you know, you played that mark esper quote from "face the nation" yesterday. it's interesting because he mentions the syrians. he mentions the russians, these two u.s. adversaries that are now going to be in league with what was a former u.s. ally, the sdf, the mostly kurdish fighting force who was the tip of the spear of the u.s. effort to fight against isis for so many years. what he didn't mention, the iranians, one of the main adversaries of the trump administration has been trying to beat back with backing out of that obama administration nuclear deal in 2015. the iranians stabbnd to inherit lot of power between this deal with the sdf on the one side and the syrians and the russians on the other, it's almost politically naive that mark esper wouldn't mention the iranians are going to be benefitting from this because they've been under writing the syrian regime. as we see all of these powers circling around syria trying to take as much as they can and take advantage of the escalating chaos in the region, the iranians are the ones who really stand to inheri

his secretary of defense is a man named mark esper, but in a tweet yesterday, trump referred to him as mark esperanto, instead of esper, he typed esperanto. trump took a second look at the name esperanto and immediately threatened to deport him. >> a journalist from slate got the scoop of the late afternoon when she discovered romney's twitter handle pierre delecto. this is the most embarrassing

defense secretary mark esper also attended the ceremony in arlington, virginia. >> state your name. >> mark alexander milley. >> having been appointed chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. do solemnly swear. >> do solemnly swear. >> i will support and defend. >> i will support and defend. >> the constitution. >> the constitution. >> against all enemies. >> against all enemies. >> that i take this obligation freely. >> i take this obligation freely. >> without reservation. with out reservation. >> i will faithfully. >> i will faithfully. >> discharge the duties. >> discharge the duties. >> so help me god. >> so help me god. congratulations, chairman. [applause] [laughter] [applause] [applause] >> attention. >> honor guard. attention. >> ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the posting of the colors. >> post the colors. [drums] ♪ ♪ >> please be seated. ladies and gentlemen, general illey, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. >> mr. president, mr. vice president, secretary esper, distinguished guests, family and friends, thank you for being here today. and for your unwavering suppor

in an interview with cnn's christiane amanpour defense secretary mark esper tried to explain it all. >> we're conducting a phased

mark esper, the secretary of defense, says he wants to get u.s.ing factions, the kurds and the turks. what do you make of all of this? >> well, what i make of this is that the president of the united states did not deter turkey from entering syria. past presidents have used the power of their office to prevent bad behavior before it has. trump may not have endorsed this operation but he didn't prevent t.what the u.s. government is doing right now is trying to look at options to impose costs on turkey so that they stop the violence. that should have happened before trump got on the phone and should have laid out those costs for erdogan. they may include sanctions. we can designate individuals in these operations, bar their travel to the united states and freeze their assets. we can designate any companies associated with the turkish military. at a minimum we should disinvite erdogan from the white house and we're reviewing our military cooperation with turkey and our arms sales. how can we train turkish soldiers when we know turkish troops attacked

joining us as well our secretary mark esper. thank you, mark. great job you're doing.e pompeo. mike, thank you very much. epa administrator andrew wheeler. thank you, andrew. many of our great secretaries and my cabinet and service chiefs. i know we have a couple of wonderful representatives i think you havejo many socket myself in trouble but i see john carter and icy brad winchester. thank you very much for being here, fellows. thank you very much.as and i see a standard that is so supportive of our military and the, senator dan sullivan. thank thank you, dan, of alaska. done a great job. as we prepare to welcome the new chairman we must first take shape it to one of america's most admired and beloved military leaders, outgoing chairman joseph dunford. here today with his wonderful wife, ellyn. joe hails from just outside boston because father was a marine, and the top one who landed on inchon in korea and fought at the chosin reservoir. so joe knew which branch he was destined to join. he didn't have much of decisions to make sure i think. what you think about that?

secretary mark esper and mark milley gave more details of the u.s.-led raid.t led to the death of isis leader abu bakr al-baghdadi. this is 15 minutes.

in the a moment we'll talk with the secretary of defense, mark esper.irst, let's get the latest from steve harrigan who is live inside syria. >> reporter: chris, reports of those possible atrocities are spreading like wildfire here across syria. and when you cross over the border, you can really just sense people's fear. i heard a kurdish official tell a journalist you're never going to find a driver to take you around at that price, not with all the bombs falling from the sky, not with what they're doing to people. some disturbing video merging of what may be -- fox has been unable to verify its authenticity -- a turkish-backed arab militia fighter executing a kurdish fighter along the side of a road. as the fighter shoots the can kurd, he shouts, film me, film me. there are also reports denied by the turkish-backed arab militia that she have assassinated a female kurdish party leader. once again, the turks denying that. starts the biggest picture goes, we're in day five of this military offensive. no sign of a slowdown. turkey's president erdogan push

. >> i'm joined now in studio by defense secretary mark esper. great to have you here this morning.eporter: my colleague martha raddatz was reporting key details this weekend as the story broke. >> this had been weeks in the making. some time ago they had gotten a tip after the arrest of one of baghdadi's wives and a courier about where baghdadi might be. >> reporter: then spoke to defense secretary mark esper about it sunday. >> the u.s. has been looking for him -- >> for years. >> for years. what was the break here? >> good, very good intelligence work. >> they began tracking it for weeks and weeks. of course in the middle of this we have u.s. troops withdrawing, which a senior official told me made them have to do it now as soon as possible before our troops got out of there. >> reporter: the world learned the name al-baghdadi in 2014, when he announced him as the leader of the islamic state, proclaiming his caliphate. >> when al-baghdadi was really known for was taking a terror group and actually gaining control of territory in iraq and syria and governing that territory, establ

secretary mark esper who was also abroad.ding one republican house member, pelosi's office put out a statement following the visit, this is what she had to say, quote, meeting with and hearing directly from the troops and diplomats on the ground is essential for congress to conduct effective overnight in our mission in afghanistan, president trump weighed in on the trip as lawmakers continued to criticized his decision to pull troops out of syria, he put out this tweet following the visit, quote, she should find out why obama drew the red line in the sand and did nothing losing syria in all respect, all this comes as kurdish military leaders tell fox news they are deeply disappointed in president trump's troop withdrawal decision and still remain hopeful to have cooperative relationship with the u.s., south carolina republican senator lindsey graham says he now supports the president's in syria, major reversal from what we heard last week until now graham was one of the toughest critics on the decisions to remove u.s. forces

. >> defense secretary mark esper defending the president's decision to pull american troops from northern syria, a move critics say could lead to the resurgence of the islamic state. >>> the 11:00 news on ktvu fox 2 starts now. >>> the full withdrawal of u.s. troops comes as turkish forces advance towards a key kurdish stronghold in northern syria. hello again, everyone. i'm julie haener. >> i'm frank somerville. the pentagon said commanders will watch the situation closely the next few days, but for now american forces won't be helping their kurdish allies. >> reporter: major developments in northern syria turkish forces continue to advance on the kurds. much of what is happening we can't show you. the images are too graphic, but there is evidence this weekend of war committed, civilians targeted and isis prisoners escaping. all of this after president trump withdrew a group of american forces meant to deter such an invasion from occurring and today u.s. secretary of defense mark esper confirmed that a fullest withdrawal from multiple times this morning about the situation saying he is d

defense secretary mark esper was in afghanistan this weekend. as one of president trump's chief opponents. house speaker nancy pelosi's office said she's wrapped up an unannounced trip to the country. she met with esper and top afghan officials. pelosi also visited jordan on saturday. she led a congressional delegation and met with king abdullah, middle east policy and syria topped the agenda. the impeachment inquiry of u.s. president donald trump rolls on this week. several top diplomats are expected to testify before congress, and that includes bill taylor. he is the top u.s. diplomat in ukraine who raised concerns about the freezing of u.s. aid to ukraine. >>> meanwhile, the president's acting chief of staff mick mulvaney was under fire for his now infamous quid pro quo comments. cnn's white house reporter jeremy diamond has the details. >> reporter: white house chief of staff mick mulvaney continuing to play clean-up over the weekend appearing on a sunday news program to insist once again that he did not admit to the quid pro quo that he admi

fg innistan today, secretary of defense mark esper said all u.s. troops leaving syria will be deployed to western iraq to conduct operations against the islamic state. on hisirst visit to secretary, esper met withg afghanistan's president and told reporters the number of u.s. troops stationed there can beto reduced 8,600 from about 14,000 without hurting the fight against terrorism. he stressed that such withdrawal would only happen if there is a negotiated peace agreement with the taliban. and in related news, house speaker nancy pelosi led a bipartisan group of lawmakers on yesterday to discuss then situation in syria with king abllah ii. the ten-member congressional maintaining regional stability, in the middle east and international counter-terrorism efforts. there was fighting yesterd in northern syria despite the u.s. brokered ceasefire between turkish and kurdish forces.s kurdish leady civilians are now leaving and medical and relief groups are being allowed in. u.s. troops were seen leaving the region in convoys today. joining us now from b

mark esper says the president and his national security team are concerned american troops could get caught in the crossfire. >> what we're facing is, u.s. forces in a trap between a syrian russian army moving north, to take on the turkish army moving south. it puts us in a terrible position. and the protection and safety of our service members comes first to me. >> esper says with the president ordering u.s. forces to pull out, america's main ally in the fight against isis, the kurds, are now trying to save themselves from turkish troops. they're trying to cut a deal with the syrian regime and their russian backers. we go to jomana karadsheh. tell us what kind of deal we're talking about between the kurds and the syrian regime? what will it mean for turkish forces here? >> reporter: we'll have to wait and see, julia. a lot of questions about this deal announced by the syrian kurds, the authority there in north and eastern syria, with this statement late last night. saying, basically, they have been left with no alternative here, but to turn to the syrian regime to face this turkish

defense secretary mark esper said the u.s.ission in syria has always been to present a research -- prevent a resurgence o of the islamic stae and the reason for securing the oil fields is to prevent them from gaining access to syrian oil. which we must not forget was a major source of revenue for the terror group. what we also cannot forget is presidenent trump had ordered te returnrn of f 1000 u.s. troops o had been partntnering with a a syrian-kurdishsh milititia to ft the so-called islamic state. this latest decision to have this secure -- them secure the oil fields would partially reverse the ongoing return or suppose would return which is what is being said here of u.s. troops in syria. and also another questioion is e do not know how many troops we are talking about. how many will be sent following this new announcement. brent: do you think this is the pentagon's way of trying to correct what they have openly said was a mistake two weeks ago, t the mistakeke being the president's announcement that he was going to pull tr

their visit briefly overlapped defense secretary mark esper's trip to the region.rump tweeted that the group of lawmakers should find out why obama drew the red line in the sand and then did nothing losing syria and all respect. i did something. >> secretary of state mike pompeo is accusing house democrats of leading an unfair impeachment inquiry after barring state department lawyers from listening to interviews with current and former agency officials at the center of the investigation. in an interview with "politico" on friday, pompeo accused democrats of putting state secrets at risk and said the state department has been given little visibility into what is being said by current and former employees. pompeo said this, not letting state department lawyers in the room. they have not let state department lawyers be part of these hearings. that's unheard of. i haven't seen you all report that. he told "politico" that during the house's investigation of benghazi state department attorneys were, quote, allowed to listen to depositions and review transcripts of inter

. >>> defense secretary mark esper says the cease-fire between kurdish and turkish forces in syria seems to be holding despite what he calls reports of intermittent fires. the president is leaning on a plan to keep a small con tingment in intersyria. the largest troop withdraw from syria so far is under way. cnn observing trucks carrying personnel across the border into iraq. nick paton walsh live in northern syria with what this all means. some are saying ethnic cleansing is going to take part as a result of this withdrawal. >> reporter: that is a deeply dangerous term. some are saying what we are seeing is the cleansing of the kurdish populations under conflict at the moment. not always those settlements have been entirely syrian and kurdish. we have a distinct ethnic divide here. between the turkish forces and the kurdish side here, formnor the u.s. allies backing them. the withdrawal is perilous. while the u.s. was monitoring the cease-fire, it's been patchy. as officials told me 48 hours ago, it was not holding. the u.s. is not involved in monitoring it and are not competent in it,

defense secretary mark esper also attended the ceremony in arlington, virginia. >> state your name. >> mark alexander milley. >> having been appointed chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. do solemnly swear. >> do solemnly swear. >> i will support and defend. >> i will support and defend. >> the constitution. >> the constitution. >> against all enemies. >> against all enemies. >> that i take this obligation freely. >> i take this obligation

defense secretary mark esper is calling president trump's decision to pull u.s. troops out of the region deliberate. despite backlash from both republicans and democrats, many saying the u.s. betrayed their longtime allies the kurds. this morning the violence continues to escalate in northern syria as turkey's military operation targeting america's kurdish allies grows deeper. in just one week hundreds reported dead. that number expected to soar. [ speaking foreign language ] this woman saying, i have four children. two girls and two boys. where should i go? where can i go? president trump now ordering the withdrawal of all 1,000 u.s. troops out of northern syria. defense secretary mark esper on "fox news sunday" saying the situation there gets worse by the hour. >> we now know, we believe, that the turks now intend to go further south than originally expected. it puts us in a terrible situation. >> reporter: roughly 200,000 kurds who spent years fighting isis alongside the u.s. forced to flee. some leangarngprons. abc news confirming dozens of those isis prisone

mark esper talks about that. yeah, that's half the fun of a new house.g what people left behind in the attic. well, saving on homeowners insurance with geico's help was pretty fun too. ahhhh, it's a tiny dancer. they left a ton of stuff up here. welp, enjoy your house. nope. no thank you. geico could help you save on homeowners and renters insurance. >>> breaking news. russia strikes a deal with turkey to help remove russian fighters. putin strengthening his influence as president trump withdraws american troops from the region and it's raising more red flags for critics of president trump's decision who fear putin would be imbolden of the u.s. aligned kurds would be slaughtered. mark esper is addressing some of those concerns in a new interview with christiane amanpour. >> we see an army captain who's talked to the "new york times" and basically, he said i joined the army to prevent genocide, not to pave the way for it. we've even seen the head of the senate republicans, the senate majority, mitch mcconnell, write a very, very pointed op-ed in which he

today, though, defense secretary, mark esper says that several hundred defense forces will stay behind in syria, however, not to fight alongside the kurds or guard isis prisoners, hundreds of whom have escaped, but their mission will be to protect oil fields. barbara starr joins us now from the pentagon. barbara, i think folks at home will be confused by this pendulum swing. they're in, they're out. now some of them are staying in. this is purely about the oil fields? >> i don't think that's exactly the whole picture right now. where we are is this. most -- many of the u.s. troops have come out of the northern syria area along the turkish border. what we're now talking about are the troops that are in the eastern oil fields of syria. u.s. troops had been in that area for many, many, many months, working on the isis fight there. what secretary mark esper said in afghanistan earlier today is that they are not yet scheduled to come out anyhow, so as they stay for now, they will work on ensuring the oil fields are protected. have a listen to a bit of what he had to say? >> a purpose of tho

secretary mark esper telling reporters the troops coming out of syria will be redeployed to iraq. >>he u.s. withdrawal continues apace from northeast syria. again, we e're talking weeks, n days. the current game plan is for those forces to reposition in western iraq, the ones coming out, right, that original 1,000. and then two missions. one is to help defend iraq and two is to perform a counter isis mission as we sort through the next steps. again, that's the current game plan. things could change between now and whenever we complete the withdrawal. >> this as kurdish civilians ai leave, some demonstrators thoughing potathough i throwing potatoes at the u.s. troops. joining me now is retired four star general, his new book is sailing true north. as you point out, this building that we sit in is dedicated by a former supreme allied commander, none other than dwight davidi ue eisenhower. >> we could use a little more ike in our politics. >> even in our military. >> indeed. >> first the president saying no troops are going to stay in syria, so this is another disclaimer from something

secretary mark esper and mark milley gave more details of the u.s.-led raid. it led to the death of isis leader abu bakr al-baghdadi. this is 15 minutes. >> this operation was the culmination of multiyear interagency effort to find him and capture or kill him. baghdadi and the thugs who followed him are responsible for some of the more brutal atrocities of our time. his death marks devastating blow for isis who are deprived of their inspirational leader, falling to the destruction of original caliphate this year. i want to thank our brave senior members to took part in this raid. there's no guarantee of success in an operation with this level of difficulty. president trump knew this when he made the bold decision to order the raid confident in the expertise of our forces. our service members conducted themselves with incredible skill and professionalism. they executed the raids brilliantly. not a single united states service member was killed in this high risk operation. despite baghdadi's death, the security situation in syria remains complex. multiple state

defense secretary mark esper mentioned that specifically in a speech he gave this morning he said that turkey has always been a real reliable ally but it seems to be turning more toward russia and less toward the west and he really urged on korea to change that direction at the same time this isn't completely new for turkey you know it did by a russian missile defense system the s 400 instead of a western missile defense system and they blame the west for forcing them into that they said the u.s. didn't want to sell its system and there is some talk that the european union having put a partial arms embargo on turkey is going to do even do to push that even further that they're going to look even more closely at russia as an arms supplier so it's a very complicated situation right now and i think that's why we're not hearing more crystal clear ways forward nobody knows exactly what to do you've got to keep turkey inside nato nato is better off that way the thinking goes and turkey is better off that way so there's really no discussion of of turkey leaving nato or being kicked out but no

>> reporter: well, mark esper today said that u.s. troops would remain positioned around the oil fields, not giving a timetable for the withdrawal there, because there was an interest to protect the oil fields from potential isis attacks. remember, it is a big concern from the united states that isis will prosper, that isis will gain as a result of u.s. troop withdrawal from the region. >> got it, irerin mclaughlin in turkey for us. >>> let's bring in gail -- always good to have your perspective, thank you. the five-day halt, this five-day halt in fighting, has turkey achieved its goal? >> it certainly has captured the world's attention and i think now we have to watch tomorrow for three things. one is an erdogan/putin meeting which should be quite definitive in terms of what comes out of it. and what could happen at the end of this pause in hostilities, does turkey come up with a reason to continue really the encouragement in the offensive or is it satisfied with what it has? and thirdly there is this hunt in washington for a diploma

defense secretary mark esper arrived in baghdad this morning.t is he saying is going to happen to the u.s. troops, especially now that the foreign minister said you've got four weeks to get out? >> reporter: well, he just agreed, stephanie. he acquiesced entirely to what the iraqi defense minister said. well, now we have four weeks. it speaks to the chaotic withdrawal, because remember, first it was u.s. troops withdrawing from the turkish border. then they were withdrawing from the whole country, then some of them were staying, then they're going home, then some were going to be going to iraq, and now they're all just transited through iraq. which you know, stephanie, it really speaks to the modus operandi of this administration because the iraqi government, just like the kurds, were america's principal partners in fighting against islamic state and it goes to show that just like the administration didn't consult the kurds when they withdrew from syria, they also didn't consult the iraqi government when they said that they were going to be movi

and defense secretary mark esper said that he spoke with the president over the weekend and it was thet's decision to remove nearly all, if not all, of those u.s. troops from northern syria. i'm just trying to ask you as a member of the congress, as a member of the president's party. >> the secretary said in your earlier segment it was because the united states troops were in an untenable position with combatants on both the north and southern flank. i don't know that there was any other decision. >> how did they get -- but congressman, turkey has been wanting to lead this incursion for years. how did the u.s. troops get into that situation with the threat from the north and the south? >> well, realistically -- >> was not the president's decision to pull back? >> without congressional authorization. >> i would like to move on to another domestic topic before you go, sir, that is the call between the president and the president of ukraine in july. just to a fundamental question about that. because i know where you stand on impeachment, but just a general question around the topic. is it

mark esperanto -- esper is his real name -- saying the ceasefire is holding up very nicely. there are some minor skirmishes that have ended quickly. new areas being resettled with

. >> defense secretary mark esper aknowing 1,000 u.s. troops will now head to northern iraq.ley: chaos in hong kong as angry mobs go on rampage with arson attacks, police responded with pepper spray, water cannons, at one point spreading blue dye with pepper solution. protesters on 20th weekend, hong kong's government is condemning the protests. acting white house chief of staff mick mulvaney walking back what some called an admission of quid pro quo. >> certainly was part of the thick that he was worried about in corruption with that nation and that's -- yeah, which ultimately then flowed. >> mulvaney further clarifying those comments on fox news sunday. >> ukraine depended on investigating the democrats. >> that's what people said that i said, here is what i said, there were two reason that is we held up the aid, the corruption in ukraine. the president was also concerned about whether or not other nations specifically european nations were helping with foreign aid to the ukraine. carley: discussions related to looking into dnc server were not not tied to foreign aid. >> op

. >> reporter: but briefing reporters on a flight to afghanistan, defense secretary mark esper said that nearly all u.s. troops in syria are not coming home, but going to iraq >> the current game plan is for those forces to siti and then to missions one is to help defend iraq and two is to perform a counter-isis mission as we sort through the next steps. >> reporter: that's not what the secretary of state was saying. >> now the president believes we have accomplished a significant part of our mission and he wants our folks to come home, and we're beginning to woronkey wan. under the deal it cut with the white house, turkey is to take control of a roughly 20 by 250 mile area in syria, which it plans to fill with mostly arab refugees although the exact size of the so-called safe zone is disputed. it's also where the kurds of syria live, and they fear they'll be expelled for good hundreds of thousands are already on the move. the ceasefire is supposed to end on tuesday when the white house hopes it will become a permanent peace deal but turkey has already sent reinforcements to its border,

mark esper and joint chiefs, limited in the details they would give, but to say that two people were detained during that raid. the syrian kurds say they had a mole inside the inner circle. they also stole dirty underwear for al baghdadi and a blood sample, that enabled them to test the dna, against the dna they had obtained from baghdadi about a decade ago, enabling them to make a match and ensuring the risk of eight helicopters deep in territory of syria is worth it. there's a numbers of different groups or states saying they assisted, including the iraqis, too, actually. a senior official say this may have originated from their detaining an adviser who was detained two months ago on the outskirts of baghdad. led iraqis to a courier who led to baghdadi. a key moment for the campaign here. it could still, as it wraps up and takes out other baghdadi associates in the next 48 hours, could face a hurdle told. that's a key moment between the kurds and the incursion here, in which they are going to start along the border to keep the peace. but before that, the kurds must pulled back from

forces from as many mitty's countries as possible but one thing that mark esper did reiterate to reporters traveling with him to kabul is that any decision to add troops or to withdraw troops really depends on the security situation in the country and it really depends on what the afghan military is needs are and so he does not want to get ahead of what any possible negotiations might reveal but certainly that possibility of a trial of a troop reduction excuse me is very much in the cards but really it has to come down to if there is in a sign a signed agreement between the taliban in the u.s. and then eventually with the afghan government that all has to happen 1st ok rosa leave it there many thanks. ok let's go back to our top story so far here on the news of those protests in lebanon list is a hasan he's a member of keep us an opposition progressive movement he joins us from beirut. what you want is wholesale change what you'll get seeing is a drip drip drip of reforms is that enough. i think the people has made clear today that nothing is enough except for their demands and their deman

. >> syrian enjoy and mark esper said turkish-backed rebels have likely committed multiple war crimes go to the border. good morning, jomana. >> reporter: good morning, dave. there's a lot of concerns when it comes to the status of isis, isis detainees in northeastern syria. we have a classic case where the president is contradicting what his senior officials are saying. on the other hand, you have president trump saying only a small number of isis prisoners have escaped. and they have been mostly recaptured. we're hearing from senior officials, including james jeffrey, who is saying that more than 100 isis detainees have escaped. and they don't know where they are right now. there's a lot of concern voiced about the status of the fight against isis. you have two issues here. one, it comes to the actual fight. one, isis has been defeated. they lost the territory they use to control. but there's always that concern. they would be able to regroup. you have so many sleeper cells there and the concern is it was the syrian kurds who were the main fighting force on the ground. they suspende

defense secretary mark esper says the president and his national security team are concerned american troops could get caught in the crossfire. >> what we're facing is, u.s. forces in a trap between a syrian russian army moving north, to take on the turkish army moving south. it puts us in a terrible position. and the protection and safety of our service members comes first to me. >> esper says with the president ordering u.s. forces to pull out, america's main ally in the fight against isis, the kurds, are now trying to save themselves from turkish troops. they're trying to cut a deal with the syrian regime and their russian backers. we go live for the latest. what are you learning? >> good morning, dave. we have a very chaotic situation in northeastern syria. the united states is planning what is being described as the deliberate withdrawal, to pull out what remains of northern syria, because of what is fast developing. very concerning for u.s. officials. you mentioned there, you have on the one hand, the turkish-backed southeastern for syrian forces and militias. the u.s. has conce

. >> defense secretary mark esper and joint chiefs of staff chair gave more details on the raid in syria this past weekend that led to the death of al baghdadi. from the pentagon, this is 15 minutes. >> good afternoon, everyone. as president trump announced yesterday, united states joint special operations forces conducted a successful raid on saturday night results in the death of abu bakr al baghdadi. baghdadi and the thugs who follow him were responsible for some of the most brutal atrocities of our time. it marks a devastating blow to the remnants of isis following the detrustruction of their caliphate earlier this year. there is no guarantee of success in an operation with this level of difficulty and president trump new this when he made the bold decision to order the raid confident in the expertise of our forces. our service members conducted themselves without incredible skill and professionalism and they executed in raid brilliantly. not a single united states service member was killed in this operation. despite baghdadi's death, the security situation in syria remains complex.

defense secretary mark esper said soames would stay in syria to secure oil fields there and we mustn't forget that syrian oil in the past had been a source of revenue for the terror group that what we do or what we don't know is how many u.s. troops will in fact be needed and the president has been pushing for an end to what he calls the u.s. is involvement in endless wars and live up to a promise he made of bringing the troops home now for now trump is focusing on what he believes is very positive news that's the death of one of the most sought after people on the planet and shift the focus away from the ongoing and fast moving impeachment inquiry into him here in the united states. german chancellor angela merkel's conservatives have suffered a crushing defeat in the eastern state of 3 according to the preliminary official results her say to you gets 21.8 percent of the votes as a drop of more than 11 percentage points the left party is at 31 percent their best showing in ever in the state the social democrats dropped to 8.2 percent the far right alternative for germany has more than

earlier today, defense secretary mark esper and joint chiefs of staff chairman mark milley held a news conference at the pentagon. the updated reporters on turkey's military operations in syria and said the u.s. would not abandon the kurdish partner forces. this is 20 minutes. secretary esper: good afternoon. general milley have been working with president -- and i have been working with president trump on the middle east. we will provide an update on changes to the u.s. posture in the region. beginning with syria, we are opposed on greatly disappointed by the turkish decision to launch a unilateral military incursion into northern syria. this operation puts our stf partners in harm's way, it risks the security of isis prison camps and will further destabilize the region. wem the president on down, have communicated with the turks on this issue. i spoke with the turkish defense minister yesterday to express our strong opposition to turkish actions and reiterated the damage this is doing to our relationship. the chairman has similarly been in communication with his counterpart when turk

defense secretary mark esper tried to give some clarity to the u.s. position where both objectives and the reversal of trump's earlier order of troop withdrawal was set out. in his 2. so we are reinforcing that position it will include some mechanize forces again i'm not going to get into details but the mission in syria remains what their mission in syria began with it's always been about defeating the isis coalition. while russian forces step up their presence with turkey. drew attention to news that turkey had said it had recaptured some of the 100 isis militants believed to have a scaped from prison in syria as a result of the turkish incursion. voters in the german state have to ring to go to the polls this weekend in an election that's shaping up to be another crucial test for chancellor angela merkel c.d.u. party the far right to a.s.d. has been polling strongly and could overtake the conservatives as the state's number 2 party behind the post communist left party appearing it was part of the former east germany before reunification in 1990 it

secretary of defense mark esper you're just back from a talk he was giving ahead of the nato meeting what's he been saying. that's right and secretary espers in a difficult position because of course last night president trump came out and said everything's solved in northern syria turkey is pulling out it's going to be a permanent cease fire nobody is really sure what he means or how what kind of reassurances he might have from president air to want and so i very much would have liked to hear from secretary esper what he believes u.s. policy is how this conclusion in northern syria this resolution came to pass he didn't have a whole lot to say about that turkey's unwarranted incursion into northern syria jeopardizes the gains made there in recent years. this is a very different line from president trump who as you mentioned has been hailing the turkish russian cooperation what exactly is being jeopardized according to the u.s. defense secretary. defense secretary esper has been extremely outspoken in the past weeks in staving criticism of the turkish incursion so i very much would h

forces in syria have actually committed war crimes and he also confirmed the secretary of defense mark esper statement that more than 100 isis fighters had in fact escaped and they don't know where they are so as you can imagine you know reaction to this particular trumps words today have really not gone down that well at all the u.s. president he used this speech today to to justify his america 1st foreign policy agenda that is a message that goes down well with his base but beyond. but. you're absolutely right and i mean a lot of the critics are saying that essentially it cements russia's role as the power broker in the region and also claims that the syrian kurds were happy with the u.s. for its role seems to be contradicted by images of some syrian kurds throwing in fact rotten vegetables at u.s. troops who are withdrawing from the area and also this app promised that the troops are going to be brought home has been criticized because in fact it turns out that many of those troops who are going to be withdrawing from that area are going to be moved to iraq and in fact some are even going

his secretary of defense is a man named mark esper, but in a tweet yesterday, trump referred to him asanto, instead of esper, he typed esperanto. trump took a second look at the name esperanto and immediately threatened to deport him. >> a journalist from slate got the scoop of the late afternoon when she discovered romney's twitter handle pierre delecto. this is the most embarrassing reveal since we found out lindsey graham's twitter handle is wolf gang scrumptious. >> wow. >> anytime you say scrumptious in a punch line, i think it works. >>> it is late october, which means it is time for the fall classic, the yankees not in the world series. >> scrumptious. >> the washington nationals fan favorites, andy scholes live in houston, the site of game one for the bleacher report, andy. >> reporter: good morning, john, they're calling this world series team dynasty versus team destiny, you've got the astros going for their second world title in three years. then you've got the nationals trying to complete one of the most improbable come backs. bryce harper left them for the phillies before

the secretary of defense mark esper didn't have a plan. after we pushed them and push them they said well, is it who's going to o take care of all thee prisoners? the president said there were 70,000 isis prisoners and their families. who's going to take care of them? make sure they don't escape as some have already. they finally said the syrians and the turks will do that. so i asked the group if they had any intelligence or assurances that the turksnd in syria wouldo the job and secretary esper himself said there was no evidence of that. it was amazing. terrorists who we have spent a decade fighting, we have spent billions of dollars and lost lives to fight them. finally they are in prison. the kurds are leaving understandably because they have to fight the turks now. what's the plan? there isn't any except to rely on syrian turks who are not not close to the interest we have in curbing isis. assad is much more just and gaining back his syrian homeland the erdogan is focused on hurting the kurds who he is fanatically against but they are

defense secretary mark esper tried to give some clarity to the u.s. position where both objectives and the reversal of trump's earlier order of troop withdrawal were set out. and his team so we are reinforcing that position it will include some mechanize forces again i'm not going to get into details but the mission in syria remains what their mission in syria began with it's always been about defeating the isis call ition. while russian forces step up their presence with turkey esper drew attention to news that turkey had said it had recaptured some of the $100.00 isis militants believed to have a scaped from prison in syria as a result of the turkish incursion. now could married men be allowed to become catholic priests that is one of the controversial topics being debated at a 3 week summit at the vatican the meeting of bishops is focused on the amazon region home to several isolated catholic communities the proposed change to the celibacy rule for priests would allow older married men in such communities to be ordained the idea has outraged conser

maybe he said that because there is no record of mark esper saying any of it. a made up quote from a made up guy and didn't reflect the reality on the ground. trump deleted the tweet. so mark esperanto was gone. but pierre delecto lives and he's thing 2 in 60 seconds. (danny) let me get this straight. after a long day of hard work... ...you have to do more work? (vo) automatically sort your expenses and save over 40 hours a month. (danny) every day you're nearly fried to a crisp, professionally! (vo) you earned it, we're here to make sure you get it. quickbooks. backing you. >>> tonight senator willard mitt romney. he admitted it. the senator from utah has been working around in disguise. trump bashing sock puppet twitter pierre delecto. he called himself a lurker. it didn't take too much detective work before the inevitable ashley feinberg from slate unmasked his identity and said what pierre delecto has been doing. just a regular guy criticizing trump. he's liked a lot of george conway tweets. one posted by an accountant by devin munoz's pal. the normally ver