we are out of there. we ve been out of there for die. we are taking some of the most dangerous isis fighters out. we re taking them out and putting them in different locations where it s secure. if the kurds don t watch, then turkey s going to watch, because they don t want those people out anymore than we do. welcome back. that is president trump just about an hour ago, alleging that isis prisoners are secure, despite air strikes targeting the kurdish forces guarding those prisoners. this just three days after he essentially gave president erdogan the green light for turkey s offensive, by announcing he would pull u.s. support for kurdish forces in syria. the syrian democratic forces have been a key ally for the
iraq, where this government and where other governments around the region are going to be loathe to accept still more, hundreds of thousands of refu e refugees, a renewal of the same scourge of reewe gees we saw in 2015 that spilled all the way over into europe and upended politics there, so, it s just as bekeep seeing with syria, it s grownhog s day. it s just tragedy upon tragedy, the same over and over again and now we re seeing it again, but starting with that, as you mentioned, that betrayal from the white house. matt, i don t know if you ve gotten reaction, if anybody s heard this on the ground there, but the president was asked a moment ago about isis fighters and if they escape, is he worried about it, and he said that they would escape into europe. any reaction to that, have you heard that? what is your reaction to that as a reporter who has been covering this. reporter: i hadn t heard that. i mean, look, there s a lot of language issues here, right? so, there was a was
u.s. in the fight against isis. turkey considers them both terrorists. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, including some of the president s staunchest supporters are denouncing the dramatic policy shift and warning of an isis resurgence. and with air strikes already under way, it is too late to reverse course. joining me now, nbc news foreign correspondent matt burt bradley. and matt, can you tell us what s happening there on the ground? well, the latest, katy, you mentioned that the air strikes were already happening, it s too late to reverse it, well, it s too late to stop the ground incursion that just started. we re learn iing there s now turkish forces who are streaming into syria and alongside them are syrian forces that are actually backed by the turks, you know, sunni muslims who have long enjoyed support from the turks, and they re moving in, as
exactly what matt described, it s actually going to be worse, because the kurdish fighters are going to abandon their posts guarding those hardened terrorists and their kind of hardened families, as well, and they re going to go and defend their own turf, their own territory, their own people, their own towns. they re not going to care what happens with the isis fighters at that point, because they re fighting for their lives. so, the isis people will they will escape, we know that. and they will go where they can go, to do what they want to do, which is, essentially, to attack us in the west. we went to syria in part to fight terrorism. i was in the obama m administration when we went in. i know there s a lot of back and forth on whether we should be there, but if we re going to leave, this is not the way to do it. lindsey graham has been pretty outspoken about the president. he said president trump hasn t ended the war, he s created a bigger war and if you think that america can
one that would not put or heighte heighten the risk of isis fighters escaping? absolutely. you know, he should be using the forces he has, you know, at his fingertips. he should be using his diplomats, he should be using the u.s. military and defense officials. we should be having a full frontal assault, not with weapons, but with words, to bring people together, bring them to the table. clearly, this administration has failed in not doing that and allows turkey to proceed as they have. does it put americans at risk at home? oh, i think ultimately, with these isis individuals potentially going free or likely going free, they re going to get themselves reorganized, they re going to redouble their efforts and their goals are not just limited to attacks in the region. the goals of isis are ultimately to hurt americans.