The Trump Administration, the stock markets in turmoil, the generals are out, the government is about to shut down and be in a bit of a crisis mode. This is a presidency in crisis right now. Were going to stay on top of all of the Breaking News. Thanks so much for watching. Erin Burnett Outfront starts erin Burnett Outfront starts right now. Captions by vitac www. Vitac. Com good evening, im erin burnett. Outfront tonight, the Breaking News, Defense Secretary jim mattis quits. In a stunning letter to the president of the United States, the four Star General Calling Out President Trump for not backing American Allies, for supporting authoritarian regimes. I want to read the entire letter, because this is a Turning Point for this administration, for President Trump, and for this country. Here is the letter from Defense Secretary mattis to the president of the United States, which he handed him today, in which he quit. Dear mr. President , i have been privileged to serve as our
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him, has disrespect for american allies, congressman, is it fair to say that this this is a big moment for our country. well, i certainly think it s a big moment for this president. i think now, if you look to the leadership that we have at the department of defense, certainly, again, as i was saying, the undersecretaries, the secretaries for the service branches, mattis himself who is not walking out the door tomorrow. and we have very confident great confidence in the leadership that s there. but as you point out, erin, what s important in mattis resignation is not just that he s leaving and that someone will be replacing him, but that he has laid out areas of divergence between general mattis and the president that are going to have to be addressed, what are the divergent areas on china, on russia, on malign actors, on how we treat allies and what allies we need to be working with and of course we all and you and i were talking just last night, there s no secretary of defen
nations of the world look to and say, you know, as long as he or she is there, we re in pretty good shape. that s often the federal reserve chairman, you know, like a paul, people knew if there was a crisis, he could handle it better than anybody else. if there is a crisis, who do we look to for stability for judgment, for deliberation, the way we looked to jim mattis. so, you know, here s the thing, juliette. when you look at, you know, in the letter, the letter could not be more clear. it is polite. it is gracious. and it is a rebuke. and it is clear because you have the right to have a secretary of defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects, i believe it is right for me to step down. but the president of the united states tweets out, general jim mattis will be retiring. okay? my question to you, juliette, is, president trump knew, right? he knew we were all going to find out the truth, but yet he tried to spin the narrative to retiring. did he re
can make a statement that says at this juncture, we cannot support an administration s policy of this type. but i think it is absolutely the most salient line in the letter and basically says at this point, our views diverge so much that i cannot work with you at this juncture. david, put this in historical context of how significant a moment this is for donald trump. well, it s a significant moment for the world, erin. for over 70 years, stretching back to world war ii, democracies across the west have looked to the united states for leadership and for stability, providing stability, working through our partners to secure the peace, to allow economies to grow, to give people hope. jim mattis comes out of that tradition. he stands for those values. that s why people look to him as the man that if all else fails, you could look to him and say,
subjects, i believe it is right for me to step down from my position. the end date for my tenure is february 28, 2019, a date that should allow sufficient time for a successor to be nominated and confirmed as well as to make sure the department s interests are properly articulated and protected at upcoming events to include congressional posture hearings and the nato defense ministerial meeting in february. further, that a full transition to a new defense secretary of defense occurs well in advance of the transition of chairman of the joint chiefs of staff in september in order to ensure stability within the department. i pledge my full effort to a smooth transition that ensures the needs and interests of the 2.15 million service members and 732,079 department of defense civilians receive undistracted attention of the department at all times so they can fulfill