Sarah westwood is at the white house with the view there. Barbara, lets begin with you. Just tell us what youre hearing from the pentagon. Reporter well, look, ryan, this visit would in fact have been in the works for some time. Weve chatted about that. This is something that involves the maximum amount of president ial security and security always high for a president. But to travel to a war zone, the secret service and the u. S. Military would have been working to the for several weeks to actually plan this out, to secure the airspace as he entered iraq, to ensure that there is security communications, complete lockdown of security for him, the first lady and the entire traveling party to make sure airspace is monitored into that airspace and as they leave. This is a complex event, the secret service, the u. S. Military obviously know how to do it. They did it for george w. Bush, for president obama any number of times that they visited iraq and afghanistan. It comes at an interesting time for the president but nonetheless, he has according to reuters set out a couple of interesting facts saying there are no plans to pull out of iraq. There are 5,200 u. S. Troops there and that is going to be of some reassurance to Iraqi Government officials who are not at all clear that he saw any Iraqi Government officials during his visit there. Y did speak to some commanders on the ground. The level of briefings that he got, we dont know, how much he was told, what he asked. The visit lasted about three hours. He spoke to the troops for about 20 minutes, we are told. But this also comes as the pentagon is under orders to withdraw some 2,600 u. S. Troops across the border in syria. Now, the president saying that he might use some of those some troops in iraq to Stage Missions in syria, but that he definitely wants all u. S. Ground troops out of that country. Ryan. Barbara starr at the pentagon. Lets now go to sarah westwood. Usually these trips bip preside president s are feelgood missions but President Trump has gone there and defended himself from a political position and hes also talking about the government shutdown. Give us the view there from the white house. Reporter thats right, ryan. Its certainly an interesting backdrop for the president to be defending his decision to withdraw the troops from syria. I recall that during the 2016 campaign went after his former predecessor, president barack obama, claiming because of his decision to withdraw troops, he was the founder of isis. Nonetheless, the president is defending his decision to remove those troops to syria saying anything that needs to be done in syria could perhaps be done from the bases in iraq. This is an unconventional preds, as you know, but this has unfolded in a scheduled way. And even when they did do so, it was unwraps until they arrived, just a trumps trip was. Back home the president has a lot going on but this going to change the conversation for the next several days, ryan. You told us at the top of last hour before we had gotten any significant reporting that your insight into this was that perhaps these troops in iraq were a key symbol for the president because it meant that there was going to be an additional burden for these iraqi troops because he was calling for this pullout in syria and thats exactly what the president said that, he has no plan foss pull out of iraq and, in fact, this will become one of the most important military positions for the United States. Why iraq was already important but if we decide to pull these troops out of syria, why does that become even more important . I think it goes pack to eyis was on the move in iraq, was going to start being on the move in syria. Ey eyis posed a die threat to the security of baghdad. The u. S. Could not let baghdad fall to isis militants so they sent u. S. Troops in and it has been a slug ever since through iraq and through a good deal of syria to push isis out. You have still several hundred if not thousands of ice and that of course have very close to the iraqi border. Theyre going to want to make sure they dont see that bleed over of isis back into iraq and try to do the military will want to do what it can through air strikes or counterterrorism, special Operations Missions to go after isis remnants inside syria. By the day, by the week that, will become a very difficult proposition. There are indications that Syrian Regime forces, Russian Forces and Turkish Forces already have their designs on this may be Wishful Thinking and may be very difficult to this point. The u. S. Commander felt they were close to defeating isis in syria but didnt feel they had actually accomplished that yet. Nobody wanted the forever war in syria, but the question is was the withdrawal too presib to us in and not just suddenly pull out of the country, ryan. Barbara and sarah, thank you both for your reporting. Lets talk to folks with military insight on all of this. Joining me now, two cnn military analysts, retired general Mark Hertling and retired rearkirby. This is a difficult time for troops in a war zone. Theyre away from their families. Theyre not able to celebrate the holidays in perhaps the fashion they would like to. What does it mean to see their commander in chief . Its a big deal. General hertling can probably speak to this better than me. Any time the commander in chief comes to visit and expresses thanks for your service, for your sacrifice, shows hes there in solidarity with you and it also means a lot to their families back home. In the person of the president , the United States is behind their husbands, their wives, their brothers, their sisters. General, talk about that. Having been to iraq, what will it mean to see President Trump up up close and personal . It is critically important, as add mrl i was there in 2003 when president bush surprised everyone at thanksgiving. He showed up at, i was there in 2007 when president obama came, 2007 2008. We didnt get to see him at that time, he was more out in the western provinces, which is where President Trump is right now. The president went to the air base in the western part of iraq. That air base has been instrumental in providing support along the syrian border, as Barbara Starr just said. There are bases of u. S. Forces helping train iraqis and advising iraqis along the border with syria and another base in anbar province. So the president going there, its critically important for him to say what he said because those forces are contributing not on to the fight of isis in iraqs abo but also in syria. Right now about a year ago the former Prime Minister of iraq said that isis was defeated. The current Prime Minister of iraq says that he knows thats not true, that they have gone to ground all along the euphrates and tigris river valley. This is critically important. Isis is still there but they have gone to ground. The president of iraq, who happens to be a good friend of mine, is a kurd. So him hearing this news the other day that the president is pulling out of syria and affecting his kurdish brothers, even though theyre in a different country, is thitically pore particularly porous. They had a vote inside the Iraqi Parliament that was narrowly defeated to pull troops out of iraq. In a ti this is a time to deal with the Iraqi Government to see how they feel about the issues of what the United States is doing in the fight against isis and the support of allies in both iraq and syria. To that point, general, obviously the president is there shaking hand, posing for selfies with the troops. How important is it for him to, a, private lily meet with these generals who will be faced with significant new challenges and to meet with Iraqi Government officials to at least take their temperature to see how they view this decision . It is critically important. Truthfully, ryan, the photographs with the troops are the morale builders, having a meal with them at christmas for the troops it see the president , its all important for morale. But the most important part of any president ial visit is getting information, firsthand information, from the commanders, the u. S. And coalition commanders on the ground. The other thing thats important is talking to the Iraqi Government. All right, excellent perspective from both of you gentlemen, lieutenant hertling, admiral kirby, thank you both for being here. Well have much more in a moment. Stay here. 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Call for a free quote today. Liberty mutual insurance. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Back now to our breaking news, President Trump and the first lady making a surprise trip to iraq to visit troops. The trip comes as President Trump has been criticized for not visiting a war zone like his predecessors had by this point in their presidencies. Here to discuss, margaret taleb and elise labott. Elise, the president has it and some heat because of the decision to pull troops out of syria, not just from democrats but from republicans as well. Today he broke a little bit of news because he said that hes sticking by decisions to keep troops in iraq, and he actually said that these troops in iraq could help the fact that this could change the situation by pulling troops out of syria. Now optics aside, does this trip give the president a chance to reassert the Foreign Policy position on the world stage that the u. S. Has . Well, it does, but i dont think its the Foreign Policy position that allies in the region want to hear. This was a decision that was not made in consultation with allies. There was no reassurance that it was going to be done in a way that would help allies prepare for what comes after. Theres been a lot of concern that not just in syria but also in iraq isis still has remnants that could reconstitute and make it even more dangerous. The situation in iraq is still very unstable with the government there and i think that President Trump certainly is delivering on his campaign pledges to withdraw u. S. Troops out of war. But in terms of u. S. Leadership, america being a reliable ally, i dont think this is the Foreign Policy position that the allies are looking for right now. Still talking about the optics, margaret, President Trump fancies himself a president that really appreciates veterans, he often touts his support of the military, but he did receive quite a bit of criticism for not visiting arlington ceremony on veterans day and skipped a service in france because of the rain. Do you think he was under pressure or do you think this is something he felt was a priority at this time . Ryan, i do think some of those missteps abroad and here in arlington focused the president s attention on the fact this was a problem. We have seen some military polling even prior to jim mat s mattiss resignation some waning support. Inside the military hes less popular than when he took office. I think this visit was in the planning staging for quite some time. It is important to distinguish between the decision he made in syria and in iraq. It was a visit he wanted to make anyway but it just hit a whole new number of imperatives given his decision in syria and everything that has happened in the wake of that. Elise, President Trump talked a lot about the middle east during his campaign. He certainly removed himself from the neoconservative wing of the Republican Party in talking about his Foreign Policy. I want to play for you a statement that he made about president obama and isis during the campaign. Take a listen to this. Isis is honoring president obama. He is the founder of isis. Hes the founder of isis. Hes the founder. He founded isis. And i would say the cofounder would be crooked hillary clinton. Cofounder. So if you can follow the president s logic during the campaign, he essentially said it was president obamas decision to pull out of iraq that led to the founding of isis and thats why he was the creator of isis. Elise, is history repeating himself to a certain degree with President Trumps decision here in syria . Couldnt this lead to the same sort of situation that he criticized president obama for . Well, i think thats a big concern, ryan. When he said that he founded this was like a glib remark about president obama and hillary clinton. There was, if you remember, a lot of criticism of the Obama Administration for failing to see the signs of this group that kept gaining steam and gaining strength and before you knew it, they had amassed power of a whole swath of both syria and iraq. I think that there was a lot of responsibility placed on the Obama Administration. I think the fear is right now that President Trump wants to declare isis over, even though his commanders and the u. S. Envoy to the isis coalition, brett mcgurk, who just resigned a few days ago in large part that hes concerned that the job is not finished and this was a precipitous withdrawal. There is a lot of concern that you could not only see isis come back but something even more dangerous. You look at iraq, the situation is precipitous, theres no reconstruction to speak of, no services. People in iraq, thats what theyre very concerned, about that this is the situation that helped isis to flourish in the first place. I think president obama, you can harken back to when president bush had that sign that said mission accomplished, i think that President Trump might come to regret those words because the mission is not accomplished and i think there are a lot of questions now about whether this withdrawal, whether the u. S. Will pay the price in years to come. Elise labott, thank you very much. Stand by. We are get nting new details abt President Trumps visit to iraq. Well have it all for you. Youre watching cnns special live coverage. Hi im joan lunden. 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And now, the queen sleep number 360 c4 smart bed is only 1299. Ranked 1 in Customer Satisfaction with mattresses by j. D. Power. Plus, 24month financing on all beds. Ends new years day. Sleep number. Proven, quality sleep. More now on our breaking news, President Trump and the first lady make a surprise visit to troops in iraq. It his first visit to a combat zone since become being president , and it comes amid his decision to pull troops out of receiveri cyria syria, the resignation of james mattis. Fred, obviously the kremlin has reacted to the president s decision to pull troops out of syria. Today the president said, quote, our presence in syria was not open ended. He seems to be stickin