towards the united states. he's being diplomatic in his choice of language. president trump seemed please with his phone call. and he suggested that the kurds should move towards the oil. in his understanding of syria, that's a sweet spot that the kurds could move to the oil and the americans could protect the oil and the kurds. that's not necessarily a traditional kurdish area. that's an area that's seen total upheaval. it's shocking seeing a stop in violence and a reassignment of the map that the focus remains on the oil reserves. christine? >> deriving strategy from the situation. nick paton walsh, live for us in iraq. thanks. mike pence blasted u.s. businesses for siding with china. pence's speech closely watched as president trump works to complete a partial trade deal. the u.s. wants to engage and not