focuses ongoing after al qaeda and isis and the taliban as opposed to this larger footprint with the training mission. i wouldn t say there s widespread agreement. i think people and the same thing with syria, the military wants to keep a footprint there. the fact is isis is down to small area. this was not a forever mission of going after isis. it was more about stabilization. again, it s the way this has been rolled out. i think that s what people take issue with here. got it. evelyn, even secretary mcconnell senator mcconnell gave a statement that was critical of the president. we don t hear him say anything of the president. i was sorry to learn that secretary mattis will soon depart the administration but i m particularly distressed he is resigning due to sharp differences with the president. it s regrettable that the president must choose a new secretary of defense.
not the 60 votes they would need in the next phase to get this through. it s going to fail at some point. it s just a matter of when it fails. at that point there doesn t seem to be any alternative plan. everybody says they feel like they are heading toward oo shutdown. mitch mcconnell has been the person to watch here. he came back from the white house saying build a wall. he came back towing the president s line saying this is important. he hasn t given any indication about what the plan may be after that. if there s nobody talking, there s no real way around this. that said, we do expect that the house is likely will be in session tomorrow. we re waiting on final word for that and house republican leaders are currently holding a meeting as well. that could potentially hold out some hope that there will be some negotiations here going forward. i got to tell you, right now it s really hard to see a way
he resigned in protest. the president s plan to slash troops in afghanistan and syria is what ultimately sent the retired marine packing. don t forget it was just tuesday that this sentencing of trump s former nsa, michael flynn, was abruptly delayed by a judge who brought up the word treason. that is the current state of donald trump s washington. that isn t even all of it. according to the washington post the president is in tail spin acting totally ir rationally and flipping out over the criticisms in the media. remember republicans still as of this moment, control congress. come january 3rd democrats will take control of the house. the big question we re asking today is when it comes to chaos, is this just the beginning? joining me nbc news white house correspondent jeff ben amphetaminbennett, kac
out of this. jeff, republicans were at the white house. mitch mcconnell left there saying build the wall. what more did we learn from what the president told him. was he giving them an ultimatum. does he understand the numbers? reporter: it looks like we are headed toward a shutdown. even as the president negotiates and talks to republicans there s no public signs he s negotiating with senate democrats. what i find so interesting about this entire week, the entire way this week has played out is the conventional wisdom of a shutdown usually holds that a president will at some point back down. they want to give the impression that the government, his administration is capable and competent. they can meet the core function of keeping the government open as a way of meeting the safety and security needs of the american people. president trump picked a fight
state of things in washington right now? there s a looming shutdown. it will probably happen at midnight. the president is under investigation. an investigation reaching into all aspects of his life and everything he s touched for the past three, four decades. the secretary of defense is leaving and people are freaking out. this is with a republican controlled congress. what happens come january 3rd. i think we ll see is an actual check and balance on this administration. we ll see accountability which is something donald trump has never seen, ever, in his life. i don t think bill was talking about defense secretary mattis stepping down and how that is an awful blow to this country and i don t think we would have gotten there if republicans in the house and the senate had done their job. had been a check on this