u.s. ground commander in the gulf war, and he's been to this region many, many times before in uniform. and anita kumar, white house correspondent and associate editor for politico. good evening and welcome to you all. carol, for these two phone calls to have been made, it almost means by definition the president would have cast off the rigor and the expertise and the advice of the people on the payroll who are supposed to be around him to counsel him in these areas. looking at what this has touched off, remembering this is the issue mattis resigned over, can you find anyone in the administration willing to talk this up with a straight face? >> nobody on the record, brian. and i'm so glad you brought up that this is not the first time that expert advice has been rejected by this president on this exact issue. the withdrawal or the threat of