to indicate courtney kube, our pentagon reporter this does seem to be in reaction to the announcement on twitter about the pull out from syria. were you surprised by this, and why do you think this is such a serious matter that you actually called it a national security crisis? >> i'm certainly surprised by it, in part, because mattis has weathered all sorts of substantial disagreements and reckless behavior from this president. so it does beg the question if he was willing to go out there and defend the muslim ban or sending troops to the border as an election year stunt. why was this the thing that broke the camel's back? that being said, it is a national security crisis because this was one of the last people close to the president on national security matters who was willing to tell him no when he was doing something truly reckless. two, it exposes this enormous rift between the department of defense, its personnel, and the president of the united states. i still haven't found the last secretary of defense to resign in protest. >> right. some have been fired, but