numbers by half both republicans and democrats express their worries after matters resignation secretary mabus was one of the few symbols the few items of strength and stability in this administration republican senator marco rubio commented on matters decision on twitter just read general mattis resignation letter he wrote it makes it abundantly clear that we're headed towards a series of grave policy errors which will endanger our nation damage our alliances and empower our adversaries. now trump needs a new defense secretary who follows the president's line. the resignation of matters is likely to have a major effect on us or in policy to talk more about that i'm joined now by paul soni the national security reporter from the washington post good evening to you paul let's talk about syria is president trump right in saying that someone else can continue that fight there now that american troops will be pulling out. you know it remains to be seen the french have said that they are interested in keeping

a central figure in keeping a largely dysfunctional white house party functional secretary mabus was one of the few symbols the few items of strength and stability in this administration everything that indicates stability everything that indicates strength everything that indicates knowledge. is leaving this administration when president trump criticize nato and threaten to leave it matters was the one reassuring allies behind the scenes he helped push the president to moderate his position on the g.c.c. crisis. and he was able to get the president to make an open ended commitment in afghanistan while loosening restrictions on u.s. troops fighting there. and when trump tweeted out that he was banning transgender service members matters slow rolled the order until courts put it on hold the president's disenchantment was inevitably made public i think is sort of a democrat if you want to know the truth it would appear the final straw for james mattis was what many believe was a unilateral executive decision to withdraw u.s.

well president trump and i wanted to have the secretary mabus leave earlier than expected that is now as opposed to in february then the logical person to fill that gap would be the acting secretary i mean president try to notice him they've worked closely on various issues including the recent decision to establish a space force and so its own president trumps comfortable with someone who knows the issues someone who has largely an extensive managerial experience so he's the obvious person to have is at least as good as he was really you know the issues because a lot of people. a lot of senators in fact seem to say that he has no experience so

in the country should release his letter of resignation about him to resign not the more secretary mabus was one of the few symbols the few items of strength and stability in this administration that they disagree on but that doesn't mean you can't have a good relationship with somebody who was no games bad dog plays no games write. everything that indicates stability everything that indicates strength everything that indicates knowledge. is leaving this administration. also coming up christians in pakistan living in fear of blasphemy laws targeting religious minorities now with christmas approaching bill a high profile court ruling give some families the gift of hope and then you go. home we always live in fear because of this we feel insecure. so when we talk about your future i think what kind of future can we have. the law and policies here need to be implemented properly. i've. we begin the day with yet another departure from the trump cabinet u.s. defense secretary jim mattis as handed in his letter of resignation it was done in protest of president donald trump's decision to withd

seen as a central figure in keeping a largely dysfunctional white house party functional secretary mabuswas one of the few symbols the few items of strength and stability in this administration everything that indicates stability everything that indicates strength everything that indicates knowledge is leaving this administration when president trump criticize nato and threaten to leave it matters was the one reassuring allies behind the scenes he helped push the president to moderate his position on the g.c.c. crisis. and he was able to get the president to make an open ended commitment in afghanistan while loosening restrictions on u.s. troops fighting there. and when trump tweeted out that he was banning transgender service members matters slow rolled the order until courts put it on hold the president's disenchantment was inevitably made public i think is sort of a democrat if you want to know the truth it would appear the final straw for james mattis was what many believe was a unilateral executive decision to withdraw u.s. forces from syria the secretary's resignation letter coming

seen as a central figure in keeping a largely dysfunctional white house party functional secretary mabus was one of the few symbols the few items of strength and stability in this administration everything that indicates debility everything that indicates strength everything that indicates knowledge is leaving this administration when president trump criticize nato and threaten to leave it matters was the one reassuring allies behind the scenes he helped push the president to moderate his position on the g.c.c. crisis. and he was able to get the president to make an open ended commitment in afghanistan while loosening restrictions on u.s. troops fighting there. and when trump tweeted out that he was banning transgender service members matters slow rolled the order until courts put it on hold the president's disenchantment was inevitably made public i think is sort of a democrat if you want to know the truth it would appear the final straw for james mattis was what many believe was a unilateral executive decision to withdraw u.s. forces from syria the secretary's resignation letter coming

well president trump and i wanted to have the secretary mabus leave earlier than expected that is now as opposed to in february then the logical person to fill that gap would be the acting secretary i mean president try to notice him they've worked closely on various issues including the recent decision to establish a space force and so its own president trumps comfortable with someone who knows the issues someone who has largely an extensive managerial experience so he's the obvious person to have is at least as good as he was really you know the issues because a lot of people. a lot of senators in fact seem to say that he has no experience so do you think that he can actually be an independent voice an advocate for the needs of the pentagon at the same time try to restrain the president's impulses fund. might break that into two separate questions i think you know it's true when he first entered office is he didn't have much for policy background he inexpensive sense of managerial experience but as he himself has said over the past year and a half years learned a lot both from secre

press secretary sarah sanders tonight suggestions that trump had asked maddest to resign secretary mabus has served the president and with the president for two years they have a good relationship i've seen it up close and personal on a number of occasions and again they agree to disagree at times but that doesn't mean you can't have a good relationship with somebody he was laying out the reasons that he was stepping down from his post and. beyond that i think it's absurd to try to question the answer is i mean they were together for two days after all the president has also ordered the pentagon to make plans to withdraw half of the fourteen thousand american soldiers in afghanistan and unnamed officials said that they could be home by the summer american troops deployed to afghanistan of course after the september eleventh attacks in two thousand and one since then twenty four hundred u.s. soldiers have died fighting the taliban in america's longest war. for the very latest let's bring in d.-w. stuff on siemens in washington good morning stefan amount of resignation is the latest in a s

numbers by half both republicans and democrats expressed their worries after metis resignation secretary mabus was one of the few symbols a few items of strength and stability in this administration republican senator marco rubio commented on matters decision on twitter just read general mattis resignation letter he wrote it makes it abundantly clear that we're headed towards a series of grave policy errors which will endanger our nation damage our alliances and empower our adversaries. now trump needs a new defense secretary who follow the president's line. let's go to our correspondent who's standing by in washington for us she's been following this story mio with general mattis now resigning is this administration on the verge of unraveling. well it certainly looks that way but we have to remember we've been watching at least one person leave this administration either resign or be fired really since the beginning it seems like fairly regularly but we do have to point out that he's mattis here is one of the last of what was colloquially within the administration or i should say within withi

secretary mabus has served the president and with the president for two years they have a good relationship i've seen up close and personal on a number of occasions and again they agree to disagree at times but that doesn't mean you can't have a good relationship with somebody he was laying out the reasons that he was stepping down from his post and beyond that i think it's absurd to try to question a fact when they work together to yes their. house democratic leader nancy pelosi said the departure of mattis is a further blow to the stability of u.s. partnerships and also sends the wrong signal to the nation's military. and shaken by the resignation of general mattis what it means to our country for the message it sends to. our troops look. i thought leader and now he is going to be leaving the second one is very serious for our country. and it appears trump's decision to reduce u.s. military involvement goes beyond syria now u.s. officials say trump is also considering limiting the u.s. presence in afghanistan cutting troops by half u.s. forces deployed to afghanistan after the september e

but the white house press secretary refutes the idea that they had a strained relationship secretary mabus has served the president and with the president for two years they have a good relationship i've seen it up close and personal on a number of occasions and again they agree to disagree at times but that doesn't mean you can't have a good relationship with somebody he was laying out the reasons that he was stepping down from his post and beyond that i think it's absurd to try to question the answer is i mean they work together for you there yes there are. house democratic leader nancy pelosi says the departure of matta signals a further blow to the stability of u.s. partnerships and also sends the wrong signal to u.s. troops. watching the house as i'm sure you are. and so can by the resignation of general mattis what it means to our country for message it sends to all troops. and for the indication of what. caused the new roles of the commander in chief are needed on our troops look so quick turn modest as a leader and now he is going to be leaving in one second and it's very serious f

seen as a central figure in keeping a largely dysfunctional white house party functional secretary mabus was one of the few symbols the few items of strength and stability in this administration everything that indicates stability everything that indicates strength everything that indicates knowledge is leaving this administration when president trump criticize nato and threaten to leave it matters was the one reassuring allies behind the scenes he helped push the president to moderate his position on the g.c.c. crisis. and he was able to get the president to make an open ended commitment in afghanistan while loosening restrictions on u.s. troops fighting there. and when trump tweeted out that he was banning transgender service members matters slow rolled the order until courts put it on hold the president's disenchantment was inevitably made public i think is sort of a democrat if you want to know the truth it would appear the final straw for james mattis was what many believe was a unilateral executive decision to withdraw u.s. forces from syria the secretary's resignation letter comin

of what happens next you know all of this is contrary to how you know general mattis or secretary mabus how he has looked at the world how he's done business and i think this was simply a last straw i think we all understood that at some point in time it was inevitable that either you no matter the step down or are you know donald trump which tire of of his service i think it's what's shocking here is how quickly it has occurred p.j. crowley the in america thanks very much pleasure. mr trump been defending as well his decision to withdraw all u.s. troops from syria and end the air campaign against eisel the announcement as along both washington's western allies and kurdish fighters in syria who say the move for the group to gain more ground there is time for other countries to step in alan fischer now from washington. u.s. president has declared the war against eisel has been won in syria we've beaten them and we've beaten a badly and he's taken to twitter to reject the idea the decision was unexpected writing getting out of syria was no surprise i've been campaigning on it for years an

seen as a central figure in keeping a largely dysfunctional white house party functional secretary mabus was one of the few symbols the few items of strength and stability in this administration everything that indicates stability everything that indicates strength everything that indicates knowledge is leaving this administration when president trump criticize nato and threaten to leave it matters was the one reassuring allies behind the scenes he helped push the president to moderate his position on the g.c.c. crisis. and he was able to get the president to make an open ended commitment in afghanistan while loosening restrictions on u.s. troops fighting there. and when trump tweeted out that he was banning transgender service members matters slow rolled the order until courts put it on hold the president's disenchantment was inevitably made public i think is sort of a democrat if you want to know the truth it would appear the final straw for james mattis was what many believe was a unilateral executive decision to withdraw u.s. forces from syria the secretary's resignation letter comin

shop or in going on the trump administration with a longtime supporter of saudi arabia in secretary mabus so him stepping down my also changed the dynamics and make you know president trump reluctant to continue supporting saudi arabia with a blank check we will certainly see in january what happens but the congress actually has the power even if trump vetoes to move forward with this legislation with a two thirds majority and senator flake even in december said they had the votes to even override a veto so. we're hopeful for that what happens if donald trump just ignores that part of the equation she had to do with the death of jamal khashoggi the equation being now particularly off the back of these new pictures that we hear that al jazeera have got access to more questions than on says well i think it's going to turn into a major political liability for not just him but his party and i think in two thousand and twenty voters will not forget. what donald trump is don and is complicity and is giving a blank check to the saudi royal family for the murder of a u.s. resident in gym all the

by half both republicans and democrats expressed their worries after matters resignation secretary mabus was one of the few symbols the few items of strength and stability in this administration republican senator marco rubio commented on matters decision on twitter. just read general mattis resignation letter he wrote it makes it abundantly clear that we're headed towards a series of grave policy errors which will endanger our nation damage our alliances and empower our series. now trump needs a new defense secretary who followed the president's line. joining me now in studio is making the lawyers she's the co-founder of republican women for progress thank you for joining us megan i think me we've seen the republican party nearly completely united behind this president from the very beginning now it seems maybe he's crossed some sort of line with his own party first in his decision in syria now with matches yeah you know i think we republicans and especially republicans that were outspoken against trump from the very beginning have kept wondering since twenty sixteen when will finally b

seen as a central figure in keeping a largely dysfunctional white house party functional secretary mabus was one of the few symbols the few items of strength and stability in this administration everything that indicates stability everything that indicates strained everything that indicates knowledge is leaving this administration when president trump criticize nato and threaten to leave it matters was the one reassuring allies behind the scenes he helped push the president to moderate his position on the g.c.c. crisis. and he was able to get the president to make an open ended commitment in afghanistan while loosening restrictions on u.s. troops fighting there. and when trump tweeted out that he was banning transgender service members matters slow rolled the order until courts put it on hold. the president's disenchantment was inevitably made public i think is sort of a democrat if you want to know the truth it would appear the final straw for james mattis was what many believe was a unilateral executive decision to withdraw u.s. forces from syria the secretary's resignation letter comi

both republicans and democrats have expressed their worries after months his resignation secretary mabus was one of the few symbols the few items of strength and stability in this administration republican senator marco rubio commented on matters decision on twitter just read general mattis resignation letter he wrote it makes it abundantly clear that we're headed towards a series of grave policy errors that will endanger our nation damage our alliances and empower our adversaries. now trump needs a new defense secretary who will follow the president's line. when not of his resignation is reverberating across the world let's go now to washington d.c. to our correspondent my straighter who is following this story for you might help put this in perspective for us if you will is this administration and rousing before our very eyes. well if so then it's certainly been a slow unraveling i mean we've been seeing it seems like advisors and aides dropping like flies since the very beginning but what's significant about mattis leaving here is he was the last of what was colloquially on the inside

response to this action secretary mabus secretary of defense has said that any type of backing away or minimizing of our relationship with saudi arabia that would embolden iran would be disastrous for the national security of united states and so i think the president's trying to balance the facts that he's receiving from his advisors with the morality that we know as united states americans we want to be the shining city on the hill we have to also develop some type of a measured response that. was not permit this to happen again or i'd figured coming to you now what is what has happened to members of congress in the us why of they all suddenly around this particular moment galvanized and decided that it's time to call out mohammed bin sound man they're not going to put up with this particularly the likes of of lindsey graham who as we know is a real close ally of president trump and his the two has been a great supporter a great advocate of the relationship with saudi arabia what's happened. you're up you're absolutely right about lindsey graham and it's important for our viewers to

seen as a central figure in keeping a largely dysfunctional white house party functional secretary mabus was one of the few symbols the few items of strength and stability in this administration everything that indicates debility everything that indicates strength everything that indicates knowledge. is leaving this administration when president trump criticize nato and threaten to leave it matters was the one reassuring allies behind the scenes he helped push the president to moderate his position on the g.c.c. crisis. and he was able to get the president to make an open ended commitment in afghanistan while loosening restrictions on u.s. troops fighting there. and when trump tweeted out that he was banning transgender service members matters slow rolled the order until courts put it on hold the president's disenchantment was inevitably made public i think is sort of a democrat if you want to know the truth it would appear the final straw for james mattis was what many believe was a unilateral executive decision to withdraw u.s. forces from syria.

whicetting to just share these type of experiences with the people in my community, and realize how amazing mabu i've always said i think everyone can find their own malibu. it's just a place that you feel safe and feel at home. and to have that taken away is really shocking and devastating, but the things that i've learned from this experience, it definitel doesn't make, you know, when you remember things that you loved and lost, whether it's photos or old elvis records, or something my dad's given me. it doesn't make it easier. het being able to go back and rebuild this tog you know, be stronger together.i really get t that out. it's given a really beautiful light at the end of something pretty dark. >> jimmy: could you even check on your -- [ applause ] >> thank you. >> jimmy: could you even check on your house when it was all happening?e >> no, no tually could get to their houses. i was actually in south africa. and not beg able to be there, and not being able to make sure my animals, and all my living things were safe. and liam was an amazing hero. he got out all the horses, the pigs, seven

group so the one who is not seeking the alliance in this specific incident incident it's was secretary mabus president trump felt that the alliance with turkey was important and in many ways the decision on pulling out of turkey and letting pulling out of syria and letting the turks come in bolsters that alliance there are those though who support the president's decision they feel that they did the u.s. presence in syria is is kind of overstated and there is still the option that the u.s. has has to launch attacks from the air and if and when they need to if they feel that the threat from isolates is going you think where do you stand on that one position is i think we need to take a look at what's been done in iraq since two thousand and fourteen american ground forces have not gone in america has provided trainers it has provided air strikes it has provided logistics support this provide intelligence support and we had two thousand troops on the ground inside of syria that's what's being withdrawn so if we were to take the iraq model train equip provide intelligence provide air strikes an

seen as a central figure in keeping a largely dysfunctional white house party functional secretary mabus was one of the few symbols the few items of strength and stability in this administration everything that indicates stability everything that indicates strength everything that indicates knowledge is leaving this administration when president trump criticize nato and threaten to leave it matters was the one reassuring allies behind the scenes he helped push the president to moderate his position on the g.c.c. crisis. and he was able to get the president to make an open ended commitment in afghanistan while loosening restrictions on u.s. troops fighting there. and when trump tweeted out that he was banning transgender service members matters slow rolled the order until courts put it on hold the president's disenchantment was inevitably made public i think is sort of a democrat if you want to know the truth it would appear the final straw for james mattis was what many believe was a unilateral executive decision to withdraw u.s. forces from syria the secretary's resignation letter comin

seen as a central figure in keeping a largely dysfunctional white house party functional secretary mabuswas one of the few symbols the few items of strength and stability in this administration everything that indicates stability everything that indicates strength everything that indicates knowledge is leaving this administration when president trump criticize nato and threaten to leave it matters was the one reassuring allies behind the scenes he helped push the president to moderate his position on the g.c.c. crisis. and he was able to get the president to make an open ended commitment in afghanistan while loosening restrictions on u.s. troops fighting there. and when trump tweeted out that he was banning transgender service members matters slow rolled the order until courts put it on hold the president's disenchantment was inevitably made public i think is sort of a democrat if you want to know the truth it would appear the final straw for james mattis was what many believe was a unilateral executive decision to withdraw u.s. forces from syria the secretary's resignation letter coming

white house chief of staff and secretary of state rex tillerson well most all except for secretary mabus they're all gone the other saying is that basically he is trying to in my view distract attention for all the domestic problems he has at home and so by announcing this which is very popular with his base he campaigned on it and most americans are tired of the wars in the middle east this will help them at home what has been pointed out by your correspondent this is not good for the united states is not good for our allies and it's not good for peace in the in the region right so it's basically a it's a good political move for don't trump any president who can bring troops home that looks good for them is it as simple as that for him to signing off and saying they're coming home because i do know it's there is a lot of opposition from some prominent u.s. senate has already the likes of marco rubio lindsey graham as well no i mean he has power he's the commander in chief he can order the forces to go and there's a big debate about whether he can send them into a war without congress wh