iraq. but his visit last in just three hours on wednesday night to air base one hundred thirty kilometers west of baghdad provoked a strong reaction from some iraqi politicians. well i think it is shameful for the iraqi prime minister to accept the u.s. president's invitation to go to the u.s. after his mockery of iraqi politicians and the iraqi government he entered iraq surreptitiously without any coordination and no respect for iraq's sovereignty i spent three hours celebration with soldiers as if you to achieved a great victory in fact this visit is considered to fish rather than a victory. there are five thousand two hundred u.s. troops currently in iraq

u.s. has no plans at all to pull out of iraq. a day earlier during a phone call with the commander of the air base in qatar trump asked about the ongoing blockade of qatar by saudi arabia and the u.a.e. together with egypt and bahrain so how are they doing it cutter how are they doing getting together with saudi arabia and u.a.e. you know we don't track in a certainly the political followings of saudi arabian u.a.e. with regards to cutter but i will tell you they're fantastic comics this is trumps first visit to u.s. troops in a conflict zone during his twenty three months in office the visit is likely to quell critics who say he should have followed the example of his predecessors presidents bush and obama who visited troops in harm's way earlier in their terms rob reynolds al jazeera washington iraq m.p.'s have condemned president unannounced trip today country politicians in baghdad saying only parliament has the right to decide if u.s. forces remain in mount khan has moved from baghdad. the u.s. president's visit to iraq was

u.s. troops out of iraq now he has the u.s. president come under a tremendous amount of criticism for being with us u.s. president in recent history to not visit u.s. troops abroad before christmas and that's likely to be the impetus behind this visit to give you some numbers in syria where the pentagon have agreed to close out troops on the borders all dollar trying there are about two thousand u.s. troops in afghanistan where donald trump says he's going to pull out seven thousand troops in total there are fourteen thousand troops in iraq there are about five thousand two hundred troops so this is a mid level deployment for u.s. forces within the region now but he didn't visit with any of rocks officials this was very much a photo opportunity as it's been called by a number of u.s. media outlets simply to visit the u.s. troops it so it's been a it was shrouded in secrecy and a lot of people here in baghdad simply didn't know the visit was about to take place blitzer that simply the story within the political class and the tri

the program president trump and wife melania have made an unannounced christmas trip to iraq to meet u.s. forces in the country it was the president's first trip to iraq since taking office more than five thousand american troops are still there seven years after the official end of the iraq war. u.s. forces have conducted several major operations against the islamic state in iraq and the bottle of mosul just last year we can bring in richard for more on this thanks for joining us good to have on the program in a speech to those troops in iraq trump said. to withdraw from the country last week you that claim of course that islamic state has been defeated from syria. do you see any contradiction here between the policy on the two neighboring countries. well yeah and i think that if we go back and look at how the last mixtape gained strength it was because of. western entia and their weapon its allies in syria in the syrian civil war that opened the way for them to see territory in syria and expand that and seen huge amount of territory inside iraq and so i think nation actually trump the

u.s. presence in iraq. there's also confusion about what the u.s. policy in the region is of the trump ordered the withdrawal of u.s. forces from syria some fear the pentagon may well build up forces in iraq as a contingency for any future action in syria or a potential war with iran. iraqi politicians from all sides are now calling for a vote that ends the u.s. presence in iraq the largest block on the souther is now the nationalists the us president donald trump's visit to iraq may well have given them enough i mean nation to be able to win a vote that ends all u.s. involvement in the country iran can al-jazeera baghdad one of our top stories not touched by boko haram in nigeria on a military outpost we're joined now by our correspondent and the address who is live for us in just bring us up to speed limit on what we know about this attack and how the authorities are reacting to it. well basically for twenty four hours a book was around fighters according to initial reports of the need to stir the town by god some security sources are talking abou

u.s. troops in iraq. not deployed below brigade level it was the iraqi was themselves they were actually doing the fighting there were special forces operations this slightly different to the u.s. troops those special forces were embedded with iraqi troops and they were calling in airstrikes during the fight against eisel but he's really talking about the five thousand two hundred troops in iraq in a training capacity an advisory capacity so yes you know it's your question technically speaking you could use a rock as a forward operating base for operations within syria but you need a very clear strategy to do that and you need to ask the rockies whether that's something the iraqis will want the u.s. to do and that seemingly has an ok rank on live for us in baghdad emraan thank you the no go zone near an erupting volcano in indonesia has and widened and the alert level raised experts fear another massive eruption will cause a second tsunami at least four hundred thirty people were killed in a five meter hig

u.s. presence in iraq. there's also confusion about what the u.s. policy in the region is often trump ordered the withdrawal of u.s. forces from syria some fear the pentagon may well build up forces in iraq as a contingency. for any future action in syria or a potential war with iran. iraqi politicians from all sides are now calling for a vote that ends the u.s. presence in iraq the largest bloc of the southern us now the nationalists the us president donald trump's visit to iraq may well have given them enough i mean nation to be able to win a vote that ends all u.s. involvement in the country iran can al-jazeera baghdad the partial shutdown of the us government is likely to continue into the new year after both houses of congress adjourned without agreeing a way forward a vote on the impasse is expected next week donald trump says the shutdown will continue until democrats meet his demands for five billion dollars in next year's budget to build a wall on the border with mexico rob reynolds has more from washington d.c. . there is of course a very

eight million iraqis were in need of a few money turn nasty stance so this is not time to abandon iraq. u.s. led coalition invaded iraq back in two thousand and three setting off a chain of events that eventually led to the rise of eisel in the country here's a timeline of how things unfold. as a night i am announcing that the american combat mission in iraq has ended and the iraqi people now have lead responsibility for the security of their country. will take time to read a case of cancer like i said we will conduct a systematic campaign of airstrikes against these terrorists. working with the iraqi government. really good luck. the arrest of a top chinese telecom executive is threatening to derail efforts to patch things up with us on trade you got that and many more stories after this break watching the weekly on our national. what politicians do you can. put themselves on the line to get accepted or rejected . so when you want to be president. or somehow want to. have to go right to the press this is what before three of them all can't be good. i'm interested always in the waters and h

u.s. presence in iraq to prevent it isis resurgence and to protect u.s. interests and also to always watch very closely over any potential reform ation of isis and also to watch over iran. is the president's first trip to iraq since taking office more than five thousand american troops austin the country says the u.s. will use any pretext to defend its interests in the region if america. wants the oil rich countries in the war in iraq so well it's nationalized. now there are. oil. interests there the u.s. . is trying to win it's. in the middle east or in any case the presence of u.s. troops. in syria in iraq and they should be if a military force from another country is inside the borders of your country. and that is that the patient i mean i don't. trump strip comes amid critical changes in his middle east policy including pulling troops out of syria as well as talks of slashing the military presence in afghanistan the policy shifts come right off the u.s. defense secretary james mattis resigned just last week he also advised to keep troops in afghanistan

u.s. troops will be pulled out of syria but the troops will remain in iraq do you think we're any closer to understanding what exactly u.s. foreign policy is when it comes to u.s. military commitment in the region. well it's very simple and candid the trump said it all along good during the election campaign the only surprise is that for the first two years of tenure he didn't make good on beast brahmas but he's america first no one would call it fortress america vision for calling home all the troops. as fast as possible this was a powerful big game now obviously allies around the region are uneasy because of the sadness because of the election of course the nation the lack of staff work within the administration do you resignation of both secretary of defense matters and. presidential me sorry mcguirk there is reason for concern regarding be erratic. functioning of the administration but the south shouldn't have come as a survey you know there in tel aviv so let me ask you a question about israel i mean the israelis carried out air strikes against what they say were iranian targets in syr

, the -- right now there are about 5,200 troops in iraq, u.s. troops in iraq, as kind of a staging area. >> yeah. it can be done. and if you remember, dana, back in 2014, 2015, before we had boots on the ground in syria, that's, in fact, what we were doing. we were flying missions from iraq or from the region over into syria and back again without any boots on the ground. that said, the situation changed. we were trying to get syrian democratic forces, the kurds, to be more effective against isis. and so that did require presence on the ground. and those troops not only were advising and assisting, they were helping in the geolocation of time-sensitive targets. being able to help, you know, give intel on dynamic targets that were on the move. that's all going to be gone now. so can they continue to strike isis and syria? yes. but it will, no question, be less effective. >> something struck me in the pool report that we got from reporters who are on the ground or maybe in the air with the president about why the president made this decision, per

u.s. troops in iraq.his trip the president praised the battle being won against isis but is correspondent gillian turner reports, an old foe is promising a new threat. >> american and british intelligence officials are ringing alarm bells about an uptick in terrorist threats against airlines and airports around the world. >> terrorists are going to continue to target us, so we've got to keep targeting them. during the holiday season and all year-round. >> much of the u.s. government's attention has been focused on isis over the past four years. since its inception in 2014. >> we are destroying the bloodthirsty killers known as isis. we've done a very, very major job on isis. >> we have defeated isis. >> intelligence shows that al qaeda has been alive and well and making inroads into vulnerable regions. >> weekly linkages from al qaeda in west africa to al qaeda in syria to al qaeda in south asia. so in my judgment they are trying to regain relic relevance. >> al qaeda is looking to make a comeback and rea

u.s. presence in iraq. there's also confusion about what the u.s. policy in the region is of the trump ordered the withdrawal of u.s. forces from syria some fear the pentagon may well build up forces in iraq as a contingency for any future action in syria or a potential war with iran iraqi politicians from all sides are now calling for a vote that ends the u.s. presence in iraq the largest block on the souther is now the nationalists the us president donald trump's visit to iraq may well have given them enough i mean nation to be able to win a vote that ends all u.s. involvement in the country al-jazeera baghdad. warring sides in yemen battling for control of the port city of data every meeting face to face the u.n. has been hosting talks as part of the latest efforts to end four years of conflict a cease fire in the city has been in place since december the eighteenth but both sides accuse each other breaking it up matheson force. patiently hoping for peace the people of the yemeni city of hard data are putting their faith in a fragile truce as nea

has visited american troops and germany on his way home from an unannounced trip to iraq u.s. president stop at ramstein air base a growing criticism of his failure to visit troops deployed overseas stayed for just three hours in iraq thanking a group of soldiers and defending his decision to pull out of syria however he did not meet anyone from the iraqi leadership robert also reports from washington d.c. . resident donald trump got a warm welcome from u.s. troops during his brief visit to iraq. we came to our to share our eternal gratitude for everything you do to keep america safe strong and free. accompanied by first lady maloney a trump the president shook hands with service members at an air base one hundred sixty kilometers from baghdad he posed for selfies and signed autographs including one on a make america great again campaign cap he bragged about the defeat of eisel on his watch two years ago when i became president there were a very dominant group they were very dominant today they're not so dominant anymore the visit came amid continuing fallout from trump's abrup

iraq. after announcing that all u.s. troops would be leaving syria, iraq's neighbor to the west. about three hours on the ground, the first lady along with him, and met with commanders and troops there as well as the u.s. ambassador to ir

president trump making a surprise visit overseas to iraq to visit u.s. troops. st now by the press secretary at the white house, who says president trump and the first lady traveled to iraq late on christmas night to visit with our troops and senior military leadership to thank them for their service, their success and their sacrifice, and to wish them a merry christmas. let's get right to our chief white house correspondent, hallie jackson. hallie, this had been anticipated for some time. the president was asked maybe a month ago whether he would visit overseas at some point, and hinted he would. >> reporter: yeah, he said he hadn't yet, kate, because he had had such what he described as an unbelievably busy schedule. but he himself talked about trying to get to an active combat zone to visit troops. so, yes, this is a significant moment, not just for president trump, but for first lady melania trump, as well. it has been a notable period of quiet, i would say, here at the white house. no tweets from president trump. there had been some questions bubbling up abo

u.s. and iraq and as far as ordinary off the citizens what is the sentiment there as far as having u.s. troops remain in iraq. no i think you know what's happened yesterday and the curation of the statement of mr trump i think the speech of iraqi people now and old the majority of the iraqi people now they refuse. to interfere and that and celtic for the iraqi government then all the iraqi people and they're looking for the future of what is the future and do what what will doing that when he went in and american forces withdraw from syria what doing in iraq and you know the supporting for the entire community just for all the digits on the satellites then why they'd include is increasing that it's a sober pfizer's and the fighters or the soldiers in that space we don't need to even end and in the center of the. fighting between the iraqi troops and ice owns. american it's more the former for just four thousand soldiers now why they why they increase them this is the iraqi people now they talk about the future it's death change for their medicare in the global policy strategy g. and in t

u.s. soldiers in iraq yesterday, making his first visit to u.s. troops in a combat zone. he dismissed his defense secretary in a dispute over the middle east strategy. the government shutdown. how does that make you worry about the u.s.? does it impact the way you look at u.s. strength in 2019? >> i think it clearly is an economic thing for the u.s. economy. that's for sure. but then when i look back at the years we've had come up off off, ias -- had come would expect to see some solution in january. when i look at the relationship between the u.s. and the eu, i think there are also ongoing talks on finding some trade agreement. i would also assume that we do see some breakthrough because there is this fear of this risk thatfar spread trade war was not materialize, and we could actually get some positive surprises in the first half of 28 team -- of 2019. francine: how will president market?pact the stock this is a president that cares most about the stock market, but he's also delivering on campaign promises, whether this hurts the u.s. economy or not. >> i think donald t

u.s. troops in iraq.he commander in chief defended his widely-criticized plan to withdraw forces from neighboring syria, claiming isis has been knocked out, quote, silly. the president says he is in no hurry to find a permanent replacement for defense secretary james mattis who quit in protest. mr. trump suggests he is not in a rush to end the partial government shutdown here in the u.s. as well. this hour i will talk with a key democrat on the house armed services committee, congressman john garamini. our correspondents and analysts are standing by at this hour. first to our white house correspondent, abby phillip, there was growing pressure on the president to finally visit troops in a combat zone and today he did it. today was the day. >> reporter: today was the day, jim. president trump two years into his presidency finally leaving the united states and heading to a combat zone where u.s. troops are stationed, but this is one of those conflicts that president trump has been talking about for many, man

u.s. armed forces which are deployed in iraq and there is an agreement, defense agreement between the u.s.n of france visits his troop in west africa we we don't see him first visiting the government and going and visit these troops. it is acceptable. for security reasons to organize even many in america didn't know about that visit for security reasons. i think it is acceptable. >> heather: apparently white house press secretary sarah sanders says that the president has extended an invitation to the prime minister there to come to washington and visit we will see if that happens. in terms of the relationship between iraq and the united states. we have done a lot to assist them in terms of isis getting isis out of their country and then they are reacting this way. >> look, that's a very complicated situation. let me begin by those who spacekly support u.s. president and u.s. support to iraq. of course the kurds in the north sunni have expressed support to u.s. action and she a muslims who had been opposing. the pro-iranian factions. now the question is how come they accepted american milit

u.s. troops leave. the president recently called the war in iraq, "the worst single his take ever made in the history of country." but, despite that, he told the troops today he has no plans to withdraw the 5,200 u.s. troops now in iraq. >> brown: chip, the president had planned to meet with the iraqi prime minister. what happened? >> reporter: well, that meeting was turned into a phone call. the white house says it was because of security concerns, because of security concerns, but iraqi officials say it was because of disagreements over how to conduct that meeting. j.b.? >> brown: chip reid at the white house, thank you very much. it was a day of wild mood swings on wall street coming off the christmas break, stocks rose, then plummeted, then soared again. the dow was up more than 1,086 points, that's the largest one- day point gain ever. demarco morgan now on the big bounce back. ( bells ringing ) >> reporter: investors went on a post-christmas shopping spree, sending all three major indexes into positive territory. the dow snapped a four-day negative skid, and the s&p had its best day since 1973. th

iraq today. it is his first trip to the country since becoming commander-in-chief. >> president trump and the first lady made a surprise visit to u.s. troops in iraq wednesday. mr. trump wrote melania and i were honored to visit our incredible troops in al-assad and i rock. mr. trump said he had no immediate plans to withdraw from iraq. about 5200 troops are stationed there. the white house did not believe any advanced information about the trip. this is the first time since becoming commander-in-chief that mr. trump has traveled to iraq or any combat zone. facing mounting criticism, the president said in october he did think of visit was overly necessary. >> there is no greater president for me than to serve as your commander. the president served and his trip to iraq comes days after announcing he is pulling all u.s. forces from neighboring syria into the resignation of defense secretary, james mattis. >>> of body was discovered -- a body was discovered near a fremont street exit. officers say they got reports of an abandoned vehicle on the highway. when they searched the area, they found nothing. the family of the victim decided

military in iraq will support the u.s. pullout from syria. isis can be hit from iraq if necessary.liphate is gone. he says isis is quote, nearly defeated so this trip really happening during day five of what has been a government shutdown. we heard from government advisor, kevin hassett says only issue in the shutdown will be temporary. people's paychecks will be delayed, and people's unemployment will bump up slightly if the shut down lasts several weeks but he said he is not concerned about any long-term impact on the economy. then just this afternoon on the ground in iraq, the president says he is digging his heels in. he says he will not back down. he wants funding for the wall. when asked how long the shut down will last, he says as long as it takes. susan. susan: surprises abound. thank you so much, hillary. blake: joining us to discuss, anthony tate today. retired brigadier general. thanks for joining us. author of the book, dark winter. thanks for being with us. >> great to be here. blake: before i walk you through couple headlines. i want to get your general reaction to th

u.s. involvement in iraq in the first gulf war something that the u.s. preoccupation with iraq has continued really to this day both physically and politically so a lot on the international scene that is part of his legacy. just briefly he also came in for some criticism while he was president if you don't. absolutely well while he was mostly over his international work it was really his domestic agenda that brought him down as you mentioned he only served one term one of the few modern presidents has only served one term and it was because he is from a very partridge and wealthy family and he was seen as somewhat out of touch with average americans and it was that sort of distance from the average american to him him coming from this tony in so far as america has nobility in noble family that inevitably brought him down and was the subject of much criticism during and somewhat after his presidency ok my waiter in washington thank you so much for that . and as reaction continues to come in from around the world let's take a look back at the life and legac

iraq retired general mark kimmitt. mark kimmitt thanks for joining me up front as brigadier general use as the deputy director of operations and chief u.s. military spokesman in iraq after the invasion fifteen years on from the invasion and occupation of iraq by the u.s. and its allies do you have any regrets you have anything you want to apologize for you think the u.s. should apologize for or don't think so i was on the record as apologizing for the abu ghraib problem the opera group situation obviously some of our soldiers had screwed up their the embarrass the nation the embarrass their credibility inside of iraq i apologize for that but i think by and large there is nothing to apologize for nothing to apologize for so when the u.s. invaded iraq in two thousand and three in defiance of international law no w m d's found no al qaeda connections terror threat to the us increased thousands of people tortured hundreds of thousands killed millions displaced from their homes iran's influence increased in the region eisel born in iraq several trillion dollars burned through in the process you know that requires any kind of you know well we

u.s. presence in iraq to prevent and isis resurgence and to protect u.s.nterests and also to always watch very closely over any potential re-formation of isis and also, to watch over iran. we will be watching. can do feet armies on the battlefield, each nation of the world must decide for itself what kind of future it wants to build for its people. and what kind of sacrifices they are willing to make for their children. america should not be doing the fighting for every nation on earth. reimbursed in many cases at all. if they want us to do the fighting, they also have to pay a price and sometimes, that is also a monetary price. so, we are not the suckers of the world. suckers andnger the people are not looking at us as suckers and i love you folks because most of you are nodding your head. we are respected again as a nation. we are respected again. america is safer and peace is more possible because of the incredible coverage and devotion of every patriot here tonight. some people say -- well maybe someone comes from the area and they hit us on our homela

u.s. troops in iraq.the troops, president trump described how he told the generals would get no more extensions when it came to pulling out of syria. let's bring in general cedric leighton. the president essentially revealing to these troops these behind-the-scenes conversations he's having with the generals about this really strategic decision. is this uncommon for a commander in chief to do during a visit like this? >> very uncommon, ryan. the thing we're looking at here is the fact that the president is so open about his motivations when it comes to withdrawing troops from syria. i think what the troops are getting is a bit of inside baseball and i think they're grateful to hear some of that, but the real problem is that other people are listening in to this and they understand that the president is basically moving everything out of syria, placing it into iraq. that gives russia, syria in the form of the assad regime and iran, as well as isis an opportunity to maneuver. that cab very dangerous game an

take a look at the top stories on al-jazeera has made a surprise visit to iraq the u.s. president and first lady malani a trump met with troops at air base west of baghdad the foot follows criticism over trump's failure to visit troops and overseas combat zones. one year ago i gave our generals six more months in syria to see go and get out. and it turns out it was really a year and a half ago i should go get them we need six months. and they said give us another six months i said go get them. then they said go can we have one more like period of six months as a no. no. i said i gave you a lot of six months and now we're doing it a different way the no go zone near an erupting volcano in indonesia has and widened in the alert level raised experts fear another massive eruption will cause a second tsunami at least four hundred thirty people were killed when a five metre highway flooded coastal communities on saturday and wind pilots are being warned to stay well away from the ash cloud above the end. and the democratic republic of congo the postponement of sunday's preside

if your happened and since then the feats of islamic state group so this is not time to abandon iraq. a u.s. led coalition invaded iraq back in two thousand and three setting off a chain of events that may attribute to the rise of i still in the country here's the timeline of how things unfolded. the night i am announcing that the american combat mission in iraq has ended and the iraqi people now have lead responsibility for the security of their country. will take time to read a case of cancer like i said we will conduct a systematic campaign of airstrikes against these terrorists. working with the iraqi government. time to most still to come this hour and. the killing of a mentally disabled palestinian man during the raid putting the israeli military back in the spotlight when how the details for you after this short break. what politicians do something to. put themselves on the line. to get accepted or rejected. so when you want to express an interest. or some want to listen. to the right to be first this is what the fuck are you more than people. interested falls in the waters of. their