capitol hill and chaos in the region. next morning mattis handed president trump his notice saying in part you have a right to the have a secretary of defense whose views are better aligned with yours. back with me, my panel. joining us, former director of the national counterterrorism center and the national security analyst. nick, thanks for taking a few minutes. i understand in your time in government you were actually present in the situation room with the president, with the secretary of defense, with jim mattis, talking about these topics, syria, isis. just take us through what those conversations were like. >> well, thanks, steve. in the first year of the administration while i was still serving in government, these were issues very much on the table. the president clearly came into office with the idea that he would draw down our commitments in afghanistan and syria. and much of that first year was spent in conversations why that would be adding significantly to our risk profile. how we would be in a sense making america less safe were we