All over him, by senator grahams way of thinking and others because the president s decision would seem to hurt u. S. Allies and help u. S. Adversaries. Namely, russia. Senator rubio even alluded to that on twitter retweeting kremlin praise for the move adding, himself, i found someone who is supportive of the decision to retreat from syria. But that tweet mocking though it may be gets to the heart of many of the questions about why this, why now, and whats behind it that we dont yet know. It is not just republican lawmakers speaking out, its the president s own inner circle. A Senior Administration official told cnns jake tapper, and im quoting now, senior officials across the administration agree that the president s decision by tweet will recklessly put american and allied lives in danger around the world, take the pressure off isis, allowing them to reconstitute and hand a strategic victory to our syrian, iranian, and russian adversaries. That same official quoted his colleagues as saying its a mistake of colossal proportions and the president fails to see how it will endanger our country. Thats right. The calls are coming from inside the house. Bottom line, nothing about any of this is like anything weve seen before except, of course, from this president. Starting with that tweet this morning, we have defeated isis in syria. My only reason for being there during the trump presidency. He did not elaborate. A short time later a source told us the president ordered a full and Rapid Military pullout from syria. To say that blind sided nearly everyone doesnt begin to describe it. It even caught the white house off guard. One senior official who was holding a Conference Call on it simply could not offer any details referring reporters to the pentagon. The pentagons response, ask the white house. Were not making this up. No one had any details, at least none that they could talk about. Republican senator bob corker whos the outgoing chair of the Senate Foreign relations committee, went to the white house for a scheduled meeting this afternoon hoping to ask the president about his decision, but the white house canceled the meeting when he was there. No one today seemed ready for this, perhaps many including longtime allies had no idea it was coming. Two diplomatic sources from two countries in the region tell us they had not been consulted or informed. The news, they said, came as a total surprise, which keeping them honest, truly is a surprise because back in april when the president floated the idea of a pullout, only to later be talked out of it, he had plenty to say about how he would be consulting everyone. I want to get out. I want to bring our troops back decision as to what we do in the very near future. Well be consulting also with the groups of our people and groups of our allies. So, clearly back in april, consulting the agencies and allies involved was important enough for the president to mention it at a televised news conference. This time, apparently not so much, or not at all. When asked about whether the president consulted with defense secretary james mattis or secretary of state mike pompeo, that Administration Official we mentioned a moment ago declined to comment. But we should note, he did push back, or she, did push back against a suggestion that Administration Officials were caught unaware. Still, its hard to imagine this was the process of anything resembling a robust interagency debate. Heres the state departments official in charge of fighting isis just last week, suggesting u. S. Troops were in syria for the long haul. And if weve learned one thing over the years and during defeat aftof a group means you cant defeat their physical space and leave. You have to make sure the internal Security Forces are if place to ensure that those gains, security gains are enduring. We have obviously learned a lot of lessonses in the past. Once the physical space is defeated, we cant pick up and leave. We want to stay on the ground to make sure stability can be maintained in the areas. Thats a top official eight days ago saying the official policy of this country is to stay in syria and the course. And john bolton, the former ambassador to the united nations, the Current National security adviser, said back in september, were not going to leave as long as iranian troops are outside iranian borders and that include iranian proxies and militias. Theyre still there. Keeping them honest, despite losing much of their territory, a recent pentagon report says as many as 30,000 isis fighters are still in the region. So whatever you might think about the wisdom of keeping several thousand u. S. Troops in the region, wherever you stand on American Intervention in global hotspots, whatever questions you might have about the president s motivations for this, with respect to russia or maybe as a diversion from the Mueller Investigation, one thing really is not debatable. The president is choosing to build his case to the public on a false notion, which he tweeted this morning and restated tonight in this white house video referring, as youll see, to the gratitude of those whove lost their lives. Ive been president for almost two years, and weve really stepped it up and we have won against isis. Weve beaten them and weve beaten them badly. We won and thats the way we want it and thats the way they want it. All right. Joining us now, cnn senior white house correspondent, jeff zeleny. Jeff, as we said, this caught many people by surprise. Members of the president s own party on capitol hill express deep unhappiness. How extensively was this plan within the administration . Reporter john, as far as we know, it was the president tweeting this morning about 9 30 or so washington time that 16word tweet that caught everyone by surprise including, im told, people here inside the white house. So initially, it seemed the president was trying to change the subject. Of course, the Mueller Investigation hanging over this white house so much, but also its odd because there was the criminal Justice Reform bill that was passing last night, actually a goodnews story for this white house, but the president clearly trying to engage here, but, john, i cannot recall a time where so many loyal allies of this president d Lindsey Graham, john cornyn, occasionally bob corker, really coming hard after this president. Vice president mike pence went to capitol hill today and he got an earful, im told, inside that Senate Republican lunch. People were saying it was the wrong decision, it was simply, you know, people were not, you know, briefed on this. So, john, the sense was the president , the commander in chief, clearly making the call essentially on his own, against the advice of his advisers and no prep about it. It wasnt until six hours later the administration had a Conference Call trying to explain all of this and, john, many answers were many questions, rather, were left unanswered. Then after that was this video that the president put out thats very different. Very, very different than how he has explained this in the past, very different than he normally makes proclamations. Why did the white house do it this way . Reporter theres no question this is something that weve seen President Trump do really increasingly over the last few months. He films a video on the south lawn of the white house. Of course, no questions can be asked. But it is not what a president normally does in terms of making an announcement like this that would have normally been done from the oval office, perhaps, from the diplomatic reception room. Hes making a major decision, a change in u. S. Foreign policy, saying were bringing troops home. So this is something hes been campaigning on. He talked a lot about. Unclear why they didnt have more of a grander proclamation than that simple statement there on the south lawn of the white house. John, im also told the president wanted to get this off the checklist before he heads to maralago on friday, but so many questions, and Lindsey Graham said congress is still going to press the pentagon and others about how this withdrawal will happen and why this was announced today. Even all that understates the strangeness of it all today. Thanks very much. Earlier today i spoke to adam k k kensinger, a member of the Foreign Affairs committee. What was your first reaction when you heard this announcement from President Trump . I didnt believe it, you know, we got indications, i was sitting eating breakfast, that this was going to happen. I thought, obviously, this was some untruth and then to see the president s tweet and to realize that, in fact, he had made a decision, i think against all his National Security advisers, to leave syria immediately, i was blown away. Ill tell you, im still speechless today. I have a lot to say on it. I sit around and im kind of numb because the president ran saying he was going to defeat isis. Isis isnt defeated. Were defeating them, but what this is going to do if the president follows through on it is double or triple the size of isis probably overnight and its very sad. So why do you say isis hasnt been defeated . Because that was his specific claim today. Yeah, well, we know by numbers that theres still at least ive heard some estimates as low as 2,000, and some estimates as high as 20,000 or 30,000. As long as theres one member of isis, were going to have to continue this fight. You know, fighting terrorism is not a choice we have. Its a choice that terrorists make on our behalf. What we do have a choice about is where we fight them. Do we fight them in syria . Do we fight them in iraq . Do we find them in their home area or do we fight them here on the streets of new york or d. C. Or shanahan, illinois . Thats the question. If the president follows through on what he said and we leave syria, that fight is going to move somewhere else because theyre not going anywhere. And its also more than the territorial battle, a territorial battle has been going well in syria. Isis has been pushed back and on the retreat in terms of territory, but theres more tosto isis than just land. Yeah, isis is a thought, its an idea. Theres probably a lot of people at any given time that are on the verge of joining isis and they may maybe not, you know, if they see all these isis members die. Its probably a bad decision to join them. But then all of a sudden, if, you know, around kmachristmasti it comes out that the United States is giving up the fight against isis in syria, now people on the verge of joining them will see this as a maybe whats been prof siphetsized, m the caliphate is coming true because the United States left. These are things we have to take into account. Were fighting them at relatively low costs. Its interesting, so i wear my buddy who was killed in iraq this year, his name was andreas okeefe, i followed them in iraq back in 08, he died fighting isis in iraq. They still exist. You know, i want to know that his sacrifice, as terrible as it was, would lead to the end of isis as we know it. And im worried by this decision. What happens to the u. S. Partners who have been fighting alongside the u. S. Troops . The Kurdish Forces there, among others. Well, im very much worried about them. If the rumors or the innuendos are true that it was after the president talked to president erdogan of turkey that then he made the decision, president erdogan wants to destroy the kurds. Hes made it very clear. He considers them a massive terrorist organization. Some kind of a deal was cut. If im a kurd right now, im extremely worried. As an american, im worried because if this is, in fact, the case, once again, we have enlisted people on our fight with us and then abandoned when they needed us the most. We have a terrible history of doing that and i hope this isnt one further example. You said you were surprised. You said you didnt believe it because you didnt think that the military was advising the president to do so. Do you think he did this without consultation . Yeah. I think so. I mean, i dont know, but i the people i know that are around the president that advise him would never advise anything like this. When just weeks ago, you have members of the government saying this is going to be a long fight. General du innen idunford sayin going to take a long time and all of a sudden this decision is made over night. As president , he has a right to do it. I dont question his ability and his authority to make this decision. But as a member of congress, and an american, i have a right and a responsibility to speak out when its wrong and this is wrong. Finally, into ask you to respond to what senator rand paul of kentucky said. He praised the announcement saying, im happy to see a president who can declare a victory and bring our troops out of war. Its been a long time since that happened. Ill remand rand paul of 2011 when victory was declared and we had to go back. Rand paul is a libertarian masquerading as a republican. He put out a budget when he got elected which would have slaughtered the amount of money we spent on the military, Something Like 20 , 30 . His Foreign Policy is is not going to lead to a safer america. I respect his viewpoint because its a legitimate viewpoint, vehemently id disagree. That should not be the view of the Republican Party at large. Adam kinsinger, thank you for joining us. Appreciate your time. Yeah, take care. With me now Washington PostNational Security reporter jobi warwick back from iraq, and author of black flags the rise of isis. And david gergen whos advised four president s. David, i want to start with you here. To see the president make the kind of statement that he did, not from inside the white house, not from, you know, somewhere with troops behind him but on twitter. Yes. Like that. After really shocking everyone including members of his own administration. Yeah. Ever seen anything like this . No. And its interesting tonight were seeing the big split in the Republican Party. I think since donald trump took office. You have republican after republican is peeling off. Theyre very upset about this. There had been a consensus, yes, weve taken a lot of territory back from isis. Started under obama, its continued under trump. Good for us. That was terrific. But to get people out, we need to train up the people who are still there on our side. The kurds. And general dunford just said, head of the joint chiefs, were only 20 through the training. We need to have 80 still to go. What weve goting to erdogan of. Erdogan apparently saying im going to go after those kurds because theyre my enemies, we consider them terrorists. Trump then makes a decision very quickly, get out of there, i dont want to be in harms way when they come. What happens . We leave those kurds to be slaughtered. We destroy our reliability in the middle east. Who are the big winners tonight . Russia. Iran. You know, syria under isis. And you go down the list. Turkey has won out on this thing. If you go down that list, these are all countries that are muslim are really opposed to us. This is a victory for the other side. You know, let me just ask you, you got back from iraq, youve done a ton of reporting on this. Few people have your depth of knowledge on this subject. The president said flatout on twitter and then later today, isis has been not just defeated but beaten badly. How does that square with what youve seen . Thatd be a big surprise to people in the region. I was in there last week. Is jb isis not defeated. There are serious pockets of isis fighters. Determined resistance. Weve seen that in the last few weeks and closer to home for them they say signs of resurgen resurgence. Thousands of fighters were talking about, many have wandered across the border, gone back to towns and villages. Some are hiding out in mountain caves. Theyre coming back. There are attacks in places like the area south of mosul, around karkuk. Sometimes a couple dozen attacks in a month showing that isis is gaining its foothold there and has allieies and wants to do a t of damage. What happens based on your reporting and what youve seen when the u. S. Does pull its troops out . Heres the problem. You can start to see potentia y ly isis regaining its footing in syria. What does that mean . As happened back in 2013 and 14, the weapons start to flow again. Theres treatment of movement that allows terrorists to go to other places and make ambitious plans. Thats what the iraqis are concerned about. Whats going to happen if things get really bad in syria . Theres a border thats very porous and bad guys can cross it. Thats. Thats what theyre worried about and starting to see isign of that happening already. Youve heard senator corker, marco rubio and others express shock. We have quotes from Senior Administration officials who are also shocked and clearly there was no coordination between whoever knew in the white house, in the pentagon or the state department, so youve been inside administrations. What does a move like this do . Well, it really it erodes morale inside. People begin to think, we got two things wrong here. We got the substance of it wrong and got the process wrong. And both of them were terrible mistakes. A and its ironic, john, coming hours after he successfully built a consensus. Give credit to Jared Kushner for pulling that off. To have this, this is complete opposite from a president er p i power perspective. I cannot tell you how much once again the United States has turned tail on its own friends. And its really hard to build your friendships back up once you betrayed the people that youre fighting with. You know, joby, you heard people, we played it before in the show, say that the winners here are russia and iran. Is that accurate . Yeah, it is, and if you think about it, too, this is a fairly small deployment that we have. Its only a couple thousand people. So its not huge. But we control a really critical area. This area particularly in southern syria that essentially keeps all those