joining us from the cnn pentagon, pentagon reporter ryan brown. ryan, talk about what the pentagon's statement just said. >> well, anderson, it's a lengthy statement. it goes on for quite some time, basically the pentagon's statement says president trump directed this strike. so saying that, calling it a decisive defensive action to protect u.s. personnel abroad. the killing of qassem soleimani. they go on to say he was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of american service members, now, this is during the time of the u.s. occupation of iraq. iran-linked groups for blamed for hundreds of american soldiers' deaths. referencing that. they said that the strike was aimed at deterring future iranian attacks saying qassem soleimani was actively plotting attacks against u.s. personnel in iraq and the wider region. so, very strong statement from the u.s. claiming responsibility. the pentagon's confirming that it was a u.s. strike that killed qassem soleimani. they call him a terrorist in the -- head of a foreign terrorist organization. of course, the

pentagon announcing a u.s. military air strike killed iran's top military leader in an air strike tonight. we'll have all the latest in the region. >>> and presidential candidate senator cory booker weighs in, next. i love the new myww program, because it's tailored to you! take the personal assessment and get matched with a proven weight loss plan. find out which customized plan can make losing weight easier for you! myww. join for free + lose 10 lbs. on us. of course i'd love to take an informal poll. i used to be a little cranky. dealing with our finances really haunted me. thankfully, i got quickbooks, and a live bookkeeper's helping customize it for our business. (live bookkeeper) you're all set up! (janine) great! hey! you got the burnt marshmallow out! (delivery man) he slimed me. (janine) tissue? (vo) get set up right with a live bookkeeper with intuit quickbooks. the easy way to a happier business. ♪ ♪ after a night like this, crest has you covered. crest, the official toothpaste of santa. my gums

government also the pentagon issued a longer statement but in the pentagon also confirming that it was the president that directed this strike that killed so money in their statement it was interesting and it's a little bit longer and i won't read the whole thing because i already have but all i'll just read part of it again it's a general sort of money was actively developing plans to attack american diplomats and service members in iraq and throughout the region general solo money and its codes force were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of americans and coalition service members and the wounding of thousands more that's part of the statement from the pentagon it went on to say by concluding the strike was aimed at deterring future i rain. attack plans so clearly the u.s. government the pentagon in the white house had information that they thought that he had active plans or that he was leading forces that had active plans to target a miller americans and that's why this strike was called again we have not heard from the secretary of state and also most notably we have not hear

the pentagon announcing tonight the attack was ordered by the president. he's part of the statement. at the direction of the president theist military has taken action to protect u.s. personal abroad. pi killing the head of the islamic revolutionary guard force. u.s. designated foreign terrorist organization. covering this story. in baghdad. in washington and sanchez with the president in florida. let's start with you. what is the pentagon saying tonight. >> it's really interesting that the confirmation of this strike is not coming from the white house. the only thing we have heard from president trump is a tweet that was just an american flag. it's the pentagon confirming as you mention at the direction of the president they carried out this strike. that led to the killing of the head of the cuds force. a designated foreign terrorist organization. now what it clear from this statement is that this was done in order to prevent attacks on american personnel and it bears reiterating what this statement says. the u.s. military is taken decisive defensive acti

it's difficult to get a contract out the door at the pentagon. it's an incredibly bureaucratic process. and so they were sort of bending over backward every step of the way to sort of slow it down, to buy time, and to hold things up. one of the directions from omb was basically like please keep doing all the planning and preparatory work for these contracts. just don't obligate the money. and dod sort of repeatedly was there is only so much we can do until you give us -- you permit us to spend the money. then the money won't go out the door. and omb sort of kept pushing them on that. as you said earlier, the chief concern from the pentagon was that this hold violated the law and that it would violate the impoundment control act, which in fact it appears it did. by the time the hold was lifted, the pentagon couldn't get $35 million of the $250 million total spent by september 30th, and it required congress to step in and pass legislation that extend that money in order for them to buy weapons for ukraine. >> we're going to take a quick break. we'r

forces will be repositioning pentagons as the letter was circulated by the state. you know there are a lot of iraqis are worried that they will suffer the most from this growing tension between iran and the u.s. not to mention donald trump's threat to impose sanctions so wonderful tim has more on that from bank that. an uneasy mood has settled over back that scarred by decades of intermittent war people in iraq's capital know the eerie suspense that precedes one in coffee shops old and young alike who worry about being caught in the middle as the u.s. and iran threaten further escalation of the the heart of the bottle we don't want the battle to come to our country they want to start a war they want to settle accounts but we are the ones who lose young men lose money lose infrastructure we won't benefit from this. people here are still in shock over the u.s. strike that assassinated iranian general qassam soleimani near baghdad airport drawing threats of retaliation from iran and its allies in iraq. adding insult to injury president donald trump threatened on sunda

that amendment was stripped from the final bill at the pentagon's insistence. i believe is the pentagon has had this kind of activity in the come in the plan for a while. and they have not come to congress, but the tragedy is that congress has not insisted on having that authorization. amy: explained. explain what has just happened. you come along with senator bernie sanders, fiercely passaged the bipartisan of the pentagon spending bill, the overall spending bill. why do you believe this allowed for the assassination? amendment inan

the pentagon comptroller, acting pentagon comptroller, who had concerns july 25th, same day that president trump talked to president zelensky of ukraine, urging them to investigate the bidens. she had concerns withholding this aid could potentially violate federal law, requiring the administration to appropriate money that had been -- spent money that had been appropriated by congress. that concern had been revealed throughout some time, the two months or so in which this aid had been when would. all these documents had been blocked and prevented from coming to capitol hill. it was part of the house impeachment inquiry. redacted version were released because of a lawsuit filed by an outside organization that got some redacted copies of these emails behind these blacked out lines, just security is reporting about what they're seeing behind these blacked out lines, democrats not only adam schiff but the house speaker jumping all over this as well, saying trump engaged in unprecedented, total obstruction of congress, hiding these emails and all other documents and his top aides from the ameri

that according to the pentagon a u.s. military strike has assassinated the effectively top military leader in iran. general qassim soleimani was a very, very powerful figure in iran. he was revered. he was very, very well known and immensely powerful. as news has been confirmed over the course of tonight of his killing, outside the airport in baghdad, iraq, soleimani has been described tonight as effectively the second most powerful figure in iran after the supreme leader. so let's talk about what we know happened here but also about the potential implications. in terms of how we got here and what we know of the actual killing, it has really been a short, sharp escalation over just a period of days that has brought us tonight to, you know, fears of this potentially kicking off a war. just last week friday of last week there was a rocket attack in iraq on an iraqi military base in kirkuk in the north of iraq, north of baghdad. u.s. officials in iraq said that they believed that that rocket attack was launched by iranian-ba

this is been a terrible week for the pentagon and monday was probably one of the worst days the pentagon has had in a very very long time i mean this was a problem that it was on multiple levels it wasn't just one little simple mistake here was this letter that was sent out on department of defense letterhead that was has the name of a general u.s. general based in iraq that was leaked and the letter is very clear it says sir in due diligence to the sovereignty of the republic of iraq and as requested by the iraqi parliament to the prime minister u.s. forces will be repositioning our forces over the course of the coming days and weeks to prepare for onward to movement i mean that was very clearly interpreted as u.s. troops are pulling out of iraq but that wasn't the case because as soon as this came out this started the report of the pentagon scrambled together to figure out what this was all about they called they off camera briefing that was with the secretary of defense and he basically said don't believe this letter it was circulated with between the pentagon and our forces in iraq o

today was a bad look for the pentagon. that was underscored by a man who once ran the pentagon as defense secretary. >> they're scrambling around trying to figure out what the hell to do. i hope they make every effort to try to maintain our forces there because frankly the issue we're forgetting a lot about in the middle of all of this iranian crisis is the fact that isis still remains a real threat to the united states. >> and about isis, just yesterday we heard the u.s. got out of the fight. "the new york times" reports the u.s.-led coalition in iraq and syria has halted its campaign against isis as forces instead brace for retaliation from iran. tonight "the washington post" reports iraq may be facing sanctions. quote, senior administration officials have begun drafting sanctions against iraq after president trump publicly threatened the country with economic penalties if it proceeded to expel u.s. troops. such a step would represent a highly unusual move against a foreign ally that america has spent almost two decades

we don't know what the pentagon and the president has chosen. what are the appropriate targets in response to this assault? >> i wish i can answer. but i can tell you one thing we all know. the pentagon and the intelligence community are in interaction with the president and administration to offer what they can do. the president has already in his tweet said it will be disproportionate. when we go back to the reality on the ground. the iranians are trying to be limited. because they have three ways of doing it. attack our forces in iraq, attack our navy in the persian gulf area. or doing something at home. they know the thickest red line is at home. the response will be similar to our response when bin laden attacked. they know that. but i can't imagine they would be suicidal to do it. lou: you don't think this is suicidal. >> this is at this point in time. we'll respond. it's controllable. if they cross the red line and kill americans at home, that will be uncontrollable. the second and most dangerous thing they could do is try to attack our s

pentagon is calling the letter a mistake. iraq meanwhile has called on the u.n. security council to condemn the killing of iranian general custom for the money and the iraqi militia leader who was killed alongside him a u.s. drone strike last week secretary-general and turning the turkish is also calling for restraint. and so the money's remains have arrived in his hometown of command his final resting place he will be buried there on tuesday rather on monday huge crowds in the streets of tehran for the funeral procession. well the nato chief has warned iran against further violence and provocations after an urgent meeting in brussels stoltenberg says a new conflict is in no one's interest nato maintains a 500 strong training mission in iraq for the fight against eisel it suspended that however after solomon is death. nato is prepared to continue our training and capacity building when the situation permits we remain strongly committed to the fight against international terrorism. after the meeting today in the united states also briefed on the regional situation

iran should want peace more than anybody the pentagon is planning to send another $750.00 troops to the middle east and says that more could go. reports from washington. well it's 750 u.s. soldiers that are being sent to the middle east immediately according to this pentagon these are soldiers a battalion of soldiers from the 82nd airborne of the u.s. army one of the more battle tested divisions of the u.s. army they are being sent there are immediately presumably to kuwait although the pentagon would not confirm that make no doubt about it these are soldiers that are going to or could be sent immediately in to baghdad should the security situation deem it warranted the pentagon also saying that more troops are put on standby for possible deployment to the region in the next few days how many more troops the pentagon won't say however at least one media organization in the united states is estimating that they are hearing that it could be as many as $4000.00 u.s. troops that could be sent to the region but the pentagon not giving that number but clearly this is a major escalation by the

david martin reporting tonight from the pentagon. officials at the pentagon saying that this is a dynamic situation that is ongoing right now in iraq. so that's why we want to turn now to holly williams, who is in baghdad tonight. holly, let's discuss the significance of these two bases. one of them, of course, a sprawling base that president trump had visited in 2018. the vice president, mike pence, was there just in november. why would iran wat to hit this base and also irbil? >> reporter: norah, they're very big bases. a lot of u.s. coalition personnel, a lot of assets and american money spent there. that's why they are obviously attractive targets for the iranians. u.s. troops here in iraq, they number about 5,000, were already on high alert, and they had paused their operations against isis in this country, fearful of retaliation by the iranians. i think the iraqis, this is close to the nightmare scenario. we spoke to an iraqi general here today who said he's fearful that his country will become a battlefield for iran and the un

our pentagon reporter ryan brown with details. >> reporter: the pentagon confirming late thursday night that the u.s. military had conducted a strike that killed general kwoiqassim soleimani, a organization that the u.s. has blamed to multiple deaths in iraq and increasing number of attacks against the u.s. in recent weeks and months. the u.s. military taking this strike in baghdad international airport. two vehicles were destroyed in the strike, according to the iraqi military. the u.s. saying soleimani was targeted both being a head of a u.s.-designated foreign terrorist organization, but also because he was actively planning attacks against u.s. personnel in the region and had been behind a recent rocket attack by iranian-linked proxy group that killed an american contractor and recent demonstrations that attempted to breach the outer perimeter of the american embassy in baghdad. u.s. military very much casting this as a defensive action. secretary of defense mark esper spoke to reporters prior to news of the strike, telling them that the game had changed with regards to iran and its

personnel partners and allies in the region but that statement from the pentagon not being too cynical about it that's just chaff that's giving themselves time to think about not reacting not overreacting and not under reacting because the relationship is so combustible so tinder dry is there a sense there in washington john that they've got to get it right. absolutely there is real consternation on capitol hill normally when the u.s. is facing a military crisis like this the population tends to support the action even if they later don't they tend to support the leadership and in congress you tend to have democrats and republicans both on one side but as this situation has escalated it's really become a partisan issue here in washington as well joe biden the democratic presidential candidate for vice president spoke out today saying that trump has not offered anough evidence that is something the administration says they will do on wednesday of congress presenting the evidence that they had that cost him sulaimani posed an immediate and dire threat and that justified assassinating him

at the pentagon and there's a good reason for that if you talk to people at the pentagon as we did if you look at the bottom of this letter you'll notice that it is not signed at the pentagon we are told that this was a draft this was an incomplete draft and officials at the pentagon call it a poorly worded draft that comes straight from the defense secretary mark esper there and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff u.s. army general mark milley who also spoke to reporters there they say that letter was never meant to go out that the u.s. does not intend to leave iraq that that is not the position of the u.s. government right now i understand from speaking to sources connected to the military that what is happening is that troops are being repositioned within that region not leaving iraq but being repositioned they're very sensitive about where those troops are because they know they have been targets of rocket attacks so they're being careful about what they say about where u.s. troops are going but this appears to be a letter that was never intended to get out there somehow mad

the pentagon says at least two sites were hit in erbil and al—asad west of baghdad. it says the missiles were launched from iran itself. iranian state tv says the attack was launched in revenge for the us assassination of the iranian general, qasem soleimani. the white house says president trump has been briefed and is monitoring events. our news reporter gareth barlow is with me. of course this is a developing story which has been going on for about two and a half hours now, but i think it would be worth reminding ourselves from the beginning what has been happening. it was around two o'clock in the morning local time in iraq when there were reports of six missiles being fired at and striking the al—asad airbase. this is an iraqi airbase that also houses us troops and coalition troops. that figure of the number of missiles has increased, the pentagon now says at least a dozen ballistic missiles we re least a dozen ballistic missiles were fired against us military coalition forces and iraqi. we know that they have attacked two sites, one in erbil, in kurdistan regi

that the pentagon will be carrying out a bomb damage assessment. there were no casualties to report right now from these two strikes on the american bases inside of iraq. we were the first to report that these were crews or short range ballistic missiles fired within side iran at these american bases. we were speaking to u.s. officials, military sources on the ground in iraq during the attacks. things have quieted down, i'm told, right now. again, the national security team will be meeting tonight at the white house, that most likely, of course, they will be discussing what kind of response, if any, the u.s. will carry out. will it be a response that iran will see? a cyber response? many options for the president tonight. this certainly is an escalation, firing missiles from one country into another country. it affects the sovereignty of the iraq he government, and we do understand the pentagon that mark esper that defense secretary reached out to the iraq he prime minister and we do not have details from that conversation. but iraqi forces were ta

military in iraq or from the pentagon. as i said we heard from secretary esper and chairman of the joint chiefs chairman mark milly for the first time to talk about the situation in iraq. but of course they didn't tell us anything about this. this was a complete surprise to the reporters there today. >> thank you for the update. and there's much more of msnbc's continuing coverage of the air strike at the top of the hour. "the 11th hour" continues right after this. if you have medicare, listen up. medicare alone only covers 80% of your costs, leaving you to pay the rest. with so many changes, do you know if your plan is still the right fit? having the wrong plan may cost you thousands of dollars out-of-pocket. and that's why i love healthmarkets, your insurance marketplace. with their new fitscore, they compare thousands of plans from national insurance companies to find the right medicare plan that fits you. call or visit healthmarkets to find your fitscore today. in minutes, you can find out if your current plan is the r

numerous lights coming out of the pentagon. they are working out on an initial battle damage assessment stop it is clear the missiles were launched from iran, more than a dozen against us military and coalition forces in iraq. the pentagon says it will take necessary just to protect and defend us personnel, partners and allies in the region. this is a developing situation for the pentagon and the forces in this ain al—asad airbase in anbar. at least six missiles have struck it. it is a developing situation. at the moment, no indication of the number of casualties or if there are any and what damage has been a flick. we have had some information that uranium television is talking about it. tyrone saying yes, iran is behind it. —— tehran. it. tyrone saying yes, iran is behind it. -- tehran. the revolutionary guard taking responsibility for the attacks. if the rockets proxy militia that operate in on and on behalf of a run. the foreign minister of iran javad zarif say they would respond against the killing of the senior gene

let's go to ryan browne at the pentagon with more. the pentagon made clear in their statement that this was a response to what they call an actively developing plan to attack americans. >> that's right, poppy. we got a little bit of a preview of this new position from the pentagon yesterday by the secretary of defense mark esper who warned that the u.s. would take preemptive action if it detected a threat, an imminent attack from iran on its proxies saying the game had changed and really saying they've kind of had enough pointing to some 11 rocket attacks on u.s. bases in iraq over the last few months. one of which killed an american contractor. they put the blame for those attacks squarely on iran and the islamic revolutionary force which general soleimani headed. they previewed this tougher stance on iran. but again, i don't think anyone anticipated this strike against general soleimani so the pentagon acting quickly. to your point about the security in the region, depending on it had already been bracing in the wake of these attack

well the amoa motion is put forward that designates the pentagon and u.s. forces terrorist organizations now this is an amendment from another motion that was passed last year in april that designated centcom the united states military in the middle east and afghanistan as terrorist organization now this is a response to the assassination of the money but we've also had the head of the supreme national security council now what he said is very interesting he said that they have discussed 13 possible scenarios as a retaliation to the united states and he said that it would be a nightmare for them and it says if the american forces don't leave under the feet they would leave in their courses in coffins so some very strong words coming out of iran is the feeling on the street that people do want revenge and that that's been reciprocated in terms of words from politicians and leaders and the government here and now this language is been ratcheted up and it's going to be very difficult for iran not to have a retaliatory action because that's what's been called o

now the parliament has passed a motion that designates the pentagon and the u.s. military forces as terrorists now that's an amendment to a previous motion that was passed last year in april that designated u.s. centcom military forces in the middle middle east and afghanistan as terrorists but also the secretary of the supreme national security council has been speaking today and he said that they have discussed the possible scenarios for retaliation to the united states he said that the united states have 9000 bases in the middle east in this region and iran can target all of them and they have information on all of them he also said that the supreme leader ayatollah khamenei has said that all the forces of the resistance front will be involved in the retaliation now this latest news about targeting miller possible targeting military bases will make regional countries very nervous as they do have states forces and bases are. in tehran as a thank you well for desired he is professor of world studies at the university of tehran he believes others will carry forwar

pentagon officials tell cnn u.s. forces destroyed the remnants of the aircraft and disabled sensitive equipment at the crash site. reports also indicate there was a distress call from the crew indicating some type of problem here. i know there were a lot of questions about what exactly happened. we weren't getting a lot of answers from the pentagon. but -- >> the taliban-controlled area. there was a hard time getting in at some point. two fatalities. just a tragedy there. >> yeah. >>> a critical safety tool was not installed on the helicopter that crashed killing nine people including kobe bryant. emotional tributes to all of those victims up next. >>> the helicopter in that crash that killed kobe bryant, his daughter, and seven other victims did not have a critical safety instrument installed. according to the ntsb, the chopper did not have a terrain warning system. the chopper missed clearing a mine by about only 20 to 30 feet. the pilot said he was climbing to avoid a cloud layer. bryant's former laker teammate sh

the pentagon's view that iran deliberately missed u.s. forces in this base here and is in fact looking for an off ramp here, do you see this now as the president's decision to kill soleimani as working? >> i don't at all. and i don't think we're any safer. but i think the important thing about where we are today, we have a pause. we should be trying to de-escalate in any way we can, de-escalate this situation on both sides. and i don't believe that it's in the interest of the united states or anybody in the region to be moving forward with a war. and so let's de-escalate. >> you even have an iranian leader publicly offering to de-escalate there. i wonder given the nature of this attack, that public offer, and that soleimani has been removed from the battlefield in a sense, is that a win for -- not just for the president but for the country? >> i'm not so sure about that. i think we've seen the destabilizing impacts already. iran has taken itself out of the agreement, the jcpoa, the country of iraq has issued through its parliament a reque

troops that could be sent to the region but the pentagon not giving that number but clearly this is a major escalation by the united states and by the pentagon sending these troops there in the wake of the disturbances outside the u.s. embassy in baghdad and i think what this shows is clearly one thing that the pentagon and the trumpet ministration do not trust the iraqi security forces to protect american lives or protect the u.s. embassy in baghdad and clearly this shows that the pentagon is worried about how things could potentially turn. north korea's leader kim jong un the has promised to soon launch a new strategic weapon denuclearization talks between pyongyang and washington stored in october south korean media is reporting that in his annual address to his policy kim said the u.s. would suffer helplessly if it continued to delay talks he accused the white house of making gangster like demands kim jong un's annual address was watched closely in south korea mcbride reports from seoul. statements obviously have been long awaited here we knew that there was this end of year deadl

military in iraq or from the pentagon. as i said we heard from secretary esper and chairman of the joint chiefs chairman mark milly for the first time to talk about the situation in iraq. but of course they didn't tell us anything about this. this was a complete surprise to the reporters there today. >> thank you for the update. and there's much more of msnbc's continuing coverage of the air strike at the top of the hour. "the 11th hour" continues right after this. 1th hour" continues after this tom: my mom always told me actions speak louder than words. she was a school teacher. my dad joined the navy and helped prosecute the nazis in nuremberg. their values are why i walked away from my business, took the giving pledge to give my money to good causes, and why i spent the last ten years fighting corporate insiders who put profits over people. i'm tom steyer, and i approve this message. because, right now, america needs more than words. we need action. >>> that is our broadcast for tonight but our coverage of this story do

pentagon officials were worried. want expectation is there are more details about who directed this. who was concerned. why they were concerned and what the motives might have been for the hold and those saying we can't do this. >> all right. thank you both. reports of air strike tonight in northern baghdad. that as the u.s. prepares to deploy thousands more troops to the middle east. hey, saved you a seat. this round's on me. hey, can you spot me? come on in. find your place today, with silversneakers. included in most medicare advantage plans. enroll today by calling the number on your screen or visit getsilversneakers.com >>> this is "cnn tonight." we have major developments at this hour. tensions heat up between the united states and iran. over the killing of top general soleimani. the reports of deadly air strike near baghdad targeted a convoy. backed by iran. cnn hasn't confirmed reports and no claim on responsibility so far. the president is defending his decision ordering the pentagon to take out the top iran

the pentagon had previously said there were no u.s. casualties, but reports of concussions, potential traumatic brain injury has been suffered by 11 u.s. service personnel including some who have had to be sent out of the country, out of iraq for more enhanced treatment. 8 were sent to a base in germany. the remainder sent to a base in kuwait so they can get more sophisticated care. this comes after continuing questions about the missile attack, the strike on qassem soleimani. questions about how transparent the u.s. is being. the u.s. military not initially disclosing these casualties. and as the reports came in still continuing not to disclose those facts. it wasn't until it broke in the press the u.s. central command which overseas troops in the region finally issued a statement. concussions are hard to detect. sometimes they're detected days after an attack, forces hiding in the bunkers for safety likely could have suffered that kind of injury. it may have been taken a few days, but there was no official correction of the record de

he's at the pentagon for us. first of all, ryan, what are you learning about the attacks that soleimani, according to u.s. officials, was planning? >> reporter: well, wolf, multiple sources are telling cnn that soleimani had been putting some final touches on some attacks planned on u.s. interests and personnel both in iraq and the wider region. these attacks were building on previous strikes that iranian-backed forces had attempted to conduct in the u.s. region, some 11 rocket attacks in recent months, one which killed an american contractor. but there were additional plots being orchestrated by soleimani, according to recent intelligence, and those plots were maturing to the point where striking him with a drone became an imminent necessity and a strategic necessity to do that quickly so he could not continue plotting these attacks in the wake of the rocket attacks and the iranian-backed militia attempt to storm the embassy. there was concern enough to prompt this strike, even though u.s. officials were well aw

the pentagon statement says he was behind the coordination of attacks against u.s. military bases and approved those protests and attacks against the u.s. embassy in baghdad over the past few days but they are trying to make very clear is this was a preemptive attack to thwart future attacks against american personnel. i want to read a little more of that statement from the pentagon in which they say general soleimani had plans to attack diplomats and service members in iraq and throughout the region. there was a bit of foreshadowing that we saw earlier in the day. of course, this is the first day back at work for many in the federal government and mark, the secretary of defense did speak with reporters and he said if we get word of attacks or some type of indication, we will take preemptive action as well to protect american forces, to protect american lives so the game has changed and we're prepared to do what is necessary to defend our personnel and our interests and our partners in the region. so the secretary of defense there previewing what now seems to be pre

and i'll tell you last night speaking to people inside the pentagon, the pentagon position last night was to look to see is this the extent of iranian retaliation? and if it is, that gives the u.s. and the president more options to say, well, i don't have to. he may very well decide he could have an announcement this morning saying he's going to hit back. but it gives him the option of saying this is as far as they went. we established their strength and deterrence. they delivered their response. and we could leave it at that for now. that was at least the posture in the pentagon last night. >> and that is what would happen if president trump were predictable or readable. but as we know, he sometimes doesn't do what the traditional route would be. what do you see politically? >> well, no president would be entirely predictable in this moment. i think this president even more so, right? even more unpredictable. but i think that john and jim are right. first of all, there may be more attacks coming. but if for now there is some breathing room, that's good on all sides. if the president

house began to realize the pentagon was slow rolling, which the pentagon does with all sorts of things. in this case, it was clear. tis was concerned about getting into a war with iran and the middle east. even though he had been an iran skeptic, he thought the iran nuclear deal should stay in place not only because it was working but because we negotiated with her allies. the french and the germans, we should keep our word as united states. similarly with north korea, it is a fact that wars can happen inadvertently. a small incident can spiral into something much bigger and he did not want to take the risk. host: on iran, the planes were leaving when the president called off the mission. the president tweeting 10 minutes before a strike, i stopped it. brinkpulling off from the of conflict okayed by john bolton. guest: i think this is where jim mattis might have misunderstood the president. we were close to using force against iran. iran is not iraq. the population is three times larger. iran has ballistic missiles. it has a relatively capable military. iran wouldtion with be problemat

airstrike in iraq's capital baghdad and the pentagon said president drum ordered the attack to quote were checked u.s. personnel abroad amid escalating tensions between the 2 countries blonds leaders are condemning the attack which they're calling an assassination and they're warning of quote severe revenge against the u.s. iraq's prime minister says the u.s. strike will spark a devastating war where we have correspondents covering the story from all angles will go to dorset in to run shortly but 1st let's get more reaction from iraq with some more fulton who joins us from baghdad simona i know when this initially happened it was very mixed reaction on the streets just bring us up today. well there was a mixed reaction on the street initially there were some celebrations in baghdad thera square which is the epicenter of 3 months of anti-government protests which also rejected iran's influence but those initial celebrations were quickly taken over by a broader concern about the repercussions of these assassinations on stability in iraq many iraqis feel that if there is further escalat

and the pentagon. completely redacted. none of the words can be seen at all. we know now that some of these redactions were covered up but only some of it. why did they redact the sections they redacted? who ordered the redactions? why are they covering up? what are they hiding? these questions must be asked. when you are accused of something, you don't suppress evidence that will exonerate you. the fact that the administration is going to such lengths to prevent such e-mails from coming out is extraordinarily telling. it seems like they themselves feel they are guilty. getting the full documentary record would undoubtedly shed light on the issues at hand. these were senior trump officials discussing the delay of military assistance to ukraine. who ordered it, why it was ordered, whether or not it was legal, and how it was connected to the effort of presidenting ukraine to announcing investigations into the political rival of a president. and these e-mails represent just a sliver of the documentary evidence that exists in this case. there was an exceedingly st

barbara starr is over at the pentagon. you heard the breaking news. the islamic revolutionary guard corps said it hit the u.s. air base with tens of missiles. what are you hearing from your sources at the pentagon? >> officials are behind closed doors. we believe they are on classified conference calls between washington and baghdad trying to determine what is happens. complicated by the fact that the pentagon shut down early today because of what was supposed to be a major snowstorm. it's very tough at this hour to get information. there's several things that frame the discussion right now. if these are rockets that may be one set of circumstances. those relatively short range. generally fired by iranian supported groups inside of iraq. if this does turn out to be some kind of an attack at multiple locations, we don't know that yet, if it turns out to be short range ballistic missiles or cruise missiles, we don't know that either, that's a significant ramp up by iranian forces and the iranian regime. that is what we're looking for. what kind of weapo

donald trump in the pentagon are showing to the people of iraq to the people of iran to the governments of iraq and iran who's going to be the boss of iraq the u.s. invaded iraq in march 19th 2003 more than a 1000000 iraqis died and would not have otherwise died according to the lancet medical journal the u.k. medical journal tens of thousands of americans lost their lives or suffered life changing wounds and yet the occupation hasn't worked out american influences is weaker aronian influence is stronger in the region and as a consequence donald trump in the pentagon have decided to go on a murderous rampage these are war crimes these are crimes against humanity it's against the law of the of the united nations it's against the u.n. charter and it's a violation of the us constitution tomorrow in 50 cities around the country it'll be more than 50 by tomorrow it's americans are going into the streets saying no to a new war in the middle east because of donald trump and the pentagon continue with this rampage that's exactly where we're headed so if we look at. the targets they have or are

in a statement, the pentagon said:. the immediate aftermath of the attack, which happens near bag that international airport, was filmed by passers—by. several other people with military ties to iran were also killed. it comes in a week with simmering tensions between iran and the united states has boiled over. the american embassy in baghdad has been under siege as pro— iranians militiamen and demonstrators tried to breach its walls. angry at united states‘s airstrikes in the region. and yesterday, the united states defence secretary hinted america may ta ke defence secretary hinted america may take further action against iran.” think is important at this point in time to not make this a united states versus iran issue. it is really iran against the world. it is a rainy and bad behaviour has been going on for nearly a0 years. a rainy and bad behaviour has been going on for nearly 40 years. last night, more than 650 united states troops arrived in neighbouring kuwait to provide reinforcements. all eyes will be o

the pentagon says the missiles were launched from iran there's no word yet on casualties. i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore, the headlines: as the human toll rises in australia's bushfires, we hearfrom people trying to protect some of the country's precious wildlife from the disaster. we hear the story of how tensions between india and pakistan,

the pentagon said president trump ordered the killing of general soleimani. david willis joins us from los angeles. what are your sources saying about this? a short while ago, the pentagon issued a statement confirming that the united states was behind an attack which killed qasem soleimani. the statement said he was developing plans to attack us personnel, including diplomats. it blamed general soleimani for orchestrating attacks on coalition basesin orchestrating attacks on coalition bases in iraq, including the protest earlier this week at the us embassy in baghdad. now, president trump had said that iran would pay a big price, as he put it, for that unrest, the unrest at the us embassy in baghdad. and a short while ago he tweeted a picture of an american flag. no comment was attached to it. but a senior us government official is stressing that this attack which killed general soleimani was undertaken in response to what it called an active threat against us interests in the region. i guess the big question now is, will it prompt retaliation on the part of