hostage deal needs to be affected or impacted by what happened over the weekend or what we do about what happened over the weekend, and we will respond. we still want to keep the work going. our shoulder to the wheel and this hostage deal, and we'll have to see where it goes. i also want to repeat what i said earlier. we're not overly sanguine here. we're not cocky. we understand there's a lot of hard work ahead, and that work ahead of us, diplomatically, certainly, might be affected by events elsewhere in the region, not just what happened in jordan and what might come as a result of that. there's no reason why it should, and that's why we're going stay at that task. >> over here. thanks, kirby. does the white house acknowledge that the previous retaliatory strikes that it has taken in the region have been ineffective at protecting american troops? >> the strikes that we have taken in the past have

definitely had an impact on degrading and disrupting the activities of some of these groups. clearly they have decided to keep conducting those attacks. and now it's had lethal consequences for american troops. we will weigh a set of options. the president will respond appropriately. the attacks need to stop. >> what is the legal basis? >> the constitution, commander in chief, the self-defense of our troops. the president has authority that take the action he needs to protect our troops and facilities overseas under article 2. >> the president faces a great deal of political pressure here at home with the republicans, for example, calling for direct strikes on iran. does the president feel that

pressure, and how much does that pressure weigh on his decision making? >> the pressure the president is feeling, if you want to call it that, is to make sure that we can continue to protect and defend our national security interests in the region. first and foremost, his mind is solidly, as i put in my opening statement, on the families of those who just got the worst possible news that you can, and troops that are in the hospital trying to recover. number two, on the vital mission sets that our troops are performing across the region, in this particular case, the counter-isis. those troops get the support they need, the resources they need and the mission is able to continue, and there are national security interests in the region which are wide and varied are preserved and protected. >> one other thing, if i may. you said earlier this attack was escalatory, but the united states doesn't want a war. do you believe that iran wants a war? >> that's up to iran to decide, and for iran to speak to.

i can't, as i said earlier, speak for the supreme leader. i wouldn't do that. clearly there's a calculus by at least the irgc that conducting these attacks is worth the risk that they're taking. we obviously are going to keep working to change that calculus. >> thank you, so secretary general jens stoltenberg in washington, the nato alliance, are you sharing with any concern about the possibility of a wider war. >> you're talking about the middle east? >> yeah, we're glad the secretary general is here. i think he met with secretary austin this morning. i know he's meeting with jake sullivan today. lots on the agenda. i won't speak for our allies or the secretary general. i think it's safe to say that many of our european allies certainly share our concerns about what's going on in the middle east. my goodness, many of them are

participants, willing participants in our coalition in the red sea to protect shipping there, so clearly they have concerns about that, and i have no doubt that secretary general will raise those issues with jake and did raise it with secretary austin. >> another question, if i may, about the u.n. agency for palestinian refugees. several american allies, others are saying, okay, we are out of money right now. war means the collapse of the health system and so many palestinians, the agency is saying it will run out of money very soon. do you fear that suspending the american aid to this agency, do you have a plan b, an alternative to bring it to the palestinians? >> i think a lot of it's going to depend on what the investigation finds, and what accountability issues and corrective measures unrra is

willing to make. 13,000 on the ground in gaza, this is serious. and they are taking it seriously. let's see where the investigation goes. we understand they're dependent on donor contributions and the united states has been the leading donor for many many years. we have suspended our contributions to unrra pending the results of this investigation, all the more reason as i said this investigation be credible, transparent, and thorough, and frankly timely. >> thanks, john. i wanted to ask about the border. president biden talked about shutting down the border. on the basis of national security. are there not steps that he could use under executive authority, some measures to kind of seal some of the borders issues. >> he said he's willing to use executive measures, and you know, if he gets the bill passed, if he gets border funding and includes those

authorities, he'll use those authorities. >> why wait until congress? >> we need legislative support for border security measures, and we need the funding to be able to put in place border security measures that the president can utilize. he has done some things like putting u.s. troops down there to alleviate administrative responsibilities of border control. we need this funding. >> if i could ask about venezuela, is the president considering any steps to take against venezuela whether it's tightening sanctions regarding the high court's decision to uphold the ban on the only viable opposition candidate posing a challenge to maduro? >> when they signed on, made some commitments about opposition political parties, about free and fair elections and what that meant. they haven't taken those actions. accordingly, they've got until

april to do so. we have options available to us. i'm not going to preview any of those at this time, but we certainly have options with respect to sanctions and that kind of thing that we could take. they've got until april. they need to make the right decisions here, and allow opposition members to run for office and release the political prisoners. john kirby in the white house briefing room. the key issue here, of course the attacks on u.s. soldiers in the middle east, three of them killed. dozens injured. he pointed out that many of them were asleep in their beds. now, what's the united states going to do about it? the key decision that president biden has to make now. he said, we do not seek a wider war. we do not seek to escalate. we are not looking for a war with iran. john kirby pointing out repeatedly, they have taken the lives of three american service

members. what do we know? we know the president met with his national security team yesterday. he met with his national security team again today. john kirby not aware of any direct message between the president and iran right now. and as has been pointed out, this decision incredibly complex, in fact, probably an extreme understatement when john kirby said there is no easy answer to responding to this attack. let me bring in nbc's andrea mitchell. i know you had a chance to talk to the foreign minister from qatar. what new reporting do you have for us? >> there's new reporting on what he, the prime minister and foreign minister, he has both jobs, was discussing with the cia chief, bill burns, their egyptian counter part and head of their intelligence in paris this weekend, and importantly with david barnia, head of the

israeli spy agency, intelligence agency, and there is a unified proposal. they have agreed combining proposals that had come from egypt and qatar, combining these all, and they're being presented as a unified position by these four, you know, major entities and war countries to hamas right now as we speak on the egyptian side of the border outside of gaza. now, what hamas will do, hamas has been demanding immediate cease fire, a permanent cease fire before anything else can be discussed. with that change? we don't know. we also know that the prime minister's office in israel has said we didn't agree to anything. let's put it this way. that's the israeli government posture right now. the israeli government is a combination of a big coalition, but this is the leader of their spy agency who has been the chief negotiator with the u.s. bill burns, with the egyptians and the qatar can is for what to present to hamas,

with qatar. the mediator, negotiator, who goes to hamas, and says whether this work. here's what we know. this is what the prime minister said. i presented it him in the interview that we carried, good portion of it live from the atlanta council and here's what his answer was. >> i think yesterday was good progress made to get things back in shape and at least a foundation for the way forward. we cannot say this makes us, you know, in better shape very soon, but we are hoping, actually, to relay this proposal to hamas and get them to a place where they engage positively and constructively in the process because we think that in today's

world, that's the only game in town. we cannot predict what hamas's response will be, and we are sure we will be faced with challenges and obstacles, and it's not an easy process since we embarked from day one in the war, but we are committed to carry forward and to come up with some solutions. >> you saw the interview was conducted along with my colleague, david ignatius, whom you know so well from the "washington post." i should add that i obtained several details. he said, the prime minister said, that the details i presented to him from what we have been reporting and the "new york times" and others have reported a good deal of this, that we were very well informed on that, and separately confirmed the details which are 60 days, a 60-day pause with no breaches. any breaches would have to be, you know, negotiated, but no

breaches from either side, no bombardment from israel no rockets from hamas, focusing on the humanitarian peace. the release of civilian hostages with three for one palestinian prisoners being released for them, getting aid in, including, we believe, two field hospitals that have been positioned outside opt egyptian side of the rafah crossing. field hospitals from qatar that need to go into gaza to try to help there, and as well, the release of, as i say, all the civilians with the women coming first. after the 60 days, they would be negotiating the release of the military women, hostages. the military men, and return from gaza of all of the bodies of the dead hostages to israel. some may be bodies of people who were killed tragically on october 7th. that is still to be negotiated

how that would work. the goal is after 60 days, when has pause continue, all the hostages would be out and all the palestinian prisoners would be released and that's a lot. that's much larger than the three for one. right now, they are estimates there are 7,000 palestinian prisoners being held in israel. israel has done large releases before, as you know, for one soldier they did, you know, more than a thousand back i think it was in 2014. i'm not exactly sure which date that was. they did that in the past, and that would have to be adjudicated because more prisoners, palestinians are being taken they say day by day. >> just the idea they believe they've made good progress. andrea mitchell, thank you for your new reporting on that. much appreciated. one more point i want to make before we go to break. senate leaders we're learning

from our team on the hill, both parties, they want an all senate briefing from the administration on the three american service members who were killed in that attack in jordan over the weekend. that's from two sources who are close to all of this telling nbc news obviously this is not an unexpected ask for a briefing, but there are a lot of unanswered questions. you heard some of them in that briefing from john kirby including how did that drone even get through to the u.s. base. there are any number of questions about the intentions of iran, and look, john kirby said very forthrightly, this was not the first drone attack, and he's sure that they probably would have been happy had there been loss of life even before this one. so a lot going on. but right now, president biden having to make this critical decision about how to respond, how to retaliate for the death

of u.s. service members. we will keep you posted on that. in 60 seconds, the massive $83 million verdict against donald trump may be just the beginning. the next hit that may be coming and the question, will he be forced to sell off some of his assets. (ella) fashion moves fast. setting trends is our business. we need to scale with customer demand... in real time. (jen) so we partner with verizon. their solution for us? a private 5g network. (ella) we now get more control of production, efficiencies, and greater agility. (marquis) with a custom private 5g network. our customers get what they want, when they want it. (jen) now we're even smarter and ready for what's next. (vo) achieve enterprise intelligence. it's your vision, it's your verizon. power e*trade's award-winning trading app makes trading easier. with its customizable options chain, easy-to-use tools and paper trading to help sharpen your skills, you can stay on top of the market from wherever you are. e*trade from morgan stanley power e*trade's easy-to-use tools

make complex trading less complicated. custom scans help you find new trading opportunities, while an earnings tool helps you plan your trades and stay on top of the market. e*trade from morgan stanley republican presidential candidate nikki haley has just announce add new fundraising haul as she vows to continue her campaign until super tuesday. nbc's dasha burns is following this story for us. what does she have to say about bringing in the money. >> she says she has raised $4 million since the new hampshire primary. a note she's highlighting here, $1 million came in 24 hours after the new hampshire primary, 1.6 million came in after former president trump's threat to permanently bar haley donors from the maga movement, and 1.4

after the news of the now withdrawn rnc resolution to make trump the presumptive nominee. now, she's also bashing the rnc, she's saying on "meet the press" on sunday, they are not an honest broker after in her estimation tried to take away the voters' voice when it comes to this primary. she also on sunday, chris, addressed a swatting incident that happened at her home that's been a part of the political sphere lately. take a listen to what she said. >> the last thing you want is to see multiple law enforcement officials with guns drawn pointing at my parents and thinking that something happened. it is an awful situation. it put the law enforcement officers in danger. it put my family in danger. and, you know, it was not a safe situation. and that goes to show that the chaos that's surrounding our country right now. we have lived in a country of

chaos for quite a while now. it is time that we remember what normal felt like. >> and that has been a central argument for why she says she is better suited to lead the country than former president trump. but when it comes to these swatting incidents, we also learned that house majority whip tom emmer had a swatting incident that took place at his home on saturday night. he said, sadly this illegal and dangerous scheme is being used nationwide to target elected officials, so certainly not just haley but others that have been exposed to this, chris. >> thank you, dasha burns with all of that new reporting, including on that $4 million fundraising. now, of course donald trump is still the prohibitive favorite for the nomination, although, today the threats against his wealth are mounting in the face of an $83 million jury award to e. jean carroll.

force estimate is $2.6 billion, but it's unclear how much he has in cash, and while he could sell property to cover the verdict, "the new york times" points out he will need to come up with serious money, quote, he could pay the court system, which will hold the money while the appeal is pending or could try to secure an appeal bond which would save him from having to pay the full amount up front, but securing such a bond would require mr. trump to find a company willing to write the bond at a time when he faces significant legal jeopardy. that jeopardy includes another fine that could come in just the next few days when judge arthur engoron is expected to rule on new york ag letitia james request to find trump's money in the civil fraud case against him. on top of that, trump's mounting legal bills in the four criminal cases the faces. let me bring in garrett haake who follows the trump campaign for us.

caroline polisi, and soouz susan del percio. the key question for them is how much money will it stop trump to defame her. it's been less than three days, but has 83 plus million dollars worked so far? >> it seems that way so far. we know the number had to be bigger than the 5 million he was hit with the original damages from the first case. whether 83 million ends up being enough is an open question. at least that's how carroll and her attorneys see it. listen to what they had to say about this this morning. >> i had been prepared for the worst force, you know, on the earth today, the most powerful, the most effective, the most money, the richest, the most, you know, and there he is, he's nothing. it's just the people around him who give him the power.

it's the emperor without clothes. >> so far over the weekend, he has not repeated the defamation of you. are you confident he won't do it again? and what happens if he does? >> i can't be confident about anything donald trump does. >> all options are on the table. >> you hear it, perhaps not the end of this legal saga. as they mentioned, no defamatory comments from donald trump over the weekend. the only thing that comes remotely close, the only mention of carroll on his social media platform was to share a story from a right wing web site, kind of about the case, but it's not the kind of story that necessarily attacks or just sort of points out elements that spread throughout the course of the case. whether donald trump can in any that silence for the weeks and months ahead as these other legal cases ramp up, i think it's something we'll be watching very closely, chris, or at least i will. >> i will be watching along with you, garrett, thanks. caroline, if forbes is right, $83.3 million is just 3.2% of

his net worth. having said that, you've got this award. that money doesn't just wait until the appeal is over, as we pointed out. it has to go somewhere to be held. he has another big potential judgment in new york hanging over his head. in any case, how easy or difficult could it be for trump to cover his debts while we wait for an expected appeal? >> i think the issue is going to be liquidity. we know that his net worth and sort of ironically, his habit of inflating his net worth or bragging about his net worth probably had an impact on the e. jean carroll verdict in that the jury thought to themselves, okay, if we have to make this hurt, let's push that number up thinking that he has so much money on hand. but kaplan noted he has posted that $5 million award in the first case that e. jean carroll won. it's being held in an escrow type account pending that

appeal. he may very well put up the 83 million plus 9% interest, kicks him up to about $9 million or he could get a bond for 20%. as the times is noting, who wants to, you know, put their money on the line for trump at this point when they know that he is not very truthful. however, also, you know, the trump org, there is a former federal judge, barbara jones, a monitor at the trump org pending these appeals because of course we know letitia james wants 370 million. there are a lot of working parts here, a lot of different overlapping legal issues. we will have to stay tuned to see what happens. >> even for a billionaire, we're talking about something significant. there are trump supporters including among them, elise stefanik who say, you know, this is just people trying to bankrupt him, but nikki haley is using what happened in court on friday as a point of attack. let me play that. >> maybe it's fair, maybe it's

not. i don't know. but what i do know is all of that time that he's spending in a courtroom defending himself he's not fighting for the american people. . >> and guess what, there are 91 charges, so the rest of this year, that's what we're going to be hearing about. you know who's watching that, russia, china, iran, that's who's watching it, that's why it's dangerous. >> we know that is not going to help her with his rabid base. they are never going to believe this is anything but a witch hunt. is she right to stay on this topic, if as she said she wants to keep climbing, getting better and better, closer and closer, every time she's able to run against him that primary. >> it's a great message to stay on. it's two-fold, one, it gets under his skin. that's just a benefit. the other is, i actually think she's on to something. when we talk about the case

today with e. jean carroll, $83 million, having to worry about putting up a bond. that would be troublesome for most people. now think about the new york state fraud case, oh, my god, $370 million. that's a lot to think about. now add 91 federal counts. i don't know about you, chris, but donald trump surprised me in 2016 with the energy he had to go out on the campaign trail. he was even more energetic in 2020, but this time around, he is haggard, i think that these trials are not just taking a toll on him financially but also perhaps mentally and physically. so nikki haley, it's good for her to stay on the message. it helps her with new donors. >> we saw the gallop poll, people don't want someone that old, they want someone who is indicted or convicted necessarily to be the president of the united states. so, again, those are the civil

cases but we have the criminal cases, right, and the first one, the d.c. election case is still on the schedule for march 4th, but "the new york times" reports that alvin bragg who thinks that could very well get moved is getting ready to start his trial quickly, and he's rebranding it. this is the interesting part, not just as a hush money case, this is the one involving stormy daniels, but as a conspiracy to corrupt a presidential election, then lying in business records to cover it up. could that work? >> yeah, he's definitely trying to make it sound more lofty now that he is going to be front and center, the first person to try president trump, former president trump. remember stormy daniels, i mean, you have to reach back to the recesses of your brain to kind of remember that story. this case was known as the sleeper case in the d.a.'s office because nobody would touch it. cy vance was going to be move toward with it. there were all sorts of problems. now it looks like this is going to be the first case to go.

i mean, people are rightfully questioning whether or not this is really the case that we want to, you know, put all of our irons in the fire for. it's not the crime of the century. these are misdemeanor counts that got kicked up to a felony count because as alvin bragg tried to sort of portray it there, it's not the hush money itself, it's the documentation of it on the business records in furtherance of another crime, which he's alleging is election interference, you know, violations of election laws, a donation to his own campaign for hiding this affair that he had with stormy daniels. it's kind of a convoluted theory. >> some people might argue it's about as straightforward as it gets. if you don't want people to know, this accusation is that interference with a campaign. that's the sort of hill he has to climb. and then, garrett, we know the timing of the trial is critical for trump because he's hoping to

delay them until the election so if elected that would almost certainly stop things. what's the trump campaign's thinking now on the upcoming criminal cases and the 91 charges he's facing in them. >> a couple of things. they have been able to balance this reasonably well through their standards in iowa and new hampshire. in some cases donald trump was in court in the day in new york, and hopping on to his plane in new hampshire, holding rallies late at night, 9:00 p.m. start times for rallies in new hampshire, still winning both states by a wide margin. in the primaries, the scheduling part is not that complicated nor is the messaging part not that complicated. trump has lumped these cases together as election interference, cases designed to knock him off the ballot. they would look at it as an in-kind contribution. they have long thought that case is sort of the most small ball, and already adjudicated in the

court of public opinion, twice, since some of that story has been out there. if that goes through the system first, and that's people getting used to trump being on trial there, the jack smith case here in d.c., the classified documents case, they would probably love to see it framed that way because that's what helped him break away in the primaries, and that's the kind of thing that might make those independent voters who vote in the general election just tune out all of the legal cases, at least until the fall. >> the question becomes, susan, do they tune it out or does it have a cumulative effect that made people turn away from donald trump in the last election. that gallop poll i referenced 43% of respondents asked about voting for someone over 80 and charged with a felony, said they would not vote for either type of candidate. so i guess, then, the question becomes the people just put that aside, it's baked in, or does it

have a cumulative effect on voters? >> it definitely has a cumulative effect. trump sporters are trump supporters. let's assume they're going to vote for him again. the 3 to 5% of republicans who voted for trump in 2016, voted for biden in 2020 are not happy with joe biden but will never vote for donald trump. will these cases force them to recognize how dangerous it is to have donald trump back in the white house, and instead of staying home, will they go out and vote for joe biden again. >> that's the key question. garrett haake, susan del percio, caroline polisi. thank you. and sean crawley will join rachel maddow live. still ahead, shocking new details on how u.n. workers allegedly helped hamas carry out its attack from kidnapping a

woman to handing out ammunition, what we're now learning, plus, the growing fallout. if it's covid, paxlovid. paxlovid is an oral treatment for adults with mild-to-moderate covid-19 and a high-risk factor for it becoming severe. it does not prevent covid-19. my symptoms are mild now, but i'm not risking it. if it's covid, paxlovid. paxlovid must be taken within the first five days of symptoms, and helps stop the virus from multiplying in your body. taking paxlovid with certain medicines can lead to serious or life-threatening side effects or affect how it or other medicines work, including hormonal birth control. it's critical to tell your doctor about all the medicines you take because certain tests or changes in their dosage may be needed. tell your doctor if you have kidney or liver problems, hiv-1, are or plan to become pregnant, or breastfeed. don't take paxlovid if you're allergic to nirmatrelvir, ritonavir, or any of its ingredients. serious side effects can include allergic reactions, some severe like anaphylaxis, and liver problems. these are not all the possible side effects so talk to your doctor. if it's covid, paxlovid.

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joined the attacks alongside hamas and supported its operations. it also claims approximately 190 of the agency's employees are terrorist operatives. we should note that the dossier is a compilation of israeli government investigations, does not provide evidence of the claims. in addition, those claims haven't been independently verified by nbc news. also today israel's foreign minister cancel add meeting with the agency and called on the commissioner general to resign, saying, quote, supporters of terrorism are not welcome here. at least nine countries including the u.s. have suspended funding for the agency while the u.n. investigates. here's the nsc's john kirby a little earlier. >> we're going to sit tight here on any additional funding for unrra until they work their way through this, and then we'll make the appropriate decisions on not only the investigation results but also what they do about those results. >> let's bring in nbc's raf sanchez in tel aviv. raf, i understand you have now

been able to read through these allegations. what can you tell us. >> reporter: chris, earlier today we obtained this israeli security dossier laying out the allegations against these 12 members of staff at unrra, and we should be really clear, the dossier contains the allegations. it does not contain the evidence that supports them. we felt it was important to report this out. the u.s. and other countries are taking the allegations so seriously, they have paused funding to unrra in the middle of the crisis in gaza. a couple of examples of what's in the dossier, it alleges there was a school counselor as one of the many unrra schools who crossed into israel and along with his son kidnapped a female hostage. there's an allegation that a social worker went into israel, and he was involved in bringing the body of an israeli soldier back into gaza and that body is still being held by hamas.

this dossier alleges that ten ouch these 12 employees were basically moonlighting as hamas operatives, one more allegedly a member of palestinian islamic jihad, and the dossier says at least two of these men have been killed since october 7th. unrra for its part says it is taking this extremely seriously. it has fired the nine surviving men but it is also saying that by cutting funding the u.s. and other countries are effectively imposing collective punishment on the entire population of gaza in response to the actions of a few men, and remember, chris, unrra is basically the only functioning large scale humanitarian organization in gaza right now. almost the entire population of gaza, some 2 million people is reliant on humanitarian aid right now. 85% of the population displaced,

many of them are sheltering in unrra schools and compounds throughout the strip. many are relaying on food distributed by unrra, medicine distributed by unrra, and the united nations is saying while they understand how serious the allegations are, the world cannot turn its back on the people of gaza and they say that right now unrra is basically the only show in town in terms of making sure that that badly needed humanitarian aid gets to the people of gaza, chris. >> raf sanchez, thank you. the department of defense has begun a briefing, let's listen in. >> protection reasons, we're not going to discuss further specifics or measures we're taking to prevent such actions or future attacks. but we do know that iran-backed militias are responsible for continued attacks on u.s. forces in the region, and as the president and the secretary have stated, we will not tolerate continued attacks on american forces, and we will take all necessary actions to defend u.s.

military men and women deployed and we will do so at a time and place of our choosing. over the weekend, the secretary received regular updates on the attack against u.s. forces and participated in a briefing with the president and his national security team. today secretary austin returned to work at the pentagon. this morning he hosted the nato secretary general for a bilateral meeting where they discussed the war ukraine, the next nato summit, and ways to further strengthen transatlantic security. he also met with president biden at the white house, and later today will host, again, the nato secretary general alongside secretary blinken and the national security adviser. additionally, the secretary is tentatively scheduled to visit walter reed this evening for a follow up appointment. as his doctors said in their statement, secretary austin continues to recover well and is expected to make a full recovery following his treatment for prostate cancer. with that, i would be happy to take your questions. thank you, lita.

>> thanks sabrina, a couple of things. since secretary austin has returned to the building. can you tell us whether or not we will be able it see him in the briefing room this week? >> i don't have an update just yet but it's something we're working towards and we'll keep you updated. >> secondly, can you give us an update on the number of wounded and any break down between air force and army on that. >> also any update on the perpetrators of the attack. there's been a lot of chatter about kh. can you tell us whether that is the leading suspicion right now? >> so on the number of injuries right now, we assess there are more than 40 that have been injured. we expect that number to fluctuate, service members, a tbi report symptoms later on. that number could continue to grow. in terms of attribution for the

attack, we know this is an irgc-backed militia. it has the footprints of ketab, hezbollah. not making a final assessment on that. our teams here are continuing to do the analysis, but we know that iran is behind it, and certainly as we've said before hearing this in this briefing room, iran continues to arm and equip these groups to launch these attacks, and we will certainly hold them responsible. >> clarification, you said you know iran is behind it. you know that iran leaders were behind the attacked as in planned, coordinated or directed it. >> we know iran plays a role with these groups. they arm and equip and fund these groups. i don't have more to share on an intelligence assessment if leaders of iran were directing this attack. what i can tell you is we know

these groups are support bid iran, and therefore they do have their finger prints on this, but i can't tell you more in terms of who directed the attack. jen. >> sabrina, did this drone take off from an irgc base in syria. >> i don't have more on the point of origin on where this attack originated from. >> was it human error to fail to recognize this was an iranian drone coming to the base. >> it's something central command is looking into to find out exactly what happened. az mentioned at the top, they're doing the assessment on this. they're working through what they need to do to make sure our service members, whether it be in jordan, iraq and syria are further protected. i don't have more to share at this time. >> what kind of drone struck the base is this the same kind of drone being used by the russians in ukraine. >> that's something we're looking at. we're assessing the drone. i don't have more to share just yet. >> you said iran was behind the attack. what does that mean? have you seen evidence of financing or directing?

anything specific to this attack, not just generally, but specifically. >> maybe i need to clarify further from what lita had mentioned, we know that iran funds these groups, like hezbollah. we know these irgc-backed militias are the ones responsible for attacks on our troops in iraq and syria. beyond that, we're doing intelligence assessmentings. i can't give you today that -- we just know that iran funds these groups, other groups that have attacked our forces. i don't have more to share. >> as a general matter, you're saying. >> as a general matter. >> the second thing is you have talked about how the conflict is contained, the gaza-israel conflict is contained. now that u.s. troops have been attacked in another country, would you say the conflict is no longer contained and spreading. >> we have seen over a hundred

attacks on u.s. forces in iraq and syria and of course now in jordan. we don't want to see a widening of this conflict. we don't see this conflict widening. this attack was escalatory in that it killed three of our u.s. service members, and as the president said, we don't seek conflict. but we will respond at a time and place of our choose sglg it's not spreading when troops have died in another country. we can't discount these are dangerous and put our service members at risk. they have not until yesterday inflicted lethal harm. they have been predominantly minor injuries and minor damage to infrastructure. miss y i. >> if you could address the broader trajectory for american

forces and iraq and syria, and will these attacks affect the ongoing discussions between the united states and the government of iraq and the future of american presidents. there have been some reports that the united states is reviewing plans for the future troop presence in syria. can you talk about how that will impact the deliberations? >> you're talking about the higher military organization we discussed last week. regarding how to respond to the attack that claimed three u.s. service members, we remain committed to the hmc process. and we'll continue to focus on it at the appropriate time. i don't have anything to preview on troop levels or changes in iraq and syria. we are committed to the hmc process, and that is ongoing. >> would i be right to say that

this lethal attack on american forces and the potential for a response, which, you know, president biden has kind of foreshadowed explicitly, would you say it will not have an impact on u.s. plans and the troop presence of iraq and syria or is it too soon to say that? >> it's too soon to say and, you have to remember the hmc was happening and was announced in august of 2023. the attacks on october 7th did delay conversations from happening and the discussions from starting with the hmc, but we're still committed to the process, committed to working with the iraqi government, and we're going to continue to do so but i don't have anything more to preview on what that means for our force levels. megan. >> can the pentagon confirm any of the reports that the reason the drone wasn't shot down is because the troops on the ground thought it was a returning american drone. >> i have seen those reports. that's something central command is assessing. i don't have more to share on that. >> you say this is escalatory

because troops have died on the attacks, and it's not a spread even though it happened in a different country. is there any indication this attack, the equipment the way it happened, any of that was a different kind of attack than what we have been seeing in iraq and syria or was it simply an escalation and people died because they weren't able to shoot it down. they didn't detect it. >> to my knowledge there was nothing different or new about this attack than we've seen in other facility that is house our service members. unfortunately, this attack was successful, but we can't discount the fact that other attacks, whether it be iraq or syria were not intended to kill our service members. it's a true tragedy that three of our service members died, and central command is looking into what can be done when it comes to air defenses and looking into this incident to determine how best we can move or how best we can further strengthen our air defense systems.

>> was this base less well protected than other bases in iraq and syria. >> not to my knowledge. jeff. >> can you talk a little bit more about what this unit was doing in jordan, and also you have said that iran has backed these groups, which have launched these attacks. is this attack that has killed three service members an act of war by iran? >> well, look, i think i said this earlier, we don't seek a war with iran. we don't seek to widen this conflict. we have said and continue to call out the fact that iran does fund and equip these groups and provide them the capabilities that they use to attack our service members, whether it be iraq, syria or jordan. so we're not going to hesitate in calling that out. but we certainly don't seek a war, and frankly, we don't see iran wanting to seek a war with the united states. we are there in iraq, and in syria, and i think your original question was, what were the

service members doing there? they are there in support of the defeat isis mission. that is their purpose. they are part of a named operation that this department has and is committed to in both iraq and syria. and so, yeah, i'll leave it at that. >> how is this not a regional war between the united states and iranian proxies in yemen, iraq, syria, and now jordan? >> we're not discounting that tensions are high in the region by any means. since october 17th, we've seen repeated attacks on u.s. forces, so we're not discounting the fact that tensions are high, that these iranian-backed groups are targeting our military members with the intention of trying to kill them. but we don't seek a war. we don't want to see this widen out into a broader war, and that's, you know, again, attacks on our service members happening in iraq and syria to bring it back and to look at what's also happening in the red sea, we don't seek a wider war there either, but we are going to respond when it comes to

commercial ships or our ships or our partners vessels being targeted and therefore jeopardizing international trade and putting at risk innocent mariners. again, don't seek war. we will take action and respond to attacks on our forces. >> two questions, one in north korea and one in russia. and continue the negative we have been very clear on the threat posed by the dprk, and their military programs and our commitment to the republic of korea and japan continues to be

ironclad. >> the defense ministry spokesman criticize the united states saying that the u.s. is dragging south korea into the ukraine conflict. he wondered if south korea supported ukraine, he would stop relations with south korea. >> yeah, i think quite to the contrary, you see countries all around the world supporting ukraine's cause in the fight for their democracy and the fight for their sovereign territory. we're coming up on the two-year anniversary of russia invading ukraine. russia is seeking help from partners like iran, north korea, to continue to fund itself or support itself in its war against ukraine, and you're seeing like-minded nations like the united states and other countries stand in alliance in support of a democracy, and in support of a sovereign country who was invaded by its neighbor,

unjustly invaded by its neighbor and we're proud of the coalition. >> what's the total number of attacks and the total number of injuries? >> just a sec here. from october 17th to january 29th, we are tracking approximately 165 attacks, 66 in iraq, 98 in syria, and of course the one yesterday in jordan. and i'm sorry, and on injuries, i am tracking approximately 80 u.s. personnel have received non-serious injuries since the attacks began. >> and have there been any attacks today and where? >> i believe there was an attack earlier today. i don't have the exact location. we can get you that. i don't want to speculate, but we can get you that information after. yes, right over here. >> thanks. you said just about 160 attacks.

just this month, there were 50. so 115 or so since october of last year. the u.s. has responded to a few of these attacks. you know, in order to deter, and that came out from the secretary and other u.s. officials. these attacks have continued. now they've escalated now into jordan a third country. the deterrence does not seem to have worked yet. is the department considering altering or reviewing its policy in order to deter these iran-backed militias from injuring or killing more troops. >> that's ultimately a decision the president is going to make. as i read out earlier, he's convened his national security team frequently in the past few case. i'm not going to get ahead of decisions the president and secretary make to each other.

as our statement said yesterday, we are committed to responding and we will do so at a time and place of our choosing. >> reports suggest the biden administration and officials in the pentagon have become more and more frustrated with the death toll, and their consideration of what kind of weapons to review. i know state department, but is the pentagon, does the pentagon share that assessment? does the pentagon share that frustration of too many civilian casualties in gaza? >> i think we have been pretty clear that we don't want to see any innocent lives lost in this war. and we have been very clear, both publicly and privately with our israeli counter parts that innocent lives need to be protected. humanitarian corridors need to

be opened. humanitarian aid needs to flow through. of course we're concerned by the death toll in gaza. we don't want to see continued palestinians get caught in the cross fire and we've continued to urge israel to protect those innocent civilians, and we'll continue to do so. will. >> just a clarification on the number of injured, the 80 includes those from the most recent attack or not? >> it does not, sorry. >> and has power 22, that facility targeted previously, either during the israel hamas war or prior to that in recent years? >> i can't speak to before october 7th, but since october 17th. when these attacks have happened, no, tower 22, to my knowledge has not been the target. but as you know, there is the garrison is right on the border. attacks have come pretty close to tower 22, but nothing that

has landed on the jordanian side impacts have always been on the syria side, except for the attack that happened yesterday. natasha. >> thanks. previous drone and rocket attacks that have struck or landed near military facilities in iraq and syria, they have not caused anywhere near as much damage, nor near as many casualties, is there an assessment of why this particular drone caused so much, 40 people injured, three killed, what was different about this drone or what was different about the facility that it didn't have the kind of protection the other bases do. >> i think what was different about this attack, it did impact where living quarters are, and i believe it was pretty early morning. people were in their beds when the drone impacted, but in terms of, i mean, we have seen these types of attacks before. that's something that central command is looking into on how they can better refine not only our air defenses but prevent future attacks like this from

happening again. i'm going to go over here and come back. >> a couple of questions. as they conduct this review, in the interim, are there tactics, techniques being changed to prevent this from happening again in the future. >> i wouldn't forecast that from the podium here. wouldn't want to get ahead of anything. >> how about back door channel discussions with iran. >> i don't have anything to preview here. yeah. >> do you also have a number for the attacks in the red sea and the gulf of aden, the most recent? >> let me see if i do. we can take that question and get back to you. i don't have the running total here. as you know, there were as recently as friday there was another attack at a commercial vessel that was transiting. so happy to get you those numbers. >> on the secretary's meeting with stoltzenberg, did they talk about contingencies in the event that the ukraine aid doesn't go

through or can you talk about the strategy here? >> i believe we'll have a larger readout, but of course something that is top of mind for the secretary and for many folks across the administration is securing that supplemental funding from congress. we have not been able to supply ukraine with a pda since late december. ukraine is quite literally in the fight for its life as it continues to hold territory and continues to fight for its sovereign territory and push the russians back in the east and the south. we're going to continue to urge congress to pass the supplemental budget and give us the funding we need to start the pda packages. of course it's top of mind for everyone. >> anything you can do without it? >> no, not right now. >> thank you. you mentioned that the qatari hospital, hezbollah part of the mobilization group and part of the iraqi defense system. so how you get engaged with the iraqi government specifically on

that attack? >> on the attack that happened on our service members? i don't have anything to read out. >> check that you are not looking in a world, does that mean iran is not on a table when you're thinking and assessing, responding to that attack. >> i don't necessarily understand the question. >> are you taking iranian irgc as an option when it comes to responding like when it happens yesterday. >> we're going to respond as president said and the secretary said that we feel we need to respond. i am not going to get ahead of the president or any decisions. we don't seek a wider conflict with iran. we don't want a war with iran. again, these are iran proxy groups, launching these attacks on our service members. we certainly don't seek a wider conflict, but we also own the clock here, and we will respond at a time and place of our choosing. >> if iranian carried out the attack, do you hold iran

accountable for the attack, and what, like, response would be retaliation against this attack. >> so as you can appreciate, i'm not going to forecast what our response looks like, but of course we hold iran responsible as they are supporting these groups. these groups that continue to inflict casualties on tour forces, whether it be in jordan, iraq or syria, we hold iran responsible because they fund and train and support and equip these militias that operate in iraq and syria. >> thank you. there is the position of the department that iran is responsible for the attack that killed three u.s. soldiers in northeast jordan. >> iran bears responsibility because it funds these groups that operate in iraq and syria that launch attacks on our service members. >> i understand