syria. >> reporter: witnesses tell us this is what happened. a group of coalition forces was on foot in the city of menbij. a man approached who was hiding an explosive vest. he was a suicide bomber. >>> in the light of day. the president's nominee for attorney general will not promise to let the mueller report go public. >> under the current regulations, the special counsel report is confidential. the report that goes public would be a report by the attorney general. >> so what we will be getting is your report of the mueller report. is that what you're telling us? >> i don't know what -- at the end of the day what will be releasable. >>> and good day, everyone, i'm andrea mitchell, back in washington, where nancy pelosi has just raised the stakes in the shutdown fight, calling on president trump to delay his state of the union address, citing security concerns until the government reopens or deliver it in writing to congress. her top deputy, with a different tone, congressman steny hoyer is taking a stronger stance, saying the president has been disinvited altogether. >> reporter:

. coming up next, president trump and his changing story on syria. so, first he said that isis is defeated, and now it's not. first he said we are pulling out troops of syria within 30 days. now we're not. we're going to break down the contradictions and look at all the leaders who have left the administration over this debacle. you're watching "velshi and ruhle." we are back. it's 2019. for your heart... your joints... or your digestion... so why wouldn't you take something for the most important part of you... your brain. with an ingredient originally discovered in jellyfish, prevagen has been shown in clinical trials to improve short-term memory. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. do you want the same tools and seamless experience across web and tablet? yes? great! then you're ready for power e*trade. the platform, price and service that gives you the edge you need. sweet! e*trade. the original place to invest online. if your moderate to severeor crohn's symptoms are holding you back, and your current treatment hasn't worked well enough it may be time for a change. ask you

, border wall. jim mattis, syria, your popularity, incoming senate, senator mitt romney from utah, the visa lottery system, russia, saudi arabia, the stock market, of course, there was a reference to kanye west as well. what was going on here, is this a president who for the last couple days has been home alone, no one with him, poor him, and now he's just venting about everything he's been bottling up over the last couple days or is there a strategy behind this? >> i wouldn't assume there's much of a strategy. what you have is what we've seen from trump since the days he became a presidential candidate. he loves to air his grievances, it's like festivus every day with this president. i do think more seriously, look at that list. all of those very important issues you discussed, the government shutdown, the funding of border security. the wall, all of that is taking place against the back dron of the incoming democratic congress. which i don't think i'm being too cynical here, was not elected to work with this president. a lot of weren't elected to work with their leader, nancy pelosi.

focus on that although he also took time aside to talk about the casualties of americans in syria just a few days ago, and also to push his case again for a border wall. >> and shannon, the president actually spoke about the missile defense as being offensive as well as defensive, which kind of makes everything we've heard for decades, going back to when i was covering ronald reagan and the so-called "star wars," that it's defensive, not onset iffen. >> that doesn't sound good to our allies or anyone in the world that we're trying to convince that we're the world's policeman, not the world's bully. another issue we had trouble getting out of the administration is who is the main adversary that this was targeted at. there was a briefing the other day with a senior administration official, we pressed them on. they were talking about rogue actors. who are those rogue actors? the administration has said, for example, north korea is no longer a threat, isis is defeated. do they still stand by that this missile defense system is targeted at north korea or is there someone else they have

syria to to kill our allies. the philippines, selling real estate in the philippines where the president has embraced a thuggish autocrat who brags about extra judicial killings. >> no, we don't do that. anyway, it's thursday, january 3rd. with us we have msnbc contributor mike barnacle, republican strategist and msnbc political analyst susan delpercio, politics editor sam stein, columnist david ignatius. good to have you all on board this morning. in just a few hours from now, joe, washington is going to look a lot different than it has over the past two years. house democrats armed with subpoena power and new found political capital plan to hold president trump to account. it is a divided government which this morning remains partly shutdown for the 13th straight day and the standoff could last for weeks. so frame this moment for us. >> if you take a snapshot of what today looks like, it would be very easy to say that this is the crossing of two paths, the coming not only democratic majority, but coming democratic dominance in american politics. you've got the republicans on

own national security adviser who says that u.s. troops will not be leaving syria any time soon. >> we're going to be discussing the president's decision to withdraw, but to do so from northeast syria in a way that makes sure that isis is defeated and is not able to revive itself. ♪ >>> good day, everyone. i'm andrea mitchell in washington where no talks on the shutdown are scheduled. congress is not in session, and the president is not setting his intelligence briefing until 2:00 p.m. according to the white house schedule. hundreds of thousands of federal workers may be asking where is the sense of urgency in this third week of a partial government shutdown. neither side is budging after weekend talks hosted by the vice president negotiating not with house and senate leaders, but only with their staff members. the president telling reporters sunday he may take the controversial step of declaring a national emergency to build his border wall if the deal with the democrats does not develop in the next couple of days. joining me now nbc white house correspondent kristen welker,

national security adviser on his syria policy, a decision that led to the resignation of the most respected man in donald trump's entire government, defense secretary jim mattis. national security adviser john bolton announcing there would be no withdrawal from syria until isis is destroyed. that's a complete reversal from donald trump's assertion that our men and women are coming back, quote, now. that's what he said when the withdrawal was announced. here to take us through another extraordinary day, some of our favorite reporters and friends. from "the washington post" senior political reporter aaron blake and national political reporter and moderator of "washington week" robert costa. with us at the table, former rnc chairman michael steele, jean peer senior adviser of moveon.org. and as of today, this hour, we're very excited to announce a brand-new msnbc contributor, welcome. tim o'brien's here, executive editor of bloomberg opinion. let me start with you, robert costa, and the president's primetime distraction tomorrow night taking to the airwaves or at least trying to, to

from a big country to syria or to afghanistan and then they tell me 100 times, we went you soldiers. we sent you soldiers and that's 1/100th of money they're taking advantage of, they're just doing that to make me happy or make past presidents happy. i've heard past president, they are involved in the afghanistan war because they sent us 100 soldiers. yet, it's costing us billions and billions of dollars. i could give you an example where i get along well with india. he's constantly telling me he built a library. that's like foive hours of what we spend. >>> having some problems with the feed there. that was the end of his cabinet meeting. it's the 18th he's had so far. pretty clear what he's trying to do is take attention from the fact there's a government shutdown and there's no plan from the white house to present to democrats in order to re-open the government. we're back in this. let's see if he's still talking about his popularity in europe. >> i wish mitt could be more of a team player. i'm surprised he did it this quickly. i was expecting something. i endorsed him. he mathan

new syria policy? our troops, last we knew, were on their way home. tonight, not so fast. "the 11th hour" getting started on this monday night. i am a family man. i am a techie dad. i believe the best technology should feel effortless. like magic. at comcast, it's my job to develop, apps and tools that simplify your experience. my name is mike, i'm in product development at comcast. we're working to make things simple, easy and awesome. >>> welcome back. new reporting from "bloomberg" reveals the white house could try to block some of robert mueller's final report to prevent it from being shared with congress and the wider public once it's been completed. shannon petty ppiece, a frequent guest of ours, reporting mueller may submit his findings to the doj as early as february. more on that in a minute. and, "democrat who now control the house have said they'll demand that the department hand over the report and that they intend to make it public. the white house may counter by asserting" you guessed it "executive privilege to prevent key findings from being turned over." president tr

. >>> we're now actually able to begin to hand off the fight against isis in syria to our coalition partners, and we are bringing our troops home. the caliphate has crumbled and isis has been defeated. >> isis has been defeated. this morning the vice president declared with that phrase that isis had been defeated in syria, language that's similar to what the president said a month ago when he announced his decision to withdraw from syria and proclaim that the u.s. had, quote, won against isis. but about two hours before the vice president made his remarks this morning, isis claimed credit for the worst attack on americans in syria in the three-plus years that u.s. troops have been there. four americans, including two u.s. service members killed in an apparent suicide bombing in a city near the turkish border. senator richard blumenthal, democrat from connecticut, member of the senate armed services committee with me to discuss this. what do you on the committee know and what do you in congress know about what happened today? >> what we know for sure, chris, is that these deaths are

from syria, president trump now says it's not going to happen overnight. >> i never said i'm going to rush out. we're going to get out. we're getting out of syria. we're bringing our young great troops home. we have to bring them home. we're going to do it in a very good way. >> and what does 2019 hold for the mueller investigation? when it's all said and done, will there be more indictments or more guilty pleas? we'll discuss that with our spectacular team of legal analysts in just a few minutes. let's begin this new year's day just two days away from an historic shift in congress. new names, new faces. a new dynamic driven by 63 house democrats about to get sworn in. what might their impact be? they're going to want those 800,000 workers to saturday getting paid again. but in new comments to fox news, trump doesn't sound like he's ready to make a deal. still insisting it's all about, quote, good old-fashioned wall. and in a new tweet, he's encouraging the so-called haters to calm down and enjoy all the great things happening in our country. i've got a great team to help me break

hand off the fight against isis in syria to our coalition partners and we are bringing our troops home. the caliphate has crumbled and isis has been defeated. >> this morning's shutdown power play by speaker nancy pelosi, asking the president to either delay this month's state of the union or to literally mail it in. >> the point is security. >> here is a number that's new today. how bad the shutdown could be for our economy with president trump's own advisors now doubling their projections on how much growth is being lost. now the trump administration has ordered, ordered an additional 50,000 federal workers to return to work without pay. >> it impacts your sleeping. it impacts your overall stress level. and it just -- it keeps going on for a long time and it's going to have an adverse impact on everyone's operational readiness. >> i think that as this progresses, that morale will continue to deteriorate. >> how could it not? >> we begin with breaking news from syria. the u.s. military confirms american troops were among those killed in a suicide bombing today in northern syria. >> th

happened one day after trump announced he was pulling all u.s. troops from syria. at the time the president tweeted that mattis will be retiring with distinction while greatly thanking the general for his service. the purchase of new fighting equipment and helping get allies to pay for more defense. at yesterday's cabinet meeting, however, trump threw all that out the window. >> general mattis thanked me profusely for getting him $700 billion. he couldn't believe it. he thanked me the following year when i got him $716 billion. he couldn't believe it. but general mattis was so thrilled. but what's he done for me? how's he done in afghanistan? not too good. i'm not happy with what he's done in afghanistan and i shouldn't be happy. but he was very happy, he was very thankful when i got him $700 billion and the following year $716 billion. i wish him well. i hope he does well. as you know, president obama fired him and essentially so did i. >> okay. after sparking conversation with a scathing op-ed criticizing president trump, senator-elect mitt romney is weighing on on why he decide

might be to not make a decision jest yet. >>> and how soon could troops be withdrawn from syria? ops be withdrawn from syria >> tech: at safelite autoglass we know that when you're spending time with the grandkids every minute counts. and you don't have time for a cracked windshield. that's why we show you exactly when we'll be there. saving you time, so you can keep saving the world. >> kids: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace ♪ >>> our boys, our women, they are all coming back, we won, that's the way we want it and the way they want it. >> that was president trump saying that u.s. troops would be coming home from syria now, as in now, now. that was then and this is now. >> we are pulling back in syria, we're going to be removing our troops, i never said we're doing it that quickly. does he know when she on tape? now doesn't mean now and the president's national security advisors saying there is conditions for any troop movement in syria. carol lee is traveling with john bolton in tushlgy. >> that's right, one of the conditions that john bolten told us was necessary to hap

, whether it's on what he ultimately did in syria, which was a unilateral hasty pullout. i know we will talk about syria later in the hour. there's another rational which he wants to talk about how they're both going to fashion the cover story, explanation for what russia undoubtedly did in 2016. maybe it's a superficial conversation. hey, hey, vladimir, i want to back you up. i want to be able to say you denied what you said you did. i don't believe you did it, and i'm going to back you up. you know, i know some people want to say it's also them conspireing about other aspects of a conspiracy. i don't think we have evidence or information about that. but chuck's point is fundamentally right, which something was discussed either on policy or intelligence that the president of the united states did not want his senior most officials to hear. he knew they would be in a position to undercut the fundamental premise of what vladimir putin was trying to sell to the american president. >> chuck, we learn about things like this from peter and his colleagues reporting that on five occasions

for you, what it will ultimately take to bring u.s. troops home from syria. pin, but maybe not for people with rheumatoid arthritis. because there are options. like an "unjection™". xeljanz xr. a once-daily pill for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well enough. xeljanz xr can reduce pain, swelling and further joint damage, even without methotrexate. xeljanz xr can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma have happened. as have tears in the stomach or intestines, serious allergic reactions, low blood cell counts, higher liver tests and cholesterol levels. don't start xeljanz xr if you have an infection. your doctor should perform blood tests before and while taking xeljanz xr, and monitor certain liver tests. tell your doctor if you've been somewhere fungal infections are common and if you have had tb, hepatitis b or c, or are prone to infections. needles. fine for some things. but for you, one pill a day may provide symptom relief. ask your doctor about x

four americans in syria. it happened the same day vice president mike pence claimed the terror group had been defeated and senate democrats are demanding answers following an explosive report the lengths president trump has taken to keep his communications with vladimir putin quiet. >>> good morning, everyone. it's wednesday, january 17th. i'm ayman mohyeldin. alongside louis burgdorf. it is day 27 of the shutdown and a bipartisan effort to refund the government has hit a major snag. a group of senators have planned to send a letter to president trump requesting the government be temporarily re-opened in exchange for a serious debate about border protection but wording to politico the effort failed after the letter's signers fell short of the 20 senators in both parts that supporters were trying to accrue. many republicans wanted more of a commitment from house speaker nancy pelosi in order to move forward with the letter and others thought it was a pointless endeavor to endorse it if there was no signal from trump that he may accept it. senators hoped to set up a meeting with the vi

of our armed forces, we're now actually able to begin to hand off the fight against isis in syria to our coalition partners. and we are bringing our troops home. the caliphate has crumbled and isis has been defeated.

with john bolton after john bolton attempted to revise president trump's statements about syria stating trump's pullout is conditional with one being turkey must vow not to attack the u.s. allied kurds. okay. didn't hear trump say that. in a speech to parliament earlier today, erdogan called bolton's comments a serious mistake that he cannot accept, adding that despite a clear agreement he had with president trump, the trump administration is saying different things. >> welcome to the working week. >> erdogan also reiterated his stance that the kurdish fighters are terrorists, while accusing the u.s. of creating a huge lie that the u.s.-backed kurds are fighting isis. beyond. >> erdogan lies with great frequency. >> and he's capitalizing on trump's lies. >> and really what is so perverse about what erdogan said yesterday in attacking the united states is the fact that it was the kurds that were fighting isis members that erdogan allowed into the country. in fact, there was story after story after story and richard haas jump in here, about how erdogan basically created a superhighway for

resurging and still commands thousands of fighters in iraq and syria. >> what happened in syria with respect to isis and the caliphate have grown tremendous in the past couple of weeks, at the same time we're consolidating a tremendous amount gf things are happening. >> north korea will seek to retain its wmd capabilities and unlikely to give up its nuclear weapons and capabilities. >> we made tremendous progress with north korea. when i came in, or let's say at the end of the last administration, we looked like we were going to war with north korea. now there's no missile testing, there's no rocket testing, there's no nuclear testing. >> this same former intelligence official adds, this is the same tactic he tried with the fbi. demean the people and undermine the credibility of the institution. and he warns there is no safety net when you have such total disregard for professional judgments. the danger of making faulty decisions, he says, is very real and very dangerous. the seriousness of the situation not lost on lawmakers, chuck schumer tweeting it's past time for the intel commu

house. >> we'll talk to you again in a little bit. president trump tweeted that isis in syria has been defeated. a claim which isn't true and he backtracked from in the following days. in fact, what he was ordering, actually, in the immediate withdrawal of troops was announced from the country, the administration then walked back afterwards. now it turns out it may not be happening in the foreseeable future at all. nbc's cara lee has more. >> reporter: good morning, the big headline so far, president trump is not withdrawing troops from syria unless conditions are met. it may not wind up being the compete withdrawal, and it's going to be the u.s. who's going to finish the job against isis in syria, not turkey. john bolton is trying to reassure allies about the president's plans, and outlining a different policy than the one the president put forward last month. bolton told us yesterday that no u.s. troops are leaving northern syria until turkey can guarantee it's not then going to go in and attack the kurds. he also told us quote there are objectives that we want to accomplish that con

help. . >>> coming up, the u.s. has begun the process of withdrawing troops from syria amid the confusion of the policy and the timeline. it was just days ago that john bolten said our troops won't leave syria until isis is defeated. to our knowledge, neither of those things have been achieved in the last three days. you're watching msnbc. days you're watching msnbc. (engaging uptempo music) - with tripadvisor finding the right hotel at the lowest price is as easy as dates, deals, done. going on a work trip? dates, deals, done. destination wedding? dates, deals, done. because with tripadvisor all you have to do is enter the dates of your stay and we'll take care of the rest: searching over 200 booking sites to find you the best deal it's as easy dates, deals, you know the rest. (owl hoots) read reviews, check hotel prices, book things to do, tripadvisor. sometimes you need an expert. i got it. and sometimes those experts need experts. on it. [ crash ] and sometimes the expert the expert needed needs insurance expertise. it's all good. steve, you're covered for general liability.

withdraw from syria. at a concern for operational security, we will not discuss specific time lines, locations, or troop's movements. also not discussing a specific time line. and national security advisor john bolten who told hugh hewitt this morning that he left military conversations on going in turkey in week so everyone feels comfortable with how it is going to happen. joining me now is richard engle, what is going on? >> well, this has been one of the most chaotic and confusing troop withdrawals in modern history. in december president trump said that mission was accomplished, that u.s. troops would be leaving syria. there was about 2,000 special forces in syria working with a british ally led force. president trump said they are leaving and they will be leaving within 30 days. a lot of people in the region including the u.s. military were deep lis disturbed by that and since then there has been a lot of back and forth, when will they will leaving, will they all be leaving? put in place to make sure the force is not wiped out by turkey, that isis will continue to be confronted

can't be seen through satellite, only verified with independent inspectors. >> move to syria. president trump, before the new year, sparked a huge backlash among allies on capitol hill after announcing withdrawaling troops from syria. he seemed to backtrack or meeting with lindsey graham. listen to an interview last night. >> i never said we are going rush out. we are bringing our young, great troops home after so many years. we were supposed to be in syria 3-4 months. that was four or five years ago. it's time. we have to bring them home. >> is this a walk back, kevin? >> i don't know where he got that from where the u.s. was only going to be in syria 3-4 months. that's ridiculous. he said he wanted them out in 30 days. he called for immediate withdrawal, that was his language. it was so unclear. this is so backward of the normal way to plan a military withdrawal. what i have read and what i am hearing in reporting is that secretary mattis and the pentagon asked for more time to have an organized withdrawal. it takes time to take down fire bases, load up equipment and roll i

knows. thank you, maya wylie. kim, stick around. >>> coming up, the timeline for leaving syria is shifting. ing s. i didn't really know anything about my family history. went to ancestry, i put in the names of my grandparents first. ing s. i got a leaf right away. a leaf is a hint that is connected to each person in your family tree. i learned that my ten times great grandmother is george washington's aunt. within a few days i went from knowing almost nothing to holy crow, i'm related to george washington. this is my cousin george. discover your story. start searching for free now at ancestry.com not having a good breakfast can make you feel like your day never started. get going with carnation breakfast essentials®. it has protein, plus 21 vitamins and minerals including calcium and vitamin d, to help your family be their best. carnation breakfast essentials®. and back pain made it hard to sleep and get up on time. to help your family be their best. then i found aleve pm. the only one to combine a safe sleep aid, plus the 12 hour pain relieving strength of aleve. i'm back. alev

the president writes this. if anybody but donald trump did what i did in syria, which was an isis-loaded mess, they would be a national hero. isis is mostly gone. year slowly sending our troops back home to be with their families. the fake news media or failed generals unable to do the job before i arrived like to complain about me and my tactics are working.

shad o our allies, and that is the secretary of state's messaging on syria, for all of our allies in the region. it doesn't seem that the administration has been all on the same page when it comes to reassuring our kurdish allies about what we're doing in syria and more importantly, what actually the way forward for us is in syria. what is the secretary of state saying to our allies in the region to assure them about that withdrawal. >> well, what he is saying is that united states is withdrawing, so he's not contradicting the president's rapid withdrawal. the president said it would be one month and later in december he said it would be up to four months. we see the early signs of some equipment, perhaps contractors coming out, but not the troops themselves. but what he has not explained and what no u.s. official has explained is how they can meet their commitment to stay and make sure that iranian boots are out of syria without u.s. troops on the ground. and without protecting the best fighters in the field, the syrian kurds, whom we train, whom we assisted for our proxies there

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troop draw down in syria may happen sooner rather than later. two of the many stories we're covering in the next 60 minutes. our reporters are covering all of this. we're looking at the kind of history no president wants to make with president trump residing over a partial shutdown that today ties the record for the longest ever. that fight over a border wall putting 8 00,000 government workers and their bank accounts in the middle of it. we'll hear from speaker pelosi in about 15 minutes. then next hour the vice president is meeting with kiersten nielsen. this afternoon the president will hold a round table discussion on border security. a lot happening on what's dubbed d-day for the federal employees. t we have our reporters with us. tom, let me start with you. you've been digging in to these pain points for folks all around the country. and today is the day. >> yeah. day 21 of the shutdown. that means that today no paychecks or they did get a paycheck. it's $00. you can't see it well behind me. we're shooting into the light. the tsa check point, thankfully no long lines. these guy

them and beaten them badly. >> while isis is nearing territorial defeat in syria, they are returning to their roots. >> knocking the hell out of isis. >> isis still commands thousands of fighters in iraq and syria. >> a lot of contrast between president trump's rhetoric on big foreign policy issues and what the senate had to say yesterday for worldwide threat assessments hearing. one issue noybly absent, the border with mexico. trump and his intelligence chiefs did not once mention the need for a wall along the southern border president trump portrayed as the single most pressing need for the country. >> more specifically, you're talking about national security threats for america. not only do they not talk about the wall, they didn't talk specifically about the southern border. >> or caravans. >> nor should they. or caravans. crossings again have been going down for well over a decade, illegal drugs you can ship directly to john heilemann's abode. >> please. >> actually goes through legal ports of entry, his in 1967 as an illegal port of entry. >> an app. a special custom app in par

house. it's things like pulling out of syria, some things are unexplained, like the helsinki conference, the conversations he with president putin. it's putting all of that in a different light. and then i agree, it comes down to politics at the end of the day. and you know well more than any of us how democrats are preparing for that possible. >> katty kay, that's an excellent point about the policy decisions that had been made in this administration that seemed to line up with the fact the president is interested in helping russia instead of treating them like an adversary. >> it's more what the president said than he has done. he spent the first half of his presidency backing away with from criticizing vladimir putin or russia. yet sanctions on russia have been toughened. sanctions on people close to president putin have been toughened as kwl. so the president is in some ways right when he tweets i have been tougher on russia. in a way he's right, he has stepped up sanctions and they are starting to bite around president putin. but it's the way this president is so very lu

syria. this was two u.s. service members, one american civilian, who was a defense department civilian, and one american contractor who was also working for the defense department. the terror group isis has claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing that kill these americans. this of course comes four weeks after president trump announced a surprise withdrawal of u.s. troops from syria on the basis of what he described as the total defeat of isis. oddly, vice president pence put out a statement after today's deadly attack echoing that tragically terrible false assertion about isis being gone on the day that isis claimed responsibility for this attack that killed and wounded all these americans. i'm not sure that anybody pays all that much close attention to written statements put out by the office of vice president mike pence. nothing personal in that, just sort of the nature of the job. but still, it's just head-snappingly weird that the vice president's office literally put out a statement today saying, quote, we have crushed isis. and in the same breath that statement l

failing "the new york times" has knowingly written a very inaccurate story on my intentions on syria. no different from my original statements. we will be leaving at a proper pace. while at the same time continuing to fight isis and doing all else that is prudent

running again. >>> four americans are killed in an isis-related suicide attack in syria. and after that attack the vice president says publicly isis has been defeated. >>> and the president who insists he's been tough on russia and the ambassador who says that's just not true and someone has to account for what trump and putin talked about. all of it as "the 11th hour" gets under way on a wednesday night. >>> well, good evening once again from our nbc news headquarters here in new york. day 727 of the trump administration. day 26 of our other tally, this government shutdown which will roll into day 27 at the end of this hour. there was a lot of news but no movement on the shutdown today, and we'll get to all of that in a moment. but first, that sound you may have heard about two hours ago, especially here on the east coast, that was the sign of goalposts being moved. rudy giuliani appeared on cnn tonight and talked about the russians, about collusion, and the trump campaign. >> you just misstated my position. i never said there was no collusion between the campaign or between peopl

, thank you. >>> now a tragic development in syria. the images you're about to see are disturbing. central command confirming four americans including two service members were among the 19 killed in a suicide attack at a syrian market yesterday. an attack that isis quickly claimed responsibility for. hours after the explosion rocked the city, vice president pence echoed the president's earlier claim that isis is no longer a threat. >> thanks for the leadership and the courage of our armed forces, we're now actually able to hand off the fight to our coalition partners and we're bringing our troops home. the caliphate has crumbled. isis has been defeated. >> i invite vice president pence to say to the four americans who lost their lives. here is our guest, courtney cuby. what else do we know about the attack and the victims and when the administration was informed? because my mind's blown by vice president's comments. >> so information -- they'll always be the early reports that will come in and they go to the white house. so they would have been informed of this before we in the me

. >>> a week 1/2 after proclaiming that isis is quote defeated in syria and ord arg complete withdrawal of troops, president trump took to twitter to clarify. the president writes this. if anybody but donald trump did what i did in syria, which was an isis-loaded mess, they would be a national hero. isis is mostly gone. year slowly sending our troops back home to be with their families. the fake news media or failed generals unable to do the job before i arrived like to complain about me and my tactics are working. the earesults are far better than i said they were going to be and the it contrary to the president's initial order it could occur within 30 days. and the white house confirmed that troops had already started returning to the united states. meanwhile one of the biggest critics has pulled a 1 authy. 180. senator lindsey graham had wlunch the president thursday. >> he told me things i didn't know that make me feel a lot better about where we're headed in syria. he promised to destroy isis. he's going to keep that prommess. we're not there yet. i think we're in a paus

that we should withdraw our presence and soldiers from syria. i actually disagree with him on that. but the way for me to know if that's a good or not is to go there and talk to the soldiers, talk to the agencies and see what they think. afghanistan, i think he may be right. we may be approaching a time in afghanistan when it may be appropriate to look at a drawdown. i think we've had some breakthroughs. there's some real progress in our peace negotiations with the taliban. and it may be something that we can look at. but we can't do those things until the committee is formed and we're able to travel and go have those types of conversations. >> kevin mccarthy said we'd know some time this week and that everybody who is on the committee know who is they are. do you have any idea why it's taking so long? democrats have accused republicans of slow rolling it, because they don't want the committee's work subpoenas to trump associates, et cetera, to happen quickly. >> no, i don't -- i can promise you, that's not it. we know that adam schiff is going to do what he's going to do, whether

workers as well. >>> coming up soon, u.s. troops start withdrawing from syria amid-confusing statements from the president and national security team. we'll be right back. and national security team. we'll be right back. heart... your joints... or your digestion... so why wouldn't you take something for the most important part of you... your brain. with an ingredient originally discovered in jellyfish, prevagen has been shown in clinical trials to improve short-term memory. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. if these packs have the same number of bladder leak pads, i bet you think bigger is better. actually, it's bulkier. always discreet quickly turns liquid to gel, for drier protection that's a lot less bulky. always discreet. thisyeah.ice. yeah, this is nice. mmmm how did you make the dip so rich and creamy? oh, it's a philadelphia- -family recipe. can i see it? no. new philadelphia dips. so good, you'll take all the credit. >>> today more mixed messaging about american troops in syria when they would withdraw. the military says it has started the process for withdrawal of troops

course of administration officials to clarify the president's decision to withdraw troops from syria. >> there's been a lot of noise about this withdrawal from syria. we want to make sure they understand completely what that means. there's no change in our commitment to the defeat of the caliphate or vices globely. there's no change in our counter iran strategy. we're going to withdraw our 2,000 soldiers from syria but the mission, the purpose for which we have been involved in the 24-month administration remains in full. >> those comments coming before pompeo embarks on a trip to at least eight middle east countries to reassure allies to the region. it seems like the timing of the u.s. troop withdrawal is still in flux, as exemplified the change when donald trump abruptly unveiled his plan three weeks ago. >> we are pulling back in syria. we're going to be removing our troops. i never said we're doing it that quickly but we're decimating isis. >> we've won against isis. we've betten them and beaten them badly. so our boys and young women and men, they're all coming back and they're

embarrassed with a withdrawal plan for syria. >>> yet the question remains. is there a plan in place? we will tackle that with nbc's cal perry next. >>> welcome back. another high ranking official has left. anthony zinni resigned yesterday as special envoy to help ep resolve this persian gulf dispute. saying i felt my services were no longer needed. he was brought to the trump administration under then secretary of state rex tillerson and jim mattis in 2017 to help resolve the gulf crisis with qatar. >> that crisis remains unresolved as zinni tells nbc news, quote, the leaders were not interested in our offer after multiple visits. >>> the decorated general's resignation comes shortly after the departure of two high ranking military generals from the trump administration, jim mattis and john kelly. zinni tells "the washington post he was quote disappointed in what happened to jim mattis adding it's not a good time anyway. >>> john bolton left turkey yesterday after not meeting with the turkish president erdogan. who then went on to asail the united states for a variety of things, includi

. i'll look forward to speaking with you again. coming up, another change for u.s. policy in syria. why some are coming home and some will be staying behind indefinitely. some will be staying behind indefinitely ♪ [ telephone ringing ] -whoa. [ indistinct talking ] -deductible? -definitely speaking insurance. -additional interest on umbrella policy? -can you translate? -damage minimization of civil commotion. -when insurance needs translating, get answers in plain english at progressiveanswers.com. ♪ -he wants you to sign karen's birthday card. it's a high honor. -he wants you to sign karen's birthday card. (avo) lisecond chances. you many but a subaru can. you guys ok? you alright? wow. (avo) eyesight with pre-collision braking. standard on the subaru ascent. presenting the all-new three-row subaru ascent. love is now bigger than ever. nick, nick, we need a decision. these days we all feel a little anxious sometimes. but if you could see inside my mind; you'll find i go to my happy place. see if we let tensions run the show up here, then our bodies won't perform at their best

everybody else. that's all he has let me tell. just as what he did in syria back fires on him. >> donnie, you've really gone much longer than we expected to go. >> no. >> just wanted a quick chat. like ain i back in '72. just jab and back up. noah, there are hispanics, a lot of hispanics in the border guard. border patrol. but i'm interested, what an interesting decision by donald trump to have that imagery while history was being made on the other side of pennsylvania avenue. what was your take? >> he was trying to demonstrate that law enforcement is behind him because he's projecting himself as the preserver of american national security. i am struck by how uniquely stupid this show of strength is for all sides. the wall ask was $25 billion. what the president wants is a display of defer republicans from democrats, once that he couldn't get from republicans. democrats have no interest in giving him a display of defer republicans. b a lot of people aren't making money behind this exercise in power play. >> so, susan paige, let's take a moment to talk about the history that wa

troops from syria within 30 days. that's what he originally said. now vice president pence yesterday speaking about isis as it has been defeated. it has not been defeated. isis is an ideology that is rooted in the ground in certain regions of this world and syria happens to be a hotbed of isis. it's driving to a certain extent. it is not going away. it is not -- it has been diminished, there's no doubt about that but it is not defeated. >> and yet, katty kay, the president is standing firm. he got support from rand paul and saying thank you for getting out of these never ending wars. jonathan can speak to the idea that the president is reconsidering the idea of getting ot ut of syria. >> the president came in saying he didn't understand why the president was ifighting around the world. it plays in the narrative that america is being taken advantage of other countries. we had not just the attack in syria, we had the attack the day before in kenya. this is a dangerous ideology that is clearly right there. and whilst in the white house -- some white house aides had suggested this, if we

syria while hitting the little remaining isis caliphate hard and from many directions we'll attack again from existing nearby base if it detector is that right -- reforms. fit reforms. not sure what that means approximately will devastate turkey economically if they hit kurds. create 20 mile safe zone. do not want the kurds to provoke turkey, russia, iran and syria have been the biggest beneficials of the u.s. policy of destroying isis in syria. we benefit but now it's time to bring our troops back home. stop the endless wars. okay. so the person who will let's talk a little bit about reforming isis. >> foreign policy via twitter. if you ask me if there's a cohesive plan for syria, the answer lies in those tweets which there's no cohesive plan for syria. also all of the bolton stuff. this is a "new york times" op-ed that bolton writes. he writes the conclusion iran will not negotiate it's nuclear program nor will sanctions block its building to infrastructure. the title of the article was to stop iran, bomb iran. very subtle. bolton's position has been -- let's not be surprised. we

americans are killed in an isis related suicide attack in syria and after that, the vice president says isis has been defeated. and the president that insists he's been tough on russia and the ambassador says that's not true and someone has to account for what trump and putin talked about. all of it gets underway on the 11th hour on wednesday night. >> good evening. day 727 of the trump administration. this government shutdown will roll into day 27 at the end of this hour. there was a lot of news but no movement on the shutdown today and we'll get to all of that in a moment, but first that sound you may have heard about two hours ago, especially on the east coast, that was the sound of goal posts being moved. rudy giuliani appeared on cnn tonight and talked about the russians, about collusion and the trump campaign. >> i never said there was no collusion. >> yes you have. >> i have not. i said there's not a single bit of evidence the president of the united states committed a crime and conspired with the russians to hack the dnc. >> the only thing we can say here is that happened a

ceremony for the four americans killed in last week's suicide terror attack in syria which isis has now claimed responsibility for. army chief foreign officer jonathan farmee, navy chief shannon kent, civilian operations support specialist and former navy s.e.a.l. scott wirtz and gadir tahir were killed in the attack. prior to departing on saturday he discussed what the ceremonies mean to him while giving an update on the status of isis. >> i think it's the toughest thing i have to do, when i'm going to meet relatives of some of our great, great heroes that have fallen, i think it might be the toughest thing i have to do as president. when i took over syria was loaded with isis and, again, when you say to it -- and i've always said who are we killing isis for? you know, the worst enemy of russia, iran, syria, you look at it, is isis. so we're killing isis for people that aren't necessarily always in agreement with us. let's put it that way. we've done assad a very big favor. you do have to ask yourself we're killing isis for russia, for iran, for syria, for iraq, for a lot of other