in terms of protecting the kurds. so they are highly at risk, as we see. isis will resurge. and the winners in this remain iran and vladimir putin, the puppet master who continues to play this situation like a violin. there s also a report in the new york times and this matches some intelligence that we had over several years that turkey has nuclear ambitions. this was really distressing to hear it stated so directly by president erdogan. we ought to be deeply concerned about that. once you start that march toward mid tier powers like turkey pursuing a ynuclear weapon, the japan will want a nuclear weapon, saudi arabia will want a nuclear weapon and on and on and on. at the end of the day, the greatest risk is proliferation
generals. [ laughter ] reporter: the general that quit last year to protest the plan to get out of syria also mocking the president s draft deferment for bone spurs during vietnam. i earned my spurs on the battlefield donald trump earne his spurs in the letter from a doctor. reporter: president trump lashing out at mattis warning tha without u.s. troops isis will come back. isis will re-surge. it s absolutely a given that they will come back. reporter: now another four-star, admiral credited with taking down osama bin laden. welcome william mcraven writing, our republic is under attack by the president. i ve had the privilege of working with a lot of presidents, and i didn t alway agree with the presidents but believed they were men of principle they were trying to do what was right by the country. i don t see that in this president. reporter: as a retired officer, mattis is reluctant critic but feels strongly the president should not be abandoning america s allies leste
and it just to me it was to be able to first of all, the letter is just an incredible letter the way it s dictated. but it sounds like it s definitely dictated directly from him the way he thinks and speaks. and secondly, it was to try to cover himself for what was unleashed with the turks going ahead and invading into northern syria and the consequences that flow thereafter. i want to ask you about something else, which sounds incredible. we re told by a democratic source familiar with the meeting that senator schumer read a quote from former defense secretary james mattis who said, quote, in this case if we don t keep the pressure on, then isis will resurge. it s absolutely a given that they will come back. the president replied by calling mattis, quote, the world s most overrated general, end quote, and continued why he wasn t tough enough, i captured isis. mattis said it would take two years. i captured them in one month. is that accurate? that is accurate.
president of turkey. it just it does not read as i mean at one point i think it sort of ends with, don t be a tough guy. don t be a fool. i ll call you later. yeah, that s how it ends. and it just it s just to me, it was to be able to first of all, the letter is just an incredible letter the way it s dictated, but it sounds like it s definitely dictated directly from him the way he thinks and speaks. and secondly, it was to try to, you know, cover himself for what was unleashed with the turks going ahead and invading into northern syria and the consequences that flow thereafter. i want to ask you about something else which sounds incredible. we re told by a democratic source familiar with the meeting that senator schumer read a quote from former defense secretary james mattis, who said, quote, in this case if we don t keep the pressure on, then isis will resurge. it s absolutely a given they will come back, and that the president replied, according to this source, by call
grade poll pigs. this is shocking and compare it to other letters in history. the letter from abraham lincoln to [ applause mrs. bixby. let us hope that the vice president and the secretary of state have a good meeting, let s hope for some kind of resolution here to stop the killing of the kurds. general james mattis said if we do not keep the treasure on, isis will resurge. the president said this, he called him the world s most overrated general. put into perspective. he once said that he is a true