Good Monday morning. I'm Jake Sherman and welcome to your political playbook audio briefing. Stay tuned

after the show for a message from Google. And I'm Anna Palmer. There are 23 legislative days left in

2019. Speaker Nancy Pelosi's delegation stopped in Afghanistan where they met with President

Ashraf Ghani and had a brief meeting with Defense Secretary Mark Esper.

The New York Times has the latest on Trump's push to stop endless wars.

They report that the president is now in favor of leaving a few hundred troops in eastern Syria.

The Wall Street Journal notes that the idea was first presented, the president by Senator Lindsey Graham, who has opposed Trump's initial position to remove all 1,000 troops in northeast Syria.

And here's a milestone. Reuters notes that U.S. troops have crossed into Iraq from Syria.

The Times is also reporting Turkish President Erdogan's ambitions go beyond Syria.

He has a larger goal, which is obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Another big week for impeachment this week will kick off with a big one.

Bill Taylor, the ambassador to Ukraine, will testify Tuesday.

Taylor's now public text messages express concern about a quid pro quo in Kiev.

On Wednesday, Philip Rieker, the acting assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs.

Michael Duffy, OMB, Associate Director for

National Security. Thursday is Alexander Vindman, the NSC's Director for European Affairs, and Laura Cooper,

a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense. On Friday, Syria Giante, a Foreign Service Officer in Kiev,

and Tim Morrison, the NSC's director for Russia and Europe.

The Atlantic is up with a top talker, taking a deep dive into the liberation of Mitt Romney,

who's no longer constrained by consultants or re-election.

He's thinking much more about legacy and the sweep of history.

And we got some news.

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